Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue
by
Laura Lee Hope
Part 2 out of 3
stood over her, wagging his tail, and barking as hard as he could bark.
He seemed to know that everything was all right now.
"Oh, Sue! Sue!" cried Bunny, rushing up to his sister, and putting his
arms around her. "You aren't drowned now; are you, Sue?"
"I--I don't--don't know--Bun-Bunny!" she stammered. "I--I guess I'm
'most drowned, anyhow. Oh, take me home! I want my mamma!"
"I'll take you home right away!" Bunny promised. "But wasn't the dog
good to pull you out?"
The dog shook the water from himself, and wagged his tail harder than
ever. He jumped about, barking, and then, with his big red tongue, he
licked first Sue's face, and then Bunny's.
Sue was much better now. She could sit up, and, as the river water was
not salty, as is the water of the ocean, what she had swallowed of it
did not hurt her.
"I guess the dog will lick all the Friday-mud off my face," she said,
smiling at Bunny through her tears.
"The mud's all off anyhow," said her brother. "Falling in the river
washed you clean."
"But it got my dress all wet. I don't care, it's an old one."
"That's good," said her brother. "Now we'll go home. Maybe you will be
all dry when we get there," he added hopefully, "and your dress won't
show any wet at all."
"But I'll have to tell mother I fell in."
"Oh, of course!"
"But it was a--a accident," Sue said, speaking the big word slowly. "Now
take me home, Bunny. I don't want to play Friday any more, and I'm
hungry."
The dog jumped about the children, but he kept nearer to Sue. Maybe he
thought she belonged to him, now that he had pulled her from the water.
Perhaps he had saved Sue's life, though the little girl might have
gotten out herself, or Bunny might have pulled her from the water.
"He's a nice dog," said Sue. "I wish we could keep him."
"Maybe we can. He doesn't seem to belong to anybody, and nobody lives on
this island."
"He was shipwrecked too," said Sue. "Or maybe he wanted to play Robinson
Crusoe with us."
"Robinson didn't have a dog--anyhow, mother didn't read about any in the
story," replied Bunny. ''But he had a goat."
"We can pretend this dog is a goat," remarked Sue, as she patted the big
shaggy fellow, who barked in delight, and wagged his tail.
"We'll take him home in the boat with us," decided Bunny. "I hope mother
lets us keep him."
Getting into the boat was easy enough for Bunny and Sue, for they only
had to step over the side, the boat being partly on shore. And the dog
jumped in after them. He seemed very glad Indeed that he had found two
such nice children to love, and who would love him.
But when Bunny tried to push the boat away from the island, as he had
seen his father and Bunker Blue often do, he found it was not easy. The
boat was stuck fast in the soft mud of the edge of the island.
"I--I can't do it," Bunny said, puffing, as he pushed on the oar, with
which he was trying to shove off the boat. "I can't do it, Sue."
"Will we have to stay here forever?"
"No, not forever. Maybe papa, or somebody will come for us. But I can't
push off the boat."
"I'll help you," offered Sue. The oar was too heavy for her, however, so
Bunny got her a long stick. But, even with what little help Sue could
give, the boat would not move.
"Oh, dear!" sighed Bunny, sitting down on a seat. He looked worried, and
so did Sue.
"If we had a harness for our new dog we could hitch him to the boat, and
maybe he could pull it into the water," remarked Bunny, after a bit.
"Oh, that would be fine!" cried the little girl. "And maybe he could
swim, and pull us all the way home."
"But we haven't any harness," said Bunny with another sigh.
"Couldn't we use the fish line? I've got another piece of string."
"We can try."
With the string, which he knotted together, Bunny made a sort of
"harness," putting one end around the dog's neck, and tying the other
end to the bow, or front of the boat.
"Now pull us, Towser!" Bunny cried.
"Is his name Towser?" Sue wanted to know.
"Well, we'll call him that until we can think of a better name. Go on,
pull!" ordered Bunny.
But the dog only barked and stood still. He did not seem to mind being
"hitched up." It seemed as though he had often had children play with
him.
"Oh, I know how to make him pull us!" Sue exclaimed.
"How?"
"Throw a stick in the water, and he'll chase after it."
"Fine!" cried Bunny, and he tossed a chip out into the river. With a
bark the dog rushed after it. But I think you can guess what happened.
Instead of the dog's pulling the boat, the string broke, and, of course,
that was the end of the harness.
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Sue. "We'll never get home, Bunny!"
The little boy did not know what to do next. But, all at once, as he and
his sister looked at each other, quite worried and anxious, they heard a
voice shouting:
"Bunny! Sue! Are you there? Where are you? Bunny! Sue!"
CHAPTER X
A TROLLEY RIDE
"Who--who is that?" asked Sue of her brother in a whisper. "Oh, it's
papa come for us!"
"That isn't papa," Bunny answered, for well he knew his father's voice.
"Well, it's SOMEBODY, anyhow," and Sue smiled now, through her tears.
"It's somebody, and I'm so glad!"
"Bunny! Sue!" called the voice again, and the big dog barked. Perhaps he
was also glad that "somebody" had come for him, as glad as were the
children. But, though Bunny Brown and his sister Sue looked all about,
they could see no one. Then, all of a sudden, Sue thought of something.
"Oh, Bunny!" she cried. "Do you s'pose it could be him?"
"Be who?"
"Robinson Crusoe's man Friday. Here on the island, you know. Maybe he
heard we were here, and came to help us catch fish, or make a fire. Oh,
Bunny, if it should be Mr. Friday!"
"Pooh! It couldn't be," said Bunny. "Mr. Friday was only make-believe,
and we were only pretending, anyhow. It couldn't be!"
"No, I 'spose not," and Sue sighed. "Anyhow, it's somebody, and they
know us, and I'm glad!"
Bunny was also glad, and a few seconds later, while the dog kept on
barking, and running here and there, Bunny and Sue raw, coming around
the end of the island, a boat, and in it was Jed Winkler, the old sailor
who owned Wango, the monkey. Only, of course, the old sailor did not
have the monkey with him this time.
"Bunny! Sue! Oh, there you are!" called Mr. Winkler as he saw the two
children.
"Oh, Mr. Winkler!" cried Bunny. "We're so glad to see you!"
"Yes, and I guess your folks will be glad to see YOU!" answered the old
sailor. "They've been looking all over for you, and only a little while
ago I noticed that your boat was gone. I thought maybe you had gone on a
voyage down the river, so I said I'd come down and look, as far as the
island, anyhow. And here you are!
"I wonder what you'll do next? But there's no telling, I reckon. What
have you been doing, anyhow, and whose dog is that?"
"He's mine," said Sue quickly. "He pulled me out of the water."
"He's half mine, too," said Bunny. "I saw him before you did, Sue. You
couldn't see him 'cause your head was under the water," he went on, "and
when a feller sees a dog first, half of it is his, anyhow; isn't it, Mr.
Winkler?"
"Oh, you may have half of him," agreed Sue kindly. "Do you want the head
half, or the tail hall, Bunny?"
"Well," said Bunny slowly, "I like the tail end, 'cause that wags when
he's happy, but I like the head end too, because that barks, and he can
wash our hands with his tongue."
Bunny did not seem to know which half of the dog to take. Then a new
idea came to him.
"I'll tell you what we can do, Sue!" he exclaimed. "We can divide him
down the middle the other way. Then you'll have half his head end, and
half his tail end, and so will I."
"Oh, yes!" Sue agreed, "and we can take turns feeding him."
"Say, I never see two such youngsters as you!" declared the old sailor,
laughing. "What happened to you, anyhow?"
"Well, we didn't mean to go off in the boat, but we did," Bunny
explained. "Then we got wrecked on this island, just like Robinson
Crusoe did."
"Only we didn't find Mr. Friday," put in Sue.
"But we found a cave--a make-believe one," Bunny said quickly.
"And I fell in, but we didn't get any fish," added the sister.
"And the dog did pull her out, and we're going to keep him," went on
Bunny. "And will you take us home, Mr. Winkler? 'Cause we're hungry, and
maybe our dog is, too, and it's getting dark, and we couldn't make our
boat go, even if we did hitch the dog up to it."
"Bless your hearts, of course I'll take you home, and the dog, too!" the
old sailor cried, "though I didn't expect to find a dog here. Come now,
get in my boat, and I'll fasten yours to mine, and pull it along after
me. Come along!"
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were soon in the old sailor's boat, the
dog following them, and, a little later, they were safely at their own
dock, where their father and mother, as well as Aunt Lu and Bunker Blue,
were waiting to greet them.
"Oh, Bunny! Oh, Sue!" cried Mrs. Brown, as she gathered them both into
her arms. "Why did you do it? Oh, such a fright as you have given all of
us!"
"We didn't mean to, Mother," said Bunny, himself a little frightened at
what had happened. "The boat came untied, and floated off with us, and
then we played Robinson Crusoe, just like you read to me out of the
book, and--"
"But we didn't find Mr. Friday," interrupted Sue, who seemed to feel
this was quite a disappointment.
"Never mind," remarked Aunt Lu, "you had plenty of other adventures, I
should think. Why, Sue!" she exclaimed, "your dress is quite damp!"
"She fell in," explained Bunny, "and--"
"Mercy! Where did that dog come from?" cried Mrs. Brown, for the big
shaggy animal had been lying quietly in the bottom of Mr. Winkler's
boat, and now, with a bark, he suddenly sprang up, and jumped out on the
dock.
"It's our dog," said Sue. "He pulled me out."
"Pulled you out, child? Out of where?" Mrs. Brown wanted to know. "What
happened? Tell me all about it!"
Which Bunny and Sue did, taking turns. Then they begged to be allowed to
keep the dog, and Mr. Brown said they might, if no one came to claim it.
"I guess it must be a lost dog," said the old sailor. "Maybe it jumped
off some boat that was going down the river, and swam to the island. I
guess it's glad enough to get off, though, for there's nothing there for
a dog to eat."
"We couldn't find anything, either," said Bunny, "and we're hungry now,
Mother."
"And we're going to take turns feeding the dog," came from Sue. "I own
one half, down the middle, and so does Bunny."
"Bless your hearts!" Mrs. Brown cried. "She was very glad the children
had been found, and Mr. Brown told Bunny and Sue they must not get in
the boat again, unless some older person was with them, even if the boat
was tied to the dock. Then it was supper time, and the big, shaggy dog
ate as much as Bunny and Sue together, which showed how hungry he was.
"What are you going to call the dog?" asked Aunt Lu.
"I called him Towser," Bunny said, "but we can take another name, if we
don't like that."
"Oh, let's call him Splash!" exclaimed Sue.
"Splash? What a funny name!" her mother remarked.
"Well, he did splash in the water after me, and pulled me out. Maybe we
could call him Pull, but I like Splash better," and Sue shook her curly
head.
"Call him Splash, then," agreed Mr. Brown, and so the big dog was called
that name. He did not seem to mind how funny it was, but wagged his
tail, and barked happily whenever he was spoken to.
For two or three days after they had gone off in the boat, Bunny Brown
and his sister Sue did not go far from home. They remained about the
house, playing different games with some of the children who lived near
them. Now and then they would go down the street with Aunt Lu, or to the
dock, to see the fish boats come in. And, often, as she walked along,
Aunt Lu would look down at the ground.
"Are you looking for your lost diamond ring?" Bunny or Sue would ask.
"Well, not exactly," Aunt Lu would say. "I'm afraid I shall never find
it," she would add, in rather a sad voice. "I am afraid it is gone
forever."
"We'll keep on looking," promised Bunny. "And maybe we'll find it."
Splash, the big dog, proved to be very gentle and kind. He seemed to
love the two children very much, and went everywhere with them. No one
came to claim him. There was only one place Bunny and Sue could not take
him, and that was to Mr. Winkler's house, and it was on account of the
monkey.
"I'm afraid Splash might scare Wango," the old sailor said. "Monkeys are
easily frightened, and Wango might try to get out of his cage and hurt
himself. So, much as I love your dog, children, please don't bring him
where Wango is." "We won't," promised Bunny and Sue. So, whenever they
paid a little visit to their friend, the old sailor, Splash was chained
outside the gate, and the poor dog did not seem to understand why this
was done. But he would lie down and wait until Bunny and Sue came out.
Then how glad he was to see them!
One day Aunt Lu gave Bunny and Sue each five cents. They said they
wanted to buy some toy balloons, which they had seen in the window of
Mrs. Redden's store.
"Maybe we could tie two balloons together, and fasten them to a basket
and have a ride, like in an airship," Sue said to Bunny, for they had
been looking at some pictures of airships in a magazine.
"Maybe we could," Bunny agreed.
But Bunny and Sue did not buy the toy balloons. They were on their way
to get them, with Splash, the dog, walking along the street behind them,
when a trolley car came along. The trolley ran from Bellemere, where
Bunny and Sue lived, to Wayville, the next town. In Wayville lived Uncle
Henry, who was a brother of Mrs. Brown's.
"Oh, Sue! I know what let's do!" Bunny suddenly cried, as the trolley
car stopped to take on some passengers at the street corner.
"What shall we do, Bunny?" Sue was always ready to follow where her
brother led.
"Let's take our five cents and have a trolley ride! We can go to
Wayville and see Uncle Henry. He'd like to see us."
"But if we go on the trolley it costs five cents," Sue objected, "and we
can't buy the balloons."
"Maybe Uncle Henry will give us some pennies when we tell him we had to
spend our five cents to come to see him," Bunny suggested.
"Maybe. All right, let's go!"
Hand in hand, never thinking that it was in the least wrong, Bunny and
Sue ran for the trolley. The conductor, though perhaps he thought it
strange to see two such small children traveling alone, said nothing,
but helped them up the high step. Often the people of Wayville or
Bellemere would put their children on the car, and ask the conductor to
look out for them, and put them off at a certain place. But no one was
with Bunny and Sue.
"We want to go to Wayville, to our Uncle Henry's," explained the blue-
eyed little boy.
"All right," answered the conductor. "I'll let you off at Wayville,
though I don't know your Uncle Henry." He rang the bell twice, and off
went the trolley car, carrying Bunny and Sue to new adventures.
CHAPTER XI
LOST
Bunny and Sue leaned back in the trolley car seat, and felt very happy.
They loved to ride and travel, and they did not think they were doing
wrong to take a trolley ride without asking their mother or father. If
they had asked, of course, Mrs. Brown would not have let them go alone.
But that is the way matters generally went with Bunny and Sue.
Faster and faster went the trolley car. Bunny looked at Sue and smiled,
and she smiled at him. The conductor came along the step of the car,
which was an open one, to collect the fares. Bunny and Sue each handed
him a five cent piece, and he handed them each back two pennies.
"Oh, I didn't know we got any change!" exclaimed Bunny, in surprise
"The fare to Wayville is only three cents, for such little tots as you,"
the conductor said. "Are you sure you know where you are going?" he
asked.
"We're going to our Uncle Henry's," replied Bunny. "And he lives near
the big, white church."
"Well, I can let you off there all right. Now be careful, and don't lean
over out of your seats. You're pretty small to be taking trolley rides
alone."
"We went alone in a boat the other day," Bunny told the conductor, "and
we got shipwrecked."
"On an island in the river," added Sue, so the conductor would know what
her brother meant.
"Well, if you've been shipwrecked, I guess you are able to take a
trolley ride," laughed the motorman, for Bunny and Sue were riding in
the front seat.
"Hey, conductor!" called a man in the back seat of the car, "there's a
dog chasing after us!"
"Why, so there is!" The conductor seemed much surprised as he looked
back.
Bunny and Sue stood up and also looked behind them. There, indeed, was a
big shaggy dog, running after the car, his tongue hanging out of his
mouth. He seemed very tired and hot.
"Why--why!" cried Sue, "that's our dog--it's Splash, and he splashed in
and pulled me out of the water when I fell in, the time Bunny and I were
shipwrecked!"
"Oh, we forgot all about him, when we got on the car," Bunny cried. He
felt very sorry for Splash.
"I thought he'd come right on the car with us," Sue said. "And we'd have
money enough to pay his fare, too," she added, looking at the two
pennies in her chubby fist. "Is it three cents for dogs, too, mister?"
she asked the conductor.
The conductor laughed, and some of the passengers did also. Then Bunny,
who had been looking at poor Splash, racing along after the trolley car,
which was now going quite fast, called out:
"Please stop the car, Mr. Conductor. We want our dog!"
"But you can't take a dog on the car, my boy. It isn't allowed. I'm
sorry."
Bunny thought for a minute. Then he said:
"Well, if we can't bring our dog on the car, We'll get off and walk;
won't we, Sue?"
"Yes, that's what we will."
"All right," agreed the conductor. "I'm sorry, for I'd like to do you
the favor, but I'm not allowed." He rang the bell, and the car slowed
up. Splash barked joyfully, for he Was very tired from running after his
little friends, who went so fast and so far ahead of him.
The conductor helped Bunny and Sue down. The car had stopped along a
country road, near a patch of woods, in rather a lonesome place.
"Here, youngsters," went on the trolley man, while Splash rushed up to
Bunny and Sue, barking happily, "here, youngsters, take your money back.
You didn't ride three cents' worth, hardly, and I'll fix it up all right
with the company. You'd better take the next car back home. Your dog can
find his way all right."
And then the car rattled off again, leaving Bunny and Sue, still with
five cents each, Standing in the road, with their dog Splash.
"Poor fellow," said Bunny, putting his arms around the shaggy neck of
his pet, "you must be awful tired!"
"He is," Sue agreed. "We'll sit down in the shade with him, and let him
rest."
They found a nice place, where the grass was green, and where some trees
made a shade, and near by was a spring of cool water.
Bunny made a little cup, from an oak leaf, and gave Sue a drink. Then he
took some himself, and, a little later, Splash lapped up some water
where it ran in a tiny stream down the grassy side of the road.
"Now he's rested, and we can go on," Sue remarked after a bit. "Where
shall we go, Bunny--to Uncle Henry's?"
"Well, it's too far to walk, and we don't want to ride in the car, and
make Splash run, so maybe we'd better go back home. We can get the
balloons now. The conductor was good not to take our money."
"Yes, I like him," and Sue looked down the track on which, a good way
off, could be seen the trolley car they had left.
"We can walk back home," went on Bunny. "It isn't far. Come on, Sue!"
Down the country road started the two children, Splash following, or,
now and then, running off to one side, to bark at a bird, or at a
squirrel or chipmunk that bounded along the rail fence.
Bunny and Sue thought they would have no trouble at all in going back
home, but they did not know how far away it was.
"All we'll have to do will be to keep along the trolley track," said
Bunny. "If we had my express wagon now, and a harness for Splash, he
could pull us."
"Oh, that would be fun!" Sue cried. "It would be just like a little
trolley car of out own. You could be the motorman and I Would be the
conductor."
"We'll play that when we get home," her brother decided. "Oh, look!
What's Splash barking at now?"
The dog had found something beside the road, and was making quite a fuss
over it. It looked like a black stone, but Bunny and Sue could see that
it was moving, and stones do not move unless someone throws them.
"Oh, maybe it's a snake!" and Sue hung back as Bunny ran toward the dog.
"Snakes aren't big and round like that," her brother answered. "They're
long and thin, like worms, only bigger. Oh, it's a mud-turtle!" Bunny
exclaimed as he came closer, "A great big mud-turtle, Sue,"
"Will he--will he bite?'
"He might. He's got a head like a lobster's claw," replied Bunny. "But
he won't bite me 'cause I won't let him get hold of my finger."
"He might bite our dog! Come away, Splash!" Sue cried.
But the dog knew better than to get too near the turtle, which really
could bite very hard if he wanted to. Bunny got a stick, and poked at
Mr. Turtle, who at once pulled his head and legs up inside his shell.
Then he was more like a stone than ever.
And, as it was not much more fan than looking at a stone, to watch the
closed-up turtle, Bunny and Sue soon grew tired of watching the slow-
moving creature. Splash, too, seemed to think he was wasting time
barking at such a thing, so he ran off to find something new.
Once more the two children walked along the road. The sun grew warmer
and warmer, and finally Bunny spoke, saying:
"Let's walk in the woods, Sue. It will be cooler there."
"Oh, yes" agreed the little girl. "I love it in the woods."
So into the cool shade they went, Splash following. They found another
spring of water, and drank some. They gathered flowers, and found some
cones from a pine tree. With these they built two little houses, doll
size.
Pretty soon Sue said she was hungry, and Bunny also admitted that he
was.
"We'll coon be home now," he said. "And we'll stop at Mrs. Redden's, and
get our balloons."
"Then we'll have lots of fun!" cried Sue, clapping her hands.
But the patch of woods through which the children had started to walk
was larger than they thought. There seemed to be no end to it, the trees
stretching on and on.
"Where's home?" Sue asked, after a bit. She was tired of walking.
Bunny stopped and looked about him.
"I can't see our house from here," he said. "but it's only a little way
now. I guess maybe we'd better go out on the road, Sue. We can see
better there."
But the road, too, seemed to have disappeared. Bunny and Sue went this
way and that, but no road could they find. They listened, but they could
not hear the clanging of the trolley car gong. It was very still and
quiet in the woods, except, now and then, when Splash would run through
the dried leaves, looking for another mud-turtle, perhaps.
"I'm hungry!" Sue exclaimed. "I want to go home, Bunny!"
"So do I," said the little fellow, "but I don't seem to know where our
home is."
"Oh! Are we--are we lost?" whispered Sue.
Bunny nodded.
"I--I guess so," he answered.
CHAPTER XII
FOUND
Getting lost in the woods is different from getting lost in the city. In
the city, or even in a little country town, there is someone of whom you
can ask the way to your house. But in the woods there is no one to talk
to.
Bunny and Sue thought of this when they had looked around through the
trees, trying to find some way to, at least, get back to the road.
"If I could find the trolley car tracks we'd be all right," Bunny said.
"We could wait for a car and ride home." "But what could we do with
Splash?" asked Sue.
"Oh, he could run along after us. It isn't far, and he's had a good rest
now."
"Well, I wish I were home," sighed the little girl. "I'm awful hungry!"
Bunny Brown did not know what to do. He wanted to be brave, and help his
sister, but he, himself, felt much like crying, and he thought he could
see tears in Sue's eyes.
Where was their home, anyhow? Where were their papa and mamma and dear
Aunt Lu? Bunny felt he would give all of his five cents if he could see
the house where he and Sue lived. But all around them were only trees.
"Will we have to stay here all night?" Sue wanted to know.
"Well, if we do, we can make believe we have a camp here, and live in
the woods. And we've got Splash with us."
"Yes, I guess I wouldn't be much afraid," agreed Sue. "But it would be
dark; wouldn't it, Bunny?"
"Maybe there'd be a moon--or--or lightning bugs."
"I--I'd rather have a real light," said the little girl. "And even if
I'm not very much afraid in the dark, I can't stop being hungry, Bunny.
What do you eat when you camp in the woods?"
"Why--er--you eat--I guess you have to have sandwiches, or ice cream
cones, or something like that."
"I want a sandwich now!" Sue insisted.
Bunny shook his head.
"We can make-believe," he began.
"But my hungry isn't make-believe!" cried Sue. "It's real--I'm awful
hungry. Can't you find our house, Bunny?"
Her brother shook his head. Then, somehow or other, he decided that he
must do something besides stand there in the woods.
"Let's look for a path and walk along it," he said. "Maybe we can get
home that way."
There were several paths through the woods, and the children soon came
to one of them. They walked along it a little way, but it came to an end
in a place where the trees and bushes grew thick, making it quite dark.
"Our house isn't here," said Sue, sadly, and she cried a few tears.
"No, it isn't here," answered Bunny. "We'll go back and find another
path."
Back they went. But the next path they tried was no better than the
first one. It came to an end in a swamp, in which, on logs, were a
number of big frogs and turtles, that jumped, or fell in, with much
spattering of water as the children and the dog came near.
"I--I'm never going to take a trolley ride again," Sue said, as she and
Bunny turned back.
"I'm not, either," her brother agreed. "But if we had kept on to Uncle
Henry's we'd have been all right. It was Splash's fault that we had to
come back."
The dog barked, as he heard his name spoken. And then Sue suddenly
thought of something.
"Oh, Bunny!" she exclaimed, "if Splash knew the way home he could take
us. Maybe he does. Mother read to us about a dog that found his way home
from a long way off. Splash, can you take us home?" she asked, patting
the big dog on the head.
Splash barked, and started off on a path which the children had not yet
tried.
"That's so. I never thought maybe Splash could show us the way," said
Bunny. "We'll try it! Home, Splash!" he cried. "Home!"
The dog barked again, and wagged his tail. He ran along the path a short
distance, and then stopped, looking back at Bunny and Sue as if asking:
"Well, why don't you come with me if you want to get home?"
"Oh, Bunny, I believe he does know the way!" Sue cried. "Come on, we'll
follow him!"
On ran Splash, turning every now and then to look around and bark, as if
telling the children not to worry--that he would lead them safely home.
And he did, or, if not exactly all the way home, the faithful dog made
his way out of the woods, until he came to the main road, along which
ran the trolley track.
"Oh, now I know where we are!" cried Bunny, in delight, as he saw
several houses ahead of them. "Why, Sue, we're right on our own street.
We weren't much lost!"
"Well, I'm glad we're found," Sue said.
It was easy to get home now. All the while Bunny and Sue had been only a
little way from the road which led to their home, but the trees were so
thick they could not find the right path. And Splash had never thought
his two little friends were anxious to get home, until Bunny had told
him so. Then he led them.
On walked Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, happy now that they were no
longer lost. Splash seemed to think he had done all that was needed, for
now he ran here, there, everywhere--across the road, back and forth,
trying to find something with which to amuse himself. He no longer
watched to see that the children followed him. He must have known that
they were on the right road at last--that he had led them there.
Bunny and Sue passed Mrs. Redden's store. In the window were the red,
blue, green, yellow and other colored toy balloons that they had set out
to buy. Bunny and Sue still each had five cents, though it was in
pennies now.
"Let's get the balloons," proposed Bunny.
"Oh, yes; let's!" agreed Sue.
So they went in and bought them, letting them float in the air, high
above their heads, by the strings to which the balloons were fastened.
Down the street came Aunt Lu.
"Well, children!" she cried. "We were just getting worried about you.
Mother sent me to find you. Where have you been?"
"We had a trolley ride," explained Sue, "but Splash couldn't get on the
car, so we got off, and we were lost, and Splash found the path for us,
and I'm hungry!"
"Bless your heart! I should think you would be!" cried Aunt Lu. "Come
right home with me and I'll get you some jam and bread and butter."
And, a little later, Bunny and Sue were telling of their adventure.
"Oh, but you must never do that again!" said their mother. "Never get in
the trolley cars alone again!"
"We won't!" promised Bunny and Sue. But you just wait and see what
happens.
Bunny Brown was out in the yard, a few days after the funny trolley
ride, digging a hole. Bunny had heard his father talk about a queer
country called China, which, Mr. Brown said, was right straight down on
the other side of the world, so that if one could possibly dig a hole
all the way through the earth, one would come to China.
"I guess I'll dig a hole," thought Bunny Blown. "Maybe I won't go all
the way to China, but I'll dig a big hole, and see where it ends. I'd
like some China boys to play with."
A little while before Bunny started to dig the hole his sister Sue had
been playing in the yard with her dolls. But, somehow or other, Bunny
forgot all about Sue now. He was taking the dirt out of the hole with
his sand shovel when his mother came to the door and called:
"Bunny, where is Sue?"
Bunny looked up from the pile of dirt in front of him. He was standing
down in the hole, throwing out the sand and the gravel, and wondering
when he would get his first sight of that queer land of China.
"Why, Mother," the little fellow answered, "Sue was here just now. Maybe
she has gone down to show Wango her new doll."
"Oh, no, Sue wouldn't go down there alone, Bunny. See if you can find
her."
Bunny went to the front gate and looked up and down the street.
"I don't see her, Mother," he called back.
"Oh, dear! I wonder where she can be?" said Mrs. Brown.
"I'll find her," Bunny said. "Come on, Splash!" he called to his dog.
"We're going to find Sue; she's lost!"
"Wait! Wait! Come back!" cried Mrs. Brown. "Don't you run off and get
lost again, Bunny! I'll go with you, and we'll both find little sister."
CHAPTER XIII
SUE AND THE GOAT
Bunny Brown and his mother walked out of the front yard to the street.
As they passed the side dining room window, Aunt Lu saw them, and asked:
"Where are you going?"
"To look for Sue," explained Mrs. Brown. "She seems to have wandered off
somewhere all by herself, and I don't want her lost again. It isn't so
bad when Bunny and Sue both get lost," the mother went on, "for they can
help find one another. But if Sue is all alone she may get frightened."
"Do you really think she is lost again?" asked Aunt Lu. "If she is I'll
come and help look for her. Or, perhaps, we'd better get Bunker Blue."
"Oh, no, I really don't think she is lost," said Mrs. Brown. "She has,
most likely, just walked down the street. Bunny and I will find her."
"Lots of things get lost here," Bunny remarked. "Sue and I got lost, but
we found a dog; didn't we, Splash?" he asked, and the dog barked.
"Yes, and my lovely ring is lost, and it hasn't been found," and Aunt Lu
looked at the finger on which used to sparkle the diamond.
"I wish I could find it for you," said Bunny. "But Sue and I have looked
everywhere."
"I know you have, my dear."
As Bunny and his mother reached the street they saw Jed Winkler walking
along, carrying a long chain that rattled.
"Oh, Jed, have you seen Sue?" asked Mrs. Brown. "She was here a while
ago, but she went off by herself, and I'm afraid she's lost."
"Don't worry, ma'am," said the old sailor. "She's just down the street a
few houses. I saw her as I came past. She's playing with Sadie West, in
her yard."
"Oh, that's all right, then!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "Sue often goes
there. Is anyone else with her, Jed?"
"Yes, a lot of children."
"May I go down there and play, too?" asked Bunny. "Are there any boys
there, Mr. Winkler?"
"Some. I saw Charlie Star and Harry Bentley," and the old sailor laughed
as he rattled the chain.
Bunny did not mind playing with his sister Sue, but he did not want to
take part in games with too many girls, for sometimes the older boys
called him "sissy." And Bunny did not like that.
"Well, if there are other fellers there, I'll go and play," said Bunny,
as he started off to join Sue. Then he happened to think of the chain
the old sailor was carrying.
"What's it for?" asked the small boy.
"It's a new chain for Wango, my monkey," explained the sailor. "He
hasn't been very well, lately, and I had the horse-doctor look him
over."
"That's funny," said Bunny. "To have a horse-doctor for a monkey."
"Well, if there had been a monkey-doctor in town I'd have had him for
Wango," went on Mr. Winkler, "but as there wasn't any I had to do the
next best thing. The horse-doctor said my monkey was being kept in the
cage too much.
"So I got this long chain, and I'm going to fasten one end of it to a
collar, to go around Wango's neck, and tie the other end of the chain to
the porch railing, so he can't get away. Then I can let Wango stay
outdoors when the weather is good, and he will get well. At night I will
put him in his cage again." "And the chain won't let him run away,"
commented Bunny.
"That's it, little man, the chain won't let Wango run away," said the
sailor. "That is, I hope it won't, though he often gets out of his cage.
He's quite a tricky monkey."
Mr. Winkler went on down the street, rattling the monkey-chain, and Mrs.
Brown, no longer worried about Sue, turned back into the yard, while
Bunny hurried on, as fast as his little legs would take him, to Sadie
West's yard, where he found his sister and several of their chums having
a good time.
They had made a see-saw, by putting a plank over a box, and were swaying
up and down on this, some children on one end of the plank and some on
the other. As soon as Bunny came running in the yard, Sue called out:
"Oh, goodie! Here's my brother. Now he can teeter-tauter up and down.
Come on, Bunny, you can have my place!"
Sue was so eager to give Bunny her place, and a chance to ride, that she
slid off the board suddenly. Then that left too many little ones on the
other end, and they went down, all at once, with a bump!
Sadie West was spilled off, and so was Charlie Star and Harry Bentley.
They all fell in a heap, but as the green grass was long, and soft, no
one was hurt.
"Don't do that again, Sue!" called Charlie, "You upset us all."
"I won't," Sue promised. "Come on, Bunny. It's your turn now."
"I don't want any turn at falling," Bunny said, with a laugh.
Once more the plank over the box swayed up and down, giving the children
a ride. After a while, getting tired of that, they played in a swing and
also in a hammock, having more fun.
Then it was dinner time, and Sadie's mother told her to come in and wash
before going to the table. The other children knew it must be time for
their meals also, so, calling good-byes to one another, they scattered.
"Come over again," Sadie invited them.
"We will!" promised Bunny.
"Let's go home this way, across the lot," suggested Sue, as she and
Bunny started out.
"Oh, I don't want to," Bunny answered. "It's quicker to go by the
street, and around the corner. And I want to look in Mrs. Redden's
window, and see what she's got new."
"Well, you go that way," Sue agreed, "and I'll go across lots, and we'll
see who gets there first."
"That's just like little Red Riding Hood and the wolf," said Bunny with
a laugh. Sue looked quickly over her shoulder.
"But there's no wolf here," Bunny went on quickly. "You go ahead, Sue,
over the lot, and I'll go by the street."
There was a large vacant lot, near where Sadie West lived, and by
crossing it, and going out at the far end, the Brown children could
reach their home. So Sue started across the lot, crawling through a hole
in the fence.
Bunny started down the street, going quite fast, for he wanted to spend
a few minutes looking in the window of the toy shop, and he also wanted
to get home first, ahead of Sue.
But he had not gone far before he heard his sister calling:
"Bunny! Oh, Bunny! Oh, dear! He's coming after me!"
Bunny turned and ran back. Looking through the fence that was built
around the lot, he saw a big goat, with long horns, walking toward Sue.
And the little girl, who had picked a few daisies, was standing in the
tall grass, too frightened to run back and crawl through the fence.
"Bunny! Bunny! Take the goat away!" Sue cried.
CHAPTER XIV
A LITTLE PARTY
"Sue! Sue! I'm coming! Don't be afraid!"
Bunny cried this as he hurried up to the fence, through the pickets of
which he could see the goat walking toward his sister. Sue was screaming
now.
But, after he had said this, Bunny did not know exactly what to do. He
did not know much about goats, and this was a big one, with long, sharp
horns. The goat belonged to an Italian family in town, and the Italian
man used to ask those who owned vacant lots to let his goat go into them
and eat the grass. That was how the goat happened to be in this lot. If
Sue had known the animal was there, she would not have taken the short
cut, but would have gone, with her brother, along the street.
"Bunny! Bunny!" Sue cried. "He's coming closer!"
Bunny began to crawl through the hole in the fence as his sister had
done. As he did so, he saw, lying on the ground, several stones. He
picked up two, one in each fist.
"I won't let him hurt you, Sue!" he called, but, even as he said that,
Bunny did not know what he was going to do. "I wish I had a red rag," he
thought, "I could wave it at the goat and maybe scare him."
Bunny had heard his mother read from a book how bulls and turkey
gobblers do not like red rags waved at them, and Bunny thought a goat
was something like a bull. They both had horns, at any rate.
"And if I could wave a red rag at him, maybe it would make him so mad
that he'd run away and leave Sue alone," thought Bunny as he found
himself in the vacant lot with his sister.
Bunny was not quite right about the red rag, so perhaps it is just as
well he did not have one. For bulls run TOWARD a red rag, instead of
AWAY from it, and perhaps goats might do the same; though I am not sure
about this.
But, at any rate, Bunny had no red rag; and the goat, instead of running
away, was coming toward Sue, who was too frightened to move. She just
stood there, crying:
"Bunny! Oh, Bunny! Make him go away."
"I will," said her brother. "Go on away, you old goat you!" he cried.
"Go away or I'll throw a stone at you. I don't want to hurt you, but I'm
not going to let you hook my sister with your horns. Go on away!"
But the goat only bleated, like a sheep, and came on. Seeing Bunny
coming toward her made Sue a little braver. At least she found that she
could run, so she did, hiding behind her brother.
"I'll take care of you," he said bravely.
On came the goat. Bunny's heart was beating fast. He raised one hand in
which he held a stone.
"Look out! I'm going to throw it, you old goat!" cried the little blue-
eyed boy.
"Whizz!" went the stone toward the goat. It struck him on the horn, and
of course it did not hurt, for a goat's horns have no feeling on the
outside, any more than have your finger-nails.
"Bounce!" went the stone off the goat's horn. The animal shook his head,
as if he did not like that.
"Go on away!" called Bunny. "I got another stone for you if you don't
go!"
But the goat still came on. Bunny threw the second stone, but it did not
hit the goat. The little boy was looking around for another stone, when
he and Sue heard a loud barking behind them, and up rushed Splash, their
big dog.
"Oh, good! Now he'll drive the goat away!" cried Sue. "Oh, Bunny; aren't
you glad!"
"That's what I am!" Bunny answered. "Drive him away, Splash!"
Splash rushed, barking, at the goat, and the horned animal at once
turned about and ran to the other end of the lot, kicking up his heels.
Splash kept on after him, barking, but not trying to bite, for the dog
was gentle.
"Splash! Splash!" called Bunny. "Come back! Come back!"
Splash minded very well and back he came, quite proud, no doubt, at
having driven off the goat.
"Hurry and get out of here!" begged Sue, as she ran toward the hole in
the fence. Bunny turned to follow her. He looked back to see if the goat
was coming, feeling not half afraid, now that Splash was with them.
In another minute Bunny, Sue and their dog were safely out in the
street. The goat, at the far end of the lot, looked toward them and made
his queer, bleating noise.
Afterward Bunny Brown and his sister Sue learned that the goat was a
very kind one, and used to playing with children. It would not have hurt
Sue at all, and the reason it walked up to her was because it thought
she was going to feed it, as the little Italian children often did. So
Bunny and Sue had their fright for nothing, though of course, at the
time, Bunny thought the goat might hurt his sister.
"And I'm sorry I hit him with a stone," said Bunny, when, afterward, he
was told how gentle the goat was.
"Oh, well, you didn't hurt him," said Aunt Lu.
Bunny, Sue and Splash were late for their dinner that day.
"My! What kept you?" asked Mrs. Brown, as they entered the house. "I did
not want you to stay so long away."
"It was the goat that made me," Sue said, and then she and Bunny told of
their adventure.
"Well, of course you couldn't help that," Mrs. Brown said with a smile.
"Something new always seems to be happening to you children. Now wash
and come to your meal."
There were jam tarts for dessert that day, and as Bunny ate his, the
raspberry jam coming up through the three small holes in the top crust,
the little fellow said:
"These are so good! Who made them?"
"Aunt Lu did," answered his mother. '"Aren't they nice?"
"Lovely!" murmured Sue. "May I have another, Mother?"
"I think so, as they are small."
"And I want one!" Bunny exclaimed. "They taste just like--just like a
play-party!" he finished.
"So they do!" cried Sue. "I was trying to think what it was they tasted
like--but it's a party!"
"What a queer way for jam tarts to taste!" laughed Aunt Lu. "But I am
glad you like them. I'll make some more some day."
"Oh, fine!" exclaimed Bunny. "And oh, Mother! Maybe we could have one!"
His eyes were shining brightly.
"Have one what?" asked Mrs. Brown.
"Why, one party," Bunny replied. "Could Sue and I have a little party,
and would Aunt Lu bake some jam tarts for us?"
"I'll bake the tarts, if your mother wants you to have the party," Aunt
Lu answered.
Mrs. Brown thought for a moment.
"Well," she said slowly, "I suppose you could have a little party. Not a
very big one, as I am so busy. Just a few of your friends to eat on the
lawn under the trees."
"Oh, that would be lovely!" Sue cried.
"And we'll have some boys, and not all girls!" Bunny declared.
"Half girls and half boys," Aunt Lu suggested. "And I'll make half jam
tarts and half jelly ones, so they may take their choice."
"And I'll bake a cake for Splash!" exclaimed Sue. "He likes cake. We
might give the party for him," she went on. "That would be fun!"
"And they could all bring our dog presents--bones and things like that,"
laughed Bunny.
And so it was decided. The party would be for Splash, though of course
he would not be allowed to eat all the good things. Bunny Brown and his
sister Sue wanted those for themselves and their playmates.
The next day Bunny and Sue went around to the different houses, where
their little friends lived, and each one was asked to come to the party.
"Oh, I'm so glad you asked me!" cried Sadie West, when Sue told about
the fun they would have.
"I want you more than anyone," was Sue's reply.
"And how funny to have the party for Splash!" Sadie went on.
"Well, dogs like nice things."
"Of course they do. I think it's just fine!" and Sadie clapped her
hands. "I'll tie a little pink ribbon on the bone I bring your dog."
Helen Newton said she would bring Splash a dog-biscuit.
"You buy them in a store," she said. "Papa buys them for our dog, and
you can get puppy cakes, too. Only of course Splash is too big for a
puppy cake."
"You could bring him a lot of little puppy cakes, and they would be the
same as one big dog-biscuit, maybe," said Sue.
"No, I'll bring him a regular cake, and I'll put a blue ribbon on it,"
decided Helen, and then the little girls laughed to think what fun they
would have at the party.
CHAPTER XV
GEORGE WATSON'S TRICK
The day of the party for Splash, the dog, came at last, though Bunny
Brown and his sister Sue were so anxious for the time to arrive that it
seemed very long indeed. But everything comes if you wait long enough,
so they say, and finally the time for the party came.
"Oh, what a fine day!" cried Bunny, as he ran to the window on the
morning of the day of the party. "The sun is shining, Sue!"
"That's good," answered his sister from her room. "A party is no fun in
the rain."
"And there's wind enough to fly the kites," went on Bunny. He and some
of his little boy friends had talked over what they would do at the
party.
"The girls will want to play with their dolls," said Harry Bentley.
"Well, we don't want to do that," observed Charlie Star. "What can we
do?"
"We can make kites, and fly 'em," Bunny said, and so this was what he
and the boys at the party would do while the girls were playing with
their dolls. So Bunny was now glad to notice, as he looked from the
window, that the wind was blowing; not too hard, but enough to fly
kites.
The two children were soon dressed, and down at the breakfast table. But
they did not eat as much as usual, and Bunny left more than half his
oatmeal in his dish.
"Why, Bunny! What is the matter?" asked his mother.
"I guess they are thinking so much about the party that they can't eat
as they ought," Aunt Lu said.
"Oh, but that isn't right!" Mother Brown exclaimed. "Come, Bunny--Sue,
eat a nice breakfast, and then you may fix up the lawn in any way you
like for your party."
"I've a big bow for Splash's neck," said Sue.
"And I'm going to make a harness, and hitch him up to the express wagon,
so he can pull us around the yard," remarked Bunny.
"Now please eat your breakfast!" begged their mother, and Bunny and Sue
did their best. But it was hard work not to talk or think about their
party.
Aunt Lu helped them get the lawn in readiness. All about the Brown house
was a big grass plot, and in the back were a number of shade trees. The
tables, which were made from boxes, with boards across the top, were to
be set out there.
There were to be sandwiches, cake, lemonade and ice cream, with Aunt
Lu's lovely jam and jelly tarts besides.
"It was the tarts that made us think about the party, so of course we
want them," announced Sue.
Splash, the dog, seemed quite proud of the big bow that Sue tied on his
neck, to make him look pretty. But Splash did not care so much for the
harness that Bunny made. The little boy took some ropes and straps, and
tied them about the dog's neck and front legs. Then some ends of the
ropes were made fast to the little express wagon, and Bunny got in it,
calling to Splash to "giddap!" That was the way Grandpa Brown made his
horses go, and so, of course, a dog ought to go when you said that to
him.
Splash went all right, but just as when Bunny had hitched him to the
boat, that was stuck on the island, the harness was not strong enough,
and it broke, so that Splash ran off, with the straps and ropes dangling
from him.
"I guess I'm too heavy for him to pull," said Bunny, as he got out of
the wagon.
"You could have one of my dolls to ride in the wagon," offered Sue.
"Take an old one, and I don't care if she falls out. She wouldn't be too
heavy for Splash to pull."
"I'll try it," Bunny said.
Once again he tied the ropes about Splash, and the little express wagon,
and this time, when Bunny walked along beside the dog, Splash really did
pull the wagon along, giving the doll a ride.
But Bunny did not think this was much fun. He wanted to ride in the
wagon himself.
"I'm going to make a big, strong harness," he said, and off he went to
look for more rope.
"Well, I'm going to get the tables ready," Sue said. "I'm going to pick
some flowers for them."
Aunt Lu, with the help of the cook, had made the wooden tables, which
were boards over boxes. White cloths were now spread on them, for it was
nearly time for the party. The things to eat would not be set out until
the party guests came.
Sue loved flowers, and she picked them from the fields and woods
whenever she saw any to gather. Not far from the Brown home, in fact in
the next lot to the lawn, was a field in which grew daisies, buttercups,
clover and other wild flowers.
Sue picked many of these, and then she and Aunt Lu put them in pitchers
and vases of water, and set them on the tables. There were two tables,
one for the girls and one for the boys.
Bunny had asked that this be done.
"'Cause the girls will bring their dolls to the table," he said, "and we
fellows don't want to eat with a lot of dolls."
"Oh, you funny boy!" laughed his mother, but she had let him have his
way. So Aunt Lu and Sue had two tables to decorate with flowers.
While they were doing this Bunny was trying to make another harness for
Splash, so the dog could pull the express wagon with the little boy in
it. But Bunny did not have very good luck, or else Splash pulled too
strongly, for one harness after another broke, until Bunny gave up.
"I'll save my money and buy a harness at the store," he said.
"There, I think we have flowers enough, Sue!" exclaimed her aunt, as she
looked at the tables. Indeed they were very pretty, and they would look
even better when the dishes, and the good things to eat, were put on.
"Isn't it 'most time?" asked Bunny, after a bit. "I'm getting hungry."
"Oh, you must wait for the company," his mother told him. "They will
soon be here."
And, a little later, Sadie West and Helen Newton came. When they saw how
pretty the flowers looked on the table they exclaimed:
"Oh, how nice!"
"Where is Splash?" asked Sadie. "I've brought him a bone," and so she
had, all wrapped in waxed paper from the inside of a cracker package,
and on the bone, just as she had promised, was a pink ribbon.
"Here, Splash! Splash!" called Bunny, who had given up trying to make
his pet pull the express wagon.
The dog came running up from the far end of the yard.
"See what Sadie has brought for your party!" laughed Bunny.
Splash took the bone, but the ends of the ribbon got up his nose and he
sneezed in the queerest way, which made the children laugh.
"I guess Splash doesn't like too much style," said Sadie, who was older
than Bunny and Sue.
"I wonder how he'll like my dog-biscuit," remarked Helen Newton, as she
unwrapped it from the paper. "I put a red bow on it. Do you like red
better than pink, Splash?"
The dog, who was gnawing the bone Sadie had brought him, looked up and
wagged his tail. He must have thought it was fine to have so many good
things to eat, even though he did not understand about the party. He
sniffed at the dog-biscuit, which is a sort of cake, with ground-up
meat, and other good things in it that dogs like. Then Splash would gnaw
a little on the bone, and, afterward, nibble at the hard biscuit.
"Well, Splash is enjoying himself anyhow," said Aunt Lu, as she came out
to begin setting the tables.
Soon after this a number of the boys and girls came. There were ten
girls and six boys, though ten boys had been invited. But though all the
girls came to the party given for Splash, all the boys did not. It often
is that way at parties; isn't it? More girls than boys. But the boys
don't know what fun they sometimes miss.
"Play some games, children," said Mrs. Brown. "Run about and play, and
then it will be time to eat. Aunt Lu and I will put on the cake, and
other goodies."
"Let's play tag!" said Sue.
"And after that hide-and-go-to-seek," Bunny called.
"And puss-in-the-corner," added Sadie West.
One after the other they played the games, running about on the grassy
lawn, and having great fun. Splash dug a hole and hid his bone, after
gnawing on it as long as he cared to. He ate all the dog-biscuit, and
then Bunny got a ball which Splash would run after when it was thrown.
Bunny and his boy friends played the ball game with the dog, while the
girls, after having tired themselves with the lively games, like tag,
brought out their dolls and dressed and undressed them.
"When are we going to fly the kites?" asked Charlie Star.
"We can do it now," Bunny answered.
Each boy had made himself a kite, which he brought with him. Bunny got
his from the house, and, going to an open place, where the trees would
not catch the strings, the boys put up their air-toys.
The wind was good, as Bunny had said, and soon there were six kites
floating in the air. That is there were six for a time, and then Bunny's
string broke, and away flew his kite.
"Oh, dear!" he cried.
"That's too bad!" exclaimed Charlie Star. "Come on, boys, we'll haul
down our kites and chase after Bunny's!"
They were just going to do this when Mrs. Brown came out to say that it
was time to eat.
"You can look for the kite, afterward," she said; "if you go now all the
ice cream may melt, as we have taken it out of the freezer."
Of course the boys did not want anything like that to happen, so they
said they would wait. Down they sat at the tables, the boys at theirs
and the girls at the one made ready for them. Aunt Lu, Mrs. Brown and
the cook passed the good things, and, for a time, there was not much
talking done. The children were too busy eating.
"Don't forget Aunt Lu's jam and jelly tarts!" called out Bunny. "They're
fine!"
And when they had been passed around, all the guests at the party said
Bunny was right, and that the tarts were just fine!
"I'm so glad you like them," said Aunt Lu, very much pleased.
Bunny wanted to give a Punch and Judy show, with Sue, after the meal was
over. He said he could wear the big, hollow lobster claw, and make
himself look very funny.
"But I think I wouldn't--not now," his mother remarked. "You would have
to build a little booth, or place for you and Sue to get inside of, and
we haven't time for that. Just play some easy games."
"All right," agreed Bunny.
Aunt Lu had all the children sit in a ring on the grass while she told
them a story. And it was just after the story was finished that George
Watson played his trick.
George had not been invited to the party, because he was too old, Mrs.
Brown said.
Perhaps this had made George rather angry. At any rate, when the
children were thanking Aunt Lu for the nice story she had told them,
there was suddenly tossed over the fence, right into the midst of them,
a paste-board shoe box. It fell near Bunny's feet, and he jumped back,
he was so startled.
"Who threw that?" Bunny asked.
"George Watson did," said Charlie Star. "I saw him walk up along the
fence, and throw it over."
"What is it?" asked Sue.
"Maybe it's a present for Splash," suggested Sadie.
"George Watson would rather pull Splash's tail, than give him a
present," declared Bunny. And indeed George often played rather mean
tricks on animals, and little children.
"Open the box, and see what's in it," suggested Helen Newton.
"I'll open it," offered Bunny.
The cover of the box was tied on, but Bunny slipped off the string. As
he lifted the cover, Sue, who stood behind her brother, looking over his
shoulder, exclaimed:
"Oh, it's alive! It's alive! Look out, Bunny! There's something alive in
that box, and it might bite you!"
CHAPTER XVI
THE LEMONADE STAND
Bunny Brown tried to clap the cover quickly back on the box, but he did
not quite do it. It went on crooked, and when Charlie Star tried to help
he only made it worse, so that the cover went spinning to one side.
Suddenly some little green animals began hopping from the box. Out they
hopped, and then they began jumping in all directions, among the little
boys and girls.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" screamed the girls, as they started to run.
Some of the boys--the smaller ones--also ran, but they did not scream.
Bunny Brown and Charlie Star were the only boys who did not run.
"Oh, Bunny! What is it? What are they?" cried Sue, looking over her
shoulder as she ran toward the house.
"It's snakes! I saw 'em! Big green snakes," insisted Sadie West.
"Oh, what a mean boy George is, to scare us so!" said Helen.
Then Bunny Brown laughed, and so did Charlie. Hearing this the girls
stopped screaming, and the boys stopped running.
"What is it?" asked Sue again. "Did they bite you, Bunny?"
"Nope" he answered, still laughing, "they can't bite me!"
"Why not?" his sister wanted to know.
"'Cause they're only frogs. They won't hurt anybody!"
And that is what was in the box that George had tossed over the fence
into the midst of the party-guests--a box of big, green frogs that he
had caught at the mill pond. George wanted to scare Bunny and Sue for
not asking him to their dog's party. But the little scare was soon over,
and the children only laughed at the frogs.
The green hoppers jumped this way and that, through the grass, and Bunny
and his friends did not try to catch them.
"They're looking for water," Bunny said.
Splash saw that something queer was going on, and he ran up to see what
it was. He barked at some of the frogs, as they hopped through the
grass, but did not try to bite them.
"And to think George fooled us with frogs," laughed Charlie. "When I see
him I'll tell him we just like frogs, and they didn't scare us a bit."
"I thought they were snakes, at first," Sue said. "That's why I ran
away."
"It was not a very nice trick," said Aunt Lu. "But still it did no harm.
Now for another game, and I think there are a few more tarts left."
"Oh, goodie!" cried the children.
There were enough tarts for each one to have another, and, when they had
been passed around, after a lively game of Puss-in-the-corner, the party
was over. Everyone said he had had a fine time, and when Bunny Brown and
his sister Sue asked their guests to come again, each one said:
"I surely will!"
"I guess everybody would be glad to come to another party like it," said
Sadie West to Helen Newton, as they walked home together.
"I'm sure of it," answered Helen. "And wasn't Splash nice!"
"Yes, he's a lovely dog. I wish I had one I could have a party for."
"You could give a party for your cat, some day," said Helen.
"Oh, so I could! And I will, too--maybe next week. I wish Sue's Aunt Lu
would bake some tarts for me."
"Maybe she will."
"I wonder if it would be polite to ask her?" inquired Sadie. "I'll speak
to mother about it."
"Well, did you like your party, Splash?" asked Bunny, as he patted the
shaggy dog on the head, when all the little guests had gone.
Splash did not say anything, of course. But he wagged his tail, and
walked over to where he had buried the bone Sadie had brought him. So I
guess Splash did like the party as much as did the children. And he had
several good things to eat, which, after all, is what most parties are
for.
One day Aunt Lu read a story from a magazine to Bunny and Sue. It told
about some boys who, on a warm day, set up a lemonade stand under a
shady tree, in front of their house, and sold lemonade at a penny a
glass. The money they made they sent to a church society, that took poor
children out of the hot city to the cool country for a week or so.
Sue noticed that Bunny was very quiet after Aunt Lu had read the story,
and, as the two children went out into the yard, the little girl asked:
"What are you thinking about, Bunny?"
"Lemonade," he answered.
"Were you thinking you'd like some? 'Cause I would."
"Well, I would like some to drink," Bunny admitted, "but I was thinking
we could make a stand, and sell lemonade ourselves. I could fix up a box
for a stand, and I could squeeze the lemons."
"I'd put the sugar in," Sue said. She was always willing to help. "But
where would we get the ice and the lemons and the sugar?"
"Oh, mother would give them to us. I'm going to ask her."
"And what would we do with the money, Bunny?"
The little fellow thought for a minute. There was in his town no church
society, such as Aunt Lu had read about. The money made from selling
lemonade must go to the poor, Bunny was sure of that. All at once his
eyes grew bright.
"We could give all the money to Old Miss Hollyhock!" he said. "She is
terribly poor."
"Old Miss Hollyhock," as she was called, was an aged woman who lived in
a little house down near the fish dock. Her husband had been a soldier,
and when he died the old lady was given money from the government--a
pension, it was called. Still she was very poor, and she was called "Old
Miss Hollyhock," because she had so many of those old-fashioned
hollyhock flowers in her garden. Her real name was Mrs. Borden.
"We could give the money to her," Bunny said.
"Oh, yes!" Sue agreed. "She needs it."
"Then we'll have a lemonade stand," decided Bunny.
Mrs. Brown said she did not mind if Bunny and Sue did this. A number of
the children in Bellemere had done this, at different times, and some of
the larger boys and girls had made even as much as five dollars, giving
the money to the church, or to the Sunday school.
"Of course you won't make as much as that, Bunny," his mother said, "but
you may take in a few pennies, and it won't do you any harm to sit in
the shade and sell lemonade."
"Will you buy some?" asked Sue.
"Oh, I guess so," Mrs. Brown answered, smiling.
So she gave the children the ice, sugar and lemons, and they made a big
pitcher of lemonade. Bunny set up a box under a tree in front of the
house, covering the box with a clean white cloth. Then with the pitcher
and glasses on a serving tray, he and Sue were ready for business.
"Lemonade! Lemonade!" they called, just as had done the children in the
story. "Lemonade, in the shade, nice and cold, just fresh made!"
One man did stop and buy some.
"My, that's good!" he said, as he finished the glass. "How much is it?"
"A penny," Bunny said.
"Oh, only a penny? Why, that glass of lemonade was worth five cents
anywhere! It was just sweet enough, and just cold enough. Here!" and the
man laid a five cent piece down on the stand and walked off.
"Oh, isn't that good!" cried Bunny, his eyes fairly dancing with joy as
he looked at Sue.
"It's just fine!" she answered. "What a lot of money!"
But few were as generous as the kind man, and most of those who drank at
the lemonade stand just laid down pennies.
Bunny and Sue had taken in quite a few pennies, and the pitcher was
nearly empty of lemonade.
"I'll go in and make more as soon as we sell it all," Bunny said.
"We'll have a lot of money for Old Miss Hollyhock," observed Sue. "She
will be rich, then, won't she, Bunny?"
"I guess sixteen cents isn't rich. But we did better than I thought we
would. Oh, look!" suddenly cried Bunny. "There's a dog, and some one has
tied a tin can to his tail!"
Down the street, yelping and barking, came a small yellow dog, and,
bounding after him, bumping about and scaring him, was a big, empty tin
can, tied to the dog's tail.
"Oh, Bunny!" cried Sue, "he's coming right here. He'll upset our
lemonade stand!"
"That's what he will," Bunny agreed. "Hi, there! Stop! Go the other way!
Shoo!" he cried, waving his arms at the dog, while Sue took up the
nearly empty lemonade pitcher.
On came the frightened dog, straight for the stand and the two children.
CHAPTER XVII
THE MOVING PICTURES
"Oh, Bunny! Bunny! What are we going to do?" cried his sister Sue.
Bunny swallowed a sort of lump in his throat that always seemed to come
when he was a bit frightened. Then he looked around. Next he glanced at
Sue.
"Get under the box, Sue!" he cried. "Then the dog can't get you!"
"But what will you do?" asked the little girl. "I don't want you to get
hurt, Bunny."
"I--I won't be afraid," said the little boy. "I--I'll pour lemonade on
the dog, and that will make him run away."
"Oh--Oh!" gasped Sue. "Throw away our good lemonade?"
"We can make more," said Bunny. "There's only a little left, anyhow."
He reached for the pitcher. At the same time Sue started to crawl under
the empty box they had made into a lemonade stand.
But the yelping, yellow dog, with the tin can tied to his tail, was
coming faster than either Bunny or Sue thought. Before Bunny could take
up the nearly empty pitcher of lemonade, or before Sue could crawl under
the box, the dog was upon them.
Right under the box the poor, frightened creature ran, thinking, I
suppose, that it would be a good place to hide and get away from that
terrible tin can that was pounding after him, no matter how fast he
went.
So into the box he ran, and I think you can guess what happened. The dog
was going so fast, and the box, not being held down to the ground, was
so easily pushed over, that it toppled to one side.
And, as Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were standing near the box, it
fell over on them, and the lemonade pitcher upset, and the lemonade in
it splashed all over the little boy and his sister. The glasses bounced
off into the grass, and the dog suddenly turned a somersault, and fell
on top of Bunny, Sue, the box and the lemonade pitcher.
And that's what happened, just as you must have guessed.
For a few seconds there was such a tangle of dog, lemonade, pitcher,
lemonade stand, to say nothing of Bunny and Sue, that if any one had
been there to see he would hardly have known which was the dog, and
which was Bunny and Sue.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried the little girl.
"What--what's the matter?" gasped Bunny.
The dog howled, barked and whined, and then the box rolled to one side,
and so did the now empty pitcher of lemonade. Sue found herself sitting
on the grass, holding what she thought was her doll, but which was
really one of Bunny's chubby legs.
Bunny lay on his back, and in his arms he held--what do you think? Why
the little yellow dog, to be sure!
And now the dog stopped howling and barking, for he must have known that
Bunny and Sue would be his friends, and he was not afraid any more. And
that is the way they were when Aunt Lu and Splash, the big dog, came out
to see how the two little lemonade sellers were getting along.
"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Aunt Lu. "Oh my goodness! What has
happened?"
At first she was a bit frightened, but when she saw that Sue was
smiling, and that Bunny was just ready to laugh, Aunt Lu laughed also.
"Well, if none of you is hurt, and nothing broken, I think this is very
funny!" Aunt Lu exclaimed. "Oh, but what a mix-up!"
Splash, the big dog, seemed to think so too, for he barked--not a cross,
ugly bark, but a sort of laughing kind--as if, he, also, felt that it
was jolly fun.
Then Splash saw the little yellow dog in Bunny's arms, and the big dog
went up to him, wagging his tail, while the two sort of rubbed noses--
you know the way dogs do instead of shaking hands, or paws, I suppose I
should say, and right away they were friends.
"Oh, look! look!" Sue exclaimed, now laughing herself. "I thought I had
my doll, and--it's Bunny's leg!"
"Huh! I wondered what was holding me." exclaimed the little boy.
Sue let go of him, and Bunny got up. Then he rolled the lemonade box
away from Sue, for it was resting partly on her, and by this time the
little yellow dog (which Bunny had put down) was making better friends
than ever with Splash.
[Illustration: "GET UNDER THE BOX, SUE!" HE CRIED.]
Then Aunt Lu saw the tin can tied to the yellow dog's tail, and she
cried out:
"Oh, what a shame! Who did that?"
"We didn't!" Bunny answered quickly.
"Oh, of course not! I know you wouldn't do such a thing," returned his
aunt. "Here, little dog, I'll cut it off for you," and she took her
scissors out of her apron pocket, for she had been sewing just before
coming out to look at the lemonade stand. "I'll cut it off for you,"
said Aunt Lu.
"Oh, don't cut off his tail!" begged Sue.
"Of course not!" laughed Aunt Lu. "I meant I'd cut off the tin can. You
poor little doggie! No wonder you were frightened. And now tell me all
how it happened," she went on, as she snipped, with her scissors, the
string around the little yellow dog's tail. He seemed very happy to be
free of the tin can.
"Well, it just happened--that's all," said Bunny. "He ran into our
lemonade stand, and upset it."
"But I guess he didn't mean to," remarked Sue, who had, by this time,
found her real doll in the long grass.
"No, he was so scared that he didn't know where he was running," decided
Aunt Lu. "Well, now I'll help you pick things up, and then you had
better come to the house. Haven't you sold enough lemonade for one day?"
"I guess so," answered Bunny.
"Did you lose the money?" asked Sue anxiously. "Where is the money we
got?"
"In my pocket," Bunny replied. It was lucky he had put it there, or,
when the box was knocked over, the pennies and five cent pieces might
have been scattered in the grass and lost.
But everything was all right, and not a glass was broken, for they fell
in soft, grassy places. The lemonade was spilled, of course, a little of
it going on Bunny and Sue. But they did not mind that. And, best of all,
the little dog no longer had a tin can tied to his tail.
"I wonder who did it?" asked Sue.
"Oh, some bad boys, I suppose," answered her aunt. "Boys who tie cans to
dogs' tails don't stop to think how frightened the poor animals may get.
But I'm glad this was no worse. Now, little yellow dog, you had better
run home, that is if you have a home."
The yellow dog seemed to have some place to go. For, after he had once
more rubbed noses with Splash, had barked, as if saying good-bye, and
had wagged his tail joyfully, away he trotted down the street.
Now and then he looked back, as if to thank Bunny and Sue, and their
aunt, for what they had done for him, or perhaps he was looking to make
sure the banging, dangling tin can was no longer fast to his tail.
But it was not, for Aunt Lu had tossed it away. Then she helped Bunny
and Sue carry in the pitcher and glasses, and put away the box that had
been used for a stand.
"We'll sell some more lemonade to-morrow," Bunny said.
"Yes," agreed Sue. "We want to get a lot of money for poor folks."
"How much did you take in?" Aunt Lu wanted to know.
Bunny gave it to her to count, as he could not go higher than ten, and
there was more money than that.
"Why you have twenty-one cents!" Aunt Lu exclaimed. "That's fine,
children! I'll keep it for you, and if you do get more I'll put it all
together, and give it to Old Miss Hollyhock for you."
But Bunny Brown and his sister Sue did not sell lemonade next day. One
reason was because it rained, and, for another, they found something
else to do.
The Brown house was the nicest place you could think of in which to
spend a rainy day, that is the big attic was, and it was up there that
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were always allowed to play.
The day after they had had the lemonade stand the rain came down very
hard. Bunny and Sue stood with their noses pressed flat against the
window panes.
"Oh dear!" sighed Sue.
"Oh dear!" sighed Bunny.
"Tut! Tut!" exclaimed their mother. "I know what that means. Up to the
attic with you, and play some of your games!"
"Oh yes!" cried Bunny joyfully.
"We'll play trolley car with the spinning wheel!" said Sue.
This was only one of the games they played. There was a big spinning
wheel up in the attic. It had belonged to Mrs. Brown's grandmother, and
in the olden days, before yarn for socks and mittens was made by
machinery, it was spun on a spinning wheel. This was a big wheel, as
large as one on a wagon, but not so heavy. And it went around and
around, very easily.
Bunny and Sue would sit on a trunk, spin the wheel, and make believe
they were in a trolley car. They would take turns being the motorman.
Sometimes Bunny would have that place, while Sue would be the conductor,
and again Bunny would collect the fare and let Sue spin the wheel.
All that rainy day Bunny and Sue played in the attic, making up many new
games about which I shall tell you another time. They had so much fun
that they could hardly believe it when night came, and it was time to go
to bed.
"And maybe the sun will shine to-morrow," said Bunny.
It did, the rain having gone somewhere else to water the flowers and
trees.
The next afternoon Aunt Lu promised to take Bunny and Sue down to their
father's office, on the dock. They wanted to see the fish boats come in,
and Aunt Lu had some shopping to do.
Bunny and Sue, nicely dressed, freshly washed and combed, went out on
the front porch to wait for Aunt Lu. She had said she would be down as
soon as she changed her dress.
But Bunny and Sue grew tired of waiting.
"Let's walk on a little way," said Bunny. "We can go down to the corner,
and back again, and Aunt Lu will be down then."
Sue was always ready to do just what Bunny said, and soon the two
children, hand in hand, went walking down the street. They did not
intend to go far, but something happened, as it often did with them.
Just beyond the corner there was a moving picture theatre, lately
opened. Mrs. Brown and Aunt Lu had taken Bunny and his sister there once
or twice, when there was a fairy play, or something nice to see, so
Bunny and Sue knew what the moving pictures were like.
"Oh, let's just go down and look at the picture posters outside," said
Bunny, as they stood on the corner, from where they could see the
theatre.
"All right," said Sue quickly.
In front of the moving picture place were some big boards, and on them
were pasted brightly colored posters, almost like circus ones, telling
about the moving pictures that were being shown inside. There was a
picture of a man falling in the water, and another of a railroad train.
Bunny loved cars and locomotives.
Not thinking anything wrong, the two tots ran across the street, looking
carefully up and down first, to see that no automobiles were coming.
They crossed safely.
A little later they were standing in front of the moving picture
theatre, looking at the gay posters.
"Wouldn't you like to go in?" asked Bunny.
Sue nodded her curly head.
"Maybe Aunt Lu will take us," she said.
"We'll ask her," decided Bunny.
Then they heard, from down the side street, the sound of a piano. It
came from the moving picture place, and the reason Bunny and Sue could
hear it so plainly was because the piano was near a side door, which was
open to let in the fresh air.
"Let's go down there and listen to the music a minute," Bunny said.
"Then we'll go back and tell Aunt Lu."
"All right!" agreed Sue.
A little later the two were standing at the open, side door of the
place. They could hear the piano very plainly now, and, what was more
wonderful, they could look right in the theatre and see the moving
pictures flashing on the white screen.
"Oh! oh!" murmured Bunny. "Look, Sue."
"Oh! oh!" whispered Sue. And then Bunny had a queer idea.
"We can walk right in," he said. "The door is open. I guess this is for
children like us--they don't want any money. Come on in, Sue, and we'll
see the moving pictures!"
CHAPTER XVIII
WANGO AND THE CANDY
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue walked right into the moving picture
theatre. The door, as I have told you, was open, there was no one
standing near to take tickets, or ask for money, and of course the
children thought it was all right to go in.
No one seemed to notice them, perhaps because the place was dark, except
where the brilliant pictures were dancing and flashing on the white
screen. And no one heard Bunny and Sue, for not only did they walk very
softly, but just then the girl at the piano was playing loudly, and the
sound filled the place.
Right in through the open side door walked Bunny and Sue, and never for
a moment did they think they were doing anything wrong. I suppose, after
all, it was not very wrong.
Bunny walked ahead, and Sue followed, keeping hold of his hand. Pretty
soon she whispered to her brother:
"Bunny! Bunny! I can't see very good at all here. I want to see the
pictures better."
"All right," Bunny whispered back. "I can't see very good, either. We'll
find a better place."
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