lots of boys and girls and ladies and men came out to buy pies, and
they looked at the children, but none knew where they lived.
“Maybe some big giant has moved our house away,” said Tommy, “and
that’s why we can’t find it.”
“Oh, of course not!” exclaimed Mary. “Giants don’t live around here.”
“Well, I wish they did,” said Johnny quickly.
“Why?” asked Tommy.
“Oh, then we could ask one of them to take us up on his shoulder, and
he could walk about two of his steps and he would be right at our
house, and we’d be home,” went on Johnny. “But I s’pose that can’t
happen. We’ll have to trip and trot along until the pieman finds our
house.”
So along through the streets they went, the pieman singing his little
song, and selling pies, and asking all the people he met if they knew
where the Trippertrots lived.
But no one did, and Mary and Tommy and Johnny were beginning to think
they would never find their papa or mamma, or Suzette, the nursemaid,
again.
And then, all of a sudden, as the pieman was pushing his cart down a
little street where there were lots of trees, and many small houses
with red chimneys on them sticking up through the roof--all of a
sudden, I say--out ran a little girl, holding a dollie in her arms.
“Oh, Mr. Pieman!” cried the little girl. “I have been waiting such a
long time for you!”
“Why, what is the matter?” asked the kind pieman.
“Oh, Sallie, my doll, is very ill,” said the little girl, “and I want
some sawdust pie for her.”
“I have just one left,” said the pieman. “Here it is, and I hope she
will soon be better.” Then he wrapped up the sawdust pie for the little
girl’s doll, and he asked her--asked the little girl, I mean--if she
knew where the Trippertrots lived. “For I can’t seem to find their
home,” said the kind pieman, blinking both his eyes at once.
“No, I don’t know, where they live,” said the little girl, as she
looked carefully at Mary, Johnny and Tommy.
“Oh, dear!” cried Mary. “I’m so tired walking about, looking for our
home.”
“So am I!” exclaimed Johnny and Tommy.
“Then I know the very thing to do,” said the little girl, as she looked
in the paper to see if her sawdust pie was all right. “Here comes the
banana man, and he has quite a large wagon which he pushes about on its
two wheels. Let him take you on his wagon, and ride you through the
streets, and perhaps you may find your home that way.”
“Oh, goody!” cried Mary.
“It will be fun to ride in the banana wagon,” said Johnny, jumping up
and down.
“Yes, and I think he can take us home,” spoke Tommy.
And just then along came the banana man, and he said he would be very
glad to help the Trippertrots get home. So the pieman said good-by to
them, and gave them each a little custard pie, and then he went off to
find Simple Simon and Jiggly Jig.
“Jump on my wagon,” said the banana man, and the Trippertrot children
did so, as there was lots of room. Up they hopped, and away they went
along the street, looking for their house, and wondering how long it
would be before they found the place.
ADVENTURE NUMBER TWELVE
THE TRIPPERTROTS AND THE BANANA MAN
“It’s almost as nice to ride on a banana wagon as it is on a load of
hay,” said Mary. “This is just lovely, I think.”
“So do I,” agreed Tommy. “And there really _is_ hay on this wagon, so
it’s almost like a straw ride.”
“Oh, yes, I always put the bananas on soft hay, so they won’t break
open when the wagon goes over rough stones,” said the banana man. “But
hold tight, now, as I am going very fast.” And so he did, and the
children were bounced about, and up and down a bit, but then the hay
was so soft that they didn’t get hurt in the least.
“Do you know where our house is?” asked Johnny, after a bit.
“No, but I think I can find it,” answered the banana man. “I know where
lots and lots of houses are, and I’m sure one of them must be yours.
I’ll go along through the street, and you can look at all the houses
you see, and pretty soon you’ll see the right one.”
“Oh, but we have been away from home a long time,” said Tommy. “Ever
since early this morning, when we went after the kind fireman to thank
him. And we’ve been lost from then on.”
“And maybe some one has painted our house a different color,” spoke
Johnny, “so we won’t know it even when we see it.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” spoke the banana man. “They
couldn’t have painted your house since morning, and it isn’t night yet.”
“The false-face man could,” said Mary. “He is a very fast painter, but
then I know he would make funny faces on our house, if he _did_ paint
it, so we would know it anyhow.”
“Yes, that’s right,” said the banana man. “But lie down, now, and rest
yourselves, and I will wheel you up first one street and then down the
other, and soon you may be home.”
So he did that, and lots and lots of persons stopped to look at the
funny sight of three lost children sitting on the hay in a two-wheeled
banana wagon.
“Do you happen to know where they live?” the banana man would ask the
different people who crowded around his wagon.
“No,” said every one, and the men and women shook their heads.
“Do you know any of these people?” the banana man then asked of the
Trippertrot children. But neither Mary nor Johnny nor Tommy knew any of
them.
“Then we will have to go along a little farther,” said the banana man;
and so he went up some streets that were hilly, and down some that were
smooth, and along some that were very rough with cobblestones, and all
the while he kept wheeling the children in his wagon, or cart, if you’d
rather call it that.
And once the wagon went over a stick of wood, and tipped to one side,
and Mary nearly fell out. She would have, only Tommy grabbed her just
in time, and held her on the hay.
And a little later there was a dog chasing a cat, and the cat ran so
fast to get away from the dog that the pussy jumped right up in the
wagon, into Mary’s lap.
“Oh, you poor, dear little pussy!” cried Mary, as she rubbed the cat’s
fur, and tried to make its tail smaller, for it was all swelled up on
account of the dog, you know.
“That cat looks like our cat, Ivy Vine,” said Tommy, when the banana
man had driven away the dog.
“Oh, yes, I just wish Ivy Vine was here now,” said Mary.
“And I wish Fido was here,” spoke Johnny. “He is kind to cats.”
“Yes, if we could only find Ivy and Fido, they would show us the way
home.” And Mary sighed a little, and a salty tear fell out of her left
eye.
“Never mind,” said the banana man. “I think we will soon be there.” But
he talked in a tired voice, for his legs were very weary with tramping
around all day, selling bananas, and then giving the lost children a
ride up and down so many streets, looking for their home. Still he
wouldn’t give up.
Pretty soon they came to where a man was selling hot, roasted
chestnuts, and also some cold, boiled ones. And the banana man knew the
chestnut man, and bought some nuts from him and gave them to the lost
Trippertrots, for they were hungry again, those three children were.
“Oh, it doesn’t seem as if we were ever going to be at home again!”
said Mary, after a while, when she had eaten some of the roasted
chestnuts.
“No, indeed,” spoke Johnny, as he ate some boiled ones.
“I’m never going to run away again,” said Tommy, “not even if the
chimney does get on fire.”
“Or even if the house falls down,” added Mary. And then they put their
arms around one another and sat there on the banana wagon, and wished
they were home.
And the banana man did the best he could. He looked at all the houses,
and he asked lots of people where the Trippertrots lived, but none
knew.
“I guess you will have to look for the kind policeman again,” suggested
Tommy. “He can find our house for us.”
“Or else Mr. Johnson, who took us home in his automobile, the other
time when we were lost,” added Johnny. “He might help us.”
“Perhaps I had better look for a policeman,” said the banana man,
for he was now very tired, because it was like pushing three baby
carriages, made into one, to push the Trippertrots about on the banana
wagon.
So he looked all over for a policeman, but he couldn’t see any. I guess
they were all down at the big fire, where all the firemen had gone. And
the banana man couldn’t even see the pieman or Simple Simon, nor even
Jiggily Jig.
“Oh! Whatever shall we do?” cried Mary.
“I don’t know,” answered Johnny. “Do you, Tommy?”
“No, I don’t know, either,” replied Tommy Trippertrot.
But just then they turned around the corner of the street, and they
heard some music playing, and there was a hand-organ man, with a monkey!
“Oh, goody!” cried Mary. “There is the hand-organ man who once rode
with us in the automobile, and he will know where we live.”
“No, I am sorry to say I don’t know where you live,” answered the
hand-organ man, when they had asked him. “You see, I am a new man here,
and not the one you thought I was. I just bought this organ and the
monkey from the man who rode with you in the auto. The monkey may know
where you live, but I don’t.”
“Then let’s ask the monkey,” suggested Tommy.
So they asked the monkey. But, bless you! the monkey couldn’t talk, you
know, and all he did was to take off his cap and make a low bow, as if
he was asking for pennies.
“That’s of no use,” said Tommy hopelessly.
“No,” agreed Mary. “We’ll never get home that way.”
Well, the three little Trippertrots didn’t know what to do, and they
were almost ready to cry, when, all at once, Johnny gave a loud shout.
“What’s the matter?” asked Mary. “Are you hurt?”
“No! But look!” cried Johnny. “There comes Ivy Vine, our cat!”
“And there comes Fido, our dog!” exclaimed Tommy, and he pointed to
the dog and cat coming down the street together like twins, only, of
course, they weren’t twins--dogs and cats can’t be twins, you know.
“Oh, now we will find our way home,” said Mary. “Ivy and Fido will lead
us. We can’t be far from our house.”
“I am glad of it,” said the banana man, who was more tired than ever.
“Here, Fido! Fido!” called Tommy.
“Come, Ivy! Ivy!” cried Mary.
The dog and the cat came running up to the children, and they were very
glad to see them. I mean the children were glad to see Fido and Ivy
Vine, and Ivy Vine and Fido were glad to see the children. So they were
all glad, even the banana man.
“Now show us the way home, Fido!” called Tommy, and, somehow or other,
Fido understood, for he wagged his tail so hard that it almost dropped
off, and Ivy Vine wagged her tail, and then they trotted on ahead of
the banana wagon. They looked back every now and then, to see if the
wagon was coming.
“Just follow them, and we’ll soon be at our home,” said Mary. And the
banana man did so, riding the children on his cart, and a little later,
just as they went around a corner, there was the Trippertrots’ house!
“Oh, we’re home! We’re home!” cried Mary joyfully.
“And how glad we are!” cried Tommy and Johnny, and they all hugged each
other. Fido capered about, barking as loudly as he could; and then out
ran Suzette and Mr. Trippertrot and Mrs. Trippertrot.
“Oh, you children!” cried their mamma. “Lost again, I suppose!”
“Yes’m,” answered Mary.
“And we were looking all over for you,” said their papa.
“But Fido and Ivy Vine and the banana man brought us home,” explained
Tommy, “and we had some wonderful adventures since we went to thank the
fireman.”
“Well, please don’t ever have any more,” said their mamma.
“No’m, we won’t,” answered Mary.
Then they all went into the house and had supper, and Mr. Trippertrot
thanked the banana man very kindly, and gave him some money.
“I don’t want any more adventures very soon,” said Tommy.
But my goodness sakes alive and the mustard spoon! It wasn’t any time
at all before those three little Trippertrots had something more happen
to them.
ADVENTURE NUMBER THIRTEEN
THE TRIPPERTROTS AND THE DANCING BEARS
The three little Trippertrots were in the house one day, looking out
of the window. Suzette, the nursemaid, was in the next room, trying
to mend a hole that Mary had torn in her red dress. I mean that Mary
had torn a hole in her own dress, not in Suzette’s, you understand, of
course. And the way it happened was this:
They were playing soldiers, the Trippertrot children were, Tommy and
Johnny and Mary, and Tommy had a make-believe gun. It was really the
poker from the stove, but it looked something like a gun.
And they were having a great battle, making believe shoot off the
poker-gun bang-bang, you know, when, all of a sudden, Mary ran past
Tommy, and the poker caught in her dress, and tore a hole in the cloth.
“Oh, I’m afraid you can’t play soldiers any more,” said Mrs.
Trippertrot. “It’s too rough a game. Please play something gentle, that
doesn’t make so much noise.”
So Mary and Tommy and Johnny played a guessing game; that is, they
tried to guess how many people were in the trolley cars that passed the
window, or how many letters the postman had in his bag, or how fast the
butcher boy could run when a pussy cat chased him, and all guessing
games like that. So that’s the reason, as I told you at first, why the
Trippertrots were looking out of the window of their house.
“Oh, I’m tired of this,” said Tommy at last.
“And so am I,” said Mary.
“What can we do?” asked Johnny.
“Oh, let’s make-believe we’re lost again,” suggested Mary. “We can
pretend that the parlor is away off downtown, and that the dining-room
is another city, and the kitchen can be a cave where a fairy lives, and
upstairs--I wonder what upstairs can be?”
“That will be a mountain, of course,” said Tommy. “The stairs are high,
and so are mountains; and I’m going to climb one, and get lost on the
top, and build a campfire, and sleep there all night.”
“Pooh! You sleep upstairs all night, anyhow,” said Johnny. “Our beds
are there.”
“Oh, but this is only a make-believe mountain,” said Tommy. “Come on!
All ready to play this game! We’ll see who will be the first one to get
lost.”
Well, the Trippertrots played that game a long time, and then Suzette
had Mary’s dress mended, and the nursemaid went to answer the back
doorbell, for the butcher boy was there with some meat for supper.
Now in about a minute you will see where the dancing bears appear in
this story. I’m almost up to that part, so watch closely.
When Suzette was at the back door, Mrs. Trippertrot happened to think
there was no bread in the house for dinner.
“I know what I will do,” said the children’s mamma. “I will just run
next door to Mrs. Johnson’s, and borrow a loaf. Now don’t you children
go outside while I’m gone!” she called to Tommy and Mary and Johnny.
“Not even in case of something most extra-extra-extraordinary
happening?” asked Johnny.
“Oh, I suppose if it’s something most extraordinary you may go out for
a minute,” answered Mrs. Trippertrot, “but don’t you dare to get lost.”
So they promised that they wouldn’t, and then they went back to play
the game of looking out of the windows, and Mary said:
“Oh, I wish something most extra-extraordinary would come along!”
“So do I!” exclaimed Tommy.
“And there it is!” suddenly cried Johnny. “If that isn’t extraordinary,
I’d like to know what is!”
And sure enough, down the street came a man with three dancing bears.
There was a little bear and a middle-sized bear and a big bear, just as
in the story book. And the man had a horn, on which he played jolly,
funny little tunes.
“Oh, I hope the bears dance where we can see them,” said Mary, and
Tommy and Johnny said the same thing; and really it was just as if the
dancing-bear man heard the Trippertrot children, for, sure enough, he
stopped in front of their house, and began to blow a tune on his horn.
“Hum tum-tum tiddle di de um,
Hum tum-tum tiddle day;
Dum-dum-dum fiddle faddle de um,
Ho tum-tum skiddle ray.”
And with that, those bears stood up on their hind legs, and began to
dance around almost as well as you or I could do it. I’m sure you would
have been very glad to see them, for they were such nice bears.
The big bear took big steps when he danced, and the middle-sized bear
took middle-sized steps, and, of course, the little bear had to take
little steps, for that was all the kind of steps that were left, but
they suited him exactly.
“Oh! Aren’t they fine!” cried Mary.
“Yes. I wish we had one,” said Johnny.
“Oh, I don’t!” exclaimed his sister. “He might scratch us, not meaning
to, you know, but accidentally. I don’t want a bear in the house.”
“I think it would be fun,” said Tommy. “We could play we were hunters
on a mountain, and make-believe shoot the bear, only, of course, we
wouldn’t _really_ do it.”
“Oh, look! Look!” suddenly cried Mary. “One bear is climbing a
telegraph pole!” And, sure enough, the middle-sized bear was doing
that, while the man played more tunes on his horn.
“Oh, look there!” cried Johnny. “The big bear is standing on his head!”
And, just as true as I’m telling you, he was.
“See! See!” exclaimed Tommy. “The little bear is turning somersaults
just like Simple Simon and Jiggily Jig did! Isn’t it great!”
Well, the man made the dancing bears do many more tricks, and then he
held out his hat for money, for that was how he made his living. And
Suzette gave the children some money to give to the bearman.
Then the man made a bow, to show that he was thankful, and the bears
made bows, too, to show they were thankful, for if the man hadn’t
gotten any money the bears wouldn’t have had much for supper. Then they
started off up the street to dance some more.
“Oh, I’m sorry they’re gone!” said Mary, and her brothers were, also;
and they were just wondering what else they could do to have fun, when,
all of a sudden, Tommy cried:
“Look! Look! The little bear has run away from the man, and is coming
back here!”
“Yes, and I guess the man doesn’t know it, or he would come back after
him,” said Johnny. “I think we ought to go out and catch the little
bear for the man.”
“Oh, don’t you do it!” cried Mary, shivering.
“Why, he’s tame, and won’t hurt me,” said Tommy. “Besides, we would be
doing the man a kindness.”
“But mamma doesn’t want us to go out of the house,” said Mary, for she
could now see the bear quite plainly, as he was right in front of the
house again, and he was so kind and gentle-looking, and he seemed to
smile so at the children, that they just loved him.
“I’m going out and catch him for the man, and give him something to
eat,” said Tommy.
“Who? The man or the bear?” asked Johnny.
“The little bear. See! He has a chain on his neck, and we can lead him
by that. Come on.”
“Oh, dear! Well, I s’pose I’ll have to go, too,” said Mary. “This is
one of those most extra-extraordinary occasions, I guess. But I do hope
we’re not lost again.”
“Hurry up!” called Johnny. “We can catch the bear, take him to the man,
and soon be in the house again.”
Well, would you ever believe it if I didn’t tell you? That little bear
just stood still when the Trippertrot children came up to him, and
he almost seemed to smile, you know the way bears do, by opening his
mouth, and then he made a low bow.
“Oh, I almost believe he could talk, if he wanted to, he is so cute,”
said Mary.
“Come along, little bear,” spoke Tommy.
“Yes, we’re going to take you back to the man,” said Johnny. “He
doesn’t know you’re lost, I guess.”
[Illustration: DOWN THE STREET CAME A MAN WITH THREE BEARS]
Well, the bear growled a little bit, but that was only his way of
saying “Thank you!” And then he stood still while Johnny took hold of
the chain around his neck--I mean the chain around the bear’s neck,
not Johnny’s, for Johnny didn’t have any chain on his neck. And Tommy
also took hold of the bear’s chain, and so did Mary, just the littlest,
tiny tip end, you know.
“Now we’re all ready,” said Johnny. “Come along, little bear, and we’ll
soon have you back to your master.”
So the three little Trippertrots marched down the street, leading the
tame little bear, and they expected any minute to find the man with the
horn. But they couldn’t see him anywhere.
“Oh, we must find him soon,” said Mary.
“Yes,” said Johnny. “We can’t take the bear back home with us.”
“And if we let him go by himself he’ll get lost,” spoke Tommy. “Let’s
go on a little farther.”
So they went on a little farther with the animal, but they couldn’t
find the man who owned the bear, and they couldn’t hear his tooting
horn. And then, as they turned around a corner, Mary suddenly said:
“There! I knew it!”
“Knew what?” asked Johnny.
“I knew we were lost again,” said Mary. “I’ve never seen this street
before. We are certainly lost again.”
“Oh! What will mamma say?” asked Tommy.
“And lost with a little dancing bear to take care of,” added Mary.
“Well, if we’re lost, the bear is lost, too, and that’s all there is
about it,” spoke Johnny cheerfully. “Maybe we can find our way back.
Let’s try.”
So they walked down another street, looking for the way back home, or
for the man who owned the little bear.
ADVENTURE NUMBER FOURTEEN
THE TRIPPERTROTS AND THE PINK COW
“We don’t seem to be getting anywhere very fast,” said Tommy
Trippertrot, after he and his sister and his brother and the little
tame dancing bear had walked up and down several streets.
“No, indeed,” agreed Mary.
“Are you sure we’re lost again?” asked Johnny.
“I certainly am,” replied his sister. “We must have come farther than
we thought we did. All the streets are strange, and all the houses,
too, and I don’t see a single person that I know. Oh, dear! Isn’t it
too bad?”
“Never mind!” exclaimed Johnny, putting his arms around Mary to hug
her. “I’ll take care of you.”
“And so will I,” added Tommy.
“Wuff! Wuff!” growled the bear in his gentle voice, and that was his
way of saying that he, too, would take care of Mary. And he put one
fuzzy paw around her neck, and squeezed her the least bit; not enough
to hurt her, you understand. Oh, of course not.
“Well, what had we better do?” asked Johnny.
“We’ll ask the first person we meet if they know where we live,” said
Mary. “It’s funny, but we never can seem to remember. I guess we ought
to have a stamp and an address on us, just as letters do, and then the
postman could always take us home.”
“I think that _would_ be a good idea,” said Tommy. “But it’s too late
to do that now, and I don’t see any people we can ask,” and he looked
up and down the street, but no one was in sight.
“Oh, I tell you what let’s do!” exclaimed Johnny. “We’ll let the bear
go wherever he wants to, and maybe he’ll take us home, the way Fido and
Ivy once did.”
“That’s a good idea,” said Tommy. “We’ll do it.”
So they let go of the chain that was around the bear’s neck, and Mary
said to him:
“Now go ahead, little bear, and take us home.”
“Oh, bears can’t understand our talk,” said Tommy.
“Why, Fido understands me!” said Mary. “When I speak pleasantly to him
he wags his tail, so I’m sure he understands; and if _he_ can, why
can’t bears?”
“Oh, well, maybe he does,” admitted Johnny. “Let’s see what he’ll do.”
The little bear didn’t do anything at first. He just stood there on his
hind legs, looking all around, and sort of sniffing the air. I guess he
was trying to see if he could smell his supper cooking anywhere. Then,
all at once, he started to run across the street.
“Come on!” cried Johnny. “I guess that’s the way home! We’ll follow the
bear!”
So they ran after the shaggy little creature, who kept right on going,
looking over his shoulder every now and then, just as if he was telling
the children to follow him. And they did. But where in the world do you
suppose he led them?
You’d never guess, I’m afraid, so I’m going to tell you. It was right
up to a bakery shop window, that was filled with all sorts of nice
cakes and cookies and pies. Yes, just as true as I’m telling you,
that’s what the bear did. He came to a stop right in front of the
window, and then he looked up at the children, and sort of whined,
just as Fido, their dog, did when he was hungry.
“Oh, I know what he wants!” cried Mary.
“What is it?” asked both her brothers at once.
“He wants some cakes,” said Mary. “He is hungry, poor little fellow.
That’s why he led us over to this bakery. I’m going to see if the
bakery man will give us some cakes or buns for our little bear.”
“I wish he’d give us some for ourselves,” spoke Johnny. “I’m hungry
myself.”
“So am I!” exclaimed Tommy.
“Well, let’s go in,” suggested Mary.
“Oh, not all at once,” objected Johnny. “For if we did, and left the
bear all alone outside here, he might run away. I’ll stay here with
him, Tommy, and you and Mary can go in and ask the bakery man for some
cake.”
“All right,” agreed Tommy, and into the bakery shop he and his sister
went, leaving Johnny to take care of the baby bear.
“Well, little ones, what can I do for you to-day?” asked the baker-man
of Mary and Tommy, as he came out of the back room, wiping some flour
off the end of his nose. “Will you have bread or pie?”
“Neither, if you please, sir,” answered Mary, “but we have a little
bear, and----”