The little guinea pig children had so much fun bathing in the pond, where Percival, the circus dog, made the salty waves for them, as I told you about in the previous story, that they went in swimming as many times as their mamma would let them.

Percival was only too glad to make the waves, and hold the bag of salt in the pond, to make it salty, just like the ocean. Sometimes the old dog would jounce a box up and down, to make the waves, and again, when he wanted larger ones, he would use a barrel. Then the waves of the pond would be over the heads of Buddy and Brighteyes, and they had to cling to the ropes with all their might.

One day Buddy was sitting in the sand, on the banks of the pond, when, all at once, he had an idea.

"I know what I'm going to do!" he exclaimed. "I'm gong to build a sand house. I wish Brighteyes was here to help me," but his sister had gone in the pen to help her mamma get dinner ready, for Mrs. Pigg expected company that day; Mr. and Mrs. Bushytail were coming. So Buddy had to start to build the house all alone. He piled a lot of sand in a heap, together with stones, and sticks and bits of duck-weed, and then he started in.

First he scooped out a hollow place, and that was for the cellar. Then he stuck sticks up around the edges of the hole, and began to pile up the sand, to make the walls of the house. Just as he was doing this, what should he hear but footsteps running along the sand. He looked, up and gave a shout of delight.

"Hello, Billie and Johnnie Bushytail!" he cried, as he saw the two little squirrel boys. "You're just in time! Come on and help me build this sand house!"

"Sure!" agreed Billie and Johnnie, as they frisked their tails, just as the cook sometimes frisks the dusting brush when she wants to knock the crumbs from the table to the floor. "Can you stay long?" asked Buddy.

"As long as papa and mamma do," answered Johnnie. "They are in your house now, and so is Sister Sallie. We're going to stay to dinner, but first we'll help you build the sand house."

So they all three got busy. They piled and scooped the sand up around the upright sticks, and, pretty soon, believe me, if it really didn't begin to look like a real house. It was about as big as a big box, and nearly as high; and the cellar was quite large.

"What will we do with the house when we've finished it?" asked Billie Bushytail.

"We'll go in it and play we're robbers," suggested Johnnie, as he patted the sand with his paws, to make it smooth.

"No, we'll be pirates," decided Buddy. "Pirates always stay near salt water, and this is salt water, because Percival emptied a whole bag of salt in it."

"All right," agreed the squirrel boys, so they went on building the house. They put little pebbles all around it for a fence, and laid a gravel walk up from the pond to the front door, and stuck up little sticks for trees in the front yard, and made a garden, because Buddy said, even if they were pirates, they would have to have something to eat, and they planted duck-weed in the garden and made believe it was radishes and lettuce and cabbage and ever so many things; even apples and pears and peaches.

Well, pretty soon the sand house was finished; that is, all but the top.

"What will we have for a roof?" asked Billie.

"I'll show you," said Buddy, so he laid sticks across the top of the sand walls, and on top of the sticks he placed duck-weed. Then, on top of the weed he and the squirrel boys put sand, until it was really the nicest house of its kind you could find if you walked a mile, or, maybe even two miles.

"That certainly is one fine, dandy house!" exclaimed Johnnie, as he stepped back to admire it.

"Yes, and now let's get inside and pretend we're robbers," proposed Billie. "I'll be the head robber and you two can work for me."

"No, we're going to be pirates, and I'm the chief one," insisted Buddy. "We must begin to pirate right away and do all sorts of things."

"First, let's see if we can get in the house," said Johnnie. "Go in very carefully."

So they went in, very slowly and carefully through the front door, so as not to knock the sand down, and honestly the sand house was just big enough for those three, and not a bit bigger. They even had to hold their breaths, and not all breathe at once, or they never would have fitted in it.

"Now," said Buddy, "we'll pretend we're pirates, and we'll bury all the gold and diamonds we have."

So they played that game, and buried gold (make-believe you know) in the cellar, and they were having a lovely time, when all at once, without a word of warning, the roof of the sand house fell right in on top of them! I suppose it was because Pirate Chief Buddy gave such a loud shout.

Anyway, the roof caved in, and part of the walls, and there those three pirates were, buried under the sand. They tried to yell, and call for help, but their mouths were full of the dirt, and they couldn't speak. Then they tried to scramble out, and they couldn't do that, and I really don't know what would have happened to them, if at that moment Brighteyes Pigg and Sister Sallie hadn't come out of the pen where their mammas and papas were talking, to see what the boys were doing.

The two girls saw the sand house, all caved in, and they guessed that Buddy and Billie and Johnnie were under it.

"We must dig them out!" cried Sister Sallie.

So she and Brighteyes got some pieces of shingle, and my goodness me, sakes alive! how they did make that sand fly! Percival, the old circus dog, helped them, and pretty soon Buddy and his friends were safely rescued. They were pretty well scared, I can tell you, but they were soon all right again, and then it was time to go to dinner, and after dinner they all went in bathing and had lots of fun.

Now, I'm going to tell you next about Buddy helping Sammie Littletail, that is if the man comes to cut our grass and lets our puppy dog hide under the door-mat to scare the parrot next door.