“That is, he will run after me, grab hold of the piece of cloth sewed fast to my coat, and he’ll hold on while I drag him about until the cloth tears loose just as you saw it.  Though Splash barks and growls, it is all done in fun, and he likes the play very much.”

“Is he going to do that on the stage?” asked Bunny.

“I hope that’s what he’ll do,” said the actor, as he patted the dog, who came up to him, having given up, for the time, the teasing of the bit of cloth.  “You see I’m to be a tramp in the first act of the play.  I’ll come walking down the road, and then, Bunny, you’ll let Splash loose after me.

“He’ll run out from the wings—­that is from the side, you know—­and chase me, for I’ll be dressed in a ragged suit and on my coat-tails will be fastened the piece of cloth your dog likes so to tease.  He’ll grab hold of that, hang on, and I’ll drag him across the stage.  That ought to make the people laugh.”

“I think it will,” said Bunny.  “And they’ll think Splash is really mad at you, won’t they?”

“I think they will, if we don’t let them know any different,” said the actor, with a laugh.  “We must keep this part of our play a secret.”

“Oh, yes!  I love a secret!” said Sue.  “We won’t tell anybody.”

“Splash is a smart dog,” said Bunny, as he patted his pet.

“Indeed he is!” declared Mr. Treadwell.  “He learned this hanging on trick much sooner than I thought he would.  He likes to chase after me and let me drag him by my coat-tails.”

After Splash had had a little rest the actor put him through the trick again, and Bunny and Sue laughed as they saw their dog swinging about the yard, making believe to chase a tramp.  Of course, Mr. Treadwell was not dressed like a tramp now, though he would be in the first act of the play.

If Bunny and Sue could have had their way they would not have gone to school at all during the days when they were getting ready to give the play, “Down on the Farm.”  All the other boys and girls who were to be in it, also, would have been glad to stay at home from lessons, but, of course, that would never do.  But all the time they had to spare from their books, Bunny, Sue, and the others spent either in practicing their parts or going to the hall over the hardware store where the performance was to be given.

Bunny and Sue had about learned their parts now, and so had most of the other children.  Some were slower than others, and had to be told over and over again what to do.  But, on the whole, Mr. Treadwell said he was well pleased.

School would close for the holidays a week before Christmas, and then there would be more time to rehearse.  Meanwhile Bunny, Sue, and their friends had fun on the snow and ice as well as in practicing for the show.

Each day Mart and Lucile anxiously waited for the mail, to see if there were any replies to the letters sent out, seeking news of their uncles and their aunt.  But no word came.