Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue
by
Laura Lee Hope
Part 3 out of 3
You know you can't look at moving pictures from the side, they all seem
to be twisted if you do. You must be almost in front of them, and this
time Bunny and Sue were very much to one edge.
"We'll get up real close, and right in front," Bunny went on. Then he
saw a little pair of steps leading up to the stage, or platform; only
Bunny did not know it was that. He just thought if he and Sue went up
the steps they would be better able to see. So up he went.
The screen, or big white sheet, on which the moving pictures were shown,
stood back some distance from the front of the stage. And it was a real
stage, with footlights and all, but it was not used for acting any more,
as only moving pictures were given in that theatre now.
Sue followed Bunny up the steps. The pictures were ever so much clearer
and larger now. She was quite delighted, and so was her brother. They
wandered out to the middle of the stage, paying no attention to the
audience. And the people in the theatre were so interested in the
picture on the screen, that, for a while, they did not see the children
who had wandered into the darkened theatre by the side door.
The music from the piano sounded louder and louder. The pictures became
more brilliant. Then suddenly Bunny and Sue walked right out on the
stage in front of the screen, where the light from the moving picture
lantern shone brightly on them.
"What's that?" cried several persons.
"Look! Why they're real children!" said others.
Bunny and Sue could be plainly seen now, for they were exactly in the
path of the strong light. There was some laughter in the audience, and
then the man who was turning the crank of the moving picture machine
began to understand that something was wrong.
He stopped the picture film, and turned on a plain, white light, very
strong and glaring, Just like the headlights of an automobile. Bunny and
Sue could hardly see, and they looked like two black shadows on the
white screen.
"Look! Look! It's part of the show!" said some persons in front.
"Maybe they're going to sing," said others.
"Or do a little act."
"Oh, aren't they cute!" laughed a lady.
By this time the piano player had stopped making music. She knew that
something was wrong. So did the moving picture man up in his little iron
box, and so did the usher--that's the man who shows you where to find a
seat. The usher came hurrying down the aisle.
"Hello, youngsters!" he called out, but he was not in the least bit
cross. "Where did you get in?" he asked.
By this time the lights all over the place had been turned up, and Bunny
and Sue could see the crowd, while the audience could also see them.
Bunny blinked and smiled, but Sue was bashful, and tried to hide behind
her brother. This made the people laugh still more.
"How did you get in, and who is with you?" asked the usher.
"We walked in the door over there," and Bunny pointed to the side one.
"And we came all alone. We're waiting for Aunt Lu."
"Oh, then she is coming?"
"I don't guess so," Bunny said. "We didn't tell her we were coming
here."
"Well, well!" exclaimed the usher-man. "What does it all mean? Did your
Aunt Lu send you on ahead? We don't let little children in here unless
some older person is with them, but--"
"We just comed in," Sue said. "The door was open, and we wanted to see
the pictures, so we comed in; didn't we Bunny?"
"Yes," he said. "But we'd like to sit down. We can't see good up here."
"No, you are a little too close to the screen," said the usher. "Well,
I'd send you home if I knew where you lived, but--"
"I know them!" called out a woman near the front of the theatre. "That
is Bunny Brown and his sister Sue. They live just up the street. I'll
take them home."
"Thank you; that's very kind of you," said the man. "I guess their folks
must be worrying about them. Please take them home."
"We don't want to go home!" exclaimed Sue. "We want to see the pictures;
don't we, Bunny?"
"Yes," answered the little fellow, "but maybe we'd better go and get
Aunt Lu."
"I think so myself," laughed the usher. "You can come some other time,
youngsters. But bring your aunt, or your mother, with you; and don't
come in the side door. I'll have to keep some one there, if it's going
to be open, or I'll have more tots walking in without paying."
"Come the next time, with your aunt or mother," he went on, "and I'll
give you free tickets. It won't cost you even a penny!"
"Oh, goodie!" cried Sue. She was willing to go home now, and the lady
who said she knew them--who was a Mrs. Wakefield, and lived not far from
the Brown home--took Bunny and Sue by the hands and led them out of the
theatre.
The lights were turned low again, and the moving picture show went on.
Bunny and Sue wished they could have stayed, but they were glad they
could come again, as the man had invited them.
As Mrs. Wakefield led them down the street, toward their home, they saw
Aunt Lu running to meet them.
"Oh, Bunny! Sue!" she exclaimed. "Where have you been? I've looked all
over for you!"
"We went to the moving pictures," said Bunny.
"By the side door," added Sue. "And we were on the stage, and the people
all laughed; didn't they Bunny?"
"Yes, they did. And the man said we could come back for nothing, and you
are to bring us. When will you, Aunt Lu?"
"Why--why I don't know what to think of it all!" their aunt exclaimed.
"In a moving picture show--by the side door--on the stage--to go again
for nothing--I never saw such children, never!"
"Well, it all happened, just that way," said Mrs. Wakefield, and she
told how surprised she, and all the others in the theatre were to see
Bunny and Sue wander out on the stage into the strong light.
"But you musn't do it again," Aunt Lu said, and of course Bunny and Sue
promised they would not.
"Now come on down to the fish dock, and we'll see the boats come in,"
Bunny begged, and off they started.
There was much going on at Mr. Brown's, dock that day. Some boats were
getting dressed up in new suits of sails, and others were being painted.
Then, too, a number of fishing boats came in, well filled with different
kinds of fish. Some had lobsters in them and there was one big one, with
very large claws.
"That one's claws are bigger than the claw you have, to play Punch and
Judy with, Bunny," said Sue.
"Yes," agreed her brother, "but that claw is too big for my nose."
"I should think so!" laughed Aunt Lu. "Your whole little face would
almost go in it, Bunny. Oh dear!" she went on. "I don't like lobsters as
much as I used to."
"Why not?" asked Mr. Brown, who came out of his office to see his
children and their aunt. "I was going to have you take one up to the
house to make into salad for dinner. Why don't you like lobsters any
more, Aunt Lu?"
"Oh, because whenever I see them, and remember the one we had for supper
the first night I came here, I think of my lost diamond ring, that I
never shall find."
"Yes, it is too bad," agreed Mr. Brown. "I thought you were going to
find it, Bunny?"
"Well, Sue and I looked and looked and looked," said the little fellow,
"but we couldn't find it anywhere!"
"Yes, they have tried," said Aunt Lu. "But never mind, we won't talk
about it."
They looked into the other fishing boats, and then Bunker Blue came
along. As he had nothing much to do just then he took Aunt Lu and the
children for a little ride in a motor boat, that went by gasoline, the
same as does an automobile. Only, of course, a boat goes in the water,
and an automobile runs on land.
Bunny and Sue had a pleasant afternoon with Aunt Lu, and when she told
their father about the children having wandered into the moving picture
show, he laughed so hard that tears came into his eyes.
"If this keeps on," he said, "we'll have either to keep them home all
the while, or else you'll have to be with them every minute, Aunt Lu.
You can't tell what they are going to do next."
It was a day or two after this that, as Bunny and Sue were going down
the street, to buy a little candy at Mrs. Redden's store, something
queer happened.
They each had five cents, that Aunt Lu had given them, but they were
allowed to spend only one penny of it this day, as their mother did not
wish them to eat too much candy.
"I'm going to buy a lollypop--they last longer," Bunny announced.
"I'll get one, too," agreed Sue, as they entered the toy place. The door
swung open, a bell over it ringing to call Mrs. Redden, for she lived in
rooms back of the store, where she kept house.
"How are you, Bunny and Sue?" asked the candy-lady as she smiled at
them. "I was beginning to think you had forgotten me."
"Oh, no," Bunny said.
"We'd never forget you," declared Sue. "I want a lollypop and so does
Bunny."
Mrs. Redden opened the glass show-case in which the candy was kept. As
she reached in her hand, to take out the lollypops, Bunny and Sue,
standing in front, saw a brown, hairy paw also put into the case. And
the brown paw, which was close to Mrs. Redden's hand, caught up a bunch
of lollypops and quickly pulled them out.
"Oh! oh! oh, dear!" screamed Mrs. Redden. "Oh, what is it?"
A second later a brown, furry animal jumped up from back of the counter,
and scrambled from shelf to shelf, until it was on the very top one. And
there the animal sat, peeling the wax paper off a lollypop.
"Oh, what is it? What is it?" cried Mrs. Redden. "Oh, take it away!"
Bunny and Sue were not a bit frightened. They looked up at the furry
figure, on the top shelf of the candy store, and Bunny said:
"Why, it's only Wango, Mr. Winkler's monkey! I guess he broke loose from
his chain."
"Yes, it's Wango!" echoed Sue. "Come down, Wango!" she called, for both
children had often petted the queer little monkey.
Wango accidentally dropped one of the lollypops he held. He had so many
in his paws that it was hard to hold them all. He quickly reached for
the falling candy, but he accidentally hit a glass jar filled with jelly
beans. It crashed down to the floor, spilling the candy beans all over.
"Oh! oh, dear! what a mess!" cried Mrs. Redden, and she ran to get the
broom to drive Wango away.
CHAPTER XIX
BUNNY IN A QUEER PLACE
Wango was a queer monkey in more ways than one. He liked to make
mischief, or what others called mischief, though to him perhaps it was
only fun. And he did not seem to like ladies. He would let boys and
girls and men pet him, and make a fuss over him, but he would very
seldom allow ladies to do this.
Miss Winkler, the sister of the sailor who had brought Wango from a far-
off land, was one of the ladies the monkey did not like. But then she
did not like Wango, and perhaps he knew this. And now it seemed that
Wango was not going to like Mrs. Redden, who kept the candy shop.
And it was certain that, just then, Mrs. Redden did not like Wango; at
least she did not like to have him take her candy, break the jar and
scatter the jelly beans all over the shop.
"Get down, Wango!" she cried, shaking the broom at him. "Get down off
that shelf right away! And give me back my lollypops!"
But Wango did not get down, and he did not give back the lollypops. He
had dropped one, and this made him hold, all the more tightly, to the
others. He was very fond of candy, Wango was.
"Oh dear! I'm afraid of him!" exclaimed Mrs. Redden.
"Why, he won't hurt you," said Bunny. "He's a good monkey. He lets me
and Sue pet him; don't you, Wango?"
"You can't pet him now," said Sue, "he's too high up."
"Oh, but look at the funny faces he makes!" exclaimed the lady who kept
the toy and candy shop.
Wango was certainly making very odd faces just then. But perhaps it was
because he liked the taste of the lollypops. He had taken the paper off
two of them, and had them both in his mouth at once, while his busy paws
were peeling the wax covering off a third one.
Of course it was not right for Wango to put two lollypops in his mouth
at once; at least it would not be nice for children to do so. But
perhaps monkeys are different.
"Come down from there! Come down from that shelf!" cried Mrs. Redden,
reaching up and trying to touch the monkey with the broom. I think she
did not intend to hit him hard, and, anyhow, a blow from a broom does
not hurt very much. Mrs. Redden thought she simply must drive Wango
down. He might spoil a lot of candy.
And now, instead of making faces Wango chattered at the candy-shop lady.
Oh! what a queer noise he made, showing his white teeth.
"Oh dear! oh dear!" Mrs. Redden cried. "Isn't this terrible? I never had
a monkey in my candy shop before. At least not one that was loose,
though an Italian organ grinder did come in with one once, on a string.
But he was a good monkey."
"Wango is good, too," said Bunny. "Only I guess he is scared, now. Come
on down, Wango!" called Bunny, "and I'll give you a peanut."
"Oh, yes, he'll come down for a peanut, or maybe two peanuts!" exclaimed
Sue. "Wango loves peanuts. Have you any, Mrs. Redden?"
"Yes," answered the store-lady. "But I'm not going to give him peanuts,
after all the candy he has taken and spoiled. Nearly half the jelly
beans will be wasted, and the glass jar is broken, and he will spoil all
those lollypops, too. Oh dear!"
"Just give him two peanuts," said Bunny, "and that will make him come
down. Then maybe he'll give back the lollypops."
"Well, child, we can try it," the candy-lady said. "I can't hit him with
the broom, that's sure, unless I stand on a chair, and if I do that he
may reach down and pull my hair, as he did Mrs. Winkler's one day. I'll
get the peanuts."
She brought a handful from another show case, and gave them to Bunny,
who held them up so the monkey could see them.
"Come and get the nuts, Wango!" Bunny called.
The monkey chattered, and made funny faces, but he did not come down. He
seemed to like the lollypops better, and, also, his perch on the shelf,
he thought, was safer than one on the floor.
"What shall we do?" asked Mrs. Redden.
"Bunny, could you run down the street, and ask Mr. Winkler to come and
take his monkey away?"
"Yes'm, I'll do it," the little boy answered politely.
But just then something else happened.
Wango, trying to peel the wax paper from another lollypop, dropped a
second one. He reached for it, but he did keep hold of the shelf, and,
the next second down he himself fell, knocking over several more candy
jars.
They crashed to the floor, smashing and spilling the candy all over.
Wango turned a somersault, and landed lightly on his feet, close beside
Mrs. Redden.
"Oh, you bad monkey! You bad monkey!" she cried. "Shoo! Get out of here!
Out of my shop!"
She brushed at Wango with the broom, and the lively monkey made a rush
for the back door of the store, as the front one was closed.
"Here! Don't you dare go into my kitchen!" cried Mrs. Redden, as she ran
after the monkey. "You'll upset everything there!"
Wango chattered, and made funny faces. Then he turned and ran back,
sliding right under Mrs. Redden's skirts, and nearly upsetting Bunny.
At that moment the front door opened, and there stood Jed Winkler, the
old sailor, who owned the monkey.
"Have you seen anything of Wango?" began Mr. Winkler, but there was no
need for him to ask such a question. There was Wango, in plain sight,
holding some lollypops in one paw, and in the other some jelly beans and
coconut candies he had grabbed up from the floor. And in his mouth, with
the stick-handles pointing out, were three other lollypops!
"Take him away! Oh, take him away!" begged Mrs. Redden. "He will spoil
all the candy in my shop!"
"This is too bad!" exclaimed the sailor, "Wango, behave yourself! You
are a bad monkey! Up with you!"
Wango jumped up on his master's shoulder, and hung his head. I really
think he was ashamed of what he had done.
"He broke loose from his new chain," said the old sailor, "and I have
been looking all over for him. I am glad I have found him, and I will
pay for all the candy he spoiled."
"Well, if you do that I can't find any fault," said the store-lady. "But
he certainly gave me a great fright."
"And he wouldn't even come down for peanuts," cried Bunny.
"Wango isn't very good to-day," said Mr. Winkler. "I must get a stronger
chain for him, I think. Now I'll take him home, and, Mrs. Redden, when
you find out how much candy he spoiled, and how many jars he broke, I
will come and pay you."
"All right," answered Mrs. Redden. Then the sailor took his monkey home,
and the store-lady, after she had given Bunny and Sue the lollypops they
came for, began to clean up her place. Certainly Wango had upset it very
much.
"He must have come in the store by the back way, when I was out hanging
up the clothes," said the candy-shop lady. "He hid under the counter
until he saw me open the showcase for you, Bunny. Then he put in his
paw, and grabbed the lollypops."
"Yes, that's what he did--I saw him," said Sue, who was now taking the
paper off her candy. But she did not put two in her mouth, at once, as
the monkey had done. Of course Sue wouldn't do anything like that.
Bunny and Sue made all the folks at home laugh, as they told of Wango's
funny tricks.
"Well, it was quite an adventure," said Aunt Lu, "wasn't it?"
"What's an ad--adventure?" Sue wanted to know.
"It's something that happens," her aunt explained.
"Then Wango must be an adventure," said Bunny, "for lots happened to
him."
It was two days after the monkey had gotten in the candy-store that
Harry Bentley, Charlie Star, Sadie West and Helen Newton came over to
play with Bunny and his sister Sue.
"What shall we play?" asked Bunny.
"Hide-and-go-to-seek," said Sadie.
The others liked this game, so they began to play it. Helen covered her
eyes with her arms, so she could not see where the others hid, and began
counting.
"When I count up to fifty, I'm coming to find you," she said, "and
whoever I find first will have to blind next time, and hunt for the rest
of us."
Off they all ran to hide. Sue stooped down to hide behind a lilac bush,
near "home," which was the side porch. Whoever reached "home" before
Helen did, after she had started on her search, would be "in free."
"Ready or not, I'm coming!" called Helen, after she had counted fifty,
and she began to look for the hiding ones.
"She'll not find me," said Bunny Brown to himself. "I'm going to hide in
a funny place. She'll never find me!"
And where do you think he hid? It was in a queer place--down in an empty
rain-water barrel, that stood back of the house. Bunny climbed up into
it by standing on a box, and, once inside, he crouched down on the
bottom, where anyone would have had to come very close, and look over
the edge, to see him. And there Bunny hid.
CHAPTER XX
SPLASH RUNS AWAY
"Where is Bunny?"
"Bunny! Bunny Brown!"
"Come on in! The game is over and Charlie Star is it. He's going to
blind next time, you won't have to!"
"Come on in, Bunny Brown!"
Thus called Helen, Sue and the others who were playing the game of hide-
and-go-to-seek. For Bunny had not been found, and he had not run up to
touch "home," and be "in free."
Helen had not been able to find the little fellow, so well was he
hidden.
"I can't think where he is," she said. "I looked all over."
"But you didn't find ME!" cried Sue, clapping her hands in fun.
"No, you were so close to me, back of the lilac bush, that I never
thought of looking there," said Helen. Sue had run "in free," as soon as
Helen's back was turned.
"But where is Bunny?" everyone asked.
"Come on in!" they called.
But Bunny did not come.
"Let's all look for him," suggested Charlie Star. "Maybe he went away
off down the street, or maybe he is out in the barn."
There was a barn back of the Brown house, in which Bunny's father kept
some horses used in his business. The children often played in the barn,
especially on rainy days, when they did not go up to the attic.
"Let's look in the barn," Charlie went on.
"It wasn't fair to hide out there," Helen said. "That is too far away."
"Maybe Bunny didn't," suggested Sue.
"Well, we'll look, anyhow," went on Sadie.
Out to the barn trooped the children, but though they looked in the
haymow, and in the empty stalls (for most of the horses were out at
work) no Bunny could be found.
Then they went back to look around the house, in some of the nooks and
corners near which the others had hidden.
"Bunny! Bunny!" they called. "Why don't you come in, so we can have
another game? You won't have to blind."
But Bunny did not answer.
Pretty soon Sue began to get a little frightened, and her playmates,
too, thought it queer that they could not find Bunny, and that he did
not answer.
"Maybe we'd better tell your mother, Sue," Sadie said.
"Yes, for maybe he fell down a hole, and can't get up," suggested Helen.
They called once more, and looked in many other places, but Bunny was
not to be found. Then into the house they went.
"Oh, Mother!" cried Sue, her eyes opening wide, "we can't find Bunny
anywhere, and he won't answer us."
"Can't find him!"
"Won't answer you!"
Mother Brown and Aunt Lu spoke thus, one after the other.
"We were playing hide-and-go-to-seek," explained Helen, "and Bunny hid
himself in such a queer place that we can't find him."
"Maybe it's just one of his tricks," said Aunt Lu.
"No, it can't be a trick," Charlie Star explained, "because Bunny likes
to play the game, and he doesn't have to blind this time. We've hollered
that at him, but he won't come in."
Seeing that the children were really worried, Mrs. Brown and Aunt Lu
said they would come out and help search. They looked in all the places
they could think of, and called Bunny's name, as did the others, but the
little fellow was not found.
Even Mrs. Brown was beginning to get a little anxious now, and she was
thinking of telephoning for Mr. Brown to come home, when Bunny was
suddenly found. And it was the cook who found him.
The cook came out to the back door, near which stood the empty rain-
water barrel, into which Bunny had climbed to hide. She took from the
open top a large towel which, a little while before, she had thrown over
the barrel to dry, and, looking down in, she cried out:
"Why here he is! Here's Bunny now!"
And so he was! Curled up on the bottom of the barrel, in a little round
ball, and fast asleep, was Bunny Brown.
"Oh, we never looked in there!" exclaimed Sadie West.
"I thought of it," said Helen, "but I saw the towel spread over the top
of the barrel, and I didn't see how Bunny could be under it, so I didn't
look"
"Well, he's found, anyhow," said his mother, smiling.
They had all gathered around the barrel to look into it, the littler
ones standing up on the box, by which Bunny had climbed in. Then Bunny,
suddenly awakened, opened his eyes and saw his mother, his Aunt Lu, the
cook and his playmates staring down at him.
"Why--why what's the matter?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Oh, Bunny, we couldn't find you!" cried Sue.
"Why, I was right here all the while," Bunny answered. "I climbed in the
barrel to hide."
"And didn't you hear us calling that you could come in free?" asked
Sadie.
Bunny shook his head.
"He was asleep," said Aunt Lu. "He must have fallen asleep as soon as he
curled up inside the barrel. That's why he didn't hear. Oh, you funny
Bunny boy!" and she laughed and hugged Bunny, who was helped out of the
barrel by his mother.
"I never saw him down in there when I came to the door a while ago, and
threw the cloth over the barrel," explained the cook. "I thought the
barrel would be a good place to dry the towel. And to think I covered
Bunny up with it!"
"If it hadn't been for the towel we'd have looked in the barrel
ourselves," said Charlie Star.
"I guess it was so nice and quiet and warm in the barrel that I went to
sleep before I knew it," Bunny remarked.
"I guess you did," laughed his mother.
"Shall we play some more?" asked Helen.
"Oh, yes!" cried Bunny. "And I won't hide in the barrel again."
So the game went on, the children hiding in different places, some of
which were easily found, while others were so well hidden that it was a
long while before the one who "blinded" discovered them.
"Now let's play tag!" cried Sue, after a while. She liked this game very
much, though her legs were so short that she could not run very fast,
and she was often "tagged" and made "it."
"No, don't play any more just now," called Aunt Lu, coming down to the
yard where the children were. "Come up on the porch. I have a little
treat for you."
"Oh, is it ice cream?" asked Bunny eagerly. "I hope it is. I'm so hot!"
"You'll have to wait and see," his aunt answered, with a smile.
"Oh, it's just as good as ice cream!" cried Sue, when she saw where her
aunt had spread a little table, on the shady side of the porch.
"Lemonade!" murmured Bunny, as he saw the big pitcher which he and Sue
had used at their street stand.
"And tarts--jam tarts and jelly tarts!" added Sue. "Oh! oh! oh!"
And that was the treat Aunt Lu had made for the children. There were two
plates of tarts, one with jam coming up through the three little round
holes in the top crust, and others in which jelly showed. Both were very
good. And the cool lemonade was good also.
"Oh, I just love to come over to your house to play, Sue!" said Sadie
West.
"So do I!" chorused the other children.
"We do have such good times!" added Charlie Star.
"And such good things to eat," came from Harry Bentley. "Those tarts
are--awful good!" and he sighed.
"Would you like another?" asked Aunt Lu, with a laugh in her eyes and a
smile on her lips.
"If you please," answered Harry, as he passed his plate.
Then, after the children had rested, they played more games, until it
was time to go home.
One day, when Bunker Blue came to the Brown home, to bring up some fish
Mr. Brown had sent, Bunny, who was out in the yard with Splash, the big
shaggy dog, said to the red-haired youth:
"Bunker, you know lots of things; don't you?"
"Well, I wouldn't want to say that, Bunny. There's lots and lots of
things I don't know."
"But you can sail a boat; can't you?"
"Oh, yes, I can do that,"
"Well, I wish I could. And do you know how to make a dog harness,
Bunker? Do you know how to harness up a dog so he could pull an express
wagon?"
"Yes, I guess I know how to do that, Bunny."
"Then I wish you'd harness Splash to my wagon," Bunny went on. "I've
tried and tried, and I can't do it. The harness breaks all the while,
and when I put the handle of the wagon between Splash's legs he falls
down--it trips him up."
"Of course," Bunker said. "You ought to have two handles to the wagon,
and Splash could stand in between them, just as a horse is hitched to a
wagon."
"Oh, could you fix my wagon that way, Bunker?"
"I might, if your mother said it was all right."
"I'll ask her. And will you make me a harness for Splash?"
"I'll try, Bunny."
Mrs. Brown said she did not mind if Bunker fixed the wagon and made a
harness so Bunny could hitch Splash to the express wagon, for the big
dog was kind and gentle.
"Oh, what fun Sue and I will have!" cried Bunny. "We'll get lots of
rides in the wagon."
It did not take Bunker long to make two handles, or "shafts," as they
are called, for Bunny's wagon. Then he made a harness for the dog--a
harness strong enough not to break. One day, when all was finished,
Splash was hitched to the wagon, and Bunny was given the reins. They
went around the neck of Splash, for of course you can not put in a dog's
mouth an iron bit, as you can in that of a horse.
Bunny found that he could guide his dog from one side to the other by
pulling on either the right or left rein. And Splash did not seem to
mind pulling the wagon with Bunny in it. He went around the yard very
nicely.
"Oh, give me a ride, Bunny!" begged Sue, who came in just then from
having been down to Sadie West's house, having a dolls' party.
"Yes, I'll give you a ride, Sue," Bunny said. "Get in! Whoa, Splash!" he
called. The dog did not "whoa" very well, but finally he stopped, and
Sue got in the wagon, sitting behind Bunny.
They drove around the yard for a while, and then Sue said:
"Oh, Bunny, let's go out on the sidewalk, where it's nice and smooth. It
will be easier for Splash to pull us then." Bunny thought this would be
fun, so he guided the dog out through the gate. The wagon did go more
smoothly on the sidewalk, and Splash trotted a little faster.
"Oh, this is fun!" cried Bunny.
"I like it!" laughed Sue, who had her arms around Bunny's waist, so she
would not fall out backwards.
They had not gone very far before Sue cried:
"Oh, Bunny! Look! There's that yellow dog--the one that had the tin can
tied to his tail--the one that upset our lemonade stand!"
"So it is!" said Bunny.
And, just at that moment, Splash also saw the yellow dog.
With a bark and a wag of his tail, Splash gave a big jump, nearly
throwing Bunny and Sue out of the wagon. Then the big dog began to run
after the little one.
"Whoa! Whoa!" cried Bunny, pulling on the reins. But Splash would not
stop. Faster and faster he ran. He only wanted to see his little yellow
dog friend again, and rub noses with him. But I guess the yellow dog was
frightened when he saw the express wagon, with the two children in it,
following after Splash.
Maybe the yellow dog thought the wagon was tied to the tail of Splash,
as the tin can had once been to his own. And maybe the little yellow dog
thought some one would now tie an express wagon to his tail. At any rate
he ran on faster and faster, And Splash, who just wanted to speak to
him, in dog language, ran on faster too.
"Bumpity-bump-bump!" went the wagon with Bunny and Sue in it.
"Whoa! Whoa!" called Bunny.
But Splash would not stop. He was running away, but he did not mean to.
He just wanted to catch up to the little yellow dog who was running on
ahead.
CHAPTER XXI
HOW SUE FOUND THE EGGS
"Oh, Bunny! Can't you make him stop?" cried Sue, as she clung with her
arms about her brother's waist, while the wagon swayed from side to
side.
"I--I'm trying to," answered Bunny, pulling as hard as he could on the
reins. "But he won't stop. Whoa! Whoa!" and Bunny called as loudly as he
could.
Down the street Splash kept running. He was getting nearer to the little
yellow dog, for this dog had only short legs, and Splash had long ones,
and, of course, anyone with long legs can run faster than anyone with
short legs.
"I--I'm going to fall out!" Sue cried. "I--I'm slipping, Bunny! I'm
falling!"
"Hold on! Hold on tight!" Bunny begged his sister, for the wagon was
going very fast, and he knew if she fell out on the hard sidewalk she
would get a hard bump.
Sue clasped her arms as tightly as she could about her brother's waist,
but her arms were short, and Bunny was rather fat, so it was not easy
for her to hold fast. Still she did her best.
Several persons on the other side of the street saw Bunny and Sue having
a fast ride in the toy express wagon, drawn by the big dog, but they did
not think the Brown children were in a runaway, which is just what they
were.
"My! what fun Bunny Brown and his sister Sue are having!" said one man,
as he watched the express wagon bump along.
"Yes, they always seem to be having good times," replied a lady.
If they had only known it was a runaway, they might have run across the
street and stopped Splash from going so fast.
On and on went the big dog. He was almost up to the yellow one now, and
the yellow dog began to yelp. Perhaps he thought he was going to be
caught and hurt. Or maybe he feared Bunny or Sue would try to make him
pull the big wagon, with them in it.
But of course they wouldn't think of such a thing, and as for Splash, I
have told you that all he wanted to do was to rub noses with his little
yellow friend.
As the wagon rumbled past the house where lived Mr. Jed Winkler, the old
sailor, who owned Wango, the monkey, came out to the front gate. I mean
Mr. Winkler came out, not Wango, for he had been tightly chained, after
the fun he had had in Mrs. Redden's candy shop.
"My! What a fine ride you are having!" called Mr. Winkler.
"Oh! It's not a nice ride at all!" answered Sue. "We're being runned
away with! Please stop Splash!"
"Goodness me!" exclaimed Mr. Winkler. "A runaway! Well, I must stop it,
of course!"
Out he ran from his yard to race after Splash, but there was no need for
the old sailor to catch the big dog. For, just then, the little yellow
dog stumbled, and turned a somersault. And before he could pick himself
up, and run on again, Splash had caught up to him.
Now, this was all that Splash wanted to do--catch up to the yellow dog
and rub noses with him. And as soon as Splash saw that the little dog
had stopped, Splash stopped also.
But he stopped so suddenly that the wagon almost ran up on his back. It
turned around, and then it went over on one side, so that Bunny and Sue
were spilled out. But they fell on some soft grass, so they were not
hurt a bit, though Sue's dress was stained.
And as soon as the little yellow dog found that he was not going to be
hurt, but that Splash was just going to be friends with him, why the two
animals just sat down in the grass find rubbed noses and, I suppose,
talked to each other in dog language, if there is any such thing.
Bunny helped Sue get up, and then Mr. Winkler came running along. He
could not go very fast, for he was aged, and he was a little lame,
because of rheumatism, from having been out so many cold and wet nights
when he was a sailor on a ship.
"Well, well, youngsters!" exclaimed Mr. Winkler. "You had quite a spill;
didn't you?"
"But we didn't get hurt," said Bunny, who was looking at the wagon and
harness to see that it was not broken. Everything seemed to be all
right. "We're not hurt a bit," Bunny laughed.
"Well, I'm glad of that," went on Mr. Winkler, as he helped Bunny put
the wagon right side up and straight once more. "How did it happen?"
"Splash just runned away," replied Sue, "He runned after the yellow
dog."
"And he caught him all right," laughed Mr. Winkler. "But they seem to be
great friends now. Who made your harness, Bunny?"
"Bunker Blue did. He can make lots of things."
"Yes, I guess he can," agreed the old sailor. "But I hope, after this,
that Splash won't run away with you when you go for a ride."
"Well, it didn't hurt much, to fall out," laughed Bunny. "Now we'll ride
back again."
Splash went back very slowly. Perhaps he was tired, or he may have been
sorry that he had run so fast at first, and had upset the wagon. The
yellow dog went off by himself, and he was glad, I guess, that he did
not have to pull a wagon with two children in it. But Splash seemed to
enjoy it.
Mrs. Brown and Aunt Lu had not seen the runaway, or they might not have
wanted Bunny and Sue to take any more rides in the express wagon. But
the two children had lots of fun the rest of the morning, riding up and
down, and Splash acted very nicely, stopping when Bunny called "Whoa!"
and going on again when the little boy said, "Giddap!"
"Oh, it's just like a real horse!" exclaimed Sue, clapping her hands.
"Will you let me hold the lines, Bunny?"
"Yes," answered her brother, and soon Sue could drive Splash almost as
well as Bunny could.
For several days after that Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had many good
times with their dog and express wagon. They gave their playmates rides
up and down the sidewalk, and never once again did Splash run away. But
then he did not see his friend, the little yellow dog, or he might have
raced after him just as at first.
When Bunny and Sue were eating breakfast one morning, Mrs. Gordon, whose
husband kept the grocery store, came in to see Mrs. Brown.
"I wonder if your children could not help me?" said Mrs. Gordon, as she
sat down in a chair in the dining room, and fanned herself with her
apron. She lived next door to the Brown home.
"Well, Bunny and Sue are always glad to help," said their mother,
smiling at them. "What is it you want them to do?"
"Do you want a ride in our express wagon, Mrs. Gordon?" asked Bunny.
"Or maybe have us sell lemonade for you?" added Sue.
"Bless your hearts! It isn't either of those things," answered Mrs.
Gordon, with a laugh. "I just want you to help me hunt for a hen's nest.
That's all."
"Look for a hen's nest!" exclaimed Bunny.
"Yes," said Mrs. Gordon. "One of my hens has strayed off by herself and
is laying her eggs in a nest I can't find. I've looked all over our yard
for it, but perhaps it is in your barn," she went on to Mrs. Brown. "And
if it is, maybe Bunny and Sue could find it."
"Oh, maybe we could!" Bunny cried.
"It will be fun to look!" said Sue. "Come on, Bunny."
"Be careful you don't fall," their mother cautioned them, as they ran
out, hardly waiting to finish their breakfast.
Hens, you know, often like to go quietly off by themselves, and lay
their eggs in a nest that no one can find. And this is what one of Mrs.
Gordon's hens had done.
Into the barn ran Bunny and Sue.
"We'll see who'll find the nest first!" Bunny shouted.
"I think I shall," cried Sue.
And now you wait and see what happens.
There were many places in the barn where a hen might lay her eggs. There
were nooks under wagons, or under wheelbarrows, corners behind boxes,
and any number of holes in the place where the hay for the horses was
kept--the haymow, as it is called.
Bunny and Sue looked in all the places they could think of. But they did
not see a hen sitting in her hidden nest, nor did they find the white
eggs she might have laid.
"I guess the nest isn't here," said Bunny after a while.
"No, I guess not, too," echoed Sue. "Let's slide down the hay."
The hay in the mow was quite high in one place, and low in another, like
a little hill. Bunny and Sue could climb to the top, or high place of
the hay, and slide down, for it was quite slippery.
Up they climbed, and down they slid, quite fast. They had done this a
number of times, when finally Sue said:
"Oh, Bunny, I'm going to slide down in a new place!"
She went over to one side of the hay-hill, and down she slid. And then
something funny happened.
There was a sort of crackling sound, and Sue called out:
"Oh, Bunny! Bunny! I've found the hen's nest, and I'm right in it!"
CHAPTER XXII
AUNT LU IS SAD
Bunny Brown quickly slid down on his side of the hay-hill. He could see
his sister Sue, who was sitting in a little hollow place.
"What--what's the matter?" Bunny asked, for Sue had a funny look on her
face.
"I found Mrs. Gordon's hen's nest," answered the little girl, "and I'm
right in it!"
"In what?" Bunny wanted to know.
"In the nest. I'm sitting in it--right on the eggs, just like a hen.
Only," said Sue, and the funny look on her face changed into a sort of
smile, "only I--I've broken all the eggs!"
And that is just what she had done.
Oh! how Sue was covered with the whites and yellows of the eggs!
She had slid down the haymow on a side where she and Bunny did not often
play, and she had slid right into the hen's nest. The children had not
thought of looking there for it.
But Sue had found it.
Slowly she stood up. She and Bunny looked into the nest And, just as Sue
had said, all the eggs were broken.
"Oh, it's too bad!" the little girl exclaimed. "Mrs. Gordon will be so
sorry."
"You couldn't help it," declared Bunny, "You--you just slid into 'em!"
"Yes," went on Sue. "I didn't see the nest at all, but I heard the eggs
break, and there I was, sitting there on them just like a hen. Oh, dear!
Look at my dress!"
"It will wash out," said her brother. "You might go down and wade in the
brook. But we couldn't, without asking mother, and then she'd see you
anyhow."
"Oh, I'll tell her!" exclaimed Sue. "We'd better go in, 'cause if egg-
stuff dries on you it's awful hard to get off. Aunt Lu said so when she
baked a cake yesterday."
"Well, we can come back and slide some more."
"Yes, after I get clean. And we'll have to tell Mrs. Gordon, too; won't
we, Bunny?"
"Oh, yes. But she has lots of hens and eggs, so she won't care."
Mrs. Brown and Aunt Lu were much surprised when Bunny Brown and his
sister Sue came in, Sue all white and yellow from the eggs. But Sue's
mother knew it was something that could not be helped, so she did not
scold. She changed Sue's dress, and then she said:
"Now you and Bunny run over and tell Mrs. Gordon."
When the grocery-store-keeper's wife saw Bunny and Sue coming over to
her house she thought perhaps their mother had sent them on an errand,
as Mrs. Brown often did. For the time Mrs. Gordon had forgotten about
the hidden hen's nest. In fact, she had not thought that Bunny and Sue
would really spend much time looking for it. So when Sue said:
"I--I found it, Mrs. Gordon!"
Mrs. Gordon asked:
"What did you find, Sue, a penny rolling up hill?"
That was the way Mrs. Gordon sometimes joked with Bunny and Sue.
"No'm. I found your hen's nest, and I sat in it and broke all the eggs,"
said Sue. "I--I'm sorry."
"And I'm sorry with her," added Bunny.
"Bless your little hearts! What's it all about?" asked Mrs. Gordon with
a laugh. Then Bunny and Sue told her, and she laughed harder than ever.
Bunny and Sue smiled, for now they knew Mrs. Gordon did not mind about
the broken eggs.
"Well, I'm glad you found the nest, anyhow, if you did break the eggs,"
said the storekeeper's wife. "Maybe now my hen will not go over into
your barn, but will make her nest in our coop, where she ought to make
it. So it's all right, Sue, and here are some cookies for you and
Bunny."
The two children were very glad they had gone to tell Mrs. Gordon about
the eggs, for they liked cookies.
That afternoon, when Sadie West, Helen Newton, Charlie Star and Harry
Bentley came over to play with Bunny and Sue, they had to be shown the
place in the hay where Sue "found" the eggs. One of Mr. Brown's stable
men had taken out the broken shells, for he did not want them to get in
the hay that the horses ate. The inside of the eggs did not matter, for
horses like them anyhow.
The children saw a hen walking around on the hay, near the place where
Sue had slid into the eggs.
"I guess that's the hen that had her nest here," said Sadie.
"And she is wondering where it is now," added Bunny. "Go on away, Mrs.
Hen!" he exclaimed. "Go lay your eggs in Mrs. Gordon's coop."
And the hen, cackling, flew away.
"Let's all slide down," said Charlie Star. "Let's slide in the hay."
"Oh, yes!" cried Sue. "And maybe we'll find some more nests. But I don't
want to slide in any if we do find some," she said. "I don't want to get
this dress dirty."
The children had great fun sliding down the hay-hill, but they found no
more eggs. They played at this for some time, and then Charlie Star
called:
"Let's go out and climb trees!"
"Girls can't climb trees," objected Sadie.
"Some girls can," answered Charlie. "I have a girl cousin, and she can
climb a tree as good as I can. But she lives in the country," he went
on.
"Oh, of course if a girl lives in the country she can climb a tree,"
Helen Newton said "But we live in a town. I don't want to climb trees."
"I like it," said Bunny Brown. "I'm glad I know how to climb a tree,
'cause if a dog chased after me I could climb up, and he couldn't get
me. Dogs can't climb trees."
"Cats can," said Sadie. "I saw our cat climb a tree once."
"But cats don't chase after you," remarked Charlie.
"Our cat chased a mouse once," observed Sue. "Can a mouse climb a tree,
Bunny?"
"No, a mouse can't climb a tree," answered Sue's brother. "But we
fellows will go out and climb, though there aren't any dogs to chase us.
Splash won't, but he'll play tag with us."
"Well, if you are going to climb trees, we'll play dolls," said Sue.
"Come on," she added to her two little girl friends. "We'll get our
dolls, and have a play party."
Sadie and Helen, who did not live far away, ran home and got their
dolls. Sue brought out hers, and the girls had a nice time on the shady
side of the porch. Mrs. Brown gave them some cookies, and some crackers,
which were cut in the shapes of different animals, and with these, and
some lemonade in little cups, Sue and her chums had lots of fun.
Bunny, Charlie and Harry went to the back yard, where there were some
old apple trees, with branches very close to the ground, so they were
easy to climb. Bunny had often done it, and so had his two little boy
friends.
As they were near the trees George Watson passed through the next lot,
on the other side of the fence from the Brown land.
"I can climb trees better than any of you," George said. "If you let me
come into your yard, Bunny, I'll show you how to climb."
"Oh, don't let him in!" exclaimed Charlie. "He threw the box of frogs at
us the time you had your party. Don't you let him in!"
"No, I wouldn't, either," added Harry.
"Oh, please!" begged George. "I won't throw any more frogs at you."
"Go on away!" ordered Charlie.
But Bunny Brown was kind-hearted. He had forgiven George for the trick
about the frogs. And Bunny wanted to learn all he could about climbing
trees.
"Yes, you can come in, George," said Sue's brother.
George was very glad to do so, for he liked to play with these boys,
though he was older than they were. And since his trick with the jumping
frogs, in the box, George had been rather lonesome.
"Now I'll show you how to climb trees!" he said.
"I can climb this one," declared Bunny, going over to one in which he
had often gone up several feet.
"Oh, that's an easy one," said George with a laugh. "You ought to try
and climb a hard one, like this."
Up went George, quite high, in a larger tree. Charlie and Harry also
each got into a bigger tree than the one Bunny had picked out. And of
course Bunny, like any boy, wanted to do as he saw the others doing.
"Pooh! I can climb a big tree, too," he said. He got down from the one
he had picked out, and started up another. He watched how George put
first one foot on a branch and then the other foot, at the same time
pulling himself up by his hands. Bunny did very well until his foot
slipped and went down in a hole in the tree, where the wood had rotted
away, leaving a hollow place.
Down into this hollow, that might some day be a squirrel's nest, went
Bunny's foot and leg. Then he cried out:
"Oh, I'm caught! I'm caught! My foot is fast, and I can't pull it
loose!"
And that was what had happened. Bunny's foot had gone so deep down in
the hollow place of the tree, and the hollow was so small, that the
little boy's foot had become wedged fast. Pull as he did, he could not
get it up. "Wait--I'll help you!" called George.
He scrambled from his tree, and ran over to where Bunny was caught.
Bunny could not get down, but had to stand with one foot on a branch,
and the other in the hole, holding on to the trunk, or body, of the tree
with both hands.
"Oh!" exclaimed Charlie, "s'posin' he can't ever get loose!"
"We could chop the tree down," said Harry.
But George thought he could get Bunny loose easier than that. George got
a box, so he could stand on it and reach up to Bunny's leg without
getting up in the tree himself. Then George pulled and tugged away,
trying to lift up Bunny's foot.
But it would not come. It was caught, as if in a trap, and the longer
Bunny stood up, pressing down on his foot, the more tightly it was
wedged.
"Now for a good pull!" cried George, and he gave a hard tug.
"Ouch! You hurt!" said Bunny, and George had to stop.
"Well, I don't know what to do," he said. "I'll have to get you loose
some way. Come on," he called to Charlie and Harry. "You get hold of his
leg and we'll all pull."
"Then you'll hurt me more," said Bunny. "Go tell mamma. She will know
what to do!"
"Yes, I guess that's best," George said.
Mrs. Brown came running out when the three boys, who were a little
frightened, told her Bunny was caught in a tree.
"Oh, is he hanging head down?" asked Aunt Lu, as she hurried out after
Bunny's mother.
"No, he's standing up, but his leg is down in a hole," said George. "We
can't get him out."
But Mrs. Brown easily set matters right.
She put her hand down in the tree-hole, beside Bunny's leg, the hole
being big enough for this. Then, with her fingers, Mrs. Brown unbuttoned
Bunny's shoe, and said:
"Now pull out your foot."
Bunny could easily do this, as it was his shoe that was caught, and not
his foot. His foot was smaller than his shoe, you see.
Carefully he lifted his foot and leg out of he hole of the tree, and
then his mother helped him to the ground.
"But what about my shoe?" Bunny asked, with a queer look on his face.
"Has my shoe got to stay in the tree, Mother?"
"No, I think I can get it out," said Mrs. Brown. Once more she put her
hand down in the hollow, and, now that Bunny's foot was out of his shoe,
it could easily be bent and twisted, so that it came loose.
"There you are!" exclaimed Aunt Lu, as she buttoned Bunny's shoe on him
again, using a hairpin for a buttonhook. "Now don't climb any more
trees."
"I'll just climb my own little tree," Bunny said. "That hasn't any hole
in it."
And while the tree-climbing fun was going on Bunny only went up his own
little tree, where he was in no danger.
After a time the boys became tired of this play, and when Sue, Sadie and
Helen invited them to come to the "play-party," Bunny and his friends
were pleased enough to come.
"And we're going to have real things to eat, and not make-believe ones,
Bunny," said Sue.
"That's good!" laughed George. "I'm glad you let me play with you."
The others were glad also, for George said he was sorry about the frogs,
and would not play any more tricks.
Mrs. Brown gave the girls some more cookies, and Aunt Lu handed out some
of her nice jam and jelly tarts. Then the girls set a little table, made
of a box covered with paper, and the boys sat down to eat, pretending
they were at a picnic.
On several days after this the children had good times in the yard of
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue. It was now almost summer, and one
morning Aunt Lu said:
"Well, children, this is my last week here."
"Oh, where are you going?" asked Bunny.
"Back home, dear. To New York. And I want you to come and see me there.
Will you?"
"If mamma will let us," said Sue.
"I'll think about it," promised Mrs. Brown.
So Aunt Lu got ready to go back home. And as she walked about with Bunny
and Sue, paying last visits to the fish dock, the river and the other
nice places, Aunt Lu seemed sad. She looked down at the ground, and
often glanced at her finger on which she had worn the diamond ring.
"Sue," said Bunny one day, "I know what makes Aunt Lu so sad."
"What is it?"
"Losing her ring. And I know a way that might make her glad, so she
would smile and be happy again."
"What way?"
"Let's give a Punch and Judy show for her," said Bunny. "We'll get Sadie
and Helen, and George and Charlie and Harry to help us. We'll give a
Punch and Judy show!"
"Oh, what fun!" cried Sue, clapping her hands.
CHAPTER XXIII
AN AUTOMOBILE RIDE
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had often talked about giving a Punch and
Judy show. They had often seen one, at picnics or at church sociables,
and Bunny knew by heart a few of the things Mr. Punch had to say. He did
not stop to think that perhaps he could not get behind the curtain, and
make the little wooden figures do the funny things they were supposed to
do. And he did not know where he could get the queer little doll-like
figures.
"But I can do something, anyhow," said Bunny, who was a very ambitious
little boy. Ambitious means he was always willing to try to do things,
whether or not he was sure he could really do them.
"What can I do?" asked Sue. "I want to make Aunt Lu happy."
"Well, you can be Mrs. Judy part of the time," her brother answered,
"and you can pull the curtains over when Mr. Punch has to change his
clothes, and things like that. I'm going to be Mr. Punch."
"And wear the lobster claw?" asked Sue.
"Yes, on my nose. That's what I got it for. I can make little holes in
each side, and put strings in them, and tie the lobster claw on my nose
with the string around my head."
"It will be fun, Bunny. I wish it were time for the show now."
"Oh, we've got lots to do," said the little boy. "We've got to tell
Sadie and the rest of 'em, and we've got to get tickets, and put up a
tent."
"A tent!" cried Sue. "Where is a tent?"
"That's so," admitted Bunny, looking puzzled, "We haven't got a tent.
But we can have the Punch and Judy show in our barn," he went on
quickly, "and you can stand at the door and take the money, and sell
tickets--that is, when you aren't being Mrs. Punch."
"Aunt Lu won't have to buy a ticket, will she?" Sue wanted to know.
"Course not!" Bunny cried. "She's company. 'Sides, we're making the show
for her, so she won't be so sad about her ring."
"I wish we could find it for her," Sue sighed.
"So do I," came from Bunny. "But I guess we never shall. Now we must go
and tell Sadie and Helen and the others about the show."
"Are they going to be in it?" asked his sister.
"No, they won't be Mr. or Mrs. Punch, but we want them to buy tickets
and come."
"How much are tickets?"
Bunny thought for a moment.
"We'll charge pins and money--money for the big folks, pins for
children."
"That will be nice," said Sue, "'cause children can always get pins off
their mothers' cushions, but they can't always get money. What will we
do with the pins, Bunny?"
"Sell 'em. Mother will buy 'em, or maybe Aunt Lu will. No," he said
quickly, "Aunt Lu is company, and we don't want her to buy pins. We'll
give her all she wants for nothing."
"And what will we do with the money, Bunny?"
"We'll give it to Old Miss Hollyhock, same as we did the lemonade money.
Then she'll sure be rich."
"That will be nice," Sue murmured.
The first thing to do was to tell the other children about the coming
Punch and Judy show. This Bunny and Sue did, going to the different
houses of their playmates. Everyone thought the idea was just too fine
for anything.
"I'll lend you some of my old dresses, Sue, so you can look real funny,
like Mrs. Punch," said Sadie.
"And I have a red hat I got at a surprise party," said Helen. "You can
have that."
"Thanks," laughed Sue. "Oh, I know we'll have fun."
Harry and Charlie said they would help Bunny.
"But making the box-place, like a little theatre, where Mr. Punch
stands, is going to be hard," Harry said, shaking his head.
"I'll get Bunker Blue to help us," said Bunny. "We could ask Uncle Tad,
but we don't want any of the folks to know what it is going to be until
it's time for the show."
"Oh, Bunker can make the little theatre, all right," Charlie said. "And
we can help him."
"George Watson would like to help," suggested Harry. "He has been real
nice since he let the frogs loose on us."
"We'll ask him, too," decided Bunny.
Bunker Blue was very glad to help the children build a Punch and Judy
show.
"And I won't tell anyone a thing about it," he promised. "We'll keep it
for a surprise."
Bunker was just the best one Bunny could have thought of to help. For
Bunker worked around Mr. Brown's boats, and could get pieces of wood,
boards, nails and sail-cloth, to make a little curtain for the tiny
theatre where Bunny would pretend to be Mr. Punch.
The day after Bunny and Sue had thought of the plan to make Aunt Lu not
so sad, by giving a little entertainment for her, the children went out
in the barn to practise. Their playmates came over to help, though there
was not much for them to do, since Bunny and Sue (and more especially
Bunny) were to be the "whole show."
Banker had not yet made the tall, narrow box, inside of which Bunny was
to stand, and pretend to be Mr. Punch, but they did not need it for
practice.
Bunny and Sue had told their mother they were going to have a "show" out
in the barn, but they did not say what kind, nor tell why they wanted
it. But they had to say something, so Mrs. Brown would let them play
there, and also let them take some of their old clothes, in which to
"dress-up."
"Have as much fun as you like," said Mrs. Brown, "but don't slide down
in any hens' nests with eggs in them," she added to Sue.
"I won't, Mother."
Bunny fixed the hollow lobster claw, with a string in a hole on either
side of it, so he could tie it on his nose. Bunker bored the holes for
him with a knife, and cut the claw so it would fit, and when Bunny put
the queer red claw, shaped just like Mr. Punch's nose, on his face, the
little boy was so funny that all his playmates laughed.
Then, too, when Bunny talked, his voice sounded very different from what
it did every day. If you will hold your nose in your hand, and talk, you
will know just how Bunny's voice sounded.
"Oh, it's too funny!" laughed Sadie. "I know it is going to be a lovely
show! Your Aunt Lu will be very much surprised."
When Bunny practised in the barn he did not wear the lobster claw on his
nose, except the first time, to see how it looked.
"It's too hot to wear it all the while," he said, "and it makes me want
to scratch my nose, and when I do that I can't talk. So I'll put the
claw away, and I'll only wear it the day of the show."
Of course Bunny and Sue could not give a Punch and Judy play like the
real one, which, perhaps, you have seen. They did not have the wooden
figures, like dolls, to use, and they were too small to know all the
things the real Mr. Punch says and does.
But Bunny knew some of them, and really, for a little boy, he did very
well. At least all his playmates said so.
In a few days Bunker Blue had the little theatre made, and as he brought
it up to the Brown barn in a wagon, carefully covered over, no one could
see what it was. George Watson had been asked to help, and he had made
tickets for the play. The tickets, which George printed with some rubber
type, read:
FINE BIG SHOW
BY
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE
In Their Barn
Five Pins or Five Cents To Come In
Pins Are for Children
PLEASE COME
"They're fine tickets," said Bunny, when George showed them to him. "I
hope we sell a lot."
And several persons did buy them, paying real money for them. Bunny and
the others said they were trying to help Old Miss Hollyhock, which was
one reason for giving the show. The other was to make Aunt Lu feel more
happy. And when the people heard what Bunny and Sue planned to do, they
gladly bought one ticket, and some even more. Though not all of them
would really go to the show.
One day Bunny and Sue went down to Mrs. Redden's toy shop. She bought a
ticket from them, and Sue and Bunny each bought a penny's worth of
candy. Coming out of the store, the children saw an automobile,
belonging to Mr. Reinberg, who kept the dry-goods store. He was just
getting out of the automobile.
"Oh, Mr. Reinberg, please give us a ride!" begged Bunny.
"All right," answered the store-keeper. "Get in, and I'll give you a
ride; that is if your mother will let you go," and he hurried into the
post-office, which was near Mrs. Redden's store.
"Get in, Sue," said Bunny. "We'll have a fine ride."
"Oh, but he said if mamma would let us. We'll have to ask her."
"Well, we can ask him to ride us up to our house, and we can tell mamma,
there, that we're going," said Bunny. "Then it will be all right."
So he and Sue got in the back part of the automobile, the door of which
was open. The children sat up on the seat, waiting for Mr. Reinberg to
come out of the post-office, but he stayed there for some time. Bunny
and Sue thought it would be fun to sit down in the bottom of the car,
and pretend they were in a boat. Down they slipped, making a soft nest
for themselves with the robes, or blankets, which they pulled from the
seat.
Mr. Reinberg came out of the post-office. He was in such a hurry that he
never thought about Bunny and Sue's having asked him for a ride. He just
shut the door of the car, took his place at the steering wheel and away
he went. He did not see the children sitting down in the bottom, partly
covered with the robe. For Bunny and Sue, just then, were pretending
that it was night on their make-believe steamer, and they had "gone to
bed."
And there they were, being given an automobile ride, and Mr. Reinberg
didn't know a thing about it. Wasn't that funny?
CHAPTER XXIV
THE PUNCH AND JUDY SHOW
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, sitting down in the back part of the
automobile, with the blanket around them, got through pretending they
were asleep on a make-believe ship, and "woke up."
They had felt the car moving, but they thought nothing of this, for they
imagined Mr. Reinberg was taking them to their house so they might ask
their mother if they could go for a ride.
Bunny looked at Sue and said:
"It takes this auto a good while to get to our house."
"Yes," Sue agreed, "but maybe he is going around the block to give us a
longer ride."
"Oh, maybe! That would be fun!"
Bunny stood up and looked over the side door of the back part of the
car. He could not see his house, and, in fact, he could see no houses at
all, for they were out on a country road.
"Why! Why!" exclaimed Bunny to his sister. "Look, Sue! We're lost
again!"
"Lost?"
"Yes. We're away far off from our house. I don't know where we are; do
you?"
"No," and Sue looked at the road along which they were moving in the
automobile. "Oh, Bunny! Are we really lost again?"
Sue spoke so loudly that Mr. Reinberg, who was at the steering wheel,
turned around quickly. Up to now Bunny and Sue had talked in such low
voices, and the automobile had rattled so loudly, that the dry-goods man
had not heard them. But when he did he turned quickly enough.
"Why, bless my heart!" he exclaimed. "You here--Bunny and Sue--in my
automobile?" and he made the machine run slowly, so it would not make so
much noise. He wanted to hear what Bunny and Sue would say.
"You here?" he asked again. "How in the world did you come here?"
"Why--why," began Bunny, his eyes opening wide. "You said we could have
a ride, Mr. Reinberg. Don't you remember?"
"That's so. I do remember something about it," the man said. "I declare,
I was so busy thinking about my store, and some post-office letters,
that I forgot all about you. But I thought you were to ask your mother
if you could have a ride."
"Why--why, we thought you would take us around to our house, in the
automobile, so we could ask her," Bunny said.
Mr. Reinberg laughed.
"Well, well!" he cried. "This is a joke! You thought one thing and I
thought another. After you spoke to me, and I went in the post-office, I
supposed you had run home to ask your folks."
"No," said Bunny, "we didn't. We got in your auto 'cause we thought you
wanted us to."
"Ha! Ha!" laughed the dry-goods-store man. "This is very funny! And when
I came out of the post-office, and didn't see anything of you, I thought
your folks wouldn't let you go, as you hadn't come back."
"And we were in your auto all the while!" exclaimed Sue, in such a queer
little voice that Mr. Reinberg laughed again.
"And have you been in there ever since?" he asked.
"Yes," Bunny replied. "We were playing steamboat, and we lay down to go
to sleep while we went over the make-believe ocean waves. Then, when we
woke up, and couldn't see our house--"
"Or any houses," added Sue.
"Or any houses," Bunny went on, "why--why, we thought we were--"
"Lost!" exclaimed Sue. "We don't like to be lost!"
"You're not lost," Mr. Reinberg said, laughing again. "You're quite a
way from home, though, for I have been going very fast. But I'll take
care of you. Now let me see what I had better do. I have to go on to
Wayville, and I don't want to turn around and go back with you
youngsters. And if I take you with me your folks will worry.
"I know what I'll do. I'll telephone back to your mother, tell her that
you're with me, and that I'll take you to Wayville, and bring you safely
back again. How will that do?"
"Will you take us in the auto?" asked Bunny.
"Of course."
"Oh, what fun!" cried Sue. "We'll have a ride, after all, Bunny."
"Yes," agreed her brother. "Thank you, Mr. Reinberg."
The dry-goods man found a house in which there was a telephone, and he
was soon talking to Mrs. Brown in her home. He told her just what had
happened; how, almost by accident, he had taken Bunny and Sue off in his
automobile. Then he asked if he might give them a longer ride, and bring
them home later.
"Your mother says I may," Mr. Reinberg said, when he came back to the
automobile, in which Bunny and Sue were waiting. "I'll take you on to
Wayville."
"Our Uncle Henry lives there," Bunny told the dry-goods man.
"Well, I don't know that I shall have time to take you to see him, but
we'll have a ride."
"We 'most went to Uncle Henry's once," said Sue. "On a trolley car, only
Splash couldn't come, and we had to go back and we got lost and--and--"
"Splash found the way home for us," finished Bunny, for Sue was out of
breath.
"Well, we won't get lost this time," Mr. Reinberg said. "Now off we go
again," and away went the automobile, giving Bunny and Sue a fine ride.
They soon reached Wayville, where Mr. Reinberg went to see some men.
Bunny and Sue did not have time to pay a visit to their Uncle Henry, but
Mr. Reinberg bought them each an ice cream soda, so they had a fine time
after all. Then came a nice ride home.
"Well, well!" cried Mrs. Brown, when Bunny and Sue, their cheeks red
from the wind, came running up the front walk. "Well! well! But you
youngsters do have the funniest things happen to you! To think of being
taken away in an automobile!"
"But we didn't mean to, Mamma," protested Bunny.
"No, you never do," said Aunt Lu, smiling.
"Oh, Bunny!" Sue exclaimed a little later that day, "we didn't sell any
tickets for the Punch and Judy show."
"Well, never mind," answered Bunny. "I guess enough will come anyhow."
You see he and Sue had such a good time on the automobile ride that they
forgot all about the tickets they had set out to sell.
In three days more the Punch and Judy show would be held in the Brown
barn. Everything was ready for it, Bunny had gone over his part again
and again until he did very well indeed. Sue, also, was very, very good
in what she did, so the other girls said. Sadie West, who was older,
helped Sue.
By this time, of course, the grown folks knew that some sort of a show
was going on in the Brown barn, and they had promised to come. And there
were so many children who wanted to see what it was going to be like
that Bunny and Sue did not know where they were all going to sit.
"And oh! what a lot of pins we'll have," said Sue, for all the children
paid pins for their tickets.
But Bunker Blue and George Watson made seats by putting boards across
some boxes, so no one would have to stand up.
Then came the day of the show. Bunny was dressed up in some old clothes,
and so was Sue. She did not put hers on, though, until after she had
helped take tickets, and sell them, at the barn door. Then Bunker Blue
took her place, and Sue dressed to help Bunny.
Bunny was inside the little theatre that Bunker had made. It had a
curtain that opened when Bunny pulled the string. He had his funny
lobster claw with him.
"And am I to come in for nothing?" asked Aunt Lu, as she walked into the
barn.
"Yes," said Bunny, putting his head out between the curtains, for he was
not all dressed yet. "The show is for you, Aunt Lu. So you will not feel
so sad."
"About your lost diamond ring," added Sue.
"Bless your hearts! What dear children you are!" said Aunt Lu, and
something glistened in her eyes as bright as a diamond--perhaps it was a
tear--but if so it was a tear of joy.
"All ready for the show now!" cried Bunker. "Please all sit down!"
Down they sat on the benches, some men and some ladies, but mostly
children, friends of Bunny and Sue.
"Are you all ready, Bunny?" asked Bunker, going close to the little
theatre.
"Yes, I'm all ready."
"Have you got your lobster claw on?"
"Yes. I'm going to open the curtain now."
The curtain opened in the middle, and there stood Bunny. You could only
see down to his waist, but such a funny face as he had! The lobster
claw, tied over his nose, made him look exactly like the pictures of Mr.
Punch.
Bunny made a bow, and then, instead of saying some of the funny things
that Mr. Punch in the show always says, Bunny sang a little song, while
Bunker Blue played on a mouth organ. This is what Bunny sang:
"This little show is for Aunt Lu.
Of course we're glad of others, too.
We want to cheer, and make her glad,
So she won't feel so very sad.
We hope she finds her diamond ring,
And this is all that I can sing!"
That was what Bunny sang, in his queer, "nosey" voice, to a queer little
tune that Bunker played on the mouth organ. And, when Bunny had
finished, he made a funny little bow, and said:
"I didn't make up that song. Bunker did!"
Then how everybody clapped their hands, and George Watson called out:
"Three cheers for Bunker Blue!"
Then began the real Punch and Judy show--that is, as much of it as Bunny
and Sue could manage.
"I wonder where Mrs. Punch is?" asked Bunny, twisting his head around.
"Here I is!" cried Sue, and up she popped. She had been stooping down so
she would not be seen until just the right time.
"And where is the baby?" asked Mr. Punch, looking first on one side and
then the other, of his big lobster claw nose.
"Here she is!" and Sue held up one of her old dolls.
"Ah, ha! Ah, ha!" said Mr. Punch. "She is a bad baby, and I am going to
whip her!"
And then, with a stick, he hit the doll until some of the sawdust came
flying out.
"Don't do that!" begged Sue. "You mustn't spoil my doll, Bunny!"
"I've got to do it," said Bunny in a whisper. "I have to, Sue, it's part
of the show." But Sue took her doll away from her brother.
CHAPTER XXV
THE LOBSTER CLAW
"Don't, Sue, don't!" begged Bunny Brown. "I must have the doll. You said
I could take her," and he tried to pull the doll away from his sister.
But Sue did not want to give up even an old doll.
"You mustn't knock out all her sawdust," she said. "She'll get sick."
Bunny did not know what to do. It seemed as if his Punch and Judy show
would be spoiled, and he did so want to make Aunt Lu feel jolly about
it.
Sue had really said, at first, that he could beat her old doll with a
stick, just as Mr. Punch does in the real show, but now Sue had changed
her mind.
"Oh, dear!" said Bunny, and he said it in such a funny way that everyone
laughed again.
"Let him take your doll, Sue dear," said her mother, from where she sat
on a box in the barn. "If he spoils it I will get you a new one. It's
only in fun, Sue," for Mrs. Brown did not want to see Bunny
disappointed.
"All right. You can take her, but don't hit her too hard," said Sue.
"I won't," promised her brother. And then the little show went on.
Mr. and Mrs. Punch had great times with the "baby," which was the
sawdust doll. Then Sue stooped down, out of sight, and turned herself
into a make-believe policeman, by putting on a hat, made out of black
paper, with a golden star pasted on in front. George Watson had made
that for her. Up popped Sue, the pretend policeman, to make Mr. Punch
stop hitting the sawdust doll baby.
"Go 'way! Go 'way!" cried Bunny Punch, in his squeaky voice, as he
tossed the doll out on the barn floor. "That's the way to do it! That's
the way I do it!"
Then Sue sang a little song, that Bunker had made up for her, and he
played the mouth organ. And next Bunny and Sue sang together. The
children thought it was fine, and the grown folks clapped their hands,
and stamped with their feet, which is what people do in a real theatre
when they like the play.
When Bunny and Sue made their bow, after singing the song together, they
both bobbed out of sight behind the curtain.
"Is that--is that all?" asked Tommie Tracy, in his shrill little voice,
from where he sat in the front row.
"Yep. That's all," answered Bunny. "The show is over, and we hope you
all like it; 'specially Aunt Lu."
"Oh, I just loved it," she answered. "And to think you got it all up for
me! It was just fine!"
"Do it all over again!" said Tommie. "I liked it too, but I want some
more. Do it again, Bunny!"
"I--I can't," Bunny answered, as he came out from inside the box that
Bunker Blue had made into a theatre. Bunny had taken off his lobster
claw nose, and held it dangling from the strings by which it had been
tied around his head.
Suddenly one of the planks, across two boxes, broke, and some of the
boys, who had been sitting on it, fell down in a heap. But no one was
hurt.
Then all the children crowded around Bunny and Sue to look at the funny
things the two children were wearing--old clothes, pinned up, and with
make-believe patches on them.
"Let me take your funny nose, Bunny," begged Charlie Star. "I want to
see how it looks on me."
Bunny handed over the lobster claw, but it dropped to the barn floor,
and before either he or Charlie could pick it up, some one had stepped
on it.
"Crack!" it went, for it was made of thin shell, not very strong. And
there it lay in pieces on the floor.
"Oh, dear" cried Charlie. "I've broken your nose, Bunny!"
"Well, I'm glad it wasn't my real one," and Bunny put his hand up to his
face, while Charlie stooped over to pick up the pieces of the lobster
claw, hoping there was enough left to make a little nose for the next
time.
And then suddenly Bunny, who was watching Charlie, gave a cry, and
reached for something that glittered among the pieces of the red lobster
claw.
"Oh, look! look!" fairly shouted the little fellow. "It's Aunt Lu's
diamond ring. It was in the lobster claw, and it came out when the claw
broke. Oh, Aunt Lu! I've found your diamond ring!"
Aunt Lu fairly rushed over to Bunny. She took from his hand the shiny,
glittering thing he had picked up from the barn floor.
"Yes, it IS my lost diamond ring!" she cried. "Oh, where was it?"
"Down inside the lobster claw, that I had on my nose," Bunny said. "Only
I didn't know it was there."
"And no one would have known it if it had not broken," said Mrs. Brown.
"How lucky to have found it."
Aunt Lu slipped the diamond ring on her finger. It glittered brighter
than ever.
"I see how it all happened," she said. "That day when I was helping pick
the meat out of the big lobster, my ring must have slipped from my hand,
and fallen down inside the empty claw. It went away down to the small
end, and there it was held fast, just as Bunny's foot was caught in the
hollow tree one day."
"Are you glad, Aunt Lu?" asked Bunny.
"Glad? I'm more glad than I ever was in my life!" and she hugged and
kissed him, and Sue also.
And everyone was glad Aunt Lu had found her ring. The show was over now,
and the children and grown folks went out of the barn. They all said
they had had a fine time.
That night Aunt Lu gave Bunny and Sue each a dollar, for she said Sue
had done as much to find the ring as Bunny had.
"Oh, what a lot of money!" cried Sue, as she looked at her dollar.
"We're rich now; aren't we, Bunny? As rich as Old Miss Hollyhock?"
"We're richer!" answered Bunny.
"Well, save some of your money, and when you come to New York to visit
me you can spend part of it in the city," said Aunt Lu.
"We will," promised Bunny Brown and his sister Sue.
But, before they visited Aunt Lu, the two children had other adventures.
I will be glad to tell you about them in the next book, which will be
named: "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on Grandpa's Farm." In that you
may read what the two children did in the country, how they had a long
automobile ride, and how they saw the Gypsies.
Aunt Lu went home the day after the Punch and Judy show.
"Did you like it?" asked Bunny, as she kissed him and Sue good-bye at
the station.
"Indeed I did, my dear!" she answered.
"I said we'd find your diamond ring, and we did," declared Sue.
"Yes," agreed Bunny, "but we didn't know it was in the lobster's claw."
"No one would ever have dreamed of its being there," said Aunt Lu. "But
oh! I am so glad I have it!"
And then, with the diamond ring sparkling on her finger, Aunt Lu got on
the train and rode away, waving a good-bye to Bunny Brown and his sister
Sue. And we will say good-bye, too.
THE END
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