Bunny Brown and his sister Sue stood by the lake shore, and didn't know what to do. Some distance out on the water floated the boat with Tom Vine standing up in it, waving his hands. And Tom cried once more:
"Come and get me! Come and get me!"
Bunny was the first to speak after that. And he said just the right thing.
"Sit down, Tom!" cried Bunny. "Sit down, or you'll tip over, and then you'll be drowned, and we can't get you."
Bunny shouted loudly, and his clear, high voice could easily be heard by Tom, for there was no wind, or at least only a little, to ruffle the water of the lake. Tom heard, and he knew what Bunny meant. Very carefully he sat down on one of the seats in the boat.
"Are you coming to get me?" he asked."I can't get back to shore, and I can't swim. I don't like it out here!"
"Just sit still, and we'll think up a way to get you," called Bunny. "But don't stand up, whatever you do."
"No, you must keep sitting down," added Sue.
Mr. Brown had often told his children how to act when in boats. Small as they were they could both swim a little, Bunny, of course, better than Sue, because he was older. And they had both been told what to do in case they fell into the water—hold their breath until they came to the top, when someone might save them, if they could not swim out.
But it was what Mr. Brown had told Bunny about not standing up in a boat that the little fellow now first remembered to shout to Tom. He did not want to see the new boy fall over into the lake.
And Tom must have known what Bunny meant, for he was now sitting very quietly in the boat, looking toward the shore where Bunny and Sue stood.
"How did you get out there?" Bunny asked.He had not yet thought of a way to get Tom back to land.
"I—I didn't think the boat would float away," Tom answered. "I got in it and untied the rope. Then, the first thing I knew I was away out here. The wind blew me out, but it won't blow me back. I'll soon be out in the middle, I guess!"
Though there had been enough wind to blow Tom, in the boat, away from shore, there was hardly any wind now, so the boy could not be blown back. And how to get him to shore was something that Bunny and Sue could not tell how to do, especially as there were no oars in the boat.
"He can't row without oars," said Bunny.
"No, he can't," said Sue. She knew enough about boats to tell that. "And he hasn't any sail," she added.
"Haven't you got a stick, so you can push yourself back to shore?" called Bunny.
"I have a little stick, but it won't touch bottom," Tom answered. As he spoke he held up a short tree branch. Bunny had used it the day before as a fishpole, and when throughplaying had tossed it into the boat. Tom reached this stick over the side of the boat, and put it down into the water. But the lake was too deep there to let him touch the bottom, and so push himself to shore.
"Can't you swim out and get me, Bunny?" Tom cried. He was not as old a boy as was Bunker Blue, and so he was quite easily frightened, especially as he could not swim, and knew hardly anything about boats.
"Swim out and get me, Bunny!" Tom begged.
Bunny Brown shook his head.
"I couldn't swim that far," he shouted. "Besides, I'm not let go in the water unless my father or mother, or Uncle Tad or Bunker Blue is with me, and they're not here now."
"But how can I get back?" poor Tom wanted to know.
"We'll get you, somehow!" cried Bunny. "Won't we, Sue?"
"Yes," answered the little girl. But neither she nor her brother knew how they were going to save Tom.
"Anyhow, if I could swim that far, anddaddy would let me," went on Bunny, speaking to his sister, "I couldn't take the oars out, and if I didn't have oars to row with, I couldn't bring the boat back, or Tom either."
"No, you couldn't," Sue said. She knew enough about boats to tell that, for she could row a little, with a light pair of oars.
"Call your father or mother!" called Tom, who was now farther from shore than ever. "Call them! Maybe they can get another boat, and come after me."
So Bunny and Sue called as loudly as they could, but neither Mr. Brown, his wife, Bunker nor Uncle Tad answered. They had taken a walk back in the woods, when Tom started to wash the dishes, and when Bunny and Sue were playing house in the leafy bower, and they had gone farther than they intended. So they could not hear Bunny and Sue calling.
"It's no use," said Bunny, after a bit. "We've got to save him ourselves, Sue. But I wonder how we can do it."
Sue thought for a minute. She did not rub her nose as Bunny had done. She could think without doing that. Then Sue said:
"If we only had a string on the boat, Bunny, we could pull Tom right to us. We could stand on shore and pull him in, just as we did with your little sail boat."
"That's right—we could!" cried Bunny. Then he called:
"Tom, has you got a rope on your boat? If you has throw it to me and Sue, and we'll pull you in by it."
Tom looked in the bottom of the boat.
"There's a rope here," he said, "but it isn't long enough to reach to shore."
He held it up so the children could see. Certainly it was not half long enough. It was the rope by which the boat had been tied to the tree.
While Bunny and Sue stood there, wondering what to do, there came a rustling, cracking sound in the bushes back of them. They quickly turned, and saw their dog, Splash. He had been roving about in the woods, and had now come back to camp.
"Oh, Splash!" cried Bunny. "You can do it, I know you can!"
"What can he do?" asked Sue.
"He can swim out to Tom in the boat, and pull him back to shore. Go on, Splash!" cried Bunny, pointing to poor Tom. "Go on and get him! Bring him back!"
Splash bounded around and barked. He looked to where Bunny pointed, but though the dog could understand some of the things Bunny said, he could not tell just what his little master wanted this time. Tom was watching what was going on, and now he called:
"I know a better way than that."
"What?" asked Bunny.
"If you had a long cord, you could tie one end to a stick, and give it to Splash to bring to me. Then I could tie it to the boat, and you could pull me to shore."
"Oh, yes, we can do that!" cried Bunny.
"Have you got a long cord?" Tom asked.
"Yes, one I fly my kite with. I brought the cord along, but now I haven't any kite. I'll get that."
Bunny ran to the tent where he kept his box of playthings. He soon returned with a stick, on which was wound a long and very strong cord.
"This will pull the boat," he said.
He looked around for a stick to tie onto the end of the cord, and when he had done this he gave the stick to the dog.
"Take it out to Tom!" ordered Bunny.
But Splash only barked and dropped the stick. He wagged his tail, as if he were saying:
"I'll do anything you want me to, little master, but I don't know just what you mean."
Once more Tom called across the water.
"Throw the stick into the lake, Bunny. Then Splash will bring it to me. He knows how to jump in after sticks you throw into the water; doesn't he?"
"Oh, yes, Splash knows that all right," Bunny said. "Here, Splash!" he called.
Into the lake Bunny tossed the stick to which was fastened one end of his kite cord.
"Get it, Splash!" cried the little boy.
With a bark Splash sprang into the water. But instead of swimming out to Tom with the stick and string, he swam back to shore. That was what he had been taught to do, you see.
Splash dropped the stick at Bunny's feet, and wagging his wet tail, spattered drops all over Sue. The dog barked, looking up at Bunny, and seeming to say:
"There, little master! Didn't I do that fine? Wasn't that just what you wanted me to do?"
"No! No!" cried Bunny. "I don't want the stick, Splash! Take it to Tom—out in the boat—take it to him!" and he pointed to Tom.
Once more Bunny threw the stick into the water, and once more Splash sprang in and brought it to shore. It was not until Bunny had told Splash four times, that the dog knew what was wanted.
Then the fifth time, when Bunny threw the stick into the water, Splash jumped in after it and swam out to Tom in the boat. Tom kept calling:
"Here, Splash! Here, Splash! Come on, good dog!"
Up to the boat, with the stick and cord, swam the dog. Tom made the string fast to the boat, and then Bunny and Sue, standing on shore, pulled on their end. They pulledslowly at first, so as not to break the cord. But, once the boat was started, it came along easily, and soon Tom was on dry land again. Splash swam along behind the boat.
"There!" Tom cried, as he tied the boat fast. "I'll never do that again!"
"We're not let get in the boat," said Bunny, "but I guess daddy forgot to tell you."
"If he had I'd never have gotten in," Tom said. "But I'm glad you pulled me to shore."
The rest of the campers came back soon after that, and Mr. Brown got Tom to promise never to get in the boat alone again. Of course Tom was not in any real danger as long as he kept still, and Mr. Brown might easily have gone out and rescued him in another boat. But I think it was very clever of Bunny and Sue, and Splash, too, to get Tom back to shore as they did; don't you?
There were many happy, joyful days at Camp Rest-a-While. The children went on little picnics in the woods and often they were taken out in the boat by Bunker Blue. Bunny had a real fishpole and line and hook now, with "squiggily" worms, as Sue called them,for bait, and the little boy caught some real fish.
It was about a week after Tom's adventure in the drifting boat that one day, as he was walking through the woods with Bunny and Sue, on their way back from a farmhouse where they had gone after milk, that Tom suddenly came to a stop along the path.
"Wait a minute!" he said in a whisper, to Bunny and Sue.
"What's the matter?" Bunny wanted to know. "You look afraid, Tom. Are you?"
"Yes, I am," said Tom, and even Sue could tell that he was when she looked at him.
"Did you—did you see a snake?" she asked, drawing closer to Bunny, for Sue did not like snakes, either.
"No, it wasn't a snake," returned Tom. "It was a man. Here, come on back among the bushes, and he can't see us," and, as he spoke, Tom drew Bunny and Sue away from the path, behind some thick bushes. Tom seemed very much afraid of something. And he had said he had seen a man. Bunny and Sue could not imagine why Tom should be afraid of a man.
"Come on! Come on!" whispered Tom to Bunny and Sue, as he led them still deeper back in among the bushes. "Don't let him hear you! Come on, and we'll hide!"
"Who is it? What's the matter?" Bunny wanted to know.
"Hush!" whispered Tom. "It's that man! He's after me, I guess. I'll tell you about it when we get away. He's coming! Hurry!"
Certainly someone, or something, was coming along the path from which Tom and the two children had just stepped to go in among the bushes. Tom was in such a hurry that he pulled Bunny and Sue along with him harder than he meant to. Finally Bunny said:
"Oh, Tom, I'm spilling the milk!"
Bunny was carrying the pail of milk they had bought at the farmhouse, and, though thepail had a cover on it, some of the milk had splashed out, and was running down Bunny's stocking.
"Set the pail down here, and we'll get it when we come back—after that man goes," Tom said, in a whisper.
Bunny put the pail down on the ground, near a big stone, so he would know where to look for it again. Then, to hide, they all squeezed as far back in the bushes as they could, and waited.
"Is he coming after us?" asked Sue in a whisper.
"No, I guess he's only after me," answered Tom. "He won't touch you or Bunny."
"Is it a Gypsy man?" Bunny wanted to know.
"No, he isn't a Gypsy," replied Tom. "He's just a cross, bad man; and I don't want him to see me. Keep your heads down."
Bunny and Sue did so. Like frightened rabbits they crouched among the bushes. Tom kept hold of their hands, and though the children knew that Tom was afraid, for he had said so, still Bunny and Sue were not verymuch frightened, as long as the man was not a Gypsy and did not want them.
"There! He's gone past!" exclaimed Tom, as he stood up to look over the tops of the bushes. "He's gone, and we can come out. He didn't see us—he won't get me this time."
"But who was he?" Bunny wanted to know. Tom, however, did not seem to hear him. Still holding Bunny and Sue by the hand, Tom led them back to the path. Bunny picked up the pail of milk.
"I'll carry it for you," Tom said. "We've got to hurry back to camp."
"Why?" asked Sue. "I can't hurry very much, for my legs hurt."
"I'll carry you," said Tom, "if Bunny will take the milk pail."
"Yes, I'll do that," said the little boy.
Once more he took the pail, while Tom hoisted Sue up onto his shoulder.
"Give me a piggy-back!" Sue begged, so Tom carried her pickaback, while Sue held tightly to her doll. Tom marched ahead along the path, and soon they were safely at the tent. Before Tom could say anything, Bunny and Sue, seeing their father and mother, called out:
"Oh, Tom saw a man, and we hid!"
Mr. and Mrs. Brown did not know what this meant.
"What sort of man was he?" asked Mrs. Brown quickly.
"He wasn't a Gypsy man," Bunny said.
"But he was after Tom, only he didn't see us," added Sue. "And I had a piggy-back ride home, and some milk got spilled on Bunny's stocking, but not much, and I'm hungry!"
Sue believed in telling everything at once, to have it over with.
"What is it all about?" asked Mr. Brown of Tom. "Did you and the children really, hide from a man?"
"Yes, sir."
"What man was it? I hope there aren't any tramps in these woods."
"Oh, no, he wasn't a tramp. He was the farmer I told you about—the one I worked for, and from whom I ran away. I guess he was looking for me," Tom answered.
"Hum," said Mr. Brown. "Well, I suppose we'll have to wait and see what he wants. Was he coming this way?"
"No, he seemed to be wandering through the woods, as if he didn't know where to go."
"Oh, well, maybe he won't find you," said Mrs. Brown.
"I hope he doesn't," returned Tom, looking over his shoulder.
No strange man came to camp that night, and Bunny and Sue soon forgot all about the little fright Tom had had. But two days later, just as dinner was finished, there came a man rowing in a boat to the little wooden camp-dock Bunker Blue had built out into the lake.
Out of the boat climbed a man with black whiskers. He had on big, heavy boots, and in one hand he carried a whip. He walked up the path from the lake, and when he saw Mr. Brown and his family at the table, under the tent, which was wide open, the man stood still.
"Camp Rest-a-While, eh?" he said in rather a rough voice, as he read the sign. "Well,maybe this is the place I'm looking for. Have you seen a boy—a ragged boy—about fifteen years old in these woods?" he asked.
Before Mr. Brown could answer, Tom Vine, who had gone to the spring for a pail of water, came back. At the sight of the man Tom dropped the pail, spilling the water. At the same time the "ragged boy" cried out:
"There he is! There's the man! He's after me! Oh, please don't let him take me away!"
Tom turned to run back into the woods, but Mr. Brown called to him:
"Stay right where you are, Tom! This man won't hurt you. Stay where you are."
Though he was much frightened, Tom stood still.
"Now then, what do you want?" asked Mr. Brown of the man with the whip.
"I want that boy!" answered the man, pointing the whip at poor Tom. "I hired him to work for me, but he ran away. I want him back, and I'm going to have him!"
And oh, what a rough, cross voice the man had! He wasn't at all nice, Bunny and Sue thought.
"I've been looking for that boy, and now I've found him. I want to take him back with me," the cross man went on. "I was hunting all through these woods for him, and yesterday I heard that a boy like him was in a camp over here. So I came for to find out about it, and I've found him!"
"Is that the man you saw in the woods, when we went after milk the other day, Tom?" asked Bunny in a whisper.
"Yes," nodded Tom.
"Well, if this boy doesn't want to go with you I'm not going to make him," said Mr. Brown. "He came to us, and said you had not treated him well. I'll not send him back to you. Are you the farmer who hired him?"
"Yes, I'm that farmer," said the man, scowling. "Jake Trimble is my name, and when I want a thing I get it! I want that boy!"
"Oh, please don't make me go back to work for him!" begged Tom. "He beat me, and he didn't give me enough to eat!"
"Don't be, afraid," said Mr. Brown. "He shan't have you!"
"I say I will!" cried the cross man. "Thatboy hired out to work for me, and I want him!"
"You can't have him," said Mr. Brown quietly. "And I want you to go away from here. This is my camp, and it is a private one. Go. You can't have this boy."
"But he ran away from me!" said the cross man.
"Perhaps he did. He said he could not stand the way you treated him. Any boy would have run away," replied Mr. Brown. "I'm looking after this boy now, and I say you can't have him."
"Well, I'll get him, somehow, you see if I don't!" cried the cross man, as he turned to go back to his boat. And he shook his whip at Tom. "I'll get you yet!" he said. "And when I do I'll make you work twice as hard. You'll see!"
"Don't be afraid, Tom," said Mr. Brown, when the unkind man was gone. "I won't let him hurt you."
Tom picked up the overturned pail, and went again to the spring for water. When he came back he said:
"That was the farmer I met in the city. He took me out to his place, and was very mean to me. I just had to run away. I didn't think he'd try to find me. But I knew he must be looking for me when we saw him in the woods that day. I hid away from him then, but now he knows where I am."
"Don't you care," said Sue. "My daddy won't let him hurt you; will you, Daddy?" and she put her arms around her father's neck.
"We'll take care of Tom," said Mr. Brown. "I guess that man won't come back."
Bunker Blue was sitting out in front of the big camp-tent, on a bench, one day, with a pile of long sticks in front of him. With his knife Bunker was whittling the sticks to sharp points.
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, who had been out in the woods, gathering wild flowers for the dinner table, came up to Bunker, and Bunny asked:
"What you doing, Bunker?"
"Why, I'm sharpening these sticks, Bunny," was the answer.
"What for?" asked Sue, as she put her wax doll down in the shade, so the sun would not melt the nose.
"Oh, I know!" cried Bunny. "You're making arrows! Are you going to have a bow, and shoot the arrows like an Indian, Bunker?"
Bunker Blue shook his head and smiled.
"You'll have to guess again, Bunny," he said.
Bunny took up one of the pointed sticks.
"Are they spears?" asked the little boy, as he put his finger gently on the sharp point. "Indians use spears to catch fish. Are you going to do that, Bunker?"
Bunker shook his head.
"You haven't guessed yet," he said.
"Oh, tell us!" begged Sue. "Is it a secret?"
"Sort of," said Bunker.
"Oh, how nice!" cried Sue. "I just love to guess secrets! Let me have a turn, Bunny."
The two children sat down in the shade near the tent. Bunker kept on making sharp-pointed sticks with his knife. Over in the dining-tent Tom Vine was setting the dinner table. This was some days after the cross man had come to the camp and had gone away. He had not come back since.
"Well, what is your guess, Sue?" asked Bunker, as he kept on making the sharp-pointed sticks.
"Let me see," pondered the little girl. "Oh!I know what they are for. You're going to put some other pieces of wood on the end of these sticks, Bunker, and make croquet mallets of them so we can have a game!"
"Is that it?" asked Bunny. "Is it for croquet?"
"No, that isn't what they're for," answered Bunker, smiling.
"Anyhow," went on Bunny Brown, "we couldn't play croquet in the woods here, 'cause we haven't any croquet balls."
"Oh, we might use round stones, mightn't we, Bunker?" Sue asked.
"Yes, we might," replied Bunker slowly, as he laid down one sharp-pointed stick and began whittling another. "We might, but that isn't the secret."
"Now, it's my turn to guess!" said Bunny. "You had a turn, Sue."
"Well, what do you say it is?" asked Bunker. "Go on, Bunny."
Bunny thought for about half a minute.
"Are you going to make a trap to catch something?" the little boy asked. Ever since he had come to Camp Rest-a-While he hadbegged Bunker to make a trap to catch a fox, or a squirrel, or something like that. Bunny did not want to hurt the wild animals, but he thought he would like to catch one in a trap, and try to tame it.
"No, I'm not making a trap," answered Bunker. "I don't believe you children could guess what these sticks are for if you tried all day. And, as it isn't my secret, I don't believe I'd better tell you. You go and ask your mother—it's mostly her secret—and if she wants to tell you—why, all right."
"Oh, we'll go and ask mother!" cried Bunny. "Come on, Sue!"
The two children found Mrs. Brown in the cooking-tent, getting dinner ready.
"What's the secret?" cried Sue.
"What is Bunker making all the sharp-pointed sticks for?" Bunny wanted to know.
Their mother smiled at them. From a shelf over the oil stove she took down a large platter on which she put the eggs she was cooking.
"What is the secret, Mother?" begged Bunny. "Please tell us!"
"Yes," added Sue. "We've guessed and guessed, but we can't guess right. Bunker said you might tell us."
Mrs. Brown laughed, and, after she had put the platter of eggs on the table, she pointed to two large, round, tin boxes on a chair in the big tent.
"Can you read what it says on those boxes?" Mrs. Brown asked Bunny.
Bunny looked at the long word.
"It begins with a 'M'," he said, "and the next letter is 'A' and then comes——"
"Oh, I know what's next!" cried Sue. "It's a 'R.' I can tell by the funny little tail that kicks up behind. It's just like the 'B' for Brown in our name, only the R has a kick-up tail at the end. That letter is a 'R'; isn't it, Mother?"
"Yes," answered Mrs. Brown. "But what is the whole word, Bunny? If you can tell what it is you'll know the secret."
Bunny could spell out each letter one after another and he did, until he had spelled this big word:
MARSHMALLOW
But he could not say it. The word was too big for him. So his mother said it for him.
"Those are marshmallow candies in the tin boxes," said Mrs. Brown. "Now can you guess the secret?"
"Oh, I know!" cried Sue. "We're going to have a marshmallow roast by the campfire to-night! Is that it, Mother? And the sharp sticks Bunker is making are to put the marshmallow candies on to hold over the fire and roast! Isn't that it?"
"Yes, Sue, you have guessed it."
"Pooh! I was just going to say that," cried Bunny.
"Well, Sue said it first, dear," went on Bunny's mother. "Now get ready for dinner. After dinner we'll take a nice walk, and this evening, when it gets dark, Uncle Tad is going to build a campfire and we'll all roast marshmallows."
"Oh, what fun!" cried Sue, clapping her hands.
"Jolly, jolly fun!" laughed Bunny.
And that was why Bunker Blue was making the pointed sticks.
"Now for our walk!" called Mother Brown, when the dinner things had been cleared away, and Tom Vine had washed and dried the dishes, Bunny and Sue helping. "We'll take a walk over near the waterfall. I want to take a picture of it."
But, when they were all ready to start—Bunker Blue, Splash and all—Tom Vine could not be found.
"Why, where is he?" asked Bunny. "He was here a minute ago, for I saw him."
"Maybe he's losted," said Sue. She and Bunny got lost or "losted," as they called it, so often, that Sue thought that trouble could very easily happen to anyone.
"No, he isn't lost," said Daddy Brown. "Tom! Tom!" he called. "Where are you?"
"I'm here," was the answer, and Tom stood up. He had been sitting behind a thick bush, down near the edge of the lake.
"Oh, we were looking for you," Mr. Brown said. "Don't you want to come for a walk with us? We are going over toward the waterfall. It is very nice there."
Tom shook his head.
"I don't believe I'll go, thank you," he said.
"Why not?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Don't you feel well? Don't you like to walk in the woods, Tom?"
"Oh, yes'm, I like the woods, and I feel fine. I never had such good things to eat as I've had in this camp."
"Then why don't you want to come with us?"
"Well—er—well, because, you see that farmer I worked for lives over near the waterfall, and maybe he'll catch me if I go there."
"Oh, I won't let him catch you!" exclaimed Mr. Brown. "Come along, Tom. I'll look after you."
Then Tom came out of his hiding place, where he had gone after he heard Mrs. Brown say they were going to the fall. Soon the party of campers were marching through the woods, Tom holding Bunny's hand, while Bunker Blue looked after Sue.
The waterfall was very pretty, the water from a small river falling down over green, mossy rocks, into a deep glen, foaming and bubbling. Mrs. Brown took some pictureswith her photograph camera, and then they sat down in a shady spot, and ate a little lunch they had brought with them. Splash, the big dog, had his share, too.
And that night was the grand marshmallow candy roast. Uncle Tad built a fire of wood in front of the big tent. When the smoke and the hottest flames had died away Bunny and Sue and the others, sitting on logs around the fire, toasted the candies, holding them over the fire on the pointed ends of the sticks Bunker Blue had made with his sharp knife.
"Oh, aren't they good!" cried Sue, as she began to eat a candy she had roasted.
"Look out! They're hot!" called Uncle Tad. But he was too late.
"Ouch!" cried Sue, as the hot candy burned her tongue. "Oh, it hurts!" she sobbed. "It hurts me!"
But Mother Brown put some cold, sweet cream on Sue's tongue, and soon the burning pain stopped.
After that Sue waited until the brown and roasted candy had cooled before she ate any.
"Oh, dear!" suddenly cried Bunny, as hewas roasting a marshmallow for himself. "Oh, dear!"
"What's the matter with you?" asked his father. "Did you burn your tongue, Bunny?"
"No, but my candy slipped off my stick, and it's all burning up in the fire."
"Never mind," said Mother Brown. "Here's another candy. Next time don't hold the marshmallow over the fire so long. That makes it soft, so it melts, and it won't stay on the stick."
After Bunny and Sue learned how to do it they had no trouble roasting the marshmallows. Everyone roasted some except Splash, and he was very glad to eat the browned and puffed-up sweets, even if he could not hold them over the fire. But Splash took good care not to burn his tongue, as Sue had burned hers.
When the candies were all roasted, and eaten, it was time to go to bed. After Bunny and Sue were tucked in their cots, Bunny heard his father and Bunker Blue going about outside the tent. They seemed to be doing something to the ropes.
"What are you doing, Daddy?" Bunny asked.
"I think there's going to be a storm," answered Mr. Brown, "and I want to be sure the tents won't blow away. I'm making the ropes tight."
Pretty soon everyone at Camp Rest-a-While was in bed. It was not long before the wind began to blow and then, all at once, there came a bright flash of lightning, and a loud clap of thunder.
"Oh, what's that?" cried Bunny, sitting up in his cot, for the noise had awakened him. "What's the matter?" he asked.
"It's a thunder storm," replied his father. "Go to sleep, for it can't hurt you."
But Bunny could not go to sleep, nor could Sue. She, too, was awakened by the bright lightning, and the loud thunder. The wind, too, blew very hard, and it shook the sleeping tent as if it would tear it loose from the ropes.
"Do you think it is safe?" asked Mother Brown.
"Oh, I think so," answered her husband. "Bunker and I put on some extra ropes before we came in. I guess the tent won't blow away."
Everyone was wide awake now. The storm was a very heavy one. The wind howled through the trees in the wood, and, now and then, a loud crash could be heard, as some tree branch broke off and fell to the ground.
Then, suddenly, it began to rain very hard. My! how the big drops did pelt down on the tent, sounding like dried corn falling on a tin pan!
"Oh, the rain is coming in on me!" cried Bunny. "I'm getting all wet, Daddy!"
Surely enough, there was a little hole in the tent, right over Bunny's cot, and the rain was coming in there.
"Swish!" went the lightning.
"Bang!" went the thunder.
"Whoo-ee!" blew the wind.
It was certainly a bad storm at Camp Rest-a-While.
"Daddy! Daddy!" cried Sue, from behind the curtain, in the part of the tent where she slept with her mother. "Daddy, do you think we'll blow away?"
"Oh, no," answered Mr. Brown. "Don't be afraid. Bunker and I fastened down the tent good and strong. It can't blow over."
"But I'm getting all wet!" cried Bunny. "The water's leaking all over my bed, Daddy!"
"Yes, I didn't know there was a hole in the tent. I'll fix it to-morrow," said Bunny's father. "You get in my bed, Bunny!"
"Oh, goodie!" Bunny cried. He always liked to get in his father's bed.
But as Bunny jumped out of his own little cot, and pattered in his bare feet across to his father's, he saw Daddy Brown getting up.Mr. Brown was putting on a pair of rubber boots, and a rubber coat over his bath robe, which he had put on when the storm began.
"Where you going, Daddy?" asked Bunny, as he crawled into the dry bed, and pulled the covers up over him, for the wind was blowing in the tent now. "Where you going?"
"I'm going out to see that the tent ropes are all right," said Mr. Brown.
"Going out? What for?" called Mrs. Brown. "You musn't go out in this storm. It's terrible!"
"Oh, but I must go!" answered Daddy Brown with a laugh. "I don't mind the thunder, lightning and rain. If some of the tent pegs come loose, the ropes will slip off, and the tent will blow over. Bunker Blue and I will go out and make sure everything is all right."
"I could go with you," said Uncle Tad from his cot. "Shall I?"
"No, you stay where you are," Daddy Brown said. "You might get the rheumatism if you got wet."
"I used to get wet enough when I was in the army," returned the old soldier. "Many a time, when it stormed, I used to get up to fix the tent."
"Well, Bunker and I will do it now, thank you," Mr. Brown went on. By this time Bunker Blue had on his rubber boots and coat. Then, taking a lantern with them, Mr. Brown and Bunker went outside.
"Fasten the tent door after us, Tom," called Mr. Brown to the city boy, "or everything will blow away inside. Tie the tent flaps shut with the ropes, and you can open them for us when we want to come in again."
Out in the storm went Daddy Brown and Bunker Blue. As they opened the flaps, or front door of the tent, a big gust of wind came in, and dashed rain in Bunny's face, so that he covered his head with the bed clothes. He had one look at a bright flash of lightning, and he could see the ground outside all covered with water.
"I'm glad I don't have to go out in the storm," he thought, and he felt sorry for his father and Bunker Blue.
But Mr. Brown had often been out on the ocean in worse storms than this, and so had Bunker, so they did not mind. With their lantern they walked all around the sleeping-tent, making sure that all the ropes were fast to the pegs, which were driven into the ground. Some of the wooden pegs were coming loose, and these Mr. Brown and Bunker hammered farther into the dirt.
All the while the wind blew, and the rain pelted down, while the lightning flashed brighter, and the thunder rumbled so loudly that it scared Sue.
"I—I don't like it!" she sobbed, and she crept into bed with her mother. "Please make it stop, Mother!"
"No one can make the thunder stop, Sue, dear," said Mrs. Brown. "But the thunder won't hurt you, and the storm is almost over."
Just then there came a very loud clap.
"Oh, dear!" cried Sue. "I'se afraid!"
Bunny heard his sister, and called out:
"That sounded just like Fourth of July; didn't it, Sue? When the big boys fired the cannon on top of the hill."
"Isn't you afraid, Bunny?" asked Sue.
"No, I—I like it," Bunny answered.
He tried to make himself believe he did, so Sue would not be so frightened.
"Well, if you isn't afraid I isn't goin' to be, either," said Sue, after a moment. And she stopped crying at once, and lay quietly in her mother's cot-bed. And then the storm seemed to go away. It still rained very hard, but the wind did not howl so loudly, and the lightning was not so scary, nor the thunder so rumbly.
The rain still leaked in through the hole in the tent, but Tom Vine moved Bunny's cot out of the way, and set a pail under the leak.
All at once there sounded a banging noise, as if a whole store full of pots and pans and kettles had been turned upside down.
"Oh, what's that?" cried Mother Brown.
"Sounded as if something blew away," said Uncle Tad. "I'll get up and look."
But he did not have to, for, just then, in came Daddy Brown and Bunker Blue, their rubber coats all shining wet in the lantern light.
"What made that noise?" asked Mother Brown.
"The cook-tent blew over," said Daddy Brown, "and all the pots, pans and kettles fell in a heap. But we'll let them go until morning, I guess, as the worst of the storm is over. Now we'll all go to bed again."
"This tent won't blow over; will it, Daddy?" asked Bunny.
"No, it's all safe now. Go to sleep."
But it was some little time before they were all asleep again. Nothing more happened that night, and Bunny and Sue were up very early the next morning to see what the storm had done.
Camp Rest-a-While was not a pretty sight.
Besides the cook-tent having been blown over, there were broken branches of trees scattered about. The tents were covered with leaves blown from the trees, and there were many mud puddles.
The oil stove, and the pots, pans and other things, with which Mother Brown cooked, were piled in a heap under the fallen cook-tent. The tent itself was soaking wet, andone of the poles that had held it up was broken.
"Oh, we can't ever have anything to eat!" said Sue sadly, as she looked at the fallen tent.
"We can build a campfire," said Bunny. "Uncle Tad used to cook breakfast over one; didn't you?" and he turned to the old soldier.
"Yes, Bunny, I did. But I guess we won't have to this time. We'll soon have the oil stove working."
Then he and Daddy Brown, with Bunker Blue and Tom Vine, set to work. The blown-down tent was pulled to one side, and it was seen that though everything under it was in a heap, still nothing was broken.
Soon some milk was being warmed for the children, and coffee made for the older folk. Then Mother Brown even made pancakes on the oil stove, which was set up on a box at one side of the dining-tent. The day was a fine one, and there was not enough wind to make the stove smoke.
So they had breakfast after all, and then began the work of making Camp Rest-a-While look as it had before the storm. A newtent pole was cut, and the tent put up again, stronger than before. Bunny and Sue helped by picking up the scattered pieces of tree branches, and piling them in a heap. Then they swept up the torn-off leaves, and by this time the sun had dried up some of the puddles of water. By noon time the camp looked as well as it had before the storm.
"And don't forget to fix the hole over my cot," cried Bunny. "I don't want to be rained on any more, Daddy."
"I'll fix it," said Mr. Brown, and he did.
"I didn't hear any fire engines last night,"saidTom Vine as they sat at supper that evening, after coming in from a little sail around the lake, Bunker having fixed a sail onto the rowboat.
"Fire engines!" exclaimed Bunny. "Why should you hear fire engines, Tom?"
"Why, in the city, where I lived, before I went with that farmer, the fire engines used to come out after every storm. Places would be struck by lightning, you know. I've seen lots of fires. But I didn't hear any engines last night."
"There aren't any engines in these woods," said Daddy Brown. "Of course trees are often struck by lightning, and lightning often sets fire to houses in the country, but there aren't any engines out in the woods."
"And no policeman, either," added Tom. "It seems funny not to see a policeman, and have him yell at you to move on, or keep off the grass."
"Do you like it better here than in the city?" asked Mrs. Brown.
"Oh, heaps better, yes'm! I love it here. I hope I don't ever have to go back to the city—or to that mean farmer."
Nothing had been seen of the man who wanted to get Tom back, since that day when he had called at the camp. Bunny and Sue had almostforgottenhim, but it seemed that Tom had not. He was always a little bit afraid, thinking that the cross man might come back.
One morning, two days after the big storm, when Bunny, Sue and all the others were gathered around the breakfast table, Daddy Brown asked:
"Where is Tom Vine?"
"He was here a minute ago," Bunny said.
"I think he went to the spring to get a pail of water," put in Uncle Tad.
"Yes, that's where he went," said Mrs. Brown. "I said we would need some fresh water, and he went after it."
"Well, we won't wait for him," said Daddy Brown. "We'll eat, and he can have his breakfast when he comes."
But the others had finished breakfast, and Tom Vine had not come back from the spring, though they waited for some time.
"I wonder what's keeping him," said Mrs. Brown.
"He couldn't have fallen in; could he?" asked Uncle Tad.
"No, the spring isn't large enough," Bunker Blue answered. "I'll go to look for him."
Bunker ran off along the path that led to the spring. In a little while he came hurrying back. He carried a pail full of water, and he said:
"I found the empty pail by the spring, but Tom was gone!"
Bunker Blue, with the pail of water, walked up to where Bunny, Sue and the others were still sitting at the breakfast table, though they had finished eating.
"Tom's gone," said Bunker again.
"Gone where?" asked Bunny.
"I don't know," answered the red-haired boy. "I looked all around by the spring, but I couldn't see him. The pail was there, but Tom wasn't."
"Could he have fallen in?" asked Mrs. Brown, just as Uncle Tad had asked.
Bunker Blue shook his head.
"The spring is only about big enough to dip a pail in," he said, "and Tom is bigger than the pail."
"But maybe he curled all up in a little heap when he fell in," said Bunny. "Oh, dear! I don't want Tom to be lost!"
Bunny and Sue had grown to like Tom very much.
Once more Bunker Blue shook his head.
"I could look right down to the bottom of the spring," he said. "It's quite deep, even if it isn't big. But Tom wasn't in it. There was a big bullfrog in the water, though."
"Was the frog big enough to—to eat Tom?" asked Sue, her eyes wide open.
Sue's mother and father laughed, and Bunny said:
"A bullfrog couldn't eat anybody!"
"They could if they was a big enough frog; couldn't they, Daddy?" asked Sue.
"Well, I don't know," replied Mr. Brown. "Then you couldn't see anything of Tom, Bunker?"
"No, sir, not a thing."
"Had he filled the pail with water?" Uncle Tad wanted to know.
"The pail was empty, and it was tipped over," Bunker said. "I don't know whether Tom had filled it, and then something had knocked it over, or not. Anyhow, the pail had no water in it, so I dipped it into thespring to fill it, and came on back to tell you."
"That was right," said Mr. Brown. "We'll go over and look around. Tom may have seen some new kind of bird, or something like that, and have wandered off in the woods, following it."
"Maybe he saw a bear, and ran," suggested Bunny.
"No, I guess the only bear around here is the tame one that came in our tent the first night," said Mrs. Brown. "Oh, I do hope nothing has happened to Tom!"
They all hoped that, for the strange boy was very well liked.
Mrs. Brown remained at the tent to wash the breakfast dishes, since Tom was not there to do them, while the others—Bunny, Sue, their father, Uncle Tad and Bunker—went to the spring. It was on the side of a little hill, where grew many trees, and was about three minutes' walk from Camp Rest-a-While.
Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad looked all around the hole in the ground—the hole was the spring, and it was filled with clear, coldwater. The bottom of the spring was of white sand, and sitting down there, having a nice bath, was a big, green bullfrog. With his funny eyes he looked up at Bunny and Sue as they leaned over the spring.
"Oh, look!" cried Sue. "What a big frog!"
"But he isn't big enough to swallow Tom," said Bunny.
"No, that's so," agreed Mr. Brown. "We'll have to look for Tom. Bunny and Sue, you stay with me. Uncle Tad, you and Bunker walk around in the woods. It may be that Tom fell and hurt himself, when running after a bird or butterfly, and can't walk. We'll find him."
Tom, having lived all his life in the city, thought the birds and butterflies were most wonderful creatures. Every time he saw a new one he would run up to it to get a close look. He never tried to catch them, he just wanted to watch them fluttering about the flowers.
But, though they looked all around in the woods by the spring, there was no sign of Tom. Up and down, back and forth, theywalked, looking beside big rocks or stumps, behind fallen logs and under clumps of bushes they peered, but no Tom could they find.
"Oh, he's losted, just like we was losted," said Sue, sadly.
"Yes, I guess he is," agreed Bunny. "Splash, can't you find Tom?"
The big dog barked: "Bow-wow!" But what he meant by that no one knew. Splash, however, could not find Tom.
"Let's call his name," said Uncle Tad.
So they called his name.
"Tom! Tom! Tom Vine! Where are you?"
But Tom did not answer.
"This is queer," said Mr. Brown. "I don't believe he'd run away and leave us. He liked it too much at our camp."
"Perhaps he saw that mean man," said Bunker Blue. "Tom may have seen the cross farmer who wanted him to come back to work, and Tom may have run away off and hid—so far off that he can't hear us calling."
"Yes, that's so. Hemayhave done that," agreed Mr. Brown. "We'll go back to camp,and wait for him. He may come when he thinks the man has gone away."
Back to camp they all went. Bunny and Sue felt bad about Tom's being lost. So did the others. Every time Splash would stop in front of a clump of bushes, and bark, as he often did, Bunny and Sue would run up, thinking their friend had been found.
But it would be only a bird, a rabbit or a squirrel that Splash had seen, which made him bark that way. Tom was not to be found.
They waited in camp all the rest of that day, only going out a little way for a row on the lake. Night came, and there was no Tom. It grew very dark, and still he had not come.
"Oh, dear!" cried Sue. "Will he have to sleep out alone all night?"
"Perhaps he'll come back before you are awake in the morning," said Mother Brown. "Anyhow, Tom isn't afraid of the dark, and it is now so warm that anyone could sleep out of doors and not get cold. I think Tom will be here in the morning."
But morning came, and there was no sign of Tom. A lantern had been left burning outside the tent all night, in case he should come. But he did not.
"Well," said Mr. Brown, after breakfast, "there's only one thing to do, and I'm going to do it."
"What is that?" asked his wife.
"I'm going over to Farmer Trimble's, to see if Tom is there."
"Oh, Trimble is the name of the man who wanted to take Tom away; isn't it?"
"Yes, that's the man who came here, and tried to get Tom. It may be that Mr. Trimble saw Tom at the spring, getting water, and made him go away. So I'm going over to the Trimble farm, and see."
"Oh, may we come?" asked Bunny.
"Yes," said Mr. Brown. "I guess so. I'll take you and Bunker Blue with me. And if we find Tom we'll bring him back with us. That man has no right to keep him!"
The shortest way to go to the Trimble farm was to row across the lake in the boat, and then to walk a little distance through the wood. Mr. Brown, with Bunny and Sue, started, with Bunker Blue at the oars, dipping them in the water, pulling hard on them, and lifting them out for another dip.
"Don't row too hard, Bunker," said Mr. Brown. "It is a hot day, and I don't want you to get tired out. Besides, we are in no hurry, so take it easy."
At the last minute, Splash, the dog, had run down the hill to the lake, and climbed into the boat. He did not want to be left behind.
"May we take him, Daddy?" asked Bunny.
"Oh, yes. Let him come along. He's a good dog, and maybe he can help us find Tom."
Splash was a regular water-dog. He could swim across the lake, he could jump in and bring back sticks that Bunny or Sue would toss in, and he liked to be in a boat. Splash knew that dogs, as well as boys and girls, must keep quiet in boats, especially small boats, so they would not tip over. And now Splash perched himself up in the bow, or front part of the boat, and quietly sat there, looking across at the other shore.
Bunny looked down over the side, where he was sitting, and saw some fish swimming about, for the water of the lake was very clear.
"I wish I had brought my fishpole," Bunny said. "I could catch some fish for dinner."
"We've something else to do besides catching fish to-day, Bunny," replied his father. "We've got to find Tom Vine."
"Do you think we'll find him, Daddy?" asked Sue, as she hugged one of her dolls, which she had brought with her.
"Well, maybe so, little girl. I can't think of anything else that would happen to Tom,except that he would be taken by Mr. Trimble. I think we'll find him."
They were half way across the lake when Sue suddenly cried:
"Oh, there she goes! Oh, she's fallen in!"
"What is it?" asked Mr. Brown, turning around quickly, for he was seated with his back toward his little girl.
"It's my doll!" Sue cried. "She jumped right out of my arms, and fell in the lake."
I guess Sue meant that her doll slipped out of her arms, for dolls can't jump—at least not unless they have a spring wound up inside them, like an alarm clock, and Sue's doll wasn't that kind.
"Stop the boat, Bunker! Row back!" cried Mr. Brown. "Sue's doll fell overboard, and we don't want to lose her!"
Bunker stopped rowing, and he was reaching out with an oar to pull in the doll, which was floating like a little boat on top of the water, not far away. But before Bunker could save the doll, Splash, with a loud bark, jumped in and swam out toward the plaything of his little mistress.
Seizing the doll in his mouth, Splash swam back with her to the boat. Bunny stretched out his hand to take the doll, but Splash would not give it up to him. The dog knew that boys don't play with dolls, and that this one belonged to Sue. So Splash swam around to the other side of the boat where Sue was anxiously waiting, and he let her take the doll from his mouth.
"Good dog!" cried Sue, patting him with one hand. Then she began to squeeze the water out of her doll's dress.
"I'm glad I didn't bring my best doll," said Sue. "This is only one of my old ones, and it won't hurt her to get wet. I was going to give her a bath, anyhow, but I didn't mean to leave her clothes on. Anyhow, she'll soon dry, I guess."
Sue put the doll down beside her, on the seat, where the hot sun would dry up the water. Splash put his two paws on the edge of the boat, and Mr. Brown and Bunker Blue helped him in.
"Now you be quiet, Splash!" called Mr. Brown. "Don't go shaking the water off yourself, as you always do when you come in from a swim. For we can't get far enough away from you in the boat, and you'll get us all wet. Don't shake yourself!"
I don't know whether or not Splash understood what Mr. Brown said. At any rate, the dog went back to his place in the bow, and did not shake the water off his dripping fur. Whenever he did that he made a regular shower.
The boat was soon close to the other shore. Bunker Blue rowed up to a little dock, and tied fast. Then Mr. Brown helped out Bunny and Sue. Splash did not need any help. He jumped out himself and ran on ahead, now giving himself a good shake to get rid of the water drops.
A short walk brought the party to Mr. Trimble's farm. The cross farmer was not in the house, but his wife said he was out in the barn, and there Mr. Brown found him.
"Well, what do you want?" asked Mr. Trimble in that cross voice of his. He seemed never to smile.
"I came to see if you have that boy I'm taking care of—Tom Vine," said Mr. Brown. "Did you take him away?"
"No, I did not," said Mr. Trimble, crossly.
"Do you know where he is?"
"No, I don't."
"Have you seen him at all?" asked Bunny's father. "Yesterday he went to the spring for a pail of water, but he did not come back. We are afraid something has happened to him. Then I thought perhaps you might have taken him, though you had no right to."
"Well, I didn't take him, though I had a right to," growled the farmer. "I hired that boy to work for me, and I gave him a suit of clothes, besides feeding him. He didn't stay with me long enough to pay for what I gave him. And if I catch him I'll make him work out what he owes me. But I haven't seen him since he was in your camp. I wish I did have him now. I'd make him step lively, and do some work!"
So Mr. Brown had his trip for nothing. Tom was not at the Trimble farm, that was sure.
"I guess he ran away from you the sameas he did from me," said Mr. Trimble as Mr. Brown turned away.
Bunny's father shook his head.
"Tom Vine isn't that kind of boy," he said. "He may have run away from you because you didn't treat him well, but he would not run away from us. He liked it at Camp Rest-a-While."
"That's all you know about boys!" laughed the farmer. "I treated him as well as he needed to be treated. Boys are all lazy. They'd rather play than work. And you'll find out that Tom Vine has run away from you. He didn't want to work."
"He didn't work very hard at our camp," said Mr. Brown. "All he had to do was to wash the dishes and help with little things. He liked it. I'm sure something has happened to him, and I'm sorry, for I intended doing something for him."
"Well, I haven't got him, though I wish I had," grumbled Mr. Trimble. "If I catch him, I'll make him work hard!"
"Then I hope you don't catch him," Mr. Brown said.
He went down to the boat with the children and Bunker Blue, and they were soon back at camp.
"Did you see anything of him?" asked Mrs. Brown, coming down to the edge of the lake, as she saw the boat nearing the shore.
"No," answered Mr. Brown. "Mr. Trimble said he isn't at the farm, and I don't believe he is. You didn't see anything of him while we were gone, did you?"
Mrs. Brown shook her head.
"Uncle Tad has been looking up around the spring again," she said, "but he couldn't find him."
"Oh dear!" sighed Bunny. "Poor Tom is lost!"
"He must have been frightened by something at the spring," said Mr. Brown, "and have run off."
"Well, there's one thing we don't have to worry about," said Mrs. Brown. "There aren't any wild animals in these woods. None of them could get Tom."
She said that so Bunny and Sue would not be thinking about it.
Two days and nights passed, and there was no sign of Tom. One afternoon Mrs. Brown baked some pies in the oven of the oil stove. She was all alone in camp, for Mr. Brown, the children, and Bunker Blue had gone fishing. Uncle Tad had gone for a walk in the woods.
Mrs. Brown put the pies on a table in the cooking-tent to cool, while she went to the spring for a fresh pail of water. When she came back she looked at the pies. Then she rubbed her eyes and counted them.
"Why!" she cried. "One of the pies is gone! I baked four, and there are only three here. Who took the pie?"
She looked under the table, in boxes and on chairs, thinking perhaps a fox or a big muskrat might have come along and tried to drag the pie, tin and all, away. But the pie was not to be found.
"Who could have taken my pie?" asked Mrs. Brown.