Laura Lee Hope

“ Bunny asked, jumping out of bed.
"Come on down!" cried Charlie Star. "We're going to have a ball game! We're waiting for you! Bobbie Boomer, Harry Bentley, George Watson, and all the fellows are over in the lots waiting. Come on have a ball game!"
"I didn't know it was so late!" murmured Bunny, rubbing his eyes. "I'll be right down!"
He had, indeed, slept later than usual, and as this was vacation time, his mother had not called him, though Sue had got up and had gone off to play with some of the girls.
Bunny had his breakfast and then he ran over to the big lots with Charlie. ”

“ An old woman's troubles aren't for little ones like you."
"My father had troubles once," said Bunny, "and we hugged him and kissed him; didn't we, Sue? That was when there was a fire on his boat dock."
"Yes, we were sorry a lot," Sue replied. "And we're sorry for you now, Mrs. Golden, and I'm going to tell mother to buy all her things here."
"That's very kind of you," said the woman. "But if Philip only gets that legacy I'll have money enough to pay all my debts and a little left over. Now don't worry about me. Try to have a good time. I'll get your candy!" ”

“ Going around making people pay up is a cross sort of work, I guess."
"But what makes him want you to give him money?" asked Sue. "I thought a store was a place where people paid you money. I didn't think you had to pay money out. Bunny's going to keep a store when he grows up. Will he have to pay out money?"
"No, I'm not going to!" cried the little boy. "People have got to pay me money, but I don't pay any."
"You have lots to learn about a store, little man!" said Mrs. Golden. "It isn't all fun, as you and Sue suppose. Do you see all these things on my shelves?" ”

“ Let's go ask mother if we can feed 'em."
"I know she'll say yes, so I'll get some scraps of meat from Mary," said Sue.
As the rain was slackening and as Mrs. Brown knew that the alligators might need food, she told the children they could go out to the barn if they put on their rubber boots and coats.
"Aren't you afraid the alligators will bite you?" asked Mary, as she cut up some bits of meat for the children.
"Course not; we aren't afraid!" boasted Bunny. "They're only little alligators, and they're real tame." ”

“ Bunny shut Judy up in his pencil box, as the easiest way of carrying the little alligator, and soon he was on his way home with his pet.
"Why, Bunny! what's the matter?" his mother asked, as he came into the house. "Why are you home?"
"I had to bring back one of the alligators," he explained.
"Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Tad. "Like Mary's lamb, the alligator followed you to school one day, did it, Bunny?"
"She didn't 'zactly follow me," Bunny explained, as he took his pet out to the tank in the barn. "I carried Judy in my pencil box, but I didn't know it." ”

“ Polly wants a cracker!" shrieked the green bird.
"A fire cracker's what you ought to have!" sniffed Miss Winkler, who did not like the two pets her sailor brother had brought back with him from one of his voyages.
"Cracker! Cracker! Put the kettle on the fire! Polly wants a cracker!" yelled the bird, and Wango began to chatter, the two of them making such a racket that Miss Winkler held her hands over her ears while Bunny and Sue could not help laughing. [30]
"Stop it! Stop it!" yelled the maiden lady, and finally the monkey and the parrot grew quiet. ”

“ If you let me look I can tell if it's mine or Sue's."
"I'll help!" offered Charlie Star. "I know Bunny's alligators, too!"
"No, let Bunny manage his own pets," said the teacher. "Come here, Bunny, and see what really is in your desk. I can't understand how an alligator would get in there if you didn't bring it."
Bunny opened his desk cover, the other boys wishing they had his chance to "show off" this way right in the school room. Bunny looked inside and then laughed. [39]
"Yes," he said, "it's Judy, the littlest alligator. She won't hurt anybody." ”

“ Miss Bradley next asked. "I mean a pet mouse, for I know you and Sue have many pets. Did you bring a mouse to school, Bunny?"
"Oh, no, Teacher! I wouldn't do such a thing!" Bunny declared very earnestly.
"I didn't believe you would," said Miss [36] Bradley, with a kind smile. "I think Sadie must be mistaken. But still, to quiet her—and all of you," she added, looking at the pupils, "I will look in Bunny's desk. I am quite sure I will find nothing more than a book or a piece of paper that may have moved, making Sadie think it was a mouse."
Miss Bradley went to Bunny's desk. ”

“ Flynt. "But she must pay. Everybody must pay what they owe or be sold out. Now I'll give you a little more time," he went on. "I'll tell them, back at the office, that you expect a legacy, and when that comes you must pay."
"Yes, yes! I'll pay!" promised Mrs. Golden. "Only give me a little more time and I'll pay."
"Well, see that you do!" grumbled the black-bearded man, who appeared to be crosser than ever now. "When I come again I want money!"
He stalked out of the store with a scowl on his face, and Bunny and Sue looked first at each other and then at poor Mrs. Golden. ”

“ They took turns keeping store and doing the buying, and had a great deal of fun.
But even making believe keep a hardware store gets tiresome after a while, especially if there are only two playing, and after a while Bunny Brown and his sister Sue wanted something else to interest them.
"'Tisn't raining quite so hard now," Sue observed, after a look from the window.
"That's right!" cried Bunny. "Oh, say! Maybe we can go out in the barn and feed our alligators!"
"That'll be fun," agreed Sue. "And I guess they're hungry; don't you, Bunny?" ”

“ Bunny took his place behind the counter [9] and waited. Sue went out into the hall, paused a moment, and then, with a little basket over her arm, came walking in, as much like a grown-up lady as she could manage.
"Good morning, Mrs. Snifkins!" exclaimed Bunny. He always called Sue "Mrs. Snifkins" when they kept store.
"Oh, good morning, Mr. Huntley," Sue replied. She always called her brother "Mr. Huntley," when they kept store. Perhaps this was because he used to pretend to hunt for things on the make-believe shelves. ”

“ Some storekeepers are hustlers for business. If business doesn't come to them they go after it. That's how they sell things."
"How could Mrs. Golden sell more things?" Bunny questioned. "She's got lots of things in her store—heaps and packs of 'em—but she doesn't sell much."
"That's the trouble!" said Uncle Tad. "She doesn't advertise, and she doesn't make any window display."
"What's a window display?" Sue inquired.
"I saw you looking at one the other day," replied the old soldier. "Do you remember when I passed you and Bunny while you were looking in the drug store window on Main Street?" ”

“ Stop that I say! Can't people go along the street without being wet with water from a hose? Pull your hose farther back!"
"Sue! Sue! Don't do that! Be careful! You're wetting some one," cried Bunny, as he ran along, not yet seeing the hose. But he could guess what had happened.
Sue, coming along and seeing the hose turned on, with the water spurting out, had picked up the nozzle end and was watering the garden. Only she held the hose so high that the water shot over the high front hedge and was wetting some man passing in the street. ”

“ Bunny had any number of pockets, and he was going through first one and then the other, finding different things in each—a top, pieces of string, his knife, odd bits of stone, a very black piece of licorice, and some nails. Bunny never knew when he might want some of these things.
"Here, Mrs. Golden!" exclaimed Sue, she being the first to get what she was after in her pocket. "Here's two cents I was going to spend for candy. You can have it to give to the man!" ”

“ Can't you play grocery instead of hardware store, Bunny, my dear?"
"Oh, hardware store is nicer, and we have all the things now," Bunny replied. "But I won't make any more high shelves."
The washboiler, the pans, and the scattered knives and forks were picked up, and then Bunny and Sue went on playing, using only the low ironing board shelf, which was made over the seats of two chairs. ”

“ Flynt says so," came the reply, "because I owe him a lot of money I can't pay. If business was only better I might keep my store going until Philip comes back with the legacy. Once we get that we'll be all right! But if we don't——"
Mrs. Golden put her handkerchief to her eyes. Then, seeing that she was making Bunny and Sue sad, she added:
"There now! Run along. Maybe I can get the money somehow. At any rate you children have been most kind to me. Run along now, and don't mind a poor old woman."
But Bunny and Sue did mind. ”

“ If I sold more things I'd make more money. Let me see now; I'm feeling sort of [48] queer in my head on account of my tumble, but baking powder—oh, it's on one of the high shelves. I—I'm almost afraid to reach up for it."
"Oh, let me get it!" eagerly begged Bunny. "I like to climb up. I'd like to get it! I like to keep store!"
"So do I!" added Sue. "We played store the other day, and a lot of things fell down when Mary closed the door. We had a high shelf, too."
"Yes, one needs high shelves in a store," said Mrs. Golden. "But, Bunny, do you think you can reach up and get the baking powder?" ”

“ Clark. "I say let the children tend store for you, Mrs. Golden. Bunny and Sue are a lot smarter for their age than most children. You let them tend store for you, and I'll run over once in a while to see if everything is all right."
"Very well," said Mrs. Golden. "You may keep store for me, Bunny and Sue."
"Goodie!" exclaimed Sue, clapping her hands. Then she happened to remember that she must not make too much noise, and she grew quieter.
"I'll open the front door and take down the sign," said Bunny. "We'll wait on the customers for you, Mrs. Golden." ”

“ The walls of the trench were firm and solid, and the only thing that had happened was that Helen was down [62] in the deep trench, and could not get up by herself. She was crying now.
"Don't cry," said Miss Bradley. "You're all right. We'll soon get you out. Now you other boys and girls keep back from the edges, or you'll cause the sides to cave in and they'll cover Helen! Keep back, Bunny, Sue, every one!" ”

“ Golden.
"Why, that's perfectly wonderful!" exclaimed the old lady, and there were happy tears in her eyes. "Oh, you are two darling children to think so much of helping an old woman."
"You're not so old," declared Bunny politely. "Besides, we like to keep store; don't we, Sue?"
"Lots!" answered the little girl.
Bunny and Sue clerked in the store as much as they had time for, but as they were now to deliver things in the pony cart they could not spend so much time behind the counter. And Mr. Brown said that Bunny and Sue must both go in the pony cart, as it would be safer for them that way. ”

“ Always speak of yourself last. It is more polite. Well, I think you and Bunny may take the parrot back to Mr. Winkler," went on the teacher. "Certainly we don't want him in our class, though he seems a bright bird." [56]
"You ought to see Wango, the monkey, climb!" cried fat Bobbie Boomer, and all the other children laughed. "He's great!"
"Well, I think a parrot is enough for one day," remarked Miss Bradley, with a smile. "Take Polly home, Bunny and Charlie."
"Just see, Teacher, he's tame and he knows me," Bunny said, stroking Polly's head, a caress the parrot seemed to like. ”

“ Bunny finished opening the box of prunes, and he and Sue waited on several customers, for Mrs. Golden seemed to be quite busy talking to Mr. Flynt in the back room. And it was not a pleasant talk, either, as Bunny and Sue guessed when they caught glimpses now and then of Mrs. Golden wiping tears from her eyes.
Finally the grocery man came out of the back room with Mrs. Golden. He was saying, so that the children could hear:
"Now you'd better take my advice, Mrs. Golden, and sell out your store here. You'll never make it pay, and you keep on owing us more money all the while. ”

“ Bunny asked. "She wants people to come inside her store and buy things."
"That's it," agreed Uncle Tad. "But if you get a crowd outside a store, because there's something to look at in the windows, some of that crowd will go inside and buy something."
"Only Mrs. Golden hasn't any rubber bags," went on Bunny. "But I guess Sue could lend her a doll if she wanted it to take a swim."
"Mrs. Golden doesn't need to put rubber bags in her window," said Uncle Tad. "That [183] wouldn't be the thing for a grocery and notion store. ”

“ Golden," went on Bunny. "She needs customers. Now, if all of you would buy everything you could of her, like Sue and I do, maybe she wouldn't lose her store."
"My mother says she'd trade there if Mrs. Golden would deliver stuff," remarked Helen Newton. "But she says she can't cart heavy things from any store."
"My mother said the same thing," added Mary Watson.
"She can't afford to hire a delivery horse and wagon," said Charlie Star. "I know, 'cause I helped in her store."
"She needs an auto like Mr. Gordon," said Bobbie Boomer. ”