Laura Lee Hope

“ Bunny and Sue liked it so much on the plantation, watching the cotton-pickers and occasionally pulling up a few peanuts for themselves, that I think they would have been willing to spend the rest of the winter in that part of the sunny South.
"But my business here is almost finished," said Mr. Brown to his family one evening as they sat in Mr. Morton's pleasant home. "We will soon go on to Florida."
"And eat oranges!" added Sue, for she had often been thinking of that juicy fruit.
"And catch alligators!" exclaimed Bunny. ”

“ Rollers are round pieces of wood, like the rolling pin in mother's kitchen. Rollers placed under a boat make it easy to launch into the water. If you have ever seen men moving a house from one street to another you may have noticed that they used rollers. Or they may have slid the house along on big beams which were made slippery with grease or soap.
"I'll roll my raft into the water," said Bunny.
"And I'll help!" offered Sue, for she knew what rolling a boat into the water meant—she had often seen her father do it. ”

“ Bunny answered. "I don't like this car."
"I don't, either!" joined in Sue. "It hasn't any nice seats, and there isn't any carpet on the floor."
"And you can't look out any windows," added her brother.
"No," agreed Nutty, with a laugh. "Freight cars aren't very good places from which to see scenery when you travel. But I'm glad there aren't any windows. If there were the railroad men could look in and see us, and then they'd put me off."
"What for?" Bunny wanted to know.
"Well, because I'm a tramp, for one thing. And because I haven't any ticket for another. ”

“ Bunny Brown and his sister Sue in that freight car with Nutty, the tramp, and Toddle, the kitten, a flickering candle giving light as the ragged man set out his store of nuts. That is what the tin boxes held—a goodly store of nut meats.
"I crack 'em with stones and pick 'em out in my spare time," said Nutty, as he opened the tin boxes. "I have plenty of spare time," he added, with a laugh. "Now, children, I haven't any chairs to invite you to sit on, but I guess it will be safer on the floor. The car rocks so. Sit down and eat. Nutty provides the nuts!" ”

“ The sun shone warm on the mud and sand shores of the little island and that is why the alligators climbed out there. Alligators spend about half their time under water, getting things to eat, but when the sun shines hot they like to bask in it. That is what the scaly creatures were now doing.
"Let's don't hurt alligators," begged Sue of her brother. "Let's go back to our own island."
Bunny looked at the big, glistening, black creatures, as they crawled over one another, sometimes giving flips with their tails and opening their mouths. ”

“ But, of course, you won't find any of them now, as it isn't summer."
"Isn't Georgia nice and warm in winter, like Florida?" asked Sue. "And can't we get some orange blossoms there?"
"I don't believe you'll find any oranges in Georgia," answered Uncle Tad, "and it isn't as warm as the southern part of Florida, though of course Florida and Georgia, being close together, are a good deal alike. They grow lots of cotton in Georgia, and peanuts."
"Peanuts!" cried Bunny, in delight. "Oh, I'm glad! Peanuts are most as good as oranges, aren't they, Sue?" ”

“ As Bunny and Sue stood beside the track the train started to move, and soon it was pulling away, leaving the two children alone. It was a rather desolate place, with fields on one side and a patch of woods on the other. But as the train clacked on down the track, out of sight, Bunny caught a view of a small shanty, or little house, near the water tank. And as he pointed this out to Sue a man came from the little brown house and looked up and down.
"Oh, there's somebody," Sue cried, almost dropping the kitten in her excitement. "Maybe he can tell us how to get back to mother, Bunny Brown!" ”

“ Winkler left the window open and he got out," said Sue.
"Don't monkeys like cold, Daddy?" asked Bunny.
"No, they come from warm, tropical countries," answered his father. "They cannot stand the cold."
"Florida is warm, isn't it, Daddy?" asked Sue, as she helped wrap the rug about Wango.
"Oh, yes, Florida, especially the southern part where oranges grow, is quite warm," Mr. Brown answered. "There is no snow there."
"Then maybe we can find some monkeys when we go down!" Sue said. "Won't that be nice, Bunny? We'll each have a monkey of our own." ”

“ In spite of all Uncle Tad could do by pulling on the reins and calling soothingly to the animal, he raced with the sleigh over the railroad tracks. And the train was coming nearer and nearer. Bunny and Sue well knew what would happen if it hit them.
"Whoa there, Prince! Be a good horse!" called Uncle Tad. He pulled harder on the reins, and when he saw that unless turned, the animal might dash across the tracks right in front of the rushing train, the old soldier gave such a pull that he swung the head of the runaway horse around and guided him alongside of the tracks instead of across them. ”

“ Bunny took the mooring rope and made it fast to a tree stump on shore. He did not want the raft to float away as, more than once, some of his father's boats had floated off from the dock.
Then Bunny and Sue, taking the bag of lunch with them, went on shore—that is on the island. It was a pleasant place, with trees and bushes to make shade, and with birds to sing to them.
"There doesn't anybody live here, I guess," [227] Sue said, as they walked about, looking on every side.
"Nobody ever lives on an island 'cepting pirates," Bunny said; "and we're them." ”

“ Bunny and Sue did not know just what to make of this ragged tramp who was traveling in the freight car with them. It was not, of course, the first time they had seen a tramp—they were plentiful enough around Bellemere at times, and often they had come begging for food at the back door of the Brown house. Bunny and Sue had often seen their mother feed the poor men, and some of them were quite jolly, and joked about their bad luck. ”

“ They would be on the train all night and a large part of the next day.
"I'm glad that woman with the dog isn't in our car," said Mrs. Brown to her husband, when Bunny and Sue were contentedly looking from the windows. "She probably makes a fuss over the animal all the while."
"Yes, it's just as well for us she isn't here," agreed the children's father. "Though if it were the kind of dog they could play with it would make the time pass more quickly for Bunny and Sue."
"Oh, I think they'll manage to keep themselves amused," said their mother. "They like traveling." ”

“ Bruno barked and leaped about when he saw his master come out with the mouth organ, and no sooner had the first few notes been blown than the dog, without being told, stood up on his hind legs and pranced around. He almost kept time to the music, and for a dog, he danced very well.
"Oh, I wish we had a dog like that!" sighed Bunny, when the dancing animal, wagging his tail, came to Mr. Black to be petted after the [183] switchman stopped playing the mouth organ.
"Maybe I can teach Nutty's cat to dance," Sue said.
"I'm afraid not," said Mr. Black. "It is very hard to teach cats to do tricks. ”

“ The thought of leaving behind his little kitten made the old tramp feel rather sad. But he knew that if he picked Toddle up and gathered together his tin boxes and the bottles Bunny and Sue would guess that he intended to go away from them.
"I'll just leave everything—even the pussy," thought Nutty. "I can easily get more nuts and bottles of water. I'll jump off as soon as the train slows up a little more. I don't want to be arrested as a kidnapper." ”

“ The children walked through the cotton [78] field of the plantation and were greeted by broad grins and smiles on the part of the colored folk. There seemed to be more children than grown people working in the field, and Sam said it was sometimes hard to get old pickers, so children had to be used.
The darkies did not work very fast, and often, as Bunny and his sister walked along with their new friends, the hands would stop working to look at the children. This, with their habit of stopping to sing every now and then, slowed up the cotton picking. ”

“ Brown were chatting over a cup of tea, and while Daddy Brown and Mr. Halliday were talking business, Bunny and Sue changed into some of their every-day clothes and asked if they might walk around and see things.
"Yes," their mother told them. "Only don't get into mischief."
"And keep away from the river," added their father, for the stream which went by the name of Squaw River was not far from the house.
"Can't we just stand on the bank and look for alligators?" asked Bunny.
"Yes, let them," Mr. Halliday advised. "The river is not as big nor deep as it sounds. ”

“ Nutty, as has been said, had left all his things behind him in a corner of the freight car. Delving in among the old bags, in which he always carried his "baggage," the children found some more nuts. There was so much of this food that they would not be hungry [157] for another day at least, and there was another bottle of water.
"But there's no more milk for pussy," said Sue.
"Well, he's got a little left in his bottle," Bunny answered. "And he can have some of our water."
"Water isn't good to eat—it's only good to drink," declared Sue. ”

“ He added this music to that of the banjo, until quite a crowd had collected.
"My goodness!" exclaimed a voice behind Bunny and Sue when there came a lull in the fun. "Cotton picking can't be such very hard work after all!" The children turned around to see their mother and Mrs. Morton, who had come to the field.
"Oh, the darkies have to have their fun, and if we didn't let them we wouldn't get as much work done as now takes place," said the wife of the cotton planter. "Life is rather slow and easy down here." ”

“ CHAPTER XXIV THE ALLIGATORS
Bunny and Sue had, indeed, landed on an island in Squaw River. Or if they had not exactly landed as yet, they were soon going to. For their raft, floating downstream, had, as Sue expressed it, "bunked" on the shore of a patch of land in the middle of the stream, forming an island.
As you learned in school, an island is a "body of land entirely surrounded by water." That's what the place was where Bunny and Sue had come. Water was all around the little patch of land, on which grew several trees. ”

“ But who are you, anyhow?"
"I'm Bunny Brown and this is my sister, Sue," said the little fellow.
"Well, I'm Mr. Bunn," was the man's reply, and he smiled at the children. "I raise alligators a few miles down the river. Some of 'em got away last night, and I've rowed up here to see if I could find 'em. I did."
"But they all got away!" exclaimed Bunny, for now not one of the scaly creatures was in sight. [240]
"Oh, I'll get 'em again," said Mr. Bunn. "They won't go very much farther up Squaw River. It's too shallow. ”

“ Why can't you throw balls at something else, Bunny, like a tree or a telegraph pole?"
"'Cause I can peg at them any time," Bunny answered, with a laugh. "It's more fun to throw snowballs at a snow man and make believe he's real. He can't chase you then."
"Well, I'm not going to throw anything at our nice snow man," decided Sue, digging [4] away with her little shovel to carve out the legs. ”

“ Mr. Brown said. "The land there is very low in some places, and the sea water covers it at times. The everglades are lonely places, part forest and partly covered with tall grass."
"Alligators, too?" asked Bunny, with wide-open eyes.
"Yes, I think alligators are there," Mr. Brown said. "But no oranges," he added, before Sue could ask that question. "It is too swampy to raise oranges, though now an effort is being made to drain the swampy everglades and make them of some use. We aren't going to that part of Florida, however ”

“ They wanted their father and mother, and the children knew they were being carried farther and farther away from their parents as the train jolted along. They knew daddy and mother would be much frightened, too.
"Where is your mother?" asked Nutty, the tramp.
"She was sitting on a bench at the station when we climbed into the car to get the kitten," explained Sue.
"She didn't see us," added her brother.
"And where is your father?" Nutty wanted to know.
"He's up in the village seeing a man," said Bunny. "We're going to Florida to get alligators—"
"And oranges!" broke in Sue. ”

“ A man named Eli Whitney made a machine for taking seeds out of the cotton."
"That's right," admitted Sam. "I'll take you to the gin, as it is called, where the seeds are taken from the cotton and the white stuff is pressed into bales. You ought to see the big presses! It squeezes the cotton all up!"
"I hope it doesn't squeeze us!" laughed Sue. ”

“ Books are eagerly welcomed by the little folks from about five to ten years of age. Their eyes fairly dance with delight at the lively doings of inquisitive little Bunny Brown and his cunning, trustful sister Sue. ”

“ In a little while, especially when we get into Florida, you will be in the sunny South."
"Oh, what fun we'll have!" cried Sue.
"Where are the oranges?" demanded Bunny. "I don't see any," and he looked at the trees. [70]
"Oranges don't grow in Georgia, at least not in the open," said Mr. Brown. "Some may be raised in hothouses, but to grow them in the open air warmer weather than Georgia has in winter is needed. We shall have to wait until we get to Florida to gather oranges."
"What about peanuts?" asked Bunny. ”

“ Course a hat's easier to hit than a nose, 'specially a tall hat like the one I'm going to make. You can throw at the hat if you want to and I'll throw at the nose."
"Oh, Bunny!" exclaimed Sue, and from her voice you might have thought Bunny had said he was going to throw a snowball at Wango, the pet monkey of Mr. Jed Winkler, an animal of which Bunny Brown and his sis [3] ter Sue were very fond. "Bunny, don't hurt him!"
"Pooh! You don't s'pose a snow man can feel, do you?" asked Bunny, turning to look at his sister. ”