irs.
"What's the matter, Bunny?" she asked.
"Oh, you're up there, are you?" exclaimed the little boy, much
surprised. "Were you down here at the hose?"
"No. I'm getting dressed. I haven't been down in the yard at all yet."
"Then who did it?" thought Bunny. "I wonder----"
But just then a man, who seemed to have been out in a rain storm without
an umbrella, came hurrying around the side path. He caught sight of
Bunny standing near the hose.
"Look here, my little boy," said the man, trying not to speak angrily,
though he was rightfully provoked, "you must be more careful with your
hose. You have wet me very much. Does your mother know you are doing
this?"
"She--she knows I'm watering the garden," Bunny answered.
"Does she know you were watering me?" asked the man, with a half smile.
"No--no, sir," replied the small boy. "I didn't wet you!"
"You didn't! Then who did?"
"I--I don't know," stammered Bunny. "I left the hose here while I went
in to get some bread and jam. Here's some of it now," and he held out
what was left of his slice. "I heard you calling, and I thought maybe it
was my sister Sue. Course she wouldn't 'a' done it on purpose. But it
wasn't Sue. She hasn't been downstairs yet."
"Then who was it?" insisted the man. "Surely the hose didn't wet me all
by itself."
"No," admitted Bunny. "But it might have been Mr. Winkler's monkey."
"Who's Mr. Winkler's monkey, and how could he wet me with a hose?"
demanded the man.
"His name is Wango--I mean the monkey's is," explained Bunny. "Sometimes
he gets away and does things. He climbed up on Mrs. Golden's
shelves--she keeps a store. Maybe Wango got loose and came over here and
picked up the hose to get a drink or something, and so wet you."
"Well, that's possible," admitted the man. "And if that's the case I beg
your pardon. Do you see Wango around here?" he went on, while Sue,
looking from her upper window, wondered who the stranger could be.
"No, I don't see Wango," replied Bunny, looking about. "But I'll look
for him. Maybe he's hiding."
"Maybe he is," and the man now laughed. "I'll help you search. For if
the monkey is up to tricks like that he ought to be stopped. He may wet
some one else if you go away and leave the water turned on."
"That's right," agreed Bunny.
He left the hose, still spurting, on the grass, and, followed by the
man, walked around the yard, looking for Wango. But the mischievous
monkey was not in sight, n
|