Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Big Woods | Page 2

"Oh, Bunny is just getting over a fever, is he?" asked Mrs. Brown.
"Of course it's only a _make-believe_ fever, Mother," said the little girl.
"We're only pretendin' you know"; and she cut her words short, leaving
off a "g" here and there, so she could talk faster I suppose.
"Oh, if it's only a make-believe fever it's all right," said Mother Brown
with a laugh. "How long do you think Bunny will sleep, Sue?"
"Oh, not very long. Maybe five minutes. 'Cause, you see, when he
wakes up he'll be hungry and I've got some pie and cake and some milk
for him to eat. Sick folks gets awful hungry when their fever goes away.
And it's real things to eat, too, Mother. And when Bunny got
make-believe shot with an Indian arrow he said he wasn't going to play
fever more'n five minutes 'cause he saw what I had for him to eat."
"Oh well, if he's going to be better in five minutes I can wait that long,"
said Mrs. Brown. "Go on and have your fun."
"What do you want Bunny to do--or me?" asked Sue, as she turned to
go back behind the bush where she and Bunny were having their game.
"I'll tell you when you've finished playing," said Mrs. Brown with a
smile. She sometimes found this a better plan than telling the children
just what she wanted when she called them from some of their games.
You see they were so anxious to find out what it was their mother
wanted that they hurried to finish their fun.

Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were at Camp Rest-a-While with their
father and their mother. They had come from their home in Bellemere
to live for a while in the forest, on the shore of Lake Wanda, where
they were all enjoying the life in the open air.
They had journeyed to the woods in an automobile, carrying two tents
which were set up under the trees. One tent was used to sleep in and the
other for a dining room. There was also a place to cook.
With the Brown family was Uncle Tad, who was really Mr. Brown's
uncle. But the jolly old soldier was as much an uncle to Bunny and Sue
as he was to their father. Bunker Blue, a boy, had also come to Camp
Rest-a-While with the Brown family, but after having many adventures
with them, he had gone back to Bellemere, where Mr. Brown had a fish
and a boat business. With him went Tom Vine, a boy whom the
Browns had met after coming to camp.
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue liked it in the big woods that stretched
out all about their camp. They played many games under the trees and
in the tents, and had great fun. Mrs. Brown liked it so much that when
the time when they had planned to go home came, she said to her
husband:
"Oh, let's stay a little longer. I like it so much and the children are so
happy. Let's stay!"
And so they stayed. And they were still camped on the edge of the big
woods that morning when Mrs. Brown called Bunny and Sue to do
something for her.
After telling her mother about the pretend-fever which Bunny had, Sue
went back to where her brother was lying on a blanket under the bushes.
She made-believe feel his pulse, as she had seen the doctor do when
once Bunny had been really ill, and then the little girl put her hand on
Bunny's cheek.
"Say! what you doin' that for?" he asked.

"I was seeing how hot you were," answered Sue. "I guess your fever's
most gone, isn't it, Bunny?" she asked.
"Is it time to eat?" he asked quickly.
"Yes, I think it is. And I think mother has a surprise for us, too."
"Then my fever's all gone!" exclaimed Bunny. "I'm all better, and I can
eat. Then we'll see what mother has."
Never did an ill person get well so quickly as did Bunny Brown just
then. He sat up, threw to one side a blanket Sue had spread over him,
and called:
"Where's the pie and cake?"
"Here they are," Sue answered, as she took them from a little box under
the bushes.
"And where's the milk?" asked Bunny. "Fevers always make folks
thirsty, you know. I'm awful thirsty!"
"Here's the milk," said Sue. "I didn't ask mother if I could take it, but
I'm sure she won't care."
"No, I guess not," said Bunny, taking a long drink which Sue poured
out for him from a pitcher into a glass.
Then Bunny and his sister ate the pie and the cake which their mother
had given them that morning