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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/17096-h.zip b/17096-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ae92793 --- /dev/null +++ b/17096-h.zip diff --git a/17096-h/17096-h.htm b/17096-h/17096-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5d320a8 --- /dev/null +++ b/17096-h/17096-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6802 @@ +<!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 at Camp Rest-a-While, 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 at Camp +Rest-A-While, 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 at Camp Rest-A-While + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Illustrator: Florence England Nosworthy + +Release Date: November 18, 2005 [EBook #17096] + +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> + + + + + + + +<h1>BUNNY BROWN</h1> +<h1>AND HIS SISTER SUE</h1> +<h1>AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>LAURA LEE HOPE</h2> + +<div class="center">AUTHOR OF</div> + +<div class="center">THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES, THE BOBBSEY<br /> +TWINS SERIES, THE OUTDOOR GIRLS<br /> +SERIES, ETC.<br /><br /></div> + +<div class="center">Illustrated by<br /> +Florence England Nosworthy</div> + +<div class="center">NEW YORK<br /> +GROSSET & DUNLAP<br /> +PUBLISHERS<br /><br /></div> + +<div class="center">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> +</table></div> + + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +<div class='center'><b>THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES<br /> +For Little Men and Women</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: 65%;" /> +<div class='center'><b>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES</b></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="The Outdoor Girls"> +<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<br /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class='center'> +Copyright, 1916, by<br /> +GROSSET & DUNLAP<br /> +</div> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<div class='center'> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;"><i>Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp Rest-A-While</i></span><br /> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="./images/001.jpg" alt=""NOW WHERE ARE YOUR POTATOES, UNCLE TAD?" SUE ASKED." title=""NOW WHERE ARE YOUR POTATOES, UNCLE TAD?" SUE ASKED." /></div> + +<div class='center'>"NOW WHERE ARE YOUR POTATOES, UNCLE TAD?" SUE ASKED.<br /> +"HERE THEY ARE!" SAID THE OLD SOLDIER.<br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 18em;"><i>Frontispiece</i> (<i>Page</i> <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>.)</span><br /> + +<i>Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp Rest-a-While.</i></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER</td> +<td align='left'></td> +<td align='left'>PAGE</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>I.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Grandpa's Tent</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">Grand Surprise</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_12'>12</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>III.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Bunny and Sue Sleep Out</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_23'>23</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>IV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Splash Comes, Too</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_35'>35</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>V.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Off to Camp</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">Putting Up the Tents</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_55'>55</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>VII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Big Black Bear</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_68'>68</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>VIII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Ragged Boy</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_78'>78</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>IX.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Tom Hears a Noise</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_89'>89</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>X.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Out in the Boat</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_100'>100</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XI.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Tom Sees a Man</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">The Cross Man</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_119'>119</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XIII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Bad Storm</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_128'>128</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XIV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Tom Is Gone</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_140'>140</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Looking for Tom</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_150'>150</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XVI.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">"Who Took the Pie</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">A Noise at Night</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">Splash Acts Queerly</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_176'>176</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XIX.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">In the Smoke-House</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_184'>184</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XX.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">In Bunny's Trap</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_193'>193</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XXI.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Bunker Goes Ashore</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_203'>203</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XXII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">In the Woods</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_210'>210</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XXIII.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">In the Cave</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_220'>220</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XXIV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">"Who Is There?"</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_228'>228</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'>XXV.</td> +<td align='left'><span class="smcap">Back in Camp</span></td> +<td align='right'><a href='#Page_237'>237</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>AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>GRANDPA'S TENT</h3> + + +<p>"Bunny! Bunny Brown! There's a wagon stoppin' in front of our house!"</p> + +<p>"Is there? What kind of a wagon is it, Sue?"</p> + +<p>The little girl, who had called to her brother about the wagon, stood +with her nose pressed flat against the glass of the window, looking out +to where the rain was beating down on the green grass of the front yard. +Bunny Brown, who had been playing with a tin locomotive that ran on a +tiny tin track, put his toy back in its box.</p> + +<p>"What kind of a wagon is it Sue?" he asked his sister again.</p> + +<p>"It isn't a grocery wagon," Sue answered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>slowly. "Not a grocery wagon, +like the one we rode in once, when we gave all those things to Old Miss +Hollyhock."</p> + +<p>"Has it got any letters on it?" Bunny wanted to know. He was on his way +to the window now, having taken up the toy railroad track, with which he +was tired playing.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's got a E on it," Sue said, "and next comes the funny letter, +Bunny, that looks like when you cross your legs or fingers."</p> + +<p>"That's a X," said Bunny. He knew his letters better than did Sue, for +Bunny could even read a little. "What's the next letter, Sue?"</p> + +<p>Bunny could have run to the window himself, and looked out, but he +wanted to pick up all the things with which he had been playing. His +mother had always made him do this—put away his toys when he was +through.</p> + +<p>"What's the next letter, Sue?" Bunny Brown asked.</p> + +<p>Sue was not quite sure of it. She put her little head to one side so she +might see better. Just then a man jumped off the seat, and splashed +through a muddy puddle as he walked around to the end of the wagon.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny!" Sue cried. "The man's going to bring something here, I +guess. He's taking out a big bundle."</p> + +<p>"Maybe it's a wagon from the store," said Bunny. And, as he looked out +through the window glass, pressing his nose flat against it, as his +sister Sue had done, he spelled out the word:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">EXPRESS</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"That's an express wagon, Sue," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"What's express?" Sue wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"That means when you're in a hurry," Bunny said. "You know, when we're +playing train, sometimes I'm an express train, and I go awful fast."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I 'member that," said Sue. "Once, when we hitched our dog, Splash, +up to our express wagon, he went so fast he spilled me out."</p> + +<p>"Well, that's express," Bunny went on. "When you went out of the wagon +so fast you were an express."</p> + +<p>"I don't like express, then," said Sue. "I like to go slower. But that +can't be an express wagon, then, Bunny."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause that's not goin' fast. It's jest standin' still."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, when it does go, it goes fast. That's an express wagon, all +right. Somebody's sent us something by express. Oh, Sue, I wonder what +it is?"</p> + +<p>Sue shook her head. She did not know, and she could not guess. She was +watching the man out in the rain—the expressman who was trying to get +something out of the back of his wagon. It was a big bundle, that was +sure, because Bunny and Sue could see the end of it.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if it's a present for us?" Sue asked.</p> + +<p>"It can't be a present," answered Bunny. "It isn't Christmas. Don't you +remember, Sue, we had Christmas at Aunt Lu's city home."</p> + +<p>"So we did, Bunny. But it's <i>something</i>, anyhow."</p> + +<p>That was certain, for now the man was pulling a very large bundle out of +his wagon. It was so large that he could not carry it all alone, and he +called for Sam, the stable man, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>to come and help him. With the help of +Sam, the expressman carried the package back into the barn.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I wonder what it is?" said Sue.</p> + +<p>"We'll go and ask mother," suggested Bunny. "She'll know."</p> + +<p>Together, the children fairly ran upstairs to their mother's sitting +room, where she was sewing.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mother!" cried Sue. "There's a fast wagon out in front—a fast +wagon and——"</p> + +<p>"A fast wagon, Sue? What do you mean? Is it stuck fast in the mud?" Mrs. +Brown asked.</p> + +<p>"No, she means an express wagon," said Bunny, with a laugh. "I told her +express was fast, Mother."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I see," and Mrs. Brown smiled.</p> + +<p>"But the express wagon did stop," went on the little boy. "It stopped +here, and Sam and the man took out a big bundle. It's up in our barn. +What is it, Mother?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, Bunny. Something your father sent for, perhaps. He may +tell us what it is when he comes."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p> + +<p>"May we go out and look at it?" Sue asked.</p> + +<p>"No, dear, not in this rain. Can't you wait until daddy comes home?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but I—I don't want to, Mother."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, we have to do many things in this world that we don't want +to. Now go and play with your dolls, or something. I think daddy will be +home early to-night, on account of the storm. Then he'll tell you what's +in the bundle."</p> + +<p>"Does Sam know?" asked Bunny, as he watched the express wagon drive +away.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he does," answered Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Then we can ask him!" exclaimed Sue. "Come on, Bunny!"</p> + +<p>"No, dears, you mustn't go out to the barn in this rain. You'd get all +wet."</p> + +<p>"I could put on my rubber coat," suggested Bunny.</p> + +<p>"And so could I—and my rubber boots," said Sue.</p> + +<p>Both children seemed to want very much to know what was in the express +package. But when Mrs. Brown said they could not go out she meant it, +and the more Bunny Brown and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>his sister Sue teased, the oftener Mrs. +Brown shook her head.</p> + +<p>"No, you can't go out and open that bundle," she said. "And if you tease +much more daddy won't even tell you what's in it when he comes home. Be +good children now."</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue did not often tease this way, for they were good children. +But this day was an unpleasant, rainy one. They could not go out to have +fun, because of the rain, and they had played with all their toys, +getting tired of them, one after another.</p> + +<p>"Mother, if we can't go out to the barn, could we have our dog, Splash, +in here to play with us?" asked Bunny, after a while. "We could hitch +him to a chair, and make believe it was an express wagon."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes!" cried Sue. "And you could be the driver, Bunny, and you could +leave a package at my house—make believe, you know—and then I wouldn't +know what was in it, and I could guess, and you could guess. We could +play a guessing game; will you, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll play that. May we have Splash in, Mother?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, dear."</p> + +<p>"Oh, why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because I just saw Splash splashing through a puddle of muddy water. If +he came in now he'd get you all dirty and he would spoil my carpet."</p> + +<p>"But what <i>can</i> we do, Mother?" Sue asked, and her voice sounded almost +as if she were going to cry.</p> + +<p>"We want to do <i>something</i>," added Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" sighed Mrs. Brown, yet she could not help smiling. Rainy +days were hard when two children had to stay in the house all the while.</p> + +<p>"We can play 'spress wagon without Splash!" exclaimed Sue, for she was a +good little girl, and did not want to make her mother worry.</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed Bunny. "We'll just make believe we have Splash with +us to pull the pretend wagon."</p> + +<p>He and Sue often played pretend, and make-believe, games, and they had +much fun this way. Now they turned one chair on the side, and put +another in front. The turned-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>over chair was to be the wagon, and the +other chair, standing on its four legs, was the horse. Bunny got some +string for reins, and the stick the washerwoman used to punch the +clothes down in the boiler made a good whip, when another piece of +string was tied on the end of that.</p> + +<p>"Giddap!" cried Bunny, sitting on a stool behind the chair-horse. +"Giddap! This is an express wagon, and we've got to hurry."</p> + +<p>"You must leave a package for me!" cried Sue. "This is my house, over on +the couch," and she curled up in a lump. "And this is my little girl," +she went on, pointing to one of her dolls, which she had taken into her +"house" with her. "If I'm asleep—make-believe, you know," said Sue to +Bunny, "you tell my little girl to wake me up."</p> + +<p>"Pooh! I can't talk to a doll!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you can, too," said his sister. "Just <i>pretend</i>, you know."</p> + +<p>"Well, even if I do, how can your doll talk to you, and wake you up?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny! I'm only going to be make-believe asleep, and of course a +doll, who can <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>pretend to talk, can make-believe wake me up as easy as +anything, when I'm only make-believe asleep."</p> + +<p>"Oh, all right, if it's only make-believe," agreed Bunny. "Giddap, +Splash! I've named the make-believe chair-horse the same as our dog," he +explained to Sue.</p> + +<p>Then the game began, and the children played nicely for some time, +giving Mrs. Brown a chance to finish her sewing. Bunny and Sue took +turns driving the "express wagon," and they had left many pretend +bundles at each other's houses, when a step was heard in the front hall, +and Bunny and Sue cried:</p> + +<p>"Daddy! Daddy! Oh, daddy's come home!"</p> + +<p>They made a rush for their father, and both together cried out:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy, a express package came! What's in it?"</p> + +<p>"Did a package come?" asked Mr. Brown, as he took off his wet coat, for +it was still raining.</p> + +<p>"Yep! It's out in the barn," said Bunny Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, please tell us the secret!" begged Sue. "I know it must be a +secret, or mother would have told us."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown smiled.</p> + +<p>"The children have teased all afternoon to know what was in the bundle," +she said.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll tell them," said Daddy Brown. "The package, that came by +express, has in it grandpa's tent."</p> + +<p>"Grandpa's tent!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"The one we played circus in, out in the country?" Sue demanded.</p> + +<p>"The same one," answered Daddy Brown, with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Oh, are we going to have another circus?" cried Bunny, joyously.</p> + +<p>"Now sit down and I'll tell you all about it," said Daddy Brown, and he +took Bunny up on one knee, and Sue on the other.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>A GRAND SURPRISE</h3> + + +<p>"Don't you want to have supper first?" asked Mrs. Brown, as she saw her +husband sit down in the easy chair, with Bunny and Sue.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm in no hurry," he said. "I came home early to-night, because +there were only a few boats out, on account of the storm. I might just +as well tell the children about the surprise before we eat."</p> + +<p>"Oh, then it's a surprise!" cried Sue, clapping her hands.</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, I rather think you'll be surprised when you hear about it," +answered Daddy Brown.</p> + +<p>"And is it a secret, too?" Bunny wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Well, you don't know what it is yet; do you?" inquired his father.</p> + +<p>Bunny shook his head.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, then," went on Daddy Brown with a smile, "if there is something +nice you don't know, and someone is going to tell you, I guess that's a +surprise; isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes!" cried Sue. "And now, Daddy, don't tease us any more. Just +tell us what it is? Will we like it?"</p> + +<p>"Can we play with it?" Bunny wanted to know.</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown laughed so hard that Sue nearly fell off one knee, and Bunny +off the other.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Daddy?" asked the little boy. "What's so funny?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, just you—and Sue," said Mr. Brown, still shaking up and down and +sideways with laughter. "You are in a great hurry to have me tell you +the surprise, and yet you keep on asking questions, so I have to answer +them before I tell you."</p> + +<p>"You asted the most questions, Bunny," said Sue, shaking her finger at +him.</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't. You did!"</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll each just ask one question," went on Sue, "and then you can +tell us, Daddy. I want to try and guess what it is—I mean <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>what the +tent is for. Shall we each take one guess, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>"Yep. You guess first, Sue. What do you say the tent is for?"</p> + +<p>Sue thought for half a minute, shutting her brown eyes and wrinkling up +her little nose. She was thinking very hard.</p> + +<p>"I—I guess the tent is for a house for our dog Splash," she said, after +a bit. "Is it, Daddy?"</p> + +<p>"No," and Mr. Brown shook his head. "It's your turn, Bunny."</p> + +<p>Bunny looked up at the ceiling. Then he said:</p> + +<p>"I guess grandpa's tent is going to be for us to play in when it rains. +Is it, Daddy?"</p> + +<p>"Well, that's pretty nearly right," Mr. Brown answered. "And now sit +quiet and I'll tell you the surprise."</p> + +<p>But before I let Mr. Brown tell the children the secret, I just want to +say a few words to the boys and girls who are reading this as their +first book of the Bunny and Sue series. There are four other books that +come ahead of this, and I'll tell you their names so you <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>may read them, +and find out all about Bunny and Sue.</p> + +<p>Of course those of you who have read the first, and all the other books +in the series, do not need to stop to read this. You have already been +introduced to the Brown children. But to those who have not, I would say +that Bunny Brown and his sister Sue lived with their father and mother, +Mr. and Mrs. Walter Brown, in the town of Bellemere, which was on +Sandport Bay, near the ocean.</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown was in the boat business—that is, he hired out boats to +fishermen and others who wanted to go on the ocean or bay, sailing, +rowing or in motor boats. Mr. Brown had men to help him, and also +several big boys, almost as large as men. One of these last was Bunker +Blue, a red-haired, good-natured lad, who was very fond of the two +children.</p> + +<p>In the first book of the series, named "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue," +I told you the story of the little boy and girl, and what fun they had +getting up a Punch and Judy show, and finding Aunt Lu's diamond ring in +the queerest way. In the second book, "Bunny<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> Brown and His Sister Sue +on Grandpa's Farm," I told you how they went off to the country, in a +great big moving van automobile, fitted up like a little house, in which +they could eat and sleep.</p> + +<p>Bunker Blue went with them to steer the automobile, and they also took +along the children's dog, Splash, who was named that because he once +splashed in the water and pulled out Sue. On Grandpa's farm Bunny and +Sue had lots of fun. They got up a little show, which they held in the +barn.</p> + +<p>After the little show had been given, Bunker Blue, and some larger boys, +thought they could get up a sort of circus. They did, holding it in two +tents, a big one and a smaller one. The smaller tent belonged to Grandpa +Brown, when he was in the army. And it was this tent that had just come +by express to the Brown home in Bellemere.</p> + +<p>"Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Playing Circus" is the name of the third +book, and in that you may read all about the show that Bunny and Sue +took part in—how the tents were washed away, how Ben Hall did his +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>queer tricks, and what happened to him after that.</p> + +<p>When the two Brown children came back from grandpa's farm they received +an invitation from Aunt Lu, to spend the fall and winter at her city +home in New York.</p> + +<p>"Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Aunt Lu's City Home" is the name of +the book telling all that happened when the two children went to New +York. They met a little colored girl, named Wopsie, they were lost in a +monkey store, Bunny flew his kite from the roof of Aunt Lu's house, and +toward the end Bunny and Sue were run away with when in a pony cart in +Central Park.</p> + +<p>At first they did not like being run away with, but after they were +spilled out, and Aunt Sallie picked them up, and she and Wopsie found +out that they—but there! I mustn't put so much of that book in this +book. You would much rather read it yourself, I am sure.</p> + +<p>So I'll just say that at Aunt Lu's city home Bunny and Sue had many good +times, and enjoyed themselves very much. They were almost sorry when it +was time to come home, but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>of course they could not always stay in New +York.</p> + +<p>But now it was spring, and Bunny and Sue were once more back in +Bellemere. They had met all their old friends again, and had played with +them, until this day, when, as I have told you, it was raining too hard +to go out.</p> + +<p>Before I go on with this story, I might say that Bunny was about six +years old, and Sue a year younger. The two children were always +together, and whatever Bunny did Sue thought was just right. It was not +always, though, for often Bunny did things that got him and Sue into +trouble.</p> + +<p>Bunny did not mean this, but he was a brave, smart little chap, always +wanting to do something to have fun, or to find out something new. He +would often take chances in doing something new, when he did not know +what would happen, or what the ending would be. And Sue liked fun so +much, also, that she always followed Bunny.</p> + +<p>The children knew everyone in the village of Bellemere, and everyone +knew them, from Old Miss Hollyhock (a poor woman to whom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> Bunny and Sue +were often kind) to Wango, the queer little monkey, owned by Jed +Winkler, the old sailor. Wango did many funny tricks, and he, too, got +into mischief. Sometimes it was hard to say who got oftener into +trouble—Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, or Wango, the queer little +monkey.</p> + +<p>Now that I have told you all this, so my newest little +children-reader-friends will feel that they know Bunny and Sue as well +as everyone else, I will go back to the story.</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue were still sitting on their father's knee.</p> + +<p>"Well, tell us the surprise!" begged Sue, reaching over and kissing her +daddy.</p> + +<p>"And make it like a story," begged Bunny.</p> + +<p>"I haven't time to make it like a story now, my dears," said Mr. Brown. +"But the bundle you saw the expressman bring to the barn this afternoon +was the tent from grandpa's farm."</p> + +<p>"The same one we played circus in?" Bunny wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"The same one," answered his father. "I asked grandpa to send it to me."</p> + +<p>"What are we going to do with it, Daddy?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> Sue asked. "I've tried and +tried, but I can't guess."</p> + +<p>"Well, this is the surprise," replied Daddy Brown, "and I hope you'll +like it. We are going off into the woods camping—that means living in a +tent. We'll cook in a tent—that is when it rains so we can't have a +campfire out of doors—we'll eat in the tent and we'll sleep in it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy! Shall we—really?" cried Bunny, almost falling off his +father's knee he was so excited.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's what we're going to do," said Mr. Brown. "We are going to +spend the summer in camp, under a tent instead of in a cottage, as we +sometimes do. Will you like that?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I just guess we will!" cried Bunny Brown.</p> + +<p>"And can I take my dolls along—will there be room for 'em?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, plenty of room," answered Daddy Brown.</p> + +<p>"And will Splash come?" Bunny wanted to know.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, we'll take your dog along, of course. It wouldn't be like a +real camp without Splash. So now you know what the tent is for."</p> + +<p>"May we go out and look at it?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, son. Not to-night. It's still raining, and the tent is all wet. +It will dry out in a few days. Besides, you've seen the tent up."</p> + +<p>"It's just like when we had it for the circus," explained Sue. "I don't +want to go out to the barn and see it, Bunny. I'm hungry, and I want my +supper."</p> + +<p>"It's almost ready," said Mother Brown. "Then we really are going +camping?" She looked at her husband as she asked the question.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I thought that would be a nice way to spend the summer vacation," +said Mr. Brown. "Grandpa's tent is very large. We can sleep in that one. +I also have a smaller tent, in which we can set a table, and next to +that will be one, still smaller, where we can cook on an oil stove in +wet weather. We'll have a real camp!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, fine!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"How nice!" exclaimed Sue.</p> + +<p>"And where are we going to camp?" Mother Brown questioned.</p> + +<p>"Up in the woods, about ten miles from here, near Lake Wanda," answered +Mr. Brown. "And, now that I've told you all about the surprise, I think, +we'll have supper."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>BUNNY AND SUE SLEEP OUT</h3> + + +<p>After supper the two children, and their father and mother, as well, +found so much to talk over, about camping out, that it was bed-time for +Bunny and Sue almost before they knew it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, can't we stay up just a <i>little</i> longer?" begged Bunny, when his +mother told him it was time for him and Sue to get undressed.</p> + +<p>"Just let's hear daddy tell, once more, how he cooks eggs over a +campfire," added Sue.</p> + +<p>"Not to-night; some other time," said Mr. Brown. "That's one of the +things you must learn when going to camp—to obey orders."</p> + +<p>Daddy Brown set Bunny and Sue down on the floor—they had climbed up +into his lap again after supper. He stood up tall and straight, like a +soldier, and touched his hand to his head.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Order Number One!" he said. "Time to go to bed. Good-night!"</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye, sir!" answered Bunny, putting his hand to his head, as he had +seen his father do. That was saluting, you know, just as a gentleman +lifts his hat to a lady, or a private soldier salutes his officer.</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown laughed, for, though Bunny had saluted as a soldier does, the +little boy had answered like a sailor. You see, he knew more about +sailors than he did about soldiers, living near the sea as he had all +his life.</p> + +<p>Whenever Mr. Brown wanted Bunny to do anything, without asking too many +questions about it, or talking too much, Bunny's father would pretend he +was a captain, and the little boy a soldier, who must mind, or obey, at +the first order. This pleased Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Order Number One!" said Mr. Brown again. "Bunny Brown report to bed. +Order Number Two, so must Sister Sue!"</p> + +<p>Then everyone laughed, and off to bed and dreamland went the two +children. They lay awake a little while, talking back and forth through +the door between their rooms, but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>soon their eyes closed, and stayed +closed until morning.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Brown sat up about an hour longer, talking about going to +camp, and then they, too, went to bed.</p> + +<p>"I think the children will like it—living in a tent near the lake," +said Daddy Brown, as he turned out the light.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Brown. "They'll be sure to like it. I only hope they'll +not fall in."</p> + +<p>"Well, if they do, Splash will pull them out," said Daddy Brown.</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue were up early the next morning. Even before breakfast they +had thought of the good times they were going to have in camp at Lake +Wanda.</p> + +<p>"Daddy, may we go out and see the tent now?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"After a bit," answered Mr. Brown. "The tent got rather wet, coming by +express through the rain, and I'm going to send Bunker Blue and some of +the fishermen around to-day to put it up so it will dry out. Then we'll +roll the tent up again, tie it with ropes, and it will be ready to take +with us to Lake Wanda."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> + +<p>"When are you going?" asked Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Oh, in about two weeks—as soon as the weather gets a little more +settled."</p> + +<p>It was May now, and the flowers were beginning to bloom. Soon it would +be June, and that is the nicest month in all the year to go camping in +the woods, for the days are so long that it doesn't get dark until after +eight o'clock at night, and one has that much longer to have fun.</p> + +<p>When breakfast was over Bunny and Sue went out to the barn to look at +the big express bundle which held the tent. It was too heavy for them to +lift, or they themselves might have tried to put it up out on the lawn. +Bunny Brown was that kind of boy. And Sue would have helped him. But, as +it was, they waited for Bunker and some of the strong fishermen to come +up from Mr. Brown's boat dock. In a little while the tent was put up on +the lawn, and Bunny and Sue were allowed to play in it.</p> + +<p>"The dining room tent will come in a few days," said Mr. Brown, "and +also the cooking tent. I bought them in New York."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then he told Bunny and Sue how they would go camping. The tents and +cots, with bed clothes, and dishes, pots, pans, an oil stove and good +things to eat, would all be put in the big moving van automobile, in +which they had traveled to Grandpa Brown's farm in the country.</p> + +<p>"We'll ride in that up to Lake Wanda," said Daddy Brown. "When we get to +the woods, on the shore of the beautiful lake, we'll put up the tent, +and make our camp. Then we'll have good times."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can hardly wait; can you?" asked Sue, speaking to her wax doll.</p> + +<p>"I wish the time would hurry up," said Bunny. "But who is going to help +you put up the tents, Daddy? You can't do them all alone."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunker Blue is going camping with us."</p> + +<p>"Goodie!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"And we'll also take Uncle Tad along," went on Daddy Brown.</p> + +<p>"That's nice!" exclaimed Sue, clapping her hands. She and Bunny loved +Uncle Tad. He <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>was an old soldier, who had fought in the war. He was +really Mr. Brown's uncle, but the children called him uncle too, and +Uncle Tad loved Bunny Brown and his sister Sue very much.</p> + +<p>The tent was not very wet from the rain, and Bunny and Sue had fun +playing in it that day. Splash, their dog, played in the tent too. +Splash asked nothing better than to be with Bunny and Sue.</p> + +<p>"Bunny, are we going to sleep on the ground when we go camping?" Sue +wanted to know, as she and her brother sat in the tent that afternoon.</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe we will," the little boy said. "But I think I heard daddy +say we would take some cot beds with us. You <i>can</i> sleep on the ground, +though. Mother read me a story about some hunters who cut off some +branches from an evergreen tree, and put their blankets over them to +sleep on. They slept fine, too."</p> + +<p>"Could we do that?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Bunny. And then a queer look came on the face of Bunny +Brown. Sue saw it and asked:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny, is you got an idea?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," Bunny answered slowly, "I has got an idea."</p> + +<p>"Oh, goodie!" cried Sue. "Tell me about it, Bunny, and we'll do it!"</p> + +<p>Bunny often had ideas. That is, he thought of things to do, and nothing +pleased Sue more than to do things with her brother. They were not +always the right things to do, but then the children couldn't be +expected to do right all the while; could they?</p> + +<p>So, whenever Bunny said he had an idea, which meant he was going to do +something to have fun, Sue was anxious to know what his idea was.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, Bunny!" she begged.</p> + +<p>Bunny went over closer to his sister, looked all around the tent, as if +to make sure no one was listening, and when he saw only Splash, the big +dog, he whispered:</p> + +<p>"Sue, how would you like to practice sleeping out?"</p> + +<p>"Sleeping out?" said Sue. She did not just know what Bunny meant.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sleeping out," said the little boy again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> "Sleeping out in this +tent, I mean. We'll have to do it, if we go to camp, and we might as +well have some practice, you know."</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue knew what "practice" meant, for a girl whom they knew took +music lessons, and she had to go in and practice playing on the piano +every day.</p> + +<p>Bunny thought that if you had to practice, or try over and over again, +before you could play the piano, you might have to practice, or try, +sleeping out of doors in a tent.</p> + +<p>"How can we do it?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"It's easy," Bunny answered. "We'll bring our blankets out here and +sleep in the tent to-night."</p> + +<p>"Maybe daddy and mother won't let us, Bunny."</p> + +<p>"They won't care," said the little boy. "'Sides, they won't know it. We +won't tell 'em. We'll just come out at night, when they've gone to +sleep. We can slip down, out of our rooms, with our blankets, and sleep +in the tent on the ground, just as we'll have to do in camp. 'Cause we +mayn't always have cot beds there. Will you do it, Sue?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Course I will, Bunny Brown!"</p> + +<p>Sue nearly always did what Bunny wanted her to. This time she was sure +it would be lots of fun.</p> + +<p>"All right," Bunny went on. "To-night, after it gets all dark, we'll +come down, and sleep here."</p> + +<p>"S'pose—s'posin' I get to sleep in my own bed in the house, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll wake you up," said Bunny. "I won't go to sleep, and I'll come +in and tickle your feet."</p> + +<p>Sue laughed. She always laughed when anyone tickled her feet, and even +the thought of it made her giggle.</p> + +<p>"Don't tickle 'em too hard, Bunny," she said. "'Cause if you do I'll +sneeze and that will wake up daddy and mother."</p> + +<p>"I won't tickle you too hard," Bunny said.</p> + +<p>That night, after supper, Mrs. Brown said to her husband:</p> + +<p>"Bunny and Sue are up to some trick, I know they are!"</p> + +<p>"What makes you think so?" asked Mr. Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, I can always tell. They are so quiet now, they haven't teased for +anything all afternoon, and now they are getting ready to go to bed, +though it isn't within a half-hour of their time."</p> + +<p>"Oh, maybe they're sleepy," said Mr. Brown, who was reading the paper.</p> + +<p>"No, I'm sure they are up to some trick," said Mother Brown.</p> + +<p>And now, if you please, just you wait and see whether or not she was +right.</p> + +<p>Bunny Brown and his sister Sue did go to bed earlier than usual that +night. Bunny, after supper, had whispered to his sister:</p> + +<p>"If we go to bed sooner we can be awake quicker and go down to the +tent."</p> + +<p>"Can you open the door?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"Yes, the back door opens easy."</p> + +<p>"But has you got the branches from the evergreen tree cut so we can +spread our blankets over them?" Sue wanted to know.</p> + +<p>Bunny shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I didn't dast do it," he said. "They might see me cutting 'em, and then +they'd guess what we were going to do. We can each take two <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>blankets +off our beds, Sue, and that will make the ground soft enough. 'Sides, if +we're going to be campers, and sleep in the woods, we mustn't mind a +hard bed. Soldiers don't—for daddy said so."</p> + +<p>"Girls aren't soldiers!" said Sue. "But I'll come with you and we'll +sleep on two blankets."</p> + +<p>"To practice for when we go camping," added Bunny.</p> + +<p>Sue nodded her head, and, with her doll, went up to bed in the room next +to Bunny's.</p> + +<p>"I just know those children are up to something," said Mother Brown, as +she came down after tucking in Bunny and Sue. "I wish I knew what it +was."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess it isn't anything," laughed daddy.</p> + +<p>Sue and her brother found it hard to keep awake. They had played hard +all day, and that always makes children sleepy.</p> + +<p>In fact, Bunny and Sue did fall asleep, but Bunny awakened sometime in +the night, I suppose because he was thinking so much about going out +into the tent.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> + +<p>The little fellow sat up in bed. A light was burning out in the hall, so +he could see plainly enough. He remembered what he had promised to +do—wake up Sue by tickling her feet.</p> + +<p>Softly he stole into her room, after putting on his bath robe. He +dragged after him two blankets from his bed.</p> + +<p>Reaching under the covers he gently tickled Sue's pink toes.</p> + +<p>"What—What's matter?" murmured Sue, sleepily.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" whispered Bunny close to her ear. "Wake up, Sue! I don't want to +tickle you any more, and make you sneeze. We're going to sleep out in +the tent, you know."</p> + +<p>Sue was soon wide awake. Softly she crawled out of bed, slipped on her +bath robe, which was on a chair near her bed, and then, dragging two +blankets after her, she and Bunny went softly down the stairs.</p> + +<p>Carefully Bunny opened the door, and he and Sue went out on the side +porch, and down across the lawn to where, in the moonlight, stood +grandpa's tent.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>SPLASH COMES, TOO</h3> + + +<p>The camping tent, which had been put up by Daddy Brown, so it would be +well dried out, stood wide open. Bunny and Sue, with their bed-blankets +trailing after them, slipped in through the "front door."</p> + +<p>Of course, there was not really a "front door" to a tent. There are just +two pieces of canvas, called "flaps," that come together and make a sort +of front door. Between these white flaps Bunny Brown and his sister Sue +went, and they found themselves inside the tent.</p> + +<p>"It—it's awful dark, isn't it, Bunny?" whispered Sue, softly.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" returned her brother. "We don't want them to see us. It will be +light pretty soon, Sue."</p> + +<p>"I—I don't like it dark," she said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Shut your eyes and you won't see the dark," Bunny went on. His mother +had often told him that when she wanted him to go to sleep in a dark +room, or when only the hall light was dimly burning. So Bunny thought +that would be a good thing to tell Sue. "Shut your eyes, and you won't +see the dark," said Bunny Brown.</p> + +<p>But, really, it was not very dark in the tent, after the two children +had stood there awhile. The moon was brightly shining outside, and, as +the tent was of white canvas, some of the light came through. So as Sue +looked around she could begin to see things a little better now. There +was not much to see. Just the ground, and a box or two in the tent. +During the day Bunny and Sue had been playing with the boxes, and had +left them in the tent.</p> + +<p>"Come on, now," said Bunny. "We'll spread our blankets out on the +ground, Sue, and go to sleep. Then we'll make believe we're camping out, +just as we're going to do up at the lake."</p> + +<p>As he spoke Bunny spread his two blankets <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>out on the ground under the +tent. He folded them so he could crawl in between the folds, and cover +himself up, for it was rather chilly that spring night.</p> + +<p>"I—I want a pillow, Bunny," said Sue. "I want something to put my head +on when I go to sleep."</p> + +<p>"Hush!" cried Bunny in a whisper. "If you speak out loud that way, Sue, +mother or daddy will hear us. Then they'll come and get us and make us +sleep in our beds."</p> + +<p>"Well—well," answered Sue, and Bunny could tell by her voice that she +was trying hard not to cry, "well, Bunny Brown, I—I guess I'd better +like sleepin' in my bed, than out here without no pillow. I want a +pillow, an' it's dark an' cold, an'—an'——"</p> + +<p>Sue was just ready to cry, but Bunny said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, come on now, Sue! This is fun! You know we're making-believe camp +out!"</p> + +<p>"All right," Sue answered, after thinking it over a bit. "But can I—can +I sleep over by you, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Put your blankets right down here by mine, and we'll both go to +sleep. Won't <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>daddy and mother be s'prised when they find we've camped +out all night?"</p> + +<p>"I—I guess they will," Sue said. "It kinder s'prises me, too!"</p> + +<p>Sue was dragging her blankets over toward the place when Bunny had his +spread out on the ground, and she was just going to lie down, when the +flaps of the tent were suddenly shoved to one side, and something came +in.</p> + +<p>"Oh! oh!" cried Sue, as she threw herself down in her blankets, and +wrapped herself up in them, even covering her head. "Oh, Bunny! Bunny! +What is it? What's after us?"</p> + +<p>"I—I don't know," said Bunny, and his voice trembled a little.</p> + +<p>Then Sue raised her head and peeped out from under her blanket. She saw +something standing in the front door of the tent, half way in, and half +way out. The moon was still shining brightly, and Sue cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny! It's a bear! It's a bear!"</p> + +<p>Just then there came a loud:</p> + +<p>"Bow-wow-wow!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue both laughed then. Then were frightened no longer.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's our dog, Splash!" cried Sue. "It's only Splash!"</p> + +<p>"Here, Splash!" called Bunny. Then with a joyous bark the dog sprang +inside the tent, and snuggled close up to his two little play-mates.</p> + +<p>"Now I isn't afraid," said Sue, as she put her arms around the big +shaggy neck of her pet. "Now I isn't afraid any more. Splash can sleep +with us; can't he, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sue. Now go to sleep. Isn't this fun?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is when Splash is here," Sue said.</p> + +<p>Though Bunny did not say so, he, too, was glad their dog had come to +spend the rest of the night with them. Not that there was anything to be +afraid of, oh, dear no! There were no bears, or wolves, or anything like +that in Bellemere. There were big fish in the bay and in the ocean, but +of course they never came up on land.</p> + +<p>"And, even if they did," said Sue sleepily to Bunny when they were +talking about this, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>as they lay close to the big dog in their blankets, +"even if any fish did flop up, Bunny, Splash would catch them; wouldn't +he?"</p> + +<p>"Sure!" answered Bunny.</p> + +<p>"You would; wouldn't you, Splash?" asked the little girl, her chubby arm +around the dog's neck.</p> + +<p>Splash whined softly, and rubbed his cold nose first against the warm +cheek of Sue, and then against Bunny's. That was his way of kissing +them, I think.</p> + +<p>And so, strange as it may seem, Bunny and Sue went to sleep in the +camping tent that night. They were well wrapped up in the warm blankets +they had brought from their beds, and after the first few shivers they +were not cold. And so they slept, and Splash slept with them. All this +while Daddy Brown and Mother Brown knew nothing about their children +having gone out in the night.</p> + +<p>But Mother Brown soon found it out. I'll tell you about it.</p> + +<p>About two o'clock every morning (when it was still quite dark, and when +it was yet night, though you could call it morning), Mrs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> Brown used to +get up, and slip into the rooms of the children to see if they were +covered up. For little folk often kick off the bed clothes in the night, +and so get cold. Mother Brown did not want this to happen to Bunny and +Sue.</p> + +<p>This time, though, when Mother Brown went softly into Sue's room, to see +if her little girl was all right, she did not find Sue in her bed.</p> + +<p>"Why, this is queer," thought Mrs. Brown. "Where can Sue have gone? +Perhaps she slipped out and went in with Bunny."</p> + +<p>Sometimes Sue used to do this, when she would awaken and become a little +frightened. But when Mother Brown went into Bunny's room Sue was not +there, nor was Bunny. Mrs. Brown felt all over the bed, but there was +not a sign of either of the children.</p> + +<p>"Why—why!" exclaimed Mother Brown. "What can have happened to them? +Where can they be? Bunny! Sue!" she called, and she spoke out loudly +now.</p> + +<p>"What is it? What's the matter?" asked Daddy Brown, as he awakened on +hearing his wife call. "What has happened?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why, I can't find Bunny or Sue! They're not in their beds! I came in to +cover them up, as I always do, but they're not here. Oh dear! I hope +nothing has happened to them!"</p> + +<p>"Of course nothing has happened!" said Daddy Brown. He sprang out of bed +and lighted a light in Bunny's room. As he took one look at the tumbled +bed, and saw that two of the blankets were gone, Mr. Brown laughed.</p> + +<p>"What are you laughing at?" his wife asked him. "I don't see anything +very funny to laugh at!"</p> + +<p>"It's those children!" said Daddy Brown, "I know where they are!"</p> + +<p>"Where?" cried Mother Brown, eagerly. "Where?"</p> + +<p>"Out in the tent. They've taken their blankets and gone out there to +sleep. They're playing camping out, I'm sure. We'll find them in the +tent."</p> + +<p>And, surely enough, as you well know, there they found Bunny Brown and +his sister Sue, fast asleep on their blankets in the tent, with Splash +sleeping between them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> + +<p>Splash looked up and wagged his tail as Mr. and Mrs. Brown, wearing +their bath robes and slippers, came softly into the little canvas house. +Splash seemed to say:</p> + +<p>"Hush! Don't wake up the children! They're sound asleep!"</p> + +<p>And Bunny and Sue were sound asleep. Mr. and Mrs. Brown looked at one +another, smiled, and then daddy picked up Bunny, blankets and all, while +Mrs. Brown did the same with Sue.</p> + +<p>"We'll put them right in their own beds, in the house, without waking +them up," whispered Daddy Brown.</p> + +<p>"Yes," nodded Mother Brown.</p> + +<p>"What—what's matter?" sleepily murmured Bunny as he felt himself being +carried into the house. But that was all he said, and he did not even +open his eyes.</p> + +<p>Sue never said anything as her mother carried her. And as for Splash, +once he saw that the children were being taken care of, he curled up in +a corner of the tent, and went to sleep again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>OFF TO CAMP</h3> + + +<p>Bunny Brown opened his eyes, and sat up in bed. Then he blinked his +eyes. Next he rubbed them. Then he looked all around the bed.</p> + +<p>Yes, there was no doubt about it, he was in his own little room, with +the pictures he so well knew hanging on the walls, with his toys on the +box in the corner. It was his own room, and he had awakened in his own +bed, and yet——</p> + +<p>"Sue! Sue!" called Bunny in a whisper, looking toward the open door of +the room in which his sister slept. "Sue, is you there!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Bunny, I'm here."</p> + +<p>"And are you in your own bed?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I is."</p> + +<p>Sometimes Bunny and Sue did not speak just right, as perhaps you have +noticed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But, Sue—Sue," Bunny went on, "didn't we go to sleep in the tent; or +did we? Did I dream it?"</p> + +<p>"I—I don't know, Bunny," answered Sue. "I 'members about being in the +tent. And Splash was there, too. But I'm in my bed <i>now</i>."</p> + +<p>"So'm I, Sue. I—I wonder how we got here?"</p> + +<p>Bunny looked all around his room again, as if trying to solve the +puzzle. But he could not guess what had happened. He remembered how he +and Sue had gotten up in the middle of the night, and how they had crept +inside the tent. Then Splash had come; and how funny it was when Sue +thought their dog was a bear. Then they had all gone to sleep in the +tent, and now——</p> + +<p>Well, Bunny was certainly in his bed, and so was Sue in hers.</p> + +<p>"How—how did it happen?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>He heard a laugh out in the hall. Running to the door he saw his father +and mother standing there. Then Bunny understood.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you carried us in from the tent when <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>we were asleep; didn't you, +Daddy?" asked Bunny, pointing a finger at his father.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's what I did."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny, what made you and Sue do a thing like that?" asked Mother +Brown. "I was so frightened when I came in to cover you and Sue up, and +couldn't find my little ones. What made you do it?"</p> + +<p>"Why—why," said Bunny slowly, "we wanted to get some practice at +camping out, Sue and I did—just like they practice piano lessons. So we +went to sleep in the tent."</p> + +<p>"Well, don't do it again until we really go camping," said Daddy Brown. +"When we are in the woods, at Lake Wanda, you can sleep in the tent as +much as you like, for then we'll have cot beds and everything right. +Anyhow, I'm going to take down the tent to-day and get it ready to pack +up for camp."</p> + +<p>"When are we going?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Oh, in about a week, I guess," answered his father.</p> + +<p>"Then I'm going to pack up," declared the little boy. "I've got lots of +things I want to take to camp."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And so have I," called Sue, who had run out of her own room. "I'm going +to take two of my best dolls, and all their clothes."</p> + +<p>"You can take some of your toys and play-things but not too many," said +Mrs. Brown. "You must remember that you'll be out in the woods a good +part of the time, having fun among the trees, or perhaps on the lake. So +you won't want too many home-toys."</p> + +<p>"Are we going to have a boat on the lake?" asked Bunny eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but you're not to go out in it alone. Bunker Blue is coming with +us, and he will look after you on the water, and Uncle Tad will look +after you in the woods—that is when either daddy or myself is not with +you children. Now you'd better get dressed for breakfast, and don't go +out in the middle of the night any more and sleep in a tent."</p> + +<p>"We won't," promised Bunny Brown and his sister Sue.</p> + +<p>That week began the work of getting ready to go to camp. One of the +first things Daddy Brown did was to get two other tents. One of these +was to be the dining-room tent, where <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>the table would be set for eating +when in camp. Another tent, smaller than either of the two, would do to +cook in.</p> + +<p>Besides the tents they must take with them things to eat, knives, forks, +spoons, dishes, pots and pans, an oil stove and bed clothing.</p> + +<p>All these things Daddy Brown, or Mother Brown, with the help of Uncle +Tad or Bunker Blue, packed. The big automobile, in which the Brown +family had eaten and slept when on their trip to grandpa's farm, was +once more made ready for a journey.</p> + +<p>In this were packed the tents, the bedding, the stove, the good things +to eat, and all that would be needed in camp. Of course, they could not +take with them all they would want to eat through the summer, for they +expected to stay in camp until fall. But there were stores not far from +Lake Wanda, and in them could be bought bread, butter, sugar, tea, +coffee, or whatever else was needed.</p> + +<p>"Are we going to sleep in the automobile this time?" asked Bunny, as he +looked inside the big moving van. "I don't see where we can make a bed," +Bunny went on, for the van <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>was quite filled with the tents, cot-beds, +chairs, tables, the oil stove and other things.</p> + +<p>"No, we're not going to sleep in the auto this time," said Mr. Brown. +"It will only take us a day to get from here to Lake Wanda where we are +going to camp. So we will get up here, in our own home in the morning, +ride to camp, put up the tents, and that same night we will sleep in +them."</p> + +<p>"Oh, what fun it will be!" cried Sue, joyfully.</p> + +<p>"It will be dandy!" exclaimed Bunny. "And I'll catch fish for our supper +in the lake."</p> + +<p>"I hope you won't catch them as you caught the turtle in the New York +aquarium, the time we went to Aunt Lu's city home," said Mother Brown +with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"No, I won't catch any mud turtles," promised Bunny.</p> + +<p>In the book before this one I've told you about Bunny catching the +turtle on a bent pin hook with a piece of rag for bait. He had quite an +exciting time.</p> + +<p>Everyone at the Brown house was busy now.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> There was much to be done to +get ready to go to camp. Bunny and Sue were each given a box, and told +that this must hold all their toys and playthings.</p> + +<p>"You may take with you only as much as your two boxes will hold," said +Daddy Brown to Bunny and Sue. "So pick out the play-toys you like best, +as the two boxes are all you may have. And when you get to camp I want +you always, when you have finished playing, to put back in the boxes the +toys you have finished with.</p> + +<p>"In that way you will always know where they are, when you want them +again, and you won't have to be looking for them, or asking your mother +or me to help you find them. Besides, we must keep our camp looking +nice, and a camp can't look nice if toys and play-things are scattered +all about.</p> + +<p>"So pick out the things you want to take with you, pack them in your +boxes and, after you get to camp, keep your toys in the boxes. That is +one of our rules."</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye, sir!" answered Bunny making a funny little bob with his head +as he had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>seen some of the old sailors, at his father's dock, do when +they answered.</p> + +<p>"I'm just going to take my dolls, and some picture books for them to +look at," said Sue.</p> + +<p>"Pooh! Dolls can't look at picture books!" <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'exlaimed'">exclaimed</ins> Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Yes, they can too!" cried Sue.</p> + +<p>"No, they can't!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I mean make-believe, Bunny Brown!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, yes; make-believe! I thought you meant <i>real</i>."</p> + +<p>"Well, <i>I</i> can look at them real," said Sue, "and make believe I'm +reading to my dolls."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," agreed Bunny.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to take?" asked Sue of her brother.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm going to take my fish pole, and my pop gun——"</p> + +<p>"That only shoots a cork!" cried Sue. "You can't hit any bears with +that."</p> + +<p>"I can scare 'em with it when it pops!" cried Bunny. "That's all I want +to do. I don't want to kill a bear, anyhow. I just want to scare 'em. +And maybe when I scare a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>little bear I can grab it and bring it home +and tame it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, if you only could!" cried Sue. "Then we could make it do tricks, +and we could get a hand-organ and go around with a trained bear instead +of a monkey."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Bunny. "We could until the bear got too big. I guess I +wouldn't want a big bear, Sue."</p> + +<p>"No, little ones is the nicest. Maybe we'd better get a monkey, anyhow, +'cause they never grow big."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe any monkeys grow in the woods where we're going to +camp," observed Bunny. "But we'll look, anyhow, and maybe I can scare +one of them with my pop gun."</p> + +<p>Then the two children talked of what fun they would have in camp. They +put things in their two boxes, took them out again and tried to crowd in +more, for they found they did not want to leave any of their toys or +play-things behind. But they could not get them all in two small boxes, +so finally they picked out what they liked best, and these were put in +the automobile.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Brown had done most of the other packing. The auto-moving +van was quite full, there being just room enough for Mrs. Brown, Uncle +Tad and the two children to ride in the back, while Daddy Brown and +Bunker Blue sat on the front seat.</p> + +<p>At last everything was ready. The last things had been put in the +automobile, and tied fast. The children took their places, and called to +Splash. Of course he was to go with them. He would run along the road, +until he grew tired, and then he could ride in the automobile.</p> + +<p>"All aboard!" called Bunker Blue as he sat at the steering wheel. "Is +everybody ready?"</p> + +<p>"I am!" answered Bunny Brown. "I've got my fishing pole, and I can dig +some worms when I get to camp."</p> + +<p>"Are you going to fish with worms?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"Sure I am! Fishes love worms."</p> + +<p>"I don't!" Sue said. "Worms is so squiggily." She always said that when +Bunny spoke of worms.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, I guess we're all ready," remarked Daddy Brown. "Start off, +Bunker Blue."</p> + +<p>"Chug-chug!" went the automobile.</p> + +<p>"Bow-wow!" barked the dog Splash.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye!" called Bunny and Sue to some of their little boy and girl +friends who had gathered to wave farewell. "Good-bye! Good-bye!"</p> + +<p>Then the big automobile rolled out into the road. The Browns were off to +camp.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>PUTTING UP THE TENTS</h3> + + +<p>"How long will it take us to get to Lake Wanda, Mother?" asked Bunny +Brown, as, with Sue and Uncle Tad, he and his mother sat in the back of +the big car that rumbled along the road.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we ought to get there about noon," she answered.</p> + +<p>"Just in time to eat," said Uncle Tad. "I suppose you children will be +good and hungry, too."</p> + +<p>"I'm hungry now," said Sue, "I wish I had a jam tart, Mother."</p> + +<p>"So do I!" put in Bunny.</p> + +<p>"I'll give you one in a few minutes," Mrs. Brown said. "We did have an +early breakfast, and I suppose you are hungry now."</p> + +<p>"Will we have to cook dinner as soon as we get to camp?" Bunny wanted to +know.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> + +<p>"If we do I'll help," said Uncle Tad with a smile. "I can build a +campfire. When I was a soldier, in the army, down South, we used to +build campfires, and roast potatoes when we couldn't find anything else +to eat."</p> + +<p>"Did they taste good, Uncle Tad?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"Indeed they did, little girl. And we had roast ears of corn, too. They +were even better than the potatoes."</p> + +<p>"I guess we'll have to make Uncle Tad the camp cook," said Mother Brown +with a smile, as she brought out a basket of lunch for Bunny and Sue. In +the basket were some cakes, sandwiches and a few of the jam and jelly +tarts that Aunt Lu used to make. Only, as Aunt Lu had gone back to her +city home, Mrs. Brown had learned to make the tarts, and Bunny and Sue +were very fond of them.</p> + +<p>As they rode along in the big automobile the children ate the little +lunch, and enjoyed it very much. Uncle Tad took some too, for he had +gotten up early, with the others, and he was hungry.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if Daddy and Bunker Blue <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>wouldn't like a tart," murmured Sue, +after a bit, as she picked up the last crumbs of hers.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps they would," said Mother Brown. "But they are away up on the +front seat, and I don't see how we can pass them any. There is too much +in the auto, or I could hand it to them out of the little window back of +the seat. But I can't reach the window."</p> + +<p>"I know how we could pass them a tart," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"How?" asked his mother.</p> + +<p>"Climb up on the roof of the auto, and lower the lunch basket down to +them with a string."</p> + +<p>"Bunny Brown! Don't you dare think of such a thing!" cried his mother. +"The idea of climbing onto the roof of this big automobile when it's +moving!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I didn't mean when it was <i>moving</i>," Bunny said. "I wouldn't do +that, for fear I'd be jiggled off. I meant to wait until we stopped. +Then I could get up on the roof."</p> + +<p>"No need to do that," said Uncle Tad. "For when we stop, then one of you +can get down, and run up ahead with something for daddy and Bunker +Blue."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> + +<p>And, a little later, the automobile did stop.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" called Mrs. Brown to her husband, who was up on the +front seat. "Did anything happen?"</p> + +<p>"No, only the automobile needs a drink of water," answered Mr. Brown. I +have told you how automobiles need water, as much as horses do, or as +you do, when you get warm. Of course the automobile does not exactly +<i>drink</i> the water. But some must be poured in, from time to time, to +keep the engine cool. And this was why Bunker Blue stopped the +automobile now.</p> + +<p>While he was pouring water in, dipping it up with a pail from a cold +spring beside the road, Bunny and Sue got out and took their father and +the red-haired boy some jam and jelly tarts, and also some sandwiches.</p> + +<p>"My! This is fine!" cried Mr. Brown, as he ate the good things Sue +handed him. "I'm glad we're going camping; aren't you, children?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I should say we were glad!" cried Bunny, as he took a drink from +the spring. There was half a brown cocoanut shell for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>a dipper, and +Bunny thought he had never drunk such cool, sweet water.</p> + +<p>Then, when Bunker Blue had eaten his sandwiches and tarts, they started +off once more, rumbling along the country roads toward Lake Wanda.</p> + +<p>"I wish we'd hurry up and get there," said Sue. "I want to see what +camping is like."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll soon be there," promised Daddy Brown, "and there'll be work +enough for all of us. We'll have three tents to put up, and many other +things to do."</p> + +<p>On and on went the big automobile. Splash ran along the road, some time +at the side of the car, sometimes behind it, and, once in a while, away +up ahead, as if he were looking to see that the road was safe.</p> + +<p>After a bit the dog came back to the automobile, and walked along so +slowly, with his red tongue hanging out, that Sue said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, poor Splash must be tired! Let's give him a ride, Mother!"</p> + +<p>"All right. Call him up here."</p> + +<p>"Come on, Splash!" called Bunny and Sue, for they each owned half the +dog. They had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>pretended to divide him down the middle, so each one +might have part of the wagging tail, and part of the barking head. It +was more fun owning a dog that way.</p> + +<p>Up jumped Splash into the back of the auto-moving van. He stretched out +on a roll of carpet that was to be spread over the board floor of the +big tent, and went to sleep. But first Bunny had given him some sweet +crackers to eat. Splash was very fond of these crackers.</p> + +<p>The automobile was going down hill now, and when it reached the bottom +it came to a stop again.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter now?" asked Mother Brown. "Does the auto want another +drink?"</p> + +<p>"No, not just now," answered daddy. "Something has happened this time."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I hope nothing is broken!" said Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Not with us," answered her husband. "But there is an automobile just +ahead of us that seems to be in trouble. They are stuck in the mud, I +think."</p> + +<p>Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>mother, Uncle Tad and even Splash +got out to see what the matter was. I don't really believe Splash cared +what had happened, but he always went where Bunny and Sue went, and when +he saw them go this time he went with them.</p> + +<p>Walking up toward the front part of the big automobile, where Bunker +Blue and Daddy Brown sat, Mrs. Brown, Uncle Tad and the children saw, +just ahead, a small automobile, off to one side of the road. The wheels +were away down in the soft mud, and a man at the steering wheel was +trying to make the car move up onto the hard road, but he could not do +it.</p> + +<p>"You seem to be in trouble," said Daddy Brown. There were two ladies out +on the road, watching the man trying to start the car.</p> + +<p>"I am in trouble," said the man down in the mud. "I turned off the road +to pass a hay wagon, but I did not think the mud was so soft down here, +or I never would have done it. Now I am stuck and I can't seem to get +out."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Perhaps I can help you," said Daddy Brown. "I have a very strong +automobile here. I'll go on ahead, keeping to the road, and I'll tie a +rope to your car, and fasten the other end to mine. Then I'll pull you +out of the mud."</p> + +<p>"I'd be very thankful to you if you would."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we'd be ever so much obliged," echoed the two ladies, whose shoes +were all muddy from having jumped out of the automobile down into the +ditch.</p> + +<p>It did not take Daddy Brown and Bunker Blue long to fasten a rope from +their automobile to the one stuck in the mud. Then when the big +auto-moving van, in which the Browns were going to camp, started off +down the road, it pulled the small car from the mud as easily as +anything.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, very much," said the man when he saw that he and the ladies +could go on again. "The next time I get behind a hay wagon I'll wait +until I have room to turn out, without getting into a mud hole. I'm very +much obliged to you, Mr. Brown, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>if ever you get stuck in the mud I +hope I can pull you out."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid you couldn't do it with your small car, when my auto is such +a large one." Mr. Brown answered, "but thank you just the same."</p> + +<p>Then the man in his small automobile, rode off with the two women, and, +a little later, the Browns were once more on their way.</p> + +<p>It was a little before noon when they came in sight of a big lake, which +they could see through the trees. It was not far from the road.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what lake is that?" asked Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"That is Lake Wanda, where we are going to camp," said Mr. Brown. "We'll +turn in toward it, pretty soon, and begin putting up the tents."</p> + +<p>"You said we'd have dinner first!" cried Bunny Brown.</p> + +<p>"Are you hungry again?" asked his mother.</p> + +<p>"I guess riding and being out in the air make them hungry," said Uncle +Tad. "Well, children must eat to grow big and strong."</p> + +<p>"Then Bunny and Sue ought to be regular <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>giants!" laughed Mrs. Brown, +"for they are eating all the while."</p> + +<p>A little later the big automobile turned off the main road into a +smaller one, that led to the lake. And when the children and Mrs. Brown +had a good view of the large sheet of water they thought it one of the +most beautiful they had ever seen.</p> + +<p>The lake was deep blue in color, and all around it were hills, and +little mountains, with many trees on them. The trees were covered with +beautiful, green leaves.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is a lovely place," cried Mother Brown. "Just lovely!"</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you like it," said her husband.</p> + +<p>"I like it, too," echoed Bunny.</p> + +<p>"So do I," added Sue.</p> + +<p>"Well, shall we begin putting up the tents?" asked Mr. Brown. "It will +be night almost before you know it here. You see the hills are so high +that the sun seems to go to bed sooner here than he does at home."</p> + +<p>"Oh, let's rest awhile before we do anything," said Mother Brown. "Just +rest awhile and look at the lake."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Hurrah!" suddenly cried Daddy Brown. "That's it! I've been trying to +think what to call it, but you've done it for me. That's just what we'll +call it! There couldn't be a better name!"</p> + +<p>"Why, what are you talking about?" asked Mrs. Brown, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"The name of our camp," explained Daddy Brown, laughing. "I have been +trying, ever since we started, to think of a good name for it. +'Rest-a-While,' will be the very thing. That's just what you said a +moment ago you know. 'Let's rest awhile and look at the lake.' So we +will call this Camp Rest-a-While! Isn't that a good name?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, it does sound very nice," said Mother Brown. "Camp +Rest-a-While! That's what we'll call it then, though I didn't know I was +naming a camp. Well, children—Uncle Tad—Bunker—and all of us—Welcome +to Camp Rest-a-While!"</p> + +<p>"Hurrah!" cried Bunny and Sue, clapping their hands.</p> + +<p>And so the camp was named.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown set out a little lunch, and they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>gathered about one of the +boxes, in which the bed clothes were packed, to eat. The box was set on +the ground, under a big chestnut tree.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going to put up the tents?" asked Mother Brown.</p> + +<p>"Right where we are now," said Daddy Brown. "I think we could not find a +nicer spot. Here is a good place for our boat, when we get it. It is +nice and dry here, and we can see all over the lake. Yes, this is where +we will put up the tents for Camp Rest-a-While."</p> + +<p>And, after they had all eaten lunch, including Splash, who was as hungry +as Bunny or Sue, the work of putting up the tents was begun. The canvas +houses were unrolled, and spread out on the ground. Then Daddy Brown, +with Bunker Blue and Uncle Tad to help, put up the tent poles, and +spread the canvas over them. By pulling on certain ropes, raising the +poles, and then tying the poles fast so they would not fall over, the +tents were put up.</p> + +<p>There was the big one, that could be made into two or even three rooms, +for them all to sleep in, Bunny, Daddy Brown, Uncle Tad <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>and Bunker Blue +in one part, and Mother Brown and Sue in the other, with a third part +for company.</p> + +<p>The big tent was almost up. Only one more rope needed to be made fast. +Bunker Blue was pulling on this when Bunny and Sue, who were helping, +heard Splash give a sudden bark. Then the dog jumped into the lake, and +the children, looking, saw a great commotion going on in the water near +shore. Splash seemed either to have caught something, or to have been +caught himself. He was barking, howling and whining.</p> + +<p>"Oh, a big fish has caught Splash! A big fish has caught our dog!" cried +Sue, and, dropping the tent rope, of which she had hold, down to the +edge of the lake she ran.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>A BIG BLACK BEAR</h3> + + +<p>Something certainly seemed to be the matter with Splash. Bunny and Sue +had never seen their dog act in such a funny way. He would dash into the +water, not going far from shore, though, and then he would jump back, +barking all the while.</p> + +<p>Once or twice he tried to grab, in his sharp teeth, something that +seemed to be swimming in the water. But either Splash could not get it, +or he was afraid to come too close to it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy! What is it? What is it?" asked Bunny and Sue.</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown, who with Bunker Blue and Uncle Tad, was fastening the last +ropes of the tent, hurried down to the shore of the lake.</p> + +<p>"What is it? What's the matter, Splash? What is it?" asked Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>Splash never turned around to look at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>daddy. He again rushed into the +water, barking and snapping his sharp teeth. Then Mr. Brown, taking up a +stick, ran toward the dog.</p> + +<p>"Let it alone, Splash! Let it alone!" cried Daddy Brown. "That's a big +muskrat, and if it bites you it will make a bad sore. Let it alone!"</p> + +<p>Daddy Brown struck at something in the water, and Bunny and Sue, running +down to the edge of the lake, saw a large, brown animal, with long hair, +swimming out toward the middle. Splash started to follow but Mr. Brown +caught the dog by the collar.</p> + +<p>"No you don't!" cried Bunny's father, "You let that muskrat alone, +Splash. He's so big, and such a good swimmer, that he might pull you +under the water and drown you. Let him alone."</p> + +<p>Bunker Blue, who had come down to the edge of the lake, threw a stone at +the swimming muskrat. The queer animal at once made a dive and went +under the water, for muskrats can swim under the water as well as on +top, and Bunny and Sue saw it no more.</p> + +<p>Splash rushed around, up and down the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>shore, barking loudly, but he did +not try to swim out. I think he knew Mr. Brown was right in what he +said—that it was not good to be bitten by a muskrat.</p> + +<p>"Is that what it was, Daddy—a rat?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered his father. "Splash must have seen the muskrat swimming +in the water, and tried to get it. The muskrat didn't want to be caught, +so it fought back. But I'm glad it got away without being hurt, and I'm +glad Splash wasn't bitten."</p> + +<p>"What's a muskrat?" Sue wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's a big rat that lives in the water," said Daddy Brown. "It is +much larger than the kind of rat that is around houses and barns, and it +has fine, soft fur which trappers sell, to make fur-lined overcoats, and +cloaks, for men and women. The fur is very good, and some persons say +the muskrat is good to eat, but I would not like to try eating it. But +this muskrat was a big one, and as they have sharp teeth, and can bite +hard when they are angry, it is a good thing we drove it away."</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue looked out over the lake.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> They could see the muskrat no +longer, though there was a little ripple in the water where it had dived +down to get away.</p> + +<p>"Now we must finish putting up the tents," said Daddy Brown. "It will be +night before we know it, and we want a good place to sleep in at Camp +Rest-a-While."</p> + +<p>"And are we going to have a fire, where we can cook something?" asked +Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we'll have the oil stove set up."</p> + +<p>"I thought we would have a campfire," said the little boy.</p> + +<p>"So we shall!" exclaimed Uncle Tad. "I'll make a campfire for you, +children, and we'll bake some potatoes in it. We'll have them for +supper, with whatever else mother cooks on the oil stove."</p> + +<p>"I'll get some sticks of wood for the fire!" cried Sue.</p> + +<p>"So will I!" added Bunny.</p> + +<p>And while the older folk were finishing putting up the tents, and while +Mother Brown was getting out the bed clothes, Bunny and Sue made a pile +of sticks and twigs for the fire their uncle had promised to make.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> + +<p>Soon the big sleeping tent was put up, and divided into two parts, one +for Sue and her mother, and the other for Bunny and the men folk. +Cot-beds were put up in the tent, and blankets, sheets and pillows put +on them, so the tent was really like a big bedroom.</p> + +<p>"It will be nicer sleeping here than on the ground, like we did in the +tent at home that night," said Bunny to Sue.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I guess it will," she answered. "My dollie won't catch cold in a +nice bed."</p> + +<p>"Did she catch cold before?" Bunny wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Well, she had the sniffle-snuffles, and that's almost like a cold," Sue +answered.</p> + +<p>In the second-sized tent the dining table had been set up, and the +chairs put around ready for the first meal, which would be supper. +Mother Brown got the dishes out of the box, and called:</p> + +<p>"Now, Bunny and Sue, let me see you set the table."</p> + +<p>She had taught them at home how to put on the plates, knives, forks, +spoons, cups, saucers and whatever was needed, and now Bunny <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>and Sue +did this, as their share of the work, while Bunker Blue, and the older +folk, were busy doing different things.</p> + +<p>In the cooking tent the oil stove was set up and lighted, to make sure +it burned well. Then Camp Rest-a-While looked just like its name—a +place where boys and girls, as well as men and women could come and have +a nice rest, near the beautiful lake.</p> + +<p>When everything was nearly finished, and it was about time to start +getting supper, a man came rowing along the shore of the lake in a boat. +He called to Mr. Brown:</p> + +<p>"Hey, there! Is this where you want your boat left?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, thank you. Tie it right there," answered Daddy Brown.</p> + +<p>"Oh, is that going to be our boat?" asked Bunny, in delight.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered his father, "I wrote to a man up here that has boats to +let, to bring us a nice one. We'll use it while we are in camp. But you +children must never get in the boat without asking me, or your mother. +You mustn't get in even when it's tied to the shore."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We won't!" promised Bunny and Sue. Once they had gotten in a boat that +they thought was tied fast, but it had floated away with them. They +landed on an island in the river, and had some adventures, of which I +have told you in the first book of this series.</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue remembered this, so they knew that sometimes it was not +even safe to get in a boat which was tied fast, unless some older person +was with them.</p> + +<p>The man left the boat he had brought for Mr. Brown. It was a large one +and would easily hold Bunny and Sue, as well as all the others at Camp +Rest-a-While.</p> + +<p>"Now for the roast potatoes!" cried Uncle Tad. "Come on, children! We'll +start our campfire, for I see your mother getting the meat ready to +cook, and it takes quite a while to roast potatoes out of doors."</p> + +<p>The campfire was built between two big stones, Bunny and Sue bringing up +the wood they had gathered. Uncle Tad lighted the fire, for it is not +safe for children to handle matches, or even be near an open fire, +unless some older person is with them. Bunny and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> Sue had often been +told this, so they were very careful.</p> + +<p>When the fire had blazed up good and hot, Uncle Tad let it cool down a +bit. Then he raked away the red hot embers and put in them some nice, +big, round potatoes. These he covered up in the hot ashes, and put on +more wood.</p> + +<p>"Now the potatoes are baking," he said. "They will be done in time for +supper."</p> + +<p>And what a fine supper it was—that first one in camp! Bunny and Sue +thought they had never tasted anything so good. They all sat in the +dining tent, and Mother Brown put the things on the table.</p> + +<p>"Now where are your potatoes, Uncle Tad?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Here they are!" cried the old soldier, as he went to the campfire. He +raked away the ashes and embers with a stick, and on a platter, made +from a large piece of bark, off a tree, the old soldier poked out a +number of round, black, smoking things.</p> + +<p>"Why—why!" exclaimed Sue, in surprise. "I thought you baked <i>potatoes</i>, +Uncle Tad!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> + +<p>"So I did, Sue."</p> + +<p>"They look like black stones," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"You wait—I'll show you," laughed Uncle Tad. He brought the bark +platter to the table. Taking up a fork he opened one of the round, +black, smoking things. Though the outside was burned black from the +fire, the inside was almost as white as snow.</p> + +<p>"There's baked potatoes for you!" cried Uncle Tad. "Put some salt and +butter on them, and you never tasted anything better! But be +careful—for they're very hot!"</p> + +<p>Supper over, the dishes were washed and put away. Then there was nothing +to do but wait until it was time to go to bed.</p> + +<p>"And I think we're all tired enough to go early to-night," said Mother +Brown.</p> + +<p>"But, before we go," said her husband, "I think we will have a little +row on the lake in our boat. It is not yet dark."</p> + +<p>It was beautiful out on the water, and the sun, sinking down behind the +hills, made the clouds look as though they were colored blue, pink, +purple and golden.</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue were almost asleep when <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>the boat was headed back toward +shore, and their eyes were tight shut, when daddy and mother lifted them +out to carry them up to Camp Rest-a-While. The children hardly awakened +when they were undressed and put to bed, and soon every one was sound +asleep, for it was a dark night.</p> + +<p>Bunny Brown was sleeping in the outer part of the bedroom-tent, in a cot +next to his father's. Just what made Bunny awaken he did not know. But, +all at once the little fellow sat up on his cot, and looked with +wide-open eyes toward the entrance. There was a lantern burning in the +tent, and by the light of it Bunny Brown saw a big shaggy animal, +standing on its hind legs, and sniffing with its black nose. At first +Bunny could not make a sound, he was so frightened, but finally he +screamed:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy! Daddy! Wake up! It's a bear! A bear! A big black bear in the +tent!"</p> + +<p>Then Bunny slipped down between the blankets and covered up his head +with the bed clothes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>THE RAGGED BOY</h3> + + +<p>Daddy Brown was used to being suddenly aroused in the night by either +Bunny or Sue. At home the children often awakened, and called out. +Sometimes they would be dreaming, or perhaps they would want a drink of +water. So Daddy Brown and Mrs. Brown Were used to answering when they +heard the children call out.</p> + +<p>But it was something new to hear Bunny calling about a big, black bear. +He had never done that before, though one time, when he ate too much +bread and jam for supper, he screamed that there was an elephant in his +room, and there wasn't at all. He had only dreamed it.</p> + +<p>But this time Daddy Brown had plainly heard his little boy say:</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's a bear! It's a bear!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Brown awakened, and sat up in his cot. He looked over toward Bunny's +bed, but could see nothing of the little fellow, for as I have told you, +Bunny was covered up under the blankets and quilt. Even his head was +covered.</p> + +<p>Then Mr. Brown looked toward the entrance, or front door of the tent. +And, to his surprise, he saw just what Bunny had seen, a big, shaggy, +hairy animal, standing on its hind legs, with its black nose up in the +air, sniffing and snuffing.</p> + +<p>"Why—why!" exclaimed Mr. Brown, rubbing his eyes to make sure that he +was wide awake, and that he was not dreaming, as he thought Bunny might +have been. "Why—why! It <i>is</i> a bear!"</p> + +<p>"Sniff! Snuff!" went the big, shaggy creature.</p> + +<p>"Daddy—Daddy!" cried Bunny, his voice sounding faint and far off, +because his head was under the covers. "Daddy, is—is he gone?"</p> + +<p>"No, not yet," answered Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"What is it? What's the matter?" called<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> Mrs. Brown, from behind the +curtain, where she slept.</p> + +<p>"Why," said Mr. Brown slowly. "It—it seems to be a——"</p> + +<p>Then he stopped. He did not want to scare his wife or Sue, by telling +them there was a bear in the tent, and yet there was.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what is it?" cried Mrs. Brown again. "I heard Bunny crying! Is +anything the matter with him?"</p> + +<p>"No, he's all right," answered Bunny's papa. That was true enough. There +was really nothing the matter with the little boy. He was just a bit +frightened, that was all.</p> + +<p>"But <i>something</i> is the matter," said Mrs. Brown, "I know there is! Why +don't you tell me what it is?"</p> + +<p>Daddy Brown did not know just what to do. He sat up in bed, thinking and +looking first at the bear and then at Bunny. All Mr. Brown could see of +Bunny was a heap under the bedclothes. But the bear was in plain sight, +standing in the doorway of the tent, sniffing and snuffing near the +lighted lantern.</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown did not want to speak about the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>bear. He thought the big, +shaggy creature looked quite gentle, and perhaps it would go away if no +one harmed it. Perhaps it was just looking for something to eat, and as +it couldn't find anything in the bedroom tent it might go to the one +where the cooking was done.</p> + +<p>Bunker Blue was still sound asleep, and so was Uncle Tad. Nor had Sue, +sleeping next to her mother, in the other part of the tent, been +awakened. Just Bunny Brown, and his father and mother were wide awake. +Oh, yes, of course the bear was not asleep. I forgot about that. His +little black eyes blinked, and opened and shut, and he wrinkled up his +rubber-like nose as he sniffed the air.</p> + +<p>"Well, aren't you going to tell me what it is? What's the matter in +there? What happened?" asked Mother Brown. "If you don't tell me——"</p> + +<p>By this time Bunny Brown made up his mind that he would be brave. He +uncovered one eye and peered out from beneath the bed clothes. His first +sight was of the bear, who was still there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh!" cried Bunny. "It <i>is</i> a bear! It's a big, black bear! I didn't +dream it! It's real! a real, big, black bear!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown heard what her little boy said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Walter!" she cried to her husband. "Throw something at it. Here's +my shoe—throw that. I've got two shoes, but I can only find one. Throw +that at the bear and make him go away!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown threw over the curtain, that divided the tent into two parts, +one of her shoes.</p> + +<p>She really had two shoes, but when she felt under her cot in the dark, +she could only find one. You know how it is when you try to find +anything in the dark, even if it's a drink of water in the chair at the +head of our bed. You move your hand all over, and you think some one +must have come in and taken the water away. And when you get a light you +find that, all the while, your hand was about an inch away from the +glass. It was that way with Mrs. Brown's other shoe.</p> + +<p>But she threw one over the curtain, calling out again:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Hit him with that, Walter! Hit the bear with my shoe!"</p> + +<p>But there was no need for Mr. Brown to do anything. The shoe thrown by +Bunny's mother sailed through the tent. Straight at the bear it went, +and before the shaggy creature could get out of the way, the shoe hit +him on the end of the nose.</p> + +<p>"Bunk!" went the shoe.</p> + +<p>"Wuff!" grunted the bear.</p> + +<p>Now you know a bear's nose is his most tender part. You could hit him on +his head, or on his back, or on his paw—that is if you were brave +enough to hit a bear at all—but you would not hurt him, hardly any, +unless you hit him right on the end of his soft and tender nose. That's +the best place to hit a bear if you want to drive him away, out of your +tent, or anything like that. Hit him on the nose.</p> + +<p>"Whack!" went Mrs. Brown's shoe on the end of the bear's nose.</p> + +<p>"Wuff!" grunted the bear, and down he dropped on all four paws.</p> + +<p>Now Mrs. Brown really did not mean to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>hit the bear. She was just +tossing her shoe over the curtain so her husband might have something to +throw at the bear, and, as it happened, she hit the bear by accident.</p> + +<p>Of course it might have been better if one of Mr. Brown's shoes had hit +the bear. I mean it would have been better for the Brown family, but +worse for the bear. Because Mr. Brown's shoes were larger and heavier +than his wife's. But then, it turned out all right anyhow.</p> + +<p>For, no sooner did the bear feel Mrs. Brown's shoe hit him on the nose, +than he cried out:</p> + +<p>"Wuff!"</p> + +<p>Then he turned quickly around, and ran out of the tent.</p> + +<p>"Did you throw my shoe at him? Did you make him go away?" asked Mrs. +Brown. "Because if you didn't, Walter, I've found my other shoe now, and +I'll throw that to you."</p> + +<p>"You won't need to, my dear," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. "One shoe was +enough. You hit the bear yourself!"</p> + +<p>"I did?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, and he's gone. It's all right, Bunny. You can put your head out +now. The bear is gone."</p> + +<p>Bunny peeped with one eye, and when he saw that the big, shaggy creature +was no longer there, he put his whole head out. Then, with a bound he +jumped out of bed, and ran toward the back part of the tent, where his +mother and sister were sleeping.</p> + +<p>"Where you going, Bunny?" asked his father. "There's no more danger; the +bear has gone."</p> + +<p>"I—I'm just going in here to get my pop gun, so if the bear comes +back——" Bunny said, "My pop gun is in here."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Mr. Brown, "I thought you were going to crawl in bed with +your mother."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no—no!" Bunny quickly answered, shaking his head. "I—I just want +my pop gun. But," he went on, "if mother <i>wants</i> me to get in bed with +her, and keep the bear away, why I will. Don't be afraid. I'll get in +bed with you, Mother!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess the bear won't come back," said Mr. Brown with a laugh.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, I'll get in bed with mother anyhow," said Bunny. "I'll have my +pop gun all ready."</p> + +<p>By this time Uncle Tad, Bunker Blue and Sue had been awakened by the +talk. Outside the tent Splash could be heard barking, and there was a +noise among the trees and bushes that told that the bear was running +away.</p> + +<p>"I—I hope he doesn't bite our dog," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess Splash will know enough to keep away from the bear," +replied Mr. Brown. "Besides, I think the bear was only a tame one, +anyhow."</p> + +<p>"A tame bear?" asked Uncle Tad, as he was told all that had happened.</p> + +<p>"Yes. He didn't act at all like a wild one. Besides, there aren't any +wild bears in this part of the country. This was a tame one all right."</p> + +<p>"Where did it come from?" asked Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I think it got away from some man who goes about the country making +the bear do tricks. Probably in the morning we'll see <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>the man looking +for his bear," answered her husband.</p> + +<p>And that is just what happened. There was no more trouble that night. +Everyone went to sleep again, Bunny in the cot with his mother; though +when he was asleep and slumbering soundly, she carried him back to his +own little bed near his father.</p> + +<p>Soon after breakfast the next morning, when they were talking about the +bear scare in the night, along came a man, who looked like an Italian +organ-grinder. He said he had a pet, tame bear, who had broken away from +where he was tied, in the night.</p> + +<p>And it was this bear who had wandered into the tent where Bunny was +sleeping. Where the bear was now no one knew, but the Italian said he +would walk off through the woods, and see if he could not find his pet, +which he had trained to do many tricks.</p> + +<p>Two or three days later, Mr. Brown heard that the bear was safely found, +so there was no more need to worry about his coming into the tent at +night.</p> + +<p>That day Daddy Brown, with the help of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> Uncle Tad and Bunker Blue +printed a big cloth sign which they hung up between two trees. The sign +read:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">CAMP REST-A-WHILE</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"There," said Daddy Brown, "now the postman will know where to find us +when he comes with letters."</p> + +<p>"Oh, do they have mail up here?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"No, daddy is only joking," said her mother. "I guess we'll have to go +to the post office for letters."</p> + +<p>One day, when they had been in camp about a week, Bunny and Sue, with +the others, returned from a walk in the woods. As they came near the +"dining-room tent," as they called it, they saw a ragged boy spring up +from the table with some pieces of bread and meat, and dash into the +bushes.</p> + +<p>"Hold on there! Who are you? What do you want?" cried Daddy Brown. But +the ragged boy did not stop running. He wanted to hide in the bushes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>TOM HEARS A NOISE</h3> + + +<p>Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, with their father, mother, Uncle Tad and +Bunker Blue, hurried on toward the tent under which was set the dining +table. They could see where the ragged boy had made a meal for himself, +taking the bread and meat from the ice box. For a refrigerator had been +brought to camp, and the iceman came on a boat, once a day, to leave +ice.</p> + +<p>"Who is he?" asked Bunny Brown, looking toward the bushes behind which +the strange boy had run.</p> + +<p>"What did he want?" Sue asked.</p> + +<p>"I can answer you, Sue, but I can't answer Bunny," said Mr. Brown. "That +boy was hungry, and wanted something to eat, but who he is I don't +know."</p> + +<p>"Poor little chap," said Mrs. Brown in a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>kind voice. "He didn't need to +run away just because he wanted something to eat. I would be glad to +give him all he wanted. I wouldn't see anyone go hungry."</p> + +<p>"He looked like a tramp," said Bunker.</p> + +<p>"But he was only a boy," remarked Uncle Tad.</p> + +<p>"I wish he hadn't run away," said Mother Brown. "I don't believe he got +half enough to eat. He took only a little." She could tell that by +looking in the ice box.</p> + +<p>By this time Splash, the big dog, who had not come up with the others, +now rushed into camp. He sniffed around, and then, all of a sudden, he +made a dash for a clump of bushes, and, standing in front of it began +barking loudly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, maybe the bear's come back and is hiding in there!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"More likely it's that ragged boy," said Uncle Tad. "That's where he +made a rush for as soon as we came up."</p> + +<p>Splash seemed about to go into the bushes himself, and drive, or drag, +out whatever was hiding there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Mr. Brown called:</p> + +<p>"Here, Splash! Come here, sir!"</p> + +<p>The dog came back and then Bunny's father, going over to the bushes, +looked down among them.</p> + +<p>"You'd better come out," he said, to someone. The children could not see +who it was. "Come on out," said Mr. Brown, "we won't hurt you."</p> + +<p>Out of the bushes came the ragged boy. In his hand he still had some of +the bread and meat he had taken from the ice box.</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue looked at him.</p> + +<p>The boy's clothes were very ragged, but they seemed to be clean. He had +on no shoes or stockings, but one foot was wrapped up in a rag, as +though he had cut himself. He limped a little, too, as he came forward.</p> + +<p>"I—I couldn't run very fast with my sore foot, or I'd a' got away from +you," he said slowly.</p> + +<p>"But why should you want to get away?" asked Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Well, I took some of your stuff—I was hungry and I went through the +ice box—and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> I s'posed you'd be looking for a policeman to have me +arrested. That's why I ran. But I couldn't go very far, so I hid in the +bushes. I thought I could get away when you weren't looking. Here's your +stuff," and he held out to Mrs. Brown what was left of the bread and +meat. Bunny and Sue thought the ragged boy looked hungrily at the food +as he offered to give it back.</p> + +<p>"You poor boy!" said Mrs. Brown, "I don't want it! You're welcome to +that and more, if you need it. You must be hungry!"</p> + +<p>"I am, lady. I haven't had anything since morning. I started to go back +to the city, but it's farther than I thought, and I lost my way. When I +struck this camp, I saw the sign—'Rest-a-While,' so I sat down to rest. +Then I saw the ice box, and I was hungry, and—and I—well, I just +helped myself."</p> + +<p>His face was sunburned, so it could not be told whether he was blushing +or not, but he hung his head as if ashamed of what he had done. He still +held out the meat to Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>Splash, who, now that he knew the boy was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>a friend of the family, did +not bark any more, slid gently up, and began nibbling at the meat and +bread in the boy's hand.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look at Splash!" laughed Sue.</p> + +<p>"Here, Splash! That isn't for you!" cried Mr. Brown. "But you might as +well give it to him now, now that he's had his tongue on it," said Mr. +Brown to the ragged boy. "We'll give you some more."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sit right up to the table," said Mrs. Brown. "I'll get you a good +meal."</p> + +<p>The boy's eyes filled with tears, and he turned his head away so they +would not be seen.</p> + +<p>"Where did you come from?" asked Daddy Brown, as Mrs. Brown was setting +out some food.</p> + +<p>"I come from Benton," the boy answered, naming a city about twenty miles +away. "I've lived there all my life until about a week ago, and I wish I +was back there now."</p> + +<p>"How did you come to leave?"</p> + +<p>"Well, all my folks died, and I couldn't make much of a living selling +papers, running errands and blacking shoes, so when a farmer <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>down in +the city market, said he wanted a boy on his farm, I said I'd come and +work for him.</p> + +<p>"I rode out on his wagon, after he had sold all his stuff one day, and I +came to a place called Fayetteville."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know where that is," said Mr. Brown. "It's on the other side of +the lake."</p> + +<p>"I went to work for the farmer," said the ragged boy, who gave his name +as Tom Vine, "but it was worse than being in the city. I never had a +minute's rest and I didn't get enough to eat. I wasn't used to working +out in the hot sun, and my legs and arms seemed as if they'd burn off +me."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I can see you're pretty well burned," said Mr. Brown. "Then you +ran away?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. I couldn't stand it any longer. The farmer and his hired man +used to whip me if I made a mistake, or if I didn't get up early enough. +And they used to get up before daylight. So I made up my mind to run +away, and go back to the city.</p> + +<p>"I used to think the country was nice," the ragged boy went on, "but I +don't any more.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> I don't mind working, but I don't want to be starved +and whipped all the while. So I ran off, but I guess I got lost, for I +can't find the way back to the city. I don't know what to do. When I got +here, and saw that sign about resting, I thought that was what I needed. +So I came in."</p> + +<p>"And I'm glad you did," said Mrs. Brown. "Now you eat this and you'll +feel better. Then I'll look at your sore foot, and we'll see what to do +with you."</p> + +<p>"You—you won't have me arrested; will you?" asked the boy.</p> + +<p>"No, indeed!" said Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"And you—you won't send me back to that farmer?"</p> + +<p>"No, I think not. He has no right to make you work for him if you don't +want to. Don't be afraid," said Bunny's father. "We'll look after you."</p> + +<p>A little later the ragged boy had eaten a good meal. Then he was given +some of Bunker Blue's old clothes, for he was almost as large as the +red-haired boy, and the old clothes were thrown away.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Brown looked at the boy's sore foot, and found that there was a big +sharp thorn in one toe. When this thorn had been taken out, and the toe +bound up with salve, the ragged boy said he felt much better. Perhaps I +shouldn't call him a ragged boy any longer, for he was not, with +Bunker's clothes on.</p> + +<p>"Mother, is he going to stay with us?" asked Bunny that evening when it +was nearly supper time, and the new boy—Tom Vine—had gone after a pail +of water at the spring.</p> + +<p>"Would you care to have him stay?" asked Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Sue. "He's nice. I like him."</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll keep him for a while," answered Mrs. Brown. "He needs help, +I think."</p> + +<p>Tom Vine told more of his story after supper. He had never been away +from the city's pavements in all his life before he went out to the +country with the farmer who hired him. He had never seen the ocean, or +the woods. He did not even know that cows gave milk until he saw the +farmer's hired man milking one day.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I just don't know anything about the woods or the country," the boy +said to Bunny and Sue, "so you can fool me all you like."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we won't fool you," said Bunny kindly. "We'll tell you all we +know."</p> + +<p>"Thanks," said Tom Vine.</p> + +<p>He had offered to travel on, after supper, and try to get back to the +city.</p> + +<p>"I don't want to be a trouble to you folks," he said to Mrs. Brown. "In +the city I know some fellows, and they'll lend me money enough to buy +some papers, and start in business."</p> + +<p>"You had better stay with us awhile," said Mrs. Brown. "We have enough +room for you, and you can help about camp."</p> + +<p>"I can wash and dry dishes!" cried Tom eagerly. "I worked in a +restaurant for a week once, and I know how to handle dishes."</p> + +<p>"Then we can give you plenty of work," said Mrs. Brown, with a laugh. +"For if there is one thing, in camp or at home, that I don't like it is +washing dishes."</p> + +<p>"I'll do them for you!" cried Tom, "and I'll be glad of the chance, +too!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> + +<p>"All right then. You'll be the head dishwasher of Camp Rest-a-While," +said Mr. Brown, smiling.</p> + +<p>And that is how Tom Vine came to stay with the Browns while they lived +in the woods near Lake Wanda.</p> + +<p>Tom, indeed, knew very little about the country. As he said, he had +never been away from the city pavements, winter or summer, in all his +life before. The first night in camp, when he was sleeping next to +Bunker Blue, in a little part of the tent that had been curtained off +for them, Tom awakened Bunker, by reaching over and punching him in the +ribs.</p> + +<p>"Hey, listen to that!" cried Tom.</p> + +<p>"To what?" asked Bunker, only half awake.</p> + +<p>"Somebody is outside the tent, calling: 'Who? Who? Who?'" said Tom. "I +didn't do anything, did you? What do they holler 'who' for?"</p> + +<p>Bunker listened. Surely enough he heard very plainly:</p> + +<p>"Who? Who? Too-who?"</p> + +<p>"Hear it?" asked Tom.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, it's only an owl," Bunker answered. "There's lots of 'em in these +woods."</p> + +<p>"What's an owl?" Tom wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's a bird with big eyes, and it can only see at night. It comes +out to get mice and bugs. Owls won't hurt you. Go on to sleep."</p> + +<p>Tom did not go to sleep at once. But he was no longer afraid of the owl.</p> + +<p>Tom was just going to sleep once more, when he heard another funny +noise. This time he was sure some one said:</p> + +<p>"Katy did! Katy did! Katy did!"</p> + +<p>Tom sat up in his cot. He reached over to punch Bunker, to ask him what +this was, when all at once, another voice cried:</p> + +<p>"Katy didn't! Katy didn't! Katy didn't!"</p> + +<p>"Listen to that, now, would you!" exclaimed Tom. "Bunker! Bunker Blue! +Wake up! There's two people outside, and one says Katy did it, and the +other says she didn't—who's right?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>OUT IN THE BOAT</h3> + + +<p>Bunker Blue turned sleepily over on his cot.</p> + +<p>"What—what's that?" he asked of Tom.</p> + +<p>"Listen," Tom answered. "Don't you hear that, Bunker? First someone is +hollering about Katy's doing something, and then somebody else yells +that she didn't do it. Say, I don't like it here."</p> + +<p>Bunker Blue laughed aloud.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter out there?" asked Daddy Brown.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's only Tom," said the red-haired boy. "He doesn't like the song +of the katydids."</p> + +<p>"Song! Is that a song?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"Some people call it that," said Mr. Brown, for he knew that a city boy +might be just as frightened of sounds in the country as a country boy +might of sounds in the city.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That noise is made by a little green bug, called a katydid," Mr. Brown +explained. "It looks something like a grasshopper."</p> + +<p>"But they don't all say 'Katy did,'" objected Tom.</p> + +<p>"No, some of them seem to say 'Katy didn't,'" agreed Mr. Brown. "Of +course they don't really say those words. It only sounds as if they did. +Now go to sleep. In the morning I'll show you a katydid."</p> + +<p>Tom was not frightened any longer. He turned over and was soon sound +asleep. Mr. Brown and Bunker also closed their eyes and the tent in Camp +Rest-a-While was quiet once more. Bunny and Sue had not awakened.</p> + +<p>Early the next morning, before breakfast, Tom was seen walking about +among the trees of the camp. He seemed to be looking for something.</p> + +<p>"What are you looking for?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"For Katy," Tom answered.</p> + +<p>"There isn't any Katy with us," said Sue. "We have a cook, but her name +is Mary, and she isn't here with us, anyhow. She's at home."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, I'm looking for a Katy bug," explained Tom, and then he told about +the noises he had heard in the night.</p> + +<p>"I'll help you look," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"So will I," added Sue. "I'd like to see a Katy bug."</p> + +<p>But, though the children and Tom looked all over, they could not find a +katydid until Mr. Brown helped them. Then on a tree he found one of the +queer, light-green grasshopper-like bugs and showed it to the children.</p> + +<p>"Why doesn't it cry now?" Sue wanted to know. "Make it cry, Daddy, so I +can hear it!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't do that," Mr. Brown said with a laugh. "The katydid cries, +or sings, mostly at night. I guess they don't want anyone to see them. +Besides, I don't just know how they make the noises, whether they rub +their rough legs together, or make a sound somewhere inside them. So I +guess we'll have to let them do as they please."</p> + +<p>Tom and the children stood for some little time, watching the pretty, +green bug, and then came the sound of a bell.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There!" cried Mr. Brown, with a laugh. "I guess you all know who made +that noise, and what it means."</p> + +<p>"It means breakfast!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"And mother rang the bell!" added Sue.</p> + +<p>"That's right," said Bunker Blue, coming along just then. "And your +mother doesn't want you to be late, either, for she's baking cakes, and +you know how you like them!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, cakes!" cried Bunny, clapping his hands. "I just love them!"</p> + +<p>Soon the little party, including the new boy, Tom Vine, were seated +around the table under the dining tent, eating pancakes that Mrs. Brown +cooked over the oil stove.</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue said nothing for several minutes. They were too busy +eating. Then Bunny, looking at Tom, asked:</p> + +<p>"Can you jump over an elephant?"</p> + +<p>"Jump over elephants? I guess not!" the new boy cried. "I never saw an +elephant, except in a picture."</p> + +<p>"We did," said Sue. "We saw a real elephant in a real circus, and we had +a make-believe circus with a pretend elephant in it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And we knowed a boy named Ben Hall, who used to be in a real circus," +went on Bunny. "He could jump over an elephant, and I thought maybe you +could, too."</p> + +<p>"No," said Tom, with a shake of his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't do +that. About the only thing I can do is wash and dry the dishes."</p> + +<p>"Well, it's a good thing to be able to do even one thing well," said +Mrs. Brown, "and I'm glad you're here to wash and dry the dishes. There +are plenty of them."</p> + +<p>"I know something else you can do," said Bunny, smiling at Tom.</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"You can eat."</p> + +<p>"Yes," and Tom laughed. "I like to eat, and I'm hungry three times a +day."</p> + +<p>"Bunny and Sue are hungry oftener than that," said Uncle Tad. "At least +they say they are, and they come in and get bread and jam."</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue looked at each other and laughed.</p> + +<p>After breakfast, just as he had said he would do, Tom Vine picked up the +dishes, and got <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>ready to wash them. Mrs. Brown watched him for a few +minutes, until she was sure that he knew just how to go about it. Then +she left him to himself.</p> + +<p>"He is a very nice, neat and clean boy," she said to her husband. "I'm +glad he came to us. But what are we going to do with him? We can't keep +him always."</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll let him stay with us while we are in camp here in the +woods," said Mr. Brown, "and when we go back home, well, I can find +something for him to do at the boat-dock, perhaps—that is, if he +doesn't want to go back to the city."</p> + +<p>While Tom was doing the dishes Bunny and Sue had gone off into the wood +a little way, to where they had made for themselves a little play-house +of branches of trees, stuck in the ground. It was a sort of green tent, +and in it Sue had put some of her dolls, while Bunny had taken to it +some of his toys. The children often played there.</p> + +<p>But they did not do anything for very long at a time, getting tired of +one thing after another as all children do. So when Sue had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>undressed +and dressed her two dolls, combing and braiding their hair, she said to +Bunny:</p> + +<p>"Oh, let's do something else now."</p> + +<p>"All right," replied her brother. "What shall we do?"</p> + +<p>"Can't you think of some fun?" Sue wanted to know.</p> + +<p>Bunny rubbed his nose. He often did that when he was thinking. Then he +cried:</p> + +<p>"Let's ask mother to let Bunker Blue take us out in the boat. I want to +go fishing."</p> + +<p>"That will be nice," Sue said. "I'd like a boat ride, too."</p> + +<p>Back to the camp went the children, but when they reached the tents they +saw neither their father nor mother, nor was Uncle Tad or Bunker Blue in +sight.</p> + +<p>"They've gone away!" said Sue.</p> + +<p>"Yes, so they have," agreed Bunny. "But I guess they didn't go far, or +they'd have told us. Mother knew where we were."</p> + +<p>"Let's go find them," said Sue. "Maybe they went out in the boat."</p> + +<p>"We'll look," agreed Bunny.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> + +<p>The two children went to the edge of the lake, where a big willow tree +overhung the water. The boat was kept tied to this tree.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the boat's gone!" exclaimed Sue, as she reached the place and did +not see it. "The boat's gone, Bunny!"</p> + +<p>"Then they must have gone for a row, and they didn't take us!" and Bunny +was much disappointed. He looked across the lake, up and down, as did +Sue, and then both children cried out:</p> + +<p>"Oh, look!" said Sue.</p> + +<p>"There's the boat," added Bunny. "And Tom Vine is in it all alone! He +hasn't got any oars, either. Look, Sue!"</p> + +<p>Surely enough, there was the boat, some distance out in the lake, and +Tom, the city boy, who knew nothing at all about boats, was in it. As he +saw Bunny and Sue he waved his hands to them, and cried:</p> + +<p>"Come and get me! I can't get back! I'm afraid! Come and get me!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>TOM SEES A MAN</h3> + + +<p>Bunny Brown and his sister Sue stood by the lake shore, and didn't know +what to do. Some distance out on the water floated the boat with Tom +Vine standing up in it, waving his hands. And Tom cried once more:</p> + +<p>"Come and get me! Come and get me!"</p> + +<p>Bunny was the first to speak after that. And he said just the right +thing.</p> + +<p>"Sit down, Tom!" cried Bunny. "Sit down, or you'll tip over, and then +you'll be drowned, and we can't get you."</p> + +<p>Bunny shouted loudly, and his clear, high voice could easily be heard by +Tom, for there was no wind, or at least only a little, to ruffle the +water of the lake. Tom heard, and he knew what Bunny meant. Very +carefully he sat down on one of the seats in the boat.</p> + +<p>"Are you coming to get me?" he asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> "I can't get back to shore, and I +can't swim. I don't like it out here!"</p> + +<p>"Just sit still, and we'll think up a way to get you," called Bunny. +"But don't stand up, whatever you do."</p> + +<p>"No, you must keep sitting down," added Sue.</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown had often told his children how to act when in boats. Small as +they were they could both swim a little, Bunny, of course, better than +Sue, because he was older. And they had both been told what to do in +case they fell into the water—hold their breath until they came to the +top, when someone might save them, if they could not swim out.</p> + +<p>But it was what Mr. Brown had told Bunny about not standing up in a boat +that the little fellow now first remembered to shout to Tom. He did not +want to see the new boy fall over into the lake.</p> + +<p>And Tom must have known what Bunny meant, for he was now sitting very +quietly in the boat, looking toward the shore where Bunny and Sue stood.</p> + +<p>"How did you get out there?" Bunny asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> He had not yet thought of a +way to get Tom back to land.</p> + +<p>"I—I didn't think the boat would float away," Tom answered. "I got in +it and untied the rope. Then, the first thing I knew I was away out +here. The wind blew me out, but it won't blow me back. I'll soon be out +in the middle, I guess!"</p> + +<p>Though there had been enough wind to blow Tom, in the boat, away from +shore, there was hardly any wind now, so the boy could not be blown +back. And how to get him to shore was something that Bunny and Sue could +not tell how to do, especially as there were no oars in the boat.</p> + +<p>"He can't row without oars," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"No, he can't," said Sue. She knew enough about boats to tell that. "And +he hasn't any sail," she added.</p> + +<p>"Haven't you got a stick, so you can push yourself back to shore?" +called Bunny.</p> + +<p>"I have a little stick, but it won't touch bottom," Tom answered. As he +spoke he held up a short tree branch. Bunny had used it the day before +as a fishpole, and when through <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>playing had tossed it into the boat. +Tom reached this stick over the side of the boat, and put it down into +the water. But the lake was too deep there to let him touch the bottom, +and so push himself to shore.</p> + +<p>"Can't you swim out and get me, Bunny?" Tom cried. He was not as old a +boy as was Bunker Blue, and so he was quite easily frightened, +especially as he could not swim, and knew hardly anything about boats.</p> + +<p>"Swim out and get me, Bunny!" Tom begged.</p> + +<p>Bunny Brown shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't swim that far," he shouted. "Besides, I'm not let go in the +water unless my father or mother, or Uncle Tad or Bunker Blue is with +me, and they're not here now."</p> + +<p>"But how can I get back?" poor Tom wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"We'll get you, somehow!" cried Bunny. "Won't we, Sue?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered the little girl. But neither she nor her brother knew +how they were going to save Tom.</p> + +<p>"Anyhow, if I could swim that far, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>daddy would let me," went on +Bunny, speaking to his sister, "I couldn't take the oars out, and if I +didn't have oars to row with, I couldn't bring the boat back, or Tom +either."</p> + +<p>"No, you couldn't," Sue said. She knew enough about boats to tell that, +for she could row a little, with a light pair of oars.</p> + +<p>"Call your father or mother!" called Tom, who was now farther from shore +than ever. "Call them! Maybe they can get another boat, and come after +me."</p> + +<p>So Bunny and Sue called as loudly as they could, but neither Mr. Brown, +his wife, Bunker nor Uncle Tad answered. They had taken a walk back in +the woods, when Tom started to wash the dishes, and when Bunny and Sue +were playing house in the leafy bower, and they had gone farther than +they intended. So they could not hear Bunny and Sue calling.</p> + +<p>"It's no use," said Bunny, after a bit. "We've got to save him +ourselves, Sue. But I wonder how we can do it."</p> + +<p>Sue thought for a minute. She did not rub her nose as Bunny had done. +She could think without doing that. Then Sue said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> + +<p>"If we only had a string on the boat, Bunny, we could pull Tom right to +us. We could stand on shore and pull him in, just as we did with your +little sail boat."</p> + +<p>"That's right—we could!" cried Bunny. Then he called:</p> + +<p>"Tom, has you got a rope on your boat? If you has throw it to me and +Sue, and we'll pull you in by it."</p> + +<p>Tom looked in the bottom of the boat.</p> + +<p>"There's a rope here," he said, "but it isn't long enough to reach to +shore."</p> + +<p>He held it up so the children could see. Certainly it was not half long +enough. It was the rope by which the boat had been tied to the tree.</p> + +<p>While Bunny and Sue stood there, wondering what to do, there came a +rustling, cracking sound in the bushes back of them. They quickly +turned, and saw their dog, Splash. He had been roving about in the +woods, and had now come back to camp.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Splash!" cried Bunny. "You can do it, I know you can!"</p> + +<p>"What can he do?" asked Sue.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He can swim out to Tom in the boat, and pull him back to shore. Go on, +Splash!" cried Bunny, pointing to poor Tom. "Go on and get him! Bring +him back!"</p> + +<p>Splash bounded around and barked. He looked to where Bunny pointed, but +though the dog could understand some of the things Bunny said, he could +not tell just what his little master wanted this time. Tom was watching +what was going on, and now he called:</p> + +<p>"I know a better way than that."</p> + +<p>"What?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"If you had a long cord, you could tie one end to a stick, and give it +to Splash to bring to me. Then I could tie it to the boat, and you could +pull me to shore."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, we can do that!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Have you got a long cord?" Tom asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, one I fly my kite with. I brought the cord along, but now I +haven't any kite. I'll get that."</p> + +<p>Bunny ran to the tent where he kept his box of playthings. He soon +returned with a stick, on which was wound a long and very strong cord.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<p>"This will pull the boat," he said.</p> + +<p>He looked around for a stick to tie onto the end of the cord, and when +he had done this he gave the stick to the dog.</p> + +<p>"Take it out to Tom!" ordered Bunny.</p> + +<p>But Splash only barked and dropped the stick. He wagged his tail, as if +he were saying:</p> + +<p>"I'll do anything you want me to, little master, but I don't know just +what you mean."</p> + +<p>Once more Tom called across the water.</p> + +<p>"Throw the stick into the lake, Bunny. Then Splash will bring it to me. +He knows how to jump in after sticks you throw into the water; doesn't +he?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, Splash knows that all right," Bunny said. "Here, Splash!" he +called.</p> + +<p>Into the lake Bunny tossed the stick to which was fastened one end of +his kite cord.</p> + +<p>"Get it, Splash!" cried the little boy.</p> + +<p>With a bark Splash sprang into the water. But instead of swimming out to +Tom with the stick and string, he swam back to shore. That was what he +had been taught to do, you see.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<p>Splash dropped the stick at Bunny's feet, and wagging his wet tail, +spattered drops all over Sue. The dog barked, looking up at Bunny, and +seeming to say:</p> + +<p>"There, little master! Didn't I do that fine? Wasn't that just what you +wanted me to do?"</p> + +<p>"No! No!" cried Bunny. "I don't want the stick, Splash! Take it to +Tom—out in the boat—take it to him!" and he pointed to Tom.</p> + +<p>Once more Bunny threw the stick into the water, and once more Splash +sprang in and brought it to shore. It was not until Bunny had told +Splash four times, that the dog knew what was wanted.</p> + +<p>Then the fifth time, when Bunny threw the stick into the water, Splash +jumped in after it and swam out to Tom in the boat. Tom kept calling:</p> + +<p>"Here, Splash! Here, Splash! Come on, good dog!"</p> + +<p>Up to the boat, with the stick and cord, swam the dog. Tom made the +string fast to the boat, and then Bunny and Sue, standing on shore, +pulled on their end. They pulled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>slowly at first, so as not to break +the cord. But, once the boat was started, it came along easily, and soon +Tom was on dry land again. Splash swam along behind the boat.</p> + +<p>"There!" Tom cried, as he tied the boat fast. "I'll never do that +again!"</p> + +<p>"We're not let get in the boat," said Bunny, "but I guess daddy forgot +to tell you."</p> + +<p>"If he had I'd never have gotten in," Tom said. "But I'm glad you pulled +me to shore."</p> + +<p>The rest of the campers came back soon after that, and Mr. Brown got Tom +to promise never to get in the boat alone again. Of course Tom was not +in any real danger as long as he kept still, and Mr. Brown might easily +have gone out and rescued him in another boat. But I think it was very +clever of Bunny and Sue, and Splash, too, to get Tom back to shore as +they did; don't you?</p> + +<p>There were many happy, joyful days at Camp Rest-a-While. The children +went on little picnics in the woods and often they were taken out in the +boat by Bunker Blue. Bunny had a real fishpole and line and hook now, +with "squiggily" worms, as Sue called them, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>for bait, and the little +boy caught some real fish.</p> + +<p>It was about a week after Tom's adventure in the drifting boat that one +day, as he was walking through the woods with Bunny and Sue, on their +way back from a farmhouse where they had gone after milk, that Tom +suddenly came to a stop along the path.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute!" he said in a whisper, to Bunny and Sue.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" Bunny wanted to know. "You look afraid, Tom. Are +you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am," said Tom, and even Sue could tell that he was when she +looked at him.</p> + +<p>"Did you—did you see a snake?" she asked, drawing closer to Bunny, for +Sue did not like snakes, either.</p> + +<p>"No, it wasn't a snake," returned Tom. "It was a man. Here, come on back +among the bushes, and he can't see us," and, as he spoke, Tom drew Bunny +and Sue away from the path, behind some thick bushes. Tom seemed very +much afraid of something. And he had said he had seen a man. Bunny and +Sue could not imagine why Tom should be afraid of a man.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>THE CROSS MAN</h3> + + +<p>"Come on! Come on!" whispered Tom to Bunny and Sue, as he led them still +deeper back in among the bushes. "Don't let him hear you! Come on, and +we'll hide!"</p> + +<p>"Who is it? What's the matter?" Bunny wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" whispered Tom. "It's that man! He's after me, I guess. I'll tell +you about it when we get away. He's coming! Hurry!"</p> + +<p>Certainly someone, or something, was coming along the path from which +Tom and the two children had just stepped to go in among the bushes. Tom +was in such a hurry that he pulled Bunny and Sue along with him harder +than he meant to. Finally Bunny said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Tom, I'm spilling the milk!"</p> + +<p>Bunny was carrying the pail of milk they had bought at the farmhouse, +and, though the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>pail had a cover on it, some of the milk had splashed +out, and was running down Bunny's stocking.</p> + +<p>"Set the pail down here, and we'll get it when we come back—after that +man goes," Tom said, in a whisper.</p> + +<p>Bunny put the pail down on the ground, near a big stone, so he would +know where to look for it again. Then, to hide, they all squeezed as far +back in the bushes as they could, and waited.</p> + +<p>"Is he coming after us?" asked Sue in a whisper.</p> + +<p>"No, I guess he's only after me," answered Tom. "He won't touch you or +Bunny."</p> + +<p>"Is it a Gypsy man?" Bunny wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"No, he isn't a Gypsy," replied Tom. "He's just a cross, bad man; and I +don't want him to see me. Keep your heads down."</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue did so. Like frightened rabbits they crouched among the +bushes. Tom kept hold of their hands, and though the children knew that +Tom was afraid, for he had said so, still Bunny and Sue were not very +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>much frightened, as long as the man was not a Gypsy and did not want +them.</p> + +<p>"There! He's gone past!" exclaimed Tom, as he stood up to look over the +tops of the bushes. "He's gone, and we can come out. He didn't see +us—he won't get me this time."</p> + +<p>"But who was he?" Bunny wanted to know. Tom, however, did not seem to +hear him. Still holding Bunny and Sue by the hand, Tom led them back to +the path. Bunny picked up the pail of milk.</p> + +<p>"I'll carry it for you," Tom said. "We've got to hurry back to camp."</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked Sue. "I can't hurry very much, for my legs hurt."</p> + +<p>"I'll carry you," said Tom, "if Bunny will take the milk pail."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll do that," said the little boy.</p> + +<p>Once more he took the pail, while Tom hoisted Sue up onto his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Give me a piggy-back!" Sue begged, so Tom carried her pickaback, while +Sue held tightly to her doll. Tom marched ahead along the path, and soon +they were safely at the tent. Before Tom could say anything, Bun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>ny and +Sue, seeing their father and mother, called out:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Tom saw a man, and we hid!"</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Brown did not know what this meant.</p> + +<p>"What sort of man was he?" asked Mrs. Brown quickly.</p> + +<p>"He wasn't a Gypsy man," Bunny said.</p> + +<p>"But he was after Tom, only he didn't see us," added Sue. "And I had a +piggy-back ride home, and some milk got spilled on Bunny's stocking, but +not much, and I'm hungry!"</p> + +<p>Sue believed in telling everything at once, to have it over with.</p> + +<p>"What is it all about?" asked Mr. Brown of Tom. "Did you and the +children really, hide from a man?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"What man was it? I hope there aren't any tramps in these woods."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, he wasn't a tramp. He was the farmer I told you about—the one +I worked for, and from whom I ran away. I guess he was looking for me," +Tom answered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Hum," said Mr. Brown. "Well, I suppose we'll have to wait and see what +he wants. Was he coming this way?"</p> + +<p>"No, he seemed to be wandering through the woods, as if he didn't know +where to go."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, maybe he won't find you," said Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"I hope he doesn't," returned Tom, looking over his shoulder.</p> + +<p>No strange man came to camp that night, and Bunny and Sue soon forgot +all about the little fright Tom had had. But two days later, just as +dinner was finished, there came a man rowing in a boat to the little +wooden camp-dock Bunker Blue had built out into the lake.</p> + +<p>Out of the boat climbed a man with black whiskers. He had on big, heavy +boots, and in one hand he carried a whip. He walked up the path from the +lake, and when he saw Mr. Brown and his family at the table, under the +tent, which was wide open, the man stood still.</p> + +<p>"Camp Rest-a-While, eh?" he said in rather a rough voice, as he read the +sign. "Well, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>maybe this is the place I'm looking for. Have you seen a +boy—a ragged boy—about fifteen years old in these woods?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Before Mr. Brown could answer, Tom Vine, who had gone to the spring for +a pail of water, came back. At the sight of the man Tom dropped the +pail, spilling the water. At the same time the "ragged boy" cried out:</p> + +<p>"There he is! There's the man! He's after me! Oh, please don't let him +take me away!"</p> + +<p>Tom turned to run back into the woods, but Mr. Brown called to him:</p> + +<p>"Stay right where you are, Tom! This man won't hurt you. Stay where you +are."</p> + +<p>Though he was much frightened, Tom stood still.</p> + +<p>"Now then, what do you want?" asked Mr. Brown of the man with the whip.</p> + +<p>"I want that boy!" answered the man, pointing the whip at poor Tom. "I +hired him to work for me, but he ran away. I want him back, and I'm +going to have him!"</p> + +<p>And oh, what a rough, cross voice the man had! He wasn't at all nice, +Bunny and Sue thought.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I've been looking for that boy, and now I've found him. I want to take +him back with me," the cross man went on. "I was hunting all through +these woods for him, and yesterday I heard that a boy like him was in a +camp over here. So I came for to find out about it, and I've found him!"</p> + +<p>"Is that the man you saw in the woods, when we went after milk the other +day, Tom?" asked Bunny in a whisper.</p> + +<p>"Yes," nodded Tom.</p> + +<p>"Well, if this boy doesn't want to go with you I'm not going to make +him," said Mr. Brown. "He came to us, and said you had not treated him +well. I'll not send him back to you. Are you the farmer who hired him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm that farmer," said the man, scowling. "Jake Trimble is my +name, and when I want a thing I get it! I want that boy!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, please don't make me go back to work for him!" begged Tom. "He beat +me, and he didn't give me enough to eat!"</p> + +<p>"Don't be, afraid," said Mr. Brown. "He shan't have you!"</p> + +<p>"I say I will!" cried the cross man. "That <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>boy hired out to work for +me, and I want him!"</p> + +<p>"You can't have him," said Mr. Brown quietly. "And I want you to go away +from here. This is my camp, and it is a private one. Go. You can't have +this boy."</p> + +<p>"But he ran away from me!" said the cross man.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he did. He said he could not stand the way you treated him. Any +boy would have run away," replied Mr. Brown. "I'm looking after this boy +now, and I say you can't have him."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll get him, somehow, you see if I don't!" cried the cross man, +as he turned to go back to his boat. And he shook his whip at Tom. "I'll +get you yet!" he said. "And when I do I'll make you work twice as hard. +You'll see!"</p> + +<p>"Don't be afraid, Tom," said Mr. Brown, when the unkind man was gone. "I +won't let him hurt you."</p> + +<p>Tom picked up the overturned pail, and went again to the spring for +water. When he came back he said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That was the farmer I met in the city. He took me out to his place, and +was very mean to me. I just had to run away. I didn't think he'd try to +find me. But I knew he must be looking for me when we saw him in the +woods that day. I hid away from him then, but now he knows where I am."</p> + +<p>"Don't you care," said Sue. "My daddy won't let him hurt you; will you, +Daddy?" and she put her arms around her father's neck.</p> + +<p>"We'll take care of Tom," said Mr. Brown. "I guess that man won't come +back."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>A BAD STORM</h3> + + +<p>Bunker Blue was sitting out in front of the big camp-tent, on a bench, +one day, with a pile of long sticks in front of him. With his knife +Bunker was whittling the sticks to sharp points.</p> + +<p>Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, who had been out in the woods, gathering +wild flowers for the dinner table, came up to Bunker, and Bunny asked:</p> + +<p>"What you doing, Bunker?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I'm sharpening these sticks, Bunny," was the answer.</p> + +<p>"What for?" asked Sue, as she put her wax doll down in the shade, so the +sun would not melt the nose.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know!" cried Bunny. "You're making arrows! Are you going to have +a bow, and shoot the arrows like an Indian, Bunker?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bunker Blue shook his head and smiled.</p> + +<p>"You'll have to guess again, Bunny," he said.</p> + +<p>Bunny took up one of the pointed sticks.</p> + +<p>"Are they spears?" asked the little boy, as he put his finger gently on +the sharp point. "Indians use spears to catch fish. Are you going to do +that, Bunker?"</p> + +<p>Bunker shook his head.</p> + +<p>"You haven't guessed yet," he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, tell us!" begged Sue. "Is it a secret?"</p> + +<p>"Sort of," said Bunker.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how nice!" cried Sue. "I just love to guess secrets! Let me have a +turn, Bunny."</p> + +<p>The two children sat down in the shade near the tent. Bunker kept on +making sharp-pointed sticks with his knife. Over in the dining-tent Tom +Vine was setting the dinner table. This was some days after the cross +man had come to the camp and had gone away. He had not come back since.</p> + +<p>"Well, what is your guess, Sue?" asked Bunker, as he kept on making the +sharp-pointed sticks.</p> + +<p>"Let me see," pondered the little girl. "Oh!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> I know what they are for. +You're going to put some other pieces of wood on the end of these +sticks, Bunker, and make croquet mallets of them so we can have a game!"</p> + +<p>"Is that it?" asked Bunny. "Is it for croquet?"</p> + +<p>"No, that isn't what they're for," answered Bunker, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Anyhow," went on Bunny Brown, "we couldn't play croquet in the woods +here, 'cause we haven't any croquet balls."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we might use round stones, mightn't we, Bunker?" Sue asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we might," replied Bunker slowly, as he laid down one +sharp-pointed stick and began whittling another. "We might, but that +isn't the secret."</p> + +<p>"Now, it's my turn to guess!" said Bunny. "You had a turn, Sue."</p> + +<p>"Well, what do you say it is?" asked Bunker. "Go on, Bunny."</p> + +<p>Bunny thought for about half a minute.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to make a trap to catch something?" the little boy asked. +Ever since he had come to Camp Rest-a-While he had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>begged Bunker to +make a trap to catch a fox, or a squirrel, or something like that. Bunny +did not want to hurt the wild animals, but he thought he would like to +catch one in a trap, and try to tame it.</p> + +<p>"No, I'm not making a trap," answered Bunker. "I don't believe you +children could guess what these sticks are for if you tried all day. +And, as it isn't my secret, I don't believe I'd better tell you. You go +and ask your mother—it's mostly her secret—and if she wants to tell +you—why, all right."</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll go and ask mother!" cried Bunny. "Come on, Sue!"</p> + +<p>The two children found Mrs. Brown in the cooking-tent, getting dinner +ready.</p> + +<p>"What's the secret?" cried Sue.</p> + +<p>"What is Bunker making all the sharp-pointed sticks for?" Bunny wanted +to know.</p> + +<p>Their mother smiled at them. From a shelf over the oil stove she took +down a large platter on which she put the eggs she was cooking.</p> + +<p>"What is the secret, Mother?" begged Bunny. "Please tell us!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," added Sue. "We've guessed and guessed, but we can't guess right. +Bunker said you might tell us."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown laughed, and, after she had put the platter of eggs on the +table, she pointed to two large, round, tin boxes on a chair in the big +tent.</p> + +<p>"Can you read what it says on those boxes?" Mrs. Brown asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>Bunny looked at the long word.</p> + +<p>"It begins with a 'M'," he said, "and the next letter is 'A' and then +comes——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know what's next!" cried Sue. "It's a 'R.' I can tell by the +funny little tail that kicks up behind. It's just like the 'B' for Brown +in our name, only the R has a kick-up tail at the end. That letter is a +'R'; isn't it, Mother?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Mrs. Brown. "But what is the whole word, Bunny? If you +can tell what it is you'll know the secret."</p> + +<p>Bunny could spell out each letter one after another and he did, until he +had spelled this big word:</p> + +<div class='center'> +MARSHMALLOW<br /></div> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<p>But he could not say it. The word was too big for him. So his mother +said it for him.</p> + +<p>"Those are marshmallow candies in the tin boxes," said Mrs. Brown. "Now +can you guess the secret?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know!" cried Sue. "We're going to have a marshmallow roast by the +campfire to-night! Is that it, Mother? And the sharp sticks Bunker is +making are to put the marshmallow candies on to hold over the fire and +roast! Isn't that it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sue, you have guessed it."</p> + +<p>"Pooh! I was just going to say that," cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Well, Sue said it first, dear," went on Bunny's mother. "Now get ready +for dinner. After dinner we'll take a nice walk, and this evening, when +it gets dark, Uncle Tad is going to build a campfire and we'll all roast +marshmallows."</p> + +<p>"Oh, what fun!" cried Sue, clapping her hands.</p> + +<p>"Jolly, jolly fun!" laughed Bunny.</p> + +<p>And that was why Bunker Blue was making the pointed sticks.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now for our walk!" called Mother Brown, when the dinner things had been +cleared away, and Tom Vine had washed and dried the dishes, Bunny and +Sue helping. "We'll take a walk over near the waterfall. I want to take +a picture of it."</p> + +<p>But, when they were all ready to start—Bunker Blue, Splash and all—Tom +Vine could not be found.</p> + +<p>"Why, where is he?" asked Bunny. "He was here a minute ago, for I saw +him."</p> + +<p>"Maybe he's losted," said Sue. She and Bunny got lost or "losted," as +they called it, so often, that Sue thought that trouble could very +easily happen to anyone.</p> + +<p>"No, he isn't lost," said Daddy Brown. "Tom! Tom!" he called. "Where are +you?"</p> + +<p>"I'm here," was the answer, and Tom stood up. He had been sitting behind +a thick bush, down near the edge of the lake.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we were looking for you," Mr. Brown said. "Don't you want to come +for a walk with us? We are going over toward the waterfall. It is very +nice there."</p> + +<p>Tom shook his head.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't believe I'll go, thank you," he said.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Don't you feel well? Don't you like to +walk in the woods, Tom?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes'm, I like the woods, and I feel fine. I never had such good +things to eat as I've had in this camp."</p> + +<p>"Then why don't you want to come with us?"</p> + +<p>"Well—er—well, because, you see that farmer I worked for lives over +near the waterfall, and maybe he'll catch me if I go there."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I won't let him catch you!" exclaimed Mr. Brown. "Come along, Tom. +I'll look after you."</p> + +<p>Then Tom came out of his hiding place, where he had gone after he heard +Mrs. Brown say they were going to the fall. Soon the party of campers +were marching through the woods, Tom holding Bunny's hand, while Bunker +Blue looked after Sue.</p> + +<p>The waterfall was very pretty, the water from a small river falling down +over green, mossy rocks, into a deep glen, foaming and bubbling. Mrs. +Brown took some pictures <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>with her photograph camera, and then they sat +down in a shady spot, and ate a little lunch they had brought with them. +Splash, the big dog, had his share, too.</p> + +<p>And that night was the grand marshmallow candy roast. Uncle Tad built a +fire of wood in front of the big tent. When the smoke and the hottest +flames had died away Bunny and Sue and the others, sitting on logs +around the fire, toasted the candies, holding them over the fire on the +pointed ends of the sticks Bunker Blue had made with his sharp knife.</p> + +<p>"Oh, aren't they good!" cried Sue, as she began to eat a candy she had +roasted.</p> + +<p>"Look out! They're hot!" called Uncle Tad. But he was too late.</p> + +<p>"Ouch!" cried Sue, as the hot candy burned her tongue. "Oh, it hurts!" +she sobbed. "It hurts me!"</p> + +<p>But Mother Brown put some cold, sweet cream on Sue's tongue, and soon +the burning pain stopped.</p> + +<p>After that Sue waited until the brown and roasted candy had cooled +before she ate any.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" suddenly cried Bunny, as he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>was roasting a marshmallow for +himself. "Oh, dear!"</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with you?" asked his father. "Did you burn your +tongue, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>"No, but my candy slipped off my stick, and it's all burning up in the +fire."</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said Mother Brown. "Here's another candy. Next time don't +hold the marshmallow over the fire so long. That makes it soft, so it +melts, and it won't stay on the stick."</p> + +<p>After Bunny and Sue learned how to do it they had no trouble roasting +the marshmallows. Everyone roasted some except Splash, and he was very +glad to eat the browned and puffed-up sweets, even if he could not hold +them over the fire. But Splash took good care not to burn his tongue, as +Sue had burned hers.</p> + +<p>When the candies were all roasted, and eaten, it was time to go to bed. +After Bunny and Sue were tucked in their cots, Bunny heard his father +and Bunker Blue going about outside the tent. They seemed to be doing +something to the ropes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What are you doing, Daddy?" Bunny asked.</p> + +<p>"I think there's going to be a storm," answered Mr. Brown, "and I want +to be sure the tents won't blow away. I'm making the ropes tight."</p> + +<p>Pretty soon everyone at Camp Rest-a-While was in bed. It was not long +before the wind began to blow and then, all at once, there came a bright +flash of lightning, and a loud clap of thunder.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what's that?" cried Bunny, sitting up in his cot, for the noise had +awakened him. "What's the matter?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"It's a thunder storm," replied his father. "Go to sleep, for it can't +hurt you."</p> + +<p>But Bunny could not go to sleep, nor could Sue. She, too, was awakened +by the bright lightning, and the loud thunder. The wind, too, blew very +hard, and it shook the sleeping tent as if it would tear it loose from +the ropes.</p> + +<p>"Do you think it is safe?" asked Mother Brown.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I think so," answered her husband. "Bunker and I put on some extra +ropes be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>fore we came in. I guess the tent won't blow away."</p> + +<p>Everyone was wide awake now. The storm was a very heavy one. The wind +howled through the trees in the wood, and, now and then, a loud crash +could be heard, as some tree branch broke off and fell to the ground.</p> + +<p>Then, suddenly, it began to rain very hard. My! how the big drops did +pelt down on the tent, sounding like dried corn falling on a tin pan!</p> + +<p>"Oh, the rain is coming in on me!" cried Bunny. "I'm getting all wet, +Daddy!"</p> + +<p>Surely enough, there was a little hole in the tent, right over Bunny's +cot, and the rain was coming in there.</p> + +<p>"Swish!" went the lightning.</p> + +<p>"Bang!" went the thunder.</p> + +<p>"Whoo-ee!" blew the wind.</p> + +<p>It was certainly a bad storm at Camp Rest-a-While.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>TOM IS GONE</h3> + + +<p>"Daddy! Daddy!" cried Sue, from behind the curtain, in the part of the +tent where she slept with her mother. "Daddy, do you think we'll blow +away?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," answered Mr. Brown. "Don't be afraid. Bunker and I fastened +down the tent good and strong. It can't blow over."</p> + +<p>"But I'm getting all wet!" cried Bunny. "The water's leaking all over my +bed, Daddy!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I didn't know there was a hole in the tent. I'll fix it +to-morrow," said Bunny's father. "You get in my bed, Bunny!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, goodie!" Bunny cried. He always liked to get in his father's bed.</p> + +<p>But as Bunny jumped out of his own little cot, and pattered in his bare +feet across to his father's, he saw Daddy Brown getting up.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> Mr. Brown +was putting on a pair of rubber boots, and a rubber coat over his bath +robe, which he had put on when the storm began.</p> + +<p>"Where you going, Daddy?" asked Bunny, as he crawled into the dry bed, +and pulled the covers up over him, for the wind was blowing in the tent +now. "Where you going?"</p> + +<p>"I'm going out to see that the tent ropes are all right," said Mr. +Brown.</p> + +<p>"Going out? What for?" called Mrs. Brown. "You musn't go out in this +storm. It's terrible!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, but I must go!" answered Daddy Brown with a laugh. "I don't mind +the thunder, lightning and rain. If some of the tent pegs come loose, +the ropes will slip off, and the tent will blow over. Bunker Blue and I +will go out and make sure everything is all right."</p> + +<p>"I could go with you," said Uncle Tad from his cot. "Shall I?"</p> + +<p>"No, you stay where you are," Daddy Brown said. "You might get the +rheumatism if you got wet."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I used to get wet enough when I was in the army," returned the old +soldier. "Many a time, when it stormed, I used to get up to fix the +tent."</p> + +<p>"Well, Bunker and I will do it now, thank you," Mr. Brown went on. By +this time Bunker Blue had on his rubber boots and coat. Then, taking a +lantern with them, Mr. Brown and Bunker went outside.</p> + +<p>"Fasten the tent door after us, Tom," called Mr. Brown to the city boy, +"or everything will blow away inside. Tie the tent flaps shut with the +ropes, and you can open them for us when we want to come in again."</p> + +<p>Out in the storm went Daddy Brown and Bunker Blue. As they opened the +flaps, or front door of the tent, a big gust of wind came in, and dashed +rain in Bunny's face, so that he covered his head with the bed clothes. +He had one look at a bright flash of lightning, and he could see the +ground outside all covered with water.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad I don't have to go out in the storm," he thought, and he felt +sorry for his father and Bunker Blue.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Mr. Brown had often been out on the ocean in worse storms than this, +and so had Bunker, so they did not mind. With their lantern they walked +all around the sleeping-tent, making sure that all the ropes were fast +to the pegs, which were driven into the ground. Some of the wooden pegs +were coming loose, and these Mr. Brown and Bunker hammered farther into +the dirt.</p> + +<p>All the while the wind blew, and the rain pelted down, while the +lightning flashed brighter, and the thunder rumbled so loudly that it +scared Sue.</p> + +<p>"I—I don't like it!" she sobbed, and she crept into bed with her +mother. "Please make it stop, Mother!"</p> + +<p>"No one can make the thunder stop, Sue, dear," said Mrs. Brown. "But the +thunder won't hurt you, and the storm is almost over."</p> + +<p>Just then there came a very loud clap.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" cried Sue. "I'se afraid!"</p> + +<p>Bunny heard his sister, and called out:</p> + +<p>"That sounded just like Fourth of July; didn't it, Sue? When the big +boys fired the cannon on top of the hill."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Isn't you afraid, Bunny?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"No, I—I like it," Bunny answered.</p> + +<p>He tried to make himself believe he did, so Sue would not be so +frightened.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you isn't afraid I isn't goin' to be, either," said Sue, after +a moment. And she stopped crying at once, and lay quietly in her +mother's cot-bed. And then the storm seemed to go away. It still rained +very hard, but the wind did not howl so loudly, and the lightning was +not so scary, nor the thunder so rumbly.</p> + +<p>The rain still leaked in through the hole in the tent, but Tom Vine +moved Bunny's cot out of the way, and set a pail under the leak.</p> + +<p>All at once there sounded a banging noise, as if a whole store full of +pots and pans and kettles had been turned upside down.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what's that?" cried Mother Brown.</p> + +<p>"Sounded as if something blew away," said Uncle Tad. "I'll get up and +look."</p> + +<p>But he did not have to, for, just then, in came Daddy Brown and Bunker +Blue, their rubber coats all shining wet in the lantern light.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What made that noise?" asked Mother Brown.</p> + +<p>"The cook-tent blew over," said Daddy Brown, "and all the pots, pans and +kettles fell in a heap. But we'll let them go until morning, I guess, as +the worst of the storm is over. Now we'll all go to bed again."</p> + +<p>"This tent won't blow over; will it, Daddy?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"No, it's all safe now. Go to sleep."</p> + +<p>But it was some little time before they were all asleep again. Nothing +more happened that night, and Bunny and Sue were up very early the next +morning to see what the storm had done.</p> + +<p>Camp Rest-a-While was not a pretty sight.</p> + +<p>Besides the cook-tent having been blown over, there were broken branches +of trees scattered about. The tents were covered with leaves blown from +the trees, and there were many mud puddles.</p> + +<p>The oil stove, and the pots, pans and other things, with which Mother +Brown cooked, were piled in a heap under the fallen cook-tent. The tent +itself was soaking wet, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>one of the poles that had held it up was +broken.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we can't ever have anything to eat!" said Sue sadly, as she looked +at the fallen tent.</p> + +<p>"We can build a campfire," said Bunny. "Uncle Tad used to cook breakfast +over one; didn't you?" and he turned to the old soldier.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Bunny, I did. But I guess we won't have to this time. We'll soon +have the oil stove working."</p> + +<p>Then he and Daddy Brown, with Bunker Blue and Tom Vine, set to work. The +blown-down tent was pulled to one side, and it was seen that though +everything under it was in a heap, still nothing was broken.</p> + +<p>Soon some milk was being warmed for the children, and coffee made for +the older folk. Then Mother Brown even made pancakes on the oil stove, +which was set up on a box at one side of the dining-tent. The day was a +fine one, and there was not enough wind to make the stove smoke.</p> + +<p>So they had breakfast after all, and then began the work of making Camp +Rest-a-While look as it had before the storm. A new <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>tent pole was cut, +and the tent put up again, stronger than before. Bunny and Sue helped by +picking up the scattered pieces of tree branches, and piling them in a +heap. Then they swept up the torn-off leaves, and by this time the sun +had dried up some of the puddles of water. By noon time the camp looked +as well as it had before the storm.</p> + +<p>"And don't forget to fix the hole over my cot," cried Bunny. "I don't +want to be rained on any more, Daddy."</p> + +<p>"I'll fix it," said Mr. Brown, and he did.</p> + +<p>"I didn't hear any fire engines last night," <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Said'">said</ins> Tom Vine as they sat +at supper that evening, after coming in from a little sail around the +lake, Bunker having fixed a sail onto the rowboat.</p> + +<p>"Fire engines!" exclaimed Bunny. "Why should you hear fire engines, +Tom?"</p> + +<p>"Why, in the city, where I lived, before I went with that farmer, the +fire engines used to come out after every storm. Places would be struck +by lightning, you know. I've seen lots of fires. But I didn't hear any +engines last night."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There aren't any engines in these woods," said Daddy Brown. "Of course +trees are often struck by lightning, and lightning often sets fire to +houses in the country, but there aren't any engines out in the woods."</p> + +<p>"And no policeman, either," added Tom. "It seems funny not to see a +policeman, and have him yell at you to move on, or keep off the grass."</p> + +<p>"Do you like it better here than in the city?" asked Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Oh, heaps better, yes'm! I love it here. I hope I don't ever have to go +back to the city—or to that mean farmer."</p> + +<p>Nothing had been seen of the man who wanted to get Tom back, since that +day when he had called at the camp. Bunny and Sue had almost <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'forgotton'">forgotten</ins> +him, but it seemed that Tom had not. He was always a little bit afraid, +thinking that the cross man might come back.</p> + +<p>One morning, two days after the big storm, when Bunny, Sue and all the +others were gathered around the breakfast table, Daddy Brown asked:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Where is Tom Vine?"</p> + +<p>"He was here a minute ago," Bunny said.</p> + +<p>"I think he went to the spring to get a pail of water," put in Uncle +Tad.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's where he went," said Mrs. Brown. "I said we would need some +fresh water, and he went after it."</p> + +<p>"Well, we won't wait for him," said Daddy Brown. "We'll eat, and he can +have his breakfast when he comes."</p> + +<p>But the others had finished breakfast, and Tom Vine had not come back +from the spring, though they waited for some time.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what's keeping him," said Mrs. Brown.</p> + +<p>"He couldn't have fallen in; could he?" asked Uncle Tad.</p> + +<p>"No, the spring isn't large enough," Bunker Blue answered. "I'll go to +look for him."</p> + +<p>Bunker ran off along the path that led to the spring. In a little while +he came hurrying back. He carried a pail full of water, and he said:</p> + +<p>"I found the empty pail by the spring, but Tom was gone!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>LOOKING FOR TOM</h3> + + +<p>Bunker Blue, with the pail of water, walked up to where Bunny, Sue and +the others were still sitting at the breakfast table, though they had +finished eating.</p> + +<p>"Tom's gone," said Bunker again.</p> + +<p>"Gone where?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," answered the red-haired boy. "I looked all around by the +spring, but I couldn't see him. The pail was there, but Tom wasn't."</p> + +<p>"Could he have fallen in?" asked Mrs. Brown, just as Uncle Tad had +asked.</p> + +<p>Bunker Blue shook his head.</p> + +<p>"The spring is only about big enough to dip a pail in," he said, "and +Tom is bigger than the pail."</p> + +<p>"But maybe he curled all up in a little heap when he fell in," said +Bunny. "Oh, dear! I don't want Tom to be lost!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue had grown to like Tom very much.</p> + +<p>Once more Bunker Blue shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I could look right down to the bottom of the spring," he said. "It's +quite deep, even if it isn't big. But Tom wasn't in it. There was a big +bullfrog in the water, though."</p> + +<p>"Was the frog big enough to—to eat Tom?" asked Sue, her eyes wide open.</p> + +<p>Sue's mother and father laughed, and Bunny said:</p> + +<p>"A bullfrog couldn't eat anybody!"</p> + +<p>"They could if they was a big enough frog; couldn't they, Daddy?" asked +Sue.</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know," replied Mr. Brown. "Then you couldn't see anything +of Tom, Bunker?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir, not a thing."</p> + +<p>"Had he filled the pail with water?" Uncle Tad wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"The pail was empty, and it was tipped over," Bunker said. "I don't know +whether Tom had filled it, and then something had knocked it over, or +not. Anyhow, the pail had no water in it, so I dipped it into the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>spring to fill it, and came on back to tell you."</p> + +<p>"That was right," said Mr. Brown. "We'll go over and look around. Tom +may have seen some new kind of bird, or something like that, and have +wandered off in the woods, following it."</p> + +<p>"Maybe he saw a bear, and ran," suggested Bunny.</p> + +<p>"No, I guess the only bear around here is the tame one that came in our +tent the first night," said Mrs. Brown. "Oh, I do hope nothing has +happened to Tom!"</p> + +<p>They all hoped that, for the strange boy was very well liked.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown remained at the tent to wash the breakfast dishes, since Tom +was not there to do them, while the others—Bunny, Sue, their father, +Uncle Tad and Bunker—went to the spring. It was on the side of a little +hill, where grew many trees, and was about three minutes' walk from Camp +Rest-a-While.</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad looked all around the hole in the ground—the +hole was the spring, and it was filled with clear, cold <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>water. The +bottom of the spring was of white sand, and sitting down there, having a +nice bath, was a big, green bullfrog. With his funny eyes he looked up +at Bunny and Sue as they leaned over the spring.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look!" cried Sue. "What a big frog!"</p> + +<p>"But he isn't big enough to swallow Tom," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"No, that's so," agreed Mr. Brown. "We'll have to look for Tom. Bunny +and Sue, you stay with me. Uncle Tad, you and Bunker walk around in the +woods. It may be that Tom fell and hurt himself, when running after a +bird or butterfly, and can't walk. We'll find him."</p> + +<p>Tom, having lived all his life in the city, thought the birds and +butterflies were most wonderful creatures. Every time he saw a new one +he would run up to it to get a close look. He never tried to catch them, +he just wanted to watch them fluttering about the flowers.</p> + +<p>But, though they looked all around in the woods by the spring, there was +no sign of Tom. Up and down, back and forth, they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>walked, looking +beside big rocks or stumps, behind fallen logs and under clumps of +bushes they peered, but no Tom could they find.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he's losted, just like we was losted," said Sue, sadly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I guess he is," agreed Bunny. "Splash, can't you find Tom?"</p> + +<p>The big dog barked: "Bow-wow!" But what he meant by that no one knew. +Splash, however, could not find Tom.</p> + +<p>"Let's call his name," said Uncle Tad.</p> + +<p>So they called his name.</p> + +<p>"Tom! Tom! Tom Vine! Where are you?"</p> + +<p>But Tom did not answer.</p> + +<p>"This is queer," said Mr. Brown. "I don't believe he'd run away and +leave us. He liked it too much at our camp."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he saw that mean man," said Bunker Blue. "Tom may have seen the +cross farmer who wanted him to come back to work, and Tom may have run +away off and hid—so far off that he can't hear us calling."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's so. He <i>may</i> have done that," agreed Mr. Brown. "We'll go +back to camp, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>and wait for him. He may come when he thinks the man has +gone away."</p> + +<p>Back to camp they all went. Bunny and Sue felt bad about Tom's being +lost. So did the others. Every time Splash would stop in front of a +clump of bushes, and bark, as he often did, Bunny and Sue would run up, +thinking their friend had been found.</p> + +<p>But it would be only a bird, a rabbit or a squirrel that Splash had +seen, which made him bark that way. Tom was not to be found.</p> + +<p>They waited in camp all the rest of that day, only going out a little +way for a row on the lake. Night came, and there was no Tom. It grew +very dark, and still he had not come.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" cried Sue. "Will he have to sleep out alone all night?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he'll come back before you are awake in the morning," said +Mother Brown. "Anyhow, Tom isn't afraid of the dark, and it is now so +warm that anyone could sleep out of doors and not get cold. I think Tom +will be here in the morning."</p> + +<p>But morning came, and there was no sign of Tom. A lantern had been left +burning out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>side the tent all night, in case he should come. But he did +not.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mr. Brown, after breakfast, "there's only one thing to do, +and I'm going to do it."</p> + +<p>"What is that?" asked his wife.</p> + +<p>"I'm going over to Farmer Trimble's, to see if Tom is there."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Trimble is the name of the man who wanted to take Tom away; isn't +it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's the man who came here, and tried to get Tom. It may be that +Mr. Trimble saw Tom at the spring, getting water, and made him go away. +So I'm going over to the Trimble farm, and see."</p> + +<p>"Oh, may we come?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mr. Brown. "I guess so. I'll take you and Bunker Blue with +me. And if we find Tom we'll bring him back with us. That man has no +right to keep him!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>"WHO TOOK THE PIE?"</h3> + + +<p>The shortest way to go to the Trimble farm was to row across the lake in +the boat, and then to walk a little distance through the wood. Mr. +Brown, with Bunny and Sue, started, with Bunker Blue at the oars, +dipping them in the water, pulling hard on them, and lifting them out +for another dip.</p> + +<p>"Don't row too hard, Bunker," said Mr. Brown. "It is a hot day, and I +don't want you to get tired out. Besides, we are in no hurry, so take it +easy."</p> + +<p>At the last minute, Splash, the dog, had run down the hill to the lake, +and climbed into the boat. He did not want to be left behind.</p> + +<p>"May we take him, Daddy?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes. Let him come along. He's a good dog, and maybe he can help us +find Tom."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> + +<p>Splash was a regular water-dog. He could swim across the lake, he could +jump in and bring back sticks that Bunny or Sue would toss in, and he +liked to be in a boat. Splash knew that dogs, as well as boys and girls, +must keep quiet in boats, especially small boats, so they would not tip +over. And now Splash perched himself up in the bow, or front part of the +boat, and quietly sat there, looking across at the other shore.</p> + +<p>Bunny looked down over the side, where he was sitting, and saw some fish +swimming about, for the water of the lake was very clear.</p> + +<p>"I wish I had brought my fishpole," Bunny said. "I could catch some fish +for dinner."</p> + +<p>"We've something else to do besides catching fish to-day, Bunny," +replied his father. "We've got to find Tom Vine."</p> + +<p>"Do you think we'll find him, Daddy?" asked Sue, as she hugged one of +her dolls, which she had brought with her.</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe so, little girl. I can't think of anything else that would +happen to Tom, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>except that he would be taken by Mr. Trimble. I think +we'll find him."</p> + +<p>They were half way across the lake when Sue suddenly cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, there she goes! Oh, she's fallen in!"</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Mr. Brown, turning around quickly, for he was seated +with his back toward his little girl.</p> + +<p>"It's my doll!" Sue cried. "She jumped right out of my arms, and fell in +the lake."</p> + +<p>I guess Sue meant that her doll slipped out of her arms, for dolls can't +jump—at least not unless they have a spring wound up inside them, like +an alarm clock, and Sue's doll wasn't that kind.</p> + +<p>"Stop the boat, Bunker! Row back!" cried Mr. Brown. "Sue's doll fell +overboard, and we don't want to lose her!"</p> + +<p>Bunker stopped rowing, and he was reaching out with an oar to pull in +the doll, which was floating like a little boat on top of the water, not +far away. But before Bunker could save the doll, Splash, with a loud +bark, jumped in and swam out toward the plaything of his little +mistress.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> + +<p>Seizing the doll in his mouth, Splash swam back with her to the boat. +Bunny stretched out his hand to take the doll, but Splash would not give +it up to him. The dog knew that boys don't play with dolls, and that +this one belonged to Sue. So Splash swam around to the other side of the +boat where Sue was anxiously waiting, and he let her take the doll from +his mouth.</p> + +<p>"Good dog!" cried Sue, patting him with one hand. Then she began to +squeeze the water out of her doll's dress.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad I didn't bring my best doll," said Sue. "This is only one of +my old ones, and it won't hurt her to get wet. I was going to give her a +bath, anyhow, but I didn't mean to leave her clothes on. Anyhow, she'll +soon dry, I guess."</p> + +<p>Sue put the doll down beside her, on the seat, where the hot sun would +dry up the water. Splash put his two paws on the edge of the boat, and +Mr. Brown and Bunker Blue helped him in.</p> + +<p>"Now you be quiet, Splash!" called Mr. Brown. "Don't go shaking the +water off your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>self, as you always do when you come in from a swim. For +we can't get far enough away from you in the boat, and you'll get us all +wet. Don't shake yourself!"</p> + +<p>I don't know whether or not Splash understood what Mr. Brown said. At +any rate, the dog went back to his place in the bow, and did not shake +the water off his dripping fur. Whenever he did that he made a regular +shower.</p> + +<p>The boat was soon close to the other shore. Bunker Blue rowed up to a +little dock, and tied fast. Then Mr. Brown helped out Bunny and Sue. +Splash did not need any help. He jumped out himself and ran on ahead, +now giving himself a good shake to get rid of the water drops.</p> + +<p>A short walk brought the party to Mr. Trimble's farm. The cross farmer +was not in the house, but his wife said he was out in the barn, and +there Mr. Brown found him.</p> + +<p>"Well, what do you want?" asked Mr. Trimble in that cross voice of his. +He seemed never to smile.</p> + +<p>"I came to see if you have that boy I'm tak<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>ing care of—Tom Vine," said +Mr. Brown. "Did you take him away?"</p> + +<p>"No, I did not," said Mr. Trimble, crossly.</p> + +<p>"Do you know where he is?"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't."</p> + +<p>"Have you seen him at all?" asked Bunny's father. "Yesterday he went to +the spring for a pail of water, but he did not come back. We are afraid +something has happened to him. Then I thought perhaps you might have +taken him, though you had no right to."</p> + +<p>"Well, I didn't take him, though I had a right to," growled the farmer. +"I hired that boy to work for me, and I gave him a suit of clothes, +besides feeding him. He didn't stay with me long enough to pay for what +I gave him. And if I catch him I'll make him work out what he owes me. +But I haven't seen him since he was in your camp. I wish I did have him +now. I'd make him step lively, and do some work!"</p> + +<p>So Mr. Brown had his trip for nothing. Tom was not at the Trimble farm, +that was sure.</p> + +<p>"I guess he ran away from you the same <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>as he did from me," said Mr. +Trimble as Mr. Brown turned away.</p> + +<p>Bunny's father shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Tom Vine isn't that kind of boy," he said. "He may have run away from +you because you didn't treat him well, but he would not run away from +us. He liked it at Camp Rest-a-While."</p> + +<p>"That's all you know about boys!" laughed the farmer. "I treated him as +well as he needed to be treated. Boys are all lazy. They'd rather play +than work. And you'll find out that Tom Vine has run away from you. He +didn't want to work."</p> + +<p>"He didn't work very hard at our camp," said Mr. Brown. "All he had to +do was to wash the dishes and help with little things. He liked it. I'm +sure something has happened to him, and I'm sorry, for I intended doing +something for him."</p> + +<p>"Well, I haven't got him, though I wish I had," grumbled Mr. Trimble. +"If I catch him, I'll make him work hard!"</p> + +<p>"Then I hope you don't catch him," Mr. Brown said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> + +<p>He went down to the boat with the children and Bunker Blue, and they +were soon back at camp.</p> + +<p>"Did you see anything of him?" asked Mrs. Brown, coming down to the edge +of the lake, as she saw the boat nearing the shore.</p> + +<p>"No," answered Mr. Brown. "Mr. Trimble said he isn't at the farm, and I +don't believe he is. You didn't see anything of him while we were gone, +did you?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown shook her head.</p> + +<p>"Uncle Tad has been looking up around the spring again," she said, "but +he couldn't find him."</p> + +<p>"Oh dear!" sighed Bunny. "Poor Tom is lost!"</p> + +<p>"He must have been frightened by something at the spring," said Mr. +Brown, "and have run off."</p> + +<p>"Well, there's one thing we don't have to worry about," said Mrs. Brown. +"There aren't any wild animals in these woods. None of them could get +Tom."</p> + +<p>She said that so Bunny and Sue would not be thinking about it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> + +<p>Two days and nights passed, and there was no sign of Tom. One afternoon +Mrs. Brown baked some pies in the oven of the oil stove. She was all +alone in camp, for Mr. Brown, the children, and Bunker Blue had gone +fishing. Uncle Tad had gone for a walk in the woods.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown put the pies on a table in the cooking-tent to cool, while +she went to the spring for a fresh pail of water. When she came back she +looked at the pies. Then she rubbed her eyes and counted them.</p> + +<p>"Why!" she cried. "One of the pies is gone! I baked four, and there are +only three here. Who took the pie?"</p> + +<p>She looked under the table, in boxes and on chairs, thinking perhaps a +fox or a big muskrat might have come along and tried to drag the pie, +tin and all, away. But the pie was not to be found.</p> + +<p>"Who could have taken my pie?" asked Mrs. Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>A NOISE AT NIGHT</h3> + + +<p>When Mr. Brown, Bunny, Sue and Bunker Blue came back from their little +fishing trip, they saw Mother Brown walking about the camp, in and out +among the tents, looking here and there.</p> + +<p>"Have you lost something, Mother?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, I have—sort of," she said, smiling. "I've lost a pie!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, a pie!" cried Sue. "Did you drop it, Mother, and did it fall down a +crack in the board walk, like my penny did once?"</p> + +<p>"No!" laughed Mrs. Brown. "It wasn't that way."</p> + +<p>Then she told of having made four pies, setting them on the table to +cool while she went to the spring for a pail of water.</p> + +<p>"And when I came back, a whole pie was gone!" she said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, we certainly didn't take it, for we weren't here," said Daddy +Brown. "And you were all alone in camp, Mother?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, even Uncle Tad was gone."</p> + +<p>"Oh, maybe <i>he</i> came back and took it!" exclaimed Bunny.</p> + +<p>"No, he wouldn't do that," said his mother. "Some animal, perhaps a big +muskrat, like the one Splash tried to catch, came up out of the lake and +carried away my pie. I was just looking to see if I could find any marks +of the rat's paws in the soft ground, when you came along. But I +couldn't see any."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe it was a rat, or any other animal, that took your pie," +said Mr. Brown, as he, too, looked carefully on the ground around the +table where the pie had been placed. The three other pies were there, +but the fourth one was gone.</p> + +<p>"There isn't a sign of any four-legged animal having been here," Mr. +Brown went on. "I think it was some animal with only two legs who took +the pie."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you mean a—a man!" cried Mother Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p> + +<p>Daddy Brown nodded his head for yes.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean a tramp?" asked Bunker Blue.</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, it might have been a tramp, though we haven't seen any +around here since we've been in camp. However, if a pie is all they took +we don't need to worry."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps the poor man was hungry," said Mrs. Brown. "I'm sure I hope he +enjoys my pie."</p> + +<p>"He couldn't help liking it," said Bunny Brown. "Your pies are always so +good, Mother!"</p> + +<p>"I'm glad to hear you say that," exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "Well, we have +enough for the next two days, anyhow, and I'll bake again to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Splash didn't take the pie," said Sue, "'cause he was with us in the +boat."</p> + +<p>"Then it must have been the tramp," Mrs. Brown said. "Never mind, we +won't worry any more about it. Did you have a nice time?"</p> + +<p>Then they told about their little fishing trip. When Uncle Tad came back +from his walk <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>in the woods, he, too, had to be told of the missing pie. +Uncle Tad shook his head.</p> + +<p>"We'll have to lock up everything around our camp if tramps are going to +come in and take our pies, and the other good things Mother Brown +makes," he said with a smile. "Or else one of us will always have to +stay here to keep watch."</p> + +<p>"I wish we had Tom Vine back," said Bunny. "I wonder where he is?"</p> + +<p>Of course no one knew, and Mr. Brown began to think that, after all, Tom +had done just as Mr. Trimble had said—had run away.</p> + +<p>The next day, after breakfast, Sue, who was changing the dress of one of +her dolls, saw brother Bunny walking along the path that led toward the +spring. Bunny carried a small wooden box.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do, Bunny?" she asked him. "Get a box full of +water?"</p> + +<p>"Nope. This box won't hold water. It's got holes in."</p> + +<p>"But what are you going to do?"</p> + +<p>"I'm going to make a trap to catch a fox."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny! Can I help you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes. Come on. But you must keep awful still, 'cause foxes are easy +scared."</p> + +<p>"I will, Bunny. And may I bring my doll with me? I can put her to sleep +on some soft dried leaves when you want me to help you."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you may bring one doll," said Bunny. "But don't bring one of the +kind that cries when you punch it in the stomach, or it might make a +noise and scare the fox. I'm going to catch one and train him to do +tricks."</p> + +<p>"How are you going to catch him, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>"In this box. Come on, I'll show you."</p> + +<p>"I guess I won't bring any of my dolls," said Sue, after thinking about +it for a minute. "A fox might bite her."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that will be better," said the little boy.</p> + +<p>So, carrying the box, and some other things, which Sue helped him with, +Bunny and his sister went a little way into the wood.</p> + +<p>"Don't go too far!" their mother called after them.</p> + +<p>"We won't!" they promised. Since coming to Camp Rest-a-While Bunny and +Sue had not been lost, and they did not now want to have that trouble if +they could help it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Are there any foxes in here?" asked Sue, looking around as she and +Bunny came near the spring.</p> + +<p>"Hush! Don't speak so loud," whispered her brother. "You might scare +'em."</p> + +<p>"Is they any here?" asked Sue, this time in a very soft whisper.</p> + +<p>"I guess so," answered Bunny. "They must come to the spring to get a +drink of water, same as we do. I'm going to put my trap near the +spring."</p> + +<p>There was a large flat stone, near the place where the water for the +camp was found. On this stone Bunny put the box, bottom side up. It had +no cover to it. One edge of the box Bunny held up by putting a stick +under it, and to the stick he tied a long string.</p> + +<p>"Is that a trap?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"Yep," Bunny answered. "Now I'm going to put something under the box +that foxes like. They'll crawl under to eat it, and when they're there +I'll pull the string. That will make the stick come out and the box will +fall down, and cover up the fox so it can't get away."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, that'll be fine!" cried Sue. "But what're you going to give the +foxes to eat, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>"I'll show you," said the little fellow. From his pocket he took some +bits of bread, a few crumbs of dried cake, a little piece of pie wrapped +in paper, and half an apple.</p> + +<p>"There!" Bunny exclaimed as he put these things under the raised-up box. +"Foxes ought to like all that. Now we'll hide back here in the bushes, +Sue, and I'll have hold of the long string. As soon as we see a fox, or +any other animal, go under the box, I'll pull away the little stick, and +we'll catch him!"</p> + +<p>"All right," said Sue. So, the trap having been set, Bunny and Sue hid +themselves in the hushes to wait. But for a long time no fox, or any +other animal, came along. Bunny and Sue grew tired of sitting in the +bushes and keeping quiet. They could only whisper, and this was not much +fun.</p> + +<p>"I—I guess I'll go home," said Sue, after a bit.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, stay with me!" Bunny begged. "Maybe I'll catch a fox pretty +soon. Oh, look,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> Sue!" he cried, this time aloud, he was so excited. +"There's a bird going into the box. I'll catch the bird, to show you how +my trap works."</p> + +<p>"You won't hurt the bird; will you, Bunny?" begged Sue.</p> + +<p>"No, I won't hurt it a bit," Bunny replied.</p> + +<p>A sparrow was hopping along the flat stone, toward the upraised box, +under which were the bread and cake crumbs, and other good things that +birds like. Closer and closer to the box went the bird, and finally it +was all the way under, picking up the crumbs.</p> + +<p>"Now watch me catch him!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>He pulled the string, out came the stick, down came the box, and the +bird was caught.</p> + +<p>"I've got him! I've got him!" cried Bunny. "That's the way I'd catch a +fox!"</p> + +<p>He and Sue ran to the box trap. Bunny lifted it up and out flew the +bird, not at all hurt, and only a little frightened. Bunny raised the +box up again, and held it there with the stick. Then he and Sue went +back among the bushes to wait; all ready to pull the string again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> + +<p>But though Bunny's trap would catch a sparrow, there did not seem to be +anything else he could catch. No foxes or other animals came to get a +drink, and later Bunny's father explained to him that nearly all wild +animals wait until after dark to get water, for fear of being caught.</p> + +<p>After a while Bunny and Sue grew tired of waiting in the bushes.</p> + +<p>"I'll just leave the trap here," said Bunny, "and maybe a fox will go in +and knock the stick down himself. Then he'll be caught."</p> + +<p>"But a fox could easy upset the box," said Sue.</p> + +<p>"Maybe he could," agreed Bunny. "I'll put a stone on top of it." And he +did.</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue reached camp in time for dinner. In the afternoon they +went with their mother to pick huckleberries, and helped fill two pails.</p> + +<p>"I'll make pies of these berries," said Mother Brown.</p> + +<p>"And I hope nobody takes any of the pie," said Bunny. "'Cause I like +huckleberry pie myself an awful lot."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> + +<p>That evening Daddy Brown built a campfire, and Bunny and Sue, with +Bunker Blue, sat about it roasting marshmallows.</p> + +<p>"I wish Tom Vine was here to help eat them," said Sue.</p> + +<p>"So do I," agreed Bunny.</p> + +<p>But Tom Vine was not there. Where was he? No one at Camp Rest-a-While +could tell.</p> + +<p>Bunny Brown did not sleep well that night. Perhaps he had eaten too many +marshmallow candies. At any rate, he awoke soon after he went to bed. He +was wishing he had a drink of water, and he was thinking whether he +would best get up for it himself, or awaken his father, when the little +fellow heard a noise outside the tent. It was a noise as if someone were +walking around. At first Bunny thought it was Splash, but, looking over +in the corner of the sleeping-tent, Bunny saw his dog there. Splash, +too, had heard the noise, for he was getting up and growling deep in his +throat.</p> + +<p>Then, all at once, came a loud bang, as if someone had knocked down five +or six tin pans.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>SPLASH ACTS QUEERLY</h3> + + +<p>"Daddy! Daddy!" cried Bunny Brown. "Daddy, did you hear that?"</p> + +<p>"I couldn't very well help hearing it," said Mr. Brown sitting up on his +cot, which was next to Bunny's. "Who's out there?" Mr. Brown cried, and +with a jump he reached the flaps of the tent, which he opened, so he +could look out.</p> + +<p>Splash, who had jumped out, barking, when the noise sounded, rushed out +of the tent. The tins had stopped rattling, and it was very quiet +outside, except for the noise Splash made.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" called Mrs. Brown, from her side of the tent.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," answered her husband. "Someone—or some animal—seems to +be making a noise. Maybe it is someone after more of your pies, +Mother."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We'll take a look," said Uncle Tad. He got out of his bed, and went to +stand beside Daddy Brown at the opening of the tent.</p> + +<p>"Can you see anything?" Mrs. Brown asked. Bunny could hear his sister +whispering. Sue also, had been awakened, and wanted to know what had +caused the noise in the night.</p> + +<p>"No, I can't see anything," said Mr. Brown. "Splash is coming back, so I +guess it wasn't anything."</p> + +<p>He and Uncle Tad could see the children's dog walking back to his bed in +the tent. Splash slept on a piece of old carpet. The dog was wagging his +tail.</p> + +<p>"What is it Splash? Did you see any tramps?" asked Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>Splash did not answer, of course, but he wagged his tail as he always +did when he was with his friends.</p> + +<p>"I guess it couldn't have been anything," Mr. Brown went on. "Maybe a +squirrel or chipmunk was looking for some crumbs in the dining-tent, and +knocked down the pans. I'll just take a look out there to make sure."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad went outside the tent. Splash did not go with +them. He seemed to think everything was all right.</p> + +<p>"Did you find him, Daddy?" asked Bunny, when his father came back.</p> + +<p>"No, son. I don't believe there was anyone. I saw where the pans had +been knocked down, but that was all."</p> + +<p>Bunny was given the drink of water he wanted and soon was asleep. The +others, too, became quiet and slept. But in the morning Mrs. Brown, in +getting breakfast, found that a piece of bacon and some eggs had been +taken from the ice box.</p> + +<p>"The eggs and bacon were in the refrigerator all right when I washed up +the supper dishes last night," she said. "I counted on having them for +breakfast. Now they're gone!"</p> + +<p>"Then there must have been someone in our camp, snooping around last +night," said Daddy Brown. "It was a tramp, after all. And when he helped +himself to something to eat he knocked down the pans. That's how it +happened."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I suppose so," said Mother Brown. "Well, I'm sure if the poor tramp was +hungry I'm glad he got something to eat. But I wish he had not taken my +bacon and eggs."</p> + +<p>However, there was plenty else to eat in Camp Rest-a-While, so no one +went hungry.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if it was the same tramp that took the pie," said Bunny as he +finished the last of his glass of milk.</p> + +<p>"He must be a hungry tramp to eat a whole pie, and all those eggs, and +the big piece of bacon," said Bunker Blue.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess the things he took lasted him for several meals," Mr. Brown +said. "The funny part of it is, though, that Splash did not bark. When +he ran out of the tent last night the tramp could not have been far +away. And yet Splash did not bark, as he always does when strangers are +around at night. I think that's queer."</p> + +<p>"So do I," put in Uncle Tad. "Maybe Splash knew the tramp."</p> + +<p>"Splash doesn't like tramps," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Well, he must have liked this one, for he didn't bark at him," added +Bunker Blue with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>a laugh. "Maybe Splash knew this tramp before you +children found your dog, on the island where you were shipwrecked."</p> + +<p>For Bunny and Sue had found Splash on an island, as I told you in the +first book of this series. That was when Bunny and Sue were +"shipwrecked," as they called it.</p> + +<p>Nothing else had been taken from Camp Rest-a-While except the bacon and +eggs, and as Bunker Blue was going to the village that day he could buy +more meat for Mother Brown. The eggs they could get at the farmhouse +where they bought their milk. So, after all, no harm was done.</p> + +<p>"The only thing is," said Daddy Brown, "that I don't like the idea of +tramps prowling about our tents at night. I'd rather they would keep +away."</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="./images/186.jpg" alt="BUNNY AND SUE OFTEN WENT BATHING IN THE COOL LAKE." title="BUNNY AND SUE OFTEN WENT BATHING IN THE COOL LAKE." /></div> + +<div class='center'>BUNNY AND SUE OFTEN WENT BATHING IN THE COOL LAKE.<br /> +<i>Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp Rest-a-While.</i> <i>Page</i> <a href='#Page_181'>181</a></div> + +<p>It was so lovely, living out in the woods, near the beautiful lake, as +the Browns were doing, that they soon forgot about the noise in the +night, and the tramps. Bunny and Sue were getting as brown as little +Indian children. For they wore no hats and they went about with only +leather sandals on, and no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>stockings, their sleeves rolled up to +their elbows, so their arms and legs were brown, too. They often went +bathing in the cool lake, for, not far from the camp, was a little sandy +beach.</p> + +<p>Of course, it was not like an ocean beach, or the one at Sandport Bay, +for there were only little waves, and then only when the wind blew. In +the ocean there are big waves all the while, pounding the sandy shore.</p> + +<p>One day Mrs. Brown told daddy they needed some things from the village +store—sugar, salt, pepper—groceries that could not be bought at the +farmhouses near by.</p> + +<p>"I'll take the children, row over, and get what you want," said Mr. +Brown, for it was easier to row across the lake, and walk through the +woods, than to walk half-way around the lake to the store. With Splash, +Bunny and Sue in the boat Mr. Brown set off.</p> + +<p>They landed on the other shore, and started to walk through the woods. +On the way they had to pass along a road that was near to the farm of +Mr. Trimble, the "mean man," as Bunny and Sue called him. Perhaps Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +Trimble did not intend to be mean, or cross, but he certainly was. Some +folk just can't help being that way.</p> + +<p>"Huh! Are you coming over again to bother me about that runaway boy, Tom +Vine?" asked Mr. Trimble, as he saw Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"No, I've given Tom up," replied the children's father. "I guess he has +gone back to the city. I'm sorry, for I wanted to help him."</p> + +<p>"Boys are no good!" cried Mr. Trimble. "That Tom is no good. But I'll +pay him back for running away from me!"</p> + +<p>"Did he come back to you?" asked Mr. Brown, thinking perhaps, after all, +the "ragged boy," as Sue sometimes called him in fun, might have thought +it best to go back to the man who had first hired him.</p> + +<p>"You don't see him anywhere around here; do you?" asked Mr. Trimble.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't see him," said Mr. Brown, wondering why the farmer answered +in that way.</p> + +<p>"Well, he isn't here," said Mr. Trimble, and he went on hoeing his +potatoes, for he was in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>a field of them, near the road, when he spoke +to Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>As Bunny, Sue and their father walked on, Splash did not come with them. +He hung back, and seemed to want to stay close to a small building, near +Mr. Trimble's barn. Splash walked around this building three or four +times, barking loudly.</p> + +<p>"What makes Splash act so funny?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," answered Mr. Brown. "Here, Splash! Come here!" he cried. +But Splash would not come.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>IN THE SMOKE-HOUSE</h3> + + +<p>"What makes Splash act so queer?" asked Bunny again.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I don't know," said his father. "I guess we'll have to go back +and get him."</p> + +<p>Certainly Splash did not seem to want to keep on to the village with Mr. +Brown and the children. The dog was running around and around the small +house, barking loudly. Mr. Trimble seemed not to hear the dog's barks, +but kept right on hoeing potatoes.</p> + +<p>"We'll go back and get Splash!" decided Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>He and the children walked slowly back. Splash kept on barking.</p> + +<p>"You seem to have something in that little house which excites our dog," +said Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"It doesn't take much to get some dogs ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>cited," answered the farmer. +He did not seem to care much about it, one way or the other.</p> + +<p>"What sort of house is that?" asked Mr. Brown. He looked at it closely. +The little house had no windows, and only one door. And there was a +queer smell about it, as though it had once been on fire.</p> + +<p>"That's a smoke-house," said Mr. Trimble. "It's where I smoke my hams +and bacon. I hang them up in there, build a fire of corn-cobs and +hickory wood chips, and make a thick smoke. The smoke dries the ham and +bacon so it will keep all winter."</p> + +<p>"What a funny house!" said Sue.</p> + +<p>"It hasn't any windows," observed Bunny.</p> + +<p>"We have to have smoke-houses tight and without windows," explained Mr. +Trimble, "so the smoke won't all get out."</p> + +<p>"Are there any hams or bacon in there now?" asked Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"No, we don't do any smoking until fall, when we kill the pigs."</p> + +<p>"Well, there's <i>something</i> in there that bothers our dog," went on the +children's father. For, all this while, Splash was run<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>ning around the +smoke-house, barking more loudly than before.</p> + +<p>Just then Bunny Brown thought of something. He pulled at his father's +coat and whispered to him:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy! Maybe Tom Vine is shut up in there—shut up in the +smoke-house!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown looked first at Bunny and then at the strange little house +which had no windows. The door of it was tightly shut.</p> + +<p>"That's so, Bunny," said Mr. Brown. "Perhaps Tom is in there. That would +make Splash bark, for he knows where Tom is." Mr. Brown thought as Bunny +did, that Mr. Trimble might have caught Tom, and locked him up in the +dark smoke-house.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy! Do you s'pose Tom's in there?" asked Sue in a whisper, for +she had heard what Bunny had whispered.</p> + +<p>Daddy Brown nodded his head. He walked up to Mr. Trimble and said:</p> + +<p>"Now look here! There's something in that smoke-house, and I want to see +what it is. Our dog knows there's something there, and I'm pretty sure +of it myself."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, what do you think it is?" asked Mr. Trimble. "If there's anyone +in there I don't know it. But I'll open the door, and let you see. Your +dog certainly is making a lot of noise."</p> + +<p>"Have you got that poor boy, Tom Vine, locked up in there?" asked Mr. +Brown.</p> + +<p>The farmer laughed.</p> + +<p>"Tom Vine locked up in there? Certainly not!" he cried. "I wish I did +have. I'd like to punish him for running away from me. But I haven't +seem him since he was at your camp. No, sir! He isn't in my smoke-house. +I don't believe anything, or anybody, is in there. But I'll open the +door and let you look inside. Why, the door isn't locked," the farmer +went on, "and I guess I couldn't keep a boy like Tom Vine in a +smoke-house without locking the door on him."</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown did not know what to think now. As for Bunny and Sue they +thought surely their new friend, Tom, was locked in the queer little +house.</p> + +<p>"Oh, now we'll see him!" cried Sue, and she felt very glad.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Trimble dropped his hoe across a row of potatoes, and walked to +where Splash was still barking away in front of the smoke-house.</p> + +<p>"Will your dog bite?" asked the farmer.</p> + +<p>"No, he is very gentle," answered Mr. Brown. "But I'll call him away +while you open the door."</p> + +<p>"I'll hold him," said Bunny. "I'll hold him by his collar."</p> + +<p>By this time Splash seemed to have barked enough, for he grew quiet. +Perhaps he knew the door was going to be opened. He came away when Bunny +called him, and the little boy held tightly to the dog's collar.</p> + +<p>"I'll help you hold him," cried Sue, and she, too, took hold.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry to disappoint you," said Mr. Trimble, with a sour sort of +laugh, "but you won't see any boy, or anything else, as far as I know, +in this smoke-house. I did pile in some bean poles last fall, and I +guess they're there yet, but that's all. Now watch close."</p> + +<p>He put his shoulder against the door, and pushed. As it swung open, an +animal, something like a little red dog, with a sharp, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>pointed nose and +a big, bushy tail, sprang out and ran down the little hill, on which the +smoke-house stood.</p> + +<p>"Why—why!" cried Mr. Trimble. "There <i>was</i> an animal in there after +all! I didn't know it."</p> + +<p>"A fox! It's a fox!" cried Bunny Brown. He had once seen in a book a +picture of a fox, and this animal looked just like the picture.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's a fox sure enough, and I guess it's the one that's been +taking my chickens!" cried Mr. Trimble. "I wish I had my gun! I'd shoot +the critter!"</p> + +<p>He picked up a stone, and threw it at the fox, but did not hit the +running animal. Then something queer happened.</p> + +<p>Splash, who was being held by Bunny and Sue, gave a sudden bark. Then he +gave a sudden jump. He went so quickly that he pulled Bunny and Sue +after him, and they both fell down in the dirt. But it was soft, so they +were not hurt.</p> + +<p>They had to let go of Splash's collar, though, and the dog now began to +run after the fox, barking again and again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Splash! Splash!" cried Bunny. "Come back. The fox will bite you!"</p> + +<p>"Don't worry," said Daddy Brown. "Splash can never catch that fox. The +fox can run too fast, and he has a good head-start. Splash will soon get +tired of running, and come back."</p> + +<p>"The idea! The idea," exclaimed Mr. Trimble, "of a fox being in my +smoke-house! That's what made your dog all excited."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that was it," said Daddy Brown. "But I thought you might have Tom +Vine shut up in there. I'm sorry I made the mistake."</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, that's all right," said Mr. Trimble. He did not seem so cross +now. He even smiled at Bunny and Sue.</p> + +<p>"Maybe I was too quick with that boy," he said. "But I'm a hard working +man, and them as works for me has to work hard, same as I do. But maybe +I was too hard on Tom. I certainly was mad when he ran away and left me, +and I made up my mind I'd punish him, if I could get him back. But I +haven't seen him since he was at your camp. And you thought he was in +the smoke-house?" he asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, I really did," replied Mr. Brown. "But I guess you didn't know a +fox was in there; did you?"</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't," answered the farmer. "He must have gone in during the +night, when the door was open. The place sort of smells of meat, you +know. Then the door blew shut, and the fox couldn't get out.</p> + +<p>"And Splash smelled him!" cried Bunny, who had gotten up and was +brushing the dust off. Sue was doing the same thing.</p> + +<p>"Yes, your dog smelled the fox," said Mr. Trimble. "That was what made +him bark and get all excited."</p> + +<p>"I'm going to catch a fox in my trap," said Bunny. "I've got a trap set +over by our spring. Maybe this is the fox I'm going to catch," he went +on.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid not," said Mr. Brown. "This fox is so scared that he'll run +for miles. He'll never come back this way again. Well, we haven't found +Tom Vine yet; have we?" and he looked at Bunny and Sue.</p> + +<p>"No, and you never will find him," said Mr. Trimble. "Boys are no good. +Tom ran <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>away from you same as he did from me. But maybe I was a little +too harsh with him. I wouldn't lock him up in a dark smoke-house, +though. That's no place for a boy."</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue were glad to hear the farmer say that.</p> + +<p>"Well, we'd better be getting on to the village," said Mr. Brown. "Come +along, children."</p> + +<p>"Oh, let's wait for Splash to come back," said Bunny. "I don't want him +to be lost."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3>IN BUNNY'S TRAP</h3> + + +<p>Pretty soon Splash was seen coming over the hills. He did not run fast, +for he was tired from having chased the fox. The dog was wet and muddy, +too.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Daddy! What happened to Splash?" asked Bunny, as the dog came +slowly along, and stretched out in the shade of a tree.</p> + +<p>"Did the fox bite him?" Sue wanted to know. "If he did I don't like +foxes, and I don't want Bunny to catch any in his trap."</p> + +<p>"No, the fox didn't bite your dog," said Mr. Brown. "I guess he just ran +away from Splash. And Splash tried to catch him, and ran through mud and +water until he got all tired out. You don't like foxes, either, do you, +Splash?"</p> + +<p>Splash barked once, and did not even wag his tail. That one bark must +have meant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> "No." And I guess Splash was too tired to wag his tail, as +he always did when he was happy, or pleased.</p> + +<p>"Maybe he'd like a drink of water," said the farmer. "I'll bring him +some from the well. It's good and cold. I'm going to drink some myself, +as it's a hot day. I could give the children a glass of milk," went on +Mr. Trimble to Daddy Brown. "I've got plenty up at the house."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't want to trouble you," said the children's father.</p> + +<p>"It's no trouble!" said the farmer. "My wife will be glad to give them +some. Come on, Splash!" he called. "We'll get you a cold drink after +your run. So the fox got away from you same as that boy Tom Vine ran +away from me."</p> + +<p>Mr. Trimble was smiling and laughing now. Somehow or other he did not +seem as mean and cross as he once had. Bunny and Sue were beginning to +like him now. He was quite a different man from the one who had called +at Camp Rest-a-While looking for Tom.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> + +<p>Splash eagerly drank the cool water, and then he rolled in the grass to +get some of the mud off his coat. Mrs. Trimble brought out some milk for +Bunny and Sue, and also a plate of molasses cookies, which they were +very glad to have.</p> + +<p>"Sit down under this shady apple tree," said Mrs. Trimble, "and help +yourselves. Maybe you'd like a glass of milk," she said to Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't care much for milk, except in my tea and coffee," he +said. "Thank you, just the same."</p> + +<p>"How about buttermilk?" asked Mr. Trimble. "That's what I like on a hot +day, and she's just churned."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I should like the buttermilk," returned Bunny's father, and soon +he was drinking a large glass.</p> + +<p>"What funny looking milk!" remarked Sue, as she helped herself to +another molasses cookie from the plate in front of her. "It's got little +yellow lumps in it, Daddy."</p> + +<p>"Those are little yellow lumps of butter," said Mr. Brown. "To make +butter, you know, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>they churn the cream of sour milk. And when the +butter is all taken out in a lump, some sour milk is left, and they call +that buttermilk. Would you like to taste it, Sue?"</p> + +<p>Sue, who had drunk the last of her glass of sweet milk, nodded her curly +head. But when Daddy Brown put his glass to her lips, and just let her +sip the buttermilk he had been drinking, Sue made such a funny face that +Bunny laughed aloud.</p> + +<p>"Oh—oh! It—it's sour—like lemons!" cried Sue.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is sour!" said Mr. Brown. "But that is why I like it."</p> + +<p>"I like molasses cookies better," said Sue, as she took a bite from one +to cleanse away the sour taste in her mouth. "You can make just as good +cookies as my mother or my Aunt Lu can," said Sue to Mrs. Trimble.</p> + +<p>"Can I? I'm glad to hear that," said the farmer's wife, with a smile. +"Have some to put in your pockets."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm afraid you've given them too many already," objected Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>"Molasses cookies won't hurt children; nor <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>milk won't either," the +farmer said. "Any time you're over this way stop in. I'm sorry you can't +find that boy Tom. And I'm sorry I was a bit cross with him, or maybe +he'd be here yet. But I haven't seen him."</p> + +<p>Splash was rested now, and clean. And he had had a good drink of cold +water, so he was ready to start again. The children, too, felt like +walking, and, after having thanked the farmer and his wife, Mr. Brown +set off once more with Bunny and Sue, Splash following behind.</p> + +<p>"Come again!" Mrs. Trimble invited them.</p> + +<p>"We will, thank you," answered Daddy Brown.</p> + +<p>"She's real nice; isn't she?" asked Bunny, when they were once more in +the road.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Daddy Brown.</p> + +<p>"And I like that farmer, too," said Sue. "I didn't like him at first, +when he shook his fist and was so cross, but I like him now."</p> + +<p>"Yes, he is different from what he was at first," returned her father. +"But I'm afraid we've seen the last of Tom. He must have run away. Maybe +he was afraid, after all, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>that Mr. Trimble would stay cross, and would +try to get him back onto the farm. Well, it's too bad, for Tom was a +nice boy, but it can't be helped."</p> + +<p>"I'd like Tom back," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"So would I," added Sue.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Splash?" asked Mr. Brown, for the big dog had run up +the side of a little hill along the road, and was barking at a hole in +the ground.</p> + +<p>"Maybe he thinks the fox lives there," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Maybe," said Daddy. "Come on, Splash. Even if that is the hole of the +fox he isn't there now. You chased him too far away. Come on!"</p> + +<p>But Splash did not want to come. He pawed away the dirt at the side of +the hole, and put his sharp nose down inside it.</p> + +<p>"There must be <i>something</i> there, Daddy," said Bunny, standing still, +and looking up the hill at the dog. "Let's go and see what it is."</p> + +<p>"If it's a fox I'm not going!" cried Sue, holding back.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe it's a fox," said Mr. Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> "But we'll take a look. +I'll carry you, Sue, and then, even if it is some animal in the hole, +you won't be afraid."</p> + +<p>Sue didn't mind going closer if her father carried her, and soon the two +children, and Mr. Brown, were looking down into the hole at which Splash +was barking.</p> + +<p>All at once a light brown animal, covered with fur, and larger than the +muskrat Splash had barked at in the lake, stuck its head out of the +hole.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look!" cried Bunny. "It's a little bear!"</p> + +<p>"No, that's a ground-hog, or woodchuck," explained Mr. Brown. "They +won't hurt you. This must be the old father or mother, and there may be +little ones in the hole, or burrow, so the old folks want Splash to go +away."</p> + +<p>But Splash did not want to go. He barked louder than ever at the sight +of the woodchuck, and pawed at the dirt with his fore paws. But he could +not reach the brown, furry animal.</p> + +<p>"Come away, Splash!" called Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>Still Splash barked.</p> + +<p>Then, all at once, the woodchuck thrust out <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>his head quickly, and made +a grab for one of Splash's paws. The dog howled, and ran down the hill.</p> + +<p>"There!" exclaimed Mr. Brown. "Now I guess you'll leave the woodchucks +alone, Splash."</p> + +<p>"Oh, is Splash hurt?" asked Bunny, for the dog was running along on +three legs, holding the other up off the ground.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess he isn't hurt much," Mr. Brown said. "Come here, Splash, +until I look at your foot."</p> + +<p>Splash limped up. He was not badly bitten. The woodchuck had just +pinched him to drive him away. Splash looked at the hole and barked. But +he did not offer to go near it again. So the old lady, or old gentleman, +ground-hog—whichever it was—with the little ones, was left safe in the +burrow on the side of the hill.</p> + +<p>Mr. Brown, Bunny, Sue and Splash went on to the village. They bought the +things Mother Brown wanted and then started for camp again. Nothing much +happened on the way back. Mrs. Brown was told of the visit <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>to Mr. +Trimble's, and how the fox ran out of the smoke-house.</p> + +<p>"And now," said Bunny, as his father finished telling what had happened, +"now I'm going up to see if we've caught a fox or a ground-hog in my box +trap. Come on, Sue."</p> + +<p>"All right. I'm coming, Bunny, but if it is a fox or a ground-hog, you +won't let him bite me; will you?"</p> + +<p>"Course I won't, Sue!" said the little fellow, picking up a stick from +beside the sleeping-tent. "Come on!"</p> + +<p>Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were soon at the place where Bunny had +set the box-trap, with the stone on top to hold it down, in case an +animal got beneath.</p> + +<p>"Now go easy, Sue!" whispered Bunny, as they crept through the bushes. +"If there's a fox, or anything else, just going in, we don't want to +scare him away."</p> + +<p>"No," said Sue. "I won't make any noise."</p> + +<p>She walked along quietly behind her brother. Now they were in sight of +the box-trap Bunny had made.</p> + +<p>"Is—is anything in it?" Sue asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so," her brother answered. "Don't make a noise. The box is +down, and I guess something is under it. I hope it's a fox."</p> + +<p>"I don't," said Sue. "Foxes bite."</p> + +<p>"Well, you can sell 'em for a lot of money," argued Bunny. "And maybe I +could train this one. But maybe it's only a ground-hog."</p> + +<p>"I don't like them either," said Sue, "'cause one bit Splash."</p> + +<p>"Say, what kind of animals <i>do</i> you like?" asked Bunny, turning to look +at his sister. "What would you like me to catch in my trap?"</p> + +<p>"A nice kitty cat," said Sue quickly. "Then I could have her to play +with, and she'd like me and my dolls. Couldn't you catch a nice white +kitty cat, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>Bunny did not answer. He was looking at his box trap. His eyes opened +widely.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look, Sue!" he cried. "Look! My trap is moving! Something big is +under the box!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3>BUNKER GOES ASHORE</h3> + + +<p>"Bunny! Bunny! I—I want to go home!" cried Sue.</p> + +<p>"What for?" asked her brother. "It's nice here, and I've got something +in the trap, Sue."</p> + +<p>"I know it, Bunny. I can see it move. That's why I want to go back to +camp."</p> + +<p>"Are you 'fraid, Sue?"</p> + +<p>Sue nodded her head, and clasped closer in her arms the doll she had +brought with her.</p> + +<p>"Wait until we see what's in the trap—under the box," said Bunny. "I'll +lift it up and look under. If it's a fox I won't let him out."</p> + +<p>Bunny started toward the box that was still moving slowly about on the +big flat rock where Bunny had set his trap.</p> + +<p>"Don't you touch it!" cried Sue. "Don't lift up the box, Bunny!"</p> + +<p>"Why not?" he asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'Cause the fox might get out and bite us. Let it alone."</p> + +<p>Bunny stood still and looked at the box. It had stopped moving for a +while. Then it began again, going about in a sort of circle.</p> + +<p>"Why—why!" cried Sue. "It's just like Blind Man's Buff!"</p> + +<p>And, really, that is how the box moved about, just like some boy or +girl, with a handkerchief tied over his or her eyes, trying to move +about to catch someone, and yet trying not to bang into a tree or the +fence.</p> + +<p>"The fox, woodchuck, or whatever it is under my box," said Bunny Brown, +"can't see which way he's going. That's why the box jiggles around so +funny. But I'm going to see what's under it."</p> + +<p>"If you lift it up, I'm going back to camp," declared Sue, turning back.</p> + +<p>"But I want to see what it is!" cried Bunny. "I've caught an animal, and +I want to look at it!"</p> + +<p>You remember I told you he had fixed up a box, raised at one end by a +little stick. Under the box were some good things to eat, such as +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>animals and birds like. Bunny had tied a long string to the stick, and +he and Sue had hid in the bushes, ready to pull the string, pull out the +little stick, and let the box trap fall down on whatever was eating the +bait.</p> + +<p>But all Bunny caught were some sparrows, which he let go. Then he had +set the trap again, and had gone off. Now there was something under the +box, that was sure.</p> + +<p>"How do you think it got caught, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>"I guess the fox—or whatever it is—crawled under the box to get the +cake crumbs, and he bumped against the stick, knocked it away, and the +box came down on him," Bunny said. "Sue, I do want to see what I've +caught."</p> + +<p>"You—you might get bit," his sister said.</p> + +<p>Bunny thought that over for a minute.</p> + +<p>"I know how I could do it," he said.</p> + +<p>"How?" Sue wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"I could get a long stick, and lift the box up with that. Then as soon +as the fox came out, we could run, and we wouldn't be near enough for +him to bite us."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny! That would be a good way, I'll stay and watch if you do it +like that."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bunny found a long pole, like a fishing rod. Holding this out in front +of him, he walked toward the box. He tried to raise it up, but the stone +on top made it too heavy.</p> + +<p>"Push off the stone first," said Sue.</p> + +<p>Bunny had not thought of that. With two or three shoves of his pole he +knocked the stone off the top of the box. Then, once more, he tried to +raise his trap to see what was under it.</p> + +<p>All at once the children heard some one calling:</p> + +<p>"Bunny! Sue! Where are you?"</p> + +<p>"That's Bunker Blue," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Here we are!" answered Sue. "Bunny's got something in his trap! Come +and help us get it, Bunker."</p> + +<p>There was a noise in the bushes, a dog barked, and along came the +red-haired boy and Splash. The box was moving about more quickly now, +for the heavy stone was not on top.</p> + +<p>"Say, you have caught something!" cried Bunker. "There's surely +something under the box, Bunny."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It's a fox," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Or maybe a ground-hog," added Sue.</p> + +<p>"Maybe, and maybe not," went on Bunker. "We'll have a look. Here, let me +take your pole, Bunny. Splash, you be ready to grab whatever it is!"</p> + +<p>With a sudden push Bunker upset the box. Out ran a gray and brown +animal.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Is it a fox? Oh, don't let it bite me!" cried Sue, and she ran toward +Bunker, who caught her up in his arms.</p> + +<p>Splash, with a bark, sprang toward the little animal that had run out of +Bunny's box trap. But the little animal, instead of running away, just +curled up into a ball and stayed there. And Splash stopped short. He +barked at the animal but did not try to bite it.</p> + +<p>"He's afraid of it, and no wonder!" said Bunker. "Best leave that alone, +Splash!"</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"It's a hedgehog, or a prickly porcupine," said Bunker. "That animal is +all covered with sharp quills, like a lot of toothpicks. They aren't +very tightly fastened to him, and if a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>dog, or some other animal, tries +to bite, he gets his mouth full of sharp, slivery quills from the +hedgehog. That makes the dog's mouth very sore, and he can't bite +anything again for a long time. That's why the hedgehog curls himself up +into a little ball. In that way he is all covered with quills that stick +out in every way. No dog or any other animal, can bite without getting +badly hurt. I guess you'd better let the porcupine go, Bunny."</p> + +<p>"I will," said the little fellow. "I don't want Splash hurt. Come away, +Splash!"</p> + +<p>Splash did not care very much about biting or worrying the hedgehog. The +dog barked once or twice, and then came away. Then the porcupine +uncurled himself, and ran off into the wood.</p> + +<p>"Well, I caught <i>something</i> in my trap, anyhow," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>"That's what you did," said Bunker Blue. "And the hedgehog, walking +around under the box, kept pushing it along with his head. He was trying +to find a way out. Come on back to camp now. Supper is ready and your +mother sent me to find you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> + +<p>The next two days it rained, and Bunny and Sue did not have much fun at +Camp Rest-a-While. They had to stay in the tents. But the third day it +cleared off, and the wind blew away the storm clouds.</p> + +<p>That afternoon Bunker took Bunny and Sue out in the boat, fishing. They +took with them some lunch to eat, and a bottle of milk to drink if they +got thirsty. Sue also took an old umbrella to keep the sun off herself +and her doll.</p> + +<p>Bunker rowed the boat half way across the lake, and tied it to one of +the trees that grew on a little island. There he and Bunny fished, but +they did not catch anything.</p> + +<p>"Maybe if we went on the island we would catch something," said Bunny. +"May we, Bunker?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know. We might," said the red-haired boy. "I'll tell you +what I'll do. I'll go ashore on the island, and try fishing a bit. If I +have any luck I'll come back and get you two. You and Sue stay in the +boat, Bunny, until I come back." Then the big boy got out and went +ashore, leaving Bunny and Sue in the boat.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3>IN THE WOODS</h3> + + +<p>Bunker Blue seemed to be gone a long time. Five, ten—fifteen minutes +went past and he did not come back. Bunny and Sue began to get tired.</p> + +<p>"He must be catching a lot of fish," said Bunny, after a bit, while he +dangled his own hook in the water. Bunny wasn't catching anything—he +didn't have even a nibble, though he was using the right kind of hook +and line, and he had a real "squiggily" worm on his hook—Bunker had put +it there for him.</p> + +<p>"Maybe Bunker caught a big fish," said Sue, "and it pulled him into the +water, eh, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>Bunny shook his head.</p> + +<p>"No," he said. "That didn't happen."</p> + +<p>"Maybe it might," went on Sue. "There might be big fish in this lake. Or +maybe it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>was a muskrat, like the one Splash barked at."</p> + +<p>Splash, asleep up in the front of the boat, hearing his name spoken, +looked up and wagged his tail.</p> + +<p>"I didn't call you," said Sue. "But, oh, Bunny! maybe Bunker <i>did</i> fall +in!"</p> + +<p>Bunny shook his head again.</p> + +<p>"No, he didn't fall in," said the little fellow. "If he had we'd have +heard him holler, and he hasn't hollered."</p> + +<p>Sue thought that over. It seemed all right. She knew she would "holler," +as Bunny called it, if she fell into the water, and of course if a big +fish or a muskrat had pulled in Bunker, he, too, would cry out. And it +had been very still and quiet since the red-haired boy had gone ashore +on the island.</p> + +<p>"I know what we can do," said Bunny, after a bit.</p> + +<p>"What?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"We can untie the boat, and row around to the other side of the island +where Bunker went," suggested Bunny. "He told us not to get out of the +boat until he came back, and we won't, 'cause mother told us to mind +Bun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>ker. But he didn't tell us not to row the boat around where he is."</p> + +<p>"That's right," agreed Sue. "We can do that."</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue knew something about boats, and they could each row a +little. So while Bunny loosed the rope by which the boat was tied, Sue +took up one oar. Then Bunny took the other. He shoved the boat out a +little way. It began to move, first slowly, and then faster. All at once +Sue cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny! My umbrella!"</p> + +<p>It was open, and a gust of wind almost blew it out of the boat. Bunny +caught the umbrella just in time. To do this he had to let go of his +oar, and it slid overboard, into the water. But Bunny was not thinking +about the oar just then. He had a new idea.</p> + +<p>As he held the open umbrella he felt the wind blowing strongly against +it. The wind was almost strong enough to blow the umbrella out of his +hands. But he held on tightly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny, your oar is gone!" cried Sue, as she saw it float away.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I—I can't help it," answered her brother. "I can't reach it, Sue. You +get it."</p> + +<p>"I can't. It's too far away."</p> + +<p>"Well, let it go!" cried Bunny. "I know something else we can do, Sue. +Oh, this will be fun! It's better than fishing!"</p> + +<p>Sue was pulling, as best she could, on her one oar. But boats are not +meant to be rowed with one oar, though you can scull, or paddle, with +one. If you row with one oar your boat swings around in a circle, +instead of going straight ahead.</p> + +<p>"I can't row this way, Bunny!" called Sue. She knew enough about boats +for that. "You'll have to get your oar, Bunny."</p> + +<p>"We won't need it, Sue," called her brother. "Take in your oar. We won't +need that either. We're going to sail. Look! the umbrella is just like a +sail."</p> + +<p>And so it was. The wind, blowing on the open umbrella Bunny held, was +sending the rowboat along just as if a sail had been hoisted. The boat +was moving quite fast now. Bunny and Sue were so pleased that they did +not think about the lost oar, which had fallen <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>overboard and had +floated away. As Bunny had said, they did not need oars now.</p> + +<p>"Isn't this fun!" cried Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Sue. "I like it. My dolly likes it, too! Do you like it, +Splash?"</p> + +<p>Splash did not answer. He hardly ever did answer, except with a bark or +a whine, when Bunny or Sue spoke to him, and the children did not +understand dog language. Anyhow, Splash seemed to like the umbrella +sail, for he stretched out in the bottom of the boat and went to sleep.</p> + +<p>Bunny held the open umbrella, and Sue held her doll. Of course, the doll +had nothing to do with the sailing of the boat, but Sue kept her in her +arms.</p> + +<p>"You aren't going to sail very far; are you, Bunny?" asked Sue as the +boat kept on going faster and faster.</p> + +<p>"Not very far," Bunny answered. "We'll just sail around the end of the +island where Bunker went fishing."</p> + +<p>Now this would have been all right if the children had sailed around the +end of the island where Bunker Blue happened to be. But <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>they did not. +It was not their fault, either. For Bunker had gone to the other end of +the island, and he was sitting on a log, waiting for a fish to bite.</p> + +<p>You see, this is the way it was. Bunker Blue told about it afterward. He +went off the island, leaving Bunny and Sue in the boat. Bunker walked to +the lower end of the island. Bunny and Sue saw him going. He was going +to try for fish there.</p> + +<p>But when the red-haired boy got to that end of the island he saw that +the water was so shallow that no large fish could be caught in it.</p> + +<p>"I'll just go to the other end," thought Bunker.</p> + +<p>So, without calling to Bunny and Sue, Bunker walked along the other +shore of the island, to the upper end. And Bunny and Sue, being behind a +lot of trees and bushes, did not know that Bunker was not in the place +where he had said he was going.</p> + +<p>Bunker found the water deep enough at the upper end of the island, and +there he sat down to fish.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'll just see if they're biting good here," he said to himself, "and, +if they are, I'll go back and get the children."</p> + +<p>Bunker had to wait quite a while for his first bite, and by that time +Bunny and Sue had decided to start off themselves in the boat. And so +they did, with the umbrella for a sail, as I have told you.</p> + +<p>Faster and faster they went, around the lower end of the island. They +expected to see Bunker there, but they did not, because he was at the +upper end.</p> + +<p>"Why—why—Bunker isn't here," said Sue, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Then we'd better go back," announced Bunny, still holding to the +umbrella. "Stick your oar in the water, Sue, and steer back to where we +were."</p> + +<p>You can steer a boat with one oar, if you can't row it with one, and Sue +knew a little bit about steering. But the oar was too heavy for Sue's +little hands, and it soon slipped over into the lake. She tried to grab +it, but was too late. The second oar was lost overboard.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" Sue cried. "It's gone."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Never mind," said Bunny. "We don't need oars with the umbrella for a +sail. Only we can't sail back where we were unless the wind blows the +other way. And I don't see where Bunker is."</p> + +<p>"Maybe he's gone home and left us," said Sue.</p> + +<p>"He couldn't—not without a boat," objected Bunny. "We'll have to sail +over to camp and get daddy or Uncle Tad to row back for him."</p> + +<p>"Yes, let's sail to our camp," agreed Sue. "Won't they be s'prised to +see us come up this way with an umbrella?"</p> + +<p>"I guess they will," said Bunny.</p> + +<p>The wind blew stronger. It was all Bunny could do to hold to the +umbrella now. The wind almost blew it from his hands. Even with Sue to +help him it was hard work.</p> + +<p>"If you could only tie it fast," suggested Sue.</p> + +<p>"Maybe I can," said Bunny. "Here's a rope."</p> + +<p>The rope by which the boat had been tied to a tree on the island lay in +the bottom of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>the boat. The umbrella had a crooked handle, and the +tying of one end of the rope around this, helped Bunny to hold the queer +sail.</p> + +<p>The boat now went on faster and faster.</p> + +<p>"Why, there's our camp, away over there!" cried Sue, pointing. "Why +don't you sail to it, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>Bunny looked. Indeed, the white tents of Camp Rest-a-While were on the +other side of the lake—far away. And the wind was blowing the boat +farther and farther off. Bunny and Sue could not get back to camp, for +now they had nothing with which to steer their boat. Of course, if the +wind had been blowing toward the tents, instead of away from it, they +could have gotten there without steering. But now they could not.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" cried Sue. "Where are we going, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>"We are going to the woods, I guess," he said. They were sailing toward +the wooded shores of the lake, away on the other side from their camp, +and a long way down from the island where they had left Bunker Blue.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + +<p>Harder blew the wind on the umbrella sail. Faster went the boat. Finally +it ran up on shore, right where the woods came down to the edge of the +lake.</p> + +<p>Splash jumped out with a bark, and began stretching himself. He did not +like to stay too long in a boat. He wanted to run about on shore.</p> + +<p>"Bunny, where are we?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," answered her brother. "But we are on land somewhere, I +guess. It's nice woods, anyhow."</p> + +<p>The trees and bushes grew thick all about.</p> + +<p>"Let's get out," Bunny went on. He shut down the umbrella sail, and took +off the rope. Then he tied the boat to a tree. He got out, and helped +Sue.</p> + +<p>"Where's our camp?" the little girl wanted to know.</p> + +<p>Bunny looked across the lake. He could not see the white tents. Neither +could Sue.</p> + +<p>"Bunny—Bunny," said the little girl slowly. "I—I guess—we're losted +again."</p> + +<p>"I—I guess so, too," agreed Bunny Brown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h3>IN THE CAVE</h3> + + +<p>Splash, the big, shaggy dog, ran up and down the shore of the lake, +poking his nose in among the bushes here and there, barking loudly all +the while.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with Splash?" asked Sue of her brother. "Is there a +wild animal here, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't guess so," the little boy answered. "Splash is wagging his +tail, and he wouldn't do that if there were wild animals around. He +doesn't like a wild animal. I guess Splash is just glad 'cause he is out +of a boat. Splash doesn't like a boat."</p> + +<p>"I do," said Sue. "But we didn't ought to have come away in the boat all +alone, Bunny. Mother told us not to, you know."</p> + +<p>"I know she did, Sue, but we couldn't help it. We were just going to +look for Bunker<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> Blue and the wind blowed us away from the island. We +couldn't help it."</p> + +<p>"No, I don't guess we could, Bunny. But what are we going to do now?"</p> + +<p>"I guess we'll have to walk back to Camp Rest-a-While," answered Bunny. +"We can leave the boat here, and Bunker can come and get it."</p> + +<p>"Can't we sail back in our boat, with the umbrella, same as we sailed +down here?" Sue wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"We could if the wind would blow right, but it isn't," said Bunny. He +had been among his father's boatmen often enough to know that you have +to go with the wind, and not against it, when you're sailing a boat. +"We'll have to walk, Sue."</p> + +<p>"Let's holler and yell," said the little girl, as she straightened out +the dress of her doll.</p> + +<p>"What for?"</p> + +<p>"So daddy or mother can hear us," Sue went on. "If we holler real loud +they may hear us, and come and get us in another boat. If we hadn't lost +the oars, Bunny, we could row back."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, but the oars are lost. I guess we'll just have to stay here, Sue. +We're losted again. But I'm not afraid. It's nice here, and if we get +hungry I can catch a fish. I have my pole, and there's a worm on my hook +yet."</p> + +<p>"Is he a squiggily worm?" Sue wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"He <i>was</i> kind of squiggily," answered Bunny, "but I guess he's all done +squiggling now. He's deaded."</p> + +<p>"Then I wouldn't be afraid of him," Sue said. "I could fish with him, +too. I don't like squiggily worms. They tickle you so."</p> + +<p>Bunny walked back to the boat, which the wind had blown partly up on +shore. He looked for his fishing pole and line, and, after he had taken +it out, he saw the little basket of lunch his mother had put up. It had +not yet been opened.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Sue!" Bunny cried. "Look! We've got our lunch! And there's a bottle +of milk, too! Now we can have a picnic!"</p> + +<p>"And you won't have to catch any fish!" cried Sue, clapping her hands. +"I'm hungry Bunny. Let's have the picnic now!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bunny was willing, for he was hungry too, and the children, taking the +basket of lunch, sat down in a shady place on the shore to eat. As Sue +was taking off the napkins, in which the sandwiches and cakes were +wrapped, she happened to think of something.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny!" Sue said. "Part of this lunch was for Bunker Blue."</p> + +<p>Bunny thought for a second or two.</p> + +<p>"Well, Bunker isn't here now," he said, "and he can't get here, less'n +he swims. I don't guess he'll want any lunch, Sue."</p> + +<p>"And anyhow, he can catch a fish," said Sue. "Bunker is good at fishing, +and he likes to eat 'em."</p> + +<p>"I wonder where Bunker is now," pondered Bunny.</p> + +<p>He looked back up the lake. He could not see the island where they had +left Bunker. It was out of sight around a bend in the lake shore.</p> + +<p>"Do you think he'll swim down here and want some lunch?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"No," answered Bunny. "We can eat all this. Bunker won't come."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> + +<p>And so the children began on their lunch, sharing some of it with +Splash, who, after a bath in the lake, lay down in the sun to dry +himself.</p> + +<p>By this time Bunker Blue, back on the far end of the island, had caught +three fine, big fish. He was so excited and glad about getting them +that, for a while, he forgot all about Bunny Brown and his sister Sue. +Then he happened to remember them.</p> + +<p>"I'll go back to the boat and get the children," said Bunker Blue to +himself. "They can catch fish here, and that will tickle Bunny. He never +yet caught real big fish like these."</p> + +<p>But when Bunker went to the place where he had left Bunny and Sue in the +boat, the children were not there, nor was there any sight of the boat. +Bunker had been fishing by himself longer than he thought, and by this +time Bunny and Sue were out of sight around a bend in the shore.</p> + +<p>Bunker rubbed his eyes. Then he looked again. There was no doubt of +it—the boat was gone, and so were the children.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Where can they be?" asked Bunker, aloud. But there was no one on the +little island to answer him.</p> + +<p>Then the red-haired boy happened to think that perhaps Bunny might have +taken the boat around to the other end of the island. Bunker quickly ran +there, but no boat was to be seen.</p> + +<p>"They've either drifted away," said Bunker, "or else they've rowed +themselves away. It's too bad; but they know how to behave in a boat, +that's one good thing. They won't try to stand up, and so fall +overboard. I wonder if I could call to them?"</p> + +<p>Bunker shouted, but Bunny and Sue were too far away to hear him. Bunker +then sat down on a stone. He did not know what to do. He looked over to +the main shore, where he could just see the white tents of Camp +Rest-a-While.</p> + +<p>"Well, if we don't come back pretty soon, Mr. Brown will know something +is wrong, and he'll get another boat and come over here," thought +Bunker. "Then I can tell him what has happened, and we can go and look +for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>children. I guess they'll be all right. All I can do is to +wait."</p> + +<p>All this while Bunny and Sue were eating their lunch. They were not +frightened now, and they very much enjoyed their little umbrella-sail +excursion in the boat and the picnic they were having.</p> + +<p>But, pretty soon, it began to grow cloudy, and then it began to rain.</p> + +<p>"I don't like this," said Sue. "I want to go home, Bunny."</p> + +<p>Bunny, himself, would have been glad to be in camp with his father and +mother, but he thought, being a boy, he must be brave, and look after +his little sister, so he said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess this rain won't be very bad, Sue. We'll go back into the +woods, under the trees. Then we can keep dry. And we'll take the lunch, +too. There'll be enough for supper."</p> + +<p>"Will we have to stay here for supper?" asked Sue.</p> + +<p>"Maybe," answered Bunny. "But if we do it will be fun. Come on!"</p> + +<p>It was now raining hard. Bunny carried <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>the lunch basket, with the +bottle of milk—now half emptied—in one hand. The other hand clasped +Sue's. They went back in the wood a little way, and, all at once, Bunny +saw something that made him call:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Sue! Here's a good place to get in out of the rain!"</p> + +<p>"What is it?" Sue asked.</p> + +<p>"A cave!" cried Bunny. "It's a regular cave, like robbers live in! Come +on, Sue! Now we're all right! Oh, this is fun!" and Bunny ran forward +into the dark hole in the side of the hill—right into the cave he ran.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h3>"WHO IS THERE?"</h3> + + +<p>Sue did not run into the cave after her brother Bunny. She stood, +hugging her doll close to her, under a big, evergreen tree, so that only +a few drops of rain splashed on her.</p> + +<p>Bunny Brown, standing in the "front door" of the cave, as he called it, +looked at his sister.</p> + +<p>"Come on in, Sue!" he called. "It's nice here, and you can't get wet at +all."</p> + +<p>"I—I don't want to," Sue answered.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" Bunny wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"'Cause," and that was all Sue would say. Then it began to rain harder, +and the drops even splashed down through the thick branches of the +evergreen tree.</p> + +<p>"Oh, come on!" cried Bunny. "It's nice here, and dry, Sue. Why won't you +come?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause I don't like those robbers!" an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>swered Sue at last. "I'd rather +stay out in the rain than go in with those robbers."</p> + +<p>"What robbers?" asked Bunny, his eyes opening wide.</p> + +<p>"You said that was a robbers' cave," declared Sue, "and I don't like +'em."</p> + +<p>Bunny laughed.</p> + +<p>"There's no robbers here, Sue," he said. "I only meant that this <i>looks</i> +just like the pictures of a robbers' cave. There isn't any robbers here. +Come on in. It's nice and dry here."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure there's no robbers?" Sue wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Sure," said Bunny. "Listen!" He went back a little farther in the cave +and cried:</p> + +<p>"Robbers! Robbers! Go on away! That will drive 'em off, Sue," he said. +"Now come on in."</p> + +<p>The little girl waited a half minute, to make sure no robbers came out +after Bunny's call. Then she, too, ran into the cave.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it nice here?" Bunny asked.</p> + +<p>"Ye—yes, I—I guess so," and Sue spoke slowly. She was not quite sure +about it. "But it—it's dark," she went on.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> + +<p>"All caves are dark," Bunny Brown answered. "They have to be dark or +they wouldn't be caves. Nobody ever saw a light cave."</p> + +<p>"Well, I like a light cave best," said Sue. "How long has we got to stay +here, Bunny?"</p> + +<p>"Till Daddy comes for us, I guess," he said. "We can't walk back to camp +all alone. I don't know the way. We'd get losted worse than we are now."</p> + +<p>"Has we got to stay here all night?" Sue wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe," said Bunny slowly. "But we could easy sleep here. There's +some nice dried leaves we could make into a bed, and we've some of our +lunch left. We can eat that for supper, and save a little for +breakfast."</p> + +<p>"What will we give Splash?" asked Sue. She had looked over Bunny's +shoulder as he now opened the lunch basket. There did not seem very much +left for two hungry children and a dog. Splash was now nosing about in +the cave. He did not bark, and Bunny and Sue knew there could be no one +in the hole but themselves—no wild animals or anything.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There isn't enough to give Splash much," said Bunny slowly. "But maybe +he can dig himself up a bone in the woods. We can leave the crusts for +him. Splash likes crusts."</p> + +<p>"I don't," Sue said. "He can have all of mine."</p> + +<p>Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had not yet learned to like the crusts of +their bread. But Splash was not so particular.</p> + +<p>The wind was now blowing harder, and the rain was flowing in the front +of the cave. It blew in the faces of the children.</p> + +<p>"Come on farther back," said Bunny, as he saw Sue wrapping her dress +around her doll to keep off the rain.</p> + +<p>"It—it's too dark," Sue answered.</p> + +<p>Bunny walked back a little way. Then he cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Sue. Come on back here. It's real light here. There's a chimbly +here and the light comes down it fine!"</p> + +<p>"You come and get me—I can't see—it's so dark," Sue answered.</p> + +<p>Bunny had left her standing near the front part of the cave, where it +was still light, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>he had run back into the dark part. There, half +way back, he had found a place where there was a hole in the roof—a +"chimbly," as Bunny called it.</p> + +<p>Through this hole, or chimney, light came down, but between that place, +and the entrance, was a dark spot. And it was this dark patch that Sue +did not want to cross alone.</p> + +<p>"I'll come and get you," Bunny called, and, a minute later, he and Sue +were standing together under the hole in the cave roof. Some few drops +of rain came down this chimney, but by standing back a little way the +children could keep nice and dry, and, at the same time, they were not +in the dark.</p> + +<p>"Isn't this nice, Sue?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said. "I like it better here."</p> + +<p>It was a good place for the children to be in out of the storm. They +were far enough back in the cave now so that the wind could not blow on +them, and no rain could reach them. Splash had come this far back into +the cave with them, and was sniffing about.</p> + +<p>Bunny walked around the light place, and found some boxes and old bags. +In one of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>the boxes were some pieces of dried bread, and an end of +bacon. There was also a tin pail and a frying pan. And, off to one side, +were some ashes. Bunny also saw where a pile of bags had been made into +a sort of bed.</p> + +<p>"Look, Sue," said the little boy. "I guess real people used to live in +this cave. Here is where they made their fire, and cooked, and they +slept on the pile of bags. We can sleep there to-night, if daddy doesn't +come after us."</p> + +<p>"But I hope he comes!" exclaimed Sue.</p> + +<p>Bunny hoped so, too, but he thought he wouldn't say so. He wanted to be +brave, and make believe he liked it in the cave.</p> + +<p>"I—I'm thirsty," said Sue, after a bit. "I want a drink, Bunny."</p> + +<p>"I'll give you some of the milk, Sue. There's half a bottle of it left."</p> + +<p>"I'd rather have water, Bunny."</p> + +<p>"I don't guess there's any water here, Sue," answered Bunny.</p> + +<p>Then he listened to a sound. It was Splash, lapping up water from +somewhere in the cave. It did not sound very far off.</p> + +<p>"There's water!" Bunny cried. "Splash <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>has found a spring. Now I can get +you a drink, Sue. Splash, where is that water?"</p> + +<p>Splash barked, and came running to his little master. Bunny walked to +the place from which Splash had come, and there he found a spring of +water coming out of the rocky side of the cave. It fell into a little +puddle, and it was from this puddle that Splash had taken his drink. +Bunny held a cup under the little stream of water and got some for Sue. +Then he took a drink himself.</p> + +<p>"Say, this cave is fine!" he cried. "It's got water in it and a place +for a fire. All the smoke would go up that hole. We'll get Bunker and +daddy and mother and Uncle Tad and come here and have a picnic some day. +Don't you like it, Sue?"</p> + +<p>"I—I'd rather be back at Camp Rest-a-While," said the little girl. +"Can't we go?"</p> + +<p>"I'll go and see how hard it's raining," said the little boy.</p> + +<p>He went to the front door of the cave, and looked out. It was storming +very hard now. The wind was blowing the limbs of the trees about, and +dashing the rain all over.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We can't walk home in this storm," said Bunny to Sue. "We'll have to +stay in this cave until they come for us."</p> + +<p>"All right," Sue said. "Then let's eat."</p> + +<p>The children ate some more of the lunch they had brought with them.</p> + +<p>"Now let's make the bed," said Sue. "We'll sleep on a pile of the bags, +Bunny, and pull some of 'em over us for covers. Splash won't need any +covers. He never sleeps in a bed."</p> + +<p>Bunny and Sue had often "played house," and they knew how to make the +old blankets, and pieces of carpet they found in the cave, into a sort +of bed. It was not so light now, for it was coming on toward night, and +the sky was covered with clouds.</p> + +<p>"If we shut our eyes and go to sleep we won't mind the dark," said +Bunny.</p> + +<p>"All right—let's," agreed Sue.</p> + +<p>They cuddled up on the bags, their arms around one another, with Sue's +doll held close in her hand, while Splash lay down not far from them.</p> + +<p>Bunny was not sure he had been asleep.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> Anyhow he suddenly opened his +eyes, and looked toward the chimney hole in the roof of the cave. A +little light still came down it. But something else was also coming +down. Bunny saw a big boy—or a small man—sliding down a grapevine rope +into the cave. First Bunny saw his feet—then his legs—then his body. +Bunny wondered who was coming into the cave. He made up his mind to find +out.</p> + +<p>"Who is there?" he suddenly called. "Who are you? What do you want in +our cave?"</p> + +<p>The figure sliding down the piece of grapevine into the cave, through +the chimney hole, suddenly fell in a heap on the floor, close to where +Bunny and Sue were lying on the pile of bags. Splash jumped up and began +to bark loudly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + +<h3>BACK IN CAMP</h3> + + +<p>Bunny Brown tried to be brave, but when he saw someone come into the +cave in the darkness, in such a queer way, the little boy did not know +what to do. He thought of Sue, and felt that he must not let her get +hurt, no matter what else happened.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bunny!" cried Sue. "Is that one of the robbers? Is it, Bunny? If it +is I don't want to stay here! You said there weren't any but picture +book robbers in this cave, Bunny Brown!"</p> + +<p>Bunny did not answer right away. He did not know what to tell Sue.</p> + +<p>But the big boy who had dropped down through the chimney hole +straightened up suddenly. Bunny could see him patting Splash on the +head.</p> + +<p>And that was rather strange, for Splash did <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>not easily make friends +with strangers. He would not bite them, but he would bark at them, until +some of his friends had said it was all right, and that he need bark no +more.</p> + +<p>But, after his bark of surprise this time, Splash seemed to have +suddenly made friends with the big boy who had come sliding down the +chimney hole of the cave.</p> + +<p>"Who—who are you?" asked Bunny again.</p> + +<p>Instead of answering the big boy laughed. Then he asked:</p> + +<p>"Are you Bunny Brown and his sister Sue?"</p> + +<p>"Ye—yes—yes, we are," Bunny said. "But how did you know?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can tell, all right."</p> + +<p>Splash seemed very glad to meet the strange boy. There was still light +enough coming down the chimney hole for Bunny to see the dog's wagging +tail. And Splash did not wag his tail for persons he did not like. This +must be a friend.</p> + +<p>"Is—is you a robber?" asked Sue. She had hidden her face in the pile of +bags, and was holding closely to her doll.</p> + +<p>Again the big boy laughed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, I'm not a robber," he said, "though I did take a piece of your +mother's bacon. But I'll pay her back for it. How in the world did you +find my cave, and where is your father, or Bunker Blue? And what are you +doing out alone in this storm? Are you——"</p> + +<p>But Bunny Brown broke in on the questions.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know who you are! I know who you are!" Bunny cried. "You're Tom +Vine who ran away from us! Why did you run away? Daddy has been looking +for you. You are Tom Vine; aren't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Bunny, I am. Wait a minute and I'll light a lantern, and you can +see me better. Look out, Splash, so I won't step on you."</p> + +<p>So that was why Splash had made such good friends with the big boy who +came down the cave chimney hole—Splash knew Tom Vine, of course, even +in the darkness.</p> + +<p>Tom walked over to one of the boxes, and brought out a lantern. This he +lighted. Bunny and Sue blinked their eyes at the sudden light, but they +were soon used to it. Then they looked at Tom.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> + +<p>Yes, it was he. But he was even more ragged than when they had first +seen him. He was laughing, though, and did not seem sad.</p> + +<p>"And to think when I came home, and slid down the chimney of my cave, +which I sometimes do, when I don't want to go around to the front +door—to think when I did this I should find Bunny Brown and his sister +Sue here!" said Tom. "How in the world did you find me?"</p> + +<p>"We weren't looking for you," answered Bunny. "We were in the boat, with +Bunker Blue. He went on an island to fish, and we sailed away with the +umbrella. We landed here and I found this cave, to get out of the rain. +I told Sue it was a make-believe robbers' cave."</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess I'm the only robber who ever lived in it," said Tom. "But +what are you children going to do? Tell me all about how you got here."</p> + +<p>This Bunny and Sue did, from the time they started out with Bunker Blue, +until Bunny opened his eyes to see Tom sliding down the grapevine rope.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And now I'll tell you about myself," said Tom.</p> + +<p>"Have you been living here in this cave ever since you went away from +our camp?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Tom. "This has been my home. No one knew I was here. I +wanted to keep out of sight of Mr. Trimble, for fear he'd make me go +back to his farm."</p> + +<p>"Oh, he won't make you go back," said Bunny. "He's sorry he was so cross +to you. He told daddy so; didn't he, Sue?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he did. I'm glad we found you, Tom," and she put her little hand +in his big one.</p> + +<p>"And I'm glad I found you and Bunny, Sue. And I'm glad that Mr. Trimble +isn't looking for me. I was getting tired of hiding out this way. I want +to go back to your camp."</p> + +<p>"You can come," said Bunny. "Daddy wants you, I know, for he said he +did. Come on back now."</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute," said Tom. "First I'll tell you how I came here. And +then, I guess, we'll have to stay until morning, as it is storming too +bad to leave the cave now."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> + +<p>Tom then told that he had heard Mr. Trimble was looking for him, to make +him go back to the farm.</p> + +<p>"And, as I was afraid he'd catch me, I ran away from your camp that day +when I went for the pail of water," said Tom. "As I was at the spring I +saw Mr. Trimble going past behind some bushes. He didn't see me, because +I stooped down. And when he got past I ran away. I didn't want him to +get me.</p> + +<p>"I found this cave, and I've lived in it. I took some old boxes and bags +from a barn. They were thrown away, so no one wanted them, I knew. Then +I found this lantern and I brought that here."</p> + +<p>"How did you get anything to eat?" asked Bunny.</p> + +<p>"Well, I took that," said Tom. "In the night I went back to your camp, +and took some things. I didn't think your folks would care very much."</p> + +<p>"They didn't," said Bunny. "Did you take the pie and the bacon and +eggs?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Tom, "I did. I have earned <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>some money, though, and I'll pay +for them."</p> + +<p>"And did you knock down the pile of tins?" Bunny asked, "and make the +noise in the night?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," laughed Tom. "I thought sure your folks would catch me then, but +I got safely away. And ever since then I've stayed in this cave. I found +it by accident. It made a nice dry place. During the day I would go off +to different farms and work enough to earn a little money to buy things +to eat. All the while I was afraid Mr. Trimble would find me. He was +such a mean man."</p> + +<p>"But he's turned good now," declared Bunny, "and he's sorry he was bad +to you. He wouldn't even shut you up in a smoke-house," and Bunny told +of finding the fox in the little house.</p> + +<p>"So then I can go back to your camp, and Mr. Trimble won't try to get +me; will he?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"Nope, he won't hurt you at all," said Bunny. "And please can't we go +back to our camp now? Daddy and mother will be so worried about us."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why, yes, I guess I can take you," said Tom. "It isn't very far, and +there's a good road. I see you have an umbrella. That will keep Sue dry. +You and I won't mind getting wet, Bunny; will we?"</p> + +<p>"Nope," said the little fellow.</p> + +<p>When they went to the entrance of the cave they found that the rain had +stopped, and the moon was shining. It was quite light in the woods. +Leading Bunny and Sue by the hands, with Splash following after, Tom +started for Camp Rest-a-While. He stopped for a moment on top of the +cave, to show the children the chimney hole, and how he had slid down it +by holding on to a long grapevine, that twined around a tree growing +near the hole. The grapevine was like a long rope.</p> + +<p>Through the woods went Bunny, Sue and Tom. As they came near the camp +they saw lanterns flashing, and voices called:</p> + +<p>"Bunny! Bunny Brown! Sue! Sue! Where are you?"</p> + +<p>"Here we are, Daddy! Here we are!" cried Bunny and Sue together. "And +Tom Vine is with us!" added Bunny.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<p>Those carrying the lantern rushed forward, and soon Bunny and Sue were +clasped in their father's and mother's arms, while Uncle Tad and Bunker +were shaking hands with Tom, and listening to his story of how he had +found the children in the cave where he made his home.</p> + +<p>"And to think you two went off in a boat with an umbrella for a sail!" +cried Mother Brown to the children. "Don't you ever do it again!"</p> + +<p>"We won't!" promised Bunny. "But what happened to you, Bunker?"</p> + +<p>"Well, after you left me on the island," said the red-haired boy, "I +waited until I saw your father coming after me in a boat. He took me to +camp, and I told him I thought you and Sue had drifted down the lake. So +we set out to find you, but you got here all right."</p> + +<p>"And I don't want to sleep in any more caves," said Sue.</p> + +<p>"I like it," Bunny said. "It was nice!"</p> + +<p>The children were soon asleep in their cots in the camp tent, and after +Tom had told his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>story to Mr. and Mrs. Brown, he, too, was given his +old bed. He had nothing more to fear from Mr. Trimble, and he need not +have run away, only he was afraid of the farmer. And for that reason he +did not go back to camp, or send any word to Mr. Brown.</p> + +<p>But everything came out all right, and Mr. Trimble came over and told +Tom how sorry he was for having been so unpleasant as to make him run +away.</p> + +<p>Bunny Brown and his sister Sue stayed at Camp Rest-a-While all that +summer and they had much fun, and many more adventures, but I have no +room to tell you about them in this book. Perhaps I may write another +volume about them later. As for Tom Vine, he was taken to live in +Bellemere, where he worked at Mr. Brown's boat business with Bunker +Blue. He did not have to live in a cave any more, and had a good home.</p> + +<p>And now, having told all there is to tell, I will let you say good-bye +to Bunny Brown and his sister Sue.</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><span class="u">This Isn't All!</span></h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Would you like to know what became of the good +friends you have made in this book?</p> + +<p>Would you like to read other stories continuing +their adventures and experiences, or other books +quite as entertaining by the same author?</p> + +<p>On the <i>reverse side</i> of the wrapper which comes +with this book, you will find a wonderful list of +stories which you can buy at the same store where +you got this book. </p></div> + +<div class="center"><b>Don't throw away the Wrapper</b></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want +some day to have. But in case you do mislay it, +write to the Publishers for a complete catalog.</i></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES</h2> + +<h3>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h3> + +<div class='center'>Author of the Popular "Bobbsey Twins" Books, Etc.</div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Each Volume +Complete in Itself.</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>These stories 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></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 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> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE SUNNY SOUTH</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE KEEPING STORE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR TRICK DOG</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT A SUGAR CAMP</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON THE ROLLING OCEAN</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON JACK FROST ISLAND</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT SHORE ACRES</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT BERRY HILL</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="center"><b>GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</b> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<h2>THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS</h2> + +<h3>For Little Men and Women</h3> + +<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>Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume +Complete in Itself.</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>These books for boys and girls between the ages of +three and ten stand among children and their +parents of this generation where the books of +Louisa May Alcott stood in former days. The haps +and mishaps of this inimitable pair of twins, +their many adventures and experiences are a source +of keen delight to imaginative children. </p></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> +<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> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CEDAR CAMP</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE COUNTY FAIR</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS CAMPING OUT</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND BABY MAY</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS KEEPING HOUSE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CLOVERBANK</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CHERRY CORNERS</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND THEIR SCHOOLMATES</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BOBBSEY TWINS TREASURE HUNTING</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="center"><b>GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</b></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<h2>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES</h2> + +<h3>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h3> + +<div class='center'>Author of The Bobbsey Twins Books, The Bunny Brown Series, The Blythe +Girls Books, Etc.</div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'><b>Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume +Complete in Itself.</b></div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Delightful stories for little boys and girls which +sprung into immediate popularity. To know the six +little Bunkers is to take them at once to your +heart, they are so intensely human, so full of fun +and cute sayings. Each story has a little plot of +its own—one that can be easily followed—and all +are written in Miss Hope's most entertaining +manner. Clean, wholesome volumes which ought to be +on the bookshelf of every child in the land. </p></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Six Little Bunkers Books"> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDMA BELL'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT CAPTAIN BEN'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COWBOY JACK'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MAMMY JUNE'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT FARMER JOEL'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MILLER NED'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT INDIAN JOHN'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT HAPPY JIM'S</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT SKIPPER BOB'S</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="center"><b>GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</b></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<h2>THE HONEY BUNCH BOOKS</h2> + +<h3>By HELEN LOUISE THORNDYKE</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="center"><b>Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations Drawn by</b><br /> + +<b>WALTER S. ROGERS</b></div> +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Honey Bunch is a dainty, thoughtful little girl, +and to know her is to take her to your heart at +once.</p> + +<p>Little girls everywhere will want to discover what +interesting experiences she is having wherever she +goes. </p></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Honey Bunch Books"> +<tr><td align='left'>HONEY BUNCH: JUST A LITTLE GIRL</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE CITY</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS ON THE FARM</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE SEASHORE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST LITTLE GARDEN</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS IN CAMP</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST AUTO TOUR</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP ON THE OCEAN</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP WEST</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST SUMMER ON AN ISLAND</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="center"><b>GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</b> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> +<h2>THE BLYTHE GIRLS BOOKS</h2> + +<h3>By LAURA LEE HOPE</h3> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="center">Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations by<br /> + +THELMA GOOCH</div> + +<div class="center">Every Volume Complete in Itself</div> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The Blythe girls, three in number, were left alone +in New York City. Helen, who went in for art and +music, kept the little flat uptown, while Margy, +just out of a business school, obtained a position +as a private secretary and Rose, plain-spoken and +businesslike, took what she called a "job" in a +department store. </p></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BLYTHE GIRLS: HELEN, MARGY AND ROSE<br /> A fascinating tale of real happenings in the great metropolis.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BLYTHE GIRLS: MARGY'S QUEER INHERITANCE<br /> The Girls had a peculiar old aunt and when she died she left an unusual inheritance.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BLYTHE GIRLS: ROSE'S GREAT PROBLEM<br /> Rose, still at work in the big department store, is one day faced with the greatest problem of her life.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BLYTHE GIRLS: HELEN'S STRANGE BOARDER<br /> Helen goes to the assistance of a strange girl, whose real identity is a puzzle. Who the girl really was comes as a tremendous surprise.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BLYTHE GIRLS: THREE ON A VACATION<br /> The girls go to the country for two weeks—and fall in with all sorts of curious and exciting happenings.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BLYTHE GIRLS: MARGY'S SECRET MISSION<br /> Of course we cannot divulge the big secret, but nevertheless the girls as usual have many exciting experiences.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BLYTHE GIRLS: ROSE'S ODD DISCOVERY<br /> A very interesting story, telling how Rose aided an old man in the almost hopeless search for his daughter.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BLYTHE GIRLS: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HELEN<br /> Helen calls on the art dealer on business and finds the old fellow has made a wonderful discovery.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BLYTHE GIRLS: SNOWBOUND IN CAMP<br /> An absorbing tale of winter happenings, full of excitement.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class="center"><b>GROSSET & DUNLAP, <i>Publishers</i>, NEW YORK</b></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<div class='tnote'> +<b>Transcriber's notes:</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 at Camp +Rest-A-While, by Laura Lee Hope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER *** + +***** This file should be named 17096-h.htm or 17096-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/0/9/17096/ + +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 at Camp Rest-A-While + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Illustrator: Florence England Nosworthy + +Release Date: November 18, 2005 [EBook #17096] + +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: "NOW WHERE ARE YOUR POTATOES, UNCLE TAD?" SUE ASKED. +"HERE THEY ARE!" SAID THE OLD SOLDIER. + _Frontispiece_ (_Page_ 75.) +_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp Rest-a-While._] + + + + +BUNNY BROWN +AND HIS SISTER SUE +AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE + +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 + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES For Little Men and Women + + 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, 1916, by + GROSSET & DUNLAP + + _Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp Rest-A-While_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + I. GRANDPA'S TENT 1 + II. GRAND SURPRISE 12 + III. BUNNY AND SUE SLEEP OUT 23 + IV. SPLASH COMES, TOO 35 + V. OFF TO CAMP 44 + VI. PUTTING UP THE TENTS 55 + VII. A BIG BLACK BEAR 68 + VIII. THE RAGGED BOY 78 + IX. TOM HEARS A NOISE 89 + X. OUT IN THE BOAT 100 + XI. TOM SEES A MAN 108 + XII. THE CROSS MAN 119 + XIII. A BAD STORM 128 + XIV. TOM IS GONE 140 + XV. LOOKING FOR TOM 150 + XVI. "WHO TOOK THE PIE?" 157 + XVII. A NOISE AT NIGHT 166 +XVIII. SPLASH ACTS QUEERLY 176 + XIX. IN THE SMOKE-HOUSE 184 + XX. IN BUNNY'S TRAP 193 + XXI. BUNKER GOES ASHORE 203 + XXII. IN THE WOODS 210 +XXIII. IN THE CAVE 220 + XXIV. "WHO IS THERE?" 228 + XXV. BACK IN CAMP 237 + + + + +BUNNY BROWN +AND HIS SISTER SUE +AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +GRANDPA'S TENT + + +"Bunny! Bunny Brown! There's a wagon stoppin' in front of our house!" + +"Is there? What kind of a wagon is it, Sue?" + +The little girl, who had called to her brother about the wagon, stood +with her nose pressed flat against the glass of the window, looking out +to where the rain was beating down on the green grass of the front yard. +Bunny Brown, who had been playing with a tin locomotive that ran on a +tiny tin track, put his toy back in its box. + +"What kind of a wagon is it Sue?" he asked his sister again. + +"It isn't a grocery wagon," Sue answered slowly. "Not a grocery wagon, +like the one we rode in once, when we gave all those things to Old Miss +Hollyhock." + +"Has it got any letters on it?" Bunny wanted to know. He was on his way +to the window now, having taken up the toy railroad track, with which he +was tired playing. + +"Yes, it's got a E on it," Sue said, "and next comes the funny letter, +Bunny, that looks like when you cross your legs or fingers." + +"That's a X," said Bunny. He knew his letters better than did Sue, for +Bunny could even read a little. "What's the next letter, Sue?" + +Bunny could have run to the window himself, and looked out, but he +wanted to pick up all the things with which he had been playing. His +mother had always made him do this--put away his toys when he was +through. + +"What's the next letter, Sue?" Bunny Brown asked. + +Sue was not quite sure of it. She put her little head to one side so she +might see better. Just then a man jumped off the seat, and splashed +through a muddy puddle as he walked around to the end of the wagon. + +"Oh, Bunny!" Sue cried. "The man's going to bring something here, I +guess. He's taking out a big bundle." + +"Maybe it's a wagon from the store," said Bunny. And, as he looked out +through the window glass, pressing his nose flat against it, as his +sister Sue had done, he spelled out the word: + + EXPRESS + +"That's an express wagon, Sue," said Bunny. + +"What's express?" Sue wanted to know. + +"That means when you're in a hurry," Bunny said. "You know, when we're +playing train, sometimes I'm an express train, and I go awful fast." + +"Yes, I 'member that," said Sue. "Once, when we hitched our dog, Splash, +up to our express wagon, he went so fast he spilled me out." + +"Well, that's express," Bunny went on. "When you went out of the wagon +so fast you were an express." + +"I don't like express, then," said Sue. "I like to go slower. But that +can't be an express wagon, then, Bunny." + +"Why not?" + +"'Cause that's not goin' fast. It's jest standin' still." + +"Oh, well, when it does go, it goes fast. That's an express wagon, all +right. Somebody's sent us something by express. Oh, Sue, I wonder what +it is?" + +Sue shook her head. She did not know, and she could not guess. She was +watching the man out in the rain--the expressman who was trying to get +something out of the back of his wagon. It was a big bundle, that was +sure, because Bunny and Sue could see the end of it. + +"I wonder if it's a present for us?" Sue asked. + +"It can't be a present," answered Bunny. "It isn't Christmas. Don't you +remember, Sue, we had Christmas at Aunt Lu's city home." + +"So we did, Bunny. But it's _something_, anyhow." + +That was certain, for now the man was pulling a very large bundle out of +his wagon. It was so large that he could not carry it all alone, and he +called for Sam, the stable man, to come and help him. With the help of +Sam, the expressman carried the package back into the barn. + +"Oh, I wonder what it is?" said Sue. + +"We'll go and ask mother," suggested Bunny. "She'll know." + +Together, the children fairly ran upstairs to their mother's sitting +room, where she was sewing. + +"Oh, Mother!" cried Sue. "There's a fast wagon out in front--a fast +wagon and----" + +"A fast wagon, Sue? What do you mean? Is it stuck fast in the mud?" Mrs. +Brown asked. + +"No, she means an express wagon," said Bunny, with a laugh. "I told her +express was fast, Mother." + +"Oh, I see," and Mrs. Brown smiled. + +"But the express wagon did stop," went on the little boy. "It stopped +here, and Sam and the man took out a big bundle. It's up in our barn. +What is it, Mother?" + +"I don't know, Bunny. Something your father sent for, perhaps. He may +tell us what it is when he comes." + +"May we go out and look at it?" Sue asked. + +"No, dear, not in this rain. Can't you wait until daddy comes home?" + +"Yes, but I--I don't want to, Mother." + +"Oh, well, we have to do many things in this world that we don't want +to. Now go and play with your dolls, or something. I think daddy will be +home early to-night, on account of the storm. Then he'll tell you what's +in the bundle." + +"Does Sam know?" asked Bunny, as he watched the express wagon drive +away. + +"Perhaps he does," answered Mrs. Brown. + +"Then we can ask him!" exclaimed Sue. "Come on, Bunny!" + +"No, dears, you mustn't go out to the barn in this rain. You'd get all +wet." + +"I could put on my rubber coat," suggested Bunny. + +"And so could I--and my rubber boots," said Sue. + +Both children seemed to want very much to know what was in the express +package. But when Mrs. Brown said they could not go out she meant it, +and the more Bunny Brown and his sister Sue teased, the oftener Mrs. +Brown shook her head. + +"No, you can't go out and open that bundle," she said. "And if you tease +much more daddy won't even tell you what's in it when he comes home. Be +good children now." + +Bunny and Sue did not often tease this way, for they were good children. +But this day was an unpleasant, rainy one. They could not go out to have +fun, because of the rain, and they had played with all their toys, +getting tired of them, one after another. + +"Mother, if we can't go out to the barn, could we have our dog, Splash, +in here to play with us?" asked Bunny, after a while. "We could hitch +him to a chair, and make believe it was an express wagon." + +"Oh, yes!" cried Sue. "And you could be the driver, Bunny, and you could +leave a package at my house--make believe, you know--and then I wouldn't +know what was in it, and I could guess, and you could guess. We could +play a guessing game; will you, Bunny?" + +"Yes, I'll play that. May we have Splash in, Mother?" + +"No, dear." + +"Oh, why not?" + +"Because I just saw Splash splashing through a puddle of muddy water. If +he came in now he'd get you all dirty and he would spoil my carpet." + +"But what _can_ we do, Mother?" Sue asked, and her voice sounded almost +as if she were going to cry. + +"We want to do _something_," added Bunny. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Mrs. Brown, yet she could not help smiling. Rainy +days were hard when two children had to stay in the house all the while. + +"We can play 'spress wagon without Splash!" exclaimed Sue, for she was a +good little girl, and did not want to make her mother worry. + +"All right," agreed Bunny. "We'll just make believe we have Splash with +us to pull the pretend wagon." + +He and Sue often played pretend, and make-believe, games, and they had +much fun this way. Now they turned one chair on the side, and put +another in front. The turned-over chair was to be the wagon, and the +other chair, standing on its four legs, was the horse. Bunny got some +string for reins, and the stick the washerwoman used to punch the +clothes down in the boiler made a good whip, when another piece of +string was tied on the end of that. + +"Giddap!" cried Bunny, sitting on a stool behind the chair-horse. +"Giddap! This is an express wagon, and we've got to hurry." + +"You must leave a package for me!" cried Sue. "This is my house, over on +the couch," and she curled up in a lump. "And this is my little girl," +she went on, pointing to one of her dolls, which she had taken into her +"house" with her. "If I'm asleep--make-believe, you know," said Sue to +Bunny, "you tell my little girl to wake me up." + +"Pooh! I can't talk to a doll!" cried Bunny. + +"Yes, you can, too," said his sister. "Just _pretend_, you know." + +"Well, even if I do, how can your doll talk to you, and wake you up?" + +"Oh, Bunny! I'm only going to be make-believe asleep, and of course a +doll, who can pretend to talk, can make-believe wake me up as easy as +anything, when I'm only make-believe asleep." + +"Oh, all right, if it's only make-believe," agreed Bunny. "Giddap, +Splash! I've named the make-believe chair-horse the same as our dog," he +explained to Sue. + +Then the game began, and the children played nicely for some time, +giving Mrs. Brown a chance to finish her sewing. Bunny and Sue took +turns driving the "express wagon," and they had left many pretend +bundles at each other's houses, when a step was heard in the front hall, +and Bunny and Sue cried: + +"Daddy! Daddy! Oh, daddy's come home!" + +They made a rush for their father, and both together cried out: + +"Oh, Daddy, a express package came! What's in it?" + +"Did a package come?" asked Mr. Brown, as he took off his wet coat, for +it was still raining. + +"Yep! It's out in the barn," said Bunny Brown. + +"Oh, please tell us the secret!" begged Sue. "I know it must be a +secret, or mother would have told us." + +Mrs. Brown smiled. + +"The children have teased all afternoon to know what was in the bundle," +she said. + +"Well, I'll tell them," said Daddy Brown. "The package, that came by +express, has in it grandpa's tent." + +"Grandpa's tent!" cried Bunny. + +"The one we played circus in, out in the country?" Sue demanded. + +"The same one," answered Daddy Brown, with a laugh. + +"Oh, are we going to have another circus?" cried Bunny, joyously. + +"Now sit down and I'll tell you all about it," said Daddy Brown, and he +took Bunny up on one knee, and Sue on the other. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A GRAND SURPRISE + + +"Don't you want to have supper first?" asked Mrs. Brown, as she saw her +husband sit down in the easy chair, with Bunny and Sue. + +"Oh, I'm in no hurry," he said. "I came home early to-night, because +there were only a few boats out, on account of the storm. I might just +as well tell the children about the surprise before we eat." + +"Oh, then it's a surprise!" cried Sue, clapping her hands. + +"Why, yes, I rather think you'll be surprised when you hear about it," +answered Daddy Brown. + +"And is it a secret, too?" Bunny wanted to know. + +"Well, you don't know what it is yet; do you?" inquired his father. + +Bunny shook his head. + +"Well, then," went on Daddy Brown with a smile, "if there is something +nice you don't know, and someone is going to tell you, I guess that's a +surprise; isn't it?" + +"Oh, yes!" cried Sue. "And now, Daddy, don't tease us any more. Just +tell us what it is? Will we like it?" + +"Can we play with it?" Bunny wanted to know. + +Mr. Brown laughed so hard that Sue nearly fell off one knee, and Bunny +off the other. + +"What is it, Daddy?" asked the little boy. "What's so funny?" + +"Oh, just you--and Sue," said Mr. Brown, still shaking up and down and +sideways with laughter. "You are in a great hurry to have me tell you +the surprise, and yet you keep on asking questions, so I have to answer +them before I tell you." + +"You asted the most questions, Bunny," said Sue, shaking her finger at +him. + +"No, I didn't. You did!" + +"Well, we'll each just ask one question," went on Sue, "and then you can +tell us, Daddy. I want to try and guess what it is--I mean what the +tent is for. Shall we each take one guess, Bunny?" + +"Yep. You guess first, Sue. What do you say the tent is for?" + +Sue thought for half a minute, shutting her brown eyes and wrinkling up +her little nose. She was thinking very hard. + +"I--I guess the tent is for a house for our dog Splash," she said, after +a bit. "Is it, Daddy?" + +"No," and Mr. Brown shook his head. "It's your turn, Bunny." + +Bunny looked up at the ceiling. Then he said: + +"I guess grandpa's tent is going to be for us to play in when it rains. +Is it, Daddy?" + +"Well, that's pretty nearly right," Mr. Brown answered. "And now sit +quiet and I'll tell you the surprise." + +But before I let Mr. Brown tell the children the secret, I just want to +say a few words to the boys and girls who are reading this as their +first book of the Bunny and Sue series. There are four other books that +come ahead of this, and I'll tell you their names so you may read them, +and find out all about Bunny and Sue. + +Of course those of you who have read the first, and all the other books +in the series, do not need to stop to read this. You have already been +introduced to the Brown children. But to those who have not, I would say +that Bunny Brown and his sister Sue lived with their father and mother, +Mr. and Mrs. Walter Brown, in the town of Bellemere, which was on +Sandport Bay, near the ocean. + +Mr. Brown was in the boat business--that is, he hired out boats to +fishermen and others who wanted to go on the ocean or bay, sailing, +rowing or in motor boats. Mr. Brown had men to help him, and also +several big boys, almost as large as men. One of these last was Bunker +Blue, a red-haired, good-natured lad, who was very fond of the two +children. + +In the first book of the series, named "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue," +I told you the story of the little boy and girl, and what fun they had +getting up a Punch and Judy show, and finding Aunt Lu's diamond ring in +the queerest way. In the second book, "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue +on Grandpa's Farm," I told you how they went off to the country, in a +great big moving van automobile, fitted up like a little house, in which +they could eat and sleep. + +Bunker Blue went with them to steer the automobile, and they also took +along the children's dog, Splash, who was named that because he once +splashed in the water and pulled out Sue. On Grandpa's farm Bunny and +Sue had lots of fun. They got up a little show, which they held in the +barn. + +After the little show had been given, Bunker Blue, and some larger boys, +thought they could get up a sort of circus. They did, holding it in two +tents, a big one and a smaller one. The smaller tent belonged to Grandpa +Brown, when he was in the army. And it was this tent that had just come +by express to the Brown home in Bellemere. + +"Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Playing Circus" is the name of the third +book, and in that you may read all about the show that Bunny and Sue +took part in--how the tents were washed away, how Ben Hall did his +queer tricks, and what happened to him after that. + +When the two Brown children came back from grandpa's farm they received +an invitation from Aunt Lu, to spend the fall and winter at her city +home in New York. + +"Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Aunt Lu's City Home" is the name of +the book telling all that happened when the two children went to New +York. They met a little colored girl, named Wopsie, they were lost in a +monkey store, Bunny flew his kite from the roof of Aunt Lu's house, and +toward the end Bunny and Sue were run away with when in a pony cart in +Central Park. + +At first they did not like being run away with, but after they were +spilled out, and Aunt Sallie picked them up, and she and Wopsie found +out that they--but there! I mustn't put so much of that book in this +book. You would much rather read it yourself, I am sure. + +So I'll just say that at Aunt Lu's city home Bunny and Sue had many good +times, and enjoyed themselves very much. They were almost sorry when it +was time to come home, but of course they could not always stay in New +York. + +But now it was spring, and Bunny and Sue were once more back in +Bellemere. They had met all their old friends again, and had played with +them, until this day, when, as I have told you, it was raining too hard +to go out. + +Before I go on with this story, I might say that Bunny was about six +years old, and Sue a year younger. The two children were always +together, and whatever Bunny did Sue thought was just right. It was not +always, though, for often Bunny did things that got him and Sue into +trouble. + +Bunny did not mean this, but he was a brave, smart little chap, always +wanting to do something to have fun, or to find out something new. He +would often take chances in doing something new, when he did not know +what would happen, or what the ending would be. And Sue liked fun so +much, also, that she always followed Bunny. + +The children knew everyone in the village of Bellemere, and everyone +knew them, from Old Miss Hollyhock (a poor woman to whom Bunny and Sue +were often kind) to Wango, the queer little monkey, owned by Jed +Winkler, the old sailor. Wango did many funny tricks, and he, too, got +into mischief. Sometimes it was hard to say who got oftener into +trouble--Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, or Wango, the queer little +monkey. + +Now that I have told you all this, so my newest little +children-reader-friends will feel that they know Bunny and Sue as well +as everyone else, I will go back to the story. + +Bunny and Sue were still sitting on their father's knee. + +"Well, tell us the surprise!" begged Sue, reaching over and kissing her +daddy. + +"And make it like a story," begged Bunny. + +"I haven't time to make it like a story now, my dears," said Mr. Brown. +"But the bundle you saw the expressman bring to the barn this afternoon +was the tent from grandpa's farm." + +"The same one we played circus in?" Bunny wanted to know. + +"The same one," answered his father. "I asked grandpa to send it to me." + +"What are we going to do with it, Daddy?" Sue asked. "I've tried and +tried, but I can't guess." + +"Well, this is the surprise," replied Daddy Brown, "and I hope you'll +like it. We are going off into the woods camping--that means living in a +tent. We'll cook in a tent--that is when it rains so we can't have a +campfire out of doors--we'll eat in the tent and we'll sleep in it." + +"Oh, Daddy! Shall we--really?" cried Bunny, almost falling off his +father's knee he was so excited. + +"Yes, that's what we're going to do," said Mr. Brown. "We are going to +spend the summer in camp, under a tent instead of in a cottage, as we +sometimes do. Will you like that?" + +"Oh, I just guess we will!" cried Bunny Brown. + +"And can I take my dolls along--will there be room for 'em?" asked Sue. + +"Oh, yes, plenty of room," answered Daddy Brown. + +"And will Splash come?" Bunny wanted to know. + +"Oh, yes, we'll take your dog along, of course. It wouldn't be like a +real camp without Splash. So now you know what the tent is for." + +"May we go out and look at it?" asked Bunny. + +"Oh, no, son. Not to-night. It's still raining, and the tent is all wet. +It will dry out in a few days. Besides, you've seen the tent up." + +"It's just like when we had it for the circus," explained Sue. "I don't +want to go out to the barn and see it, Bunny. I'm hungry, and I want my +supper." + +"It's almost ready," said Mother Brown. "Then we really are going +camping?" She looked at her husband as she asked the question. + +"Yes, I thought that would be a nice way to spend the summer vacation," +said Mr. Brown. "Grandpa's tent is very large. We can sleep in that one. +I also have a smaller tent, in which we can set a table, and next to +that will be one, still smaller, where we can cook on an oil stove in +wet weather. We'll have a real camp!" + +"Oh, fine!" cried Bunny. + +"How nice!" exclaimed Sue. + +"And where are we going to camp?" Mother Brown questioned. + +"Up in the woods, about ten miles from here, near Lake Wanda," answered +Mr. Brown. "And, now that I've told you all about the surprise, I think, +we'll have supper." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +BUNNY AND SUE SLEEP OUT + + +After supper the two children, and their father and mother, as well, +found so much to talk over, about camping out, that it was bed-time for +Bunny and Sue almost before they knew it. + +"Oh, can't we stay up just a _little_ longer?" begged Bunny, when his +mother told him it was time for him and Sue to get undressed. + +"Just let's hear daddy tell, once more, how he cooks eggs over a +campfire," added Sue. + +"Not to-night; some other time," said Mr. Brown. "That's one of the +things you must learn when going to camp--to obey orders." + +Daddy Brown set Bunny and Sue down on the floor--they had climbed up +into his lap again after supper. He stood up tall and straight, like a +soldier, and touched his hand to his head. + +"Order Number One!" he said. "Time to go to bed. Good-night!" + +"Aye, aye, sir!" answered Bunny, putting his hand to his head, as he had +seen his father do. That was saluting, you know, just as a gentleman +lifts his hat to a lady, or a private soldier salutes his officer. + +Mr. Brown laughed, for, though Bunny had saluted as a soldier does, the +little boy had answered like a sailor. You see, he knew more about +sailors than he did about soldiers, living near the sea as he had all +his life. + +Whenever Mr. Brown wanted Bunny to do anything, without asking too many +questions about it, or talking too much, Bunny's father would pretend he +was a captain, and the little boy a soldier, who must mind, or obey, at +the first order. This pleased Bunny. + +"Order Number One!" said Mr. Brown again. "Bunny Brown report to bed. +Order Number Two, so must Sister Sue!" + +Then everyone laughed, and off to bed and dreamland went the two +children. They lay awake a little while, talking back and forth through +the door between their rooms, but soon their eyes closed, and stayed +closed until morning. + +Mr. and Mrs. Brown sat up about an hour longer, talking about going to +camp, and then they, too, went to bed. + +"I think the children will like it--living in a tent near the lake," +said Daddy Brown, as he turned out the light. + +"Yes," said Mrs. Brown. "They'll be sure to like it. I only hope they'll +not fall in." + +"Well, if they do, Splash will pull them out," said Daddy Brown. + +Bunny and Sue were up early the next morning. Even before breakfast they +had thought of the good times they were going to have in camp at Lake +Wanda. + +"Daddy, may we go out and see the tent now?" asked Bunny. + +"After a bit," answered Mr. Brown. "The tent got rather wet, coming by +express through the rain, and I'm going to send Bunker Blue and some of +the fishermen around to-day to put it up so it will dry out. Then we'll +roll the tent up again, tie it with ropes, and it will be ready to take +with us to Lake Wanda." + +"When are you going?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"Oh, in about two weeks--as soon as the weather gets a little more +settled." + +It was May now, and the flowers were beginning to bloom. Soon it would +be June, and that is the nicest month in all the year to go camping in +the woods, for the days are so long that it doesn't get dark until after +eight o'clock at night, and one has that much longer to have fun. + +When breakfast was over Bunny and Sue went out to the barn to look at +the big express bundle which held the tent. It was too heavy for them to +lift, or they themselves might have tried to put it up out on the lawn. +Bunny Brown was that kind of boy. And Sue would have helped him. But, as +it was, they waited for Bunker and some of the strong fishermen to come +up from Mr. Brown's boat dock. In a little while the tent was put up on +the lawn, and Bunny and Sue were allowed to play in it. + +"The dining room tent will come in a few days," said Mr. Brown, "and +also the cooking tent. I bought them in New York." + +Then he told Bunny and Sue how they would go camping. The tents and +cots, with bed clothes, and dishes, pots, pans, an oil stove and good +things to eat, would all be put in the big moving van automobile, in +which they had traveled to Grandpa Brown's farm in the country. + +"We'll ride in that up to Lake Wanda," said Daddy Brown. "When we get to +the woods, on the shore of the beautiful lake, we'll put up the tent, +and make our camp. Then we'll have good times." + +"Oh, I can hardly wait; can you?" asked Sue, speaking to her wax doll. + +"I wish the time would hurry up," said Bunny. "But who is going to help +you put up the tents, Daddy? You can't do them all alone." + +"Oh, Bunker Blue is going camping with us." + +"Goodie!" cried Bunny. + +"And we'll also take Uncle Tad along," went on Daddy Brown. + +"That's nice!" exclaimed Sue, clapping her hands. She and Bunny loved +Uncle Tad. He was an old soldier, who had fought in the war. He was +really Mr. Brown's uncle, but the children called him uncle too, and +Uncle Tad loved Bunny Brown and his sister Sue very much. + +The tent was not very wet from the rain, and Bunny and Sue had fun +playing in it that day. Splash, their dog, played in the tent too. +Splash asked nothing better than to be with Bunny and Sue. + +"Bunny, are we going to sleep on the ground when we go camping?" Sue +wanted to know, as she and her brother sat in the tent that afternoon. + +"Well, maybe we will," the little boy said. "But I think I heard daddy +say we would take some cot beds with us. You _can_ sleep on the ground, +though. Mother read me a story about some hunters who cut off some +branches from an evergreen tree, and put their blankets over them to +sleep on. They slept fine, too." + +"Could we do that?" asked Sue. + +"Yes," answered Bunny. And then a queer look came on the face of Bunny +Brown. Sue saw it and asked: + +"Oh, Bunny, is you got an idea?" + +"Yes," Bunny answered slowly, "I has got an idea." + +"Oh, goodie!" cried Sue. "Tell me about it, Bunny, and we'll do it!" + +Bunny often had ideas. That is, he thought of things to do, and nothing +pleased Sue more than to do things with her brother. They were not +always the right things to do, but then the children couldn't be +expected to do right all the while; could they? + +So, whenever Bunny said he had an idea, which meant he was going to do +something to have fun, Sue was anxious to know what his idea was. + +"Tell me, Bunny!" she begged. + +Bunny went over closer to his sister, looked all around the tent, as if +to make sure no one was listening, and when he saw only Splash, the big +dog, he whispered: + +"Sue, how would you like to practice sleeping out?" + +"Sleeping out?" said Sue. She did not just know what Bunny meant. + +"Yes, sleeping out," said the little boy again. "Sleeping out in this +tent, I mean. We'll have to do it, if we go to camp, and we might as +well have some practice, you know." + +Bunny and Sue knew what "practice" meant, for a girl whom they knew took +music lessons, and she had to go in and practice playing on the piano +every day. + +Bunny thought that if you had to practice, or try over and over again, +before you could play the piano, you might have to practice, or try, +sleeping out of doors in a tent. + +"How can we do it?" asked Sue. + +"It's easy," Bunny answered. "We'll bring our blankets out here and +sleep in the tent to-night." + +"Maybe daddy and mother won't let us, Bunny." + +"They won't care," said the little boy. "'Sides, they won't know it. We +won't tell 'em. We'll just come out at night, when they've gone to +sleep. We can slip down, out of our rooms, with our blankets, and sleep +in the tent on the ground, just as we'll have to do in camp. 'Cause we +mayn't always have cot beds there. Will you do it, Sue?" + +"Course I will, Bunny Brown!" + +Sue nearly always did what Bunny wanted her to. This time she was sure +it would be lots of fun. + +"All right," Bunny went on. "To-night, after it gets all dark, we'll +come down, and sleep here." + +"S'pose--s'posin' I get to sleep in my own bed in the house, Bunny?" + +"Oh, I'll wake you up," said Bunny. "I won't go to sleep, and I'll come +in and tickle your feet." + +Sue laughed. She always laughed when anyone tickled her feet, and even +the thought of it made her giggle. + +"Don't tickle 'em too hard, Bunny," she said. "'Cause if you do I'll +sneeze and that will wake up daddy and mother." + +"I won't tickle you too hard," Bunny said. + +That night, after supper, Mrs. Brown said to her husband: + +"Bunny and Sue are up to some trick, I know they are!" + +"What makes you think so?" asked Mr. Brown. + +"Oh, I can always tell. They are so quiet now, they haven't teased for +anything all afternoon, and now they are getting ready to go to bed, +though it isn't within a half-hour of their time." + +"Oh, maybe they're sleepy," said Mr. Brown, who was reading the paper. + +"No, I'm sure they are up to some trick," said Mother Brown. + +And now, if you please, just you wait and see whether or not she was +right. + +Bunny Brown and his sister Sue did go to bed earlier than usual that +night. Bunny, after supper, had whispered to his sister: + +"If we go to bed sooner we can be awake quicker and go down to the +tent." + +"Can you open the door?" asked Sue. + +"Yes, the back door opens easy." + +"But has you got the branches from the evergreen tree cut so we can +spread our blankets over them?" Sue wanted to know. + +Bunny shook his head. + +"I didn't dast do it," he said. "They might see me cutting 'em, and then +they'd guess what we were going to do. We can each take two blankets +off our beds, Sue, and that will make the ground soft enough. 'Sides, if +we're going to be campers, and sleep in the woods, we mustn't mind a +hard bed. Soldiers don't--for daddy said so." + +"Girls aren't soldiers!" said Sue. "But I'll come with you and we'll +sleep on two blankets." + +"To practice for when we go camping," added Bunny. + +Sue nodded her head, and, with her doll, went up to bed in the room next +to Bunny's. + +"I just know those children are up to something," said Mother Brown, as +she came down after tucking in Bunny and Sue. "I wish I knew what it +was." + +"Oh, I guess it isn't anything," laughed daddy. + +Sue and her brother found it hard to keep awake. They had played hard +all day, and that always makes children sleepy. + +In fact, Bunny and Sue did fall asleep, but Bunny awakened sometime in +the night, I suppose because he was thinking so much about going out +into the tent. + +The little fellow sat up in bed. A light was burning out in the hall, so +he could see plainly enough. He remembered what he had promised to +do--wake up Sue by tickling her feet. + +Softly he stole into her room, after putting on his bath robe. He +dragged after him two blankets from his bed. + +Reaching under the covers he gently tickled Sue's pink toes. + +"What--What's matter?" murmured Sue, sleepily. + +"Hush!" whispered Bunny close to her ear. "Wake up, Sue! I don't want to +tickle you any more, and make you sneeze. We're going to sleep out in +the tent, you know." + +Sue was soon wide awake. Softly she crawled out of bed, slipped on her +bath robe, which was on a chair near her bed, and then, dragging two +blankets after her, she and Bunny went softly down the stairs. + +Carefully Bunny opened the door, and he and Sue went out on the side +porch, and down across the lawn to where, in the moonlight, stood +grandpa's tent. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +SPLASH COMES, TOO + + +The camping tent, which had been put up by Daddy Brown, so it would be +well dried out, stood wide open. Bunny and Sue, with their bed-blankets +trailing after them, slipped in through the "front door." + +Of course, there was not really a "front door" to a tent. There are just +two pieces of canvas, called "flaps," that come together and make a sort +of front door. Between these white flaps Bunny Brown and his sister Sue +went, and they found themselves inside the tent. + +"It--it's awful dark, isn't it, Bunny?" whispered Sue, softly. + +"Hush!" returned her brother. "We don't want them to see us. It will be +light pretty soon, Sue." + +"I--I don't like it dark," she said. + +"Shut your eyes and you won't see the dark," Bunny went on. His mother +had often told him that when she wanted him to go to sleep in a dark +room, or when only the hall light was dimly burning. So Bunny thought +that would be a good thing to tell Sue. "Shut your eyes, and you won't +see the dark," said Bunny Brown. + +But, really, it was not very dark in the tent, after the two children +had stood there awhile. The moon was brightly shining outside, and, as +the tent was of white canvas, some of the light came through. So as Sue +looked around she could begin to see things a little better now. There +was not much to see. Just the ground, and a box or two in the tent. +During the day Bunny and Sue had been playing with the boxes, and had +left them in the tent. + +"Come on, now," said Bunny. "We'll spread our blankets out on the +ground, Sue, and go to sleep. Then we'll make believe we're camping out, +just as we're going to do up at the lake." + +As he spoke Bunny spread his two blankets out on the ground under the +tent. He folded them so he could crawl in between the folds, and cover +himself up, for it was rather chilly that spring night. + +"I--I want a pillow, Bunny," said Sue. "I want something to put my head +on when I go to sleep." + +"Hush!" cried Bunny in a whisper. "If you speak out loud that way, Sue, +mother or daddy will hear us. Then they'll come and get us and make us +sleep in our beds." + +"Well--well," answered Sue, and Bunny could tell by her voice that she +was trying hard not to cry, "well, Bunny Brown, I--I guess I'd better +like sleepin' in my bed, than out here without no pillow. I want a +pillow, an' it's dark an' cold, an'--an'----" + +Sue was just ready to cry, but Bunny said: + +"Oh, come on now, Sue! This is fun! You know we're making-believe camp +out!" + +"All right," Sue answered, after thinking it over a bit. "But can I--can +I sleep over by you, Bunny?" + +"Yes. Put your blankets right down here by mine, and we'll both go to +sleep. Won't daddy and mother be s'prised when they find we've camped +out all night?" + +"I--I guess they will," Sue said. "It kinder s'prises me, too!" + +Sue was dragging her blankets over toward the place when Bunny had his +spread out on the ground, and she was just going to lie down, when the +flaps of the tent were suddenly shoved to one side, and something came +in. + +"Oh! oh!" cried Sue, as she threw herself down in her blankets, and +wrapped herself up in them, even covering her head. "Oh, Bunny! Bunny! +What is it? What's after us?" + +"I--I don't know," said Bunny, and his voice trembled a little. + +Then Sue raised her head and peeped out from under her blanket. She saw +something standing in the front door of the tent, half way in, and half +way out. The moon was still shining brightly, and Sue cried: + +"Oh, Bunny! It's a bear! It's a bear!" + +Just then there came a loud: + +"Bow-wow-wow!" + +Bunny and Sue both laughed then. Then were frightened no longer. + +"Oh, it's our dog, Splash!" cried Sue. "It's only Splash!" + +"Here, Splash!" called Bunny. Then with a joyous bark the dog sprang +inside the tent, and snuggled close up to his two little play-mates. + +"Now I isn't afraid," said Sue, as she put her arms around the big +shaggy neck of her pet. "Now I isn't afraid any more. Splash can sleep +with us; can't he, Bunny?" + +"Yes, Sue. Now go to sleep. Isn't this fun?" + +"Yes, it is when Splash is here," Sue said. + +Though Bunny did not say so, he, too, was glad their dog had come to +spend the rest of the night with them. Not that there was anything to be +afraid of, oh, dear no! There were no bears, or wolves, or anything like +that in Bellemere. There were big fish in the bay and in the ocean, but +of course they never came up on land. + +"And, even if they did," said Sue sleepily to Bunny when they were +talking about this, as they lay close to the big dog in their blankets, +"even if any fish did flop up, Bunny, Splash would catch them; wouldn't +he?" + +"Sure!" answered Bunny. + +"You would; wouldn't you, Splash?" asked the little girl, her chubby arm +around the dog's neck. + +Splash whined softly, and rubbed his cold nose first against the warm +cheek of Sue, and then against Bunny's. That was his way of kissing +them, I think. + +And so, strange as it may seem, Bunny and Sue went to sleep in the +camping tent that night. They were well wrapped up in the warm blankets +they had brought from their beds, and after the first few shivers they +were not cold. And so they slept, and Splash slept with them. All this +while Daddy Brown and Mother Brown knew nothing about their children +having gone out in the night. + +But Mother Brown soon found it out. I'll tell you about it. + +About two o'clock every morning (when it was still quite dark, and when +it was yet night, though you could call it morning), Mrs. Brown used to +get up, and slip into the rooms of the children to see if they were +covered up. For little folk often kick off the bed clothes in the night, +and so get cold. Mother Brown did not want this to happen to Bunny and +Sue. + +This time, though, when Mother Brown went softly into Sue's room, to see +if her little girl was all right, she did not find Sue in her bed. + +"Why, this is queer," thought Mrs. Brown. "Where can Sue have gone? +Perhaps she slipped out and went in with Bunny." + +Sometimes Sue used to do this, when she would awaken and become a little +frightened. But when Mother Brown went into Bunny's room Sue was not +there, nor was Bunny. Mrs. Brown felt all over the bed, but there was +not a sign of either of the children. + +"Why--why!" exclaimed Mother Brown. "What can have happened to them? +Where can they be? Bunny! Sue!" she called, and she spoke out loudly +now. + +"What is it? What's the matter?" asked Daddy Brown, as he awakened on +hearing his wife call. "What has happened?" + +"Why, I can't find Bunny or Sue! They're not in their beds! I came in to +cover them up, as I always do, but they're not here. Oh dear! I hope +nothing has happened to them!" + +"Of course nothing has happened!" said Daddy Brown. He sprang out of bed +and lighted a light in Bunny's room. As he took one look at the tumbled +bed, and saw that two of the blankets were gone, Mr. Brown laughed. + +"What are you laughing at?" his wife asked him. "I don't see anything +very funny to laugh at!" + +"It's those children!" said Daddy Brown, "I know where they are!" + +"Where?" cried Mother Brown, eagerly. "Where?" + +"Out in the tent. They've taken their blankets and gone out there to +sleep. They're playing camping out, I'm sure. We'll find them in the +tent." + +And, surely enough, as you well know, there they found Bunny Brown and +his sister Sue, fast asleep on their blankets in the tent, with Splash +sleeping between them. + +Splash looked up and wagged his tail as Mr. and Mrs. Brown, wearing +their bath robes and slippers, came softly into the little canvas house. +Splash seemed to say: + +"Hush! Don't wake up the children! They're sound asleep!" + +And Bunny and Sue were sound asleep. Mr. and Mrs. Brown looked at one +another, smiled, and then daddy picked up Bunny, blankets and all, while +Mrs. Brown did the same with Sue. + +"We'll put them right in their own beds, in the house, without waking +them up," whispered Daddy Brown. + +"Yes," nodded Mother Brown. + +"What--what's matter?" sleepily murmured Bunny as he felt himself being +carried into the house. But that was all he said, and he did not even +open his eyes. + +Sue never said anything as her mother carried her. And as for Splash, +once he saw that the children were being taken care of, he curled up in +a corner of the tent, and went to sleep again. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +OFF TO CAMP + + +Bunny Brown opened his eyes, and sat up in bed. Then he blinked his +eyes. Next he rubbed them. Then he looked all around the bed. + +Yes, there was no doubt about it, he was in his own little room, with +the pictures he so well knew hanging on the walls, with his toys on the +box in the corner. It was his own room, and he had awakened in his own +bed, and yet---- + +"Sue! Sue!" called Bunny in a whisper, looking toward the open door of +the room in which his sister slept. "Sue, is you there!" + +"Yes, Bunny, I'm here." + +"And are you in your own bed?" + +"Yes, I is." + +Sometimes Bunny and Sue did not speak just right, as perhaps you have +noticed. + +"But, Sue--Sue," Bunny went on, "didn't we go to sleep in the tent; or +did we? Did I dream it?" + +"I--I don't know, Bunny," answered Sue. "I 'members about being in the +tent. And Splash was there, too. But I'm in my bed _now_." + +"So'm I, Sue. I--I wonder how we got here?" + +Bunny looked all around his room again, as if trying to solve the +puzzle. But he could not guess what had happened. He remembered how he +and Sue had gotten up in the middle of the night, and how they had crept +inside the tent. Then Splash had come; and how funny it was when Sue +thought their dog was a bear. Then they had all gone to sleep in the +tent, and now---- + +Well, Bunny was certainly in his bed, and so was Sue in hers. + +"How--how did it happen?" asked Bunny. + +He heard a laugh out in the hall. Running to the door he saw his father +and mother standing there. Then Bunny understood. + +"Oh, you carried us in from the tent when we were asleep; didn't you, +Daddy?" asked Bunny, pointing a finger at his father. + +"Yes, that's what I did." + +"Oh, Bunny, what made you and Sue do a thing like that?" asked Mother +Brown. "I was so frightened when I came in to cover you and Sue up, and +couldn't find my little ones. What made you do it?" + +"Why--why," said Bunny slowly, "we wanted to get some practice at +camping out, Sue and I did--just like they practice piano lessons. So we +went to sleep in the tent." + +"Well, don't do it again until we really go camping," said Daddy Brown. +"When we are in the woods, at Lake Wanda, you can sleep in the tent as +much as you like, for then we'll have cot beds and everything right. +Anyhow, I'm going to take down the tent to-day and get it ready to pack +up for camp." + +"When are we going?" asked Bunny. + +"Oh, in about a week, I guess," answered his father. + +"Then I'm going to pack up," declared the little boy. "I've got lots of +things I want to take to camp." + +"And so have I," called Sue, who had run out of her own room. "I'm going +to take two of my best dolls, and all their clothes." + +"You can take some of your toys and play-things but not too many," said +Mrs. Brown. "You must remember that you'll be out in the woods a good +part of the time, having fun among the trees, or perhaps on the lake. So +you won't want too many home-toys." + +"Are we going to have a boat on the lake?" asked Bunny eagerly. + +"Yes, but you're not to go out in it alone. Bunker Blue is coming with +us, and he will look after you on the water, and Uncle Tad will look +after you in the woods--that is when either daddy or myself is not with +you children. Now you'd better get dressed for breakfast, and don't go +out in the middle of the night any more and sleep in a tent." + +"We won't," promised Bunny Brown and his sister Sue. + +That week began the work of getting ready to go to camp. One of the +first things Daddy Brown did was to get two other tents. One of these +was to be the dining-room tent, where the table would be set for eating +when in camp. Another tent, smaller than either of the two, would do to +cook in. + +Besides the tents they must take with them things to eat, knives, forks, +spoons, dishes, pots and pans, an oil stove and bed clothing. + +All these things Daddy Brown, or Mother Brown, with the help of Uncle +Tad or Bunker Blue, packed. The big automobile, in which the Brown +family had eaten and slept when on their trip to grandpa's farm, was +once more made ready for a journey. + +In this were packed the tents, the bedding, the stove, the good things +to eat, and all that would be needed in camp. Of course, they could not +take with them all they would want to eat through the summer, for they +expected to stay in camp until fall. But there were stores not far from +Lake Wanda, and in them could be bought bread, butter, sugar, tea, +coffee, or whatever else was needed. + +"Are we going to sleep in the automobile this time?" asked Bunny, as he +looked inside the big moving van. "I don't see where we can make a bed," +Bunny went on, for the van was quite filled with the tents, cot-beds, +chairs, tables, the oil stove and other things. + +"No, we're not going to sleep in the auto this time," said Mr. Brown. +"It will only take us a day to get from here to Lake Wanda where we are +going to camp. So we will get up here, in our own home in the morning, +ride to camp, put up the tents, and that same night we will sleep in +them." + +"Oh, what fun it will be!" cried Sue, joyfully. + +"It will be dandy!" exclaimed Bunny. "And I'll catch fish for our supper +in the lake." + +"I hope you won't catch them as you caught the turtle in the New York +aquarium, the time we went to Aunt Lu's city home," said Mother Brown +with a laugh. + +"No, I won't catch any mud turtles," promised Bunny. + +In the book before this one I've told you about Bunny catching the +turtle on a bent pin hook with a piece of rag for bait. He had quite an +exciting time. + +Everyone at the Brown house was busy now. There was much to be done to +get ready to go to camp. Bunny and Sue were each given a box, and told +that this must hold all their toys and playthings. + +"You may take with you only as much as your two boxes will hold," said +Daddy Brown to Bunny and Sue. "So pick out the play-toys you like best, +as the two boxes are all you may have. And when you get to camp I want +you always, when you have finished playing, to put back in the boxes the +toys you have finished with. + +"In that way you will always know where they are, when you want them +again, and you won't have to be looking for them, or asking your mother +or me to help you find them. Besides, we must keep our camp looking +nice, and a camp can't look nice if toys and play-things are scattered +all about. + +"So pick out the things you want to take with you, pack them in your +boxes and, after you get to camp, keep your toys in the boxes. That is +one of our rules." + +"Aye, aye, sir!" answered Bunny making a funny little bob with his head +as he had seen some of the old sailors, at his father's dock, do when +they answered. + +"I'm just going to take my dolls, and some picture books for them to +look at," said Sue. + +"Pooh! Dolls can't look at picture books!" exclaimed Bunny. + +"Yes, they can too!" cried Sue. + +"No, they can't!" + +"Well, I mean make-believe, Bunny Brown!" + +"Oh, well, yes; make-believe! I thought you meant _real_." + +"Well, _I_ can look at them real," said Sue, "and make believe I'm +reading to my dolls." + +"Oh, yes," agreed Bunny. + +"What are you going to take?" asked Sue of her brother. + +"Oh, I'm going to take my fish pole, and my pop gun----" + +"That only shoots a cork!" cried Sue. "You can't hit any bears with +that." + +"I can scare 'em with it when it pops!" cried Bunny. "That's all I want +to do. I don't want to kill a bear, anyhow. I just want to scare 'em. +And maybe when I scare a little bear I can grab it and bring it home +and tame it." + +"Oh, if you only could!" cried Sue. "Then we could make it do tricks, +and we could get a hand-organ and go around with a trained bear instead +of a monkey." + +"Yes," said Bunny. "We could until the bear got too big. I guess I +wouldn't want a big bear, Sue." + +"No, little ones is the nicest. Maybe we'd better get a monkey, anyhow, +'cause they never grow big." + +"I don't believe any monkeys grow in the woods where we're going to +camp," observed Bunny. "But we'll look, anyhow, and maybe I can scare +one of them with my pop gun." + +Then the two children talked of what fun they would have in camp. They +put things in their two boxes, took them out again and tried to crowd in +more, for they found they did not want to leave any of their toys or +play-things behind. But they could not get them all in two small boxes, +so finally they picked out what they liked best, and these were put in +the automobile. + +Mr. and Mrs. Brown had done most of the other packing. The auto-moving +van was quite full, there being just room enough for Mrs. Brown, Uncle +Tad and the two children to ride in the back, while Daddy Brown and +Bunker Blue sat on the front seat. + +At last everything was ready. The last things had been put in the +automobile, and tied fast. The children took their places, and called to +Splash. Of course he was to go with them. He would run along the road, +until he grew tired, and then he could ride in the automobile. + +"All aboard!" called Bunker Blue as he sat at the steering wheel. "Is +everybody ready?" + +"I am!" answered Bunny Brown. "I've got my fishing pole, and I can dig +some worms when I get to camp." + +"Are you going to fish with worms?" asked Sue. + +"Sure I am! Fishes love worms." + +"I don't!" Sue said. "Worms is so squiggily." She always said that when +Bunny spoke of worms. + +"Well, I guess we're all ready," remarked Daddy Brown. "Start off, +Bunker Blue." + +"Chug-chug!" went the automobile. + +"Bow-wow!" barked the dog Splash. + +"Good-bye!" called Bunny and Sue to some of their little boy and girl +friends who had gathered to wave farewell. "Good-bye! Good-bye!" + +Then the big automobile rolled out into the road. The Browns were off to +camp. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +PUTTING UP THE TENTS + + +"How long will it take us to get to Lake Wanda, Mother?" asked Bunny +Brown, as, with Sue and Uncle Tad, he and his mother sat in the back of +the big car that rumbled along the road. + +"Oh, we ought to get there about noon," she answered. + +"Just in time to eat," said Uncle Tad. "I suppose you children will be +good and hungry, too." + +"I'm hungry now," said Sue, "I wish I had a jam tart, Mother." + +"So do I!" put in Bunny. + +"I'll give you one in a few minutes," Mrs. Brown said. "We did have an +early breakfast, and I suppose you are hungry now." + +"Will we have to cook dinner as soon as we get to camp?" Bunny wanted to +know. + +"If we do I'll help," said Uncle Tad with a smile. "I can build a +campfire. When I was a soldier, in the army, down South, we used to +build campfires, and roast potatoes when we couldn't find anything else +to eat." + +"Did they taste good, Uncle Tad?" asked Sue. + +"Indeed they did, little girl. And we had roast ears of corn, too. They +were even better than the potatoes." + +"I guess we'll have to make Uncle Tad the camp cook," said Mother Brown +with a smile, as she brought out a basket of lunch for Bunny and Sue. In +the basket were some cakes, sandwiches and a few of the jam and jelly +tarts that Aunt Lu used to make. Only, as Aunt Lu had gone back to her +city home, Mrs. Brown had learned to make the tarts, and Bunny and Sue +were very fond of them. + +As they rode along in the big automobile the children ate the little +lunch, and enjoyed it very much. Uncle Tad took some too, for he had +gotten up early, with the others, and he was hungry. + +"I wonder if Daddy and Bunker Blue wouldn't like a tart," murmured Sue, +after a bit, as she picked up the last crumbs of hers. + +"Perhaps they would," said Mother Brown. "But they are away up on the +front seat, and I don't see how we can pass them any. There is too much +in the auto, or I could hand it to them out of the little window back of +the seat. But I can't reach the window." + +"I know how we could pass them a tart," said Bunny. + +"How?" asked his mother. + +"Climb up on the roof of the auto, and lower the lunch basket down to +them with a string." + +"Bunny Brown! Don't you dare think of such a thing!" cried his mother. +"The idea of climbing onto the roof of this big automobile when it's +moving!" + +"Oh, I didn't mean when it was _moving_," Bunny said. "I wouldn't do +that, for fear I'd be jiggled off. I meant to wait until we stopped. +Then I could get up on the roof." + +"No need to do that," said Uncle Tad. "For when we stop, then one of you +can get down, and run up ahead with something for daddy and Bunker +Blue." + +And, a little later, the automobile did stop. + +"What's the matter?" called Mrs. Brown to her husband, who was up on the +front seat. "Did anything happen?" + +"No, only the automobile needs a drink of water," answered Mr. Brown. I +have told you how automobiles need water, as much as horses do, or as +you do, when you get warm. Of course the automobile does not exactly +_drink_ the water. But some must be poured in, from time to time, to +keep the engine cool. And this was why Bunker Blue stopped the +automobile now. + +While he was pouring water in, dipping it up with a pail from a cold +spring beside the road, Bunny and Sue got out and took their father and +the red-haired boy some jam and jelly tarts, and also some sandwiches. + +"My! This is fine!" cried Mr. Brown, as he ate the good things Sue +handed him. "I'm glad we're going camping; aren't you, children?" + +"Oh, I should say we were glad!" cried Bunny, as he took a drink from +the spring. There was half a brown cocoanut shell for a dipper, and +Bunny thought he had never drunk such cool, sweet water. + +Then, when Bunker Blue had eaten his sandwiches and tarts, they started +off once more, rumbling along the country roads toward Lake Wanda. + +"I wish we'd hurry up and get there," said Sue. "I want to see what +camping is like." + +"Oh, we'll soon be there," promised Daddy Brown, "and there'll be work +enough for all of us. We'll have three tents to put up, and many other +things to do." + +On and on went the big automobile. Splash ran along the road, some time +at the side of the car, sometimes behind it, and, once in a while, away +up ahead, as if he were looking to see that the road was safe. + +After a bit the dog came back to the automobile, and walked along so +slowly, with his red tongue hanging out, that Sue said: + +"Oh, poor Splash must be tired! Let's give him a ride, Mother!" + +"All right. Call him up here." + +"Come on, Splash!" called Bunny and Sue, for they each owned half the +dog. They had pretended to divide him down the middle, so each one +might have part of the wagging tail, and part of the barking head. It +was more fun owning a dog that way. + +Up jumped Splash into the back of the auto-moving van. He stretched out +on a roll of carpet that was to be spread over the board floor of the +big tent, and went to sleep. But first Bunny had given him some sweet +crackers to eat. Splash was very fond of these crackers. + +The automobile was going down hill now, and when it reached the bottom +it came to a stop again. + +"What's the matter now?" asked Mother Brown. "Does the auto want another +drink?" + +"No, not just now," answered daddy. "Something has happened this time." + +"Oh, I hope nothing is broken!" said Mrs. Brown. + +"Not with us," answered her husband. "But there is an automobile just +ahead of us that seems to be in trouble. They are stuck in the mud, I +think." + +Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, their mother, Uncle Tad and even Splash +got out to see what the matter was. I don't really believe Splash cared +what had happened, but he always went where Bunny and Sue went, and when +he saw them go this time he went with them. + +Walking up toward the front part of the big automobile, where Bunker +Blue and Daddy Brown sat, Mrs. Brown, Uncle Tad and the children saw, +just ahead, a small automobile, off to one side of the road. The wheels +were away down in the soft mud, and a man at the steering wheel was +trying to make the car move up onto the hard road, but he could not do +it. + +"You seem to be in trouble," said Daddy Brown. There were two ladies out +on the road, watching the man trying to start the car. + +"I am in trouble," said the man down in the mud. "I turned off the road +to pass a hay wagon, but I did not think the mud was so soft down here, +or I never would have done it. Now I am stuck and I can't seem to get +out." + +"Perhaps I can help you," said Daddy Brown. "I have a very strong +automobile here. I'll go on ahead, keeping to the road, and I'll tie a +rope to your car, and fasten the other end to mine. Then I'll pull you +out of the mud." + +"I'd be very thankful to you if you would." + +"Yes, we'd be ever so much obliged," echoed the two ladies, whose shoes +were all muddy from having jumped out of the automobile down into the +ditch. + +It did not take Daddy Brown and Bunker Blue long to fasten a rope from +their automobile to the one stuck in the mud. Then when the big +auto-moving van, in which the Browns were going to camp, started off +down the road, it pulled the small car from the mud as easily as +anything. + +"Thank you, very much," said the man when he saw that he and the ladies +could go on again. "The next time I get behind a hay wagon I'll wait +until I have room to turn out, without getting into a mud hole. I'm very +much obliged to you, Mr. Brown, and if ever you get stuck in the mud I +hope I can pull you out." + +"I'm afraid you couldn't do it with your small car, when my auto is such +a large one." Mr. Brown answered, "but thank you just the same." + +Then the man in his small automobile, rode off with the two women, and, +a little later, the Browns were once more on their way. + +It was a little before noon when they came in sight of a big lake, which +they could see through the trees. It was not far from the road. + +"Oh, what lake is that?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"That is Lake Wanda, where we are going to camp," said Mr. Brown. "We'll +turn in toward it, pretty soon, and begin putting up the tents." + +"You said we'd have dinner first!" cried Bunny Brown. + +"Are you hungry again?" asked his mother. + +"I guess riding and being out in the air make them hungry," said Uncle +Tad. "Well, children must eat to grow big and strong." + +"Then Bunny and Sue ought to be regular giants!" laughed Mrs. Brown, +"for they are eating all the while." + +A little later the big automobile turned off the main road into a +smaller one, that led to the lake. And when the children and Mrs. Brown +had a good view of the large sheet of water they thought it one of the +most beautiful they had ever seen. + +The lake was deep blue in color, and all around it were hills, and +little mountains, with many trees on them. The trees were covered with +beautiful, green leaves. + +"Oh, this is a lovely place," cried Mother Brown. "Just lovely!" + +"I'm glad you like it," said her husband. + +"I like it, too," echoed Bunny. + +"So do I," added Sue. + +"Well, shall we begin putting up the tents?" asked Mr. Brown. "It will +be night almost before you know it here. You see the hills are so high +that the sun seems to go to bed sooner here than he does at home." + +"Oh, let's rest awhile before we do anything," said Mother Brown. "Just +rest awhile and look at the lake." + +"Hurrah!" suddenly cried Daddy Brown. "That's it! I've been trying to +think what to call it, but you've done it for me. That's just what we'll +call it! There couldn't be a better name!" + +"Why, what are you talking about?" asked Mrs. Brown, in surprise. + +"The name of our camp," explained Daddy Brown, laughing. "I have been +trying, ever since we started, to think of a good name for it. +'Rest-a-While,' will be the very thing. That's just what you said a +moment ago you know. 'Let's rest awhile and look at the lake.' So we +will call this Camp Rest-a-While! Isn't that a good name?" + +"Why, yes, it does sound very nice," said Mother Brown. "Camp +Rest-a-While! That's what we'll call it then, though I didn't know I was +naming a camp. Well, children--Uncle Tad--Bunker--and all of us--Welcome +to Camp Rest-a-While!" + +"Hurrah!" cried Bunny and Sue, clapping their hands. + +And so the camp was named. + +Mrs. Brown set out a little lunch, and they gathered about one of the +boxes, in which the bed clothes were packed, to eat. The box was set on +the ground, under a big chestnut tree. + +"Where are you going to put up the tents?" asked Mother Brown. + +"Right where we are now," said Daddy Brown. "I think we could not find a +nicer spot. Here is a good place for our boat, when we get it. It is +nice and dry here, and we can see all over the lake. Yes, this is where +we will put up the tents for Camp Rest-a-While." + +And, after they had all eaten lunch, including Splash, who was as hungry +as Bunny or Sue, the work of putting up the tents was begun. The canvas +houses were unrolled, and spread out on the ground. Then Daddy Brown, +with Bunker Blue and Uncle Tad to help, put up the tent poles, and +spread the canvas over them. By pulling on certain ropes, raising the +poles, and then tying the poles fast so they would not fall over, the +tents were put up. + +There was the big one, that could be made into two or even three rooms, +for them all to sleep in, Bunny, Daddy Brown, Uncle Tad and Bunker Blue +in one part, and Mother Brown and Sue in the other, with a third part +for company. + +The big tent was almost up. Only one more rope needed to be made fast. +Bunker Blue was pulling on this when Bunny and Sue, who were helping, +heard Splash give a sudden bark. Then the dog jumped into the lake, and +the children, looking, saw a great commotion going on in the water near +shore. Splash seemed either to have caught something, or to have been +caught himself. He was barking, howling and whining. + +"Oh, a big fish has caught Splash! A big fish has caught our dog!" cried +Sue, and, dropping the tent rope, of which she had hold, down to the +edge of the lake she ran. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A BIG BLACK BEAR + + +Something certainly seemed to be the matter with Splash. Bunny and Sue +had never seen their dog act in such a funny way. He would dash into the +water, not going far from shore, though, and then he would jump back, +barking all the while. + +Once or twice he tried to grab, in his sharp teeth, something that +seemed to be swimming in the water. But either Splash could not get it, +or he was afraid to come too close to it. + +"Oh, Daddy! What is it? What is it?" asked Bunny and Sue. + +Mr. Brown, who with Bunker Blue and Uncle Tad, was fastening the last +ropes of the tent, hurried down to the shore of the lake. + +"What is it? What's the matter, Splash? What is it?" asked Mr. Brown. + +Splash never turned around to look at daddy. He again rushed into the +water, barking and snapping his sharp teeth. Then Mr. Brown, taking up a +stick, ran toward the dog. + +"Let it alone, Splash! Let it alone!" cried Daddy Brown. "That's a big +muskrat, and if it bites you it will make a bad sore. Let it alone!" + +Daddy Brown struck at something in the water, and Bunny and Sue, running +down to the edge of the lake, saw a large, brown animal, with long hair, +swimming out toward the middle. Splash started to follow but Mr. Brown +caught the dog by the collar. + +"No you don't!" cried Bunny's father, "You let that muskrat alone, +Splash. He's so big, and such a good swimmer, that he might pull you +under the water and drown you. Let him alone." + +Bunker Blue, who had come down to the edge of the lake, threw a stone at +the swimming muskrat. The queer animal at once made a dive and went +under the water, for muskrats can swim under the water as well as on +top, and Bunny and Sue saw it no more. + +Splash rushed around, up and down the shore, barking loudly, but he did +not try to swim out. I think he knew Mr. Brown was right in what he +said--that it was not good to be bitten by a muskrat. + +"Is that what it was, Daddy--a rat?" asked Bunny. + +"Yes," answered his father. "Splash must have seen the muskrat swimming +in the water, and tried to get it. The muskrat didn't want to be caught, +so it fought back. But I'm glad it got away without being hurt, and I'm +glad Splash wasn't bitten." + +"What's a muskrat?" Sue wanted to know. + +"Well, it's a big rat that lives in the water," said Daddy Brown. "It is +much larger than the kind of rat that is around houses and barns, and it +has fine, soft fur which trappers sell, to make fur-lined overcoats, and +cloaks, for men and women. The fur is very good, and some persons say +the muskrat is good to eat, but I would not like to try eating it. But +this muskrat was a big one, and as they have sharp teeth, and can bite +hard when they are angry, it is a good thing we drove it away." + +Bunny and Sue looked out over the lake. They could see the muskrat no +longer, though there was a little ripple in the water where it had dived +down to get away. + +"Now we must finish putting up the tents," said Daddy Brown. "It will be +night before we know it, and we want a good place to sleep in at Camp +Rest-a-While." + +"And are we going to have a fire, where we can cook something?" asked +Bunny. + +"Yes, we'll have the oil stove set up." + +"I thought we would have a campfire," said the little boy. + +"So we shall!" exclaimed Uncle Tad. "I'll make a campfire for you, +children, and we'll bake some potatoes in it. We'll have them for +supper, with whatever else mother cooks on the oil stove." + +"I'll get some sticks of wood for the fire!" cried Sue. + +"So will I!" added Bunny. + +And while the older folk were finishing putting up the tents, and while +Mother Brown was getting out the bed clothes, Bunny and Sue made a pile +of sticks and twigs for the fire their uncle had promised to make. + +Soon the big sleeping tent was put up, and divided into two parts, one +for Sue and her mother, and the other for Bunny and the men folk. +Cot-beds were put up in the tent, and blankets, sheets and pillows put +on them, so the tent was really like a big bedroom. + +"It will be nicer sleeping here than on the ground, like we did in the +tent at home that night," said Bunny to Sue. + +"Yes, I guess it will," she answered. "My dollie won't catch cold in a +nice bed." + +"Did she catch cold before?" Bunny wanted to know. + +"Well, she had the sniffle-snuffles, and that's almost like a cold," Sue +answered. + +In the second-sized tent the dining table had been set up, and the +chairs put around ready for the first meal, which would be supper. +Mother Brown got the dishes out of the box, and called: + +"Now, Bunny and Sue, let me see you set the table." + +She had taught them at home how to put on the plates, knives, forks, +spoons, cups, saucers and whatever was needed, and now Bunny and Sue +did this, as their share of the work, while Bunker Blue, and the older +folk, were busy doing different things. + +In the cooking tent the oil stove was set up and lighted, to make sure +it burned well. Then Camp Rest-a-While looked just like its name--a +place where boys and girls, as well as men and women could come and have +a nice rest, near the beautiful lake. + +When everything was nearly finished, and it was about time to start +getting supper, a man came rowing along the shore of the lake in a boat. +He called to Mr. Brown: + +"Hey, there! Is this where you want your boat left?" + +"Yes, thank you. Tie it right there," answered Daddy Brown. + +"Oh, is that going to be our boat?" asked Bunny, in delight. + +"Yes," answered his father, "I wrote to a man up here that has boats to +let, to bring us a nice one. We'll use it while we are in camp. But you +children must never get in the boat without asking me, or your mother. +You mustn't get in even when it's tied to the shore." + +"We won't!" promised Bunny and Sue. Once they had gotten in a boat that +they thought was tied fast, but it had floated away with them. They +landed on an island in the river, and had some adventures, of which I +have told you in the first book of this series. + +Bunny and Sue remembered this, so they knew that sometimes it was not +even safe to get in a boat which was tied fast, unless some older person +was with them. + +The man left the boat he had brought for Mr. Brown. It was a large one +and would easily hold Bunny and Sue, as well as all the others at Camp +Rest-a-While. + +"Now for the roast potatoes!" cried Uncle Tad. "Come on, children! We'll +start our campfire, for I see your mother getting the meat ready to +cook, and it takes quite a while to roast potatoes out of doors." + +The campfire was built between two big stones, Bunny and Sue bringing up +the wood they had gathered. Uncle Tad lighted the fire, for it is not +safe for children to handle matches, or even be near an open fire, +unless some older person is with them. Bunny and Sue had often been +told this, so they were very careful. + +When the fire had blazed up good and hot, Uncle Tad let it cool down a +bit. Then he raked away the red hot embers and put in them some nice, +big, round potatoes. These he covered up in the hot ashes, and put on +more wood. + +"Now the potatoes are baking," he said. "They will be done in time for +supper." + +And what a fine supper it was--that first one in camp! Bunny and Sue +thought they had never tasted anything so good. They all sat in the +dining tent, and Mother Brown put the things on the table. + +"Now where are your potatoes, Uncle Tad?" she asked. + +"Here they are!" cried the old soldier, as he went to the campfire. He +raked away the ashes and embers with a stick, and on a platter, made +from a large piece of bark, off a tree, the old soldier poked out a +number of round, black, smoking things. + +"Why--why!" exclaimed Sue, in surprise. "I thought you baked _potatoes_, +Uncle Tad!" + +"So I did, Sue." + +"They look like black stones," said Bunny. + +"You wait--I'll show you," laughed Uncle Tad. He brought the bark +platter to the table. Taking up a fork he opened one of the round, +black, smoking things. Though the outside was burned black from the +fire, the inside was almost as white as snow. + +"There's baked potatoes for you!" cried Uncle Tad. "Put some salt and +butter on them, and you never tasted anything better! But be +careful--for they're very hot!" + +Supper over, the dishes were washed and put away. Then there was nothing +to do but wait until it was time to go to bed. + +"And I think we're all tired enough to go early to-night," said Mother +Brown. + +"But, before we go," said her husband, "I think we will have a little +row on the lake in our boat. It is not yet dark." + +It was beautiful out on the water, and the sun, sinking down behind the +hills, made the clouds look as though they were colored blue, pink, +purple and golden. + +Bunny and Sue were almost asleep when the boat was headed back toward +shore, and their eyes were tight shut, when daddy and mother lifted them +out to carry them up to Camp Rest-a-While. The children hardly awakened +when they were undressed and put to bed, and soon every one was sound +asleep, for it was a dark night. + +Bunny Brown was sleeping in the outer part of the bedroom-tent, in a cot +next to his father's. Just what made Bunny awaken he did not know. But, +all at once the little fellow sat up on his cot, and looked with +wide-open eyes toward the entrance. There was a lantern burning in the +tent, and by the light of it Bunny Brown saw a big shaggy animal, +standing on its hind legs, and sniffing with its black nose. At first +Bunny could not make a sound, he was so frightened, but finally he +screamed: + +"Oh, Daddy! Daddy! Wake up! It's a bear! A bear! A big black bear in the +tent!" + +Then Bunny slipped down between the blankets and covered up his head +with the bed clothes. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE RAGGED BOY + + +Daddy Brown was used to being suddenly aroused in the night by either +Bunny or Sue. At home the children often awakened, and called out. +Sometimes they would be dreaming, or perhaps they would want a drink of +water. So Daddy Brown and Mrs. Brown Were used to answering when they +heard the children call out. + +But it was something new to hear Bunny calling about a big, black bear. +He had never done that before, though one time, when he ate too much +bread and jam for supper, he screamed that there was an elephant in his +room, and there wasn't at all. He had only dreamed it. + +But this time Daddy Brown had plainly heard his little boy say: + +"Oh, it's a bear! It's a bear!" + +Mr. Brown awakened, and sat up in his cot. He looked over toward Bunny's +bed, but could see nothing of the little fellow, for as I have told you, +Bunny was covered up under the blankets and quilt. Even his head was +covered. + +Then Mr. Brown looked toward the entrance, or front door of the tent. +And, to his surprise, he saw just what Bunny had seen, a big, shaggy, +hairy animal, standing on its hind legs, with its black nose up in the +air, sniffing and snuffing. + +"Why--why!" exclaimed Mr. Brown, rubbing his eyes to make sure that he +was wide awake, and that he was not dreaming, as he thought Bunny might +have been. "Why--why! It _is_ a bear!" + +"Sniff! Snuff!" went the big, shaggy creature. + +"Daddy--Daddy!" cried Bunny, his voice sounding faint and far off, +because his head was under the covers. "Daddy, is--is he gone?" + +"No, not yet," answered Mr. Brown. + +"What is it? What's the matter?" called Mrs. Brown, from behind the +curtain, where she slept. + +"Why," said Mr. Brown slowly. "It--it seems to be a----" + +Then he stopped. He did not want to scare his wife or Sue, by telling +them there was a bear in the tent, and yet there was. + +"Oh, what is it?" cried Mrs. Brown again. "I heard Bunny crying! Is +anything the matter with him?" + +"No, he's all right," answered Bunny's papa. That was true enough. There +was really nothing the matter with the little boy. He was just a bit +frightened, that was all. + +"But _something_ is the matter," said Mrs. Brown, "I know there is! Why +don't you tell me what it is?" + +Daddy Brown did not know just what to do. He sat up in bed, thinking and +looking first at the bear and then at Bunny. All Mr. Brown could see of +Bunny was a heap under the bedclothes. But the bear was in plain sight, +standing in the doorway of the tent, sniffing and snuffing near the +lighted lantern. + +Mr. Brown did not want to speak about the bear. He thought the big, +shaggy creature looked quite gentle, and perhaps it would go away if no +one harmed it. Perhaps it was just looking for something to eat, and as +it couldn't find anything in the bedroom tent it might go to the one +where the cooking was done. + +Bunker Blue was still sound asleep, and so was Uncle Tad. Nor had Sue, +sleeping next to her mother, in the other part of the tent, been +awakened. Just Bunny Brown, and his father and mother were wide awake. +Oh, yes, of course the bear was not asleep. I forgot about that. His +little black eyes blinked, and opened and shut, and he wrinkled up his +rubber-like nose as he sniffed the air. + +"Well, aren't you going to tell me what it is? What's the matter in +there? What happened?" asked Mother Brown. "If you don't tell me----" + +By this time Bunny Brown made up his mind that he would be brave. He +uncovered one eye and peered out from beneath the bed clothes. His first +sight was of the bear, who was still there. + +"Oh! Oh!" cried Bunny. "It _is_ a bear! It's a big, black bear! I didn't +dream it! It's real! a real, big, black bear!" + +Mrs. Brown heard what her little boy said. + +"Oh, Walter!" she cried to her husband. "Throw something at it. Here's +my shoe--throw that. I've got two shoes, but I can only find one. Throw +that at the bear and make him go away!" + +Mrs. Brown threw over the curtain, that divided the tent into two parts, +one of her shoes. + +She really had two shoes, but when she felt under her cot in the dark, +she could only find one. You know how it is when you try to find +anything in the dark, even if it's a drink of water in the chair at the +head of our bed. You move your hand all over, and you think some one +must have come in and taken the water away. And when you get a light you +find that, all the while, your hand was about an inch away from the +glass. It was that way with Mrs. Brown's other shoe. + +But she threw one over the curtain, calling out again: + +"Hit him with that, Walter! Hit the bear with my shoe!" + +But there was no need for Mr. Brown to do anything. The shoe thrown by +Bunny's mother sailed through the tent. Straight at the bear it went, +and before the shaggy creature could get out of the way, the shoe hit +him on the end of the nose. + +"Bunk!" went the shoe. + +"Wuff!" grunted the bear. + +Now you know a bear's nose is his most tender part. You could hit him on +his head, or on his back, or on his paw--that is if you were brave +enough to hit a bear at all--but you would not hurt him, hardly any, +unless you hit him right on the end of his soft and tender nose. That's +the best place to hit a bear if you want to drive him away, out of your +tent, or anything like that. Hit him on the nose. + +"Whack!" went Mrs. Brown's shoe on the end of the bear's nose. + +"Wuff!" grunted the bear, and down he dropped on all four paws. + +Now Mrs. Brown really did not mean to hit the bear. She was just +tossing her shoe over the curtain so her husband might have something to +throw at the bear, and, as it happened, she hit the bear by accident. + +Of course it might have been better if one of Mr. Brown's shoes had hit +the bear. I mean it would have been better for the Brown family, but +worse for the bear. Because Mr. Brown's shoes were larger and heavier +than his wife's. But then, it turned out all right anyhow. + +For, no sooner did the bear feel Mrs. Brown's shoe hit him on the nose, +than he cried out: + +"Wuff!" + +Then he turned quickly around, and ran out of the tent. + +"Did you throw my shoe at him? Did you make him go away?" asked Mrs. +Brown. "Because if you didn't, Walter, I've found my other shoe now, and +I'll throw that to you." + +"You won't need to, my dear," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. "One shoe was +enough. You hit the bear yourself!" + +"I did?" + +"Yes, and he's gone. It's all right, Bunny. You can put your head out +now. The bear is gone." + +Bunny peeped with one eye, and when he saw that the big, shaggy creature +was no longer there, he put his whole head out. Then, with a bound he +jumped out of bed, and ran toward the back part of the tent, where his +mother and sister were sleeping. + +"Where you going, Bunny?" asked his father. "There's no more danger; the +bear has gone." + +"I--I'm just going in here to get my pop gun, so if the bear comes +back----" Bunny said, "My pop gun is in here." + +"Oh," said Mr. Brown, "I thought you were going to crawl in bed with +your mother." + +"Oh, no--no!" Bunny quickly answered, shaking his head. "I--I just want +my pop gun. But," he went on, "if mother _wants_ me to get in bed with +her, and keep the bear away, why I will. Don't be afraid. I'll get in +bed with you, Mother!" + +"Oh, I guess the bear won't come back," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. + +"Well, I'll get in bed with mother anyhow," said Bunny. "I'll have my +pop gun all ready." + +By this time Uncle Tad, Bunker Blue and Sue had been awakened by the +talk. Outside the tent Splash could be heard barking, and there was a +noise among the trees and bushes that told that the bear was running +away. + +"I--I hope he doesn't bite our dog," said Bunny. + +"Oh, I guess Splash will know enough to keep away from the bear," +replied Mr. Brown. "Besides, I think the bear was only a tame one, +anyhow." + +"A tame bear?" asked Uncle Tad, as he was told all that had happened. + +"Yes. He didn't act at all like a wild one. Besides, there aren't any +wild bears in this part of the country. This was a tame one all right." + +"Where did it come from?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"Oh, I think it got away from some man who goes about the country making +the bear do tricks. Probably in the morning we'll see the man looking +for his bear," answered her husband. + +And that is just what happened. There was no more trouble that night. +Everyone went to sleep again, Bunny in the cot with his mother; though +when he was asleep and slumbering soundly, she carried him back to his +own little bed near his father. + +Soon after breakfast the next morning, when they were talking about the +bear scare in the night, along came a man, who looked like an Italian +organ-grinder. He said he had a pet, tame bear, who had broken away from +where he was tied, in the night. + +And it was this bear who had wandered into the tent where Bunny was +sleeping. Where the bear was now no one knew, but the Italian said he +would walk off through the woods, and see if he could not find his pet, +which he had trained to do many tricks. + +Two or three days later, Mr. Brown heard that the bear was safely found, +so there was no more need to worry about his coming into the tent at +night. + +That day Daddy Brown, with the help of Uncle Tad and Bunker Blue +printed a big cloth sign which they hung up between two trees. The sign +read: + + CAMP REST-A-WHILE + +"There," said Daddy Brown, "now the postman will know where to find us +when he comes with letters." + +"Oh, do they have mail up here?" asked Sue. + +"No, daddy is only joking," said her mother. "I guess we'll have to go +to the post office for letters." + +One day, when they had been in camp about a week, Bunny and Sue, with +the others, returned from a walk in the woods. As they came near the +"dining-room tent," as they called it, they saw a ragged boy spring up +from the table with some pieces of bread and meat, and dash into the +bushes. + +"Hold on there! Who are you? What do you want?" cried Daddy Brown. But +the ragged boy did not stop running. He wanted to hide in the bushes. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +TOM HEARS A NOISE + + +Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, with their father, mother, Uncle Tad and +Bunker Blue, hurried on toward the tent under which was set the dining +table. They could see where the ragged boy had made a meal for himself, +taking the bread and meat from the ice box. For a refrigerator had been +brought to camp, and the iceman came on a boat, once a day, to leave +ice. + +"Who is he?" asked Bunny Brown, looking toward the bushes behind which +the strange boy had run. + +"What did he want?" Sue asked. + +"I can answer you, Sue, but I can't answer Bunny," said Mr. Brown. "That +boy was hungry, and wanted something to eat, but who he is I don't +know." + +"Poor little chap," said Mrs. Brown in a kind voice. "He didn't need to +run away just because he wanted something to eat. I would be glad to +give him all he wanted. I wouldn't see anyone go hungry." + +"He looked like a tramp," said Bunker. + +"But he was only a boy," remarked Uncle Tad. + +"I wish he hadn't run away," said Mother Brown. "I don't believe he got +half enough to eat. He took only a little." She could tell that by +looking in the ice box. + +By this time Splash, the big dog, who had not come up with the others, +now rushed into camp. He sniffed around, and then, all of a sudden, he +made a dash for a clump of bushes, and, standing in front of it began +barking loudly. + +"Oh, maybe the bear's come back and is hiding in there!" cried Bunny. + +"More likely it's that ragged boy," said Uncle Tad. "That's where he +made a rush for as soon as we came up." + +Splash seemed about to go into the bushes himself, and drive, or drag, +out whatever was hiding there. + +But Mr. Brown called: + +"Here, Splash! Come here, sir!" + +The dog came back and then Bunny's father, going over to the bushes, +looked down among them. + +"You'd better come out," he said, to someone. The children could not see +who it was. "Come on out," said Mr. Brown, "we won't hurt you." + +Out of the bushes came the ragged boy. In his hand he still had some of +the bread and meat he had taken from the ice box. + +Bunny and Sue looked at him. + +The boy's clothes were very ragged, but they seemed to be clean. He had +on no shoes or stockings, but one foot was wrapped up in a rag, as +though he had cut himself. He limped a little, too, as he came forward. + +"I--I couldn't run very fast with my sore foot, or I'd a' got away from +you," he said slowly. + +"But why should you want to get away?" asked Mr. Brown. + +"Well, I took some of your stuff--I was hungry and I went through the +ice box--and I s'posed you'd be looking for a policeman to have me +arrested. That's why I ran. But I couldn't go very far, so I hid in the +bushes. I thought I could get away when you weren't looking. Here's your +stuff," and he held out to Mrs. Brown what was left of the bread and +meat. Bunny and Sue thought the ragged boy looked hungrily at the food +as he offered to give it back. + +"You poor boy!" said Mrs. Brown, "I don't want it! You're welcome to +that and more, if you need it. You must be hungry!" + +"I am, lady. I haven't had anything since morning. I started to go back +to the city, but it's farther than I thought, and I lost my way. When I +struck this camp, I saw the sign--'Rest-a-While,' so I sat down to rest. +Then I saw the ice box, and I was hungry, and--and I--well, I just +helped myself." + +His face was sunburned, so it could not be told whether he was blushing +or not, but he hung his head as if ashamed of what he had done. He still +held out the meat to Mrs. Brown. + +Splash, who, now that he knew the boy was a friend of the family, did +not bark any more, slid gently up, and began nibbling at the meat and +bread in the boy's hand. + +"Oh, look at Splash!" laughed Sue. + +"Here, Splash! That isn't for you!" cried Mr. Brown. "But you might as +well give it to him now, now that he's had his tongue on it," said Mr. +Brown to the ragged boy. "We'll give you some more." + +"Yes, sit right up to the table," said Mrs. Brown. "I'll get you a good +meal." + +The boy's eyes filled with tears, and he turned his head away so they +would not be seen. + +"Where did you come from?" asked Daddy Brown, as Mrs. Brown was setting +out some food. + +"I come from Benton," the boy answered, naming a city about twenty miles +away. "I've lived there all my life until about a week ago, and I wish I +was back there now." + +"How did you come to leave?" + +"Well, all my folks died, and I couldn't make much of a living selling +papers, running errands and blacking shoes, so when a farmer down in +the city market, said he wanted a boy on his farm, I said I'd come and +work for him. + +"I rode out on his wagon, after he had sold all his stuff one day, and I +came to a place called Fayetteville." + +"Yes, I know where that is," said Mr. Brown. "It's on the other side of +the lake." + +"I went to work for the farmer," said the ragged boy, who gave his name +as Tom Vine, "but it was worse than being in the city. I never had a +minute's rest and I didn't get enough to eat. I wasn't used to working +out in the hot sun, and my legs and arms seemed as if they'd burn off +me." + +"Yes, I can see you're pretty well burned," said Mr. Brown. "Then you +ran away?" + +"Yes, sir. I couldn't stand it any longer. The farmer and his hired man +used to whip me if I made a mistake, or if I didn't get up early enough. +And they used to get up before daylight. So I made up my mind to run +away, and go back to the city. + +"I used to think the country was nice," the ragged boy went on, "but I +don't any more. I don't mind working, but I don't want to be starved +and whipped all the while. So I ran off, but I guess I got lost, for I +can't find the way back to the city. I don't know what to do. When I got +here, and saw that sign about resting, I thought that was what I needed. +So I came in." + +"And I'm glad you did," said Mrs. Brown. "Now you eat this and you'll +feel better. Then I'll look at your sore foot, and we'll see what to do +with you." + +"You--you won't have me arrested; will you?" asked the boy. + +"No, indeed!" said Mr. Brown. + +"And you--you won't send me back to that farmer?" + +"No, I think not. He has no right to make you work for him if you don't +want to. Don't be afraid," said Bunny's father. "We'll look after you." + +A little later the ragged boy had eaten a good meal. Then he was given +some of Bunker Blue's old clothes, for he was almost as large as the +red-haired boy, and the old clothes were thrown away. + +Mr. Brown looked at the boy's sore foot, and found that there was a big +sharp thorn in one toe. When this thorn had been taken out, and the toe +bound up with salve, the ragged boy said he felt much better. Perhaps I +shouldn't call him a ragged boy any longer, for he was not, with +Bunker's clothes on. + +"Mother, is he going to stay with us?" asked Bunny that evening when it +was nearly supper time, and the new boy--Tom Vine--had gone after a pail +of water at the spring. + +"Would you care to have him stay?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"Yes," said Sue. "He's nice. I like him." + +"Well, we'll keep him for a while," answered Mrs. Brown. "He needs help, +I think." + +Tom Vine told more of his story after supper. He had never been away +from the city's pavements in all his life before he went out to the +country with the farmer who hired him. He had never seen the ocean, or +the woods. He did not even know that cows gave milk until he saw the +farmer's hired man milking one day. + +"I just don't know anything about the woods or the country," the boy +said to Bunny and Sue, "so you can fool me all you like." + +"Oh, we won't fool you," said Bunny kindly. "We'll tell you all we +know." + +"Thanks," said Tom Vine. + +He had offered to travel on, after supper, and try to get back to the +city. + +"I don't want to be a trouble to you folks," he said to Mrs. Brown. "In +the city I know some fellows, and they'll lend me money enough to buy +some papers, and start in business." + +"You had better stay with us awhile," said Mrs. Brown. "We have enough +room for you, and you can help about camp." + +"I can wash and dry dishes!" cried Tom eagerly. "I worked in a +restaurant for a week once, and I know how to handle dishes." + +"Then we can give you plenty of work," said Mrs. Brown, with a laugh. +"For if there is one thing, in camp or at home, that I don't like it is +washing dishes." + +"I'll do them for you!" cried Tom, "and I'll be glad of the chance, +too!" + +"All right then. You'll be the head dishwasher of Camp Rest-a-While," +said Mr. Brown, smiling. + +And that is how Tom Vine came to stay with the Browns while they lived +in the woods near Lake Wanda. + +Tom, indeed, knew very little about the country. As he said, he had +never been away from the city pavements, winter or summer, in all his +life before. The first night in camp, when he was sleeping next to +Bunker Blue, in a little part of the tent that had been curtained off +for them, Tom awakened Bunker, by reaching over and punching him in the +ribs. + +"Hey, listen to that!" cried Tom. + +"To what?" asked Bunker, only half awake. + +"Somebody is outside the tent, calling: 'Who? Who? Who?'" said Tom. "I +didn't do anything, did you? What do they holler 'who' for?" + +Bunker listened. Surely enough he heard very plainly: + +"Who? Who? Too-who?" + +"Hear it?" asked Tom. + +"Yes, it's only an owl," Bunker answered. "There's lots of 'em in these +woods." + +"What's an owl?" Tom wanted to know. + +"Oh, it's a bird with big eyes, and it can only see at night. It comes +out to get mice and bugs. Owls won't hurt you. Go on to sleep." + +Tom did not go to sleep at once. But he was no longer afraid of the owl. + +Tom was just going to sleep once more, when he heard another funny +noise. This time he was sure some one said: + +"Katy did! Katy did! Katy did!" + +Tom sat up in his cot. He reached over to punch Bunker, to ask him what +this was, when all at once, another voice cried: + +"Katy didn't! Katy didn't! Katy didn't!" + +"Listen to that, now, would you!" exclaimed Tom. "Bunker! Bunker Blue! +Wake up! There's two people outside, and one says Katy did it, and the +other says she didn't--who's right?" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +OUT IN THE BOAT + + +Bunker Blue turned sleepily over on his cot. + +"What--what's that?" he asked of Tom. + +"Listen," Tom answered. "Don't you hear that, Bunker? First someone is +hollering about Katy's doing something, and then somebody else yells +that she didn't do it. Say, I don't like it here." + +Bunker Blue laughed aloud. + +"What's the matter out there?" asked Daddy Brown. + +"Oh, it's only Tom," said the red-haired boy. "He doesn't like the song +of the katydids." + +"Song! Is that a song?" asked Tom. + +"Some people call it that," said Mr. Brown, for he knew that a city boy +might be just as frightened of sounds in the country as a country boy +might of sounds in the city. + +"That noise is made by a little green bug, called a katydid," Mr. Brown +explained. "It looks something like a grasshopper." + +"But they don't all say 'Katy did,'" objected Tom. + +"No, some of them seem to say 'Katy didn't,'" agreed Mr. Brown. "Of +course they don't really say those words. It only sounds as if they did. +Now go to sleep. In the morning I'll show you a katydid." + +Tom was not frightened any longer. He turned over and was soon sound +asleep. Mr. Brown and Bunker also closed their eyes and the tent in Camp +Rest-a-While was quiet once more. Bunny and Sue had not awakened. + +Early the next morning, before breakfast, Tom was seen walking about +among the trees of the camp. He seemed to be looking for something. + +"What are you looking for?" asked Bunny. + +"For Katy," Tom answered. + +"There isn't any Katy with us," said Sue. "We have a cook, but her name +is Mary, and she isn't here with us, anyhow. She's at home." + +"No, I'm looking for a Katy bug," explained Tom, and then he told about +the noises he had heard in the night. + +"I'll help you look," said Bunny. + +"So will I," added Sue. "I'd like to see a Katy bug." + +But, though the children and Tom looked all over, they could not find a +katydid until Mr. Brown helped them. Then on a tree he found one of the +queer, light-green grasshopper-like bugs and showed it to the children. + +"Why doesn't it cry now?" Sue wanted to know. "Make it cry, Daddy, so I +can hear it!" + +"Oh, I can't do that," Mr. Brown said with a laugh. "The katydid cries, +or sings, mostly at night. I guess they don't want anyone to see them. +Besides, I don't just know how they make the noises, whether they rub +their rough legs together, or make a sound somewhere inside them. So I +guess we'll have to let them do as they please." + +Tom and the children stood for some little time, watching the pretty, +green bug, and then came the sound of a bell. + +"There!" cried Mr. Brown, with a laugh. "I guess you all know who made +that noise, and what it means." + +"It means breakfast!" cried Bunny. + +"And mother rang the bell!" added Sue. + +"That's right," said Bunker Blue, coming along just then. "And your +mother doesn't want you to be late, either, for she's baking cakes, and +you know how you like them!" + +"Oh, cakes!" cried Bunny, clapping his hands. "I just love them!" + +Soon the little party, including the new boy, Tom Vine, were seated +around the table under the dining tent, eating pancakes that Mrs. Brown +cooked over the oil stove. + +Bunny and Sue said nothing for several minutes. They were too busy +eating. Then Bunny, looking at Tom, asked: + +"Can you jump over an elephant?" + +"Jump over elephants? I guess not!" the new boy cried. "I never saw an +elephant, except in a picture." + +"We did," said Sue. "We saw a real elephant in a real circus, and we had +a make-believe circus with a pretend elephant in it." + +"And we knowed a boy named Ben Hall, who used to be in a real circus," +went on Bunny. "He could jump over an elephant, and I thought maybe you +could, too." + +"No," said Tom, with a shake of his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't do +that. About the only thing I can do is wash and dry the dishes." + +"Well, it's a good thing to be able to do even one thing well," said +Mrs. Brown, "and I'm glad you're here to wash and dry the dishes. There +are plenty of them." + +"I know something else you can do," said Bunny, smiling at Tom. + +"What is it?" + +"You can eat." + +"Yes," and Tom laughed. "I like to eat, and I'm hungry three times a +day." + +"Bunny and Sue are hungry oftener than that," said Uncle Tad. "At least +they say they are, and they come in and get bread and jam." + +Bunny and Sue looked at each other and laughed. + +After breakfast, just as he had said he would do, Tom Vine picked up the +dishes, and got ready to wash them. Mrs. Brown watched him for a few +minutes, until she was sure that he knew just how to go about it. Then +she left him to himself. + +"He is a very nice, neat and clean boy," she said to her husband. "I'm +glad he came to us. But what are we going to do with him? We can't keep +him always." + +"Well, we'll let him stay with us while we are in camp here in the +woods," said Mr. Brown, "and when we go back home, well, I can find +something for him to do at the boat-dock, perhaps--that is, if he +doesn't want to go back to the city." + +While Tom was doing the dishes Bunny and Sue had gone off into the wood +a little way, to where they had made for themselves a little play-house +of branches of trees, stuck in the ground. It was a sort of green tent, +and in it Sue had put some of her dolls, while Bunny had taken to it +some of his toys. The children often played there. + +But they did not do anything for very long at a time, getting tired of +one thing after another as all children do. So when Sue had undressed +and dressed her two dolls, combing and braiding their hair, she said to +Bunny: + +"Oh, let's do something else now." + +"All right," replied her brother. "What shall we do?" + +"Can't you think of some fun?" Sue wanted to know. + +Bunny rubbed his nose. He often did that when he was thinking. Then he +cried: + +"Let's ask mother to let Bunker Blue take us out in the boat. I want to +go fishing." + +"That will be nice," Sue said. "I'd like a boat ride, too." + +Back to the camp went the children, but when they reached the tents they +saw neither their father nor mother, nor was Uncle Tad or Bunker Blue in +sight. + +"They've gone away!" said Sue. + +"Yes, so they have," agreed Bunny. "But I guess they didn't go far, or +they'd have told us. Mother knew where we were." + +"Let's go find them," said Sue. "Maybe they went out in the boat." + +"We'll look," agreed Bunny. + +The two children went to the edge of the lake, where a big willow tree +overhung the water. The boat was kept tied to this tree. + +"Oh, the boat's gone!" exclaimed Sue, as she reached the place and did +not see it. "The boat's gone, Bunny!" + +"Then they must have gone for a row, and they didn't take us!" and Bunny +was much disappointed. He looked across the lake, up and down, as did +Sue, and then both children cried out: + +"Oh, look!" said Sue. + +"There's the boat," added Bunny. "And Tom Vine is in it all alone! He +hasn't got any oars, either. Look, Sue!" + +Surely enough, there was the boat, some distance out in the lake, and +Tom, the city boy, who knew nothing at all about boats, was in it. As he +saw Bunny and Sue he waved his hands to them, and cried: + +"Come and get me! I can't get back! I'm afraid! Come and get me!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +TOM SEES A MAN + + +Bunny Brown and his sister Sue stood by the lake shore, and didn't know +what to do. Some distance out on the water floated the boat with Tom +Vine standing up in it, waving his hands. And Tom cried once more: + +"Come and get me! Come and get me!" + +Bunny was the first to speak after that. And he said just the right +thing. + +"Sit down, Tom!" cried Bunny. "Sit down, or you'll tip over, and then +you'll be drowned, and we can't get you." + +Bunny shouted loudly, and his clear, high voice could easily be heard by +Tom, for there was no wind, or at least only a little, to ruffle the +water of the lake. Tom heard, and he knew what Bunny meant. Very +carefully he sat down on one of the seats in the boat. + +"Are you coming to get me?" he asked. "I can't get back to shore, and I +can't swim. I don't like it out here!" + +"Just sit still, and we'll think up a way to get you," called Bunny. +"But don't stand up, whatever you do." + +"No, you must keep sitting down," added Sue. + +Mr. Brown had often told his children how to act when in boats. Small as +they were they could both swim a little, Bunny, of course, better than +Sue, because he was older. And they had both been told what to do in +case they fell into the water--hold their breath until they came to the +top, when someone might save them, if they could not swim out. + +But it was what Mr. Brown had told Bunny about not standing up in a boat +that the little fellow now first remembered to shout to Tom. He did not +want to see the new boy fall over into the lake. + +And Tom must have known what Bunny meant, for he was now sitting very +quietly in the boat, looking toward the shore where Bunny and Sue stood. + +"How did you get out there?" Bunny asked. He had not yet thought of a +way to get Tom back to land. + +"I--I didn't think the boat would float away," Tom answered. "I got in +it and untied the rope. Then, the first thing I knew I was away out +here. The wind blew me out, but it won't blow me back. I'll soon be out +in the middle, I guess!" + +Though there had been enough wind to blow Tom, in the boat, away from +shore, there was hardly any wind now, so the boy could not be blown +back. And how to get him to shore was something that Bunny and Sue could +not tell how to do, especially as there were no oars in the boat. + +"He can't row without oars," said Bunny. + +"No, he can't," said Sue. She knew enough about boats to tell that. "And +he hasn't any sail," she added. + +"Haven't you got a stick, so you can push yourself back to shore?" +called Bunny. + +"I have a little stick, but it won't touch bottom," Tom answered. As he +spoke he held up a short tree branch. Bunny had used it the day before +as a fishpole, and when through playing had tossed it into the boat. +Tom reached this stick over the side of the boat, and put it down into +the water. But the lake was too deep there to let him touch the bottom, +and so push himself to shore. + +"Can't you swim out and get me, Bunny?" Tom cried. He was not as old a +boy as was Bunker Blue, and so he was quite easily frightened, +especially as he could not swim, and knew hardly anything about boats. + +"Swim out and get me, Bunny!" Tom begged. + +Bunny Brown shook his head. + +"I couldn't swim that far," he shouted. "Besides, I'm not let go in the +water unless my father or mother, or Uncle Tad or Bunker Blue is with +me, and they're not here now." + +"But how can I get back?" poor Tom wanted to know. + +"We'll get you, somehow!" cried Bunny. "Won't we, Sue?" + +"Yes," answered the little girl. But neither she nor her brother knew +how they were going to save Tom. + +"Anyhow, if I could swim that far, and daddy would let me," went on +Bunny, speaking to his sister, "I couldn't take the oars out, and if I +didn't have oars to row with, I couldn't bring the boat back, or Tom +either." + +"No, you couldn't," Sue said. She knew enough about boats to tell that, +for she could row a little, with a light pair of oars. + +"Call your father or mother!" called Tom, who was now farther from shore +than ever. "Call them! Maybe they can get another boat, and come after +me." + +So Bunny and Sue called as loudly as they could, but neither Mr. Brown, +his wife, Bunker nor Uncle Tad answered. They had taken a walk back in +the woods, when Tom started to wash the dishes, and when Bunny and Sue +were playing house in the leafy bower, and they had gone farther than +they intended. So they could not hear Bunny and Sue calling. + +"It's no use," said Bunny, after a bit. "We've got to save him +ourselves, Sue. But I wonder how we can do it." + +Sue thought for a minute. She did not rub her nose as Bunny had done. +She could think without doing that. Then Sue said: + +"If we only had a string on the boat, Bunny, we could pull Tom right to +us. We could stand on shore and pull him in, just as we did with your +little sail boat." + +"That's right--we could!" cried Bunny. Then he called: + +"Tom, has you got a rope on your boat? If you has throw it to me and +Sue, and we'll pull you in by it." + +Tom looked in the bottom of the boat. + +"There's a rope here," he said, "but it isn't long enough to reach to +shore." + +He held it up so the children could see. Certainly it was not half long +enough. It was the rope by which the boat had been tied to the tree. + +While Bunny and Sue stood there, wondering what to do, there came a +rustling, cracking sound in the bushes back of them. They quickly +turned, and saw their dog, Splash. He had been roving about in the +woods, and had now come back to camp. + +"Oh, Splash!" cried Bunny. "You can do it, I know you can!" + +"What can he do?" asked Sue. + +"He can swim out to Tom in the boat, and pull him back to shore. Go on, +Splash!" cried Bunny, pointing to poor Tom. "Go on and get him! Bring +him back!" + +Splash bounded around and barked. He looked to where Bunny pointed, but +though the dog could understand some of the things Bunny said, he could +not tell just what his little master wanted this time. Tom was watching +what was going on, and now he called: + +"I know a better way than that." + +"What?" asked Bunny. + +"If you had a long cord, you could tie one end to a stick, and give it +to Splash to bring to me. Then I could tie it to the boat, and you could +pull me to shore." + +"Oh, yes, we can do that!" cried Bunny. + +"Have you got a long cord?" Tom asked. + +"Yes, one I fly my kite with. I brought the cord along, but now I +haven't any kite. I'll get that." + +Bunny ran to the tent where he kept his box of playthings. He soon +returned with a stick, on which was wound a long and very strong cord. + +"This will pull the boat," he said. + +He looked around for a stick to tie onto the end of the cord, and when +he had done this he gave the stick to the dog. + +"Take it out to Tom!" ordered Bunny. + +But Splash only barked and dropped the stick. He wagged his tail, as if +he were saying: + +"I'll do anything you want me to, little master, but I don't know just +what you mean." + +Once more Tom called across the water. + +"Throw the stick into the lake, Bunny. Then Splash will bring it to me. +He knows how to jump in after sticks you throw into the water; doesn't +he?" + +"Oh, yes, Splash knows that all right," Bunny said. "Here, Splash!" he +called. + +Into the lake Bunny tossed the stick to which was fastened one end of +his kite cord. + +"Get it, Splash!" cried the little boy. + +With a bark Splash sprang into the water. But instead of swimming out to +Tom with the stick and string, he swam back to shore. That was what he +had been taught to do, you see. + +Splash dropped the stick at Bunny's feet, and wagging his wet tail, +spattered drops all over Sue. The dog barked, looking up at Bunny, and +seeming to say: + +"There, little master! Didn't I do that fine? Wasn't that just what you +wanted me to do?" + +"No! No!" cried Bunny. "I don't want the stick, Splash! Take it to +Tom--out in the boat--take it to him!" and he pointed to Tom. + +Once more Bunny threw the stick into the water, and once more Splash +sprang in and brought it to shore. It was not until Bunny had told +Splash four times, that the dog knew what was wanted. + +Then the fifth time, when Bunny threw the stick into the water, Splash +jumped in after it and swam out to Tom in the boat. Tom kept calling: + +"Here, Splash! Here, Splash! Come on, good dog!" + +Up to the boat, with the stick and cord, swam the dog. Tom made the +string fast to the boat, and then Bunny and Sue, standing on shore, +pulled on their end. They pulled slowly at first, so as not to break +the cord. But, once the boat was started, it came along easily, and soon +Tom was on dry land again. Splash swam along behind the boat. + +"There!" Tom cried, as he tied the boat fast. "I'll never do that +again!" + +"We're not let get in the boat," said Bunny, "but I guess daddy forgot +to tell you." + +"If he had I'd never have gotten in," Tom said. "But I'm glad you pulled +me to shore." + +The rest of the campers came back soon after that, and Mr. Brown got Tom +to promise never to get in the boat alone again. Of course Tom was not +in any real danger as long as he kept still, and Mr. Brown might easily +have gone out and rescued him in another boat. But I think it was very +clever of Bunny and Sue, and Splash, too, to get Tom back to shore as +they did; don't you? + +There were many happy, joyful days at Camp Rest-a-While. The children +went on little picnics in the woods and often they were taken out in the +boat by Bunker Blue. Bunny had a real fishpole and line and hook now, +with "squiggily" worms, as Sue called them, for bait, and the little +boy caught some real fish. + +It was about a week after Tom's adventure in the drifting boat that one +day, as he was walking through the woods with Bunny and Sue, on their +way back from a farmhouse where they had gone after milk, that Tom +suddenly came to a stop along the path. + +"Wait a minute!" he said in a whisper, to Bunny and Sue. + +"What's the matter?" Bunny wanted to know. "You look afraid, Tom. Are +you?" + +"Yes, I am," said Tom, and even Sue could tell that he was when she +looked at him. + +"Did you--did you see a snake?" she asked, drawing closer to Bunny, for +Sue did not like snakes, either. + +"No, it wasn't a snake," returned Tom. "It was a man. Here, come on back +among the bushes, and he can't see us," and, as he spoke, Tom drew Bunny +and Sue away from the path, behind some thick bushes. Tom seemed very +much afraid of something. And he had said he had seen a man. Bunny and +Sue could not imagine why Tom should be afraid of a man. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE CROSS MAN + + +"Come on! Come on!" whispered Tom to Bunny and Sue, as he led them still +deeper back in among the bushes. "Don't let him hear you! Come on, and +we'll hide!" + +"Who is it? What's the matter?" Bunny wanted to know. + +"Hush!" whispered Tom. "It's that man! He's after me, I guess. I'll tell +you about it when we get away. He's coming! Hurry!" + +Certainly someone, or something, was coming along the path from which +Tom and the two children had just stepped to go in among the bushes. Tom +was in such a hurry that he pulled Bunny and Sue along with him harder +than he meant to. Finally Bunny said: + +"Oh, Tom, I'm spilling the milk!" + +Bunny was carrying the pail of milk they had bought at the farmhouse, +and, though the pail had a cover on it, some of the milk had splashed +out, and was running down Bunny's stocking. + +"Set the pail down here, and we'll get it when we come back--after that +man goes," Tom said, in a whisper. + +Bunny put the pail down on the ground, near a big stone, so he would +know where to look for it again. Then, to hide, they all squeezed as far +back in the bushes as they could, and waited. + +"Is he coming after us?" asked Sue in a whisper. + +"No, I guess he's only after me," answered Tom. "He won't touch you or +Bunny." + +"Is it a Gypsy man?" Bunny wanted to know. + +"No, he isn't a Gypsy," replied Tom. "He's just a cross, bad man; and I +don't want him to see me. Keep your heads down." + +Bunny and Sue did so. Like frightened rabbits they crouched among the +bushes. Tom kept hold of their hands, and though the children knew that +Tom was afraid, for he had said so, still Bunny and Sue were not very +much frightened, as long as the man was not a Gypsy and did not want +them. + +"There! He's gone past!" exclaimed Tom, as he stood up to look over the +tops of the bushes. "He's gone, and we can come out. He didn't see +us--he won't get me this time." + +"But who was he?" Bunny wanted to know. Tom, however, did not seem to +hear him. Still holding Bunny and Sue by the hand, Tom led them back to +the path. Bunny picked up the pail of milk. + +"I'll carry it for you," Tom said. "We've got to hurry back to camp." + +"Why?" asked Sue. "I can't hurry very much, for my legs hurt." + +"I'll carry you," said Tom, "if Bunny will take the milk pail." + +"Yes, I'll do that," said the little boy. + +Once more he took the pail, while Tom hoisted Sue up onto his shoulder. + +"Give me a piggy-back!" Sue begged, so Tom carried her pickaback, while +Sue held tightly to her doll. Tom marched ahead along the path, and soon +they were safely at the tent. Before Tom could say anything, Bunny and +Sue, seeing their father and mother, called out: + +"Oh, Tom saw a man, and we hid!" + +Mr. and Mrs. Brown did not know what this meant. + +"What sort of man was he?" asked Mrs. Brown quickly. + +"He wasn't a Gypsy man," Bunny said. + +"But he was after Tom, only he didn't see us," added Sue. "And I had a +piggy-back ride home, and some milk got spilled on Bunny's stocking, but +not much, and I'm hungry!" + +Sue believed in telling everything at once, to have it over with. + +"What is it all about?" asked Mr. Brown of Tom. "Did you and the +children really, hide from a man?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"What man was it? I hope there aren't any tramps in these woods." + +"Oh, no, he wasn't a tramp. He was the farmer I told you about--the one +I worked for, and from whom I ran away. I guess he was looking for me," +Tom answered. + +"Hum," said Mr. Brown. "Well, I suppose we'll have to wait and see what +he wants. Was he coming this way?" + +"No, he seemed to be wandering through the woods, as if he didn't know +where to go." + +"Oh, well, maybe he won't find you," said Mrs. Brown. + +"I hope he doesn't," returned Tom, looking over his shoulder. + +No strange man came to camp that night, and Bunny and Sue soon forgot +all about the little fright Tom had had. But two days later, just as +dinner was finished, there came a man rowing in a boat to the little +wooden camp-dock Bunker Blue had built out into the lake. + +Out of the boat climbed a man with black whiskers. He had on big, heavy +boots, and in one hand he carried a whip. He walked up the path from the +lake, and when he saw Mr. Brown and his family at the table, under the +tent, which was wide open, the man stood still. + +"Camp Rest-a-While, eh?" he said in rather a rough voice, as he read the +sign. "Well, maybe this is the place I'm looking for. Have you seen a +boy--a ragged boy--about fifteen years old in these woods?" he asked. + +Before Mr. Brown could answer, Tom Vine, who had gone to the spring for +a pail of water, came back. At the sight of the man Tom dropped the +pail, spilling the water. At the same time the "ragged boy" cried out: + +"There he is! There's the man! He's after me! Oh, please don't let him +take me away!" + +Tom turned to run back into the woods, but Mr. Brown called to him: + +"Stay right where you are, Tom! This man won't hurt you. Stay where you +are." + +Though he was much frightened, Tom stood still. + +"Now then, what do you want?" asked Mr. Brown of the man with the whip. + +"I want that boy!" answered the man, pointing the whip at poor Tom. "I +hired him to work for me, but he ran away. I want him back, and I'm +going to have him!" + +And oh, what a rough, cross voice the man had! He wasn't at all nice, +Bunny and Sue thought. + +"I've been looking for that boy, and now I've found him. I want to take +him back with me," the cross man went on. "I was hunting all through +these woods for him, and yesterday I heard that a boy like him was in a +camp over here. So I came for to find out about it, and I've found him!" + +"Is that the man you saw in the woods, when we went after milk the other +day, Tom?" asked Bunny in a whisper. + +"Yes," nodded Tom. + +"Well, if this boy doesn't want to go with you I'm not going to make +him," said Mr. Brown. "He came to us, and said you had not treated him +well. I'll not send him back to you. Are you the farmer who hired him?" + +"Yes, I'm that farmer," said the man, scowling. "Jake Trimble is my +name, and when I want a thing I get it! I want that boy!" + +"Oh, please don't make me go back to work for him!" begged Tom. "He beat +me, and he didn't give me enough to eat!" + +"Don't be, afraid," said Mr. Brown. "He shan't have you!" + +"I say I will!" cried the cross man. "That boy hired out to work for +me, and I want him!" + +"You can't have him," said Mr. Brown quietly. "And I want you to go away +from here. This is my camp, and it is a private one. Go. You can't have +this boy." + +"But he ran away from me!" said the cross man. + +"Perhaps he did. He said he could not stand the way you treated him. Any +boy would have run away," replied Mr. Brown. "I'm looking after this boy +now, and I say you can't have him." + +"Well, I'll get him, somehow, you see if I don't!" cried the cross man, +as he turned to go back to his boat. And he shook his whip at Tom. "I'll +get you yet!" he said. "And when I do I'll make you work twice as hard. +You'll see!" + +"Don't be afraid, Tom," said Mr. Brown, when the unkind man was gone. "I +won't let him hurt you." + +Tom picked up the overturned pail, and went again to the spring for +water. When he came back he said: + +"That was the farmer I met in the city. He took me out to his place, and +was very mean to me. I just had to run away. I didn't think he'd try to +find me. But I knew he must be looking for me when we saw him in the +woods that day. I hid away from him then, but now he knows where I am." + +"Don't you care," said Sue. "My daddy won't let him hurt you; will you, +Daddy?" and she put her arms around her father's neck. + +"We'll take care of Tom," said Mr. Brown. "I guess that man won't come +back." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A BAD STORM + + +Bunker Blue was sitting out in front of the big camp-tent, on a bench, +one day, with a pile of long sticks in front of him. With his knife +Bunker was whittling the sticks to sharp points. + +Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, who had been out in the woods, gathering +wild flowers for the dinner table, came up to Bunker, and Bunny asked: + +"What you doing, Bunker?" + +"Why, I'm sharpening these sticks, Bunny," was the answer. + +"What for?" asked Sue, as she put her wax doll down in the shade, so the +sun would not melt the nose. + +"Oh, I know!" cried Bunny. "You're making arrows! Are you going to have +a bow, and shoot the arrows like an Indian, Bunker?" + +Bunker Blue shook his head and smiled. + +"You'll have to guess again, Bunny," he said. + +Bunny took up one of the pointed sticks. + +"Are they spears?" asked the little boy, as he put his finger gently on +the sharp point. "Indians use spears to catch fish. Are you going to do +that, Bunker?" + +Bunker shook his head. + +"You haven't guessed yet," he said. + +"Oh, tell us!" begged Sue. "Is it a secret?" + +"Sort of," said Bunker. + +"Oh, how nice!" cried Sue. "I just love to guess secrets! Let me have a +turn, Bunny." + +The two children sat down in the shade near the tent. Bunker kept on +making sharp-pointed sticks with his knife. Over in the dining-tent Tom +Vine was setting the dinner table. This was some days after the cross +man had come to the camp and had gone away. He had not come back since. + +"Well, what is your guess, Sue?" asked Bunker, as he kept on making the +sharp-pointed sticks. + +"Let me see," pondered the little girl. "Oh! I know what they are for. +You're going to put some other pieces of wood on the end of these +sticks, Bunker, and make croquet mallets of them so we can have a game!" + +"Is that it?" asked Bunny. "Is it for croquet?" + +"No, that isn't what they're for," answered Bunker, smiling. + +"Anyhow," went on Bunny Brown, "we couldn't play croquet in the woods +here, 'cause we haven't any croquet balls." + +"Oh, we might use round stones, mightn't we, Bunker?" Sue asked. + +"Yes, we might," replied Bunker slowly, as he laid down one +sharp-pointed stick and began whittling another. "We might, but that +isn't the secret." + +"Now, it's my turn to guess!" said Bunny. "You had a turn, Sue." + +"Well, what do you say it is?" asked Bunker. "Go on, Bunny." + +Bunny thought for about half a minute. + +"Are you going to make a trap to catch something?" the little boy asked. +Ever since he had come to Camp Rest-a-While he had begged Bunker to +make a trap to catch a fox, or a squirrel, or something like that. Bunny +did not want to hurt the wild animals, but he thought he would like to +catch one in a trap, and try to tame it. + +"No, I'm not making a trap," answered Bunker. "I don't believe you +children could guess what these sticks are for if you tried all day. +And, as it isn't my secret, I don't believe I'd better tell you. You go +and ask your mother--it's mostly her secret--and if she wants to tell +you--why, all right." + +"Oh, we'll go and ask mother!" cried Bunny. "Come on, Sue!" + +The two children found Mrs. Brown in the cooking-tent, getting dinner +ready. + +"What's the secret?" cried Sue. + +"What is Bunker making all the sharp-pointed sticks for?" Bunny wanted +to know. + +Their mother smiled at them. From a shelf over the oil stove she took +down a large platter on which she put the eggs she was cooking. + +"What is the secret, Mother?" begged Bunny. "Please tell us!" + +"Yes," added Sue. "We've guessed and guessed, but we can't guess right. +Bunker said you might tell us." + +Mrs. Brown laughed, and, after she had put the platter of eggs on the +table, she pointed to two large, round, tin boxes on a chair in the big +tent. + +"Can you read what it says on those boxes?" Mrs. Brown asked Bunny. + +Bunny looked at the long word. + +"It begins with a 'M'," he said, "and the next letter is 'A' and then +comes----" + +"Oh, I know what's next!" cried Sue. "It's a 'R.' I can tell by the +funny little tail that kicks up behind. It's just like the 'B' for Brown +in our name, only the R has a kick-up tail at the end. That letter is a +'R'; isn't it, Mother?" + +"Yes," answered Mrs. Brown. "But what is the whole word, Bunny? If you +can tell what it is you'll know the secret." + +Bunny could spell out each letter one after another and he did, until he +had spelled this big word: + + MARSHMALLOW + +But he could not say it. The word was too big for him. So his mother +said it for him. + +"Those are marshmallow candies in the tin boxes," said Mrs. Brown. "Now +can you guess the secret?" + +"Oh, I know!" cried Sue. "We're going to have a marshmallow roast by the +campfire to-night! Is that it, Mother? And the sharp sticks Bunker is +making are to put the marshmallow candies on to hold over the fire and +roast! Isn't that it?" + +"Yes, Sue, you have guessed it." + +"Pooh! I was just going to say that," cried Bunny. + +"Well, Sue said it first, dear," went on Bunny's mother. "Now get ready +for dinner. After dinner we'll take a nice walk, and this evening, when +it gets dark, Uncle Tad is going to build a campfire and we'll all roast +marshmallows." + +"Oh, what fun!" cried Sue, clapping her hands. + +"Jolly, jolly fun!" laughed Bunny. + +And that was why Bunker Blue was making the pointed sticks. + +"Now for our walk!" called Mother Brown, when the dinner things had been +cleared away, and Tom Vine had washed and dried the dishes, Bunny and +Sue helping. "We'll take a walk over near the waterfall. I want to take +a picture of it." + +But, when they were all ready to start--Bunker Blue, Splash and all--Tom +Vine could not be found. + +"Why, where is he?" asked Bunny. "He was here a minute ago, for I saw +him." + +"Maybe he's losted," said Sue. She and Bunny got lost or "losted," as +they called it, so often, that Sue thought that trouble could very +easily happen to anyone. + +"No, he isn't lost," said Daddy Brown. "Tom! Tom!" he called. "Where are +you?" + +"I'm here," was the answer, and Tom stood up. He had been sitting behind +a thick bush, down near the edge of the lake. + +"Oh, we were looking for you," Mr. Brown said. "Don't you want to come +for a walk with us? We are going over toward the waterfall. It is very +nice there." + +Tom shook his head. + +"I don't believe I'll go, thank you," he said. + +"Why not?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Don't you feel well? Don't you like to +walk in the woods, Tom?" + +"Oh, yes'm, I like the woods, and I feel fine. I never had such good +things to eat as I've had in this camp." + +"Then why don't you want to come with us?" + +"Well--er--well, because, you see that farmer I worked for lives over +near the waterfall, and maybe he'll catch me if I go there." + +"Oh, I won't let him catch you!" exclaimed Mr. Brown. "Come along, Tom. +I'll look after you." + +Then Tom came out of his hiding place, where he had gone after he heard +Mrs. Brown say they were going to the fall. Soon the party of campers +were marching through the woods, Tom holding Bunny's hand, while Bunker +Blue looked after Sue. + +The waterfall was very pretty, the water from a small river falling down +over green, mossy rocks, into a deep glen, foaming and bubbling. Mrs. +Brown took some pictures with her photograph camera, and then they sat +down in a shady spot, and ate a little lunch they had brought with them. +Splash, the big dog, had his share, too. + +And that night was the grand marshmallow candy roast. Uncle Tad built a +fire of wood in front of the big tent. When the smoke and the hottest +flames had died away Bunny and Sue and the others, sitting on logs +around the fire, toasted the candies, holding them over the fire on the +pointed ends of the sticks Bunker Blue had made with his sharp knife. + +"Oh, aren't they good!" cried Sue, as she began to eat a candy she had +roasted. + +"Look out! They're hot!" called Uncle Tad. But he was too late. + +"Ouch!" cried Sue, as the hot candy burned her tongue. "Oh, it hurts!" +she sobbed. "It hurts me!" + +But Mother Brown put some cold, sweet cream on Sue's tongue, and soon +the burning pain stopped. + +After that Sue waited until the brown and roasted candy had cooled +before she ate any. + +"Oh, dear!" suddenly cried Bunny, as he was roasting a marshmallow for +himself. "Oh, dear!" + +"What's the matter with you?" asked his father. "Did you burn your +tongue, Bunny?" + +"No, but my candy slipped off my stick, and it's all burning up in the +fire." + +"Never mind," said Mother Brown. "Here's another candy. Next time don't +hold the marshmallow over the fire so long. That makes it soft, so it +melts, and it won't stay on the stick." + +After Bunny and Sue learned how to do it they had no trouble roasting +the marshmallows. Everyone roasted some except Splash, and he was very +glad to eat the browned and puffed-up sweets, even if he could not hold +them over the fire. But Splash took good care not to burn his tongue, as +Sue had burned hers. + +When the candies were all roasted, and eaten, it was time to go to bed. +After Bunny and Sue were tucked in their cots, Bunny heard his father +and Bunker Blue going about outside the tent. They seemed to be doing +something to the ropes. + +"What are you doing, Daddy?" Bunny asked. + +"I think there's going to be a storm," answered Mr. Brown, "and I want +to be sure the tents won't blow away. I'm making the ropes tight." + +Pretty soon everyone at Camp Rest-a-While was in bed. It was not long +before the wind began to blow and then, all at once, there came a bright +flash of lightning, and a loud clap of thunder. + +"Oh, what's that?" cried Bunny, sitting up in his cot, for the noise had +awakened him. "What's the matter?" he asked. + +"It's a thunder storm," replied his father. "Go to sleep, for it can't +hurt you." + +But Bunny could not go to sleep, nor could Sue. She, too, was awakened +by the bright lightning, and the loud thunder. The wind, too, blew very +hard, and it shook the sleeping tent as if it would tear it loose from +the ropes. + +"Do you think it is safe?" asked Mother Brown. + +"Oh, I think so," answered her husband. "Bunker and I put on some extra +ropes before we came in. I guess the tent won't blow away." + +Everyone was wide awake now. The storm was a very heavy one. The wind +howled through the trees in the wood, and, now and then, a loud crash +could be heard, as some tree branch broke off and fell to the ground. + +Then, suddenly, it began to rain very hard. My! how the big drops did +pelt down on the tent, sounding like dried corn falling on a tin pan! + +"Oh, the rain is coming in on me!" cried Bunny. "I'm getting all wet, +Daddy!" + +Surely enough, there was a little hole in the tent, right over Bunny's +cot, and the rain was coming in there. + +"Swish!" went the lightning. + +"Bang!" went the thunder. + +"Whoo-ee!" blew the wind. + +It was certainly a bad storm at Camp Rest-a-While. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +TOM IS GONE + + +"Daddy! Daddy!" cried Sue, from behind the curtain, in the part of the +tent where she slept with her mother. "Daddy, do you think we'll blow +away?" + +"Oh, no," answered Mr. Brown. "Don't be afraid. Bunker and I fastened +down the tent good and strong. It can't blow over." + +"But I'm getting all wet!" cried Bunny. "The water's leaking all over my +bed, Daddy!" + +"Yes, I didn't know there was a hole in the tent. I'll fix it +to-morrow," said Bunny's father. "You get in my bed, Bunny!" + +"Oh, goodie!" Bunny cried. He always liked to get in his father's bed. + +But as Bunny jumped out of his own little cot, and pattered in his bare +feet across to his father's, he saw Daddy Brown getting up. Mr. Brown +was putting on a pair of rubber boots, and a rubber coat over his bath +robe, which he had put on when the storm began. + +"Where you going, Daddy?" asked Bunny, as he crawled into the dry bed, +and pulled the covers up over him, for the wind was blowing in the tent +now. "Where you going?" + +"I'm going out to see that the tent ropes are all right," said Mr. +Brown. + +"Going out? What for?" called Mrs. Brown. "You musn't go out in this +storm. It's terrible!" + +"Oh, but I must go!" answered Daddy Brown with a laugh. "I don't mind +the thunder, lightning and rain. If some of the tent pegs come loose, +the ropes will slip off, and the tent will blow over. Bunker Blue and I +will go out and make sure everything is all right." + +"I could go with you," said Uncle Tad from his cot. "Shall I?" + +"No, you stay where you are," Daddy Brown said. "You might get the +rheumatism if you got wet." + +"I used to get wet enough when I was in the army," returned the old +soldier. "Many a time, when it stormed, I used to get up to fix the +tent." + +"Well, Bunker and I will do it now, thank you," Mr. Brown went on. By +this time Bunker Blue had on his rubber boots and coat. Then, taking a +lantern with them, Mr. Brown and Bunker went outside. + +"Fasten the tent door after us, Tom," called Mr. Brown to the city boy, +"or everything will blow away inside. Tie the tent flaps shut with the +ropes, and you can open them for us when we want to come in again." + +Out in the storm went Daddy Brown and Bunker Blue. As they opened the +flaps, or front door of the tent, a big gust of wind came in, and dashed +rain in Bunny's face, so that he covered his head with the bed clothes. +He had one look at a bright flash of lightning, and he could see the +ground outside all covered with water. + +"I'm glad I don't have to go out in the storm," he thought, and he felt +sorry for his father and Bunker Blue. + +But Mr. Brown had often been out on the ocean in worse storms than this, +and so had Bunker, so they did not mind. With their lantern they walked +all around the sleeping-tent, making sure that all the ropes were fast +to the pegs, which were driven into the ground. Some of the wooden pegs +were coming loose, and these Mr. Brown and Bunker hammered farther into +the dirt. + +All the while the wind blew, and the rain pelted down, while the +lightning flashed brighter, and the thunder rumbled so loudly that it +scared Sue. + +"I--I don't like it!" she sobbed, and she crept into bed with her +mother. "Please make it stop, Mother!" + +"No one can make the thunder stop, Sue, dear," said Mrs. Brown. "But the +thunder won't hurt you, and the storm is almost over." + +Just then there came a very loud clap. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Sue. "I'se afraid!" + +Bunny heard his sister, and called out: + +"That sounded just like Fourth of July; didn't it, Sue? When the big +boys fired the cannon on top of the hill." + +"Isn't you afraid, Bunny?" asked Sue. + +"No, I--I like it," Bunny answered. + +He tried to make himself believe he did, so Sue would not be so +frightened. + +"Well, if you isn't afraid I isn't goin' to be, either," said Sue, after +a moment. And she stopped crying at once, and lay quietly in her +mother's cot-bed. And then the storm seemed to go away. It still rained +very hard, but the wind did not howl so loudly, and the lightning was +not so scary, nor the thunder so rumbly. + +The rain still leaked in through the hole in the tent, but Tom Vine +moved Bunny's cot out of the way, and set a pail under the leak. + +All at once there sounded a banging noise, as if a whole store full of +pots and pans and kettles had been turned upside down. + +"Oh, what's that?" cried Mother Brown. + +"Sounded as if something blew away," said Uncle Tad. "I'll get up and +look." + +But he did not have to, for, just then, in came Daddy Brown and Bunker +Blue, their rubber coats all shining wet in the lantern light. + +"What made that noise?" asked Mother Brown. + +"The cook-tent blew over," said Daddy Brown, "and all the pots, pans and +kettles fell in a heap. But we'll let them go until morning, I guess, as +the worst of the storm is over. Now we'll all go to bed again." + +"This tent won't blow over; will it, Daddy?" asked Bunny. + +"No, it's all safe now. Go to sleep." + +But it was some little time before they were all asleep again. Nothing +more happened that night, and Bunny and Sue were up very early the next +morning to see what the storm had done. + +Camp Rest-a-While was not a pretty sight. + +Besides the cook-tent having been blown over, there were broken branches +of trees scattered about. The tents were covered with leaves blown from +the trees, and there were many mud puddles. + +The oil stove, and the pots, pans and other things, with which Mother +Brown cooked, were piled in a heap under the fallen cook-tent. The tent +itself was soaking wet, and one of the poles that had held it up was +broken. + +"Oh, we can't ever have anything to eat!" said Sue sadly, as she looked +at the fallen tent. + +"We can build a campfire," said Bunny. "Uncle Tad used to cook breakfast +over one; didn't you?" and he turned to the old soldier. + +"Yes, Bunny, I did. But I guess we won't have to this time. We'll soon +have the oil stove working." + +Then he and Daddy Brown, with Bunker Blue and Tom Vine, set to work. The +blown-down tent was pulled to one side, and it was seen that though +everything under it was in a heap, still nothing was broken. + +Soon some milk was being warmed for the children, and coffee made for +the older folk. Then Mother Brown even made pancakes on the oil stove, +which was set up on a box at one side of the dining-tent. The day was a +fine one, and there was not enough wind to make the stove smoke. + +So they had breakfast after all, and then began the work of making Camp +Rest-a-While look as it had before the storm. A new tent pole was cut, +and the tent put up again, stronger than before. Bunny and Sue helped by +picking up the scattered pieces of tree branches, and piling them in a +heap. Then they swept up the torn-off leaves, and by this time the sun +had dried up some of the puddles of water. By noon time the camp looked +as well as it had before the storm. + +"And don't forget to fix the hole over my cot," cried Bunny. "I don't +want to be rained on any more, Daddy." + +"I'll fix it," said Mr. Brown, and he did. + +"I didn't hear any fire engines last night," said Tom Vine as they sat +at supper that evening, after coming in from a little sail around the +lake, Bunker having fixed a sail onto the rowboat. + +"Fire engines!" exclaimed Bunny. "Why should you hear fire engines, +Tom?" + +"Why, in the city, where I lived, before I went with that farmer, the +fire engines used to come out after every storm. Places would be struck +by lightning, you know. I've seen lots of fires. But I didn't hear any +engines last night." + +"There aren't any engines in these woods," said Daddy Brown. "Of course +trees are often struck by lightning, and lightning often sets fire to +houses in the country, but there aren't any engines out in the woods." + +"And no policeman, either," added Tom. "It seems funny not to see a +policeman, and have him yell at you to move on, or keep off the grass." + +"Do you like it better here than in the city?" asked Mrs. Brown. + +"Oh, heaps better, yes'm! I love it here. I hope I don't ever have to go +back to the city--or to that mean farmer." + +Nothing had been seen of the man who wanted to get Tom back, since that +day when he had called at the camp. Bunny and Sue had almost forgotten +him, but it seemed that Tom had not. He was always a little bit afraid, +thinking that the cross man might come back. + +One morning, two days after the big storm, when Bunny, Sue and all the +others were gathered around the breakfast table, Daddy Brown asked: + +"Where is Tom Vine?" + +"He was here a minute ago," Bunny said. + +"I think he went to the spring to get a pail of water," put in Uncle +Tad. + +"Yes, that's where he went," said Mrs. Brown. "I said we would need some +fresh water, and he went after it." + +"Well, we won't wait for him," said Daddy Brown. "We'll eat, and he can +have his breakfast when he comes." + +But the others had finished breakfast, and Tom Vine had not come back +from the spring, though they waited for some time. + +"I wonder what's keeping him," said Mrs. Brown. + +"He couldn't have fallen in; could he?" asked Uncle Tad. + +"No, the spring isn't large enough," Bunker Blue answered. "I'll go to +look for him." + +Bunker ran off along the path that led to the spring. In a little while +he came hurrying back. He carried a pail full of water, and he said: + +"I found the empty pail by the spring, but Tom was gone!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +LOOKING FOR TOM + + +Bunker Blue, with the pail of water, walked up to where Bunny, Sue and +the others were still sitting at the breakfast table, though they had +finished eating. + +"Tom's gone," said Bunker again. + +"Gone where?" asked Bunny. + +"I don't know," answered the red-haired boy. "I looked all around by the +spring, but I couldn't see him. The pail was there, but Tom wasn't." + +"Could he have fallen in?" asked Mrs. Brown, just as Uncle Tad had +asked. + +Bunker Blue shook his head. + +"The spring is only about big enough to dip a pail in," he said, "and +Tom is bigger than the pail." + +"But maybe he curled all up in a little heap when he fell in," said +Bunny. "Oh, dear! I don't want Tom to be lost!" + +Bunny and Sue had grown to like Tom very much. + +Once more Bunker Blue shook his head. + +"I could look right down to the bottom of the spring," he said. "It's +quite deep, even if it isn't big. But Tom wasn't in it. There was a big +bullfrog in the water, though." + +"Was the frog big enough to--to eat Tom?" asked Sue, her eyes wide open. + +Sue's mother and father laughed, and Bunny said: + +"A bullfrog couldn't eat anybody!" + +"They could if they was a big enough frog; couldn't they, Daddy?" asked +Sue. + +"Well, I don't know," replied Mr. Brown. "Then you couldn't see anything +of Tom, Bunker?" + +"No, sir, not a thing." + +"Had he filled the pail with water?" Uncle Tad wanted to know. + +"The pail was empty, and it was tipped over," Bunker said. "I don't know +whether Tom had filled it, and then something had knocked it over, or +not. Anyhow, the pail had no water in it, so I dipped it into the +spring to fill it, and came on back to tell you." + +"That was right," said Mr. Brown. "We'll go over and look around. Tom +may have seen some new kind of bird, or something like that, and have +wandered off in the woods, following it." + +"Maybe he saw a bear, and ran," suggested Bunny. + +"No, I guess the only bear around here is the tame one that came in our +tent the first night," said Mrs. Brown. "Oh, I do hope nothing has +happened to Tom!" + +They all hoped that, for the strange boy was very well liked. + +Mrs. Brown remained at the tent to wash the breakfast dishes, since Tom +was not there to do them, while the others--Bunny, Sue, their father, +Uncle Tad and Bunker--went to the spring. It was on the side of a little +hill, where grew many trees, and was about three minutes' walk from Camp +Rest-a-While. + +Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad looked all around the hole in the ground--the +hole was the spring, and it was filled with clear, cold water. The +bottom of the spring was of white sand, and sitting down there, having a +nice bath, was a big, green bullfrog. With his funny eyes he looked up +at Bunny and Sue as they leaned over the spring. + +"Oh, look!" cried Sue. "What a big frog!" + +"But he isn't big enough to swallow Tom," said Bunny. + +"No, that's so," agreed Mr. Brown. "We'll have to look for Tom. Bunny +and Sue, you stay with me. Uncle Tad, you and Bunker walk around in the +woods. It may be that Tom fell and hurt himself, when running after a +bird or butterfly, and can't walk. We'll find him." + +Tom, having lived all his life in the city, thought the birds and +butterflies were most wonderful creatures. Every time he saw a new one +he would run up to it to get a close look. He never tried to catch them, +he just wanted to watch them fluttering about the flowers. + +But, though they looked all around in the woods by the spring, there was +no sign of Tom. Up and down, back and forth, they walked, looking +beside big rocks or stumps, behind fallen logs and under clumps of +bushes they peered, but no Tom could they find. + +"Oh, he's losted, just like we was losted," said Sue, sadly. + +"Yes, I guess he is," agreed Bunny. "Splash, can't you find Tom?" + +The big dog barked: "Bow-wow!" But what he meant by that no one knew. +Splash, however, could not find Tom. + +"Let's call his name," said Uncle Tad. + +So they called his name. + +"Tom! Tom! Tom Vine! Where are you?" + +But Tom did not answer. + +"This is queer," said Mr. Brown. "I don't believe he'd run away and +leave us. He liked it too much at our camp." + +"Perhaps he saw that mean man," said Bunker Blue. "Tom may have seen the +cross farmer who wanted him to come back to work, and Tom may have run +away off and hid--so far off that he can't hear us calling." + +"Yes, that's so. He _may_ have done that," agreed Mr. Brown. "We'll go +back to camp, and wait for him. He may come when he thinks the man has +gone away." + +Back to camp they all went. Bunny and Sue felt bad about Tom's being +lost. So did the others. Every time Splash would stop in front of a +clump of bushes, and bark, as he often did, Bunny and Sue would run up, +thinking their friend had been found. + +But it would be only a bird, a rabbit or a squirrel that Splash had +seen, which made him bark that way. Tom was not to be found. + +They waited in camp all the rest of that day, only going out a little +way for a row on the lake. Night came, and there was no Tom. It grew +very dark, and still he had not come. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Sue. "Will he have to sleep out alone all night?" + +"Perhaps he'll come back before you are awake in the morning," said +Mother Brown. "Anyhow, Tom isn't afraid of the dark, and it is now so +warm that anyone could sleep out of doors and not get cold. I think Tom +will be here in the morning." + +But morning came, and there was no sign of Tom. A lantern had been left +burning outside the tent all night, in case he should come. But he did +not. + +"Well," said Mr. Brown, after breakfast, "there's only one thing to do, +and I'm going to do it." + +"What is that?" asked his wife. + +"I'm going over to Farmer Trimble's, to see if Tom is there." + +"Oh, Trimble is the name of the man who wanted to take Tom away; isn't +it?" + +"Yes, that's the man who came here, and tried to get Tom. It may be that +Mr. Trimble saw Tom at the spring, getting water, and made him go away. +So I'm going over to the Trimble farm, and see." + +"Oh, may we come?" asked Bunny. + +"Yes," said Mr. Brown. "I guess so. I'll take you and Bunker Blue with +me. And if we find Tom we'll bring him back with us. That man has no +right to keep him!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"WHO TOOK THE PIE?" + + +The shortest way to go to the Trimble farm was to row across the lake in +the boat, and then to walk a little distance through the wood. Mr. +Brown, with Bunny and Sue, started, with Bunker Blue at the oars, +dipping them in the water, pulling hard on them, and lifting them out +for another dip. + +"Don't row too hard, Bunker," said Mr. Brown. "It is a hot day, and I +don't want you to get tired out. Besides, we are in no hurry, so take it +easy." + +At the last minute, Splash, the dog, had run down the hill to the lake, +and climbed into the boat. He did not want to be left behind. + +"May we take him, Daddy?" asked Bunny. + +"Oh, yes. Let him come along. He's a good dog, and maybe he can help us +find Tom." + +Splash was a regular water-dog. He could swim across the lake, he could +jump in and bring back sticks that Bunny or Sue would toss in, and he +liked to be in a boat. Splash knew that dogs, as well as boys and girls, +must keep quiet in boats, especially small boats, so they would not tip +over. And now Splash perched himself up in the bow, or front part of the +boat, and quietly sat there, looking across at the other shore. + +Bunny looked down over the side, where he was sitting, and saw some fish +swimming about, for the water of the lake was very clear. + +"I wish I had brought my fishpole," Bunny said. "I could catch some fish +for dinner." + +"We've something else to do besides catching fish to-day, Bunny," +replied his father. "We've got to find Tom Vine." + +"Do you think we'll find him, Daddy?" asked Sue, as she hugged one of +her dolls, which she had brought with her. + +"Well, maybe so, little girl. I can't think of anything else that would +happen to Tom, except that he would be taken by Mr. Trimble. I think +we'll find him." + +They were half way across the lake when Sue suddenly cried: + +"Oh, there she goes! Oh, she's fallen in!" + +"What is it?" asked Mr. Brown, turning around quickly, for he was seated +with his back toward his little girl. + +"It's my doll!" Sue cried. "She jumped right out of my arms, and fell in +the lake." + +I guess Sue meant that her doll slipped out of her arms, for dolls can't +jump--at least not unless they have a spring wound up inside them, like +an alarm clock, and Sue's doll wasn't that kind. + +"Stop the boat, Bunker! Row back!" cried Mr. Brown. "Sue's doll fell +overboard, and we don't want to lose her!" + +Bunker stopped rowing, and he was reaching out with an oar to pull in +the doll, which was floating like a little boat on top of the water, not +far away. But before Bunker could save the doll, Splash, with a loud +bark, jumped in and swam out toward the plaything of his little +mistress. + +Seizing the doll in his mouth, Splash swam back with her to the boat. +Bunny stretched out his hand to take the doll, but Splash would not give +it up to him. The dog knew that boys don't play with dolls, and that +this one belonged to Sue. So Splash swam around to the other side of the +boat where Sue was anxiously waiting, and he let her take the doll from +his mouth. + +"Good dog!" cried Sue, patting him with one hand. Then she began to +squeeze the water out of her doll's dress. + +"I'm glad I didn't bring my best doll," said Sue. "This is only one of +my old ones, and it won't hurt her to get wet. I was going to give her a +bath, anyhow, but I didn't mean to leave her clothes on. Anyhow, she'll +soon dry, I guess." + +Sue put the doll down beside her, on the seat, where the hot sun would +dry up the water. Splash put his two paws on the edge of the boat, and +Mr. Brown and Bunker Blue helped him in. + +"Now you be quiet, Splash!" called Mr. Brown. "Don't go shaking the +water off yourself, as you always do when you come in from a swim. For +we can't get far enough away from you in the boat, and you'll get us all +wet. Don't shake yourself!" + +I don't know whether or not Splash understood what Mr. Brown said. At +any rate, the dog went back to his place in the bow, and did not shake +the water off his dripping fur. Whenever he did that he made a regular +shower. + +The boat was soon close to the other shore. Bunker Blue rowed up to a +little dock, and tied fast. Then Mr. Brown helped out Bunny and Sue. +Splash did not need any help. He jumped out himself and ran on ahead, +now giving himself a good shake to get rid of the water drops. + +A short walk brought the party to Mr. Trimble's farm. The cross farmer +was not in the house, but his wife said he was out in the barn, and +there Mr. Brown found him. + +"Well, what do you want?" asked Mr. Trimble in that cross voice of his. +He seemed never to smile. + +"I came to see if you have that boy I'm taking care of--Tom Vine," said +Mr. Brown. "Did you take him away?" + +"No, I did not," said Mr. Trimble, crossly. + +"Do you know where he is?" + +"No, I don't." + +"Have you seen him at all?" asked Bunny's father. "Yesterday he went to +the spring for a pail of water, but he did not come back. We are afraid +something has happened to him. Then I thought perhaps you might have +taken him, though you had no right to." + +"Well, I didn't take him, though I had a right to," growled the farmer. +"I hired that boy to work for me, and I gave him a suit of clothes, +besides feeding him. He didn't stay with me long enough to pay for what +I gave him. And if I catch him I'll make him work out what he owes me. +But I haven't seen him since he was in your camp. I wish I did have him +now. I'd make him step lively, and do some work!" + +So Mr. Brown had his trip for nothing. Tom was not at the Trimble farm, +that was sure. + +"I guess he ran away from you the same as he did from me," said Mr. +Trimble as Mr. Brown turned away. + +Bunny's father shook his head. + +"Tom Vine isn't that kind of boy," he said. "He may have run away from +you because you didn't treat him well, but he would not run away from +us. He liked it at Camp Rest-a-While." + +"That's all you know about boys!" laughed the farmer. "I treated him as +well as he needed to be treated. Boys are all lazy. They'd rather play +than work. And you'll find out that Tom Vine has run away from you. He +didn't want to work." + +"He didn't work very hard at our camp," said Mr. Brown. "All he had to +do was to wash the dishes and help with little things. He liked it. I'm +sure something has happened to him, and I'm sorry, for I intended doing +something for him." + +"Well, I haven't got him, though I wish I had," grumbled Mr. Trimble. +"If I catch him, I'll make him work hard!" + +"Then I hope you don't catch him," Mr. Brown said. + +He went down to the boat with the children and Bunker Blue, and they +were soon back at camp. + +"Did you see anything of him?" asked Mrs. Brown, coming down to the edge +of the lake, as she saw the boat nearing the shore. + +"No," answered Mr. Brown. "Mr. Trimble said he isn't at the farm, and I +don't believe he is. You didn't see anything of him while we were gone, +did you?" + +Mrs. Brown shook her head. + +"Uncle Tad has been looking up around the spring again," she said, "but +he couldn't find him." + +"Oh dear!" sighed Bunny. "Poor Tom is lost!" + +"He must have been frightened by something at the spring," said Mr. +Brown, "and have run off." + +"Well, there's one thing we don't have to worry about," said Mrs. Brown. +"There aren't any wild animals in these woods. None of them could get +Tom." + +She said that so Bunny and Sue would not be thinking about it. + +Two days and nights passed, and there was no sign of Tom. One afternoon +Mrs. Brown baked some pies in the oven of the oil stove. She was all +alone in camp, for Mr. Brown, the children, and Bunker Blue had gone +fishing. Uncle Tad had gone for a walk in the woods. + +Mrs. Brown put the pies on a table in the cooking-tent to cool, while +she went to the spring for a fresh pail of water. When she came back she +looked at the pies. Then she rubbed her eyes and counted them. + +"Why!" she cried. "One of the pies is gone! I baked four, and there are +only three here. Who took the pie?" + +She looked under the table, in boxes and on chairs, thinking perhaps a +fox or a big muskrat might have come along and tried to drag the pie, +tin and all, away. But the pie was not to be found. + +"Who could have taken my pie?" asked Mrs. Brown. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A NOISE AT NIGHT + + +When Mr. Brown, Bunny, Sue and Bunker Blue came back from their little +fishing trip, they saw Mother Brown walking about the camp, in and out +among the tents, looking here and there. + +"Have you lost something, Mother?" asked Bunny. + +"Well, yes, I have--sort of," she said, smiling. "I've lost a pie!" + +"Oh, a pie!" cried Sue. "Did you drop it, Mother, and did it fall down a +crack in the board walk, like my penny did once?" + +"No!" laughed Mrs. Brown. "It wasn't that way." + +Then she told of having made four pies, setting them on the table to +cool while she went to the spring for a pail of water. + +"And when I came back, a whole pie was gone!" she said. + +"Well, we certainly didn't take it, for we weren't here," said Daddy +Brown. "And you were all alone in camp, Mother?" + +"Yes, even Uncle Tad was gone." + +"Oh, maybe _he_ came back and took it!" exclaimed Bunny. + +"No, he wouldn't do that," said his mother. "Some animal, perhaps a big +muskrat, like the one Splash tried to catch, came up out of the lake and +carried away my pie. I was just looking to see if I could find any marks +of the rat's paws in the soft ground, when you came along. But I +couldn't see any." + +"I don't believe it was a rat, or any other animal, that took your pie," +said Mr. Brown, as he, too, looked carefully on the ground around the +table where the pie had been placed. The three other pies were there, +but the fourth one was gone. + +"There isn't a sign of any four-legged animal having been here," Mr. +Brown went on. "I think it was some animal with only two legs who took +the pie." + +"Oh, you mean a--a man!" cried Mother Brown. + +Daddy Brown nodded his head for yes. + +"Do you mean a tramp?" asked Bunker Blue. + +"Well, yes, it might have been a tramp, though we haven't seen any +around here since we've been in camp. However, if a pie is all they took +we don't need to worry." + +"Perhaps the poor man was hungry," said Mrs. Brown. "I'm sure I hope he +enjoys my pie." + +"He couldn't help liking it," said Bunny Brown. "Your pies are always so +good, Mother!" + +"I'm glad to hear you say that," exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "Well, we have +enough for the next two days, anyhow, and I'll bake again to-morrow." + +"Splash didn't take the pie," said Sue, "'cause he was with us in the +boat." + +"Then it must have been the tramp," Mrs. Brown said. "Never mind, we +won't worry any more about it. Did you have a nice time?" + +Then they told about their little fishing trip. When Uncle Tad came back +from his walk in the woods, he, too, had to be told of the missing pie. +Uncle Tad shook his head. + +"We'll have to lock up everything around our camp if tramps are going to +come in and take our pies, and the other good things Mother Brown +makes," he said with a smile. "Or else one of us will always have to +stay here to keep watch." + +"I wish we had Tom Vine back," said Bunny. "I wonder where he is?" + +Of course no one knew, and Mr. Brown began to think that, after all, Tom +had done just as Mr. Trimble had said--had run away. + +The next day, after breakfast, Sue, who was changing the dress of one of +her dolls, saw brother Bunny walking along the path that led toward the +spring. Bunny carried a small wooden box. + +"What are you going to do, Bunny?" she asked him. "Get a box full of +water?" + +"Nope. This box won't hold water. It's got holes in." + +"But what are you going to do?" + +"I'm going to make a trap to catch a fox." + +"Oh, Bunny! Can I help you?" + +"Yes. Come on. But you must keep awful still, 'cause foxes are easy +scared." + +"I will, Bunny. And may I bring my doll with me? I can put her to sleep +on some soft dried leaves when you want me to help you." + +"Yes, you may bring one doll," said Bunny. "But don't bring one of the +kind that cries when you punch it in the stomach, or it might make a +noise and scare the fox. I'm going to catch one and train him to do +tricks." + +"How are you going to catch him, Bunny?" + +"In this box. Come on, I'll show you." + +"I guess I won't bring any of my dolls," said Sue, after thinking about +it for a minute. "A fox might bite her." + +"Yes, that will be better," said the little boy. + +So, carrying the box, and some other things, which Sue helped him with, +Bunny and his sister went a little way into the wood. + +"Don't go too far!" their mother called after them. + +"We won't!" they promised. Since coming to Camp Rest-a-While Bunny and +Sue had not been lost, and they did not now want to have that trouble if +they could help it. + +"Are there any foxes in here?" asked Sue, looking around as she and +Bunny came near the spring. + +"Hush! Don't speak so loud," whispered her brother. "You might scare +'em." + +"Is they any here?" asked Sue, this time in a very soft whisper. + +"I guess so," answered Bunny. "They must come to the spring to get a +drink of water, same as we do. I'm going to put my trap near the +spring." + +There was a large flat stone, near the place where the water for the +camp was found. On this stone Bunny put the box, bottom side up. It had +no cover to it. One edge of the box Bunny held up by putting a stick +under it, and to the stick he tied a long string. + +"Is that a trap?" asked Sue. + +"Yep," Bunny answered. "Now I'm going to put something under the box +that foxes like. They'll crawl under to eat it, and when they're there +I'll pull the string. That will make the stick come out and the box will +fall down, and cover up the fox so it can't get away." + +"Oh, that'll be fine!" cried Sue. "But what're you going to give the +foxes to eat, Bunny?" + +"I'll show you," said the little fellow. From his pocket he took some +bits of bread, a few crumbs of dried cake, a little piece of pie wrapped +in paper, and half an apple. + +"There!" Bunny exclaimed as he put these things under the raised-up box. +"Foxes ought to like all that. Now we'll hide back here in the bushes, +Sue, and I'll have hold of the long string. As soon as we see a fox, or +any other animal, go under the box, I'll pull away the little stick, and +we'll catch him!" + +"All right," said Sue. So, the trap having been set, Bunny and Sue hid +themselves in the hushes to wait. But for a long time no fox, or any +other animal, came along. Bunny and Sue grew tired of sitting in the +bushes and keeping quiet. They could only whisper, and this was not much +fun. + +"I--I guess I'll go home," said Sue, after a bit. + +"Oh, no, stay with me!" Bunny begged. "Maybe I'll catch a fox pretty +soon. Oh, look, Sue!" he cried, this time aloud, he was so excited. +"There's a bird going into the box. I'll catch the bird, to show you how +my trap works." + +"You won't hurt the bird; will you, Bunny?" begged Sue. + +"No, I won't hurt it a bit," Bunny replied. + +A sparrow was hopping along the flat stone, toward the upraised box, +under which were the bread and cake crumbs, and other good things that +birds like. Closer and closer to the box went the bird, and finally it +was all the way under, picking up the crumbs. + +"Now watch me catch him!" cried Bunny. + +He pulled the string, out came the stick, down came the box, and the +bird was caught. + +"I've got him! I've got him!" cried Bunny. "That's the way I'd catch a +fox!" + +He and Sue ran to the box trap. Bunny lifted it up and out flew the +bird, not at all hurt, and only a little frightened. Bunny raised the +box up again, and held it there with the stick. Then he and Sue went +back among the bushes to wait; all ready to pull the string again. + +But though Bunny's trap would catch a sparrow, there did not seem to be +anything else he could catch. No foxes or other animals came to get a +drink, and later Bunny's father explained to him that nearly all wild +animals wait until after dark to get water, for fear of being caught. + +After a while Bunny and Sue grew tired of waiting in the bushes. + +"I'll just leave the trap here," said Bunny, "and maybe a fox will go in +and knock the stick down himself. Then he'll be caught." + +"But a fox could easy upset the box," said Sue. + +"Maybe he could," agreed Bunny. "I'll put a stone on top of it." And he +did. + +Bunny and Sue reached camp in time for dinner. In the afternoon they +went with their mother to pick huckleberries, and helped fill two pails. + +"I'll make pies of these berries," said Mother Brown. + +"And I hope nobody takes any of the pie," said Bunny. "'Cause I like +huckleberry pie myself an awful lot." + +That evening Daddy Brown built a campfire, and Bunny and Sue, with +Bunker Blue, sat about it roasting marshmallows. + +"I wish Tom Vine was here to help eat them," said Sue. + +"So do I," agreed Bunny. + +But Tom Vine was not there. Where was he? No one at Camp Rest-a-While +could tell. + +Bunny Brown did not sleep well that night. Perhaps he had eaten too many +marshmallow candies. At any rate, he awoke soon after he went to bed. He +was wishing he had a drink of water, and he was thinking whether he +would best get up for it himself, or awaken his father, when the little +fellow heard a noise outside the tent. It was a noise as if someone were +walking around. At first Bunny thought it was Splash, but, looking over +in the corner of the sleeping-tent, Bunny saw his dog there. Splash, +too, had heard the noise, for he was getting up and growling deep in his +throat. + +Then, all at once, came a loud bang, as if someone had knocked down five +or six tin pans. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +SPLASH ACTS QUEERLY + + +"Daddy! Daddy!" cried Bunny Brown. "Daddy, did you hear that?" + +"I couldn't very well help hearing it," said Mr. Brown sitting up on his +cot, which was next to Bunny's. "Who's out there?" Mr. Brown cried, and +with a jump he reached the flaps of the tent, which he opened, so he +could look out. + +Splash, who had jumped out, barking, when the noise sounded, rushed out +of the tent. The tins had stopped rattling, and it was very quiet +outside, except for the noise Splash made. + +"What is it?" called Mrs. Brown, from her side of the tent. + +"I don't know," answered her husband. "Someone--or some animal--seems to +be making a noise. Maybe it is someone after more of your pies, +Mother." + +"We'll take a look," said Uncle Tad. He got out of his bed, and went to +stand beside Daddy Brown at the opening of the tent. + +"Can you see anything?" Mrs. Brown asked. Bunny could hear his sister +whispering. Sue also, had been awakened, and wanted to know what had +caused the noise in the night. + +"No, I can't see anything," said Mr. Brown. "Splash is coming back, so I +guess it wasn't anything." + +He and Uncle Tad could see the children's dog walking back to his bed in +the tent. Splash slept on a piece of old carpet. The dog was wagging his +tail. + +"What is it Splash? Did you see any tramps?" asked Mr. Brown. + +Splash did not answer, of course, but he wagged his tail as he always +did when he was with his friends. + +"I guess it couldn't have been anything," Mr. Brown went on. "Maybe a +squirrel or chipmunk was looking for some crumbs in the dining-tent, and +knocked down the pans. I'll just take a look out there to make sure." + +Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad went outside the tent. Splash did not go with +them. He seemed to think everything was all right. + +"Did you find him, Daddy?" asked Bunny, when his father came back. + +"No, son. I don't believe there was anyone. I saw where the pans had +been knocked down, but that was all." + +Bunny was given the drink of water he wanted and soon was asleep. The +others, too, became quiet and slept. But in the morning Mrs. Brown, in +getting breakfast, found that a piece of bacon and some eggs had been +taken from the ice box. + +"The eggs and bacon were in the refrigerator all right when I washed up +the supper dishes last night," she said. "I counted on having them for +breakfast. Now they're gone!" + +"Then there must have been someone in our camp, snooping around last +night," said Daddy Brown. "It was a tramp, after all. And when he helped +himself to something to eat he knocked down the pans. That's how it +happened." + +"I suppose so," said Mother Brown. "Well, I'm sure if the poor tramp was +hungry I'm glad he got something to eat. But I wish he had not taken my +bacon and eggs." + +However, there was plenty else to eat in Camp Rest-a-While, so no one +went hungry. + +"I wonder if it was the same tramp that took the pie," said Bunny as he +finished the last of his glass of milk. + +"He must be a hungry tramp to eat a whole pie, and all those eggs, and +the big piece of bacon," said Bunker Blue. + +"Oh, I guess the things he took lasted him for several meals," Mr. Brown +said. "The funny part of it is, though, that Splash did not bark. When +he ran out of the tent last night the tramp could not have been far +away. And yet Splash did not bark, as he always does when strangers are +around at night. I think that's queer." + +"So do I," put in Uncle Tad. "Maybe Splash knew the tramp." + +"Splash doesn't like tramps," said Bunny. + +"Well, he must have liked this one, for he didn't bark at him," added +Bunker Blue with a laugh. "Maybe Splash knew this tramp before you +children found your dog, on the island where you were shipwrecked." + +For Bunny and Sue had found Splash on an island, as I told you in the +first book of this series. That was when Bunny and Sue were +"shipwrecked," as they called it. + +Nothing else had been taken from Camp Rest-a-While except the bacon and +eggs, and as Bunker Blue was going to the village that day he could buy +more meat for Mother Brown. The eggs they could get at the farmhouse +where they bought their milk. So, after all, no harm was done. + +"The only thing is," said Daddy Brown, "that I don't like the idea of +tramps prowling about our tents at night. I'd rather they would keep +away." + +[Illustration: BUNNY AND SUE OFTEN WENT BATHING IN THE COOL LAKE. +_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp Rest-a-While._ _Page_ 181.] + +It was so lovely, living out in the woods, near the beautiful lake, as +the Browns were doing, that they soon forgot about the noise in the +night, and the tramps. Bunny and Sue were getting as brown as little +Indian children. For they wore no hats and they went about with only +leather sandals on, and no stockings, their sleeves rolled up to +their elbows, so their arms and legs were brown, too. They often went +bathing in the cool lake, for, not far from the camp, was a little sandy +beach. + +Of course, it was not like an ocean beach, or the one at Sandport Bay, +for there were only little waves, and then only when the wind blew. In +the ocean there are big waves all the while, pounding the sandy shore. + +One day Mrs. Brown told daddy they needed some things from the village +store--sugar, salt, pepper--groceries that could not be bought at the +farmhouses near by. + +"I'll take the children, row over, and get what you want," said Mr. +Brown, for it was easier to row across the lake, and walk through the +woods, than to walk half-way around the lake to the store. With Splash, +Bunny and Sue in the boat Mr. Brown set off. + +They landed on the other shore, and started to walk through the woods. +On the way they had to pass along a road that was near to the farm of +Mr. Trimble, the "mean man," as Bunny and Sue called him. Perhaps Mr. +Trimble did not intend to be mean, or cross, but he certainly was. Some +folk just can't help being that way. + +"Huh! Are you coming over again to bother me about that runaway boy, Tom +Vine?" asked Mr. Trimble, as he saw Mr. Brown. + +"No, I've given Tom up," replied the children's father. "I guess he has +gone back to the city. I'm sorry, for I wanted to help him." + +"Boys are no good!" cried Mr. Trimble. "That Tom is no good. But I'll +pay him back for running away from me!" + +"Did he come back to you?" asked Mr. Brown, thinking perhaps, after all, +the "ragged boy," as Sue sometimes called him in fun, might have thought +it best to go back to the man who had first hired him. + +"You don't see him anywhere around here; do you?" asked Mr. Trimble. + +"No, I don't see him," said Mr. Brown, wondering why the farmer answered +in that way. + +"Well, he isn't here," said Mr. Trimble, and he went on hoeing his +potatoes, for he was in a field of them, near the road, when he spoke +to Mr. Brown. + +As Bunny, Sue and their father walked on, Splash did not come with them. +He hung back, and seemed to want to stay close to a small building, near +Mr. Trimble's barn. Splash walked around this building three or four +times, barking loudly. + +"What makes Splash act so funny?" asked Bunny. + +"I don't know," answered Mr. Brown. "Here, Splash! Come here!" he cried. +But Splash would not come. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +IN THE SMOKE-HOUSE + + +"What makes Splash act so queer?" asked Bunny again. + +"I'm sure I don't know," said his father. "I guess we'll have to go back +and get him." + +Certainly Splash did not seem to want to keep on to the village with Mr. +Brown and the children. The dog was running around and around the small +house, barking loudly. Mr. Trimble seemed not to hear the dog's barks, +but kept right on hoeing potatoes. + +"We'll go back and get Splash!" decided Mr. Brown. + +He and the children walked slowly back. Splash kept on barking. + +"You seem to have something in that little house which excites our dog," +said Mr. Brown. + +"It doesn't take much to get some dogs excited," answered the farmer. +He did not seem to care much about it, one way or the other. + +"What sort of house is that?" asked Mr. Brown. He looked at it closely. +The little house had no windows, and only one door. And there was a +queer smell about it, as though it had once been on fire. + +"That's a smoke-house," said Mr. Trimble. "It's where I smoke my hams +and bacon. I hang them up in there, build a fire of corn-cobs and +hickory wood chips, and make a thick smoke. The smoke dries the ham and +bacon so it will keep all winter." + +"What a funny house!" said Sue. + +"It hasn't any windows," observed Bunny. + +"We have to have smoke-houses tight and without windows," explained Mr. +Trimble, "so the smoke won't all get out." + +"Are there any hams or bacon in there now?" asked Mr. Brown. + +"No, we don't do any smoking until fall, when we kill the pigs." + +"Well, there's _something_ in there that bothers our dog," went on the +children's father. For, all this while, Splash was running around the +smoke-house, barking more loudly than before. + +Just then Bunny Brown thought of something. He pulled at his father's +coat and whispered to him: + +"Oh, Daddy! Maybe Tom Vine is shut up in there--shut up in the +smoke-house!" + +Mr. Brown looked first at Bunny and then at the strange little house +which had no windows. The door of it was tightly shut. + +"That's so, Bunny," said Mr. Brown. "Perhaps Tom is in there. That would +make Splash bark, for he knows where Tom is." Mr. Brown thought as Bunny +did, that Mr. Trimble might have caught Tom, and locked him up in the +dark smoke-house. + +"Oh, Daddy! Do you s'pose Tom's in there?" asked Sue in a whisper, for +she had heard what Bunny had whispered. + +Daddy Brown nodded his head. He walked up to Mr. Trimble and said: + +"Now look here! There's something in that smoke-house, and I want to see +what it is. Our dog knows there's something there, and I'm pretty sure +of it myself." + +"Well, what do you think it is?" asked Mr. Trimble. "If there's anyone +in there I don't know it. But I'll open the door, and let you see. Your +dog certainly is making a lot of noise." + +"Have you got that poor boy, Tom Vine, locked up in there?" asked Mr. +Brown. + +The farmer laughed. + +"Tom Vine locked up in there? Certainly not!" he cried. "I wish I did +have. I'd like to punish him for running away from me. But I haven't +seem him since he was at your camp. No, sir! He isn't in my smoke-house. +I don't believe anything, or anybody, is in there. But I'll open the +door and let you look inside. Why, the door isn't locked," the farmer +went on, "and I guess I couldn't keep a boy like Tom Vine in a +smoke-house without locking the door on him." + +Mr. Brown did not know what to think now. As for Bunny and Sue they +thought surely their new friend, Tom, was locked in the queer little +house. + +"Oh, now we'll see him!" cried Sue, and she felt very glad. + +Mr. Trimble dropped his hoe across a row of potatoes, and walked to +where Splash was still barking away in front of the smoke-house. + +"Will your dog bite?" asked the farmer. + +"No, he is very gentle," answered Mr. Brown. "But I'll call him away +while you open the door." + +"I'll hold him," said Bunny. "I'll hold him by his collar." + +By this time Splash seemed to have barked enough, for he grew quiet. +Perhaps he knew the door was going to be opened. He came away when Bunny +called him, and the little boy held tightly to the dog's collar. + +"I'll help you hold him," cried Sue, and she, too, took hold. + +"I'm sorry to disappoint you," said Mr. Trimble, with a sour sort of +laugh, "but you won't see any boy, or anything else, as far as I know, +in this smoke-house. I did pile in some bean poles last fall, and I +guess they're there yet, but that's all. Now watch close." + +He put his shoulder against the door, and pushed. As it swung open, an +animal, something like a little red dog, with a sharp, pointed nose and +a big, bushy tail, sprang out and ran down the little hill, on which the +smoke-house stood. + +"Why--why!" cried Mr. Trimble. "There _was_ an animal in there after +all! I didn't know it." + +"A fox! It's a fox!" cried Bunny Brown. He had once seen in a book a +picture of a fox, and this animal looked just like the picture. + +"Yes, that's a fox sure enough, and I guess it's the one that's been +taking my chickens!" cried Mr. Trimble. "I wish I had my gun! I'd shoot +the critter!" + +He picked up a stone, and threw it at the fox, but did not hit the +running animal. Then something queer happened. + +Splash, who was being held by Bunny and Sue, gave a sudden bark. Then he +gave a sudden jump. He went so quickly that he pulled Bunny and Sue +after him, and they both fell down in the dirt. But it was soft, so they +were not hurt. + +They had to let go of Splash's collar, though, and the dog now began to +run after the fox, barking again and again. + +"Splash! Splash!" cried Bunny. "Come back. The fox will bite you!" + +"Don't worry," said Daddy Brown. "Splash can never catch that fox. The +fox can run too fast, and he has a good head-start. Splash will soon get +tired of running, and come back." + +"The idea! The idea," exclaimed Mr. Trimble, "of a fox being in my +smoke-house! That's what made your dog all excited." + +"Yes, that was it," said Daddy Brown. "But I thought you might have Tom +Vine shut up in there. I'm sorry I made the mistake." + +"Oh, well, that's all right," said Mr. Trimble. He did not seem so cross +now. He even smiled at Bunny and Sue. + +"Maybe I was too quick with that boy," he said. "But I'm a hard working +man, and them as works for me has to work hard, same as I do. But maybe +I was too hard on Tom. I certainly was mad when he ran away and left me, +and I made up my mind I'd punish him, if I could get him back. But I +haven't seen him since he was at your camp. And you thought he was in +the smoke-house?" he asked. + +"Yes, I really did," replied Mr. Brown. "But I guess you didn't know a +fox was in there; did you?" + +"No, I didn't," answered the farmer. "He must have gone in during the +night, when the door was open. The place sort of smells of meat, you +know. Then the door blew shut, and the fox couldn't get out. + +"And Splash smelled him!" cried Bunny, who had gotten up and was +brushing the dust off. Sue was doing the same thing. + +"Yes, your dog smelled the fox," said Mr. Trimble. "That was what made +him bark and get all excited." + +"I'm going to catch a fox in my trap," said Bunny. "I've got a trap set +over by our spring. Maybe this is the fox I'm going to catch," he went +on. + +"I'm afraid not," said Mr. Brown. "This fox is so scared that he'll run +for miles. He'll never come back this way again. Well, we haven't found +Tom Vine yet; have we?" and he looked at Bunny and Sue. + +"No, and you never will find him," said Mr. Trimble. "Boys are no good. +Tom ran away from you same as he did from me. But maybe I was a little +too harsh with him. I wouldn't lock him up in a dark smoke-house, +though. That's no place for a boy." + +Bunny and Sue were glad to hear the farmer say that. + +"Well, we'd better be getting on to the village," said Mr. Brown. "Come +along, children." + +"Oh, let's wait for Splash to come back," said Bunny. "I don't want him +to be lost." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +IN BUNNY'S TRAP + + +Pretty soon Splash was seen coming over the hills. He did not run fast, +for he was tired from having chased the fox. The dog was wet and muddy, +too. + +"Oh, Daddy! What happened to Splash?" asked Bunny, as the dog came +slowly along, and stretched out in the shade of a tree. + +"Did the fox bite him?" Sue wanted to know. "If he did I don't like +foxes, and I don't want Bunny to catch any in his trap." + +"No, the fox didn't bite your dog," said Mr. Brown. "I guess he just ran +away from Splash. And Splash tried to catch him, and ran through mud and +water until he got all tired out. You don't like foxes, either, do you, +Splash?" + +Splash barked once, and did not even wag his tail. That one bark must +have meant "No." And I guess Splash was too tired to wag his tail, as +he always did when he was happy, or pleased. + +"Maybe he'd like a drink of water," said the farmer. "I'll bring him +some from the well. It's good and cold. I'm going to drink some myself, +as it's a hot day. I could give the children a glass of milk," went on +Mr. Trimble to Daddy Brown. "I've got plenty up at the house." + +"Oh, I don't want to trouble you," said the children's father. + +"It's no trouble!" said the farmer. "My wife will be glad to give them +some. Come on, Splash!" he called. "We'll get you a cold drink after +your run. So the fox got away from you same as that boy Tom Vine ran +away from me." + +Mr. Trimble was smiling and laughing now. Somehow or other he did not +seem as mean and cross as he once had. Bunny and Sue were beginning to +like him now. He was quite a different man from the one who had called +at Camp Rest-a-While looking for Tom. + +Splash eagerly drank the cool water, and then he rolled in the grass to +get some of the mud off his coat. Mrs. Trimble brought out some milk for +Bunny and Sue, and also a plate of molasses cookies, which they were +very glad to have. + +"Sit down under this shady apple tree," said Mrs. Trimble, "and help +yourselves. Maybe you'd like a glass of milk," she said to Mr. Brown. + +"Well, I don't care much for milk, except in my tea and coffee," he +said. "Thank you, just the same." + +"How about buttermilk?" asked Mr. Trimble. "That's what I like on a hot +day, and she's just churned." + +"Yes, I should like the buttermilk," returned Bunny's father, and soon +he was drinking a large glass. + +"What funny looking milk!" remarked Sue, as she helped herself to +another molasses cookie from the plate in front of her. "It's got little +yellow lumps in it, Daddy." + +"Those are little yellow lumps of butter," said Mr. Brown. "To make +butter, you know, they churn the cream of sour milk. And when the +butter is all taken out in a lump, some sour milk is left, and they call +that buttermilk. Would you like to taste it, Sue?" + +Sue, who had drunk the last of her glass of sweet milk, nodded her curly +head. But when Daddy Brown put his glass to her lips, and just let her +sip the buttermilk he had been drinking, Sue made such a funny face that +Bunny laughed aloud. + +"Oh--oh! It--it's sour--like lemons!" cried Sue. + +"Yes, it is sour!" said Mr. Brown. "But that is why I like it." + +"I like molasses cookies better," said Sue, as she took a bite from one +to cleanse away the sour taste in her mouth. "You can make just as good +cookies as my mother or my Aunt Lu can," said Sue to Mrs. Trimble. + +"Can I? I'm glad to hear that," said the farmer's wife, with a smile. +"Have some to put in your pockets." + +"Oh, I'm afraid you've given them too many already," objected Mr. Brown. + +"Molasses cookies won't hurt children; nor milk won't either," the +farmer said. "Any time you're over this way stop in. I'm sorry you can't +find that boy Tom. And I'm sorry I was a bit cross with him, or maybe +he'd be here yet. But I haven't seen him." + +Splash was rested now, and clean. And he had had a good drink of cold +water, so he was ready to start again. The children, too, felt like +walking, and, after having thanked the farmer and his wife, Mr. Brown +set off once more with Bunny and Sue, Splash following behind. + +"Come again!" Mrs. Trimble invited them. + +"We will, thank you," answered Daddy Brown. + +"She's real nice; isn't she?" asked Bunny, when they were once more in +the road. + +"Yes," said Daddy Brown. + +"And I like that farmer, too," said Sue. "I didn't like him at first, +when he shook his fist and was so cross, but I like him now." + +"Yes, he is different from what he was at first," returned her father. +"But I'm afraid we've seen the last of Tom. He must have run away. Maybe +he was afraid, after all, that Mr. Trimble would stay cross, and would +try to get him back onto the farm. Well, it's too bad, for Tom was a +nice boy, but it can't be helped." + +"I'd like Tom back," said Bunny. + +"So would I," added Sue. + +"What's the matter, Splash?" asked Mr. Brown, for the big dog had run up +the side of a little hill along the road, and was barking at a hole in +the ground. + +"Maybe he thinks the fox lives there," said Bunny. + +"Maybe," said Daddy. "Come on, Splash. Even if that is the hole of the +fox he isn't there now. You chased him too far away. Come on!" + +But Splash did not want to come. He pawed away the dirt at the side of +the hole, and put his sharp nose down inside it. + +"There must be _something_ there, Daddy," said Bunny, standing still, +and looking up the hill at the dog. "Let's go and see what it is." + +"If it's a fox I'm not going!" cried Sue, holding back. + +"I don't believe it's a fox," said Mr. Brown. "But we'll take a look. +I'll carry you, Sue, and then, even if it is some animal in the hole, +you won't be afraid." + +Sue didn't mind going closer if her father carried her, and soon the two +children, and Mr. Brown, were looking down into the hole at which Splash +was barking. + +All at once a light brown animal, covered with fur, and larger than the +muskrat Splash had barked at in the lake, stuck its head out of the +hole. + +"Oh, look!" cried Bunny. "It's a little bear!" + +"No, that's a ground-hog, or woodchuck," explained Mr. Brown. "They +won't hurt you. This must be the old father or mother, and there may be +little ones in the hole, or burrow, so the old folks want Splash to go +away." + +But Splash did not want to go. He barked louder than ever at the sight +of the woodchuck, and pawed at the dirt with his fore paws. But he could +not reach the brown, furry animal. + +"Come away, Splash!" called Mr. Brown. + +Still Splash barked. + +Then, all at once, the woodchuck thrust out his head quickly, and made +a grab for one of Splash's paws. The dog howled, and ran down the hill. + +"There!" exclaimed Mr. Brown. "Now I guess you'll leave the woodchucks +alone, Splash." + +"Oh, is Splash hurt?" asked Bunny, for the dog was running along on +three legs, holding the other up off the ground. + +"Oh, I guess he isn't hurt much," Mr. Brown said. "Come here, Splash, +until I look at your foot." + +Splash limped up. He was not badly bitten. The woodchuck had just +pinched him to drive him away. Splash looked at the hole and barked. But +he did not offer to go near it again. So the old lady, or old gentleman, +ground-hog--whichever it was--with the little ones, was left safe in the +burrow on the side of the hill. + +Mr. Brown, Bunny, Sue and Splash went on to the village. They bought the +things Mother Brown wanted and then started for camp again. Nothing much +happened on the way back. Mrs. Brown was told of the visit to Mr. +Trimble's, and how the fox ran out of the smoke-house. + +"And now," said Bunny, as his father finished telling what had happened, +"now I'm going up to see if we've caught a fox or a ground-hog in my box +trap. Come on, Sue." + +"All right. I'm coming, Bunny, but if it is a fox or a ground-hog, you +won't let him bite me; will you?" + +"Course I won't, Sue!" said the little fellow, picking up a stick from +beside the sleeping-tent. "Come on!" + +Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were soon at the place where Bunny had +set the box-trap, with the stone on top to hold it down, in case an +animal got beneath. + +"Now go easy, Sue!" whispered Bunny, as they crept through the bushes. +"If there's a fox, or anything else, just going in, we don't want to +scare him away." + +"No," said Sue. "I won't make any noise." + +She walked along quietly behind her brother. Now they were in sight of +the box-trap Bunny had made. + +"Is--is anything in it?" Sue asked. + +"Yes, I think so," her brother answered. "Don't make a noise. The box is +down, and I guess something is under it. I hope it's a fox." + +"I don't," said Sue. "Foxes bite." + +"Well, you can sell 'em for a lot of money," argued Bunny. "And maybe I +could train this one. But maybe it's only a ground-hog." + +"I don't like them either," said Sue, "'cause one bit Splash." + +"Say, what kind of animals _do_ you like?" asked Bunny, turning to look +at his sister. "What would you like me to catch in my trap?" + +"A nice kitty cat," said Sue quickly. "Then I could have her to play +with, and she'd like me and my dolls. Couldn't you catch a nice white +kitty cat, Bunny?" + +Bunny did not answer. He was looking at his box trap. His eyes opened +widely. + +"Oh, look, Sue!" he cried. "Look! My trap is moving! Something big is +under the box!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +BUNKER GOES ASHORE + + +"Bunny! Bunny! I--I want to go home!" cried Sue. + +"What for?" asked her brother. "It's nice here, and I've got something +in the trap, Sue." + +"I know it, Bunny. I can see it move. That's why I want to go back to +camp." + +"Are you 'fraid, Sue?" + +Sue nodded her head, and clasped closer in her arms the doll she had +brought with her. + +"Wait until we see what's in the trap--under the box," said Bunny. "I'll +lift it up and look under. If it's a fox I won't let him out." + +Bunny started toward the box that was still moving slowly about on the +big flat rock where Bunny had set his trap. + +"Don't you touch it!" cried Sue. "Don't lift up the box, Bunny!" + +"Why not?" he asked. + +"'Cause the fox might get out and bite us. Let it alone." + +Bunny stood still and looked at the box. It had stopped moving for a +while. Then it began again, going about in a sort of circle. + +"Why--why!" cried Sue. "It's just like Blind Man's Buff!" + +And, really, that is how the box moved about, just like some boy or +girl, with a handkerchief tied over his or her eyes, trying to move +about to catch someone, and yet trying not to bang into a tree or the +fence. + +"The fox, woodchuck, or whatever it is under my box," said Bunny Brown, +"can't see which way he's going. That's why the box jiggles around so +funny. But I'm going to see what's under it." + +"If you lift it up, I'm going back to camp," declared Sue, turning back. + +"But I want to see what it is!" cried Bunny. "I've caught an animal, and +I want to look at it!" + +You remember I told you he had fixed up a box, raised at one end by a +little stick. Under the box were some good things to eat, such as +animals and birds like. Bunny had tied a long string to the stick, and +he and Sue had hid in the bushes, ready to pull the string, pull out the +little stick, and let the box trap fall down on whatever was eating the +bait. + +But all Bunny caught were some sparrows, which he let go. Then he had +set the trap again, and had gone off. Now there was something under the +box, that was sure. + +"How do you think it got caught, Bunny?" + +"I guess the fox--or whatever it is--crawled under the box to get the +cake crumbs, and he bumped against the stick, knocked it away, and the +box came down on him," Bunny said. "Sue, I do want to see what I've +caught." + +"You--you might get bit," his sister said. + +Bunny thought that over for a minute. + +"I know how I could do it," he said. + +"How?" Sue wanted to know. + +"I could get a long stick, and lift the box up with that. Then as soon +as the fox came out, we could run, and we wouldn't be near enough for +him to bite us." + +"Oh, Bunny! That would be a good way, I'll stay and watch if you do it +like that." + +Bunny found a long pole, like a fishing rod. Holding this out in front +of him, he walked toward the box. He tried to raise it up, but the stone +on top made it too heavy. + +"Push off the stone first," said Sue. + +Bunny had not thought of that. With two or three shoves of his pole he +knocked the stone off the top of the box. Then, once more, he tried to +raise his trap to see what was under it. + +All at once the children heard some one calling: + +"Bunny! Sue! Where are you?" + +"That's Bunker Blue," said Bunny. + +"Here we are!" answered Sue. "Bunny's got something in his trap! Come +and help us get it, Bunker." + +There was a noise in the bushes, a dog barked, and along came the +red-haired boy and Splash. The box was moving about more quickly now, +for the heavy stone was not on top. + +"Say, you have caught something!" cried Bunker. "There's surely +something under the box, Bunny." + +"It's a fox," said Bunny. + +"Or maybe a ground-hog," added Sue. + +"Maybe, and maybe not," went on Bunker. "We'll have a look. Here, let me +take your pole, Bunny. Splash, you be ready to grab whatever it is!" + +With a sudden push Bunker upset the box. Out ran a gray and brown +animal. + +"Oh, look!" cried Bunny. + +"Is it a fox? Oh, don't let it bite me!" cried Sue, and she ran toward +Bunker, who caught her up in his arms. + +Splash, with a bark, sprang toward the little animal that had run out of +Bunny's box trap. But the little animal, instead of running away, just +curled up into a ball and stayed there. And Splash stopped short. He +barked at the animal but did not try to bite it. + +"He's afraid of it, and no wonder!" said Bunker. "Best leave that alone, +Splash!" + +"What is it?" asked Bunny. + +"It's a hedgehog, or a prickly porcupine," said Bunker. "That animal is +all covered with sharp quills, like a lot of toothpicks. They aren't +very tightly fastened to him, and if a dog, or some other animal, tries +to bite, he gets his mouth full of sharp, slivery quills from the +hedgehog. That makes the dog's mouth very sore, and he can't bite +anything again for a long time. That's why the hedgehog curls himself up +into a little ball. In that way he is all covered with quills that stick +out in every way. No dog or any other animal, can bite without getting +badly hurt. I guess you'd better let the porcupine go, Bunny." + +"I will," said the little fellow. "I don't want Splash hurt. Come away, +Splash!" + +Splash did not care very much about biting or worrying the hedgehog. The +dog barked once or twice, and then came away. Then the porcupine +uncurled himself, and ran off into the wood. + +"Well, I caught _something_ in my trap, anyhow," said Bunny. + +"That's what you did," said Bunker Blue. "And the hedgehog, walking +around under the box, kept pushing it along with his head. He was trying +to find a way out. Come on back to camp now. Supper is ready and your +mother sent me to find you." + +The next two days it rained, and Bunny and Sue did not have much fun at +Camp Rest-a-While. They had to stay in the tents. But the third day it +cleared off, and the wind blew away the storm clouds. + +That afternoon Bunker took Bunny and Sue out in the boat, fishing. They +took with them some lunch to eat, and a bottle of milk to drink if they +got thirsty. Sue also took an old umbrella to keep the sun off herself +and her doll. + +Bunker rowed the boat half way across the lake, and tied it to one of +the trees that grew on a little island. There he and Bunny fished, but +they did not catch anything. + +"Maybe if we went on the island we would catch something," said Bunny. +"May we, Bunker?" + +"Well, I don't know. We might," said the red-haired boy. "I'll tell you +what I'll do. I'll go ashore on the island, and try fishing a bit. If I +have any luck I'll come back and get you two. You and Sue stay in the +boat, Bunny, until I come back." Then the big boy got out and went +ashore, leaving Bunny and Sue in the boat. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +IN THE WOODS + + +Bunker Blue seemed to be gone a long time. Five, ten--fifteen minutes +went past and he did not come back. Bunny and Sue began to get tired. + +"He must be catching a lot of fish," said Bunny, after a bit, while he +dangled his own hook in the water. Bunny wasn't catching anything--he +didn't have even a nibble, though he was using the right kind of hook +and line, and he had a real "squiggily" worm on his hook--Bunker had put +it there for him. + +"Maybe Bunker caught a big fish," said Sue, "and it pulled him into the +water, eh, Bunny?" + +Bunny shook his head. + +"No," he said. "That didn't happen." + +"Maybe it might," went on Sue. "There might be big fish in this lake. Or +maybe it was a muskrat, like the one Splash barked at." + +Splash, asleep up in the front of the boat, hearing his name spoken, +looked up and wagged his tail. + +"I didn't call you," said Sue. "But, oh, Bunny! maybe Bunker _did_ fall +in!" + +Bunny shook his head again. + +"No, he didn't fall in," said the little fellow. "If he had we'd have +heard him holler, and he hasn't hollered." + +Sue thought that over. It seemed all right. She knew she would "holler," +as Bunny called it, if she fell into the water, and of course if a big +fish or a muskrat had pulled in Bunker, he, too, would cry out. And it +had been very still and quiet since the red-haired boy had gone ashore +on the island. + +"I know what we can do," said Bunny, after a bit. + +"What?" asked Sue. + +"We can untie the boat, and row around to the other side of the island +where Bunker went," suggested Bunny. "He told us not to get out of the +boat until he came back, and we won't, 'cause mother told us to mind +Bunker. But he didn't tell us not to row the boat around where he is." + +"That's right," agreed Sue. "We can do that." + +Bunny and Sue knew something about boats, and they could each row a +little. So while Bunny loosed the rope by which the boat was tied, Sue +took up one oar. Then Bunny took the other. He shoved the boat out a +little way. It began to move, first slowly, and then faster. All at once +Sue cried: + +"Oh, Bunny! My umbrella!" + +It was open, and a gust of wind almost blew it out of the boat. Bunny +caught the umbrella just in time. To do this he had to let go of his +oar, and it slid overboard, into the water. But Bunny was not thinking +about the oar just then. He had a new idea. + +As he held the open umbrella he felt the wind blowing strongly against +it. The wind was almost strong enough to blow the umbrella out of his +hands. But he held on tightly. + +"Oh, Bunny, your oar is gone!" cried Sue, as she saw it float away. + +"I--I can't help it," answered her brother. "I can't reach it, Sue. You +get it." + +"I can't. It's too far away." + +"Well, let it go!" cried Bunny. "I know something else we can do, Sue. +Oh, this will be fun! It's better than fishing!" + +Sue was pulling, as best she could, on her one oar. But boats are not +meant to be rowed with one oar, though you can scull, or paddle, with +one. If you row with one oar your boat swings around in a circle, +instead of going straight ahead. + +"I can't row this way, Bunny!" called Sue. She knew enough about boats +for that. "You'll have to get your oar, Bunny." + +"We won't need it, Sue," called her brother. "Take in your oar. We won't +need that either. We're going to sail. Look! the umbrella is just like a +sail." + +And so it was. The wind, blowing on the open umbrella Bunny held, was +sending the rowboat along just as if a sail had been hoisted. The boat +was moving quite fast now. Bunny and Sue were so pleased that they did +not think about the lost oar, which had fallen overboard and had +floated away. As Bunny had said, they did not need oars now. + +"Isn't this fun!" cried Bunny. + +"Yes," said Sue. "I like it. My dolly likes it, too! Do you like it, +Splash?" + +Splash did not answer. He hardly ever did answer, except with a bark or +a whine, when Bunny or Sue spoke to him, and the children did not +understand dog language. Anyhow, Splash seemed to like the umbrella +sail, for he stretched out in the bottom of the boat and went to sleep. + +Bunny held the open umbrella, and Sue held her doll. Of course, the doll +had nothing to do with the sailing of the boat, but Sue kept her in her +arms. + +"You aren't going to sail very far; are you, Bunny?" asked Sue as the +boat kept on going faster and faster. + +"Not very far," Bunny answered. "We'll just sail around the end of the +island where Bunker went fishing." + +Now this would have been all right if the children had sailed around the +end of the island where Bunker Blue happened to be. But they did not. +It was not their fault, either. For Bunker had gone to the other end of +the island, and he was sitting on a log, waiting for a fish to bite. + +You see, this is the way it was. Bunker Blue told about it afterward. He +went off the island, leaving Bunny and Sue in the boat. Bunker walked to +the lower end of the island. Bunny and Sue saw him going. He was going +to try for fish there. + +But when the red-haired boy got to that end of the island he saw that +the water was so shallow that no large fish could be caught in it. + +"I'll just go to the other end," thought Bunker. + +So, without calling to Bunny and Sue, Bunker walked along the other +shore of the island, to the upper end. And Bunny and Sue, being behind a +lot of trees and bushes, did not know that Bunker was not in the place +where he had said he was going. + +Bunker found the water deep enough at the upper end of the island, and +there he sat down to fish. + +"I'll just see if they're biting good here," he said to himself, "and, +if they are, I'll go back and get the children." + +Bunker had to wait quite a while for his first bite, and by that time +Bunny and Sue had decided to start off themselves in the boat. And so +they did, with the umbrella for a sail, as I have told you. + +Faster and faster they went, around the lower end of the island. They +expected to see Bunker there, but they did not, because he was at the +upper end. + +"Why--why--Bunker isn't here," said Sue, in surprise. + +"Then we'd better go back," announced Bunny, still holding to the +umbrella. "Stick your oar in the water, Sue, and steer back to where we +were." + +You can steer a boat with one oar, if you can't row it with one, and Sue +knew a little bit about steering. But the oar was too heavy for Sue's +little hands, and it soon slipped over into the lake. She tried to grab +it, but was too late. The second oar was lost overboard. + +"Oh, dear!" Sue cried. "It's gone." + +"Never mind," said Bunny. "We don't need oars with the umbrella for a +sail. Only we can't sail back where we were unless the wind blows the +other way. And I don't see where Bunker is." + +"Maybe he's gone home and left us," said Sue. + +"He couldn't--not without a boat," objected Bunny. "We'll have to sail +over to camp and get daddy or Uncle Tad to row back for him." + +"Yes, let's sail to our camp," agreed Sue. "Won't they be s'prised to +see us come up this way with an umbrella?" + +"I guess they will," said Bunny. + +The wind blew stronger. It was all Bunny could do to hold to the +umbrella now. The wind almost blew it from his hands. Even with Sue to +help him it was hard work. + +"If you could only tie it fast," suggested Sue. + +"Maybe I can," said Bunny. "Here's a rope." + +The rope by which the boat had been tied to a tree on the island lay in +the bottom of the boat. The umbrella had a crooked handle, and the +tying of one end of the rope around this, helped Bunny to hold the queer +sail. + +The boat now went on faster and faster. + +"Why, there's our camp, away over there!" cried Sue, pointing. "Why +don't you sail to it, Bunny?" + +Bunny looked. Indeed, the white tents of Camp Rest-a-While were on the +other side of the lake--far away. And the wind was blowing the boat +farther and farther off. Bunny and Sue could not get back to camp, for +now they had nothing with which to steer their boat. Of course, if the +wind had been blowing toward the tents, instead of away from it, they +could have gotten there without steering. But now they could not. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Sue. "Where are we going, Bunny?" + +"We are going to the woods, I guess," he said. They were sailing toward +the wooded shores of the lake, away on the other side from their camp, +and a long way down from the island where they had left Bunker Blue. + +Harder blew the wind on the umbrella sail. Faster went the boat. Finally +it ran up on shore, right where the woods came down to the edge of the +lake. + +Splash jumped out with a bark, and began stretching himself. He did not +like to stay too long in a boat. He wanted to run about on shore. + +"Bunny, where are we?" asked Sue. + +"I don't know," answered her brother. "But we are on land somewhere, I +guess. It's nice woods, anyhow." + +The trees and bushes grew thick all about. + +"Let's get out," Bunny went on. He shut down the umbrella sail, and took +off the rope. Then he tied the boat to a tree. He got out, and helped +Sue. + +"Where's our camp?" the little girl wanted to know. + +Bunny looked across the lake. He could not see the white tents. Neither +could Sue. + +"Bunny--Bunny," said the little girl slowly. "I--I guess--we're losted +again." + +"I--I guess so, too," agreed Bunny Brown. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +IN THE CAVE + + +Splash, the big, shaggy dog, ran up and down the shore of the lake, +poking his nose in among the bushes here and there, barking loudly all +the while. + +"What's the matter with Splash?" asked Sue of her brother. "Is there a +wild animal here, Bunny?" + +"No, I don't guess so," the little boy answered. "Splash is wagging his +tail, and he wouldn't do that if there were wild animals around. He +doesn't like a wild animal. I guess Splash is just glad 'cause he is out +of a boat. Splash doesn't like a boat." + +"I do," said Sue. "But we didn't ought to have come away in the boat all +alone, Bunny. Mother told us not to, you know." + +"I know she did, Sue, but we couldn't help it. We were just going to +look for Bunker Blue and the wind blowed us away from the island. We +couldn't help it." + +"No, I don't guess we could, Bunny. But what are we going to do now?" + +"I guess we'll have to walk back to Camp Rest-a-While," answered Bunny. +"We can leave the boat here, and Bunker can come and get it." + +"Can't we sail back in our boat, with the umbrella, same as we sailed +down here?" Sue wanted to know. + +"We could if the wind would blow right, but it isn't," said Bunny. He +had been among his father's boatmen often enough to know that you have +to go with the wind, and not against it, when you're sailing a boat. +"We'll have to walk, Sue." + +"Let's holler and yell," said the little girl, as she straightened out +the dress of her doll. + +"What for?" + +"So daddy or mother can hear us," Sue went on. "If we holler real loud +they may hear us, and come and get us in another boat. If we hadn't lost +the oars, Bunny, we could row back." + +"Yes, but the oars are lost. I guess we'll just have to stay here, Sue. +We're losted again. But I'm not afraid. It's nice here, and if we get +hungry I can catch a fish. I have my pole, and there's a worm on my hook +yet." + +"Is he a squiggily worm?" Sue wanted to know. + +"He _was_ kind of squiggily," answered Bunny, "but I guess he's all done +squiggling now. He's deaded." + +"Then I wouldn't be afraid of him," Sue said. "I could fish with him, +too. I don't like squiggily worms. They tickle you so." + +Bunny walked back to the boat, which the wind had blown partly up on +shore. He looked for his fishing pole and line, and, after he had taken +it out, he saw the little basket of lunch his mother had put up. It had +not yet been opened. + +"Oh, Sue!" Bunny cried. "Look! We've got our lunch! And there's a bottle +of milk, too! Now we can have a picnic!" + +"And you won't have to catch any fish!" cried Sue, clapping her hands. +"I'm hungry Bunny. Let's have the picnic now!" + +Bunny was willing, for he was hungry too, and the children, taking the +basket of lunch, sat down in a shady place on the shore to eat. As Sue +was taking off the napkins, in which the sandwiches and cakes were +wrapped, she happened to think of something. + +"Oh, Bunny!" Sue said. "Part of this lunch was for Bunker Blue." + +Bunny thought for a second or two. + +"Well, Bunker isn't here now," he said, "and he can't get here, less'n +he swims. I don't guess he'll want any lunch, Sue." + +"And anyhow, he can catch a fish," said Sue. "Bunker is good at fishing, +and he likes to eat 'em." + +"I wonder where Bunker is now," pondered Bunny. + +He looked back up the lake. He could not see the island where they had +left Bunker. It was out of sight around a bend in the lake shore. + +"Do you think he'll swim down here and want some lunch?" asked Sue. + +"No," answered Bunny. "We can eat all this. Bunker won't come." + +And so the children began on their lunch, sharing some of it with +Splash, who, after a bath in the lake, lay down in the sun to dry +himself. + +By this time Bunker Blue, back on the far end of the island, had caught +three fine, big fish. He was so excited and glad about getting them +that, for a while, he forgot all about Bunny Brown and his sister Sue. +Then he happened to remember them. + +"I'll go back to the boat and get the children," said Bunker Blue to +himself. "They can catch fish here, and that will tickle Bunny. He never +yet caught real big fish like these." + +But when Bunker went to the place where he had left Bunny and Sue in the +boat, the children were not there, nor was there any sight of the boat. +Bunker had been fishing by himself longer than he thought, and by this +time Bunny and Sue were out of sight around a bend in the shore. + +Bunker rubbed his eyes. Then he looked again. There was no doubt of +it--the boat was gone, and so were the children. + +"Where can they be?" asked Bunker, aloud. But there was no one on the +little island to answer him. + +Then the red-haired boy happened to think that perhaps Bunny might have +taken the boat around to the other end of the island. Bunker quickly ran +there, but no boat was to be seen. + +"They've either drifted away," said Bunker, "or else they've rowed +themselves away. It's too bad; but they know how to behave in a boat, +that's one good thing. They won't try to stand up, and so fall +overboard. I wonder if I could call to them?" + +Bunker shouted, but Bunny and Sue were too far away to hear him. Bunker +then sat down on a stone. He did not know what to do. He looked over to +the main shore, where he could just see the white tents of Camp +Rest-a-While. + +"Well, if we don't come back pretty soon, Mr. Brown will know something +is wrong, and he'll get another boat and come over here," thought +Bunker. "Then I can tell him what has happened, and we can go and look +for the children. I guess they'll be all right. All I can do is to +wait." + +All this while Bunny and Sue were eating their lunch. They were not +frightened now, and they very much enjoyed their little umbrella-sail +excursion in the boat and the picnic they were having. + +But, pretty soon, it began to grow cloudy, and then it began to rain. + +"I don't like this," said Sue. "I want to go home, Bunny." + +Bunny, himself, would have been glad to be in camp with his father and +mother, but he thought, being a boy, he must be brave, and look after +his little sister, so he said: + +"Oh, I guess this rain won't be very bad, Sue. We'll go back into the +woods, under the trees. Then we can keep dry. And we'll take the lunch, +too. There'll be enough for supper." + +"Will we have to stay here for supper?" asked Sue. + +"Maybe," answered Bunny. "But if we do it will be fun. Come on!" + +It was now raining hard. Bunny carried the lunch basket, with the +bottle of milk--now half emptied--in one hand. The other hand clasped +Sue's. They went back in the wood a little way, and, all at once, Bunny +saw something that made him call: + +"Oh, Sue! Here's a good place to get in out of the rain!" + +"What is it?" Sue asked. + +"A cave!" cried Bunny. "It's a regular cave, like robbers live in! Come +on, Sue! Now we're all right! Oh, this is fun!" and Bunny ran forward +into the dark hole in the side of the hill--right into the cave he ran. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +"WHO IS THERE?" + + +Sue did not run into the cave after her brother Bunny. She stood, +hugging her doll close to her, under a big, evergreen tree, so that only +a few drops of rain splashed on her. + +Bunny Brown, standing in the "front door" of the cave, as he called it, +looked at his sister. + +"Come on in, Sue!" he called. "It's nice here, and you can't get wet at +all." + +"I--I don't want to," Sue answered. + +"Why not?" Bunny wanted to know. + +"'Cause," and that was all Sue would say. Then it began to rain harder, +and the drops even splashed down through the thick branches of the +evergreen tree. + +"Oh, come on!" cried Bunny. "It's nice here, and dry, Sue. Why won't you +come?" + +"'Cause I don't like those robbers!" answered Sue at last. "I'd rather +stay out in the rain than go in with those robbers." + +"What robbers?" asked Bunny, his eyes opening wide. + +"You said that was a robbers' cave," declared Sue, "and I don't like +'em." + +Bunny laughed. + +"There's no robbers here, Sue," he said. "I only meant that this _looks_ +just like the pictures of a robbers' cave. There isn't any robbers here. +Come on in. It's nice and dry here." + +"Are you sure there's no robbers?" Sue wanted to know. + +"Sure," said Bunny. "Listen!" He went back a little farther in the cave +and cried: + +"Robbers! Robbers! Go on away! That will drive 'em off, Sue," he said. +"Now come on in." + +The little girl waited a half minute, to make sure no robbers came out +after Bunny's call. Then she, too, ran into the cave. + +"Isn't it nice here?" Bunny asked. + +"Ye--yes, I--I guess so," and Sue spoke slowly. She was not quite sure +about it. "But it--it's dark," she went on. + +"All caves are dark," Bunny Brown answered. "They have to be dark or +they wouldn't be caves. Nobody ever saw a light cave." + +"Well, I like a light cave best," said Sue. "How long has we got to stay +here, Bunny?" + +"Till Daddy comes for us, I guess," he said. "We can't walk back to camp +all alone. I don't know the way. We'd get losted worse than we are now." + +"Has we got to stay here all night?" Sue wanted to know. + +"Well, maybe," said Bunny slowly. "But we could easy sleep here. There's +some nice dried leaves we could make into a bed, and we've some of our +lunch left. We can eat that for supper, and save a little for +breakfast." + +"What will we give Splash?" asked Sue. She had looked over Bunny's +shoulder as he now opened the lunch basket. There did not seem very much +left for two hungry children and a dog. Splash was now nosing about in +the cave. He did not bark, and Bunny and Sue knew there could be no one +in the hole but themselves--no wild animals or anything. + +"There isn't enough to give Splash much," said Bunny slowly. "But maybe +he can dig himself up a bone in the woods. We can leave the crusts for +him. Splash likes crusts." + +"I don't," Sue said. "He can have all of mine." + +Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had not yet learned to like the crusts of +their bread. But Splash was not so particular. + +The wind was now blowing harder, and the rain was flowing in the front +of the cave. It blew in the faces of the children. + +"Come on farther back," said Bunny, as he saw Sue wrapping her dress +around her doll to keep off the rain. + +"It--it's too dark," Sue answered. + +Bunny walked back a little way. Then he cried: + +"Oh, Sue. Come on back here. It's real light here. There's a chimbly +here and the light comes down it fine!" + +"You come and get me--I can't see--it's so dark," Sue answered. + +Bunny had left her standing near the front part of the cave, where it +was still light, and he had run back into the dark part. There, half +way back, he had found a place where there was a hole in the roof--a +"chimbly," as Bunny called it. + +Through this hole, or chimney, light came down, but between that place, +and the entrance, was a dark spot. And it was this dark patch that Sue +did not want to cross alone. + +"I'll come and get you," Bunny called, and, a minute later, he and Sue +were standing together under the hole in the cave roof. Some few drops +of rain came down this chimney, but by standing back a little way the +children could keep nice and dry, and, at the same time, they were not +in the dark. + +"Isn't this nice, Sue?" asked Bunny. + +"Yes," she said. "I like it better here." + +It was a good place for the children to be in out of the storm. They +were far enough back in the cave now so that the wind could not blow on +them, and no rain could reach them. Splash had come this far back into +the cave with them, and was sniffing about. + +Bunny walked around the light place, and found some boxes and old bags. +In one of the boxes were some pieces of dried bread, and an end of +bacon. There was also a tin pail and a frying pan. And, off to one side, +were some ashes. Bunny also saw where a pile of bags had been made into +a sort of bed. + +"Look, Sue," said the little boy. "I guess real people used to live in +this cave. Here is where they made their fire, and cooked, and they +slept on the pile of bags. We can sleep there to-night, if daddy doesn't +come after us." + +"But I hope he comes!" exclaimed Sue. + +Bunny hoped so, too, but he thought he wouldn't say so. He wanted to be +brave, and make believe he liked it in the cave. + +"I--I'm thirsty," said Sue, after a bit. "I want a drink, Bunny." + +"I'll give you some of the milk, Sue. There's half a bottle of it left." + +"I'd rather have water, Bunny." + +"I don't guess there's any water here, Sue," answered Bunny. + +Then he listened to a sound. It was Splash, lapping up water from +somewhere in the cave. It did not sound very far off. + +"There's water!" Bunny cried. "Splash has found a spring. Now I can get +you a drink, Sue. Splash, where is that water?" + +Splash barked, and came running to his little master. Bunny walked to +the place from which Splash had come, and there he found a spring of +water coming out of the rocky side of the cave. It fell into a little +puddle, and it was from this puddle that Splash had taken his drink. +Bunny held a cup under the little stream of water and got some for Sue. +Then he took a drink himself. + +"Say, this cave is fine!" he cried. "It's got water in it and a place +for a fire. All the smoke would go up that hole. We'll get Bunker and +daddy and mother and Uncle Tad and come here and have a picnic some day. +Don't you like it, Sue?" + +"I--I'd rather be back at Camp Rest-a-While," said the little girl. +"Can't we go?" + +"I'll go and see how hard it's raining," said the little boy. + +He went to the front door of the cave, and looked out. It was storming +very hard now. The wind was blowing the limbs of the trees about, and +dashing the rain all over. + +"We can't walk home in this storm," said Bunny to Sue. "We'll have to +stay in this cave until they come for us." + +"All right," Sue said. "Then let's eat." + +The children ate some more of the lunch they had brought with them. + +"Now let's make the bed," said Sue. "We'll sleep on a pile of the bags, +Bunny, and pull some of 'em over us for covers. Splash won't need any +covers. He never sleeps in a bed." + +Bunny and Sue had often "played house," and they knew how to make the +old blankets, and pieces of carpet they found in the cave, into a sort +of bed. It was not so light now, for it was coming on toward night, and +the sky was covered with clouds. + +"If we shut our eyes and go to sleep we won't mind the dark," said +Bunny. + +"All right--let's," agreed Sue. + +They cuddled up on the bags, their arms around one another, with Sue's +doll held close in her hand, while Splash lay down not far from them. + +Bunny was not sure he had been asleep. Anyhow he suddenly opened his +eyes, and looked toward the chimney hole in the roof of the cave. A +little light still came down it. But something else was also coming +down. Bunny saw a big boy--or a small man--sliding down a grapevine rope +into the cave. First Bunny saw his feet--then his legs--then his body. +Bunny wondered who was coming into the cave. He made up his mind to find +out. + +"Who is there?" he suddenly called. "Who are you? What do you want in +our cave?" + +The figure sliding down the piece of grapevine into the cave, through +the chimney hole, suddenly fell in a heap on the floor, close to where +Bunny and Sue were lying on the pile of bags. Splash jumped up and began +to bark loudly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +BACK IN CAMP + + +Bunny Brown tried to be brave, but when he saw someone come into the +cave in the darkness, in such a queer way, the little boy did not know +what to do. He thought of Sue, and felt that he must not let her get +hurt, no matter what else happened. + +"Oh, Bunny!" cried Sue. "Is that one of the robbers? Is it, Bunny? If it +is I don't want to stay here! You said there weren't any but picture +book robbers in this cave, Bunny Brown!" + +Bunny did not answer right away. He did not know what to tell Sue. + +But the big boy who had dropped down through the chimney hole +straightened up suddenly. Bunny could see him patting Splash on the +head. + +And that was rather strange, for Splash did not easily make friends +with strangers. He would not bite them, but he would bark at them, until +some of his friends had said it was all right, and that he need bark no +more. + +But, after his bark of surprise this time, Splash seemed to have +suddenly made friends with the big boy who had come sliding down the +chimney hole of the cave. + +"Who--who are you?" asked Bunny again. + +Instead of answering the big boy laughed. Then he asked: + +"Are you Bunny Brown and his sister Sue?" + +"Ye--yes--yes, we are," Bunny said. "But how did you know?" + +"Oh, I can tell, all right." + +Splash seemed very glad to meet the strange boy. There was still light +enough coming down the chimney hole for Bunny to see the dog's wagging +tail. And Splash did not wag his tail for persons he did not like. This +must be a friend. + +"Is--is you a robber?" asked Sue. She had hidden her face in the pile of +bags, and was holding closely to her doll. + +Again the big boy laughed. + +"No, I'm not a robber," he said, "though I did take a piece of your +mother's bacon. But I'll pay her back for it. How in the world did you +find my cave, and where is your father, or Bunker Blue? And what are you +doing out alone in this storm? Are you----" + +But Bunny Brown broke in on the questions. + +"Oh, I know who you are! I know who you are!" Bunny cried. "You're Tom +Vine who ran away from us! Why did you run away? Daddy has been looking +for you. You are Tom Vine; aren't you?" + +"Yes, Bunny, I am. Wait a minute and I'll light a lantern, and you can +see me better. Look out, Splash, so I won't step on you." + +So that was why Splash had made such good friends with the big boy who +came down the cave chimney hole--Splash knew Tom Vine, of course, even +in the darkness. + +Tom walked over to one of the boxes, and brought out a lantern. This he +lighted. Bunny and Sue blinked their eyes at the sudden light, but they +were soon used to it. Then they looked at Tom. + +Yes, it was he. But he was even more ragged than when they had first +seen him. He was laughing, though, and did not seem sad. + +"And to think when I came home, and slid down the chimney of my cave, +which I sometimes do, when I don't want to go around to the front +door--to think when I did this I should find Bunny Brown and his sister +Sue here!" said Tom. "How in the world did you find me?" + +"We weren't looking for you," answered Bunny. "We were in the boat, with +Bunker Blue. He went on an island to fish, and we sailed away with the +umbrella. We landed here and I found this cave, to get out of the rain. +I told Sue it was a make-believe robbers' cave." + +"Well, I guess I'm the only robber who ever lived in it," said Tom. "But +what are you children going to do? Tell me all about how you got here." + +This Bunny and Sue did, from the time they started out with Bunker Blue, +until Bunny opened his eyes to see Tom sliding down the grapevine rope. + +"And now I'll tell you about myself," said Tom. + +"Have you been living here in this cave ever since you went away from +our camp?" asked Bunny. + +"Yes," answered Tom. "This has been my home. No one knew I was here. I +wanted to keep out of sight of Mr. Trimble, for fear he'd make me go +back to his farm." + +"Oh, he won't make you go back," said Bunny. "He's sorry he was so cross +to you. He told daddy so; didn't he, Sue?" + +"Yes, he did. I'm glad we found you, Tom," and she put her little hand +in his big one. + +"And I'm glad I found you and Bunny, Sue. And I'm glad that Mr. Trimble +isn't looking for me. I was getting tired of hiding out this way. I want +to go back to your camp." + +"You can come," said Bunny. "Daddy wants you, I know, for he said he +did. Come on back now." + +"Wait a minute," said Tom. "First I'll tell you how I came here. And +then, I guess, we'll have to stay until morning, as it is storming too +bad to leave the cave now." + +Tom then told that he had heard Mr. Trimble was looking for him, to make +him go back to the farm. + +"And, as I was afraid he'd catch me, I ran away from your camp that day +when I went for the pail of water," said Tom. "As I was at the spring I +saw Mr. Trimble going past behind some bushes. He didn't see me, because +I stooped down. And when he got past I ran away. I didn't want him to +get me. + +"I found this cave, and I've lived in it. I took some old boxes and bags +from a barn. They were thrown away, so no one wanted them, I knew. Then +I found this lantern and I brought that here." + +"How did you get anything to eat?" asked Bunny. + +"Well, I took that," said Tom. "In the night I went back to your camp, +and took some things. I didn't think your folks would care very much." + +"They didn't," said Bunny. "Did you take the pie and the bacon and +eggs?" + +"Yes," said Tom, "I did. I have earned some money, though, and I'll pay +for them." + +"And did you knock down the pile of tins?" Bunny asked, "and make the +noise in the night?" + +"Yes," laughed Tom. "I thought sure your folks would catch me then, but +I got safely away. And ever since then I've stayed in this cave. I found +it by accident. It made a nice dry place. During the day I would go off +to different farms and work enough to earn a little money to buy things +to eat. All the while I was afraid Mr. Trimble would find me. He was +such a mean man." + +"But he's turned good now," declared Bunny, "and he's sorry he was bad +to you. He wouldn't even shut you up in a smoke-house," and Bunny told +of finding the fox in the little house. + +"So then I can go back to your camp, and Mr. Trimble won't try to get +me; will he?" asked Tom. + +"Nope, he won't hurt you at all," said Bunny. "And please can't we go +back to our camp now? Daddy and mother will be so worried about us." + +"Why, yes, I guess I can take you," said Tom. "It isn't very far, and +there's a good road. I see you have an umbrella. That will keep Sue dry. +You and I won't mind getting wet, Bunny; will we?" + +"Nope," said the little fellow. + +When they went to the entrance of the cave they found that the rain had +stopped, and the moon was shining. It was quite light in the woods. +Leading Bunny and Sue by the hands, with Splash following after, Tom +started for Camp Rest-a-While. He stopped for a moment on top of the +cave, to show the children the chimney hole, and how he had slid down it +by holding on to a long grapevine, that twined around a tree growing +near the hole. The grapevine was like a long rope. + +Through the woods went Bunny, Sue and Tom. As they came near the camp +they saw lanterns flashing, and voices called: + +"Bunny! Bunny Brown! Sue! Sue! Where are you?" + +"Here we are, Daddy! Here we are!" cried Bunny and Sue together. "And +Tom Vine is with us!" added Bunny. + +Those carrying the lantern rushed forward, and soon Bunny and Sue were +clasped in their father's and mother's arms, while Uncle Tad and Bunker +were shaking hands with Tom, and listening to his story of how he had +found the children in the cave where he made his home. + +"And to think you two went off in a boat with an umbrella for a sail!" +cried Mother Brown to the children. "Don't you ever do it again!" + +"We won't!" promised Bunny. "But what happened to you, Bunker?" + +"Well, after you left me on the island," said the red-haired boy, "I +waited until I saw your father coming after me in a boat. He took me to +camp, and I told him I thought you and Sue had drifted down the lake. So +we set out to find you, but you got here all right." + +"And I don't want to sleep in any more caves," said Sue. + +"I like it," Bunny said. "It was nice!" + +The children were soon asleep in their cots in the camp tent, and after +Tom had told his story to Mr. and Mrs. Brown, he, too, was given his +old bed. He had nothing more to fear from Mr. Trimble, and he need not +have run away, only he was afraid of the farmer. And for that reason he +did not go back to camp, or send any word to Mr. Brown. + +But everything came out all right, and Mr. Trimble came over and told +Tom how sorry he was for having been so unpleasant as to make him run +away. + +Bunny Brown and his sister Sue stayed at Camp Rest-a-While all that +summer and they had much fun, and many more adventures, but I have no +room to tell you about them in this book. Perhaps I may write another +volume about them later. As for Tom Vine, he was taken to live in +Bellemere, where he worked at Mr. Brown's boat business with Bunker +Blue. He did not have to live in a cave any more, and had a good home. + +And now, having told all there is to tell, I will let you say good-bye +to Bunny Brown and his sister Sue. + + +THE END + + + + +This Isn't All! + + Would you like to know what became of the good + friends you have made in this book? + + Would you like to read other stories continuing + their adventures and experiences, or other books + quite as entertaining by the same author? + + On the _reverse side_ of the wrapper which comes + with this book, you will find a wonderful list of + stories which you can buy at the same store where + you got this book. + +=Don't throw away the Wrapper= + + _Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want + some day to have. But in case you do mislay it, + write to the Publishers for a complete catalog._ + + + + +THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES + +By LAURA LEE HOPE + +Author of the Popular "Bobbsey Twins" Books, Etc. + + * * * * * + +=Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Each Volume +Complete in Itself.= + + * * * * * + + These stories 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 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 + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE SUNNY SOUTH + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE KEEPING STORE + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR TRICK DOG + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT A SUGAR CAMP + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON THE ROLLING OCEAN + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON JACK FROST ISLAND + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT SHORE ACRES + BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT BERRY HILL + + * * * * * + +=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. + + * * * * * + +=Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume +Complete in Itself.= + + * * * * * + + These books for boys and girls between the ages of + three and ten stand among children and their + parents of this generation where the books of + Louisa May Alcott stood in former days. The haps + and mishaps of this inimitable pair of twins, + their many adventures and experiences are a source + of keen delight to imaginative children. + + 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 + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CEDAR CAMP + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE COUNTY FAIR + THE BOBBSEY TWINS CAMPING OUT + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND BABY MAY + THE BOBBSEY TWINS KEEPING HOUSE + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CLOVERBANK + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CHERRY CORNERS + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND THEIR SCHOOLMATES + THE BOBBSEY TWINS TREASURE HUNTING + + * * * * * + +=GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK= + + + + +SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES + +By LAURA LEE HOPE + +Author of The Bobbsey Twins Books, The Bunny Brown Series, The Blythe +Girls Books, Etc. + + * * * * * + +=Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume +Complete in Itself.= + + * * * * * + + Delightful stories for little boys and girls which + sprung into immediate popularity. To know the six + little Bunkers is to take them at once to your + heart, they are so intensely human, so full of fun + and cute sayings. Each story has a little plot of + its own--one that can be easily followed--and all + are written in Miss Hope's most entertaining + manner. Clean, wholesome volumes which ought to be + on the bookshelf of every child in the land. + + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDMA BELL'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT CAPTAIN BEN'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COWBOY JACK'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MAMMY JUNE'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT FARMER JOEL'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MILLER NED'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT INDIAN JOHN'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT HAPPY JIM'S + SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT SKIPPER BOB'S + + * * * * * + +=GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK= + + + + +THE HONEY BUNCH BOOKS + +By HELEN LOUISE THORNDYKE + + * * * * * + +=Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations Drawn by + +WALTER S. ROGERS= + * * * * * + + Honey Bunch is a dainty, thoughtful little girl, + and to know her is to take her to your heart at + once. + + Little girls everywhere will want to discover what + interesting experiences she is having wherever she + goes. + + HONEY BUNCH: JUST A LITTLE GIRL + HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE CITY + HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS ON THE FARM + HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE SEASHORE + HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST LITTLE GARDEN + HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS IN CAMP + HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST AUTO TOUR + HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP ON THE OCEAN + HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP WEST + HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST SUMMER ON AN ISLAND + + * * * * * + +=GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK= + + + + +THE BLYTHE GIRLS BOOKS + +By LAURA LEE HOPE + + * * * * * + +Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations by + +THELMA GOOCH + +Every Volume Complete in Itself + + * * * * * + + The Blythe girls, three in number, were left alone + in New York City. Helen, who went in for art and + music, kept the little flat uptown, while Margy, + just out of a business school, obtained a position + as a private secretary and Rose, plain-spoken and + businesslike, took what she called a "job" in a + department store. + +THE BLYTHE GIRLS: HELEN, MARGY AND ROSE + A fascinating tale of real happenings in the great metropolis. + +THE BLYTHE GIRLS: MARGY'S QUEER INHERITANCE + The Girls had a peculiar old aunt and when she died she left an +unusual inheritance. + +THE BLYTHE GIRLS: ROSE'S GREAT PROBLEM + Rose, still at work in the big department store, is one day faced with +the greatest problem of her life. + +THE BLYTHE GIRLS: HELEN'S STRANGE BOARDER + Helen goes to the assistance of a strange girl, whose real identity is +a puzzle. Who the girl really was comes as a tremendous surprise. + +THE BLYTHE GIRLS: THREE ON A VACATION + The girls go to the country for two weeks--and fall in with all sorts +of curious and exciting happenings. + +THE BLYTHE GIRLS: MARGY'S SECRET MISSION + Of course we cannot divulge the big secret, but nevertheless the girls +as usual have many exciting experiences. + +THE BLYTHE GIRLS: ROSE'S ODD DISCOVERY + A very interesting story, telling how Rose aided an old man in the +almost hopeless search for his daughter. + +THE BLYTHE GIRLS: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HELEN + Helen calls on the art dealer on business and finds the old fellow has +made a wonderful discovery. + +THE BLYTHE GIRLS: SNOWBOUND IN CAMP + An absorbing tale of winter happenings, full of excitement. + + * * * * * + +=GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK= + + * * * * * + + +Transcriber's notes: + +Punctuation normalized. + +Page 51, "exlaimed" changed to "exclaimed." + +Page 147, "Said Tom Vine" changed to "said Tom Vine." + +Page 148, "forgotton" changed to "forgotten." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp +Rest-A-While, by Laura Lee Hope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER *** + +***** This file should be named 17096.txt or 17096.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/0/9/17096/ + +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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