BUNNY AND SUE GO OUT
Bunny Brown, in his little room, and Sue Brown, in hers, jumped out of
bed and ran to the window. They could hear the ringing of the church
bell more plainly now.
"Ding-dong! Ding-dong!" it sounded through the silence of the night. It
was not altogether dark, for there was a big, bright moon in the sky,
and it was almost as light as a cloudy day.
"Can you see any blaze?" Bunny and Sue heard their mother ask their
father.
"No, not a thing. But it's funny that that bell should ring. I'm going
out to see what it is."
"I'll come with you," said Mrs. Brown. "I'll just put on my slippers, a
bath robe and a cloak, and come along. It's so warm that I'll not get
cold."
"All right, come along," said Mr. Brown. "The children are asleep and
they won't miss us."
Bunny and Sue felt like laughing when they heard this. They were not
asleep, but their father and mother did not know they were awake. Pretty
soon Mr. and Mrs. Brown slipped quietly down the stairs and out of the
house--out into the moonlit night. The church bell was still ringing
loudly, and Bunny and Sue could hear the neighbors, in the houses on
either side of them, talking about it. Everyone wondered if there was a
fire.
"Oh, Bunny!" called Sue in a whisper to her brother, when daddy and
Mother Brown had gone out. "Is you awake, Bunny?"
"Yep, course I am! Are you?"
"Yep. Say, Bunny, let's go to the fire; will you?"
"Yep. I'll just put on my bath robe and slippers."
"An' I will too. We'll go and see what it is. Daddy and mother won't
care, and we can come home with them."
Now while Bunny Brown and his sister Sue are getting ready to go out to
see what that midnight alarm means, I'll tell you a little bit about the
children, and the other books, of Which this is one in a series.
The first book was called "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue." In that I
told you that Bunny and Sue lived with their father and mother in
Bellemere, near the ocean. Mr. Brown was in the boat business, and he
had a big boy, Bunker Blue, as well as other men and boys, to help him.
But of them all Bunny and Sue liked Bunker Blue best.
In the first book I told how Bunny's and Sue's Aunt Lu came from the
city of New York to pay them a long visit, how she lost her diamond
ring, and how Bunny found it in the queerest way.
In the second book, named "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on Grandpa's
Farm," I told how the Brown family went on a trip in a big automobile.
It was a regular moving van of an automobile, and so large that Bunny
and Sue, Mr. and Mrs. Brown and Bunker Blue could eat and sleep in it.
They camped out during the two or more days they were making the trip
to grandpa's.
And what fun the children had in the country! You may read in the book
all about how they saw the Gypsies, how they were frightened by tramps
at the picnic, how they were lost, and what jolly times they had with
their dog Splash.
Then, too, Bunny and Sue helped find grandpa's horses, that the Gypsies
had taken away. So, altogether, the children had lots of fun on Grandpa
Brown's farm. They even went to a circus, and this brings me to the
third book, which is called: "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Playing
Circus."
And that is just what Bunny and Sue did. They got up a little circus of
their own, and held it in grandpa's barn. Then Bunker Blue, and some of
the larger boys in the country, thought they would get up a show. They
did, and held it in two tents. Of course Bunny and Sue helped.
A week or so after the circus Bunny and Sue, with Bunker, and their
father and mother (and of course their dog Splash) came back from the
country in the big automobile.
Bunny and Sue had many friends in Bellemere where they lived. Not only
were the boys and girls their friends, but also many grown folk, who
liked the Brown children very much indeed. There was Mrs. Redden, who
kept the village candy store, and there was Uncle Tad, an old soldier,
who lived in the Brown house. Bunny and Sue liked them very much.
Then there was old Jed Winkler, a sailor, who lived with his sister,
Miss Euphemia Winkler, and a monkey. That's right! Mr. Winkler did have
a pet monkey named Wango, and he was very funny--I mean the monkey was
funny. He was so gentle that Bunny and Sue often petted him, and gave
him candy and peanuts to eat. Wango did many queer tricks.
But now I think I have told you enough about Bunny and Sue, as well as
about their friends, so we will go back to the children. We left them
getting ready to go out into the moonlight, you know, to see what the
ringing of the church bell meant.
"Is you all ready, Bunny?" called Sue when she had put on her bath robe
and slippers.
"Yep," he answered. "Come on."
Hand in hand the children went softly down the front stairs, as their
father and mother had done. Mr. and Mrs. Brown were now out in the
street, some distance away from the house. Men and women from several
other houses, near that of the Brown family, were also out, wondering
why the bell was ringing.
"Don't wake up Uncle Tad!" whispered Bunny to Sue, as they walked along
so softly in their bath slippers.
"No, I won't," answered the little girl. "And don't wake up Mary,
either. She might not let us go."
"All right," whispered Bunny.
Mary was the cook, but, as she slept up on the third floor, she would
hardly hear the children going out.
"Shut the door easy," said Bunny to Sue, as they reached the front
steps. "Don't let it slam."
They had found the door open, as Mr. and Mrs. Brown had left it, and
the two children, each taking hold of it, closed it softly after them.
"Now we're all right!" whispered Bunny, as he started down the street on
the run, for the bell was ringing louder than ever now, and Bunny was
anxious to see the fire, if there was one. He hoped it would not be one
of his father's boats, or the office on the fish dock.
"Wait! Wait for me!" cried Sue to her brother. "I can't run so fast,
Bunny, 'cause I'll stumble over my bath robe. It's awful long!"
"Hold it up, just as I do," said Bunny, turning around to look at his
sister. "Hold it up, and then your legs won't get tangled in it."
Sue pulled the robe up to her knees, and held it there. Bunny was doing
the same thing, the bare legs of the children showing white in the
moonlight. Bunny started off again.
"Wait! Wait!" begged Sue. "Take hold of my hand, Bunny."
"I can't!" he answered. "I've got to hold up my robe, or I'll tumble and
bump my nose. Besides, how can I take hold of your hand when you
haven't got any hand for me to take hold of?"
That was true enough. Sue was holding up her long robe with both hands.
"If I had some string I could tie up our robes," said Bunny, looking on
the moonlit sidewalk, hoping he might find a piece. "But I hasn't got
any," he said, "so I can't hold your hand, Sue. But I'll go slow for
you."
He waited for his sister to catch up to him, and then the two children
hurried on. They could go faster now, for their long bath robes did not
dangle around their feet.
Down the street they hurried. The bell kept ringing and ringing, and
Bunny and Sue could see and hear many other persons who had gotten up to
see what it all meant, and who were now hurrying down the street.
"Oh, Bunny!" said Sue. "Isn't it just nice out to-night?"
"Yes," he said. The night was warm, and the moon was bright. Bunny Brown
and his sister Sue did not think they were doing wrong to get up at
midnight, and run down the street.
"I--I wonder where mother is?" said Sue, as they turned a corner.
"We don't want to see her, or daddy either," answered Bunny, keeping in
the shadows, out of sight.
"Why not, Bunny Brown? Why don't we want to see our papa or mamma?"
"'Cause they'll send us back to bed, and we want to see the fire."
"Oh! do you think there is a fire, Bunny?"
"I guess so, or the bell wouldn't ring. But we'll soon see it, Sue, for
we're almost at the church."