“There’s a pump and a watering trough that goes with this scene,” said the actor.  “In the play as we used to give it the trough was filled with water and one of the actors had to fall into it.”

“And does the pump pump real water?” cried Bunny.

“Yes, about a pail full,” was the answer.

“Then we’ll have it in our show!” cried the little boy.  “I’ll fall into the trough and get all wet, Sue, and you can pump more water on me from the pump.”

“That’ll be fun!” laughed Sue.

“We’ll have to see about that act first,” laughed Mr. Brown.  “Now let’s find out what else we have for the great play ‘Down on the Farm.’  Where’s that orchard I heard you speak of, Mr. Treadwell?”

“I guess the orchard is behind the barn,” laughed the old actor.  And when some of the men in the storage place had lifted away the painted canvas that represented the barn, a pretty orchard scene was shown.

“There’s the rest of the little house!” cried Bunny, for at first he had only noticed one side of it.

“Yes, there is one end of a house shown in this scene, as one end of the barn is shown in the other,” explained the actor.  “And there is a real door, too, that opens and shuts.  The orchard, as you see, is only painted.”

And so it was, but in such a way as to appear very pretty when set up and lighted.

“Here’s a real tree!” cried Bunny, who was rummaging about back of the stacked-up scenery.

“Well, it’s meant to look like a real tree,” said Mr. Treadwell, “but it isn’t, really.  It’s a pretty good imitation of a peach tree, and I suppose you could use it in your show, children.”

“Peaches don’t grow in the winter,” objected Bunny, who had been on his grandfather’s farm often enough to know this.

“We could make believe our show was in summer,” said Sue.

“Yes, or you could make believe your play took place down south, where it’s always warm,” added Mart, “and you could have this for an orange tree.”

“Oh, no!  That wouldn’t do!” laughed Mr. Treadwell.  “The leaves aren’t anything like those of an orange tree.  I remember once when we gave an act with this tree it was supposed to be on a tropic island, and one of the actors fastened a cocoanut on it, to make the audience think it really grew there.”

“What happened?” asked Mr. Brown, as he saw the actor laugh.

“Well, the cocoanut wasn’t fastened on very well,” was the answer, “and when the leading lady was standing under the tree, singing a sad song, the cocoanut fell off and dropped on her foot.  She stopped singing right there, and the play was nearly spoiled.  So don’t have oranges grow on peach trees,” he advised.

“We could have peanuts,” suggested Bunny.  “They wouldn’t hurt if they fell on you.”

Mr. Brown and Mr. Treadwell laughed at that, and Bunny wondered why they did.

The children were delighted with the scenery, once they had got over their surprise at how coarse the paint looked when they were close to it.  The barn and the house, with their real doors that opened and shut, were quite wonderful to Bunny Brown and his sister Sue, and so was the tree.