“Bless your hearts, of course I’ll take you home, and the dog, too!” the old sailor cried, “though I didn’t expect to find a dog here.  Come now, get in my boat, and I’ll fasten yours to mine, and pull it along after me.  Come along!”

Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were soon in the old sailor’s boat, the dog following them, and, a little later, they were safely at their own dock, where their father and mother, as well as Aunt Lu and Bunker Blue, were waiting to greet them.

“Oh, Bunny!  Oh, Sue!” cried Mrs. Brown, as she gathered them both into her arms.  “Why did you do it?  Oh, such a fright as you have given all of us!”

“We didn’t mean to, Mother,” said Bunny, himself a little frightened at what had happened.  “The boat came untied, and floated off with us, and then we played Robinson Crusoe, just like you read to me out of the book, and—­”

“But we didn’t find Mr. Friday,” interrupted Sue, who seemed to feel this was quite a disappointment.

“Never mind,” remarked Aunt Lu, “you had plenty of other adventures, I should think.  Why, Sue!” she exclaimed, “your dress is quite damp!”

“She fell in,” explained Bunny, “and—­”

“Mercy!  Where did that dog come from?” cried Mrs. Brown, for the big shaggy animal had been lying quietly in the bottom of Mr. Winkler’s boat, and now, with a bark, he suddenly sprang up, and jumped out on the dock.

“It’s our dog,” said Sue.  “He pulled me out.”

“Pulled you out, child?  Out of where?” Mrs. Brown wanted to know.  “What happened?  Tell me all about it!”

Which Bunny and Sue did, taking turns.  Then they begged to be allowed to keep the dog, and Mr. Brown said they might, if no one came to claim it.

“I guess it must be a lost dog,” said the old sailor.  “Maybe it jumped off some boat that was going down the river, and swam to the island.  I guess it’s glad enough to get off, though, for there’s nothing there for a dog to eat.”

“We couldn’t find anything, either,” said Bunny, “and we’re hungry now, Mother.”

“And we’re going to take turns feeding the dog,” came from Sue.  “I own one half, down the middle, and so does Bunny.”

“Bless your hearts!” Mrs. Brown cried.  “She was very glad the children had been found, and Mr. Brown told Bunny and Sue they must not get in the boat again, unless some older person was with them, even if the boat was tied to the dock.  Then it was supper time, and the big, shaggy dog ate as much as Bunny and Sue together, which showed how hungry he was.

“What are you going to call the dog?” asked Aunt Lu.

“I called him Towser,” Bunny said, “but we can take another name, if we don’t like that.”

“Oh, let’s call him Splash!” exclaimed Sue.

“Splash?  What a funny name!” her mother remarked.

“Well, he did splash in the water after me, and pulled me out.  Maybe we could call him Pull, but I like Splash better,” and Sue shook her curly head.