Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on Grandpa's Farm Part 29

"Wouldn't you like to play dolls?"

"Yes--yes, I would, but I haven't any doll."

"I'll let you take one of mine." Sue held out her best doll to the little girl. It is always polite, you know, to give company, and your friends, the best that you have, instead of keeping it yourself, no matter how much you want it.

"Oh, what a lovely doll!" exclaimed the little girl, her eyes shining bright.

"Her name is Ethel," said Sue.

"Why, that's my name!" exclaimed the little girl in the blue dress. "Did you know that?"

"No," answered Sue. "I didn't, but I'm glad it is your name. Now we'll find a place to play house."

Sue found a spot where some vines grew over an old stump, making a sort of green tent, or leafy bower, like the one on the island where she and Bunny had played Robinson Crusoe. In that Ethel and Sue had a fine time with the dolls.

When it was time to eat the lunch from the baskets, Bunny and Sue asked if they could not take theirs, and eat it with some of the other children, who were going off by themselves. Sue wanted to be with Ethel, and Bunny had found a boy named John, at one of the swings. He brought John to eat with him.

"Yes, you children may take your lunch off by yourselves," said Mother Brown. "I thought you would want to do that, so I put it up in a separate basket for you."

Bunker Blue carried the lunch for Bunny and Sue to a nice place in the woods where a number of children were going to eat the good things their fathers and mothers had brought for them.

The children had nearly finished eating, when, all at once, the bushes near where Bunny was sitting were pushed to one side, and two rough-looking men, one large and one smaller, with ragged clothes, and red handkerchiefs tied around their necks in place of collars, stepped out.

And then one of the tramps, for that is what the men were, made a grab for the lunch basket that was near Bunny Brown.

CHAPTER XX

THE MISSING CAKE

The tramps had come through the bushes so quickly, and had made such a sudden grab for the lunch basket, that, for a second or two, Bunny Brown did not know what to do. Neither did his sister Sue. Nor were the other children any better off.

They just sat there, looking at the rough men, one of whom had Bunny's basket, and was taking out what was left of the sandwiches, cake and other good things.

"Is there anything to eat in it?" asked the little tramp of the big one, who had Bunny's basket.

"Yes, some," was the answer. "But there are more lunch baskets. Grab one for yourself."

Of course that was not a nice way to talk--not very polite you know. But perhaps tramps are different from other folks. They get so hungry at times that they forget to be polite, I guess.

The smaller tramp, for one was much bigger and taller than the other, looked around to see what he could find. He saw little John Boland holding tightly to a basket. It still had some good things to eat in it, for John had not eaten all his lunch.

"Here, give me that!" cried the tramp.

"No! No!" John exclaimed, and he turned to run away, for he did not like the tramps, any more than did Bunny Brown, or Sue, or any of the others.

But, as John turned, his foot caught in a root of a tree, and down he went, striking the ground quite hard. His lunch basket bounced out of his hand, and rolled to one side.

"Ha! That's what I want!" said the tramp. "I don't want you, little boy.

All I want is something to eat."

But John, I suppose, thought the tramps might take him away, as some people think Gypsies will take children away (only they won't) and John began to cry.

Now it is a funny thing, but very often if one little boy or girl in a crowd of others begins to cry, why two or three more will do the same thing. And, no sooner had John begun to sob, than Tillie Simpson, Nellie Hadden, Flo Benson, Tommie Jones and Harry Kennedy all began to cry, too. About the only ones who were not crying were Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, and Sue had some tears all ready to let fall out of her eyes.

But Sue watched to see what Bunny would do. She did not want him to call her a "cry-baby" afterward, though Bunny hardly ever called his sister names, except maybe in fun.

"You let us alone! Let my basket alone! Let John's basket alone! Go on away from here!"

The big tramp, who was eating what was left in Bunny's basket, looked up and laughed.

"You're a s.p.u.n.ky little chap," he said, "but we're not going away until we get something to eat. We're hungry!"

"That's what we are," said the small tramp, who had picked up the basket that had rolled from the hand of John. Out of this the small tramp was eating pieces of cake and sandwiches as fast as he could. John, who had stopped crying now, sat up and looked on, his eyes wide open.

"We haven't had anything to eat all day!" went on the big tramp, who was also eating fast. "We're terrible hungry! You children have had enough.

We'll take the rest."

"Yes, and then maybe we'll take some of them," said the small tramp, blinking his eyes and looking around. Of course he was only fooling, but the children did not know this, and some of the little girls screamed, and ran away.

But Bunny Brown was not so frightened as were the others. He was older, and then, too, he felt that he must look after his sister. So he cried out again:

"Go on away from here, you--you bad tramps!"

The tramps only laughed. Then Bunny Brown thought of something. Turning around he called, as loudly as he could:

"Here Splash! Come Splash! Come on old dog!"

Then Bunny whistled. He had only just learned how, from Bunker Blue a few days before, and he could not whistle very loudly, but still he did very well for a small boy.

"Come Splash! Come on, old dog!" he cried, and he whistled once more.

The tramps looked at one another.

"He's callin' his dog," said the big one.

"Yes," said the little tramp, "we'd better go. Come on. We've had enough to last us for awhile. We'll empty the baskets and run."

The two roughly dressed men, with red handkerchiefs around their neck, in place of collars, quickly emptied into their pockets the sandwiches and cake that were left in some of the baskets which the children had dropped. They mixed the cake and bread and meat all up together; those tramps did. Perhaps they were so hungry they did not mind.

Then off they ran through the bushes the way they had come.

"Oh, I'm so glad they're gone!" exclaimed Sue.

"So am I," said Tommie Jones. "If they hadn't gone your dog would have bit them, Bunny Brown; wouldn't he?"

Bunny Brown laughed.