Bunny Brown himself thought it was strange that Splash was not about to greet him and his sister as they came home from play. The big shaggy dog, that had once pulled Sue from the water, was very fond of the children, and if he did not go with them (which he did nearly every time) he was always waiting for them to come back.
But this time Splash was not to be seen. Bunny went about the yard, whistling, while Sue called:
"Splash! Here, Splash! I want you! Come here, Splash!"
But the joyful bark of Splash was not heard, nor did he come bounding around the side of the house, to play with Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, when they called.
"It is queer," said Mother Brown. "I sawhim early this morning, when I gave him his breakfast, and I thought he went with you, Bunny, when you and Sue went down to the duck pond."
"No, Splash didn't go with us," said Bunny. And this was rather strange, too, for the dog loved water, and played near it whenever he could, dashing in to bring out sticks that Bunny or Sue would throw in for him.
"And didn't he go down to Nellie Bruce's with you?" asked Grandma Brown. She was as fond of Splash as anyone.
"No, he didn't follow us," Sue answered. "We wanted him, too. But we thought sure he'd be here waiting for us. But he isn't," and again the little girl's eyes filled with tears.
"Oh, we'll find him," said Bunny.
But that was easier said than done. All about the house and barns in the farmyard, down through the meadows and over the pasture they looked for Splash. Mother and Grandmother Brown helped search, but Bunny and Sue, with Bunker Blue and Ben Hall, went farther off to look. It was nearly time for supper, but Bunny and Sue did notwant to wash and get clean ready for the meal until they had found Splash.
But Splash, it seemed, was not to the found.
"We'll have to ask some of the neighbors if they've seen him," said Bunker. "We'll go down the road a way and ask everyone we meet."
Splash, by this time, was pretty well known at the houses along the road where Grandpa Brown lived, for the dog made friends with everyone, and was fond of children.
But Bunker, Ben, Bunny and Sue had to ask at a number of places before they found anyone who had seen Splash.
"Your dog lost; eh?" exclaimed Mr. Black, who lived about a mile from Grandpa Brown's house. "Why, yes, I saw Splash this morning. He was running over the fields back of my house. I called to him, thinking you children might be with him, and there's an old ram, over in my back pasture, that I didn't want to get after you.
"But Splash wouldn't come when I called to him, and when I saw you two youngsters weren't with him, I didn't worry about theram. I knew Splash could look out for himself."
"Did you see him come back?" asked Bunker.
"No. I didn't notice. I was too busy."
"Then we'll go over and look for him," said Ben. "Maybe the old ram got him after all."
"Well, maybe he did," said the farmer, "but I guess a dog like Splash can run faster than a ram. Anyhow we'll have a look."
"Are you going, Bunny?" asked Sue.
"Sure. Aren't you? Don't you want to find Splash?"
"Yes—but—but I don't want a old ram to hook me with his horns."
"I'll take care of you, Sue," said Farmer Black. "I'll take a big stick with me, and the ram is afraid of that. We'll find Splash for you."
They all went over the field where Mr. Black had seen Splash trotting early that morning. They saw the ram, who, at first, seemed about to run toward them. But when Mr. Black shook the stick at him the ram turned away and nibbled grass.
"No sign of Splash here," said the farmer, as he stood on the fence and looked across the field.
"Then he's just lost," said Bunny. He was glad the ram had not hurt his dog. But where could Splash be?
They went on a little farther, and Sue called:
"Splash! Splash! Where are you?"
But there was no answer. Then they went on a little farther, and Bunny called:
"Splash! Ho, Splash!"
Hark! What was that?
They all listened.
From somewhere, a good way off, the faint barking of a dog could be heard.
"There he is!" cried Bunker Blue. "That's Splash!"
"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Sue.
"But why doesn't he come to us?" Bunny asked. "Splash always comes when you call him. Why doesn't he come?"
No one could answer this. They listened and waited. They could hear the dog barking, but the sound was as far off as ever.
"Maybe he can't come," said Ben. "Maybe he's caught, or hurt, and can't walk. We'll have to go to him."
"I guess that's right," said Farmer Black. "We'll find that dog of yours after all."
They listened in order to tell where the barking came from, and then started off toward a little grove of trees. It seemed that Splash was there. And, as they came nearer the barking sounded more plainly.
"Oh, Splash! Splash!" cried Sue.
The dog barked and whined now.
"He's hurt!" said Bunker Blue. "He must be caught in a trap!"
And it was there they found poor Splash.
He had stepped with one paw into a trap that was hidden under the leaves, and there he was, held fast. For the trap, which was a string spring one, was fastened by a chain to a heavy log. And as Splash could not pull the log and trap too, he had had to stay where he was caught.
"Oh, you poor, dear Splash!" cried Sue, putting her arms around the dog's neck. Splash licked her face with his red tongue,and whined. Bunny, too, put his arms around his pet.
"Some boy must have set that trap here to catch musk rats," said Farmer Black. "I've told 'em not to, but they won't mind. Let me see now if I can't set Splash loose."
This was soon done. The trap was not a sharp one, with teeth, as some are made, and though one of the dog's paws was pinched and bruised, no bones were broken, nor was the skin cut. But poor Splash was quite lame, and could only walk on three legs.
"Splash, what made you run away from home?" asked Bunny.
Of course the dog could not answer. But he may have found some other dog to play with, and run off to have some fun. Then he had stepped into the trap, and there he was held until his little friends came to find him.
"And it's a good thing you looked for him," said Bunker Blue, "or he might have been out here all night, caught in the trap."
"Poor Splash!" said Sue, as she hugged him again.
As Splash could not walk along very well,on three legs, Mr. Black said he would hitch up a wagon and take the dog, and everyone else, to grandpa's place. And, a little later, this was done.
Grandpa Brown put some liniment on the sore leg, and bound it up in soft cloths. Then Splash went to sleep in the kitchen.
"Oh, I'm so glad he isn't lost!" sighed Sue, as she and Bunny went to bed that night.
"So am I," echoed her brother.
For several days Splash had to go about on three legs, holding the lame one, with the cloth on, up in the air. Then the pain and bruise of the trap passed away, and he could run around the same as before, on four legs, though he limped a little. Soon he was over that, and as well as ever.
"And you must keep out of traps," said Bunny, shaking a finger at his pet.
"Bow-wow!" barked Splash, and I guess that he meant he would.
It was about a week after this that Bunny Brown and his sister Sue saw Bunker Blue and Ben Hall out in a field with a big pile of white cloth.
"Oh, maybe they're going to send up a balloon!" exclaimed Bunny, for he had once seen this done at a park.
"Let's go watch!" cried Sue.
They found the two big boys stretching out the white cloth, to which was fastened many ropes.
"Is it a balloon?" asked Bunny.
"No," answered Bunker. "It's a tent."
"A tent! What a big one!"
"It's the army tent your grandfather used to sleep in when he went to camp. He let us take it. We're going to put it up and see how many it will hold."
"What for?" Bunny wanted to know. "Are you going camping? Can Sue and I come?"
"No, we're not going camping," answered Ben. "But we want this tent, and perhaps another one, bigger, for the circus we are going to give."
"Oh, are you going to have a circus?" asked Bunny.
"Well, we big boys are thinking of it," said Bunker. "You young ones gave such a good one, that we want to see if we can't comeup to you. That's why we're going to put up this tent."
"We'll help," said Bunny. Then he and Sue began pulling on ropes and hauling on the ends of the white canvas, of which the tent was made. The children thought they were helping, but I guess Bunker and Ben could have done better if left alone. Still they liked the children, and did not want to send them away.
But Bunny, who had gone away from Sue, soon grew tired of pulling on the heavy ropes.
"I guess I'll come back when you have the tent up," said the little fellow. "Come on, Sue," and he looked around for his sister.
But she was not in sight.
"Sue! Sue!" called Bunny. "Where are you?"
"Maybe she's gone home," said Ben.
"No, she wouldn't go without me," Bunny declared. "Oh, maybe she's lost; or caught in a trap, just like Splash was!" and Bunny began to cry.
Bunker Blue, Ben, and some of the large boys from nearby farms, who had been invited to come over and help put up the big tent, stopped pulling on the ropes, or driving in stakes, and gathered around Bunny Brown.
"What's the matter?" asked one big boy, who had a snub nose.
"My—my little sister is lost," Bunny explained, half crying.
"Who is your sister?" the big boy asked. He came from a farm a good way off, and was somewhat of a stranger.
"She's Sue—that's my sister," Bunny explained. "She was here a little while ago, but now she's lost!"
"This is Bunny Brown," explained Bunker to the other boys. "He and his sister Sue are staying at Grandpa Brown's farm. Their grandfather let us take this tent," he said.
"Oh, I see!" exclaimed the big boy. "Well, we'll help you hunt for your sister, Bunny."
They began looking all around the big tent, which was spread out on the ground and not yet up on the poles, as it would be later, so the people could come in it to see the show of the big boys. But Sue was not in sight. Nor could she be seen anywhere in the field where the tent was to be put up.
"Are you sure she didn't go back to the house, Bunny?" asked Ben.
"I'm sure she didn't," said the little boy. "She was here with me a little while ago. If she'd gone she'd have told me so, and Splash would have gone with her. He goes with her more than he does with me. And see, here is Splash!"
This was true. The big dog lay in the shade, watching what Bunny and the others were doing, and wondering, I suppose, why people were so foolish as to work in hot weather, when they could just as well lie down in the shade, and stick out their tongues to keep cool—for that is what dogs do.
"Maybe Splash can find Sue," said Bunker.
"Hi there, Splash!" he called. "Where's Sue? Find her!"
Splash jumped up with a bark, and ran to Bunny.
"You tell him what to do," said Bunker. "He'll mind you better than he will me."
"Find Sue, Splash! Find Sue!" said Bunny.
Splash barked again, looked up into Bunny's face, as if to make sure what was wanted, and then, with a bark he ran to where a big pile of the white canvas was gathered in a heap. It was a part of the tent the boys had not yet unfolded, or straightened out.
Splash stood near this and barked. Then he began poking in it with his sharp nose.
"He—he's found something," said Ben.
"Maybe it's Sue," cried Bunker. "Come on!"
Taking hold of Bunny's hand, Bunker ran with him toward the pile of canvas. The other boys ran too. But before they got there Sue was sitting up in the middle of it, and Splash was standing near her, barking and jumping about now and then, as if he felt very happy.
"Why—why, Sue!" Bunny cried. "Were you there all the while?"
"How long is all the while?" asked Sue, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "I was playing house here, Bunny, and I pulled a bed spread over me, and went to sleep. Splash put his cold nose on me and woke me up. What are you all lookin' at me for?" Sue asked, as she saw the circle of boys, her brother among them, staring at her.
"We—we thought you were lost, Sue," said Bunny. "And we came to find you."
"I—I wasn't losted at all!" Sue protested. "I was here all the while! I just went to sleep!"
And that was what had happened. When Bunny was busy helping Ben and Bunker pull on some of the tent ropes, Sue had slipped off by herself, and had lain down on the pile of canvas.
Feeling sleepy, she had pulled a part of the tent over her. She made believe it was a white spread, such as was on her bed in her Grandpa Brown's house. This covered Sue from sight, so Bunny and none of the others could see her.And there she had slept, while the others looked. And had not Splash known where to find the little girl, she might have slept a great deal longer, and Bunny and the boys might not have found her until dark.
"But I've slept long enough, now," said Sue. "Is the tent ready for the big circus?"
"Not yet," answered Bunker Blue. "We've got to use the piece of canvas you were sleeping on, so it's a good thing you woke up. But we'll soon have the tent ready, and then we'll go and get the bigger one."
"Oh, are you going to have two?" asked Sue.
"Yes," answered Ben. "Oh, we're going to give a fine show! And we want you and your sister Sue in it, too, Bunny," went on the strange boy who had come to Grandpa Brown's so hungry that night. "You'll be in the big circus; won't you?"
"To give the Punch and Judy show?" asked Sue.
"Well, maybe that, and maybe some of the things you did in your own little circus," Bunker said. "There's time enough to get up something new if you want."
"All right. That's what we'll do," said Bunny. "Come on, Sue, and we'll practise a new act for the big boys' circus."
The little circus, gotten up by Bunny and Sue, had made quite a jolly time for the people in the country where Grandpa Brown lived. It was talked of in many a farmhouse, and it was this talk of the little circus that had made Bunker, Ben and the other big boys want to give a larger show of their own.
Some of the boys were quite strong, and they could do tricks on the trapeze that Bunny and his little friends did not dare try. Then, too, one of the boys had a trained dog, that had once been in a real city theatre show, and another had some white mice that could do little tricks, and even fire a toy cannon that shot a paper cap.
"Oh, it's going to be a real circus all right, in real tents," said Bunker Blue.
As I have told you, Grandpa Brown let the boys take his old army tent, and they were to have another, and larger one, that had once been used at a county fair.
Leaving Bunker, Ben and the other big boysto put up their tent, Bunny and Sue, with Splash, their dog, went back to the farmhouse.
"What trick can we do, Bunny?" asked Sue. "What can we do in the circus?"
"Oh, we'll make up a surprise, so they'll all laugh," he said. "I wish I had another big lobster claw, so I could put it on my nose, and look funny."
"Maybe you could find something else to put on your nose," said the little girl. "Oh, Bunny, I know!" she suddenly cried. "I've just thought of something fine!"
"What?" asked Bunny.
Sue looked all around, to make sure no one was listening, and then she whispered to Bunny. And what it was she told him I'm not allowed to tell you just now, though I will when the right time comes.
Anyhow, Bunny and Sue were very busy the rest of the day. They were making something out in the barn, and they kept the doors closed so no one could see what they were doing.
It was the day after this that Bunny and Sue were asked by their grandma to go on alittle errand for her. It was about half a mile down the safe country road, to a neighbor's house, and as the two children had been there before, they knew the way very well.
Hand in hand they set off, with Splash following after them. They walked slowly, for there was no hurry. Now and then they stopped to pick some pretty flowers, or get a drink at a wayside spring. Once in a while they saw a red, yellow or blue bird, and they stopped to watch the pretty creatures fly to their nests, where their little ones were waiting to be fed.
"Oh, isn't it just lovely in the country," said Sue. "Don't you just love it, Bunny?"
"Yes," he answered. "I do. And won't we have fun at our circus, Sue, when I dress up like a——"
"Hush!" exclaimed the little girl. "Don't tell anyone! It's a secret you know."
"Pooh! There's nobody here to tell!" laughed Bunny.
In a little while they were at the house of the neighbor to whom Grandma Brown had sent them. They gave in the little notegrandma had written, and then Mrs. Wilson, to whom it was sent, after writing an answer, gave Bunny and Sue each a cookie, and a cool glass of milk.
"Sit down in the shade, on the porch, and eat and drink," said Mrs. Wilson. "Then you will feel better when going home."
Bunny and Sue liked the cookies and milk very much. They were just eating the last crumbs of the cookies, and drinking the last drops of milk, when Bunny, looking out toward the road, saw, going past, a man with a large number of balloons, tied to strings, floating over his head. There were red balloons, and blue ones; green, yellow, purple, white and pink ones.
"Oh, look, Sue!" cried Bunny. "The balloons! That's just what we want for our circus."
"What do we want of balloons?" asked the little girl.
"I mean we ought to have somebody sell them outside the tents," Bunny went on. "It won't look like a real circus without toy balloons."
"That's so," agreed Sue. "But how can we get 'em?"
"We'll ask the balloon man," said Bunny. He was not a bit bashful about speaking to strangers.
Setting down his empty milk glass, Bunny ran down the front path toward the road, where the balloon man was walking along through the dust. Sue ran after her brother.
"Hey! Hi there!" called Bunny.
The man stopped and turned around. Seeing the two children, he smiled.
"You wanta de balloon?" he asked, for he was an Italian, just like the one who had a hand organ, and whose monkey ran away, as I have told you in the book before this one.
"We want lots of balloons," said Bunny.
"Oh, sure!" said the man, smiling more than ever.
"We want all the balloons for our circus," Bunny explained.
"Circus? Circus?" repeated the balloon man, and he did not seem to know what Bunny meant. "What is circus?" he asked.
"We're going to have a circus," Bunny explained. "My sister Sue says we must have toy balloons. You come to our circus and you can sell a lot. You know—a show in a tent."
"Oh, sure! I know!" The Italian smiled again. He had often sold balloons at fairs and circuses. "Where your circus?" he asked.
"Come on, we'll show you," promised Bunny. Then he and Sue started back toward Grandpa Brown's house, followed by the man with the balloons floating over his head—red balloons, green, blue, purple, yellow, white and pink ones.
"Bunny! Won't it be just grand!" whispered Sue to her brother, as they walked along ahead of the balloon man.
"Fine!" said Bunny. "We'll have him stand outside the tent, and sell his balloons. It'll look just like a real circus then. It wouldn't without the balloons; would it, Sue?"
"No. And, oh, Bunny! I've thought of something else."
"What is it?"
"Pink lemonade."
"Pink lemonade?"
"Yes, we'll have the balloon man sell that, and peanuts. Then it will be more than ever like a real circus."
"But how can he sell pink lemonade and peanuts and balloons?" Bunny wanted to know.
"Oh, he can do it," said Sue, who seemed to think it was very easy. "He can tie his bunch of balloons to the lemonade and peanut stand, and when anybody wants one they can take it and put down the five cents. Then the balloon man will have one hand to dish out the hot peanuts, and the other to pour out the pink lemonade."
"Yes, I guess he could do that," said Bunny. "We'll ask him, anyhow. Maybe he won't want to."
Bunny and Sue stopped and waited for the balloon man to catch up with them. The man, seeing the children waiting for him, hurried forward, and stopped to see what was wanted.
"Well?" he asked, looking at his balloons to make sure none of them would break away, and float up to the clouds.
"Can you sell pink lemonade?" asked Bunny.
"Penk leemonade," repeated the Italian, saying the words in a funny way. "Whata you calla dat? Penk leemonade?"
"You know—what they always have at a circus," said Bunny. "This color," and hepointed to a pink balloon. "You drink it you know, out of a glass—five cents."
"No can drinka de balloon!" the man exclaimed. "You put your teeth on heem and he go—pop! so—no good!"
"No, I don't mean that!" cried Bunny, laughing at the Italian, who made funny faces, and waved his hands in the air. "I mean can you sell pink lemonade—to drink—at our circus?"
"And peanuts?" added Sue.
"Yes, we'd want you to sell peanuts, too," went on the little boy.
"Ha! Peanuts? No! I used to pusha de peanut cart—make de whistle blow—hot peanuts. No more! I sella de balloon!" exclaimed the Italian. "No more makea de hot peanuts!"
"Oh, dear!" sighed Sue. "He won't do it! We'll have to get some one else, Bunny."
"Well, we can easy do that," said Bunny. "Maybe the hired man will sell peanuts and lemonade for us. I asked him if he would like to be in the big circus, and he said he would. I asked him if he could do any acts."
"What'd he say?" Sue wanted to know, while the Italian balloon peddler stood looking at the two children, as if wondering what they would do next.
"Well, the hired man said all he could do was milk a cow, and plow up the ground. He wanted to know if they were circus acts, and I said I guessed not," replied Bunny. "So maybe he'd be glad to sell lemonade and peanuts."
"I think he would," said Sue. "You needn't do anything except blow up your balloons and sell 'em," she went on to the Italian. "Never mind about the peanuts and the pink lemonade."
"Alla right," said the man, with a smile that showed what nice white teeth he had. "Me sella de balloon!"
He and the children walked on a little longer. Then the man turned to Bunny and asked:
"How much farder now—to de circus?"
"Not far now," said Bunny. "The circus isn't quite ready yet, but you can stay at our grandpa's house until it is. You see we don'tget many balloon peddlers out this way. You're the first one we've seen, so you'd better stay. It won't be more than a week, or maybe two weeks."
"Circus last all dat time?" asked the Italian. "Sella lot de balloons. Buy more in New York—sella dem! Mucha de money!"
"We've an aunt in New York," said Sue. "Her name is Aunt Lu. If you sell all these balloons she'll buy some more for you in New York, so you won't have to go away."
"Yes," said Bunny, "that would be best. We'll get Aunt Lu to send you more balloons. And when you haven't any to sell, while you're waiting, you could help the hired man sell pink lemonade and peanuts. 'Cause, anyhow, maybe the hired man sometimes would have to go to milk the cows, and you could take his place."
The Italian shook his head. He did not quite know what Bunny and Sue were talking about. All he thought of was that he was being taken to a circus, where he might sell all his balloons, and make money enough to buy more to sell.
"There's grandpa's house now," said Sue, as they went around a turn in the road.
"Where de circus—where de tents?" the Italian wanted to know.
"Oh, they're not all up yet," said Bunny. "The big boys are doing that. You just come with us."
And so Bunny Brown and his sister Sue walked up the front path, followed by the Italian with the many-colored balloons floating over his head.
"Mercy me! What's all this?" cried Mother Brown, when she saw the little procession. "What does this mean, Bunny—Sue?"
"It's balloons, for the circus," explained Bunny. "We saw this man down the road, and we invited him to come with us. He's going to stay here until it's time for the circus, next week, and then he's going to sell balloons outside the tent."
"We wanted him to sell pink lemonade and peanuts," said Sue, "but he wouldn't. So the hired man can do that. Now, Grandma," went on the little girl, "maybe this balloonman is hungry. We're not, 'cause we had some cookies and milk; didn't we, Bunny?"
"Yep."
"But he didn't have any," Sue went on. "And he'll have to have a place to sleep, 'cause he's going to stay to the circus, and sell balloons. And if he sells them all Aunt Lu will send him more from New York and he can sell them. Won't it be nice, Mother?"
Mrs. Brown did not know what to say. Neither did Grandma Brown. They just looked at one another, and then at the Italian, and next at Bunny and Sue.
"Me sella de balloon!" explained the Italian, as best he could in his queer English. "Little boy—little gal—say circus. Me likea de circus. But me no see any tents. Where circus tents?"
"Oh these children!" cried Mrs. Brown. "What in the world are we to do with this Italian and his balloons?"
"Me sella de balloons!" said the dark-skinned man.
"Yes, I know," sighed Mrs. Brown. "But the circus is only a make-believe one, and itisn't ready yet, and—Oh, I don't know what to do!" she cried. "Bunny—Sue—you shouldn't have invited the balloon man to come here!"
"But you can't have a circus without balloons," said Bunny.
"Yes, my dear, I know, but——"
"What's all the trouble?" asked Papa Brown, coming out on the porch just then.
Bunny and Sue, their mother and the Italian, told the story after a while.
"Well," said Mr. Brown, to the Italian, after he had listened carefully, "I'm sorry you had your trip for nothing. But of course the children did not know any better. It is only a little circus, and you would not sell many balloons. But, as long as you came away back here, I guess we can give you something to eat, and we'll buy some balloons of you for the children."
"Thanka you. Mucha de 'bliged," said the Italian with a smile.
He seemed happy now, and after Grandma Brown had given him some bread and meat, and a big piece of pie, out on the side porch,he started off down the road again, smiling and happy. Bunny and Sue were each given a balloon by their father, who bought them from the Italian.
"And don't invite any more peddlers to your circus, children," said Mr. Brown.
"We won't," promised Bunny. "But we thought the balloons would be nice."
"We can have the hired man sell pink lemonade and peanuts; can't we?" Sue wanted to know.
"Yes, I guess so—if he wants to," laughed Grandpa Brown.
"Well, we have some balloons ourselves, anyhow," said Bunny to his sister that night.
The children had much fun with their balloons next day. They tied long threads to them, and let them float high in the air. Once Sue's nearly got away, but Bunny ran after the thread, which was dragging on the ground, and caught it.
The big boys had not forgotten about the circus, all this while. Bunker, Ben and their friends had put up the tent Grandpa Brown let them take, and Bunny and Sue went inside.
"My! It's terrible big!" said Sue, looking about the white canvas house. It was not so very large, but it seemed so to Sue.
"Just wait until you see the other," said Bunker. "The fair tent is three times as big as this."
And so it was. When that was put up in the meadow, near the army tent of Grandpa Brown's, the place began to look like a real circus ground.
"When are you going to have the show?" asked Bunny of Ben.
"Oh, in a few days now. Have you and Sue made up what you are going to do?"
"Yes, but it's a secret," Sue answered.
"So much the better!" laughed Ben. "You'll surprise the people."
The two tents were put up, and the big boys were getting ready for the circus. One night, about four days before it was to be held, Bunker Blue and Ben came in from where they had been, down near the tents, and looked anxiously at the sky.
"What's the matter," asked Bunny.
"Well," said Bunker, "it looks as if wewould have a big rain storm. And if we do, and the meadow brook gets too full of water, it may wash the tents away."
"Oh, I guess that won't happen," said Ben.
But in the night it began to rain very hard. It thundered and lightened, and Bunny and Sue woke up, frightened. Sue began to cry.
"Why, you mustn't cry just because it rains," said Mother Brown.
"But I'm afraid!" sobbed Sue. "And it will wash away our circus tents!" and she sat up in bed, and shivered every time it thundered. "Oh, Mother! It will wash away all the nice circus tents!"
Mrs. Brown did not quite understand what Sue said about the storm washing away the circus tents. So she asked the little girl to explain.
"Why, Bunker Blue said," Sue told her mother, "that if the storm was too hard, the brook would get full of water, and wash away our circus tents. And I don't want that, 'cause me and Bunny is going to do an act, only it's a secret and I can't tell you. Only—Oh, dear!" cried Sue, as she saw a very bright flash of lightning. "It's going to bang again!"
"But you musn't be afraid of the storm," said Mother Brown. "See, Bunny isn't afraid!"
"Yes, Iisafraid too!" cried the little boy, who slept in the next room. "Iisafraid, but I wasn't goin' to tell!"
"Well, that's being brave—not to show that you are afraid," said Mother Brown. "Come now, Sue, you be brave, like Bunny."
"But I can't, Mother! I don't want the circus to be spoiled!"
"Oh, I guess the tents are good and strong," said Mr. Brown, who had gotten up to see what Sue was crying for. "They won't blow away."
It was about eleven o'clock at night, and quite dark, except when the lightning came. Then the loud thunder would sound, "just like circus wagons rumbling over a bridge," as Bunny told Sue, to try and make his little sister feel less afraid.
But all Sue could talk of was the circus tents, that might be blown over by the strong wind, which was now rattling the shutters and windows of the farmhouse. Or else the white canvas houses might be washed away by the high water.
While Mr. and Mrs. Brown sat up, trying to comfort Sue, by telling her and Bunny a fairy story, there were sounds heard in another part of the house.
"I guess that's Grandpa Brown getting up to see if his cows and horses are all right," said mother. "The cows and horses are not afraid in a storm, Sue."
"Maybe they are, but they can't talk and tell us about it," said Sue, who was not quite so frightened now.
Grandpa Brown could be heard speaking to some one in the hall.
"Hello, Bunker Blue," he called, "is that you getting up?"
"Yes, Mr. Brown," was the answer the children heard.
"And who is that with you?"
"Ben Hall."
"What are you going to do?" Bunny Brown heard his grandpa ask.
"We're going down to see about our circus tents," said Bunker. "We're afraid they may be carried away in the storm."
"Well, perhaps they may," said Grandpa Brown. "It's a bad storm all right, but we'll be safe and comfortable in the house. Take a lantern with you, if you're going out, and be careful."
"We will," promised Bunker.
Bunny put on his slippers and bath robe and went to the bedroom door. It was open a little way, and out in the hall he could see Bunker Blue and Ben Hall. The two big boys had on rubber boots and rubber coats, for it was raining hard.
"Oh, Bunker!" called Bunny. "May I go with you?"
"What, little shaver! Are you awake?" Bunker asked. "You'd better get back to bed. It's raining cats and dogs!"
"Really?" called Sue, from her father's lap, where she was sitting all "cuddled up." "Is it really raining cats and dogs? Is it raining my dog Splash? If it is I want to see it!"
"No, I didn't exactly mean that," answered Bunker with a laugh. "I meant it was raining such big drops that they are almost as large as little baby cats and dogs. But it is storming too hard for you two youngsters to come out. Ben and I will see about the tents."
"Don't let them blow away!" begged Bunny.
"Or wash down the brook," added Sue.
"We won't!" promised the big boys.
Then they went out into the storm. The wind was blowing so hard they could not carry umbrellas, for if they had taken them the umbrellas would have been blown inside out in a minute. But with rubber hats, coats and boots Bunker and Ben could not get very wet.
Bunny and Sue, looking from their windows, saw the flicker of the lantern, as Bunker and Ben walked with it toward the circus tents.
Harder rumbled the thunder, and brighter flashed the lightning. The rain pounded on the roof as though it would punch holes in it, and come through to wet Bunny and Sue. But nothing like that happened, and soon the two children began to feel sleepy again, even though the storm still kept up.
"I—I guess I'll go to bed," said Sue. "Will you stay by me a little while, Daddy?"
"Yes," answered her father. "I'll sit right by your little bed."
"And hold my hand until I get to sleep?"
"Yes, I'll hold your hand, Sue."
"All right. Then I won't be scared any more. You can hold Bunny's hand, Mother."
"Pooh, I'm not afraid!" said Bunny. "But I like you to hold my hand, Mother!" he added quickly, for fear his mother would go away and leave him.
"All right, I'll sit by you," she said, with a smile.
Bunny and Sue soon fell asleep again. The thunder was not quite so loud, nor the lightning so bright, but it rained harder than ever, and as Bunny felt his eyes growing heavy, so that he was almost asleep, he again thought of what might happen to the circus tents.
"If they wash away down the brook, we can't have any show," he thought. "But maybe it won't happen."
Bunny roused up a little later, when some one came into the farmhouse. The little boy thought it was Bunker and Ben, but he was too sleepy to get up and ask. He heard some one, that sounded like his grandpa, ask:
"Did they wash away?"
Then Bunker's voice answered:
"Yes, they both washed away. It's a regular flood down in the meadow. Everything is spoiled!"
"I wonder—I wonder if he means the circus?" thought Bunny, but he was too sleepy to do anything more, just then, than wonder.
In the morning, however, when the storm had passed, Bunny Brown and his sister Sue heard some bad news. After breakfast Bunker and Ben came in and Bunker said:
"Well, little folks, I guess we can't have any circus!"
"No circus!" cried Bunny, and he was so surprised that he dropped his fork with a clatter on his plate, waking up Splash, the big dog, who was asleep in one corner of the room.
"Why can't we have a circus?" asked Sue. She and Bunny had almost forgotten about the storm the night before.
"We can't have a circus," explained Bunker, "because both our tents were washed away during the night. The brook, that is generally so small that you can wade across it, was so filled with rain water that it was almost turned into a river. It flooded the meadow, the water washed out the tent poles and pegs, and down the tents fell, flat. Then the water rose higher and washed them away."
"Where did it wash them?" asked Bunny.
"Oh, away down toward the river, I guess. I'm afraid we'll never get 'em back."
"It's too bad," said Ben. "Just when we were all ready for the nice circus. But, Bunker, we won't give up yet. We'll look for those tents, and maybe we can put them up again."
"Well, maybe we can do it," said the red-haired boy. "But I'm afraid everything is spoiled."
"We'll help you look for the tents," said Bunny. "Won't we, Sue?"
"If—if the water isn't too deep," said Sue. She was always afraid of deep water, though she, like Bunny, was learning to swim.
"Oh, the water isn't deep now," Bunker assured her. "It was a regular flood in the night when Ben and I went out to look at it, but it has all gone down now, since the rain stopped."
"Was it deep when you were out last night?" Bunny wanted to know.
"It surely was," answered Bunker. "It was almost over our boots. We couldn't get nearthe tents, and we had to watch them be knocked down by the flood, and carried away on the big waves. Then we came back to the house."
"We couldn't do anything in the dark, anyhow," remarked Ben. "But now that it's daylight maybe we can find the tents."
"We'll help—come on!" exclaimed Bunny to his sister.
They finished their breakfast, and, after promising to keep out of mischief, Bunny and Sue were allowed to go with Bunker and Ben to look for the missing tents.
First they went down to the meadow where the white canvas houses had been first put up. The brook was higher than Bunny or Sue had ever seen it before, and the bent-over, twisted and muddy grass showed how high up in the meadow the water had come. There were some wooden pegs still left in the ground, to show where the tents had stood.
"And now they're gone," said Bunny sadly.
"Yes. Carried away in the flood," remarked Bunker.
"But maybe we'll find them," said Ben hopefully.
They walked along the bank of the brook. About a mile farther on it flowed into a small river.
"And if our tents have floated down the river we may never get them back," said Bunker. "Now everybody look, and whoever first sees the white tents, caught on a stone or on a log, tell us, and we'll try to get them," said Bunker.
You may be sure Bunny and Sue kept their eyes wide open, and were very desirous to be the first to see the tents. It was Sue who had the first good look.
As she and Bunny, with Ben, Bunker and some other big boys who had come to help, went around a turn in the brook, Sue, who had run on ahead, saw something white bobbing up and down in the water.
"Oh, there's a tent—maybe!" she cried.
The others ran to her side.
"So it is!" shouted Bunker. "That's the small tent, caught fast on a rock in the brook. We'll get that out first!"
He and the other boys took off their shoes and stockings, and waded out to the tent. It was hard work to get it to shore, but theyfinally managed to do it. The tent was wet and muddy, and torn in two places, but it could be dried out, mended and used.
"And now for the big tent—see ifyoucan find that, Bunny!" called Ben.
But Bunny was not as lucky as was his sister Sue. After they had walked on half a mile farther, it was Bunker himself who saw the big tent, caught on a sunken tree, just where the brook flowed into the river.
"Now if we get that we'll be all right," he said.
"Yes, but it isn't going to be as easy to get that as it was the little one," commented Ben Hall. "We'll have to work very hard to get that tent to shore."
"I'll help," offered Bunny Brown, and the other boys laughed. Bunny was so little to offer to help get the big tent on shore.
The big tent, once used at the fair, but which the boys had now borrowed for their circus, was all tangled up in the water. The ropes and cloth were twisted and wound around among the sticks and stones, where the tent had drifted, after the flood of the night before had carried it away.
"Oh, we'll never get that out so we can use it," said Charlie Tenny, one of the boys who was helping Ben, Bunker and the others.
"Yes, we'll get it out," said Ben. "We've got Bunny Brown to help us you know."
Some of the boys laughed, and Bunny's face grew red.
"Now I mean just what I say!" cried Ben. "Bunny Brown is a brave little chap, and if it hadn't been for him and his sister Sue we big fellows wouldn't have thought of getting upa circus show. So it's a good thing to have a chap like him with us, even if he is small."
Bunny felt better after this, and he thought Ben was very kind to speak as he had done.
"Splash is here, too," said Bunny. "He can get hold of a rope and pull like anything."
"That's right," said Bunker Blue. "Maybe Splash can help us. He is a strong dog."
"It's a good thing the tent didn't go all the way down to the river," said Charlie. "Otherwise we might never have found it."
"Yes," put in Bunker. "And now let's see if we can get it to shore. It's not going to be easy."
The boys worked hard, and Bunny helped. He could wade out, where the water was not too deep, and pull on the ropes. There were a great many of these ropes to hold the tent together, but now they were all tangled.
But Ben Hall seemed to know how to untangle them, and soon the work of getting the tent to shore began to look easier. Splash did his share of work, too. He pulled on the ropes Bunker Blue handed him, shutting his strong, white teeth on them, and straining andtugging until you would have thought that Splash, all alone, would pull the tent ashore.
And, finally, with all the boys and the dog and Bunny Brown pulling and tugging, they got the tent out of the water. It was still all twisted and tangled, but now that it was on shore it was easier to make smooth.
"We'll have to get a wagon to haul it back to the meadow where we are going to set it up again," said Bunker.
"My grandpa will let us take a horse and wagon," said Bunny. "He wants to see the circus."
"I guess we'll have to give him a free ticket if he lets us take a horse and wagon to haul the tent," said Ben with a laugh. "You've a good grandpa, Bunny Brown."
"Yep. I like him, and so does Sue," said the little fellow.
Grandpa Brown very kindly said he would go down to the river himself, in his wagon, and help the boys bring up the tent. He did this, and he also helped them set it up again. This time they put the two circus tents farther back from the brook.
"Then if it rains again, and the water gets high and makes a flood, it won't wash away the tents," said Bunker Blue.
"When is the show going to be?" asked Sue. She was anxious to see it, and she and Bunny were waiting for the time when they could let their secret become known. For they had told no one yet.
"Oh, we'll have to wait a few days now, before having the circus," said Ben. "The tents are all wet, and we want them to dry out. Then we've got to make the seats all over again, because the flood carried them away. I guess we can't have the show until next week."
There was much more work to be done because the flood had come and spoiled everything. But, after all, it did not matter much, and the boys set to work with jolly laughs to get the circus ready again.
Bunny and Sue helped all they could, and the older boys were glad to have the children with them, because both Bunny and Sue were so good-natured, and said such funny things, at times, that it made the others laugh.
The seats for the circus were made of boards, laid across boxes, just as Bunny and Sue had made theirs when they gave their first Punch and Judy show in their barn at home.
There were seats all around the outer edge inside the big fair tent. It was in this one that the real "show" was to be given. Here the big boys would swing on trapezes, have foot and wheelbarrow races, ride horses and do all sorts of tricks.
"The people will sit here and watch us do our funny things," said Ben. "We're going to have clowns, and everything."
"And what's going to be in the little tent—the army one grandpa let you take?" asked Bunny.
"Oh, that's for the wild animals," said Bunker Blue.
"Are you going to have our dog Splash striped like a blue tiger again?" asked Sue.
"No, I think we'll have some different wild animals this time," said Ben. "There'll be some surprises at our show."
"Oh, I wish it were time now!" cried Sue.
"We've got a surprise too; haven't we, Bunny?"
"Yep!" answered her brother. "Come on out to the barn, Sue and we'll practise it again."
What it was Bunny and Sue were going to do, none of the big boys could guess. And they did not try very hard, for they had too much to do themselves, getting ready for the "big" circus as they called it, for the first one, gotten up by Bunny and Sue, was only a little one.
So the smaller tent was made ready for the "wild" animals, though of course there would really be no elephants, tigers or anything like that. You couldn't have them in a boys' circus, and I guess the boys didn't really want them. "Make-believe" was as much fun to them as it was to Bunny and Sue.
There was nice, clear weather after the storm and flood, and soon the circus tents were dried out again. The boards were once more put across the boxes for seats.
One day Bunker and Ben went into the big tent. There they saw Bunny and Sue tyingsome pieces of old carpet on to some of the planks down near the front sawdust ring. For there was a real sawdust ring, the sawdust having come from grandpa's ice-house.
"What are you putting carpet on the planks for?" asked Ben, of the two children.
"To make preserved seats," answered Sue.
"Reserved seats, Sue.Reserved—notpreserved seats, Sue," corrected Bunny.
"Well, it's just the same, 'most," said Sue, as she went on tying her bit of carpet to a board. "We're making some nice, soft reserved seats for grandpa and grandma, and mother and daddy."
"Oh, I see!" laughed Bunker. "That's a good idea. We can make soft seats for the ladies, Ben. We'll get some more pieces of old carpet and have a lot of reserved seats."
And this the big boys did. Bunny and Sue, little as they were, had given them a good idea.
And now began the real work of getting ready for the circus. That is the boys began taking into the smaller tent queer looking boxes and crates. These boxes and crates werecovered with cloth or paper, so no one could see what was in them.
"What are they?" asked Sue, as she and Bunny stood outside the smaller tent, for Bunker would not let them go inside.
"Oh, those are some of the wild animals," said the red-haired boy.
"Really?" asked Sue, her eyes opening wide.
"Well—really-make-believe," laughed Bunker.
"And are the white mice there?" asked Bunny.
"Yes, the white mice are in the tent," said Bunker.
One of the country boys, who had a lot of white mice had promised to lend them to the circus. He had taught them to do some little tricks, and this was to be a part of the show.
"Oh, I can hardly wait!" cried Sue. "I want to see the circus."
"Well you can now, in a day or so," said Bunker. "Hi there! What have you?" he asked of a boy who came up to the tent with a box on a wheelbarrow.
"This is the wild lion," was the answer.
"Oh-o-o-o-o!" exclaimed Sue, getting closer to Bunny. "A lion!"
"Oh, I've got him well trained," said the boy. "He won't hurt you at all. He won't even roar if I tell him not to."
Certainly the lion in the cage seemed very quiet, and the boy carried him very easily.
"I guess maybe he's a baby lion," whispered Sue to Bunny.
That afternoon there was a great deal of excitement down at the "circus grounds," as Bunny and Sue called the place in the meadow where the tents stood.
One of the boys who had been helping Bunker and Ben, came running out of the tent crying:
"They're gone! They're gone!"
"What's gone?" asked Ben.
"My white mice! The cage door is open and they're all gone!"
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue looked at one another. If the white mice had escaped from the circus tent, some of the other animals might also get away. And suppose that should happen to the lion, which Ben had said was in one of the boxes! Just suppose!
"I—I guess we'd better go home, Bunny," said Sue, in a whisper.
"Yes," he answered. "I—I guess mother wants us. Come on!"
"What's the matter?" asked Bunker Blue. "I thought you were going to stay and help us, Bunny."
"I—I was. But if those mice got away—"
"Oh, I see!" laughed Bunker Blue. "You're afraid some of the other animals might also get out. But don't be afraid. We haven't any of the other wild beasts in here yet."
"But that—that lion," said Bunny, looking toward the animal tent.
"Oh, he's asleep," said Ben. "Besides he wouldn't hurt anyone even if he was out of his cage. You needn't be afraid. He's the only animal, except the mice, that we've put in the tent yet. But how did your mice get out, Sam?" he asked the boy who owned them.
"I don't know. They were all right last night, but, when I went to feed them this morning, the cage door was open, and they were all gone."
"Will—will they bite?" asked Sue.
"No, they're very tame and gentle," answered Sam. "White mice and white rats, you know, aren't like the other kind. I guess being colored white makes them kind and nice. They run all over me, in my pockets and up my sleeves. Sometimes they go to sleep in my pockets.
"Why, even my mother isn't afraid of them, and she'll let them go to sleep in her lap, and she wouldn't do that for a black mouse or a black or gray rat. No sir!"
"No, I guess not!" exclaimed Bunker."Other rats and mice would bite. But it's too bad your white ones are gone. We'll have to find them. We can't have a good circus without them. Everybody help hunt for Sam's lost mice!" cried Bunker.
"I—I know how to get them," said Sue.
"How?" Sam wanted to know. He and the others, including Bunny and Sue, had gone inside the tent to look at the empty mouse cage.
"With cheese," answered Sue. "Don't you know the little verse: 'Once a trap was baited, with a piece of cheese. It tickled so a little mouse it almost made him sneeze.' And when your mices sneeze, when they smell the cheese, you could hear them, and catch them, Sam."
"Yes, maybe that would be a good plan," laughed Bunker Blue. "But do your mice like cheese, Sam?"
"Yes, they'll eat almost anything, and they'll take it right out of my hand. Oh dear! I hope they come back!"
Sam felt very bad, for he had had his white mice pets a long time, and had taught them to do many little tricks.
"We'll all help you look for them," said Ben. "Did you ever teach any of them the trick of opening the cage door?" he asked.
"No," replied Sam. "I don't believe they could do that, for the door was fastened on the outside, and white mice haven't paws like a trained monkey. Maybe I didn't fasten the cage door good last night."
"Oh, Bunny!" cried Sue. "Wouldn't it be fun if we could send and get Mr. Winkler's monkey Wango for our circus? Wouldn't it?"
"Yes, maybe it would," replied Bunny. "But I don't guess we could do it. Come on, Sue, I'm going to look for the white mice."
"All right," Sue said. Maybe some little girls would be afraid of mice, white, black or gray. But Sue was not. Perhaps it was because she knew Bunny was going to be with her. Then, too, Sue was very anxious to have the circus as good as it could be made, and if the mice were missing some of the people who came might not like it. So Sue and Bunny said they would help hunt for the lost white mice.
With the big boys, the children looked all around the animal tent. The ground had been covered with straw, and the mice might be hiding in this, or among the boxes and barrels in the tent. But, look as every one did, the mice were not to be found.
"What's in that box?" asked Sue, pointing to one covered with a horse blanket.
"That's the lion," answered Bunker Blue. "But don't be afraid," he went on, as he saw Sue step to one side. "He's asleep now. Besides he can't hurt anyone. You'll see, when we have the circus."
No one knew where the white mice had gone. Even Splash could not find them, though both Bunny and Sue told their dog to look for Sam's pets.
"I guess Splash isn't a rat dog," said Ben.
"No, and I'm glad he isn't," Sam said. "Rat dogs might think white mice were made for them to shake and kill, just as they shake and kill the other kind of rats and mice. I'd rather lose my white mice, and never see them again, than have them killed."
But, even though the white mice were missing, the circus would go on just the same. And now began a busy time for all the big boys. The show would be given in two more days, and there was much to be done before that time.
Sam and Bunker Blue had painted some signs which they tacked up on Grandpa Brown's barn, as well as on the barns of some of the other farmers. Everybody was invited to come to the circus, and those who wanted to could give a little money to help pay for the hire of the big tent. Many of the farmers and their wives said they would do this.
One by one the animal cages, which were just wooden boxes with wooden slats nailed in front, were brought into the animal tent. They were put around in a circle on the straw which covered the ground.
In the other tent the boys had made a little wooden platform, like a stage. They had put up trapezes and bars, on which they could do all sorts of tricks, such as hanging by their hands, by their heels and even by their chins.
No one except themselves knew what Bunny and his sister Sue were going to do. Thechildren had kept their secret well. They had asked their grandma for two old bed sheets, and she had let them take the white pieces of cloth. Bunny and Sue were making something in the harness room of the barn, and they kept the door shut so no one could look in.
It was the night before the circus, and Bunny and Sue had gone to bed. They were almost asleep when, in the next room, they heard their mother call:
"Oh, Walter!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown to her husband. "There's something under my bed. I'm sure it's one of the animals from the boys' circus! Do look and see what it is!"
"Oh, it can't be anything," said Mr. Brown. "All the animals are shut up in the tent. Besides, they are only make-believe animals, anyhow."
"Well, I'm suresomethingis under my bed!" said Mrs. Brown. "I heard it move. Please look!"
Mr. Brown looked. Sue and Bunny wondered what it was their papa would find. They heard him say:
"Oh, it's nothing but a piece of white paper. You heard it rattle in the wind. Come and see for yourself."
Bunny and Sue heard their mother cross the room. She stooped down to look under the bed. Then she cried:
"Oh, Walter! It's alive! It isn't paper at all. It's coming out!"
"Why, so it is!" said Mr. Brown. "I wonder what—?"
Then Mrs. Brown screamed, and Mr. Brown laughed.
"Oh, it's a mouse! It's a rat! It's a whole lot of mice!" said Bunny's mother.
"Yes, it's a whole lot of mice, and they're white!" said Mr. Brown with a jolly laugh. "Hurrah! We've found the lost white mice from the boys' circus! You needn't be afraid of them!"
Mrs. Brown did not scream any more. She was not afraid of white mice. Bunny and Sue ran into the room where their mother and father were. There they saw their father picking up the white mice in his hands, and petting them. The mice seemed to like it.
"Oh, where did you find them?" cried Bunny.
"Under our bed," his mother said.
"Oh, how glad Sam will be!" said Sue. "Now we can have the circus all right."
And so the white mice were found. They had gotten out of their cage in the tent, and had, somehow or other, found their way to the farmhouse. There they had hid themselves away, until that night when they came out into Mr. Brown's room.
"Well, I'm glad they are found," said Mrs. Brown. "Give them something to eat, and put them in a box until morning."
This Mr. Brown did, after Bunny and Sue had held in their hands the queer pets, which had such funny pink eyes.
"I want to see them do some tricks," said Sue.
"Sam can hitch them to a little cart and drive them," said Bunny. "He told me so."
The mice were put safely away ready for the circus the next day, and soon the house was quiet, with everyone asleep.
The sun was brightly shining. There wasjust enough wind to make it cool, and the weather was perfectly fine for the circus. Bunny, Sue, Bunker and Ben were up early that morning, for there was still much to do.