Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Sunny South

by Laura Lee Hope

"We're going to change cars in a little while," said Mr. Brown to his wife and children, as he put his papers back in his pocket.

"Are we at Orange Beach?" Bunny asked, ready to start out and hunt alligators at a moment's notice if need be.

"Oh, no," his father answered. "Orange Beach is another day's travel. But this is as far as this railroad runs and we have to get off and take another train. The place where we will get off is only a small station in a little town, but there is a man there I want to see on business."

"Will you stay there long?" asked Mrs. Brown.

"No, only a few hours, while waiting for the next train to take us on to Orange Beach. You will have time to get something to eat—you and the children, while I see Mr. Parker. The name of the place is Clayton, and it is the next station," said Mr. Brown, looking at a timetable he carried.

Bunny and Sue were delighted to ride in railroad trains and look out at the scenery, but they were also glad to get out once in a while, to "stretch their legs," as Bunny said. In fact, the children were always glad of a change, and now that they heard they were to alight from one train, get lunch in Clayton, and proceed in another car they welcomed whatever might happen during that time.

"Clayton! Clay-ton!" called the trainman, as the cars began to go more slowly when the brakes were put on, and Bunny and Sue, with their father and mother, began to gather up their hand baggage in readiness to alight.

Clayton was a small town in Florida, and except that everything was as green and sunny as it would have been in Bellemere in the middle of summer, the village was not very different from many country towns of the North. Yes, there was a difference, too. There were a large number of colored people about—children and men and women—and many of the animals seen drawing carts and wagons were mules instead of horses. One or two small automobiles were to be noticed, but there was not such a busy scene as would have been noticed in a Northern town.

"Now," said Mr. Brown to his wife, when she and the children were gathered about him on the station platform, "I think this will be the best plan. You and the children get lunch in that restaurant over there, while I go uptown and see Mr. Parker. By the time you finish your lunch and I get back, you will not have long to wait for the train that will take us to Orange Beach. It comes in here at this station."

"But where will you get lunch?" asked Mrs. Brown.