Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Keeping Store
L >> Laura Lee Hope >> Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Keeping StoreThe only answer the dog made was to bark again.
Bunny and his sister, forgetting all about their pet alligators, ran to
the foot of the tree, up in which was something that had caused Splash
to cease his play in another part of the yard and run toward the barn.
The rain had now stopped, and the sun was getting ready to shine.
"What is it, Splash? What is it?" asked Bunny, trying to peer up among
the leaves of the tree.
"I see it!" suddenly cried Sue. "It's Wango, Mr. Winkler's pet monkey!"
"Oh, yes! I see it now!" called Bunny. "Here, Splash! Stop barking at
Wango!" ordered the little boy. "Don't you know he's a friend of yours?
Stop it, Splash!"
Splash finally ceased barking and sat down to look eagerly up into the
tree. He would not have hurt the monkey, for the two animals were good
friends. I suppose Splash had seen the monkey leaping from the branches
of one tree into another, and, not realizing that it was his friend
Wango, had given chase. Wango was a bit frightened at first, even by the
barking of his dog friend Splash, and had taken refuge in the tree near
the barn.
"Come on down, Wango! Come on down!" invited Bunny.
"Yes, please do," added Sue. "We won't let Splash hurt you. Don't you
bark any more, Splash!" she cried, shaking her finger at the dog.
Splash whined. He really only meant to have a little fun with Wango. But
the monkey did not come down. He clung to the tree branch with his hands
and tail and looked at the children, whom he well knew, for they were
kind to him.
"I know how to get him down," said Bunny. "You go into the house and get
a piece of cake for him, Sue. Take Splash with you. Then Wango won't be
afraid."
"All right," agreed the little girl. She was always ready to run errands
like this when she and Bunny could have fun. "Come on, Splash!" she
called, and the dog followed her, looking back once at Bunny, as if to
ask why the boy, too, was not following. But Bunny stayed near the tree
in which Wango still clung.
"Mother," cried Sue, tramping into the house in her rubber boots,
"please may Bunny and I have some cake for Wango?"
"You can't go over to Mr. Winkler's in the rain," said Mrs. Brown.
"You'd better stay out in the barn and feed your pet alligators."
"Oh, but the rain is over," Sue explained. "The sun is coming out. And
Wango isn't over at his own home. He's up in one of our trees. Splash
chased him up there, I guess, and barked at him. And he won't come
down--I mean Wango won't. And will you please keep him in here till I
take him out some cake. I mean," explained Sue, half out of breath, "you
please keep Splash here in the house while I take some cake out to Bunny
to feed Wango to get him down from the tree."
"My, what a lot of talk for a little girl!" laughed Mrs. Brown. "Well, I
suppose Wango has run away again from Jed. You and Bunny may take the
monkey back. Ask Mary to give you a bit of cake. I'll keep Splash in the
house."
Sue got the cake, but it was rather difficult for Mrs. Brown to keep the
dog in. He was eager to follow Sue back to the tree again. But it would
be hard work to get Wango down, once the monkey was frightened, if
Splash kept on barking, which he was pretty sure to do. He even barked
loudly, Splash did, while he was being held in the house by Mrs. Brown.
Sue ran out with the cake to Bunny, who was waiting beneath the tree.
"Is Wango there yet?" the little girl wanted to know.
"Yes," Bunny answered. "But he's coming down a little."
And the monkey came down still farther when he saw the cake, of which he
was very fond. He was soon perched on Bunny's shoulder, eating the
treat, Sue feeding him little pieces one at a time.
"Let's take him back to Mr. Winkler's house," suggested Bunny, as the
sun now came out bright and warm. "I guess the sailor will be looking
for him."
"Yes, I guess so," agreed Sue.
Wango had a great habit of running away from his master's home, and,
more than once, Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had taken back the
sailor's pet. This they now did again, and as they knocked at the side
door, Miss Winkler opened it.
"Here's your monkey back," said Bunny, after the first greetings.
"Huh! 'Tisn't _my_ monkey!" declared Miss Winkler. "It's Jed's! I
shouldn't ever worry if it never came home! Still, that isn't saying
it's your fault, Bunny and Sue. I know you mean to be kind, and Jed will
thank you, even if I don't. Wango, you rascal, why don't you stay away
when you run off? I don't want you around! What with the poll
parrot----"
"Polly wants a cracker! Polly wants a cracker!" shrieked the green bird.
"A fire cracker's what you ought to have!" sniffed Miss Winkler, who did
not like the two pets her sailor brother had brought back with him from
one of his voyages.
"Cracker! Cracker! Put the kettle on the fire! Polly wants a cracker!"
yelled the bird, and Wango began to chatter, the two of them making such
a racket that Miss Winkler held her hands over her ears while Bunny and
Sue could not help laughing.
"Stop it! Stop it!" yelled the maiden lady, and finally the monkey and
the parrot grew quiet.
"Put Wango in his cage, Sue, if you please," said Miss Winkler. "And
I'll tell Jed, when he comes home, how good you were to bring Wango
back--not that I want the creature, though. Well, it's cleared off, I'm
glad to see. And now maybe you two will have a piece of cake for
yourselves. I won't give Wango any, though!"
"Yes'm, I could eat a bit," said Bunny, with a smile.
"I like it, too," added Sue.
The children were soon having a lunch of cake and milk. Though Miss
Winkler was a bit fussy over her brother's pets, yet she had a good
heart, and she liked Bunny and Sue.
Through the little mud puddles, left after the rain, Bunny and Sue
splashed their way back home. Their mother saw them coming, and, as
Splash was making a great fuss at being kept in the house, she let the
dog out. He ran to meet the children.
"What'll we do now?" asked Bunny, when they had told their mother about
taking Wango home.
"Let's go down and wade in the brook," proposed Sue. "We have our boots
on, and we won't have 'em on to-morrow. We'll have to go to school then,
anyhow. So let's go wade in the brook now."
"All right!" agreed Bunny. "And we'll sail boats!"
With their dog, the children were soon splashing in the shallow brook,
made a bit higher on account of the rain. They found some boards and
made a raft, on which they pushed themselves about the wider part of the
brook. Splash climbed on the raft with them, and the children pretended
they were Robinson Crusoe on a voyage.
"Well, we had a lot of fun to-day," sighed Bunny in contentment, as he
and Sue were going to bed that night. "Lots of fun!"
"Yes," agreed his sister. "And to-morrow we have to go to school."
"Oh, well," Bunny remarked, "maybe we'll have fun there." The children
had been kept at home on account of the heavy rain.
"We won't have any fun like the hardware store shelf falling down on
you," laughed Sue, as she remembered the queer accident.
"No, I don't want anything like that," said Bunny. "Once is enough."
Early the next morning the children were ready for school. But, almost
at the last minute, Bunny could not find his large pencil box.
"Where did you have it last?" his mother asked him.
"Oh, I remember! I saw it in the barn!" exclaimed Sue.
"That's right--we were playing school there day before yesterday," said
Bunny. "I'll get it!"
He ran to the barn, got the pencil box, thrust it into his bag with his
books, and trotted along with Sue.
Having to hunt for his pencil box at almost the last moment nearly made
Bunny and Sue late for school. But they slipped into their seats just as
the last bell was ringing. After the morning exercises, Bunny placed his
pencil box and the books he did not need to use right away in his desk
and went to his reading class.
It was when Bunny was doing his turn at reading up near the front
platform that Sadie West, who sat in the seat next to Bunny, gave a
sudden little cry.
"What is the matter, Sadie?" asked Miss Bradley, the teacher.
"Oh! Oh, if you please, Teacher, there's something in Bunny Brown's desk
making faces at me!" exclaimed Sadie.
"Something making faces at you? What do you mean, Sadie?" asked Miss
Bradley in surprise. "What is it?"
"It--it's a--a mouse!" cried the little girl.
"A mouse?" repeated the teacher.
"Yes'm! A mouse in Bunny Brown's desk!" and Sadie screamed.
At this some of the other children screamed, and there was much noise
and confusion in the schoolroom.
CHAPTER IV
THE CORNER STORE
"Quiet, children! Quiet!" ordered Miss Bradley. "This is school, not the
playground at recess. Now, Sadie," she went on, as soon as there was a
little quiet in the room, "tell me again, and be careful what you say.
What did you see?"
"Please, teacher, I saw a mouse in Bunny Brown's desk, and he made a
face at me. I mean the mouse made a face at me--not Bunny!" Sadie made
haste to explain, for she saw Bunny look at her when she made the
statement about his desk and the mouse.
Sadie had left her seat beside Bunny's desk, and was now up front.
"How many other girls saw the mouse in Bunny's desk?" asked Miss
Bradley.
No one answered.
"Raise your hands if you are afraid to speak," said the teacher, with a
smile. She was beginning to believe that Sadie had imagined it all, or
else that an edge of a book had looked like a mouse.
None of the girls raised her hands except Sadie West.
"Did any boy see the mouse?" Miss Bradley next asked.
"No, but I wish I had!" exclaimed Charlie Star. "If I'd see it I'd grab
it!"
The other pupils giggled on hearing this.
"Quiet, children! Quiet!" begged the teacher again.
"Are you sure, Sadie, that you saw a mouse in Bunny Brown's desk?" asked
Miss Bradley.
"Yes'm, I'm sure I did," was the answer.
"Bunny, did you bring a mouse to school?" Miss Bradley next asked. "I
mean a pet mouse, for I know you and Sue have many pets. Did you bring a
mouse to school, Bunny?"
"Oh, no, Teacher! I wouldn't do such a thing!" Bunny declared very
earnestly.
"I didn't believe you would," said Miss Bradley, with a kind smile. "I
think Sadie must be mistaken. But still, to quiet her--and all of you,"
she added, looking at the pupils, "I will look in Bunny's desk. I am
quite sure I will find nothing more than a book or a piece of paper that
may have moved, making Sadie think it was a mouse."
Miss Bradley went to Bunny's desk. All the desks in the room were of the
sort with a lid that raised up and down on hinges, like the cover of a
box. As Miss Bradley came near Bunny's desk she noticed that the top was
raised a little way, leaving a crack of an opening. Bunny had put one of
his books in hurriedly, and the desk lid rested on this.
As the teacher raised the desk lid and looked in, the room was very
quiet. Some of the girls almost held their breaths. One of them covered
her eyes with her hands, lest she might, by accident, see the mouse.
Sadie West leaned forward eagerly, anxious, in a way, that a mouse
should be found, for that would make her story true, and she was sure,
in her own mind, that she had seen a mouse. Bunny, too, looked eagerly
at Miss Bradley, and so did Sue, from the other side of the room.
"Grab a book, everybody!" said Charlie Star in a hoarse whisper to the
other boys. "Grab a book, and if the mouse runs out we'll bang him!"
Charlie was an active little chap, almost as lively as Bunny Brown
himself.
Miss Bradley heard what Charlie said and, with the desk lid half raised,
she said:
"No, boys! No throwing of books, if you please! Should there be a mouse
in the desk I can call the janitor to get it out."
"Oh, let me get it out!" begged Bunny.
There was no time to say more, for now Miss Bradley had Bunny's desk lid
fully raised. She looked inside for a moment, then with a queer look on
her face she closed the desk again and moved away.
"Did you see it, Teacher? Did you see the little mouse--same as I did?"
eagerly asked Sadie.
"No," answered Miss Bradley. "There isn't a mouse in the desk, but there
is a little alligator!"
"Alligator!" cried the girls--that is, all but Sue.
"Alligator!" shouted the boys.
"Let's see it!" cried Charlie Star.
"Quiet, children! Quiet!" ordered Miss Bradley. Then, turning to Bunny
she asked: "Did you bring that little alligator to school?"
"No'm," Bunny answered.
"Is it yours?" went on Miss Bradley.
"Well, I have some pet alligators home," Bunny admitted. "Half of 'em's
Sue's. We got one of 'em down South, and Daddy bought the rest. But I
didn't bring any to school. If you let me look I can tell if it's mine
or Sue's."
"I'll help!" offered Charlie Star. "I know Bunny's alligators, too!"
"No, let Bunny manage his own pets," said the teacher. "Come here,
Bunny, and see what really is in your desk. I can't understand how an
alligator would get in there if you didn't bring it."
Bunny opened his desk cover, the other boys wishing they had his chance
to "show off" this way right in the school room. Bunny looked inside and
then laughed.
"Yes," he said, "it's Judy, the littlest alligator. She won't hurt
anybody."
"But how did it get to school?" asked Miss Bradley.
"It's in my big pencil box," Bunny answered. "I brought my pencil box to
school this morning, but I didn't open it and----"
"Teacher! Teacher! I know!" exclaimed Sue, raising her hand to show that
she had something to tell.
"Well, how did it happen?" asked Miss Bradley.
"If you please, Teacher," said the little girl, "Bunny's pencil box was
out in the barn where we keep the alligators. He left it there when we
played school the other day. This morning Bunny couldn't find his pencil
box, but it was out in the barn. He brought it in from there and we came
to school."
"And I guess," said Bunny, finishing the story his sister had started,
"that Judy climbed into my pencil box in the night and went to sleep
there and I didn't see her."
This seemed to be as good an explanation as any, and was probably the
way it had happened. Anyhow there was the little alligator in the
pencil box inside Bunny's desk. The scaly creature had crawled in and
then out, and when Bunny went up to recite the little creature had
thrust its snout out beneath the partly raised lid. It was this that
Sadie West had seen and thought was a mouse.
"Well, Bunny," said Miss Bradley, "I know it wasn't your fault, so we'll
say nothing more about it. Only, after this, please look in your pencil
boxes before you bring them to school."
"I will," promised Sue's brother.
"And now I'll excuse you from class while you take your alligator home,"
went on Miss Bradley.
"I can help him, Miss Bradley, if he wants me to," offered Charlie Star.
"I know a lot about alligators."
"No, thank you," replied the teacher with a smile. "This alligator is so
little I think Bunny can manage it alone. Now we will go on with our
lessons!"
There was something like a sigh of disappointment among the children.
For they had all welcomed the happening, since it gave them a sort of
recess. But now they must pay attention to their books.
Bunny shut Judy up in his pencil box, as the easiest way of carrying the
little alligator, and soon he was on his way home with his pet.
"Why, Bunny! what's the matter?" his mother asked, as he came into the
house. "Why are you home?"
"I had to bring back one of the alligators," he explained.
"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Tad. "Like Mary's lamb, the alligator followed
you to school one day, did it, Bunny?"
"She didn't 'zactly follow me," Bunny explained, as he took his pet out
to the tank in the barn. "I carried Judy in my pencil box, but I didn't
know it."
Bunny went back to school and finished his lessons. And all the
remainder of the day, when the pupils had a chance to speak, they talked
of nothing but Sadie West, the "mouse" and Bunny's pet alligator. It was
very exciting, all together.
When Bunny and Sue reached home that afternoon they found their mother
on the steps waiting for them.
"I'll take your books," she told the children, "and I want you to go to
the store for me. Mary started to bake a cake and found, at the last
moment, she was out of baking powder. I want you to go for a box. You
needn't go all the way to the big store. Stop at the little one on the
corner--Mrs. Golden's, you know. She sometimes has the kind I want. Go
to the corner store and get the baking powder."
"All right!" exclaimed Bunny, and he and Sue hurried off. They knew
where Mrs. Sarah Golden's little corner store was located--just a few
blocks from their home, much nearer than the big store where Mrs. Brown
generally traded. Bunny and Sue had been in Mrs. Golden's store before,
but not often, as it was rather out of the way, and such a small place
that Mrs. Brown was afraid things would not be as fresh as at the larger
grocery. Besides groceries, Mrs. Golden also kept "notions"--that is,
pins, thread, hooks and eyes, and things like that. She also had candy
and a few toys for sale.
"Her store isn't much bigger than our play store was, is it?" asked
Bunny of Sue, as they reached Mrs. Golden's.
"Not much," agreed Sue. "Didn't we have fun when we played store?"
"Lots!" agreed Bunny. "And didn't the boiler make a big racket when it
fell down?"
He and Sue laughed at remembering this, but their laughs died away as
they entered the little corner store and heard groans coming from behind
one of the counters. Groans and sighs greeted the children as they
opened the door. No one was in sight.
"Oh, Bunny!" exclaimed Sue, frightened, "what you s'pose has happened?"
CHAPTER V
A NEW PUPIL
Though Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had not often bought things in
Mrs. Golden's store, they knew the woman who kept the place, and she
knew them, for she often called them by name as they passed when she was
out in front. But now Mrs. Golden was not in sight, though the groans
that came from behind one of the counters seemed to tell that she was
there.
"Oh, Bunny, I'm afraid!" whispered Sue, standing in the opened door with
her brother. "Don't let's go in!"
"Why not?" Bunny asked.
"'Cause maybe burglars have been here and maybe they've hurt Mrs.
Golden!"
"Well, if they have, then we've got to help her," decided Bunny. "But
burglars don't come in the daytime. They come only at night time."
"That's so," agreed Sue, growing bolder.
And then the groans stopped and the voice of an old lady said:
"Who is there, my dears? Some children, I know by your voices, but I
can't see you. Don't be afraid, but come and help me."
"Where are you, and what's the matter?" asked Bunny.
"I'm down behind the notion counter," went on the voice. "I stepped up
on a box to reach something from the shelf, and I slipped and fell. I'm
not badly hurt, thank goodness, but I'm sort of wedged in here between
the box and the wall, and I can't get up. If you can pull the box out
I'll be all right."
"We'll do that!" cried Bunny, and he ran around behind the notion
counter, on the side of the store where the needles, pins, and spools of
thread were kept. Sue followed her brother.
There, just as Mrs. Golden had said, they found the old lady
storekeeper. She was lying on the floor with a small packing box so
wedged between her back and the side wall that she could not easily get
up, especially as she was old and feeble.
"Oh, it's Bunny Brown and his sister Sue!" exclaimed Mrs. Golden, when
she saw the children. "I'm so glad you came in! I was hoping some one
would come in to help me. The breath was sort of knocked out of me when
I fell, and I could only grunt and groan for a few minutes."
"We heard you," said Bunny.
"And I thought it was burglars," added Sue.
"Bless your hearts!" exclaimed Mrs. Golden. "Burglars wouldn't come to
my poor, little store. Now just pull the box out and I'll be all right."
Bunny and Sue tugged at the box on which Mrs. Golden had been standing
when she slipped and fell. It was hard work, but they managed to pull it
out, and then Mrs. Golden, with a few more grunts and groans, could get
up.
"Oh, my poor back!" she exclaimed, as she sank into a chair outside the
counter.
"Is it broken?" asked Sue anxiously.
"No, not quite," was the answer, with a little smile. "But it's
strained, and I expect I'll be lame for a while. Philip always told me
not to stand up on things to reach the top shelves, and I guess he was
right."
"Who is Philip?" asked Bunny.
"Philip is my son," was the answer. "He's a grown man, and he has to go
off to work every day, though he helps me in the store as much as he
can. I wouldn't want him to know I fell. It would only worry him, and he
might make me give up my store. And I don't want to do that. I'm feeling
better now. I'll be all right in a little while. Did you want something,
my dears?" she asked, for she must not forget that she was a
storekeeper.
"We wanted some baking powder," said Sue. "But we aren't in any hurry."
"We are in a _little_ hurry," said Bunny. "'Cause Mary's got a cake
partly made, but maybe----"
"Oh, I have baking powder," said Mrs. Golden quickly. "And I'll be glad
to sell it to you. If I sold more things I'd make more money. Let me see
now; I'm feeling sort of queer in my head on account of my tumble, but
baking powder--oh, it's on one of the high shelves. I--I'm almost afraid
to reach up for it."
"Oh, let me get it!" eagerly begged Bunny. "I like to climb up. I'd like
to get it! I like to keep store!"
"So do I!" added Sue. "We played store the other day, and a lot of
things fell down when Mary closed the door. We had a high shelf, too."
"Yes, one needs high shelves in a store," said Mrs. Golden. "But, Bunny,
do you think you can reach up and get the baking powder?" she asked. "I
can point it out to you."
"Sure, I can get it!" declared the little boy. "I'd love to."
"We don't want you to fall again," said Sue.
"That's very kind of you," replied Mrs. Golden. "Well, the baking powder
is on the other side of my store--the grocery side. There it is," and
with a bent and trembling finger she pointed out the tin boxes.
"Oh, that's an easy climb!" exclaimed Bunny, and he soon proved that it
was by clambering up and getting the box of baking powder he wanted.
Then he paid for it.
The children asked Mrs. Golden if they could help her further. She said
she was feeling better and would soon be all right.
"But don't climb up any more," warned Sue.
"That's right," echoed Bunny. "Maybe we could help you tend store, Mrs.
Golden. I'm a good climber."
"Yes, Bunny, I notice you are," said the old lady, with a smile. "And it
is very kind of you, but you see I never could tell when some one might
come in and want something from a high shelf. Unless you stayed here all
the while it wouldn't be of much use."
"No, that's so," the little boy admitted. "I'd like to stay here all the
while, though. I like to keep store!"
"So do I," added Sue.
"But children must go to school," said Mrs. Golden, with a smile. "I'll
have to get my son Philip to put all the things on low shelves, I guess.
Then I can reach them without climbing up. Run along now, Bunny and
Sue. Your mother will be waiting for that baking powder."
Bunny and Sue told their mother what had happened at the store.
"Poor old lady!" sighed Mrs. Brown. "She is very poor, I'm afraid. We
must buy more of our things there, Mary. It will be a help to her."
"Yes'm, it will," agreed the cook. "I often stop there when I want
something in a hurry. She and her son are honest and hard-working."
"And I worked, too!" said Bunny. "I helped her tend store. I climbed up
and got the baking powder."
"That was kind of you. But you, too, must be careful, son," his mother
told him.
On their way to school the next day Bunny and Sue went past Mrs.
Golden's store to ask how she was. They found her smiling and cheerful,
little the worse for her tumble.
"My son Philip is going to make me some lower shelves," she said.
"Then I can help reach things down for you," exclaimed Sue, with a
smile.
"Yes, dearie," murmured Mrs. Golden.
"Wouldn't it be fun if we had a little store like that?" said Sue to
Bunny, as they hurried along, to school. "I mean a real store, with real
things to sell, and we could take in real money."
"Yes, it would be lots of fun!" agreed Bunny. "But I don't s'pose it
will ever happen."
However, something very like that was to happen, almost before the
children knew it.
"Yes," went on Bunny, when they had almost reached the school, "it would
be dandy to have a store like Mrs. Golden's!"
"Maybe you will have some day--when you grow up," replied Sue.
"That's a long way off," sighed Bunny, as he looked down at his little,
short legs.
There was nothing to disturb the school classes that morning. No pet
alligators were found in the desk of Bunny or any of the other pupils,
and neither Sadie West nor any of the other girls thought she saw a
mouse.
However, something happened in the afternoon. It was a warm day, early
in summer, though the long vacation had not yet come. The windows were
open and the bright sun streamed in.