this, and some of the little girls screamed,
and ran away.

But Bunny Brown was not so frightened as were the others. He was older,
and then, too, he felt that he must look after his sister. So he cried
out again:

"Go on away from here, you--you bad tramps!"

The tramps only laughed. Then Bunny Brown thought of something. Turning
around he called, as loudly as he could:

"Here Splash! Come Splash! Come on old dog!"

Then Bunny whistled. He had only just learned how, from Bunker Blue a
few days before, and he could not whistle very loudly, but still he did
very well for a small boy.

"Come Splash! Come on, old dog!" he cried, and he whistled once more.

The tramps looked at one another.

"He's callin' his dog," said the big one.

"Yes," said the little tramp, "we'd better go. Come on. We've had enough
to last us for awhile. We'll empty the baskets and run."

The two roughly dressed men, with red handkerchiefs around their neck,
in place of collars, quickly emptied into their pockets the sandwiches
and cake that were left in some of the baskets which the children had
dropped. They mixed the cake and bread and meat all up together; those
tramps did. Perhaps they were so hungry they did not mind.

Then off they ran through the bushes the way they had come.

"Oh, I'm so glad they're gone!" exclaimed Sue.

"So am I," said Tommie Jones. "If they hadn't gone your dog would have
bit them, Bunny Brown; wouldn't he?"

Bunny Brown laughed.

"My dog isn't here," he said.

"He isn't!" exclaimed Tommie. "Why, he called him, and whistled to him;
didn't he?" he asked the others.

"Yep!" said Flo Benson. "He did."

"That was only make-believe," explained Bunny. "I thought maybe if I
pretended Splash was here the tramps would be afraid. Tramps are always
afraid of dogs. My papa said so. That's why I made believe to call
Splash. But he isn't here. We left him back on grandpa's farm with the
hired man. Mamma thought he might be in the way at the picnic, so we
didn't bring him."

"Oh, that was a fine trick!" exclaimed Sue. "I forgot Splash wasn't here
with us. I thought sure he'd come when you whistled, Bunny."

"So did the tramps, I guess," laughed Bunny Brown. "I'm glad I thought
of it. And if Splash had been here he would make the tramps go away,
anyhow."

"But they took all my lunch!" sobbed John. "And I fell down, and I
bumped my nose and--and----"

But that was all the trouble he could think of just then.