Part 20 (1/2)

The day of the party for Splash, the dog, came at last, though Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were so anxious for the time to arrive that it seemed very long indeed. But everything comes if you wait long enough, so they say, and finally the time for the party came.

”Oh, what a fine day!” cried Bunny, as he ran to the window on the morning of the day of the party. ”The sun is s.h.i.+ning, Sue!”

”That's good,” answered his sister from her room. ”A party is no fun in the rain.”

”And there's wind enough to fly the kites,” went on Bunny. He and some of his little boy friends had talked over what they would do at the party.

”The girls will want to play with their dolls,” said Harry Bentley.

”Well, we don't want to do that,” observed Charlie Star. ”What can we do?”

”We can make kites, and fly 'em,” Bunny said, and so this was what he and the boys at the party would do while the girls were playing with their dolls. So Bunny was now glad to notice, as he looked from the window, that the wind was blowing; not too hard, but enough to fly kites.

The two children were soon dressed, and down at the breakfast table. But they did not eat as much as usual, and Bunny left more than half his oatmeal in his dish.

”Why, Bunny! What is the matter?” asked his mother.

”I guess they are thinking so much about the party that they can't eat as they ought,” Aunt Lu said.

”Oh, but that isn't right!” Mother Brown exclaimed. ”Come, Bunny--Sue, eat a nice breakfast, and then you may fix up the lawn in any way you like for your party.”

”I've a big bow for Splash's neck,” said Sue.

”And I'm going to make a harness, and hitch him up to the express wagon, so he can pull us around the yard,” remarked Bunny.

”Now please eat your breakfast!” begged their mother, and Bunny and Sue did their best. But it was hard work not to talk or think about their party.

Aunt Lu helped them get the lawn in readiness. All about the Brown house was a big gra.s.s plot, and in the back were a number of shade trees. The tables, which were made from boxes, with boards across the top, were to be set out there.

There were to be sandwiches, cake, lemonade and ice cream, with Aunt Lu's lovely jam and jelly tarts besides.

”It was the tarts that made us think about the party, so of course we want them,” announced Sue.

Splash, the dog, seemed quite proud of the big bow that Sue tied on his neck, to make him look pretty. But Splash did not care so much for the harness that Bunny made. The little boy took some ropes and straps, and tied them about the dog's neck and front legs. Then some ends of the ropes were made fast to the little express wagon, and Bunny got in it, calling to Splash to ”giddap!” That was the way Grandpa Brown made his horses go, and so, of course, a dog ought to go when you said that to him.

Splash went all right, but just as when Bunny had hitched him to the boat, that was stuck on the island, the harness was not strong enough, and it broke, so that Splash ran off, with the straps and ropes dangling from him.

”I guess I'm too heavy for him to pull,” said Bunny, as he got out of the wagon.

”You could have one of my dolls to ride in the wagon,” offered Sue.

”Take an old one, and I don't care if she falls out. She wouldn't be too heavy for Splash to pull.”

”I'll try it,” Bunny said.

Once again he tied the ropes about Splash, and the little express wagon, and this time, when Bunny walked along beside the dog, Splash really did pull the wagon along, giving the doll a ride.

But Bunny did not think this was much fun. He wanted to ride in the wagon himself.

”I'm going to make a big, strong harness,” he said, and off he went to look for more rope.