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A week or so after the circus Bunny and Sue, with Bunker, and their father and mother (and of course their dog Splash) came back from the country in the big automobile.
Bunny and Sue had many friends in Bellemere where they lived. Not only were the boys and girls their friends, but also many grown folk, who liked the Brown children very much indeed. There was Mrs. Redden, who kept the village candy store, and there was Uncle Tad, an old soldier, who lived in the Brown house. Bunny and...
Then there was old Jed Winkler, a sailor, who lived with his sister, Miss Euphemia Winkler, and a monkey. That's right! Mr. Winkler did have a pet monkey named Wango, and he was very funny -- I mean the monkey was funny. He was so gentle that Bunny and Sue often petted him, and gave him candy and peanuts to eat. Wango ...
But now I think I have told you enough about Bunny and Sue, as well as about their friends, so we will go back to the children. We left them getting ready to go out into the moonlight, you know, to see what the ringing of the church bell meant.
"Is you all ready, Bunny?" called Sue when she had put on her bath robe and slippers.
"Yep," he answered. "Come on."
Hand in hand the children went softly down the front stairs, as their father and mother had done. Mr. and Mrs. Brown were now out in the street, some distance away from the house. Men and women from several other houses, near that of the Brown family, were also out, wondering why the bell was ringing.
"Don't wake up Uncle Tad!" whispered Bunny to Sue, as they walked along so softly in their bath slippers.
"No, I won't," answered the little girl. "And don't wake up Mary, either. She might not let us go."
"All right," whispered Bunny.
Mary was the cook, but, as she slept up on the third floor, she would hardly hear the children going out.
"Shut the door easy," said Bunny to Sue, as they reached the front steps. "Don't let it slam."
They had found the door open, as Mr. and Mrs. Brown had left it, and the two children, each taking hold of it, closed it softly after them.
"Now we're all right!" whispered Bunny, as he started down the street on the run, for the bell was ringing louder than ever now, and Bunny was anxious to see the fire, if there was one. He hoped it would not be one of his father's boats, or the office on the fish dock.
"Wait! Wait for me!" cried Sue to her brother. "I can't run so fast, Bunny, 'cause I'll stumble over my bath robe. It's awful long!"
"Hold it up, just as I do," said Bunny, turning around to look at his sister. "Hold it up, and then your legs won't get tangled in it."
Sue pulled the robe up to her knees, and held it there. Bunny was doing the same thing, the bare legs of the children showing white in the moonlight. Bunny started off again.
"Wait! Wait!" begged Sue. "Take hold of my hand, Bunny."
"I can't!" he answered. "I've got to hold up my robe, or I'll tumble and bump my nose. Besides, how can I take hold of your hand when you haven't got any hand for me to take hold of?"
That was true enough. Sue was holding up her long robe with both hands.
"If I had some string I could tie up our robes," said Bunny, looking on the moonlit sidewalk, hoping he might find a piece. "But I hasn't got any," he said, "so I can't hold your hand, Sue. But I'll go slow for you."
He waited for his sister to catch up to him, and then the two children hurried on. They could go faster now, for their long bath robes did not dangle around their feet.
Down the street they hurried. The bell kept ringing and ringing, and Bunny and Sue could see and hear many other persons who had gotten up to see what it all meant, and who were now hurrying down the street.
"Oh, Bunny!" said Sue. "Isn't it just nice out to-night?"
"Yes," he said. The night was warm, and the moon was bright. Bunny Brown and his sister Sue did not think they were doing wrong to get up at midnight, and run down the street.
"I -- I wonder where mother is?" said Sue, as they turned a corner.
"We don't want to see her, or daddy either," answered Bunny, keeping in the shadows, out of sight.
"Why not, Bunny Brown? Why don't we want to see our papa or mamma?"
"'Cause they'll send us back to bed, and we want to see the fire."
"Oh! do you think there is a fire, Bunny?"
"I guess so, or the bell wouldn't ring. But we'll soon see it, Sue, for we're almost at the church."
Chapter III
Aunt Lu's Invitation.
"Ding-dong!" went the bell in the steeple. "Ding-dong! Ding-dong!"
By this time many persons were out in the street. Mr. Gorden, the grocery man, who lived next door to the Brown family, saw Bunny and Sue hurrying along.
"Hello!" he cried. "What are you two youngsters doing up at this hour of night?"
"We -- we came to see the fire," said Bunny.
"Where is your pa and your ma?" asked Mr. Gordon.
"They -- they went on ahead," explained Bunny.
"Oh, well, if they're with you I guess it's all right," the grocer said.
Of course Mr. and Mrs. Brown were not with Bunny and Sue, and their parents didn't even know that the children were out of their beds. But Mr. Gordon thought Bunny and Sue were all right, for he hurried on, calling back over his shoulder:
"I don't know where the fire is. I think it must be a mistake, for I don't see any bright light. Good-night, Bunny and Sue!"
"Good-night!" called the children, and they followed on behind Mr. Gordon.
Now they were in front of the church. Before it was quite a crowd of people, but Bunny and Sue seemed to be the only children. At first no one noticed them. Everyone was anxious to know what the ringing of the bell meant.
"Where's the fire?"
"Who rang the alarm?"
"Why didn't they ring the fire bell instead of the church bell?"
"Who's ringing it, anyhow?"