call him an impersonator. Watch, and you'll see."
When the "Impersonator" came out on the stage he did not look like
any one but himself. He made a few remarks, but Bunny and Sue did
not pay much attention. They were more interested in what he was
going to do. The man, who wore a black suit, "like the minister's," as
Mary Watson whispered to Sue, suddenly stepped over to a little table,
on which were two electric lights and a looking glass.
The children could not see exactly what the man did. They noticed that
his hands were working very quickly, but he had his back toward them.
All at once his black hair seemed to turn white, and in a moment he
caught up from a chair a coat of blue and gold; he slipped this on. Then
he turned suddenly and faced the audience.
"Oh, it's George Washington!" cried a boy, and the audience laughed.
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
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