Everybody laughed at that, and even Sue smiled.
"Next time smell your mince-meat before you put it in a pie," said Mrs. Brown. "Otherwise your pie would have been perfect, Sue."
"I will," promised the little girl.
Tom became a regular member of Camp Rest-a-While, sleeping in a tent by himself. And he proved so useful, cutting wood, going on errands and even helping with the cooking, that Mrs. Brown said she wondered how she had ever got along without him.
He was given some of Uncle Tad's old clothes, that seemed to fit him very well, so he could no longer be called the "ragged boy," and he went in swimming so often, often taking Bunny and Sue along, that all three were as "clean as whistles," Mrs. Brown said.
No word had been heard from Mr. Bixby about his missing helper, but Mr. Brown had not given up making inquiries about the "needles."
Bunny and Sue missed their electric playthings, but their father brought them other toys from the city with which they had great fun. But still Bunny wished for his electric train, and Sue for her wonderful Teddy bear.
One night, just after supper, Mrs. Brown discovered that she needed milk to set some bread for baking in the morning.
"I'll go and get it to the farmhouse," said Tom.
"And may I go, too?" asked Bunny. It was decided that he could, as it was not late, only dark. So down the dusky road trudged Bunny and Tom, with Splash running along beside them. As it happened, the farmhouse where they usually got the milk had none left, so they had to go on to the next one, which was quite near the edge of the Indian village.