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"Here's your five cents," she said to her little boy. "And wait a minute!" she cried, as Georgie was about to rush away.
"Wait? What for?" he asked.
"You can take your sister Mary with you. She's little and won't crowd you any, and that will be five cents more for Bunny's Red Cross. Come on, Mary, have a pony ride!" called Mrs. Watson, and down came a little girl, somewhat younger than Sue.
The time had been when Bunny and George were not such good friends, for George used to play tricks on Bunny and Sue. But he had gotten over that and was now very good, and the children played together and had good times.
Georgie and Mary, each with five cents, ran out to the pony cart. "Is there room for five in it?" asked Mrs. Watson.
"Oh, yes, lots of room," said Bunny.
"I'm glad you came, Mary," said Sue to the other little girl.
"Say, we'll make a lot of money!" went on Bunny, as he took the five cent pieces Georgie and Mary handed him. "When I get your five, cents, Charlie, I'll have fifteen."
"Here's my one cent now," said Charlie. "I'll get four more when I go home."
Then they drove to Mr. Star's house, and Mrs. Star gave her little boy a five-cent piece, so he got his penny back from Bunny, and could buy the gum after all.
"Now, I'll give you a long ride," said Bunny to his passengers, and he did, up and down the village streets. Several other boys and girls saw what was going on, and said they'd get five-cent pieces and have rides, too. And they did, later that day and the next day.
"We'll earn a lot of money for the Red Cross!" cried Bunny.
"It's lots of fun," said Sue.
The two Brown children with their Shetland pony took in almost a dollar during the week, and they gave it to their father to keep for the Red Cross. The boys and girls had two weeks in which to make money to help the soldiers, and they must really earn the money -- not beg it from their fathers, mothers, uncles or aunt...
Some sold cakes of chocolate, and others peanuts, while some of the larger boys ran errands or did other work to earn dimes and nickles.
One day Bunny and Sue got in the pony cart and started off.
"Where are you going?" asked their mother.
"To get more Red Cross money," Bunny answered.
"That will be nice," said Mrs. Brown.
Instead of going along the main street, as he had done before when he gave the children rides for money, Bunny soon turned Toby down a side street, that led to the woods.
"Where are we going?" asked Sue.
"I'll show you," Bunny answered.
"But this is the woods," went on Sue, when, in a little while, she saw trees all about them. "We're in the woods, Bunny."
"Yes, I know we are," he said. "And we're going to get some money here for the Red Cross."
Sue thought for a moment. Then she exclaimed:
"Oh, Bunny! You're not going to sell Toby to the gypsies, are you, and give that money to the Red Cross?"
"Course not!" exclaimed Bunny. "You just wait and see!"
I wonder what Bunny Brown was going to do?
Chapter XVII
The Dark Man
Even though Bunny had said he was not going to sell Toby to the gypsies -- who Sue knew were in the woods -- the little girl could not be sure but what her brother was going to do something strange. He had a queer look on his face -- as though he had been thinking up something to do quite different from anything he had...
Sue looked around, up at the trees and down at the green moss, which was on both sides of the woodland path along which Bunny was driving Toby.
"How are you going to get any Red Cross money here, Bunny?" she asked. "There aren't any children to take five-cent rides."
"You just wait and see," said Bunny with a laugh.
Sue did not quite know what to make of it. Bunny was acting very strangely.
Suddenly, through the quiet forest, where, up to this time had only been heard the chirping of the birds, sounded another noise. It was the shouting and laughter of children.
"What's that, Bunny?" asked Sue in surprise.
"That's a Sunday-school picnic," answered her brother.
"What Sunday school?" Sue wanted to know.
"The Methodist Church," Bunny went on. "They're having their picnic to-day. Our picnic is next Saturday. Harry Bentley told me about this one -- he goes to the Methodist Church -- and he said if we came here with Toby we could maybe make a lot of money for the Red Cross, giving rides in the woods."
Then Sue knew what Bunny's plan was.
"Oh, that's fine!" she cried. "I guess we can make a lot of money. But is there a smooth place where you can drive Toby? It's kinder rough in the woods, if there's a lot of children in the cart."
"There's a smooth path around the place where you eat the picnic lunch," said Bunny. And then Sue remembered. The woods, in which she and her brother were now riding along in the pony cart, were the ones where all the Sunday-school picnics of Bellemere were held. In the middle of the woods was a little lake, and near t...
Around this building ran a smooth path, and it was on this path that Bunny was going to drive Toby, giving rides to the children so he could make Red Cross money.
As Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue drove along under the trees the shouting and laughter of the children sounded more plainly. Then some of them could be seen, running back and forth over the dried leaves and green moss.
Soon the pony cart was near the picnic ground, and some of the laughing, playing boys and girls saw it.
"Oh, look!" they cried.
"Give us a ride!" others shouted.