ut I got on my feet, and I'm all right now, Sue."
Bunny's father had taught him a little about swimming, and Bunny knew
that the first thing to do, when you fall in water, is to hold your
breath. Then, when your head bobs up, as it surely will, you can take a
breath, and stand up, if the water isn't too deep.
So Bunny stood up, with the muddy water dripping from him, looking at
Sue who was still on the raft, all alone.
"Oh, Bunny!" cried the little girl. "What shall I do? I--I'm afraid!"
"You're all right," Bunny answered bravely. "I'll come and push you to
shore. I'm all wet so I might as well stay wading now."
The duck pond was not very deep, and Bunny was soon wading behind the
raft, pushing it, with Sue on it, toward shore. So his sister did not
get more than her feet wet, and, as she had on no shoes or stockings,
that did not matter.
"Oh, Bunny! What happened?" asked his mother, when she saw how wet he
was, as, a little later, the two children came to the farmhouse. "What
happened, Bunny?"
"Oh, Mamma. We gave the old hen a ride, so she could be with her little
ducks," said Sue, "and the wind broke our sail, and it fell on me, and
the ducks flew away and so did the hen mother, and Bunny fell in. That's
what happened!"
"Mercy me, sakes alive! I should think that was enough!" cried Grandma
Brown.
"Yes, perhaps you had better keep away from the duck pond after this,"
said Mother Brown. "Now I'll have to change all your clothes, Bunny."
Bunny was sorry his mother had so much work to do for him, but, as he
said, he could not help it.
Washed and clean, Bunny and Sue, a little later, went down the road to
the house of Nellie Bruce.
"We'll take Splash with us," said Bunny. "Where is he? Here, Splash!
Splash!" he called.
"I didn't see him all to-day," said Sue. "Maybe he didn't like being a
blue-striped tiger in a circus, and he's gone back to our home by the
ocean."
"He wouldn't go that far," said Bunny. "Besides, he liked being in the
circus. He wagged his tail 'most all the while, and when he does that
he's happy. Here, Splash!" he called again.
But Splash did not come, even when Sue called, and the two children went
off to play without him. For a time they did not think about their dog,
as they had such fun at the home of Nellie Bruce. They played tag, and
hide-and-go-seek, as well as teeter-tauter, and bean-bag.
Then Mrs. Bruce gave them some cookies and milk, and they had a little
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