FOUND AT LAST
What with the barking of Dix, in which Splash, out on the porch, joined,
the manner in which the scratched boy hugged the half-wild animal on his
bed, the astonishment of Bunny Brown, his sister, his father and Mrs.
Jason--well, there was enough excitement for a few minutes to satisfy
even the children.
Sue did not know what to make of the strange actions of Dix on the bed
where the injured boy had been sleeping, and she whispered to Bunny:
"Maybe Dix wants to bite him!"
But Bunny shook his head. He understood what had happened.
"Don't you see, Sue!" he said. "He's been found."
"O-o-oh!" gasped the little girl.
"Yes, sir, Fred Ward, the boy who ran away from next door to us, has
been found. That's his dog, Dix. And Dix knows him, just as we thought
he would, even though his face is pretty well bandaged up. That's Fred
Ward!"
"Is that your name?" asked Mr. Brown, who also understood what had
happened.
"Well, I guess it is," was the slow answer. "But it isn't the name I've
been going by lately. I called myself Professor Rombodno Prosondo, but
now----"
"Then, it _was_ you all blacked up like a minstrel!" cried Bunny.
"Yes, I was playing on the banjo for Dr. Perry's medicine show, but when
I saw you in the crowd I managed to get away. Then I joined the circus
and now----"
"Don't talk and excite yourself," said Mrs. Jason. "The doctor will be
here in a little while and perhaps he can take the bandages off your
face, so your friends will know you."
"Dix knows him all right," said Mr. Brown, and indeed the dog was half
wild with joy at having found his master.
Dr. Fandon came in a few minutes later and said Fred was much better.
When the face bandages were taken off, so new ones could be put on,
Bunny and Sue at once recognized Fred, though his face was badly
scratched.
Dix tried to lick his master's face, but had to be stopped for fear he
might do Fred harm. So the dog had to show his joy by thumping his tail
and whining softly.
Then Fred told his story. As has been said, he ran away from home
because he felt his father should not have punished him.
"But I've had a good deal worse punishment since," the lad said, "and
I'm sorry I ever ran away. I'd have gone home long ago only I was
ashamed."
"Well, you needn't be," said Mr. Brown. "Your father and your mother
both want you back. We have been looking for you as well as we could on
our auto tour. But it was Dix who knew you first."
"I wish he had seen me before the lion did," said Fred, smiling a
little. "I wonder where he went to after clawing me?"
At that moment there was a noise out in the yard back of the farmhouse.
The crowing of roosters and the squawking of hens could be heard,
mingled with a woman's voice.
"That's my wife!" cried Mr. Jason, jumping up, but at that moment his
wife came into the room.
"I've caught it," she said coolly, though her face was flushed.
"Caught what?" they all cried.
"The circus lion," she answered. "I went out to the henhouse, and there
he was crouching down in a corner, and looking as if he intended to have
his choice of my fat pullets."
"What did you do?" asked Mr. Brown and Mr. Jason together.
"Well, I happened to have a broom stick in my hand so I hit him a smart
blow over the nose to teach him to let my hens alone, and then I drove
the chickens outside and locked the lion in the henhouse. He's there
now. You'd better send for the circus folks to take him away. I don't
want him around the place scaring the fowls."
"Didn't he scare you?" asked Mr. Brown.
"I never stopped to think whether he did or not," was the cool answer.
"I just whacked him over the nose and he whined and cuddled up in a
corner like a whipped dog."
"Oh, let's go out and look at the lion in the chicken coop!" cried
Bunny.
"No, indeed," said his father. "Wait until the circus men come and put
him in the cage."
A neighboring farmer had a telephone, and word was sent to one of the
circus men who had stayed at the village hotel, while his companion had
gone to the rocky glen with a crowd of men and boys to try to find the
lion there, after the alarm given by Mr. Jason.
The circus man, who had remained in the hotel, came with a light cage,
drawn by horses, and the lion was easily driven from the henhouse into
the cage and was soon safe behind locks and bars.
"Mrs. Jason caught the lion!" cried the crowd that gathered to watch
what happened.
"Did he bite you?" she was asked.
"Never a bite," she answered smiling.
"What! Poor old Tobyhanna bite?" cried one of the circus men. "Why, he
hasn't but two teeth in his head and we have to feed him on boiled meat.
He's no more dangerous than a tame dog, and when you hit him over the
nose with your broom, lady, you must have hurt his feelin's dreadful."
"Well, I didn't mean to be _rough_," said Mrs. Jason with a smile, "but
it's the first time I ever caught a lion."
"Yes, and you get the reward, too," added the circus man, as he paid the
farmer's wife.
Then he started away with the lion in the cage to ship him back to the
circus. And poor, old, almost toothless Tobyhanna, curled up in the
corner of his cage and ate some bread and milk the farmer's wife gave
him. He was happy he had been caught.
Fred Ward's story was soon told. After running away from home he joined
the medicine show, because it gave him a chance to play the banjo he
liked so well. He left Dr. Perry because he saw the Browns and feared
they might have him sent home.
Then he joined the circus, the very one from which the lion had escaped.
In that show Fred had been one of a group who blacked up and played on
mandolins and guitars and banjos, and though he had played in front of
Bunny, Sue and Uncle Tad, none of them knew him, nor did Fred see them.
The night the show left the town, and just before the lion escaped, Fred
had a quarrel with one of the managers and left. He was not paid his
money and, quite miserable, he wandered away, not knowing what to do. He
became lost in the woods, and finally he reached the rocky gulch where
the lion attacked him.
"It was just an accident. Tobyhanna didn't mean to hurt me," said Fred.
"I'd often fed him and scratched his nose for him in the circus. But I
walked right over him as he was asleep in between some rocks, and when
he jumped out, as much scared as I was he happened to scratch me. Then I
managed to get to this house and I guess I must have gone out of my head
or fainted or something."
"You did," said Dr. Fandon, "but you are all right now."
"We must send word to your father that you are safe," said Mr. Brown,
and this was done.
Fred was not quite well enough to be moved, but his father came for him
the next day, and he made a great fuss over his boy. They understood
each other better after that.
Mr. Ward thanked everybody who had done anything to help his son, and a
few days later took Fred and Dix home, for the dog would not leave his
master, much as he liked Splash, Bunny and Sue.
In due time Tobyhanna, the lion, was taken back to the circus, and he
never got out of his cage again, as far as I ever heard.
"Well, I think we can keep on with our tour now," said Mr. Brown, a few
days after the new spring had arrived.
"It seems almost like leaving home to go away from here," said Mother
Brown, as they prepared to leave.
"We've had such fun camping here," added Sue.
"And lots of things have happened, too!" added Bunny. "I never was near
where a lion was locked up in a chicken coop before."
"And I don't want to be again," said his mother.
"All aboard!" cried Uncle Tad.
And once more the "Ark," was traveling along the country road back
toward Bellemere. The auto trip had been a great success, and Bunny and
Sue talked of it many times, and of how Fred Ward had been found, and of
the escaped lion that had scratched him.
But now it is time to say good-bye, though you must not think this is
the last of the adventures of Bunny and Sue, even though there are no
more in this book. There were more ahead of them, but, for the present,
we will leave them.
THE END
THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of the Popular "Bobbsey Twins" Books
* * * * *
Wrapper and text illustrations drawn by
FLORENCE ENGLAND NOSWORTHY
* * * * *
=12mo. DURABLY BOUND. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING=
* * * * *
These stories by the author of the "Bobbsey Twins" Books are eagerly
welcomed by the little folks from about five to ten years of age. Their
eyes fairly dance with delight at the lively doings of inquisitive
little Bunny Brown and his cunning, trustful sister Sue.
Bunny was a lively little boy, very inquisitive. When he did anything,
Sue followed his leadership. They had many adventures, some comical in
the extreme.
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONY
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE GIVING A SHOW
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CHRISTMAS TREE COVE
* * * * *
=GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK=
THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS
For Little Men and Women
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of "The Bunny Brown" Series, Etc.
* * * * *
=12mo. DURABLY BOUND. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING=
* * * * *
Copyright publications which cannot be obtained else-where. Books that
charm the hearts of the little ones, and of which they never tire.
THE BOBBSEY TWINS
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST
* * * * *
=GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK=
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS
SERIES
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of "The Bobbsey Twins Series."
* * * * *
=12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING=
* * * * *
The adventures of Ruth and Alice DeVere. Their father, a widower, is an
actor who has taken up work for the "movies." Both girls wish to aid him
in his work and visit various localities to act in all sorts of
pictures.
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS
Or First Appearance in Photo Dramas.
Having lost his voice, the father of the girls goes into the movies
and the girls follow. Tells how many "parlor dramas" are filmed.
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT OAK FARM
Or Queer Happenings While Taking Rural Plays.
Full of fun in the country, the haps and mishaps of taking film
plays, and giving an account of two unusual discoveries.
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS SNOWBOUND
Or The Proof on the Film.
A tale of winter adventures in the wilderness, showing how the
photo-play actors sometimes suffer.
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS UNDER THE PALMS
Or Lost in the Wilds of Florida.
How they went to the land of palms, played many parts in dramas
before the camera; were lost, and aided others who were also lost.
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT ROCKY RANCH
Or Great Days Among the Cowboys.
All who have ever seen moving pictures of the great West will
want to know just how they are made. This volume gives every detail
and is full of clean fun and excitement.
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT SEA
Or a Pictured Shipwreck that Became Real.
A thrilling account of the girls' experiences on the water.
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS IN WAR PLAYS
Or The Sham Battles at Oak Farm.
The girls play important parts in big battle scenes and have plenty
of hard work along with considerable fun.
* * * * *
=GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK=
THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL
HIGH SERIES
By GERTRUDE W. MORRISON
* * * * *
=12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING=
* * * * *
Here is a series full of the spirit of high school life of to-day. The
girls are real flesh-and-blood characters, and we follow them with
interest in school and out. There are many contested matches on track
and field, and on the water, as well as doings in the classroom and on
the school stage. There is plenty of fun and excitement, all clean, pure
and wholesome.
THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH
Or Rivals for all Honors.
A Stirring tale of high school life, full of fun, with a touch
of mystery and a strange initiation.
THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON LAKE LUNA
Or The Crew That Won.
Telling of water sports and fun galore, and of fine times in camp.
THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH AT BASKETBALL
Or The Great Gymnasium Mystery.
Here we have a number of thrilling contests at basketball and in
addition, the solving of a mystery which had bothered the high
school authorities for a long while.
THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON THE STAGE
Or The Play That Took the Prize.
How the girls went in for theatricals and how one of them wrote
a play which afterward was made over for the professional stage
and brought in some much-needed money.
THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON TRACK AND FIELD
Or The Girl Champions of the School League
This story takes in high school athletics in their most approved
and up-to-date fashion. Full of fun and excitement.
THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH IN CAMP
Or The Old Professor's Secret.
The girls went camping on Acorn Island and had a delightful
time at boating, swimming and picnic parties.
* * * * *
=GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK=
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS SERIES
By CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN
The outdoor chums are four wide-awake lads, sons of wealthy men of a
small city located on a lake. The boys love outdoor life, and are
greatly interested in hunting, fishing, and picture taking. They have
motor cycles, motor boats, canoes, etc., and during their vacations go
everywhere and have all sorts of thrilling adventures. The stories give
full directions for camping out, how to fish, how to hunt wild animals
and prepare the skins for stuffing, how to manage a canoe, how to swim,
etc. Full of the spirit of outdoor life.
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS
Or The First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club.
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE LAKE
Or Lively Adventures on Wildcat Island.
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE FOREST
Or Laying the Ghost of Oak Ridge.
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE GULF
Or Rescuing the Lost Balloonists.
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AFTER BIG GAME
Or Perilous Adventures in the Wilderness.
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON A HOUSEBOAT
Or The Rivals of the Mississippi.
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE BIG WOODS
Or The Rival Hunters at Lumber Run.
THE OUTDOOR CHUMS AT CABIN POINT
Or The Golden Cup Mystery.
=12mo. Averaging 240 pages. Illustrated. Handsomely bound in Cloth.=
* * * * *
=GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK=
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS
SERIES
By VICTOR APPLETON
* * * * *
=12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING.=
* * * * *
Moving pictures and photo plays are famous the world over, and in this
line of books the reader is given a full description of how the films
are made--the scenes of little dramas, indoors and out, trick pictures
to satisfy the curious, soul-stirring pictures of city affairs, life in
the Wild West, among the cowboys and Indians, thrilling rescues along
the seacoast, the daring of picture hunters in the jungle among savage
beasts, and the great risks run in picturing conditions in a land of
earthquakes. The volumes teem with adventures and will be found
interesting from first chapter to last.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS
Or Perils of a Great City Depicted.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE WEST
Or Taking Scenes Among the Cowboys and Indians.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON THE COAST
Or Showing the Perils of the Deep.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE JUNGLE
Or Stirring Times Among the Wild Animals.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN EARTHQUAKE LAND
Or Working Amid Many Perils.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AND THE FLOOD
Or Perilous Days on the Mississippi.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AT PANAMA
Or Stirring Adventures Along the Great Canal.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS UNDER THE SEA
Or The Treasure of the Lost Ship.
* * * * *
=GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK=
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Punctuation normalized.
Page 13, the word "the" was inserted into "and of the fun".
Page 108, "That's what we we're trying to find out." Changed to "That's
what we're trying to find out."