Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Aunt Lu\'s City Home

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BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME

by

LAURA LEE HOPE

Author of The Bunny Brown Series, The Bobbsey Twins Series,
The Outdoor Girls Series Etc.

Illustrated by Florence England Nosworthy

New York
Grosset & Dunlap
Publishers
Made in the United States of America

* * * * *

BOOKS

By LAURA LEE HOPE

_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated._

THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES

BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARM
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUS
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILE

THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES

For Little Men and Women

THE BOBBSEY TWINS
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME

THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES

THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND

GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS NEW YORK

* * * * *

Copyright, 1916, by
GROSSET & DUNLAP

_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Aunt Lu's City Home._

[Illustration: "THIS IS WHERE AUNT LU LIVES"
_Frontispiece_ (_Page 93._)
_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Aunt Lu's City Home._]

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. A MIDNIGHT ALARM 1

II. BUNNY AND SUE GO OUT 14

III. AUNT LU'S INVITATION 23

IV. ON THE GROCERY WAGON 33

V. SURPRISING OLD MISS HOLLYHOCK 40

VI. OFF FOR NEW YORK 49

VII. ON THE TRAIN 58

VIII. AUNT LU'S SURPRISE 68

IX. THE WRONG HOUSE 80

X. IN THE DUMB WAITER 95

XI. A LONG RIDE 105

XII. BUNNY ORDERS DINNER 116

XIII. THE STRAY DOG 129

XIV. THE RAGGED MAN 138

XV. BUNNY GOES FISHING 148

XVI. LOST IN NEW YORK 157

XVII. AT THE POLICE STATION 166

XVIII. HOME AGAIN 175

XIX. BUNNY FLIES A KITE 184

XX. THE PLAY PARTY 193

XXI. THE REAL PARTY 202

XXII. IN THE PARK 211

XXIII. OLD AUNT SALLIE 218

XXIV. WOPSIE'S FOLKS 228

XXV. A HAPPY CHRISTMAS 236

BUNNY BROWN
AND HIS SISTER SUE
AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOME

CHAPTER I

A MIDNIGHT ALARM

"Bunny! Bunny Brown! Sue, dear! Aren't you going to get up?"

Mrs. Brown stood in the hall, calling to her two sleeping children. The
sun was shining brightly out of doors, but the little folks had not yet
gotten out of bed.

"My! But you are sleeping late this morning!" went on Mrs. Brown. "Come,
Bunny! Sue! It's time for breakfast!"

There was a patter of bare feet in one room. Then a little voice called.

"Oh, Bunny! I'm up first. Come on, we'll go and help grandma feed the
chickens!"

Little Sue Brown tapped on the door of her brother's room.

"Get up, Bunny!" she cried, laughing. "I'm up first; Let's go and get
the eggs."

In the room where Bunny Brown slept could be heard a sort of grunting,
stretching, yawning sound. That was the little boy waking up. He heard
what his sister Sue said.

"Ho! Ho!" he laughed, as he rubbed his sleepy eyes: "Go to get eggs with
grandma! I guess you think we're back on grandpa's farm; don't you Sue?"
and he came to his door to look out into the hall, where his mother
stood smiling at the two children.

When Bunny said that, Sue looked at him in surprise. She rubbed her hand
across her eyes once or twice, glanced around the hall, back into her
room, and then at her mother. A queer look was on Sue's face.

"Why--why!" she exclaimed. "Oh, why, Bunny Brown! That's just what I did
think! I thought we were back at grandpa's, and we're not at all--we're
in our home; aren't we?"

"Of course!" laughed Mrs. Brown. "But you were sleeping so late that I
thought I had better call you. Aren't you ready to get up? The sun came
up long ago, and he's now shining brightly."

"Did the sun have its breakfast, Mother?" asked Bunny.

"Yes, little man. He drank a lot of dew, off the flowers. That's all he
ever takes. Now you two get dressed, and come down and have your
breakfast, so we can clear away the dishes. Hurry now!"

Mrs. Brown went down stairs, leaving Bunny and Sue to dress by
themselves, for they were old enough for that now.

"Oh, Bunny!" exclaimed the little girl, as she went back in her own
room. "I really did think, when I first woke up, that we were back at
Grandpa Brown's, and that we were going out to help grandma feed the
hens."

"Do you wish we were, Sue?" asked Bunny.

"Oh, I don't know, Bunny," said Sue slowly. "I did like it at grandma's,
and we had lots of fun playing circus. But I like it at home here, too."

"So do I," said Bunny, as he started to get dressed.

The two children, with their father and mother, had come back, only the
day before, from a long visit to Grandpa Brown's, in the country. I'll
tell you about that a little later. So it is no wonder that Sue,
awakening from the first night's sleep in her own house, after the long
stay in the country, should think she was back at grandpa's.

"Bunny, Bunny!" called Sue, after a bit.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Will you button my dress for me?"

"Is it one of the kind that buttons up the back, Sue?"

"Yes. If it buttoned in front I could do it myself. Will you help me,
just as you did once before, 'cause I'm hungry for breakfast!"

"Yep, I'll help you, Sue. Only I hope your dress isn't got a lot of
buttons on, Sue. I always get mixed up when you make me button that
kind, for I have some buttons, or button-holes, left over every time."

"This dress only has four buttons on it, Bunny, an' they're big ones."

"That's good!" cried the little fellow, and he had soon buttoned Sue's
dress for her. Then the two children went down to breakfast.

"What can we do now, Bunny?" asked Sue, as they arose from the table.
"We want to have some fun."

"Yes," said Bunny. "We do."

That was about all he and Sue thought of when they did not have to go to
school. They were always looking for some way to have fun. And they
found it, nearly always.

For Bunny Brown was a bright, daring little chap, always ready to do
something, and very often he got into mischief when looking for fun. Nor
was that the worst of it, for he took Sue with him wherever he went, so
she fell into mischief too. But she didn't mind. She was always as ready
for fun as was Bunny, and the two had many good times together--"The
Brown twins," some persons called them, though they were not, for Bunny
was a year older than Sue, being six, while she was only a little over
five, about "half-past five," as she used to say, while Bunny was
"growing on seven."

"Yes," said Bunny slowly, as he went out on the shady porch with his
sister Sue, "we want to have some fun."

"Let's go down to the fish dock," said Sue. "We haven't seen the boats
for a long time. We didn't see any while we were at grandpa's."

"Course not," agreed Bunny. "They don't have boats on a farm. But we had
a nice ride on the duck pond, on the raft, Sue."

"Yes, we did, Bunny. But we got all wet and muddy." Sue laughed as she
remembered that, and so did Bunny.

"All right, we'll go down to the fish dock," agreed the little boy.

Their father, Mr. Walter Brown, was in the boat business at Bellemere,
on Sandport bay, near the ocean. Mr. Brown owned many boats, and
fishermen hired some, to go away out on the ocean, and catch fish and
lobsters. Other men hired sail boats, row boats or gasoline motor boats
to take rides in on the ocean or bay, and often Bunny and Sue would have
boat trips, too.

The children always liked to go down to the fish dock, and watch the
boats of the fishermen come in, laden with what the men had caught in
their nets. Mr. Brown had an office on the fish dock.

"Where are you two children going?" called Mrs. Brown after Bunny and
Sue, as they went out the front gate.

"Down to Daddy's dock," replied Bunny.

"Well, be careful you don't fall in the water."

"We won't," promised Sue. "Wait 'til I get my doll, Bunny!" she called
to her brother.

She ran back into the house, and came out, in a little while, carrying a
big doll.

"I didn't take you to grandpa's with me," said Sue, talking to the doll
as though it were a real baby, "but I'll take you down to see the fish
now. You like fish, don't you, dollie?"

"She wouldn't like 'em if they bit her," said Bunny.

"I won't let 'em bite her!" retorted Sue.

At the fish dock Bunny and Sue saw a tall, good-natured, red-haired boy
coming out of their father's office.

"Oh, Bunker Blue!" cried Bunny. "Are any fish boats coming in?"

Bunker Blue was Mr. Brown's helper, and was very fond of Bunny and Sue.
He had been to grandpa's farm, in the country, with them.

"Yes, one of the fish boats is coming in now," said Bunker. "You can
come with me and watch."

Bunny took hold of one of Bunker's hands, and Sue the other. They always
did this when they went out on the dock, for the water was very deep on
each side, and though the children could swim a little, they did not
want to fall into such deep water; especially with all their clothes on.

Soon they were at the end of the dock. Coming up to it was a sailing
boat, that had been out to sea for fish.

"Did you get many?" called Bunker to the captain.

"Yes, quite a few fish this time. Want to come and look at them? Bring
the children!"

"Oh, can we go on the boat?" asked Bunny eagerly.

"I guess so," said Bunker Blue.

He led the children carefully to the deck of the fish boat. Bunny and
Sue looked down into a hole, through an opening in the deck. The hole
was filled with fish, some of which were still flapping their tails, for
they had only just been taken out of the nets.

"Oh-o-o-o! What a lot of fish!" exclaimed Sue. She leaned over to see
better, when, all at once, her doll slipped from her arms, and fell
right down among the flapping fish.

"Oh, dear!" cried Sue.

"I'll get her for you!" cried Bunny, and he was just going to jump down
in among the fish, too, but Bunker Blue caught him by the arm.

"You'll spoil all your clothes if you do that, little man!" Bunker said.

"But I want to get Sue's doll!"

Bunny himself did not care anything about dolls; he would not play with
them. But he loved his sister Sue, and he knew that she was very fond of
this doll, so he wanted to get it for her. That was why he was ready to
jump down in the hold (as that part of the ship is called) among the
flapping fish.

"I'll get her for you," said Bunker. With a long pole Bunker fished up
the doll. Her dress was all wet, for there was water on the fish.

"And oh! dear! She smells just like a fish herself!" cried Sue,
puckering up her nose in a funny way.

"You can take off her dress and wash it," said Bunny.

"Yes," said Sue, "I can do that, and I will." She took off the doll's
dress, and then looked for some place to wash it.

"Here, Sue, give it to me," said the captain of the boat, for he knew
Bunny and Sue very well indeed. "I'll soon have the dress clean for
you."

"How?" asked Sue, as she gave it to Captain Tuttle.

He tied the dress to a string, and then dipped it in the water, over the
side of the boat. Up and down in the water he lifted the doll's dress,
pulling it up by the string.

"That's how we sailors wash our clothes when we're in a hurry," said
Captain Tuttle. "Now when your doll's dress is dry, it will be nice and
clean. You can hang it up here to dry, while you're watching us take
out the fish."

He fastened Sue's doll's dress on a line over the cabin, and then he and
his men took the fish out of the boat, and packed them in barrels in ice
to send to the city.

Bunny and Sue looked on, and thought it great fun. Sometimes a big flat
fish, called a flounder, would slip from one of the baskets, in which
the men were putting them, and flop out on deck, almost sliding
overboard.

Soon all the fish were out, and as Sue's doll's dress was now dry, she
and Bunny started back home.

"Well, we had fun then, Sue," said the little boy. "Didn't we?"

"Yes," agreed his sister. "But what can we do this afternoon?"

"Oh, we'll go down to Charlie Star's house and have some fun. He's got a
new swing and a hammock."

"Oh, that will be fine!" cried Sue.

The children had a good time playing with Charlie that afternoon. Others
of their playmates came also, and Bunny and Sue told of the jolly fun
they had had in the country, on grandpa's farm.

After a while the sun, that had been shining brightly all day, began to
get ready to go to bed, down back of the hills where the clouds would
cover it up until morning. And it was time also, for Bunny Brown and his
sister Sue to go to bed. All the little folk of the town of Bellemere
were getting sleepy.

How long Bunny and Sue slept they did not know. But Bunny was dreaming
he had turned into a fish, and was going to flop into the water, and Sue
was dreaming that she and her doll were having a fine ride in a motor
boat, when both children were awakened by the loud ringing of a bell.

"Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!" went the bell.

"Is that our door bell?" asked Sue of Bunny, who slept in the room next
to hers, the door being open between.

"No, I guess it's a church bell," said Bunny, half awake.

Then he and his sister heard their father moving around his room.

"What is it, Walter?" asked Mrs. Brown.

"It's a midnight alarm," he answered. "I guess it must be a fire, though
it's the church bell that's ringing. I can't see any blaze from my
window, but it must be a fire, or why would they ring the bell?"

"And why should they ring the church bell, when we have a fire bell?"
asked Mrs. Brown.

"I don't know," answered her husband. "I guess I'd better get up, and
see what it is. I wouldn't want any of my boats to burn up."

CHAPTER II

BUNNY AND SUE GO OUT

Bunny Brown, in his little room, and Sue Brown, in hers, jumped out of
bed and ran to the window. They could hear the ringing of the church
bell more plainly now.

"Ding-dong! Ding-dong!" it sounded through the silence of the night. It
was not altogether dark, for there was a big, bright moon in the sky,
and it was almost as light as a cloudy day.

"Can you see any blaze?" Bunny and Sue heard their mother ask their
father.

"No, not a thing. But it's funny that that bell should ring. I'm going
out to see what it is."

"I'll come with you," said Mrs. Brown. "I'll just put on my slippers, a
bath robe and a cloak, and come along. It's so warm that I'll not get
cold."

"All right, come along," said Mr. Brown. "The children are asleep and
they won't miss us."

Bunny and Sue felt like laughing when they heard this. They were not
asleep, but their father and mother did not know they were awake. Pretty
soon Mr. and Mrs. Brown slipped quietly down the stairs and out of the
house--out into the moonlit night. The church bell was still ringing
loudly, and Bunny and Sue could hear the neighbors, in the houses on
either side of them, talking about it. Everyone wondered if there was a
fire.

"Oh, Bunny!" called Sue in a whisper to her brother, when daddy and
Mother Brown had gone out. "Is you awake, Bunny?"

"Yep, course I am! Are you?"

"Yep. Say, Bunny, let's go to the fire; will you?"

"Yep. I'll just put on my bath robe and slippers."

"An' I will too. We'll go and see what it is. Daddy and mother won't
care, and we can come home with them."

Now while Bunny Brown and his sister Sue are getting ready to go out to
see what that midnight alarm means, I'll tell you a little bit about the
children, and the other books, of Which this is one in a series.

The first book was called "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue." In that I
told you that Bunny and Sue lived with their father and mother in
Bellemere, near the ocean. Mr. Brown was in the boat business, and he
had a big boy, Bunker Blue, as well as other men and boys, to help him.
But of them all Bunny and Sue liked Bunker Blue best.

In the first book I told how Bunny's and Sue's Aunt Lu came from the
city of New York to pay them a long visit, how she lost her diamond
ring, and how Bunny found it in the queerest way.

In the second book, named "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue on Grandpa's
Farm," I told how the Brown family went on a trip in a big automobile.
It was a regular moving van of an automobile, and so large that Bunny
and Sue, Mr. and Mrs. Brown and Bunker Blue could eat and sleep in it.
They camped out during the two or more days they were making the trip
to grandpa's.

And what fun the children had in the country! You may read in the book
all about how they saw the Gypsies, how they were frightened by tramps
at the picnic, how they were lost, and what jolly times they had with
their dog Splash.

Then, too, Bunny and Sue helped find grandpa's horses, that the Gypsies
had taken away. So, altogether, the children had lots of fun on Grandpa
Brown's farm. They even went to a circus, and this brings me to the
third book, which is called: "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Playing
Circus."

And that is just what Bunny and Sue did. They got up a little circus of
their own, and held it in grandpa's barn. Then Bunker Blue, and some of
the larger boys in the country, thought they would get up a show. They
did, and held it in two tents. Of course Bunny and Sue helped.

A week or so after the circus Bunny and Sue, with Bunker, and their
father and mother (and of course their dog Splash) came back from the
country in the big automobile.

Bunny and Sue had many friends in Bellemere where they lived. Not only
were the boys and girls their friends, but also many grown folk, who
liked the Brown children very much indeed. There was Mrs. Redden, who
kept the village candy store, and there was Uncle Tad, an old soldier,
who lived in the Brown house. Bunny and Sue liked them very much.

Then there was old Jed Winkler, a sailor, who lived with his sister,
Miss Euphemia Winkler, and a monkey. That's right! Mr. Winkler did have
a pet monkey named Wango, and he was very funny--I mean the monkey was
funny. He was so gentle that Bunny and Sue often petted him, and gave
him candy and peanuts to eat. Wango did many queer tricks.

But now I think I have told you enough about Bunny and Sue, as well as
about their friends, so we will go back to the children. We left them
getting ready to go out into the moonlight, you know, to see what the
ringing of the church bell meant.

"Is you all ready, Bunny?" called Sue when she had put on her bath robe
and slippers.

"Yep," he answered. "Come on."

Hand in hand the children went softly down the front stairs, as their
father and mother had done. Mr. and Mrs. Brown were now out in the
street, some distance away from the house. Men and women from several
other houses, near that of the Brown family, were also out, wondering
why the bell was ringing.

"Don't wake up Uncle Tad!" whispered Bunny to Sue, as they walked along
so softly in their bath slippers.

"No, I won't," answered the little girl. "And don't wake up Mary,
either. She might not let us go."

"All right," whispered Bunny.

Mary was the cook, but, as she slept up on the third floor, she would
hardly hear the children going out.

"Shut the door easy," said Bunny to Sue, as they reached the front
steps. "Don't let it slam."

They had found the door open, as Mr. and Mrs. Brown had left it, and
the two children, each taking hold of it, closed it softly after them.

"Now we're all right!" whispered Bunny, as he started down the street on
the run, for the bell was ringing louder than ever now, and Bunny was
anxious to see the fire, if there was one. He hoped it would not be one
of his father's boats, or the office on the fish dock.

"Wait! Wait for me!" cried Sue to her brother. "I can't run so fast,
Bunny, 'cause I'll stumble over my bath robe. It's awful long!"

"Hold it up, just as I do," said Bunny, turning around to look at his
sister. "Hold it up, and then your legs won't get tangled in it."

Sue pulled the robe up to her knees, and held it there. Bunny was doing
the same thing, the bare legs of the children showing white in the
moonlight. Bunny started off again.

"Wait! Wait!" begged Sue. "Take hold of my hand, Bunny."

"I can't!" he answered. "I've got to hold up my robe, or I'll tumble and
bump my nose. Besides, how can I take hold of your hand when you
haven't got any hand for me to take hold of?"

That was true enough. Sue was holding up her long robe with both hands.

"If I had some string I could tie up our robes," said Bunny, looking on
the moonlit sidewalk, hoping he might find a piece. "But I hasn't got
any," he said, "so I can't hold your hand, Sue. But I'll go slow for
you."

He waited for his sister to catch up to him, and then the two children
hurried on. They could go faster now, for their long bath robes did not
dangle around their feet.

Down the street they hurried. The bell kept ringing and ringing, and
Bunny and Sue could see and hear many other persons who had gotten up to
see what it all meant, and who were now hurrying down the street.

"Oh, Bunny!" said Sue. "Isn't it just nice out to-night?"

"Yes," he said. The night was warm, and the moon was bright. Bunny Brown
and his sister Sue did not think they were doing wrong to get up at
midnight, and run down the street.

"I--I wonder where mother is?" said Sue, as they turned a corner.

"We don't want to see her, or daddy either," answered Bunny, keeping in
the shadows, out of sight.

"Why not, Bunny Brown? Why don't we want to see our papa or mamma?"

"'Cause they'll send us back to bed, and we want to see the fire."

"Oh! do you think there is a fire, Bunny?"

"I guess so, or the bell wouldn't ring. But we'll soon see it, Sue, for
we're almost at the church."

CHAPTER III

AUNT LU'S INVITATION.

"Ding-dong!" went the bell in the steeple. "Ding-dong! Ding-dong!"

By this time many persons were out in the street. Mr. Gorden, the
grocery man, who lived next door to the Brown family, saw Bunny and Sue
hurrying along.

"Hello!" he cried. "What are you two youngsters doing up at this hour of
night?"

"We--we came to see the fire," said Bunny.

"Where is your pa and your ma?" asked Mr. Gordon.

"They--they went on ahead," explained Bunny.

"Oh, well, if they're with you I guess it's all right," the grocer said.

Of course Mr. and Mrs. Brown were not with Bunny and Sue, and their
parents didn't even know that the children were out of their beds. But
Mr. Gordon thought Bunny and Sue were all right, for he hurried on,
calling back over his shoulder:

"I don't know where the fire is. I think it must be a mistake, for I
don't see any bright light. Good-night, Bunny and Sue!"

"Good-night!" called the children, and they followed on behind Mr.
Gordon.

Now they were in front of the church. Before it was quite a crowd of
people, but Bunny and Sue seemed to be the only children. At first no
one noticed them. Everyone was anxious to know what the ringing of the
bell meant.

"Where's the fire?"

"Who rang the alarm?"

"Why didn't they ring the fire bell instead of the church bell?"

"Who's ringing it, anyhow?"

"And what a funny way to ring it!"

Those were some of the remarks and questions Bunny and Sue heard, as
they stood in front of the church.

"Ding-dong!" the bell kept on ringing. "Ding-dong!"

"Well, there's one thing sure," said Mr. Gordon. "There isn't any fire
around here, or we'd see it."

"Then someone must be ringing the bell for fun," suggested another
voice.

"That's daddy," whispered Sue to Bunny.

"Hush!" Bunny said, as he moved around behind Mr. Gordon. He did not
want his father or his mother to see him just yet--not until he had
found out what made the bell ring.

"It must be some boys doing it just for fun," said another man.

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