Home > Authors Index > Laura Lee Hope > Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour > This page
Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour, a novel by Laura Lee Hope |
||
Chapter 10. Dix Comes Back |
||
| < Previous |
Table of content |
Next > |
|
________________________________________________
_ CHAPTER X. DIX COMES BACK For a moment Sue stood looking at her mother, seeming to be thinking very hard about something. Then she asked: "Momsie, do you think Dix took Sallie Malinda away?" "Well, it seems so," said Mrs. Brown. "That is, if Dix has really gone away. We had better make sure of that, first. There is no question about your Teddy bear's being gone, for I saw her in the rag bed by the back door of the auto not half an hour ago." "Well, I suppose she either fell out, or Dix, thinking to have a game of tag with her, took her out, though the Teddy bear, with the batteries inside to make her eyes light up, isn't easy for even Dix to carry very far," said Mr. Brown. "But how are we going to get my darling Sallie Malinda back?" asked Sue, and there were tears in her eyes. "Daddy will find some way. Won't you, Daddy?" asked Bunny, for he did not like to see his little sister sad. "Well, the only thing I can see to do is to turn the automobile around and go back to look for Sue's Teddy bear," said Mr. Brown. "He may be lying beside the road where he fell from the auto." "My Teddy bear isn't a _he_, Daddy!" cried Sue. "She's a _she_! Aren't there _lady_ Teddy bears as well as _gentlemen_?" "Yes, I suppose so," laughed Mr. Brown. "I forgot for the moment that your Teddy's name was Sallie. But whether it's a he or a she I suppose you'd like to have me go back for it, wouldn't you?" "Indeed I would, Daddy! I don't know what I'd do without Sallie Malinda." "All right, then we'll turn the auto around." "We've done about as much going backward as we have going forward on this trip," laughed Uncle Tad. "But still we must get Sue's pet. It wouldn't do to go off and leave _her_." "I can't understand about Dix, though," said Mrs. Brown. "Surely he wouldn't run away and leave us after he had come this far with us." "Maybe he is just playing hide-and-go-seek with Splash," said Bunny. "Maybe it's Dix's turn to hide." "Suppose you call him," suggested Mrs. Brown. Bunny called and whistled, in a way he had been doing to get Dix to come to him ever since the Ward dog had joined the traveling automobile party. But there came no answering bark, and even Splash seemed surprised when he could not find his playfellow. "Hi, Splash!" called Bunny. "Where is Dix? Go find him!" Splash ran around and barked, which was his only way of talking, but he came back frequently to the children, who, with their parents and Uncle Tad, were standing beside the auto, and he did not bring Dix back with him. It was as though Splash said: "I know you want to find Dix, but I don't know where he is. There is no use in my running my legs off to find him, for he is a long way from here." "Dix possibly has been missing a longer while than we know," said Mr. Brown. "I noticed once, as we were going over a bridge, that Splash went in and had a little swim. But I did not see Dix with him, though I didn't think anything about it at the time. We had that trouble with the engine farther back than that. When I got that fixed Dix was about. But from then on I haven't seen him, and that was some miles back." "Maybe that's the time my dear Sallie Malinda fell out," said Sue. "Or else Dix took her." "I don't believe he'd do that," said her father. "He was too well trained. He isn't a puppy any longer, to hide boots, shoes and toys. I don't believe Dix took your Teddy." "Well, anyhow let's go to find him," said Bunny. "I mean _her_," he added quickly, as he noticed Sue looking sharply at him. "Maybe we'll find Dix and the Teddy bear at the same time." "If Dix hasn't gone off to find a cow or an elephant or a camel or something like that to make us a present of," said Mrs. Brown with a laugh. "Oh, Momsie! Do you think Dix would really bring back an elephant?" asked Bunny eagerly. "No, my dear, I was only fooling. But let's start back, Daddy, for I know Sue will be very anxious to-night about her Teddy bear." Back they started in the automobile over the road they had just traveled. Now and then they stopped and called Dix, but the dog did not come to them. Splash added his barks and whines to the general calling but no Dix answered. "He must be mighty far away," said Bunny. "Yes, I'm afraid we'll never find him, or my dearest Sallie Malinda either," said Sue, and once more tears came into her eyes. As the auto went along, in addition to calling for Dix, every one in the party, including the children, had looked along the road for a sight of the Teddy bear that might have fallen from the automobile. But Sallie Malinda was not to be seen, and Sue did not know what to do. "Well, we'll go back to where I last noticed that Dix was with us," said Mr. Brown. "Then if we don't find your Teddy, Sue, I'll have to get you another." "But I'd rather have Sallie Malinda!" "I know, dear, but you can name the new one that." "Sue's Teddy's had lots of adventures," said Bunny. "The hermit took her, and now she's lost." "Well, I'm not going to give up yet," said his sister, as she looked carefully along the road. "But what can have become of Dix?" asked Mrs. Brown. "I can't understand him." "Oh, he may have gone off chasing a rabbit or a squirrel," said Mr. Brown. "Anyhow we're almost at the bridge, and the spot where we had the engine trouble is not far beyond." Silently those in the auto looked along the road for a sight of Sue's Teddy. Then suddenly Bunny said, "No, he didn't!" "Who didn't what?" asked his father, for Bunny would often make these sudden exclamations. "Dix didn't go off chasing a rabbit or a squirrel," said Bunny. "There he comes now--with an elephant, I guess," and the little boy pointed down the road. There was Dix coming back, and he was half dragging and half carrying something that looked like an animal. On and on came the dog. He seemed very tired. When he saw the automobile he stopped, dropped what he had in his mouth, and lay down beside it. Then he began to bark joyfully. "Oh, it's my Sallie Malinda! It's my Teddy bear!" cried Sue. "You dear old Dix! You found Sallie Malinda for me!" And that is just what had happened, they decided after they had talked it over among themselves. Dix must have been running along behind the auto when he saw Sue's pet jostled out. Knowing how the little girl loved her Teddy bear he picked it up and began to half drag and half carry it, for, as Mr. Brown had said, the electrical batteries that made the Teddy's eyes shine, were heavy. Poor Dix had all he could do to drag the Teddy bear, but he would not let go, and the noise made by the auto made it impossible for those in the car to hear his barks, which he must have given. And so they rode on, paying no attention, but leaving Dix far behind, until Sue discovered the loss of her Teddy bear. "Oh, you are a dear good dog, and I love you!" cried Sue, hugging the Teddy bear with one arm and Dix with the other. And the dog was plainly overjoyed at being with his friends again. I suppose the Teddy bear was glad too, but of course she could not even wag her little stub of a tail to show it. However, Sue could make the pet's eyes gleam, which she did again and again. Nor was the Teddy bear much damaged by being dragged in the dirt, for the roads were not muddy, and Dix had held her up out of the dust as much as he could. "Oh, but I'm glad to get my darling Sallie Malinda back!" cried Sue. "Dix is a good dog," put in Bunny. "He can ride in the auto now, can't he, Daddy? He must be tired." "Yes, get him and Splash both in," said Mr. Brown. "I think it is going to rain, and I want to get to the next town where we will stay overnight." "In a hotel?" asked Bunny. "No; in our auto, of course." The dogs were called in, and Dix seemed glad to rest. Then Daddy Brown turned the big car around and once more they were on their way. It began to rain before they reached the town of Welldon, on the edge of which they were to stop for the night. But the rain did not matter to those in the big moving van, which was like a little house. They had their supper inside, sat reading or playing games by the electric light, and listened to the rain on the roof, for it came down more and more heavily. "Isn't it a nice place?" said Bunny to Sue, as they went to bed. "The bestest ever!" she cried. It was about the middle of the night that Bunny was awakened by feeling a queer bumping, sliding motion. "Why," he cried, sitting up in his bunk, "we must be traveling on in the dark! Daddy! Momsie!" he cried. "What are we moving for, when it's dark?" "What's that?" cried Mr. Brown suddenly awakening. "The automobile is running away!" cried Bunny, and outside they could hear a strange roaring sound amid the patter of the rain. _ |
||