Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Keeping Store
L >> Laura Lee Hope >> Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Keeping StoreBUNNY BROWN
AND HIS SISTER SUE
KEEPING STORE
BY
LAURA LEE HOPE
AUTHOR OF
THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES, THE BOBBSEY
TWINS SERIES, THE SIX LITTLE
BUNKERS SERIES, MAKE
BELIEVE STORIES,
ETC.
ILLUSTRATED BY
WALTER S. ROGERS
NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS
Made in the United States of America
BOOKS
BY LAURA LEE HOPE
12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.
=THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES=
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR
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
=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 BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN WASHINGTON
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CEDAR CAMP
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE COUNTY FAIR
=THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES=
(Eight Titles)
=MAKE BELIEVE STORIES=
(Ten Titles)
=OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES=
(Twelve Titles)
=GROSSET & DUNLAP=
PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
Copyright, 1922, by
GROSSET & DUNLAP
Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Keeping Store
[Illustration: BUNNY GOT THE BOX OF BAKING POWDER.
_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Keeping Store.
Frontispiece_--(_Page_ 49)]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I A GRAND CRASH 1
II FEEDING THE ALLIGATORS 14
III SOMETHING IN A DESK 24
IV THE CORNER STORE 34
V A NEW PUPIL 44
VI A BUSY BUZZER 53
VII THE BARN STORE 65
VIII IN A HOLE 75
IX UP A LADDER 87
X THE LEGACY 96
XI THE LAST DAY 108
XII WATERING THE GARDEN 117
XIII HELPING MRS. GOLDEN 129
XIV THE CROSS MAN 138
XV THE BROKEN WINDOW 147
XVI LITTLE STOREKEEPERS 161
XVII TWO LETTERS 169
XVIII BUNNY HAS AN IDEA 178
XIX THE WINDOW DISPLAY 184
XX IN THE FLOUR BARREL 194
XXI SUE COULDN'T STOP IT 205
XXII A SHOWER OF BOXES 214
XXIII THE PONY EXPRESS 222
XXIV BAD NEWS 233
XXV GOOD NEWS 242
BUNNY BROWN
AND HIS SISTER SUE
KEEPING STORE
CHAPTER I
A GRAND CRASH
Patter, patter, patter came the rain drops, not only on the roof, but
all over, out of doors, splashing here and there, making little
fountains in every mud puddle.
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue stood with their faces pressed against
the windows, looking out into the summer storm.
"I can make my nose flatter'n you can!" suddenly exclaimed Bunny.
"Oh, you cannot!" disputed Sue. "Look at mine!"
She thrust her nose against the pane of glass so hard that it almost
cracked--I mean the glass nearly cracked.
"Look at that, Bunny Brown!" exclaimed Sue. "Isn't my nose flatter'n
yours? Look at it!"
"How can I look at your nose when I'm looking at mine?" asked Bunny.
He, too, had pushed his nose against the glass of his window, the
children standing in the dining room where two large windows gave them a
good view of things outside.
"You must look at my nose to see if it's flatter'n yours!" insisted Sue.
"Else how you going to know who beats?"
"Well, I can make mine a flatter nose than yours!" declared Bunny. "You
look at mine first and then I'll look at yours."
This seemed a fair way of playing the game, Sue thought. She left her
window and went over to her brother's side. The rain seemed to come down
harder than ever. If the children had any idea of being allowed to go
out and play in it, even with rubber boots and rain coats, they had
about given up that plan. Mrs. Brown had been begged, more than once, to
let Bunny and Sue go out, but she had shaken her head with a gentle
smile. And when their mother smiled that way the children knew she
meant what she said.
"Now, go ahead, Bunny Brown!" called Sue. "Let's see you make a flat
nose!"
Bunny drew his face back from the window. His little nose was quite
white where he had pressed it--white because he had kept nearly all the
blood from flowing into it. But soon his little "smeller," as sometimes
Bunny's father called his nose, began to get red again. Bunny began to
rub it.
"What you doing?" Sue wanted to know, thinking her brother might not be
playing fair in this little game.
"I'm rubbing my nose," Bunny answered.
"Yes, I know. But what for?"
"'Cause it's cold. If I'm going to make my nose flatter'n yours I have
to warm it a little. The glass is cold!"
"Yes, it is a little cold," agreed Sue. "Well, go ahead now; let's see
you flat your nose!"
Bunny took a long breath. He then pressed his nose so hard against the
glass that tears came into his eyes. But he didn't want Sue to see
them. And he wouldn't admit that he was crying, which he really wasn't
doing.
"Look at me now! Look at me!" cried Bunny, talking as though he had a
very bad cold in his head.
Sue took a look.
"Yes, it is flat!" she agreed. "But I can flatter mine more'n that! You
watch me!"
Sue ran to her window. She made up her mind to beat her brother at this
game. Closing her teeth firmly, as she always did when she was going to
jump rope more times than some other girl, Sue fairly banged her nose
against the window pane.
Her little nose certainly flattened out, but whether more so than
Bunny's was never discovered. For Sue banged herself harder than she had
meant to, and a moment later she gave a cry of pain, turned away from
the window, and burst into tears.
"What's the matter?" asked Mrs. Brown, hurrying in from the next room:
"Who's hurt?"
Sue was crying so hard that she could not answer, and Bunny was too
surprised to say anything for the moment. Mrs. Brown looked at the two
children. She saw Sue holding her nose in one hand, while Bunny's nose
was turning from white to red as the blood came back into it.
"Have you children been bumping noses again?" she asked. This was a game
Bunny and Sue sometimes played, though they had been told not to.
"No, Mother; we weren't 'zactly banging noses," explained Bunny. "We
were just seeing who could make the flattest one on the window, and Sue
bumped her nose too hard. I didn't do anything!"
"No, it--it wasn't Bun--Bunny's fault!" sobbed Sue. "I did it myself! I
was trying to--to flatter my nose more'n his!"
"You shouldn't play such games," said Mother Brown. "I'm sorry, Sue! Let
me see! Is your nose bleeding?" and she gently took the little girl's
hand down.
"Is--is--it?" asked Sue herself, stopping her sobs long enough to find
out if anything more than a bump had taken place.
"No, it isn't bleeding," said Mrs. Brown. "Now be good children. You
can't go out in the rain, so don't ask it. Play something else, can't
you?"
"Could we play store?" asked Bunny, with a sudden idea. It was not
altogether new, as often before, on other rainy days, he and Sue had
done this.
"Oh, yes, let's keep store!" cried Sue, forgetting all about her bumped
nose.
"That will be nice," said Mother Brown. "Tell Mary to let you have some
things with which to play store. You may play in the kitchen, as Mary is
working upstairs now."
"Oh, now we'll have fun!" cried Sue, clapping her hands.
"Could we have Splash in?" asked Bunny.
"The dog? Why do you want him?" asked Mrs. Brown.
"We could tie a basket around his neck," explained Bunny, "and he could
be the grocery delivery dog!"
"Oh, yes!" laughed Sue.
"No," said Mother Brown, with a gentle shake of her head, "you can't
have Splash in now. He has been splashing through mud puddles and he'd
soil the clean kitchen floor. Play store without Splash."
There was one nice thing about Bunny Brown and his sister Sue. If they
couldn't have one thing they did very well with something else. So now
Bunny said:
"Oh, all right! We can take turns sending the things out ourselves,
Sue."
"Yes, and we'll take turns tending store," added Sue. "'Cause I don't
want to be doing the buying all the while."
"Yes, we'll take turns," agreed Bunny.
Soon the children were in the kitchen, keeping store with different
things from the pantry that Mary, the cook, gave them to play with.
Unopened boxes of cinnamon, cloves and other spices; some cakes of soap
in their wrappers just as they had come from the real store, a few nuts,
some coffee beans, other beans, dried peas and a bunch of vegetables
made up most of the things with which the children played. After they
had finished their fun everything could be put back in the pantry.
Bunny tore some old newspapers into squares to use in wrapping the
"groceries." Mary also gave the children bits of string for tying
bundles.
The store counter was the ironing board placed across the seats of two
chairs in front of a table, and on the table back of this ironing board
counter the different things to sell were placed.
"What are we going to do for money?" asked Bunny, when the "store" was
almost ready to open.
"I'll give you some buttons," said his mother.
Bunny was given a handful of flat buttons of different sizes and colors
to use for change. He placed them in his cash box. Sue also had other
buttons to use as money in buying groceries.
"Now we're all ready to play," said Bunny, looking over the store. "You
must come and buy something, Sue."
"Yes. And then I want to keep store," said the little girl.
"All right," her brother agreed.
Bunny took his place behind the counter and waited. Sue went out into
the hall, paused a moment, and then, with a little basket over her arm,
came walking in, as much like a grown-up lady as she could manage.
"Good morning, Mrs. Snifkins!" exclaimed Bunny. He always called Sue
"Mrs. Snifkins" when they kept store.
"Oh, good morning, Mr. Huntley," Sue replied. She always called her
brother "Mr. Huntley," when they kept store. Perhaps this was because he
used to pretend to hunt for things on the make-believe shelves.
"What can I do for you this morning, Mrs. Snifkins?" asked Bunny,
rubbing his hands as he had seen Mr. Gordon, the real grocer, do.
"I want some prunes, some coffee, some eggs, some sugar, some salt, some
butter, some----" ordered Sue all in one breath.
"Stop! Stop! Wait a minute!" cried Bunny. "I can't remember all that!
Now what did you say first?"
"Prunes," replied Sue.
There were some real prunes among the things the children were playing
store with, and Bunny wrapped a few of these in a paper.
"Now some sugar," Sue ordered.
As real sugar was rather messy if it spilled on the floor, Bunny had
some bird gravel, which was almost as good, and he pretended to weigh
some of this out on an old castor that was the make-believe scales. Some
real coffee beans were also wrapped up for Sue, and then for eggs Bunny
used empty thread spools.
"Will that be all to-day, Mrs. Snifkins?" asked Grocer Huntley, when Sue
had put the things in her basket.
"Yes, that's all," Sue answered, placing two large black buttons on the
ironing board counter and getting back in change a small white button.
Sue went out with her "groceries," and soon came back for more. After
her third trip, by which time she had bought nearly everything in the
store, she said:
"Now I want to be storekeeper."
"All right," agreed Bunny.
Sue brought back the things she had pretended to buy, they were put on
the shelves again, and Bunny became a purchaser while Sue waited on
him.
Outside it still rained hard, as Bunny saw when he looked from the
window. But it was fun in the house, keeping store. The children kept on
taking turns, first one being the keeper of the store and then the
other, until Bunny suddenly had a new idea.
"Oh, I know what we can do!" cried the little boy.
"What?" asked Sue.
"We'll play hardware store," Bunny said. "I'm tired of having a grocery.
We'll keep hammers and nails and things like that."
"I think a grocery is more fun," said Sue.
"Nope! A hardware store is better," Bunny insisted. "I'll sell you
washboilers, basins, tin pans and things like that, and knives and
forks. We can have ever so many more of those things than we can have
groceries."
"Well, maybe we can," Sue agreed, doubtfully.
"I'll make a high-up shelf, like those in the hardware store down
town," went on Bunny. "I'll have things high up on the shelf, and I'll
climb up on a ladder to get 'em, as they do down town."
"What you going to climb up on?" Sue asked.
"The stepladder."
"What you going to make a high shelf of?" Sue inquired.
"There's another ironing board down in the laundry," Bunny answered.
"And I can get the washboiler and a lot of things. I'll put the other
ironing board away up there, across the top of the two doors."
"That'll be awful high," said Sue, looking to where Bunny pointed. The
pantry door and the one leading from the kitchen into the hall were
close together on one side of the room. By opening these doors half way
a board could be placed across their tops, making a high shelf. This was
soon done, and on this shelf the big tin washboiler was placed, and also
some tin pans from the pantry. Bunny climbed up on the stepladder to put
the shelf and things in place.
Other articles for a hardware play-store were placed on the lower
ironing board shelf, and then Bunny was ready for "Mrs. Snifkins" to
come again. Sue had her button money all ready, the store was in order,
and new fun was about to begin, when Mary, coming suddenly in from the
hall and not knowing what the children were doing, pushed wider open the
hall door.
Instantly there was a grand crash! Down came the upper shelf from the
tops of the doors. Down came the washboiler and a lot of tin pans. My,
what a racket there was!
And, worst of all, Bunny Brown himself was hidden from sight in that
mess of ironing board, washboiler, and other things!
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Sister Sue, dropping her basket and her button
money, which rolled all over the floor. "Oh, dear!"
"Bless and save us!" cried Mary, the cook. "What has happened?"
Bunny Brown said nothing.
CHAPTER II
FEEDING THE ALLIGATORS
Mrs. Brown came hurrying into the kitchen from the living room.
"What has happened?" she asked. "What was that crash?"
It needed only one look to show her what had happened and what had
caused the rattling, banging, crashing sound. On the floor, over and
around the two chairs and the large ironing board, were the smaller
board, the stepladder, the washboiler, two hammers, a lot of nails, many
bread, cake, and pie pans, and some knives and forks.
"Where's Bunny?" asked Mrs. Brown.
Well might she ask that, for Sue's brother was not in sight, nor had he
uttered a word since the accident.
"He--he's under there I--I guess," faltered Sue. She was not quite sure
where Bunny had gone when that terrible crash came.
"Yes, I see his legs! I'll pull him out, Ma'am," offered Mary. "Oh, I
hope nothing has happened to him!"
Mrs. Brown hurried to assist Mary in digging Bunny from under the
wreckage of his hardware store. And while they are doing that I will beg
a moment's time from those of you who have never before read any of
these books, to tell you something of the two children who are to have
some queer adventures in this present volume.
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue are well known to many of you children.
Bunny and his sister lived with their father and mother, Mr. and Mrs.
Walter Brown, in the town of Bellemere, on Sandport Bay, near the ocean.
Mr. Brown kept a boat and fish dock, and one of his helpers was Bunker
Blue, a young man who was very fond of Bunny and Sue.
In the Brown home were also Uncle Tad, who was Mr. Brown's relative, and
Mary, the good-natured cook. There was also Splash, a big dog. And I
might mention Toby, a Shetland pony. There were other pets to whom I
will introduce you from time to time. Toby had been away from the Brown
children for a while, but was now back again.
In the village were many friends of Bunny and Sue. Mrs. Redden, who kept
a candy store, was a very special sort of friend, and she gave the
biggest penny's worth of sweets for miles around. Mr. Gordon, as I have
told you, kept a real grocery store, and then there was Mr. Jed Winkler,
an old sailor who owned a parrot and a monkey named Wango. Mr. Winkler's
sister, Miss Euphemia, did not like either Polly or Wango.
Charlie Star, George Watson, Mary Watson, Sadie West, Helen Newton,
Harry Bentley, and fat Bobbie Boomer were all friends of the Brown
children.
Now that you know the names of most of the characters who are to appear
in this book, I might mention some of the other volumes. The first one
was called "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue," and told of their
adventures around home. Then they went to Grandpa's farm, they played
circus, they visited Aunt Lu in her city home, they went to "Camp
Rest-a-While," and then they went to the Big Woods. After that they had
exciting adventures on an auto tour, and you can imagine what joy was
theirs when they were given a Shetland pony, that was named Toby.
Bunny Brown and his sister were always thinking up new ideas, and when
they wanted to give a show few doubted but what they would succeed. They
did, and made a goodly sum for a home for the blind. One of the trips
the Browns made was to Christmas Tree Cove, and in the book of that name
you will find their adventures set forth. They also made a winter trip
to the South, and they had not long been back from that when the things
happened that I have just told you about--the grand crash in the
make-believe hardware store.
With the help of Mary and Mrs. Brown, Bunny was pulled from beneath the
wreckage. At first the little boy could hardly speak, and his mother, no
less than Mary and Sue, was beginning to get frightened. But suddenly
with a gasp Bunny found his voice, and his first question was:
"Did you get hurt, Sue?"
"No," she answered. "But I guess you did."
"Only a little crack on the head," Bunny replied, rubbing the place that
hurt. "But who knocked down my high shelf? Did Splash get in and wag his
tail?"
Sometimes the big dog did this with funny results.
"I guess I knocked down your shelf, Bunny," said Mary. "I'm sorry, but I
didn't know you had a board on top of the doors."
"Did you have that, Bunny?" asked his mother.
"Yes'm, I--I guess I did," Bunny had to admit. "It was a high shelf for
our hardware store. I had the washboiler up there!"
"No wonder there was a crash!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "It's a wonder you
weren't hurt!"
"I guess the big ironing board fell on the stepladder first, and stayed
there, and the rest of the things didn't hit Bunny because he was under
the board," explained Mary.
And that is about how it happened. Bunny was under a sort of arch formed
by the stepladder and the two ironing boards, and so was saved from
being hit on the head by the heavy things. One of the overturned chairs,
however, had struck him in the stomach, and this had rather knocked his
breath out, which made him unable to talk for a little while.
"Well, I'm glad it was no worse than this," said Mrs. Brown. "Mercy
sakes, though, the kitchen is a sight!"
"I don't mind! I'll clean it up," offered good-natured Mary. "The
children have to play something in the house when it rains out of
doors."
"Yes," agreed Mrs. Brown. "But they could have kept on playing grocery
store. They didn't need to make a high shelf and put the big washboiler
up on it to fall down when the door was moved the least bit!"
"I did that," confessed Bunny, anxious that Sue should not be blamed for
what was not her fault. "I didn't know anybody would push the door."
"Well, it's a mercy it was no worse," remarked his mother. "And now,
after you have helped Mary pick up the things, go on with your playing.
Can't you play grocery instead of hardware store, Bunny, my dear?"
"Oh, hardware store is nicer, and we have all the things now," Bunny
replied. "But I won't make any more high shelves."
The washboiler, the pans, and the scattered knives and forks were picked
up, and then Bunny and Sue went on playing, using only the low ironing
board shelf, which was made over the seats of two chairs. They took
turns keeping store and doing the buying, and had a great deal of fun.
But even making believe keep a hardware store gets tiresome after a
while, especially if there are only two playing, and after a while Bunny
Brown and his sister Sue wanted something else to interest them.
"'Tisn't raining quite so hard now," Sue observed, after a look from the
window.
"That's right!" cried Bunny. "Oh, say! Maybe we can go out in the barn
and feed our alligators!"
"That'll be fun," agreed Sue. "And I guess they're hungry; don't you,
Bunny?"
"Yes, I guess so. Let's go ask mother if we can feed 'em."
"I know she'll say yes, so I'll get some scraps of meat from Mary," said
Sue.
As the rain was slackening and as Mrs. Brown knew that the alligators
might need food, she told the children they could go out to the barn if
they put on their rubber boots and coats.
"Aren't you afraid the alligators will bite you?" asked Mary, as she cut
up some bits of meat for the children.
"Course not; we aren't afraid!" boasted Bunny. "They're only little
alligators, and they're real tame."
One of the long-tailed, scaly pets given to the children by Mr. Bunn had
been brought from the South where the Browns spent part of the winter,
and later Mr. Brown had gotten some others. The alligators were kept in
a tank of water in the barn. Bunny and Sue wanted the alligators kept in
the house, but Mrs. Brown insisted that the barn was the place for pets
of that sort.
Out into the rain storm, which was now almost over, went Bunny Brown and
his sister Sue to feed the alligators. There were three or four of the
scaly creatures, and as the children drew near the tank the alligators
came crawling out of the water up on some bits of wood and stone that
made a resting place for them. For alligators cannot stay under water
all the while, as can a fish. They must come out every now and then to
get air.
"Oh, look at Judy!" cried Sue, dangling a piece of meat in front of the
nose of one of the queer pets. "She's awful hungry!"
"And so is Jim!" said Bunny, feeding another of the creatures. They
lifted up their long snouts, opened their mouths, and took in the pieces
of meat.
"Where's Jumbo?" suddenly asked Sue. "I don't see him!"
"Maybe he got out!" said Bunny, for the largest of the pet alligators
was not in sight. Not that Jumbo was very large, for though he was the
biggest in the tank he was not more than ten inches long.
"Oh, here he comes!" cried Sue, as Jumbo swam up from the bottom of the
tank. "I guess he was asleep."
"I guess so," agreed her brother. "Here, Jumbo!" he went on. "Here's
some meat for you!"
"Jumbo's getting real big," said Sue, as she watched the largest of the
pets.
"And Judy is growing," added Bunny. "I wish we had had these 'gators
when we gave our show."
"Yes," agreed his sister. "Well, maybe we can have another show. Or we
could put the alligators in a store the next time we play."
"Yes," said Bunny. "Only maybe you couldn't wrap up a 'gator in a piece
of paper. He might bite his way out."
"That's so," said Sue. "Well, we could----"
But she did not finish what she was saying, for a loud barking suddenly
sounded outside the barn. At this noise Bunny and Sue started on a run
for the door.
CHAPTER III
SOMETHING IN A DESK
Splash, the dog, was barking loudly at something up in a tree near the
barn. Bunny and Sue could not see what it was, but it was something that
had caused Splash to get very much excited. He leaped up and down and
ran in circles about the tree, barking loudly all the while.
"It's a cat!" exclaimed Sue.
"Can't be a cat," Bunny answered. "Splash likes all the cats around
here."
"Maybe it's a strange cat," went on Sue.
"That's so," agreed Bunny Brown. "Here, Splash!" he called. "What you
barking at a cat for?"