ed around and around, and sideways, and up and down, and
through the middle, and across the plank, and back again, several times.
Then, Sammie would fire the gun, yelling, "Boom-Boom!" as loudly as he
could, and shooting maybe a dozen bad Indians or pirates or robbers, or
maybe more, for all I know, and Buddy would beat on the drum louder than
ever, and he would cry:

"Charge! Charge on the enemy! Hurrah! Hurrah! The victory is ours!" and
he would wave a flag he had made out of a piece of white cloth, red
flannel and a bit of Brighteyes' blue hair ribbon, that she had lost.

Oh, it wag great fun, I tell you! But the best of all was rushing across
the plank over the deep part of the pond, for then it sounded exactly as
if horses and cannon were coming over the bridge, and the plank
teetered and tautered up and down, and sometimes Buddy and Sammie almost
fell off. But they didn't mind this; they only thought it all the more
fun.

Then, at last, something did happen. Buddy was ahead, waving the flag
with one hand, and beating the drum with the other, and Sammie was
firing his wooden gun as fast as he could fire it, with ever so many
"Boom-Booms!" real loud ones, too, and shooting, oh, ever so many
make-believe Indians, when, all of a sudden, poor Sammie Littletail
slipped off the plank, and fell into the deep part of the pond!

"Oh, save me; save me, Buddy!" cried Sammie, splashing around.

"I'll save you!" cried Buddy, and he got so excited that he threw away
his drum, and the drumsticks and the flag, only he tossed the flag
safely on shore, where it wouldn't get wet, for he loved the flag, even
if it was only a make-believe one. "I'll save you," he cried. "Can you
swim any, Sammie?"

"A--a--lit-tle--bit!" gasped the rabbit boy, as he floundered around in
the water. "But I could swim more if nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy was here to
show me," and then he couldn't talk any more, for his mouth was full of
water.

Well, Sammie was terribly frightened, as he floundered around in the
pond, with his wooden gun, and so was Buddy frightened, up on the plank
bridge. Buddy looked all around, to see if there was any one coming to
help him save Sammie, but there wasn't. Percival had gone in the house,
and Brighteyes and her mother had gone berrying. Then Buddy made up his
mind that he would have to save Sammie all by himself.

First he tried to kneel down on the plank, and reach his hand to his
little rabbit chum, but he couldn't r