"Then you must have seen something," said their father; for when Bunny and his sister spoke in this serious way their parents could tell they were in earnest.
"What could it be?" asked Mrs. Brown, with a wondering look at her husband.
"I"ll run over and see," he replied. "You children hop back into bed.
You"ll catch cold."
"Oh, Daddy! It"s Summer yet, and we"re even going to sleep out in the tent when we"re on the auto tour," said Bunny. "Let us wait up and see if Fred really has come home. I hope he has!"
"I hope so, too," said Mother Brown. "Let them lie awake in bed, Daddy, until you come back from the Ward home."
"All right, I will," Mr. Brown agreed, and as he started across the moonlighted lawn Bunny and Sue, with many whisperings, noddings and giggles went back upstairs to their room.
But they did not go to bed. This was one of the times when they did not do as they were told. But it was only once in a while they did anything like that. Bunny and Sue were, as a rule, very good.
Well, instead of going to bed they stood by the window where they could watch the lawn on which Splash and Dix were still playing.
"We mustn"t catch cold," said Sue. "We"d better wrap a blanket around us, Bunny, if we stand by the window, though it isn"t cold at all."
"Yep," grunted Bunny, who was so interested in watching his father cross the gra.s.s plot that he did not feel like talking much.
Sue brought a light blanket from her bed and one from Bunny"s, and in these the children wrapped themselves, and stood by the window.
"There he is!" cried Bunny, as he saw the tall figure of his father, accompanied by a bigger shadow in the moonlight, appear on the lawn.
"Hush!" cautioned Sue. "Don"t talk so loud or mother will come up and make us go to bed."
Bunny "hushed," and then the two children watched. They saw their father go up the side steps of the Ward house and very soon come out again.
"It didn"t take him long to find out," said Bunny in a low voice.
"I hope Fred has come back," whispered Sue.
But it was not, as they learned a little later when their mother came upstairs to tell them. The children had quickly scampered back to their beds when they heard their mother coming up, and she found two anxious faces peering at her over the blankets.
"Was it Fred?" they asked excitedly.
"No, I am sorry to say it was not," answered Mrs. Brown. "It was one of the boys Fred used to play with, and he went around the back way because he did not want any one to see him going in the front door."
"Does he know where Fred is?" asked Bunny.
"No. But he went to tell Mr. Ward about him. He had seen some of the police circulars, or printed papers which were scattered about, showing Fred"s picture and telling how he looked and how much his father wanted him to come home again."
"And is he coming?" asked Sue.
"We don"t know, dear. Mr. Ward told us this boy, whose name is George Simpson, knew that Fred was going to run away, for Fred had told him."
"Why didn"t George come and tell Fred"s father so he could stop him?"
asked Bunny.
"Because Fred made George promise not to tell. But after George had seen the police circulars he made up his mind he must say something, so he came to-night. He said Fred had told him he was going to run away to Portland and try to get work in a theater playing a banjo."
"Portland!" cried Bunny. "Why that"s where we"re going!"
"And maybe we"ll see Fred!" added Sue.
"It may be," said their mother. "But now you two must go to sleep. The big auto will be here in the morning, and you will wish to see the new things daddy has put in."
"May I ask just one more question?" begged Bunny.
"Yes, and only one."
"How did Fred come to go to Portland? Did he know we were going there?"
"No, dear. But he knew a man in a theater there who had promised to give him a trial at banjo playing if ever he wanted it. So, when Fred ran away, he decided to go there. At least so he told George."
"Oh, Mother, when we get to Portland may we----" began Sue, but Mrs.
Brown laughed and cried:
"No more questions until morning!"
Bunny and Sue talked in whispers for a little while, and then fell asleep. They were awakened by the honking of an automobile horn, and Bunny, hopping out of bed and running to the window, cried to his sister:
"Oh, Sue, it"s the big car we"re going touring in, and Bunker Blue has brought it up the hill. Come on down to see it."
"Oh what fun!" cried Sue.
She and Bunny dressed quickly, and without waiting for breakfast they ran out to look at the automobile.
Bunker Blue, the boy who worked at the dock for Mr. Brown and who had gone on the first trip in the Brown"s big car, smiled at Bunny and Sue.
"Well, you"ve got a fine car now!" he cried.
"Is it different?" asked Sue.
"A lot different. Come inside."
"Breakfast, children!" called their mother.
"Oh, Mother, just a second--until we see how the auto is fixed different?" begged Bunny.
Mrs. Brown nodded, and Bunker Blue helped the little boy and his sister inside.
There were many things changed. The electric lights were bigger and brighter, so they could see to read or play games better at night; a new cookstove had been put in; an extra bunk had been made, so five persons could sleep in the auto-van; a new tent had been bought; and in one corner of the tiny kitchen was a little sink, with running water which came from a tank on the roof. This tank was filled by a hose and pump worked by the motor. Whenever the water ran low the automobile could be stopped near a brook or lake, one end of the hose dipped in the water and the other stuck in the tank. Then the pump could fill the tank, and the tank, in turn, could let the water down into the sink whenever needed.
"Your mother"ll like that," said Bunker Blue.
"Indeed she will!" cried Sue.
"Is there anything else new?" asked Bunny.