The Story Of A Lamb On Wheels

By

Laura Lee Hope



Chapter I

The Lamb's Wish


Out of his box the Jack popped his head. The funny, black fringe of whiskers around his face jiggled up and down. His queer, big eyes looked around the store.

"Hurray!" cried the Jack in the Box. "We are alone at last and now we can have some fun! Hurray!"

"Are you sure?" asked a Bold Tin Soldier, who stood at the head of a company of his men in a large box.

"Am I sure of what?" inquired the Jack, as he swung to and fro on the spring which made him pop out of the box.

"Are you sure we are alone?" went on the Soldier. "It would be too bad if we should come to life when any one could see us."

"There is no one in the department but us toys," said a Calico Clown, and he banged together some shiny cymbals on the ends of his arms. "The Jack is right -- we are all by ourselves."

"I am glad of it," said a woolly Lamb on Wheels, who stood on the floor, just under the edge of the toy counter. She was rather too large to be up among the smaller toys. "Yes, I am glad of it," went on the Lamb. "I have kept still all day, and now I have something to tell you all, my friends."

"Something nice?" asked a Candy Rabbit, who stood next to a Monkey on a Stick.

"I think it is nice," said the Lamb. "But, as you know, I could not move about or speak so long as any of the clerks or customers were here."

"That's so," agreed the Bold Tin Soldier.

For it was one of the rules of Toyland, as you know, that none of the folk who lived there could do anything while human eyes were watching them. The Dolls, Soldiers, Clowns, Rocking Horses, Lambs were not able to move, talk, or make believe come to life if a boy or a girl or any one at all looked at them.

"But now we are alone we can have some fun," said the Jack in the Box. "Let's have a jumping race, to see who can go the farthest. Come on! I'm ready!"

"Yes, you are always ready to jump out of your box as soon as the cover is taken off," remarked the Lamb on Wheels. "But the rest of us are not such high kickers as you are. I cannot jump at all. I can only run around on my wheels, just as the White Rocking Horse, who used to live here, could only go on his rockers."

"Well, what shall we do then?" asked the Jack. "I'm ready to do anything."

"Suppose we have the Calico Clown play us a little tune on his cymbals," suggested the Bold Tin Soldier. "My men and I like to hear his music. After that we will march around and then -- "

"Then we must listen to what the Lamb has to say," cried the Monkey on a Stick. "She said she had something to tell us."

"Oh, excuse me," came from the Bold Tin Soldier Captain, with a wave of his shiny sward. "Perhaps you want to tell us your story now, Miss Lamb?"

"No," she answered. "Later will do. It is not exactly a story -- it is more of a wish. But first I should like to listen to the Calico Clown."

"All right! Here we go!" cried the jolly Clown. He was a gaily dressed fellow, and his calico suit was of many colors. One leg was red and another yellow, and his shirt was spotted and speckled and striped.

The Calico Clown stood up near the box where the Bold Tin Soldier was ready to lead his men in a march. And the Clown banged together his shiny cymbals.

"Bang! Bung! Bang! Bung!" clanged the cymbals, making music that the Toy Folk liked to hear, though I cannot say you would have cared much for it.

"Now it is your turn to march, Captain!" called the Candy Rabbit. "Show us what you and your men can do. That will amuse us." "All right!" agreed the Bold Tin Soldier. "Attention, men!" he cried, "Ready! Shoulder arms! Forward -- March!"

Out of their box, following their Captain, came the tin soldiers. Around and around the toy counter they marched, the Calico Clown making music for them on his cymbals.

"Isn't this jolly!" cried the Monkey on a Stick.

Once more around the toy counter marched the Bold Tin Soldier and his men. They were careful not to get too near the edge, for they did not want to fall off.

"There, how did you like it?" asked the Captain, as his men stopped to rest.

"It was fine!" answered the Candy Rabbit. "Now we will listen to the Lamb on Wheels."

"Oh, I'm sure I haven't so very much to say," said the white, fuzzy toy. "But I was thinking, to-day, of the Sawdust Doll, and -- "

"Do you mean the Sawdust Doll who used to live here with us?" asked the Calico Clown. "Excuse me for interrupting you," he said politely, "but I just couldn't help it. I was thinking of the Sawdust Doll myself. And I was wondering if you meant the same one that used to be here."

"Yes," answered the Lamb, "I did. It was of her I was thinking. She was on our toy counter about the same time the White Rocking Horse lived with us."

"And she went away just before he did," said the Monkey on a Stick. "The Sawdust Doll comes back, once in a while, to see us. But the Rocking Horse does not."

"It is harder for him than for her," said the Lamb. "The little girl, whose mother bought the Sawdust Doll, often brings her back to see us. And the Sawdust Doll once told me she had a lovely home with a little girl named Dorothy."

"And I think I heard her say that the White Rocking Horse lived in the same house with her, and belonged to a boy named Dick," said the Bold Tin Soldier.

"Yes, that is true," said the Lamb. "Well, what I was going to tell you about was a little girl who came in to look at me to-day. She was one of the nicest little girls I ever saw -- fully as nice as the Dorothy who has the Sawdust Doll."

"And did this little girl buy you -- or did her mother?" asked the Calico Clown. "I should hate to see you leave us," he went on. "Of course we want you to get a nice home, but it will be lonesome if you, too, go away." "That's so," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "We have lost our Sawdust Doll and our White Rocking Horse, and now, if the Lamb on Wheels goes away from us -- dear me!"

"I have no idea of going away!" answered the Lamb. "All I was going to say was that a beautiful little girl came to the toy department to-day with her mother, and she admired me very much -- the little girl did. She patted my back so softly, and she rubbed my head and she asked her mother to buy me."

"And did she?" asked the Calico Clown.

"No, I think not," replied the Lamb. "At least, if she did, I was not taken away. But I wish, oh, how I wish I could get into a nice home, such as the Sawdust Doll has."

"I trust you will get your wish," said the Calico Clown. "And I think we all have the same wish -- that we will have kind boys and girls to own us when we go from here. But now let us be jolly. I'll tell you a funny riddle."

"Oh, yes, please do!" begged the Lamb. "I love riddles!"

"Let me see, now," mused the Calico Clown, softly banging together his cymbals. "I think I'll ask you the riddle about the pig. What makes more noise than a pig under a gate?"

"What kind of gate?" asked the Monkey on a Stick.

"It doesn't make any difference what kind of gate," said the Clown.

"I should think it would," the Monkey stated. "And while you are about it, why don't you tell us what kind of pig it is?"

"That doesn't make any difference either," said the Clown. "The riddle is what makes more noise than a pig under a gate."

"Excuse me, but I should think it would make a great deal of difference," went on the Monkey. "A big pig under a small gate would make more noise than a little pig under a big gate. If we only knew the size of the gate and what kind of pig it was, we might guess the riddle."

"Hark! I hear a noise! Some one is coming!" cried the Bold Tin Soldier, and all the toys became as quiet as mice.




Chapter II

The Jolly Sailor


The noise which the toys had heard, and which had made them all stop talking, causing them to become as quiet as mice -- this noise seemed to be coming nearer and nearer. It was a rolling, rumbling sort of noise.

"Can that be the watchman?" whispered the Calico Clown to the Bold Tin Soldier.

"I hardly think so," was the answer. "He tramps along differently, his feet making a noise like the beat of a drum. This is quite another sound. But we had better keep still until we see what it is."

So all the toys kept quiet, and the noise came nearer and nearer and nearer, and then, all of a sudden, there rolled along the floor a toy Elephant on roller skates.

"Hello! Hello there, my toy friends!" cried the Elephant through his trunk. "How are you all? And where is the White Rocking Horse? I'll have a race with him. I tried to the other night, but one of my roller skates jiggled off and then the watchman came and the race could not be run. Where is the Rocking Horse?"

"Why, didn't you hear?" asked the Clown, as he sat up, for the toys knew it would be all right now to move about and talk as they had been doing.

"Didn't I hear what?" asked the Elephant, sliding around on his roller skates. "I hear a lot of things," he went on, "but these skates make so much racket I can't hear very well when I have them on. They don't really belong to me," he said, looking at the Candy Rabbit. "I just borrowed them from the sporting section, as I did before, to race with the White Rocking Horse."

"Well, you might have saved yourself the trouble," said the Monkey on a Stick. "The White Rocking Horse isn't here any more. He was sold."

"Dear me!" exclaimed the Elephant. "That's too bad! Then I can't have a race."

"Unless you want to race with the Lamb on Wheels," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "She has wheels on her feet almost like your roller skates. Will you race with her?"

"Thank you, I don't believe I care to race," put in the Lamb. "I am not used to it. And I might break a leg, and then that nice little girl, who was petting me to-day, would not want to buy me. I had better not race."

"Just as you like," came from the Elephant. "But I am sorry that my friend, the White Rocking Horse, has gone. I wonder if I shall ever see him again."

And the Elephant did see the Rocking chap later on, as you may read in the book telling "The Story of the White Rocking Horse." It was in a Toy Hospital where they met, after each had had many adventures.

"Well, if we are not going to have a race, what shall we do?" asked the Calico Clown.

"Suppose you tell us another riddle," said the Bold Tin Soldier.

"Let the Monkey on a Stick, the Jack in the Box and the Candy Rabbit have a jumping race!" proposed the Lamb. "They are all good jumpers."

"Oh, yes!" cried all the other toys. "A jumping race would be fine!"

"I'm ready!" said the Jack in the Box, waving to and fro on the end of his long, slender spring.

"So am I," said the Monkey, as he climbed to the top of his stick.

"Well, I suppose I shall have to do my best," said the Candy Rabbit. "Clear a place on the counter, and we'll try some jumps."

The Bold Tin Soldier and his men soon cleared a place on the toy counter so that the Jack, the Monkey and the Rabbit would have plenty of room. The building blocks, the checkers and the dominoes were moved out of the way, and then the Calico Clown took his place, ready to count "One! Two! Three!" so the three toys would know when it was time to jump.

"I'm allowed to come out of my box, am I not?" asked the Jack.

"Oh, of course," said the Lamb on Wheels. "It would not be fair to have you jump and carry your box with you. You may come out."

So the Jack jumped out of his box and took his place next to the Monkey, who also came down off his stick. I wish you could have seen how nimble they were, but, really, it is not allowed. The minute you looked at any of the toys they stopped moving at once.

"Are you all ready?" asked the Calico Clown, banging his cymbals together. "If so -- go!"

Away jumped the Candy Rabbit! Away jumped the Monkey! Away leaped the Jack who lived in a Box. At the far end of the toy counter the Bold Tin Soldier and his men had placed some sofa cushions from the upholstery department. That was in case either of the three might stumble and fall.

"Look at the Jack jump!" exclaimed the Calico Clown.

"And see the Monkey sail through air," remarked the Lamb on Wheels.

"But the Candy Rabbit is doing best of all," said the Bold Tin Soldier.

And really the Rabbit was the best jumper of the three. In fact, he jumped so far that he sailed over the edge of the counter. And only that a sofa cushion fell, at the same time, to the floor, so that the Candy Rabbit landed on the soft, feathery thing, he might have hurt himself.

"The Candy Rabbit wins! The Candy Rabbit wins the jumping race!" cried the Calico Clown, banging together his cymbals.

"Yes, he is the best jumper," agreed the Monkey and the Jack, who had jumped only to the end of the toy counter.

"Oh, I'm sure you two could do as well if you had only had more practice," said the Candy Rabbit, who was a nice, modest sort of chap.

"Shall we try it again?" asked the Jack, who really thought he was a fine jumper.

"There will not be time," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "I can see the sun coming up. Soon the store will begin to fill with clerks and shoppers, and we must lie as still and quiet as if we never had moved or talked. To-morrow night we shall have more fun."

A little later the girls and young ladies who worked at the toy counters and shelves came in to get ready for customers.

Soon the people began coming in to look at the toys. The Lamb on Wheels stood on the floor just under the counter. She was rather a large lamb, over a foot high -- that is, she was large for a toy lamb, though of course real ones are larger than that when they grow up.

"I wonder if I shall see that nice little girl to-day," thought the Lamb, as she heard the hum and buzz of the shoppers. "I hope I may. And I hope I get as nice a home as the Sawdust Doll has."

She stood up straight and stiff, on her legs, did the Lamb. Her feet were fast to a wooden platform, and under that were wheels, so the Lamb could be rolled along from place to place. At night, when no one was looking at her, the Lamb could move along on the wheels by herself. But now she was very still and quiet, staring straight ahead as the dolls stared.

"I wonder what will happen to me to-day," thought the Lamb on Wheels again.

Through the toy department came striding a jolly-looking man who, when he walked, seemed to swing from side to side.

"What ho!" cried the jolly man, as he stopped at the toy counter. "I want to buy something!" he added. "I'm a sailor, just back from a long sea voyage, and I have plenty of money! I want to buy a toy!"

"What kind of toy?" asked the girl behind the counter. "We have many kinds here," and she smiled at the sailor. He was so jolly no one could help smiling at him. "We have Bold Tin Soldiers," went on the girl. "We have Calico Clowns, Candy Rabbits, a Monkey on a Stick, and a Lamb on Wheels, and lots of things."

"Hum! those are all very nice toys," said the jolly sailor. "But I think I'd like to look at the Lamb on Wheels."

"There she is, right in front of you, on the floor," said the girl.

"Oh, ho! So this is the Lamb on Wheels!" cried the jolly sailor as he picked her up. "Well, this seems just the toy I want. I'll take her! I'll buy this Lamb on Wheels!"

"Oh, dear me!" thought the Lamb, for she knew what was going on, even though she dared not move by herself, or speak, "if this sailor buys me he'll take me on an ocean trip and I'll be seasick! Oh, dear, this is going to be dreadful!"




Chapter III

A Home On Shore


The jolly sailor held in his hands the Lamb on Wheels. He looked her over carefully, and rubbed her warm, woolly sides. Though his hand was not as soft as was that of the little girl who had stroked the Lamb the day before, yet the sailor was gentle in his touch.

"Well, I suppose there is no use thinking any longer of having a home like the one the Sawdust Doll got, with her little girl mistress to love her," said the Lamb on Wheels to herself. "I am to be taken away by this sailor -- away out to sea. I never could stand sailing, anyhow. Oh, dear! why do I have to go?"

"Does she squeak?" asked the sailor of the clerk, as he held the Lamb in his hands.

"Oh, no. She isn't that kind of Lamb," answered the clerk, with a laugh. "She is just a Lamb on Wheels, and she has real wool on her back and sides and legs. She does not squeak or go baa-a-a-a, and if you want her to move you have to pull her along."

"Well, I was going to get a Lamb that squeaked," went on the sailor, "but I suppose this one will do just as well."

"We have a Calico Clown who bangs his cymbals together when you press on his stomach or chest," said the girl. "See this toy! Maybe you would like this!"

She picked up the Calico Clown in his gaily colored suit, and, pressing on him in the middle, she made him bang his cymbals together.

"That is a jolly toy," said the sailor. "Let me see it."

He took up the Calico Clown, and did as the girl clerk had done.

"Bing! Bang! Bung!" went the cymbals.

"Oh, I hope he buys me," thought the Clown. "I should love to go to sea on a ship."

But the sailor appeared to like the Lamb on Wheels best. He took her up again, and the Lamb, who had begun to hope that she might not have to go to sea, felt sad again.

"I'll take this Lamb on Wheels," said the sailor. "How much is it?" and he pulled out his pocketbook, as he tucked the lamb under his arm.

"Oh, I must wrap it up for you," said the girl. "You are not supposed to take things from the store unless they are wrapped. I'll get a large piece of paper for the Lamb."

And while the clerk was gone the sailor walked about, looking at some bicycles and velocipedes at the far end of the toy department. Thus the Lamb and her friends were left by themselves for a moment or two, with no one to look at them. This was just the chance the Lamb wanted. She could talk now.

"Oh, just think of where I am going to be taken!" she said to the Calico Clown. "Off to sea!"

"Real jolly, I call it!" said the Clown. "I wish he had picked me for the trip."

"And I wish he had taken me," put in the Bold Tin Soldier. "I have always longed for a sea trip."

"Well, I wish either of you had gone in my place," said the Lamb on Wheels, a bit sadly. "Now I shall never see the Sawdust Doll or the White Rocking Horse again."

"You must make the best of it," said the Monkey on a Stick. "I know what sailors are -- I have heard of them. They like to have monkeys and parrots for pets -- that is, real ones, not toys such as we are. But sailors are kind, I have heard."

But the woolly Lamb only sighed. She felt certain that she would be seasick, and no one can have a good time thinking of that.

"Well, if you go on an ocean trip we may never see you again," said the Monkey on a Stick. "Ocean travel is very dangerous."

"Nonsense! It isn't anything of the sort!" cried the Calico Clown, and he tried to wink at the Monkey from behind a pile of building blocks. "The ocean is as safe as the shore. Why, look at the English and French dolls," he said, waving his cymbals in the direction of the imported toys in the next aisle. "They came over the ocean in a ship, and they did not even have a headache. And look at the Japanese dolls -- they came much farther, over another ocean, too, and their hair was not even mussed."

"That's so," said the Lamb, and she felt a little better at hearing this.

"You want to keep still -- don't scare her!" whispered the Clown to the Monkey. "It's bad enough as it is -- having her taken away by the sailor. Don't make it worse!"

"All right, I won't," said the Monkey. And he began to talk about the happier side of an ocean trip; how beautiful the sunset was, and how there was never any dust at sea.

Then the sailor came back from having looked at the velocipedes, and the girl clerk brought a large sheet of paper. In this the Lamb was wrapped. She had a last look at her friends of the toy shelves and counters, and then she felt herself being lifted up by the sailor.

Out of the store the sailor carried the Lamb on Wheels. She wished she had had time to say good-bye to her friends, but she had not, and she must make the best of it.

"At any rate I am going to have adventures, even though they may be on a ship, and even though I may be seasick," thought the Lamb. "And perhaps I may not be so very ill."

On and on walked the sailor, down this street up another until, after a while, he stopped in front of a house.

"This must be the place," he said to himself. "I wonder if Mirabell is at home. I'll go in and see."

Up the steps he went and rang the bell. There was a hole in the paper wrapped about the Lamb, and through this hole she could look out. She saw that she was on the piazza of a fine, large house. There was another house next door, and at the window stood a little girl with a doll in her arms.

"Gracious goodness!" exclaimed the Lamb on Wheels to herself. "That looks just like the Sawdust Doll who used to live in our store! I wonder if it could be?"

However she had no further chance to look, for the door opened just then, and the sailor went inside the house, carrying the Lamb with him.

"Where's Mirabell?" asked the sailor of the maid who opened the door.

"She is up in the playroom," was the answer. "She has been ill, but she is better now."

"So I heard!" went on the jolly sailor. "I brought her something to look at. That will help her to get well."

Up to the playroom he went, and no sooner had he opened the door than Mirabell, which was the name of the little girl, ran toward him.

"Oh, Uncle Tim!" cried Mirabell, as soon as she saw the jolly sailor, "how glad I am to see you!"

"And I'm glad to see you, Mirabell," he laughed. "Look, I have brought you something!"

"Is it a monkey, Uncle Tim?" she asked.

"No, Mirabell, it isn't a monkey. It is a woolly Lamb on Wheels. I saw it in a toy store and I brought it to you."

"For me -- to keep, Uncle Tim?" asked Mirabell, as the sailor took the wrapping paper off.

"Yes, for you to keep," was the sailor's answer. "Did you think I would be buying a Lamb for myself, to take to sea with me? Ho! Ho! I should say not!" he chuckled.

"Oh, how glad I am! And how I shall love this Lamb!" said the little girl.

As for the Lamb on Wheels, she was glad and happy, too, when she heard, as she did, what the sailor said.

"Oh, I'm to have a home on shore!" thought the Lamb. "I am not going to be taken on an ocean voyage at all, and be made seasick. I am to have a home on shore!"

And that is just what the toy Lamb had. The jolly sailor, who was Mirabell's uncle, had bought the toy for the little girl.

"Do you like the Lamb?" asked Uncle Tim.

"Oh, do I? Well, I just guess I do!" cried Mirabell, and she hugged the Lamb in her arms, and rolled her across the floor on her wheels.

"Do you know, Uncle Tim," went on Mirabell, "this is the very same Lamb I saw in the store, and wanted so much?"

"No! Is she?" asked the sailor, in surprise.

"The very same one!" declared Mirabell. "I was in the store once with Dorothy, the little girl who lives next door. She has a Sawdust Doll that came from the same store. And we were there the other day, before I was taken ill, and I saw a woolly lamb -- this very same one, I'm sure -- and I wanted it so much! But Mother said I must wait, and I'm glad I did, for now you gave it to me."

"Yes, I'm giving you the Lamb for yourself -- to keep forever," said the sailor. "I wouldn't dream of taking her on a sea voyage with me."

So you see the Lamb need not have been uneasy after all. But of course she did not know that when the sailor bought her.

Mirabell stroked the soft wool of her new toy Lamb. She wheeled it across the floor again, and the sailor watched her. Then, all of a sudden, the door of the playroom was opened with such a bang that it struck the Lamb and sent her spinning across the floor, upside down, into a corner.

"Oh, Arnold!" cried Mirabell to her brother, who had come in so roughly. "Look what you did! You've broken my Lamb on Wheels!"




Chapter IV

Sliding Downhill


Arnold, who was a boy about as old as Dick, the brother of Dorothy, stopped short after slamming open the playroom door. He looked at his sister, then at the Lamb lying upside down in a corner, and then he looked at the jolly sailor.

"What did I do?" asked Arnold, who was taken by surprise by the way his sister called to him.

"You broke my new toy, the Lamb on Wheels," answered the little girl. "Oh, I hope she isn't killed!" and running to the corner, she picked up her new toy.

"Oh, I didn't mean to do that," said Arnold, who was sorry enough for the accident. "I didn't know you were in here," he went on. "I came to get my toy fire engine. I'm going to play with Dick and his express wagon. Where'd you get your Lamb on Wheels, Mirabell?"

"Uncle Tim brought her to me," answered the little girl.

Mirabell carefully looked at her plaything. And she was very glad to find out that no damage seemed to have been done. None of the four wheels was broken, the little wooden platform on which the Lamb stood was not splintered, and there was not so much as a bruise on the little black nose of the Lamb herself.

"I guess she is so soft and woolly that she didn't get hurt much," Mirabell said, turning the Lamb over and over. "She's so fat and soft -- like a rubber ball," she added.

"I'm glad of that," said Arnold. "Next time I come into a room I'll look near the door to see that there isn't a Lamb behind it."

"That's the boy!" exclaimed Uncle Tim. "And here is something I brought for you, Arnold. I didn't buy it in a toy store. It's a little wooden puzzle I whittled with my knife out of a bit of wood when I was on the ship."

Arnold looked at what Uncle Tim gave him. It was a puzzle, made of some wooden rings on a stick, and the trick was to get the rings off the stick. Arnold tried and tried but could not do it until his uncle showed him how the trick was done. Then it was easy.

"Oh, thank you!" cried the boy, when he had learned how to do the trick himself. "I'm going over and show Dick this puzzle. I don't believe he can do it. Want to come, Mirabell, and show Dorothy your Lamb on Wheels?"

"No, thank you, not now," Arnold's sister answered. "I'm going to get a comb and brush and make my Lamb's wool all nice and fluffy. She got all mussed when you banged her into the corner."

"I'm sorry," said Arnold again. "Do you want me to brush her off for you?"

"I guess not!" laughed Mirabell. "Once you tried to get the tangles and snarls out of the hair of one of my dolls, and you 'most pulled her head off."

"All right. Then I'll take this puzzle and show it to Dick and Dorothy," decided Arnold.

"Who are Dick and Dorothy?" asked Uncle Tim.

"The little boy and girl who live next door," Mirabell explained. "Dorothy has a Sawdust Doll, and Dick has a White Rocking Horse. They came from the same store where you got my Lamb on Wheels!"

"Is that so?" cried the jolly sailor. "Well, you'll have to take your Lamb over next door and let her meet her toy friends again."

"I'm going to," Dorothy said. "Oh, Uncle Tim, don't you believe Dolls, and Lambs, and things like that, really know one another when they meet?"

"I shouldn't be a bit surprised if they did," answered the sailor. "You take your Lamb over and see if she remembers the Sawdust Doll and the White Rocking Horse."

"I will!" promised Mirabell.

And when the Lamb heard this, though just then she dared not move by herself or speak, she felt very happy. For, as I have told you, though she dared not move when human eyes were looking at her, there was nothing to stop her from hearing what was said. The Lamb had ears, and what good would they be if she could not hear through them, I'd like to know?

"Oh, I am so glad I am going to see the Sawdust Doll and the Rocking Horse again," thought the Lamb. "I hope I get a chance to talk to them when no one is looking. I want to tell them about their friends that are still in the toy store."

While Arnold hurried next door with his toy fire engine, that pumped real water, to play with Dick and to show his puzzle, Uncle Tim went downstairs to talk to Mirabell's mother. Then Mirabell got her best doll's comb and brush, which were just the right size, and not a bit too small or too large, and with this comb and brush she smoothed the kinks and snarls out of the Lamb's wool.

For when Arnold had opened the door so suddenly, banging the Lamb into a corner, though he did not mean to do it, he had tangled the woolly coat of the toy.

"But I'll soon smooth it out," thought Mirabell, as she used comb and brush. "And I won't hurt you, either, my nice Lamb!"

And Mirabell was so careful that the Lamb never once cried Baa-a! as almost any other lamb would do if you pulled her wool.

The little girl had made her Lamb nice and tidy, and she was going downstairs, Mirabell was, to see what Uncle Tim was doing, when Arnold came back from Dick's house with the toy fire engine and the wooden puzzle the sailor had made for him.

"Oh, Mirabell, I know how we can have a lot of fun!" cried Arnold.

"How?" asked the little girl.

"With your new Lamb," went on her brother. "Come on, I'll show you. We must go down to the kitchen. It's a new trick. Dick told me about it. He did it with an old roller skate."

"What trick is it?" asked Mirabell. "I hope it won't hurt my Lamb."

"No, it'll be a lot of fun," said Arnold. "I told Dick and Dorothy about your Lamb, and they want to see her. I guess the Sawdust Doll and the Rocking Horse want to see her, too."

"I'll go over to-morrow," promised Mirabell. "Now show me the funny trick, Arnold."

The two children went down to the kitchen. There was no one in it just then, as the cook was out, and Mother was in the parlor talking to Uncle Tim, the sailor.

"First we've got to get the long ironing board," said Arnold.

"What are we going to do with that?" Mirabell asked.

"Make a sliding downhill thing for your Lamb," answered her brother.

"Why, how can you do that?" asked Mirabell. "There isn't any snow now, though there was some for Christmas. How can you make a sliding downhill thing without snow?"

"Ill show you," Arnold said. "Wait till I get the ironing board."

It was kept in the cellar-way, hanging on a nail, and Arnold went there to get it. But the board was so long and heavy that his sister had to help him lift it down off the nail.

"We'll put one end up on a chair, and the other end down on the floor," said Arnold. "That will make a sliding downhill place."

"Yes," replied Mirabell, as she saw her brother do this. "But it isn't slippery enough for anybody to slide down. You must have snow for a hill."

"Not this kind," Arnold answered, with a laugh. "You see your Lamb has wheels on her, and she can roll right down the ironing board hill, just like Dick made an old roller skate roll down. Look, Mirabell!"

Arnold took the Lamb from his sister's arms and set the toy on the high end of the slanting ironing-board hill. And when the Lamb looked down, and saw how steep it was, and how long, she said to herself:

"Oh, I'm afraid something dreadful will happen to me! I never coasted downhill before, though I have heard some of the sleds and toboggans in the toy department speak of it. Oh, he's letting go of me!" she cried to herself, as she felt Arnold taking off his hands by which he had been holding her at the top of the ironing-board hill. "He's going to let me go!"

And let go of the Lamb Arnold did.

"Watch her coast, Mirabell!" he called to his sister.

Slowly at first, the Lamb on Wheels began to roll down the long, smooth, sloping board. Then she began to go faster and faster. At the bottom she could see the shiny oilcloth on the kitchen floor. Beyond the end of the ironing board the kitchen floor stretched out a long way.

"Oh, I feel so queer!" bleated the Lamb as, faster and faster, she slid down the ironing-board hill. "Oh, what a strange adventure!"




Chapter V

In Great Danger


"Look, Mirabell!" cried Arnold, pointing to the Lamb as she went down the ironing board. "Didn't I tell you she could coast without any snow?"

"Yes, you did, and she really is doing it!" laughed the little girl, clapping her hands. "Oh, isn't it nice? I never thought a Lamb could coast downhill!"

"I never did, either," said the woolly Lamb to herself. "This is the first time I was ever made to do a thing like this, and I hope it will be the last! Oh, how fast I am going!"

"It's the wheels on her that make her coast so nice," explained Arnold, when the Lamb was half way down the ironing-board hill. "If she didn't have them she wouldn't roll down at all. A Sawdust Doll can't do it, nor a Rocking Horse. It's got to be something with wheels."

When the Lamb heard this, as, of course, she did hear, having ears, she thought to herself:

"Well, maybe this will not be so bad, after all. I can do things, it seems, that the Sawdust Doll and Rocking Horse cannot do. Not that I am going to be proud, or stuck up," went on the Lamb to herself.

"Oh, look at her go!" cried Dick.

"Yes, but I hope she won't be hurt," said the little girl. "I wouldn't want my Lamb on Wheels that Uncle Tim just gave me to be hurt."

"I should say not!" thought the Lamb to herself. "Sliding down ironing-board hills may be something not many other toys can do, but I don't want anything to happen."

Faster and faster she went, and finally she reached the end of the board and came to the smooth oilcloth on the floor. Then the wheels carried her across that to the far side of the room, and the Lamb brought up with a little bump against the baseboard.

"Oh, I hope she isn't hurt!" cried Mirabell, as she ran to pick up her toy.

And the Lamb was all right -- there was not even a kink out of place in her soft, woolly coat.

So Mirabell and Arnold had fun letting the Lamb on Wheels coast down the ironing-board hill. Again and again they gave her a nice, long slide across the smooth oilcloth on the kitchen floor.

"Now this is the last," said Mirabell, after a while. "I want to put her to sleep."

Once more the Lamb was lifted to the high part of the ironing board and allowed to coast down on her wheels. But, alas! this time, just as she was rolling over the kitchen floor, one of the wheels hit against Arnold's foot. Instead of going in a straight line the Lamb swung off to one side. Straight toward the outside door she rolled, and just then Susan, the cook, came in from out-of-doors.

Susan held the door open for a moment, and before either Mirabell or Arnold could stop the Lamb, out she rolled to the back steps.

"Oh, my Lamb! My Lamb!" cried Mirabell. "She'll break her legs if she falls down the steps!"

Down the back steps, bumpity-bump went the Lamb on Wheels. But she did not break any of her four legs, I am glad to say.

Just how it happened I do not know, but when Mirabell and Arnold ran out to pick up the Lamb on Wheels the children found that the toy was not in the least hurt, except, maybe, the wool was ruffled up a little.

"Dear me, what a lot of adventures I am having!" thought the Lamb, as Mirabell picked her up. "I wish I could tell the Calico Clown or the Bold Tin Soldier something about them. They are quite remarkable, I think!"

"Is she hurt?" asked Arnold, as he saw his sister holding her new toy.

"No, she seems to be all right," replied Mirabell. "But I'm not going to slide her down the ironing-board hill any more to-day. She must go to sleep."

So the board was hung away, and soon the Lamb was put in a little stable Mirabell made for her out of a pasteboard box. The stable was set in a corner of the playroom, near a little Wooden Lion that had once lived in a Noah's Ark. He was the only one of the Ark animals left. Arnold or Mirabell had lost all the others.

"Don't be afraid of me! I won't bite you," said the Wooden Lion to the Lamb on Wheels, when they were left alone in the playroom. The children had gone downstairs to supper with Uncle Tim, and the sailor was telling them many jolly stories of the sea.

"Oh, I'm not afraid of you," said the Lamb on Wheels to the Wooden Lion. "I am much larger than you, even if you are like the jungle animals."

"It isn't my fault that I am small," said the Wooden Lion, a little crossly, the Lamb thought. "I had to be made that way to fit in the Ark. You ought to see the Elephant. He isn't much larger than myself!"

"Did he have on roller skates?" asked the Lamb.

"Roller skates!" exclaimed the Wooden Lion. "Why! who ever heard of such a thing? A Noah's Ark Elephant on roller skates! The idea!"

"Oh, you needn't get so excited," said the Lamb, as she wiggled her short tail the least bit. "In the toy store, where I came from, we had an Elephant who put on roller skates and raced with a White Rocking Horse."

"I wish I could have seen that," said the little Wooden Lion. "It must have been funny."

"It was," said the Lamb on Wheels. "The Elephant wanted to race with me, after the Horse was taken away. But I was sold, too, and brought here."

"I am glad to see you," said the Noah's Ark Lion. "I have been quite lonesome. There used to be a number of us -- there was a Tiger, a Camel, a Monkey, a Hippopotamus, and, oh! ever so many others, besides the Elephant. But we are all scattered. I am the only one left. Tell me, were you ever in a Noah's Ark?"

"I never was," admitted the Lamb. "Is it nice?"

"Well, yes, only it's a bit crowded," answered the Wooden Lion. "But it has to be that way, I suppose. I like it better in this playroom, as I can move about more. But still I was lonesome until you came. Let us be friends, and tell each other our adventures."

So the Lamb told of the fun she had had in the toy store with the Bold Tin Soldier, the Calico Clown, and the others. She told of having been taken away by the jolly sailor, and how afraid she was that she would be seasick.

"But it was all right when I found he was bringing me to a home on shore with Mirabell," said the Lamb. Then she told of her slide down the ironing board.

"Now I will tell you some of the things that happened to me," said the Wooden Lion. So he related his adventures -- how once he and the other animals had been jumbled together and piled into the Ark.

"And then, all of a sudden, that boy Arnold took the Ark and dropped it in the bathtub full of water, with all us animals inside!" said the Lion.

"Good gracious! why did he do that?" asked the Lamb, in surprise.

"Oh, he said he was pretending there was another flood, and he wanted to see if any of us could swim," the Lion answered.

"Could you?" the Lamb wanted to know.

"Well, those of us who couldn't swim could float, so none of us was drowned," the Lion answered. "Only being soaked in the water, as I was, made some of the paint come off my tail. I really haven't been the same Lion since," he added, with a sorrowful sigh.

"That is too bad," said the Lamb sympathetically.

"Of course Arnold was smaller than he is now, and he was not so kind to his toys as he has since learned to be," resumed the Wooden Lion. "He really meant no harm. But, as I say, I am the only one of the Noah's Ark animals left, and really I am very glad to have you to talk to."

The two new friends spent some time together telling each other their different adventures, and then, suddenly, the door of the playroom opened and Mirabell came in.

"Hush! Not another word!" said the Wooden Lion in a whisper.

"Well, I guess my Lamb has slept long enough," said Mirabell, picking up her new toy. "I'll have some fun with her before I go to bed."

She petted her Lamb, and took off the blue ribbon from the woolly creature's neck.

"I must smooth it out and tie a better bow," said Mirabell. "It got all mussed when you slid down the ironing board."

So Mirabell played with her Lamb until it was time for the little girl to go to bed. Uncle Tim came up to see Mirabell and Arnold to say good-bye, for he was going on a sea voyage.

"And bring me a parrot when you come back!" begged Arnold.

"Would you like a monkey, Mirabell?" asked the jolly sailor.

"No, thank you," she answered. "A monkey is nice, but he might pull the wool off my Lamb."

"That's so -- he might!" laughed the jolly sailor. "Well, good-bye, Mirabell, Arnold, and the Lamb on Wheels."

Then Uncle Tim went away and the children went to bed, while the Lamb on Wheels was put in the pasteboard box stable, near the Wooden Lion. And in the night they played together and had a fine time.

The Lamb on Wheels, in the days that followed, began to feel quite at home in Mirabell's house, and she liked her little girl mistress better and better, for Mirabell was very kind.

"Some day, when it gets warmer, I'll take my Lamb over to Dorothy's house and let her see the Sawdust Doll," said Mirabell to her brother.

"And I'll take my fire engine over and I'll ride on Dick's Rocking Horse," said Arnold. "But it is so cold now the water in my engine might freeze if I took it over to Dick's house."

"Yes, it is cold," agreed Mirabell. "I guess I'll take my Lamb down to the sitting room, where there's a fire on the hearth."

"I'll come too," said Arnold. "I'll bring my little fire engine."

Soon the two children were having a good time with their toys in front of the fireplace in the sitting room. On the hearth blazed a snapping, crackling warm fire of logs.

"Now you can get nice and warm," said Mirabell to her Lamb, as she set her down close to the fireplace. "You stay here and get warm, and I'll go and ask Susan for some cookies to eat."

Arnold also went to the kitchen with his sister, and when the two children came back to the sitting room they saw a dreadful sight. A spark had popped out from the hearth and set fire to a piece of paper on the floor near the Lamb on Wheels.

"Oh, she'll burn! My Lamb on Wheels will burn!" cried Mirabell, as she rushed forward.




Chapter VI

Down The Coal Hole


Mirabell and Arnold had been told to be very careful whenever they played in the sitting room, if a fire were burning on the open hearth. But, for the moment, the little girl forgot about this. All she thought of was that her Lamb on Wheels might be burned by the blazing paper, which had been set on fire by a spark popping out from the blazing logs on the hearth.

"Oh, my Lamb! My poor Lamb!" cried Mirabell.

"Look out!" shouted Arnold. "Don't go too close!"

"Why not?" asked his sister. "I have to get my Lamb on Wheels away from the fire!"

"No, you mustn't!" Arnold said. "Your dress might catch on fire!"

The piece of paper was burning on the wide brick hearth of the fireplace, and not on the carpet, and the Lamb was close to the piece of paper that was on fire. Altogether too close to the fire was the Lamb. She was in great danger.

"But I've got to save her! I must save my pet Lamb!" cried Mirabell. She was going to rush forward, but her brother caught hold of her and held her back.

"Wait!" cried Arnold. "I can put out the fire and save your Lamb."

"How!"

"With my fire engine! It has real water in it, and I'll pump some on the paper and save your Lamb from burning up. Watch me, Mirabell, but don't go near the blaze!"

The piece of paper, close to the Lamb on Wheels, was now sending up a bright blaze. It would have been pretty if it had not been so dangerous.

Arnold quickly wheeled his fire engine as close to the blazing paper as he felt it was safe to go. The engine had a little pump on it, as I have told you, and it spurted out real water, with which it was now filled.

"Toot! Toot! I'm a fireman, and I'm going to put out a real fire!" cried Arnold.

He pressed back the little catch that held the pump from working. There was a whirring sound as the wheels spun around, and then the little rubber hose on the pump of the engine filled with water.

A moment later a small stream spurted out, and Arnold aimed it right for the piece of blazing paper. The water fell in a small shower on the fire, and then with a hiss and spluttering, and sending up a cloud of smoke, the paper stopped burning.

"Toot! Toot! The fire is out!" cried the boy, making believe blow his engine whistle. "Now your Lamb is saved, Mirabell."

"Oh, I'm so glad! Thank you, Arnold!" exclaimed his sister.

She ran forward and picked up her Lamb on Wheels. And, I am glad to say, the wool was not even scorched, not the least, tiny bit.

"Oh, she's all right! She's all right! My Lamb isn't hurt a bit, Arnold," cried Mirabell.

"I told you I'd save her," said the boy. "But you mustn't ever run near a fire yourself, Mirabell. Wait for me to put it out with my engine. That's what fire engines and fire departments are for."

"Dear me! that came near being a terrible adventure for me," thought the Lamb on Wheels, as Mirabell carried her back from the fireplace. "In another minute I would have been all ablaze from that paper, and wool does burn so fast!"

When the Lamb had been saved, the mother of the two children came into the sitting room.

"What is burning?" she cried. "Have you been playing with fire?"

"No, Mother," answered Arnold, and he told what had happened.

As the days passed Mirabell came to love her Lamb on Wheels more and more. Sometimes the little girl would tie a string to the wooden platform, on which her toy stood, and pull the Lamb around the house, as Arnold used to pull his little express wagon.

"I like to ride that way," thought the Lamb. "It is much more fun than it would be to be crowded into a Noah's Ark like the Wooden Lion and thrown into the flooded bathtub."

The Lamb was wishing Mirabell would take her next door, to see the Sawdust Doll, but, as it happened, Dorothy was ill, and it was not thought best for Mirabell to go in for a few days. However, Mirabell could look from her windows over to those in the house where Dick and Dorothy lived. And though Dorothy was too ill to be out of bed, Dick was not.

Dick would stand at the window in his house, and Mirabell and Arnold would stand at the window in their front room, and look across. The children waved to one another, and Dick would hold up the head of his Rocking Horse for Mirabell and Arnold to see.

Once Mirabell held up her Lamb on Wheels at the same time that Dick had his Rocking Horse close to the window, and the two toys saw each other for the first time since they had been separated.

"Oh, there is my old friend, the White Rocking Horse!" thought the Lamb on Wheels. "How I wish I could talk to him."

The Horse wished the same thing, and he even thought perhaps he might get a chance to run over some evening after dark and talk to the Lamb. But the doors of both houses were locked each night, and though the Horse and Lamb could roam about and seem to come to life when no one was watching them, they could not unlock doors. So they had to be content to look at each other through the windows.

"I wish I could see the Sawdust Doll," thought the Lamb, when she had looked over at the Horse one day. "I'd like to speak to her."

There came a few days of bright sunshine, when the weather was not so cold. One afternoon Arnold said to Mirabell:

"I'm going to take my little express wagon out on the sidewalk in front of the house. Why don't you bring out your Lamb?"

"I will, if Mother will let me," said Mirabell.

And Mother did. Soon the two children were running up and down in front of the house, Mirabell pulling her Lamb along by a string, and Arnold pretending to be an expressman with his wagon.

"Oh, there comes a man to put some coal in Dorothy's house!" called Arnold, as a big wagon, drawn by two strong horses, stopped in front of the place where the Sawdust Doll and the White Rocking Horse lived. "Let's go down and watch!" he said.

"All right," agreed Mirabell. So she pulled her Lamb on Wheels down the sidewalk, and Arnold hauled his express wagon along.

At Dorothy's house the coal bin was partly under the pavement, and to put in coal a round, iron cover was lifted up from a hole in the sidewalk, and the coal was dumped through this hole. As the children watched, and as Dorothy, who was now better, stood at the window with her brother Dick, also looking on, the coal man took the cover off the hole in the sidewalk, so he could dump the black lumps through the opening into the bin.

"I wouldn't want to fall down there!" said Mirabell to her brother.

"I should say not!" exclaimed Arnold. "You'd get all black!"

The coal man, after opening the large, round hole in the sidewalk, climbed back on his wagon to shovel off his load. And just then Carlo, the dog belonging to Dorothy, ran barking out of the side entrance of the house where he lived. Carlo always became excited when coal was being put in the sidewalk hole.

"Bow-wow! Wow!" barked Carlo.

"Look out you don't fall down the hole!" cried Mirabell.

Just then Carlo gave a jump around behind the little girl, and, somehow or other, he became entangled in the string that was tied on the Lamb.

"Look out, Carlo! Look out!" cried Mirabell. "Be careful or you'll break my Lamb's string!"

But Carlo was not careful. He did not mean to make trouble, but he did. He barked and growled and jumped around until his legs were all tangled up in the cord.

"Oh, look!" suddenly cried Arnold. "Look at your Lamb!"

And, as he spoke, Carlo gave a big jump to get the tangling string off his legs. The string broke, but, as it did so, the Lamb started to roll toward the open coal hole. And, at the same moment, the driver of the wagon began shoveling some of the black lumps down the opening.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Mirabell.

And then the white, woolly Lamb on Wheels rolled across the sidewalk, and disappeared down into the dark coal hole!




Chapter VII

The Lamb Carried Away


Mirabell and Arnold were so surprised for a moment at what had happened that they could only stand, looking at the hole in the sidewalk down which the Lamb on Wheels had fallen. Carlo, the fuzzy little dog, seemed to know he had done something wrong in getting tangled in the string, breaking it off, and so sending the Lamb wheeling along until she slid into the coal hole. And the dog gave a howl and ran back toward the house, having finally managed to get his legs loose from the cord.

"Bow-wow!" barked Carlo, as he ran.

Perhaps he feared that he, too, might slip down that black, dark hole which led into the coal bin of Dorothy's house. Then as Mirabell and Arnold stood, looking with wide-opened eyes at the place where they had last seen the Lamb, the man on the wagon threw another shovelful of coal down the hole.

"Wait a minute! Stop! Oh, please stop!" begged Mirabell.

"Whut's dat? Whut's de mattah?" asked the coal-wagon driver.

He was a colored man, and that was the very best shade for him, I think. No matter how much coal dust got on his face and hands it never showed.

"Her little Lamb fell down the coal hole," explained Arnold. "Carlo got tangled in the string, it broke and she fell down the hole. Don't throw any more coal on her until we get her out."

"Does you-all mean dat Carlo fell down de hole?" asked the colored coal-wagon driver.

"No, Carlo is a dog," explained Mirabell. "He got tangled up in my Lamb's string, and she fell down the hole. I haven't named my Lamb yet. She's on wheels."

"On wheels?" cried the man. "A Lamb on Wheels? Well, I 'clar to goodness dat's de fustest time I ebber done heah ob a t'ing laik dat!"

"Oh, she isn't a real, live lamb," explained Mirabell. "She's a toy, woolly one from the store, and my Uncle Tim, who's a sailor, gave her to me."

"Well now, honey, I suah is sorry to heah dat!" said the colored man. "Your toy Lamb down de coal hole! Dat is too bad!"

"Can we get her out?" asked Arnold. "I'll crawl down the hole and get the Lamb if you won't throw any more coal."

"Oh, I won't frow any mo' coal -- not fo' a while -- not when I knows whut de trouble is," said the kind-hearted driver. "But I doan believe, mah li'l man, dat you'd better go down de coal hole."

At that moment the door of Dorothy's house opened, and her mother came out on the porch.

"What is it, Mirabell?" she asked. "What has happened?" She saw the children from next door talking to the coal driver, and she wondered at it.

"Oh, my Lamb is down the coal hole!" said Mirabell.

"Oh, that's too bad!" exclaimed Dorothy's mother. "I saw you holding a toy Lamb up to the window, before Dorothy was taken ill. How did your toy get down the coal hole?"

Mirabell and Arnold told by turns, and the driver said:

"I suah is sorry, lady. But it w'an't mahfaulta-tall!"

"I know it wasn't," said Dorothy's mother. "But do you think you could get the little girl's Lamb's back?"

"Well, dat coal hole isn't so very big," was the answer, as the driver scratched his kinky head. "But I might squeeze mahse'f down in it."

"Oh, I think a better way would be to go down in our cellar, crawl over the bin, and get the Lamb that way," Dorothy's mother said.

"Yes-sum, I could do it dat way!" the colored man said. "I'se been down in yo' cellar befo'. I'll get de Lamb on Wheels."

Dorothy's mother waited on the front porch, and Mirabell and Arnold waited on the sidewalk near the coal hole. A little while after the colored man had gone in the side entrance, through the cellar and into the coal bin, the two children heard him calling, as if from the ground beneath them.

"I got de Lamb!" said the driver, in a voice that sounded far-off and rumbly. "Watch out, now! I'se gwine to frow it up de hole!"

"All right!" said Arnold. "I'll catch her!"

"No, don't throw my Lamb!" objected Mirabell. "She might fall on the sidewalk and break."

"All right -- den I'll HAND her up out ob de hole," called the colored man, who was now in the partly filled bin under the sidewalk. "Watch out fo' her!"

Mirabell and Arnold could hear him walking around on the coal under the sidewalk. In another half minute a black hand was thrust up through the hole, and in the hand was a white, woolly Lamb on Wheels. Wait a minute! Did I say white? Well, I meant to have said a BLACK Lamb.

For Mirabell's white, clean Lamb on Wheels was now covered with black coal dust.

"Oh, that isn't my Lamb on Wheels at all!" cried Mirabell, and there were real tears in her eyes as her brother took the coal-dust covered toy from the colored man's hand. "That isn't my Lamb at all!"

"Oh, yes, it must be, Mirabell," said Dorothy's mother. "No other Lamb has fallen down the coal hole."

"But my Lamb was WHITE, and this one is BLACK," sobbed the little girl.

"Well, bring her in here and we'll wash her nice and clean and white again," said Dorothy's mother. "Bring your Lamb in, Mirabell. Dorothy is better now, though she cannot be out yet, and she will be glad to see you. Come in and I'll wash your Lamb!"

"And I certainly do need a bath!" thought the Lamb to herself, when she heard this talk. She could look down at her legs and see how black they were. "Oh, what a terrible adventure it is to fall into a coal hole! I wonder what will happen next!"

And she soon found out. For when the colored man had come out of the cellar, and was again shoveling the coal down the hole, Mirabell and Arnold took the black Lamb on Wheels into Dorothy's house. Dorothy and her brother Dick were glad to see the children from next door.

"Now to give Mirabell's Lamb a bath," said Dorothy's mother.

"I wonder if I'll be put in the bathtub, as the Wooden Lion was," thought the Lamb.

And she was, though she was not dipped all the way in, for fear of spoiling the wooden, wheeled platform on which she stood. With a nail brush and some soap and water, Dorothy's mother scrubbed the coal dust out of the Lamb's wool.

"There, she is nice and clean again," said Dorothy's mother, as she held the Lamb on Wheels up for the four children to see.

"But she is all wet!" cried Mirabell.

"I'll set her down by the warm stove in the kitchen, and she will soon dry," said the mother of Dick and Dorothy.

"And I'll put my Sawdust Doll down there with the Lamb so she won't be lonesome," said Dorothy.

And then the four children played games in the sitting room, while waiting for the Lamb to dry. And as Mary, the cook, was not in the kitchen just then, the Lamb and the Sawdust Doll were left alone together for a time.

"Oh, my dear, how glad I am to see you again!" exclaimed the Sawdust Doll when they were alone. "But, tell me! what happened? You are soaking wet!"

"Yes, it's very terrible!" bleated the Lamb. "I fell down a coal hole and had a bath!"

Then she told her different adventures, and the Sawdust Doll told hers, so the two toys had a nice time together. Soon the warm fire made the Lamb nice and dry and fluffy again. And she was as clean as when jolly Uncle Tim, the sailor, had bought her in the store.

"How is the White Booking Horse?" asked the Lamb of the Doll, when they had finished telling each other their adventures.

"Oh, he's just fine!" exclaimed the Sawdust Doll. "Did you hear about his broken leg, how he went to the Toy Hospital, and how he scared away some burglars by kicking one downstairs?"

"No, I never heard all that news," said the Lamb. "Please tell me," and the Sawdust Doll did. Then the two toys had to stop talking together as Mirabell, Arnold, Dorothy and Dick came into the kitchen.

"Oh, now my Lamb is all nice again!" cried Mirabell, when she saw her toy. "Oh, I am so glad."

"So am I," said Dorothy.

For many days Mirabell had jolly good times with her Lamb on Wheels. Sometimes the Lamb was taken to Dorothy's house, and then there was a chance for the woolly toy to talk to the Sawdust Doll and the White Rocking Horse.

And one day the Lamb had another strange adventure.

Mirabell had been out in the street near Dorothy's house drawing her Lamb up and down by means of a string. And Mirabell kept watch to see that Carlo did not run along and get tangled in the string. The little girl also made sure that no sidewalk coal holes were open. She did not want the Lamb to fall into another one.

"Oh, Mirabell, come over here a minute!" called Dorothy to her friend. "Mother got me a new trunk for my Sawdust Doll's things."

"Oh, I want to see it!" cried Mirabell, and she was in such a hurry that she let go of the string by which she had been by herself on the sidewalk for a little way, and finally rolled out toward the gutter. For once in her life Mirabell forgot all about her toy, pulling her Lamb. The Lamb rolled along.

And while Mirabell was looking at the new trunk for the Sawdust Doll's clothes, a big dog came running along the street. He saw the white, woolly Lamb near the curbstone.

"Oh, ho! Maybe that is good to eat!" thought the dog. And before the Lamb on Wheels could say a word, that dog just picked her up in his mouth and carried her away as a mother cat carries her little ones. Yes, the big dog carried away the Lamb on Wheels!




Chapter VIII

Sailing Down The Brook


The Lamb on Wheels was so frightened when the dog took her up in his mouth that she did not know what to do. If she could, she would have rolled away as fast as a toy railroad train, such a train as Arnold and Dick played with. But the dog had the Lamb in his mouth before she knew what was happening.

Besides, across the street was a man, and, as he happened to be looking at the Lamb, of course she dared not make believe come to life and trundle along as she sometimes did in the toy store. It was against the rules, you know, for any of the toys to do anything by themselves when any human eyes saw them. And so the Lamb had to let herself be carried away by the dog.

Now you might think that when the man saw the dog run away with the Lamb on Wheels in his mouth the man would have stopped the dog. But the man was thinking of something else. He was looking for a certain house, and he had forgotten the number, and he was thinking so much about that, and other things, that he never gave the Lamb a second thought.

He did see the dog take her away, but maybe he imagined it was only some game the children were playing with the toy and the dog, for Mirabell and Dorothy were there on the street, in plain sight.

But as the two little girls were just then thinking of the new trunk for the Sawdust Doll, neither of them thought of the Lamb, and they did not see the dog take her.

"Oh, what a nice trunk!" said Mirabell to Dorothy.

"I'm glad you like it," said Dorothy. She had her Sawdust Doll in her arms, and, as it happened, the Doll saw the dog running away with the Lamb on Wheels in his mouth.

"Oh! Oh! Oh, dear me! That is dreadful!" said the Sawdust Doll to herself. "Oh, the poor Lamb! What will happen to her?"

Away ran the dog with the Lamb on Wheels in his mouth down the street, over a low fence, and soon he was in the vacant lots where the weeds grew high. And then, as there were no human eyes in the vacant lots to see her, the Lamb thought it time to do something. She began to wiggle her legs, though she could not get them loose from the platform with wheels on, and she cried out:

"Baa! Baa! Baa!"

"Hello there! what's the matter?" barked the dog, and it made his nose tickle to have the Lamb, whom he was carrying in his teeth, give that funny Baa! sound in his mouth.

"Matter? Matter enough I should say!" exclaimed the Lamb on Wheels. "Why are you carrying me away like this, you very bad dog?"

For, being a toy, she could talk animal language as well as her own, and the dog could understand and talk it, too.

"Why am I carrying you away?" asked the dog. "Because I am hungry, of course."

"But I am not good to eat," bleated the Lamb. "I am mostly made of wood, though my wheels are of iron. Of course I have real wool on outside, but inside I am only stuffed."

"Dear me! is that so?" asked the dog, opening his mouth and putting the Lamb down amid a clump of weeds in the vacant lot.

"Yes, it's just as true as I'm telling you," went on the Lamb. "I am only a toy, though when no human eyes look at me I can move around and talk, as can all of us toys. But I am not good to eat."

"No, I think you're right about that," said the dog, after smelling of the Lamb. For that is how dogs tell whether or not a thing is good to eat -- by smelling it.

"You looked so natural," went on the dog, "that I thought you were a real little Lamb. That's why I carried you off when that little girl left you and ran away. I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"No, you didn't hurt me, but you have carried me a long way from my home," the Lamb said. "I don't know how I am ever going to get back to Mirabell."

"Can't you roll along to her on your wheels?" asked the dog. "I haven't time now to carry you back."

"Not very well," the Lamb answered. "It is very rough going in this lot, full of weeds and stones. I can easily roll myself along on a smooth floor, in the toy shop or at Mirabell's home. But it is too hard here."

"Ill leave you here now," barked the dog, "and when it gets dark I'll come and get you. I'll carry you back to the porch of the house, from in front of which I carried you off. Then you can roll in and get back to Mirabell, as you call her. Shall I do that?"

"Well, I suppose that would be a good plan," the Lamb said. "I don't exactly like being carried in your teeth, but there is no help for it."

"Then I'll do that," promised the dog. "I'll come back here and get you after dark. You'll be all right here in the tall weeds."

"I suppose so," replied the Lamb. "Though I shall be lonesome."

"Please forgive me for causing you all this trouble," went on the dog. "I never would have done it if I had known you were a toy. And now I'll run along and come back to-night. I hear a dog friend of mine calling me."

Another dog, at the farther end of the lot, was barking, and the Lamb crouched deeper down in the weeds.

"Dear me! this surely is an adventure," said the Lamb on Wheels to herself, as she was left alone. "Being taken away in a rag bag, as the Sawdust Doll was, couldn't be any worse than this. And though none of my legs is broken, as was one of the White Rocking Horse's, still I am almost as badly off, for I dare not move. I wonder what will happen to me next!"

It was not long before something did happen. As the Lamb stood on her wheels and wooden platform among the weeds, all at once two boys came along. They were looking for some fun.

"Oh, look!" cried a big boy. "There's a little white poodle dog over in the weeds!" and he pointed to the Lamb, whose white coat was easily seen amid the green leaves.

"Oh, we can have some fun with it!" said the little boy. "Let's call it."

So they whistled and called to the white object they thought was a dog, but the Lamb did not move. Of course she couldn't, while the boys were looking at her.

"That's funny!" said the big boy. "What do you think is the matter with that dog? It doesn't come to us."

"Let's go up and see," said the smaller lad.

Together they tramped through the weeds until they were close to the toy. Then the big boy cried out:

"Why, it isn't a dog at all! It's a Lamb on Wheels!"

"So it is!" said the little boy. "But I know how we can have some fun with it, just the same!"

"How?" asked the big boy.

"We can play Noah's Ark over in the brook," explained the small boy. "There are some boards over there. I was making a raft of them the other day. We can make another raft now, and we can get on and sail down the brook. And we can take the Lamb on board with us and make believe we're in a Noah's Ark and that there's a flood and all like that! Won't that be fun?"

"Yes, I guess it will," said the big boy. "Come on! I'll carry the Lamb."

So, picking up the toy and tucking it under his arm, he led the way to the brook, which ran through the vacant lots. It was a nice brook, not too deep, and wide enough to sail boats on.

"Now we'll make the raft," said the smaller boy, as they came to a place on the bank of the brook where there were some boards and planks.

The big boy set the Lamb down near the water and then the two lads began to make a raft. A raft is like the big, wide, flat boat, without any house or cabin on it. It did not take long to make it.

"All aboard!" cried the big boy, when the raft had been finished. "All aboard! Come on!" He picked up the Lamb again, and walked out on the raft. The smaller boy went with his chum. With long poles, cut from a near-by tree, the boys shoved the raft out into the middle of the brook.

"Now we're a Noah's Ark!" laughed the small boy, "and we have one animal with us -- a woolly Lamb on Wheels!"

And down the brook Mirabell's toy went sailing with the two boys on the raft.

"This is certainly surprising!" thought the Lamb. "I was bought by a sailor, and here I am making a voyage! I hope I shall not be seasick!"




Chapter IX

On A Load Of Wood


Now while the Lamb on Wheels was being carried away by the dog, and after she had been dropped in the lot, where she was picked up by the boys and put on a Noah's Ark raft -- while all this was happening to the toy, Mirabell, the little girl who owned the Lamb, was almost heart-broken. After she had admired the trunk Dorothy had had given to her for the Sawdust Doll, Mirabell ran back to get her pet toy.

"Oh, where is my Lamb on Wheels?" cried Mirabell, looking up and down the street. "Where is she?"

"Where did you leave her?" asked Dorothy, who had gone back with her friend.

"I left the Lamb right here by the fence," answered Mirabell. "She had a string on. I was pulling her along the sidewalk, and when you called me I let go the string and ran. Oh, where is my nice Lamb?"

"Maybe Dick took the Lamb," suggested Dorothy to Mirabell, when they had looked up and down the street, in front of and behind the fence, and even in the yard, and had not found the toy. "Dick sometimes takes my things and hides them just for fun," Dorothy said.

"Or Arnold, maybe," added Mirabell.

Just then Dick and Arnold came out of Mirabell's house, each with a slice of bread and jam, and there was some jam around their mouths, too, showing that they had each taken a bite from their slices of bread.

"Oh, Arnold, did you take my Lamb!" cried Mirabell.

"Or did you take it, Dick?" asked his sister.

"Nope!" answered both boys, speaking at the same time.

"But where is she?" asked the little girl over and over again. "Where is my Lamb on Wheels?"

"Oh, I know!" suddenly cried Dick.

"I thought you said you didn't!" exclaimed his sister. "You said you and Arnold didn't hide her away."

"Neither did we," went on Dick. "But I think I know where she is, just the same."

"Where?" asked Arnold, as he finished the last of his bread and jam, having given his sister a bite, while Dick gave Dorothy some. "Where is the Lamb on Wheels?" asked Arnold.

"Down in our cellar!" went on Dick. "Don't you remember how she rolled down there once, when the man was putting in coal? Maybe she's there again."

"Oh, let's look!" cried Mirabell.

So the children ran to Dorothy's mother, who said she would have Patrick, the gardener, look down in the coal bin for the lost Lamb on Wheels.

But of course the Lamb on Wheels was not in Dorothy's cellar, and Mirabell felt worse than ever.

"I guess some one must have come along the street when you weren't looking, Mirabell," said Dorothy's mother, "and carried your Lamb away."

"I -- I guess so," sobbed Mirabell. "Oh, but I wish I had her back. Uncle Tim gave her to me, and now he is away far out on the ocean! Oh, dear!" and the little girl felt very bad indeed.

She did not give up the search, and Dorothy, Dick and Arnold also helped. They looked in the two yards, across the street, and in other places, but the Lamb could not be found.

The reason Mirabell could not find her toy, as you and I know very well, was because the Lamb on Wheels was riding down the brook on a raft with the two boys.

At first the Lamb was much frightened when she looked over the edge of the flat boat of planks and boards, and saw water on all sides of her.

"I really must be at sea, as that jolly sailor was," thought the Lamb. "I am on a voyage at last! Oh, I hope I shall not be seasick! Oh, how wet the ocean is!" she thought, as some water splashed up near her, when the little boy shoved the raft along with his pole.

The Lamb, not knowing any better, thought the brook was the big ocean. But as the raft sailed on down and down and did not upset and as the Lamb grew less frightened and was not made ill, she began to feel better about it.

"Perhaps I am more of a sailor than I thought," she said to herself. "I never knew I would be brave enough to go to sea. I wish the Bold Tin Soldier and the Calico Clown could see me now. I'm sure they never had an adventure like this!"

So the Lamb on Wheels stood on her wooden platform in the middle of the raft and looked at the water of the brook. Now and then little waves splashed over the edge of the raft, but only a little water got on the toy, and that did not harm her.

"Isn't this fun!" cried the little boy who had first thought of playing Noah's Ark with the raft.

"It is packs of fun!" agreed the older boy. "Let's make believe we are going on a long voyage."

So the raft went on and on down the brook, and the Lamb on Wheels was having a fine ride.

"Though I wish some of the toys were here with me," she thought to herself. "I wonder if the Sawdust Doll would get seasick if she were on board here. I don't believe the Bold Tin Soldier would, and the Calico Clown would be trying to think of new jokes and riddles, so I don't believe he would be ill. But I wonder what is going to happen to me? What will be the end of this adventure?"

The two boys poled their raft down to a broader part of the brook, where it flowed at the bottom of a garden. At the upper end of the garden was a large house, and not far away was another house. The Lamb on Wheels could see the houses from where she stood on the raft, and she wondered if any little boys or girls lived in them.

"Having adventures is all right," thought the Lamb, "but one can have too many of them. I have been on a voyage long enough, I believe. I wish I could get back home to Mirabell."

A few minutes after that the big boy cried:

"Oh, come on, Jimmie! There's Tom and Harry! We can have a game of ball," and he pointed to some boys who were running around the lots, through which the brook was now flowing.

"What shall we do with the Lamb?" asked the small boy.

"Leave it here on the raft," answered the older boy. "Maybe we'll want to play Noah's Ark again, and we can find the raft here. Now we'll go and play ball!"

They shoved the raft over toward the shore of the brook, and then the two boys jumped off. They left the Lamb behind them.

"Dear me! how fast things do happen," said the Lamb, speaking out loud to herself, as there was no one near just then. "A little while ago Mirabell was pulling me along the sidewalk with a string. Then she left me and the dog ran off with me. Then he left me, and the boys carried me off on the raft. Now they have left me. I wonder who will take me next?"

The raft was smooth in places, and the Lamb was just going to start to roll along a board toward shore when, all at once, she heard a noise, and a voice cried:

"Whoa!"

"My goodness!" thought the Lamb, coming to a stop almost as soon as she had started along on her wheels, "what's that? I wonder if some one is driving the White Rocking Horse along here!"

She looked through the weeds growing on the edge of the brook and saw a real horse and wagon and a real man driving down to the water through the vacant lot. And as the man was real the Lamb dared not move while he was in sight.

"Whoa!" called the real man, and it was to his real horse he was speaking, and not to the White Rocking Horse. "Whoa now, Dobbin!" went on the man, "and I'll let you have a drink here if the water is clean. I know you are thirsty, and there is a brook here somewhere."

So that is why the man was driving his horse down through the lot -- to give his horse a drink. The man climbed down off his wagon and walked toward the brook, right at the place where the raft had gone ashore with the Lamb on board.

"I wonder if this can be the junkman who carried the Sawdust Doll away in his wagon," thought the Lamb. "If it is I am in for another adventure!"

As the man came to look at the brook, to see if the water was clean enough for his horse to drink, the man saw the raft.

"Oh, ho! There are some good boards and planks I can carry home to break up for kindling wood," said the man. "That's what I'll do. I'll have some good firewood from these boards! Or maybe I can sell some." Then he came nearer and saw the Lamb.

"Well, I do declare!" the man cried. "There is a white woolly Lamb toy! I must take that, too, though I don't know what I can do with it. Maybe I can sell it. I am in luck to-day, getting a load of wood and a toy. Now come on, Dobbin!" he called to his horse. "The brook is nice and clean for you to drink from, and while you are drinking I will load the wood on my wagon and take the Lamb on Wheels. Come on, Dobbin!"

The horse walked toward the water, for he was thirsty. And while he was drinking the man laid aside the Lamb, placing her on some soft grass.

Then he piled the boards and planks on his wagon, and next he took up the Lamb again, putting her on top of the load of wood.

"I'll give the Lamb a ride!" said the man.




Chapter X

Mirabell Is Happy


Away rattled the wagon with the load of wood. The man sat on the seat, driving the horse, and behind him, where he had placed her on a board so she would not roll off, was the Lamb on Wheels.

"Are my adventures never going to end?" thought the Lamb. "Here I am riding on a wagon, while, a short time ago, I was on a raft, sailing over the ocean like Uncle Tim."

The Lamb did not know the difference between the brook and the ocean, but we can hardly blame her, as she had not traveled very much.

"I rather like this wagon ride, though," said the Lamb, as the man drove away from the brook and up through the lots. His horse was no longer thirsty.

The man who had picked up the pieces of the boys' raft to take home to be chopped up for firewood, did all sorts of odd jobs in the neighborhood. He would cut grass, beat rugs, cart away rubbish, and do things like that for people who lived near the brook. And soon after loading his wagon with wood and taking away the Lamb on Wheels the man said to himself:

"I'll go around to the Big House and ask if they have any trash that needs carting away. I can't take it now, because I have this load of wood on, but I could come to-morrow and get it. Yes, I'll drive to the Big House and see if they need me."

The "Big House," as the man called it, was a place where a gardener, a cook, and a maid were kept by a rich family, and the gardener used to rake up the trash in the yard and keep it until the rubbish man called with his wagon to take it away.

So along rattled the wagon with the Lamb on Wheels up on the pile of wood. She slid from side to side, as the road was now rough, and once she almost fell out. But the man looked around just in time and saw her.

"Oh, ho! Mustn't have that happen!" he exclaimed. "I don't want to lose the Lamb I found. It's an almost new toy, and maybe I can sell it. I must not lose it!"

Then he reached back and took the Lamb on Wheels from along the loose pieces of wood.

"I'll set it up on the seat beside me," said the man, talking aloud to himself, as he often did. "I can hold it on as we go over the rough places."

But soon the man drove out of the lots to a smooth road, and then the Lamb felt better.

"Now we'll stop at the Big House," said the man, as he drove up along a back road and stopped at a gate in a high fence. "Whoa!" he called to his horse, and when the horse stopped the man got down off the seat, leaving the Lamb still there.

The man who had the load of wood opened the gate in the fence, and just then another man came out.

"Hello, Patrick!" called the wood man. "I was driving past and I just thought I'd stop and see if there was any trash you wanted carted off to the dump. Of course I can't take it now, as I have on a load of wood," he added. "But I can come back later."

"Oh, so you have a load of wood, have you?" asked Patrick, who had a garden rake in his hand. "Where did you get it?" and he walked toward the wagon, letting the garden gate swing shut behind him.

"Found it down in the lot near the brook. Some boys had made a raft, but I guess they got tired of playing with it, so I took the planks and boards. I found something else, too, Patrick!" "You did? What was that, Mike?"

"A toy woolly Lamb on Wheels," answered the odd-job man. "It was on the raft. I brought it along with me. There it is, up on the seat," and he pointed to the toy.

"A Lamb! A toy Lamb on Wheels!" exclaimed Patrick. "Well, if this isn't strange! I never would have believed it!"

"What's the matter?" asked the odd-job man, as Patrick looked more closely at the Lamb on the wagon seat. "What's the matter?"

"Why, this is Mirabell's Lamb! The one she has been looking for!" cried Patrick. "I hunted down in our cellar for this Lamb, but I didn't find her. And now you have her on a load of wood! How strange! Where did you say you found her?"

"On the raft," answered the odd-job man. "But who is Mirabell?"

"A little girl who lives next door," explained Patrick, the gardener. "She plays with our Dorothy, and Mirabell's Uncle Tim brought her a Lamb on Wheels. Mirabell had her Lamb out in the street, but she left it for a moment and then it disappeared. Now here it is!"

"Are you sure it's the same one?" asked the odd-job man.

"Quite sure," answered Patrick, and, oh, how the Lamb wished she dared speak out and say that she certainly was that very same toy! And how she wished they would take her to Mirabell!

"We can soon tell if this is Mirabell's Lamb," went on Patrick. "I'll take it to her. If you want to you can unload that wood here. My master will buy it and I can chop it up. Then you can cart away some trash in your wagon."

"I'll do that," said the odd-job man. "I guess the Lamb brought me good luck. I was thinking maybe I could sell this wood after I had chopped it up myself, but I'd rather sell it as it is. And I can then cart away the trash."

"Well, you be unloading the wood," said Patrick, "and I'll go see if this is Mirabell's Lamb. But I am very sure it is."

Leaning his rake up against the back fence, Patrick walked up the garden path, around the "Big House," as the odd-job man had called it, and then the gardener went toward the house where Mirabell lived.

The little girl, who had hunted all over for her Lamb on Wheels and was feeling very sad because she had not found it, was in the kitchen getting a cookie from Susan, the cook, when Patrick knocked on the back door.

"I'll go and see who it is!" cried the little girl.

And when she opened the door, and saw Patrick from the "Big House" standing there with the Lamb on Wheels, Mirabell was so surprised that she dropped her cookie. It fell on the floor, and it almost rolled down the back steps, but Patrick caught it in time.

"Oh! Oh!" exclaimed Mirabell, clasping her hands. "Where did you find her? Where did you find my Lamb on Wheels, Patrick?"

"Then she is yours?" asked the gardener.

"Of course she's mine!" cried Mirabell, as she took her toy in her arms. "I've been looking everywhere for her! Oh, where did you find her?"

"I didn't find her. Another man did," explained the gardener. "But as soon as I saw this Lamb on the seat of his wagon, I thought she was yours. And she is!"

"Yes, she is!" cried Mirabell, who was very happy now. "This is my Lamb on Wheels, and I'm never going to lose her again. Oh, Patrick, I'm so glad!" she cried. "Will you thank the other man for me?"

"You may come and thank him yourself if you like," said the good-natured gardener. "He's unloading wood at our back gate, and he's going to take away a load of trash for me. Come and thank him yourself."

And Mirabell, holding the Lamb in her arms, did so.

"I can't tell you how glad and happy I am," said Mirabell.

"I am glad I happened to find your toy for you," replied the odd-job man.

Then, the little girl, nodding and smiling at Patrick and Mike, ran laughing across the yard to tell her mother the good news.

"I'm never going to lose my Lamb on Wheels again!" said Mirabell.

"I wonder where she was, and how she got on the raft by the brook," said Arnold, when he and Dick and Dorothy had heard the story of the finding of the lost toy.

"I don't know," answered Mirabell.

"All I know is that I have her back again, and, oh! I'm so happy!"

"I certainly am glad to get back to Mirabell again," said the Lamb on Wheels to herself. "And what a remarkable adventure I shall have to tell the Sawdust Doll and the White Rocking Horse when I see them again!"

This happened very soon, for a few days later Mirabell carried the Lamb on Wheels over to Dorothy's house. Arnold went with his sister, taking with him his toy fire engine.

"Now we'll have some fun!" cried Dick, as he got his White Rocking Horse. "We'll go horseback riding."

"And I'll get my Sawdust Doll!" exclaimed Dorothy.

The children had fun playing with their toys, and when they laid them down for a moment to go to the kitchen to get some crackers and milk, the Lamb found a chance to tell the Sawdust Doll and the White Rocking Horse about her adventures.

"My, I think they are perfectly wonderful!" exclaimed the Doll, when she heard about the trip on the raft.

"But what is that little squeaky noise, Lamb?" asked the White Rocking Horse suddenly. "I've noticed it every time you have moved."

"Oh, my dear!" cried the Sawdust Doll, "are you sure these dreadful adventures have not hurt you?"

"It's really not very much," answered the Lamb on Wheels. "You know an ocean trip such as mine is apt to be rather damp, and I have been left with a little rheumatism in my left hind wheel. But now that I am back with Mirabell it will soon be all right."

"She ought to have her mother put a little oil on it," said the Sawdust Doll. "That would cure it at once."

"And did the odd-job man's horse go faster than I can go?" asked the Rocking chap.

"I hardly remember," the Lamb answered. "But I was almost seasick riding on that wagon."

"Hush! The children are coming back!" neighed the White Rocking Horse, and the toys had to be very still and quiet.

"I know what we can do!" cried Dick, after he had helped Arnold put out a make-believe fire with the toy engine. "We can play soldier!"

"That will be fun!" said Arnold, who liked games of that sort. "I wish I had some toy soldiers," he went on. "I saw some in the same store where your Rocking Horse came from, Dick. I wish I had a set of tin soldiers, with a captain and a flag and everything!"

"Maybe you'll get 'em!" exclaimed Dick.

"Maybe," echoed Arnold,

"Oh, I hope he does," thought the Lamb on Wheels. And if you children want to know whether or not Arnold got his wish you may find out by reading the next book in this series, called: "The Story of a Bold Tin Soldier."

As for the Lamb on Wheels, she lived with Mirabell for many, many years, and had a fine time. She had some adventures, too, but none more strange than the one of riding down the brook on a raft.

<eob>

The Curlytops At Uncle Frank's Ranch

Or

Little Folks On Ponyback

By

Howard R. Garis



Chapter I

Trouble's Tumble


"Say, Jan, this isn't any fun!"

"What do you want to play then, Ted?"

Janet Martin looked at her brother, who was dressed in one of his father's coats and hats while across his nose was a pair of spectacles much too large for him. Janet, wearing one of her mother's skirts, was sitting in a chair holding a doll.

"Well, I'm tired of playing doctor, Jan, and giving your make-believe sick doll bread pills. I want to do something else," and Teddy began taking off the coat, which was so long for him that it dragged on the ground.

"Oh, I know what we can do that'll be lots of fun!" cried Janet, getting up from the chair so quickly that she forgot about her doll, which fell to the floor with a crash that might have broken her head.

"Oh, my dear!" cried Janet, as she had often heard her mother call when Baby William tumbled and hurt himself. "Oh, are you hurt?" and Janet clasped the doll in her arms, and hugged it as though it were a real child.

"Is she busted?" Ted demanded, but he did not ask as a real doctor might inquire. In fact, he had stopped playing doctor.

"No, she isn't hurt, I guess," Jan answered, feeling of her doll's head. "I forgot all about her being in my lap. Oh, aren't you going to play any more, Ted?" she asked as she saw her brother toss the big coat on a chair and take off the spectacles.

"No. I want to do something else. This is no fun!"

"Well, let's make-believe you're sick and I can be a Red Cross nurse, like some of those we saw in the drugstore window down the street, making bandages for the soldiers. You could be a soldier, Ted, and I could be the nurse, and I'd make some sugar pills for you, if you don't like the rolled-up bread ones you gave my doll."

Teddy Martin thought this over for a few seconds. He seemed to like it. And then he shook his head.

"No," he answered his sister, "I couldn't be a soldier."

"Why not?"

"'Cause I haven't got a gun and there isn't any tent."

"We could make a tent with a sheet off the bed like we do lots of times. Put it over a chair, you know."

"But I haven't a gun," Teddy went on. He knew that he and Janet could make a tent, for they had often done it before.

"Couldn't you take a broom for a gun?" Janet asked. "I'll get it from the kitchen."

"Pooh! What good is a broom for a gun? I want one that shoots! Anyhow I haven't a uniform, and a soldier can't go to war without a uniform or a sword or a gun. I'm not going to play that!"

Janet did not know what to say for a few seconds. Truly a soldier would not be much of one without a gun or a uniform, even if he was in a tent. But the little girl had not given up yet.

The day was a rainy one. There was no school, for it was Saturday, and staying in the house was no great fun. Janet wanted her brother to stay and play with her and she knew she must do something to make him. For a while he had been content to play that he was Dr. Thompson, come to give medicine to Jan's sick doll. But Teddy had become tired of this after paying half a dozen visits and leaving pills made by rolling bread crumbs together.

Teddy laid aside his father's old hat and scratched his head. That is he tried to, but his head was so covered with tightly twisted curls that the little boy's fingers were fairly entangled in them.

"Say!" he exclaimed, "I wish my hair didn't curl so much! It's too long. I'm going to ask mother if I can't have it cut."

"I wish I could have mine cut," sighed Janet. "Mine's worse to comb than yours is, Ted."

"Yes, I know. And it always curls more on a rainy day."

Both children had the same curly hair. It was really beautiful, but they did not quite appreciate it, even though many of their friends, and some persons who saw them for the first time, called them "Curlytops." Indeed the tops of their heads were very curly.

"Oh, I know how we can do it!" suddenly cried Janet, just happening to think of something.

"Do what?" asked her brother.

"Play the soldier game. You can pretend you were caught by the enemy and your gun and uniform were taken away. Then you can be hurt and I'll be the Red Cross nurse and take care of you in the tent. I'll get some real sugar for pills, too! Nora'll give me some. She's in the kitchen now making a cake."

"Maybe she'd give you a piece of cake, too," suggested Teddy.

"Maybe," agreed Janet. "I'll go and ask her."

"Ask her for some chocolate," added Ted. "I guess, if I've got to be sick, I'd like chocolate pills 'stead of sugar."

"All right," said Janet, as she hurried downstairs from the playroom to the kitchen. In a little while she came back with a plate on which were two slices of chocolate cake, while on one edge of it were some crumbs of chocolate icing.

"I'll make pills of that after we eat the cake," Janet said. "You can pretend the cake made you sick if you want to, Ted."

"Pooh! who ever heard of a soldier getting sick on cake? Anyhow they don't have cake in the army -- lessen they capture it from the enemy."

"Well, you can pretend you did that," said Janet. "Now I'll put my doll away," she went on, as she finished her piece of cake, "and well play the soldier game. I'll get some red cloth to make the cross."

Janet looked "sweet," as her mother said afterward, when she had wound a white cloth around her head, a red cross, rather ragged and crooked, being pinned on in front.

The tent was made by draping a sheet from the bed across two chairs, and under this shelter Teddy crawled. He stretched out on a blanket which Janet had spread on the floor to be the hospital cot.

"Now you must groan, Ted," she said, as she looked in a glass to see if her headpiece and cross were on straight.

"Groan? What for?"

"'Cause you've Been hurt in the war, or else you're sick from the cake."

"Pooh! a little bit of cake like that wouldn't make me sick. You've got to give me a lot more if you want me to be real sick."

"Oh, Teddy Martin! I'm not going to play if you make fun like that all the while. You've got to groan and pretend you've been shot. Never mind about the cake."

"All right. I'll be shot then. But you've got to give me a lot of chocolate pills to make me get better."

"I'm not going to give 'em to you all at once, Ted Martin!"

"Well, maybe in two doses then. How many are there?"

"Oh, there's a lot. I'm going to take some myself."

"You are not!" and Teddy sat up so quickly that he hit the top of the sheet-tent with his head and made it slide from the chair.

"There! Look what you did!" cried Janet. "Now you've gone and spoiled everything!"

"Oh, well, I'll fix it," said Ted, rather sorry for what he had done. "But you can't eat my chocolate pills."

"I can so!"

"You cannot! Who ever heard of a nurse taking the medicine from a sick soldier?"

"Well, anyhow -- well, wouldn't you give me some chocolate candy if you had some, and I hadn't?" asked Janet.

"Course I would, Jan. I'm not stingy!"

"Well, these pills are just like chocolate candy, and if I give 'em all to you -- "

"Oh, well, then I'll let you eat some," agreed Ted. "But you wanted me to play this game of bein' a sick soldier, and if I'm sick I've got to have the medicine."

"Yes, I'll give you the most," Janet agreed. "Now you lie down and groan and I'll hear you out on the battlefield and come and save your life."

So, after Janet had fixed the sheet over him again, Teddy lay back on the blanket and groaned his very best.

"Oh, it sounds as real as anything!" exclaimed the little girl in delight. "Do it some more, Ted!"

Thereupon her brother groaned more loudly until Janet stopped him by dropping two or three chocolate pills into his opened mouth.

"Oh! Gurr-r-r-r! Ugh! Say, you 'most choked me!" spluttered Ted, as he sat up and chewed the chocolate.

"Oh, I didn't mean to," said Janet as she ate a pill or two herself. "Now you lie down and go to sleep, 'cause I've got a lot more sick soldiers to go to see."

"Don't give 'em any of my chocolate pills," cautioned Ted. "I need 'em all to make me get better."

"I'll only make-believe give them some," promised Janet.

She and her brother played this game for a while, and Teddy liked it -- as long as the chocolate pills were given him. But when Janet had only a few left and Teddy was about to say he was tired of lying down, someone came into the playroom and a voice asked:

"What you doin'?"

"Playing soldier," answered Janet. "You mustn't drop your 'g' letters, Trouble. Mother doesn't like it."

"I want some chocolate," announced the little boy, whose real name was William Martin, but who was more often called Trouble -- because he got in so much of it, you know.

"There's only one pill left. Can I give it to him, Ted?" asked Janet.

"Yes, Janet. I've had enough. Anyhow, I know something else to play now. It's lots of fun!"

"What?" asked Janet eagerly. It was still raining hard and she wanted her brother to stay in the house with her.

"We'll play horse," went on Ted. "I'll be a bucking bronco like those Uncle Frank told us about on his ranch. We'll make a place with chairs where they keep the cow ponies and the broncos. I forget what Uncle Frank called it."

"I know," said Janet. "It's cor -- corral."

"Corral!" exclaimed Ted. "That's it! We'll make a corral of some chairs and I'll be a bucking bronco. That's a horse that won't let anybody ride on its back," the little boy explained.

"I wants a wide!" said Baby William.

"Well, maybe I'll give you a ride after I get tired of bucking," said Teddy, thinking about it.

They made a ring of chairs on the playroom floor, and in this corral Teddy crept around on his hands and knees, pretending to be a wild Western pony. Janet tried to catch him and the children had much fun, Trouble screaming and laughing in delight.

At last Teddy allowed himself to be caught, for it was hard work crawling around as he did, and rearing up in the air every now and then.

"Give me a wide!" pleaded Trouble.

"Yes, I'll ride him on my back," offered Teddy, and his baby brother was put up there by Janet.

"Now don't go too fast with him, pony," she said.

"Yes, I wants to wide fast, like we does with Nicknack," declared Baby William. Nicknack was the Curlytops' pet goat.

"All right, I'll give you a fast ride," promised Teddy.

He began crawling about the room with Trouble on his back. The baby pretended to drive his "horse" by a string which Ted held in his mouth like reins.

"Go out in de hall -- I wants a big wide," directed Trouble.

"All right," assented Teddy. Out into the hall he went and then forgetting, perhaps, that he had his baby brother on his back, Teddy began to buck -- that is flop up and down.

"Oh -- oh! 'top!" begged Trouble.

"I can't! I'm a Wild-West pony," explained Ted, bucking harder than ever.

He hunched himself forward on his hands and knees, and before he knew it he was at the head of the stairs. Then, just how no one could say, Trouble gave a yell, toppled off Teddy's back and the next instant went rolling down the flight, bump, bump, bumping at every step.



Chapter II

Nicknack And Trouble


"Oh, Teddy!" screamed Janet. "Oh, Trouble!"

Teddy did not answer at once. Indeed he had hard work not to tumble down the stairs himself after his little brother. Ted clung to the banister, though, and managed to save himself.

"Oh, he'll be hurt -- terrible!" cried Janet, and she tried to get past her older brother to run downstairs after Trouble.

But Mrs. Martin, who was in the dining-room talking to Nora Jones, the maid, heard the noise and ran out into the hall.

"Oh, children!" she cried. "Teddy -- Janet -- what's all that noise?"

"It's Trouble, Mother!" announced Teddy. "I was playing bucking bronco and -- "

"Trouble fell downstairs!" screamed Janet.

While everyone was thus calling out at once, Baby William came flopping head over heels, and partly sidewise, down the padded steps, landing right at his mother's feet, sitting up as straight as though in his high-chair.

"Oh, darling!" cried Mrs. Martin, catching the little fellow up in her arms, "are you hurt?"

Trouble was too much frightened to scream or cry. He had his mouth open but no sound came from it. He was just like the picture of a sobbing baby.

"Oh, Nora!" cried Mrs. Martin, as she hurried into the dining-room with her little boy in her arms. "Trouble fell downstairs! Get ready to telephone for his father and the doctor in case he's badly hurt," and then she and the maid began looking over Baby William to find out just what was the matter with him, while Ted and Janet, much frightened and very quiet, stood around waiting.

And while Mrs. Martin is looking over Trouble it will be a good chance for me to tell those of you who meet the Curlytops for the first time in this book something about them, and what has happened to them in the other volumes of this series.

The first book is named "The Curlytops at Cherry Farm," and in that I had the pleasure of telling you about Ted and Janet and Trouble Martin and their father and mother, when they went to Grandpa Martin's place, called Cherry Farm, which was near the village of Elmburg, not far from Clover Lake.

There the children found a goat, which they named Nicknack, and they kept him as a pet. When hitched to a wagon he gave them many nice rides. There were many cherry trees on Grandpa Martin's farm, and when some of the other crops failed the cherries were a great help, especially when the Lollypop Man turned them into "Chewing Cherry Candy."

After a good time on the farm the children had more fun when, as told in the second book, named "The Curlytops on Star Island," they went camping with grandpa. On Star Island in Clover Lake they saw a strange blue light which greatly puzzled them, and it was some time before they knew what caused it.

The summer and fall passed and Ted and Janet went home to Cresco, where they lived, to spend the winter. What happened then is told in the third volume, called "The Curlytops Snowed In." The big storm was so severe that no one could get out and even Nicknack was lost wandering about in the big drifts.

The Curlytops had a good time, even if they were snowed in. Now spring had come again, and the children were ready for something else. But I must tell you a little bit about the family, as well as about what happened.

You have already met Ted, Jan and Trouble. Ted's real name was Theodore, but his mother seldom called him that unless she was quite serious about something he had done that was wrong. So he was more often spoken to as Ted or Teddy, and his sister Janet was called Jan. Though oftener still they were called the "Curlytops," or, if one was speaking to one or the other he would say "Curlytop." That was because both Teddy and Janet had such very, very curly hair.

Ted's and Jan's birthdays came on the same day, but they had been born a year apart, Teddy being about seven years old and his sister a year younger. Trouble was aged about three years.

I have spoken of the curly hair of Teddy and Janet. Unless you had seen it you would never have believed hair could be so curly! It was no wonder that even strangers called the children "Curlytops."

Sometimes, when Mother Martin was combing the hair of the children, the comb would get tangled and she would have to pull a little to get it loose. That is one reason Ted never liked to have his hair combed. Janet's was a little longer than his, but just as curly.

Trouble's real name, as I have mentioned, was William. His father sometimes called him "A bunch of trouble," and his mother spoke of him as "Dear Trouble," while Jan and Ted called him just "Trouble."

Mr. Martin, whose name was Richard, shortened to Dick by his wife (whose name was Ruth) owned a store in Cresco, which is in one of our Eastern states.

Nora Jones, a cheerful, helpful maid-of-all-work had been in the Martin family a long while, and dearly loved the children, who were very fond of her. The Martins had many relatives besides the children's grandfather and grandmother, but I will only mention two now. They were Aunt Josephine Miller, called Aunt Jo, who lived at Clayton and who had a summer bungalow at Mt. Hope, near Ruby Lake. She was a sister of Mrs. Martin's. Uncle Frank Barton owned a large ranch near Rockville, Montana. He was Mr. Martin's uncle, but Ted and Janet also called him their uncle.

Now that you have met the chief members of the family, and know a little of what has happened to them in the past you may be interested to go back to see what the matter is with Trouble.

His mother turned him over and over in her arms, feeling of him here and there. Trouble had closed his mouth by this time, having changed his mind about crying. Instead he was very still and quiet.

"Trouble, does it hurt you anywhere?" his mother asked him anxiously.

"No," he said. "Not hurt any place. I wants to wide on Teddy's back some more."

"The little tyke!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin with a sigh of relief. "I don't believe he is hurt a bit."

"The stairs are real soft since we put the new carpet on them," remarked Nora.

"They are well padded," agreed Mrs. Martin. "I guess that's what kept him from getting hurt. It was like rolling down a feather bed. But he might have got his arm or leg twisted under him and have broken a bone. How did he happen to fall?"

"We were playing Red Cross nurse," began Janet, "and Ted was a soldier in a tent and -- "

"But how could William fall downstairs if you were playing that sort of game?" asked her mother.

"Oh, we weren't playing it then," put in Ted. "We'd changed to another game. I was a wild Western bronco, like those on Uncle Frank's ranch, and I was giving Trouble a ride on my back. I gave a jump when I was near the stairs, and I guess he must have slipped off."

"There isn't any guessing about it -- he did slip off," said Mrs. Martin with a smile, as she put Trouble in a chair, having made sure he was not hurt, and that there was no need of telephoning for his father or the doctor. "You must be more careful, Teddy. You might have hurt your little brother."

"Yes'm," Teddy answered. "I won't do it again."

"But we want to play something," put in Janet. "It's no fun being in the house all day."

"I know it isn't. But I think the rain is going to stop pretty soon. If you get your rain-coats and rubbers you may go out for a little while."

"Me go too?" begged Trouble.

"Yes, you may go too," agreed his mother. "You'll all sleep better if you get some fresh air; and it's warm, even if it has been raining."

"Maybe we can take Nicknack and have a ride!" exclaimed Teddy.

"If it stops raining," said his mother.

Ted, Jan and Trouble ran up and down in front of the house while the rain fell softly and the big drops dripped from the trees. Then the clouds broke away, the sun came out, the rain stopped and with shouts and laughter the children ran to the barn next to which, in a little stable of his own, Nicknack, the goat, was kept.

"Come on out, Nicknack!" cried Janet. "You're going to give us a ride!"

And Nicknack did, being hitched to the goat-cart in which there was room and to spare for Janet, Ted and Trouble. Up and down the street in front of their home the Martin children drove their pet goat.

"Whee, this is fun!" cried Ted, as he made Nicknack run downhill with the wagon.

"Oh, Teddy Martin, don't go so fast!" begged Janet.

"I like to go fast!" answered her brother. "I'm going to play Wild West. This is the stage coach and pretty soon the Indians will shoot at us!"

"Teddy Martin! if you're going to do that I'm not going to play!" stormed Janet. "You'll make Trouble fall out and get hurt. Come on, Trouble! Let us get out!" she cried. Nicknack was going quite fast down the hill.

"Wait till we get to the bottom," shouted Ted. "G'lang there, pony!" he cried to the goat.

"Let me out!" screamed Janet, "I want to get out."

At the foot of the hill Teddy stopped the goat and Janet, taking Trouble with her, got out and walked back to the house.

"What's the matter now?" asked Mrs. Martin from the porch where she had come out to get a little fresh air.

"Ted's playing Wild West in the goat-wagon," explained Janet.

"Oh, Ted! Don't be so rough!" begged his mother of her little son, who drove up just then.

"Oh, I'm only playing Indians and stage coach," he said. "You've got to go fast when the Indians are after you!" and away he rode.

"He's awful mean!" declared Janet.

"I don't know what's come over Ted of late," said Mrs. Martin to her husband, who came up the side street just then from his store.

"What's he been doing?" asked Mr. Martin.

"Oh, he's been pretending he was a bucking bronco, like those Uncle Frank has on his ranch, and he tossed Trouble downstairs. But the baby didn't get hurt, fortunately. Now Ted's playing Wild West stagecoach with Nicknack and Janet got frightened and wouldn't ride."

"Hum, I see," said Ted's father slowly. "Our boy is getting older, I guess. He needs rougher play. Well, I think I've just the very thing to suit him, and perhaps Janet and all of us."

"What is it?" asked Mrs. Martin, as her husband drew a letter from his pocket.

"This is an invitation from Uncle Frank for all of us to come out to his ranch in Montana for the summer," was the answer. "We have been talking of going, you know, and now is a good chance. I can leave the store for a while, and I think it would do us all good -- the children especially -- to go West. So if you'd like it, well pack up and go."

"Go where?" asked Ted, driving around near the veranda in time to hear his father's last words.

"Out to Uncle Frank's ranch," said Mr. Martin.

"How would you like that?" added his mother.

"Could we have ponies to ride?" asked Ted.

"Yes, I think so."

"Oh, what fun!" cried Janet. "I love a pony!"

"You'd be afraid of them!" exclaimed Ted.

"I would not! If they didn't jump up and down the way you did with Trouble on your back I wouldn't be afraid."

"Pooh! that's the way bucking broncos always do, don't they, Daddy? I'm going to have a bronco!"

"Well, well see when we get there," said Daddy Martin. "But since you all seem to like it, we'll go out West."

"Can we take Nicknack?" asked Teddy.

"You won't need him if you have a pony," his father suggested.

"No, that's so. Hurray! What fun we'll have!"

"Are there any Indians out there?" asked Janet.

"Well, a few, I guess," her father answered. "But they're docile Indians -- not wild. They won't hurt you. Now let's go in and talk about it."

The Curlytops asked all sorts of questions of their father about Uncle Frank's ranch, but though he could tell them, in a general way, what it looked like, Mr. Martin did not really know much about the place, as he had never been there.

"But you'll find lots of horses, ponies and cattle there," he said.

"And can we take Nicknack with us, to ride around the ranch?" asked Jan, in her turn.

"Oh, you won't want to do that," her father said. "You'll have ponies to ride, I think."

"What'll we do with Nicknack then?" asked Ted.

"We'll have to leave him with some neighbor until we come back," answered his father. "I was thinking of asking Mr. Newton to take care of him. Bob Newton is a kind boy and he wouldn't harm your goat."

"Yes, Bob is a good boy," agreed Teddy. "I'd like him to have Nicknack."

"Then, if it is all right with Mr. Newton, well take the goat over a few days before we leave for the West," said Mr. Martin. "Bob will have a chance to get used to Nicknack, and Nicknack to him, before we go away."

"Nicknack not come wif us?" asked Trouble, not quite understanding what the talk was about.

"No, we'll leave Nicknack here," said his father, as he cuddled the little fellow up in his lap. Trouble said nothing more just then but, afterward, Ted remembered that Baby William seemed to be thinking pretty hard about something.

A few days later, when some of the trunks had been partly packed, ready for the trip West, Mr. Martin came home early from the store and said to Jan and Ted:

"I think you'd better get your goat ready now and take him over to Bob's house. I spoke to Mr. Newton about it, and he said there was plenty of room in his stable for a goat Bob is delighted to have him."

"But hell give him back to us when we come home, won't he?" asked Janet.

"Oh, yes, of course! You won't lose your goat," said her father with a laugh.

But when they went out to the stable to harness Nicknack to the wagon, Ted and Janet rubbed their eyes and looked again.

"Why, Nicknack is gone!" exclaimed Ted.

"He is," agreed his sister. "Maybe Bob came and got him."

"No, he wouldn't do that without telling us," went on Ted. "I wonder where that goat is?"

He looked around the stable yard and in the barn. No Nicknack was in sight.

When the Curlytops were searching they heard their mother calling to them from the house, where their father was waiting for them to come up with Nicknack. He was going over to Mr. Newton's with them.

"Ho, Ted! Janet! Where are you?" called Mrs. Martin.

"Out here, Mother!" Teddy answered.

"Is Trouble there with you?"

"Trouble? No, he isn't here!"

"He isn't!" exclaimed his mother. "Where in the world can he be? Nora says she saw him going out to the barn a little while ago. Please find him!"

"Huh!" exclaimed Ted. "Trouble is gone and so is Nicknack! I s'pose they've gone together!"

"Well have to look," said Janet.



Chapter III

Off For The West


The Curlytops hurried toward the house, leaving open the empty little stable in which Nicknack was usually kept. They found their father and their mother looking around in the yard, Mrs. Martin had a worried air.

"Couldn't you find him?" asked Daddy Martin.

"We didn't look -- very much," answered Teddy. "Nicknack is gone, and -- "

"Nicknack gone!" cried Mrs. Martin. "I wonder if that little tyke of ours has gotten into trouble with him."

"Nicknack wouldn't make any trouble," declared Jan. "He's such a nice goat -- "

"Yes, I know!" said Mrs. Martin quickly. "But it looks very much as though Trouble and Nicknack had gone off together. Is the goat's harness in the stable?"

"We didn't look," answered Teddy.

"The wagon's gone," Janet said. "I looked under the shed for that and it wasn't there."

"Then I can just about guess what has happened," said Daddy Martin. "Trouble heard as talking about taking Nicknack over to Mr. Newton's house, where he would be kept while we are at Uncle Frank's ranch, and the little fellow has just about taken the goat over himself."

"Nonsense!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin. "Trouble couldn't hitch the goat to the wagon and drive off with him."

"Oh, yes he could, Mother!" said Teddy. "He's seen me and Janet hitch Nicknack up lots of times, and he's helped, too. At first he got the straps all crooked, but I showed him how to do it, and I guess he could 'most hitch the goat up himself now all alone."

"Then that's what he's done," said Mr. Martin. "Come on, Curlytops, we'll go over to Mr. Newton's and get Trouble."

"I hope you find him all right," said Mrs. Martin, with a sigh.

"Oh, we'll find him all right -- don't worry," her husband answered.

Laughing among themselves at the trick Trouble had played, Janet, Teddy and Mr. Martin started for the home of Mr. Newton, which was three or four long streets away, toward the edge of the town.

On the way they looked here and there, in the yards of houses where the children often went to play.

"For," said Mr. Martin, "it might be possible that when Trouble found he could drive Nicknack, which he could do, as the goat is very gentle, he might have stopped on the way to play."

"Yes, he might," said Jan. "He's so cute!"

But there was no sign of the little boy, nor the goat, either.

Finally Mr. Newton's house was reached. Into the yard rushed Janet and Teddy, followed by their father. Bob Newton was making a kite on the side porch.

"Hello, Curlytop!" he called to Ted. "Want to help me fly this? It's going to be a dandy!"

"Yes, I'll help you," agreed Ted. "But is he here?"

"Who here?" asked Bob, in some surprise.

"Nicknack, our goat," answered Teddy.

"What! Is he lost?" exclaimed Bob in some dismay, for he was counting on having much fun with the goat when the Curlytops went West.

"Nicknack -- " began Ted.

"Have you seen Trouble?" broke in Janet.

"Is he lost, too?" Bob inquired. "Say, I guess -- "

"Our goat and little boy seem to have gone off together," explained Mr. Martin to Mrs. Newton who came out on the porch just then. "We'd been talking before Trouble about bringing Nicknack over here, and now that both are missing we thought maybe Baby William had brought the goat over himself."

"Why, no, he isn't here," said Mrs. Newton slowly. "You didn't see anything of Trouble and the goat, did you?" she asked her son.

"No. I've been here making the kite all morning, and I'd have seen Nicknack all right, and Trouble, too, if they had come here."

"Well, that's funny!" exclaimed Mr. Martin. "I wonder where he can have gone?"

"Maybe Nicknack ran away with him," suggested Bob.

"Oh, don't say such things!" exclaimed his mother.

"I don't think that can have happened," returned Mr. Martin, "Nicknack is a very gentle goat, and Trouble is used to playing with him all alone. He never yet has been hurt. Of course we are not sure that the two went away together. Trouble disappeared from the house, and he was last seen going toward the stable.

"When Ted and Jan went out to get Nicknack he was gone, too, and so was the wagon and harness. So we just thought Trouble might have driven his pet over here."

"Yes, I think it likely that the two went away together," said Mrs. Newton; "but they're not here. Bob, put away that kite of yours and help Mr. Martin and the Curlytops look for Trouble. He may have gone to Mrs. Simpson's," she went on. "He's often there you know."

"Yes, but we looked in their yard coming over," put in Ted. "Trouble wasn't there."

"That's strange," murmured Bob's mother. "Well, he can't be far, that's sure, and he can't get lost. Everybody in town knows him and the goat, and he's sure to be seen sooner or later."

"I guess so," agreed Mr. Martin. "His mother was a little worried, though."

"Yes, I should think she would be. It's horrible to have anything happen to your children -- or fear it may. I'll take off my apron and help you look."

"Oh, don't bother," said Mr. Martin. "We'll find him all right." But Mrs. Newton insisted on joining the search.

There was a barn on the Newton place -- a barn in which Bob was counting on keeping Nicknack -- and this place was first searched lest, perchance, Trouble might have slipped in there with the goat without anyone having seen him, having come up through a back alley.

But there was no goat inside; and Bob, the Curlytops, Mr. Martin and Mrs. Newton came out again, and looked up and down the street.

"I'll tell you what we'd better do," said Bob's mother. "Ted, you come with Bob and me. You know Trouble's ways, and where he would be most likely to go. Let Janet go with her father, and we'll go up and down the street, inquiring in all the houses we come to. Your little brother is sure to be near one of them."

"That's a good idea," said Mr. Martin. "Jan, you come with me. I expect your mother will be along any minute now. She won't wait at home long for us if we don't come back with Trouble."

So the two parties started on the search, one up and the other down the street. Bob, Teddy and Mrs. Newton inquired at a number of houses, but no one in them had seen Trouble and Nicknack that day. Nor did Janet and her father get any trace of the missing ones.

"I wonder where he is," murmured Teddy, and he was beginning to feel afraid that something had happened to Trouble.

"Let's go down the back street," suggested Bob. "You know there's quite a lot of wagons and automobiles go along this main street where we've been looking. Maybe if Trouble hitched up Nicknack and went for a ride he'd turn down the back street 'cause it's quieter."

"Yes, he may have done that," agreed Mrs. Newton.

So down the back street the three went. There were several vacant lots on this street and as the grass in them was high -- tall enough to hide a small boy and a goat and wagon -- Bob said they had better look in these places.

This they did. There was nothing in the first two vacant lots, but in the third -- after they had stopped at one or two houses and had not found the missing ones -- Teddy suddenly cried out:

"Hark!"

"What'd you hear?" asked Bob.

"I thought I heard a goat bleating," was the answer.

"Listen!" whispered Mrs. Newton.

They kept quiet, and then through the air came the sound:

"Baa-a-a-a-a!"

"That's Nicknack!" cried Teddy, rushing forward.

"I hope your little brother is there, too," said Mrs. Newton.

And Trouble was. When they got to the lower end of the vacant lot there, in a tangle of weeds, was the goat-wagon, and Nicknack was in a tangle of harness fast to it.

"Look at Trouble!" cried Teddy.

There lay the little fellow, sound asleep in the goat-wagon, his head pillowed on his arm, while Nicknack was bleating now and then between the bites of grass and weeds he was eating.

"Oh, Trouble!" cried Mrs. Newton as she took him up in her arms.

"Yes -- dis me -- I's Trouble," was the sleepy response. "Oh, 'lo, Teddy," he went on as he saw his brother. "'Lo, Bob. You come to find me?"

"I should say we did!" cried Bob. "What are you doing here?"

"Havin' wide," was the answer. "Everybody go 'way -- out West -- I not have a goat den. I no want Nicknack to go 'way."

"Oh, I see what he means!" exclaimed Teddy, after thinking over what his little brother said. "He heard us talking about bringing Nicknack over to your house, Bob, to keep him for us. Trouble likes the goat and I guess he didn't want to leave him behind. Maybe he thought he could drive him away out to Montana, to Uncle Frank's ranch."

"Maybe," agreed Bob. "That'd be a long drive, though."

"I should say so!" agreed Mrs. Newton. "But I guess you're right, Teddy. Your little brother started off to hide the goat and wagon so you couldn't leave it behind. He's a funny baby, all right!"

"And look how he harnessed him!" exclaimed Bob.

Nicknack really wasn't harnessed. The leather straps and the buckles were all tangled up on him, but Trouble had managed to make enough of them stick on the goat's back, and had somehow got part of the harness fast to the wagon, so Nicknack could pull it along.

"I had a nice wide," said Trouble, as Bob and Teddy straightened out the goat's harness. "Den I got sleepy an' Nicknack he got hungry, so we comed in here."

"And we've been looking everywhere for you!" exclaimed Mrs. Newton. "Well, I'm glad we've found you. Come along, now. Ted, you and Bob hurry along and tell the others. Your mother'll be worried."

And indeed Mrs. Martin was worried, especially when she met Mr. Martin and Janet, who had not found Trouble.

But Teddy and Bob soon met with the other searchers and told them that Baby "William had been found.

"Oh, what will you do next?" cried Mrs. Martin, as she clasped the little fellow in her arms. "Such a fright as you've given us!"

"No want Nicknack to go 'way!" said Trouble.

"I guess that's what he did it for -- he thought he could hide the goat so we wouldn't leave him behind," said Daddy Martin. "But we'll have to, just the same. Trouble won't miss him when we get out on the ranch."

So the goat and wagon were left at Bob's house, and though Trouble cried when he realized what was happening, he soon got over it.

The next few days were filled with busy preparations toward going West. Daddy Martin bought the tickets, the packing was completed, last visits to their playmates were paid by Janet and Teddy, whose boy and girl friends all said that they wished they too were going out West to a big ranch.

"We're going to see cowboys and Indians!" Ted told everyone.

Then came the last day in Cresco -- that is the last day for some time for the Curlytops. The house was closed, Nora going to stay with friends. Skyrocket, the dog, and Turnover, the cat, were sent to kind neighbors, who promised to look after them. Bob had already started to take care of Nicknack.

"All aboard!" called the conductor of the train the Curlytops and the others took. "All aboard!"

"All aboard for the West!" echoed Daddy Martin, and they were off.



Chapter IV

The Collision


"Won't we have fun, Jan, when we get to the ranch?"

"I guess so, Teddy. But I don't like it about those Indians."

"Oh, didn't you hear Daddy say they were tame ones -- like the kind in the circus and Wild West show? They won't hurt you, Jan."

"Well, I don't like 'em. They've got such funny painted faces."

"Not the tame ones, Jan. Anyhow I'll stay with you."

The Curlytops were talking as they sat together in the railroad car which was being pulled rapidly by the engine out toward the big West, where Uncle Frank's ranch was. In the seat behind them was Mother Martin, holding Trouble, who was asleep, while Daddy Martin was also slumbering.

It was quite a long ride from Cresco to Rockville, which was in Montana. It would take the Curlytops about four days to make the trip, perhaps longer if the trains were late. But they did not mind, for they had comfortable coaches in which to travel. When they were hungry there was the dining-car where they could get something to eat, and when they were sleepy there was the sleeping-car, in which the colored porter made such funny little beds out of the seats.

Jan and Ted thought it quite wonderful. For, though they had traveled in a sleeping-car before, and had seen the porter pull out the seats, let down the shelf overhead and take out the blankets and pillows to make the bed, still they never tired of watching.

There were many other things to interest the Curlytops and Trouble on this journey to Uncle Frank's ranch. Of course there was always something to see when they looked out of the windows of the cars. At times the train would pass through cities, stopping at the stations to let passengers get off and on. But it was not the cities that interested the children most. They liked best to see the fields and woods through which they passed.

In some of the fields were horses, cows or sheep, and while the children did not see any such animals in the woods, except perhaps where the wood was a clump of trees near a farm, they always hoped they might.

Very often, when the train would rattle along through big fields, and then suddenly plunge into a forest, Jan would call:

"Maybe we'll see one now, Ted!"

"Oh, maybe so!" he would exclaim.

Then the two Curlytops would flatten their noses against the window and peer out.

"What are you looking for?" asked Mother Martin, the first time she saw the children do this.

"Indians," answered Teddy, never turning around, for the train was still in the wood and he did not want to miss any chance.

"Indians!" exclaimed his mother, "Why, what in the world put into your head the idea that we should see Indians?"

"Well, Uncle Frank said there were Indians out West, even if they weren't wild ones," answered Teddy, "and me and Jan wants to see some."

"Oh, you won't find any Indians around here," said Daddy Martin with a laugh, as he laid aside the paper he was reading. "It is true there are some out West, but we are not there yet, and, if we were, you would hardly find the Indians so near a railroad."

"Can't we ever see any?" Jan wanted to know. "I don't just like Indians, 'cause they've always got a gun or a knife -- I mean in pictures," she hastened to add. "Course I never saw a real Indian, 'ceptin' maybe in a circus."

"You'll see some real ones after a while," her mother told her, and then the children stopped pressing their noses flat against the car windows, for the train had come out of the wood and was nearing a large city. There, Jan and Ted felt sure, no Indians would be seen.

"But we'll keep watch," said Jan to her brother, "and maybe I'll see an Indian first."

"And maybe I will! We'll both watch!" he agreed.

Something else that gave the children enjoyment was the passage through the train, every now and then, of the boy who sold candy, books and magazines. He would pass along between the seats, dropping into them, or into the laps of the passengers, packages of candy, or perhaps a paper or book. This was to give the traveler time to look at it, and make up his or her mind whether or not to buy it.

A little later the boy would come along to collect the things he had left, and get the money for those the people kept for themselves. Ted and Jan were very desirous, each time, that the boy should sell something, and once, when he had gone through the car and had taken in no money, he looked so disappointed that Jan whispered to her father:

"Won't you please buy something from him?"

"Buy what?" asked Mr. Martin.

"A book or some candy from the newsboy," repeated the little girl. "He looks awful sorry."

"Hum! Well, it is too bad if he didn't sell anything," said Mr. Martin. "I guess I can buy something. What would you like, something to read or something to eat?"

"Some pictures to look at," suggested Teddy. "Then we can show 'em to Trouble. Mother just gave us some cookies."

"Then I guess you've had enough to eat," laughed Mr. Martin. "Here, boy!" he called. "Have you any picture books for these Curlytops of mine?"

"Yes, I have some nice ones," answered the boy, and with a smile on his face he went into the baggage car, where he kept his papers, candy and other things, and soon came back with a gaily colored book, at the sight of which Ted and Jan uttered sighs of delight.

"Dat awful p'etty!" murmured Trouble, and indeed the book did have nice pictures in it.

Mr. Martin paid for it, and then Ted and Jan enjoyed very much looking at it, with Trouble in the seat between them. He insisted on seeing each picture twice, the page being no sooner turned over than he wanted it turned back again.

But at last even he was satisfied, and then Ted and Jan went back to their first game of looking out of the window for Indians or other sights that might interest them.

Trouble slipped out of his seat between his brother and sister and went to a vacant window himself. For a time he had good fun playing with the window catch, and Mrs. Martin let him do this, having made sure, at first, that he could not open the sash. Then they all forgot Trouble for a while and he played by himself, all alone in one of the seats.

A little later, when Teddy and Janet were tired of looking for the Indians which they never saw, they were talking about the good times they had had with Nicknack, and wondering if Uncle Frank would have a goat, or anything like it, when Trouble came toddling up to their seat.

"What you got?" asked Teddy of his little brother, noticing that Baby William was chewing something. "What you got, Trouble?"

"Tandy," he said, meaning candy, of course.

"Oh, where'd you get it?" chimed in Jan.

"Nice boy gived it to me," Trouble answered. "Here," and he held the package out to his brother and sister.

"Oh, wasn't that good of him!" exclaimed Jan. "It's nice chocolate candy, too. I'll have another piece, Trouble."

They all had some and they were eating the sweet stuff and having a good time, when they saw their father looking at them. There was a funny smile on his face, and near him stood the newsboy, also smiling.

"Trouble, did you open a box of candy the boy left in your seat?" asked Mr. Martin.

"Yes, he's got some candy," answered Jan. "He said the boy gave it to him."

"I didn't mean for him to open it," the boy said. "I left it in his seat and I thought he'd ask his father if he could have it. But when I came to get it, why, it was gone."

"Oh, what a funny little Trouble!" laughed Mother Martin. "He thought the boy meant to give the candy to him, I guess. Well, Daddy, I think you'll have to pay for it."

And so Mr. Martin did. The candy was not a gift after all, but Trouble did not know that. However, it all came out right in the end.

They had been traveling two days, and now, toward evening of the second day, the Curlytops were talking together about what they would do when they got to Uncle Frank's ranch.

"I hope they have lots to eat there," sighed Ted, when he and Jan had gotten off the subject of Indians. "I'm hungry right now."

"So'm I," added his sister. "But they'll call us to supper pretty soon."

The children always eagerly waited for the colored waiter to come through the coaches rumbling out in his bass voice:

"First call fo' supper in de dinin'-car!"

Or he might say "dinner" or "breakfast," or make it the "last call," just as it happened. Now it was time for the first supper call, and in a little while the waiter came in.

"Eh? What's that? Time for supper again?" cried Daddy Martin, awakening from a nap.

Trouble stretched and yawned in his mother's arms.

"I's hungry!" he said.

"So'm I!" cried Ted and Jan together.

"Shall we have good things to eat on Uncle Frank's ranch?" asked Teddy, as they made ready to walk ahead to the dining-car.

"Of course!" his mother laughed. "Why are you worrying about that?"

"Oh, I just wanted to know," Teddy answered. "We had so many good things at Cherry Farm and when we were camping with grandpa that I want some out on the ranch."

"Well, I think we can trust to Uncle Frank," said Mr. Martin. "But if you get too hungry, Teddy, you can go out and lasso a beefsteak or catch a bear or deer and have him for breakfast."

"Is there bears out there, too?" asked Janet in a good deal of excitement. "Bears and Indians?"

"Well, there may be a few bears here and there," her father said with a smile, "but they won't hurt you if you don't hurt them. Now we'll go and see what they have for supper here."

To the dining-car they went, and as they passed through one of the coaches on their way Teddy and Janet heard a woman say to her little girl:

"Look at those Curlytops, Ethel. Don't you wish you could have some of their curl put into your hair?"

It was evening and the sun was setting. As the train sped along the Curlytops could look through the windows off across the fields and woods through which they passed.

"Isn't it just wonderful," said Mother Martin, "to think of sitting down to a nice meal which is being cooked for us while the train goes so fast? Imagine, children, how, years ago, the cowboys and hunters had to go on horses all the distance out West, and carry their food on their pony's back or in a wagon called a prairie schooner. How much easier and quicker and more comfortable it is to travel this way."

"I'd like to ride on a pony," said Teddy. "I wouldn't care how slow he went."

"I imagine you wouldn't like it when night came," said his mother, as she moved a plate so the waiter could set glasses of milk in front of the children. "You wouldn't like to sleep on the ground with only a blanket for a bed, would you?"

"'Deed I would!" declared Teddy. "I wish I had -- "

Just then the train went around a curve, and, as it was traveling very fast, the milk which Teddy was raising to his mouth slopped and spilled down in his lap.

"Oh, Teddy!" cried his mother.

"I -- I couldn't help it!" he exclaimed, as he wiped up as much of the milk as he could on a napkin with which the waiter hastened to him.

"No, we know it was the train," said Daddy Martin. "It wouldn't have happened if you had been traveling on pony-back, and had stopped to camp out for the night before you got your supper; would it, Ted?" he asked with a smile.

"No," said the little boy. "I wish we could camp out and hunt Indians!"

"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed his mother. "Don't get such foolish notions in your head. Anyway there aren't any Indians to hunt on Uncle Frank's ranch, are there, Dick?" she asked her husband.

"Well, no, I guess not," he answered slowly. "There are some Indians on their own ranch, or government reservation, not far from where Uncle Frank has his horses and cattle, but I guess the Redmen never bother anyone."

"Can we go to see 'em?" asked Teddy.

"I guess so," said Mr. Martin.

"Me go, too! Me like engines," murmured Trouble, who had also spilled a little milk on himself.

"He thinks we're talking about engines -- the kind that pull this train!" laughed Ted. "I don't believe he ever saw a real Indian."

"No, Indians do not walk the streets of Cresco," said Mrs. Martin. "But finish your suppers, children. Others are waiting to use the table and we must not keep them too long."

There were many travelers going West -- not all as far as the Curlytops though -- and as there was not room in the dining-car for all of them to sit down at once they had to take turns. That is why the waiter made one, two, and sometimes three calls for each meal, as he went through the different coaches.

Supper over, the Martins went back to their place in the coach in which they had ridden all day. They would soon go into the beds, or berths, as they are called, to sleep all night. In the morning they would be several hundred miles nearer Uncle Frank's ranch.

The electric lights were turned on, and then, for a while, Jan, Ted and the others sat and talked.

They talked about the fun they had had when at Cherry Farm, of the good times camping with grandpa and how they were snowed in, when they wondered what had become of the strange lame boy who had called at Mr. Martin's store one day.

"I wish Hal Chester could come out West with us" said Teddy, as the porter came to tell them he would soon make up their beds. "He'd like to hunt Indians with me."

Hal was a boy who had been cured of lameness at a Home for Crippled Children, not far from Cherry Farm.

"I suppose you'll dream of Indians," said Teddy's mother to him. "You've talked about them all day. But get ready for bed, now. Traveling is tiresome for little folks."

Indeed after the first day Ted and Janet found it so. They wished, more than once, that they could get out and run about, but they could not except when the train stopped longer than usual in some big city. Then their father would take them to the platform for a little run up and down.

True they could walk up and down the aisle of the car, but this was not much fun, as the coach swayed so they were tossed against the sides of the seats and bruised.

"I'll be glad when we get to Uncle Frank's ranch," said Janet as she crawled into the berth above her mother, who slept with Trouble.

"So'll I," agreed Teddy, who climbed up the funny little ladder to go to bed in the berth above his father. "I want a pony ride!"

On through the night rumbled and roared the train, the whistle sounding mournfully in the darkness as the engineer blew it at the crossings.

Ted and Janet were sleeping soundly, Janet dreaming she had a new doll, dressed like an Indian papoose, or baby, while Ted dreamed he was on a wild pony that wanted to roll over and over instead of galloping straight on.

Suddenly there was a loud crash that sounded through the whole train. The engine whistled shrilly and then came a jar that shook up everyone. Teddy found himself rolling out of his berth and he grabbed the curtains just in time to save himself.

"Oh, Daddy!" he cried, "what's the matter?"

"What is it?" called Jan from her berth, while women in the coach were screaming and men ere calling to one another.

"What is it, Dick?" cried Mrs. Martin.

"I think we've had a collision," answered her husband.

"Did our train bunk into another?" asked Ted.

"I'm afraid so," replied his father.



Chapter V

At Ring Rosy Ranch


There was so much noise in the sleeping car where the Curlytops and others had been peacefully traveling through the night, that, at first, it was hard to tell what had happened.

All that anyone knew was that there had been a severe jolt -- a "bunk" Teddy called it -- and that the train had come to a sudden stop. So quickly had it stopped, in fact, that a fat man, who was asleep in a berth just behind Mr. Martin, had tumbled out and now sat in the aisle of the car, gazing about him, a queer look on his sleepy face, for he was not yet fully awake.

"I say!" cried the fat man. "Who pushed me out of bed?"

Even though they were much frightened, Mrs. Martin and some of the other men and women could not help laughing at this. And the laughter did more to quiet them than anything else.

"Well, I guess no one here is much hurt -- if at all," said Daddy Martin, as he put on a pair of soft slippers he had ready in the little hammock that held his clothes inside the berth. "I'll go and see if I can find out what the matter is."

"An', Daddy, bring me suffin t'eat!" exclaimed Trouble, poking his head out between the curtains of the berth where he had been sleeping with his mother when the collision happened.

"There's one boy that's got sense," said a tall thin man, who was helping the fat man to get to his feet "He isn't hurt, anyhow."

"Thank goodness, no," said Mrs. Martin, who, as had some of the other women, had on a dressing gown. Mrs. Martin was looking at Trouble, whom she had taken up in her arms. "He hasn't a scratch on him," she said, "though I heard him slam right against the side of the car. He was next to the window."

"It's a mercy we weren't all of us tossed out of the windows when the train stopped so suddenly, the way it did," said a little old woman.

"It's a mercy, too," smiled another woman who had previously made friends with Jan and Teddy, "that the Curlytops did not come hurtling down out of those upper berths."

Mr. Martin, after making sure his family was all right, partly dressed and went out with some of the other men. The train had come to a standstill, and Jan and Ted, looking out of the windows of their berths, could see men moving about in the darkness outside with flaring torches.

"Maybe it's robbers," said Teddy in a whisper.

"Robbers don't stop trains," objected Janet

"Yes they do!" declared her brother positively, "Train robbers do. Don't they, Mother?"

"Oh, don't talk about such things now, Teddy boy. Be thankful you are all right and hope that no one is hurt in the collision."

"That's what I say!" exclaimed the fat man. "So it's a collision, is it? I dreamed we were in a storm and that I was blown out of bed."

"Well, you fell out, which is much the same thing," said the thin man. "Our car doesn't seem to be hurt, anyhow."

Ted and Janet came out into the aisle in their pajamas. They looked all about them but, aside from seeing a number of men and women who were greatly excited, nothing else appeared to be the matter. Then in came their father with some of the other men.

"It isn't a bad collision," said Daddy Martin. "Our engine hit a freight car that was on a side track, but too close to our rails to be passed safely. It jarred up our engine and the front cars quite a bit, and our engine is off the track, but no one is hurt."

"That's good!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin. "I mean that no one is hurt."

"How are they going to get the engine back on the track?" Teddy wanted to know. "Can't I go out and watch 'em?"

"I want to go, too!" exclaimed Janet.

"Indeed you can't -- in the dark!" exclaimed her father. "Besides, the railroad men don't want you in the way. They asked us all to go to our coaches and wait. They'll soon have the engine back on the rails they said."

Everyone was awake now, and several children in the car, like Trouble, were hungry. The porter who had been hurrying to and fro said he could get the children some hot milk from the dining-car, and this he did.

Some of the grown folks wanted coffee and sandwiches, and these having been brought in, there was quite a merry picnic in the coach, even if the train had been in a collision.

Then there was much puffing and whistling of the engine. The Curlytops, looking out of the window again, saw more men hurrying here and there with flaring torches which flickered and smoked. These were the trainmen helping to get the engine back on the rails, which they did by using iron wedges or "jumpers," much as a trolley car in your city streets is put back on the rails once it slips off.

At last there was another "bunk" to the train, as Teddy called it. At this several women screamed.

"It's all right," said Daddy Martin. "They've got the engine back on the rails and it has just backed up to couple on, or fasten itself, to the cars again. Now we'll go forward again."

And they did -- in a little while. It did not take the Curlytops or Trouble long to fall asleep once more, but some of the older people were kept awake until morning, they said afterward. They were afraid of another collision.

But none came, and though the train was a little late the accident really did not amount to much, though it might have been a bad one had the freight car been a little farther over on the track so the engine had run squarely into it.

All the next day and night the Curlytops traveled in the train, and though Jan and Ted liked to look out of the windows, they grew tired of this after a while and began to ask:

"When shall we be at Uncle Frank's ranch?"

"Pretty soon now," said their father.

I will not tell you all that happened on the journey to the West. Truth to say there was not much except the collision. The Curly-tops ate their meals, drank cupful after cupful of water, and Trouble did the same, for children seem to get very thirsty when they travel -- much more so than at home.

Then, finally, one afternoon, after a long stop when a new engine was attached to the train, Daddy Martin said:

"Well be at Rockville in an hour now. So we'd better begin to get together our things."

"Shall we be at Uncle Frank's ranch in an hour?" asked Teddy.

"No, but well be at Rockville. From there we go out over the prairies in a wagon."

"A wagon with ponies?" asked Janet.

"Yes, real Western ponies," said her father. "Then well be at the ranch."

And it happened just that way. On puffed the train. Then the porter came to help the Martin family off at Rockville.

"Rockville! Rockville! All out for Rockville!" joked Daddy Martin.

"Hurray!" cried Teddy. "Here we are!"

"And I see Uncle Frank!" exclaimed Janet, looking from the window toward the station as the train slowed up to stop.

Out piled the Curlytops, and into the arms of Uncle Frank they rushed. He caught them up and kissed them one after the other -- Teddy, Janet and Trouble.

"Well, well!" he cried, "I'm glad to see you! Haven't changed a bit since you were snowed in! Now pile into the wagon and well get right out to Circle O Ranch."

"Where's that?" asked Teddy.

"Why, that's the name of my ranch," said Uncle Frank. "See, there's the sign of it," and he pointed to the flank of one of the small horses, or ponies, hitched to his wagon. Ted and Janet saw a large circle in which was a smaller letter O.

"We call it Circle O," explained the ranchman. "Each place in the West that raises cattle or horses has a certain sign with which the animals are branded, or marked, so their owners can tell them from others in case they get mixed up. My mark is a circle around an O."

"It looks like a ring-around-the-rosy," said Janet.

"Say! So it does!" laughed Uncle Frank. "I never thought of that. Ring Rosy Ranch! That isn't a half bad name! Guess I'll call mine that after this. Come on to Ring Rosy Ranch!" he invited as he laughed at the Curlytops.

And the name Janet gave Uncle Frank's place in fun stuck to it, so that even the cowboys began calling their ranch "Ring Rosy," instead of "Circle O."



Chapter VI

Cowboy Fun


Into the big wagon piled the Curlytops, Mrs. Martin and Trouble, while Daddy Martin and Uncle Frank went to see about the baggage.

Jan and Ted looked curiously about them. It was the first time they had had a chance to look quietly since they had started on the journey, for they had been traveling in the train nearly a week, it seemed.

What they saw was a small railroad station, set in the midst of big rolling fields. There was a water tank near the station, and not far from the tank was a small building in which a pump could be heard chug-chugging away.

"But where is the ranch?" asked Janet of her brother. "I don't see any cows and horses."

"Dere's horses," stated Trouble, pointing to the two sturdy ponies hitched to the wagon.

"Yes, I know" admitted Janet. "But Uncle Frank said he had more'n a hundred horses and -- "

"And a thousand steers -- that's cattle," interrupted Ted. "I don't see any, either. Maybe we got off at the wrong station, Mother."

"No, you're all right," laughed Mrs. Martin. "Didn't Uncle Frank meet us and didn't Daddy tell us we'd have to drive to the ranch?"

"What's the matter now, Curlytops?" asked their father's uncle, as the two men came back from having seen about the baggage, which had arrived safely. "What are you two youngsters worrying about, Teddy and Janet?"

"They're afraid we're at the wrong place because they can't see the ranch," answered their mother.

"Oh, that's over among the hills," said Uncle Frank, waving his hand toward some low hills that were at the foot of some high mountains. "It wouldn't do," he went on, "to have a ranch too near a railroad station. The trains might scare the horses and cattle. You will soon be there, Curlytops. We'll begin to travel in a minute."

Ted and Janet settled themselves in the seat, where they were side by side, and looked about them. Suddenly Janet clasped her brother by the arm and exclaimed:

"Look, Ted! Look!"

"Where?" he asked.

"Right over there -- by the station. It's an Indian!"

"A real one?" asked Teddy, who, at first, did not see where his sister was pointing.

"He looks like a real one," Janet answered. "He's alive, 'cause he's moving!"

She snuggled closer to her brother. Then Teddy saw where Janet pointed. A big man, whose face was the color of a copper cent, was walking along the station platform. He was wrapped in a dirty blanket, but enough of him could be seen to show that he was a Redman.

"Is that a real Indian, Uncle Frank?" asked Teddy in great excitement.

"What? Him? Oh, yes, he's a real Indian all right. There's a lot of 'em come down to the station to sell baskets and beadwork to the people who go through on the trains."

"Is he a tame Indian?" the little boy next wanted to know.

"Oh, he's 'tame' all right. Hi there, Running Horse!" called Uncle Frank to the copper-faced man in the blanket, "sell many baskets to-day?"

"Um few. No good business," answered the Indian in a sort of grunt.

"Oh, do you know him?" asked Ted in surprise.

"Oh, yes. Running Horse often comes to the ranch when he's hungry. There's a reservation of the Indians not far from our place. They won't hurt you, Jan; don't be afraid," said Uncle Frank, as he saw that the little girl kept close to Teddy.

"Was he wild once?" she asked timidly.

"Why, yes; I guess you might have called him a wild Indian once," her uncle admitted. "He's pretty old and I shouldn't wonder but what he had been on the warpath against the white settlers."

"Oh!" exclaimed Janet. "Maybe he'll get wild again!"

"Oh, no he won't!" laughed Uncle Frank. "He's only too glad now to live on the reservation and sell the baskets the squaws make. The Indian men don't like to work."

Running Horse, which was the queer name the Indian had chosen for himself, or which had been given him, walked along, wrapped in his blanket, though the day was a warm one. Perhaps he thought the blanket kept the heat out in summer and the cold in winter.

"Get along now, ponies!" cried Uncle Frank, and the little horses began to trot along the road that wound over the prairies like a dusty ribbon amid the green grass.

On the way to Ring Rosy Ranch Uncle Frank had many questions to ask, some of the children and some of Mr. and Mrs. Martin. Together they laughed about the things that had happened when they were all snowed in.

"Tell Uncle Frank of Trouble's trying to hide Nicknack away so we wouldn't leave him behind," suggested Mrs. Martin.

"Ha! Ha! That was pretty good!" exclaimed the ranchman when Ted and Janet, by turns, had told of Trouble's being found asleep in the goat-wagon. "Well, it's too bad you couldn't bring Nicknack with you. He'd like it out on the ranch, I'm sure, but it would be too long a journey for him. You'll have rides enough -- never fear!"

"Pony rides?" asked Teddy.

"Pony rides in plenty!" laughed Uncle Frank. "We'll soon be there now, and you can see the ranch from the top of the next hill."

The prairies were what are called "rolling" lard. That is there were many little hills and hollows, and the country seemed to be like the rolling waves of the ocean, if they had suddenly been made still.

Sometimes the wagon, drawn by the two little horses, would be down in a hollow, and again it would be on top of a mound-like hill from which a good view could be had.

Reaching the top of one hill, larger than the others, Uncle Frank pointed off in the distance and said:

"There's Circle O Ranch, Curlytops, or, as Jan has named it, Ring Rosy Ranch. We'll be there in a little while."

The children looked. They saw, off on the prairie, a number of low, red buildings standing close together. Beyond the buildings were big fields, in which were many small dots.

"What are the dots?" asked Janet.

"Those are my horses and cattle -- steers we call the last," explained Uncle Frank.

"They are eating grass to get fat You'll soon be closer to them."

"Are the Indians near here?" Teddy inquired.

"No, not very near. It's a day's ride to their reservation. But don't worry about them. They won't bother you if you don't bother them," said Uncle Frank.

Teddy was not fully satisfied with this answer, for he hoped very much that the Indians would "bother him" -- at least, he thought that was what he wanted.

When the Curlytops drew closer to the ranch they could see that one of the buildings was a house, almost like their own in the East, only not so tall. It was all one story, as were the other buildings, some of which were stables for the horses and some sleeping places, or "bunk houses," for the cowboys, while from one building, as they approached closer, there came the good smell of something cooking.

"That's the cook's place," said Uncle Frank, pointing with his whip. "All the cowboys love him, even if he is a Chinaman."

"Have you a Chinese cook?" asked Mrs. Martin.

"Yes, and he's a good one," answered Uncle Frank. "Wait until you taste how he fries chicken."

"I hope we taste some soon," said Daddy Martin. "This ride across the prairies has made me hungry."

"I hungry, too!" exclaimed Trouble. "I wants bread an' milk!"

"And you shall have all you want!" laughed the ranchman. "We've plenty of milk."

"Oh, this is a dandy place!" exclaimed Teddy, as the wagon drove up to the ranch house. "Well have lots of fun here, Janet!"

"Maybe we will, if -- if the Indians don't get us," she said.

"Pooh! I'm not afraid of them," boasted Teddy, and then something happened.

All at once there came a lot of wild yells, and sounds as if a Fourth-of-July celebration of the old-fashioned sort were going on. There was a popping and a banging, and then around the corner of the house rode a lot of roughly-dressed men on ponies which kicked up a cloud of dust.

"Ki-yi! Ki-yi! Yippi-i-yip!" yelled the men.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" exploded their revolvers.

"Oh, dear!" screamed Janet.

Teddy turned a little pale, but he did not make a sound.

"What is it?" asked Mrs. Martin, hugging Trouble and his sister closer to her. "Oh, what is it?"

"Don't be afraid!" laughed Uncle Frank. "Those are the cowboys making you welcome to Ring Rosy Ranch. That's their way of having fun!"



Chapter VII

Bad News


On came the cowboys, yelling, shouting and shooting off their big revolvers which made noises like giant firecrackers. The men, some of whom wore big leather "pants," as Teddy said afterward, and some of whom had on trousers that seemed to be made from the fleece of sheep, swung their hats in the air. Some of them even stood up in their saddles, "just like circus riders!" as Janet sent word to Aunt Jo, who was spending the summer at Mt. Hope.

"Are they shooting real bullets, Uncle Frank?" asked Teddy, as soon as the noise died down a little and the cowboys were waving their hats to the Curlytops and the other visitors to Ring Rosy Ranch.

"Real bullets? Bless your heart, no!" exclaimed Mr. Barton. "Of course the cowboys sometimes have real bullets in their 'guns,' as they call their revolvers, but they don't shoot 'em for fun."

"What makes them shoot?" asked Janet.

"Well, sometimes it's to scare away bad men who might try to steal my cattle or horses, and again it's to scare the cattle themselves. You see," explained Uncle Frank, while the cowboys jumped from their horses and went to the bunk house to wash and get ready for supper, "a ranch is just like a big pasture that your Grandfather Martin has at Cherry Farm. Only my ranch is ever so much bigger than his pastures, even all of them put together. And there are very few fences around any of my fields, so the cattle or horses might easily stray off, or be taken.

"Because of that I have to hire men -- cowboys they are called -- to watch my cattle and horses, to see that they do not run away and that no white men or Indians come and run away with them.

"But sometimes the cattle take it into their heads to run away themselves. They get frightened -- 'stampeded' we call it -- and they don't care which way they run. Sometimes a prairie fire will make them run and again it may be bad men -- thieves. The cowboys have to stop the cattle from running away, and they do it by firing revolvers in front of them. So it wouldn't do to have real bullets in their guns when the cowboys are firing that way. They use blank cartridges, just as they did now to salute you when they came in."

"Is that what they did?" asked Teddy. "Saluted us?"

"That's it. They just thought they'd have a little fun with you -- see if they could scare you, maybe, because you're what they call a 'tenderfoot,' Teddy."

"Pooh, I wasn't afraid!" declared Teddy, perhaps forgetting a little. "I liked it. It was like the Fourth of July!"

"I didn't like it," said Janet, with a shake of her curly head. "And what's a soft-foot, Uncle Frank?"

"A soft-foot? Oh, ho! I see!" he laughed. "You mean a tenderfoot! Well, that's what the Western cowboys call anybody from the East -- where you came from. It means, I guess, that their feet are tender because they walk so much and don't ride a horse the way cowboys do. You see out here we folks hardly ever walk. If we've only got what you might call a block to go we hop on a horse and ride. So we get out of the way of walking.

"Now you Eastern folk walk a good bit -- that is when you aren't riding in street cars and in your automobiles, and I suppose that's why the cowboys call you tender-feet. You don't mind, though, do you, Teddy?"

"Nope," he said. "I like it. But I'm going to learn to ride a pony."

"So'm I!" exclaimed Janet.

"I wants a wide, too!" cried Trouble. "Can't I wide, Uncle Frank? We hasn't got Nicknack, but maybe you got a goat," and he looked up at his father's uncle.

"No, I haven't a goat," laughed Uncle Frank, "though there might be some sheep on some of the ranches here. But I guess ponies will suit you children better. When you Curlytops learn to ride you can take Trouble up on the saddle with you and give him a ride. He's too small to ride by himself yet."

"I should say he was, Uncle Frank!" cried Mrs. Martin. "Don't let him get on a horse!"

"I won't," promised Mr. Barton with a laugh. But Trouble said:

"I likes a pony! I wants a wide, Muz-zer!"

"You may ride with me when I learn," promised Janet.

"Dat nice," responded William.

Uncle Frank's wife, whom everyone called Aunt Millie, came out of the ranch house and welcomed the Curlytops and the others. She had not seen them for a number of years.

"My, how big the children are!" she cried as she looked at Janet and Teddy. "And here's one I've never seen," she went on, as she caught Trouble up in her arms and kissed him.

"Now come right in. Hop Sing has supper ready for you."

"Hop Sing!" laughed Mother Martin. "That sounds like a new record on the phonograph."

"It's the name of our Chinese cook," explained Aunt Millie, "and a very good one he is, too!"

"Are the cowboys coming in to eat with us?" asked Teddy, as they all went into the house, where the baggage had been carried by Uncle Frank and Daddy Martin.

"Oh, no. They eat by themselves in their own building. Not that we wouldn't have them, for they're nice boys, all of them, but they'd rather be by themselves."

"Do any Indians come in?" asked Janet, looking toward the door.

"Bless your heart, no!" exclaimed Aunt Millie. "We wouldn't want them, for they're dirty and not at all nice, though some of them do look like pictures when they wrap themselves around in a red blanket and stick feathers in their hair. We don't want any Indians. Now tell me about your trip."

"We were in a collision!" cried Janet.

"In the middle of the night," added Teddy.

"An' I mos' fell out of my bed!" put in Trouble.

Then, amid laughter, the story of the trip from the East was told. Meanwhile Hop Sing, the Chinese cook, cried out in his funny, squeaky voice that supper was getting cold.

"Well, well eat first and talk afterward," said Uncle Frank, as he led the way to the table. "Come on, folks. I expect you all have good appetites. That's what we're noted for at Ring Rosy Ranch."

"What's that?" asked Aunt Millie.

"Have you given Circle O a new name?"

"One of the Curlytops did," chuckled Uncle Frank. "They said my branding sign looked just like a ring-round-the-rosy, so I'm going to call the ranch that after this."

"It's a nice name," said Aunt Millie. "And now let me see you Curlytops -- and Trouble, too -- though his hair isn't frizzy like Ted's and Janet's -- let me see you eat until you get as fat as a Ring Rosy yourselves. If you don't eat as much as you can of everything, Hop Sing will feel as though he was not a good cook."

The Curlytops were hungry enough to eat without having to be told to, and Hop Sing, looking into the dining-room now and then from where he was busy in the kitchen, smiled and nodded his head as he said to the maid.

"Lil' chillens eat velly good!"

"Indeed they do eat very good," said the maid, as she carried in more of the food which Hop Sing knew so well how to cook.

After supper the Curlytops and the others sat out on the broad porch of the ranch house. Off to one side were the other buildings, some where the farming tools were kept, for Uncle Frank raised some grain as well as cattle, and some where the cowboys lived, as well as others where they stabled their horses.

"I know what let's do," said Jan, when she and her brother had sat on the porch for some time, listening to the talk of the older folks, and feeling very happy that they were at Uncle Frank's ranch, where, they felt sure, they could have such good times.

"What can we do?" asked Teddy. Very often he let Jan plan some fun, and I might say that she got into trouble doing this as many times as her brother did. Jan was a regular boy, in some things. But then I suppose any girl is who has two nice brothers, even if one is little enough to be called "Baby."

"Let's go and take a walk," suggested Jan. "My legs feel funny yet from ridin' in the cars so much."

"Ri-ding!" yelled Teddy gleefully. "That's the time you forgot your g, Janet."

"Yes, I did," admitted the little girl. "But there's so much to look at here that it's easy to forget. My forgetter works easier than yours does, Ted."

"It does not!"

"It does, too!"

"It does not!"

"I -- say -- it -- does!" and Janet was very positive.

"Now, now, children!" chided their mother. "That isn't nice. What are you disputing about now?"

"Jan says her forgetter's better'n mine!" cried Ted.

"And it is," insisted Janet. "I can forget lots easier than Ted."

"Well, forgetting isn't a very good thing to do," said Mr. Martin. "Remembering is better."

"Oh, that's what I meant!" said Jan. "I thought it was a forgetter. Anyhow mine's better'n Ted's!"

"Now don't start that again," warned Mother Martin, playfully shaking her finger at the two children. "Be nice now. Amuse yourselves in some quiet way. It will soon be time to go to bed. You must be tired. Be nice now."

"Come on, let's go for a walk," proposed Jan again, and Ted, now that the forget-memory dispute was over, was willing to be friendly and kind and go with his sister.

So while Trouble climbed up into his mother's lap, and the older folks were talking among themselves, the two Curlytops, not being noticed by the others, slipped off the porch and walked toward the ranch buildings, out near the corrals, or the fenced-in places, where the horses were kept.

There were too many horses to keep them all penned in, or fenced around, just as there are too many cattle on a cattle ranch. But the cowboys who do not want their horses which they ride to get too far away put them in a corral. This is just as good as a barn, except in cold weather.

"There's lots of things to see here," said Teddy, as he and his sister walked along.

"Yes," she agreed. "It's lots of fun. I'm glad I came."

"So'm I. Oh, look at the lots of ponies!" she cried, as she and Ted turned a corner of one of the ranch buildings and came in sight of a new corral. In it were a number of little horses, some of which hung their heads over the fence and watched the Curlytops approaching.

"I'd like to ride one," sighed Teddy wistfully.

"Oh, you mustn't!" cried Jan. "Uncle Frank wouldn't like it, nor mother or father, either. You have to ask first."

"Oh, I don't mean ride now," said Ted. "Anyhow, I haven't got a saddle."

"Can't you ride without a saddle?" asked Janet.

"Well, not very good I guess," Ted answered. "A horse's back has a bone in the middle of it, and that bumps you when you don't have a saddle."

"How do you know?" asked Janet.

"I know, 'cause once the milkman let me sit on his horse and I felt the bone in his back. It didn't feel good."

"Maybe the milkman's horse was awful bony."

"He was," admitted Ted. "But anyhow you've got to have a saddle to ride a horse, lessen you're a Indian and I'm not."

"Well, maybe after a while Uncle Frank'll give you a saddle," said Janet.

"Maybe," agreed her brother, "Oh, see how the ponies look at us!"

"And one's following us all around," added his sister. For the little horses had indeed all come to the side of the corral fence nearest the Curlytops, and were following along as the children walked.

"What do you s'pose they want?" asked Teddy.

"Maybe they're hungry," answered Janet.

"Let's pull some grass for 'em," suggested Teddy, and they did this, feeding it to the horses that stretched their necks over the top rail of the fence and chewed the green bunches as if they very much liked their fodder.

But after a while Jan and Ted tired of even this. And no wonder -- there were so many horses, and they all seemed to like the grass so much that the children never could have pulled enough for all of them.

"Look at that one always pushing the others out of the way," said Janet, pointing to one pony, larger than the others, who was always first at the fence, and first to reach his nose toward the bunches of grass.

"And there's a little one that can't get any," said her brother. "I'd like to give him some, Jan."

"So would I. But how can we? Every time I hold out some grass to him the big horse takes it."

Teddy thought for a minute and then he said:

"I know what we can do to keep the big horse from getting it all."

"What?" asked Janet.

"We can both pull some grass. Then you go to one end of the fence, and hold out your bunch. The big horse will come to get it and push the others away, like he always does."

"But then the little pony won't get any," Janet said.

"Oh, yes, he will!" cried Teddy. "'Cause when you're feeding the big horse I'll run up and give the little horse my bunch. Then he'll have some all by himself."

And this the Curlytops did. When the big horse was chewing the grass Janet gave him, Ted held out some to the little horse at the other end of the corral, And he ate it, but only just in time, for the big pony saw what was going on and trotted up to shove the small animal out of the way. But it was too late.

Then Janet and Teddy walked on a little further, until Janet said it was growing late and they had better go back to the porch where the others were still talking.

Evening was coming on. The sun had set, but there was still a golden glow in the sky. Far off in one of the big fields a number of horses and cattle could be seen, and riding out near them were some of the cowboys who, after their supper, had gone out to see that all was well for the night.

"Is all this your land, Uncle Frank!" asked Teddy as he stood on the porch and looked over the fields.

"Yes, as far as you can see, and farther. If you Curlytops get lost, which I hope you won't, you'll have to go a good way to get off my ranch. But let me tell you now, not to go too far away from the house, unless your father or some of us grown folks are with you."

"Why?" asked Janet.

"Well, you might get lost, you know, and then -- oh, well, don't go off by yourselves, that's all," and Uncle Frank turned to answer a question Daddy Martin asked him.

Ted and Janet wondered why they could not go off by themselves as they had done at Cherry Farm.

"Maybe it's because of the Indians," suggested Jan.

"Pooh, I'm not afraid of them," Teddy announced.

Just then one of the cowboys -- later the children learned he was Jim Mason, the foreman -- came walking up to the porch. He walked in a funny way, being more used to going along on a horse than on his own feet.

"Good evening, folks!" he said, taking off his hat and waving it toward the Curlytops and the others.

"Hello, Jim!" was Uncle Frank's greeting. "Everything all right?"

"No, it isn't, I'm sorry to say," answered the foreman. "I've got bad news for you, Mr. Barton!"



Chapter VIII

A Queer Noise


The Curlytops looked at the ranch foreman as he said this. Uncle Frank looked at him, too. The foreman stood twirling his big hat around in his hand. Teddy looked at the big revolver -- "gun" the cowboys called it -- which dangled from Jim Mason's belt.

"Bad news, is it?" asked Uncle Frank. "I'm sorry to hear that. I hope none of the boys is sick. Nobody been shot, has there, during the celebration?"

"Oh, no, the boys are all right," answered the foreman. "But it's bad news about some of your ponies -- a lot of them you had out on grass over there," and he pointed to the west -- just where Ted and Janet could not see.

"Bad news about the ponies?" repeated Uncle Frank. "Well, now, I'm sorry to hear that. Some of 'em sick?"

"Not as I know of," replied Jim. "But a lot of 'em have been taken away -- stolen, I guess I'd better call it."

"A lot of my ponies stolen?" cried Uncle Frank, jumping up from his chair. "That is bad news! When did it happen? Why don't you get the cowboys together and chase after the men who took the ponies?"

"Well, I would have done that if I knew where to go," said the foreman. "But I didn't hear until a little while ago, when one of the cowboys I sent to see if the ponies were all right came in. He got there to find 'em all gone, so I came right over to tell you."

"Well, we'll have to see about this!" exclaimed Uncle Frank. "Who's the cowboy you sent to see about the ponies?"

"Henry Jensen. He just got in a little while ago, after a hard ride."

"And who does he think took the horses?"

"He said it looked as if the Indians had done it!" and at these words from the foreman Ted and Janet looked at one another with widely opened eyes.

"Indians?" said Uncle Frank. "Why, I didn't think any of them had come off their reservation."

"Some of 'em must have," the foreman went on. "They didn't have any ponies of their own, I guess, so they took yours and rode off on 'em."

"Well, this is too bad!" said Uncle Frank in a low voice. "I guess we'll have to get our boys together and chase after these Indians," he went on. "Yes, that's what I'll do. I've got to get back my ponies."

"Oh, can't I come?" cried Teddy, not understanding all that was going on, but enough to know that his uncle was going somewhere with the cowboys, and Teddy wanted to go, too.

"Oh, I'm afraid you couldn't come -- Curlytop," said the foreman, giving Teddy the name almost everyone called him at first sight, and this was the first time Jim Mason had seen Teddy.

"No, you little folks must stay at home," added Uncle Frank.

"Are you really going after Indians?" Teddy wanted to know.

"Yes, to find out if they took any of my ponies. You see," went on Uncle Frank, speaking to Daddy and Mother Martin as well as to the Curlytops, "the Indians are kept on what is called a 'reservation' That is, the government gives them certain land for their own and they are told they must stay there, though once in a while some of them come off to sell blankets and bark-work at the railroad stations.

"And, sometimes, maybe once a year, a lot of the Indians get tired of staying on the reservation and some of them will get together and run off. Sometimes they ride away on their own horses, and again they may take some from the nearest ranch. I guess this time they took some of mine."

"And how will you catch them?" asked Mrs. Martin.

"Oh, we'll try to find out which way they went and then we'll follow after them until we catch them and get back the ponies."

"It's just like hide-and-go-seek, isn't it, Uncle Frank?" asked Janet.

"Yes, something like that But it takes longer."

"I wish I could go to hunt the Indians!" murmured Teddy.

"Why, The-o-dore Mar-tin!" exclaimed his mother. "I'm surprised at you!"

"Well, I would like to go," he said.

"Could I go if I knew how to ride a pony, Uncle Frank?"

"Well, I don't know. I'm afraid you're too little. But, speaking of riding a pony, to-morrow I'll have one of the cowboys start in to teach you and Janet to ride. Now I guess I'll have to go see this Henry Jensen and ask him about the Indians and my stolen ponies."

"I hope he gets them back," said Teddy to his sister.

"So do I," she agreed. "And I hope those Indians don't come here."

"Pooh! they're tame Indians!" exclaimed Teddy.

"They must be kind of wild when they steal ponies," Janet said.

A little later the Curlytops and Trouble went to bed, for they had been up early that day. They fell asleep almost at once, even though their bed was not moving along in a railroad train, as it had been the last three or four nights.

"Did Uncle Frank find his ponies?" asked Teddy the next morning at the breakfast table.

"No, Curlytop," answered Aunt Millie. "He and some of the cowboys have gone over to the field where the ponies were kept to see if they can get any news of them."

"Can we learn to ride a pony to-day?" asked Janet.

"As soon as Uncle Frank comes back," answered her father. "You and Ted and Trouble play around the house now as much as you like. When Uncle Frank comes back he'll see about getting a pony for you to ride."

"Come on!" called Ted to his sister after breakfast. "We'll have some fun."

"I come, too!" called Trouble. "I wants a wide! I wish we had Nicknack."

"It would be fun if we had our goat here, wouldn't it?" asked Janet of her brother.

"Yes, but I'd rather have a pony. I'm going to be a cowboy, and you can't be a cowboy and ride a goat."

"No, I s'pose not," said Janet. "But a goat isn't so high up as a pony, Ted, and if you fall off a goat's back you don't hurt yourself so much."

"I'm not going to fall off," declared Teddy.

The children wandered about among the ranch buildings, looking in the bunk house where the cowboys slept. There was only one person in there, and he was an old man to be called a "boy," thought Janet. But all men, whether young or old, who look after the cattle on a ranch, are called "cowboys" so age does not matter.

"Howdy," said this cowboy with a cheerful smile, as the Curlytops looked in at him. He was mending a broken strap to his saddle. "Where'd you get that curly hair?" he asked. "I lost some just like that. Wonder if you got mine?"

Janet hardly knew what to make of this, but Teddy said:

"No, sir. This is our hair. It's fast to our heads and we've had it a long time."

"It was always curly this way," added Janet.

"Oh, was it? Well, then it can't be mine," said the cowboy with a laugh. "Mine was curly only when I was a baby, and that was a good many years ago. Are you going to live here?"

"We're going to stay all summer," Janet said. "Do you live here?"

"Well, yes; as much as anywhere."

"Could you show us where the Indians are that took Uncle Frank's ponies?" Teddy demanded.

"Wish I could!" exclaimed the cowboy. "If I knew, I'd go after 'em myself and get the ponies back. I guess those Indians are pretty far away from here by now."

"Do they hide?" asked Teddy.

"Yes, they may hide away among the hills and wait for a chance to sell the ponies they stole from your uncle. But don't worry your curly heads about Indians. Have a good time here. It seems good to see little children around a place like this."

"Have you got a lasso?" asked Teddy.

"You mean my rope? Course I got one -- every cowboy has," was the answer.

"I wish you'd lasso something," went on Teddy, who had once been to see a Wild West show.

"All right, I'll do a little rope work for you," said the cowboy, with a good-natured smile. "Just wait until I mend my saddle."

In a little while he came riding into the yard in front of the bunk house on a lively little pony. He made the animal race up and down and, while doing this, the cowboy swung his coiled rope, or lasso, about his head, and sent it in curling rings toward posts and benches, hauling the latter after him by winding the rope around the horn of his saddle after he had lassoed them.

"Say! that's fine!" cried Teddy with glistening eyes. "I'm going to learn how to lasso."

"I'll show you after a while," the cowboy offered. "You can't learn too young. But I must go now."

"Could I just have a little ride on your pony's back?" asked Teddy.

"To be sure you could," cried the cowboy. "Here you go!"

He leaped from the saddle and lifted Teddy up to it, while Janet and Trouble looked on in wonder. Then holding Ted to his seat by putting an arm around him, while he walked beside the pony and guided it, the cowboy gave the little fellow a ride, much to Teddy's delight.

"Hurray!" he called to Janet "I'm learning to be a cowboy!"

"That's right -- you are!" laughed Daddy Martin, coming out just then. "How do you like it?"

"Dandy!" Teddy said. "Come on. Janet!"

"Yes, we ought to have let the ladies go first," said the cowboy. "But I didn't know whether the leetle gal cared for horses," he went on to Mr. Martin.

"I like horses," admitted Janet. "But maybe I'll fall off."

"I won't let you," the cowboy answered, as he lifted her to the saddle. Then he led the pony around with her on his back, and Janet liked it very much.

"I wants a wide, too!" cried Trouble.

"Hi! that's so! Mustn't forget you!" laughed the cowboy, and he held Baby William in the saddle, much to the delight of that little fellow.

"Now you mustn't bother any more," said Daddy Martin. "You children have had fun enough. You'll have more pony-back rides later."

"Yes, I'll have to go now," the cowboy said, and, leaping into the saddle, he rode away in a cloud of dust.

The Curlytops and Trouble wandered around among the ranch buildings. Daddy Martin, seeing that the children were all right, left them to themselves.

"I'se hungry," said Trouble, after a bit.

"So'm I," added Teddy. "Do you s'pose that funny Chinaman would give us a cookie, Jan?"

"Chinamen don't know how to make cookies."

"Well, maybe they know how to make something just as good. Let's go around to the cook house -- that's what Aunt Millie calls it."

The cook house was easy to find, for from it came a number of good smells, and, as they neared it, the Curlytops saw the laughing face of the Chinese cook peering out at them.

"Lil' gal hungly -- li' boy hungly?" asked Hop Sing in his funny talk.

"Got any cookies?" inquired Teddy.

"No glot clooklies -- glot him clake," the Chinese answered.

"What does he say?" asked Janet of her brother.

"I guess he means cake," whispered Teddy, and that was just what Hop Sing did mean. He brought out some nice cake on a plate and Trouble and the Curlytops had as much as was good for them, if not quite all they wanted.

"Glood clake?" asked Hop Sing, when nothing but the crumbs were left -- and not many of them.

"I guess he means was it good cake," then whispered Janet to her little brother.

"Yes, it was fine and good!" exclaimed Teddy. "Thank you."

"You mluch welclome -- clome some mo'!" laughed Hop Sing, as the children moved away.

They spent the morning playing about the ranch near the house. They made a sea-saw from a board and a barrel, and played some of the games they had learned on Cherry Farm or while camping with Grandpa Martin. Then dinner time came, but Uncle Frank and the cowboys did not come back to it.

"Won't they be hungry?" asked Teddy.

"Oh, they took some bacon, coffee and other things with them," said Aunt Millie. "They often have to camp out for days at a time."

"Say, I wish I could do that!" cried Teddy.

"Wait until you get to be a cowboy," advised his father.

That afternoon Trouble went to lie down with his mother to have a nap, and Teddy and Janet wandered off by themselves, promising not to go too far away from the house.

But the day was so pleasant, and it was so nice to walk over the soft grass that, before they knew it, Teddy and Janet had wandered farther than they meant to. As the land was rolling -- here hills and there hollows -- they were soon out of sight of the ranch buildings, but they were not afraid, as they knew by going to a high part of the prairie they could see their way back home -- or they thought they could. There were no woods around them, though there were trees and a little stream of water farther off.

Suddenly, as the Curlytops were walking along together, they came to a place where there were a lot of rocks piled up in a sort of shelter. Indeed one place looked as though it might be a cave. And as Teddy and Janet were looking at this they heard a strange noise, which came from among the rocks.

Both children stopped and stood perfectly still for a moment.

"Did you hear that?" asked Jan, clasping her brother's arm.

"Yes -- I did," he answered.

"Did -- did it sound like some one groaning?" she went on.

Teddy nodded his head to show that it had sounded that way to him. Just then the noise came again.

"Oh!" exclaimed Janet, starting to run. "Maybe it's an Indian! Oh, Teddy, come on!"



Chapter IX

The Sick Pony


Teddy Martin did not run away as Jan started to leave the pile of rocks from which the queer sound had come. Instead he stood still and looked as hard as he could toward the hole among the stones -- a hole that looked a little like the cave on Star Island, but not so large.

"Come on, Teddy!" begged Janet. "Please come!"

"I want to see what it is," he answered.

"Maybe it's something that -- that'll bite you," suggested the little girl. "Come on!"

Just then the noise sounded again. It certainly was a groan.

"There!" exclaimed Janet. "I know it's an Indian, Ted! Maybe it's one of the kind that took Uncle Frank's ponies. Oh, please come!"

She had run on a little way from the pile of rocks, but now she stood still, waiting for Teddy to follow.

"Come on!" she begged.

Janet did not want to go alone.

"It can't be an Indian," said Teddy, looking around but still not seeing anything to make that strange sound.

"It could so be an Indian!" declared Janet.

"Well, maybe a sick Indian," Teddy admitted. "And if he's as sick as all that I'm not afraid of him! I'm going to see what it is."

"Oh, The-o-dore Mar-tin!" cried Janet, much as she sometimes heard her mother use her brother's name. "Don't you dare!"

"Why not?" asked Teddy, who tried to speak very bravely, though he really did not feel brave. But he was not going to show that before Janet, who was a girl. "Why can't I see what that is?"

"'Cause maybe -- maybe it'll -- bite you!" and as Janet said this she looked first at the rocks and then over her shoulder, as though something might come up behind her when she least expected it.

"Pooh! I'm not afraid!" declared Teddy.

"Anyhow, if it does bite me it's got to come out of the rocks first."

"Well, maybe it will come out."

"If it does I can see it and run!" went on the little boy.

"Would you run and leave me all alone?" asked Janet.

"Nope! Course I wouldn't do that," Teddy declared. "I'd run and I'd help you run. But I don't guess anything'll bite me. Anyhow, Indians don't bite."

"How do you know?" asked Janet. "Some Indians are wild. I heard Uncle Frank say so, and wild things bite!"

"But not Indians," insisted Teddy. "A Indian's mouth, even if he is wild, is just like ours, and it isn't big enough to bite. You've got to have an awful big mouth to bite."

"Henry Watson bit you once, I heard mother say so," declared Janet, as she and her brother still stood by the rocks and listened again for the funny sound to come from the stones. But there was silence.

"Well, Henry Watson's got an awful big mouth," remarked Teddy. "Maybe he's wild, and that's the reason."

"He couldn't be an Indian, could he?" Janet went on.

"Course not!" declared her brother. "He's a boy, same as I am, only his mouth's bigger. That's why he bit me. I 'member it now."

"Did it hurt?" asked Janet.

"Yep," answered her brother. "But I'm going in there and see what that noise was. It won't hurt me."

Teddy began to feel that Janet was asking so many questions in order that he might forget all about what he intended to do. And he surely did want to see what was in among the rocks.

Once more he went closer to them, and then the noise sounded more loudly than before. It came so suddenly that Teddy and Janet jumped back, and there was no doubt but what they were both frightened.

"Oh, I'm not going to stay here another minute!" cried Janet. "Come on, Ted, let's go home!"

"No, wait just a little!" he begged. "I'll go in and come right out again -- that is if it's anything that bites. If it isn't you can come in with me."

"No, I'm not going to do that!" and Janet shook her head very decidedly to say "no!" Once more she looked over her shoulder.

"Well, you don't have to come in," Teddy said. "I'll go alone. I'm not scared."

Just then Janet looked across the fields, and she saw a man riding along on a pony.

"Oh, Teddy!" she called to her brother. "Here's a man! We can get him to go in and see what it is."

Teddy looked to where his sister pointed. Surely enough, there was a man going along. He was quite a distance off, but the Curlytops did not mind that. They were fond of walking.

"Holler at him!" advised Janet. "He'll hear us and come to help us find out what's in here."

Teddy raised his voice in the best shout he knew how to give. He had strong lungs and was one of the loudest-shouting boys among his chums.

"Hey, Mister! Come over here!" cried Teddy.

But the man kept on as if he had not heard, as indeed he had not. For on the prairies the air is so clear that people and things look much nearer than they really are. So, though the man seemed to be only a little distance away, he was more than a mile off, and you know it is quite hard to call so as to be heard a mile away; especially if you are a little boy.

Still Teddy called again, and when he had done this two or three times, and Jan had helped him, the two calling in a sort of duet, Teddy said:

"He can't hear us."

"Maybe he's deaf, like Aunt Judy," said Janet, speaking of an elderly woman in the town in which they lived.

"Well, if he is, he can't hear us," said Teddy; "so he won't come to us. I'm going in anyhow."

"No, don't," begged Janet, who did not want her brother to go into danger. "If he can't hear us, Teddy, we must go nearer. We can walk to meet him."

Teddy thought this over a minute.

"Yes," he agreed, "we can do that. But he's a good way off."

"He's coming this way," Janet said, and it did look as though the man had turned his horse toward the children, who stood near the pile of rocks from which the queer noises came.

"Come on!" decided Ted, and, taking Janet's hand, he and she walked toward the man on the horse.

For some little time the two Curlytops tramped over the green, grassy prairies. They kept their eyes on the man, now and then looking back toward the rocks, for they did not want to lose sight either of them or of the horseman.

"I'm going to holler again," said Teddy. "Maybe he can hear me now. We're nearer."

So he stopped, and putting his hands to his mouth, as he had seen Uncle Frank do when he wanted to call to a cowboy who was down at a distant corral, the little boy called:

"Hi there, Mr. Man! Come here, please!"

But the man on the horse gave no sign that he had heard. As a matter of fact, he had not, being too far away, and the wind was blowing from him toward Teddy and Jan. If the wind had been blowing the other way it might have carried the voices of the children toward the man. But it did not.

Then Teddy made a discovery. He stopped, and, shading his eyes with his hands, said:

"Jan, that man's going away from us 'stid of coming toward us. He's getting littler all the while. And if he was coming to us he'd get bigger."

"Yes, I guess he would," admitted the little girl. "He is going away, Teddy. Oh, dear! Now he can't help us!"

Without a word Teddy started back toward the rocks, and his sister followed. He was close to them when Janet spoke again.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I'm going in there and see what that noise was," Teddy replied.

"Oh, you mustn't!" she cried, hoping to turn him away. But Teddy answered:

"Yes, I am, too! I'm going to see what it is!"

"I'm not!" cried Janet. "I'm going home. You'd better come with me!"

But, though she turned away and went a short distance from the rocks in the direction she thought the ranch house of Ring Rosy Ranch should be, she very soon stopped. She did not like going on alone. She looked back at Ted.

Teddy had walked a little way toward the hole in the rocks. Now he called to his sister.

"The noise comes from in here," he said. "It's in this little cave."

"Are you going in?" asked Janet, trying to pretend she was not afraid.

"I want to see what made that noise," declared Teddy. Since he and his sister had gone camping with Grandpa Martin they were braver than they used to be. Of course, Ted, being a year older than his sister, was a little bolder than she was.

Janet, not feeling that she ought to run on home and leave Teddy there and yet not feeling brave enough to go close to the cave among the rocks with him, hardly knew what to do. She walked back a little way and then, suddenly, the noise came, more loudly than at first.

"Oh, there it goes again!" cried Janet, once more running back.

"I heard it," Teddy said. "It didn't war-whoop like an Indian."

"If he's sick he couldn't," explained Janet.

"And if he's sick he can't hurt us," went on Teddy. "I'm going to holler at him and see what he wants."

"You'd better come back and tell daddy or Uncle Frank," suggested Janet.

Teddy rather thought so himself, but he did not like to give up once he had started anything. He felt it would be a fine thing if he, all alone, could find one of the Indians.

"And maybe it is one of those who took Uncle Frank's ponies," thought Teddy to himself.

Again the groan sounded, this time not quite so loud, and after it had died away Teddy called:

"Who's in there? What's the matter with you?"

No answer came to this. Then Ted added:

"If you don't come out I'm going to tell my uncle on you. He owns this ranch. Come on out! Who are you?"

This time there came a different sound. It was one that the Curlytops knew well, having heard it before.

"That's a horse whinnying!" cried Teddy.

"Or a pony," added Janet. "Yes, it did sound like that. Oh, Ted, maybe it's a poor horse in there and he can't get out!" she went on.

Again came the whinny of a horse or a pony. There was no mistake about it this time.

"Come on!" cried Teddy. "We've got to get him out, Janet. He's one of Uncle Frank's cow ponies and he's hurt in that cave. We've got to get him out!"

"But how can you?" Janet inquired. "It's an awful little cave, and I don't believe a pony could get in there."

"A little pony could," said Teddy.

Janet looked at the cave. She remembered that she had seen some quite small ponies, not only on Ring Rosy Ranch but elsewhere. The cave would be large enough for one of them.

"I'm going in," said Teddy, as he stood at the mouth of the hole among the piled-up rocks.

"He might kick you," warned Janet.

"If he's sick enough to groan that way he can't kick very hard," replied Teddy. "Anyhow, I'll keep out of the way of his feet. That's all you've got to do, Uncle Frank says, when you go around a strange horse. When he gets to know you he won't kick."

"Well, you'd better be careful," warned Janet again.

"Don't you want to come in?" Teddy asked his sister.

"I -- I guess not," she answered. "I'll watch you here. Oh, maybe if it's a pony we can have him for ours, Teddy!" she exclaimed.

"Maybe," he agreed. "I'm going to see what it is."

Slowly he walked to the dark place amid the rocks. The whinnyings and groanings sounded plainer to him than to Janet, and Teddy was sure they came from a horse or a pony. As yet, though, he could see nothing.

Then, as the little boy stepped out of the glaring sun into the shadow cast by the rocks, he began to see better. And in a little while his eyes became used to the gloom.

Then he could see, lying down on the dirt floor of the cave amid the rocks, the form of a pony. The animal raised its head as Teddy came in and gave a sort of whinnying call, followed by a groan.

"Poor pony!" called Ted. "Are you hurt? I'm so sorry! I'll go get a doctor for you!"

"Who are you talking to?" asked Janet.

She had drawn nearer the cave.

"There's a sick pony in here all right," Teddy told his sister. "Come on in and look."

"I -- I don't b'lieve I want to."

"Pooh! he can't hurt you! He's sick!" cried Teddy.

So, after waiting a half minute, Janet went in. In a little while she, too, could see the pony lying down in the cave.

"Oh, the poor thing!" she cried. "Teddy, we've got to help him!"

"Course we have," he said. "We've got to go for a doctor."

"And get him a drink," added Janet. "When anybody's sick -- a pony or anybody -- they want a drink. Let's find some water, Teddy. We can bring it to him in our hats!"

Then, leaving the sick pony in the cave, the Curlytops ran out to look for water.



Chapter X

A Surprised Doctor


Water is not very plentiful on the prairies. In fact, it is so scarce that often men and horses get very thirsty. But the Curlytops were lucky in finding a spring among the rocks on Ring Rosy Ranch. It was not a very large spring, and it was well hidden among the big stones, which, is, perhaps, why it was not visited by many of the ponies and cattle. They come in large numbers to every water-hole they can find.

Jan and Ted, having come out of the dark cave-like hole, where the poor, sick pony lay, began their search for water, and, as I have said, they were lucky in finding some.

It was Jan who discovered it. As the Curlytops were running about among the rocks the little girl stopped suddenly and called:

"Hark, Teddy!"

"What is it?" he asked.

"I hear water dripping," she answered. "It's over this way."

She went straight to the spring, following the sound of the dripping water, and found where it bubbled up in a split in the rock. The water fell into a little hollow, rocky basin and there was enough for Ted and his sister to fill their hats. First they each took a drink themselves, though, for the day was warm.

Their hats were of felt, and would hold water quite well. And as the hats were old ones, which had been worn in the rain more than once, dipping them into the spring would not hurt them.

"I guess the pony'll be awful glad to get a drink," said Jan to her brother.

"I guess he will," he answered, as he walked along looking carefully where he put down his feet, for he did not want to stumble and spill the water in his hat.

"Look out!" exclaimed Janet, as her brother came too close to her. "If you bump against me and make my arm jiggle you'll spill my hatful."

"I'll be careful," said Teddy.

They spilled some of the water, for their hats were not as good as pails in which to carry the pony's drink. But they managed to get to the cave with most of it.

"You can give him the first drink," said Teddy to his sister. "I found him, and he's my pony, but you can give him the first drink."

Janet felt that this was kind on Teddy's part, but still she did not quite like what he said about the pony.

"Is he going to be all yours?" she asked.

"Well, didn't I find him?''

"Yes, but when I found a penny once and bought a lollypop, I gave you half of it."

"Yes, you did," admitted Teddy, thinking of that time. "But I can't give you half the pony, can I?"

"No, I guess not. But you could let me ride on him."

"Oh, I'll do that!" exclaimed Teddy quickly. He was thinking it would be a hard matter to divide a live pony in half.

"Course I'll let you ride on him!" he went on. "We'll get Uncle Frank to let us have a saddle and some of the cowboys can teach us to ride. And I'll let you feed and water him as much as you like. I'm going to call him Clipclap."

"That's a funny name," remarked Janet.

"It's how his feet sound when he runs," explained Teddy. "Don't you know -- clip-clap, clip-clap!" and he imitated the sound of a pony as best he could.

"Oh, yes!" exclaimed Janet. "They do go that way."

"I haven't heard this one run," added Teddy, "'cause he's sick and he can't gallop. But I guess his feet would make that sound, so I'm going to call him Clipclap."

"It's a nice name," agreed Janet. "But I guess we better give him a drink now. He must be awful thirsty."

"He is," said Teddy. "Hear him groan?"

The pony was again making a noise that did sound like a groan. He must be in pain the children thought.

"Go on -- give him your drink, Janet," urged Teddy. "Then I'll give him mine."

Janet was afraid no longer. She went into the cave ahead of her brother, and as the pony was lying down Janet had to kneel in front of him with her hat full of water -- no, it was not full, for some had spilled out, but there was still a little in it.

The pony smelled the water when Janet was yet a little way from him, and raised his head and part of his body by his forefeet. Though clear, cold water has no smell to us, animals can smell it sometimes a long way off, and can find their way to it when their masters would not know where to go for a drink.

"Oh, see how glad he is to get it!" exclaimed Janet, as the pony eagerly sucked up from her hat the water in it. The little animal drank very fast, as if he had been without water a long while.

"Now give him yours, Teddy," Janet called to her brother, and he kneeled down and let the pony drink from his hat.

"I guess he wants more," Janet said as the sick animal sucked up the last drops from Teddy's hat. "It wasn't very much."

"We'll get more!" Teddy decided. "Then we'll go for a doctor."

"Where'll we find one?" Janet asked.

"I know where to find him," Teddy answered.

Once more the children went back to the spring and again they filled their soft hats. And once more the pony greedily drank up the last drops of water. As he finished that in Ted's hat he dropped back again and stretched out as if very tired.

"Oh, I hope he doesn't die!" exclaimed Janet.

"So do I," added her brother. "I'd like to have a ride on him when he gets well. Come on, we'll go find the doctor."

Shaking the water drops from their hats the Curlytops put them on and went out of the cave into the sunlight. Led by Teddy, Janet followed to the top of the pile of rocks.

"Do you see that white house over there?" asked Teddy, pointing to one down the road that led past the buildings of Ring Rosy Ranch.

"Yes, I see it," Janet answered.

"That's the place where the doctor lives," went on Ted.

"How do you know?" demanded Janet.

"'Cause I heard Uncle Frank say so. Mother asked where a doctor lived, and Uncle Frank showed her that white house. I was on the porch and I heard him. He said if ever we needed a doctor we only had to go there and Doctor Bond would come right away. He's the only doctor around here."

"Then we'd better get him for our pony Clipclap!" exclaimed Janet. "Come on, Teddy."

"If we had our goat-wagon we could ride," said the little boy, as they walked along over the prairie together. "But I guess we've got to walk now."

"Is it very far?" asked Janet.

"No, not very far. I've never been there, but you can easy see it."

Truly enough the white house of Doctor Bond was in plain sight, but on the prairies the air is so clear that distant houses look nearer than they really are.

So, though Ted and Janet thought they would be at the doctor's in about ten minutes, they were really half an hour in reaching the place. They saw the doctor's brass sign on his house.

"I hope he's in," said Teddy.

As it happened Doctor Bond was in, and he came to the door himself when Teddy rang the bell, Mrs. Bond being out in the chicken part of the yard.

"Well, children, what can I do for you?" asked Doctor Bond with a pleasant smile, as he saw the Curlytops on his porch.

"If you please," began Teddy, "will you come and cure Clipclap?"

"Will I come and cure him? Well, I will do my best. I can't be sure I'll cure him, though, until I know what the matter is. What seems to be the trouble?"

"He's awful sick," said Janet, "and he groans awful."

"Hum! He must have some pain then."

"We gave him some cold water," added Teddy.

"Yes? Well, maybe that was a good thing and maybe it wasn't. I can't tell until I see him. Who did you say it was?"

"Clipclap," replied Teddy.

"Your little brother?"

"No, sir. He's a pony and he's in a cave!" exclaimed Teddy.

"What? A pony?" cried the surprised doctor. "In a cave?"

"Yes," went on Janet. "We gave him water in our hats, and he's going to be Ted's and mine 'cause Ted found him. But will you please come and cure him so we can have a ride on him? Don't let him die."

"Well," exclaimed Doctor Bond, smiling in a puzzled way at the children, "I don't believe I can come. I don't know anything about curing sick ponies. You need a horse doctor for that."

Ted and Janet looked at one another, not knowing what to say.



Chapter XI

Trouble Makes A Lasso


Doctor Bond must have seen how disappointed Teddy and Janet were, for he spoke very kindly as he asked:

"Who are you, and where are you from? Tell me about this sick pony with the funny name."

"He is Clipclap," answered Teddy, giving the name he had picked out for his new pet. "And we are the Curlytops."

"Yes, I can see that all right," laughed the doctor with a look at the crisp hair of the little boy and girl. "But where do you live?"

"At Uncle Frank's ranch," Janet answered.

"You mean Mr. Frank Barton, of the Circle O?" the doctor inquired.

"Yes, only we call it the Ring Rosy Ranch now, and so does he," explained Teddy.

"The Ring Rosy Ranch, is it? Well, I don't know but what that is a good name for it. Now tell me about yourselves and this pony."

This Teddy and Janet did by turns, relating how they had come out West from Cresco, and what good times they were having. They even told about having gone to Cherry Farm, about camping with Grandpa Martin and about being snowed in.

"Well, you have had some nice adventures!" exclaimed Doctor Bond. "Now about this sick -- "

"Is some one ill?" enquired Mrs. Bond, coming in from the chicken yard just then, in time to hear her husband's last words, "Who is it?"

On the Western prairies when one neighbor hears of another's illness he or she wants to help in every way there is. So Mrs. Bond, hearing that some one was ill, wanted to do her share.

"It's a pony," her husband said with a smile.

"A pony!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, these Curlytop children found one in the cave among the rocks. It's on Circle O Ranch -- I should say Ring Rosy," and the doctor gave Uncle Frank's place the new name. "These are Mr. Barton's nephew's children," he went on, for Ted and Janet had told the doctor that it was their father's uncle, and not theirs, at whose home they were visiting. Though, as a matter of fact, Ted and Janet thought Uncle Frank was as much theirs as he was their father's and, very likely, Uncle Frank thought so himself.

"Can't you come and cure the sick pony?" asked Teddy.

"He's groaning awful hard," went on Janet.

"Well, my dear Curlytops," said Doctor Bond with a smile, "I'd like to come, but, as I said, I don't know anything about curing sick horses or animals. I never studied that. It takes a doctor who knows about them to give them the right kind of medicine."

"I thought all medicine was alike," said Teddy. "What our doctor gives us is always bitter."

"Well, all medicine isn't bitter," laughed Doctor Bond, "though some very good kinds are. However, I wouldn't know whether to give this Clipclap pony bitter or sweet medicine."

"Maybe you could ask one of the cowboys," said Janet. "I heard Mr. Mason -- Jim, Uncle Frank calls him -- telling how he cured a sick horse once."

"Oh, yes, your uncle's foreman, Jim Mason, knows a lot about horses," said Doctor Bond.

"Then why don't you go with the children and get Jim to help you find out what the matter is with their pony?" suggested Mrs. Bond. "There isn't a regular veterinary around here, and they don't want to see their pet suffer. Go along with them.''

"I believe I will," said Doctor Bond. "I could perhaps tell what's the matter with the pony, and if I've got any medicine that might cure it, Jim would know how to give it -- I wouldn't."

"We just found the pony in the cave," explained Teddy. "We were taking a walk and we heard him groan."

"Oh, I see," said Mrs. Bond. "Well, I hope the doctor can make him well for you," she went on, as her husband hurried back into the house to get ready for the trip.

He had a small automobile, and in this he and the children were soon hurrying along the road toward Ring Rosy Ranch. It was decided to go there first instead of to the cave where the pony was.

"We'll get Jim Mason and take him back with us," said the doctor.

Uncle Frank and his cowboys had come back from looking after the lost ponies, but had not found them. He, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Martin, were very much surprised when the Curlytops came riding up to the ranch in Doctor Bond's automobile.

"Well, where in the world have you been?" cried Mother Martin. "We were just beginning to get worried about you children. Where were you?"

"We found a pony!" cried Janet.

"And he's sick!" added Teddy.

"And his name is Clipclap!" exclaimed the little girl.

"And he's mine but Janet can have half of him, and we got him water in our hats," came from Teddy.

"And we got the doctor, too!" went on his sister.

"Well, I should say you'd put in quite a busy day," chuckled Uncle Frank. "Now let's hear more about it."

So the Curlytops told, and Doctor Bond said, even if he was not a horse doctor, he'd go out and look at the pony in the cave, if the ranch foreman would come with him.

"Of course I'll come!" cried Jim Mason. "I wouldn't want to see any pony suffer. And I've doctored quite a few of 'em, even if I don't know much about medicine. Come on, Curlytops!"

Jim Mason jumped on his own swift pony, saying he could make as good time over the rough prairie as Doctor Bond could in his automobile. The Curlytops rode in the machine with the physician. Uncle Frank and Daddy Martin went along, for they, too, were interested in the sick pony.

It did not take long to get to the cave amid the rocks. Jim Mason's horse reached there ahead of the automobile, and the foreman had gone into the cave and come out again by the time the Curlytops were getting out of the machine.

"Well, he's a pretty sick pony all right," said the foreman of the cowboys of Ring Rosy Ranch.

"Can you make him better?" asked Teddy anxiously.

"I don't know whether we can or not. It all depends on what sort of medicine the doctor has for curing poison."

"Has the pony been poisoned?" asked Uncle Frank.

"Looks that way," replied the foreman. "I guess he must have drunk some water that had a bit of poisoned meat in it. You see," he went on to the doctor, Mr. Martin and the children, "we have a lot of wolves and other pesky animals around here. They're too tricky to catch in traps or shoot, so we poison 'em by putting a white powder in some meat. Sometimes the wolves will drag a piece of the poisoned meat to a spring of water, and they must have done it this time. Then the pony drank the water and it made him sick."

"Will he die?" asked Janet.

"Well, I'll do my best to save him," said Doctor Bond, opening the black case of medicines he carried. "But how can you give medicine to a horse, Jim? You can't put it on his tongue, can you?"

"No, but I've got a long-necked bottle on purpose for that, and it's easy to pour it out of that bottle down a pony's throat. You mix up the dose, Doc, and I'll give it to the little animal."

This was done, but the Curlytops were not allowed in the cave when the men were working over the pony. But, in a little while, the foreman and Doctor Bond came out.

"Well, I guess your pony will get better," said the physician. "Jim gave him the medicine that will get the poison out of him, and in a day or so he'll be able to walk. But you'll have to leave him in the cave until then."

"Can't we take him home?" Teddy cried.

"Oh, no!" exclaimed the foreman. "But I'll send one of the men over with some straw to make him a soft bed, and we'll see that he has water to drink. He won't want anything to eat until he gets better. The doctor will come to see him to-morrow. Won't you?" he went on to Doctor Bond.

"Indeed I will!" promised the doctor, for he had taken a great liking to the Curlytops.

"Whose pony is it?" asked Daddy Martin.

"It's mine!" exclaimed Teddy quickly. "Mine and Jan's. We found him and his name's Clipclap."

"Well, that's a good name for a pony," said his father. "But still I don't know that you can claim every pony you find. This one may belong to Uncle Frank."

"No, it isn't one of my brand," said the owner of Ring Rosy Ranch. "It's a strange pony that must have wandered into this cave after he found he was poisoned. I reckon the poor thing thought he'd die in there, and maybe he would if the children hadn't found him."

"He couldn't have lived much longer without attention," said Doctor Bond.

"Then did we save his life?" asked Teddy.

"You did, by getting the doctor in time," answered his father.

"Then can't he be our pony?" asked the little boy.

"Yes, I guess he can," answered Uncle Frank. "If nobody comes to claim him you children may have him. And if anyone does come after him I'll give you another. I was going to give you each a pony, anyhow, as soon as you got used to the ranch, and I'll do it. If Ted wants to keep Clipclap, as he calls him, I'll give Janet another."

"Oh, won't I just love him!" cried the little girl.

"And I'll love Clipclap!" said Teddy.

There was nothing more that could be done just then for the sick pony, so the Curlytops and the others left him in the cave. The children were glad he did not groan any more. A little later Jim Mason sent one of the cowboys with some clean straw to make a bed for the little horse, and a pail of the cool, spring water was put where the animal could reach it.

For two days the pony stayed in the cave, and then Doctor Bond said he was much better and could be led to the ranch. Uncle Frank took Ted and Janet out to the rocks to bring back their pet, but he had to walk very slowly, for he was still weak from the poison.

"And hell have to stay in the stable for a week or so," said Jim Mason when Clipclap was safely at the ranch. "After that he will be strong enough to ride. While you Curlytops are waiting I'll give you a few riding lessons."

"And will you show me how to lasso?" begged Teddy.

"Yes, of course. You'll never be a cowboy, as you say you're going to be, unless you can use a rope. I'll show you."

So the children's lessons began. Uncle Frank picked out a gentle pony for them on which to learn how to ride, and this pony was to be Jan's. She named him Star Face, for he had a white mark, like a star, on his forehead.

On this pony Jan and Ted took turns riding until they learned to sit in the saddle alone and let the pony trot along. Of course he did not go very fast at first.

"And I want to learn to lasso when I'm on his back," said Teddy.

"You'd first better learn to twirl the rope while you're on the ground," said Jim Mason, and then the foreman began giving the little boy some simple lessons in this, using a small rope, for Teddy could not handle the big ones the cowboys used.

In a few days Teddy could fling the coils of his rope and make them settle over a post. Of course he had to stand quite close, but even the cowboys, when they learned, had to do that the foreman said.

"Well, what are you going to do now?" Teddy's father asked the little boy one day, as he started out from the house with a small coil of rope on one arm, as he had seen the cowboys carry their lariats. "What are you going to do, Ted?"

"Oh, I'm going to lasso some more," was the answer.

"Why don't you try something else besides a post?" asked one of Uncle Frank's men, as he, too, noticed Teddy. "Throwing a rope over a post is all right to start, but if you want to be a real cowboy you'll have to learn to lasso something that's running on its four legs. That's what most of our lassoing is -- roping ponies or steers, and they don't very often stand still for you, the way the post does."

"Yes," agreed Ted, "I guess so. I'll learn to lasso something that runs."

His father paid little more attention to the boy, except to notice that he went out into the yard, where he was seen, for a time, tossing the coils of rope over the post. Then Jan came along, and, as soon as he saw her, Teddy asked:

"Jan, will you do something for me?"

"What?" she inquired, not being too ready to make any promises. Sometimes Teddy got her to say she would do things, and then, when he had her promise, he would tell her something she did not at all want to do. So Jan had learned to be careful.

"What do you want to do, Teddy?" she asked.

"Play cowboy," he answered.

"Girls can't be cowboys," Janet said.

"Well, I don't want you to be one," went on Teddy. "I'll be the cowboy."

"Then what'll I be?" asked Jan. "That won't be any fun, for you to do that and me do nothing!"

"Oh, I've got something for you to do," said Teddy, and he was quite serious over it. "You see, Jan, I've got to learn to lasso something that moves. The post won't move, but you can run."

"Do you mean run and play tag?" Jan asked.

Teddy shook his head.

"You make believe you're a wild cow or a pony," he explained, "and you run along in front of me. Then I'll throw my rope around your head, or around your legs, and I'll pull on it and you -- "

"Yes, and I'll fall down and get all dirt!" finished Jan. "Ho! I don't call that any fun for me!"

"Well, I won't lasso you very hard," promised Ted; "and I've got to learn to throw my rope at something that moves, the cowboys say, else I can't ever be a real wild-wester. Go on, Jan! Run along and let me lasso you!"

Jan did not want to, but Teddy teased her so hard that she finally gave in and said she would play she was a pony for a little while. Teddy wanted her to be a wild steer, but she said ponies could run faster than the cattle, and Jan was a good runner.

"And if I run fast it will be harder for you to lasso me," she said, "and that's good practice for you, same as it is good for me when I practice my music scales fast, only I don't do it very much."

"Well, you run along and I'll lasso you," said Teddy. "Only we'd better go around to the back of the house. Maybe they wouldn't like to see me doing it."

"Who; the cowboys?" asked his sister.

"No, father and mother," replied Teddy. "I don't guess they'd want me to play this game, but I won't hurt you. Come on."

The little boy and girl -- Teddy carrying his small lasso -- went out to a field not far from the house, and there they played cowboy. As they had planned, Teddy was the cowboy and Janet the wild pony, and she ran around until she was tired. Teddy ran after her, now and then throwing the coil of rope at her.

Sometimes the lasso settled over her head, and then the little boy would pull it tight, but he was careful not to pull too hard for fear he might hurt Jan. Once the rope went around her legs, and that time Teddy gave a sudden yank.

"Oh, I'm falling!" cried Jan, and she went down in a heap.

"That's fine!" cried Teddy. "That's regular wild-wester cowboy! Do it again, Jan!"

"No! It hurts!" objected the little girl. "You pulled me so hard I fell down."

"I didn't mean to," said Teddy. "But I can lasso good, can't I?"

"Yes; pretty good," his sister agreed. "But you can't lasso me any more. I don't want to play. I'm going to the house."

"Did I hurt you much?" Teddy asked.

"Well, not such an awful lot," admitted Jan. "I fell on some soft grass, though, or you would have. Anyhow, I'm going in."

Teddy looked a little sad for a minute, and then he cried:

"Oh, I know what I can do! You stay and watch me, Jan."

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"You'll see," he answered "Here, you hold my lasso a minute."

Teddy ran off across the field, and when he came back to where his sister was still holding the coil of rope the Curlytop boy was leading by a rope a little calf, one of several that were kept in the stable and fed milk from a pail.

"What are you going to do, Teddy Martin?" asked the little girl.

"I'm going to play he's a wild steer," answered Teddy.

"Oh, The-o-dore Mar-tin!" cried Janet, much as her mother might have done. "You're not going to lasso him, are you?"

"I am -- if I can," and Teddy spoke slowly. He was not quite sure he could.

The calf came along easily enough, for Teddy had petted it and fed it several times.

"He's awful nice," said Janet. "You won't hurt him, will you?"

"Course not!" cried Teddy. "I'll only lasso him a little. Now you come and hold him by the rope that's on his neck, Jan. And when I tell you to let go, why, you let go. Then he'll run and I can lasso him. I've got to lasso something that's running, else it isn't real wild-wester."

Jan was ready enough to play this game. She took hold of the calf's rope, and Teddy got his lasso ready. But just as the little fellow was about to tell his sister to let the calf loose, along came Uncle Frank and he saw what was going on.

"Oh, my, Teddy!" cried the ranchman. "You mustn't do that, Curlytop! The little calf might fall and break a leg. Wait until you get bigger before you try to lasso anything that's alive. Come on, we'll have other fun than this. I'm going to drive into town and you Curly tops can come with me."

So the calf was put back in the stable, and Teddy gave up lassoing for that day. He and Jan had fun riding to town with Uncle Frank, who bought them some sticks of peppermint candy.

Baby William had his own fun on the ranch. His mother took care of him most of the time, leaving Janet and Teddy to do as they pleased. She wanted them to learn to ride, and she knew they could not do it and take care of their little brother.

But Trouble had his own ways of having fun. He often watched Teddy throwing the lasso, and one afternoon, when Ted had finished with his rope and left it lying on a bench near the house, Trouble picked up the noose.

"Me lasso, too," he said to himself.

Just what he did no one knew, but not long after Teddy had laid aside the lariat, as the lasso is sometimes called, loud squawks, crowings and cackles from the chicken yard were heard.

"What in the world can be the matter with my hens?" cried Aunt Millie.

Ted and Janet ran out to see. What they saw made them want to laugh, but they did not like to do it.

Trouble had lassoed the big rooster!



Chapter XII

The Bucking Bronco


With a small rope around the neck of the crowing rooster -- which could not crow as loudly as it had before, because it was nearly choked -- Trouble was dragging the fowl along after him as he ran across the yard.

"Trouble! Trouble!" cried Aunt Millie. "What are you doing?"

"Playin' cowboy!" was his answer. "I lasso rooster wif my rope, like Teddy catches post."

"Oh, you mustn't do that!" cried Aunt Millie, as she ran after the small boy and the dragging rooster.

"Cock-a doodle-do!" crowed the rooster, or, rather, it tried to crow that way, but it would get only about half of it out and then Trouble would pull the rope tight about the fowl's neck and the crow would be shut off suddenly.

"Gid-dap, pony!" cried Baby William, trotting along on his short, fat legs, making-believe, as he often did, that he was riding horseback. "Gid-dap! I lasso a rooster, I did!"

"Yes, and you'll kill the poor thing if you're not careful," panted Aunt Millie, as she raced after the little fellow and caught him. Then she gently pulled the rooster to her by means of the rope, and took it off the fowl's neck.

The rooster was bedraggled from having been dragged through the dust and the dirt, and it was so dizzy from having been whirled around by Trouble that it could hardly stand up.

Aunt Millie smoothed out its feathers and got it some water. The rooster drank a little and seemed to feel better. Then it ran off to join the other roosters and the cackling hens that had been watching what Trouble did, doubtless wondering what had gotten into the lassoed rooster to make it run around the way it did on the end of a rope. But it was Baby William who made all the trouble.

"You must never do that again," said Mrs. Martin when she came out of the ranch house and heard what her little boy had done. "That was very wrong, William, to lasso the poor rooster and drag it about with a rope around its neck."

"I not do it any more," promised Trouble. "But I want a lasso like Teddy."

"No, you're not big enough for that," his mother said. "You must wait until you are a little older. Don't bother the chickens any more."

"No, I only get de eggs," promised Baby William.

"And please don't lasso them, or you'll break them," put in Aunt Millie; but Janet thought her "eyes laughed," as she later told Teddy.

"No more lasso?" asked Trouble, looking at the rope his aunt had taken from the rooster's long neck.

"No more lasso!" exclaimed Mrs. Barton, trying not to smile, for the sight of the rooster, caught the way he had been, made even the older folks want to laugh. Ted and Janet did laugh, but they did not let Trouble see them. If he had he might have thought he had done something smart or cute, and he would try it over again the first chance he had. So they had to pretend to be sharp with him. The rooster was not hurt by being lassoed.

Afterward Trouble told how he did it. With the slip-noose of the rope in one hand and holding the rope's end in the other, Baby William walked quietly up behind the rooster and tossed the loop over its head. Then he pulled it tight and started to run, as he had seen the cow ponies galloping to pull down a horse or steer that needed to be branded or marked with the sign of the Ring Rosy Ranch. The rooster was very tame, often eating out of Aunt Millie's hand, so he was not afraid to let Trouble come up quite close to him.

One day, about a week after the Curlytops had found Clipclap in the cave, Jim Mason said he thought the pony was well enough to be ridden. Clipclap was brought out in the yard and Teddy and Janet went up to him.

The pony put his nose close to them and rubbed his head against their outstretched hands.

"See, he knows us!" cried Janet.

"And I guess he's thanking us for bringing him water," added her brother.

"And getting the doctor to cure him of poison," went on the little girl. "I'm glad he likes you, Teddy."

"And your pony likes you, too, Janet," said the little boy.

Janet's pony, Star Face, certainly seemed to like her. For he came when she called him and took lumps of sugar from her hand. He liked Teddy, too. In fact both ponies were very pretty and friendly and it would be hard to say which was the better. Janet liked hers and Teddy liked his, and that is the best thing I can say about them.

No one came to claim Clipclap. Though Uncle Frank spoke to a number of other ranchmen about finding the sick pony, none of them had ever seen Clipclap before as far as they knew. If he belonged to some other ranch it must have been far away.

"So you may feel that it is all right for you to keep your pony, Curlytop," said Uncle Frank to Teddy. "If anyone should, later, say it belongs to him, and can prove it, we'll give it up, of course."

"But I don't want to give Clipclap up!" Teddy cried.

"Well, maybe you won't have to," said his father. "But you must not keep what is not yours. Anyhow, if you should have to give up Clipclap Uncle Frank will give you another pony."

"There couldn't be any as nice as Clipclap -- not even Janet's Star Face," declared Teddy.

He felt bad at the thought of having to give up his pet, but there was no need to, for as the weeks went on no one came to claim Clipclap, and Teddy counted him as his own.

By this time Teddy and Janet had learned to ride quite well for such little children. They knew how to sit in a saddle, up straight like an arrow, and not slouched down or all humped up "like a bag of meal," as Uncle Frank was wont to say. They knew how to guide their ponies by pulling on the reins to left or to right, according to which way they wanted to go.

Of course they could not ride very fast yet, and Mother Martin was just as glad they could not, for she was afraid, if they did, they might fall off and get hurt. But Teddy and Janet were careful, and they knew how to sit in the saddle with their feet in the stirrups.

"They're getting to be good little riders," said Jim Mason to Uncle Frank one day.

"I'll take 'em with me the next time I go for a short ride."

"Maybe we could find the bad Indians that took your horses, Uncle Frank," said Teddy.

"Well, I wish you could," said the owner of Ring Rosy Ranch.

The cowboys had not been able to get back the stolen horses nor find the Indians who had run them off. Other ranches, too, had been robbed and a number of head of horses and cattle had been driven away.

"We've looked all over for those Indians," said Uncle Frank, "but we can't find 'em. If you Curlytops can, I'll give you each another pony."

"I'd like Clipclap best though," announced Teddy.

"What could we do with two?" asked Janet.

"Oh, every cowboy or cowgirl, for that matter, has more than one horse when he can," said Jim Mason. "Then if one gets lame he has another to ride. But don't you Curlytops go off by yourselves looking for those bad Indians!" he warned them.

"We won't," promised Teddy. "Well only go with you or Uncle Frank."

"We don't find them," said the ranch owner. "I guess the Indians sold the horses and cattle and then they hid themselves. Well, I hope they don't take any more of my animals."

But there was more trouble ahead for Uncle Frank.

The Curlytops had a fine time on his ranch, though. When Teddy and Janet were not riding, they were watching the cowboys at work or play, for the men who looked after Uncle Frank's cattle had good times as well as hard work.

They would often come riding and swooping in from the distant fields after their day's work, yelling and shouting as well as firing off their big revolvers. But neither the Curlytops nor their mother were as frightened at this play of the cowboys as they had been at first.

"I wish I had a gun that would go bang," said Teddy one day.

"Oh, The-o-dore Mar-tin!" cried his sister, after the fashion of her mother. "If you had I'd never go riding ponyback with you -- never again! I'd be afraid of you! So there!"

"Well, so would the Indians!" said Ted. However he knew he was too small to have a firearm, so he did not tease for it.

Sometimes, when Uncle Frank or his foreman, Jim Mason, went on short rides around the ranch, Teddy and Janet went with them on their ponies. Star Pace and Clipclap were two sturdy little animals, and were gentle with the children.

"Come on! Let's have a race!" Ted would call.

"All right. But don't go too fast," Janet would answer, and they would trot off, the ponies going as fast as was safe for the children.

Teddy generally won these races, for Janet, who was very tender-hearted, did not like to make her pony go as fast as it could go. Often, perhaps, if Janet had urged Star Face on she would have beaten her brother, for Clipclap still felt a little weak, now and then, from his illness.

One day a cowboy came in, riding hard from a far-off part of the ranch.

"I guess something is the matter, Jan," said Teddy, as they saw the horseman gallop past.

"What?" she asked as they noticed him talking to the foreman.

"Maybe he's found the Indians that took Uncle Frank's horses," her brother answered.

The children drew near enough to hear what the cowboy and the foreman were talking about.

"More horses gone!" exclaimed Jim Mason. "Well, we'll surely have to get after those Indians; that's all there is about it!"

"More horses stolen?" asked Daddy Martin, coming out just then.

"Yes," answered Jim Mason. "A lot of good ones. I guess more Indians must have run away from the reservation. We'll have to hunt them down!"

"Oh, I wish I could go!" sighed Teddy. "I'd like to be an Indian fighter."

"You'll have to grow a lot bigger," said his uncle, with a laugh.

Uncle Frank and some of the cowboys rode over the prairie, trying to find the stealing Indians, but they could not. Nor could they find the missing horses, either.

"It's a good thing Uncle Frank has lots of cattle," said Teddy that night when the cowboys came back to the ranch house, not having found the horse thieves. "If he didn't have he'd be poor when the Indians take his animals."

"He'll be poor if the Indians keep on the way they have been doing," said Aunt Millie. "I hope he can catch the bad men!"

Ted and Janet hoped so too, but they did not see how they could help, though Teddy wanted to. However he was kept near the house.

"Come on and see the bucking bronco, Curlytops!" called Uncle Frank to Teddy and Janet one day.

"What is it?" asked the little girl.

"A bucking bronco jumps up in the air with all four feet off the ground at once, and comes down as stiff as a board," explained Uncle Frank. "That isn't nice for the man that's in the saddle, though the cowboys know how to ride most bucking broncos, that are really sort of wild horses."

"I'd like to see 'em!" cried Teddy.

"You may," promised his uncle. "The cowboys have a bucking bronco out in the corral and they're taking turns trying to ride him. Come along if you want to see the fun."

It was fun, but some hard work, too, for one after another the cowboys fell out of the saddle of the bucking bronco as they tried to ride him.

Now and then one would stay on the wild animal's back longer than had any of his friends, not falling when the bronco leaped up in the air and came down with his legs as stiff as those of an old fashioned piano.

"Ki-yi! Yippi-i-yip!" yelled the cowboys, as they dashed about on the bucking bronco, swinging their hats or their quirts, which are short-handled whips, in the air over their heads.

They did not mind being thrown, and each one tried to ride the wild bronco. None could stay in the saddle more than a few minutes at a time though.

"Well, I guess I'll have to ride that animal myself," said Jim Mason, when all the other cowboys had tried and had fallen or jumped from the saddle. The foreman was a fine rider. "Yes, I guess I can ride that bronco," he said.

"Give the pony a chance to get his breath," suggested one of the cowboys. "I don't reckon you can ride him though, Jim."

"I'll try," was the answer.

The bronco was led to a corner of the corral, or stable yard, and tied. Then the foreman made ready to try to stay in the saddle longer than had any of his men, for when a bronco bucks it is like trying to hold on to a swing that is turning topsy-turvy.

Suddenly, as Teddy and Janet were looking at some of the funny tricks the cowboys were playing on one another, Uncle Frank gave a cry.

"Look at Trouble!" he exclaimed.

Baby William had crawled through the fence and was close to the dangerous heels of the bucking bronco.



Chapter XIII

Missing Cattle


For a moment none of the cowboys made a move. They were too frightened at what might happen to Trouble. If it had been one of their own friends who had gone into the corral where the dangerous bronco was standing, they would have known what to do.

They would have called for him to "Look out!" and the cowboy would have kept away from the animal. But it was different with Trouble. To him one horse was like another. He liked them all, and he never thought any of them would kick or bite him. The bucking bronco was most dangerous of all.

"Oh, Trouble!" exclaimed Janet softly.

"I -- I'll get him!" whispered Teddy. "I can crawl in there and run and get him before that bronco -- "

"You stay right where you are, Curlytop!" exclaimed Jim Mason. "We don't want you both hurt, and if you go in there now you might start that crazy horse to kicking. Stay where you are. I'll get Trouble for you."

"Maybe if I called to him he'd come," said Janet. She, too, spoke in a whisper. In fact no one had made a noise since Trouble had been seen crawling under the corral fence, close to the bucking bronco.

"No, don't call, Janet," said the foreman. "You might make the bronco give a jump, and then he'd step on your little brother. That horse is a savage one, and he's so excited now, from so many of the cowboys having tried to ride him, that he might break loose and kick Trouble. We've got to keep quiet."

The cowboys seemed to know this, for none of them said a word. They kept very still and watched Trouble.

Baby William thought he was going to have a good time. He had wandered out of the house when his mother was not looking. Seeing Ted, Janet and the cowboys down by the corral, he made up his mind that was the place for him.

"Maybe I get a horse wide," he said to himself, for he was about as eager over horses as his sister or brother, and, so far, the only rides he had had were when he sat in the saddle in front with them or with his father, and went along very slowly indeed. For they dared not let the horse go fast when Trouble was with them, and Trouble wanted to go fast.

"Me go get wide myse'f," he murmured, and then, when no one was looking, he slipped under the corral fence.

He was now toddling close to the heels of the bronco.

"Nice horsie," said Trouble in his sweetest voice. "I get on your back an' have nice wide!"

Trouble always had hard work to sound the r in ride. "Wide" he always called it.

Nearer and nearer he came to the bronco. The animal, without turning its head, knew that someone was coming up behind. Many a time a cowboy had tried to fool the savage horse that way, and leap into the saddle without being seen. But Imp, as the bronco was named, knew all those tricks.

He turned back his ears, and when a horse does that it is not a good sign. Almost always it means he is going to bite or kick.

In this case Imp would have to kick, as Trouble was too far behind to be bitten. And Imp did not seem to care that it was a little boy who was behind, and not a big cowboy. Imp was going to do his worst.

But Jim Mason was getting ready to save Trouble. Going around to the side, where he could not be seen so well, the foreman quickly leaped over the fence. And then he ran swiftly toward Trouble, never saying a word.

The bronco heard the sound of running feet. He turned his head around to see who else was coming to bother him and then, before Imp could do anything and before Trouble could reach and put his little hands on the dangerous heels, the foreman caught up Baby William and jumped back with him, out of the way in case Imp should kick.

And kick Imp did! His heels shot out as he laid his ears farther back on his head and he gave a shrill scream, as horses can when they are angry.

"No you don't! Not this time!" cried Jim Mason, as he ran back to the fence with Trouble. "And you must never go into the corral or near horses again, Trouble! Do you hear?" and the foreman spoke to Baby William as though very angry indeed. But he had to do this, for the little fellow must learn not to go into danger.

"Don't ever go in there again!" said the foreman, as he set Trouble down on the ground in a safe place.

"No, me not go," was the answer, and Baby William's lips quivered as though he were going to cry.

"Well, that's all right, old man!" said the foreman in kind tones. For he loved children and did not even like to hurt their feelings. "I didn't mean to scare you."

But he had scared Trouble, or, rather the sudden catching up of the little fellow and the pony's scream had frightened him, and Janet's baby brother began to cry, hiding his head in her dress.

But, after all, that was the best thing to make Trouble remember that he must not go in the corral, and he had soon forgotten his tears and was laughing at the funny tricks Imp cut up as Jim Mason tried to ride him.

The foreman, after he had carried Trouble safely out of the way, went back in the corral and jumped on the bucking bronco's back. Then Imp did all he could to get the man out of the saddle.

Around and around the corral dashed the cow pony, and when he found that Jim stuck on the horse began jumping up in the air -- bucking as the cowboys call it. Even that did not shake the foreman to the ground.

Then, suddenly, the horse fell down. But it was not an accident. He did it on purpose, and then he began to roll over, thinking this, surely, would get that man off his back.

It did. But when Imp tried to roll over on the foreman, to hurt him, Jim Mason just laughed and jumped out of the way. He knew Imp would probably do this and he was ready for him.

Jim watched Imp, and as soon as the bronco stopped rolling and stood up again the foreman jumped into the saddle. This was too much for Imp. He made up his mind he could not get rid of such a good rider, so the horse settled down and galloped around the corral as he ought to do.

"Hurray! Jim rides him after all!" cried some of the cowboys.

"I told you I'd stick to him" said the foreman with a laugh.

"I wish I could ride that way," said Teddy, with a little sigh when Jim came out of the corral and left Imp to have a rest.

"Well, maybe you will some day," said the foreman. "You've got a good start, and there's no better place to learn to ride ponyback than at Ring Rosy Ranch."

One warm, pleasant afternoon, when they had played about the house for some time, amusing themselves at the games they were wont to pass the time with in the East, Jan called to her brother:

"Let's go and take a ride on our ponies!"

"All right," agreed Teddy. "Where'll we go?"

"Oh, not very far. Mother told us we mustn't go very far when we're alone."

"That was before we knew how to ride," declared the little boy. "I guess we ride good enough now to take long rides."

"But not now," insisted Jan. "We'll only go for a little way, or I'm not going to play."

"All right," Teddy agreed. "We won't go very far."

So they went out to the stable where their ponies were kept, and there one of the cowboys kindly saddled Clipclap and Star Face for the little Curlytops. Uncle Frank had given orders to his men that they were to let the children have the ponies whenever it was safe to ride, and this was one of the nicest days of the summer.

"Don't let 'em run away with you!" laughed the cowboy, as he helped Jan and Ted into their saddles.

"Oh, Clipclap and Star Pace won't run away!" declared the little girl. "They're too nice."

"Yes, they are nice ponies," agreed the cowboy. "Well, good-bye and good luck."

Biding up to the house, to tell their mother they were going for a ride, but would keep within sight or calling distance, Ted and Jan were soon guiding their ponies across the prairie.

The children had soon learned to sit well in the saddles, and knew how to guide their ponies. And the little animals were very safe.

"Somehow or other, I don't feel at all worried here when the children are out of my sight -- I mean Teddy and Janet," said Mrs. Martin to her husband, when the Curlytops had ridden away.

"Yes, Uncle Frank's ranch does seem a safe place for them," Mr. Martin answered. "Lots of 'down East' people think the West is a dangerous place. Well, maybe it is in spots, but it is very nice here."

On over the prairies rode Teddy and Janet. Now and then the little girl would stop her pony and look back.

"What are you looking for?" Teddy asked. "Do you think Trouble is following us?"

"No, but we mustn't go too far from the house. We must stay in sight of it, mother said."

"Well, we will," promised Ted.

But, after a while, perhaps it was because it was so nice to ride along on the ponies' backs, or because the little animals went faster than Ted or Janet imagined -- I don't know just how it did happen, but, all at once, Jan looked back and gave a cry.

"Why, what's the matter, Jan?" asked Teddy.

"We -- we're lost!" gasped the little girl. "I can't see Uncle Frank's house anywhere!"

It was true enough. None of the ranch buildings were in sight, and for a moment Ted, too, was frightened. Then as his pony moved on, a little ahead of Jan's, the boy gave a cry of delight.

"There it is! I can see the house!" he said. "We're not lost. We were just down in a hollow I guess."

And so it was. The prairies, though they look level, are made up of little hills and valleys, or hollows. Down in between two hills one might be very near a house and yet not see it.

"Now we're all right," went on Teddy.

"Yes," agreed Janet "We're not lost anymore."

So they rode on a little farther, the ponies now and then stopping to crop a bit of the sweet grass, when, all of a sudden, Teddy, who was still a little ahead of his sister, called:

"Look there, Jan!"

"Where?"

Teddy pointed. His sister saw several men on horseback -- at least that is what they looked like -- coming toward them. Something about the figures seemed a bit strange to the children. Ted and Jan looked at one another and then back toward the ranch houses, which, they made sure, were not out of sight this time.

"Are they cowboys?" asked Jan of her brother.

"They -- they don't just look like 'em," he said. "I mean like Uncle Frank's cowboys."

"That's what I thought," Janet added. "They look like they had blankets on -- some of 'em."

She and Teddy sat on their ponies' backs and kept looking at the other figures. They were coming nearer, that was sure, and as they came closer it was more and more certain to the Curlytops that some of the strangers on the horses were wrapped in blankets.

"Oh, I know what they are!" suddenly cried Janet.

"What?"

"In -- Indians!" faltered Janet. "Oh, Teddy, if they should be wild Indians!"

"Pooh!" exclaimed Teddy, trying to speak bravely. "Uncle Frank said there weren't any very wild Indians near his ranch."

"Maybe these ones wasn't near the ranch before, but they're coming near now," said Janet, so excited the words tumbled out all mixed-up like. "I'm going home!"

"I -- I guess I'll go with you," added Teddy, as he turned his pony's head about. "We'd better tell Uncle Frank the Indians are coming. Maybe they want more of his horses."

"Oh, he won't let 'em have any!" cried Janet. "But they are Indians sure enough!" she went on, as she took a look over her shoulder.

And there was no doubt about it. As the group of riders came closer to the children, whose ponies did not go as fast as the larger horses, it was seen that they were indeed Indians, many of them wrapped in blankets. There were men, women, boys and girls, and some of the smaller children were carried wrapped tightly to their mothers' backs.

Tip to the ranch rode Teddy and Jan as fast as their ponies would take them without tossing off the Curlytops.

"Oh, Uncle Frank!" cried Teddy. "They 're coming!"

"A lot of 'em!" shouted Janet.

"What's that?" asked the ranchman. "Who are coming?"

"Indians to take more of your ponies!" Teddy gasped.

For a time there was some little excitement on the ranch, until one of the cowboys, riding out to see the Indians, came back and said they were not "wild" ones, but a band that went about selling baskets and other things they made. They did no harm, and for a time camped near the ranch, the children, even Trouble, going over to see them. But for some time the Curlytops did not forget the fright their first view of the Indians gave them.

In the days that followed Teddy and Janet had many rides on Clipclap and Star Face, their two nice ponies. Sometimes they were allowed to go a little way over the prairies by themselves. But when they went for a long ride Uncle Frank, Jim Mason, their father or some of the cowboys were with them.

"After a while maybe I'll learn how to ride so I can go off with you and help get the Indians that stole your horses. Do you think I can, Uncle Frank?" asked Teddy one day.

"Well, maybe, Curlytop. We surely must find those Indians, for I don't like to lose all those horses. As soon as I get some of my work done I'll have another look for them."

And then, a few days later, more bad news came to Uncle Frank. With his cowboys he was getting some cattle ready to ship away to a distant city, from where they were to be sent still farther away in a train of cattle cars, when a cowboy, who seemed much excited, came riding up to the corral.

He looked very tired and warm, for the weather was hot, and his horse was covered with flecks of foam, as though it had been ridden hard and far.

"What's the matter, Henry?" asked Uncle Frank.

"Indian thieves!" was the answer. "A band of the Indians have run away with a lot of your best cattle!"

"They have?" cried Uncle Frank. "How do you know?"

"I saw 'em, and I chased 'em. But they got away from me. Maybe if we start right out now we can catch 'em and get back the cattle."

"Then we'll go!" cried Uncle Frank.

Teddy and Janet were very much excited when they saw the cowboys saddling their mustangs ready for the chase.



Chapter XIV

Looking For Indians


"Can't we come along?" asked Teddy, as he saw Uncle Frank lead his horse out of the corral.

"And I want to come, too!" added Janet.

"Oh, no! We couldn't think of letting you!" answered Uncle Frank. "Come on, boys! Get ready. We'll have to ride fast!''

"We can ride fast!" added Teddy. "You said, the other day, Uncle Frank, I could ride real good!"

"So you can, Curlytop."

"Then why can't we come? Jan -- she's a good rider, too!"

"Why the idea of you children thinking you can go off on a hunt for Indians!" exclaimed their mother.

"We want to go -- awful much!" Teddy murmured.

"Not this time, Curly boy," said the ranchman. "We may have to be out all night, and it looks like rain. You stay at home with Janet, and I'll tell you all about it when I come back."

"Will you, truly?"

"Truly I will."

"And if you get any Indians will you bring 'em here?" Teddy demanded.

"No, don't!" cried Janet quickly. "I don't want to see any Indians."

"But they're tame ones," said her brother.

"They can't be awful tame, else they wouldn't run away with Uncle Frank's cows," declared the little girl.

"That's right!" laughed Uncle Frank. "I guess we won't bring any Indians here, Curlytop, even if we catch 'em, which we may not do as they have a good start of us. Anyhow we'll have to turn the Redmen back to their reservation where they belong if we get any of them. We'll just take my cattle and horses away, if we can, and tell the Indians to go home and be good."

"Will they do it?" asked Daddy Martin.

"It's hard to say," answered Uncle Frank. "I'd like to make 'em stop taking my animals, though. Well, I guess we'll start. We'll be back as soon as we can."

So he rode off with his cowboys after the Indians. The cowboy who had ridden in with the news went back with the others to show them where he had last seen the cattle thieves.

He stopped at the ranch house long enough, though, to get something to eat, and then rode away again. But he found time to talk a while to the Curlytops.

"Where did you see the Indians?" Teddy asked while the cowboy was eating and Uncle Frank and the others getting ready for the chase.

"Oh, I was giving my pony a drink at the spring in the rocks when I saw the Indians across the prairie -- field, I guess you'd call it back East."

"Well, the prairies are big fields," observed Janet.

"So they are, Curly girl," laughed the cowboy. "Well, it was while I was watering my horse that I saw the Indians."

"You mean at the spring in the rocks where Jan and I found Clipclap in the cave?" Teddy asked.

"That's the place, Curlytop. I chased after them to see which way they were driving off your Uncle Frank's cattle, but I saw they were too many for me, so I came on back as fast as my horse would bring me."

"Was there a lot of Indians?" Teddy inquired.

"Quite a few," answered the cowboy. "Well, now I've got to go and help chase them," and he hurried through his meal and rode off with Uncle Frank and the others.

"Say, I wish we could go, don't you, Janet?" asked Teddy of his sister, when they were left by themselves near the corral.

"No, I don't! I don't want to chase Indians!"

"Well, I'd chase 'em and you could watch me."

"You're not big enough," said the little girl. "Indians are awful big. Don't you remember the one we saw at the station?"

"Yes. But maybe the ones that took Uncle Frank's ponies are little Indians."

"I don't care," Janet said. "I don't want to chase after any of 'em. I don't like 'em."

"All right -- then I won't go," decided Teddy. "But let's go and take a ride on our ponies."

"Yes, I'll do that," agreed Janet, and soon, having had one of the cowboys who had been left behind at Ring Rosy Ranch saddle Clipclap and Star Face, the Curlytops started for their ride.

"Don't go too far!" called Mrs. Martin after the children.

"No, we won't," they promised.

"I wants to go wide too!" begged Trouble. "I 'ikes a wide on a ponyback."

"Not now, my dear," his mother said. "We'll go in the shade and pick flowers," and she carried him away where he would not see Teddy and Janet go off, for that made Trouble fretful. He wanted to be with them.

Over the prairie rode Janet and Ted. Their ponies went slowly, for the children had been told not to ride fast when they were alone. But, after a while, Ted got tired of this slow motion.

"Let's have a race, Jan!" he called. "I can beat you from here to that hill," and he pointed to one not far away.

"Mother said we couldn't ride fast," objected the little girl.

"Well, we won't ride very fast," agreed Ted. "Come on, just a little run."

Janet, too, wanted to go a bit faster, and so, when her pony was in a line with Ted's, she called sharply:

"Gid-dap, Star Face!"

"Gid-dap, Clipclap!" cried Teddy.

The two ponies started to run.

"Oh, I'm going to beat! I'm going to beat!" Janet cried, for she saw that Star Face was getting ahead of Clipclap.

"No you're not!" shouted Teddy, and he touched his heel to the pony's flank. Clipclap gave a jump forward, and then something happened.

Teddy took a flying leap, and right over Clipclap's head he sailed, coming down on his hands and knees some distance off. Clipclap fell down and rolled over in the grass while Janet kept on toward the hill that marked the end of the race.

The little girl reached this place first, not being able to stop her pony when she saw what had happened to Teddy. But as soon as she could turn around she rode back to him and asked anxiously:

"Are you hurt, Ted?"

"No -- no. I -- I guess not," he answered slowly.

"Is Clipclap?" asked Janet.

The pony answered for himself by getting up, giving himself a shake and then beginning to eat some grass.

"What happened?" Janet questioned further. "Why didn't you come on and race with me? I won!"

"Yes, I guess you did," admitted Teddy, getting up and brushing the dust off his clothes. "But I'd 'a' beaten you, only my pony stumbled and he threw me over his head. I went right over his head; didn't I Janet?"

"Yes, you did, Teddy. And you looked awful funny! But I'm glad you're not hurt."

"So'm I."

"What made Clipclap stumble?" asked the little girl.

"I guess he stepped in a gopher's hole," answered her brother.

"Let's look," proposed Janet.

Brother and sister went to the place where Clipclap had stumbled. There they saw a little hole in the ground. It was the front, or maybe the back, door of the home of a little animal called a gopher, which burrows under the earth. A gopher is a sort of squirrel-like rat, and on the prairies they make many holes which are dangerous if a horse suddenly steps into them. Prairie dogs are another species of animal that burrow on the Western plains, making holes into which horses or ponies often step, breaking their legs and throwing their riders.

This time nothing had happened except that Teddy and the pony had been shaken up. The pony might have broken a leg but did not, nor was Teddy even scratched.

Cowboys always dread gopher and prairie dog holes, especially at night when they can not be so easily seen.

"Oh, I know what let's do!" exclaimed Janet, when she found that her brother was all right.

"What?" asked Teddy.

"Let's wait here until the gopher comes up!"

"All right. Then we'll catch him and take him home to Trouble."



Chapter XV

Trouble "Helps"


Janet and Teddy sat beside the gopher hole, while their ponies, not far from them, ate the sweet grass of the prairie. Clipclap and Star Face did not wander away, even if they were not tied to a hitching post. For Western horses and cow ponies are trained to stand where their master leaves them, if he will but toss the reins over their heads and let them rest on the ground.

When a pony sees that this has been done he will never run away, unless perhaps something frightens him very much. It may be that he thinks, when the reins are over his head and down on the ground, they are tied to something, so he could not run away if he wanted to.

At any rate, Clipclap and Star Face stayed where Ted and Janet left them, and the little Curlytops watched the gopher hole.

"I wonder when he'll come out," said Janet after a bit.

"Shs-s-s-s!" whispered Teddy. "Don't talk!"

"Why not?" asked his sister.

"'Cause you might scare him. You mustn't talk any more than if you were fishing."

"A gopher isn't a fish!"

"I know it," said Teddy. "But you've got to keep quiet."

So he and Janet remained very quiet, watching the hole. Suddenly Janet gave Teddy a slight tap with her hand. He had looked off to see if the ponies were all right.

"What's the matter?" asked Teddy.

"Hush!" whispered Janet. "There he is."

She pointed to the gopher's hole. Teddy saw a tiny black nose and a pair of sparkling eyes as a head was thrust a little way out of the burrow.

"I'll get him!" cried the little boy.

With outstretched hand he made a grab toward the hole. But his fingers only grasped a lot of dirt and stones. The gopher had dived down back into his hole as soon as he saw Teddy's first move.

"Oh, he got away!" said Janet sorrowfully.

"Ill get him next time," declared Teddy.

But he did not. Three or four times more the little animal put his small head and bright eyes out of the top of the hole, and each time Teddy made a grab for him; but the gopher was too quick. Finally Janet said:

"I guess we better go home, Teddy."

"Why?"

"Oh, it's getting late, and I'm getting hungry."

"So'm I. I'll wait until he comes up once more and then well go."

Once more the gopher peeped up, as if wondering why in the world those two strange children did not go away and let him alone. Ted made a grab for him, but missed and then the little boy said:

"Come on, Jan. Now we'll go home!"

"And we haven't any nice little gopher to take to Trouble," said Janet sadly.

"Oh, well, maybe it would bite him if we did catch one," reflected her brother. "I'll take him some of these pretty stones," and he picked up some from the ground. "He'll like to play with these."

Teddy whistled for his pony and Clipclap came slowly up to his little master. Janet held out a bunch of grass to Star Face and her pony, just as he had been taught, came up to her. Teddy helped his sister get up in the saddle. It was not hard for them, as the ponies were small, and Jim Mason had showed them how to put one foot in the stirrup, and then, with one hand on the saddle and the other grasping both the bridle and the pony's mane, give a jump that carried them up. But though Janet could mount her pony alone Teddy always helped her when he was with her by holding the stirrup.

"Let's have another race home," suggested Teddy, when they had started.

"No," answered his sister. "You might fall some more and get hurt. We'll ride slow."

So they did, though Teddy was anxious for a good, fast gallop.

"Well, did you have a nice time?" asked Mother Martin, as they came to the house after putting away their ponies.

"We had lots of fun," answered Janet "Teddy fell off his pony -- "

"Fell off his pony!" cried her mother.

"He threw me!" explained Ted, and then he told what had happened.

"An' didn't you catch noffin for me?" asked Trouble, who heard his brother telling the story of his adventure.

"I brought you these nice stones," and Teddy took them out of his pocket. "You can play with them, Trouble."

Baby William laughed and sat down to play with the stones.

"Did the cowboys come back with the Indians?" asked Teddy of Aunt Millie when she was giving him and Janet some bread and jam to eat.

"No, not yet, Curlytop. I expect Uncle Frank and the boys will be gone all night."

"Will they have a house to sleep in?" asked Janet.

"No, unless they happen to be near one when it gets dark. But they took their blankets with them, and it's so warm that they'll just wrap up in them and sleep out on the prairie," said Aunt Millie.

"Won't they be hungry?" Teddy inquired, as he took a big bite of the bread and jam.

"Oh, no! Don't you remember I told you they always take something to eat with them when they go out this way? They are used to camping on the prairies, and they know how to make a fire, broil the bacon and make their coffee," answered Aunt Millie. "You need never worry about Uncle Frank and his cowboys. They'll be all right."

And so they were. It was not until the next afternoon that the party which had gone out to chase the Indians came back. They were tired, because they had ridden a good many miles, but they said they had slept well and had had enough to eat.

"Did you catch the Indians?" asked Teddy eagerly.

"No, Curlytop," answered Uncle Frank. "I'm sorry to say we did not. They got away from us."

"Did you see them?" asked Daddy Martin.

"Yes, but they were a long way off. Too far for us to get at them."

"And did they have your cattle with them?"

"Yes, they had a lot of my best animals. I guess they must be hiding away somewhere among the hills and mountains. We came pretty close to them at one time, and they suddenly disappeared. It seems as if they must have gone into a big hole or cave. We couldn't find them."

"Are you going to look any more?" Teddy questioned. "And if you do go, Uncle Frank, please can't I go too?"

"Well, most likely we will have another hunt for the Indians," answered the ranchman, "but I'm afraid we couldn't take you along, Curlytop."

"Why not, Uncle Frank?"

"Oh, you might get hurt."

"Well, can I see the Indians after you catch 'em?"

"Oh, yes, I guess I can promise you that," and Uncle Frank smiled at Daddy Martin.

"And can I ask them to make me a bow and arrows?" went on Teddy.

"Yes, you can ask them, but I don't believe they will," Uncle Frank replied. "These Indians aren't very nice. They're quite bad, in fact, and we all wish they'd stay where they belong and not come off their reservation and steal our cattle and horses."

"Well, I'm going to ask one to make me a bow and some arrows when you catch 'em," decided Teddy.

That afternoon Teddy saw his sister trying to do something with bits of string and sticks in a shady spot on the porch.

"What are you making, Jan," he asked. "A cat's cradle?"

"Pooh! you don't make a cat's cradle with sticks," said the little girl.

"Well, I thought maybe it was a new kind, or maybe a kitten's cradle," laughed Teddy.

"Nope; it isn't that either," went on Janet, as she kept on twisting the strings around the sticks.

"Well, what are you making?"

"A bow and arrow."

"Ho! Ho!" laughed Jan's brother "You can't make a bow and arrow that way. Anyhow you don't need a string for an arrow."

"I know that!" Jan said. "But I'm making the bow first, and then I'm going to make the arrow. The arrow part is what you shoot, isn't it, Ted?"

"Yes," he answered. "I'll help you, Jan. I didn't mean to laugh at you," he went on, for he saw that Janet was very much in earnest about what she was doing. "I know how to make a bow and arrows."

"Oh, please show me!" begged Janet. "I want to know how to shoot like the Indians."

Teddy, however, did not have much better luck making the bow than his sister had had. The trouble was that the sticks Janet had picked up were not the right kind. They would not bend, and to make a bow that shoots arrows a piece of wood that springs, or bends, is needed. For it is the springy action of the wood that shoots the arrow on its way.

After trying two or three times, each time finding something wrong, Teddy said:

"Oh, I don't guess I can make a bow, either. Let's play something else."

"What'll we play?" asked Janet.

Teddy thought for a few moments. Playing out at Uncle Frank's ranch was different from playing at home. In some ways it was not so easy, for at home if the Curly-tops could not think up any way to have fun by themselves, they could run down the street and find some other boys and girls. But here there were no streets, and no other boys or girls unless Teddy and Janet went a long way to look for them, and they could not do that.

"I know what we can do," said Teddy, after a while. "We can get some blankets and cookies and play cowboy."

"How can you play cowboy with cookies and blankets?"

"I'll show you," Teddy answered, as he went into the house to get the things he wanted. He soon came out with some old quilts and the cookies, which were in a paper bag.

"Now," went on Janet's brother, "We'll go off on the prairie and make believe it's night and we have to stay out like the cowboys when they went after Uncle Frank's horses."

"Oh, that'll be fun!" cried Janet, and then she and Ted rolled themselves up in the old quilts and pretended to go to sleep on the soft grass of the prairie, making believe it was night, though of course it was not, for the sun was shining. Then they ate the cookies, pretending they were bacon, sandwiches, cake and other things that cowboys like.

Two or three days later Uncle Frank and the cowboys went out again to look for the Indians, but they did not find them. From other ranches word came of cattle and horses that had been stolen; and more cowboys were hired to keep watch over the animals that had to be left out in the big fields to eat their fill of grass. No barn was large enough to hold them.

Meanwhile Teddy and Janet were learning how to ride better each day. They could go quite fast now, though they were not allowed to make their ponies gallop except on ground where Uncle Frank knew there were no holes in which the animals might stumble.

Sometimes Daddy and Mother Martin went to ride with the children, and then they had good times together, taking their lunch and staying all day out on the prairie or in a shady grove of trees.

One day Ted and Janet saw some cowboys driving a number of ponies to the corral near the ranch buildings. Some of the animals were quite wild and went racing about as though they would like to run far off and not come back.

But the cowboys knew how to take care of the ponies. They rode around them, keeping them together in a bunch, and if one started to get away the cowboys would fire their revolvers and yell, so the pony would become frightened and turn back.

"Did you take these ponies away from the Indians?" asked Teddy, as he saw the little animals turned into the corral and the gate shut on them.

"No, these are some that have been running wild in a field away over at the far end of my ranch," explained Uncle Frank. "I had them brought in, as I'm going to ship some away to be sold."

"Come on, we'll go and look at the ponies," called Ted to his sister. "Are they very wild?" he asked Jim Mason, who had helped the cowboys bring them to the ranch corral.

"Yes, some of 'em are pretty wild," was the answer. "We had hard work making them come along. They want to get loose and do as they please."

Ted and Janet climbed up on the corral fence to look at the ponies. A few were somewhat tame, and allowed the Curlytops to pat them. But others were very wild, and ran about as though looking for a place to jump the fence or get out through a hole. But the fence was good and strong. It was high and had no holes in it.

"Lots of ponies!" murmured Trouble, as he toddled after his brother and sister to the corral.

"Yes, lots of 'em," agreed Janet. "You'll soon be a big boy and you can have a pony to ride like brother and sister."

"Trouble want pony now!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, no, not now," Janet said as she helped him get up on the lowest board of the fence, part of which was wooden, so he could look in better.

"What they run around like that for?" asked Trouble, as he saw some of the ponies racing about the corral.

"They want to get out," Janet answered.

"Trouble go help," murmured the little fellow, but Janet either did not hear what he said or she paid no attention, for just then two of the ponies had a race together around the corral and she and Ted wanted to see which would win.

Trouble got down off the fence and went around to the gate. His brother and sister did not notice him until, all at once, Janet, missing her little brother, cried:

"Where's Trouble?"

"I don't know," Ted answered. "Maybe he -- Oh, look, Janet!" he suddenly cried. "The corral gate is open and all the ponies are running out!"

"Oh, that's right! They are!" Janet then screamed. "But where is Trouble?"

"I don't know. I guess he -- Oh, there he is!" and Teddy pointed to a spot near the gate.

There stood Trouble between the fence and the big gate which had swung back on its hinges.

"Oh, look at 'em run!" cried Janet.

"They're all running out!" added Teddy excitedly. "I wonder who let 'em loose."

"Maybe it was Trouble," suggested Janet. "Oh, it was!" she went on. "Trouble must have opened the gate and let the ponies loose!"



Chapter XVI

On The Trail


Trouble had done that very thing. The little fellow had not meant to do any harm, and certainly thought he was doing something to help, but really he made a great deal of work for Uncle Frank and the cowboys.

The corral, or yard where the half-tamed horses were kept while they were being got ready to send away, was closed by a large gate, but one easy to open if you knew how. All one had to do was to pull on a little handle, which snapped a spring and the gate would swing open.

Horses and cattle could not open the gate, for they could not reach the handle, even if any of them had known enough to do anything like that.

But Trouble had watched Uncle Frank or some of the cowboys open the gate by pulling on the handle; and now he did it himself. Then, of course, when the ponies saw the open gate they raced out.

"Get after 'em!" cried Uncle Frank who came galloping up on his horse to find out what was the matter. "Get after the ponies, boys! Round them up!"

"Round up," is what cowboys call riding around a lot of horses or cattle to keep the animals in one place or to drive them where they should go. Uncle Frank wanted his cowboys to ride after the runaway ponies and drive them back into the corral.

As the wild little horses trotted out through the gate, behind which Trouble stood, well out of danger, the cowboys rode after them, yelling and shouting and shooting their revolvers.

"What a lot of noise!" cried Janet, covering her ears with her hands as she got down off the fence.

"I like it!" laughed Teddy. "It's like a Wild West show!"

Indeed it was, in a way, but it meant a lot of work for Uncle Frank and his men. For all the ponies ran out of the corral and were scattering over the prairie.

"Oh, Trouble! did you let the horses out?" asked Janet, as her little brother came out from behind the gate and toddled toward her and Ted. The runaway horses were now well out of the way. "Did you open the gate?"

"Yes. I did open gate," Trouble answered, smiling.

"What for?" asked Teddy.

"Help little horses get out," said Trouble. "Them want to get out and Trouble help them. Trouble 'ike ponies!"

"Oh, but, my dear, you shouldn't have done it!" chided Mother Martin, who had come out of the house to find out what all the excitement was about. "That was very naughty of you. See all the work you have made for Uncle Frank and his men."

"Horses run out when Trouble open gate," was the only reply Baby William made.

"Yes, I know," went on his mother. "But it was wrong! You must never again open any gates on Uncle Frank's ranch. Just think -- the horses might have stepped on you or kicked you!"

"We didn't see him near the gate or we'd have stopped him," put in Teddy.

"That's true," added Janet. "The first we saw was the ponies going out, and then we saw Trouble behind the gate."

"He didn't mean to be bad," said his mother, as she carried him back to the house, "but he has made a lot of work. I'll have to punish him by not letting him out to play for an hour or so. Then he'll remember not to open gates again, whether he thinks he is helping horses or not."

And, though Trouble cried very hard, he was kept in the house. For, as his mother had said, he must have something to make him remember not to do such a thing again.

Meanwhile Uncle Frank and the cowboys were busy rounding up the runaway ponies. The little horses, tired of being cooped up in the corral, raced about, kicking up their heels and glad to be out on the prairie again. But the cowboys knew how to handle them.

Around and around the drove of half-wild ponies rode the yelling and shouting men, firing off many blank cartridges to scare the little animals back into the corral.

Some of the ponies, frightened by the noise, did turn back. They ran up to the corral gate, which was still open, and sniffed at the fence. They may have said to themselves:

"We don't like it, being shut up in there, but maybe well have to go back in, for we don't like being shouted at, and we don't like the bang-bang noises like thunder."

But, even when some of the ponies had run back as far as the corral gate they did not go in. Once again they turned around and would have galloped across the prairie again. But Uncle Frank shouted:

"Get after them, boys! Drive those few in and the rest will follow after like sheep! Get after them!"

So the cowboys rode up on their own swift ponies, that seemed to be having a good time, and then the other ponies nearest the corral gate were turned in through it. Then as the rest were driven up they did as the first ones had done and galloped back where they had been before Trouble let them out.

One after another the ponies ran back into the corral until every one was there. Then Uncle Frank closed the gate, and this time he locked it so that no one could open it without the key. But no one would try, not even Trouble, for, crying and sobbing to be allowed to go out and play, he had been given a lesson that he would not soon forget.

"I'm sorry I had to punish him," said Mother Martin to the Curlytops, when they came in after the ponies were once more in the corral, "but I just had to. Work on a ranch is hard enough without little boys letting the horses run wild after they have once been caught."

"Oh, well, no great harm was done," said Uncle Frank with a good-natured laugh, "though it did make us ride pretty hard for a while. Come on, Trouble, I'll take you ponyback!"

This was what Trouble liked, and he soon dried his tears and sat on the saddle in front of Uncle Frank as happy as could be. Janet and Ted got out their ponies, and rode with Uncle Frank and Trouble around the outside of the corral, looking at the little horses inside the fence. They were quieter now, and were eating some oats the cowboys had put out for them.

Two or three days after this, when the ponies had been driven away to the railroad station to be shipped to a far-off state, a cowboy came riding in with news that he had seen a band of two or three Indians pass along the prairie near the rocks where Teddy and Janet had found Clipclap.

"If we ride after them," said the cowboy, "maybe we can find where the other Indians are, and where they have hidden your horses and cattle, Mr. Barton."

"That's it!" exclaimed Uncle Frank. "We'll get on the trail after these Indians. I'm sure they must have some of my animals hidden away in the hills, for I would have heard of it if they had sold them around here. We'll get on the trail!"

"What's the trail, Daddy?" asked Teddy of his father.

"Oh, it means the marks the Indians' ponies may have left in the soft ground," said Mr. Martin. "Uncle Frank and his cowboys will try to trail, or follow, the marks of the horses' feet, and see where the Indians have gone."

"Can't I come?" asked Teddy. "I can ride good now!"

"Oh, no indeed you can't go!" cried Mother Martin. "Are you going?" she asked her husband.

"Yes," he answered. "I think I'll go on the trail with Uncle Frank."



Chapter XVII

The Curlytops Alone


Teddy and Janet sat on a bench outside the cowboys' bunkhouse, as their father, Uncle Frank and a number of the ranchmen rode away over the prairies on the trail of the Indians. The Curlytops did not seem very happy.

"Don't you wish we could go, Jan?" asked Teddy, after he and his sister had sat in silence for some time.

"I just guess I do!" she exclaimed. "I can ride good, too. Almost as good as you, Ted, and I don't see why we couldn't go!"

"Yes, you ride nice, Jan," said her brother. "But I thought you were afraid of Indians."

"I used to be, but I'm not any more. Anyway, if you'd stay with me I wouldn't be. And, anyhow, Uncle Frank says the Indians won't hurt us."

"Course they won't! I'm not afraid! I'd go on the trail after 'em if they'd let us."

"So would I. We could throw stones at 'em if they tried to hurt us, Teddy."

"Yes. Or we could ride our ponies fast and get away. Uncle Frank told me the Indians didn't have any good ponies, and that's why they took his."

"But we can't go," said Janet with a sigh.

"No; we've got to stay at home."

A little later a cowboy came limping out of the bunkhouse. His name was Sim Body, but all his friends called him "Baldy" because he had so little hair on his head.

"Hello, Curlytops!" cried Baldy in a jolly voice, for he was always good-natured. Even now he was jolly, though he had a lame foot where a horse had stepped on it. That is why he was not on the trail after the Indians with the other cowboys.

"Hello," answered Teddy, but he did not speak in a jolly voice.

"Why, what's the matter?" asked Baldy with a laugh, as he limped to the bench and sat down near the two children. "You act as sad and gloomy as if there wasn't a Christmas or a New Year's any more, to say nothing of Fourth of July and birthdays! What's the matter? Seems to me, if I had all the nice, curly hair you two have, I'd be as happy as a horned toad and I'd go around singing all day long," and Baldy rubbed his hand over his own smooth head and laughed.

"I don't like my hair," grumbled Teddy. "It's always getting snarled and the comb gets stuck in it."

"And it does in mine, too," added Janet. "And mother pulls when she tries to untangle it. Mine's longer than Ted's."

"Yes, and nicer, for that reason," went on Baldy. "Though I'd be glad if I had even half of yours, Teddy. But never mind about that. I won't take your hair, though I'd like to know what makes you both so gloomy-like. Can't you smile?"

Ted and Janet could not help laughing at Baldy, he seemed so funny. He was a good friend of theirs.

"We can't go on the trail after Indians," said Janet. "We want to go, but we've got to stay here."

"And we can ride our ponies good, too," went on Teddy. "Uncle Frank said we could."

"Yes, you're getting to be pretty good riders," admitted Baldy. "But that isn't saying you're big enough to go on a trail after Indians. Of course these Indians may not be very bad, and maybe they aren't the ones that took our horses. But riding on a trail takes a long while, and maybe the boys will be out all night in the open. You wouldn't like that."

"We went camping with our grandpa once," declared Teddy.

"And we slept in a tent," added his sister.

"And we saw a funny blue light and we thought it was a ghost but it wasn't," continued Teddy.

"Hum! A ghost, eh?" laughed Baldy. "Well, I've never been on a trail after one of them, but I've trailed Indians -- and helped catch 'em, too."

"How do you do it?" asked Teddy eagerly.

"Well, you just keep on riding -- following the trail you know -- until you catch up to those you're after. Sometimes you can't see any marks on the ground and you have to guess at it."

"And do the Indians ride on ahead and try to get away?" asked Janet.

"Indeed they do. When they know we're after 'em they ride as fast as they can. That is, if they've done wrong, like taking horses or cattle that aren't theirs. We just keep chasing 'em until we get close enough to arrest 'em."

"It's like a game of tag, isn't it?" asked Janet.

"Well, yes, you could call it sort of like that," admitted Baldy, with another laugh. "But it's a kind of game of tag that little boys and girls can't very well play."

"Not even when they have ponies?" asked Teddy.

"Well, of course, having a pony makes it easier to keep on the trail. You couldn't go very far walking over the prairies -- at least none of us do. We all ride. But I'll tell you some stories about cowboys and Indians and that will amuse you for a while. Like to hear 'em?"

"Oh, yes!" cried Teddy.

"Very much, thank you," added Janet, a little more politely but still just as eagerly as her brother.

So Baldy, sitting on the bench in front of the bunkhouse and resting his lame foot on a saddle on the ground, told the Curlytops stories of his cowboy life -- of sleeping out on the prairies keeping watch over the cattle, of Indians or other bad men who would come and try to steal them, and how he and his friends had to give chase to get the steers or ponies back.

"Did you ever get captured by the Indians?" asked Teddy.

"Well, yes, once I was," answered the cowboy.

"Oh, tell us about it!" begged the little Curlytop chap. "I love to hear stories about Indians! Don't you, Jan?"

"I like stories -- yes," said the little girl. "But if you're going to tell a story about Indians, Mr. Baldy, maybe it'll be a scary one, and I don't like scary stories."

"I do!" exclaimed Ted. "The scarier they are the better I like 'em!"

Baldy laughed as he said:

"Well, I guess, seeing as how the little lady doesn't like scary stories, I'd better tell one that isn't. We must please the ladies, you know, Teddy."

"Oh, yes, I know that," the little boy said. "But after you tell the not-scary story, Mr. Baldy, couldn't you tell me one that is scary -- a real, terrible scary one. You can take me out behind the barn where Jan can't hear it."

"Well, maybe I could do that," agreed the good-natured cowboy, laughing at the Curlytops. "Now then for the not-scary story."

"And you don't have to take Teddy out behind the barn to tell him the scary one," put in Janet. "You could stay here, and I could cover up my ears with my hands when you came to the terrible parts, couldn't I? Is there any parts in it that isn't scary? I'd like to hear them, Mr. Baldy."

"Well, I guess we can fix it that way," said the cowboy. "Now the first story I'm going to tell you, is how I was captured by the Indians," and the children sat closer to him and waited eagerly.

"Once upon a time," said Baldy, "a lot of Indians lived not far from the house where I lived."

"Weren't you afraid?" asked Janet.

"Please don't ask questions till he tells the story," begged Teddy.

"All right," agreed his sister, and Baldy went on:

"No, I wasn't much afraid, or if I was I've forgotten it now, as it was quite a while ago. Anyhow, one day I was out on the prairie, picking flowers, I think, for I know I used to like flowers, and, all of a sudden, along came a lot of Indians on horses, and one of them picked me up and took me right away with him, on the horse in front of him.

"The horse was a strong one, and could easily carry both of us, and though I wiggled around a good bit and yelled, the Indian didn't let go of me. On and on he rode, carrying me off, and the other Indians rode ahead of us, and on either side. I couldn't get away, no matter how I tried.

"After a while the Indians, who had been out hunting, came to where their tents were. This was their camp, and then I was lifted down off the horse and given to a squaw."

Teddy simply had to ask some questions now.

"A squaw is a Indian lady, isn't she?"

"Yes," answered Baldy, "that's what she is."

"Well, I shouldn't think she'd want to take you," went on the little boy. "I thought the Indian men always kept the prisoners, and you were a prisoner, weren't you?"

"Yes," answered Baldy, and there was a queer smile on his face, "but I guess I forgot to tell you that the time I was captured by the Indians I was a little boy, not as big as you, Curlytop. And the reason they picked me up off the prairie was that I had wandered away from my home and was lost. So the nice squaw kept me until one of the Indian men had time to take me home."

"Then didn't the Indians hurt you?" asked Janet.

"Not a bit. They were very good to me," the cowboy said. "Some of them knew my father and mother. That's the only time I was ever captured by the Indians, and I'm afraid it wasn't very much of a story."

"Oh, it was very nice," said Teddy politely.

"And not a bit scary, except a little teeny bit at first," added Janet. "Can you tell us another, Mr. Baldy?"

"Well, I guess I can," said the good-natured cowboy. So he told other tales of what had happened to him on the prairies, for he had lived in the West all his life, and knew much about it.

Teddy and Janet were very glad to hear these stories, but listening to them made Ted, at least, wish all the more that he could have gone with his father and his Uncle Frank on the trail after the Indians.

Then Baldy was called away by another cowboy, who wanted to ask him something about a sick horse, and Teddy and Janet were called by their mother to take care of Trouble for a while.

It was still morning, the cowboys having ridden away before dinner. They had taken with them enough to eat, even if they had to stay out all night.

"I wants a wide!" announced Trouble, when his brother and sister came in to get him.

"Could we give him a little ride on our ponies?" asked Teddy of his mother.

"Yes, I think so. But don't go far away from the stable. Are any of the cowboys out there to help you saddle?"

Saddling, which meant buckling the leather seat tightly around the pony, was something Teddy and Janet could not yet do very well for themselves. It takes strong fingers to tighten the straps.

"Yes, Baldy is out there," Janet said.

"How often have I told you not to call the men by their nicknames?" asked Mother Martin with a smile. "It isn't nice for children to do that."

"But, please, Mother, we don't know his other name very well," said Teddy. "Everybody calls him Baldy."

"Yes, that's right," agreed Aunt Millie. "I do myself. I guess he doesn't mind."

"Very well, if he'll saddle your ponies for you, take Trouble for a little ride," agreed Mrs. Martin. "But be careful."

The Curlytops said they would, and they were soon taking turns riding Trouble on the saddles in front of them. Clipclap and Star Face liked the children and were well-behaved ponies, so there was no danger in putting Trouble on the back of either as long as Ted or Janet held him.

"But don't go riding off with him on the trail after the Indians," said Baldy, playfully shaking his finger at the Curlytops.

"We won't!" they promised.

Up and down on the paths among the ranch buildings rode the children. Trouble was allowed to hold the ends of the reins, and he thought he was guiding the ponies, but really Teddy and Janet did that.

But finally even such fun as riding ponyback tired Trouble. He wanted something else to do, and said:

"Le's go an' s'ide downhill on hay in de barn."

Teddy and Janet knew what that meant. They had learned this kind of fun at Grandpa Martin's Cherry Farm. Here, on Ring Rosy Ranch, there was a large barn filled with hay, and there was plenty of room to slide down in the mow, or place where the hay was put away.

"Come on!" cried Janet. "Well give him a good slide, Teddy."

A little later the Curlytops and Baby William were laughing and shouting in the barn, rolling down and tumbling over one another, but not getting hurt, for the hay was too soft.

Pretty soon the dinner horn blew and, with good appetites from their morning's fun, the children hurried in to get something to eat.

"This is a good dinner!" announced Teddy as he passed his plate a second time.

"Yes," agreed Mother Martin. "I hope your father and the cowboys have as good."

"Oh, they'll have plenty -- never fear!" laughed Uncle Frank's wife. "They never go hungry when they're on the trail."

After dinner Trouble went to sleep, as he generally did, and Teddy and Janet were left to themselves to find amusement.

"Let's go for another ride," suggested Teddy.

"All right," agreed Janet.

The saddles had not been taken off their ponies. Their mother and Aunt Millie saw them go out and, supposing they were only going to ride around the barn and ranch buildings, as they had done before, said nothing to them.

But Ted was no sooner in the saddle than he turned to his sister and said:

"Jan, why can't we go riding the trail after the Indians?"

"What! We two alone?"

"Yes. We know the way over to the rocks where we found Clipclap in the cave, and from there we can ride farther on, just like daddy and Uncle Frank. Come on!"

Janet thought for a minute. She wanted to go as much as did Teddy. It did not seem very wrong.

"Well, we'll ride a little way," she said. "But we've got to come back before dark."

"All right," agreed Teddy. "We will!"

And the Curlytops rode away over the prairie.



Chapter XVIII

Lost


Clipclap and Star Face, the two sturdy little ponies, trotted bravely along, carrying Teddy and Janet on their backs. The ponies did not wonder where they were going -- they hardly ever did that. They were satisfied to go wherever their master or mistress guided them, for they knew the children would be good to them.

"Do you s'pose we'll find any Indians?" asked Janet after a while.

"Maybe," answered Teddy. "Are you scared?"

"No," replied his sister slowly. "I was just thinking maybe we could find 'em, and get back Uncle Frank's horses, even if the cowboys didn't."

"Maybe we could!" cried Teddy. "That would be great! Wouldn't daddy be surprised!"

"And Uncle Frank, too!" added Janet

"Yes, and the cowboys! Then they'd think we could ride all right!" went on Ted.

"Come on, let's hurry! Gid-dap!" he called to Clipclap.

"Where are we going first?" asked Janet.

"To the rocks, where we found my pony in the cave," answered her brother, as he patted the little animal on the neck. "The cowboy said he saw the Indians near there."

"Maybe they're hiding in the cave," suggested Janet.

"No, they wouldn't do that," Teddy decided, after thinking it over awhile.

"They'd be afraid to stay so near Uncle Frank's ranch. Anyhow the cave isn't big enough."

"It was big enough for Clipclap."

"Yes, but he's a little pony. Anyhow, we'll look in the cave and then we'll ride on along the trail until we catch up to daddy and Uncle Frank."

"What'll they say?"

"I guess they'll be s'prised."

"Maybe they'll make us go back."

"Well, if they do we'll have some fun, anyhow," said Teddy, laughing. "Gid-dap, Clipclap."

"It's a good thing we've two ponies instead of one goat," remarked Janet, after they had ridden on a little farther.

"Course it is," agreed Ted. "We couldn't both ride Nicknack, though he could pull us both in the wagon."

"Maybe he'd be afraid of Indians," suggested Janet.

"No, I don't guess he would," answered Teddy, after some reflection. "Nicknack's a brave goat. I like him. But I like Clipclap, too."

"And I like Star Face," added Janet "He's an awful nice pony."

On and on the ponies trotted, carrying the Curlytops farther and farther from the Ring Rosy Ranch house. But the children were not afraid. The sun was shining brightly, and they had often before ridden this far alone. They could look back at the ranch buildings when they got on top of the little hills with which the prairie was dotted, and they were not lonesome.

Off on either side they could see groups of horses or cattle that belonged to Uncle Frank, and Ted and Janet thought there must be cowboys with the herds.

"I'm going to get a drink when we get to the rocks," said Janet, as they came within sight of the pile of big stones.

"Yes. And we'll give the ponies some, too," agreed her brother. "I guess they're thirsty."

Indeed the little animals were thirsty, and after they had rested a while -- for Uncle Frank had told the children it was not wise to let a horse or pony drink when it was too warm -- Clipclap and Star Face had some of the cool water that bubbled up among the rocks.

"It tastes awful good!" exclaimed Janet, as she took some from the cup Ted filled for her.

After Clipclap had been found at the spring, the time he was hidden in the cave, one of the cowboys had brought a tin cup to the spring, leaving it there, so if anyone passed the spring it would be easy to get a drink without having to use a hat or kneel down on the ground. For horses and cattle there was a little rocky basin into which the cool water flowed.

"I wish we could take some of the water with us," said Teddy, when, after a rest, they were ready to follow the trail again.

"If we had a bottle, like some of the cowboys carry, we could," remarked Janet. "Maybe we'll get awful thirsty if we ride on a long way, Ted."

"Maybe we will, but maybe we can find another spring. I heard Uncle Frank say there's more than one on the ranch. Come on!"

The children took another drink, and offered some to the ponies, each of which took a little. Then, once more, the Curlytops were on the trail after the Indians, as they believed.

"Which way do we go now?" asked Janet, as she watched Teddy get up in his saddle after he had helped her mount Star Face.

"We've got to follow the trail," Teddy answered.

"How do we do it?" his sister inquired.

"Well. I asked Baldy and he said just look on the ground for tracks in the dirt. You know the kind of marks a horse's foot makes, don't you, Jan?"

"Yes, and I see some down here," and she pointed to the ground.

"That's them!" exclaimed Teddy. "We've got to follow the marks! That's the trail!"

"Is this the Indians' trail?" asked the little girl, and she looked over her shoulder, perhaps to make sure no one was following her and her brother.

"I don't know if it's the Indians' trail, or, maybe, the marks left by Uncle Frank and daddy," said Teddy. "Anyhow we've got to follow the trail. That's what Baldy said."

"He doesn't know we came off alone, does he?" asked Janet

"No. I guess he wouldn't have let us if he did. But we won't have to go very far, and then we'll catch up to the rest. Then they'll have to take us with 'em."

"Yes," said Janet, and she rode along beside her brother.

Neither of the Curlytops stopped to think that their father, Uncle Frank and the cowboys had started off early that morning, and must have ridden on many miles ahead. The cowboys' horses, too, could go faster than the ponies Star Pace and Clipclap, for the larger horses had longer legs.

All Teddy and Janet thought of was hurrying along as fast as they could go, in order to catch up to the Indian hunters. What would happen after that they did not know.

All at once, as the Curlytops were riding along, they heard what they thought was a whistle.

"Some one is calling us," said Janet, turning to look back. "Did you hear that, Ted?"

"Yes, I heard a whistle. Maybe it's Uncle Frank, or some of the cowboys."

The children looked across the prairie but could see no one. They were about to go on again when the whistle sounded once more.

"That is some one calling us," declared Jan. "Let's see if we can't find who it is, Teddy."

So the children looked around again, but no one was in sight, and, what was still stranger, the whistling sound kept up.

"It's some one playing a joke on us, and hiding after they whistle," said Janet. "Maybe one of the cowboys from the ranch."

"Maybe an Indian," said Ted, and then he was sorry he had said that, for his sister looked frightened.

"Oh!" said Janet, "if it's an Indian -- "

"I don't guess it is," Teddy hastened to say. "I guess Indians don't whistle, anyhow."

This made Janet feel better and once more she and her brother looked around to see what made the queer whistling sound, that still kept up. It was just like a boy calling to another, and Teddy was quite puzzled over it until he suddenly saw what was doing it.

Perched on a small mound of earth near a hole in the ground, was a little animal, about as big as a large rat, though, as Janet said, he was "nicer looking." And as Ted and his sister looked, they saw this little animal move, and then they knew he it was that was whistling.

"Oh, what is it?" cried Janet.

"I know," Teddy answered. "That's a prairie dog. Baldy told me about them, and how they whistled when they saw any danger."

"Is there any danger here?" asked Janet, looking around.

"I guess the prairie dog thinks we're the danger," said Teddy. "But we wouldn't hurt him."

"Does he live down in that hole?" asked Janet.

"Yes, just like a gopher," answered her brother, who had listened to the cowboys telling about the little prairie dogs. "And sometimes there are snakes or an owl in the same hole with the prairie dog."

"Then I'm not going any nearer," decided Janet. "I don't mind an owl, but I don't like snakes! Come on, Ted, let's hurry."

As they started off, the prairie dog, which really did make a whistling sound, suddenly darted down inside his burrow or hole. Perhaps he thought Teddy and Janet were coming to carry him off, but they were not. The children saw many more of the little animals as they rode over the prairies.

"But we must look for marks -- tracks, Baldy calls them," said Teddy. "Tracks will tell us which way the Indians went," and so the children kept their eyes turned toward the sod as they rode along.

For a while they could see many marks in the soft ground -- the marks of horses' feet, some shod with iron shoes and others bare, for on the prairie grass there is not the same need of iron shoes on the hoofs of horses as in the city, with its hard, paved streets. Then the marks were not so plain; and pretty soon, about a mile from the spring amid the rocks where the ground was quite hard, Teddy and Janet could see no marks at all.

"Which way do we go?" asked Ted's sister, as he called to his pony to stop. "Do you know the way?"

"No, I don't guess I do," he answered. "But anyhow we can ride along and maybe well see 'em."

"Yes, we can do that," Janet said.

It was still early in the afternoon, and the sun was shining brightly. They knew they were still on Uncle Frank's ranch, and, though they could not see the buildings any more, they could see the place where they had had a drink at the spring.

"All we've got to do, if we want to come back," observed Teddy, "is ride to the rocks and then we know the way home from there."

"Yes, that's easy," Janet said.

So they rode on and on.

Of course the Curlytops ought not to have done what they did, but they did not think, any more than Trouble thought when he opened the corral gate and let out the ponies.

But the sun did not stay high in the sky all the afternoon. Presently the bright ball of fire began to go down in the west, and the shadows of Teddy and Janet grew long on the prairie. They knew what those long shadows meant -- that it was getting late afternoon.

After a while Janet turned in her saddle and looked back.

"Oh, Teddy!" she cried. "I can't see the spring rocks," for that is what the children had called the place where they had found Clipclap.

"They're back there just the same."

"I know. But if we can't see 'em we won't know how to ride back to them," went on Janet. "How are we going to find our way back home, Ted?"

"Oh, I can get to the rocks when I want to," he said. "Come on, we'll ride a little bit farther and then, if we can't find daddy and Uncle Frank, we'll go back."

"Well, don't go much farther," said Janet, and Teddy said he would not.

There were many hills and hollows now, much higher and deeper ones than those near the ranch buildings. Even from the top of one of the high hills up which the ponies slowly climbed, the Curlytops could not see the spring rocks.

"Oh, Ted!" exclaimed Jan, "I'm afraid! I want to go back! It's going to be night pretty soon!"

"It won't be night for a good while," he said, "but I guess maybe we'd better go back. I can't see daddy, Uncle Frank or the cowboys."

He raised himself in the stirrups and looked across the prairies, shading his eyes with his hand the way he had seen some of the cowboys do. Nothing was in sight.

"Come on, Jan, we'll go back," he said.

Clipclap and Star Face were turned around. Once more off trotted the little ponies with the Curlytops on their backs.

The shadows grew longer. It was not so bright and nice on the prairies now. Janet kept close to Teddy. At last she asked:

"Do you see the rocks?"

"Not yet," her brother answered. "But we'll soon be there."

They did not reach them, however. On and on they rode. The sun went down behind a bank of clouds.

"Oh, dear!" sighed Janet, "I don't like this," and her voice sounded as if she were going to cry.

"We'll soon be back at the rocks, and then I know the way home," said Teddy, as bravely as he could.

But they did not reach the rocks. Up the hollows and across the hills they rode, over the broad prairies, but no rocks did they see. At last the ponies began to go more slowly, for they were tired. It grew darker. Ted looked anxiously about. Janet spoke softly to him.

"Teddy," she asked, "are we -- are we -- lost?"

For a moment Teddy did not answer. Then he replied slowly:

"Yes -- I guess we are lost, Janet!"



Chapter XIX

The Hidden Valley


The Curlytops were in trouble. It was not the first time they had been lost, no indeed! But it was the first time they could remember being lost so far away from home, and in such a big place as a Western prairie. They did not know what to do.

"Don't you know the way home?" asked Janet, still keeping close to her brother. It was getting dark, and, somehow, she felt safer near him, even if he was only a year older than she was.

"I'd know the way home back to the ranch house if we could find the rocks with the cave where Clipclap was," Teddy replied.

"Let's look for them some more," suggested Janet. "If we don't get home pretty soon we'll be all in the dark and -- and we'll have to stay out here all alone."

"Are you afraid?" asked Ted, looking at his sister.

"Yes. Won't you be?"

"Pooh! No!" he exclaimed, and he talked loudly, perhaps just so he would not be afraid. You know a boy always whistles very loudly at night when he is walking along a dark place alone. And if there are two boys they both whistle. What girls do when they walk through a dark place alone I do not know. Maybe they sing.

Anyhow Teddy talked very loud, and when Janet heard him say he was not afraid she felt better.

"But will we have to stay out here all night?" she asked.

"I guess so." Teddy answered. "But it'll be just like camping out. Daddy and Uncle Frank and the cowboys are going to stay out."

"Yes, but they've got something to eat," objected Janet, "and we haven't anything. Not even a cookie -- lessen you've got one in your pocket, Teddy."

"No, Jan," answered her brother, after a quick search, "I haven't. I forgot to bring any."

"So did I," went on Janet. "I don't think I like to stay out here alone all night if we haven't anything to eat."

"No, it won't be much fun," agreed Teddy. "I guess maybe I can find those rocks, Janet, and then we'll know how to get home. Come on."

He turned his pony's head and the tired little animal walked slowly on and Janet's Star Face followed. But the truth of the matter was, Ted did not know in which direction to guide his little horse. He could not remember where the rocks lay. But Janet was trusting to him, and he felt he must do his best.

So he kept on until it grew a little darker, and his pony was walking so slowly that Trouble would have found it easy to have walked almost as fast.

"What's the matter?" asked Janet, who was riding behind her brother, looking as hard as she could through the darkness for a sight of the rocks, which, once they were reached, almost meant home. "What's the matter, Ted?"

"Matter with what, Jan?"

"What makes the ponies go so slow?"

"'Cause they're tired, I guess."

"Can't you find the rocks and let them rest and get a drink? I'm awful thirsty, Teddy!"

"So'm I, Jan. We'll go on a little more and maybe we'll find the rocks. Don't cry!"

"Pooh! who's goin' to cry?" demanded Janet quickly.

"I -- I thought maybe you were," Teddy answered.

"I am not!" and Janet was very positive about it. "But I'm tired and hungry, and I want a drink awful bad."

"So do I," added Teddy. "We'll go on a little more."

So, wearily, the ponies walked on carrying the Curlytops. Ted kept looking ahead, and to the left and right, trying to find the rocks. But, had he only known it (which he did later) he was going away from them all the while instead of toward them.

All at once Clipclap stumbled and nearly fell.

"Whoa there! Look out!" cried Teddy, reining up the head of his animal as he had seen Uncle Frank do. "Don't fall, Clipclap!"

"What's the matter?" asked Janet. "Did he step in a hole?"

"I don't know. I guess he's just tired," and Teddy's voice was sad. For he was very weary and much frightened, though he did not tell Janet so.

"Well, let's stop and rest," said his sister. "Do you think you can find those rocks, Ted?"

"No, I don't guess I can. I guess we're lost, Janet."

"Oh, dear!" she answered.

"Now don't cry!" warned Teddy.

"I -- I'm not!" exclaimed his sister. "I -- I was just blowing my nose, so there, The-o-dore Mar-tin!"

Teddy grinned in the darkness, tired as he was. He was glad Janet was a little angry with him. That meant she would not cry, and if his sister started to weep Ted did not know what he would do. He might even cry himself. He was not too big for that.

"Let's stop and give the ponies a rest," suggested Janet.

"All right," agreed Teddy. "And maybe they can hunt around and find water. One of the cowboys told me his pony did that once when he didn't know where to get a drink himself."

"I wish Star Face could find water," went on Janet. "I'd drink some of it, too."

"So would I -- if it was clean," said Teddy.

Wearily the two Curlytops slipped from their saddles. The ponies seemed glad of this, and at once began to eat the grass that grew all about. Teddy and Janet looked at them awhile. It was not so dark but what they could see things close to them, and the stars were twinkling brightly overhead.

"They don't seem very thirsty," said Janet.

"Maybe they'll start to go after water when they've had their supper," suggested her brother, with a sigh, which, however, Janet did not hear. "We've got to wait -- that's all."

The Curlytops sat down on the ground and waited, while the ponies with the reins over their heads -- which was a sign that they must not go far away -- cropped the sweet grass.

"I wish we could eat grass," said Janet, after a bit.

"Why?"

"Then we could eat it like the ponies do and not be hungry."

"It would be a good thing," Teddy agreed. "But we can't. I chewed some sour grass once, but I didn't swallow it."

"I ate some watercress once at home," said Janet. "But I didn't like it. Anyhow I don't guess watercress grows around here."

"No," agreed Teddy.

Then they sat and watched the ponies eating in the darkness. Clipclap was wandering farther off than Teddy liked and he jumped up and hurried after his animal. As he caught him Teddy saw something on the ground a little way off. It was something round and black, and, now that the moon had come up, he could see more plainly.

"What's the matter, Teddy?" Janet called to him, as she saw him standing motionless, after he had taken hold of Clipclap's bridle. "What are you looking at?"

"I don't know what it is," Teddy answered. "Maybe it's a prairie dog, but he's keepin' awful still. Come and look, Janet."

"Oh, I don't want to!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, come on!" urged Teddy. "It isn't moving. Maybe you can tell what it is."

Janet, making sure that Star Face was all right, walked over to her brother. She, too, saw the dark object lying on a bare spot in the prairie. It did not move. The moonlight became stronger and Janet, becoming brave all of a sudden, went closer.

"It's nothing but a bundle, Teddy Martin!" she exclaimed. "Somebody has dropped a bundle."

"They have?" Teddy cried. "Then if somebody's been past here they can find us -- or we can find them -- and we aren't lost anymore!"

"Oh, I hope it comes true!" sighed Janet.

"Here, you hold Clipclap -- he's starting to walk away" -- went on Teddy, "and I'll go see what that is."

Janet took the pony's reins, and her brother walked toward the bundle. He could see now that it was something wrapped in a blanket, and as he came closer he saw that the blanket was one of the kind the cowboys at Uncle Frank's ranch carried when they went out to spend the night on the prairie.

"What is it?" asked Janet, as her brother picked up the bundle and came back toward her.

"I don't know, but it's heavy," he answered. "Well open it."

"Maybe we'd better not," cautioned Janet. "It isn't ours."

"But we're lost," Teddy said, "and we want to be found. Maybe there's something in this bundle to help."

The blanket was fastened with a strap on the outside, and Teddy managed to unbuckle this after two or three trials, Janet helping. Then, as the moon shone down on what was in the blanket, the Curlytops gave a cry of delight, which startled even the ponies.

"It's something to eat!" cried Teddy.

"And to drink!" added Janet, as she picked up the canvas-covered canteen, or water bottle, such as soldiers carry. By shaking it she knew it was full of water.

"Say, this is good luck!" cried Teddy.

Stopping no longer to wonder who had dropped the bundle, the Curlytops took a drink from the canteen. They had not been used to drinking out of a bottle since they were babies, and some of the water ran down their necks.

But they did not mind this. And, even though the water was rather warm, they felt much better after having had a drink.

"I wish we could give the ponies some," said Janet. "But there isn't very much, and they would drink this all up and not know they'd had any."

"Anyhow I guess they're not thirsty, or they'd try to find water just as the cowboys said they would," added Teddy. "They can chew the grass."

He and Janet looked into the bundle again, and found a number of sandwiches, together with some uncooked bacon, a little ground coffee, a small coffee-pot and a tin cup.

"Oh, goody! We can eat the sandwiches," Janet said.

"And in the morning, when we find a spring, we can make coffee," added Teddy. "I know how, 'cause grandpa showed me when we were camping on Star Island. I haven't any matches to make a fire, but maybe I can find some."

"Will we have to stay here all night?" asked Janet anxiously.

"I spect so," her brother answered. "I don't know the way back to the ranch house. We can't even find the rocks. We'll stay here all night. It isn't cold, and now we have a blanket we can wrap up in it like the cowboys do. And we've something to eat and drink."

"But mother and daddy will be awful worried," said Janet.

"Well, they'll maybe come and find us," answered Teddy. "Look out!" he cried. "Clipclap's going off again!"

Indeed the little pony seemed to want to walk away, and so did Star Face.

"Maybe they know where to go to find water," suggested Janet.

"Maybe," agreed Ted. "Let's let 'em go, and we'll go with 'em. That water in the canteen won't be enough till morning."

The children ate nearly all of the sandwiches, and put away the rest of the food in the blanket which Teddy strapped around it. Then they mounted their ponies, Ted taking the bundle with him, and let the animals wander which way they would.

"They'll go to water if they're thirsty enough," Teddy said.

"Who do you s'pose dropped that bundle?" asked Janet.

"A cowboy," her brother answered.

"One from Ring Rosy Ranch?"

"Maybe."

"Oh, I hope he did, and that he's around here somewhere," went on Janet. "I'm tired of being lost!"

"We've only just begun," Teddy said. But, truth to tell, he wished very much that they were both safe back at the ranch house with their mother.

On and on over the moonlit prairies went Star Face and Clipclap. They seemed to know where they were going and did not stop. Ted and Janet were too tired to guide them. They were both getting sleepy.

Pretty soon Janet saw ahead of her something glistening in the stretch of the prairie. The moonlight seemed to sparkle on it.

"Oh, look, Ted!" she cried, pointing.

"It's water -- a little river!" he exclaimed. "The ponies have led us to water!"

And so the animals had. Teddy and Janet slipped from their ponies' backs at the edge of the stream and then Star Face and Clipclap took long drinks. Ted emptied the canteen, filled it with the cooler water, and he and Janet drank again. Then they felt much better.

The ponies again began to crop the grass. The Curlytops, very tired and sleepy, felt that it would be all right to make their bed in the blanket they had found, dropped by some passing cowboy.

But first Ted looked around. Off to one side, and along the stream from which they had drunk, he saw something dark looming up.

"Look, Janet," he said. "Maybe that's a ranch house over there, and we could go in for the night."

"Maybe," she agreed. "Let's go to it."

Once more they mounted their ponies. The animals did not seem so tired now, but trotted on over the prairie. They drew nearer to the dark blotch Teddy had noticed.

Then, as the moon came out from behind some clouds, the Curlytops saw that they were at the entrance to a hidden valley -- a little valley tucked away among the hills, which they would never have seen had they not come to the stream to drink.

The little river ran through the valley, and in the moonlight the children could see that a fence had been made at the end nearest them. It was a wooden fence, and not one of barbed wire, such as there were many of on Ring Rosy Ranch.

"This is a queer valley," said Janet.

"Yes, and look!" exclaimed Ted, pointing. "Don't you see things moving around in it?"

"Yes," agreed Jan, as she looked. "Why, Ted!" she cried. "They're horses -- ponies -- a lot of 'em!"

"So they are!" exclaimed Ted. "Oh, we're near a ranch, Janet! Now we're all right!"

"Yes. But maybe we're a good way from the ranch house," answered Janet. "We maybe can't find it in the dark. Some of Uncle Frank's ponies are five miles away from the stable, you know. Maybe we'd better not go on any more in the dark. I'm tired!"

"Well," agreed Teddy. "I guess we could stay here till it's morning. We could sleep in the blanket. It's plenty big enough for us two."

"And in the morning we can ride on and find the ranch, and the cowboys there will take us to Ring Rosy," added Janet. "Let's do it, Teddy."

They looked again at the strange valley in which the horses were moving about. Clipclap whinnied and one of the other ponies answered. But they could not come out because of the fence, part of which was built in and across the little river.

Then, throwing the reins over the heads f their ponies, and knowing the animals would not stray far, Ted and Janet, taking another drink from the canteen, rolled up in the blanket and went to sleep on the prairie just outside the hidden valley that held a secret of which they did not even dream.



Chapter XX

Back To Ring Rosy


"I hope the Curlytops won't ride too far," said Mrs. Martin, coming out into the kitchen to help with the work.

She had just got Trouble to sleep after Teddy and Janet had brought him in from the haymow before riding off on their ponies.

"Oh, I guess they won't," Aunt Millie answered.

But, could Mrs. Martin and Aunt Millie have seen them, they would have been much surprised to know where the Curlytops then were.

As you know, they were riding along the trail after the Indians.

The hours went on until it was late afternoon. And then, when the children did not come back, Mrs. Martin began to be alarmed. She went to the top of a low hill not far away from the ranch house and looked across the prairie.

"I can't see them," she said, when she came back.

"Oh, don't worry," returned Aunt Millie. "They'll be along pretty soon. And, anyhow, there is no danger."

"But -- the Indians?" questioned Mrs. Martin.

"Oh, they are far enough off by this time," said the ranch owner's wife. "They won't bother the Curly tops."

But Mother Martin did worry, and when supper time came near and Janet and Teddy were not yet back, Aunt Millie, too, began to think it strange.

"What do you suppose could happen?" asked Mrs. Martin. "I wish Dick were here."

"Oh, lots of little things might happen," said Aunt Millie. "The children may have ridden farther than they meant to. It's such a nice day for riding you couldn't blame them for going. Or one of their ponies may have gone lame and have to walk slowly. That would make them get here late."

"Suppose they should be hurt?" asked Mother Martin, anxiously.

"Oh, I don't suppose anything of the sort!" and Aunt Millie laughed. But Mother Martin did not feel like laughing.

At last, however, when it began to get dark and the children had not come, even the cowboys left at the ranch -- those who had not ridden on the trail after the Indians -- said it was time something was done.

"We'll go out and find 'em," said Baldy. "The little tykes have got lost; that's about all. We'll find 'em and bring 'em home!"

"Oh, I hope you can!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin.

"Sure we will!" cried Baldy. "Won't we, boys?"

"That's what we will!" cried the cowboys.

The men started out over the prairie right after supper, carrying lanterns, not so much that they needed the lights as that they might be seen by the lost children.

"Hello, Curlytops! where are you?" called the cowboys.

But no one answered them. Teddy and Janet were far away.

The cowboys rode as far as the pile of rocks where the spring bubbled up. There Baldy, swinging his lantern to and fro, said he thought he could see the marks of the feet of Star Face and Clipclap among those of other ponies, but he was not sure.

"We'll have to come back here and start out early in the morning when we can see better," he said.

"And what are we going to do all night?" asked another cowboy.

"Well, we'll keep on hunting, of course. But I don't believe well find the lost Curlytops."

One of the men rode back to the ranch to tell Mrs. Martin that so far, no trace of the missing children had been found. She could not keep back her tears, but she tried to be brave.

"Oh, where can they be?" she asked.

"They'll be all right," the cowboy said. "It's a nice warm night, and they're brave children. Even if they had to sleep out it would not hurt 'em. They could take the blankets that are under the ponies' saddles and wrap up in them. They'll be all right."

Though they were lost, the Curlytops were, at that moment, much better off than the cowboy thought. For they had found the big blanket and the bundle of food, and they were sleeping soundly on the prairie.

At first they had been a little afraid to lie down all alone out in the night, but their ponies were with them, and Janet said it felt as though Clipclap and Star Face were like good watch dogs.

Then, being very tired and having had something to eat and drink, they fell asleep.

All night long, though, the cowboys rode over the prairie looking for the lost ones. They shouted and called, but the Curlytops were too far away to hear or to answer, even if they had been awake.

"Well, now we can make a better hunt," said Baldy, when he saw the sun beginning to rise. "Well get something to eat and start out from the spring in the rocks. I'm almost sure the Curlytops were there."

Mrs. Martin had not slept all night, and when the cowboys came back to breakfast she said she was going to ride with them to search for her children.

"Yes, I think it would do you good," said Aunt Millie.

Mrs. Martin had learned how to ride when a girl, and she had practised some since coming to Ring Rosy Ranch. So she did not feel strange in the saddle. With Baldy and the other cowboys she set off.

They went to the spring amid the rocks and there began the search. Over the prairie the riders spread out like a big fan, looking everywhere for the lost ones. And when they were not found in about an hour Baldy said:

"Well, there's just a chance that their ponies took them to Silver Creek."

"Where's that?" asked Mrs. Martin.

"It's a stream of water quite a way off," Baldy answered. "It isn't on our ranch, and we don't very often go there. But if the Curlytops' ponies were thirsty in the night they might go to Silver Creek, even if Jan and Ted didn't want them to. I think the ponies went the nearest way to water."

"Then let us go that way!" cried Mrs. Martin.

Meanwhile Teddy and Janet had awakened. They could look right into the strange valley through which flowed Silver Creek, though they did not then know its name.

"And look what a lot of horses!" cried Janet.

"And cows!" added her brother. "I wonder whose they are?"

"Oh, I guess they live on some ranch," Janet said. "Now if we can find the ranch house we'll be all right."

"We'll look for it," suggested Teddy. "But first we've got to have breakfast. If I had a match I could make a fire and boil some coffee."

"Let's not bother with breakfast," suggested Janet. "I'm not very hungry. And if we find the ranch house we can get something to eat there. Come on, Teddy."

They got a drink at the stream, and then, rolling up what food was left in the blanket, they got on their ponies and rode away, going around the valley instead of into it, for Teddy saw that hills closed it at the far end.

"There's no ranch house in that valley," he said.

The Curlytops had not ridden far before Janet, who had gone a little ahead of Teddy, cried:

"Oh, look! Here come some cowboys!"

"I guess they belong to this ranch -- the one where we saw the ponies and cows," replied Teddy, as he saw a number of horsemen riding toward them. The horsemen began to whoop and shout, and their horses ran very fast toward the Curlytops.

"There's a lady with 'em," remarked Janet.

"They seem awful glad to meet us," went on Teddy. "Look, they're wavin' their hats."

And so the cowboys were. When the riders came a little nearer Teddy and Janet rubbed their eyes in surprise.

"Why -- why!" Teddy exclaimed. "There's our own Baldy!"

"And there's mother!" fairly shouted Janet. "Oh, Mother! Mother!" she cried. "Oh, how glad I am!" and she made Star Face run toward the lady on horseback.

"Oh, my dear children! Where have you been?" asked Mrs. Martin, a little later, as she hugged first Janet and then Teddy.

"We -- we got lost," Teddy answered.

"Yes, but you ran away, and that was not right," his mother told him. "Where did you go?"

"We -- we went on the trail after the Indians," Teddy answered.

"Did you find them?" asked Baldy with a smile.

"No, but we found a lot of horses and cows back there in a little valley with a fence," said Janet. "And we were going to ride to the ranch house when we saw you."

"Ranch house!" cried Baldy. "There isn't a ranch house within fifteen miles except the one at Ring Rosy. Did you say you saw some cows and horses!"

"Yes. In a valley," explained Teddy.

"Show us where it was!" eagerly cried the cowboy, and when the Curlytops had ridden to it, with Baldy and the others following, the lame cowboy, whose foot was a little better, exclaimed:

"Well, if the Curlytops haven't gone and done it!"

"Done what?" asked their mother.

"They've found the lost cattle and horses!"

"You mean Uncle Frank's!" asked Teddy.

"That's just what I mean! These are the horses and cattle the Indians drove away. The Redmen put the animals in this valley and made a fence at this end so they couldn't get out. They knew the horses and cattle would have water to drink and grass to eat, and they'd stay here a long while -- until the Indians would have a chance to drive 'em farther away and sell 'em.

"Yes, that's just what they did. I never thought of this valley, though I saw it quite a few years ago. I've never been here since. The Indians knew it would be a good place to hide the horses they stole, and we might never have found 'em if it hadn't been for you Curlytops."

"I'm glad!" said Teddy.

"So'm I," said Janet, "and I'm hungry, too!"

"Well, well soon have you back at Ring Rosy Ranch, where there's a good breakfast!" laughed Baldy. "Well! Well! To think of you Curlytops finding what we cowboys were looking all over for!"

"And are daddy and Uncle Frank looking for these horses and cattle?" asked Teddy.

"Yes. And for the Indians that took 'em. But I guess they won't find either," Baldy answered.

And Baldy was right. Some hours after the Curlytops were back at Ring Rosy Ranch, in rode Uncle Frank and the others. They had not found what they had gone after, and you can imagine how surprised they all were when told that Ted and Janet had, by accident, found the lost cattle and horses in the hidden valley.

"You're regular cowboys!" cried Uncle Frank.

"I knew they'd turn out all right when they learned to ride ponyback!" said Daddy Martin. "Though you mustn't ride on the trail alone after Indians again!" he said.

Teddy and Janet told all that had happened to them, from getting lost, to finding the blanket and going to sleep in it on the open prairie.

One of the cowboys with Uncle Frank had lost the blanket, and he said he was glad he dropped it, since it gave Teddy and Janet something to eat and something to wrap up in.

That afternoon the stolen horses and cattle were driven in from the hidden valley; so the Indians did not get them after all. And a little later some soldiers came to keep guard over the Redmen so they could not again go off their reservation to make trouble. All of Uncle Frank's animals, except a few that the Indians had sold, were found, and the Curlytops were the pride of Ring Rosy Ranch as long as they remained there.

"Well, I wonder if we'll have any more adventures," said Janet to her brother one day, about a week after they were lost and had been found.

"Oh, I guess so," he answered. "Anyhow, we've got two nice ponies, and we can have lots of rides. Come on, I'll race you."

The bright summer days brought more fun to Teddy and Janet at Uncle Frank's ranch. They rode many miles on Star Face and Clipclap, sometimes taking Trouble with them.

"I want to dwive," said the little fellow one day, as he sat on the saddle in front of his brother.

"All right, you may drive a little while," Teddy answered, and he let Baby William hold the reins.

"Now I a cowboy!" exclaimed the little fellow. "Gid-dap, Clipclap! I go lasso a Injun!"

Ted and Janet laughed at this.

And so, leaving the Curlytops to their fun, we will say good-bye.

<eob>

Bunny Brown And His Sister Sue

By

Laura Lee Hope



Chapter I

Aunt Lu Arrives


"Bunny! Bunny! Wake up! It's time!"

"Wha -- what's matter?" sleepily mumbled little Bunny Brown, making his words all run together, like molasses candy that has been out in the hot sun. "What's the matter, Sue?" Bunny asked, now that he had his eyes open. He looked over the side of his small bed to see his sister standing beside it. She had left her own little room and had run into her brother's.

"What's the matter, Sue?" Bunny asked again.

"Why, it's time to get up, Bunny," and Sue opened her brown eyes more widely, as she tried to get the "sleepy feeling" out of them. "It's time to get up!"

"Time to get up -- so early? Oh, Sue! It isn't Christmas morning; is it, Sue?" and with that thought Bunny sat up suddenly in his bed.

"Christmas? No, of course not!" said Sue, who, though only a little over five years of age (a year younger than was Bunny), sometimes acted as though older than the blue-eyed little chap, who was now as widely awake as his sister.

"Well, if it isn't Christmas, and we don't have to go to the kindergarten school, 'cause it's closed, why do I have to get up so early?" Bunny wanted to know.

Bunny Brown was a great one for asking questions. So was his sister Sue; but Sue would often wait a while and find things out for herself, instead of asking strangers what certain things meant. Bunny always seemed in a hurry, and his mother used to say he could ask more questions than several grown folks could answer.

"Why do you want me to get up so early?" Bunny asked again. He was wide awake now.

"Why, Bunny Brown! Have you forgotten?" asked Sue, with a queer look in her brown eyes. "Don't you remember Aunt Lu is coming to visit us to-day, and we're going down to the station to meet her?"

"Oh yes! That's so! I did forget all about it!" Bunny said. "I guess it was because I dreamed so hard in the night, Sue. I dreamed I had a new rocking-horse, and he ran away with me, up-hill -- "

"Rocking-horses can't run away," Sue said, shaking her head, the hair of which needed brushing, as it had become "tousled" in her sleep.

"Well, mine ran away, in my dream, anyhow!" declared Bunny.

"They can't run up hill, even in dreams," insisted Sue. "Horses have to walk up hill. Grandpa's always do."

"Maybe not in dreams," Bunny said. "And I really did dream that, Sue. And I'm glad you woke me up, for I want to meet Aunt Lu."

"Then let's hurry and get dressed," Sue went on. "Maybe we can run down to the station before breakfast. Aunt Lu will be hungry, and we can show her the way to our house."

"That's so," agreed Bunny. "But maybe we'd better take a piece of bread and butter down to the station for her," he added, after thinking about it for a few seconds.

"Or a piece of cake," added his sister.

"We'll take both!" exclaimed the blue-eyed, chubby little chap. Then he began to dress. Sue, who had gone back into her own little room, had almost finished putting on her clothes, but, as her dress buttoned up the back, she had to come in and ask Bunny to fasten it for her. This he was ready to do as soon as he had pulled on his stockings and little knickerbockers.

"Shall I start at the top button, or the bottom one, Sue?" he asked, as he stood behind his sister.

"It doesn't matter," said Sue, "as long as you get it buttoned. But hurry, Bunny. We don't want the train to get in, and Aunt Lu get off, with us not there to meet her. Hurry!"

"All right -- I will," and Bunny began buttoning the dress. But soon a queer look came over his face. "Aren't you done?" asked Sue, as he stopped using his fingers.

"Yes, I'm done, Sue, but I've got two buttons left over, and there's only one buttonhole to put 'em in! What'll I do?" Bunny was quite puzzled.

"Oh, you must have buttoned me wrong, Bunny," Sue said. "But never mind. Nobody will notice so early in the morning. Now come on down stairs, and we'll get the bread and cake."

The children went to the dining room, where the table was set for breakfast, and Sue was cutting off a rather large slice from a cake she had found in the pantry, while Bunny was putting twice as much butter on a slice of bread as was needed, when their mother's voice exclaimed:

"Why, Bunny Brown! Sue! What in the world are you children doing? Up so early, too, and not properly dressed! Why did you get up? The idea!"

"We're going to the station," Sue said. It really was her idea. She had thought of it the night before, when their mother had told them her sister (the children's Aunt Lu) would arrive in the morning. "We're going to the station," said Sue.

"To meet Aunt Lu," added Bunny.

"And we're taking her some cake so she won't be hungry for breakfast," went on Sue.

"And bread," Bunny continued. "Maybe she don't like cake, so I'm taking bread."

"If she doesn't eat the cake, we can," Sue said, as if that was the easiest way out.

"Of course," Bunny echoed.

Mrs. Brown sat down in a chair and began to laugh. She had to sit down, for she laughed very hard indeed, and when she did that she used to shake in such a jolly fashion that, perhaps, she would have fallen if she had not been sitting in a chair.

"Oh, you children!" she said, when she had wiped the tears from her eyes with the corner of her apron. She was not exactly crying, you know. Only she laughed so hard that tears came into her eyes. "You queer, dear little children!" she said. "What are you going to do next?"

"Why, we're going to the station as soon as I get the bread buttered, and Sue puts the cake in a bag," Bunny said. He did not seem to feel that anything was wrong.

"Oh, my dears, Aunt Lu's train won't be in for some time -- two or three hours," said Mrs. Brown. "And you know I've told you never to go down to the station alone."

"Couldn't you come with us?" asked Sue, eating a few of the cake crumbs.

"Or maybe papa," added Bunny. "If he can't Bunker can. Bunker knows the way to the station."

"And Bunker likes cake, too," Sue said. "We might give him a piece, if Aunt Lu doesn't want it."

"No, no! You musn't give away my cake like that," said Mrs. Brown. "Now listen to me. It will be hours before Aunt Lu will get here. Then, perhaps, I may take you to the station to meet her. But now I must dress you right and give you your breakfast. Papa had his some time ago, as he had to go down to the bay to see about some boats. I wondered why you were getting up so early. Now put back the bread and cake and wait until I give you something to eat."

A little later, rather disappointed at not being allowed to go off alone to meet their aunt, Bunny and Sue sat at the breakfast table.

"I wish the time would hurry up and come for Aunt Lu to be here," Bunny said.

"So do I," chimed in Sue. "What fun we'll have when Aunt Lu comes."

"Indeed we will!" Bunny exclaimed.

Bunny Brown and his sister Sue lived with their father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Brown, in the town of Bellemere. That town was on Sandport Bay, which was part of the Atlantic Ocean, and the bay was a good place to catch fish, lobsters, crabs and other things that live in salt water.

Mr. Brown was in the boat business. That is he owned many boats, some that sailed, some that went by steam or gasoline, and some that had to be rowed with oars. These boats he hired out, or rented, to fishermen, and others who had to go on the bay, or even out on the ocean, when it was not too rough.

Mr. Brown had a number of men to help him in his boat business; and one of the men, or, rather, an extra-large size boy, was Bunker Blue, of whom Bunny and Sue were very fond. And Bunker liked the two children' fully as much as they liked him. He often took them out in a boat, or went on little land-trips with them. Mr. and Mrs. Brown did not worry when Bunny and Sue were with Bunker.

The two Brown children were good company for each other. You seldom saw Bunny without seeing Sue not far away. They played together nearly all the while, though often they would bring other children to their yard, or would go to theirs, to play games, and have jolly times. Bunny was a boy full of fun and one who sometimes took chances of getting into mischief, just to have a "good time." And Sue was not far behind him. But they never meant to do wrong, and everyone loved them.

Uncle Tad lived with the Browns. He was an old soldier, rather stiff with the rheumatism at times, but still often able to take walks with the children. He was their father's uncle, but Bunny and Sue thought of Uncle Tad as more their relation than their father's.

In the distant city of New York lived Miss Lulu Baker, who was Mrs. Brown's maiden sister, and the Aunt Lu whom the children were so eagerly expecting this morning. She had written that she was coming to spend a few weeks at the seashore place, and, later on, she intended to have Bunny and Sue and their mother visit her in the big city. Bunny and Sue looked eagerly forward to this. But just now they wanted most to go to the depot, and watch for the train to come in, bringing dear Aunt Lu to them.

"Isn't it most time to go?" asked Sue, as she pushed back her chair from the breakfast table.

"Oh, no, not for a long while," said their mother. "You run out and play, and when it's time, I'll call you."

"And can't we take Aunt Lu anything to eat?" asked Bunny.

"Oh dear me, no!" laughed Mrs. Brown. "She won't want anything until she gets here. Run along now."

Bunny and Sue went out in the yard, where they had a little play-tent, made of some old pieces of sails from one of Mr. Brown's boats. It was a warm spring day, and, as Bunny had said, there was no kindergarten school for them to go to, as it had closed, to allow a new roof to be put on the school building.

"Let's go down and see Wango," suggested Sue, after a bit.

"No, because it's so far away that mother couldn't call to us," objected Bunny. "We'll stay here in the yard until it's time to go to the train."

"All right," agreed Sue.

Wango was a queer little monkey, belonging to Jed Winkler, an old sailor of the town. I'll tell you more about Wango later.

Bunny and Sue played a number of games, and, after a while, a boy named Charlie Star, and a girl, named Sadie West, came over from across the street and joined Bunny and Sue in their fun. Then, a little later, Mrs. Brown came to the door and said:

"Come now, Bunny -- Sue! It's almost train time. I can't go with you, but I'll let Bunker take you. I telephoned down to the dock, and daddy is sending him up with the pony cart. You may drive down to meet Aunt Lu. But come in and wash first!"

"Oh, goodie!" cried Bunny, and he was so pleased at the idea of going to the depot in the pony cart that he did not make a fuss when his mother washed his hands and face.

"Hello, Bunker!" cried Sue, as the big, red-haired lad drove up.

"Hello, Sue! Hello, Bunny!" he greeted them. "Hop in and away we'll go!"

Off they started to the station. It was not far from the Brown home, and soon, with the pony safely tied, so he would not run away, Bunny, Sue and Bunker waited on the platform for the cars to arrive.

With a toot, a whistle and a clanging of the bell, in puffed the train. Several passengers got off.

"Oh, there she is! I see Aunt Lu!" cried Sue, darting off toward a lady in a brown dress.

"Here, come back!" cried Bunker, reaching out a hand to catch Sue. He was afraid she might go too near the train. But he was too late. Sue raced forward, and then, suddenly, she slipped and fell right into a puddle of water, left from a rain-storm the night before. Down into the muddy pool went Sue, all in her clean white dress.

"Oh -- Oh!" gasped Bunny.

"I might a'knowed suthin' like that would happen," complained Bunker. "Now her ma'll blame me!"

Aunt Lu saw what had happened, and, before any one else could reach Sue, she had picked up the little girl, in whose eyes were tears all ready to fall. And with her handkerchief Aunt Lu wiped the tears away. As she did this Bunny saw a ring on his aunt's hand -- a ring with a stone that sparkled like snow in the sun -- red, green, golden and purple colors.

"There, Sue! Don't cry!" murmured Aunt Lu. "You're not hurt, and the mud will wash off."

"Oh, I -- I'm not crying for that," said Sue, bravely keeping back her sobs. "I -- I'm crying just -- just because I'm -- I'm so glad to see you!"



Chapter II

The Lost Ring


Aunt Lu laughed when she heard Sue say that. And it was such a nice, kind, jolly laugh that Sue could not help joining in. So she was really laughing and crying at the same time, which is funny, I suppose you think.

"Well, I'm glad you are so happy to see me, dear," said Aunt Lu. "Oh, don't mind about your dress," she went on, as she saw Sue trying to rub away some of the muddy spots with her tiny handkerchief. "Your mother will know you couldn't help it."

"I'll tell her it wasn't Sue's fault," cried Bunny. "The railroad oughtn't to have puddles where people will fall into 'em!"

"That's right," chimed in Bunker Blue. "It ought to be filled up with dirt, and then it wouldn't hold water. You're to ride back with us in the pony cart, Miss Baker."

"Oh, so you drove over for me; did you? That's very nice," said Aunt Lu with a smile. "My! How large Bunny has grown!" she went on, as she bent over and kissed him, having already done that to Sue, when she wiped away the little girl's tears.

"I'll go and get the cart," Bunker said.

"Yes, and I think I'll take Sue inside the station, and see if I can get a towel to clean off the worst of the mud stains," said Miss Baker.

"She can sit away back in the pony cart, and I'll sit in front of her, so nobody will see the dirt on her dress," offered Bunny.

"That's very kind of you," his aunt remarked. "We'll be all right soon. Bunker, will you see after my trunk, please?" she asked as she gave him the brass check. "It can be sent up later," she went on, "as I guess there is hardly room for it in the pony cart."

"No'm, not scarcely," answered Bunker with a smile that showed his big, white teeth. "I'll have the expressman bring it up, or I can come down for it later," and he went away to the baggage room.

The ticket agent in the station gave Aunt Lu a towel, with which she took some of the dirt from Sue's dress. The little girl was smiling now.

"I like you, Aunt Lu," she said. "We're awful glad you came, and you'll play with us; won't you?"

"Oh, yes, of course, dear. Well, what is it, Bunny?" she went on, as she saw the little boy looking closely at her hands. "Do you see something?" Aunt Lu asked.

"It -- it's that," and Bunny pointed to the shining ring.

Aunt Lu's eyes sparkled, almost as brightly as the glittering stone in the ring, and her cheeks became red.

"I know what it is -- it's a diamond!" exclaimed Sue. "Isn't it, Aunt Lu?"

"Yes, dear."

"Did you find it?" asked Bunny. "Or did you dig it out of a gold mine?"

"Diamonds don't come from gold mines; they make 'em out of glass!" said Sue.

"Yes they do dig 'em; don't they, Aunt Lu?" insisted Bunny.

"Yes, dear, they do dig them."

"Where did you dig it?" Sue wanted to know. Perhaps she hoped she could dig one for herself.

"I did not dig it," their aunt said. "It was given me by a very dear friend. I love it very much," and she held up the diamond ring, so that it sparkled more than ever in the sun.

"Well, Sue," she went on, as she finished scrubbing away at the muddy dress. "I think that is the best I can do. It will need washing to make it clean again. But here comes Bunker with the pony cart, so we will start for your house. Your mother will be wondering what has become of us."

Aunt Lu had been on a visit to the Brown's several times before, and as she sat in the pony cart with the children, with Bunker driving, she bowed to several persons whom she knew and who knew her. There was Mr. Sam Gordon, who kept the grocery, Jacob Reinberg, who sold drygoods and notions, and little Mrs. Redden, who kept a candy and toy store.

"Stop here a minute, Bunker," said Miss Baker, when the pony cart reached the toy store. "I want to get something for Bunny and Sue."

"Candy?" asked Bunny eagerly.

"Yes, just a little," his aunt answered, and soon Bunny and Sue were nibbling the sweets Mrs. Redden brought out to them.

Just as he had said he would do, Bunny sat in front of his sister, so no one would see her soiled dress. But Sue did not much mind about it now. Her mother only said she was sorry, when she heard about the accident, and did not blame her little daughter.

Mrs. Brown and her sister were glad to see one another, and after Aunt Lu had taken off her hat, and was seated In the cool dining room, sipping a cup of tea, Bunny called to her:

"Aunt Lu, won't you come out and play with us?"

"Please do!" begged Sue. "I have a new doll."

"And I have a new top," added Bunny. "It hums and whistles. I'll let you spin it, Aunt Lu."

"Oh, dears, your aunt can't come out now," said Mrs. Brown. "She must rest. Some other time she may. She and I want to sit and talk now. You run off and play by yourselves."

"Don't you want to come down and see the fish boat come in?" went on Bunny, wondering why it was that grown folks would rather sit and talk than play out of doors and have fun.

"Oh, yes, let's take her down to the dock and see the fish boats come in!" exclaimed Sue, for this was one of their delights. Some of the boats were those which the fishermen hired from Mr. Brown, and it was at his dock, where he had an office, that the boats landed, the fish being taken out, put in barrels, with ice, and sent to the city.

"No, Aunt Lu can't go to the dock with you now," Mrs. Brown said. "Some other time, my dears."

"Then may we go?" asked Bunny.

Mrs. Brown hesitated. Then, as she saw Bunker Blue coming in with Aunt Lu's trunk, which he had gone down to get, instead of sending it up by an expressman, the children's mother said:

"Yes, Bunny, you and Sue may go down to the dock with Bunker. But stay with him, and don't fall in; you especially, Sue, as I don't want to put another clean dress on you."

"Oh, I'll be careful, Mother," Sue promised, and away she and her brother hurried, calling to Bunker to wait for them. Bunker was very glad to do this, because he liked to be with Bunny and Sue.

"Have the fish boats come in yet, Bunker?" asked Bunny, as he trudged along, holding one of the red-haired lad's hands, while Sue had the other.

"No, Bunny, they're not in yet, but maybe they will be coming soon after we get to the dock," Bunker answered. And so it happened. Bunny and Sue went into their father's office for a moment, to tell him that Aunt Lu had arrived, and then, with Bunker to look after them, they went out on the end of the dock.

Soon one of the big fish boats came in. It was loaded with several kinds of fish, some big flat ones, white on one side, and black on the other. These were flounders. There were some blue fish, large and small, and some long-legged "fiddler" crabs. But they were not the kind that is good to eat.

"Oh, look at that big lobster!" exclaimed Bunny, pointing to a dark green fellow, with big claws, and a tail curled up underneath.

"Isn't he big!" Sue said. She and her brother often saw many strange fish, but they never failed to be interested in them, and this lobster was a fine one.

"Yes," said a fisherman, "he was in our nets, and we brought him in with us. Your father, the other day, said he'd like to have one, and maybe he will want this."

"I'll go and ask him," said the little chap.

"And maybe Aunt Lu likes lobsters, too," Sue said. Neither she nor Bunny cared for lobster, as they did for other fish. But grown folks are very fond of the big, clawy creatures.

Perhaps some of you children have never seen a lobster. They are a sort of fish, though they have no scales. They live inside a shell that is dark green when the lobster is alive. But when he is cooked it turns a bright red.

Lobsters have two big claws, and a number of little ones, and with these claws they walk around, backward, on the bottom of the ocean or bay, and pick up things to eat. In some inland rivers and streams there are what are called crayfish, or crabs. They are very much like lobsters, only, of course, a lobster is much larger.

Mr. Brown came out of his office when the fish were being unloaded from the boat, into barrels of ice. He saw the big lobster and said he would buy it, to take home to cook for supper.

"We'll have a fine salad from him," said Bunny's father to the fisherman.

The lobster was still alive and the fisherman picked it up just back of the big, pinching claws, so he would not get nipped, and put the lobster in a basket for Mr. Brown to carry. Bunny and Sue leaned over, looking at the green shellfish, when a voice behind them asked:

"What is it?"

The children turned to see George Watson, a boy older than Bunny, who lived near him. George often played little tricks on Bunny and Sue.

"What is it?" he asked again. "A whale?"

"A big lobster," Bunny answered.

"I guess he could almost pinch your nose off in one of his claws," Sue said, not going too close to the basket.

"Pooh! I'm not afraid of him," George declared. "I'll let him pinch this stick," he went on, picking up one, and holding it out toward the lobster, which was slowly waving its "feelers" to and fro, and moving its big eyes, that looked like shoe buttons sticking out from its head.

"Better look out!" was Bunker's warning, seeing what George was doing. "He'll nip you!"

"I'm not afraid!" boasted George. "I can --  -- "

And just then something happened. George got his finger too near the lobster's claw and was at once caught.

"Ouch!" cried George. "Oh dear! He's got me! Make him let go, Bunker! Oh, dear!"

Bunker did not stop to say: "I told you so!" He took out his big knife, and put the blade between the teeth of the lobster's claw, forcing it open so George could pull out his finger. Then, with a howl of pain and fright, the boy ran home. He was not much hurt, as a lobster can not shut his claws very tightly when out of water. Just as does a fish, a lobster soon dies when taken from the ocean.

"What's the matter?" cried Mr. Brown, running up when he heard George's cries. "Are you hurt, Bunny -- Sue?"

"No, it was George," Bunker explained. "He thought he could fool the lobster, but the lobster fooled him."

"I guess I'd better take it home and have mother cook it," said the children's father, and home they started, Mr. Brown carrying the big lobster in the basket.

"Oh, what a fine large one!" Aunt Lu cried, when she saw it. "And what a fine salad it will make."

"May I have one of the claws -- the big one?" begged Bunny.

"What for?" asked his mother.

"I want to put a string in it and tie it on my face, over my own nose," the little boy explained. "Then I'll look just like Mr. Punch, in Punch and Judy. May I have the claw?"

"I guess so," replied Mrs. Brown.

"And when you clean it out, and put it on your nose, I'll be Mrs. Judy," said Sue. "We'll have fun."

A lobster's claw, I might say, is filled with meat that is very good to eat. When the lobster is boiled and the meat picked out with a fork, the claw is hollow. It is shaped just like the nose of Mr. Punch, with a sort of hook on the end of it, where the claw curves downward. Bunny and Sue often played with empty lobster claws.

The children went out in the yard while Mrs. Brown cooked the lobster. Then, when it was cool, Aunt Lu helped pick out the meat which was to be mixed up into a salad.

"Is my big lobster claw ready now?" asked Bunny, coming up just before the supper bell was to ring.

"Yes, here it is," his aunt told him. "I cleaned it out nicely for you."

Bunny held it over his own nose and went toward the mirror to see how he would look.

"Oh, you're just exactly like Mr. Punch!" Sue cried, clapping her hands.

"Isn't he!" agreed Aunt Lu. And then she gave a sudden cry.

"Oh dear!" she gasped. "Oh dear! It's gone! I've lost it!"

"What?" asked Bunny.

"My ring! My beautiful diamond ring is lost!" And Aunt Lu's cheeks turned pale.



Chapter III

Wango, The Monkey


Aunt Lu hurried over to the kitchen table, at which she had been helping Mrs. Brown make the lobster salad. She looked among the dishes, and knives and forks, but shook her head.

"No, it isn't there," she said, quite sadly.

"What isn't? What is the matter?" asked Mrs. Brown, who came in from the dining room just then. "Can't you find the big lobster claw that Bunny wanted? I laid it --  -- "

"Oh, I have it, Mother, thank you," the little boy said. "But Aunt Lu has lost --  -- "

"It's my diamond ring -- Jack's engagement ring," said Mrs. Brown's sister. "It must have slipped off my finger, and --  -- "

"Oh dear! That's too bad!" said Mrs. Brown. "But it must be around here somewhere. We'll find it!"

Bunny and Sue hardly knew what to make of it all. They had never seen their Aunt Lu so worried.

"Mother, what's an engagement ring?" asked Sue, in a whisper, as Aunt Lu kept on looking among the things on the table, hoping her diamond might have dropped off there. Then she looked on the floor.

"An engagement ring, my dear," said Sue's mother, "is a ring that means a promise. A very dear friend of Aunt Lu's has promised to marry her, and he gave her the diamond ring to be a sort of reminder -- a most beautiful present. Now we must help her find it."

"It can't be far away," Mrs. Brown said to her sister. "You were not out of this room, were you?"

"No, I've been here ever since I began to pick the meat out of the lobster, and I had my ring on then."

"Oh, then we'll find it," said Bunny's mother.

But it was not so easy to do that as it was to say it. They looked all over the kitchen -- on the floor, under the table, among the dishes, the pots and pans -- but no diamond ring could be found. Papa Brown came in from the front porch, where he had been reading the evening paper, and he helped search, but it seemed of no use.

"Oh, where can my beautiful ring have dropped?" asked Aunt Lu, and Sue thought she saw signs of tears in her aunt's eyes.

"Perhaps it fell into the lobster salad," suggested Mr. Brown.

"Then you can find it when you eat," called Bunny. "Only don't bite on the diamond. It might break."

"We'll look in the salad now," Mrs. Brown said.

They did so, looking in the dish that held the chopped-up bits of lobster meat, but no diamond ring was to be found. Then the floor was looked over again, most carefully, the empty dishes were turned upside down in the hope that the ring might drop out of one of them. But it did not.

Aunt Lu looked sad and worried, and so did Mr. and Mrs. Brown. The cook, who had been out for the afternoon, came in and she helped search for the diamond ring, but it could not be found.

"I'm sure I had it, when I began making the lobster salad," said Aunt Lu, "but when I handed Bunny the empty claw I looked on my finger, and the ring was gone."

"Perhaps it dropped out of doors," suggested Papa Brown.

They looked near the side porch where Bunny had been standing when his aunt gave him the claw with which he was going to play Punch, but the ring was not found there.

"Oh dear! I feel so sorry!" Aunt Lu said, "If only I could find my lovely ring. Bunny -- Sue, you must help me. To whomever finds it I'll give a nice present -- -anything he wants. That will be a reward, children."

"Yes, you must help Aunt Lu look for her ring," said Mrs. Brown. "Come now, we will have supper, and look afterward. We may find it when we least expect it."

But even after supper, the ring was not found. The whole family searched. Aunt Lu did not eat much supper, much as she liked lobster salad. She was too worried, I guess. Even Bunny did not feel like playing Mr. Punch with the big hollow lobster claw that fitted over his nose in such a funny way. Neither he nor Sue felt like making jokes when their aunt felt so unhappy.

That night, when he and Sue went to bed, Bunny put the lobster claw away.

"We'll play with it some other time," he said to his sister.

"Yes," she agreed. "Some day when Aunt Lu finds her ring, and then she'll play with us, and be the audience. You will be Mr. Punch, and I'll be Mrs. Judy. Only I don't want to wear a lobster claw on my nose."

"No, I'll be the only one to wear a claw," said Bunny in a sleepy voice, and then he dreamed of sailing off to "by-low land."

Aunt Lu was up early the next morning, down in the kitchen, and out in the yard, looking for her lost ring. But it was not found, and Aunt Lu's face seemed to grow more sad. But she smiled at Bunny and Sue, and said:

"Oh, well, perhaps some day I shall find it."

"We'll look all over for it," said Bunny.

"Indeed we will," added Sue. "Let's look out in the yard now, Bunny."

The children looked, but had no luck Then, as it was not time for dinner, they wandered down the street.

"Don't go too far away," their mother called after them. "Don't go down to the fish dock unless some one is with you."

"No, Mother, we won't!" Bunny promised.

They had each a penny that Aunt Lu had given them the day before, and now they wandered toward the little candy store kept by Mrs. Redden. She smiled at Bunny and Sue as they entered. Nearly every one did smile at the two children, who wandered about, hand in hand.

"Well, what is it to-day?" asked the store-lady. "Lollypops or caramels?"

"I want a penny's worth of peanuts," said Bunny.

"And I'll take some little chocolate drops," said Sue.

Soon, with their little treat, the brother and sister walked on toward the corner, the candy store being half way between that and their house.

As they passed a little dark red cottage, in front of which was an old boat, filled with flowers and vines, Bunny and Sue heard some one inside screaming and crying:

"Oh dear! Stop it I tell you! Let go my hair! Oh, if I get hold of you I'll make you stop! Oh dear! Jed! Jed! Where are you?"

Bunny and Sue looked at one another.

"That's Miss Winkler yelling!" said Bunny.

"But what makes her?" asked Sue.

"I don't know. We'll go and see," suggested Bunny.

Into the yard of the little red house ran the two children. Around to the kitchen they went, and, looking in through the open door they saw a strange sight.

Standing in front of a window was an elderly woman, wearing glasses which, just now, hung down over one ear. But, stranger still, there was a monkey, perched up on the pole over the window. One of the monkey's brown, hairy paws was entangled in the lady's hair, and the monkey seemed to be pulling hard, while the lady was screaming and trying to reach the fuzzy creature.

"Oh, it's Wango, the monkey, and he's up to some of his tricks!" cried Bunny.

"He'll pull out all her hair!" Sue exclaimed.

"Oh, Bunny -- Sue -- run for my brother! Go get Jed!" begged Miss Winkler. "Tell him Wango is terrible! He must come at once. Wango is such a bad monkey he won't mind me!"

And Wango kept on pulling her hair!



Chapter IV

The Empty House


Bunny Brown and his sister Sue hardly knew what to do. They just stood there, looking at the monkey pulling and tugging on the rather thin hair of Miss Winkler, and she, poor lady, could not reach up high enough to get hold of Wango, who was perched quite high up, on the window pole.

"Oh, Bunny!" cried Sue. "We must do something -- but what?"

Sue felt that her brother, as he was a whole year older than she, ought to know what to do.

"I -- I'll get him down!" cried Bunny, who, as had Sue, had, some time before, made friends with the old sailor's queer pet.

"How can you get him down?" Sue wanted to know.

"I -- I can stand on a chair and reach up to him," went on the small, blue-eyed boy, looking around for one to step on.

"No, no!" exclaimed Miss Winkler, as she heard what Bunny said. "You musn't go near him, Bunny. He might bite or scratch you. He is very bad and ugly to-day. I don't know what ails him. Stop it, Wango!" she ordered. "Stop it at once! Come down from there, and stop pulling my hair!"

But the monkey did nothing of the sort. He neither came down, nor did he stop pulling the lady's hair, as Sue and Bunny could easily tell. For they could see Wango give it a yank now and then, and, when he did, poor Miss Winkler would cry out in pain.

"Oh, go for my brother! He's down on the fish dock I think," Miss Winkler begged.

"No, we can't go there," replied Bunny slowly. "Our mother told us not to go there unless Bunker Blue or Aunt Lu was with us."

"Then the monkey will never let go of my hair," sighed Miss Winkler.

"Yes, he will," Bunny said. "I'll make him."

"How?" Sue wanted to know.

"This way!" exclaimed her brother, as he held out some of the peanuts he had bought at Miss Redden's store. "Here, Wango!" he called. "Come and get some peanuts!"

"And I'll give him some caramels," cried Sue, as she held out some of her candy.

I do not know whether or not Wango understood what Bunny and Sue said, but I am sure he knew that the candy and peanuts were good to eat. For, with a chatter of delight, he suddenly let go of Miss Winkler's hair and scrambled down to the floor near Bunny.

"Look out that he doesn't bite you," Miss Winkler said. "Be careful, Sue!"

"I'm not afraid," said Bunny Brown.

"Nor I," added Sue.

Wango was very tame, however. The way he acted, after he saw the good things to eat, would have made anyone think he was always kind and gentle. For he carefully took the peanuts from Bunny in one paw, and a caramel from Sue in another, and then, making a bow, as the old sailor had taught him, the mischievous monkey scrambled into his cage in one corner of the room.

The next minute Miss Winkler had shut the cage door and fastened it.

"There!" she exclaimed, "the next time I let you out of your cage you'll know it, Wango!"

"What happened?" asked Bunny.

"I don't know, child," the elderly lady answered, as she began to coil up her hair. "He is usually good, though he minds my brother better than he does me. When Jed was here, a while ago, he was playing with Wango out in the room, and, I suppose, when he put the saucy creature back in the cage, the door did not fasten well.

"Anyhow, when I was making some cookies awhile ago I suddenly felt something behind me, and, as I tumid around, I saw the monkey. He made a grab for a cookie, and I had to slap his paws for I won't have him doing tricks like that.

"Then he got mad, snatched my comb out of my hair, and, when I ran after him, he got up on the window pole, grabbed my hair and stayed up there where I couldn't reach him. Oh, what a time I've had!"

"It's too bad," said Sue kindly.

"I don't know what I would have done if you children hadn't come along," went on Miss Winkler, "for I had called and called, and no one heard me. I'll make Jed put a good lock on the monkey-cage after this. Now come out to the kitchen and I'll give you each a cookie."

Wango seemed to want a cookie also, for he chattered and made queer faces as he shook the door of his cage.

"No, indeed! You sha'n't have a bit!" scolded Miss Winkler. "You were very bad."

Wango chattered louder than ever. Perhaps he was saying he was sorry for what he had done, but he got no cookie.

Bunny and Sue each had a nice brown one, though, with a raisin in the centre, and, after Miss Winkler had thanked them again, they kept on with their walk down the street.

"Wasn't Wango funny?" asked Sue, as she nibbled her cookie.

"That's what he was," Bunny said. "'Member the time when he pulled the cat's tail?"

"Yes," agreed Sue. "And when he sat down in the fly paper! That was funnier than this time."

"I guess Miss Winkler didn't think this was funny," commented Bunny. "I guess the monkey doesn't like her."

"But he minds Mr. Winkler," Sue said. "I've seen him make the monkey stand on his head."

The old sailor, who had brought Wango home, after one of his many ocean voyages, had taught the furry little creature many tricks. But though Wango minded Mr. Winkler very well, he did not always do what Miss Winkler told him to do.

As Sue walked on, still nibbling her cookie, she kept looking down at the ground, until at last Bunny asked her:

"What are you looking at Sue -- trying not to step on ants?" For this was a game the children often played.

"Not this time," Sue answered. "I was looking to see if I could find Aunt Lu's ring."

"Why, she didn't lose it down here!" Bunny said, in surprise.

"Maybe she did," returned Sue. "She thought she lost it around our house, but she looked, and we all looked, and we didn't find it, so maybe it was lost down here. I'm going to look, and if we find it we'll get a present."

"I'll help you look," said Bunny kindly, "but I don't believe it's down here."

The two children walked along a little farther, with their eyes searching the ground, but they saw no golden ring.

"Oh, I tell you what let's do!" suddenly exclaimed Bunny.

"What?" asked Sue, eager to have some fun.

"Let's go back home, and I'll put the lobster claw on my nose, and we'll play Punch and Judy. We haven't done that yet."

"All right, we'll do it!" Sue agreed. "And I'll let you take my sawdust doll. You have to hit her with a stick you know, if you're Mr. Punch, and it won't hurt a sawdust doll."

"All right," Bunny cried. "And when I hit her I'll call out, the way Mr. Punch does: 'That's the way to do it! That's the way I do it!'"

He said this in the funny, squeaky voice which is always heard at Punch and Judy shows, and Sue laughed. She thought her brother was very funny.

Bunny and Sue were about to turn around and go back home, but, as they came to a stop in front of the last house on their block Bunny said:

"Oh, Sue, look! They're painting this house, and maybe we can get some red or blue paint, to put on my face, when I play Mr. Punch."

"Oh, Bunny Brown! You wouldn't put paint on your face; would you?" demanded Sue.

"Just a little," said Bunny. "Why not?"

"S'posin' you couldn't get it off again?" Sue wanted to know.

"Oh, I could wash it off when I got through playing," Bunny replied. "Come on in, and we'll see if the men will give us a little paint; red, or blue or green."

Outside the house, in front of which the children then stood, were a number of pots of differently colored paint, and some ladders. But there was no paint yet on the outside of the house.

"I guess they're painting inside," Bunny said. "I don't see any of the men out here. Come on, we'll go in; the door is open, Sue."

The front door was open a little way, as the two children could see as they went up the walk. Bunny and Sue knew every house in that part of town, and also knew the persons who lived in them. All the neighbors knew the children, making them welcome every time they saw them.

"There's no one in this house, I 'member now," Sue said. "Miss Duncan used to live here, but she moved away."

"Then I guess the men are painting it over all nice inside to get it ready for someone else to live in," remarked Bunny. "There isn't anyone here, Sue," he added, as his voice echoed through the empty house. "Even the painters have gone."

"We'd better go out," said Sue. "Maybe they wouldn't like us to be in here."

"Pooh! Nobody will care!" exclaimed Bunny, who was rather a daring little fellow. "Besides, I want to get some paint. Come on, we'll go upstairs. Maybe they're painting up there, or pasting new paper on the walls."

Bunny started up the front hall stairs, and, as Sue did not want to be left alone on the first floor of the empty house, and as she did not want to go out, and leave Bunny there, she followed him.

Their footsteps sounded loud and queer in the big, vacant rooms. As they reached the top of the stairs they heard behind them a loud banging noise.

"What -- what was that?" asked Sue, looking quickly over her shoulder.

"I -- I guess the front door blew shut," said Bunny. "Never mind, we can open it again. I want to get some red paint for my face, so I can play Mr. Punch."

But if Bunny and Sue knew what had happened when that banging noise sounded, they would not have felt like walking on through the empty rooms, even to get red paint.



Chapter V

Locked In


"On, say, Bunny!" suddenly called Sue, as she followed her brother through the upstairs rooms, "wouldn't it be fun for us to live here?"

"Do you mean just us two?" the little boy asked.

"Yes," answered Sue.

Bunny shook his head.

"I'd like mother, and daddy, and Aunt Lu, too," he said. "It would be nicer, then."

"Oh, but sometimes they don't want us to make a noise," went on Sue. "And if we were here all alone we could yell and holler, and slide down the banister, all we wanted to. Let's slide down now," she said, as she went to the head of the stairs, and looked at the long, smooth hand-rail.

"Say, that will be fun," Bunny cried. "I'll go first, Sue, but don't come after me too close, or you might bump into me and knock me over."

"I won't," promised the little girl.

It did not take much to cause Bunny to change his mind or his plans when there was any fun to be had. For a while he forgot about looking for red paint to put on his face to make him look funny when he played Mr. Punch, with the hollow lobster claw on his nose. Just now the joy of sliding down the banister rail seemed to be the best in the world.

"Here I go!" cried Bunny, and down the rail he went, ending with a little bump on the big, round post at the bottom.

"Now it's my turn," Sue said, and down she came. Though she was a girl Sue could slide down a rail almost as well as could Bunny. In fact, she had played with her brother so much that she could do many of the things that small boys do. And Bunny surely thought that Sue was as good a chum as any of his boy playmates.

"Now it's my turn again!" exclaimed the little blue-eyed chap, as he went up the stairs, his feet making a loud noise in the empty house. For some time Bunny and Sue played at sliding down the banister rail, and then Bunny remembered what they had first come into the house for.

"Let's go to look for that red paint," he said.

"All right," agreed Sue. Her little legs were beginning to get tired from running up the stairs so often.

Back up to the second floor went the children, looking through the vacant rooms. But no paint pots did they see.

"I guess all the paint is outside," said Bunny. "We'll go down and get some."

"Maybe the man wouldn't like us to take it," said Sue.

"We'll pay him for it, if he wants money," Bunny replied, as though he had plenty. "Mother or Aunt Lu will give us pennies soon," he said, "and I can give the man mine. I only want about a penny's worth of red paint Come on, we'll go out, Sue, and get some."

"Yes, and then we'd better go home," Sue went on. "I guess it's going to be dark pretty soon," and she looked out of a window. It was getting on toward evening, but the children had been having so much fun that they had not noticed this.

Bunny and Sue walked through all the upstairs rooms of the empty house. In one Bunny saw something that made him call out:

"Oh, Sue, look! A lot of picture books! Let's sit down and read them!"

Of course Bunny and Sue could not read, though the little boy knew some of his letters. So when he said "read" he meant look at the pictures. The books were some old magazines that the family, in moving away from the house, had left behind. Bunny and Sue made each a little pile of the paper books for seats and then they sat there looking at the pictures in another pile of magazines on the floor beside them.

"Oh, look at this dog, riding on a horse's back!" exclaimed Bunny, showing Sue a picture he had found in his book.

"Yes, it's like in a circus," Sue agreed. "And see, here's a colored picture of a cow. Oh, I wish I had a drink of milk, Bunny. I'm hungry! It must be pretty near supper time."

"I guess it is," the little fellow agreed, as he patted his own stomach. "We'll go home, Sue. I wonder if we couldn't take some of those books with us?"

"I guess so," Sue said. "Nobody wants 'em."

"And, anyhow, we didn't get any red paint, though maybe I can find some outside," Bunny said. "We'll each take a book."

It took a little time for Bunny and Sue each to pick out the book, with the pictures in it, that was most liked. But finally, each with a magazine held tightly, the children started to go down stairs.

"Here I go!" cried Bunny again, as he straddled the banister railing. Down he slid, but this time Sue did not wait until her brother had reached the bottom post.

She put her own fat little legs over the rail, and down she went, bumping right into Bunny and knocking him off the post on to the floor. And, that was not all, for she fell right on top of him.

"Ugh!" grunted Bunny, for Sue was rather heavy and she took his breath away.

"Oh, Bunny, did I hurt you?" asked the little girl, as she got up. "Did I, Bunny?"

"Nope, you didn't hurt me, Sue. Falling down did -- a little, but I fell on something soft, I guess."

Bunny stood up and looked. He had fallen on a pile of cloth bags which the painters had left inside the house. It was lucky for Bunny that the bags were there, or he might have been badly bruised. As it was he and Sue were not hurt, and, having picked themselves up, and brushed off their clothes, they were ready to go back home.

And it was quite time, too, for the shadows were getting longer and longer out in the street, as the sun went down.

"It was the front door that blew shut with such a bang," Bunny said, as he and Sue went down the long, front hall. "It was open when we came in, but it's shut now."

"The wind blew it, I guess," said Sue. "I wonder if you can get it open, Bunny?"

"Sure!" her brother said.

But when Bunny tried to open the front door he could not. Either it was too tightly shut, or else some spring lock had snapped shut. There was no key in the hole, but Bunny turned and twisted the knob, this way and that. But the door would not open.

"Let me try," said Sue, seeing that Bunny was not getting the door to swing open so they could get out. "Let me try."

"Pooh! If I can't do it, you can't," Bunny said. He did not exactly mean to be impolite, but he meant that he was stronger than his little sister and so she could hardly hope to do what he could not.

"Oh, but Bunny, what will we do if we can't get the door open?" Sue asked, and she seemed almost as frightened as the day when she had fallen down in the mud puddle when she and Bunny went to meet Aunt Lu.

"Well, if I can't get the front door open, maybe I can get the back one or the side one open," Bunny said. "Come on, we'll try them."

But the back door was also locked and there was no key in that to turn. Neither was there a side door. Both the front and back doors were locked.

Bunny looked at Sue, and Sue looked at her little brother. Her eyes were bright and shiny, as though she were going to cry. Bunny tried to speak bravely.

"Sue -- we -- we're locked in!" he said.

"Oh, Bunny!" she exclaimed. "What are we going to do? Oh! Oh! Oh dear!"



Chapter VI

Adrift In A Boat


Bunny Brown was a brave little chap, even though he was only a bit over six years old, "going on seven," as he always proudly said. And one of the matters in which he was braver than anything else was about his sister Sue.

His mother had often spoken to him about his sister when he and Sue were allowed to walk up and down in the street, but not to go off the home block.

"Now, Bunny," Mrs. Brown would say, "take good care of little Sue!"

And Bunny would answer:

"I will, Mother!"

Now was a time when he must look after her and take special care of her. The first thing he said to Sue was:

"Don't cry, Sister!" Sometimes he called her that instead of Sue.

"I -- I'm not going to cry," Sue answered, but, even then, there were tears in her eyes. "I'm not going to cry, but oh, Bunny, we're locked in, and there's nobody here --  -- "

"I'm here!" said Bunny quickly.

"Yes, of course," answered Sue. "But you can't get the doors open, Bunny, and we can't get out when the doors are shut."

Bunny thought for a moment. What Sue said was very true. One could not go through a locked door.

"If we were only fairies now," said Bunny slowly, "it would be all right."

"How would it be?" Sue asked, opening her eyes wide.

"Why, if we were fairies," Bunny explained, "all we would have to do would be to change ourselves into smoke and we could float right out through the keyhole."

"Oh, but I wouldn't like to be smoke!" cried Sue. "That wouldn't be any fun. Why we couldn't play tag, or eat ice cream cones or -- or anything. And the wind would blow us all away, if we were smoke."

"Oh, we wouldn't be smoke all the while," Bunny said. "Only just while we were going through the keyhole. Once we were on the other side we could change back into our own selves again."

"Oh, that would be all right," Sue said. She went up close to the keyhole of the front door and peeped through. Maybe she was trying to wish herself small enough to crawl out of the locked, empty house, without changing into smoke.

But of course Bunny and Sue were not fairies, and of course they could not turn into smoke, so there they had to stay, locked in.

"But, Bunny, what are we going to do?" asked Sue, as they went back and forth from the front to the back door.

"Maybe I can open a window," Bunny said. But he was not tall enough to reach more than past the window sill. The middle of the sash was far away, and he could see that the catch was on. If there had been a chair in the house, perhaps Bunny might have stood on it and opened a window, but there was none.

In one of the rooms Bunny did find an empty box. Moving this up to the window to stand on he found he could reach the middle of the sash, and turn the fastener.

"Now if I can only push up the window, Sue!" he cried.

"I'll help you," the little girl said. "Here's a stick, I can push with that."

So with Bunny standing on the box, and Sue, on the floor, pushing with the stick, they tried to put up the window in order to get out of the empty house.

But the window would not go up, and all of a sudden Sue's stick slipped and banged against the glass.

"Oh! Look out!" cried Bunny. "You nearly broke it."

"I didn't mean to."

"No. But I guess we'd better not try to raise the window. We might break the glass."

Bunny knew a boy who, when playing ball, broke a window, and he had to save up all his pennies for a month to pay for the new glass. Bunny did not want to do that.

So the children went away from the window.

"Say, Sue," said Bunny, after a bit, "we can play we are camping out here. That would be fun, and we can make a bed of the pieces of bags that I fell on off the banister, and -- "

"But I'm hungry, and there's nothing to eat!" Sue exclaimed. "When we camp out, or go on a picnic, there are things to eat."

"That's so," agreed Bunny. "This isn't as much fun as I thought it was. I wish I hadn't tried to get any red paint."

"So do I," Sue said, but she was not blaming her brother. She had been just as anxious to go into the vacant house as he had been.

The children did not know what to do. They were both ready to cry, but neither Wanted to. It was getting dark now.

"Let's holler!" exclaimed Sue. "Maybe somebody will hear us and come and let us out."

"All right," said Bunny. They both called together. But the vacant house was not near any other, and none of the neighbors heard the childish voices.

"I -- I guess I'd better get the bags and make a bed, for we'll have to stay here all night," said Bunny, when they were quite tired from calling aloud.

"Then make my bed near yours, Bunny," said Sue. "I -- I don't want to be alone."

"I'll take care of you," promised the little blue-eyed chap, as he remembered what his mother had told him.

Bunny went to the front hall to get the cloth bags. Sue went with him, for she did not want to be left alone in the room that was now getting quite dark.

But Bunny and Sue did not have to stay all night in the empty house. Just as they were picking up the bags, they heard a noise at the front door and a voice called:

"Bunny! Sue! Are you in there?"

For a moment they did not answer, they were so surprised with joy. Then Bunny cried:

"Oh, it's Uncle Tad! It's Uncle Tad!"

While Sue exclaimed:

"We're here! Yes, we're here, Uncle Tad! Oh, please let us out!"

There was a squeaking noise and the front door was pushed open. In came the old soldier, and Bunny and Sue made a jump for his arms. He caught them up and kissed them.

"Well, little ones, I've found you!" he cried. "I thought maybe you were in here. My, but what a fright you've given your mother and all of us!"

"We came in for some red paint," explained Bunny, "and we got locked in."

"No, the door wasn't locked," Uncle Tad explained. "It was just stuck real hard. You weren't strong enough to pull it open, I suppose. But don't ever do anything like this again."

"We won't," promised Bunny. He was always pretty good at making promises, was Bunny Brown. "We just wanted to get some red paint so I could play Mr. Punch with the lobster claw," he went on.

"And we slid down the banister," added Sue, "and I bumped Bunny off the post."

"But she didn't hurt me," Bunny said.

"How did you find us, Uncle Tad?" asked Sue, as their uncle led them along the now almost dark street toward their home.

"Why, when you didn't come back your mother was worried," the old soldier said. "So your Aunt Lu started out one way after you, and I went the other. As I passed this old house I saw a blue ribbon down by the gate and I thought it looked like yours, Sue. So I thought you might have come in here."

"Oh, did I lose my hair ribbon?" Sue asked, putting her hand to her head. The big, pretty bow was gone, but Uncle Tad had found it.

"It's a good thing you lost it," said Bunny. "If you hadn't, Uncle Tad wouldn't have known where to look for us."

"Oh, I guess I should have found you after a bit," Uncle Tad said, with a smile. "But now we must hurry home, so the folks will know you are all right."

And my, how Bunny and Sue were kissed and cuddled by their mother and Aunt Lu when Uncle Tad brought them back! "I was beginning to be afraid," said Mrs. Brown, "that you had gone down to the boat-dock, after I told you not to, and I was going to have your father and Bunker Blue look for you."

"We didn't mean to get locked in. Mother," explained Bunny. "It was the wind."

"Well, don't go in empty houses again," Aunt Lu said.

"Nope -- never!" promised Sue, "But we were looking for your ring, Aunt Lu, though we didn't find it."

"No, I'm afraid it's gone forever," said Miss Baker with a sigh, and a sad look. "But it was very good of you to try to find it for me."

The children sat down to supper, telling the big folks all about the adventure, and how they had become fastened in, and were afraid they would have to make a bed on the bags and stay all night.

"And if we had I'd have taken good care of Sue," Bunny remarked.

"I know you would, my dear," his mother answered, as she kissed him and his sister, before putting them to bed.

For a few days after this Bunny and Sue did nothing to make any trouble. They went on little trips with Aunt Lu, showing her the many wonderful sights at the seaside. With her they watched the fish boats come in, and once they went sailing with her and their mother, Bunker Blue taking charge of the boat. They gathered pretty shells and pebbles on the beach and had many good times.

One day Bunny and Sue played Punch and Judy, Bunny wearing the big red lobster claw on his nose. Aunt Lu laughed at the funny tricks of the children.

"Some day we'll get up a real show, and charge money," said Bunny, as he put away the lobster claw to use another time.

Not far from the Brown's house was a small river that flowed into the bay. Part of the Brown land was right on the edge of this river and at a small dock Mr. Brown kept, tied up, a rowboat which he sometimes used to go fishing in, or to go after crabs, which are something like lobsters, only smaller. They are just as good to eat when they are cooked, and they turn red when you boil them.

One day Bunny and Sue went down to the edge of the river. They asked Aunt Lu to go with them, but she said she had a headache, and wanted to lie down.

"Don't go far away, children," called Mrs. Brown after the two tots, as they wandered down near the little stream.

"We won't," promised Bunny, and he really meant it. But neither he nor Sue knew what was going to happen.

It was quite warm that day, and, as Bunny and Sue sat in the shade of a tree on the bank of the river, the little boy said:

"Oh, Sue, wouldn't it be nice if we could go on the river in the boat?"

"Yes," said his sister, "but mother said we weren't to."

"I guess she meant we weren't to go ROWING in a boat -- I mean a loose boat -- one that isn't tied fast," said Bunny. "I guess it would be all right if we sat in the boat while it was tied fast to shore."

"Maybe," said Sue. She wanted, as much as did Bunny, to sit in the boat, for it was cooler down there.

"Let's do it!" proposed Bunny. "The boat is tied fast, but we can make believe we are rowing. We'll pretend we are taking a long trip."

Neither of the children meant to do wrong, for they thought it would be all right to sit in the boat as long as it was tied fast. So into it they climbed. Then such fun as they had! They took sticks and made believe to row. They tied their handkerchiefs on other sticks and pretended to be sailing. They rocked the boat gently to and fro, and Bunny called this "being out in a storm."

Then they lay down on the broad seats and made believe it was night and that, when they awakened, they would be in a far-off land where coconuts grew on trees and where there were monkeys to toss them down.

And, before they knew it, both children were fast asleep, for the sun was shining warmly down on them. Bunny awoke first. He felt the boat tossing to and fro:

"Don't do that, Sue!" he called. "You'll tip us over."

"Don't do what?" asked Sue, sleepily.

"Don't jiggle the boat," said Bunny. Then he opened his eyes wider and looked all about. The boat was far from shore and was drifting down the river. It had become untied while the children slept.



Chapter VII

Bunny Goes Fishing


"On, Bunny! Bunny!" cried Sue, clapping her hands. "We're having a sail! We're sailing!"

"Yes," answered her brother, "that's what we are, but -- "

He looked toward the shore and wondered if it were too far away for him to wade to it. The river looked quite deep, though, and Bunny decided he had better not try it.

"Don't you like sailing," asked his sister Sue.

"Oh, yes, I like it all right," was the reply, "but mother told us not to go out in the boat and we've done it."

"But we didn't mean to," came from the little girl. "The boat did it all by itself, and it isn't our fault at all."

"That's so," and Bunny smiled now and seemed happier.

"I wonder how it happened?" asked Sue.

"I guess we jiggled it so much, making believe we were sailing, that the rope got loose," Bunny explained. "And now we're sailing!"

Bunny Brown and his sister Sue really were sailing down the river and the boat was bobbing up and down and swinging from side to side, for it was not steered. And it was not exactly "sailing" either, for it was only a row-boat and there was no sail to hoist.

But the river was flowing down hill to the sea and it was the river that was carrying the boat along.

"I like it; don't you?" asked Sue, after a bit.

"Yes," answered Bunny. "Only we musn't go too far away. Mother wouldn't like that even if it wasn't our fault that the boat got loose. I wonder if there's anything to eat here."

"Let's look," proposed Sue, so the two children looked under the boat seats and lifted the oars over to one side. Sometimes they were allowed to go with their father or mother for a row or sail, and, once in a while, Mrs. Brown would take with her some sandwiches or cake for a little lunch. Bunny and Sue thought something to eat might have been left over since the last time, but there was nothing.

"Oh dear!" sighed Sue. "I'm terrible hungry, Bunny!"

"So am I!"

"Don't you s'pose you could catch a fish, so we could eat that?"

"I might," Bunny answered, "if I had a fish line."

"I have a piece of string," and Sue put her chubby hand in her pocket. She had had her mother sew two pockets in her dress, almost like the ones Bunny had in his little trousers. For Sue said she wanted to carry things in her pockets, just as her brother and the other boys did.

She now pulled out a tangled bit of string, white cord that had come off some bundles from the grocery.

"There's a fish line, Bunny," said Sue.

"Yes, if I only had a hook," and the little fellow pulled the tangles out of the cord, "You can't catch fish without a hook, Sue."

"I know that. And here's a pin. You can bend that into a hook. Sadie West and I did that one day up at the frog pond."

"Did you get any fish?" Bunny asked.

"No," answered Sue slowly. "But there wasn't any fish in the pond. Mr. Winkler came along and told us so, and we didn't fish any more. We caught frogs."

"How?"

"In a tin can."

"We haven't any tin can now," went on Bunny, looking about the boat, as if he would, perhaps, rather catch frogs than fishes.

"Don't try to get any frogs," Sue begged him. "They aren't any good to eat."

"Their legs are!"

"Oh, they are not! I wouldn't eat frogs' legs. I'd eat chickens' legs though, if they were cooked."

"So would I. But some folks do eat frogs legs. I heard Aunt Lu telling mother so the other day."

"They must be funny people to eat frogs' legs," Sue exclaimed.

"But I won't catch any now," Bunny promised. "Where's the pin, Sue? So I can make a hook."

"I'll take one out of my dress where a button's off," offered the little girl. "Only you'll have to give the pin back to me after you stop fishing, 'cause I'll have to pin my dress up again."

"S'posin' a fish swallers it?" Bunny asked.

"Swallers what?"

"Swallers the hook!" Bunny explained. "If a fish eats the bent pin hook I can't give it back to you; can I?"

"No," said Sue slowly. "But we could get it out when we cook the fish," she said, after thinking about it a little while.

"Yes," agreed Bunny. "But I guess they don't cook pins in fish. Anyhow we haven't got a fire to cook with."

"Oh, well, then we'll pretend. Here's the pin, Bunny," and Sue took it from a place on her dress where, as she had said, a button was off. "Try and catch a big fish with it."

Bunny had the piece of string untangled now and he bent the pin into a sort of hook. All this while the boat was slowly drifting down the river, but Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had talked so much about fishing that they had not noticed where they were going. They were not so frightened as they had been at first.

Bunny tied the bent pin on the end of his piece of string and was about to toss it over the side of the boat into the water when he happened to think.

"I'll have to have a sinker," he said to Sue. "You can't catch fish if you don't have a sinker to take the hook down to the bottom of the water. Fish only bite near the bottom. I must have a sinker."

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Sue. "Fishing is a lot of work; isn't it, Bunny?"

"It's fun," said the little boy. "I like it, but I have to have a sinker."

"I could give you a button from my dress," Sue said. "One's almost off, and I could pull it the rest of the way. Only I haven't another pin to fasten me up with. This is an old dress, anyhow. That's what makes it have one button gone and another almost off," she explained.

"Never mind. Don't pull off the button, Sue," Bunny said. "I guess it wouldn't be heavy enough to sink. Maybe I can find a regular sinker. Oh, yes, here's one!" he cried, as he picked up from the bottom of the boat a piece of lead. It had been dropped there when Mr. Brown, or perhaps Bunker Blue, had used the boat for fishing a few days before.

"This will be just the thing!" cried Bunny, as he fastened it to his line. "Now I can fish real," and he tossed the bent pin over the side of the drifting boat into the water. The bent pin sank out of sight, and both children watched eagerly, wondering how long it would be before they would catch a fish.

But suddenly their boat bumped against something, and stopped moving. The bump was so hard that Bunny was knocked over against Sue.

"Oh, Bunny, don't!" she exclaimed. "You hurt my arm!"

"I -- I couldn't help it," Bunny said.

"Was it a fish?" asked Sue, hopefully, "Did he pull you over?"

Bunny shook his head. Nothing had taken hold of the pin-hook. Then he turned his head and looked around.

"Oh, Sue!" he cried. "We've run ashore on an island. Now we can get out and have some fun! This is great!"



Chapter VIII

Sue Falls In


The boat, in which Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had gone adrift, had really "bunked into an island," as Bunny told about it afterward. He said "bunked," and he meant bumped, for that is what the boat had done.

There were a number of islands in the river, some small and some larger, and it was at one of the larger ones that Bunny and Sue now found themselves. Their boat swung around in the shallow water, and did not move any more. It was fast aground on the edge of the island.

"Let's get out," suggested Bunny, and he did so, followed by Sue. As Bunny pulled his fish line from the water, his sister saw the dangling bent-pin hook, and cried out:

"Oh, Bunny, you didn't get a fish after all!"

"No," the little fellow answered. "I guess I can fish better from the island, anyhow. We'll fish here now, and if we catch anything we can build a fire and cook it. That is, we could if we had any matches."

"Mother told us we musn't play with fire," remarked Sue.

"That's so," her brother agreed. "Well, we can wait till we get home to cook the fish. But we've got to fasten the boat, or it may go away and leave us."

Bunny's father was in the boat business and the little fellow had often heard how needful it was to tie boats fast so they would not drift away or be taken out by the tide. So it was one of the first things he thought of when he and Sue landed on the island.

There was a rope in the front part, or bow of the rowboat, and Bunny tied one end of this rope to a tree that grew near the edge of the island.

"Now I can fish," he said.

"What can I do?" asked Sue. "I wish I had one of my dolls with me -- even the old sawdust one, with the sawdust coming out. I could play house with her. What can I do, Bunny?"

"Well, you can watch me fish, and then I'll let you have a turn. If you had another pin I could make you a hook."

"Nope, I haven't anymore," and Sue looked carefully over her dress, thinking she might find another pin. But there was none.

Bunny was about to cast in the line from the shore of the island, near the boat, where he and Sue were standing, when he suddenly thought of something.

"Oh, I forgot! I haven't any bait on my hook!" he said. "No wonder I didn't get a bite. I'll have to get a worm, or something the fish like to eat. Come on, Sue, you can help at that -- hunting for worms."

"I -- I don't want to," and Sue gave a little shiver.

"You don't like to hunt worms?" asked Bunny, as if very much surprised. "I like it -- it's fun!"

"Oh, but worms -- worms are so -- so squiggily!" stammered Sue. "They make me feel so ticklish in my toes."

"You don't pick up worms in your toes!" cried Bunny. "You pick 'em up in your hands!"

"I know," and Sue smiled at her brother, "but they are so squiggily that they make me feel ticklish away down to my toes, anyhow."

"All right," Bunny agreed. "I'll pick up the worms, but you can have a turn fishing just the same."

"Thank you," answered Sue.

Mrs. Brown had taught the children to be kind and polite to each other, just as well as to strangers and to "company." Though of course Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had little troubles and "spats" and differences, now and then, just like other children.

Bunny began looking for worms, and he dug in the soft dirt of the island, near the edge of the water, with a stick. But either there were no worms there, or Bunny did not dig deep enough for them, for he found none.

"Guess I'll have to fish without any bait," he said, after a while. But, as I suppose you all know, fish hardly ever bite on an empty hook, especially when it is made from a bent pin; so, after he had dangled the line in the water for quite a while, Bunny said:

"Here, Sue. It's your turn now. Maybe you'll have better luck than I had."

"Maybe there aren't any fish in this river."

"Oh, yes there are. Bunker Blue caught a lot one day. But he had worms for bait."

However Sue did not mind fishing without any worms on the pin-hook, and she sat down on a log, near the water and let the line dangle in it, while Bunny walked about the island. He had never been on this one before, though there was a larger one, farther down the river, where he and his sister Sue had often gone on little picnics with their mother and father.

Walking back a little way from the edge of the water, Bunny saw a place where a tangle of vines, growing over an old stump, had made a place like a little tent, or bower. All at once Bunny remembered a story his mother had read to him. Back he ran to where Sue was fishing.

"Oh, Sue! Sue!" he exclaimed. "I know what we can do!"

"What?"

"We can play Robinson Crusoe!" cried Bunny.

"Is that like tag, or hide-and-go-to-seek?" the little girl wanted to know.

"Neither one," answered her brother. "Robinson Crusoe was a man who was shipwrecked on an island, and he lived there a long time with his man Friday. We can play that."

"But we aren't shipwrecked," Sue said. Living near the sea the children had often heard of shipwrecks, and had once seen one, when a big sail boat had beep blown up on the beach and broken to pieces by the heavy waves. The sailors were taken off by the life-savers. "We're not shipwrecked," said Sue. "There's our boat all right," and she pointed to the one in which they had gone adrift.

"Oh, well, we can pretend we've been shipwrecked," Bunny said.

"Oh, yes!" and Sue understood now. "What is the rest of the game?" she asked.

"Well, mother read the story to me out of a book," explained Bunny. "Robinson Crusoe was wrecked, and he had to live on this island, and he had a man named Friday."

"What a funny name! Who named him that?" asked Sue.

"Robinson Crusoe did. You see, Friday was a colored man, very nice, too, and he helped Robinson a lot. Robinson called him that name because he found him on Friday."

"But this isn't Friday," objected Sue. "It's Thursday."

"Well, it's only pretend," went on Bunny.

"Oh, yes. I forgot. So Robinson had a colored man named Friday to help him."

"Yes," Bunny said, "and we'll play that game. I'll be Robinson."

"But who is going to be Friday?" Sue wanted to know.

"You can be."

"But I'm not a man, and I'm not colored, Bunny."

"We'll have to pretend that, too. You'll be my man Friday, and we'll go to live in the little tent over there," and Bunny pointed toward the leafy bower he had found. "And you can be colored, too, if you want, Sue," he said. "You could rub some mud on your face and hands."

"Oh, let's! That's what I'll do!" and Sue laid aside the stick to which Bunny had tied the fishline and the bent pin. "That will be fun!" Sue said. "It will be better than the Punch and Judy show with the lobster claw on your nose."

"But you mustn't get your dress muddy," Bunny cautioned his sister. "Mother wouldn't like that."

"I won't," promised Sue. "And when we get through playing I can wash the mud off my face and hands."

"Yes," said Bunny. "Now I'll go over to my cave -- we'll call the place where the vines grow over the stump a cave," he went on, "and I'll be there just like Robinson Crusoe Was in the cave on his island. Then I'll come out and find you, all blacked up with mud, and I'll call you Friday."

Sue clapped her hands in delight, and, when Bunny went off to the cave, which, he remembered, was the sort of place where the real Robinson Crusoe lived, in the story book, Sue found a place where there was some soft, black mud.

Very carefully, so as not to soil her dress, the little girl blackened her hands and face, rubbing on the dirt as well as she could.

"Bunny! Bunny!" she called after a bit.

"Well, what is it?" asked her brother, as he was sitting in his make-believe cave.

"Come and look at me," said Sue, "and see if I'm black enough to be Friday."

Bunny came and looked.

"You need a little more mud around behind your ears," he said. "I'll put it on for you," and he did so.

Then the two children played the Robinson Crusoe game; that is, as much of it as Bunny could remember, which was not a great deal. But they had good fun, walking about the island, and going into the green vine-bower now and then to get out of the sun, which was very hot.

But even as much fun as it was playing at being shipwrecked on an island, like Robinson, in the story book, the children soon tired of it.

"I guess we'd better go home," said Sue after awhile. "I'm terribly hungry, Bunny."

"So'm I."

"And if we can't catch any fish, and can't find any place to get things to eat from, we'd better go home."

"Yes, I guess we had. I wonder if I can row the boat?"

Bunny had often seen his father, or Bunker Blue, or sometimes his mother, row a boat, so he knew how it was done. But he knew the oars in the boat in which he and Sue had gone adrift were heavy, and he was not very strong, though a sturdy little chap for his years.

"I'll help you," Sue said. "But first I'll have to un-Friday myself. I must wash off this mud."

"I'll help you -- around behind your ears where you can't see," offered Bunny.

Sue went to a place near the water, where there was a flat rock, and leaned over to dip her handkerchief in. She was going to use it as a washcloth.

But, whether she slipped, or leaned over too far, Sue never knew. At any rate, soon after she had washed off the first bit of mud from her hands and wrists, she suddenly toppled, head first, right into the river!

"Oh! Oh! Bunny!" Sue cried, as she found herself in the water.



Chapter IX

The Rescue Dog


Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had often been in the water bathing. They had even been allowed to go in the ocean, a little way, when their father or mother was with them, and they were just beginning to learn to swim.

But to fall suddenly into the water, with all one's clothes on, is enough to frighten anybody, even someone older than Sue; so it is no wonder she began splashing about, instead of trying to swim, as her father had told her to do.

Bunny, for a moment, did not know what to do, but he had one great thought, and that was that he must help his sister. He was a little distance away from her, and he called out:

"I'm coming, Sue! I'll get you out! Don't be afraid!"

But Sue was afraid. Her head went under water, and she had swallowed some, for she had forgotten another thing her father had told her, and this was:

"When your head goes under water, hold your breath -- don't breathe -- and then the water won't get in your mouth and nose."

But Sue forgot this, and she was choking and gasping in the river. Luckily it was not deep, and he might easily have stood up at the place where she had fallen in. The water would not have been quite up to her waist.

"I'll get you out, Sue! I'll get you!" cried Bunny.

He ran toward Sue, but before he reached her there was heard a loud barking, and a big, shaggy dog rushed down to the edge of the island. Right into the water the dog jumped, and, getting hold of Sue's dress, he pulled her up on the shore.

For a moment Sue lay there, still choking and gasping, while the dog stood over her, wagging his tail, and barking as hard as he could bark. He seemed to know that everything was all right now.

"Oh, Sue! Sue!" cried Bunny, rushing up to his sister, and putting his arms around her. "You aren't drowned now; are you, Sue?"

"I -- I don't -- don't know -- Bun-Bunny!" she stammered. "I -- I guess I'm 'most drowned, anyhow. Oh, take me home! I want my mamma!"

"I'll take you home right away!" Bunny promised. "But wasn't the dog good to pull you out?"

The dog shook the water from himself, and wagged his tail harder than ever. He jumped about, barking, and then, with his big red tongue, he licked first Sue's face, and then Bunny's.

Sue was much better now. She could sit up, and, as the river water was not salty, as is the water of the ocean, what she had swallowed of it did not hurt her.

"I guess the dog will lick all the Friday-mud off my face," she said, smiling at Bunny through her tears.

"The mud's all off anyhow," said her brother. "Falling in the river washed you clean."

"But it got my dress all wet. I don't care, it's an old one."

"That's good," said her brother. "Now we'll go home. Maybe you will be all dry when we get there," he added hopefully, "and your dress won't show any wet at all."

"But I'll have to tell mother I fell in."

"Oh, of course!"

"But it was a -- a accident," Sue said, speaking the big word slowly. "Now take me home, Bunny. I don't want to play Friday any more, and I'm hungry."

The dog jumped about the children, but he kept nearer to Sue. Maybe he thought she belonged to him, now that he had pulled her from the water. Perhaps he had saved Sue's life, though the little girl might have gotten out herself, or Bunny might have pulled her from the water.

"He's a nice dog," said Sue. "I wish we could keep him."

"Maybe we can. He doesn't seem to belong to anybody, and nobody lives on this island."

"He was shipwrecked too," said Sue. "Or maybe he wanted to play Robinson Crusoe with us."

"Robinson didn't have a dog -- anyhow, mother didn't read about any in the story," replied Bunny. "But he had a goat."

"We can pretend this dog is a goat," remarked Sue, as she patted the big shaggy fellow, who barked in delight, and wagged his tail.

"We'll take him home in the boat with us," decided Bunny. "I hope mother lets us keep him."

Getting into the boat was easy enough for Bunny and Sue, for they only had to step over the side, the boat being partly on shore. And the dog jumped in after them. He seemed very glad Indeed that he had found two such nice children to love, and who would love him.

But when Bunny tried to push the boat away from the island, as he had seen his father and Bunker Blue often do, he found it was not easy. The boat was stuck fast in the soft mud of the edge of the island.

"I -- I can't do it," Bunny said, puffing, as he pushed on the oar, with which he was trying to shove off the boat. "I can't do it, Sue."

"Will we have to stay here forever?"

"No, not forever. Maybe papa, or somebody will come for us. But I can't push off the boat."

"I'll help you," offered Sue. The oar was too heavy for her, however, so Bunny got her a long stick. But, even with what little help Sue could give, the boat would not move.

"Oh, dear!" sighed Bunny, sitting down on a seat. He looked worried, and so did Sue.

"If we had a harness for our new dog we could hitch him to the boat, and maybe he could pull it into the water," remarked Bunny, after a bit.

"Oh, that would be fine!" cried the little girl. "And maybe he could swim, and pull us all the way home."

"But we haven't any harness," said Bunny with another sigh.

"Couldn't we use the fish line? I've got another piece of string."

"We can try."

With the string, which he knotted together, Bunny made a sort of "harness," putting one end around the dog's neck, and tying the other end to the bow, or front of the boat.

"Now pull us, Towser!" Bunny cried.

"Is his name Towser?" Sue wanted to know.

"Well, we'll call him that until we can think of a better name. Go on, pull!" ordered Bunny.

But the dog only barked and stood still. He did not seem to mind being "hitched up." It seemed as though he had often had children play with him.

"Oh, I know how to make him pull us!" Sue exclaimed.

"How?"

"Throw a stick in the water, and he'll chase after it."

"Fine!" cried Bunny, and he tossed a chip out into the river. With a bark the dog rushed after it. But I think you can guess what happened. Instead of the dog's pulling the boat, the string broke, and, of course, that was the end of the harness.

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Sue. "We'll never get home, Bunny!"

The little boy did not know what to do next. But, all at once, as he and his sister looked at each other, quite worried and anxious, they heard a voice shouting:

"Bunny! Sue! Are you there? Where are you? Bunny! Sue!"



Chapter X

A Trolley Ride


"Who -- who is that?" asked Sue of her brother in a whisper. "Oh, it's papa come for us!"

"That isn't papa," Bunny answered, for well he knew his father's voice.

"Well, it's SOMEBODY, anyhow," and Sue smiled now, through her tears. "It's somebody, and I'm so glad!"

"Bunny! Sue!" called the voice again, and the big dog barked. Perhaps he was also glad that "somebody" had come for him, as glad as were the children. But, though Bunny Brown and his sister Sue looked all about, they could see no one. Then, all of a sudden, Sue thought of something.

"Oh, Bunny!" she cried. "Do you s'pose it could be him?"

"Be who?"

"Robinson Crusoe's man Friday. Here on the island, you know. Maybe he heard we were here, and came to help us catch fish, or make a fire. Oh, Bunny, if it should be Mr. Friday!"

"Pooh! It couldn't be," said Bunny. "Mr. Friday was only make-believe, and we were only pretending, anyhow. It couldn't be!"

"No, I 'spose not," and Sue sighed. "Anyhow, it's somebody, and they know us, and I'm glad!"

Bunny was also glad, and a few seconds later, while the dog kept on barking, and running here and there, Bunny and Sue raw, coming around the end of the island, a boat, and in it was Jed Winkler, the old sailor who owned Wango, the monkey. Only, of course, the old sailor did not have the monkey with him this time.

"Bunny! Sue! Oh, there you are!" called Mr. Winkler as he saw the two children.

"Oh, Mr. Winkler!" cried Bunny. "We're so glad to see you!"

"Yes, and I guess your folks will be glad to see YOU!" answered the old sailor. "They've been looking all over for you, and only a little while ago I noticed that your boat was gone. I thought maybe you had gone on a voyage down the river, so I said I'd come down and look, as far as the island, anyhow. And here you are!

"I wonder what you'll do next? But there's no telling, I reckon. What have you been doing, anyhow, and whose dog is that?"

"He's mine," said Sue quickly. "He pulled me out of the water."

"He's half mine, too," said Bunny. "I saw him before you did, Sue. You couldn't see him 'cause your head was under the water," he went on, "and when a feller sees a dog first, half of it is his, anyhow; isn't it, Mr. Winkler?"

"Oh, you may have half of him," agreed Sue kindly. "Do you want the head half, or the tail hall, Bunny?"

"Well," said Bunny slowly, "I like the tail end, 'cause that wags when he's happy, but I like the head end too, because that barks, and he can wash our hands with his tongue."

Bunny did not seem to know which half of the dog to take. Then a new idea came to him.

"I'll tell you what we can do, Sue!" he exclaimed. "We can divide him down the middle the other way. Then you'll have half his head end, and half his tail end, and so will I."

"Oh, yes!" Sue agreed, "and we can take turns feeding him."

"Say, I never see two such youngsters as you!" declared the old sailor, laughing. "What happened to you, anyhow?"

"Well, we didn't mean to go off in the boat, but we did," Bunny explained. "Then we got wrecked on this island, just like Robinson Crusoe did."

"Only we didn't find Mr. Friday," put in Sue.

"But we found a cave -- a make-believe one," Bunny said quickly.

"And I fell in, but we didn't get any fish," added the sister.

"And the dog did pull her out, and we're going to keep him," went on Bunny. "And will you take us home, Mr. Winkler? 'Cause we're hungry, and maybe our dog is, too, and it's getting dark, and we couldn't make our boat go, even if we did hitch the dog up to it."

"Bless your hearts, of course I'll take you home, and the dog, too!" the old sailor cried, "though I didn't expect to find a dog here. Come now, get in my boat, and I'll fasten yours to mine, and pull it along after me. Come along!"

Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were soon in the old sailor's boat, the dog following them, and, a little later, they were safely at their own dock, where their father and mother, as well as Aunt Lu and Bunker Blue, were waiting to greet them.

"Oh, Bunny! Oh, Sue!" cried Mrs. Brown, as she gathered them both into her arms. "Why did you do it? Oh, such a fright as you have given all of us!"

"We didn't mean to, Mother," said Bunny, himself a little frightened at what had happened. "The boat came untied, and floated off with us, and then we played Robinson Crusoe, just like you read to me out of the book, and -- "

"But we didn't find Mr. Friday," interrupted Sue, who seemed to feel this was quite a disappointment.

"Never mind," remarked Aunt Lu, "you had plenty of other adventures, I should think. Why, Sue!" she exclaimed, "your dress is quite damp!"

"She fell in," explained Bunny, "and -- "

"Mercy! Where did that dog come from?" cried Mrs. Brown, for the big shaggy animal had been lying quietly in the bottom of Mr. Winkler's boat, and now, with a bark, he suddenly sprang up, and jumped out on the dock.

"It's our dog," said Sue. "He pulled me out."

"Pulled you out, child? Out of where?" Mrs. Brown wanted to know. "What happened? Tell me all about it!"

Which Bunny and Sue did, taking turns. Then they begged to be allowed to keep the dog, and Mr. Brown said they might, if no one came to claim it.

"I guess it must be a lost dog," said the old sailor. "Maybe it jumped off some boat that was going down the river, and swam to the island. I guess it's glad enough to get off, though, for there's nothing there for a dog to eat."

"We couldn't find anything, either," said Bunny, "and we're hungry now, Mother."

"And we're going to take turns feeding the dog," came from Sue. "I own one half, down the middle, and so does Bunny."

"Bless your hearts!" Mrs. Brown cried. "She was very glad the children had been found, and Mr. Brown told Bunny and Sue they must not get in the boat again, unless some older person was with them, even if the boat was tied to the dock. Then it was supper time, and the big, shaggy dog ate as much as Bunny and Sue together, which showed how hungry he was.

"What are you going to call the dog?" asked Aunt Lu.

"I called him Towser," Bunny said, "but we can take another name, if we don't like that."

"Oh, let's call him Splash!" exclaimed Sue.

"Splash? What a funny name!" her mother remarked.

"Well, he did splash in the water after me, and pulled me out. Maybe we could call him Pull, but I like Splash better," and Sue shook her curly head.

"Call him Splash, then," agreed Mr. Brown, and so the big dog was called that name. He did not seem to mind how funny it was, but wagged his tail, and barked happily whenever he was spoken to.

For two or three days after they had gone off in the boat, Bunny Brown and his sister Sue did not go far from home. They remained about the house, playing different games with some of the children who lived near them. Now and then they would go down the street with Aunt Lu, or to the dock, to see the fish boats come in. And, often, as she walked along, Aunt Lu would look down at the ground.

"Are you looking for your lost diamond ring?" Bunny or Sue would ask.

"Well, not exactly," Aunt Lu would say. "I'm afraid I shall never find it," she would add, in rather a sad voice. "I am afraid it is gone forever."

"We'll keep on looking," promised Bunny. "And maybe we'll find it."

Splash, the big dog, proved to be very gentle and kind. He seemed to love the two children very much, and went everywhere with them. No one came to claim him. There was only one place Bunny and Sue could not take him, and that was to Mr. Winkler's house, and it was on account of the monkey.

"I'm afraid Splash might scare Wango," the old sailor said. "Monkeys are easily frightened, and Wango might try to get out of his cage and hurt himself. So, much as I love your dog, children, please don't bring him where Wango is."

"We won't," promised Bunny and Sue. So, whenever they paid a little visit to their friend, the old sailor, Splash was chained outside the gate, and the poor dog did not seem to understand why this was done. But he would lie down and wait until Bunny and Sue came out. Then how glad he was to see them!

One day Aunt Lu gave Bunny and Sue each five cents. They said they wanted to buy some toy balloons, which they had seen in the window of Mrs. Redden's store.

"Maybe we could tie two balloons together, and fasten them to a basket and have a ride, like in an airship," Sue said to Bunny, for they had been looking at some pictures of airships in a magazine.

"Maybe we could," Bunny agreed.

But Bunny and Sue did not buy the toy balloons. They were on their way to get them, with Splash, the dog, walking along the street behind them, when a trolley car came along. The trolley ran from Bellemere, where Bunny and Sue lived, to Wayville, the next town. In Wayville lived Uncle Henry, who was a brother of Mrs. Brown's.

"Oh, Sue! I know what let's do!" Bunny suddenly cried, as the trolley car stopped to take on some passengers at the street corner.

"What shall we do, Bunny?" Sue was always ready to follow where her brother led.

"Let's take our five cents and have a trolley ride! We can go to Wayville and see Uncle Henry. He'd like to see us."

"But if we go on the trolley it costs five cents," Sue objected, "and we can't buy the balloons."

"Maybe Uncle Henry will give us some pennies when we tell him we had to spend our five cents to come to see him," Bunny suggested.

"Maybe. All right, let's go!"

Hand in hand, never thinking that it was in the least wrong, Bunny and Sue ran for the trolley. The conductor, though perhaps he thought it strange to see two such small children traveling alone, said nothing, but helped them up the high step. Often the people of Wayville or Bellemere would put their children on the car, and ask the conductor to look out for them, and put them off at a certain place. But no one was with Bunny and Sue.

"We want to go to Wayville, to our Uncle Henry's," explained the blue-eyed little boy.

"All right," answered the conductor. "I'll let you off at Wayville, though I don't know your Uncle Henry." He rang the bell twice, and off went the trolley car, carrying Bunny and Sue to new adventures.



Chapter XI

Lost


Bunny and Sue leaned back in the trolley car seat, and felt very happy. They loved to ride and travel, and they did not think they were doing wrong to take a trolley ride without asking their mother or father. If they had asked, of course, Mrs. Brown would not have let them go alone. But that is the way matters generally went with Bunny and Sue.

Faster and faster went the trolley car. Bunny looked at Sue and smiled, and she smiled at him. The conductor came along the step of the car, which was an open one, to collect the fares. Bunny and Sue each handed him a five cent piece, and he handed them each back two pennies.

"Oh, I didn't know we got any change!" exclaimed Bunny, in surprise

"The fare to Wayville is only three cents, for such little tots as you," the conductor said. "Are you sure you know where you are going?" he asked.

"We're going to our Uncle Henry's," replied Bunny. "And he lives near the big, white church."

"Well, I can let you off there all right. Now be careful, and don't lean over out of your seats. You're pretty small to be taking trolley rides alone."

"We went alone in a boat the other day," Bunny told the conductor, "and we got shipwrecked."

"On an island in the river," added Sue, so the conductor would know what her brother meant.

"Well, if you've been shipwrecked, I guess you are able to take a trolley ride," laughed the motorman, for Bunny and Sue were riding in the front seat.

"Hey, conductor!" called a man in the back seat of the car, "there's a dog chasing after us!"

"Why, so there is!" The conductor seemed much surprised as he looked back.

Bunny and Sue stood up and also looked behind them. There, indeed, was a big shaggy dog, running after the car, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. He seemed very tired and hot.

"Why -- why!" cried Sue, "that's our dog -- it's Splash, and he splashed in and pulled me out of the water when I fell in, the time Bunny and I were shipwrecked!"

"Oh, we forgot all about him, when we got on the car," Bunny cried. He felt very sorry for Splash.

"I thought he'd come right on the car with us," Sue said. "And we'd have money enough to pay his fare, too," she added, looking at the two pennies in her chubby fist. "Is it three cents for dogs, too, mister?" she asked the conductor.

The conductor laughed, and some of the passengers did also. Then Bunny, who had been looking at poor Splash, racing along after the trolley car, which was now going quite fast, called out:

"Please stop the car, Mr. Conductor. We want our dog!"

"But you can't take a dog on the car, my boy. It isn't allowed. I'm sorry."

Bunny thought for a minute. Then he said:

"Well, if we can't bring our dog on the car, We'll get off and walk; won't we, Sue?"

"Yes, that's what we will."

"All right," agreed the conductor. "I'm sorry, for I'd like to do you the favor, but I'm not allowed." He rang the bell, and the car slowed up. Splash barked joyfully, for he Was very tired from running after his little friends, who went so fast and so far ahead of him.

The conductor helped Bunny and Sue down. The car had stopped along a country road, near a patch of woods, in rather a lonesome place.

"Here, youngsters," went on the trolley man, while Splash rushed up to Bunny and Sue, barking happily, "here, youngsters, take your money back. You didn't ride three cents' worth, hardly, and I'll fix it up all right with the company. You'd better take the next car back home. Your dog can find his way all right."

And then the car rattled off again, leaving Bunny and Sue, still with five cents each, Standing in the road, with their dog Splash.

"Poor fellow," said Bunny, putting his arms around the shaggy neck of his pet, "you must be awful tired!"

"He is," Sue agreed. "We'll sit down in the shade with him, and let him rest."

They found a nice place, where the grass was green, and where some trees made a shade, and near by was a spring of cool water.

Bunny made a little cup, from an oak leaf, and gave Sue a drink. Then he took some himself, and, a little later, Splash lapped up some water where it ran in a tiny stream down the grassy side of the road.

"Now he's rested, and we can go on," Sue remarked after a bit. "Where shall we go, Bunny -- to Uncle Henry's?"

"Well, it's too far to walk, and we don't want to ride in the car, and make Splash run, so maybe we'd better go back home. We can get the balloons now. The conductor was good not to take our money."

"Yes, I like him," and Sue looked down the track on which, a good way off, could be seen the trolley car they had left.

"We can walk back home," went on Bunny. "It isn't far. Come on, Sue!"

Down the country road started the two children, Splash following, or, now and then, running off to one side, to bark at a bird, or at a squirrel or chipmunk that bounded along the rail fence.

Bunny and Sue thought they would have no trouble at all in going back home, but they did not know how far away it was.

"All we'll have to do will be to keep along the trolley track," said Bunny. "If we had my express wagon now, and a harness for Splash, he could pull us."

"Oh, that would be fun!" Sue cried. "It would be just like a little trolley car of out own. You could be the motorman and I Would be the conductor."

"We'll play that when we get home," her brother decided. "Oh, look! What's Splash barking at now?"

The dog had found something beside the road, and was making quite a fuss over it. It looked like a black stone, but Bunny and Sue could see that it was moving, and stones do not move unless someone throws them.

"Oh, maybe it's a snake!" and Sue hung back as Bunny ran toward the dog.

"Snakes aren't big and round like that," her brother answered. "They're long and thin, like worms, only bigger."

"Oh, it's a mud-turtle!" Bunny exclaimed as he came closer, "A great big mud-turtle, Sue."

"Will he -- will he bite?"

"He might. He's got a head like a lobster's claw," replied Bunny. "But he won't bite me 'cause I won't let him get hold of my finger."

"He might bite our dog! Come away, Splash!" Sue cried.

But the dog knew better than to get too near the turtle, which really could bite very hard if he wanted to. Bunny got a stick, and poked at Mr. Turtle, who at once pulled his head and legs up inside his shell. Then he was more like a stone than ever.

And, as it was not much more fan than looking at a stone, to watch the closed-up turtle, Bunny and Sue soon grew tired of watching the slow-moving creature. Splash, too, seemed to think he was wasting time barking at such a thing, so he ran off to find something new.

Once more the two children walked along the road. The sun grew warmer and warmer, and finally Bunny spoke, saying:

"Let's walk in the woods, Sue. It will be cooler there."

"Oh, yes," agreed the little girl. "I love it in the woods."

So into the cool shade they went, Splash following. They found another spring of water, and drank some. They gathered flowers, and found some cones from a pine tree. With these they built two little houses, doll size.

Pretty soon Sue said she was hungry, and Bunny also admitted that he was.

"We'll coon be home now," he said. "And we'll stop at Mrs. Redden's, and get our balloons."

"Then we'll have lots of fun!" cried Sue, clapping her hands.

But the patch of woods through which the children had started to walk was larger than they thought. There seemed to be no end to it, the trees stretching on and on.

"Where's home?" Sue asked, after a bit. She was tired of walking.

Bunny stopped and looked about him.

"I can't see our house from here," he said, "but it's only a little way now. I guess maybe we'd better go out on the road, Sue. We can see better there."

But the road, too, seemed to have disappeared. Bunny and Sue went this way and that, but no road could they find. They listened, but they could not hear the clanging of the trolley car gong. It was very still and quiet in the woods, except, now and then, when Splash would run through the dried leaves, looking for another mud-turtle, perhaps.

"I'm hungry!" Sue exclaimed. "I want to go home, Bunny!"

"So do I," said the little fellow, "but I don't seem to know where our home is."

"Oh! Are we -- are we lost?" whispered Sue.

Bunny nodded.

"I -- I guess so," he answered.



Chapter XII

Found


Getting lost in the woods is different from getting lost in the city. In the city, or even in a little country town, there is someone of whom you can ask the way to your house. But in the woods there is no one to talk to.

Bunny and Sue thought of this when they had looked around through the trees, trying to find some way to, at least, get back to the road.

"If I could find the trolley car tracks we'd be all right," Bunny said. "We could wait for a car and ride home."

"But what could we do with Splash?" asked Sue.

"Oh, he could run along after us. It isn't far, and he's had a good rest now."

"Well, I wish I were home," sighed the little girl. "I'm awful hungry!"

Bunny Brown did not know what to do. He wanted to be brave, and help his sister, but he, himself, felt much like crying, and he thought he could see tears in Sue's eyes.

Where was their home, anyhow? Where were their papa and mamma and dear Aunt Lu? Bunny felt he would give all of his five cents if he could see the house where he and Sue lived. But all around them were only trees.

"Will we have to stay here all night?" Sue wanted to know.

"Well, if we do, we can make believe we have a camp here, and live in the woods. And we've got Splash with us."

"Yes, I guess I wouldn't be much afraid," agreed Sue. "But it would be dark; wouldn't it, Bunny?"

"Maybe there'd be a moon -- or -- or lightning bugs."

"I -- I'd rather have a real light," said the little girl. "And even if I'm not very much afraid in the dark, I can't stop being hungry, Bunny. What do you eat when you camp in the woods?"

"Why -- er -- you eat -- I guess you have to have sandwiches, or ice cream cones, or something like that."

"I want a sandwich now!" Sue insisted.

Bunny shook his head.

"We can make-believe," he began.

"But my hungry isn't make-believe!" cried Sue. "It's real -- I'm awful hungry. Can't you find our house, Bunny?"

Her brother shook his head. Then, somehow or other, he decided that he must do something besides stand there in the woods.

"Let's look for a path and walk along it," he said. "Maybe we can get home that way."

There were several paths through the woods, and the children soon came to one of them. They walked along it a little way, but it came to an end in a place where the trees and bushes grew thick, making it quite dark.

"Our house isn't here," said Sue, sadly, and she cried a few tears.

"No, it isn't here," answered Bunny. "We'll go back and find another path."

Back they went. But the next path they tried was no better than the first one. It came to an end in a swamp, in which, on logs, were a number of big frogs and turtles, that jumped, or fell in, with much spattering of water as the children and the dog came near.

"I -- I'm never going to take a trolley ride again," Sue said, as she and Bunny turned back.

"I'm not, either," her brother agreed. "But if we had kept on to Uncle Henry's we'd have been all right. It was Splash's fault that we had to come back."

The dog barked, as he heard his name spoken. And then Sue suddenly thought of something.

"Oh, Bunny!" she exclaimed, "if Splash knew the way home he could take us. Maybe he does. Mother read to us about a dog that found his way home from a long way off. Splash, can you take us home?" she asked, patting the big dog on the head.

Splash barked, and started off on a path which the children had not yet tried.

"That's so. I never thought maybe Splash could show us the way," said Bunny. "We'll try it! Home, Splash!" he cried. "Home!"

The dog barked again, and wagged his tail. He ran along the path a short distance, and then stopped, looking back at Bunny and Sue as if asking:

"Well, why don't you come with me if you want to get home?"

"Oh, Bunny, I believe he does know the way!" Sue cried. "Come on, we'll follow him!"

On ran Splash, turning every now and then to look around and bark, as if telling the children not to worry -- that he would lead them safely home.

And he did, or, if not exactly all the way home, the faithful dog made his way out of the woods, until he came to the main road, along which ran the trolley track.

"Oh, now I know where we are!" cried Bunny, in delight, as he saw several houses ahead of them. "Why, Sue, we're right on our own street. We weren't much lost!"

"Well, I'm glad we're found," Sue said.

It was easy to get home now. All the while Bunny and Sue had been only a little way from the road which led to their home, but the trees were so thick they could not find the right path. And Splash had never thought his two little friends were anxious to get home, until Bunny had told him so. Then he led them.

On walked Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, happy now that they were no longer lost. Splash seemed to think he had done all that was needed, for now he ran here, there, everywhere -- across the road, back and forth, trying to find something with which to amuse himself. He no longer watched to see that the children followed him. He must have known that they were on the right road at last -- that he had led them there.

Bunny and Sue passed Mrs. Redden's store. In the window were the red, blue, green, yellow and other colored toy balloons that they had set out to buy. Bunny and Sue still each had five cents, though it was in pennies now.

"Let's get the balloons," proposed Bunny.

"Oh, yes; let's!" agreed Sue.

So they went in and bought them, letting them float in the air, high above their heads, by the strings to which the balloons were fastened.

Down the street came Aunt Lu.

"Well, children!" she cried. "We were just getting worried about you. Mother sent me to find you. Where have you been?"

"We had a trolley ride," explained Sue, "but Splash couldn't get on the car, so we got off, and we were lost, and Splash found the path for us, and I'm hungry!"

"Bless your heart! I should think you would be!" cried Aunt Lu. "Come right home with me and I'll get you some jam and bread and butter."

And, a little later, Bunny and Sue were telling of their adventure.

"Oh, but you must never do that again!" said their mother. "Never get in the trolley cars alone again!"

"We won't!" promised Bunny and Sue. But you just wait and see what happens.

Bunny Brown was out in the yard, a few days after the funny trolley ride, digging a hole. Bunny had heard his father talk about a queer country called China, which, Mr. Brown said, was right straight down on the other side of the world, so that if one could possibly dig a hole all the way through the earth, one would come to China.

"I guess I'll dig a hole," thought Bunny Blown. "Maybe I won't go all the way to China, but I'll dig a big hole, and see where it ends. I'd like some China boys to play with."

A little while before Bunny started to dig the hole his sister Sue had been playing in the yard with her dolls. But, somehow or other, Bunny forgot all about Sue now. He was taking the dirt out of the hole with his sand shovel when his mother came to the door and called:

"Bunny, where is Sue?"

Bunny looked up from the pile of dirt in front of him. He was standing down in the hole, throwing out the sand and the gravel, and wondering when he would get his first sight of that queer land of China.

"Why, Mother," the little fellow answered, "Sue was here just now. Maybe she has gone down to show Wango her new doll."

"Oh, no, Sue wouldn't go down there alone, Bunny. See if you can find her."

Bunny went to the front gate and looked up and down the street.

"I don't see her, Mother," he called back.

"Oh, dear! I wonder where she can be?" said Mrs. Brown.

"I'll find her," Bunny said. "Come on, Splash!" he called to his dog. "We're going to find Sue; she's lost!"

"Wait! Wait! Come back!" cried Mrs. Brown. "Don't you run off and get lost again, Bunny! I'll go with you, and we'll both find little sister."



Chapter XIII

Sue And The Goat


Bunny Brown and his mother walked out of the front yard to the street. As they passed the side dining room window, Aunt Lu saw them, and asked:

"Where are you going?"

"To look for Sue," explained Mrs. Brown. "She seems to have wandered off somewhere all by herself, and I don't want her lost again. It isn't so bad when Bunny and Sue both get lost," the mother went on, "for they can help find one another. But if Sue is all alone she may get frightened."

"Do you really think she is lost again?" asked Aunt Lu. "If she is I'll come and help look for her. Or, perhaps, we'd better get Bunker Blue."

"Oh, no, I really don't think she is lost," said Mrs. Brown. "She has, most likely, just walked down the street. Bunny and I will find her."

"Lots of things get lost here," Bunny remarked. "Sue and I got lost, but we found a dog; didn't we, Splash?" he asked, and the dog barked.

"Yes, and my lovely ring is lost, and it hasn't been found," and Aunt Lu looked at the finger on which used to sparkle the diamond.

"I wish I could find it for you," said Bunny. "But Sue and I have looked everywhere."

"I know you have, my dear."

As Bunny and his mother reached the street they saw Jed Winkler walking along, carrying a long chain that rattled.

"Oh, Jed, have you seen Sue?" asked Mrs. Brown. "She was here a while ago, but she went off by herself, and I'm afraid she's lost."

"Don't worry, ma'am," said the old sailor. "She's just down the street a few houses. I saw her as I came past. She's playing with Sadie West, in her yard."

"Oh, that's all right, then!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "Sue often goes there. Is anyone else with her, Jed?"

"Yes, a lot of children."

"May I go down there and play, too?" asked Bunny. "Are there any boys there, Mr. Winkler?"

"Some. I saw Charlie Star and Harry Bentley," and the old sailor laughed as he rattled the chain.

Bunny did not mind playing with his sister Sue, but he did not want to take part in games with too many girls, for sometimes the older boys called him "sissy." And Bunny did not like that.

"Well, if there are other fellers there, I'll go and play," said Bunny, as he started off to join Sue. Then he happened to think of the chain the old sailor was carrying.

"What's it for?" asked the small boy.

"It's a new chain for Wango, my monkey," explained the sailor. "He hasn't been very well, lately, and I had the horse-doctor look him over."

"That's funny," said Bunny. "To have a horse-doctor for a monkey."

"Well, if there had been a monkey-doctor in town I'd have had him for Wango," went on Mr. Winkler, "but as there wasn't any I had to do the next best thing. The horse-doctor said my monkey was being kept in the cage too much.

"So I got this long chain, and I'm going to fasten one end of it to a collar, to go around Wango's neck, and tie the other end of the chain to the porch railing, so he can't get away. Then I can let Wango stay outdoors when the weather is good, and he will get well. At night I will put him in his cage again."

"And the chain won't let him run away," commented Bunny.

"That's it, little man, the chain won't let Wango run away," said the sailor. "That is, I hope it won't, though he often gets out of his cage. He's quite a tricky monkey."

Mr. Winkler went on down the street, rattling the monkey-chain, and Mrs. Brown, no longer worried about Sue, turned back into the yard, while Bunny hurried on, as fast as his little legs would take him, to Sadie West's yard, where he found his sister and several of their chums having a good time.

They had made a see-saw, by putting a plank over a box, and were swaying up and down on this, some children on one end of the plank and some on the other. As soon as Bunny came running in the yard, Sue called out:

"Oh, goodie! Here's my brother. Now he can teeter-tauter up and down. Come on, Bunny, you can have my place!"

Sue was so eager to give Bunny her place, and a chance to ride, that she slid off the board suddenly. Then that left too many little ones on the other end, and they went down, all at once, with a bump!

Sadie West was spilled off, and so was Charlie Star and Harry Bentley. They all fell in a heap, but as the green grass was long, and soft, no one was hurt.

"Don't do that again, Sue!" called Charlie, "You upset us all."

"I won't," Sue promised. "Come on, Bunny. It's your turn now."

"I don't want any turn at falling," Bunny said, with a laugh.

Once more the plank over the box swayed up and down, giving the children a ride. After a while, getting tired of that, they played in a swing and also in a hammock, having more fun.

Then it was dinner time, and Sadie's mother told her to come in and wash before going to the table. The other children knew it must be time for their meals also, so, calling good-byes to one another, they scattered.

"Come over again," Sadie invited them.

"We will!" promised Bunny.

"Let's go home this way, across the lot," suggested Sue, as she and Bunny started out.

"Oh, I don't want to," Bunny answered. "It's quicker to go by the street, and around the corner. And I want to look in Mrs. Redden's window, and see what she's got new."

"Well, you go that way," Sue agreed, "and I'll go across lots, and we'll see who gets there first."

"That's just like little Red Riding Hood and the wolf," said Bunny with a laugh. Sue looked quickly over her shoulder.

"But there's no wolf here," Bunny went on quickly. "You go ahead, Sue, over the lot, and I'll go by the street."

There was a large vacant lot, near where Sadie West lived, and by crossing it, and going out at the far end, the Brown children could reach their home. So Sue started across the lot, crawling through a hole in the fence.

Bunny started down the street, going quite fast, for he wanted to spend a few minutes looking in the window of the toy shop, and he also wanted to get home first, ahead of Sue.

But he had not gone far before he heard his sister calling:

"Bunny! Oh, Bunny! Oh, dear! He's coming after me!"

Bunny turned and ran back. Looking through the fence that was built around the lot, he saw a big goat, with long horns, walking toward Sue. And the little girl, who had picked a few daisies, was standing in the tall grass, too frightened to run back and crawl through the fence.

"Bunny! Bunny! Take the goat away!" Sue cried.



Chapter XIV

A Little Party


"Sue! Sue! I'm coming! Don't be afraid!"

Bunny cried this as he hurried up to the fence, through the pickets of which he could see the goat walking toward his sister. Sue was screaming now.

But, after he had said this, Bunny did not know exactly what to do. He did not know much about goats, and this was a big one, with long, sharp horns. The goat belonged to an Italian family in town, and the Italian man used to ask those who owned vacant lots to let his goat go into them and eat the grass. That was how the goat happened to be in this lot. If Sue had known the animal was there, she would not have taken the short cut, but would have gone, with her brother, along the street.

"Bunny! Bunny!" Sue cried. "He's coming closer!"

Bunny began to crawl through the hole in the fence as his sister had done. As he did so, he saw, lying on the ground, several stones. He picked up two, one in each fist.

"I won't let him hurt you, Sue!" he called, but, even as he said that, Bunny did not know what he was going to do. "I wish I had a red rag," he thought, "I could wave it at the goat and maybe scare him."

Bunny had heard his mother read from a book how bulls and turkey gobblers do not like red rags waved at them, and Bunny thought a goat was something like a bull. They both had horns, at any rate.

"And if I could wave a red rag at him, maybe it would make him so mad that he'd run away and leave Sue alone," thought Bunny as he found himself in the vacant lot with his sister.

Bunny was not quite right about the red rag, so perhaps it is just as well he did not have one. For bulls run TOWARD a red rag, instead of AWAY from it, and perhaps goats might do the same; though I am not sure about this.

But, at any rate, Bunny had no red rag; and the goat, instead of running away, was coming toward Sue, who was too frightened to move. She just stood there, crying:

"Bunny! Oh, Bunny! Make him go away."

"I will," said her brother. "Go on away, you old goat you!" he cried. "Go away or I'll throw a stone at you. I don't want to hurt you, but I'm not going to let you hook my sister with your horns. Go on away!"

But the goat only bleated, like a sheep, and came on. Seeing Bunny coming toward her made Sue a little braver. At least she found that she could run, so she did, hiding behind her brother.

"I'll take care of you," he said bravely.

On came the goat. Bunny's heart was beating fast. He raised one hand in which he held a stone.

"Look out! I'm going to throw it, you old goat!" cried the little blue-eyed boy.

"Whizz!" went the stone toward the goat. It struck him on the horn, and of course it did not hurt, for a goat's horns have no feeling on the outside, any more than have your finger-nails.

"Bounce!" went the stone off the goat's horn. The animal shook his head, as if he did not like that.

"Go on away!" called Bunny. "I got another stone for you if you don't go!"

But the goat still came on. Bunny threw the second stone, but it did not hit the goat. The little boy was looking around for another stone, when he and Sue heard a loud barking behind them, and up rushed Splash, their big dog.

"Oh, good! Now he'll drive the goat away!" cried Sue. "Oh, Bunny; aren't you glad!"

"That's what I am!" Bunny answered. "Drive him away, Splash!"

Splash rushed, barking, at the goat, and the horned animal at once turned about and ran to the other end of the lot, kicking up his heels. Splash kept on after him, barking, but not trying to bite, for the dog was gentle.

"Splash! Splash!" called Bunny. "Come back! Come back!"

Splash minded very well and back he came, quite proud, no doubt, at having driven off the goat.

"Hurry and get out of here!" begged Sue, as she ran toward the hole in the fence. Bunny turned to follow her. He looked back to see if the goat was coming, feeling not half afraid, now that Splash was with them.

In another minute Bunny, Sue and their dog were safely out in the street. The goat, at the far end of the lot, looked toward them and made his queer, bleating noise.

Afterward Bunny Brown and his sister Sue learned that the goat was a very kind one, and used to playing with children. It would not have hurt Sue at all, and the reason it walked up to her was because it thought she was going to feed it, as the little Italian children often did. So Bunny and Sue had their fright for nothing, though of course, at the time, Bunny thought the goat might hurt his sister.

"And I'm sorry I hit him with a stone," said Bunny, when, afterward, he was told how gentle the goat was.

"Oh, well, you didn't hurt him," said Aunt Lu.

Bunny, Sue and Splash were late for their dinner that day.

"My! What kept you?" asked Mrs. Brown, as they entered the house. "I did not want you to stay so long away."

"It was the goat that made me," Sue said, and then she and Bunny told of their adventure.

"Well, of course you couldn't help that," Mrs. Brown said with a smile. "Something new always seems to be happening to you children. Now wash and come to your meal."

There were jam tarts for dessert that day, and as Bunny ate his, the raspberry jam coming up through the three small holes in the top crust, the little fellow said:

"These are so good! Who made them?"

"Aunt Lu did," answered his mother. '"Aren't they nice?"

"Lovely!" murmured Sue. "May I have another, Mother?"

"I think so, as they are small."

"And I want one!" Bunny exclaimed. "They taste just like -- just like a play-party!" he finished.

"So they do!" cried Sue. "I was trying to think what it was they tasted like -- but it's a party!"

"What a queer way for jam tarts to taste!" laughed Aunt Lu. "But I am glad you like them. I'll make some more some day."

"Oh, fine!" exclaimed Bunny. "And oh, Mother! Maybe we could have one!" His eyes were shining brightly.

"Have one what?" asked Mrs. Brown.

"Why, one party," Bunny replied. "Could Sue and I have a little party, and would Aunt Lu bake some jam tarts for us?"

"I'll bake the tarts, if your mother wants you to have the party," Aunt Lu answered.

Mrs. Brown thought for a moment.

"Well," she said slowly, "I suppose you could have a little party. Not a very big one, as I am so busy. Just a few of your friends to eat on the lawn under the trees."

"Oh, that would be lovely!" Sue cried.

"And we'll have some boys, and not all girls!" Bunny declared.

"Half girls and half boys," Aunt Lu suggested. "And I'll make half jam tarts and half jelly ones, so they may take their choice."

"And I'll bake a cake for Splash!" exclaimed Sue. "He likes cake. We might give the party for him," she went on. "That would be fun!"

"And they could all bring our dog presents -- bones and things like that," laughed Bunny.

And so it was decided. The party would be for Splash, though of course he would not be allowed to eat all the good things. Bunny Brown and his sister Sue wanted those for themselves and their playmates.

The next day Bunny and Sue went around to the different houses, where their little friends lived, and each one was asked to come to the party. "Oh, I'm so glad you asked me!" cried Sadie West, when Sue told about the fun they would have.

"I want you more than anyone," was Sue's reply.

"And how funny to have the party for Splash!" Sadie went on.

"Well, dogs like nice things."

"Of course they do. I think it's just fine!" and Sadie clapped her hands. "I'll tie a little pink ribbon on the bone I bring your dog."

Helen Newton said she would bring Splash a dog-biscuit.

"You buy them in a store," she said. "Papa buys them for our dog, and you can get puppy cakes, too. Only of course Splash is too big for a puppy cake."

"You could bring him a lot of little puppy cakes, and they would be the same as one big dog-biscuit, maybe," said Sue.

"No, I'll bring him a regular cake, and I'll put a blue ribbon on it," decided Helen, and then the little girls laughed to think what fun they would have at the party.



Chapter XV

George Watson's Trick


The day of the party for Splash, the dog, came at last, though Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were so anxious for the time to arrive that it seemed very long indeed. But everything comes if you wait long enough, so they say, and finally the time for the party came.

"Oh, what a fine day!" cried Bunny, as he ran to the window on the morning of the day of the party. "The sun is shining, Sue!"

"That's good," answered his sister from her room. "A party is no fun in the rain."

"And there's wind enough to fly the kites," went on Bunny. He and some of his little boy friends had talked over what they would do at the party.

"The girls will want to play with their dolls," said Harry Bentley.

"Well, we don't want to do that," observed Charlie Star. "What can we do?"

"We can make kites, and fly 'em," Bunny said, and so this was what he and the boys at the party would do while the girls were playing with their dolls. So Bunny was now glad to notice, as he looked from the window, that the wind was blowing; not too hard, but enough to fly kites.

The two children were soon dressed, and down at the breakfast table. But they did not eat as much as usual, and Bunny left more than half his oatmeal in his dish.

"Why, Bunny! What is the matter?" asked his mother.

"I guess they are thinking so much about the party that they can't eat as they ought," Aunt Lu said.

"Oh, but that isn't right!" Mother Brown exclaimed. "Come, Bunny -- Sue, eat a nice breakfast, and then you may fix up the lawn in any way you like for your party."

"I've a big bow for Splash's neck," said Sue.

"And I'm going to make a harness, and hitch him up to the express wagon, so he can pull us around the yard," remarked Bunny.

"Now please eat your breakfast!" begged their mother, and Bunny and Sue did their best. But it was hard work not to talk or think about their party.

Aunt Lu helped them get the lawn in readiness. All about the Brown house was a big grass plot, and in the back were a number of shade trees. The tables, which were made from boxes, with boards across the top, were to be set out there.

There were to be sandwiches, cake, lemonade and ice cream, with Aunt Lu's lovely jam and jelly tarts besides.

"It was the tarts that made us think about the party, so of course we want them," announced Sue.

Splash, the dog, seemed quite proud of the big bow that Sue tied on his neck, to make him look pretty. But Splash did not care so much for the harness that Bunny made. The little boy took some ropes and straps, and tied them about the dog's neck and front legs. Then some ends of the ropes were made fast to the little express wagon, and Bunny got in it, calling to Splash to "giddap!" That was the way Grandpa Brown made his horses go, and so, of course, a dog ought to go when you said that to him.

Splash went all right, but just as when Bunny had hitched him to the boat, that was stuck on the island, the harness was not strong enough, and it broke, so that Splash ran off, with the straps and ropes dangling from him.

"I guess I'm too heavy for him to pull," said Bunny, as he got out of the wagon.

"You could have one of my dolls to ride in the wagon," offered Sue. "Take an old one, and I don't care if she falls out. She wouldn't be too heavy for Splash to pull."

"I'll try it," Bunny said.

Once again he tied the ropes about Splash, and the little express wagon, and this time, when Bunny walked along beside the dog, Splash really did pull the wagon along, giving the doll a ride.

But Bunny did not think this was much fun. He wanted to ride in the wagon himself.

"I'm going to make a big, strong harness," he said, and off he went to look for more rope.

"Well, I'm going to get the tables ready," Sue said. "I'm going to pick some flowers for them."

Aunt Lu, with the help of the cook, had made the wooden tables, which were boards over boxes. White cloths were now spread on them, for it was nearly time for the party. The things to eat would not be set out until the party guests came.

Sue loved flowers, and she picked them from the fields and woods whenever she saw any to gather. Not far from the Brown home, in fact in the next lot to the lawn, was a field in which grew daisies, buttercups, clover and other wild flowers.

Sue picked many of these, and then she and Aunt Lu put them in pitchers and vases of water, and set them on the tables. There were two tables, one for the girls and one for the boys.

Bunny had asked that this be done.

"'Cause the girls will bring their dolls to the table," he said, "and we fellows don't want to eat with a lot of dolls."

"Oh, you funny boy!" laughed his mother, but she had let him have his way. So Aunt Lu and Sue had two tables to decorate with flowers.

While they were doing this Bunny was trying to make another harness for Splash, so the dog could pull the express wagon with the little boy in it. But Bunny did not have very good luck, or else Splash pulled too strongly, for one harness after another broke, until Bunny gave up.

"I'll save my money and buy a harness at the store," he said.

"There, I think we have flowers enough, Sue!" exclaimed her aunt, as she looked at the tables. Indeed they were very pretty, and they would look even better when the dishes, and the good things to eat, were put on.

"Isn't it 'most time?" asked Bunny, after a bit. "I'm getting hungry."

"Oh, you must wait for the company," his mother told him. "They will soon be here."

And, a little later, Sadie West and Helen Newton came. When they saw how pretty the flowers looked on the table they exclaimed:

"Oh, how nice!"

"Where is Splash?" asked Sadie. "I've brought him a bone," and so she had, all wrapped in waxed paper from the inside of a cracker package, and on the bone, just as she had promised, was a pink ribbon.

"Here, Splash! Splash!" called Bunny, who had given up trying to make his pet pull the express wagon.

The dog came running up from the far end of the yard.

"See what Sadie has brought for your party!" laughed Bunny.

Splash took the bone, but the ends of the ribbon got up his nose and he sneezed in the queerest way, which made the children laugh.

"I guess Splash doesn't like too much style," said Sadie, who was older than Bunny and Sue.

"I wonder how he'll like my dog-biscuit," remarked Helen Newton, as she unwrapped it from the paper. "I put a red bow on it. Do you like red better than pink, Splash?"

The dog, who was gnawing the bone Sadie had brought him, looked up and wagged his tail. He must have thought it was fine to have so many good things to eat, even though he did not understand about the party. He sniffed at the dog-biscuit, which is a sort of cake, with ground-up meat, and other good things in it that dogs like. Then Splash would gnaw a little on the bone, and, afterward, nibble at the hard biscuit.

"Well, Splash is enjoying himself anyhow," said Aunt Lu, as she came out to begin setting the tables.

Soon after this a number of the boys and girls came. There were ten girls and six boys, though ten boys had been invited. But though all the girls came to the party given for Splash, all the boys did not. It often is that way at parties; isn't it? More girls than boys. But the boys don't know what fun they sometimes miss.

"Play some games, children," said Mrs. Brown. "Run about and play, and then it will be time to eat. Aunt Lu and I will put on the cake, and other goodies."

"Let's play tag!" said Sue.

"And after that hide-and-go-to-seek," Bunny called.

"And puss-in-the-corner," added Sadie West.

One after the other they played the games, running about on the grassy lawn, and having great fun. Splash dug a hole and hid his bone, after gnawing on it as long as he cared to. He ate all the dog-biscuit, and then Bunny got a ball which Splash would run after when it was thrown.

Bunny and his boy friends played the ball game with the dog, while the girls, after having tired themselves with the lively games, like tag, brought out their dolls and dressed and undressed them.

"When are we going to fly the kites?" asked Charlie Star.

"We can do it now," Bunny answered.

Each boy had made himself a kite, which he brought with him. Bunny got his from the house, and, going to an open place, where the trees would not catch the strings, the boys put up their air-toys.

The wind was good, as Bunny had said, and soon there were six kites floating in the air. That is there were six for a time, and then Bunny's string broke, and away flew his kite.

"Oh, dear!" he cried.

"That's too bad!" exclaimed Charlie Star. "Come on, boys, we'll haul down our kites and chase after Bunny's!"

They were just going to do this when Mrs. Brown came out to say that it was time to eat.

"You can look for the kite, afterward," she said; "if you go now all the ice cream may melt, as we have taken it out of the freezer."

Of course the boys did not want anything like that to happen, so they said they would wait. Down they sat at the tables, the boys at theirs and the girls at the one made ready for them. Aunt Lu, Mrs. Brown and the cook passed the good things, and, for a time, there was not much talking done. The children were too busy eating.

"Don't forget Aunt Lu's jam and jelly tarts!" called out Bunny. "They're fine!"

And when they had been passed around, all the guests at the party said Bunny was right, and that the tarts were just fine!

"I'm so glad you like them," said Aunt Lu, very much pleased.

Bunny wanted to give a Punch and Judy show, with Sue, after the meal was over. He said he could wear the big, hollow lobster claw, and make himself look very funny.

"But I think I wouldn't -- not now," his mother remarked. "You would have to build a little booth, or place for you and Sue to get inside of, and we haven't time for that. Just play some easy games."

"All right," agreed Bunny.

Aunt Lu had all the children sit in a ring on the grass while she told them a story. And it was just after the story was finished that George Watson played his trick.

George had not been invited to the party, because he was too old, Mrs. Brown said.

Perhaps this had made George rather angry. At any rate, when the children were thanking Aunt Lu for the nice story she had told them, there was suddenly tossed over the fence, right into the midst of them, a paste-board shoe box. It fell near Bunny's feet, and he jumped back, he was so startled.

"Who threw that?" Bunny asked.

"George Watson did," said Charlie Star. "I saw him walk up along the fence, and throw it over."

"What is it?" asked Sue.

"Maybe it's a present for Splash," suggested Sadie.

"George Watson would rather pull Splash's tail, than give him a present," declared Bunny. And indeed George often played rather mean tricks on animals, and little children.

"Open the box, and see what's in it," suggested Helen Newton.

"I'll open it," offered Bunny.

The cover of the box was tied on, but Bunny slipped off the string. As he lifted the cover, Sue, who stood behind her brother, looking over his shoulder, exclaimed:

"Oh, it's alive! It's alive! Look out, Bunny! There's something alive in that box, and it might bite you!"



Chapter XVI

The Lemonade Stand


Bunny Brown tried to clap the cover quickly back on the box, but he did not quite do it. It went on crooked, and when Charlie Star tried to help he only made it worse, so that the cover went spinning to one side.

Suddenly some little green animals began hopping from the box. Out they hopped, and then they began jumping in all directions, among the little boys and girls.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" screamed the girls, as they started to run.

Some of the boys -- the smaller ones -- also ran, but they did not scream.

Bunny Brown and Charlie Star were the only boys who did not run.

"Oh, Bunny! What is it? What are they?" cried Sue, looking over her shoulder as she ran toward the house.

"It's snakes! I saw 'em! Big green snakes," insisted Sadie West.

"Oh, what a mean boy George is, to scare us so!" said Helen.

Then Bunny Brown laughed, and so did Charlie. Hearing this the girls stopped screaming, and the boys stopped running.

"What is it?" asked Sue again. "Did they bite you, Bunny?"

"Nope," he answered, still laughing, "they can't bite me!"

"Why not?" his sister wanted to know.

"'Cause they're only frogs. They won't hurt anybody!"

And that is what was in the box that George had tossed over the fence into the midst of the party-guests -- a box of big, green frogs that he had caught at the mill pond. George wanted to scare Bunny and Sue for not asking him to their dog's party. But the little scare was soon over, and the children only laughed at the frogs.

The green hoppers jumped this way and that, through the grass, and Bunny and his friends did not try to catch them.

"They're looking for water," Bunny said.

Splash saw that something queer was going on, and he ran up to see what it was. He barked at some of the frogs, as they hopped through the grass, but did not try to bite them.

"And to think George fooled us with frogs," laughed Charlie. "When I see him I'll tell him we just like frogs, and they didn't scare us a bit."

"I thought they were snakes, at first," Sue said. "That's why I ran away."

"It was not a very nice trick," said Aunt Lu. "But still it did no harm. Now for another game, and I think there are a few more tarts left."

"Oh, goodie!" cried the children.

There were enough tarts for each one to have another, and, when they had been passed around, after a lively game of Puss-in-the-corner, the party was over. Everyone said he had had a fine time, and when Bunny Brown and his sister Sue asked their guests to come again, each one said:

"I surely will!"

"I guess everybody would be glad to come to another party like it," said Sadie West to Helen Newton, as they walked home together.

"I'm sure of it," answered Helen. "And wasn't Splash nice!"

"Yes, he's a lovely dog. I wish I had one I could have a party for."

"You could give a party for your cat, some day," said Helen.

"Oh, so I could! And I will, too -- maybe next week. I wish Sue's Aunt Lu would bake some tarts for me."

"Maybe she will."

"I wonder if it would be polite to ask her?" inquired Sadie. "I'll speak to mother about it."

"Well, did you like your party, Splash?" asked Bunny, as he patted the shaggy dog on the head, when all the little guests had gone.

Splash did not say anything, of course. But he wagged his tail, and walked over to where he had buried the bone Sadie had brought him. So I guess Splash did like the party as much as did the children. And he had several good things to eat, which, after all, is what most parties are for.

One day Aunt Lu read a story from a magazine to Bunny and Sue. It told about some boys who, on a warm day, set up a lemonade stand under a shady tree, in front of their house, and sold lemonade at a penny a glass. The money they made they sent to a church society, that took poor children out of the hot city to the cool country for a week or so.

Sue noticed that Bunny was very quiet after Aunt Lu had read the story, and, as the two children went out into the yard, the little girl asked:

"What are you thinking about, Bunny?"

"Lemonade," he answered.

"Were you thinking you'd like some? 'Cause I would."

"Well, I would like some to drink," Bunny admitted, "but I was thinking we could make a stand, and sell lemonade ourselves. I could fix up a box for a stand, and I could squeeze the lemons."

"I'd put the sugar in," Sue said. She was always willing to help. "But where would we get the ice and the lemons and the sugar?"

"Oh, mother would give them to us. I'm going to ask her."

"And what would we do with the money, Bunny?"

The little fellow thought for a minute. There was in his town no church society, such as Aunt Lu had read about. The money made from selling lemonade must go to the poor, Bunny was sure of that. All at once his eyes grew bright.

"We could give all the money to Old Miss Hollyhock!" he said. "She is terribly poor."

"Old Miss Hollyhock," as she was called, was an aged woman who lived in a little house down near the fish dock. Her husband had been a soldier, and when he died the old lady was given money from the government -- a pension, it was called. Still she was very poor, and she was called "Old Miss Hollyhock," because she had so many of those old-fashioned hollyhock flowers in her garden. Her real name was Mrs. Borden.

"We could give the money to her," Bunny said.

"Oh, yes!" Sue agreed. "She needs it."

"Then we'll have a lemonade stand," decided Bunny.

Mrs. Brown said she did not mind if Bunny and Sue did this. A number of the children in Bellemere had done this, at different times, and some of the larger boys and girls had made even as much as five dollars, giving the money to the church, or to the Sunday school.

"Of course you won't make as much as that, Bunny," his mother said, "but you may take in a few pennies, and it won't do you any harm to sit in the shade and sell lemonade."

"Will you buy some?" asked Sue.

"Oh, I guess so," Mrs. Brown answered, smiling.

So she gave the children the ice, sugar and lemons, and they made a big pitcher of lemonade. Bunny set up a box under a tree in front of the house, covering the box with a clean white cloth. Then with the pitcher and glasses on a serving tray, he and Sue were ready for business.

"Lemonade! Lemonade!" they called, just as had done the children in the story. "Lemonade, in the shade, nice and cold, just fresh made!"

One man did stop and buy some.

"My, that's good!" he said, as he finished the glass. "How much is it?"

"A penny," Bunny said.

"Oh, only a penny? Why, that glass of lemonade was worth five cents anywhere! It was just sweet enough, and just cold enough. Here!" and the man laid a five cent piece down on the stand and walked off.

"Oh, isn't that good!" cried Bunny, his eyes fairly dancing with joy as he looked at Sue.

"It's just fine!" she answered. "What a lot of money!"

But few were as generous as the kind man, and most of those who drank at the lemonade stand just laid down pennies.

Bunny and Sue had taken in quite a few pennies, and the pitcher was nearly empty of lemonade.

"I'll go in and make more as soon as we sell it all," Bunny said.

"We'll have a lot of money for Old Miss Hollyhock," observed Sue. "She will be rich, then, won't she, Bunny?"

"I guess sixteen cents isn't rich. But we did better than I thought we would. Oh, look!" suddenly cried Bunny. "There's a dog, and some one has tied a tin can to his tail!"

Down the street, yelping and barking, came a small yellow dog, and, bounding after him, bumping about and scaring him, was a big, empty tin can, tied to the dog's tail.

"Oh, Bunny!" cried Sue, "he's coming right here. He'll upset our lemonade stand!"

"That's what he will," Bunny agreed. "Hi, there! Stop! Go the other way! Shoo!" he cried, waving his arms at the dog, while Sue took up the nearly empty lemonade pitcher.

On came the frightened dog, straight for the stand and the two children.



Chapter XVII

The Moving Pictures


"Oh, Bunny! Bunny! What are we going to do?" cried his sister Sue.

Bunny swallowed a sort of lump in his throat that always seemed to come when he was a bit frightened. Then he looked around. Next he glanced at Sue.

"Get under the box, Sue!" he cried. "Then the dog can't get you!"

"But what will you do?" asked the little girl. "I don't want you to get hurt, Bunny."

"I -- I won't be afraid," said the little boy. "I -- I'll pour lemonade on the dog, and that will make him run away."

"Oh -- Oh!" gasped Sue. "Throw away our good lemonade?"

"We can make more," said Bunny. "There's only a little left, anyhow."

He reached for the pitcher. At the same time Sue started to crawl under the empty box they had made into a lemonade stand.

But the yelping, yellow dog, with the tin can tied to his tail, was coming faster than either Bunny or Sue thought. Before Bunny could take up the nearly empty pitcher of lemonade, or before Sue could crawl under the box, the dog was upon them.

Right under the box the poor, frightened creature ran, thinking, I suppose, that it would be a good place to hide and get away from that terrible tin can that was pounding after him, no matter how fast he went.

So into the box he ran, and I think you can guess what happened. The dog was going so fast, and the box, not being held down to the ground, was so easily pushed over, that it toppled to one side.

And, as Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were standing near the box, it fell over on them, and the lemonade pitcher upset, and the lemonade in it splashed all over the little boy and his sister. The glasses bounced off into the grass, and the dog suddenly turned a somersault, and fell on top of Bunny, Sue, the box and the lemonade pitcher.

And that's what happened, just as you must have guessed.

For a few seconds there was such a tangle of dog, lemonade, pitcher, lemonade stand, to say nothing of Bunny and Sue, that if any one had been there to see he would hardly have known which was the dog, and which was Bunny and Sue.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried the little girl.

"What -- what's the matter?" gasped Bunny.

The dog howled, barked and whined, and then the box rolled to one side, and so did the now empty pitcher of lemonade. Sue found herself sitting on the grass, holding what she thought was her doll, but which was really one of Bunny's chubby legs.

Bunny lay on his back, and in his arms he held -- what do you think? Why the little yellow dog, to be sure!

And now the dog stopped howling and barking, for he must have known that Bunny and Sue would be his friends, and he was not afraid any more. And that is the way they were when Aunt Lu and Splash, the big dog, came out to see how the two little lemonade sellers were getting along.

"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Aunt Lu. "Oh my goodness! What has happened?"

At first she was a bit frightened, but when she saw that Sue was smiling, and that Bunny was just ready to laugh, Aunt Lu laughed also.

"Well, if none of you is hurt, and nothing broken, I think this is very funny!" Aunt Lu exclaimed. "Oh, but what a mix-up!"

Splash, the big dog, seemed to think so too, for he barked -- not a cross, ugly bark, but a sort of laughing kind -- as if, he, also, felt that it was jolly fun.

Then Splash saw the little yellow dog in Bunny's arms, and the big dog went up to him, wagging his tail, while the two sort of rubbed noses -- you know the way dogs do instead of shaking hands, or paws, I suppose I should say, and right away they were friends.

"Oh, look! look!" Sue exclaimed, now laughing herself. "I thought I had my doll, and -- it's Bunny's leg!"

"Huh! I wondered what was holding me." exclaimed the little boy.

Sue let go of him, and Bunny got up. Then he rolled the lemonade box away from Sue, for it was resting partly on her, and by this time the little yellow dog (which Bunny had put down) was making better friends than ever with Splash.

Then Aunt Lu saw the tin can tied to the yellow dog's tail, and she cried out:

"Oh, what a shame! Who did that?"

"We didn't!" Bunny answered quickly.

"Oh, of course not! I know you wouldn't do such a thing," returned his aunt. "Here, little dog, I'll cut it off for you," and she took her scissors out of her apron pocket, for she had been sewing just before coming out to look at the lemonade stand. "I'll cut it off for you," said Aunt Lu.

"Oh, don't cut off his tail!" begged Sue.

"Of course not!" laughed Aunt Lu. "I meant I'd cut off the tin can. You poor little doggie! No wonder you were frightened. And now tell me all how it happened," she went on, as she snipped, with her scissors, the string around the little yellow dog's tail. He seemed very happy to be free of the tin can.

"Well, it just happened -- that's all," said Bunny. "He ran into our lemonade stand, and upset it."

"But I guess he didn't mean to," remarked Sue, who had, by this time, found her real doll in the long grass.

"No, he was so scared that he didn't know where he was running," decided Aunt Lu. "Well, now I'll help you pick things up, and then you had better come to the house. Haven't you sold enough lemonade for one day?"

"I guess so," answered Bunny.

"Did you lose the money?" asked Sue anxiously. "Where is the money we got?"

"In my pocket," Bunny replied. It was lucky he had put it there, or, when the box was knocked over, the pennies and five cent pieces might have been scattered in the grass and lost.

But everything was all right, and not a glass was broken, for they fell in soft, grassy places. The lemonade was spilled, of course, a little of it going on Bunny and Sue. But they did not mind that. And, best of all, the little dog no longer had a tin can tied to his tail.

"I wonder who did it?" asked Sue.

"Oh, some bad boys, I suppose," answered her aunt. "Boys who tie cans to dogs' tails don't stop to think how frightened the poor animals may get. But I'm glad this was no worse. Now, little yellow dog, you had better run home, that is if you have a home."

The yellow dog seemed to have some place to go. For, after he had once more rubbed noses with Splash, had barked, as if saying good-bye, and had wagged his tail joyfully, away he trotted down the street.

Now and then he looked back, as if to thank Bunny and Sue, and their aunt, for what they had done for him, or perhaps he was looking to make sure the banging, dangling tin can was no longer fast to his tail.

But it was not, for Aunt Lu had tossed it away. Then she helped Bunny and Sue carry in the pitcher and glasses, and put away the box that had been used for a stand.

"We'll sell some more lemonade to-morrow," Bunny said.

"Yes," agreed Sue. "We want to get a lot of money for poor folks."

"How much did you take in?" Aunt Lu wanted to know.

Bunny gave it to her to count, as he could not go higher than ten, and there was more money than that.

"Why you have twenty-one cents!" Aunt Lu exclaimed. "That's fine, children! I'll keep it for you, and if you do get more I'll put it all together, and give it to Old Miss Hollyhock for you."

But Bunny Brown and his sister Sue did not sell lemonade next day. One reason was because it rained, and, for another, they found something else to do.

The Brown house was the nicest place you could think of in which to spend a rainy day, that is the big attic was, and it was up there that Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were always allowed to play.

The day after they had had the lemonade stand the rain came down very hard. Bunny and Sue stood with their noses pressed flat against the window panes.

"Oh dear!" sighed Sue.

"Oh dear!" sighed Bunny.

"Tut! Tut!" exclaimed their mother. "I know what that means. Up to the attic with you, and play some of your games!"

"Oh yes!" cried Bunny joyfully.

"We'll play trolley car with the spinning wheel!" said Sue.

This was only one of the games they played. There was a big spinning wheel up in the attic. It had belonged to Mrs. Brown's grandmother, and in the olden days, before yarn for socks and mittens was made by machinery, it was spun on a spinning wheel. This was a big wheel, as large as one on a wagon, but not so heavy. And it went around and around, very easily.

Bunny and Sue would sit on a trunk, spin the wheel, and make believe they were in a trolley car. They would take turns being the motorman. Sometimes Bunny would have that place, while Sue would be the conductor, and again Bunny would collect the fare and let Sue spin the wheel.

All that rainy day Bunny and Sue played in the attic, making up many new games about which I shall tell you another time. They had so much fun that they could hardly believe it when night came, and it was time to go to bed.

"And maybe the sun will shine to-morrow," said Bunny.

It did, the rain having gone somewhere else to water the flowers and trees.

The next afternoon Aunt Lu promised to take Bunny and Sue down to their father's office, on the dock. They wanted to see the fish boats come in, and Aunt Lu had some shopping to do.

Bunny and Sue, nicely dressed, freshly washed and combed, went out on the front porch to wait for Aunt Lu. She had said she would be down as soon as she changed her dress.

But Bunny and Sue grew tired of waiting.

"Let's walk on a little way," said Bunny. "We can go down to the corner, and back again, and Aunt Lu will be down then."

Sue was always ready to do just what Bunny said, and soon the two children, hand in hand, went walking down the street. They did not intend to go far, but something happened, as it often did with them.

Just beyond the corner there was a moving picture theatre, lately opened. Mrs. Brown and Aunt Lu had taken Bunny and his sister there once or twice, when there was a fairy play, or something nice to see, so Bunny and Sue knew what the moving pictures were like.

"Oh, let's just go down and look at the picture posters outside," said Bunny, as they stood on the corner, from where they could see the theatre.

"All right," said Sue quickly.

In front of the moving picture place were some big boards, and on them were pasted brightly colored posters, almost like circus ones, telling about the moving pictures that were being shown inside. There was a picture of a man falling in the water, and another of a railroad train. Bunny loved cars and locomotives.

Not thinking anything wrong, the two tots ran across the street, looking carefully up and down first, to see that no automobiles were coming. They crossed safely.

A little later they were standing in front of the moving picture theatre, looking at the gay posters.

"Wouldn't you like to go in?" asked Bunny.

Sue nodded her curly head.

"Maybe Aunt Lu will take us," she said.

"We'll ask her," decided Bunny.

Then they heard, from down the side street, the sound of a piano. It came from the moving picture place, and the reason Bunny and Sue could hear it so plainly was because the piano was near a side door, which was open to let in the fresh air.

"Let's go down there and listen to the music a minute," Bunny said. "Then we'll go back and tell Aunt Lu."

"All right!" agreed Sue.

A little later the two were standing at the open, side door of the place. They could hear the piano very plainly now, and, what was more wonderful, they could look right in the theatre and see the moving pictures flashing on the white screen.

"Oh! oh!" murmured Bunny. "Look, Sue."

"Oh! oh!" whispered Sue. And then Bunny had a queer idea.

"We can walk right in," he said. "The door is open. I guess this is for children like us -- they don't want any money. Come on in, Sue, and we'll see the moving pictures!"



Chapter XVIII

Wango And The Candy


Bunny Brown and his sister Sue walked right into the moving picture theatre. The door, as I have told you, was open, there was no one standing near to take tickets, or ask for money, and of course the children thought it was all right to go in.

No one seemed to notice them, perhaps because the place was dark, except where the brilliant pictures were dancing and flashing on the white screen. And no one heard Bunny and Sue, for not only did they walk very softly, but just then the girl at the piano was playing loudly, and the sound filled the place.

Right in through the open side door walked Bunny and Sue, and never for a moment did they think they were doing anything wrong. I suppose, after all, it was not very wrong.

Bunny walked ahead, and Sue followed, keeping hold of his hand. Pretty soon she whispered to her brother:

"Bunny! Bunny! I can't see very good at all here. I want to see the pictures better."

"All right," Bunny whispered back. "I can't see very good, either. We'll find a better place."

You know you can't look at moving pictures from the side, they all seem to be twisted if you do. You must be almost in front of them, and this time Bunny and Sue were very much to one edge.

"We'll get up real close, and right in front," Bunny went on. Then he saw a little pair of steps leading up to the stage, or platform; only Bunny did not know it was that. He just thought if he and Sue went up the steps they would be better able to see. So up he went.

The screen, or big white sheet, on which the moving pictures were shown, stood back some distance from the front of the stage. And it was a real stage, with footlights and all, but it was not used for acting any more, as only moving pictures were given in that theatre now.

Sue followed Bunny up the steps. The pictures were ever so much clearer and larger now. She was quite delighted, and so was her brother. They wandered out to the middle of the stage, paying no attention to the audience. And the people in the theatre were so interested in the picture on the screen, that, for a while, they did not see the children who had wandered into the darkened theatre by the side door.

The music from the piano sounded louder and louder. The pictures became more brilliant. Then suddenly Bunny and Sue walked right out on the stage in front of the screen, where the light from the moving picture lantern shone brightly on them.

"What's that?" cried several persons.

"Look! Why they're real children!" said others.

Bunny and Sue could be plainly seen now, for they were exactly in the path of the strong light. There was some laughter in the audience, and then the man who was turning the crank of the moving picture machine began to understand that something was wrong.

He stopped the picture film, and turned on a plain, white light, very strong and glaring, Just like the headlights of an automobile. Bunny and Sue could hardly see, and they looked like two black shadows on the white screen.

"Look! Look! It's part of the show!" said some persons in front.

"Maybe they're going to sing," said others.

"Or do a little act."

"Oh, aren't they cute!" laughed a lady.

By this time the piano player had stopped making music. She knew that something was wrong. So did the moving picture man up in his little iron box, and so did the usher -- that's the man who shows you where to find a seat. The usher came hurrying down the aisle.

"Hello, youngsters!" he called out, but he was not in the least bit cross. "Where did you get in?" he asked.

By this time the lights all over the place had been turned up, and Bunny and Sue could see the crowd, while the audience could also see them. Bunny blinked and smiled, but Sue was bashful, and tried to hide behind her brother. This made the people laugh still more.

"How did you get in, and who is with you?" asked the usher.

"We walked in the door over there," and Bunny pointed to the side one. "And we came all alone. We're waiting for Aunt Lu."

"Oh, then she is coming?"

"I don't guess so," Bunny said. "We didn't tell her we were coming here."

"Well, well!" exclaimed the usher-man. "What does it all mean? Did your Aunt Lu send you on ahead? We don't let little children in here unless some older person is with them, but -- "

"We just comed in," Sue said. "The door was open, and we wanted to see the pictures, so we comed in; didn't we Bunny?"

"Yes," he said. "But we'd like to sit down. We can't see good up here."

"No, you are a little too close to the screen," said the usher. "Well, I'd send you home if I knew where you lived, but -- "

"I know them!" called out a woman near the front of the theatre. "That is Bunny Brown and his sister Sue. They live just up the street. I'll take them home."

"Thank you; that's very kind of you," said the man. "I guess their folks must be worrying about them. Please take them home."

"We don't want to go home!" exclaimed Sue. "We want to see the pictures; don't we, Bunny?"

"Yes," answered the little fellow, "but maybe we'd better go and get Aunt Lu."

"I think so myself," laughed the usher. "You can come some other time, youngsters. But bring your aunt, or your mother, with you; and don't come in the side door. I'll have to keep some one there, if it's going to be open, or I'll have more tots walking in without paying."

"Come the next time, with your aunt or mother," he went on, "and I'll give you free tickets. It won't cost you even a penny!"

"Oh, goodie!" cried Sue. She was willing to go home now, and the lady who said she knew them -- who was a Mrs. Wakefield, and lived not far from the Brown home -- took Bunny and Sue by the hands and led them out of the theatre.

The lights were turned low again, and the moving picture show went on. Bunny and Sue wished they could have stayed, but they were glad they could come again, as the man had invited them.

As Mrs. Wakefield led them down the street, toward their home, they saw Aunt Lu running to meet them.

"Oh, Bunny! Sue!" she exclaimed. "Where have you been? I've looked all over for you!"

"We went to the moving pictures," said Bunny.

"By the side door," added Sue. "And we were on the stage, and the people all laughed; didn't they Bunny?"

"Yes, they did. And the man said we could come back for nothing, and you are to bring us. When will you, Aunt Lu?"

"Why -- why I don't know what to think of it all!" their aunt exclaimed. "In a moving picture show -- by the side door -- on the stage -- to go again for nothing -- I never saw such children, never!"

"Well, it all happened, just that way," said Mrs. Wakefield, and she told how surprised she, and all the others in the theatre were to see Bunny and Sue wander out on the stage into the strong light.

"But you musn't do it again," Aunt Lu said, and of course Bunny and Sue promised they would not.

"Now come on down to the fish dock, and we'll see the boats come in," Bunny begged, and off they started.

There was much going on at Mr. Brown's, dock that day. Some boats were getting dressed up in new suits of sails, and others were being painted. Then, too, a number of fishing boats came in, well filled with different kinds of fish. Some had lobsters in them and there was one big one, with very large claws.

"That one's claws are bigger than the claw you have, to play Punch and Judy with, Bunny," said Sue.

"Yes," agreed her brother, "but that claw is too big for my nose."

"I should think so!" laughed Aunt Lu. "Your whole little face would almost go in it, Bunny. Oh dear!" she went on. "I don't like lobsters as much as I used to."

"Why not?" asked Mr. Brown, who came out of his office to see his children and their aunt. "I was going to have you take one up to the house to make into salad for dinner. Why don't you like lobsters any more, Aunt Lu?"

"Oh, because whenever I see them, and remember the one we had for supper the first night I came here, I think of my lost diamond ring, that I never shall find."

"Yes, it is too bad," agreed Mr. Brown. "I thought you were going to find it, Bunny?"

"Well, Sue and I looked and looked and looked," said the little fellow, "but we couldn't find it anywhere!"

"Yes, they have tried," said Aunt Lu. "But never mind, we won't talk about it."

They looked into the other fishing boats, and then Bunker Blue came along. As he had nothing much to do just then he took Aunt Lu and the children for a little ride in a motor boat, that went by gasoline, the same as does an automobile. Only, of course, a boat goes in the water, and an automobile runs on land.

Bunny and Sue had a pleasant afternoon with Aunt Lu, and when she told their father about the children having wandered into the moving picture show, he laughed so hard that tears came into his eyes.

"If this keeps on," he said, "we'll have either to keep them home all the while, or else you'll have to be with them every minute, Aunt Lu. You can't tell what they are going to do next."

It was a day or two after this that, as Bunny and Sue were going down the street, to buy a little candy at Mrs. Redden's store, something queer happened.

They each had five cents, that Aunt Lu had given them, but they were allowed to spend only one penny of it this day, as their mother did not wish them to eat too much candy.

"I'm going to buy a lollypop -- they last longer," Bunny announced.

"I'll get one, too," agreed Sue, as they entered the toy place. The door swung open, a bell over it ringing to call Mrs. Redden, for she lived in rooms back of the store, where she kept house.

"How are you, Bunny and Sue?" asked the candy-lady as she smiled at them. "I was beginning to think you had forgotten me."

"Oh, no," Bunny said.

"We'd never forget you," declared Sue. "I want a lollypop and so does Bunny."

Mrs. Redden opened the glass show-case in which the candy was kept. As she reached in her hand, to take out the lollypops, Bunny and Sue, standing in front, saw a brown, hairy paw also put into the case. And the brown paw, which was close to Mrs. Redden's hand, caught up a bunch of lollypops and quickly pulled them out.

"Oh! oh! oh, dear!" screamed Mrs. Redden. "Oh, what is it?"

A second later a brown, furry animal jumped up from back of the counter, and scrambled from shelf to shelf, until it was on the very top one. And there the animal sat, peeling the wax paper off a lollypop.

"Oh, what is it? What is it?" cried Mrs. Redden. "Oh, take it away!"

Bunny and Sue were not a bit frightened. They looked up at the furry figure, on the top shelf of the candy store, and Bunny said:

"Why, it's only Wango, Mr. Winkler's monkey! I guess he broke loose from his chain."

"Yes, it's Wango!" echoed Sue. "Come down, Wango!" she called, for both children had often petted the queer little monkey.

Wango accidentally dropped one of the lollypops he held. He had so many in his paws that it was hard to hold them all. He quickly reached for the falling candy, but he accidentally hit a glass jar filled with jelly beans. It crashed down to the floor, spilling the candy beans all over.

"Oh! oh, dear! what a mess!" cried Mrs. Redden, and she ran to get the broom to drive Wango away.



Chapter XIX

Bunny In A Queer Place


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!" exclaimed Sue. "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 beside Mrs. 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.



Chapter XX

Splash Runs Away


"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?" asked Sadie.

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 Sadie West.

"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.



Chapter XXI

How Sue Found The Eggs


"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!"



Chapter XXII

Aunt Lu Is Sad


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 where Sue 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, went Bunny'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 after Bunny'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.



Chapter XXIII

An Automobile Ride


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 SHOW BY BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE In Their Barn Five Pins or Five Cents To Come In Pins Are for Children PLEASE 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?



Chapter XXIV

The Punch And Judy Show


Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, sitting down in the back part of the automobile, with the blanket around them, got through pretending they were asleep on a make-believe ship, and "woke up."

They had felt the car moving, but they thought nothing of this, for they imagined Mr. Reinberg was taking them to their house so they might ask their mother if they could go for a ride.

Bunny looked at Sue and said:

"It takes this auto a good while to get to our house."

"Yes," Sue agreed, "but maybe he is going around the block to give us a longer ride."

"Oh, maybe! That would be fun!"

Bunny stood up and looked over the side door of the back part of the car. He could not see his house, and, in fact, he could see no houses at all, for they were out on a country road.

"Why! Why!" exclaimed Bunny to his sister. "Look, Sue! We're lost again!"

"Lost?"

"Yes. We're away far off from our house. I don't know where we are; do you?"

"No," and Sue looked at the road along which they were moving in the automobile. "Oh, Bunny! Are we really lost again?"

Sue spoke so loudly that Mr. Reinberg, who was at the steering wheel, turned around quickly. Up to now Bunny and Sue had talked in such low voices, and the automobile had rattled so loudly, that the dry-goods man had not heard them. But when he did he turned quickly enough.

"Why, bless my heart!" he exclaimed. "You here -- Bunny and Sue -- in my automobile?" and he made the machine run slowly, so it would not make so much noise. He wanted to hear what Bunny and Sue would say.

"You here?" he asked again. "How in the world did you come here?"

"Why -- why," began Bunny, his eyes opening wide. "You said we could have a ride, Mr. Reinberg. Don't you remember?"

"That's so. I do remember something about it," the man said. "I declare, I was so busy thinking about my store, and some post-office letters, that I forgot all about you. But I thought you were to ask your mother if you could have a ride."

"Why -- why, we thought you would take us around to our house, in the automobile, so we could ask her," Bunny said.

Mr. Reinberg laughed.

"Well, well!" he cried. "This is a joke! You thought one thing and I thought another. After you spoke to me, and I went in the post-office, I supposed you had run home to ask your folks."

"No," said Bunny, "we didn't. We got in your auto 'cause we thought you wanted us to."

"Ha! Ha!" laughed the dry-goods-store man. "This is very funny! And when I came out of the post-office, and didn't see anything of you, I thought your folks wouldn't let you go, as you hadn't come back."

"And we were in your auto all the while!" exclaimed Sue, in such a queer little voice that Mr. Reinberg laughed again.

"And have you been in there ever since?" he asked.

"Yes," Bunny replied. "We were playing steamboat, and we lay down to go to sleep while we went over the make-believe ocean waves. Then, when we woke up, and couldn't see our house -- "

"Or any houses," added Sue.

"Or any houses," Bunny went on, "why -- why, we thought we were -- "

"Lost!" exclaimed Sue. "We don't like to be lost!"

"You're not lost," Mr. Reinberg said, laughing again. "You're quite a way from home, though, for I have been going very fast. But I'll take care of you. Now let me see what I had better do. I have to go on to Wayville, and I don't want to turn around and go back with you youngsters. And if I take you with me your folks will worry.

"I know what I'll do. I'll telephone back to your mother, tell her that you're with me, and that I'll take you to Wayville, and bring you safely back again. How will that do?"

"Will you take us in the auto?" asked Bunny.

"Of course."

"Oh, what fun!" cried Sue. "We'll have a ride, after all, Bunny."

"Yes," agreed her brother. "Thank you, Mr. Reinberg."

The dry-goods man found a house in which there was a telephone, and he was soon talking to Mrs. Brown in her home. He told her just what had happened; how, almost by accident, he had taken Bunny and Sue off in his automobile. Then he asked if he might give them a longer ride, and bring them home later.

"Your mother says I may," Mr. Reinberg said, when he came back to the automobile, in which Bunny and Sue were waiting. "I'll take you on to Wayville."

"Our Uncle Henry lives there," Bunny told the dry-goods man.

"Well, I don't know that I shall have time to take you to see him, but we'll have a ride."

"We 'most went to Uncle Henry's once," said Sue. "On a trolley car, only Splash couldn't come, and we had to go back and we got lost and -- and -- "

"Splash found the way home for us," finished Bunny, for Sue was out of breath.

"Well, we won't get lost this time," Mr. Reinberg said. "Now off we go again," and away went the automobile, giving Bunny and Sue a fine ride.

They soon reached Wayville, where Mr. Reinberg went to see some men. Bunny and Sue did not have time to pay a visit to their Uncle Henry, but Mr. Reinberg bought them each an ice cream soda, so they had a fine time after all. Then came a nice ride home.

"Well, well!" cried Mrs. Brown, when Bunny and Sue, their cheeks red from the wind, came running up the front walk. "Well! well! But you youngsters do have the funniest things happen to you! To think of being taken away in an automobile!"

"But we didn't mean to, Mamma," protested Bunny.

"No, you never do," said Aunt Lu, smiling.

"Oh, Bunny!" Sue exclaimed a little later that day, "we didn't sell any tickets for the Punch and Judy show."

"Well, never mind," answered Bunny. "I guess enough will come anyhow."

You see he and Sue had such a good time on the automobile ride that they forgot all about the tickets they had set out to sell.

In three days more the Punch and Judy show would be held in the Brown barn. Everything was ready for it, Bunny had gone over his part again and again until he did very well indeed. Sue, also, was very, very good in what she did, so the other girls said. Sadie West, who was older, helped Sue.

By this time, of course, the grown folks knew that some sort of a show was going on in the Brown barn, and they had promised to come. And there were so many children who wanted to see what it was going to be like that Bunny and Sue did not know where they were all going to sit.

"And oh! what a lot of pins we'll have," said Sue, for all the children paid pins for their tickets.

But Bunker Blue and George Watson made seats by putting boards across some boxes, so no one would have to stand up.

Then came the day of the show. Bunny was dressed up in some old clothes, and so was Sue. She did not put hers on, though, until after she had helped take tickets, and sell them, at the barn door. Then Bunker Blue took her place, and Sue dressed to help Bunny.

Bunny was inside the little theatre that Bunker had made. It had a curtain that opened when Bunny pulled the string. He had his funny lobster claw with him.

"And am I to come in for nothing?" asked Aunt Lu, as she walked into the barn.

"Yes," said Bunny, putting his head out between the curtains, for he was not all dressed yet. "The show is for you, Aunt Lu. So you will not feel so sad."

"About your lost diamond ring," added Sue.

"Bless your hearts! What dear children you are!" said Aunt Lu, and something glistened in her eyes as bright as a diamond -- perhaps it was a tear -- but if so it was a tear of joy.

"All ready for the show now!" cried Bunker. "Please all sit down!"

Down they sat on the benches, some men and some ladies, but mostly children, friends of Bunny and Sue.

"Are you all ready, Bunny?" asked Bunker, going close to the little theatre.

"Yes, I'm all ready."

"Have you got your lobster claw on?"

"Yes. I'm going to open the curtain now."

The curtain opened in the middle, and there stood Bunny. You could only see down to his waist, but such a funny face as he had! The lobster claw, tied over his nose, made him look exactly like the pictures of Mr. Punch.

Bunny made a bow, and then, instead of saying some of the funny things that Mr. Punch in the show always says, Bunny sang a little song, while Bunker Blue played on a mouth organ. This is what Bunny sang:

"This little show is for Aunt Lu. Of course we're glad of others, too. We want to cheer, and make her glad, So she won't feel so very sad. We hope she finds her diamond ring, And this is all that I can sing!"

That was what Bunny sang, in his queer, "nosey" voice, to a queer little tune that Bunker played on the mouth organ. And, when Bunny had finished, he made a funny little bow, and said:

"I didn't make up that song. Bunker did!"

Then how everybody clapped their hands, and George Watson called out:

"Three cheers for Bunker Blue!"

Then began the real Punch and Judy show -- that is, as much of it as Bunny and Sue could manage.

"I wonder where Mrs. Punch is?" asked Bunny, twisting his head around.

"Here I is!" cried Sue, and up she popped. She had been stooping down so she would not be seen until just the right time.

"And where is the baby?" asked Mr. Punch, looking first on one side and then the other, of his big lobster claw nose.

"Here she is!" and Sue held up one of her old dolls.

"Ah, ha! Ah, ha!" said Mr. Punch. "She is a bad baby, and I am going to whip her!"

And then, with a stick, he hit the doll until some of the sawdust came flying out.

"Don't do that!" begged Sue. "You mustn't spoil my doll, Bunny!"

"I've got to do it," said Bunny in a whisper. "I have to, Sue, it's part of the show." But Sue took her doll away from her brother.



Chapter XXV

The Lobster Claw


"Don't, Sue, don't!" begged Bunny Brown. "I must have the doll. You said I could take her," and he tried to pull the doll away from his sister.

But Sue did not want to give up even an old doll.

"You mustn't knock out all her sawdust," she said. "She'll get sick."

Bunny did not know what to do. It seemed as if his Punch and Judy show would be spoiled, and he did so want to make Aunt Lu feel jolly about it.

Sue had really said, at first, that he could beat her old doll with a stick, just as Mr. Punch does in the real show, but now Sue had changed her mind.

"Oh, dear!" said Bunny, and he said it in such a funny way that everyone laughed again.

"Let him take your doll, Sue dear," said her mother, from where she sat on a box in the barn. "If he spoils it I will get you a new one. It's only in fun, Sue," for Mrs. Brown did not want to see Bunny disappointed.

"All right. You can take her, but don't hit her too hard," said Sue.

"I won't," promised her brother. And then the little show went on.

Mr. and Mrs. Punch had great times with the "baby," which was the sawdust doll. Then Sue stooped down, out of sight, and turned herself into a make-believe policeman, by putting on a hat, made out of black paper, with a golden star pasted on in front. George Watson had made that for her. Up popped Sue, the pretend policeman, to make Mr. Punch stop hitting the sawdust doll baby.

"Go 'way! Go 'way!" cried Bunny Punch, in his squeaky voice, as he tossed the doll out on the barn floor. "That's the way to do it! That's the way I do it!"

Then Sue sang a little song, that Bunker had made up for her, and he played the mouth organ. And next Bunny and Sue sang together. The children thought it was fine, and the grown folks clapped their hands, and stamped with their feet, which is what people do in a real theatre when they like the play.

When Bunny and Sue made their bow, after singing the song together, they both bobbed out of sight behind the curtain.

"Is that -- is that all?" asked Tommie Tracy, in his shrill little voice, from where he sat in the front row.

"Yep. That's all," answered Bunny. "The show is over, and we hope you all like it; 'specially Aunt Lu."

"Oh, I just loved it," she answered. "And to think you got it all up for me! It was just fine!"

"Do it all over again!" said Tommie. "I liked it too, but I want some more. Do it again, Bunny!"

"I -- I can't," Bunny answered, as he came out from inside the box that Bunker Blue had made into a theatre. Bunny had taken off his lobster claw nose, and held it dangling from the strings by which it had been tied around his head.

Suddenly one of the planks, across two boxes, broke, and some of the boys, who had been sitting on it, fell down in a heap. But no one was hurt.

Then all the children crowded around Bunny and Sue to look at the funny things the two children were wearing -- old clothes, pinned up, and with make-believe patches on them.

"Let me take your funny nose, Bunny," begged Charlie Star. "I want to see how it looks on me."

Bunny handed over the lobster claw, but it dropped to the barn floor, and before either he or Charlie could pick it up, some one had stepped on it.

"Crack!" it went, for it was made of thin shell, not very strong. And there it lay in pieces on the floor.

"Oh, dear," cried Charlie. "I've broken your nose, Bunny!"

"Well, I'm glad it wasn't my real one," and Bunny put his hand up to his face, while Charlie stooped over to pick up the pieces of the lobster claw, hoping there was enough left to make a little nose for the next time.

And then suddenly Bunny, who was watching Charlie, gave a cry, and reached for something that glittered among the pieces of the red lobster claw.

"Oh, look! look!" fairly shouted the little fellow. "It's Aunt Lu's diamond ring. It was in the lobster claw, and it came out when the claw broke. Oh, Aunt Lu! I've found your diamond ring!"

Aunt Lu fairly rushed over to Bunny. She took from his hand the shiny, glittering thing he had picked up from the barn floor.

"Yes, it IS my lost diamond ring!" she cried. "Oh, where was it?"

"Down inside the lobster claw, that I had on my nose," Bunny said. "Only I didn't know it was there."

"And no one would have known it if it had not broken," said Mrs. Brown. "How lucky to have found it."

Aunt Lu slipped the diamond ring on her finger. It glittered brighter than ever.

"I see how it all happened," she said. "That day when I was helping pick the meat out of the big lobster, my ring must have slipped from my hand, and fallen down inside the empty claw. It went away down to the small end, and there it was held fast, just as Bunny's foot was caught in the hollow tree one day."

"Are you glad, Aunt Lu?" asked Bunny.

"Glad? I'm more glad than I ever was in my life!" and she hugged and kissed him, and Sue also.

And everyone was glad Aunt Lu had found her ring. The show was over now, and the children and grown folks went out of the barn. They all said they had had a fine time.

That night Aunt Lu gave Bunny and Sue each a dollar, for she said Sue had done as much to find the ring as Bunny had.

"Oh, what a lot of money!" cried Sue, as she looked at her dollar. "We're rich now; aren't we, Bunny? As rich as Old Miss Hollyhock?"

"We're richer!" answered Bunny.

"Well, save some of your money, and when you come to New York to visit me you can spend part of it in the city," said Aunt Lu.

"We will," promised Bunny Brown and his sister Sue.

But, before they visited Aunt Lu, the two children had other adventures. I will be glad to tell you about them in the next book, which will be named: "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on Grandpa's Farm." In that you may read what the two children did in the country, how they had a long automobile ride, and how they saw the Gypsies.

Aunt Lu went home the day after the Punch and Judy show.

"Did you like it?" asked Bunny, as she kissed him and Sue good-bye at the station.

"Indeed I did, my dear!" she answered.

"I said we'd find your diamond ring, and we did," declared Sue.

"Yes," agreed Bunny, "but we didn't know it was in the lobster's claw."

"No one would ever have dreamed of its being there," said Aunt Lu. "But oh! I am so glad I have it!"

And then, with the diamond ring sparkling on her finger, Aunt Lu got on the train and rode away, waving a good-bye to Bunny Brown and his sister Sue. And we will say good-bye, too.

<eob>

The Story Of A Candy Rabbit

By

Laura Lee Hope



Chapter I

Is He In Fairyland?


The Candy Rabbit sat up on his hind legs and looked around. Then he rubbed his pink glass eyes with his front paws. He rubbed his eyes once, he rubbed them twice, he rubbed them three times.

"No, I am not asleep! I am not dreaming," said the Candy Rabbit, speaking to himself in a low voice. "I am wide awake, but what strange things I see! I wonder what it all means!"

On one side of the Candy Rabbit was a large egg. It was larger than any egg the Candy Rabbit had ever seen, and there was a little glass window in one end of the egg.

"This is very strange," said the sweet chap, rubbing his eyes again. "Who ever heard of an egg with a window in it? I wonder if any one lives in that egg? It is not large enough for a house, of course; but still, some very little folk might stay in it. I'll take a look through that window."

The Candy Rabbit gave three hops and stood closer to the large egg. It glittered and sparkled in the light as newly fallen snow glitters under the moon. The Candy Rabbit looked in through the glass window, and what he saw inside the egg made him wonder more and more.

For he saw a church and some houses, a path leading over a little brook of water, and on the bank of the brook stood a little boy fishing.

"Well, I do declare!" exclaimed the Candy Rabbit. "Think of all those things inside an egg -- a church, a house and a little boy! I wonder what has happened to me! Yesterday I was on the toy counter, with the Calico Clown and the Monkey on a Stick, and to-day I seem to be in Fairyland. I wonder if this really is Fairyland? I guess I'd better look around some more."

He glanced again through the little glass window in the egg, and he thought he saw the little boy on the bank of the brook smiling at him. And the Candy Rabbit smiled back. Then the Bunny turned around and he saw, near him, a big chocolate egg. It was covered with twists and curlicues of sugar and candy, and in the end of this egg, also, was a glass window.

"Well, this certainly is surprising!" exclaimed the Candy Rabbit. "I wonder what I can see through that window!"

He looked and saw a little duck and a little chicken inside the chocolate egg. The little chicken was on one end of a small seesaw, and the little duck was on the other end. And as the Candy Rabbit looked through the glass window, he saw the seesaw begin to go up and down.

The Candy Rabbit shook his head. Once more he rubbed his paws over his pink glass eyes.

"I have heard of many strange things," he said to himself. "The Sawdust Doll told some of her queer adventures, and so did the White Rocking Horse and the Bold Tin Soldier. But never, in all my life, did I ever see a chocolate egg with a glass window and a little chicken and a duck inside seesawing and teeter-tautering! I think I had better go to the doctor's, something must be the matter with me!"

"What's the matter with you?" suddenly asked a voice behind the Candy Rabbit. The sweet chap turned so quickly that he almost cracked one of his sugary ears. He saw, just back of him, a real fuzzy, furry rabbit. At least the rabbit seemed real, for his ears slowly moved backward and forward, his head turned from side to side, and, every now and then, he would rise on his hind legs and then crouch down again.

"What's the matter with you?" asked this Fuzzy Bunny of the Candy Rabbit.

"I -- I really don't know what is the matter," was the answer.

"You seem to be all right," went on the other rabbit, as he slowly turned his head and bobbed up and down.

"Yes, I seem to be," said the Candy Rabbit, feeling his head and body as far as he could reach, as if to make sure no part of him was broken, or lost, or out of place. "But can you tell me this?" he asked. "A little while ago I was on the toy counter of this store with the Calico Clown and the Monkey on a Stick. And now I seem to be in Fairyland. Tell me, am I dreaming, or is this really Fairyland, where eggs have windows in them and hold little chickens and ducks who seesaw?"

The other Rabbit smiled, and kept on bobbing up and down, waving his ears and turning his head from side to side.

"Oh, please stop that and answer me if you can," begged the Candy Rabbit, in rather a sharp voice. "Why do you do that?"

"I have to," was the answer. "I have to keep on doing this until I run down."

"Run down where?" asked the Candy Rabbit.

"I mean until the clock-work inside me runs down," explained the Fuzzy Rabbit. "You see, I am wound up, and when I am wound I have to rise up and stoop down on my hind legs. I have to twist my head and wiggle my ears. I'll go on this way for half an hour more. But don't let that bother you. I can still talk, and I'm glad you're here. You're some company. These eggs never say anything," and with his ears he pointed to the chocolate one and the glittery one, each of which had glass windows.

"Ask him how he likes it here," suggested a voice on the other side of the Candy Rabbit. Turning, he saw a big chocolate chap, almost like himself, except that this Rabbit was very dark in color.

The Chocolate Rabbit waved his ears in a kind way at the Candy Bunny, and went on:

"How do you like it here?"

The Candy Rabbit gave another look around, and the more he looked the more certain he was that he was in Fairyland. Over at one end of what seemed to be a table he saw a little chicken harnessed to a tiny wagon, made from what appeared to be an egg shell, and a little doll sat in the egg-shell carriage, driving the chicken with little silk ribbon horse reins.

Turning around, so that he might not miss anything, the sweet fellow saw a large basket of flowers, and, nestled in among the blossoms, were some Candy Rabbits like himself, only smaller. Over in one corner were piled some cards, with pretty pictures on them, and near them was a small basket, filled with what seemed to be green grass, in which were hidden many small candy eggs.

"Yes, this surely must be Fairyland, and I know I shall like it here," said the Candy Rabbit, speaking half aloud. "But how did I get here, and where are the Calico Clown and the Monkey on a Stick?"

"Oh, they are not so far away," answered the Fuzzy Rabbit. "And you are not really in Fairyland, though this does seem like it, I suppose," and his eyes roved over the gay and pretty scene.

"Then where am I?" asked the Candy Rabbit again. "If this isn't Fairyland, where am I?"

The Chocolate Rabbit grinned.

"You are on the Easter Novelty Counter," was the Fuzzy Rabbit's answer.

"Where in the world is that?" asked the Candy Rabbit. "Is it anywhere near the North Pole Workshop of Santa Claus?"

The Chocolate Rabbit gave a loud laugh.

"He doesn't even know his own store," said this dark-complexioned chap. "Why, my dear fellow," he went on, "the Easter Novelty Counter is just around the corner from the toy section, where you have lived so long. The Calico Clown, the Monkey on a Stick and the other friends you speak of are there. You are not very far away from them."

"That's good," said the Candy Rabbit. "But why am I on the Easter Novelty Counter, and how did I get here?"

"You were put here because this is Easter time," answered the Chocolate Rabbit.

"But I don't remember coming here," said the Candy Rabbit.

"No," said the Fuzzy Rabbit with the clock-work inside him, which made him turn about and bow, "I dare say not. You were asleep when one of the girl clerks from your counter brought you over here. But we are glad to have you among us."

Just then it began to get light, for all this talk had taken place in the night, when only a dim light burned in the toy store. And with the coming of morning the clerks arrived, and also the customers to buy Easter novelties and other things.

The Fuzzy Rabbit stopped waving his ears and became quiet. The Candy Rabbit no longer talked to the Chocolate Bunny. A girl clerk led a lady, in a warm fur coat, over toward the counter.

"Here are some fine Easter presents," said the girl. "We have rabbits of all kinds."

"I want a large one for a little girl," said the lady. "I promised to send Madeline a nice Bunny." And then the Candy Rabbit felt himself being picked up and looked at.

"Oh, I wonder what is going to happen?" he thought.

The lady in the fur cloak turned the Candy Rabbit around and around, and even upside down, looking carefully at him.




Chapter II

The Rabbit's New Home


"Goodness me!" said the sweet chap to himself, as the lady swung him to one side so she might look at his eyes better. "This is worse than being on a merry-go-round! I am feeling quite dizzy! I hope I am not going to be seasick, as the Lamb on Wheels thought she was going to be when the sailor bought her."

But the Candy Rabbit was not made ill. The lady stopped turning him around and around and said to the girl clerk:

"This Rabbit seems to be just what I want for an Easter present. I'll take him."

"Shall I send it or will you take it with you?" asked the clerk.

"Ill take it," the lady answered. "A Candy Rabbit is not very hard to carry."

She handed him back to the clerk, but something happened. Whether the clerk did not take a good hold of the Candy Rabbit, or whether the lady let go of him too soon, I don't know. But, all of a sudden, the Candy Rabbit slipped from the lady's hand and began falling. Straight toward the floor he fell!

"Oh!" he thought, "if I fall to the hard floor I shall certainly be smashed, and then I shall be of no use as an Easter present. All I'll be good for will be to be eaten, like any other piece of candy! Oh, dear, this is dreadful!"

Faster and faster, nearer and nearer to the floor fell the Candy Rabbit, and, while the customer and the clerk looked, it seemed certain that he must be broken all to bits.

But listen!

The toy counter was not far away from the one where the Candy Rabbit and other Easter novelties were displayed. And on the counter were the Calico Clown and the Monkey on a Stick, besides a Jumping Jack.

Now whether one of these toys pushed it off the counter I cannot say; all I know is that a big, soft, rubber ball suddenly fell to the floor from the toy counter, rolled along and came to a stop just at the very place where the Candy Rabbit was falling.

And what did the Candy Rabbit do but fall on the soft, rubber ball! Right down on the squidgy-squdgy ball toppled the sweet chap, and it was like falling on a feather bed. The Candy Rabbit was not hurt a bit, but just bounced straight up, almost as far as he had fallen down, and the girl clerk caught him in her hands.

"Oh, I'm so glad he wasn't broken!" she exclaimed.

"So am I!" said the lady. "How remarkable! The rubber ball rolled along just in time. If every time any one or anything fell a rubber ball would happen along it would be very nice, wouldn't it?"

"Indeed it would," answered the girl clerk.

And, mind you, I'm not saying that the Calico Clown or the Monkey on a Stick pushed the rubber ball off the toy counter so that it rolled over in time for the Candy Rabbit to fall on it. I am not saying that for sure, but it might have happened.

"I'd better wrap this Rabbit up before anything else happens to him," said the clerk, with a laugh.

"Please do," begged the lady.

As for the Candy Rabbit, his little sugar heart was beating very fast because of the fright he had got when he thought he was going to be broken to bits. But of course neither the lady nor the girl knew this. They just thought he was made of sugar, and nothing else.

The girl quickly wrapped the Rabbit up in some sheets of soft tissue paper, and some padding made of curled wood, called excelsior. Some of the curled wood got in the Rabbit's ear and tickled him and made him smile.

"Well, now I am going on a journey," said the Candy Rabbit to himself, as he felt the lady carrying him out of the store. "I wish I had time to say good-bye to my new friends on the Easter counter, and to the Calico Clown and the Monkey on a Stick. But perhaps I shall see them again, and maybe I shall meet the Sawdust Doll or the Bold Tin Soldier."

Just what happened, while he was wrapped in the store bundle, of course the Candy Rabbit did not know, but he felt that he was being taken on quite a journey.

And indeed he was, for the lady who had bought him for an Easter present rode home with him in an automobile, and once, in the street, the fire engines came along and the automobile had to hurry to get out of the way. All that the Candy Rabbit could hear was a great noise, a rumble, a clang, a ringing of bells, and much shouting. Then the automobile went on again, and soon stopped.

The Candy Rabbit felt himself being lifted from the seat of the automobile, and, still in his bundle, he was carried toward a house. He did not know it at the time, but it was to be a new home for him.

Mirabell's mother, who was Madeline's Aunt Emma, was the lady who had bought the Candy Rabbit.

"Here is Madeline's Easter present that I promised her," said Mirabell's mother, handing the wrapped-up Bunny to Madeline's mother. "And there are some eggs in a basket for Herbert. Hide them away from the children until to-morrow."

"I will," said Madeline's mother, and then she carried the bundles into the house, while Mirabell's mother went on home in her automobile.

"Oh, Mother! What have you?" cried the voice of a little girl, as the lady entered the house with the bundle in which the Candy Rabbit was wrapped.

"Is it something good to eat?" asked a boy's voice.

"Now, Herbert and Madeline, you must not ask too many questions," said their mother, with a laugh. "This isn't exactly Christmas, you know, but it will soon be Easter, and --  -- "

"Oh, I know what it is!" cried the little girl, whose name was Madeline. "It's the eggs and baskets we have to hunt for on Easter morning, Herbert! Oh, what fun!"

"Hurray!" cried Herbert. "I wish it were Easter now."

"It soon will be," said his mother, and then she put away the Candy Rabbit where the children could not find him. And the place where she put him was in a closet in her room. She took the curled wood and the paper wrappings from the Rabbit, and set him on a shelf.

At first it was so dark in the closet that the Candy Rabbit could see nothing. But he knew he would soon get used to this. Then, as his eyes began to see better and better in the dark, as all rabbits can, he smelled something he liked very much.

"It's just like the perfume counter in the store," said the Rabbit, speaking out loud, which he could do now, as there were no human eyes to see him. "It's just like perfume!"

"It is perfume!" a voice suddenly said, and the Candy Rabbit was very much surprised.

"Who are you?" he asked.

And then he saw, standing on the shelf near him, what seemed to be a little doll made of glass. On her head was a funny little cap, ending in a point, like the cap a dunce wears in school in the story books, and as the Candy Rabbit hopped nearer this Glass Doll the sweet smell of perfume became stronger.

"Where is all the nice smell?" asked the Candy Rabbit.

"I am it," answered the Glass Doll. "I am made hollow, and inside I am filled with perfume. There is a hole in the top of my head and up through my pointed cap, and whenever the lady stands me on my head and jiggles me up and down some perfume spills out on her handkerchief."

"Stands you on your head!" cried the Candy Rabbit. "I shouldn't think you would like that!"

"Oh, well, I'm used to it by this time," said the Glass Doll. "But tell me, who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"I am a Candy Rabbit, and I guess I am going to be an Easter present," was the answer. And, surely enough, he was.

Later that night Madeline's mother opened the closet door. The Candy Rabbit saw her take down the Glass Doll, tip her upside down and sprinkle a little perfume on her fingers, which she rubbed on her hair.

"And now we shall hide the Easter baskets, so Madeline and Herbert may hunt for them and find them to-morrow morning," said the lady. "I must hide this Rabbit extra well, so Madeline will have a lot of fun searching for him."

"Put him behind the piano," said a man. He was the children's father.

"I will," said Mother, and that is where the Candy Rabbit was hidden. Near him was placed a little basket filled with Easter eggs. Some of them were made of candy, and others were like those in the store -- filled with pretty scenes.

"Those are the places I thought were Fairyland," said the Candy Rabbit to himself, as he looked at the basket of eggs. "I wish some Chicken or Duck were here for me to talk to. Eggs can't say very much."

And of course that was true. Not until an egg turns into a chicken can it move about and say things by cackling -- or crowing, if it's a rooster instead of a hen.

"I suppose I might hop around the room and find some one to talk to," thought the Candy Rabbit to himself, when he noticed that he was left alone behind the piano with the basket of eggs. "But perhaps it would be better to wait, since I am a stranger here."

So the Candy Rabbit kept very still and quiet all night, and in the morning it was Easter Sunday.

Herbert and Madeline were up early, for it was one of the joys of their lives to hunt for Easter eggs. Eagerly they ran about the rooms, looking under chairs, on mantels, behind the phonograph and beneath the sofa.

"Oh, I've found one basket!" cried Herbert, as he saw a large one, filled with green curled wood and eggs, under the library table.

"And I've found another!" shouted Madeline, as, after rather a long search, she looked behind the piano. "I've found a basket and -- and -- Oh, Herbert! look what a lovely Candy Rabbit. Oh, I'm so glad!" and the little girl picked up the Candy Rabbit and fairly hugged him. The Candy Rabbit was very happy. He had now found some one to love him -- some one to whom he could belong, as the Sawdust Doll belonged to the little girl Dorothy.

As Madeline took up her Easter basket and the Rabbit, Herbert, who was eating some of his candy eggs, called:

"Here come Dorothy and Dick over to show us their Easter baskets."

"And I'm going to show Dorothy my Candy Rabbit!" cried Madeline.

Running to the window, Madeline held up the Rabbit, and he, looking out of his glass eyes, saw a sight that gladdened his heart. In Dorothy's arms was the Sawdust Doll -- the same Sawdust Doll who had lived in the store whence the Candy Rabbit had come.

As Dorothy and Dick came laughing into the room where Madeline and Herbert were, the children called to one another:

"Happy Easter! Happy Easter!"




Chapter III

The Bad Cat


"What a pretty Candy Rabbit!" said Dorothy to Madeline. "Where did you get him?"

"He's one of my Easter presents," answered Madeline. "Herbert and I have just finished hunting for our baskets."

"Did you find them all, and all the eggs?" inquired Dick. "Dorothy and I got up early to hunt for ours."

"I think I found every one," replied Herbert. "But last year, I remember, I missed one big candy egg, and I didn't find it until a week later."

The children showed each other their holiday presents, and the Candy Rabbit was much admired. Dorothy and Dick took him up in their hands so they might see him better.

"Goodness! I hope they don't drop me," thought the Rabbit. "There isn't any rubber ball here for me to fall on, as there was in the store. I certainly hope they don't drop me!"

But Dorothy and Dick were very careful, and, after they had looked at and admired the Rabbit, he was put down on a chair not far from Dorothy's Sawdust Doll. The Candy Rabbit kept wishing that the children would go out of the room for a while, so he might talk to the Doll, whom he had not seen for a long time.

And, after a while, Madeline's mother called the children to show them an Easter present which she had received. Out of the room trooped the four children, leaving the Candy Rabbit and the Sawdust Doll together, with no one to watch what they said or did.

"Now I have a chance to talk to you!" exclaimed the Sawdust Doll. "I've just been waiting to ask how all my friends are at the toy store. And how are you? How did you get here? Do you like living in a house with children more than in the store? Tell me all about it!"

"Goodness!" laughed the Candy Rabbit. "You talk as fast as a phonograph Doll when she has been wound up tight."

"Well, we'll have to talk fast if we want to tell each other anything before those children get back," said the Sawdust Doll. "Now you tell me your adventures, and then I'll tell you mine."

The two toy friends talked for some time, the Candy Rabbit relating the latest news of the toy store, and the Sawdust Doll speaking of the nice home she had with Dorothy, and how kind Dick was to the White Rocking Horse.

Then the Rabbit wanted to know about the Lamb on Wheels and the Bold Tin Soldier, and, as the Sawdust Doll had heard from them lately, she told some of their adventures.

"I do wish I could see the Calico Clown and the Monkey on a Stick once more," sighed the Sawdust Doll. "They were certainly the jolliest toys I ever knew."

"Yes, they were," agreed the Candy Rabbit. "And I don't believe the Clown has yet found any one to answer his riddle about what makes more noise than a pig under a gate."

"Hush! Here come the children!" exclaimed the Sawdust Doll in a low voice. Madeline and Herbert, Dorothy and Dick, having seen the present Madeline's mother had received, had come back into the room again.

"What shall we do now?" asked Madeline.

"Let's play with your Rabbit and my Doll," suggested Dorothy.

Madeline thought this would be nice, but as Dick did not care much about such fun he said he and Herbert would go back home and get out his Rocking Horse.

"And I'll get Arnold and his Tin Soldiers and we'll have some fun," he added. "Come on, Herb."

"If you see Mirabell, send her over here to play with us," called Dorothy to her brother, and Dick said he would do so. "Tell her to bring her Lamb on Wheels," she added.

The two little girls had good times playing with the Sawdust Doll and the Candy Rabbit, and, after a while, Madeline's mother brought in a plate of cookies for the little girls to eat.

"We'll have a play party," said Madeline. "I'll set my Candy Rabbit up here on the goldfish stand where he can watch us, for he can't eat anything, you know."

"And I'll set my Sawdust Doll over in this chair where she can see us," said Dorothy. "My Doll can eat make-believe things when I have a play party, but we won't pretend that now. We'll just eat the cookies ourselves."

"Yes," agreed Madeline. So she put her Candy Rabbit on the goldfish stand.

This was a round table on which stood a bowl of real, live goldfish. The fish swam around in the water, and now and then they stopped swimming to look out through the glass with their big, round eyes. The top of the goldfish globe was open, and sometimes Madeline was allowed to feed the fish when her mother stood by. The fish ate tiny bits of biscuit bought for them at the fish, bird and dog store.

Dorothy's Sawdust Doll was propped up in a chair not far from the goldfish. Then the two little girls began to eat the cookies.

While this was going on a bad cat had sneaked into the room. The cat was a big fellow, and he often got into mischief. He sometimes chased birds, and, more than once, Patrick, the gardener at Dick and Dorothy's house, had driven him away from the coops where the little chickens lived with the old hen.

"Goodness, I hope that cat isn't after me!" thought the Candy Rabbit.

"Mercy! I hope the cat doesn't carry me off, the way the dog Carlo once did," thought the Sawdust Doll.

But the bad cat was paying no attention to either the Doll or the Rabbit. The cat's eyes were on the live goldfish in the glass bowl, and, when I tell you that cats are very fond of fish, you can guess what is going to happen.

With a quick, silent spring, making no noise on his soft, padded paws, the cat first jumped into the chair beside the Sawdust Doll.

"Oh, dear me, he certainly is going to carry me off!" thought the Doll. "I wish I dared scream!"

But the cat was not after the Doll. With another jump Tom landed on the table beside the bowl of goldfish.

"Goodness sakes alive! my time has come," thought the poor frightened Candy Rabbit. "The cat is going to eat me!"

But Tom was not after a Candy Rabbit. His greedy eyes were on the swimming goldfish in the open glass bowl. Dorothy and Madeline sat with their backs to the little table on which stood the bowl of fish and the Candy Rabbit. The little girls were busy talking.

All of a sudden Tom stood up on his hind legs and put his forepaws on the edge of the bowl. As he did this the fish began swimming around swiftly, very much frightened, indeed, just as you may have seen a canary bird flutter in a cage when some cat came too close.

"Oh, he isn't after me -- he's after the fish!" thought the Candy Rabbit. "Oh, the poor fish! I wish I could save them!"

Tom was switching his tail to and fro, as cats always do when they are about to catch a bird, a fish or anything alive. The fish were swimming about faster and faster inside their bowl of water. They could make no noise. Some fish, such as catfish, can make a little sound out of water, and so can the fish called grunters, but I never heard of any other fish making any noise. Though of course they may be able to talk among themselves, for all I know.

Standing with his forepaws on the edge of the glass bowl, Tom dipped one paw down toward the water to get a fish. His tail kept on switching to and fro, and, all at once, it switched against the Candy Rabbit and tilted the Bunny over toward the glass bowl.

"Tinkle-tinkle! Tink!" went the hard ears of the Candy Rabbit against the glass, making a noise like the ringing of a little bell.

"What's that?" suddenly cried Madeline, turning from the table where she sat with Dorothy eating cookies.

Dorothy also turned and looked. The two little girls saw Tom up on the goldfish table.

"Oh, you bad cat, get down from there!" cried Madeline, and she looked for something to throw at Tom. "Get away from our fish!" she cried.

The cat paused a moment, and then, seeing he would be caught if he tried to get a fish, down he jumped, with a last, angry switch of his tail at the Candy Rabbit.

"That was all your fault!" hissed the cat to the Bunny in a whisper. "If you hadn't made a noise they wouldn't have seen me. I'll fix you for that, Mr. Candy Rabbit!"




Chapter IV

Up In The Air


Madeline and Dorothy were so surprised at first at seeing the bad cat in the room that they did not know what to do, except that Madeline called "Scat!" to him.

But when the cat jumped down and started to run out of the room, the little girls began to talk very fast.

"Oh, wasn't he a bold thing!" cried Madeline.

"Did he get any of your goldfish?" Dorothy asked.

She and Madeline hurried over to the bowl and counted the swimming fishes.

"No, there are five there, and that's all we had," said Madeline. "The naughty cat didn't get any."

"What do you suppose made that noise like the ringing of a bell?" asked Dorothy.

"It was the Candy Rabbit," answered Madeline. "Look! He fell over against the glass bowl, and, lots of times, when I've been feeding the fish and have struck the bowl, it has rung like a bell. The Candy Rabbit did that, and that's what made me look around."

"Wouldn't it have been funny if the Rabbit had made the bowl tinkle all by himself?" asked Dorothy, with a laugh.

"Yes. But he couldn't," said Madeline.

And, now I come to think of it, maybe the Candy Rabbit did topple over by himself, to strike against the bowl and so cause Dorothy and Madeline to turn around in time to stop the bad cat from getting the goldfish. Mind you, I am not saying for sure that this happened. The cat's tail certainly brushed against the Candy Rabbit, but the sweet chap may have tinkled against the glass globe himself. He surely wanted to save the fish from being eaten.

During the rest of Easter Sunday the children played quietly with their toys. Mirabell and Arnold, the other little boy and girl, came over to Madeline's house with their gifts and every one had a happy time.

The Candy Rabbit was looked at over and over again, but, though he liked this and was glad and happy he had come to live with Madeline, yet he could not help worrying about what the cat had said.

"I wonder if a cat can do anything to me," thought the sweet chap, over and over again. "I must be on the watch. He may try to sneak in again."

But, as the days passed and nothing happened, the Candy Rabbit did not worry so much, nor think so much about it. He saw nothing more of the cat.

Madeline took very good care of her Candy Rabbit. She got a piece of pink ribbon and tied it around her Easter toy's neck, making him look very pretty.

"Now I am as stylish as Dorothy's Sawdust Doll, who has a blue ribbon on her hair," thought the Candy Rabbit.

And because of that very same pink ribbon something dreadful happened a few days later. I will tell you about it. After Easter the weather gradually became warmer and sunnier. Doors and windows could be left open, and the flowers in the yard began to blossom.

One day the Candy Rabbit was placed by Madeline on a chair in the dining room, near the bowl of goldfish on their little round table. The Sawdust Doll was not in the room, for Dorothy had her toy out in her own yard playing. The Candy Rabbit was lonesome, for he did not know how to talk to the goldfish.

All of a sudden, in through the open window, jumped the same bad cat that had been there before. His tail was lashing to and fro, and his whiskers were wiggling up and down.

"Meow!" said the cat.

"Oh, dear, here he is again!" said the Candy Rabbit, and, being able, as all toys are, to speak and understand animal language, the Candy Rabbit went on:

"Have you come to try to catch a goldfish, Mr. Tom?"

"Not now!" was the snarling answer. "I came to pay you back, as I said I would! Only for your toppling over and making the glass globe tinkle, I would have had a goldfish before this. It's all your fault, and I'm going to pay you back!"

"It was not my fault!" said the Rabbit. "You knocked me over yourself with your switching tail. But if I could have stopped you in any other way from getting a goldfish, I would have done it."

"Ha! So that's the way you feel about it, is it?" growled the cat. "Well, I'm going to fix you!"

"How?" asked the Candy Rabbit, wondering what was going to happen. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to carry you off to the fields and lose you in the tall grass," was the answer. "Then the next time I want to catch a goldfish you will not give the alarm."

"Oh, please don't take me away!" begged the Candy Rabbit.

"Yes, I will!" said the cat. "I'll carry you away by that pink ribbon around your neck."

All of a sudden, before the Candy Rabbit could hop out of the way, the bad cat sprang across the room and caught in his teeth the end of the pink ribbon that was around the neck of the Candy Easter toy.

"Stop it! Stop! Please let me go!" cried the Candy Rabbit.

"I'll fix you!" was all the cat answered. Then, carrying the Candy Rabbit in his mouth by means of the ribbon, the bad cat sprang out of the window again and was soon trotting through the tall grass of the lots near the house where Madeline lived.

The grass swished and swashed against the legs and ears of the Candy Rabbit as the cat carried him along. The Rabbit was not hurt any, because the ribbon was not tied very tightly about his neck. And of course the cat's teeth did not touch him. But, for all that, the Candy Rabbit was very angry and somewhat alarmed.

"What are you going to do with me?" he asked the cat.

"You'll see!" was the answer. "I'm going to fix you for spoiling my chance of getting a goldfish dinner! I'm going to lose you, and then I'll go back and get a fish."

Carrying the Candy Rabbit a little way farther into the tall grass, the cat suddenly let go of the ribbon. The Rabbit fell down, but as the grass was soft, like a cushion, he was not hurt. He gave a little grunt as he fell down.

"Now you stay here a while and see how you like it," said the bad cat, and away he trotted, hoping to get a meal of goldfish this time. And there came to the poor Candy Rabbit from the distance the sound of the Cat's voice as he laughed, "Ha-ha," and snarled, "I've fixed you all right! Ha-ha!"

"Dear me!" thought the poor Candy Rabbit, "I wonder what will happen to me. I must try to get out of here. I can hop, as long as no human eyes see me. Maybe I can get back in time to warn the goldfish of their danger."

The Rabbit tried to hop, but, being made of candy as he was, with rather stiff legs that were not very long, he could not go very fast. And when he had made a few hops he was very tired.

"Dear me! I shall have to stay here forever, perhaps," he sighed. "And, if it rains and I get wet, I'll melt and there will be nothing left of me! Oh, what trouble I am in!"

The Candy Rabbit crouched down in the grass, and pretty soon he heard some voices talking. He knew they were the voices of boys, and, in a little while, he heard one say:

"Now, Herbert, you hold the kite and I'll run with it."

"All right, Dick," said some one else. "I hope it flies away up high in the air."

"I'll keep the tail clear of the weeds," said another boy.

"That's the way, Dick," said the first boy.

The Candy Rabbit, down in the grass, heard this.

"They must be Dick, Herbert and Arnold," he thought. "They have come here to fly their kite. I hope they find me and take me home in time to save the goldfish from the cat."

There was more talk and laughter among the boys, but the Candy Rabbit could not see what they were doing. All at once, though, one boy said.

"The tail of the kite is not heavy enough. We've got to tie something to it. And, oh, here is the very thing!" he went on. "We'll give him a ride up in the air!"

"Give who a ride?" asked Dick, for it was Herbert who had spoken.

"Give Madeline's Candy Rabbit a ride on the end of the kite tail," went on Herbert. "Here's her Rabbit down in the grass."

"How did he get here?" asked Arnold.

"I don't know. Maybe my sister carried him over the fields to show to some girl and dropped him. But we'll give the Candy Rabbit a ride in the air. He will be just heavy enough for the kite tail. I'll tie him on."

And then, before the Candy Rabbit could hop away, even if he had been allowed to do so (which he was not) Herbert began tying him on the end of the kite tail by means of the pink ribbon.

A moment later the Rabbit felt himself sailing through the air.




Chapter V

The Organ Grinder


Since the Candy Rabbit had left the toy store, after having been put on the Easter novelty counter, so many things had happened that he was beginning to get used to them. But sailing through the air on the tail of a kite was something he had never done before.

Up he went, higher and higher, as the wind blew the kite. The Candy Rabbit looked down toward the ground. It seemed a long way off -- very far from him.

"If I should fall now, as I fell when the lady dropped me in the toy store," thought the Candy Rabbit, "I think it would be the end of me. There is no soft rubber ball here on which to land."

Dick, Arnold and Herbert, the three boys who had been flying their kite when they found the Candy Rabbit in the grass, were laughing and shouting as they saw the tail switching to and fro, with the Easter Bunny tied on the end.

"That Rabbit was just the thing needed to make our kite go up," said Dick.

"Yes," agreed Arnold. "But it's funny the Rabbit was out in the grass here, wasn't it?"

"Oh, I guess my sister must have dropped him," remarked Herbert. "When we get through flying the kite I'll take the Rabbit off the tail and carry him back to Madeline."

Up and up, and to and fro, switched the Candy Rabbit on the kite tail. Of course a bunch of grass, a wad of paper, or even a stone would have been just as well for the boys to have used as a weight. But they had happened to see the Candy Rabbit, and had taken him. Boys are sometimes like that, you know.

How long Herbert, Dick and Arnold might have let the Candy Rabbit sail about on the end of the kite tail I cannot say, but when the three chums had been having this fun for about half an hour, all of a sudden Madeline and her two friends, Mirabell and Dorothy, came running across the field.

"Oh, Herbert! what do you think?" cried Madeline, when she saw her brother. "That bad old cat came into our house again, and tried to catch one of our goldfish!"

"Did he get any?" asked Herbert.

"No, but he almost did. Dorothy came over with her Sawdust Doll just as the cat was dipping his paw down into the bowl, and what do you think Dorothy did?" asked Madeline.

"I don't know. What did she do?" asked Herbert.

"I just threw my Sawdust Doll at the cat!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I knew it couldn't hurt her, 'cause she's stuffed with sawdust."

"Did you hit him?" Dick asked.

"I almost did," answered Dorothy. "Anyhow, I scared him away, and he didn't get any goldfish."

"That's good," said Arnold.

"I wish I'd been there!" said Dick.

Just then Madeline looked up and saw something dangling on the end of the kite tail.

"Why, Herbert!" she cried, "what have you there? Oh, you have my Candy Rabbit on your kite! I was looking all over for him. Where'd you get him?"

"I found him here in the field where you dropped him," answered her brother.

"I didn't drop my Candy Rabbit here," went on Madeline. "I wouldn't do such a thing. I left him in the house, and then I couldn't find him, and I was coming to ask if you had seen him. I thought maybe Carlo had carried him off as he carried Dorothy's doll once."

"Well, if you didn't take your Candy Rabbit out and leave him here in the field, maybe Carlo did," said Herbert. "Anyhow, we didn't hurt him and you can have him back again. We can tie a bunch of weeds on the kite tail. They'll be just as good as the Rabbit."

"Oh, the idea of saying my Candy Rabbit is like a bunch of weeds!" cried Madeline. "Give him right back to me this minute, Herbert!" and she shook her finger at her brother.

"All right," Herbert answered. "Pull the kite down, fellows."

"All right."

Down came the kite when the string was wound up, and slowly the Candy Rabbit floated back to earth. Madeline stood under the tail with her dress held out to catch the Bunny in it. And down he came, not being hurt a bit. Quickly Madeline loosened her Easter toy from the kite tail, and she nestled him in her arms.

"You poor little Bunny!" she murmured. "I guess he was scared half to death away up there in the air."

She and the other girls looked at the toy. He did not seem to be harmed in the least.

"But he's got a green grass stain on one ear," said Mirabell.

"That only makes him look more stylish," said Dorothy.

"And green goes well with the pink color of his ribbon," added Madeline. "Oh, I'm so glad to get my Rabbit back."

Madeline took her Candy Rabbit back to the house. There she and the girls had some fun, and the boys kept on flying the kite. They used a bunch of weeds as a weight on the tail, instead of the Rabbit, as they had done at first.

And of course neither Madeline nor any of the others knew that the cat had carried the Bunny away and had dropped him in the grassy field. They all thought Carlo had done it, but of course there was no way of finding out for sure, except by reading this book. In this the true story of the Candy Rabbit is told for the first time.

Madeline tried to get the green grass-stain off her Rabbit's ear, but it would not come out.

"Why don't you scrape it off?" asked Herbert.

"Why, I might scrape off half his ear! No, indeed!" Madeline said.

"Well, wash it off," suggested Dick, who had come over to play with Herbert. "Take him up to the bathroom and wash his ear. My mother washes my ears."

"Pooh! your ears aren't made of candy," said Madeline.

"No. And I'm glad they're not, or the fellows would be biting pieces off all the while," laughed Dick.

"Well, I guess I won't wash my Candy Rabbit -- at least not just yet," said Madeline. "I'll wait until he gets a few more stains on him."

Several days passed. The bad cat did not again try to catch the goldfish. He seemed to have been frightened away when Dorothy threw the Sawdust Doll at him. And, I am glad to say, the Doll was not hurt in the least. In fact, she rather liked scaring cats.

One day Madeline took her Candy Rabbit out into the kitchen where the cook was making a cake. She had just put the cake into the oven to bake, and there were several dishes on the table -- dishes in which were dabs of sweet, sugary icing and cake batter.

"Oh, may I please clean out some of the cake dishes?" asked Madeline.

"Yes," answered the cook kindly.

This was one of the pleasures Madeline and Herbert enjoyed on baking day, but Herbert was not on hand then, so Madeline had all the dishes to herself. She set her Candy Rabbit on a shelf, got a spoon, and began to clean the icing dish. Of course you know that means she scraped the dish with the spoon and ate the icing she scraped up. Yes, and I think she even licked the spoon. After she had finished the white icing dish there was a chocolate one to start on.

"Oh, I'm going to have a dandy time!" laughed the little girl.

She forgot all about her Candy Rabbit. There he sat on a shelf near the gas stove, and as the cakes in the oven began to bake, the fire grew hotter and hotter and the Candy Rabbit began to feel very strange.

"Dear me, I am afraid I am going to melt!" he said to himself, not daring to speak aloud when Madeline and the cook were there.

The kitchen grew warmer and warmer, the stove became hotter and hotter, and, on the shelf where the Candy Rabbit sat, it was like a summer day in the blazing sun.

"This is worse than anything that ever happened to me before," said the Candy Rabbit. "I think I'll just melt down into a lump of sugar! That would be dreadful!"

Of course it would, and Madeline would have been very sorry if anything like that had happened. One of the ears of the Rabbit was just getting soft and drooping over a little to one side, when the cook happened to look toward the shelf.

"Oh, Madeline, my dear!" she cried. "Your Candy Rabbit!"

"What's the matter?" asked the little girl, looking up from the dish she was scraping clean with a spoon, in order to eat the last of the chocolate inside.

"He will melt if you leave him on that shelf near the hot stove," went on the cook. "Look, one of his ears is drooping!"

"Oh, dear!" screamed Madeline, and, dropping the spoon, she caught her Easter toy from the shelf.

It was only just in time, too, for the poor Rabbit was just beginning to melt. In fact, one of his ears did soften and twist over to one side a little. But Madeline quickly took him out on the cool porch, and the Rabbit felt better. However, that queer twist, or droop, stayed in one ear -- not the one with the grass-stain on, but the other.

"I don't care," Madeline said, when her toy was cool and all right again. "It makes him look different from the other Candy Rabbits to have a twisted ear. It's so funny!"

Happy days followed for the Bunny. The children played sometimes in one house and sometimes in another, taking their toys with them, and sometimes the Rabbit had a chance to talk to the Sawdust Doll, the Bold Tin Soldier, the White Rocking Horse or the Lamb on Wheels, for the children would often leave their toys together, as the boys and girls went out to play in the yards or on the verandas.

"I wonder how the Calico Clown is getting along," said the Candy Rabbit to the Sawdust Doll on one of the days when they were together. They were on the porch of Madeline's house, and Madeline, Mirabell and Dorothy were around in the back yard playing in a sand pile.

"I should like to see him, and also the Monkey on a Stick," said the Doll. "Hark! What's that?" she suddenly asked, as strains of music were heard.

"It's a hand organ, and here comes a man playing it," said the Candy Rabbit.

"Has he a monkey with him to gather pennies in his hat?" asked the Sawdust Doll.

"No. But he has a little girl with him. She has a basket. I guess she gathers pennies in that. Maybe the organ man had a monkey but it ran away," suggested the Rabbit.

"Maybe," agreed the Doll. "Oh, isn't that nice music!" she cried. "It makes me feel like dancing!"

The hand-organ man was, indeed, playing a nice tune. The girl who was with him came into the yard and up the steps, holding out her basket ready for pennies. The little girls being in the back yard, no one was near the front of the house.

"Ah, a Candy Rabbit and a Sawdust Doll!" exclaimed the organ man's girl. "Nobody seems to want them. I have a doll of my own, but I have no Candy Rabbit. I think I will take this one. I would rather have him than pennies!"

And, looking quickly here and there to see if any one was going to toss her a penny, but seeing no one, the hand-organ man's little girl picked up the Candy Rabbit, tucked it under her apron, and quickly went down the steps again.

"Well, of all things!" thought the Candy Rabbit, as he felt himself being taken away in this fashion. "Of all things! What is this hand-organ girl going to do with me?"

And that is something we must find out.




Chapter VI

The Peddler's Basket


Slowly down the street walked the organ grinder, turning the crank and making music. His little girl, an Italian child, after putting the Candy Rabbit under her apron, looked around the house where Madeline lived to see if any one might be coming out with pennies. But no one came.

Madeline and Dorothy and Mirabell were in the back yard where they had gone to play in the sand pile, after leaving the Sawdust Doll and the Candy Rabbit on the front veranda. Madeline's mother was not at home, and the cook was too busy in the kitchen to bother with giving pennies to organ grinders, though she might have done so if she had had time and had had plenty of pennies.

As for Madeline and Dorothy and Mirabell, they had given one look down the street when they heard the hand-organ music. Then, as they saw he had no monkey with him, Madeline said:

"Oh, a hand-organ isn't any fun unless it has a monkey. We don't want to bother waiting to see this one. Come on and play."

So, as I have told you, they were in the back yard, leaving the Doll and the Rabbit on the veranda. And then the hand-organ man's little girl had come along and taken the Rabbit.

"I'll take him home with me. Nobody wants him," she said to herself as she went down off the veranda with the candy chap under her apron. And she really thought the Rabbit had been put out because no one wanted him. She slipped the Bunny into a large pocket in the skirt of her dress and hurried on after her father, who had walked down the street grinding out his tunes.

The organ grinder's little girl did not tell her father about the Candy Rabbit until that night when they reached their home after their day's travel.

With the organ man lived his brother, who was a peddler. He had a big basket in which he carried pins, needles, pin cushions, little looking glasses, court plaster and odds and ends, called "notions." This peddler man went about from house to house selling notions to such as wanted to buy them.

He, too, had been about all day, peddling with his basket, and he reached home about the same time as did his brother, the organ grinder, and the little girl.

The family had supper, and, after that, Rosa brought out the Candy Rabbit. All the while the Bunny had been in her pocket, and the sweet chap did not like it very much.

"I want to be out where I can see things," murmured the Rabbit. "I want to see what is happening. It is dreadful to be kidnapped like this and carried away from home!"

For that is what really had happened -- the Candy Rabbit had been kidnapped by Rosa, the organ girl, though, really, she did not mean to do wrong in taking him.

But when the Bunny was taken out of Rosa's pocket and set on the supper table in the light, he looked around him. It was quite a different home from Madeline's -- not nearly so nice, the Candy Rabbit thought, but of course he dared say nothing.

"Ah, what a fine Rabbit! Where did you get him?" asked Rosa's father.

"He was thrown away on a veranda of a house where I got no pennies," she answered. "No one wanted him, so I took him."

"He is a fine Candy Rabbit," said Joe, the peddler, looking at the Bunny. "He is almost new. I guess he came from an Easter novelty counter. Once I sold Easter toys, but now I sell only pins and needles. Yes, he is a fine Rabbit, Rosa. Are you going to eat him? He is made of candy."

"Eat him! Oh, no! I am going to keep him, always!" said the little girl, hugging the Rabbit in her arms.

The Bunny liked to be hugged and petted, and, though he would rather have been in Madeline's house, still he was glad the little organ girl liked him.

"Nobody wanted the Rabbit, so I took him," said Rosa, and she really thought this was so.

But of course Madeline wanted her Candy Rabbit very much. And when she and Dorothy and Mirabell came back to the veranda after their play in the sand pile and found the Sawdust Doll there and the Bunny gone, poor Madeline felt very bad indeed. She cried, and she looked all over for her Easter toy, but he was not to be found.

At first Madeline thought perhaps her brother or one of the other boys had taken the Bunny to tie to the kite again, but Herbert said that he and his chums had not seen the toy.

Then Madeline thought perhaps Carlo, the little dog, had carried the Bunny away, as once he carried off the Sawdust Doll, but this could not have happened, as Carlo had been kept chained in his kennel all that day.

"Well, my Candy Rabbit is gone, and I wish I could find him, and I'm awful lonesome without him," sobbed Madeline, and she was not happy even when her mother said she or Aunt Emma would buy her another.

And all the while the organ grinder's little girl had the Candy Rabbit. And that night, when the time came for Rosa to go to bed, she looked for a safe place to put the Easter toy. The little girl saw the big basket of the peddler in a corner of the room.

"I'll put the Candy Rabbit on one of the pin cushions in Uncle Joe's basket," said Rosa to herself. "He can sleep there all night. To-morrow I will make a little nest for him."

And the Candy Rabbit was so tired after all the adventures he had met with that day that he fell asleep almost at once, and passed a very pleasant night in the basket on the pin cushion, which was stuffed with sawdust, just like Dorothy's doll.

Peddler Joe was up early the next morning. He was up before either his brother, Tony, or the little girl, Rosa. Joe cooked himself some breakfast on an old oil stove, and then, taking his basket, he went out. He did not even turn back the oilcloth cover to see that his pins, needles, cushions and other notions were all in place. He felt sure that they were. And of course he did not know the Candy Rabbit was in his basket.

But there the Candy Rabbit was, in the peddler's basket, on the cushion.

"Dear me! what is happening now?" thought the Candy Rabbit, as he was suddenly awakened by being jiggled and joggled about in the basket. "Am I at sea? Have I been taken on a ship, and am I crossing the ocean?" For that is what the motion was like -- just the same as the Lamb of Wheels felt when she was on the raft.

And Joe, the peddler, not knowing the Bunny was in the basket, carried the sweet chap farther and farther away.

We must now see what happened to him.




Chapter VII

In The Bathtub


Joe, the peddler, stopped at several houses with his big basket of notions.

"Any pins? Any needles? Any court-plaster? Any pin cushions needed to-day?" he would ask, as he went to door after door. He would lift back half of the oilcloth cover of his basket to show his wares.

"No, nothing to-day! We have all the pins we need," was all the answer he received in many places.

"Well, I do not seem to be going to have very good luck to-day," thought Joe, as he tramped on. "I hope Rosa and her father do better with the hand organ. I have sold nothing yet."

And, all this while, Joe didn't know anything of the Candy Rabbit in his basket. But the Rabbit was there, just the same.

He had awakened when Peddler Joe picked up the basket. The Candy Rabbit found himself lying on the new pin cushion, where Rosa had placed him. But as the basket was lifted up and swung on Joe's shoulder by means of a strap, it was so tilted that the Candy Rabbit slipped off the cushion and fell down in among a pile of papers of pins.

"Oh, dear!" thought the sugary chap. "Now I'll be all stuck up!"

But he was not, I am glad to say. The pins were fastened on papers, which were then folded together, so that the points did not stick out, and the candy fellow was not even scratched.

Up and down the street went Joe the peddler, trying to sell his notions. Finally he came to the very house where Madeline lived, and where Rosa had taken the Candy Rabbit from the veranda the day before.

"Maybe I shall sell something here," thought Joe. He went up the steps and rang the bell. As it happened, Madeline's mother was in the hall and she opened the door. Madeline was also in the hall, just getting ready to go to see some little friends.

"Any pins? Any needles? Any notions to-day?" asked Joe, as he held his basket out for Madeline's mother to see. And this time, and for the first time that morning, Joe pulled back the oilcloth cover from the other side. That was the reason he had not yet seen the Rabbit.

But now, as the oilcloth was rolled back, the sweet chap, lying on his side among the papers of pins, was shown. Madeline's mother was just going to say she did not care for any needles or sticking-plaster when the little girl, looking into the basket, spied the Bunny.

"Oh, look!" cried Madeline! "There he is -- my Candy Rabbit! How did he get in the basket? Oh, Mother, my Candy Rabbit has come home to me!"

Madeline's mother was just as astonished as was the little girl; and Peddler Joe was surprised also.

"How did my little girl's Candy Rabbit get in your basket?" asked Madeline's mother.

"I don't know," Joe answered. "I did not know he was here. He is a surprise to me. If he is yours, take him."

He handed the Candy Rabbit to Madeline, who was overjoyed to get her Easter toy back again. Eagerly she looked at him, to make sure he was not hurt or damaged.

"Are you sure he is the same Rabbit -- your Candy Rabbit?" asked Mother.

"Oh, yes, very sure," answered Madeline. "Look, here is the green spot on his ear, where he fell in the grass the day the boys tied him to the kite tail. And, see! one ear is bent a little. It happened when he was too near the heat, the day I was eating chocolate from the cake dishes. He's my Candy Rabbit, all right!"

"Then I am glad you have him back, little girl," said Peddler Joe. "Rosa must have take him by mistook, you know -- she pick him up when she go around with the organ."

Then he told how his little niece had found the Rabbit, and, thinking the toy belonged to no one, had brought it home.

"I buy her another Rabbit so she not be feeling bad," said Joe, with a smile. "She did not mean to take yours, little girl. And now maybe you want some needles or pins?" he said to Madeline's mother.

"Yes, I think I will buy a few, because you were so good as to bring back my little girl's Easter present that was given her by her aunt," Mother said. And Joe was glad because he had sold something from his basket.

Madeline was glad to get back her Candy Rabbit, and she stayed so long looking at him that her mother said:

"You had better run on, or your little friends will grow impatient waiting for you, my dear. Put your Rabbit away, and hurry along now."

So Madeline put her Rabbit on a shelf in the playroom, and went out to play, and her mother gave Joe money for pins, needles and some court-plaster.

"Maybe I have good luck and make a lot of money to-day, and then I buy Rosa a nice Candy Rabbit for herself," the peddler said to himself, as he went down the street.

And, while I am about it, I might as well tell you that Joe did buy Rosa a nice Rabbit for herself. He took it home to her that night, lifting it out of his basket and putting it into her hands.

When the organ grinder's little girl awakened and found that her peddler uncle had gone, taking his basket and the Rabbit she had put to sleep in it without his knowledge, Rosa felt very bad. She was sad as she gathered pennies for her father that day.

But at night, when Uncle Joe came back with a new Candy Rabbit, Rosa was happy again. And Madeline was happy with her own Easter toy.

Rosa's uncle and her father told her it was wrong to have taken another little girl's toy without asking, and she was sorry when she understood that, but she was happy with her new plaything.

In the afternoon Mirabell and Dorothy went home with Madeline.

"I want to show you my Candy Rabbit again," Madeline said to her little girl chums.

And when Mirabell and Dorothy had looked at the Rabbit, seeing the speck of green paint on one ear and the other ear that was a little bent from the heat, Madeline said:

"I'm going to wash him!"

Without saying anything to her mother about it, Madeline took her Candy Rabbit, and, with her two little friends, went up to the bathroom. She drew the tub full of water, and while she was doing this she set the Rabbit on a glass shelf near the towel rack.

"Are you going to let him swim in the bathtub?" asked Dorothy.

"Goodness me, I hope not!" thought the Candy Rabbit, who heard this question. "I can't swim! I'll surely drown if she puts me in the bathtub!"

And he was glad when he heard Madeline say:

"No, I'm not going to put him in the tub. But I want plenty of water, for I must get him nice and clean. I'm going to have a party, and I want my Candy Rabbit to look pretty. I'll dip my nail brush in the bathtub and scrub him."

"And we'll help you," said Dorothy and Mirabell.

"There, I guess I have water enough," said Madeline, as she turned off the tub faucet. There were some drops of water on her hands, and she reached for a towel to dry them.

How it happened none of the little girls knew, but the towel on the rack must have caught on the Candy Rabbit, sitting on the glass shelf. And when Madeline pulled the towel she pulled her Easter toy off the shelf and into the bathtub of water.

"Splish! Splash!" went the Candy Rabbit into the water.

"Oh, I'm going to drown! I know I'm going to drown!" thought the poor sweet chap, as the water closed over his ears.




Chapter VIII

In A Wheelbarrow


Madeline screamed, Mirabell screamed, and Dorothy screamed. The three little girls screamed together when they saw the Candy Rabbit fall into the bathtub. And, even under water as his ears were, the Candy Rabbit heard them.

"Well, I hope they do something more than yell," thought the poor, sugary chap. "If they don't pull me out pretty soon I'll melt, as well as drown, and I dare not try to swim when they're looking at me!"

You know what the rule is in Make-Believe Toyland -- none of the things dare move when human eyes look at them. And the three little girls were surely looking at the Candy Rabbit now, as he bobbed about in the bathtub.

"Oh, look what happened!" cried Dorothy, pointing to the toy.

"Your Candy Rabbit is in the bathtub!" screamed Mirabell.

"Yes, and I'm going to get him out!" exclaimed Madeline.

She quickly stooped down, grasped the Candy Rabbit by his ears, and lifted him, dripping wet, out of the bathtub of water.

"Oh, he's soaked through, poor thing!" murmured Dorothy.

"Do you s'pose he's spoiled?" asked Mirabell.

"I -- I hope not," said Madeline with a catch in her voice, as if she were going to cry. "I guess I got him out in time."

"I think so, too."

Madeline's mother, hearing the screams of the little girls in the bathroom, ran to see what the matter was.

"Has anything happened, children?" she asked.

"My Candy Rabbit got caught on the towel and I pulled him into the bathtub of water," Madeline explained. "Will he come all to pieces, Mother?"

Mother looked at the Candy Rabbit carefully. He did not seem to be harmed much. Inside of him his heart was beating very fast, because of his adventure, but no one knew that.

"I think he is not much damaged, Madeline," said her mother, with a smile. "He is made of very hard sugar -- is your Candy Rabbit. It would take more of a soaking than he got to melt him. What were you doing with him in the bathroom?"

"I was going to wash him, Mother, 'cause maybe he got soiled in the peddler's basket."

"Well, he has had his bath all right," said Mother, with a laugh. "And I think he is pretty clean. He does not seem to be melting any, but it would be well to let him dry. Here, I'll set him on the window sill and open the window. The breeze will dry him off better than if you wiped him with a towel. Then you will not wipe off any of his sugar."

"Oh, I'm so glad he is all right," said Madeline. "I thought he would melt and run down the drain pipe from the bathtub."

"Drain pipe!" The Rabbit shivered.

Mother set the Candy Rabbit, which was quite wet, on a clean cloth on the bathroom window sill, leaving the sash open.

"The cloth will soak up some of the water, and the gentle wind will blow the rest off and dry him," said Madeline's mother.

The three little girls looked at the Candy Rabbit sitting on the sill of the open window in the bathroom.

"Doesn't he look cute?" cried Madeline.

"Too sweet for anything!" said Dorothy.

"Of course he looks sweet!" said Mirabell. "He's made of sugar, you know!"

Then the three little girls laughed and went downstairs to play with Dorothy's Sawdust Doll and Mirabell's Lamb on Wheels.

Left to himself on the window sill, the Candy Rabbit took a long breath.

"That was a narrow escape I had," he said. "I was very nearly drowned and melted in the water. I had better keep very still and quiet until I am quite dry again, or I may come apart like the Jack in the Box who jumped off his spring. Yes, I will sit here very quietly until I am dry. I do feel so wet and sticky!"

The Candy Rabbit looked around the bathroom. There was no other toy there with whom he could play, even if he had felt like moving around just then, which he did not feel like doing.

"The Calico Clown and the Monkey on a Stick will think it quite wonderful when I tell them what has happened to me," said the Candy Rabbit to himself, as he sat there, drying. "I suppose they must have had some adventures, also, but I don't believe either of them ever fell into a bathtub of water."

Feeling rather lonesome, the Rabbit looked for some one to whom he might talk. He saw cakes of soap, towels, and wash cloths. There was also a large sponge in a wire basket hanging over the edge of the bathtub.

"I have heard that sponges are animals," said the Candy Rabbit. "I wonder if this one is alive and will speak to me. I'll try. Hello there, Mr. Sponge!" he called. "You must be quite a swimmer. Are you as good as a goldfish -- one of those the bad cat tried to get?"

But the sponge said never a word. Maybe it was too dry to speak, for it had not been in the water since early morning.

The Candy Rabbit knew it was of no use to talk to a cake of soap or a wash cloth, so he became quiet and sat on the window sill, drying off.

At first the wind, which came in through the open bathroom window, drying the Candy Rabbit, was a gentle breeze. Then it began to blow harder, so hard, in fact, that Herbert, Dick and Arnold got out their kites and began flying them.

"Dear me! this wind is blowing harder and harder," said the Candy Rabbit to himself. "I hope I do not take cold here."

Stronger and stronger the wind blew. Part of the time it blew in through the bathroom window, and part of the time it blew out. And then, all of a sudden, there came a hard gust, and it toppled the Candy Rabbit right off the sill.

"Dear me, I am falling!" exclaimed the Candy Rabbit. "Oh, I am falling out of the window!"

And this was true. He had fallen out instead of falling in, and, in the end, this was a good thing for him. For if he had fallen inside the bathroom he would have toppled down on the hard, tiled floor, and have been broken to pieces. As it was, falling out of the window, he had a better chance.

Down, down, down, out of the window fell the Candy Rabbit. He fell so fast that his breath was taken away. He felt himself drying fast. The last drops of water, caused by his topple into the bathtub, were blown off by the breeze as he fell.

"Oh, when I hit the ground there is going to be a terrible smash!" thought the poor Candy Rabbit. "This, surely, is the last of me! Good-bye, everybody!"

But, as it happened, just then Patrick, the gardener, was passing along with a wheelbarrow full of freshly cut grass. He had cut the lawn in front of the house where Dorothy lived, and now Patrick was wheeling the loose grass across Madeline's yard to give to a pony in a stable in the house just beyond Madeline's.

And, all of a sudden, just as Patrick came along with the wheelbarrow full of grass, the Candy Rabbit fell out of the bathroom window. And, very, very luckily, the sweet chap, instead of hitting the ground, fell into the soft grass on the wheelbarrow.

For a moment he could not get his breath, and he was buried deep in the long, green spears and stems. And then, as he felt that he was not broken to bits, the Candy Rabbit murmured:

"I am saved!"




Chapter IX

At The Party


Patrick, the gardener, had set his wheelbarrow down to rest just as he came under the bathroom window of Madeline's house. And Patrick had his back turned, and was looking at Carlo, the little dog, chasing his tail just when the Candy Rabbit fell into the grass. So Patrick did not see what had happened.

"But I know what has happened," said the sweet chap to himself. "Only for the soft grass I would have broken all to pieces! I wish I dared call out and tell Patrick I am here. But I dare not. I must keep still and say nothing."

"Well, I must hurry along and give this grass to the pony," said the gardener, after he had seen Calico catch his tail. "The pony must be hungry."

Over across Madeline's yard, to the yard where the pony lived in a little stable, went Patrick with the wheelbarrow full of grass and the Candy Rabbit. Only, of course, Patrick did not know he had the sugary fellow.

"Well, how are you, little pony?" cried the jolly Patrick, when he reached the stable. The pony gave a soft little whinny in answer.

"I have some nice grass for you," went on Patrick. "Nice, sweet, green grass that I, myself, cut off the lawn. You shall eat it all up."

Once again the little horse talked in the only way he could make Patrick understand, which was by whinnying. He meant that he would be glad to eat the grass.

"But I hope he doesn't eat me!" thought the Candy Rabbit. "It is lucky I can speak and understand animal talk. When I get in the pony's stall I'll call out and ask him not to chew me up with the grass."

But the Candy Rabbit did not have to do this. For when Patrick began to take from the wheelbarrow the grass he had gathered for the pony, the gardener saw something gleaming in the sunshine amid the green stems.

"Hello! what's this?" cried Patrick, leaning over to take a better look. "What's this in my grass? Can it be a glass bottle? If it is it's a good thing I didn't give it to the pony, or he might have cut himself on it."

Patrick took the shining object from the midst of the grass. In an instant he saw what it was.

"A Candy Rabbit! Madeline's Candy Rabbit!" cried the gardener. He knew it very well, just as he knew the Sawdust Doll, the Lamb on Wheels, and the Bold Tin Soldier. Madeline had often showed Patrick her Candy Rabbit.

The pony was soon fed, and then, with the Candy Rabbit in his pocket and slowly wheeling the empty barrow, Patrick made his way to Madeline's house. He knocked at the back door, and the cook, with a dab of flour on her nose, answered.

"What have you been doing to yourself, Cook?" asked the gardener, with a laugh.

"Why? Is anything wrong?" she asked, rather surprised.

"Your nose is dabbed with flour," went on Patrick.

"Oh, that!" laughed the cook. "You see, Madeline is going to have a party, and I'm so busy making cookies and cakes that it's a wonder flour isn't all over my face as well as on my nose. But what have you there?" she asked, seeing the Bunny in Patrick's hand.

"Madeline's Candy Rabbit," answered the gardener. "I don't know how it got in my barrow of grass, but I brought him back. Is Madeline in?"

"Yes, I'll call her," said the cook.

And when the little girl came running out and saw her Bunny, she was much surprised.

"Why! Why! How did you get him, Patrick?" she asked. "I left him up on the bathroom window sill to dry, after he fell into the bathtub."

"Ah, that accounts for it then!" laughed the gardener. "The wind must have blown him out of the window, and he fell into my barrow just as I set it down to rest. Well, it's lucky I had grass in the barrow instead of stones. If your rabbit had fallen on them he might have broken off his ears."

"That would have been dreadful!" exclaimed Madeline. "Oh, thank you, so much, Patrick, for bringing my Bunny back to me."

"Well, keep him safe, now you have him," advised Patrick.

Then he went off whistling and trundling his empty wheelbarrow, and once more the Candy Rabbit was back with Madeline, where he belonged, and thankful to be there.

"You are nice and dry now," said the little girl, as she looked over her Easter toy. "And you didn't get any more grass stains on you when you fell out of the window. Your ear it still a little bent, but that only makes you look more stylish.

"Now I am going to put a new pink ribbon on your neck, 'cause the one I took off when I was going to wash you is all soiled. I'll put a new ribbon on you and then you may come to the party to-morrow."

Madeline told her mother how the Rabbit had fallen out of the window. Then the little girl got a pretty pink ribbon, and, after tying it on his neck, she again showed her Easter present to Mirabell and Dorothy.

"He looks as good as new," said Mirabell.

"Yes," agreed Dorothy. "I guess falling into the bathtub and the wheelbarrow of grass did him good."

"And we'll have lots of fun at the party," said Madeline. "Now I will put my Rabbit away, and we'll get ready for a good time."

The Rabbit was set on a shelf in a dark closet.

"Well, goodness knows I am glad to be by myself for a while and keep quiet," thought the sugary chap, as he sat down on the shelf in the dark. "I have had enough of adventures for a day or two. I wonder if there is any one here to whom I can talk. I wish the Sawdust Doll or the Bold Tin Soldier or the Calico Clown were here. They would love to hear me tell of what has happened."

Madeline and her girl friends spent the rest of that day and part of the next one getting ready for the party, and at last the time came to have it. Madeline was all dressed up, and she brought her Candy Rabbit out of the closet and smoothed the ribbon on his neck.

"Tinkle! Tinkle! Tinkle!" rang the door bell.

"Oh, here come Dorothy and Dick to the party!" cried Madeline, running to meet her friends.

She carried the Candy Rabbit with her. Dorothy had her Sawdust Doll, but the White Rocking Horse was too large for Dick to bring over.

One after another more children came to the party, among them Mirabell and Arnold. Mirabell did not bring her Lamb on Wheels for the same reason that Dick left his Horse at home -- the Lamb was a little too large for a house party, though she would fit very well on the lawn.

But Arnold, who was Mirabell's brother, brought something to the party. It was the Bold Tin Soldier -- the Captain of the Tin Soldiers, of whom Arnold had a whole box. And while the little girls who had come to Madeline's party were smoothing out their dresses and looking at their dolls and talking to one another, Arnold walked off with Dick to a corner of the room.

"Look what I have!" whispered Arnold, showing the Bold Tin Soldier.

"Why did you bring him?" Dick wanted to know.

"So if we don't like the games the girls play we can go off in a room by ourselves and have fun with my Soldier," was the answer. "But maybe we'll have some fun, anyhow."

"Let me hold your Soldier for a while," begged Dick, and Arnold handed over the Captain.

After a while the little boys went back to where the other children were and all began to play games. Madeline set her Candy Rabbit on the table near Dorothy's Sawdust Doll, and the two toys looked at each other.

All sorts of games were played. One was "hide the thimble," and when it was Madeline's turn to hide it she put it right between the front legs of her Candy Rabbit as he sat on the table. Not one of the boys or girls thought of looking there for it, so they had to give up, and it was Madeline's turn to hide it again.

This time she put the thimble on top of the head of Dorothy's Sawdust Doll, who had on a new blue ribbon in honor of the party.

It was a gold thimble that the children were playing with, and the Sawdust Doll, catching sight of her reflection in the glass over one of the pictures in the room, noted this fact.

"That golden gleam against the blue of my ribbon is certainly very pretty and becoming," she thought. "I hope Dorothy will notice it and will get a gold ornament for my hair. I like to be a toy, but sometimes it is a great nuisance not to be able to tell your little girl and boy parents what you would like to have them do."

All this time the children were hunting for the thimble, and, though it was in plain sight, it was not until some time afterward that Mirabell saw it.

After the thimble game the children played "Blind Man's Buff," "Puss in the Corner" and "Going to Jerusalem."

Pretty soon it was time to eat ice cream and cake. That is one of the nicest times at a party, I think; and Dick, Arnold and Herbert, as well as the other boys and girls, thought the same thing, I am sure. While they were in another room, eating the good things, the Candy Rabbit and the Sawdust Doll were left to themselves.

"I have been wanting to talk to you for the longest time!" said the Sawdust Doll.

"And I have so many things to tell you," said the Candy Rabbit. "Such remarkable adventures!"

He started to hop across the table, to get nearer to the Sawdust Doll, but he did not see the thimble which the children had been playing with, and which had been left on the table. The Candy Rabbit jumped on the thimble, which rolled out from under his paws.

"Oh, look out! You're going to fall!" cried the Sawdust Doll.

And down fell the Candy Rabbit.




Chapter X

In A Boy's Pocket


"Are you hurt?" asked the Sawdust Doll anxiously, looking with sympathy at the Candy Rabbit. "Let me help you up!"

"Oh, thank you, I can get up myself," answered the sugary chap. "And I am not at all hurt. The table cloth was soft."

He was just going to get up and hop over to the Doll when, all at once, the Sawdust toy exclaimed:

"Be quiet! Here come the children back!"

And into the room trooped the boys and girls, having finished eating the ice cream and cake.

"Oh, look at my Bunny!" cried Madeline. "Somebody jiggled him over on his side."

She set him up straight again, near the Sawdust Doll, and then she helped the other children have fun in more games. After a while Dick and Arnold went off in a corner by themselves, and began playing with Arnold's Bold Tin Soldier. While they were doing this a boy named Tom saw them.

"I wonder what they are doing?" thought Tom. "I wonder what they are looking at? It's something Arnold has in his pocket. I wish I had something in my pocket to play with. Maybe I can find something!"

I am sorry to say Tom was not always a good boy. Sometimes he was cross and unpleasant. He would pull the hair of little girls, though I hardly believe he meant to hurt them. He only did it to tease them.

Tom saw Madeline's Candy Rabbit on the table, and, as the other boys and girls were just then in another room, no one saw what Tom did. Sneaking up to the table, Tom reached over, took the Candy Rabbit, and put him in his pocket.

"Now I have something to play with," whispered Tom to himself.

Tom had many other things in his pocket. There was a small rubber ball, some pieces of string, a broken knife, two or three nails, some round, shiny pieces of tin, a whistle that wouldn't whistle, a red stone, a yellow stone, and many other odds and ends. Down among these objects the Candy Rabbit was pushed and jammed.

The only ones who saw Tom hurry away with the Candy Rabbit were the little girls' dolls. The Sawdust Doll, a Celluloid Doll belonging to Mirabell, and an old snub-nosed Wooden Doll, that Madeline had brought down from the attic, were on the table when Tom took the Candy Rabbit away in his pocket.

"Oh-oo-o-oh!" exclaimed the Sawdust Doll. "Look at him!"

"Isn't he terrible!" said the Wooden Doll.

"If we could only do something to stop him!" sighed the Celluloid Doll. But they could do nothing.

Watching his chance, Tom hurried out of Madeline's house, carrying with him the Easter present. And as for the poor Candy Rabbit, he did not know what to do. He could not get out of that boy's pocket, no matter how hard he tried.

"I'll show this Candy Rabbit to Sam and Pete," said Tom to himself, as he hurried down the street. "We'll have some fun with it."

Sam and Pete were two boys with whom Tom played. Tom looked for them as he ran down the street, the Candy Rabbit jiggling around among the things in his pocket.

"I hope my ears aren't broken off," sighed the poor Bunny. "This is the most dreadful and cramped place I was ever in."

Suddenly Tom spied his two chums.

"Hi there!" he called to them. "Look what I got!"

"What?"

He took the Candy Rabbit from his pocket and held him up.

"That's a dandy!" exclaimed Pete.

"Where'd you get him?" asked Sam.

"Oh, I borrowed him at a party," Tom answered.

"Let's see it closer," begged Sam, and Tom handed over the Candy Rabbit.

"Why, he's good to eat!" cried Sam, when he had the Rabbit in his hands. "He's made of sugar, and he's good to eat!"

Tom looked at Sam and then at Pete. Then all three of the boys looked at each other.

"I -- I'm sort of hungry for candy," said Pete, in a low voice.

"So'm I," admitted Sam.

"And I guess I am, too," declared Tom. "I didn't know this Rabbit was good to eat. But, as long as he is, we'll divide him up and have a regular party. Come on over on my porch, fellows, and we'll eat the Candy Rabbit!"

Now, when the sweet chap heard this he was very much frightened. Of all his adventures this seemed the very worst!

Over to Tom's porch went the three boys, and they sat down.

"We'll divide this Candy Rabbit into three pieces," said Tom. He was just going to break off one of the ears when some one came out of the house and up behind the boys as they sat on the steps.

"What have you there, Tom?" asked a voice suddenly.

The three chums turned around. It was Tom's mother who had spoken.

"Oh, it's just a Candy Rabbit," Tom answered. "We're going to eat him."

"Where did you get him?" asked Tom's mother. "Let me see."

And when she saw the Candy Rabbit Tom's mother knew at once that it was no common Rabbit, such as you may buy in the five-and-ten-cent store. The Candy Rabbit was a very fancy fellow indeed!

"Why, Tom!" exclaimed his mother.

"This Rabbit belongs to Madeline. I saw it over at her house when I called there one day. Did you take Madeline's Rabbit when you were in her house at the party? Oh, Tom, what a naughty boy! I am so sorry!"

She reached over and took the Candy Rabbit just in time, for Tom had been going to break off the ears.

"Why did you take it?" asked Tom's mother.

"Oh, er -- just -- because," he answered, squirming around. "Dick and Arnold had something, and I wanted something in my pocket. So I took the Rabbit."

"I must take it back and tell Madeline you are sorry, and you must tell her so yourself the next time you see her," said Tom's mother.

Tom's mother took the Easter toy back to Madeline, who had just missed him, and she and all the boys and girls still left at the party were hunting for him.

"Please forgive Tom for being so naughty as to take your Candy Rabbit," begged the boy's mother, and Madeline said she would.

"Oh, I am so glad to have you back!" cried Madeline, hugging her Candy Rabbit.

"And I am glad to get back," said the Rabbit, though of course he dared not speak aloud.

Madeline smoothed out the pink ribbon on the Bunny's neck. It had been crumpled in Tom's pocket. Then the little girl put her Rabbit away on a shelf in a closet while she helped her mother and the cook clear away the things after the party.

"Dear me, I wonder what will happen next," said the Candy Rabbit, out loud, for he knew no one could hear him in there.

"Why, has anything happened to you?" asked a voice.

"I should say so!" exclaimed the Candy Rabbit. "But who are you, if I may ask?"

"Oh, I'm a match-safe Cat," was the answer, and then, his eyes having become used to the dark, the Candy Rabbit saw that he was sitting near a hollow porcelain Cat, used to hold burnt matches.

"Dear me, how strange!" murmured the Bunny.

"It is no stranger to see a Cat full of burnt matches than it is to see a Candy Rabbit with pink glass eyes," was the answer.

"I suppose not," agreed the Candy Bunny.

Then the Rabbit and the Cat became good friends and told each other stories there in the dark closet.

"My! you certainly have had some adventures," mewed the Cat, when she had heard about the Bunny's trip on the tail of a kite.

"Did nothing exciting ever happen to you?" the Rabbit wanted to know.

"Yes, once," replied the Cat. "I am hollow, as you see, and I am generally filled with burnt wooden matches.

"Well, one day, somebody put a blazing match in me by mistake, and, in an instant, all the partly burnt matches were on fire. There I was, all burning up inside."

"Oh, that must have been dreadful!" cried the Candy Rabbit.

"It was, until Madeline's mother threw a glass of water over me and put out the fire," said the Cat. "Then I was all right, except for being blackened and smoked. Of course it doesn't show in the dark, but it's there all the same."

The Candy Rabbit stayed in the closet with the Porcelain Cat all night, and the two were company for one another. The next day Madeline took her Easter toy for a ride in the doll carriage, and Dorothy had her Sawdust pet with her. The little girls talked about the party.

"Wouldn't it have been dreadful if Tom had eaten your Rabbit?" asked Dorothy.

"Terribly dreadful!" said Madeline. "I am glad it didn't happen."

"And I'm glad, too," thought the Candy Rabbit. "I hope my adventures are over now."

But they were not, though I have no room to tell you any more. I will just mention a few. Once Herbert and Dick took the Candy Rabbit and gave him a ride in Herbert's toy train of cars. But the engine went so fast that the train ran off the track. The Candy Rabbit was thrown off, and a little piece of sugar was chipped off one of his paws. But that did not hurt very much.

And, another time, the Candy Rabbit was almost run over by Dick, who was gliding around on roller skates. Only that Patrick, the gardener, caught the Bunny out of the way just in time, the sweet chap would have been crushed.

One day Herbert called to Madeline and said:

"Daddy is going to bring me a present from the store to-day."

"Is he? What kind?" asked Madeline. "Is it going to be a Jumping Jack?"

"That, or something just as funny," Herbert answered. "I want something that moves and jumps. Candy Rabbits are very nice, but I want something livelier."

"Will you let me see it when you get it?" asked his sister.

"Yes," promised Herbert. And what fun he had with his toy will be told to you in the next book, to be called: "The Story of a Monkey on a Stick."

As for the Candy Rabbit, I might add that he grew sweeter and sweeter each day, and he and Madeline lived happily forever after. Though one of his ears was bent, and a piece chipped off one paw, that did not matter. Madeline loved her Bunny very much.

<eob>

Six Little Bunkers At Aunt Jo's

By

Laura Lee Hope



Chapter I

A Queer Hunt


"Let me count noses now, to see if you're all here," said Mother Bunker with a laugh, as her flock of children gathered around her.

"Don't you want some help?" asked Grandma Bell. "Can you count so many boys and girls all alone, Amy?"

"Oh, I think so," answered Mother Bunker. "You see I am used to it. I count them every time we come to the woods, and each time I start for home, to be sure none has been left behind. Now then, children! Attention! as the soldier captain says."

Six little Bunkers, who were getting ready to run off into the woods to frolic and have a good time at a good-bye picnic, laughed and shouted and finally stood still long enough for their mother to "count noses," as she called it.

"And I'll help," said Grandma Bell, at whose country home in Maine, near Lake Sagatook, the six little Bunkers were spending part of their summer vacation.

"Russ and Rose!" called Mother Bunker.

"Here we are!" answered Russ, and he pointed to his sister.

"Vi and Laddie!" went on Mrs. Bunker.

"We're here, but we're going to run now," said Laddie. "I'm going to think of a riddle to guess when we get to the woods."

"Where are you going to run to?" asked Vi, or Violet, which was her right name, though she was more often called Vi. "Where you going to run to, Laddie?" she asked again. But Laddie, her twin brother, did not stop to answer the question. Indeed it would take a great deal of time to reply to the questions Vi asked, and no one ever stopped to answer them all, any more than they tried to answer all the riddles -- real and make-believe -- that Laddie asked.

"Well, that's four of them," said Grandma Bell with a laugh.

"Yes," said Mother Bunker. "And now for the last. Margy and Mun!"

"We's here!" said Margy, who, as you may easily guess, was, more properly, Margaret. "Come on, Mun Bun!" she called. "Now we can have some fun."

And for fear you might be wondering what sort of creature Mun Bun was, I'll say right here that he was Margy's little brother, and his right name was Munroe Ford Bunker; but he was called Mun Bun for short.

"They're all here," said Grandma Bell, with a smile.

"Yes," answered Mrs. Bunker, as she saw the six children running across the field toward the woods. "They're all here now, and I hope they'll all be here when we start back."

"Oh, I think they will," said Grandma Bell with a smile. "I'm sorry this is your last picnic with me. I certainly have enjoyed your visit here -- yours and the children's."

The two women walked slowly over the field and toward the woods, in which the six little Bunkers were already running about and having fun. The woods were on the edge of Lake Sagatook, and not far from Grandma Bell's house.

"Come on, Rose!" called Russ to his sister. "We'll have a last ride on the steamboat."

"I want to come, too!" shouted Laddie, dropping a bundle of pine cones he had picked up.

"So do I," added Vi. "I want a ride."

"Say, we can't all get on the steamboat at once!" Russ cried. "It'll sink if we do."

"Then we can play shipwreck," proposed Rose.

"Yes, we could do that," Russ agreed. "But if the steamboat sinks it'll be on the bottom of the lake, and it won't move and we can't have rides. That'll be no fun!" And the boy began to whistle, which he almost always did when he was thinking hard, as he was just now.

"Well, what can we do?" asked Rose. "I want a ride on the steamboat."

It wasn't really a steamboat at all, being only some fence rails and boards nailed roughly together. It was more of a raft than a boat, but it would float in the shallow water of the lake near the shore, and the children could stand on it in their bare feet and paddle about in a small cove that a bend in the shore-line of the lake made. The reason they had to take off their shoes and stockings was because the water came up over the top of the raft, and splashed on the children's feet. Anyhow, it was more fun to go barefooted, and no sooner had the six little Bunkers reached the shore of the lake in the midst of the woods, than off came their shoes and stockings.

"I want to ride on the steamer, too," said Mun Bun.

"No, we don't want to do that," put in Margy, who was standing near him.

"Why?" he asked.

"'Cause."

"But why?"

"Don't you 'member? We're goin' to roll downhill where the pine needles make it so slippery."

"Oh, yes," agreed Mun Bun. "We'll roll downhill, and then we'll ride on the steamer."

"But I want a ride now!" insisted Violet.

"So do I," added Laddie.

"I asked first," cried Rose. "But I s'pose mother'll make me give in to you two, 'cause I'm older'n you; but I don't want to," she added.

"My! what's all this about?" asked Mother Bunker, as she came along with Grandma Bell, the two women having walked more slowly than the children. "Has anything happened?" She could tell by the faces of the little ones that everything was not just right.

"Oh, they all want to ride on the steamboat at once, and it isn't big enough," explained Russ.

"Then you must take turns," said Mother Bunker quickly. "That's the only way to do. Rose, dear, you are the oldest; you will let Laddie and Violet have the first ride, will you not?"

"There! I knew you'd ask me to do that!" cried Rose, and her voice was not just as pleasant as it might have been.

"Never mind, Rose," whispered Russ to her. "I'll give you a longer ride than I give them. Anyway, they'll soon get tired of the raft, and then you and I can play sailor, and steamboat around as much as we like."

"And will you let me help push with the pole?" asked Rose.

"Yes, you can do that, of course," Russ agreed.

"All right," assented Rose. "I'll wait. Go on, Violet and Laddie. You may have your ride first."

With shouts of glee the twins ran down to the edge of the lake where the raft, or, as Russ called it, the "steamboat," was tied by a rope to an old stump. Russ, with the help of Tom Hardy, the hired man, had made the raft, and on it the children had had lots of fun.

Russ now took his place in the middle, holding a long pole by which he pushed the raft about in the shallow cove of the lake. The water here was not deep -- hardly over the children's knees.

"All aboard!" cried Russ, and Laddie and Violet got on the raft. Mother Bunker and Grandma Bell sat down in the shade to watch, while Mun Bun and Margy ran over to a little hill, covered with dry, slippery pine needles, and there they started to roll over and over down the slope, tumbling about in the soft grass at the foot, laughing and giggling.

Up and down, and around and around the little cove of Lake Sagatook Russ pushed his little twin brother and sister. The raft was just about large enough for three children of the size of those who were on it, but any more would have made it sink to the sandy bottom of the lake. Then, though they might have played "shipwreck," it would not be as much fun, Russ thought.

"Toot! Toot!" cried Russ, making believe he was the steamboat's whistle. Then he ding-donged the bell and hissed, to let off steam. Violet and Laddie laughed, and did the same thing, pretending they were part of the engine of the boat.

"Well, I think you have ridden on the steamboat long enough now, Laddie and Vi!" called Mother Bunker, after a bit. "Give Rose a turn."

"Just one more ride!" pleaded Laddie.

"All right -- just one more. But that's the last," said Russ.

So he poled the raft across the cove again, and then his little brother and sister got off while Rose waded out in her bare feet and got on board, carrying a pole so she could help push the raft; for it had no sails like a sailboat, and no motor like a motor-boat, and to make it go it had to be pushed.

"Come on, Vi. Let's go over and roll downhill with Margy and Mun Bun," said Laddie, after watching Rose and Russ a bit. "They're having lots of fun."

The two smallest of the six little Bunkers did, indeed, appear to be having a good time. Over and over they rolled down the clean, slippery hill covered with the brown pine needles.

Soon Laddie and Vi joined in the fun, and their shouts and laughter could be heard by Mother Bunker and Grandma Bell, where they were sitting in the shade of the trees.

All at once Laddie, who had rolled to the bottom of the hill, ending with a somersault in the soft grass, stood up and called:

"Listen! What's that?"

Vi, Margy and Mun Bun listened.

"I don't hear anything," said Vi.

"I do," went on Laddie. "It's some one hollering!"

And, as the children became quiet and listened more intently, they did, indeed, hear a voice calling:

"Come and get me! Come and get me!"

"Oh, it's somebody lost in the woods!" said Violet.

"A little boy, maybe!" exclaimed Laddie.

"Or a little girl," added Mun Bun, his eyes big with wonder.

"Let's go and hunt for 'em," proposed Laddie. "If we were lost, we'd like some one to hunt for us. Come on!"

The other children did not stop to think whether or not this was right. Laddie was the oldest of the four, except Violet, who was just as old, except maybe a minute or two, and Mun Bun and Margy thought what Laddie said must be right.

"Come and get me! Come and get me!" cried the voice again, and to the four little Bunkers it seemed to be a sad one.

"Come on!" exclaimed Laddie. And the children started on a queer hunt.



Chapter II

Good-Bye To Grandma


Mrs. Bunker, who was busy talking to Grandma Bell, looked up just in time to see Laddie, Violet, Margy and Mun Bun running off through the woods.

"Children! Children!" she cried. "Where are you going?"

Faintly came back Laddie's answer:

"There's a little boy or girl lost in the woods, an' they're callin' to us and we're going to hunt for 'em!"

"Oh, my!" exclaimed Mother Bunker. "Wait, children! Wait for me!" she continued. "Russ -- Rose! Come off the raft! I don't want you on it while I'm not near you!"

"Where are you going?" asked Grandma Bell, as she saw her daughter getting up.

"I'm going to see what those children mean," was Mrs. Bunker's answer. "I can't tell what mischief they may get into."

And while Rose and Russ poled the raft toward shore, as their mother told them to, and got off, Mrs. Bunker started after the other children, who were going to find the strange voice that had called to them.

And while this is going on I shall have a chance to tell my new readers something about the little Bunkers. There were six of them, as, perhaps, you have counted. Russ, or Russell, to give him the whole of his name, was eight years old. He was the oldest, a great boy for making things to play with, such as a steamboat out of some old boards, or an automobile from a chair and a sofa cushion. He was also very fond of whistling, and knew several real tunes.

Rose, who came next, was seven years old. She was a regular "mother's helper," and often sang as she washed the dishes or did the dusting. She had light hair and blue eyes while Russ had a dark complexion.

Then there came Violet and Laddie, the twins, aged six. Laddie's real name was Fillmore Bunker, but he was seldom called that. His hair was curly, and his eyes were gray, and whether that made him so fond of making up riddles, or of asking those others made up, I can't say. Anyhow he did it. His twin sister loved to ask questions. She could ask more questions in a day than several persons could answer. No one ever tried to answer all Vi asked. Her hair and eyes were just like Laddie's.

Next came Margy and Mun Bun. Margy was five, and her brother was a year younger. He had blue eyes and golden hair, and, you can easily imagine, was a pretty picture.

"Daddy" Bunker, whose name was Charles, had a real estate and lumber office in Pineville, which was in Pennsylvania, and was on the Rainbow River. About twenty thousand people lived in Pineville, and it was a very nice place indeed. The home of the Bunkers was on the main street of the town, and was less than a mile from Daddy Bunker's office.

Then there was Mother Bunker, whose hands were full keeping house and looking after the six little Bunkers. Her name was Amy, and before she married Daddy Bunker her last name had been Bell.

Those of you who have read the first book of this series, called "Six Little Bunkers at Grandma Bell's," remember that there were two other members of the "family" -- Norah O'Grady, the good-natured Irish cook, and Jerry Simms, the man who had once been a soldier and who was very kind to the children. Jerry did odd bits of work about the house, and often ran the automobile for Mr. Bunker.

The Bunkers had many relatives. There was Grandma Bell, who was Mrs. Bunker's mother, and there was Grandpa Ford, who was Daddy Bunker's stepfather. He was kind and good, and had loved Daddy Bunker when Daddy Bunker was a little boy, and now loved the six little Bunkers as well. Grandma Bell lived in Maine, near Lake Sagatook, and Grandpa Ford lived at Tarrington, New York, his place being called Great Hedge Estate.

Then there was Miss Josephine Bunker (she was "Aunt Jo," you know), who lived in Boston; Uncle Frederick Bell, of Moon City, Montana; and Cousin Tom Bunker, who lived at Seaview, on the New Jersey coast.

In the first book I told you about the six little Bunkers when on a visit to Grandma Bell, in Maine, and how they helped solve a mystery and find some valuable real estate papers that an old tramp lumberman had carried off in a ragged coat.

I can't begin to tell you, here, all the fun the six little Bunkers had at Grandma Bell's. They spent the last of July and the first part of August there, and now, just before leaving, they were planning for the rest of the summer vacation.

But, just at the present moment, something else was happening. The children's play had been stopped by the voice in the woods; a voice heard by Laddie, Vi, Mun Bun and Margy.

"Are you sure it was a little child you heard calling?" asked Mrs. Bunker, overtaking the four children.

"Oh, yes; sure!" answered Laddie. "It was a little boy."

"I think it was a little girl," said Violet.

"Hark!" exclaimed Grandma Bell, who had come with Mother Bunker. "There it goes once more!"

And, surely enough, the voice called again:

"Come and get me! I'm lost!"

"Poor thing!" said Grandma Bell. "I wonder whose little boy or girl it is."

"'Tisn't any of us," said Violet, "'cause we're all here!"

"Yes, I counted to make sure," said Mother Bunker. "But we must find out who it is. Come on, children. Are we going too fast for you, Mother?" she asked Grandma Bell.

"Oh, no, indeed!"

"We must find the lost one," Mother Bunker continued, and so they kept on with the queer hunt. Every now and then they could hear the voice calling. Pretty soon Mrs. Bell said:

"I can hear some one coming."

Then the voice called again:

"Come and get me! I'm lost!"

"Oh, there it is! Over in that direction!" exclaimed Grandma Bell.

They hurried toward a thick clump of trees, from which the voice seemed to come. Then, all at once, another voice called:

"Oh, there you are! I see you! Now come right here to me, and don't go away again!"

"Why, I know who that is!" exclaimed Grandma Bell.

Before the children could ask they heard a funny voice say:

"Oh, hello! Pretty Poll! Pretty Poll! Polly wants a cracker!"

"Well, you'll get one, and it won't be a sweet cracker, either, if you fly out of your cage again," said a man's voice. "You'll get a fire-cracker! Now you flutter right down to me and be good!"

"Hello! Hello!" said the funny voice, and then came a strange laugh. "Ha! Ha! Ha!"

"Why -- why! It's a parrot!" shouted Laddie. "I can see his green feathers!"

"Yes, and there is Mr. Hixon after him," said Grandma Bell. "You have been fooled by Bill Hixon's parrot, children, just as you were teased once before. It wasn't a little boy or girl lost in the woods at all. It was just the parrot."

"That's just what it was, Mrs. Bell," said Mr. Hixon, and a man stepped out from behind a tree. "Were you after him, too?" he asked, as he held out his hand the parrot flew down out of the tree and alighted on his finger.

"The children, playing in the woods, heard your parrot calling, and thought it was a lost child," said Mrs. Bunker. "Did he get out of his cage?"

"That's what he did," said Mr. William Hixon, or "Bill," as his neighbors called him. "He got out early this morning, and I've been looking for him ever since. I followed along through these woods, because a man said he had seen a green bird flying about in here, and, surely enough, I heard my Polly singing out about being lost, and wanting some one to come and get her. She always begs that way when she gets lost."

"We heard her," said Laddie. "But I thought it was a little boy."

"And I thought it was a little girl," added Violet.

Mun Bun and Margy didn't say anything. They just stood and looked at the green parrot on Mr. Hixon's finger. The bird seemed happy now, and bent its head over toward its owner.

"She wants it scratched," said Mr. Hixon. "Well, I'll be nice to you now, but I won't like you if you get out of your cage again," he said. "She can open the door herself," he explained to Grandma Bell and Mrs. Bunker.

"She talks very plainly for a parrot," said Grandma Bell. "I remember the day the six little Bunkers first came, and Polly was in the back of the auto. We thought it was a child then."

"Yes, Polly is a good talker," said Mr. Hixon, who lived not far from Grandma Bell's. "But I think I'll have to get her a new cage so she can't get out. It keeps me busy chasing after her."

"Polly wants a cracker! Polly wants a sweet cracker!" chanted the parrot.

"Well, you'll get a sour one if you aren't good!" said Mr. Hixon, with a laugh. "I'm sorry my parrot fooled you, and made you think a child was lost in the woods," he went on.

"Oh, that's all right," said Mother Bunker. "We didn't mind hunting, and we're glad no one was lost."

"How are all the six little Bunkers?" asked the owner of the green parrot, as he started for his home.

"Well, these four, as you see, are fine," said Grandma Bell. "The other two, Russ and Rose, are playing steamboat on the lake. But I am going to lose them all."

"Lose them all!" cried Mr. Hixon. "How's that?"

"We are going to pay a visit to Mr. Bunker's sister, who lives in Boston," explained Mrs. Bunker. "She wrote and asked us to come, and this is our last week at Grandma Bell's."

"Well, I'm sure we'll miss the six little Bunkers when they go," said Mr. Hixon.

"Indeed we shall!" said Grandma Bell. "But they are coming to see me again."

"We love it here," put in Vi.

"And we've had lots of fun," added Margy.

"Maybe we'll have fun at Aunt Jo's," said Laddie.

"I'm sure you will. I guess you could have fun anywhere, you six," said Mr. Hixon with a laugh. "Well, good-bye, if I don't see you again!"

"Good-bye!" said the others.

"Good-bye," echoed the parrot.

Grandma Bell, Mother Bunker and the four children went back to the shady cove of the lake.

"Where'd you go?" asked Russ and Rose, who were walking along to meet them.

"Oh, we thought somebody was lost in the woods," answered Laddie.

"But it was Mr. Hixon's parrot," added Vi.

The children went back to their play.

A day or so later they helped pack the things they had brought with them to Grandma Bell's.

"We're going to Aunt Jo's! We're going to Aunt Jo's!" shouted Rose, dancing about.

"In Boston! In Boston!" added Russ. "And we'll have Boston baked beans!"

The next day the children said good-bye to Grandma Bell and, with Daddy and Mother Bunker, started for Aunt Jo's. They hardly even dreamed of all the good times they were to have there, nor of the strange things that were to happen.



Chapter III

On The Boat


From Grandma Bell's home, near Lake Sagatook, the six little Bunkers, with their father and mother, were taken to the railroad station in a big automobile. As the children looked back, waving their hands to their dear grandmother, who had made their visit such a pleasant one, Russ said:

"Oh, dear!"

"What's the matter?" asked his father. "You seem sad."

"I wish we could take that nice lake with us," explained Russ. "We had such fun there."

"And the boat, too," added Rose. "Can we have a boat at Aunt Jo's, Daddy?"

"I hardly think so," answered Mr. Bunker with a smile. "Aunt Jo lives in the city -- in Boston, in the Back Bay section, and I hardly think there is a place there where you can paddle a raft."

"Can we go wadin'?" asked Laddie.

"Not unless there is a little lake in some park near by," his father answered.

"Couldn't we wait for it to rain and make a mud puddle?" asked Vi. "We could wade in that! We do when we're home!"

"But Boston isn't home. And you can't do in a big city the things you can do at home in Pineville," said Mrs. Bunker, as the automobile chugged along through the woods.

"Can't we have any fun?" asked Russ.

"Oh, yes, lots of fun," his father replied. "Aunt Jo wouldn't ask us to spend two weeks or more at her house, if she didn't know you children could have fun, even if she does live in a city. Don't worry about that -- you'll have fun."

"But we can't have a boat," sighed Rose. She and the other children loved the water, and, living so near Rainbow River as they did, they were used to paddling about, playing with make-believe boats and toys like that.

"Well, if you can't have a boat at Aunt Jo's in Boston, you are going to ride on one before you get to her house," said Mother Bunker with a smile.

"Are we?" cried Russ and Rose together.

"Yes. Didn't I tell you about that?" asked Daddy Bunker. "We are going to Boston by boat, instead of by train. That is, we are going most of the way by boat."

"Where is there any water for a boat?" asked Vi, looking around in the woods through which they were riding. "You can't make a boat go lessen you have water."

"Oh, I know. Yes, you can! Yes, you can!" suddenly cried Laddie.

"How can you?" asked Russ. "You can't sail a boat without water."

"Yes, you can!" said Laddie again, and he was laughing now. "I just thought of a riddle. This is it. What kind of a boat can you sail without water? It's a riddle!"

"Huh! I should say it was! Nobody could answer a riddle like that!" declared Russ.

"Yes, they can!" insisted Laddie. "It's a riddle! And I made it up all by myself. Nobody told me, and I know the answer."

"Well, that's more than I do," said Mrs. Bunker with a laugh. "Suppose you tell us, Laddie."

"And then Daddy can tell us about the boat we're going to ride on to Aunt Jo's," suggested Rose.

"Yes, I'll do that," said Mr. Bunker. "Go on, Laddie. What is the riddle you thought of?"

"What kind of a boat don't have to go in water?" asked the little boy, his eyes shining, for he loved to make up riddles.

"Well, go on. Tell us the answer," said his mother.

"It's a gravy boat!" laughed Laddie. "You know, a gravy boat. It's the kind of a dish we have on the table, with gravy in it, for your bread. You don't have to put that kind of a boat in water."

"That's right! You don't," said Mr. Bunker. "That was a good riddle, Laddie."

"And maybe I could think up another one," went on the little boy. "I almost got one. It's about what makes bread always fall with the butter-side down. But I haven't thought of the answer yet."

"Well, don't tell us any more riddles now," said Russ. "We want to hear about the boat we're going to ride on to Aunt Jo's. Tell us, Daddy."

"All right, I will," promised the children's father.

Then he went on to tell that, by taking a train to a station on the coast, they could get a boat that would take them to Boston.

"We shall have to travel all night though, just as we did in the sleeping-car," said Mr. Bunker.

"Why?" asked Vi.

"Because it will take that long to reach Boston," explained her father.

Rose had quite a large doll, her best one, which she carried with her in her arms whenever the family went traveling. Rose had brought her doll to Grandma Bell's and something funny had happened to the doll in the sleeping-car. You may read about it in the book before this one.

"I must see if my doll is asleep," said Rose.

She had put her toy in a cosy corner of the auto seat, and covered her with a blanket. But when Rose went to look for Sue, as she called her doll, Sue was not to be found.

"Oh! Sue's gone! Sue's gone!" cried Rose. "Somebody has taken my Sue!"

"Who did?" asked Vi.

"Are you sure she hasn't fallen to the floor of the car?" asked Mrs. Bunker.

"No, she isn't here at all," wailed Rose.

"Maybe you didn't bring her. Perhaps you left her at Grandma Bell's," said Mr. Bunker.

"Oh, no! I'm sure I had her," sobbed Rose. "Don't you all 'member that I held her up and wiggled her hand at grandma to say good-bye?"

"Yes, I do remember that," said Mrs. Bunker. "Rose surely had her doll when we started. Have any of you children seen Sue?" she asked.

None of them had, and then Daddy Bunker called to the man driving the auto to stop.

"What are you going to do?" asked Mrs. Bunker.

"I thought I'd walk back a little way and see if Sue had not dropped out along the road," answered her husband.

"Have we got time for that? Won't the train go?"

"Well, we've got a little time," said the driver. "I'll get out and help you look, Mr. Bunker."

"Why'd you lose Sue, Rose?" asked Vi.

"Why, Vi Bunker, I didn't mean to lose her!" exclaimed Rose.

Rose was still searching among the blankets, hoping that, somehow or other, the doll might be found, and her father and Mr. Mead, the auto driver, were getting out, when they heard a shout behind them.

"That's some one calling," said Mrs. Bunker.

They looked and saw riding toward them a boy on a bicycle. He had something in one hand, and clung to the steering bars with the other.

"Oh, he has my doll! He has my doll! I can see Sue!" cried Rose, clapping her hands in joy. "He found her!"

"I do believe he has the child's doll," said Mother Bunker.

"But where did he get her?" asked Vi.

"He must have picked her up along the road after she slipped out of the auto," answered Mrs. Bunker.

By this time the boy on the bicycle had caught up to the auto, which had stopped in a shady place.

"This doll dropped out of your car in front of our house," panted the bicycle boy. "I saw it fall, and I picked it up and rode after you. But I had hard work to catch you."

"I'm glad you did catch us," said Mr. Bunker, taking the doll from the boy's hand. "You had quite a ride. Aren't you tired?"

"Oh, I'm a little tired, but not much," said the boy. "The doll is all right. She had a little dust on her, but I brushed it off."

"I'm ever so much obliged to you," said Mr. Bunker.

"Thank you -- a whole lot!" murmured Rose. "I was 'fraid my doll was lost forever."

"And here is something for your trouble," said Mr. Bunker, giving the boy a silver quarter.

"Oh, I don't want to take it!" he said, backing away.

"Of course you must take it!" insisted Rose's father. "You had a hard ride to bring the doll back to us, and you saved us a long walk to look for her. Take the money and get yourself something with it."

"All right. Thank you," said the boy, blushing a little under his tan. "I'll get me a new knife. I want a knife a lot. My old one's no good."

Then the boy told of having seen the doll bounce out of the automobile as it went past his house. He had called, but the machine made such a noise, and the six little Bunkers were probably talking so much, that no one heard the lad.

So he picked up Sue from the road and hurried on after the car.

"And I never want to lose you again," said Rose, as she hugged her doll close in her arms.

Mr. Bunker and Mr. Mead got back into the auto, and they set off again, Rose and the children waving good-bye to the boy, who stood near his bicycle, looking at the silver quarter in his hand.

"Why'd you give the boy a quarter, Daddy?" asked Vi. But that was one question too many from Vi, and her father did not explain.

A little later the Bunkers reached the railroad station, without losing anything more, and they were soon on their way to take the boat for Boston.

They had had much fun in Maine, at Lake Sagatook, but just as good times were ahead of them, they all felt.

It was evening when they went aboard the big steamer that was to take them to Boston. The children were rather tired from the day's journey in automobile and train.

"I guess we'll all be glad to get into our little beds," said Mother Bunker, as they went to their staterooms, there being two, one next to the other. "Now let me count noses, to make sure you're all here," she went on. "Russ, Rose, Laddie, Vi, Mun Bun -- Where is Margy?" she suddenly cried, as she missed the little girl. "Margy isn't here! Where is she?"

It was true. Margy wasn't with the other little Bunkers. There were only five in sight!



Chapter IV

In Boston


Daddy Bunker and Mother Bunker were used to having things happen to the six little Bunkers. Not that they liked to have things happen -- that is, unpleasant things -- but the father and the mother knew they could not travel around with half a dozen children and not find a bit of trouble now and then.

And now trouble had come! Margy was not to be found!

"I'm sure she came on the boat with us," said Daddy Bunker.

"Yes, I know that," said his wife, as she looked quickly around the deck. "I saw her with the rest not a minute ago."

"Then where can she have gone?" asked Mr. Bunker. "As the steamer has not moved away from the dock, maybe she ran back to shore to get something, or look at something."

"Why'd Margy go away?" asked Vi.

"Margy is too little to go off by herself," said Mrs. Bunker.

"Do you mean some one took her -- maybe a gypsy?" asked Russ.

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Rose. "Are there gypsies here?"

"Nonsense! Of course not!" answered Mr. Bunker, seeing that what Russ had said might frighten the children. "No one has taken Margy. Maybe she is just playing hide-and-go-seek!"

Mr. Bunker didn't really believe Margy was doing this, but he said it to make the children feel better.

"You take the children down to the stateroom," said Mr. Bunker to his wife, "and I'll look for Margy. I'll find her in a jiffy, which is very quick time, indeed," he told the children. "Run along now, Mun Bun, and you too, Vi and Laddie. Rose, you go with your mother and help take care of Mun Bun."

"Shall I come with you, Daddy?" asked Russ.

"Yes," answered Mr. Bunker, "you may come with me, Russ. You can run faster than I can, and if we find Margy playing tag with some of the other little boys and girls on the steamer you can catch her more easily than I can."

Mr. Bunker said this for fun. He didn't really think Margy was playing tag. But he had to say something so the others would not be frightened. And, to tell the truth, Mr. Bunker was a little bit frightened himself, and so was his wife.

"Where do you suppose Margy can be?" Mrs. Bunker asked her husband, as she started down the stairs for the staterooms, or bedrooms, where they were to spend the night.

"Oh, she's around somewhere," he answered. "She may be watching the men load the steamer." Boxes and barrels were still being put into the hold, or "cellar," of the steamer, which would soon start for Boston. Margy, from the upper deck, might have seen this work going on, and have stepped out of sight to watch.

"Come on, Russ, we'll find her," said Mr. Bunker.

Many people were now coming on board the steamer. There were some boys and girls, and certainly a number of them were tired and sleepy. As Mrs. Bunker went down the stairs with the four little Bunkers, she looked at every other child she saw, hoping it might be Margy. But she did not see her smallest daughter.

Russ and his father walked around the upper deck. They met several men who worked on the steamer, and asked them if they had seen a little girl about five years old, with dark hair and eyes, for that is how Margy looked.

Each of the men Mr. Bunker asked said he had not seen the little lost girl, and then Mr. Bunker said:

"Well, Russ, we'll go down on the next deck. Maybe she is there."

There were several decks to the steamer, just as there are several floors in a large house. Russ and his father went downstairs, and as they started to look on the lower deck they met a man who had shiny gold braid on the sleeves of his coat, and also on his cap.

"Are you looking for some one?" asked this man, who was a mate, or helper, to the captain.

"We are looking for my little girl," said Mr. Bunker. "She has wandered away since we came on board."

"Was she a very little girl?" asked the mate.

"Rather small," answered Daddy Bunker.

"And did she have dark hair?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Russ eagerly. "Oh, have you seen her? She's my sister Margy."

"Well, I just happened to pass a stateroom, where I chance to know no little girl belongs on this trip. The door was open, and I looked in," went on the mate. "On the bunk, which is what we call the beds on a steamer," he told Russ, "I saw a little girl with dark hair curled up in a heap. She seemed to be asleep, and there was a little white poodle dog with her."

"A little white poodle dog!" exclaimed Mr. Bunker. "Then I'm afraid it can't be my little girl. We have no white poodle dog."

"Maybe Margy found one, Daddy, and that's why she didn't come with us," said Russ.

"Better take a look at this little girl," went on the mate. "She seems to be all alone in this stateroom, and she may be yours."

"We'll look," said Mr. Bunker. "But I hardly think it can be Margy."

He followed the mate, holding Russ by the hand so the little boy would not get lost, though Russ was almost too big for this.

"Here she is," said the mate, as he came to a stop at an open door of a stateroom. And there, on the clean, white bunk, curled up with one arm around a white poodle dog was a little girl, whose dark hair mingled with the white coat of the poodle.

"Oh, it is Margy!" exclaimed Russ.

"Yes, so it is," said Mr. Bunker. "Thank you," he added to the captain's helper. "Now we are all right. We have found our lost little girl."

"I was wondering to whom she belonged," said the mate. "And I was going to tell the captain about her. Now I won't have to."

When Mr. Bunker and Russ went into the room, the little poodle dog raised up his head, opened one eye, and wagged his little stump of a tail, as if he were saying:

"It's all right. You don't need to worry. I'm taking care of Margy and she's taking care of me."

And it was Margy asleep in the bunk! Poor, tired, sleepy little Margy Bunker.

"My dear little girl," said Daddy Bunker softly, as he took her up in his arms. "We were so worried about you. Where have you been?"

"I -- I founded a little dog," said Margy sleepily, as she put her head down on her father's shoulder. "He was a little white dog an' I loved him an' I went with him an' we went to -- went to -- we --  -- "

And then Margy herself went to where she was trying to tell her daddy she had gone -- to sleep.

"We'll ask her about it in the morning," said Mr. Bunker. "I'll carry her to her mother now, so she won't be anxious any more."

Margy was in slumberland once more, and so was the little white poodle dog. He just looked up, with one eye, when he saw Mr. Bunker carrying his little girl away, and then doggie went to sleep again also.

"Aren't you glad we found Margy?" asked Russ, as he walked back with his father to where Mrs. Bunker and the other children were waiting.

"Indeed I am," said Margy's daddy.

"Where was she?" asked Mrs. Bunker, as she saw her lost little girl.

"She had wandered into some other stateroom, and had gone to sleep," Mr. Bunker answered.

"And the little poodle dog was asleep with her," added Russ.

"Where's the little poodle dog?" demanded Laddie, who was almost asleep himself.

"Oh, we couldn't bring him," Russ said. And then his father told how Margy had been found.

The little girl was still too sleepy to talk, so her mother undressed her and put her to bed.

"We can ask her in the morning what happened," she said.

Now the six little Bunkers were together again, and happy once more, and Mr. and Mrs. Bunker were no longer worried. They all went to bed, and then the steamer traveled through the night, getting to Boston the next day.

The children were awake early, and when they were dressed they went out on deck. They had breakfast on board, in the big dining-saloon.

"When shall we get to Aunt Jo's?" asked Rose, as she helped her mother pick up some of the things the other children had scattered about the stateroom.

"We'll be there in time for dinner," said Mr. Bunker. "But we haven't yet heard what happened to Margy. Why did you go to sleep in the strange bed?" he asked his little girl.

"'Cause I wanted the doggie," she answered. And then she told how it had happened, though they had to ask her many questions to get the whole story.

Soon after coming on board the steamer Margy, walking a little distance apart from the other little Bunkers, had seen the white poodle dog running about the deck. She made friends with him, and when the dog, who belonged to an elderly lady passenger, went off by himself, Margy followed.

The poodle went into the stateroom where his mistress was to sleep, and jumped up on the bed. Margy did the same thing, and then they both fell asleep. Through the open door the mate saw them and then Mr. Bunker came and got his little girl.

"But you mustn't do it again, Margy," he said.

"No, Daddy. I won't," she promised. "But he was an awful nice little dog."

"Could we have him?" Mun Bun wanted to know, for they had seen the white poodle running about the deck that morning.

"Oh, no," replied Mrs. Bunker. "We're going to Aunt Jo's, and she may have a dog herself."

"That'll be fun!" laughed Margy. "I likes a dog!"

"Has Aunt Jo a dog, really?" asked Vi.

"Well, maybe," returned her mother.

A little later the six little Bunkers were riding through the Boston streets on their way to Aunt Jo's house.



Chapter V

Alexis Is Splashed


"Well, well! Oh, I'm so glad to see you! Now stand still, please, while I look at you to make sure you're all here!"

This is what Aunt Jo said as she stood smiling on the steps of her beautiful house in the fashionable Back Bay section of Boston. The six little Bunkers, with Daddy and Mother, had arrived in a big automobile that Mr. Bunker had engaged at the steamer dock. It needed a large machine to take the whole family, with their baggage, through the city. And when they had rung the bell Aunt Jo was waiting to answer it herself, as she expected her visitors.

"One, two, three, four, five, six!" she counted, pointing her finger, first at Russ, as he was the oldest, and ending with Mun Bun, who was the youngest. "All here! And I'm so glad to see you," she went on.

"And we're glad to see you!" added Daddy Bunker as he kissed his sister, for Aunt Jo was his sister, you remember. "I'm afraid you won't find room for us all."

"Oh, yes, I shall," said Aunt Jo, and she laughed and looked so jolly that the six little Bunkers loved her at once. "I've got lots of room in this big house," she went on.

Just then a big dog, the kind called a Great Dane, came stalking into the hall where the Bunker family was gathered. The dog seemed pleased when he saw the children, and wagged his tail.

"I can sleep with the dog if you haven't got room for me anywhere else," said Margy, as she went up to Alexis, which was the dog's name. "I did sleep with a dog on the boat, and he did love me and I did love him."

"Has you got a cat?" asked Mun Bun. "I want to love something, too," and he looked at Aunt Jo with big, round eyes.

"No," answered Daddy's sister, "I haven't a cat, but Alexis is large enough for all you six little Bunkers to love, I guess," and truly the Great Dane seemed so.

"What makes Alexis so big?" asked Vi.

"Because he's a Great Dane."

"What makes a Great Dane be so big?"

"Vi, Vi!" protested her mother. "Don't ask any more questions now."

"But come in and get your things off," went on Aunt Jo. "I'm keeping you standing in the hall as if I didn't have room for you inside. Come in, make yourselves at home and I'll have Parker hurry the lunch. You must be starved."

"We had breakfast, but it wasn't much," said Russ. "I guess it's on account of war times." Russ had really eaten a big breakfast, but, of course, that had been a long time before.

"Well, of course we must all help with the war," said Aunt Jo, "but I think Parker can give you enough to eat."

"Is Parker a cat?" asked Vi.

"Oh, no!" laughed Aunt Jo. "Parker is my cook. I call her by her last name instead of her first name, as it is the same as mine. Parker is a very good cook, you'll find."

"If Parker was a cat maybe I could think up a riddle about her," put in Laddie. "Anyhow, I know a new riddle, Aunt Jo."

"Do you? Well, I must hear it," she said, as she opened the door to the sitting-room.

"Oh, Laddie, can't you wait to ask riddles until we get our things off?" asked his mother.

"I -- I'm afraid I might forget it," said the little boy. "It's a hard riddle."

"Well, let me hear it," said Aunt Jo with a laugh. "I used to be pretty good at guessing them."

"This is it," said Laddie. "I didn't make it up, but I asked one of the sailors on the steamer for a good riddle, and he told me this one. It's, 'What can you put in your left hand that you can't put in your right hand?' That's the riddle."

"Pooh! there can't be any answer to that," said Russ. "If you can put anything in your left hand you can put it in your right, too. Look!"

He took his knife from his pocket, and put it first in his right hand and then in his left.

"But I don't mean a knife," said Laddie. "'Tisn't what you can put in both hands, it's what you can't."

"Let me hear the riddle again," begged Aunt Jo.

"What can you put in your left hand that you can't put in your right?" asked Laddie. "It's awful hard -- you'll never guess it," he went on, laughing at the puzzled look on Aunt Jo's face.

They all tried to guess the riddle -- that is all except the smallest children -- Mun Bun and Margy, and they were too much taken up with loving the dog Alexis. Aunt Jo tried several things, but she found she could put them in one hand as easily as she could in the other, so that couldn't be the answer.

"Do you give up?" asked Laddie.

"Yes," said his father, "we all give up. Tell us the answer."

"It's your right elbow," said the little boy with a laugh.

"Your right elbow?" cried Russ.

"Yes," Laddie went on. "Look! You can hold your right elbow in your left hand, but you can't put your right elbow in your right hand. Nobody can!"

And, surely enough, when they tried, no one could do it. And you can quickly prove it for yourself to make sure Laddie was right. You can easily rest your right elbow in the palm of your left hand. But try to put your left elbow in your left hand, or the right elbow in the right hand, and see how hard it is.

"Well, that's a good riddle!" laughed Aunt Jo. "I shall have to put on my thinking cap when you ask me any more, Laddie."

"Oh, I know lots more riddles," cried Laddie eagerly. "Some I made up myself. I know one about why don't the railroad tickets get mad when the conductor punches 'em, but I never can think of an answer for that riddle."

"Well, a riddle isn't much fun unless you know the answer," agreed Aunt Jo. "And now I'll show you to your rooms, and you can get ready for lunch."

They went upstairs, Alexis following, for he seemed to like children. And the six little Bunkers certainly liked the big dog.

"Does he like dolls?" asked Rose, as she held her Sue close in her arms.

"Well, I never saw him bite any," said Aunt Jo.

"I don't want to put my doll down where he could get her if he would carry her off," went on the little girl.

"Would Alexis do that?" asked Vi.

"No, I don't believe Alexis would hurt the doll," said Aunt Jo. "Here, we will try him. Come to me, Alexis!" she called.

The dog managed to get away from Mun Bun and Margy, who were trying to see who could hug him the hardest, and he stood near his mistress.

"Do you see this doll, Alexis?" went on Aunt Jo, holding Sue out for him to see. "Look at her!"

"Bow-wow!" barked Alexis, and that meant: "Yes, I see her, what about it?"

"You must be very nice to her, and not chew her nor carry her off and put her in some hiding-place, as you do your bones," went on Aunt Jo. Alexis waved his big tail, sniffed at Rose's doll, and then barked again.

"He will never hurt your toy, Rose," said Aunt Jo. "You may safely leave her anywhere in the house."

"She's my best doll, and she's been lost in the woods and had lots of adventures," Rose said. "But I wouldn't like a dog to carry her off -- 'specially not such a big dog."

"Well, don't worry about Alexis," said Aunt Jo. "He won't hurt your Sue."

The visitors were shown to their different rooms, and their baggage was carried up so the children could change their clothes.

"Why do we have to change our clothes?" asked Vi.

"We want to put on some old things so we can have some fun," returned Russ.

"Can we sail a boat anywhere around here?" asked Laddie.

"I'm afraid not," said Aunt Jo. "You see this is a big city, and not the country, as at Grandma Bell's, where you have been staying. True, we are near the bay, but you couldn't very well sail boats there. I shall have to think up some other fun for you."

"We like fun," added Violet.

By this time Mun Bun and Margy had been fitted out with their "play clothes" as they called them; clothes that could not easily be soiled. Russ and Rose had dressed themselves, and Mrs. Bunker was seeing to Laddie and Violet.

"And when you're all ready I'll have Parker serve the lunch," said Aunt Jo. "If you'll just excuse me now, I'll run down and see about it," she added to her brother.

"Go ahead," said he. "We'll be right down."

"Can Alexis stay up here with us?" asked Mun Bun.

"Oh, yes, he likes to be with children," said Miss Bunker, for that really was Aunt Jo's name, she being Daddy Bunker's sister.

So Aunt Jo went downstairs to see that the cook got a nice lunch ready for the six little Bunkers.

Mr. and Mrs. Bunker, now that they had the children ready, could stop and "get their breaths," as Mother Bunker said. Really it is a good deal of work to look after six children.

"Come on!" called Daddy Bunker, when he had helped his wife put the baggage away in the rooms they were to have while at Aunt Jo's house. "Come down to lunch, children!"

Russ, Rose, Violet and Laddie came from the windows, out of which they had been looking at scenes in the street.

"Where is Mun Bun?" asked Mrs. Bunker.

"And Margy?" added her husband.

"I saw 'em a minute ago," answered Rose.

And just then, from down the hall, came strange sounds.

"Now it's my turn, Mun Bun! It's my turn to splash him!" shouted Margy.

"No, it's mine!" insisted her brother. "You splashed him a lot, an' I'm goin' to do it now. You let me pull it!"

"Oh, what are those children doing now?" asked Mrs. Bunker.

"I'll go and see," offered her husband.

And then, from a room down the hall, came the sound of splashing water and the barking of Alexis, the big dog, while Mun Bun could be heard calling:

"Let me pull it! Let me pull it! I want to splash him, too!"

"What are Mun and Margy Bunker doing?" asked Vi.



Chapter VI

The Pocketbook


"Where are they?" asked Daddy Bunker, looking at his wife.

"They must be in the bathroom," she answered. "Oh, do go and look please, and see what is happening."

"What is it? May I go and see?" cried Vi, going toward the bathroom without waiting to have her questions answered.

Mr. Bunker ran down the hall. The bathroom door was open and within he saw a strange sight.

Mun Bun and Margy had, somehow or other, got the big dog Alexis to jump into the bathtub. Perhaps the dog had done it before. Anyhow he was in it now, and, as he stood there, Margy and Mun Bun were having a sort of tug of war to see who should pull the handle of the chain that worked the shower bath.

Margy had her chubby fists on the handle, and she was pulling, but Mun Bun was trying to pull her hands away so he could take hold of the chain himself. So the pull of the two children was enough to make the water spurt out from the overhead shower. Down the water came, splashing on Alexis, but he seemed to like it. He barked, but not too loudly, and wagged his tail.

"Mun Bun! Margy! What in the world are you doing?" cried their father. Of course he could see, perfectly well, what they were doing, but, somehow or other, that seemed the most natural thing to ask.

"What are you doing?" he cried.

"We're splashing Alexis," said Margy.

"It's my turn to do it, but she won't let me," complained Mun Bun. "She's splashed him a lot, and now I want to."

"You mustn't either of you splash Alexis any more like this!" exclaimed Mr. Bunker, wanting to laugh at the funny sight, but really not daring to, lest the children try it again some time.

"Stop it at once," he said. "Turn that water off, Mun Bun!"

"I'm not pulling it -- it's Margy!" said the little boy.

"Both of you stop!" commanded their father. "Come here, Alexis!" he called, and the big dog jumped out of the bathtub. Luckily the floor of the room was of white tile, so the water that dripped on it from the dog did no harm. But when he gave himself a shake, as dogs always do when they come out of water, the drops splashed on the two children and also on Mr. Bunker.

"Oh! Oh!" cried Mun Bun. "I'm -- I'm all wet!"

"So'm I!" added Margy. She had let go of the shower-bath chain, and the water no longer ran out.

"Alexis got me wet, too," said Daddy Bunker. "But you children should not have done this. It was very wrong."

"But Alexis was very hot," said Margy. "His tongue was stickin' out of his mouth just like Grandma's dog Zip's used to, and so we wanted to cool him off; didn't we, Mun Bun?"

"Yes, we did," answered the little boy. "So I told him to get into the bathtub, and we pulled the chain and the water splashed out on him."

"I should say it did splash!" exclaimed Mr. Bunker, trying not to laugh. "I don't know what Aunt Jo will say."

"Well, she said she wanted us to have fun," went on Margy, "and we did have fun, and Alexis liked it."

"Perhaps he did," said her father, for the dog did not seem to mind being wet. "But it was very wrong to do it. You children are very wet."

"Did anything happen?" asked Mrs. Bunker, as she came down the hall toward the bathroom, with Russ, Rose and Laddie.

"Well, lots happened, but nothing very bad," said her husband. "Alexis had his bath, that's all."

"Oh, my dears!" cried Mrs. Bunker, when she saw the splashed bathroom and how wet the two children were. "How could you do it?"

"I'll show you how to do it!" exclaimed Mun Bun, not exactly knowing what his mother meant. "This is how!" and he reached for the handle of the shower-bath chain. But his father caught him just in time to stop him from splashing any more water about.

"It is a good thing I changed their clothes," said Mrs. Bunker. "Poor Alexis! Did you think it was raining?" she asked, as she patted the dog's wet head.

But the Great Dane did not seem to mind. He wagged his tail joyfully, and, after all, the day was a hot one.

"Don't mind about a little water, as long as the children are all right," said Aunt Jo, when she heard what had happened. "Alexis loves to get a bath, but he is generally washed out in the garage by William, the man who attends to the car. I had never put him in a bathtub, but I suppose he liked it."

"He waggled his tail like anything," said Mun Bun.

"Well, then that's a sure sign he was pleased," said Aunt Jo.

Margy and Mun Bun had been partly dried off in time for lunch, and the six little Bunkers, with the rest of the family, were now at table.

"What we going to do this afternoon?" asked Vi.

"What would you like to do?" inquired her aunt with a smile.

"Well, I'd like to see something," Russ put in.

"I want to see some cows and sheep," added Laddie. "Maybe I could think up a riddle about them if I was to see some. We had some at Grandma Bell's."

"And he gave 'em sugar 'stid of salt," said Russ with a laugh.

"Well, they liked it," Laddie declared. "Only the old ram -- he wasn't nice!"

"I'm sorry, but there aren't any sheep or cows around here," said Aunt Jo with a smile. "You must remember that this is a city, and not the country. But there are many things to see here. We can go to visit Bunker Hill Monument, and we can go on excursions to Nantasket Beach -- oh, we can do lots of things to have fun!"

"That's good!" murmured Rose. "I think I'd like to go for a walk, and see things."

"So would I," agreed her mother. "If you like, Rose, you and I will take a walk. I want to get a few things from the store."

"Well, you can do that," said Daddy Bunker, "and I'll stay here with Aunt Jo and look after the children. I'm afraid even five little Bunkers will be too much for her to manage."

"Oh, no!" exclaimed Aunt Jo. "I love children!"

She had never had any of her own, being unmarried, but no mother could have been more kind nor have loved children any more than did Aunt Jo.

"Well, if mother and Rose go downtown for a walk, we'll stay here and look around a bit," said Daddy Bunker.

"And maybe I can find something to make," said Russ, as he walked about, whistling his shrillest. Russ was not quite happy unless he was making something, whether it was whittling a sword out of a piece of wood, or building an airship.

So, while Daddy Bunker took the children out into Aunt Jo's back yard -- and she had a large one, for which the boys and girls were very glad -- Mrs. Bunker and Rose got ready to go shopping.

At one end of the yard was the garage for the automobile. The reason she had not sent it to the dock to meet her brother and the children when the boat came in was that she did not know at just what hour they would arrive.

Working around the garage was William, the chauffeur, who also helped about the house, taking out the ashes in winter and cutting the grass in summer.

"We've a man named Jerry Simms who does that at our house," said Russ, when he learned what William did for Aunt Jo. "Jerry is a soldier, or he was. Are you a soldier, Mr. William?"

"No, but I may be, some day," he answered.

"Have you got any corn shuckers here?" asked Laddie.

"A corn shucker? No. What's that?"

"Well, it's a thing, and you put ears of corn in a spout and turn a wheel and the kernels of corn come out of one end, and the empty cob comes out of the other end. Grandma Bell's got one."

"And we put Rose's doll in and shucked off all her buttons," added Russ.

"That's what they did," said Daddy Bunker. "I'm glad you haven't one here, William. Rose didn't like it when all the buttons came off her doll."

"But it was lots of fun," added Laddie. "Maybe I could think up a riddle about a corn shucker, if I tried real hard."

"Oh, look! Here's a hose!" cried Russ, as he saw one with which William had been washing the automobile. "May we squirt it?"

"I'm afraid you'll get wet," said the chauffeur, with a look at Mr. Bunker.

"A little water won't hurt them," said the children's father. "They have on their old clothes. But perhaps you don't want them to take it."

"Oh, I was going to water the lawn, anyhow," said William; "and I'd just as soon they would do it if you don't mind."

"Hurray!" cried Laddie.

"I'm going to have first turn at squirting!" insisted Russ.

Their father settled this little dispute by saying that Vi and the two older boys might have the hose for five minutes at a time, and he would stay near by to see that everything was fair. So Laddie and Russ and Vi began to sprinkle the lawn, while Margy and Mun Bun found a pile of clean sand near the garage, where they could play.

And now I must tell you something that happened to Rose and her mother. They were walking down one of the Boston streets, after having bought some things in one of the stores, when Rose, who was walking a little ahead of her mother, suddenly called:

"Look! Look, Mother!"

"What is it?" asked Mrs. Bunker.

"It's a pocketbook," went on Rose, pointing to one on the sidewalk. "And it looks as if it had money in it. Shall I pick it up, Mother?"

"Yes. Why not?" said Mrs. Bunker, glancing about, and seeing no one who might have dropped it. "Why shouldn't you pick it up, Rose?"

"'Cause maybe it's an April fool one, and somebody will pull it away with a string," the little girl answered.



Chapter VII

A Sad Letter


April fool was something Mrs. Bunker had not thought of as she looked at the pocketbook lying on the sidewalk. As Rose had said, it did seem to have money in it, but perhaps it might be stuffed with paper.

Then, too, there might be a string tied to the wallet, and boys, hidden somewhere near, might pull on the string and yank the pocketbook away just as soon as any one stooped over to pick it up. Still Mrs. Bunker said to Rose:

"This is too late for April fool. This is August, and no boys would think of playing such tricks now."

"Maybe not, Mother," Rose agreed. "I just thought maybe that was what it was there for. But I'll pick it up. I hope it's got a lot of money in it!"

With shining eyes Rose stooped to pick up the purse.

"Open it, Rose, and see what is inside," said Mrs. Bunker. "We may find out the name of the owner, and, if she lives around here -- for it looks like a lady's pocketbook -- we can take it to her."

"But we don't know the streets, Mother," said Rose.

"We can ask a policeman. If we find the name of the owner, and it is too far for us to go where she lives, we can give the pocketbook to the policeman and he will deliver it for us. But open it and see what is in it," returned Mrs. Bunker.

The pocketbook opened easily enough, and as Rose turned back the flap she gave a cry of surprise.

"What's the matter?" asked the excited child's mother.

"Oh! Oh, it's just full of money!" cried the little girl. "It's piled full of money, Mother! Look!"

She hurried to her mother's side with the opened pocketbook. Surely enough, when Mrs. Bunker looked, she saw a roll of green bills. Just how many were in the pocketbook she could not tell.

"Well, this is quite a find!" said Rose's mother. "The person who lost this will feel bad about it. We must try to find the owner."

"Oh, can't I keep it?" asked Rose.

"Of course not," said her mother. "Whenever we find anything we must try to discover the owner and give the lost thing back. If you lost your doll you'd want whoever found her to give her back; wouldn't you?"

"Oh, of course, Mother! But Sue -- she isn't a pocketbook full of money."

"No," agreed Mrs. Bunker with a smile. "If Russ were here I suppose he'd say your doll was full of sawdust. However, no matter what it is, we must give back whatever we have found if we can find the owner. Of course, after we have tried hard, if we can't discover who lost whatever we have found, we may keep it."

"How can we tell who lost this pocketbook and all the money?" asked Rose.

"We'll look inside, and we'll also count the money," said her mother.

"Maybe it's a hundred dollars!" exclaimed the little girl, her eyes shining brightly.

"Perhaps it may be," said Mrs. Bunker. "But we won't count it out here on the street. We have nearly finished shopping, so we will take the pocketbook home with us, and show it to Daddy and Aunt Jo."

Rose had the wallet open, looking at the roll of bills inside. Now her mother gently took it from her and closed it.

"What made you do that?" asked Rose.

"Because the wind might blow some of the money out," was the answer, "and then we could not give it all back to the poor person who owns it."

"What makes you think the pocketbook is a poor person's?" asked Rose, who was asking almost as many questions as would her sister Vi had she been there.

"Well, the pocketbook is rather a shabby one, even though it seems to have quite a lot of money in it," said Mrs. Bunker, as she put it away in her own shopping bag. "The leather is worn and it is torn. But we will go over it more carefully when we get home."

Rose could hardly wait to get back to Aunt Jo's house to look farther into the pocketbook and see what it held. No one on the street had paid the slightest attention to Rose and her mother when the wallet had been found, and no policeman was in sight who could be asked about it. So Mrs. Bunker thought the best thing to do was to take it with her and examine it later.

When Aunt Jo's house was reached Laddie, Vi and Russ had about finished watering the lawn. They had watered themselves a little, also, for they were so eager, and took so many turns with the hose that it splashed on them.

But the day was warm, and, as they had on their old clothes, their father did not mind, as long as they did not get too wet.

"Oh, we had lots of fun!" cried Russ as he saw his mother and Rose coming along.

"We had a dandy time!" added Laddie.

"You don't know what I found!" cried Rose, not thinking so much about her brothers' fun with the hose as she was about what had happened to herself and her mother. "I found something!"

"What?" asked Vi.

"Was it a little kittie?" asked Mun Bun, who, with Margy, had finished playing in the sand pile.

"No, it wasn't a kittie, though I wish I could find one," said Rose.

"Did you find a new riddle?" Laddie wanted to know. He thought more of riddles than of many other things that most boys like.

"No, it wasn't a riddle," answered Rose. "You'd never guess, so I'll tell you. I found a pocketbook, and maybe it's got two hundred dollars in it! So there!"

"Oh, you did not! Did she, Mother?" asked Russ, in surprise at what his sister had said.

"Yes, Rose did find a pocketbook," answered Mrs. Bunker. "It was lying on the sidewalk in front of us. But whether it has two hundred dollars in it, or only one hundred, I don't know yet."

"Where is it? Where is it?" cried Vi over and over.

"In my bag. We really did make quite a find," she went on to her husband and Aunt Jo, who came out on the porch just then. "Look!" and Mrs. Bunker took the purse out of her shopping bag, handing it over to her husband.

"See if you can find out who owns it," she suggested.

"And if nobody owns it I'm going to keep it for mine," said Rose.

"Can she, Mother?" Russ wanted to know.

"Well, we'll see," said Mrs. Bunker.

Meanwhile her husband was opening the pocketbook. He saw the roll of bills and whistled.

"Well, there's some money here, anyhow," he said. "I'll count it first, so we'll know just how much it is."

Mr. Bunker was used to counting over bills. He could not do it quite as fast, perhaps, as the cashier in a bank, but he soon had spread out the money in a chair in front of him on the porch, and he said:

"There are just sixty-five dollars here."

"Sixty-five!" exclaimed Rose. "I thought it was two hundred."

"Is sixty-five dollars much money?" asked Vi.

"Well, sixty-five dollars is a lot of money if you lose it," said her father. "And whoever lost this will be very glad to get it back, you may be sure."

"Is there anything else in the pocketbook to tell who may own it?" asked Mrs. Bunker.

"No, there doesn't seem to be anything but just the roll of bills," he answered. "Hold on, though!" he exclaimed, as he looked in another part of the pocketbook, "here is some sort of a paper."

"That may have the owner's name on it," said Aunt Jo. "I always carry in my purse a slip with my name and address on it, so if I lose my pocketbook whoever finds it will know where to bring it back. Probably that is what this is."

"No, it doesn't seem to be," said Mr. Bunker. "This appears to be part of a letter. Of course it isn't nice to read letters that are for other people, but as we are trying to find out to whom this money and pocketbook belong it will be all right. I'll read this."

He took out a folded paper from a compartment in the pocketbook next to where the money had been, and began to read. He read it aloud. It said:

"DEAR MOTHER: I am so glad you have the sixty-five dollars, for then you will not have to work so hard, and can take a little rest. It was so good of Uncle Jack to send it to you. I feel so much better now that you have this money. You will not have to worry so much. I am working hard myself, but I like it, and I will save all I can and send all I can spare to you. Take good care of the money and don't lose it, for you may never have as much again. I am very lonesome and wish I could see you, but I know the rest will do you good. With lots of love."

"Is that all?" asked Mrs. Bunker, as her husband stopped reading.

"That is all," he said.

"Isn't there any name or address to that little letter?" Aunt Jo wanted to know.

"No, nothing like that," answered her brother. "The only name in it is 'Uncle Jack,' and that might mean anybody. There must have been a name signed to the letter, but it has been torn off. You can see where the paper has been torn across. I don't see how we can find who owns the money from this letter."

"Maybe there is something else in the pocketbook," said Russ.

Mr. Bunker looked, and did find a Chinese coin with a square hole in it. There was only the letter, addressed to "Dear Mother," and the sixty-five dollars, and the Chinese coin.

"We'll have to put an advertisement in the paper, saying we have found a pocketbook," said Mr. Bunker. "Whoever has lost it will see the advertisement and call here. And we must look in the 'lost and found' advertisements in the paper to-night."

"Yes, we'll do that," said Aunt Jo. "The poor woman must be very sad over her loss. She will be very glad to get it back, and --  -- "

Just then the telephone in Aunt Jo's house gave a loud ring.

"Oh," cried Rose. "Maybe that's some one now to ask about the pocketbook I found. Oh, maybe it is!"



Chapter VIII

Russ Makes A Fountain


The six little Bunkers, as well as their father and mother, waited while Aunt Jo went to answer the telephone, which kept on ringing as though in a hurry. Vi had asked "Who's ringing?" but of course nobody could tell her until Aunt Jo answered the call.

"Yes! What is it?" asked Aunt Jo into the mouthpiece of the instrument, which stood on a table in the sitting-room. "Oh, it's you, is it, Mr. North?" she went on. "What's that? Did we lose anything? No, not that I know of. One of my little guests found something, but I haven't heard of anything being lost. Wait a minute, though, until I count noses. I'll see if all the six little Bunkers are here. I might have missed one and not know it."

Laughing, Aunt Jo turned from the telephone to look at the children. They were all there, from Russ the oldest to Mun Bun the youngest. Then Aunt Jo spoke again into the instrument.

"No, we haven't lost anything," she said. "Oh, you'll bring it over, will you, Mr. North? Thank you!"

"Was it something about the pocketbook?" asked Rose eagerly.

"No, it was nothing like that," answered her aunt. "The gentleman who telephoned was Mr. North, my next-door neighbor. He says he has something belonging to one of you children, and he is going to bring it right over. Did any of you leave out any of your toys when you were playing in the yard?"

"I didn't," said Russ, and none of his brothers or sisters could think of anything of theirs that was missing. In a few minutes the door bell rang, and when this was answered, Mr. North brought in what seemed to be a bundle of rags.

"Your dog Alexis brought this over and left it on my door mat," he said to Aunt Jo.

"Oh, it's my doll Sue!" cried Rose, as she ran forward to take it. "I forgot all about her. I left her to sleep on the porch in the sun so she would get nice and tanned, as I do when I go to the seashore, and then I went downtown with mother and I forgot all about her."

"Well, I'm glad to bring her back to you," said Mr. North with a smile. "I guess I must have been holding her upside down," and so he had. That was what made Sue look so like a bundle of rags. Really she was a nice doll when she was held right side up.

"It's queer Alexis brought her to your house, instead of in here to me," said Aunt Jo.

"Oh, Alexis and I are great friends," said Mr. North. "He often brings me my paper when the boy leaves it at the front gate instead of walking up to the porch with it, and perhaps your dog might have thought this was a paper, though a very large one," and Mr. North smiled at Rose.

Mr. North had been introduced to the six little Bunkers, and also to Daddy and Mother Bunker, when he entered, and he stayed some little time, talking with them, for he liked children, though all his were grown into big boys and girls now.

"I found a pocketbook," said Rose, when she had got over her first bit of shyness sufficiently to talk to the visitor.

"Did you, indeed? Well, you are lucky!" said Mr. North. Then he was told about the sixty-five dollars, and shown the sad letter in the pocketbook.

"We are going to put an advertisement in the paper," said Aunt Jo. "And if you hear of any poor woman who has lost this sum of money, or read about any in the paper, I wish you would tell us."

"I will," promised Mr. North. "Well, Rose, you have had quite an experience almost as soon as you come to Boston. What are you children going to do the rest of your stay here?"

"I'm afraid I won't know how to provide fun for so many of them," said Aunt Jo. "I want them to have a good time, and remember their visit pleasantly, but I have no toys for girls and boys --  -- "

"That's just what I was going to speak about," said Mr. North. "There is an express wagon in my barn, and an old velocipede, as well as a coaster wagon. They used to belong to my youngsters, but they have outgrown them. If the six little Bunkers would like to play with those toys they are very welcome."

"That will be splendid!" cried Aunt Jo. "I was just wondering what I could do to amuse Russ and the others, for I haven't any things that children like, and we can't go on sight-seeing trips or excursions all the while, though we will go on some. The toys you have, Mr. North, will be just the thing."

And indeed they did prove so. The next day Russ and his brothers and sisters went over to Mr. North's barn. It was an old-fashioned one, the kind horses and carriages used to be kept in before there were automobiles. Mr. North also had a garage for his cars, but the old barn stood far back in his yard, which was a large one next to Aunt Jo's, and in it were the velocipede, the express wagon, a coaster wagon and other things with which to have fun.

"Oh, we can have jolly good times now!" cried Russ.

"And I can give my doll a ride, after Alexis carried her in his teeth," put in Rose.

"Can't we have rides, too?" asked Vi.

"'Course you can," answered Russ. "I'll give you a nice ride."

And then, while Aunt Jo and Mother Bunker went to a Red Cross meeting and while Daddy Bunker went downtown to put an advertisement in the paper about the pocketbook Rose had found, the children played around Mr. North's barn and Aunt Jo's yard.

"Will it be all right to leave them while we go out?" asked Aunt Jo of Mrs. Bunker.

"Oh, yes, as long as your man, William, and your cook, Parker, and your housemaid, Anne, are around to sort of look after them. I often leave them with our Norah and Jerry Simms."

So the six little Bunkers were left to themselves. And you can easily imagine that they had all sorts of good times. There was a stone walk around Aunt Jo's house, as well as around Mr. North's, and there Russ and his brothers and sisters rode in the express wagon, on the velocipede and on the coaster. They laughed and shouted, and every now and then there would be an upset, but no one was hurt and they all seemed to like it.

Now and then Parker or William or Anne would come out from the house or the garage to look and see that the six little Bunkers were coming to no harm, and when they found the children were all right they smiled, for it was fun to watch them play.

"I know what we can do," said Russ to Laddie, after they had taken turns riding on the velocipede and coaster. Just at this time Margy and Mun Bun had the coaster and were playing steam-car with it.

"What can we do?" asked Laddie, always ready to have fun with his older brother.

"We can make a harness for Alexis, and hitch him to the express wagon," went on Russ.

"Oh, that'll be lots of fun!" cried Laddie. "But what'll we make a harness of? Aunt Jo hasn't any horses and Mr. North hasn't either."

"We can make it of string," said Russ. "It doesn't need to be very strong, for we aren't very heavy to pull."

So Russ and Laddie begged pieces of string from Parker, not telling what they were going to make.

"If it's a cat's cradle you have cord enough for a dozen," said the good-natured cook, as she handed out the pieces of string she had saved from the grocery packages.

"No, we're not going to make cats' cradles," answered Russ. "You can see it when we get finished."

It was no very hard matter to catch Alexis and fasten a lot of pieces of string around him, as nearly like a harness as the two little boys could manage. The dog loved children, and asked nothing better than to be with them. So he stood very still, just hanging his tongue out of his mouth, as the day was hot, while Laddie and Russ tied the cord around him. Then they fastened the ends to the express wagon, tying a number of knots.

"We've got to have lines to drive him with," said Laddie. "Else we can't guide him the way we want him to go."

"Yes, I'll make some lines," said Russ. He tied two strings around the neck of Alexis, one for the left-hand side and the other for the right.

"I can't put a bit in his mouth, as I could if he was a horse," said Russ, "'cause Alexis holds his mouth open so much, to cool off his tongue, that the bit would fall out."

"That's right," said Laddie. "Anyhow, we don't want a bit. Now can we have a ride?"

"I guess so," said Russ.

There was quite a collection of strings tied around Alexis and made fast to the little express wagon.

"We'll get in now," said Russ, when he had the cord reins in his hands, "and we'll drive around the walk where Rose and Vi are playing with their dolls," for the two girls were having a party, with cookies and sugar water, which had been given to them by Parker.

Into the wagon got Russ and Laddie. Alexis, harnessed to the little wagon, turned his head to look at them, as if to make sure they were all right.

"Gid-dap!" called Russ, as he would to a horse.

"Bow-wow!" barked the dog, meaning, perhaps: "I will!"

Then he started to walk off.

Now, when I tell you that Alexis was a big, strong dog, and that Laddie and Russ in the express wagon made quite a heavy load, and when I say that the string harness was not very strong, you can easily imagine what happened. Alexis had not taken more than two steps before --  -- 

Snap! went the string harness, and it broke in several places.

"Whoa! Whoa!" called Russ. "Whoa there, Alexis!"

But Alexis never "whoaed" a bit. He kept on walking, and he walked right off with the bits of the string harness clinging to him, leaving the express wagon with the two little boys in it on the walk at the side of the house.

"Come on back and give us a ride!" called Laddie.

"I guess we'll have to make a stronger harness," said Russ with a laugh.

"I guess so, too," agreed Laddie.

Anyhow, Alexis didn't come back. Just outside Aunt Jo's fence he saw another dog which he knew, and he ran up to have a "talk" with him, in bow-wow language, of course.

"Well, we didn't get a ride," said Laddie.

"No," agreed Russ, "we didn't. But I know what else we can do."

"What?" asked Laddie.

Russ did not answer for a moment. He was looking at a shovel lying in the back part of the yard, where William had been spading for a late flower bed. Then Russ saw the hose with which the man had been washing the automobile.

"We can make a fountain, Laddie!" exclaimed Russ.

"A fountain! How?"

"Come on, I'll show you!" said Russ.

Then he and his brother began to make a fountain. And I suppose you wonder how they did it.



Chapter IX

What Happened To William


"First," said Russ, as he took up the shovel, "we've got to make a hole."

"I thought you said we were going to make a fountain," said Laddie.

"We are," Russ went on. "But first you have to have some place for the fountain water to run into, don't you?"

"I guess so," agreed Laddie, who was not quite sure.

"'Course you have," insisted his older brother. "Don't you 'member how a fountain is? It has a big basin where the water splashes in out of a thing like a hose, and us boys could paddle our feet in the water if we wanted to."

"Oh! are you goin' to make that kind of a fountain?" asked Laddie.

"Sure," said Russ. "Come on, help me dig the hole, and then we'll fix the hose in it and run it full of water and then we can paddle in it -- I mean in the hole full of water -- and the hose'll be squirtin', and that will be a fountain."

"That'll be fine!" cried Laddie. "I'll get a shovel and help you dig."

Laddie found a small shovel in the barn, and, Russ using the larger one, which was really too big for him, the two brothers began to make their fountain. If their father and mother had been at home, or even Aunt Jo had seen them, I don't suppose they would have been allowed to do this, for it wasn't exactly right, no matter how much fun they thought they would have.

But the boys went on digging, making a deep and large hole in the garden. They tossed the dirt out with their shovels, and, as the soil was soft, it was easy for them to dig in it.

"Isn't it 'most big enough now?" asked Laddie, after a while.

"Almost," Russ answered, as he looked up from where he stood in the hole.

"I'm tired -- my back aches," Laddie went on.

"I'm tired, too," said Russ. "But I guess when you build a fountain it makes 'most everybody tired. We'll only dig a little more, and then we can run the water in and wade. I haven't had a good wade since we came from Grandma Bell's."

"Neither have I," said Laddie.

So they dug some more, until they really had quite a large hole in the garden, and then Russ went to get the hose. It was still attached to the faucet, but the water was not turned on.

If William had seen what the boys were doing he would have stopped them. For, though Mr. and Mrs. Bunker had said nothing about not letting the children play in the water, and though Aunt Jo had not spoken of it, either, still, I feel sure William would have stopped Laddie and Russ from making their fountain if he had seen them. But he did not. He was doing something inside the garage just then, and it was at this time that Russ took the nozzle end of the hose, and dragged the long, rubber pipe over toward the hole he and Laddie had dug.

"Now all we've got to do is to fasten the hose in the hole, so it sticks up straight," said Russ. "Then I'll turn the water on, and we'll have a fountain and we can wade in it."

"That'll be fun!" exclaimed Laddie.

At first Russ did not have an easy time trying to make the hose nozzle stand up straight in the hole he and his brother had dug. Then the boy, after whistling a bit, and thinking as well as he could, exclaimed:

"I know how to do it!"

"How?" asked Laddie.

"Why, I'll just drive a stick down in the middle of the hole, and I'll leave part of it sticking up. Then I can tie the end of the hose to it, sticking up in the air, you know, and when I turn the water on it'll squirt right straight up and come down in the fountain."

"That'll be nice," said Laddie. But you just wait and see what happens.

Russ found an old broom-handle, and, using the shovel for a hammer, he drove this stick down into the soft dirt, leaving enough showing above the bottom of the hole to which to tie the hose.

Laddie helped his brother do this, and then the fountain was ready to "play" as it is called. I suppose the water bubbling up and down, as it does in a fountain, really looks as though it were playing.

"Now we're all ready to turn it on," said Russ when the hose was tied fast.

"And then we can wade in the fountain," added Laddie. "I'm going to get my shoes and stockings off now," and he sat down on the ground, near the hole, and began to do this.

Russ went back to where, on the outside wall of the garage, the hose was screwed on the faucet. He tried to turn the brass handle. But it was stiff, and more than his little fingers could manage.

"Come here, Laddie!" called Russ. "You've got to help me turn on the water."

"Wait till I get my other shoe off!" said Laddie.

"No, come on! Do it now!" said Russ. "You can take your shoe off afterwards, while we're waiting for the fountain basin to fill."

So, with one shoe on and the other off, Laddie limped over to the garage to help his brother turn the faucet. Before this William had finished what he was doing, and had gone to the house to ask Parker something. He did not notice what Laddie and Russ were doing, but on his way back to the garage the chauffeur saw the pile of dirt, noticed the hole and looked at the end of the hose sticking up in the air.

"Now I wonder what that is," said William to himself. "I didn't leave the hose like that, and I don't believe Alexis could have dug such a big hole. I must certainly see what it is."

So William, forgetting for the moment about the little Bunkers, walked over to the hose. He saw it sticking up in the hole and, as he bent over it, he said:

"This must be the work of Laddie and Russ. I wonder what they're going to do. Play fireman, maybe."

And it was just then, as William leaned over the hose, that Russ and Laddie managed to turn the faucet. You can imagine what happened after that.

Through the hose spurted the water, out of the end, right in William's face. But of course Laddie and Russ did not mean to do that.

"Oh, my! Here! What's this! Oh, I'm all wet!" spluttered the chauffeur. He jumped back, but not quite far enough, for he stumbled over some of the dirt, and fell down, and the water, shooting up into the air, came down on him in a regular shower.

"I say now! Stop it! Shut off the water!" cried William.

At first Laddie and Russ did not know what he meant. Then they looked toward the hole, which they intended for a fountain, and saw the chauffeur getting wet. William's legs seemed to be so tangled that he couldn't get up in a hurry, and he was getting very wet.

"Turn off the water! Turn off the water!" he begged. "I'm getting all mud!"

Laddie and Russ were frightened, then, and they tried to shut off the faucet. But, just as, often, when you want to do a thing in a hurry you can't, so it happened with the two boys. The faucet wouldn't turn, and the water kept on spurting, and William kept getting wet, until he finally managed to roll out of the way and then he stood up, looking at the showering hose.

"What's all this?" asked the dripping chauffeur, but he was not angry. "What are you boys doing?"

"Please, it's a fountain we made," said Russ.

"And we're goin' wadin' in it!" added Laddie. "Oh, look, Russ! It squirts fine! I'm going to take off my other shoe!"

He sat down to do this. Really the fountain made from the hose, was sending out a fine shower of water that sparkled in the sun. The water was beginning to fill the hole the boys had dug.

"What are you going to do?" asked William, wiping the water from his face.

"We're goin' wadin' in the fountain," explained Laddie. "That's what we made it for."

"Oh, no, you'd better not," said William. "I'm sorry, but your aunt wouldn't like a fountain in her garden. It'll only be a mud-hole, and you'll get all dirty. Your father and mother wouldn't want that. I guess I'd better shut off the water. When your aunt comes home, if she lets you do it, why then it will be all right. But I'm afraid I can't let you do it now."

Russ and Laddie looked disappointed. After all their work not to have the fountain! It was too bad!

"We -- we're sorry you got wet," said Russ, thinking perhaps William felt a little vexed at them.

"Oh, that's all right," said William. "I don't mind. These are my old clothes, anyhow. But I'd best shut off the water."

He started toward the faucet to do this. Already the hole Laddie and Russ had dug was half full, and would have made, as Russ said, a "dandy" place to wade. But it was not to be.

As the boys stood beside the hole half filled with water, and as William was at the faucet, ready to turn it off, a loud barking was heard, and into the garden came racing a little dog, chased by big Alexis, who was barking loudly.

"Oh, look!" cried Russ.

And then something else happened.



Chapter X

Rose Makes An Airship


The little dog that Alexis was racing after must have thought the puddle of water Russ and Laddie had made would be a good place in which to hide. For right into it he ran, and he splattered some of the muddy water over the two boys, who stood near the hole they had dug. William was over at the garage, turning off the faucet, so he did not get wet this time. And it was a good thing, too, as he was quite wet enough already.

The little dog kept on paddling in the puddle, but big Alexis did not stop when he came to the edge. With a loud bark, in he jumped, and as he was almost as big as a small Shetland pony you can easily imagine what a big splash he made.

"Oh! Oh!" cried Russ, as he felt the muddy water shower all over him.

In the puddle floundered Alexis after the smaller dog, and as the water was not deep enough for Aunt Jo's Great Dane to swim in, he just ran through it, really making more of a splash than if he had swum. And he splashed a lot of muddy water over Russ and Laddie.

"Oh, look at me!" cried Laddie, as he glanced down at his suit, which was speckled and checkered with wet and brown spots.

"I'm the same way," said Russ. "But I don't care! We couldn't help it, and these are our old clothes, anyhow."

Just then the little dog scrambled out on the far side of the hole, and Alexis, with a bark, sprang after him.

"Oh, stop him, William!" cried Laddie. "Stop him! Alexis will bite the little dog all to pieces."

"No, he won't do that," replied the chauffeur. "The two dogs are good friends. The little one lives down the street a way, and he and Alexis often play together this way, and race all over the yard. But I never saw 'em go into a mud-puddle before. Say, but you two youngsters are sights! Look at the mud!"

He had shut off the water by this time, and come back to the hole. Meanwhile Alexis was rolling on the grass, letting the little dog pretend to bite his ears.

"The mud'll brush off," said Russ.

"These are our old clothes," added his brother.

"Well, that's a good thing," said the chauffeur. "We're all in the same boat, I guess. But don't dig any more holes in the yard, and don't play with the hose unless your aunt says you may. She may blame me as it is."

When Mrs. Bunker and Aunt Jo came home, the mud had pretty well dried on the clothes of Russ and Laddie, and they did not look so dirty. But of course they told what had happened.

"You must never do it again!" said their mother. "Don't make any more fountains in Aunt Jo's yard."

"We won't," promised Laddie.

"Could we make one over in Mr. North's yard?" asked Russ. "Maybe he'd like one."

"No, not over there, either," his mother said, trying not to laugh.

So that was how Russ made a fountain, and what happened afterward, and for many a day he and Laddie had fun telling the other little Bunkers what they had done.

As the summer days went by the children had lots of fun at Aunt Jo's. They went downtown to see the sights of Boston, including Bunker Hill monument, saw some nice moving-picture shows and went on excursions.

Meanwhile, Daddy Bunker and others had looked in the paper to see if any one had advertised for a lost pocketbook with sixty-five dollars in it. But no one had.

And to make sure of finding the owner Mr. Bunker put an advertisement in himself, stating that such a purse had been found, and offering to give it to the real owner.

But no one came to claim it. The shabby wallet, with the roll of bills and the sad little letter, was locked in Aunt Jo's safe, waiting for the owner to come. But no one came.

"And can I keep the money?" asked Rose, who inquired, each day, whether any one had yet come for it.

"We'll see," promised her mother.

"I'd like to have the money to spend," went on Rose.

"Oh, my dear! What would you spend so much money for?" asked Aunt Jo.

"I'd buy a lot of circus balloons," answered Rose. "I know a store, about two blocks down the street, that sells 'em. And I want some."

"Oh, well, if you only want money for a toy balloon I'll give you that," said her mother.

"May I have one, too?" asked Vi.

"And me?" added Margy.

"And me?" said Mun Bun. "What is it?"

He always wanted what the others had, whether or not he knew what it was.

"Let's all get one!" exclaimed Russ, who seemed to have an idea. "Let's all get a balloon, and then we can tie strings to 'em and see which one goes the highest."

"We can have a race!" suggested Laddie.

"That's right!" agreed Russ. "We'll have a race."

Thinking this would be harmless fun for the children, Mrs. Bunker gave them money enough so each one could buy a good ten-cent toy balloon, for Rose wanted that kind.

"The tenners are bigger than the fivers," she said, "and they go higher and last longer."

With shouts of glee and laughter the six little Bunkers went down the street to get the toy balloons. It was not far, and their mother knew they would not get lost.

"I'm afraid the children aren't having as much fun here at my house in Boston as they had at Grandma Bell's," said Aunt Jo, as the youngsters went down the street after the balloons.

"Oh, they are indeed!" said Mother Bunker. "They always have a good time, wherever they go. Don't worry about them."

"If the weather keeps nice we'll go down to Nantasket Beach some day," said Aunt Jo. "I think they'll like it there. It is a seaside resort."

"They'll be sure to," said Mrs. Bunker. "I do wish we could find the person who owned that sixty-five dollars. I have an idea it must be the savings of some poor woman, or rather, from the letter, money some one sent her. It must be hard for her to lose it, but we can't seem to find to whom it belongs."

"Perhaps we shall, some day," said Aunt Jo. And they were to, in a very strange way, as you shall hear in due time.

Down the street ran the six little Bunkers, to get the toy balloons. They saw them in the store window -- red, green and blue ones, and they picked out different colors.

"Don't they look pretty?" cried Vi, as they marched back with the blown-up rubber bags floating in the air over their heads.

As yet the balloons had only short strings on them, and Rose, to make sure the toys of Mun Bun and Margy would not get away, tied the strings to their wrists.

"They look like big plums or apples," said Laddie. "Maybe I could think up a riddle about the balloons."

"Well, you can be thinking about it when we have a race to see which one goes highest in the air," said Russ. "When we get to Aunt Jo's house, we'll get string and let the balloons sail away up."

Mother Bunker said strong thread would be better than string, as it would not be so heavy, and soon the six little Bunkers were out in the front yard, letting their toys sail high above their heads.

"Mine's the highest!" cried Russ, as he looked at his green balloon floating high above the trees.

"That's 'cause you let out all the thread," said Laddie. "I'm not going to let all mine unwind."

And neither did the other children, for they were afraid their toys might get away. For some time they had fun in this way, pulling the balloons down when they got very far up in the air, and then letting them float upward again.

Then came a call from the house. It was Mother Bunker, saying:

"Here is some bread and jam for hungry children. How many of you want it?"

There was no question as to how many did. Each of the six little Bunkers was hungry.

"Let's tie our balloons to the fence and leave 'em here until we get back," said Russ, and this was done, he and Rose tying the threads of Mun Bun and Margy, who could not make very good knots as yet.

And so, with the balloons floating out in front, the children went back to sit under the grape-arbor and eat bread and jam that Parker spread for them.

It was so good that some of them had two slices, and then William brought the automobile out of the garage and began to get it ready for a run. Aunt Jo was to take the children for a ride.

"What's William doing to the auto?" asked Vi.

"Come on! Let's watch him!" proposed Russ, and he and Laddie, with Vi, Mun Bun and Margy, ran over to where the chauffeur was doing something to the car.

"Will our balloons be all right?" asked Laddie.

"Yes, they can't get away," said Russ.

Well, that was true enough. The balloons could not have gotten away by themselves, but something happened to them.

Rose did not go with her brothers and sisters over to watch William. Instead, she went into the house, got Lily, one of her dolls, and a small basket. Rose had a queer idea in her little head, and she was going to carry it out.

A day or so before an airship had flown over Boston, circling around the Back Bay section, and right over Aunt Jo's house. The children were much excited by it, and at first Russ was going to make one. But he found it harder than he supposed, so he gave it up.

"But I can make an airship," said Rose to herself. "Anyhow I can make something to give my doll a ride in the air in a basket."

And that is what the little girl was going to do. She had felt how hard one balloon pulled -- for they were filled with gas just as a real balloon is -- and Rose thought that if one balloon pulled so strongly six would pull harder yet.

"I'll tie all six balloons to the basket, and put Lily in and give her an airship ride," said Rose.

So, while her brothers and sisters were watching the chauffeur, this is what Rose did. She carefully loosed each balloon, besides her own, from the fence, and tied the strings to the handle of the basket in which she put Lily.

Lily was not heavy like Sue, the doll about which I told you before, the one the lady once thought was her baby in the car. The basket was not heavy, either. So that when Rose had tied the last balloon to the handle, she found that it rose into the air with her doll, and would have floated off, only Rose tied a cord to the bottom of the basket, and kept hold of that.

"Now I've got an airship for my doll!" exclaimed the little girl, and, really, she did have one kind of airship.

Up above her head floated the basket with Lily in it, and Rose was quite pleased.

"I can make things as good as Russ, even if I can't whistle like him," she said. "This is fun! Don't you like it, Lily?"

Of course Lily couldn't answer and say that she did, but if dolls like airship rides I'm sure this one of Rose's did.

Up and along floated the balloons, lifting the basket, and then, all of a sudden, something happened.



Chapter XI

VI Is Lost


Rose said, afterward, that it was not the fault of Alexis, though the barking of the big dog made her jump and lose her hold on the string that was fast to the basket in which the doll Lily rode as if in an airship. But that is what happened.

As Rose was walking along, letting the balloons float over her head, and giving a ride to Lily, the big dog came bounding out of the side yard. He wanted to play with Rose, and he raced toward her, jumping up and down. Rose was afraid he would jump up and put his paws on her, and Alexis was so big that when he did this to any of the six little Bunkers he almost always knocked them down. In fact, he had knocked Mun Bun and Margy down more than once, but only in fun, and he had not hurt them.

"Go away, Alexis! Now go away!" exclaimed Rose, as she held the string above her head. "I can't play with you now, because I got to give Lily an airship ride. Go away, Alexis!"

But Alexis didn't want to go away! He barked and he danced around, and he kept coming closer and closer to Rose, until he really almost bumped into her. And then it happened.

Rose let go of the string, by which she was holding the basket that had Lily in it, and up it shot, high in the air, pulled by the gas-filled toy balloons. There were six of them, extra big ten-cent ones, and they could easily lift the small doll in the basket.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Rose, three times. "Look what you made me do, Alexis! Oh! Oh!"

And yet, afterward, Rose said it wasn't the dog's fault.

"I oughtn't to have taken anybody's balloon but mine, and then they wouldn't be lost," said the little girl sadly.

For that is what happened.

Up and up into the air, high above Rose's head, shot the six balloons -- red, green and blue -- carrying the doll. When she first felt the string pulling out of her hand Rose did not know what to do. Then, as she saw the balloons sailing away, she jumped up into the air and tried to grab them. But it was too late. Away over the trees sailed the airship Rose had made, carrying her doll on an unknown voyage.

"Oh, dear!" cried the little girl again, as she saw that, no matter how high she jumped, she could not get hold of the string again. "Oh, dear!"

She looked at the six floating balloons, hoping they might get caught in a tree, as once one did that Mun Bun had.

But no such good luck as this happened. The balloons sailed clear of the trees and went on and on and up and up, becoming smaller and smaller.

"Oh, my poor, dear Lily!" sobbed Rose, and she was really crying now. "My dear, darling Lily!"

"Why, what is the matter, my dear?" asked Aunt Jo, who came along, just then. "Has anything happened? Did Alexis hurt you?" for she saw the big dog standing near Rose, and thought perhaps, in his play, he might have scratched the little girl.

"No, it wasn't the fault of Alexis," said Rose, "though he did bump into me and make me let go of the string. But I ought never to have taken the balloons."

"The balloons?" asked Aunt Jo, not exactly understanding at first.

"Yes," said Rose. "They're gone. I made an airship of 'em for my doll, and -- there she goes!"

She pointed up into the air. Aunt Jo saw the toy balloons, tied to the handle of the basket, and they were getting smaller and smaller.

"Oh, my dear little girl!" said she. "And you have taken all the balloons! That's too bad!"

And Rose cried harder than ever. Really she had not done just right, but of course she had not meant to spoil the fun of her brothers and sisters, and lose their toys. But she had.

Pretty soon Russ, Laddie and the others came from having watched William get the automobile ready.

"Where are our balloons?" demanded Laddie, not seeing them tied to the fence.

"They're gone," said Aunt Jo softly, as she put her arms around Rose.

"Gone?" cried Russ. "Where? Did they bust?"

"I made an airship of 'em," confessed Rose, "and let go the cord when Alexis bumped me, and -- and there they go!" and she pointed to the sky.

Well, you can easily imagine that the five little Bunkers felt quite bad at losing their balloons. Margy and Mun Bun cried, being the smallest. Vi looked as if she wanted to, and so did Laddie. But Laddie felt he was too big, and Vi didn't want to do anything her twin brother didn't do; especially crying.

Russ swallowed what seemed to be a lump in his throat, and then, learning that his sister's doll had been carried off in the "airship" and seeing how bad Rose felt, and noticing the tears on her cheeks, he said:

"Oh, well, maybe the balloons would have busted anyhow. I don't care 'cause you lost mine, Rose."

"I don't either," said Laddie bravely.

Then Vi said the same thing. Wasn't that good of them? I think so.

Of course Margy and Mun Bun, being little, felt worse over the loss of their balloons than the others did. But Aunt Jo found some pieces of candy for the little tots, and promised they could have new balloons in a few days.

"And now we'll all go for an auto ride," she said.

That made Margy and Mun Bun smile, and the other little Bunkers also felt better.

"Will you take us out the way the balloons are blowing?" asked Russ, for the "airship" could still be seen, a faint speck in the sky.

"Why do you want to go that way?" asked Aunt Jo.

"Because maybe then we can get the balloons back," Russ said.

"And my doll, too, and the basket!" added Rose eagerly.

"Maybe," said Russ. "You know balloons and airships have always got to come down. They can't sail on forever, and when this one you made, Rose, comes down, we can get it, and your doll, too."

"Oh, won't that be good!" cried the little girl. "I do hope we can!"

"Well, of course you may find it," said Aunt Jo; "but I'm afraid you never will, Rose. Of course I know, around the Fourth of July, sometimes fire balloons, that burn out and don't burn up, come down. Once one came down in our yard, and William got it. And this may happen to the balloons you sent up, or that you let get away from you. The gas may all go out of them, as it probably will, and the basket and the doll will come down."

"I'd like to get Lily again, awful much," said Rose. "'Course she wasn't my best doll, but I love her just the same."

"Well, we'll take an automobile ride," said her aunt, "and if we see the airship down anywhere we'll get it."

"Maybe some other little girl will find it, as you did the pocketbook, and want to keep it," suggested Russ.

"Well, if she knew it was my doll wouldn't she give it back to me?" asked Rose.

"I'm sure she would," put in Aunt Jo. "But don't set your heart too much on it, my dear. I'm afraid your doll is gone forever."

But you just wait and see what happens.

They all went for an automobile ride, and, though they looked in the direction the balloons had floated, they did not see the "airship." Rose and Russ even asked several policemen they passed if they had seen the balloons and basket with the doll in it come down, but none had.

Of course Rose felt bad, and so did the other little Bunkers, about losing their balloons, but there was no help for it. They were gone.

It was a day or so after this, and the children were talking about a trip to Nantasket Beach Aunt Jo was to take them on, when just as lunch was about to be served, Parker came in to say:

"We are all out of bread, Miss Bunker. The baker forgot to stop. Shall I send William for some?"

"Oh, let me go!" begged Vi. "I know where there is a bakery, right down the street. It isn't far."

"Are you sure you know the way?" asked Aunt Jo.

"'Course I do," Vi answered.

"Well, you may go," said Aunt Jo. "Only be careful not to get lost. Don't turn around the wrong corners."

"I won't," promised Vi.

But that is just what she did. She got the bread all right, but, on the way back she stopped to pet a kitten that rubbed up against her. And then Vi got turned around, and she went down a side street, and walked two or three blocks before she knew that she was wrong.

"Aunt Jo doesn't live on this street," said the little girl to herself, as she stopped and looked around. "I don't see her house and I don't see Mr. North's. I must have come the wrong way."

So she had, and she turned to go back. But she went wrong again, making a turn around another corner and then Vi didn't know what to do. She stood in front of a house, with the bread under her arm, and tears came into her eyes.

"Oh, dear!" sighed Vi. "It's terrible to be lost so near home!"



Chapter XII

Margy Takes A Ride


This was not the first time Violet had been lost. More than once, even in her home town of Pineville, she had wandered away over the fields or out toward the woods, and had not been able to find her way back again. But always, at such times, Norah or Jerry Simms, or Daddy or Mother Bunker had come to find her and take her home.

"But I don't see any of them now," said Vi, as she gazed around her. There were quite a number of persons on the street, for it was the noon hour, but the little girl knew none of them, and none of them seemed to pay any attention to her.

I think, though, almost any one of those who passed by poor little Vi, standing there in the street, if they had known she was lost, would have gone up to her and tried to help her.

But there were many children in the street, and several of them were standing still, looking not very different from Vi, except that she was crying -- not a great deal, but enough to make her eyes wet.

"I guess I'd better walk along a little," said Vi to herself, after a bit. "Maybe I'll see Aunt Jo's house, or Russ or Rose or -- or somebody that knows me."

Poor little Vi, just then, would have been glad to see even Alexis, the big dog. Alexis would lead her home, Vi felt sure. But the big dog was not in sight.

Vi walked a little way down the street, and then a little way up it. She looked at all the houses and at every one she met, still holding fast to the loaf of bread. But she did not see Aunt Jo's house, and she did not know any of the men or women or boys or girls that passed her.

"Oh, I'm worse lost than ever!" sighed the little girl. "I wonder what I can do. I'm going to ask some one!"

Now the best way for Vi to have done was to have gone up to one of the houses and asked where her Aunt Jo's home was. But the funny thing about it was that Vi wasn't quite sure what her aunt's name was. Her own name, she knew, was Violet Bunker, but she never spoke of Aunt Jo except just by that name, never using the last part and, while it was the same name as her own, Vi didn't know it. She felt she couldn't very well go up to a house and say:

"Where does my Aunt Jo live?"

The person in the house would be sure to ask:

"What is your aunt's last name, my dear, and on what street does she live?"

But Vi didn't know that. So you see she was quite badly lost, though she had only been away from her aunt's home a little while.

And then, as the little girl stood there, the tears coming into her eyes faster than ever, along came a rather tall girl with a pleasant face, who, as soon as she saw Vi, went up to her and asked kindly:

"What is the matter? Did you lose your money?"

"Oh, no," Vi answered, "I didn't lose my money, but I've lost myself. I spent the money for bread for Aunt Jo, but I came on the wrong street, I guess, and I don't know where she lives."

"Where who lives?"

"Aunt Jo. I'm one of the six little Bunkers and we're staying at Aunt Jo's, but I don't know where she lives."

Then this tall, pleasant-faced girl asked, just as any one else would have done:

"What's Aunt Jo's other name?"

And Vi didn't know!

Then the girl tried to get Vi to tell in what sort of house Aunt Jo lived, and near what other houses or big buildings it was. But Vi was only six years old, and she hadn't noticed much about houses. She had been too busy playing.

"But Aunt Jo has a big dog," said Vi. "He's an awful big dog, and he almost knocks you down when he plays with you. If I could find him he'd take me home."

"What's the dog's name?" asked the girl.

"Alexis," answered Vi, "and he --  -- "

"Oh, now I know where your aunt lives!" cried the tall girl. "I often see that big dog, and I have heard the chauffeur call him Alexis. I remember it because it's a sort of Russian name, and I like to read about Russia. Now I can take you home."

"Can you -- really?" asked Vi eagerly.

"Surely. I know the very house where Alexis lives, and if you live there with your Aunt Jo I can take you home. It isn't far; come on. My name is Mary Turner, and my mother used to sew for a lady on the same street where your aunt lives. I know the way; come on."

Taking hold of Vi's hand, the kind girl led her along the street, around a corner and down another block and then Vi cried:

"Oh, now I'm all right. I know where I am now. That's Mr. North's house and I see Aunt Jo's house and here comes Daddy to meet me!" And surely enough, along came Mr. Bunker, looking up and down the street for a sight of his little girl, who had been gone so long for the loaf of bread that he knew she must be lost.

"Well, if you're sure you can find your way I'll let you run along by yourself," said Mary Turner.

"Oh, yes, I'm all right now," said Vi. "My father sees me, and he's waving to me. Thank you for taking care of me."

"I'm glad I could help you a little," said Mary.

"Does your mother sew any more?" asked Vi.

"No," answered Mary, and her voice sounded sad. "She had a great shock, and she's ill in the hospital now. I have to go to work to take care of her. Well, good-bye, and don't get lost again," and Mary turned down a side street and walked on, waving her hand to Violet.

"Well, little girl, what happened to you?" asked Daddy Bunker, as he walked up to his daughter. "We were getting worried about you, so I came out to see what had happened."

"I got lost," Vi answered. "I went down the wrong street, but Mary Turner -- she knew where Alexis lived, and she brought me to you."

"Who is Mary Turner?" asked Mr. Bunker.

"That's the nice girl that just went away," said Vi, pointing, for her new friend was still in sight. "Her mother used to sew for somebody on Aunt Jo's street, but she's in the hospital now -- I mean her mother is; she's sick."

"That's too bad," said Mr. Bunker. "Aunt Jo might do something for her. But perhaps the girl doesn't like to ask. Anyhow, I'm glad you're not lost any longer. Come along to lunch now."

So that's how Vi was lost and found. And she was soon eating lunch with the other little Bunkers and telling them what had happened.

"What can we do this afternoon to have fun?" asked Russ, as he got up from the table.

"Let's see if we can't make a better harness for Alexis, and have him pull us in the express wagon," suggested Laddie. "I found some strong rope that we can tie on him."

"All right, we'll do that," agreed Russ. "That'll be fun."

"Will you give me a ride?" asked Mun Bun. "I'll help you make the harness if you will."

"Yes, we'll give you a ride," said Russ, "but I guess we can make the harness ourselves. Come on, Laddie."

"I'm going to play with my doll," said Margy. "My rubber doll is all dirty and I'm going to wash her."

"Well, don't turn the hose on her, as Russ and Laddie did to William," laughed Aunt Jo. "Just wash your doll in a basin of water, Margy dear."

"Yes, I'll do that, Aunt Jo," answered the little girl.

"I'm going to make a new dress for my big best doll Sue," announced Rose. "I haven't got my little Lily to love now, so I'll make Sue look nice. You didn't find my doll that went up in the airship, did you, Daddy?" she asked.

"No," answered Mr. Bunker. "And I don't believe I ever shall."

"And we haven't heard who lost that pocketbook with the sixty-five dollars in it," said Mrs. Bunker. "It is very strange no one claims the money."

"Yes," said Aunt Jo, "it is. But some day we may find out who owns it. Though if we don't by the time you folks are ready to go home, it will belong to Rose, for she found it."

"And then I can buy a new doll," said the little girl.

So, while Russ, Laddie and Mun Bun went to the garage to try to make another harness for Alexis, Rose and Margy played with their dolls. Violet said she was tired from having walked around so much when she was lost, though I think it was because she had cried, so her mother put her to bed for a short nap. Then Daddy Bunker went downtown and Aunt Jo and Mrs. Bunker sat on the porch sewing.

It was about half an hour after Margy and Rose had begun to play with their dolls, Margy washing her rubber one in a basin of water, that something happened. Margy got up from the side porch where she was sitting with Rose, and said:

"I'm going to dry her now."

"Dry who?" asked Rose.

"My rubber doll," answered Margy. "She's all wet and I'm going to take her down in the laundry where Parker is, and put my doll by the fire to dry."

"All right," answered Rose, "don't burn yourself."

"I won't," said Margy, as she went toward the laundry, which was in the basement of Aunt Jo's big house.

A little while after this Parker, on going into the kitchen over the laundry, heard a voice crying:

"Oh, I can't get out! I can't get out! I'm stuck in and I can't get out."

"For land sakes! Who are you, and what has happened?" cried the frightened cook. "It's one of the six little Bunkers, I know," she went on, "but what happened?"

"Oh, I went to take a ride," said Margy, "and now I can't get out! Oh, dear!"

And her voice seemed to come from afar.



Chapter XIII

Mun Bun Drives Away


Parker was a good cook, but she did not know much about children. She liked them though, and was kind to them. So when she heard Margy's voice calling, she could not imagine what had happened, nor did she know what to do.

If it had been Mrs. Bunker, or even Daddy Bunker, they would have at once found out what the matter was. But then they were used to things happening to children.

"Oh, where are you?" cried Parker, as Margy kept on screaming.

"I don't know what you call it, but I'm in it," said the little girl, in that queer, faraway voice.

"But where is it?" asked Parker, for, somehow, the voice seemed to come from somewhere between the laundry and the kitchen.

"It's that thing you pull up and down with soap and starch and clothes on," said Margy. "I got in it to have a ride, but my leg is stuck and I can't get out and, oh, dear! I want my mother!"

"Yes, and I guess I want her, too!" exclaimed Parker. "Oh, my! This is worse than having the chimney on fire. I'll go and call your mother, child," she went on, "for I can't see a blessed hair of your head. Though you must be somewhere around, and maybe hiding to fool me."

"Oh, no, I'm not hiding," answered Margy, who, it seems, could hear Parker very well. "I'm in the pull-up-and-let-down-thing, and I want to get out!"

But Parker did not stay to listen. She ran out to the side porch, where Aunt Jo and Mrs. Bunker were sewing, and cried:

"Oh, come quick! The poor child's caught and can't get out and I can't see her!"

"Where is she? What happened?" asked Aunt Jo and Mrs. Bunker.

"She's somewhere between the laundry and the kitchen," said the maid. "I can't see her, though I can hear her and --  -- "

Mrs. Bunker and her sister-in-law did not stop to listen to any more. To the kitchen they hurried, and there they, too, heard the voice of Margy crying:

"Take me out! Take me out! I'm in the puller-up-and-down-thing!"

Aunt Jo knew right away what Margy meant.

"She must be stuck in the dumbwaiter -- that we pull up and down between the kitchen and the laundry," she said. "Are you there, Margy?" she asked as she opened a door in the side wall of the kitchen.

And then, up the shaft, came the voice of the little girl:

"Yes, I'm in here and I can't go down and I can't get up. Oh, dear!"

"Now don't cry! Mother is here," said Mrs. Bunker. "And so is Aunt Jo. We'll get you up in a minute. Don't be afraid."

Aunt Jo ran downstairs and looked up the dumbwaiter shaft. She could see the box-like waiter stuck halfway up, but of course she could not see Margy. A dumbwaiter is like a little elevator, except that, as a rule, no one rides in it. It is used to pull things up and down between two rooms, when a person does not want to use the stairs.

"I see what's the matter," said Aunt Jo, as she looked up the shaft once more. "Margy's foot stuck out over the edge of the box, in which she climbed to have a ride, and the waiter can't slide up and down. Her foot wedges it fast."

"Can we get it loose?" asked Mother Bunker.

"Oh, yes, easily, I think. Get me my long-handled parasol, Parker. I'll reach that up the shaft and push Margy's foot loose. Then the dumbwaiter, with her in it, will slide down."

And that is just what happened. With the end of the parasol, not pushing so hard as to hurt, Aunt Jo shoved loose Margy's foot. Then the dumbwaiter, which was a sort of open box, slid down on the rope that ran over a pulley-wheel, and Margy was lifted out. She had been crying and was frightened, but she felt all right when her mother took her in her arms and kissed her.

"How did you come to do it?" asked Mrs. Bunker.

"I came down to the laundry to dry my rubber doll after I'd washed her," said Margy, "and I put her by the fire. One day I saw Parker give a lot of bars of soap a ride on the go-up-and-down-thing."

"Yes, I do use the dumbwaiter for that," said the cook.

"Then I thought I could get a ride if the soap got a ride," went on Margy. "So, when Parker was out by the garage I went up in the kitchen, and I stood on a chair, I did, and I crawled into the go-up-and-down-thing, and it went down with me. But it didn't go all the way down. It stuck and I couldn't have a nice ride."

"I should say not!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "And you mustn't do such a thing again. You might have been hurt when you got your foot caught."

"It does hurt a little," said Margy, rubbing it.

So that's how it happened. Margy had crawled from the chair in the kitchen into the box of the dumbwaiter. It had run down with her until her foot, sticking over the edge, wedged the waiter fast, halfway down the shaft. Then the door in the wall blew shut, and when Margy cried Parker was so "flustered," as she said afterward, that she never stopped to think where the voice came from.

"But don't do it again," warned Aunt Jo.

"I won't," promised Margy.

From out in the yard of Aunt Jo's house came joyous shouts and laughter. Russ could be heard calling:

"Oh, it works! It works all right! Now we can all have rides."

"Well, whatever it is, I hope it isn't a dumbwaiter they're riding in," said Mother Bunker.

She and Aunt Jo looked from the window. They saw that Russ and Laddie had finally managed to make a harness for the dog Alexis, out of stronger pieces of cord than they used at first. The dog was tied with the cords to the express wagon, and seated in it were Laddie and Mun Bun. Russ was walking alongside, guiding Alexis by strings tied around his neck.

"Make him go fast!" cried Mun Bun. "I want to ride fast!"

"Oh, if he runs too fast I can't keep up with him," said Russ. "Alexis can run a lot faster than I can, and if he goes too fast I'll lose hold of him."

"Let me drive a little," begged Laddie. So Russ let his smaller brother take the strings that answered for reins. But Russ stayed near the head of the big dog, with his hand on his collar. For Russ was a careful boy, and did not want the dog to run away and, perhaps, spill the little boys out of the wagon.

"Oh, I want a ride in that!" cried Margy, when she saw what her brothers were doing. "That's nicer than the up-and-down-thing I was in."

"Yes, and a little safer," said her mother. "You may go out and Russ will give you a ride. Russ, Margy is coming out," she called. "Take care of her!"

"I will," promised the largest Bunker boy.

Then such fun as the six children had riding behind Alexis, for Violet awakened from her sleep and came out to enjoy the sport. Russ and Laddie had tied so many ropes on Alexis, fastening them to the cart, that William said it would take an hour to loosen the knots. But Alexis did not seem to mind. He walked along, pulling the cart, with two or three children in it, as easily as though he were dragging along a tin can tied to his tail, and much more sedately.

Only nobody had ever tied a tin can to the tail of Alexis. He wasn't the kind of dog one could do that to. You might have dared try when he was a little puppy, but not after he grew up to be almost as big as a small Shetland pony.

"Oh, this is lots of fun!" cried Rose, when it was her turn to have a ride. "I wish my doll Lily was here to like it."

"She had a good ride in the airship," remarked Russ.

"Oh! Oh!" suddenly cried Laddie.

"What's the matter?" asked Russ. "Did a bee sting you?"

"No. I just thought of a nice riddle. It's about the balloon airship Rose made and the dumbwaiter Margy had a ride in."

"What's the riddle?" asked Vi.

"It's like this," went on Laddie, thinking hard to get it just right. "What's the difference between Rose's airship and the dumbwaiter Margy rode in? What's the difference?"

"A whole lot!" said Rose. "They're not alike at all."

"Well, that's the riddle -- what makes 'em different!" asked Laddie.

"Because they both have a basket," said Russ. "Rose tied the balloons to a basket, and the clothes basket rides on the dumbwaiter."

"Nope! That isn't it," said Laddie, shaking his head. "You see Rose's airship went up, and wouldn't come down, and the dumbwaiter, with Margy in it, went down and wouldn't come up."

"Huh! That's pretty good," said Russ. "But I guess those balloons are down by this time."

"And my doll, too," added Rose. "I wish I could find her."

"Well, part of the riddle is right, anyhow," said Laddie.

"Yes, it's pretty good," agreed Russ. "And now we'll have some more rides."

Around Aunt Jo's house, up and down the lawn and on the paths Alexis pulled the six little Bunkers in the express wagon, with the string harness, and they had lots of fun. Even the big dog seemed to enjoy it, and he didn't get tired.

It was two days after this, during which time the children had lots of fun, that something else happened. Mun Bun was the unlucky one; or lucky, whichever way you look at it.

Sometimes, even in the fashionable Back Bay section of Boston, rag peddlers came to buy odds and ends from the homes of the people. The chauffeurs or the furnace men usually attended to the selling of this, being allowed to keep whatever money they got for themselves.

One of the wagons, with bags and all sorts of things in it, stopped, one day, in front of Aunt Jo's house. The ragman knew William, who often sold him old newspapers or junk, and this time he had quite a few things to sell.

"Rags! Rags! Bottles and rags!" cried the junkman as he went back to the garage with a bag over his shoulder.

As it happened, Mun Bun was out, watching William pump air into a new tire, and when the chauffeur went into the cellar with the junkman to get the papers, Mun Bun wandered out in front to where the junkman's horse and wagon was standing.

"If I could get up into that wagon now," thought Mun Bun to himself, "I could have a better ride than with Alexis. I guess I will."

How he managed to climb up I don't know, but he did. The wagon was not very high, and there was a step near the front, and of course there were wheels. Somehow, Mun Bun scrambled up, and the horse, luckily for him, did not move while the boy was climbing. Right up on the seat got Mun Bun. He picked up the real reins, as he had seen Russ do with the make-believe ones on Alexis, and then Mun Bun called:

"Gid-dap!"

And, just as easily as you please, the horse started off as natural as anything, with Mun Bun driving. Down the street he slowly walked, much to the delight of Mun Bun.

But what would happen next?



Chapter XIV

The Whistling Wagon


Mun Bun smiled happily. This was more fun than he had ever expected to have at Aunt Jo's house. In fact, what little thinking he did about it was to the effect that he could have had a lot more fun by staying at Grandma Bell's.

Up he sat on the seat of the junkman's wagon, holding the reins as he had helped Russ or Laddie hold the reins on the big dog Alexis, who pulled the six little Bunkers in the express wagon.

"This is fun!" said Mun Bun.

The horse slowly walked along. Junkmen's horses hardly ever run. There are several reasons for this.

In the first place, a junkman's horse goes slowly because the junkman is never in a hurry. He wants to look at the houses on each side of the street to see if any one is going to call him in to sell him paper, rags, old bottles, rubber boots or broken stoves.

So, of course, a junkman wants his horse to go slowly, for then he has a chance to look at the houses on each side of the street. For nowadays the junkmen, in the cities, at least, are not allowed to ring bells and shout loudly or make much noise. They used to do that, but they can't any more.

Another reason why a junkman's horse walks slowly is that the poor horse is nearly always old and thin and hungry.

And I suppose it's a good thing this junkman's horse was old and thin and tired and hungry. That's what made him go slowly, so Mun Bun was not rattled off the seat. He was only a little fellow, and it would not have taken much of a jolt of the wagon to have tossed him off. But as long as the wagon went slowly he was all right.

"Gid-dap!" cried Mun Bun in a jolly voice, and he pulled on the reins, thinking what fun it was really to drive, and not make-believe, as he and the others had done with Alexis.

All this while the junkman was in Aunt Jo's yard, talking with William about the old rags and papers the chauffeur had to sell. The five other little Bunkers were playing at different games, Daddy Bunker was downtown, and Aunt Jo and Mother Bunker were busy at something or other, I've forgotten just what.

So there was no one in particular to see what Mun Bun was doing, and he was just having the grandest time, all by himself, driving the poor, thin horse. Of course he wasn't really driving it. The horse just went along as it always did, as slowly as it could, and, very likely, it didn't know, or care, whether Mun Bun was driving it, or the junkman.

"Gid-dap!" cried the little fellow again, and he pulled on the reins. And then a funny thing happened. He pulled a little harder on the left rein than on the right, and, just as the animal had been used to doing whenever this happened, the horse turned to the left, and went down a side street.

Mun Bun didn't mind this. He didn't care which way the horse went as long as he was having a ride and was doing the driving. Down the side street went the junk wagon, with Mun Bun on it. He was now out of sight of any one who might be looking from Aunt Jo's yard.

The little fellow was halfway down the new block when a woman, looking from the window of her house, saw the bony horse and the old rattly, rickety wagon.

"Oh, there's a junkman!" she cried. "I've been looking for one a long time to take the papers out of the cellar. There's a junkman!"

"No, it's a junk boy," said the woman's cook, who happened to be with her. "There's no one but a little boy on the wagon."

"Well, maybe it's the junkman's little boy," said the woman. "They let them drive when they go in after the junk. Run after him, Jane, and stop him. I want to get the trash cleaned out of the cellar."

So the cook ran quickly to the front door and cried:

"Hey! Junk boy! Stop! We got some papers for you!"

Mun Bun heard, and turned around.

"I isn't the junkman," he said. "I'm just havin' a ride!"

"We have some old papers for you," called the cook.

Mun Bun didn't know just what it all meant, but he saw the cook waving her hand at him, and he heard her calling, though he could not make out all the words, because the wagon rattled so. But Mun Bun had an idea.

"I guess maybe she wants a ride," he said. "She likes to ride same as I do. I'll give her a ride with me."

He pulled on the reins, and called:

"Whoa!"

But either Mun Bun did not pull hard enough, or he did not call loudly enough, for the horse did not stop. Perhaps it thought that if it did stop it would be too hard work to start again, so it kept on going.

"Stop! Stop!" cried the cook. "We have some papers to sell you!"

"Whoa!" called Mun Bun again. But the horse did not stop.

Just then a policeman came down the street. He saw Mun Bun on the seat of the wagon, and he saw the cook waving at him and calling. And the policeman needed to take only one look to make him feel sure that Mun Bun was not the junkman's little boy driving the wagon. Mun Bun was not dressed as a junkman's little boy would probably be dressed.

"That's funny," said the policeman to himself. "I must see about this." He walked toward the wagon. By this time the cook had come out on the sidewalk. She knew the policeman.

"Stop him!" she called, pointing to the wagon. "Stop that junkman!"

"That isn't a junkman," said the officer.

"Well, stop that junk boy then, Mr. Mulligan," begged the cook, smiling at the policeman.

"Nor yet it isn't a junk boy," said the officer. "He doesn't belong on that wagon."

"Do you mean to say he stole it?" asked the cook. "Mrs. Rynsler has some junk she wants to get out of the cellar, and --  -- "

"This boy'll never take it," said Mr. Mulligan, the policeman. "In the first place he's too little, and in the second place he isn't a junk boy. I must see about this," and, hurrying along for a little distance, then walking out to the curb, he reached out his hand and stopped the horse. It was not hard work. The bony horse was ready to stop almost any time.

"Whoa!" said the policeman.

"Whoa!" echoed Mun Bun, and he smiled at the officer.

"Where are you going?" asked Mr. Mulligan.

"I'm having a ride," said Mun Bun. "The junkman is at my Aunt Jo's house, and I got up on the seat and I'm having a ride!"

"Land love us! And look at the size of him!" murmured the cook, who had followed the policeman.

"He is little," said the policeman. "But you'd better get down, my little man. You might fall off."

"I had a nice ride, anyhow," said Mun Bun, as the policeman lifted him down from the wagon.

"But now I've got to find out where you live, and who owns this rig," went on the officer.

"The idea of him drivin' off with it all alone -- the likes of him!" murmured the wondering cook.

"Oh, he's a smart little chap!" said the policeman, smiling at Mun Bun. "But, unless I'm mistaken, here comes the real junkman. He looks worried, too."

Around the corner of the street came the man who had been talking to William in Aunt Jo's yard. He was running hard, and his hat had fallen off.

"My horse! My wagon!" he cried. "Somebody ran away with them!"

"No, they didn't, Ike!" said the policeman, who had seen the junk collector before. "Your horse just walked away with this boy, and it's lucky the little chap didn't fall off the seat. Get on now, and drive back where you came from. Where does this boy belong?"

"How should I know?" asked the junkman. "I never saw him before."

"Well, he must have got on the wagon at the last place you stopped," said the officer. "Where was that?"

"Oh, sure! I know what you mean!" exclaimed the junkman. "I know the lady's house. Her automobile man often sells me old papers. I can tell you," and he did, mentioning Aunt Jo's house.

"I'll just take the boy back," said the policeman.

His hand in that of the big policeman, Mun Bun went back gladly enough, and just in time, too, for his mother, looking out and "counting noses" had not seen him with the other children, and, fearing he had wandered away, she was just starting out to look for him.

"Where have you been?" she cried, as she saw Mun Bun with a policeman.

"Oh, I had a nice ride," answered the little boy.

"He was on the junk wagon," Mr. Mulligan explained.

"Oh, ho! So it was you who ran with Ike's rig, was it?" asked William. "Well, well! He was frightened when he didn't see his horse out in front where he had left it. How do you like the junk business, Mun Bun?"

"I like the horse, and I did drive him, I did!" said the little fellow proudly.

"Well, don't do it again," sighed Mrs. Bunker.

"No'm, I won't!" promised Mun Bun.

The six little Bunkers always promised this whenever they did anything they ought not to have done. But the trouble was that they did something different the next time, and not the same thing they were told not to do.

"I wish I'd had a ride with you," said Margy, as her little brother, after the policeman had gone, told what had happened.

"Well, I don't!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker.

So Mun Bun got safely back home again, and the rest of the day his mother saw to it that he played in the yard and around the house with his brothers and sisters.

"Did anybody ever come for the pocketbook and the sixty-five dollars?" asked Rose one day, after breakfast, when the six little Bunkers were wondering what to do to have fun.

"No, we haven't yet found an owner," said her father. "But there is time enough yet."

"And you didn't find my doll that the balloons took away, did you?"

"Not yet, Rose. I'm afraid Lily is gone forever," answered her mother. "Some day I'll get you a new doll."

"Yes; but she wouldn't be Lily," said Rose, and she felt quite bad about what had happened.

Out in the yard went the children to play. Russ was making what he said was going to be a kite, and Laddie and Violet were playing in the sand. Rose was watching Parker bake a cake and Margy and Mun Bun walked up and down the porch, pulling two little rubber dolls in a thread box, which they pretended was a big automobile.

Pretty soon, down the street came a two-wheeled cart, pushed by a man who had gold rings in his ears, and the cart made a cheerful whistling sound.

"Oh, listen!" cried Mun Bun.

"It's like a choo-choo car!" said Margy.

"Let's go and look at it!" cried Mun Bun.

"All right," agreed his sister.

Leaving the thread-box automobile and the two little dolls on the porch, the two small children ran down to the front gate to look at the whistling wagon.



Chapter XV

Laddie's Funny Riddle


"Doesn't it make a nice noise?" asked Mun Bun of Margy.

"Terrible nice," agreed the little girl. "What makes it?"

Mun Bun looked at the whistling wagon. It was, as I have said, a two-wheeled cart, and was pushed by a man who had gold rings in his ears. His face was very dark, too, but he smiled pleasantly at the children.

"It's a teakettle, that's what makes it," said Mun Bun, as he looked. "See the steam coming out, just like it does out of the kettle in Parker's kitchen," and he pointed to something on one end of the cart.

This something looked like a little stove, and the children could see the glow of fire in one end of it. And, as Mun Bun had said, steam was coming from what seemed to be a spout.

"The steam whistles," said Mun Bun.

"Yes," agreed Margy. "I like it!"

The steam did make a shrill whistling sound.

The wagon was out in front of Aunt Jo's house now, and suddenly Mun Bun sniffed the air. He smelled something good.

"Oh, I know what it is!" he cried. "It's peanuts! The man is roasting peanuts and they whistles to tell him they're done. Don't you 'member, down at the corner by Daddy's office, home, there's a man an' he sells peanuts and they whistles."

"Oh, yes!" said Margy. "I 'members! I likes peanuts, too!"

"So do I!" said Mun Bun.

The man with the gold rings in his ears was stopping in front of Aunt Jo's house now. He smiled at the children, while the steam from the hot peanut-roaster made a louder whistling sound, and the man yelled:

"Hot peanuts, five cents a bag!"

"Oh, I wish we had some!" sighed Mun Bun.

"So do I," added his sister. "Have you five cents, Mun Bun?"

"Nope! Has you five cents, Margy?"

"No."

Mun Bun thought for a few seconds while the smiling Italian man, with the whistling wagon, looked at the two little Bunkers hanging on Aunt Jo's gate.

"Please go 'way!" said Mun Bun. "We hasn't got any five cents for your hot peanuts."

"No gotta five cents?" asked the Italian.

"No," and Mun Bun shook his head.

"An' we like peanuts," added Margy. "If you've any left over you could give us some."

"Hot peanuts -- five a bag!" said the peddler in a sort of sing-song voice.

"Please go 'way!" begged Mun Bun again. "They smells awful good, but we hasn't got any five centies!"

"Maybe you go in th' house, li'l' boy, you get money," the Italian went on.

Margy looked at Mun Bun and Mun Bun looked at Margy.

"Oh, maybe we could!" exclaimed the little girl eagerly. "Let's go an' ask, Mun Bun!"

"All right!" said he. "We will!"

And they did. Into the room where Aunt Jo and Mother Bunker were sewing burst the two children, out of breath from their run up the gravel drive.

"Oh, Mother!" cried Mun Bun. "He wants five cents."

"An' he's got a whistlin' wagon!" added Margy.

"An' they smell awful good!" went on her brother.

"Come an' hear the whistle," begged the little girl.

"My goodness me!" cried Aunt Jo. "What is this all about?"

"It's hot peanuts -- five a bag!" answered Mun Bun, in a sing-song voice almost like the Italian's.

"But we haven't the five cents," added Margy. "An' we want some peanuts."

"Well, I think you may have some," said Mrs. Bunker. "I'll come down to the whistling wagon with you and see about it."

Margy and Mun Bun led her down to the front gate, where the peanut man, still smiling, was waiting. The hot oven on his wagon, in which he roasted the peanuts, was still whistling. Afterward Daddy Bunker told the children that the steam came out and made the whistling sound by puffing itself through a tin thing with holes in it, just as a boy blows his breath through the same kind of tin thing to make a whistle.

"And the reason the Italian puts water in the top of his peanut-roaster is so that the peanuts in the bags, where he puts them to keep warm, will not burn," the father of the six little Bunkers told them. "The whistling is like the bell the old-fashioned ice-cream man used to ring. People hear it and come to buy, just as you did."

Mrs. Bunker found the Italian's peanuts fresh and nicely browned and roasted, and she bought enough for all the children.

"You have to thank Margy and Mun Bun for them," she said to Russ, Rose and the twins. "They first heard the whistling wagon and ran out to see what it was."

The children had a sort of little play-party with the peanuts, though Laddie stuffed some of his in his pocket.

"I'm going to save 'em," he said.

"What for?" asked Russ, who had his kite partly finished.

"Oh, maybe I'll see an elephant in a circus parade," the little boy answered.

"Circus parades never come up in our Back Bay section," said Aunt Jo with a smile. "So I don't believe you'll see an elephant, Laddie."

"Oh, well, then I can eat the peanuts myself," he returned. "But maybe I might see a squirrel."

"Yes, we have some of them in our parks," went on Aunt Jo. "And I have seen them so tame that they would come up and take a nut from your fingers. Some day we'll go to the park and look for the little fellows. But I'm afraid you won't have any peanuts left then, Laddie."

"Well, we can get some more," said the little boy with a laugh.

It was a little later that same afternoon, when Rose, who was out on the porch, getting her doll dressed for supper, as she said, came running in, looking very much excited.

"Well, what is it now?" asked her mother. "Has Mun Bun or any of the others, ridden off on a junk wagon?"

"Oh, no," answered the little girl. "But Laddie went off down the street with his peanuts in his pocket, and now he's come back and he has a funny riddle."

"A funny riddle!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker. "What do you mean? Is it a riddle about the peanuts?"

"I don't know," answered Rose. "But Laddie has something hid under his coat, and he asked me to guess what it was, so it must be a riddle. And it makes a funny squeaking noise."

"My goodness!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker. "I must see what Laddie's riddle is this time!"



Chapter XVI

Rose Breaks Her Skate


Out on the porch Mrs. Bunker found her six children, for Rose had followed her mother out of the house, finally running ahead of her to see if any one had yet guessed Laddie's latest riddle.

"What have you there, Sonny?" asked Laddie's mother, as she saw him standing in front of Russ, Rose and the others, with something under his coat.

"He says it's a riddle," explained Russ.

"It is, sort of!" declared Laddie. "Yet 'tisn't zactly a riddle. I just told 'em to guess what I had under my coat."

"Where'd you get it?" asked Aunt Jo, who came out to see what the fun was about.

"I got it with the peanuts I had in my pocket," the little boy answered.

"Oh, then it's a squirrel!" guessed Rose.

"No, it isn't a squirrel," said Laddie, shaking his head.

"It's got a tail! I can see it!" cried Vi, as she stooped down and looked under her brother's coat. "I can see it sticking out. It's brown."

"Yes, it's got a tail," admitted Laddie.

"Is it a kite?" asked Russ, for he had not yet finished the one he was making.

"Nope! 'Tisn't a kite!" Laddie answered. "It's alive, and kites aren't that way!"

"They wiggle around as if they were alive, sometimes," said Rose.

"Oh, I heard it squeak!" cried Mun Bun. "Is it a little kittie?"

Again Laddie shook his head.

"Nope," he answered, "'tisn't a kittie. But it's got fur on. Now I'll give you each one more guess for my riddle, and --  -- "

But Laddie's "riddle" seemed to think the fun had gone on long enough, and it didn't want to be guessed about any more. All at once the little boy began to wiggle and try to hold something still beneath his coat -- something which seemed very much alive indeed.

"Oh! Oh! Oh, dear!" cried Laddie, but he was laughing.

"What's the matter?" asked his mother.

"It -- it's tickling me!" he exclaimed. "Oh -- there it is!"

As he spoke a funny little wrinkled black face, followed by a little brown furry body and a long tail, scrambled out from under Laddie's buttoned coat and sat on his shoulder.

"Oh, look!" cried Rose.

"It's a black pussy with a long tail!" cried Violet.

"No, it isn't!" Russ exclaimed. "It's a monkey! That's what it is! A monkey!"

"A monkey!" repeated Mrs. Bunker. "Why, so it is. Oh, Laddie boy! where did you get a monkey?"

Laddie put up his hand to stroke the funny little creature, which seemed to like it, crouching down on Laddie's shoulder and nestling close to him. The monkey was not much larger than a cat.

"Where'd you get it?" repeated the children's mother.

"Have they got any more? Can I get one?" cried Russ. "I'll go and find some peanuts!"

"Don't let him wind his tail on me!" begged Mun Bun, hiding behind his mother's skirts.

"Can he play a hand-organ?" asked Violet.

The children were laughing so hard, and asking so many questions as they crowded around Laddie, that their mother exclaimed:

"Oh, my dear six little Bunkers! please be quiet a minute until I can hear what Laddie has to say. Tell us where you got such a cute little riddle!"

"I got him with peanuts," Laddie said. "He was up in a tree and I saw him, and I held out some peanuts in my hand and he came down and sat on my shoulder and ate 'em and then I put him under my coat and he liked it and I brought him home."

"But where did you find him?" asked Aunt Jo. "In what tree?"

"Oh, just down by the corner at the end of this street," answered Laddie with a wave of his hand.

"Mercy," gasped Aunt Jo, "are monkeys beginning to make their homes in the trees of the Boston streets?" and she and Mother Bunker laughed.

"But was he up a tree?" asked Russ.

"Yes, he was," Laddie went on. "First I thought it was a cat, but when I saw him hang by his tail I knew it wasn't a cat."

"Oh, we're finding lots of things!" cried Rose. "I found a pocketbook, and now Laddie finds a monkey."

"And I'm going to keep it and get a hand-organ and then I'm going around and take in pennies," said the little boy, on whose shoulder the monkey was still perched, looking here and there at the other children, and wrinkling up his funny black face.

"I know where it came from," said Russ, after thinking a moment.

"Where?" asked Vi. "Do you mean out of a circus?"

"No," answered Russ. "But it must have got away from a hand-organ man."

"I think that's just what happened," said Aunt Jo. "Hand-organ men, with monkeys fast to the ends of long strings, often come up this way, and play what they call music, and they let the funny little animals go after the pennies. One of these Italians must have been around here with his music-machine, and his monkey must have run away from him and hidden up in a tree where you saw him, Laddie."

"But I found him, and he's mine. I want to keep him," said the little boy. "He's awful soft and fuzzy, and he likes me."

Indeed the monkey was a nice, clean little chap, and he seemed to like Laddie. And he seemed to like to have the other children pet him, also. He wore a funny little red jacket and a green cap, and every now and then he would take off his cap and hold it out, as he had been taught to do, for pennies.

Mun Bun, who had been afraid the monkey would wind its long tail around him, came out from behind his mother's skirts, and even dared to pet Laddie's "riddle," as they called it.

"He's awful nice!" said Mun Bun.

"He'd make a lovely doll," observed Rose. "I wish I had a doll that was alive."

"I'll let you play with him sometimes," promised Laddie. "I'm going to call him. 'Peanuts' 'cause he likes 'em so."

"Well, that would be a nice name for a monkey," said Mrs. Bunker. "But don't get your heart set on keeping this one, Laddie."

"Why not, Mother? Can't I have him?"

"I'm afraid not. In the first place Aunt Jo has no place in her Boston home for a monkey, and, in the second place, Alexis, the big dog, might bark at Peanuts and scare him."

Alexis was not there just then, or he would have seen the monkey, and surely would have barked, as he always did when he saw anything new or strange.

"Another reason why you can't keep him," said Mother Bunker, "is that the Italian hand-organ grinder will want his monkey himself. That is how he makes his living -- by having the monkey collect pennies for him."

"But can I keep him until the organ man comes?" asked Laddie, as he cuddled his "riddle" in his arms.

"Oh, yes, I guess you can keep him until then," said Mrs. Bunker. "We couldn't turn the poor little monkey loose, anyhow, or dogs would chase him. We'll see what your father says when he comes home."

"And we can have some fun now, with Peanuts," added Russ. "We can tie a string to his collar and make-believe we have a circus."

"Maybe he'll bite," said Margy.

"He didn't bite me," Laddie explained, "and I carried him under my coat from down the street. He tickled me though, when he wanted to get out."

Mrs. Bunker and Aunt Jo said the children could play with the monkey awhile on the side porch, fastening it by a string attached to the collar around its neck, so it could not get away.

"The Italian may be along pretty soon looking for it," said William, the chauffeur, who had been called from the garage to see Laddie's new pet.

"Peanuts," as the six little Bunkers called the monkey, seemed to enjoy being with them. He climbed about the porch, and came down when they held out in their hands bread, bits of crackers or cake, which the monkey liked to eat.

The children were having lots of fun with their funny little pet, and they were talking over and over again their wish that they might keep him, when, from out in front, came the sound of a hand-organ. It played rather a sad and doleful tune, and, at the sound of it, the monkey seemed to prick up his ears, much as a dog might do.

"Oh, dear!" sighed Rose. "Maybe that's the hand-organ man that owns this monkey."

"If it is I'd better see about it," said Aunt Jo. "I want you children to have all the fun you can, but we don't want to keep a poor man's monkey, any more than we do the poor woman's purse, though she hasn't come for that yet."

William, the chauffeur, who also heard the hand-organ tune, went out in front, and came back to tell Aunt Jo that the Italian had indeed lost his monkey, and was looking everywhere for it.

"Tell him to come in," said Miss Bunker.

And a little later, walking along and grinding out the doleful tune, the Italian came into the yard.

"Is this your monkey?" asked Aunt Jo, pointing to the one that Laddie had coaxed down out of the tree with peanuts.

"Oh, Petro! Petro!" cried the Italian, leaning his hand-organ up against a tree and rushing to the porch. "Ah, Petro! I have found you again, my baby!" and he held out his arms. The monkey made a jump for them, and sat up on the man's shoulder, chattering and taking off and putting on his green cap so often that, as Russ said, he looked like a moving picture.

"Ah, Petro! Petro!" cried the hand-organ man, and then he began to talk to the monkey in Italian, which the little creature seemed to understand, for he chattered back, though of course he spoke monkey talk, or, maybe, jungle talk.

"Is that your animal?" asked William.

"Sure, he mine!" exclaimed the Italian. "His name Petro! I make-a de music down de street, an' a big dog chase after Petro! He break-a de string an' jump oop de tree. I no can find! Now I have him back! Ah, my Petro!"

"Well, the children will be sorry to lose their pet," said Aunt Jo, "but I'm glad you have him back."

"I glad. Vera mooch-a glad, too!" said the Italian, taking off his hat, and bowing to Aunt Jo and Mrs. Bunker. "Petro bring me in pennies. I play for you, but I no want-a pennies. No take pennies -- you find my Petro."

"This little boy found him," said William, pointing to Laddie.

"I gave him peanuts," said Laddie. "He was up a tree."

"Mooch 'bliged," said the Italian. "I make-a de music for you. Petro do tricks."

Then he fastened the long cord he had in his pocket to Petro's collar, and began to grind out what he called "music." He also made the monkey do several tricks, such as turning somersaults or climbing trees and jumping from one branch to another.

Then, with more thanks, and promising to come and play again for them, and not to let Petro take any pennies, the Italian went on his way with the monkey and the hand-organ.

Laddie and the others were sorry to lose their pet, but, as Daddy Bunker said afterward, the monkey and Alexis might not have been good friends.

"Well, I found a monkey, and somebody came for it," said Laddie that night. "But nobody has come for the pocketbook yet."

"And, if they don't, I'm going to have the money," said Rose. "Anyhow, I can have some of it, daddy says. And I'm going to buy a pair of new roller skates, 'cause my old ones are 'most worn out."

However, Rose could still skate on them, and speaking of them as she did, made her think of them the next day. So, when she had put her dolls to "sleep," the little girl went out roller-skating on the sidewalk in front of Aunt Jo's house.

Rose had not been skating long before her mother heard her crying.

"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" Rose was saying.

"What's the matter?" asked her mother, hurrying out to the porch. "Did you fall and hurt yourself, Rose, my dear?"

"No. But I struck my foot against the curbstone, and now one of my roller skates is broken, and I can't have any fun!"

Rose held up one foot. The skate that had been on it was now in two pieces, and Mrs. Bunker saw that it could not easily be fixed again. It was too bad!



Chapter XVII

The Skate Wagon


While Rose and her mother were looking at the little girl's broken roller skate, Russ came along. He had been in the yard, playing with Alexis, and his clothes were covered with grass, some of it green and some of it dried.

"But I had lots of fun," said Russ, as he whistled a merry tune. "And grass doesn't hurt my old clothes."

"Alexis always has on his old clothes. He doesn't have to change his to play," said Laddie, who was with Russ.

Just then the two boys saw their mother and Rose looking at the broken skate.

"What's the matter?" Russ wanted to know.

"Oh, I bumped my foot on the curbstone," answered Rose. "And now look!"

She held out the skate that was broken in two parts.

"Perhaps Russ can fix it," said Mrs. Bunker with a smile. "He makes so many things that he might mend this."

Russ took the pieces of the skate in his hand. Rose still had the other, the unbroken one, on her foot.

"I could push myself along on one skate," said the little girl, "but it isn't much fun. Can you fix it, Russ?"

Her brother shook his head.

"I don't guess anybody could fix that broken skate," he said.

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Rose.

"But," went on Russ, "I know how to make something that you can have lots of fun with; and so can I!"

"Can I, too?" asked Laddie.

"We all can," said Russ. "We can take turns."

"On what?" asked Rose.

"A skate wagon," answered Russ. "I saw a boy downtown have one -- the day we went to the movies. You take a good roller skate, and pull it apart. Then you put two of the wheels on the front end of a board, and the two other wheels on the back end."

"Well, then what do you do?" asked Laddie, for Russ had come to a pause.

"Well, then you nail a stick up on the front end of the board, for a handle, and you stand on it -- you stand on the board, I mean -- and you ride downhill on the sidewalk on the skate wagon. It's fun!"

"Say, let's do it!" cried Laddie. "I'll help you, Russ! Give us that one skate that isn't busted, Rose, and we'll make a skate wagon."

Laddie knelt down and began to unfasten the strap of the one good skate, which was still on Rose's left foot.

"Stop! Stop it!" cried the little girl, pulling back her leg.

"Hold still!" exclaimed Laddie. "I can't get your skate off if you wiggle so much."

"I don't want my skate off!" insisted Rose.

"Then how am I going to make a skate wagon?" asked Russ in some surprise.

"I can push myself along on one foot, and skate that way," went on Rose. "If I let you boys take my skate to make a wagon of, you'll be riding all the time and I won't have any fun. I'm going to keep my own skate. So there!"

"We'll give you some rides; won't we, Russ?" asked Laddie.

"'Course we will! Lots of 'em!" added the older boy.

"I'd let them take my skate, if I were you," said Mrs. Bunker. "One skate is not of much use to you, Rose, and if Russ can make a sort of wagon, or skatemobile, as I have heard them called, it will be fun for all of you."

"All right," said Rose, after thinking over what her mother said. "But I got to have my turns."

"Yes, you may all have turns," said Mother Bunker, who usually settled disputes in this gentle way. "Now, Russ and Laddie, let us see you make the funny coaster wagon."

Rose let Laddie take the roller skate off her foot, and then Russ took the two front wheels from the two back ones. He had looked at a "skatemobile" a few days before, and, being a clever little chap, he remembered how it was made.

"I can get the pieces of board out in the garage," said Russ. "I saw William have some, and he said I could take them."

Russ did not find it quite so easy to make the coaster wagon as he had thought. To fasten the wheels of the skate to the board he used many nails, and bent most of them. Then William, who had been doing something to Aunt Jo's automobile, came out and watched Russ at work.

"Ouch!" Russ suddenly exclaimed.

"What's the matter?" asked the chauffeur.

"I pounded my finger!" said the little boy, as he popped it into his mouth. "It hurts!" But he did not cry.

"Yes, it generally does hurt when you hit your finger or thumb with a hammer," said William. "Better let me finish that for you. I can put the wheels on so they won't come off."

"I wish you would then," said Russ. "We want to see how it works."

William did not take long to fasten the four wheels to the long, narrow board, two wheels on each end, so that it could easily coast down the sidewalk hill in front of Aunt Jo's house. Then, to the front of the narrow board, just as Russ had explained, William nailed a handle, making it stick straight up, so it could be grasped by whoever was taking a ride.

"Now your skate wagon is done," he said.

"Let's go out and try it!" cried Laddie.

"But I've got to have a turn," insisted Rose. "It's my skate."

"You shall all have turns," put in Mother Bunker, who had come out to the garage to see how matters were going. "That is, all except Mun Bun and Margy. I'm afraid they're too little to coast. They might fall off."

"I'll hold 'em on and give 'em a ride," offered Russ, who was very kind to his little brother and sister.

"You can have the first ride," said Laddie to Rose, "'cause it's your roller skate."

"I can't go first," answered the little girl. "I don't know how you do it. You go first, Russ."

Russ was very willing to do this. So he took the skate wagon to the top of the sidewalk "hill," as the little Bunkers called it, and then he put one foot on the flat board, to which were fastened the roller-skate wheels.

"You have to push yourself along with one foot, just the same as when you're skating on one skate," explained Russ. "Then when you get to going fast you put the other foot on the board and stand there, and you hold on tight and down you go."

"Show me!" begged Rose, jumping up and down because she was so excited and pleased.

And then Russ went riding downhill, almost as nicely as he coasted on the snow in winter.

"Is it fun?" shouted Laddie, from where he stood with Rose at the top of the hill -- only almost no one would have called such a slight grade a "hill."

"Lots of fun!" answered Russ.

Down to the bottom of the hill he rode, and then he walked up.

"Now it's your turn, Rose," he said, as he handed her the skatemobile. But the little girl shook her head.

"I'll watch a little more," she said. "Let Laddie go."

So Laddie coasted down. Then Rose took her turn. Down the sidewalk hill she coasted on the skate wagon, and she was just turning around to wave to her mother and her brothers, who were watching her, when all of a sudden out from a gate ran a little dog. Right in front of Rose, and a little ahead of her he ran, and then he stood on the sidewalk and barked at her.

"Look out, Rose! Look out!" cried her mother.

"Steer to one side! Turn out for him!" yelled Russ.

"Stick out your foot and stop the skate wagon, same as you stop yourself on roller skates," cried Laddie.

But Rose, it seemed, could do none of these things. Straight for the little dog she coasted.

What was going to happen?



Chapter XVIII

The Spinning Tops


Rose was not able to stop the skate wagon, on which she was coasting down the sidewalk hill in front of Aunt Jo's house. Nor did the little dog seem to want to get out of the way. He just stood in front of Rose, while she was coasting toward him, and barked and wagged his tail. And it was almost as if he said:

"Well, what's all this? Are you coming to give me a ride?"

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way -- please!" begged Rose. "I'll bump into you, same as I bumped into the curbstone, if you don't get out of the way, little dog; and then I'll run over you! Get out of the way!"

But the little dog just stayed right there.

Of course, if Rose had thought about it, she might have jumped off the skate wagon, and let that go on by itself, shoving it to one side.

But she was coasting down the stone sidewalk hill quite rapidly now, and she was so excited that she never once thought of getting off or even trying to turn the skate wagon aside. Straight for the barking little dog she coasted.

"Oh, we must stop her!" cried Mrs. Bunker, running down the slope after the little girl.

"I'll get her, Mother!" cried Russ. "I guess I can run faster than you can."

But there was no chance for either of them to catch Rose before something happened. And the something that happened was that Rose ran right into the little dog. Right into him she ran with the skate wagon.

"Ki-yi-yi-yip! Ki-yi! Yip! Yip!" yelled the little dog.

"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" sobbed Rose, for she was crying.

Bang! went the skate wagon over into the gutter.

The little dog -- Well, I was almost going to say he laughed to see so much sport, but that little dog is in Mother Goose, if I remember rightly, and this little dog didn't laugh. He was very much frightened, and he was hurt a little, and so was Rose. So the little dog just tucked his tail in between his hind legs, and back he ran into the yard out of which he had come to see what was going on when he heard the skate wagon rattling down the sidewalk hill.

By this time Russ, Laddie, and their mother had come up to Rose.

"Are you much hurt?" asked Mrs. Bunker. "There now, don't cry. We'll take care of you!"

"It -- it's my knees!" sobbed Rose. "I scraped 'em! And is my skate wagon all busted?"

"No, it's all right," said Laddie, as he picked it up from the gutter where it had rolled after Rose fell off. "It's as good as ever."

"And your knees aren't hurt much -- only scratched," said Mrs. Bunker, as she looked. Rose wore socks, and her legs, above her shoes, and partly above her knees were bare. "See if you can't stand up," urged Mrs. Bunker, for Rose was as limp as a rag in her arms.

"Stand up and have some more rides!" exclaimed Russ.

"No, I don't want any more rides on the old skate wagon!" cried his sister. "I don't like it."

"Then we can have it all ourselves, Russ!" exclaimed Laddie.

"No, you can't either!" said Rose, and she suddenly stopped crying. "You can't have my skate wagon. I want it myself!"

"But if you can't stand up you can't ride on it --  -- " began Mrs. Bunker.

"But I can stand up, Mother!" cried Rose, and she did, showing that nothing much was the matter with her.

"See, then you're not hurt," said her mother. "Now don't begin to cry again, and you can have some more rides. But perhaps you had better not coast down any more hills. Just ride along the sidewalk as you did on your roller skates. That will be best."

"Yes, maybe I'll do that," said Rose. "Where's the dog that made me run into him?"

The little dog was safely behind his own fence now, looking out through the pickets and barking. Perhaps he wondered what it was all about, and what had happened to him. He had been knocked about a bit, and bruised, but not much hurt. Only he was "all mussed up," as Russ said, after a look at him.

"Well, I guess he won't get in the way of your roller-skate wagon again," said Mrs. Bunker. "Now you can take some more rides, Rose. Your knees are all right."

And so they were, after they had been washed off with a little warm water. Then Rose and her brothers, with Violet taking a turn now and then, had fine fun on the skatemobile. They rode down the hill though, as they found they could steer better when going fast.

Mun Bun and Margy came from the yard, where they had been playing in the sand pile, and they, too, wanted rides. Russ and Laddie held them on, for the smaller children were hardly old enough to coast alone, though Mun Bun did drive off in the junk cart, as I have told you. But that was different. The roller-skate wagon went faster than the junkman's horse.

So the six little Bunkers had fun on the skate wagon, and as the days went on they were more and more glad they had come to Aunt Jo's house to spend a part of their vacation.

It was early in August, and there was much of the summer before them. The weather was hot, but there was plenty of shade around Aunt Jo's house, so that it was almost as nice as it had been at Grandma Bell's.

"Are we going to stay here until vacation is all over?" asked Russ of his father one day.

"Well, I'm not sure," he said. "Cousin Tom spoke once of having us come down to see him."

"Down to the seashore, do you mean?" asked Rose.

"Yes, down to Seaview, New Jersey."

"Oh, it would be dandy there!" cried Russ. "I could go swimming in the ocean, couldn't I?"

"Well, you might go in if the water wasn't too deep," his father said with a smile. "But we'll talk about that later. Rose, where is that pocketbook you found?" he asked.

"Why? Do you know who owns it?" the little girl asked.

"No, but I want to look at it again. Perhaps there may be a card, or something, that will tell the address of the person who lost it and the sixty-five dollars."

"But we did look," said Russ, "and we couldn't find any."

"I thought perhaps the card or paper might have slipped through a hole in the lining," said Mr. Bunker, "as the real estate papers I searched for so long slipped inside the lining of the old coat I gave the lumberman. Where is the pocketbook?"

"Mother has it," answered Rose. "I'll get it for you, Daddy!"

She ran to her mother, and soon returned with the purse. The sixty-five dollars had been put in a safe in Aunt Jo's house, but the sad little letter was still in the wallet.

Mr. Bunker read it over again, and then carefully looked through the pocketbook. It was an old one, and the lining was torn, but there was no slip of paper or card in any hole that would tell to whom the pocketbook should be returned.

"I'll advertise once more," said Mr. Bunker, "and then, if no one claims it, I guess the money will belong to you, Rose."

"And can I spend it?"

"Oh, no indeed! Not all of it. A little, perhaps; but the rest will be put away for you, until you grow to be a young lady. Still I would rather give it to whoever owns it."

"So should I," said Rose softly. "I'd like to get back my lost doll, that I sent up in the balloon airship, and I guess the pocketbook lady would like to get her money back."

They all thought the pocketbook belonged to a poor woman. They got this idea from the letter -- that is, the grown-up folks and the older children did. Mun Bun and Margy didn't think much about it, one way or the other. All they cared about was having fun.

And the six little Bunkers certainly had fun at Aunt Jo's. They played in the yard or around the garage; they went for auto rides, on little excursions and picnics, they played with Alexis, the big dog, and they rode on the skatemobile.

One day a boy named Tom Martin, who lived about half a block from Aunt Jo's house, came up in front and called:

"Hi, Russ! Ho, Laddie! Come on out and play tops!"

The two older Bunker boys had become acquainted with Tom, and liked to play with him. Now they heard him calling and Russ answered:

"We'll be out in a minute; soon as we've had some bread and jam."

"Bring Tom a piece, too," suggested Laddie, for Parker, the good-natured cook, was giving the boys a little treat.

"Yes, I'll give you a slice for your friend," she said.

So she spread him a nice slice of bread and jam, and Russ and Laddie, carrying their own, which they ate on the way, also took one to their new playmate.

"Let's play tops," suggested Tom. "We can go down the street where the sidewalk is big and smooth, and spin 'em there."

"All right," agreed Russ. "We'll have some fun."

Down the street they went, to a corner, where a big apartment house stood close to the sidewalk. There the pavement was smooth, just the place for spinning tops.

"There, mine's spinning first!" cried Tom, as he flung his top down, quickly pulling the string away, and thus making the top whirl around very fast. "Let's see if either of you can hit my top with yours."

"I can!" said Russ, and he threw his top at Tom's with all his might.

Russ didn't hit his playmate's top, but he did hit something else. Up into the air bounced Russ's top, and, the next moment, there was a crash of glass.

"Oh!" cried Tom. "You've broken a window!"



Chapter XIX

Flying A Kite


That was just what had happened. When Russ threw his top down so hard, it had bounced up again from the sidewalk, and had gone sailing through the air against one of the lower windows of the apartment house which stood so close to the pavement. And the top went right through the glass.

The three little boys were so surprised that they just stood there, looking at the shower of broken glass on the pavement. Then Tom cried:

"Oh, we'd better run!"

"What for?" asked Russ.

"'Cause you broke the window. The lady or the man'll come out an' they'll get a policeman."

Russ said nothing for two or three seconds. Laddie, who was just going to bounce down his top, to spin it, still held it in his hand. He didn't want to break a glass.

"Come on!" cried Tom in a whisper. "Come on 'fore they catch us!"

Russ shook his head.

"No," he answered. "I'm not going to run. I'll stay here, and when they come out I'll tell 'em I busted it and my father will pay for it. That's what we always do; don't we, Laddie?"

"Yep," answered the smaller boy.

"Did you ever break windows before?" asked Tom, who had started to run away, but who came back when he saw that his two friends were not coming with him.

"We broke one at Grandma Bell's," said Russ.

"But she didn't make us pay for it," said Laddie.

"Tom Hardy, the hired man, put a new glass in," went on Russ. "And once we broke a window back home when we were playing ball. I threw the ball, and Laddie didn't grab it, and it went through a candy-store window, but we didn't run."

"What did you do?" asked Tom, to whom this seemed something new. He looked up at the place where the window had been smashed. As yet no one had thrust a head out of the window or threatened to send for a policeman. "What did you do?" asked Tom again.

"Well, the lady who owned the candy store knew us," answered Russ, "and she knew our father would pay for the glass."

"Did he?"

"Why, of course he did!" exclaimed Laddie.

"But he said we each had to save up and give him back five cents -- a penny at a time," added Russ. "That was to help pay for the glass, and make us -- make us more careful, I guess he called it.

"Anyhow, that's what I'm going to do now. We'll wait, and when somebody comes out I'll tell 'em my father'll pay for the glass my top broke."

"Here comes somebody now!" whispered Tom, and surely enough a man, wearing blue overalls and looking as though he had been cleaning out a cellar, came from the basement door of the big apartment house.

"Who broke that glass?" he asked, and his voice was rather harsh.

"I -- I did -- with my top," spoke up Russ, but his voice trembled a little.

"Well, you'll have to pay for it!" went on the janitor, for such he was. "I've told you boys to keep away from here spinning your tops, and yet you will come! Now you've got to pay for it!"

"I never spun my top here before," said Russ.

"And I didn't either," added Laddie.

"That's right, Mr. Quinn," put in Tom, who seemed to know the janitor. "I brought 'em here. It's part my fault."

"Hum!" said the janitor. "This is something new, to have boys own up to it when they break windows, and not run away. Who did you say was going to pay for the glass?" he asked. "It'll cost about a dollar. Lucky for you Mr. Tanzy wasn't at home. It's in his parlor you broke the window, and he's awful cross."

Russ had thought the janitor himself was cross, at first, but now he did not think so, for the dusty man smiled.

"I'm going to pay for the glass -- I am, and my brother," Russ went on. "I broke it."

"Have you got the money with you?" asked Mr. Quinn, the janitor.

"No," answered Russ. "I've only five cents. But you can have that, and my father'll give you the rest when I tell him."

"Who's your father?" asked the janitor.

"They're staying with their Aunt Jo," explained Tom Martin. "She lives on this street -- Miss Bunker, you know."

"We're two of the six little Bunkers," said Russ.

"Oh, I'm glad to know that," and Mr. Quinn smiled again. "Well, as it happens, I used to be your aunt's furnace man, so I know her. If you're related to her you must be all right. I'll let you two little Bunkers go now, but your father must come and pay for the window."

"He will," promised Russ, who was glad no policeman had come along, though he had made up his mind to be brave, and not be afraid if one should happen to be called in by the janitor. But none was.

"I'll help pay for the window, too," said Tom. "It was part my fault, 'cause I asked Russ and Laddie to come down here to play tops."

"Good-bye, boys!" the janitor called after them. "I'm sorry you had this accident, but I like the way you acted."

Russ, Laddie and Tom were sorry, too, for they knew their fathers would feel bad, not so much at having to pay out fifty cents each, as because the boys had played tops in a place where they might, almost any time, break a window.

Tom ought to have known better than to go down by the apartment house, for, more than once, he had been told to keep away, but Russ and Laddie had not. However, neither Mr. Martin nor Daddy Bunker scolded very much. They sent the money to the janitor, and told the boys just what Mr. Quinn had told them -- to play tops on some other pavement. And this the boys did.

"But we got to have some fun," grumbled Russ.

"Oh, there are lots of other places where you can spin your tops without going down near the apartment house," said Mr. Bunker. "Windows will get broken, once in a while, but I don't like it to happen too often."

"Did you get any answers to the advertisement about the lost pocketbook?" asked Mrs. Bunker of her husband that night, for he had said he would stop at the newspaper office and inquire.

"No," he replied. "I'm afraid whoever owns it does not read the papers. I wish I knew who it was."

"So do I," said Rose.

For, even though she would like to keep the money for herself, she knew it was better that the poor person, whose it was, should have it. But, so far, no one had come to claim the wallet and the sixty-five dollars.

After dinner one day Aunt Jo said:

"Who wants to go on an auto ride?"

"I do!" cried Rose and Violet.

"Me, too!" added Margy, and Mun Bun said something, though they could not be sure just what it was, as he was still chewing on a bit of cracker he had carried from the table with him.

"I guess he means he'll go, too," said his mother. "But after this, Mun Bun, my dear, finish your eating at the table, and don't be dropping cracker crumbs all over Aunt Jo's floor."

"I get Alexis, and he pick 'em up," said Mun Bun; and he started for the door to let in the big dog.

"No, don't!" laughed Aunt Jo. "Alexis has just been given a bath by William, and our dog pet is wet. He'd be worse for the floor than a few crumbs are. I'll have them swept up, Mun Bun. But come, let's get ready for the auto ride."

When the time to go came, Russ and Laddie said they wanted to stay at home. This was unusual. Generally they were the first to want to go.

"Why aren't you coming?" asked Rose of Russ. "Maybe we might find my doll that sailed away with the balloons."

"Oh, I don't guess you will," said Russ.

"Anyhow, Laddie and I are going to make some things when you're gone. We've got to make 'em so we can fly 'em with Tom Martin. He's going to make one, too."

"Will it fly?" asked Rose. "Oh, is it an airship?"

"No, it's just a kite," said Russ. "I started to make one, but I didn't finish. Now I'm going to make a good one so it will fly away up high. And so are Laddie and Tom. That's why we don't want to go in the auto."

"All right, then we'll leave you and Laddie at home with your father and William," said Aunt Jo, for she was going to run the car herself.

"Be good boys," begged Mrs. Bunker.

"We will!" promised Russ.

"And you won't spin tops and break any more windows, will you?" inquired Aunt Jo.

"Nope!" agreed Laddie. "We'll just fly kites, and they can't break windows, or do any thing else."

But you just wait and see what happens.

After Aunt Jo and the others had gone off in the car, Russ and Laddie got their paste, paper and string, and began making kites. Russ knew how pretty well, and he showed Laddie. They made kites with tails on them, as these are easier for small boys to build, though they are not so easy to fly as the kind without tails. The tails of kites get tangled in so many things.

"Now mine's done," said Russ, as he held up his finished toy.

"I wish mine was," replied Laddie.

"I'll help you," offered his brother, and he did.

The two boys were soon ready to go to a vacant lot not far from Aunt Jo's house, to fly their kites.

"A city's no place to fly kites," said Laddie. "We ought to be in the country."

"We ought to be at Grandma Bell's," agreed Russ. "That was a dandy place to fly kites -- big fields and no telegraph wires to tangle the tail in."

However, they managed, after some hard work, to get their kites up into the air, and then they sat in the lot, holding the strings and sending up messengers.



Chapter XX

The Jumping Rope


"My kite's higher than yours," said Laddie, as he looked at his plaything, away up in the air, and then at his brother's.

"Well, I haven't let out all my string yet," Russ answered. "I can make mine go up a lot higher than yours when I unwind some more cord, and I'm going to."

"I'm going to send up another messenger," said Laddie. "I haven't got any more string to let out, but maybe I could get some."

He took a small piece of paper, put a hole in it, and then slipped through this hole the stick to which his kite cord was tied. Then the piece of paper went sailing up the kite string, twirling around and around until it was half way to the kite itself.

"Look at my messenger go!" cried Laddie, as the piece of paper whirled around and around in a brisk breeze. "Why don't you send up one, and we can have a race?"

"I will!" exclaimed Russ. "We'll have a race with the paper messengers, and then I'll get some more string, and send my kite higher."

"So'll I," decided Laddie. "Oh, Russ, we can even have a race with the kites!" he went on. "We'll see whose kite will go highest."

"Yes, we can do that," agreed the older boy. "Now I'll make a messenger."

So Russ did that, and as the messenger Laddie had put on was, by this time, nearly up to his kite, he put another on the string. The boys held them from going up until both were ready, and then, just as when they sometimes had a foot race, Russ cried:

"Go!"

They took their hands off the paper messengers, and up the strings they shot, the wind blowing them very fast.

"Look at 'em go! Look at 'em!" cried Laddie, dancing about in delight.

"And you'd better look out and not let go of your kite string, or that'll go, too," said Russ. "Your kite'll fly away same as Rose's balloon airship did."

"I wonder if they'd go to the same place," said Laddie. "If my kite would be sure to fly to where Rose let the balloons fly to I'd let it go."

"Why would you?" asked Russ.

"'Cause then I could find Rose's doll for her. I could walk along by my kite string and keep on going and going and going, and then I'd come to the place where the kite was and there would be the basket with the doll in it."

"Yes, that would be nice," said Russ. "But I don't guess they'd go to the same place. You'd better hold on to your kite."

"I will," agreed Laddie. "I wonder how high we could let our kites go up?" he went on, as he watched the messengers whirling around the strings. "How far would they go?"

"They'd go as far as you had cord for," said Russ.

"Could they go away up to the sky?" asked Laddie.

"'Course they could," said Russ.

"The sky's awful far," went on Laddie, looking up at the blue part, across which the white, fleecy clouds were flying.

"Yes, it's far," assented Russ. "But we could get an awful lot of string, and let the kites go up."

"Could we do it now?" the smaller boy wanted to know. "I'd like to see my kite go up to the sky."

"Well, we could do it," Russ said. "But look! My messenger beat yours!" he suddenly cried. "It's away ahead!"

"So it is," assented Laddie. "Well, anyhow, I've got more of 'em up than you have."

"Now I'm going to get a lot of cord and send my kite up high," announced Russ, as he got up from the grass where he was sitting.

"Are you going to take your kite down?" his brother wanted to know.

Russ shook his head.

"I'm going to tie my kite string to a stone," he said. "That'll keep it from blowing away while I go into the house to get more cord. You watch my kite while I'm gone."

"I will," promised Laddie. "I'll tie my kite, too."

Russ tied the end of his cord to a heavy stone in the vacant lot near Aunt Jo's house, in which the boys were flying their kites. Laddie sat down on the grass, and looked up at the kites, which were like two birds, high in the air. Russ was gone some little time. It was harder than he thought it would be to find the right kind of cord. But he had made up his mind to send his kite up in the air as high as it would go, and he wanted plenty of string.

Suddenly Laddie, who was watching his own and his brother's kites, noticed that Russ's was acting very strangely. It bobbed and fluttered about a bit, and then began to sink down.

"I've got to pull on the cord," thought Laddie. Though he was younger than Russ he knew enough for this -- when a kite starts to come down, to run with it, or to wind the cord in quickly. There wasn't much room in the vacant city lot to run, so Laddie began winding in the string of Russ's kite.

Then Laddie noticed that his own kite was bobbing about and coming down also.

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed the little boy. "I can't wind 'em both in at once. I wish Russ would come!"

But Russ was still back at Aunt Jo's house, and Laddie, much as he wanted to save his brother's kite, wanted even more to save his own.

So Laddie let go of the string of his brother's kite, and began to pull in on his own. As he did so Russ's sank lower and lower, falling like a leaf, from side to side.

But as Laddie pulled on his cord his kite went higher and higher into the air, until, getting to a place higher up, where the wind was blowing stronger, it was out of danger.

But Russ's kite floated lower and lower, and Laddie dared not let go his own string to pull in his brother's. Just then Russ came running back with the cord he at last had found.

"Where's my kite?" he cried, as he reached the lot, and did not see his kite in the air.

"It started to come down, and so did mine, but I couldn't pull 'em both," said his brother. "I'm sorry, but --  -- "

"Oh, well, maybe I can pull it up," said Russ, who was not going to find fault with Laddie for what could not be helped. "I'll wind up the string as fast as I can."

So he did this, and at last he saw his kite come into sight above the houses in the next street. But the wind, low down, was not strong enough to carry the kite up again, and Russ saw that it was of no use. His kite still fluttered from side to side.

"I can't get it up again this way," he said to Laddie. "I've got to pull it all the way down, and then send it up again. And I'll make it go terrible high this time, 'cause I've got a lot of string."

"When mine comes down I'm going to send it up higher," said Laddie. But his kite was still well up in the air.

Russ pulled and pulled on his string, and finally he had his kite where he could see it. It was floating over the street near the vacant lot, and Russ was pulling it toward him, when, all of a sudden, something happened.

A woman, with a large hat on, was walking along the street, right under Russ's kite. Suddenly the kite swooped down, until the dangling tail touched the woman's hat. Russ, not seeing what had taken place, kept on pulling on the string, winding it in. And, of course, you can easily guess what happened.

"Stop! Stop it, little boy!" called the woman. "Stop pulling on your kite string!"

"What for?" asked Russ, who had been looking at the stick on which he was winding his cord, wondering if it would be large enough to hold it all.

"Because you're pulling off my hat!"

And that is just what Russ was doing. The tail of the kite had become tangled in the trimming on the woman's hat, and Russ was pulling it off her head.

"Oh, please stop, little boy!" she cried, and she had to run along, following the kite across the street.

Then Russ stopped winding the string, and the woman, putting up her hands, took hold of the kite tail, so it did not quite pull off her hat. But it almost did.

"I -- I'm sorry," Russ said, as he saw what had happened.

"Oh, that's all right," the woman answered with a laugh. "You couldn't help it. I have a little boy of my own, and he likes to fly his kite, but he never got it tangled in my hat, that I remember. But it's all right. No harm is done. I can pin my hat on again, but my hair is rather mussed up, I'm afraid."

"You could go into my Aunt Jo's house and fix it," said Russ politely. "She has a looking-glass."

"Has she? That's nice," said the lady with another laugh. "But I have a little one of my own. See!" She opened her purse and showed a tiny, round mirror fastened inside. "If you'll hold that up, so I can see myself in it, I can put my hat on again and it will be all right," she went on.

This Russ did. His kite had fallen to the street, but it was not torn and was all right for putting up again. So he held the woman's mirror, which was in her pocketbook, as well as he could, while she smoothed out her hair and straightened her hat. Then, with a smile and a bow, she said:

"There! Is it all right?"

"It looks nice -- just like my mother's," answered Russ, and the woman laughed as she took back her purse.

"Did you lose a pocketbook?" asked Russ.

"No," was the answer. "Why do you ask?"

"'Cause my sister Rose found one, and it had some money in, but nobody ever came to get it."

"Well, I hope you can fly your kite again," said the woman, as she walked away.

Russ picked up his kite and went back to the vacant lot with it. He tried to fly it, but the wind had gone down, and the toy would not rise. Laddie's, too, had begun to bob about, and he said:

"I guess I'll pull mine down before it falls."

"Well, we had some fun, anyhow," remarked Russ.

It was the next day, a fine, sunny one, that Rose and Violet, having played with their dolls until they were tired, wanted to do something else. Daddy Bunker had taken Russ and Laddie to a moving picture show, but as Rose and Violet had seen it once, they did not want to go again. Margy and Mun Bun were asleep, and the two girls didn't know what to play.

"I know how to have some fun," said Rose at last.

"How?" asked her sister.

"We can jump rope. I know where there's a piece of clothesline that Aunt Jo'll let us take."

"How can two of us jump rope?" asked Vi. "We'd both have to turn, so who could jump?"

"We can tie one end to a tree, and take turns turning," said Rose. "Then one of us can jump, and whoever misses has to turn for the other."

"Oh, yes, we can do it that way," assented Vi. So the two little girls ran to get the clothesline and soon they were jumping rope.

"It's lots of fun," said Vi, when it was her turn to have "three slow -- pepper," while Rose turned, the other end of the rope being fast to a tree.



Chapter XXI

Mun Bun In A Hole


While Rose turned, Vi jumped, and the little girl was getting along nicely when she tripped, or the rope caught on her foot, and stopped.

"Now it's my turn!" exclaimed Rose. "You missed, and you have to turn for me."

"You made me trip!" exclaimed Vi. "You gave me the pepper before I was ready."

"You said to give you 'three slow -- pepper,' and I did," declared Rose.

I suppose you girls who jump rope know what "three slow -- pepper" means, but the boys probably will not, so I'll explain.

The person who is turning the rope for the other to jump, turns it very slowly for three times. Then she turns it fast. Jumping fast is called jumping "pepper," and sometimes jumping slow is called "salt." And I have heard some little girls, when they were jumping rope, call for "mustard and vinegar." But that is very fast indeed -- too fast for little girls, I should think. Rose and Vi never jumped faster than pepper.

"Yes, I know I said 'three slow -- pepper,'" admitted Vi. "But I didn't want you to give me such fast pepper."

"Oh, well, try it again," said Rose, good-naturedly. "I won't go so fast the next time."

So she began turning the rope again, and Vi started to jump. This time all went well, and Vi, when it came to the "pepper" part, did so well and kept it up so long that Rose at last cried, with a laugh:

"Oh, my arm is tired! Let me rest, Vi!"

"I will," said the little girl. "I'm tired, too. After I rest a minute I'll turn for you."

They sat on the grass under the trees for a while, and then began taking turns jumping again.

"Now let's try a new way," suggested Rose after a bit. "We'll see how high we can jump over the rope."

So they began this game, and pretty soon some little girls from the house across the street came out to play with Rose and Vi. They were from a family that Aunt Jo knew, and had played with the little Bunkers before.

The children had lots of fun, skipping rope, and seeing who could jump the highest. Rose was best at this, though Mabel Potter, one of the little girls from across the street, jumped nearly as high.

"Now let's go and play with our dolls again," suggested Vi. "Can you come over to our Aunt Jo's house, and sit on her porch?" she asked Mabel, Florence and Sallie, the other little girls.

They said they could, and they were just starting to get their dolls when along came a boy with a basket of groceries on his arm. He had got out of a delivery wagon down the street, and was bringing some things to Aunt Jo. The boy had often called with groceries before, and Rose and Vi knew him. His name was Henry Jones.

"Hello, little girls!" called Henry, for he was older than any of them. "What you doin'?"

"Seeing who can jump highest," answered Rose.

"I can jump higher'n any of you!" boasted Henry. "Want to see me?"

"Well, you ought to jump higher -- you're bigger'n we are," said Mabel.

"Well, I'll jump and keep on holding my basket," offered the grocery boy. "That'll make it harder for me. Go on! Hold the rope up real high and I'll jump over it."

"Maybe you might spill the things in your basket," suggested Rose.

"No, I won't. I'm a good jumper," said Henry. "Hold the rope up real high."

Rose took hold of one end of the rope and Mabel the other. They held it across the sidewalk as high up as their own waists.

"Higher!" ordered Henry.

They raised it a little.

"There! That's high enough!" said the grocery boy. "Now you watch me sail over that. I'll show you some jumpin'!"

Henry, still holding his basket of groceries, stood on the sidewalk, a little way back from the rope. Then he took a run and started toward it. Up into the air he jumped, but something sad happened.

Whether Henry did not spring up high enough, or whether one of the girls raised the end of the rope when she ought not to have done so, no one ever knew.

But what happened was that Henry's feet became entangled in the cord, and down he fell, luckily on the grass at one side of the pavement, and not on the sidewalk stones, or he might have been hurt.

He sat right down flat, and his basket bounced off his arm, and a lot of groceries spilled out of it.

"Oh, did you hurt yourself?" asked Rose.

Henry was too much surprised, for a moment, to speak. He looked as if he did not know what had happened. Then he slowly got up.

"No, I didn't hurt myself," he answered. "But I guess I can't jump as high as I thought I could. But I'm going to try it again."

"Oh, you'd better not," Mabel said. "You might break some more eggs."

"I didn't break any eggs!" declared Henry.

"Yes, you did! Look at that bag," said Rose, and she pointed to one that had bounced from the basket, together with other bags and bundles. From this bag something yellow was running on the grass.

"Oh, dear! I guess I did bust some eggs!" exclaimed the grocery boy. "Your aunt'll be awful mad!" he went on. "I wish I hadn't jumped the rope."

Henry picked up the bag of eggs and looked inside.

"Only one's busted," he said, "and that's just partly cracked. I'll hurry into the house with it and she can put it in a dish and save it. 'Tisn't cracked very much."

"That's good," said Rose. "Parker is going to bake a cake, I heard her say, so she'll need some eggs right away, and she can use the cracked one first."

"I'm glad of that," observed Henry.

Then he hurried into Aunt Jo's house with the eggs and other groceries, and when he came out -- not having been scolded a bit -- the girls had gone with their jumping-rope, so Henry didn't have another chance to take a tumble.

On the shady porch of Aunt Jo's house Rose, Vi and their three little girl friends played with their dolls. They were having lots of fun, undressing and dressing them, sending them on "visits," one to another, and having play-parties.

"Do you like it here?" asked Mabel of Rose.

"Oh, yes, lots," was the answer. "We've had just the loveliest summer. First, we were at Grandma Bell's, and now we're at Aunt Jo's, and maybe we'll go to Cousin Tom's at the seashore before we go back home."

"You've got lots of relations, haven't you?" asked Sallie.

"Oh, that's only part of 'em," Rose went on. "We've got more," and she mentioned them.

Vi was putting her doll to sleep on a bed of grass made in a corner of the porch, when a door slammed and the sound of running feet was heard.

"Hush! Don't make so much noise!" exclaimed Violet in a whisper. "My doll's asleep."

"It's Margy and Mun Bun," said Rose, as the two smallest Bunkers came racing around the corner of the porch. "They're my little sister and brother," Rose explained to the other girls. "They've just had a nap, so they feel like playing now."

"Can we have some fun?" asked Margy.

"We want lots of fun!" added Mun Bun.

"Oh, dear! They'll wake up my doll!" whispered Vi. "Can't you two go away and play somewhere else?"

"Here. I'll let 'em take these marbles," said Mabel. "They're my little brother's. He gave me his bag to hold when he went off to play tops with some of the boys. I'll let Margy and Mun Bun take the marbles to play with."

"That'll be nice," said Rose. "Run along, Mun Bun and Margy, and play marbles."

This just suited the younger children. Down off the porch they ran, and soon the others could hear them laughing and shouting. But pretty soon Margy came running back.

"Come an' get Mun Bun," she said to Rose. "He's got his head in, an' he can't get it out."

"Got his head in where?" asked Rose.

"In a hole," answered Margy quite calmly.



Chapter XXII

Out To Nantasket Beach


When Margy told Rose about Mun Bun being down in a hole, Mabel, Florence and Sallie looked much more frightened than the little girl who had come running to the porch with the news. Indeed, Margy did not seem frightened at all; but, of course, Mun Bun could not stay always with his head in a hole, so she had come to tell some one to get him out.

"What kind of a hole is he in?" asked Mabel.

"Can't he ever get out?" Florence inquired.

"I don't know," answered Margy. "It's a funny hole. It's in the yard, and Mun Bun's head is away down in it. I can't see his head, but his legs are stickin' out."

"Mother! Mother!" cried Rose, running into the house, where Mrs. Bunker was sitting in the sewing-room with Aunt Jo. "Oh, Mother! Mun Bun --  -- "

Rose had to stop, for she was out of breath.

"What's he been doing now?" asked Mrs. Bunker. Then she saw Rose's face, and added: "Oh, has anything happened?" and she hurried over to Rose.

"Margy says his head is in a hole in the yard, and that his legs are sticking out," went on the little girl. "Mun Bun and Margy went out to play marbles an' --  -- "

But Mrs. Bunker did not stop to hear. Followed by Aunt Jo, out she rushed to the yard, and there she saw a strange sight. In the middle of the lawn Mun Bun seemed to be kneeling down. But the funny part of it was that his head did not show. And yet it wasn't so funny either, just then, though they all laughed about it afterward.

"Oh, what has happened to him?" cried Mrs. Bunker as she rushed across the grass. Aunt Jo was beside her, and Rose, Vi, Margy and the three other girls followed.

"Mun Bun! Mun Bun!" called his mother, as she came closer to him. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, my head's in a hole! It's in a hole, and I can't get it out!" sobbed the little fellow. And, just as Margy had said, his voice did sound strange -- as if it came from the cellar.

"Don't be afraid. I see what has happened," said Aunt Jo. "Mun Bun isn't hurt, and I can get him out of the hole."

"And can you get his head out, too?" asked Vi.

"Oh, yes, his head and -- everything," said Aunt Jo. "I see what he has done. He has taken the cover off the lawn-drain, and stuck his head down in it, though why he did it I don't know."

"He's trying to get some of our marbles," explained Margy, as Aunt Jo and Mother Bunker hurried to the side of Mun Bun. "The marbles rolled down the hole in the yard and Mun Bun said he could get 'em back. So he stuck down his head, and now he can't get it up."

"I wonder why?" said Mother Bunker.

"It's on account of his ears," said Aunt Jo, who had her hands on the head of Mun Bun now. "They stick out so they catch on the side and edges of the hole. But I'll hold them back for him."

She slipped her thin fingers down into the hole, on either side of Mun Bun's head. Then she raised up his head, and out of the hole it came.

Mun Bun's face was very red -- standing on his head as he had been almost doing, had sent the blood there. His face was red, and it was dirty, for he had been crying.

"Now you're all right!" said Aunt Jo, kissing him.

"Don't cry any more!" went on Mother Bunker, as she clasped the little boy in her arms. Mun Bun soon stopped sobbing.

"I see how it all happened," went on Aunt Jo. "In the middle of my lawn is a drain-pipe to let the water run off when too much of it rains down. Over the hole in the pipe is an iron grating, like a big coffee strainer. This strainer keeps the leaves, sticks and stones out of the pipe. But the holes are large enough for marbles to roll down, I suppose."

"Some of my marbles rolled down the holes, and so did some of Margy's," explained Mun Bun. "That is, they wasn't our marbles, but she let us take 'em," and he pointed to Mabel. "And when they rolled down in the little holes I wanted to get 'em back. So I put my head down to look and I couldn't get up again."

"But if the holes were only large enough to let marbles roll through, I don't see how Mun Bun could get his head down them," said Mrs. Bunker.

"Oh, but he lifted off the iron grating of the pipe, and put his head right down in the pipe itself," said Aunt Jo. "The iron grating is made to lift up, so the pipe can be cleaned. I suppose Mun Bun found it loose, lifted it up, stuck his head down, and then the edge of the strainer-holder held his ears, so he couldn't get loose. I pushed his ears in close to the sides of his head, and then he was all right."

And that is just the way it happened. Mun Bun, when he saw the marbles roll down into the drain-pipe, wanted to get them back. He could easily lift up the grating, but when his head was in he could not so easily get it out again. So he yelled and cried, and Margy heard him and went for help, which was a good thing.

"Well, you're all right now, but don't ever do anything like that again," said Aunt Jo.

"I won't," promised Mun Bun, as his mother carried him to the house to be washed and combed. "But I wanted the marbles, and they're down the pipe yet. I couldn't get 'em."

"Never mind," said Mabel. "My brother has lots more. He won't care about losing a few."

And he did not, so Mun Bun had all his trouble for nothing, not even getting back the marbles. But it taught him never to put his head in a hole unless he was sure he could get it out.

When Russ and Laddie came home from the moving picture show, they heard all about what had happened to their little brother.

"Let's go out and look at the hole," suggested Laddie.

"All right," agreed Russ. "I knew it was there, 'cause the last time it rained I saw water running into it. But I didn't know the iron grating lifted up."

For several days after that the six little Bunkers had lots of fun at Aunt Jo's. They played all sorts of games, and had rides on the roller-skate wagon Russ had made, as well as in the express wagon, pulled by Alexis, the big dog.

They went out to Bunker Hill monument, where they were told something about what had happened when the men of the colonies fought that these United States might become a free nation.

"Daddy," asked Vi very seriously, "didn't they name this monument after you?"

"How could they?" broke in Russ. "This monument was put up years and years before Daddy was born."

"Well, maybe they named it after his great, great, I don't know how many great grandfathers," put in Laddie.

"No, it wasn't named after any one in our family," answered Daddy Bunker.

The father also took the children out to the Charlestown Navy Yard, and told them something about the navy and how our fighting men of the sea helped to keep us a great and free people.

And then, one day, Russ saw his mother and father and Aunt Jo looking over some papers and small books. Russ knew what they were -- time tables, to tell when trains and boats leave and arrive. He had seen them at his father's real estate office, and also at the house in Pineville just before the family started for Grandma Bell's.

"Oh, are we going home?" asked Russ, his voice showing the sadness he felt at such a thing happening.

"Going home? What makes you think that?" asked his father.

"Indeed, I hope you're not going home for a good while yet," said Aunt Jo. "It hardly seems a week since you came."

"Well, I'm glad you have enjoyed us," said Mother Bunker.

"But are we going home?" persisted Russ.

"No, not yet," answered his father. "You think because we are looking at time tables we are going to leave. Well, we are, but we are only going on an excursion, or picnic."

"Where?" asked Russ, and once more he felt happy.

"Out to Nantasket Beach," said Aunt Jo. "That's a nice trip by boat. It takes about an hour and a half from Boston, and we are looking to see what time the boats sail and come back."

"Oh, are we coming back?" asked Russ.

"Yes. We can only spend the day there," said his mother. "But Aunt Jo says it is very nice. It's a sort of picnic ground, with all sorts of things at which you can have fun. There are merry-go-rounds and roller-coasters. And you can have nice things to eat, and can play in the sand near the ocean."

"Oh, that'll be fun!" cried Russ. "When are we going?"

"To-morrow," answered Aunt Jo.

Russ jumped up and down, he was so happy, and ran out to tell the other little Bunkers.

And the next day they all went out to Nantasket Beach. While they were there something very strange and wonderful happened, and I'll tell you all about it.



Chapter XXIII

The Merry-Go-Round


"Oh, look over here!"

"See this funny boat!"

"Look, Daddy! What's that man doing?"

"Oh, I hear some music!"

These were some of the things the six little Bunkers said and shouted as they were on the boat going to Nantasket Beach. The day was a fine, sunny one, and they had started early in the morning to have as long a time as possible at the playground, for that is what Nantasket Beach really is.

Russ and Rose, Violet and Laddie, and Margy and Mun Bun ran here and there on the boat, finding different things to look at and wonder over on the vessel itself, or in the waters across which they were steaming.

Mother and Daddy Bunker sat with Aunt Jo in a shady place on deck, and watched the children at their play.

Russ and Laddie and the two older girls were standing near the rail, toward the front, or bow, of the boat, and they had to hold their hats on to keep them from being blown away.

"I would like a kite here," Laddie said. Then he watched some boats moving back and forth in the water, big ones and little ones, and, suddenly turning to his brother, said:

"I've got a new riddle."

"What is it?" Russ asked. "I can guess it."

"Nope! You can't!" Laddie went on. "And it's an easy one, too."

"Go on and tell it!" exclaimed Russ. "I know I can guess it."

"Why is this boat like a duck?" asked Laddie. "Now, you can't answer that."

"I can so!" cried Russ, as he thought for a moment. "That's easy. This boat is like a duck 'cause it goes in water."

"Nope!" said Laddie, shaking his head with vigor.

"It is so!" cried Russ. "I'm going to ask Mother."

The two boys went in search of their mother, leaving Rose and Vi up in front.

"What is it now?" Mrs. Bunker wanted to know, as the two boys ran up to her.

"Laddie made up a riddle about 'why this boat is like a duck,' and when I told him 'cause it goes in water like a duck, he says that isn't the answer. It is, isn't it?"

"That isn't the answer I mean!" exclaimed Laddie, before his mother had a chance to speak.

"Well, I suppose Laddie can pick out the one answer he wants to his own riddles, if he makes them up," said Mrs. Bunker to the two boys.

"I have an answer," said Laddie, "and Russ didn't guess it right."

"Give me another chance," pleaded the older boy. "I know why the boat is like a duck -- 'cause it swims in water! That's it!"

"Nope!" said Laddie again, shaking his head harder than before.

"Then there isn't any answer!" declared Russ.

"Yes, there is, too," insisted Laddie. "I'll tell you. This boat is like a duck because it paddles! See? A duck paddles its feet in water and this boat paddles its wheels in water. I saw the paddle-wheels when we came on board."

"Huh!" exclaimed Russ. "I could have thought of that if you'd given me one more turn."

"Isn't that a good riddle?" demanded Laddie, smiling.

"Pretty good," admitted Russ. "I'm going to think up one now, and I'm sure there can't anybody answer it. You wait!" and he went off by himself to think up his riddle.

Margy and Mun Bun, after running about a bit, had heard some music being played on board, and had teased their mother to take them to hear it. This Mrs. Bunker was glad to do, as it gave her a chance to sit quietly with the smaller children.

Across the waters steamed the boat, and Russ finally gave up trying to think of a hard riddle, and walked here and there with Laddie, finally getting to a place where they could watch the engines.

Russ did not find it as easy to think up a hard riddle as he had thought he would, but he said he was going to try after they got back to Aunt Jo's house.

"'Cause," he said, "there's so much to see now that I don't want to miss any of it."

It was a ride of about an hour and a half from Boston to Nantasket Beach, and that pleasure spot was reached long enough before noon for the children to play about and have fun before lunch.

They had brought some things to eat with them, but Daddy Bunker said they would also have something to eat at a restaurant. It was a good thing Mrs. Bunker and Aunt Jo did provide sandwiches, for the children were hungry as soon as they left the boat and insisted on eating.

And then the fun began. There was plenty to do at Nantasket Beach, smooth slides to coast down on, funny tricks that could be played, and phonographs that one could listen to by putting the ends of rubber tubes in the ears after having dropped a penny in the machine. There were moving pictures and other things to enjoy.

Best of all the children liked the merry-go-rounds, and they had so many rides on the prancing horses, the lions, the tigers, the ostriches and the other animals and birds that Daddy Bunker said:

"My! I'm afraid we'll all go to the poorhouse if I spend all my pennies."

"You can take some of the sixty-five dollars I found in the pocketbook," said Rose.

"No," and her father shook his head. "We mustn't touch that money yet. I haven't given up the hope of finding who owns it, though it certainly takes them a long while to find out about it. But there must be something wrong. Either they have not seen our advertisements, or they have gone far away."

"Can't we ever spend any of the money?" asked Russ.

"Well, maybe, some day, if we don't find the owner," said his father.

The children went in bathing, and then had lunch at an open-air restaurant. And such appetites as they had! The salt air seemed to make them hungry, even if they had eaten the sandwiches brought from home.

"Now I want some more rides on the merry-go-round," said Margy, after they had taken in some other amusements. "I want to ride on the rooster this time. He's bigger than the rooster at Grandma Bell's, but he's nice and red."

Among the creatures in the merry-go-round machine was a big, wooden rooster, painted red, with his beak open just as if he were going to crow. Margy had ridden on a horse and on a lion, and now she wanted the rooster.

"Well, you may have just one more ride," said her mother. "But don't tease for any more."

"Why not?" Margy wanted to know.

"Because it might make you ill, my dear," said Mrs. Bunker. "Too much riding, when you go around in a circle that way, may upset your stomach. One ride more will be enough, I think."

Margy agreed to be content with one, but when that was over she had enjoyed it so much that she teased and begged for just one more.

"Oh, let her have it, Mother!" suggested Rose. "We'd all like another ride. And I'll sit beside Margy in one of the seats, and then maybe it won't make her sick."

Margy didn't look ill, and she seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Well, this is a sort of play-day," said Daddy Bunker, "and I want you children to have a good time. I don't suppose one more ride will do any harm," he said to his wife. "And, I'll try to keep out of the poorhouse until we can use the sixty-five dollars in the pocketbook Rose found," and he laughed.

"Well, if you say it's all right I suppose it is," agreed his wife. "But this is, positively, the last ride!"

So the children got their tickets, and Margy and Rose took their seats in a little make-believe chariot, drawn by a green camel.

The music began to play, the merry-go-round began to turn and once more the children were having a good time. In chairs near the big machine Daddy and Mother Bunker and Aunt Jo waved to the children each time they came around.

The turn was almost over when Mrs. Bunker happened to see Margy leaning up against Rose. And the mother noticed that her littlest girl's face was very white. Rose, too, seemed frightened.

"Oh, I'm sure Margy is ill!" cried Mrs. Bunker. "She has ridden too much! Oh, Charles! Have them stop the machine!"

"It's stopping now," he said. He, too, had noticed the paleness of Margy's face.

Slowly the merry-go-round came to a stop, but even before it had altogether ceased moving Daddy Bunker had jumped on and hurried to where Rose sat holding Margy.

"Oh, Daddy!" exclaimed Rose, "she says she feels terribly bad."

"What's the matter with Daddy's little girl?" asked Mr. Bunker, as he took Margy in his arms and started to get off the machine. "Did you become frightened?"

"Oh, no! No, Daddy!" answered Margy in a weak voice. "But I feel funny right here," and she put her hand on her stomach. "And my head hurts and I feel dizzy -- and -- and --  -- "

Then poor little Margy's head fell back and her eyes closed. She was too ill to talk any more.



Chapter XXIV

Rose Finds Her Doll


"Take her out in the air," said one of the men in charge of the merry-go-round, as he saw Mr. Bunker carrying Margy across the floor. "They often feel a bit faint from riding too much, or from the motion. The air makes 'em all right. Take her right down to the beach. That would be best, I think."

"I will," said Mr. Bunker.

Tenderly he looked down at the little white face on his arm. Mrs. Bunker and Aunt Jo looked worried, as they hurried after Mr. Bunker, and Rose and Russ, who, with Violet, Mun Bun and Laddie had gotten off the merry-go-round, followed through the crowd.

"What's the matter? What is it? Was any one hurt?" asked several persons.

"No, it's only a little girl sort of fainted," a policeman said, and that was really what had happened to Margy.

"The fresh air down by the beach will bring her around all right," said the man who had first spoken to Mr. Bunker. "I'll look around for a doctor, if you like."

"Oh, I don't think she is as badly off as that," replied Margy's father. "As you say, the fresh air will bring her around."

So the six little Bunkers, with Margy being carried by her daddy, went down near the water. The merry-go-round was not far from the bathing pavilion where they had left their clothes when they went in swimming during the morning.

At the cashier's desk was a young lady, who gave out the tickets and took charge of watches, jewelry, money and other things that the bathing-folk left with her for safe-keeping. This young lady cashier saw Margy being carried by Mr. Bunker, and called to him:

"Bring the little girl up here. She can lie down on a bench in the shade, and feel the fresh ocean air. That will be better than having her out in the sun."

"Indeed it will," said Mrs. Bunker. "Thank you very much."

With some dry bathing-suits and towels, the girl kindly made a sort of bed on a bench for Margy, and there the little girl was tenderly put to rest by her father. Then he looked carefully at her, and listened to the beating of her heart.

"She'll be all right in a little while," he said. "If I could get her a glass of cold water --  -- "

"I'll get you one," offered the bathing cashier. "We have some ice water inside."

"You are very kind," said Mrs. Bunker. "We went in bathing from this place not very long ago, but I did not see you here then."

"No, I come only in the afternoons," said the girl. "Another girl and I take turns, as the work is pretty hard on a hot day when lots of folks go in swimming."

She brought the water for Margy, and then the little girl opened her eyes and looked about her.

"Take a drink," said her mother. "Do you feel better now?"

"Yes," said Margy. "I'm all right. I felt awful funny," she said, and she smiled a little. Her cheeks were not so pale now, and she tried to sit up.

"Better lie down a bit yet," said Daddy Bunker. "Then you'll feel a lot better. Next time you mustn't ride so much on the merry-go-round. Too many trips are not good for any one."

In a short time Margy felt so much better that she could sit up. The cashier came back from her place at the window to ask how the little girl was feeling, and she seemed glad when told that Margy was better.

Russ, Rose and the other children had been asked to stay outside and play in the sand, but now, having been told by Aunt Jo that Margy was nearly recovered, they came in the bathing pavilion office to look at their little sister. Just at this time there were not many people wanting bathing-suits, so the cashier who had been so kind was not very busy.

As Rose and the others stood looking at Margy, and also at the cashier, Vi suddenly exclaimed:

"Why, I know her!"

"Who?" asked Mrs. Bunker.

"Her," went on Vi. She pointed to the cashier. "She found me the day I was lost, when I went after the loaf of bread and I went down the wrong street and I couldn't find Aunt Jo's house. She found the right street for me. I know her -- her name's Mary!"

The cashier turned to look at Violet.

"Oh, now I remember you!" she exclaimed. "Yes, I did see you crying on the street in the Back Bay section of Boston one day. I remember now. I could tell where you lived because my mother used to sew in that neighborhood, and I had seen the big dog at your aunt's house. So you got home all right, did you?"

"Yes, she came just as I was starting out to look for her," said Daddy Bunker. "We often wondered who had been so kind as to show Violet the right way, but all she could tell was that it was a girl named 'Mary'. I often thought I'd like to see her, and thank her for being so kind to our little girl, but, only knowing your first name --  -- "

"My name is Mary Turner," said the girl. "I live in Boston, though not at Back Bay, but I come over here every day on the boat to work."

"Do you like it?" asked Aunt Jo.

"Yes, it is very pleasant, and not too hard. I like the smell of the salt water. I'd be near the ocean all the while if I could. But we can't have all we want," and she smiled. "Shall I get you some more cold water?" she asked Margy.

"Yes, please," answered the little girl. "I feel a lot better now."

"That's good," said Mary Turner, as she went to the water-cooler.

"Wasn't it funny I should see her again?" said Violet. "She was awful nice to me when I was lost."

"She seems like a very nice girl," said Mrs. Bunker, "and she is certainly very kind to us. I'm glad we met her."

Mary came back with more water for Margy, who was now able to walk around, the feeling of illness having passed.

"I want to go down and play in the sand," she said.

"Better not go out in the hot sun right away," advised Aunt Jo. "Stay in the shade a bit, Margy."

"Yes," urged Mary Turner. "Come and see my queer little office, where I sit all day and hand out tickets and take in gold watches and diamond rings and things like that."

"Do you keep 'em?" asked Russ.

"Oh, no! The people who go in bathing leave them with me for safety. I have to give them back when they hand me the check I give them. I keep each person's things separately in little pigeonholes, and there is a man on guard there, too, -- a sort of policeman."

"Are there any pigeons in the pigeonholes?" asked Vi.

"Oh, no!" laughed Mary. "They just call them pigeonholes because they are like the openings that pigeons go in and out of at barns, and such places, I suppose. They are like the boxes in a post office, only larger. Come, I'll show them to you."

As this would keep Margy in the shade a while longer, Mrs. Bunker said the children could go with Mary and look at her "office."

"My daddy's got an office," said Rose. "It's a real estate office."

"Well, mine is different from that," Mary said.

They went with her to look. As it was rather soon after the dinner hour, not many persons were in bathing, and the compartments or "pigeonholes" were not all filled. In some, however, were the envelopes in which people sealed their watches, rings and other valuables.

The six little Bunkers were quite pleased at seeing Mary Turner's office, and the "policeman" who was on guard so no one would come in and take the envelopes.

"Did some one leave that when they went in bathing?" asked Mr. Bunker with a smile, as he pointed to something in one of the pigeonholes.

"Oh, no," answered Mary with a smile. "That's mine. It's a doll, and I brought it with me to-day, thinking I would have time to make a new dress for it, and give it to a little girl I know. I don't play with dolls any more, though I used to like them very much, and I still like to make dresses for them. But I've been rather busy this morning, helping Mr. Barton, who owns the bathing pavilion, so I didn't get time to do any sewing."

As she spoke she took down the doll, and held it out for Margy and the others to see. And, as Rose looked at it, she exclaimed:

"Oh, look! Why -- why, that's Lily! That's my doll that went up in the airship! That's Lily!"

"It can't be, Rose!" said her mother.

"Yes, it is!" insisted the little girl, as she took the doll from her sister's hand. "Look! Don't you 'member where there was a cut in her and her sawdust insides ran out and Aunt Jo sewed up the place with red thread?" and Rose turned the doll over and showed where, surely enough, the doll was sewed with red thread.

"Is that really your doll?" asked Mary, and there was a queer look on her face.

"It really is," said Rose Bunker. "I sent her up in a basket and there was a lot of balloons tied to it. I called it an airship and it got loose and Lily went away up in the sky, and I couldn't get her down."

"I said she'd come down," cried Russ, "'cause I knew the balloons couldn't stay up forever. But we looked for the doll and couldn't find her."

"Did she drop out of the airship?" asked Rose eagerly.

"No, she came down with the 'airship,' as you call it," went on the bathing-pavilion cashier. "She was in a basket when I found her. And tied to the basket were some toy balloons. A few of them had burst, and the gas had come out of the others, so that they were all flabby and wouldn't keep the airship up any more. Then it came down, and it happened to land right in the back yard of the place where I board, in Boston.

"I saw it in the morning, when I went out to feed the pet cat, and I brought the doll in. She was all wet, and her dress had come off. But I carried her into the house and I've kept her ever since. I've been intending to dress her and give her to a little girl, but I'm glad you have her back," and she smiled at Rose.

"Oh, isn't it just wonderful!" cried the little girl. "To think I have my own darling Lily back after her going up in the airship!"



Chapter XXV

The Pocketbook Owner


Indeed it was quite strange and wonderful, as they all agreed, that Rose's doll had been found in such a curious way. Rose, herself, was very happy, for, though the doll was not her "best" one, she liked it very much indeed, and had felt sad at losing Lily.

"I'm glad the airship came down at your house," said Rose to Mary.

"And I'm glad I found her for you," said the cashier.

"'Cause," remarked Vi, "she might have fallen in a house where there was a puppy dog, and he'd have bitten her and torn her dress. I wonder where her dress went."

"Oh, I guess the wind blew it off," said Russ. "The wind is awful strong up high in the air. Once it busted one of my kites."

"I guess that's how it happened," said Daddy Bunker. "The toy balloons must have gone up very high, carrying your doll along, Rose."

"No. Lily didn't have on a dress that day. I was in an awful hurry, an' I just wrapped a handkerchief around her. That blew away, I guess."

By this time Margy was feeling all right again, and after a little more talk with Mary, the six little Bunkers went out to play on the sandy beach, Rose carrying her doll.

"Oh, it's lovely at Nantasket Beach!" said Russ, as he and Laddie ran about and waded in the shallow water. "Thank you, Aunt Jo, for bringing us here."

"Oh, I'm enjoying it as much as you children are," said Daddy's sister.

But all things must come to an end, even picnics, and when the six little Bunkers had done about everything they wanted to at the pleasure resort it was time to take the boat back for Boston.

On board, after the children and the grown folks were seated, Vi saw her friend Mary Turner.

"There's the girl that found me when I was lost, and the one that had Rose's doll," said Vi, pointing.

"Oh, so it is!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker. "Don't you want to come over and sit by us?" she asked the bathing-pavilion girl.

"Yes, I should like to," was the answer. "It's lonesome riding home alone."

"Where do you live in Boston?" asked Mrs. Bunker, as Mary sat down near her and the children, who were too tired with their fun to romp around much.

"I board down near where I can get this steamer easily," was the answer. "I have a pass on the boat, and by walking to the dock I save carfare. And these days one has to save all one can," she added.

"You say you board," put in Aunt Jo. "Have you no relatives?"

"Oh, yes, I have a brother and a mother, but Mother is ill in the hospital," was the answer.

"That's too bad," said the ladies, who felt quite sorry for Mary.

Then they talked about different things until, at dusk, the boat landed at the wharf, and the six little Bunkers and all the other passengers got off. Rose whispered something to her mother, who looked a little surprised and then spoke to Aunt Jo.

"Why, yes, I'd be delighted to have her," was the low answer, for Mary was walking on ahead, with Russ and Laddie.

"Rose thinks it would be nice to ask Mary to come to supper with us," said Mrs. Bunker to her husband. "Aunt Jo says that she is willing."

"Of course we'll ask her!" said Mr. Bunker kindly, and when Mary was told about the plan she smiled and said she would be glad to come. So to Aunt Jo's nice home they all went, and Parker had a fine supper soon ready for them, even though she didn't expect company.

After the supper, which Mary seemed to enjoy very much, saying it was much nicer than at her boarding-house, she and the six little Bunkers sat on the porch and talked. Mary told about the funny things which sometimes happened at the bathing-beach.

"Well, I'm glad we went there to-day," said Rose. "If we hadn't I'd never have found my airship doll."

"You were very lucky," said Laddie.

"Yes," added Russ. "I wish I had such good luck as Rose. She found her doll and she found a pocketbook."

"Oh, I didn't tell you about that!" exclaimed Rose to Mary. "I really did find a pocketbook in the street, about two weeks ago, and it had a lot of money in it."

"Did it?" asked the bathing-beach girl, and she seemed interested more than usual.

"Oh, a lot of money," went on Rose. "Please, Daddy, can't I show Mary the pocketbook I found?" she asked, for Miss Turner had told the children to call her by her first name. "I want to show her the pocketbook I picked up," went on the little girl.

"All right, you may," said Mr. Bunker. "I'll get it for you," and he brought it from the house.

"There it is!" cried Rose. "Wasn't I lucky to pick that up?"

"Indeed you were," said Mary Turner, and then, as she caught sight of the wallet in Mr. Bunker's hand she exclaimed:

"Why, there it is! There's the very one! Oh, to think that you have it!"

"Do you know whose this is?" asked Mr. Bunker. "Ever since my little girl found the wallet we've been trying to find the owner, but we haven't been able to."

"That's my mother's pocketbook!" cried Mary. "And it's on account of that she's in the hospital, and ill. Oh, how wonderful!"

"Is this really your mother's purse?" asked Mr. Bunker.

"It surely is," answered the bathing-beach girl. "She had just sixty-five dollars in it."

"That's just how much was in this!" exclaimed Russ.

"And besides," went on Mary, "I know the pocketbook. It has a little tear in one corner, and the clasp is bent."

"That's right," said Mr. Bunker.

"And," went on Mary, "besides the sixty-five dollars there was a funny Chinese coin with a square hole in the middle. Did you find that in the purse?"

"Yes," exclaimed Aunt Jo, "there was a Chinese coin in the pocketbook! That proves it must be your mother's pocketbook."

"I'm sure of it," said Mary. "Oh, how glad she'll be that it is found, and the money, too. That is -- if we can have it back," she said softly.

"Have it back? Of course you may!" cried Mr. Bunker. "If it is your mother's we want you to have it. Was there anything else in the purse when your mother lost it?"

"Yes," Mary said, "there was a letter from my brother, but part of it was torn off," and she spoke of what the note had in it. Then they were all sure it was Mrs. Turner's purse.

The letter, from which the lower part had been torn, was from Mary's brother John. He was a soldier in the army. His mother had written, telling him that her brother, Mary and John's "Uncle Jack," had sent the money to her, and that she was going to spend it in trying to get a rest of a month, as she was very tired from overwork.

But the pocketbook had been lost by Mrs. Turner, and, as Mary said, it made her mother ill, so she had had to go to the hospital.

But through the good luck of Rose everything had come out all right, for Mary felt that the news of the recovery of the money would take the worry from Mrs. Turner's mind, thus making it easier to regain her health.

"You found my doll," exclaimed Rose, "and I found your pocketbook! We are both lucky!"

"Indeed we are," said Mary, smiling, as she took the wallet from Mr. Bunker. "Oh, but Mother will be happy, now!" went on the girl.

"Mother had been overworking, for we are poor and she had had us two children to bring up, as my father is dead. She was on her way to see about going away for a time to get a good rest, now that John and I are old enough to look out for ourselves, when she lost the purse and the sixty-five dollars.

"She felt so bad about it, when she couldn't find it, that she was made ill, and had to be taken to a hospital. We did not tell my brother, as we did not want to worry him. But I know this good news will make Mother better.

"I walked all around the streets near where she thought she had lost her purse, but I couldn't find it."

"Didn't you read the lost and found advertisements?" asked Mr. Bunker. "We advertised the finding of the pocketbook in the papers."

"No, I was so worried about Mother that I never thought to," was the answer. "And when I had her taken to the hospital, and found a boarding-place for myself, and went to work at Nantasket Beach, I thought there was no use to look. I never expected to get the money back."

"But you did, and I'm glad I found it," said Rose.

They were all glad. Mr. Bunker took Mary that very night to the hospital where her mother was, and the good news so cheered Mrs. Turner that the doctor said she would soon get better, and, after a while, entirely well. That is what good news sometimes does.

But the good luck of the Turners did not end with the getting back of the lost pocketbook. Aunt Jo became interested in the little family, and promised to give Mrs. Turner plenty of work to do at sewing as soon as she was well. And a better place was found for Mary to work, where she would not have to take the long trip back and forth from Nantasket Beach.

So many good things came about just because Rose saw the pocketbook and picked it up.

And now my story is nearly done. Not that the six little Bunkers did not have more fun at Aunt Jo's, for they did, but I have not room for any more about them in this book.

"But do we have to go home right away?" asked Russ, when he heard his father and mother talking of packing up a few days later.

"Oh, no," was the answer. "We have a letter from another of our relatives, asking us to come to see him before we go back to Pineville, and I think we'll accept."

"Where is it?" asked Rose.

"Down at the seashore," answered her father. "Don't you remember?" And what next happened to the children will be told in the book after this, to be called, "Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's."

It was a beautifully sunshiny day. Out on the lawn Russ and Laddie were playing with the hose.

"Mother, make Russ stop!" suddenly Laddie cried.

"What's he doing?" asked Mrs. Bunker, who could see that not very much was happening.

"He's squirting water on me from the hose."

"I am not, Mother," said Russ, laughing. "I'm only making believe Laddie is in bathing down at Cousin Tom's at the seashore, and when you go in swimming you've got to get a little wet!"

"Oh, well, if you're making believe play that, all right," said Laddie, "wet me some more."

Russ did. So, at their play, we will take leave, for a time, of the six little Bunkers, wishing them well.

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