"Oh, yes, I know that queer tramp," said the water-tank switchman with another laugh. "There's no harm in him, though some of the trainmen put him off when they find him stealing a ride."

"This is his cat," went on Sue, showing the p.u.s.s.y. "Will your dog bite it?"

"Oh, no, indeed!" exclaimed the switchman. "My dog likes cats. In fact, my wife has a cat and I have a dog, and the two animals get along very nicely together. But come along--let's see--what shall I call you?" he asked.

"I'm Bunny and this is my sister Sue," answered the little boy. "Our last name is Brown."

"Hum! That's funny!" laughed the jolly switchman. "My last name is Black, though I'm a white man."

"What's your dog's name?" asked Bunny, as he and his sister trudged along with the switchman, one on either side of him, Sue carrying Nutty's p.u.s.s.y cat.

"His name is Bruno," was the answer. "He's a good dog and likes children. But I'm thinking your mother and father will be worried about you. Night's coming on. They can hardly get here after you before to-morrow, and I don't believe they know where to look for you. Did they see you get into the freight car and come away?"

"No," said Bunny. "Daddy wasn't there and mother was asleep."

"If I knew where your mother was I could go into town and send her a telegram, I suppose," went on the switchman. "What station was it you got off at?"

But Bunny and Sue had either forgotten or they had never heard it. It was all the same as far as telling the switchman was concerned. He did not know how to reach Mrs. Brown and she did not know where to come to get Bunny and Sue.

"I guess you'll have to stay with me all night," said the railroad man.

"Lucky I've got a spare bed. My wife will be glad to see you, for she doesn't see much white company. There's lots of colored folks in the village, though."

"Do you live in a village?" asked Bunny.

"Yes, it's a little town about half a mile away over the hill. I leave there every morning and come to the shanty by the water tank to stay until dark. Then I go home as I'm doing now. Sometimes my dog comes to keep me company, but he didn't come to-day."

"I hope he doesn't bother my kittie," said Sue. She was beginning to think of Nutty's cat as hers now.

"Oh, Bruno loves cats!" declared the switchman.

He led the children up a hill and away from the railroad. Looking down the road from the top of the hill Bunny and Sue could see through the gathering twilight a small village.

"Here's my house," said the switchman a little later, as he turned into a path that led through a yard and up to a white cottage. A dog ran out, barking.

"Down, Bruno! Down!" cried the switchman, who had said his name was Black. "These are friends, and you must be good to them and to the p.u.s.s.y."

Bruno sniffed around the legs of Bunny and Sue, and he sniffed toward the cat, though he could not put his nose on her because Sue held her new pet high in her arms. Then Bruno wagged his tail to show that he would be friends.

"h.e.l.lo, Mrs. Black!" called the switchman in a jolly voice to his wife, who just then came to the side door to look out. "I've brought you company for supper!"

"Company!" cried Mrs. Black, in surprise.

"Yes, two children and a cat!" laughed her husband. "Guess we'll have to put 'em up over night!"

Quickly he told of the ride of Bunny and Sue in the freight car, and Mrs. Black came out, followed by a large maltese cat, and soon made the Brown children welcome.

"Of course they shall have supper and stay all night," she said in kind tones which matched the jolly ones of her husband. "And I'll give your p.u.s.s.y some milk, Sue," she added.

"Thank you," replied Sue. "And do you think my mother will be here after supper?" she asked.

Mrs. Black did not answer the little girl's question, but talked about the cat. She did not want to tell Sue that it would be almost impossible for Mrs. Brown to get there before the next day.

The freight car had not been a very clean place, and if you can get dirty and grimy traveling in a regular pa.s.senger coach, you can imagine how much more grimy Bunny and Sue got on their trip.

"Come in and wash," went on Mrs. Black, while her husband tossed sticks for Bruno to race after and bring back to him. It was almost too dark for the children to see the sticks as they were thrown, but the dog seemed to know where to find them.

Bunny and Sue washed in a basin, there being no bathroom in the humble cottage of the switchman. As for Mr. Black, his hands and face got so dirty from working around the pumping engine that he had to scrub himself out back of the woodshed in a tin basin.

"I like to splash a lot of water when I wash," he said. "And I need lots of room. I can't wash in the house."

"I should say not!" laughed his wife, as she got some clean towels for Bunny and Sue. "You'd spoil all the wall paper!"

Mr. Black looked a very different person when his face and hands were clean and his hair nicely combed. Bunny and Sue also felt better after getting off some of the grime of their trip. A little later they all sat down to the supper table.

There was plenty to eat, and enough left over for Bruno, the dog, and for Waffles, the big cat. Toddle also had supper.

"We call our cat Waffles because he is so fond of waffles," explained Mrs. Black.

"What are waffles?" asked Bunny.

"Oh, they're a sort of pancake, but baked on an iron that makes them full of little squares," said the switchman's wife. "I'll make you some to-morrow."

"Maybe my p.u.s.s.y will like waffles," suggested Sue.

"Maybe," answered the switchman's wife. "Now, any time you children want to go to bed let me know. You must be tired and sleepy."

Bunny and Sue, however, were wide enough awake for the present. It was new and strange, this stopping at the cottage of a switchman whom they had never before seen. But they were beginning to feel at home. Of course they were lonesome for their father and mother, and Bunny was afraid Sue would cry in the night. But for the time being the two children were so interested in being at a new place that they did not worry much. Not half as much as Mr. and Mrs. Brown, back at the station, worried about the children.

"Bruno," suddenly called Mr. Black, "go see if my paper has come!"

With a short bark, the dog, having finished eating, ran out of the room.

In a few minutes he came walking back on his hind feet with the folded evening paper in his mouth.

"Oh, look!" cried Bunny.

"He's a trick dog, isn't he?" squealed Sue.

"Well, yes, I have taught him a few tricks," the switchman answered.

"I'll show you what else he can do. Bruno, play soldier!" he called.

Mr. Black got a broom from a corner, and as Bruno stood upright on his hind legs the switchman put the broom over the dog's shoulder and under one paw.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BRUNO MARCHED AROUND THE ROOM.

_Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Sunny South._ _Page 179_]

"March!" cried Mr. Black, and while he hummed a tune Bruno marched around the room, with the broom for a gun.

"Oh, that's a dandy trick!" cried Bunny. "Can he do any more?"