Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp Rest-A-While | Page 3

play that. May we have Splash in, Mother?"
"No, dear."
"Oh, why not?"
"Because I just saw Splash splashing through a puddle of muddy water. If he came in now he'd get you all dirty and he would spoil my carpet."
"But what can we do, Mother?" Sue asked, and her voice sounded almost as if she were going to cry.
"We want to do something," added Bunny.
"Oh, dear!" sighed Mrs. Brown, yet she could not help smiling. Rainy days were hard when two children had to stay in the house all the while.
"We can play 'spress wagon without Splash!" exclaimed Sue, for she was a good little girl, and did not want to make her mother worry.
"All right," agreed Bunny. "We'll just make believe we have Splash with us to pull the pretend wagon."
He and Sue often played pretend, and make-believe, games, and they had much fun this way. Now they turned one chair on the side, and put another in front. The turned-over chair was to be the wagon, and the other chair, standing on its four legs, was the horse. Bunny got some string for reins, and the stick the washerwoman used to punch the clothes down in the boiler made a good whip, when another piece of string was tied on the end of that.
"Giddap!" cried Bunny, sitting on a stool behind the chair-horse. "Giddap! This is an express wagon, and we've got to hurry."
"You must leave a package for me!" cried Sue. "This is my house, over on the couch," and she curled up in a lump. "And this is my little girl," she went on, pointing to one of her dolls, which she had taken into her "house" with her. "If I'm asleep--make-believe, you know," said Sue to Bunny, "you tell my little girl to wake me up."
"Pooh! I can't talk to a doll!" cried Bunny.
"Yes, you can, too," said his sister. "Just pretend, you know."
"Well, even if I do, how can your doll talk to you, and wake you up?"
"Oh, Bunny! I'm only going to be make-believe asleep, and of course a doll, who can pretend to talk, can make-believe wake me up as easy as anything, when I'm only make-believe asleep."
"Oh, all right, if it's only make-believe," agreed Bunny. "Giddap, Splash! I've named the make-believe chair-horse the same as our dog," he explained to Sue.
Then the game began, and the children played nicely for some time, giving Mrs. Brown a chance to finish her sewing. Bunny and Sue took turns driving the "express wagon," and they had left many pretend bundles at each other's houses, when a step was heard in the front hall, and Bunny and Sue cried:
"Daddy! Daddy! Oh, daddy's come home!"
They made a rush for their father, and both together cried out:
"Oh, Daddy, a express package came! What's in it?"
"Did a package come?" asked Mr. Brown, as he took off his wet coat, for it was still raining.
"Yep! It's out in the barn," said Bunny Brown.
"Oh, please tell us the secret!" begged Sue. "I know it must be a secret, or mother would have told us."
Mrs. Brown smiled.
"The children have teased all afternoon to know what was in the bundle," she said.
"Well, I'll tell them," said Daddy Brown. "The package, that came by express, has in it grandpa's tent."
"Grandpa's tent!" cried Bunny.
"The one we played circus in, out in the country?" Sue demanded.
"The same one," answered Daddy Brown, with a laugh.
"Oh, are we going to have another circus?" cried Bunny, joyously.
"Now sit down and I'll tell you all about it," said Daddy Brown, and he took Bunny up on one knee, and Sue on the other.
CHAPTER II
A GRAND SURPRISE
"Don't you want to have supper first?" asked Mrs. Brown, as she saw her husband sit down in the easy chair, with Bunny and Sue.
"Oh, I'm in no hurry," he said. "I came home early to-night, because there were only a few boats out, on account of the storm. I might just as well tell the children about the surprise before we eat."
"Oh, then it's a surprise!" cried Sue, clapping her hands.
"Why, yes, I rather think you'll be surprised when you hear about it," answered Daddy Brown.
"And is it a secret, too?" Bunny wanted to know.
"Well, you don't know what it is yet; do you?" inquired his father.
Bunny shook his head.
"Well, then," went on Daddy Brown with a smile, "if there is something nice you don't know, and someone is going to tell you, I guess that's a surprise; isn't it?"
"Oh, yes!" cried Sue. "And now, Daddy, don't tease us any more. Just tell us what it is? Will we like it?"
"Can we play with it?" Bunny wanted to know.
Mr. Brown laughed so hard that Sue nearly fell off one knee, and Bunny off the other.
"What is it, Daddy?" asked the little boy. "What's so funny?"
"Oh,