spered Sue, standing in the opened door with
her brother. "Don't let's go in!"
"Why not?" Bunny asked.
"'Cause maybe burglars have been here and maybe they've hurt Mrs.
Golden!"
"Well, if they have, then we've got to help her," decided Bunny. "But
burglars don't come in the daytime. They come only at night time."
"That's so," agreed Sue, growing bolder.
And then the groans stopped and the voice of an old lady said:
"Who is there, my dears? Some children, I know by your voices, but I
can't see you. Don't be afraid, but come and help me."
"Where are you, and what's the matter?" asked Bunny.
"I'm down behind the notion counter," went on the voice. "I stepped up
on a box to reach something from the shelf, and I slipped and fell. I'm
not badly hurt, thank goodness, but I'm sort of wedged in here between
the box and the wall, and I can't get up. If you can pull the box out
I'll be all right."
"We'll do that!" cried Bunny, and he ran around behind the notion
counter, on the side of the store where the needles, pins, and spools of
thread were kept. Sue followed her brother.
There, just as Mrs. Golden had said, they found the old lady
storekeeper. She was lying on the floor with a small packing box so
wedged between her back and the side wall that she could not easily get
up, especially as she was old and feeble.
"Oh, it's Bunny Brown and his sister Sue!" exclaimed Mrs. Golden, when
she saw the children. "I'm so glad you came in! I was hoping some one
would come in to help me. The breath was sort of knocked out of me when
I fell, and I could only grunt and groan for a few minutes."
"We heard you," said Bunny.
"And I thought it was burglars," added Sue.
"Bless your hearts!" exclaimed Mrs. Golden. "Burglars wouldn't come to
my poor, little store. Now just pull the box out and I'll be all right."
Bunny and Sue tugged at the box on which Mrs. Golden had been standing
when she slipped and fell. It was hard work, but they managed to pull it
out, and then Mrs. Golden, with a few more grunts and groans, could get
up.
"Oh, my poor back!" she exclaimed, as she sank into a chair outside the
counter.
"Is it broken?" asked Sue anxiously.
"No, not quite," was the answer, with a little smile. "But it's
strained, and I expect I'll be lame for a while. Philip always told me
not to stand up on things to reach the top shelves, and I guess he was
right."
"Who is Philip?" asked Bunny.
"Philip is my son,
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