“Oh, no!” exclaimed Bunny.  “We’re going to have Bobbie Boomer in it, and he’s a big fat boy.”

Mr. Treadwell laughed and Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Newton joined in.

“What sort of play are you going to have?” asked Mr. Treadwell.

“Well, we were just talking about it, in our garage, when Tom Milton told us that Mr. Winkler’s monkey was loose,” explained Bunny, “and we didn’t talk any more about it until just now.  But the show is going to be different from the circus.”

“Where are you going to have it?” asked Mrs. Newton.

“I don’t know,” confessed Bunny.  “Maybe my father will let us have it in the boat shop.  That’s a big place.”

A step was heard in the hall, and Bunny and Sue cried: 

“There’s our daddy now!”

Mr. Brown walked in, kissed the children and seemed quite surprised to see three strangers present.  Matters were quickly explained to him, however, and he welcomed Mr. Treadwell, Lucile and Mart.

“Do you think you could find work for them?” asked Mrs. Brown, when the stories had been told.

“Well, I might,” slowly answered Mr. Brown.  “I need some help down at the dock and office to get things ready for winter.”

“Don’t make ’em work so hard they can’t help in our show,” begged Bunny.

“Oh, you’re going to have another circus, are you?” asked his father, with a smile.

“No, it isn’t going to be a circus, it’s going to be a regular Opera House show!” cried Sue.

“What about?” her father wanted to know, as he caught her up in his arms.

“We don’t know yet,” Bunny said.  “But maybe the play will be about pirates or Indians or soldiers.”

“Why don’t you have some nice quiet play that would be good for Christmas?” asked Mr. Brown.  “Why not have a play with a farm scene in it?  You have been down to Grandpa’s farm, and you know a lot about the country.  Why not have a farm play and call it ’Down on the Farm’?”

“That’s the very thing!” suddenly cried Mr. Treadwell.  “Excuse me for getting so excited,” he said, “but when you spoke about a farm play I remembered that we have some farm scenery in our show that failed.  I believe you could buy that scenery cheap for the children,” he said to Mr. Brown.  “There are three scenes, one meadow, a barnyard with a barn and an orchard; and the last had a house with it.”

“Oh, Daddy! get us the farm theater things for our new play!” cried Bunny Brown.

CHAPTER VIII

THE SCENERY

Daddy Brown looked at his two children, and then, as he glanced across the table at the actor who made believe he was George Washington and other great men, Daddy Brown laughed.

“These youngsters of mine will be giving a real show before I know it, with scenery and everything,” he said.

“Well, a show isn’t much fun unless you have some scenery in it,” said Mr. Treadwell, “and the scenery I spoke of, which was part of our show, can be bought cheap, I think.”