Wango was a queer monkey in more ways than one. He liked to make mischief, or what others called mischief, though to him perhaps it was only fun. And he did not seem to like ladies. He would let boys and girls and men pet him, and make a fuss over him, but he would very seldom allow ladies to do this.
Miss Winkler, the sister of the sailor who had brought Wango from a far-off land, was one of the ladies the monkey did not like. But then she did not like Wango, and perhaps he knew this. And now it seemed that Wango was not going to like Mrs. Redden, who kept the candy shop.
And it was certain that, just then, Mrs. Redden did not like Wango; at least she did not like to have him take her candy, break the jar and scatter the jelly beans all over the shop.
"Get down, Wango!" she cried, shaking the broom at him. "Get down off that shelf right away! And give me back my lollypops!"
But Wango did not get down, and he did not give back the lollypops. He had dropped one, and this made him hold, all the more tightly, to the others. He was very fond of candy, Wango was.
"Oh dear! I'm afraid of him!" exclaimed Mrs. Redden.
"Why, he won't hurt you," said Bunny. "He's a good monkey. He lets me and Sue pet him; don't you, Wango?"
"You can't pet him now," said Sue, "he's too high up."
"Oh, but look at the funny faces he makes!" exclaimed the lady who kept the toy and candy shop.
Wango was certainly making very odd faces just then. But perhaps it was because he liked the taste of the lollypops. He had taken the paper off two of them, and had them both in his mouth at once, while his busy paws were peeling the wax covering off a third one.
Of course it was not right for Wango to put two lollypops in his mouth at once; at least it would not be nice for children to do so. But perhaps monkeys are different.
"Come down from there! Come down from that shelf!" cried Mrs. Redden, reaching up and trying to touch the monkey with the broom. I think she did not intend to hit him hard, and, anyhow, a blow from a broom does not hurt very much. Mrs. Redden thought she simply must drive Wango down. He might spoil a lot of candy.
And now, instead of making faces Wango chattered at the candy-shop lady.Oh! what a queer noise he made, showing his white teeth.
"Oh dear! oh dear!" Mrs. Redden cried. "Isn't this terrible? I never had a monkey in my candy shop before. At least not one that was loose, though an Italian organ grinder did come in with one once, on a string. But he was a good monkey."
"Wango is good, too," said Bunny. "Only I guess he is scared, now. Come on down, Wango!" called Bunny, "and I'll give you a peanut."
"Oh, yes, he'll come down for a peanut, or maybe two peanuts!" exclaimedSue. "Wango loves peanuts. Have you any, Mrs. Redden?"
"Yes," answered the store-lady. "But I'm not going to give him peanuts, after all the candy he has taken and spoiled. Nearly half the jelly beans will be wasted, and the glass jar is broken, and he will spoil all those lollypops, too. Oh dear!"
"Just give him two peanuts," said Bunny, "and that will make him come down. Then maybe he'll give back the lollypops."
"Well, child, we can try it," the candy-lady said. "I can't hit him with the broom, that's sure, unless I stand on a chair, and if I do that he may reach down and pull my hair, as he did Mrs. Winkler's one day. I'll get the peanuts."
She brought a handful from another show case, and gave them to Bunny, who held them up so the monkey could see them.
"Come and get the nuts, Wango!" Bunny called.
The monkey chattered, and made funny faces, but he did not come down. He seemed to like the lollypops better, and, also, his perch on the shelf, he thought, was safer than one on the floor.
"What shall we do?" asked Mrs. Redden.
"Bunny, could you run down the street, and ask Mr. Winkler to come and take his monkey away?"
"Yes'm, I'll do it," the little boy answered politely.
But just then something else happened.
Wango, trying to peel the wax paper from another lollypop, dropped a second one. He reached for it, but he did keep hold of the shelf, and, the next second down he himself fell, knocking over several more candy jars.
They crashed to the floor, smashing and spilling the candy all over.Wango turned a somersault, and landed lightly on his feet, close besideMrs. Redden.
"Oh, you bad monkey! You bad monkey!" she cried. "Shoo! Get out of here!Out of my shop!"
She brushed at Wango with the broom, and the lively monkey made a rush for the back door of the store, as the front one was closed.
"Here! Don't you dare go into my kitchen!" cried Mrs. Redden, as she ran after the monkey. "You'll upset everything there!"
Wango chattered, and made funny faces. Then he turned and ran back, sliding right under Mrs. Redden's skirts, and nearly upsetting Bunny.
At that moment the front door opened, and there stood Jed Winkler, the old sailor, who owned the monkey.
"Have you seen anything of Wango?" began Mr. Winkler, but there was no need for him to ask such a question. There was Wango, in plain sight, holding some lollypops in one paw, and in the other some jelly beans and coconut candies he had grabbed up from the floor. And in his mouth, with the stick-handles pointing out, were three other lollypops!
"Take him away! Oh, take him away!" begged Mrs. Redden. "He will spoil all the candy in my shop!"
"This is too bad!" exclaimed the sailor, "Wango, behave yourself! You are a bad monkey! Up with you!"
Wango jumped up on his master's shoulder, and hung his head. I really think he was ashamed of what he had done.
"He broke loose from his new chain," said the old sailor, "and I have been looking all over for him. I am glad I have found him, and I will pay for all the candy he spoiled."
"Well, if you do that I can't find any fault," said the store-lady. "But he certainly gave me a great fright."
"And he wouldn't even come down for peanuts," cried Bunny.
"Wango isn't very good to-day," said Mr. Winkler. "I must get a stronger chain for him, I think. Now I'll take him home, and, Mrs. Redden, when you find out how much candy he spoiled, and how many jars he broke, I will come and pay you."
"All right," answered Mrs. Redden. Then the sailor took his monkey home, and the store-lady, after she had given Bunny and Sue the lollypops they came for, began to clean up her place. Certainly Wango had upset it very much.
"He must have come in the store by the back way, when I was out hanging up the clothes," said the candy-shop lady. "He hid under the counter until he saw me open the showcase for you, Bunny. Then he put in his paw, and grabbed the lollypops."
"Yes, that's what he did—I saw him," said Sue, who was now taking the paper off her candy. But she did not put two in her mouth, at once, as the monkey had done. Of course Sue wouldn't do anything like that.
Bunny and Sue made all the folks at home laugh, as they told of Wango's funny tricks.
"Well, it was quite an adventure," said Aunt Lu, "wasn't it?"
"What's an ad—adventure?" Sue wanted to know.
"It's something that happens," her aunt explained.
"Then Wango must be an adventure," said Bunny, "for lots happened to him."
It was two days after the monkey had gotten in the candy-store that Harry Bentley, Charlie Star, Sadie West and Helen Newton came over to play with Bunny and his sister Sue.
"What shall we play?" asked Bunny.
"Hide-and-go-to-seek," said Sadie.
The others liked this game, so they began to play it. Helen covered her eyes with her arms, so she could not see where the others hid, and began counting.
"When I count up to fifty, I'm coming to find you," she said, "and whoever I find first will have to blind next time, and hunt for the rest of us."
Off they all ran to hide. Sue stooped down to hide behind a lilac bush, near "home," which was the side porch. Whoever reached "home" before Helen did, after she had started on her search, would be "in free."
"Ready or not, I'm coming!" called Helen, after she had counted fifty, and she began to look for the hiding ones.
"She'll not find me," said Bunny Brown to himself. "I'm going to hide in a funny place. She'll never find me!"
And where do you think he hid? It was in a queer place—down in an empty rain-water barrel, that stood back of the house. Bunny climbed up into it by standing on a box, and, once inside, he crouched down on the bottom, where anyone would have had to come very close, and look over the edge, to see him. And there Bunny hid.
"Where is Bunny?"
"Bunny! Bunny Brown!"
"Come on in! The game is over and Charlie Star is it. He's going to blind next time, you won't have to!"
"Come on in, Bunny Brown!"
Thus called Helen, Sue and the others who were playing the game of hide-and-go-to-seek. For Bunny had not been found, and he had not run up to touch "home," and be "in free."
Helen had not been able to find the little fellow, so well was he hidden.
"I can't think where he is," she said. "I looked all over."
"But you didn't find ME!" cried Sue, clapping her hands in fun.
"No, you were so close to me, back of the lilac bush, that I never thought of looking there," said Helen. Sue had run "in free," as soon as Helen's back was turned.
"But where is Bunny?" everyone asked.
"Come on in!" they called.
But Bunny did not come.
"Let's all look for him," suggested Charlie Star. "Maybe he went away off down the street, or maybe he is out in the barn."
There was a barn back of the Brown house, in which Bunny's father kept some horses used in his business. The children often played in the barn, especially on rainy days, when they did not go up to the attic.
"Let's look in the barn," Charlie went on.
"It wasn't fair to hide out there," Helen said. "That is too far away."
"Maybe Bunny didn't," suggested Sue.
"Well, we'll look, anyhow," went on Sadie.
Out to the barn trooped the children, but though they looked in the haymow, and in the empty stalls (for most of the horses were out at work) no Bunny could be found.
Then they went back to look around the house, in some of the nooks and corners near which the others had hidden.
"Bunny! Bunny!" they called. "Why don't you come in, so we can have another game? You won't have to blind."
But Bunny did not answer.
Pretty soon Sue began to get a little frightened, and her playmates, too, thought it queer that they could not find Bunny, and that he did not answer.
"Maybe we'd better tell your mother, Sue," Sadie said.
"Yes, for maybe he fell down a hole, and can't get up," suggested Helen.
They called once more, and looked in many other places, but Bunny was not to be found. Then into the house they went.
"Oh, Mother!" cried Sue, her eyes opening wide, "we can't find Bunny anywhere, and he won't answer us."
"Can't find him!"
"Won't answer you!"
Mother Brown and Aunt Lu spoke thus, one after the other.
"We were playing hide-and-go-to-seek," explained Helen, "and Bunny hid himself in such a queer place that we can't find him."
"Maybe it's just one of his tricks," said Aunt Lu.
"No, it can't be a trick," Charlie Star explained, "because Bunny likes to play the game, and he doesn't have to blind this time. We've hollered that at him, but he won't come in."
Seeing that the children were really worried, Mrs. Brown and Aunt Lu said they would come out and help search. They looked in all the places they could think of, and called Bunny's name, as did the others, but the little fellow was not found.
Even Mrs. Brown was beginning to get a little anxious now, and she was thinking of telephoning for Mr. Brown to come home, when Bunny was suddenly found. And it was the cook who found him.
The cook came out to the back door, near which stood the empty rain-water barrel, into which Bunny had climbed to hide. She took from the open top a large towel which, a little while before, she had thrown over the barrel to dry, and, looking down in, she cried out:
"Why here he is! Here's Bunny now!"
And so he was! Curled up on the bottom of the barrel, in a little round ball, and fast asleep, was Bunny Brown.
"Oh, we never looked in there!" exclaimed Sadie West.
"I thought of it," said Helen, "but I saw the towel spread over the top of the barrel, and I didn't see how Bunny could be under it, so I didn't look."
"Well, he's found, anyhow," said his mother, smiling.
They had all gathered around the barrel to look into it, the littler ones standing up on the box, by which Bunny had climbed in. Then Bunny, suddenly awakened, opened his eyes and saw his mother, his Aunt Lu, the cook and his playmates staring down at him.
"Why—why what's the matter?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Oh, Bunny, we couldn't find you!" cried Sue.
"Why, I was right here all the while," Bunny answered. "I climbed in the barrel to hide."
"And didn't you hear us calling that you could come in free?" askedSadie.
Bunny shook his head.
"He was asleep," said Aunt Lu. "He must have fallen asleep as soon as he curled up inside the barrel. That's why he didn't hear. Oh, you funny Bunny boy!" and she laughed and hugged Bunny, who was helped out of the barrel by his mother.
"I never saw him down in there when I came to the door a while ago, and threw the cloth over the barrel," explained the cook. "I thought the barrel would be a good place to dry the towel. And to think I covered Bunny up with it!"
"If it hadn't been for the towel we'd have looked in the barrel ourselves," said Charlie Star.
"I guess it was so nice and quiet and warm in the barrel that I went to sleep before I knew it," Bunny remarked.
"I guess you did," laughed his mother.
"Shall we play some more?" asked Helen.
"Oh, yes!" cried Bunny. "And I won't hide in the barrel again."
So the game went on, the children hiding in different places, some of which were easily found, while others were so well hidden that it was a long while before the one who "blinded" discovered them.
"Now let's play tag!" cried Sue, after a while. She liked this game very much, though her legs were so short that she could not run very fast, and she was often "tagged" and made "it."
"No, don't play any more just now," called Aunt Lu, coming down to the yard where the children were. "Come up on the porch. I have a little treat for you."
"Oh, is it ice cream?" asked Bunny eagerly. "I hope it is. I'm so hot!"
"You'll have to wait and see," his aunt answered, with a smile.
"Oh, it's just as good as ice cream!" cried Sue, when she saw where her aunt had spread a little table, on the shady side of the porch.
"Lemonade!" murmured Bunny, as he saw the big pitcher which he and Sue had used at their street stand.
"And tarts—jam tarts and jelly tarts!" added Sue. "Oh! oh! oh!"
And that was the treat Aunt Lu had made for the children. There were two plates of tarts, one with jam coming up through the three little round holes in the top crust, and others in which jelly showed. Both were very good. And the cool lemonade was good also.
"Oh, I just love to come over to your house to play, Sue!" said SadieWest.
"So do I!" chorused the other children.
"We do have such good times!" added Charlie Star.
"And such good things to eat," came from Harry Bentley. "Those tarts are—awful good!" and he sighed.
"Would you like another?" asked Aunt Lu, with a laugh in her eyes and a smile on her lips.
"If you please," answered Harry, as he passed his plate.
Then, after the children had rested, they played more games, until it was time to go home.
One day, when Bunker Blue came to the Brown home, to bring up some fish Mr. Brown had sent, Bunny, who was out in the yard with Splash, the big shaggy dog, said to the red-haired youth:
"Bunker, you know lots of things; don't you?"
"Well, I wouldn't want to say that, Bunny. There's lots and lots of things I don't know."
"But you can sail a boat; can't you?"
"Oh, yes, I can do that,"
"Well, I wish I could. And do you know how to make a dog harness, Bunker? Do you know how to harness up a dog so he could pull an express wagon?"
"Yes, I guess I know how to do that, Bunny."
"Then I wish you'd harness Splash to my wagon," Bunny went on. "I've tried and tried, and I can't do it. The harness breaks all the while, and when I put the handle of the wagon between Splash's legs he falls down—it trips him up."
"Of course," Bunker said. "You ought to have two handles to the wagon, and Splash could stand in between them, just as a horse is hitched to a wagon."
"Oh, could you fix my wagon that way, Bunker?"
"I might, if your mother said it was all right."
"I'll ask her. And will you make me a harness for Splash?"
"I'll try, Bunny."
Mrs. Brown said she did not mind if Bunker fixed the wagon and made a harness so Bunny could hitch Splash to the express wagon, for the big dog was kind and gentle.
"Oh, what fun Sue and I will have!" cried Bunny. "We'll get lots of rides in the wagon."
It did not take Bunker long to make two handles, or "shafts," as they are called, for Bunny's wagon. Then he made a harness for the dog—a harness strong enough not to break. One day, when all was finished, Splash was hitched to the wagon, and Bunny was given the reins. They went around the neck of Splash, for of course you can not put in a dog's mouth an iron bit, as you can in that of a horse.
Bunny found that he could guide his dog from one side to the other by pulling on either the right or left rein. And Splash did not seem to mind pulling the wagon with Bunny in it. He went around the yard very nicely.
"Oh, give me a ride, Bunny!" begged Sue, who came in just then from having been down to Sadie West's house, having a dolls' party.
"Yes, I'll give you a ride, Sue," Bunny said. "Get in! Whoa, Splash!" he called. The dog did not "whoa" very well, but finally he stopped, and Sue got in the wagon, sitting behind Bunny.
They drove around the yard for a while, and then Sue said:
"Oh, Bunny, let's go out on the sidewalk, where it's nice and smooth. It will be easier for Splash to pull us then." Bunny thought this would be fun, so he guided the dog out through the gate. The wagon did go more smoothly on the sidewalk, and Splash trotted a little faster.
"Oh, this is fun!" cried Bunny.
"I like it!" laughed Sue, who had her arms around Bunny's waist, so she would not fall out backwards.
They had not gone very far before Sue cried:
"Oh, Bunny! Look! There's that yellow dog—the one that had the tin can tied to his tail—the one that upset our lemonade stand!"
"So it is!" said Bunny.
And, just at that moment, Splash also saw the yellow dog.
With a bark and a wag of his tail, Splash gave a big jump, nearly throwing Bunny and Sue out of the wagon. Then the big dog began to run after the little one.
"Whoa! Whoa!" cried Bunny, pulling on the reins. But Splash would not stop. Faster and faster he ran. He only wanted to see his little yellow dog friend again, and rub noses with him. But I guess the yellow dog was frightened when he saw the express wagon, with the two children in it, following after Splash.
Maybe the yellow dog thought the wagon was tied to the tail of Splash, as the tin can had once been to his own. And maybe the little yellow dog thought some one would now tie an express wagon to his tail. At any rate he ran on faster and faster, And Splash, who just wanted to speak to him, in dog language, ran on faster too.
"Bumpity-bump-bump!" went the wagon with Bunny and Sue in it.
"Whoa! Whoa!" called Bunny.
But Splash would not stop. He was running away, but he did not mean to. He just wanted to catch up to the little yellow dog who was running on ahead.
"Oh, Bunny! Can't you make him stop?" cried Sue, as she clung with her arms about her brother's waist, while the wagon swayed from side to side.
"I—I'm trying to," answered Bunny, pulling as hard as he could on the reins. "But he won't stop. Whoa! Whoa!" and Bunny called as loudly as he could.
Down the street Splash kept running. He was getting nearer to the little yellow dog, for this dog had only short legs, and Splash had long ones, and, of course, anyone with long legs can run faster than anyone with short legs.
"I—I'm going to fall out!" Sue cried. "I—I'm slipping, Bunny! I'm falling!"
"Hold on! Hold on tight!" Bunny begged his sister, for the wagon was going very fast, and he knew if she fell out on the hard sidewalk she would get a hard bump.
Sue clasped her arms as tightly as she could about her brother's waist, but her arms were short, and Bunny was rather fat, so it was not easy for her to hold fast. Still she did her best.
Several persons on the other side of the street saw Bunny and Sue having a fast ride in the toy express wagon, drawn by the big dog, but they did not think the Brown children were in a runaway, which is just what they were.
"My! what fun Bunny Brown and his sister Sue are having!" said one man, as he watched the express wagon bump along.
"Yes, they always seem to be having good times," replied a lady.
If they had only known it was a runaway, they might have run across the street and stopped Splash from going so fast.
On and on went the big dog. He was almost up to the yellow one now, and the yellow dog began to yelp. Perhaps he thought he was going to be caught and hurt. Or maybe he feared Bunny or Sue would try to make him pull the big wagon, with them in it.
But of course they wouldn't think of such a thing, and as for Splash, I have told you that all he wanted to do was to rub noses with his little yellow friend.
As the wagon rumbled past the house where lived Mr. Jed Winkler, the old sailor, who owned Wango, the monkey, came out to the front gate. I mean Mr. Winkler came out, not Wango, for he had been tightly chained, after the fun he had had in Mrs. Redden's candy shop.
"My! What a fine ride you are having!" called Mr. Winkler.
"Oh! It's not a nice ride at all!" answered Sue. "We're being runned away with! Please stop Splash!"
"Goodness me!" exclaimed Mr. Winkler. "A runaway! Well, I must stop it, of course!"
Out he ran from his yard to race after Splash, but there was no need for the old sailor to catch the big dog. For, just then, the little yellow dog stumbled, and turned a somersault. And before he could pick himself up, and run on again, Splash had caught up to him.
Now, this was all that Splash wanted to do—catch up to the yellow dog and rub noses with him. And as soon as Splash saw that the little dog had stopped, Splash stopped also.
But he stopped so suddenly that the wagon almost ran up on his back. It turned around, and then it went over on one side, so that Bunny and Sue were spilled out. But they fell on some soft grass, so they were not hurt a bit, though Sue's dress was stained.
And as soon as the little yellow dog found that he was not going to be hurt, but that Splash was just going to be friends with him, why the two animals just sat down in the grass find rubbed noses and, I suppose, talked to each other in dog language, if there is any such thing.
Bunny helped Sue get up, and then Mr. Winkler came running along. He could not go very fast, for he was aged, and he was a little lame, because of rheumatism, from having been out so many cold and wet nights when he was a sailor on a ship.
"Well, well, youngsters!" exclaimed Mr. Winkler. "You had quite a spill; didn't you?"
"But we didn't get hurt," said Bunny, who was looking at the wagon and harness to see that it was not broken. Everything seemed to be all right. "We're not hurt a bit," Bunny laughed.
"Well, I'm glad of that," went on Mr. Winkler, as he helped Bunny put the wagon right side up and straight once more. "How did it happen?"
"Splash just runned away," replied Sue, "He runned after the yellow dog."
"And he caught him all right," laughed Mr. Winkler. "But they seem to be great friends now. Who made your harness, Bunny?"
"Bunker Blue did. He can make lots of things."
"Yes, I guess he can," agreed the old sailor. "But I hope, after this, that Splash won't run away with you when you go for a ride."
"Well, it didn't hurt much, to fall out," laughed Bunny. "Now we'll ride back again."
Splash went back very slowly. Perhaps he was tired, or he may have been sorry that he had run so fast at first, and had upset the wagon. The yellow dog went off by himself, and he was glad, I guess, that he did not have to pull a wagon with two children in it. But Splash seemed to enjoy it.
Mrs. Brown and Aunt Lu had not seen the runaway, or they might not have wanted Bunny and Sue to take any more rides in the express wagon. But the two children had lots of fun the rest of the morning, riding up and down, and Splash acted very nicely, stopping when Bunny called "Whoa!" and going on again when the little boy said, "Giddap!"
"Oh, it's just like a real horse!" exclaimed Sue, clapping her hands."Will you let me hold the lines, Bunny?"
"Yes," answered her brother, and soon Sue could drive Splash almost as well as Bunny could.
For several days after that Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had many good times with their dog and express wagon. They gave their playmates rides up and down the sidewalk, and never once again did Splash run away. But then he did not see his friend, the little yellow dog, or he might have raced after him just as at first.
When Bunny and Sue were eating breakfast one morning, Mrs. Gordon, whose husband kept the grocery store, came in to see Mrs. Brown.
"I wonder if your children could not help me?" said Mrs. Gordon, as she sat down in a chair in the dining room, and fanned herself with her apron. She lived next door to the Brown home.
"Well, Bunny and Sue are always glad to help," said their mother, smiling at them. "What is it you want them to do?"
"Do you want a ride in our express wagon, Mrs. Gordon?" asked Bunny.
"Or maybe have us sell lemonade for you?" added Sue.
"Bless your hearts! It isn't either of those things," answered Mrs.Gordon, with a laugh. "I just want you to help me hunt for a hen's nest.That's all."
"Look for a hen's nest!" exclaimed Bunny.
"Yes," said Mrs. Gordon. "One of my hens has strayed off by herself and is laying her eggs in a nest I can't find. I've looked all over our yard for it, but perhaps it is in your barn," she went on to Mrs. Brown. "And if it is, maybe Bunny and Sue could find it."
"Oh, maybe we could!" Bunny cried.
"It will be fun to look!" said Sue. "Come on, Bunny."
"Be careful you don't fall," their mother cautioned them, as they ran out, hardly waiting to finish their breakfast.
Hens, you know, often like to go quietly off by themselves, and lay their eggs in a nest that no one can find. And this is what one of Mrs. Gordon's hens had done.
Into the barn ran Bunny and Sue.
"We'll see who'll find the nest first!" Bunny shouted.
"I think I shall," cried Sue.
And now you wait and see what happens.
There were many places in the barn where a hen might lay her eggs. There were nooks under wagons, or under wheelbarrows, corners behind boxes, and any number of holes in the place where the hay for the horses was kept—the haymow, as it is called.
Bunny and Sue looked in all the places they could think of. But they did not see a hen sitting in her hidden nest, nor did they find the white eggs she might have laid.
"I guess the nest isn't here," said Bunny after a while.
"No, I guess not, too," echoed Sue. "Let's slide down the hay."
The hay in the mow was quite high in one place, and low in another, like a little hill. Bunny and Sue could climb to the top, or high place of the hay, and slide down, for it was quite slippery.
Up they climbed, and down they slid, quite fast. They had done this a number of times, when finally Sue said:
"Oh, Bunny, I'm going to slide down in a new place!"
She went over to one side of the hay-hill, and down she slid. And then something funny happened.
There was a sort of crackling sound, and Sue called out:
"Oh, Bunny! Bunny! I've found the hen's nest, and I'm right in it!"
Bunny Brown quickly slid down on his side of the hay-hill. He could see his sister Sue, who was sitting in a little hollow place.
"What—what's the matter?" Bunny asked, for Sue had a funny look on her face.
"I found Mrs. Gordon's hen's nest," answered the little girl, "and I'm right in it!"
"In what?" Bunny wanted to know.
"In the nest. I'm sitting in it—right on the eggs, just like a hen. Only," said Sue, and the funny look on her face changed into a sort of smile, "only I—I've broken all the eggs!"
And that is just what she had done.
Oh! how Sue was covered with the whites and yellows of the eggs!
She had slid down the haymow on a side where she and Bunny did not often play, and she had slid right into the hen's nest. The children had not thought of looking there for it.
But Sue had found it.
Slowly she stood up. She and Bunny looked into the nest And, just as Sue had said, all the eggs were broken.
"Oh, it's too bad!" the little girl exclaimed. "Mrs. Gordon will be so sorry."
"You couldn't help it," declared Bunny, "You—you just slid into 'em!"
"Yes," went on Sue. "I didn't see the nest at all, but I heard the eggs break, and there I was, sitting there on them just like a hen. Oh, dear! Look at my dress!"
"It will wash out," said her brother. "You might go down and wade in the brook. But we couldn't, without asking mother, and then she'd see you anyhow."
"Oh, I'll tell her!" exclaimed Sue. "We'd better go in, 'cause if egg-stuff dries on you it's awful hard to get off. Aunt Lu said so when she baked a cake yesterday."
"Well, we can come back and slide some more."
"Yes, after I get clean. And we'll have to tell Mrs. Gordon, too; won't we, Bunny?"
"Oh, yes. But she has lots of hens and eggs, so she won't care."
Mrs. Brown and Aunt Lu were much surprised when Bunny Brown and his sister Sue came in, Sue all white and yellow from the eggs. But Sue's mother knew it was something that could not be helped, so she did not scold. She changed Sue's dress, and then she said:
"Now you and Bunny run over and tell Mrs. Gordon."
When the grocery-store-keeper's wife saw Bunny and Sue coming over to her house she thought perhaps their mother had sent them on an errand, as Mrs. Brown often did. For the time Mrs. Gordon had forgotten about the hidden hen's nest. In fact, she had not thought that Bunny and Sue would really spend much time looking for it. So when Sue said:
"I—I found it, Mrs. Gordon!"
Mrs. Gordon asked:
"What did you find, Sue, a penny rolling up hill?"
That was the way Mrs. Gordon sometimes joked with Bunny and Sue.
"No'm. I found your hen's nest, and I sat in it and broke all the eggs," said Sue. "I—I'm sorry."
"And I'm sorry with her," added Bunny.
"Bless your little hearts! What's it all about?" asked Mrs. Gordon with a laugh. Then Bunny and Sue told her, and she laughed harder than ever. Bunny and Sue smiled, for now they knew Mrs. Gordon did not mind about the broken eggs.
"Well, I'm glad you found the nest, anyhow, if you did break the eggs," said the storekeeper's wife. "Maybe now my hen will not go over into your barn, but will make her nest in our coop, where she ought to make it. So it's all right, Sue, and here are some cookies for you and Bunny."
The two children were very glad they had gone to tell Mrs. Gordon about the eggs, for they liked cookies.
That afternoon, when Sadie West, Helen Newton, Charlie Star and Harry Bentley came over to play with Bunny and Sue, they had to be shown the place in the hay where Sue "found" the eggs. One of Mr. Brown's stable men had taken out the broken shells, for he did not want them to get in the hay that the horses ate. The inside of the eggs did not matter, for horses like them anyhow.
The children saw a hen walking around on the hay, near the place whereSue had slid into the eggs.
"I guess that's the hen that had her nest here," said Sadie.
"And she is wondering where it is now," added Bunny. "Go on away, Mrs.Hen!" he exclaimed. "Go lay your eggs in Mrs. Gordon's coop."
And the hen, cackling, flew away.
"Let's all slide down," said Charlie Star. "Let's slide in the hay."
"Oh, yes!" cried Sue. "And maybe we'll find some more nests. But I don't want to slide in any if we do find some," she said. "I don't want to get this dress dirty."
The children had great fun sliding down the hay-hill, but they found no more eggs. They played at this for some time, and then Charlie Star called:
"Let's go out and climb trees!"
"Girls can't climb trees," objected Sadie.
"Some girls can," answered Charlie. "I have a girl cousin, and she can climb a tree as good as I can. But she lives in the country," he went on.
"Oh, of course if a girl lives in the country she can climb a tree,"Helen Newton said "But we live in a town. I don't want to climb trees."
"I like it," said Bunny Brown. "I'm glad I know how to climb a tree, 'cause if a dog chased after me I could climb up, and he couldn't get me. Dogs can't climb trees."
"Cats can," said Sadie. "I saw our cat climb a tree once."
"But cats don't chase after you," remarked Charlie.
"Our cat chased a mouse once," observed Sue. "Can a mouse climb a tree,Bunny?"
"No, a mouse can't climb a tree," answered Sue's brother. "But we fellows will go out and climb, though there aren't any dogs to chase us. Splash won't, but he'll play tag with us."
"Well, if you are going to climb trees, we'll play dolls," said Sue. "Come on," she added to her two little girl friends. "We'll get our dolls, and have a play party."
Sadie and Helen, who did not live far away, ran home and got their dolls. Sue brought out hers, and the girls had a nice time on the shady side of the porch. Mrs. Brown gave them some cookies, and some crackers, which were cut in the shapes of different animals, and with these, and some lemonade in little cups, Sue and her chums had lots of fun.
Bunny, Charlie and Harry went to the back yard, where there were some old apple trees, with branches very close to the ground, so they were easy to climb. Bunny had often done it, and so had his two little boy friends.
As they were near the trees George Watson passed through the next lot, on the other side of the fence from the Brown land.
"I can climb trees better than any of you," George said. "If you let me come into your yard, Bunny, I'll show you how to climb."
"Oh, don't let him in!" exclaimed Charlie. "He threw the box of frogs at us the time you had your party. Don't you let him in!"
"No, I wouldn't, either," added Harry.
"Oh, please!" begged George. "I won't throw any more frogs at you."
"Go on away!" ordered Charlie.
But Bunny Brown was kind-hearted. He had forgiven George for the trick about the frogs. And Bunny wanted to learn all he could about climbing trees.
"Yes, you can come in, George," said Sue's brother.
George was very glad to do so, for he liked to play with these boys, though he was older than they were. And since his trick with the jumping frogs, in the box, George had been rather lonesome.
"Now I'll show you how to climb trees!" he said.
"I can climb this one," declared Bunny, going over to one in which he had often gone up several feet.
"Oh, that's an easy one," said George with a laugh. "You ought to try and climb a hard one, like this."
Up went George, quite high, in a larger tree. Charlie and Harry also each got into a bigger tree than the one Bunny had picked out. And of course Bunny, like any boy, wanted to do as he saw the others doing.
"Pooh! I can climb a big tree, too," he said. He got down from the one he had picked out, and started up another. He watched how George put first one foot on a branch and then the other foot, at the same time pulling himself up by his hands. Bunny did very well until his foot slipped and went down in a hole in the tree, where the wood had rotted away, leaving a hollow place.
Down into this hollow, that might some day be a squirrel's nest, wentBunny's foot and leg. Then he cried out:
"Oh, I'm caught! I'm caught! My foot is fast, and I can't pull it loose!"
And that was what had happened. Bunny's foot had gone so deep down in the hollow place of the tree, and the hollow was so small, that the little boy's foot had become wedged fast. Pull as he did, he could not get it up. "Wait—I'll help you!" called George.
He scrambled from his tree, and ran over to where Bunny was caught. Bunny could not get down, but had to stand with one foot on a branch, and the other in the hole, holding on to the trunk, or body, of the tree with both hands.
"Oh!" exclaimed Charlie, "s'posin' he can't ever get loose!"
"We could chop the tree down," said Harry.
But George thought he could get Bunny loose easier than that. George got a box, so he could stand on it and reach up to Bunny's leg without getting up in the tree himself. Then George pulled and tugged away, trying to lift up Bunny's foot.
But it would not come. It was caught, as if in a trap, and the longer Bunny stood up, pressing down on his foot, the more tightly it was wedged.
"Now for a good pull!" cried George, and he gave a hard tug.
"Ouch! You hurt!" said Bunny, and George had to stop.
"Well, I don't know what to do," he said. "I'll have to get you loose some way. Come on," he called to Charlie and Harry. "You get hold of his leg and we'll all pull."
"Then you'll hurt me more," said Bunny. "Go tell mamma. She will know what to do!"
"Yes, I guess that's best," George said.
Mrs. Brown came running out when the three boys, who were a little frightened, told her Bunny was caught in a tree.
"Oh, is he hanging head down?" asked Aunt Lu, as she hurried out afterBunny's mother.
"No, he's standing up, but his leg is down in a hole," said George. "We can't get him out."
But Mrs. Brown easily set matters right.
She put her hand down in the tree-hole, beside Bunny's leg, the hole being big enough for this. Then, with her fingers, Mrs. Brown unbuttoned Bunny's shoe, and said:
"Now pull out your foot."
Bunny could easily do this, as it was his shoe that was caught, and not his foot. His foot was smaller than his shoe, you see.
Carefully he lifted his foot and leg out of he hole of the tree, and then his mother helped him to the ground.
"But what about my shoe?" Bunny asked, with a queer look on his face."Has my shoe got to stay in the tree, Mother?"
"No, I think I can get it out," said Mrs. Brown. Once more she put her hand down in the hollow, and, now that Bunny's foot was out of his shoe, it could easily be bent and twisted, so that it came loose.
"There you are!" exclaimed Aunt Lu, as she buttoned Bunny's shoe on him again, using a hairpin for a buttonhook. "Now don't climb any more trees."
"I'll just climb my own little tree," Bunny said. "That hasn't any hole in it."
And while the tree-climbing fun was going on Bunny only went up his own little tree, where he was in no danger.
After a time the boys became tired of this play, and when Sue, Sadie and Helen invited them to come to the "play-party," Bunny and his friends were pleased enough to come.
"And we're going to have real things to eat, and not make-believe ones,Bunny," said Sue.
"That's good!" laughed George. "I'm glad you let me play with you."
The others were glad also, for George said he was sorry about the frogs, and would not play any more tricks.
Mrs. Brown gave the girls some more cookies, and Aunt Lu handed out some of her nice jam and jelly tarts. Then the girls set a little table, made of a box covered with paper, and the boys sat down to eat, pretending they were at a picnic.
On several days after this the children had good times in the yard of Bunny Brown and his sister Sue. It was now almost summer, and one morning Aunt Lu said:
"Well, children, this is my last week here."
"Oh, where are you going?" asked Bunny.
"Back home, dear. To New York. And I want you to come and see me there.Will you?"
"If mamma will let us," said Sue.
"I'll think about it," promised Mrs. Brown.
So Aunt Lu got ready to go back home. And as she walked about with Bunny and Sue, paying last visits to the fish dock, the river and the other nice places, Aunt Lu seemed sad. She looked down at the ground, and often glanced at her finger on which she had worn the diamond ring.
"Sue," said Bunny one day, "I know what makes Aunt Lu so sad."
"What is it?"
"Losing her ring. And I know a way that might make her glad, so she would smile and be happy again."
"What way?"
"Let's give a Punch and Judy show for her," said Bunny. "We'll get Sadie and Helen, and George and Charlie and Harry to help us. We'll give a Punch and Judy show!"
"Oh, what fun!" cried Sue, clapping her hands.
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had often talked about giving a Punch and Judy show. They had often seen one, at picnics or at church sociables, and Bunny knew by heart a few of the things Mr. Punch had to say. He did not stop to think that perhaps he could not get behind the curtain, and make the little wooden figures do the funny things they were supposed to do. And he did not know where he could get the queer little doll-like figures.
"But I can do something, anyhow," said Bunny, who was a very ambitious little boy. Ambitious means he was always willing to try to do things, whether or not he was sure he could really do them.
"What can I do?" asked Sue. "I want to make Aunt Lu happy."
"Well, you can be Mrs. Judy part of the time," her brother answered, "and you can pull the curtains over when Mr. Punch has to change his clothes, and things like that. I'm going to be Mr. Punch."
"And wear the lobster claw?" asked Sue.
"Yes, on my nose. That's what I got it for. I can make little holes in each side, and put strings in them, and tie the lobster claw on my nose with the string around my head."
"It will be fun, Bunny. I wish it were time for the show now."
"Oh, we've got lots to do," said the little boy. "We've got to tell Sadie and the rest of 'em, and we've got to get tickets, and put up a tent."
"A tent!" cried Sue. "Where is a tent?"
"That's so," admitted Bunny, looking puzzled, "We haven't got a tent. But we can have the Punch and Judy show in our barn," he went on quickly, "and you can stand at the door and take the money, and sell tickets—that is, when you aren't being Mrs. Punch."
"Aunt Lu won't have to buy a ticket, will she?" Sue wanted to know.
"Course not!" Bunny cried. "She's company. 'Sides, we're making the show for her, so she won't be so sad about her ring."
"I wish we could find it for her," Sue sighed.
"So do I," came from Bunny. "But I guess we never shall. Now we must go and tell Sadie and Helen and the others about the show."
"Are they going to be in it?" asked his sister.
"No, they won't be Mr. or Mrs. Punch, but we want them to buy tickets and come."
"How much are tickets?"
Bunny thought for a moment.
"We'll charge pins and money—money for the big folks, pins for children."
"That will be nice," said Sue, "'cause children can always get pins off their mothers' cushions, but they can't always get money. What will we do with the pins, Bunny?"
"Sell 'em. Mother will buy 'em, or maybe Aunt Lu will. No," he said quickly, "Aunt Lu is company, and we don't want her to buy pins. We'll give her all she wants for nothing."
"And what will we do with the money, Bunny?"
"We'll give it to Old Miss Hollyhock, same as we did the lemonade money.Then she'll sure be rich."
"That will be nice," Sue murmured.
The first thing to do was to tell the other children about the coming Punch and Judy show. This Bunny and Sue did, going to the different houses of their playmates. Everyone thought the idea was just too fine for anything.
"I'll lend you some of my old dresses, Sue, so you can look real funny, like Mrs. Punch," said Sadie.
"And I have a red hat I got at a surprise party," said Helen. "You can have that."
"Thanks," laughed Sue. "Oh, I know we'll have fun."
Harry and Charlie said they would help Bunny.
"But making the box-place, like a little theatre, where Mr. Punch stands, is going to be hard," Harry said, shaking his head.
"I'll get Bunker Blue to help us," said Bunny. "We could ask Uncle Tad, but we don't want any of the folks to know what it is going to be until it's time for the show."
"Oh, Bunker can make the little theatre, all right," Charlie said. "And we can help him."
"George Watson would like to help," suggested Harry. "He has been real nice since he let the frogs loose on us."
"We'll ask him, too," decided Bunny.
Bunker Blue was very glad to help the children build a Punch and Judy show.
"And I won't tell anyone a thing about it," he promised. "We'll keep it for a surprise."
Bunker was just the best one Bunny could have thought of to help. For Bunker worked around Mr. Brown's boats, and could get pieces of wood, boards, nails and sail-cloth, to make a little curtain for the tiny theatre where Bunny would pretend to be Mr. Punch.
The day after Bunny and Sue had thought of the plan to make Aunt Lu not so sad, by giving a little entertainment for her, the children went out in the barn to practise. Their playmates came over to help, though there was not much for them to do, since Bunny and Sue (and more especially Bunny) were to be the "whole show."
Banker had not yet made the tall, narrow box, inside of which Bunny was to stand, and pretend to be Mr. Punch, but they did not need it for practice.
Bunny and Sue had told their mother they were going to have a "show" out in the barn, but they did not say what kind, nor tell why they wanted it. But they had to say something, so Mrs. Brown would let them play there, and also let them take some of their old clothes, in which to "dress-up."
"Have as much fun as you like," said Mrs. Brown, "but don't slide down in any hens' nests with eggs in them," she added to Sue.
"I won't, Mother."
Bunny fixed the hollow lobster claw, with a string in a hole on either side of it, so he could tie it on his nose. Bunker bored the holes for him with a knife, and cut the claw so it would fit, and when Bunny put the queer red claw, shaped just like Mr. Punch's nose, on his face, the little boy was so funny that all his playmates laughed.
Then, too, when Bunny talked, his voice sounded very different from what it did every day. If you will hold your nose in your hand, and talk, you will know just how Bunny's voice sounded.
"Oh, it's too funny!" laughed Sadie. "I know it is going to be a lovely show! Your Aunt Lu will be very much surprised."
When Bunny practised in the barn he did not wear the lobster claw on his nose, except the first time, to see how it looked.
"It's too hot to wear it all the while," he said, "and it makes me want to scratch my nose, and when I do that I can't talk. So I'll put the claw away, and I'll only wear it the day of the show."
Of course Bunny and Sue could not give a Punch and Judy play like the real one, which, perhaps, you have seen. They did not have the wooden figures, like dolls, to use, and they were too small to know all the things the real Mr. Punch says and does.
But Bunny knew some of them, and really, for a little boy, he did very well. At least all his playmates said so.
In a few days Bunker Blue had the little theatre made, and as he brought it up to the Brown barn in a wagon, carefully covered over, no one could see what it was. George Watson had been asked to help, and he had made tickets for the play. The tickets, which George printed with some rubber type, read:
FINE BIG SHOWBYBUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUEIn Their BarnFive Pins or Five Cents To Come InPins Are for ChildrenPLEASE COME
"They're fine tickets," said Bunny, when George showed them to him. "I hope we sell a lot."
And several persons did buy them, paying real money for them. Bunny and the others said they were trying to help Old Miss Hollyhock, which was one reason for giving the show. The other was to make Aunt Lu feel more happy. And when the people heard what Bunny and Sue planned to do, they gladly bought one ticket, and some even more. Though not all of them would really go to the show.
One day Bunny and Sue went down to Mrs. Redden's toy shop. She bought a ticket from them, and Sue and Bunny each bought a penny's worth of candy. Coming out of the store, the children saw an automobile, belonging to Mr. Reinberg, who kept the dry-goods store. He was just getting out of the automobile.
"Oh, Mr. Reinberg, please give us a ride!" begged Bunny.
"All right," answered the store-keeper. "Get in, and I'll give you a ride; that is if your mother will let you go," and he hurried into the post-office, which was near Mrs. Redden's store.
"Get in, Sue," said Bunny. "We'll have a fine ride."
"Oh, but he said if mamma would let us. We'll have to ask her."
"Well, we can ask him to ride us up to our house, and we can tell mamma, there, that we're going," said Bunny. "Then it will be all right."
So he and Sue got in the back part of the automobile, the door of which was open. The children sat up on the seat, waiting for Mr. Reinberg to come out of the post-office, but he stayed there for some time. Bunny and Sue thought it would be fun to sit down in the bottom of the car, and pretend they were in a boat. Down they slipped, making a soft nest for themselves with the robes, or blankets, which they pulled from the seat.
Mr. Reinberg came out of the post-office. He was in such a hurry that he never thought about Bunny and Sue's having asked him for a ride. He just shut the door of the car, took his place at the steering wheel and away he went. He did not see the children sitting down in the bottom, partly covered with the robe. For Bunny and Sue, just then, were pretending that it was night on their make-believe steamer, and they had "gone to bed."
And there they were, being given an automobile ride, and Mr. Reinberg didn't know a thing about it. Wasn't that funny?