THE BIG AUTOMOBILE
"Bunny! Bunny! Look! Look! The hand-organ man's monkey has run away!"
cried Sue.
"Yes!" answered Bunny. "Let's run after him! Maybe we can catch him, and
the man will let us play the organ!"
That was all Bunny Brown and his sister Sue thought about--doing
whatever they happened to think of first, and this time it was racing
after the runaway monkey.
For the hand-organ man's monkey was really running away. He was
frightened at Wango, I think, for Wango was larger than he, though Wango
was quite gentle, even if he did make lots of trouble, such as upsetting
the jars in Mrs. Redden's candy store.
"Here! Come back! Come back!" cried the Italian to his monkey, speaking
in what sounded to Bunny and Sue very queer talk. But then the Italian
could speak his own language well, even if he could not talk the kind
Bunny and Sue used.
"We'll get your monkey for you, Mr. Organ-man!" cried Bunny. "Come on,
Sue!"
"Well, don't run so fast--I can't keep up to you!" called the little
girl. "Wait for me, Bunny!"
Bunny turned and clasped Sue's hand in his own. He did not want to leave
his little sister behind. Each child still held a half-eaten lollypop.
The hand-organ man set down his music box, and he, too, raced down the
street after his runaway monkey. Of course the man could run faster than
could Bunny and Sue.
All this while Wango was jumping about on the porch, chattering and
squealing. He tried to break the chain that was fast to the collar
around his neck, but it was too strong for his efforts.
Once, after Mr. Winkler had fastened his pet out of doors, Wango broke
away, and hid in Mrs. Redden's candy shop. And, oh! how he did smash
the candy jars, and what a lot of lollypops he took! But his master, Mr.
Winkler, the old sailor, paid for them, so it was all right. Then Mr.
Winkler put a stronger chain on Wango. And that is why the pet monkey
could not now get away.
But he tried very hard, for he wanted to run away also, I think, and
have a good time with his friend, the hand-organ monkey. Only the
hand-organ monkey seemed to be afraid of Wango.
"But he didn't need to be," Bunny said, as he trotted on with Sue, "for
Wango wouldn't hurt him."
"Of course not!" said Sue, "any more than our dog Splash would have hurt
the little yellow dog he ran after one day."
I have told you about that in the first book, how Splash ran away with
Bunny and Sue, hurrying down the street to make friends with a little
yellow dog, that once had had a tin can tied to his tail.
And, also in the first book, I told you how Bunny and Sue got their dog
Splash. Bunny and Sue were carried away in a boat, and landed on an
island in the river. There Sue fell in, and the big dog pulled her out.
As no one came for the dog the Browns kept him, and Bunny and Sue named
him "Splash," because, as Sue said, "he splashed into the water to pull
me out."
On ran the hand-organ man after his monkey, and on ran Bunny Brown and
his sister Sue after the hand-organ man. But Wango had to stay behind.
He made so much noise, though, with his chattering and screaming, to say
nothing of rattling the chain, that Miss Winkler came running out. She
was making a cake, and her hands were all covered with flour, while
there was a white spot on the end of her nose.
"Oh, what is the matter? What is the matter?" she cried.
"The hand-organ man's monkey ran away because Wango scared him," said
Bunny, "and we are running after him."
"After Wango?" Miss Winkler wanted to know.
"No! After the hand-organ monkey," answered Bunny. "Come on, Sue!"
They turned the corner, and there, half way down the street, they saw
the hand-organ man standing under a tree.
"Oh, maybe the monkey is up the tree!" cried Bunny.
"Yes, ma monk--he up-a de tree!" said the Italian, in his funny way. "He
no comea down! Jacko! Jacko!" he called. "Comea down--pleasa!"
But, though the hand-organ man held up his arms, and begged his monkey
to come down, the little furry creature would not come. He sat perched
on a high limb, looking with his bright eyes at Bunny, Sue and the man.
Several boys and girls, as well as some men, came over to see what was
going on.
"I'll climb the tree and get him," offered George Watson.
"Better not. Monkeys can bite and scratch," said Mr. Gordon, who kept
the grocery store. "What happened to him, Bunny?"
Bunny told him how Wango had frightened the organ monkey.
"Maybe if you play, Mr. Italian man, he'll come down!" exclaimed Sue,
after a bit.
"Ha! That's a good idea!" said Mr. Reinberg, who sold drygoods in
Bellemere. "Go get your hand organ, Mr. Italian."
"Sure. Me maka de nicea de music!" agreed the man. "Maybe Jacko comea
down den!"
Off he ran to get his organ, which he had left on the grass in front of
Miss Winkler's house. But, even when the organ was played, the monkey up
in the tree would not come down. He chattered, and climbed farther up.
"Oh, I know what let's do!" suddenly cried Bunny Brown.
"What?" asked his sister Sue.
"Let's give him our lollypops--that is, what we have left of 'em. Wango
likes lollypops, you know, and this monkey ought to like 'em just as
well. I'll give him mine," and Bunny looked at his half-eaten candy.
"And he can have mine, too!" exclaimed Sue.
"Better let the hand-organ man give him the candy," said Mr. Gordon.
"The monkey will know him better. I guess it's a good idea,
though--offering him the lollypops."
"Much-a thank-a you!" said the Italian, smiling, as he took the pieces
of candy on the sticks, which the children gave him. He held them up to
Jacko, and said something in Italian. The monkey chattered, just as if
he were talking back, and then he began slowly climbing down the tree.
"Oh, Bunny! He's coming! He's coming!" cried Sue.
"He much-a like-a de candy!" said the Italian organ-grinder, who was now
smiling. "Come on, Jacko! Come on!"
The runaway monkey did not seem so much afraid now, or perhaps he was
very hungry for the candy. Anyhow down he came, until he could jump to
his master's shoulder. Then he put one little hairy paw around the
Italian's neck, and, with the other, held the lollypops, which he at
once began to eat.
"Say, that's the time you and Sue did it, Bunny!" cried Mr. Gordon. "It
was a good trick. But the monkey will eat all your candy."
"Oh, I don't mind," Bunny said. But he did care, just a little, and so
did Sue. However the Italian was so glad to get his monkey back that he
gave Bunny and Sue each a penny, so they could buy new lollypops. Then
the organ-man fastened the string on the monkey's collar again, and
started off up the street.
"Let's follow him," said Sue to Bunny. "Maybe the monkey will run away
again, and we can help get him out of a tree."
"No, we'd better go home," Bunny said. "Mother may be looking for us."
So home they went, and just in time, for Mrs. Brown was about to ask
Uncle Tad to look for the children.
Every day, for the next week, Bunny Brown and his sister Sue would ask
when they could start for grandpa's farm. And their mother would say:
"Pretty soon now. Daddy hasn't his surprise quite ready."
"Oh, why can't you tell us?" begged Sue.
"Because, then it wouldn't be any surprise," said Mrs. Brown, with a
laugh.
Bunny and Sue had some good times while they were waiting, but they were
anxious to have fun on the farm. And, one morning, soon after
breakfast, they went out in the yard to play, and saw a strange sight.
Into the drive rumbled a big automobile, almost like a large moving van.
Bunny and Sue ran out of the way. The big automobile came to a stop. The
man on the front seat jumped down, and, going around to the back, opened
the doors. Bunny and Sue peeped inside the van.
"Oh, look, look, Bunny!" cried Sue. "It's just like a play-house inside.
It's got beds, and a table and even a stove! Oh, what is it all for?"
"My, what a big, queer auto!" said Bunny. "And it's even got windows in
it. Why we could camp out in it! Is it ours?" he asked the man.