Laura Lee Hope - Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Big Woods

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[Illustration: "I GUESS IT'S ROLLING FASTER THAN I AM," THOUGHT BUNNY.
_Frontispiece._ _Page_ 61.
_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Big Woods._]

BUNNY BROWN
AND HIS SISTER SUE
IN THE BIG WOODS

BY
LAURA LEE HOPE

AUTHOR OF

THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES, THE BOBBSEY
TWINS SERIES, THE OUTDOOR
GIRLS SERIES, ETC.

Illustrated by
Florence England Nosworthy

NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS

BOOKS

By LAURA LEE HOPE

* * * * *

_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price, per volume, 50 cents, postpaid._

* * * * *

=THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES=

BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR

* * * * *

=THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES=

THE BOBBSEY TWINS
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND

* * * * *

=THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES=

THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND

* * * * *

=GROSSET & DUNLAP=
PUBLISHERS NEW YORK

Copyright, 1917, by
GROSSET & DUNLAP

_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Big Woods._

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. WHAT DADDY BROUGHT 1
II. THE PAIL OF MILK 12
III. THE OLD MAN 25
IV. A NOISE AT NIGHT 34
V. BUNNY ROLLS DOWN HILL 46
VI. AFTER THE LOST COW 59
VII. THE MISSING TRAIN 69
VIII. "WHERE HAS SALLIE GONE?" 84
IX. THE SEARCH 93
X. LOST IN THE WOODS 101
XI. THE HERMIT AGAIN 112
XII. WONDERINGS 119
XIII. MR. BROWN MAKES A SEARCH 132
XIV. THE RAGGED BOY 141
XV. HIDDEN IN THE HAY 150
XVI. THE ANGRY GOBBLER 159
XVII. SUE DECIDES TO MAKE A PIE 166
XVIII. ROASTING CORN 176
XIX. EAGLE FEATHER'S HORSE 191
XX. FUN IN THE ATTIC 199
XXI. "WHERE IS SUE?" 207
XXII. THE HERMIT COMES FOR TOM 214
XXIII. TRYING TO HELP TOM 221
XXIV. THE NIGHT MEETING 229
XXV. THE MISSING TOYS 237

BUNNY BROWN AND
HIS SISTER SUE
IN THE BIG WOODS

CHAPTER I

WHAT DADDY BROUGHT

"Sue! Sue! Where are you?" called a lady, as she stood in the opening of
a tent which was under the trees in the big woods. "Where are you, Sue?
And where is Bunny?"

For a moment no answers came to the call. But presently, from behind a
clump of bushes not far from the tent, stepped a little girl. She held
her finger over her lips, just as your teacher does in school when she
does not want you to say anything. Then the little girl whispered:

"Sh-h-h-h, Mother. I can't come now."

"Then let Bunny come. He can do what I want."

"Bunny can't come, either."

"Why not?" and Mrs. Brown smiled at her little girl, who seemed very
much in earnest as she stood in front of the bushes, her finger still
across her lips.

"Bunny can't come, 'cause we're playing soldier and Indian," said Sue.
"Bunny's been shot by an Indian arrow and I'm his nurse. He's just got
over the fever, same as I did when I had the measles, and he's asleep.
And it's awful dangerous to wake anybody up that's just got to sleep
after a fever. That's what our doctor said, I 'member."

"Oh, Bunny is just getting over a fever, is he?" asked Mrs. Brown.

"Of course it's only a _make-believe_ fever, Mother," said the little
girl. "We're only pretendin' you know"; and she cut her words short,
leaving off a "g" here and there, so she could talk faster I suppose.

"Oh, if it's only a make-believe fever it's all right," said Mother
Brown with a laugh. "How long do you think Bunny will sleep, Sue?"

"Oh, not very long. Maybe five minutes. 'Cause, you see, when he wakes
up he'll be hungry and I've got some pie and cake and some milk for him
to eat. Sick folks gets awful hungry when their fever goes away. And
it's _real_ things to eat, too, Mother. And when Bunny got make-believe
shot with an Indian arrow he said he wasn't going to play fever more'n
five minutes 'cause he saw what I had for him to eat."

"Oh well, if he's going to be better in five minutes I can wait that
long," said Mrs. Brown. "Go on and have your fun."

"What do you want Bunny to do--or me?" asked Sue, as she turned to go
back behind the bush where she and Bunny were having their game.

"I'll tell you when you've finished playing," said Mrs. Brown with a
smile. She sometimes found this a better plan than telling the children
just what she wanted when she called them from some of their games. You
see they were so anxious to find out what it was their mother wanted
that they hurried to finish their fun.

Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were at Camp Rest-a-While with their
father and their mother. They had come from their home in Bellemere to
live for a while in the forest, on the shore of Lake Wanda, where they
were all enjoying the life in the open air.

They had journeyed to the woods in an automobile, carrying two tents
which were set up under the trees. One tent was used to sleep in and the
other for a dining room. There was also a place to cook.

With the Brown family was Uncle Tad, who was really Mr. Brown's uncle.
But the jolly old soldier was as much an uncle to Bunny and Sue as he
was to their father. Bunker Blue, a boy, had also come to Camp
Rest-a-While with the Brown family, but after having many adventures
with them, he had gone back to Bellemere, where Mr. Brown had a fish and
a boat business. With him went Tom Vine, a boy whom the Browns had met
after coming to camp.

Bunny Brown and his sister Sue liked it in the big woods that stretched
out all about their camp. They played many games under the trees and in
the tents, and had great fun. Mrs. Brown liked it so much that when the
time when they had planned to go home came, she said to her husband:

"Oh, let's stay a little longer. I like it so much and the children are
so happy. Let's stay!"

And so they stayed. And they were still camped on the edge of the big
woods that morning when Mrs. Brown called Bunny and Sue to do something
for her.

After telling her mother about the pretend-fever which Bunny had, Sue
went back to where her brother was lying on a blanket under the bushes.
She made-believe feel his pulse, as she had seen the doctor do when once
Bunny had been really ill, and then the little girl put her hand on
Bunny's cheek.

"Say! what you doin' that for?" he asked.

"I was seeing how hot you were," answered Sue. "I guess your fever's
most gone, isn't it, Bunny?" she asked.

"Is it time to eat?" he asked quickly.

"Yes, I think it is. And I think mother has a surprise for us, too."

"Then my fever's all gone!" exclaimed Bunny. "I'm all better, and I can
eat. Then we'll see what mother has."

Never did an ill person get well so quickly as did Bunny Brown just
then. He sat up, threw to one side a blanket Sue had spread over him,
and called:

"Where's the pie and cake?"

"Here they are," Sue answered, as she took them from a little box under
the bushes.

"And where's the milk?" asked Bunny. "Fevers always make folks thirsty,
you know. I'm awful thirsty!"

"Here's the milk," said Sue. "I didn't ask mother if I could take it,
but I'm sure she won't care."

"No, I guess not," said Bunny, taking a long drink which Sue poured out
for him from a pitcher into a glass.

Then Bunny and his sister ate the pie and the cake which their mother
had given them that morning when they said they wanted to have a little
picnic in the woods. Instead Bunny and Sue had played Indian and
soldier, as they often did. First Bunny was a white soldier, and then an
Indian, and at last he made believe he was shot so he could be ill. Sue
was very fond of playing nurse, and she liked to cover Bunny up, feel
his pulse and feed him bread pills rolled in sugar. Bunny liked these
pills, too.

"Well, now we've got everything eaten up," said Bunny, as he gathered up
the last crumbs of the pie his mother had baked in the oil stove which
they had brought to camp. "Let's go and see what the surprise is."

"I'm not so _sure_ it is a surprise," returned Sue slowly. "Mother
didn't say so. She just said she wouldn't tell us until you got all
make-believe well again. So I suppose it's a surprise. Don't you think
so, too?"

"I guess I do," answered Bunny. "But come on, we'll soon find out."

As the children came out from under the bush where they had been
playing, there was a crashing in the brush and Sue cried:

"Oh, maybe that's some more of those Indians."

"Pooh! We're not playing Indians _now_," said Bunny. "That game's all
over. I guess it's Splash."

"Oh, that's nice!" cried Sue. "I was wondering where he'd gone."

A big, happy-looking and friendly dog came bursting through the bushes.
He wagged his tail, and his big red tongue dangled out of his mouth, for
it was a warm day.

"Oh, Splash; you came just too late!" cried Sue. "We've eaten up
everything!"

"All except the crumbs," said Bunny.

Splash saw the crumbs almost as soon as Bunny spoke, and with his red
tongue the dog licked them up from the top of the box which the children
had used for a table under the bushes.

"Come on," called Bunny after a bit. "Let's go and find out what mother
wants. Maybe she's baked some cookies for us."

"Didn't you have enough with the cake, pie and milk?" Sue asked.

"Oh, I could eat more," replied Bunny Brown. In fact, he seemed always
to be hungry, his mother said, though she did not let him eat enough to
make himself ill.

"Well, come on," called Sue. "We'll go and see what mother has for us."

Through the woods ran the children, toward the lake and the white tents
gleaming among the green trees. Mr. Brown went to the city twice a week,
making the trip in a small automobile he ran himself. Sometimes he would
stay in the city over night, and Mother Brown and Uncle Tad and the
children would stay in the tents in the big woods where they were not
far from a farmhouse.

Splash, the happy-go-lucky dog, bounded on ahead of Bunny Brown and his
sister Sue. The children followed as fast as they could. Now and then
Splash would stop and look back as though calling:

"Come on! Hurry up and see the surprise!"

"We're coming!" Bunny would call. "What do you s'pose it is?" he would
ask Sue.

"I can't even guess," Sue would answer. "But I know it must be something
nice, for she smiled when I told her I was your nurse and you had an
Indian fever."

"It wasn't an Indian fever," protested Bunny.

"Well, I mean a make-believe Indian fever," said the little girl.

"No, it was a make-believe arrow fever," said Bunny. "I got shot with an
Indian _arrow_ you know."

"Oh yes," Sue answered. "But, anyhow, you're all well now. Oh, look out,
Splash!" she cried as the big dog ran into a puddle of water and
splashed it so that some got on Sue's dress. That is how Splash got his
name--from splashing into so many puddles.

But this time the water was from a clean brook that ran over green,
mossy stones, and it did Sue's dress no harm, for she had on one that
Mrs. Brown had made purposely for wearing in the woods.

"Here we are, Momsie!" called Sue, as she and Bunny came running up to
the camp where the tents were.

"What's the surprise?" asked Bunny.

Just then they heard the Honk! Honk! of an automobile, and as a car
came on through the woods and up to the white tents, Bunny and Sue cried
together:

"Oh, it's daddy! Daddy has come home!"

"Yes, and he's brought us something!" added Bunny. "Look at the two big
bundles, Sue!"

"Oh, Daddy! Daddy Brown! What have you brought?" cried the two children.

"Just a minute now, and I'll show you," said Mr. Brown, as he got out of
the automobile and started for a tent, a big bundle under each arm. The
children danced about in delight and Splash barked.

CHAPTER II

THE PAIL OF MILK

"Oh, Mother! is this the surprise you had for us?" asked Sue, as she
hopped about, first on one foot then on the other. For she was so
excited she could not keep still.

"No, this isn't exactly what I meant," said Mrs. Brown with a smile.
"Still, this is a very nice surprise, isn't it?"

"Just the very nicest!" said Bunny. "It's nice to have daddy home, and
it's nice to have him bring something."

"Oh, please tell us what it is--you have two things," went on Sue, as
she looked at the two bundles which Mr. Brown carried, one under each
arm. "Is there something for each of us, Daddy?"

"Well, yes, I think so, Sue," answered her father. "But just wait----"

"Oh, my dears! give your father a chance to get his breath," laughed
Mrs. Brown. "Remember he has come all the way from the city in the auto,
and he must be tired. Come into the tent, and I'll make you a cup of
tea," she went on.

"And then will you tell us what you brought us?" asked Bunny.

"Yes," said Mr. Brown.

"Then let's go in and watch him drink his tea," said Sue, as she took
hold of Bunny's hand and led him toward the dining tent. "We'll know the
minute he has finished," she went on, "and we'll be there when he opens
the bundles."

"All right," said Mr. Brown. "Come in if you like." And while he was
sipping the tea which Mrs. Brown quickly made for him, the two children
sat looking at the two bundles their father had brought. One was quite
heavy, Bunny noticed, and something rattled inside the box in which it
was packed. The other was lighter. They were both about the same size.

And while the children are sitting there, waiting for their father to
finish his tea, so they can learn what the surprise is I'll take just a
few minutes to tell my new readers something about the Brown family, and
especially Bunny Brown and his sister Sue.

As I have already mentioned, the family, which was made up of Mr. and
Mrs. Walter Brown and the two children, lived in the town of Bellemere,
which was on Sandport Bay, near the ocean. Mr. Brown was in the fish and
the boat business, hiring to those who wanted row boats, fishing boats
or motor boats. In the first book of this series, "Bunny Brown and His
Sister Sue," the story was about the little boy and his sister, and what
fun they had getting up a Punch and Judy show.

"Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on Grandpa's Farm," was the name of the
second book and you can easily guess what that was about. The two
children had much fun in a big automobile moving van, which was fitted
up just like a little house, and in which they lived while going to the
farm. Bunker Blue, who worked for Mr. Brown, and the children's dog
Splash went with them.

While at their grandpa's farm Bunny and Sue got up a little show, at
which they had lots of fun, and, seeing this, Bunker and some of the
older boys made up a larger show. They gave that in two tents, one of
which had belonged to Grandpa Brown when he was in the army.

The Brown children were so delighted with the shows that they decided to
have another, and in the third book, named "Bunny Brown and His Sister
Sue Playing Circus," you may read how they did it. Something happened in
that book which made Bunny and Sue feel bad for a while, but they soon
got over it.

In the next book, "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Aunt Lu's City
Home," I told the story of the two children going to the big city of New
York, and of the queer things they saw and the funny things they did
while there.

Bunny and Sue had played together as long as they could remember. Bunny
was about six or seven years old and Sue was a year younger. Wherever
one went the other was always sure to be seen, and whatever Bunny did
Sue was sure to think just right. Every one in Bellemere knew Bunny and
Sue, from old Miss Hollyhock to Wango, a queer little monkey owned by
Jed Winkler the sailor. Wango often got into mischief, and so did Bunny
and Sue. And the children had much fun with Uncle Tad who loved them as
if they were his own.

After Bunny and Sue had come back from Aunt Lu's city home the weather
was very warm and Daddy Brown thought of camping in the woods. So that
is what they did, and the things that happened are related in the fifth
book in the series, called "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp
Rest-a-While." For that is what they named the place where the tents
were set up under the trees on the edge of the big woods and by a
beautiful lake.

Neither Bunny nor Sue had ever been to the end of these big woods, nor
had Mr. Brown, though some day he hoped to go. The summer was about half
over. Mrs. Brown liked it so much that she said she and the children
would stay in the woods as long as it was warm enough to live in a tent.

And now, this afternoon, Mr. Brown had come home from the city with the
two queer big bundles, and the children were so excited thinking what
might be in them that they watched every mouthful of tea Mr. Brown
sipped.

"When will you be ready to show us?" asked Sue.

"Please be quick," begged Bunny. "I--I'm gettin' awful anxious."

"Well, I guess I can show you now," said Mr. Brown. "Bring me the
heaviest package, Bunny."

It was all the little boy could do to lift it from the chair, but he
managed to do it. Slowly Mr. Brown opened it. Bunny saw a flash of
something red and shining.

"Oh, it's a fire engine!" he cried.

"Not quite," said his father, "though that was a good guess."

Then Mr. Brown lifted out the things in the paper, and all at once Bunny
saw what it was--a little toy train of cars, with an engine and tracks
on which it could run.

"Does it really go?" asked the little boy, eagerly.

"Yes, it really goes," said Mr. Brown. "It's an electric train, and it
runs by electricity from these batteries," and he held up some strong
ones. "I'll fix up your train for you so it will run. But you must be
careful of it, Bunny."

"Oh, I'll take fine care of it!" cried the little boy. "And I won't let
Splash bite it."

"Didn't you bring me anything, Daddy?" asked Sue slowly. "Or do I have
to play with Bunny's train?" and she looked at the little boy who was
trying to fit together the pieces of the track.

"Oh, I have something for you alone, Sue," her father said. "Look and
see if you like this."

He held up a great big Teddy bear.

"Oh! Ah!" murmured Sue. "That's something I've been wishing for. Oh,
Daddy! how good you are to us!" and she threw her arms around her
father's neck.

"I love you, too!" called Bunny Brown, leaving his toy train and track,
and running to his father for a hug and a kiss.

"Well, now, how do you like this, Sue?" and Mr. Brown handed the big
Teddy bear over to his little girl.

"Oh, I just love it!" she cried. "It's the nicest doll ever!"

"Let me show you something," said Mr. Brown. He pressed a button in the
toy bear's back and, all of a sudden, its eyes shone like little lights.

"Oh, what makes that, Daddy?" asked Bunny, leaving his toy train and
coming over to see his sister's present.

"Behind the bear's eyes, which are of glass," explained Mr. Brown, "are
two little electric lights. They are lighted by what are called dry
batteries, like those that ring our front door bell at home, only
smaller. And the same kind of dry batteries will run Bunny's train when
I get it put together.

"See, Sue, when you want your bear's eyes to glow, just press this
button in Teddy's back," and her father showed her a little button, or
switch, hidden in the toy's fur.

"Oh, isn't that fine!" cried Sue with shining eyes. She pushed the
button, the bear's eyes lighted and gleamed out, and Splash, seeing
them, barked in excitement.

"Oh, let me do it," begged Bunny. "I'll let you run my toy train if you
let me light your bear's eyes, Sue," he said.

"All right," agreed the little girl.

So Bunny played with the Teddy bear a bit, while Sue looked at the toy
engine and cars, and then Mrs. Brown said:

"Well, children, I think it is about time for my surprise."

"Oh, have you something for us, too?" asked Sue, quickly.

"Well, I'll have something for you if you will go and get something for
me," said Mother Brown. "I want you to go to the farmhouse and get me a
pail of milk. Some one took what I was saving to make a pudding with, so
I'll have to get more milk."

"We took it to play soldier and nurse with," confessed Sue. "I'm sorry,
Momsie----"

"Oh, it doesn't matter, dear," said Mrs. Brown. "I like to have you
drink all the milk you want. But now you'll have to get more for me, as
there is not enough for supper and the pudding."

"We'll go for the milk," said Bunny. "And when we get back we can play
with the bear and the toy train."

"I'll try to have the toy train running for you when you come back with
the milk," said Mr. Brown. "Trot along now."

Mrs. Brown gave Bunny the milk pail, and soon he and Sue, leaving Splash
behind this time, started down the road to the farmhouse where they got
their milk. The farmer sent his boy every day with milk for those at
Camp Rest-a-While, but this time Bunny and Sue had used more than usual,
and Mrs. Brown had to send for some extra.

It did not take Bunny and Sue long to reach the farmhouse, where their
pail was filled by the farmer's wife.

"We've got a surprise at our camp," said Bunny, as they started away,
the little boy carefully carrying the pail of milk.

"Indeed! Is that so? What is it?" asked the farmer's wife.

"We've got two surprises," said Sue. "Daddy brought them from the city.
Bunny has a toy train of cars that runs with a city."

"She means _electricity_," explained Bunny with a laugh, but saying the
big word very slowly.

"I don't care. It sounds like that," declared Sue. "And I've got a Teddy
bear and its eyes are little e-lec-tri-_city_ lamps, and they shine like
anything when you push a button in his back."

"Those are certainly two fine surprises," said the farmer's wife. "Now
be careful not to spill your milk."

"We'll be careful," promised Bunny.

He and Sue walked along the country road toward their camp. Suddenly on
a fence Sue saw a squirrel running along.

"Oh, look, Bunny!" she cried.

"Where?" asked her brother.

"On that fence. A big gray squirrel!"

"Oh, what a fine, big one!" cried Bunny. "Maybe we can catch him and put
him in a cage with a wheel that goes around."

Bunny carefully set the pail of milk down at the side of the road, out
of the way in case any wagons or automobiles should come along. Then he
ran after the squirrel, that had come to a stop on top of the fence and
stood looking at the children.

But, as soon as the squirrel with the big tail saw Bunny running toward
him, he scampered away and Bunny followed. So did Sue, leaving the pail
of milk standing in the grass beside the road.

The squirrel could run on the fence much faster than Bunny Brown and his
sister Sue could run along the road, and pretty soon they saw him
scamper up a tree.

"Now we can't get him," said Sue, sorrowfully.

"No, I guess not," answered Bunny. "We'd better go back to camp and play
with your Teddy bear and my toy train. Come on."

They walked back toward the place they had left the pail of milk. As
they came in sight of it Sue cried:

"Oh, Bunny, look!"

Bunny looked, and at what he saw he cried:

"Oh dear!"

For a big, shaggy dog had his nose down in the pail of milk, and as he
looked up, at hearing Bunny's cry, he knocked the pail over, spilling
what he had not taken himself.

"Oh, our milk's all gone!" cried Bunny.

"What shall we do?" asked Sue, in dismay.

CHAPTER III

THE OLD MAN

For a moment the two children did not know what to do. They stood still,
looking at the dog who had just drunk the milk from the pail which they
had set down in the road so they could chase the squirrel. Then Bunny,
made bold by thinking of what might happen if he and his sister went
home with the empty pail, thinking also of the pudding which his mother
could not make if she had no milk, gave a loud cry.

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