CHAPTER XX
SPLASH RUNS AWAY
"Where is Bunny?"
"Bunny! Bunny Brown!"
"Come on in! The game is over and Charlie Star is it. He's going toblind next time, you won't have to!"
"Come on in, Bunny Brown!"
Thus called Helen, Sue and the others who were playing the game ofhide-and-go-to-seek. For Bunny had not been found, and he had not runup to touch "home," and be "in free."
Helen had not been able to find the little fellow, so well was hehidden.
"I can't think where he is," she said. "I looked all over."
"But you didn't find ME!" cried Sue, clapping her hands in fun.
"No, you were so close to me, back of the lilac bush, that I neverthought of looking there," said Helen. Sue had run "in free," as soon asHelen's back was turned.
"But where is Bunny?" everyone asked.
"Come on in!" they called.
But Bunny did not come.
"Let's all look for him," suggested Charlie Star. "Maybe he went awayoff down the street, or maybe he is out in the barn."
There was a barn back of the Brown house, in which Bunny's father keptsome horses used in his business. The children often played in the barn,especially on rainy days, when they did not go up to the attic.
"Let's look in the barn," Charlie went on.
"It wasn't fair to hide out there," Helen said. "That is too far away."
"Maybe Bunny didn't," suggested Sue.
"Well, we'll look, anyhow," went on Sadie.
Out to the barn trooped the children, but though they looked in thehaymow, and in the empty stalls (for most of the horses were out atwork) no Bunny could be found.
Then they went back to look around the house, in some of the nooks andcorners near which the others had hidden.
"Bunny! Bunny!" they called. "Why don't you come in, so we can haveanother game? You won't have to blind."
But Bunny did not answer.
Pretty soon Sue began to get a little frightened, and her playmates,too, thought it queer that they could not find Bunny, and that he didnot answer.
"Maybe we'd better tell your mother, Sue," Sadie said.
"Yes, for maybe he fell down a hole, and can't get up," suggested Helen.
They called once more, and looked in many other places, but Bunny wasnot to be found. Then into the house they went.
"Oh, Mother!" cried Sue, her eyes opening wide, "we can't find Bunnyanywhere, and he won't answer us."
"Can't find him!"
"Won't answer you!"
Mother Brown and Aunt Lu spoke thus, one after the other.
"We were playing hide-and-go-to-seek," explained Helen, "and Bunny hidhimself in such a queer place that we can't find him."
"Maybe it's just one of his tricks," said Aunt Lu.
"No, it can't be a trick," Charlie Star explained, "because Bunny likesto play the game, and he doesn't have to blind this time. We've holleredthat at him, but he won't come in."
Seeing that the children were really worried, Mrs. Brown and Aunt Lusaid they would come out and help search. They looked in all the placesthey could think of, and called Bunny's name, as did the others, but thelittle fellow was not found.
Even Mrs. Brown was beginning to get a little anxious now, and she wasthinking of telephoning for Mr. Brown to come home, when Bunny wassuddenly found. And it was the cook who found him.
The cook came out to the back door, near which stood the empty rain-waterbarrel, into which Bunny had climbed to hide. She took from theopen top a large towel which, a little while before, she had thrown overthe barrel to dry, and, looking down in, she cried out:
"Why here he is! Here's Bunny now!"
And so he was! Curled up on the bottom of the barrel, in a little roundball, and fast asleep, was Bunny Brown.
"Oh, we never looked in there!" exclaimed Sadie West.
"I thought of it," said Helen, "but I saw the towel spread over the topof the barrel, and I didn't see how Bunny could be under it, so I didn'tlook."
"Well, he's found, anyhow," said his mother, smiling.
They had all gathered around the barrel to look into it, the littlerones standing up on the box, by which Bunny had climbed in. Then Bunny,suddenly awakened, opened his eyes and saw his mother, his Aunt Lu, thecook and his playmates staring down at him.
"Why--why what's the matter?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Oh, Bunny, we couldn't find you!" cried Sue.
"Why, I was right here all the while," Bunny answered. "I climbed in thebarrel to hide."
"And didn't you hear us calling that you could come in free?" askedSadie.
Bunny shook his head.
"He was asleep," said Aunt Lu. "He must have fallen asleep as soon as hecurled up inside the barrel. That's why he didn't hear. Oh, you funnyBunny boy!" and she laughed and hugged Bunny, who was helped out of thebarrel by his mother.
"I never saw him down in there when I came to the door a while ago, andthrew the cloth over the barrel," explained the cook. "I thought thebarrel would be a good place to dry the towel. And to think I coveredBunny up with it!"
"If it hadn't been for the towel we'd have looked in the barrelourselves," said Charlie Star.
"I guess it was so nice and quiet and warm in the barrel that I went tosleep before I knew it," Bunny remarked.
"I guess you did," laughed his mother.
"Shall we play some more?" asked Helen.
"Oh, yes!" cried Bunny. "And I won't hide in the barrel again."
So the game went on, the children hiding in different places, some ofwhich were easily found, while others were so well hidden that it was along while before the one who "blinded" discovered them.
"Now let's play tag!" cried Sue, after a while. She liked this game verymuch, though her legs were so short that she could not run very fast,and she was often "tagged" and made "it."
"No, don't play any more just now," called Aunt Lu, coming down to theyard where the children were. "Come up on the porch. I have a littletreat for you."
"Oh, is it ice cream?" asked Bunny eagerly. "I hope it is. I'm so hot!"
"You'll have to wait and see," his aunt answered, with a smile.
"Oh, it's just as good as ice cream!" cried Sue, when she saw where heraunt had spread a little table, on the shady side of the porch.
"Lemonade!" murmured Bunny, as he saw the big pitcher which he and Suehad used at their street stand.
"And tarts--jam tarts and jelly tarts!" added Sue. "Oh! oh! oh!"
And that was the treat Aunt Lu had made for the children. There were twoplates of tarts, one with jam coming up through the three little roundholes in the top crust, and others in which jelly showed. Both were verygood. And the cool lemonade was good also.
"Oh, I just love to come over to your house to play, Sue!" said SadieWest.
"So do I!" chorused the other children.
"We do have such good times!" added Charlie Star.
"And such good things to eat," came from Harry Bentley. "Those tartsare--awful good!" and he sighed.
"Would you like another?" asked Aunt Lu, with a laugh in her eyes and asmile on her lips.
"If you please," answered Harry, as he passed his plate.
Then, after the children had rested, they played more games, until itwas time to go home.
One day, when Bunker Blue came to the Brown home, to bring up some fishMr. Brown had sent, Bunny, who was out in the yard with Splash, the bigshaggy dog, said to the red-haired youth:
"Bunker, you know lots of things; don't you?"
"Well, I wouldn't want to say that, Bunny. There's lots and lots ofthings I don't know."
"But you can sail a boat; can't you?"
"Oh, yes, I can do that,"
"Well, I wish I could. And do you know how to make a dog harness,Bunker? Do you know how to harness up a dog so he could pull an expresswagon?"
"Yes, I guess I know how to do that, Bunny."
"Then I wish you'd harn
ess Splash to my wagon," Bunny went on. "I'vetried and tried, and I can't do it. The harness breaks all the while,and when I put the handle of the wagon between Splash's legs he fallsdown--it trips him up."
"Of course," Bunker said. "You ought to have two handles to the wagon,and Splash could stand in between them, just as a horse is hitched to awagon."
"Oh, could you fix my wagon that way, Bunker?"
"I might, if your mother said it was all right."
"I'll ask her. And will you make me a harness for Splash?"
"I'll try, Bunny."
Mrs. Brown said she did not mind if Bunker fixed the wagon and made aharness so Bunny could hitch Splash to the express wagon, for the bigdog was kind and gentle.
"Oh, what fun Sue and I will have!" cried Bunny. "We'll get lots ofrides in the wagon."
It did not take Bunker long to make two handles, or "shafts," as theyare called, for Bunny's wagon. Then he made a harness for the dog--aharness strong enough not to break. One day, when all was finished,Splash was hitched to the wagon, and Bunny was given the reins. Theywent around the neck of Splash, for of course you can not put in a dog'smouth an iron bit, as you can in that of a horse.
Bunny found that he could guide his dog from one side to the other bypulling on either the right or left rein. And Splash did not seem tomind pulling the wagon with Bunny in it. He went around the yard verynicely.
"Oh, give me a ride, Bunny!" begged Sue, who came in just then fromhaving been down to Sadie West's house, having a dolls' party.
"Yes, I'll give you a ride, Sue," Bunny said. "Get in! Whoa, Splash!" hecalled. The dog did not "whoa" very well, but finally he stopped, andSue got in the wagon, sitting behind Bunny.
They drove around the yard for a while, and then Sue said:
"Oh, Bunny, let's go out on the sidewalk, where it's nice and smooth. Itwill be easier for Splash to pull us then." Bunny thought this would befun, so he guided the dog out through the gate. The wagon did go moresmoothly on the sidewalk, and Splash trotted a little faster.
"Oh, this is fun!" cried Bunny.
"I like it!" laughed Sue, who had her arms around Bunny's waist, so shewould not fall out backwards.
They had not gone very far before Sue cried:
"Oh, Bunny! Look! There's that yellow dog--the one that had the tin cantied to his tail--the one that upset our lemonade stand!"
"So it is!" said Bunny.
And, just at that moment, Splash also saw the yellow dog.
With a bark and a wag of his tail, Splash gave a big jump, nearlythrowing Bunny and Sue out of the wagon. Then the big dog began to runafter the little one.
"Whoa! Whoa!" cried Bunny, pulling on the reins. But Splash would notstop. Faster and faster he ran. He only wanted to see his little yellowdog friend again, and rub noses with him. But I guess the yellow dog wasfrightened when he saw the express wagon, with the two children in it,following after Splash.
Maybe the yellow dog thought the wagon was tied to the tail of Splash,as the tin can had once been to his own. And maybe the little yellow dogthought some one would now tie an express wagon to his tail. At any ratehe ran on faster and faster, And Splash, who just wanted to speak tohim, in dog language, ran on faster too.
"Bumpity-bump-bump!" went the wagon with Bunny and Sue in it.
"Whoa! Whoa!" called Bunny.
But Splash would not stop. He was running away, but he did not mean to.He just wanted to catch up to the little yellow dog who was running onahead.