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Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue Playing Circus, a novel by Laura Lee Hope |
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Chapter 7. Bunny Has A Fall |
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_ CHAPTER VII. BUNNY HAS A FALL Down and down, from the big beam near the top of the barn, fell Ben Hall. And, as Bunny Brown and his sister Sue watched the new, strange boy, something queer happened. For, instead of falling straight down, head first or feet first as you would think any one ought to fall, Ben began turning over and over. Over and over he turned, first his feet and then his head and then his back being pointed toward the pile of hay on the bottom of the barn floor. "Oh, look! look!" cried Sue. "What--what makes him do that?" asked Bunny Brown. "I guess he wants to," answered Bunker Blue. Bunny and his sister thought they were going to be frightened when they saw Ben slip and fall. But when the children saw Bunker Blue laughing they smiled too. It was queer to see Ben turning over and over in that funny way. "I guess he likes to do it," said Bunker. "Whoop-la!" yelled Ben as he came somersaulting down, for that is what he was doing; turning one somersault after another, over and over in the air as he fell. And then, in a few seconds, he landed safely on his feet in a soft pile of hay, so he wasn't hurt a bit. "Oh!" exclaimed Sue. "Oh my!" cried Bunny Brown. "Say, that was fine!" shouted Bunker Blue. "How did you do it?" "Oh, I--I just did it," answered Ben, slowly, for he was a little out of breath. "I slipped, and when I found I was going to fall, I began to turn somersaults to make it easier coming down." "I should think it would be harder," said Bunny Brown. "Not when you know how," answered Ben, smiling. "Where'd you learn how?" Bunker wanted to know. "Oh, a man--a man showed me how," returned Ben. "But never mind about that now. I must fasten the rope to the beam, and then we'll fix the trapeze so Bunny can do some circus acts on it." "But not high up!" cried Sue. "You won't go on a high trapeze, will you, Bunny?" "Not very high," he answered. "But I would like to turn somersaults in the air like you, Ben. Will you show me how?" "Some day, when you get bigger. You're too small now." "I wouldn't want to turn somersaults," said Sue, shaking her head. "They aren't for girls, anyhow," flung forth Bunny. Bunker Blue looked at Ben sharply. "I think I can guess where you learned to turn those somersaults in the air," said the boat-boy. "It was in a--" "Hush! Don't tell any one!" whispered Ben quickly. "I'll tell you all about it after a while. Now help me put up the trapeze." Bunny heard what Ben and Bunker said, but he did not think much about it then. The little boy was looking up to see from what a height Ben had fallen, and Bunny was wondering what he would ever do if he tumbled down so far. Bunker and Ben climbed the ladder to the beam far above the hay pile, and soon they had fastened up the ropes of the trapeze. They pulled hard on them to make sure they were strong enough, so Bunny would not have a fall. Then the piece of broom handle was tied on the two lower ends of the ropes, and the trapeze was finished. "Now you can try it, Bunny," said Bunker, after he had swung on the trapeze for a few times to make sure it was safe. Bunny walked across the barn floor where some hay had been spread to make a sort of cushion. "We'll use hay, instead of a net as they do in a circus," Bunny said. "Anyhow we haven't got any net," put in Sue. "We can make believe the hay is a new kind," said her brother. Bunny hung by his hands from the wooden bar of the trapeze, just as he had seen the men do in the circus. Then he began to swing slowly back and forth. "Oh, Bunny!" cried Sue. "That's fine. Now turn yourself inside out, like the circus man did." "No, Bunny can't do that yet," said Ben. "He must first do easy things on the trapeze. Turning yourself inside out is too hard. Bunny is not strong enough for those tricks." To and fro swung Bunny, but soon his arms began to get tired. "I--I want to get down!" he called. "Stop the swing--I mean the trapeze," for the trapeze was very much like a swing, as I have told you, only, instead of a board, it had only a stick to which the little boy was holding by his hands. "I want to get down," Bunny called. "Stop me, Bunker." "Let go and jump," advised Ben. "Oh, I--I'm afraid," said Bunny. "You won't get hurt!" exclaimed the older boy. "You must learn to jump from the trapeze into the soft hay. That's what they do in a circus. Jump while you're swinging. You won't get hurt." "Are you sure, Ben?" "Sure. Give a jump now, and see what happens." Bunny wanted to do some of the things he had seen the circus men do, and one of them was jumping from the trapeze. The little boy looked down at the pile of hay below him. It seemed nice and soft, but it also looked to be a good distance off. "Come on, Bunny, jump!" called Bunker. "All right. Here I come!" Bunny let go of the trapeze bar. He shot through the air, and, for a second or two, he was afraid he was going to be hurt. But, the next thing he knew, he had landed feet first on a soft pile of hay and he wasn't hurt a bit! "Good!" cried Bunker Blue. "You did that well!" said Ben Hall. "Just like in a circus," added Sue. "Did I do it good?" asked Bunny Brown. "You surely did. For the first time it was very good for such a small boy," answered Ben. "Now try again." "Oh, I like it!" Bunny cried. "I'm going to do it lots and lots of times, and then I'm going to turn somersaults." "Well, not right away," advised Ben. "Try the easy part for a while yet." Bunny swung on the trapeze some more, and dropped into the soft hay. He was not at all afraid now, and each time he did it he liked it more and more. Sue, also, wanted to try it, and so she hung by her little hands. But Bunker Blue put his strong arms under her so, in case she slipped, she would be caught. Sue did not swing on the trapeze, nor jump, as Bunny had done. Bunker and Ben put up more trapezes in the barn--big ones for themselves. Ben could swing and turn somersaults and drop off into the hay from away up near the roof of the barn. Bunker could not do quite as well as this, but, for all that, he was pretty good. "Will you two act in our circus?" asked Bunny of Bunker and Ben. "Why, yes, I guess I will, if your grandfather lets me stay here on this nice farm," Ben answered. "Oh, he'll let you stay," Bunny said. "I'll tell him we want you in our circus." "All right," laughed Ben. "Bunker and I will practise some trapeze acts for your show." For a little while longer Bunny and Sue played about in the barn. Bunny found an old strawberry crate, with a cover on. "This will make a wild animal cage," he said. "The slats are just like the bars of a cage, and the animal can look through." "What wild animal will you put in there?" asked Bunker. "Oh, I guess I'll put in Splash. He is going to be half a blue striped tiger." "No! No!" cried Sue. "That crate isn't big enough for Splash. You'll squash him all up. I'm not going to have my half of Splash all squashed up, Bunny Brown!" "Well, then I'll get a bigger cage for Splash. We can get a little dog, and put him in here." Two or three days after this Bunny and Sue again went out to the barn to look at the circus trapezes, and play. Bunker Blue and Ben were not with them this time, as the two older boys were weeding the garden for Grandpa Brown. Bunny swung on his little, low trapeze, and then, after he had jumped off into the hay as Ben had taught him, the little fellow began climbing the ladder to the beam on which was fastened the big and high trapeze. "Oh, Bunny! Where you going?" asked Sue. "Up here. I want to see how high it looks." "Oh, Bunny Brown! You come right down, or I'll go and tell mamma! She said you weren't to climb up high." "I--I'm not going very high, Sue." Bunny was half way up the ladder. And, just as he spoke to Sue, his foot slipped, and down he fell, in between two rounds of the ladder. "Oh! oh!" cried Sue. "Oh, Bunny! You're going to fall!" But Bunny did not fall all the way. As he slipped, his hands caught hold of a round of the ladder, and there he clung, just as if he had hold of the bar of his swinging trapeze. _ |
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