The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Big Woods, 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 in the Big Woods Author: Laura Lee Hope Illustrator: Florence England Nosworthy Release Date: November 18, 2005 [EBook #17097] 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 "I GUESS IT'S ROLLING FASTER THAN I AM," THOUGHT BUNNY. Frontispiece. Page 61 Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Big Woods. BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS 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 BOOKS By LAURA LEE HOPE 12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price, per volume, 50 cents, postpaid. THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES THE BOBBSEY TWINS THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS NEW YORK Copyright, 1917, by GROSSET & DUNLAP Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Big Woods. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. What Daddy Brought 1 II. The Pail of Milk 12 III. The Old Man 25 IV. A Noise at Night 34 V. Bunny Rolls Down Hill 46 VI. After the Lost Cow 59 VII. The Missing Train 69 VIII. "Where Has Sallie Gone?" 84 IX. The Search 93 X. Lost in the Woods 101 XI. The Hermit Again 112 XII. Wonderings 119 XIII. Mr. Brown Makes a Search 132 XIV. The Ragged Boy 141 XV. Hidden in the Hay 150 XVI. The Angry Gobbler 159 XVII. Sue Decides to Make a Pie 166 XVIII. Roasting Corn 176 XIX. Eagle Feather's Horse 191 XX. Fun in the Attic 199 XXI. "Where Is Sue?" 207 XXII. The Hermit Comes for Tom 214 XXIII. Trying to Help Tom 221 XXIV. The Night Meeting 229 XXV. The Missing Toys 237 BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS CHAPTER I WHAT DADDY BROUGHT "Sue! Sue! Where are you?" called a lady, as she stood in the opening of a tent which was under the trees in the big woods. "Where are you, Sue? And where is Bunny?" For a moment no answers came to the call. But presently, from behind a clump of bushes not far from the tent, stepped a little girl. She held her finger over her lips, just as your teacher does in school when she does not want you to say anything. Then the little girl whispered: "Sh-h-h-h, Mother. I can't come now." "Then let Bunny come. He can do what I want." "Bunny can't come, either." "Why not?" and Mrs. Brown smiled at her little girl, who seemed very much in earnest as she stood in front of the bushes, her finger still across her lips. "Bunny can't come, 'cause we're playing soldier and Indian," said Sue. "Bunny's been shot by an Indian arrow and I'm his nurse. He's just got over the fever, same as I did when I had the measles, and he's asleep. And it's awful dangerous to wake anybody up that's just got to sleep after a fever. That's what our doctor said, I 'member." "Oh, Bunny is just getting over a fever, is he?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Of course it's only a make-believe fever, Mother," said the little girl. "We're only pretendin' you know"; and she cut her words short, leaving off a "g" here and there, so she could talk faster I suppose. "Oh, if it's only a make-believe fever it's all right," said Mother Brown with a laugh. "How long do you think Bunny will sleep, Sue?" "Oh, not very long. Maybe five minutes. 'Cause, you see, when he wakes up he'll be hungry and I've got some pie and cake and some milk for him to eat. Sick folks gets awful hungry when their fever goes away. And it's real things to eat, too, Mother. And when Bunny got make-believe shot with an Indian arrow he said he wasn't going to play fever more'n five minutes 'cause he saw what I had for him to eat." "Oh well, if he's going to be better in five minutes I can wait that long," said Mrs. Brown. "Go on and have your fun." "What do you want Bunny to do—or me?" asked Sue, as she turned to go back behind the bush where she and Bunny were having their game. "I'll tell you when you've finished playing," said Mrs. Brown with a smile. She sometimes found this a better plan than telling the children just what she wanted when she called them from some of their games. You see they were so anxious to find out what it was their mother wanted that they hurried to finish their fun. Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were at Camp Rest-a-While with their father and their mother. They had come from [Pg 1] [Pg 2] [Pg 3] [Pg 4] their home in Bellemere to live for a while in the forest, on the shore of Lake Wanda, where they were all enjoying the life in the open air. They had journeyed to the woods in an automobile, carrying two tents which were set up under the trees. One tent was used to sleep in and the other for a dining room. There was also a place to cook. With the Brown family was Uncle Tad, who was really Mr. Brown's uncle. But the jolly old soldier was as much an uncle to Bunny and Sue as he was to their father. Bunker Blue, a boy, had also come to Camp Rest-a-While with the Brown family, but after having many adventures with them, he had gone back to Bellemere, where Mr. Brown had a fish and a boat business. With him went Tom Vine, a boy whom the Browns had met after coming to camp. Bunny Brown and his sister Sue liked it in the big woods that stretched out all about their camp. They played many games under the trees and in the tents, and had great fun. Mrs. Brown liked it so much that when the time when they had planned to go home came, she said to her husband: "Oh, let's stay a little longer. I like it so much and the children are so happy. Let's stay!" And so they stayed. And they were still camped on the edge of the big woods that morning when Mrs. Brown called Bunny and Sue to do something for her. After telling her mother about the pretend-fever which Bunny had, Sue went back to where her brother was lying on a blanket under the bushes. She made-believe feel his pulse, as she had seen the doctor do when once Bunny had been really ill, and then the little girl put her hand on Bunny's cheek. "Say! what you doin' that for?" he asked. "I was seeing how hot you were," answered Sue. "I guess your fever's most gone, isn't it, Bunny?" she asked. "Is it time to eat?" he asked quickly. "Yes, I think it is. And I think mother has a surprise for us, too." "Then my fever's all gone!" exclaimed Bunny. "I'm all better, and I can eat. Then we'll see what mother has." Never did an ill person get well so quickly as did Bunny Brown just then. He sat up, threw to one side a blanket Sue had spread over him, and called: "Where's the pie and cake?" "Here they are," Sue answered, as she took them from a little box under the bushes. "And where's the milk?" asked Bunny. "Fevers always make folks thirsty, you know. I'm awful thirsty!" "Here's the milk," said Sue. "I didn't ask mother if I could take it, but I'm sure she won't care." "No, I guess not," said Bunny, taking a long drink which Sue poured out for him from a pitcher into a glass. Then Bunny and his sister ate the pie and the cake which their mother had given them that morning when they said they wanted to have a little picnic in the woods. Instead Bunny and Sue had played Indian and soldier, as they often did. First Bunny was a white soldier, and then an Indian, and at last he made believe he was shot so he could be ill. Sue was very fond of playing nurse, and she liked to cover Bunny up, feel his pulse and feed him bread pills rolled in sugar. Bunny liked these pills, too. "Well, now we've got everything eaten up," said Bunny, as he gathered up the last crumbs of the pie his mother had baked in the oil stove which they had brought to camp. "Let's go and see what the surprise is." "I'm not so sure it is a surprise," returned Sue slowly. "Mother didn't say so. She just said she wouldn't tell us until you got all make-believe well again. So I suppose it's a surprise. Don't you think so, too?" "I guess I do," answered Bunny. "But come on, we'll soon find out." As the children came out from under the bush where they had been playing, there was a crashing in the brush and Sue cried: "Oh, maybe that's some more of those Indians." "Pooh! We're not playing Indians now," said Bunny. "That game's all over. I guess it's Splash." "Oh, that's nice!" cried Sue. "I was wondering where he'd gone." A big, happy-looking and friendly dog came bursting through the bushes. He wagged his tail, and his big red tongue dangled out of his mouth, for it was a warm day. "Oh, Splash; you came just too late!" cried Sue. "We've eaten up everything!" "All except the crumbs," said Bunny. [Pg 5] [Pg 6] [Pg 7] [Pg 8] Splash saw the crumbs almost as soon as Bunny spoke, and with his red tongue the dog licked them up from the top of the box which the children had used for a table under the bushes. "Come on," called Bunny after a bit. "Let's go and find out what mother wants. Maybe she's baked some cookies for us." "Didn't you have enough with the cake, pie and milk?" Sue asked. "Oh, I could eat more," replied Bunny Brown. In fact, he seemed always to be hungry, his mother said, though she did not let him eat enough to make himself ill. "Well, come on," called Sue. "We'll go and see what mother has for us." Through the woods ran the children, toward the lake and the white tents gleaming among the green trees. Mr. Brown went to the city twice a week, making the trip in a small automobile he ran himself. Sometimes he would stay in the city over night, and Mother Brown and Uncle Tad and the children would stay in the tents in the big woods where they were not far from a farmhouse. Splash, the happy-go-lucky dog, bounded on ahead of Bunny Brown and his sister Sue. The children followed as fast as they could. Now and then Splash would stop and look back as though calling: "Come on! Hurry up and see the surprise!" "We're coming!" Bunny would call. "What do you s'pose it is?" he would ask Sue. "I can't even guess," Sue would answer. "But I know it must be something nice, for she smiled when I told her I was your nurse and you had an Indian fever." "It wasn't an Indian fever," protested Bunny. "Well, I mean a make-believe Indian fever," said the little girl. "No, it was a make-believe arrow fever," said Bunny. "I got shot with an Indian arrow you know." "Oh yes," Sue answered. "But, anyhow, you're all well now. Oh, look out, Splash!" she cried as the big dog ran into a puddle of water and splashed it so that some got on Sue's dress. That is how Splash got his name—from splashing into so many puddles. But this time the water was from a clean brook that ran over green, mossy stones, and it did Sue's dress no harm, for she had on one that Mrs. Brown had made purposely for wearing in the woods. "Here we are, Momsie!" called Sue, as she and Bunny came running up to the camp where the tents were. "What's the surprise?" asked Bunny. Just then they heard the Honk! Honk! of an automobile, and as a car came on through the woods and up to the white tents, Bunny and Sue cried together: "Oh, it's daddy! Daddy has come home!" "Yes, and he's brought us something!" added Bunny. "Look at the two big bundles, Sue!" "Oh, Daddy! Daddy Brown! What have you brought?" cried the two children. "Just a minute now, and I'll show you," said Mr. Brown, as he got out of the automobile and started for a tent, a big bundle under each arm. The children danced about in delight and Splash barked. CHAPTER II THE PAIL OF MILK "Oh, Mother! is this the surprise you had for us?" asked Sue, as she hopped about, first on one foot then on the other. For she was so excited she could not keep still. "No, this isn't exactly what I meant," said Mrs. Brown with a smile. "Still, this is a very nice surprise, isn't it?" "Just the very nicest!" said Bunny. "It's nice to have daddy home, and it's nice to have him bring something." "Oh, please tell us what it is—you have two things," went on Sue, as she looked at the two bundles which Mr. Brown carried, one under each arm. "Is there something for each of us, Daddy?" "Well, yes, I think so, Sue," answered her father. "But just wait——" [Pg 9] [Pg 10] [Pg 11] [Pg 12] "Oh, my dears! give your father a chance to get his breath," laughed Mrs. Brown. "Remember he has come all the way from the city in the auto, and he must be tired. Come into the tent, and I'll make you a cup of tea," she went on. "And then will you tell us what you brought us?" asked Bunny. "Yes," said Mr. Brown. "Then let's go in and watch him drink his tea," said Sue, as she took hold of Bunny's hand and led him toward the dining tent. "We'll know the minute he has finished," she went on, "and we'll be there when he opens the bundles." "All right," said Mr. Brown. "Come in if you like." And while he was sipping the tea which Mrs. Brown quickly made for him, the two children sat looking at the two bundles their father had brought. One was quite heavy, Bunny noticed, and something rattled inside the box in which it was packed. The other was lighter. They were both about the same size. And while the children are sitting there, waiting for their father to finish his tea, so they can learn what the surprise is I'll take just a few minutes to tell my new readers something about the Brown family, and especially Bunny Brown and his sister Sue. As I have already mentioned, the family, which was made up of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Brown and the two children, lived in the town of Bellemere, which was on Sandport Bay, near the ocean. Mr. Brown was in the fish and the boat business, hiring to those who wanted row boats, fishing boats or motor boats. In the first book of this series, "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue," the story was about the little boy and his sister, and what fun they had getting up a Punch and Judy show. "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on Grandpa's Farm," was the name of the second book and you can easily guess what that was about. The two children had much fun in a big automobile moving van, which was fitted up just like a little house, and in which they lived while going to the farm. Bunker Blue, who worked for Mr. Brown, and the children's dog Splash went with them. While at their grandpa's farm Bunny and Sue got up a little show, at which they had lots of fun, and, seeing this, Bunker and some of the older boys made up a larger show. They gave that in two tents, one of which had belonged to Grandpa Brown when he was in the army. The Brown children were so delighted with the shows that they decided to have another, and in the third book, named "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Playing Circus," you may read how they did it. Something happened in that book which made Bunny and Sue feel bad for a while, but they soon got over it. In the next book, "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Aunt Lu's City Home," I told the story of the two children going to the big city of New York, and of the queer things they saw and the funny things they did while there. Bunny and Sue had played together as long as they could remember. Bunny was about six or seven years old and Sue was a year younger. Wherever one went the other was always sure to be seen, and whatever Bunny did Sue was sure to think just right. Every one in Bellemere knew Bunny and Sue, from old Miss Hollyhock to Wango, a queer little monkey owned by Jed Winkler the sailor. Wango often got into mischief, and so did Bunny and Sue. And the children had much fun with Uncle Tad who loved them as if they were his own. After Bunny and Sue had come back from Aunt Lu's city home the weather was very warm and Daddy Brown thought of camping in the woods. So that is what they did, and the things that happened are related in the fifth book in the series, called "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp Rest-a-While." For that is what they named the place where the tents were set up under the trees on the edge of the big woods and by a beautiful lake. Neither Bunny nor Sue had ever been to the end of these big woods, nor had Mr. Brown, though some day he hoped to go. The summer was about half over. Mrs. Brown liked it so much that she said she and the children would stay in the woods as long as it was warm enough to live in a tent. And now, this afternoon, Mr. Brown had come home from the city with the two queer big bundles, and the children were so excited thinking what might be in them that they watched every mouthful of tea Mr. Brown sipped. "When will you be ready to show us?" asked Sue. "Please be quick," begged Bunny. "I—I'm gettin' awful anxious." "Well, I guess I can show you now," said Mr. Brown. "Bring me the heaviest package, Bunny." It was all the little boy could do to lift it from the chair, but he managed to do it. Slowly Mr. Brown opened it. Bunny saw a flash of something red and shining. "Oh, it's a fire engine!" he cried. "Not quite," said his father, "though that was a good guess." Then Mr. Brown lifted out the things in the paper, and all at once Bunny saw what it was—a little toy train of cars, with an engine and tracks on which it could run. [Pg 13] [Pg 14] [Pg 15] [Pg 16] [Pg 17] "Does it really go?" asked the little boy, eagerly. "Yes, it really goes," said Mr. Brown. "It's an electric train, and it runs by electricity from these batteries," and he held up some strong ones. "I'll fix up your train for you so it will run. But you must be careful of it, Bunny." "Oh, I'll take fine care of it!" cried the little boy. "And I won't let Splash bite it." "Didn't you bring me anything, Daddy?" asked Sue slowly. "Or do I have to play with Bunny's train?" and she looked at the little boy who was trying to fit together the pieces of the track. "Oh, I have something for you alone, Sue," her father said. "Look and see if you like this." He held up a great big Teddy bear. "Oh! Ah!" murmured Sue. "That's something I've been wishing for. Oh, Daddy! how good you are to us!" and she threw her arms around her father's neck. "I love you, too!" called Bunny Brown, leaving his toy train and track, and running to his father for a hug and a kiss. "Well, now, how do you like this, Sue?" and Mr. Brown handed the big Teddy bear over to his little girl. "Oh, I just love it!" she cried. "It's the nicest doll ever!" "Let me show you something," said Mr. Brown. He pressed a button in the toy bear's back and, all of a sudden, its eyes shone like little lights. "Oh, what makes that, Daddy?" asked Bunny, leaving his toy train and coming over to see his sister's present. "Behind the bear's eyes, which are of glass," explained Mr. Brown, "are two little electric lights. They are lighted by what are called dry batteries, like those that ring our front door bell at home, only smaller. And the same kind of dry batteries will run Bunny's train when I get it put together. "See, Sue, when you want your bear's eyes to glow, just press this button in Teddy's back," and her father showed her a little button, or switch, hidden in the toy's fur. "Oh, isn't that fine!" cried Sue with shining eyes. She pushed the button, the bear's eyes lighted and gleamed out, and Splash, seeing them, barked in excitement. "Oh, let me do it," begged Bunny. "I'll let you run my toy train if you let me light your bear's eyes, Sue," he said. "All right," agreed the little girl. So Bunny played with the Teddy bear a bit, while Sue looked at the toy engine and cars, and then Mrs. Brown said: "Well, children, I think it is about time for my surprise." "Oh, have you something for us, too?" asked Sue, quickly. "Well, I'll have something for you if you will go and get something for me," said Mother Brown. "I want you to go to the farmhouse and get me a pail of milk. Some one took what I was saving to make a pudding with, so I'll have to get more milk." "We took it to play soldier and nurse with," confessed Sue. "I'm sorry, Momsie——" "Oh, it doesn't matter, dear," said Mrs. Brown. "I like to have you drink all the milk you want. But now you'll have to get more for me, as there is not enough for supper and the pudding." "We'll go for the milk," said Bunny. "And when we get back we can play with the bear and the toy train." "I'll try to have the toy train running for you when you come back with the milk," said Mr. Brown. "Trot along now." Mrs. Brown gave Bunny the milk pail, and soon he and Sue, leaving Splash behind this time, started down the road to the farmhouse where they got their milk. The farmer sent his boy every day with milk for those at Camp Rest-a- While, but this time Bunny and Sue had used more than usual, and Mrs. Brown had to send for some extra. It did not take Bunny and Sue long to reach the farmhouse, where their pail was filled by the farmer's wife. "We've got a surprise at our camp," said Bunny, as they started away, the little boy carefully carrying the pail of milk. "Indeed! Is that so? What is it?" asked the farmer's wife. "We've got two surprises," said Sue. "Daddy brought them from the city. Bunny has a toy train of cars that runs with a city." "She means electricity," explained Bunny with a laugh, but saying the big word very slowly. "I don't care. It sounds like that," declared Sue. "And I've got a Teddy bear and its eyes are little e-lec-tri-city [Pg 18] [Pg 19] [Pg 20] [Pg 21] [Pg 22] lamps, and they shine like anything when you push a button in his back." "Those are certainly two fine surprises," said the farmer's wife. "Now be careful not to spill your milk." "We'll be careful," promised Bunny. He and Sue walked along the country road toward their camp. Suddenly on a fence Sue saw a squirrel running along. "Oh, look, Bunny!" she cried. "Where?" asked her brother. "On that fence. A big gray squirrel!" "Oh, what a fine, big one!" cried Bunny. "Maybe we can catch him and put him in a cage with a wheel that goes around." Bunny carefully set the pail of milk down at the side of the road, out of the way in case any wagons or automobiles should come along. Then he ran after the squirrel, that had come to a stop on top of the fence and stood looking at the children. But, as soon as the squirrel with the big tail saw Bunny running toward him, he scampered away and Bunny followed. So did Sue, leaving the pail of milk standing in the grass beside the road. The squirrel could run on the fence much faster than Bunny Brown and his sister Sue could run along the road, and pretty soon they saw him scamper up a tree. "Now we can't get him," said Sue, sorrowfully. "No, I guess not," answered Bunny. "We'd better go back to camp and play with your Teddy bear and my toy train. Come on." They walked back toward the place they had left the pail of milk. As they came in sight of it Sue cried: "Oh, Bunny, look!" Bunny looked, and at what he saw he cried: "Oh dear!" For a big, shaggy dog had his nose down in the pail of milk, and as he looked up, at hearing Bunny's cry, he knocked the pail over, spilling what he had not taken himself. "Oh, our milk's all gone!" cried Bunny. "What shall we do?" asked Sue, in dismay. CHAPTER III THE OLD MAN For a moment the two children did not know what to do. They stood still, looking at the dog who had just drunk the milk from the pail which they had set down in the road so they could chase the squirrel. Then Bunny, made bold by thinking of what might happen if he and his sister went home with the empty pail, thinking also of the pudding which his mother could not make if she had no milk, gave a loud cry. "Get away from there, you bad dog!" cried the little boy. "Leave our milk alone!" and he started to run toward the shaggy creature. "Oh, come back! Come back!" cried Sue. "Don't go near him, Bunny!" "Why not?" her brother asked in some surprise. "'Cause he might bite you." "Huh! I'm not afraid of him!" declared Bunny. "He doesn't look as savage as our Splash, and he never bites anybody, though he barks a lot at tramps." So Bunny ran on toward the shaggy dog. The animal stood looking at the little boy for a moment and then, with a sort of "wuff!" as if to say, "Well, I've taken all the milk, what are you going to do about it?" away he trotted down the road. Bunny ran on and picked up the milk pail. Only a few drops were in the bottom. [Pg 23] [Pg 24] [Pg 25] [Pg 26] "See I told you he wouldn't bite me! I'm not afraid of that dog!" the little boy called to his sister. "Yes, you did drive him off," said Sue, proud of her brother. "You are awful brave, Bunny—just as brave as when you played soldier and I cured you of the Indian fever, and——" "It was arrow fever, I keep tellin' you!" insisted Bunny. "Well, arrow fever then," agreed Sue. "But is there any milk left, Bunny?" "Not a drop, Sue," and Bunny turned the pail upside down to show. "Well," said the little girl with a sigh, "then I guess you weren't brave in time, Bunny. You didn't save the milk!" "Huh, the dog had it all drunk up before I saw him," declared her brother. "If I'd seen him I'd have stopped him quick enough! I wasn't afraid of him." "But what about more milk?" asked Sue. That was all she could think of, now that the pail was empty. "We've got to get more milk, Bunny Brown." "Yes, I s'pose we have," he agreed. "But we can easy go back to the farmhouse." "No, we can't," said Sue. "Why not?" Bunny demanded. "It isn't far, and if you're afraid of the dog you can stay here, and I'll go for the milk." "Nope!" cried Sue, shaking her head until her hair flew into her eyes. "Mother said you mustn't ever leave me alone, to go anywhere when we were on the road or in the big woods. I've got to stay with you, and you've got to stay with me," and she went up and took Bunny by the hand. "All right, Sue," said he. "I want you to stay with me. But come along to the farmhouse and we'll get more milk. I'll take a stick, if you want me to, and keep the dog away. I don't believe he'll come back anyhow. Don't you know how 'fraid dogs are to come back to you when they've done something bad. That time Splash ate the meat Bunker Blue brought in and left on the table—why, that time Splash was so ashamed for what he'd done that he didn't come into the house all day. This dog won't bite you." "Pooh! I'm not afraid of the dog, Bunny Brown," said Sue. "Then what are you afraid of?" "I'm not 'fraid of anything. But you know what that farm lady said. She said this was the last quart of milk she could spare, and she didn't have any more." "Oh, so she did!" agreed Bunny. "Then what are we going to do?" "I don't know," said Sue. "We've got to do something," said Bunny gravely. "Yes," said Sue. "There isn't any more milk at the camp, and the farm lady hasn't any, and——" "Mother wants some to make the surprise-pudding," added Bunny. "I guess we didn't ought to have tooken that for our play-game," he went on all mixed up in his English. "No," said Sue, "maybe we oughtn't. Let me think now." "What you going to think?" asked Bunny. Though he was a little older than Sue he knew that she often thought more then he did about what they were going to do or play. Sue was a good thinker. She usually thought first and did things afterward, while Bunny was just the other way. He did something first and then thought about it afterward, and sometimes he was sorry for what he had done. But this time he wanted to know what Sue was going to think. "Aren't you going to think something?" he asked after a bit. Sue stood looking up and down the road. "I'm thinkin' now," she said. "Please don't bother me, Bunny." Bunny remained silent, now and then looking into the empty milk pail, and tipping it upside down, as though that would fill it again. Finally Sue said: "Well, we can't get any milk at the farmhouse. I don't know any other place around here where we can go, so the only thing to do is to go back to Camp Rest-a-While." "But there's no milk there," said Bunny. "I know there isn't. But we can tell daddy and mother, and ask them what to do. They wouldn't want us to go off somewhere else without telling them. And maybe daddy can go off in the automobile and get some milk at another farm." [Pg 27] [Pg 28] [Pg 29] [Pg 30] "Maybe," said Bunny slowly. "And if we go with him," he added, "and he does get more milk, we won't set the pail down in the road when we chase a squirrel. We'll put it in the auto." "I guess by the time we get the milk it will be too dark to see to chase squirrels," said Sue. "It's getting dark now; come on, Bunny." The two children started down the road toward the camp, and as they did so they heard a crackling in the bushes on the side of a hill that led up from the road. "Oh, here comes that milk dog back again!" cried Sue, and she snuggled up close against her brother, though the sinking sun was still shining across the highway. "I won't let him hurt you," said Bunny. "Wait until I get a stone or a stick." "Oh, you mustn't do anything to strange dogs!" cried the little girl. "If you do they might jump at you and bite you. Just don't notice him or speak to him, and he'll think we're—we're stylish, and he'll pass right by." "Oh well, if you want me to do that way," said Bunny, looking up toward the place the sound came from, "why I will, only——" He stopped speaking suddenly, and pointed up the hill. Sue looked in the same direction. They saw coming toward them, not a dog, but an old man, dressed in rather ragged clothes. He looked like what the children called a tramp, though since they had arrived at the camp they had come to know that not all persons who wore ragged clothes were tramps. Some of the farmers and their helpers wore their raggedest garments to work in the dirt of the fields. This man might be a farmer. He had long white hair that hung down under the brim of his black hat, and though he did not have such a nice face as did the children's father, or their Uncle Tad, still they were not afraid of him. "Going after milk, little ones?" asked the old man, and his voice was not unpleasant. "No, sir; we've just been," said Bunny. "Well, I'm afraid you'll spill your milk if you swing your pail that way," went on the old man, for Bunny was moving the pail to and fro, with wide swings of his arms. "It would spill, if there was any in the pail," said Sue. "But there isn't," added Bunny. "It's spilled already and we don't know where to get any more," explained Sue. "It wasn't 'zactly spilled," Bunny added, for he and Sue always tried to speak the exact truth. "A dog drank it up." "While we were chasin' a squirrel," added his sister. "But I would have driven him away if I'd seen him in time," Bunny declared positively. "He put his nose right in the pail and licked up all the milk, and what he didn't eat he spilled and then he ran away." "And the lady at the farmhouse hasn't any more milk," Sue explained. "And there isn't any at the camp and——" "Mother can't make the pudding," finished Bunny. "Oh dear!" wailed Sue. "My, you have a lot of troubles!" said the ragged man. "But if you'll come with me maybe I can help you." "Where do you want us to come?" asked Bunny, remembering that his mother had told him never to go anywhere with strangers, and never to let Sue go, either. "If you'll come up to my little cabin in the woods I can let you have some milk," said the ragged man. "I keep a cow, and I have more milk than I can use or sell. It isn't far. Come with me," and he held out his hands to the children. CHAPTER IV A NOISE AT NIGHT Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were not sure whether or not they should go with the old man. They remembered what their mother had said to them about walking off with strangers, and they hung back. But when Bunny looked at the empty milk pail and remembered that there was no milk in camp for supper, and none with which his mother could make the pudding he and his sister liked so much, he made up his mind it would be all right to go to the little cabin in the woods. [Pg 31] [Pg 32] [Pg 33] [Pg 34] "Come on," urged the old man. "Do you sell milk?" asked Sue. "Oh, yes, little girl. Though my cow with the crumpled horn does not give such a lot of milk, there is more than I use. I sell what I can, but even then I have some left over. I have plenty to sell to you." "We only want a quart," said Bunny. "That's all we have money for. Mother gave us some extra pennies when we went for milk to the farmhouse, but we have only six cents left. Will that buy a quart of milk?" "It will here in the woods and the country," answered the old man, "but it wouldn't in the city. However, my crumpled-horn cow's milk is only six cents a quart." "Has your cow really got a crumpled horn?" asked Sue eagerly, for she loved queer things. "Yes, she has a crumpled horn, but she isn't the one that jumped over the moon," said the old man with a smile. The children liked him better after that, though when Bunny found a chance to whisper to his sister as they walked through the woods, along the path and behind the old man, the little boy said: "I guess he means to be kind, but he's kind of funny, isn't he?" "A little bit," answered Sue. The old man walked on ahead, the children, hand in hand, following, and the bushes clinked against the empty tin pail that Bunny carried. "Here you are," said the old man, as he turned on the path, and before them Bunny and his sister saw a log cabin. Near it was a shed, and as the children stopped and looked, from the shed came a long, low "Moo!" "Oh, is that the crumpled-horn cow?" asked Sue. "Yes," answered the old man. "I'll get some of her milk for you. I keep it in a pail down in the spring, so it will be cool. Let me take your pail and I'll fill it for you while you go to see the cow. She is gentle and won't hurt you." Letting the old man take the pail, Bunny and Sue went to look at the cow. The door of the shed was in two parts, and the children opened the upper half. "Moo!" called the cow as she stuck out her head. "Oh, see, one of her horns is crumpled!" cried Bunny. "Let's wait, and maybe she'll jump over the moon," suggested Sue, who remembered the nursery rhyme of "Hey- diddle-diddle." But though the children remained standing near the cow shed for two or three minutes, the cow, one of whose horns was twisted, or crumpled, made no effort to jump out of her stable and leap over the moon. Bunny and Sue were not afraid of cows, especially when they were kept in a stable, so they were soon rubbing the head of the ragged man's bossy. "Well, you have made friends, I see," came a voice behind the children, and there stood the ragged man with their pail full of milk. "I am glad you like my cow," he said. "She is a good cow and gives rich milk. Any time you spill your milk again come to me and I'll sell you some." "We didn't spill this milk," explained Bunny carefully. "A dog drank it." "Well, then come to me whenever you need milk, and you can't get any at the farmhouse," went on the old man, as Bunny gave him the six pennies. "All right, sir," said Bunny. "Where do you live?" asked the ragged man. "At Camp Rest-a-While," answered Sue. "Oh, you're the children who live in the tents. I know where your place is." "And to-night my father brought me a toy electric train from the city," said Bunny Brown. "It runs on a track with batteries, and you can switch it on and off and it—it's won'erful!" "So is my Teddy bear!" exclaimed Sue. "It has real lights for eyes and they burn bright when you press a button in Teddy's back." "Those are fine toys," said the ragged man. "We never had such toys as that when I was a boy. And so your train runs by an electrical battery, does it, my boy?" he asked Bunny, and he seemed anxious to hear all about it. [Pg 35] [Pg 36] [Pg 37] [Pg 38] "Yes, and a strong one. Daddy said I must be careful not to get a shock." "That's right. Electric shocks are not very good. Except for folks that have rheumatism," said the old man. "I have a touch of that myself now and then, but I haven't any battery. But now you'd better run along with your milk, or your father and mother may be worried about you. Do you know your way back to camp all right?" "Oh, yes, thank you," said Bunny. "And we're much obliged to you for letting us have the milk," added Sue. "Oh, you paid me for it, and I was glad to sell it. I need the money because I can't earn much any more. I should thank you as a store keeper thanks his customers. And I'll say 'come again,'" and with a smile and a wave of his hand the ragged man said good-bye to the children. "Now we mustn't set our pail down again," said Bunny; "not even if we see a squirrel." "That's right," agreed Sue. In a little while they were safely back at camp again, just as Uncle Tad was about to set off in search of them. "What kept you so long, children?" asked Mrs. Brown, anxiously. "Oh, we saw a squirrel," said Bunny. "And we set the milk pail down and chased it—chased the squirrel I mean," added Sue. "And then a dog drank up the milk," went on Bunny. "And we couldn't get any more at the farmhouse," said Sue, speaking next. "But the ragged man, who lives in a cabin in the woods, and has a cow with the crumpled horn though she didn't jump over the moon—he gave us more milk for six cents," said Bunny, all in one breath. "What's this about a ragged man?" asked Mr. Brown quickly, "and where does he live?" The children explained. Mr. and Mrs. Brown looked at one another and then Mr. Brown said: "Well, the ragged man meant all right, and he was very kind. But I wouldn't go off into the woods with strangers again, Bunny and Sue. They might get lost, or you might, and there would be a dreadful time until we found you again. After this don't set your milk pail down, and you won't have to hunt around for milk for supper. Now wash and get ready to eat the surprise." "Can't I play with my electric train a little while?" asked Bunny. "And can't I play with my Teddy bear?" "Yes, I guess so," answered Mrs. Brown. "I've got your train in running order," said Mr. Brown. "You can play with it outside, near the campfire. But at night we'll have to take it into the tent, for there might be rain." Mr. Brown soon showed Bunny how to start and stop the electric train by turning a switch. The train was pulled by a little locomotive made of steel and tin. Inside was a tiny electric motor, which was worked by a current from the dry battery cells, such as make your door bell ring, except that they were stronger. "All aboard for the city, on track five!" cried Bunny, as he had heard the starter in the railroad station cry. "Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" cried Sue. "I want to get on the train with my Teddy bear that makes her eyes all light." "Make-believe, you mean; don't you?" asked Bunny. "Of course make-believe," answered Sue. "I couldn't sit on your little cars. "Maybe the Teddy bear could," she added. "Oh, let's try," said Bunny. "Then we could give him a truly, really ride." The Teddy bear was quite large, but not very heavy, and by stretching it along three cars it could get on the train very nicely. It was even too long for three cars, but hanging over a bit did not matter, Sue said. So she put it on top of the train, turned on its electric eyes, and then Bunny turned on the switch that made the current go into the motor of his engine. At first the train would not start, for the bear was a bit heavy for it, but when Bunny gave the engine a little push with his hand away it went as nicely as you please, pulling the bear around and around the shiny track, which was laid in a circle. "Whoa!" called Sue. "Stop the train I Here is where my Teddy gets off." [Pg 39] [Pg 40] [Pg 41] [Pg 42] "You mustn't say whoa when you stop a train," objected Bunny. "Whoa is to stop a horse." "Well, how do you stop a train?" Sue asked. "Just say 'ding!' That's one bell and the engineer knows that means to stop." "I thought bells stopped trolley cars," said Sue. "They do, but they stop trains too, 'specially as mine is an electric train." "All right. Ding!" called Sue sharply. Bunny turned the switch the other way to shut off the current, and the train stopped. Sue took off the Teddy bear and said "Thank you" to Conductor Bunny Brown. Then the little boy played with his toy train by himself, while Sue pretended her Teddy bear was visiting in Sue's Aunt Lu's city home and kept winking its electric-light eyes at Wopsie, a little colored girl Bunny and Sue had known in New York, where Aunt Lu lived. "Supper!" suddenly called Mother Brown, and the two hungry children hurried into the dining tent where Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad were waiting for them. "Well, how did your electric train go?" asked Bunny's father. "Fine! It's the best ever." "And my Teddy is just lovely," said Sue. "Well, be careful of your toys," said Mr. Brown. "Better bring in the tracks and the engine and cars right after supper." "I will," Bunny promised, "after I've played with them a bit." It was dusk when he and Sue took up the shiny track and carried the batteries and other parts of the toy railroad into the sleeping tent, for Bunny said he wanted it near him. The children sat up a little later than usual that night, as they always did when their father had come to the camp from the city. Bunny talked of nothing but his railroad, planning fun for the morrow, while Sue said she was going to get some little girls, who lived in a near-by farmhouse, and have a party for her Teddy bear. "Time to go to Slumberland now," called Mrs. Brown, when it was nearly nine o'clock. "Go to bed early and you'll get up so much the earlier." So off to their little cots, behind the hanging curtains, went Bunny and Sue, and soon after saying their prayers they were asleep, one to dream he was a conductor on a big electric train, while the other dreamed of carrying a big, crying Teddy bear upside down through the woods with a milk pail hanging to its nose. Just what time it was Bunny and Sue did not know, but they were both suddenly awakened by feeling the tent, on the side nearest to which they slept, being pushed in. The canvas walls bulged as though some one were trying to get through them. "Oh, Daddy!" cried Sue, as she saw the tent move in the light of a lantern that burned dimly beyond the curtains behind which she and Bunny slept. "Oh, Daddy, something is after us." "Yes, and it's an elephant!" cried Bunny, as he, too, saw the tent sway. "It's an elephant got loose from the circus, and he's after us!" With that he bounded out of bed, and, waiting only long enough to clasp each other by the hand, the two children burst into that part of the tent where Mr. and Mrs. Brown slept. CHAPTER V BUNNY ROLLS DOWN HILL "What's the matter?" asked Mr. Brown, thrusting his head out from between the two curtains behind which his wife and he had their cots. "Why are you two children up at this time of night?" "We—we couldn't sleep in our part of the tent," explained Sue, snuggling up closer to Bunny. "Couldn't sleep, my dear? Was it the mosquitoes?" asked Mrs. Brown. "No'm. It was an elephant," explained Bunny. [Pg 43] [Pg 44] [Pg 45] [Pg 46] "A burglar elephant," added Sue. "He poked his head into the tent right over our bed," went on Bunny. "But we didn't stay," added Sue. "We came out to see if you and daddy were all right. Burglar elephants aren't nice at all." "What in the world are they talking about?" asked Mr. Brown. "A burglar elephant? What does it mean?" "It must have been some sound they heard outside the tent," said Mrs. Brown. "Or perhaps they dreamed something." "No'm, we didn't dream," cried Bunny, while his sister Sue nodded her head to show that she thought as he did. "It was something as big as an elephant and it most shook the tent down." "I felt something move the tent from the outside," said Mrs. Brown, "but I thought it was the wind." "I'll soon see what it was!" cried Mr. Brown. "You two kiddies jump into bed with your mother, and I'll take a look outside." He put on his dressing gown and slippers, and while Bunny and his sister Sue went behind the curtains to snuggle down in the bed with their mother, Mr. Brown, taking a lantern, started for the outside of the tent. He had just reached the flaps, the ropes of which he was loosening, and Bunny and his sister were hardly in their mother's cot—a tight fit for three—when the canvas house was violently shaken and within the very tent itself sounded a loud: "Moo! Moo!" "Oh, it's a cow!" cried Bunny. "And I can see it!" cried Sue, poking her head out between the curtains nearest her mother's bed. "I can see it." "Is it an elephanty cow?" eagerly asked Bunny from his side of the cot. "No, it's a cow with a crumpled horn—two crumpled horns—and daddy's pushing its face out of the tent," added Sue. "Let me see!" cried Bunny, and, in spite of his mother's call to get back into bed, out he popped to stand near the curtains that hung down in front of his mother's cot. "Yes, it's only a cow—a crumpled-horn cow," Bunny announced after he had taken a look. "But it pushed hard enough to be an elephant, didn't it?" asked Sue. "That's what it did. I thought the tent would come down," agreed Bunny. "What makes you say it was a crumpled-horn cow?" asked Mrs. Brown, as she too looked through the crack of the curtain and saw her husband pushing the animal outside. "'Cause it's got crumpled horns like the ragged man's cow. The man that gave us milk after the dog drank ours," said Bunny. "Only his cow had only one crooked horn and this cow has two. Hasn't it, Sue?" "Yes. But it looks like a nice cow." "Well, we don't want cows in our sleeping tent at night," said Mr. Brown. "I'll start this one down hill, and in the morning some one who comes for it will have to hunt for it. We haven't anything here with which to feed cows." "What's the matter up there?" called a voice, and the children knew it was that of Uncle Tad, who slept in a little tent by himself, near the one where the cooking was done. "What's the matter up there?" he called. "Oh, a cow tried to take up quarters with us," explained Mr. Brown. "I'm trying to shove her out of the tent, but she seems to want to stay." "I'll lead her away and tie her," said Uncle Tad. Bunny and Sue heard him tramping up from his tent to theirs and then he led the crumpled-horn cow away, the animal now and then giving voice to: "Moo! Moo!" "Isn't it too bad she couldn't sleep here?" asked Sue. "She's too big," declared Bunny. "But Sue, did you see two of her horns crumpled or only one?" [Pg 47] [Pg 48] [Pg 49] [Pg 50]