The faces of Bunny and Sue shone with delight as they hurried along, one on one side and one on the other of their father, each having hold of a hand. Mr. Brown, too, was more joyful than he had been the night before when the story of the lost ring had been told.
"Did you find Splash?" asked Sue, as she tripped along.
"No, I am sorry to say I did not," replied Mr. Brown. "I guess you will have to give Splash up as lost. Though he may run back again some day as suddenly as he ran off."
"And didn't you find the other dog—the one that took mother's ring in the pocketbook?" asked Bunny.
His father shook his head.
"There was no sign of the other dog, either," Mr. Brown answered. "He must have beena stray dog that just ran through the town. A sort of tramp dog, I fancy."
"Then there isn't any good news," remarked Bunny, and he grew a little sad and unhappy again.
"Yes, there is good news; though it isn't about mother's ring," said Mr. Brown.
"Nor about a dog?" asked Sue.
"No, it isn't about a dog, either," her father said. "Come along, and we'll tell mother. Perhaps it will cheer her up."
Mrs. Brown looked sharply at her husband when he entered the house with the two children. She wanted to see if she could tell, by his face, whether he had any better word than that which he had telephoned after his visit to the carpenter shop.
"No," he said, in answer to her look, "we didn't find the pocketbook. But Mr. Foswick is going to have a regular house-cleaning in his shop. He is going to get the sawdust and shavings out of the way, and then we can make a better search."
"I hope he will be careful when he takes them out," said Mrs. Brown. "My pocketbook was not very large, and it might easily be thrown away in a shovelful of shavings or sawdust."
"He will be very careful," her husband promised. "He is very sorry he locked Bunny and Sue in his shop, very sorry indeed."
"Oh, we didn't mind!" exclaimed Bunny. "We were scared a little, at first, but not much. Only I broke the window."
"Mr. Foswick didn't seem to mind that much," went on Mr. Brown. "The 'pesky' boys, as he calls them, certainly do bother him a lot by running in the open front door when he is busy in the back of his shop. They scatter the sawdust and shavings all about."
"Maybe some of those boys ran in and took my pocketbook and ring," suggested Mrs. Brown.
"Oh, no," explained Bunny. "We ran right in after the dog, and there were no big boys around. We didn't see the dog run out, but Mr. Foswick said there were holes in the back of his shop and he could get out that way."
"Yes," agreed Mr. Brown, "he could. And he may have done so. We are going to lookaround in the back of the shop as soon as the inside is cleaned out."
"I do hope he will be careful," murmured Mrs. Brown.
"Why, the dog won't bite him!" exclaimed Bunny. "He ran away, that dog did!"
"Oh, I mean I hope Mr. Foswick will be careful about looking in the shavings and sawdust for my pocketbook," said Mother Brown.
"I will send Bunker Blue over to help him look," promised Mr. Brown. "Bunker is a very careful lad."
"But what story are you going to tell us, Daddy?" asked Sue, as she climbed up in her father's lap.
"A story! This time of day?" exclaimed Mrs. Brown, in surprise.
"She means the news," said Mr. Brown. "I have some for you, and I hope you will think it is good, though it isn't about your lost diamond ring. Did you children ever hear of Christmas Tree Cove?" he asked.
"Christmas Tree Cove!" exclaimed Bunny. "Oh, I know where that is! It's up the river back of the bay. Is the dog there, Daddy?"
"Oh, no!" laughed his father. "Can't you think of anything but dogs, Bunny boy? Well, as long as you know where Christmas Tree Cove is, how would you like to go there to spend the summer?" As he spoke he looked at his wife.
"Do you really mean it?" she inquired, her face brightening.
"Oh, won't that be fun!" cried Bunny and Sue together, almost like twins, though Bunny was a year older than his sister.
"Well, I hope you will have some fun there," said their father. "Now let's have lunch, and while we are eating I can tell you all about it."
"Is this the news you meant, Daddy?" asked Bunny.
"Yes," was the answer.
Christmas Tree Cove, as I may as well explain to you, was a sort of bay, or wide place, in Turtle River, which ran into Sandport Bay. The town of Bellemere, where Bunny and his sister lived, was partly on Sandport Bay and partly on the ocean. The bay extended back of the town, and if one sailed up the bay orwent up in a motor boat one would come, after a while, to Turtle River. I suppose it was called that because it had so many turtles in it, and sometimes Bunny and Sue had caught them.
Christmas Tree Cove was so named because on the banks of it were many evergreen trees, called Christmas trees by the children, and also by some of the grown folk. And the cove had in it a few little islands. It was a place where camping parties sometimes went, and often there were picnics held there.
"What is going on at Christmas Tree Cove that you should want to take us there?" asked Mrs. Brown, as she passed her husband some sliced peaches.
"I have been trying to think of a nice place where you and the children might spend the summer," he answered, "and when I heard that Captain Ross had his motor boatFairyto hire for trips, I thought it would be just the chance for us.
"There is a bungalow at Christmas Tree Cove I can hire for the summer, and, if youwant to go, we can all pile on board theFairyand make the trip."
"Would you come, too?" asked Bunny.
"Yes, I would be with you part of the time," said Mr. Brown. "Of course I should also have to be at my dock down here in Bellemere part of the time to look after business, but I could come up and down. Christmas Tree Cove is not far away, and there are boats going up and down the river and the bay each week. So, if you think you will like it, we will spend the summer in a bungalow at Christmas Tree Cove."
"Oh, we'll just love it!" cried Sue, dancing around and clapping her fat hands.
"Will you like it, Mother?" asked Bunny. "Even if you don't find your diamond ring?"
"Yes, my dear, I think I shall like it there," said Mrs. Brown, with a smile. "Though, of course, I want to find my diamond ring that the dog carried away. I hope Bunker Blue finds it in the shavings or the sawdust of Mr. Foswick's shop before we go."
"I hope so, too," said Bunny.
"Then it's decided. We shall go to Christmas Tree Cove," said Mr. Brown. "I am sure you will have a nice summer. I'll tell Captain Ross that we will hire his boat for the trip and the voyage back."
"Is he the funny Captain Ross who is always cracking jokes or asking riddles?" Mrs. Brown asked.
"Yes, that's Captain Dick Ross," her husband replied. "He's very jolly, and I'm sure the children will like him. In fact, they may see him and his boat this afternoon if they wish."
"How?" asked Bunny eagerly. And Sue waited for the answer.
"He is down at my dock, with his boatFairy," was the answer. "He is having some repairs made to it. The boat is a sailing boat with a motor in it, so it can travel both ways. If you like, Bunny and Sue, you may come down to the dock with me and see Cap'n Dick!"
"Oh! Oh!" exclaimed the children in delight, and they hurried through their meal that they might go with their father.
On the way to the boat and the fish dock,where Mr. Brown carried on his business, the children and their father stopped at Mr. Foswick's carpenter shop to ask if anything had been found.
"No, not yet," answered the old man, looking at Bunny and Sue through his spectacles all dim and dusty with wood dust. "But I haven't got all the sawdust and shavings out yet. I hope to find your wife's ring."
"So do I," said Mr. Brown. "She feels quite bad over the loss, and I'm afraid she will not have a happy summer even at Christmas Tree Cove."
"It is too bad," agreed Mr. Foswick. "Well, when Bunker Blue comes this afternoon, he and I will go all over the place. You haven't seen anything of the dog since, have you?" he asked.
"No," answered Bunny, while Sue shook her head.
"I'll send Bunker Blue back as soon as I get to the dock," promised Mr. Brown, and then he and the children went on.
Tied up at the end of the wharf was the boatFairy, of which jolly Mr. Ross was captain.
"May we go on board?" asked Bunny, as they ran down the pier while their father was telling Bunker Blue to make a good search in the sawdust and shavings for the pocketbook containing the diamond ring.
"Yes," answered Mr. Brown. "I think Captain Ross is on board himself, puttering away in the cabin."
But he was not, though that did not matter to Bunny and Sue. They knew a great deal about boats, having lived near water all their lives and their father having been in the boat business for years.
"Come on!" called Bunny to his sister, and they easily jumped from the dock to the deck of theFairy. No one was on board, it seemed, and Bunny and Sue enjoyed themselves by running about. They thought what fun it would be to make the trip to Christmas Tree Cove in such a craft.
"Let's make-believe I'm the captain and you're the cook," said Bunny to his sister after a while. "I'll go down in the cabin, and you must bring me my dinner, and we'll pretend there's a storm."
"All right," agreed Sue, and then began this little game, one of many with which the children amused themselves.
"Now, you know, I'm a reg'lar captain," said Bunny, putting on his most important manner. "So you must serve me real nice."
"Real captains have uniforms," said Sue. "You ought to have a uniform—and if I am to be the cook I ought to have a big white apron."
"I'll look for a uniform," said Bunny, and after hunting around a bit found a storm coat and a rubber hat. "I'll put these on."
The coat was much too big for him and so was the hat. But he did not mind this. Then Sue hunted around and at last found a white apron a good deal soiled.
"Oh, I don't like that," she pouted. "It's not a bit clean. Good cooks always have real clean aprons."
"There is a clean towel—you pin that on for an apron," suggested Bunny. And then he did the pinning himself.
They were both down in the cabin, and Bunny was making believe he was very hungry and he was asking Sue to bring him some more "plum duff" when the little girl gave a sudden cry.
"What's the matter?" asked Bunny, as he sat at Captain Ross's cabin table.
"We're moving!" cried Sue. "TheFairyis moving away! She isn't fast to the wharf any more!"
With a cry, Bunny scrambled up on deck.
Surely enough, the boat was adrift and he and Sue were alone on board!
Sue followed her brother Bunny up on the deck of theFairy. They were quite a distance out from the dock now, and were drifting farther and farther each minute, for the tide was running out. Sandport Bay connected with the ocean, and twice every day there is a great movement of the water in the ocean, called the tide. The tides make the water high twice each twenty-four hours, and then the tides get low, or run out. The moon and sun are thought to cause the tides, as you will learn when you get a little older and have to study about such things.
And the tide, after having run up into Sandport Bay, was now running out, or ebbing, and in some way it was taking theFairywith it, floating the boat along as the rain water in the gutter floats chips along.
"How do you s'pose we got loose?" asked Sue.
"I don't know, lessen the rope came unhitched," Bunny answered. "But if Cap'n Ross tied his boat to the dock, I don't see how it could come unhitched."
Bunny was enough of a sailor to know that no boat captain ever tied such a knot as could easily come loose. And yet this is what seemed to have happened. For when Bunny and Sue ran to the side of theFairyto look over, they saw, trailing in the water, the long rope, or cable, by which the boat had been made fast to the dock. As Bunny had said, it had come "unhitched." The children did not know how this had happened.
But there they were, alone on rather a large sailing boat, which also had a gasolene motor, like that in a motor boat, to make it travel when there was no wind to blow on the sails. And each moment they were being carried by the tide farther and farther away from their father's dock.
Bunny and Sue looked across the water toward the wharf whereon Mr. Brown had hisoffice. They could not see their father, nor any one else. The dock was deserted.
"What are we going to do?" asked Sue; and there was a catch in her voice, as though she was frightened; and she was.
"Well," said Bunny slowly, "I guess maybe we'd better call."
"Call!" exclaimed Sue. "What for?"
"So daddy or Cap'n Ross will hear us and come and get us."
"How are they going to come and get us?" asked Sue. "They can't swim that far."
"Oh, yes, they could!" declared Bunny. "But I don't s'pose they'll have to swim. They can come and get us in a boat."
"Oh, yes!" cried Sue, more joyfully. "So they can. And I wish they would. Let's call, Bunny!"
BUNNY AND SUE SHOUTED FOR HELP.BUNNY AND SUE SHOUTED FOR HELP.
Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Christmas Tree Cove.Page 61
Together the two children raised their voices in a shout. They were healthy and strong and had excellent voices. And, as sound carries a long distance over open water, the shouts of Bunny and Sue were heard on Mr. Brown's dock.
As it happened, the children's father wasin the office talking with Captain Ross about the coming trip to Christmas Tree Cove when they heard the cries of distress.
"That's Bunny and Sue!" exclaimed Mr. Brown, leaping from his chair.
"Gracious sakes alive! I hope they haven't fallen overboard!" shouted Captain Ross.
"I think they know enough not to do that," Mr. Brown answered.
He ran out on the wharf, followed by the captain and some of the men who worked for Mr. Brown. There they saw theFairydrifting out into the bay, and they could see the figures of Bunny and Sue at the boat rail.
"Stay there! We'll send a boat for you!" called Mr. Brown, making a sort of trumpet of his hands. "Stay on board! You'll be all right."
Bunny and Sue heard him and felt better. They had no notion, of course, of jumping overboard and trying to swim to shore. They knew they were safe on theFairywhile it was in the rather quiet water of Sandport Bay. Out on the rough ocean it would be a different matter, though they had sailed on the opensea with their father and mother, of course in a larger boat.
"How are we going to get 'em back?" asked one of Mr. Brown's men.
"Oh, we'll do that easily enough," was the answer. "Bring around the big motor boat. We'll have to tow theFairyback here. I don't see how she ever got adrift," went on Mr. Brown. "I'm sure neither Bunny nor Sue loosened the cable."
"I'm positive they didn't," said Captain Ross. "It must have been that greenhorn cabin boy I had. I hired him yesterday, and let him go this morning because he didn't know one end of a rope from the other. I told him to make theFairyfast to your dock while I came up here to talk to you. But he must have tied a grannie's or a landlubber's knot, and she pulled loose. I'm glad I'm rid of that boy!"
"Yes," agreed Mr. Brown, "a boy who doesn't know enough to tie a safe knot isn't of much use around boats. But there's no great harm done. She isn't drifting fast, and the motor boat will soon pick her up."
"I'll go along with you," offered CaptainRoss, and soon he and Mr. Brown, with one of the dock men, were racing after the driftingFairy.
On deck Bunny Brown and his sister Sue watched the rescue.
"It's just like being shipwrecked, isn't it, Bunny?" suggested Sue, as they sat down on deck to wait.
"Yes. It's fun when you know daddy is coming," said the little boy.
In a short time the motor boat reached the driftingFairy. Mr. Brown and Captain Ross went on board, and you can just imagine how glad Bunny and Sue were to see them.
"Guess you'll have to tow us back," said Captain Ross to Mr. Brown. "The motor of my boat needs fixing. That's one reason why I tied up at your dock. There isn't enough wind to blow us back against the tide that's running out now."
"My motor boat will tow you back all right," said Mr. Brown.
And while this was being done Bunny and Sue sat on the deck of theFairywith their father and Captain Ross.
"Well, you had quite an adventure, didn't you?" laughed Captain Ross, taking Sue up on his knees. "And it reminds me of a riddle. When is a boat not a boat?"
"When is a boat not a boat?" repeated Bunny. "Why, a boat is always a boat, Cap'n Ross, lessen you mean it's like a house 'cause people sometimes live in it."
"No, I don't mean that," chuckled Captain Ross. "I'll ask you again. When is a boat not a boat? Can you guess?"
Bunny and Sue shook their heads sideways to say "No."
"Do you give up?" asked Captain Ross.
Bunny and Sue shook their heads up and down to say "Yes."
"When is a boat not a boat?" asked the Captain again. "When she's adrift, of course, like this one of mine was! Ho! Ho!" and he laughed heartily. "You see a boat's not a boat when she's adrift—a sort of snowdrift!Ha! Ha! That's a riddle," and he laughed so heartily that Sue slipped from his lap.
Bunny and Sue laughed also, and they liked Captain Ross.
"Here we are now, all shipshape and Bristol fashion!" went on the captain as the motor boat towed theFairyback to the wharf. This time Captain Ross tied the rope himself to make sure it would not come loose again.
"May we stay on the boat?" asked Bunny, as his father started back up to his office with Captain Ross.
"Yes, you may play on board until it's time to go home to supper," promised Mr. Brown. "But don't fall overboard and don't go adrift again."
"No, we won't!" said Bunny.
"If you do I'll never tell you any more riddles," laughed Captain Ross.
"Oh, what fun we'll have when the boat goes to Christmas Tree Cove and takes us there!" shouted Sue, as she and Bunny played about the deck.
The children had almost forgotten about their mother's lost ring and pocketbook, to say nothing of the five-dollar bill. But that afternoon, when they were going home with their father, they saw something that brought the loss back to their minds.
They were walking along the street with Daddy Brown when, all of a sudden, Bunny cried:
"There he is! There! There!"
"Who?" asked his father.
"That big dog that took mother's pocketbook in his mouth and bounced away with it!" was the answer. "There he goes!"
Bunny pointed out a large, yellowish-brown dog just running around the corner of the next street. Then Bunny pulled his hand from his father's and raced after the strange animal.
"I'll make him show me where mother's ring and pocketbook are!" cried Bunny as he ran down the street.
So quickly did Bunny Brown pull away from his father to run after the strange dog that Mr. Brown had no chance to call to the little boy to be careful. Sue, however, who had hold of her father's other hand, seemed anxious.
"Maybe the dog will bite Bunny!" exclaimed the little girl. "Sometimes Splash used to growl if you took a bone away from him, and maybe this dog will growl if Bunny takes the pocketbook away from him."
"That might happen if the dog had mother's pocketbook," replied Mr. Brown. "But I didn't see him have it, and I don't believe Bunny knows, for sure, whether or not this is the same dog."
"Maybe if he hasn't the pocketbook in his mouth he has it hid somewhere, and he's going to dig it up just as Splash used to dig up the bones he hid," went on Sue. "Let's go and look, Daddy!"
This was just what Mr. Brown wanted to do—to see what happened to Bunny, who had turned the corner running after the strange dog. So, taking a firmer hold of Sue's hand, daddy started to run. When they turned the corner they could see the chubby legs of Bunny working to and fro as he ran along some distance ahead of them. Ahead of him the big, yellow dog was also racing along and Bunny could be heard calling:
"Stop! Hold on there! Come back with my mother's pocketbook and her diamond ring!"
Several persons in the street were attracted by the shouts of the boy and his race after the dog.
"There'll be more excitement here in a little while than I want," thought Mr. Brown. "People will think there has been a theft, and they will join in the chase. Then the dog may get excited and bite some one. I must catch Bunny and stop him from shouting."
Now Sue could not, of course, run as fast as could her father, and, though her legs worked to and fro in her very best style, Bunny was getting far ahead of them.
"I'll have to pick you up and carry you, Sue," said her father. And, stooping, he caught her up in his arms. It was easier for him to run fast this way, and he knew he would soon catch up to Bunny. As for the small boy, he was still chasing the dog. And the dog seemed to know he was being chased, for he ran on, looking back now and then, but never stopping.
"What's the matter, Mr. Brown?" asked a man who knew the fish dealer, as he saw Sue's father hurrying down the street, carrying her and racing after Bunny. "Has anything happened?"
"Oh, not much," was the answer. "My boy is trying to catch that strange dog, and I don't want him to—the dog might bite him."
"That's so," said the man.
"Stop, Bunny! Stop!" cried Mr. Brown, getting within calling distance of his little son. "Don't run after the dog any more!"
"But I want to get mother's pocketbook and ring," Sue's brother answered, as he slowed up and looked back.
"That dog hasn't it," went on Mr. Brown. "He has nothing in his mouth, and——"
"Oh, he has something in his mouth. It's red and I can see it sticking out!" interrupted Sue eagerly. "Maybe it's mother's pocketbook, Bunny."
"It's his tongue!" declared Bunny. "It's the dog's red tongue you see. Mother's pocketbook was black."
"Well, this dog hasn't it, at any rate," went on Mr. Brown with a smile, as he put Sue down on the sidewalk beside Bunny, with whom he had now caught up. "And even if this were the same dog, we could not make him understand that we wanted him to take us to the place where he dropped the purse."
"I'm sure it's the same dog," insisted Bunny. "But he's gone now, anyhow."
This was true. Just as Bunny stopped after his father called to him the dog ran into an alley between two buildings, and though Mr. Brown, again holding his two children by thehands, looked in, there was no sight of the animal.
"Yes, he's gone," agreed Mr. Brown.
"You scared him, chasing after him like that, you did," went on Sue to her brother. "Didn't he, Daddy?" she asked her father.
"I guess the dog didn't need much scaring," said Mr. Brown. "Are you sure he's the same one, Bunny?"
Of this Bunny was quite positive, though Sue was not so much so. The animal looked like the one that had snatched the pocketbook off the bench and had run into Mr. Foswick's carpenter shop with it. But that was as far as Sue could go.
The crowd which had started to gather when it saw the chase, now began to separate when it found there was to be no more excitement, and Mr. Brown took a short cut through the back streets home with Bunny and Sue.
"We had a lot of adventures, Mother!" said Bunny, when they reached the house. "We got adrift on a boat, and we had a tow back, and I saw the dog that had your pocketbook, and I chased him and—and——"
"And I know a riddle about when is a snowdrift like a boat," broke in Sue, not wanting Bunny to receive all the attention.
"Gracious!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "What does all this mean?" she asked her husband. "Did you really get back my pocketbook? Oh, if my ring has been found——"
"I'm sorry to say it hasn't," her husband said. "Bunny did think he saw the dog that took it, but I very much doubt that."
"And what's that about being adrift?"
"They were on theFairy, and she floated out a little way from the dock."
"That's rather dangerous," said Mother Brown. "If such things are going to happen it will not be safe for us to go to Christmas Tree Cove."
"Oh, can't we go?" cried Bunny and Sue, thinking their mother was going to call off the trip.
"There was no danger," their father said, and he explained how it had happened. "It was not the fault of Bunny and Sue," he added. "The boat might have drifted off with any one on board."
"But it is strange if that dog should still be around here, after running off with my pocketbook," went on Mrs. Brown.
"I am not at all sure it was the same dog," her husband said. "Though Bunny may have thought it looked the same. But did you have any report from Mr. Foswick or Bunker Blue about their search in the carpenter shop for the pocketbook?" he asked his wife.
"Yes," she answered. "Bunker Blue and Mr. Foswick looked carefully. They swept out the shop, which hasn't happened in over a year, I imagine; but all they found was an old pair of spectacles Mr. Foswick lost six months back. Bunker was here a little while ago, and said there was no use of searching any further. He went back to the dock, as you told him to."
"It's too bad," said Mr. Brown. "Still, it can't be helped, and it shall not spoil our trip to Christmas Tree Cove. Can you be ready to start day after to-morrow?" he asked his wife.
"I think so," she answered. "How many of us are going?"
"The children, of course, and you and Uncle Tad; and I'll send Bunker along to help when I am not there."
"Oh, aren't you going, Daddy?" asked Bunny.
"Yes, I'll start with you," Mr. Brown promised. "But I can't always be with you. I shall have to spend part of each week here at my boat and fish dock. But Bunker will be with you all summer, and so will Uncle Tad."
"I'm glad he's going!" exclaimed Bunny. "He'll be lots of fun!"
"So will Captain Ross!" added Sue. "He can ask awful funny riddles."
During supper the plans for the summer vacation at Christmas Tree Cove were talked over, the children becoming more and more jolly and excited as they thought of the fun ahead of them. After the meal Bunny and Sue went out in the yard to play. George Watson, Harry Bentley and Charlie Star had a race with Bunny, while Mary Watson, Sadie West and Helen Newton brought their jumping ropes and the four little girls had a great game. Of course Bunny and Sue told aboutthe coming trip and, naturally, all the other children wished they could go.
"Maybe we can come up on a picnic and see you," said Harry.
"Oh, I hope you can!" exclaimed Sue.
Mr. and Mrs. Brown sat on the porch in the evening glow, watching the children at play and talking over what it would be necessary to take on the little voyage which would start aboard theFairy. Every once in a while Mrs. Brown would give a sigh.
"Are you thinking of your lost pocketbook?" her husband asked.
"I am thinking more of my lovely engagement ring," she answered.
"It is too bad," he agreed. "But never mind. Perhaps it may be found."
"No, I am afraid it never will be," she went on. "You had better come into the house now," she called to Bunny and Sue. "It is getting late, and you'll have plenty to do to-morrow to get ready for the trip to Christmas Tree Cove."
Bunny and Sue said good-night to their playmates, and were soon ready for bed.Their father and mother sat up a little later. They were about to retire when a noise on the stairs caused them to look out into the hall.
There was Bunny, in his blue pajamas, coming down the stairs. His eyes were wide open, but they had a funny look in them.
"I know where it is!" he said. "That dog has it on his tail."
"What?" asked Mr. Brown. "What do you mean, Bunny? What has the dog on his tail?"
"Mother's diamond ring," was the answer. "I'm going to get it. The dog is asleep on the shavings in the carpenter shop."
Bunny came down a few more stairs, and his mother, looking at him, exclaimed:
"He's walking in his sleep!"
Mr. Brown caught the little boy up in his arms. Somehow, Bunny seemed much smaller in his pajamas.
"Wake up, Bunny! Wake up!" his father said, gently shaking him. "What's the matter?"
"I've got to find it. I know where it is—on the end of the dog's tail. And Sue——" Bunny stopped suddenly. A change came over his face, and a different look flashed into his eyes.
"What—what's the matter? What am I down here for?" he asked wonderingly. And then his parents knew he was fully awake.
"You have been walking in your sleep, dear," said his mother. "That's something you haven't done for a long time. The day had too much excitement in it for you. Are youall right now?" and she patted his cheeks as he nestled in his father's arms.
"Oh, yes. I'm all right now," Bunny said. "I had a funny dream. I thought the dog came to me and said the diamond ring was on the end of his tail, and I was going to get one of Mr. Foswick's hammers and knock it off. The dog was on a bed of shavings in the carpenter shop and—and——"
"Yes, and then you got out of bed and walked in your sleep," finished his father, with a laugh. "I must see if Sue is all right."
She was. In her little bed she was slumbering peacefully, and Bunny was soon back with his head on the pillow.
"Poor little dears!" said their mother, as the lights were put out and the house locked for the night. "They are thinking too hard about the lost ring. I mustn't let them see that I care so much, or it will spoil their summer at Christmas Tree Cove."
"Yes, forget your loss if you can," suggested her husband.
There was much to do the next day—so much that only once in a while did Bunny andSue think of the strange dog that had run away with their mother's pocketbook and diamond ring. Bunker Blue was busy, also, and so was Uncle Tad, helping to get ready for the trip.
Bunny and Sue wanted to help pack, but their mother said they could best help by running on errands. One of these took them to the carpenter shop of Mr. Foswick for a piece of wood Bunker wanted to nail across certain shutters in the house, which was to be closed for the summer.
"Well, have you come to take another look for the ring?" asked the carpenter. "It isn't here. Bunker Blue and I looked all over."
"I don't see what that dog could have done with it," said Bunny, as he glanced around the newly-swept shop. "He surely came in here with the pocketbook."
"Yes, I saw the dog running around my yard," admitted the carpenter. "But I didn't see him have anything. Well, it's one of those things that never will be found, I s'pose. Here's the wood you want, and I'll not lock you in this time," and he smiled at Bunny andSue as he thought of what had happened the other night.
Another errand took the children down to their father's dock, and there they saw Bunker Blue and Captain Ross working aboard theFairy.
"I'm getting her in good shape for you, messmates!" called the jolly sailor. "And it reminds me of a riddle. Do you see that barrel of water there?" he asked, pointing to one on deck.
"Yes, I see it," admitted Bunny.
"Well, here's a riddle about it," went on the captain. "That barrel, we'll say, weighs ten pounds when it is empty. Now, what could I fill it with so it would weigh only seven pounds?"
"Why, Captain Ross, if that barrel weighstenpounds when it hasn't got anything in it, you couldn't fill it with anything to make it weighsevenpounds. It would weighmorethan ten pounds if you filled it with anything."
"Oh, no, it wouldn't!" the sailor said. "If I filled it full of holes, boring 'em in with one of Mr. Foswick's augers, then the barrelwouldn't weigh so much, would it? I'd cut a lot of wood out of the sides when I made the holes. Ha! Ha!"
Bunny thought it over for a minute. Then he laughed.
"That's a pretty good riddle," he said.
"I'm glad you like it," went on Captain Ross. "After this, when anybody asks what you can fill a barrel or a box with to make it weigh less, just tell 'em to fill it full of holes! Ha! Ha!" and he clapped his big hand down on his bigger leg and laughed heartily.
Bunny and Sue laughed also, and they knew they were going to have a jolly time on the trip to Christmas Tree Cove with Captain Ross to sail theFairy, or, if there was no wind, to send the craft through the water by her gasolene engine.
This engine Bunker Blue was working on to mend, as it had been broken just before the two Bunker children went adrift from their father's dock.
"Will it be ready to sail to-morrow?" asked Bunny, as he watched Bunker hammering away at the motor.
"Oh, yes," was the answer. "There isn't much the matter with her. We'll be able to pull out in the morning."
And by hard work everything was finished that night on board theFairy. Uncle Tad, the jolly old soldier, announced that he had his "knapsack" packed and enough "rations" to last him for a week, anyhow.
As they were to make an early morning start, Bunny and Sue had said good-bye to their boy and girl friends the evening before. As they walked past Mr. Foswick's carpenter shop with Uncle Tad, who went down the street with them at the last minute to buy something Mrs. Brown wanted, the children looked at the wood-working place.
"Wouldn't it be funny if that dog should be hiding around here?" asked Sue of her brother.
"Yes," he agreed, "it would be. But I don't see him."
"I guess if he is here he's hiding," Sue went on. "Maybe there's a hole under the floor of the shop and he's there, just as once at Grandpa's farm in the country we found where ahen had her nest under the floor in the barn. And it had eggs in it!"
"Dogs don't make nests like hens," said Bunny.
"Oh, I know that!" retorted Sue. "But maybe this dog hid the pocketbook under the boards in the shop floor."
"I hardly think so," put in Uncle Tad. "He probably dropped that pocketbook in the street, and either some one picked it up and kept it, or else it was dropped down a sewer."
"But if anybody found it, wouldn't we have got it back?" asked Bunny. "Daddy put an advertisement in the paper."
"Maybe we would and maybe we wouldn't," said Uncle Tad. "Anyhow, it's gone."
Bright and early the next morning Bunny Brown and his sister Sue went aboard theFairy, which was tied at their father's dock. The Brown home had been shut up, the things that were needed had been put on board the boat, Mrs. Brown was keeping an eye on the children to see that they did not stray away, and Uncle Tad was stowing away the baggage in the cabin.
Soon Mr. Brown, Bunker Blue, and Captain Ross would come on board and the voyage would start.
TheFairywas large enough for the whole family, as well as the "crew," to sleep on board. The crew generally was made up of Captain Ross and a man and a boy. But this time Mr. Brown was going to take the place of the man, and Bunker Blue would be the "boy," so that it was more of a family party. Mr. Brown had known Captain Ross for many years, and the children felt as though he were as nearly related to them as was Uncle Tad.
"All aboard!" called the captain, as he came down the wharf from Mr. Brown's office, accompanied by Mr. Brown and Bunker Blue. "Are you all aboard?" and he smiled at Bunny and Sue.
"Yes, we're here," Bunny answered.
"Isn't he funny, Mother?" whispered Sue. "He can look right at us, and yet he wants to know if we're here!"
"It's just his joking way," said Mrs. Brown.
"I've got another good riddle for you, youngsters," called Captain Ross, as he madehis way along the deck. "What kind of tree would scare a cat?"
"There wouldn't any tree scare a cat," declared Bunny. "I've seen a cat climb up a tree lots of times. Cats aren't scared of trees!"
"Well, wouldn't a dogwood tree scare a cat?" chuckled the sailor. "Ha! Ha! I'm sure it would. I don't believe you could get a cat to climb adogwood tree!" he went on.
"Thatisa funny riddle!" declared Bunny. "I'm going to tell it to Charlie Star when we come back from Christmas Tree Cove."
"We'd better get there first," went on Captain Ross, still chuckling at his riddle. "Cast off, Bunker Blue!"
Bunker loosed the ropes that held theFairyto the wharf, and the boat slowly drifted away.
"Oh, we've really started!" cried Sue, as she saw the open water between the rail and the string-piece of the wharf.
"We'll go faster than this!" exclaimed Bunny. "Wait till Bunker Blue starts the motor."
As there was not enough wind to allow the sails to be used, it was needful to start themotor, and soon it was chugging away, sending theFairyswiftly along through the water.
Bunny and Sue were delighted with the trip. They sat in camp-chairs on deck and watched the different sights. They expected to cruise about on the boat for perhaps three days before going to the Cove. They could sleep in the little bunks with which the boat was provided.
"It's a funny way to go to bed," said Sue, after looking at the bunks for the tenth time.
"Well, I guess you can sleep here just as well as at home," answered her brother.
"You'd better not walk in your sleep, Bunny, 'cause you might walk overboard."
"I ain't going to walk in my sleep any more," answered Bunny. "I told daddy I wasn't."
"Maybe you can't help it."
"Yes, I can. You wait and see."
It was toward the close of the afternoon, and Bunny and Sue were beginning to wonder how much longer it would be before supper was ready, when, as they stood near Bunker, who was steering, the children saw a canoe withtwo young men and two young women in it being slowly paddled across the bay.
"They'd better watch where they're going," said Bunker Blue. "They seem to be aiming to cross our bows, and if they do—— Look out there!" he suddenly cried, as the canoe turned. "Do you want to be run down?"
The next moment there was a collision. TheFairystruck the small boat, upsetting it and spilling into the water the two young men and the young women.
"Oh! Oh!" cried Sue. "We've run over 'em!"
Bunny Brown, who had been sitting near his sister Sue on the deck of theFairy, had jumped to his feet and run to the rail, or side of the boat, as the little girl cried out that their craft had run over the canoe. That was really what had happened. The two young men and the young women in the canoe had got in the way of the motor boat, and had been struck.
"Man overboard!" yelled Bunny. He had often enough heard that cry on his father's boat and on the pier, for more than once boys or men had fallen off into the water. Sometimes on warm summer days the boys pushed each other off, just for fun.
And often, at such times, the cry would be raised:
"Man overboard!"
Bunny knew what that meant. It meant that somebody ought to jump to the rescue or throw into the water something the person who had fallen in could grab. There were, on his father's dock, a number of life buoys—round rings of cork covered with canvas and having a long rope attached to them. And there were some of these same things on the deck of theFairy.
"Man overboard!" cried Bunny again, and, running to the nearest life ring, he took it off the hook and sent it spinning into the water. Bunny knew that the end of the rope was fast to the rail, so the buoy would not be lost.
Bunker Blue also acted quickly. Near the wheel by which theFairywas steered was a wire, which, when pulled, shut off the motor down in the hold of the craft. Bunker Blue pulled this wire, and the boat began to slow up. Then Bunker leaped to the side of theFairynear Bunny, and Bunker caught up another life ring and tossed it over the rail.
As Bunny and Sue leaned over to catch sight of the four people in the water, Captain Ross and Daddy Brown came hurrying up ondeck from the little cabin, where they had been talking with Mrs. Brown.
"What's the matter?" cried Captain Ross. "Did we hit anything, Bunker?"
"Yes, a canoe with four people in it. We ran 'em down. They crossed right in front of our bows! I'll get 'em!"
The next minute Bunker peeled off his coat, slipped from his feet the loose, rubber-soled shoes he wore, and leaped over the rail.
"Oh! Oh!" gasped Sue.
"He's going to save 'em!" cried Bunny. "I wish I could jump in and——"
"Don't dare try that, Bunny Brown!" cried his mother, who heard what he started to say, and she put a hand on his shoulder to hold him.
"They're all right," reported Mr. Brown, looking over the side of the boat. "All four of them can swim, and the young men have given the young ladies the life rings. They don't seem to be much frightened. Bunker is swimming for the canoe. I guess they'll be all right."
"Yes, it looks so," said Captain Ross, alsotaking a look over the side. "Though the canoe may be stove in so it'll leak. Mighty foolish of 'em to try to cross in front of our bows! I expect we'll have to take 'em all on board here."
"Oh, yes, we must!" cried Mrs. Brown. "But what shall we do about dry clothes for them? Possibly I can let the young ladies have some of my extra dresses, but the young men——"
"Oh, I guess we can fit 'em out," broke in Captain Ross. "It's warm, and they won't want much. First thing to do is to get 'em on board I reckon. How about you?" he called down to the struggling people in the water. "Need any more help?"
"We're all right," answered one of the young men. "But will you take us aboard? The canoe's smashed!"
"Sure, we'll take you on board," answered the captain.
And then, as Bunny and Sue watched, they saw their father and Captain Ross help pull up to the deck of theFairyfirst the two young women, dripping wet. They looked verymuch bedraggled, but they were laughing and did not seem to mind what had happened.
Next the two young men scrambled up, pulling themselves by means of the ropes from the life buoys. And last of all came Bunker Blue. He had the rope of the smashed and overturned canoe in one hand and was towing it along as he swam slowly. It was not easy work to drag the canoe through the water, submerged as it was, but Bunker did it, fastening the canoe rope to the rail of theFairy.
Then he scrambled up on deck, shook the water from his face and hair, and said:
"I'll get a boat hook and fish up the paddles. They're floating around down there."
"Oh, don't bother," urged one of the young ladies. "It was all my fault. I steered the canoe right in your way. We ran into you—you didn't run into us."
"Well, I'm glad you feel that way about it," said Captain Ross, while Bunny and Sue watched the little puddles and streams of water dripping from the recent occupants of the canoe and from Bunker Blue.
"Is the canoe worth saving?" asked Mr.Brown, as he looked down to where it now floated at the side of theFairy, held fast by the line Bunker had brought on board.
"I don't think so," said one of the young men. "It was an old one, and now the side is stove in. Let it go. It will drift ashore anyhow, and we can get it later if we want to. You might save the paddles if you can. I'll help," he offered.
"I'll help," offered the other young man, and while these two, with Bunker, sought to save the paddles with boat hooks, the broken canoe was cast loose from theFairyand allowed to drift off.
"If you'll come down to the cabin with me," said Mrs. Brown to the young ladies, "I'll see if I can lend you some other clothes while yours are drying."
"Oh, don't bother!" said one of the young ladies. "It was all just fun. We had on old clothes, for we half expected to be upset before we got back."
But Mrs. Brown insisted on making them change, and so she led them down into the cabin. Uncle Tad helped in the work of recovering the paddles, and then he suggested that the two young men might also like to take off their wet things.
"Oh, not at all," said one. "We're used to being wet. And we'll soon dry, anyhow. It was very decent of you to jump in after us," he said to Bunker. "As it happens, we can all swim pretty well, and it isn't the first time we've been upset. But I was afraid one of the girls might have been hurt. As it is, we're all right."
"And mighty lucky you are to be that way," commented Captain Ross. "I'm glad it was no worse. Now where do you want to be set ashore?"
"We're staying at that hotel," said Mr. Watson, for such was the name of one of the young men. He pointed to a large seaside resort on the shore not far away.
"Well, we'll head for the dock," decided the captain, and soon theFairywas moving along again, the floating paddles having been recovered.
The young ladies soon came on deck, wearing some garments belonging to Mrs. Brown.They were laughing and joking at the upset. The young men refused to change, saying it was not worth while.
"It's too bad you lost your canoe," said Bunny, as he and his sister listened to the talk of the rescued party.
"Oh, it was only an old one I owned," said Mr. Watson. "It isn't a great loss. I'm afraid you girls had some things sunk, though," he added. "There wasn't much time to save anything."
"I lost my pocketbook," said one of the young women, who was called Mildred by her companions. "There was only about a dollar in it, though," she added.
"My mother lost her pocketbook, and it had five dollars and her diamond ring in it," put in Sue.
"Did you? Do you mean to-day?" asked the other young lady, who had been addressed as Grace.
"Oh, no. It was some time ago," explained Mrs. Brown.
"A dog took it," volunteered Bunny. "And he ran into a carpenter shop, and we ran afterhim—Sue and I did—and we got locked in and I busted a window and——"
"He's going into all the details!" laughed Mr. Brown.
But the young men and the young women were so interested in what the children said that they had to hear the whole story.
"I'm sure I hope you get your engagement ring back," said Mildred to Mrs. Brown, and the young lady looked at her own hand, on which sparkled a diamond. Perhaps it was her engagement ring.
"It is too much to hope for," replied Mrs. Brown. "I am trying not to think of it."
"Did you see me throw the life buoy to you?" asked Bunny, changing the subject.
"I'm afraid I didn't," answered Grace with a laugh.
"And my eyes were too full of water," added Mildred.
"Well, anyhow, I threw one in to you," went on Bunny.
"And I yelled when I saw you get run over," added Sue, just as if that, too, had helped.
"I'm sure you did all you could," declared Mr. Watson. "And it was all our own fault that we got in your way. But no one is hurt, and we're little the worse for our adventure."
TheFairyslowly headed toward the dock near the big summer hotel, which was one of a number at a well-known resort on the bay. Some other boats had come up after having seen the canoe run down, but when it was found no help was needed, they sheered off again.
"How can we return your things to you?" asked the young ladies of Mrs. Brown, as they prepared to go ashore when the boat tied up at the dock.
"There is no special hurry," was the answer. "We are going to Christmas Tree Cove for the summer. You can send them there."
"I have a better plan," said Mr. Brown. "Why should we not stay here over night? We can tie up at this dock and go ashore for an evening of enjoyment. That will give the young ladies a chance to get into other dry clothes and give you back yours," he said to his wife.
"Oh, yes! Let's stay!" cried Bunny. "We can have a lot of fun on shore!"
"And there's a merry-go-round!" added Sue. "I can see it!"
She pointed to one of the popular summer attractions set up near the hotel on the beach.
"Very well, we'll stay," said Mother Brown; and so it was arranged.
The four young people went ashore, the young ladies in borrowed clothes, and the men, in their own damp garments, carrying the paddles. They attracted some little attention from the crowd on the dock. It was very evident what had happened. But as canoe upsets are very common at shore resorts in the summer, no one took it very seriously, especially as no one was drowned or hurt.
"We'll send back your things in the morning," called Mildred and Grace to Mrs. Brown, as they went up to the hotel.
"You'll find us right here," said Captain Ross. "I'm mighty glad it was no worse," he said to his friends on theFairy. "I should hate to have your summer outing spoiled by an accident, even if it was the fault of thosein the canoe. But it reminds me of a riddle. See if you can guess it, Bunny and Sue. What goes under the water and over the water and never touches the water?"
"A fish!" guessed Bunny.
"A fish is always in the water," cried Sue, laughing.
"Oh, so it is," said her brother.
"Say it again," begged Sue.
The jolly captain did so, and when Bunny and Sue gave up, after several wrong guesses, the seaman said:
"A man walking over a bridge with a pail of water on his head. He goesoverthe water, and he'sunderthe water in the pail, and yet he doesn't touch the water."
"Oh, that's a good riddle!" laughed Bunny. "I'm going to fool Bunker on that."
"If the water pail upset and spilled on him then the water would touch him," said Sue, after a moment of thought. "And if he fell in the water he'd be wet."
"Yes, but you aren't supposed to do that in riddles," returned Captain Ross.
After supper on theFairy, Uncle Tad tookthe two children on shore, Bunny and Sue having secured their mother's permission to ride on the merry-go-round. It was a big affair, playing jolly tunes, and the animals were large and gaily painted.
Bunny and Sue had a number of rides, always begging for "just one more," until Uncle Tad finally said:
"No, that's enough! You'll be ill if you whirl around any more. Come, we'll walk around and look at things, and then we'll go back to the boat."
He led them around to see the other attractions at the little park near the big hotel. Somehow or other, Bunny wandered away from Uncle Tad and Sue while Sue and the old soldier were looking at a man blowing colored glass into birds, feathers, balloons and other fantastic shapes.
But finally Uncle Tad said:
"Come, Sue, we must be going now. Where's Bunny?"
"He was here a minute ago," answered Bunny's sister.
She looked around. They were on a plaza,or open space, at one end of which stood the musical merry-go-round. At the other end was a drive where little ponies and carts could be hired for short rides.
As Sue and Uncle Tad looked, there suddenly dashed from this place a large, white goat. And on the back of the goat was Bunny Brown, clinging fast!
"Oh, look! Look!" cried Sue. "It's a merry-go-round goat! It's a merry goat, and Bunny's having a ride on his back!"
As she spoke the animal dashed straight for the whirling carousel, and Bunny's face, showing some fright, was turned toward his uncle and his sister.