FEEDING THE ALLIGATORS
Mrs. Brown came hurrying into the kitchen from the living room.
"What has happened?" she asked. "What was that crash?"
It needed only one look to show her what had happened and what had
caused the rattling, banging, crashing sound. On the floor, over and
around the two chairs and the large ironing board, were the smaller
board, the stepladder, the washboiler, two hammers, a lot of nails, many
bread, cake, and pie pans, and some knives and forks.
"Where's Bunny?" asked Mrs. Brown.
Well might she ask that, for Sue's brother was not in sight, nor had he
uttered a word since the accident.
"He--he's under there I--I guess," faltered Sue. She was not quite sure
where Bunny had gone when that terrible crash came.
"Yes, I see his legs! I'll pull him out, Ma'am," offered Mary. "Oh, I
hope nothing has happened to him!"
Mrs. Brown hurried to assist Mary in digging Bunny from under the
wreckage of his hardware store. And while they are doing that I will beg
a moment's time from those of you who have never before read any of
these books, to tell you something of the two children who are to have
some queer adventures in this present volume.
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue are well known to many of you children.
Bunny and his sister lived with their father and mother, Mr. and Mrs.
Walter Brown, in the town of Bellemere, on Sandport Bay, near the ocean.
Mr. Brown kept a boat and fish dock, and one of his helpers was Bunker
Blue, a young man who was very fond of Bunny and Sue.
In the Brown home were also Uncle Tad, who was Mr. Brown's relative, and
Mary, the good-natured cook. There was also Splash, a big dog. And I
might mention Toby, a Shetland pony. There were other pets to whom I
will introduce you from time to time. Toby had been away from the Brown
children for a while, but was now back again.
In the village were many friends of Bunny and Sue. Mrs. Redden, who kept
a candy store, was a very special sort of friend, and she gave the
biggest penny's worth of sweets for miles around. Mr. Gordon, as I have
told you, kept a real grocery store, and then there was Mr. Jed Winkler,
an old sailor who owned a parrot and a monkey named Wango. Mr. Winkler's
sister, Miss Euphemia, did not like either Polly or Wango.
Charlie Star, George Watson, Mary Watson, Sadie West, Helen Newton,
Harry Bentley, and fat Bobbie Boomer were all friends of the Brown
children.
Now that you know the names of most of the characters who are to appear
in this book, I might mention some of the other volumes. The first one
was called "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue," and told of their
adventures around home. Then they went to Grandpa's farm, they played
circus, they visited Aunt Lu in her city home, they went to "Camp
Rest-a-While," and then they went to the Big Woods. After that they had
exciting adventures on an auto tour, and you can imagine what joy was
theirs when they were given a Shetland pony, that was named Toby.
Bunny Brown and his sister were always thinking up new ideas, and when
they wanted to give a show few doubted but what they would succeed. They
did, and made a goodly sum for a home for the blind. One of the trips
the Browns made was to Christmas Tree Cove, and in the book of that name
you will find their adventures set forth. They also made a winter trip
to the South, and they had not long been back from that when the things
happened that I have just told you about--the grand crash in the
make-believe hardware store.
With the help of Mary and Mrs. Brown, Bunny was pulled from beneath the
wreckage. At first the little boy could hardly speak, and his mother, no
less than Mary and Sue, was beginning to get frightened. But suddenly
with a gasp Bunny found his voice, and his first question was:
"Did you get hurt, Sue?"
"No," she answered. "But I guess you did."
"Only a little crack on the head," Bunny replied, rubbing the place that
hurt. "But who knocked down my high shelf? Did Splash get in and wag his
tail?"
Sometimes the big dog did this with funny results.
"I guess I knocked down your shelf, Bunny," said Mary. "I'm sorry, but I
didn't know you had a board on top of the doors."
"Did you have that, Bunny?" asked his mother.
"Yes'm, I--I guess I did," Bunny had to admit. "It was a high shelf for
our hardware store. I had the washboiler up there!"
"No wonder there was a crash!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "It's a wonder you
weren't hurt!"
"I guess the big ironing board fell on the stepladder first, and stayed
there, and the rest of the things didn't hit Bunny because he was under
the board," explained Mary.
And that is about how it happened. Bunny was under a sort of arch formed
by the stepladder and the two ironing boards, and so was saved from
being hit on the head by the heavy things. One of the overturned chairs,
however, had struck him in the stomach, and this had rather knocked his
breath out, which made him unable to talk for a little while.
"Well, I'm glad it was no worse than this," said Mrs. Brown. "Mercy
sakes, though, the kitchen is a sight!"
"I don't mind! I'll clean it up," offered good-natured Mary. "The
children have to play something in the house when it rains out of
doors."
"Yes," agreed Mrs. Brown. "But they could have kept on playing grocery
store. They didn't need to make a high shelf and put the big washboiler
up on it to fall down when the door was moved the least bit!"
"I did that," confessed Bunny, anxious that Sue should not be blamed for
what was not her fault. "I didn't know anybody would push the door."
"Well, it's a mercy it was no worse," remarked his mother. "And now,
after you have helped Mary pick up the things, go on with your playing.
Can't you play grocery instead of hardware store, Bunny, my dear?"
"Oh, hardware store is nicer, and we have all the things now," Bunny
replied. "But I won't make any more high shelves."
The washboiler, the pans, and the scattered knives and forks were picked
up, and then Bunny and Sue went on playing, using only the low ironing
board shelf, which was made over the seats of two chairs. They took
turns keeping store and doing the buying, and had a great deal of fun.
But even making believe keep a hardware store gets tiresome after a
while, especially if there are only two playing, and after a while Bunny
Brown and his sister Sue wanted something else to interest them.
"'Tisn't raining quite so hard now," Sue observed, after a look from the
window.
"That's right!" cried Bunny. "Oh, say! Maybe we can go out in the barn
and feed our alligators!"
"That'll be fun," agreed Sue. "And I guess they're hungry; don't you,
Bunny?"
"Yes, I guess so. Let's go ask mother if we can feed 'em."
"I know she'll say yes, so I'll get some scraps of meat from Mary," said
Sue.
As the rain was slackening and as Mrs. Brown knew that the alligators
might need food, she told the children they could go out to the barn if
they put on their rubber boots and coats.
"Aren't you afraid the alligators will bite you?" asked Mary, as she cut
up some bits of meat for the children.
"Course not; we aren't afraid!" boasted Bunny. "They're only little
alligators, and they're real tame."
One of the long-tailed, scaly pets given to the children by Mr. Bunn had
been brought from the South where the Browns spent part of the winter,
and later Mr. Brown had gotten some others. The alligators were kept in
a tank of water in the barn. Bunny and Sue wanted the alligators kept in
the house, but Mrs. Brown insisted that the barn was the place for pets
of that sort.
Out into the rain storm, which was now almost over, went Bunny Brown and
his sister Sue to feed the alligators. There were three or four of the
scaly creatures, and as the children drew near the tank the alligators
came crawling out of the water up on some bits of wood and stone that
made a resting place for them. For alligators cannot stay under water
all the while, as can a fish. They must come out every now and then to
get air.
"Oh, look at Judy!" cried Sue, dangling a piece of meat in front of the
nose of one of the queer pets. "She's awful hungry!"
"And so is Jim!" said Bunny, feeding another of the creatures. They
lifted up their long snouts, opened their mouths, and took in the pieces
of meat.
"Where's Jumbo?" suddenly asked Sue. "I don't see him!"
"Maybe he got out!" said Bunny, for the largest of the pet alligators
was not in sight. Not that Jumbo was very large, for though he was the
biggest in the tank he was not more than ten inches long.
"Oh, here he comes!" cried Sue, as Jumbo swam up from the bottom of the
tank. "I guess he was asleep."
"I guess so," agreed her brother. "Here, Jumbo!" he went on. "Here's
some meat for you!"
"Jumbo's getting real big," said Sue, as she watched the largest of the
pets.
"And Judy is growing," added Bunny. "I wish we had had these 'gators
when we gave our show."
"Yes," agreed his sister. "Well, maybe we can have another show. Or we
could put the alligators in a store the next time we play."
"Yes," said Bunny. "Only maybe you couldn't wrap up a 'gator in a piece
of paper. He might bite his way out."
"That's so," said Sue. "Well, we could----"
But she did not finish what she was saying, for a loud barking suddenly
sounded outside the barn. At this noise Bunny and Sue started on a run
for the door.