Datasets:
apapiu
/
simple_text_files

Dataset card Data Studio Files
xet
 Community
1
text
stringlengths
0
16.8k
"He can ring a bell," remarked Sadie, for she felt that she wanted to say something about the pet pony.
"Oh, ho! So he can ring a bell, can he?" asked the gypsy. "Well, that's nice. And did he ring the bell I just heard?"
"That's who it was," said Bunny, a bit proud of his pony. "And he can stand on his hind legs and he can pick up a handkerchief."
"Ah, he is one fine trick pony then," the gypsy said. "Of course, you do not want to sell him then. But, if you ever do, come to me and I will give you good money for him. My name is Jaki Kezar, and I have my tent over at a place called Springdale. Bring me the trick pony there if ever you sell him."
"We will never sell him," declared Bunny.
"Never!" added Sue.
"Well, good-bye!" said the gypsy, and with another touch of his cap, like a soldier saluting, he turned back to his red-and-yellow wagon, and drove off.
"Wasn't he nice?" asked Bunny. "I'd like to be a gypsy and live in a wagon like that."
"He wasn't nice to want our pony," declared Sue.
"It was funny to see a man with rings in his ears," remarked Sadie. "I thought only ladies wore them."
"Gypsies are different," said Bunny. "Anyhow, he can't have our Toby."
"Never!" cried Sue.
They watched the gypsy wagon driving down the street. Mrs. Brown saw the children in the front yard with Toby, and she came to the door of the house.
"Haven't I told you children," she began, "that you mustn't bring Toby around here? He might trample on my flower beds."
"We didn't bring him, Mother," said Bunny. "We ran out to look at the gypsy wagon, and Toby came out himself."
"Was there a gypsy wagon here?" asked Mrs. Brown quickly.
"Yes. And he wanted to buy Toby -- I mean the gypsy man did," explained Bunny. "But we wouldn't sell him."
"And he can do a new trick, Mother!" cried Sue. "I mean our pony can. He can ring a bell, and he rang it and the gypsy man heard it, and then Toby came running around to find us."
"Well, better take him around back where there aren't any flower beds," said Mrs. Brown.
By this time the red-and-yellow wagon, which was painted the same colors as was the box Mr. Tallman had lost, had been driven out of sight around the corner of the street. And, having nothing more to look at, Bunny, Sue and Sadie went back to their play-tent with Toby.
That evening, after Daddy Brown had been told about the call of the gypsy, he said to his children:
"Have you two youngsters thought anything about earning any money for the Red Cross?"
"Money for the Red Cross? What do you mean, Daddy?" asked Bunny.
"Well, you know we are going to raise a lot of money here in Bellemere for the Red Cross. It's to help our soldiers, and the men and women in charge want boys and girls, as well as grown-ups, to help. And they want boys and girls to give their own money -- not the pennies or dollars they might get from their fathers or...
"But we haven't any money, 'ceptin' what's in our savings banks," said Sue.
"No, they don't want you to take that," said her father with a smile. "The Red Cross wants some money -- it needn't be much -- from every boy and girl in Bellemere, and they want the boys and girls to earn that money. Now, can you two think of a way to earn money for the Red Cross?"
Bunny looked at Sue and Sue looked at Bunny. Then the little boy exclaimed:
"Oh, Sue! I know a dandy way to earn Red Cross money!"
"How?" asked his sister.
And what do you suppose Bunny told her?
Chapter XVI
In The Woods
Mr. Brown was quite surprised when he heard his little boy Bunny say he knew how to earn money for the Red Cross.
"How are you going to do it, Bunny?" he asked.
"With Toby," Bunny answered. "And Sue can help me."
"What do you mean, Bunny?" asked the little girl. "I've some money in my bank for the Red Cross, but that's all I have."
"No, you mustn't take that money," her father said. "Let us hear what Bunny has to say. How can you and Sue earn money with your Shetland pony?" he asked.
"We can give rides," answered Bunny. "Don't you 'member once, in a park, we saw a boy giving children rides in his goat wagon, and he charged five cents a ride."
"Yes, I 'member that," Sue said.
"Well, that's how we can make money for the Red Cross," went on Bunny. "Lots of times the boys and girls around here ask us for rides, and once Georgie Watson said he'd give me a penny for a ride."
"Did you give it to him?" asked Mrs. Brown.
"Yes, I did," answered Bunny.
"Did you take the penny?" Mr. Brown inquired, smiling at his little boy.
"No," Bunny said. "I had a penny then, and I didn't need another, 'cause I want only one lollypop at a time. So I gave Georgie a ride for nothing. But if we want to make money for the Red Cross I wouldn't give anybody a ride for nothing. Me and Sue could drive Toby up and down, and let boys and girls get in the cart an...
"And maybe ten cents!" added Sue.
"Yes, and maybe ten cents if we gave 'em a longer ride," Bunny agreed. "Couldn't we do that, Daddy, and make money for the Red Cross?"
Mr. Brown thought for a moment. Then he said:
"Well, yes, I think maybe you could. I have seen goat wagons in parks, and the children paid five and ten cents to ride in them. There are plenty of children in Bellemere, and I don't see why they wouldn't pay money, too, for pony rides. Are you really going to do it, Bunny?"
"Yep!" answered the little boy. "Me and Sue -- we'll give pony rides to the children and save the money for the Red Cross!"