WHERE IS SPLASH?
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Bunny Brown, as he felt himself being carried along
in the automobile. "What has happened?"
The automobile kept on moving, and Bunny held his hands on the steering
wheel. He knew this must be done whenever any machine, like an
automobile, was moving.
"I've either got to stop it, or--or steer it along the curved path so it
won't run into anything," whispered Bunny Brown to himself. "I don't
know what makes me go but I'm going, and I'm keeping going, so I've got
to steer."
And steer Bunny did. Fortunately though the car was large, it was easily
steered, for Mr. Brown had it made that way so his wife could take the
wheel when she cared to.
Mrs. Brown could drive an ordinary automobile and she could steer well.
So while Mr. Brown was having the big auto-van made over he had the
steering part changed so that the steering wheel turned from side to
side very easily. And as Bunny was a sturdy chap he had no trouble about
this part.
The auto-van kept on moving and Bunny noticed that it was going up a
little hill in the driveway that went all the way around the house.
"I don't see what makes it go uphill all by itself," said Bunny to
himself, giving the steering wheel a little turn, as there was a curve
in the pathway just ahead of him. "If I were running _down_hill I'd know
what made it go--the same thing that makes my sled slide downhill in
Winter. But if this auto stood on the level I don't see what started it,
nor why it keeps on going _up_hill. Bunker Blue must have left the
brakes off."
Bunny looked at the handle brake and at the one worked by the foot
pedal. Both were off, for Bunker had released them when he left the car,
since it stood on a level bit of the driveway.
"But what makes it go?" asked Bunny again. Then, as he heard the low
grinding noise, he remembered the self-starter, which Bunker had spoken
of.
"I must have kicked the handle or touched it," thought Bunny, "and that
started the machine. I don't know how to stop it. I guess I'd
better--Oh, whee! There's a tree I'm going to smash into!" cried Bunny
Brown.
The thought of getting out of the way of the tree drove from Bunny's
mind, for the time being, every other thought. He must not hit the tree
which grew a little over the side of the driveway.
"I've got to steer out of the way, that's what I've got to do!" thought
Bunny in a flash. "I've got to steer out of the way!"
Once he had made up his mind to that, he did not think so much about the
motion of the automobile. That could be taken care of later.
"Let's see, which way do I turn the wheel to get out of the way of the
tree," thought Bunny. He had often been in boats with his father and
Bunker Blue, and sometimes, when the way was clear, he had been allowed
to steer. Once or twice, while out with his mother in her car, she had
let him steer along a quiet road.
He was closer to the tree now. The automobile was not moving very fast,
and perhaps if it had hit the tree it would not have done much damage.
But Bunny did not know that, and then, too, he might be hurt in case the
big car hit the tree. So he was going to do his best to avoid it.
Like a flash it came to Bunny.
"I must turn the steering wheel the way I want the auto to go!"
No sooner said than done. Bunny gave the wheel a twist. Then he saw the
auto slowly move that way, and away from the tree. It went past with a
few inches to spare, but Bunny had not acted any too soon.
Now he was on the straight part of the driveway again, at the back of
the house, and all he had to do was to hold the steering wheel steady,
and the automobile would move itself along.
"But there's another curve by the kitchen door," thought Bunny. "I
wonder if I'll get around that all right."
On went the automobile. As it rolled slowly past the kitchen, Mary, the
cook, looked out and saw the small boy at the steering wheel, which
seemed almost as large as he was.
"Oh, Bunny! Bunny! Sure an' what in the world are ye doin'?" she cried.
"Please don't make me look at you," begged Bunny. "I've got to steer
straight until I get to the curve and then I've got to twist around, an'
that's very, very hard to do, Mary. So please don't interrupt me."
But Mary had seen enough to cause alarm. She rushed to the sitting room
where Mrs. Brown was looking at a pile of toys Sue had brought down to
take on the trip.
"Oh, Mrs. Brown! Mrs. Brown! Sure, an' the likes of a little boy like
him runnin' the big car! Sure, it's kilt he'll be intirely!"
"What do you mean, Mary?"
"What do I mean? Sure, an' I mean that Bunny, the darlin' boy, has gone
off in the big movin' van auto!"
"Bunny in that auto? Impossible!"
"Look for yourself!" exclaimed Mary, pointing to the window.
At that moment the auto went rolling past, with Bunny at the wheel, as
brave as life.
"Bunny Brown!" exclaimed his mother, dashing for the door.
"I--I got around the curve all right, Momsie!" he shouted in glee, and
he raised one hand from the wheel to wave it to her.
But at that instant the auto gave a wobble, and Bunny had to bring his
waving hand back on the wheel to keep the car straight.
"Bunny! Bunny!" cried his mother, running down the drive after the
machine. "Where are you going?"
"I--I don't know," he called back to her. "The auto got started and I
can't stop it!"
"Oh, what shall I do?" cried Mrs. Brown. For the seat of the car was
very high, and though Bunny had managed to reach it, for he was a good
tree-climber, it would hardly have been possible for Mrs. Brown to try
to get up with her skirts on and when the auto was moving. It had been
still when Bunny climbed to the seat.
"Oh, Bunny!" wailed his mother. "Mary! Telephone for Mr. Brown to come
home--quick!"
"I won't be hurt!" called Bunny. "All I've got to do is to keep going on
around and around and around the driveway until the storage battery
gives out. That's what's running the car now."
"Oh, but you _must_ be stopped," cried Mrs. Brown, who managed to keep
alongside the slowly moving auto. "You might hit something!"
"I steered out of the way of a tree, all the same," said Bunny proudly.
"I was 'most going to run into it, but I didn't. I 'membered which way
to steer."
"Oh, I'm so frightened," moaned Mrs. Brown. Then seeing Bunker Blue
coming up the path with a message on which he had been sent by Mr.
Brown, Bunny's mother called to him:
"Oh, Bunker, stop the auto! Bunny started it somehow. He's ridden
nearly all around the drive, but he can't stop!"
"It's running on the battery," said Bunker, after listening a moment to
the electric hum. Then he swung himself up on the seat of the moving car
beside Bunny, shut off the electric starter and put on the brakes.
"There you are, Bunny!" cried Bunker. "Right as can be!"
"I steered her nearly all the way around the house," said the small boy
with pride.
"But you must never do it again," commanded his mother. "Never! Oh, how
you frightened me, Bunny!"
"I'm sorry! I won't do it again," said the little fellow; and he really
meant it.
"How did you come to do it?" asked Bunker.
"It just did itself," said the small boy. "I climbed up on the seat, and
made believe I was steering, just like you or daddy, when, all of a
sudden, off she went. I 'most busted down a tree, but I didn't really.
And I went all around the house. I guess now daddy will let me steer the
car out on the road."
"Not for a few days yet," said Bunker Blue with a laugh.
"Mr. Brown told me to tell you," he went on to Mrs. Brown, "that he
would go a day earlier than he counted on, if you could get ready."
"It won't take me long to pack," said Mrs. Brown. "But why didn't he
telephone?"
"Our machine is out of order. The men are fixing it, and anyhow I had to
come up this way."
"Well, I'm glad you came in time," said Mrs. Brown, as she led Bunny
back to the house. "You are very good, Bunker."
"Yes, and I want you to show me how to stop that electric starter when
it starts to start," said Bunny.
"Some day--maybe," promised Bunker, smiling.
"Well, if we're going sooner, I'll have to hurry up and get my things
packed," said Bunny. "Have you got yours, Sue?"
"Most of 'em. You ought to see how bright my Teddy bear's eyes shine
since daddy put new batteries inside Sallie Malinda," rattled on Sue.
"I can 'most see to read my Mother Goose by them in the dark."
"Well, I'm going to get my things ready," said Bunny.
The next few days were busy ones in the Brown home. The big automobile
was packed with bed clothes and with things for the children, their
father and mother and Uncle Tad to wear, and also with things to eat.
At last, one morning, all was ready for the start.
"Good-bye," waved Mary, the cook, who was to have a vacation, while the
Browns were away.
"Good-bye!" called Bunny and Sue, and then Mr. Brown, who was at the
steering wheel, while Uncle Tad, Bunny, Sue and their mother rode
inside, started the car, and Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue were off on
an auto tour.
Merrily they rode along, Bunny and Sue talking happily, when, all at
once Bunny cried:
"Wait! Hold on! Where is Splash?"