Mr. Winkler went on down the street, rattling the monkey-chain, and Mrs.

Brown, no longer worried about Sue, turned back into the yard, while Bunny hurried on, as fast as his little legs would take him, to Sadie West's yard, where he found his sister and several of their chums having a good time.

They had made a see-saw, by putting a plank over a box, and were swaying up and down on this, some children on one end of the plank and some on the other. As soon as Bunny came running in the yard, Sue called out:

"Oh, goodie! Here's my brother. Now he can teeter-tauter up and down.

Come on, Bunny, you can have my place!"

Sue was so eager to give Bunny her place, and a chance to ride, that she slid off the board suddenly. Then that left too many little ones on the other end, and they went down, all at once, with a b.u.mp!

Sadie West was spilled off, and so was Charlie Star and Harry Bentley.

They all fell in a heap, but as the green gra.s.s was long, and soft, no one was hurt.

"Don't do that again, Sue!" called Charlie, "You upset us all."

"I won't," Sue promised. "Come on, Bunny. It's your turn now."

"I don't want any turn at falling," Bunny said, with a laugh.

Once more the plank over the box swayed up and down, giving the children a ride. After a while, getting tired of that, they played in a swing and also in a hammock, having more fun.

Then it was dinner time, and Sadie's mother told her to come in and wash before going to the table. The other children knew it must be time for their meals also, so, calling good-byes to one another, they scattered.

"Come over again," Sadie invited them.

"We will!" promised Bunny.

"Let's go home this way, across the lot," suggested Sue, as she and Bunny started out.

"Oh, I don't want to," Bunny answered. "It's quicker to go by the street, and around the corner. And I want to look in Mrs. Redden's window, and see what she's got new."

"Well, you go that way," Sue agreed, "and I'll go across lots, and we'll see who gets there first."

"That's just like little Red Riding Hood and the wolf," said Bunny with a laugh. Sue looked quickly over her shoulder.

"But there's no wolf here," Bunny went on quickly. "You go ahead, Sue, over the lot, and I'll go by the street."

There was a large vacant lot, near where Sadie West lived, and by crossing it, and going out at the far end, the Brown children could reach their home. So Sue started across the lot, crawling through a hole in the fence.

Bunny started down the street, going quite fast, for he wanted to spend a few minutes looking in the window of the toy shop, and he also wanted to get home first, ahead of Sue.

But he had not gone far before he heard his sister calling:

"Bunny! Oh, Bunny! Oh, dear! He's coming after me!"

Bunny turned and ran back. Looking through the fence that was built around the lot, he saw a big goat, with long horns, walking toward Sue.

And the little girl, who had picked a few daisies, was standing in the tall gra.s.s, too frightened to run back and crawl through the fence.

"Bunny! Bunny! Take the goat away!" Sue cried.

CHAPTER XIV

A LITTLE PARTY

"Sue! Sue! I'm coming! Don't be afraid!"

Bunny cried this as he hurried up to the fence, through the pickets of which he could see the goat walking toward his sister. Sue was screaming now.

But, after he had said this, Bunny did not know exactly what to do. He did not know much about goats, and this was a big one, with long, sharp horns. The goat belonged to an Italian family in town, and the Italian man used to ask those who owned vacant lots to let his goat go into them and eat the gra.s.s. That was how the goat happened to be in this lot. If Sue had known the animal was there, she would not have taken the short cut, but would have gone, with her brother, along the street.

"Bunny! Bunny!" Sue cried. "He's coming closer!"

Bunny began to crawl through the hole in the fence as his sister had done. As he did so, he saw, lying on the ground, several stones. He picked up two, one in each fist.

"I won't let him hurt you, Sue!" he called, but, even as he said that, Bunny did not know what he was going to do. "I wish I had a red rag," he thought, "I could wave it at the goat and maybe scare him."

Bunny had heard his mother read from a book how bulls and turkey gobblers do not like red rags waved at them, and Bunny thought a goat was something like a bull. They both had horns, at any rate.

"And if I could wave a red rag at him, maybe it would make him so mad that he'd run away and leave Sue alone," thought Bunny as he found himself in the vacant lot with his sister.

Bunny was not quite right about the red rag, so perhaps it is just as well he did not have one. For bulls run TOWARD a red rag, instead of AWAY from it, and perhaps goats might do the same; though I am not sure about this.

But, at any rate, Bunny had no red rag; and the goat, instead of running away, was coming toward Sue, who was too frightened to move. She just stood there, crying:

"Bunny! Oh, Bunny! Make him go away."

"I will," said her brother. "Go on away, you old goat you!" he cried.

"Go away or I'll throw a stone at you. I don't want to hurt you, but I'm not going to let you hook my sister with your horns. Go on away!"

But the goat only bleated, like a sheep, and came on. Seeing Bunny coming toward her made Sue a little braver. At least she found that she could run, so she did, hiding behind her brother.

"I'll take care of you," he said bravely.

On came the goat. Bunny's heart was beating fast. He raised one hand in which he held a stone.

"Look out! I'm going to throw it, you old goat!" cried the little blue-eyed boy.

"Whizz!" went the stone toward the goat. It struck him on the horn, and of course it did not hurt, for a goat's horns have no feeling on the outside, any more than have your finger-nails.

"Bounce!" went the stone off the goat's horn. The animal shook his head, as if he did not like that.

"Go on away!" called Bunny. "I got another stone for you if you don't go!"

But the goat still came on. Bunny threw the second stone, but it did not hit the goat. The little boy was looking around for another stone, when he and Sue heard a loud barking behind them, and up rushed Splash, their big dog.