A NEW PUPIL
Though Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had not often bought things in
Mrs. Golden's store, they knew the woman who kept the place, and she
knew them, for she often called them by name as they passed when she was
out in front. But now Mrs. Golden was not in sight, though the groans
that came from behind one of the counters seemed to tell that she was
there.
"Oh, Bunny, I'm afraid!" whispered Sue, standing in the opened door with
her brother. "Don't let's go in!"
"Why not?" Bunny asked.
"'Cause maybe burglars have been here and maybe they've hurt Mrs.
Golden!"
"Well, if they have, then we've got to help her," decided Bunny. "But
burglars don't come in the daytime. They come only at night time."
"That's so," agreed Sue, growing bolder.
And then the groans stopped and the voice of an old lady said:
"Who is there, my dears? Some children, I know by your voices, but I
can't see you. Don't be afraid, but come and help me."
"Where are you, and what's the matter?" asked Bunny.
"I'm down behind the notion counter," went on the voice. "I stepped up
on a box to reach something from the shelf, and I slipped and fell. I'm
not badly hurt, thank goodness, but I'm sort of wedged in here between
the box and the wall, and I can't get up. If you can pull the box out
I'll be all right."
"We'll do that!" cried Bunny, and he ran around behind the notion
counter, on the side of the store where the needles, pins, and spools of
thread were kept. Sue followed her brother.
There, just as Mrs. Golden had said, they found the old lady
storekeeper. She was lying on the floor with a small packing box so
wedged between her back and the side wall that she could not easily get
up, especially as she was old and feeble.
"Oh, it's Bunny Brown and his sister Sue!" exclaimed Mrs. Golden, when
she saw the children. "I'm so glad you came in! I was hoping some one
would come in to help me. The breath was sort of knocked out of me when
I fell, and I could only grunt and groan for a few minutes."
"We heard you," said Bunny.
"And I thought it was burglars," added Sue.
"Bless your hearts!" exclaimed Mrs. Golden. "Burglars wouldn't come to
my poor, little store. Now just pull the box out and I'll be all right."
Bunny and Sue tugged at the box on which Mrs. Golden had been standing
when she slipped and fell. It was hard work, but they managed to pull it
out, and then Mrs. Golden, with a few more grunts and groans, could get
up.
"Oh, my poor back!" she exclaimed, as she sank into a chair outside the
counter.
"Is it broken?" asked Sue anxiously.
"No, not quite," was the answer, with a little smile. "But it's
strained, and I expect I'll be lame for a while. Philip always told me
not to stand up on things to reach the top shelves, and I guess he was
right."
"Who is Philip?" asked Bunny.
"Philip is my son," was the answer. "He's a grown man, and he has to go
off to work every day, though he helps me in the store as much as he
can. I wouldn't want him to know I fell. It would only worry him, and he
might make me give up my store. And I don't want to do that. I'm feeling
better now. I'll be all right in a little while. Did you want something,
my dears?" she asked, for she must not forget that she was a
storekeeper.
"We wanted some baking powder," said Sue. "But we aren't in any hurry."
"We are in a _little_ hurry," said Bunny. "'Cause Mary's got a cake
partly made, but maybe----"
"Oh, I have baking powder," said Mrs. Golden quickly. "And I'll be glad
to sell it to you. If I sold more things I'd make more money. Let me see
now; I'm feeling sort of queer in my head on account of my tumble, but
baking powder--oh, it's on one of the high shelves. I--I'm almost afraid
to reach up for it."
"Oh, let me get it!" eagerly begged Bunny. "I like to climb up. I'd like
to get it! I like to keep store!"
"So do I!" added Sue. "We played store the other day, and a lot of
things fell down when Mary closed the door. We had a high shelf, too."
"Yes, one needs high shelves in a store," said Mrs. Golden. "But, Bunny,
do you think you can reach up and get the baking powder?" she asked. "I
can point it out to you."
"Sure, I can get it!" declared the little boy. "I'd love to."
"We don't want you to fall again," said Sue.
"That's very kind of you," replied Mrs. Golden. "Well, the baking powder
is on the other side of my store--the grocery side. There it is," and
with a bent and trembling finger she pointed out the tin boxes.
"Oh, that's an easy climb!" exclaimed Bunny, and he soon proved that it
was by clambering up and getting the box of baking powder he wanted.
Then he paid for it.
The children asked Mrs. Golden if they could help her further. She said
she was feeling better and would soon be all right.
"But don't climb up any more," warned Sue.
"That's right," echoed Bunny. "Maybe we could help you tend store, Mrs.
Golden. I'm a good climber."
"Yes, Bunny, I notice you are," said the old lady, with a smile. "And it
is very kind of you, but you see I never could tell when some one might
come in and want something from a high shelf. Unless you stayed here all
the while it wouldn't be of much use."
"No, that's so," the little boy admitted. "I'd like to stay here all the
while, though. I like to keep store!"
"So do I," added Sue.
"But children must go to school," said Mrs. Golden, with a smile. "I'll
have to get my son Philip to put all the things on low shelves, I guess.
Then I can reach them without climbing up. Run along now, Bunny and
Sue. Your mother will be waiting for that baking powder."
Bunny and Sue told their mother what had happened at the store.
"Poor old lady!" sighed Mrs. Brown. "She is very poor, I'm afraid. We
must buy more of our things there, Mary. It will be a help to her."
"Yes'm, it will," agreed the cook. "I often stop there when I want
something in a hurry. She and her son are honest and hard-working."
"And I worked, too!" said Bunny. "I helped her tend store. I climbed up
and got the baking powder."
"That was kind of you. But you, too, must be careful, son," his mother
told him.
On their way to school the next day Bunny and Sue went past Mrs.
Golden's store to ask how she was. They found her smiling and cheerful,
little the worse for her tumble.
"My son Philip is going to make me some lower shelves," she said.
"Then I can help reach things down for you," exclaimed Sue, with a
smile.
"Yes, dearie," murmured Mrs. Golden.
"Wouldn't it be fun if we had a little store like that?" said Sue to
Bunny, as they hurried along, to school. "I mean a real store, with real
things to sell, and we could take in real money."
"Yes, it would be lots of fun!" agreed Bunny. "But I don't s'pose it
will ever happen."
However, something very like that was to happen, almost before the
children knew it.
"Yes," went on Bunny, when they had almost reached the school, "it would
be dandy to have a store like Mrs. Golden's!"
"Maybe you will have some day--when you grow up," replied Sue.
"That's a long way off," sighed Bunny, as he looked down at his little,
short legs.
There was nothing to disturb the school classes that morning. No pet
alligators were found in the desk of Bunny or any of the other pupils,
and neither Sadie West nor any of the other girls thought she saw a
mouse.
However, something happened in the afternoon. It was a warm day, early
in summer, though the long vacation had not yet come. The windows were
open and the bright sun streamed in.
After a period of study Miss Bradley called the first class in spelling.
Bunny and Sue were in this division, and they went up to the front seats
where Miss Bradley heard all recitations.
"Sadie West, please spell church," called Miss Bradley. Sadie spelled
the word right.
"Sue Brown, please spell horse," called the teacher, and Sue did not
make a miss.
"Now, Bunny, it is your turn," said the teacher, with a smile. "Your
word is cracker."
Bunny paused a moment.
"C--r--a----" he began.
Then suddenly, sounding throughout the school room, a harsh voice cried:
"Cracker! Cracker! Give me a cracker!"
Miss Bradley hurriedly stood up beside her chair. What pupil had thus
dared to speak aloud in school?