CHAPTER XXIII
AN AUTOMOBILE RIDE
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had often talked about giving a Punch andJudy show. They had often seen one, at picnics or at church sociables,and Bunny knew by heart a few of the things Mr. Punch had to say. He didnot stop to think that perhaps he could not get behind the curtain, andmake the little wooden figures do the funny things they were supposed todo. And he did not know where he could get the queer little doll-likefigures.
"But I can do something, anyhow," said Bunny, who was a very ambitiouslittle boy. Ambitious means he was always willing to try to do things,whether or not he was sure he could really do them.
"What can I do?" asked Sue. "I want to make Aunt Lu happy."
"Well, you can be Mrs. Judy part of the time," her brother answered,"and you can pull the curtains over when Mr. Punch has to change hisclothes, and things like that. I'm going to be Mr. Punch."
"And wear the lobster claw?" asked Sue.
"Yes, on my nose. That's what I got it for. I can make little holes ineach side, and put strings in them, and tie the lobster claw on my nosewith the string around my head."
"It will be fun, Bunny. I wish it were time for the show now."
"Oh, we've got lots to do," said the little boy. "We've got to tellSadie and the rest of 'em, and we've got to get tickets, and put up atent."
"A tent!" cried Sue. "Where is a tent?"
"That's so," admitted Bunny, looking puzzled, "We haven't got a tent.But we can have the Punch and Judy show in our barn," he went onquickly, "and you can stand at the door and take the money, and selltickets--that is, when you aren't being Mrs. Punch."
"Aunt Lu won't have to buy a ticket, will she?" Sue wanted to know.
"Course not!" Bunny cried. "She's company. 'Sides, we're making the showfor her, so she won't be so sad about her ring."
"I wish we could find it for her," Sue sighed.
"So do I," came from Bunny. "But I guess we never shall. Now we must goand tell Sadie and Helen and the others about the show."
"Are they going to be in it?" asked his sister.
"No, they won't be Mr. or Mrs. Punch, but we want them to buy ticketsand come."
"How much are tickets?"
Bunny thought for a moment.
"We'll charge pins and money--money for the big folks, pins forchildren."
"That will be nice," said Sue, "'cause children can always get pins offtheir mothers' cushions, but they can't always get money. What will wedo with the pins, Bunny?"
"Sell 'em. Mother will buy 'em, or maybe Aunt Lu will. No," he saidquickly, "Aunt Lu is company, and we don't want her to buy pins. We'llgive her all she wants for nothing."
"And what will we do with the money, Bunny?"
"We'll give it to Old Miss Hollyhock, same as we did the lemonade money.Then she'll sure be rich."
"That will be nice," Sue murmured.
The first thing to do was to tell the other children about the comingPunch and Judy show. This Bunny and Sue did, going to the differenthouses of their playmates. Everyone thought the idea was just too finefor anything.
"I'll lend you some of my old dresses, Sue, so you can look real funny,like Mrs. Punch," said Sadie.
"And I have a red hat I got at a surprise party," said Helen. "You canhave that."
"Thanks," laughed Sue. "Oh, I know we'll have fun."
Harry and Charlie said they would help Bunny.
"But making the box-place, like a little theatre, where Mr. Punchstands, is going to be hard," Harry said, shaking his head.
"I'll get Bunker Blue to help us," said Bunny. "We could ask Uncle Tad,but we don't want any of the folks to know what it is going to be untilit's time for the show."
"Oh, Bunker can make the little theatre, all right," Charlie said. "Andwe can help him."
"George Watson would like to help," suggested Harry. "He has been realnice since he let the frogs loose on us."
"We'll ask him, too," decided Bunny.
Bunker Blue was very glad to help the children build a Punch and Judyshow.
"And I won't tell anyone a thing about it," he promised. "We'll keep itfor a surprise."
Bunker was just the best one Bunny could have thought of to help. ForBunker worked around Mr. Brown's boats, and could get pieces of wood,boards, nails and sail-cloth, to make a little curtain for the tinytheatre where Bunny would pretend to be Mr. Punch.
The day after Bunny and Sue had thought of the plan to make Aunt Lu notso sad, by giving a little entertainment for her, the children went outin the barn to practise. Their playmates came over to help, though therewas not much for them to do, since Bunny and Sue (and more especiallyBunny) were to be the "whole show."
Banker had not yet made the tall, narrow box, inside of which Bunny wasto stand, and pretend to be Mr. Punch, but they did not need it forpractice.
Bunny and Sue had told their mother they were going to have a "show" outin the barn, but they did not say what kind, nor tell why they wantedit. But they had to say something, so Mrs. Brown would let them playthere, and also let them take some of their old clothes, in which to"dress-up."
"Have as much fun as you like," said Mrs. Brown, "but don't slide downin any hens' nests with eggs in them," she added to Sue.
"I won't, Mother."
Bunny fixed the hollow lobster claw, with a string in a hole on eitherside of it, so he could tie it on his nose. Bunker bored the holes forhim with a knife, and cut the claw so it would fit, and when Bunny putthe queer red claw, shaped just like Mr. Punch's nose, on his face, thelittle boy was so funny that all his playmates laughed.
Then, too, when Bunny talked, his voice sounded very different from whatit did every day. If you will hold your nose in your hand, and talk, youwill know just how Bunny's voice sounded.
"Oh, it's too funny!" laughed Sadie. "I know it is going to be a lovelyshow! Your Aunt Lu will be very much surprised."
When Bunny practised in the barn he did not wear the lobster claw on hisnose, except the first time, to see how it looked.
"It's too hot to wear it all the while," he said, "and it makes me wantto scratch my nose, and when I do that I can't talk. So I'll put theclaw away, and I'll only wear it the day of the show."
Of course Bunny and Sue could not give a Punch and Judy play like thereal one, which, perhaps, you have seen. They did not have the woodenfigures, like dolls, to use, and they were too small to know all thethings the real Mr. Punch says and does.
But Bunny knew some of them, and really, for a little boy, he did verywell. At least all his playmates said so.
In a few days Bunker Blue had the little theatre made, and as he broughtit up to the Brown barn in a wagon, carefully covered over, no one couldsee what it was. George Watson had been asked to help, and he had madetickets for the play. The tickets, which George printed with some rubbertype, read:
FINE BIG SHOW BY BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE In Their Barn Five Pins or Five Cents To Come In Pins Are for Children PLEASE COME
"They're fine tickets," said Bunny, when George showed them to him. "Ihope we sell a lot."
And several persons did buy them, paying real money for them. Bunny andthe others said they were trying to help Old Miss Hollyhock, which wasone reason for giving the show. The other was to make Aunt Lu feel morehappy. And when the people heard what Bunny and Sue planned to do, theygladly bought one ticket, and some even more. Though not all of themwould really go to the show.
One day Bunny and Sue went down to Mrs. Redden's toy shop. She bought aticket from them, and Sue and Bunny each bought a penny's worth ofcandy. Coming out of the store, the children saw an automobile,belonging to Mr. Reinberg, who kept the dry-goods store. He was justgetting out of the automobile.
"Oh, Mr. Reinberg, please give us a ride!" begged Bunny.
"All right," answered the store-keeper. "Get in, and I'll give you aride; that is if your mother will let
you go," and he hurried into thepost-office, which was near Mrs. Redden's store.
"Get in, Sue," said Bunny. "We'll have a fine ride."
"Oh, but he said if mamma would let us. We'll have to ask her."
"Well, we can ask him to ride us up to our house, and we can tell mamma,there, that we're going," said Bunny. "Then it will be all right."
So he and Sue got in the back part of the automobile, the door of whichwas open. The children sat up on the seat, waiting for Mr. Reinberg tocome out of the post-office, but he stayed there for some time. Bunnyand Sue thought it would be fun to sit down in the bottom of the car,and pretend they were in a boat. Down they slipped, making a soft nestfor themselves with the robes, or blankets, which they pulled from theseat.
Mr. Reinberg came out of the post-office. He was in such a hurry that henever thought about Bunny and Sue's having asked him for a ride. He justshut the door of the car, took his place at the steering wheel and awayhe went. He did not see the children sitting down in the bottom, partlycovered with the robe. For Bunny and Sue, just then, were pretendingthat it was night on their make-believe steamer, and they had "gone tobed."
And there they were, being given an automobile ride, and Mr. Reinbergdidn't know a thing about it. Wasn't that funny?