iet!" ordered Bunny, and the dog whined. Then the noise sounded
again. It was like some one crying.

"Oh, I don't want to stay here!" exclaimed Sue, clasping Bunny's hand.

"Wait a minute," he said.

Then came a voice from out of the darkness, saying:

"Please don't run away. I won't hurt you and I'm all alone. I want to
get out. I'm lost. I can just see your light. Stand still a minute and I
can see you. I'm coming."

Bunny and Sue did not know whether or not to wait, but, in the end, they
stood still. Splash whined, but did not bark. They could hear some one
walking toward them.

A moment later there came into the light of the flashlight a slim,
ragged boy. He was even more ragged than Mr. Bixby.

"Please don't run away," he said. "I won't hurt you. I need some one to
help me."

Bunny and Sue felt sorry for the boy.

CHAPTER XV

HIDDEN IN THE HAY

For two or three seconds the two children and the ragged boy stood in
the queer cave looking at one another. Splash had come to a stop near
his little master and mistress, and with one fore leg raised from the
ground was looking sharply at the boy. It seemed as if the dog were
saying:

"Just say the word, Bunny or Sue, and I'll drive this boy away from
here. He doesn't look like a proper person for you to be with."

But Bunny and Sue had no such feeling. They did not mind how ragged a
person was if he were only clean. Of course a dog is different. Splash
never did like ragged persons, though in a good many cases they were
just as good as the well dressed ones with whom he made friends.

So, in this case, seeing the ragged boy coming near to Sue and Bunny in
the dark, where the only light was that of the little boy's electric
lamp, the dog growled and seemed about to spring on the lad. The boy
took a few steps backward.

"What's the matter?" asked Bunny. "You're not afraid of us, are you?"

"No, little feller, I'm not. But I don't like the way your dog acts. He
seems as if he didn't like tramps, and I expect he thinks I'm one. Well,
I 'spect I do look like one, 'count of my clothes, but I ain't never
begged my way yet, though many a time I've been hungry enough to do it."

"Splash, behave yourself!" cried Bunny Brown. "Charge! Lie down!"

Splash did as he was told, but it was easy to see he did not like it. He
would rather have run toward and barked at the ragged lad.

"Don't be afraid of him," said Sue. "We won't let him hurt you. Bunny,
why d