“No, it’s a cow with a crumpled horn—­two crumpled horns—­and daddy’s pushing its face out of the tent,” added Sue.

“Let me see!” cried Bunny, and, in spite of his mother’s call to get back into bed, out he popped to stand near the curtains that hung down in front of his mother’s cot.

“Yes, it’s only a cow—­a crumpled-horn cow,” Bunny announced after he had taken a look.

“But it pushed hard enough to be an elephant, didn’t it?” asked Sue.

“That’s what it did.  I thought the tent would come down,” agreed Bunny.

“What makes you say it was a crumpled-horn cow?” asked Mrs. Brown, as she too looked through the crack of the curtain and saw her husband pushing the animal outside.

“’Cause it’s got crumpled horns like the ragged man’s cow.  The man that gave us milk after the dog drank ours,” said Bunny.  “Only his cow had only one crooked horn and this cow has two.  Hasn’t it, Sue?”

“Yes.  But it looks like a nice cow.”

“Well, we don’t want cows in our sleeping tent at night,” said Mr. Brown.  “I’ll start this one down hill, and in the morning some one who comes for it will have to hunt for it.  We haven’t anything here with which to feed cows.”

“What’s the matter up there?” called a voice, and the children knew it was that of Uncle Tad, who slept in a little tent by himself, near the one where the cooking was done.

“What’s the matter up there?” he called.

“Oh, a cow tried to take up quarters with us,” explained Mr. Brown.  “I’m trying to shove her out of the tent, but she seems to want to stay.”

“I’ll lead her away and tie her,” said Uncle Tad.

Bunny and Sue heard him tramping up from his tent to theirs and then he led the crumpled-horn cow away, the animal now and then giving voice to: 

“Moo!  Moo!”

“Isn’t it too bad she couldn’t sleep here?” asked Sue.

“She’s too big,” declared Bunny.  “But Sue, did you see two of her horns crumpled or only one?”

“Why, Bunny, I—­I guess it was two, but I’m not sure.  What makes you ask me that?”

Before Bunny could answer his mother called: 

“Come now, you children have been up long enough.  Get back to bed or you’ll want to sleep so late in the morning that it will be dinner time before you get up.  The elephant-cow has gone away.  Uncle Tad will lead her to the foot of the hill, near the brook, where she can get a drink of water and she won’t bother you any more.  So go back to your cots.”

Bunny and Sue went.  They could hear Uncle Tad leading the elephant cow, as they called her, through the bushes, and hear him talking to her.

“Come bossy!  Come on now.  That’s a good cow!”

The cow seemed to lead along easily enough, and pretty soon no more noises could be heard in camp except the chirping of the crickets or the songs of the katydids and katydidn’ts.