"Will he do it?" asked Bunny.

"I think so," answered Mr. Tallman. "He used to do it for me, in his other stable. This one may be a bit strange to him. But we'll see what he does."

The lump of sugar had been put in the measure, and the measure was covered with a bushel basket, turned upside down. Then, stepping back, Mr. Tallman said:

"Now, Toby, go and get your oats! Go and get your oats!"

The little Shetland pony bobbed his head up and down, just as if he were saying that this is just what he would do. Then he took a few steps toward the oat bin, which had a hinged cover like the boxes in the grocery where the coffee is kept.

"No! No! Don't go to the oat bin yet," said Mr. Tallman. "First, get the wooden measure, Toby! I have to have that first, before I can dish you out any oats. Take the measure over to the box."

Whether Toby knew all that Mr. Tallman said to him, or whether the pony had learned to go for the measure because he knew there was a lump of sugar in it, I can't exactly say. Perhaps it was a little of both. At any rate, he walked over to the bushel basket that covered the wooden measure.

With a quick motion of his head Toby knocked the basket to one side. Then he reached down and took out the lump of sugar, which he chewed.

"Oh, he did it! He did it!" cried Sue, clapping her hands.

"But this isn't all," said Mr. Tallman. "This is only half the trick. Watch and see if he does the rest."

The children and Mrs. Brown waited until Toby had chewed down the lump of sugar. And then, with a little whinny, which seemed as if he tried to talk, Toby picked the two-quart measure up in his mouth.

Over to the oat bin he walked with it, and Bunny and Sue could hardly keep still, they were so excited.

Would Toby open the box, as Mr. Tallman wanted him to?

And that is just what the Shetland pony did. Dropping the wooden measure at one side of the wooden box where his oats were kept, Toby lifted the cover with his nose. Then he picked up the measure again, and dropped it in the box, on top of the oats that filled it nearly to the brim.

"Ha! that's the way to do it!" cried Mr. Tallman. "Now you have done the trick, Toby, and you shall have another lump of sugar!"

And he gave the pony a large one.

"Was that what you wanted him to do?" asked Mrs. Brown.

"Yes, that was the trick I taught him in his own stable. I was afraid perhaps he might have forgotten it here, but I see he hasn't."

"Aren't you going to give him some oats now?" asked Bunny.

"Well, I thought maybe you or Sue would like to have him do the trick over again before he had any oats. Usually I didn't let him have any until after I had made him do the trick three or four times. He has the habit of doing it like that. So you children take a turn. Here is more sugar for him."

Bunny took a lump, and put it in the measure. Then he hid it under the bushel basket, and, surely enough, Toby went over to it again, took the measure out from under and dropped it into the oat bin. Then Bunny gave him the second lump of sugar.

Toby did the trick for Sue, as well as for Mrs. Brown, and then the children's mother said:

"Well, now I am sure Toby has earned his oats."

"Yes, now we'll give him some," agreed Mr. Tallman, and the little horse seemed to like them very much.

"Did he do this trick in the circus?" asked Bunny.

"No, I taught him this after that time," answered Mr. Tallman. "In the circus, though, Toby used to stand on his hind legs with a lot of other ponies in a ring, and a monkey used to ride around on his back. We haven't any monkey now, so we can't do that trick."

"Mr. Winkler has a monkey!" exclaimed Bunny. "His name is Wango—the monkey's name is, I mean. Maybe we could get him to ride on Toby's back."

"Not unless the monkey is taught to do it," replied Mr. Tallman. "I guess we hadn't better try that just yet."

"No, indeed!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown.

"Wango is always getting into mischief, too. I don't want him around."

"But could you make Toby stand on his hind legs?" asked Sue.

"I think so," answered the visitor. And when the pony had finished his oats Mr. Tallman stood in front of him, and, holding out a broom handle, as the ring-master in a circus holds out his whip, called:

"Up, Toby! Up!"

Then, to the surprise and delight of Bunny and Sue, Toby rose on his hind legs, and pranced around the barn floor, almost as well as Splash, the dog, could stand on his hind legs.

"Oh, that's three tricks he can do!" cried Bunny. "Our pony can do three tricks! He can stand on his hind legs, he can open his oat box, and he can bring back a handkerchief."

"And he can let a monkey ride on his back," added Mr. Tallman. "But we won't do that trick now."

Bunny and Sue rather wished they could see Wango riding on Toby's back, but they knew, as well as did their mother, that Mr. Winkler's pet sometimes did mischievous as well as funny tricks. Perhaps it was better not to have him ride Toby.

"Well, I'm glad you like my pony, or, rather, the pony that used to be mine," said Mr. Tallman, as he was leaving. "If you are kind and good to him, as I know you will be, perhaps you can teach him other tricks."

"Oh, yes! That's what I'm going to do!" cried Bunny. "And then we can take him to the circus!"

"No!" cried Sue. "You can't take my pony to the circus! I own half of Toby, don't I, Mother?"

"Well, yes, I suppose so. But I don't believe Bunny would really take him to any circus."

"Oh, no, I only meant a make-believe circus, like we played once before," said the little boy.

"Oh, yes, we can do that," agreed Sue.

Mr. Tallman told Bunny and Sue some other simple tricks they might teach Toby to do, and then he said good-bye to the pony and started back home.

"And we hope you'll find your red-and-yellow box," said Sue, as she waved her hand.

"So do I," added the man who had been robbed, so that he was made poor and had to sell Toby. "I hope so, too!"

"Every time we go out riding in our pony cart we'll look for your box," promised Bunny, and Mr. Tallman said that was very kind of them.

After the visitor had gone Bunny and Sue wanted to hitch Toby up again, and drive down to their father's dock to tell him about the new trick the pony could do. But Mrs. Brown said it would be better to let the pony rest awhile and tell Mr. Brown about him when he came home in the evening.

This Bunny and Sue did, and they took their father out to the barn and showed him how Toby could take the measure out from under the bushel basket, and drop it in the oat box.

"And maybe you can make him stand on his hind legs," added Bunny.

"I'll try," said Mr. Brown. And he did. And, surely enough, when the broomstick was held crosswise in front of him, up rose Toby on his hind legs, just as when Mr. Tallman had told him to.

It was about a week after this, and Bunny and Sue had learned to drive Toby quite well, that their mother called to them:

"Children, will you go to the store for me in your pony cart? I need some sugar for a cake."

"We'll get it, Mother!" answered Bunny, and he and Sue hurried out to the barn. With the help of the hired girl they hitched Toby to the cart, and soon they were driving down the street to the store, Splash, their dog, who was called that because he had once splashed into the water after Sue, who had fallen in, and pulled her out—But there! you can read all about that in the first volume of this series. So to go on: Splash went with them, now running on ahead and again lagging behind, barking and wagging his tail.

Bunny and Sue went in the store together to get the sugar, and, as they did not think they would stay very long, they did not fasten Toby's strap to a hitching post, as their father had told them they must always do. But as there were quite a number of customers in the store it was some little time before Bunny got what he wanted.

Then, as he and Sue started out to ride back home in their pony cart, they heard some one say:

"Where is that Bunny Brown boy?"

"Here I am," he answered, stepping from behind one of the clerks that had asked the question. "What's the matter?" Bunny asked.

"Why, your pony has walked away from in front of the store," the clerk replied. "There he goes down the street!"



CHAPTER XI

OFF TO THE FARM

At first Bunny and Sue were so surprised at what the grocery store clerk told them that they did not know what to do. Bunny almost dropped the bag of sugar he was carrying.

"What about my pony?" asked the little boy.

"I just happened to look out and noticed your pony walking away," went on the clerk. "I knew he was yours, Bunny Brown, for I saw you and Sue drive up in the little cart. It's a good thing he isn't running away. If you hurry you can catch him."

"Come on!" cried Bunny to his sister. "We've got to get Toby 'fore maybe an automobile runs into him and smashes our cart."

"Oh, yes! Get him!" begged Sue. "Oh, what made Toby walk away?"

"Maybe he got tired of waiting," said the clerk, "or perhaps something frightened him. If you can't get him I'll run after him for you as soon as I wait on Miss Winkler."

"Land sakes! what's the matter now? Has that monkey got loose again?" asked the woman who was sister to the sailor who owned the tricky monkey.

"No, it isn't your monkey that's loose—it is our pony," said Bunny, as he and Sue hurried out of the door.

They saw going slowly down the street, their Shetland pony. Toby did not appear to be in a hurry. He was just walking.

"I guess he just got tired of waiting—there didn't anything frighten him," announced Bunny.

"But we must get him," said Sue.

"Of course!" said her brother. "Come on!"

They started to run down the street, on which there were not many wagons or automobiles just then, and, as there were only a few persons on the sidewalk, Bunny and Sue could easily keep their pony and cart in sight.

But before they could reach it something queer happened. With a bark and a wag of his tail, their dog Splash came rushing along. Straight down the street he trotted, and up into the pony cart he jumped, for the back door had been left open, when Bunny and Sue got out.

Into the cart jumped Splash and he barked:

"Bow-wow!"

It was just as if he said:

"Whoa, now!"

I don't know whether or not Toby understood dog talk. But he did understand the next thing that happened. For Splash reached over and took hold of the reins in his teeth, pulling back on the lines.

Toby had been taught to stop whenever he felt a pull on the reins, whether any one said "whoa!" or not. And this time, feeling himself being pulled back, and not knowing it was only Splash who was doing it, Toby stopped.

"Bow-wow!" barked Splash again, sort of down in his throat, for he was still keeping his place in the cart, and holding to the reins. "Bow-wow!"

It was as if he said:

"See what I did now!"

Bunny and Sue, hurrying down the street after their pony that had walked away, saw what their dog had done.

"Oh, he stopped Toby for us!" cried Bunny, and he was so excited that he almost dropped the bag of sugar.

"That's what he did!" exclaimed Sue. "Oh, isn't he a good dog?"

"He's smart, and so's Toby!" said Bunny. "But next time we'll fasten our pony."

"Yes, that's what you'd better do," said the clerk from the store who had, after waiting on Miss Winkler, run down the street to see if the children needed help. "Even a tame pony had better be tied when he is left to stand in the street," the clerk said. "Are you all right now?"

"Yes, thank you, we're all right," answered Bunny. "Our dog Splash stopped Toby for us."

"Indeed? He's a smart dog!" said the clerk with a laugh, as he patted the shaggy head. "Here's a sweet cracker for him, and one for your pony."

Splash quickly chewed down the treat the clerk gave him, and Bunny let Toby take another cracker off the palm of his hand.

"And here are some for yourselves," went on the clerk, taking some more from his pocket.

"Oh, thank you!" said Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue.

They got into the pony cart, and they let Splash stay in, too, because he had been so smart as to catch Toby, and then the children drove back past the store. Miss Winkler was just coming out.

"Land sakes!" she cried, "what's goin' to happen next? Have you youngsters a pony cart?"

"And he's a trick pony!" exclaimed Bunny. "He can let a monkey ride on his back."

"Maybe some day we could take Wango, your monkey," added Sue.

"Land sakes, child! Don't call him my monkey!" exclaimed Miss Winkler. "I wish I'd never seen the beast! Only this morning he knocked down a jar of my strawberry preserves, and the pantry looks as if I'd spilled red ink all over it! I wish to goodness Jed Winkler would put him on some pony's back and ride him to the Land of Goshen!"

"Is that very far from here?" asked Bunny. "'Cause if it isn't too far maybe we could ride Wango away for you on Toby's back."

"Land sakes, child! No, I wouldn't want that good-for-nothing monkey Wango to have a ride on the back of such a nice pony as yours. I'll make Jed sell him to a hand-organ man—that's what I will!"

Wango was a mischievous little chap, but Jed Winkler used to say this was so because Miss Winkler never treated him kindly. The truth was that Miss Winkler didn't like monkeys.

"Maybe some day Mr. Winkler will let us take Wango to do a circus trick on Toby's back," said Sue to her brother, as they turned Toby around and started for home.

"Maybe," agreed Bunny. "Anyhow, I'm glad Toby didn't walk away very far this time."

"So'm I," added Sue.

"And Splash is an awful good dog, isn't he?" went on Bunny, as he turned down a side street and let Sue take the reins.

"Yes, he caught Toby just as good as a policeman could," Sue said, as she guided the Shetland pony along the road. "We love you, Splash," she went on, and the dog wagged his tail so hard that he brushed all the dust off Bunny's shoes. Then he tried to "kiss" Sue, but she hid her face down in her arms, for she didn't like the wet tongue of the dog on her face, even if he only did it to show how much he liked her.

"Hi, Bunny! Hi! Give me a ride!" called a voice from the yard at the side of a house as the children passed. "Give me a ride."

"It's Charlie Star!" exclaimed Bunny, looking back. "Shall we give him a ride, Sue?"

"Yes, we promised, and we've room if Splash gets out."

"We've room anyhow," Bunny said, as Sue pulled on the reins and called: "Whoa!"

Toby stopped. Splash must have been tired of riding in the cart, for out he jumped, and Charlie got in.

"Our pony walked away, but Splash caught him," Bunny explained, telling what had happened in front of the store.

"He did!" cried Charlie. "Say, your dog's smart all right."

"An' so's our pony!" added Bunny. "You ought to see him do tricks!"

"I'd like to," said Charlie.

"You can, when we have another play circus," went on Bunny.

"And maybe we'll get Mr. Winkler's monkey, Wango, and let him ride on Toby's back—maybe," said Sue, who now let her brother take the reins again.

"Say, that'd be great!" cried Charlie with sparkling eyes.

"But maybe Mr. Winkler won't let us take his monkey," said Bunny, who didn't want Charlie to count too much on seeing that trick. "But if he won't, we can tie one of Sue's dolls on Toby's back, and make believe that's a monkey."

"No, you can't!" exclaimed Sue. "None of my dolls is going to be a monkey!"

"Oh, I mean only make believe," said Bunny.

"Oh, well, if it's just make believe that's different," agreed Sue. "I'll let you take my old rag doll for that."

Bunny and Sue gave Charlie a ride around the block in which his house was, and then he jumped out, after thanking them. Back home they drove with the sugar, Splash running on ahead.

"After this, you must always tie your pony when you let him stand in front of a store," said Mrs. Brown, when the children told her what had happened.

Bunny and Sue had many nice rides behind their Shetland pony. Sometimes Uncle Tad went with them. They learned to manage him quite well, and Mrs. Brown was not afraid to let the children go even on rather long drives. One day she said to them:

"Do you think you could drive Toby to the farm, and bring me back some new butter?"

"Oh, yes, Mother!" cried Bunny. "We'd love to!"

The farm, of which the children's mother spoke, was a place about two miles out of town, where a man sold butter, eggs and chickens. Mrs. Brown often sent there for fresh things for the table.

"Well, if you're sure it won't be too far for you, you may go," she said to the children. "But be very careful of autos and wagons."

"We will," they promised.

"We'll keep on one side of the road all the way," Bunny added.

He and Sue knew the road to the farm quite well, or they thought they did, and they were quite delighted to start off, not knowing what was going to happen to them.

"I'll put you up a little lunch to eat on the way," said Mrs. Brown, "for it may take you some time to go and come."

"Won't Toby get hungry, too?" asked Sue.

"Yes, but he can eat the grass alongside the road while you are taking your lunch. I won't have to put up any for the pony. But you might have a lump of sugar or a sweet cracker for him."

"That's what we will," said Bunny.

Then he and Sue got ready to start for the farm.

And what do you suppose happened to them before they got home again?



CHAPTER XII

THE WRONG ROAD

Toby, the Shetland pony, stamped his feet in the soft grass in front of the home of Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue. Then he "shivered" off some flies that were biting his legs, and switched some off his back with his long tail.

"And now we're ready to start!" cried Sue, as she sat on the cushion near her brother, who was to drive the first part of the way.

"And don't drop the butter when you're coming back," said Mrs. Brown, as she saw that the children's lunch was safely put in the cart, together with a few lumps of sugar and some sweet crackers for Toby.

"We won't," promised Bunny. "Gidap, Toby!" he called, and away trotted the pony.

Down the village street went Toby, and Bunny and Sue smiled and waved their hands to some of their boy and girl friends who watched them driving away, wishing they were going.

"We'll give you a ride when we come back," promised Sue.

She turned to wave her hand to Sadie West, and then Sue saw Splash, the big dog, trotting along behind the pony cart.

"Oh, Bunny!" exclaimed Sue, "do we want to take Splash along?"

"No, I don't guess we do," Bunny answered. "There's a big dog at the farm, and he might fight our dog like he did once before."

This had happened. For once, when Mr. Brown took Bunny and his sister to the place to get some fresh eggs and butter, Splash had trotted along with them. And Splash and the other dog at the farm did not seem to be friends, for they fought and bit one another, and Mr. Brown and Mr. Potter, the man who owned the farm, had hard work to make the animals stop.

"Whoa, Toby!" called Bunny to the pony, and he stopped. "Now you go on back, Splash!" ordered his little master.

But Splash did not want to go back. He sat down on the grass, thumped his tail up and down, and then sort of looked off to one side, as though to see how tall the trees were. He didn't look at Bunny or Sue at all, and when their dog didn't do this the children knew he didn't want to mind them.

"Go back home, Splash!" ordered Bunny.

"'Cause we don't want you fighting with that other dog," added Sue. "Go home like a nice doggie."

But Splash didn't seem to want to be a nice dog. He just sat thumping his tail and looking off at the trees.

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Bunny, with a sort of sigh. "What'll we do? I guess I'll have to get out and take him back."

"If you do that," said Sue, "maybe Toby will walk away again."

"You could stay in the cart and hold the lines," said Bunny.

"I don't want to stay here if you're not going to," went on Bunny's sister.

"Then we can both get out and take Splash home," decided the little boy, after a while. "He'll go back if we go back a little way with him. He likes to be with us. And we can tie Toby to something so he can't walk away."

"What could we tie him to?" asked Sue.

Bunny looked all around. There were no hitching posts near by—only some big trees.

"We could tie him to one of them," he said. "Or to a stone."

"Toby could pull a stone right along with him," objected Sue. "You'd better tie him to a tree."

"Maybe he could pull up a tree, too," said Bunny. "Once I saw a picture of an elephant pulling up a tree."

"Toby isn't as strong as an elephant," Sue said. Then she exclaimed: "Oh, Bunny, I know what we can do!"

"What?"

"We can throw a stick for Splash to run after. And when he goes back after the stick we can drive on with Toby and get so far away that Splash can't find us."

"That's so! We can do that!" exclaimed Bunny. "I'll do it. I'll throw a stick for Splash to go after, and you hold the reins," and he passed the pony reins to his sister.

As Bunny got down out of the pony cart Splash jumped up and ran toward his little master, wagging his tail.

"No, I'm not going to play with you!" Bunny said, trying to speak crossly, but finding it hard work, for he loved Splash. "You've got to go on back home! Next time we'll take you with us, but now we're going to the farm, and there's a bad dog there that'll bite you. You've got to go back, Splash!"

Of course, Bunny's dog did not understand all the little boy said. But Splash knew what it meant when Bunny stooped and picked up a stick. Splash was used to running after sticks and stones that the children threw, and he would bring them back, to have them thrown over again.

"Now go and get this, Splash!" ordered Bunny, as he got ready to toss the stick. At the same time the boy looked to make sure he did not have to run too far to get back to the cart and drive off with Sue. "Go get it, Splash!" cried Bunny, as he threw the stick.

"Bow-wow!" barked the dog, and away he ran as the stick sailed through the air. Then Bunny turned and raced back toward the cart, where Sue was waiting for him.

"We must hurry," said the little girl. "Splash is a terrible fast runner."

"Gidap, Toby!" cried Bunny, as he took the reins, and once more away trotted the little pony. Then Sue looked back, and she cried:

"Oh, Bunny! It's no good! Here comes Splash after us!"

And, surely enough, the dog was coming after them. He had found the stick Bunny had thrown, and then, taking it in his mouth, had started back after the pony cart.

"You didn't throw it far enough," said Sue.

"I threw it as far as I could," said Bunny.

"Well, here comes Splash. What are we going to do now?" Sue asked. "I guess we've got to drive back and take him home."

"That'll take a long time," Bunny said, "and we ought to be going after the butter. Oh, Splash! you're a bad dog!" he exclaimed.

Splash sat down on the grass, near where Toby had come to a second stop, and flopped his tail up and down on the grass. That's what Splash did. And he dropped the stick at his feet and looked down at it, every now and then, as if he were saying:

"Well, that was a pretty good throw, Bunny. But throw it again. I like to run after sticks and bring 'em back to you."

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Sue. "What are we going to do now?"

"What's the matter?" asked a voice the children knew, and there was Bunker Blue, walking along with an axe over his shoulder. He was going to the woods to cut some stakes for the big fish nets. "What's the matter, Bunny and Sue?" asked the boat boy.

"Oh, Splash is following us, and we're going to the farm, and there's a big dog there that bites him," explained Bunny. "We can't make Splash go back home."

"And Bunny threw a stick and—and everything," added Sue.

"Well, I'll take him with me," offered Bunker Blue. "He always likes to go to the woods. I'll take him with me and then he won't bother you. Here, Splash!" he called.

With a bark and a joyful wag of his tail, Splash sprang up and ran toward Bunker.

"Come on now! Off to the woods!" cried the fish boy.

Splash turned once to look back at Bunny and Sue in the pony cart, and then he glanced at Bunker. It was as if he said:

"Well, I like you both, and I don't know which one to go with."

"Go on with Bunker!" said Bunny to his dog. And, with a final wag of his tail and a good-bye bark, Splash did.

"I'll take care of him. He won't follow you any more," said Bunker, and then he marched off toward the woods, the big dog tagging after.

"Now we can go to the farm," said Bunny, and he and Sue drove on.

They knew the way to the farm, for they had been there many times before, though this was their first visit in the pony cart. Mr. Potter saw them coming up the drive, and called out:

"My! you certainly are coming in style this time. Are you going to buy my place?"

"No, only some butter, if you please," replied Bunny. And while it was being wrapped up he hitched Toby to a post, and then the little boy and girl went into the house, where Mrs. Potter gave them each a glass of sweet milk.

"We have some cookies and things to eat that mother gave us," said Bunny, "but we're going to have a little lunch in the woods going home. We've a lump of sugar for Toby, too."

"My! you're well off!" laughed Mrs. Potter. "Now, there's your butter. Don't spill it on the way home."

"We won't," promised the children, and soon they were driving back again.

"When are we going to eat our lunch?" asked Sue, after a bit.

"We can eat it now," said Bunny. "I was just looking for a shady place."

"There's some shade over there," went on Sue, pointing to a clump of trees a little distance away. "We can drive off on that other road and have a picnic."

"All right," Bunny agreed. And then, forgetting that his mother had told him not to get off the straight road between the farm and home, Bunny turned the pony down a lane and along another highway to the wood. There, finding a place where a little spring of water bubbled out near a green, mossy rock, the children sat down to eat their lunch. But first they tied Toby to a tree and gave him his piece of sugar and the crackers. After that he found some grass to nibble.

Bunny and Sue had a good time playing picnic in the woods. They sat under the trees and made believe they were gypsies traveling around.

"I wonder if they is any gypsies around here?" asked Sue.

"George Watson said there were some camping over near Springdale," answered Bunny.

"Let's don't go there," suggested Sue.

"No, we won't," agreed her brother. "And I guess we'd better start for home now. Mother told us not to be late."

They fed Toby some cookie crumbs left in one of the boxes, and then started to drive out of the wood. But they had not gone very far before they came to a bridge over a noisy, babbling brook.

"Why, Bunny," cried Sue, "this isn't the way we came! We didn't cross over this bridge before!"

"Whoa!" called Bunny. He looked at the bridge and at the brook. Then he said: "That's right, Sue. We didn't. I guess we're on the wrong road."

"Does that mean we—we're lost, Bunny?" asked Sue.



CHAPTER XIII

TOBY FINDS THE WAY

Bunny Brown did not at once answer his Sister Sue. He sat in the pony cart, looking around. It was a pretty spot. Behind them were the woods, and, on either side, green fields. Before them ran the brook. But there were no houses in sight.

"Are we lost, Bunny?" asked Sue again.

That seemed to wake Bunny up from his daydream.

"Lost! No, of course not!" he exclaimed. "How could anybody be lost in the day time?"

"Well, Sadie West was lost once in the day time," said Sue. "She was in a big city, and she couldn't find her mamma nor her house nor anything!"

"Well, this isn't a city," said Bunny. "This is the country and I know how to get home."

"Oh, do you?" asked Sue, much relieved. "How, Bunny?"

"Why—why, all I've got to do is turn around and go back," he said. "We came the wrong way after we drove out of the woods, that's all. Now I'll turn around and go back. Come on, Toby!" he called to the Shetland pony. "Back up and we'll go home."

But Toby did not seem to want to back up. He pulled the cart and the children in it, on toward the brook. At one side of the bridge was a little slope, leading down to the water. There were marks to show that horses and wagons had crossed there, driving through the stream.

"Whoa, Toby!" cried Bunny. "Where are you going?"

The little pony was headed straight for the brook.

"Oh, I guess he wants a drink of water," said Sue.

"Maybe he does," agreed Bunny, as he saw that the pony was not going to stop. "He pulls terrible hard on the reins," he went on. "I guess he does want a drink, Sue. We'll let him have it, and then we'll turn around and drive back."

Toby walked along until his front feet were in the water. Then, as he did not have on a cruel check-rein, which hurts horses and ponies, Toby could lean his nose right down into the water and take a drink. When horses have a check-rein on they can't lower their heads to drink or eat until the strap is loosened. So if ever you have a horse or pony, don't put a check-rein on him. Toby's neck was free to bend any way he wanted it to, which is as it should be.

"Oh, Bunny, I know what let's do!" cried Sue, as Toby raised his head, having drunk enough water.

"What'll we do?" asked Bunny.

"Let's drive right on through the water! It won't come up over our cart, and it will wash the wheels nice and clean."

"All right. We'll do it," agreed Bunny.

He remembered that once, when he and Sue were at Grandpa's farm, the old gentleman had driven his horses and the wagon, with the children in it, through a shallow brook, after letting the horses drink. This was at a place called a "ford," and Bunny and Sue were at a ford in this brook.

"Gidap, Toby!" called Bunny, and the pony waded on into the water, pulling the cart after him. He seemed to like it, as the day was warm and there had been a lot of dust in the road.

The water washed and cooled the pony's legs, and also cleaned the wheels of the basket cart. The brook was not deep, not coming up to the hubs of the wheels, and the bottom was a smooth, gravel one, so Toby did not slip.

"Oh, that was fun!" cried Sue, as Bunny drove out on the other side of the ford. "And now we can cross back over on the bridge and go home, can't we, Bunny?"

"Yep. That's what we'll do," said her brother.

There was plenty of room to turn around on the other side of the stream, and soon Toby was clattering over the bridge, under which the stream ran. Down the road he went, and along a patch of woods, Bunny and Sue talking over what a good time they had had.

But, pretty soon, the little girl said:

"Bunny, I don't see any houses."

Bunny looked around. He didn't see any either.

"Maybe we'll come to some pretty soon," he told his sister.

But, as they drove on, the trees on either side of the road became thicker. They grew more closely together, and were larger, their leafy tops meeting in an arch overhead, making the road quite dusky. The road, too, instead of being hard and smooth as it had been, was now soft sand, in which Toby could not pull the cart along very fast.

"Bunny," said Sue, and her voice sounded as though she were a little frightened, "are we lost yet?"

Bunny did not answer for a moment or two. He looked all around while the Shetland pony plodded slowly on. Then he called:

"Whoa!"

"What are you stopping for?" asked Sue.

"I guess this is the wrong road again," Bunny answered. "We didn't go right, even after we came back from the brook."

"Oh, Bunny! are we really lost?" cried Sue.

"I guess so," her brother answered. "But we're not lost very much. We can easy find our way back again."

"How?" Sue demanded.

"We can turn around."

"But we turned around once before, Bunny, and we didn't get where we wanted to! I want to go home!"

"Well, I don't guess this way is home," said the little boy. "We never came through so much sand before. Toby can hardly pull us. We've got to go back, out of this."

"But where shall we go after this?" Sue wanted to know. "Oh, dear! I wish we'd let Splash come along!"

"Why?" asked Bunny.

"'Cause then he could show us the way home. Dogs don't ever get lost, Bunny Brown!" and Sue seemed ready to cry.

"Maybe ponies don't, either," said Bunny, feeling he must do something to make his sister feel better. "I guess Toby can find his way home as easy as Splash could."

"Oh, do you really think so?" asked Sue, smiling again, and seeming much happier. "Can Toby find the way home, Bunny?"

"I guess so. Anyhow, I'm going to let him try. But first I'll turn around so we can get out of this sand."

Toby seemed glad enough of this, for it was hard pulling with the soft ground clinging to the wheels. In a little while the cart was back on the hard soil again, though still the trees met overhead in an arch and made the place dark.

"Do you know where we are, Bunny?" asked Sue.

Her brother shook his head.

"Do you know where our home is?" Sue went on.

Once more Bunny shook his head.

"Oh, dear!" sighed Sue.

"But I guess Toby knows," said the little boy. "I'm going to let him take us home. Go on home, Toby!" he called, and let the reins lie loosely on the pony's back.

The Shetland looked around at the children in the cart, which he could easily do, having no "blinders" on the sides of his head. Blinders are almost as bad as check-reins for horses and ponies. Never have them on your pets, for a pony needs to see on the sides of him as well as in front.

Toby looked back at the cart and then he gave a little whinny.

"Oh, Bunny!" cried Sue, "what do you s'pose he looked at us that way for?"

"I guess he wanted to see if we had fallen out," said Bunny. "But we haven't. We're here, Toby!" he called to the pony. "Now take us home, please!"

Whether Toby understood or not, I cannot say. Probably the little pony was hungry, and he wanted to go on to his stable where the oats and hay were. Crackers and sugar might be all right, he may have thought, but he needed hay and oats for a real meal.

And perhaps he really did know the way home. Lots of horses do, they say, even on a dark night, so why shouldn't a pony in the day time? That's what Bunny and Sue thought.

Bunny never touched the reins. He let them rest loosely on Toby's back, and on the pony went. When he came to a hard, level road Toby began to trot. And pretty soon Sue cried:

"Oh, Bunny! Toby has found the way out! We're not lost any more!"

"How do you know?" asked Bunny.

"'Cause I can see Miss Hollyhock's house, and we both know the road home from there! See it!" and Sue pointed down the road.



CHAPTER XIV

TOBY'S OTHER TRICK

Bunny Brown stood up in the pony cart and looked to where Sue pointed. Across a little green valley he could see another road, at one point was a small cottage, nestled among the trees, and with vines growing about it.

"Yes, that's where Miss Hollyhock lives," he said.

"And then we aren't lost any more, are we?" asked Sue.

"No, I guess not," Bunny said. "But we have to get on that other road."

This the children soon did, taking a highway that cut across the valley. Toby had taken them out of the woods on a new path, but it was just as good as the one they had driven on in going to the farm, though longer.

And in a little while they were going past the cottage where lived the elderly woman, known all around as "Old Miss Hollyhock." This was because so many of those flowers blossomed near her cottage.

"Well, my dears, where have you been?" she asked.

"Oh, we went to the farm to get some butter for mother," answered Bunny, "but we got lost."

"We're found now, though," went on Sue. "Now we know the way home."

"Are you sure?" asked Miss Hollyhock.

"Oh, yes," said Bunny. "We've been on this road lots of times."

"Well, trot along home then," said Miss Hollyhock. "If you've been lost you must have been away from home quite a long while, and your mother may be worried about you. Trot along home, pony!"

And Toby trotted along home with Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue.

Mrs. Brown, standing at the gate, and looking down the road, saw them coming.

"Where have you children been?" she asked, coming out to meet them. "I have been quite worried about you! Where were you?"

"We were lost, Mother!" answered Bunny.

"Lost? Couldn't you find your way to the farm?"

"Oh, yes," he answered. "But coming home we took the wrong road. But Toby found the right one for us."

"He's as good as Splash," added Sue. "Splash wanted to come with us, but Bunker took him to the woods. Oh, we had such a good time!"

"Even with getting lost?" asked Mrs. Brown, with a smile. She felt better, now that the children were safe at home.

"Oh, we weren't lost very long," explained Sue. "It was only a little while, and then Toby brought us home, but it was on a new road," and, taking turns, she and Bunny told what had happened.

"Well, I'll feel better about having you go out for rides, if I know that Toby can always bring you back," said Mrs. Brown. "But don't try too many new roads. Stick to the old paths that you know until you get a little older. Did you bring my butter?"

"Yes, here it is," and Bunny handed it out, nicely wrapped up as Mrs. Potter had given it to him.

"Has Splash come home yet?" Sue asked.

The dog had not. He was off in the woods having a good time with Bunker. At least he looked as though he had had a good time when he did come home, for he was covered with mud and water, and there were a lot of "stickery" briars and brambles on his back and legs.

"He ran into every bush and every puddle of water he could find," said Bunker Blue. "I couldn't stop him."

"Well, he can come with us next time," said Bunny. "It's only when we go to the farm, where the cross dog lives, that we can't take Splash."

The next day Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue were "playing house" in their side yard. They made a sort of tent under the trees with an old carriage cover they found in the barn, and Sue pretended she was the housekeeper.

"And you must come to call on me," she said to Bunny.

"All right, I will," he agreed. "But there isn't any door to knock on, nor any bell to ring when I call. You ought to have a bell to your house, Sue."

"That's so—I ought," she agreed.

"I know how I can make one," went on Bunny, after a while.

"How?" asked Sue.

"Well, there's an old bell that the milkman used to have—the milkman who kept his horse and wagon in our barn," explained the little boy. "The bell is in the barn now."

"Oh, yes, I 'member," Sue said.

About a year before a milkman, whose barn had burned, had asked Mr. Brown for permission to stable his horse and keep his wagon in the barn back of the house where Bunny and Sue lived. And, as they then had no pony and the barn was nearly empty, Mr. Brown had said the milkman might use it.

He did, for a time, and then he gave up the milk business, and sold his horse and wagon. But he left the bell behind—the bell he used to ring in front of people's houses to let them know he was there with milk and cream.

"We can take his bell for your house," went on Bunny.

"You mean set it outside on a box, and ring it when you come to call?" asked Sue.

Bunny thought for a moment.

"Maybe I can make it better than that," he said. "I could fasten the bell up in the tree back of your tent-house, and then tie a string to it—to the bell, I mean. I can let the string hang down outside here, and when I come I can yank on the string, and that will jingle the bell."

"Oh, let's do it!" cried Sue.

So Bunny got the milkman's bell, and fastened it to a low limb in a tree back of the tent-house where Sue pretended she was living.

Then Bunny tied a string to the bell handle and ran the string out in front, letting it hang loose, so that a pull on it would set the bell to swaying and jingling. To make it easier to take hold of the string, Bunny fastened to it a piece of wood. Then he and Sue began the playing-house game.

They had lots of fun at it. The bell rang just like a "truly-really" one, as Sue said, and when Bunny jingled it, and came in to sit down on a box (which was a chair), Sue would give him cookies.

They were sitting like this, wondering what next to play when, all at once, there came a loud jingle on the bell that was hung in a tree back of the tent.

"Are you doing that?" asked Sue of her brother.

"No!" he answered. "How could I? The bell string is outside and I'm in here."

"I thought maybe you had hold of the string in here," went on Sue. Then the bell was rung again.

"Oh, it's some of the boys and girls come to play with us—I mean they've come to call," said Sue, remembering that she was supposed to be a housekeeper.

"I'll let 'em in," said Bunny.

He went to the flap of the tent, which, being down, did not give a view outside. And what Bunny saw made him cry:

"Oh, Sue! It isn't anybody at all!"

"It isn't anybody?" repeated the little girl. "How could nobody ring the bell?"

"I mean it isn't George Watson, or Sadie West, or any of the boys or girls," added Bunny. "Oh, Sue, it's—it's——"

"What is it? Who is it?" asked the little girl. "Who is it if it isn't anybody to play with us? Who is it, Bunny?"

"It's Toby!" he answered.

"What, Toby? Our pony?"

"Yes, it's Toby. And, oh, Sue! He's ringing the bell!"

"Oh, how can he?" asked Sue, wonderingly.

Bunny, who was looking out of the tent, answered:

"He's got hold of the stick I tied on the end of the bell string, and he's shakin' his head up and down, and that rings the bell. Oh, come and look, Sue!"

Then Sue went out from under the carriage-cloth, which was the tent-house, to look.

Surely enough, there stood Toby, and in his mouth was the piece of wood that Bunny had tied to the string that was fast to the bell which hung in a tree back of the tent. Every time Toby raised and lowered his head—"bowing" Bunny and Sue called it—he pulled on the string and rang the bell.

"Oh, how do you s'pose he came to do it?" asked Sue.

"I don't know," Bunny answered. "We never told him, and we never showed him. I guess it's a new trick he's learned!"

"But how did he get out of his stable to come to do it?" Sue went on.

That was easy to answer. Bunker Blue, who came up every day from the dock to clean out the stall and brush Toby down, had left the door open, and, as the pony was not tied in his box-stall, he easily walked out. He strolled over to where the children were playing, and rang the bell.

"Just zactly like he was coming to call," Sue said afterward.

When Toby saw the children come out of the tent he went up to them and rubbed his velvety nose against them. That was his way of asking for sugar or other things that he liked.

"I haven't any sugar," said Bunny, "but I can give you a piece of cookie. Maybe you'll like that."

And Toby seemed to like it very much.

"Maybe he'll do the bell-ringing trick again, if you put a piece of cookie on the stick," said Sue.

"Maybe," agreed Bunny.

He fastened a bit of cookie on the wooden handle, and, surely enough, Toby nibbled it off, ringing the bell as he did so.

"But what made him ring it first, when there wasn't any cookie on?" asked Sue.

Bunny did not know this, but he said:

"We'll ask Mr. Tallman, the next time we see him, if he taught Toby this trick."

"Maybe he did," said Sue. "Anyhow, we love you, Toby!" and she put her arms around the pony's neck.

Bunny and Sue were wondering how Toby learned to ring the bell, and they were just going to make him do it again, when Sadie West came running into the yard.

"Oh, Sue!" exclaimed the little girl. "There's a great, big, shiny wagon out in the front of your house!"

"A shiny wagon!" exclaimed Bunny. "What do you mean?"

"I mean it's got all looking glasses on it! Come and see!"

The three children, forgetting all about Toby for the moment, hurried around the side path. What were they going to see?



CHAPTER XV

RED CROSS MONEY

Surely enough, in front of the Brown house was a wagon, painted red and yellow, and, as little Sadie West had said, it had on the sides many bright pieces of looking glass, which glittered in the sun.

"I wonder what it's for?" asked Bunny.

"It makes your eyes hurt," added Sue, shading hers with her hand as she looked at the bright wagon.

"Maybe it's your grandpa or your Aunt Lu come to see you," suggested Sadie, for she had heard Bunny and Sue tell about their relations.

"They wouldn't come in a wagon like that!" Bunny exclaimed.

"But who is in it?" asked Sue.

"Maybe it's a circus!" ventured Sadie.

"Nope! 'Tisn't a circus," Bunny said. "'Cause if it was a circus there'd be an elephant or a camel, and you don't see any of them, do you?"

"No," said Sue, "I don't."

"I don't, either," agreed Sadie.

Just then a tall, dark man, whose face looked like that of Tony, the bootblack down at the cigar store, came from the wagon, the back of which opened with a little door, and from which a flight of three steps could be let down.

"Oh, I know what it is!" cried Bunny.

"What?" asked Sue.

"It's gypsies," Bunny went on, as the tall, dark man, who had a red handkerchief around his neck, walked slowly toward the Brown home. "That's a gypsy wagon!"

"How do you know?" Sadie questioned.

"'Cause I see the earrings."

"A wagon hasn't got earrings!" exclaimed Sue.

"I didn't mean the wagon, I mean the man—that man that looks as dark as Tony the bootblack," said Bunny. "See 'em!"

Then, indeed, the two little girls noticed the shiny rings of gold in the man's ears. And when he smiled, which he did at the children, they saw his white teeth glisten in the sun.

"That wagon's red and yellow," said Sue in a whisper. "It's just like Mr. Tallman's box, isn't it, Bunny?"

"What box?" asked Sadie West.

"The one he lost with all his money in," explained Sue. "No, it wasn't money, it was—it was—oh, well, he lost something, anyhow," she said, "and he had to sell Toby to us."

"Yes, and I'm glad he did," said Bunny. "Yes, his box was red and yellow, I 'member he said so. Maybe it's some relation to this gypsy wagon."

"Are you sure it's a gypsy cart?" asked Sadie, as the dark man kept on walking from his gaily painted wagon toward the Brown front gate.

"Sure, it's a gypsy wagon," said Bunny. "Charlie Star, or one of the boys, I forget who, told me some gypsies were camping over by the pond at Springdale, and maybe this is some of them."

"I'm not afraid," said Sue.

"Pooh! Course not! Nobody need be skeered of gypsies," said Bunny in a low voice, so the dark man could not hear him. But perhaps it was because he was in his own yard that Bunny was so brave.

The dark man—he really was a gypsy, as Bunny and Sue learned later—came up to the fence, and touched his cap, almost as a soldier might salute. He smiled at the children, showing his white teeth, and asked:

"Excuse me, but has your father, maybe, some horses he wants to sell?"

"My father doesn't sell horses, he sells fish, and he rents boats," said Bunny.

"Oh, yes, I saw the fish dock," went on the gypsy. "And you must be the Brown children."

"Yes, I'm Bunny, and this is my Sister Sue," said the little boy. "And her name's Sadie West," he added, pointing to their playmate.

"How'd he know your name was Brown?" asked Sadie in a whisper of Sue.

"He saw it painted on my father's boat house," said Bunny. "Everybody knows our name—I mean our last name," and this was true, at least of the folks in Bellemere. They all knew Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue.

"I know your father does not sell horses for a business," went on the gypsy with the gold rings in his ears; "but perhaps, maybe, he has a horse he drives, and would like to get another for it, or sell it. We gypsies, you know, buy and sell horses as your father buys and sells boats and catches fish."

"Do you ever catch any horses?" asked Sue. "And do you catch them in a net?"

"Well, no, not exactly," and the gypsy smiled at her. "We get them in different ways—we trade for them. Perhaps your father has a horse he wants to trade."

"No, he hasn't any horse, except the one that pulls the fish wagon down to the depot," said Bunny, for Mr. Brown did own a slow, old horse, that took the iced fish to the train. "But I don't guess he'd sell him," Bunny went on.

"All right, I ask next door," said the gypsy, and he was turning away when, back in the yard, sounded the ringing of a bell. The gypsy turned quickly, and looked at the children.

"Oh, that's Toby, and he's ringing for us to come back and play with him!" cried Sue.

"Is Toby your brother?" asked the gypsy.

"No, he isn't our brother," Bunny answered, and he was laughing at the funny idea when Toby, the Shetland pony himself, came walking around the corner of the house.

"This is Toby—he's our pony!" explained Sue, as she put her arms around her pet, who came up to her, rubbing his velvety nose against her sleeve, as though asking for a lump of sugar or a bit of sweet cracker.

"Oh, ho! So that is Toby!" cried the gypsy, and his eyes seemed to grow brighter. "Ah, he is a fine little horse. Perhaps you will want to sell him?"

"Sell Toby? I guess not!" cried Bunny.

"Not for anything!" added Sue.

"He can ring a bell," remarked Sadie, for she felt that she wanted to say something about the pet pony.

"Oh, ho! So he can ring a bell, can he?" asked the gypsy. "Well, that's nice. And did he ring the bell I just heard?"

"That's who it was," said Bunny, a bit proud of his pony. "And he can stand on his hind legs and he can pick up a handkerchief."

"Ah, he is one fine trick pony then," the gypsy said. "Of course, you do not want to sell him then. But, if you ever do, come to me and I will give you good money for him. My name is Jaki Kezar, and I have my tent over at a place called Springdale. Bring me the trick pony there if ever you sell him."

"We will never sell him," declared Bunny.

"Never!" added Sue.

"Well, good-bye!" said the gypsy, and with another touch of his cap, like a soldier saluting, he turned back to his red-and-yellow wagon, and drove off.

"Wasn't he nice?" asked Bunny. "I'd like to be a gypsy and live in a wagon like that."

"He wasn't nice to want our pony," declared Sue.

"It was funny to see a man with rings in his ears," remarked Sadie. "I thought only ladies wore them."

"Gypsies are different," said Bunny. "Anyhow, he can't have our Toby."

"Never!" cried Sue.

They watched the gypsy wagon driving down the street. Mrs. Brown saw the children in the front yard with Toby, and she came to the door of the house.

"Haven't I told you children," she began, "that you mustn't bring Toby around here? He might trample on my flower beds."

"We didn't bring him, Mother," said Bunny. "We ran out to look at the gypsy wagon, and Toby came out himself."

"Was there a gypsy wagon here?" asked Mrs. Brown quickly.

"Yes. And he wanted to buy Toby—I mean the gypsy man did," explained Bunny. "But we wouldn't sell him."

"And he can do a new trick, Mother!" cried Sue. "I mean our pony can. He can ring a bell, and he rang it and the gypsy man heard it, and then Toby came running around to find us."

"Well, better take him around back where there aren't any flower beds," said Mrs. Brown.

By this time the red-and-yellow wagon, which was painted the same colors as was the box Mr. Tallman had lost, had been driven out of sight around the corner of the street. And, having nothing more to look at, Bunny, Sue and Sadie went back to their play-tent with Toby.

That evening, after Daddy Brown had been told about the call of the gypsy, he said to his children:

"Have you two youngsters thought anything about earning any money for the Red Cross?"

"Money for the Red Cross? What do you mean, Daddy?" asked Bunny.

"Well, you know we are going to raise a lot of money here in Bellemere for the Red Cross. It's to help our soldiers, and the men and women in charge want boys and girls, as well as grown-ups, to help. And they want boys and girls to give their own money—not the pennies or dollars they might get from their fathers or mothers."

"But we haven't any money, 'ceptin' what's in our savings banks," said Sue.

"No, they don't want you to take that," said her father with a smile. "The Red Cross wants some money—it needn't be much—from every boy and girl in Bellemere, and they want the boys and girls to earn that money. Now, can you two think of a way to earn money for the Red Cross?"

Bunny looked at Sue and Sue looked at Bunny. Then the little boy exclaimed:

"Oh, Sue! I know a dandy way to earn Red Cross money!"

"How?" asked his sister.

And what do you suppose Bunny told her?



CHAPTER XVI

IN THE WOODS

Mr. Brown was quite surprised when he heard his little boy Bunny say he knew how to earn money for the Red Cross.

"How are you going to do it, Bunny?" he asked.

"With Toby," Bunny answered. "And Sue can help me."

"What do you mean, Bunny?" asked the little girl. "I've some money in my bank for the Red Cross, but that's all I have."

"No, you mustn't take that money," her father said. "Let us hear what Bunny has to say. How can you and Sue earn money with your Shetland pony?" he asked.

"We can give rides," answered Bunny. "Don't you 'member once, in a park, we saw a boy giving children rides in his goat wagon, and he charged five cents a ride."

"Yes, I 'member that," Sue said.

"Well, that's how we can make money for the Red Cross," went on Bunny. "Lots of times the boys and girls around here ask us for rides, and once Georgie Watson said he'd give me a penny for a ride."

"Did you give it to him?" asked Mrs. Brown.

"Yes, I did," answered Bunny.

"Did you take the penny?" Mr. Brown inquired, smiling at his little boy.

"No," Bunny said. "I had a penny then, and I didn't need another, 'cause I want only one lollypop at a time. So I gave Georgie a ride for nothing. But if we want to make money for the Red Cross I wouldn't give anybody a ride for nothing. Me and Sue could drive Toby up and down, and let boys and girls get in the cart and make 'em give us five cents apiece!"

"And maybe ten cents!" added Sue.

"Yes, and maybe ten cents if we gave 'em a longer ride," Bunny agreed. "Couldn't we do that, Daddy, and make money for the Red Cross?"

Mr. Brown thought for a moment. Then he said:

"Well, yes, I think maybe you could. I have seen goat wagons in parks, and the children paid five and ten cents to ride in them. There are plenty of children in Bellemere, and I don't see why they wouldn't pay money, too, for pony rides. Are you really going to do it, Bunny?"

"Yep!" answered the little boy. "Me and Sue—we'll give pony rides to the children and save the money for the Red Cross!"

"I think that's just splendid, Daddy!" said Mother Brown. "It's good of Bunny to think of it, isn't it? But don't you think you had better say 'Sue and I,' Bunny?" and she smiled at the excited little boy.

"Indeed, it is a good idea," said Mr. Brown. "I'll tell the lady who asked me what my children were going to do to raise money, that they're going to give pony rides, and all the boys and girls in Bellemere will hear about it and you'll have lots of patrons."

"When does it start?" asked Mrs. Brown. "I mean—when do the children have to begin earning money for the Red Cross?"

"Oh, they can start to-morrow, if they like," answered Mr. Brown.

"Then we will!" cried Bunny.

"And can I drive part of the time?" asked Sue.

"We'll take turns," promised Bunny, who was hardly ever selfish with his sister.

The next day, when they had had their breakfast, Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue started out with Toby, their Shetland pony, to give rides to boys and girls to earn money for the Red Cross.

They had not ridden far down the street, sitting in the cart, the upper part of which was woven like a basket, when they met Georgie Watson. He was on his way to the store, and he called, as he often did:

"Give us a ride, Bunny?"

"Whoa!" said Bunny to the pony, and Toby stopped.

Georgie was just going to get in the pony cart when Bunny asked:

"Have you got five cents, Georgie?"

"Five cents? No, I've got two cents. That's all a yeast cake is—two cents—and I'm going to the store to get my mother a yeast cake."

"Well, you must pay five cents for a ride in our pony cart to-day," said Bunny. "It's five cents a ride."



"Five cents a ride!" cried Georgie in surprise. "Five cents!"

"Yes," said Bunny. "It's for the Red Cross you know. Sue and I are earning money that way."

"Oh, yes! For the Red Cross!" cried Georgie.

"I see. I'm going to earn some money for that, too. But I'm going to sell peanuts."

"That's a good way," said Bunny.

"We'll ask our mother to buy some peanuts of you," added Sue.

"Will you?" cried Georgie. "Then I'll ask my mother to give me five cents for a ride in your pony cart."

"That's dandy!" cried Bunny. "Say," he went on, "you get in our cart now, Georgie, and we'll take you down to the store to get the yeast cake."

"But I haven't five cents to pay you for the ride," Georgie replied. "I've only two cents for the yeast cake."

"That's all right," said Bunny, as he had heard his father say at the dock, when some man, wanting fish, did not have the money just ready to pay for it. "Get in, Georgie. It's all right. We'll drive you down to the store, and then we'll take you home. And you can ask your mother for five cents to pay for a Red Cross ride."

"I'll do it!" Georgie exclaimed.

Into the pony cart he scrambled, and sat down beside Bunny. They drove toward the store to get a yeast cake, and on the way they met Charlie Star.

"Hi!" cried Charlie. "Give us a ride, will you, Bunny?"

"Whoa!" said Bunny, and Toby came to a stop, switching his long tail.

"You want a ride?" Bunny asked of Charlie.

"Sure I do," answered Charlie.

"Got five cents?" Bunny went on.

"Five cents? No. What for?"

"To pay for the ride. It's for the Red Cross," went on Bunny.

Charlie shook his head.

"I've only a penny," he said, "and I was going to buy some gum with that."

"Well, give me the penny," said Bunny, "and then you can go up to your house and get four pennies more from your mother. Me and Sue—Sue and I—we're earning Red Cross money with our pony."

"Did Georgie pay you?" Charlie wanted to know.

"He's going to," said Bunny. "But he's only got two cents now for a yeast cake."

"A yeast cake!" cried Charlie. "You can't eat a yeast cake!"

"It's for my mother," explained Georgie. "I'm going home and get five cents for a Red Cross ride."

"All right. I won't get any gum," decided Charlie. "I'll ride up home and get four cents for a ride myself."

"Get in," said Bunny, and now, as the pony cart had four children in it, and was comfortably filled (though it would hold six) Bunny made Toby trot, and along they went to the store to get a yeast cake, not stopping again, though several other children begged for rides.

"You can ride after us!" said Charlie. "This is for the Red Cross, and it costs five cents."

Some of the other boys and girls said they'd try to get the money later and have a ride in the pony cart.

Toby stopped in front of the store, and Georgie got out and went in after his yeast cake. Then he came back and Bunny and Sue drove Toby, their Shetland pony, on again until they came to the house where Georgie lived.

"Oh, Ma!" he cried, running into the kitchen. "Here's your yeast cake, and I want five cents for a Red Cross ride!"

"A Red Cross ride?" exclaimed Mrs. Watson. "Is that anything like a hot cross bun?"

"Oh, no'm! It's a ride in a pony cart—Bunny Brown's pony Toby. And Charlie Star has a penny and he's got to get four cents more, and please hurry up and give me five cents—it's for the Red Cross!"

Mrs. Watson looked out of the window and saw the pony cart in front, with Bunny and his Sister Sue and Charlie Star in it. Then she began to understand, for she, too, was helping raise money for Red Cross work.

"Here's your five cents," she said to her little boy. "And wait a minute!" she cried, as Georgie was about to rush away.

"Wait? What for?" he asked.

"You can take your sister Mary with you. She's little and won't crowd you any, and that will be five cents more for Bunny's Red Cross. Come on, Mary, have a pony ride!" called Mrs. Watson, and down came a little girl, somewhat younger than Sue.

The time had been when Bunny and George were not such good friends, for George used to play tricks on Bunny and Sue. But he had gotten over that and was now very good, and the children played together and had good times.

Georgie and Mary, each with five cents, ran out to the pony cart. "Is there room for five in it?" asked Mrs. Watson.

"Oh, yes, lots of room," said Bunny.

"I'm glad you came, Mary," said Sue to the other little girl.

"Say, we'll make a lot of money!" went on Bunny, as he took the five cent pieces Georgie and Mary handed him. "When I get your five, cents, Charlie, I'll have fifteen."

"Here's my one cent now," said Charlie. "I'll get four more when I go home."

Then they drove to Mr. Star's house, and Mrs. Star gave her little boy a five-cent piece, so he got his penny back from Bunny, and could buy the gum after all.

"Now, I'll give you a long ride," said Bunny to his passengers, and he did, up and down the village streets. Several other boys and girls saw what was going on, and said they'd get five-cent pieces and have rides, too. And they did, later that day and the next day.

"We'll earn a lot of money for the Red Cross!" cried Bunny.

"It's lots of fun," said Sue.

The two Brown children with their Shetland pony took in almost a dollar during the week, and they gave it to their father to keep for the Red Cross. The boys and girls had two weeks in which to make money to help the soldiers, and they must really earn the money—not beg it from their fathers, mothers, uncles or aunts.

Some sold cakes of chocolate, and others peanuts, while some of the larger boys ran errands or did other work to earn dimes and nickles.

One day Bunny and Sue got in the pony cart and started off.

"Where are you going?" asked their mother.

"To get more Red Cross money," Bunny answered.

"That will be nice," said Mrs. Brown.

Instead of going along the main street, as he had done before when he gave the children rides for money, Bunny soon turned Toby down a side street, that led to the woods.

"Where are we going?" asked Sue.

"I'll show you," Bunny answered.

"But this is the woods," went on Sue, when, in a little while, she saw trees all about them. "We're in the woods, Bunny."

"Yes, I know we are," he said. "And we're going to get some money here for the Red Cross."

Sue thought for a moment. Then she exclaimed:

"Oh, Bunny! You're not going to sell Toby to the gypsies, are you, and give that money to the Red Cross?"

"Course not!" exclaimed Bunny. "You just wait and see!"

I wonder what Bunny Brown was going to do?



CHAPTER XVII

THE DARK MAN

Even though Bunny had said he was not going to sell Toby to the gypsies—who Sue knew were in the woods—the little girl could not be sure but what her brother was going to do something strange. He had a queer look on his face—as though he had been thinking up something to do quite different from anything he had done before, and was going to carry it through. Bunny was sometimes this way.

Sue looked around, up at the trees and down at the green moss, which was on both sides of the woodland path along which Bunny was driving Toby.

"How are you going to get any Red Cross money here, Bunny?" she asked. "There aren't any children to take five-cent rides."

"You just wait and see," said Bunny with a laugh.

Sue did not quite know what to make of it. Bunny was acting very strangely.

Suddenly, through the quiet forest, where, up to this time had only been heard the chirping of the birds, sounded another noise. It was the shouting and laughter of children.

"What's that, Bunny?" asked Sue in surprise.

"That's a Sunday-school picnic," answered her brother.

"What Sunday school?" Sue wanted to know.

"The Methodist Church," Bunny went on. "They're having their picnic to-day. Our picnic is next Saturday. Harry Bentley told me about this one—he goes to the Methodist Church—and he said if we came here with Toby we could maybe make a lot of money for the Red Cross, giving rides in the woods."

Then Sue knew what Bunny's plan was.

"Oh, that's fine!" she cried. "I guess we can make a lot of money. But is there a smooth place where you can drive Toby? It's kinder rough in the woods, if there's a lot of children in the cart."

"There's a smooth path around the place where you eat the picnic lunch," said Bunny. And then Sue remembered. The woods, in which she and her brother were now riding along in the pony cart, were the ones where all the Sunday-school picnics of Bellemere were held. In the middle of the woods was a little lake, and near the shore of it was a large open-sided building where there were tables and benches, and where the people ate the lunches they brought in boxes and baskets.

Around this building ran a smooth path, and it was on this path that Bunny was going to drive Toby, giving rides to the children so he could make Red Cross money.

As Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue drove along under the trees the shouting and laughter of the children sounded more plainly. Then some of them could be seen, running back and forth over the dried leaves and green moss.

Soon the pony cart was near the picnic ground, and some of the laughing, playing boys and girls saw it.

"Oh, look!" they cried.

"Give us a ride!" others shouted.

"Rides are five cents apiece!" said Bunny. "I'd give you all rides for nothing," he added, for Bunny was never stingy, "only I'm making money for the Red Cross, and so is Sue. Five cents apiece for a Red Cross ride!"

Some of the children turned away, on hearing that pony rides cost money, but others ran to find their fathers or mothers, or uncles or aunts, to beg the nickel from them.

"Well, you came, just as I told you to, didn't you, Bunny?" said Harry Bentley.

"Yep, we're here," said Bunny.

"Well, I'll take a ride with you," Harry went on. "I got five cents on purpose to have a pony ride."

He got into the basket cart, and so did another boy and a girl.

"That's all we can take now," said Bunny. "This road isn't as smooth as the one in town."

He did not want to tire his pony, you see.

"I'll get out," offered Sue. "That'll make room for one more, Bunny. I don't want a ride very much, and I see Sadie West. I can go over and play with her."

"All right," agreed Bunny. "You can get out and wait for me, Sue. That'll make room for one more."

And as Sue got out another girl got in, so there were four besides Bunny in the cart, and this meant twenty cents for the Red Cross.

Around the woodland path Bunny drove his Shetland pony, and the boys and girls, who had each paid five cents, had a good time. They laughed and shouted, and that made others inquire what was going on, so that soon quite a number were ready to take their turn riding.

Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue had done well to come to the Sunday-school picnic in the woods to make money. They made more than if they had gone up and down the streets, looking for passengers.

Toby did not seem to mind how many times he went around the pavilion where the picnic lunches were to be eaten. It was cool and shady in the woods, and though the path was not particularly smooth, it was not up hill. And Toby didn't mind anything so much as he did hills.

Bunny did not drive the pony too fast, and several times he let him rest and have a drink of water from the lake. Some of the boys and girls had bits of sweet crackers or cookies which they fed to Toby, and he liked them very much.

When noon-time came Bunny and Sue were going home to dinner, for they had not brought a lunch. But one of the Sunday-school teachers said:

"It will take you quite a while, Bunny, to go home and come back. And it will tire your pony, too. I like to see you and Sue earn money for the Red Cross, so you stay and I'll give you part of my lunch. I have more than I need. My little nephew and niece were coming, but, at the last minute, they had to stay at home."

"Is there enough for Sue to have some lunch?" asked Bunny.

"Oh, of course," answered the Sunday-school teacher. "Tie Toby in a shady place, and come and have lunch with me."

There was grass for the pony to eat, and soon he was enjoying his meal, while Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue were having a nice one with the teacher.

"After dinner you can give our boys and girls more rides," she said, "and earn more money for the soldiers."

Bunny liked this very much. At first he was afraid his mother would be worried because he and Sue did not come back home. But the man who brought the ice-cream to the picnic said he would stop when he went back, and tell Mrs. Brown where her children were, and that Miss Seaman, the teacher, was looking out for them and seeing that they were well fed. So Mrs. Brown did not worry, knowing where they were.

The lunch was almost over, and Bunny was thinking about putting the bridle back on Toby and starting his riding business again, when some boys and girls, who had gone over to a little spring in the woods, came running back, very much excited.

"Oh! Oh!" one of the girls cried. "We saw him! We saw him!"

"Whom did you see?" asked a teacher. "Be quiet and tell us what it was."

"Was it a snake?" asked one excited little girl.

"No, it wasn't a snake," said a boy somewhat older than Bunny. "It was a great big man—awful dark-looking—and he had a red handkerchief on his neck, and gold rings in his ears, and he was asleep by the spring."

I wonder who the man was?



CHAPTER XVIII

TOBY IS GONE

Three or four of the Sunday-school teachers gathered around the boys and girls who had come back from the spring and were so excited about having seen a dark man asleep under a bush.

"What did he look like?" asked one teacher.

"Oh, he—he was terrible!" said one little girl.

"He looked like an organ grinder only he was—was—sort of nicer," observed a little boy.

"And he had gold rings in his ears," added another.

"Maybe he was an organ grinder," suggested Miss Mason, who was the superintendent in charge of the infant class of the Sunday school.

"But he didn't have an organ or a monkey," objected a little girl.

"Maybe the monkey was up in a tree," said Bunny Brown. "That's where monkeys like to go. Mr. Winkler's monkey, named Wango, goes up in trees. Let's look and see if this monkey is climbing around while the man's asleep."

"Oh, yes, let's!" exclaimed Sue, always ready to do what her brother suggested.

"Oh, let's!" cried all the other boys and girls, who thought it a fine idea.

Miss Mason smiled at the other teachers, but, as Bunny, Sue and some of the boys and girls started toward the spring, they were called back by the superintendent.

"Better not go unless some of us are with you," she said. "You can't tell what sort of man that might be. Wait a minute, children."

The children turned back, and Bunny said:

"I guess I know who that man is."

"What makes you think so?" asked Miss Mason.

"I can't tell until I see him," went on Toby's little master.

"Well, we'll go and look," Miss Mason said. "But I think I'll call one of the men teachers. It might be better to have a man with us."

Some of the men who taught the Sunday-school classes came up at this moment, wanting to know what was going on, and Miss Mason told them:

"Some of the children saw a dark-complexioned man, with gold rings in his ears, asleep by the spring. We thought perhaps we had better see who it is. Bunny Brown, who has been giving pony rides for the Red Cross, thinks he might know who he is."

"Oh, ho!" cried Mr. Baker, a very jolly teacher, "so it's a dark man, with gold rings in his ears, is it?"

"And a red handkerchief around his neck," said a little boy who had seen the sleeping person.

"Oh, ho! once again then I say!" cried the jolly teacher. "This man must be a pirate; don't you think so, Bunny Brown? Pirates always have gold rings in their ears and red handkerchiefs on their necks, or on their heads, don't they? Do you think you know this pirate, Bunny?"

"No, sir," answered the little boy, shaking his head. "But I don't guess he's a pirate, 'cause pirates are always on ships. Anyhow, in all the pictures I ever saw of them they were always on ships."

"I believe Bunny is right," said another man. "Pirates are only on ships. And though there may be some land-pirates, they are not regular ones, and can't be counted. And surely there can't be a ship in these woods."

"There are boats on the lake," said a little girl.

"Yes, my dear, but they're not regular pirate-boats," went on Mr. Baker. "No, I don't believe we can count this sleeping man as a regular pirate. But we'll go and see who it is."

"I wish you would," said Miss Mason. "You men are laughing, I know, but we don't want the children frightened by a tramp, and probably that's what this man is."

"Perhaps," said Mr. Baker. "Well, we will go and have a look at him. Come, gentlemen, we'll go and capture the man with the gold rings in his ears."

The men Sunday-school teachers walked on ahead, and after them came the women. Then marched Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue, and a number of other boys and girls. Toby, the Shetland pony was left tied to a tree.

In a little while the party came to the spring. Mr. Baker pushed aside the bushes and looked in. At first he could see nothing, but soon the sun came out from behind a cloud, making the little glen light, and then the Sunday-school teacher could see a big man, his face very dark, as though tanned by years of living at the seashore. In his ears were gold rings, and around his neck was a red handkerchief.

"Hello, there!" suddenly exclaimed Mr. Baker.

And, just as suddenly, the man awakened and sat up. For a moment he stared at the circle of men, women and children standing about him, and then, as he caught sight of Bunny and Sue, he smiled at them, showing his white teeth.

"Hello, pony-children!" he called to them, "Have you come to sell me your little horse?"

"We're never going to sell Toby! Are we, Bunny," asked Sue.

"No;" said Bunny, "we never are."

"Oh, then you children know this—this——" and Mr. Baker did not seem to know just what to call the dark man.

"He's a gypsy," said Bunny. "But I don't know him very well. His wagon stopped in front of our house one day, and he wanted to buy our pony. He's a gypsy."

"Ah, that's what makes him look so much like a pirate," said Mr. Baker in a low voice to one of his friends.

"Yes, I am a gypsy," said the man, as he shook the leaves out of his clothes and stood up. "My name is Jaki Kezar, and my camp is over near Springdale. We have permission to camp there, and have done so for a number of years. I was walking about the country, looking for horses to buy, as that is our business, and when I reached here I felt tired. So I took a drink from the spring, sat down and must have fallen asleep before I knew it."

"Yes, you—you were asleep an'—an' you snored," said one little girl, who felt quite brave, now that so many Sunday-school teachers were near her.

"Oh, I snored, did I?" asked Jaki Kezar with a smile, and some of the men smiled, too. This gypsy did not seem at all cross or ugly, and his face was pleasant when he smiled.

"I hope I didn't scare any of the little ones," the gypsy went on. "I wouldn't have done that for anything. I thought this was a quiet place to rest."

"Oh, you didn't scare them very much," said Mr. Baker. "They just saw you asleep and we didn't know who you might be. This part of the woods is not the picnic ground, and you have a perfect right here."

"But I must be walking on," said Jaki Kezar. "I must try to find some horses to buy. You are sure you will not sell me your pony?" he asked Bunny again.

"We will never sell Toby!" exclaimed the little boy.

"Never!" added Sue. "He is a trick pony."

"And he was in a circus," added Bunny, "but he is never going there again because they did not treat him nice, Mr. Tallman said."

"Well, if you won't sell me your pony I must go and see if I can find another to buy," said Jaki Kezar, the gypsy. "Good-bye, boys and girls, and ladies and gentlemen," he added, as he walked away. "I hope I didn't frighten any of you. And if ever you come to our camp at Springdale we will tell your fortunes."

Then, taking off his hat and making a bow to Miss Mason and the others, the gypsy walked off through the woods.

"There! I'm glad he's gone!" exclaimed one of the older children. "He made me nervous!"

"But he was a polite gypsy," said Mr. Baker. "I think he would have made a nice pirate, too. Don't you, Bunny?"

"I guess so," agreed the little boy. "But he can't have my pony."

"I should say not!" cried Mr. Baker. "You want that pony for yourself, and to make money for the Red Cross."

This reminded Bunny that he ought to start in again giving rides to the picnic children. Toby had had his dinner and a good rest, and was once more ready to trot along the shady paths of the picnic lake.

Not so many took rides in the afternoon as did in the morning, for some of the children went home. But Bunny, who did most of the driving, though Sue did some also, took in a little over a dollar after lunch. And this, with the dollar and eighty-five cents which he had taken in during the morning, made almost three dollars for Red Cross.

"My, you did well," cried Miss Mason, when Bunny and Sue told her they were going, and showed her their money.

"I should say they did!" said Mr. Baker. "No wonder that gypsy wanted their pony. He could start in business for himself. Be careful you don't lose that money, Bunny."

"I will," promised the little boy.

Calling good-byes to their friends, the Sunday-school teachers and the children, Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue started off through the woods on their way home. They were a little tired, but happy.

"Did you think we'd make so much money for the Red Cross, Bunny?" asked Sue, as they drove along.

"No," said Bunny, "I didn't. But I knew this Sunday-school picnic was in the woods. And it was a good place for us, wasn't it?"

"Fine," agreed Sue.

And when they got home they found their father and mother waiting for them, as it was late in the afternoon.

"And you made three dollars! That's fine!" said Daddy Brown.

During the rest of the week Bunny and Sue made another dollar by giving children rides in the pony cart. And they drove on an errand for Uncle Tad who gave them a quarter, so they had a nice sum to turn over to the Red Cross Society when the time was up.

It was about a week after the picnic, when one morning, Bunny, who was up first, ran out to the barn to see Toby, as he often did before breakfast. But, to the surprise of the little boy, the pony was not in his stall, though the barn door was locked, Bunny having to open it with a key before he could get in.

Greatly excited, when he did not see his pet in the box-stall, Bunny ran back to the house.

"Oh, Mother! Mother!" he cried. "Toby's gone!"

"What?"

"Toby's gone!" cried Bunny again. "He isn't in his stable! Oh, come out and look!"

And I wonder where the Shetland pony was?



CHAPTER XIX

THE SEARCH

Mrs. Brown hurried out of the house after Bunny, who ran back to the stable. Sue, looking out of the window of her room upstairs, saw her brother and called:

"What's the matter, Bunny?"

"Oh, Sue," he answered, not stopping even to look back, "Toby is gone! Our nice pony isn't in his stable!"

"Oh! Oh!" cried Sue, and she could think of nothing else to say just then. But you can guess that she very quickly finished dressing in order to go down and look for herself to see what had happened to Toby.

Meanwhile Mrs. Brown and Bunny reached the stable.

"Are you sure Toby isn't here?" asked Bunny's mother.

"I—I looked everywhere for him," answered the little boy, who was slightly out of breath from running. "I looked all over and I can't see him anywhere."

Mrs. Brown looked, but no Toby was to be seen. The barn was not a large one, and there were not many places where a horse, or even a small pony, could be hidden. Bunny and his mother looked in all the places they could think of—in the harness room and wagon room, and they even went upstairs to the haymow.

"For Toby is a trick pony, and he might have walked upstairs," said Bunny. "I didn't look there."

"I hardly think he would climb up where the hay is, but still he might," said Mrs. Brown. But no Toby was to be seen. And, really, being a trick pony, he might have walked up the stairs, which were strong, and broad, and not very steep. I have seen a big horse, in a circus, go up a flight of steps, so why couldn't a pony go upstairs?

But, anyhow, Toby was not in the haymow.

"Was the barn door locked when you first came out to see Toby?" asked Mrs. Brown of Bunny.

"Yes, Mother, it was," he answered. "I took the key from off the nail in the kitchen, and I opened the lock and the door. But Toby wasn't there!"

"Are you sure you locked him in the stable last night?" went on Mrs. Brown.

"Oh, yes, of course, Mother!" said Bunny. "Don't you 'member Bunker Blue was up here and looked at Toby, and said he'd have to take him to the blacksmith shop to-day to have new shoes put on—I mean new shoes on Toby."

"Oh, yes, I do remember that!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "And that is just what has happened, I think."

"What has happened, Mother?"

"Why, Bunker Blue came up here early, and took Toby out of the stable and down to the blacksmith shop to have the new shoes nailed on. That must be it," said Mrs. Brown. "I'll telephone down to your father's office, and ask him if he didn't send Bunker up to get Toby. Daddy went down before breakfast this morning in order to get some letters off on the early mail."

"Oh, I hope Bunker has our pony!" exclaimed Bunny with a sigh, and, though he very much wanted to believe that this was what had happened, still he could hardly think that it was so. Bunker Blue, thought Bunny, would have said something before taking Toby away, even if it was early.

"Did you find Toby?" asked Sue, as she ran out, tying her hair ribbon on the way. She was in such a hurry that she had not waited to do that in her room.

"No, he isn't in the stable," answered Bunny.

"But Bunker must have taken him to the blacksmith's shop," said Mrs. Brown. "I'm going to telephone to find out."

And just what Bunny feared would happen did happen. Mr. Brown said Bunker had not been up to the house, and he had not taken Toby away.

"And is Toby really gone?" asked Mr. Brown over the telephone wire.

"He can't be found," answered Mrs. Brown.

"I'll come right up and see what I can do," said Bunny's father. And then the only thing to do was to wait.

Bunny and Sue, with tears in their eyes, looked again in the barn and all around the house.

"But where can Toby be?" asked Sue, over and over again.

"Maybe he ran away," said Tressa, the maid.

"He couldn't run away, 'cause the barn was locked," declared Bunny.

"Well, maybe he could open the lock, being a trick pony," went on Tressa, who wanted to say something so the children would not feel so bad.

"No, he couldn't do that," said Bunny. "Toby could do lots of tricks, but there wasn't any hole in the barn door so he could reach out and open the lock. Besides, the key was hanging in your kitchen all night, Tressa."

"Yes, that's so. Well, maybe he jumped out of a window," went on the kind-hearted maid. "I see one of the barn windows is open, and it is near Toby's stall."

"Oh, maybe he did get out that way, and he's off playing in the woods!" exclaimed Sue, who felt very sad about the pet pony's being gone.

"Oh, but he couldn't," said Bunny, after thinking it over a bit. "There's a mosquito wire screen over the window, and if Toby had jumped out the screen would be broken."

"Yes, that's so," admitted Tressa. "Well, I guess you'll find him somewhere. Maybe he'll come home, wagging his tail behind him, as Bo-Peep's sheep did."

Bunny shook his head.

"I guess somebody took our pony," he said.

"But how could they when the door was locked?" asked Sue.

Bunny did not know how to answer.

Mr. Brown came up from the fish and boat dock, and with him was Bunker Blue.

"Did you find him?" asked Mr. Brown, meaning Toby, of course.

"No, he isn't to be found around here," answered Mrs. Brown. "We have looked everywhere, but there is no Toby!"

"Oh, Daddy! do you think you can find him?" asked Sue, and there were tears in her eyes.

"Of course I'll find him!" said Daddy Brown, and, somehow, it did the children good just to hear their father say that. "Now, we'll begin at the beginning," went on the fish merchant, "and have a look at the barn door. You know there's an old saying not to lock the stable door after the horse is stolen, but this time the door was locked before Toby was taken away. We are sure of that. Now, I'll have a look at the lock and key."

Mr. Brown looked carefully at these and also at the door of the stable. There was nothing to show that any one had gotten in, and yet the lock must have been opened or the door could not have been swung back to let Toby out. And Toby was surely gone.

"He couldn't have gotten out, or been taken out, any way but through the door," said Mr. Brown, as he walked around the stable. "The window is too small, even if there wasn't any wire screen over it to keep out the flies and mosquitoes."

"What do you think happened?" asked Mrs. Brown.

"Well," answered her husband, "I think some one, with another key, must have opened the lock and have taken the pony away in the night."

"But who could it be?"

"Oh, some thief. Perhaps a tramp, though I don't believe tramps would do anything like that. They are generally too lazy to go to so much work. And whoever took Toby did it very quietly. They took him out of his stable without waking any of us up, and then they carefully locked the door again."

"I never heard a sound all night," declared Mrs. Brown.

"Nor did I," added her husband. "It's funny, though, that Splash didn't bark. He sometimes sleeps in the shed near the stable, and if strange men had come around one would think the dog would be sure to make a fuss."

"Unless it was some one he knew," added Mrs. Brown, "or some one that knew how to be friendly with a dog."

"Yes, some horse thieves might be like that," admitted Mr. Brown. "They could make friends with our dog, and he wouldn't bite them or growl at them to make a noise. Then they could walk off with Toby."

"I haven't seen Splash around this morning," said Tressa. "Generally he comes early to get his breakfast, but I haven't seen him this morning."