“Oh, Bunny!  Are you going right in with the calf?”

“Yes.”

“He—­he’ll bite you!”

“No, he won’t.  Calves haven’t any teeth.  They only eat milk, and they don’t have to chew that.  They don’t get teeth until they’re big.

“I’m not afraid,” said Bunny Brown, as he climbed over into the calf’s pen.  Sue stood as near as she could, so Bunny could dip his brush in the green paint.  Bunny was careful not to get any on his own suit, or on Sue’s dress.  That is he was as careful as any small boy could be.  But, even then, he did splash some of the paint on himself and on Sue.  But the children did not think of this at the time.  They were so busy having fun, turning a calf into a circus zebra.

[Illustration:  THEY WERE BUSY TURNING A CALF INTO A CIRCUS ZEBRA.

Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Playing Circus Page 84.]

Bunny had put a number of green stripes on one side of the calf, and now he was ready to put some on the other.  But the calf did not stand as still with Bunny inside the stall with her, as when he had been outside.  The calf seemed frightened.

“Baa-a-a-a-a!” it cried.  “Baa-a-a-a-a!  Baa-a-a-a-a!”

And the old mother cow cried: 

“Moo!  Moo!  Moo!”

She did not like to see Bunny so close to her baby calf, I guess.  But the old cow did not try to hook Bunny with her horns.  She only looked at him with her big, brown eyes, and tried to reach her tongue over and “kiss” the calf, as Sue called it.

“Stand still!” Bunny said to the calf, but the little animal did not want to.  Perhaps it thought it had had enough of the green paint.  It moved about, from one side of the box to the other, and Bunny had hard work to put on any more stripes.

“Isn’t that enough?” asked Sue, after a bit.  “It looks real nice Bunny.  You had better save some green paint for the other calf.”

“Yes, but I’m only going to stripe one,” answered Bunny.  “It’s too hard.  One zebra is enough for our circus.  We’ll make the other calf into a lion.  A lion doesn’t have any stripes.”

“All right,” agreed Sue.  “Then come on out, Bunny, ’cause I’m tired of holding this paint for you.”

“In a minute, Sue.  I’ll be right out.  I just want to put some stripes on the calf’s legs.  They have to be striped same as the sides and back.”

And that was where Bunny Brown made one of his mistakes.  He should have let the calf’s legs alone.  For, no sooner did the little animal feel the tickling of the paint brush on its legs than it gave a loud cry, and began to kick.

Out with its hind legs it kicked, and, as Bunny happened to be stooping down, just then, near the calf’s feet, the little boy was kicked over.  Right over he went, spilling some of the paint on himself, but the most of it, I am glad to say, went on the straw in the calf’s box-stall.

“Oh, Bunny!” cried Sue.  “Oh, Bunny Brown!”