Laura Lee Hope

“ Madden brought out some glasses of milk, slices of bread and jam, and also a plateful of cookies, at the sight of which the eyes of Bunny and Sue opened wide with delight. Then followed a pleasant little play party on the shady porch of the cottage.
Rose and Jimmie told of the fun to be had at Christmas Tree Cove—how there were shallow wading places, deeper pools for bathing, and little nooks where one could fish. [146]
"Can you go out in a boat?" asked Jimmie of Bunny.
"Yes, if somebody bigger goes with us," Bunny answered. "We can get my Uncle Tad to take us out." ”

“ CHAPTER XXIV IN THE BOAT
Nearer and nearer to the picnic party on the beach raced the big, yellow dog. He was barking in delight and his tail was wagging from side to side.
"He'll get us wet!" exclaimed Mrs. Slater. "Down, Sandy! Down!" she commanded.
Instantly the dog stopped and began to shake himself vigorously, sending the water in a shower from his shaggy coat.
"Oh, he minded you! He's your dog all right, isn't he?" cried Bunny.
"Yes, he's my Sandy," answered Harry. "He always minds sometimes." ”

“ The remainder of the day was spent in happy fashion, though Bunny waded in no more pools.
"I'm glad the crab didn't pinch me," said Sue, as she wiggled her toes in the soft sand. "'Cause my foot's littler than Bunny's," she went on, holding it near his, "and maybe that crab would have taken hold of two of my toes, and bitten them all off."
"Oh, I think that wouldn't have happened," said Mrs. Brown. "A crab doesn't really want to nip children just for fun. ”

“ It's a big door, Bunny."
"Yes, I know it is," he answered. "But there's windows. I'll open a window and we can get out of one of them. They aren't high from the ground. We got out of a window once when Bunker Blue, by mistake, locked us in the shed on the dock, and we can get out a window now." [19]
"Oh, I hope we can!" cried Sue. "And can we get the dog out of the window, too, Bunny?"
"The dog!" exclaimed Bunny, forgetting for the moment about the animal. "Oh, I guess we won't have to get him out. He isn't here."
"But he ran in here," insisted Sue. "We saw him come into this carpenter shop." ”

“ Bunny and Sue shook their heads up and down to say "Yes."
"When is a boat not a boat?" asked the Captain again. "When she's a drift, of course, like this one of mine was! Ho! Ho!" and he laughed heartily. "You see a boat's not a boat when she's adrift—a sort of snow drift! Ha! Ha! That's a riddle," and he laughed so heartily that Sue slipped from his lap.
Bunny and Sue laughed also, and they liked Captain Ross. [66]
"Here we are now, all shipshape and Bristol fashion!" went on the captain as the motor boat towed the Fairy back to the wharf. ”

“ Why should you tie a cake of soap around your neck when you go in swimming?"
"I never tied a cake of soap around my neck," said the little girl.
"I like to play the cake of soap is a boat in the bathtub," remarked Bunny. "It's lots of fun."
"But this is a riddle," went on the seaman. "Why should you tie a cake of soap around your neck if you go in swimming in deep water?"
"It can't be for you to eat if you get hungry," said Bunny, "can it, Captain Ross?" ”

“ It's fun when you know daddy is coming," said the little boy.
In a short time the motor boat reached the drifting Fairy. Mr. Brown and Captain Ross went on board, and you can just imagine how glad Bunny and Sue were to see them.
"Guess you'll have to tow us back," said Captain Ross to Mr. Brown. "The motor of my boat needs fixing. That's one reason why I tied up at your dock. There isn't enough wind to blow us back against the tide that's running out now." ”

“ Come back with my mother's pocketbook and her diamond ring!"
Several persons in the street were attracted by the shouts of the boy and his race after the dog.
"There'll be more excitement here in a little while than I want," thought Mr. Brown. "People will think there has been a theft, and they will join in the chase. Then the dog may get excited and bite some one. I must catch Bunny and stop him from shouting." [70]
Now Sue could not, of course, run as fast as could her father, and, though her legs worked to and fro in her very best style, Bunny was getting far ahead of them. ”

“ Brown and Mrs. Slater had reached the edge of the clam flats, and they saw that the three children were all right. Harry and Bunny again started to dig for the shellfish and Sue held the basket for them. But she took care to stand on a big flat stone, so there was no more danger of sinking down.
"Mother!" cried Harry, when he saw Mrs. Slater with Mrs. Brown, "digging clams is lots of fun, and Sue got stuck in the mud."
"So we saw," his mother answered. "The seashore is a funny place. You don't seem to know what will happen on land or in the water." ”

“ Bunny and Sue hurried home. They found Mrs. Brown looking up and down the street for them. The other children had gone away.
"Where have you been?" asked Mother Brown. "It is very late for little people to be out alone. And where is my pocketbook and the groceries I sent you for? Where is my pocketbook?" She looked at Bunny and then at his sister, noting their empty hands.
"A big dog ran off with your pocketbook, Mother," explained Bunny. "He jumped into the yard and picked it up off the bench when Sue was teeter-tautering with me. ”

“ But the trouble was that Bunny and Sue were in among the evergreens and they thought it later than it really was.
"Oh, Bunny, what are we going to do?" asked his sister after a while, during which she had held tightly to his hand and looked about.
Bunny was looking around also, trying to think what was the best thing to do. He was older than his sister, and he felt that he must take care of her and not frighten her. [153]
"I—I guess we'd better walk along, Sue," said Bunny at last.
"But maybe then we'll get lost more," Sue suggested.
"We can't be lost any more than we are," declared Bunny. ”

“ Ravenwood in his motor boat with the dog he had found, that Mrs. Brown finally said:
"Come, kiddies, we'll go for a little picnic down on the beach."
"May Harry come?" asked Bunny, for Harry was over at the bungalow playing with Bunny and Sue.
"Yes. And we'll invite Harry's mother and Bunker Blue and Uncle Tad," said Mrs. Brown. "We'll spend the afternoon on the beach. It will make the time pass more quickly."
Indeed the time did seem to drag for Bunny, Sue, and Harry. They did not know just what time to expect Mr. Ravenwood in his boat, to claim his box and to bring the strange dog. ”

“ There were so many things to do to have fun at Christmas Tree Cove that Bunny Brown and his sister Sue hardly knew what to play at first. Each day brought new joys. They could build houses on the sand, paddle or bathe in the cool, shallow water, sail tiny boats which Uncle Tad made for them, or take walks with their mother.
Daddy Brown stayed for several days at the cove, and then he had to go back to Bellemere to his dock and boat business. ”

“ It's up the river back of the bay. Is the dog there, Daddy?" [51]
"Oh, no!" laughed his father. "Can't you think of anything but dogs, Bunny boy? Well, as long as you know where Christmas Tree Cove is, how would you like to go there to spend the summer?" As he spoke he looked at his wife.
"Do you really mean it?" she inquired, her face brightening.
"Oh, won't that be fun!" cried Bunny and Sue together, almost like twins, though Bunny was a year older than his sister. ”

“ Anything about the seashore interested him, as it was his first summer at the beach.
"They get hard clams away out in the cove," explained Bunny. "But soft clams grow over there where the tide is out." [184]
"Clams don't grow," declared Sue. "They aren't like apples."
"Yes, clams do grow," declared Bunny. "Else how could a little clam get to be a big one. They grow over there, in that place where there isn't any water," went on Bunny. "And when the tide is out we dig for 'em."
"I was up on my grandpa's farm once, and I helped dig for potatoes in the ground," said Harry. ”

“ Slater was so interested in looking at the strange box which had been washed up on shore, and was thinking so deeply about the name of Frank Ravenwood which Bunny spelled for her that, for the moment, she did not quite understand what Sue meant.
"What is it, Sue?" she asked the little girl, for Sue kept on pointing toward something behind Mrs. Slater.
"The tide!" exclaimed Bunny's sister. "The tide's coming up and it's washing over the sand and we're on an island! We can't get back lessen we wade!" ”

“ Bunny and Sue could not go out to play, but Uncle Tad and Bunker Blue amused the children indoors. Mr. Brown had to go back to Bellemere, but he went on the train, as the bay was so rough the boat did not run, and Captain Ross had not returned with the Fairy.
"I wish Harry could come over and play with us," said Bunny on the second day of the storm, as he stood with his nose pressed against the window. [202]
"It will be clear to-morrow," said Bunker Blue, who had come in from a trip to the store. "The wind is working around and the sun will be out to-morrow." ”

“ The propeller, you know, is something like an electric fan. It whirls around underwater and pushes the boat ahead. The propeller on the Fairy had struck a floating log and had been broken, as they found out later.
"If we can't go by means of the engine we can sail," remarked Captain Ross, when it was found that the boat would not move an inch, no matter how fast the motor whirled around. [136] "Hoist the sail, Bunker. We'll get Bunny Brown and his sister Sue to Christmas Tree Cove yet! Hoist the sail!" ”

“ A moment later he was walking over to join Sue and Uncle Tad, while a man stepped from the crowd and took charge of the goat, which he led to the edge of the platform. The goat leaped down and off as Bunny had done.
"I hope my goat didn't hurt you when he ran away with you," said the man, walking up to Bunny, Sue, and Uncle Tad and leading the horned creature.
"Oh, no, he didn't hurt me," Bunny answered. "But I didn't think he'd run away with me just 'cause I got on his back." [107]
"He isn't used to having boys and girls on his back unless he wears a saddle," the man explained. ”

“ I see a little boy named Harry Slater helped in saving it. I wonder if he is any relation to a Mr. Thomas Slater who has been advertising for a lost yellow dog. I have found such a dog, and I am going to bring him to Christmas Tree Cove in my motor boat when I come after my box. If this is the lost dog that is being advertised for, Harry may have him back.'"
"Oh, I wonder if that is my dog!" ”

“ Brown's pocketbook and diamond ring, so strangely taken away, were found again. Sandy did not drop the purse in the carpenter shop, as was supposed. He carried it out again in his mouth, and kept it until he leaped aboard the boat, when he dropped it.
Mr. Ravenwood looked at the box in the woodshed, declaring it to be the one that had been lost overboard in the storm.
"So each one has his own again," said the young pattern-maker. "I have my box, Harry has his dog, and Mrs. Brown has her diamond ring." ”

“ After supper on the Fairy, Uncle Tad took [101] the two children on shore, Bunny and Sue having secured their mother's permission to ride on the merry-go-round. It was a big affair, playing jolly tunes, and the animals were large and gaily painted.
Bunny and Sue had a number of rides, always begging for "just one more," until Uncle Tad finally said:
"No, that's enough! You'll be ill if you whirl around any more. Come, we'll walk around and look at things, and then we'll go back to the boat." ”

“ Brown often sat there with the children on warm summer afternoons and told them stories or read to them from a book. [4]
"Yes, I guess I can teeter better if I don't have this," agreed Bunny. "Hold on, Sue, I'm going to get off."
"All right, I'm ready," his sister answered. You know if you get off a seesaw without telling the boy or girl on the other end what you are going to do, somebody is going to be bumped hard. Bunny Brown didn't want that.
Sue put her fat, chubby little legs down on the ground and held herself up, while Bunny ran across the grass and laid the pocketbook on the bench. ”

“ Brown said:
"He's out steering the boat. He wants to bring her safe into Clam Cove, he says, and then we'll anchor for the night. But he thought it best for us all to be dressed. The storm is worse than any of us thought it would be."
After the first feeling had worn off of being suddenly awakened in the night, Bunny and Sue did not mind it much. They sat around, looking a little anxiously at their father or mother as the boat plunged and rolled, but when they saw how calm their father, mother, Uncle Tad and Bunker Blue were, the children took heart also. ”

“ Brown's office, accompanied by Mr. Brown and Bunker Blue. "Are you all aboard?" and he smiled at Bunny and Sue.
"Yes, we're here," Bunny answered.
"Isn't he funny, Mother?" whispered Sue. "He can look right at us, and yet he wants to know if we're here!"
"It's just his joking way," said Mrs. Brown.
"I've got another good riddle for you, youngsters," called Captain Ross, as he made [86] his way along the deck. "What kind of tree would scare a cat?"
"There wouldn't any tree scare a cat," declared Bunny. "I've seen a cat climb up a tree lots of times. Cats aren't scared of trees!" ”

“ We'd better go now and let Charlie and Harry and Sadie and Mary have the teeter-tauter until we come back," suggested Sue. "It'll hold four, our board will, but not six."
Bunny Brown thought this over a minute.
"Yes, I guess we had better do that," he said. Then, speaking to his playmates, he added: "We have to go to the store, Charlie, Sue and I. You can play on the seesaw until we come back. And then, maybe, we can find another board, and make two teeters."
"I have a board over in my yard. I'll get that," offered Charlie, "if we can get another sawhorse." ”

“ Mr. Brown promised. "But I can't always be with you. I shall have to spend part of each week here at my boat and fish dock. But Bunker will be with you all summer, and so will Uncle Tad."
"I'm glad he's going!" exclaimed Bunny. "He'll be lots of fun!"
"So will Captain Ross!" added Sue. "He can ask awful funny riddles."
During supper the plans for the summer vacation at Christmas Tree Cove were talked over, the children becoming more and more jolly and excited as they thought of the fun ahead of them. After the meal Bunny and Sue went out in the yard to play. ”

“ The town of Bellemere, which was on the seacoast and near a small river, was the home of Bunny Brown and his sister Sue. Their father, Walter Brown, was in the boat and fish business, owning a wharf, where he had his office. Men and boys worked for him, and [14] one big boy, Bunker Blue, was a great friend of Bunny and his sister. In the Brown home was also Uncle Tad, an old soldier. ”

“ But maybe the box will be too heavy for you."
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Bunny, as Harry began taking off his shoes and stockings. "Things in the water move easy. I can push or pull a big boat all alone, if it's in the water, [209] but I can't if it's on land. And the box isn't very big."
"I wonder what's in it," said Sue, as her brother and Harry prepared to wade out. "Maybe it's a lot of dolls from China."
"What makes you think it might be that?" asked Mrs. Slater, as she put the boys' shoes and stockings up on the sand.
"Once some Chinese dolls came ashore at Bellemere," said Sue. ”

“ So Bunny and Sue told all that had happened, from the time they had been teetering until they were let out of the carpenter shop [40] after Mr. Reinberg had heard them calling through the broken window.
"Oh, what shall I do?" asked Mrs. Brown once more, when the story was finished.
"There is only one thing to do," said Mr. Brown. "I'll go back to the carpenter shop, and Mr. Foswick and I will look for the pocketbook. The dog probably dropped it among the shavings."
"Let us come, too," said Bunny. "We can show you where the dog ran in the front door that was open." ”

“ Brown had said her two children might go, and when Mrs. Slater had also consented to let her boy accompany his two new playmates, they set off.
"There isn't any water on the flats when the tide is out," said Mrs. Brown. "Bunny and Sue often go there to dig clams, and we can see them from here."
Soft clams are not like hard clams. The [185] shell is a sort of bluish black and is quite thin, so it is easily crushed. The soft clam is long and thin, instead of being almost round, like a hard clam.
A soft clam lives down in the mud or sand under water. ”

“ Only I broke the window."
"Mr. Foswick didn't seem to mind that much," went on Mr. Brown. "The 'pesky' boys, as he calls them, certainly do bother him a lot by running in the open front door when he is busy in the back of his shop. They scatter the sawdust and shavings all about."
"Maybe some of those boys ran in and took my pocketbook and ring," suggested Mrs. Brown.
"Oh, no," explained Bunny. "We ran right in after the dog, and there were no big boys around. We didn't see the dog run out, but Mr. Foswick said there were holes in the back of his shop and he could get out that way." ”