BUNNY GETS UP EARLY.
For a long time after she went to bed that night, Bunny could not go
to sleep, and lay tossing about from side to side, wishing over and
over again that it was morning, that she might get up and put all
her toys and books in order, so that they should look as nice as
possible when she came to show them to the new cousin.
At last she dropped off into a sound sleep, and did not wake again
until the sun was shining brightly into her room. She jumped up and
looked about to see if Sophie had gone to get her bath ready. But
the maid lay fast asleep in her bed at the other side of the room,
and poor Bunny felt sure she would not get up for a very long time
yet. She felt ready to cry at the thoughts of lying there for so
long doing nothing, whilst the sun was shining so brightly over the
sea and dancing so merrily up and down the nursery walls. Suddenly,
however, a happy idea presented itself to her mind, and she sprang
out of her crib with a soft well-pleased little laugh.
"It will be such fun," she whispered to herself, "and Sophie will
get such a start when she sees the crib empty! But I must go about
very gently or she might wake up and send me back to bed."
So the little girl slipped very quietly about the room, and
struggled bravely with buttons and tapes, as she did her best to
dress herself without the assistance of her maid.
"They're all upside down and tied in big knots," she said ruefully,
"but Sophie will just have to do them all over again when she gets
up. Oh, dear, where are my boots, I wonder? I can't see them
anywhere about. Well, I must go out in these, I suppose;" and
sitting down on the floor she put on a pair of dainty Queen Anne
shoes, with satin bows and steel stars, that she had worn the
evening before when she went down to the drawing-room to see her
mama.
At this moment Sophie turned round with a loud snore, and Bunny gave
a start of alarm, as she looked quickly towards the bed. If Sophie
awoke and saw what she was doing, all her fun would surely be
spoiled, and she would be sent back to her crib in disgrace.
Very cautiously then she got up off the floor, seized her hat that
lay on the chest of drawers, and opening the door as softly as
possible, flew along the corridor and away down the stairs.
Not a servant was to be seen about, for it was not yet seven
o'clock, and so Bunny passed on without any interruption into the
dining-room, and stood on tip-toe at the side-board looking
anxiously to see if there was anything there for her to eat. But
there was not even a crust to be seen.
"Nasty old Ashton!" she cried, "he might have left a few pieces of
bread for me; but he wouldn't, I'm sure, even if he had known I was
coming. I must get something for my dear pony, now that I am up, so
I'll go off to the larder and see what I can find there."
So away went Bunny in high glee at her clever thought; but when she
arrived at the larder door she found it locked, and she was about to
turn away sad and disappointed when a sudden jingling of keys was
heard in the passage, the kitchen door opened, and Mrs. Brown, the
cook, appeared upon the scene.
"Miss Bunny, dear, what brings you here at such an hour? And law but
you are dressed queer! But, indeed, them Frenchies are little good
with their new-fangled ways. It's nurse that used to dress you
smart, deary, and as for Sophie, she beats all;" and the good woman
held up her hands in dismay at the child's untidy appearance.
"Oh, Sophie didn't dress me at all!" cried Bunny. "She doesn't even
know I'm up, for she's fast asleep. But I was so tired lying there
listening to Sophie snoring that I thought I would get up and go
out. I want to take my pony a piece of bread, so please give me some
for him and some for myself, Mrs. Brown, for I'm very hungry."
"Bless your heart, of course I will," cried the good-natured woman,
as she unlocked the door, and cutting two large slices of bread and
butter, handed them to the little girl.
"Oh, thank you," said Bunny; "Frisk will like this, I am sure. Good
morning, Mrs. Brown, and mind you don't tell Sophie where I am, if
she comes to look for me."
"Don't be afraid, deary, I won't give her any news of you. I don't
admire her and her stuck-up French airs, so she won't get much out
of me."
But Bunny did not wait to hear the end of the good woman's speech
against poor Sophie; she had got all she wanted, so away she ran to
pay her morning visit to her little pony.
When Frisk heard the stable door opening and a footstep approaching
his stall, he whisked his tail and twisted his head as well as he
could, to see who was coming to visit him at such an early hour. And
when he found it was his little mistress, and heard her voice at his
ear he neighed with delight, and rubbed his velvety nose up and down
her frock.
"Dear old Frisk," she cried, patting his neck, "there's a little
cousin coming all the way from India to stay with us. Sophie is not
glad, but I am, and Miss Kerr is, and you must be glad too, old man.
And he's not black at all, Frisk, oh, no, and it is very, very silly
of you to think so, sir. You must be good to him, dear little pony,
and give him nice rides, and then he'll love you, just as I do, and
we'll all be friends together. So now eat this, little Frisk," she
continued, and breaking off a piece of the bread, she held it up to
the pony's nose.
But suddenly Bunny gave a little shriek, and drew her hand quickly
away; for without intending it, Frisk had actually bitten his kind
little mistress. The bread she offered him was so small, and his
mouth was so big, that the child's fingers got rather far in among
his teeth, and when Frisk's white grinders came down upon the dainty
offered him, they met rather sharply upon poor Bunny's thumb. The
skin was slightly cut, and as a little stream of blood ran down her
finger the child grew frightened and began to cry.
"Oh, Frisk, Frisk, why did you bite? I never thought you would do
such a thing," she cried reproachfully. "I never, never knew you do
such a thing before;" and sinking down on the straw by his side, she
tried to stop the blood by rolling her finger tightly up in the
corner of her pinafore. "Just when I wanted to tell the new cousin
that you were a good, kind pony, you go and bite me--oh dear, oh
dear, I am very sorry, Frisk, I am indeed."
But in spite of the little girl's sorrowful lecture, Frisk did not
in the least know that he had done anything wrong, and poking his
soft nose into Bunny's lap, he carried off the remaining piece of
bread and ate it with much relish.
"You artful old thing," cried Bunny, delighted with his cleverness,
and smiling through her tears, "if you hadn't bit me I'd have said
you were the best and dearest little pony alive;" and forgetting her
anger at him for hurting her, she jumped up and patted and kissed
his soft silky nose.
"Where is Mademoiselle Bunny? Ah! that child will be the death of
me. Jean, have you seen Meess Bunny anywhere about?" cried Sophie,
just outside the stable door; and the little girl knew that her hour
was come and that she was going to get a good scolding.
"Oh, Miss Bunny is in there, talking to Frisk, Mamzelle Sophie,"
answered the groom.
"Little naughty one! Ah, these English children are so dreadful!"
cried Sophie, and in a moment Bunny was dragged out from her seat on
the straw and carried away to the nursery.
"Oh!" she screamed as soon as they were inside the door, "what is
that I see on your dress, mademoiselle? Blood, I declare! Oh, what
will your mama say? She will send away that beast of a pony I am
sure, and then you will not make such early walks to the stable."
"Oh, Sophie, Sophie, don't tell! don't tell!" cried Bunny, "Frisk
did not mean to hurt me I am sure, and it's nearly well now. Look,
it has stopped bleeding already, so don't tell mama, pray don't,"
and the little girl raised her eyes full of tears to the maid's
face.
"Well, I won't tell if you will promise me never to slip out of your
bed and away out of the house again as you have done just now."
"Oh, I never will, I never will, Sophie!" cried Bunny, "but do say
you won't tell. I couldn't bear to see Frisk sent away."
"Well, well, don't cry any more," said Sophie good-naturedly. "Be a
good enfant, and I will say not anything about it."
"Oh! you dear, darling Sophie, I'll be so good, so good!" cried the
little girl, "I'll be so good that you'll never have to scold me any
more."
"Ma foi, what a change that will be!" cried Sophie, "if you get so
good as all that I will send for the doctor."
"For the doctor!" exclaimed Bunny in surprise. "Why would you send
for him?"
"Good gracious, mademoiselle, because I will surely think you are
ill if you get to be an angel like that; but I am very certain I
shall have to scold you many times before this evening comes."
"Very likely, Sophie, but still I'm good now," said Bunny with a
merry little laugh, and as the maid gave the last touch to her
hair, the last pull to her sash, she ran out of the nursery and away
to her mama with whom she always had her breakfast.
Bunny was in a wild state of excitement all that day, and Sophie and
Miss Kerr found it very hard to keep her in order and prevent her
disturbing her mama, who was not well, and could not bear much
noise.
"Oh, dear, how long the day is! How long the day is!" she cried over
and over again. "I don't think evening will ever come, Miss Kerr, I
don't, indeed."
"It will come fast enough, Bunny dear, if you will only have
patience. Try and forget that you are expecting anything to happen."
"I wish I could! I wish I could! But I do so wish to see what Mervyn
is like."
"You impatient little goose, do try and think of something else and
time will go over much faster. But I tell you what, Bun," said Miss
Kerr, when they had finished their early dinner, "we will go and
take a good run on the sands and that will pass the afternoon very
nicely for us."
"But they might come when we are away, and that would be dreadful."
"No, they won't, because they can't," said Miss Kerr with a smile.
"The train does not come in until seven, and it is only three now,
so you see we have plenty of time for a nice walk."
[Illustration: Chapter decoration.]