Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue

by Laura Lee Hope

"Don't go far away, children," called Mrs. Brown after the two tots, as they wandered down near the little stream.

"We won't," promised Bunny, and he really meant it. But neither he nor
Sue knew what was going to happen.

It was quite warm that day, and, as Bunny and Sue sat in the shade of a tree on the bank of the river, the little boy said:

"Oh, Sue, wouldn't it be nice if we could go on the river in the boat?"

"Yes," said his sister, "but mother said we weren't to."

"I guess she meant we weren't to go ROWING in a boat—I mean a loose boat—one that isn't tied fast," said Bunny. "I guess it would be all right if we sat in the boat while it was tied fast to shore."

"Maybe," said Sue. She wanted, as much as did Bunny, to sit in the boat, for it was cooler down there.

"Let's do it!" proposed Bunny. "The boat is tied fast, but we can make believe we are rowing. We'll pretend we are taking a long trip."

Neither of the children meant to do wrong, for they thought it would be all right to sit in the boat as long as it was tied fast. So into it they climbed. Then such fun as they had! They took sticks and made believe to row. They tied their handkerchiefs on other sticks and pretended to be sailing. They rocked the boat gently to and fro, and Bunny called this "being out in a storm."

Then they lay down on the broad seats and made believe it was night and that, when they awakened, they would be in a far-off land where coconuts grew on trees and where there were monkeys to toss them down.