“Oh, that would be fun!” cried Sue, clapping her hands.

And then, all at once, as soon as Sue did this, the little ducks took fright, and hurried toward the shore.  Perhaps they thought Sue was shooing them away, as her grandmother sometimes shooed the hens out of the garden.

Anyhow, the little ducks, half swimming and half flying, rushed for the shore, and no sooner had the hen mother seen them go, than with a loud cluck she raised herself up in the air, and flew to shore also.  She had had enough of sailing, and she wanted to be with her little duck family.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to scare them,” said Sue.

“Never mind,” Bunny comforted her.  “I guess they had ride enough.  Now we’ll sail down to the other end of the pond.”

But the wind was quite strong now.  It blew very hard on the bag-sail, and the raft went swiftly through the water.

All at once there was a cracking sound, and the raft turned to one side.

“Oh, dear!” cried Sue.  “What’s the matter?”

Something flew down over her head, covering her eyes, and she could see nothing.

“Stop!  Stop!” cried the little girl.  “Is that you, Bunny?”

But Bunny did not answer.  Sue pulled the thing off her head.  When she could see she noticed that it was the bag sail.  The beanpole mast had broken off close to where it was stuck in a crack in the barn door, and the sail had fallen on Sue.

But where was Bunny Brown?

Sue looked all around and then saw her brother, off the raft, standing up in the water behind her.

“What—­what’s the matter, Bunny?” asked Sue.  “Don’t you want to sail any more?  What makes you be in the water?  Oh, you’re all wet!” she cried, as she saw that he had fallen in, right over his head.

“I—­I couldn’t help it,” said Bunny.  “I slipped in when the wind broke the sail.  I—­I fell on my back, and a lot of water got in my nose and mouth, but—­but I got on my feet, and I’m all right now, Sue.”

Bunny’s father had taught him a little about swimming, and Bunny knew that the first thing to do, when you fall in water, is to hold your breath.  Then, when your head bobs up, as it surely will, you can take a breath, and stand up, if the water isn’t too deep.

So Bunny stood up, with the muddy water dripping from him, looking at Sue who was still on the raft, all alone.

“Oh, Bunny!” cried the little girl.  “What shall I do?  I—­I’m afraid!”

“You’re all right,” Bunny answered bravely.  “I’ll come and push you to shore.  I’m all wet so I might as well stay wading now.”

The duck pond was not very deep, and Bunny was soon wading behind the raft, pushing it, with Sue on it, toward shore.  So his sister did not get more than her feet wet, and, as she had on no shoes or stockings, that did not matter.

“Oh, Bunny!  What happened?” asked his mother, when she saw how wet he was, as, a little later, the two children came to the farmhouse.  “What happened, Bunny?”