“Good-night,” echoed the old man, and Bunny and Sue felt very sorry for him as he went feebly down the steps and shuffled off.
“Well, that wasn’t the surprise after all,” said Mr. Brown, as he shut the door.
“When will it come?” asked Bunny.
“Soon now, I think,” was the answer.
They all went back to the dining room. Mr. Brown was telling about the old man who was seeking a Mr. Denton in the circus business when again the front doorbell rang.
“This is the surprise, I’m sure!” cried Daddy Brown. “Now stay here, children, until I call to you to open the door into the hall,” he warned.
Bunny and Sue, so impatient they could hardly keep still, waited. They heard the front door open. They heard their father talking. Then came a funny, squeaking, whining sound.
“Oh, what can it be?” murmured Sue.
Then came a knock on the door leading from the dining room into the hall.
“You may open!” called their father.