Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Camp Rest-A-While

by Laura Lee Hope

  CHAPTER XXIV

  "WHO IS THERE?"

  Sue did not run into the cave after her brother Bunny. She stood,hugging her doll close to her, under a big, evergreen tree, so that onlya few drops of rain splashed on her.

  Bunny Brown, standing in the "front door" of the cave, as he called it,looked at his sister.

  "Come on in, Sue!" he called. "It's nice here, and you can't get wet atall."

  "I--I don't want to," Sue answered.

  "Why not?" Bunny wanted to know.

  "'Cause," and that was all Sue would say. Then it began to rain harder,and the drops even splashed down through the thick branches of theevergreen tree.

  "Oh, come on!" cried Bunny. "It's nice here, and dry, Sue. Why won't youcome?"

  "'Cause I don't like those robbers!" answered Sue at last. "I'd ratherstay out in the rain than go in with those robbers."

  "What robbers?" asked Bunny, his eyes opening wide.

  "You said that was a robbers' cave," declared Sue, "and I don't like'em."

  Bunny laughed.

  "There's no robbers here, Sue," he said. "I only meant that this _looks_just like the pictures of a robbers' cave. There isn't any robbers here.Come on in. It's nice and dry here."

  "Are you sure there's no robbers?" Sue wanted to know.

  "Sure," said Bunny. "Listen!" He went back a little farther in the caveand cried:

  "Robbers! Robbers! Go on away! That will drive 'em off, Sue," he said."Now come on in."

  The little girl waited a half minute, to make sure no robbers came outafter Bunny's call. Then she, too, ran into the cave.

  "Isn't it nice here?" Bunny asked.

  "Ye--yes, I--I guess so," and Sue spoke slowly. She was not quite sureabout it. "But it--it's dark," she went on.

  "All caves are dark," Bunny Brown answered. "They have to be dark orthey wouldn't be caves. Nobody ever saw a light cave."

  "Well, I like a light cave best," said Sue. "How long has we got to stayhere, Bunny?"

  "Till Daddy comes for us, I guess," he said. "We can't walk back to campall alone. I don't know the way. We'd get losted worse than we are now."

  "Has we got to stay here all night?" Sue wanted to know.

  "Well, maybe," said Bunny slowly. "But we could easy sleep here. There'ssome nice dried leaves we could make into a bed, and we've some of ourlunch left. We can eat that for supper, and save a little forbreakfast."

  "What will we give Splash?" asked Sue. She had looked over Bunny'sshoulder as he now opened the lunch basket. There did not seem very muchleft for two hungry children and a dog. Splash was now nosing about inthe cave. He did not bark, and Bunny and Sue knew there could be no onein the hole but themselves--no wild animals or anything.

  "There isn't enough to give Splash much," said Bunny slowly. "But maybehe can dig himself up a bone in the woods. We can leave the crusts forhim. Splash likes crusts."

  "I don't," Sue said. "He can have all of mine."

  Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had not yet learned to like the crusts oftheir bread. But Splash was not so particular.

  The wind was now blowing harder, and the rain was flowing in the frontof the cave. It blew in the faces of the children.

  "Come on farther back," said Bunny, as he saw Sue wrapping her dressaround her doll to keep off the rain.

  "It--it's too dark," Sue answered.

  Bunny walked back a little way. Then he cried:

  "Oh, Sue. Come on back here. It's real light here. There's a chimblyhere and the light comes down it fine!"

  "You come and get me--I can't see--it's so dark," Sue answered.

  Bunny had left her standing near the front part of the cave, where itwas still light, and he had run back into the dark part. There, halfway back, he had found a place where there was a hole in the roof--a"chimbly," as Bunny called it.

  Through this hole, or chimney, light came down, but between that place,and the entrance, was a dark spot. And it was this dark patch that Suedid not want to cross alone.

  "I'll come and get you," Bunny called, and, a minute later, he and Suewere standing together under the hole in the cave roof. Some few dropsof rain came down this chimney, but by standing back a little way thechildren could keep nice and dry, and, at the same time, they were notin the dark.

  "Isn't this nice, Sue?" asked Bunny.

  "Yes," she said. "I like it better here."

  It was a good place for the children to be in out of the storm. Theywere far enough back in the cave now so that the wind could not blow onthem, and no rain could reach them. Splash had come this far back intothe cave with them, and was sniffing about.

  Bunny walked around the light place, and found some boxes and old bags.In one of the boxes were some pieces of dried bread, and an end ofbacon. There was also a tin pail and a frying pan. And, off to one side,were some ashes. Bunny also saw where a pile of bags had been made intoa sort of bed.

  "Look, Sue," said the little boy. "I guess real people used to live inthis cave. Here is where they made their fire, and cooked, and theyslept on the pile of bags. We can sleep there to-night, if daddy doesn'tcome after us."

  "But I hope he comes!" exclaimed Sue.

  Bunny hoped so, too, but he thought he wouldn't say so. He wanted to bebrave, and make believe he liked it in the cave.

  "I--I'm thirsty," said Sue, after a bit. "I want a drink, Bunny."

  "I'll give you some of the milk, Sue. There's half a bottle of it left."

  "I'd rather have water, Bunny."

  "I don't guess there's any water here, Sue," answered Bunny.

  Then he listened to a sound. It was Splash, lapping up water fromsomewhere in the cave. It did not sound very far off.

  "There's water!" Bunny cried. "Splash has found a spring. Now I can getyou a drink, Sue. Splash, where is that water?"

  Splash barked, and came running to his little master. Bunny walked tothe place from which Splash had come, and there he found a spring ofwater coming out of the rocky side of the cave. It fell into a littlepuddle, and it was from this puddle that Splash had taken his drink.Bunny held a cup under the little stream of water and got some for Sue.Then he took a drink himself.

  "Say, this cave is fine!" he cried. "It's got water in it and a placefor a fire. All the smoke would go up that hole. We'll get Bunker anddaddy and mother and Uncle Tad and come here and have a picnic some day.Don't you like it, Sue?"

  "I--I'd rather be back at Camp Rest-a-While," said the little girl."Can't we go?"

  "I'll go and see how hard it's raining," said the little boy.

  He went to the front door of the cave, and looked out. It was stormingvery hard now. The wind was blowing the limbs of the trees about, anddashing the rain all over.

  "We can't walk home in this storm," said Bunny to Sue. "We'll have tostay in this cave until they come for us."

  "All right," Sue said. "Then let's eat."

  The children ate some more of the lunch they had brought with them.

  "Now let's make the bed," said Sue. "We'll sleep on a pile of the bags,Bunny, and pull some of 'em over us for covers. Splash won't need anycovers. He never sleeps in a bed."

  Bunny and Sue had often "played house," and they knew how to make theold blankets, and pieces of carpet they found in the cave, into a sortof bed. It was not so light now, for it was coming on toward night, andthe sky was covered with clouds.

  "If we shut our eyes and go to sleep we won't mind the dark," saidBunny.

  "All right--let's," agreed Sue.

  They cuddled up on the bags, their arms around one another, with Sue'sdoll held close in her hand, while Splash lay down not far from them.

  Bunny was not sure he had been asleep. Anyhow he suddenly opened hiseyes, and looked toward the chimney hole in the roof of the cave. Alittle light still came down it. But something else was also comingdown. Bunny saw a big boy--or a small man--sliding down a grapevine ropeinto the cave. First Bunny saw his feet--then his legs--then his body.Bunny wondered who was coming into the cave
. He made up his mind to findout.

  "Who is there?" he suddenly called. "Who are you? What do you want inour cave?"

  The figure sliding down the piece of grapevine into the cave, throughthe chimney hole, suddenly fell in a heap on the floor, close to whereBunny and Sue were lying on the pile of bags. Splash jumped up and beganto bark loudly.