HOME AGAIN
The next morning Mrs. Horton did their packing and the trunk was sent
early to the station. Sunny Boy was just as excited at the prospect of
going home as he had been at the idea of the trip to New York.
"But what will you do all the time at home?" teased Jack the bell-boy,
when Sunny Boy went to say good-bye to him.
"Oh, I'm going to school," announced Sunny Boy proudly. "All the
children that I know go. Harriet's going to take me till I get used to
it, and then Mother says p'haps I can go by myself."
"Would you like to live here?" Sunny Boy asked Mother, when they had
found their comfortable seats in the train and it was almost time for
it to start.
"Live in New York?" echoed Mrs. Horton thoughtfully. "No, I think not,
precious. Though we have had a good time, haven't we?"
Sunny Boy nodded his head.
"I wouldn't like to live here all the time, either," he confided. "I'd
rather live in our house."
The train ride was uneventful, and as they had taken an express, they
were in Centronia by early afternoon. Aunt Bessie met them at the
station.
"Well, well, honey-bunch," she greeted her nephew, hugging him, "I
surely have missed you. What do you think of New York?"
"All right," said Sunny Boy, wriggling out of her arms. "Did the
children get the post cards I sent them?"
"I think they did," admitted Aunt Bessie gravely. "Ruth Baker talks a
great deal about her post-card album, I know. What is this I hear
about you going to school?"
Aunt Bessie and Sunny Boy were seated in the tonneau of Mr. Horton's
car which Aunt Bessie had driven down to meet him. Mrs. Horton was
sitting in the front seat with Mr. Horton who was driving.
"I'm going to school!" beamed Sunny Boy. "Did Mother tell you? And
then I can write in ink."
"That will be fine," said Aunt Bessie. "Here's the house, though, and
there's Harriet standing on the step."
"Harriet! Harriet! I've come home," yelled Sunny Boy. "And I brought
you something! Mother has it in the trunk!"
Harriet came down as the car drew up at the curb and tried to shake
hands with Mrs. Horton, carry a suitcase for Mr. Horton and hug Sunny
Boy all at once.
"Did you miss me?" demanded Sunny Boy, following her upstairs.
"Miss you? Well, I should say so!" declared Harriet, kissing him
again. "Haven't I been up and dusted all your toys every time I came
over to see that the house was all right? You'll find them all sitting
up there in the playroom waiting for you."
Sunny Boy was very glad to be at home, and after he had inspected his
toys he went out into the back yard and whistled for Ruth and Nelson.
Ruth was not at home, but Nelson answered and had a hundred questions
to ask about New York.
"Say, you remember the boy that took your new hat?" he suddenly
reminded Sunny Boy. "Well, I know him. He lives back over in Oak Lane,
near where Molly lives."
Molly was the colored woman who did Mrs. Baker's washing.
"Let's go over and get it from him," suggested Nelson. "He won't dare
say a word. I'll tell Molly if he does and she'll tell his mother."
Sunny Boy thought it would be nice to have the hat back, so he said he
would go with Nelson. After a short walk the boys reached the section
where the colored people lived and turned down a street where Nelson
said he had seen the colored boy who had taken Sunny's hat.
"There he is now!" shouted Nelson, pointing to a boy sitting on the
curbstone.
The boy heard him, looked up and started to run. Sunny Boy and Nelson
ran pell-mell after him. As the colored boy dodged round a truck in
the street the hat fell off.
"Told you we'd get it!" boasted Nelson, picking it up and holding it
triumphantly out to Sunny Boy. "That's the very one, isn't it?"
They carried it home, and Sunny Boy went to find Harriet.
"Got my hat, Harriet," he announced soberly. "Nelson helped me chase
the boy that stole it. It fell off."
"Well, you don't seem very joyful over it," commented Harriet. "Where
is it?"
Sunny Boy held out the hat silently.
It was spotted, and the brim was crushed, the ribbon band was slashed
in several places, and the crown was hopelessly faded from the sun.
"He had it on," explained Sunny Boy. "Somehow, I don't feel much like
wearing it any more."
Harriet pulled Sunny Boy down into her lap.
"For a lost hat, I'd consider that one still lost," she told him,
laughing. "That boy must have been wearing it rather steady. Don't you
care, Sunny, it isn't as if you needed it."
"No, 'tisn't as if I needed it," agreed Sunny Boy, picking up the
dilapidated hat and going off to show it to his mother. "I have my
new one. Only it's not new any more. But it looks better than this
one, I think, a whole lot."
So, like the cat, his hat came back. And now if you want to read what
happened to Sunny Boy next and what a busy time the next few weeks
were for him, you will have to read the book about him called "SUNNY
BOY IN SCHOOL AND OUT."
THE END
* * * * *
THE SUNNY BOY SERIES
By Ramy Allison White
[Illustration: SUNNY BOY ON THE OCEAN
RAMY ALLISON WHITE]
Children, meet Sunny Boy, a little fellow with big eyes and an
inquiring disposition, who finds the world a large and wonderful thing
indeed. And somehow there is lots going on, when Sunny Boy is around.
Perhaps he helps push! In the first book of this new series he has the
finest time ever, with his Grandpa out in the country. He learns a lot
and he helps a lot, in his small way. Then he has a glorious visit to
the seashore, but this is in the next story. And there are still more
adventures in other books. You will like Sunny Boy.
1. SUNNY BOY IN THE COUNTRY
2. SUNNY BOY AT THE SEASHORE
3. SUNNY BOY IN THE BIG CITY
4. SUNNY BOY IN SCHOOL AND OUT
5. SUNNY BOY AND HIS PLAYMATES
6. SUNNY BOY AND HIS GAMES
7. SUNNY BOY IN THE FAR WEST
8. SUNNY BOY ON THE OCEAN
9. SUNNY BOY WITH THE CIRCUS
10. SUNNY BOY AND HIS BIG DOG
* * * * *
GOOD STORIES FOR CHILDREN
(From four to nine years old)
THE KNEETIME ANIMAL STORIES
By RICHARD BARNUM
[Illustration: SQUINTY THE COMICAL PIG]
In all nursery literature animals have played a conspicuous part; and
the reason is obvious, for nothing entertains a child more than the
antics of an animal. These stories abound in amusing incidents such as
children adore, and the characters are so full of life, so appealing
to a child's imagination, that none will be satisfied until they have
met all of their favorites--Squinty, Slicko, Mappo, and the rest.
1. Squinty, the Comical Pig.
2. Slicko, the Jumping Squirrel.
3. Mappo, the Merry Monkey.
4. Tum Tum, the Jolly Elephant.
5. Don, a Runaway Dog.
6. Dido, the Dancing Bear.
7. Blackie, a Lost Cat.
8. Flop Ear, the Funny Rabbit.
9. Tinkle, the Trick Pony.
10. Lightfoot, the Leaping Goat.
11. Chunky, the Happy Hippo.
12. Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox.
13. Nero, the Circus Lion.
14. Tamba, the Tame Tiger.
15. Toto, the Rustling Beaver.
16. Shaggo, the Mighty Buffalo.
17. Winkie, the Wily Woodchuck.
_Cloth, Large 12mo., Illustrated._
* * * * *
THE BOBBY BLAKE SERIES
BY FRANK A. WARNER
BOOKS FOR BOYS FROM EIGHT TO TWELVE
YEARS OLD
[Illustration: BOBBY BLAKE _AT_ ROCKLEDGE SCHOOL
FRANK A. WARNER]
True stories of life at a modern American boarding school. Bobby
attends this institution of learning with his particular chum and the
boys have no end of good times. The tales of outdoor life, especially
the exciting times they have when engaged in sports against rival
schools, are written in a manner so true, so realistic, that the
reader, too, is bound to share with these boys their thrills and
pleasures.
1. BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE SCHOOL.
2. BOBBY BLAKE AT BASS COVE.
3. BOBBY BLAKE ON A CRUISE.
4. BOBBY BLAKE AND HIS SCHOOL CHUMS.
5. BOBBY BLAKE AT SNOWTOP CAMP.
6. BOBBY BLAKE ON THE SCHOOL NINE.
7. BOBBY BLAKE ON A RANCH.
8. BOBBY BLAKE ON AN AUTO TOUR.
9. BOBBY BLAKE ON THE SCHOOL ELEVEN.
10. BOBBY BLAKE ON A PLANTATION.
11. BOBBY BLAKE IN THE FROZEN NORTH.
12. BOBBY BLAKE ON MYSTERY MOUNTAIN.
* * * * *
Famous Americans For
Young Readers
"Life Stories with the Charm of Fiction"
"This new series is timely. As an urgent civic need, our
schools should be vivified more by the spirit of the
founders and builders of the Republic."
WALTER E. RANGER,
Commissioner of Education, Rhode Island.
"I regard the series one of rare usefulness for young
readers, and trust it will become a formidable rival for
much of the fiction now in circulation among the young."
JOHNSON BRIGHAM, State Librarian, Iowa.
Titles Ready
"GEORGE WASHINGTON" Joseph Walker
"JOHN PAUL JONES" Chelsea C. Fraser
"BENJAMIN FRANKLIN" Clara Tree Major
"DAVID CROCKETT" Jane Corby
"THOMAS JEFFERSON" Gene Stone
"ABRAHAM LINCOLN" J. Walker McSpadden
"ROBERT FULTON" Inez N. McFee
"THOMAS A. EDISON" Inez N. McFee
"HARRIET BEECHER STOWE" Ruth Brown MacArthur
"MARY LYON" H. Oxley Stengel
"THEODORE ROOSEVELT" J. Walker McSpadden
Illustrated. Size 5-1/8 x 7-5/8. Cloth.
OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION
* * * * *
BARSE & HOPKINS
Publishers
New York, N. Y. Newark, N. J.
* * * * *
End of Project Gutenberg's Sunny Boy in the Big City, by Ramy Allison White