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Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour, a novel by Laura Lee Hope |
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Chapter 1. The Boy Next Door |
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_ CHAPTER I. THE BOY NEXT DOOR "Oh, mother!" cried Bunny Brown, running up the front steps as he reached home from school. "Oh, something's happened next door!" "What do you mean, Bunny? A fire?" "No, it isn't a fire," said Sue, who was as much out of breath as was her brother. "It's sumfin different from that!" "But, children, what do you mean? Is some one hurt?" asked Mrs. Brown. "It sounds so," answered Bunny, putting his books on the table. "I heard Mrs. Ward crying." "Oh, the poor woman!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "She must be in trouble. They have only just moved here. I'd better go over and see if I can help her"; and Mrs. Brown laid down her sewing. "I guess it must be about their boy Fred," suggested Bunny. "What happened to him?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Was he hurt at school? He goes to school, doesn't he?" "Yes, but he wasn't there to-day," went on Bunny. "And it's Fred who's in trouble I guess, for I heard his mother speak his name, and then Mr. Ward said something else." "Oh, dear, I hope nothing has happened," said Mrs. Brown, looking up at the clock to see if it were not time for her husband to come home from his boat and fishing pier. "We must do what we can to help, Bunny. Now tell me all about it. Not that I want to interfere with my neighbors' affairs, but I always like to help." "And I think Mrs. Ward needs some help," said Sue, "'cause she was crying real hard." "Then I'll go right over and see what is the matter," said kind Mrs. Brown. "Oh, and may we go too?" asked Bunny. "Please let us," begged Sue. Their mother thought for a minute. Sometimes, she knew, it was not good for children to go where older persons were crying, and had trouble. But Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue were two wise little children, wiser than many of their age, and their mother knew she could depend on them. So, after a few seconds, she said: "Yes, you may come with me. We shall see what the matter is with Mrs. Ward." "And we'll help her too, if we can," added. Bunny, bravely. Mrs. Brown, followed by Bunny and Sue, started for the home of Mrs. Ward. A wide lawn was between the two houses, and on this lawn Bunny and Sue, with their dog Splash, had much fun. The Wards were a family who had lately moved to the street where the Browns had lived for years. As yet Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Ward had gotten only as far as a "nodding acquaintance." That is, Mrs. Brown, coming out into her yard, would see Mrs. Ward, and would say: "Good morning. It's a fine day; isn't it?" "Yes, indeed it is," Mrs. Ward would answer. Sometimes it would be Mrs. Ward who would first speak about the fine weather and Mrs. Brown would answer. Both women would soon become better acquainted. Mr. Brown had seen Mr. Ward several mornings on his way to work, and, knowing him to be the man next door, had nodded, and said: "Good morning!" And Mr. Ward had said the same thing. They, too, would soon be better acquainted. "I know the Wards are nice people," said Sue, as she trotted along beside her mother. "What makes you think so?" asked Mrs. Brown, as she walked slowly across her lawn toward the house next door. "'Cause they have a nice dog named Dix, and he and Splash are good friends. First they sort of growled at each other, and then they smelled noses and now they always wag their tails when they meet." "Well, that's a good sign," laughed Sue's mother. "But I wonder what can be the matter with the boy next door," said Sue to her brother. "Are you sure you heard Mr. and Mrs. Ward talking about Fred?" "Yes, I'm sure," answered Bunny. "Well, I didn't hear that part," said Sue. "But we'll soon find out what the matter is." As the Browns walked across the lawn, a dog came running out of the house where lived "the boy next door," as Bunny and Sue called Fred Ward, even though they knew his name. They had spoken several times to him. "Is that dog savage?" asked Mrs. Brown. "No, Momsie," replied Sue. "He's just as nice as he can be. He and Splash are good friends. Here Dix!" she called. With a joyful bark the dog bounded toward Sue. He evidently knew the children, and soon made friends with Mrs. Brown. "He's a strong dog," she said to the children. "And he's good, too!" exclaimed Bunny. "I was talking to Fred one day and he told me that his dog Dix saved him from drowning when they lived in another city, near a river." "That was fine!" cried Mrs. Brown. "I think I shall like Dix." By this time they were under the dining-room windows of the Ward house, and Mrs. Brown and the children heard the sound of a woman sobbing, and a man trying to comfort her. "Now don't worry, Martha," said the man. "Everything will come out right, I'm sure, and we'll find Fred." "Oh, I hope so!" moaned the woman. And she kept on crying. "Excuse me," said Mrs. Brown, calling in through the open window. "But I fear you have trouble, and I have come over to see if I may not help you." Mr. Ward looked out of the window. "It's Mrs. Brown," he said, evidently speaking to his wife in the room behind him. "I have been intending to come over to see you," went on Mrs. Brown. "But you know how it is I suppose, Mrs. Ward," for now the other lady had come to the window. "We keep putting such things off. And really I have been so busy since we came back from our camp in the big woods that I haven't had time to set my house to rights." "I know how it is, Mrs. Brown," replied Mrs. Ward, wiping the tears from her eyes, "and I am glad to see you now. Won't you come in?" "I really don't know whether I ought to or not. My children, on coming home from school, said they heard sounds of distress in here, and knowing you were strangers I thought perhaps you might not know where to apply for help in case you needed it. My husband is one of the town officials, and if we can do anything----" "It is very kind of you," said Mrs. Ward. "Thank you so much for coming over. We _are_ in trouble, and perhaps you can give us some advice. Please come in." She went to the front door and let in Bunny, Sue and their mother, the two children wondering what could have happened to the boy next door, for they did not see him, and it seemed the trouble was about him. "It won't take long to tell you what has happened," said Mrs. Ward, placing chairs for Mrs. Brown and the two children. "Our boy Fred has run away from home!" "Run away from home!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "Yes, that's what he's done," said Mr. Ward. "I never thought he'd do such a thing as that, even though he is quick tempered. Yes, Fred has run away," and he turned over and over in his hand a slip of paper he had been reading. "Perhaps he only went off in a sort of joke," said Mrs. Brown sympathetically. "I know once Bunny----" "Yep. I ran away, I did!" exclaimed Bunny. "I got away down to the end of the street. I saw a man and a hand organ and he had a monkey. I mean the man did. And I wanted to be a hand-organ man so I ran away and was going off with him, only Bunker Blue chased after me, so I didn't run far, though I might have." "Bunker Blue is a boy who works on Mr. Brown's fishing pier," explained Mrs. Brown. "Yes, Bunny did run away once, but he was glad to run back again." "And I was lost!" cried Sue. "I was out walking with my daddy, and I went down a wrong street, and I couldn't see him and I didn't know what to do so I--I cried." "Yes, Sue was lost a whole morning before a policeman found her and telephoned to us," put in Mrs. Brown. "She was glad to get back. Undoubtedly your boy will be the same." "No," said Mr. Ward slowly, "I don't believe Fred will come home soon. He has gone off very angry." "Are you sure he didn't go to the home of some neighbor or of a relative?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Children often do that, never thinking how worried their fathers and mothers are." "No, Fred is too old to do that," said Mrs. Ward, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "He has gone, intending to stay a long while." "What makes you think so?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Because of this note he left," answered the father of the boy next door. "You see, Mrs. Brown, I had to correct Fred for doing something wrong. He spent some money to buy a banjo that he had promised--I had told him I would get him a fine banjo next year, but---- "Well, he disobeyed me, and I felt I had to punish him. So I sent him up to his room to stay all day. He went to his room, and that is the last we have seen of him. He left this note, saying he was never coming back." "Read Mrs. Brown the note," suggested Mrs. Ward. "Maybe she can think of some plan to get Fred back." Mr. Ward was about to read the note when Mr. Brown's voice was heard under the dining-room windows saying: "Hello, Mother, and Bunny and Sue! Mary told me you had come over here, so I thought I'd come to pay a visit too. I've news for you." "Oh, it's daddy!" cried Sue, and she ran to let her father in through the front door. "I wonder what news it is," said Bunny to himself. "I wonder if he has found Fred." _ |
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