l while she went to the spring for a pail of water.
"And when I came back, a whole pie was gone!" she said.
"Well, we certainly didn't take it, for we weren't here," said Daddy
Brown. "And you were all alone in camp, Mother?"
"Yes, even Uncle Tad was gone."
"Oh, maybe _he_ came back and took it!" exclaimed Bunny.
"No, he wouldn't do that," said his mother. "Some animal, perhaps a big
muskrat, like the one Splash tried to catch, came up out of the lake and
carried away my pie. I was just looking to see if I could find any marks
of the rat's paws in the soft ground, when you came along. But I
couldn't see any."
"I don't believe it was a rat, or any other animal, that took your pie,"
said Mr. Brown, as he, too, looked carefully on the ground around the
table where the pie had been placed. The three other pies were there,
but the fourth one was gone.
"There isn't a sign of any four-legged animal having been here," Mr.
Brown went on. "I think it was some animal with only two legs who took
the pie."
"Oh, you mean a--a man!" cried Mother Brown.
Daddy Brown nodded his head for yes.
"Do you mean a tramp?" asked Bunker Blue.
"Well, yes, it might have been a tramp, though we haven't seen any
around here since we've been in camp. However, if a pie is all they took
we don't need to worry."
"Perhaps the poor man was hungry," said Mrs. Brown. "I'm sure I hope he
enjoys my pie."
"He couldn't help liking it," said Bunny Brown. "Your pies are always so
good, Mother!"
"I'm glad to hear you say that," exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "Well, we have
enough for the next two days, anyhow, and I'll bake again to-morrow."
"Splash didn't take the pie," said Sue, "'cause he was with us in the
boat."
"Then it must have been the tramp," Mrs. Brown said. "Never mind, we
won't worry any more about it. Did you have a nice time?"
Then they told about their little fishing trip. When Uncle Tad came back
from his walk in the woods, he, too, had to be told of the missing pie.
Uncle Tad shook his head.
"We'll have to lock up everything around our camp if tramps are going to
come in and take our pies, and the other good things Mother Brown
makes," he said with a smile. "Or else one of us will always have to
stay here to keep watch."
"I wish we had Tom Vine back," said Bunny. "I wonder where he is?"
Of course no one knew, and Mr. Brown began to think that, after all, Tom
had done just as Mr. Trimble had said--had run away.
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