Laura Lee Hope - Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp Rest A While

L >> Laura Lee Hope >> Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp Rest A While

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"I'm afraid not," said Mr. Brown. "This fox is so scared that he'll run
for miles. He'll never come back this way again. Well, we haven't found
Tom Vine yet; have we?" and he looked at Bunny and Sue.

"No, and you never will find him," said Mr. Trimble. "Boys are no good.
Tom ran away from you same as he did from me. But maybe I was a little
too harsh with him. I wouldn't lock him up in a dark smoke-house,
though. That's no place for a boy."

Bunny and Sue were glad to hear the farmer say that.

"Well, we'd better be getting on to the village," said Mr. Brown. "Come
along, children."

"Oh, let's wait for Splash to come back," said Bunny. "I don't want him
to be lost."

CHAPTER XX

IN BUNNY'S TRAP

Pretty soon Splash was seen coming over the hills. He did not run fast,
for he was tired from having chased the fox. The dog was wet and muddy,
too.

"Oh, Daddy! What happened to Splash?" asked Bunny, as the dog came
slowly along, and stretched out in the shade of a tree.

"Did the fox bite him?" Sue wanted to know. "If he did I don't like
foxes, and I don't want Bunny to catch any in his trap."

"No, the fox didn't bite your dog," said Mr. Brown. "I guess he just ran
away from Splash. And Splash tried to catch him, and ran through mud and
water until he got all tired out. You don't like foxes, either, do you,
Splash?"

Splash barked once, and did not even wag his tail. That one bark must
have meant "No." And I guess Splash was too tired to wag his tail, as
he always did when he was happy, or pleased.

"Maybe he'd like a drink of water," said the farmer. "I'll bring him
some from the well. It's good and cold. I'm going to drink some myself,
as it's a hot day. I could give the children a glass of milk," went on
Mr. Trimble to Daddy Brown. "I've got plenty up at the house."

"Oh, I don't want to trouble you," said the children's father.

"It's no trouble!" said the farmer. "My wife will be glad to give them
some. Come on, Splash!" he called. "We'll get you a cold drink after
your run. So the fox got away from you same as that boy Tom Vine ran
away from me."

Mr. Trimble was smiling and laughing now. Somehow or other he did not
seem as mean and cross as he once had. Bunny and Sue were beginning to
like him now. He was quite a different man from the one who had called
at Camp Rest-a-While looking for Tom.

Splash eagerly drank the cool water, and then he rolled in the grass to
get some of the mud off his coat. Mrs. Trimble brought out some milk for
Bunny and Sue, and also a plate of molasses cookies, which they were
very glad to have.

"Sit down under this shady apple tree," said Mrs. Trimble, "and help
yourselves. Maybe you'd like a glass of milk," she said to Mr. Brown.

"Well, I don't care much for milk, except in my tea and coffee," he
said. "Thank you, just the same."

"How about buttermilk?" asked Mr. Trimble. "That's what I like on a hot
day, and she's just churned."

"Yes, I should like the buttermilk," returned Bunny's father, and soon
he was drinking a large glass.

"What funny looking milk!" remarked Sue, as she helped herself to
another molasses cookie from the plate in front of her. "It's got little
yellow lumps in it, Daddy."

"Those are little yellow lumps of butter," said Mr. Brown. "To make
butter, you know, they churn the cream of sour milk. And when the
butter is all taken out in a lump, some sour milk is left, and they call
that buttermilk. Would you like to taste it, Sue?"

Sue, who had drunk the last of her glass of sweet milk, nodded her curly
head. But when Daddy Brown put his glass to her lips, and just let her
sip the buttermilk he had been drinking, Sue made such a funny face that
Bunny laughed aloud.

"Oh--oh! It--it's sour--like lemons!" cried Sue.

"Yes, it is sour!" said Mr. Brown. "But that is why I like it."

"I like molasses cookies better," said Sue, as she took a bite from one
to cleanse away the sour taste in her mouth. "You can make just as good
cookies as my mother or my Aunt Lu can," said Sue to Mrs. Trimble.

"Can I? I'm glad to hear that," said the farmer's wife, with a smile.
"Have some to put in your pockets."

"Oh, I'm afraid you've given them too many already," objected Mr. Brown.

"Molasses cookies won't hurt children; nor milk won't either," the
farmer said. "Any time you're over this way stop in. I'm sorry you can't
find that boy Tom. And I'm sorry I was a bit cross with him, or maybe
he'd be here yet. But I haven't seen him."

Splash was rested now, and clean. And he had had a good drink of cold
water, so he was ready to start again. The children, too, felt like
walking, and, after having thanked the farmer and his wife, Mr. Brown
set off once more with Bunny and Sue, Splash following behind.

"Come again!" Mrs. Trimble invited them.

"We will, thank you," answered Daddy Brown.

"She's real nice; isn't she?" asked Bunny, when they were once more in
the road.

"Yes," said Daddy Brown.

"And I like that farmer, too," said Sue. "I didn't like him at first,
when he shook his fist and was so cross, but I like him now."

"Yes, he is different from what he was at first," returned her father.
"But I'm afraid we've seen the last of Tom. He must have run away. Maybe
he was afraid, after all, that Mr. Trimble would stay cross, and would
try to get him back onto the farm. Well, it's too bad, for Tom was a
nice boy, but it can't be helped."

"I'd like Tom back," said Bunny.

"So would I," added Sue.

"What's the matter, Splash?" asked Mr. Brown, for the big dog had run up
the side of a little hill along the road, and was barking at a hole in
the ground.

"Maybe he thinks the fox lives there," said Bunny.

"Maybe," said Daddy. "Come on, Splash. Even if that is the hole of the
fox he isn't there now. You chased him too far away. Come on!"

But Splash did not want to come. He pawed away the dirt at the side of
the hole, and put his sharp nose down inside it.

"There must be _something_ there, Daddy," said Bunny, standing still,
and looking up the hill at the dog. "Let's go and see what it is."

"If it's a fox I'm not going!" cried Sue, holding back.

"I don't believe it's a fox," said Mr. Brown. "But we'll take a look.
I'll carry you, Sue, and then, even if it is some animal in the hole,
you won't be afraid."

Sue didn't mind going closer if her father carried her, and soon the two
children, and Mr. Brown, were looking down into the hole at which Splash
was barking.

All at once a light brown animal, covered with fur, and larger than the
muskrat Splash had barked at in the lake, stuck its head out of the
hole.

"Oh, look!" cried Bunny. "It's a little bear!"

"No, that's a ground-hog, or woodchuck," explained Mr. Brown. "They
won't hurt you. This must be the old father or mother, and there may be
little ones in the hole, or burrow, so the old folks want Splash to go
away."

But Splash did not want to go. He barked louder than ever at the sight
of the woodchuck, and pawed at the dirt with his fore paws. But he could
not reach the brown, furry animal.

"Come away, Splash!" called Mr. Brown.

Still Splash barked.

Then, all at once, the woodchuck thrust out his head quickly, and made
a grab for one of Splash's paws. The dog howled, and ran down the hill.

"There!" exclaimed Mr. Brown. "Now I guess you'll leave the woodchucks
alone, Splash."

"Oh, is Splash hurt?" asked Bunny, for the dog was running along on
three legs, holding the other up off the ground.

"Oh, I guess he isn't hurt much," Mr. Brown said. "Come here, Splash,
until I look at your foot."

Splash limped up. He was not badly bitten. The woodchuck had just
pinched him to drive him away. Splash looked at the hole and barked. But
he did not offer to go near it again. So the old lady, or old gentleman,
ground-hog--whichever it was--with the little ones, was left safe in the
burrow on the side of the hill.

Mr. Brown, Bunny, Sue and Splash went on to the village. They bought the
things Mother Brown wanted and then started for camp again. Nothing much
happened on the way back. Mrs. Brown was told of the visit to Mr.
Trimble's, and how the fox ran out of the smoke-house.

"And now," said Bunny, as his father finished telling what had happened,
"now I'm going up to see if we've caught a fox or a ground-hog in my box
trap. Come on, Sue."

"All right. I'm coming, Bunny, but if it is a fox or a ground-hog, you
won't let him bite me; will you?"

"Course I won't, Sue!" said the little fellow, picking up a stick from
beside the sleeping-tent. "Come on!"

Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were soon at the place where Bunny had
set the box-trap, with the stone on top to hold it down, in case an
animal got beneath.

"Now go easy, Sue!" whispered Bunny, as they crept through the bushes.
"If there's a fox, or anything else, just going in, we don't want to
scare him away."

"No," said Sue. "I won't make any noise."

She walked along quietly behind her brother. Now they were in sight of
the box-trap Bunny had made.

"Is--is anything in it?" Sue asked.

"Yes, I think so," her brother answered. "Don't make a noise. The box is
down, and I guess something is under it. I hope it's a fox."

"I don't," said Sue. "Foxes bite."

"Well, you can sell 'em for a lot of money," argued Bunny. "And maybe I
could train this one. But maybe it's only a ground-hog."

"I don't like them either," said Sue, "'cause one bit Splash."

"Say, what kind of animals _do_ you like?" asked Bunny, turning to look
at his sister. "What would you like me to catch in my trap?"

"A nice kitty cat," said Sue quickly. "Then I could have her to play
with, and she'd like me and my dolls. Couldn't you catch a nice white
kitty cat, Bunny?"

Bunny did not answer. He was looking at his box trap. His eyes opened
widely.

"Oh, look, Sue!" he cried. "Look! My trap is moving! Something big is
under the box!"

CHAPTER XXI

BUNKER GOES ASHORE

"Bunny! Bunny! I--I want to go home!" cried Sue.

"What for?" asked her brother. "It's nice here, and I've got something
in the trap, Sue."

"I know it, Bunny. I can see it move. That's why I want to go back to
camp."

"Are you 'fraid, Sue?"

Sue nodded her head, and clasped closer in her arms the doll she had
brought with her.

"Wait until we see what's in the trap--under the box," said Bunny. "I'll
lift it up and look under. If it's a fox I won't let him out."

Bunny started toward the box that was still moving slowly about on the
big flat rock where Bunny had set his trap.

"Don't you touch it!" cried Sue. "Don't lift up the box, Bunny!"

"Why not?" he asked.

"'Cause the fox might get out and bite us. Let it alone."

Bunny stood still and looked at the box. It had stopped moving for a
while. Then it began again, going about in a sort of circle.

"Why--why!" cried Sue. "It's just like Blind Man's Buff!"

And, really, that is how the box moved about, just like some boy or
girl, with a handkerchief tied over his or her eyes, trying to move
about to catch someone, and yet trying not to bang into a tree or the
fence.

"The fox, woodchuck, or whatever it is under my box," said Bunny Brown,
"can't see which way he's going. That's why the box jiggles around so
funny. But I'm going to see what's under it."

"If you lift it up, I'm going back to camp," declared Sue, turning back.

"But I want to see what it is!" cried Bunny. "I've caught an animal, and
I want to look at it!"

You remember I told you he had fixed up a box, raised at one end by a
little stick. Under the box were some good things to eat, such as
animals and birds like. Bunny had tied a long string to the stick, and
he and Sue had hid in the bushes, ready to pull the string, pull out the
little stick, and let the box trap fall down on whatever was eating the
bait.

But all Bunny caught were some sparrows, which he let go. Then he had
set the trap again, and had gone off. Now there was something under the
box, that was sure.

"How do you think it got caught, Bunny?"

"I guess the fox--or whatever it is--crawled under the box to get the
cake crumbs, and he bumped against the stick, knocked it away, and the
box came down on him," Bunny said. "Sue, I do want to see what I've
caught."

"You--you might get bit," his sister said.

Bunny thought that over for a minute.

"I know how I could do it," he said.

"How?" Sue wanted to know.

"I could get a long stick, and lift the box up with that. Then as soon
as the fox came out, we could run, and we wouldn't be near enough for
him to bite us."

"Oh, Bunny! That would be a good way, I'll stay and watch if you do it
like that."

Bunny found a long pole, like a fishing rod. Holding this out in front
of him, he walked toward the box. He tried to raise it up, but the stone
on top made it too heavy.

"Push off the stone first," said Sue.

Bunny had not thought of that. With two or three shoves of his pole he
knocked the stone off the top of the box. Then, once more, he tried to
raise his trap to see what was under it.

All at once the children heard some one calling:

"Bunny! Sue! Where are you?"

"That's Bunker Blue," said Bunny.

"Here we are!" answered Sue. "Bunny's got something in his trap! Come
and help us get it, Bunker."

There was a noise in the bushes, a dog barked, and along came the
red-haired boy and Splash. The box was moving about more quickly now,
for the heavy stone was not on top.

"Say, you have caught something!" cried Bunker. "There's surely
something under the box, Bunny."

"It's a fox," said Bunny.

"Or maybe a ground-hog," added Sue.

"Maybe, and maybe not," went on Bunker. "We'll have a look. Here, let me
take your pole, Bunny. Splash, you be ready to grab whatever it is!"

With a sudden push Bunker upset the box. Out ran a gray and brown
animal.

"Oh, look!" cried Bunny.

"Is it a fox? Oh, don't let it bite me!" cried Sue, and she ran toward
Bunker, who caught her up in his arms.

Splash, with a bark, sprang toward the little animal that had run out of
Bunny's box trap. But the little animal, instead of running away, just
curled up into a ball and stayed there. And Splash stopped short. He
barked at the animal but did not try to bite it.

"He's afraid of it, and no wonder!" said Bunker. "Best leave that alone,
Splash!"

"What is it?" asked Bunny.

"It's a hedgehog, or a prickly porcupine," said Bunker. "That animal is
all covered with sharp quills, like a lot of toothpicks. They aren't
very tightly fastened to him, and if a dog, or some other animal, tries
to bite, he gets his mouth full of sharp, slivery quills from the
hedgehog. That makes the dog's mouth very sore, and he can't bite
anything again for a long time. That's why the hedgehog curls himself up
into a little ball. In that way he is all covered with quills that stick
out in every way. No dog or any other animal, can bite without getting
badly hurt. I guess you'd better let the porcupine go, Bunny."

"I will," said the little fellow. "I don't want Splash hurt. Come away,
Splash!"

Splash did not care very much about biting or worrying the hedgehog. The
dog barked once or twice, and then came away. Then the porcupine
uncurled himself, and ran off into the wood.

"Well, I caught _something_ in my trap, anyhow," said Bunny.

"That's what you did," said Bunker Blue. "And the hedgehog, walking
around under the box, kept pushing it along with his head. He was trying
to find a way out. Come on back to camp now. Supper is ready and your
mother sent me to find you."

The next two days it rained, and Bunny and Sue did not have much fun at
Camp Rest-a-While. They had to stay in the tents. But the third day it
cleared off, and the wind blew away the storm clouds.

That afternoon Bunker took Bunny and Sue out in the boat, fishing. They
took with them some lunch to eat, and a bottle of milk to drink if they
got thirsty. Sue also took an old umbrella to keep the sun off herself
and her doll.

Bunker rowed the boat half way across the lake, and tied it to one of
the trees that grew on a little island. There he and Bunny fished, but
they did not catch anything.

"Maybe if we went on the island we would catch something," said Bunny.
"May we, Bunker?"

"Well, I don't know. We might," said the red-haired boy. "I'll tell you
what I'll do. I'll go ashore on the island, and try fishing a bit. If I
have any luck I'll come back and get you two. You and Sue stay in the
boat, Bunny, until I come back." Then the big boy got out and went
ashore, leaving Bunny and Sue in the boat.

CHAPTER XXII

IN THE WOODS

Bunker Blue seemed to be gone a long time. Five, ten--fifteen minutes
went past and he did not come back. Bunny and Sue began to get tired.

"He must be catching a lot of fish," said Bunny, after a bit, while he
dangled his own hook in the water. Bunny wasn't catching anything--he
didn't have even a nibble, though he was using the right kind of hook
and line, and he had a real "squiggily" worm on his hook--Bunker had put
it there for him.

"Maybe Bunker caught a big fish," said Sue, "and it pulled him into the
water, eh, Bunny?"

Bunny shook his head.

"No," he said. "That didn't happen."

"Maybe it might," went on Sue. "There might be big fish in this lake. Or
maybe it was a muskrat, like the one Splash barked at."

Splash, asleep up in the front of the boat, hearing his name spoken,
looked up and wagged his tail.

"I didn't call you," said Sue. "But, oh, Bunny! maybe Bunker _did_ fall
in!"

Bunny shook his head again.

"No, he didn't fall in," said the little fellow. "If he had we'd have
heard him holler, and he hasn't hollered."

Sue thought that over. It seemed all right. She knew she would "holler,"
as Bunny called it, if she fell into the water, and of course if a big
fish or a muskrat had pulled in Bunker, he, too, would cry out. And it
had been very still and quiet since the red-haired boy had gone ashore
on the island.

"I know what we can do," said Bunny, after a bit.

"What?" asked Sue.

"We can untie the boat, and row around to the other side of the island
where Bunker went," suggested Bunny. "He told us not to get out of the
boat until he came back, and we won't, 'cause mother told us to mind
Bunker. But he didn't tell us not to row the boat around where he is."

"That's right," agreed Sue. "We can do that."

Bunny and Sue knew something about boats, and they could each row a
little. So while Bunny loosed the rope by which the boat was tied, Sue
took up one oar. Then Bunny took the other. He shoved the boat out a
little way. It began to move, first slowly, and then faster. All at once
Sue cried:

"Oh, Bunny! My umbrella!"

It was open, and a gust of wind almost blew it out of the boat. Bunny
caught the umbrella just in time. To do this he had to let go of his
oar, and it slid overboard, into the water. But Bunny was not thinking
about the oar just then. He had a new idea.

As he held the open umbrella he felt the wind blowing strongly against
it. The wind was almost strong enough to blow the umbrella out of his
hands. But he held on tightly.

"Oh, Bunny, your oar is gone!" cried Sue, as she saw it float away.

"I--I can't help it," answered her brother. "I can't reach it, Sue. You
get it."

"I can't. It's too far away."

"Well, let it go!" cried Bunny. "I know something else we can do, Sue.
Oh, this will be fun! It's better than fishing!"

Sue was pulling, as best she could, on her one oar. But boats are not
meant to be rowed with one oar, though you can scull, or paddle, with
one. If you row with one oar your boat swings around in a circle,
instead of going straight ahead.

"I can't row this way, Bunny!" called Sue. She knew enough about boats
for that. "You'll have to get your oar, Bunny."

"We won't need it, Sue," called her brother. "Take in your oar. We won't
need that either. We're going to sail. Look! the umbrella is just like a
sail."

And so it was. The wind, blowing on the open umbrella Bunny held, was
sending the rowboat along just as if a sail had been hoisted. The boat
was moving quite fast now. Bunny and Sue were so pleased that they did
not think about the lost oar, which had fallen overboard and had
floated away. As Bunny had said, they did not need oars now.

"Isn't this fun!" cried Bunny.

"Yes," said Sue. "I like it. My dolly likes it, too! Do you like it,
Splash?"

Splash did not answer. He hardly ever did answer, except with a bark or
a whine, when Bunny or Sue spoke to him, and the children did not
understand dog language. Anyhow, Splash seemed to like the umbrella
sail, for he stretched out in the bottom of the boat and went to sleep.

Bunny held the open umbrella, and Sue held her doll. Of course, the doll
had nothing to do with the sailing of the boat, but Sue kept her in her
arms.

"You aren't going to sail very far; are you, Bunny?" asked Sue as the
boat kept on going faster and faster.

"Not very far," Bunny answered. "We'll just sail around the end of the
island where Bunker went fishing."

Now this would have been all right if the children had sailed around the
end of the island where Bunker Blue happened to be. But they did not.
It was not their fault, either. For Bunker had gone to the other end of
the island, and he was sitting on a log, waiting for a fish to bite.

You see, this is the way it was. Bunker Blue told about it afterward. He
went off the island, leaving Bunny and Sue in the boat. Bunker walked to
the lower end of the island. Bunny and Sue saw him going. He was going
to try for fish there.

But when the red-haired boy got to that end of the island he saw that
the water was so shallow that no large fish could be caught in it.

"I'll just go to the other end," thought Bunker.

So, without calling to Bunny and Sue, Bunker walked along the other
shore of the island, to the upper end. And Bunny and Sue, being behind a
lot of trees and bushes, did not know that Bunker was not in the place
where he had said he was going.

Bunker found the water deep enough at the upper end of the island, and
there he sat down to fish.

"I'll just see if they're biting good here," he said to himself, "and,
if they are, I'll go back and get the children."

Bunker had to wait quite a while for his first bite, and by that time
Bunny and Sue had decided to start off themselves in the boat. And so
they did, with the umbrella for a sail, as I have told you.

Faster and faster they went, around the lower end of the island. They
expected to see Bunker there, but they did not, because he was at the
upper end.

"Why--why--Bunker isn't here," said Sue, in surprise.

"Then we'd better go back," announced Bunny, still holding to the
umbrella. "Stick your oar in the water, Sue, and steer back to where we
were."

You can steer a boat with one oar, if you can't row it with one, and Sue
knew a little bit about steering. But the oar was too heavy for Sue's
little hands, and it soon slipped over into the lake. She tried to grab
it, but was too late. The second oar was lost overboard.

"Oh, dear!" Sue cried. "It's gone."

"Never mind," said Bunny. "We don't need oars with the umbrella for a
sail. Only we can't sail back where we were unless the wind blows the
other way. And I don't see where Bunker is."

"Maybe he's gone home and left us," said Sue.

"He couldn't--not without a boat," objected Bunny. "We'll have to sail
over to camp and get daddy or Uncle Tad to row back for him."

"Yes, let's sail to our camp," agreed Sue. "Won't they be s'prised to
see us come up this way with an umbrella?"

"I guess they will," said Bunny.

The wind blew stronger. It was all Bunny could do to hold to the
umbrella now. The wind almost blew it from his hands. Even with Sue to
help him it was hard work.

"If you could only tie it fast," suggested Sue.

"Maybe I can," said Bunny. "Here's a rope."

The rope by which the boat had been tied to a tree on the island lay in
the bottom of the boat. The umbrella had a crooked handle, and the
tying of one end of the rope around this, helped Bunny to hold the queer
sail.

The boat now went on faster and faster.

"Why, there's our camp, away over there!" cried Sue, pointing. "Why
don't you sail to it, Bunny?"

Bunny looked. Indeed, the white tents of Camp Rest-a-While were on the
other side of the lake--far away. And the wind was blowing the boat
farther and farther off. Bunny and Sue could not get back to camp, for
now they had nothing with which to steer their boat. Of course, if the
wind had been blowing toward the tents, instead of away from it, they
could have gotten there without steering. But now they could not.

"Oh, dear!" cried Sue. "Where are we going, Bunny?"

"We are going to the woods, I guess," he said. They were sailing toward
the wooded shores of the lake, away on the other side from their camp,
and a long way down from the island where they had left Bunker Blue.

Harder blew the wind on the umbrella sail. Faster went the boat. Finally
it ran up on shore, right where the woods came down to the edge of the
lake.

Splash jumped out with a bark, and began stretching himself. He did not
like to stay too long in a boat. He wanted to run about on shore.

"Bunny, where are we?" asked Sue.

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