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Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue at Christmas Tree Cove

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<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> <h3>"THAT'S THE DOG!"</h3> When Daddy Brown came up to Christmas Tree Cove from his dock in Bellemere that evening he, of course, was told about the letter from Mr. Ravenwood. "I am glad that we can give him back his box," said Bunny's father. "But what is this about a dog?" "You know we had a big dog named Sandy, of whom we were very fond," said Mrs. Slater, who, with Harry, was paying a call after supper on the Browns. "As I have told Bunny and Sue, one day, when we were out in our auto looking for a place to spend the summer, Sandy leaped out and ran away. We did all we could to get him back, but he disappeared, and we had to go on without him, much to Harry's sorrow. "The place where Sandy leaped from the auto and ran away was Bellemere, and we were quite surprised when we got here to find that you people lived there," went on Mrs. Slater, nodding at Mrs. Brown and her family. "And maybe it was Sandy who ran in the yard and took the pocketbook when Sue and I were having a seesaw out in the barn," suggested Bunny. "Of course it is possible," admitted Mr. Brown, when there had been more talk and it was discovered that the Sandy dog was lost the very same day that Mrs. Brown's pocketbook was picked up off the bench and carried away by a strange yellow animal that then ran into Mr. Foswick's carpenter shop. "Yes, Sandy could very easily have run down the street on which your house is located," said Harry's mother. "As I told the children, he had a habit of taking things in his mouth and running away with them. And he might have picked up the pocketbook. Of course it seems a very strange thing to have happened, but it is possible." "How did Mr. Ravenwood get the dog which he says in his letter he has?" asked Mr. Brown, while Bunny and the others listened carefully. "It is not certain this is our dog," went on Mrs. Slater. "We shall know that when he comes here after his box. I see how it may have happened. After Sandy disappeared my husband put advertisements about him in many seashore papers. He asked that word of finding of the dog be sent to him at his city office or to me here at Christmas Tree Cove. The advertisements spoke of how fond Harry was of Sandy. I hope Harry is not disappointed, and that this will prove to be his dog. And I hope your wife will find her pocketbook and diamond ring." "Oh, she will now!" exclaimed Harry. "That is too much," said Bunny's mother. "I have given up hope of ever seeing my beautiful ring again. Even if it was your dog that ran in and picked up the pocketbook, he must have dropped it in some out-of-the-way place, and there is no telling where it is." "No, unfortunately, Sandy can not talk," said Mrs. Slater. "But he can sit up on his hind legs and beg!" exclaimed Harry. "Oh, I do hope I get him back!" "So do I!" echoed Bunny and Sue. The next day was such an anxious one for the children, who were waiting for the appearance of Mr. Ravenwood in his motor boat with the dog he had found, that Mrs. Brown finally said: "Come, kiddies, we'll go for a little picnic down on the beach." "May Harry come?" asked Bunny, for Harry was over at the bungalow playing with Bunny and Sue. "Yes. And we'll invite Harry's mother and Bunker Blue and Uncle Tad," said Mrs. Brown. "We'll spend the afternoon on the beach. It will make the time pass more quickly." Indeed the time did seem to drag for Bunny, Sue, and Harry. They did not know just what time to expect Mr. Ravenwood in his boat, to claim his box and to bring the strange dog. Every now and again the children would ask: "When do you think he'll come?" Then, at last, Mrs. Brown had decided on the picnic as a means of keeping them quiet. Picnics were often held at Christmas Tree Cove, and could be quickly got up. All that was necessary to do was to put up a lunch and go down to one of the many nice places on the beach. Harry was sent over to the hotel to ask his mother if he might go, and also to invite her to be one of the party, and soon Mrs. Slater was on her way back to Bark Lodge with her little son. "It is very nice of you, Mrs. Brown, to ask us," said Mrs. Slater. "I shall have just as much fun as the children," replied the mother of Bunny and Sue Brown. Uncle Tad and Bunker Blue were also delighted to go, and Bunny wanted to take his shovel and dig for soft clams and have a clambake on the beach. "Not now, dear," said his mother. "It is quite a lot of work, and you get so muddy digging clams. After a while, when daddy can be with us, we may have a big bake on the beach some night." "And maybe Mr. Ravenwood will come!" exclaimed Sue. "Maybe he will," agreed her mother. A little later they were all seated on the sands, the older folk in the shade of some sun umbrellas that Bunker Blue and Uncle Tad put up, while Bunny, Sue, and Harry played out in the sunshine. They were tanned as brown as autumn leaves and no longer sunburned. The children dug holes in the sand, made miniature cities and railroads, built tunnels which caved in, and finally started to make a cabin of driftwood. Uncle Tad and Bunker Blue were helping at this, and they planned to make a regular thatched roof of seaweed. The little shack on the sand was half done when the puffing of a motor boat was heard near shore and a voice hailed the little party. "Can you tell me where Christmas Tree Cove is?" asked a young man in the boat. "It is right here," answered Mrs. Brown, waving her hand toward the groups of evergreens on the shore. Bunny, Sue, and Harry looked at the man in the boat, and then at something else. And the something else was a big, yellow dog that stood on one of the seats. At the sight of this animal Mrs. Slater stood up and Harry cried: "There's Sandy! That's my Sandy all right!" Instantly, at the sound of the little boy's voice, the dog gave a loud bark and leaped into the bay to swim to shore. He reached the sand and ran at full speed toward the party of picnickers. As he ran, Bunny Brown cried: "That's the dog! That's the dog that took my mother's pocketbook and diamond ring!" <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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