as he took the reins, and once more away
trotted the little pony. Then Sue looked back, and she cried:

"Oh, Bunny! It's no good! Here comes Splash after us!"

And, surely enough, the dog was coming after them. He had found the
stick Bunny had thrown, and then, taking it in his mouth, had started
back after the pony cart.

"You didn't throw it far enough," said Sue.

"I threw it as far as I could," said Bunny.

"Well, here comes Splash. What are we going to do now?" Sue asked. "I
guess we've got to drive back and take him home."

"That'll take a long time," Bunny said, "and we ought to be going after
the butter. Oh, Splash! you're a bad dog!" he exclaimed.

Splash sat down on the grass, near where Toby had come to a second stop,
and flopped his tail up and down on the grass. That's what Splash did.
And he dropped the stick at his feet and looked down at it, every now
and then, as if he were saying:

"Well, that was a pretty good throw, Bunny. But throw it again. I like
to run after sticks and bring 'em back to you."

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Sue. "What are we going to do now?"

"What's the matter?" asked a voice the children knew, and there was
Bunker Blue, walking along with an axe over his shoulder. He was going
to the woods to cut some stakes for the big fish nets. "What's the
matter, Bunny and Sue?" asked the boat boy.

"Oh, Splash is following us, and we're going to the farm, and there's a
big dog there that bites him," explained Bunny. "We can't make Splash go
back home."

"And Bunny threw a stick and--and everything," added Sue.

"Well, I'll take him with me," offered Bunker Blue. "He always likes to
go to the woods. I'll take him with me and then he won't bother you.
Here, Splash!" he called.

With a bark and a joyful wag of his tail, Splash sprang up and ran
toward Bunker.

"Come on now! Off to the woods!" cried the fish boy.

Splash turned once to look back at Bunny and Sue in the pony cart, and
then he glanced at Bunker. It was as if he said:

"Well, I like you both, and I don't know which one to go with."

"Go on with Bunker!" said Bunny to his dog. And, with a final wag of his
tail and a good-bye bark, Splash did.

"I'll take care of him. He won't follow you any more," said Bunker, and
then he marched off toward the woods, the big dog tagging after.

"Now we can go to the farm," said Bunny, and he and Sue drove on.

They knew the way to the farm, for they had been there many times
be