"Here. You're too little for such a job as this!" cried Tom, as he stepped in front of Bunny. "That's an old, tough bird and he's a born fighter. Better let me tackle him."
Bunny was a brave little boy, but when he saw how large and fierce the gobbler was his heart failed him a little. The big Thanksgiving bird just then made a furious rush at Sue, and as she jumped back Tom stepped up in her place. The turkey did not seem to mind whom he attacked, as long as it was some one, though probably Sue's red dress had excited him in the first place, though why bulls and turkeys should not like red I can not tell you.
"Look out, Tom!" called Bunny. "He's a bad one!"
"He certainly is fierce all right," answered Tom. "He's coming with a rush!"
As he spoke the turkey made a rush for him,keeping off the ground with outstretched wings and claws. He went: "Gobble-obble-obble!" in loud tones as though trying to scare the children.
Tom was ready with a heavy stick he had caught up, and as the big bird sailed at him through the air the lad aimed a blow at the gobbler.
But the turkey seemed to be on the lookout for this, and dodged. Then, before Tom could get ready for another blow, the gobbler landed back of the lad, and came on with another rush.
"Look out!" cried Bunny, but his warning came too late. The turkey landed on Tom's back and began nipping and clawing him.
"Get off! Get off!" cried the poorhouse lad, trying in vain to reach up with his club and hit the gobbler hard enough to knock him to the ground.
But Tom's club was of little use, with the big bird on his back. Bunny saw this and cried:
"Wait a minute and I'll throw some stones at him."
"You might hit Tom instead of the gobbler," said Sue, who was safe out of harm's way behind a big pile of wood. "Don't throw any stones, Bunny."
"No, you'd better not," said Tom. "I'll try to shake him off."
So he rushed about here and there, swaying his back from side to side, trying to make the turkey fall off. But the gobbler had fastened his claws in the back of Tom's ragged coat, and there he clung, now and then nipping with his strong bill Tom's head and neck.
"Here comesSplash!" cried Bunny. "He'll soon make that turkey gobbler behave."
Up the sandy beach of the lake shore came Splash racing. He had stopped to look at a little crayfish, and it had nipped his nose, so Splash was not feeling any too pleasant. Most of you children know that a crayfish is like a little lobster.
"Here, Splash! Splash!" cried Bunny. "Come and drive this bad turkey off Tom!"
"Bow-wow!" barked the big dog, as he came running.
"Tell him to hurry," begged Tom. "Ican't shake him off and he's biting deep into my neck. I'm feared he'll bore a hole in it!"
"Hurry up, Splash! Hurry up!" urged Bunny.
"Bow-wow!" barked Splash again, which, I suppose, was his way of saying he would.
On he came, and, all this while, the gobbler was on top of Tom's back, gobbling away, fluttering his wings and now and then making savage pecks at the boy's shoulders and neck.
"Splash will make him go away," said Bunny. "Splash likes you now, Tom. He's a friend of yours, for he shook hands, and he'll do anything you want."
"Well, all I want is for him to get this gobbler off me," said the ragged boy.
"Hi, Splash!" cried Bunny. "Get at this bad gobbler!"
Splash rushed up to Tom, and then, raising up on his hind legs, nipped at the gobbler. The big bird made a louder noise than ever, and suddenly jumped down from Tom's back.
"Ha! I knew you'd do it!" cried Bunny in delight. But just then something queer happened.
Splash, seeing the bird flop down to the ground, made a dash for the gobbler with open mouth, barking the while.
"Now watch that old gobbler run!" cried Bunny, capering about.
But instead it was Splash that ran. Unable to stand the sight of the big bird, with outspread and drooping wings, with all his feathers puffed out to make him look twice as large as he really was, and with an angry "Gobble-obble-obble" coming from his beak, Splash ran. It was no wonder, for the turkey was a terrifying sight. I think even a tiger, a lion or perhaps an elephant would have run.
"Come back! Come back, Splash!" called Bunny. "We want you to drive the turkey gobbler away from us."
But the gobbler was already going away. He was going right after Splash, who was running down the road as fast as he could go.
"Well, we're all right," said Tom. "That bird won't bother us any more."
"And I hope he doesn't come for me," said Sue. "He scared me."
"But what about poor Splash?" askedBunny quickly. "He'll scare our nice dog awful."
"Splash seems to be getting away," remarked Tom, rubbing the place in the back of his neck where the turkey had nipped him.
"Oh! Oh, dear!" cried Bunny. "Look what's happening now. Splash is coming back this way and the turkey is coming with him. Oh, what shall we do?"
"He won't bother us as long as he has Splash to chase," said Tom.
"But I don't want him to chase Splash!" said Bunny.
The children watched what happened.
Splash, with the turkey close behind him, was running back to a spot in front of the barn, where Bunny, his sister Sue and Tom were standing. Just as the dog reached there the turkey caught him by the tail.
And I just wish you could have heard Splash howl! No, on second thoughts, it is just as well you did not. For you love animals, I am sure, and you do not like to see them in pain. And Splash was certainly in pain or he would not have howled the way hedid. And I think if a big, strong turkey gobbler had hold of your tail, and was pulling as hard as he could, you would have howled too. That is, if you had a tail.
Anyhow Splash howled and tried to swing around so he could bite the gobbler, but the big bird kept out of reach.
"Oh, what can we do?" asked Sue.
"Get sticks and beat the gobbler!" cried Tom.
"No, wait. I know a better way," said Bunny.
"What?" asked his sister.
"I'll show you," answered the little boy. He had seen on the green lawn of the farmhouse a water hose. It was attached to a faucet near the ground and the water came from a big tank on the house into which it was pumped by a gasolene engine.
Bunny ran to the hose. The water was turned off at the nozzle, but it was the same kind of nozzle as the one on the Brown's hose at home, so Bunny knew how to work it.
In an instant he turned the nozzle, andaimed the hose at the turkey which still had hold of the poor dog's tail.
All over the turkey splashed the water, and as the big bird tried to gobble, and keep hold of Splash's tail at the same time, and as the water went down its throat, the noise, instead of "Gobble-obble-obble," sounded like "Gurgle-urgle-urgle."
"There! Take that!" cried Bunny squirting the water over the turkey. "That will make you stop pulling dogs' tails, I guess."
Indeed the water was too much for the gobbler. He let go of Splash's tail, for which the dog was very thankful, and then the big bird ran toward the farmyard, just as the farmer came out to see what all the trouble was about.
"I had to splash your turkey to make him let go of our dog," explained Bunny.
"Oh, that's all right," answered the farmer. "I guess that bird is a leetle better off for being cooled down. Glad you did it. None of you hurt, I hope?"
"My neck's picked a bit," said Tom.
"Well, come in and I'll have my wife put some salve on it."
"No, thank you, we're in a hurry to get home," said Bunny. "My mother has some goose grease."
"Well, that's just as good, I reckon. Next time I'll keep the old gobbler locked up."
Mr. Brown was at home, when Bunny, Sue and the ragged boy reached the tent. The father and mother listened while Bunny and Sue explained what had happened, from going into the cave to the turkey gobbler.
"Well, you had quite a number of adventures," said Mr. Brown. "I stayed out fishing by myself longer than I meant to, and when I came back to get you I find you just coming in. We'll go this afternoon."
"And may Tom come too?"
"I guess so," answered Mr. Brown.
"I know where there's lots of places to fish," said Tom.
Mr. Brown talked it over with his wife after dinner, and they decided to let Tom stay in camp and do a little work, such as cutting the wood and bringing the water.
"But what do you suppose he means by saying that Mr. Bixby sticks needles into him?" asked Mrs. Brown.
"That's what I'll have to look into," said her husband. "The hermit seems to be a queer sort of chap."
"And Bunny finding one of his cars, too!"
"Yes, that was queer. This will certainly have to be looked into."
In a few moments after this conversation Sue came from behind the kitchen tent.
"Come on, Sue, we're going fishing," called Bunny to his sister.
"No; you and Tom can go with father," said the little girl, "I'm not coming."
"Why not? Are you 'fraid?"
"Course not, Bunny Brown! I'm just going to stay in camp and make a pie. Tom said he hadn't had one for a good while. I'm going to make him one."
"All right. Make me one too, please," said Bunny. "We're going after some fish," and with his pole and line he started down toward the lake with his father and Tom.
"Now, Bunny, be careful when getting into the boat," said his father.
Bunny turned and looked at his father. What Bunny thought, but did not say, was:
"Why, Daddy! I've gotten into boats lots of times before, I guess I can get in now." That is what Bunny Brown did not say.
But, in a way, Bunny's father was talking to the ragged boy, Tom, and not to Bunny. For Mr. Brown did not yet know how much Tom might know about boats, and as the boy was a big lad, almost as tall as Uncle Tad himself, Mr. Brown did not want to seem rude and give a lesson to a boy who might not need it. So though he pretended it was Bunny about whom he was anxious, all the while it was about Tom.
"Oh, I'll be careful, Daddy," said Bunny."And you be careful too, Tom. You don't want to fall in and get drowned, do you?"
"No indeed I don't, Bunny. Though it would be pretty hard to drown me. I can swim like a muskrat. And I can row a boat, too, Mr. Brown," he went on. "I've worked for Mr. Wilson, the man who owns the pavilion at the other end of the lake. I used to row excursion parties about the lake, and there isn't a cove or a bay I don't know, as well as where the good fishing places are."
"I found one of those myself this morning," said Mr. Brown, with a smile.
"Well, I wish you'd let me row you to some others that hardly any one but myself knows about."
"I shall be glad to have you," said Bunny's father. "And I'm glad you understand a boat. I shan't be worried when Bunny and his sister Sue are out with you."
"I can row myself a little, when you are with me, Daddy," said Bunny.
"Yes, but you'll have a chance to learn more with Tom, as I haven't time to teach you. So I'm going to depend on you, Tom."
"Yes, sir, and I'll take good care of 'em. I've lived near this lake all my life, and when my folks died and I went to the poorhouse in the Winter, and worked out in the Summer, I managed to get to the lake part of the time. I'll look after the children all right."
Mr. Brown did not need to ask anything further what Tom knew of a boat, once the ragged boy took his seat and picked up the oars. He handled them just as well as Mr. Brown could himself.
"Do you want me to row you to any particular place?" asked Tom.
"Well, some place where we can get some fish. I suppose Bunny would like to land a few."
"I want to catch a whole lot of fish, Daddy!" cried Bunny. "So row me to a place where there's lots of 'em!"
"All right, here we go!" and Tom bent his back to the oars, so that the boat was soon skimming swiftly over the water. Mr. Brown liked the way the big boy managed the boat, and he knew he would feel safe when Bunny and Sue were out with Tom.
Meanwhile, on shore, in the shade of the cooking tent, Sue was busy with her pie.
"I want to make a mince one, for daddy likes that kind," said Sue. "And I want to have it ready for them when they come home from fishing. Though I don't see what he wants of any more fish," she added, as she glanced at a little pool near the edge of the lake where, in a fish-car, the fish Mr. Brown had caught while out alone that morning were swimming. They could not get out of the car, or box, which had netting on the side.
"He is going to take some of them back to the city with him in the morning," said Mrs. Brown. "He wants to give them to his friends. Those he and Bunny and Tom catch this afternoon, will be for our supper, Sue."
"I like Tom, don't you, Mother?" asked Sue, as she put on a long apron in readiness to bake her pie.
"Yes, he seems like a nice boy. But it's very queer that the hermit should stick needles into him."
"But they weren'trealneedles," said Sue. "He never could see them. He only felt them.They must have been fairy needles, for Tom could never see them being pulled out, either."
"Well, we'll let your father look after that," said Mrs. Brown. "Now we'll bake your pie and I'll make the pudding and cake I have to get ready for the Sunday dinner."
Whenever Mrs. Brown baked she always let Sue do something—make a patty-cake, a little pie with some of the left-over crust from a big one, or, perhaps, bake a pan of cookies. Mrs. Brown would let Susie use some of the dough or pie crust already made up, or she would stand beside her little girl and tell her what to do.
To-day Mrs. Brown did a little of both. She, herself, baked several pies, as well as two cakes, and as there was plenty of pie crust left Mrs. Brown told Sue how to roll some out in a smooth, thin sheet, and lay it over a tin.
"The next thing to do," said Mrs. Brown, "is to put the mince-meat in on the bottom-crust, put another sheet of pie crust on top, cut some holes in it so the steam can get out, trim off the edges, nice and smooth, and set the pie in the oven.
"Roll out your top pie crust and you'll find the mince-meat in a glass jar in the cupboard, next to a jar of peaches. And don't forget to cut holes in your top crust."
Sue started to do all this. Just then, a neighboring farmer's wife called at the tent, with fresh eggs to sell, and, as she needed some, Mrs. Brown went to see about buying a dozen.
"Go on with your pie, Sue," she called. "I'll be back in a minute."
"Let me see," said the little girl to herself. "I have the bottom crust in the tin, the top crust is all rolled out, and now I need the mince-meat. I'll get it."
From a glass jar which she brought from the cupboard, next to a jar of peaches, Sue poured very carefully into the bottom crust some dark stuff that had a most delicious spicy odor.
"Um-m, that mince-meat is good and strong!" said Sue. "Daddy will be sure to love it."
She spread out the filling evenly and then put on the top crust with the little holes cutin to let out the steam when the pie should be baking in the oven.
Just as Sue was finishing trimming off what, was left over of the crust, Mrs. Brown came back from buying the eggs.
"Oh, you have your pie finished!" exclaimed Sue's mother. "You got ahead of me. Well, I'll put it in the oven for you, as you might burn yourself. And then I'll get on withmybaking."
"And I really made this pie all my own self; didn't I?" asked Sue, eagerly.
"Indeed you did, all but making the crust. And you'll soon be able to do that," said her mother. "Now we must finish our baking."
The afternoon passed very quickly for Sue and her mother, but just as the last cookies, which Sue helped to make, were taken out of the oven, a lovely brown, and smelling so delicious, Bunny, his father and Tom came back from their fishing trip.
"Is the pie baked, Sue?" asked Bunny, who was tired, hungry and dirty.
"There are certainly pies baked, and other things too, if my nose can smell anything!"cried Daddy Brown. "Now then we'll clean the fish and have them for supper."
"Please let me clean them," said Tom. "I used to work for a fish man and I know how to do it quick."
"That isn't the only thing you can do quickly," said Mr. Brown, with a smile. "The way you caught that fish which got loose from Bunny's hook to-day showed how quick you were."
"Oh, I've done that before," said the tall lad with a laugh. "I like to fish."
"And he's very good at it," said Mr. Brown to his wife as he and Bunny began to wash. "He took me to a number of quiet coves, and we got some big fish. Bunny caught the prize of the day, and it would have got loose from its hook if Tom had not slipped a net under it in time. Bunny was delighted."
"I'm glad of that. But what about this boy? Are we going to keep him with us?"
"I think so, for a while. He'll be useful about the camp, now that I have to be away so much. And, too, he's perfectly safe with the children. He'll look well after them.Besides I want to look into this queer story he tells about the hermit Bixby and the needles."
"Do you think there is anything in it?"
"Well, there may be—and something queer, too. I want to find out what it is. Tom can sleep in that little extra tent we brought. Now how is supper coming on? Can I help?"
"No, I think Uncle Tad has done everything but clean the fish, and——
"Here comes Tom with them now," said Mrs. Brown. "And you must be sure to speak of Sue's pie."
"I will. That little girl is getting to be a regular housekeeper. She'll soon have your place," and Mr. Brown shook his finger at his wife.
Tom brought up the cleaned and washed fish. Mrs. Brown dried them in old towels, dipped them in batter and soon they were frying in the pan. By this time the cakes and pies were set out, and in a little while supper was ready.
And how good those freshly caught fish tasted! Bunny declared his was the best, andreally it did seem so, for it was a splendid bass.
"And now for my pie," said Sue, as Mrs. Brown set it on the table. "I want you all to have some, and a big piece for Tom, 'cause he saved Bunny's fish."
Mrs. Brown cut the pie and passed it around. As she did so she looked carefully at the pie and the pieces.
"Isn't there enough, Mother?" asked Sue, anxiously.
"Oh, yes. But I was just thinking——"
At that moment Bunny, who had taken rather a large bite, cried:
"What kind of pie did you say this was, Sue?"
"Mince, of course."
"It tastes more like spiced pickles to me. Doesn't it to you, Tom?"
"Oh, I don't know. It tastes lots better than the pie we got to the poorhouse. I can tell you that!"
Mr. Brown, who had tasted his piece, made a funny face.
"Are you sure you put enough sugar in?" he asked Sue.
"You don't have to put sugar in mince-meat—it's already in," answered his little girl.
Mrs. Brown took a taste of Sue's pie. She, too, made a funny face, and then she asked: "Where did you get the jar of mince-meat, Sue?"
"From the cupboard where you told me, Momsie, next to the glass jar of peaches."
"On which side of the jar of peaches?"
"Let me see—it was the side I write my letters with—my right hand, Mother."
"Oh dear!" cried Mrs. Brown. "I should have told you! But the egg woman came just then. I should have told you the left side of the jar of peaches. On the right side was a jar of pickled chow-chow. It looks a lot like mince-meat, I know, but it is quite different. The real mince-meat was on theleftof the peach jar. Oh, Sue! You've made your pie of chow-chow."
"I was thinking Sue had found out a new kind of pie," said Daddy Brown. "Never mind, there are some cakes and cookies."
"Oh, dear!" cried Sue, and there were tearsin her eyes. "I did so want my mince pie to be nice!"
"It was good," said Tom. "The crust is the best I ever ate, and the pickled insides will go good on the fish."
Everybody laughed at that, and even Sue smiled.
"Next time smell your mince-meat before you put it in a pie," said Mrs. Brown. "Otherwise your pie would have been perfect, Sue."
"I will," promised the little girl.
Tom became a regular member of Camp Rest-a-While, sleeping in a tent by himself. And he proved so useful, cutting wood, going on errands and even helping with the cooking, that Mrs. Brown said she wondered how she had ever got along without him.
He was given some of Uncle Tad's old clothes, that seemed to fit him very well, so he could no longer be called the "ragged boy," and he went in swimming so often, often taking Bunny and Sue along, that all three were as "clean as whistles," Mrs. Brown said.
No word had been heard from Mr. Bixbyabout his missing helper, but Mr. Brown had not given up making inquiries about the "needles."
Bunny and Sue missed their electric playthings, but their father brought them other toys from the city with which they had great fun. But still Bunny wished for his electric train, and Sue for her wonderful Teddy bear.
One night, just after supper, Mrs. Brown discovered that she needed milk to set some bread for baking in the morning.
"I'll go and get it to the farmhouse," said Tom.
"And may I go, too?" asked Bunny. It was decided that he could, as it was not late, only dark. So down the dusky road trudged Bunny and Tom, with Splash running along beside them.As ithappened, the farmhouse where they usually got the milk had none left, so they had to go on to the next one, which was quite near the edge of the Indian village.
"But they won't any of 'em be out now, will they?" asked Bunny.
"Oh, the Indians may be sitting outsidetheir cabins, smoking their pipes," said Tom.
"Oh, that'll be all right," observed Bunny. "They'll be peace-pipes and they won't hurt us."
"Of course not," laughed Tom.
From the road in front of the house where they finally got the milk they could look right down into the valley of the Indian encampment. And as Bunny looked he saw a bright fire blazing, and Indians walking or hopping slowly around it.
"Oh, Tom, look!" cried the small boy. "What's that? Are the Indians going on the war-path? I read of that in my school book. If they are, we'd better go back and tell Uncle Tad and father. Then they can get their guns and be ready."
"Those Indians aren't getting ready for war," said Tom. "They're only having a roast corn dance."
"What's a roast corn dance?" asked Bunny. "I'll show you the roast corn part to-morrow night," promised Tom. "But don't worry about those Indians. They'll not hurt you. Now we'd better go home."
As soon as Bunny was in the tent he shouted, much louder than he need have done:
"Oh, Sue, we saw Indians having a roast corn dance, and to-morrow night we're going to have one too!"
Bunny Brown was so excited by the Indian campfire he had seen, and by the queer figures dancing about in the glare of it, seeming twice as tall and broad as they really were, that he insisted on telling about it before he went to bed.
"Did they really dance just as we do at dancing school when we're at home?" asked Sue.
"No, not exactly," Bunny answered. "It was more like marching, and they turned around every now and then and howled and waved ears of corn in the air. Then they ate 'em."
"What was it for, Tom?" asked Mr. Brown. "You have lived about here quite a while and you ought to know."
"Oh, the Indians believe in what they callthe Great Spirit," Tom explained. "They do all sorts of things so he'll like 'em, such as making fires, dancing and having games. It's only a few of the old Indians that do that. This green corn roast, or dance, is a sort of prayer that there'll be lots of corn—a big crop—this year so the Indians will have plenty to eat. For they depend a whole lot on corn meal for bread, pancakes and the like of that. I told Bunny I'd show him how the Indians roast the ears of green corn to-morrow, if you'd let me."
"Oh, please, Momsie, do!"
"Oh, Daddy, let him!"
The first was Sue's plea, the second Bunny's, and the father and mother smiled.
"Well, I think it will be all right if Tom is as careful about fire as he is on the water," said Mr. Brown.
"Oh, goodie!" cried Sue, while Bunny smiled and danced his delight.
Finally Camp Rest-a-While was quiet, for every one was in bed and the only noises to be heard were those made by the animals and insects of the wood, an owl now and then callingout: "Who? Who? Who?" just as if it were trying to find some one who was lost.
"Where'll we get the ears to roast?" asked Bunny as soon as he was up the next morning. "We don't grow any corn in our camp."
"Oh, we can get some roasting ears from almost any of the farmers around here," said Tom. "But we don't want to make the fire until night. It looks prettier then."
"That's what I say," cried Sue. "And if you wait until night I'll make some muffins to eat with the roast corn. Mother is going to show me how."
"Well, don't put any chow-chow mince-meat in your muffins," begged Bunny with a laugh.
"I won't," promised Sue. "But can't we do something while we're waiting for night to come so we can roast the corn?"
"Will you put up the swing you promised to make for us, Tom?" asked Bunny.
"Yes, if you have the rope."
"We can row across the lake in the boat to the store at the landing, and get the rope there," said Bunny. "I'll ask my mother."
Mrs. Brown gave permission and Tom was soon making a swing, hanging it down from a high branch of a strong oak tree. Then Bunny and Sue took turns swinging, while Tom pushed.
After dinner they decided it was time to go for the roasting ears, and again they were in the boat, as it was nearer to the farmer's house across the water than by going the winding road.
Tom picked out the kind of ears he wanted, large and full of kernels in which the milk, or white juice, was yet running. This was a corn that ripened late, and was very good for roasting.
With the corn in one end of the boat, and the children in the stern, or rear, where he could watch them as they moved about on the broad seat, Tom rowed the boat toward camp. They reached it just in time for supper, and just as Mr. Brown got home from his trip to the city.
"We're going to have roast ears of corn to-night!" called Sue as she hugged and kissed her father.
"Oh! That makes me feel as if I were a boy!" said Mr. Brown. "Who is going to roast the corn?"
"I am," said Tom. "I've done it many a time."
"Well, I'm glad you know how. But now let's have supper."
The children did not eat much, because they were so anxious to roast the corn, but Tom said they must wait until dark, as the camp fire would look prettier then.
However, it could hardly have been called dark when Tom, after much teasing on the part of Bunny and Sue, set aglow the light twigs and branches, which soon made the bigger logs glow.
"We have to have a lot of hot coals and embers," said Tom, "or else the corn will smoke and burn. So we'll let the fire burn for a while until there are a lot of red hot coals or embers of wood."
When this had come about, Tom brought out the ears, stripped the green husks from them, and then, brushing off a smooth stone that had been near the fire so long that it wasgood and hot, he placed on it the ears of corn.
Almost at once they began to roast, turning a delicate brown, and Tom turned them over from time to time, so they would not burn, by having one side too near the fire too long.
"When will they be ready to eat?" asked Bunny Brown.
"In a few minutes," said Tom. "There, I guess these two are ready," and he picked out two smoking hot ones, nicely browned, using a sharp-pointed stick for a fork. He offered one ear to Mr. Brown and the other to Mrs. Brown.
"No, let the children have the first ones," said their mother.
"Be careful, they're hot!" cautioned Tom, as he passed the ears on their queer wooden sticks to Bunny and Sue.
Sue blew on hers to cool it, but Bunny was in such a hurry that he started to eat at once. As a result he cried:
"Ouch! It's hot!"
"Be careful!" cautioned his mother, and after that Bunny was careful.
TOM BROUGHT OUT THE EARS AND STRIPPED THE GREEN HUSKS FROM THEM.
TOM BROUGHT OUT THE EARS AND STRIPPED THE GREEN HUSKS FROM THEM.Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Big Woods.Page195.
Soon two more ears were roasted, and these Mr. and Mrs. Brown took. They waited a bit for them to cool, and then began to eat slowly.
"They are delicious," said Mrs. Brown.
"This is the only way to cook green corn," remarked Uncle Tad.
"It's the best I've eaten since I was a boy," declared Mr. Brown. "We shall have to have some more, Tom."
"Yes, I'll cook some more for you. Parched corn is good, too. The Indians like that. You have to wait until the ears are nearly ripe for that, though, and the kernels dried."
"Aren't you going to eat any, Tom?" Bunny asked, as he took the ear the bigger boy handed him.
"Oh, yes, I'll have some now, if you've had all you want."
"Well, maybe I'll eat more," said Bunny.
"And I want another," put in Sue.
"There's plenty here," said Tom, as he began to eat. Almost as he spoke there was a crackling of the leaves and sticks behind theembers of the roast-corn party, and before any one could turn around to see what it was a voice spoke:
"White folks make heap good meal same as Indians."
"That's right, Eagle Feather," called back Tom, who did not seem to be so much taken by surprise as did the others. "Come and have some. What brings you here?"
"Eagle Feather lose him horse," was the answer. "Come look for him. Maybe you hab?" and he squatted down beside the campfire and accepted a roasted ear that Tom handed him.
"What does this mean about Eagle Feather's horse beinghere?" asked Mr. Brown.
"Me tell you 'bout a minute," answered the Indian, gnawing away at the corn.
Bunny Brown looked at his sister Sue, and she looked at him. What could it mean—so many things being taken away? First Bunny's train of cars, then Sue's electric-eyed Teddy bear. Now Eagle Feather's horse was missing and he had come to Camp Rest-a-While to look for it, though why the children could not understand. Tom was kept busy roasting the ears of corn, and passing them around. Eagle Feather ate three without saying anything more, and would probably have taken another, which Tom had ready for him, when Mr. Brown asked:
"Well, Eagle Feather, what is your trouble? Is your horse really gone? And if it is, why do you think it is here? We don't have any horses here. All our machines go by gasolene."
"Me know all such," replied the Indian. "Little wagon make much puff-puff like boy's heap big medicine train. No horse push or pull 'um. Eagle Feather hab good horse, him run fast and stop quick, sometimes, byemby, like squaw, Eagle Feather fall off. But horse good—now somebody take. Somebody take Eagle Feather's horse."
"Maybe he wandered away," said Mr. Brown. "Horses often do that you know, when you tie them in the woods where flies bite them."
"Yes, Eagle Feather know that. But how you say—him rope broke or cut?" and the Indian held out a halter made of rope, with a piece of rope dangling from it. Mr. Brown looked closely at it.
"Why, that's been cut!" exclaimed the children's father, for the end of the rope by which the horse had been tied was smooth, and not broken and rough, as it would have been had it been pulled apart. If you will cut a rope and then break another piece, you can easily see the difference.
"Sure, cut!" exclaimed Eagle Feather."Done last night when all dark. Indians at corn dance and maybe sleepy. No hear some one come up soft to Eagle Feather's barn and take out horse. Have to cut rope 'cause Indian tie knot white man find too much hard to make loose."
"So you think a white man took your horse, and that's why you come to us?" asked Mr. Brown.
"Yes. You know much white man. Maybe so like one ask you hide my horse in your tent."
"Indeed not!" cried Mr. Brown. "I haven't any friends who would steal a man's horse."
"Maybe not," went on the Indian. "But night of green corn dance him come to see it and your boy too," and Eagle Feather pointed first at Tom and then at Bunny.
"We didn't see Eagle Feather's horse!" cried out Bunny Brown.
"Easy, my boy," said his father. "Let's get at what Eagle Feather means."
Before he could ask a question the Indian pointed a finger at Tom and asked sharply:
"You see my horse night you come green corn dance?"
"Not a sign of him did I see," answered Tom quickly. "And I wasn't nearer the middle of the village, where the campfire was, than half a mile. We didn't take your horse, Eagle Feather."
"Maybe so not. Eagle Feather thought maybe you might see," went on the red man. "Me know you good boy, Tom—good to Indians. These little Brown boy an' gal—they good too.
"But we walk along path horse took, and marks of him feet come right to this camp."
"Is that so?" asked Mr. Brown. "We'll have to look into this. Perhaps the thief did pass among our tents to hide the direction he really took. We'll have a look in the morning. It's too dark now."
Indeed it was very dark, the campfire throwing out but fitful gleams, for enough of the roasted ears had been cooked to suit every one. Eagle Feather bade his friends good-bye, remarking again how sorry he was overlosing his horse, and he said he would see them all in the morning.
With the children and Tom safely in bed Uncle Tad and Mr. and Mrs. Brown talked the matter over.
"Eagle Feather seems to think his horse was brought to this camp," said Mrs. Brown.
"Perhaps he does," agreed her husband. "But that doesn't matter."
"I don't like it though," went on his wife. "The idea of thinking Bunny might have had a hand in the trick!"
"I don't believe Eagle Feather ever had such an idea," laughed Mr. Brown. "He might have thought Tom, from having watched the corn dance, had taken the horse in fun, but I don't believe he has any such idea now."
"I should hope not!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown.
Early the next morning Eagle Feather and another Indian came to the camp. They looked for the marks of horses' hoofs and found some they said were those of EagleFeather's animal in the soft dirt. But though the marks came to the edge of the camp, they did not go through the spaces between the tents.
"They must have led the horsearoundour camp," said Uncle Tad, and this proved to be a correct guess, for on the other side of the camp the footprints of a horse, with the same shaped hoof as that of Eagle Feather's, were seen.
"Now we find horse easy," said the Indian, as he and his companion hurried on through the big woods.
"Well, I hope you find him, and I'm glad you don't think any one around here had anything to do with it," said Uncle Tad. "I hope you find your horse soon."
But it was a vain hope, for in a little while it began to rain and the rain, Mr. Brown said, would wash away all hoofprints of the Indian's horse, so they could no longer be seen. But Eagle Feather and his friend did not come back.
"Oh, I wish we had something to do!" cried Sue, as the rain kept on pelting down on theroof of the tent, and she and Bunny could not go out.
"It would be fun if we had your electric train now and my Sallie Malinda," said Sue.
"That's right!" exclaimed Bunny. "But I don't s'pose we'll ever get 'em."
"No, I s'pose not," sighed Sue.
The children were trying to think of a rainy-day game to play and wishing they could go out, when there came a knock on the main tent pole, which was the nearest thing to a front door in the camp.
"Oh, it's Mrs. Preston, the egg lady," said Sue, who, out of a celluloid tent window, had watched the visitor coming to the camp.
"She can't be coming with eggs," said Mrs. Brown, "for I bought some only yesterday." Mrs. Preston quickly told what she wanted.
"I've come for your two children, Mrs. Brown," she said. "I know how hard it is to keep them cooped up and amused on a rainy day.
"Now over at our house we have a lovely big attic, filled with all sorts of old-fashioned things that the children of our neighbors playwith. They can't harm them, and they can't harm themselves. Don't you want to let Bunny and Sue come over to my attic to play?"
"Oh, yes, Mother, please do!" begged Bunny.
"And it's only such a little way that we won't get wet at all," said Sue. "We can wear rubbers and take umbrellas."
"Well, if you're sure it won't be any bother, Mrs. Preston," said Mrs. Brown.
"No bother at all! Glad to have them," answered Mrs. Preston. "Get ready, my dears!"
And Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were soon on their way to have rainy-day fun in an attic.
"Now children, the attic is yours for the day," said Mrs. Preston, after she had led Bunny Brown and his sister into the house, and had helped them get off their wet coats. "You are to do just as you please, for there is nothing in the attic you can harm."
"Oh, won't we have fun?" cried Sue.
"I should say so!" exclaimed Bunny. "Are there any old guns or swords up there we can play soldier with?" asked the little boy.
"Yes, I think so," answered Mrs. Preston. "The guns are very old and can't be shot off, and the swords are very dull, so you can't hurt yourself. Still, be careful."
"We will," promised Bunny. "I wish I had another boy to play with. Sue makes a good nurse, but she isn't much of a soldier."
"I can holler 'Bang!' as loud as you," protested Sue.
"Yes, I know you can, but who ever heard of women soldiers? They are all right for nurses, and Sue can bandage your arm up awful tight, just like it was really shot off. But she can't act like a real soldier, Mrs. Preston."
"Maybe the boy I have asked over to play in the attic with you can," suggested Mrs. Preston.
"Oh, is there another boy coming?" asked Bunny eagerly.
"Yes. And a girl, too. They are Charlie and Rose Parker, and they live down the road a way. They are a new family that has just moved in, and they haven't an attic in their house, any more then you have in your tent. So I ask them over every rainy day, for I know that it is hard for children to stay in the house."
"Oh, I hope they come soon!" exclaimed Bunny. "I want to have some fun!"
"I think I hear them now," said Mrs. Preston, as a knock sounded at the back door."Yes, here they are," she called to Bunny and Sue, who were sitting in the dining room. "Come now, young folks, get acquainted, and then go up to the attic to play."
Charlie and Rose Parker, being about the age of Bunny and Sue, did not take long to grow friendly. And the Brown children, having often met strangers, were not a bit bashful, so the four soon felt that they had known each other a long time.
"Now up to the attic with you, and have your fun!" directed Mrs. Preston. "Use anything you want to play with, but, when you are through, put everything back where you found it."
"We will!" promised the children, and up the stairs they went, laughing and shouting.
"I hope we find some swords and guns to fight with," said Bunny to Charlie.
"Oh, there's a lot of them," Charlie answered. "I've been here before and I know where lots of guns are. Only they're awful heavy."
"Then we can pretend they are cannon!" cried Bunny.
"Yes, and we can make a fort of old trunks. There's a lot of them up here," Charlie said.
They were on their way up the attic stairs, Charlie leading the way, as he had often gone up before.
"Don't take all the trunks until we get out of them what we want to play with," begged Rose.
"What's in the trunks?" asked Bunny of his new friend.
"Oh, nothing but a lot of old dresses and things. Rose most always dresses up fancy in 'em and pretends she's a big lady," said Charlie.
"Then that's what Sue'll do," said Bunny. "She likes to dress up. But we'll play soldier."
Mrs. Preston's attic was the nicest one that could be imagined. In one corner were several trunks. In another corner was a spinning wheel, and hanging here and there from the attic beams were strings of sleigh bells, that sent out a merry jingle when one's head hit them.
Here and there, in places where there wereno boards over the beams, were hickory nuts and walnuts that could be cracked on a brick and eaten.
"They'll be our rations," said Charlie, who liked to play soldier as well as did Bunny.
"But where are the swords and the guns?" Bunny asked.
"I'll show you," said Charlie. "They're just behind the chimney."
In the middle of the attic, extending up through the roof, was a big chimney. It could not be seen in the rest of the house, but here in the attic the bricks were in plain view, and Charlie said, on cold Winter days, when it snowed, it was warm in the attic because of the heat from the chimney.
Just now the boys were more interested in the guns and the swords, of which a goodly number were hanging on rafters and beams back of the chimney.
"Oh, what a lot of guns!" cried Bunny.
"And they shoot, too," added Charlie. "I mean you can pull the trigger and the hammer will snap down. Course we only use make-believe powder."
"Course," agreed Bunny. "But we can holler 'Bang!' whenever we shoot a gun."
"And we can each have a sword."
So the boys began to play soldier, sometimes both being on the same side, hunting Indians through the secret mazes of the attic, and again one being a white-settler soldier, and the other a red man.
Meanwhile Sue and Rose were playing a different game. They had found some old-fashioned and big silk dresses in some of the trunks, and they at once dressed themselves up in these and made believe pay visits one to the other. The two little girls talked as they imagined grown-up ladies would talk when "dressed up," and they had great fun, while on the other side of the attic Charlie and Bunny were bang-banging away at one another in the soldier game.
The children had been playing in the attic about an hour, the boys at their soldiering game and the girls at visiting, when Rose came to Bunny and Charlie with a queer look on her face.
"What's the matter?" asked Charlie."Have you had a fuss and stopped playing?"
"No, but I can't find Sue anywhere."
"Can't find Sue!" exclaimed Bunny. "Where is she?"
"That's just what I don't know. I was playing I was Mrs. Johnson, and she was to be Mrs. Wilson and call on me. When she didn't come I went to look for her, but I couldn't find her in her house."
"Which was her house," asked Bunny.
"This big trunk," and Rose pointed to a large one in a distant corner of the attic.
"Sue! Sue! Are you in there? Are you in the trunk?" cried Bunny.
The children, listening, seemed to hear a faint call from inside the trunk. They looked at one another with startled eyes. What could they do?
"Are you sure she came over here?" asked Bunny Brown.
"Sure," answered Rose. "You see this was her pretend house, and mine was over there under the string of sleigh bells." She pointed to where several small trunks had been drawn together to form a square. Some old bed quilts had been laid over to make a roof, and under this Rose received visits from her friend Sue, who went by the name of Mrs. Wilson.
"When did you last see her?" asked Charlie. "Maybe she went downstairs."
"No, she didn't, for I saw her opening the big trunk and taking clothes out to dress up in. Besides she couldn't get downstairs, for you boys pulled two trunks in front of the stairs for a fort."
"So we did," said Charlie. "She couldn't have gone down without moving the trunks, and they haven't been moved."
"Well, then she must be up here somewhere," said Bunny. "Maybe she's shut up in the big trunk."
"That's dreadful! Call and let's see if she is in there," said Rose.
Bunny went close to the big trunk—the largest, in the attic—and then he called as loudly as he could:
"Are you in there, Sue?"
Back came the answer, very faintly:
"Yes, I'm here, Bunny! Please get me out! I'm locked in!"
"She's locked in!" cried Charlie. "We must open the trunk and get her out! Come on, Bunny!"
Both boys grasped the lid of the trunk.
"Why it's locked!" cried Rose. "You can't open it without unlocking it. Let's see if we can find some keys."
Eagerly the children ran about the attic, taking keys from all the trunks they saw. But either these keys did not fit in the locked onewhere Sue was shut up, or the fingers of Bunny, Rose and Charlie were too small to fit them properly in the locks.
"We'd better call Mrs. Preston," said Bunny, for he could hear Sue crying now, inside the trunk. And Sue was a brave little girl, who did not often cry.
"We'd better go down and tell her," suggested Rose. "She'll never hear us from up here."
"Let's go down then!" cried Bunny.
He and Charlie soon pulled away from the attic stairs the two trunks they had placed there to make a fort. Down to the kitchen, where Mrs. Preston was making pies, hurried the three children.
"What? Through playing so soon?" asked Mrs. Preston. "I thought you'd be much longer than this. I haven't your lunch for you ready yet. But where is Sue?" she asked, not seeing Bunny's sister.
"She—she's locked in a trunk in the attic—the big trunk," explained Charlie, "an' she's hollerin' like anything, but we can't get her out!"
"Locked in that trunk! Good gracious!" cried Mrs. Preston. "That trunk shuts with a spring lock. Now I wonder where the key to it is."
"Here's a lot of keys we found!" said Bunny, holding out those he and Charlie had gathered from the other trunks.
"I'll try those, but I'm afraid they won't fit," said Mrs. Preston, hurrying up to the attic, followed by Bunny, Charlie and Rose.
"You'll be all right now, Sue!" called Mrs. Preston through the sides of the trunk to Sue. "We'll soon have you out."
"Please hurry," said a muffled and far-off voice. "I can hardly breathe in here."
"I should say not!" exclaimed Mrs. Preston. "We'll get you out soon, though."
She tried other keys, none of which would fit, and then she brought up from her bedroom another bunch that locked the trunks she used when she went traveling.
"It's of no use," she cried, when she found she could not open the trunk. "We can't waste any more time. Charlie, you run and get Mr. Wright, the carpenter. He'll have tosaw a hole in the end of the trunk to get Sue out."
"But he won't hurt her, will he?" asked Bunny.
"No indeed! He'll be very careful."
Mr. Wright came back with Charlie, carrying several tools in his hand. He soon set to work.
"Get as far back to the end of the trunk as you can," he called to Sue, tapping with his fingers on the end he wanted her to keep away from.
"I'm back as far as I can get," she said in a far-off voice.
"All right. Now I'm going to bore a little hole in this end, and then I'm going to put in a little saw and saw a door in the end of your trunk house so you can crawl out. Don't be afraid. I'll soon have you out," said the carpenter.
Very carefully Mr. Wright bored the hole. Then, with a small saw, he began cutting a hole in the side of the big trunk. In a little while the hole was big enough for Sue to crawl through. They had to help her, for shewas weak and faint from having been shut up so long. But the fresh air and a glass of milk soon made her feel better, and she wanted to go on with the game.
"No, I think you had better be out in the air now on the big enclosed porch," said Mrs. Preston. "You have played in the attic long enough. I never thought of the spring lock on that trunk. It is the only one in the attic, but now we will leave the hole cut in the end, so, even with the lid closed, whoever goes in can get out."
"It would make a good kennel for our dog Splash," said Bunny.
"And you may have it for that, if you like," said Mrs. Preston. "I'll have the hired man take it over to your camp."
After thanking Mrs. Preston for the good time she had given them, the children, after a lunch, started for their homes. Bunny and Sue found something very strange going on in the camp when they reached there.
There was Mr. Bixby, the hermit, sitting on a box just outside the tent, talking very earnestly to Mr. Brown, who had just comefrom town in the small automobile. It had stopped raining.
"Well, I've decided not to let him go back to you," Mr. Brown was saying. "I don't think you have treated him right, and I am going to complain to the authorities about it."
"And I tell you, Mr. Brown, not meaning to be impolite, that I'm entitled to that boy an' I'm going to have him. He's bound out to me for the Summer."
"What does he want, Mother?" whispered Bunny.
"Hush, my dear. Daddy will attend to it all. Mr. Bixby came here a little while ago and he wants to take Tom back. Tom doesn't want to go on account of the 'needle pricks' as he calls them. But Mr. Bixby wants him, and your father is not going to let Tom go."
"Oh, I'm glad of that!" exclaimed Sue in a whisper. "I like Tom, and I don't care if I was locked in a trunk and 'most smothered if we can keep Tom."