Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Christmas Tree Cove | Page 2

going. I'll go with you in a minute--just as soon as I
have a seesaw," said Sue. "And, besides, mother didn't say we were not
to. If she had told us not to teeter-tauter I wouldn't do it, of course. But
she didn't, Bunny! You know she didn't!"
"No, that's so; she didn't," agreed Bunny. "Well, I'll play it with you a
little while."
"That's nice," laughed Sue. "'Cause it isn't any fun teetering and
tautering all by yourself. You stay down on the ground all the while,
lessen you jump yourself up, and then you don't stay--you just bump."
"Yes," agreed Bunny. "I've been bumped lots of times all alone."
He was getting on the end of the seesaw, opposite that on which Sue
had taken her place, when the little girl noticed that her brother still
carried the small, black bag. Mother Brown called it a pocketbook, but
it would have taken a larger pocket than she ever had to hold the bag. It

was, however, a sort of large purse, and she had given it to Bunny
Brown and his sister Sue a little while before to carry to the store.
"Put that on the bench," called Sue, when she saw that her brother had
the purse, holding it by the leather handle. "You can't teeter-tauter and
hold on with that in your hand."
There was a bench not far away from the seesaw--a bench under a
shady tree--and Mrs. Brown often sat there with the children on warm
summer afternoons and told them stories or read to them from a book.
"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. I suppose I had better call it, as Mrs. Brown did, a pocketbook,
and then we shall not get mixed up. But, as I said before, you couldn't
really put it in a pocket.
"Seesaw, Margery Daw!" sang Sue, as Bunny came back to play with
her. "Now we'll have some fun!"
And the children did. Up and down they went on the board their father
had sent up from his boat dock for them to play with. He had also sent
up the sawhorse. A sawhorse, you know, is made of wood, and, though
it has legs, it can't run. It's just a sort of thin bench, and a seesaw board
can easily be put across it.
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were gaily swaying up and down on
the seesaw, and, for the time, they had forgotten all about the fact that
their mother had sent them to the store to pay a bill, and also to get
some groceries. They had not meant to stay so long, but you know how

it is when you get to seesawing.
"It's just the finest fun ever!" cried Sue.
"I'm sorry for boys and girls that ain't got any seesaws," said her
brother.
"Oh, I guess a lot of boys and girls have 'em, Bunny. Daddy said so,
once."
"Did he? I didn't hear him."
Up and down, up and down went the children, laughing and having a
splendid time. Sue felt so happy she began to sing a little song and
Bunny joined in. It was the old ditty of the Cow that Jumped Over the
Moon.
"We'd better go now, Sue!" called Bunny, after a while. "We can
seesaw when we get back."
"Oh, just five more times up and down!" pleaded the little girl, shaking
her curls and fairly laughing out of her eyes. "Just five more!"
"All right!" agreed Bunny. "Just five--that's all!"
Again the board swayed up and down, and when Sue was just
sorrowfully counting the last of the five, shouting and laughter were
heard in the street in front of the Brown house.
"Oh, there's Mary Watson and Sadie West!" cried Sue.
"Yes, and Charlie Star and Harry Bentley!" added Bunny. "Come on in
and have a lot of fun!" he called, as two boys and two girls came past
the gate. "We can take turns seesawing."
"That'll be fun!" said Charlie.
"Can't we get another board and make another seesaw?" asked Harry.
"We can't all get on that one. It'll break."

"I guess we can find another board," said Bunny. "I'll go and ask my
mother."
"No!" said Sue quickly. "You'd better not, Bunny!"
"Why?" asked