Mr. and Mrs. Brown had done most of the other packing. The auto-moving van was quite full, there being just room enough for Mrs. Brown, Uncle Tad and the two children to ride in the back, while Daddy Brown and Bunker Blue sat on the front seat.
At last everything was ready. The last things had been put in the automobile, and tied fast. The children took their places, and called to Splash. Of course he was to go with them. He would run along the road, until he grew tired, and then he could ride in the automobile.
"All aboard!" called Bunker Blue as he sat at the steering wheel. "Is everybody ready?"
"I am!" answered Bunny Brown. "I've got my fishing pole, and I can dig some worms when I get to camp."
"Are you going to fish with worms?" asked Sue.
"Sure I am! Fishes love worms."
"I don't!" Sue said. "Worms is so squiggily." She always said that when Bunny spoke of worms.
"Well, I guess we're all ready," remarked Daddy Brown. "Start off, Bunker Blue."
"Chug-chug!" went the automobile.
"Bow-wow!" barked the dog Splash.
"Good-bye!" called Bunny and Sue to some of their little boy and girl friends who had gathered to wave farewell. "Good-bye! Good-bye!"
Then the big automobile rolled out into the road. The Browns were off to camp.
"How long will it take us to get to Lake Wanda, Mother?" asked Bunny Brown, as, with Sue and Uncle Tad, he and his mother sat in the back of the big car that rumbled along the road.
"Oh, we ought to get there about noon," she answered.
"Just in time to eat," said Uncle Tad. "I suppose you children will be good and hungry, too."
"I'm hungry now," said Sue, "I wish I had a jam tart, Mother."
"So do I!" put in Bunny.
"I'll give you one in a few minutes," Mrs. Brown said. "We did have an early breakfast, and I suppose you are hungry now."
"Will we have to cook dinner as soon as we get to camp?" Bunny wanted to know.
"If we do I'll help," said Uncle Tad with a smile. "I can build a campfire. When I was a soldier, in the army, down South, we used to build campfires, and roast potatoes when we couldn't find anything else to eat."
"Did they taste good, Uncle Tad?" asked Sue.
"Indeed they did, little girl. And we had roast ears of corn, too. They were even better than the potatoes."
"I guess we'll have to make Uncle Tad the camp cook," said Mother Brown with a smile, as she brought out a basket of lunch for Bunny and Sue. In the basket were some cakes, sandwiches and a few of the jam and jelly tarts that Aunt Lu used to make. Only, as Aunt Lu had gone back to her city home, Mrs. Brown had learned to make the tarts, and Bunny and Sue were very fond of them.
As they rode along in the big automobile the children ate the little lunch, and enjoyed it very much. Uncle Tad took some too, for he had gotten up early, with the others, and he was hungry.
"I wonder if Daddy and Bunker Bluewouldn't like a tart," murmured Sue, after a bit, as she picked up the last crumbs of hers.
"Perhaps they would," said Mother Brown. "But they are away up on the front seat, and I don't see how we can pass them any. There is too much in the auto, or I could hand it to them out of the little window back of the seat. But I can't reach the window."
"I know how we could pass them a tart," said Bunny.
"How?" asked his mother.
"Climb up on the roof of the auto, and lower the lunch basket down to them with a string."
"Bunny Brown! Don't you dare think of such a thing!" cried his mother. "The idea of climbing onto the roof of this big automobile when it's moving!"
"Oh, I didn't mean when it wasmoving," Bunny said. "I wouldn't do that, for fear I'd be jiggled off. I meant to wait until we stopped. Then I could get up on the roof."
"No need to do that," said Uncle Tad. "For when we stop, then one of you can get down, and run up ahead with something for daddy and Bunker Blue."
And, a little later, the automobile did stop.
"What's the matter?" called Mrs. Brown to her husband, who was up on the front seat. "Did anything happen?"
"No, only the automobile needs a drink of water," answered Mr. Brown. I have told you how automobiles need water, as much as horses do, or as you do, when you get warm. Of course the automobile does not exactlydrinkthe water. But some must be poured in, from time to time, to keep the engine cool. And this was why Bunker Blue stopped the automobile now.
While he was pouring water in, dipping it up with a pail from a cold spring beside the road, Bunny and Sue got out and took their father and the red-haired boy some jam and jelly tarts, and also some sandwiches.
"My! This is fine!" cried Mr. Brown, as he ate the good things Sue handed him. "I'm glad we're going camping; aren't you, children?"
"Oh, I should say we were glad!" cried Bunny, as he took a drink from the spring. There was half a brown cocoanut shell fora dipper, and Bunny thought he had never drunk such cool, sweet water.
Then, when Bunker Blue had eaten his sandwiches and tarts, they started off once more, rumbling along the country roads toward Lake Wanda.
"I wish we'd hurry up and get there," said Sue. "I want to see what camping is like."
"Oh, we'll soon be there," promised Daddy Brown, "and there'll be work enough for all of us. We'll have three tents to put up, and many other things to do."
On and on went the big automobile. Splash ran along the road, some time at the side of the car, sometimes behind it, and, once in a while, away up ahead, as if he were looking to see that the road was safe.
After a bit the dog came back to the automobile, and walked along so slowly, with his red tongue hanging out, that Sue said:
"Oh, poor Splash must be tired! Let's give him a ride, Mother!"
"All right. Call him up here."
"Come on, Splash!" called Bunny and Sue, for they each owned half the dog. They hadpretended to divide him down the middle, so each one might have part of the wagging tail, and part of the barking head. It was more fun owning a dog that way.
Up jumped Splash into the back of the auto-moving van. He stretched out on a roll of carpet that was to be spread over the board floor of the big tent, and went to sleep. But first Bunny had given him some sweet crackers to eat. Splash was very fond of these crackers.
The automobile was going down hill now, and when it reached the bottom it came to a stop again.
"What's the matter now?" asked Mother Brown. "Does the auto want another drink?"
"No, not just now," answered daddy. "Something has happened this time."
"Oh, I hope nothing is broken!" said Mrs. Brown.
"Not with us," answered her husband. "But there is an automobile just ahead of us that seems to be in trouble. They are stuck in the mud, I think."
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, theirmother, Uncle Tad and even Splash got out to see what the matter was. I don't really believe Splash cared what had happened, but he always went where Bunny and Sue went, and when he saw them go this time he went with them.
Walking up toward the front part of the big automobile, where Bunker Blue and Daddy Brown sat, Mrs. Brown, Uncle Tad and the children saw, just ahead, a small automobile, off to one side of the road. The wheels were away down in the soft mud, and a man at the steering wheel was trying to make the car move up onto the hard road, but he could not do it.
"You seem to be in trouble," said Daddy Brown. There were two ladies out on the road, watching the man trying to start the car.
"I am in trouble," said the man down in the mud. "I turned off the road to pass a hay wagon, but I did not think the mud was so soft down here, or I never would have done it. Now I am stuck and I can't seem to get out."
"Perhaps I can help you," said Daddy Brown. "I have a very strong automobile here. I'll go on ahead, keeping to the road, and I'll tie a rope to your car, and fasten the other end to mine. Then I'll pull you out of the mud."
"I'd be very thankful to you if you would."
"Yes, we'd be ever so much obliged," echoed the two ladies, whose shoes were all muddy from having jumped out of the automobile down into the ditch.
It did not take Daddy Brown and Bunker Blue long to fasten a rope from their automobile to the one stuck in the mud. Then when the big auto-moving van, in which the Browns were going to camp, started off down the road, it pulled the small car from the mud as easily as anything.
"Thank you, very much," said the man when he saw that he and the ladies could go on again. "The next time I get behind a hay wagon I'll wait until I have room to turn out, without getting into a mud hole. I'm very much obliged to you, Mr. Brown, andif ever you get stuck in the mud I hope I can pull you out."
"I'm afraid you couldn't do it with your small car, when my auto is such a large one." Mr. Brown answered, "but thank you just the same."
Then the man in his small automobile, rode off with the two women, and, a little later, the Browns were once more on their way.
It was a little before noon when they came in sight of a big lake, which they could see through the trees. It was not far from the road.
"Oh, what lake is that?" asked Mrs. Brown.
"That is Lake Wanda, where we are going to camp," said Mr. Brown. "We'll turn in toward it, pretty soon, and begin putting up the tents."
"You said we'd have dinner first!" cried Bunny Brown.
"Are you hungry again?" asked his mother.
"I guess riding and being out in the air make them hungry," said Uncle Tad. "Well, children must eat to grow big and strong."
"Then Bunny and Sue ought to be regulargiants!" laughed Mrs. Brown, "for they are eating all the while."
A little later the big automobile turned off the main road into a smaller one, that led to the lake. And when the children and Mrs. Brown had a good view of the large sheet of water they thought it one of the most beautiful they had ever seen.
The lake was deep blue in color, and all around it were hills, and little mountains, with many trees on them. The trees were covered with beautiful, green leaves.
"Oh, this is a lovely place," cried Mother Brown. "Just lovely!"
"I'm glad you like it," said her husband.
"I like it, too," echoed Bunny.
"So do I," added Sue.
"Well, shall we begin putting up the tents?" asked Mr. Brown. "It will be night almost before you know it here. You see the hills are so high that the sun seems to go to bed sooner here than he does at home."
"Oh, let's rest awhile before we do anything," said Mother Brown. "Just rest awhile and look at the lake."
"Hurrah!" suddenly cried Daddy Brown. "That's it! I've been trying to think what to call it, but you've done it for me. That's just what we'll call it! There couldn't be a better name!"
"Why, what are you talking about?" asked Mrs. Brown, in surprise.
"The name of our camp," explained Daddy Brown, laughing. "I have been trying, ever since we started, to think of a good name for it. 'Rest-a-While,' will be the very thing. That's just what you said a moment ago you know. 'Let's rest awhile and look at the lake.' So we will call this Camp Rest-a-While! Isn't that a good name?"
"Why, yes, it does sound very nice," said Mother Brown. "Camp Rest-a-While! That's what we'll call it then, though I didn't know I was naming a camp. Well, children—Uncle Tad—Bunker—and all of us—Welcome to Camp Rest-a-While!"
"Hurrah!" cried Bunny and Sue, clapping their hands.
And so the camp was named.
Mrs. Brown set out a little lunch, and theygathered about one of the boxes, in which the bed clothes were packed, to eat. The box was set on the ground, under a big chestnut tree.
"Where are you going to put up the tents?" asked Mother Brown.
"Right where we are now," said Daddy Brown. "I think we could not find a nicer spot. Here is a good place for our boat, when we get it. It is nice and dry here, and we can see all over the lake. Yes, this is where we will put up the tents for Camp Rest-a-While."
And, after they had all eaten lunch, including Splash, who was as hungry as Bunny or Sue, the work of putting up the tents was begun. The canvas houses were unrolled, and spread out on the ground. Then Daddy Brown, with Bunker Blue and Uncle Tad to help, put up the tent poles, and spread the canvas over them. By pulling on certain ropes, raising the poles, and then tying the poles fast so they would not fall over, the tents were put up.
There was the big one, that could be made into two or even three rooms, for them all to sleep in, Bunny, Daddy Brown, Uncle Tadand Bunker Blue in one part, and Mother Brown and Sue in the other, with a third part for company.
The big tent was almost up. Only one more rope needed to be made fast. Bunker Blue was pulling on this when Bunny and Sue, who were helping, heard Splash give a sudden bark. Then the dog jumped into the lake, and the children, looking, saw a great commotion going on in the water near shore. Splash seemed either to have caught something, or to have been caught himself. He was barking, howling and whining.
"Oh, a big fish has caught Splash! A big fish has caught our dog!" cried Sue, and, dropping the tent rope, of which she had hold, down to the edge of the lake she ran.
Something certainly seemed to be the matter with Splash. Bunny and Sue had never seen their dog act in such a funny way. He would dash into the water, not going far from shore, though, and then he would jump back, barking all the while.
Once or twice he tried to grab, in his sharp teeth, something that seemed to be swimming in the water. But either Splash could not get it, or he was afraid to come too close to it.
"Oh, Daddy! What is it? What is it?" asked Bunny and Sue.
Mr. Brown, who with Bunker Blue and Uncle Tad, was fastening the last ropes of the tent, hurried down to the shore of the lake.
"What is it? What's the matter, Splash? What is it?" asked Mr. Brown.
Splash never turned around to look atdaddy. He again rushed into the water, barking and snapping his sharp teeth. Then Mr. Brown, taking up a stick, ran toward the dog.
"Let it alone, Splash! Let it alone!" cried Daddy Brown. "That's a big muskrat, and if it bites you it will make a bad sore. Let it alone!"
Daddy Brown struck at something in the water, and Bunny and Sue, running down to the edge of the lake, saw a large, brown animal, with long hair, swimming out toward the middle. Splash started to follow but Mr. Brown caught the dog by the collar.
"No you don't!" cried Bunny's father, "You let that muskrat alone, Splash. He's so big, and such a good swimmer, that he might pull you under the water and drown you. Let him alone."
Bunker Blue, who had come down to the edge of the lake, threw a stone at the swimming muskrat. The queer animal at once made a dive and went under the water, for muskrats can swim under the water as well as on top, and Bunny and Sue saw it no more.
Splash rushed around, up and down theshore, barking loudly, but he did not try to swim out. I think he knew Mr. Brown was right in what he said—that it was not good to be bitten by a muskrat.
"Is that what it was, Daddy—a rat?" asked Bunny.
"Yes," answered his father. "Splash must have seen the muskrat swimming in the water, and tried to get it. The muskrat didn't want to be caught, so it fought back. But I'm glad it got away without being hurt, and I'm glad Splash wasn't bitten."
"What's a muskrat?" Sue wanted to know.
"Well, it's a big rat that lives in the water," said Daddy Brown. "It is much larger than the kind of rat that is around houses and barns, and it has fine, soft fur which trappers sell, to make fur-lined overcoats, and cloaks, for men and women. The fur is very good, and some persons say the muskrat is good to eat, but I would not like to try eating it. But this muskrat was a big one, and as they have sharp teeth, and can bite hard when they are angry, it is a good thing we drove it away."
Bunny and Sue looked out over the lake.They could see the muskrat no longer, though there was a little ripple in the water where it had dived down to get away.
"Now we must finish putting up the tents," said Daddy Brown. "It will be night before we know it, and we want a good place to sleep in at Camp Rest-a-While."
"And are we going to have a fire, where we can cook something?" asked Bunny.
"Yes, we'll have the oil stove set up."
"I thought we would have a campfire," said the little boy.
"So we shall!" exclaimed Uncle Tad. "I'll make a campfire for you, children, and we'll bake some potatoes in it. We'll have them for supper, with whatever else mother cooks on the oil stove."
"I'll get some sticks of wood for the fire!" cried Sue.
"So will I!" added Bunny.
And while the older folk were finishing putting up the tents, and while Mother Brown was getting out the bed clothes, Bunny and Sue made a pile of sticks and twigs for the fire their uncle had promised to make.
Soon the big sleeping tent was put up, and divided into two parts, one for Sue and her mother, and the other for Bunny and the men folk. Cot-beds were put up in the tent, and blankets, sheets and pillows put on them, so the tent was really like a big bedroom.
"It will be nicer sleeping here than on the ground, like we did in the tent at home that night," said Bunny to Sue.
"Yes, I guess it will," she answered. "My dollie won't catch cold in a nice bed."
"Did she catch cold before?" Bunny wanted to know.
"Well, she had the sniffle-snuffles, and that's almost like a cold," Sue answered.
In the second-sized tent the dining table had been set up, and the chairs put around ready for the first meal, which would be supper. Mother Brown got the dishes out of the box, and called:
"Now, Bunny and Sue, let me see you set the table."
She had taught them at home how to put on the plates, knives, forks, spoons, cups, saucers and whatever was needed, and now Bunnyand Sue did this, as their share of the work, while Bunker Blue, and the older folk, were busy doing different things.
In the cooking tent the oil stove was set up and lighted, to make sure it burned well. Then Camp Rest-a-While looked just like its name—a place where boys and girls, as well as men and women could come and have a nice rest, near the beautiful lake.
When everything was nearly finished, and it was about time to start getting supper, a man came rowing along the shore of the lake in a boat. He called to Mr. Brown:
"Hey, there! Is this where you want your boat left?"
"Yes, thank you. Tie it right there," answered Daddy Brown.
"Oh, is that going to be our boat?" asked Bunny, in delight.
"Yes," answered his father, "I wrote to a man up here that has boats to let, to bring us a nice one. We'll use it while we are in camp. But you children must never get in the boat without asking me, or your mother. You mustn't get in even when it's tied to the shore."
"We won't!" promised Bunny and Sue. Once they had gotten in a boat that they thought was tied fast, but it had floated away with them. They landed on an island in the river, and had some adventures, of which I have told you in the first book of this series.
Bunny and Sue remembered this, so they knew that sometimes it was not even safe to get in a boat which was tied fast, unless some older person was with them.
The man left the boat he had brought for Mr. Brown. It was a large one and would easily hold Bunny and Sue, as well as all the others at Camp Rest-a-While.
"Now for the roast potatoes!" cried Uncle Tad. "Come on, children! We'll start our campfire, for I see your mother getting the meat ready to cook, and it takes quite a while to roast potatoes out of doors."
The campfire was built between two big stones, Bunny and Sue bringing up the wood they had gathered. Uncle Tad lighted the fire, for it is not safe for children to handle matches, or even be near an open fire, unless some older person is with them. Bunny andSue had often been told this, so they were very careful.
When the fire had blazed up good and hot, Uncle Tad let it cool down a bit. Then he raked away the red hot embers and put in them some nice, big, round potatoes. These he covered up in the hot ashes, and put on more wood.
"Now the potatoes are baking," he said. "They will be done in time for supper."
And what a fine supper it was—that first one in camp! Bunny and Sue thought they had never tasted anything so good. They all sat in the dining tent, and Mother Brown put the things on the table.
"Now where are your potatoes, Uncle Tad?" she asked.
"Here they are!" cried the old soldier, as he went to the campfire. He raked away the ashes and embers with a stick, and on a platter, made from a large piece of bark, off a tree, the old soldier poked out a number of round, black, smoking things.
"Why—why!" exclaimed Sue, in surprise. "I thought you bakedpotatoes, Uncle Tad!"
"So I did, Sue."
"They look like black stones," said Bunny.
"You wait—I'll show you," laughed Uncle Tad. He brought the bark platter to the table. Taking up a fork he opened one of the round, black, smoking things. Though the outside was burned black from the fire, the inside was almost as white as snow.
"There's baked potatoes for you!" cried Uncle Tad. "Put some salt and butter on them, and you never tasted anything better! But be careful—for they're very hot!"
Supper over, the dishes were washed and put away. Then there was nothing to do but wait until it was time to go to bed.
"And I think we're all tired enough to go early to-night," said Mother Brown.
"But, before we go," said her husband, "I think we will have a little row on the lake in our boat. It is not yet dark."
It was beautiful out on the water, and the sun, sinking down behind the hills, made the clouds look as though they were colored blue, pink, purple and golden.
Bunny and Sue were almost asleep whenthe boat was headed back toward shore, and their eyes were tight shut, when daddy and mother lifted them out to carry them up to Camp Rest-a-While. The children hardly awakened when they were undressed and put to bed, and soon every one was sound asleep, for it was a dark night.
Bunny Brown was sleeping in the outer part of the bedroom-tent, in a cot next to his father's. Just what made Bunny awaken he did not know. But, all at once the little fellow sat up on his cot, and looked with wide-open eyes toward the entrance. There was a lantern burning in the tent, and by the light of it Bunny Brown saw a big shaggy animal, standing on its hind legs, and sniffing with its black nose. At first Bunny could not make a sound, he was so frightened, but finally he screamed:
"Oh, Daddy! Daddy! Wake up! It's a bear! A bear! A big black bear in the tent!"
Then Bunny slipped down between the blankets and covered up his head with the bed clothes.
Daddy Brown was used to being suddenly aroused in the night by either Bunny or Sue. At home the children often awakened, and called out. Sometimes they would be dreaming, or perhaps they would want a drink of water. So Daddy Brown and Mrs. Brown Were used to answering when they heard the children call out.
But it was something new to hear Bunny calling about a big, black bear. He had never done that before, though one time, when he ate too much bread and jam for supper, he screamed that there was an elephant in his room, and there wasn't at all. He had only dreamed it.
But this time Daddy Brown had plainly heard his little boy say:
"Oh, it's a bear! It's a bear!"
Mr. Brown awakened, and sat up in his cot. He looked over toward Bunny's bed, but could see nothing of the little fellow, for as I have told you, Bunny was covered up under the blankets and quilt. Even his head was covered.
Then Mr. Brown looked toward the entrance, or front door of the tent. And, to his surprise, he saw just what Bunny had seen, a big, shaggy, hairy animal, standing on its hind legs, with its black nose up in the air, sniffing and snuffing.
"Why—why!" exclaimed Mr. Brown, rubbing his eyes to make sure that he was wide awake, and that he was not dreaming, as he thought Bunny might have been. "Why—why! Itisa bear!"
"Sniff! Snuff!" went the big, shaggy creature.
"Daddy—Daddy!" cried Bunny, his voice sounding faint and far off, because his head was under the covers. "Daddy, is—is he gone?"
"No, not yet," answered Mr. Brown.
"What is it? What's the matter?" calledMrs. Brown, from behind the curtain, where she slept.
"Why," said Mr. Brown slowly. "It—it seems to be a——"
Then he stopped. He did not want to scare his wife or Sue, by telling them there was a bear in the tent, and yet there was.
"Oh, what is it?" cried Mrs. Brown again. "I heard Bunny crying! Is anything the matter with him?"
"No, he's all right," answered Bunny's papa. That was true enough. There was really nothing the matter with the little boy. He was just a bit frightened, that was all.
"Butsomethingis the matter," said Mrs. Brown, "I know there is! Why don't you tell me what it is?"
Daddy Brown did not know just what to do. He sat up in bed, thinking and looking first at the bear and then at Bunny. All Mr. Brown could see of Bunny was a heap under the bedclothes. But the bear was in plain sight, standing in the doorway of the tent, sniffing and snuffing near the lighted lantern.
Mr. Brown did not want to speak about thebear. He thought the big, shaggy creature looked quite gentle, and perhaps it would go away if no one harmed it. Perhaps it was just looking for something to eat, and as it couldn't find anything in the bedroom tent it might go to the one where the cooking was done.
Bunker Blue was still sound asleep, and so was Uncle Tad. Nor had Sue, sleeping next to her mother, in the other part of the tent, been awakened. Just Bunny Brown, and his father and mother were wide awake. Oh, yes, of course the bear was not asleep. I forgot about that. His little black eyes blinked, and opened and shut, and he wrinkled up his rubber-like nose as he sniffed the air.
"Well, aren't you going to tell me what it is? What's the matter in there? What happened?" asked Mother Brown. "If you don't tell me——"
By this time Bunny Brown made up his mind that he would be brave. He uncovered one eye and peered out from beneath the bed clothes. His first sight was of the bear, who was still there.
"Oh! Oh!" cried Bunny. "Itisa bear! It's a big, black bear! I didn't dream it! It's real! a real, big, black bear!"
Mrs. Brown heard what her little boy said.
"Oh, Walter!" she cried to her husband. "Throw something at it. Here's my shoe—throw that. I've got two shoes, but I can only find one. Throw that at the bear and make him go away!"
Mrs. Brown threw over the curtain, that divided the tent into two parts, one of her shoes.
She really had two shoes, but when she felt under her cot in the dark, she could only find one. You know how it is when you try to find anything in the dark, even if it's a drink of water in the chair at the head of our bed. You move your hand all over, and you think some one must have come in and taken the water away. And when you get a light you find that, all the while, your hand was about an inch away from the glass. It was that way with Mrs. Brown's other shoe.
But she threw one over the curtain, calling out again:
"Hit him with that, Walter! Hit the bear with my shoe!"
But there was no need for Mr. Brown to do anything. The shoe thrown by Bunny's mother sailed through the tent. Straight at the bear it went, and before the shaggy creature could get out of the way, the shoe hit him on the end of the nose.
"Bunk!" went the shoe.
"Wuff!" grunted the bear.
Now you know a bear's nose is his most tender part. You could hit him on his head, or on his back, or on his paw—that is if you were brave enough to hit a bear at all—but you would not hurt him, hardly any, unless you hit him right on the end of his soft and tender nose. That's the best place to hit a bear if you want to drive him away, out of your tent, or anything like that. Hit him on the nose.
"Whack!" went Mrs. Brown's shoe on the end of the bear's nose.
"Wuff!" grunted the bear, and down he dropped on all four paws.
Now Mrs. Brown really did not mean tohit the bear. She was just tossing her shoe over the curtain so her husband might have something to throw at the bear, and, as it happened, she hit the bear by accident.
Of course it might have been better if one of Mr. Brown's shoes had hit the bear. I mean it would have been better for the Brown family, but worse for the bear. Because Mr. Brown's shoes were larger and heavier than his wife's. But then, it turned out all right anyhow.
For, no sooner did the bear feel Mrs. Brown's shoe hit him on the nose, than he cried out:
"Wuff!"
Then he turned quickly around, and ran out of the tent.
"Did you throw my shoe at him? Did you make him go away?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Because if you didn't, Walter, I've found my other shoe now, and I'll throw that to you."
"You won't need to, my dear," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. "One shoe was enough. You hit the bear yourself!"
"I did?"
"Yes, and he's gone. It's all right, Bunny. You can put your head out now. The bear is gone."
Bunny peeped with one eye, and when he saw that the big, shaggy creature was no longer there, he put his whole head out. Then, with a bound he jumped out of bed, and ran toward the back part of the tent, where his mother and sister were sleeping.
"Where you going, Bunny?" asked his father. "There's no more danger; the bear has gone."
"I—I'm just going in here to get my pop gun, so if the bear comes back——" Bunny said, "My pop gun is in here."
"Oh," said Mr. Brown, "I thought you were going to crawl in bed with your mother."
"Oh, no—no!" Bunny quickly answered, shaking his head. "I—I just want my pop gun. But," he went on, "if motherwantsme to get in bed with her, and keep the bear away, why I will. Don't be afraid. I'll get in bed with you, Mother!"
"Oh, I guess the bear won't come back," said Mr. Brown with a laugh.
"Well, I'll get in bed with mother anyhow," said Bunny. "I'll have my pop gun all ready."
By this time Uncle Tad, Bunker Blue and Sue had been awakened by the talk. Outside the tent Splash could be heard barking, and there was a noise among the trees and bushes that told that the bear was running away.
"I—I hope he doesn't bite our dog," said Bunny.
"Oh, I guess Splash will know enough to keep away from the bear," replied Mr. Brown. "Besides, I think the bear was only a tame one, anyhow."
"A tame bear?" asked Uncle Tad, as he was told all that had happened.
"Yes. He didn't act at all like a wild one. Besides, there aren't any wild bears in this part of the country. This was a tame one all right."
"Where did it come from?" asked Mrs. Brown.
"Oh, I think it got away from some man who goes about the country making the bear do tricks. Probably in the morning we'll seethe man looking for his bear," answered her husband.
And that is just what happened. There was no more trouble that night. Everyone went to sleep again, Bunny in the cot with his mother; though when he was asleep and slumbering soundly, she carried him back to his own little bed near his father.
Soon after breakfast the next morning, when they were talking about the bear scare in the night, along came a man, who looked like an Italian organ-grinder. He said he had a pet, tame bear, who had broken away from where he was tied, in the night.
And it was this bear who had wandered into the tent where Bunny was sleeping. Where the bear was now no one knew, but the Italian said he would walk off through the woods, and see if he could not find his pet, which he had trained to do many tricks.
Two or three days later, Mr. Brown heard that the bear was safely found, so there was no more need to worry about his coming into the tent at night.
That day Daddy Brown, with the help ofUncle Tad and Bunker Blue printed a big cloth sign which they hung up between two trees. The sign read:
CAMP REST-A-WHILE
"There," said Daddy Brown, "now the postman will know where to find us when he comes with letters."
"Oh, do they have mail up here?" asked Sue.
"No, daddy is only joking," said her mother. "I guess we'll have to go to the post office for letters."
One day, when they had been in camp about a week, Bunny and Sue, with the others, returned from a walk in the woods. As they came near the "dining-room tent," as they called it, they saw a ragged boy spring up from the table with some pieces of bread and meat, and dash into the bushes.
"Hold on there! Who are you? What do you want?" cried Daddy Brown. But the ragged boy did not stop running. He wanted to hide in the bushes.
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, with their father, mother, Uncle Tad and Bunker Blue, hurried on toward the tent under which was set the dining table. They could see where the ragged boy had made a meal for himself, taking the bread and meat from the ice box. For a refrigerator had been brought to camp, and the iceman came on a boat, once a day, to leave ice.
"Who is he?" asked Bunny Brown, looking toward the bushes behind which the strange boy had run.
"What did he want?" Sue asked.
"I can answer you, Sue, but I can't answer Bunny," said Mr. Brown. "That boy was hungry, and wanted something to eat, but who he is I don't know."
"Poor little chap," said Mrs. Brown in akind voice. "He didn't need to run away just because he wanted something to eat. I would be glad to give him all he wanted. I wouldn't see anyone go hungry."
"He looked like a tramp," said Bunker.
"But he was only a boy," remarked Uncle Tad.
"I wish he hadn't run away," said Mother Brown. "I don't believe he got half enough to eat. He took only a little." She could tell that by looking in the ice box.
By this time Splash, the big dog, who had not come up with the others, now rushed into camp. He sniffed around, and then, all of a sudden, he made a dash for a clump of bushes, and, standing in front of it began barking loudly.
"Oh, maybe the bear's come back and is hiding in there!" cried Bunny.
"More likely it's that ragged boy," said Uncle Tad. "That's where he made a rush for as soon as we came up."
Splash seemed about to go into the bushes himself, and drive, or drag, out whatever was hiding there.
But Mr. Brown called:
"Here, Splash! Come here, sir!"
The dog came back and then Bunny's father, going over to the bushes, looked down among them.
"You'd better come out," he said, to someone. The children could not see who it was. "Come on out," said Mr. Brown, "we won't hurt you."
Out of the bushes came the ragged boy. In his hand he still had some of the bread and meat he had taken from the ice box.
Bunny and Sue looked at him.
The boy's clothes were very ragged, but they seemed to be clean. He had on no shoes or stockings, but one foot was wrapped up in a rag, as though he had cut himself. He limped a little, too, as he came forward.
"I—I couldn't run very fast with my sore foot, or I'd a' got away from you," he said slowly.
"But why should you want to get away?" asked Mr. Brown.
"Well, I took some of your stuff—I was hungry and I went through the ice box—andI s'posed you'd be looking for a policeman to have me arrested. That's why I ran. But I couldn't go very far, so I hid in the bushes. I thought I could get away when you weren't looking. Here's your stuff," and he held out to Mrs. Brown what was left of the bread and meat. Bunny and Sue thought the ragged boy looked hungrily at the food as he offered to give it back.
"You poor boy!" said Mrs. Brown, "I don't want it! You're welcome to that and more, if you need it. You must be hungry!"
"I am, lady. I haven't had anything since morning. I started to go back to the city, but it's farther than I thought, and I lost my way. When I struck this camp, I saw the sign—'Rest-a-While,' so I sat down to rest. Then I saw the ice box, and I was hungry, and—and I—well, I just helped myself."
His face was sunburned, so it could not be told whether he was blushing or not, but he hung his head as if ashamed of what he had done. He still held out the meat to Mrs. Brown.
Splash, who, now that he knew the boy wasa friend of the family, did not bark any more, slid gently up, and began nibbling at the meat and bread in the boy's hand.
"Oh, look at Splash!" laughed Sue.
"Here, Splash! That isn't for you!" cried Mr. Brown. "But you might as well give it to him now, now that he's had his tongue on it," said Mr. Brown to the ragged boy. "We'll give you some more."
"Yes, sit right up to the table," said Mrs. Brown. "I'll get you a good meal."
The boy's eyes filled with tears, and he turned his head away so they would not be seen.
"Where did you come from?" asked Daddy Brown, as Mrs. Brown was setting out some food.
"I come from Benton," the boy answered, naming a city about twenty miles away. "I've lived there all my life until about a week ago, and I wish I was back there now."
"How did you come to leave?"
"Well, all my folks died, and I couldn't make much of a living selling papers, running errands and blacking shoes, so when a farmerdown in the city market, said he wanted a boy on his farm, I said I'd come and work for him.
"I rode out on his wagon, after he had sold all his stuff one day, and I came to a place called Fayetteville."
"Yes, I know where that is," said Mr. Brown. "It's on the other side of the lake."
"I went to work for the farmer," said the ragged boy, who gave his name as Tom Vine, "but it was worse than being in the city. I never had a minute's rest and I didn't get enough to eat. I wasn't used to working out in the hot sun, and my legs and arms seemed as if they'd burn off me."
"Yes, I can see you're pretty well burned," said Mr. Brown. "Then you ran away?"
"Yes, sir. I couldn't stand it any longer. The farmer and his hired man used to whip me if I made a mistake, or if I didn't get up early enough. And they used to get up before daylight. So I made up my mind to run away, and go back to the city.
"I used to think the country was nice," the ragged boy went on, "but I don't any more.I don't mind working, but I don't want to be starved and whipped all the while. So I ran off, but I guess I got lost, for I can't find the way back to the city. I don't know what to do. When I got here, and saw that sign about resting, I thought that was what I needed. So I came in."
"And I'm glad you did," said Mrs. Brown. "Now you eat this and you'll feel better. Then I'll look at your sore foot, and we'll see what to do with you."
"You—you won't have me arrested; will you?" asked the boy.
"No, indeed!" said Mr. Brown.
"And you—you won't send me back to that farmer?"
"No, I think not. He has no right to make you work for him if you don't want to. Don't be afraid," said Bunny's father. "We'll look after you."
A little later the ragged boy had eaten a good meal. Then he was given some of Bunker Blue's old clothes, for he was almost as large as the red-haired boy, and the old clothes were thrown away.
Mr. Brown looked at the boy's sore foot, and found that there was a big sharp thorn in one toe. When this thorn had been taken out, and the toe bound up with salve, the ragged boy said he felt much better. Perhaps I shouldn't call him a ragged boy any longer, for he was not, with Bunker's clothes on.
"Mother, is he going to stay with us?" asked Bunny that evening when it was nearly supper time, and the new boy—Tom Vine—had gone after a pail of water at the spring.
"Would you care to have him stay?" asked Mrs. Brown.
"Yes," said Sue. "He's nice. I like him."
"Well, we'll keep him for a while," answered Mrs. Brown. "He needs help, I think."
Tom Vine told more of his story after supper. He had never been away from the city's pavements in all his life before he went out to the country with the farmer who hired him. He had never seen the ocean, or the woods. He did not even know that cows gave milk until he saw the farmer's hired man milking one day.
"I just don't know anything about the woods or the country," the boy said to Bunny and Sue, "so you can fool me all you like."
"Oh, we won't fool you," said Bunny kindly. "We'll tell you all we know."
"Thanks," said Tom Vine.
He had offered to travel on, after supper, and try to get back to the city.
"I don't want to be a trouble to you folks," he said to Mrs. Brown. "In the city I know some fellows, and they'll lend me money enough to buy some papers, and start in business."
"You had better stay with us awhile," said Mrs. Brown. "We have enough room for you, and you can help about camp."
"I can wash and dry dishes!" cried Tom eagerly. "I worked in a restaurant for a week once, and I know how to handle dishes."
"Then we can give you plenty of work," said Mrs. Brown, with a laugh. "For if there is one thing, in camp or at home, that I don't like it is washing dishes."
"I'll do them for you!" cried Tom, "and I'll be glad of the chance, too!"
"All right then. You'll be the head dishwasher of Camp Rest-a-While," said Mr. Brown, smiling.
And that is how Tom Vine came to stay with the Browns while they lived in the woods near Lake Wanda.
Tom, indeed, knew very little about the country. As he said, he had never been away from the city pavements, winter or summer, in all his life before. The first night in camp, when he was sleeping next to Bunker Blue, in a little part of the tent that had been curtained off for them, Tom awakened Bunker, by reaching over and punching him in the ribs.
"Hey, listen to that!" cried Tom.
"To what?" asked Bunker, only half awake.
"Somebody is outside the tent, calling: 'Who? Who? Who?'" said Tom. "I didn't do anything, did you? What do they holler 'who' for?"
Bunker listened. Surely enough he heard very plainly:
"Who? Who? Too-who?"
"Hear it?" asked Tom.
"Yes, it's only an owl," Bunker answered. "There's lots of 'em in these woods."
"What's an owl?" Tom wanted to know.
"Oh, it's a bird with big eyes, and it can only see at night. It comes out to get mice and bugs. Owls won't hurt you. Go on to sleep."
Tom did not go to sleep at once. But he was no longer afraid of the owl.
Tom was just going to sleep once more, when he heard another funny noise. This time he was sure some one said:
"Katy did! Katy did! Katy did!"
Tom sat up in his cot. He reached over to punch Bunker, to ask him what this was, when all at once, another voice cried:
"Katy didn't! Katy didn't! Katy didn't!"
"Listen to that, now, would you!" exclaimed Tom. "Bunker! Bunker Blue! Wake up! There's two people outside, and one says Katy did it, and the other says she didn't—who's right?"
Bunker Blue turned sleepily over on his cot.
"What—what's that?" he asked of Tom.
"Listen," Tom answered. "Don't you hear that, Bunker? First someone is hollering about Katy's doing something, and then somebody else yells that she didn't do it. Say, I don't like it here."
Bunker Blue laughed aloud.
"What's the matter out there?" asked Daddy Brown.
"Oh, it's only Tom," said the red-haired boy. "He doesn't like the song of the katydids."
"Song! Is that a song?" asked Tom.
"Some people call it that," said Mr. Brown, for he knew that a city boy might be just as frightened of sounds in the country as a country boy might of sounds in the city.
"That noise is made by a little green bug, called a katydid," Mr. Brown explained. "It looks something like a grasshopper."
"But they don't all say 'Katy did,'" objected Tom.
"No, some of them seem to say 'Katy didn't,'" agreed Mr. Brown. "Of course they don't really say those words. It only sounds as if they did. Now go to sleep. In the morning I'll show you a katydid."
Tom was not frightened any longer. He turned over and was soon sound asleep. Mr. Brown and Bunker also closed their eyes and the tent in Camp Rest-a-While was quiet once more. Bunny and Sue had not awakened.
Early the next morning, before breakfast, Tom was seen walking about among the trees of the camp. He seemed to be looking for something.
"What are you looking for?" asked Bunny.
"For Katy," Tom answered.
"There isn't any Katy with us," said Sue. "We have a cook, but her name is Mary, and she isn't here with us, anyhow. She's at home."
"No, I'm looking for a Katy bug," explained Tom, and then he told about the noises he had heard in the night.
"I'll help you look," said Bunny.
"So will I," added Sue. "I'd like to see a Katy bug."
But, though the children and Tom looked all over, they could not find a katydid until Mr. Brown helped them. Then on a tree he found one of the queer, light-green grasshopper-like bugs and showed it to the children.
"Why doesn't it cry now?" Sue wanted to know. "Make it cry, Daddy, so I can hear it!"
"Oh, I can't do that," Mr. Brown said with a laugh. "The katydid cries, or sings, mostly at night. I guess they don't want anyone to see them. Besides, I don't just know how they make the noises, whether they rub their rough legs together, or make a sound somewhere inside them. So I guess we'll have to let them do as they please."
Tom and the children stood for some little time, watching the pretty, green bug, and then came the sound of a bell.
"There!" cried Mr. Brown, with a laugh. "I guess you all know who made that noise, and what it means."
"It means breakfast!" cried Bunny.
"And mother rang the bell!" added Sue.
"That's right," said Bunker Blue, coming along just then. "And your mother doesn't want you to be late, either, for she's baking cakes, and you know how you like them!"
"Oh, cakes!" cried Bunny, clapping his hands. "I just love them!"
Soon the little party, including the new boy, Tom Vine, were seated around the table under the dining tent, eating pancakes that Mrs. Brown cooked over the oil stove.
Bunny and Sue said nothing for several minutes. They were too busy eating. Then Bunny, looking at Tom, asked:
"Can you jump over an elephant?"
"Jump over elephants? I guess not!" the new boy cried. "I never saw an elephant, except in a picture."
"We did," said Sue. "We saw a real elephant in a real circus, and we had a make-believe circus with a pretend elephant in it."
"And we knowed a boy named Ben Hall, who used to be in a real circus," went on Bunny. "He could jump over an elephant, and I thought maybe you could, too."
"No," said Tom, with a shake of his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. About the only thing I can do is wash and dry the dishes."
"Well, it's a good thing to be able to do even one thing well," said Mrs. Brown, "and I'm glad you're here to wash and dry the dishes. There are plenty of them."
"I know something else you can do," said Bunny, smiling at Tom.
"What is it?"
"You can eat."
"Yes," and Tom laughed. "I like to eat, and I'm hungry three times a day."
"Bunny and Sue are hungry oftener than that," said Uncle Tad. "At least they say they are, and they come in and get bread and jam."
Bunny and Sue looked at each other and laughed.
After breakfast, just as he had said he would do, Tom Vine picked up the dishes, and gotready to wash them. Mrs. Brown watched him for a few minutes, until she was sure that he knew just how to go about it. Then she left him to himself.
"He is a very nice, neat and clean boy," she said to her husband. "I'm glad he came to us. But what are we going to do with him? We can't keep him always."
"Well, we'll let him stay with us while we are in camp here in the woods," said Mr. Brown, "and when we go back home, well, I can find something for him to do at the boat-dock, perhaps—that is, if he doesn't want to go back to the city."
While Tom was doing the dishes Bunny and Sue had gone off into the wood a little way, to where they had made for themselves a little play-house of branches of trees, stuck in the ground. It was a sort of green tent, and in it Sue had put some of her dolls, while Bunny had taken to it some of his toys. The children often played there.
But they did not do anything for very long at a time, getting tired of one thing after another as all children do. So when Sue hadundressed and dressed her two dolls, combing and braiding their hair, she said to Bunny:
"Oh, let's do something else now."
"All right," replied her brother. "What shall we do?"
"Can't you think of some fun?" Sue wanted to know.
Bunny rubbed his nose. He often did that when he was thinking. Then he cried:
"Let's ask mother to let Bunker Blue take us out in the boat. I want to go fishing."
"That will be nice," Sue said. "I'd like a boat ride, too."
Back to the camp went the children, but when they reached the tents they saw neither their father nor mother, nor was Uncle Tad or Bunker Blue in sight.
"They've gone away!" said Sue.
"Yes, so they have," agreed Bunny. "But I guess they didn't go far, or they'd have told us. Mother knew where we were."
"Let's go find them," said Sue. "Maybe they went out in the boat."
"We'll look," agreed Bunny.
The two children went to the edge of the lake, where a big willow tree overhung the water. The boat was kept tied to this tree.
"Oh, the boat's gone!" exclaimed Sue, as she reached the place and did not see it. "The boat's gone, Bunny!"
"Then they must have gone for a row, and they didn't take us!" and Bunny was much disappointed. He looked across the lake, up and down, as did Sue, and then both children cried out:
"Oh, look!" said Sue.
"There's the boat," added Bunny. "And Tom Vine is in it all alone! He hasn't got any oars, either. Look, Sue!"
Surely enough, there was the boat, some distance out in the lake, and Tom, the city boy, who knew nothing at all about boats, was in it. As he saw Bunny and Sue he waved his hands to them, and cried:
"Come and get me! I can't get back! I'm afraid! Come and get me!"