Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue and Their Shetland Pony | Page 8

was the fault of my big auto that your pony
ran away, Mr.----" and the children's father waited for the other man to
tell his name. "I am Mr. Brown," went on the fish and boat dealer, after
a moment of silence.
"Oh, yes, I have heard of you," replied the other. "Well, I guess you'll
laugh when you hear my name."
"Why?" asked Mr. Brown. "Why should we laugh?"
"Because it's so different from what I am. You see, I am very short, do
you not?"
"You are certainly not a very tall man," said Mr. Brown, with a smile.
"And yet I am," observed the other.
"You are what?"
"I am Vera Tallman," was the answer. "That really is my name, strange
as it may sound," he went on, smiling at Mr. Brown, who was smiling
at him. "Vera is the last name of my grandfather, and I am called after
him. Tallman is my own last name, and I had to be called that though I
am very short. It is quite a joke with my friends. I say to them I am a
short Tallman or a short man who is Vera Tallman."

"Oh, I see!" laughed Mr. Brown. "Well, it's a good thing you can be so
jolly about it."
"There is no good in finding fault with what can't be helped," said the
man with a kind smile, as he patted the pony. "I can't make myself tall
by wishing, even though I have a long name. So I let it go at that. And,
when any one says to me, 'You are not very tall,' I answer, 'Oh, yes, I
am Vera Tallman,' and then I have a joke on them."
"Yes, I should think you would," said Mr. Brown. "But let us get back
to the broken harness. How much shall I pay you?"
"Nothing at all," answered Mr. Tallman. "It was my fault for driving
Toby in a harness mended with bits of string. I should have known
better, but I did not think Toby would meet with a moving van, that
would make him think of the circus where he was so badly treated. You
need not pay me anything."
"But perhaps the cart is broken also," said Mr. Brown.
"I hardly think so," returned Mr. Tallman, who was such a short man.
"Toby just twisted around and tore himself loose out of the harness.
Then he ran back along the road and I ran after him. He did not run far,
as soon as he was out of sight of your big auto he stopped."
"I am glad of that," said Mr. Brown. "Now I will tell you what we had
better do."
"What?" asked Mr. Tallman, still patting the pony, a thing which
Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue were also doing. "What had we better
do?"
"One of us had better go back and get the pony cart," went on Mr.
Brown. "Bunker Blue can easily haul it here, and you can hitch Toby to
it out of sight of our big auto. Then he won't be frightened any more.
And perhaps you had better drive him around another road, or wait
until we can take the auto another way. I wouldn't want to have Toby
break loose again."

"Well, maybe that would be a good plan," agreed Mr. Tallman. "If you
will let Bunker, as you call him, bring the pony cart here, I will harness
Toby to it. Then I'll drive over the short-cut road and get past your auto
without letting my pony see it."
Bunker ran back, and soon came trotting along the road with the basket
cart, pretending he was a pony himself, which made Bunny and Sue
laugh. It was found that only the string part of the harness was broken,
and as Bunker had some strong fish cords in his pocket, the straps were
soon mended.
"It is better than before," said Mr. Tallman, when Toby was once again
hitched to the basket cart. "I don't believe Toby could break loose
now."
"And won't you let me pay you for the damage?" asked the fish
merchant.
"Oh, no, indeed!" cried Mr. Tallman. "You have done more than your
share now."
Bunny and Sue were again whispering together. Then Bunny stepped
forward and said:
"Daddy, we'll give you all the money in our banks."
"All the money in your banks, Bunny? What do you mean?" asked Mr.
Brown.
"To help you buy the pony for us," went on the little boy. "Please,
Daddy, buy Toby for us. Sue and I would like him awful much!"
"Well, he certainly is a nice pony," said Mr. Brown, "and I remember,
once I did half promise to get you a Shetland pony. Is Toby for sale?"