A RUNAWAY
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, who were standing on their tiptoes to
look at the orange blossoms in the box, turned quickly and glanced at
the door as the pounding sounded again.
"I wonder who that can be," said Mother Brown, pausing with the box
cover in her hand.
"I'll go and see," offered Mr. Brown. "It's queer they didn't go to the
front door."
"Maybe it's somebody from the post-office come to take our orange
blossoms away," suggested Bunny.
"What would they do that for?" Sue wanted to know.
"'Cause," answered Bunny, "maybe the orange blossoms came to the wrong
place and have to go to somebody else, like that letter one day." He
was speaking of a time when the letter carrier left a wrong missive at
Mr. Brown's home, and came later to get it.
"Oh, these are daddy's orange blossoms all right!" said Mrs. Brown, as
she looked at the address on the box. "They came to him at his office on
the dock."
"Then who can it be?" asked Bunny, as the knock sounded again.
There came the sound of a bark as Mr. Brown opened the door, and next
the children heard their father exclaim:
"Well, you poor half-frozen fellow! Come in and get warm! Go on away,
dog!" exclaimed Mr. Brown. "Let Wango alone!"
"Oh, it's Wango!" cried Sue, running to the door.
"Mr. Winkler's monkey!" added Bunny. "Did he bring him over to play with
us?"
"No, Wango seems to have come by himself," answered Mr. Brown, and as
soon as the door was opened wider in scrambled the monkey, a stick of
wood in one paw probably being what he had been pounding on the door
with. From the light of the lamp, which streamed out on the side porch,
the children could see a big black dog that, very likely, had been
chasing and barking at poor Wango.
"Go on away, dog!" cried Mr. Brown, and, stooping, he gathered up a
handful of snow from a corner of the side porch and threw it at the
barking animal, which then ran away.
Meanwhile Wango, the pet monkey that was a great favorite with Bunny and
Sue, came shivering into the room to get warm.
"Oh, you poor thing!" cried Sue. "I'll get you my coat to put on! You're
all shivery!" She started for the hall to get her garment, while Bunny
petted the wet head of the long-tailed animal.
"No, Sue! Don't take your coat," called her mother. "You'll get it
covered with monkey hairs. Wrap a floor rug around Wango if you like."
"I'll do that!" cried Bunny, taking a small carpet rug up from the
floor. This he draped around Wango's shoulders, and the cold, shivering
monkey seemed to like it.
"Well, Wango, what made you come out this kind of weather?" asked Mr.
Brown, coming back to the table on which was standing the box of orange
blossoms.
"Maybe Mr. Winkler left the window open and he got out," said Sue.
"Don't monkeys like cold, Daddy?" asked Bunny.
"No, they come from warm, tropical countries," answered his father.
"They cannot stand the cold."
"Florida is warm, isn't it, Daddy?" asked Sue, as she helped wrap the
rug about Wango.
"Oh, yes, Florida, especially the southern part where oranges grow, is
quite warm," Mr. Brown answered. "There is no snow there."
"Then maybe we can find some monkeys when we go down!" Sue said. "Won't
that be nice, Bunny? We'll each have a monkey of our own."
"I'm going to teach mine to do circus tricks!" cried Bunny.
"Hold on! Hold on!" laughed Mr. Brown. "In the first place, there aren't
any monkeys in Florida--at least none running around wild as there are
in the South American jungles. And in the second place, what makes you
children so sure you are going to Florida?"
"You said you'd take us!" replied Bunny.
"I said I'd _see_," remarked his father. "Anyway, I have to go on
business to Georgia, not Florida, though your mother and I may take a
trip to the orange country later on."
"But if you went you'd take us, wouldn't you?" pleaded Sue.
"Oh, of course he would! Don't tease the children so!" exclaimed Mrs.
Brown. "And what are we going to do with Wango?" she asked, for the
monkey seemed quite contented now that he was in a warm, light room with
his two special friends, Bunny and Sue.
"I think Jed will be after him as soon as he finds his monkey is
missing," said Mr. Brown. "But let's get those orange blossoms in water,
to freshen them up. Mr. Halliday said he would send me some packed in
damp moss, so they would keep pretty well, but he told me to put them in
a bathtub full of water as soon as I got them and they would freshen
up."
"These seem quite fresh now," remarked Mother Brown, as she lifted from
the box, lined with moss, the fragrant orange blossoms. Their perfume
filled the whole room, and even Wango sniffed in delight, at least so
Bunny said.
The children were allowed to look at the beautiful waxlike white
blossoms, with their glossy green leaves, and then Mother Brown carried
them upstairs to immerse them in the bathtub full of water. When they
had freshened up they would be put in vases.
"Oh, I'd just love to see orange blossoms growing on a tree!" sighed
Sue, as she drew in a deep breath of the fragrance.
"I'd rather see oranges and eat 'em!" exclaimed Bunny. "Can I pick
oranges off a tree?" he asked his father.
"Well, yes. I suppose I might as well say I'll take you and then you'll
stop teasing," said Mr. Brown laughingly, as his wife came back, having
left the orange blossoms upstairs. "We'll all go to Florida!"
"When?" cried Bunny and Sue, eagerly.
"In about a week, I think," their father answered. "I shall have to go
to Georgia then, and after I get through my business there we can run
down to Florida for a few weeks."
There came a knock on the door just then, and when it was opened there
stood the old sailor, Jed Winkler.
"Is my monkey here?" he asked. "Yes, I see he is," he added, as he
caught sight of his pet near Bunny and Sue. "Come here, you rascal!" he
went on, pretending to be cross. "What did you want to run away for?"
"Is that what he did?" asked Bunny.
"Yes," answered Mr. Winkler, as he came in. "My sister opened the
windows to-day when she was sweeping or dusting or doing something like
that, and she must have forgotten to lock one. Wango found it and got
out. I didn't miss him until a little while ago. I hope he hasn't been
into any mischief."
"Oh, no," answered Mr. Brown. "It looks as though a strange dog might
have chased him after he left your house. We heard a pounding on our
door a few minutes ago, and when I opened it Wango rushed in.
"There was a big, strange dog near the porch, but I drove it away. Your
monkey had a stick in his hand. He probably picked it up to hit the dog
with, and he used it to pound on our door."
"He pounded hard, too," said Sue. "Wango pounded very hard."
"Hope he didn't hurt the door," said the old sailor.
"Oh, I think not," Mr. Brown answered. "But he was cold and shivery, so
the children wrapped him up."
"Well, I'm much obliged," said Mr. Winkler. "Come along home, Wango!" he
called, and the monkey leaped into his master's arms, dropping the
stick, which he no longer needed. "What's that nice smell?" asked Mr.
Winkler, as he started for home. "Did somebody break a bottle of
perfume?"
"It's orange blossoms," explained Bunny.
"And we're going to Florida and pick oranges," added Sue. "But there
aren't any monkeys there."
"Then that's the place where my sister ought to go," laughed the old
man. "She hates monkeys, and I think sometimes she leaves the windows
open or unlocked on purpose so Wango'll get lost. But I wouldn't want to
tell her that," he went on. For Miss Winkler was of rather a sour
disposition, not at all as jolly and happy as her brother.
When the old sailor and his pet had gone and supper was over, Bunny and
Sue sat near their father and mother, talking happily about the coming
trip to the sunny South where the orange blossoms grow. The flowers had
been brought downstairs and filled the rooms with fragrance.
"You'll be sure to take us now, won't you, Daddy?" asked Bunny, as he
and Sue started for bed a little later.
"Oh, yes, we shall all go South," promised Mr. Brown. "But you can't
make snow men or go coasting there, Bunny."
"Picking oranges will be more fun," decided the little boy.
He and Sue had happy dreams that night, and there were no visions of
alligators mingled with those of orange flowers.
In the night it snowed, so the next day there was more of the white
flaky substance on the ground.
"This'll make good sleighing," said Uncle Tad at the breakfast table.
"You children want to come for a ride with me?"
Did they? You should have heard Bunny Brown and his sister Sue exclaim
in delight at this!
"Where are you going?" asked Mrs. Brown, as Uncle Tad went out to
harness the horse to the small sleigh.
"Walter wanted me to go to the railroad depot and get some freight that
came in for him," answered the old soldier. "There are some small boxes
of things he needs for his motor boat. There'll be plenty of room for
the youngsters."
"All right--take them along," said Mrs. Brown. And a little later Bunny
and Sue were in the sleigh with Uncle Tad.
"Whoa there now! Steady, Prince!" called the soldier to the horse, for
the animal seemed rather more frisky than usual.
"What makes him go so fast?" asked Bunny, for he could tell that Uncle
Tad was having hard work to hold in the horse.
"Oh, he hasn't been out for two or three days and he feels frisky," the
soldier answered. "But I guess I can manage him all right. Sit tight,
you two!"
There were many other sleighs and cutters out around Bellemere, and the
air was filled with the jingle of merry bells. Bunny and Sue saw many of
their friends and waved to them.
"I guess all the boys and girls'll wish they were us when we go to
Florida, won't they?" asked Sue of Bunny.
"I guess they will!" he declared.
They were nearing the railroad now, on their way to the freight depot to
get the boxes for Mr. Brown. There were several tracks to cross before
the depot could be reached.
Suddenly, as the sleigh containing Bunny and Sue was about to cross the
rails, a distant locomotive gave a loud whistle. Prince gave a jump and,
a moment later, began to trot very fast.
"Whoa! Whoa there! Steady, Prince!" cried Uncle Tad, taking a firm hold
of the reins. But Prince did not settle down. Instead he ran the faster,
and straight for the tracks. And as the whistle of the locomotive
sounded louder, Bunny and Sue knew a train was coming!
"Oh, Uncle Tad!" cried Sue, clinging to Bunny.
"Keep quiet, children!" begged the old soldier. "I guess we'll be all
right!"
"Is he running away?" asked Bunny.
"I'm afraid he is," answered Uncle Tad. "But I'll pull him down in a
minute. Sit tight and hold fast!"