or did he come when Bunny called, though Mr.
Winkler's pet nearly always did this.

"I guess he isn't here," said Bunny at length. "But I didn't wet you
with the hose."

"Then who----" began the man, but he stopped short to point and cry:
"Look at that!"

As Bunny and the stranger were walking back toward the hose, Splash, the
big dog, ran out from under the back porch and took hold of the hose in
his teeth. He began to shake it as he often shook things with which he
played.

"There!" laughed the man. "That's how I was sprayed! Your dog picked up
the hose after you left it, and raised it high, so the water shot over
the hedge and on me! Now the mystery is explained! It was the dog that
did it!"

And so it was.

"Splash!" cried Bunny. "Drop that hose!"

Splash dropped it, and with a bark came running up to be petted. He did
not know he had done wrong.

"I'm very sorry," said Bunny. "Splash, you're a bad dog!" he declared,
and Splash drooped his tail between his legs.

"Oh, don't scold him," the man begged. "I like dogs, and I know they
don't like to be scolded any more than we do--or than boys or girls do.
It wasn't his fault. He thought the hose was left there for him to play
with."

"Is anything wrong?" asked Mrs. Brown. Sue had told her mother about a
strange man, all wet, in the yard talking to Bunny, and Mrs. Brown had
come down to see about it.

"Just a little accident," explained the stranger. "I was passing in the
street when it suddenly began to rain--or at least I thought at first it
was rain. Then I knew it was some one using a hose and spraying me. I
called to them, but that did no good, and I came in. I saw this little
boy and the hose, and naturally thought he had wet me by accident. But
it seems it was his dog," and he explained how it had happened.

"I am very sorry," apologized Mrs. Brown. "If there is anything I can
do----"

"Oh, I will soon dry in the sun!" laughed the man. "I wasn't really
angry, only I know children will get careless when they have a hose, and
I was going to tell them to be more careful. But I don't suppose I can
make Splash understand," and he patted the dog, whose tail was now
wagging again.

"I'm glad you are so kind about it," said Mrs. Brown. "Bunny generally
is careful when he waters the garden. If you will come in and get
dry----"

"Oh, no, thank you! I'll dry better in the sun. Clean water will hurt
no one, and I might just as well have been caught in a