GETTING THE TENTS
Bunny Brown himself thought it was strange that Splash was not about to
greet him and his sister as they came home from play. The big shaggy
dog, that had once pulled Sue from the water, was very fond of the
children, and if he did not go with them (which he did nearly every
time) he was always waiting for them to come back.
But this time Splash was not to be seen. Bunny went about the yard,
whistling, while Sue called:
"Splash! Here, Splash! I want you! Come here, Splash!"
But the joyful bark of Splash was not heard, nor did he come bounding
around the side of the house, to play with Bunny Brown and his sister
Sue, when they called.
"It is queer," said Mother Brown. "I saw him early this morning, when I
gave him his breakfast, and I thought he went with you, Bunny, when you
and Sue went down to the duck pond."
"No, Splash didn't go with us," said Bunny. And this was rather strange,
too, for the dog loved water, and played near it whenever he could,
dashing in to bring out sticks that Bunny or Sue would throw in for him.
"And didn't he go down to Nellie Bruce's with you?" asked Grandma Brown.
She was as fond of Splash as anyone.
"No, he didn't follow us," Sue answered. "We wanted him, too. But we
thought sure he'd be here waiting for us. But he isn't," and again the
little girl's eyes filled with tears.
"Oh, we'll find him," said Bunny.
But that was easier said than done. All about the house and barns in the
farmyard, down through the meadows and over the pasture they looked for
Splash. Mother and Grandmother Brown helped search, but Bunny and Sue,
with Bunker Blue and Ben Hall, went farther off to look. It was nearly
time for supper, but Bunny and Sue did not want to wash and get clean
ready for the meal until they had found Splash.
But Splash, it seemed, was not to the found.
"We'll have to ask some of the neighbors if they've seen him," said
Bunker. "We'll go down the road a way and ask everyone we meet."
Splash, by this time, was pretty well known at the houses along the road
where Grandpa Brown lived, for the dog made friends with everyone, and
was fond of children.
But Bunker, Ben, Bunny and Sue had to ask at a number of places before
they found anyone who had seen Splash.
"Your dog lost; eh?" exclaimed Mr. Black, who lived about a mile from
Grandpa Brown's house. "Why, yes, I saw Splash this morning. He was
running over the fields back of my house. I called to him, thinking you
children might be with him, and there's an old ram, over in my back
pasture, that I didn't want to get after you.
"But Splash wouldn't come when I called to him, and when I saw you two
youngsters weren't with him, I didn't worry about the ram. I knew
Splash could look out for himself."
"Did you see him come back?" asked Bunker.
"No. I didn't notice. I was too busy."
"Then we'll go over and look for him," said Ben. "Maybe the old ram got
him after all."
"Well, maybe he did," said the farmer, "but I guess a dog like Splash
can run faster than a ram. Anyhow we'll have a look."
"Are you going, Bunny?" asked Sue.
"Sure. Aren't you? Don't you want to find Splash?"
"Yes--but--but I don't want a old ram to hook me with his horns."
"I'll take care of you, Sue," said Farmer Black. "I'll take a big stick
with me, and the ram is afraid of that. We'll find Splash for you."
They all went over the field where Mr. Black had seen Splash trotting
early that morning. They saw the ram, who, at first, seemed about to run
toward them. But when Mr. Black shook the stick at him the ram turned
away and nibbled grass.
"No sign of Splash here," said the farmer, as he stood on the fence and
looked across the field.
"Then he's just lost," said Bunny. He was glad the ram had not hurt his
dog. But where could Splash be?
They went on a little farther, and Sue called:
"Splash! Splash! Where are you?"
But there was no answer. Then they went on a little farther, and Bunny
called:
"Splash! Ho, Splash!"
Hark! What was that?
They all listened.
From somewhere, a good way off, the faint barking of a dog could be
heard.
"There he is!" cried Bunker Blue. "That's Splash!"
"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Sue.
"But why doesn't he come to us?" Bunny asked. "Splash always comes when
you call him. Why doesn't he come?"
No one could answer this. They listened and waited. They could hear the
dog barking, but the sound was as far off as ever.
"Maybe he can't come," said Ben. "Maybe he's caught, or hurt, and can't
walk. We'll have to go to him."
"I guess that's right," said Farmer Black. "We'll find that dog of yours
after all."
They listened in order to tell where the barking came from, and then
started off toward a little grove of trees. It seemed that Splash was
there. And, as they came nearer the barking sounded more plainly.
"Oh, Splash! Splash!" cried Sue.
The dog barked and whined now.
"He's hurt!" said Bunker Blue. "He must be caught in a trap!"
And it was there they found poor Splash.
He had stepped with one paw into a trap that was hidden under the
leaves, and there he was, held fast. For the trap, which was a string
spring one, was fastened by a chain to a heavy log. And as Splash could
not pull the log and trap too, he had had to stay where he was caught.
"Oh, you poor, dear Splash!" cried Sue, putting her arms around the
dog's neck. Splash licked her face with his red tongue, and whined.
Bunny, too, put his arms around his pet.
"Some boy must have set that trap here to catch musk rats," said Farmer
Black. "I've told 'em not to, but they won't mind. Let me see now if I
can't set Splash loose."
This was soon done. The trap was not a sharp one, with teeth, as some
are made, and though one of the dog's paws was pinched and bruised, no
bones were broken, nor was the skin cut. But poor Splash was quite lame,
and could only walk on three legs.
"Splash, what made you run away from home?" asked Bunny.
Of course the dog could not answer. But he may have found some other dog
to play with, and run off to have some fun. Then he had stepped into the
trap, and there he was held until his little friends came to find him.
"And it's a good thing you looked for him," said Bunker Blue, "or he
might have been out here all night, caught in the trap."
"Poor Splash!" said Sue, as she hugged him again.
As Splash could not walk along very well, on three legs, Mr. Black said
he would hitch up a wagon and take the dog, and everyone else, to
grandpa's place. And, a little later, this was done.
Grandpa Brown put some liniment on the sore leg, and bound it up in soft
cloths. Then Splash went to sleep in the kitchen.
"Oh, I'm so glad he isn't lost!" sighed Sue, as she and Bunny went to
bed that night.
"So am I," echoed her brother.
For several days Splash had to go about on three legs, holding the lame
one, with the cloth on, up in the air. Then the pain and bruise of the
trap passed away, and he could run around the same as before, on four
legs, though he limped a little. Soon he was over that, and as well as
ever.
"And you must keep out of traps," said Bunny, shaking a finger at his
pet.
"Bow-wow!" barked Splash, and I guess that he meant he would.
It was about a week after this that Bunny Brown and his sister Sue saw
Bunker Blue and Ben Hall out in a field with a big pile of white cloth.
"Oh, maybe they're going to send up a balloon!" exclaimed Bunny, for he
had once seen this done at a park.
"Let's go watch!" cried Sue.
They found the two big boys stretching out the white cloth, to which was
fastened many ropes.
"Is it a balloon?" asked Bunny.
"No," answered Bunker. "It's a tent."
"A tent! What a big one!"
"It's the army tent your grandfather used to sleep in when he went to
camp. He let us take it. We're going to put it up and see how many it
will hold."
"What for?" Bunny wanted to know. "Are you going camping? Can Sue and I
come?"
"No, we're not going camping," answered Ben. "But we want this tent, and
perhaps another one, bigger, for the circus we are going to give."
"Oh, are you going to have a circus?" asked Bunny.
"Well, we big boys are thinking of it," said Bunker. "You young ones
gave such a good one, that we want to see if we can't come up to you.
That's why we're going to put up this tent."
"We'll help," said Bunny. Then he and Sue began pulling on ropes and
hauling on the ends of the white canvas, of which the tent was made. The
children thought they were helping, but I guess Bunker and Ben could
have done better if left alone. Still they liked the children, and did
not want to send them away.
But Bunny, who had gone away from Sue, soon grew tired of pulling on the
heavy ropes.
"I guess I'll come back when you have the tent up," said the little
fellow. "Come on, Sue," and he looked around for his sister.
But she was not in sight.
"Sue! Sue!" called Bunny. "Where are you?"
"Maybe she's gone home," said Ben.
"No, she wouldn't go without me," Bunny declared. "Oh, maybe she's lost;
or caught in a trap, just like Splash was!" and Bunny began to cry.