shower.
Good-bye!" he called, and hurried away.

"After this, Bunny," advised his mother, as he kept on wetting the
garden, "it will be best to turn off the water if you leave the hose."

"Yes, Mother, I will," he promised.

So that little happening passed off all right, and later Bunny and the
gentleman--who was a newcomer in town, Mr. Halsted by name--became good
friends.

One day, about a week after vacation had started, during which time
Bunny and Sue had had much fun, the two children went to the little
corner store kept by Mrs. Golden. Bunny and Sue each had two cents to
spend, and they were allowed to get some candy.

As they entered the store they saw Mrs. Golden trying to sweep, but the
way in which the old woman used the broom showed that she was in pain.
As the children entered she stopped, held her hand to her side, and
tried to stand up.

"Oh!" she murmured, in a low voice.

"Is it your rheumatism?" asked Bunny.

"That, or something worse," replied the old lady, with a sigh. "I get a
pain in my side every time I sweep."

"Let me do it!" begged Sue. "I love to sweep, and I'd like to help you."

"So would I!" exclaimed Bunny. "I can sweep, too. Please let me!"

Almost before she realized it, Mrs. Golden had given up the broom to
Sue, and the little girl was sweeping the store, while Bunny waited for
his turn.

Suddenly the doorway was darkened, and a big man with a bushy black
beard came stalking in.

"Where's Mrs. Golden?" he asked, looking at some papers in his hand. "I
want to see Mrs. Golden," and his voice was cross.

"I'm Mrs. Golden," answered the old lady. "What can I do for you?"

"The best thing you can do is to pay that money!" snapped the man.

CHAPTER XIV

THE CROSS MAN

Bunny and Sue had at first paid no attention to the big man with the
black beard who entered the little corner grocery store so suddenly. The
children thought he was a customer come to buy some groceries.

But when the man, in that cross voice, said Mrs. Golden had better pay
him some money, Bunny and Sue looked sharply at him, Sue holding on to
the broom.

"'Cause I thought maybe he was a robber coming after Mrs. Golden's
money," she explained later.

"What would you have done if he had been a robber?" asked Uncle Tad.

"I'd 'a' hit him with the broom," Sue replied.

"And I'd have helped her!" exclaimed Bunny.

But this was afterward. The man, however, as the children looked at
him, did no