PRISONERS

Their eyes shining bright in antic.i.p.ation and hope, Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue walked down the gra.s.sy hillside to the little glen, in which was the gypsy camp. The nearer they came to where they saw the pony grazing the more sure were they that it was Toby himself.

"Oh, we've found him! We've found him!" cried Sue.

"Yes, it _is_ him!" added Bunny. "Won't daddy be s'prised when he sees us coming home with Toby?"

"And maybe Splash, too," went on Sue. "Do you see him anywhere, Bunny?"

"No," answered her brother, "I don't."

Bunny did not look around very carefully for Splash. He loved the dog, of course, but, just then, he was more interested in Toby.

At first the children did not see any of the gypsies themselves--the men, women or boys and girls. But there were the groups of horses, and with them a pony--their pony, they hoped.

And, when they were within a short distance of the little horse, Bunny gave a cry of delight.

"Oh, Sue!" he exclaimed. "It _is_ Toby! It _is_! I can see his one white foot!"

"And I can see the white spot on his head," added the little girl. "It is our Toby!"

And then they ran up to the Shetland pony and threw their arms around its neck, and Sue even kissed Toby, while Bunny patted his glossy neck.

"Oh, Toby! we've found you! We've found you!" said Bunny in delight.

"And we're never going to let you be tooken away again!" added Sue.

As for Toby--and it really was the children's pet--he seemed as glad to see them as they were to see him. He rubbed his velvety nose first on Bunny and then against Sue's dress, and whinnied in delight.

"Now, we'll take you right home!" declared Bunny.

"But we'll find Splash first," added his sister.

"Oh, yes, we want our dog, too," said Bunny.

He was trying to loosen the knot in the rope by which Toby was tied to a stake in the ground, and Sue was helping, when a shadow on the gra.s.s told the children that some one was walking toward them. They looked up quickly, to see a ragged gypsy man, with a straggly black moustache, scowling at them. In his hand he held a knotted stick.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A RAGGED GYPSY MAN WAS SCOWLING AT THEM.

_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue and Their Shetland Pony._ _Page 218._]

"Here! What you young'uns doin' with that pony?" he fairly growled.

"If you please," answered Bunny politely, "he's our pony, and we're taking him home. His name is Toby and he was in our stable, but some one took him away. Now we've found him, and we're going to take him home again."

"Oh, you are, are you?" asked the man, and his voice was not very pleasant. "Well, you just let that pony alone; do you hear?"

"But he's _ours_!" said Sue, not understanding why they could not take their own pet.

"He's my pony--that's whose he is!" growled the gypsy man, who was not at all nice like Jaki Kezar. "Let him alone, I tell you!" and he spoke in such a fierce voice that Bunny and Sue shrank back in fright.

Just then the barking of some dogs was heard, and Bunny took heart.

Perhaps Splash was coming, and might drive away the bad gypsy man as he once had driven off a tramp.

"This is our pony," said Bunny again, "and we want to take him. He isn't yours. Our father bought him from Mr. Tallman for us. Mr. Tallman's red-and-yellow box was stolen and he got poor so he had to sell the pony."

"What was stolen?" asked the gypsy quickly.

"Mr. Tallman's red-and-yellow box," repeated Bunny. "It didn't have money in it, but it had papers, like money. And it made Mr. Tallman poor. But this is our pony. His name is Toby and he can do tricks."

"And we're a dog named Splash," added Sue. "Is he here?"

"I don't know anything about your dog," growled the man. "And I don't know anything about a red-and-yellow box, either," and as he said this he looked around, as though in fear lest some one would hear what he was saying.

"But this is our Toby pony," insisted Bunny. "We want him."

"What makes you think he's your pony?" growled the gypsy, and as he turned to look back toward the tents and wagons Bunny and Sue saw a gypsy woman coming toward them.

"I know he's our pony, 'cause he's got a white spot on his head,"

answered Sue.

"And he's got one white foot," added Bunny. "And he can do tricks. If I had a handkerchief I'd show you how he can pick it up."

"Here's my handkerchief!" offered Sue.

Bunny took it and dropped it on the gra.s.s near Toby. At once the little Shetland pony picked it up and held it out to Bunny, as he had been taught to do.

"And here's a lump of sugar for you!" cried Bunny, as he gave Toby a piece, for the little boy had lately always carried some in his pocket, hoping Toby might be found.

"See!" went on Bunny. "He _is_ our pony, and he can do more tricks than this. He can ring a bell."

By this time the gypsy woman had come up. She did not smile as she asked the man:

"What's the matter here?"

"Oh, these children think this is their pony," he said, and he laughed, but it was not a nice laugh.

"Their pony! Why, the very idea!" cried the woman. "This is _my_ pony, and I'm going to keep him."

"But he's our Toby!" exclaimed Sue. "Our daddy bought him from Mr.

Tallman."

The man and woman talked in a low voice. What they said Bunny and Sue could not hear, but soon the woman remarked:

"Perhaps this may look like your pony, my dears, but he can't be, because he's mine. Lots of ponies look alike, even with white feet and white marks on their heads. This one isn't yours. Now you run along home. Maybe your pony will be in your stable when you get there."

"No, this is our pony!" said Bunny in a brave voice, "and we're going to take him with us. A boy showed us where your camp was, and he's going to stop for us on his way back and help us take Toby home. This is our pony and we're going to have him."