Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue Giving a Show | Page 9

Jed Winkler's monkey," answered Bunny.
"Are you going to have him in your show?" Mrs. Brown wanted to know, for she had not forgotten the circus the children once gave.
"We were talking about it," explained Sue, "when Tom Milton come and told us the monkey was loose."
"And he is in the hardware store," added Bunny. "We're going to see him!" he cried, his eyes shining.
"Well, button up your coats, for it's cold," warned Mrs. Brown. "I guess this will be the end of the show business," she added to Mrs. Watson who had stopped in for a few minutes' talk. "The children will forget all about their play after they see the monkey. And I shall be just as well pleased. Their circus was fun, but it meant a lot of work, and if they give a show, as Bunny and Sue talk of doing, it will mean more work."
"I don't believe they'll do it," answered Mrs. Watson.
But she hardly knew Bunny Brown and his sister Sue.
On to the hardware store hurried the group of children. As soon as they turned the corner of the street leading to Mr. Raymond's place they saw a crowd in front of the store.
"Oh, come on! Hurry!" cried Bunny. "Maybe he'll be all through doing things when we get there! Hurry!"
The boys and girls began to run, and when they reached the store they heard, from inside, a clanging and crashing sound.
"I guess Wango is doing things yet!" cried Sue.
"I guess so," agreed Tom Milton. "Come on, let's go in the side door and we can see better," he proposed.
Tom seemed to know the best way to this "free show," and he led the others. Bunny, his sister, and their boy and girl friends went down a little alley, and thus into the store by a side entrance.
As they stepped into the hardware place there was another crash of pots and pans, and Sue cried:
"Oh, I see him! He's got an egg beater now in one paw!"
"And some pie pans in the other!" exclaimed Bunny.
"Where is he? I don't see him!" said Mary Watson.
"Right up on the shelf by the cans of paint," replied Bunny, pointing. "Say, if he opens any cans of paint and splashes that around won't it be fun!" he laughed.
"Hi there, Bunny Brown!" called Mr. Raymond, the hardware man, when he heard the little boy say this. "Don't be suggesting such things! That monkey might hear you and try it. I don't want my store all splashed up with red and green paint. Come on down now, Wango!" he called, snapping his fingers at the old sailor's queer pet. "Come on down, and I'll give you a cookie."
"I guess he'd rather have a cocoanut," suggested Sue. "My mother has some cocoanut for a cake, and there's a picture of a monkey on the paper, and he's eating cocoanuts."
"But I haven't any cocoanut to offer him," said Mr. Raymond. "I wish Jed Winkler would come and get his old monkey down! Wango would come to him."
"How'd the monkey get in here?" asked Bunny.
"I don't know," confessed Mr. Raymond. "First I knew, I heard the lady I was selling a coffee strainer to exclaim, and I looked up and there was Wango skipping around on the shelves. I guess Jed must have left a window open and the monkey got out, though he doesn't generally skip around outdoors in cold weather. Then he must have come along the street until he got to my place, and, when he saw the door open, in he popped. Jed's house is only a few steps from here. But I wish Jed would come and get his Wango."
"Here he is now!" cried a chorus of children's voices, and, looking toward the front of his store, Mr. Raymond saw the old sailor coming in.
"What's all the trouble here?" asked Mr. Winkler.
"It's your monkey again, Jed," answered Mr. Raymond. "Lucky my place isn't a china store, or you'd have a lot of damages to pay for broken dishes. As it is, Wango can't break any of my pots and pans, though he certainly is mussing them up a lot!"
Well might this be said, for, as the hardware man spoke, the monkey leaped from one shelf to another and, in so doing, knocked down a lot of tin pans which fell to the floor with a clatter and a bang.
"Can't you do something to stop him?" cried Mr. Raymond.
"Well, yes, I suppose I can," said Mr. Winkler slowly. "I didn't know he was loose till a minute ago, when some one came and told me. I was down on the fish dock, talking with Bunker Blue. But I'll get Wango down. I'm real glad he isn't in a china store, for he surely would break things! Here, Wango!" he called,