It was hard work for some of the children, though most of them thought of it as play, but they had spent long hours in drilling.

As I have told you, there was a real tree in the scene, and a house, and the play was supposed to end with every one saying how happy he or she was to be “Down on the Farm,” when they all sang a song with those words in it.

Everything went off very nicely.  Bunny and Sue did even better in this third act than in the first or second, and there was no little accident like that with the pony and rooster.

They were coming to the climax of the third act.  Sue was supposed to be lost, and Bunny was supposed to hunt for her.  He was to look everywhere, and at last find her up in an apple tree—­or what passed for an apple tree—­on the stage.

All went well until Sue slipped out of the farmhouse, ran to the apple tree and climbed up in it to hide among the artificial branches.  Then Bunny started to pretend to look for her.  He stood under the tree, but didn’t let on he knew she was there, though of course he really did know.

“I wonder where she can be?” he said aloud, just as he was supposed to say in the play.  “Where can she have hidden herself?”

And just then little Weejie Brewster piped up from where she was sitting with her mother: 

“Dere she is, Bunny!  Dere’s Sue hidin’ up in de apper tree!  I kin see her ‘egs stickin’ out!  She’s in de tree, she is!”

Of course everybody burst out laughing at hearing this, but the play was so near the end that what Weejie said did not spoil it.  Bunny had to laugh himself, and so did Sue.  Then Bunny looked up among the branches, pretended to discover Sue, and on he went with the rest of his talk.

The little white mice performed once again.  Splash did another trick quite well, too.  And then Peter, the rooster, as if to make up for not behaving nicely in the second act, flew out on the head of George just as he was handing Lucile a bouquet when she sang her “Rose Song.”

Of course the rooster, coming out at that time, rather spoiled Lucile’s song, but she didn’t mind, and when the audience got over laughing she went on with it as if nothing had happened.

It was just before the last scene, where the whole company of boys and girls was to gather around Mr. Treadwell, in front of the house, and sing the farm song, that something else happened.

Down the aisle came Mr. Jed Winkler, and in his hand he held a yellow telegram envelope.  He marched up to Mr. Brown and said, so loud that every one could hear him: 

“This message just came!  I was over at the telegraph office and the operator gave it to me to bring to you.”

“Oh, thank you,” said Mr. Brown.

There was a little pause in the play while the children were getting ready to sing the last song.  Mr. Brown tore open the message.

“I hope there is no bad news,” some one said, and every one in the audience hoped the same thing, for they all liked Mr. Brown.