She and her sister walked back, but they could not see Bunny and Sue.
"Oh, where are they?" cried Mrs. Brown. "My children are lost! Lost in New York! Oh dear!"
Bunny Brown, and his sister Sue, standing in front of the window where the monkeys and birds were, in cages, had forgotten all about Mother Brown and Aunt Lu. All the children thought of was watching the funny things the monkeys did, for there were three of the long-tailed animals in one cage, and they seemed to be playing tricks on one another.
"Oh, Bunny!" said Sue, "this must be where the hand-organ men get their monkeys."
"Maybe," Bunny agreed. "But hand-organ monkeys have red caps on, and wear green coats, and these monkeys haven't anything on."
"Maybe they make caps and jackets for them from the birds' feathers," Sue said.
"Maybe," agreed Bunny. Certainly thefeathers of the birds were red and green, just the colors of the caps and jackets the monkeys wore.
"I wonder if the man would give us a monkey?" Sue said, as she pressed her little nose flat against the window glass, so she would miss nothing of what went on in the store.
"Maybe he would, or we could save up and buy one," Bunny answered.
"Monkeys don't cost much I guess. 'Cause hand-organ mens isn't very rich, and they always have one. I'd like a parrot, too," said Sue.
"Yes, a parrot is better than a doll, for a parrot can talk."
"A parrot is not better than a doll!" Sue cried.
"Yes it is," said Bunny. "It's alive, too, and a doll isn't."
"Well, I can make believe my doll is alive," said Sue. "Anyhow, Bunny Brown, you can't have a parrot or a monkey, 'cause Henry, the elevator boy, won't let 'em come inside Aunt Lu's house."
"That's so," Bunny agreed. "Well, anyhow, we can go in and ask how much they cost, and we can save up our money and buy one when we go home. We aren't always going to stay at Aunt Lu's. And our dog, Splash, would like a monkey and a parrot."
"Yes," said Sue, "he would. All right, we'll go in and ask how much they is."
Hand in hand, never thinking about their aunt and their mother, Bunny and Sue went into the animal store, in the window of which were the monkeys and the parrots. Once inside, the children saw so many other things—chickens, ducks, goldfish, rabbits, squirrels, pigeons and dogs—that they were quite delighted.
"Why—why!" cried Sue, "it's just like Central Park, Bunny!"
"Almost!" said the little boy. "Oh, Sue. Look at the squirrel on the merry-go-'round!"
In a cage on the counter, behind which stood an old man, was a bushy-tailed squirrel, and he was going around and around in a sort of wire wheel. It was like a small merry-go-'round, except that it did not whirl in just the same way.
"What do you want, children?" asked the old man who kept the animal store.
"We—we'd like a monkey, if it doesn't cost too much," said Bunny.
"And a parrot, too. Don't forget the parrot, Bunny," whispered Sue. "We want a parrot that can talk."
"And how much is a parrot, too?" asked Bunny.
The old man smiled at the children. Then he said:
"Well, parrots and monkeys cost more than you think. A parrot that can talk well costs about ten dollars!"
Bunny looked at Sue and Sue looked at Bunny. They had never thought a parrot cost as much as that. Bunny had thought about twenty-five cents, and Sue about ten.
"Well," said Bunny with a sigh, "I guess we can't get a parrot."
"Does one that can't talk cost as much as that?" Sue wanted to know.
"Well, not quite, but almost, for they soon learn to talk, you know," answered the nice old man.
"How much are monkeys?" asked Bunny. It was almost as if he had gone into Mrs. Redden's store at home, and asked how much were lollypops.
"Well, monkeys cost more than parrots," said the old man.
"Oh, dear!" sighed Bunny. "I—I guess we can't ever save up enough to get one."
"No, I guess not," agreed Sue.
The old man smiled in such a nice way that Bunny and Sue felt sure he would be good and kind. He was almost like Uncle Tad.
"Where did you get all these animals?" asked Bunny, as he and his sister looked around on the dogs, cats, monkeys, parrots, guinea pigs, pigeons and goldfish, that were on all sides of the store.
"Oh, I have had an animal store a long time," said the old man. "I buy the animals and birds in different places, and sell them to the boys and girls of New York who want them for pets."
"We have a pet dog named Splash," said Bunny. "He's bigger than any dogs you have here."
"Yes, I don't keep big dogs," said the old man. "They take up too much room, and they eat too much. Mostly, folks in New York want small dogs, because they live in small houses, or apartments."
"My Aunt Lu can't have a dog or a parrot or a monkey in her house," said Sue. "Henry, the colored elevator boy, won't let her. Bunny and me, we found a dog, and Henry made us tie him down in the hall to feed him."
"Yes, I suppose so," said the old man.
"And we found a ragged man," went on Bunny, "and I had to lead him up stairs—ten flights—'cause Henry maybe wouldn't let him ride in the elevator."
"That was too bad," said the old animal store-keeper. "But where do you children live? Is your home near here, and do your folks know you are trying to buy a monkey and a parrot?"
Then, for the first time since they had looked in the window of the animal store, Bunny and Sue thought of Mother Brown and Aunt Lu. They remembered they had started for the seashore.
"Oh, our mother and aunt are with us," said Bunny. "We had our dinner, and we're going to Coney Island. I guess we'd better go, too, Sue. Maybe they're waiting for us."
Bunny and Sue started out of the animal store, but, just then, one monkey pulled another monkey's tail, and the second one made such a chattering noise that the children turned around to see what it was. Then the monkey whose tail was pulled, reached out his paw, through the wires of his cage, and caught hold of the tail of a green parrot. Perhaps he thought the parrot was pulling his tail.
"Stop it! Stop it!" screamed the parrot. "Polly wants a cracker! Oh, what a hot day! Have some ice-cream! Stop it! Stop it! Pop goes the weasel!"
Bunny and Sue laughed, though they felt sorry that the monkey's and parrot's tails were being pulled. The animal-store man hurried over to the cages to stop the trouble, and Bunny and Sue stayed to watch.
So it happened, when Mother Brown and Aunt Lu turned around, to find the missing children, Bunny and Sue were not in sight,being inside the store. So, of course, their mother and their aunt did not see them.
"Oh, where could they have gone?" cried Mother Brown.
"Perhaps they are just behind us," said Aunt Lu. "We'll find them all right."
"But suppose they are lost?"
"They can't be lost very long in New York," Aunt Lu said. "The police will find them. Come, we'll walk back and look for them."
But though Mother Brown and Aunt Lu walked right past the store, they never thought that Bunny and Sue were inside.
"Oh, dear!" cried Aunt Lu, "I don't see where they can be!"
"Nor I," said Mrs. Brown. "Oh, if my children are lost!"
"If they are we'll soon find them," asserted Aunt Lu, looking up and down the street, but not seeing Bunny or Sue. "Here comes a policeman now," she went on. "We'll ask him."
But, though the policeman had seen many children on the street, he was not sure he had seen Bunny and Sue.
"However," he said, "the police station is not far from here. You had better go there and ask if they have any lost children. We pick up some every day, and maybe yours are there. Go to the police station. You'll find 'em there."
And to the police station went Mother Brown and Aunt Lu. They walked in toward a big, long desk, with a brass rail in front. Behind the desk sat a man dressed like a soldier, with gold braid on his cap.
"Have you any lost children?" asked Mother Brown.
"A few," answered the police officer behind the brass rail. "You can hear 'em crying."
Aunt Lu and Mother Brown listened. Surely enough, they heard several little children crying.
"They're in the back room," said the officer. "I'll take you in, and you can pick yours out."
Mother Brown and Aunt Lu went into the back room of the police station. Around the room, at a table, sat many policemen, most of them with their coats off, for it was rather a warm day. These were the policemen who were waiting for something to happen—such as a fire, or some other trouble—before they went out to help boys and girls, or men and women.
But, besides these policemen, there were some little children, three little boys, and two little girls, all rather ragged, all quite dirty, and at least one boy and one girl were crying.
"Oh, where did you get them all?" asked Mother Brown.
"They are lost children," said the policeman who looked like a soldier, with the gold braid on his cap. "Our officers find them on the street, and bring them here."
"And how do their fathers and mothers find them?" asked Aunt Lu.
"Oh, they come here looking for them, the same as you two ladies are doing. The children are never lost very long. You see they're so little they can't tell where they live, or we'd send them home ourselves. Are any of these the lost children you are looking for?"
"Oh, no! Not one!" exclaimed Mother Brown. It took only one look to show her and Aunt Lu that Bunny and Sue were not among the lost children then in the police station.
"Well, I wish some of these were yours," returned the officer. "Especially those two crying ones. They've cried ever since they came here."
"Boo-hoo!" cried two of the lost children. They seemed to be afraid, more than were the others. The others rather liked it. One boy was playing with a policeman's hat, while a little girl was trying to see if she was as tall as a policeman's long club.
"Will they stay here long?" asked Aunt Lu.
"Oh, no, not very long," said the officer.
"Their mothers will miss them soon, and come to look for them. So none of these are yours?" he asked.
"No, but I wish they were," said Mother Brown. "Oh, what has happened to Bunny and Sue?" she asked, and there were tears in her eyes.
"They'll be all right," said the officer in the gold-laced cap. "Maybe they haven't been found yet. As soon as a policeman on the street sees that your children are lost he'll bring them here. You can sit down and wait, if you like. Your little ones may be brought in any minute now."
But Aunt Lu and Mother Brown thought they would rather be out in the street, looking for Bunny and Sue, instead of staying in the police station, and waiting.
"If you leave the names of your children," said the officer to Mother Brown, "we'll telephone to you as soon as they are found. That is if they can tell their names."
"Oh, Bunny and Sue can do that, and they can also tell where they live," said Aunt Lu.
"Oh, then they'll be all right," the officersaid, with a laugh. "Maybe they're home by this time. If they told a policeman where they lived he might even take them home, or send them home in a taxicab. We often do that," he said, for he could tell by looking at Aunt Lu and Mother Brown that the two ladies lived in a nice part of New York, maybe a long way from this police station.
"Oh, perhaps Bunny and Sue are home now, waiting for us!" said Mother Brown. "Let's go and see!"
"And if they're not, and if they are brought here, we'll telephone to you," the officer said, as he put the names of Bunny and Sue down on a piece of paper, and also Aunt Lu's telephone number.
So Mrs. Brown and her sister left the police station, and, after another look in the street where they last had seen Bunny and Sue, hoping they might see them (but they did not), off they started for Aunt Lu's house.
"Maybe they are there now," said Mother Brown.
But of course Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were not. We know where they were,though their mother and aunt did not. The children were still in the animal store, laughing at the funny things the monkeys were doing.
After a while, though, one monkey stopped pulling the other monkey's tail, and the other monkey stopped trying to pull the green feathers out of the parrot's tail, and it was quiet in the animal store, except for the cooing of the pigeons and the barking of the dogs.
"So you don't think you want to buy a monkey or a parrot to-day, children?" asked the animal-man, with a smile.
"No, thank you. We haven't the money," said Bunny. "But I would like a monkey."
"And I'd like a parrot," added Sue. "But Henry, the elevator boy, wouldn't let us keep 'em, so maybe it's just as well."
"We can come down here when we want to see any animals," said Bunny to his sister. "I like it better than Central Park."
"So do I," said Sue.
"Yes, come down as often as you like," the old man invited them. "Are you going?" he asked, as he saw Bunny and Sue open the door.
"Yes, we're going to Coney Island with mother and Aunt Lu," Bunny answered.
He and Sue stepped out into the street. They had forgotten all about their mother and their aunt until now, and they thought they would find them on the sidewalk, waiting. But, of course, we know what Mother Brown and Aunt Lu had done—gone to the police station, looking for the lost ones.
So, when Bunny and Sue looked up and down the street, as they stood in front of the animal store, they did not see Mrs. Brown or Aunt Lu.
"I—I wonder where they went?" said Sue.
"I don't know," answered Bunny. "Maybe they're lost!"
Sue looked a little frightened at this. The animal-man, seeing the children did not know what to do, came out to them.
"Can't you find your mother?" he asked.
"No," answered Bunny. "She—she's lost!"
"I guess it'syouwho are lost," said the animal-man. "But never mind. Tell me where you live, and I'll have the police take you home."
Bunny and Sue, when first they came to New York, had been told by their Aunt Lu that if they ever got lost not to be worried or frightened, for a policeman would take them home. So now, when they heard the animal-man speak about the police, they knew what to expect.
"Where do you live, children?" asked the gray-haired animal-man. "Tell me where you live."
But, strange to say, Bunny and Sue had each forgotten. Some days past their aunt and mother had made them learn, by heart, the number and the street where Aunt Lu's house stood. But now, try as they did, neither Bunny nor Sue could remember it. Watching the monkeys and parrots had made them forget, I suppose.
"Don't you know where you live?" asked the animal-man.
Bunny shook his head. So did Sue.
"Our elevator boy is named Henry," Bunny said.
The animal-man laughed.
"I guess there are a good many elevatorboys named Henry, in New York," he said. "I'll just tell the police that I have two lost children here. They'll come and get you, and take you home. Maybe your aunt and mother have already been at the police station looking for you."
It took only a little while for the kind man to telephone to the same police station where Aunt Lu and Mother Brown had been. Of course they were not there then.
But soon a kind policeman came and took Bunny and Sue to the police station, leading them by the hand. Bunny and Sue thought it was fun, and persons in the street smiled at the sight. They knew two lost children had been found.
"What are your names, little ones?" asked the policeman behind the big brass railing, when the two tots were led into the station house.
"I'm Bunny Brown, and this is my sister Sue," spoke up the little boy. "We're lost, and so is our mother and our Aunt Lu."
"Well, you won't be lost long," said the officer with a laugh. "Your mother and aunthave been here looking for you, but they've gone home. I'll telephone them you are here, and they'll come and get you."
And that's just what happened. Bunny and Sue sat in the back room, with the other lost children, though there were not so many now, for two of them—the crying ones—had been taken away by their mothers. And, pretty soon, along came Aunt Lu's big automobile, and in that Bunny and Sue were ready to be taken safely home.
Then Aunt Lu rode past the kind animal-man's place, and she and Mother Brown thanked him for his care of the children.
"We couldn't have a monkey and a parrot, could we, Mother?" asked Bunny, as they left the animal store.
"No, dear. I'm afraid not."
"I didn't think we could," Bunny went on. "But when we get back home, where Henry, the elevator boy, can't see 'em, Sue and I is going to have a monkey and a parrot."
Mother Brown and Aunt Lu laughed when Bunny said this. Bunny's and Sue's mother and aunt were glad to have the children safely with them again. They were soon at Aunt Lu's home.
"Whatever made you two children go into that animal store?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Aunt Lu and I thought you were right behind us, going to take the boat for Coney Island. Now we can't go."
"We can go some other day," declared Bunny. "You see we just stopped to look in the animal store window, Mother, and then we thought we'd go in to see how much a monkey and a parrot cost."
"But they cost ten dollars," said Sue, "so we didn't get any."
"I should hope not!" exclaimed Aunt Lu.
The next day Bunny and Sue went to Coney Island with their aunt and their mother. This time Aunt Lu and Mother Brown kept close hold of the children's hands, so they were not lost. They very much enjoyed the sail down the bay, and they had lots of fun at Coney Island.
Of course Bunny and Sue were not like some children, who have never seen the grand, old ocean. Bunny and Sue lived near it at home, and had seen it ever since they were small children. But, to some, their visit to Coney Island gives the first sight of the sea, and it is a wonderful sight, with the big waves breaking on the sandy shore.
But if Bunny and Sue were not so eager to see the ocean, they were glad to look at the other things on Coney Island. They rode on a merry-go-'round, slid down a long wooden hill, in a wooden boat, and splashed into the water; this was "shooting the chutes," of which you have heard.
They even rode on a tame elephant, in a little house on the big animal's back. Then they had popcorn and candy, and some lemonade, that, if it was not pink, such as they had at their little circus, was just as good. In fact Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had a very good time at Coney Island.
Coming back on the boat was nice, too. There was a band playing music, and Bunny and Sue, and some other children, danced around. They reached home after dark, and Bunny and Sue were glad to go to bed.
But Bunny was not too sleepy to ask:
"What are we going to do to-morrow, Mother?"
"Oh, wait until to-morrow comes and see," she answered. "I hope you don't get lost again, though."
But Bunny and Sue were not afraid of getting lost in New York, now. They knew the police would find them, and be kind to them.
Their mother and Aunt Lu had made them say, over and over again, the number of the house, and the name of the street where Aunt Lu lived. The children also had cards with the address on. But the day they went into the animal store they had left their cards at home.
"What shall we do, Bunny?" asked Sue, the day after their trip to Coney Island. "I want to have some fun."
"So do I," said Bunny.
Having fun in the big city of New York was different from playing in the country, on grandpa's farm, or near the water in Bellemere, as Bunny and Sue soon found. But they had many good times at Aunt Lu's, though they were different from those at home. One thing about being in the country, at grandpa's, or at their own home, was that Bunny and Sue could run out alone and look for fun. In New York they were only allowed to go on the street in front of Aunt Lu's house alone. Of course if Aunt Lu, or Mother Brown, or even Wopsie went with them, the children could go farther up or down the street.
"Let's see if we can go out and find Wopsie's aunt to-day," said Bunny to Sue, after they had eaten breakfast.
"All right," agreed the little girl. "Where'll we look?"
"Oh, down in the street," said Bunny. "We'll ask all the colored people we meet if theyhave lost a little girl. And we could ask at a police station, too, if we knew where there was one."
"Yes," said Sue, "we might ask at the station where we was tooken, after we saw the monkeys and parrots in the animal store."
"But we don't know where that police station is," Bunny said. "I guess we'd just better ask in the street."
Bunny and Sue were quite in earnest about finding little Wopsie's aunt for her. For they wanted to make the little colored girl happy.
And, strange as it may seem, Bunny and Sue had asked many colored persons they met, if they wanted a little lost colored girl. Bunny and Sue did not think this was at all strange, for they were used to doing, and saying, just what they pleased, as long as it was not wrong.
Of course some colored men and women did not know what to make of the queer questions Bunny and Sue asked, but others replied to them kindly, and said they were sorry, but that they had not lost any little colored girl.
"But we'll find Wopsie's aunt some time,"said Bunny, and Sue thought they might. So now, having nothing else to do to "have fun," as they called it, Bunny and Sue started to go down to the street.
"Don't go away from in front of the house!" their mother called to them.
"We won't," Bunny promised.
Henry, the colored elevator boy, took them down in his car.
"We're going to find Wopsie's aunt," said Bunny.
"Well, I hopes you do," replied Henry. For, all this while, though Aunt Lu had tried her best, nothing could be found of any "folks" for the little colored girl. She still lived with Aunt Lu, helping keep the apartment in order, and looking after Bunny and Sue.
Down on the sidewalk went Bunny and his sister. For some time they sat on the shady front steps, watching for a colored man or woman. But it was quite long before one came along. Then it was a young colored man. Up to him ran Bunny.
"Is you looking for Wopsie?" he asked.For the colored man was looking up at the numbers on the houses.
"No, sah, little man. I'se lookin' fo' Henry," was the answer. "He's a elevator boy, an' he done lib around yeah somewheres."
"Oh, he lives in here!" cried Sue. "Henry's our elevator boy. We'll show you!"
She and Bunny ran into the hall, calling:
"Henry! Henry! Here's your brother looking for you!"
And so it was Henry's brother. He worked as an elevator boy in another apartment house, and, as he had a few hours to spare, he had come to see Henry.
The two colored boys talked together, riding up and down in the sliding car, while Bunny and Sue went back to the street.
"Well, we didn't find anyone looking for Wopsie," said Bunny, "but we found someone looking for Henry, and that's pretty near the same."
"Yes," said Sue. "Maybe we'll find Wopsie's aunt to-morrow."
But no more colored persons came along, and, after a while, Bunny and Sue grew tiredof waiting. Looking up in the air Bunny suddenly gave a cry.
"Oh, Sue! Look!" he shouted. "There's a boy on the roof of that house across the street, flying a kite. I'm going to get a kite and fly it from our roof!"
"Do you think mother will let you?" asked Sue.
"I'm going to tell her about it!" Bunny exclaimed.
At first Mrs. Brown would not hear of Bunny's flying a kite from the roof of the apartment house. But Aunt Lu said:
"Oh, the boys here often do it. That's the only place they have to fly kites in New York. There is a good breeze up on our roof, and it's safe. I don't know anything about a kite though, or how we could get Bunny one."
"You can buy 'em in a store," said the little boy. "There's a store just around the corner, and the kites cost five cents."
Mrs. Brown, hearing her sister say it was safe, and all right, to fly kites from the roof, said Bunny might get one. So he and Sue, with Wopsie, went to the little store around thecorner. There Bunny got a fine red, white and blue kite, with a tail to it.
"Now we'll take it up on the roof and fly it," he said to his sister and the little colored girl, after he had tied the end of a ball of string to his kite.
There was a good wind up on the roof, and the railing was so high there was no danger of the children sliding off. Bunny's kite was soon flying in the air, and he and Sue took turns holding the string, as they sat on cushions on the roof. Wopsie stood near, looking on.
"I NEVER FLIED A KITE LIKE THIS BEFORE," LAUGHED BUNNY—"UP ON A HOUSE ROOF.""I NEVER FLIED A KITE LIKE THIS BEFORE," LAUGHED BUNNY—"UP ON A HOUSE ROOF."
Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Aunt Lu's City Home.Page 192.
"I never flied a kite like this before," laughed Bunny—"up on a house roof."
High up in the air flew Bunny Brown's kite. The wind blew very hard on the high roof of Aunt Lu's house, harder than it blew down in the street. And, too, on the roof, there were no trees to catch the kite's tail and pull it. I think a kite doesn't like its tail pulled any more than a pussy cat, or a puppy dog does. Anyhow, nothing pulled the tail of Bunny's kite.
"Doesn't it fly fine!" cried Sue, as Bunny let out more and more of the ball of cord.
"Yes," he answered. "I'll let you hold it awhile, Sue, after it gets up higher."
"And will you let Wopsie hold it, too?" asked the little girl.
Sue was very kind hearted, and she always wanted to have the lonely little colored girl share in the joys and pleasures that Bunnyand his sister so often had.
"Sure, Wopsie can fly the kite!" Bunny answered. "It's almost up high enough now. Pretty soon it will be up near the clouds. Then I'll let you and Wopsie hold it awhile."
Up and up went the kite, higher and higher. The wind was blowing harder than ever, sweeping over the roof, and Bunny moved back from the high rail for fear that, after all, the kite might pull him over. Pretty soon he had let out all the cord, except what was tied to a clothes pin his aunt had given him, and Bunny said:
"Now you can hold the kite, Sue. But keep it tight, so it won't pull away from you."
Sue did not come up to take the string, as Bunny thought she would. Instead, Sue said:
"I—I guess Wopsie can take my turn, Bunny. I don't want to hold the kite. Let Wopsie."
"Why, I thought you wanted to," the little boy said.
"Well, I—I did, but I don't want to now," and Sue looked at the kite, high up in the air above the roof.
"Come on, Wopsie!" called Bunny to the little colored girl. "You can hold the kite awhile."
Wopsie shook her kinky, black, curly head.
"No, sah, Bunny! I don't want t' hold no kite nohow!" she said.
"Why not?" Bunny wanted to know.
"Jest 'case as how I don't!" Wopsie explained.
"Is—is you afraid, same as I am?" asked Sue.
"Why, Sue!" cried Bunny. "You're not afraid to hold my kite; are you?"
"Yes I is, Bunny."
"What for?"
"'Cause it's so high up," Sue told him. "The wind blows it so hard, and we're up on such a high roof, and the kite pulls so hard I'm afraid it might take me up with it."
"That's jest what I'se skeered ob, too!" cried Wopsie. "I don't want t' git carried off up to no cloud, no sah! I wants t' find mah aunt 'fore I goes up to de sky!"
Bunny Brown laughed.
"Why this kite wouldn't pull you up!" hesaid. "It can't pull hard enough for that. Come on, I'll let both of you hold it together. It can't pull you both up."
"Shall we?" asked Sue, looking at Wopsie.
"Well, I will if yo' will," said the colored girl slowly.
Slowly and carefully Sue and Wopsie took hold of the kite string. No sooner did they have it in their hands than there came a sudden puff of wind, harder than before, and the kite pulled harder than ever.
"Oh, it's taking us up! It's taking us up!" cried Sue, and she let go the string.
"I can't hold it all alone! I can't hold it all alone!" cried Wopsie. "I don't want to go up to de clouds in de sky!"
And she, too, let go the cord. As it happened, Bunny did not have hold of it just then, thinking his sister and Wopsie would hold it, so you can easily guess what happened.
The strong wind carried the kite, string and all, away through the air, the clothes pin, fast to the end of the cord, rattling along over the roof.
"Oh, look!" cried Sue. "Your kite is loose, Bunny!"
"Cotch it! Cotch it!" shouted Wopsie, now that she saw what had happened.
Bunny did not say it was the fault of his sister and the little colored girl that the kite had gone sailing off by itself, though if the two girls had held to the string it never would have happened. But Bunny was too eager and anxious to get back his kite to say anything just then.
With a bound he sprang after the rolling clothes pin. But it kept just beyond his reach. He could not get his hand on it. Faster and faster the kite sailed away. Bunny was now running across the roof after the clothes pin that was tied on the end of his kite cord.
Then, all of a sudden, the clothes pin was pulled over the edge of the roof railing. Bunny could not get it. He stopped short at the edge of the roof, and looked at his kite sailing far away.
"It—it's gone!" said Sue, in a low voice.
"It—it suah has!" whispered Wopsie. "Oh, Bunny. I'se so sorry!"
"So'm I!" added Sue.
Bunny said nothing. He just looked at his kite, growing smaller and smaller as it sailed away through the air. It was too bad.
"Never mind," said Bunny, swallowing the "crying lump" in his throat, as he called it. "It—it wasn't a very good kite anyhow. I'm going to get a bigger one."
"Den we suah will be pulled offen de roof!" said Wopsie, and Bunny and Sue laughed at the queer way she said it.
However, nothing could be done now to get the kite. Away it went, sailing on and on over other roofs. The long string, with the clothes pin on the end of it, dangled over the courtyard of the apartment house. Then the wind did not blow quite so hard for a moment, and the kite sank down.
"Oh, maybe you can get it!" cried Sue.
"Let's try!" exclaimed Bunny. "Come on, Wopsie. We'll go down to the street and run after my kite."
Down to Aunt Lu's floor went the children. Quickly they told Mother Brown and Aunt Lu what had happened.
"We're going to chase after my kite," said Bunny. "That's what we do in the country when a kite gets loose like mine did."
"But I'm afraid it won't be so easy to run after a kite in the city as it is in the country," said Mother Brown. "There are too many houses here, Bunny. But you may try. Wopsie will go with you, and don't go too far away."
Wopsie knew all the streets about Aunt Lu's house, and could not get lost, so it was safe for Bunny and Sue to go with her. A little later the three were down on the street, running in the direction they had last seen the kite. But they could see it no longer. There were too many houses in the way, and there were no big green fields, as in the country, across which one could look for ever and ever so far.
For several blocks, and through a number of streets, Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, with Wopsie, tried to find the kite. But it was not in sight. They even asked a kind-looking policeman, but he had not seen it.
"I guess we'll have to go back without it,"said Bunny, sighing. "But I'll buy another to-morrow."
The children turned to go back to Aunt Lu's house. Bunny and Sue looked about them. They had never been on this street before. It was not as nice as the one where their aunt lived. The houses were just as big, but they were rather shabby looking—like old and ragged dresses. And the people in the street, and the children, were not well dressed. Of course that was not their fault, they were poor, and did not have the money. Perhaps some of them did not even have money enough to get all they wanted to eat.
"I—I don't like it here," whispered Sue to Wopsie. "Let's go home."
"There's more children here than on our street," said Bunny. "Look at those boys wading in a mud puddle. I wish I could."
"Don't you dare do it, Bunny Brown!" cried Sue. "You know we can't go barefoot in the city. Mother said so."
"Yes, I know," Bunny answered.
The three children walked on. As they passed a high stoop they saw a number ofragged boys and girls sitting around a box, on which were some old broken dishes and clam shells. One girl, larger than the others, was saying:
"Now you has all got to be nice at my party, else you won't git nothin' to eat. Sammie Cohen, you sit up straight, and don't you grab any of that chocolate cake until I says you kin have it. Mary Mullaine, you keep your fingers out of dat lemonade. The party ain't started yet."
"I—I don't see any party," said Bunny, looking at the empty clam shells, and the empty pieces of broken dishes on the soap box.
"Hush!" exclaimed Sue in a whisper. "Can't you see it's aplay-party, Bunny Brown. Same as we have!"
The poor children on the stoop (I call them poor just so you'll know they didn't have much money) these poor children were pretending so hard to have a party, that they never noticed Bunny Brown, and his sister Sue, with Wopsie, watching them.
"When are we goin' to eat?" asked a ragged little boy, who sat on the lowest step.
"When I says to begin, dat's when you eat," said the big, ragged girl, who seemed to have gotten up the play-party. "And I don't want nobody to ask for no second piece of cake, 'cause there ain't enough."
"Is there any pie?" asked a little boy, whose face was quite dirty. "'Cause if there's pie, I'd just as lief have that as cake."
"There ain't no pie," said the big girl. "Now we'll begin. Mikie Snell, you let that ice-cream alone, I tells you!"
"I—I was jest seein' if it was meltin'," and Mikie drew back a dirty hand he had reached over toward a big empty clam shell. That shell was the make-believe dish of ice-cream, you see.
"Say, dis suah am a funny party," whispered Wopsie to Sue. "I—I don't see nuffin to eat!"
"Hush!" whispered Sue. "You never have anything to eat at aplay-party; do you, Bunny?"
"Nope. But when we have one we always go in the house afterward, and mother gives us something."
"Let's watch them play," whispered Sue.
And so, not having found Bunny's kite, he and his sister Sue, and Wopsie, stood by the stoop, and watched the poor, ragged children at their play-party.
It was just like the ones Bunny and Sue sometimes had. There was make believe pie, cake, lemonade and ice-cream. And the children on the stoop, in the big, busy street of New York, had just as much fun at their play-party as Bunny and Sue had at theirs,in the beautiful country, or by the seashore.
"Now we're goin' to have the ice-cream," said the big girl, as she smoothed down her ragged dress. "And don't none of you eat it too fast, or it'll give you a face-ache, 'cause it's awful cold."
Then she made believe to dish out the pretend-ice-cream, and the children made believe to eat it with imaginary spoons.
"I couldn't have no more, could I?" asked a little girl.
"Why Lizzie Bloomenstine! I should say not!" cried the big girl. "The ice-cream is all gone. Hello, what you lookin' at?" she asked quickly as she saw Bunny, Sue and Wopsie.
For a moment Bunny did not answer. The big girl frowned, and the others at the play-party did not seem pleased.
"Go on away an' let us alone!" the big girl said. "Can't we have a party without you swells comin' to stare at us?"
Bunny and Sue really were not staring at the play-party to be impolite.
"What they want?" asked another of the ragged children.
"Oh, jest makin' fun at us, 'cause we ain't got nothin' to play real party with, I s'pose," grumbled the big girl. "Go on away!" she ordered.
Then Sue had an idea. I have told you of some of the ideas Bunny Brown had, but this time it was Sue's turn. She was going to do a queer thing.
"If you please," she said in her most polite voice to the big ragged girl, "we only stopped to look at your play-party, to see how you did it."
"'Cause we have 'em like that ourselves," added Bunny.
"And they're lots of fun," went on Sue. "We play just like you do, with empty plates, and tin dishes and all that. Do you ever have cherry pie at your play parties?"
The big girl was not scowling now. She had a kinder look on her face. After all she had found that the "swells," as she called Bunny and Sue, were just like herself.
"No, we never have cherry pie," she said, "it costs too much, even at make-believe parties. But we has frankfurters and rolls."
"Oh, how nice!" Sue said. "We never have them; do we Bunny?"
"Nope."
"But we will, next time we have a play-party," Sue went on. "I think they must be lovely. How do you cook 'em?"
"Well, we just frys 'em—make believe," said the big girl, who was smiling now. "But I can cook real, an' when we has any money at home, an' me ma buys real sausages, I boils 'em an' we eats 'em wit mustard on."
Sue thought the big girl talked in rather a queer way, but of course we cannot all talk alike. It would be a funny world if we did; wouldn't it?
"It must be nice to cook real sausages," said Sue. "I wish I could do it. But will all of you children come to my party to-morrow?" she asked.
"Are you goin' to have a party?" inquired the big girl.
"Yes," nodded Sue. "We're going to have a party at our Aunt Lu's house; aren't we, Bunny? We are, 'cause I'm going to ask her to have one, as soon as we get back," Suewhispered to her brother. "So you say 'yes.' We are going to have a party; aren't we, Bunny?" Sue spoke out loud this time.
"Yes," answered the little boy. "We're going to have one."
"A real party?" the big girl wanted to know.
Bunny looked at Sue. He was going to let her answer.
"Yes, it will be a real party," said Sue, "and we'll have all real things to eat. Will you come?"
"Will we come?" cried the big girl. "Well, I guess we will!"
"Even a policeman couldn't keep us away!" said the boy who had wanted to feel the ice-cream, to see if it was melting.
"Then you can all come to my Aunt Lu's house to-morrow afternoon," Sue went on. "I'll tell her you're coming."
"Where is it?" asked the big girl.
Sue felt in her pocket and brought out one of Aunt Lu's cards, which Miss Baker had given the little girl in case she became lost.
"That's our address," said Sue. "You comethere to-morrow afternoon, and we'll have a real party. I'm pleased to have met you," and with a polite bow, saying what she had often heard her mother say on parting from a new friend, Sue turned away.
"Will you an' your brother be there?" the big, ragged girl wanted to know.
"Yes," said Bunny. "I'll be there, and so will Wopsie."
"Is she Wopsie?" asked the big girl, pointing to the colored piccaninny.
"Dat's who I is!" Wopsie exclaimed. "But dat's only mah make-believe name. Mah real one am Sallie Jefferson. Dat name was on de card pinned to me, but de address was tored off."
"Well, Sallie or Wopsie, it's all de same to me," said the big girl. "We'll see you at de party!"
"Yes, please all come," said Sue once more. Then she walked on with Wopsie and her brother.
"Say, Miss Sue, is yo' all sartin suah 'bout dis yeah party?" asked Wopsie, as they turned the corner.
"Why, of course we're sure about it, Wopsie."
"Well, yo' auntie don't know nuffin 'bout it."
"She will, as soon as we get home, for I'll tell her," said Sue. "It will be fun; won't it, Bunny?"
"I—I guess so."
Bunny did not know quite what to make of what Sue had done. Getting up a real party in such a hurry was a new idea for him. Still it might be all right.
"It's a good thing I lost my kite," said Bunny. "'Cause if I hadn't we couldn't have seen those children to invite to the party."
"Yes," said Sue, "it was real nice. We'll have lots of fun at the party. I hope they'll all come."
"Oh, dey'llcomeall right!" said Wopsie, shaking her head. "But I don't jest know what yo' Aunt Lu's gwine t' say."
"Oh, that will be all right," answered Sue easily.
When the children reached home, they rode up in the elevator with Henry, and Sue found her aunt in the library with Mother Brown.
"Aunt Lu," began Sue, "have you got lots of cake and jam tarts and jelly tarts in the house?"
"Why, I think Mary baked a cake to-day," Sue. "What did you ask that for?"
"And can you buy real ice-cream at a store near here, or make it?" Sue wanted to know.
"Why, yes, child, but what for?" Aunt Lu was puzzled.
"Then it's all right," Sue went on. "You're going to give a real play-party to a lot of ragged children here to-morrow afternoon. I invited them. I gave them your card. And now, please, I want a jam tart, or a piece of cake, for myself. And then we must tell Henry when the ragged children come, to let them come up in the elevator. They're little, just like me, and they never could walk up all the stairs. I hope your real play-party will be nice, Aunt Lu," and Sue, smoothing out her dress, sat down in a chair.
Aunt Lu looked first at Sue, and then at Bunny Brown. Mother Brown did the same thing. Then they looked at Wopsie. Finally Aunt Lu, in a sort of faint, and far-away voice asked:
"What—what does it all mean, Sue?"
Sue leaned back in her chair.
"It's just like I told you," she said. "You know Bunny's kite got away, and we ran after it. We didn't find it, but we saw some poor children having a play-party, with broken pieces of dishes on a box, same as me and Bunny plays sometimes. We watched them, and I guess they thought we was makin' fun of 'em."
"Yes," said Bunny, "that's what they did."
"But we wasn't makin' fun," said Sue. "We just wanted to watch, and when they saw us Iasked them to come here to-morrow to arealparty."
"Oh, Sue, you never did!" cried her mother.
"Yes'm, I did," returned Sue. "I gave 'em Aunt Lu's card, and they're coming, and we're going to haverealcake andrealice-cream. That one girl can cook real, or make-believe, sausages, but we don't need to havethem, 'less you want to, Aunt Lu! Only I think it would be nice to have some jam tarts, and I'd like one now, please."
Aunt Lu and Mrs. Brown again looked at one another. First they smiled, and then they laughed.
"Well," said Aunt Lu, after a bit. "I suppose since Sue has invited them I'll have to give them a party. But I wish you had let me know first, Sue, before you asked them."
"Why, I didn't have time, Aunt Lu. I—I just had to get up the real party right away, you see."
"Oh, yes, I see."
So Aunt Lu told Mary, her cook, and her other servants, to get ready for the party Sue had planned. For it would never do to havethe big girl, and the little boys and girls, come all the way to Aunt Lu's house, and then not give them something to eat, especially after Sue had promised it to them.
Bunny and Sue could hardly wait for the next day to come, so eager were they to have the party. They were up early in the morning, and they wanted to help make the jam and jelly tarts, but Aunt Lu said Mary could better do that alone. Wopsie helped dust the rooms, though, and she lifted up to the mantel several pretty vases that had stood on low tables.
"Dem chilluns might not mean t' do it," said the little colored girl, "but dey might, accidental like, knock ober some vases an' smash 'em. Den Miss Lu would feel bad."
Bunny and Sue spoke to Henry, the elevator boy, about the ragged children coming to the party.
"You'll let them ride up with you; won't you, Henry?" asked Sue.
"Oh, suah I will!" he said, smiling and showing all his white teeth. "Dey kin ride in mah elevator as well as not."
And, about two o'clock, which was the hour Sue had told them, the ragged children came, the big girl marching on ahead with Aunt Lu's card held in her hand, so she would find the apartment house. But the children were not so ragged or dirty now. Their faces and hands were quite clean, and some of them had on better clothes.
"I made 'em slick up, all I could," said the big girl, who said her name was Maggie Walsh. "Is the party all ready?"
"Yes," answered Sue, who with Bunny, had been waiting down in the hall for the "company."
Into the elevator the poor children piled, and soon they were up in Aunt Lu's nice rooms. The place was so nice, with its satin and plush chairs, that the children were almost afraid to sit down. But Aunt Lu, and Mrs. Brown soon made them feel at home, and when the cake, ice-cream, and other good things, were brought in, why, the children acted just like any others that Bunny and Sue had played with.
"Say, it'srealice-cream all right!" whispered one boy to Maggie Walsh. "It's de real stuff!"
"Course it is!" exclaimed the big girl. "Didn't she say it was goin' to be real!" and she nodded at Sue.
"I t'ought maybe it were jest a joke," said the boy.
Aunt Lu had not had much time to get ready for Sue's sudden little party, but it was a nice one for all that. There were plenty of good things to eat, which, after all, does much to make a party nice. Then, too, there was a little present for each of the children. And as they went home with their toys, pleased and happy, there was a smile on every face.
They had had more good things to eat than they had ever dreamed of, they had played games and they had had the best time in their lives, so they said. Over and over again they thanked Sue and her mother and Aunt Lu, and Bunny—even Henry, the elevator boy.
"We'll come a'gin whenever you has a party," whispered a little red-haired girl, to Sue, as she said good-bye.
"And youse kin come to our make-believe parties whenever you want," said the big girl.
"Thanks." Sue waved her hands to the children as they went down the street. She had given them a happy time.
For a few days after Sue's party she and Bunny did not do much except play around Aunt Lu's house, for there came several days of rain. The weather was getting colder now, for it was fall, and would soon be winter.
"But I like winter!" said Bunny. "'Cause we can slide down hill. Are there any hills around here, Aunt Lu?"
"Well, not many. Perhaps you might slide in Central Park. We'll see when snow comes."
One clear, cool November day Bunny and Sue were taken to Central Park by Wopsie. They had been promised a ride in a pony cart, and this was the day they were to have it.
Not far from where the animals were kept in the park were some ponies and donkeys. Children could ride on their backs, or sit in a little cart, and have a pony or donkey pull them.
"We'll get in a cart," said Bunny. "I'm going to drive."
"Do you know how?" asked the man, as he lifted Bunny and Sue in. Wopsie got in herself.
"I can drive our dog Splash, when he's hitched up to our express wagon," said Bunny. "I guess I can drive the pony. He isn't much bigger than Splash." This was so, as the pony was a little one.
So Bunny took hold of the lines, but the man who owned the pony carts sent a boy to walk along beside the little horse that was pulling Bunny, Sue and Wopsie.
"Giddap!" cried Bunny to the pony. "Go faster!" For the pony was only walking. Just then a dog ran out of the bushes along the park drive, and barked at the pony's heels. Before the boy, whom the man had sent out to take charge of the pony, could stop him, the little horse jumped forward, and the next minute began trotting down the drive very fast, pulling after him the cart, with Bunny, Sue and Wopsie in it.
"Bunny! Bunny! Isn't this fun?" cried Sue, as she looked across at her brother in the other seat of the pony cart. "Don't you like it?"
"Yes, I do," Bunny answered, as he pulled on the reins. "Do you, Wopsie?"
The colored girl looked around without speaking. She looked on the ground, as though she would like to jump out of the pony cart. But she did not. The little horse was going faster than ever.
"Don't you like it, Wopsie?" asked Sue. "It's fun! This pony goes faster than our dog Splash, and Splash couldn't pull such a nice, big cart as this; could he, Bunny?"
"No, I guess not," Bunny answered. He did not turn around to look at Sue as he spoke.
For, to tell the truth, Bunny was a littlebit worried. The dog that had jumped out of the bushes, to bark at the pony's heels, was still running along behind the pony cart, barking and snapping. And, though Bunny and Sue did not mind their dog Splash's barking, when he pulled them, this dog was a strange one.
Then, too, the boy, who had started out with the pony cart, was running along after it crying:
"Stop! Stop! Wait a minute. Somebody stop that pony!"
But there was no one ahead of Bunny, Sue and Wopsie on the Park drive just then, and no one to stop the pony, which was kicking up his heels, and going faster and faster all the while.
"He's running hard; isn't he, Bunny?" asked Sue.
"Yes, he—he's going fast—very fast!" panted Bunny, in a sort of jerky way, for the cart rattled over some bumps just then, and if Bunny had not been careful how he spoke he might have bitten his tongue between his teeth.
"Don't—don't you li—like it—Wop—Wopsie?" asked Sue, speaking in the same jerky way as had her brother.
Wopsie did not open her mouth. She just held tightly to the edge of the pony cart, and shook her head from side to side. That meant she did not like it. Sue and Bunny wondered why.
True, they were going a bit fast, but then they had often ridden almost as fast when Splash, their big dog, drew them in the express cart. And this was much nicer than an express cart, though of course Bunny and Sue liked Splash better than this pony. But if they had owned the pony they would have liked him very much, also, I think.
Now the pony swung around a corner of the drive, and he went so fast, and turned so quickly, that the cart was nearly upset.
Sue held tightly to the side of her seat, and called to her brother:
"Oh, Bunny! Don't make him go so fast! You'll spill me and Wopsie out!"
"I didn't make him go fast," Bunny answered. "I—I guess he's in a hurry to get away from that dog."
"Make the dog go 'way," pleaded Sue.
Bunny looked back at the barking dog, who was still running after the pony cart.
"Go on away!" Bunny cried. "Let us alone—go on away and find a bone to eat!"
But the dog either did not understand what Bunny said, or he would rather race after the pony cart than get himself a bone. At any rate he still kept running along, barking and growling, and the pony kept running.
The boy who had started out with the children, first walking along beside the pony, was now far behind. He was a small boy, with very short legs, and, as the pony's legs were quite long, of course the boy could not run fast enough to keep up. So he was now far behind, but he kept calling:
"Stop that pony! Oh, please someone stop that pony!"
Bunny and Sue heard the boy calling. So did Wopsie, but the colored girl said nothing. She just sat there, holding to the side of the seat and looking at Bunny and Sue.
"I wonder what that boy's hollering that way for?" asked Sue, as the pony swungaround another corner, almost upsetting the cart again.
"I don't know," said Bunny. "Maybe he likes to holler. I do sometimes, when I'm out in the country. And this park is like the country, Sue."
"Yes, I guess it is," said the little girl. "But what's he saying, Bunny?"
They listened. Once more the boy, running along, now quite a long way behind the pony cart, could be heard crying:
"Stop him! Stop him! He's running away! Stop him!"
Bunny and Sue looked at one another. Then they looked at Wopsie. The colored girl opened her mouth, showing her red tongue and her white teeth.
"Oh! Oh!" she screamed. "De pony's runnin' away! Dat's what de boy says. I'se afeered, I is! Oh, let me out! Let me out!"
Wopsie, who sat near the back of the cart, where there was a little door, made of wicker-work, like a basket, started to jump out. But though Bunny Brown was only a little fellow, he knew that Wopsie might be hurt if shejumped from the cart, which the pony was pulling along so fast, now.
"Sit still, Wopsie!" Bunny cried. "Sit still!"
"But we's bein' runned away wif!" exclaimed Wopsie. "Didn't yo' all done heah dat boy say so? We's bein' runned away wif! I wants t' git out! I don't like bein' runned away wif!"
"It won't hurt you," said Sue. She did not seem at all afraid. "It won't hurt you, Wopsie," Sue went on. "Me and Bunny has been runned away with lots of times, with our dog Splash; hasn't we, Bunny?"
"Yes, we have, Sue. Sit still, Wopsie. I'll stop the pony."
Bunny began to pull back on the lines, and he called:
"Whoa! Whoa there! Stop now! Don't run away any more, pony boy!"
But the pony did not seem to want to stop. Perhaps he thought if he stopped, now, the barking dog would bite his heels. But the dog had given up the chase, and was not in sight. Neither was the running boy.
The boy had found that his short legs were not long enough to keep up with the longer legs of the pony. Besides, a pony has four legs, and everybody knows that four legs can go faster than two. So the boy stopped running.
"Can you stop the pony?" asked Sue, after Bunny had pulled on the lines a number of times, and had cried "Whoa!" very often. "Can you stop him?"
"I—I guess so," answered the little boy. "But maybe you'd better help me, Sue. You pull on one line, and I'll pull on the other. That will stop him."
Bunny passed one of the pony's reins to his sister and held to the other. The children were sitting in front of the cart, Bunny on one side and Sue on the other. Both of them began to pull on the lines, but still the pony did not stop.
"Pull harder, Bunny! Pull harder!" cried Sue.
"I am pulling as hard as I can," he said. "You pull harder, Sue."
But still the pony did not want to stop. Ifanything, he was going faster than ever. Yes, he surely was going faster, for it was down hill now, and you know, as well as I do, that you can go faster down hill, than you can on the level, or up hill.
"Oh, I want to git out! I want to git out!" cried Wopsie. "I don't like bein' runned away wif! Oh, please good, kind, nice, sweet Mr. Policeman, stop de pony from runnin' away wif us!"
"Where's a policeman?" asked Sue, turning half way around to look at Wopsie. "Where's a policeman?"
"I—I don't see none!" said the colored girl, "but I wish I did! He'd stop de pony from runnin' away. Maybe if we all yells fo' a policeman one'll come."
"Shall we Bunny?" asked Sue.
"Shall we what?" Bunny wanted to know. He had been so busy trying to get a better hold on his rein that he had not noticed what Sue and Wopsie were talking about.
"Shall we call a policeman?" asked Sue. "Wopsie says one can stop the pony from running away. And I don't guesswecan stophim, Bunny. We'd better yell for a policeman. Maybe one is around somewhere, but I can't see any."
"All right, we'll call one," Bunny agreed. He, too, was beginning to think that the pony was never going to stop. "But let's try one more pull on the lines, Sue. Now, pull hard."
And then something happened.
Without waiting for Sue to get ready to pull on her line, Bunny gave a hard pull on his. And I guess you know what happens if you pull too much on one horse-line.
Suddenly the pony felt Bunny pulling on the right hand line, and the pony turned to that side. And he turned so quickly that the harness broke and the cart was upset. Over it went on its side, and Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, as well as Wopsie, were thrown out.
Right out of the cart they flew, and Bunny turned a somersault, head over heels, before he landed on a soft pile of grass that had been cut that day. Sue and Wopsie also landed on piles of grass, so they were not any more hurt than was Bunny.
The pony, as soon as the cart had turned over, looked back once, and then he stopped running, and began to nibble the green grass.
"Well, we aren't being runned away with now," Bunny finally said.
"No," answered Sue. "We've stopped all right. Wopsie, is you hurted?"
The colored girl put her hand up to her kinky head. Her hat had fallen off into her lap. Carefully she felt of her braids. Then she said: