“And don’t invite any more peddlers to your circus, children,” said Mr. Brown.

“We won’t,” promised Bunny.  “But we thought the balloons would be nice.”

“We can have the hired man sell pink lemonade and peanuts; can’t we?” Sue wanted to know.

“Yes, I guess so—­if he wants to,” laughed Grandpa Brown.

“Well, we have some balloons ourselves, anyhow,” said Bunny to his sister that night.

The children had much fun with their balloons next day.  They tied long threads to them, and let them float high in the air.  Once Sue’s nearly got away, but Bunny ran after the thread, which was dragging on the ground, and caught it.

The big boys had not forgotten about the circus, all this while.  Bunker, Ben and their friends had put up the tent Grandpa Brown let them take, and Bunny and Sue went inside.

“My!  It’s terrible big!” said Sue, looking about the white canvas house.  It was not so very large, but it seemed so to Sue.

“Just wait until you see the other,” said Bunker.  “The fair tent is three times as big as this.”

And so it was.  When that was put up in the meadow, near the army tent of Grandpa Brown’s, the place began to look like a real circus ground.

“When are you going to have the show?” asked Bunny of Ben.

“Oh, in a few days now.  Have you and Sue made up what you are going to do?”

“Yes, but it’s a secret,” Sue answered.

“So much the better!” laughed Ben.  “You’ll surprise the people.”

The two tents were put up, and the big boys were getting ready for the circus.  One night, about four days before it was to be held, Bunker Blue and Ben came in from where they had been, down near the tents, and looked anxiously at the sky.

“What’s the matter,” asked Bunny.

“Well,” said Bunker, “it looks as if we would have a big rain storm.  And if we do, and the meadow brook gets too full of water, it may wash the tents away.”

“Oh, I guess that won’t happen,” said Ben.

But in the night it began to rain very hard.  It thundered and lightened, and Bunny and Sue woke up, frightened.  Sue began to cry.

“Why, you mustn’t cry just because it rains,” said Mother Brown.

“But I’m afraid!” sobbed Sue.  “And it will wash away our circus tents!” and she sat up in bed, and shivered every time it thundered.  “Oh, Mother!  It will wash away all the nice circus tents!”

CHAPTER XIX

HARD WORK

Mrs. Brown did not quite understand what Sue said about the storm washing away the circus tents.  So she asked the little girl to explain.

“Why, Bunker Blue said,” Sue told her mother, “that if the storm was too hard, the brook would get full of water, and wash away our circus tents.  And I don’t want that, ’cause me and Bunny is going to do an act, only it’s a secret and I can’t tell you.  Only—­Oh, dear!” cried Sue, as she saw a very bright flash of lightning.  “It’s going to bang again!”