Mrs. Slater gave a startled cry, and looked toward where Sue pointed.

Surely enough, while they had been watching the box and while Bunny and Harry had been getting it to shore the tide had risen and now covered part of the strip of sand on which they had all walked out. As Sue said, it was an island, and the only way to get to shore was to wade.

"I'm going to take off my shoes and stockings!" cried the little girl, hopping up on the box and beginning to loosen her laces. "You'd better take off your shoes, too, Mrs. Slater. If you don't you'll get your feet wet when you have to wade to shore. Course you haven't got your mother here to scold you if you get your shoes wet, but maybe your husband mightn't like it," went on Sue. "You can wade same as I can."

"We don't have to take off our shoes and stockings, 'cause we have 'em off already," said Bunny. "Harry and I can wade."

"It looks as if I'd have to do that," said Harry's mother. "I wonder if the water is very deep," she went on, as she looked at the water which had covered the shore end of the little tongue of land.

"No, it isn't deep!" declared Bunny, and he waded out into it. "But it keeps on getting deeper when the tide comes up. You'd better take your shoes and stockings off now, Mrs. Slater, else maybe it'll be away up over your head soon."

"I shouldn't want that to happen," she said, with a laugh. "I believe I shall have to do as you children have done, and go barefoot," and she glanced at Sue, who, by this time, had off her shoes and stockings.

Harry's mother looked at the stretch of water separating the little party from the mainland. As Bunny had said, it would get deeper the higher the tide rose, though, of course, it would not go over Mrs. Slater's head. She sat down on the box, as Sue had done, and was just beginning to take off her shoes when a voice called to them.

"Wait a minute! I'm coming to get you!" was what they all heard, and, looking up, Bunny Brown saw Bunker Blue rowing along in his sailboat. The sail, however, was not up now.

"Oh, Bunker, come and get us!" cried Sue. "We're caught by the tide, and——"

"And we found a box and maybe it has pirate gold in it!" sang out Bunny. "Look, Bunker!" and the little boy pointed to the box on the sand. It was still partly in the water.

"I see," answered Bunker Blue. "I noticed that you'd been caught by the tide, so I came in the boat to get you. Wait there, Mrs. Slater," he went on. "There's no need of getting your feet wet."

In a little while Bunker rowed up to the place where the box rested and where Bunny, Sue, and the others stood around it, the three children barefooted. The little tongue, or peninsula, of land, was now an island, rapidly growing smaller in size as the tide rose.

"Get in the boat and I'll row you to shore," said Bunker, as he grounded his craft in the sand.

"Have we got to leave the box here?" asked Bunny.

"No, I'll come back and get that after I land you," said the fish boy.

So they all got into the boat, and it did not take Bunker Blue long to row them to shore. Then he went back, and, after a little hard work, he managed to get the box into his boat.

"I'll row this box down to the dock," called Bunker to those on shore. "You walk along the beach until you meet me. Then we can see what's in it."

This was done, and soon Uncle Tad and Mrs. Brown were down on the little pier of Christmas Tree Cove, looking at the box and wondering what could be in it.

"It's heavy, whatever it is," said Uncle Tad.

"Pirate gold is always heavy, I guess," said Bunny.

"Oh, it couldn't be gold!" declared Bunker Blue. "If it was gold in the box I never could have lifted it."

"Let's open it!" suggested Sue.

"No, we must not do that," said Mrs. Brown. "When your father comes home to-night I'll have him write to this Mr. Frank Ravenwood of Sea Gate. In the letter daddy can explain how the box was found, and Mr. Ravenwood can come here and get it if he wishes to. Until then, Bunker, you had better take it up to the woodshed, where it will be safe from harm."

Uncle Tad and Bunker put the box on a wheelbarrow, and it was soon stored in the woodshed back of the bungalow. For some time Bunny, Sue and Harry wondered what could be in it, but, after a while, the children ran off to play in the sand, and to wade and paddle in the water.

"Let's build a big sand fort," suggested Bunny.

"Oh, no, make it a doll house," cried Sue.

"All right, a doll house," said Harry, who was beginning to like Sue as much as he did Bunny.

So they built a wonderful doll house of sand, with four rooms and an elegant driveway. But just as it was completed the whole thing caved in.

"My! ain't I glad none of my dolls were in that," declared Sue.

Mr. Brown came up to his summer home that night, and, after looking at the box, wrote a letter to Mr. Ravenwood, telling how it had been found. This letter was mailed to Sea Gate, and then followed a time of waiting. In the letter Mr. Brown had told how Bunny, Sue, and Harry Slater had found the box.

"I wonder when we'll get an answer," remarked Bunny several times in the next two days.

"If the box is at all valuable Mr. Ravenwood ought to answer daddy's letter very soon," said Mrs. Brown. "I don't see how the box got into the bay and floated all the way up here from Sea Gate. It is quite a distance."

Three days after the strange find, when Bunny, Sue, and Harry were playing with Rose and Jimmie Madden near the bungalow one afternoon, Uncle Tad came up from the village with the mail.

"Here's a letter from Mr. Ravenwood, children!" said the old soldier.

"Oh, goody!" exclaimed Sue.

"Did he say his box had pirate gold in?" asked Bunny.

"I don't know. I didn't open the letter," answered Uncle Tad.

But Mrs. Brown soon read the note and, as she did so, a look of surprise came over her face.

"Yes, that is Mr. Ravenwood's box," said Bunny's mother. "He is coming here to-morrow in his motor boat to get it. But here is something else very strange. I'll read it to you," she went on. Then she read:

"'Thank you, very much, for saving my valuable box. I see a little boy named Harry Slater helped in saving it. I wonder if he is any relation to a Mr. Thomas Slater who has been advertising for a lost yellow dog. I have found such a dog, and I am going to bring him to Christmas Tree Cove in my motor boat when I come after my box. If this is the lost dog that is being advertised for, Harry may have him back.'"

"Oh, I wonder if that is my dog!" exclaimed Harry.

"And if it is, I wonder if he can tell us where he left mother's pocketbook," said Bunny Brown.



CHAPTER XXIII

"THAT'S THE DOG!"

When Daddy Brown came up to Christmas Tree Cove from his dock in Bellemere that evening he, of course, was told about the letter from Mr. Ravenwood.

"I am glad that we can give him back his box," said Bunny's father. "But what is this about a dog?"

"You know we had a big dog named Sandy, of whom we were very fond," said Mrs. Slater, who, with Harry, was paying a call after supper on the Browns. "As I have told Bunny and Sue, one day, when we were out in our auto looking for a place to spend the summer, Sandy leaped out and ran away. We did all we could to get him back, but he disappeared, and we had to go on without him, much to Harry's sorrow.

"The place where Sandy leaped from the auto and ran away was Bellemere, and we were quite surprised when we got here to find that you people lived there," went on Mrs. Slater, nodding at Mrs. Brown and her family.

"And maybe it was Sandy who ran in the yard and took the pocketbook when Sue and I were having a seesaw out in the barn," suggested Bunny.

"Of course it is possible," admitted Mr. Brown, when there had been more talk and it was discovered that the Sandy dog was lost the very same day that Mrs. Brown's pocketbook was picked up off the bench and carried away by a strange yellow animal that then ran into Mr. Foswick's carpenter shop.

"Yes, Sandy could very easily have run down the street on which your house is located," said Harry's mother. "As I told the children, he had a habit of taking things in his mouth and running away with them. And he might have picked up the pocketbook. Of course it seems a very strange thing to have happened, but it is possible."

"How did Mr. Ravenwood get the dog which he says in his letter he has?" asked Mr. Brown, while Bunny and the others listened carefully.

"It is not certain this is our dog," went on Mrs. Slater. "We shall know that when he comes here after his box. I see how it may have happened. After Sandy disappeared my husband put advertisements about him in many seashore papers. He asked that word of finding of the dog be sent to him at his city office or to me here at Christmas Tree Cove. The advertisements spoke of how fond Harry was of Sandy. I hope Harry is not disappointed, and that this will prove to be his dog. And I hope your wife will find her pocketbook and diamond ring."

"Oh, she will now!" exclaimed Harry.

"That is too much," said Bunny's mother. "I have given up hope of ever seeing my beautiful ring again. Even if it was your dog that ran in and picked up the pocketbook, he must have dropped it in some out-of-the-way place, and there is no telling where it is."

"No, unfortunately, Sandy can not talk," said Mrs. Slater.

"But he can sit up on his hind legs and beg!" exclaimed Harry. "Oh, I do hope I get him back!"

"So do I!" echoed Bunny and Sue.

The next day was such an anxious one for the children, who were waiting for the appearance of Mr. Ravenwood in his motor boat with the dog he had found, that Mrs. Brown finally said:

"Come, kiddies, we'll go for a little picnic down on the beach."

"May Harry come?" asked Bunny, for Harry was over at the bungalow playing with Bunny and Sue.

"Yes. And we'll invite Harry's mother and Bunker Blue and Uncle Tad," said Mrs. Brown. "We'll spend the afternoon on the beach. It will make the time pass more quickly."

Indeed the time did seem to drag for Bunny, Sue, and Harry. They did not know just what time to expect Mr. Ravenwood in his boat, to claim his box and to bring the strange dog. Every now and again the children would ask:

"When do you think he'll come?"

Then, at last, Mrs. Brown had decided on the picnic as a means of keeping them quiet.

Picnics were often held at Christmas Tree Cove, and could be quickly got up. All that was necessary to do was to put up a lunch and go down to one of the many nice places on the beach.

Harry was sent over to the hotel to ask his mother if he might go, and also to invite her to be one of the party, and soon Mrs. Slater was on her way back to Bark Lodge with her little son.

"It is very nice of you, Mrs. Brown, to ask us," said Mrs. Slater.

"I shall have just as much fun as the children," replied the mother of Bunny and Sue Brown.

Uncle Tad and Bunker Blue were also delighted to go, and Bunny wanted to take his shovel and dig for soft clams and have a clambake on the beach.

"Not now, dear," said his mother. "It is quite a lot of work, and you get so muddy digging clams. After a while, when daddy can be with us, we may have a big bake on the beach some night."

"And maybe Mr. Ravenwood will come!" exclaimed Sue.

"Maybe he will," agreed her mother.

A little later they were all seated on the sands, the older folk in the shade of some sun umbrellas that Bunker Blue and Uncle Tad put up, while Bunny, Sue, and Harry played out in the sunshine. They were tanned as brown as autumn leaves and no longer sunburned.

The children dug holes in the sand, made miniature cities and railroads, built tunnels which caved in, and finally started to make a cabin of driftwood.

Uncle Tad and Bunker Blue were helping at this, and they planned to make a regular thatched roof of seaweed. The little shack on the sand was half done when the puffing of a motor boat was heard near shore and a voice hailed the little party.

"Can you tell me where Christmas Tree Cove is?" asked a young man in the boat.

"It is right here," answered Mrs. Brown, waving her hand toward the groups of evergreens on the shore.

Bunny, Sue, and Harry looked at the man in the boat, and then at something else. And the something else was a big, yellow dog that stood on one of the seats. At the sight of this animal Mrs. Slater stood up and Harry cried:

"There's Sandy! That's my Sandy all right!"

Instantly, at the sound of the little boy's voice, the dog gave a loud bark and leaped into the bay to swim to shore. He reached the sand and ran at full speed toward the party of picnickers. As he ran, Bunny Brown cried:

"That's the dog! That's the dog that took my mother's pocketbook and diamond ring!"



CHAPTER XXIV

IN THE BOAT

Nearer and nearer to the picnic party on the beach raced the big, yellow dog. He was barking in delight and his tail was wagging from side to side.

"He'll get us wet!" exclaimed Mrs. Slater. "Down, Sandy! Down!" she commanded.

Instantly the dog stopped and began to shake himself vigorously, sending the water in a shower from his shaggy coat.

"Oh, he minded you! He's your dog all right, isn't he?" cried Bunny.

"Yes, he's my Sandy," answered Harry. "He always minds sometimes."

At the sound of his young master's voice the dog, with another joyful bark, again leaped forward. He had stopped to get rid of as much of the water as possible, but a moment later he was jumping and tumbling about Harry and Mrs. Slater, while the little boy, caring not at all about the dog's damp coat, was hugging his pet.

"Oh, Sandy! Sandy! I'm so glad you came back!" cried Harry.

"Is it really your dog?" asked Mrs. Brown of her friend.

"Yes," answered Mrs. Slater. "Oh, do be quiet, you crazy animal," she said, as he leaped up and tried to put his tongue on her face.

"He wants to kiss you," said Sue.

Then the dog turned to Sue, and he really did "kiss" her, for Sue was sitting down and the dog easily reached her tanned cheeks with his red tongue.

"Be careful," warned Mrs. Brown.

"Oh, Sandy is gentle and loves children," said Harry's mother. "But I fancy that young man in the boat wants some explanation," she went on. "Though, since we have told him this is Christmas Tree Cove, he must have guessed that we are the people to whom the dog belongs."

The man in the boat had stopped his engine, and the craft was now grounded in the sand not far from where the picnic was being held. A four-pronged anchor was tossed out to prevent the motor boat from drifting away, and then the young man came up the beach. He was smiling pleasantly, and as he took off his cap and bowed to the ladies he said:

"Davy Jones seems to have found out where he belongs all right. I presume this is Harry Slater," he went on, looking at the boy around whom the dog was leaping.

"Yes," answered Mrs. Slater. "And this is Mr. Ravenwood?"

"Yes," was the reply. "I called the dog Davy Jones, for he seemed to love the sea, and I didn't know what his right name was. He is evidently yours."

"Sandy belongs to us," returned Mrs. Slater. "It is all rather a strange story from the time Sandy ran away from us until we found your box and learned that you had our dog. But there is a stranger part to it still, it seems, if what Bunny and Sue think proves to be true."

"What is that?" asked Mr. Ravenwood.

Then he was told about the missing pocketbook and ring.

"Are you sure, children, that this is the same dog that ran into the yard that day and made off with my pocketbook?" asked Mrs. Brown of Bunny and Sue.

"Oh, yes!" declared Bunny. "He runs just the same, and he barks just the same, and he looks just the same."

Sue agreed with this, and when Mrs. Slater told again what a habit Sandy had of carrying things off in his mouth it was decided that this was the animal that had caused Bunny and Sue so much trouble, including the locking in at Mr. Foswick's carpenter shop.

"How did you get Sandy?" asked Mrs. Slater of Mr. Ravenwood.

"He came to me," was the answer. "I am a sort of carpenter myself," he went on. "I make things of wood, called patterns. They are for the use of foundries in casting objects in metal. The box you found is full of wooden patterns, and that is why it floated away up here after I lost it."

"How did you lose it?" asked Sue.

"And isn't there any pirate gold in the box?" asked Bunny, much disappointed.

"No, not a bit of pirate gold, or any other kind," laughed Mr. Ravenwood. "I wish there might be some real, good gold in it, but such things don't happen outside of books, I'm afraid," he added. "Perhaps I had better tell you the whole story," he suggested.

"I should like to hear it," said Mrs. Brown. "That is, unless you want to go up to our woodshed and make sure it is your box we have found."

"No," was the reply. "I am pretty certain, from your description of it and from the fact that it has my name on it, that it is mine. Now I will tell you how Davy Jones, as I called him, or Sandy, as you call him, came to me.

"I was in my motor boat one day at a dock in Bellemere, getting some wood to take to my shop in Sea Gate to make into patterns. I was just about to start off when this big, yellow dog came running along the pier. He jumped into my boat and made himself at home. I tried to make him go ashore, but he wouldn't. As I had no time to get out myself and tie him up, I took him with me back to Sea Gate. He proved to be very friendly, and though I was sure he was a valuable animal and that some one would want him back, I had no time then to make inquiries. I just kept him and took him home with me."

"Did he have a pocketbook when he jumped into your boat?" asked Bunny.

"No, I don't believe he did," answered Mr. Ravenwood. "He had nothing in his mouth that I recall; though, to tell you the truth, my back was turned when he leaped aboard."

"He couldn't have had my pocketbook," said Mrs. Brown. "If this is the same dog that was in our yard, and he seems to be, he either dropped my purse in the carpenter shop or else in some other place which we shall never know. The shop has been searched, but where else to look no one knows."

"Well, as I said," went on Mr. Ravenwood, "Sandy came aboard my boat and I kept him. It was not until the other day that I noticed an advertisement about him, and then I knew what to do with him. That was the day after I lost my box."

"How did you lose that?" asked Uncle Tad.

"I lost it overboard out of my boat in the fierce storm of the other night," was the answer. "I had packed the box full of wooden patterns, put it in my boat, and I had lettered my name and address on it in readiness for sending it away by express. I was also going to put the name of the place where the box was to go, but I was called away just then to the telephone at the dock in Sea Gate, and when I came back I was thinking so much about something else that I forgot all about putting the other name on the box. I started out in my boat to take the box across the bay to the express office, and I was caught in the storm. I was nearly capsized and had to put back to shore, the box tipping overboard and floating off. I was glad enough to let it go and get safely back myself."

"And did Sandy go overboard, too?" asked Harry, his arms about his dog's neck.

"No, I had left Sandy on shore," answered Mr. Ravenwood. "Though he always wanted to go with me; didn't you, old fellow?" he asked, and the dog wagged his tail to show how happy he was.

"Well, that's about all there is to my story," said Mr. Ravenwood. "After the storm was over I set out in search of my box of patterns, for I knew they would float, but I could not find them. Sandy went with me on these trips. Then I got Mr. Brown's letter, telling me that the box with my name on was here in Christmas Tree Cove, and, at the same time, I noticed the advertisement in one of the papers about the lost dog.

"I connected the two names, and then I thought the best thing to do was to bring Sandy here and see if he belonged to you folks. And I am glad to know that he does," he went on. "And now, if I may get my box and pay any expenses there may be attached to it——"

"There aren't any expenses," interrupted Mrs. Brown, with a smile. "The box is in our shed, and you are welcome to it at any time. But won't you have lunch with us? The children were so anxious for you to come that I thought this would make the time pass more quickly. We did not dream of your coming to us here."

"I'm glad I did," said the young man, as he took a sandwich which Sue passed him.

Then there was a happy time on the beach, different parts of the strange stories being told over and over again. Sandy seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself, and he eagerly ate the pieces of bread and meat the children tossed to him.

At last, however, the time came to go home. Mr. Brown was expected up from Bellemere and Mr. Ravenwood said he would wait over and meet him.

"We can all get in my boat, and ride to the dock," proposed the young pattern-maker.

"Oh, that will be fun!" cried Bunny. "Come on!"

The lunch baskets were gathered up, and as they went down the beach to Mr. Ravenwood's boat Sue put her arms around Sandy's neck, looked into the brown eyes of the dog, and said very seriously:

"Can't you tell what you did with my mother's pocketbook and diamond ring?"

Sandy only wagged his tail, gave a little bark, and raced off after Harry and Bunny, who were getting into the boat.

"All aboard!" called Mr. Ravenwood, as he helped in Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Slater. "All aboard!"

"I'll push off and you can start the engine," offered Bunker Blue. "I'm used to it and I can hop on after she gets started."

"All right," said Mr. Ravenwood, and he went back to the stern of the craft where the gasolene motor was placed under a cover made of wood, to keep out the rain and the salty spray.

Bunker pushed the bow of the boat free from the sand and then leaped on board himself.

"Start her up!" he cried to Mr. Ravenwood.



CHAPTER XXV

WHAT STOPPED THE ENGINE

With a chug-chug the motor boat started down along the sandy shore of Christmas Tree Cove. The children sat up in front, at the bow, as it is called, and Harry's recently recovered dog was with them, being petted first by one and then the other of the three little friends. Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Slater sat behind the children, and in the back, or stern, near the engine, were Mr. Ravenwood and Uncle Tad and Bunker Blue.

"Which dock shall I steer for?" asked Mr. Ravenwood, as the boat moved out from shore.

"Right there," and Uncle Tad pointed to the one nearest Bark Lodge.

"It certainly is strange how things happen in this world," said Uncle Tad, as he and Mr. Ravenwood were talking about the finding of the floating box and the recovery of Sandy. "If we could only find the lost pocketbook and the diamond ring now, I would say it might be almost like a fairy story."

"Yes," agreed Mr. Ravenwood, "it certainly might be called that." He was listening to the noise of the engine as he sat with one hand on the steering wheel.

"What's the matter?" asked Bunker Blue. "Anything wrong?"

"The motor sounds rather strange," answered the pattern-maker. "I was just wondering——"

He did not finish the sentence before the engine suddenly stopped with a sort of wheeze and groan which showed something was wrong.

"Something's caught in the flywheel," declared Bunker Blue.

"That's what it sounds like to me," added Uncle Tad.

"We'll have a look," stated Mr. Ravenwood, as he shut off the gasolene supply and opened the electric switch. Then he proceeded to lift the wooden covering of the engine.

"What's the matter?" asked Bunny Brown, looking back.

"The engine has stopped," his mother told him.

"What made it?" Sue wanted to know.

"That's what Mr. Ravenwood is trying to find out," said Uncle Tad.

Idly the boat floated on the water while Mr. Ravenwood looked in the covering case and around the flywheel.

"There's something jammed down under the flywheel, between it and the keel of the boat," he said. "I can just feel it. Seems to be a bit of rag or cotton waste that I use to wipe off the oil and grease from my hands and to polish the machinery. Wait, I can get it out," he went on, as he thrust his arm down deeper. "I have my hand on it, but it is jammed in pretty tight and——"

He gave a grunt and a pull, and then up came his arm, and in his hand he held something black, which dripped with water and oil.

"There it is," said the young man. "It must have been in the pit for some time to get so soaked as that. I don't remember dropping anything in there. In fact, I'm very careful, for there isn't much room between the rim of the flywheel and the keel, and even a small bit of waste will stop the wheel, just as this did."

"Is it waste?" asked Uncle Tad.

"No, it doesn't seem to be," was Mr. Ravenwood's answer. "Why—why——" he went on in surprise, as he laid the object down on top of the engine cover and examined it. "Why, it's an old leather pocketbook!"

"A pocketbook!" cried Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, and they looked at one another with startled eyes.

"Yes, that's what it is—an old pocketbook," went on Mr. Ravenwood. "How in the world it ever came here I can't imagine, unless——"

"Is it really a pocketbook?" asked Mrs. Brown in a strange voice, and her face was slightly pale as she turned to look at what had been taken out from under the engine. "Let me see it."

"Don't touch it!" cautioned Mr. Ravenwood. "It's soaked with oil and grease."

"What is in it—if anything?" went on Bunny's mother, in that same strange voice.

"I'll look," offered Mr. Ravenwood. "My hands can't get much more oily."

While the others eagerly watched, he opened the object, which really was a water and oil-soaked pocketbook, and he thrust his fingers down in the different compartments.

"Seems to have a little money in," he said, as he took out some nickles and pennies, and laid them on the cover. "Here's a—well, I declare, it's a five-dollar bill!" he said, as he opened a piece of paper. "It's covered with oil and grease, but it can be washed clean and will be as good as ever."

"A five-dollar bill!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "Oh, is there—is there anything else in the pocketbook? If there is, it must be——"

Mr. Ravenwood thrust his fingers into another section. A strange look came over his face as he drew out and held up in the sunlight something that gleamed and glinted and sparkled.

"A diamond ring!" he cried.

"Oh, it's my mother's! It's my mother's!" shouted Bunny Brown. "Give it to her!"

Mr. Ravenwood wiped the diamond ring on a clean bit of white waste, and then handed it to Mrs. Brown.

"Yes, it is mine. It's my diamond engagement ring that was in the pocketbook the dog took away! Oh, how glad I am!" she said, and there were tears in her eyes as she slipped the ring on her finger.

"Of all the remarkable happenings!" exclaimed Mrs. Slater.

"Just like a fairy story!" laughed Sue.

"Did Sandy drop the pocketbook in the boat?" asked Bunny.

"I think that must be how it happened," answered Mr. Ravenwood, as he looked in the purse for anything more that it might contain; but there was nothing. "Do you want it saved?" he asked Mrs. Brown.

"No, it was an old pocketbook and you might as well toss it overboard," she answered. "I have all I wanted out of it—my diamond ring."

"Well, we got the money back, too," said Bunny. "Can you really wash a five-dollar bill?" he asked.

"Oh, yes," Uncle Tad assured him. "I'll wash this and iron it and make it look like new." And this he did a little later.

The old pocketbook was tossed overboard. It sank in a circle of rainbow colors, caused by the oil on it, and as the boat started off again Mrs. Brown looked joyfully at her diamond ring so strangely recovered.

"I see how it must have happened," said Mr. Ravenwood, as they landed at the dock. "Sandy must have had the pocketbook in his mouth when he leaped aboard my boat, but I didn't notice it, as my back was turned. He must have dropped it inside the engine box, which was open, and it has been there ever since. To-day it worked its way under the wheel and stopped the machinery, or I might not have found it until I laid the boat up for the winter, when I always take the engine out to clean it."

"I think that is how it really did happen," said Mrs. Slater. "Sandy, you were a bad dog to take the pocketbook!" and she shook her finger at him. Sandy hung his head for a moment, but he was soon wagging his tail joyfully as Bunny, Sue, and Harry petted him.

And so Mrs. Brown's pocketbook and diamond ring, so strangely taken away, were found again. Sandy did not drop the purse in the carpenter shop, as was supposed. He carried it out again in his mouth, and kept it until he leaped aboard the boat, when he dropped it.

Mr. Ravenwood looked at the box in the woodshed, declaring it to be the one that had been lost overboard in the storm.

"So each one has his own again," said the young pattern-maker. "I have my box, Harry has his dog, and Mrs. Brown has her diamond ring."

There was much rejoicing, as you may imagine, and when Daddy Brown came up that night he had to hear the whole story over and over again.

Mr. Ravenwood departed that evening, taking his box with him and promising to call and see the Browns in Bellemere when they returned home.

But the joyous days at Christmas Tree Cove were not yet over. Many happy times followed, and Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were in the midst of them. They had some adventures, also, but every one agreed that the one of the lost and found diamond ring and dog was the most remarkable. And now, for a time, we shall take leave of our little friends, perhaps to meet them again in new scenes.



* * * * *



This Isn't All!

Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have made in this book?

Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures and experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same author?

On the reverse side of the wrapper which comes with this book, you will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at the same store where you got this book.

Don't throw away the Wrapper

Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to have. But in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for a complete catalog.



THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES

By LAURA LEE HOPE

Author of the Popular "Bobbsey Twins" Books, Etc.

Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding.

Each Volume Complete in Itself.

These stories are eagerly welcomed by the little folks from about five to ten years of age. Their eyes fairly dance with delight at the lively doings of inquisitive little Bunny Brown and his cunning, trustful sister Sue.

BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP-REST-A-WHILE BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODS BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOUR BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONY BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE GIVING A SHOW BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CHRISTMAS TREE COVE BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE SUNNY SOUTH BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE KEEPING STORE BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR TRICK DOG BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT A SUGAR CAMP BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON THE ROLLING OCEAN BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON JACK FROST ISLAND BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT SHORE ACRES BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT BERRY HILL

GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK



THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS

For Little Men and Women

By LAURA LEE HOPE

Author of "The Bunny Brown Series," Etc.

Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding.

Every Volume Complete in Itself.

These books for boys and girls between the ages of three and ten stand among children and their parents of this generation where the books of Louisa May Alcott stood in former days. The haps and mishaps of this inimitable pair of twins, their many adventures and experiences are a source of keen delight to imaginative children.

THE BOBBSEY TWINS THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CEDAR CAMP THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE COUNTY FAIR THE BOBBSEY TWINS CAMPING OUT THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND BABY MAY THE BOBBSEY TWINS KEEPING HOUSE THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CLOVERBANK THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CHERRY CORNERS THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND THEIR SCHOOLMATES THE BOBBSEY TWINS TREASURE HUNTING THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SPRUCE LAKE

GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK



SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES

By LAURA LEE HOPE

Author of The Bobbsey Twins Books, The Bunny Brown Series, The Blythe Girls Books, Etc.

Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding.

Every Volume Complete in Itself.

Delightful stories for little boys and girls which sprung into immediate popularity. To know the six little Bunkers is to take them at once to your heart, they are so intensely human, so full of fun and cute sayings. Each story has a little plot of its own—one that can be easily followed—and all are written in Miss Hope's most entertaining manner. Clean, wholesome volumes which ought to be on the bookshelf of every child in the land.

SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDMA BELL'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT CAPTAIN BEN'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COWBOY JACK'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MAMMY JUNE'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT FARMER JOEL'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MILLER NED'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT INDIAN JOHN'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT HAPPY JIM'S SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT SKIPPER BOB'S

GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK



THE HONEY BUNCH BOOKS

By HELEN LOUISE THORNDYKE

Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations Drawn by

WALTER S. ROGERS

Honey Bunch is a dainty, thoughtful little girl, and to know her is to take her to your heart at once.

Little girls everywhere will want to discover what interesting experiences she is having wherever she goes.

HONEY BUNCH: JUST A LITTLE GIRL HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE CITY HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS ON THE FARM HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE SEASHORE HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST LITTLE GARDEN HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS IN CAMP HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST AUTO TOUR HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP ON THE OCEAN HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP WEST HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST SUMMER ON AN ISLAND

GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK



CAROLYN WELLS BOOKS

Attractively Bound. Illustrated. Colored Wrappers.

THE MARJORIE BOOKS

Marjorie is a happy little girl of twelve, up to mischief, but full of goodness and sincerity. In her and her friends every girl reader will see much of her own love of fun, play and adventure.

MARJORIE'S VACATION MARJORIE'S BUSY DAYS MARJORIE'S NEW FRIEND MARJORIE IN COMMAND MARJORIE'S MAYTIME MARJORIE AT SEACOTE

THE TWO LITTLE WOMEN SERIES

Introducing Dorinda Fayre—a pretty blonde, sweet, serious, timid and a little slow, and Dorothy Rose—a sparkling brunette, quick, elf-like, high tempered, full of mischief and always getting into scrapes.

TWO LITTLE WOMEN TWO LITTLE WOMEN AND TREASURE HOUSE TWO LITTLE WOMEN ON A HOLIDAY

THE DICK AND DOLLY BOOKS

Dick and Dolly are brother and sister, and their games, their pranks, their joys and sorrows, are told in a manner which makes the stories "really true" to young readers.

DICK AND DOLLY DICK AND DOLLY'S ADVENTURES

GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK



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Transcriber's note:

Obvious punctuation errors have been repaired.

THE END