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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/17095-h.zip b/17095-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8c3a014 --- /dev/null +++ b/17095-h.zip diff --git a/17095-h/17095-h.htm b/17095-h/17095-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d39b3a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/17095-h/17095-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6700 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour, by Laura Lee Hope. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p {margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + text-indent: 1.25em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + img {border: 0;} + .tnote {border: dashed 1px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;} + ins {text-decoration:none; border-bottom: thin dotted gray;} + .right {text-align: right;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto +Tour, by Laura Lee Hope + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Illustrator: Florence England Nosworthy + +Release Date: November 18, 2005 [EBook #17095] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Emmy and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="./images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover" title="Cover" /></div> + + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="./images/1.jpg" alt="HE WENT PAST WITH A FEW INCHES TO SPARE." title="HE WENT PAST WITH A FEW INCHES TO SPARE." /></div> + +<div class='center'>HE WENT PAST WITH A FEW INCHES TO SPARE.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><i>Frontispiece.</i> (<i>Page</i> <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>.)</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour.</i></span></div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1>BUNNY BROWN</h1> +<h1>AND HIS SISTER SUE</h1> +<h1>ON AN AUTO TOUR</h1> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h2>LAURA LEE HOPE</h2> + + +<div class='center'>AUTHOR OF<br /> +<br /> +THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES, THE BOBBSEY <br /> +TWINS SERIES, THE OUTDOOR <br /> +GIRLS SERIES, ETC.</div> + + +<h4>Illustrated by</h4> + +<h3>Florence England Nosworthy</h3> + +<div class="center">NEW YORK<br /> +GROSSET & DUNLAP<br /> +PUBLISHERS<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Made in the United States of America +</div> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<h3>BOOKS</h3> + +<h3>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><i>12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.</i></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES</b></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Bunny Brown books"> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES</b></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Bobbsey Twins Books"> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES</b></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Outdoor Girls Books"> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> +<div class="center">GROSSET & DUNLAP<br /> +PUBLISHERS NEW YORK</div> + +<div class="center">Copyright, 1917, by<br /> +GROSSET & DUNLAP</div> + +<div class="center"><br /><i>Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour.</i> +</div> + + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='right'><span class="smcap">chapter</span></td> +<td align='left'></td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">page</span></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>I.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Boy Next Door</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_1'>1</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>II.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">An Offer of Help</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_11'>11</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>III.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Ready for the Trip</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_21'>21</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>IV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Bunny at the Wheel</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_33'>33</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>V.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Where Is Splash?</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_44'>44</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>VI.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Two Dogs</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_54'>54</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>VII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dix in Trouble</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_64'>64</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>VIII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dix and the Cow</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_72'>72</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>IX.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Two Disappearances</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_87'>87</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>X.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dix Comes Back</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_98'>98</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XI.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">In the Flood</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_108'>108</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">At the Fire</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_115'>115</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XIII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dix and the Cat</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_129'>129</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XIV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Medicine Show</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_138'>138</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Was It Fred?</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_149'>149</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XVI.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">In the Ditch</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_157'>157</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XVII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">On to Portland</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_166'>166</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XVIII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Camping Out</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_177'>177</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XIX.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">At the Lake</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_185'>185</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XX.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dix to the Rescue</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_194'>194</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XXI.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Circus</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_205'>205</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XXII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Lion Is Loose</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_212'>212</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XXIII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Scratched Boy</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_221'>221</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XXIV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Barking Dog</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_230'>230</a> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XXV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Found at Last</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_238'>238</a> </td></tr> +</table></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>BUNNY BROWN</h2> +<h2>AND HIS SISTER SUE</h2> +<h2>ON AN AUTO TOUR</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>THE BOY NEXT DOOR</h3> + + +<p>"Oh, mother!" cried Bunny Brown, running up the front steps as he +reached home from school. "Oh, something's happened next door!"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, Bunny? A fire?"</p> + +<p>"No, it isn't a fire," said Sue, who was as much out of breath as was +her brother. "It's sumfin different from that!"</p> + +<p>"But, children, what do you mean? Is some one hurt?" asked Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"It sounds so," answered Bunny, putting his books on the table. "I heard +Mrs. Ward crying."</p> + +<p>"Oh, the poor woman!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "She must be in trouble. +They <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>have only just moved here. I'd better go over and see if I can +help her"; and Mrs. Brown laid down her sewing.</p> + +<p>"I guess it must be about their boy Fred," suggested Bunny.</p> + +<p>"What happened to him?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Was he hurt at school? He +goes to school, doesn't he?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but he wasn't there to-day," went on Bunny. "And it's Fred who's +in trouble I guess, for I heard his mother speak his name, and then Mr. +Ward said something else."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear, I hope nothing has happened," said Mrs. Brown, looking up at +the clock to see if it were not time for her husband to come home from +his boat and fishing pier. "We must do what we can to help, Bunny. Now +tell me all about it. Not that I want to interfere with my neighbors' +affairs, but I always like to help."</p> + +<p>"And I think Mrs. Ward needs some help," said Sue, "'cause she was +crying real hard."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll go right over and see what is the matter," said kind Mrs. +Brown.</p> + +<p>"Oh, and may we go too?" asked Bunny.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Please let us," begged Sue.</p> + +<p>Their mother thought for a minute. Sometimes, she knew, it was not good +for children to go where older persons were crying, and had trouble. But +Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue were two wise little children, wiser than +many of their age, and their mother knew she could depend on them. So, +after a few seconds, she said:</p> + +<p>"Yes, you may come with me. We shall see what the matter is with Mrs. +Ward."</p> + +<p>"And we'll help her too, if we can," added. Bunny, bravely.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown, followed by Bunny and Sue, started for the home of Mrs. +Ward. A wide lawn was between the two houses, and on this lawn Bunny and +Sue, with their dog Splash, had much fun.</p> + +<p>The Wards were a family who had lately moved to the street where the +Browns had lived for years. As yet Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Ward had gotten +only as far as a "nodding acquaintance." That is, Mrs. Brown, coming out +into her yard, would see Mrs. Ward, and would say:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Good morning. It's a fine day; isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed it is," Mrs. Ward would answer.</p> + +<p>Sometimes it would be Mrs. Ward who would first speak about the fine +weather and Mrs. Brown would answer. Both women would soon become better +acquainted.</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown had seen Mr. Ward several mornings on his way to work, and, +knowing him to be the man next door, had nodded, and said: "Good +morning!" And Mr. Ward had said the same thing. They, too, would soon be +better acquainted.</p> + +<p>"I know the Wards are nice people," said Sue, as she trotted along +beside her mother.</p> + +<p>"What makes you think so?" asked Mrs. Brown, as she walked slowly across +her lawn toward the house next door.</p> + +<p>"'Cause they have a nice dog named Dix, and he and Splash are good +friends. First they sort of growled at each other, and then they smelled +noses and now they always wag their tails when they meet."</p> + +<p>"Well, that's a good sign," laughed Sue's mother.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But I wonder what can be the matter with the boy next door," said Sue +to her brother. "Are you sure you heard Mr. and Mrs. Ward talking about +Fred?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm sure," answered Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Well, I didn't hear that part," said Sue. "But we'll soon find out what +the matter is."</p> + +<p>As the Browns walked across the lawn, a dog came running out of the +house where lived "the boy next door," as Bunny and Sue called Fred +Ward, even though they knew his name. They had spoken several times to +him.</p> + +<p>"Is that dog savage?" asked Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"No, Momsie," replied Sue. "He's just as nice as he can be. He and +Splash are good friends. Here Dix!" she called.</p> + +<p>With a joyful bark the dog bounded toward Sue. He evidently knew the +children, and soon made friends with Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"He's a strong dog," she said to the children.</p> + +<p>"And he's good, too!" exclaimed Bunny. "I was talking to Fred one day +and he told me that his dog Dix saved him from drown<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>ing when they lived +in another city, near a river."</p> + +<p>"That was fine!" cried Mrs. Brown. "I think I shall like Dix."</p> + +<p>By this time they were under the dining-room windows of the Ward house, +and Mrs. Brown and the children heard the sound of a woman sobbing, and +a man trying to comfort her.</p> + +<p>"Now don't worry, Martha," said the man. "Everything will come out +right, I'm sure, and we'll find Fred."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I hope so!" moaned the woman. And she kept on crying.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me," said Mrs. Brown, calling in through the open window. "But I +fear you have trouble, and I have come over to see if I may not help +you."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ward looked out of the window.</p> + +<p>"It's Mrs. Brown," he said, evidently speaking to his wife in the room +behind him.</p> + +<p>"I have been intending to come over to see you," went on Mrs. Brown. +"But you know how it is I suppose, Mrs. Ward," for now the other lady +had come to the window. "We <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>keep putting such things off. And really I +have been so busy since we came back from our camp in the big woods that +I haven't had time to set my house to rights."</p> + +<p>"I know how it is, Mrs. Brown," replied Mrs. Ward, wiping the tears from +her eyes, "and I am glad to see you now. Won't you come in?"</p> + +<p>"I really don't know whether I ought to or not. My children, on coming +home from school, said they heard sounds of distress in here, and +knowing you were strangers I thought perhaps you might not know where to +apply for help in case you needed it. My husband is one of the town +officials, and if we can do anything——"</p> + +<p>"It is very kind of you," said Mrs. Ward. "Thank you so much for coming +over. We <i>are</i> in trouble, and perhaps you can give us some advice. +Please come in."</p> + +<p>She went to the front door and let in Bunny, Sue and their mother, the +two children wondering what could have happened to the boy next door, +for they did not see him, and it seemed the trouble was about him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It won't take long to tell you what has happened," said Mrs. Ward, +placing chairs for Mrs. Brown and the two children. "Our boy Fred has +run away from home!"</p> + +<p>"Run away from home!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's what he's done," said Mr. Ward. "I never thought he'd do +such a thing as that, even though he is quick tempered. Yes, Fred has +run away," and he turned over and over in his hand a slip of paper he +had been reading.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he only went off in a sort of joke," said Mrs. Brown +sympathetically. "I know once Bunny——"</p> + +<p>"Yep. I ran away, I did!" exclaimed Bunny. "I got away down to the end +of the street. I saw a man and a hand organ and he had a monkey. I mean +the man did. And I wanted to be a hand-organ man so I ran away and was +going off with him, only Bunker Blue chased after me, so I didn't run +far, though I might have."</p> + +<p>"Bunker Blue is a boy who works on Mr. Brown's fishing pier," explained +Mrs. Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> "Yes, Bunny did run away once, but he was glad to run back +again."</p> + +<p>"And I was lost!" cried Sue. "I was out walking with my daddy, and I +went down a wrong street, and I couldn't see him and I didn't know what +to do so I—I cried."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sue was lost a whole morning before a policeman found her and +telephoned to us," put in Mrs. Brown. "She was glad to get back. +Undoubtedly your boy will be the same."</p> + +<p>"No," said Mr. Ward slowly, "I don't believe Fred will come home soon. +He has gone off very angry."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure he didn't go to the home of some neighbor or of a +relative?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Children often do that, never thinking how +worried their fathers and mothers are."</p> + +<p>"No, Fred is too old to do that," said Mrs. Ward, wiping the tears out +of her eyes. "He has gone, intending to stay a long while."</p> + +<p>"What makes you think so?" asked Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Because of this note he left," answered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>the father of the boy next +door. "You see, Mrs. Brown, I had to correct Fred for doing something +wrong. He spent some money to buy a banjo that he had promised—I had +told him I would get him a fine banjo next year, but——</p> + +<p>"Well, he disobeyed me, and I felt I had to punish him. So I sent him up +to his room to stay all day. He went to his room, and that is the last +we have seen of him. He left this note, saying he was never coming +back."</p> + +<p>"Read Mrs. Brown the note," suggested Mrs. Ward. "Maybe she can think of +some plan to get Fred back."</p> + +<p>Mr. Ward was about to read the note when Mr. Brown's voice was heard +under the dining-room windows saying:</p> + +<p>"Hello, Mother, and Bunny and Sue! Mary told me you had come over here, +so I thought I'd come to pay a visit too. I've news for you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's daddy!" cried Sue, and she ran to let her father in through +the front door.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what news it is," said Bunny to himself. "I wonder if he has +found Fred."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>AN OFFER OF HELP</h3> + + +<p>As Mr. Brown walked into the home of the Ward family he saw at once, by +a look at his wife, and by the expressions on the faces of Mr. and Mrs. +Ward, that something had happened.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I beg your pardon," Mr. Brown said. "Perhaps I shouldn't have come +in. I'll call another time. But——"</p> + +<p>"What about the good news you have, Daddy?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"I didn't say it was good news, Son."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is. I can tell by your eyes!" exclaimed Sue.</p> + +<p>"Whatever it is, it will keep a little while," said Mrs. Brown, with a +look at her husband, which he understood. "Our neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. +Ward," she continued, "are in great distress. Their only son, Fred, has +run away from home."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, that's too bad!" exclaimed Mr. Brown. "I shouldn't have come in. +I'll——"</p> + +<p>"No, stay, we'll want your advice," said Mrs. Brown. "Mr. Ward was just +going to read a letter his son left. I want you to listen to it and tell +us what is best to do. You know you are on the police board."</p> + +<p>"Of course I'll do all I can," said Mr. Brown. "First let me hear the +letter. You can sometimes tell a good deal of what's in a person's mind +by the way he writes."</p> + +<p>And while Mr. Brown is listening to the letter left by the runaway boy, +I'll tell my new readers something more about Bunny Brown and his Sister +Sue, and the things that happened to them in the books before this.</p> + +<p>The first volume is named "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue," and it tells +of what happened to the two children in their home town of Bellemere, on +Sandport Bay, near the ocean. There the little boy and girl had fine +times, and they took a trolley ride to a far city, getting lost.</p> + +<p>The second book told of "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on Grandpa's +Farm," and you <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>can imagine the fun they had there, getting lost in the +woods and going to picnics. After that the two children played Circus in +the book of that name, and they had real animals in their show, though +you could not exactly call them wild.</p> + +<p>"Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Aunt Lu's City Home," is the name of +the fourth book, and in the big city Bunny and Sue had stranger +adventures than ever.</p> + +<p>After that Mr. Brown took the whole family to "Camp Rest-a-While." It +was a lovely place in the woods and they lived in tents. Uncle Tad went +with them, and ever so many things happened to the children there. Their +dog Splash had good times too.</p> + +<p>Camp Rest-a-While was near the edge of the big woods, and in the book +called "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Big Woods," which is just +before this one, you may read of the adventures with Bunny's train of +electric cars, and of <ins title="Note: original text does not have this word">the</ins> fun Sue had with her electrical Teddy bear, which +could flash its eyes when a button was pressed in his back—or rather, +<i>her</i> back, for Sue had named her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> Teddy bear Sallie Malinda, insisting +that it was a girl bear.</p> + +<p>And now the Brown family was home again from the big woods, ready for +other happenings. And that they were going to have adventures might be +guessed from what Mr. Brown started to say about some news. But just now +he was reading the letter Fred Ward had written to his parents.</p> + +<p>"Hum! That is a strange note for a boy to leave," said Mr. Brown slowly. +"He evidently doesn't intend to come home very soon."</p> + +<p>"Oh dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Ward, and commenced to weep once more.</p> + +<p>"I tell her he may come home soon, for he has no money—or at least very +little to live on," said the missing boy's father. "You see Fred has a +high spirit, and he did not like it when I had to punish him. But I did +it for his good. He must learn the value of money, and he must not spend +when I tell him not to."</p> + +<p>"No, that is not right," said Mr. Brown thoughtfully. He handed the note +to his wife. She read this:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Father and Mother: I am not coming back for a +long while. I do not think you treated me right. I +am more than fifteen years old and I have a right +to have a banjo if I want it. I want to be a +player and play in the theater. That is what I am +going to do. I am not going to be treated like a +baby by my father. I am too old." </p></div> + +<p>"I did not mean to treat him like a baby," said Mr. Ward. "But our +children must be made to obey in things that are right."</p> + +<p>"That is true," agreed Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"We mind sometimes," said Bunny. "Don't we, Momsie?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, once in a while. But please run away and play now, until we call +you. There comes Splash over to have a game with Dix. You children can +go out with the dogs."</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue were eager enough to do this. They thought they had heard +enough about the missing boy. They were to hear more in a short time.</p> + +<p>"And so Fred has run away," said Mr. Ward, speaking to Mr. and Mrs. +Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> "How can I get him back? It is not good that he should be away. +I will talk about the banjo to him, and if I find he really thinks it is +the best instrument for him to play I may let him have it. But where can +I find him?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I can help," said Mr. Brown. "I am a member of the town police +committee. That is, I and other men look after the policemen. We can +tell them to be on the lookout for Fred."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is kind of you!" cried Mrs. Ward.</p> + +<p>"And I can also send word to the police of other cities and towns," went +on Mr. Brown. "We work together on cases like this."</p> + +<p>"I shall be greatly obliged to you," said Mr. Ward. "I want Fred to come +back."</p> + +<p>"When did you find out he was gone?" asked Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Just a little while ago," answered Mr. Ward. "I sent him up to his room +this morning. He did not come down to dinner, for I said he should not +eat until he said he was sorry for what he did. Perhaps I was wrong, but +I meant to do right."</p> + +<p>"You did it for the best," said his wife.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> "When I went up to Fred's +room this afternoon, he was gone, and there was this note. It was then I +cried," she went on, turning to the parents of Bunny and Sue.</p> + +<p>"I am so sorry," said Mrs. Brown. "But I think it will all come right. +My husband will help find your boy."</p> + +<p>"I'll get the police to help, too," said Mr. Brown. "They will search +for him."</p> + +<p>"And we'll help!" exclaimed Bunny and Sue, coming in just then from +having a romp on the lawn with the two dogs. "We'll try to find Fred for +you."</p> + +<p>"Bless their hearts!" cried Mrs. Brown, as the children ran out again. +"They get into all sorts of mischief, but they manage to get out +somehow. Bunny is ready for anything, and Sue is generally ready for +whatever follows."</p> + +<p>"But they are learning a good deal," said Mr. Brown. "Their life in the +woods and on the farm was good for them—as good as the time they spend +in school."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mr. Ward. "Sometimes I think I may have kept Fred too much +at his books. I wish I had him back."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll find him," said Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"I hope so," sighed Mrs. Ward. "It is very kind of you to offer to help +us."</p> + +<p>"Why shouldn't we?" asked Mrs. Brown. "That is what neighbors are +for—to help one another. We'll go, now. But Mr. Brown will come back +and get you to tell him what Fred looks like, and how he was dressed, so +the police will know him if they see him. They will send you word where +he is if they find him."</p> + +<p>"I will give you his photograph," said Mr. Ward.</p> + +<p>As Mr. and Mrs. Brown walked across the lawn, they saw Bunny and Sue +playing with the two dogs. Bunny was on Splash's back as though the dog +were a horse, and Sue was doing the same thing with Dix.</p> + +<p>"Gid-dap! Gid-dap!" cried the two little ones, holding to the dogs' long +ears so they would not fall off—I mean so the children would not fall +off, not the dogs' ears.</p> + +<p>"Aren't they having a good time?" asked Mrs. Brown smiling.</p> + +<p>"They certainly are," agreed her husband.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'm glad it is neither of our children who is away."</p> + +<p>"I can't bear even to think of that!" said Mrs. Brown, with a shudder.</p> + +<p>"Look out! They'll run us down!" she went on, for the children, on their +dog-horses, were rushing right at them.</p> + +<p>"Clear the track! Clear the track!" cried Bunny, wildly.</p> + +<p>"Yes! All aboard for the north pole!" yelled Sue.</p> + +<p>"Bow-wow!" barked the two dogs, as happy as the children.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy! Do you know how to find Fred?" asked the little girl as she +fell off her dog into the soft grass.</p> + +<p>"Well, we are going to try," answered her father.</p> + +<p>"And we'll help," cried Bunny. Then, as he happened to think of +something, he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy! What about the good news you were going to tell us?"</p> + +<p>"We want to hear it now," added Sue.</p> + +<p>"You did say something about a surprise,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> added Mrs. Brown. "So much +has happened to-day that I had forgotten."</p> + +<p>"Maybe you won't think it such news after all," observed Mr. Brown. "But +it occurs to me that there is going to be some warm weather yet, as the +Fall is not yet over. So I was thinking we could take the big +automobile—the one we used when we went to Grandpa's farm—and have a +tour in it. I have to go to a distant city on business, but there is no +hurry in getting there. We might all go in the big car. Shall we go?"</p> + +<p>"Shall we go? Of course!" cried Bunny, dancing about.</p> + +<p>"That's what I say!" added Sue, also capering wildly. "Oh, Bunny!" she +cried, "haven't we got just the bestest daddy in the whole world?"</p> + +<p>"We have! We have!"</p> + +<p>"Then let's both kiss him at once!" proposed Sue, and they made a rush +for Mr. Brown, who pretended to be much afraid.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>READY FOR THE TRIP</h3> + + +<p>"Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Go and love your mother for a change!" laughed Mr. +Brown as he squirmed away from Bunny and Sue, who had hugged him and +kissed him half a dozen times. "You've mussed my hair all up! Isn't my +hair sticking up seven ways, Mother?" he asked his wife.</p> + +<p>"Indeed it is. If you children muss mine that way I shall have to comb +it again before supper, and I'll hardly have time if father is to +explain about the auto tour. This is as much news to me, Bunny and Sue, +as it is to you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mother made a rhyme! Now we'll have a good time!" cried Bunny. +"Come on, Sue, we'll kiss her easy-like, and then we'll hear about the +trip. When are you going, Daddy?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And where?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"One is about as important as the other," laughed Mr. Brown. "But I +think you will have to wait a while. I want to telephone to the chief of +police, and have him start the search for Fred Ward. We have to work +quickly in the cases of runaway boys, or they get so far away that it +makes them harder to find."</p> + +<p>"What makes boys run away?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's hard to tell," said Mr. Brown. "Sometimes it's because they +feel ashamed at being punished, just as Fred was, and as you might be, +Bunny, if I scolded you for being bad. Not that you are often naughty, +but you might be, some time."</p> + +<p>"But I wouldn't run away," Bunny said, shaking his head very earnestly. +"I like it here too much. I read a story once, about a boy who ran away, +and he had to sleep in a haymow and eat raw eggs for breakfast."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I'd never do <i>that</i>!" cried Sue. "I wouldn't mind playing with the +little chickens that came out of the eggs, but I wouldn't run <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>away," +she said earnestly. "I wouldn't want to sleep in a haystack lessen Bunny +was with me."</p> + +<p>"Well, when you two make up your minds to run away," said Mrs. Brown +with a laugh, "tell us, and we'll come for you when night falls and +bring you home. Then you can sleep in your own beds and run away the +next day.</p> + +<p>"That will be great!" cried Bunny. "We'll do it that way, Sue."</p> + +<p>"That's what we will!" said she.</p> + +<p>They were at the Browns' house now, and Dix, the dog that belonged to +the runaway boy, turned to go back home. Splash barked at him as much as +to say:</p> + +<p>"Oh, come on, old fellow, stay and have a good time. Maybe I can find a +choice bone or two."</p> + +<p>But Dix wagged his tail and barked, and if one had understood dog +language, of which I suppose there must be one, he would, perhaps, have +heard Dix say:</p> + +<p>"No, old chap. I'm sorry I can't come to play with you now. Some other +time, per<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>haps. There's trouble at home you know, and I'd better stay +around there."</p> + +<p>Then Splash and Dix looked at each other for a little while, saying +never a word, as one might call it, only looking at each other. They +seemed to understand, however, for, with a final wagging of their tails, +away they ran, Dix back to the Ward home where the mother and the father +were grieving for their lost boy, and Splash on to the happy home of the +Browns.</p> + +<p>"Now, Daddy, you can tell us about that auto trip we are going to take, +while mother is seeing to the supper," called Bunny as he pulled his +father toward a big armchair, while Sue clung to her father on the other +side.</p> + +<p>"Not until after the meal," insisted Mr. Brown. "I want to tell it to +mother and you all at the same time. That will save me from talking so +much. Besides, I haven't yet told the police about missing Fred Ward."</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown soon called the chief on the telephone wire. Being the +president of the police board, Mr. Brown often had to give orders.</p> + +<p>In this case he told the chief about Fred <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>running away, how long the +boy had been gone, and about the note saying he was going to join a +theater company.</p> + +<p>"We'd better get some circulars printed, with the boy's picture on +them," said Mr. Brown to the chief. "These we can send to other cities. +And we'll notify the police by telephone. I'll be down to see you this +evening."</p> + +<p>"All right," answered the chief. "I'll get right after this boy."</p> + +<p>"And tell whoever catches him to be good and kind to him," said Mr. +Brown. "Fred is not a bad boy. He feels that he has not been treated +well, and he'll do his best to hide away. But a boy with a banjo, who is +crazy to play in a show, ought not be very hard to find."</p> + +<p>"No, I think we'll soon pick him up," the chief said.</p> + +<p>"Well, pick him up as soon as you can," said Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Pick him <i>up</i>!" repeated Bunny, who had been listening to his father's +side of the conversation. "Did Fred fall down?"</p> + +<p>"No. 'Pick him up' is a police expression,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> explained Mr. Brown. "It +means find him, or learn where he is."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I see," murmured Bunny. "Well, I hope they'll soon find Fred."</p> + +<p>The talk at supper time drifted from the running away of the boy next +door, and what might happen to him, to the trip the Browns were to take +in the big car.</p> + +<p>"Well, now are you ready to tell us?" asked Bunny, as he saw his father +finish his cup of tea.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll tell you a little now, and more when the time comes, as I +have soon to go down to the police station with Fred's picture. But I'll +tell you enough so you can sleep easy," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. +Then he sat thinking for a while as to the best way to tell his news.</p> + +<p>"In the first place——" began Mr. Brown, only to have Bunny interrupt +him with:</p> + +<p>"Oh, it starts off just like a story!"</p> + +<p>"No," cried Sue. "A story begins: 'Once upon a time.'"</p> + +<p>"Well, never mind about that now," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. "Let me +get on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>with what I have to tell you. The first part is that I have to +go to a city called Portland, about three hundred miles down the coast. +I have to go there on business, but there is no particular hurry. That +is, I can take my time on the road. Just what the business is about +needn't worry your heads, except that I'm going to look at a big motor +boat which I may buy."</p> + +<p>"And may I have a ride in it?" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"I want to ride myself," cried Sue, "and I want to learn how to steer."</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll talk that over later," said her father. "Just now I am +going to tell you about our auto tour. We are going, as I said, to the +city of Portland. It is three hundred miles there, but the roundabout +roads we will take may make it longer."</p> + +<p>"Can we stop over a day or so here and there?" asked Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Yes, several days, if we like," said her husband. "We are going in the +big enclosed auto, in which we went to grandpa's farm."</p> + +<p>"That will be lovely!" cried Sue.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Just dandy!" exclaimed Bunny Brown. "And I'm going to sit on the seat +and steer, just as I did when Bunker Blue took us to grandpa's."</p> + +<p>"I don't know that Bunker is going this time," said Mr. Brown, speaking +of the boy who worked for him and ran some of the motor boats when +parties of men and women wanted to go out in the bay fishing.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Bunker not going?" cried Bunny, somewhat disappointed.</p> + +<p>"But we'll take your dog Splash and Uncle Tad," said Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"That will be all right," agreed Bunny. "Go on, Daddy. Tell us some +more."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know that there is any more to tell. We are going in the +big automobile, have a nice trip, and come back when we get ready. It +will be Indian Summer most of the time, the nicest part of the year, I +think, so we ought to have good weather. Now the rest is in your hands +and your mother's—getting ready for the trip."</p> + +<p>Those who have read the book telling about the time spent on grandpa's +farm will re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>member the big automobile in which the Browns traveled to +the farm.</p> + +<p>It had been a furniture moving van, and you know how big and strong they +are. Inside they are just like a big room in a house, only they move +about by a motor in the front, just as does a small automobile.</p> + +<p>But this moving van was very different from the kind usually seen. The +inside had been made over into several rooms. There were little bunks, +or beds in which to sleep, a combined kitchen and dining room, and a +little sitting room where, in the evenings after the day's travel, the +children could sit and read, for the traveling automobile was lighted by +electric lights, from a storage battery carried in it.</p> + +<p>On bright, sunshiny days the little table was moved out of the van to +the ground beside it and there the meals were served. Sometimes cooking +was done out-of-doors, also, on a gasolene stove. A tent was carried, +and if any company came they could sleep in that if there was not room +in the auto-van.</p> + +<p>When the Browns wanted to travel through <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>the rain they could do so +without getting wet, for there was a stout roof on the automobile.</p> + +<p>Windows had been cut in the sides of the van so the children could sit +beside them in stormy weather and look out, just as if they were in a +railroad car. And in the big car was a place for some of the children's +toys.</p> + +<p>There was room for plenty of food to be carried, and even a small +ice-box that could be filled with ice whenever they stopped in a city.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mr. Brown, after he had told Bunny, Sue and their mother +about his plan, "do you think you'll like it?"</p> + +<p>"I'll just love it!" cried Sue.</p> + +<p>"So will I," said Bunny. "Let's hug and kiss daddy and momsie!"</p> + +<p>"No, I'll have to beg off!" cried Mr. Brown. "Just one kiss each, and +don't muss my hair for I've got to go to the police station to take +Fred's picture. I'm sure his father would feel bad about doing a thing +like that so I'll do it for him. I'll be back soon."</p> + +<p>"And we'll talk about the trip while you're gone," said Mrs. Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue were in bed when their father returned. The next morning +their mother told them, after Mr. Brown had gone to work, that he had +asked the police to do all they could to find Fred Ward.</p> + +<p>"And now we must get ready for our trip," went on Mrs. Brown. "I must +get both of you some new clothes, for you wore out many suits while we +were at Camp Rest-a-While and in the Big Woods."</p> + +<p>"But don't get too many. It will take too long to get 'em," remarked +Bunny. "We want to get started on our auto tour."</p> + +<p>Not long after this Mrs. Brown announced that she was ready for the +trip—that she had bought the new clothes, and had arranged for the food +they were to take with them.</p> + +<p>"Then I'll bring the big auto around here to the house to-morrow morning +and let you look at it," said Mr. Brown. "I have made a few changes in +it. I hope you will like it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll be sure to," said Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>That night, when Bunny and Sue were ready for bed, Bunny looked out of +the win<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>dow toward the Ward house. There was a bright moon.</p> + +<p>"I see Dix and Splash playing together on the lawn," he said.</p> + +<p>"And I see something else," added Sue.</p> + +<p>"What?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"I see Fred Ward coming home. There he is, going up the back steps now."</p> + +<p>Sue pointed, and Bunny saw a tall lad, who did look very much like the +runaway boy, at the back door of the Ward home.</p> + +<p>"Oh, let's tell daddy and momsie!" cried Bunny, as he and his sister, in +their bare feet, pattered their way downstairs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>BUNNY AT THE WHEEL</h3> + + +<p>Bunny and Sue raced downstairs and burst into the sitting room where +their mother and father were sitting.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Momsie!" exclaimed Sue.</p> + +<p>They were both out of breath.</p> + +<p>"Well, what's the matter now?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Why aren't you in +bed?"</p> + +<p>"We saw something—anyhow Sue did," explained Bunny.</p> + +<p>"But first Bunny saw Splash and Dix playing on the lawn in the +moonlight," said Sue, breathing fast.</p> + +<p>"And then Sue saw Fred coming home—in by the back way," added Bunny, +his eyes big with wonder.</p> + +<p>"What's that?" cried Mr. Brown, almost as excited as the two children.</p> + +<p>"You say you saw Fred Ward?" asked Mother Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, it <i>looked</i> like him," replied Bunny, not quite so sure now that +questions were being asked of him and his sister.</p> + +<p>"And he was going very carefully and quietly around the back way," added +Sue. "Who could it be but Fred? He's getting tired of sleeping in +haystacks and eating raw eggs, and he's come home, I guess."</p> + +<p>"Look here, Sue and Bunny," said Mr. Brown, a bit firmly but still +kindly. "Did you both see this? Or did you make it up or dream it?"</p> + +<p>"We didn't dream," said Sue, "'cause we hadn't gone to sleep yet."</p> + +<p>"And we didn't make it up, for we weren't playing make-believe," added +Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Then you must have seen something," said their father; for when Bunny +and his sister spoke in this serious way their parents could tell they +were in earnest.</p> + +<p>"What could it be?" asked Mrs. Brown, with a wondering look at her +husband.</p> + +<p>"I'll run over and see," he replied. "You children hop back into bed. +You'll catch cold."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy! It's Summer yet, and we're even going to sleep out in the +tent when we're on the auto tour," said Bunny. "Let us wait up and see +if Fred really has come home. I hope he has!"</p> + +<p>"I hope so, too," said Mother Brown. "Let them lie awake in bed, Daddy, +until you come back from the Ward home."</p> + +<p>"All right, I will," Mr. Brown agreed, and as he started across the +moonlighted lawn Bunny and Sue, with many whisperings, noddings and +giggles went back upstairs to their room.</p> + +<p>But they did not go to bed. This was one of the times when they did not +do as they were told. But it was only once in a while they did anything +like that. Bunny and Sue were, as a rule, very good.</p> + +<p>Well, instead of going to bed they stood by the window where they could +watch the lawn on which Splash and Dix were still playing.</p> + +<p>"We mustn't catch cold," said Sue. "We'd better wrap a blanket around +us, Bunny, if we stand by the window, though it isn't cold at all."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yep," grunted Bunny, who was so interested in watching his father cross +the grass plot that he did not feel like talking much.</p> + +<p>Sue brought a light blanket from her bed and one from Bunny's, and in +these the children wrapped themselves, and stood by the window.</p> + +<p>"There he is!" cried Bunny, as he saw the tall figure of his father, +accompanied by a bigger shadow in the moonlight, appear on the lawn.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" cautioned Sue. "Don't talk so loud or mother will come up and +make us go to bed."</p> + +<p>Bunny "hushed," and then the two children watched. They saw their father +go up the side steps of the Ward house and very soon come out again.</p> + +<p>"It didn't take him long to find out," said Bunny in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"I hope Fred has come back," whispered Sue.</p> + +<p>But it was not, as they learned a little later when their mother came +upstairs to tell them. The children had quickly scampered back to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>their +beds when they heard their mother coming up, and she found two anxious +faces peering at her over the blankets.</p> + +<p>"Was it Fred?" they asked excitedly.</p> + +<p>"No, I am sorry to say it was not," answered Mrs. Brown. "It was one of +the boys Fred used to play with, and he went around the back way because +he did not want any one to see him going in the front door."</p> + +<p>"Does he know where Fred is?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"No. But he went to tell Mr. Ward about him. He had seen some of the +police circulars, or printed papers which were scattered about, showing +Fred's picture and telling how he looked and how much his father wanted +him to come home again."</p> + +<p>"And is he coming?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"We don't know, dear. Mr. Ward told us this boy, whose name is George +Simpson, knew that Fred was going to run away, for Fred had told him."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't George come and tell Fred's father so he could stop him?" +asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Because Fred made George promise not to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>tell. But after George had +seen the police circulars he made up his mind he must say something, so +he came to-night. He said Fred had told him he was going to run away to +Portland and try to get work in a theater playing a banjo."</p> + +<p>"Portland!" cried Bunny. "Why that's where we're going!"</p> + +<p>"And maybe we'll see Fred!" added Sue.</p> + +<p>"It may be," said their mother. "But now you two must go to sleep. The +big auto will be here in the morning, and you will wish to see the new +things daddy has put in."</p> + +<p>"May I ask just one more question?" begged Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and only one."</p> + +<p>"How did Fred come to go to Portland? Did he know we were going there?"</p> + +<p>"No, dear. But he knew a man in a theater there who had promised to give +him a trial at banjo playing if ever he wanted it. So, when Fred ran +away, he decided to go there. At least so he told George."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mother, when we get to Portland may <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>we——" began Sue, but Mrs. +Brown laughed and cried:</p> + +<p>"No more questions until morning!"</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue talked in whispers for a little while, and then fell +asleep. They were awakened by the honking of an automobile horn, and +Bunny, hopping out of bed and running to the window, cried to his +sister:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Sue, it's the big car we're going touring in, and Bunker Blue has +brought it up the hill. Come on down to see it."</p> + +<p>"Oh what fun!" cried Sue.</p> + +<p>She and Bunny dressed quickly, and without waiting for breakfast they +ran out to look at the automobile.</p> + +<p>Bunker Blue, the boy who worked at the dock for Mr. Brown and who had +gone on the first trip in the Brown's big car, smiled at Bunny and Sue.</p> + +<p>"Well, you've got a fine car now!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Is it different?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"A lot different. Come inside."</p> + +<p>"Breakfast, children!" called their mother.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mother, just a second—until we see <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>how the auto is fixed +different?" begged Bunny.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown nodded, and Bunker Blue helped the little boy and his sister +inside.</p> + +<p>There were many things changed. The electric lights were bigger and +brighter, so they could see to read or play games better at night; a new +cookstove had been put in; an extra bunk had been made, so five persons +could sleep in the auto-van; a new tent had been bought; and in one +corner of the tiny kitchen was a little sink, with running water which +came from a tank on the roof. This tank was filled by a hose and pump +worked by the motor. Whenever the water ran low the automobile could be +stopped near a brook or lake, one end of the hose dipped in the water +and the other stuck in the tank. Then the pump could fill the tank, and +the tank, in turn, could let the water down into the sink whenever +needed.</p> + +<p>"Your mother'll like that," said Bunker Blue.</p> + +<p>"Indeed she will!" cried Sue.</p> + +<p>"Is there anything else new?" asked Bunny.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Indeed there is!" cried Bunker Blue. "The auto-van's got a self-starter +on. That's the best of all, I think. You don't have to get out to crank +up now. It's great. See, I'll show you."</p> + +<p>While the children stood on the ground near the automobile, Bunker Blue +climbed to the seat near the steering wheel and pulled a lever. All at +once there was a grinding noise and the van started slowly off.</p> + +<p>"That's the self-starter," explained Bunker. "I didn't throw in the +gears. The self-starter is strong enough to run the auto a little while +all by itself, if it isn't too heavily loaded. That's a big +improvement."</p> + +<p>"That's what!" cried Bunny. His sister did not know much about electric +starters and such things, but Bunny, through having asked Bunker Blue +many questions, had come to learn considerable about the machinery.</p> + +<p>"Hurry, children! You must come to breakfast!" called Mrs. Brown. "You +may look at the auto another time. After breakfast we'll have to pack it +and get ready for the trip."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We're coming!" cried Bunny and Sue, and with last looks at the big car, +which was to be their home for some time to come, the children ran in to +breakfast.</p> + +<p>"Now, Bunny and Sue," said Mr. Brown, as he made ready to go to his +office, "one thing I want you to do is to pick out what toys you want to +take with you. They can not be very many, so pick out those you like +best."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny!" cried Sue. "You take your 'lectricity train that you got +back from the hermit, and I'll take my Teddy bear, Sallie Malinda with +her 'lectric-light eyes."</p> + +<p>"No," said Bunny, shaking his head. "My electric train takes up too much +room. I'm going to take my popgun that shoots corks, and maybe I can +scare away any cows that get in front of our auto."</p> + +<p>"All right. But I'm going to take Sallie Malinda," declared Sue.</p> + +<p>While she was getting it out from among her playthings, Bunny went out +to look at the big automobile again. He climbed up to the seat. Bunker +Blue, after bringing it up to the Brown house so Mrs. Brown could pack +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>in it the things she wanted, had gone back to the dock.</p> + +<p>"I wish I could steer this machine," murmured Bunny as he took his seat +at the wheel. "I could, too, if they'd only let me. I wish they would."</p> + +<p>He twisted the steering wheel to and fro, playing that he was guiding +the big car. Suddenly he heard a grinding sound, as when Bunker Blue had +been on the seat, and, to Bunny's astonishment, the big van, the wheel +of which he held, began to move slowly around the drive which circled +the Brown home.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>WHERE IS SPLASH?</h3> + + +<p>"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Bunny Brown, as he felt himself being carried along +in the automobile. "What has happened?"</p> + +<p>The automobile kept on moving, and Bunny held his hands on the steering +wheel. He knew this must be done whenever any machine, like an +automobile, was moving.</p> + +<p>"I've either got to stop it, or—or steer it along the curved path so it +won't run into anything," whispered Bunny Brown to himself. "I don't +know what makes me go but I'm going, and I'm keeping going, so I've got +to steer."</p> + +<p>And steer Bunny did. Fortunately though the car was large, it was easily +steered, for Mr. Brown had it made that way so his wife could take the +wheel when she cared to.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown could drive an ordinary automobile and she could steer well. +So while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> Mr. Brown was having the big auto-van made over he had the +steering part changed so that the steering wheel turned from side to +side very easily. And as Bunny was a sturdy chap he had no trouble about +this part.</p> + +<p>The auto-van kept on moving and Bunny noticed that it was going up a +little hill in the driveway that went all the way around the house.</p> + +<p>"I don't see what makes it go uphill all by itself," said Bunny to +himself, giving the steering wheel a little turn, as there was a curve +in the pathway just ahead of him. "If I were running <i>down</i>hill I'd know +what made it go—the same thing that makes my sled slide downhill in +Winter. But if this auto stood on the level I don't see what started it, +nor why it keeps on going <i>up</i>hill. Bunker Blue must have left the +brakes off."</p> + +<p>Bunny looked at the handle brake and at the one worked by the foot +pedal. Both were off, for Bunker had released them when he left the car, +since it stood on a level bit of the driveway.</p> + +<p>"But what makes it go?" asked Bunny <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>again. Then, as he heard the low +grinding noise, he remembered the self-starter, which Bunker had spoken +of.</p> + +<p>"I must have kicked the handle or touched it," thought Bunny, "and that +started the machine. I don't know how to stop it. I guess I'd +better—Oh, whee! There's a tree I'm going to smash into!" cried Bunny +Brown.</p> + +<p>The thought of getting out of the way of the tree drove from Bunny's +mind, for the time being, every other thought. He must not hit the tree +which grew a little over the side of the driveway.</p> + +<p>"I've got to steer out of the way, that's what I've got to do!" thought +Bunny in a flash. "I've got to steer out of the way!"</p> + +<p>Once he had made up his mind to that, he did not think so much about the +motion of the automobile. That could be taken care of later.</p> + +<p>"Let's see, which way do I turn the wheel to get out of the way of the +tree," thought Bunny. He had often been in boats with his father and +Bunker Blue, and sometimes, when <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>the way was clear, he had been allowed +to steer. Once or twice, while out with his mother in her car, she had +let him steer along a quiet road.</p> + +<p>He was closer to the tree now. The automobile was not moving very fast, +and perhaps if it had hit the tree it would not have done much damage. +But Bunny did not know that, and then, too, he might be hurt in case the +big car hit the tree. So he was going to do his best to avoid it.</p> + +<p>Like a flash it came to Bunny.</p> + +<p>"I must turn the steering wheel the way I want the auto to go!"</p> + +<p>No sooner said than done. Bunny gave the wheel a twist. Then he saw the +auto slowly move that way, and away from the tree. It went past with a +few inches to spare, but Bunny had not acted any too soon.</p> + +<p>Now he was on the straight part of the driveway again, at the back of +the house, and all he had to do was to hold the steering wheel steady, +and the automobile would move itself along.</p> + +<p>"But there's another curve by the kitchen <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>door," thought Bunny. "I +wonder if I'll get around that all right."</p> + +<p>On went the automobile. As it rolled slowly past the kitchen, Mary, the +cook, looked out and saw the small boy at the steering wheel, which +seemed almost as large as he was.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny! Bunny! Sure an' what in the world are ye doin'?" she cried.</p> + +<p>"Please don't make me look at you," begged Bunny. "I've got to steer +straight until I get to the curve and then I've got to twist around, an' +that's very, very hard to do, Mary. So please don't interrupt me."</p> + +<p>But Mary had seen enough to cause alarm. She rushed to the sitting room +where Mrs. Brown was looking at a pile of toys Sue had brought down to +take on the trip.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mrs. Brown! Mrs. Brown! Sure, an' the likes of a little boy like +him runnin' the big car! Sure, it's kilt he'll be intirely!"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, Mary?"</p> + +<p>"What do I mean? Sure, an' I mean that Bunny, the darlin' boy, has gone +off in the big movin' van auto!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Bunny in that auto? Impossible!"</p> + +<p>"Look for yourself!" exclaimed Mary, pointing to the window.</p> + +<p>At that moment the auto went rolling past, with Bunny at the wheel, as +brave as life.</p> + +<p>"Bunny Brown!" exclaimed his mother, dashing for the door.</p> + +<p>"I—I got around the curve all right, Momsie!" he shouted in glee, and +he raised one hand from the wheel to wave it to her.</p> + +<p>But at that instant the auto gave a wobble, and Bunny had to bring his +waving hand back on the wheel to keep the car straight.</p> + +<p>"Bunny! Bunny!" cried his mother, running down the drive after the +machine. "Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>"I—I don't know," he called back to her. "The auto got started and I +can't stop it!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, what shall I do?" cried Mrs. Brown. For the seat of the car was +very high, and though Bunny had managed to reach it, for he was a good +tree-climber, it would hardly have been possible for Mrs. Brown to try +to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>get up with her skirts on and when the auto was moving. It had been +still when Bunny climbed to the seat.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny!" wailed his mother. "Mary! Telephone for Mr. Brown to come +home—quick!"</p> + +<p>"I won't be hurt!" called Bunny. "All I've got to do is to keep going on +around and around and around the driveway until the storage battery +gives out. That's what's running the car now."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but you <i>must</i> be stopped," cried Mrs. Brown, who managed to keep +alongside the slowly moving auto. "You might hit something!"</p> + +<p>"I steered out of the way of a tree, all the same," said Bunny proudly. +"I was 'most going to run into it, but I didn't. I 'membered which way +to steer."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm so frightened," moaned Mrs. Brown. Then seeing Bunker Blue +coming up the path with a message on which he had been sent by Mr. +Brown, Bunny's mother called to him:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunker, stop the auto! Bunny started <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>it somehow. He's ridden +nearly all around the drive, but he can't stop!"</p> + +<p>"It's running on the battery," said Bunker, after listening a moment to +the electric hum. Then he swung himself up on the seat of the moving car +beside Bunny, shut off the electric starter and put on the brakes.</p> + +<p>"There you are, Bunny!" cried Bunker. "Right as can be!"</p> + +<p>"I steered her nearly all the way around the house," said the small boy +with pride.</p> + +<p>"But you must never do it again," commanded his mother. "Never! Oh, how +you frightened me, Bunny!"</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry! I won't do it again," said the little fellow; and he really +meant it.</p> + +<p>"How did you come to do it?" asked Bunker.</p> + +<p>"It just did itself," said the small boy. "I climbed up on the seat, and +made believe I was steering, just like you or daddy, when, all of a +sudden, off she went. I 'most busted down a tree, but I didn't really. +And I went all around the house. I guess now daddy will let me steer the +car out on the road."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not for a few days yet," said Bunker Blue with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Brown told me to tell you," he went on to Mrs. Brown, "that he +would go a day earlier than he counted on, if you could get ready."</p> + +<p>"It won't take me long to pack," said Mrs. Brown. "But why didn't he +telephone?"</p> + +<p>"Our machine is out of order. The men are fixing it, and anyhow I had to +come up this way."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad you came in time," said Mrs. Brown, as she led Bunny +back to the house. "You are very good, Bunker."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and I want you to show me how to stop that electric starter when +it starts to start," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Some day—maybe," promised Bunker, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Well, if we're going sooner, I'll have to hurry up and get my things +packed," said Bunny. "Have you got yours, Sue?"</p> + +<p>"Most of 'em. You ought to see how bright my Teddy bear's eyes shine +since daddy put new batteries inside Sallie Malinda,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> rattled on Sue. +"I can 'most see to read my Mother Goose by them in the dark."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm going to get my things ready," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>The next few days were busy ones in the Brown home. The big automobile +was packed with bed clothes and with things for the children, their +father and mother and Uncle Tad to wear, and also with things to eat.</p> + +<p>At last, one morning, all was ready for the start.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye," waved Mary, the cook, who was to have a vacation, while the +Browns were away.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye!" called Bunny and Sue, and then Mr. Brown, who was at the +steering wheel, while Uncle Tad, Bunny, Sue and their mother rode +inside, started the car, and Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue were off on +an auto tour.</p> + +<p>Merrily they rode along, Bunny and Sue talking happily, when, all at +once Bunny cried:</p> + +<p>"Wait! Hold on! Where is Splash?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>TWO DOGS</h3> + + +<p>Mr. Brown as soon as he heard Bunny's cry of "Wait!" at once shut off +the power from the big automobile, and brought it to a stop. He turned +to look through the little window at the back of the front seat against +which he leaned, and asked:</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy, we've forgotten Splash!" wailed Bunny.</p> + +<p>"We've left him behind," chattered Sue. "I saw him and Dix—that's Fred +Ward's dog—playing together, and I thought of course Splash would come +with us. I forgot, and left one of the funny clown dresses for Sallie +Malinda up in my room, so I went to get it, and then Splash and Dix were +away down at the end of the yard and I didn't think any more about our +dog."</p> + +<p>"I didn't either," said Bunny. "But he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>always has come with us and I +thought he would this time."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure he isn't somewhere in the auto, under one of the cots +asleep?" asked Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"I'll look," said Uncle Tad, and he did, but without finding Splash.</p> + +<p>"I forgot all about him," admitted Mrs. Brown, and her husband said the +same thing.</p> + +<p>"Well, what are we going to do?" asked Mr. Brown, as soon as every one +was satisfied that the dog was not in the big auto-van.</p> + +<p>"Do? Why, we've got to go back after him, of course!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"We couldn't go without Splash," announced Sue. "He'd be so lonesome for +us that he'd cry, and then he'd start out to find us and maybe get lost +and we'd never find him again. Go back after him, Daddy! It isn't very +far."</p> + +<p>"All right," said good-natured Mr. Brown. "I'm glad we're not in a +hurry. Still I'd like to keep going, now that we've started. But please, +all of you, make sure nothing else is forgotten. For we don't want to go +back <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>another time. All ready to turn around and march backward," and he +backed the big automobile at a wide place in the road, for it needed +plenty of room in which to turn.</p> + +<p>Slowly the big car made its way back to the Brown home. Mary, the cook, +was the first to see it, and, running to the door, she cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, whatever you do, come in and sit down if only for a minute, some of +you! Oh, do come in and sit down!"</p> + +<p>"What for, Mary?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Has anything happened?"</p> + +<p>"No, but 'tis easy to see you've forgotten somethin'; and when that +happens if you don't sit down, or turn your dress wrong side out, bad +luck is sure to foller you when you start off again. So come in and sit +down, as that's easier than turning a dress."</p> + +<p>"Oh, let me turn my knickerbockers outside in!" cried Bunny. "That will +be as good as you or Sue, Momsie, turning your dresses. It's easy for +me. Then I can make-believe I'm a tramp, and I'll run on ahead and beg +for some bread and butter for my starving family," and he imitated, in +such a funny way, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>the whine of some of the tramps who called at the +Brown kitchen door, that his mother laughed and Sue said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Momsie, let me turn my dress wrong-side out, too, and I can play +tramp with Bunny. That will be fun!"</p> + +<p>"No, you mustn't do that," said Mrs. Brown. "While we're hunting for +Splash—who isn't in sight. Where can he be?—we'll go in and sit down a +moment to please Mary."</p> + +<p>"Would we have bad luck if we didn't?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Not at all. But some persons, like Mary, believe in them; and Mary is +very fond of us. Even if we do not believe in some of the things those +we like believe in, as long as it does no harm to our beliefs, we can do +them to please a friend."</p> + +<p>Even Mr. Brown, because he liked Mary, went in and sat down for a minute +with the others.</p> + +<p>"Now you've done away with the bad luck," said the cook with a smile. +"What was it you came back for?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Splash," answered Bunny.</p> + +<p>"He didn't come with us," added Sue.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's no wonder, the funny way he's cuttin' up with that dog next +door," said Mary.</p> + +<p>"What did he do?" asked Bunny. "Was it funny? Please tell us, Mary."</p> + +<p>"Well, it might have been funny for him, but it wasn't for me," said the +cook, though she could not help smiling. "The two dogs was playin' tag +on the lawn. I had some napkins spread out on the grass to bleach, and +what did that dog Dix do but run down in the brook, and then come back +with his feet all mud and run over my napkins. Sure, I had to wash 'em +all again. That's what them two dogs did. The bad luck was just startin' +in when you come back, an' it's good you did, to sit down a bit an' take +it off."</p> + +<p>"But we must get on again," said Mr. Brown. "So hurry, Bunny and Sue. +Find Splash. If he's muddy make him swim through the brook and clean +himself off. A run along the sunny road will soon dry him."</p> + +<p>"But don't let him splash your clean clothes, children," called their +mother after them, as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>the two ran off together to find the missing dog.</p> + +<p>"I hear them barking!" called Bunny, as he and his sister hurried toward +the end of the yard.</p> + +<p>"So do I." Then, a moment later, the little girl added: "There they +are!" and she pointed to the two dogs playing on the green lawn not far +from a little brook that ran through Mr. Brown's grounds.</p> + +<p>"Here, Splash! Splash!" called Bunny.</p> + +<p>The dogs stopped their playing, and looked toward the children. As soon +as Splash saw his little master and mistress he came rushing toward them +as fast as he could.</p> + +<p>"Don't let him jump on me and get my dress muddy!" cried Sue. "He's been +in the mud just awful!"</p> + +<p>"So he has," said Bunny Brown. "Down, Splash! Down!" he called, as the +dog neared Sue. Splash made all the signs he knew to show how glad he +was to see Bunny and Sue, but he did not get up on his hind legs and put +his paws on Sue's shoulders, as he sometimes did.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, Splash, you're awful dirty!" cried Sue. "You must run in the brook, +where the water is clean, and where there are white pebbly stones +instead of mud on the bottom, to wash yourself. You've got to go in too, +Dix."</p> + +<p>Dix barked "bow-wow," to show he did not mind, I suppose.</p> + +<p>"Go on in, Splash!" cried Bunny, snapping his fingers and pointing at +the brook. "Go in and wash!"</p> + +<p>But though the Browns' dog was usually ready for a frolic in the water +he did not seem to be so just now. He ran back and forth, down to the +edge of the stream and back again, getting his paws wet, but nothing +else.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you must go in and have your bath if you are to come with us!" +cried Sue. "Go on in, Splash!"</p> + +<p>But not even for Sue would Splash go in, until finally Bunny cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know a way to make him!"</p> + +<p>"How?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"Just throw a stick into the water, and he'll <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>go after it and bring it +back. We'll throw it far out."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's right!" cried Sue. "We'll do that."</p> + +<p>No sooner had the children picked up sticks than the two dogs, who had +started to play "tag" themselves, knew what was up. They both loved to +go into the water after sticks.</p> + +<p>"Throw 'em far out now!" cried Bunny. He tossed his to the middle of the +brook, and Sue flung hers nearly as far, for she was a good +thrower—almost as good as Bunny.</p> + +<p>Dix swam after Sue's stick, and Splash went for Bunny's. In a minute +they had brought them ashore and dropped them at the children's feet, +looking up into their faces as much as to say:</p> + +<p>"Do it again! We love to chase sticks!"</p> + +<p>And then, just as dogs always do when they come from the water, they +gave themselves big shakes.</p> + +<p>"Look out, Sue!" called Bunny.</p> + +<p>But he was too late. A shower of drops from Splash went all over Sue's +dress, and some of the drops were not clean water, either.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh dear!" she cried. "Now I'll have to change my dress!"</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said Bunny. "You run up to the house and get that done, +and I'll throw the two sticks into the water. Then Splash and Dix will +go in again, and when they come out they'll be cleaner. I won't come +back to the house with them until they are good and clean."</p> + +<p>Once more Bunny tossed the sticks, as Sue went up to change her dress. +When her mother saw her she cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh dear, Sue! How did that happen?"</p> + +<p>Sue told her.</p> + +<p>"Well, I hope Bunny gets the dogs clean this time," said Mrs. Brown as +she took Sue upstairs to put another dress on her. This did not take +long, and a little while afterward Bunny came running up from the brook +with the two dogs, dripping wet from their baths.</p> + +<p>"Quick, Momsie and Sue!" he called to his mother and sister. "Get in the +auto before the dogs shower you again with water. I've got 'em good and +clean now. I made 'em go in four times after the sticks."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Did they shake any water on you?" asked Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Not much," said Bunny. "Besides, my clothes are dark and the mud on +them won't show. Now don't go away again, Splash, 'cause we're going on +a long auto tour, and you want to come with us."</p> + +<p>All were soon in the auto again, and as they started off, with more +"good-byes" and "good lucks," Bunny and Sue made sure that this time +Splash followed.</p> + +<p>"Now he's started he won't turn back," said Mr. Brown. "He just missed +us before, thinking, I suppose, if he saw us go, that we would come +back."</p> + +<p>The big automobile traveled on for about an hour, and they were several +miles from the Brown home when Bunny, looking out of the rear door of +the auto-van cried:</p> + +<p>"Why there's Dix, Fred Ward's dog, following us along with Splash! +Look!"</p> + +<p>"So he is," said Mrs. Brown. "Oh, dear! These dogs! What are we going to +do?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>DIX IN TROUBLE</h3> + + +<p>"Is Dix really following us?" asked Mr. Brown, as, once more, he stopped +the big automobile.</p> + +<p>"He seems to be," answered Mrs. Brown. "He and Splash are trotting along +together as happy as two clams."</p> + +<p>"Clams can't trot," said Bunny quickly.</p> + +<p>"No, but they can be happy," said his mother. "And Splash and Dix seem +to be happy, now, trotting along together after us."</p> + +<p>"They're altogether too happy," said Mr. Brown. "I wonder how we're +going to get Dix back home? Mr. and Mrs. Ward think as much of him as we +do of Splash, and they'll be sorry to have him run away."</p> + +<p>"We must try to send him home some way," said Mrs. Brown. "Bunny, you +have a pretty good way with dogs, suppose you get out and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>try to drive +Dix back home. Tell him we love him, think he's a nice dog and all that, +but we believe it isn't best for him to come with us now."</p> + +<p>"All right, I will," said Bunny, and he hopped down from the automobile, +which had a little set of steps at the back to make getting in and out +easy. Though Bunny, it is true, generally jumped out, not using the +steps at all.</p> + +<p>While the big automobile had been traveling on, Splash, knowing he was a +member of this party, had gone along as a matter of course. And, +perhaps, in some kind of dog language (which I am sure there must be) he +had said to his friend Dix something like this:</p> + +<p>"Come along, old chap. The folks are going for a little excursion into +the country. I know they are, for once before we traveled like this, and +it was jolly fun. There'll be good things to eat, and no end of cats to +chase, too, if you like that."</p> + +<p>"Well, I used to like it," Dix said—perhaps.</p> + +<p>"Then come along," urged Splash. "I'm sure the folks will be glad to +have you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> + +<p>"All right, I will," Dix may have answered.</p> + +<p>And so it was he had run along, playing beside the road with Splash. And +it was not until the automobile had gone several miles that the family +noticed that another dog besides their own was following them.</p> + +<p>"Drive him back home as your mother told you, Bunny," said the little +boy's father.</p> + +<p>Bunny ran back to where Dix and Splash were rolling over and over on the +grass. They seemed to be enjoying themselves.</p> + +<p>"Go on home! Go on home!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>At once Splash and Dix stopped playing and ran to the little boy. As his +mother had said, Bunny knew how to talk to dogs in a way they could +understand.</p> + +<p>"Go on home!" said the little boy again, very earnestly.</p> + +<p>Splash looked up in surprise. He was not used to being sent home.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't mean you," said Bunny. "I mean you, Dix! Mother says we +like you very much, and would like to have you with us, but your folks +want you home with them. So go on back. Go home, I say!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bunny stamped his foot, spoke as sternly as he could without being too +cross, and pointed back toward Bellemere.</p> + +<p>Dix looked into Bunny's face a minute, and then slowly the dog's tail +drooped between his legs and he slunk off, with what was really a sad +face looking at Bunny and Splash. It was as if he said:</p> + +<p>"Say, look here, Splash! I thought you invited me on this excursion, and +now that boy of yours goes and drives me home."</p> + +<p>"Well, I can't help it," Splash seemed to say. "There is something wrong +somewhere."</p> + +<p>Bunny felt sad at having to drive Dix back home.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry, old fellow," he said, and his voice was so kind that Dix +turned and came running back.</p> + +<p>"No! No! You mustn't do that!" cried Bunny, seeing what his kind words +had done. "Go on back home, Dix!"</p> + +<p>Once again Dix's tail drooped between his legs, and he turned back. He +went on for some distance, never turning to look back.</p> + +<p>"There, I guess he'll not follow us any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>more," said Bunny. "Come on, +Splash. You get up in the automobile and ride with us. Then Dix won't +see you, and want to come along."</p> + +<p>Bunny led his own dog back to the big car, Splash going willingly +enough, though once or twice he looked back at Dix, who was walking +slowly the homeward road.</p> + +<p>Again the auto started off.</p> + +<p>"This is two delays we've had," said Mr. Brown. "If we have another I'll +begin to think there is something in Mary's idea of bad luck, after +all."</p> + +<p>It was Sue who discovered Dix the next time. As the automobile was about +to go around a curve the little girl gazed out of the back window and +saw the Ward dog trotting happily along toward the moving automobile.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy, look there!" cried Sue. "Dix is coming after us again! What +are we going to do?"</p> + +<p>"Is that dog following us once more?" asked Mr. Brown, as he stopped the +automobile.</p> + +<p>"Yes, he is; and he seems happy."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh dear!" said Mrs. Brown. "What trouble these dogs are giving us +to-day!"</p> + +<p>"Well, this is the third trouble, and let us hope it will be the last," +said Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to send Dix back again?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't think it would do any good. Besides, we are now about ten +miles from home. He might not find his way."</p> + +<p>"That would be too bad," said Mrs. Brown. "The Wards would not want to +lose their dog."</p> + +<p>"I presume the only thing for us to do is to turn around and carry him +back again," said Mr. Brown slowly.</p> + +<p>Just then Splash, who had been lying inside under one of the sleeping +cots, awoke, and, looking out of the rear door of the auto, saw his +friend Dix trotting merrily along.</p> + +<p>"Bow-wow!" barked Splash.</p> + +<p>"Wow-wuff-wow!" answered Dix.</p> + +<p>That meant in dog language I suppose:</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad to see you again, old fellow."</p> + +<p>"And I'm glad to see you," said Dix. "I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>hope they don't drive me back +again. But I went only to the first turn in the road. There I waited +awhile and then came on. I could easily tell which way you came by the +big wheel-marks."</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess there's no hope for it," said Mr. Brown, as the two dogs +stopped barking. "It's turn around again and take Dix back with us to +his home. It's a good thing we're not in a hurry."</p> + +<p>He was about to turn the big car, and Dix had come to a stop a short +distance away from it when Bunny suddenly cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I've thought of a way to do it!"</p> + +<p>"A way to do what?" his father asked.</p> + +<p>"Take care of Dix."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to ask somebody going past in another automobile to take +Dix to Bellemere?" asked Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"No. But in that house," and Bunny pointed to one not far away, "is a +telephone. I can see the wires, and they're just like our telephone +wires. Why can't we call up Mr. Ward and ask him if we can take his dog +along with us?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Take Dix with us!" cried Mrs. Brown. "What would we do with two dogs?"</p> + +<p>"Well, they'll be company for each other," said Sue, who had taken a +great liking to Dix.</p> + +<p>"And Dix wants to come," added Bunny. "You see how hard it is to drive +him back."</p> + +<p>"But we don't need him, and two dogs are harder to look after than one," +said Mr. Brown. "Dix has made trouble enough to-day, though part of it +was Splash's fault."</p> + +<p>It was then Bunny had his fine idea.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know the best reason in the world for taking Dix with us!" he +cried. "Wait and I'll 'splain it all to you. Just let Dix and Splash +play together until I get through talking."</p> + +<p>"Well, let's hear your idea, Bunny," said Mr. Brown with a smile, as he +leaned back in his seat and rested his back. Splash, seeing his dog +friend, leaped from the car and the two were soon playing together in +the road as merrily as ever.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>DIX AND THE COW</h3> + + +<p>"Now," said Bunny, as he sat down on a little stool in the auto to talk +to his father and mother—and Sue, of course, and Uncle Tad, who were +all listening. "Now it wouldn't hurt an awful lot to take Dix with us, +would it?"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" asked his mother.</p> + +<p>"I mean Dix wouldn't eat much more than Splash, would he?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess if it comes to feeding dogs, two come about as cheaply as +one," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. "But what's the idea, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I'd like to have Dix come along with us then. It will save time +now in taking him back."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it will do <i>that</i>," said Mr. Brown. "And it's quite a way back +home this time."</p> + +<p>"And Splash will have company to play <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>with all the while," went on +Bunny. "Two dogs are happier than one, aren't they?" he asked. "If two +dogs eat more than one then two must be happier than one."</p> + +<p>"It's a new way of looking at it, but I guess it may be true," laughed +Mrs. Brown. "But are you doing all this talking, Bunny, just to have +company for Splash?"</p> + +<p>"No indeedy I'm not!" exclaimed Bunny. "I haven't 'splained it all."</p> + +<p>"What else is there?" asked Mr. Brown, laughing.</p> + +<p>"Well, if Mr. Ward will let us take Dix along—and you can find out +about that over the telephone—then maybe we can find Fred."</p> + +<p>For a moment no one spoke after Bunny had announced his plan. His father +and mother looked sharply at him, and so did Sue and Uncle Tad.</p> + +<p>"How can Dix find Fred?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"'Cause didn't the bloodhounds find the runaway slaves in Uncle Tom's +Cabin?" demanded Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Sue. "I 'member that."</p> + +<p>"Well then, won't Dix find Fred the same <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>way?" went on Bunny. "He can +smell his tracks along the road and we'll find that runaway boy a lot +quicker than if we didn't have his dog along. Fred and Dix were always +together, and I guess Fred couldn't have run away if Dix had seen him. +So if we take Dix along, and have to look for Fred in big crowds, Dix'll +come in 'specially handy."</p> + +<p>"Oh, won't that be fun!" cried Sue, clapping her hands. "Do let's take +Dix along!"</p> + +<p>"I believe Bunny's plan is a good one," said Mr. Brown, after thinking +about it a while. "We don't know Fred very well, and he may look +different, now that he has gone away from home, from what he did before. +His dog would know him, however, no matter how Fred dressed."</p> + +<p>"He'd know him even if he had on a Hallowe'en false face, wouldn't he?" +asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"I guess so," answered Daddy Brown. "Well, I'll go and telephone to Mr. +Ward and see what he says."</p> + +<p>The people in the house into which the telephone wires ran were very +willing Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> Brown should use the instrument, and he was soon talking to +Mr. Ward back in Bellemere.</p> + +<p>"Surely you may take Dix with you," said Mr. Ward over the telephone +wire. "I only hope he will not be a trouble to you. I know he will make +a fuss just as soon as he comes anywhere near Fred. So, in that way, you +may be able to trace my boy. I hope you will. His mother hopes so too. +She is beside me here as I am talking, and she sends you her thanks. +Take Dix with you if you wish."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Sue, when she heard the news. "Aren't you, +Bunny? Now we have two dogs!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, one will be yours and one mine, until we get back home with Dix. +Then we'll each own half of Splash, as we've always done."</p> + +<p>This suited Sue, and, now that the dog question was settled, the +automobile started on again.</p> + +<p>For a little while everything was peaceful and quiet in the big +automobile. Bunny went outside on the front seat with his father, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>looked down the road along which they were running. It was a pleasant +road, with trees arching across overhead from one side to the other.</p> + +<p>Inside the big car Mrs. Brown and Uncle Tad "got things to rights," as +the children's mother called it, while Sue took out some of her toys, +including the big Teddy bear with the electric eyes, whose adventures +have been told in the book just before this one.</p> + +<p>Bunny and his father talked together on the seat in front. Bunny was +interested in whether or not they would find Fred.</p> + +<p>"Well, we may and we may not," said Mr. Brown. "It is true Fred said he +was going to run away to Portland, the city where we are going. But we +will not be there for some time, and before then Fred may think he does +not like it there and go somewhere else."</p> + +<p>"Well, I think Dix will help find him, don't you?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I hope so, Son."</p> + +<p>Just then came a call from inside the automobile.</p> + +<p>"Who's ready for dinner?"</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="./images/82.jpg" alt="THE TWO DOGS CAME WITH A RUSH." title="THE TWO DOGS CAME WITH A RUSH." /></div> + +<div class='center'>THE TWO DOGS CAME WITH A RUSH.<br /> +<i>Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour. Page</i> <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>.<br /> +</div> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am!" cried Bunny, the first one.</p> + +<p>"So am I," added Sue.</p> + +<p>"Then come on! Rations are served," said Uncle Tad who had been in the +army.</p> + +<p>He and Mrs. Brown had cooked their first meal on the gasolene stove in +the little kitchen and dining room combined, and it was now ready to +serve.</p> + +<p>Bunny clambered in by way of the front seat and took his place at the +little table.</p> + +<p>"I think we had better stop beside the road while we eat," said Mr. +Brown. "This automobile is all right for traveling, but the roads are so +rough here that I may spill my tea. So we'll anchor and eat."</p> + +<p>"Daddy thinks we're in a boat I guess, when he talks about anchoring," +said Sue, who, more than once, had been out in the big fishing boat with +her father.</p> + +<p>Then the meal began. There was some cooked meat, for they could carry +meat in the ice box, baked potatoes, and, best of all, some pie.</p> + +<p>It was while he was eating his pie and drinking his milk that Bunny +suddenly cried:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The dogs!"</p> + +<p>"What about them?" asked Mrs. Brown quickly. "Are they fighting? Where +are they, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>"Just over in that field playing. But we didn't call Splash and Dix to +dinner."</p> + +<p>"Oh, is that all? I think they can wait a bit," said Mrs. Brown with a +laugh. "By the way you spoke I thought something had happened."</p> + +<p>"Well, this pie tasted good, that's part of what happened," said Bunny, +with a laugh. "And then I got to wishing Dix and Splash could have +some."</p> + +<p>"I'll feed them when the rest of you have finished," promised Mrs. +Brown.</p> + +<p>When the meal was over Mrs. Brown gathered up a big plateful of scraps +from the table, and gave it to Bunny to feed Dix and Splash.</p> + +<p>"Here Dix!" called Bunny, inviting the "company" dog first, which was +proper, I suppose. "Here, Dix and Splash!"</p> + +<p>The two dogs heard and must have known that they were being called to +dinner, for they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>came with a rush, each one trying to see which would +be the first to reach Bunny with the plateful of good food.</p> + +<p>"You'd better put the dish on the ground and get away," said Mr. Brown +with a laugh. "Otherwise they'll be so glad to see you, Bunny, that +they'll knock you down and roll over you."</p> + +<p>"I guess they will," said the little boy. So he put the plate of meat, +bread and potato scraps on the ground near the big automobile and then +stepped back out of the way.</p> + +<p>Dix and Splash did not take long to finish the food on the plate, and +then they looked up at Bunny and wagged their tails, as if asking for +more.</p> + +<p>"No more!" called Mrs. Brown to them, for she understood the feeding of +dogs. "That will do you until supper."</p> + +<p>Seeing they were going to get no more, Dix and Splash ran off together +again to have more fun rolling about in the grass.</p> + +<p>"Where do you think we shall stop for the night?" asked Mrs. Brown of +her husband as they set off once more.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Just outside the town of Freeburg," he answered. "We'll sleep in the +auto, of course, for if we are making a tour this way it's the proper +thing to do. But we'll be near enough a town for supplies or anything we +may need."</p> + +<p>"Goodness! We don't need anything this soon, nor have we a place to put +another thing away," protested Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>Her husband laughed. "However, it's well to be near a town overnight," +he said.</p> + +<p>So the big automobile chugged on. Mrs. Brown and Uncle Tad washed the +dishes and put them away, and then they sat looking out at the side +windows and enjoying the trip. Now and then Mr. Brown would talk in +through the open window against which the steering wheel seat was built. +Bunny and his sister sometimes rode inside, and again outside with Daddy +Brown.</p> + +<p>"This is lots of fun, I think," said Bunny, as he sat beside his father, +and the auto went rather fast down a hill.</p> + +<p>"It's just great! My Sallie Malinda Teddy bear likes it, too," put in +Sue, who was also on the front seat. Both of them together took <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>up no +more room than one grown person, and the front seat was built large +enough for two.</p> + +<p>Dix and Splash raced on together, sometimes playing a game like +wrestling, trying to see which could throw the other, and again rushing +along as fast as they could go, sometimes behind, and sometimes in front +of the automobile.</p> + +<p>At the foot of the hill, down which the automobile had gone rather fast, +a man stepped out from a fence beside the road and held up his hand.</p> + +<p>"What does that mean?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"It means to stop," said her father, as he slowed up the machine.</p> + +<p>"What for?" Bunny inquired.</p> + +<p>"Well, he may be a constable—that is a kind of a policeman," said Mr. +Brown. "He wants us to stop, thinking, maybe, that we were running too +fast. But I know we weren't."</p> + +<p>"Will he 'rest us?" asked Sue. "If he does I'm going to hide Sallie +Malinda. I'm not going to have her locked up!"</p> + +<p>"Nothing will happen," said Mr. Brown <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>with a laugh. "I have run an +automobile long enough to know what to do."</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown brought the big machine to a stop near the spot where the man +was standing with upraised hand.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Mr. Brown good-naturedly. "Were we going too +fast?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, nopey!" exclaimed the man with a laugh. "I jest stopped you to see +what kind of a show you was givin'."</p> + +<p>"What kind of show we are giving?" repeated Mr. Brown in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Yep! I thought maybe you was one o' them patent medicine shows that +goes 'round in big wagons and stops here and there, and a feller sings, +or plays, or somethin', then the head man or woman sells medicine +what'll cure everything you ever had in the way of pain or ever expect +to have. I thought I'd see what kind of a show you've got."</p> + +<p>"We haven't any," laughed Mr. Brown. "You may look in the auto if you +like, and see how we live in it. We are traveling for pleasure."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I see you be, now," said the man after a look. "Wa'al, I'm right sorry +I stopped you."</p> + +<p>"That's all right," said Mr. Brown pleasantly. "This is a heavy machine, +and I don't like to get it to going too fast downhill. It's too hard to +stop. So it's just as well we slowed up."</p> + +<p>"You see I'm the inspector of all them travelin' shows," went on the +man. "Ribbans is my name, Hank Ribbans. Every medicine show or other +show that comes to town has to git a permit from me, else they can't +show. But you're all right, pass on."</p> + +<p>An idea came into Mrs. Brown's head.</p> + +<p>"Do you have many shows passing through here, with musicians who play to +draw a crowd?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, sartin, surely. 'Bout one once a week as a rule. There was one that +showed here two or three nights ago—no, come to think of it now, it was +last night. There was a young feller—nothin' but a boy—dressed up in +the reddest and bluest suit you ever see. And say, how he could play +that old banjo!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, a banjo! Maybe it was Fred!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>The same thought came to his father and mother.</p> + +<p>"Tell us about this boy," requested Mr. Brown. "We are looking for one +who plays the banjo," and he described Fred Ward.</p> + +<p>"Well, this can't be the one you're lookin' for," said Mr. Ribbans. +"'Cause this feller was a negro."</p> + +<p>"Maybe he was blacked up like a minstrel," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't say as to that," returned the inspector. "Anyhow they paid +for their license all right, and they sold a powerful lot o' Dr. Slack's +Pain Killer. Then they went on out of town. That's all I know. Well, you +don't need a license from me; so go ahead, folks!"</p> + +<p>He waved good-bye to them as they went off again.</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue were eager to ask questions about the colored boy who +played the banjo for the medical show.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you think he could have been Fred?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"It is possible," answered his father.</p> + +<p>"Maybe we can find him," added Sue.</p> + +<p>"We'll make inquiries about this show in the next town we come to," said +Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>But as the next town was the one outside of which they were to spend the +night, they decided to put off until the next day asking questions about +the colored banjo player.</p> + +<p>Uncle Tad and Mr. Brown helped Mrs. Brown get the supper. When it was +over there was a large platter full of good things left for the two +dogs. They were hungry, for they had run far that day, and they ate up +every scrap.</p> + +<p>Then they stretched out for a while near a campfire Mr. Brown made under +some trees, for it was a little cool in the evenings. As the children +had been up early that morning, Mrs. Brown told them they must be early +in bed, and after watching the fire until their eyes began to shut of +themselves, Bunny and Sue started for their little bunks.</p> + +<p>Just as they were getting undressed, though <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>it was scarcely dark, the +barking of dogs was heard down the road.</p> + +<p>"That's Dix and Splash!" exclaimed Bunny. "And something must have +happened. Splash wouldn't bark that way if there was nothing the +matter."</p> + +<p>"Here comes Dix now," said Sue, looking out of the automobile window. +"And oh, Bunny! Look what he's brought home with him!"</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Bunny, whose bunk was on the other side of the big +car.</p> + +<p>"It's a cow. Dix is leading home a cow on the end of a rope!" exclaimed +Sue.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>TWO DISAPPEARANCES</h3> + + +<p>For a moment the two children looked out of the automobile windows at +the strange sight. Then, unable longer to think of going to bed when +there was likely to be some excitement, they both came out from behind +the curtains that screened off their cots, and cried together:</p> + +<p>"Dix has got a cow!"</p> + +<p>"Dix has got a <i>what</i>?" asked Mrs. Brown, thinking she had not +understood.</p> + +<p>"Dix has got a <i>cow</i>!" went on Bunny. "He's leading her by a rope. I +guess he thinks it's our cow."</p> + +<p>"Well, what will those dogs do next?" asked Mr. Brown, who was reading a +newspaper he had purchased from a passing boy, who rode his route on a +bicycle.</p> + +<p>"It's true enough—about the cow," said Uncle Tad, who was outside the +automobile putting out the last embers of the campfire, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>that there +might be no danger during the night. "One of the dogs is leading home a +'cow critter,' as some farmers call them.</p> + +<p>"It's Dix," he went on a moment later as the two dogs, both barking +excitedly, came close to the big moving van, Dix having hold of the rope +that was tied fast to the cow's neck. He was leading her along, and the +cow did not appear to mind. "Dix must have found the cow wandering along +the road," went on Uncle Tad, "and, thinking we might need one, he just +brought her home."</p> + +<p>"Very thoughtful of Dix, I'm sure," said Mr. Brown, who had come outside +as had his wife, while Bunny and Sue remained in their pajamas in the +doorway. "He probably meant it kindly, but what will the man think whose +cow she is? Well, what's the matter with you, Splash?" asked Mr. Brown, +for that dog, too, was barking very loudly. "Did you see the cow first, +and wouldn't Dix let you have a share in bringing her here? I guess that +was it. Never mind, you shall lead the cow home, if we can find out +where she belongs."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> + +<p>He patted Splash's head as he spoke, and talked to the dog almost as he +would have talked to a small boy. And I think Splash understood, for he +wagged his tail, and seemed pleased.</p> + +<p>Dix led the cow up to Mr. Brown, and there, dropping the end of the +rope, wagged his tail, barked once or twice and looked up as though he +were saying:</p> + +<p>"Well, didn't I do pretty well for the first day? I found a cow for you. +That will more than pay my board. I'll try and find something else +to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Then, as if satisfied that he had done his duty, Dix went off to hunt +for a bone he had buried after his supper, and Splash went with him.</p> + +<p>"Well, what in the world are we going to do with it?" asked Mrs. Brown. +"We can't keep this cow; that's sure!"</p> + +<p>"We might tie her to one of the auto wheels," said Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"No, thank you!" exclaimed his wife. "She'd moo all night, and keep us +awake."</p> + +<p>"But we can't turn her loose," said Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> Brown. "She might wander off +and be stolen, and then the owner would blame us, though it might not be +our fault. Since Dix has brought the cow to us, no matter whether we +wanted her or not, we've got to look after her somehow."</p> + +<p>"Couldn't Dix take her back?" asked Bunny, from where he stood in the +doorway with Sue.</p> + +<p>"That's perhaps a good idea," replied Mr. Brown. "Though I don't know +that Dix could exactly take her back. I think I'd better do it myself. +It's early yet, and probably the farmer who owns the cow is out looking +for her. I'll let Splash lead the cow back along the road, and I'll go +with him. We may meet the farmer."</p> + +<p>"Well, don't be gone too long," begged Mrs. Brown. "The first day is +always hard and we want to get to bed early."</p> + +<p>"I'll do my best," promised Mr. Brown. "Come on, Splash! It's your turn +now to lead the cow!"</p> + +<p>Splash barked joyfully, and seemed glad that he was to have something to +do with the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>big horned animal, who was contentedly chewing her cud, +lying down beside the automobile. She appeared quite contented wherever +she was.</p> + +<p>"Oh, let us come!" begged Bunny and Sue, as they saw their father go off +down the road with Splash leading the cow by the rope.</p> + +<p>"No, indeed! You youngsters get to bed!" said Mrs. Brown. "You ought to +be glad of the chance. You must be tired."</p> + +<p>"We're not—a single bit!" declared Bunny, but though he and Sue begged +hard, and teased to go to see the cow taken home, their mother would not +let them.</p> + +<p>It was quite dark when Mr. Brown came back. The children were asleep, +but Mrs. Brown and Uncle Tad were sitting up reading.</p> + +<p>"Well?" asked Mrs. Brown, as she noticed how tired her husband looked. +"Did you have far to go?"</p> + +<p>"About two miles, and mostly uphill. But I found the cow's owner."</p> + +<p>"Did you? That's good! How did you manage?" asked Uncle Tad.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, I was going along, Splash leading the cow as proud as a peacock, +when, all of a sudden, I saw a man hurrying toward me. He seemed very +much excited, and asked me if that was <i>my</i> cow the dog was leading.</p> + +<p>"I told him it was not; that one of the dogs that was with us on our +auto trip had brought her in; and that I was bringing her back, looking +for the owner."</p> + +<p>"'I'm him,' he said. 'And I can soon prove the critter's mine.'"</p> + +<p>"I told him I hoped she was, for I was tired of walking with her. So he +stopped at two or three farmers' houses, and they all said the cow +belonged to Mr. Adrian Richmond, who was the man that met me. So I left +the cow with him and came on home, for this <i>does</i> look like home," he +added, as he gazed around the small but cozy room in the auto-van.</p> + +<p>"Did the farmer tell you how Dix came to lead off his cow?" asked Uncle +Tad.</p> + +<p>"No, he only guessed that the animal must have pulled loose from her +stake and wandered off down the road. She was used to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>being led home +every night by the farmer's dog, so she didn't make any objections."</p> + +<p>"Then Dix must be a sort of a cow dog," remarked Mrs. Brown, and later +it was learned that Dix had once been on a western ranch and had helped +the cowboys with their work.</p> + +<p>So with the cow disposed of, and the two dogs asleep on some old +blankets under the automobile, the little party of travelers settled +down for the night. They all slept soundly, and in the morning the first +thing Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue wanted to know about was the cow. +Their father told them all that had happened.</p> + +<p>"That Dix is a great dog!" cried Bunny. "I'm glad we brought him with +us."</p> + +<p>"So'm I!" echoed Sue. "And maybe to-day he'll find Fred."</p> + +<p>"How can he?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Because you know the funny old man who stopped us, to see if we were a +traveling show, said that boy banjo player was to come to this town. And +even if the one he saw <i>was</i> colored it might be Fred blacked up."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That's so," agreed Bunny. "We'll get daddy to ask."</p> + +<p>A breakfast was cooked in the auto and eaten out-of-doors, because it +was such a lovely morning. More than once as they ate in the shadow of +the big car other autoists, passing, waved a merry greeting to the happy +little party, and as horse-drawn carts and wagons passed along the road +on their way into town, many curious glances were cast at the travelers.</p> + +<p>It was rather a strange way of making a journey, but it suited the +Browns, and they preferred their big automobile to any railroad train +they could have had.</p> + +<p>After breakfast they set off again, passing through the city.</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown asked several persons there about the traveling medicine show +with the colored banjo player. Many had seen it, but some were sure the +banjo-playing boy was a real negro, while others said he was only +blackened up. At any rate the show had traveled on, and no one knew +where it would be next met with.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, it may have been Fred, and it may not," said Mr. Brown. "I must +write and ask Mr. Ward if his son could imitate a negro, singing and +playing the banjo, and whether he ever dressed up and did that sort of +thing."</p> + +<p>The progress of the big automobile through the town attracted many +persons, not a few of whom believed it to be a traveling show, and they +were disappointed when some sort of performance was not given.</p> + +<p>The Browns were soon out in the sunny country again, traveling along a +shady level road. Bunny and Sue played with their toys, and at noon, +when they stopped for lunch, they had a romping game of tag in the woods +and fields near-by.</p> + +<p>After the noon rest they went on again, the two dogs running along, +sometimes ahead of the automobile and sometimes behind it.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to put darling Sallie Malinda to sleep," said Sue after a +while. "And I'm going to let her sleep near the back door of the car."</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked Bunny, who was very fond of asking questions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> + +<p>"She isn't feeling very well, and the air will do her good," answered +Sue, who made her "make-believe" very real to herself.</p> + +<p>So, having made a nice bed of rags for her Teddy bear, Sue put Sallie +Malinda to sleep near the rear door of the auto and got out one of her +books to look at the pictures. Bunny was building some sort of house +with some new blocks his father had bought for him, but he was not +having very good luck, for the motion of the auto made the house topple +over almost as soon as Bunny had it built.</p> + +<p>After a while Sue thought her Teddy bear had had enough sleep near the +auto door, so she went to take her in. But when she reached the rag bed +Sallie Malinda was not there.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my Teddy bear is gone!" cried Sue. "Oh, Bunny, do you think she +falled out? Daddy! Daddy! Stop the auto! My Teddy bear is lost!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown stopped the car at once, though he did not understand all of +what Sue said. The little girl told him what had happened.</p> + +<p>"Sallie Malinda gone!" cried Mother<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> Brown. "That's too bad! She must +have been jostled off when the auto went over a bump. I think we'll have +to go back and look for her," she said to her husband.</p> + +<p>Then Bunny gave some more news.</p> + +<p>"Dix is gone too!" he cried. "I've been watching a long while and I +haven't seen him. And Splash is acting awful funny—just as if Dix had +run away."</p> + +<p>"Hum! This <i>is</i> rather strange!" exclaimed Mr. Brown. "Two +disappearances at once."</p> + +<p>"What's disappearcesses?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"It means going away—the word your father used does," explained Mrs. +Brown with a smile. "But it certainly is strange that Dix and the Teddy +bear should go away together."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>DIX COMES BACK</h3> + + +<p>For a moment Sue stood looking at her mother, seeming to be thinking +very hard about something. Then she asked:</p> + +<p>"Momsie, do you think Dix took Sallie Malinda away?"</p> + +<p>"Well, it seems so," said Mrs. Brown. "That is, if Dix has really gone +away. We had better make sure of that, first. There is no question about +your Teddy bear's being gone, for I saw her in the rag bed by the back +door of the auto not half an hour ago."</p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose she either fell out, or Dix, thinking to have a game of +tag with her, took her out, though the Teddy bear, with the batteries +inside to make her eyes light up, isn't easy for even Dix to carry very +far," said Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"But how are we going to get my darling Sallie Malinda back?" asked Sue, +and there were tears in her eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Daddy will find some way. Won't you, Daddy?" asked Bunny, for he did +not like to see his little sister sad.</p> + +<p>"Well, the only thing I can see to do is to turn the automobile around +and go back to look for Sue's Teddy bear," said Mr. Brown. "He may be +lying beside the road where he fell from the auto."</p> + +<p>"My Teddy bear isn't a <i>he</i>, Daddy!" cried Sue. "She's a <i>she</i>! Aren't +there <i>lady</i> Teddy bears as well as <i>gentlemen</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I suppose so," laughed Mr. Brown. "I forgot for the moment that +your Teddy's name was Sallie. But whether it's a he or a she I suppose +you'd like to have me go back for it, wouldn't you?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I would, Daddy! I don't know what I'd do without Sallie +Malinda."</p> + +<p>"All right, then we'll turn the auto around."</p> + +<p>"We've done about as much going backward as we have going forward on +this trip," laughed Uncle Tad. "But still we must get Sue's pet. It +wouldn't do to go off and leave <i>her</i>."</p> + +<p>"I can't understand about Dix, though,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> said Mrs. Brown. "Surely he +wouldn't run away and leave us after he had come this far with us."</p> + +<p>"Maybe he is just playing hide-and-go-seek with Splash," said Bunny. +"Maybe it's Dix's turn to hide."</p> + +<p>"Suppose you call him," suggested Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>Bunny called and whistled, in a way he had been doing to get Dix to come +to him ever since the Ward dog had joined the traveling automobile +party. But there came no answering bark, and even Splash seemed +surprised when he could not find his playfellow.</p> + +<p>"Hi, Splash!" called Bunny. "Where is Dix? Go find him!"</p> + +<p>Splash ran around and barked, which was his only way of talking, but he +came back frequently to the children, who, with their parents and Uncle +Tad, were standing beside the auto, and he did not bring Dix back with +him.</p> + +<p>It was as though Splash said:</p> + +<p>"I know you want to find Dix, but I don't know where he is. There is no +use in my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>running my legs off to find him, for he is a long way from +here."</p> + +<p>"Dix possibly has been missing a longer while than we know," said Mr. +Brown. "I noticed once, as we were going over a bridge, that Splash went +in and had a little swim. But I did not see Dix with him, though I +didn't think anything about it at the time. We had that trouble with the +engine farther back than that. When I got that fixed Dix was about. But +from then on I haven't seen him, and that was some miles back."</p> + +<p>"Maybe that's the time my dear Sallie Malinda fell out," said Sue. "Or +else Dix took her."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe he'd do that," said her father. "He was too well +trained. He isn't a puppy any longer, to hide boots, shoes and toys. I +don't believe Dix took your Teddy."</p> + +<p>"Well, anyhow let's go to find him," said Bunny. "I mean <i>her</i>," he +added quickly, as he noticed Sue looking sharply at him. "Maybe we'll +find Dix and the Teddy bear at the same time."</p> + +<p>"If Dix hasn't gone off to find a cow or an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>elephant or a camel or +something like that to make us a present of," said Mrs. Brown with a +laugh.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Momsie! Do you think Dix would really bring back an elephant?" +asked Bunny eagerly.</p> + +<p>"No, my dear, I was only fooling. But let's start back, Daddy, for I +know Sue will be very anxious to-night about her Teddy bear."</p> + +<p>Back they started in the automobile over the road they had just +traveled. Now and then they stopped and called Dix, but the dog did not +come to them.</p> + +<p>Splash added his barks and whines to the general calling but no Dix +answered.</p> + +<p>"He must be mighty far away," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm afraid we'll never find him, or my dearest Sallie Malinda +either," said Sue, and once more tears came into her eyes.</p> + +<p>As the auto went along, in addition to calling for Dix, every one in the +party, including the children, had looked along the road for a sight of +the Teddy bear that might have fallen from the automobile. But Sallie +Ma<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>linda was not to be seen, and Sue did not know what to do.</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll go back to where I last noticed that Dix was with us," said +Mr. Brown. "Then if we don't find your Teddy, Sue, I'll have to get you +another."</p> + +<p>"But I'd rather have Sallie Malinda!"</p> + +<p>"I know, dear, but you can name the new one that."</p> + +<p>"Sue's Teddy's had lots of adventures," said Bunny. "The hermit took +her, and now she's lost."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm not going to give up yet," said his sister, as she looked +carefully along the road.</p> + +<p>"But what can have become of Dix?" asked Mrs. Brown. "I can't understand +him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, he may have gone off chasing a rabbit or a squirrel," said Mr. +Brown. "Anyhow we're almost at the bridge, and the spot where we had the +engine trouble is not far beyond."</p> + +<p>Silently those in the auto looked along the road for a sight of Sue's +Teddy. Then suddenly Bunny said,</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>"No, he didn't!"</p> + +<p>"Who didn't what?" asked his father, for Bunny would often make these +sudden exclamations.</p> + +<p>"Dix didn't go off chasing a rabbit or a squirrel," said Bunny. "There +he comes now—with an elephant, I guess," and the little boy pointed +down the road.</p> + +<p>There was Dix coming back, and he was half dragging and half carrying +something that looked like an animal.</p> + +<p>On and on came the dog. He seemed very tired. When he saw the automobile +he stopped, dropped what he had in his mouth, and lay down beside it. +Then he began to bark joyfully.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's my Sallie Malinda! It's my Teddy bear!" cried Sue. "You dear +old Dix! You found Sallie Malinda for me!"</p> + +<p>And that is just what had happened, they decided after they had talked +it over among themselves. Dix must have been running along behind the +auto when he saw Sue's pet jostled out. Knowing how the little girl +loved her Teddy bear he picked it up and be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>gan to half drag and half +carry it, for, as Mr. Brown had said, the electrical batteries that made +the Teddy's eyes shine, were heavy. Poor Dix had all he could do to drag +the Teddy bear, but he would not let go, and the noise made by the auto +made it impossible for those in the car to hear his barks, which he must +have given.</p> + +<p>And so they rode on, paying no attention, but leaving Dix far behind, +until Sue discovered the loss of her Teddy bear.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you are a dear good dog, and I love you!" cried Sue, hugging the +Teddy bear with one arm and Dix with the other. And the dog was plainly +overjoyed at being with his friends again.</p> + +<p>I suppose the Teddy bear was glad too, but of course she could not even +wag her little stub of a tail to show it. However, Sue could make the +pet's eyes gleam, which she did again and again.</p> + +<p>Nor was the Teddy bear much damaged by being dragged in the dirt, for +the roads were not muddy, and Dix had held her up out of the dust as +much as he could.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, but I'm glad to get my darling Sallie Malinda back!" cried Sue.</p> + +<p>"Dix is a good dog," put in Bunny. "He can ride in the auto now, can't +he, Daddy? He must be tired."</p> + +<p>"Yes, get him and Splash both in," said Mr. Brown. "I think it is going +to rain, and I want to get to the next town where we will stay +overnight."</p> + +<p>"In a hotel?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"No; in our auto, of course."</p> + +<p>The dogs were called in, and Dix seemed glad to rest. Then Daddy Brown +turned the big car around and once more they were on their way. It began +to rain before they reached the town of Welldon, on the edge of which +they were to stop for the night.</p> + +<p>But the rain did not matter to those in the big moving van, which was +like a little house. They had their supper inside, sat reading or +playing games by the electric light, and listened to the rain on the +roof, for it came down more and more heavily.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it a nice place?" said Bunny to Sue, as they went to bed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The bestest ever!" she cried.</p> + +<p>It was about the middle of the night that Bunny was awakened by feeling +a queer bumping, sliding motion.</p> + +<p>"Why," he cried, sitting up in his bunk, "we must be traveling on in the +dark! Daddy! Momsie!" he cried. "What are we moving for, when it's +dark?"</p> + +<p>"What's that?" cried Mr. Brown suddenly awakening.</p> + +<p>"The automobile is running away!" cried Bunny, and outside they could +hear a strange roaring sound amid the patter of the rain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>IN THE FLOOD</h3> + + +<p>For a moment all was confusion inside the big automobile. Mr. and Mrs. +Brown got up and dressed hastily. Bunny and Sue thought little of doing +that until Sue, feeling cold around her bare legs, called to her +brother:</p> + +<p>"Wrap yourself up in a blanket, Bunny, like an Indian."</p> + +<p>"What's going on?" yelled Uncle Tad, from his bunk.</p> + +<p>"That's what <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'we we're'">we're</ins> trying to find out," said Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Seems to me we're afloat," added Uncle Tad. "We certainly are at sea."</p> + +<p>"It does feel so," agreed Daddy Brown, for the automobile was bumping +along the roadway, and the motor was not running, either. Something was +either pushing or pulling it.</p> + +<p>Just then came the howls and whines of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>two dogs, Dix and Splash. +They had been left out on the front seat of the car, with big curtains +hung in front of them so no rain could splatter on them.</p> + +<p>"Oh, something's the matter with them!" cried Bunny Brown, and in a few +minutes he had opened the window back of the seat and let the frantic +dogs leap into the auto. They barked joyfully now, and frisked about +Bunny and Sue.</p> + +<p>With the opening of the window, however, came in a gust of wind and rain +that made Mrs. Brown call:</p> + +<p>"Children you'll catch dreadful colds! Get right to bed this instant."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mother, we want to stay up and see what's going to happen," said +Bunny. "Maybe the automobile might tip over."</p> + +<p>"And if we were in bed we'd be all upside down and tangled in the +clothes," added Sue. "Please let us stay up! We'll wrap in blankets like +Indians."</p> + +<p>"Better let them get dressed," said Mr. Brown in a low voice to his +wife. "There's no telling what has happened."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What do you think?" and her voice was anxious.</p> + +<p>"Well, it feels as if we were in a stream of some sort, partly afloat. +Let the children get dressed," answered her husband.</p> + +<p>Bunny Brown and his sister heard and hastened to their curtained-off +bunks. Meanwhile Uncle Tad had closed the window near the front seat and +that kept out the wind and rain. And it was raining and blowing hard. +Those in the cosy car could hear the drops dash against the panes, while +the wind howled around the corners of the machine.</p> + +<p>The automobile itself was bumping along as if, indeed, it was floating +down some stream, or had gone to sea like one of Mr. Brown's boats. The +dogs had ceased their whining now.</p> + +<p>"I guess they were scared, out there all alone," said Bunny, when he was +nearly dressed. "I'm glad they're in here with us now."</p> + +<p>"So am I," said Sue, as she came out into the sitting room, where Mother +Brown had turned on the electric lights. It was a bit <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>cool in the auto, +for the storm had taken all the heat from the air, but there was danger +in lighting one of the stoves. Though he did not let the children know, +Mr. Brown thought there might be a risk of fire if the gasolene stove +were lighted, because the big car might overturn.</p> + +<p>"Now to see what it's all about," said Mr. Brown, when he and Uncle Tad +were fully dressed. "We'll find out if we are adrift on the Atlantic or +Pacific ocean, and how to get to shore."</p> + +<p>He was putting on his rubber boots and raincoat, and Uncle Tad was doing +the same thing. Then Mr. Brown got a lantern and lighted it, for he was +going to open the back door of the car to look outside, to see where the +flood was taking them. For he was sure now, by the motion of the +automobile, that the heavy rain had turned a small stream, near which +they had stopped for the night, into a small-sized river, and that had +risen high enough, or had come down with force enough, to sweep the big +auto-van ahead with it.</p> + +<p>But no sooner had Mr. Brown and Uncle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> Tad opened the back door of the +automobile, that a gust of wind blew out the lantern, for there was a +hole in the glass enclosing the flame and the wind puffed right through +the lantern.</p> + +<p>"Well, I can't very well see in the dark," said Mr. Brown, as he came in +to light the lantern once more. "It's a very strong wind."</p> + +<p>Again he opened the door, but in a second the lantern was blown out once +more. Only the electric lights, kept aglow in the car by the storage +battery, remained gleaming.</p> + +<p>"I ought to have one of those pocket flash lights," said Mr. Brown. "I +meant to get a strong one, but I forgot it."</p> + +<p>"I have one, Daddy," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Where? Give it to me!" called his father quickly. "We must do something +at once."</p> + +<p>"I don't know where it is," Bunny had to confess. "I was playing with it +the other day, but I must have left it somewhere——"</p> + +<p>"Never mind, I'll try the lantern again," said Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"It's sure to blow out," said Uncle Tad.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Perhaps we can paste something over the hole," suggested Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy," cried Sue, "take my Teddy bear! Her eyes will give you +almost as much light as Bunny's flashlight. Maybe more, 'cause she has +<i>two</i> eyes. She won't mind the rain, for I can put on her water-proof +cloak."</p> + +<p>"Hum! That isn't such a bad idea," said Mr. Brown. "We'll try it. Bring +out your Sallie Malinda Teddy bear, Sue. Her eyes will certainly need to +shine brightly to-night, for it's very dark. It's a good thing you have +her along."</p> + +<p>"I'll find my flashlight to-morrow," promised Bunny.</p> + +<p>"I'll get one myself then," said his father. "No telling when we might +need it."</p> + +<p>All this while the big automobile was slowly bumping and moving along. +Uncle Tad and Mr. Brown took Sue's Teddy bear. By pressing on a button +in the toy's back the eyes shone brightly, two electric lights being +behind them.</p> + +<p>"Does Sallie Malinda give a good light,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> Daddy?" asked Sue, as her +father got ready to open the door again.</p> + +<p>"Yes, little girl. It will be all right, and the wind can't blow out +Sallie's eyes, no matter how hard it puffs."</p> + +<p>With the Teddy bear as a lantern Mr. Brown again went out. This time the +wind did not matter, though it seemed to be blowing harder than ever. +Uncle Tad followed Mr. Brown out on the rear steps of the car. They shut +the door behind them to keep out the rain.</p> + +<p>"Why, it's a regular flood!" cried Uncle Tad, as the Teddy bear's eyes +flashed on swirling and muddy water.</p> + +<p>"That's what it is," said Daddy Brown. "Say, we've got to do something!" +he cried to his uncle. "And we've got to do it soon. We'll have to +anchor—tie the auto to a tree or something. This flood may carry us +down to the big river just below!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>AT THE FIRE</h3> + + +<p>Holding the Teddy bear so the light from its eyes shone all about, the +two men stood on the back steps of the automobile and looked around +them.</p> + +<p>All about was swiftly running water. The evening before, in coming to a +stop for the night, Mr. Brown had noticed, not far away from their +camping place, a small stream. Behind it were some high hills or small +mountains, but, though the storm was a hard one, no one thought the +little brook would turn into such a river.</p> + +<p>"But that's what it's done," said Uncle Tad. "It's risen so high that +it's covered the side of the road near where we were, and it's floated +us off."</p> + +<p>"Yes. I fear we'll soon be flooded inside."</p> + +<p>Bunny, listening at the outer door of the big car, heard above the noise +of the flood and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>the rain, his father say this. For a moment he was +frightened, then he happened to think:</p> + +<p>"Well, I've got rubber boots, and if the water comes in here I can wade +around and get things. But I guess I won't tell Sue and Momsie about it. +They might be scared."</p> + +<p>Bunny Brown was a brave little chap when it came to something like this. +In fact he had shown his bravery more than once, as those of you who +have read the other books about him and his sister well know.</p> + +<p>Out on the steps of the automobile, with the glaring eyes of Sue's Teddy +bear to let them see what was going on, Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad again +looked about.</p> + +<p>They could see the rain coming down hard, and on both sides of them was +what seemed to be a big river of water. Many little brooks in the +mountains, joining together, had made such a big stream that it had +shoved along the heavy auto.</p> + +<p>"It can't shove us very far, I think," said Mr. Brown. "We are too heavy +for that. But it might tip us over, this water might, or send us into a +ditch out of which we would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>have a hard time to climb. I'd like to +anchor fast, if I could."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you tie fast to a tree?" asked Uncle Tad. "We have the heavy +towing rope with us."</p> + +<p>"I guess that's a good idea," said Mr. Brown. "We are being swept along +the road and there are plenty of trees on either side."</p> + +<p>Bunny Brown was not listening at the door any longer. His mother had +called him and Sue to the dining-room table and given them some bread +and milk to eat. She thought this would take their attention off the +trouble they were in. For that there was trouble Mrs. Brown was sure. +Otherwise her husband and Uncle Tad would not have stayed so long +outside looking about in the wind and the rain.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mr. Brown, after once more looking about with the aid of the +lights from the eyes of Sue's Teddy bear. "We had best try to fasten the +auto to some tree. Then we'll be held fast, for I do not believe the +flood will reach much higher. I have heard of high water in this part of +the country, but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>it never gets much higher than this, if I remember +rightly."</p> + +<p>"I'll go in for the rope," said Uncle Tad, "and we'll try to make fast +to some tree. We'll be lucky if we can do it before we run into +something," and he opened the door.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what is the matter?"</p> + +<p>"What has happened?"</p> + +<p>"Tell us all about it!"</p> + +<p>This is what Mrs. Brown, Bunny and Sue said as Uncle Tad, dripping wet, +came back into the auto. Dix and Splash thumped their tails on the +floor, as though also asking what the matter was.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it isn't much," said Uncle Tad. "The brook rose into a river in the +night, and tried to carry us away. But we are going to anchor to a tree +until morning."</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue could easily understand what this meant, and they were not +frightened, even though the automobile swayed about from side to side +and bumped as a boat does when it goes over the bottom in shallow water.</p> + +<p>Uncle Tad got the towrope out from a box, or locker, as Mr. Brown called +it. The rope <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>was a strong one, as it was intended to be used in case +the big automobile went into a ditch, in which event it could be pulled +out.</p> + +<p>With the rope Uncle Tad went out on the back steps again.</p> + +<p>"We're still moving," said Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Are we any nearer the trees, so it will be easier to catch hold of one +of them with a loop of the rope?" asked Uncle Tad.</p> + +<p>"No, we're farther off from the trees," said Bunny's father and, if the +little boy had been listening, he would have felt worried about this. +But Mr. Brown was a good sailor, and if he knew how to anchor, or make +fast, a boat in a big ocean, he might be supposed to know how to anchor, +or stop, an automobile in a flood on the road.</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown took the rope, while Uncle Tad held the Teddy bear and flashed +her eyes about on the flood that was moving the car along. Bunny's +father was trying to catch sight of a tree around a limb of which he +could cast the rope and so bring the drifting automobile to a stop. It +was not moving quite so fast now, as the stream was not quite so swift. +In fact <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>if the flooded stream had not been so swift it never could have +carried the heavy auto along at all.</p> + +<p>"I suppose," said Mr. Brown, "I could start the motor and make the car +go itself. But I would not know where to steer her."</p> + +<p>"No, it is better to make her fast, I think," said Uncle Tad.</p> + +<p>Just then they passed under a tree. Mr. Brown tried to catch the rope to +it, but the auto rolled past too quickly.</p> + +<p>"Better luck next time," he said.</p> + +<p>Presently they were swept under another tree, and this time, as Mr. +Brown cast the rope, it whirled about a big limb and was held fast. The +other end had been tied to the automobile near the back door and now the +big car came to a slow stop.</p> + +<p>"If she only holds we'll be all right," said Mr. Brown, his hand still +on the rope.</p> + +<p>The automobile moved a little bit farther, as the rope stretched, and +then it stopped altogether, and Mr. Brown tied tighter the end of the +rope that was about the tree.</p> + +<p>"Anchored at last!" cried Uncle Tad, as he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>got ready to go inside the +car. "Now let it rain and flood as much as it likes."</p> + +<p>"Are we all right?" asked Bunny as his father and his Uncle Tad came in.</p> + +<p>"We won't go out to sea, will we?" Sue questioned.</p> + +<p>"No indeed, to your question, Sue," answered her father. "And as to +yours, Bunny, we are anchored safe and sound I hope. Now we can go back +to bed and sleep."</p> + +<p>But first Bunny and Sue had to ask many questions, and Sue had to take +off her Teddy bear's water-proof cloak, in spite of which the toy was +wet.</p> + +<p>"But it won't hurt her batteries inside or her eyes," said the little +girl.</p> + +<p>"And as for her fur, that will soon dry," added Mother Brown.</p> + +<p>"She gave us good light," said Father Brown. "Now, off to bed with you."</p> + +<p>No one slept very much the rest of the night except the children and the +dogs. Dix and Splash did not think of worrying, and as for Bunny Brown +and his Sister Sue, they thought that whatever Daddy Brown and Uncle Tad +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>did was just right anyhow. So they had no fear.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown, her husband, and Uncle Tad did not sleep very soundly, +however. The rain still came down in torrents and the wind blew hard. +The rush of the flood beneath the auto could still be heard. But it came +no higher.</p> + +<p>The rope held to the tree, the big car did not drag, and when morning +came the travelers found themselves some distance from the place where +they had been the evening before. They were about a mile down the road, +and all about them, over the road and the adjacent fields, was a lake of +water.</p> + +<p>But it was not raining so hard now. The storm seemed to be about over. +The water was going down, Mr. Brown said, and when Bunny, at the +breakfast table, asked how his father knew, Mr. Brown pointed to a fence +not far from the tree to which they were tied.</p> + +<p>"Do you see the muddy marks and the bits of leaves and grass caught on +the fence?" asked Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"I see," said Bunny.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, that shows how high the water got," explained his father. "You +see the top of the water is below that now, which shows that the flood +is going down. And I am glad enough of it."</p> + +<p>"So am I," said Mrs. Brown. "We've had water enough for once."</p> + +<p>The storm had been such a heavy one that it could not last long, and by +noon the sun was out. But it would take some time for the flood to go +down and the roads to dry up.</p> + +<p>"We'll probably stay here three days," said Mr. Brown. "It looks like a +nice place, and we have plenty to eat. We'll stay and let things dry +out. Traveling on a muddy, slippery road, with a heavy automobile like +this, is not safe. We'll wait a while."</p> + +<p>Anything suited Bunny and Sue as long as they were seeing or having +something new. And when the rain stopped their mother let them put on +their rubber boots and wade where the water was not too deep.</p> + +<p>After wading about awhile, Bunny thought of something to do.</p> + +<p>"Let's make a raft!" he said to Sue.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, that will be fun!" she cried.</p> + +<p>Sue knew what a raft was from living near the seashore. Many times she +and her brother had made them, and they had often heard stories of +sailors coming ashore from wrecks on rafts. Rafts are flat boards, or +planks, nailed or tied together, and they will float on top of the water +and carry a number of people, though they are so low that the water +washes over them and wets one's feet.</p> + +<p>This last part Bunny and Sue did not mind, for they had on rubber boots. +They quickly made a raft by collecting some boards and logs that had +come down with the flood, and had caught in the fence corner near which +their auto was anchored.</p> + +<p>Uncle Tad helped them nail the boards together, and then Bunny and Sue +floated the raft over into a little rain-water lake in the middle of a +field and began shoving it about with long poles. They had ridden up and +down one side of the little lake, stopping at places on the "shore," to +which they gave the names of sea-coast towns near their home.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now we'll go across to the other side," said Sue.</p> + +<p>But when she and Bunny had the raft about in the middle of the "lake," +it stuck fast, because the water was not deep enough just there.</p> + +<p>"Push!" cried Bunny. "Push hard, Sue!"</p> + +<p>Sue pushed so hard that, all of a sudden, her pole broke, and she fell +off the raft into the water.</p> + +<p>"Oh dear!" she cried. "Oh dear!"</p> + +<p>For a moment Bunny did not know what to do. Then he saw that the water +was not more than up to Sue's knees and he knew she would not drown. +But, as she had fallen in backwards, she was wet from top to toe. Sue +began to cry as she got up, choking and gasping, for she had swallowed a +little water.</p> + +<p>"Don't cry!" begged Bunny. "Let's pretend you're a swimmer on the beach +and went out too far."</p> + +<p>"Wha-what good would that do, me pre-pre-tendin' that?" half-sobbed Sue.</p> + +<p>"Well, then I'll pretend I'm a life-guard, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>and I'll swim out and pull +you to shore," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>By this time Sue had managed to stand up firmly on her feet, though she +was very wet.</p> + +<p>"There's no use in you're pretending you're a life-guard and getting all +wet like me, when I can just as well get on the raft myself," said Sue +practically.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I want to be a life-guard," said Bunny. "Here I come!" and with +that he jumped off the raft feet first, landing near Sue with a splash.</p> + +<p>"Oh, now you've got <i>yourself</i> all wet, for it went over your boots," +said the little girl. "Mother will scold."</p> + +<p>"Well, now I can take half the scolding, for I'm half as wet as you," +said Bunny. "Anyhow she won't scold much. For you couldn't help falling +in, Sue, and she'll be glad I pretended to be a life-guard to help you +out." With that he put Sue on the raft again.</p> + +<p>By this time the raft had floated free of the little hill of mud in the +meadow lake where it had gone aground, and Bunny and Sue <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>poled it +toward the road. When their mother saw how wet they were she did not +scold them. That is, not much. For, after all, part of it could not be +helped.</p> + +<p>Dix and Splash enjoyed the flood, for they both liked to be in the +water. They swam about, playing their sort of "tag" and racing after +sticks which Bunny and Sue threw for them.</p> + +<p>A few days after this, when the flood had all gone down, and having +waited for the roads to dry, Mr. Brown once more set off with his family +in the big machine. For two or three days they traveled along. Once, +when they stopped for their noon-day lunch under a big oak tree, Uncle +Tad built a small fire of twigs and Bunny and his sister roasted +marshmallows at the blaze.</p> + +<p>At a number of places Mr. Brown asked about Fred Ward, the missing boy, +but no trace of him could be found, nor was anything more heard of the +traveling medicine show with the colored banjo player.</p> + +<p>It was one evening at dusk, when the automobile had come to a stop for +the night, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>the family were all sitting out under the tree near the +road, that Uncle Tad, looking down the highway, said:</p> + +<p>"Isn't that a fire over there?" He pointed toward a neighboring +farmhouse.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean a campfire or a bonfire?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Neither one. I mean a real fire," said Uncle Tad.</p> + +<p>"It is a fire!" suddenly cried Mr. Brown. "A shed near that barn is +blazing. See the men running to put it out!"</p> + +<p>"We'd better go to help," said Uncle Tad.</p> + +<p>"Let us come, too!" begged Bunny and Sue.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>DIX AND THE CAT</h3> + + +<p>Uncle Tad and Mr. Brown did not stop to answer the children's plea to be +allowed to go to the fire. On the men rushed, and Bunny and Sue turned +to their mother.</p> + +<p>"Please mayn't we go?" they begged. "It isn't far, and it's early yet. +Besides, we know enough to keep away from fires."</p> + +<p>"Well——" said Mrs. Brown slowly. Then she stopped as she saw Uncle Tad +running back, while Mr. Brown kept on toward the blaze in a shed near +some farmer's barn.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Uncle Tad?" asked Bunny. "Aren't you going?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. But I came back to get the fire extinguishers that we carry on the +auto. This blaze hasn't much of a start yet, and we may be able to put +it out with our extinguishers."</p> + +<p>Uncle Tad darted into the automobile. Sue and Bunny remembered about the +extin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>guishers now. They were red things, like fire crackers, and hung +near the seat behind the steering wheel.</p> + +<p>Once, to show Bunny and Sue how easily the extinguishers put out a fire, +Mr. Brown had started one in the back yard. Then, from the red thing, he +had squirted a liquid and the fire sizzled and went out.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we want to see daddy put out the fire!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"The children are teasing to go," said Mrs. Brown, as Uncle Tad came out +again with an extinguisher under each arm. "Do you suppose it would do +them any harm?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all!" cried Uncle Tad. "But you come with them. I don't believe +the fire will be a very big one, but a lot of the country people are +running to it. Bring the children along. Daddy Brown won't care."</p> + +<p>"Whoop!" cried Bunny. "That's great!"</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't whoop," observed Sue, shaking her finger at her brother.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Because this isn't a bonfire. Somebody's shed is burning up; and though +it looks nice it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>isn't any fun for them. We ought to be sorry."</p> + +<p>"Well I am," said Bunny. "I'm sorry for them, but I'm glad for myself +that I'm going to see the fire. Is that all right, Momsie?"</p> + +<p>"I guess so," answered Mrs. Brown, and then she hurried on to the fire +with the children, while Uncle Tad raced ahead with the red fire-cracker +extinguishers.</p> + +<p>Over the fields, from other farmhouses, people came running. Men and +women, and boys and girls. They, also, wanted to see the fire. As Bunny +and Sue, with their mother, hurried on they saw that the blaze was in a +low shed, and from this shed came wild squeals.</p> + +<p>"They sound like pigs!" said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"I guess it is the pig-pen on fire," replied Mother Brown.</p> + +<p>Bunny and his sister, with their mother, were at the fire almost as soon +as Daddy Brown and Uncle Tad. Then they saw for sure that what was +blazing was a big pig-pen built on the side of a barn. The barn had not +yet caught fire.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Make a bucket brigade!" called one of the farmers who had run to the +fire. "We must dip water from the brook, pass it along in pails, and +throw it on the fire."</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute!" cried Mr. Brown. "I have a better way than that, and +surer, I think. First some of you rip out a side of the pen, so the pigs +can get loose, and then we'll put out the fire for you."</p> + +<p>"That's the idea! He's got fire extinguishers!" cried the farmer whose +pen was ablaze. "Rip off some of the boards and let those pigs out. +Otherwise they'll be roasted before their time."</p> + +<p>"Set to work!" yelled a neighbor.</p> + +<p>With rakes, hoes and axes the men soon tore down a side of the pen +farthest away from the fire. Out ran the pigs squealing as loudly as +they could. Dix, Splash and some other dogs ran among them, thinking it +was all a game, I suppose.</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown, with one extinguisher, and Uncle Tad, with another, squirted +on the blaze the white streams, made of something that puts fire out +better even than water. Over <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>the blaze Uncle Tad and Mr. Brown squirted +the stuff until finally the fire was out.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm certainly obliged to you, neighbor," said the farmer who +owned the pigs. "My name's Blakeson. I don't believe I know you, though. +Live around here?"</p> + +<p>"No, we are making a tour in a big automobile," and Mr. Brown pointed to +it. "We saw your blaze and came to it."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm certainly thankful to you, and for those contraptions there," +and he pointed to the fire extinguishers. "That's better than dipping +water from the brook."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I carry them in case the gasolene on my auto should get on fire," +said Mr. Brown. "But they'll put out any small blaze."</p> + +<p>The pig-pen had only partly burned, and the barn, to the side of which +it was built, was only scorched. Some one must have dropped a match in +the straw of the pig-pen to start the blaze, it was said.</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll nail a few boards back on the pen, and it will do to keep +the pigs in until morning," said Mr. Blakeson, the farmer. "That is if +we can get 'em collected again."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> + +<p>"My dogs will help," said Mr. Brown. "Here, Dix! Splash!" he called. +"Drive the pigs up here!"</p> + +<p>The two dogs, both of which were used to driving cows, soon collected +the pigs, even in the dark, and once more they were in their pen, +sniffing about for something to eat, now that the fire was out.</p> + +<p>The farmer whose barn had been saved by the children's father was much +interested in the big auto, and, a little later in the evening, went +down to look at it, as did some of his neighbors.</p> + +<p>"Well, that's a fine way of traveling about," said Mr. Blakeson, and his +friends agreed with him.</p> + +<p>The next morning, while Bunny, Sue and the others were at breakfast, +talking about the fire of the night before, a number of children came +down the road to see the big machine. All the dirt from the flood had +been washed off, and as it had been newly painted before this tour +started, the "Ark," as the Browns sometimes called their big car, looked +very nice indeed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> + +<p>The country children had seldom, if ever, seen so big an automobile as +this, nor one in which a family could live as they traveled. There were +many "Ohs!" and "Ahs!" as they walked about it.</p> + +<p>"Let's ask 'em in and show 'em our bunks," proposed Bunny, and his +mother said he might. The children were even more surprised at the +inside of the "Ark" than at the outside.</p> + +<p>"Oh, wouldn't I love to live in this!" sighed a little girl with red +hair. "It's just like Mother Goose or a fairy story."</p> + +<p>"I love fairy stories," said Sue.</p> + +<p>Just before the Browns were ready to set off once more in their +automobile, a hired hand from the Blakeson farm came down with a basket +of fresh eggs, some apples and other fruit which the farmer gave Daddy +Brown and Uncle Tad for helping to put out the fire.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he needn't have done that," said Mrs. Brown. "But I do love fresh +eggs, so I'll keep them. Please thank Mr. Blakeson for me."</p> + +<p>The man said he would, and then, as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>he went back to the farm, the big +auto started off on the tour again. There were yet many miles to go, and +many more adventures were in store for Bunny Brown and his sister Sue.</p> + +<p>"We've got to find that missing Fred Ward," said Bunny. "It's funny +where he went, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Well, this country is a big place, especially if a person wants to +hide," said Mr. Brown. "Still we may find some trace of Fred in Portland +when we get there. But that will not be for some weeks, as we are +traveling slowly."</p> + +<p>The Browns and Uncle Tad found the auto tour so pleasant that it was +decided to make the trip even longer than at first planned, which would +put off the time when they would reach Portland.</p> + +<p>For two more days they traveled on, stopping each night near some +village or small city. Nothing happened except that once they nearly ran +into a hay wagon that did not get out of the way in time.</p> + +<p>"But it wouldn't hurt any more to hit a hay wagon than it would be to +fall into a feather bed," said Bunny.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was just about supper time. Bunny and Sue were playing out in front +of the automobile, while Mrs. Brown was getting supper. Sue suddenly +called:</p> + +<p>"Oh, look at Dix! He's chasing a cat!"</p> + +<p>Something big and gray flashed over the ground. Dix ran for it, and his +teeth seemed to close on one of the hind legs of the animal. Then the +gray animal ran up a tree, and Dix raced about at the foot, barking and +whining, while Splash left the place where he was rolling on the grass, +to come to see what the matter was.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>THE MEDICINE SHOW</h3> + + +<p>Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue ran toward the tree up which Dix had +chased the gray creature. The dog was greatly excited, and at once +Splash joined in, too. Though it is very likely Splash did not in the +least know what he was barking at.</p> + +<p>Dogs are like that, you know. When one hears another bark it will join +in, and then will come a third and maybe a fourth until every dog in the +block is barking, and only the first one may know why, and perhaps even +he does not.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I hope he didn't hurt that pussy," said Sue.</p> + +<p>"Maybe it wasn't a pussy," suggested Bunny.</p> + +<p>"What makes you say that?" demanded Sue. "Didn't you see something gray +run across the grass, and didn't Dix run after it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. And the gray thing ran up a tree.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> But maybe it wasn't a kittie," +said Bunny, shaking his head to show he did not agree with his sister.</p> + +<p>"Let's go and see what it is," said she, and together the two hurried +faster than ever toward the tree at the bottom of which Dix and Splash +were having a great barking time.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" asked Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Just over to this tree," answered Bunny, pointing to it.</p> + +<p>"Well, don't go any farther than that," warned his mother.</p> + +<p>"No, we're just going to see what it was Dix chased up into it," went on +Sue. "I said it was a cat but Bunny says——"</p> + +<p>"I don't say what it is yet!" interrupted her brother. "I want to see it +first."</p> + +<p>They reached the tree, and the two dogs were so interested in looking up +and barking at something in it that they paid little attention to the +children. Dix actually stepped on Sue's feet and nearly made her fall +down, while Splash tried to jump over Bunny's head. But the dog did not +quite do it, and fell on Bunny instead, knocking him down.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny, are you hurt?" cried Sue.</p> + +<p>"No, I guess not—much," answered Bunny slowly. "But I'm all—mussed +up!" and he looked at Splash, who was again rushing toward the boy, not +so much with the idea of playing with him as of getting nearer to the +tree so he could bark at the gray animal.</p> + +<p>"Down, Splash! Down!" cried Bunny sharply, and the dogs at once stopped +barking. They had learned to mind the little boy.</p> + +<p>Both dogs looked up into the tree and whined. It was just the way dogs +do who are in the habit of chasing cats, and who make this noise, +perhaps to show how sorry they are that they cannot get at the poor +pussies to roll them over in the grass.</p> + +<p>But Dix and Splash were not what one could call cat-chasing dogs. True, +they had done it when they were small dogs, just over being puppies, +but, of late years, Splash had given up that fun, and what little the +children had seen of Dix they had not noticed him chasing cats.</p> + +<p>"That's what makes me think it isn't a cat <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>they've got up that tree +now," said Bunny, speaking of cat-chasing to his sister.</p> + +<p>"But it <i>looked</i> like a cat," said she.</p> + +<p>The dogs were quieter now, though they both kept on peering up into the +tree and whining softly, though they did not jump about so hard and try +to leap over Bunny and Sue.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I see it!" suddenly exclaimed Sue.</p> + +<p>"See what?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"The cat—the gray thing—whatever it was ran up the tree," and Sue +pointed her finger to the crotch where one of the lowest big branches +joined the trunk.</p> + +<p>"There it is!" went on the little girl. "See it, Bunny? And it is gray. +But it doesn't really <i>look</i> like a cat."</p> + +<p>Bunny came and stood beside Sue. He could see the gray animal now, and +as it moved just then, the dogs set up another wild barking.</p> + +<p>"Be still!" ordered Bunny. Then, as the dog's cries were less noisy he +said: "Why, Sue, I know what that is. It's a——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> + +<p>And just then the gray animal fell out of the tree, landing on a pile of +leaves at the very feet of the children.</p> + +<p>With barks and howls the two dogs made a dive for it. I do not really +believe they meant to bite it—they just wanted to see what it was. But +Bunny was too quick for them.</p> + +<p>With a sudden motion he caught up the gray animal and held it close to +him. At the same time he shouted:</p> + +<p>"Down, Splash! Down, Dix! Don't dare try to get this poor little +squirrel. One of you has hurt its leg anyhow—that's why it fell out of +the tree."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny! Is it really and truly a squirrel?" asked Sue, excitedly.</p> + +<p>"That's what it is," said her brother. "It's a big gray squirrel. It +does look something like a cat, but its tail is bigger than a cat's +except when a cat is being chased by a dog."</p> + +<p>"I saw the big tail," explained Sue, "and that's why I thought maybe it +was a cat. A cat's tail always swells up like a long balloon whenever it +sees a dog. But is the squirrel hurt, Bunny?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I guess Dix must have bit it a little on one leg," said the boy, as he +looked at the gray animal which did not try to get away or bite. "That's +why it couldn't go up any higher in the tree or hold fast any longer. +Its leg is hurt. I'm going to take it to Uncle Tad. He knows how to fix +hurt animals."</p> + +<p>Bunny could feel the heart of the frightened squirrel beating very hard, +and the little animal seemed to shrink closer to the boy, as though it +knew it would be taken care of. Dix and Splash bounded about, now and +then leaping up against Bunny as though they wanted to get the squirrel +away from him.</p> + +<p>But Bunny stood firm, and cried "Down, sir!" in such sharp tones that +the dogs knew they must mind. They gave up the hope of getting the +squirrel (that is, if they knew it was such an animal) and ran off to +have a game of "tag" together.</p> + +<p>"Dix knew it wasn't a cat as soon as he saw it," explained Bunny to Sue +as they walked back toward the big auto, Bunny carrying the injured +squirrel, one of whose legs seemed broken. "Dix knew it was a wild +animal,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> went on the little boy, "and that's why he chased it."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad he didn't get it," murmured Sue, softly.</p> + +<p>"So am I," replied her brother. "We'll get Uncle Tad to fix the sore +leg, and then we'll make a cage and keep the squirrel. Some day we may +get up another circus, and we could have it do tricks."</p> + +<p>"Don't you think the squirrel would rather be in the woods?" asked Sue, +as she looked at the gray creature.</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe yes," agreed Bunny. "After we have it in the circus a while +we'll let it go. 'Member how we played circus, Sue?"</p> + +<p>"I guess I do! We had lots of fun, didn't we?"</p> + +<p>"We did!"</p> + +<p>From across the fields came a call:</p> + +<p>"Come to supper, children!"</p> + +<p>"We're coming, Momsie!" shouted Bunny.</p> + +<p>"And we're bringing a squirrel to supper too!" added Sue, who always +liked to be counted in on everything.</p> + +<p>"A squirrel!" exclaimed Uncle Tad when <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>he saw the gray creature that +had fallen out of the tree. "Where did you get it?"</p> + +<p>The children told what had happened, and Uncle Tad looked at the +squirrel's leg.</p> + +<p>"Can you fix it, or make him a new wooden leg?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>Uncle Tad looked the squirrel over carefully. The woodland animal did +not seem to mind being handled. It seemed to know it was in the hands of +friends, and safe from the barking dogs. And though wild squirrels +quickly bite one who manages to catch them alive in the woods, this one +did not offer to nip the hands of the children or of Uncle Tad.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Uncle Tad after a bit, "I think I can mend this squirrel's +leg. It doesn't seem to be broken, only strained and bruised. I guess +Dix didn't bite it very hard. I'll make some splints, or little sticks, +to put on, so the squirrel can't move his leg, and I'll bandage it. Then +it will get well quicker."</p> + +<p>A little box, filled with straw and soft rags, was made as a home for +the squirrel after Uncle Tad had bound up its leg. Then Bunny <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>and Sue +finally went to supper, after having been called several times. And even +then they could not leave the little squirrel, but ran back every now +and then to look at it, as it curled up on the soft bed. Over the box +was put a wire cover so the squirrel could not get out and so Dix or +Splash could not get at it.</p> + +<p>"What are we going to give the squirrel to eat?" asked Bunny, when he +had finished his supper. "He's got to have something to eat."</p> + +<p>"And he's got to have a name," added Sue. "We can't call him just +'squirrel' for we may get another."</p> + +<p>"Call him Fluffy," suggested Mother Brown. "His tail is so soft and +fluffs out so beautifully."</p> + +<p>"Fluffy is a good name," decided Bunny, and Sue said the same thing.</p> + +<p>"But what about giving him something to eat?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Bread soaked in milk will do for to-night," said Uncle Tad. "Afterward +we'll try to find him some nuts, though it's a little early. Still he'll +eat seeds and grain."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue took a last look at Fluffy, the squirrel, before they went +to their bunks that night. Dix and Splash were called in and shown the +squirrel in his little nest. Then Mr. Brown told both dogs sharply and +solemnly that they must not bother the gray, woodland creature. Dix and +Splash understood, I think, for they were smart dogs.</p> + +<p>Both children were up early the next morning to see their new pet, and +they fed Fluffy some dried crackers. At first the squirrel was a bit +timid, but it soon poked its sharp nose and mouth out of a little +opening on the side of the wire netting over the box and ate from the +hands of Bunny and Sue.</p> + +<p>"Don't let him bite you," said Mother Brown, as she started to get +breakfast.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Fluffy won't bite," said Bunny. "He's as tame as our cat used to +be."</p> + +<p>Once more the automobile traveled on. It rained part of the day but the +shower was not a hard one, though Bunny and Sue had to stay in the big +car when noon came, and dinner could not be served out-of-doors.</p> + +<p>But the skies cleared before night, and when <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>the auto was stopped the +children could run about with their rubbers on. They were near a small +town, and Mrs. Brown promised to take the children in after the meal to +see if they could buy some grain or seeds for Fluffy.</p> + +<p>The supper was an early one, and, leaving Uncle Tad at the "Ark" with +the two dogs and the squirrel, Mr. and Mrs. Brown, with the two children +walked into town. As they reached the middle of the village, near a +public square, they heard the sound of music and saw a crowd of people +around a wagon lighted by a gasolene torch, such as is used in a circus +at night.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's a medicine show!" cried Mrs. Brown, as she saw a big, +long-haired man on the back platform of a wagon, holding up a bottle +about which he was talking to the people.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and there's a banjo player with him," said Bunny. "Look, Mother! +It's a colored boy playing a banjo! Maybe it's Fred Ward!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>WAS IT FRED?</h3> + + +<p>"What's this? What's this you're talking about?" suddenly asked Mr. +Brown, as he heard what Bunny said. Or rather, Bunny's father did not +hear exactly, for he had been thinking about something else. But he had +caught the name Fred Ward.</p> + +<p>"Bunny thinks that colored banjo player with that medicine show may be +Fred Ward," said Mrs. Brown. "Do you think it would be of any use to +inquire, Daddy?"</p> + +<p>"Why, that <i>is</i> a medicine show, isn't it!" exclaimed Mr. Brown, as +though he saw it for the first time. "And it's just like the one we +heard about that had a boy banjo player with it."</p> + +<p>"There's a boy banjo player now," said Bunny. "He's going to play, +Daddy, too! Do you think it could be Fred?"</p> + +<p>The man who was selling the bottles of medicine, after telling the +people how much <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>good it would do them, had stopped to let the boy +traveling with him play the banjo.</p> + +<p>There are, or there used to be, many such traveling medicine shows. +Sometimes there would be a whole troop of Indians, some real and some +make-believe, that would be engaged by the seller of the medicine. He +would have the Indians do some of their queer dances and then, when a +crowd had collected, he would sell some medicine—maybe some he said the +Indians made themselves.</p> + +<p>Another medicine seller would go about with a gaily painted wagon, +carrying a cornet player, a singer or a banjoist to attract a crowd. And +when the men and women were gathered about the end of the wagon, which +had a broad platform on the end and a flaring gasolene torch at night, +the man would tell about his medicine and sell all he could.</p> + +<p>This traveling medicine show which Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue saw +was like those. And, just as the Browns reached the place in the village +square where the torch on the wagon was burning, the man had finished +selling a large number of bottles of medicine. It <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>was about time he +amused the crowd again, he thought. So he called in a loud voice:</p> + +<p>"Now, ladies and gentlemen, while I am getting out of my storeroom some +more bottles of my wonderful medicine that will cure all your pains and +aches, I will have my friend here, Professor Rombodno Prosondo entertain +you on his magical banjo. Professor Rombodno Prosondo, I might say, is +the most wonderful player on the banjo you have ever heard. He has +traveled all over the world and played in every country. Professor, you +will now oblige!"</p> + +<p>Of course what the medicine man said about the banjo player was only a +joke, and the people knew that. He was not a professor at all. But he +was a good banjo player and a singer, and Bunny and Sue were delighted +with the music. The songs, too, were funny.</p> + +<p>"He sings like a real colored boy," said Sue.</p> + +<p>"Maybe he is," her father observed.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and maybe he's only blacked up, like most of them," suggested Mrs. +Brown. "Can you tell if he looks anything like Fred Ward, Daddy?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, I can't be sure that he does," said Mr. Brown. "I never saw much of +the missing boy, you know; and I certainly would not know him if he were +blackened like a negro. This one, if he is not really colored, is well +made-up. He would fool almost any one."</p> + +<p>"Is there any way we could find out?" asked Mrs. Brown. "We ought to do +all we can to find Fred for his parents."</p> + +<p>"I'll see what I can do after the exhibition is over," promised Mr. +Brown. "I'll ask the proprietor of the medicine wagon if I can get a +chance. But I'll have to do it when the banjo player can't hear, for in +case he should be Fred—which I hardly think can be true—but if it +should be he, and he heard me asking, he'd run away again."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I suppose he would," said Mrs. Brown with a sigh. "Oh, how foolish +boys are sometimes. They don't know what is good for them," and she +looked at Bunny, as if wondering if the time would ever come when he +would not be a "mother's boy." She hoped not.</p> + +<p>"Let's get up as close as we can," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> Bunny. "Maybe if it's Fred we +can tell, no matter if he is blacked up like a minstrel."</p> + +<p>"He doesn't look at all like Fred to me," said Sue. "He looks so funny +with his big red lips and his white collar."</p> + +<p>"That's the way they all dress," said Bunny. "Come on, here's a place we +can squeeze through and see better."</p> + +<p>Bunny wiggled his way up among the people. His sister followed him, and +Mr. and Mrs. Brown, watching the children, knew where to find them when +they wanted to go away.</p> + +<p>"Now take a good look," whispered Sue to Bunny, as they got very near +the platform on which the boy sat. She had made her whisper rather loud, +and it came at just the time when the banjoist stopped playing, so that +he and several persons heard the little girl.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked one man, smiling down at Sue. "Didn't you +ever see a minstrel before?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I did," said Sue. "But maybe not this one."</p> + +<p>"Oh, they're all alike," said the man, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> Sue paid no more attention +to him, for she was nudging Bunny and trying to get him to look at the +colored boy.</p> + +<p>Bunny himself was greatly interested. He wanted to make sure whether or +not the player were Fred. So he stared with all his might at the +banjoist, who just then began another song.</p> + +<p>By this time the medicine man had come out on the platform of his wagon +with more filled bottles to sell. He would begin as soon as the song was +finished, for more people had gathered, attracted by the music.</p> + +<p>And then Bunny and Sue both noticed that the colored boy was looking +straight at them. But he did not seem to know them. And surely, if it +had been Fred Ward he would have known the Brown children, even though +he had lived next door to them only a short time. People did not easily +forget Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue, once they had met them.</p> + +<p>But this banjo player evidently did not know them; or, if he did, he was +not going to let it be known. He finished his song with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>a twang of the +banjo strings and then hurried inside the wagon, the sides of which were +of wood, like a small moving van.</p> + +<p>Then the man began selling his medicine again, talking a great deal +about it while he did so.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown turned to her husband and said:</p> + +<p>"I'm sure that was a white boy blacked up to look like a negro, and he +does it very well, too. Even his voice is like a colored person's. But +as he turned to go back into the wagon his sleeve slipped up and I saw +that his arm was white."</p> + +<p>"Very likely he was made up as a colored boy then," said Mr. Brown. "His +lips were too red for a real colored boy's."</p> + +<p>"Well, since we are sure of that let's ask the medicine man about him," +went on Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"All right, I'm willing," said Mr. Brown good-naturedly. "We'll wait +until the show is over though."</p> + +<p>The medicine man kept on selling bottles. It was getting later now, and +the crowd began <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>to thin out. Seeing this the medicine man announced +there would be no more music or sales that night, but that he would stop +in this town on his next trip.</p> + +<p>The flaring lamp was put out, and the medicine man began to close up his +wagon for the night. Mr. Brown stepped up to him. The real or pretended +colored boy was not in sight.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to ask you a question," said Mr. Brown to the traveling +medicine seller.</p> + +<p>"About my wonderful pain destroyer?" asked "Dr. Perry," as he called +himself.</p> + +<p>"No. About that young banjo player you have with you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you mean Professor Rombodno Prosondo?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," and Mr. Brown smiled. "I want to know if he is Fred Ward, who has +run away from his home next door to us?"</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="./images/164.jpg" alt=""NOW TAKE A GOOD LOOK," WHISPERED SUE TO BUNNY." title=""NOW TAKE A GOOD LOOK," WHISPERED SUE TO BUNNY." /></div> + +<div class='center'>"NOW TAKE A GOOD LOOK," WHISPERED SUE TO BUNNY.<br /> +<i>Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour. Page</i> <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>.<br /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>IN THE DITCH</h3> + + +<p>For a few seconds the medicine man looked sharply at Mr. Brown. He did +not appear to understand what the children's father had asked. Then, +finally, Dr. Perry asked:</p> + +<p>"Is it a joke you are making?"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed. I'm serious," said Mr. Brown. "We are looking for a lost +boy, or rather, a runaway boy, named Fred Ward. The Wards live next door +to us, and when we started on this trip, which is not yet finished, the +boy's parents said they would be glad if we would try to find him and +send him——"</p> + +<p>"Tell us, please," broke in Bunny, unable to wait any longer for the +question he wanted answered. "Tell us if your banjo player is really +colored?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, he's really <i>colored</i> all right," said the medicine man, "but +not by Mother Nature."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What's that mean?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"That means, little girl," said Dr. Perry as he put away the unsold +bottles of his medicine, "that my banjo player blackens his face and +hands himself, and reddens his lips, to make him look like a negro."</p> + +<p>"Can you tell us who he really is?"</p> + +<p>"No, I am sorry to say I can not," said Dr. Perry, and he bowed +respectfully to Mrs. Brown, who had asked the question. "But I'll let +you ask him yourself. He usually goes in back there," and he nodded +toward his wagon, "to wash the black off after the show each night. No +doubt he is in there now scrubbing himself, for I must say he is a very +clean person, is John Lane."</p> + +<p>"John Lane! Is that what he calls himself?" asked Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"He has since he has been with me, which, however, is only the last few +days. I called him professor just for fun, as it sounds better with the +public. But I'll let you ask him yourself. He must be through washing by +now. It may be he is a runaway boy. It wouldn't be the first time I've +had 'em join <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>me. Sometimes they get sorry and run back home again, and +sometimes they drift away and I don't see 'em again. But we'll soon find +out if this is the boy you want."</p> + +<p>He opened a door leading off the back platform. It seemed to give +admittance to the middle of the medicine van.</p> + +<p>"Here you, John! John Lane!" called Dr. Perry. "There are some folks out +here who want to see you. They want to see how you look when you have +the black off. You ought to be washed now, for it's almost time to go to +the hotel for the night. Come on out."</p> + +<p>There was no answer to the medicine man's call. He stepped inside the +wagon, called again, and then, lighting a lamp, which stood in a +bracket, looked around inside the van.</p> + +<p>"John seems to have gone," the medicine man said. "I guess he finished +washing off the black, and then slipped out the front way to go to the +hotel. He did that once before, without waiting for me to count up my +money and come along. You see I travel only by day, putting up the +horse, that draws my van, at a hotel stable each night.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then John, or whomever I have with me to make the music to draw a +crowd, and I, go to the hotel to stay all night. In the morning, after +breakfast, we start out again. Sometimes, in a big city I stay a week, +selling in different places.</p> + +<p>"But that boy, whoever he is, has gone. I can see where he's been +washing the black off, and, not wanting to wait when he saw I was +talking to you folks, I guess he just slipped away. John is a bashful +boy."</p> + +<p>"Do you know anything about him?" asked Mr. Brown. "Where did he come +from, and where is he going? Did he give any account of himself?"</p> + +<p>"Not much, except that he came to me the other day just after my violin +player left me. I had to have somebody musical to draw the crowd, and he +surely can play the banjo.</p> + +<p>"So I hired him. He said his name was Lane and that he had to make his +own way in the world. Said he wanted to be a player in a theater.</p> + +<p>"I told him my place was a sort of open-air theater and ought to suit +him," said Dr. Perry <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>with a smile, "and he said he thought he would +like it. So I engaged him and he did very well. You are the first +persons that have inquired about him."</p> + +<p>"We are not sure he <i>is</i> the runaway Fred we are looking for," said Mr. +Brown. "It is hard to tell with all that black he had on. But I should +like to meet him."</p> + +<p>"Go to the hotel any time between now and morning," suggested the +medicine man. "I guess the boy will be glad to talk to you."</p> + +<p>"I'll see him in the morning," said Bunny's father. "I'd like to get +this boy to go home, if he is really Fred Ward. His mother and father +miss him very much."</p> + +<p>"I'll do all I can for you," promised the medicine man. "Come to the +hotel in the morning and I'll let you talk to him. I won't say anything +in the meanwhile, because if he is really Fred, and has run off as you +say, he won't want to meet you or go back with you. It's best to take +him unawares."</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown agreed to this, and then, with his wife and Bunny and Sue, +started for the "Ark." On the way they discussed what had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>happened. +They saw the medicine man, as they turned down the curve in the road, +driving his horse and van toward the hotel.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure it's Fred," said Sue.</p> + +<p>"So am I," added Bunny. "Won't it be <i>great</i> if we find him so soon?"</p> + +<p>"It may not be the missing boy," said Mr. Brown. "But we'll know in the +morning."</p> + +<p>Those in the "Ark" passed a quiet night, though they went to bed later +than usual because of the excitement of the evening. Uncle Tad was +interested in hearing the news about the blackened-up banjo player who +might prove to be Fred Ward.</p> + +<p>"And how's Fluffy, our squirrel?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"Fast asleep, just as Dix and Splash are," answered Uncle Tad.</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue were awake early the next morning, but Daddy Brown was +ahead of them, and their mother said he had gone on to the hotel to see +about the banjo boy.</p> + +<p>"May we go there after we have eaten?" asked Bunny. "We want to see +Fred."</p> + +<p>"It might not be he," said Mrs. Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> "You had better wait until your +father comes back."</p> + +<p>At first Bunny and Sue fretted a bit, but finally they became interested +in playing games under the big tree where the "Ark" had rested for the +night, and before they knew it their father came back.</p> + +<p>"But he hasn't brought Fred!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Maybe the minstrel boy wasn't the one after all," suggested Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm inclined to think he was," said her husband.</p> + +<p>"Did you see him?" eagerly asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"No, he had run away. That's why I think it was Fred."</p> + +<p>Then Mr. Brown explained:</p> + +<p>"When I got to the hotel," he told Bunny, Sue and the others, "I saw Dr. +Perry walking around rather nervously. I asked him about the boy, and he +said that when he and his medicine van reached the hotel after closing +the show last night, he found that his banjo player had packed his +valise, taken his banjo, and gone off."</p> + +<p>"Where?" asked Mrs. Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nobody knows. He left no word. That's what makes me think it was Fred. +He must have seen us in the crowd. And, as soon as he could wash the +black off his face, he hurried to the hotel ahead of Dr. Perry, got his +bag and ran away. Very likely he did not want to see us and hear us give +him the message from his parents. His heart must still be hard against +them. It is too bad, if that was Fred, for I had begun to think I had +found him. Still it may have been some other young fellow. Dr. Perry +said they often came and went without giving any reasons. But we'll +still be on the lookout for the missing boy."</p> + +<p>Once more the "Ark" started off, and for several days there was just +ordinary travel. The children played and had fun, the dogs raced along +the road, barking and enjoying themselves, and the weather was fine. +Then came another day of hard rain, and the "Ark" was kept under a big +oak tree.</p> + +<p>The day after the rain, when the wayside brooks were still high, but the +roads fairly good, Mr. Brown went on again. They were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>coming to a small +town, and had to cross a ditch over which was a small bridge. Usually +there was but little water in the ditch, but now, because of the rain, +the banks were full.</p> + +<p>"I hope this bridge is strong enough for our car to go over," said Mr. +Brown. Slowly he steered the big machine on it. Hardly had it reached +the middle when there was a cracking of wood, and the bridge bent down. +The automobile sank with it.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried Bunny, who sat in the back door. "We're going into the +ditch, Daddy!"</p> + +<p>"We're there <i>now</i>!" said Sue as the "Ark" stopped with a jerk and a +bounce.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>ON TO PORTLAND</h3> + + +<p>There was no doubt about it, the big automobile was in the ditch. Or +rather, the rear wheels, having gone through the small bridge, were now +in the water of a little brook. The rains had made the usually dry ditch +into a brook that flowed swiftly along.</p> + +<p>"Oh dear!" cried Mrs. Brown. "This is too bad!"</p> + +<p>"Anybody hurt back there?" asked Mr. Brown, who, at the first feeling +that something was wrong, had put on the brakes. The automobile would +have stopped anyhow, as the wheels were held fast in the mud and the +broken pieces of the bridge.</p> + +<p>"No, we're all right," answered Uncle Tad, looking at Bunny and Sue, +who, at the first sound of something wrong had crept closer to their +mother.</p> + +<p>"My nose feels as if I had bumped it," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> Bunny, rubbing his +"smeller" as he sometimes called it. "Though I don't remember doing it," +he went on.</p> + +<p>"I guess you did it when you jumped out of your seat," said his mother. +"We all jumped, it came so suddenly."</p> + +<p>"And I dropped my Teddy bear and Uncle Tad stepped on her," murmured Sue +with sorrow in her tones. "Look, Uncle Tad, you've turned on her eyes!"</p> + +<p>And, surely enough, the electric eyes of Sallie Malinda were glowing +brightly. Uncle Tad must have stepped on the switch button in the toy's +back and turned it on.</p> + +<p>"But I guess she's all right," went on Sue, as she turned off the switch +and then turned it on again to see that it was working as it should. +"You didn't hurt her, Uncle Tad," she said.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad of that, Sue," said the old soldier. "Now I guess I'd better +get around to see if I can help your father get the automobile out of +the ditch."</p> + +<p>Dix and Splash, who had been racing up and down the road, came back, +panting and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>with their long red tongues hanging out of their mouths, to +see what the trouble was. They looked at the ditched automobile with +their heads on one side, and then sort of barked at one another. It was +as if Dix said:</p> + +<p>"Well, what do you think about it, Splash? Do you think we had better +stay here and help them?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't see anything <i>we</i> can do," answered Splash. At least it +<i>seemed</i> as if he spoke that way. "Let's keep on playing tag."</p> + +<p>And so the two dogs raced away.</p> + +<p>"We do seem to be in a fix," remarked Mr. Brown as he came as near as he +could to the back of the automobile without getting into the ditch.</p> + +<p>"What <i>can</i> we do?" asked Mrs. Brown, and her voice was anxious.</p> + +<p>"We'll soon see," answered her husband. "In the first place you had all +better get out of the car. I don't know how long it may stand upright. +It may topple over if the water washes away more mud from under one +wheel than from under another, and you'll be better out than in."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But how are we going to <i>get</i> out?" asked Bunny. "The back steps are +all under water!"</p> + +<p>And so they were. When the bridge broke with the automobile the front +wheels were off the wooden planks and on the road beyond, and the rear +wheels went down when the bridge broke in the middle. So the "Ark" was +standing as though it had come to a sudden stop going up a steep hill, +at the bottom of which was a brook. The rear wheels, and all but the top +one of the back steps were under water.</p> + +<p>"You can crawl out over the front seat," said Mr. Brown. "From there you +can easily get down to the ground if Uncle Tad and I help you. Then, +Mother, you might try your hand at getting a lunch, for it will soon be +noon, while Uncle Tad and I see what we can do about getting the +automobile out of the ditch."</p> + +<p>"It will be some fun after all," said Bunny as he crawled out over the +front seat. "We can picnic alongside the road, Sue, and watch Daddy and +Uncle Tad get the car out."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," said Bunny's sister. "And maybe I'll make a pie for you and +Sallie Malinda."</p> + +<p>"No, I guess I wouldn't try a pie to-day," said Mrs. Brown with a smile. +"We won't be able to use any stove except the small oil one, out on the +ground, and that will cook only a few things. We'll wait for the pie +until the auto is safe on the road again."</p> + +<p>"I hope we can get it out of the ditch without breaking anything," said +Mr. Brown, as he helped his wife and children down the high front steps +of the big car, and then lifted out the oil stove, and other things that +would be needed for the lunch.</p> + +<p>"Do you think there is any danger?" asked Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"A little," answered her husband. "But at least none of us can be hurt, +and the worst that can happen will be a little damage to our car."</p> + +<p>"Oh, the dear old 'Ark!'" cried Mrs. Brown. "I hope it won't be damaged +much."</p> + +<p>"So do I," said her husband. "If I had known that bridge was so weak as +to let us fall through I would have gone a different <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>road. But I +suppose the rain and high water weakened the supports. However, don't +worry. We'll see what can be done."</p> + +<p>After a look at the way in which the rear wheels of the big car were +lodged in the ditch, Uncle Tad and Mr. Brown went to the nearest town on +foot to get help. Mrs. Brown, Bunny and Sue made a little camp beside +the road, the children helping a little, and then running about to play. +The two dogs joined them in their fun.</p> + +<p>"I guess I'll make a little cornstarch pudding," said Mrs. Brown, as she +got the other things ready for lunch; and when the pudding was finished +she covered it up, so no ants or bugs would get in it, and set it in a +hollow stump to keep until it would be needed for the dessert after the +lunch.</p> + +<p>It was not long before Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad came back riding in a big +automobile truck which they had hired at the nearest garage to pull the +"Ark" out of the ditch.</p> + +<p>"Will you have lunch first?" asked Mrs. Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, I guess we will," said her husband. "We'll eat while the garage +men are getting ropes and chains around our car to pull it out of the +ditch."</p> + +<p>And so they ate their dinner under the shade of a big tree beside the +road. Two men had come in the auto truck to work for Mr. Brown, and they +went about it quickly, putting strong ropes and chains on the "Ark."</p> + +<p>"And now I have a little surprise for you," said Mrs. Brown as she +poured tea for herself, Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad, and set milk before the +children.</p> + +<p>"Oh, goodie!" cried Sue.</p> + +<p>"Fine!" exclaimed Bunny.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown went to the hollow stump. She looked in and then she cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! No I haven't any either."</p> + +<p>"Any what, either?" asked Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Surprise for you. I made a nice cocoanut cornstarch pudding, and put it +in this hollow stump, covering it up. But something has come along and +eaten it."</p> + +<p>For a moment there was a silence, and then Bunny cried:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Maybe it was a hungry bear!"</p> + +<p>"Or maybe it was our squirrel Fluffy," said Sue. "He can hop around a +little now, 'cause his leg is almost well."</p> + +<p>"Hum, the pudding's gone, is it?" said Mr. Brown. "That's too bad. Come +here, sir!" he suddenly called to Splash. The dog, who was lying beside +Dix near the brook, arose slowly and came to Mr. Brown, tail between his +legs and head drooping.</p> + +<p>"And you too, Dix! Come here!" ordered Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>Dix walked up exactly as Splash had done, with drooping head and tail. +Mr. Brown took hold of the head of first one dog and then the other. He +looked closely at their mouths.</p> + +<p>"Here we have the pudding thieves!" he cried. "Splash and Dix found the +dessert in the hollow stump and ate it. Didn't you, you rascals?"</p> + +<p>The dogs whined and said not a "word." It was very plain that they had +taken the pudding.</p> + +<p>"Oh, please don't whip them, Daddy!" begged Bunny.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No; I won't," said Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"I shouldn't have left the pudding where they could get it," said Mrs. +Brown. "It was all my fault. I'll make another for supper."</p> + +<p>However, there were some cakes in a tin can in the "Ark," and as Uncle +Tad climbed in and got them out for the children before the garage men +started to pull the stalled automobile out with their machine, Bunny and +Sue had a little dessert after all.</p> + +<p>"We're all ready to try to get your car out of the ditch now, Mr. +Brown," said one of the garage men.</p> + +<p>"Oh, let's watch, Sue!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"But keep out of the way," ordered their father.</p> + +<p>There was a puffing of the other auto truck, a grinding of the wheels, +and then the "Ark" was pulled slowly out of the ditch, and on to the +road again, the hind wheels running on long planks which the men put +under them. Thus out on to the safe and solid road rolled the "Ark."</p> + +<p>"Hurrah!" cried Bunny Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now we're all right," said his Sister Sue.</p> + +<p>And indeed they were, for it was found that nothing was broken on the +big machine in which the Brown family were making their tour.</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown paid the garage men, who went back to their shop, and the +"Ark" was soon on its way again.</p> + +<p>"And the next time I come to a small bridge I'm going to find out how +much weight it will carry before I cross it," said the children's +father.</p> + +<p>For a week or more the "Ark" traveled on. Every time he got a chance Mr. +Brown asked about Fred, in the different towns through which they +passed, but could get no trace of the missing boy.</p> + +<p>They saw other medicine showmen who had with them players or singers, +but none of them were at all like the runaway Fred.</p> + +<p>"It must have been he who was with Dr. Perry," said Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and I presume he feared we knew him and so he ran on farther," her +husband added. "He may be in Portland now."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How soon shall we be there?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"In a few more days now."</p> + +<p>Two days later, as they camped outside a little village for the night, +they saw beside the road a signboard which read:</p> + +<div class='center'> +TWENTY MILES TO PORTLAND<br /> +</div> + +<p>"Oh, we'll be there to-morrow!" cried Bunny. "Then we can find Fred, and +can send him to his mamma and papa!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>CAMPING OUT</h3> + + +<p>Mr. Brown was awakened in the morning feeling little hands tugging at +him as he lay in his bunk, and childish voices crying:</p> + +<p>"Come on, Daddy! Get up! Get up!"</p> + +<p>"Eh? What's this? Get up!" he exclaimed. "Why, what's the matter, Bunny +and Sue?" he went on, as he saw the two standing inside the curtains +that hung in front of his bed.</p> + +<p>"It's time to get up," said Sue.</p> + +<p>"Why, it isn't six o'clock yet," answered her father, looking at his +watch, which was under his pillow. "Why are you out of your bunks so +early? Go back to sleep."</p> + +<p>"But we want to get on to Portland to find Fred Ward," said Bunny. "It's +only twenty miles and we can soon be there if we start early."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There isn't much you children forget, is there?" asked Mr. Brown with a +laugh, as he stretched and rubbed his eyes. Then as he opened wide his +arms Bunny and Sue piled into the bunk with him, having a good, hearty +tussle, until their shouts of laughter awakened Mrs. Brown and Uncle +Tad, while Dix and Splash, asleep under the big car, added their barks +to the din.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Has anything more happened?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, these children want to leave before breakfast for Portland, to find +that runaway boy," said Mr. Brown. "Well, as long as they're awake I +suppose we might as well get up and start early. It's about time I +attended to my business affairs."</p> + +<p>Breakfast was soon ready, and when it had been eaten the "Ark" was once +more chugging along the road. The travelers passed through several small +villages and then they came to the edge of a big city which, the +children's father told them, was Portland.</p> + +<p>"Are we going to stay in the auto while we're here?" asked Bunny, for +Mr. Brown <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>had said they would probably remain in Portland for nearly a +week, as he had several matters to look after.</p> + +<p>"No, I'll give you a chance to stretch your legs," said his father. +"We'll store the automobile in a garage and you can live at a hotel +while I'm getting my business in shape."</p> + +<p>"But what about Dix and Splash?" asked Bunny. "Where can they stay?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll find a hotel with a garage attached to it, and leave the dogs +there in charge of the 'Ark,'" said Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"And what about finding Fred?" Sue queried. She, as well as Bunny, was +greatly interested in the missing boy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll do all I can to find him," promised Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>A hotel, with a garage attached to it, was easily found in Portland, and +as the "Ark" went through the streets many persons turned to look at it. +But Bunny and Sue did not mind this in the least.</p> + +<p>"They'll think we're a new kind of gypsy," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"And they'll all wish they was us, riding <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>around this way," said Sue, +as she laughed with Bunny.</p> + +<p>"'They was us.' Oh, Sue!" groaned her mother.</p> + +<p>Dix and Splash did not like very much being left alone in the garage, +and they whined and barked as they were chained near the auto. But the +garage keeper promised to be kind to them, to let them run about after a +while and to feed and water them.</p> + +<p>"And we'll come to see you every once in a while," said Bunny and Sue, +as they patted and hugged their two pets.</p> + +<p>Fluffy, the squirrel, now well again, had been set free, before entering +the city, in the woods that he loved.</p> + +<p>So, for a while the Browns gave up their "Ark," and settled down to +hotel life. Mr. Brown had much business to look after in connection with +his fish and dock affairs at home, for he was part owner of a steamship +line that ran from Portland to Bellemere.</p> + +<p>After a day or two he found a chance to ask about the missing boy. Mr. +Brown first appealed to the police. But they had no record <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>of him, and +though inquiries were made of a number of theater owners, Fred Ward was +not found. The man whose name he had mentioned as being the one he +intended to see in Portland had moved away.</p> + +<p>"Well, Fred may have come here," said Mr. Brown, "and, after he found +his friend was gone, he may have drifted on to some other town. I'm +afraid we can't find him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Bunny. "That's too bad!"</p> + +<p>"Let us go to look for him," proposed Sue. "We found Nellie Jones, that +girl who lives at the end of our street, when she was lost away over on +the next block."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but that was different from this," said Mrs. Brown. "Portland is a +big city, and if you go wandering about in it you'll be worse lost than +you were in the big woods. You children stay with me, and your father +will do all he can to find Fred."</p> + +<p>So Bunny and Sue had to be content to stay at the hotel, to go +sightseeing with their mother, to go to the moving pictures, while Mr. +Brown looked after his business. Sev<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>eral times each day Bunny and Sue +went to the garage to see the dogs. And how glad Dix and Splash were to +see the children!</p> + +<p>Finally the day came when Mr. Brown had finished his business. He made +several more attempts to find Fred, but could not do so and at last +wrote to Mr. Ward, as he had promised, that, as far as could be learned, +the missing boy was not in Portland.</p> + +<p>"We will keep watch for him on our way back to Bellemere," Mr. Brown +said in his letter. "We are returning by a different route from that by +which we came. Every chance we get we will look for your boy."</p> + +<p>Then the "Ark" was taken from the garage, to the delight of the dogs no +less than that of the children, and once more the Browns were on their +tour.</p> + +<p>As Mr. Brown had said, they were going back a different way from the one +they had taken on coming to Portland. This was to give his family a +chance to see new towns and villages. And, as the weather still promised +to be fine, all looked forward to a jolly auto tour.</p> + +<p>Every time he came to a good-sized city, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>and whenever he met a +traveling show, Mr. Brown inquired for Fred, but it seemed that the +missing boy was well hidden. Undoubtedly he did not want to be found.</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue had great fun on the homeward trip, which lasted even +longer than the outgoing one.</p> + +<p>The party had ridden on for several days, each one marked by sunshine, +when one evening they came to a little clump of trees beside the road. +It was not far from a good-sized village.</p> + +<p>"We'll stay here over night," said Mr. Brown, "and in the morning we'll +take a little side trip to a waterfall not far away."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that will be fun!" cried Bunny. "Maybe I can make a wooden water +wheel, and have it splash in the falls and go around."</p> + +<p>"No indeed you can't!" cried his father. "The falls are too big for +that. They are seventy feet high."</p> + +<p>But, as it happened, when morning came and Mr. Brown was about to start +the automobile after breakfast, there was a sudden <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>crash, and the big +car settled down on one side, like a lame duck.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my!" cried Mrs. Brown. "What has happened now?"</p> + +<p>"It sounded as if one of the big springs had broken," said her husband, +getting down off the seat to look. "Yes," he added, "that's it. This +means we'll have to stay here three or four days until I can get a new +spring put in."</p> + +<p>For a moment Bunny and Sue looked a trifle sad. Then Bunny cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, that will be fun. We can camp out in a tent in the woods."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you and Sue can play at camping, if you like," said their father. +"But I think you'll want to sleep in the auto at night."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! We won't!" laughed Sue. "Now for some fun camping out!" she +added.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>AT THE LAKE</h3> + + +<p>While Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad looked again at the spring of the auto, to +see just how badly it was broken, Bunny and Sue, with Mrs. Brown, went +over to the clump of trees, which was not far from the road.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this will be a grand place!" cried Sue.</p> + +<p>"Yes," agreed her brother. "We can put up the tent here," and he pointed +to a little knoll amid a circle of trees, "and then if it rains the +water will not come in."</p> + +<p>Bunny's father had told him the first thing to do, in pitching a tent, +was to see that it would be dry in case of rain.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I think you children will come into the 'Ark' when it begins to +shower," said Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! Why, it's lots of fun in a tent in the rain!" cried Bunny. +"Let's get it up right away."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Better wait until daddy or Uncle Tad can help you," said Mother Brown. +"Now we'll sit down and rest in the woods."</p> + +<p>"Well, as long as the 'Ark' had to break down, this was the best place +for it to happen, I guess," said Mr. Brown, as, with Uncle Tad, he came +over to the wood where Mrs. Brown and the children were seated on a +fallen tree.</p> + +<p>"Is the break a bad one?" asked his wife.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think we'll need an entirely new spring, and it will take nearly +a week to get that. However, as the children will have as much fun +camping out here, as they would traveling in the car, it will be all +right. We are not far from a town, and we can get what we want to eat +from there."</p> + +<p>"I think our cupboard is pretty well filled now," said Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"You might look to see if there is anything you need," suggested her +husband. "I am going into town to find a garage man and have him arrange +to get a new spring for me. Uncle Tad can be putting up the tent while +I'm away."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'm going to help," said Sue.</p> + +<p>"And so am I!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>As has been said, there was a tent carried on top of the Ark, and this +was now taken down by the old soldier and carried to the wood, there to +be set up for Bunny and Sue. The tent was large enough for the children +to sleep in if they wanted to. In fact, they had done so once or twice. +But their mother was not sure they would do so on this trip.</p> + +<p>However, the tent was put up and the little folding cots made ready, +while Bunny brought his popgun and cannon with which to play soldier, +and Sue, her Teddy bear and set of dishes with which to play +keeping-house.</p> + +<p>By the time this was done Mr. Brown had come back from the village, +bringing some chocolate candy for the children. He said he had seen an +automobile dealer and it would take fully a week to get a new spring for +the "Ark."</p> + +<p>They had their dinner out-of-doors, and after that Bunny and Sue played +games in the tent. They said they were surely going to sleep in it at +night, so they made up the cots <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>and took their little pajamas with them +into the canvas house.</p> + +<p>"I'll have my flashlight, too," said Bunny; "and in case we want to get +up in the night to get a drink, Sue, we can do it easy."</p> + +<p>"That'll be nice," said his sister.</p> + +<p>In the evening, while the Browns were at supper, an old man, who seemed +to be a farmer, came strolling down the road, stopping at the big +automobile, and looking from it over to the children's tent in the +woods.</p> + +<p>"You folks camping here?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Well, we're traveling in our car, and we've had to stop on account of a +broken spring," explained Mr. Brown. "The children thought it would be +fun to have a tent up in the woods. No objection I hope, if you own +those trees."</p> + +<p>"Bless your heart! No objection at all! I do own that patch of wood, and +I'm glad to see the children's tent there. It sort of reminds me of war +time, when I was in the army. You're welcome to stay as long as you +like, and if you want anything I've got you can have it!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> + +<p>"So you were in the war, too," remarked Uncle Tad, walking up to the +farmer. "I'm a veteran myself. Where did you fight?"</p> + +<p>The two elderly men began talking and soon found that they had been in +the same Southern States together, though they had never met. Then, as +evening came on, the two soldiers talked of the old days of the war, +while Mr. Brown built a little campfire to make it seem pleasant. Bunny +and Sue listened to the tales of battles until finally Mrs. Brown, +noticing that their eyes were drooping, said:</p> + +<p>"It's time for you tots to go to bed. Hadn't you better sleep in the +automobile?"</p> + +<p>"No, we're going to our tent," said Bunny, seriously.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we want to camp out," added Sue, sleepy as she was.</p> + +<p>Knowing that it was perfectly safe, for the children had often camped +out before, Mr. and Mrs. Brown undressed the sleepy tots, and carried +them to their cots in the tent. Dix and Splash were given beds of hay on +the ground near the tent and told to stay on guard, which they would be +sure to do.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you think they'll sleep out all night?" asked Mr. Brown of his wife, +as they made ready for bed in the automobile.</p> + +<p>"I hardly think so," she said. "I'll leave the electric light, the one +outside the 'Ark' near the back steps, burning, so if they want to crawl +in here during the night they can."</p> + +<p>"Good idea," said Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>Soon all was quiet around the big automobile and in the little white +tent over amid the trees. Bunny and Sue had fallen asleep almost as soon +as their heads touched the pillows.</p> + +<p>But they did not sleep very long. Or so, at least, it seemed to them.</p> + +<p>Sue awakened with a start. At first she could not remember where she +was, though there was a bright moon shining outside and it made the tent +light inside. Then she called:</p> + +<p>"Bunny!"</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" he asked, for he was just about to awaken.</p> + +<p>"Did you hear that?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"What?" Bunny questioned.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That sound."</p> + +<p>Both listened. Outside the tent was a sound that could be plainly heard +by the children.</p> + +<p>"I—I guess it's Dix snoring," said Bunny after a while.</p> + +<p>"Or maybe Splash talkin' in his sleep," added Sue. "We aren't afraid, +are we, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>"Not a bit, Sue! It's nice here!" Bunny's tone was very confident.</p> + +<p>Bunny closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. So did Sue.</p> + +<p>But neither of them could do so, though they closed their eyes very +tight. Finally Sue asked:</p> + +<p>"Bunny, are you asleep?"</p> + +<p>"No. Are you?"</p> + +<p>"No. And I don't believe I'm going to sleep. That funny noise is +soundin' again. Say, Bunny, does Dix snore like: 'Who? Who? Who-ooo?'"</p> + +<p>"No, I—I never heard him."</p> + +<p>"Then it isn't Dix! It's something else," said the little girl firmly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bunny listened. Outside the tent he heard a mournful:</p> + +<p>"Whoo! Who? Too-who!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know what that is now!" cried Bunny. "It's an owl."</p> + +<p>"Does an owl bite?" asked Sue:</p> + +<p>"Sure they do!"</p> + +<p>In the dim moonlight that shone into the tent Bunny could see his sister +get out of her cot, put on her slippers and dressing robe, and then take +up her Teddy bear, turning on the eyelights.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"I'm goin' home to my regular bed!" said Sue. "This tent is all right, +but a owl might bite through it. You'd better come with me, Bunny +Brown."</p> + +<p>"I—I guess I will," said the little boy. "I wouldn't want you to go +alone," he added brightly.</p> + +<p>He, too, put on his robe and slippers, and then Sue, with her lighted +Teddy bear, and Bunny, with his little flashlight, started toward the +"Ark." The two dogs followed.</p> + +<p>Up the steps, in the glare of the little out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>side electric light went +the two tots. As they entered the automobile Mrs. Brown heard them and +called:</p> + +<p>"Who is there?"</p> + +<p>"It's us," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"An old owl kept askin' us questions about who was it," added Sue, "an' +we couldn't sleep. So we came in here."</p> + +<p>"Crawl into your bunks," said Mother Brown. And that ended the +children's sleeping in the tent, for a while at least.</p> + +<p>The next morning Mr. Jason, the soldier-farmer who owned the wood where +the tent was erected, came down to the "Ark."</p> + +<p>"I'm going to drive over to Blue Lake to-day," he said. "Don't you folks +want to go along? You might take your lunch and picnic there. It's got a +waterfall."</p> + +<p>"I did promise the children to take them to see it while we were here," +said Mr. Brown. "Thank you, we should like to go with you." And a little +later the Browns were at Blue Lake.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3>DIX TO THE RESCUE</h3> + + +<p>"Where is the waterfall?"</p> + +<p>"Can't we go in swimming?"</p> + +<p>"I want to row a boat!"</p> + +<p>"I want to fish!"</p> + +<p>As soon as they jumped out of Farmer Jason's wagon at Blue Lake, Bunny +Brown and his Sister Sue were saying these things and asking these +questions. The children saw before them a large body of water, that +seemed a deep blue under the shining sun, and round about it were small +hills "like strawberries on top of a shortcake," as Sue said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what a beautiful place!" ejaculated Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Yes, folks around here thinks as how it <i>is</i> right pretty," said Farmer +Jason. "But you haven't seen the prettiest part yet—that's the +waterfall."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's where I want to go!" cried Bunny.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And I want to go out in a boat," added Sue, renewing her first request.</p> + +<p>"So do I! And fish!" chimed in Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Now, one thing at a time," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. "You are hardly +here yet and you want to do half a dozen things. Be patient. We are +going to stay all day, for we brought our lunch, and I think we shall +have time for everything you want to do."</p> + +<p>"Yes, pitch right in and enjoy yourselves," said Farmer Jason with a +laugh. "That's what the lake's here for. A few of us farmers own it, and +the churches in this neighborhood generally has picnics here. I've got +to drive over a few miles to see a man about some horses I want to buy, +but I'll stop back in plenty of time to take you home."</p> + +<p>The Browns and their lunch being safely unloaded from the wagon, +including, of course, Sue's Teddy bear, Farmer Jason drove off, while +Dix and Splash scampered about in the woods on the shore of the lake and +went swimming, something which Bunny and Sue wanted to do at once.</p> + +<p>"I think it is a little cool," said Mother<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> Brown. "Besides, I didn't +bring your bathing suits. I guess you can get along without a swim +to-day."</p> + +<p>Indeed there was enough else to do at Blue Lake, as the children very +soon found out. Of course it was not the first time they had been at a +lake in the woods, but there seemed to be something new about this +place.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the trees were greener. Certainly the lake seemed of a deeper +blue than any the children had seen before. They ran up and down the +pebbly shore, threw stones into the water to watch them sink, after +sending out a lot of rings that made little waves on the beach. They +tossed sticks into the water, which the dogs were eager to swim out for +and bring back. Then Bunny had an idea.</p> + +<p>"Sue, let's go in wading!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, let's!" she agreed instantly; and without saying anything to +their father or mother about it the two took off their shoes and +stockings and were walking about in the shallow water near the shore.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Brown, with Uncle Tad, were sitting in the shade, looking +out over the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>beautiful lake. They were glad they had come on the little +excursion, and the trouble of the broken spring of the automobile seemed +turned into something good now.</p> + +<p>"For," said Mrs. Brown, "it has given us a chance to camp out and to see +this lake, and I would not have missed this sight for a great deal."</p> + +<p>"Nor I, either," said her husband. "But suppose we go to take a look at +the waterfall before lunch. I know I'll want to take a nap after I eat, +and then it will soon be time for Mr. Jason to come back for us, so if +we don't go now we may miss it."</p> + +<p>"That's what I say," agreed Uncle Tad, and the three arose from the +fallen tree on which they had been sitting. Just then Mother Brown +caught sight of Bunny and Sue.</p> + +<p>"Look at those children!" she cried.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Mr. Brown quickly. "They haven't fallen in, I +hope!"</p> + +<p>"Well, they're <i>in</i> all the same!" chuckled Uncle Tad. "Bunny has his +knickerbockers rolled up as high as they'll go, and if Sue's clothes +aren't wet I'm mistaken!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> + +<p>For by this time, liking the fun so much, Bunny and Sue had waded out +where the water was deeper, and their clothes had become splashed by the +little waves they made as they moved along.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! Such tykes!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "Well, it isn't too cool +for wading, though it is for swimming. But I must get them dry if we are +to go to the waterfall."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown had brought some old towels along, for she knew what might +happen when the children were going to play near a lake, and while Bunny +and Sue were being told that they should have first asked whether or not +they could go in wading, they were drying their pink toes on towels and +getting ready to put on their shoes and stockings again.</p> + +<p>"But we didn't think <i>wading</i> was as bad as <i>swimming</i>," said Bunny as +he rubbed some sand off his fat legs.</p> + +<p>"It isn't <i>exactly</i>," his mother answered. "But this time it was +<i>nearly</i> as bad. But never mind. Come on and we'll see the waterfall."</p> + +<p>Farmer Jason had told Mr. Brown how to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>walk to the place where the +waters of a small river toppled over the rocks into the lake, and having +hidden the bundle of lunch up in a tree, where wandering dogs could not +get at it, the family set off, Dix and Splash running on ahead, to see +the waterfall.</p> + +<p>The way was through a pleasant wood, with little paths running here and +there, and if Bunny and Sue had been wandering alone they probably would +have gotten lost. But the road to the waterfall was a well-marked one +and Mr. Brown kept to it until pretty soon Mrs. Brown said:</p> + +<p>"Hark, I hear something."</p> + +<p>There was a distant roaring in the woods.</p> + +<p>"It's a trolley car," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>His father, mother and Uncle Tad laughed.</p> + +<p>"What a boy!" cried Mother Brown. "To think the roar of a beautiful +waterfall is but the noise of a trolley car! He will never be a poet, +will he Daddy?"</p> + +<p>"I don't want to be," said Bunny quickly. "I'm going to be a policeman +when I grow up, and have a gun."</p> + +<p>"All right," chuckled Daddy Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> "But a policeman's life is not an +easy one."</p> + +<p>The roaring noise became plainer, and then, as the path turned, the +party came in sight of an open glade through which they could see the +cataract.</p> + +<p>It was not unlike a small Niagara in its way. For a distance back of the +edge the waters of the little river bubbled and foamed over rough rocks. +Then came a smooth stretch and, suddenly, the waters plunged over the +broken ledge, falling about seventy feet to the lake below where they +made a pool of foam.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it wonderful?" murmured Mother Brown.</p> + +<p>"It certainly is a beautiful picture," came from Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"It's the prettiest little fall I've ever seen," added Uncle Tad.</p> + +<p>Sue said nothing for a minute. Both she and Bunny were looking at the +waterfall closely. Then Sue began to wrap a shawl, which she had brought +along, over her Teddy bear.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Mother Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It's like rain all over Sallie Malinda," answered the little girl. "I +don't want her to catch cold, for she might not shine her 'lectric eyes +any more."</p> + +<p>"That's all Sue seems to care about the fall," laughed Mother Brown in a +whisper to her husband.</p> + +<p>As for Bunny, he seemed to think them quite wonderful—for a time. He +stood as near the edge as his father would let him, looking up the +rapids down which the waters rushed, to fall over the rocky edge, +dropping in a smother of foam to the blue lake below. Silently he +watched the smooth waters glide down like some ribbon, and then, turning +to his father, he asked:</p> + +<p>"Is this all they do?"</p> + +<p>"All what does?" inquired Mr. Brown, not quite understanding.</p> + +<p>"All the waterfall does. Does it just keep falling?"</p> + +<p>"All day and all night, day after day and night after night, forever and +forever," said Mr. Brown, for really the waterfall was a marvelous +sight.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then I've seen enough," said Bunny, turning away. "If they've been +doing this a long while, and will do it all next week, I can look at 'em +then. Now I want to go out in a boat. I saw one as we came through the +picnic grounds. I've had enough of waterfalls."</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Brown and Uncle Tad looked at one another. But they said +nothing. Bunny started down the hill again, toward the lake, Sue +following with her Teddy bear.</p> + +<p>"Bunny surely will never make a poet," chuckled his mother.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, perhaps there are enough poets in the world now," said Mr. +Brown with a laugh.</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue were first at the place where the boat was kept. There +were several of them, and Mr. Jason had said that picnic parties used +them. The lake was not deep, he had added, and was very safe, for any +one who knew anything about boats.</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue finally prevailed on Uncle Tad to take them out for a row +after lunch, and when the two children were in their seats Dix insisted +on following.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Brown, who decided to remain on shore with his wife, tried to call +back the dog, but he would not come. Nor would he come when Splash +barked and whined at him, asking, in dog language, I suppose, if Dix did +not want to come and have a game of "water tag."</p> + +<p>But Dix evidently wished to stay in the boat, and finally they let him +remain, as he was a quiet dog, not given to jumping about. He curled up +in front behind Sue and went to sleep.</p> + +<p>Uncle Tad rowed about the lake. Bunny wished he had brought his fishing +pole and line along, as they saw fish jumping in several places.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, we're going to be here nearly a week yet," said Uncle Tad. +"We can come again."</p> + +<p>Just how it happened Sue herself could not explain. But, somehow or +other, her Teddy bear slipped from her lap and was about to fall out of +the boat. That would never do, the little girl decided, and of course +she made a quick motion to catch her toy.</p> + +<p>And, just then, Bunny leaned on the same <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>side of the boat to pick up a +floating stick so that the boat tipped.</p> + +<p>"Look out!" cried Uncle Tad. "Sit still, children!"</p> + +<p>But he spoke too late, for, in an instant, Sue fell out of the boat and +into the lake. Uncle Tad was so surprised for a moment that he sat +still. But not so Dix. He had awakened in a second, and with a loud bark +sprang overboard to the rescue of the little girl.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3>THE CIRCUS</h3> + + +<p>"Oh my!" cried Bunny Brown, as he saw his sister topple out of the boat +into the lake. "Oh, dear!"</p> + +<p>By this time Uncle Tad, the old soldier, was ready for action. He took +off his coat, without standing up in the boat, for well he knew how +dangerous that was, and he was just ready to slip overboard into the +water, the bottom of which he could see, when Dix, who had thrust his +head under the surface, came up with Sue held in his strong jaws, his +teeth fastened in her dress near the neck.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dix! Dix!" cried Bunny, in delight. "I'm so glad you saved my +sister. Oh, Dix! I'll love you all my life!"</p> + +<p>Dix, holding Sue with her head well above the water, was swimming toward +the boat. Bunny, eager to do what he could to help his sister, was +leaning over the side, ready to reach <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>her as soon as the dog came near +enough. Then Uncle Tad cried:</p> + +<p>"Sit still, Bunny! I'll take Sue in. But I must do it at the stern of +the boat, and not over the side, as that might tip us over. You sit +still in the middle of the boat."</p> + +<p>Bunny, who had lived near the seashore all his life knew that "stern" +meant the back of the boat. And he remembered that his father had often +told him if ever he fell out of a boat and wanted to get in again +without tipping the boat over, to do so from the stern, or from the bow, +which is the front. A row-boat will not tip backwards or forwards as +easily as it will to either side.</p> + +<p>As soon as Bunny heard what Uncle Tad said, he obeyed. He sat down in +the bottom of the boat between the seats. Then the old soldier, going to +the stern, called to Dix:</p> + +<p>"Around this way, old dog! Bring her here and I'll take her in. Come on, +Dix!"</p> + +<p>Whether the dog knew that it was safer to bring a person in over the +stern of a boat or over the bow instead of over the side, I do not know. +At any rate he did what Uncle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> Tad told him to do, and in another moment +was close to the boat with Sue in his jaws. Uncle Tad lifted her into +the boat and at once turned her on her face and raised her legs in the +air. This was to let any water that she might have swallowed run out.</p> + +<p>Sue began to kick her legs. She gasped and wiggled.</p> + +<p>"Keep still!" cried Bunny. "Uncle Tad is giving you first aid." Bunny +had often seen the lifeguards at the beach do this to swimmers who went +too far out.</p> + +<p>"I—I won't keep still, Bunny Brown!" gasped Sue. "And I—I don't need +any first aid! I just helded my breath under water, I did, and I didn't +swallow much anyhow. I was holding my breath when Uncle Tad began to +raise up my legs, that's why I wiggled and couldn't speak. I'm all right +now and I'm much obliged to you and Dix, Uncle Tad, and I hope my Sallie +Malinda isn't in the lake."</p> + +<p>Sue said this all at one time and then she had to stop for breath. But +what she said was true. Her father had given her swim<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>ming lessons, and +Sue was really a good little diver, and perfectly at home where the +water was not too rough or deep. And, as she had said, as soon as she +felt herself in the water she had taken a long breath and held it before +her nose and mouth went under.</p> + +<p>So while Sue was holding her breath, Dix had reached down and caught +her, before she had really sunk to the bottom. For Sue had on a light +and fluffy dress, and that really was a sort of life preserver. As it +was, the dog had brought Sue to the boat before she had swallowed more +than a few spoonfuls of water, which did her no harm. Of course she was +all wet.</p> + +<p>"You've gone in swimming, anyhow," said Bunny, as soon as he saw that +his sister was all right.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and we must get her to shore as soon as we can," said Uncle Tad. +"Climb in, Dix, and don't scatter any more water on us than you can +help, though we'll forgive you almost anything for the way you saved +Sue."</p> + +<p>The dog climbed in, over the stern where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> Uncle Tad told him to, and +then gave himself a big shake.</p> + +<p>All dogs do that when they come from the water, and Dix only acted +naturally. He gave Bunny and Uncle Tad a shower bath but they did not +mind. Sue could not be made any wetter than she already was.</p> + +<p>"Now for a fast row to shore," said Uncle Tad. "I saw a farmhouse not +far from where we got out of Mr. Jason's wagon, and I guess you can dry +your clothes there, Sue."</p> + +<p>As Uncle Tad started to row Sue cried:</p> + +<p>"But where's Sallie Malinda? Where's my Teddy bear? I won't go without +her!"</p> + +<p>She spoke as if she meant it. Bunny and Uncle Tad looked on both sides +of the boat, and there, on the white sandy bottom of the lake, in about +four feet of water, lay the Teddy bear. It's eyes were lighted which +made it the more easily seen, for Sue must have pressed the switch as +she herself fell overboard. And, as it happened, the batteries and +electric lighted eyes were not harmed by water.</p> + +<p>"I'll get her for you," said Uncle Tad, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>he reached for the Teddy +bear with a boat hook, soon bringing up the toy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I hope she isn't spoiled!" cried Sue.</p> + +<p>"She can dry out with you when you get to the farmhouse," said Bunny, +and then Uncle Tad began to row toward shore.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Brown were surprised, and not a little worried, when they +heard what had happened to Sue. But the little girl herself was quite +calm about it.</p> + +<p>"I just held my breath," she said. "I knew Bunny or somebody would get +me out."</p> + +<p>"I was going to," declared Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I guess he'd have dived over in another second," remarked Uncle +Tad. "But Dix was ahead of both of us."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad you're all right," said Mother Brown. "I do hope you +won't take cold. We must get your wet clothes off."</p> + +<p>Just then Mr. Jason came back with his horses and wagon, and he quickly +drove the whole party to a near-by farmhouse where Sue, and all the +others, were made welcome. Before the warm kitchen fire Sue was dressed +in some dry clothes of a little girl who lived <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>on the farm, while her +own were put near the kitchen stove.</p> + +<p>In a few hours the party was ready to go back to the "Ark," meanwhile +having spent a good time at the farmhouse. Sue seemed all right, and +really she had not been in much danger, for the water was not deep, and +Uncle Tad was a good swimmer.</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue slept rather late the next morning, but when they did +awaken they heard a queer rumbling on the road beside which their +automobile was drawn up.</p> + +<p>"Is that thunder?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"It sounds like it," answered Sue, who showed no signs of having caught +cold from her bath in the lake.</p> + +<p>The children peered from the little windows near their bunks. They saw +going along the road a number of gaily painted wagons—great big wagons, +drawn by eight or ten horses each, and with broad-tired wheels.</p> + +<p>Together Bunny and Sue cried:</p> + +<p>"It's a circus! It's a circus! Hurrah!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3>A LION IS LOOSE</h3> + + +<p>Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue lost no time in getting dressed that +morning, and hurrying out to the tiny dining room where their mother was +getting breakfast.</p> + +<p>"Did you see it?" gasped Sue.</p> + +<p>"Have the elephants gone past yet?" Bunny inquired, his eyes big with +excitement.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you mean the circus," said Mrs. Brown. "No, I haven't seen any +elephants yet. The big wagons just started to go past."</p> + +<p>"Then let's hurry up our breakfast and watch for the elephants and the +tigers," cried Bunny, greatly worried lest he miss any of the animals.</p> + +<p>"You have plenty of time," said Uncle Tad, who was out near the back +steps of the automobile, sorting his fish lines and hooks. "The circus +has just started to go past. Those wagons have in them the tent poles, +the can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>vas for the tents, the things for the men to eat and the big +stoves. These are always unloaded first—in fact, they are sent on ahead +of the rest of the show.</p> + +<p>"Not until later in the morning will the animals and the other wagons +come along. The circus must have unloaded over at Kirkwell," and he +pointed to a railroad station about a mile away. "The tents are going up +on the other side of this town, I heard some of the circus drivers say."</p> + +<p>"Oh, won't we have fun watching them go past?" cried Sue. "I wonder if +they'll have a parade? If they do, and it goes past our house—I mean +our automobile—we can see it better than anybody, can't we?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. But the parade won't come this far out into the country," said +Uncle Tad. "It will go through the streets of the town."</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" asked Bunny, suddenly looking at the old soldier.</p> + +<p>"I thought I'd go fishing over to Blue Lake. Looked yesterday as if +there were plenty of fish there. Want to go with me, Bunny Brown?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Huh? An' the circus comin' to town?" asked Bunny, clipping the end off +his words. "Say, Mother, aren't we going to the circus?" he asked +quickly.</p> + +<p>"Well, I didn't hear anything about it," said Mrs. Brown slowly.</p> + +<p>"Can't you take us, Uncle Tad?" pleaded Sue, for she, as much as did her +brother, wanted to see the big show.</p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose I <i>could</i> put off my fishing till another day," said +Uncle Tad slowly. "Are you <i>sure</i> you two want to go?"</p> + +<p>"Are we!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I want to go—so much!" and Sue showed just how much by putting her +arms around Uncle Tad's neck and hugging him as hard as she could. That +was her way of showing "how much."</p> + +<p>"Well, if it's as much as that I guess I'll have to take you," laughed +Uncle Tad. "Mind you, I don't want to go myself," and he looked at Mrs. +Brown in a queer way. "I don't care anything about a circus—never did +in fact. But if an old man has to give up his fishing trip, just to take +two chil<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>dren to one of the wild animal shows, why I guess it will have +to be done, that's all. But really I don't want to go," and he shook his +head very seriously.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Uncle Tad!" cried Sue. "Don't you want to see the elephants?"</p> + +<p>"Nope," and the old soldier kept on shaking his head "crossways," as +Bunny said.</p> + +<p>"And don't you want to see the lions?"</p> + +<p>"Nope."</p> + +<p>"Nor the tigers?"</p> + +<p>"Nope."</p> + +<p>"Not even the camels and the monkeys and the men jumping over horses' +backs, nor the giraffes with their long necks—don't you want to see +<i>any</i> of them?" Sue was talking faster and faster all the while.</p> + +<p>Uncle Tad did not say anything, but a funny look came into his eyes, and +Bunny was almost sure the old soldier was laughing on one side of his +face at Mother Brown. Then Bunny cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Sue! He's just fooling! He wants to go as much as we do!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Uncle Tad, I'm so glad!" cried Sue.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> "I love you—so—much!" and +again she hugged him as hard as she could, and kissed him too.</p> + +<p>"Now I'll surely have to go," he chuckled.</p> + +<p>Breakfast was soon over, and by that time Bunny and Sue were so excited +that they did not know what to do. Somehow they managed to get properly +dressed, and by that time other circus wagons came along.</p> + +<p>These wagons were gilded and painted more gaily than the first that had +gone past. And from some of them came low growls or roars.</p> + +<p>"Oh, they've got lions inside," said Sue, opening her eyes wide.</p> + +<p>"And tigers, too," added Bunny in a wondering voice. "But I want to see +the elephants," he added.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon the big elephants came along, and behind them came camels +and troops of horses. There were also a number of small boys and some +girls who were following the circus to the lot where the big tents were +already being put up.</p> + +<p>"Say, I just like to see them!" cried Bunny <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>as the elephants swung past +the "Ark," which some of the country boys took to be one of the circus +wagons broken down. "Elephants are great! I guess I'm going to be an +elephant rider when I grow up, instead of a policeman," he said, as he +saw men sitting on the heads of the big elephants while they lumbered +heavily along.</p> + +<p>"It would be fun to ride on one of them," said Sue. "But come on, Uncle +Tad. Take us to the circus. We want to see the parade."</p> + +<p>"We want to see <i>everything</i>," added Bunny.</p> + +<p>"The side shows and <i>everything</i>, and, please, Mother, may we have some +peanuts and popcorn?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't want you eating a lot of things that will make you ill," +said Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"I mean to feed to the elephants," said Bunny. "Elephants love popcorn +and peanuts a lot. Of course Sue and I could eat a little," he added.</p> + +<p>"Well, a <i>very</i> little," agreed his mother. "Elephants are not made ill +so easily as little boys. But get ready, if you are going."</p> + +<p>It did not take the children and Uncle Tad <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>long to get ready. As it was +quite a distance from where the "Ark" was stationed beside the road to +the circus ground, Uncle Tad hired Mr. Jason to drive him and the +children over in the wagon.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I see the tents!" cried Bunny, as they neared the ground.</p> + +<p>"And I hear the music!" added Sue. "But we mustn't miss the parade."</p> + +<p>The children were just in time for this, and when they had seen the +procession wind its way about the streets they went back to the big +white tents. Then the circus began.</p> + +<p>What Bunny and Sue saw you can well imagine, for I think most of you +have been to a circus, once at least. There were the wild animals—the +lions and the tigers in their cages, the funny monkeys, the long-necked +giraffes—and then came the performance. The clowns did funny tricks, +the acrobats leaped high in the air, or fell into the springy nets. All +this the children saw, and they ate some popcorn and peanuts, but fed +more than they ate to the elephants.</p> + +<p>Uncle Tad seemed to enjoy himself, too, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>though, every once in a while +he would lean over and say to Bunny and Sue:</p> + +<p>"Aren't you tired? Let's go home!"</p> + +<p>And the performance was not half through! Bunny and Sue just looked at +him and smiled. They knew he was joking.</p> + +<p>But the circus came to an end at last, and though they were sorry they +had to leave, Bunny and Sue were, late in the afternoon, well on their +way to their automobile camp again. They talked of nothing but what they +had seen, and every time they spoke of the show they liked it more and +more.</p> + +<p>"I wish we could go again to-night," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"It isn't good for little children to go to a circus at night," said +Uncle Tad. "You've seen enough."</p> + +<p>Of course Daddy Brown and Mother Brown had to hear all about it over the +supper table, and they were glad the children had had such a good time. +At night when they sat around a little campfire on the ground near the +automobile, they could hear, in the distance, the music of the circus.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the middle of the night Mr. and Mrs. Brown were awakened by hearing +the noise of many persons rushing past on the road alongside of which +their automobile was drawn up. Also the chugging of automobiles and the +patter of horses' feet could be heard.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what it can be," said Mrs. Brown. "Is it the circus coming +back again?"</p> + +<p>"No, they would be going the other way. I'll see if I can find out what +it is."</p> + +<p>Slipping on a bath robe, Mr. Brown went to the back door of the +automobile. He saw a crowd of people rushing along.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" he called.</p> + +<p>"One of the circus lions is loose," was the answer, "and we're chasing +it!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="./images/230.jpg" alt="BUNNY AND SUE FED THE ELEPHANTS." title="BUNNY AND SUE FED THE ELEPHANTS." /></div> + +<div class='center'>BUNNY AND SUE FED THE ELEPHANTS.<br /> +<i>Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour. Page</i> <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>.<br /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h3>THE SCRATCHED BOY</h3> + + +<p>"What's that? What's the matter?" asked Mrs. Brown. In the darkness she +had slipped to her husband's side. She, too, looked out on the crowd of +men and boys rushing past in the moonlight. "What has happened?" she +asked again, as Mr. Brown did not appear to have heard what she said.</p> + +<p>"As nearly as I could understand," he said slowly, speaking in a low +voice, "one of the men who ran past said a lion had broken loose from +the circus."</p> + +<p>"Oh, how dreadful!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "What shall we do? Did Uncle +Tad bring his gun with him?"</p> + +<p>"Hush! Don't wake the children," said Mr. Brown. "They might be +frightened if they heard that a lion was loose."</p> + +<p>"Frightened? I should think any one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>would be frightened!" exclaimed +Mrs. Brown. "A savage lion raging around at night, trying to get +something to eat——"</p> + +<p>"Now please don't get excited," begged Mr. Brown. "There is no +danger—at least I believe there isn't."</p> + +<p>"No danger? And with a lion loose—a hungry lion!"</p> + +<p>"That's where I think you're wrong," said her husband. "The circus +people usually keep their lions and other wild animals well fed. They +know the danger a hungry beast might be if he should get loose. And I +dare say they often do get loose, for all sorts of things may happen +when the cages are taken to so many different places.</p> + +<p>"But though this lion has broken loose, I don't believe it would bite +even a rooster if it crowed at him. I mean he won't be hungry, because +he'll have been well fed before the circus started away."</p> + +<p>"Then you don't believe there is any danger?"</p> + +<p>"Well, not enough to worry about. Another thing is that usually circus +lions are so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>tame, having been caged so long, that they are fairly +gentle."</p> + +<p>"I read of one that bit his keeper," said Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Oh, of course there are <i>some</i> dangerous lions in circuses. But we +won't believe this one that got away is that kind until we are sure. +There's a man who seems tired of running. I think he's going to stop and +I'll ask him how it happened."</p> + +<p>One of the crowd of men and boys, racing past the "Ark," had slowed his +pace, being tired it seemed. Mr. Brown leaned out of the back door and +called to him:</p> + +<p>"What is the matter? Did a lion really get loose from the circus?"</p> + +<p>"That's what really did happen, sir. Are you one of the circus folks?"</p> + +<p>"No, we are just travelers. We are stopping here because one of the +springs of our automobile is broken."</p> + +<p>"Oh, excuse me. I thought this was one of the circus wagons. Yes, as +they were loading the lion's cage on the train a few hours ago, it +slipped, fell on its side and broke. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>biggest lion in the circus got +away before they could catch him, and they say he headed down this way. +The circus men started after him with nets and ropes, and they offered a +reward of twenty-five dollars to whoever caught him. So a lot of us +started out, but I guess I'll go back. I'm tired out. I didn't have an +automobile like some."</p> + +<p>"Then the lion didn't get loose while the circus performance was going +on?" asked Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no. And it's a good thing it didn't, or there'd have been a +terrible scare and maybe lots of folks hurt in the rush. The show was +over, and most of the animal tent stuff was loaded on the flat cars when +the lion's cage broke."</p> + +<p>"Aren't you afraid to try to catch him?" asked Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Well, I didn't stop to think of that. I don't know though that I am. I +just started off with a rush—the same as lots of others did who were +watching the circus load—when the lion got loose. I thought maybe I +could earn that twenty-five dollars. You see <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>that's given to whoever +finds where the lion is hiding. The circus men just want to know that +and then they'll do the catching. There really isn't much danger."</p> + +<p>"Well, I shouldn't like to try it," murmured Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"I guess I'll give up, too," said the man.</p> + +<p>He called a "good-night!" to Mr. and Mrs. Brown and went back along the +road. There were no more people to be seen, those who had gone +lion-hunting being now out of sight.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad the children didn't wake up," said Mrs. Brown, for, +strange as it may seem, Bunny and Sue had slept all through the noise. +But then they were tired because of having gone to the circus. "Shall +you tell them about the lion being loose?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, to-morrow, of course. While I think there is little danger I +would not want them to stray too far away, for the poor old lion may be +hiding in the woods or among the rocks, and he might spring out on +whoever passed his hiding place."</p> + +<p>"Why do you call him a 'poor old lion'? I think he must be a <i>very</i> +savage fellow."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, I think he'll turn out to be a gentle one," said her husband with a +laugh.</p> + +<p>Then Mr. and Mrs. Brown went to bed, after Uncle Tad had heard the +story, and the rest of the night passed quietly. At the breakfast table +Bunny and Sue were told of what had happened.</p> + +<p>Bunny wanted to go right out with Uncle Tad, who was to take his gun.</p> + +<p>"We'll hunt him and get the twenty-five dollars," said the little +fellow.</p> + +<p>"No. You'd better play around here for a while," ordered his father. "It +will be safer."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't let him out of my sight for a million dollars!" cried Mrs. +Brown.</p> + +<p>"But we could take the two dogs, Dix and Splash, with us, and they could +bite the lion if he chased us," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>His mother shook her head, and Bunny knew there was no use teasing any +more.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't go after any lion!" declared Sue. "And I want to find a good +place to hide Sallie Malinda."</p> + +<p>"What for?" asked Bunny.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + +<p>"So the lion can't find her," said the little girl. "Lions don't like +bears and this one might bite Sallie Malinda. Then maybe she couldn't +flash her eyes any more." The Teddy bear had dried out after the fall +into the lake, and was as good as ever.</p> + +<p>So Bunny and Sue had to stay and play around the automobile, not going +far away. Though at first they missed the long tramps in the fields and +through the woods, they were good children and did as they were bid. +Besides, deep down in his heart, Bunny was just a <i>little bit</i> afraid of +the lion, even though he had said he wanted to go hunting for him with +Uncle Tad.</p> + +<p>Two days passed, and the lion had not been found. The circus had gone +on, leaving two men in the town near which the automobile was stranded. +These men, with a spare cage which had been left with them, were ready +to go out with nets and ropes and capture the lion as soon as any one +should bring in word as to where it was hiding.</p> + +<p>The countrymen and the boys, who had no other work to do, still kept up +the lion hunt, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>some with dogs, but the big circus animal was well +hidden.</p> + +<p>"If he was playing hide-and-go-seek," said Bunny, "I'd holler 'Givie-up! +Givie-up! Come on in free!' For I never could find him, he has hidden +himself so good."</p> + +<p>"Well, I wish he would go and hide himself far, far away," almost +snapped Sue. "Then we could go around like we used to, and go on the +lake."</p> + +<p>"I wish so too," agreed Bunny.</p> + +<p>It was getting rather tiresome for the children to stay so close to +"home," as they called the automobile, but Mr. Brown said the new spring +would arrive in a few days, and then they would travel on again, far +from where the lion was hiding.</p> + +<p>"And we can keep on looking for Fred Ward," said Bunny. In the +excitement over the circus the runaway boy had been almost forgotten.</p> + +<p>It was three days after the lion had broken loose, and evening was +approaching, when Mrs. Jason, wife of the farmer who had been so kind to +the Browns, came hurrying down <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>to the automobile beside the road. She +was out of breath and seemed much excited.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Brown!" she exclaimed. "Do you know anything about doctoring?"</p> + +<p>"About doctoring! Why? Is Mr. Jason ill?"</p> + +<p>"No, but I've got a badly hurt boy up at my house. He's all scratched +up."</p> + +<p>"Has he been picking berries?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"No. They're worse scratches than that. Big, deep ones on his face, +hands and shoulders. I've bandaged him as best I could, and sent Mr. +Jason for the doctor; but I was wondering if you could do anything until +Dr. Fandon came."</p> + +<p>"A scratched boy?" repeated Mr. Brown slowly. "What scratched him?"</p> + +<p>"A great big lion, he says!" exclaimed Mrs. Jason. "I declare I'm so +excited I don't know what to do!" and she sat down on a stool Mrs. Brown +placed for her near the back steps of the automobile.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h3>THE BARKING DOG</h3> + + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Brown, not to say Bunny, Sue and Uncle Tad, were very, very +much surprised when Mrs. Jason said the boy had been scratched by a +lion.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure about it?" asked the children's father.</p> + +<p>"That's what he says," replied the farmer's wife. "He is certainly badly +scratched, as I could see for myself. Whether it was by a lion or +something else I can't say, never having seen a lion's scratches. The +boy might be making up some story, but he certainly <i>is</i> scratched."</p> + +<p>"The circus lion!" cried Mrs. Brown. "Oh, that must be the one that did +it! The lion must be roaming around here! We must lock the automobile +and stay inside!"</p> + +<p>"Now please don't get excited," begged Mr. Brown. "In the first place +this boy may <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>not be telling the truth. He is scratched, for Mrs. Jason +has seen the marks and bandaged them up, she says. But it may be the boy +fell down in the bushes, or among the rocks and got scratched that way. +Or it may have been some other wild animal in the woods that attacked +him. There are some animals around here, aren't there?" he asked the +farmer's wife.</p> + +<p>"Well, skunks, groundhogs and the like of that, with maybe a fox or two. +Of course foxes or groundhogs will bite if any one tries to catch them, +but I don't know that they'd scratch, though they might if they were put +to it. I never saw such scratches as these. And, as you say, Mrs. Brown, +it <i>may</i> have been the circus lion which is hiding around here."</p> + +<p>"You don't seem very frightened over it," said Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Well, what's the use of being frightened until I see it?" asked Mrs. +Jason. "I'm more worried about that poor boy. I wish I could do +something for him to ease his pain until Dr. Fandon comes. He may be a +long while."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'll come up with you and see what I can do," promised Mr. Brown. +"Uncle Tad knows something about soldiers' wounds, and perhaps he +could——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't take Uncle Tad with you!" pleaded Mrs. Brown. "We need <i>one</i> +man around here if there's a lion loose in the woods. Come back as soon +as you can," she begged her husband as he walked toward the farmhouse +with Mrs. Jason.</p> + +<p>"How did you happen to see the boy?" asked Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"I was out gathering the eggs near the henhouse," said Mrs. Jason, "and +I heard a sort of groaning noise. Then I saw somebody coming toward me.</p> + +<p>"At first I thought it was a tramp, and I was just going to call my +husband or one of the men, when I heard crying, and then I saw it was +only a boy, and that he was bleeding."</p> + +<p>"How long ago was it that you found the scratched boy?" asked Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Nearly an hour now. As soon as I saw what the matter was I hurried him +into the house and got him on a couch. Mr. Jason <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>and I did what +bandaging we could, and then I made him go for the doctor."</p> + +<p>"Did you know the boy, and did he say where the lion attacked him?" +asked Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"I never saw him before, that I know of. But he just managed to say the +beast jumped out of the bushes at him when he was coming through our +rocky glen, then all of a sudden he fainted."</p> + +<p>"Where is this rocky glen of yours where you say the lion jumped out at +the boy?"</p> + +<p>"About two miles from here, back in the hills. Waste land, mostly. You +aren't thinking of going there, are you?"</p> + +<p>"Not now, though I think I'd better send word to the circus people that +their lion is around here."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it would be a good thing."</p> + +<p>By this time Mr. Brown and Mrs. Jason were at the house.</p> + +<p>"I'll take a look at him," said Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>He saw, lying on a couch, a tall lad, whose face and hands were covered +with bandages. The youth was tossing to and fro and murmur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>ing, but what +he said could not well be understood, except that now and then he spoke +of a lion.</p> + +<p>"I didn't dare take his coat off to get at the scratches on his +shoulders," said Mrs. Jason. "I thought I'd let the doctor do that."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I guess it will be best. But if you have any sweet spirits of +nitre in the house I'll give him that to quiet him and keep down the +fever."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we always keep nitre on hand," and Mrs. Jason helped Mr. Brown give +some to the lad. In a little while he grew quieter, and then Dr. Fandon +came in with Mr. Jason.</p> + +<p>The two men helped the physician get the youth undressed and into a +spare bed, and then the doctor, with Mrs. Jason's help, dressed the +wounds on the boy's face and shoulders, while the men waited outside.</p> + +<p>Then, having done what he could for the boy, and promising to call in +the morning, when he could tell more about the boy's condition, the +doctor went home, while Mr. Brown and Mr. Jason planned to get word of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>the lion to the two circus men who were still at the hotel in the +village.</p> + +<p>"I'll drive over with you," said the farmer. This they did, though it +was late to drive to town, being after nine o'clock, stopping at the +"Ark" on the way to tell what had taken place at the farmhouse.</p> + +<p>"Poor fellow!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "We must try to help him."</p> + +<p>"I'll let him play with my Teddy bear when he gets well," said Sue, and +all the others laughed.</p> + +<p>"The circus men will get after the lion in the morning," said the farmer +when he and Mr. Brown were back at the "Ark" on their return from town.</p> + +<p>Though they were excited, and not a little afraid, Bunny and Sue were at +last in bed, but only after Uncle Tad had promised to sit up all night, +as he used to do when a sentry in the war, and, with his gun, watch for +any sign of the lion.</p> + +<p>"And if you have to shoot him, which I hope you don't," said Bunny, +"call me first so I can look at him. But I don't want to see <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>him shot. +Just make him go back to the circus."</p> + +<p>"I will," promised Uncle Tad.</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue were up early the next morning, and even before breakfast +they wanted their father to go up to the farmhouse to find out about the +scratched boy, and also whether or not the lion had been caught.</p> + +<p>"We'll see about the boy first," said Mr. Brown. "I guess it won't do +any harm for me to take the children up," he said to his wife.</p> + +<p>"You will be careful, won't you?" she begged.</p> + +<p>"Indeed I will," he promised.</p> + +<p>So Bunny, with his sister and his father, walked up to Mr. Jason's home. +Dix and Splash went along, of course, and stood expectant at the door as +Mr. Brown rang.</p> + +<p>"Oh, good morning!" cried Mrs. Jason as she answered the bell. "Our +scratched boy is much better this morning. He is not as badly hurt as we +feared. Come in."</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown and the children entered, and of course the dogs followed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Go back, Dix and Splash," ordered Mr. Brown. Splash turned and went out +on the stoop, but Dix kept on. The dog was acting in a strange manner. +The door to a downstairs bedroom, where the wounded boy was lying, was +open. Dix ran in and the next moment he began to bark wildly, getting on +the bed with his forefeet.</p> + +<p>"Down, Dix! Down!" cried Mr. Brown. "What do you mean, sir?"</p> + +<p>But Dix kept on barking and whining. He tried to lick the hands of the +scratched boy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, drive him away!" cried Mrs. Jason. "He'll hurt the boy."</p> + +<p>But the boy, who seemed much better indeed, rose up in bed and cried:</p> + +<p>"Don't send him away! That's Dix, my dog! Oh, Dix, you found me, didn't +you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + +<h3>FOUND AT LAST</h3> + + +<p>What with the barking of Dix, in which Splash, out on the porch, joined, +the manner in which the scratched boy hugged the half-wild animal on his +bed, the astonishment of Bunny Brown, his sister, his father and Mrs. +Jason—well, there was enough excitement for a few minutes to satisfy +even the children.</p> + +<p>Sue did not know what to make of the strange actions of Dix on the bed +where the injured boy had been sleeping, and she whispered to Bunny:</p> + +<p>"Maybe Dix wants to bite him!"</p> + +<p>But Bunny shook his head. He understood what had happened.</p> + +<p>"Don't you see, Sue!" he said. "He's been found."</p> + +<p>"O-o-oh!" gasped the little girl.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, Fred Ward, the boy who ran away from next door to us, has +been found.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> That's his dog, Dix. And Dix knows him, just as we thought +he would, even though his face is pretty well bandaged up. That's Fred +Ward!"</p> + +<p>"Is that your name?" asked Mr. Brown, who also understood what had +happened.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess it is," was the slow answer. "But it isn't the name I've +been going by lately. I called myself Professor Rombodno Prosondo, but +now——"</p> + +<p>"Then, it <i>was</i> you all blacked up like a minstrel!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I was playing on the banjo for Dr. Perry's medicine show, but when +I saw you in the crowd I managed to get away. Then I joined the circus +and now——"</p> + +<p>"Don't talk and excite yourself," said Mrs. Jason. "The doctor will be +here in a little while and perhaps he can take the bandages off your +face, so your friends will know you."</p> + +<p>"Dix knows him all right," said Mr. Brown, and indeed the dog was half +wild with joy at having found his master.</p> + +<p>Dr. Fandon came in a few minutes later and said Fred was much better. +When the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>face bandages were taken off, so new ones could be put on, +Bunny and Sue at once recognized Fred, though his face was badly +scratched.</p> + +<p>Dix tried to lick his master's face, but had to be stopped for fear he +might do Fred harm. So the dog had to show his joy by thumping his tail +and whining softly.</p> + +<p>Then Fred told his story. As has been said, he ran away from home +because he felt his father should not have punished him.</p> + +<p>"But I've had a good deal worse punishment since," the lad said, "and +I'm sorry I ever ran away. I'd have gone home long ago only I was +ashamed."</p> + +<p>"Well, you needn't be," said Mr. Brown. "Your father and your mother +both want you back. We have been looking for you as well as we could on +our auto tour. But it was Dix who knew you first."</p> + +<p>"I wish he had seen me before the lion did," said Fred, smiling a +little. "I wonder where he went to after clawing me?"</p> + +<p>At that moment there was a noise out in the yard back of the farmhouse. +The crowing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>of roosters and the squawking of hens could be heard, +mingled with a woman's voice.</p> + +<p>"That's my wife!" cried Mr. Jason, jumping up, but at that moment his +wife came into the room.</p> + +<p>"I've caught it," she said coolly, though her face was flushed.</p> + +<p>"Caught what?" they all cried.</p> + +<p>"The circus lion," she answered. "I went out to the henhouse, and there +he was crouching down in a corner, and looking as if he intended to have +his choice of my fat pullets."</p> + +<p>"What did you do?" asked Mr. Brown and Mr. Jason together.</p> + +<p>"Well, I happened to have a broom stick in my hand so I hit him a smart +blow over the nose to teach him to let my hens alone, and then I drove +the chickens outside and locked the lion in the henhouse. He's there +now. You'd better send for the circus folks to take him away. I don't +want him around the place scaring the fowls."</p> + +<p>"Didn't he scare you?" asked Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"I never stopped to think whether he did or not," was the cool answer. +"I just whacked <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>him over the nose and he whined and cuddled up in a +corner like a whipped dog."</p> + +<p>"Oh, let's go out and look at the lion in the chicken coop!" cried +Bunny.</p> + +<p>"No, indeed," said his father. "Wait until the circus men come and put +him in the cage."</p> + +<p>A neighboring farmer had a telephone, and word was sent to one of the +circus men who had stayed at the village hotel, while his companion had +gone to the rocky glen with a crowd of men and boys to try to find the +lion there, after the alarm given by Mr. Jason.</p> + +<p>The circus man, who had remained in the hotel, came with a light cage, +drawn by horses, and the lion was easily driven from the henhouse into +the cage and was soon safe behind locks and bars.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Jason caught the lion!" cried the crowd that gathered to watch +what happened.</p> + +<p>"Did he bite you?" she was asked.</p> + +<p>"Never a bite," she answered smiling.</p> + +<p>"What! Poor old Tobyhanna bite?" cried one of the circus men. "Why, he +hasn't but two teeth in his head and we have to feed him on boiled meat. +He's no more dangerous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>than a tame dog, and when you hit him over the +nose with your broom, lady, you must have hurt his feelin's dreadful."</p> + +<p>"Well, I didn't mean to be <i>rough</i>," said Mrs. Jason with a smile, "but +it's the first time I ever caught a lion."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and you get the reward, too," added the circus man, as he paid the +farmer's wife.</p> + +<p>Then he started away with the lion in the cage to ship him back to the +circus. And poor, old, almost toothless Tobyhanna, curled up in the +corner of his cage and ate some bread and milk the farmer's wife gave +him. He was happy he had been caught.</p> + +<p>Fred Ward's story was soon told. After running away from home he joined +the medicine show, because it gave him a chance to play the banjo he +liked so well. He left Dr. Perry because he saw the Browns and feared +they might have him sent home.</p> + +<p>Then he joined the circus, the very one from which the lion had escaped. +In that show Fred had been one of a group who blacked up and played on +mandolins and guitars and banjos, and though he had played in front of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +Bunny, Sue and Uncle Tad, none of them knew him, nor did Fred see them.</p> + +<p>The night the show left the town, and just before the lion escaped, Fred +had a quarrel with one of the managers and left. He was not paid his +money and, quite miserable, he wandered away, not knowing what to do. He +became lost in the woods, and finally he reached the rocky gulch where +the lion attacked him.</p> + +<p>"It was just an accident. Tobyhanna didn't mean to hurt me," said Fred. +"I'd often fed him and scratched his nose for him in the circus. But I +walked right over him as he was asleep in between some rocks, and when +he jumped out, as much scared as I was he happened to scratch me. Then I +managed to get to this house and I guess I must have gone out of my head +or fainted or something."</p> + +<p>"You did," said Dr. Fandon, "but you are all right now."</p> + +<p>"We must send word to your father that you are safe," said Mr. Brown, +and this was done.</p> + +<p>Fred was not quite well enough to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>moved, but his father came for him +the next day, and he made a great fuss over his boy. They understood +each other better after that.</p> + +<p>Mr. Ward thanked everybody who had done anything to help his son, and a +few days later took Fred and Dix home, for the dog would not leave his +master, much as he liked Splash, Bunny and Sue.</p> + +<p>In due time Tobyhanna, the lion, was taken back to the circus, and he +never got out of his cage again, as far as I ever heard.</p> + +<p>"Well, I think we can keep on with our tour now," said Mr. Brown, a few +days after the new spring had arrived.</p> + +<p>"It seems almost like leaving home to go away from here," said Mother +Brown, as they prepared to leave.</p> + +<p>"We've had such fun camping here," added Sue.</p> + +<p>"And lots of things have happened, too!" added Bunny. "I never was near +where a lion was locked up in a chicken coop before."</p> + +<p>"And I don't want to be again," said his mother.</p> + +<p>"All aboard!" cried Uncle Tad.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p> + +<p>And once more the "Ark," was traveling along the country road back +toward Bellemere. The auto trip had been a great success, and Bunny and +Sue talked of it many times, and of how Fred Ward had been found, and of +the escaped lion that had scratched him.</p> + +<p>But now it is time to say good-bye, though you must not think this is +the last of the adventures of Bunny and Sue, even though there are no +more in this book. There were more ahead of them, but, for the present, +we will leave them.</p> + + +<h2>THE END</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES</h2> + +<h3>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h3> + +<div class='center'>Author of the Popular "Bobbsey Twins" Books</div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'>Wrapper and text illustrations drawn by<br /> + +FLORENCE ENGLAND NOSWORTHY</div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>12mo. DURABLY BOUND. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>These stories by the author of the "Bobbsey Twins" Books are eagerly +welcomed by the little folks from about five to ten years of age. Their +eyes fairly dance with delight at the lively doings of inquisitive +little Bunny Brown and his cunning, trustful sister Sue.</p> + +<p>Bunny was a lively little boy, very inquisitive. When he did anything, +Sue followed his leadership. They had many adventures, some comical in +the extreme.</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Bunny Brown Books"> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONY</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE GIVING A SHOW</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CHRISTMAS TREE COVE</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></b></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS</h2> + +<div class='center'>For Little Men and Women</div> + +<h3>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h3> + +<div class='center'>Author of "The Bunny Brown" Series, Etc.</div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>12mo. DURABLY BOUND. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Copyright publications which cannot be obtained else-where. Books that +charm the hearts of the little ones, and of which they never tire.</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Bobbsey Twins Books"> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></b></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS</h2> + +<h2>SERIES</h2> + +<h3>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h3> + +<div class='center'>Author of "The Bobbsey Twins Series."</div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>The adventures of Ruth and Alice DeVere. Their father, a widower, is an +actor who has taken up work for the "movies." Both girls wish to aid him +in his work and visit various localities to act in all sorts of +pictures.</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="The Moving Picture Girls Books"> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or First Appearance in Photo Dramas.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Having lost his voice, the father of the girls goes into the movies +and the girls follow. Tells how many "parlor dramas" are filmed.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT OAK FARM</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Queer Happenings While Taking Rural Plays.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Full of fun in the country, the haps and mishaps of taking film +plays, and giving an account of two unusual discoveries.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS SNOWBOUND</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The Proof on the Film.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A tale of winter adventures in the wilderness, showing how the +photo-play actors sometimes suffer.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS UNDER THE PALMS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Lost in the Wilds of Florida.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>How they went to the land of palms, played many parts in dramas +before the camera; were lost, and aided others who were also lost.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT ROCKY RANCH</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Great Days Among the Cowboys.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>All who have ever seen moving pictures of the great West will +want to know just how they are made. This volume gives every detail +and is full of clean fun and excitement.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT SEA</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or a Pictured Shipwreck that Became Real.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A thrilling account of the girls' experiences on the water.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS IN WAR PLAYS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The Sham Battles at Oak Farm.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The girls play important parts in big battle scenes and have plenty +of hard work along with considerable fun.<br /><br /></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></b></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL</h2> + +<h2>HIGH SERIES</h2> + +<h3>By GERTRUDE W. MORRISON</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<p>Here is a series full of the spirit of high school life of to-day. The +girls are real flesh-and-blood characters, and we follow them with +interest in school and out. There are many contested matches on track +and field, and on the water, as well as doings in the classroom and on +the school stage. There is plenty of fun and excitement, all clean, pure +and wholesome.</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH BOOKS"> +<tr><td align='left'>THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Rivals for all Honors.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A Stirring tale of high school life, full of fun, with a touch +of mystery and a strange initiation.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON LAKE LUNA</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The Crew That Won.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Telling of water sports and fun galore, and of fine times in camp.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH AT BASKETBALL</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The Great Gymnasium Mystery.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Here we have a number of thrilling contests at basketball and in +addition, the solving of a mystery which had bothered the high +school authorities for a long while.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON THE STAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The Play That Took the Prize.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>How the girls went in for theatricals and how one of them wrote +a play which afterward was made over for the professional stage +and brought in some much-needed money.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON TRACK AND FIELD</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The Girl Champions of the School League +This story takes in high school athletics in their most approved +and up-to-date fashion. Full of fun and excitement.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH IN CAMP</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The Old Professor's Secret.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The girls went camping on Acorn Island and had a delightful +time at boating, swimming and picnic parties.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></b></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS SERIES</h2> + +<h3>By CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN</h3> + + +<p>The outdoor chums are four wide-awake lads, sons of wealthy men of a +small city located on a lake. The boys love outdoor life, and are +greatly interested in hunting, fishing, and picture taking. They have +motor cycles, motor boats, canoes, etc., and during their vacations go +everywhere and have all sorts of thrilling adventures. The stories give +full directions for camping out, how to fish, how to hunt wild animals +and prepare the skins for stuffing, how to manage a canoe, how to swim, +etc. Full of the spirit of outdoor life.</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="The Outdoor Chums Books"> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE LAKE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Lively Adventures on Wildcat Island.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE FOREST</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Laying the Ghost of Oak Ridge.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE GULF</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Rescuing the Lost Balloonists.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AFTER BIG GAME</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Perilous Adventures in the Wilderness.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON A HOUSEBOAT</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The Rivals of the Mississippi.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE BIG WOODS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The Rival Hunters at Lumber Run.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AT CABIN POINT</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The Golden Cup Mystery.<br /><br /></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class='center'><b>12mo. Averaging 240 pages. Illustrated. Handsomely bound in Cloth.</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></b></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS</h2> + +<h2>SERIES</h2> + +<h3>By VICTOR APPLETON</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING.</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Moving pictures and photo plays are famous the world over, and in this +line of books the reader is given a full description of how the films +are made—the scenes of little dramas, indoors and out, trick pictures +to satisfy the curious, soul-stirring pictures of city affairs, life in +the Wild West, among the cowboys and Indians, thrilling rescues along +the seacoast, the daring of picture hunters in the jungle among savage +beasts, and the great risks run in picturing conditions in a land of +earthquakes. The volumes teem with adventures and will be found +interesting from first chapter to last.</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS BOOKS"> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Perils of a Great City Depicted.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE WEST</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Taking Scenes Among the Cowboys and Indians.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON THE COAST</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Showing the Perils of the Deep.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE JUNGLE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Stirring Times Among the Wild Animals.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN EARTHQUAKE LAND</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Working Amid Many Perils.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AND THE FLOOD</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Perilous Days on the Mississippi.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AT PANAMA</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or Stirring Adventures Along the Great Canal.<br /><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS UNDER THE SEA</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or The Treasure of the Lost Ship.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b><span class="smcap">Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York</span></b></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='tnote'><b>Transcriber's note:</b> + +<p>Punctuation normalized.</p> + +<p>The remaining corrections made are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections. +Scroll the mouse over the word and the original text will <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'apprear'">appear</ins>.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an +Auto Tour, by Laura Lee Hope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER *** + +***** This file should be named 17095-h.htm or 17095-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/0/9/17095/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Emmy and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Illustrator: Florence England Nosworthy + +Release Date: November 18, 2005 [EBook #17095] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Emmy and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +[Illustration: HE WENT PAST WITH A FEW INCHES TO SPARE. + _Frontispiece. (Page 47.)_ +_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour._] + + + + + +BUNNY BROWN +AND HIS SISTER SUE +ON AN AUTO TOUR + +BY +LAURA LEE HOPE + + +AUTHOR OF + +THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES, THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES, THE OUTDOOR GIRLS +SERIES, ETC. + + +Illustrated by + +Florence England Nosworthy + +NEW YORK + +GROSSET & DUNLAP +PUBLISHERS + + +Made in the United States of America + + + + +BOOKS + +By LAURA LEE HOPE + + * * * * * + +_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated._ + + * * * * * + +=THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES= + +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR + + * * * * * + +=THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES= + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS +THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE +THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME + + * * * * * + +=THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES= + +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND + +GROSSET & DUNLAP +PUBLISHERS + +NEW YORK + +Copyright, 1917, by +GROSSET & DUNLAP + +_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + I. THE BOY NEXT DOOR 1 + II. AN OFFER OF HELP 11 + III. READY FOR THE TRIP 21 + IV. BUNNY AT THE WHEEL 33 + V. WHERE IS SPLASH? 44 + VI. TWO DOGS 54 + VII. DIX IN TROUBLE 64 + VIII. DIX AND THE COW 72 + IX. TWO DISAPPEARANCES 87 + X. DIX COMES BACK 98 + XI. IN THE FLOOD 108 + XII. AT THE FIRE 115 + XIII. DIX AND THE CAT 129 + XIV. THE MEDICINE SHOW 138 + XV. WAS IT FRED? 149 + XVI. IN THE DITCH 157 + XVII. ON TO PORTLAND 166 +XVIII. CAMPING OUT 177 + XIX. AT THE LAKE 185 + XX. DIX TO THE RESCUE 194 + XXI. THE CIRCUS 205 + XXII. A LION IS LOOSE 212 +XXIII. THE SCRATCHED BOY 221 + XXIV. THE BARKING DOG 230 + XXV. FOUND AT LAST 238 + + + + +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE BOY NEXT DOOR + + +"Oh, mother!" cried Bunny Brown, running up the front steps as he +reached home from school. "Oh, something's happened next door!" + +"What do you mean, Bunny? A fire?" + +"No, it isn't a fire," said Sue, who was as much out of breath as was +her brother. "It's sumfin different from that!" + +"But, children, what do you mean? Is some one hurt?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"It sounds so," answered Bunny, putting his books on the table. "I heard +Mrs. Ward crying." + +"Oh, the poor woman!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "She must be in trouble. +They have only just moved here. I'd better go over and see if I can +help her"; and Mrs. Brown laid down her sewing. + +"I guess it must be about their boy Fred," suggested Bunny. + +"What happened to him?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Was he hurt at school? He +goes to school, doesn't he?" + +"Yes, but he wasn't there to-day," went on Bunny. "And it's Fred who's +in trouble I guess, for I heard his mother speak his name, and then Mr. +Ward said something else." + +"Oh, dear, I hope nothing has happened," said Mrs. Brown, looking up at +the clock to see if it were not time for her husband to come home from +his boat and fishing pier. "We must do what we can to help, Bunny. Now +tell me all about it. Not that I want to interfere with my neighbors' +affairs, but I always like to help." + +"And I think Mrs. Ward needs some help," said Sue, "'cause she was +crying real hard." + +"Then I'll go right over and see what is the matter," said kind Mrs. +Brown. + +"Oh, and may we go too?" asked Bunny. + +"Please let us," begged Sue. + +Their mother thought for a minute. Sometimes, she knew, it was not good +for children to go where older persons were crying, and had trouble. But +Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue were two wise little children, wiser than +many of their age, and their mother knew she could depend on them. So, +after a few seconds, she said: + +"Yes, you may come with me. We shall see what the matter is with Mrs. +Ward." + +"And we'll help her too, if we can," added. Bunny, bravely. + +Mrs. Brown, followed by Bunny and Sue, started for the home of Mrs. +Ward. A wide lawn was between the two houses, and on this lawn Bunny and +Sue, with their dog Splash, had much fun. + +The Wards were a family who had lately moved to the street where the +Browns had lived for years. As yet Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Ward had gotten +only as far as a "nodding acquaintance." That is, Mrs. Brown, coming out +into her yard, would see Mrs. Ward, and would say: + +"Good morning. It's a fine day; isn't it?" + +"Yes, indeed it is," Mrs. Ward would answer. + +Sometimes it would be Mrs. Ward who would first speak about the fine +weather and Mrs. Brown would answer. Both women would soon become better +acquainted. + +Mr. Brown had seen Mr. Ward several mornings on his way to work, and, +knowing him to be the man next door, had nodded, and said: "Good +morning!" And Mr. Ward had said the same thing. They, too, would soon be +better acquainted. + +"I know the Wards are nice people," said Sue, as she trotted along +beside her mother. + +"What makes you think so?" asked Mrs. Brown, as she walked slowly across +her lawn toward the house next door. + +"'Cause they have a nice dog named Dix, and he and Splash are good +friends. First they sort of growled at each other, and then they smelled +noses and now they always wag their tails when they meet." + +"Well, that's a good sign," laughed Sue's mother. + +"But I wonder what can be the matter with the boy next door," said Sue +to her brother. "Are you sure you heard Mr. and Mrs. Ward talking about +Fred?" + +"Yes, I'm sure," answered Bunny. + +"Well, I didn't hear that part," said Sue. "But we'll soon find out what +the matter is." + +As the Browns walked across the lawn, a dog came running out of the +house where lived "the boy next door," as Bunny and Sue called Fred +Ward, even though they knew his name. They had spoken several times to +him. + +"Is that dog savage?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"No, Momsie," replied Sue. "He's just as nice as he can be. He and +Splash are good friends. Here Dix!" she called. + +With a joyful bark the dog bounded toward Sue. He evidently knew the +children, and soon made friends with Mrs. Brown. + +"He's a strong dog," she said to the children. + +"And he's good, too!" exclaimed Bunny. "I was talking to Fred one day +and he told me that his dog Dix saved him from drowning when they lived +in another city, near a river." + +"That was fine!" cried Mrs. Brown. "I think I shall like Dix." + +By this time they were under the dining-room windows of the Ward house, +and Mrs. Brown and the children heard the sound of a woman sobbing, and +a man trying to comfort her. + +"Now don't worry, Martha," said the man. "Everything will come out +right, I'm sure, and we'll find Fred." + +"Oh, I hope so!" moaned the woman. And she kept on crying. + +"Excuse me," said Mrs. Brown, calling in through the open window. "But I +fear you have trouble, and I have come over to see if I may not help +you." + +Mr. Ward looked out of the window. + +"It's Mrs. Brown," he said, evidently speaking to his wife in the room +behind him. + +"I have been intending to come over to see you," went on Mrs. Brown. +"But you know how it is I suppose, Mrs. Ward," for now the other lady +had come to the window. "We keep putting such things off. And really I +have been so busy since we came back from our camp in the big woods that +I haven't had time to set my house to rights." + +"I know how it is, Mrs. Brown," replied Mrs. Ward, wiping the tears from +her eyes, "and I am glad to see you now. Won't you come in?" + +"I really don't know whether I ought to or not. My children, on coming +home from school, said they heard sounds of distress in here, and +knowing you were strangers I thought perhaps you might not know where to +apply for help in case you needed it. My husband is one of the town +officials, and if we can do anything----" + +"It is very kind of you," said Mrs. Ward. "Thank you so much for coming +over. We _are_ in trouble, and perhaps you can give us some advice. +Please come in." + +She went to the front door and let in Bunny, Sue and their mother, the +two children wondering what could have happened to the boy next door, +for they did not see him, and it seemed the trouble was about him. + +"It won't take long to tell you what has happened," said Mrs. Ward, +placing chairs for Mrs. Brown and the two children. "Our boy Fred has +run away from home!" + +"Run away from home!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. + +"Yes, that's what he's done," said Mr. Ward. "I never thought he'd do +such a thing as that, even though he is quick tempered. Yes, Fred has +run away," and he turned over and over in his hand a slip of paper he +had been reading. + +"Perhaps he only went off in a sort of joke," said Mrs. Brown +sympathetically. "I know once Bunny----" + +"Yep. I ran away, I did!" exclaimed Bunny. "I got away down to the end +of the street. I saw a man and a hand organ and he had a monkey. I mean +the man did. And I wanted to be a hand-organ man so I ran away and was +going off with him, only Bunker Blue chased after me, so I didn't run +far, though I might have." + +"Bunker Blue is a boy who works on Mr. Brown's fishing pier," explained +Mrs. Brown. "Yes, Bunny did run away once, but he was glad to run back +again." + +"And I was lost!" cried Sue. "I was out walking with my daddy, and I +went down a wrong street, and I couldn't see him and I didn't know what +to do so I--I cried." + +"Yes, Sue was lost a whole morning before a policeman found her and +telephoned to us," put in Mrs. Brown. "She was glad to get back. +Undoubtedly your boy will be the same." + +"No," said Mr. Ward slowly, "I don't believe Fred will come home soon. +He has gone off very angry." + +"Are you sure he didn't go to the home of some neighbor or of a +relative?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Children often do that, never thinking how +worried their fathers and mothers are." + +"No, Fred is too old to do that," said Mrs. Ward, wiping the tears out +of her eyes. "He has gone, intending to stay a long while." + +"What makes you think so?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"Because of this note he left," answered the father of the boy next +door. "You see, Mrs. Brown, I had to correct Fred for doing something +wrong. He spent some money to buy a banjo that he had promised--I had +told him I would get him a fine banjo next year, but---- + +"Well, he disobeyed me, and I felt I had to punish him. So I sent him up +to his room to stay all day. He went to his room, and that is the last +we have seen of him. He left this note, saying he was never coming +back." + +"Read Mrs. Brown the note," suggested Mrs. Ward. "Maybe she can think of +some plan to get Fred back." + +Mr. Ward was about to read the note when Mr. Brown's voice was heard +under the dining-room windows saying: + +"Hello, Mother, and Bunny and Sue! Mary told me you had come over here, +so I thought I'd come to pay a visit too. I've news for you." + +"Oh, it's daddy!" cried Sue, and she ran to let her father in through +the front door. + +"I wonder what news it is," said Bunny to himself. "I wonder if he has +found Fred." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +AN OFFER OF HELP + + +As Mr. Brown walked into the home of the Ward family he saw at once, by +a look at his wife, and by the expressions on the faces of Mr. and Mrs. +Ward, that something had happened. + +"Oh, I beg your pardon," Mr. Brown said. "Perhaps I shouldn't have come +in. I'll call another time. But----" + +"What about the good news you have, Daddy?" asked Bunny. + +"I didn't say it was good news, Son." + +"Yes, it is. I can tell by your eyes!" exclaimed Sue. + +"Whatever it is, it will keep a little while," said Mrs. Brown, with a +look at her husband, which he understood. "Our neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. +Ward," she continued, "are in great distress. Their only son, Fred, has +run away from home." + +"Oh, that's too bad!" exclaimed Mr. Brown. "I shouldn't have come in. +I'll----" + +"No, stay, we'll want your advice," said Mrs. Brown. "Mr. Ward was just +going to read a letter his son left. I want you to listen to it and tell +us what is best to do. You know you are on the police board." + +"Of course I'll do all I can," said Mr. Brown. "First let me hear the +letter. You can sometimes tell a good deal of what's in a person's mind +by the way he writes." + +And while Mr. Brown is listening to the letter left by the runaway boy, +I'll tell my new readers something more about Bunny Brown and his Sister +Sue, and the things that happened to them in the books before this. + +The first volume is named "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue," and it tells +of what happened to the two children in their home town of Bellemere, on +Sandport Bay, near the ocean. There the little boy and girl had fine +times, and they took a trolley ride to a far city, getting lost. + +The second book told of "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on Grandpa's +Farm," and you can imagine the fun they had there, getting lost in the +woods and going to picnics. After that the two children played Circus in +the book of that name, and they had real animals in their show, though +you could not exactly call them wild. + +"Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Aunt Lu's City Home," is the name of +the fourth book, and in the big city Bunny and Sue had stranger +adventures than ever. + +After that Mr. Brown took the whole family to "Camp Rest-a-While." It +was a lovely place in the woods and they lived in tents. Uncle Tad went +with them, and ever so many things happened to the children there. Their +dog Splash had good times too. + +Camp Rest-a-While was near the edge of the big woods, and in the book +called "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Big Woods," which is just +before this one, you may read of the adventures with Bunny's train of +electric cars, and of the fun Sue had with her electrical Teddy bear, which +could flash its eyes when a button was pressed in his back--or rather, +_her_ back, for Sue had named her Teddy bear Sallie Malinda, insisting +that it was a girl bear. + +And now the Brown family was home again from the big woods, ready for +other happenings. And that they were going to have adventures might be +guessed from what Mr. Brown started to say about some news. But just now +he was reading the letter Fred Ward had written to his parents. + +"Hum! That is a strange note for a boy to leave," said Mr. Brown slowly. +"He evidently doesn't intend to come home very soon." + +"Oh dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Ward, and commenced to weep once more. + +"I tell her he may come home soon, for he has no money--or at least very +little to live on," said the missing boy's father. "You see Fred has a +high spirit, and he did not like it when I had to punish him. But I did +it for his good. He must learn the value of money, and he must not spend +when I tell him not to." + +"No, that is not right," said Mr. Brown thoughtfully. He handed the note +to his wife. She read this: + + "Father and Mother: I am not coming back for a + long while. I do not think you treated me right. I + am more than fifteen years old and I have a right + to have a banjo if I want it. I want to be a + player and play in the theater. That is what I am + going to do. I am not going to be treated like a + baby by my father. I am too old." + +"I did not mean to treat him like a baby," said Mr. Ward. "But our +children must be made to obey in things that are right." + +"That is true," agreed Mrs. Brown. + +"We mind sometimes," said Bunny. "Don't we, Momsie?" + +"Yes, once in a while. But please run away and play now, until we call +you. There comes Splash over to have a game with Dix. You children can +go out with the dogs." + +Bunny and Sue were eager enough to do this. They thought they had heard +enough about the missing boy. They were to hear more in a short time. + +"And so Fred has run away," said Mr. Ward, speaking to Mr. and Mrs. +Brown. "How can I get him back? It is not good that he should be away. +I will talk about the banjo to him, and if I find he really thinks it is +the best instrument for him to play I may let him have it. But where can +I find him?" + +"Perhaps I can help," said Mr. Brown. "I am a member of the town police +committee. That is, I and other men look after the policemen. We can +tell them to be on the lookout for Fred." + +"Oh, that is kind of you!" cried Mrs. Ward. + +"And I can also send word to the police of other cities and towns," went +on Mr. Brown. "We work together on cases like this." + +"I shall be greatly obliged to you," said Mr. Ward. "I want Fred to come +back." + +"When did you find out he was gone?" asked Mr. Brown. + +"Just a little while ago," answered Mr. Ward. "I sent him up to his room +this morning. He did not come down to dinner, for I said he should not +eat until he said he was sorry for what he did. Perhaps I was wrong, but +I meant to do right." + +"You did it for the best," said his wife. "When I went up to Fred's +room this afternoon, he was gone, and there was this note. It was then I +cried," she went on, turning to the parents of Bunny and Sue. + +"I am so sorry," said Mrs. Brown. "But I think it will all come right. +My husband will help find your boy." + +"I'll get the police to help, too," said Mr. Brown. "They will search +for him." + +"And we'll help!" exclaimed Bunny and Sue, coming in just then from +having a romp on the lawn with the two dogs. "We'll try to find Fred for +you." + +"Bless their hearts!" cried Mrs. Brown, as the children ran out again. +"They get into all sorts of mischief, but they manage to get out +somehow. Bunny is ready for anything, and Sue is generally ready for +whatever follows." + +"But they are learning a good deal," said Mr. Brown. "Their life in the +woods and on the farm was good for them--as good as the time they spend +in school." + +"Yes," said Mr. Ward. "Sometimes I think I may have kept Fred too much +at his books. I wish I had him back." + +"Oh, we'll find him," said Mr. Brown. + +"I hope so," sighed Mrs. Ward. "It is very kind of you to offer to help +us." + +"Why shouldn't we?" asked Mrs. Brown. "That is what neighbors are +for--to help one another. We'll go, now. But Mr. Brown will come back +and get you to tell him what Fred looks like, and how he was dressed, so +the police will know him if they see him. They will send you word where +he is if they find him." + +"I will give you his photograph," said Mr. Ward. + +As Mr. and Mrs. Brown walked across the lawn, they saw Bunny and Sue +playing with the two dogs. Bunny was on Splash's back as though the dog +were a horse, and Sue was doing the same thing with Dix. + +"Gid-dap! Gid-dap!" cried the two little ones, holding to the dogs' long +ears so they would not fall off--I mean so the children would not fall +off, not the dogs' ears. + +"Aren't they having a good time?" asked Mrs. Brown smiling. + +"They certainly are," agreed her husband. + +"I'm glad it is neither of our children who is away." + +"I can't bear even to think of that!" said Mrs. Brown, with a shudder. + +"Look out! They'll run us down!" she went on, for the children, on their +dog-horses, were rushing right at them. + +"Clear the track! Clear the track!" cried Bunny, wildly. + +"Yes! All aboard for the north pole!" yelled Sue. + +"Bow-wow!" barked the two dogs, as happy as the children. + +"Oh, Daddy! Do you know how to find Fred?" asked the little girl as she +fell off her dog into the soft grass. + +"Well, we are going to try," answered her father. + +"And we'll help," cried Bunny. Then, as he happened to think of +something, he exclaimed: + +"Oh, Daddy! What about the good news you were going to tell us?" + +"We want to hear it now," added Sue. + +"You did say something about a surprise," added Mrs. Brown. "So much +has happened to-day that I had forgotten." + +"Maybe you won't think it such news after all," observed Mr. Brown. "But +it occurs to me that there is going to be some warm weather yet, as the +Fall is not yet over. So I was thinking we could take the big +automobile--the one we used when we went to Grandpa's farm--and have a +tour in it. I have to go to a distant city on business, but there is no +hurry in getting there. We might all go in the big car. Shall we go?" + +"Shall we go? Of course!" cried Bunny, dancing about. + +"That's what I say!" added Sue, also capering wildly. "Oh, Bunny!" she +cried, "haven't we got just the bestest daddy in the whole world?" + +"We have! We have!" + +"Then let's both kiss him at once!" proposed Sue, and they made a rush +for Mr. Brown, who pretended to be much afraid. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +READY FOR THE TRIP + + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Go and love your mother for a change!" laughed Mr. +Brown as he squirmed away from Bunny and Sue, who had hugged him and +kissed him half a dozen times. "You've mussed my hair all up! Isn't my +hair sticking up seven ways, Mother?" he asked his wife. + +"Indeed it is. If you children muss mine that way I shall have to comb +it again before supper, and I'll hardly have time if father is to +explain about the auto tour. This is as much news to me, Bunny and Sue, +as it is to you." + +"Oh, Mother made a rhyme! Now we'll have a good time!" cried Bunny. +"Come on, Sue, we'll kiss her easy-like, and then we'll hear about the +trip. When are you going, Daddy?" + +"And where?" asked Sue. + +"One is about as important as the other," laughed Mr. Brown. "But I +think you will have to wait a while. I want to telephone to the chief of +police, and have him start the search for Fred Ward. We have to work +quickly in the cases of runaway boys, or they get so far away that it +makes them harder to find." + +"What makes boys run away?" asked Bunny. + +"Well, it's hard to tell," said Mr. Brown. "Sometimes it's because they +feel ashamed at being punished, just as Fred was, and as you might be, +Bunny, if I scolded you for being bad. Not that you are often naughty, +but you might be, some time." + +"But I wouldn't run away," Bunny said, shaking his head very earnestly. +"I like it here too much. I read a story once, about a boy who ran away, +and he had to sleep in a haymow and eat raw eggs for breakfast." + +"Oh! I'd never do _that_!" cried Sue. "I wouldn't mind playing with the +little chickens that came out of the eggs, but I wouldn't run away," +she said earnestly. "I wouldn't want to sleep in a haystack lessen Bunny +was with me." + +"Well, when you two make up your minds to run away," said Mrs. Brown +with a laugh, "tell us, and we'll come for you when night falls and +bring you home. Then you can sleep in your own beds and run away the +next day. + +"That will be great!" cried Bunny. "We'll do it that way, Sue." + +"That's what we will!" said she. + +They were at the Browns' house now, and Dix, the dog that belonged to +the runaway boy, turned to go back home. Splash barked at him as much as +to say: + +"Oh, come on, old fellow, stay and have a good time. Maybe I can find a +choice bone or two." + +But Dix wagged his tail and barked, and if one had understood dog +language, of which I suppose there must be one, he would, perhaps, have +heard Dix say: + +"No, old chap. I'm sorry I can't come to play with you now. Some other +time, perhaps. There's trouble at home you know, and I'd better stay +around there." + +Then Splash and Dix looked at each other for a little while, saying +never a word, as one might call it, only looking at each other. They +seemed to understand, however, for, with a final wagging of their tails, +away they ran, Dix back to the Ward home where the mother and the father +were grieving for their lost boy, and Splash on to the happy home of the +Browns. + +"Now, Daddy, you can tell us about that auto trip we are going to take, +while mother is seeing to the supper," called Bunny as he pulled his +father toward a big armchair, while Sue clung to her father on the other +side. + +"Not until after the meal," insisted Mr. Brown. "I want to tell it to +mother and you all at the same time. That will save me from talking so +much. Besides, I haven't yet told the police about missing Fred Ward." + +Mr. Brown soon called the chief on the telephone wire. Being the +president of the police board, Mr. Brown often had to give orders. + +In this case he told the chief about Fred running away, how long the +boy had been gone, and about the note saying he was going to join a +theater company. + +"We'd better get some circulars printed, with the boy's picture on +them," said Mr. Brown to the chief. "These we can send to other cities. +And we'll notify the police by telephone. I'll be down to see you this +evening." + +"All right," answered the chief. "I'll get right after this boy." + +"And tell whoever catches him to be good and kind to him," said Mr. +Brown. "Fred is not a bad boy. He feels that he has not been treated +well, and he'll do his best to hide away. But a boy with a banjo, who is +crazy to play in a show, ought not be very hard to find." + +"No, I think we'll soon pick him up," the chief said. + +"Well, pick him up as soon as you can," said Mr. Brown. + +"Pick him _up_!" repeated Bunny, who had been listening to his father's +side of the conversation. "Did Fred fall down?" + +"No. 'Pick him up' is a police expression," explained Mr. Brown. "It +means find him, or learn where he is." + +"Oh, I see," murmured Bunny. "Well, I hope they'll soon find Fred." + +The talk at supper time drifted from the running away of the boy next +door, and what might happen to him, to the trip the Browns were to take +in the big car. + +"Well, now are you ready to tell us?" asked Bunny, as he saw his father +finish his cup of tea. + +"Yes, I'll tell you a little now, and more when the time comes, as I +have soon to go down to the police station with Fred's picture. But I'll +tell you enough so you can sleep easy," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. +Then he sat thinking for a while as to the best way to tell his news. + +"In the first place----" began Mr. Brown, only to have Bunny interrupt +him with: + +"Oh, it starts off just like a story!" + +"No," cried Sue. "A story begins: 'Once upon a time.'" + +"Well, never mind about that now," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. "Let me +get on with what I have to tell you. The first part is that I have to +go to a city called Portland, about three hundred miles down the coast. +I have to go there on business, but there is no particular hurry. That +is, I can take my time on the road. Just what the business is about +needn't worry your heads, except that I'm going to look at a big motor +boat which I may buy." + +"And may I have a ride in it?" cried Bunny. + +"I want to ride myself," cried Sue, "and I want to learn how to steer." + +"Well, we'll talk that over later," said her father. "Just now I am +going to tell you about our auto tour. We are going, as I said, to the +city of Portland. It is three hundred miles there, but the roundabout +roads we will take may make it longer." + +"Can we stop over a day or so here and there?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"Yes, several days, if we like," said her husband. "We are going in the +big enclosed auto, in which we went to grandpa's farm." + +"That will be lovely!" cried Sue. + +"Just dandy!" exclaimed Bunny Brown. "And I'm going to sit on the seat +and steer, just as I did when Bunker Blue took us to grandpa's." + +"I don't know that Bunker is going this time," said Mr. Brown, speaking +of the boy who worked for him and ran some of the motor boats when +parties of men and women wanted to go out in the bay fishing. + +"Oh! Bunker not going?" cried Bunny, somewhat disappointed. + +"But we'll take your dog Splash and Uncle Tad," said Mr. Brown. + +"That will be all right," agreed Bunny. "Go on, Daddy. Tell us some +more." + +"Well, I don't know that there is any more to tell. We are going in the +big automobile, have a nice trip, and come back when we get ready. It +will be Indian Summer most of the time, the nicest part of the year, I +think, so we ought to have good weather. Now the rest is in your hands +and your mother's--getting ready for the trip." + +Those who have read the book telling about the time spent on grandpa's +farm will remember the big automobile in which the Browns traveled to +the farm. + +It had been a furniture moving van, and you know how big and strong they +are. Inside they are just like a big room in a house, only they move +about by a motor in the front, just as does a small automobile. + +But this moving van was very different from the kind usually seen. The +inside had been made over into several rooms. There were little bunks, +or beds in which to sleep, a combined kitchen and dining room, and a +little sitting room where, in the evenings after the day's travel, the +children could sit and read, for the traveling automobile was lighted by +electric lights, from a storage battery carried in it. + +On bright, sunshiny days the little table was moved out of the van to +the ground beside it and there the meals were served. Sometimes cooking +was done out-of-doors, also, on a gasolene stove. A tent was carried, +and if any company came they could sleep in that if there was not room +in the auto-van. + +When the Browns wanted to travel through the rain they could do so +without getting wet, for there was a stout roof on the automobile. + +Windows had been cut in the sides of the van so the children could sit +beside them in stormy weather and look out, just as if they were in a +railroad car. And in the big car was a place for some of the children's +toys. + +There was room for plenty of food to be carried, and even a small +ice-box that could be filled with ice whenever they stopped in a city. + +"Well," said Mr. Brown, after he had told Bunny, Sue and their mother +about his plan, "do you think you'll like it?" + +"I'll just love it!" cried Sue. + +"So will I," said Bunny. "Let's hug and kiss daddy and momsie!" + +"No, I'll have to beg off!" cried Mr. Brown. "Just one kiss each, and +don't muss my hair for I've got to go to the police station to take +Fred's picture. I'm sure his father would feel bad about doing a thing +like that so I'll do it for him. I'll be back soon." + +"And we'll talk about the trip while you're gone," said Mrs. Brown. + +Bunny and Sue were in bed when their father returned. The next morning +their mother told them, after Mr. Brown had gone to work, that he had +asked the police to do all they could to find Fred Ward. + +"And now we must get ready for our trip," went on Mrs. Brown. "I must +get both of you some new clothes, for you wore out many suits while we +were at Camp Rest-a-While and in the Big Woods." + +"But don't get too many. It will take too long to get 'em," remarked +Bunny. "We want to get started on our auto tour." + +Not long after this Mrs. Brown announced that she was ready for the +trip--that she had bought the new clothes, and had arranged for the food +they were to take with them. + +"Then I'll bring the big auto around here to the house to-morrow morning +and let you look at it," said Mr. Brown. "I have made a few changes in +it. I hope you will like it." + +"Oh, we'll be sure to," said Mrs. Brown. + +That night, when Bunny and Sue were ready for bed, Bunny looked out of +the window toward the Ward house. There was a bright moon. + +"I see Dix and Splash playing together on the lawn," he said. + +"And I see something else," added Sue. + +"What?" asked Bunny. + +"I see Fred Ward coming home. There he is, going up the back steps now." + +Sue pointed, and Bunny saw a tall lad, who did look very much like the +runaway boy, at the back door of the Ward home. + +"Oh, let's tell daddy and momsie!" cried Bunny, as he and his sister, in +their bare feet, pattered their way downstairs. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +BUNNY AT THE WHEEL + + +Bunny and Sue raced downstairs and burst into the sitting room where +their mother and father were sitting. + +"Oh, Daddy!" cried Bunny. + +"Oh, Momsie!" exclaimed Sue. + +They were both out of breath. + +"Well, what's the matter now?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Why aren't you in +bed?" + +"We saw something--anyhow Sue did," explained Bunny. + +"But first Bunny saw Splash and Dix playing on the lawn in the +moonlight," said Sue, breathing fast. + +"And then Sue saw Fred coming home--in by the back way," added Bunny, +his eyes big with wonder. + +"What's that?" cried Mr. Brown, almost as excited as the two children. + +"You say you saw Fred Ward?" asked Mother Brown. + +"Well, it _looked_ like him," replied Bunny, not quite so sure now that +questions were being asked of him and his sister. + +"And he was going very carefully and quietly around the back way," added +Sue. "Who could it be but Fred? He's getting tired of sleeping in +haystacks and eating raw eggs, and he's come home, I guess." + +"Look here, Sue and Bunny," said Mr. Brown, a bit firmly but still +kindly. "Did you both see this? Or did you make it up or dream it?" + +"We didn't dream," said Sue, "'cause we hadn't gone to sleep yet." + +"And we didn't make it up, for we weren't playing make-believe," added +Bunny. + +"Then you must have seen something," said their father; for when Bunny +and his sister spoke in this serious way their parents could tell they +were in earnest. + +"What could it be?" asked Mrs. Brown, with a wondering look at her +husband. + +"I'll run over and see," he replied. "You children hop back into bed. +You'll catch cold." + +"Oh, Daddy! It's Summer yet, and we're even going to sleep out in the +tent when we're on the auto tour," said Bunny. "Let us wait up and see +if Fred really has come home. I hope he has!" + +"I hope so, too," said Mother Brown. "Let them lie awake in bed, Daddy, +until you come back from the Ward home." + +"All right, I will," Mr. Brown agreed, and as he started across the +moonlighted lawn Bunny and Sue, with many whisperings, noddings and +giggles went back upstairs to their room. + +But they did not go to bed. This was one of the times when they did not +do as they were told. But it was only once in a while they did anything +like that. Bunny and Sue were, as a rule, very good. + +Well, instead of going to bed they stood by the window where they could +watch the lawn on which Splash and Dix were still playing. + +"We mustn't catch cold," said Sue. "We'd better wrap a blanket around +us, Bunny, if we stand by the window, though it isn't cold at all." + +"Yep," grunted Bunny, who was so interested in watching his father cross +the grass plot that he did not feel like talking much. + +Sue brought a light blanket from her bed and one from Bunny's, and in +these the children wrapped themselves, and stood by the window. + +"There he is!" cried Bunny, as he saw the tall figure of his father, +accompanied by a bigger shadow in the moonlight, appear on the lawn. + +"Hush!" cautioned Sue. "Don't talk so loud or mother will come up and +make us go to bed." + +Bunny "hushed," and then the two children watched. They saw their father +go up the side steps of the Ward house and very soon come out again. + +"It didn't take him long to find out," said Bunny in a low voice. + +"I hope Fred has come back," whispered Sue. + +But it was not, as they learned a little later when their mother came +upstairs to tell them. The children had quickly scampered back to their +beds when they heard their mother coming up, and she found two anxious +faces peering at her over the blankets. + +"Was it Fred?" they asked excitedly. + +"No, I am sorry to say it was not," answered Mrs. Brown. "It was one of +the boys Fred used to play with, and he went around the back way because +he did not want any one to see him going in the front door." + +"Does he know where Fred is?" asked Bunny. + +"No. But he went to tell Mr. Ward about him. He had seen some of the +police circulars, or printed papers which were scattered about, showing +Fred's picture and telling how he looked and how much his father wanted +him to come home again." + +"And is he coming?" asked Sue. + +"We don't know, dear. Mr. Ward told us this boy, whose name is George +Simpson, knew that Fred was going to run away, for Fred had told him." + +"Why didn't George come and tell Fred's father so he could stop him?" +asked Bunny. + +"Because Fred made George promise not to tell. But after George had +seen the police circulars he made up his mind he must say something, so +he came to-night. He said Fred had told him he was going to run away to +Portland and try to get work in a theater playing a banjo." + +"Portland!" cried Bunny. "Why that's where we're going!" + +"And maybe we'll see Fred!" added Sue. + +"It may be," said their mother. "But now you two must go to sleep. The +big auto will be here in the morning, and you will wish to see the new +things daddy has put in." + +"May I ask just one more question?" begged Bunny. + +"Yes, and only one." + +"How did Fred come to go to Portland? Did he know we were going there?" + +"No, dear. But he knew a man in a theater there who had promised to give +him a trial at banjo playing if ever he wanted it. So, when Fred ran +away, he decided to go there. At least so he told George." + +"Oh, Mother, when we get to Portland may we----" began Sue, but Mrs. +Brown laughed and cried: + +"No more questions until morning!" + +Bunny and Sue talked in whispers for a little while, and then fell +asleep. They were awakened by the honking of an automobile horn, and +Bunny, hopping out of bed and running to the window, cried to his +sister: + +"Oh, Sue, it's the big car we're going touring in, and Bunker Blue has +brought it up the hill. Come on down to see it." + +"Oh what fun!" cried Sue. + +She and Bunny dressed quickly, and without waiting for breakfast they +ran out to look at the automobile. + +Bunker Blue, the boy who worked at the dock for Mr. Brown and who had +gone on the first trip in the Brown's big car, smiled at Bunny and Sue. + +"Well, you've got a fine car now!" he cried. + +"Is it different?" asked Sue. + +"A lot different. Come inside." + +"Breakfast, children!" called their mother. + +"Oh, Mother, just a second--until we see how the auto is fixed +different?" begged Bunny. + +Mrs. Brown nodded, and Bunker Blue helped the little boy and his sister +inside. + +There were many things changed. The electric lights were bigger and +brighter, so they could see to read or play games better at night; a new +cookstove had been put in; an extra bunk had been made, so five persons +could sleep in the auto-van; a new tent had been bought; and in one +corner of the tiny kitchen was a little sink, with running water which +came from a tank on the roof. This tank was filled by a hose and pump +worked by the motor. Whenever the water ran low the automobile could be +stopped near a brook or lake, one end of the hose dipped in the water +and the other stuck in the tank. Then the pump could fill the tank, and +the tank, in turn, could let the water down into the sink whenever +needed. + +"Your mother'll like that," said Bunker Blue. + +"Indeed she will!" cried Sue. + +"Is there anything else new?" asked Bunny. + +"Indeed there is!" cried Bunker Blue. "The auto-van's got a self-starter +on. That's the best of all, I think. You don't have to get out to crank +up now. It's great. See, I'll show you." + +While the children stood on the ground near the automobile, Bunker Blue +climbed to the seat near the steering wheel and pulled a lever. All at +once there was a grinding noise and the van started slowly off. + +"That's the self-starter," explained Bunker. "I didn't throw in the +gears. The self-starter is strong enough to run the auto a little while +all by itself, if it isn't too heavily loaded. That's a big +improvement." + +"That's what!" cried Bunny. His sister did not know much about electric +starters and such things, but Bunny, through having asked Bunker Blue +many questions, had come to learn considerable about the machinery. + +"Hurry, children! You must come to breakfast!" called Mrs. Brown. "You +may look at the auto another time. After breakfast we'll have to pack it +and get ready for the trip." + +"We're coming!" cried Bunny and Sue, and with last looks at the big car, +which was to be their home for some time to come, the children ran in to +breakfast. + +"Now, Bunny and Sue," said Mr. Brown, as he made ready to go to his +office, "one thing I want you to do is to pick out what toys you want to +take with you. They can not be very many, so pick out those you like +best." + +"Oh, Bunny!" cried Sue. "You take your 'lectricity train that you got +back from the hermit, and I'll take my Teddy bear, Sallie Malinda with +her 'lectric-light eyes." + +"No," said Bunny, shaking his head. "My electric train takes up too much +room. I'm going to take my popgun that shoots corks, and maybe I can +scare away any cows that get in front of our auto." + +"All right. But I'm going to take Sallie Malinda," declared Sue. + +While she was getting it out from among her playthings, Bunny went out +to look at the big automobile again. He climbed up to the seat. Bunker +Blue, after bringing it up to the Brown house so Mrs. Brown could pack +in it the things she wanted, had gone back to the dock. + +"I wish I could steer this machine," murmured Bunny as he took his seat +at the wheel. "I could, too, if they'd only let me. I wish they would." + +He twisted the steering wheel to and fro, playing that he was guiding +the big car. Suddenly he heard a grinding sound, as when Bunker Blue had +been on the seat, and, to Bunny's astonishment, the big van, the wheel +of which he held, began to move slowly around the drive which circled +the Brown home. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +WHERE IS SPLASH? + + +"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Bunny Brown, as he felt himself being carried along +in the automobile. "What has happened?" + +The automobile kept on moving, and Bunny held his hands on the steering +wheel. He knew this must be done whenever any machine, like an +automobile, was moving. + +"I've either got to stop it, or--or steer it along the curved path so it +won't run into anything," whispered Bunny Brown to himself. "I don't +know what makes me go but I'm going, and I'm keeping going, so I've got +to steer." + +And steer Bunny did. Fortunately though the car was large, it was easily +steered, for Mr. Brown had it made that way so his wife could take the +wheel when she cared to. + +Mrs. Brown could drive an ordinary automobile and she could steer well. +So while Mr. Brown was having the big auto-van made over he had the +steering part changed so that the steering wheel turned from side to +side very easily. And as Bunny was a sturdy chap he had no trouble about +this part. + +The auto-van kept on moving and Bunny noticed that it was going up a +little hill in the driveway that went all the way around the house. + +"I don't see what makes it go uphill all by itself," said Bunny to +himself, giving the steering wheel a little turn, as there was a curve +in the pathway just ahead of him. "If I were running _down_hill I'd know +what made it go--the same thing that makes my sled slide downhill in +Winter. But if this auto stood on the level I don't see what started it, +nor why it keeps on going _up_hill. Bunker Blue must have left the +brakes off." + +Bunny looked at the handle brake and at the one worked by the foot +pedal. Both were off, for Bunker had released them when he left the car, +since it stood on a level bit of the driveway. + +"But what makes it go?" asked Bunny again. Then, as he heard the low +grinding noise, he remembered the self-starter, which Bunker had spoken +of. + +"I must have kicked the handle or touched it," thought Bunny, "and that +started the machine. I don't know how to stop it. I guess I'd +better--Oh, whee! There's a tree I'm going to smash into!" cried Bunny +Brown. + +The thought of getting out of the way of the tree drove from Bunny's +mind, for the time being, every other thought. He must not hit the tree +which grew a little over the side of the driveway. + +"I've got to steer out of the way, that's what I've got to do!" thought +Bunny in a flash. "I've got to steer out of the way!" + +Once he had made up his mind to that, he did not think so much about the +motion of the automobile. That could be taken care of later. + +"Let's see, which way do I turn the wheel to get out of the way of the +tree," thought Bunny. He had often been in boats with his father and +Bunker Blue, and sometimes, when the way was clear, he had been allowed +to steer. Once or twice, while out with his mother in her car, she had +let him steer along a quiet road. + +He was closer to the tree now. The automobile was not moving very fast, +and perhaps if it had hit the tree it would not have done much damage. +But Bunny did not know that, and then, too, he might be hurt in case the +big car hit the tree. So he was going to do his best to avoid it. + +Like a flash it came to Bunny. + +"I must turn the steering wheel the way I want the auto to go!" + +No sooner said than done. Bunny gave the wheel a twist. Then he saw the +auto slowly move that way, and away from the tree. It went past with a +few inches to spare, but Bunny had not acted any too soon. + +Now he was on the straight part of the driveway again, at the back of +the house, and all he had to do was to hold the steering wheel steady, +and the automobile would move itself along. + +"But there's another curve by the kitchen door," thought Bunny. "I +wonder if I'll get around that all right." + +On went the automobile. As it rolled slowly past the kitchen, Mary, the +cook, looked out and saw the small boy at the steering wheel, which +seemed almost as large as he was. + +"Oh, Bunny! Bunny! Sure an' what in the world are ye doin'?" she cried. + +"Please don't make me look at you," begged Bunny. "I've got to steer +straight until I get to the curve and then I've got to twist around, an' +that's very, very hard to do, Mary. So please don't interrupt me." + +But Mary had seen enough to cause alarm. She rushed to the sitting room +where Mrs. Brown was looking at a pile of toys Sue had brought down to +take on the trip. + +"Oh, Mrs. Brown! Mrs. Brown! Sure, an' the likes of a little boy like +him runnin' the big car! Sure, it's kilt he'll be intirely!" + +"What do you mean, Mary?" + +"What do I mean? Sure, an' I mean that Bunny, the darlin' boy, has gone +off in the big movin' van auto!" + +"Bunny in that auto? Impossible!" + +"Look for yourself!" exclaimed Mary, pointing to the window. + +At that moment the auto went rolling past, with Bunny at the wheel, as +brave as life. + +"Bunny Brown!" exclaimed his mother, dashing for the door. + +"I--I got around the curve all right, Momsie!" he shouted in glee, and +he raised one hand from the wheel to wave it to her. + +But at that instant the auto gave a wobble, and Bunny had to bring his +waving hand back on the wheel to keep the car straight. + +"Bunny! Bunny!" cried his mother, running down the drive after the +machine. "Where are you going?" + +"I--I don't know," he called back to her. "The auto got started and I +can't stop it!" + +"Oh, what shall I do?" cried Mrs. Brown. For the seat of the car was +very high, and though Bunny had managed to reach it, for he was a good +tree-climber, it would hardly have been possible for Mrs. Brown to try +to get up with her skirts on and when the auto was moving. It had been +still when Bunny climbed to the seat. + +"Oh, Bunny!" wailed his mother. "Mary! Telephone for Mr. Brown to come +home--quick!" + +"I won't be hurt!" called Bunny. "All I've got to do is to keep going on +around and around and around the driveway until the storage battery +gives out. That's what's running the car now." + +"Oh, but you _must_ be stopped," cried Mrs. Brown, who managed to keep +alongside the slowly moving auto. "You might hit something!" + +"I steered out of the way of a tree, all the same," said Bunny proudly. +"I was 'most going to run into it, but I didn't. I 'membered which way +to steer." + +"Oh, I'm so frightened," moaned Mrs. Brown. Then seeing Bunker Blue +coming up the path with a message on which he had been sent by Mr. +Brown, Bunny's mother called to him: + +"Oh, Bunker, stop the auto! Bunny started it somehow. He's ridden +nearly all around the drive, but he can't stop!" + +"It's running on the battery," said Bunker, after listening a moment to +the electric hum. Then he swung himself up on the seat of the moving car +beside Bunny, shut off the electric starter and put on the brakes. + +"There you are, Bunny!" cried Bunker. "Right as can be!" + +"I steered her nearly all the way around the house," said the small boy +with pride. + +"But you must never do it again," commanded his mother. "Never! Oh, how +you frightened me, Bunny!" + +"I'm sorry! I won't do it again," said the little fellow; and he really +meant it. + +"How did you come to do it?" asked Bunker. + +"It just did itself," said the small boy. "I climbed up on the seat, and +made believe I was steering, just like you or daddy, when, all of a +sudden, off she went. I 'most busted down a tree, but I didn't really. +And I went all around the house. I guess now daddy will let me steer the +car out on the road." + +"Not for a few days yet," said Bunker Blue with a laugh. + +"Mr. Brown told me to tell you," he went on to Mrs. Brown, "that he +would go a day earlier than he counted on, if you could get ready." + +"It won't take me long to pack," said Mrs. Brown. "But why didn't he +telephone?" + +"Our machine is out of order. The men are fixing it, and anyhow I had to +come up this way." + +"Well, I'm glad you came in time," said Mrs. Brown, as she led Bunny +back to the house. "You are very good, Bunker." + +"Yes, and I want you to show me how to stop that electric starter when +it starts to start," said Bunny. + +"Some day--maybe," promised Bunker, smiling. + +"Well, if we're going sooner, I'll have to hurry up and get my things +packed," said Bunny. "Have you got yours, Sue?" + +"Most of 'em. You ought to see how bright my Teddy bear's eyes shine +since daddy put new batteries inside Sallie Malinda," rattled on Sue. +"I can 'most see to read my Mother Goose by them in the dark." + +"Well, I'm going to get my things ready," said Bunny. + +The next few days were busy ones in the Brown home. The big automobile +was packed with bed clothes and with things for the children, their +father and mother and Uncle Tad to wear, and also with things to eat. + +At last, one morning, all was ready for the start. + +"Good-bye," waved Mary, the cook, who was to have a vacation, while the +Browns were away. + +"Good-bye!" called Bunny and Sue, and then Mr. Brown, who was at the +steering wheel, while Uncle Tad, Bunny, Sue and their mother rode +inside, started the car, and Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue were off on +an auto tour. + +Merrily they rode along, Bunny and Sue talking happily, when, all at +once Bunny cried: + +"Wait! Hold on! Where is Splash?" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +TWO DOGS + + +Mr. Brown as soon as he heard Bunny's cry of "Wait!" at once shut off +the power from the big automobile, and brought it to a stop. He turned +to look through the little window at the back of the front seat against +which he leaned, and asked: + +"What's the matter?" + +"Oh, Daddy, we've forgotten Splash!" wailed Bunny. + +"We've left him behind," chattered Sue. "I saw him and Dix--that's Fred +Ward's dog--playing together, and I thought of course Splash would come +with us. I forgot, and left one of the funny clown dresses for Sallie +Malinda up in my room, so I went to get it, and then Splash and Dix were +away down at the end of the yard and I didn't think any more about our +dog." + +"I didn't either," said Bunny. "But he always has come with us and I +thought he would this time." + +"Are you sure he isn't somewhere in the auto, under one of the cots +asleep?" asked Mr. Brown. + +"I'll look," said Uncle Tad, and he did, but without finding Splash. + +"I forgot all about him," admitted Mrs. Brown, and her husband said the +same thing. + +"Well, what are we going to do?" asked Mr. Brown, as soon as every one +was satisfied that the dog was not in the big auto-van. + +"Do? Why, we've got to go back after him, of course!" cried Bunny. + +"We couldn't go without Splash," announced Sue. "He'd be so lonesome for +us that he'd cry, and then he'd start out to find us and maybe get lost +and we'd never find him again. Go back after him, Daddy! It isn't very +far." + +"All right," said good-natured Mr. Brown. "I'm glad we're not in a +hurry. Still I'd like to keep going, now that we've started. But please, +all of you, make sure nothing else is forgotten. For we don't want to go +back another time. All ready to turn around and march backward," and he +backed the big automobile at a wide place in the road, for it needed +plenty of room in which to turn. + +Slowly the big car made its way back to the Brown home. Mary, the cook, +was the first to see it, and, running to the door, she cried: + +"Oh, whatever you do, come in and sit down if only for a minute, some of +you! Oh, do come in and sit down!" + +"What for, Mary?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Has anything happened?" + +"No, but 'tis easy to see you've forgotten somethin'; and when that +happens if you don't sit down, or turn your dress wrong side out, bad +luck is sure to foller you when you start off again. So come in and sit +down, as that's easier than turning a dress." + +"Oh, let me turn my knickerbockers outside in!" cried Bunny. "That will +be as good as you or Sue, Momsie, turning your dresses. It's easy for +me. Then I can make-believe I'm a tramp, and I'll run on ahead and beg +for some bread and butter for my starving family," and he imitated, in +such a funny way, the whine of some of the tramps who called at the +Brown kitchen door, that his mother laughed and Sue said: + +"Oh, Momsie, let me turn my dress wrong-side out, too, and I can play +tramp with Bunny. That will be fun!" + +"No, you mustn't do that," said Mrs. Brown. "While we're hunting for +Splash--who isn't in sight. Where can he be?--we'll go in and sit down a +moment to please Mary." + +"Would we have bad luck if we didn't?" asked Bunny. + +"Not at all. But some persons, like Mary, believe in them; and Mary is +very fond of us. Even if we do not believe in some of the things those +we like believe in, as long as it does no harm to our beliefs, we can do +them to please a friend." + +Even Mr. Brown, because he liked Mary, went in and sat down for a minute +with the others. + +"Now you've done away with the bad luck," said the cook with a smile. +"What was it you came back for?" + +"Splash," answered Bunny. + +"He didn't come with us," added Sue. + +"Well, it's no wonder, the funny way he's cuttin' up with that dog next +door," said Mary. + +"What did he do?" asked Bunny. "Was it funny? Please tell us, Mary." + +"Well, it might have been funny for him, but it wasn't for me," said the +cook, though she could not help smiling. "The two dogs was playin' tag +on the lawn. I had some napkins spread out on the grass to bleach, and +what did that dog Dix do but run down in the brook, and then come back +with his feet all mud and run over my napkins. Sure, I had to wash 'em +all again. That's what them two dogs did. The bad luck was just startin' +in when you come back, an' it's good you did, to sit down a bit an' take +it off." + +"But we must get on again," said Mr. Brown. "So hurry, Bunny and Sue. +Find Splash. If he's muddy make him swim through the brook and clean +himself off. A run along the sunny road will soon dry him." + +"But don't let him splash your clean clothes, children," called their +mother after them, as the two ran off together to find the missing dog. + +"I hear them barking!" called Bunny, as he and his sister hurried toward +the end of the yard. + +"So do I." Then, a moment later, the little girl added: "There they +are!" and she pointed to the two dogs playing on the green lawn not far +from a little brook that ran through Mr. Brown's grounds. + +"Here, Splash! Splash!" called Bunny. + +The dogs stopped their playing, and looked toward the children. As soon +as Splash saw his little master and mistress he came rushing toward them +as fast as he could. + +"Don't let him jump on me and get my dress muddy!" cried Sue. "He's been +in the mud just awful!" + +"So he has," said Bunny Brown. "Down, Splash! Down!" he called, as the +dog neared Sue. Splash made all the signs he knew to show how glad he +was to see Bunny and Sue, but he did not get up on his hind legs and put +his paws on Sue's shoulders, as he sometimes did. + +"Oh, Splash, you're awful dirty!" cried Sue. "You must run in the brook, +where the water is clean, and where there are white pebbly stones +instead of mud on the bottom, to wash yourself. You've got to go in too, +Dix." + +Dix barked "bow-wow," to show he did not mind, I suppose. + +"Go on in, Splash!" cried Bunny, snapping his fingers and pointing at +the brook. "Go in and wash!" + +But though the Browns' dog was usually ready for a frolic in the water +he did not seem to be so just now. He ran back and forth, down to the +edge of the stream and back again, getting his paws wet, but nothing +else. + +"Oh, you must go in and have your bath if you are to come with us!" +cried Sue. "Go on in, Splash!" + +But not even for Sue would Splash go in, until finally Bunny cried: + +"Oh, I know a way to make him!" + +"How?" asked Sue. + +"Just throw a stick into the water, and he'll go after it and bring it +back. We'll throw it far out." + +"Oh, that's right!" cried Sue. "We'll do that." + +No sooner had the children picked up sticks than the two dogs, who had +started to play "tag" themselves, knew what was up. They both loved to +go into the water after sticks. + +"Throw 'em far out now!" cried Bunny. He tossed his to the middle of the +brook, and Sue flung hers nearly as far, for she was a good +thrower--almost as good as Bunny. + +Dix swam after Sue's stick, and Splash went for Bunny's. In a minute +they had brought them ashore and dropped them at the children's feet, +looking up into their faces as much as to say: + +"Do it again! We love to chase sticks!" + +And then, just as dogs always do when they come from the water, they +gave themselves big shakes. + +"Look out, Sue!" called Bunny. + +But he was too late. A shower of drops from Splash went all over Sue's +dress, and some of the drops were not clean water, either. + +"Oh dear!" she cried. "Now I'll have to change my dress!" + +"Never mind," said Bunny. "You run up to the house and get that done, +and I'll throw the two sticks into the water. Then Splash and Dix will +go in again, and when they come out they'll be cleaner. I won't come +back to the house with them until they are good and clean." + +Once more Bunny tossed the sticks, as Sue went up to change her dress. +When her mother saw her she cried: + +"Oh dear, Sue! How did that happen?" + +Sue told her. + +"Well, I hope Bunny gets the dogs clean this time," said Mrs. Brown as +she took Sue upstairs to put another dress on her. This did not take +long, and a little while afterward Bunny came running up from the brook +with the two dogs, dripping wet from their baths. + +"Quick, Momsie and Sue!" he called to his mother and sister. "Get in the +auto before the dogs shower you again with water. I've got 'em good and +clean now. I made 'em go in four times after the sticks." + +"Did they shake any water on you?" asked Mr. Brown. + +"Not much," said Bunny. "Besides, my clothes are dark and the mud on +them won't show. Now don't go away again, Splash, 'cause we're going on +a long auto tour, and you want to come with us." + +All were soon in the auto again, and as they started off, with more +"good-byes" and "good lucks," Bunny and Sue made sure that this time +Splash followed. + +"Now he's started he won't turn back," said Mr. Brown. "He just missed +us before, thinking, I suppose, if he saw us go, that we would come +back." + +The big automobile traveled on for about an hour, and they were several +miles from the Brown home when Bunny, looking out of the rear door of +the auto-van cried: + +"Why there's Dix, Fred Ward's dog, following us along with Splash! +Look!" + +"So he is," said Mrs. Brown. "Oh, dear! These dogs! What are we going to +do?" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +DIX IN TROUBLE + + +"Is Dix really following us?" asked Mr. Brown, as, once more, he stopped +the big automobile. + +"He seems to be," answered Mrs. Brown. "He and Splash are trotting along +together as happy as two clams." + +"Clams can't trot," said Bunny quickly. + +"No, but they can be happy," said his mother. "And Splash and Dix seem +to be happy, now, trotting along together after us." + +"They're altogether too happy," said Mr. Brown. "I wonder how we're +going to get Dix back home? Mr. and Mrs. Ward think as much of him as we +do of Splash, and they'll be sorry to have him run away." + +"We must try to send him home some way," said Mrs. Brown. "Bunny, you +have a pretty good way with dogs, suppose you get out and try to drive +Dix back home. Tell him we love him, think he's a nice dog and all that, +but we believe it isn't best for him to come with us now." + +"All right, I will," said Bunny, and he hopped down from the automobile, +which had a little set of steps at the back to make getting in and out +easy. Though Bunny, it is true, generally jumped out, not using the +steps at all. + +While the big automobile had been traveling on, Splash, knowing he was a +member of this party, had gone along as a matter of course. And, +perhaps, in some kind of dog language (which I am sure there must be) he +had said to his friend Dix something like this: + +"Come along, old chap. The folks are going for a little excursion into +the country. I know they are, for once before we traveled like this, and +it was jolly fun. There'll be good things to eat, and no end of cats to +chase, too, if you like that." + +"Well, I used to like it," Dix said--perhaps. + +"Then come along," urged Splash. "I'm sure the folks will be glad to +have you." + +"All right, I will," Dix may have answered. + +And so it was he had run along, playing beside the road with Splash. And +it was not until the automobile had gone several miles that the family +noticed that another dog besides their own was following them. + +"Drive him back home as your mother told you, Bunny," said the little +boy's father. + +Bunny ran back to where Dix and Splash were rolling over and over on the +grass. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. + +"Go on home! Go on home!" cried Bunny. + +At once Splash and Dix stopped playing and ran to the little boy. As his +mother had said, Bunny knew how to talk to dogs in a way they could +understand. + +"Go on home!" said the little boy again, very earnestly. + +Splash looked up in surprise. He was not used to being sent home. + +"Oh, I don't mean you," said Bunny. "I mean you, Dix! Mother says we +like you very much, and would like to have you with us, but your folks +want you home with them. So go on back. Go home, I say!" + +Bunny stamped his foot, spoke as sternly as he could without being too +cross, and pointed back toward Bellemere. + +Dix looked into Bunny's face a minute, and then slowly the dog's tail +drooped between his legs and he slunk off, with what was really a sad +face looking at Bunny and Splash. It was as if he said: + +"Say, look here, Splash! I thought you invited me on this excursion, and +now that boy of yours goes and drives me home." + +"Well, I can't help it," Splash seemed to say. "There is something wrong +somewhere." + +Bunny felt sad at having to drive Dix back home. + +"I'm sorry, old fellow," he said, and his voice was so kind that Dix +turned and came running back. + +"No! No! You mustn't do that!" cried Bunny, seeing what his kind words +had done. "Go on back home, Dix!" + +Once again Dix's tail drooped between his legs, and he turned back. He +went on for some distance, never turning to look back. + +"There, I guess he'll not follow us any more," said Bunny. "Come on, +Splash. You get up in the automobile and ride with us. Then Dix won't +see you, and want to come along." + +Bunny led his own dog back to the big car, Splash going willingly +enough, though once or twice he looked back at Dix, who was walking +slowly the homeward road. + +Again the auto started off. + +"This is two delays we've had," said Mr. Brown. "If we have another I'll +begin to think there is something in Mary's idea of bad luck, after +all." + +It was Sue who discovered Dix the next time. As the automobile was about +to go around a curve the little girl gazed out of the back window and +saw the Ward dog trotting happily along toward the moving automobile. + +"Oh, Daddy, look there!" cried Sue. "Dix is coming after us again! What +are we going to do?" + +"Is that dog following us once more?" asked Mr. Brown, as he stopped the +automobile. + +"Yes, he is; and he seems happy." + +"Oh dear!" said Mrs. Brown. "What trouble these dogs are giving us +to-day!" + +"Well, this is the third trouble, and let us hope it will be the last," +said Mr. Brown. + +"Are you going to send Dix back again?" asked Bunny. + +"No, I don't think it would do any good. Besides, we are now about ten +miles from home. He might not find his way." + +"That would be too bad," said Mrs. Brown. "The Wards would not want to +lose their dog." + +"I presume the only thing for us to do is to turn around and carry him +back again," said Mr. Brown slowly. + +Just then Splash, who had been lying inside under one of the sleeping +cots, awoke, and, looking out of the rear door of the auto, saw his +friend Dix trotting merrily along. + +"Bow-wow!" barked Splash. + +"Wow-wuff-wow!" answered Dix. + +That meant in dog language I suppose: + +"Well, I'm glad to see you again, old fellow." + +"And I'm glad to see you," said Dix. "I hope they don't drive me back +again. But I went only to the first turn in the road. There I waited +awhile and then came on. I could easily tell which way you came by the +big wheel-marks." + +"Well, I guess there's no hope for it," said Mr. Brown, as the two dogs +stopped barking. "It's turn around again and take Dix back with us to +his home. It's a good thing we're not in a hurry." + +He was about to turn the big car, and Dix had come to a stop a short +distance away from it when Bunny suddenly cried: + +"Oh, I've thought of a way to do it!" + +"A way to do what?" his father asked. + +"Take care of Dix." + +"Do you mean to ask somebody going past in another automobile to take +Dix to Bellemere?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"No. But in that house," and Bunny pointed to one not far away, "is a +telephone. I can see the wires, and they're just like our telephone +wires. Why can't we call up Mr. Ward and ask him if we can take his dog +along with us?" + +"Take Dix with us!" cried Mrs. Brown. "What would we do with two dogs?" + +"Well, they'll be company for each other," said Sue, who had taken a +great liking to Dix. + +"And Dix wants to come," added Bunny. "You see how hard it is to drive +him back." + +"But we don't need him, and two dogs are harder to look after than one," +said Mr. Brown. "Dix has made trouble enough to-day, though part of it +was Splash's fault." + +It was then Bunny had his fine idea. + +"Oh, I know the best reason in the world for taking Dix with us!" he +cried. "Wait and I'll 'splain it all to you. Just let Dix and Splash +play together until I get through talking." + +"Well, let's hear your idea, Bunny," said Mr. Brown with a smile, as he +leaned back in his seat and rested his back. Splash, seeing his dog +friend, leaped from the car and the two were soon playing together in +the road as merrily as ever. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +DIX AND THE COW + + +"Now," said Bunny, as he sat down on a little stool in the auto to talk +to his father and mother--and Sue, of course, and Uncle Tad, who were +all listening. "Now it wouldn't hurt an awful lot to take Dix with us, +would it?" + +"What do you mean?" asked his mother. + +"I mean Dix wouldn't eat much more than Splash, would he?" + +"Oh, I guess if it comes to feeding dogs, two come about as cheaply as +one," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. "But what's the idea, Bunny?" + +"Well, I'd like to have Dix come along with us then. It will save time +now in taking him back." + +"Yes, it will do _that_," said Mr. Brown. "And it's quite a way back +home this time." + +"And Splash will have company to play with all the while," went on +Bunny. "Two dogs are happier than one, aren't they?" he asked. "If two +dogs eat more than one then two must be happier than one." + +"It's a new way of looking at it, but I guess it may be true," laughed +Mrs. Brown. "But are you doing all this talking, Bunny, just to have +company for Splash?" + +"No indeedy I'm not!" exclaimed Bunny. "I haven't 'splained it all." + +"What else is there?" asked Mr. Brown, laughing. + +"Well, if Mr. Ward will let us take Dix along--and you can find out +about that over the telephone--then maybe we can find Fred." + +For a moment no one spoke after Bunny had announced his plan. His father +and mother looked sharply at him, and so did Sue and Uncle Tad. + +"How can Dix find Fred?" asked Sue. + +"'Cause didn't the bloodhounds find the runaway slaves in Uncle Tom's +Cabin?" demanded Bunny. + +"Yes," answered Sue. "I 'member that." + +"Well then, won't Dix find Fred the same way?" went on Bunny. "He can +smell his tracks along the road and we'll find that runaway boy a lot +quicker than if we didn't have his dog along. Fred and Dix were always +together, and I guess Fred couldn't have run away if Dix had seen him. +So if we take Dix along, and have to look for Fred in big crowds, Dix'll +come in 'specially handy." + +"Oh, won't that be fun!" cried Sue, clapping her hands. "Do let's take +Dix along!" + +"I believe Bunny's plan is a good one," said Mr. Brown, after thinking +about it a while. "We don't know Fred very well, and he may look +different, now that he has gone away from home, from what he did before. +His dog would know him, however, no matter how Fred dressed." + +"He'd know him even if he had on a Hallowe'en false face, wouldn't he?" +asked Sue. + +"I guess so," answered Daddy Brown. "Well, I'll go and telephone to Mr. +Ward and see what he says." + +The people in the house into which the telephone wires ran were very +willing Mr. Brown should use the instrument, and he was soon talking to +Mr. Ward back in Bellemere. + +"Surely you may take Dix with you," said Mr. Ward over the telephone +wire. "I only hope he will not be a trouble to you. I know he will make +a fuss just as soon as he comes anywhere near Fred. So, in that way, you +may be able to trace my boy. I hope you will. His mother hopes so too. +She is beside me here as I am talking, and she sends you her thanks. +Take Dix with you if you wish." + +"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Sue, when she heard the news. "Aren't you, +Bunny? Now we have two dogs!" + +"Yes, one will be yours and one mine, until we get back home with Dix. +Then we'll each own half of Splash, as we've always done." + +This suited Sue, and, now that the dog question was settled, the +automobile started on again. + +For a little while everything was peaceful and quiet in the big +automobile. Bunny went outside on the front seat with his father, and +looked down the road along which they were running. It was a pleasant +road, with trees arching across overhead from one side to the other. + +Inside the big car Mrs. Brown and Uncle Tad "got things to rights," as +the children's mother called it, while Sue took out some of her toys, +including the big Teddy bear with the electric eyes, whose adventures +have been told in the book just before this one. + +Bunny and his father talked together on the seat in front. Bunny was +interested in whether or not they would find Fred. + +"Well, we may and we may not," said Mr. Brown. "It is true Fred said he +was going to run away to Portland, the city where we are going. But we +will not be there for some time, and before then Fred may think he does +not like it there and go somewhere else." + +"Well, I think Dix will help find him, don't you?" asked Bunny. + +"Yes, I hope so, Son." + +Just then came a call from inside the automobile. + +"Who's ready for dinner?" + +[Illustration: THE TWO DOGS CAME WITH A RUSH. +_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour._ _Page_ 79.] + +"I am!" cried Bunny, the first one. + +"So am I," added Sue. + +"Then come on! Rations are served," said Uncle Tad who had been in the +army. + +He and Mrs. Brown had cooked their first meal on the gasolene stove in +the little kitchen and dining room combined, and it was now ready to +serve. + +Bunny clambered in by way of the front seat and took his place at the +little table. + +"I think we had better stop beside the road while we eat," said Mr. +Brown. "This automobile is all right for traveling, but the roads are so +rough here that I may spill my tea. So we'll anchor and eat." + +"Daddy thinks we're in a boat I guess, when he talks about anchoring," +said Sue, who, more than once, had been out in the big fishing boat with +her father. + +Then the meal began. There was some cooked meat, for they could carry +meat in the ice box, baked potatoes, and, best of all, some pie. + +It was while he was eating his pie and drinking his milk that Bunny +suddenly cried: + +"The dogs!" + +"What about them?" asked Mrs. Brown quickly. "Are they fighting? Where +are they, Bunny?" + +"Just over in that field playing. But we didn't call Splash and Dix to +dinner." + +"Oh, is that all? I think they can wait a bit," said Mrs. Brown with a +laugh. "By the way you spoke I thought something had happened." + +"Well, this pie tasted good, that's part of what happened," said Bunny, +with a laugh. "And then I got to wishing Dix and Splash could have +some." + +"I'll feed them when the rest of you have finished," promised Mrs. +Brown. + +When the meal was over Mrs. Brown gathered up a big plateful of scraps +from the table, and gave it to Bunny to feed Dix and Splash. + +"Here Dix!" called Bunny, inviting the "company" dog first, which was +proper, I suppose. "Here, Dix and Splash!" + +The two dogs heard and must have known that they were being called to +dinner, for they came with a rush, each one trying to see which would +be the first to reach Bunny with the plateful of good food. + +"You'd better put the dish on the ground and get away," said Mr. Brown +with a laugh. "Otherwise they'll be so glad to see you, Bunny, that +they'll knock you down and roll over you." + +"I guess they will," said the little boy. So he put the plate of meat, +bread and potato scraps on the ground near the big automobile and then +stepped back out of the way. + +Dix and Splash did not take long to finish the food on the plate, and +then they looked up at Bunny and wagged their tails, as if asking for +more. + +"No more!" called Mrs. Brown to them, for she understood the feeding of +dogs. "That will do you until supper." + +Seeing they were going to get no more, Dix and Splash ran off together +again to have more fun rolling about in the grass. + +"Where do you think we shall stop for the night?" asked Mrs. Brown of +her husband as they set off once more. + +"Just outside the town of Freeburg," he answered. "We'll sleep in the +auto, of course, for if we are making a tour this way it's the proper +thing to do. But we'll be near enough a town for supplies or anything we +may need." + +"Goodness! We don't need anything this soon, nor have we a place to put +another thing away," protested Mrs. Brown. + +Her husband laughed. "However, it's well to be near a town overnight," +he said. + +So the big automobile chugged on. Mrs. Brown and Uncle Tad washed the +dishes and put them away, and then they sat looking out at the side +windows and enjoying the trip. Now and then Mr. Brown would talk in +through the open window against which the steering wheel seat was built. +Bunny and his sister sometimes rode inside, and again outside with Daddy +Brown. + +"This is lots of fun, I think," said Bunny, as he sat beside his father, +and the auto went rather fast down a hill. + +"It's just great! My Sallie Malinda Teddy bear likes it, too," put in +Sue, who was also on the front seat. Both of them together took up no +more room than one grown person, and the front seat was built large +enough for two. + +Dix and Splash raced on together, sometimes playing a game like +wrestling, trying to see which could throw the other, and again rushing +along as fast as they could go, sometimes behind, and sometimes in front +of the automobile. + +At the foot of the hill, down which the automobile had gone rather fast, +a man stepped out from a fence beside the road and held up his hand. + +"What does that mean?" asked Sue. + +"It means to stop," said her father, as he slowed up the machine. + +"What for?" Bunny inquired. + +"Well, he may be a constable--that is a kind of a policeman," said Mr. +Brown. "He wants us to stop, thinking, maybe, that we were running too +fast. But I know we weren't." + +"Will he 'rest us?" asked Sue. "If he does I'm going to hide Sallie +Malinda. I'm not going to have her locked up!" + +"Nothing will happen," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. "I have run an +automobile long enough to know what to do." + +Mr. Brown brought the big machine to a stop near the spot where the man +was standing with upraised hand. + +"What's the matter?" asked Mr. Brown good-naturedly. "Were we going too +fast?" + +"Oh, nopey!" exclaimed the man with a laugh. "I jest stopped you to see +what kind of a show you was givin'." + +"What kind of show we are giving?" repeated Mr. Brown in surprise. + +"Yep! I thought maybe you was one o' them patent medicine shows that +goes 'round in big wagons and stops here and there, and a feller sings, +or plays, or somethin', then the head man or woman sells medicine +what'll cure everything you ever had in the way of pain or ever expect +to have. I thought I'd see what kind of a show you've got." + +"We haven't any," laughed Mr. Brown. "You may look in the auto if you +like, and see how we live in it. We are traveling for pleasure." + +"I see you be, now," said the man after a look. "Wa'al, I'm right sorry +I stopped you." + +"That's all right," said Mr. Brown pleasantly. "This is a heavy machine, +and I don't like to get it to going too fast downhill. It's too hard to +stop. So it's just as well we slowed up." + +"You see I'm the inspector of all them travelin' shows," went on the +man. "Ribbans is my name, Hank Ribbans. Every medicine show or other +show that comes to town has to git a permit from me, else they can't +show. But you're all right, pass on." + +An idea came into Mrs. Brown's head. + +"Do you have many shows passing through here, with musicians who play to +draw a crowd?" she asked. + +"Oh, sartin, surely. 'Bout one once a week as a rule. There was one that +showed here two or three nights ago--no, come to think of it now, it was +last night. There was a young feller--nothin' but a boy--dressed up in +the reddest and bluest suit you ever see. And say, how he could play +that old banjo!" + +"Oh, a banjo! Maybe it was Fred!" cried Bunny. + +The same thought came to his father and mother. + +"Tell us about this boy," requested Mr. Brown. "We are looking for one +who plays the banjo," and he described Fred Ward. + +"Well, this can't be the one you're lookin' for," said Mr. Ribbans. +"'Cause this feller was a negro." + +"Maybe he was blacked up like a minstrel," said Bunny. + +"I couldn't say as to that," returned the inspector. "Anyhow they paid +for their license all right, and they sold a powerful lot o' Dr. Slack's +Pain Killer. Then they went on out of town. That's all I know. Well, you +don't need a license from me; so go ahead, folks!" + +He waved good-bye to them as they went off again. + +Bunny and Sue were eager to ask questions about the colored boy who +played the banjo for the medical show. + +"Do you think he could have been Fred?" asked Bunny. + +"It is possible," answered his father. + +"Maybe we can find him," added Sue. + +"We'll make inquiries about this show in the next town we come to," said +Mr. Brown. + +But as the next town was the one outside of which they were to spend the +night, they decided to put off until the next day asking questions about +the colored banjo player. + +Uncle Tad and Mr. Brown helped Mrs. Brown get the supper. When it was +over there was a large platter full of good things left for the two +dogs. They were hungry, for they had run far that day, and they ate up +every scrap. + +Then they stretched out for a while near a campfire Mr. Brown made under +some trees, for it was a little cool in the evenings. As the children +had been up early that morning, Mrs. Brown told them they must be early +in bed, and after watching the fire until their eyes began to shut of +themselves, Bunny and Sue started for their little bunks. + +Just as they were getting undressed, though it was scarcely dark, the +barking of dogs was heard down the road. + +"That's Dix and Splash!" exclaimed Bunny. "And something must have +happened. Splash wouldn't bark that way if there was nothing the +matter." + +"Here comes Dix now," said Sue, looking out of the automobile window. +"And oh, Bunny! Look what he's brought home with him!" + +"What is it?" asked Bunny, whose bunk was on the other side of the big +car. + +"It's a cow. Dix is leading home a cow on the end of a rope!" exclaimed +Sue. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +TWO DISAPPEARANCES + + +For a moment the two children looked out of the automobile windows at +the strange sight. Then, unable longer to think of going to bed when +there was likely to be some excitement, they both came out from behind +the curtains that screened off their cots, and cried together: + +"Dix has got a cow!" + +"Dix has got a _what_?" asked Mrs. Brown, thinking she had not +understood. + +"Dix has got a _cow_!" went on Bunny. "He's leading her by a rope. I +guess he thinks it's our cow." + +"Well, what will those dogs do next?" asked Mr. Brown, who was reading a +newspaper he had purchased from a passing boy, who rode his route on a +bicycle. + +"It's true enough--about the cow," said Uncle Tad, who was outside the +automobile putting out the last embers of the campfire, that there +might be no danger during the night. "One of the dogs is leading home a +'cow critter,' as some farmers call them. + +"It's Dix," he went on a moment later as the two dogs, both barking +excitedly, came close to the big moving van, Dix having hold of the rope +that was tied fast to the cow's neck. He was leading her along, and the +cow did not appear to mind. "Dix must have found the cow wandering along +the road," went on Uncle Tad, "and, thinking we might need one, he just +brought her home." + +"Very thoughtful of Dix, I'm sure," said Mr. Brown, who had come outside +as had his wife, while Bunny and Sue remained in their pajamas in the +doorway. "He probably meant it kindly, but what will the man think whose +cow she is? Well, what's the matter with you, Splash?" asked Mr. Brown, +for that dog, too, was barking very loudly. "Did you see the cow first, +and wouldn't Dix let you have a share in bringing her here? I guess that +was it. Never mind, you shall lead the cow home, if we can find out +where she belongs." + +He patted Splash's head as he spoke, and talked to the dog almost as he +would have talked to a small boy. And I think Splash understood, for he +wagged his tail, and seemed pleased. + +Dix led the cow up to Mr. Brown, and there, dropping the end of the +rope, wagged his tail, barked once or twice and looked up as though he +were saying: + +"Well, didn't I do pretty well for the first day? I found a cow for you. +That will more than pay my board. I'll try and find something else +to-morrow." + +Then, as if satisfied that he had done his duty, Dix went off to hunt +for a bone he had buried after his supper, and Splash went with him. + +"Well, what in the world are we going to do with it?" asked Mrs. Brown. +"We can't keep this cow; that's sure!" + +"We might tie her to one of the auto wheels," said Mr. Brown. + +"No, thank you!" exclaimed his wife. "She'd moo all night, and keep us +awake." + +"But we can't turn her loose," said Mr. Brown. "She might wander off +and be stolen, and then the owner would blame us, though it might not be +our fault. Since Dix has brought the cow to us, no matter whether we +wanted her or not, we've got to look after her somehow." + +"Couldn't Dix take her back?" asked Bunny, from where he stood in the +doorway with Sue. + +"That's perhaps a good idea," replied Mr. Brown. "Though I don't know +that Dix could exactly take her back. I think I'd better do it myself. +It's early yet, and probably the farmer who owns the cow is out looking +for her. I'll let Splash lead the cow back along the road, and I'll go +with him. We may meet the farmer." + +"Well, don't be gone too long," begged Mrs. Brown. "The first day is +always hard and we want to get to bed early." + +"I'll do my best," promised Mr. Brown. "Come on, Splash! It's your turn +now to lead the cow!" + +Splash barked joyfully, and seemed glad that he was to have something to +do with the big horned animal, who was contentedly chewing her cud, +lying down beside the automobile. She appeared quite contented wherever +she was. + +"Oh, let us come!" begged Bunny and Sue, as they saw their father go off +down the road with Splash leading the cow by the rope. + +"No, indeed! You youngsters get to bed!" said Mrs. Brown. "You ought to +be glad of the chance. You must be tired." + +"We're not--a single bit!" declared Bunny, but though he and Sue begged +hard, and teased to go to see the cow taken home, their mother would not +let them. + +It was quite dark when Mr. Brown came back. The children were asleep, +but Mrs. Brown and Uncle Tad were sitting up reading. + +"Well?" asked Mrs. Brown, as she noticed how tired her husband looked. +"Did you have far to go?" + +"About two miles, and mostly uphill. But I found the cow's owner." + +"Did you? That's good! How did you manage?" asked Uncle Tad. + +"Well, I was going along, Splash leading the cow as proud as a peacock, +when, all of a sudden, I saw a man hurrying toward me. He seemed very +much excited, and asked me if that was _my_ cow the dog was leading. + +"I told him it was not; that one of the dogs that was with us on our +auto trip had brought her in; and that I was bringing her back, looking +for the owner." + +"'I'm him,' he said. 'And I can soon prove the critter's mine.'" + +"I told him I hoped she was, for I was tired of walking with her. So he +stopped at two or three farmers' houses, and they all said the cow +belonged to Mr. Adrian Richmond, who was the man that met me. So I left +the cow with him and came on home, for this _does_ look like home," he +added, as he gazed around the small but cozy room in the auto-van. + +"Did the farmer tell you how Dix came to lead off his cow?" asked Uncle +Tad. + +"No, he only guessed that the animal must have pulled loose from her +stake and wandered off down the road. She was used to being led home +every night by the farmer's dog, so she didn't make any objections." + +"Then Dix must be a sort of a cow dog," remarked Mrs. Brown, and later +it was learned that Dix had once been on a western ranch and had helped +the cowboys with their work. + +So with the cow disposed of, and the two dogs asleep on some old +blankets under the automobile, the little party of travelers settled +down for the night. They all slept soundly, and in the morning the first +thing Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue wanted to know about was the cow. +Their father told them all that had happened. + +"That Dix is a great dog!" cried Bunny. "I'm glad we brought him with +us." + +"So'm I!" echoed Sue. "And maybe to-day he'll find Fred." + +"How can he?" asked Bunny. + +"Because you know the funny old man who stopped us, to see if we were a +traveling show, said that boy banjo player was to come to this town. And +even if the one he saw _was_ colored it might be Fred blacked up." + +"That's so," agreed Bunny. "We'll get daddy to ask." + +A breakfast was cooked in the auto and eaten out-of-doors, because it +was such a lovely morning. More than once as they ate in the shadow of +the big car other autoists, passing, waved a merry greeting to the happy +little party, and as horse-drawn carts and wagons passed along the road +on their way into town, many curious glances were cast at the travelers. + +It was rather a strange way of making a journey, but it suited the +Browns, and they preferred their big automobile to any railroad train +they could have had. + +After breakfast they set off again, passing through the city. + +Mr. Brown asked several persons there about the traveling medicine show +with the colored banjo player. Many had seen it, but some were sure the +banjo-playing boy was a real negro, while others said he was only +blackened up. At any rate the show had traveled on, and no one knew +where it would be next met with. + +"Well, it may have been Fred, and it may not," said Mr. Brown. "I must +write and ask Mr. Ward if his son could imitate a negro, singing and +playing the banjo, and whether he ever dressed up and did that sort of +thing." + +The progress of the big automobile through the town attracted many +persons, not a few of whom believed it to be a traveling show, and they +were disappointed when some sort of performance was not given. + +The Browns were soon out in the sunny country again, traveling along a +shady level road. Bunny and Sue played with their toys, and at noon, +when they stopped for lunch, they had a romping game of tag in the woods +and fields near-by. + +After the noon rest they went on again, the two dogs running along, +sometimes ahead of the automobile and sometimes behind it. + +"I'm going to put darling Sallie Malinda to sleep," said Sue after a +while. "And I'm going to let her sleep near the back door of the car." + +"Why?" asked Bunny, who was very fond of asking questions. + +"She isn't feeling very well, and the air will do her good," answered +Sue, who made her "make-believe" very real to herself. + +So, having made a nice bed of rags for her Teddy bear, Sue put Sallie +Malinda to sleep near the rear door of the auto and got out one of her +books to look at the pictures. Bunny was building some sort of house +with some new blocks his father had bought for him, but he was not +having very good luck, for the motion of the auto made the house topple +over almost as soon as Bunny had it built. + +After a while Sue thought her Teddy bear had had enough sleep near the +auto door, so she went to take her in. But when she reached the rag bed +Sallie Malinda was not there. + +"Oh, my Teddy bear is gone!" cried Sue. "Oh, Bunny, do you think she +falled out? Daddy! Daddy! Stop the auto! My Teddy bear is lost!" + +Mr. Brown stopped the car at once, though he did not understand all of +what Sue said. The little girl told him what had happened. + +"Sallie Malinda gone!" cried Mother Brown. "That's too bad! She must +have been jostled off when the auto went over a bump. I think we'll have +to go back and look for her," she said to her husband. + +Then Bunny gave some more news. + +"Dix is gone too!" he cried. "I've been watching a long while and I +haven't seen him. And Splash is acting awful funny--just as if Dix had +run away." + +"Hum! This _is_ rather strange!" exclaimed Mr. Brown. "Two +disappearances at once." + +"What's disappearcesses?" asked Sue. + +"It means going away--the word your father used does," explained Mrs. +Brown with a smile. "But it certainly is strange that Dix and the Teddy +bear should go away together." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +DIX COMES BACK + + +For a moment Sue stood looking at her mother, seeming to be thinking +very hard about something. Then she asked: + +"Momsie, do you think Dix took Sallie Malinda away?" + +"Well, it seems so," said Mrs. Brown. "That is, if Dix has really gone +away. We had better make sure of that, first. There is no question about +your Teddy bear's being gone, for I saw her in the rag bed by the back +door of the auto not half an hour ago." + +"Well, I suppose she either fell out, or Dix, thinking to have a game of +tag with her, took her out, though the Teddy bear, with the batteries +inside to make her eyes light up, isn't easy for even Dix to carry very +far," said Mr. Brown. + +"But how are we going to get my darling Sallie Malinda back?" asked Sue, +and there were tears in her eyes. + +"Daddy will find some way. Won't you, Daddy?" asked Bunny, for he did +not like to see his little sister sad. + +"Well, the only thing I can see to do is to turn the automobile around +and go back to look for Sue's Teddy bear," said Mr. Brown. "He may be +lying beside the road where he fell from the auto." + +"My Teddy bear isn't a _he_, Daddy!" cried Sue. "She's a _she_! Aren't +there _lady_ Teddy bears as well as _gentlemen_?" + +"Yes, I suppose so," laughed Mr. Brown. "I forgot for the moment that +your Teddy's name was Sallie. But whether it's a he or a she I suppose +you'd like to have me go back for it, wouldn't you?" + +"Indeed I would, Daddy! I don't know what I'd do without Sallie +Malinda." + +"All right, then we'll turn the auto around." + +"We've done about as much going backward as we have going forward on +this trip," laughed Uncle Tad. "But still we must get Sue's pet. It +wouldn't do to go off and leave _her_." + +"I can't understand about Dix, though," said Mrs. Brown. "Surely he +wouldn't run away and leave us after he had come this far with us." + +"Maybe he is just playing hide-and-go-seek with Splash," said Bunny. +"Maybe it's Dix's turn to hide." + +"Suppose you call him," suggested Mrs. Brown. + +Bunny called and whistled, in a way he had been doing to get Dix to come +to him ever since the Ward dog had joined the traveling automobile +party. But there came no answering bark, and even Splash seemed +surprised when he could not find his playfellow. + +"Hi, Splash!" called Bunny. "Where is Dix? Go find him!" + +Splash ran around and barked, which was his only way of talking, but he +came back frequently to the children, who, with their parents and Uncle +Tad, were standing beside the auto, and he did not bring Dix back with +him. + +It was as though Splash said: + +"I know you want to find Dix, but I don't know where he is. There is no +use in my running my legs off to find him, for he is a long way from +here." + +"Dix possibly has been missing a longer while than we know," said Mr. +Brown. "I noticed once, as we were going over a bridge, that Splash went +in and had a little swim. But I did not see Dix with him, though I +didn't think anything about it at the time. We had that trouble with the +engine farther back than that. When I got that fixed Dix was about. But +from then on I haven't seen him, and that was some miles back." + +"Maybe that's the time my dear Sallie Malinda fell out," said Sue. "Or +else Dix took her." + +"I don't believe he'd do that," said her father. "He was too well +trained. He isn't a puppy any longer, to hide boots, shoes and toys. I +don't believe Dix took your Teddy." + +"Well, anyhow let's go to find him," said Bunny. "I mean _her_," he +added quickly, as he noticed Sue looking sharply at him. "Maybe we'll +find Dix and the Teddy bear at the same time." + +"If Dix hasn't gone off to find a cow or an elephant or a camel or +something like that to make us a present of," said Mrs. Brown with a +laugh. + +"Oh, Momsie! Do you think Dix would really bring back an elephant?" +asked Bunny eagerly. + +"No, my dear, I was only fooling. But let's start back, Daddy, for I +know Sue will be very anxious to-night about her Teddy bear." + +Back they started in the automobile over the road they had just +traveled. Now and then they stopped and called Dix, but the dog did not +come to them. + +Splash added his barks and whines to the general calling but no Dix +answered. + +"He must be mighty far away," said Bunny. + +"Yes, I'm afraid we'll never find him, or my dearest Sallie Malinda +either," said Sue, and once more tears came into her eyes. + +As the auto went along, in addition to calling for Dix, every one in the +party, including the children, had looked along the road for a sight of +the Teddy bear that might have fallen from the automobile. But Sallie +Malinda was not to be seen, and Sue did not know what to do. + +"Well, we'll go back to where I last noticed that Dix was with us," said +Mr. Brown. "Then if we don't find your Teddy, Sue, I'll have to get you +another." + +"But I'd rather have Sallie Malinda!" + +"I know, dear, but you can name the new one that." + +"Sue's Teddy's had lots of adventures," said Bunny. "The hermit took +her, and now she's lost." + +"Well, I'm not going to give up yet," said his sister, as she looked +carefully along the road. + +"But what can have become of Dix?" asked Mrs. Brown. "I can't understand +him." + +"Oh, he may have gone off chasing a rabbit or a squirrel," said Mr. +Brown. "Anyhow we're almost at the bridge, and the spot where we had the +engine trouble is not far beyond." + +Silently those in the auto looked along the road for a sight of Sue's +Teddy. Then suddenly Bunny said, + +"No, he didn't!" + +"Who didn't what?" asked his father, for Bunny would often make these +sudden exclamations. + +"Dix didn't go off chasing a rabbit or a squirrel," said Bunny. "There +he comes now--with an elephant, I guess," and the little boy pointed +down the road. + +There was Dix coming back, and he was half dragging and half carrying +something that looked like an animal. + +On and on came the dog. He seemed very tired. When he saw the automobile +he stopped, dropped what he had in his mouth, and lay down beside it. +Then he began to bark joyfully. + +"Oh, it's my Sallie Malinda! It's my Teddy bear!" cried Sue. "You dear +old Dix! You found Sallie Malinda for me!" + +And that is just what had happened, they decided after they had talked +it over among themselves. Dix must have been running along behind the +auto when he saw Sue's pet jostled out. Knowing how the little girl +loved her Teddy bear he picked it up and began to half drag and half +carry it, for, as Mr. Brown had said, the electrical batteries that made +the Teddy's eyes shine, were heavy. Poor Dix had all he could do to drag +the Teddy bear, but he would not let go, and the noise made by the auto +made it impossible for those in the car to hear his barks, which he must +have given. + +And so they rode on, paying no attention, but leaving Dix far behind, +until Sue discovered the loss of her Teddy bear. + +"Oh, you are a dear good dog, and I love you!" cried Sue, hugging the +Teddy bear with one arm and Dix with the other. And the dog was plainly +overjoyed at being with his friends again. + +I suppose the Teddy bear was glad too, but of course she could not even +wag her little stub of a tail to show it. However, Sue could make the +pet's eyes gleam, which she did again and again. + +Nor was the Teddy bear much damaged by being dragged in the dirt, for +the roads were not muddy, and Dix had held her up out of the dust as +much as he could. + +"Oh, but I'm glad to get my darling Sallie Malinda back!" cried Sue. + +"Dix is a good dog," put in Bunny. "He can ride in the auto now, can't +he, Daddy? He must be tired." + +"Yes, get him and Splash both in," said Mr. Brown. "I think it is going +to rain, and I want to get to the next town where we will stay +overnight." + +"In a hotel?" asked Bunny. + +"No; in our auto, of course." + +The dogs were called in, and Dix seemed glad to rest. Then Daddy Brown +turned the big car around and once more they were on their way. It began +to rain before they reached the town of Welldon, on the edge of which +they were to stop for the night. + +But the rain did not matter to those in the big moving van, which was +like a little house. They had their supper inside, sat reading or +playing games by the electric light, and listened to the rain on the +roof, for it came down more and more heavily. + +"Isn't it a nice place?" said Bunny to Sue, as they went to bed. + +"The bestest ever!" she cried. + +It was about the middle of the night that Bunny was awakened by feeling +a queer bumping, sliding motion. + +"Why," he cried, sitting up in his bunk, "we must be traveling on in the +dark! Daddy! Momsie!" he cried. "What are we moving for, when it's +dark?" + +"What's that?" cried Mr. Brown suddenly awakening. + +"The automobile is running away!" cried Bunny, and outside they could +hear a strange roaring sound amid the patter of the rain. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +IN THE FLOOD + + +For a moment all was confusion inside the big automobile. Mr. and Mrs. +Brown got up and dressed hastily. Bunny and Sue thought little of doing +that until Sue, feeling cold around her bare legs, called to her +brother: + +"Wrap yourself up in a blanket, Bunny, like an Indian." + +"What's going on?" yelled Uncle Tad, from his bunk. + +"That's what we're trying to find out," said Mr. Brown. + +"Seems to me we're afloat," added Uncle Tad. "We certainly are at sea." + +"It does feel so," agreed Daddy Brown, for the automobile was bumping +along the roadway, and the motor was not running, either. Something was +either pushing or pulling it. + +Just then came the howls and whines of the two dogs, Dix and Splash. +They had been left out on the front seat of the car, with big curtains +hung in front of them so no rain could splatter on them. + +"Oh, something's the matter with them!" cried Bunny Brown, and in a few +minutes he had opened the window back of the seat and let the frantic +dogs leap into the auto. They barked joyfully now, and frisked about +Bunny and Sue. + +With the opening of the window, however, came in a gust of wind and rain +that made Mrs. Brown call: + +"Children you'll catch dreadful colds! Get right to bed this instant." + +"Oh, Mother, we want to stay up and see what's going to happen," said +Bunny. "Maybe the automobile might tip over." + +"And if we were in bed we'd be all upside down and tangled in the +clothes," added Sue. "Please let us stay up! We'll wrap in blankets like +Indians." + +"Better let them get dressed," said Mr. Brown in a low voice to his +wife. "There's no telling what has happened." + +"What do you think?" and her voice was anxious. + +"Well, it feels as if we were in a stream of some sort, partly afloat. +Let the children get dressed," answered her husband. + +Bunny Brown and his sister heard and hastened to their curtained-off +bunks. Meanwhile Uncle Tad had closed the window near the front seat and +that kept out the wind and rain. And it was raining and blowing hard. +Those in the cosy car could hear the drops dash against the panes, while +the wind howled around the corners of the machine. + +The automobile itself was bumping along as if, indeed, it was floating +down some stream, or had gone to sea like one of Mr. Brown's boats. The +dogs had ceased their whining now. + +"I guess they were scared, out there all alone," said Bunny, when he was +nearly dressed. "I'm glad they're in here with us now." + +"So am I," said Sue, as she came out into the sitting room, where Mother +Brown had turned on the electric lights. It was a bit cool in the auto, +for the storm had taken all the heat from the air, but there was danger +in lighting one of the stoves. Though he did not let the children know, +Mr. Brown thought there might be a risk of fire if the gasolene stove +were lighted, because the big car might overturn. + +"Now to see what it's all about," said Mr. Brown, when he and Uncle Tad +were fully dressed. "We'll find out if we are adrift on the Atlantic or +Pacific ocean, and how to get to shore." + +He was putting on his rubber boots and raincoat, and Uncle Tad was doing +the same thing. Then Mr. Brown got a lantern and lighted it, for he was +going to open the back door of the car to look outside, to see where the +flood was taking them. For he was sure now, by the motion of the +automobile, that the heavy rain had turned a small stream, near which +they had stopped for the night, into a small-sized river, and that had +risen high enough, or had come down with force enough, to sweep the big +auto-van ahead with it. + +But no sooner had Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad opened the back door of the +automobile, that a gust of wind blew out the lantern, for there was a +hole in the glass enclosing the flame and the wind puffed right through +the lantern. + +"Well, I can't very well see in the dark," said Mr. Brown, as he came in +to light the lantern once more. "It's a very strong wind." + +Again he opened the door, but in a second the lantern was blown out once +more. Only the electric lights, kept aglow in the car by the storage +battery, remained gleaming. + +"I ought to have one of those pocket flash lights," said Mr. Brown. "I +meant to get a strong one, but I forgot it." + +"I have one, Daddy," said Bunny. + +"Where? Give it to me!" called his father quickly. "We must do something +at once." + +"I don't know where it is," Bunny had to confess. "I was playing with it +the other day, but I must have left it somewhere----" + +"Never mind, I'll try the lantern again," said Mr. Brown. + +"It's sure to blow out," said Uncle Tad. + +"Perhaps we can paste something over the hole," suggested Mrs. Brown. + +"Oh, Daddy," cried Sue, "take my Teddy bear! Her eyes will give you +almost as much light as Bunny's flashlight. Maybe more, 'cause she has +_two_ eyes. She won't mind the rain, for I can put on her water-proof +cloak." + +"Hum! That isn't such a bad idea," said Mr. Brown. "We'll try it. Bring +out your Sallie Malinda Teddy bear, Sue. Her eyes will certainly need to +shine brightly to-night, for it's very dark. It's a good thing you have +her along." + +"I'll find my flashlight to-morrow," promised Bunny. + +"I'll get one myself then," said his father. "No telling when we might +need it." + +All this while the big automobile was slowly bumping and moving along. +Uncle Tad and Mr. Brown took Sue's Teddy bear. By pressing on a button +in the toy's back the eyes shone brightly, two electric lights being +behind them. + +"Does Sallie Malinda give a good light, Daddy?" asked Sue, as her +father got ready to open the door again. + +"Yes, little girl. It will be all right, and the wind can't blow out +Sallie's eyes, no matter how hard it puffs." + +With the Teddy bear as a lantern Mr. Brown again went out. This time the +wind did not matter, though it seemed to be blowing harder than ever. +Uncle Tad followed Mr. Brown out on the rear steps of the car. They shut +the door behind them to keep out the rain. + +"Why, it's a regular flood!" cried Uncle Tad, as the Teddy bear's eyes +flashed on swirling and muddy water. + +"That's what it is," said Daddy Brown. "Say, we've got to do something!" +he cried to his uncle. "And we've got to do it soon. We'll have to +anchor--tie the auto to a tree or something. This flood may carry us +down to the big river just below!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +AT THE FIRE + + +Holding the Teddy bear so the light from its eyes shone all about, the +two men stood on the back steps of the automobile and looked around +them. + +All about was swiftly running water. The evening before, in coming to a +stop for the night, Mr. Brown had noticed, not far away from their +camping place, a small stream. Behind it were some high hills or small +mountains, but, though the storm was a hard one, no one thought the +little brook would turn into such a river. + +"But that's what it's done," said Uncle Tad. "It's risen so high that +it's covered the side of the road near where we were, and it's floated +us off." + +"Yes. I fear we'll soon be flooded inside." + +Bunny, listening at the outer door of the big car, heard above the noise +of the flood and the rain, his father say this. For a moment he was +frightened, then he happened to think: + +"Well, I've got rubber boots, and if the water comes in here I can wade +around and get things. But I guess I won't tell Sue and Momsie about it. +They might be scared." + +Bunny Brown was a brave little chap when it came to something like this. +In fact he had shown his bravery more than once, as those of you who +have read the other books about him and his sister well know. + +Out on the steps of the automobile, with the glaring eyes of Sue's Teddy +bear to let them see what was going on, Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad again +looked about. + +They could see the rain coming down hard, and on both sides of them was +what seemed to be a big river of water. Many little brooks in the +mountains, joining together, had made such a big stream that it had +shoved along the heavy auto. + +"It can't shove us very far, I think," said Mr. Brown. "We are too heavy +for that. But it might tip us over, this water might, or send us into a +ditch out of which we would have a hard time to climb. I'd like to +anchor fast, if I could." + +"Why don't you tie fast to a tree?" asked Uncle Tad. "We have the heavy +towing rope with us." + +"I guess that's a good idea," said Mr. Brown. "We are being swept along +the road and there are plenty of trees on either side." + +Bunny Brown was not listening at the door any longer. His mother had +called him and Sue to the dining-room table and given them some bread +and milk to eat. She thought this would take their attention off the +trouble they were in. For that there was trouble Mrs. Brown was sure. +Otherwise her husband and Uncle Tad would not have stayed so long +outside looking about in the wind and the rain. + +"Yes," said Mr. Brown, after once more looking about with the aid of the +lights from the eyes of Sue's Teddy bear. "We had best try to fasten the +auto to some tree. Then we'll be held fast, for I do not believe the +flood will reach much higher. I have heard of high water in this part of +the country, but it never gets much higher than this, if I remember +rightly." + +"I'll go in for the rope," said Uncle Tad, "and we'll try to make fast +to some tree. We'll be lucky if we can do it before we run into +something," and he opened the door. + +"Oh, what is the matter?" + +"What has happened?" + +"Tell us all about it!" + +This is what Mrs. Brown, Bunny and Sue said as Uncle Tad, dripping wet, +came back into the auto. Dix and Splash thumped their tails on the +floor, as though also asking what the matter was. + +"Oh, it isn't much," said Uncle Tad. "The brook rose into a river in the +night, and tried to carry us away. But we are going to anchor to a tree +until morning." + +Bunny and Sue could easily understand what this meant, and they were not +frightened, even though the automobile swayed about from side to side +and bumped as a boat does when it goes over the bottom in shallow water. + +Uncle Tad got the towrope out from a box, or locker, as Mr. Brown called +it. The rope was a strong one, as it was intended to be used in case +the big automobile went into a ditch, in which event it could be pulled +out. + +With the rope Uncle Tad went out on the back steps again. + +"We're still moving," said Mr. Brown. + +"Are we any nearer the trees, so it will be easier to catch hold of one +of them with a loop of the rope?" asked Uncle Tad. + +"No, we're farther off from the trees," said Bunny's father and, if the +little boy had been listening, he would have felt worried about this. +But Mr. Brown was a good sailor, and if he knew how to anchor, or make +fast, a boat in a big ocean, he might be supposed to know how to anchor, +or stop, an automobile in a flood on the road. + +Mr. Brown took the rope, while Uncle Tad held the Teddy bear and flashed +her eyes about on the flood that was moving the car along. Bunny's +father was trying to catch sight of a tree around a limb of which he +could cast the rope and so bring the drifting automobile to a stop. It +was not moving quite so fast now, as the stream was not quite so swift. +In fact if the flooded stream had not been so swift it never could have +carried the heavy auto along at all. + +"I suppose," said Mr. Brown, "I could start the motor and make the car +go itself. But I would not know where to steer her." + +"No, it is better to make her fast, I think," said Uncle Tad. + +Just then they passed under a tree. Mr. Brown tried to catch the rope to +it, but the auto rolled past too quickly. + +"Better luck next time," he said. + +Presently they were swept under another tree, and this time, as Mr. +Brown cast the rope, it whirled about a big limb and was held fast. The +other end had been tied to the automobile near the back door and now the +big car came to a slow stop. + +"If she only holds we'll be all right," said Mr. Brown, his hand still +on the rope. + +The automobile moved a little bit farther, as the rope stretched, and +then it stopped altogether, and Mr. Brown tied tighter the end of the +rope that was about the tree. + +"Anchored at last!" cried Uncle Tad, as he got ready to go inside the +car. "Now let it rain and flood as much as it likes." + +"Are we all right?" asked Bunny as his father and his Uncle Tad came in. + +"We won't go out to sea, will we?" Sue questioned. + +"No indeed, to your question, Sue," answered her father. "And as to +yours, Bunny, we are anchored safe and sound I hope. Now we can go back +to bed and sleep." + +But first Bunny and Sue had to ask many questions, and Sue had to take +off her Teddy bear's water-proof cloak, in spite of which the toy was +wet. + +"But it won't hurt her batteries inside or her eyes," said the little +girl. + +"And as for her fur, that will soon dry," added Mother Brown. + +"She gave us good light," said Father Brown. "Now, off to bed with you." + +No one slept very much the rest of the night except the children and the +dogs. Dix and Splash did not think of worrying, and as for Bunny Brown +and his Sister Sue, they thought that whatever Daddy Brown and Uncle Tad +did was just right anyhow. So they had no fear. + +Mrs. Brown, her husband, and Uncle Tad did not sleep very soundly, +however. The rain still came down in torrents and the wind blew hard. +The rush of the flood beneath the auto could still be heard. But it came +no higher. + +The rope held to the tree, the big car did not drag, and when morning +came the travelers found themselves some distance from the place where +they had been the evening before. They were about a mile down the road, +and all about them, over the road and the adjacent fields, was a lake of +water. + +But it was not raining so hard now. The storm seemed to be about over. +The water was going down, Mr. Brown said, and when Bunny, at the +breakfast table, asked how his father knew, Mr. Brown pointed to a fence +not far from the tree to which they were tied. + +"Do you see the muddy marks and the bits of leaves and grass caught on +the fence?" asked Mr. Brown. + +"I see," said Bunny. + +"Well, that shows how high the water got," explained his father. "You +see the top of the water is below that now, which shows that the flood +is going down. And I am glad enough of it." + +"So am I," said Mrs. Brown. "We've had water enough for once." + +The storm had been such a heavy one that it could not last long, and by +noon the sun was out. But it would take some time for the flood to go +down and the roads to dry up. + +"We'll probably stay here three days," said Mr. Brown. "It looks like a +nice place, and we have plenty to eat. We'll stay and let things dry +out. Traveling on a muddy, slippery road, with a heavy automobile like +this, is not safe. We'll wait a while." + +Anything suited Bunny and Sue as long as they were seeing or having +something new. And when the rain stopped their mother let them put on +their rubber boots and wade where the water was not too deep. + +After wading about awhile, Bunny thought of something to do. + +"Let's make a raft!" he said to Sue. + +"Oh, that will be fun!" she cried. + +Sue knew what a raft was from living near the seashore. Many times she +and her brother had made them, and they had often heard stories of +sailors coming ashore from wrecks on rafts. Rafts are flat boards, or +planks, nailed or tied together, and they will float on top of the water +and carry a number of people, though they are so low that the water +washes over them and wets one's feet. + +This last part Bunny and Sue did not mind, for they had on rubber boots. +They quickly made a raft by collecting some boards and logs that had +come down with the flood, and had caught in the fence corner near which +their auto was anchored. + +Uncle Tad helped them nail the boards together, and then Bunny and Sue +floated the raft over into a little rain-water lake in the middle of a +field and began shoving it about with long poles. They had ridden up and +down one side of the little lake, stopping at places on the "shore," to +which they gave the names of sea-coast towns near their home. + +"Now we'll go across to the other side," said Sue. + +But when she and Bunny had the raft about in the middle of the "lake," +it stuck fast, because the water was not deep enough just there. + +"Push!" cried Bunny. "Push hard, Sue!" + +Sue pushed so hard that, all of a sudden, her pole broke, and she fell +off the raft into the water. + +"Oh dear!" she cried. "Oh dear!" + +For a moment Bunny did not know what to do. Then he saw that the water +was not more than up to Sue's knees and he knew she would not drown. +But, as she had fallen in backwards, she was wet from top to toe. Sue +began to cry as she got up, choking and gasping, for she had swallowed a +little water. + +"Don't cry!" begged Bunny. "Let's pretend you're a swimmer on the beach +and went out too far." + +"Wha-what good would that do, me pre-pre-tendin' that?" half-sobbed Sue. + +"Well, then I'll pretend I'm a life-guard, and I'll swim out and pull +you to shore," said Bunny. + +By this time Sue had managed to stand up firmly on her feet, though she +was very wet. + +"There's no use in you're pretending you're a life-guard and getting all +wet like me, when I can just as well get on the raft myself," said Sue +practically. + +"Oh, I want to be a life-guard," said Bunny. "Here I come!" and with +that he jumped off the raft feet first, landing near Sue with a splash. + +"Oh, now you've got _yourself_ all wet, for it went over your boots," +said the little girl. "Mother will scold." + +"Well, now I can take half the scolding, for I'm half as wet as you," +said Bunny. "Anyhow she won't scold much. For you couldn't help falling +in, Sue, and she'll be glad I pretended to be a life-guard to help you +out." With that he put Sue on the raft again. + +By this time the raft had floated free of the little hill of mud in the +meadow lake where it had gone aground, and Bunny and Sue poled it +toward the road. When their mother saw how wet they were she did not +scold them. That is, not much. For, after all, part of it could not be +helped. + +Dix and Splash enjoyed the flood, for they both liked to be in the +water. They swam about, playing their sort of "tag" and racing after +sticks which Bunny and Sue threw for them. + +A few days after this, when the flood had all gone down, and having +waited for the roads to dry, Mr. Brown once more set off with his family +in the big machine. For two or three days they traveled along. Once, +when they stopped for their noon-day lunch under a big oak tree, Uncle +Tad built a small fire of twigs and Bunny and his sister roasted +marshmallows at the blaze. + +At a number of places Mr. Brown asked about Fred Ward, the missing boy, +but no trace of him could be found, nor was anything more heard of the +traveling medicine show with the colored banjo player. + +It was one evening at dusk, when the automobile had come to a stop for +the night, and the family were all sitting out under the tree near the +road, that Uncle Tad, looking down the highway, said: + +"Isn't that a fire over there?" He pointed toward a neighboring +farmhouse. + +"Do you mean a campfire or a bonfire?" asked Bunny. + +"Neither one. I mean a real fire," said Uncle Tad. + +"It is a fire!" suddenly cried Mr. Brown. "A shed near that barn is +blazing. See the men running to put it out!" + +"We'd better go to help," said Uncle Tad. + +"Let us come, too!" begged Bunny and Sue. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +DIX AND THE CAT + + +Uncle Tad and Mr. Brown did not stop to answer the children's plea to be +allowed to go to the fire. On the men rushed, and Bunny and Sue turned +to their mother. + +"Please mayn't we go?" they begged. "It isn't far, and it's early yet. +Besides, we know enough to keep away from fires." + +"Well----" said Mrs. Brown slowly. Then she stopped as she saw Uncle Tad +running back, while Mr. Brown kept on toward the blaze in a shed near +some farmer's barn. + +"What's the matter, Uncle Tad?" asked Bunny. "Aren't you going?" + +"Yes. But I came back to get the fire extinguishers that we carry on the +auto. This blaze hasn't much of a start yet, and we may be able to put +it out with our extinguishers." + +Uncle Tad darted into the automobile. Sue and Bunny remembered about the +extinguishers now. They were red things, like fire crackers, and hung +near the seat behind the steering wheel. + +Once, to show Bunny and Sue how easily the extinguishers put out a fire, +Mr. Brown had started one in the back yard. Then, from the red thing, he +had squirted a liquid and the fire sizzled and went out. + +"Oh, we want to see daddy put out the fire!" cried Bunny. + +"The children are teasing to go," said Mrs. Brown, as Uncle Tad came out +again with an extinguisher under each arm. "Do you suppose it would do +them any harm?" + +"Not at all!" cried Uncle Tad. "But you come with them. I don't believe +the fire will be a very big one, but a lot of the country people are +running to it. Bring the children along. Daddy Brown won't care." + +"Whoop!" cried Bunny. "That's great!" + +"I wouldn't whoop," observed Sue, shaking her finger at her brother. + +"Why not?" he asked. + +"Because this isn't a bonfire. Somebody's shed is burning up; and though +it looks nice it isn't any fun for them. We ought to be sorry." + +"Well I am," said Bunny. "I'm sorry for them, but I'm glad for myself +that I'm going to see the fire. Is that all right, Momsie?" + +"I guess so," answered Mrs. Brown, and then she hurried on to the fire +with the children, while Uncle Tad raced ahead with the red fire-cracker +extinguishers. + +Over the fields, from other farmhouses, people came running. Men and +women, and boys and girls. They, also, wanted to see the fire. As Bunny +and Sue, with their mother, hurried on they saw that the blaze was in a +low shed, and from this shed came wild squeals. + +"They sound like pigs!" said Bunny. + +"I guess it is the pig-pen on fire," replied Mother Brown. + +Bunny and his sister, with their mother, were at the fire almost as soon +as Daddy Brown and Uncle Tad. Then they saw for sure that what was +blazing was a big pig-pen built on the side of a barn. The barn had not +yet caught fire. + +"Make a bucket brigade!" called one of the farmers who had run to the +fire. "We must dip water from the brook, pass it along in pails, and +throw it on the fire." + +"Wait a minute!" cried Mr. Brown. "I have a better way than that, and +surer, I think. First some of you rip out a side of the pen, so the pigs +can get loose, and then we'll put out the fire for you." + +"That's the idea! He's got fire extinguishers!" cried the farmer whose +pen was ablaze. "Rip off some of the boards and let those pigs out. +Otherwise they'll be roasted before their time." + +"Set to work!" yelled a neighbor. + +With rakes, hoes and axes the men soon tore down a side of the pen +farthest away from the fire. Out ran the pigs squealing as loudly as +they could. Dix, Splash and some other dogs ran among them, thinking it +was all a game, I suppose. + +Mr. Brown, with one extinguisher, and Uncle Tad, with another, squirted +on the blaze the white streams, made of something that puts fire out +better even than water. Over the blaze Uncle Tad and Mr. Brown squirted +the stuff until finally the fire was out. + +"Well, I'm certainly obliged to you, neighbor," said the farmer who +owned the pigs. "My name's Blakeson. I don't believe I know you, though. +Live around here?" + +"No, we are making a tour in a big automobile," and Mr. Brown pointed to +it. "We saw your blaze and came to it." + +"Well, I'm certainly thankful to you, and for those contraptions there," +and he pointed to the fire extinguishers. "That's better than dipping +water from the brook." + +"Yes, I carry them in case the gasolene on my auto should get on fire," +said Mr. Brown. "But they'll put out any small blaze." + +The pig-pen had only partly burned, and the barn, to the side of which +it was built, was only scorched. Some one must have dropped a match in +the straw of the pig-pen to start the blaze, it was said. + +"Well, we'll nail a few boards back on the pen, and it will do to keep +the pigs in until morning," said Mr. Blakeson, the farmer. "That is if +we can get 'em collected again." + +"My dogs will help," said Mr. Brown. "Here, Dix! Splash!" he called. +"Drive the pigs up here!" + +The two dogs, both of which were used to driving cows, soon collected +the pigs, even in the dark, and once more they were in their pen, +sniffing about for something to eat, now that the fire was out. + +The farmer whose barn had been saved by the children's father was much +interested in the big auto, and, a little later in the evening, went +down to look at it, as did some of his neighbors. + +"Well, that's a fine way of traveling about," said Mr. Blakeson, and his +friends agreed with him. + +The next morning, while Bunny, Sue and the others were at breakfast, +talking about the fire of the night before, a number of children came +down the road to see the big machine. All the dirt from the flood had +been washed off, and as it had been newly painted before this tour +started, the "Ark," as the Browns sometimes called their big car, looked +very nice indeed. + +The country children had seldom, if ever, seen so big an automobile as +this, nor one in which a family could live as they traveled. There were +many "Ohs!" and "Ahs!" as they walked about it. + +"Let's ask 'em in and show 'em our bunks," proposed Bunny, and his +mother said he might. The children were even more surprised at the +inside of the "Ark" than at the outside. + +"Oh, wouldn't I love to live in this!" sighed a little girl with red +hair. "It's just like Mother Goose or a fairy story." + +"I love fairy stories," said Sue. + +Just before the Browns were ready to set off once more in their +automobile, a hired hand from the Blakeson farm came down with a basket +of fresh eggs, some apples and other fruit which the farmer gave Daddy +Brown and Uncle Tad for helping to put out the fire. + +"Oh, he needn't have done that," said Mrs. Brown. "But I do love fresh +eggs, so I'll keep them. Please thank Mr. Blakeson for me." + +The man said he would, and then, as he went back to the farm, the big +auto started off on the tour again. There were yet many miles to go, and +many more adventures were in store for Bunny Brown and his sister Sue. + +"We've got to find that missing Fred Ward," said Bunny. "It's funny +where he went, isn't it?" + +"Well, this country is a big place, especially if a person wants to +hide," said Mr. Brown. "Still we may find some trace of Fred in Portland +when we get there. But that will not be for some weeks, as we are +traveling slowly." + +The Browns and Uncle Tad found the auto tour so pleasant that it was +decided to make the trip even longer than at first planned, which would +put off the time when they would reach Portland. + +For two more days they traveled on, stopping each night near some +village or small city. Nothing happened except that once they nearly ran +into a hay wagon that did not get out of the way in time. + +"But it wouldn't hurt any more to hit a hay wagon than it would be to +fall into a feather bed," said Bunny. + +It was just about supper time. Bunny and Sue were playing out in front +of the automobile, while Mrs. Brown was getting supper. Sue suddenly +called: + +"Oh, look at Dix! He's chasing a cat!" + +Something big and gray flashed over the ground. Dix ran for it, and his +teeth seemed to close on one of the hind legs of the animal. Then the +gray animal ran up a tree, and Dix raced about at the foot, barking and +whining, while Splash left the place where he was rolling on the grass, +to come to see what the matter was. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE MEDICINE SHOW + + +Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue ran toward the tree up which Dix had +chased the gray creature. The dog was greatly excited, and at once +Splash joined in, too. Though it is very likely Splash did not in the +least know what he was barking at. + +Dogs are like that, you know. When one hears another bark it will join +in, and then will come a third and maybe a fourth until every dog in the +block is barking, and only the first one may know why, and perhaps even +he does not. + +"Oh, I hope he didn't hurt that pussy," said Sue. + +"Maybe it wasn't a pussy," suggested Bunny. + +"What makes you say that?" demanded Sue. "Didn't you see something gray +run across the grass, and didn't Dix run after it?" + +"Yes. And the gray thing ran up a tree. But maybe it wasn't a kittie," +said Bunny, shaking his head to show he did not agree with his sister. + +"Let's go and see what it is," said she, and together the two hurried +faster than ever toward the tree at the bottom of which Dix and Splash +were having a great barking time. + +"Where are you going?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"Just over to this tree," answered Bunny, pointing to it. + +"Well, don't go any farther than that," warned his mother. + +"No, we're just going to see what it was Dix chased up into it," went on +Sue. "I said it was a cat but Bunny says----" + +"I don't say what it is yet!" interrupted her brother. "I want to see it +first." + +They reached the tree, and the two dogs were so interested in looking up +and barking at something in it that they paid little attention to the +children. Dix actually stepped on Sue's feet and nearly made her fall +down, while Splash tried to jump over Bunny's head. But the dog did not +quite do it, and fell on Bunny instead, knocking him down. + +"Oh, Bunny, are you hurt?" cried Sue. + +"No, I guess not--much," answered Bunny slowly. "But I'm all--mussed +up!" and he looked at Splash, who was again rushing toward the boy, not +so much with the idea of playing with him as of getting nearer to the +tree so he could bark at the gray animal. + +"Down, Splash! Down!" cried Bunny sharply, and the dogs at once stopped +barking. They had learned to mind the little boy. + +Both dogs looked up into the tree and whined. It was just the way dogs +do who are in the habit of chasing cats, and who make this noise, +perhaps to show how sorry they are that they cannot get at the poor +pussies to roll them over in the grass. + +But Dix and Splash were not what one could call cat-chasing dogs. True, +they had done it when they were small dogs, just over being puppies, +but, of late years, Splash had given up that fun, and what little the +children had seen of Dix they had not noticed him chasing cats. + +"That's what makes me think it isn't a cat they've got up that tree +now," said Bunny, speaking of cat-chasing to his sister. + +"But it _looked_ like a cat," said she. + +The dogs were quieter now, though they both kept on peering up into the +tree and whining softly, though they did not jump about so hard and try +to leap over Bunny and Sue. + +"Oh, I see it!" suddenly exclaimed Sue. + +"See what?" asked Bunny. + +"The cat--the gray thing--whatever it was ran up the tree," and Sue +pointed her finger to the crotch where one of the lowest big branches +joined the trunk. + +"There it is!" went on the little girl. "See it, Bunny? And it is gray. +But it doesn't really _look_ like a cat." + +Bunny came and stood beside Sue. He could see the gray animal now, and +as it moved just then, the dogs set up another wild barking. + +"Be still!" ordered Bunny. Then, as the dog's cries were less noisy he +said: "Why, Sue, I know what that is. It's a----" + +And just then the gray animal fell out of the tree, landing on a pile of +leaves at the very feet of the children. + +With barks and howls the two dogs made a dive for it. I do not really +believe they meant to bite it--they just wanted to see what it was. But +Bunny was too quick for them. + +With a sudden motion he caught up the gray animal and held it close to +him. At the same time he shouted: + +"Down, Splash! Down, Dix! Don't dare try to get this poor little +squirrel. One of you has hurt its leg anyhow--that's why it fell out of +the tree." + +"Oh, Bunny! Is it really and truly a squirrel?" asked Sue, excitedly. + +"That's what it is," said her brother. "It's a big gray squirrel. It +does look something like a cat, but its tail is bigger than a cat's +except when a cat is being chased by a dog." + +"I saw the big tail," explained Sue, "and that's why I thought maybe it +was a cat. A cat's tail always swells up like a long balloon whenever it +sees a dog. But is the squirrel hurt, Bunny?" + +"I guess Dix must have bit it a little on one leg," said the boy, as he +looked at the gray animal which did not try to get away or bite. "That's +why it couldn't go up any higher in the tree or hold fast any longer. +Its leg is hurt. I'm going to take it to Uncle Tad. He knows how to fix +hurt animals." + +Bunny could feel the heart of the frightened squirrel beating very hard, +and the little animal seemed to shrink closer to the boy, as though it +knew it would be taken care of. Dix and Splash bounded about, now and +then leaping up against Bunny as though they wanted to get the squirrel +away from him. + +But Bunny stood firm, and cried "Down, sir!" in such sharp tones that +the dogs knew they must mind. They gave up the hope of getting the +squirrel (that is, if they knew it was such an animal) and ran off to +have a game of "tag" together. + +"Dix knew it wasn't a cat as soon as he saw it," explained Bunny to Sue +as they walked back toward the big auto, Bunny carrying the injured +squirrel, one of whose legs seemed broken. "Dix knew it was a wild +animal," went on the little boy, "and that's why he chased it." + +"I'm glad he didn't get it," murmured Sue, softly. + +"So am I," replied her brother. "We'll get Uncle Tad to fix the sore +leg, and then we'll make a cage and keep the squirrel. Some day we may +get up another circus, and we could have it do tricks." + +"Don't you think the squirrel would rather be in the woods?" asked Sue, +as she looked at the gray creature. + +"Well, maybe yes," agreed Bunny. "After we have it in the circus a while +we'll let it go. 'Member how we played circus, Sue?" + +"I guess I do! We had lots of fun, didn't we?" + +"We did!" + +From across the fields came a call: + +"Come to supper, children!" + +"We're coming, Momsie!" shouted Bunny. + +"And we're bringing a squirrel to supper too!" added Sue, who always +liked to be counted in on everything. + +"A squirrel!" exclaimed Uncle Tad when he saw the gray creature that +had fallen out of the tree. "Where did you get it?" + +The children told what had happened, and Uncle Tad looked at the +squirrel's leg. + +"Can you fix it, or make him a new wooden leg?" asked Sue. + +Uncle Tad looked the squirrel over carefully. The woodland animal did +not seem to mind being handled. It seemed to know it was in the hands of +friends, and safe from the barking dogs. And though wild squirrels +quickly bite one who manages to catch them alive in the woods, this one +did not offer to nip the hands of the children or of Uncle Tad. + +"Yes," said Uncle Tad after a bit, "I think I can mend this squirrel's +leg. It doesn't seem to be broken, only strained and bruised. I guess +Dix didn't bite it very hard. I'll make some splints, or little sticks, +to put on, so the squirrel can't move his leg, and I'll bandage it. Then +it will get well quicker." + +A little box, filled with straw and soft rags, was made as a home for +the squirrel after Uncle Tad had bound up its leg. Then Bunny and Sue +finally went to supper, after having been called several times. And even +then they could not leave the little squirrel, but ran back every now +and then to look at it, as it curled up on the soft bed. Over the box +was put a wire cover so the squirrel could not get out and so Dix or +Splash could not get at it. + +"What are we going to give the squirrel to eat?" asked Bunny, when he +had finished his supper. "He's got to have something to eat." + +"And he's got to have a name," added Sue. "We can't call him just +'squirrel' for we may get another." + +"Call him Fluffy," suggested Mother Brown. "His tail is so soft and +fluffs out so beautifully." + +"Fluffy is a good name," decided Bunny, and Sue said the same thing. + +"But what about giving him something to eat?" asked Bunny. + +"Bread soaked in milk will do for to-night," said Uncle Tad. "Afterward +we'll try to find him some nuts, though it's a little early. Still he'll +eat seeds and grain." + +Bunny and Sue took a last look at Fluffy, the squirrel, before they went +to their bunks that night. Dix and Splash were called in and shown the +squirrel in his little nest. Then Mr. Brown told both dogs sharply and +solemnly that they must not bother the gray, woodland creature. Dix and +Splash understood, I think, for they were smart dogs. + +Both children were up early the next morning to see their new pet, and +they fed Fluffy some dried crackers. At first the squirrel was a bit +timid, but it soon poked its sharp nose and mouth out of a little +opening on the side of the wire netting over the box and ate from the +hands of Bunny and Sue. + +"Don't let him bite you," said Mother Brown, as she started to get +breakfast. + +"Oh, Fluffy won't bite," said Bunny. "He's as tame as our cat used to +be." + +Once more the automobile traveled on. It rained part of the day but the +shower was not a hard one, though Bunny and Sue had to stay in the big +car when noon came, and dinner could not be served out-of-doors. + +But the skies cleared before night, and when the auto was stopped the +children could run about with their rubbers on. They were near a small +town, and Mrs. Brown promised to take the children in after the meal to +see if they could buy some grain or seeds for Fluffy. + +The supper was an early one, and, leaving Uncle Tad at the "Ark" with +the two dogs and the squirrel, Mr. and Mrs. Brown, with the two children +walked into town. As they reached the middle of the village, near a +public square, they heard the sound of music and saw a crowd of people +around a wagon lighted by a gasolene torch, such as is used in a circus +at night. + +"Oh, it's a medicine show!" cried Mrs. Brown, as she saw a big, +long-haired man on the back platform of a wagon, holding up a bottle +about which he was talking to the people. + +"Yes, and there's a banjo player with him," said Bunny. "Look, Mother! +It's a colored boy playing a banjo! Maybe it's Fred Ward!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +WAS IT FRED? + + +"What's this? What's this you're talking about?" suddenly asked Mr. +Brown, as he heard what Bunny said. Or rather, Bunny's father did not +hear exactly, for he had been thinking about something else. But he had +caught the name Fred Ward. + +"Bunny thinks that colored banjo player with that medicine show may be +Fred Ward," said Mrs. Brown. "Do you think it would be of any use to +inquire, Daddy?" + +"Why, that _is_ a medicine show, isn't it!" exclaimed Mr. Brown, as +though he saw it for the first time. "And it's just like the one we +heard about that had a boy banjo player with it." + +"There's a boy banjo player now," said Bunny. "He's going to play, +Daddy, too! Do you think it could be Fred?" + +The man who was selling the bottles of medicine, after telling the +people how much good it would do them, had stopped to let the boy +traveling with him play the banjo. + +There are, or there used to be, many such traveling medicine shows. +Sometimes there would be a whole troop of Indians, some real and some +make-believe, that would be engaged by the seller of the medicine. He +would have the Indians do some of their queer dances and then, when a +crowd had collected, he would sell some medicine--maybe some he said the +Indians made themselves. + +Another medicine seller would go about with a gaily painted wagon, +carrying a cornet player, a singer or a banjoist to attract a crowd. And +when the men and women were gathered about the end of the wagon, which +had a broad platform on the end and a flaring gasolene torch at night, +the man would tell about his medicine and sell all he could. + +This traveling medicine show which Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue saw +was like those. And, just as the Browns reached the place in the village +square where the torch on the wagon was burning, the man had finished +selling a large number of bottles of medicine. It was about time he +amused the crowd again, he thought. So he called in a loud voice: + +"Now, ladies and gentlemen, while I am getting out of my storeroom some +more bottles of my wonderful medicine that will cure all your pains and +aches, I will have my friend here, Professor Rombodno Prosondo entertain +you on his magical banjo. Professor Rombodno Prosondo, I might say, is +the most wonderful player on the banjo you have ever heard. He has +traveled all over the world and played in every country. Professor, you +will now oblige!" + +Of course what the medicine man said about the banjo player was only a +joke, and the people knew that. He was not a professor at all. But he +was a good banjo player and a singer, and Bunny and Sue were delighted +with the music. The songs, too, were funny. + +"He sings like a real colored boy," said Sue. + +"Maybe he is," her father observed. + +"Yes, and maybe he's only blacked up, like most of them," suggested Mrs. +Brown. "Can you tell if he looks anything like Fred Ward, Daddy?" + +"No, I can't be sure that he does," said Mr. Brown. "I never saw much of +the missing boy, you know; and I certainly would not know him if he were +blackened like a negro. This one, if he is not really colored, is well +made-up. He would fool almost any one." + +"Is there any way we could find out?" asked Mrs. Brown. "We ought to do +all we can to find Fred for his parents." + +"I'll see what I can do after the exhibition is over," promised Mr. +Brown. "I'll ask the proprietor of the medicine wagon if I can get a +chance. But I'll have to do it when the banjo player can't hear, for in +case he should be Fred--which I hardly think can be true--but if it +should be he, and he heard me asking, he'd run away again." + +"Yes, I suppose he would," said Mrs. Brown with a sigh. "Oh, how foolish +boys are sometimes. They don't know what is good for them," and she +looked at Bunny, as if wondering if the time would ever come when he +would not be a "mother's boy." She hoped not. + +"Let's get up as close as we can," said Bunny. "Maybe if it's Fred we +can tell, no matter if he is blacked up like a minstrel." + +"He doesn't look at all like Fred to me," said Sue. "He looks so funny +with his big red lips and his white collar." + +"That's the way they all dress," said Bunny. "Come on, here's a place we +can squeeze through and see better." + +Bunny wiggled his way up among the people. His sister followed him, and +Mr. and Mrs. Brown, watching the children, knew where to find them when +they wanted to go away. + +"Now take a good look," whispered Sue to Bunny, as they got very near +the platform on which the boy sat. She had made her whisper rather loud, +and it came at just the time when the banjoist stopped playing, so that +he and several persons heard the little girl. + +"What's the matter?" asked one man, smiling down at Sue. "Didn't you +ever see a minstrel before?" + +"Yes, I did," said Sue. "But maybe not this one." + +"Oh, they're all alike," said the man, but Sue paid no more attention +to him, for she was nudging Bunny and trying to get him to look at the +colored boy. + +Bunny himself was greatly interested. He wanted to make sure whether or +not the player were Fred. So he stared with all his might at the +banjoist, who just then began another song. + +By this time the medicine man had come out on the platform of his wagon +with more filled bottles to sell. He would begin as soon as the song was +finished, for more people had gathered, attracted by the music. + +And then Bunny and Sue both noticed that the colored boy was looking +straight at them. But he did not seem to know them. And surely, if it +had been Fred Ward he would have known the Brown children, even though +he had lived next door to them only a short time. People did not easily +forget Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue, once they had met them. + +But this banjo player evidently did not know them; or, if he did, he was +not going to let it be known. He finished his song with a twang of the +banjo strings and then hurried inside the wagon, the sides of which were +of wood, like a small moving van. + +Then the man began selling his medicine again, talking a great deal +about it while he did so. + +Mrs. Brown turned to her husband and said: + +"I'm sure that was a white boy blacked up to look like a negro, and he +does it very well, too. Even his voice is like a colored person's. But +as he turned to go back into the wagon his sleeve slipped up and I saw +that his arm was white." + +"Very likely he was made up as a colored boy then," said Mr. Brown. "His +lips were too red for a real colored boy's." + +"Well, since we are sure of that let's ask the medicine man about him," +went on Mrs. Brown. + +"All right, I'm willing," said Mr. Brown good-naturedly. "We'll wait +until the show is over though." + +The medicine man kept on selling bottles. It was getting later now, and +the crowd began to thin out. Seeing this the medicine man announced +there would be no more music or sales that night, but that he would stop +in this town on his next trip. + +The flaring lamp was put out, and the medicine man began to close up his +wagon for the night. Mr. Brown stepped up to him. The real or pretended +colored boy was not in sight. + +"I'd like to ask you a question," said Mr. Brown to the traveling +medicine seller. + +"About my wonderful pain destroyer?" asked "Dr. Perry," as he called +himself. + +"No. About that young banjo player you have with you." + +"Oh, you mean Professor Rombodno Prosondo?" + +"Yes," and Mr. Brown smiled. "I want to know if he is Fred Ward, who has +run away from his home next door to us?" + +[Illustration: "NOW TAKE A GOOD LOOK," WHISPERED SUE TO BUNNY. +_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour._ _Page_ 153.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +IN THE DITCH + + +For a few seconds the medicine man looked sharply at Mr. Brown. He did +not appear to understand what the children's father had asked. Then, +finally, Dr. Perry asked: + +"Is it a joke you are making?" + +"No, indeed. I'm serious," said Mr. Brown. "We are looking for a lost +boy, or rather, a runaway boy, named Fred Ward. The Wards live next door +to us, and when we started on this trip, which is not yet finished, the +boy's parents said they would be glad if we would try to find him and +send him----" + +"Tell us, please," broke in Bunny, unable to wait any longer for the +question he wanted answered. "Tell us if your banjo player is really +colored?" + +"Oh yes, he's really _colored_ all right," said the medicine man, "but +not by Mother Nature." + +"What's that mean?" asked Sue. + +"That means, little girl," said Dr. Perry as he put away the unsold +bottles of his medicine, "that my banjo player blackens his face and +hands himself, and reddens his lips, to make him look like a negro." + +"Can you tell us who he really is?" + +"No, I am sorry to say I can not," said Dr. Perry, and he bowed +respectfully to Mrs. Brown, who had asked the question. "But I'll let +you ask him yourself. He usually goes in back there," and he nodded +toward his wagon, "to wash the black off after the show each night. No +doubt he is in there now scrubbing himself, for I must say he is a very +clean person, is John Lane." + +"John Lane! Is that what he calls himself?" asked Mr. Brown. + +"He has since he has been with me, which, however, is only the last few +days. I called him professor just for fun, as it sounds better with the +public. But I'll let you ask him yourself. He must be through washing by +now. It may be he is a runaway boy. It wouldn't be the first time I've +had 'em join me. Sometimes they get sorry and run back home again, and +sometimes they drift away and I don't see 'em again. But we'll soon find +out if this is the boy you want." + +He opened a door leading off the back platform. It seemed to give +admittance to the middle of the medicine van. + +"Here you, John! John Lane!" called Dr. Perry. "There are some folks out +here who want to see you. They want to see how you look when you have +the black off. You ought to be washed now, for it's almost time to go to +the hotel for the night. Come on out." + +There was no answer to the medicine man's call. He stepped inside the +wagon, called again, and then, lighting a lamp, which stood in a +bracket, looked around inside the van. + +"John seems to have gone," the medicine man said. "I guess he finished +washing off the black, and then slipped out the front way to go to the +hotel. He did that once before, without waiting for me to count up my +money and come along. You see I travel only by day, putting up the +horse, that draws my van, at a hotel stable each night. + +"Then John, or whomever I have with me to make the music to draw a +crowd, and I, go to the hotel to stay all night. In the morning, after +breakfast, we start out again. Sometimes, in a big city I stay a week, +selling in different places. + +"But that boy, whoever he is, has gone. I can see where he's been +washing the black off, and, not wanting to wait when he saw I was +talking to you folks, I guess he just slipped away. John is a bashful +boy." + +"Do you know anything about him?" asked Mr. Brown. "Where did he come +from, and where is he going? Did he give any account of himself?" + +"Not much, except that he came to me the other day just after my violin +player left me. I had to have somebody musical to draw the crowd, and he +surely can play the banjo. + +"So I hired him. He said his name was Lane and that he had to make his +own way in the world. Said he wanted to be a player in a theater. + +"I told him my place was a sort of open-air theater and ought to suit +him," said Dr. Perry with a smile, "and he said he thought he would +like it. So I engaged him and he did very well. You are the first +persons that have inquired about him." + +"We are not sure he _is_ the runaway Fred we are looking for," said Mr. +Brown. "It is hard to tell with all that black he had on. But I should +like to meet him." + +"Go to the hotel any time between now and morning," suggested the +medicine man. "I guess the boy will be glad to talk to you." + +"I'll see him in the morning," said Bunny's father. "I'd like to get +this boy to go home, if he is really Fred Ward. His mother and father +miss him very much." + +"I'll do all I can for you," promised the medicine man. "Come to the +hotel in the morning and I'll let you talk to him. I won't say anything +in the meanwhile, because if he is really Fred, and has run off as you +say, he won't want to meet you or go back with you. It's best to take +him unawares." + +Mr. Brown agreed to this, and then, with his wife and Bunny and Sue, +started for the "Ark." On the way they discussed what had happened. +They saw the medicine man, as they turned down the curve in the road, +driving his horse and van toward the hotel. + +"I'm sure it's Fred," said Sue. + +"So am I," added Bunny. "Won't it be _great_ if we find him so soon?" + +"It may not be the missing boy," said Mr. Brown. "But we'll know in the +morning." + +Those in the "Ark" passed a quiet night, though they went to bed later +than usual because of the excitement of the evening. Uncle Tad was +interested in hearing the news about the blackened-up banjo player who +might prove to be Fred Ward. + +"And how's Fluffy, our squirrel?" asked Sue. + +"Fast asleep, just as Dix and Splash are," answered Uncle Tad. + +Bunny and Sue were awake early the next morning, but Daddy Brown was +ahead of them, and their mother said he had gone on to the hotel to see +about the banjo boy. + +"May we go there after we have eaten?" asked Bunny. "We want to see +Fred." + +"It might not be he," said Mrs. Brown. "You had better wait until your +father comes back." + +At first Bunny and Sue fretted a bit, but finally they became interested +in playing games under the big tree where the "Ark" had rested for the +night, and before they knew it their father came back. + +"But he hasn't brought Fred!" cried Bunny. + +"Maybe the minstrel boy wasn't the one after all," suggested Mrs. Brown. + +"Well, I'm inclined to think he was," said her husband. + +"Did you see him?" eagerly asked Bunny. + +"No, he had run away. That's why I think it was Fred." + +Then Mr. Brown explained: + +"When I got to the hotel," he told Bunny, Sue and the others, "I saw Dr. +Perry walking around rather nervously. I asked him about the boy, and he +said that when he and his medicine van reached the hotel after closing +the show last night, he found that his banjo player had packed his +valise, taken his banjo, and gone off." + +"Where?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"Nobody knows. He left no word. That's what makes me think it was Fred. +He must have seen us in the crowd. And, as soon as he could wash the +black off his face, he hurried to the hotel ahead of Dr. Perry, got his +bag and ran away. Very likely he did not want to see us and hear us give +him the message from his parents. His heart must still be hard against +them. It is too bad, if that was Fred, for I had begun to think I had +found him. Still it may have been some other young fellow. Dr. Perry +said they often came and went without giving any reasons. But we'll +still be on the lookout for the missing boy." + +Once more the "Ark" started off, and for several days there was just +ordinary travel. The children played and had fun, the dogs raced along +the road, barking and enjoying themselves, and the weather was fine. +Then came another day of hard rain, and the "Ark" was kept under a big +oak tree. + +The day after the rain, when the wayside brooks were still high, but the +roads fairly good, Mr. Brown went on again. They were coming to a small +town, and had to cross a ditch over which was a small bridge. Usually +there was but little water in the ditch, but now, because of the rain, +the banks were full. + +"I hope this bridge is strong enough for our car to go over," said Mr. +Brown. Slowly he steered the big machine on it. Hardly had it reached +the middle when there was a cracking of wood, and the bridge bent down. +The automobile sank with it. + +"Oh!" cried Bunny, who sat in the back door. "We're going into the +ditch, Daddy!" + +"We're there _now_!" said Sue as the "Ark" stopped with a jerk and a +bounce. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +ON TO PORTLAND + + +There was no doubt about it, the big automobile was in the ditch. Or +rather, the rear wheels, having gone through the small bridge, were now +in the water of a little brook. The rains had made the usually dry ditch +into a brook that flowed swiftly along. + +"Oh dear!" cried Mrs. Brown. "This is too bad!" + +"Anybody hurt back there?" asked Mr. Brown, who, at the first feeling +that something was wrong, had put on the brakes. The automobile would +have stopped anyhow, as the wheels were held fast in the mud and the +broken pieces of the bridge. + +"No, we're all right," answered Uncle Tad, looking at Bunny and Sue, +who, at the first sound of something wrong had crept closer to their +mother. + +"My nose feels as if I had bumped it," said Bunny, rubbing his +"smeller" as he sometimes called it. "Though I don't remember doing it," +he went on. + +"I guess you did it when you jumped out of your seat," said his mother. +"We all jumped, it came so suddenly." + +"And I dropped my Teddy bear and Uncle Tad stepped on her," murmured Sue +with sorrow in her tones. "Look, Uncle Tad, you've turned on her eyes!" + +And, surely enough, the electric eyes of Sallie Malinda were glowing +brightly. Uncle Tad must have stepped on the switch button in the toy's +back and turned it on. + +"But I guess she's all right," went on Sue, as she turned off the switch +and then turned it on again to see that it was working as it should. +"You didn't hurt her, Uncle Tad," she said. + +"I'm glad of that, Sue," said the old soldier. "Now I guess I'd better +get around to see if I can help your father get the automobile out of +the ditch." + +Dix and Splash, who had been racing up and down the road, came back, +panting and with their long red tongues hanging out of their mouths, to +see what the trouble was. They looked at the ditched automobile with +their heads on one side, and then sort of barked at one another. It was +as if Dix said: + +"Well, what do you think about it, Splash? Do you think we had better +stay here and help them?" + +"Oh, I don't see anything _we_ can do," answered Splash. At least it +_seemed_ as if he spoke that way. "Let's keep on playing tag." + +And so the two dogs raced away. + +"We do seem to be in a fix," remarked Mr. Brown as he came as near as he +could to the back of the automobile without getting into the ditch. + +"What _can_ we do?" asked Mrs. Brown, and her voice was anxious. + +"We'll soon see," answered her husband. "In the first place you had all +better get out of the car. I don't know how long it may stand upright. +It may topple over if the water washes away more mud from under one +wheel than from under another, and you'll be better out than in." + +"But how are we going to _get_ out?" asked Bunny. "The back steps are +all under water!" + +And so they were. When the bridge broke with the automobile the front +wheels were off the wooden planks and on the road beyond, and the rear +wheels went down when the bridge broke in the middle. So the "Ark" was +standing as though it had come to a sudden stop going up a steep hill, +at the bottom of which was a brook. The rear wheels, and all but the top +one of the back steps were under water. + +"You can crawl out over the front seat," said Mr. Brown. "From there you +can easily get down to the ground if Uncle Tad and I help you. Then, +Mother, you might try your hand at getting a lunch, for it will soon be +noon, while Uncle Tad and I see what we can do about getting the +automobile out of the ditch." + +"It will be some fun after all," said Bunny as he crawled out over the +front seat. "We can picnic alongside the road, Sue, and watch Daddy and +Uncle Tad get the car out." + +"Yes," said Bunny's sister. "And maybe I'll make a pie for you and +Sallie Malinda." + +"No, I guess I wouldn't try a pie to-day," said Mrs. Brown with a smile. +"We won't be able to use any stove except the small oil one, out on the +ground, and that will cook only a few things. We'll wait for the pie +until the auto is safe on the road again." + +"I hope we can get it out of the ditch without breaking anything," said +Mr. Brown, as he helped his wife and children down the high front steps +of the big car, and then lifted out the oil stove, and other things that +would be needed for the lunch. + +"Do you think there is any danger?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"A little," answered her husband. "But at least none of us can be hurt, +and the worst that can happen will be a little damage to our car." + +"Oh, the dear old 'Ark!'" cried Mrs. Brown. "I hope it won't be damaged +much." + +"So do I," said her husband. "If I had known that bridge was so weak as +to let us fall through I would have gone a different road. But I +suppose the rain and high water weakened the supports. However, don't +worry. We'll see what can be done." + +After a look at the way in which the rear wheels of the big car were +lodged in the ditch, Uncle Tad and Mr. Brown went to the nearest town on +foot to get help. Mrs. Brown, Bunny and Sue made a little camp beside +the road, the children helping a little, and then running about to play. +The two dogs joined them in their fun. + +"I guess I'll make a little cornstarch pudding," said Mrs. Brown, as she +got the other things ready for lunch; and when the pudding was finished +she covered it up, so no ants or bugs would get in it, and set it in a +hollow stump to keep until it would be needed for the dessert after the +lunch. + +It was not long before Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad came back riding in a big +automobile truck which they had hired at the nearest garage to pull the +"Ark" out of the ditch. + +"Will you have lunch first?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"Yes, I guess we will," said her husband. "We'll eat while the garage +men are getting ropes and chains around our car to pull it out of the +ditch." + +And so they ate their dinner under the shade of a big tree beside the +road. Two men had come in the auto truck to work for Mr. Brown, and they +went about it quickly, putting strong ropes and chains on the "Ark." + +"And now I have a little surprise for you," said Mrs. Brown as she +poured tea for herself, Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad, and set milk before the +children. + +"Oh, goodie!" cried Sue. + +"Fine!" exclaimed Bunny. + +Mrs. Brown went to the hollow stump. She looked in and then she cried: + +"Oh, dear! No I haven't any either." + +"Any what, either?" asked Mr. Brown. + +"Surprise for you. I made a nice cocoanut cornstarch pudding, and put it +in this hollow stump, covering it up. But something has come along and +eaten it." + +For a moment there was a silence, and then Bunny cried: + +"Maybe it was a hungry bear!" + +"Or maybe it was our squirrel Fluffy," said Sue. "He can hop around a +little now, 'cause his leg is almost well." + +"Hum, the pudding's gone, is it?" said Mr. Brown. "That's too bad. Come +here, sir!" he suddenly called to Splash. The dog, who was lying beside +Dix near the brook, arose slowly and came to Mr. Brown, tail between his +legs and head drooping. + +"And you too, Dix! Come here!" ordered Mr. Brown. + +Dix walked up exactly as Splash had done, with drooping head and tail. +Mr. Brown took hold of the head of first one dog and then the other. He +looked closely at their mouths. + +"Here we have the pudding thieves!" he cried. "Splash and Dix found the +dessert in the hollow stump and ate it. Didn't you, you rascals?" + +The dogs whined and said not a "word." It was very plain that they had +taken the pudding. + +"Oh, please don't whip them, Daddy!" begged Bunny. + +"No; I won't," said Mr. Brown. + +"I shouldn't have left the pudding where they could get it," said Mrs. +Brown. "It was all my fault. I'll make another for supper." + +However, there were some cakes in a tin can in the "Ark," and as Uncle +Tad climbed in and got them out for the children before the garage men +started to pull the stalled automobile out with their machine, Bunny and +Sue had a little dessert after all. + +"We're all ready to try to get your car out of the ditch now, Mr. +Brown," said one of the garage men. + +"Oh, let's watch, Sue!" cried Bunny. + +"But keep out of the way," ordered their father. + +There was a puffing of the other auto truck, a grinding of the wheels, +and then the "Ark" was pulled slowly out of the ditch, and on to the +road again, the hind wheels running on long planks which the men put +under them. Thus out on to the safe and solid road rolled the "Ark." + +"Hurrah!" cried Bunny Brown. + +"Now we're all right," said his Sister Sue. + +And indeed they were, for it was found that nothing was broken on the +big machine in which the Brown family were making their tour. + +Mr. Brown paid the garage men, who went back to their shop, and the +"Ark" was soon on its way again. + +"And the next time I come to a small bridge I'm going to find out how +much weight it will carry before I cross it," said the children's +father. + +For a week or more the "Ark" traveled on. Every time he got a chance Mr. +Brown asked about Fred, in the different towns through which they +passed, but could get no trace of the missing boy. + +They saw other medicine showmen who had with them players or singers, +but none of them were at all like the runaway Fred. + +"It must have been he who was with Dr. Perry," said Mrs. Brown. + +"Yes, and I presume he feared we knew him and so he ran on farther," her +husband added. "He may be in Portland now." + +"How soon shall we be there?" asked Bunny. + +"In a few more days now." + +Two days later, as they camped outside a little village for the night, +they saw beside the road a signboard which read: + + TWENTY MILES TO PORTLAND + +"Oh, we'll be there to-morrow!" cried Bunny. "Then we can find Fred, and +can send him to his mamma and papa!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +CAMPING OUT + + +Mr. Brown was awakened in the morning feeling little hands tugging at +him as he lay in his bunk, and childish voices crying: + +"Come on, Daddy! Get up! Get up!" + +"Eh? What's this? Get up!" he exclaimed. "Why, what's the matter, Bunny +and Sue?" he went on, as he saw the two standing inside the curtains +that hung in front of his bed. + +"It's time to get up," said Sue. + +"Why, it isn't six o'clock yet," answered her father, looking at his +watch, which was under his pillow. "Why are you out of your bunks so +early? Go back to sleep." + +"But we want to get on to Portland to find Fred Ward," said Bunny. "It's +only twenty miles and we can soon be there if we start early." + +"There isn't much you children forget, is there?" asked Mr. Brown with a +laugh, as he stretched and rubbed his eyes. Then as he opened wide his +arms Bunny and Sue piled into the bunk with him, having a good, hearty +tussle, until their shouts of laughter awakened Mrs. Brown and Uncle +Tad, while Dix and Splash, asleep under the big car, added their barks +to the din. + +"What's the matter?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Has anything more happened?" + +"Oh, these children want to leave before breakfast for Portland, to find +that runaway boy," said Mr. Brown. "Well, as long as they're awake I +suppose we might as well get up and start early. It's about time I +attended to my business affairs." + +Breakfast was soon ready, and when it had been eaten the "Ark" was once +more chugging along the road. The travelers passed through several small +villages and then they came to the edge of a big city which, the +children's father told them, was Portland. + +"Are we going to stay in the auto while we're here?" asked Bunny, for +Mr. Brown had said they would probably remain in Portland for nearly a +week, as he had several matters to look after. + +"No, I'll give you a chance to stretch your legs," said his father. +"We'll store the automobile in a garage and you can live at a hotel +while I'm getting my business in shape." + +"But what about Dix and Splash?" asked Bunny. "Where can they stay?" + +"Oh, we'll find a hotel with a garage attached to it, and leave the dogs +there in charge of the 'Ark,'" said Mr. Brown. + +"And what about finding Fred?" Sue queried. She, as well as Bunny, was +greatly interested in the missing boy. + +"Oh, I'll do all I can to find him," promised Mr. Brown. + +A hotel, with a garage attached to it, was easily found in Portland, and +as the "Ark" went through the streets many persons turned to look at it. +But Bunny and Sue did not mind this in the least. + +"They'll think we're a new kind of gypsy," said Bunny. + +"And they'll all wish they was us, riding around this way," said Sue, +as she laughed with Bunny. + +"'They was us.' Oh, Sue!" groaned her mother. + +Dix and Splash did not like very much being left alone in the garage, +and they whined and barked as they were chained near the auto. But the +garage keeper promised to be kind to them, to let them run about after a +while and to feed and water them. + +"And we'll come to see you every once in a while," said Bunny and Sue, +as they patted and hugged their two pets. + +Fluffy, the squirrel, now well again, had been set free, before entering +the city, in the woods that he loved. + +So, for a while the Browns gave up their "Ark," and settled down to +hotel life. Mr. Brown had much business to look after in connection with +his fish and dock affairs at home, for he was part owner of a steamship +line that ran from Portland to Bellemere. + +After a day or two he found a chance to ask about the missing boy. Mr. +Brown first appealed to the police. But they had no record of him, and +though inquiries were made of a number of theater owners, Fred Ward was +not found. The man whose name he had mentioned as being the one he +intended to see in Portland had moved away. + +"Well, Fred may have come here," said Mr. Brown, "and, after he found +his friend was gone, he may have drifted on to some other town. I'm +afraid we can't find him." + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Bunny. "That's too bad!" + +"Let us go to look for him," proposed Sue. "We found Nellie Jones, that +girl who lives at the end of our street, when she was lost away over on +the next block." + +"Yes, but that was different from this," said Mrs. Brown. "Portland is a +big city, and if you go wandering about in it you'll be worse lost than +you were in the big woods. You children stay with me, and your father +will do all he can to find Fred." + +So Bunny and Sue had to be content to stay at the hotel, to go +sightseeing with their mother, to go to the moving pictures, while Mr. +Brown looked after his business. Several times each day Bunny and Sue +went to the garage to see the dogs. And how glad Dix and Splash were to +see the children! + +Finally the day came when Mr. Brown had finished his business. He made +several more attempts to find Fred, but could not do so and at last +wrote to Mr. Ward, as he had promised, that, as far as could be learned, +the missing boy was not in Portland. + +"We will keep watch for him on our way back to Bellemere," Mr. Brown +said in his letter. "We are returning by a different route from that by +which we came. Every chance we get we will look for your boy." + +Then the "Ark" was taken from the garage, to the delight of the dogs no +less than that of the children, and once more the Browns were on their +tour. + +As Mr. Brown had said, they were going back a different way from the one +they had taken on coming to Portland. This was to give his family a +chance to see new towns and villages. And, as the weather still promised +to be fine, all looked forward to a jolly auto tour. + +Every time he came to a good-sized city, and whenever he met a +traveling show, Mr. Brown inquired for Fred, but it seemed that the +missing boy was well hidden. Undoubtedly he did not want to be found. + +Bunny and Sue had great fun on the homeward trip, which lasted even +longer than the outgoing one. + +The party had ridden on for several days, each one marked by sunshine, +when one evening they came to a little clump of trees beside the road. +It was not far from a good-sized village. + +"We'll stay here over night," said Mr. Brown, "and in the morning we'll +take a little side trip to a waterfall not far away." + +"Oh, that will be fun!" cried Bunny. "Maybe I can make a wooden water +wheel, and have it splash in the falls and go around." + +"No indeed you can't!" cried his father. "The falls are too big for +that. They are seventy feet high." + +But, as it happened, when morning came and Mr. Brown was about to start +the automobile after breakfast, there was a sudden crash, and the big +car settled down on one side, like a lame duck. + +"Oh, my!" cried Mrs. Brown. "What has happened now?" + +"It sounded as if one of the big springs had broken," said her husband, +getting down off the seat to look. "Yes," he added, "that's it. This +means we'll have to stay here three or four days until I can get a new +spring put in." + +For a moment Bunny and Sue looked a trifle sad. Then Bunny cried: + +"Oh, that will be fun. We can camp out in a tent in the woods." + +"Yes, you and Sue can play at camping, if you like," said their father. +"But I think you'll want to sleep in the auto at night." + +"Oh, no! We won't!" laughed Sue. "Now for some fun camping out!" she +added. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +AT THE LAKE + + +While Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad looked again at the spring of the auto, to +see just how badly it was broken, Bunny and Sue, with Mrs. Brown, went +over to the clump of trees, which was not far from the road. + +"Oh, this will be a grand place!" cried Sue. + +"Yes," agreed her brother. "We can put up the tent here," and he pointed +to a little knoll amid a circle of trees, "and then if it rains the +water will not come in." + +Bunny's father had told him the first thing to do, in pitching a tent, +was to see that it would be dry in case of rain. + +"Oh, I think you children will come into the 'Ark' when it begins to +shower," said Mrs. Brown. + +"Oh, no! Why, it's lots of fun in a tent in the rain!" cried Bunny. +"Let's get it up right away." + +"Better wait until daddy or Uncle Tad can help you," said Mother Brown. +"Now we'll sit down and rest in the woods." + +"Well, as long as the 'Ark' had to break down, this was the best place +for it to happen, I guess," said Mr. Brown, as, with Uncle Tad, he came +over to the wood where Mrs. Brown and the children were seated on a +fallen tree. + +"Is the break a bad one?" asked his wife. + +"Yes, I think we'll need an entirely new spring, and it will take nearly +a week to get that. However, as the children will have as much fun +camping out here, as they would traveling in the car, it will be all +right. We are not far from a town, and we can get what we want to eat +from there." + +"I think our cupboard is pretty well filled now," said Mrs. Brown. + +"You might look to see if there is anything you need," suggested her +husband. "I am going into town to find a garage man and have him arrange +to get a new spring for me. Uncle Tad can be putting up the tent while +I'm away." + +"I'm going to help," said Sue. + +"And so am I!" cried Bunny. + +As has been said, there was a tent carried on top of the Ark, and this +was now taken down by the old soldier and carried to the wood, there to +be set up for Bunny and Sue. The tent was large enough for the children +to sleep in if they wanted to. In fact, they had done so once or twice. +But their mother was not sure they would do so on this trip. + +However, the tent was put up and the little folding cots made ready, +while Bunny brought his popgun and cannon with which to play soldier, +and Sue, her Teddy bear and set of dishes with which to play +keeping-house. + +By the time this was done Mr. Brown had come back from the village, +bringing some chocolate candy for the children. He said he had seen an +automobile dealer and it would take fully a week to get a new spring for +the "Ark." + +They had their dinner out-of-doors, and after that Bunny and Sue played +games in the tent. They said they were surely going to sleep in it at +night, so they made up the cots and took their little pajamas with them +into the canvas house. + +"I'll have my flashlight, too," said Bunny; "and in case we want to get +up in the night to get a drink, Sue, we can do it easy." + +"That'll be nice," said his sister. + +In the evening, while the Browns were at supper, an old man, who seemed +to be a farmer, came strolling down the road, stopping at the big +automobile, and looking from it over to the children's tent in the +woods. + +"You folks camping here?" he asked. + +"Well, we're traveling in our car, and we've had to stop on account of a +broken spring," explained Mr. Brown. "The children thought it would be +fun to have a tent up in the woods. No objection I hope, if you own +those trees." + +"Bless your heart! No objection at all! I do own that patch of wood, and +I'm glad to see the children's tent there. It sort of reminds me of war +time, when I was in the army. You're welcome to stay as long as you +like, and if you want anything I've got you can have it!" + +"So you were in the war, too," remarked Uncle Tad, walking up to the +farmer. "I'm a veteran myself. Where did you fight?" + +The two elderly men began talking and soon found that they had been in +the same Southern States together, though they had never met. Then, as +evening came on, the two soldiers talked of the old days of the war, +while Mr. Brown built a little campfire to make it seem pleasant. Bunny +and Sue listened to the tales of battles until finally Mrs. Brown, +noticing that their eyes were drooping, said: + +"It's time for you tots to go to bed. Hadn't you better sleep in the +automobile?" + +"No, we're going to our tent," said Bunny, seriously. + +"Yes, we want to camp out," added Sue, sleepy as she was. + +Knowing that it was perfectly safe, for the children had often camped +out before, Mr. and Mrs. Brown undressed the sleepy tots, and carried +them to their cots in the tent. Dix and Splash were given beds of hay on +the ground near the tent and told to stay on guard, which they would be +sure to do. + +"Do you think they'll sleep out all night?" asked Mr. Brown of his wife, +as they made ready for bed in the automobile. + +"I hardly think so," she said. "I'll leave the electric light, the one +outside the 'Ark' near the back steps, burning, so if they want to crawl +in here during the night they can." + +"Good idea," said Mr. Brown. + +Soon all was quiet around the big automobile and in the little white +tent over amid the trees. Bunny and Sue had fallen asleep almost as soon +as their heads touched the pillows. + +But they did not sleep very long. Or so, at least, it seemed to them. + +Sue awakened with a start. At first she could not remember where she +was, though there was a bright moon shining outside and it made the tent +light inside. Then she called: + +"Bunny!" + +"What's the matter?" he asked, for he was just about to awaken. + +"Did you hear that?" asked Sue. + +"What?" Bunny questioned. + +"That sound." + +Both listened. Outside the tent was a sound that could be plainly heard +by the children. + +"I--I guess it's Dix snoring," said Bunny after a while. + +"Or maybe Splash talkin' in his sleep," added Sue. "We aren't afraid, +are we, Bunny?" + +"Not a bit, Sue! It's nice here!" Bunny's tone was very confident. + +Bunny closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. So did Sue. + +But neither of them could do so, though they closed their eyes very +tight. Finally Sue asked: + +"Bunny, are you asleep?" + +"No. Are you?" + +"No. And I don't believe I'm going to sleep. That funny noise is +soundin' again. Say, Bunny, does Dix snore like: 'Who? Who? Who-ooo?'" + +"No, I--I never heard him." + +"Then it isn't Dix! It's something else," said the little girl firmly. + +Bunny listened. Outside the tent he heard a mournful: + +"Whoo! Who? Too-who!" + +"Oh, I know what that is now!" cried Bunny. "It's an owl." + +"Does an owl bite?" asked Sue: + +"Sure they do!" + +In the dim moonlight that shone into the tent Bunny could see his sister +get out of her cot, put on her slippers and dressing robe, and then take +up her Teddy bear, turning on the eyelights. + +"Where are you going?" asked Bunny. + +"I'm goin' home to my regular bed!" said Sue. "This tent is all right, +but a owl might bite through it. You'd better come with me, Bunny +Brown." + +"I--I guess I will," said the little boy. "I wouldn't want you to go +alone," he added brightly. + +He, too, put on his robe and slippers, and then Sue, with her lighted +Teddy bear, and Bunny, with his little flashlight, started toward the +"Ark." The two dogs followed. + +Up the steps, in the glare of the little outside electric light went +the two tots. As they entered the automobile Mrs. Brown heard them and +called: + +"Who is there?" + +"It's us," said Bunny. + +"An old owl kept askin' us questions about who was it," added Sue, "an' +we couldn't sleep. So we came in here." + +"Crawl into your bunks," said Mother Brown. And that ended the +children's sleeping in the tent, for a while at least. + +The next morning Mr. Jason, the soldier-farmer who owned the wood where +the tent was erected, came down to the "Ark." + +"I'm going to drive over to Blue Lake to-day," he said. "Don't you folks +want to go along? You might take your lunch and picnic there. It's got a +waterfall." + +"I did promise the children to take them to see it while we were here," +said Mr. Brown. "Thank you, we should like to go with you." And a little +later the Browns were at Blue Lake. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +DIX TO THE RESCUE + + +"Where is the waterfall?" + +"Can't we go in swimming?" + +"I want to row a boat!" + +"I want to fish!" + +As soon as they jumped out of Farmer Jason's wagon at Blue Lake, Bunny +Brown and his Sister Sue were saying these things and asking these +questions. The children saw before them a large body of water, that +seemed a deep blue under the shining sun, and round about it were small +hills "like strawberries on top of a shortcake," as Sue said. + +"Oh, what a beautiful place!" ejaculated Mrs. Brown. + +"Yes, folks around here thinks as how it _is_ right pretty," said Farmer +Jason. "But you haven't seen the prettiest part yet--that's the +waterfall." + +"Oh, that's where I want to go!" cried Bunny. + +"And I want to go out in a boat," added Sue, renewing her first request. + +"So do I! And fish!" chimed in Bunny. + +"Now, one thing at a time," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. "You are hardly +here yet and you want to do half a dozen things. Be patient. We are +going to stay all day, for we brought our lunch, and I think we shall +have time for everything you want to do." + +"Yes, pitch right in and enjoy yourselves," said Farmer Jason with a +laugh. "That's what the lake's here for. A few of us farmers own it, and +the churches in this neighborhood generally has picnics here. I've got +to drive over a few miles to see a man about some horses I want to buy, +but I'll stop back in plenty of time to take you home." + +The Browns and their lunch being safely unloaded from the wagon, +including, of course, Sue's Teddy bear, Farmer Jason drove off, while +Dix and Splash scampered about in the woods on the shore of the lake and +went swimming, something which Bunny and Sue wanted to do at once. + +"I think it is a little cool," said Mother Brown. "Besides, I didn't +bring your bathing suits. I guess you can get along without a swim +to-day." + +Indeed there was enough else to do at Blue Lake, as the children very +soon found out. Of course it was not the first time they had been at a +lake in the woods, but there seemed to be something new about this +place. + +Perhaps the trees were greener. Certainly the lake seemed of a deeper +blue than any the children had seen before. They ran up and down the +pebbly shore, threw stones into the water to watch them sink, after +sending out a lot of rings that made little waves on the beach. They +tossed sticks into the water, which the dogs were eager to swim out for +and bring back. Then Bunny had an idea. + +"Sue, let's go in wading!" he cried. + +"Oh, yes, let's!" she agreed instantly; and without saying anything to +their father or mother about it the two took off their shoes and +stockings and were walking about in the shallow water near the shore. + +Mr. and Mrs. Brown, with Uncle Tad, were sitting in the shade, looking +out over the beautiful lake. They were glad they had come on the little +excursion, and the trouble of the broken spring of the automobile seemed +turned into something good now. + +"For," said Mrs. Brown, "it has given us a chance to camp out and to see +this lake, and I would not have missed this sight for a great deal." + +"Nor I, either," said her husband. "But suppose we go to take a look at +the waterfall before lunch. I know I'll want to take a nap after I eat, +and then it will soon be time for Mr. Jason to come back for us, so if +we don't go now we may miss it." + +"That's what I say," agreed Uncle Tad, and the three arose from the +fallen tree on which they had been sitting. Just then Mother Brown +caught sight of Bunny and Sue. + +"Look at those children!" she cried. + +"What's the matter?" asked Mr. Brown quickly. "They haven't fallen in, I +hope!" + +"Well, they're _in_ all the same!" chuckled Uncle Tad. "Bunny has his +knickerbockers rolled up as high as they'll go, and if Sue's clothes +aren't wet I'm mistaken!" + +For by this time, liking the fun so much, Bunny and Sue had waded out +where the water was deeper, and their clothes had become splashed by the +little waves they made as they moved along. + +"Oh, dear! Such tykes!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "Well, it isn't too cool +for wading, though it is for swimming. But I must get them dry if we are +to go to the waterfall." + +Mrs. Brown had brought some old towels along, for she knew what might +happen when the children were going to play near a lake, and while Bunny +and Sue were being told that they should have first asked whether or not +they could go in wading, they were drying their pink toes on towels and +getting ready to put on their shoes and stockings again. + +"But we didn't think _wading_ was as bad as _swimming_," said Bunny as +he rubbed some sand off his fat legs. + +"It isn't _exactly_," his mother answered. "But this time it was +_nearly_ as bad. But never mind. Come on and we'll see the waterfall." + +Farmer Jason had told Mr. Brown how to walk to the place where the +waters of a small river toppled over the rocks into the lake, and having +hidden the bundle of lunch up in a tree, where wandering dogs could not +get at it, the family set off, Dix and Splash running on ahead, to see +the waterfall. + +The way was through a pleasant wood, with little paths running here and +there, and if Bunny and Sue had been wandering alone they probably would +have gotten lost. But the road to the waterfall was a well-marked one +and Mr. Brown kept to it until pretty soon Mrs. Brown said: + +"Hark, I hear something." + +There was a distant roaring in the woods. + +"It's a trolley car," said Bunny. + +His father, mother and Uncle Tad laughed. + +"What a boy!" cried Mother Brown. "To think the roar of a beautiful +waterfall is but the noise of a trolley car! He will never be a poet, +will he Daddy?" + +"I don't want to be," said Bunny quickly. "I'm going to be a policeman +when I grow up, and have a gun." + +"All right," chuckled Daddy Brown. "But a policeman's life is not an +easy one." + +The roaring noise became plainer, and then, as the path turned, the +party came in sight of an open glade through which they could see the +cataract. + +It was not unlike a small Niagara in its way. For a distance back of the +edge the waters of the little river bubbled and foamed over rough rocks. +Then came a smooth stretch and, suddenly, the waters plunged over the +broken ledge, falling about seventy feet to the lake below where they +made a pool of foam. + +"Isn't it wonderful?" murmured Mother Brown. + +"It certainly is a beautiful picture," came from Mr. Brown. + +"It's the prettiest little fall I've ever seen," added Uncle Tad. + +Sue said nothing for a minute. Both she and Bunny were looking at the +waterfall closely. Then Sue began to wrap a shawl, which she had brought +along, over her Teddy bear. + +"What's the matter?" asked Mother Brown. + +"It's like rain all over Sallie Malinda," answered the little girl. "I +don't want her to catch cold, for she might not shine her 'lectric eyes +any more." + +"That's all Sue seems to care about the fall," laughed Mother Brown in a +whisper to her husband. + +As for Bunny, he seemed to think them quite wonderful--for a time. He +stood as near the edge as his father would let him, looking up the +rapids down which the waters rushed, to fall over the rocky edge, +dropping in a smother of foam to the blue lake below. Silently he +watched the smooth waters glide down like some ribbon, and then, turning +to his father, he asked: + +"Is this all they do?" + +"All what does?" inquired Mr. Brown, not quite understanding. + +"All the waterfall does. Does it just keep falling?" + +"All day and all night, day after day and night after night, forever and +forever," said Mr. Brown, for really the waterfall was a marvelous +sight. + +"Then I've seen enough," said Bunny, turning away. "If they've been +doing this a long while, and will do it all next week, I can look at 'em +then. Now I want to go out in a boat. I saw one as we came through the +picnic grounds. I've had enough of waterfalls." + +Mr. and Mrs. Brown and Uncle Tad looked at one another. But they said +nothing. Bunny started down the hill again, toward the lake, Sue +following with her Teddy bear. + +"Bunny surely will never make a poet," chuckled his mother. + +"Oh, well, perhaps there are enough poets in the world now," said Mr. +Brown with a laugh. + +Bunny and Sue were first at the place where the boat was kept. There +were several of them, and Mr. Jason had said that picnic parties used +them. The lake was not deep, he had added, and was very safe, for any +one who knew anything about boats. + +Bunny and Sue finally prevailed on Uncle Tad to take them out for a row +after lunch, and when the two children were in their seats Dix insisted +on following. + +Mr. Brown, who decided to remain on shore with his wife, tried to call +back the dog, but he would not come. Nor would he come when Splash +barked and whined at him, asking, in dog language, I suppose, if Dix did +not want to come and have a game of "water tag." + +But Dix evidently wished to stay in the boat, and finally they let him +remain, as he was a quiet dog, not given to jumping about. He curled up +in front behind Sue and went to sleep. + +Uncle Tad rowed about the lake. Bunny wished he had brought his fishing +pole and line along, as they saw fish jumping in several places. + +"Never mind, we're going to be here nearly a week yet," said Uncle Tad. +"We can come again." + +Just how it happened Sue herself could not explain. But, somehow or +other, her Teddy bear slipped from her lap and was about to fall out of +the boat. That would never do, the little girl decided, and of course +she made a quick motion to catch her toy. + +And, just then, Bunny leaned on the same side of the boat to pick up a +floating stick so that the boat tipped. + +"Look out!" cried Uncle Tad. "Sit still, children!" + +But he spoke too late, for, in an instant, Sue fell out of the boat and +into the lake. Uncle Tad was so surprised for a moment that he sat +still. But not so Dix. He had awakened in a second, and with a loud bark +sprang overboard to the rescue of the little girl. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE CIRCUS + + +"Oh my!" cried Bunny Brown, as he saw his sister topple out of the boat +into the lake. "Oh, dear!" + +By this time Uncle Tad, the old soldier, was ready for action. He took +off his coat, without standing up in the boat, for well he knew how +dangerous that was, and he was just ready to slip overboard into the +water, the bottom of which he could see, when Dix, who had thrust his +head under the surface, came up with Sue held in his strong jaws, his +teeth fastened in her dress near the neck. + +"Oh, Dix! Dix!" cried Bunny, in delight. "I'm so glad you saved my +sister. Oh, Dix! I'll love you all my life!" + +Dix, holding Sue with her head well above the water, was swimming toward +the boat. Bunny, eager to do what he could to help his sister, was +leaning over the side, ready to reach her as soon as the dog came near +enough. Then Uncle Tad cried: + +"Sit still, Bunny! I'll take Sue in. But I must do it at the stern of +the boat, and not over the side, as that might tip us over. You sit +still in the middle of the boat." + +Bunny, who had lived near the seashore all his life knew that "stern" +meant the back of the boat. And he remembered that his father had often +told him if ever he fell out of a boat and wanted to get in again +without tipping the boat over, to do so from the stern, or from the bow, +which is the front. A row-boat will not tip backwards or forwards as +easily as it will to either side. + +As soon as Bunny heard what Uncle Tad said, he obeyed. He sat down in +the bottom of the boat between the seats. Then the old soldier, going to +the stern, called to Dix: + +"Around this way, old dog! Bring her here and I'll take her in. Come on, +Dix!" + +Whether the dog knew that it was safer to bring a person in over the +stern of a boat or over the bow instead of over the side, I do not know. +At any rate he did what Uncle Tad told him to do, and in another moment +was close to the boat with Sue in his jaws. Uncle Tad lifted her into +the boat and at once turned her on her face and raised her legs in the +air. This was to let any water that she might have swallowed run out. + +Sue began to kick her legs. She gasped and wiggled. + +"Keep still!" cried Bunny. "Uncle Tad is giving you first aid." Bunny +had often seen the lifeguards at the beach do this to swimmers who went +too far out. + +"I--I won't keep still, Bunny Brown!" gasped Sue. "And I--I don't need +any first aid! I just helded my breath under water, I did, and I didn't +swallow much anyhow. I was holding my breath when Uncle Tad began to +raise up my legs, that's why I wiggled and couldn't speak. I'm all right +now and I'm much obliged to you and Dix, Uncle Tad, and I hope my Sallie +Malinda isn't in the lake." + +Sue said this all at one time and then she had to stop for breath. But +what she said was true. Her father had given her swimming lessons, and +Sue was really a good little diver, and perfectly at home where the +water was not too rough or deep. And, as she had said, as soon as she +felt herself in the water she had taken a long breath and held it before +her nose and mouth went under. + +So while Sue was holding her breath, Dix had reached down and caught +her, before she had really sunk to the bottom. For Sue had on a light +and fluffy dress, and that really was a sort of life preserver. As it +was, the dog had brought Sue to the boat before she had swallowed more +than a few spoonfuls of water, which did her no harm. Of course she was +all wet. + +"You've gone in swimming, anyhow," said Bunny, as soon as he saw that +his sister was all right. + +"Yes, and we must get her to shore as soon as we can," said Uncle Tad. +"Climb in, Dix, and don't scatter any more water on us than you can +help, though we'll forgive you almost anything for the way you saved +Sue." + +The dog climbed in, over the stern where Uncle Tad told him to, and +then gave himself a big shake. + +All dogs do that when they come from the water, and Dix only acted +naturally. He gave Bunny and Uncle Tad a shower bath but they did not +mind. Sue could not be made any wetter than she already was. + +"Now for a fast row to shore," said Uncle Tad. "I saw a farmhouse not +far from where we got out of Mr. Jason's wagon, and I guess you can dry +your clothes there, Sue." + +As Uncle Tad started to row Sue cried: + +"But where's Sallie Malinda? Where's my Teddy bear? I won't go without +her!" + +She spoke as if she meant it. Bunny and Uncle Tad looked on both sides +of the boat, and there, on the white sandy bottom of the lake, in about +four feet of water, lay the Teddy bear. It's eyes were lighted which +made it the more easily seen, for Sue must have pressed the switch as +she herself fell overboard. And, as it happened, the batteries and +electric lighted eyes were not harmed by water. + +"I'll get her for you," said Uncle Tad, and he reached for the Teddy +bear with a boat hook, soon bringing up the toy. + +"Oh, I hope she isn't spoiled!" cried Sue. + +"She can dry out with you when you get to the farmhouse," said Bunny, +and then Uncle Tad began to row toward shore. + +Mr. and Mrs. Brown were surprised, and not a little worried, when they +heard what had happened to Sue. But the little girl herself was quite +calm about it. + +"I just held my breath," she said. "I knew Bunny or somebody would get +me out." + +"I was going to," declared Bunny. + +"Yes, I guess he'd have dived over in another second," remarked Uncle +Tad. "But Dix was ahead of both of us." + +"Well, I'm glad you're all right," said Mother Brown. "I do hope you +won't take cold. We must get your wet clothes off." + +Just then Mr. Jason came back with his horses and wagon, and he quickly +drove the whole party to a near-by farmhouse where Sue, and all the +others, were made welcome. Before the warm kitchen fire Sue was dressed +in some dry clothes of a little girl who lived on the farm, while her +own were put near the kitchen stove. + +In a few hours the party was ready to go back to the "Ark," meanwhile +having spent a good time at the farmhouse. Sue seemed all right, and +really she had not been in much danger, for the water was not deep, and +Uncle Tad was a good swimmer. + +Bunny and Sue slept rather late the next morning, but when they did +awaken they heard a queer rumbling on the road beside which their +automobile was drawn up. + +"Is that thunder?" asked Bunny. + +"It sounds like it," answered Sue, who showed no signs of having caught +cold from her bath in the lake. + +The children peered from the little windows near their bunks. They saw +going along the road a number of gaily painted wagons--great big wagons, +drawn by eight or ten horses each, and with broad-tired wheels. + +Together Bunny and Sue cried: + +"It's a circus! It's a circus! Hurrah!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A LION IS LOOSE + + +Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue lost no time in getting dressed that +morning, and hurrying out to the tiny dining room where their mother was +getting breakfast. + +"Did you see it?" gasped Sue. + +"Have the elephants gone past yet?" Bunny inquired, his eyes big with +excitement. + +"Oh, you mean the circus," said Mrs. Brown. "No, I haven't seen any +elephants yet. The big wagons just started to go past." + +"Then let's hurry up our breakfast and watch for the elephants and the +tigers," cried Bunny, greatly worried lest he miss any of the animals. + +"You have plenty of time," said Uncle Tad, who was out near the back +steps of the automobile, sorting his fish lines and hooks. "The circus +has just started to go past. Those wagons have in them the tent poles, +the canvas for the tents, the things for the men to eat and the big +stoves. These are always unloaded first--in fact, they are sent on ahead +of the rest of the show. + +"Not until later in the morning will the animals and the other wagons +come along. The circus must have unloaded over at Kirkwell," and he +pointed to a railroad station about a mile away. "The tents are going up +on the other side of this town, I heard some of the circus drivers say." + +"Oh, won't we have fun watching them go past?" cried Sue. "I wonder if +they'll have a parade? If they do, and it goes past our house--I mean +our automobile--we can see it better than anybody, can't we?" + +"Yes. But the parade won't come this far out into the country," said +Uncle Tad. "It will go through the streets of the town." + +"Where are you going?" asked Bunny, suddenly looking at the old soldier. + +"I thought I'd go fishing over to Blue Lake. Looked yesterday as if +there were plenty of fish there. Want to go with me, Bunny Brown?" + +"Huh? An' the circus comin' to town?" asked Bunny, clipping the end off +his words. "Say, Mother, aren't we going to the circus?" he asked +quickly. + +"Well, I didn't hear anything about it," said Mrs. Brown slowly. + +"Can't you take us, Uncle Tad?" pleaded Sue, for she, as much as did her +brother, wanted to see the big show. + +"Well, I suppose I _could_ put off my fishing till another day," said +Uncle Tad slowly. "Are you _sure_ you two want to go?" + +"Are we!" cried Bunny. + +"Oh, I want to go--so much!" and Sue showed just how much by putting her +arms around Uncle Tad's neck and hugging him as hard as she could. That +was her way of showing "how much." + +"Well, if it's as much as that I guess I'll have to take you," laughed +Uncle Tad. "Mind you, I don't want to go myself," and he looked at Mrs. +Brown in a queer way. "I don't care anything about a circus--never did +in fact. But if an old man has to give up his fishing trip, just to take +two children to one of the wild animal shows, why I guess it will have +to be done, that's all. But really I don't want to go," and he shook his +head very seriously. + +"Oh, Uncle Tad!" cried Sue. "Don't you want to see the elephants?" + +"Nope," and the old soldier kept on shaking his head "crossways," as +Bunny said. + +"And don't you want to see the lions?" + +"Nope." + +"Nor the tigers?" + +"Nope." + +"Not even the camels and the monkeys and the men jumping over horses' +backs, nor the giraffes with their long necks--don't you want to see +_any_ of them?" Sue was talking faster and faster all the while. + +Uncle Tad did not say anything, but a funny look came into his eyes, and +Bunny was almost sure the old soldier was laughing on one side of his +face at Mother Brown. Then Bunny cried: + +"Oh, Sue! He's just fooling! He wants to go as much as we do!" + +"Oh, Uncle Tad, I'm so glad!" cried Sue. "I love you--so--much!" and +again she hugged him as hard as she could, and kissed him too. + +"Now I'll surely have to go," he chuckled. + +Breakfast was soon over, and by that time Bunny and Sue were so excited +that they did not know what to do. Somehow they managed to get properly +dressed, and by that time other circus wagons came along. + +These wagons were gilded and painted more gaily than the first that had +gone past. And from some of them came low growls or roars. + +"Oh, they've got lions inside," said Sue, opening her eyes wide. + +"And tigers, too," added Bunny in a wondering voice. "But I want to see +the elephants," he added. + +Pretty soon the big elephants came along, and behind them came camels +and troops of horses. There were also a number of small boys and some +girls who were following the circus to the lot where the big tents were +already being put up. + +"Say, I just like to see them!" cried Bunny as the elephants swung past +the "Ark," which some of the country boys took to be one of the circus +wagons broken down. "Elephants are great! I guess I'm going to be an +elephant rider when I grow up, instead of a policeman," he said, as he +saw men sitting on the heads of the big elephants while they lumbered +heavily along. + +"It would be fun to ride on one of them," said Sue. "But come on, Uncle +Tad. Take us to the circus. We want to see the parade." + +"We want to see _everything_," added Bunny. + +"The side shows and _everything_, and, please, Mother, may we have some +peanuts and popcorn?" + +"Oh, I don't want you eating a lot of things that will make you ill," +said Mrs. Brown. + +"I mean to feed to the elephants," said Bunny. "Elephants love popcorn +and peanuts a lot. Of course Sue and I could eat a little," he added. + +"Well, a _very_ little," agreed his mother. "Elephants are not made ill +so easily as little boys. But get ready, if you are going." + +It did not take the children and Uncle Tad long to get ready. As it was +quite a distance from where the "Ark" was stationed beside the road to +the circus ground, Uncle Tad hired Mr. Jason to drive him and the +children over in the wagon. + +"Oh, I see the tents!" cried Bunny, as they neared the ground. + +"And I hear the music!" added Sue. "But we mustn't miss the parade." + +The children were just in time for this, and when they had seen the +procession wind its way about the streets they went back to the big +white tents. Then the circus began. + +What Bunny and Sue saw you can well imagine, for I think most of you +have been to a circus, once at least. There were the wild animals--the +lions and the tigers in their cages, the funny monkeys, the long-necked +giraffes--and then came the performance. The clowns did funny tricks, +the acrobats leaped high in the air, or fell into the springy nets. All +this the children saw, and they ate some popcorn and peanuts, but fed +more than they ate to the elephants. + +Uncle Tad seemed to enjoy himself, too, though, every once in a while +he would lean over and say to Bunny and Sue: + +"Aren't you tired? Let's go home!" + +And the performance was not half through! Bunny and Sue just looked at +him and smiled. They knew he was joking. + +But the circus came to an end at last, and though they were sorry they +had to leave, Bunny and Sue were, late in the afternoon, well on their +way to their automobile camp again. They talked of nothing but what they +had seen, and every time they spoke of the show they liked it more and +more. + +"I wish we could go again to-night," said Bunny. + +"It isn't good for little children to go to a circus at night," said +Uncle Tad. "You've seen enough." + +Of course Daddy Brown and Mother Brown had to hear all about it over the +supper table, and they were glad the children had had such a good time. +At night when they sat around a little campfire on the ground near the +automobile, they could hear, in the distance, the music of the circus. + +In the middle of the night Mr. and Mrs. Brown were awakened by hearing +the noise of many persons rushing past on the road alongside of which +their automobile was drawn up. Also the chugging of automobiles and the +patter of horses' feet could be heard. + +"I wonder what it can be," said Mrs. Brown. "Is it the circus coming +back again?" + +"No, they would be going the other way. I'll see if I can find out what +it is." + +Slipping on a bath robe, Mr. Brown went to the back door of the +automobile. He saw a crowd of people rushing along. + +"What's the matter?" he called. + +"One of the circus lions is loose," was the answer, "and we're chasing +it!" + +[Illustration: BUNNY AND SUE FED THE ELEPHANTS. +_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour._ _Page_ 218.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE SCRATCHED BOY + + +"What's that? What's the matter?" asked Mrs. Brown. In the darkness she +had slipped to her husband's side. She, too, looked out on the crowd of +men and boys rushing past in the moonlight. "What has happened?" she +asked again, as Mr. Brown did not appear to have heard what she said. + +"As nearly as I could understand," he said slowly, speaking in a low +voice, "one of the men who ran past said a lion had broken loose from +the circus." + +"Oh, how dreadful!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "What shall we do? Did Uncle +Tad bring his gun with him?" + +"Hush! Don't wake the children," said Mr. Brown. "They might be +frightened if they heard that a lion was loose." + +"Frightened? I should think any one would be frightened!" exclaimed +Mrs. Brown. "A savage lion raging around at night, trying to get +something to eat----" + +"Now please don't get excited," begged Mr. Brown. "There is no +danger--at least I believe there isn't." + +"No danger? And with a lion loose--a hungry lion!" + +"That's where I think you're wrong," said her husband. "The circus +people usually keep their lions and other wild animals well fed. They +know the danger a hungry beast might be if he should get loose. And I +dare say they often do get loose, for all sorts of things may happen +when the cages are taken to so many different places. + +"But though this lion has broken loose, I don't believe it would bite +even a rooster if it crowed at him. I mean he won't be hungry, because +he'll have been well fed before the circus started away." + +"Then you don't believe there is any danger?" + +"Well, not enough to worry about. Another thing is that usually circus +lions are so tame, having been caged so long, that they are fairly +gentle." + +"I read of one that bit his keeper," said Mrs. Brown. + +"Oh, of course there are _some_ dangerous lions in circuses. But we +won't believe this one that got away is that kind until we are sure. +There's a man who seems tired of running. I think he's going to stop and +I'll ask him how it happened." + +One of the crowd of men and boys, racing past the "Ark," had slowed his +pace, being tired it seemed. Mr. Brown leaned out of the back door and +called to him: + +"What is the matter? Did a lion really get loose from the circus?" + +"That's what really did happen, sir. Are you one of the circus folks?" + +"No, we are just travelers. We are stopping here because one of the +springs of our automobile is broken." + +"Oh, excuse me. I thought this was one of the circus wagons. Yes, as +they were loading the lion's cage on the train a few hours ago, it +slipped, fell on its side and broke. The biggest lion in the circus got +away before they could catch him, and they say he headed down this way. +The circus men started after him with nets and ropes, and they offered a +reward of twenty-five dollars to whoever caught him. So a lot of us +started out, but I guess I'll go back. I'm tired out. I didn't have an +automobile like some." + +"Then the lion didn't get loose while the circus performance was going +on?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"Oh, no. And it's a good thing it didn't, or there'd have been a +terrible scare and maybe lots of folks hurt in the rush. The show was +over, and most of the animal tent stuff was loaded on the flat cars when +the lion's cage broke." + +"Aren't you afraid to try to catch him?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"Well, I didn't stop to think of that. I don't know though that I am. I +just started off with a rush--the same as lots of others did who were +watching the circus load--when the lion got loose. I thought maybe I +could earn that twenty-five dollars. You see that's given to whoever +finds where the lion is hiding. The circus men just want to know that +and then they'll do the catching. There really isn't much danger." + +"Well, I shouldn't like to try it," murmured Mrs. Brown. + +"I guess I'll give up, too," said the man. + +He called a "good-night!" to Mr. and Mrs. Brown and went back along the +road. There were no more people to be seen, those who had gone +lion-hunting being now out of sight. + +"Well, I'm glad the children didn't wake up," said Mrs. Brown, for, +strange as it may seem, Bunny and Sue had slept all through the noise. +But then they were tired because of having gone to the circus. "Shall +you tell them about the lion being loose?" + +"Oh, yes, to-morrow, of course. While I think there is little danger I +would not want them to stray too far away, for the poor old lion may be +hiding in the woods or among the rocks, and he might spring out on +whoever passed his hiding place." + +"Why do you call him a 'poor old lion'? I think he must be a _very_ +savage fellow." + +"Oh, I think he'll turn out to be a gentle one," said her husband with a +laugh. + +Then Mr. and Mrs. Brown went to bed, after Uncle Tad had heard the +story, and the rest of the night passed quietly. At the breakfast table +Bunny and Sue were told of what had happened. + +Bunny wanted to go right out with Uncle Tad, who was to take his gun. + +"We'll hunt him and get the twenty-five dollars," said the little +fellow. + +"No. You'd better play around here for a while," ordered his father. "It +will be safer." + +"I wouldn't let him out of my sight for a million dollars!" cried Mrs. +Brown. + +"But we could take the two dogs, Dix and Splash, with us, and they could +bite the lion if he chased us," said Bunny. + +His mother shook her head, and Bunny knew there was no use teasing any +more. + +"I wouldn't go after any lion!" declared Sue. "And I want to find a good +place to hide Sallie Malinda." + +"What for?" asked Bunny. + +"So the lion can't find her," said the little girl. "Lions don't like +bears and this one might bite Sallie Malinda. Then maybe she couldn't +flash her eyes any more." The Teddy bear had dried out after the fall +into the lake, and was as good as ever. + +So Bunny and Sue had to stay and play around the automobile, not going +far away. Though at first they missed the long tramps in the fields and +through the woods, they were good children and did as they were bid. +Besides, deep down in his heart, Bunny was just a _little bit_ afraid of +the lion, even though he had said he wanted to go hunting for him with +Uncle Tad. + +Two days passed, and the lion had not been found. The circus had gone +on, leaving two men in the town near which the automobile was stranded. +These men, with a spare cage which had been left with them, were ready +to go out with nets and ropes and capture the lion as soon as any one +should bring in word as to where it was hiding. + +The countrymen and the boys, who had no other work to do, still kept up +the lion hunt, some with dogs, but the big circus animal was well +hidden. + +"If he was playing hide-and-go-seek," said Bunny, "I'd holler 'Givie-up! +Givie-up! Come on in free!' For I never could find him, he has hidden +himself so good." + +"Well, I wish he would go and hide himself far, far away," almost +snapped Sue. "Then we could go around like we used to, and go on the +lake." + +"I wish so too," agreed Bunny. + +It was getting rather tiresome for the children to stay so close to +"home," as they called the automobile, but Mr. Brown said the new spring +would arrive in a few days, and then they would travel on again, far +from where the lion was hiding. + +"And we can keep on looking for Fred Ward," said Bunny. In the +excitement over the circus the runaway boy had been almost forgotten. + +It was three days after the lion had broken loose, and evening was +approaching, when Mrs. Jason, wife of the farmer who had been so kind to +the Browns, came hurrying down to the automobile beside the road. She +was out of breath and seemed much excited. + +"Oh, Mr. Brown!" she exclaimed. "Do you know anything about doctoring?" + +"About doctoring! Why? Is Mr. Jason ill?" + +"No, but I've got a badly hurt boy up at my house. He's all scratched +up." + +"Has he been picking berries?" asked Bunny. + +"No. They're worse scratches than that. Big, deep ones on his face, +hands and shoulders. I've bandaged him as best I could, and sent Mr. +Jason for the doctor; but I was wondering if you could do anything until +Dr. Fandon came." + +"A scratched boy?" repeated Mr. Brown slowly. "What scratched him?" + +"A great big lion, he says!" exclaimed Mrs. Jason. "I declare I'm so +excited I don't know what to do!" and she sat down on a stool Mrs. Brown +placed for her near the back steps of the automobile. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE BARKING DOG + + +Mr. and Mrs. Brown, not to say Bunny, Sue and Uncle Tad, were very, very +much surprised when Mrs. Jason said the boy had been scratched by a +lion. + +"Are you sure about it?" asked the children's father. + +"That's what he says," replied the farmer's wife. "He is certainly badly +scratched, as I could see for myself. Whether it was by a lion or +something else I can't say, never having seen a lion's scratches. The +boy might be making up some story, but he certainly _is_ scratched." + +"The circus lion!" cried Mrs. Brown. "Oh, that must be the one that did +it! The lion must be roaming around here! We must lock the automobile +and stay inside!" + +"Now please don't get excited," begged Mr. Brown. "In the first place +this boy may not be telling the truth. He is scratched, for Mrs. Jason +has seen the marks and bandaged them up, she says. But it may be the boy +fell down in the bushes, or among the rocks and got scratched that way. +Or it may have been some other wild animal in the woods that attacked +him. There are some animals around here, aren't there?" he asked the +farmer's wife. + +"Well, skunks, groundhogs and the like of that, with maybe a fox or two. +Of course foxes or groundhogs will bite if any one tries to catch them, +but I don't know that they'd scratch, though they might if they were put +to it. I never saw such scratches as these. And, as you say, Mrs. Brown, +it _may_ have been the circus lion which is hiding around here." + +"You don't seem very frightened over it," said Mrs. Brown. + +"Well, what's the use of being frightened until I see it?" asked Mrs. +Jason. "I'm more worried about that poor boy. I wish I could do +something for him to ease his pain until Dr. Fandon comes. He may be a +long while." + +"I'll come up with you and see what I can do," promised Mr. Brown. +"Uncle Tad knows something about soldiers' wounds, and perhaps he +could----" + +"Oh, don't take Uncle Tad with you!" pleaded Mrs. Brown. "We need _one_ +man around here if there's a lion loose in the woods. Come back as soon +as you can," she begged her husband as he walked toward the farmhouse +with Mrs. Jason. + +"How did you happen to see the boy?" asked Mr. Brown. + +"I was out gathering the eggs near the henhouse," said Mrs. Jason, "and +I heard a sort of groaning noise. Then I saw somebody coming toward me. + +"At first I thought it was a tramp, and I was just going to call my +husband or one of the men, when I heard crying, and then I saw it was +only a boy, and that he was bleeding." + +"How long ago was it that you found the scratched boy?" asked Mr. Brown. + +"Nearly an hour now. As soon as I saw what the matter was I hurried him +into the house and got him on a couch. Mr. Jason and I did what +bandaging we could, and then I made him go for the doctor." + +"Did you know the boy, and did he say where the lion attacked him?" +asked Mr. Brown. + +"I never saw him before, that I know of. But he just managed to say the +beast jumped out of the bushes at him when he was coming through our +rocky glen, then all of a sudden he fainted." + +"Where is this rocky glen of yours where you say the lion jumped out at +the boy?" + +"About two miles from here, back in the hills. Waste land, mostly. You +aren't thinking of going there, are you?" + +"Not now, though I think I'd better send word to the circus people that +their lion is around here." + +"Yes, it would be a good thing." + +By this time Mr. Brown and Mrs. Jason were at the house. + +"I'll take a look at him," said Mr. Brown. + +He saw, lying on a couch, a tall lad, whose face and hands were covered +with bandages. The youth was tossing to and fro and murmuring, but what +he said could not well be understood, except that now and then he spoke +of a lion. + +"I didn't dare take his coat off to get at the scratches on his +shoulders," said Mrs. Jason. "I thought I'd let the doctor do that." + +"Yes, I guess it will be best. But if you have any sweet spirits of +nitre in the house I'll give him that to quiet him and keep down the +fever." + +"Oh, we always keep nitre on hand," and Mrs. Jason helped Mr. Brown give +some to the lad. In a little while he grew quieter, and then Dr. Fandon +came in with Mr. Jason. + +The two men helped the physician get the youth undressed and into a +spare bed, and then the doctor, with Mrs. Jason's help, dressed the +wounds on the boy's face and shoulders, while the men waited outside. + +Then, having done what he could for the boy, and promising to call in +the morning, when he could tell more about the boy's condition, the +doctor went home, while Mr. Brown and Mr. Jason planned to get word of +the lion to the two circus men who were still at the hotel in the +village. + +"I'll drive over with you," said the farmer. This they did, though it +was late to drive to town, being after nine o'clock, stopping at the +"Ark" on the way to tell what had taken place at the farmhouse. + +"Poor fellow!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "We must try to help him." + +"I'll let him play with my Teddy bear when he gets well," said Sue, and +all the others laughed. + +"The circus men will get after the lion in the morning," said the farmer +when he and Mr. Brown were back at the "Ark" on their return from town. + +Though they were excited, and not a little afraid, Bunny and Sue were at +last in bed, but only after Uncle Tad had promised to sit up all night, +as he used to do when a sentry in the war, and, with his gun, watch for +any sign of the lion. + +"And if you have to shoot him, which I hope you don't," said Bunny, +"call me first so I can look at him. But I don't want to see him shot. +Just make him go back to the circus." + +"I will," promised Uncle Tad. + +Bunny and Sue were up early the next morning, and even before breakfast +they wanted their father to go up to the farmhouse to find out about the +scratched boy, and also whether or not the lion had been caught. + +"We'll see about the boy first," said Mr. Brown. "I guess it won't do +any harm for me to take the children up," he said to his wife. + +"You will be careful, won't you?" she begged. + +"Indeed I will," he promised. + +So Bunny, with his sister and his father, walked up to Mr. Jason's home. +Dix and Splash went along, of course, and stood expectant at the door as +Mr. Brown rang. + +"Oh, good morning!" cried Mrs. Jason as she answered the bell. "Our +scratched boy is much better this morning. He is not as badly hurt as we +feared. Come in." + +Mr. Brown and the children entered, and of course the dogs followed. + +"Go back, Dix and Splash," ordered Mr. Brown. Splash turned and went out +on the stoop, but Dix kept on. The dog was acting in a strange manner. +The door to a downstairs bedroom, where the wounded boy was lying, was +open. Dix ran in and the next moment he began to bark wildly, getting on +the bed with his forefeet. + +"Down, Dix! Down!" cried Mr. Brown. "What do you mean, sir?" + +But Dix kept on barking and whining. He tried to lick the hands of the +scratched boy. + +"Oh, drive him away!" cried Mrs. Jason. "He'll hurt the boy." + +But the boy, who seemed much better indeed, rose up in bed and cried: + +"Don't send him away! That's Dix, my dog! Oh, Dix, you found me, didn't +you?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +FOUND AT LAST + + +What with the barking of Dix, in which Splash, out on the porch, joined, +the manner in which the scratched boy hugged the half-wild animal on his +bed, the astonishment of Bunny Brown, his sister, his father and Mrs. +Jason--well, there was enough excitement for a few minutes to satisfy +even the children. + +Sue did not know what to make of the strange actions of Dix on the bed +where the injured boy had been sleeping, and she whispered to Bunny: + +"Maybe Dix wants to bite him!" + +But Bunny shook his head. He understood what had happened. + +"Don't you see, Sue!" he said. "He's been found." + +"O-o-oh!" gasped the little girl. + +"Yes, sir, Fred Ward, the boy who ran away from next door to us, has +been found. That's his dog, Dix. And Dix knows him, just as we thought +he would, even though his face is pretty well bandaged up. That's Fred +Ward!" + +"Is that your name?" asked Mr. Brown, who also understood what had +happened. + +"Well, I guess it is," was the slow answer. "But it isn't the name I've +been going by lately. I called myself Professor Rombodno Prosondo, but +now----" + +"Then, it _was_ you all blacked up like a minstrel!" cried Bunny. + +"Yes, I was playing on the banjo for Dr. Perry's medicine show, but when +I saw you in the crowd I managed to get away. Then I joined the circus +and now----" + +"Don't talk and excite yourself," said Mrs. Jason. "The doctor will be +here in a little while and perhaps he can take the bandages off your +face, so your friends will know you." + +"Dix knows him all right," said Mr. Brown, and indeed the dog was half +wild with joy at having found his master. + +Dr. Fandon came in a few minutes later and said Fred was much better. +When the face bandages were taken off, so new ones could be put on, +Bunny and Sue at once recognized Fred, though his face was badly +scratched. + +Dix tried to lick his master's face, but had to be stopped for fear he +might do Fred harm. So the dog had to show his joy by thumping his tail +and whining softly. + +Then Fred told his story. As has been said, he ran away from home +because he felt his father should not have punished him. + +"But I've had a good deal worse punishment since," the lad said, "and +I'm sorry I ever ran away. I'd have gone home long ago only I was +ashamed." + +"Well, you needn't be," said Mr. Brown. "Your father and your mother +both want you back. We have been looking for you as well as we could on +our auto tour. But it was Dix who knew you first." + +"I wish he had seen me before the lion did," said Fred, smiling a +little. "I wonder where he went to after clawing me?" + +At that moment there was a noise out in the yard back of the farmhouse. +The crowing of roosters and the squawking of hens could be heard, +mingled with a woman's voice. + +"That's my wife!" cried Mr. Jason, jumping up, but at that moment his +wife came into the room. + +"I've caught it," she said coolly, though her face was flushed. + +"Caught what?" they all cried. + +"The circus lion," she answered. "I went out to the henhouse, and there +he was crouching down in a corner, and looking as if he intended to have +his choice of my fat pullets." + +"What did you do?" asked Mr. Brown and Mr. Jason together. + +"Well, I happened to have a broom stick in my hand so I hit him a smart +blow over the nose to teach him to let my hens alone, and then I drove +the chickens outside and locked the lion in the henhouse. He's there +now. You'd better send for the circus folks to take him away. I don't +want him around the place scaring the fowls." + +"Didn't he scare you?" asked Mr. Brown. + +"I never stopped to think whether he did or not," was the cool answer. +"I just whacked him over the nose and he whined and cuddled up in a +corner like a whipped dog." + +"Oh, let's go out and look at the lion in the chicken coop!" cried +Bunny. + +"No, indeed," said his father. "Wait until the circus men come and put +him in the cage." + +A neighboring farmer had a telephone, and word was sent to one of the +circus men who had stayed at the village hotel, while his companion had +gone to the rocky glen with a crowd of men and boys to try to find the +lion there, after the alarm given by Mr. Jason. + +The circus man, who had remained in the hotel, came with a light cage, +drawn by horses, and the lion was easily driven from the henhouse into +the cage and was soon safe behind locks and bars. + +"Mrs. Jason caught the lion!" cried the crowd that gathered to watch +what happened. + +"Did he bite you?" she was asked. + +"Never a bite," she answered smiling. + +"What! Poor old Tobyhanna bite?" cried one of the circus men. "Why, he +hasn't but two teeth in his head and we have to feed him on boiled meat. +He's no more dangerous than a tame dog, and when you hit him over the +nose with your broom, lady, you must have hurt his feelin's dreadful." + +"Well, I didn't mean to be _rough_," said Mrs. Jason with a smile, "but +it's the first time I ever caught a lion." + +"Yes, and you get the reward, too," added the circus man, as he paid the +farmer's wife. + +Then he started away with the lion in the cage to ship him back to the +circus. And poor, old, almost toothless Tobyhanna, curled up in the +corner of his cage and ate some bread and milk the farmer's wife gave +him. He was happy he had been caught. + +Fred Ward's story was soon told. After running away from home he joined +the medicine show, because it gave him a chance to play the banjo he +liked so well. He left Dr. Perry because he saw the Browns and feared +they might have him sent home. + +Then he joined the circus, the very one from which the lion had escaped. +In that show Fred had been one of a group who blacked up and played on +mandolins and guitars and banjos, and though he had played in front of +Bunny, Sue and Uncle Tad, none of them knew him, nor did Fred see them. + +The night the show left the town, and just before the lion escaped, Fred +had a quarrel with one of the managers and left. He was not paid his +money and, quite miserable, he wandered away, not knowing what to do. He +became lost in the woods, and finally he reached the rocky gulch where +the lion attacked him. + +"It was just an accident. Tobyhanna didn't mean to hurt me," said Fred. +"I'd often fed him and scratched his nose for him in the circus. But I +walked right over him as he was asleep in between some rocks, and when +he jumped out, as much scared as I was he happened to scratch me. Then I +managed to get to this house and I guess I must have gone out of my head +or fainted or something." + +"You did," said Dr. Fandon, "but you are all right now." + +"We must send word to your father that you are safe," said Mr. Brown, +and this was done. + +Fred was not quite well enough to be moved, but his father came for him +the next day, and he made a great fuss over his boy. They understood +each other better after that. + +Mr. Ward thanked everybody who had done anything to help his son, and a +few days later took Fred and Dix home, for the dog would not leave his +master, much as he liked Splash, Bunny and Sue. + +In due time Tobyhanna, the lion, was taken back to the circus, and he +never got out of his cage again, as far as I ever heard. + +"Well, I think we can keep on with our tour now," said Mr. Brown, a few +days after the new spring had arrived. + +"It seems almost like leaving home to go away from here," said Mother +Brown, as they prepared to leave. + +"We've had such fun camping here," added Sue. + +"And lots of things have happened, too!" added Bunny. "I never was near +where a lion was locked up in a chicken coop before." + +"And I don't want to be again," said his mother. + +"All aboard!" cried Uncle Tad. + +And once more the "Ark," was traveling along the country road back +toward Bellemere. The auto trip had been a great success, and Bunny and +Sue talked of it many times, and of how Fred Ward had been found, and of +the escaped lion that had scratched him. + +But now it is time to say good-bye, though you must not think this is +the last of the adventures of Bunny and Sue, even though there are no +more in this book. There were more ahead of them, but, for the present, +we will leave them. + + +THE END + + + + +THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES + +By LAURA LEE HOPE + +Author of the Popular "Bobbsey Twins" Books + + * * * * * + +Wrapper and text illustrations drawn by + +FLORENCE ENGLAND NOSWORTHY + + * * * * * + +=12mo. DURABLY BOUND. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING= + + * * * * * + +These stories by the author of the "Bobbsey Twins" Books are eagerly +welcomed by the little folks from about five to ten years of age. Their +eyes fairly dance with delight at the lively doings of inquisitive +little Bunny Brown and his cunning, trustful sister Sue. + +Bunny was a lively little boy, very inquisitive. When he did anything, +Sue followed his leadership. They had many adventures, some comical in +the extreme. + +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONY +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE GIVING A SHOW +BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CHRISTMAS TREE COVE + + * * * * * + +=GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK= + + + + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS + +For Little Men and Women + +By LAURA LEE HOPE + +Author of "The Bunny Brown" Series, Etc. + + * * * * * + +=12mo. DURABLY BOUND. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING= + + * * * * * + +Copyright publications which cannot be obtained else-where. Books that +charm the hearts of the little ones, and of which they never tire. + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS +THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE +THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK +THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME +THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY +THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND +THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA +THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST + + * * * * * + +=GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK= + + + + +THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS + +SERIES + +By LAURA LEE HOPE + +Author of "The Bobbsey Twins Series." + + * * * * * + +=12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING= + + * * * * * + +The adventures of Ruth and Alice DeVere. Their father, a widower, is an +actor who has taken up work for the "movies." Both girls wish to aid him +in his work and visit various localities to act in all sorts of +pictures. + +THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS +Or First Appearance in Photo Dramas. + +Having lost his voice, the father of the girls goes into the movies +and the girls follow. Tells how many "parlor dramas" are filmed. + + +THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT OAK FARM +Or Queer Happenings While Taking Rural Plays. + +Full of fun in the country, the haps and mishaps of taking film +plays, and giving an account of two unusual discoveries. + + +THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS SNOWBOUND +Or The Proof on the Film. + +A tale of winter adventures in the wilderness, showing how the +photo-play actors sometimes suffer. + + +THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS UNDER THE PALMS +Or Lost in the Wilds of Florida. + +How they went to the land of palms, played many parts in dramas +before the camera; were lost, and aided others who were also lost. + + +THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT ROCKY RANCH +Or Great Days Among the Cowboys. + +All who have ever seen moving pictures of the great West will +want to know just how they are made. This volume gives every detail +and is full of clean fun and excitement. + + +THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT SEA +Or a Pictured Shipwreck that Became Real. + +A thrilling account of the girls' experiences on the water. + + +THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS IN WAR PLAYS +Or The Sham Battles at Oak Farm. + + +The girls play important parts in big battle scenes and have plenty +of hard work along with considerable fun. + + * * * * * + +=GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK= + + + + +THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL + +HIGH SERIES + +By GERTRUDE W. MORRISON + + * * * * * + +=12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING= + + * * * * * + + +Here is a series full of the spirit of high school life of to-day. The +girls are real flesh-and-blood characters, and we follow them with +interest in school and out. There are many contested matches on track +and field, and on the water, as well as doings in the classroom and on +the school stage. There is plenty of fun and excitement, all clean, pure +and wholesome. + +THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH +Or Rivals for all Honors. + +A Stirring tale of high school life, full of fun, with a touch +of mystery and a strange initiation. + + +THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON LAKE LUNA +Or The Crew That Won. + +Telling of water sports and fun galore, and of fine times in camp. + + +THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH AT BASKETBALL +Or The Great Gymnasium Mystery. + +Here we have a number of thrilling contests at basketball and in +addition, the solving of a mystery which had bothered the high +school authorities for a long while. + + +THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON THE STAGE +Or The Play That Took the Prize. + +How the girls went in for theatricals and how one of them wrote +a play which afterward was made over for the professional stage +and brought in some much-needed money. + + +THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON TRACK AND FIELD +Or The Girl Champions of the School League + +This story takes in high school athletics in their most approved +and up-to-date fashion. Full of fun and excitement. + + +THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH IN CAMP +Or The Old Professor's Secret. + +The girls went camping on Acorn Island and had a delightful +time at boating, swimming and picnic parties. + + * * * * * + +=GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK= + + + + +THE OUTDOOR CHUMS SERIES + +By CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN + + +The outdoor chums are four wide-awake lads, sons of wealthy men of a +small city located on a lake. The boys love outdoor life, and are +greatly interested in hunting, fishing, and picture taking. They have +motor cycles, motor boats, canoes, etc., and during their vacations go +everywhere and have all sorts of thrilling adventures. The stories give +full directions for camping out, how to fish, how to hunt wild animals +and prepare the skins for stuffing, how to manage a canoe, how to swim, +etc. Full of the spirit of outdoor life. + +THE OUTDOOR CHUMS +Or The First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club. + +THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE LAKE +Or Lively Adventures on Wildcat Island. + +THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE FOREST +Or Laying the Ghost of Oak Ridge. + +THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE GULF +Or Rescuing the Lost Balloonists. + +THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AFTER BIG GAME +Or Perilous Adventures in the Wilderness. + +THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON A HOUSEBOAT +Or The Rivals of the Mississippi. + +THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE BIG WOODS +Or The Rival Hunters at Lumber Run. + +THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AT CABIN POINT +Or The Golden Cup Mystery. + +=12mo. Averaging 240 pages. Illustrated. Handsomely bound in Cloth.= + + * * * * * + +=GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK= + + + + +THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS + +SERIES + +By VICTOR APPLETON + + * * * * * + +=12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING.= + + * * * * * + +Moving pictures and photo plays are famous the world over, and in this +line of books the reader is given a full description of how the films +are made--the scenes of little dramas, indoors and out, trick pictures +to satisfy the curious, soul-stirring pictures of city affairs, life in +the Wild West, among the cowboys and Indians, thrilling rescues along +the seacoast, the daring of picture hunters in the jungle among savage +beasts, and the great risks run in picturing conditions in a land of +earthquakes. The volumes teem with adventures and will be found +interesting from first chapter to last. + + +THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS +Or Perils of a Great City Depicted. + +THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE WEST +Or Taking Scenes Among the Cowboys and Indians. + +THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON THE COAST +Or Showing the Perils of the Deep. + +THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE JUNGLE +Or Stirring Times Among the Wild Animals. + +THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN EARTHQUAKE LAND +Or Working Amid Many Perils. + +THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AND THE FLOOD +Or Perilous Days on the Mississippi. + +THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AT PANAMA +Or Stirring Adventures Along the Great Canal. + +THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS UNDER THE SEA +Or The Treasure of the Lost Ship. + + * * * * * + +=GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK= + + * * * * * + + +Transcriber's note: + +Punctuation normalized. + +Page 13, the word "the" was inserted into "and of the fun". + +Page 108, "That's what we we're trying to find out." Changed to "That's +what we're trying to find out." + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an +Auto Tour, by Laura Lee Hope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER *** + +***** This file should be named 17095.txt or 17095.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/0/9/17095/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Emmy and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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