CHAPTER XVI
THE LEMONADE STAND
Bunny Brown tried to clap the cover quickly back on the box, but he didnot quite do it. It went on crooked, and when Charlie Star tried to helphe only made it worse, so that the cover went spinning to one side.
Suddenly some little green animals began hopping from the box. Out theyhopped, and then they began jumping in all directions, among the littleboys and girls.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" screamed the girls, as they started to run.
Some of the boys--the smaller ones--also ran, but they did not scream.
Bunny Brown and Charlie Star were the only boys who did not run.
"Oh, Bunny! What is it? What are they?" cried Sue, looking over hershoulder as she ran toward the house.
"It's snakes! I saw 'em! Big green snakes," insisted Sadie West.
"Oh, what a mean boy George is, to scare us so!" said Helen.
Then Bunny Brown laughed, and so did Charlie. Hearing this the girlsstopped screaming, and the boys stopped running.
"What is it?" asked Sue again. "Did they bite you, Bunny?"
"Nope," he answered, still laughing, "they can't bite me!"
"Why not?" his sister wanted to know.
"'Cause they're only frogs. They won't hurt anybody!"
And that is what was in the box that George had tossed over the fenceinto the midst of the party-guests--a box of big, green frogs that hehad caught at the mill pond. George wanted to scare Bunny and Sue fornot asking him to their dog's party. But the little scare was soon over,and the children only laughed at the frogs.
The green hoppers jumped this way and that, through the grass, and Bunnyand his friends did not try to catch them.
"They're looking for water," Bunny said.
Splash saw that something queer was going on, and he ran up to see whatit was. He barked at some of the frogs, as they hopped through thegrass, but did not try to bite them.
"And to think George fooled us with frogs," laughed Charlie. "When I seehim I'll tell him we just like frogs, and they didn't scare us a bit."
"I thought they were snakes, at first," Sue said. "That's why I ranaway."
"It was not a very nice trick," said Aunt Lu. "But still it did no harm.Now for another game, and I think there are a few more tarts left."
"Oh, goodie!" cried the children.
There were enough tarts for each one to have another, and, when they hadbeen passed around, after a lively game of Puss-in-the-corner, the partywas over. Everyone said he had had a fine time, and when Bunny Brown andhis sister Sue asked their guests to come again, each one said:
"I surely will!"
"I guess everybody would be glad to come to another party like it," saidSadie West to Helen Newton, as they walked home together.
"I'm sure of it," answered Helen. "And wasn't Splash nice!"
"Yes, he's a lovely dog. I wish I had one I could have a party for."
"You could give a party for your cat, some day," said Helen.
"Oh, so I could! And I will, too--maybe next week. I wish Sue's Aunt Luwould bake some tarts for me."
"Maybe she will."
"I wonder if it would be polite to ask her?" inquired Sadie. "I'll speakto mother about it."
"Well, did you like your party, Splash?" asked Bunny, as he patted theshaggy dog on the head, when all the little guests had gone.
Splash did not say anything, of course. But he wagged his tail, andwalked over to where he had buried the bone Sadie had brought him. So Iguess Splash did like the party as much as did the children. And he hadseveral good things to eat, which, after all, is what most parties arefor.
One day Aunt Lu read a story from a magazine to Bunny and Sue. It toldabout some boys who, on a warm day, set up a lemonade stand under ashady tree, in front of their house, and sold lemonade at a penny aglass. The money they made they sent to a church society, that took poorchildren out of the hot city to the cool country for a week or so.
Sue noticed that Bunny was very quiet after Aunt Lu had read the story,and, as the two children went out into the yard, the little girl asked:
"What are you thinking about, Bunny?"
"Lemonade," he answered.
"Were you thinking you'd like some? 'Cause I would."
"Well, I would like some to drink," Bunny admitted, "but I was thinkingwe could make a stand, and sell lemonade ourselves. I could fix up a boxfor a stand, and I could squeeze the lemons."
"I'd put the sugar in," Sue said. She was always willing to help. "Butwhere would we get the ice and the lemons and the sugar?"
"Oh, mother would give them to us. I'm going to ask her."
"And what would we do with the money, Bunny?"
The little fellow thought for a minute. There was in his town no churchsociety, such as Aunt Lu had read about. The money made from sellinglemonade must go to the poor, Bunny was sure of that. All at once hiseyes grew bright.
"We could give all the money to Old Miss Hollyhock!" he said. "She isterribly poor."
"Old Miss Hollyhock," as she was called, was an aged woman who lived ina little house down near the fish dock. Her husband had been a soldier,and when he died the old lady was given money from the government--apension, it was called. Still she was very poor, and she was called "OldMiss Hollyhock," because she had so many of those old-fashionedhollyhock flowers in her garden. Her real name was Mrs. Borden.
"We could give the money to her," Bunny said.
"Oh, yes!" Sue agreed. "She needs it."
"Then we'll have a lemonade stand," decided Bunny.
Mrs. Brown said she did not mind if Bunny and Sue did this. A number ofthe children in Bellemere had done this, at different times, and some ofthe larger boys and girls had made even as much as five dollars, givingthe money to the church, or to the Sunday school.
"Of course you won't make as much as that, Bunny," his mother said, "butyou may take in a few pennies, and it won't do you any harm to sit inthe shade and sell lemonade."
"Will you buy some?" asked Sue.
"Oh, I guess so," Mrs. Brown answered, smiling.
So she gave the children the ice, sugar and lemons, and they made a bigpitcher of lemonade. Bunny set up a box under a tree in front of thehouse, covering the box with a clean white cloth. Then with the pitcherand glasses on a serving tray, he and Sue were ready for business.
"Lemonade! Lemonade!" they called, just as had done the children in thestory. "Lemonade, in the shade, nice and cold, just fresh made!"
One man did stop and buy some.
"My, that's good!" he said, as he finished the glass. "How much is it?"
"A penny," Bunny said.
"Oh, only a penny? Why, that glass of lemonade was worth five centsanywhere! It was just sweet enough, and just cold enough. Here!" and theman laid a five cent piece down on the stand and walked off.
"Oh, isn't that good!" cried Bunny, his eyes fairly dancing with joy ashe looked at Sue.
"It's just fine!" she answered. "What a lot of money!"
But few were as generous as the kind man, and most of those who drank atthe lemonade stand just laid down pennies.
Bunny and Sue had taken in quite a few pennies, and the pitcher wasnearly empty of lemonade.
"I'll go in and make more as soon as we sell it all," Bunny said.
"We'll have a lot of money for Old Miss Hollyhock," observed Sue. "Shewill be rich, then, won't she, Bunny?"
"I guess sixteen cents isn't rich. But we did better than I thought wewould. Oh, look!" suddenly cried Bunny. "There's a dog, and some one hastied a tin can to his tail!"
Down the street, yelping and barking, came a small yellow dog, and,bounding after him, bumping about and scaring him, was a big, empty tincan, tied to the dog's tail.
"Oh, Bunny!" cried Sue, "he's coming right here. He'll upset ourlemonade stand!"
"That's what he will," Bunny agreed. "Hi, there! Stop! Go the other way!Shoo!" he cried, waving his arms at the dog, while Sue took up thenearly empty lemonade pitcher.
On came the frightened dog, straight for the stand and the two children.