BUNNY HAS A FALL
Down and down, from the big beam near the top of the barn, fell Ben
Hall. And, as Bunny Brown and his sister Sue watched the new, strange
boy, something queer happened.
For, instead of falling straight down, head first or feet first as you
would think any one ought to fall, Ben began turning over and over. Over
and over he turned, first his feet and then his head and then his back
being pointed toward the pile of hay on the bottom of the barn floor.
"Oh, look! look!" cried Sue.
"What--what makes him do that?" asked Bunny Brown.
"I guess he wants to," answered Bunker Blue. Bunny and his sister
thought they were going to be frightened when they saw Ben slip and
fall. But when the children saw Bunker Blue laughing they smiled too.
It was queer to see Ben turning over and over in that funny way.
"I guess he likes to do it," said Bunker.
"Whoop-la!" yelled Ben as he came somersaulting down, for that is what
he was doing; turning one somersault after another, over and over in the
air as he fell.
And then, in a few seconds, he landed safely on his feet in a soft pile
of hay, so he wasn't hurt a bit.
"Oh!" exclaimed Sue.
"Oh my!" cried Bunny Brown.
"Say, that was fine!" shouted Bunker Blue. "How did you do it?"
"Oh, I--I just did it," answered Ben, slowly, for he was a little out of
breath. "I slipped, and when I found I was going to fall, I began to
turn somersaults to make it easier coming down."
"I should think it would be harder," said Bunny Brown.
"Not when you know how," answered Ben, smiling.
"Where'd you learn how?" Bunker wanted to know.
"Oh, a man--a man showed me how," returned Ben. "But never mind about
that now. I must fasten the rope to the beam, and then we'll fix the
trapeze so Bunny can do some circus acts on it."
"But not high up!" cried Sue. "You won't go on a high trapeze, will you,
Bunny?"
"Not very high," he answered. "But I would like to turn somersaults in
the air like you, Ben. Will you show me how?"
"Some day, when you get bigger. You're too small now."
"I wouldn't want to turn somersaults," said Sue, shaking her head.
"They aren't for girls, anyhow," flung forth Bunny.
Bunker Blue looked at Ben sharply.
"I think I can guess where you learned to turn those somersaults in the
air," said the boat-boy. "It was in a--"
"Hush! Don't tell any one!" whispered Ben quickly. "I'll tell you all
about it after a while. Now help me put up the trapeze."
Bunny heard what Ben and Bunker said, but he did not think much about it
then. The little boy was looking up to see from what a height Ben had
fallen, and Bunny was wondering what he would ever do if he tumbled down
so far.
Bunker and Ben climbed the ladder to the beam far above the hay pile,
and soon they had fastened up the ropes of the trapeze. They pulled hard
on them to make sure they were strong enough, so Bunny would not have a
fall.
Then the piece of broom handle was tied on the two lower ends of the
ropes, and the trapeze was finished.
"Now you can try it, Bunny," said Bunker, after he had swung on the
trapeze for a few times to make sure it was safe.
Bunny walked across the barn floor where some hay had been spread to
make a sort of cushion.
"We'll use hay, instead of a net as they do in a circus," Bunny said.
"Anyhow we haven't got any net," put in Sue.
"We can make believe the hay is a new kind," said her brother.
Bunny hung by his hands from the wooden bar of the trapeze, just as he
had seen the men do in the circus. Then he began to swing slowly back
and forth.
"Oh, Bunny!" cried Sue. "That's fine. Now turn yourself inside out, like
the circus man did."
"No, Bunny can't do that yet," said Ben. "He must first do easy things
on the trapeze. Turning yourself inside out is too hard. Bunny is not
strong enough for those tricks."
To and fro swung Bunny, but soon his arms began to get tired.
"I--I want to get down!" he called. "Stop the swing--I mean the
trapeze," for the trapeze was very much like a swing, as I have told
you, only, instead of a board, it had only a stick to which the little
boy was holding by his hands. "I want to get down," Bunny called. "Stop
me, Bunker."
"Let go and jump," advised Ben.
"Oh, I--I'm afraid," said Bunny.
"You won't get hurt!" exclaimed the older boy. "You must learn to jump
from the trapeze into the soft hay. That's what they do in a circus.
Jump while you're swinging. You won't get hurt."
"Are you sure, Ben?"
"Sure. Give a jump now, and see what happens."
Bunny wanted to do some of the things he had seen the circus men do, and
one of them was jumping from the trapeze. The little boy looked down at
the pile of hay below him. It seemed nice and soft, but it also looked
to be a good distance off.
"Come on, Bunny, jump!" called Bunker.
"All right. Here I come!"
Bunny let go of the trapeze bar. He shot through the air, and, for a
second or two, he was afraid he was going to be hurt. But, the next
thing he knew, he had landed feet first on a soft pile of hay and he
wasn't hurt a bit!
"Good!" cried Bunker Blue.
"You did that well!" said Ben Hall.
"Just like in a circus," added Sue.
"Did I do it good?" asked Bunny Brown.
"You surely did. For the first time it was very good for such a small
boy," answered Ben. "Now try again."
"Oh, I like it!" Bunny cried. "I'm going to do it lots and lots of
times, and then I'm going to turn somersaults."
"Well, not right away," advised Ben. "Try the easy part for a while
yet."
Bunny swung on the trapeze some more, and dropped into the soft hay. He
was not at all afraid now, and each time he did it he liked it more and
more.
Sue, also, wanted to try it, and so she hung by her little hands. But
Bunker Blue put his strong arms under her so, in case she slipped, she
would be caught. Sue did not swing on the trapeze, nor jump, as Bunny
had done.
Bunker and Ben put up more trapezes in the barn--big ones for
themselves. Ben could swing and turn somersaults and drop off into the
hay from away up near the roof of the barn. Bunker could not do quite as
well as this, but, for all that, he was pretty good.
"Will you two act in our circus?" asked Bunny of Bunker and Ben.
"Why, yes, I guess I will, if your grandfather lets me stay here on this
nice farm," Ben answered.
"Oh, he'll let you stay," Bunny said. "I'll tell him we want you in our
circus."
"All right," laughed Ben. "Bunker and I will practise some trapeze acts
for your show."
For a little while longer Bunny and Sue played about in the barn. Bunny
found an old strawberry crate, with a cover on.
"This will make a wild animal cage," he said. "The slats are just like
the bars of a cage, and the animal can look through."
"What wild animal will you put in there?" asked Bunker.
"Oh, I guess I'll put in Splash. He is going to be half a blue striped
tiger."
"No! No!" cried Sue. "That crate isn't big enough for Splash. You'll
squash him all up. I'm not going to have my half of Splash all squashed
up, Bunny Brown!"
"Well, then I'll get a bigger cage for Splash. We can get a little dog,
and put him in here."
Two or three days after this Bunny and Sue again went out to the barn to
look at the circus trapezes, and play. Bunker Blue and Ben were not
with them this time, as the two older boys were weeding the garden for
Grandpa Brown.
Bunny swung on his little, low trapeze, and then, after he had jumped
off into the hay as Ben had taught him, the little fellow began climbing
the ladder to the beam on which was fastened the big and high trapeze.
"Oh, Bunny! Where you going?" asked Sue.
"Up here. I want to see how high it looks."
"Oh, Bunny Brown! You come right down, or I'll go and tell mamma! She
said you weren't to climb up high."
"I--I'm not going very high, Sue."
Bunny was half way up the ladder. And, just as he spoke to Sue, his foot
slipped, and down he fell, in between two rounds of the ladder.
"Oh! oh!" cried Sue. "Oh, Bunny! You're going to fall!"
But Bunny did not fall all the way. As he slipped, his hands caught hold
of a round of the ladder, and there he clung, just as if he had hold of
the bar of his swinging trapeze.