Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Playing Circus | Page 6

felt happy, and she felt that way
now.
"Oh, Bunny!" she cried. "A circus? A real circus?"
"Well, of course not a real, big one, with lions and tigers and all that,"
said the little boy. "We couldn't get elephants and camels and bears.
But maybe grandpa would let us take his two horses, that he got back
from the Gypsies. They have lots of horses in the circus."
"I'd be afraid to ride on a horse," objected Sue, shaking her head.
"You wouldn't if Bunker Blue held you on; would you?"
"No, maybe not then."

"Well, we'll get Bunker Blue to hold us on the horse's back," said
Bunny.
Bunker Blue was a big, red-haired boy--almost a man--and he worked
for Mr. Brown. Bunker was very fond of Bunny and Sue. Bunker had
steered the big automobile in which the Brown family came to
grandpa's farm, and he was still staying in the country.
"Do you think we could really get up a circus?" asked Sue, after
thinking about what Bunny had said.
"Of course we can," answered the little boy. "Didn't we get up a Punch
and Judy show, when I found Aunt Lu's diamond ring?"
"Yes, but that wasn't as big as a circus."
"Well, we need only have a little circus show, Sue."
"Where could we have it, Bunny?"
The little boy thought for a moment.
"In grandpa's barn," he answered. "There's lots of room. It would be
just fine."
"Would you and me be all the circus, Bunny?"
"Oh, no. We'd get some of the other boys and girls. We could get Tom
White, Nellie Bruce, Jimmie Kenny, Sallie Smith and Ned Johnson.
They'd be glad to play circus."
"Yes, I guess they would," said Sue. "It will be lots of fun. But what
can we do, Bunny? You haven't any lobster claw to play Mr. Punch
now, 'cause it's broke."
"No, we don't want to give a Punch and Judy show, Sue. We want to
make this just like a circus, with trapezes and wild animals and----"
"But you said we couldn't have any lions or tigers, Bunny. 'Sides, I'd be

afraid of them," and Sue looked over her shoulder as if, even then, an
elephant might be reaching out his trunk toward her for some peanuts.
"Oh, of course we couldn't have any real wild animals," said Bunny.
"What kind, then?" Sue wanted to know.
"Make believe kind. I could put some stripes on Splash, and make
believe our dog was a tiger, Sue."
"How could you put stripes on him, Bunny?"
"With paint."
"No!" cried Sue, shaking her head. "Splash is half my dog, and I don't
want him all painted up. You sha'n't do it, Bunny Brown!"
"All right, then. I'll only paint my half of Splash," said the little boy.
"My half can be a striped tiger, and your half can be just a plain dog."
"That would be a funny wild animal," Sue said. "A half tiger and half
dog."
"Lots of folks would like to see an animal like that," Bunny said. "I'll
just stripe my half of Splash, and leave your half plain, Sue."
"All right. But is you only going to have one wild make-believe animal,
Bunny?"
"No, Ned Johnson has a dog. We can make a lion out of him."
"But Ned's dog hasn't any tail," said Sue. "I mean he has only a little
baby tail, like a rabbit. Lions always have tails with tassels on the end."
"Well," said Bunny, slowly. "We could make believe this lion had his
tail bit off by an elephant."
"Oh, yes," said Sue.

"Or else maybe I could tie a cloth tail on Ned's dog," went on Bunny.
"And lions have manes, too. That's a lot of hair on their neck, like a
horse," went on Sue.
"Well, we could take some carpenter shavings and tie them on Ned's
dog's neck," said Bunny. "We could make believe that was the lion's
mane."
"Yes," agreed Sue, "we could do that. Oh, I think a circus is nice,
Bunny. But what else can we have besides the wild animals?"
"Oh, I can make a trapeze from the clothes-line and a broom handle. I
could hang by my feet from the trapeze."
"Oh, Bunny! Wouldn't you be afraid?"
"Pooh! No! Didn't I hang in the tree? And I was only a little scared then.
I'll get on the trapeze all right."
"And what can I do, Bunny?"
"Oh, you can ride a horse when Bunker Blue holds you on. We'll get
mother to make you a blue dress out of mosquito netting, and you can
have a ribbon in your hair, like a real circus lady."
"Oh, Bunny, do you s'pose mother will let us have the circus?"
"I guess so. We'll tell