When Mr. Brown, Bunny, Sue and Bunker Blue came back from their little fishing trip, they saw Mother Brown walking about the camp, in and out among the tents, looking here and there.
"Have you lost something, Mother?" asked Bunny.
"Well, yes, I have—sort of," she said, smiling. "I've lost a pie!"
"Oh, a pie!" cried Sue. "Did you drop it, Mother, and did it fall down a crack in the board walk, like my penny did once?"
"No!" laughed Mrs. Brown. "It wasn't that way."
Then she told of having made four pies, setting them on the table to cool while she went to the spring for a pail of water.
"And when I came back, a whole pie was gone!" she said.
"Well, we certainly didn't take it, for we weren't here," said Daddy Brown. "And you were all alone in camp, Mother?"
"Yes, even Uncle Tad was gone."
"Oh, maybehecame back and took it!" exclaimed Bunny.
"No, he wouldn't do that," said his mother. "Some animal, perhaps a big muskrat, like the one Splash tried to catch, came up out of the lake and carried away my pie. I was just looking to see if I could find any marks of the rat's paws in the soft ground, when you came along. But I couldn't see any."
"I don't believe it was a rat, or any other animal, that took your pie," said Mr. Brown, as he, too, looked carefully on the ground around the table where the pie had been placed. The three other pies were there, but the fourth one was gone.
"There isn't a sign of any four-legged animal having been here," Mr. Brown went on. "I think it was some animal with only two legs who took the pie."
"Oh, you mean a—a man!" cried Mother Brown.
Daddy Brown nodded his head for yes.
"Do you mean a tramp?" asked Bunker Blue.
"Well, yes, it might have been a tramp, though we haven't seen any around here since we've been in camp. However, if a pie is all they took we don't need to worry."
"Perhaps the poor man was hungry," said Mrs. Brown. "I'm sure I hope he enjoys my pie."
"He couldn't help liking it," said Bunny Brown. "Your pies are always so good, Mother!"
"I'm glad to hear you say that," exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "Well, we have enough for the next two days, anyhow, and I'll bake again to-morrow."
"Splash didn't take the pie," said Sue, "'cause he was with us in the boat."
"Then it must have been the tramp," Mrs. Brown said. "Never mind, we won't worry any more about it. Did you have a nice time?"
Then they told about their little fishing trip. When Uncle Tad came back from his walkin the woods, he, too, had to be told of the missing pie. Uncle Tad shook his head.
"We'll have to lock up everything around our camp if tramps are going to come in and take our pies, and the other good things Mother Brown makes," he said with a smile. "Or else one of us will always have to stay here to keep watch."
"I wish we had Tom Vine back," said Bunny. "I wonder where he is?"
Of course no one knew, and Mr. Brown began to think that, after all, Tom had done just as Mr. Trimble had said—had run away.
The next day, after breakfast, Sue, who was changing the dress of one of her dolls, saw brother Bunny walking along the path that led toward the spring. Bunny carried a small wooden box.
"What are you going to do, Bunny?" she asked him. "Get a box full of water?"
"Nope. This box won't hold water. It's got holes in."
"But what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to make a trap to catch a fox."
"Oh, Bunny! Can I help you?"
"Yes. Come on. But you must keep awful still, 'cause foxes are easy scared."
"I will, Bunny. And may I bring my doll with me? I can put her to sleep on some soft dried leaves when you want me to help you."
"Yes, you may bring one doll," said Bunny. "But don't bring one of the kind that cries when you punch it in the stomach, or it might make a noise and scare the fox. I'm going to catch one and train him to do tricks."
"How are you going to catch him, Bunny?"
"In this box. Come on, I'll show you."
"I guess I won't bring any of my dolls," said Sue, after thinking about it for a minute. "A fox might bite her."
"Yes, that will be better," said the little boy.
So, carrying the box, and some other things, which Sue helped him with, Bunny and his sister went a little way into the wood.
"Don't go too far!" their mother called after them.
"We won't!" they promised. Since coming to Camp Rest-a-While Bunny and Sue had not been lost, and they did not now want to have that trouble if they could help it.
"Are there any foxes in here?" asked Sue, looking around as she and Bunny came near the spring.
"Hush! Don't speak so loud," whispered her brother. "You might scare 'em."
"Is they any here?" asked Sue, this time in a very soft whisper.
"I guess so," answered Bunny. "They must come to the spring to get a drink of water, same as we do. I'm going to put my trap near the spring."
There was a large flat stone, near the place where the water for the camp was found. On this stone Bunny put the box, bottom side up. It had no cover to it. One edge of the box Bunny held up by putting a stick under it, and to the stick he tied a long string.
"Is that a trap?" asked Sue.
"Yep," Bunny answered. "Now I'm going to put something under the box that foxes like. They'll crawl under to eat it, and when they're there I'll pull the string. That will make the stick come out and the box will fall down, and cover up the fox so it can't get away."
"Oh, that'll be fine!" cried Sue. "But what're you going to give the foxes to eat, Bunny?"
"I'll show you," said the little fellow. From his pocket he took some bits of bread, a few crumbs of dried cake, a little piece of pie wrapped in paper, and half an apple.
"There!" Bunny exclaimed as he put these things under the raised-up box. "Foxes ought to like all that. Now we'll hide back here in the bushes, Sue, and I'll have hold of the long string. As soon as we see a fox, or any other animal, go under the box, I'll pull away the little stick, and we'll catch him!"
"All right," said Sue. So, the trap having been set, Bunny and Sue hid themselves in the hushes to wait. But for a long time no fox, or any other animal, came along. Bunny and Sue grew tired of sitting in the bushes and keeping quiet. They could only whisper, and this was not much fun.
"I—I guess I'll go home," said Sue, after a bit.
"Oh, no, stay with me!" Bunny begged. "Maybe I'll catch a fox pretty soon. Oh, look,Sue!" he cried, this time aloud, he was so excited. "There's a bird going into the box. I'll catch the bird, to show you how my trap works."
"You won't hurt the bird; will you, Bunny?" begged Sue.
"No, I won't hurt it a bit," Bunny replied.
A sparrow was hopping along the flat stone, toward the upraised box, under which were the bread and cake crumbs, and other good things that birds like. Closer and closer to the box went the bird, and finally it was all the way under, picking up the crumbs.
"Now watch me catch him!" cried Bunny.
He pulled the string, out came the stick, down came the box, and the bird was caught.
"I've got him! I've got him!" cried Bunny. "That's the way I'd catch a fox!"
He and Sue ran to the box trap. Bunny lifted it up and out flew the bird, not at all hurt, and only a little frightened. Bunny raised the box up again, and held it there with the stick. Then he and Sue went back among the bushes to wait; all ready to pull the string again.
But though Bunny's trap would catch a sparrow, there did not seem to be anything else he could catch. No foxes or other animals came to get a drink, and later Bunny's father explained to him that nearly all wild animals wait until after dark to get water, for fear of being caught.
After a while Bunny and Sue grew tired of waiting in the bushes.
"I'll just leave the trap here," said Bunny, "and maybe a fox will go in and knock the stick down himself. Then he'll be caught."
"But a fox could easy upset the box," said Sue.
"Maybe he could," agreed Bunny. "I'll put a stone on top of it." And he did.
Bunny and Sue reached camp in time for dinner. In the afternoon they went with their mother to pick huckleberries, and helped fill two pails.
"I'll make pies of these berries," said Mother Brown.
"And I hope nobody takes any of the pie," said Bunny. "'Cause I like huckleberry pie myself an awful lot."
That evening Daddy Brown built a campfire, and Bunny and Sue, with Bunker Blue, sat about it roasting marshmallows.
"I wish Tom Vine was here to help eat them," said Sue.
"So do I," agreed Bunny.
But Tom Vine was not there. Where was he? No one at Camp Rest-a-While could tell.
Bunny Brown did not sleep well that night. Perhaps he had eaten too many marshmallow candies. At any rate, he awoke soon after he went to bed. He was wishing he had a drink of water, and he was thinking whether he would best get up for it himself, or awaken his father, when the little fellow heard a noise outside the tent. It was a noise as if someone were walking around. At first Bunny thought it was Splash, but, looking over in the corner of the sleeping-tent, Bunny saw his dog there. Splash, too, had heard the noise, for he was getting up and growling deep in his throat.
Then, all at once, came a loud bang, as if someone had knocked down five or six tin pans.
"Daddy! Daddy!" cried Bunny Brown. "Daddy, did you hear that?"
"I couldn't very well help hearing it," said Mr. Brown sitting up on his cot, which was next to Bunny's. "Who's out there?" Mr. Brown cried, and with a jump he reached the flaps of the tent, which he opened, so he could look out.
Splash, who had jumped out, barking, when the noise sounded, rushed out of the tent. The tins had stopped rattling, and it was very quiet outside, except for the noise Splash made.
"What is it?" called Mrs. Brown, from her side of the tent.
"I don't know," answered her husband. "Someone—or some animal—seems to be making a noise. Maybe it is someone after more of your pies, Mother."
"We'll take a look," said Uncle Tad. He got out of his bed, and went to stand beside Daddy Brown at the opening of the tent.
"Can you see anything?" Mrs. Brown asked. Bunny could hear his sister whispering. Sue also, had been awakened, and wanted to know what had caused the noise in the night.
"No, I can't see anything," said Mr. Brown. "Splash is coming back, so I guess it wasn't anything."
He and Uncle Tad could see the children's dog walking back to his bed in the tent. Splash slept on a piece of old carpet. The dog was wagging his tail.
"What is it Splash? Did you see any tramps?" asked Mr. Brown.
Splash did not answer, of course, but he wagged his tail as he always did when he was with his friends.
"I guess it couldn't have been anything," Mr. Brown went on. "Maybe a squirrel or chipmunk was looking for some crumbs in the dining-tent, and knocked down the pans. I'll just take a look out there to make sure."
Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad went outside the tent. Splash did not go with them. He seemed to think everything was all right.
"Did you find him, Daddy?" asked Bunny, when his father came back.
"No, son. I don't believe there was anyone. I saw where the pans had been knocked down, but that was all."
Bunny was given the drink of water he wanted and soon was asleep. The others, too, became quiet and slept. But in the morning Mrs. Brown, in getting breakfast, found that a piece of bacon and some eggs had been taken from the ice box.
"The eggs and bacon were in the refrigerator all right when I washed up the supper dishes last night," she said. "I counted on having them for breakfast. Now they're gone!"
"Then there must have been someone in our camp, snooping around last night," said Daddy Brown. "It was a tramp, after all. And when he helped himself to something to eat he knocked down the pans. That's how it happened."
"I suppose so," said Mother Brown. "Well, I'm sure if the poor tramp was hungry I'm glad he got something to eat. But I wish he had not taken my bacon and eggs."
However, there was plenty else to eat in Camp Rest-a-While, so no one went hungry.
"I wonder if it was the same tramp that took the pie," said Bunny as he finished the last of his glass of milk.
"He must be a hungry tramp to eat a whole pie, and all those eggs, and the big piece of bacon," said Bunker Blue.
"Oh, I guess the things he took lasted him for several meals," Mr. Brown said. "The funny part of it is, though, that Splash did not bark. When he ran out of the tent last night the tramp could not have been far away. And yet Splash did not bark, as he always does when strangers are around at night. I think that's queer."
"So do I," put in Uncle Tad. "Maybe Splash knew the tramp."
"Splash doesn't like tramps," said Bunny.
"Well, he must have liked this one, for he didn't bark at him," added Bunker Blue witha laugh. "Maybe Splash knew this tramp before you children found your dog, on the island where you were shipwrecked."
For Bunny and Sue had found Splash on an island, as I told you in the first book of this series. That was when Bunny and Sue were "shipwrecked," as they called it.
Nothing else had been taken from Camp Rest-a-While except the bacon and eggs, and as Bunker Blue was going to the village that day he could buy more meat for Mother Brown. The eggs they could get at the farmhouse where they bought their milk. So, after all, no harm was done.
"The only thing is," said Daddy Brown, "that I don't like the idea of tramps prowling about our tents at night. I'd rather they would keep away."
BUNNY AND SUE OFTEN WENT BATHING IN THE COOL LAKE.
BUNNY AND SUE OFTEN WENT BATHING IN THE COOL LAKE.Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp Rest-a-While.Page181
It was so lovely, living out in the woods, near the beautiful lake, as the Browns were doing, that they soon forgot about the noise in the night, and the tramps. Bunny and Sue were getting as brown as little Indian children. For they wore no hats and they went about with only leather sandals on, and nostockings, their sleeves rolled up to their elbows, so their arms and legs were brown, too. They often went bathing in the cool lake, for, not far from the camp, was a little sandy beach.
Of course, it was not like an ocean beach, or the one at Sandport Bay, for there were only little waves, and then only when the wind blew. In the ocean there are big waves all the while, pounding the sandy shore.
One day Mrs. Brown told daddy they needed some things from the village store—sugar, salt, pepper—groceries that could not be bought at the farmhouses near by.
"I'll take the children, row over, and get what you want," said Mr. Brown, for it was easier to row across the lake, and walk through the woods, than to walk half-way around the lake to the store. With Splash, Bunny and Sue in the boat Mr. Brown set off.
They landed on the other shore, and started to walk through the woods. On the way they had to pass along a road that was near to the farm of Mr. Trimble, the "mean man," as Bunny and Sue called him. Perhaps Mr.Trimble did not intend to be mean, or cross, but he certainly was. Some folk just can't help being that way.
"Huh! Are you coming over again to bother me about that runaway boy, Tom Vine?" asked Mr. Trimble, as he saw Mr. Brown.
"No, I've given Tom up," replied the children's father. "I guess he has gone back to the city. I'm sorry, for I wanted to help him."
"Boys are no good!" cried Mr. Trimble. "That Tom is no good. But I'll pay him back for running away from me!"
"Did he come back to you?" asked Mr. Brown, thinking perhaps, after all, the "ragged boy," as Sue sometimes called him in fun, might have thought it best to go back to the man who had first hired him.
"You don't see him anywhere around here; do you?" asked Mr. Trimble.
"No, I don't see him," said Mr. Brown, wondering why the farmer answered in that way.
"Well, he isn't here," said Mr. Trimble, and he went on hoeing his potatoes, for he was ina field of them, near the road, when he spoke to Mr. Brown.
As Bunny, Sue and their father walked on, Splash did not come with them. He hung back, and seemed to want to stay close to a small building, near Mr. Trimble's barn. Splash walked around this building three or four times, barking loudly.
"What makes Splash act so funny?" asked Bunny.
"I don't know," answered Mr. Brown. "Here, Splash! Come here!" he cried. But Splash would not come.
"What makes Splash act so queer?" asked Bunny again.
"I'm sure I don't know," said his father. "I guess we'll have to go back and get him."
Certainly Splash did not seem to want to keep on to the village with Mr. Brown and the children. The dog was running around and around the small house, barking loudly. Mr. Trimble seemed not to hear the dog's barks, but kept right on hoeing potatoes.
"We'll go back and get Splash!" decided Mr. Brown.
He and the children walked slowly back. Splash kept on barking.
"You seem to have something in that little house which excites our dog," said Mr. Brown.
"It doesn't take much to get some dogs excited," answered the farmer. He did not seem to care much about it, one way or the other.
"What sort of house is that?" asked Mr. Brown. He looked at it closely. The little house had no windows, and only one door. And there was a queer smell about it, as though it had once been on fire.
"That's a smoke-house," said Mr. Trimble. "It's where I smoke my hams and bacon. I hang them up in there, build a fire of corn-cobs and hickory wood chips, and make a thick smoke. The smoke dries the ham and bacon so it will keep all winter."
"What a funny house!" said Sue.
"It hasn't any windows," observed Bunny.
"We have to have smoke-houses tight and without windows," explained Mr. Trimble, "so the smoke won't all get out."
"Are there any hams or bacon in there now?" asked Mr. Brown.
"No, we don't do any smoking until fall, when we kill the pigs."
"Well, there'ssomethingin there that bothers our dog," went on the children's father. For, all this while, Splash was running around the smoke-house, barking more loudly than before.
Just then Bunny Brown thought of something. He pulled at his father's coat and whispered to him:
"Oh, Daddy! Maybe Tom Vine is shut up in there—shut up in the smoke-house!"
Mr. Brown looked first at Bunny and then at the strange little house which had no windows. The door of it was tightly shut.
"That's so, Bunny," said Mr. Brown. "Perhaps Tom is in there. That would make Splash bark, for he knows where Tom is." Mr. Brown thought as Bunny did, that Mr. Trimble might have caught Tom, and locked him up in the dark smoke-house.
"Oh, Daddy! Do you s'pose Tom's in there?" asked Sue in a whisper, for she had heard what Bunny had whispered.
Daddy Brown nodded his head. He walked up to Mr. Trimble and said:
"Now look here! There's something in that smoke-house, and I want to see what it is. Our dog knows there's something there, and I'm pretty sure of it myself."
"Well, what do you think it is?" asked Mr. Trimble. "If there's anyone in there I don't know it. But I'll open the door, and let you see. Your dog certainly is making a lot of noise."
"Have you got that poor boy, Tom Vine, locked up in there?" asked Mr. Brown.
The farmer laughed.
"Tom Vine locked up in there? Certainly not!" he cried. "I wish I did have. I'd like to punish him for running away from me. But I haven't seem him since he was at your camp. No, sir! He isn't in my smoke-house. I don't believe anything, or anybody, is in there. But I'll open the door and let you look inside. Why, the door isn't locked," the farmer went on, "and I guess I couldn't keep a boy like Tom Vine in a smoke-house without locking the door on him."
Mr. Brown did not know what to think now. As for Bunny and Sue they thought surely their new friend, Tom, was locked in the queer little house.
"Oh, now we'll see him!" cried Sue, and she felt very glad.
Mr. Trimble dropped his hoe across a row of potatoes, and walked to where Splash was still barking away in front of the smoke-house.
"Will your dog bite?" asked the farmer.
"No, he is very gentle," answered Mr. Brown. "But I'll call him away while you open the door."
"I'll hold him," said Bunny. "I'll hold him by his collar."
By this time Splash seemed to have barked enough, for he grew quiet. Perhaps he knew the door was going to be opened. He came away when Bunny called him, and the little boy held tightly to the dog's collar.
"I'll help you hold him," cried Sue, and she, too, took hold.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you," said Mr. Trimble, with a sour sort of laugh, "but you won't see any boy, or anything else, as far as I know, in this smoke-house. I did pile in some bean poles last fall, and I guess they're there yet, but that's all. Now watch close."
He put his shoulder against the door, and pushed. As it swung open, an animal, something like a little red dog, with a sharp,pointed nose and a big, bushy tail, sprang out and ran down the little hill, on which the smoke-house stood.
"Why—why!" cried Mr. Trimble. "Therewasan animal in there after all! I didn't know it."
"A fox! It's a fox!" cried Bunny Brown. He had once seen in a book a picture of a fox, and this animal looked just like the picture.
"Yes, that's a fox sure enough, and I guess it's the one that's been taking my chickens!" cried Mr. Trimble. "I wish I had my gun! I'd shoot the critter!"
He picked up a stone, and threw it at the fox, but did not hit the running animal. Then something queer happened.
Splash, who was being held by Bunny and Sue, gave a sudden bark. Then he gave a sudden jump. He went so quickly that he pulled Bunny and Sue after him, and they both fell down in the dirt. But it was soft, so they were not hurt.
They had to let go of Splash's collar, though, and the dog now began to run after the fox, barking again and again.
"Splash! Splash!" cried Bunny. "Come back. The fox will bite you!"
"Don't worry," said Daddy Brown. "Splash can never catch that fox. The fox can run too fast, and he has a good head-start. Splash will soon get tired of running, and come back."
"The idea! The idea," exclaimed Mr. Trimble, "of a fox being in my smoke-house! That's what made your dog all excited."
"Yes, that was it," said Daddy Brown. "But I thought you might have Tom Vine shut up in there. I'm sorry I made the mistake."
"Oh, well, that's all right," said Mr. Trimble. He did not seem so cross now. He even smiled at Bunny and Sue.
"Maybe I was too quick with that boy," he said. "But I'm a hard working man, and them as works for me has to work hard, same as I do. But maybe I was too hard on Tom. I certainly was mad when he ran away and left me, and I made up my mind I'd punish him, if I could get him back. But I haven't seen him since he was at your camp. And you thought he was in the smoke-house?" he asked.
"Yes, I really did," replied Mr. Brown. "But I guess you didn't know a fox was in there; did you?"
"No, I didn't," answered the farmer. "He must have gone in during the night, when the door was open. The place sort of smells of meat, you know. Then the door blew shut, and the fox couldn't get out.
"And Splash smelled him!" cried Bunny, who had gotten up and was brushing the dust off. Sue was doing the same thing.
"Yes, your dog smelled the fox," said Mr. Trimble. "That was what made him bark and get all excited."
"I'm going to catch a fox in my trap," said Bunny. "I've got a trap set over by our spring. Maybe this is the fox I'm going to catch," he went on.
"I'm afraid not," said Mr. Brown. "This fox is so scared that he'll run for miles. He'll never come back this way again. Well, we haven't found Tom Vine yet; have we?" and he looked at Bunny and Sue.
"No, and you never will find him," said Mr. Trimble. "Boys are no good. Tom ranaway from you same as he did from me. But maybe I was a little too harsh with him. I wouldn't lock him up in a dark smoke-house, though. That's no place for a boy."
Bunny and Sue were glad to hear the farmer say that.
"Well, we'd better be getting on to the village," said Mr. Brown. "Come along, children."
"Oh, let's wait for Splash to come back," said Bunny. "I don't want him to be lost."
Pretty soon Splash was seen coming over the hills. He did not run fast, for he was tired from having chased the fox. The dog was wet and muddy, too.
"Oh, Daddy! What happened to Splash?" asked Bunny, as the dog came slowly along, and stretched out in the shade of a tree.
"Did the fox bite him?" Sue wanted to know. "If he did I don't like foxes, and I don't want Bunny to catch any in his trap."
"No, the fox didn't bite your dog," said Mr. Brown. "I guess he just ran away from Splash. And Splash tried to catch him, and ran through mud and water until he got all tired out. You don't like foxes, either, do you, Splash?"
Splash barked once, and did not even wag his tail. That one bark must have meant"No." And I guess Splash was too tired to wag his tail, as he always did when he was happy, or pleased.
"Maybe he'd like a drink of water," said the farmer. "I'll bring him some from the well. It's good and cold. I'm going to drink some myself, as it's a hot day. I could give the children a glass of milk," went on Mr. Trimble to Daddy Brown. "I've got plenty up at the house."
"Oh, I don't want to trouble you," said the children's father.
"It's no trouble!" said the farmer. "My wife will be glad to give them some. Come on, Splash!" he called. "We'll get you a cold drink after your run. So the fox got away from you same as that boy Tom Vine ran away from me."
Mr. Trimble was smiling and laughing now. Somehow or other he did not seem as mean and cross as he once had. Bunny and Sue were beginning to like him now. He was quite a different man from the one who had called at Camp Rest-a-While looking for Tom.
Splash eagerly drank the cool water, and then he rolled in the grass to get some of the mud off his coat. Mrs. Trimble brought out some milk for Bunny and Sue, and also a plate of molasses cookies, which they were very glad to have.
"Sit down under this shady apple tree," said Mrs. Trimble, "and help yourselves. Maybe you'd like a glass of milk," she said to Mr. Brown.
"Well, I don't care much for milk, except in my tea and coffee," he said. "Thank you, just the same."
"How about buttermilk?" asked Mr. Trimble. "That's what I like on a hot day, and she's just churned."
"Yes, I should like the buttermilk," returned Bunny's father, and soon he was drinking a large glass.
"What funny looking milk!" remarked Sue, as she helped herself to another molasses cookie from the plate in front of her. "It's got little yellow lumps in it, Daddy."
"Those are little yellow lumps of butter," said Mr. Brown. "To make butter, you know,they churn the cream of sour milk. And when the butter is all taken out in a lump, some sour milk is left, and they call that buttermilk. Would you like to taste it, Sue?"
Sue, who had drunk the last of her glass of sweet milk, nodded her curly head. But when Daddy Brown put his glass to her lips, and just let her sip the buttermilk he had been drinking, Sue made such a funny face that Bunny laughed aloud.
"Oh—oh! It—it's sour—like lemons!" cried Sue.
"Yes, it is sour!" said Mr. Brown. "But that is why I like it."
"I like molasses cookies better," said Sue, as she took a bite from one to cleanse away the sour taste in her mouth. "You can make just as good cookies as my mother or my Aunt Lu can," said Sue to Mrs. Trimble.
"Can I? I'm glad to hear that," said the farmer's wife, with a smile. "Have some to put in your pockets."
"Oh, I'm afraid you've given them too many already," objected Mr. Brown.
"Molasses cookies won't hurt children; normilk won't either," the farmer said. "Any time you're over this way stop in. I'm sorry you can't find that boy Tom. And I'm sorry I was a bit cross with him, or maybe he'd be here yet. But I haven't seen him."
Splash was rested now, and clean. And he had had a good drink of cold water, so he was ready to start again. The children, too, felt like walking, and, after having thanked the farmer and his wife, Mr. Brown set off once more with Bunny and Sue, Splash following behind.
"Come again!" Mrs. Trimble invited them.
"We will, thank you," answered Daddy Brown.
"She's real nice; isn't she?" asked Bunny, when they were once more in the road.
"Yes," said Daddy Brown.
"And I like that farmer, too," said Sue. "I didn't like him at first, when he shook his fist and was so cross, but I like him now."
"Yes, he is different from what he was at first," returned her father. "But I'm afraid we've seen the last of Tom. He must have run away. Maybe he was afraid, after all,that Mr. Trimble would stay cross, and would try to get him back onto the farm. Well, it's too bad, for Tom was a nice boy, but it can't be helped."
"I'd like Tom back," said Bunny.
"So would I," added Sue.
"What's the matter, Splash?" asked Mr. Brown, for the big dog had run up the side of a little hill along the road, and was barking at a hole in the ground.
"Maybe he thinks the fox lives there," said Bunny.
"Maybe," said Daddy. "Come on, Splash. Even if that is the hole of the fox he isn't there now. You chased him too far away. Come on!"
But Splash did not want to come. He pawed away the dirt at the side of the hole, and put his sharp nose down inside it.
"There must besomethingthere, Daddy," said Bunny, standing still, and looking up the hill at the dog. "Let's go and see what it is."
"If it's a fox I'm not going!" cried Sue, holding back.
"I don't believe it's a fox," said Mr. Brown."But we'll take a look. I'll carry you, Sue, and then, even if it is some animal in the hole, you won't be afraid."
Sue didn't mind going closer if her father carried her, and soon the two children, and Mr. Brown, were looking down into the hole at which Splash was barking.
All at once a light brown animal, covered with fur, and larger than the muskrat Splash had barked at in the lake, stuck its head out of the hole.
"Oh, look!" cried Bunny. "It's a little bear!"
"No, that's a ground-hog, or woodchuck," explained Mr. Brown. "They won't hurt you. This must be the old father or mother, and there may be little ones in the hole, or burrow, so the old folks want Splash to go away."
But Splash did not want to go. He barked louder than ever at the sight of the woodchuck, and pawed at the dirt with his fore paws. But he could not reach the brown, furry animal.
"Come away, Splash!" called Mr. Brown.
Still Splash barked.
Then, all at once, the woodchuck thrust outhis head quickly, and made a grab for one of Splash's paws. The dog howled, and ran down the hill.
"There!" exclaimed Mr. Brown. "Now I guess you'll leave the woodchucks alone, Splash."
"Oh, is Splash hurt?" asked Bunny, for the dog was running along on three legs, holding the other up off the ground.
"Oh, I guess he isn't hurt much," Mr. Brown said. "Come here, Splash, until I look at your foot."
Splash limped up. He was not badly bitten. The woodchuck had just pinched him to drive him away. Splash looked at the hole and barked. But he did not offer to go near it again. So the old lady, or old gentleman, ground-hog—whichever it was—with the little ones, was left safe in the burrow on the side of the hill.
Mr. Brown, Bunny, Sue and Splash went on to the village. They bought the things Mother Brown wanted and then started for camp again. Nothing much happened on the way back. Mrs. Brown was told of the visitto Mr. Trimble's, and how the fox ran out of the smoke-house.
"And now," said Bunny, as his father finished telling what had happened, "now I'm going up to see if we've caught a fox or a ground-hog in my box trap. Come on, Sue."
"All right. I'm coming, Bunny, but if it is a fox or a ground-hog, you won't let him bite me; will you?"
"Course I won't, Sue!" said the little fellow, picking up a stick from beside the sleeping-tent. "Come on!"
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were soon at the place where Bunny had set the box-trap, with the stone on top to hold it down, in case an animal got beneath.
"Now go easy, Sue!" whispered Bunny, as they crept through the bushes. "If there's a fox, or anything else, just going in, we don't want to scare him away."
"No," said Sue. "I won't make any noise."
She walked along quietly behind her brother. Now they were in sight of the box-trap Bunny had made.
"Is—is anything in it?" Sue asked.
"Yes, I think so," her brother answered. "Don't make a noise. The box is down, and I guess something is under it. I hope it's a fox."
"I don't," said Sue. "Foxes bite."
"Well, you can sell 'em for a lot of money," argued Bunny. "And maybe I could train this one. But maybe it's only a ground-hog."
"I don't like them either," said Sue, "'cause one bit Splash."
"Say, what kind of animalsdoyou like?" asked Bunny, turning to look at his sister. "What would you like me to catch in my trap?"
"A nice kitty cat," said Sue quickly. "Then I could have her to play with, and she'd like me and my dolls. Couldn't you catch a nice white kitty cat, Bunny?"
Bunny did not answer. He was looking at his box trap. His eyes opened widely.
"Oh, look, Sue!" he cried. "Look! My trap is moving! Something big is under the box!"
"Bunny! Bunny! I—I want to go home!" cried Sue.
"What for?" asked her brother. "It's nice here, and I've got something in the trap, Sue."
"I know it, Bunny. I can see it move. That's why I want to go back to camp."
"Are you 'fraid, Sue?"
Sue nodded her head, and clasped closer in her arms the doll she had brought with her.
"Wait until we see what's in the trap—under the box," said Bunny. "I'll lift it up and look under. If it's a fox I won't let him out."
Bunny started toward the box that was still moving slowly about on the big flat rock where Bunny had set his trap.
"Don't you touch it!" cried Sue. "Don't lift up the box, Bunny!"
"Why not?" he asked.
"'Cause the fox might get out and bite us. Let it alone."
Bunny stood still and looked at the box. It had stopped moving for a while. Then it began again, going about in a sort of circle.
"Why—why!" cried Sue. "It's just like Blind Man's Buff!"
And, really, that is how the box moved about, just like some boy or girl, with a handkerchief tied over his or her eyes, trying to move about to catch someone, and yet trying not to bang into a tree or the fence.
"The fox, woodchuck, or whatever it is under my box," said Bunny Brown, "can't see which way he's going. That's why the box jiggles around so funny. But I'm going to see what's under it."
"If you lift it up, I'm going back to camp," declared Sue, turning back.
"But I want to see what it is!" cried Bunny. "I've caught an animal, and I want to look at it!"
You remember I told you he had fixed up a box, raised at one end by a little stick. Under the box were some good things to eat, such asanimals and birds like. Bunny had tied a long string to the stick, and he and Sue had hid in the bushes, ready to pull the string, pull out the little stick, and let the box trap fall down on whatever was eating the bait.
But all Bunny caught were some sparrows, which he let go. Then he had set the trap again, and had gone off. Now there was something under the box, that was sure.
"How do you think it got caught, Bunny?"
"I guess the fox—or whatever it is—crawled under the box to get the cake crumbs, and he bumped against the stick, knocked it away, and the box came down on him," Bunny said. "Sue, I do want to see what I've caught."
"You—you might get bit," his sister said.
Bunny thought that over for a minute.
"I know how I could do it," he said.
"How?" Sue wanted to know.
"I could get a long stick, and lift the box up with that. Then as soon as the fox came out, we could run, and we wouldn't be near enough for him to bite us."
"Oh, Bunny! That would be a good way, I'll stay and watch if you do it like that."
Bunny found a long pole, like a fishing rod. Holding this out in front of him, he walked toward the box. He tried to raise it up, but the stone on top made it too heavy.
"Push off the stone first," said Sue.
Bunny had not thought of that. With two or three shoves of his pole he knocked the stone off the top of the box. Then, once more, he tried to raise his trap to see what was under it.
All at once the children heard some one calling:
"Bunny! Sue! Where are you?"
"That's Bunker Blue," said Bunny.
"Here we are!" answered Sue. "Bunny's got something in his trap! Come and help us get it, Bunker."
There was a noise in the bushes, a dog barked, and along came the red-haired boy and Splash. The box was moving about more quickly now, for the heavy stone was not on top.
"Say, you have caught something!" cried Bunker. "There's surely something under the box, Bunny."
"It's a fox," said Bunny.
"Or maybe a ground-hog," added Sue.
"Maybe, and maybe not," went on Bunker. "We'll have a look. Here, let me take your pole, Bunny. Splash, you be ready to grab whatever it is!"
With a sudden push Bunker upset the box. Out ran a gray and brown animal.
"Oh, look!" cried Bunny.
"Is it a fox? Oh, don't let it bite me!" cried Sue, and she ran toward Bunker, who caught her up in his arms.
Splash, with a bark, sprang toward the little animal that had run out of Bunny's box trap. But the little animal, instead of running away, just curled up into a ball and stayed there. And Splash stopped short. He barked at the animal but did not try to bite it.
"He's afraid of it, and no wonder!" said Bunker. "Best leave that alone, Splash!"
"What is it?" asked Bunny.
"It's a hedgehog, or a prickly porcupine," said Bunker. "That animal is all covered with sharp quills, like a lot of toothpicks. They aren't very tightly fastened to him, and if adog, or some other animal, tries to bite, he gets his mouth full of sharp, slivery quills from the hedgehog. That makes the dog's mouth very sore, and he can't bite anything again for a long time. That's why the hedgehog curls himself up into a little ball. In that way he is all covered with quills that stick out in every way. No dog or any other animal, can bite without getting badly hurt. I guess you'd better let the porcupine go, Bunny."
"I will," said the little fellow. "I don't want Splash hurt. Come away, Splash!"
Splash did not care very much about biting or worrying the hedgehog. The dog barked once or twice, and then came away. Then the porcupine uncurled himself, and ran off into the wood.
"Well, I caughtsomethingin my trap, anyhow," said Bunny.
"That's what you did," said Bunker Blue. "And the hedgehog, walking around under the box, kept pushing it along with his head. He was trying to find a way out. Come on back to camp now. Supper is ready and your mother sent me to find you."
The next two days it rained, and Bunny and Sue did not have much fun at Camp Rest-a-While. They had to stay in the tents. But the third day it cleared off, and the wind blew away the storm clouds.
That afternoon Bunker took Bunny and Sue out in the boat, fishing. They took with them some lunch to eat, and a bottle of milk to drink if they got thirsty. Sue also took an old umbrella to keep the sun off herself and her doll.
Bunker rowed the boat half way across the lake, and tied it to one of the trees that grew on a little island. There he and Bunny fished, but they did not catch anything.
"Maybe if we went on the island we would catch something," said Bunny. "May we, Bunker?"
"Well, I don't know. We might," said the red-haired boy. "I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll go ashore on the island, and try fishing a bit. If I have any luck I'll come back and get you two. You and Sue stay in the boat, Bunny, until I come back." Then the big boy got out and went ashore, leaving Bunny and Sue in the boat.
Bunker Blue seemed to be gone a long time. Five, ten—fifteen minutes went past and he did not come back. Bunny and Sue began to get tired.
"He must be catching a lot of fish," said Bunny, after a bit, while he dangled his own hook in the water. Bunny wasn't catching anything—he didn't have even a nibble, though he was using the right kind of hook and line, and he had a real "squiggily" worm on his hook—Bunker had put it there for him.
"Maybe Bunker caught a big fish," said Sue, "and it pulled him into the water, eh, Bunny?"
Bunny shook his head.
"No," he said. "That didn't happen."
"Maybe it might," went on Sue. "There might be big fish in this lake. Or maybe itwas a muskrat, like the one Splash barked at."
Splash, asleep up in the front of the boat, hearing his name spoken, looked up and wagged his tail.
"I didn't call you," said Sue. "But, oh, Bunny! maybe Bunkerdidfall in!"
Bunny shook his head again.
"No, he didn't fall in," said the little fellow. "If he had we'd have heard him holler, and he hasn't hollered."
Sue thought that over. It seemed all right. She knew she would "holler," as Bunny called it, if she fell into the water, and of course if a big fish or a muskrat had pulled in Bunker, he, too, would cry out. And it had been very still and quiet since the red-haired boy had gone ashore on the island.
"I know what we can do," said Bunny, after a bit.
"What?" asked Sue.
"We can untie the boat, and row around to the other side of the island where Bunker went," suggested Bunny. "He told us not to get out of the boat until he came back, and we won't, 'cause mother told us to mind Bunker. But he didn't tell us not to row the boat around where he is."
"That's right," agreed Sue. "We can do that."
Bunny and Sue knew something about boats, and they could each row a little. So while Bunny loosed the rope by which the boat was tied, Sue took up one oar. Then Bunny took the other. He shoved the boat out a little way. It began to move, first slowly, and then faster. All at once Sue cried:
"Oh, Bunny! My umbrella!"
It was open, and a gust of wind almost blew it out of the boat. Bunny caught the umbrella just in time. To do this he had to let go of his oar, and it slid overboard, into the water. But Bunny was not thinking about the oar just then. He had a new idea.
As he held the open umbrella he felt the wind blowing strongly against it. The wind was almost strong enough to blow the umbrella out of his hands. But he held on tightly.
"Oh, Bunny, your oar is gone!" cried Sue, as she saw it float away.
"I—I can't help it," answered her brother. "I can't reach it, Sue. You get it."
"I can't. It's too far away."
"Well, let it go!" cried Bunny. "I know something else we can do, Sue. Oh, this will be fun! It's better than fishing!"
Sue was pulling, as best she could, on her one oar. But boats are not meant to be rowed with one oar, though you can scull, or paddle, with one. If you row with one oar your boat swings around in a circle, instead of going straight ahead.
"I can't row this way, Bunny!" called Sue. She knew enough about boats for that. "You'll have to get your oar, Bunny."
"We won't need it, Sue," called her brother. "Take in your oar. We won't need that either. We're going to sail. Look! the umbrella is just like a sail."
And so it was. The wind, blowing on the open umbrella Bunny held, was sending the rowboat along just as if a sail had been hoisted. The boat was moving quite fast now. Bunny and Sue were so pleased that they did not think about the lost oar, which had fallenoverboard and had floated away. As Bunny had said, they did not need oars now.
"Isn't this fun!" cried Bunny.
"Yes," said Sue. "I like it. My dolly likes it, too! Do you like it, Splash?"
Splash did not answer. He hardly ever did answer, except with a bark or a whine, when Bunny or Sue spoke to him, and the children did not understand dog language. Anyhow, Splash seemed to like the umbrella sail, for he stretched out in the bottom of the boat and went to sleep.
Bunny held the open umbrella, and Sue held her doll. Of course, the doll had nothing to do with the sailing of the boat, but Sue kept her in her arms.
"You aren't going to sail very far; are you, Bunny?" asked Sue as the boat kept on going faster and faster.
"Not very far," Bunny answered. "We'll just sail around the end of the island where Bunker went fishing."
Now this would have been all right if the children had sailed around the end of the island where Bunker Blue happened to be. Butthey did not. It was not their fault, either. For Bunker had gone to the other end of the island, and he was sitting on a log, waiting for a fish to bite.
You see, this is the way it was. Bunker Blue told about it afterward. He went off the island, leaving Bunny and Sue in the boat. Bunker walked to the lower end of the island. Bunny and Sue saw him going. He was going to try for fish there.
But when the red-haired boy got to that end of the island he saw that the water was so shallow that no large fish could be caught in it.
"I'll just go to the other end," thought Bunker.
So, without calling to Bunny and Sue, Bunker walked along the other shore of the island, to the upper end. And Bunny and Sue, being behind a lot of trees and bushes, did not know that Bunker was not in the place where he had said he was going.
Bunker found the water deep enough at the upper end of the island, and there he sat down to fish.
"I'll just see if they're biting good here," he said to himself, "and, if they are, I'll go back and get the children."
Bunker had to wait quite a while for his first bite, and by that time Bunny and Sue had decided to start off themselves in the boat. And so they did, with the umbrella for a sail, as I have told you.
Faster and faster they went, around the lower end of the island. They expected to see Bunker there, but they did not, because he was at the upper end.
"Why—why—Bunker isn't here," said Sue, in surprise.
"Then we'd better go back," announced Bunny, still holding to the umbrella. "Stick your oar in the water, Sue, and steer back to where we were."
You can steer a boat with one oar, if you can't row it with one, and Sue knew a little bit about steering. But the oar was too heavy for Sue's little hands, and it soon slipped over into the lake. She tried to grab it, but was too late. The second oar was lost overboard.
"Oh, dear!" Sue cried. "It's gone."
"Never mind," said Bunny. "We don't need oars with the umbrella for a sail. Only we can't sail back where we were unless the wind blows the other way. And I don't see where Bunker is."
"Maybe he's gone home and left us," said Sue.
"He couldn't—not without a boat," objected Bunny. "We'll have to sail over to camp and get daddy or Uncle Tad to row back for him."
"Yes, let's sail to our camp," agreed Sue. "Won't they be s'prised to see us come up this way with an umbrella?"
"I guess they will," said Bunny.
The wind blew stronger. It was all Bunny could do to hold to the umbrella now. The wind almost blew it from his hands. Even with Sue to help him it was hard work.
"If you could only tie it fast," suggested Sue.
"Maybe I can," said Bunny. "Here's a rope."
The rope by which the boat had been tied to a tree on the island lay in the bottom ofthe boat. The umbrella had a crooked handle, and the tying of one end of the rope around this, helped Bunny to hold the queer sail.
The boat now went on faster and faster.
"Why, there's our camp, away over there!" cried Sue, pointing. "Why don't you sail to it, Bunny?"
Bunny looked. Indeed, the white tents of Camp Rest-a-While were on the other side of the lake—far away. And the wind was blowing the boat farther and farther off. Bunny and Sue could not get back to camp, for now they had nothing with which to steer their boat. Of course, if the wind had been blowing toward the tents, instead of away from it, they could have gotten there without steering. But now they could not.
"Oh, dear!" cried Sue. "Where are we going, Bunny?"
"We are going to the woods, I guess," he said. They were sailing toward the wooded shores of the lake, away on the other side from their camp, and a long way down from the island where they had left Bunker Blue.
Harder blew the wind on the umbrella sail. Faster went the boat. Finally it ran up on shore, right where the woods came down to the edge of the lake.
Splash jumped out with a bark, and began stretching himself. He did not like to stay too long in a boat. He wanted to run about on shore.
"Bunny, where are we?" asked Sue.
"I don't know," answered her brother. "But we are on land somewhere, I guess. It's nice woods, anyhow."
The trees and bushes grew thick all about.
"Let's get out," Bunny went on. He shut down the umbrella sail, and took off the rope. Then he tied the boat to a tree. He got out, and helped Sue.
"Where's our camp?" the little girl wanted to know.
Bunny looked across the lake. He could not see the white tents. Neither could Sue.
"Bunny—Bunny," said the little girl slowly. "I—I guess—we're losted again."
"I—I guess so, too," agreed Bunny Brown.