Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Keeping Store
L >> Laura Lee Hope >> Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Keeping Store"Oh! Oh!" screamed Sue. "Look out, Bunny!"
CHAPTER XI
THE LAST DAY
Mrs. Golden was too surprised to do or say anything. She just stood
still, looking up at Bunny. As for the little boy, he had been so
startled that he almost let go his hold on one of the upright pieces of
wood that held up the shelves. But he did not quite unclasp his hand,
and so he clung there. Sue was dancing up and down in her excitement.
Then into the store rushed a big dog, barking and leaping about, his
eyes fixed on that scrambling object in brown fur which had sprung to
the highest shelf.
"Mercy me! What's that?" cried Mrs. Golden.
"It's Wango, Mr. Winkler's monkey," Sue answered.
And that is what it was.
Wango had got loose--nothing new for him--and had wandered out into
the street. There a strange dog, catching sight of the animal, had
chased him. Bunny and Sue knew it was a strange dog, for their own dog,
Splash, and most other dogs in the neighborhood, were used to Wango and
liked him. They seldom ran after him or barked at him. But this was a
strange dog.
[Illustration: "GO ON OUT OF HERE!" SUE ORDERED.
_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Keeping Store._ _Page_ 109]
"Go on out of here!" Sue ordered this dog. The animal stood looking from
her to Wango on the high shelf, barking loudly now and then. "Go on out
and let Wango alone!" Sue ordered.
The dog did not seem to want to go, however, and Mrs. Golden was getting
a bit worried. She feared the monkey would leap about and knock down
many things from her shelves.
"Wait a minute," called Bunny Brown. "I've got the pepper. I'll come
down there and make the dog sneeze with it if he doesn't go out."
Bunny started to climb down, but there was no need for him to sprinkle
pepper on the dog's nose to make him sneeze. For just as Bunny reached
the floor in came Jed Winkler himself, looking for his pet monkey. Mr.
Winkler drove out the strange dog, closed the door, and then coaxed
Wango down from the high shelf.
"Did he do any damage, Mrs. Golden?" asked the old sailor. "If my monkey
did any damage I'll pay for it."
"No, he didn't do any harm," she answered. "He just startled us all a
little."
"Wango's a good monkey, but he will run away," said Mr. Winkler, petting
his furry companion. "I'm glad he didn't do any damage. My sister said
he'd be sure to this time, but I'm glad he didn't."
"He's a good climber," said Sue. "If you had a monkey, Mrs. Golden, he
could reach things down from the high shelves for you, when your son
goes off after leg-legacies."
"I'm afraid, dearie, that a monkey would be more bother than he was
worth to me, just to lift things down off high shelves," laughed the old
lady. "Wango is a lively chap, though."
"What's this about a legacy?" asked Mr. Winkler, for he was an old
friend of Mrs. Golden.
"I don't count much on it," she answered. "Philip has gone to see about
it. I got word that an uncle of mine had died and left some money and
property. We may get a share of it and we may not."
"I hope you do!" exclaimed Mr. Winkler. "I most certainly hope you do!"
So did Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, for they were getting quite fond
of Mrs. Golden, and liked to buy things at her store.
When the children were on their way home with the pepper, Mr. Winkler
walking with them part of the way carrying Wango on his shoulder, Bunny
said:
"When I keep a store like that I'm going to have a monkey to reach
things down off the high shelves for me."
"He might get the wrong things," Sue objected.
"Maybe he would first," said Bunny. "But I'd train him. It would be fun
to have a monkey in a store, wouldn't it, Sue?"
"Lots of fun!" agreed Sue.
"My goodness, children!" laughed Mary, as they entered the kitchen with
the pepper, "it took you quite a while, and I was in a hurry. Didn't
Mrs. Golden have any pepper?"
"Yes, but Wango got in the store," explained Bunny. "When I keep a store
I'm going to keep a monkey, too!"
"Bless and save us, what does the child mean?" murmured Mary, but she
did not stop for an answer, as she was in a hurry to get the supper on
the table.
Some days after this, during which time Bunny Brown and his sister Sue
had had much fun with their playmates keeping store and doing other
things, the two children came down dressed to go to school. But they
were singing and laughing in a way they seldom did unless something
different was happening, or going to happen.
"Bless and save us!" exclaimed Mary, as she saw Bunny and Sue start out
of the house hand in hand. "You're very joyful this morning. What's
going on?"
"It's the last day of school!" explained Bunny, laughing still more.
"We'll have hardly any lessons," Sue added. "And when we come home
to-day we don't have to go back to school for a long, long while. It'll
be vacation!"
"Oh, so that's the reason!" laughed Mary. "No wonder you feel so pert
and chipper--no school! Well, have a good time when you're young."
Bunny and Sue certainly had good times if ever children did.
As Sue had said, there were hardly any lessons at school that day.
Reports were to be given out, little gifts were to be made to the
teachers, and there were to be "exercises." That is, the pupils would
recite or sing in their different classrooms.
Bunny and Sue were each to "speak a piece," and they had been preparing
for some time, going over their recitations each night at home to make
sure they would not forget and stumble and halt when they stood on the
platform.
Miss Bradley was such a great favorite with her children that many had
brought her little gifts.
These were placed on her desk, and then, after a few lessons, which no
one took very seriously, Miss Bradley read the class a story. Then came
the speaking of "pieces."
This was always one of the things that took place on the "last day," and
was much enjoyed. No one had to recite unless he or she wanted to, and
so no one was nervous or afraid, except about forgetting the lines.
Sadie West recited a verse about bees and flowers, and very pretty it
was, too. Sue had picked out a funny verse about a little mouse, a trap,
and a piece of cheese. I think most of you know it, so I'll not tell you
about it.
Then came the turn of fat Bobbie Boomer. Bobbie was funny just to look
at, and he was funnier when he got up to recite. He had picked out as
his recitation that old, old poem about Mary and her lamb, for it was
easy for him to remember that.
Now Bobbie had been very sure that he would not forget any of the verses
when he got up on the platform. He had practiced his "piece" at home
over and over until he knew it "by heart," and could almost say it in
his sleep, his father remarked.
But when Bobbie got up on the platform and after he had made a funny,
jerky, fat, little bow, all of a sudden every word of that poem seemed
to slip from his mind! He stood there, looking around the room, now up
at the ceiling and now down at the floor. His face grew red, and he
began pulling at the buttons on his coat.
Miss Bradley felt sorry for him, and she laid her finger over her lips
when she heard some of the children beginning to laugh.
"What is the name of your selection, Bobbie?" the teacher asked kindly.
"It--it's about Ma--Mary and her--her little lamb!"
"That's a cute little poem. Don't be afraid. I'll start you off, and
then perhaps you can remember the rest. Now begin," and Miss Bradley
said the first line.
This helped Bobbie very much, and he got along all right until he came
to the verse about the lamb following Mary to school. Bobbie got as far
as, "It followed her to school one day which was----"
And there poor Bobbie "stuck." He couldn't think what came next.
"It followed her to school one day--school one day--one day," he said
slowly.
"Yes," said Miss Bradley kindly. "And what comes next, Bobbie? Was it
right for the lamb to follow Mary to school?"
Miss Bradley wanted Bobbie to say, "which was against the rule," but
Bobbie couldn't just then remember that. Suddenly his eyes opened wide.
He pointed to the back of the room, where a clattering sound was heard,
and cried:
"Look! Look what's coming in!"
CHAPTER XII
WATERING THE GARDEN
Instantly all the children turned around to look at what Bobbie Boomer
was pointing to. And gasps of surprise came from Bunny Brown and Sue, as
well as from the other pupils and the teacher.
For, standing in the doorway of the classroom, which was on the ground
floor, was Toby, the Brown's Shetland pony. He stood there looking in,
the wind blowing his fluffy mane and forelock, and his bright eyes
looking around the classroom as if for a sight of Bunny and his sister.
"Oh, Toby!" cried Bunny. He had spoken out loud in school, but as it was
the last day it did not so much matter.
"He came to school, just like Mary's lamb!" exclaimed Charlie Star.
Fat Bobbie Boomer seemed to be forgotten, but the sight of the pony
appeared to have brought back to the little boy's mind the line he had
missed.
"Which was against the rule!" he suddenly exclaimed.
Every one laughed, even Miss Bradley, and she added:
"Yes, it was against the rule for the lamb to follow Mary to school, and
I suppose it's just as much against the rule for the pony to follow
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue."
"Please, Teacher, he didn't follow me!" said Bunny.
"Nor me!" added Sue. "We didn't know he was coming! He was in the stable
when we came from home."
This was very true, and they were all wondering how it had happened that
Toby had followed the children. It was something he had never done
before, and, though he was a great pet, he was not exactly Mary's
lamb--he did not follow Bunny and Sue everywhere they went.
"Suppose, Bunny, you take Toby out of the room," suggested Miss
Bradley, for the Shetland pony did not seem to want to go of his own
accord. "Can you manage him?" the teacher asked.
"Oh, yes, I can ride home on his back, if you'll let me," said the
little boy.
"School is almost over for the day, and also for the term," said the
teacher with a smile. "You may be excused."
But Bunny did not have to leave. For just then in came Bunker Blue, the
young man who worked for Mr. Brown at the fish and boat dock.
"Oh, you're in here, are you?" asked Bunker, speaking to Toby and taking
hold of the thick mane of the little horse.
"Did he run away?" asked Bunny of Bunker. "Did he get out of his stall?"
"Not exactly," explained the tall young helper. "I was taking him down
to the blacksmith shop to have new shoes put on him. I left him in front
of the hardware store while I went in to get something for your father,
Bunny, and when I came out Toby had slipped from his halter. I didn't
know where he was until some one said they saw him come into the
schoolhouse."
"He hasn't done any harm," remarked Miss Bradley.
"How did he get loose from the pony cart?" Sue asked.
"He wasn't hitched to the pony cart," answered Bunker Blue. "I was just
leading him by the halter, but I guess I didn't have it strapped tight
enough. Come along, Toby," he added. "I guess you've said your lessons,"
and the whole class, teacher and all, joined in the laugh which Bunker
Blue started.
Toby whinnied, which was his way of laughing, I suppose, and then Bunker
Blue led him forth from the classroom. So Bunny didn't have to leave
school to ride his pet home, though I believe the little boy would have
been very glad to do so--as would, in fact, any boy in the class.
"Well, now we will go on with our exercises," said Miss Bradley. "Can
you remember your recitation now, Bobbie?"
The appearance of Toby seemed to have had a good effect, for Bobbie
began again about Mary and her lamb, and gave all the verses, without
forgetting a single line. Every one clapped his or her hands when he
finished and made his bow.
In turn the other children recited. Then came the singing of some songs
in which the whole school joined in the big assembly hall, and the "last
day," ended.
"Now for the long vacation!" cried Bunny Brown, as he raced out of the
schoolyard with the other boys.
"And lots of fun!" added Charlie Star.
"We'll go camping!" said George Watson.
"And sail boats!" added Harry Bentley.
The girls, too, were no less joyful. They talked of what they would do,
of the play parties they would have and of picnics in the woods.
"Will you play store any more?" asked Mary Watson of Sue.
"Oh, I guess so," was the answer. "Bunny and I like that fun. Bunny
wants to keep a real store when he grows up. Sometimes he lifts things
down from the shelves for Mrs. Golden in her store."
Laughing, shouting, tagging each other, and running away, talking of
what they would do during the long vacation, the school children ran on
through the streets of Lakeport.
"Let's have a race!" cried Bunny.
"I can beat you!" declared Charlie Star.
Off they ran, feet fast flying, and Bunny was first to reach the
hitching post in front of his house, this being the end of the race
course for that particular time.
"Did Bunker Blue come back with Toby?" asked Bunny of his mother, after
he had been given a piece of bread and sugar by Mary.
"No," was the answer. "But how did you know Bunker had Toby out? He
didn't come for him until after you went to school," said Mrs. Brown.
"Oh, Toby came to school!" explained Sue, laughing.
"Toby came to school?" repeated her mother.
And then the story was told amid much laughter.
Just before supper Bunker Blue came back with Toby, and the children
were allowed to hitch the Shetland pony to the basket cart.
"Do you want anything from the store?" asked Bunny, as he took his seat
beside Sue and grasped the pony's reins.
"Better ask Mary," was the reply.
And, as it happened, Mary wanted some sugar.
"We'll get it at Mrs. Golden's," called Bunny, as he drove out of the
yard.
"My, the children are getting fond of that old lady store keeper," mused
Mary, as she went back to her kitchen work.
"I'm glad to have them," said Mrs. Brown. "It does children good to
learn to be kind and thoughtful toward others. And, from what I hear,
Mrs. Golden needs help. Her son works, but does not earn much, and she
can't make a very good living from so small a store. We must buy what we
can from her."
"Trust the children for that!" laughed Mary. "They'd run there all the
while if we'd let them. Bunny was telling me Mrs. Golden had something
the matter with one of her legs."
"Oh, no. He said she expected a legacy," explained Mrs. Brown. "That
means she hopes to get a little property or some money from a relative
who has died."
"Oh, I thought it was her legs, poor old lady!" said Mary. "Rheumatism,
or something like that."
"Mrs. Golden isn't very well able to get around," admitted Mrs. Brown.
"But that has nothing to do with a legacy."
Bunny and Sue drove up to the door of the little corner store.
"My, but you're coming in style!" exclaimed Mrs. Golden, when she saw
them. "Are you going to buy me out?"
"No, we just want some sugar," said Bunny. "We're going to get five
pounds, 'cause we can carry it in the pony cart."
"Yes, if it wasn't for the cart I'd be a bit afraid to give you so much
as five pounds," said Mrs. Golden, as she went slowly behind the counter
to weigh out the sweet stuff. "You might drop it. But it'll be safe in
the pony cart. You'll be like a regular grocery delivery."
"Do you deliver things?" asked Sue.
"No, dearie. I can't afford to have a delivery wagon and a horse, to say
nothing of one of those automobiles. And it wouldn't pay me to hire a
boy, even when Philip is away. Sometimes he takes heavy things that are
ordered, but mostly folks carry away what they buy. Let's see, now, how
many pounds did you say, Bunny?"
"Five, Mrs. Golden. And please may I scoop it out of the barrel?"
"Well, yes, maybe; if you don't spill it."
"I won't spill any!" promised Bunny eagerly. "And may I put it on the
scales? You see I'm going to keep a store when I grow up," he went on,
"and I'll want to know how to weigh things on the scales."
"I hope you make more money than I do," sighed Mrs. Golden. "Now be
careful of the scoop, dearie!"
Bunny felt quite proud of himself as he leaned down in the sugar barrel
and dipped up the sweet, sparkling grains. Mrs. Golden guided his hands
as he poured the sugar into the scoop of the scale, and of course she
watched to make sure the weight was right, for Bunny was hardly old
enough to know that.
But he did it nearly all himself, and he told his father so that evening
after supper.
"My! I'll have to be on the lookout for a vacant place to rent so you
and Sue can keep a store during vacation," replied Mr. Brown, laughing.
"Oh, we don't want to start a store unless Mrs. Golden gets her legacy
so she'll be rich," declared Sue. "If we had a store she wouldn't sell
so much and she'd be sorry."
"Well, maybe that's so," agreed her father, with a smile. "We'll wait
until we find out about the legacy before we start you and Bunny in the
store business. When will Mrs. Golden know about it?"
"When her son Philip comes back. He's gone to see about the legacy,"
said Bunny.
When they went to bed that night Bunny and Sue talked of what they would
do during the long vacation. On account of some business matters, Mr.
Brown could not take his family away that summer until about the middle
of August. This left them with a good part of the vacation to spend in
Bellemere, and the two children were beginning to plan for their fun.
One of the first things Bunny found to do the next morning--the first
morning of the vacation--was to water the garden.
"May I take the hose and sprinkle?" he asked.
"If you don't get yourself wet through," his mother answered.
"I'll be careful," Bunny promised.
There was a vegetable garden at the side of the house, a garden which
Uncle Tad had made and of which he was very proud. As there had been no
rain for some days the garden was in need of water.
The hose was attached to the faucet, for Uncle Tad had been watering the
garden the night before, and he had gone away, leaving word that if any
one had time to spray more water on the vegetables they should do so, as
the ground was very dry.
"I like to water the garden," said Bunny, and he took great delight in
directing the stream from the hose over the cabbages, beets and potatoes
which were coming up.
After watering for some time Bunny began to feel hungry, as he often
did, and started in to ask Mary for some bread and jam. He laid the hose
down, with the water still running, but he turned the stream so it would
spray on the grass and not on the garden, so it would not wash out any
of the growing things.
Bunny was coming out again, with a large slice of bread and jam, when
from the front street he heard a man's voice crying:
"Here! Look out what you're doing! Be careful with that hose! You're
soaking me!"
"Oh, oh!" cried Bunny Brown. "Sue must have picked up the hose that I
left and squirted water on somebody!"
CHAPTER XIII
HELPING MRS. GOLDEN
Almost dropping his slice of bread and jam, so excited was he, Bunny
Brown ran toward the hose. Before he reached it, for it was around the
corner of the house, he heard the man's voice again calling out:
"Here! Stop that I say! Can't people go along the street without being
wet with water from a hose? Pull your hose farther back!"
"Sue! Sue! Don't do that! Be careful! You're wetting some one," cried
Bunny, as he ran along, not yet seeing the hose. But he could guess what
had happened.
Sue, coming along and seeing the hose turned on, with the water spurting
out, had picked up the nozzle end and was watering the garden. Only she
held the hose so high that the water shot over the high front hedge and
was wetting some man passing in the street.
That is what Bunny thought. But that is not what had happened.
Just before he turned the corner of the house he heard the man's voice
once more saying:
"Say, isn't it enough to wet me once? What are you keeping it up for? I
am trying to get out of the way, but you follow me. I'm coming in and
see about this!"
Something very like trouble seemed about to happen.
"Sue! Sue!" cried Bunny, still thinking his sister was to blame. "Let
that hose alone!"
But when he turned the corner of the house and could see the garden, Sue
was not in sight. And, stranger still, no one was at the hose. There it
lay, still spurting water out on the thick, green grass.
Who had picked up the nozzle and sprayed the unseen man in the street?
If it was Sue where had she gone?
"Sue! Sue!" called Bunny. "Were you playing with the hose?"
Sue's head was thrust out of the window of her room upstairs.
"What's the matter, Bunny?" she asked.
"Oh, you're up there, are you?" exclaimed the little boy, much
surprised. "Were you down here at the hose?"
"No. I'm getting dressed. I haven't been down in the yard at all yet."
"Then who did it?" thought Bunny. "I wonder----"
But just then a man, who seemed to have been out in a rain storm without
an umbrella, came hurrying around the side path. He caught sight of
Bunny standing near the hose.
"Look here, my little boy," said the man, trying not to speak angrily,
though he was rightfully provoked, "you must be more careful with your
hose. You have wet me very much. Does your mother know you are doing
this?"
"She--she knows I'm watering the garden," Bunny answered.
"Does she know you were watering me?" asked the man, with a half smile.
"No--no, sir," replied the small boy. "I didn't wet you!"
"You didn't! Then who did?"
"I--I don't know," stammered Bunny. "I left the hose here while I went
in to get some bread and jam. Here's some of it now," and he held out
what was left of his slice. "I heard you calling, and I thought maybe it
was my sister Sue. Course she wouldn't 'a' done it on purpose. But it
wasn't Sue. She hasn't been downstairs yet."
"Then who was it?" insisted the man. "Surely the hose didn't wet me all
by itself."
"No," admitted Bunny. "But it might have been Mr. Winkler's monkey."
"Who's Mr. Winkler's monkey, and how could he wet me with a hose?"
demanded the man.
"His name is Wango--I mean the monkey's is," explained Bunny. "Sometimes
he gets away and does things. He climbed up on Mrs. Golden's
shelves--she keeps a store. Maybe Wango got loose and came over here and
picked up the hose to get a drink or something, and so wet you."
"Well, that's possible," admitted the man. "And if that's the case I beg
your pardon. Do you see Wango around here?" he went on, while Sue,
looking from her upper window, wondered who the stranger could be.
"No, I don't see Wango," replied Bunny, looking about. "But I'll look
for him. Maybe he's hiding."
"Maybe he is," and the man now laughed. "I'll help you search. For if
the monkey is up to tricks like that he ought to be stopped. He may wet
some one else if you go away and leave the water turned on."
"That's right," agreed Bunny.
He left the hose, still spurting, on the grass, and, followed by the
man, walked around the yard, looking for Wango. But the mischievous
monkey was not in sight, nor did he come when Bunny called, though Mr.
Winkler's pet nearly always did this.
"I guess he isn't here," said Bunny at length. "But I didn't wet you
with the hose."
"Then who----" began the man, but he stopped short to point and cry:
"Look at that!"
As Bunny and the stranger were walking back toward the hose, Splash, the
big dog, ran out from under the back porch and took hold of the hose in
his teeth. He began to shake it as he often shook things with which he
played.
"There!" laughed the man. "That's how I was sprayed! Your dog picked up
the hose after you left it, and raised it high, so the water shot over
the hedge and on me! Now the mystery is explained! It was the dog that
did it!"
And so it was.
"Splash!" cried Bunny. "Drop that hose!"
Splash dropped it, and with a bark came running up to be petted. He did
not know he had done wrong.
"I'm very sorry," said Bunny. "Splash, you're a bad dog!" he declared,
and Splash drooped his tail between his legs.
"Oh, don't scold him," the man begged. "I like dogs, and I know they
don't like to be scolded any more than we do--or than boys or girls do.
It wasn't his fault. He thought the hose was left there for him to play
with."
"Is anything wrong?" asked Mrs. Brown. Sue had told her mother about a
strange man, all wet, in the yard talking to Bunny, and Mrs. Brown had
come down to see about it.
"Just a little accident," explained the stranger. "I was passing in the
street when it suddenly began to rain--or at least I thought at first it
was rain. Then I knew it was some one using a hose and spraying me. I
called to them, but that did no good, and I came in. I saw this little
boy and the hose, and naturally thought he had wet me by accident. But
it seems it was his dog," and he explained how it had happened.
"I am very sorry," apologized Mrs. Brown. "If there is anything I can
do----"
"Oh, I will soon dry in the sun!" laughed the man. "I wasn't really
angry, only I know children will get careless when they have a hose, and
I was going to tell them to be more careful. But I don't suppose I can
make Splash understand," and he patted the dog, whose tail was now
wagging again.