Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue

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Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks
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BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE

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
1916

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. AUNT LU ARRIVES
II. THE LOST RING
III. WANGO, THE MONKEY
IV. THE EMPTY HOUSE
V. LOCKED IN
VI. ADRIFT IN A BOAT
VII. BUNNY GOES FISHING
VIII. SUE FALLS IN
IX. THE RESCUE DOG
X. A TROLLEY RIDE
XI. LOST
XII. FOUND
XIII. SUE AND THE GOAT
XIV. A LITTLE PARTY
XV. GEORGE WATSON'S TRICK
XVI. THE LEMONADE STAND
XVII. THE MOVING PICTURES
XVIII. WANGO AND THE CANDY
XIX. BUNNY IN A QUEER PLACE
XX. SPLASH RUNS AWAY
XXI. HOW SUE FOUND THE EGGS
XXII. AUNT LU IS SAD
XXIII. AN AUTOMOBILE RIDE
XXIV. THE PUNCH AND JUDY SHOW
XXV. THE LOBSTER CLAW

CHAPTER I

AUNT LU ARRIVES

"Bunny! Bunny! Wake up! It's time!"

"Wha--what's matter?" sleepily mumbled little Bunny Brown, making his
words all run together, like molasses candy that has been out in the hot
sun. "What's the matter, Sue?" Bunny asked, now that he had his eyes
open. He looked over the side of his small bed to see his sister
standing beside it. She had left her own little room and had run into
her brother's.

"What's the matter, Sue?" Bunny asked again.

"Why, it's time to get up, Bunny," and Sue opened her brown eyes more
widely, as she tried to get the "sleepy feeling" out of them. "It's time
to get up!"

"Time to get up--so early? Oh, Sue! It isn't Christmas morning; is it,
Sue?" and with that thought Bunny sat up suddenly in his bed.

"Christmas? No, of course not!" said Sue, who, though only a little over
five years of age (a year younger than was Bunny), sometimes acted as
though older than the blue-eyed little chap, who was now as widely awake
as his sister.

"Well, if it isn't Christmas, and we don't have to go to the
kindergarten school, 'cause it's closed, why do I have to get up so
early?" Bunny wanted to know.

Bunny Brown was a great one for asking questions. So was his sister Sue;
but Sue would often wait a while and find things out for herself,
instead of asking strangers what certain things meant. Bunny always
seemed in a hurry, and his mother used to say he could ask more
questions than several grown folks could answer.

"Why do you want me to get up so early?" Bunny asked again. He was wide
awake now.

"Why, Bunny Brown! Have you forgotten?" asked Sue, with a queer look in
her brown eyes. "Don't you remember Aunt Lu is coming to visit us to-
day, and we're going down to the station to meet her?"

"Oh yes! That's so! I did forget all about it!" Bunny said. "I guess it
was because I dreamed so hard in the night, Sue. I dreamed I had a new
rocking-horse, and he ran away with me, up-hill--"

"Rocking-horses can't run away," Sue said, shaking her head, the hair of
which needed brushing, as it had become "tousled" in her sleep.

"Well, mine ran away, in my dream, anyhow!" declared Bunny.

"They can't run up hill, even in dreams," insisted Sue. "Horses have to
walk up hill. Grandpa's always do."

"Maybe not in dreams," Bunny said. "And I really did dream that, Sue.
And I'm glad you woke me up, for I want to meet Aunt Lu."

"Then let's hurry and get dressed," Sue went on. "Maybe we can run down
to the station before breakfast. Aunt Lu will be hungry, and we can show
her the way to our house."

"That's so," agreed Bunny. "But maybe we'd better take a piece of bread
and butter down to the station for her," he added, after thinking about
it for a few seconds.

"Or a piece of cake," added his sister.

"We'll take both!" exclaimed the blue-eyed, chubby little chap. Then he
began to dress. Sue, who had gone back into her own little room, had
almost finished putting on her clothes, but, as her dress buttoned up
the back, she had to come in and ask Bunny to fasten it for her. This he
was ready to do as soon as he had pulled on his stockings and little
knickerbockers.

"Shall I start at the top button, or the bottom one, Sue?" he asked, as
he stood behind his sister.

"It doesn't matter," said Sue, "as long as you get it buttoned. But
hurry, Bunny. We don't want the train to get in, and Aunt Lu get off,
with us not there to meet her. Hurry!"

"All right--I will," and Bunny began buttoning the dress. But soon a
queer look came over his face. "Aren't you done?" asked Sue, as he
stopped using his fingers.

"Yes, I'm done, Sue, but I've got two buttons left over, and there's
only one buttonhole to put 'em in! What'll I do?" Bunny was quite
puzzled.

"Oh, you must have buttoned me wrong, Bunny," Sue said. "But never mind.
Nobody will notice so early in the morning. Now come on down stairs, and
we'll get the bread and cake."

The children went to the dining room, where the table was set for
breakfast, and Sue was cutting off a rather large slice from a cake she
had found in the pantry, while Bunny was putting twice as much butter on
a slice of bread as was needed, when their mother's voice exclaimed:

"Why, Bunny Brown! Sue! What in the world are you children doing? Up so
early, too, and not properly dressed! Why did you get up? The idea!"

"We're going to the station," Sue said. It really was her idea. She had
thought of it the night before, when their mother had told them her
sister (the children's Aunt Lu) would arrive in the morning. "We're
going to the station," said Sue.

"To meet Aunt Lu," added Bunny.

"And we're taking her some cake so she won't be hungry for breakfast,"
went on Sue.

"And bread," Bunny continued. "Maybe she don't like cake, so I'm taking
bread."

"If she doesn't eat the cake, we can," Sue said, as if that was the
easiest way out.

"Of course," Bunny echoed.

Mrs. Brown sat down in a chair and began to laugh. She had to sit down,
for she laughed very hard indeed, and when she did that she used to
shake in such a jolly fashion that, perhaps, she would have fallen if
she had not been sitting in a chair.

"Oh, you children!" she said, when she had wiped the tears from her eyes
with the corner of her apron. She was not exactly crying, you know. Only
she laughed so hard that tears came into her eyes. "You queer, dear
little children!" she said. "What are you going to do next?"

"Why, we're going to the station as soon as I get the bread buttered,
and Sue puts the cake in a bag," Bunny said. He did not seem to feel
that anything was wrong.

"Oh, my dears, Aunt Lu's train won't be in for some time--two or three
hours," said Mrs. Brown. "And you know I've told you never to go down to
the station alone."

"Couldn't you come with us?" asked Sue, eating a few of the cake crumbs.

"Or maybe papa," added Bunny. "If he can't Bunker can. Bunker knows the
way to the station."

"And Bunker likes cake, too," Sue said. "We might give him a piece, if
Aunt Lu doesn't want it."

"No, no! You musn't give away my cake like that," said Mrs. Brown. "Now
listen to me. It will be hours before Aunt Lu will get here. Then,
perhaps, I may take you to the station to meet her. But now I must dress
you right and give you your breakfast. Papa had his some time ago, as he
had to go down to the bay to see about some boats. I wondered why you
were getting up so early. Now put back the bread and cake and wait until
I give you something to eat."

A little later, rather disappointed at not being allowed to go off alone
to meet their aunt, Bunny and Sue sat at the breakfast table.

"I wish the time would hurry up and come for Aunt Lu to be here," Bunny
said.

"So do I," chimed in Sue. "What fun we'll have when Aunt Lu comes."

"Indeed we will!" Bunny exclaimed.

Bunny Brown and his sister Sue lived with their father and mother, Mr.
and Mrs. Walter Brown, in the town of Bellemere. That town was on
Sandport Bay, which was part of the Atlantic Ocean, and the bay was a
good place to catch fish, lobsters, crabs and other things that live in
salt water.

Mr. Brown was in the boat business. That is he owned many boats, some
that sailed, some that went by steam or gasoline, and some that had to
be rowed with oars. These boats he hired out, or rented, to fishermen,
and others who had to go on the bay, or even out on the ocean, when it
was not too rough.

Mr. Brown had a number of men to help him in his boat business; and one
of the men, or, rather, an extra-large size boy, was Bunker Blue, of
whom Bunny and Sue were very fond. And Bunker liked the two children'
fully as much as they liked him. He often took them out in a boat, or
went on little land-trips with them. Mr. and Mrs. Brown did not worry
when Bunny and Sue were with Bunker.

The two Brown children were good company for each other. You seldom saw
Bunny without seeing Sue not far away. They played together nearly all
the while, though often they would bring other children to their yard,
or would go to theirs, to play games, and have jolly times. Bunny was a
boy full of fun and one who sometimes took chances of getting into
mischief, just to have a "good time." And Sue was not far behind him.
But they never meant to do wrong, and everyone loved them.

Uncle Tad lived with the Browns. He was an old soldier, rather stiff
with the rheumatism at times, but still often able to take walks with
the children. He was their father's uncle, but Bunny and Sue thought of
Uncle Tad as more their relation than their father's.

In the distant city of New York lived Miss Lulu Baker, who was Mrs.
Brown's maiden sister, and the Aunt Lu whom the children were so eagerly
expecting this morning. She had written that she was coming to spend a
few weeks at the seashore place, and, later on, she intended to have
Bunny and Sue and their mother visit her in the big city. Bunny and Sue
looked eagerly forward to this. But just now they wanted most to go to
the depot, and watch for the train to come in, bringing dear Aunt Lu to
them.

"Isn't it most time to go?" asked Sue, as she pushed back her chair from
the breakfast table.

"Oh, no, not for a long while," said their mother. "You run out and
play, and when it's time, I'll call you."

"And can't we take Aunt Lu anything to eat?" asked Bunny.

"Oh dear me, no!" laughed Mrs. Brown. "She won't want anything until she
gets here. Run along now."

Bunny and Sue went out in the yard, where they had a little play-tent,
made of some old pieces of sails from one of Mr. Brown's boats. It was a
warm spring day, and, as Bunny had said, there was no kindergarten
school for them to go to, as it had closed, to allow a new roof to be
put on the school building.

"Let's go down and see Wango," suggested Sue, after a bit.

"No, because it's so far away that mother couldn't call to us," objected
Bunny. "We'll stay here in the yard until it's time to go to the train."

"All right," agreed Sue.

Wango was a queer little monkey, belonging to Jed Winkler, an old sailor
of the town. I'll tell you more about Wango later.

Bunny and Sue played a number of games, and, after a while, a boy named
Charlie Star, and a girl, named Sadie West, came over from across the
street and joined Bunny and Sue in their fun. Then, a little later, Mrs.
Brown came to the door and said:

"Come now, Bunny--Sue! It's almost train time. I can't go with you, but
I'll let Bunker take you. I telephoned down to the dock, and daddy is
sending him up with the pony cart. You may drive down to meet Aunt Lu.
But come in and wash first!"

"Oh, goodie!" cried Bunny, and he was so pleased at the idea of going to
the depot in the pony cart that he did not make a fuss when his mother
washed his hands and face.

"Hello, Bunker!" cried Sue, as the big, red-haired lad drove up.

"Hello, Sue! Hello, Bunny!" he greeted them. "Hop in and away we'll go!"

Off they started to the station. It was not far from the Brown home, and
soon, with the pony safely tied, so he would not run away, Bunny, Sue
and Bunker waited on the platform for the cars to arrive.

With a toot, a whistle and a clanging of the bell, in puffed the train.
Several passengers got off.

"Oh, there she is! I see Aunt Lu!" cried Sue, darting off toward a lady
in a brown dress.

"Here, come back!" cried Bunker, reaching out a hand to catch Sue. He
was afraid she might go too near the train. But he was too late. Sue
raced forward, and then, suddenly, she slipped and fell right into a
puddle of water, left from a rain-storm the night before. Down into the
muddy pool went Sue, all in her clean white dress.

"Oh--Oh!" gasped Bunny.

"I might a'knowed suthin' like that would happen," complained Bunker.
"Now her ma'll blame me!"

Aunt Lu saw what had happened, and, before any one else could reach Sue,
she had picked up the little girl, in whose eyes were tears all ready to
fall. And with her handkerchief Aunt Lu wiped the tears away. As she did
this Bunny saw a ring on his aunt's hand--a ring with a stone that
sparkled like snow in the sun--red, green, golden and purple colors.

"There, Sue! Don't cry!" murmured Aunt Lu. "You're not hurt, and the mud
will wash off."

"Oh, I--I'm not crying for that," said Sue. bravely keeping back her
sobs. "I--I'm crying just--just because I'm--I'm so glad to see you!"

CHAPTER II

THE LOST RING

Aunt Lu laughed when she heard Sue say that. And it was such a nice,
kind, jolly laugh that Sue could not help joining in. So she was really
laughing and crying at the same time, which is funny, I suppose you
think.

"Well, I'm glad you are so happy to see me, dear," said Aunt Lu. "Oh,
don't mind about your dress," she went on, as she saw Sue trying to rub
away some of the muddy spots with her tiny handkerchief. "Your mother
will know you couldn't help it."

"I'll tell her it wasn't Sue's fault," cried Bunny. "The railroad
oughtn't to have puddles where people will fall into 'em!"

"That's right," chimed in Bunker Blue. "It ought to be filled up with
dirt, and then it wouldn't hold water. You're to ride back with us in
the pony cart, Miss Baker."

"Oh, so you drove over for me; did you? That's very nice," said Aunt Lu
with a smile. "My! How large Bunny has grown!" she went on, as she bent
over and kissed him, having already done that to Sue, when she wiped
away the little girl's tears.

"I'll go and get the cart," Bunker said.

"Yes, and I think I'll take Sue inside the station, and see if I can get
a towel to clean off the worst of the mud stains," said Miss Baker.

"She can sit away back in the pony cart, and I'll sit in front of her,
so nobody will see the dirt on her dress," offered Bunny.

"That's very kind of you," his aunt remarked. "We'll be all right soon.
Bunker, will you see after my trunk, please?" she asked as she gave him
the brass check. "It can be sent up later," she went on, "as I guess
there is hardly room for it in the pony cart."

"No'm, not scarcely," answered Bunker with a smile that showed his big,
white teeth. "I'll have the expressman bring it up, or I can come down
for it later," and he went away to the baggage room.

The ticket agent in the station gave Aunt Lu a towel, with which she
took some of the dirt from Sue's dress. The little girl was smiling now.

"I like you, Aunt Lu," she said. "We're awful glad you came, and you'll
play with us; won't you?"

"Oh, yes, of course, dear. Well, what is it, Bunny?" she went on, as she
saw the little boy looking closely at her hands. "Do you see something?"
Aunt Lu asked.

"It--it's that," and Bunny pointed to the shining ring.

Aunt Lu's eyes sparkled, almost as brightly as the glittering stone in
the ring, and her cheeks became red.

"I know what it is--it's a diamond!" exclaimed Sue. "Isn't it, Aunt Lu?"

"Yes, dear."

"Did you find it?" asked Bunny. "Or did you dig it out of a gold mine?"

"Diamonds don't come from gold mines; they make 'em out of glass!" said
Sue.

"Yes they do dig 'em; don't they, Aunt Lu?" insisted Bunny.

"Yes, dear, they do dig them."

"Where did you dig it?" Sue wanted to know. Perhaps she hoped she could
dig one for herself.

"I did not dig it," their aunt said. "It was given me by a very dear
friend. I love it very much," and she held up the diamond ring, so that
it sparkled more than ever in the sun.

"Well, Sue," she went on, as she finished scrubbing away at the muddy
dress. "I think that is the best I can do. It will need washing to make
it clean again. But here comes Bunker with the pony cart, so we will
start for your house. Your mother will be wondering what has become of
us."

Aunt Lu had been on a visit to the Brown's several times before, and as
she sat in the pony cart with the children, with Bunker driving, she
bowed to several persons whom she knew and who knew her. There was Mr.
Sam Gordon, who kept the grocery, Jacob Reinberg, who sold drygoods and
notions, and little Mrs. Redden, who kept a candy and toy store.

"Stop here a minute, Bunker," said Miss Baker, when the pony cart
reached the toy store. "I want to get something for Bunny and Sue."

"Candy?" asked Bunny eagerly.

"Yes, just a little," his aunt answered, and soon Bunny and Sue were
nibbling the sweets Mrs. Redden brought out to them.

Just as he had said he would do, Bunny sat in front of his sister, so no
one would see her soiled dress. But Sue did not much mind about it now.
Her mother only said she was sorry, when she heard about the accident,
and did not blame her little daughter.

Mrs. Brown and her sister were glad to see one another, and after Aunt
Lu had taken off her hat, and was seated In the cool dining room,
sipping a cup of tea, Bunny called to her:

"Aunt Lu, won't you come out and play with us?"

"Please do!" begged Sue. "I have a new doll."

"And I have a new top," added Bunny. "It hums and whistles. I'll let you
spin it, Aunt Lu."

"Oh, dears, your aunt can't come out now," said Mrs. Brown. "She must
rest. Some other time she may. She and I want to sit and talk now. You
run off and play by yourselves."

"Don't you want to come down and see the fish boat come in?" went on
Bunny, wondering why it was that grown folks would rather sit and talk
than play out of doors and have fun.

"Oh, yes, let's take her down to the dock and see the fish boats come
in!" exclaimed Sue, for this was one of their delights. Some of the
boats were those which the fishermen hired from Mr. Brown, and it was at
his dock, where he had an office, that the boats landed, the fish being
taken out, put in barrels, with ice, and sent to the city.

"No, Aunt Lu can't go to the dock with you now," Mrs. Brown said. "Some
other time, my dears."

"Then may we go?" asked Bunny.

Mrs. Brown hesitated. Then, as she saw Bunker Blue coming in with Aunt
Lu's trunk, which he had gone down to get, instead of sending it up by
an expressman, the children's mother said:

"Yes, Bunny, you and Sue may go down to the dock with Bunker. But stay
with him, and don't fall in; you especially, Sue, as I don't want to put
another clean dress on you."

"Oh, I'll be careful, Mother," Sue promised, and away she and her
brother hurried, calling to Bunker to wait for them. Bunker was very
glad to do this, because he liked to be with Bunny and Sue.

"Have the fish boats come in yet, Bunker?" asked Bunny, as he trudged
along, holding one of the red-haired lad's hands, while Sue had the
other.

"No, Bunny, they're not in yet, but maybe they will be coming soon after
we get to the dock," Bunker answered. And so it happened. Bunny and Sue
went into their father's office for a moment, to tell him that Aunt Lu
had arrived, and then, with Bunker to look after them, they went out on
the end of the dock.

Soon one of the big fish boats came in. It was loaded with several kinds
of fish, some big flat ones, white on one side, and black on the other.
These were flounders. There were some blue fish, large and small, and
some long-legged "fiddler" crabs. But they were not the kind that is
good to eat.

"Oh, look at that big lobster!" exclaimed Bunny, pointing to a dark
green fellow, with big claws, and a tail curled up underneath.

"Isn't he big!" Sue said. She and her brother often saw many strange
fish, but they never failed to be interested in them, and this lobster
was a fine one.

"Yes," said a fisherman, "he was in our nets, and we brought him in with
us. Your father, the other day, said he'd like to have one, and maybe he
will want this."

"I'll go and ask him," said the little chap.

"And maybe Aunt Lu likes lobsters, too," Sue said. Neither she nor Bunny
cared for lobster, as they did for other fish. But grown folks are very
fond of the big, clawy creatures.

Perhaps some of you children have never seen a lobster. They are a sort
of fish, though they have no scales. They live inside a shell that is
dark green when the lobster is alive. But when he is cooked it turns a
bright red.

Lobsters have two big claws, and a number of little ones, and with these
claws they walk around, backward, on the bottom of the ocean or bay, and
pick up things to eat. In some inland rivers and streams there are what
are called crayfish, or crabs. They are very much like lobsters, only,
of course, a lobster is much larger.

Mr. Brown came out of his office when the fish were being unloaded from
the boat, into barrels of ice. He saw the big lobster and said he would
buy it, to take home to cook for supper.

"We'll have a fine salad from him," said Bunny's father to the
fisherman.

The lobster was still alive and the fisherman picked it up just back of
the big, pinching claws, so he would not get nipped, and put the lobster
in a basket for Mr. Brown to carry. Bunny and Sue leaned over, looking
at the green shellfish, when a voice behind them asked:

"What is it?"

The children turned to see George Watson, a boy older than Bunny, who
lived near him. George often played little tricks on Bunny and Sue.

"What is it?" he asked again. "A whale?"

"A big lobster," Bunny answered.

"I guess he could almost pinch your nose off in one of his claws," Sue
said, not going too close to the basket.

"Pooh! I'm not afraid of him," George declared. "I'll let him pinch this
stick," he went on, picking up one, and holding it out toward the
lobster, which was slowly waving its "feelers" to and fro, and moving
its big eyes, that looked like shoe buttons sticking out from its head.

"Better look out!" was Bunker's warning, seeing what George was doing.
"He'll nip you!"

"I'm not afraid!" boasted George. "I can----"

And just then something happened. George got his finger too near the
lobster's claw and was at once caught.

"Ouch!" cried George. "Oh dear! He's got me! Make him let go, Bunker!
Oh, dear!"

Bunker did not stop to say: "I told you so!" He took out his big knife,
and put the blade between the teeth of the lobster's claw, forcing it
open so George could pull out his finger. Then, with a howl of pain and
fright, the boy ran home. He was not much hurt, as a lobster can not
shut his claws very tightly when out of water. Just as does a fish, a
lobster soon dies when taken from the ocean.

"What's the matter?" cried Mr. Brown, running up when he heard George's
cries. "Are you hurt, Bunny--Sue?"

"No, it was George," Bunker explained. "He thought he could fool the
lobster, but the lobster fooled him."

"I guess I'd better take it home and have mother cook it," said the
children's father, and home they started, Mr. Brown carrying the big
lobster in the basket.

"Oh, what a fine large one!" Aunt Lu cried, when she saw it. "And what a
fine salad it will make."

"May I have one of the claws--the big one?" begged Bunny.

"What for?" asked his mother.

"I want to put a string in it and tie it on my face, over my own nose,"
the little boy explained. "Then I'll look just like Mr. Punch, in Punch
and Judy. May I have the claw?"

"I guess so," replied Mrs. Brown.

"And when you clean it out, and put it on your nose, I'll be Mrs. Judy,"
said Sue. "We'll have fun."

A lobster's claw, I might say, is filled with meat that is very good to
eat. When the lobster is boiled and the meat picked out with a fork, the
claw is hollow. It is shaped just like the nose of Mr. Punch, with a
sort of hook on the end of it, where the claw curves downward. Bunny and
Sue often played with empty lobster claws.

The children went out in the yard while Mrs. Brown cooked the lobster.
Then, when it was cool, Aunt Lu helped pick out the meat which was to be
mixed up into a salad.

"Is my big lobster claw ready now?" asked Bunny, coming up just before
the supper bell was to ring.

"Yes, here it is," his aunt told him. "I cleaned it out nicely for you."

Bunny held it over his own nose and went toward the mirror to see how he
would look.

"Oh, you're just exactly like Mr. Punch!" Sue cried, clapping her hands.

"Isn't he!" agreed Aunt Lu. And then she gave a sudden cry.

"Oh dear!" she gasped. "Oh dear! It's gone! I've lost it!"

"What?" asked Bunny.

"My ring! My beautiful diamond ring is lost!" And Aunt Lu's cheeks
turned pale.

CHAPTER III

WANGO, THE MONKEY

Aunt Lu hurried over to the kitchen table, at which she had been helping
Mrs. Brown make the lobster salad. She looked among the dishes, and
knives and forks, but shook her head.

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