efore read any of
these books, to tell you something of the two children who are to have
some queer adventures in this present volume.

Bunny Brown and his sister Sue are well known to many of you children.
Bunny and his sister lived with their father and mother, Mr. and Mrs.
Walter Brown, in the town of Bellemere, on Sandport Bay, near the ocean.
Mr. Brown kept a boat and fish dock, and one of his helpers was Bunker
Blue, a young man who was very fond of Bunny and Sue.

In the Brown home were also Uncle Tad, who was Mr. Brown's relative, and
Mary, the good-natured cook. There was also Splash, a big dog. And I
might mention Toby, a Shetland pony. There were other pets to whom I
will introduce you from time to time. Toby had been away from the Brown
children for a while, but was now back again.

In the village were many friends of Bunny and Sue. Mrs. Redden, who kept
a candy store, was a very special sort of friend, and she gave the
biggest penny's worth of sweets for miles around. Mr. Gordon, as I have
told you, kept a real grocery store, and then there was Mr. Jed Winkler,
an old sailor who owned a parrot and a monkey named Wango. Mr. Winkler's
sister, Miss Euphemia, did not like either Polly or Wango.

Charlie Star, George Watson, Mary Watson, Sadie West, Helen Newton,
Harry Bentley, and fat Bobbie Boomer were all friends of the Brown
children.

Now that you know the names of most of the characters who are to appear
in this book, I might mention some of the other volumes. The first one
was called "Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue," and told of their
adventures around home. Then they went to Grandpa's farm, they played
circus, they visited Aunt Lu in her city home, they went to "Camp
Rest-a-While," and then they went to the Big Woods. After that they had
exciting adventures on an auto tour, and you can imagine what joy was
theirs when they were given a Shetland pony, that was named Toby.

Bunny Brown and his sister were always thinking up new ideas, and when
they wanted to give a show few doubted but what they would succeed. They
did, and made a goodly sum for a home for the blind. One of the trips
the Browns made was to Christmas Tree Cove, and in the book of that name
you will find their adventures set forth. They also made a winter trip
to the South, and they had not long been back from that when the things
happened that I have just told you about--the grand crash in the
make-believe hardware store.

With the