Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue Giving a Show | Page 6

And, to tell the truth, the man on the stage did look a great deal like our first president, as you see him in pictures. The man had put a white wig on over his black hair, and had put on the kind of coat George Washington used to wear.
I wish I had time to tell you all the different persons this actor made up to appear like, but I can mention only a few. From Washington he turned himself into Lincoln, and then into Roosevelt. Then he made up like some of the French and English generals, and afterward he made himself look like General Grant, smoking a cigar.
Every one applauded as the man bowed himself off the stage. There was a thrill of excitement when the next number was announced. A little girl was shown on the stage. She did not seem much older than Sue, but of course she was. She began to sing in a sweet, childish voice, and in the midst of her song a boy dressed in a suit of bright spangles suddenly appeared from the side. Without a word the boy began turning handsprings and somersaults and doing flipflops in front of the girl.
Suddenly she stopped her song, stamped her little foot, and in pretended anger cried:
"What do you mean by coming out here and spoiling my singing act?"
"Why, the man back there," said the boy, pointing behind the scenes, "told me to come out here and amuse the people," and he seemed, to smile right at Bunny Brown and Sue.
"He told you to come out and amuse the people, did he? Well, what does he think I'm doing?" demanded the girl.
"I don't know. I guess he thinks maybe you're making 'em cry!" was the boy acrobat's grinning answer.
"Well, I like that! The idea!" exclaimed the girl. "I'm going right back and tell him I won't sing another song in this show! The idea!" and she hurried off the stage.
"Oh, won't she sing any more?" whispered Sue to Uncle Tad.
"Yes," answered the soldier with a smile. "That's just part of the act--to make it more interesting."
"Now that she is out of the way I'll have more room to do my flipflops," said the boy acrobat, and he started to do all sorts of tricks. But, just as Uncle Tad had said, the girl was only pretending, for pretty soon she came back again with a prettier dress on, and she danced and sang while the boy did handsprings to the delight of Bunny Brown, his sister Sue, and all the others in the audience.
I haven't room to tell you all that happened at the show that afternoon, for this story is to be about a show Bunny and Sue gave. But I will just say every one liked the entertainment, and when Bunny was coming out, walking behind Sue, he suddenly said:
"I know what we can do!"
"What?" asked the little girl.
"Let's give a show ourselves--like this!" Bunny pointed toward the stage.
Sue looked at Bunny to make sure he was not joking. Then she answered and said:
"We will! We'll give a show ourselves!"
CHAPTER III
TALKING IT OVER
One evening two or three days after the performance in the Opera House, where Bunny and Sue had so much enjoyed the impersonator, the juggler, the boy acrobat, and the girl singer, a number of ladies called at the home of Mrs. Brown. As it was early Bunny and Sue had not yet gone to bed so they could hear the talk that went on.
"I think we did very well, Mrs. Brown," said Mrs. West, the mother of Sue's playmate, Sadie. "We cleared nearly two hundred dollars for our Red Cross Chapter from the Opera House show."
"That's splendid!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "I didn't think we would make quite so much. But we could use still more money."
"Yes, if we had more money we could do more good," said Mrs. Bentley. "I don't suppose we could have another performance soon. The people would not come."
Bunny and Sue, who were in another room looking at picture books, glanced at one another. Then they smiled. Bunny slid down off his chair, followed by Sue.
"Shall we tell 'em?" asked Bunny.
"Yes," nodded Sue.
So the two children walked slowly into the room where their mother and the other ladies were talking about the Red Cross Society. Mrs. Brown was just saying something.
"No," she remarked, "I hardly believe we could arrange to give another show right away. It would be too much like----"
"Mother!" interrupted Bunny, speaking in a low voice.
"Yes, Son!" answered Mrs. Brown. "But run away now, dear. Mother is very busy. I'll speak to you in just a minute."
"But we want to talk about the show, Mother," persisted Bunny.
"Oh, but I haven't time," said Mrs. Brown with a smile. "You saw the show, and