"Not a bit, Sue! It's nice here!" Bunny's tone was very confident.

Bunny closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. So did Sue.

But neither of them could do so, though they closed their eyes very tight. Finally Sue asked:

"Bunny, are you asleep?"

"No. Are you?"

"No. And I don't believe I'm going to sleep. That funny noise is soundin' again. Say, Bunny, does Dix snore like: 'Who? Who? Who-ooo?'"

"No, I--I never heard him."

"Then it isn't Dix! It's something else," said the little girl firmly.

Bunny listened. Outside the tent he heard a mournful:

"Whoo! Who? Too-who!"

"Oh, I know what that is now!" cried Bunny. "It's an owl."

"Does an owl bite?" asked Sue:

"Sure they do!"

In the dim moonlight that shone into the tent Bunny could see his sister get out of her cot, put on her slippers and dressing robe, and then take up her Teddy bear, turning on the eyelights.

"Where are you going?" asked Bunny.

"I'm goin' home to my regular bed!" said Sue. "This tent is all right, but a owl might bite through it. You'd better come with me, Bunny Brown."

"I--I guess I will," said the little boy. "I wouldn't want you to go alone," he added brightly.

He, too, put on his robe and slippers, and then Sue, with her lighted Teddy bear, and Bunny, with his little flashlight, started toward the "Ark." The two dogs followed.

Up the steps, in the glare of the little outside electric light went the two tots. As they entered the automobile Mrs. Brown heard them and called:

"Who is there?"

"It's us," said Bunny.

"An old owl kept askin' us questions about who was it," added Sue, "an'

we couldn't sleep. So we came in here."

"Crawl into your bunks," said Mother Brown. And that ended the children's sleeping in the tent, for a while at least.

The next morning Mr. Jason, the soldier-farmer who owned the wood where the tent was erected, came down to the "Ark."

"I'm going to drive over to Blue Lake to-day," he said. "Don't you folks want to go along? You might take your lunch and picnic there. It's got a waterfall."

"I did promise the children to take them to see it while we were here,"

said Mr. Brown. "Thank you, we should like to go with you." And a little later the Browns were at Blue Lake.

CHAPTER XX

DIX TO THE RESCUE

"Where is the waterfall?"

"Can't we go in swimming?"

"I want to row a boat!"

"I want to fish!"

As soon as they jumped out of Farmer Jason's wagon at Blue Lake, Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue were saying these things and asking these questions. The children saw before them a large body of water, that seemed a deep blue under the shining sun, and round about it were small hills "like strawberries on top of a shortcake," as Sue said.

"Oh, what a beautiful place!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Mrs. Brown.

"Yes, folks around here thinks as how it _is_ right pretty," said Farmer Jason. "But you haven't seen the prettiest part yet--that's the waterfall."

"Oh, that's where I want to go!" cried Bunny.

"And I want to go out in a boat," added Sue, renewing her first request.

"So do I! And fish!" chimed in Bunny.

"Now, one thing at a time," said Mr. Brown with a laugh. "You are hardly here yet and you want to do half a dozen things. Be patient. We are going to stay all day, for we brought our lunch, and I think we shall have time for everything you want to do."

"Yes, pitch right in and enjoy yourselves," said Farmer Jason with a laugh. "That's what the lake's here for. A few of us farmers own it, and the churches in this neighborhood generally has picnics here. I've got to drive over a few miles to see a man about some horses I want to buy, but I'll stop back in plenty of time to take you home."

The Browns and their lunch being safely unloaded from the wagon, including, of course, Sue's Teddy bear, Farmer Jason drove off, while Dix and Splash scampered about in the woods on the sh.o.r.e of the lake and went swimming, something which Bunny and Sue wanted to do at once.

"I think it is a little cool," said Mother Brown. "Besides, I didn't bring your bathing suits. I guess you can get along without a swim to-day."

Indeed there was enough else to do at Blue Lake, as the children very soon found out. Of course it was not the first time they had been at a lake in the woods, but there seemed to be something new about this place.

Perhaps the trees were greener. Certainly the lake seemed of a deeper blue than any the children had seen before. They ran up and down the pebbly sh.o.r.e, threw stones into the water to watch them sink, after sending out a lot of rings that made little waves on the beach. They tossed sticks into the water, which the dogs were eager to swim out for and bring back. Then Bunny had an idea.

"Sue, let's go in wading!" he cried.

"Oh, yes, let's!" she agreed instantly; and without saying anything to their father or mother about it the two took off their shoes and stockings and were walking about in the shallow water near the sh.o.r.e.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown, with Uncle Tad, were sitting in the shade, looking out over the beautiful lake. They were glad they had come on the little excursion, and the trouble of the broken spring of the automobile seemed turned into something good now.