TWO DISAPPEARANCES
For a moment the two children looked out of the automobile windows at
the strange sight. Then, unable longer to think of going to bed when
there was likely to be some excitement, they both came out from behind
the curtains that screened off their cots, and cried together:
"Dix has got a cow!"
"Dix has got a _what_?" asked Mrs. Brown, thinking she had not
understood.
"Dix has got a _cow_!" went on Bunny. "He's leading her by a rope. I
guess he thinks it's our cow."
"Well, what will those dogs do next?" asked Mr. Brown, who was reading a
newspaper he had purchased from a passing boy, who rode his route on a
bicycle.
"It's true enough--about the cow," said Uncle Tad, who was outside the
automobile putting out the last embers of the campfire, that there
might be no danger during the night. "One of the dogs is leading home a
'cow critter,' as some farmers call them.
"It's Dix," he went on a moment later as the two dogs, both barking
excitedly, came close to the big moving van, Dix having hold of the rope
that was tied fast to the cow's neck. He was leading her along, and the
cow did not appear to mind. "Dix must have found the cow wandering along
the road," went on Uncle Tad, "and, thinking we might need one, he just
brought her home."
"Very thoughtful of Dix, I'm sure," said Mr. Brown, who had come outside
as had his wife, while Bunny and Sue remained in their pajamas in the
doorway. "He probably meant it kindly, but what will the man think whose
cow she is? Well, what's the matter with you, Splash?" asked Mr. Brown,
for that dog, too, was barking very loudly. "Did you see the cow first,
and wouldn't Dix let you have a share in bringing her here? I guess that
was it. Never mind, you shall lead the cow home, if we can find out
where she belongs."
He patted Splash's head as he spoke, and talked to the dog almost as he
would have talked to a small boy. And I think Splash understood, for he
wagged his tail, and seemed pleased.
Dix led the cow up to Mr. Brown, and there, dropping the end of the
rope, wagged his tail, barked once or twice and looked up as though he
were saying:
"Well, didn't I do pretty well for the first day? I found a cow for you.
That will more than pay my board. I'll try and find something else
to-morrow."
Then, as if satisfied that he had done his duty, Dix went off to hunt
for a bone he had buried after his supper, and Splash went with him.
"Well, what in the world are we going to do with it?" asked Mrs. Brown.
"We can't keep this cow; that's sure!"
"We might tie her to one of the auto wheels," said Mr. Brown.
"No, thank you!" exclaimed his wife. "She'd moo all night, and keep us
awake."
"But we can't turn her loose," said Mr. Brown. "She might wander off
and be stolen, and then the owner would blame us, though it might not be
our fault. Since Dix has brought the cow to us, no matter whether we
wanted her or not, we've got to look after her somehow."
"Couldn't Dix take her back?" asked Bunny, from where he stood in the
doorway with Sue.
"That's perhaps a good idea," replied Mr. Brown. "Though I don't know
that Dix could exactly take her back. I think I'd better do it myself.
It's early yet, and probably the farmer who owns the cow is out looking
for her. I'll let Splash lead the cow back along the road, and I'll go
with him. We may meet the farmer."
"Well, don't be gone too long," begged Mrs. Brown. "The first day is
always hard and we want to get to bed early."
"I'll do my best," promised Mr. Brown. "Come on, Splash! It's your turn
now to lead the cow!"
Splash barked joyfully, and seemed glad that he was to have something to
do with the big horned animal, who was contentedly chewing her cud,
lying down beside the automobile. She appeared quite contented wherever
she was.
"Oh, let us come!" begged Bunny and Sue, as they saw their father go off
down the road with Splash leading the cow by the rope.
"No, indeed! You youngsters get to bed!" said Mrs. Brown. "You ought to
be glad of the chance. You must be tired."
"We're not--a single bit!" declared Bunny, but though he and Sue begged
hard, and teased to go to see the cow taken home, their mother would not
let them.
It was quite dark when Mr. Brown came back. The children were asleep,
but Mrs. Brown and Uncle Tad were sitting up reading.
"Well?" asked Mrs. Brown, as she noticed how tired her husband looked.
"Did you have far to go?"
"About two miles, and mostly uphill. But I found the cow's owner."
"Did you? That's good! How did you manage?" asked Uncle Tad.
"Well, I was going along, Splash leading the cow as proud as a peacock,
when, all of a sudden, I saw a man hurrying toward me. He seemed very
much excited, and asked me if that was _my_ cow the dog was leading.
"I told him it was not; that one of the dogs that was with us on our
auto trip had brought her in; and that I was bringing her back, looking
for the owner."
"'I'm him,' he said. 'And I can soon prove the critter's mine.'"
"I told him I hoped she was, for I was tired of walking with her. So he
stopped at two or three farmers' houses, and they all said the cow
belonged to Mr. Adrian Richmond, who was the man that met me. So I left
the cow with him and came on home, for this _does_ look like home," he
added, as he gazed around the small but cozy room in the auto-van.
"Did the farmer tell you how Dix came to lead off his cow?" asked Uncle
Tad.
"No, he only guessed that the animal must have pulled loose from her
stake and wandered off down the road. She was used to being led home
every night by the farmer's dog, so she didn't make any objections."
"Then Dix must be a sort of a cow dog," remarked Mrs. Brown, and later
it was learned that Dix had once been on a western ranch and had helped
the cowboys with their work.
So with the cow disposed of, and the two dogs asleep on some old
blankets under the automobile, the little party of travelers settled
down for the night. They all slept soundly, and in the morning the first
thing Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue wanted to know about was the cow.
Their father told them all that had happened.
"That Dix is a great dog!" cried Bunny. "I'm glad we brought him with
us."
"So'm I!" echoed Sue. "And maybe to-day he'll find Fred."
"How can he?" asked Bunny.
"Because you know the funny old man who stopped us, to see if we were a
traveling show, said that boy banjo player was to come to this town. And
even if the one he saw _was_ colored it might be Fred blacked up."
"That's so," agreed Bunny. "We'll get daddy to ask."
A breakfast was cooked in the auto and eaten out-of-doors, because it
was such a lovely morning. More than once as they ate in the shadow of
the big car other autoists, passing, waved a merry greeting to the happy
little party, and as horse-drawn carts and wagons passed along the road
on their way into town, many curious glances were cast at the travelers.
It was rather a strange way of making a journey, but it suited the
Browns, and they preferred their big automobile to any railroad train
they could have had.
After breakfast they set off again, passing through the city.
Mr. Brown asked several persons there about the traveling medicine show
with the colored banjo player. Many had seen it, but some were sure the
banjo-playing boy was a real negro, while others said he was only
blackened up. At any rate the show had traveled on, and no one knew
where it would be next met with.
"Well, it may have been Fred, and it may not," said Mr. Brown. "I must
write and ask Mr. Ward if his son could imitate a negro, singing and
playing the banjo, and whether he ever dressed up and did that sort of
thing."
The progress of the big automobile through the town attracted many
persons, not a few of whom believed it to be a traveling show, and they
were disappointed when some sort of performance was not given.
The Browns were soon out in the sunny country again, traveling along a
shady level road. Bunny and Sue played with their toys, and at noon,
when they stopped for lunch, they had a romping game of tag in the woods
and fields near-by.
After the noon rest they went on again, the two dogs running along,
sometimes ahead of the automobile and sometimes behind it.
"I'm going to put darling Sallie Malinda to sleep," said Sue after a
while. "And I'm going to let her sleep near the back door of the car."
"Why?" asked Bunny, who was very fond of asking questions.
"She isn't feeling very well, and the air will do her good," answered
Sue, who made her "make-believe" very real to herself.
So, having made a nice bed of rags for her Teddy bear, Sue put Sallie
Malinda to sleep near the rear door of the auto and got out one of her
books to look at the pictures. Bunny was building some sort of house
with some new blocks his father had bought for him, but he was not
having very good luck, for the motion of the auto made the house topple
over almost as soon as Bunny had it built.
After a while Sue thought her Teddy bear had had enough sleep near the
auto door, so she went to take her in. But when she reached the rag bed
Sallie Malinda was not there.
"Oh, my Teddy bear is gone!" cried Sue. "Oh, Bunny, do you think she
falled out? Daddy! Daddy! Stop the auto! My Teddy bear is lost!"
Mr. Brown stopped the car at once, though he did not understand all of
what Sue said. The little girl told him what had happened.
"Sallie Malinda gone!" cried Mother Brown. "That's too bad! She must
have been jostled off when the auto went over a bump. I think we'll have
to go back and look for her," she said to her husband.
Then Bunny gave some more news.
"Dix is gone too!" he cried. "I've been watching a long while and I
haven't seen him. And Splash is acting awful funny--just as if Dix had
run away."
"Hum! This _is_ rather strange!" exclaimed Mr. Brown. "Two
disappearances at once."
"What's disappearcesses?" asked Sue.
"It means going away--the word your father used does," explained Mrs.
Brown with a smile. "But it certainly is strange that Dix and the Teddy
bear should go away together."