Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on an Auto Tour | Page 3

advice. Please come in."
She went to the front door and let in Bunny, Sue and their mother, the two children wondering what could have happened to the boy next door, for they did not see him, and it seemed the trouble was about him.
"It won't take long to tell you what has happened," said Mrs. Ward, placing chairs for Mrs. Brown and the two children. "Our boy Fred has run away from home!"
"Run away from home!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown.
"Yes, that's what he's done," said Mr. Ward. "I never thought he'd do such a thing as that, even though he is quick tempered. Yes, Fred has run away," and he turned over and over in his hand a slip of paper he had been reading.
"Perhaps he only went off in a sort of joke," said Mrs. Brown sympathetically. "I know once Bunny----"
"Yep. I ran away, I did!" exclaimed Bunny. "I got away down to the end of the street. I saw a man and a hand organ and he had a monkey. I mean the man did. And I wanted to be a hand-organ man so I ran away and was going off with him, only Bunker Blue chased after me, so I didn't run far, though I might have."
"Bunker Blue is a boy who works on Mr. Brown's fishing pier," explained Mrs. Brown. "Yes, Bunny did run away once, but he was glad to run back again."
"And I was lost!" cried Sue. "I was out walking with my daddy, and I went down a wrong street, and I couldn't see him and I didn't know what to do so I--I cried."
"Yes, Sue was lost a whole morning before a policeman found her and telephoned to us," put in Mrs. Brown. "She was glad to get back. Undoubtedly your boy will be the same."
"No," said Mr. Ward slowly, "I don't believe Fred will come home soon. He has gone off very angry."
"Are you sure he didn't go to the home of some neighbor or of a relative?" asked Mrs. Brown. "Children often do that, never thinking how worried their fathers and mothers are."
"No, Fred is too old to do that," said Mrs. Ward, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "He has gone, intending to stay a long while."
"What makes you think so?" asked Mrs. Brown.
"Because of this note he left," answered the father of the boy next door. "You see, Mrs. Brown, I had to correct Fred for doing something wrong. He spent some money to buy a banjo that he had promised--I had told him I would get him a fine banjo next year, but----
"Well, he disobeyed me, and I felt I had to punish him. So I sent him up to his room to stay all day. He went to his room, and that is the last we have seen of him. He left this note, saying he was never coming back."
"Read Mrs. Brown the note," suggested Mrs. Ward. "Maybe she can think of some plan to get Fred back."
Mr. Ward was about to read the note when Mr. Brown's voice was heard under the dining-room windows saying:
"Hello, Mother, and Bunny and Sue! Mary told me you had come over here, so I thought I'd come to pay a visit too. I've news for you."
"Oh, it's daddy!" cried Sue, and she ran to let her father in through the front door.
"I wonder what news it is," said Bunny to himself. "I wonder if he has found Fred."
CHAPTER II
AN OFFER OF HELP
As Mr. Brown walked into the home of the Ward family he saw at once, by a look at his wife, and by the expressions on the faces of Mr. and Mrs. Ward, that something had happened.
"Oh, I beg your pardon," Mr. Brown said. "Perhaps I shouldn't have come in. I'll call another time. But----"
"What about the good news you have, Daddy?" asked Bunny.
"I didn't say it was good news, Son."
"Yes, it is. I can tell by your eyes!" exclaimed Sue.
"Whatever it is, it will keep a little while," said Mrs. Brown, with a look at her husband, which he understood. "Our neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Ward," she continued, "are in great distress. Their only son, Fred, has run away from home."
"Oh, that's too bad!" exclaimed Mr. Brown. "I shouldn't have come in. I'll----"
"No, stay, we'll want your advice," said Mrs. Brown. "Mr. Ward was just going to read a letter his son left. I want you to listen to it and tell us what is best to do. You know you are on the police board."
"Of course I'll do all I can," said Mr. Brown. "First let me hear the letter. You can sometimes tell a good deal of what's in a person's mind by the way he writes."
And while Mr. Brown is listening to the letter