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Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue at Christmas Tree Cove

<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> <h3>CHRISTMAS TREE COVE</h3> When a family is making a trip on a boat and one of the children becomes lost, or is missing, there is always more worry than if the same thing happened on land. For the first thing a father and a mother think of when on a boat and they do not see their children or know where they are, is that the missing child has fallen into the lake, river or ocean—whatever the body of water may be. So when Mrs. Brown came up on the deck of the Fairy and did not see Bunny, who she had thought was with Sue, she asked at once where he was. And when Mr. Brown heard his wife say that Bunny had not come to the cabin he, too, began to wonder where the little boy was. "Where did Bunny go, Sue?" asked Mother Brown. "Wasn't he sitting here with you?" "Yes, he was here a little while ago," answered Sue. "And then I was watching two of the sailboats to see if they would bump together, and I didn't look at Bunny. When I did look he was gone, but I thought he was downstairs." "He isn't," said Mrs. Brown, "and he isn't here on deck. Oh, if he——" She did not finish what she was going to say, but quickly ran to the side of the boat and looked down into the water, as if she might see Bunny paddling around there. The Fairy was still anchored in Clam Cove, waiting for the storm to blow out. "Is Bunny in swimming?" asked Sue. "What's the matter?" asked Captain Ross, who was up "for'ard," as he called it, meaning the front of the boat. He and Bunker Blue were mending one of the sails. "Anything wrong, Mrs. Brown?" asked the jolly old sailor. "I can't find Bunny," she answered. "He was here with Sue a moment ago. Oh, I'm afraid Bunny——" "Now, don't think that anything has happened!" interrupted Mr. Brown. "He's probably hiding somewhere." "Bunny wouldn't do that," declared his mother. "No, we weren't playing hide and go seek," said Sue. "Then he must be downstairs in one of the cabins, or he is asleep in his berth," said Mr. Brown. "I'll look." "I'll help," offered Uncle Tad, who, himself, had been taking a nap in his berth. "I suppose he must be down below if he isn't up here," said Mrs. Brown, hoping this was true. "I want to look, too." Sue was beginning to be a bit frightened now, and she started to follow the others below, while Captain Ross and Bunker Blue, seeing how worried Mr. and Mrs. Brown were, dropped the sail on which they were working and decided to join in the search. It did not take them long to make a search of the boat below decks. No Bunny was to be found. He was not in his own bunk, nor in that of any one else, nor was he in the small room where the gasolene motor was built, though Bunny liked to go there to watch the whirring wheels when the motor was in motion. "Where can he be?" exclaimed Mrs. Brown. Then, suddenly, Sue gave a joyful cry and clapped her hands. "I think I know where he is!" exclaimed the little girl. "I just happened to think about it. Come on!" Wonderingly they followed her. Sue ran to the stern of the Fairy, where the steering wheel was placed. Here was a small rowboat turned bottomside up. It was kept for the purpose of going to and from shore when the larger craft was anchored out in the bay. Going close to this overturned boat Sue leaned down so she could look under it. The two ends of the boat, being higher than the middle, raised it slightly from the deck, leaving a sort of long, narrow slot. And Sue called into this slot: "Bunny! are you there? Answer me. Are you there?" For an instant there was no reply, and Mrs. Brown, who had begun to think she should have looked there first, was about to conclude that, after all, it was a wrong guess, when suddenly a voice answered: "Yes; here I am." The boat tilted to one side and out from beneath it came rolling Bunny Brown. He seemed sleepy, and his clothes were mussed while his hair was rumpled. And there was a queer look on his face. "Why, Bunny! Bunny Brown, what possessed you to crawl under that boat and go to sleep?" asked his mother. "You have frightened us! We thought perhaps you had fallen overboard." "No," said Bunny slowly, shaking his head, "I didn't." "We see you didn't," said his father, a bit sternly. "But why did you hide under the boat?" "I wasn't hiding," answered Bunny. "And if I had fallen overboard into the water you would have heard me yell," he went on, speaking slowly. "I suppose so," agreed Mr. Brown. "But if you weren't hiding under that boat, what were you doing?" "I was—I was thinking," answered Bunny sheepishly. "Thinking!" exclaimed his mother. "Yes, about the dog that took your pocketbook," went on the little boy. "I wanted to be in a quiet place where I could think about him and maybe guess where he was so I could make him give back your diamond ring, Mother. So I crawled under the boat. It was nice and warm there, and the wind didn't blow on me, and I was thinking and I was thinking, and——" "And then you fell asleep, didn't you?" asked Uncle Tad, as they all stood around Bunny on deck. "Yes, I guess I did," was the answer. "And I didn't dream about the dog, either." "Did you think of any way to find him?" asked Captain Ross. "No," answered Bunny, "I didn't. But I wish I could." "Oh, you mustn't think any more about that dog," said his mother, with a smile, as she patted the little boy's tousled head. "I'll manage to get along without my diamond ring, though I would like to have it back." "Well, I couldn't think," complained Bunny, with a sigh. "I guess maybe I was too sleepy." "Better not hide yourself away again," cautioned his father. "You must be extra careful aboard a boat so your mother will not have to worry, or this trip to Christmas Tree Cove will not be any pleasure to her." "When shall we get there—to the place where the Christmas trees are, Daddy?" asked Sue. "Oh, to-morrow, I guess," answered Captain Ross. "I'll land you up there, and then I'll cruise back. And I'll come after you, to bring you home, whenever you want me," he added to Mr. Brown. "We're going to stay all summer," said Bunny. "Wouldn't it be funny if we could find that big dog and your pocketbook at the Cove, Mother?" he asked. "Oh, that could never happen!" declared Sue. So the lost Bunny was found, and then it was nearly time to get supper. The wind had all died out now, and it was so calm in the cove that Captain Ross decided to start the boat without further delay. "We can tie up wherever you want to over night, or we can anchor out in the bay, or keep on going," he said to his passengers. "I think we'd better keep on going," said Mrs. Brown. "I shall worry less about Bunny and Sue when they are lost if it happens on dry land. I'll know then that they haven't fallen overboard." "We could fall in off shore, just the same as off a boat," suggested Bunny. "Not quite so easily. And you must be careful when you get to the bungalow in Christmas Tree Cove," said Daddy Brown. "The bungalow is right on the shore, but the water is shallow for a long distance out," he went on. "Oh, I'm not going to fall in!" declared Bunny. "Then we'll start and travel all night," said Captain Ross. "Speaking of falling into the water," he said, with a jolly laugh, "can you tell me the answer to this riddle, Bunny or Sue? Why should you tie a cake of soap around your neck when you go in swimming?" "I never tied a cake of soap around my neck," said the little girl. "I like to play the cake of soap is a boat in the bathtub," remarked Bunny. "It's lots of fun." "But this is a riddle," went on the seaman. "Why should you tie a cake of soap around your neck if you go in swimming in deep water?" "It can't be for you to eat if you get hungry," said Bunny, "can it, Captain Ross?" "Of course not!" cried his sister. "How could you eat a cake of soap?" "You could if it was a chocolate cake," returned the little boy. "But that isn't the answer to the riddle. Please tell us, Captain," he begged, as Bunker Blue began to pull up the anchor. "When you go swimming in deep water and get carried too far out, if you have a cake of soap tied around your neck it might wash you ashore! Ha! Ha! Ha!" laughed the jolly old sailor. "Do you see, Bunny—Sue? If you had a cake of soap on your neck it could wash you ashore. Soap washes, you know." "That's a pretty good riddle," said Uncle Tad, while the two children laughed. "I must remember that to tell my old friend Joe Jamison when I get back to Bellemere. A cake of soap washes you ashore! Ha! Ha!" "Oh, I know a lot of better ones than that," said Captain Ross. "Only I can't think of 'em just now. Well, all clear, Bunker?" he called. "Yes, sir," was the answer. "Then start the motor." And soon the Fairy was under way again. Supper was served as the boat slipped through the blue water of the big bay. It was a calm, quiet, peaceful night, quite different from the one of the storm, and Bunny and Sue did not have to be strapped in their bunks. They slept well, and when they came on deck in the morning they looked over toward shore. "Oh, what a lot of Santa Claus trees!" cried Sue. "Look, Bunny!" "That's Christmas Tree Cove up there," said Captain Ross, pointing to the evergreens where they were thickest. "We'll soon be there." "And, oh, what fun we'll have!" cried Bunny. "I'm going to dig clams and catch crabs, and we'll have a clambake on shore, Sue." "And my dolls can come to it, can't they?" asked the little girl. "I brought some of my dolls with me, but they're packed up," she added. "Oh, yes, your dolls can come to the clambake," agreed Bunny. "Will there be any other boys up at Christmas Tree Cove to play with?" he asked his father. "Or girls?" Sue wanted to know. "Yes. It is quite a summer resort," was the answer. "I fancy you will have plenty of playmates." "I had better be getting things ready to go ashore, I suppose," said Mrs. Brown. "Yes," answered her husband. "I'll help you." They were just going down into the cabin, and Bunny and Sue were on deck, looking at the distant green trees, when there was a sudden shock, a bump, and the boat keeled far over to one side. It seemed as if the Fairy had struck something in the water. "Oh, we're going to sink!" cried Sue. <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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