Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Sunny South

by Laura Lee Hope

"That is Spanish moss, also called long moss," explained Mr. Brown. "It is common in Florida and other parts of the South, especially in trees that grow in the swamps, or everglades."

"What are the everglades?" Bunny wanted to know. "Are they like alligators?"

"Oh, no!" laughed his mother. "About all you think of, Bunny, is alligators."

"I don't; do I, Mother?" asked Sue. "I keep thinking of oranges!"

Mr. and Mrs. Brown laughed at this, and Mr. Brown, after explaining how the Spanish moss grew on trees, sometimes hanging down like the gray beard of a very old man, told the children about the everglades.

"The everglades are the great swamps in the southern part of Florida," Mr. Brown said. "The land there is very low in some places, and the sea water covers it at times. The everglades are lonely places, part forest and partly covered with tall grass."

"Alligators, too?" asked Bunny, with wide-open eyes.

"Yes, I think alligators are there," Mr. Brown said. "But no oranges," he added, before Sue could ask that question. "It is too swampy to raise oranges, though now an effort is being made to drain the swampy everglades and make them of some use. We aren't going to that part of Florida, however; at least not on this journey."

There was so much of interest to see on this trip to the sunny South, and so much to ask questions about, that Bunny and Sue thought the journey one of the most delightful they had ever taken.

While Mr. Brown looked over some business papers, among which Bunny had a glimpse of the valuable oil certificate, and while Mrs. Brown read a magazine, the children looked from the windows of their car at the scenes and landscapes that flitted past so rapidly.