Then the buzz of talk broke out again, while the men who had been hired to do it kept on setting up the scenes for the second act.  But all the children who had time to do so helped Bunny look for the red hat.

“Maybe Splash took it,” suggested Sue, when she had finally gotten her dress pinned to suit her.  “I saw him dragging something off to one corner a while ago.”

“Was it a bone?” asked Bunny.

“I couldn’t see very well, ’cause I was in a hurry,” Sue answered.

“Come on—­we’ll find Splash!” called Bunny to Charlie and some of the others who were helping in the search.

But even the dog seemed to have hidden himself.  At last, however, he was heard growling in a dark corner, and Bunny saw that his pet was chewing something, and tossing it up in the air, as he often tossed a bit of cloth or an old shoe.

“Splash!  What have you got?” cried Bunny.  “Bring it here!”

At first the dog did not mind, but finally, when both Sue and Bunny told him to come, out he came, dragging something after him.

“Oh, it is my red hat!” cried Charlie, when he saw it.  “It’s my nice red hat that mother made for me to wear in the show!”

And that is what it was.  But the red hat was nice and red no longer.  Splash had chewed all the red off it, and the hat was also very much out of shape.

“Splash!  You’re a bad dog!” cried Bunny, shaking his finger at his pet, and Splash slunk away with his tail between his legs.  He always did that whenever any one called him a bad dog.

“Oh, see how bad he feels,” said Sue, in her gentle voice.  “I guess he didn’t mean to be bad and chew your hat, Charlie.”

“But he did chew it!” replied the little boy who was to wear it in the next act.  “Look!  I can’t even get it on!  It isn’t a hat at all!”

“Let me see,” said Mr. Treadwell, coming up just then.  He looked at what Splash had left of the hat.  It was torn and chewed and the color was all gone, for the red had been only red ribbons pinned on an old cap, and Splash had made them look very sad indeed.

“What can I do?” asked Charlie.  “Have I got to stay out of the play?”

Mr. Treadwell thought for a moment.

“No,” he said.  “I’ll tell you what we’ll do.  You were to be a fireman and wear this red hat, weren’t you?”

“Yes,” answered Charlie.

“Well, you can still be a fireman, but instead of a red hat you can wear a tin one.  A tin hat will be just the thing for a fireman.  It will keep the make-believe hot sparks, as well as the water, off his head.”

“But where can I get a tin hat?” asked Charlie.

“I’ll have Mr. Raymond bring up a small tin pail from his hardware store downstairs.”

And that’s what was done, and the new, shiny tin pail made a very funny hat for Charlie.  He liked it better than the red one that Splash had chewed.

After some delay the curtain went up again, showing the barnyard scene, and in this Bunny and Sue were to drive Toby, their Shetland pony, on the stage.  It had been decided they could do this, as the pony was a very little one.