“Well, children, this is my last week here.”

“Oh, where are you going?” asked Bunny.

“Back home, dear.  To New York.  And I want you to come and see me there.  Will you?”

“If mamma will let us,” said Sue.

“I’ll think about it,” promised Mrs. Brown.

So Aunt Lu got ready to go back home.  And as she walked about with Bunny and Sue, paying last visits to the fish dock, the river and the other nice places, Aunt Lu seemed sad.  She looked down at the ground, and often glanced at her finger on which she had worn the diamond ring.

“Sue,” said Bunny one day, “I know what makes Aunt Lu so sad.”

“What is it?”

“Losing her ring.  And I know a way that might make her glad, so she would smile and be happy again.”

“What way?”

“Let’s give a Punch and Judy show for her,” said Bunny.  “We’ll get Sadie and Helen, and George and Charlie and Harry to help us.  We’ll give a Punch and Judy show!”

“Oh, what fun!” cried Sue, clapping her hands.

CHAPTER XXIII

AN AUTOMOBILE RIDE

Bunny Brown and his sister Sue had often talked about giving a Punch and Judy show.  They had often seen one, at picnics or at church sociables, and Bunny knew by heart a few of the things Mr. Punch had to say.  He did not stop to think that perhaps he could not get behind the curtain, and make the little wooden figures do the funny things they were supposed to do.  And he did not know where he could get the queer little doll-like figures.

“But I can do something, anyhow,” said Bunny, who was a very ambitious little boy.  Ambitious means he was always willing to try to do things, whether or not he was sure he could really do them.

“What can I do?” asked Sue.  “I want to make Aunt Lu happy.”

“Well, you can be Mrs. Judy part of the time,” her brother answered, “and you can pull the curtains over when Mr. Punch has to change his clothes, and things like that.  I’m going to be Mr. Punch.”

“And wear the lobster claw?” asked Sue.

“Yes, on my nose.  That’s what I got it for.  I can make little holes in each side, and put strings in them, and tie the lobster claw on my nose with the string around my head.”

“It will be fun, Bunny.  I wish it were time for the show now.”

“Oh, we’ve got lots to do,” said the little boy.  “We’ve got to tell Sadie and the rest of ’em, and we’ve got to get tickets, and put up a tent.”

“A tent!” cried Sue.  “Where is a tent?”

“That’s so,” admitted Bunny, looking puzzled, “We haven’t got a tent.  But we can have the Punch and Judy show in our barn,” he went on quickly, “and you can stand at the door and take the money, and sell tickets—­that is, when you aren’t being Mrs. Punch.”

“Aunt Lu won’t have to buy a ticket, will she?” Sue wanted to know.