“I—­I don’t want to,” Sue answered.

“Why not?” Bunny wanted to know.

“’Cause,” and that was all Sue would say.  Then it began to rain harder, and the drops even splashed down through the thick branches of the evergreen tree.

“Oh, come on!” cried Bunny.  “It’s nice here, and dry, Sue.  Why won’t you come?”

“’Cause I don’t like those robbers!” answered Sue at last.  “I’d rather stay out in the rain than go in with those robbers.”

“What robbers?” asked Bunny, his eyes opening wide.

“You said that was a robbers’ cave,” declared Sue, “and I don’t like ’em.”

Bunny laughed.

“There’s no robbers here, Sue,” he said.  “I only meant that this looks just like the pictures of a robbers’ cave.  There isn’t any robbers here.  Come on in.  It’s nice and dry here.”

“Are you sure there’s no robbers?” Sue wanted to know.

“Sure,” said Bunny.  “Listen!” He went back a little farther in the cave and cried: 

“Robbers!  Robbers!  Go on away!  That will drive ’em off, Sue,” he said.  “Now come on in.”

The little girl waited a half minute, to make sure no robbers came out after Bunny’s call.  Then she, too, ran into the cave.

“Isn’t it nice here?” Bunny asked.

“Ye—­yes, I—­I guess so,” and Sue spoke slowly.  She was not quite sure about it.  “But it—­it’s dark,” she went on.

“All caves are dark,” Bunny Brown answered.  “They have to be dark or they wouldn’t be caves.  Nobody ever saw a light cave.”

“Well, I like a light cave best,” said Sue.  “How long has we got to stay here, Bunny?”

“Till Daddy comes for us, I guess,” he said.  “We can’t walk back to camp all alone.  I don’t know the way.  We’d get losted worse than we are now.”

“Has we got to stay here all night?” Sue wanted to know.

“Well, maybe,” said Bunny slowly.  “But we could easy sleep here.  There’s some nice dried leaves we could make into a bed, and we’ve some of our lunch left.  We can eat that for supper, and save a little for breakfast.”

“What will we give Splash?” asked Sue.  She had looked over Bunny’s shoulder as he now opened the lunch basket.  There did not seem very much left for two hungry children and a dog.  Splash was now nosing about in the cave.  He did not bark, and Bunny and Sue knew there could be no one in the hole but themselves—­no wild animals or anything.

“There isn’t enough to give Splash much,” said Bunny slowly.  “But maybe he can dig himself up a bone in the woods.  We can leave the crusts for him.  Splash likes crusts.”

“I don’t,” Sue said.  “He can have all of mine.”

Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had not yet learned to like the crusts of their bread.  But Splash was not so particular.

The wind was now blowing harder, and the rain was flowing in the front of the cave.  It blew in the faces of the children.