BUNNY FLIES A KITE
Mother Brown and Aunt Lu laughed when Bunny said this. Bunny's and Sue's
mother and aunt were glad to have the children safely with them again.
They were soon at Aunt Lu's home.
"Whatever made you two children go into that animal store?" asked Mrs.
Brown. "Aunt Lu and I thought you were right behind us, going to take
the boat for Coney Island. Now we can't go."
"We can go some other day," declared Bunny. "You see we just stopped to
look in the animal store window, Mother, and then we thought we'd go in
to see how much a monkey and a parrot cost."
"But they cost ten dollars," said Sue, "so we didn't get any."
"I should hope not!" exclaimed Aunt Lu.
The next day Bunny and Sue went to Coney Island with their aunt and
their mother. This time Aunt Lu and Mother Brown kept close hold of the
children's hands, so they were not lost. They very much enjoyed the sail
down the bay, and they had lots of fun at Coney Island.
Of course Bunny and Sue were not like some children, who have never seen
the grand, old ocean. Bunny and Sue lived near it at home, and had seen
it ever since they were small children. But, to some, their visit to
Coney Island gives the first sight of the sea, and it is a wonderful
sight, with the big waves breaking on the sandy shore.
But if Bunny and Sue were not so eager to see the ocean, they were glad
to look at the other things on Coney Island. They rode on a
merry-go-'round, slid down a long wooden hill, in a wooden boat, and
splashed into the water; this was "shooting the chutes," of which you
have heard.
They even rode on a tame elephant, in a little house on the big animal's
back. Then they had popcorn and candy, and some lemonade, that, if it
was not pink, such as they had at their little circus, was just as good.
In fact Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had a very good time at Coney
Island.
Coming back on the boat was nice, too. There was a band playing music,
and Bunny and Sue, and some other children, danced around. They reached
home after dark, and Bunny and Sue were glad to go to bed.
But Bunny was not too sleepy to ask:
"What are we going to do to-morrow, Mother?"
"Oh, wait until to-morrow comes and see," she answered. "I hope you
don't get lost again, though."
But Bunny and Sue were not afraid of getting lost in New York, now. They
knew the police would find them, and be kind to them.
Their mother and Aunt Lu had made them say, over and over again, the
number of the house, and the name of the street where Aunt Lu lived. The
children also had cards with the address on. But the day they went into
the animal store they had left their cards at home.
"What shall we do, Bunny?" asked Sue, the day after their trip to Coney
Island. "I want to have some fun."
"So do I," said Bunny.
Having fun in the big city of New York was different from playing in the
country, on grandpa's farm, or near the water in Bellemere, as Bunny and
Sue soon found. But they had many good times at Aunt Lu's, though they
were different from those at home. One thing about being in the country,
at grandpa's, or at their own home, was that Bunny and Sue could run out
alone and look for fun. In New York they were only allowed to go on the
street in front of Aunt Lu's house alone. Of course if Aunt Lu, or
Mother Brown, or even Wopsie went with them, the children could go
farther up or down the street.
"Let's see if we can go out and find Wopsie's aunt to-day," said Bunny
to Sue, after they had eaten breakfast.
"All right," agreed the little girl. "Where'll we look?"
"Oh, down in the street," said Bunny. "We'll ask all the colored people
we meet if they have lost a little girl. And we could ask at a police
station, too, if we knew where there was one."
"Yes," said Sue, "we might ask at the station where we was tooken, after
we saw the monkeys and parrots in the animal store."
"But we don't know where that police station is," Bunny said. "I guess
we'd just better ask in the street."
Bunny and Sue were quite in earnest about finding little Wopsie's aunt
for her. For they wanted to make the little colored girl happy.
And, strange as it may seem, Bunny and Sue had asked many colored
persons they met, if they wanted a little lost colored girl. Bunny and
Sue did not think this was at all strange, for they were used to doing,
and saying, just what they pleased, as long as it was not wrong.
Of course some colored men and women did not know what to make of the
queer questions Bunny and Sue asked, but others replied to them kindly,
and said they were sorry, but that they had not lost any little colored
girl.
"But we'll find Wopsie's aunt some time," said Bunny, and Sue thought
they might. So now, having nothing else to do to "have fun," as they
called it, Bunny and Sue started to go down to the street.
"Don't go away from in front of the house!" their mother called to them.
"We won't," Bunny promised.
Henry, the colored elevator boy, took them down in his car.
"We're going to find Wopsie's aunt," said Bunny.
"Well, I hopes you do," replied Henry. For, all this while, though Aunt
Lu had tried her best, nothing could be found of any "folks" for the
little colored girl. She still lived with Aunt Lu, helping keep the
apartment in order, and looking after Bunny and Sue.
Down on the sidewalk went Bunny and his sister. For some time they sat
on the shady front steps, watching for a colored man or woman. But it
was quite long before one came along. Then it was a young colored man.
Up to him ran Bunny.
"Is you looking for Wopsie?" he asked. For the colored man was looking
up at the numbers on the houses.
"No, sah, little man. I'se lookin' fo' Henry," was the answer. "He's a
elevator boy, an' he done lib around yeah somewheres."
"Oh, he lives in here!" cried Sue. "Henry's our elevator boy. We'll show
you!"
She and Bunny ran into the hall, calling:
"Henry! Henry! Here's your brother looking for you!"
And so it was Henry's brother. He worked as an elevator boy in another
apartment house, and, as he had a few hours to spare, he had come to see
Henry.
The two colored boys talked together, riding up and down in the sliding
car, while Bunny and Sue went back to the street.
"Well, we didn't find anyone looking for Wopsie," said Bunny, "but we
found someone looking for Henry, and that's pretty near the same."
"Yes," said Sue. "Maybe we'll find Wopsie's aunt to-morrow."
But no more colored persons came along, and, after a while, Bunny and
Sue grew tired of waiting. Looking up in the air Bunny suddenly gave
a cry.
"Oh, Sue! Look!" he shouted. "There's a boy on the roof of that house
across the street, flying a kite. I'm going to get a kite and fly it
from our roof!"
"Do you think mother will let you?" asked Sue.
"I'm going to tell her about it!" Bunny exclaimed.
At first Mrs. Brown would not hear of Bunny's flying a kite from the
roof of the apartment house. But Aunt Lu said:
"Oh, the boys here often do it. That's the only place they have to fly
kites in New York. There is a good breeze up on our roof, and it's safe.
I don't know anything about a kite though, or how we could get Bunny
one."
"You can buy 'em in a store," said the little boy. "There's a store just
around the corner, and the kites cost five cents."
Mrs. Brown, hearing her sister say it was safe, and all right, to fly
kites from the roof, said Bunny might get one. So he and Sue, with
Wopsie, went to the little store around the corner. There Bunny got a
fine red, white and blue kite, with a tail to it.
"Now we'll take it up on the roof and fly it," he said to his sister and
the little colored girl, after he had tied the end of a ball of string
to his kite.
There was a good wind up on the roof, and the railing was so high there
was no danger of the children sliding off. Bunny's kite was soon flying
in the air, and he and Sue took turns holding the string, as they sat on
cushions on the roof. Wopsie stood near, looking on.
[Illustration: "I NEVER FLIED A KITE LIKE THIS BEFORE," LAUGHED
BUNNY--"UP ON A HOUSE ROOF."
_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Aunt Lu's City Home._ _Page 192._]
"I never flied a kite like this before," laughed Bunny--"up on a house
roof."