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Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Playing Circus, a novel by Laura Lee Hope |
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Chapter 17. Bunny And The Balloons |
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_ CHAPTER XVII. BUNNY AND THE BALLOONS Bunker Blue, Ben, and some of the large boys from nearby farms, who had been invited to come over and help put up the big tent, stopped pulling on the ropes, or driving in stakes, and gathered around Bunny Brown. "What's the matter?" asked one big boy, who had a snub nose. "My--my little sister is lost," Bunny explained, half crying. "Who is your sister?" the big boy asked. He came from a farm a good way off, and was somewhat of a stranger. "She's Sue--that's my sister," Bunny explained. "She was here a little while ago, but now she's lost!" "This is Bunny Brown," explained Bunker to the other boys. "He and his sister Sue are staying at Grandpa Brown's farm. Their grandfather let us take this tent," he said. "Oh, I see!" exclaimed the big boy. "Well, we'll help you hunt for your sister, Bunny." They began looking all around the big tent, which was spread out on the ground and not yet up on the poles, as it would be later, so the people could come in it to see the show of the big boys. But Sue was not in sight. Nor could she be seen anywhere in the field where the tent was to be put up. "Are you sure she didn't go back to the house, Bunny?" asked Ben. "I'm sure she didn't," said the little boy. "She was here with me a little while ago. If she'd gone she'd have told me so, and Splash would have gone with her. He goes with her more than he does with me. And see, here is Splash!" This was true. The big dog lay in the shade, watching what Bunny and the others were doing, and wondering, I suppose, why people were so foolish as to work in hot weather, when they could just as well lie down in the shade, and stick out their tongues to keep cool--for that is what dogs do. "Maybe Splash can find Sue," said Bunker. "Hi there, Splash!" he called. "Where's Sue? Find her!" Splash jumped up with a bark, and ran to Bunny. "You tell him what to do," said Bunker. "He'll mind you better than he will me." "Find Sue, Splash! Find Sue!" said Bunny. Splash barked again, looked up into Bunny's face, as if to make sure what was wanted, and then, with a bark he ran to where a big pile of the white canvas was gathered in a heap. It was a part of the tent the boys had not yet unfolded, or straightened out. Splash stood near this and barked. Then he began poking in it with his sharp nose. "He--he's found something," said Ben. "Maybe it's Sue," cried Bunker. "Come on!" Taking hold of Bunny's hand, Bunker ran with him toward the pile of canvas. The other boys ran too. But before they got there Sue was sitting up in the middle of it, and Splash was standing near her, barking and jumping about now and then, as if he felt very happy. "Why--why, Sue!" Bunny cried. "Were you there all the while?" "How long is all the while?" asked Sue, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "I was playing house here, Bunny, and I pulled a bed spread over me, and went to sleep. Splash put his cold nose on me and woke me up. What are you all lookin' at me for?" Sue asked, as she saw the circle of boys, her brother among them, staring at her. "We--we thought you were lost, Sue," said Bunny. "And we came to find you." "I--I wasn't losted at all!" Sue protested. "I was here all the while! I just went to sleep!" And that was what had happened. When Bunny was busy helping Ben and Bunker pull on some of the tent ropes, Sue had slipped off by herself, and had lain down on the pile of canvas. Feeling sleepy, she had pulled a part of the tent over her. She made believe it was a white spread, such as was on her bed in her Grandpa Brown's house. This covered Sue from sight, so Bunny and none of the others could see her. And there she had slept, while the others looked. And had not Splash known where to find the little girl, she might have slept a great deal longer, and Bunny and the boys might not have found her until dark. "But I've slept long enough, now," said Sue. "Is the tent ready for the big circus?" "Not yet," answered Bunker Blue. "We've got to use the piece of canvas you were sleeping on, so it's a good thing you woke up. But we'll soon have the tent ready, and then we'll go and get the bigger one." "Oh, are you going to have two?" asked Sue. "Yes," answered Ben. "Oh, we're going to give a fine show! And we want you and your sister Sue in it, too, Bunny," went on the strange boy who had come to Grandpa Brown's so hungry that night. "You'll be in the big circus; won't you?" "To give the Punch and Judy show?" asked Sue. "Well, maybe that, and maybe some of the things you did in your own little circus," Bunker said. "There's time enough to get up something new if you want." "All right. That's what we'll do," said Bunny. "Come on, Sue, and we'll practise a new act for the big boys' circus." The little circus, gotten up by Bunny and Sue, had made quite a jolly time for the people in the country where Grandpa Brown lived. It was talked of in many a farmhouse, and it was this talk of the little circus that had made Bunker, Ben and the other big boys want to give a larger show of their own. Some of the boys were quite strong, and they could do tricks on the trapeze that Bunny and his little friends did not dare try. Then, too, one of the boys had a trained dog, that had once been in a real city theatre show, and another had some white mice that could do little tricks, and even fire a toy cannon that shot a paper cap. "Oh, it's going to be a real circus all right, in real tents," said Bunker Blue. As I have told you, Grandpa Brown let the boys take his old army tent, and they were to have another, and larger one, that had once been used at a county fair. Leaving Bunker, Ben and the other big boys to put up their tent, Bunny and Sue, with Splash, their dog, went back to the farmhouse. "What trick can we do, Bunny?" asked Sue. "What can we do in the circus?" "Oh, we'll make up a surprise, so they'll all laugh," he said. "I wish I had another big lobster claw, so I could put it on my nose, and look funny." "Maybe you could find something else to put on your nose," said the little girl. "Oh, Bunny, I know!" she suddenly cried. "I've just thought of something fine!" "What?" asked Bunny. Sue looked all around, to make sure no one was listening, and then she whispered to Bunny. And what it was she told him I'm not allowed to tell you just now, though I will when the right time comes. Anyhow, Bunny and Sue were very busy the rest of the day. They were making something out in the barn, and they kept the doors closed so no one could see what they were doing. It was the day after this that Bunny and Sue were asked by their grandma to go on a little errand for her. It was about half a mile down the safe country road, to a neighbor's house, and as the two children had been there before, they knew the way very well. Hand in hand they set off, with Splash following after them. They walked slowly, for there was no hurry. Now and then they stopped to pick some pretty flowers, or get a drink at a wayside spring. Once in a while they saw a red, yellow or blue bird, and they stopped to watch the pretty creatures fly to their nests, where their little ones were waiting to be fed. "Oh, isn't it just lovely in the country," said Sue. "Don't you just love it, Bunny?" "Yes," he answered. "I do. And won't we have fun at our circus, Sue, when I dress up like a----" "Hush!" exclaimed the little girl. "Don't tell anyone! It's a secret you know." "Pooh! There's nobody here to tell!" laughed Bunny. In a little while they were at the house of the neighbor to whom Grandma Brown had sent them. They gave in the little note grandma had written, and then Mrs. Wilson, to whom it was sent, after writing an answer, gave Bunny and Sue each a cookie, and a cool glass of milk. "Sit down in the shade, on the porch, and eat and drink," said Mrs. Wilson. "Then you will feel better when going home." Bunny and Sue liked the cookies and milk very much. They were just eating the last crumbs of the cookies, and drinking the last drops of milk, when Bunny, looking out toward the road, saw, going past, a man with a large number of balloons, tied to strings, floating over his head. There were red balloons, and blue ones; green, yellow, purple, white and pink ones. "Oh, look, Sue!" cried Bunny. "The balloons! That's just what we want for our circus." "What do we want of balloons?" asked the little girl. "I mean we ought to have somebody sell them outside the tents," Bunny went on. "It won't look like a real circus without toy balloons." "That's so," agreed Sue. "But how can we get 'em?" "We'll ask the balloon man," said Bunny. He was not a bit bashful about speaking to strangers. Setting down his empty milk glass, Bunny ran down the front path toward the road, where the balloon man was walking along through the dust. Sue ran after her brother. "Hey! Hi there!" called Bunny. The man stopped and turned around. Seeing the two children, he smiled. "You wanta de balloon?" he asked, for he was an Italian, just like the one who had a hand organ, and whose monkey ran away, as I have told you in the book before this one. "We want lots of balloons," said Bunny. "Oh, sure!" said the man, smiling more than ever. "We want all the balloons for our circus," Bunny explained. "Circus? Circus?" repeated the balloon man, and he did not seem to know what Bunny meant. "What is circus?" he asked. "We're going to have a circus," Bunny explained. "My sister Sue says we must have toy balloons. You come to our circus and you can sell a lot. You know--a show in a tent." "Oh, sure! I know!" The Italian smiled again. He had often sold balloons at fairs and circuses. "Where your circus?" he asked. "Come on, we'll show you," promised Bunny. Then he and Sue started back toward Grandpa Brown's house, followed by the man with the balloons floating over his head--red balloons, green, blue, purple, yellow, white and pink ones. _ |
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