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diff --git a/17679.txt b/17679.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b271dc6 --- /dev/null +++ b/17679.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2895 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Story of a Nodding Donkey, by Laura Lee Hope + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Story of a Nodding Donkey + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Illustrator: Harry L. Smith + +Release Date: February 5, 2006 [EBook #17679] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF A NODDING DONKEY *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Emmy and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + + _MAKE BELIEVE STORIES_ + (Trademark Registered) + + + THE STORY OF A + NODDING + DONKEY + + + BY + LAURA LEE HOPE + + AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF A SAWDUST DOLL," "THE STORY OF A CALICO CLOWN," + "THE STORY OF A CHINA CAT," "THE STORY OF A PLUSH BEAR," ETC. + + + ILLUSTRATED BY + HARRY L. SMITH + + NEW YORK + GROSSET & DUNLAP + PUBLISHERS + + Made in the United States of America + + + + +BOOKS + +BY LAURA LEE HOPE + +Durably Bound. Illustrated. + + +MAKE BELIEVE STORIES + + THE STORY OF A SAWDUST DOLL + THE STORY OF A WHITE ROCKING HORSE + THE STORY OF A LAMB ON WHEELS + THE STORY OF A BOLD TIN SOLDIER + THE STORY OF A CANDY RABBIT + THE STORY OF A MONKEY ON A STICK + THE STORY OF A CALICO CLOWN + THE STORY OF A NODDING DONKEY + THE STORY OF A CHINA CAT + THE STORY OF A PLUSH BEAR + + +THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES + + THE BOBBSEY TWINS + THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE + THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOK + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME + THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITY + THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLAND + THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA + THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN WASHINGTON + THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WEST + THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CEDAR CAMP + + +THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES + + +THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES + + +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES + + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, New York + +Copyright, 1921, by +GROSSET & DUNLAP + + +The Story of a Nodding Donkey + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I THE SANTA CLAUS SHOP 1 + + II A WONDERFUL VOYAGE 13 + + III THE JOLLY STORE 24 + + IV THE CHINA CAT 36 + + V THE LAME BOY 48 + + VI A NEW HOME 60 + + VII THE FLOOD 72 + +VIII A BROKEN LEG 86 + + IX A LONESOME DONKEY 94 + + X JOE CAN RUN 109 + +[Illustration: The Nodding Donkey's First Appearance. + _Frontispiece_--(_Page 2_)] + + + + +THE STORY OF A + +NODDING DONKEY + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE SANTA CLAUS SHOP + + +The Nodding Donkey dated his birth from the day he received the +beautiful coat of varnish in the workshop of Santa Claus at the North +Pole. Before that he was just some pieces of wood, glued together. His +head was not glued on, however, but was fastened in such a manner that +with the least motion the Donkey could nod it up and down, and also +sidewise. + +It is not every wooden donkey who is able to nod his head in as many +ways as could the Donkey about whom I am going to tell you. This +Nodding Donkey was an especially fine toy, and, as has been said, his +first birthday was that on which he received such a bright, shiny coat +of varnish. + +"Here, Santa Claus, look at this, if you please!" called one of the +jolly workmen in the shop of St. Nicholas. "Is this toy finished, now?" +and he held up the Nodding Donkey. + +Santa Claus, who was watching another man put some blue eyes in a +golden-haired doll, came over to the bench where sat the man who had +made the Nodding Donkey out of some bits of wood, glue, and real hair +for his mane and tail. + +"Hum! Yes! So you have finished the Nodding Donkey, have you?" asked +Santa Claus, as he stroked his long, white beard. + +"I'll call him finished if _you_ say he is all right," answered the man, +smiling as he put the least tiny dab more of varnish on the Donkey's +back. "Shall I set him on the shelf to dry, so you may soon take him +down to Earth for some lucky boy or girl?" + +"Yes, he is finished. Set him on the shelf with the other toys," +answered dear old St. Nicholas, and then, having given a last look at +the Donkey, the workman placed him on a shelf, next to a wonderful Plush +Bear, of whom I shall tell you more in another book. + +"Well, I'm glad he's finished," said Santa Claus' worker, as he took up +his tools to start making a Striped Tiger, with a red tongue. "That +Nodding Donkey took me quite a while to finish. I hope nothing happens +to him until his coat of varnish is hard and dry. My, but he certainly +shines!" + +And the Nodding Donkey did shine most wonderfully! Not far away, on the +same shelf on which he stood, was a doll's bureau with a looking glass +on top. In this looking glass the Nodding Donkey caught sight of +himself. + +"Not so bad!" he thought. "In fact, I'm quite stylish. I'm almost as gay +as some of the clowns." And his head bobbed slowly up and down, for it +was fastened so that the least jar or jiggle would move it. + +"I must be very careful," said the Nodding Donkey to himself. "I must +not move about too much nor let any of the other toys rub against me +until I am quite dry. If they did they would blur or scratch my shiny +varnish coat, and that would be too bad. But after I am dry I'll have +some fun. Just wait until to-night! Then there will be some great times +in this workshop of Santa Claus!" + +The reason the Nodding Donkey said this, was because at night, when +Santa Claus and his merry helpers had gone, the toys were allowed to do +as they pleased. They could make believe come to life, and move about, +having all sorts of adventures. + +But, presto! the moment daylight came, or any one looked at them, the +toys became as straight and stiff and motionless as any toys that are in +your playroom. For all you know some of your toys may move about and +pretend to come to life when you are asleep. But it is of no use for you +to stay awake, watching to see if they will, for as long as any eyes are +peeping, or ears are listening, the toys will never do anything of +themselves. + +The Nodding Donkey knew that when Santa Claus and the workers were gone +he and the other toys could do as they pleased, and he could hardly wait +for that time to come. + +"But while I am waiting I will stay here on the shelf and get hard and +dry," said the Nodding Donkey to himself. + +Once more he looked in the glass on the doll's bureau, and he was well +pleased with himself, was the Nodding Donkey. + +Such a busy place was the workshop of Santa Claus at the North Pole, +where the Nodding Donkey was drying in his coat of varnish! + +The place was like a great big greenhouse, all made of glass, only the +glass was sheets of crystal-clear ice. Santa Claus needed plenty of +light in his workshop, for in the dark it is not easy to put red cheeks +and blue eyes on dolls, or paint toy soldiers and wind up the springs of +the toys that move. + +The workshop of Santa Claus, then, was like a big greenhouse, only no +flowers grew in it because it is very cold at the North Pole. All about +was snow and ice, but Santa Claus did not mind the cold, nor did his +workmen, for they were dressed in fur, like the polar bears and the +seals. + +On each side of the big shop, with its icy glass roof, were work +benches. At these benches sat the funny little men who made the toys. + +Some were stuffing sawdust into dolls, others were putting the lids on +the boxes where the Jacks lived, and still others were trying the +Jumping Jacks to see that they jerked their legs and arms properly. + +Up and down, between the rows of benches, walked Santa Claus himself. +Now and then some workman would call: + +"Please look here, Santa Claus! Shall I make this Tin Soldier with a +sword or a gun?" + +And St. Nicholas would answer: + +"That Soldier needs a sword. He is going to be a Captain." + +Then another little man would call, from the other side of the shop: + +"Here is a Calico Clown who doesn't squeak when I press on his stomach. +Something must be wrong with him, Santa Claus." + +Then Santa Claus would put on his glasses, stroke his long, white beard +and look at the Calico Clown. + +"Humph! I should say he wouldn't squeak!" the old gentleman would +remark. "You have his squeaker in upside down! That would never do for +some little boy or girl to find on Christmas morning! Take the squeaker +out and put it in right." + +"How careless of me!" the little workman would exclaim. And then Santa +Claus and the other workmen would laugh, for this workshop was the +jolliest place in the world, and the man would fix the Calico Clown +right. + +"I'm glad I was born in this place," said the Nodding Donkey to himself, +as his head swayed to and fro. "This is really the first day of my life. +I wish night would come, so I could move about and talk to the other +toys. I wonder how long I shall have to wait?" + +Not far from the doll's bureau, which held the looking glass, was a toy +house, and in it was a toy clock. The Donkey looked in through the +window of the toy house and saw the toy clock. The hands pointed to four +o'clock. + +"The men stop work at five," thought the Donkey. "After that it will be +dark and I can move about--that is if my varnish is dry." + +Santa Claus was walking up and down between the rows of work benches. +The dear old gentleman was pulling his beard and smiling. + +"Come, my merry men!" he called in his jolly voice, "you must work a +little faster. It is nearly five, when it will be time to stop for the +day, and it is so near Christmas that I fear we shall never get enough +toys made. So hurry all you can!" + +"We will, Santa Claus," the men answered. And the one who had made the +Nodding Donkey asked: + +"When are you going to take a load of toys down to Earth?" + +"The first thing in the morning," was the answer. "Many of the stores +have written me, asking me to hurry some toys to them. I shall hitch up +my reindeer to the sleigh and take a big bag of toys down to Earth +to-morrow. So get ready for me as many as you can. + +"Yes," went on Santa Claus, and he looked right at the Nodding Donkey, +"I must take a big bag of toys to Earth to-morrow, as soon as it is +daylight. So hurry, my merry men!" + +And the workmen hurried as fast as they could. + +Ting! suddenly struck the big clock in the workshop. And ting! went the +little toy clock in the toy house. + +"Time to stop for supper!" called Santa Claus, and all the little men +laid aside the toys on which they were working. Then such a bustle and +hustle there was to get out of the shop; for the day had come to an end. + +Night settled down over North Pole Land. It was dark, but in the house +where Santa Claus lived with his men some Japanese lanterns, hung from +icicles, gave them light to see to eat their supper. + +In the toy shop it was just dimly light, for one lantern had been left +burning there, in case Santa Claus might want to go in after hours to +see if everything was all right. + +And by the light of this one lamp the Nodding Donkey saw a curious +sight. Over on his left the Plush Bear raised one paw and scratched his +nose. On the Donkey's right the China Cat opened her china mouth and +softly said: + +"Mew!" + +And then, on the next shelf, a Rolling Elephant, who could wheel about, +spoke through his trunk, and said: + +"The time has come for us to have some fun, my friends!" + +"Right you are!" mewed the China Cat. + +"And we have a new toy with us," said the Plush Bear. "Would you like to +play with us?" he asked the Nodding Donkey. + +The Nodding Donkey moved his head up and down to say "yes," for he was +afraid of speaking aloud, lest he might wrinkle his new varnish. + +"All right, now for some jolly times!" said the Rolling Elephant, and he +began to climb down from the shelf, using his trunk as well as his legs. + +"Ouch! Look out there! You're stretching my neck!" suddenly cried a +Spotted Wooden Giraffe, and the Nodding Donkey, looking up, saw that the +Elephant had wound his trunk around the long neck of the Giraffe. + +"Oh, I'm going to fall! Catch me, somebody!" cried the Spotted Giraffe. +"Oh, if I fall off the shelf I'll be broken to bits! Will no one save +me?" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A WONDERFUL VOYAGE + + +"Goodness me! this is a lot of excitement for one who has just come to +life and had his first coat of varnish!" thought the Nodding Donkey as +he saw what seemed to be a sad accident about to happen. "I wonder if I +could do anything to help save the Spotted Giraffe? I must try to do all +I can. It will be the first time I have ever moved all by myself." + +"Stand aside, if you please! I'll save the Spotted Giraffe!" suddenly +called a voice, and from a shelf just underneath the one from which the +Rolling Elephant had pulled the long-necked creature there stepped a +Jolly Fisherman. This toy fisherman had a large net for catching crabs +or lobsters, and he held it out for the Spotted Giraffe to fall into. + +Down the Giraffe fell, but he landed in the net of the Jolly Fisherman, +just as a circus performer falls into a net from a high trapeze, and he +was not harmed. + +"Dear! I'm glad you caught me," said the Giraffe, after he had managed +to climb out of the net to the top of a work table which ran under all +the shelves. + +"Yes, I got there just in time," replied the Jolly Fisherman, as he +slung his net over his shoulder again. + +"And I'm very sorry I pulled you from the shelf," said the Rolling +Elephant. "I didn't mean to do it, Mr. Giraffe." + +"Well, as long as no harm is done, we'll forget all about it and have +some fun," put in the Plush Bear. "This doesn't happen every night," the +Bear went on, speaking to the Nodding Donkey. "You must not get the idea +that it is dangerous here." + +"Oh, no, I think it's a very nice place," the Nodding Donkey answered. +"It's my first day here, you see." + +"Oh, yes, it's easy to see that," said the China Cat. "You are so new +and shiny any one would know you were just made. Well, now what shall we +do? Who has a game to suggest or a riddle to ask?" and, as she spoke, +she put out her paw and began to roll a red rubber ball on the shelf +near her. For, though she was very stiff in the daytime, being made of +china like a dinner plate, the Cat could easily move about at night if +no human eyes watched her. + +"Let's play a guessing game," suggested the Rolling Elephant, who, by +this time had managed to get down to the table without upsetting any +more of the toys. "If we play tag or hide and go seek, I'm so big and +clumsy I may knock over something and break it." + +"That's so--you might," growled the Plush Bear, but, though he spoke in +a growling voice he was not at all cross. It was just his way of +talking. "Well, what sort of a guessing game do you want to play, Mr. +Elephant?" + +"I'll think of something, and you must all see if you can guess what it +is." + +"That's too hard a game," objected the China Cat. "There are so many +things you might think of." + +"Well, I'll give you a little help," returned the Rolling Elephant. "I'm +thinking of something that goes up and down and also sideways." + +For a moment none of the toys spoke. Then, all of a sudden, the Plush +Bear cried: + +"You're thinking of the Nodding Donkey! His head goes up and down and +also sideways." + +"That's right!" admitted the Rolling Elephant. "I didn't imagine you'd +guess so soon. Now it's your turn to think of something." + +"Let's have the Nodding Donkey give the next question," suggested the +China Cat. "It's his birthday, you know, and we ought to help him +remember it." + +"Go ahead! Give us something to guess, Nodding Donkey!" growled the +Plush Bear. + +"Let me think," said the new toy, slowly. "Ah, I have it! What am I +thinking of that is like a snowball and has two eyes?" + +"A snowman!" guessed a wax doll. + +"No," said the Nodding Donkey, laughing. + +"A Polar Bear," suggested the Rolling Elephant. + +"No," said the Donkey again. + +Then the toys thought very hard. + +"Is it a rubber doll?" asked a Jack in the Box. "No, it couldn't be +that," he went on, "for a rubber doll isn't as white as a snowball. I +give up!" + +"But I don't!" suddenly cried a Tin Soldier. "You were thinking of our +White China Cat, weren't you?" he asked. + +"Yes," answered the Nodding Donkey, "I was. You have guessed it!" + +"Now it's the Tin Soldier's turn to give us something to guess," said +the Elephant. "Oh, we're having lots of fun!" + +And so the toys were. All through the night they played about in the +North Pole workshop of Santa Claus. When it was nearly morning the +Nodding Donkey spoke to the Plush Bear, asking: + +"Where is this Earth place, that Santa Claus said he was going to take +some of us?" + +"Oh, my! don't ask me," said the Plush Bear. "I've never been down to +Earth, though I know packs and packs of toys have been taken there. But +it must be a real jolly sort of place, for every time Santa Claus goes +there he comes back laughing and seems very happy. Then he loads up some +more toys to take there." + +"I think I should like to go," murmured the Nodding Donkey. "How does +one go--in one of the toy trains of cars I see on the shelves?" + +"Oh, my, no!" laughed the Plush Bear. "Santa Claus takes the toys to +Earth in his sleigh, drawn by reindeer." + +"Oh, how wonderful!" brayed the Donkey. "I wonder if I shall soon take +that wonderful voyage. I hope I may!" + +"Hush!" suddenly called the Rolling Elephant. "Santa Claus and the +workmen are coming in and they must not see us at our make-believe play. +Quick! To your shelves, all of you!" + +Such a scramble as there was on the part of the toys! Some helped the +others to climb up, and just as the last of them, including the Nodding +Donkey, were safely in place, the door of the shop opened and in came +Santa Claus and his men. + +Then such a bustling about as there was! And from outside the shop could +be heard the jingle of bells. + +"Those must be the reindeer," thought the Nodding Donkey. "Oh, what a +jolly time I shall have if I ride in the sleigh with Santa Claus!" + +Never was there such a busy time in the shop of Santa Claus! Jolly St. +Nicholas himself hurried here and there, helping his men pick up +different toys which were put in a big bag. One of the men stopped in +front of the Nodding Donkey. + +"Shall I put this chap in, Santa Claus?" the man inquired. + +"Is the varnish dry?" asked St. Nicholas. + +"Yes," answered the little man, testing it lightly with his finger. + +"Then put him in," said Santa Claus. "I'll take the Nodding Donkey to +Earth with me." + +"Oh, joy! Now I shall have some adventures! Now I shall see what the +Earth is like!" thought the Nodding Donkey. + +A moment later he was picked up, wrapped in soft paper, and thrust into +a bag. + +"Oh, how very dark it is here," said the Donkey in a whisper. + +"Hush!" whispered a Jumping Jack near him. "Don't talk! Santa Claus +might hear you. He has very sharp ears. You'll be all right. It is no +darker than night." + +More toys, all carefully wrapped, came tumbling into the bag, and the +merry jingle of bells grew louder. Then the voice of Santa Claus could +be heard shouting: + +"Hi there, Dasher! Stand still, Prancer! Whoa, Blitzen! What's the +matter, Comet? Are you anxious to get to Earth again? Well, we'll soon +start. Steady there, Cupid! Whoa!" + +"He's talking to his reindeer," whispered the Jumping Jack. + +Suddenly the toys in the big sack felt themselves being picked up. Santa +Claus had slung them over his back to carry out to the sleigh. A moment +later the Nodding Donkey felt a breath of cold air strike him, but he +did not mind, as he had on a warm coat of varnish. + +Up and down, and from side to side the toys in the bag felt themselves +being jostled, until they were set down in the big sleigh. + +"All aboard!" called Santa Claus, as he took his seat and gathered up +the reins. "Come, Dasher! On, Prancer! Hi, Donner and Blitzen! Down to +Earth you go with the Christmas toys!" + +There was another jolly jingle of bells, and the toys felt themselves +being whisked away over the snow. There was a little hole in the bag +near the Nodding Donkey, and also a hole in the paper in which he was +wrapped. He could look out, and on every side he saw big piles of snow. +Snow was also falling from the clouds. + +On and on rushed the sleigh of Santa Claus, drawn by the eight reindeer. +Over the clouds and drifts of snow, and through the white flakes they +rushed, the sleigh-bells playing a merry tune. + +"Oh, this is a wonderful voyage!" thought the Nodding Donkey. "I wonder +when I shall reach the Earth?" + +Suddenly there was a hard shock. The sleigh stopped as Santa Claus +shouted, and then, all at once, the Nodding Donkey felt himself shooting +out of the hole in the bag. Into a deep snowdrift he fell, and there he +stuck, head down and feet up in the air! + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE JOLLY STORE + + +"Dear me," thought the Nodding Donkey to himself, as he felt the cold, +chilly snow all about him, "this is most dreadful! I hope Santa Claus +has not become angry with me and sent me back to the North Pole. I did +so much want to go down to Earth and be in a big store for Christmas. I +hope I'm not back at the North Pole." + +The Nodding Donkey said this aloud, and, as he spoke, he wobbled his +head from side to side and tried to turn over so he could stand on his +feet. + +"Here! Don't do that!" suddenly whispered a voice in one of the Donkey's +large ears. "Don't you know it isn't allowed for you to move when any +one is looking at you?" + +"I didn't know any one was looking at me," the Nodding Donkey answered. +"I thought Santa Claus had tossed me back to the North Pole." + +"Hush! No! Nothing like that has happened," the voice went on, and, by +turning his loose head to one side, the Nodding Donkey saw that a large +Jumping Jack was whispering to him. + +"There has been an accident," went on the Jumping Jack. "The sleigh of +Santa Claus banged into a hard, frozen snow cloud, and we were thrown +out into a snowdrift. I am not hurt, and I hope you are not. But we must +not talk or move much more, for I see Santa Claus coming this way, and +even he is not allowed to see us pretend to be alive, so that we move +and talk. He is coming to pick us up, I guess." + +And then both toys had to keep quiet, for Santa Claus came stalking +along in his big leather boots. St. Nicholas was wiping some snowflakes +out of his eyes, his breath made clouds of steam in the frosty air and +his cheeks were as red as the reddest apple you ever saw. + +"Oh, ho! Here are some of my toys!" cried the jolly old gentleman as he +saw the Nodding Donkey and the Jumping Jack. "I was afraid I had lost +you. We nearly had a bad accident," he went on, speaking to himself, but +loudly enough for the Nodding Donkey to hear. "My reindeer got off the +road and ran into a snow cloud and the sleigh was upset." + +"It's just as the Jumping Jack told me," thought the Nodding Donkey. + +"Steady there, Comet! Keep quiet, Prancer!" called St. Nicholas to his +animals, who, stamping their legs, made the bells jingle. "We shall soon +be on our way again. Nothing is broken." + +Santa Claus picked up the Donkey and the Jumping Jack and carried them +back to the sleigh. There the two toys could see their friends, some +lying on the seat of the sleigh and others resting in the big bag, +through the hole of which the Nodding Donkey had slipped out, falling +into the snow. + +"Ha! I must fix that hole in the bag," cried Santa Claus, as he noticed +it. + +St. Nicholas tied some string around the hole in the sack, and then, +having again wrapped the tissue paper around the Donkey, the Jumping +Jack, and the other toys that had fallen out, the red-cheeked old +gentleman put them in the bag and fastened it shut. + +"Now we're off again!" cried Santa Claus, as he took his seat in the +sleigh. "Trot along, Comet! Fly away, Prancer! Lively there, Donner and +Blitzen! We must get down to Earth with these toys, and then back again +to North Pole Land for another load! Trot along, my speedy reindeer!" + +The reindeer shook their heads, which made the bells jingle more merrily +than before, they stamped their feet on the hard, frozen road that led +from the North Pole to Earth, and then away they darted. Santa Claus +drove them carefully, steering away from snow clouds, and soon the +motion was so swift and smooth that the Nodding Donkey went to sleep, +and so did most of the other toys in the big sack. + +And what a funny dream the Nodding Donkey had! He imagined that he was +tumbling around a feather bed and that a Blue Dog was chasing him with a +yellow feather duster. + +"Don't tickle me with that feather duster!" he thought he cried. + +"I won't if you'll sing a song through your ears," said the Blue Dog. + +"I can't sing through my ears," wailed the Nodding Donkey, and then of a +sudden he seemed to roll over and the dog and the feather bed came down +on top of him. Then he seemed to give a sneeze and that blew the dog +away and sent the feathers of the bed out into one big snowstorm! + +It was dark when the Nodding Donkey awoke. He did not hear the jingle of +the bells, nor could he feel the sleigh being drawn along by the +reindeer. He could see nothing, either, for it was very black and dark. +But he heard some voices talking, and one he knew was that of Santa +Claus. + +"Now I have brought you a whole sleighful of toys," said St. Nicholas. + +"Yes, and I am glad to get them," another voice answered. "The stores +are almost empty and it is near Christmas time. I shall send a lot of +the toys to the stores the first thing in the morning." + +Santa Claus had arrived, in the night, at a large warehouse, where +boxes, bales and bags of toys were kept until they could be sent around +to the different stores. The Nodding Donkey, the Jumping Jack and the +others felt themselves being lifted out of the bag and placed on the +floor or on shelves. But they could see nothing, for Santa Claus always +comes to Earth in the darkness, so no one sees him. And it was the +Earth that the toys had now reached. + +"Dear me, this isn't much fun!" complained the Nodding Donkey, as he +stood on a shelf in the darkness. Faint and far off he could hear the +bells of Santa Claus' reindeer jingling as jolly St. Nicholas drove back +to North Pole Land. "I thought the Earth was such a wonderful place," +went on the Nodding Donkey. "But I don't like it here at all." + +"Hush!" begged the Jumping Jack. "It is night. You have seen nothing +yet. Wait until morning." + +And, after a while, streaks of light began to come in through the +windows of the warehouse where the toys had been left. The sun was +rising. From a window near him the Nodding Donkey caught a glimpse of +snow outside, but the land was very different from the North Pole where +he had been made. + +The Nodding Donkey was turning his head to speak to the Jumping Jack, +and he was going to take a look and see what other toys were near him, +when, all of a sudden, three or four men came into the room. They had +hammers, nails and boards in their hands. + +"Hurry now!" cried one of the men. "We must box up a lot of these toys +and send them to the different stores. It will be Christmas before we +know it." + +Suddenly one of the men caught hold of the Nodding Donkey, and also of a +large doll that had been on the same shelf. + +"I'll pack these in a box," said the man. "I just need them to fill one +corner. Then I'll ship them off." + +The Nodding Donkey wished his friend the Jumping Jack might go in the +same box with him, but it was not to be. The Donkey gave one last look +at his companion of the snowdrift, and a moment later he was being +wrapped in tissue paper again, and was packed down in a corner of a +large box. The doll was treated the same way. + +Then the board cover was put on the box, and nailed shut with a loud +hammering noise. + +"Dear me, in the dark again!" said the Nodding Donkey. "I don't seem to +be having a good time at all." + +"Never mind! It will not last long," said the Doll, who was made of +cloth, so it did not matter how much she was squeezed. "We will soon be +in the light again." + +The toys in the box could hear loud talking going on in the warehouse +where they had been left by Santa Claus. They could also hear men moving +about and the bang and rattle of boxes, like theirs, as the cases were +nailed up and taken away. + +Finally the Nodding Donkey, the doll, and other toys who were packed +together, felt their box being tilted up on one end. By this time the +Nodding Donkey was getting used to being stood on his head, or turned +over on his back, and he did not mind it. + +"Hurry up! Load this box on a truck and take it to the Mugg store!" +cried a voice. + +"The Mugg store! I wonder where that is!" thought the Nodding Donkey. + +And then he felt the box in which he lay being lifted up and carried +along. There were bumps, thumps, turnings and twistings, and then the +Nodding Donkey felt himself gliding along. + +But he soon noticed that this ride was not as smooth as had been the one +from North Pole Land to the Earth. Instead of riding in a sleigh drawn +by reindeer, the Nodding Donkey was riding on an automobile truck, and +as it went out in the street it bumped and rattled along. + +There was so much noise and confusion, and it was so warm and cosy in +the box where he was packed, that, before he knew it, the Nodding Donkey +had fallen asleep. And, as he slept, the Nodding Donkey dreamed. + +He dreamed that he was back in the workshop of Santa Claus at the North +Pole and on a shelf with other toys. Suddenly a Wooden Soldier began +beating on the Donkey's back with the end of a gun. + +"Rub-a-dub-dub!" drummed the Soldier, and the Donkey's head nodded so +hard that he feared it would be shaken off. + +"Stop! Stop!" cried the Donkey in his dream, and then he suddenly +awakened. He heard a hammering, but it was not on his back. It was +outside the case in which he was packed, and he soon noticed that some +one was knocking off the boards that formed the cover. + +With a wrench and a squeak one of the cover boards was raised, letting +in a flood of light. The Nodding Donkey blinked his eyes, coming out of +the darkness into the glare of the light. Then he felt himself being +lifted up and set on a shelf. At the same time he heard a pleasant voice +saying: + +"Here is the case of new toys, Daughters. And see, one of the very +newest is a Nodding Donkey! I'm sure he will please some little boy or +girl!" + +The Nodding Donkey looked around him. He was on a shelf in the jolliest +toy store he had ever imagined. It was almost as nice as the workshop of +Santa Claus. Standing in front of the shelf was a white-haired old man +and two ladies, one on either side of him. The three were looking at the +Nodding Donkey, who bowed his head at them as if saying: + +"How do you do? I am very glad to meet you!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE CHINA CAT + + +The Nodding Donkey stood straight and stiff on his four legs, with his +shiny, new coat of varnish--the one he had received in the workshop of +Santa Claus at the North Pole. The Donkey wished he might move about and +talk with some of the other toys he saw all around him, but he dared +not, as the old gentleman and the two ladies were standing in front of +him and looking straight at the toy. All the Donkey dared do was to nod +his head, for, being made on purpose to do that, it was perfectly proper +for him to do so, just as the Jumping Jack jumped, or some of the funny +Clowns banged together their brass cymbals. + +"Isn't he the dearest Donkey you ever saw, Angelina?" said one of the +ladies to the other. + +"He certainly is, Geraldine," was the answer. "But something seems to be +the matter with his head. It is loose!" + +"Tut! Tut! Nonsense! It is made that way, just the same as the moving +head of the Fuzzy Bear," said the old gentleman, whose name was Horatio +Mugg. At first the Nodding Donkey had taken this old gentleman for a +relative of Santa Claus, for he had the same white hair and whiskers and +wore almost the same sort of glasses. But a second look showed the +Nodding Donkey that this was not any relation of St. Nicholas. Besides, +this toy store was not at all like the workshop of Santa Claus. + +The Nodding Donkey was at last on Earth in a toy store, and there, it +was hoped, some one would see him and buy him for some boy or girl for +Christmas. + +The toy store was kept by Mr. Horatio Mugg and his two daughters, one +being named Angelina and the other Geraldine. + +Mr. Horatio Mugg was the jolliest toy-store man you can imagine! Since +his own two daughters had grown up he seemed to think he must look after +all the other children in his neighborhood. He was always glad to see +the boys and girls in his store. He liked to have them look at the toys, +and sometimes he showed them how steam engines or flying machines +worked. + +Of course there were many dolls, big and little--Sawdust Dolls, Bisque +Dolls, Wooden Dolls, some very handsomely dressed, with silk or satin +dresses and white stockings and white kid shoes. And some had the cutest +hats, and some even had gloves, think of that! + +And then the animals--Lions and Tigers, and a Striped Zebra, and funny +Monkeys and Goats, Dogs, Spotted Cows and many kinds of Rocking Horses. +And even funny little Mice, that ran all around the floor when they +were wound up. + +And then the other toys--trains of cars, fire engines, building blocks, +and oh! so many, many things! It was truly a wonderful place, was that +store. It was a place where you could spend an hour or two and the time +would fly so fast you would scarcely know where it had gone to. + +Mr. Mugg knew all about toys, which kind were the best for boys, which +the girls liked the best, and he knew which to put in his window so the +children would stop and press their noses flat against the glass to look +and see the playthings. + +"Yes, the Nodding Donkey will be a fine toy for Christmas," said Mr. +Mugg, looking over the tops of his glasses at the new arrival. "This +last box of playthings I received are the best we ever had. Santa Claus +and his men certainly are preparing a fine Christmas this year." + +"I think I shall dust off the Donkey," said Geraldine. "He will be much +shinier then, and look better." + +"And I must dust the China Cat," said her sister Angelina. "She is so +white that the least speck shows on her. Real white cats are very fussy +about keeping themselves clean, so I do not see why a white China Cat +should not be treated the same way. You dust the Nodding Donkey, +Geraldine, and I'll dust the Cat." + +"That China Cat seems to act as if she wanted to speak to me," thought +the Donkey. "Perhaps, after the store is closed to-night, as the +workshop of Santa Claus is closed, I may speak to her." + +Up and down and to and fro the head of the Nodding Donkey moved as +Geraldine Mugg dusted him. Then she set him back on the shelf, as her +sister did the China Cat. + +"Come here, Daughters, and see this set of Soldiers," called Mr. Mugg, +who was unpacking more toys from the box. "They are the nicest we ever +had." + +"Oh, what fine red coats they wear!" said Angelina. + +"And how their guns shine!" exclaimed Geraldine. "Our store will look +lovely when we get all the toys placed in it." + +"I think the store looks very well as it is," thought the Nodding Donkey +to himself, as he stood straight and stiff on his shelf, his coat of +varnish glistening in the light. "I never saw such a wonderful place." + +And, indeed, the toy store of Mr. Horatio Mugg was a place of delight +for all boys and girls. I could not begin to tell you all the things +that were in it. Mr. Mugg kept only toys. All the different sorts that +were ever made were there gathered together, ready for the Christmas +trade. + +And as the Nodding Donkey, standing beside the white China Cat, looked +on and listened, he saw boys and girls, with their fathers or mothers, +coming in to look at the toys. Some were ordered to be put away until +Christmas should come. Others were taken at once, to be mailed perhaps +to some far-off city. + +As the Nodding Donkey watched he saw a little boy with blue eyes and +golden hair come in and point to a Jack in the Box. + +"Please, Mother, will you tell Santa Claus to bring me that for +Christmas?" begged the little boy. + +"Yes, I will do that," his mother promised. "And now, Sister, what would +you like?" the lady asked. + +The Nodding Donkey looked down and saw a little girl, with dark hair and +brown eyes standing beside the little boy. This girl pointed to a large +doll, and, to his surprise, the Donkey saw that it was the same one he +had spoken to in the packing case. + +"You may put that Doll aside for my little girl for Christmas, Mr. +Mugg," said the lady. + +"Very well, Madam, it shall be done," replied the toy man, and he lifted +the Cloth Doll down off the shelf. + +"Oh, dear! she is going away, and I shall never see her again," thought +the Nodding Donkey. "That is the only sad part of life for us toys. We +make friends, but we never know how long we may keep them. We are so +often separated." + +Mr. Mugg put the doll down under the counter, where no other little girl +might see her and want her. Then the toy man reached up and gently +touched the head of the Donkey, so that it nodded harder than ever. + +"Here is a new toy that just came in," said Mr. Mugg. "It is one of the +latest. It is called a Nodding Donkey, and once you start his head going +it will move for hours." + +"Oh, it is nice!" said the lady. "Would you rather have that than your +Jack in the Box, Robert?" she asked the little boy. + +The boy stood first on one foot and then on the other. He looked first +at the Jack in the Box and then at the Donkey. + +"They are both nice," he said; "but I think I would rather have the +Jack. I'll have the Donkey next Christmas." + +The Jack in the Box was set aside with the Cloth Doll, and then the lady +and the little boy and girl passed on. But all that day there were many +other boys and girls who came into the store to look at the toys. Some +only came to look, while others, as before, bought the things they +wanted, or had them set aside for Christmas. + +After a while it began to grow dark in the store, just as it had grown +dark in the workshop of Santa Claus. + +"Now I will soon be able to move about and talk to the other toys," +thought the Nodding Donkey. But this was not to be--just yet. + +"Turn on the lights, Angelina," called Mr. Mugg to his daughter, and +soon the store was glowing brightly. + +"Hum! It seems they work at night here, as well as by day," thought the +Nodding Donkey. "It was not so at North Pole Land. But it is very +jolly, and I like it." + +During the evening, when the lights were glowing, many other customers +came in, but there were not so many boys and girls. The Nodding Donkey +had been taken down more than once and made to do his trick of shaking +his head, but, so far, no one had bought him. And though the China Cat +had also been looked at and admired, no one had bought her. + +At last Mr. Mugg stretched his arms, yawned as though he might be very +sleepy, and said: + +"Turn out the lights, Angelina! It is time to close the shop and go to +bed." + +Soon the toy shop was in darkness, all except one light that was kept +burning all night. The place became very still and quiet, the only noise +being made by a little mouse, who came out to get some crumbs dropped by +Mr. Mugg, who had eaten his lunch in the store. + +"Ahem!" suddenly said the Nodding Donkey. "Do you mind if I speak to +you?" he asked the China Cat, who stood near him on the shelf. + +"Not at all," was the kind answer. "I was just going to ask how you came +here." + +"I came direct from the workshop of Santa Claus at the North Pole," +answered the Nodding Donkey. "And I suppose, just as we toys could do +there, that we are allowed to move about and talk while here." + +"Oh, yes," answered the China Cat. "We can make believe we are alive as +long as no one sees us. But tell me, how is everything at the North +Pole? It is some time since I was there, as I was made early in the +season." + +"Well, Santa Claus is as happy and jolly as ever," said the Nodding +Donkey, "and his men are just as busy. We had a dreadful accident +though, coming down to Earth!" + +"You did?" mewed the China Cat. "Tell me about it," and she moved her +tail from one side to the other. + +Before the Nodding Donkey could speak in answer to this request, a voice +suddenly asked: + +"I say, Nodding Donkey, do you kick?" + +"Kick? Of course not," the Nodding Donkey answered. "Why do you ask such +a question? Who are you, anyhow?" and he looked all around. + +"Hush! Don't get him started," whispered the China Cat. "It's the +Policeman with his club, and if he begins to tickle you he'll never +stop. Oh, here he comes now! Here comes the Policeman!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE LAME BOY + + +When the China Cat said: "Here comes the Policeman!" the Nodding Donkey, +who did not know just what a policeman was, was quite curious to see who +was coming. So he walked to the edge of the shelf and bent his head as +far down as he could in order to see. + +"Be careful! You might fall!" mewed the China Cat. + +"Ha! If he falls, then I'll pick him up! That's what I'm here for, to +help in case of accident. I could ring for the ambulance!" suddenly came +in the same voice that had asked if the Nodding Donkey kicked. + +"On second thought perhaps it will be just as well to have an accident. +It will give us something to talk about," the voice went on. "Go ahead, +Nodding Donkey. Fall off the shelf. I'll pick you up and send you to the +toy hospital in the toy ambulance with the clanging bell." + +"Indeed I am not going to fall!" brayed the Donkey. "Who is he, anyhow?" +he whispered to the China Cat. + +"That's the Policeman I was telling you about," was the answer. "Here he +comes now!" + +And suddenly the Policeman's voice went on, saying: + +"Come now! Move along! Don't block up the sidewalk! Move on! Don't +loiter here!" + +The Nodding Donkey looked to one side and there he saw a toy Policeman, +dressed just as a real one would be, with blue coat, brass buttons, a +white helmet and a club that swung on the end of a leather string. The +Policeman walked along, for he could do that when a spring inside him +was wound up. And as he walked he swung his club to and fro, and said, +just like a real policeman: + +"Come now, move along! Don't block up the sidewalk." Then he added, in a +different tone: "There is no accident now, but if that Nodding Donkey +would only fall off the shelf we might have one." + +"Indeed, and I'm not going to fall off the shelf just for fun!" brayed +the Donkey. + +"Oh, aren't you? Then we must make fun in some other way," said the toy +Policeman. "How are you feeling?" and with that he jumped up on the +shelf beside the Donkey and tickled him in the ribs with the club. + +"Oh, don't do--ha! ha!--Don't--ha! ha!--do that!" laughed the Donkey. +"You make me feel so funny I may fall!" + +[Illustration: The Nodding Donkey is Tickled by the Toy Policeman. + _Page 50_] + +"Well, if you do, I'll pick you up," said the Policeman, and he twisted +his club around on the Donkey's ribs in such a funny way that the +nodding creature laughed "ha! ha!" and "ho! ho!" + +"I thought I'd stir things up and make them rather lively!" said the +Policeman, with a jolly grin on his red face. "How are you feeling?" he +asked, turning to the China Cat. + +"I feel quite good enough without having you tickle me," she answered, +as she got up to move away. + +"Oh, you'll feel ever so much better after I tickle you!" cried the +Policeman, and he reached out his club toward the Cat. But he was not +quick enough. She slipped behind a Jack in the Box, where the Policeman +could not see her. + +"Well, I guess I'll tickle you again," said the toy with the club, as he +turned back toward the Nodding Donkey. + +"Oh, no, don't, please!" begged the long-eared chap. "I've had quite +enough. When you tickle me I laugh, and when I laugh my head nods +harder than it ought to, and maybe it might nod off." + +"Oh, I wouldn't want that to happen!" exclaimed the Policeman. "That +would be too bad an accident. I guess I'll walk down the shelf and see +if there's a fire anywhere," he went on, and away he stalked, swinging +his club from side to side. + +"Oh, I hope there isn't a fire here," said the Nodding Donkey, as the +China Cat came out from behind the Jack's box. "I am not used to being +hot. I came from the cold North Pole." + +"No, there isn't any fire. If there were you would soon see the toy +Fireman and the Fire Engine starting out," replied the China Cat. +"I don't like fires myself, and I detest the water they squirt on them. +We cats don't like water, you know." + +"So I have heard," said the Nodding Donkey. + +"Dear me! there's a speck of dirt on my tail," suddenly mewed the China +Cat, and she leaned over, and with her red tongue washed her tail clean. + +Meanwhile the Policeman walked on down the counter, as though it were a +street, and he swung his club and said: + +"Move on now! Don't crowd the sidewalk! Everybody must keep moving!" + +"Isn't he funny?" asked the Nodding Donkey. + +"He is when he doesn't tickle you," said the China Cat, as she looked in +a Doll's mirror to see if she had any more specks of dirt on her white +coat. But she was nice and clean, was the China Cat. + +Then the toys in the store of Horatio Mugg began to have lots of fun. +They told stories, sang songs, made up riddles for one another to guess +and played tag and hide-and-go-seek. They were allowed to do all this +because it was night and no one was watching them. But as soon as +daylight came and Mr. Mugg or Miss Angelina or Miss Geraldine or any of +the customers came into the store, the toys must be very still and +quiet. + +"Is this the only store you were ever in?" asked the Donkey of the Cat, +as they sat near each other after a lively game of tag. + +"No, I was in one other," was the answer. "It was a store in which there +lived a Sawdust Doll, a Lamb on Wheels, a Monkey on a Stick and many +other playthings." + +"Why did you leave?" asked the Donkey. "Was it because there were no +other cats there for you to mew to?" + +"No, it was not that," was the answer. + +"Then why did you leave?" asked the Nodding Donkey. + +"Well, one Christmas I was bought by a gentleman who sent me to a lady," +was the answer. "She was a lady who was always changing things that came +to her from the store. She would buy a thing one day and change it, or +send it back, the next. + +"And when I came to her as a Christmas present, she happened to have a +little China Dog. I guess she thought the dog might bark at me. Anyhow, +she sent me back to the store, only she sent me here instead of to the +store where the Calico Clown and the other toys lived, and the mistake +was never found out. Mr. Mugg and his daughters took me in, and I have +been here ever since." + +"Do you ever see your friend, the Monkey on a Stick, or hear from the +Sawdust Doll?" asked the Donkey. + +"Once in a while," was the answer. "Sometimes, when the grown folk buy +toys for children they pick out the wrong ones, and the toys are brought +back or exchanged. These toys that come back tell us of the houses where +they have spent a few days. + +"Once a Jumping Jack who was brought back in this way told about being +in a house where the Sawdust Doll lived, and where there was also a +White Rocking Horse I used to know." + +"I should like to meet the White Rocking Horse," said the Nodding +Donkey. "He might be a distant relation of mine." + +"Perhaps," agreed the China Cat. "But now I think it is time we got back +on our shelves. I see daylight beginning to peep in the window, and it +would never do for Mr. Mugg or Miss Angelina or Miss Geraldine to see us +moving about." + +"I suppose not," said the Nodding Donkey, somewhat sadly. + +"Move along, everybody! Move back to your places! Daylight is coming!" +called the Policeman, as he walked past swinging his club. + +And, a little later, when all the toys were back on the shelves, the sun +rose, and in came Mr. Mugg to open the store for the day. + +All that day people came and went in the toy store, some coming to +look, and others to buy. Some of the toys were taken away, and the +Nodding Donkey wondered when it would be his turn. But, though he was +often taken up, shown and admired, no one purchased him. + +"I know what I will do, so that Donkey will be sold!" said Mr. Mugg in +the afternoon. + +"What?" asked Miss Angelina. + +"I will put him in the show window," answered her father. + +"Oh, let me decorate the show window!" begged Miss Geraldine. "I'll make +up a scene with a Christmas tree, and put the Nodding Donkey under it." + +"Very well," agreed Mr. Mugg. "I will leave the show window to you, +Geraldine. Make it look as pretty as you can." + +And Miss Geraldine did. She got a little Christmas tree and set it up in +a box. Then she put some tiny electric lights on it, and also some +toys. Other toys were put under the tree, and one of these was the +Nodding Donkey. + +"Oh, now I can see things!" said the Donkey to himself, as he found he +could look right out into the street. It was a scene he had never +observed before. All his life had been spent in the workshop of Santa +Claus or in the toy store. He was most delighted to look out into the +street. + +It was snowing, and crowds were hurrying to and fro, doing their +Christmas shopping. After the show window in the store of Mr. Horatio +Mugg had been newly decorated by Miss Geraldine, many boys and girls and +grown folk, too, stopped to peer in. They looked at the Nodding Donkey, +at the Jumping Jacks, at the Dolls, the toy Fire Engines, at the +Soldiers and at the Policeman. + +Toward evening, when the lights had just been set aglow, the Nodding +Donkey saw, coming toward the window, a little lame boy. He had to walk +on crutches, and with him was a lady who had hold of his arm. + +"Oh, Mother, look at the new toys!" cried the lame boy. "And see that +Donkey! Why, he's shaking his head at me! Look, he's making his head go +up and down! I guess he thinks I asked you if you'd buy him for me, and +he's saying 'yes'; isn't he, Mother?" + +"Perhaps," answered the lady. "Would you like that Nodding Donkey for +Christmas, Joe?" + +"Oh, I just would!" cried the lame boy. "Let's go in and look at him. +Maybe I can hold him in my hands! Oh, I'd just love that Nodding +Donkey!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A NEW HOME + + +For a minute or two longer the lame boy and his mother stood in front of +the show window of the toy shop of Mr. Horatio Mugg and his two +daughters. The lame boy looked at the Nodding Donkey and the Nodding +Donkey bobbed his head in such a funny fashion that the lame boy smiled. + +"I'm glad I could make him do that," thought the Donkey. "He doesn't +look so sad when he smiles. I wonder what is the matter with him that he +walks in such a funny way?" + +Of course the Nodding Donkey did not know what it meant to be lame. His +own wooden legs were straight and stiff, and he did not need crutches, +as did the lame boy. + +"Be sure it is the Nodding Donkey you want, and not some other toy," +said the boy's mother, as they looked at the things in the window. + +"Yes, Mother, I'd rather have him than anything else," the boy answered, +and into the store they went. Mr. Mugg came out from behind the counter. + +"Would you like to look at some toys?" asked the storekeeper. + +"My little boy thinks he would like the Nodding Donkey in the window," +said the lady, whose name was Mrs. Richmond. + +"Ah, yes, that is a very fine toy!" said Mr. Mugg, with a smile for the +lame boy. "It is one of the very latest from the shop of Santa Claus. +Geraldine, please show the boy the Nodding Donkey," Mr. Mugg called, and +as Joe, the lame boy, walked along with Miss Geraldine, Mr. Mugg said to +Mrs. Richmond: + +"I am very sorry to see that your boy has to go on crutches." + +"Yes, his father and I feel very sad about it," Joe's mother answered. +"We have already had the doctors do almost everything they can to cure +him, but now we fear he must have another and worse operation. I dread +it, and that is why I would get him almost anything to make him happy. +He seemed very pleased with the Nodding Donkey." + +"I'm sure Joe will like that toy," said Mr. Mugg. + +And when Joe had the wooden animal in his hands, and saw how much faster +the head nodded at him, the lame boy smiled and said: + +"Oh, this is the nicest toy I ever had!" + +"I am glad you like it," said the storekeeper. "Geraldine, please wrap +up the Nodding Donkey for Joe." + +All this while the Nodding Donkey had said nothing, of course, and he +had done nothing, except to shake his head. He took one last look +around the toy store as he was being wrapped up in paper by Miss +Geraldine. The Nodding Donkey saw the Jack in the Box and the China Cat +peering at him. + +"I wish I might say good-by to them," thought the four-legged toy, "but +I suppose it isn't allowed. I shall be lonesome without them." + +The China Cat wished she might wave her paw, or even the tip of her +tail, at her friend, the Nodding Donkey, and the Jack in the Box did +seem to nod a farewell, but perhaps that was because he was on a spring, +and could move so easily. As for the China Cat, she had to keep straight +and stiff. + +With the Nodding Donkey safely wrapped in paper under his arm, Joe left +the store of Mr. Mugg with his mother. Joe limped along on his crutches, +and he had to go slowly. But he was smiling happily, and for the first +day in a long time he forgot about his lameness. And when his mother +saw her son smiling, she, too, smiled. But she was worried about another +operation that Joe must go through. The doctor had said that one of his +legs had grown so crooked that the only way to fix it was to break it, +and let it grow together again, straight. + +But now, with his Nodding Donkey, Joe thought nothing about operations, +or his crutches, or about being lame. All his mind was on the Nodding +Donkey, and he even tore a little hole in the paper so he could look +through and make sure his toy was all right. + +His mother saw him tearing this hole as they sat in the street car +riding home, and as she looked down at him sitting beside her she smiled +and asked: + +"Aren't you afraid your Nodding Donkey will take cold?" + +"Oh, no, Mother," Joe answered. "It is nice and warm in this car. But +I'll hold my hand over the hole if you want me to, and that will keep +out the wind when we walk along the street." + +Soon Joe and his mother left the car, to walk toward their home, which +was not far from the corner. The weather was getting colder now, and +even inside the wrapping paper the Nodding Donkey could feel it, though +the lame boy did hold his hand over the hole. + +"I wonder what sort of place I am coming into?" thought the Nodding +Donkey, as he felt himself being carried inside a house. Wrapped up as +he was, of course he could see nothing. But he could feel that the house +was warm, for being out in the cold air was almost like the time he had +been tossed from the sleigh of Santa Claus into the snowdrift. + +"Now I'll have some fun!" cried Joe, as he took the paper off his toy. +"Will you please get me my Noah's Ark, Mother? I'll take the animals and +have a circus." + +Joe sat down to a table and placed the Nodding Donkey in front of him. +Up and down and sidewise bobbed the loose head of the toy. And, as he +nodded, the Donkey had a chance to look about him. His new home was +quite different from the gay toy store he had been taken from. Here was +only a plain house, though it was neat and clean and pretty. + +"I think I shall like it here," said the Donkey to himself. "I believe +Joe will be good and kind to me. I am going to be lonesome at first, but +that cannot be helped." + +However, the Nodding Donkey was not lonesome now, for Joe's mother set +on the table in front of the boy a rather battered old Noah's Ark. From +this Joe took out an elephant, a tiger, a lion, a camel and many other +animals. They were not as large or as fine as the Nodding Donkey, and +they looked at him in a rather queer way, did these animals from the +Noah's Ark. Of course they did not dare say or do anything as long as +Joe was looking at them. + +"Now I will pretend that this table is the circus ring," said Joe, +talking to himself, as he often did. "I will put the Nodding Donkey in +the middle and all the other animals around him. Then I'll be the +Ringmaster and make believe they are doing tricks." + +So Joe put the Nodding Donkey in the very center of the table, where the +new toy bobbed his head up and down and sidewise, just as he had done in +the store of Mr. Mugg and in the workshop of Santa Claus. + +"Now comes the Tiger," said Joe, going on with his circus play, and he +set that striped animal down near the Donkey. "And then the Lion. I hope +they don't bite my new Donkey." + +But the Noah's Ark animals were very good and kind, and they did not so +much as open their mouths at the Nodding Donkey. Joe played away and had +lots of fun at his pretend circus, while his mother got the supper +ready. Once when she came into the room where the lame boy sat at the +table, Mrs. Richmond said: + +"I just saw some friends of yours going past, Joe." + +"Who were they?" asked Joe. + +"Arnold and Sidney," was the answer. "Arnold had his Bold Tin Soldier, +and Sidney was carrying his Calico Clown." + +"Oh, I want to see them!" cried Joe. "They have such fun with their +toys, and I want them to come in and see mine." + +"I'm afraid it is too late--they have gone on home," answered Mrs. +Richmond, but Joe took his crutches, which stood near his chair, and +hobbled into the front room, where he could look out in the street to +see the boys of whom his mother had spoken. + +The Nodding Donkey was left on the table with the other animals from the +Noah's Ark. As Mrs. Richmond, as well as Joe, was out of the room, and +there was no one to look at them, the animals could do as they pleased. + +"How do you do?" politely asked the Lion. "We are glad you have come to +live here, Mr. Nodding Donkey. But where is the Noah's Ark that you +belong in? It must be very large." + +"I did not come out of a Noah's Ark," the Donkey answered, with a +friendly nod of his head. "I came first from the workshop of Santa +Claus, at the North Pole, and just now I came from a toy store." + +"Yes, we, too, were in each of those places, years ago," said the Tiger. +"But we have belonged to the little lame boy for a long while. He is +very good to us, and you will like it here." + +"I heard the boy's mother speak of a Bold Tin Soldier and a Calico +Clown," said the Donkey. "Do they belong here?" + +"No; they are toys that belong to boys who sometimes come to play with +Joe," answered the Elephant. "Then we have jolly times! You ought to +see that Calico Clown! He is so funny! And you ought to hear him tell +about the time in the toy store when his trousers caught fire!" + +"That never happened in the toy store where I was--not in Mr. Mugg's +store," said the Donkey. + +"No, that was another store," said the Elephant. "You'll like the Calico +Clown, I know you will, and the Bold Tin Soldier, too. Arnold and Sidney +will bring them over some day." + +"Now that I think of it, I believe I have heard those toys spoken of in +the workshop of Santa Claus," said the Donkey. "The China Cat also +mentioned them. Yes, I should like to see them. But we had better stop +talking. I think I hear Joe or his mother coming back." + +There was a noise at the door, but it was not made by the lame boy or +his mother. They were both at the front window, looking down the street +at Arnold and Sidney, who were going home, one with his Bold Tin +Soldier and the other with his Calico Clown. + +And then, all of a sudden, something covered with fur and with a big, +bushy tail, like a dustbrush, jumped up on the table and sprang at the +Nodding Donkey. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE FLOOD + + +"Look out there!" roared the Noah's Ark Lion. + +"Here! What are you going to do?" snarled the Noah's Ark Tiger. + +Of course neither of these animals made very much noise, being quite +small, but they did the best they could. + +"Come over by me, Mr. Nodding Donkey, if you are afraid!" called the +Elephant through his trunk. He was the largest animal in the Noah's Ark, +but even he was not as big as the Donkey. As for that nodding toy, he +reared back on his hind legs when he saw the strange animal, covered +with fur and with the big tail like a dustbrush, jump on the table. The +toy animals could move and talk among themselves now, as long as no +human being was in the room. + +The furry animal stood on the table in the midst of the toys. He sat up +on his hind legs and seemed to be eating something that he held in his +forepaws. + +"Are you a cat?" asked the Noah's Ark Camel, sort of making his two +humps shiver. + +"No, I'm not a cat," was the answer. "I am a Chattering Squirrel, and I +am eating a nut. I live in a hollow tree just outside this house, and, +seeing a window open and all you toys on the table, I jumped in to see +what fun you were having." + +"Oh, that's all right," said the Nodding Donkey politely. "We are glad +to see you. But even I was scared, at first. We were just talking among +ourselves while the lame boy is away. He was playing circus with us." + +[Illustration: "We Are Glad to See You," Said the Nodding Donkey. + _Page 73_] + +"I know the lame boy," said the Chattering Squirrel. "He is very kind +to me. He puts nuts out for me to eat. I am eating one now. Will you +have a nibble?" and the squirrel held out the nut to the Nodding Donkey. + +"No, thank you; I don't eat nuts," returned the new toy. + +"I eat other things, too," went on the Squirrel. "I take them right out +of the lame boy's hand, and I never nip him, for I like him and he likes +me. I am sorry he is lame." + +"So am I," said the Nodding Donkey. "I felt sorry for him when he looked +in the store window of Mr. Mugg's shop, and I nodded to him so that he +smiled. But hush! Here he comes now!" + +And this time it was the lame boy and his mother coming back into the +room where the Nodding Donkey and the Noah's Ark toys had been left on +the table. Instantly each toy became stark and stiff and no longer moved +or spoke. But the Chattering Squirrel, not being a toy, could do as he +pleased. So he frisked his tail and nibbled the nut. + +"Oh, Mother! See! There is Frisky, my tame Squirrel!" cried Joe. "He +must have come in through the window to see my Nodding Donkey. Hello, +Frisky!" cried the lame boy, and then when he put down his hand the +Chattering Squirrel scrambled across the table and let Joe rub his soft +fur. + +"I guess he is looking for something to eat," said Mrs. Richmond, with a +smile. "He wants his supper, as you want yours, Joe, and as your father +will, as soon as he gets home. You had better put away your toys +now--your Nodding Donkey and the Noah's Ark animals--and get ready for +supper. I think there are a few more nuts left which you may give +Frisky." + +"Oh, he'll love those, Mother!" cried Joe. And when he had put away his +toys he brought out some more nuts for the Squirrel, who liked them very +much. + +The Nodding Donkey was put up on the mantel shelf in the dining room, +but the Noah's Ark toys, being older, were set aside in a closet. + +"I want Daddy to see my Donkey as soon as he comes in," said Joe, and he +waited for his father. Soon Mr. Richmond's step was heard in the hall, +and Joe hobbled on his crutches to meet him. Frisky, the Chattering +Squirrel, had skipped out of the open window in the kitchen as soon as +he had eaten the nuts Joe gave him. + +"How is my boy to-night?" asked Mr. Richmond, as he hugged Joe. + +"Oh, I'm fine!" was the answer. "And look what Mother bought me!" + +Joe pointed to the Nodding Donkey on the mantel. + +"Well, he is a fine fellow!" exclaimed Mr. Richmond. "Where did he come +from?" + +"From the toy shop," Joe answered, and then, even though supper was +almost ready, he had to show his father how the Donkey nodded his head. + +"He surely is a jolly chap!" cried Daddy Richmond, when he had taken up +the Donkey and looked him all over. "And now how are your legs?" he +asked Joe. + +"They hurt some; but I don't mind them so much when I have my Donkey," +was the answer. + +After supper Joe again played with his toy, and, noticing that their son +was not listening, Mr. and Mrs. Richmond talked about him in low voices. + +"He doesn't really seem to be much better," said the father sadly. + +"No," agreed the mother. "I am afraid we shall have to let the doctor +break that one leg and set it over again. That may make our boy well." + +"I hope so," said Mr. Richmond, and both he and his wife were sad as +they thought of the lame one. + +But Joe was happier than he had been in some time, for he had his +Nodding Donkey to play with. When the time came to go to bed, Joe put +the Donkey away in the closet with the Noah's Ark, his toy train of +cars, the ball he tossed when his legs did not pain him too much, and +his other playthings. + +"Well, how do you like it here?" asked the toy Fireman of the toy train, +when the house was all quiet and still and the toys were allowed to do +as they pleased. + +"I think I shall like it very much," was the Donkey's answer. + +"I would give you a ride on this toy train," said the Engineer in the +cab across from the Fireman, "but you are too large to get in any of the +cars." + +"But we aren't!" cried the Tiger. "Come on, Mr. Lion, let's go for a +ride while we have the chance!" + +"All right!" agreed the Lion from the Noah's Ark. + +So then, in the closet where they had been put away for the night, the +small animals rode up and down the floor in the toy train. The Fireman +made believe piles of coal under the boiler, and the Engineer turned on +the steam and made the cars go. The Fireman rang the bell, and the +Engineer tooted the whistle. + +The Nodding Donkey, being rather large, could not fit in the train, but +the other toys were just right, and they had a fine time. + +"Perhaps if you climbed up on top of the cars I might give you a ride," +said the Engineer after he had taken all the Noah's Ark animals on short +trips around the closet floor. + +"Oh, thank you; but I might fall off and get my head out of order so it +would not nod," answered the Donkey. "I think I'll just keep quiet this +evening." + +"Perhaps you could tell us a story," suggested the Camel. "Tell us the +latest news from North Pole Land, where Santa Claus lives. It is a long +time since we were there." + +"Yes, I could do that," agreed the Nodding Donkey. "And I'll tell you +how we ran into a snow bank." + +So the Nodding Donkey did this, telling the Noah's Ark animals the same +story that I have told you, thus far, in this book. The night passed +very happily for the toys in the closet. + +When morning came the toys had to become quiet, for it was not allowed +for them to be heard talking or to be seen at their make believe fun. + +Then began many happy days for the Nodding Donkey. Joe, the lame boy, +made a little stable for his new toy, building it out of pieces of wood. +He put some straw from the chicken coop in it, so the Donkey would have +a soft bed on which to sleep. + +Joe played all sorts of games with his new toy. Sometimes it would be a +circus game, and again the lame boy would tie little bundles of wood on +his Donkey's back, making believe they were gold and diamonds which the +animal was carrying down out of pretend mines. + +One day Arnold and Sidney, two boys who lived not very far from the home +of Joe, came over with their playthings. Arnold brought his Bold Tin +Soldier and his company and Sidney his Calico Clown. The three boys +looked at the Nodding Donkey and admired him very much, and Joe had fun +playing with the Soldier and the Clown. + +After a while Mrs. Richmond called to Joe and his chums: + +"Come out into the kitchen, boys, and I'll give you some bread and jam," +and you can easily believe the boys did not take long to hurry out, Joe +stumping along on his crutches. + +Meanwhile the Donkey, the Clown, and the Soldier and his men, being left +by themselves in the other room, had a chance to talk. + +"I am so glad to meet you," brayed the Donkey. "I have heard so much +about you." + +"Did you hear how once I burned my trousers?" asked the Calico Clown. + +"I heard it mentioned," the Donkey said; "but I should like to hear more +about it." + +"I'll tell you," offered the funny chap. So he related that tale, just +as it is told in another of these books. + +"Well, that was quite an adventure," said the Donkey, when all had been +told. "I suppose you have had adventures, too?" he went on, looking at +the Bold Tin Soldier. + +"Oh, a few," was the answer. + +"Tell them about the time, in the toy shop, when you drew your sword and +frightened away the rat that was coming after the Sawdust Doll and the +Candy Rabbit," suggested the Clown. + +"All right, I will," said the Soldier, and he did. You may read, if you +like, about the Candy Rabbit and the Sawdust Doll in the books +written especially about those toys. + +So the Nodding Donkey listened to the stories told by the Soldier and +the Clown, and he was just wishing he might have adventures such as they +had had, when back into the room came Joe and his friends. They had +finished eating the bread and jam. Then the boys played again with their +toys until it was time for Arnold and Sidney to go home. + +And now I must tell you of a wonderful adventure that befell the Nodding +Donkey about a week after he had come to live with the lame boy, and how +he saved Joe's home from being flooded with water. + +Joe had been playing with his Nodding Donkey all day, but toward evening +the little lame boy's legs pained him so that he had to be put to bed in +a hurry. And in such a hurry that he forgot all about the Nodding Donkey +and left him on the floor in the kitchen, under the sink, which Joe had +pretended was a cave of gold. + +"I wonder if I am to stay here all night! It is growing bitterly cold, +too!" thought the Donkey, as Joe's father and mother took their boy up +to bed. "They must have forgotten me." + +And that is just what had happened. After Joe had gone to sleep his +father and mother sat in the dining room talking about him. + +"I think we shall have to have the doctor come and see Joe to-morrow," +said Mr. Richmond. "His legs seem to be getting worse." + +"Yes," answered Mrs. Richmond. "Something must be done." + +They were both very sad, and sat there silent for some time. + +Meanwhile, out in the kitchen, at the sink, something was happening. +Suddenly a water pipe burst. It did not make any noise, but the water +began trickling down over the floor in a flood. Right where the Nodding +Donkey stood, in the pretend cave, the water poured. It rose around the +legs of the Donkey, and he felt himself being lifted up and carried +across the kitchen toward the dining room door. + +The burst pipe had caused a flood, and the Nodding Donkey was right in +it! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A BROKEN LEG + + +Had Mr. and Mrs. Richmond not been in the next room, the Nodding Donkey +might have kicked up his heels and have jumped out of the stream of +water that was running from the burst pipe of the sink across the floor. +But knowing people were so close at hand, where they might catch sight +of him, the Donkey dared not move. + +All he could do was to float along with the stream of water, which was +now getting higher and higher and larger and larger. The water felt cold +on the legs of the Donkey, for this was now winter, and the water was +like ice. So the Nodding Donkey shivered and shook in the cold water of +the flood, and wondered what would happen. + +Out in the dining room, next the kitchen, sat Joe's father and mother. +They were silent and sad, thinking of their lame boy. + +They were thinking so much about him, and what the doctors would have to +do to him to make him well and strong, that neither of them paid any +heed to the running water. If they had not been thinking so much about +Joe they might have heard the hissing sound. + +But suddenly Mrs. Richmond, who was looking at the floor, gave a start, +and half arose from her chair. + +"Look!" she cried to her husband. "There is Joe's Nodding Donkey!" + +"Why!" exclaimed Mr. Richmond, "it is floating along on a stream of +water! The frost has made a pipe burst in the kitchen and the water is +spurting out! Quick! We must shut off the running water!" + +It did not take Joe's father long to shut off the water from the burst +pipe. That was all that could be done then, as no plumber could be had. +Mrs. Richmond lifted the Donkey up off the floor and out of the water, +drying him on a towel. And you may well believe that the Donkey was very +glad to be warm and dry again. He was afraid his varnish coat would be +spoiled, but I am glad to say it was not. + +"It's a lucky thing we sat here talking, and that I saw the Donkey come +floating in," said Mrs. Richmond, when the water had been mopped up. "If +I had not, the whole house might have been flooded by morning." + +"Yes," agreed her husband. "Joe's Nodding Donkey did us a good turn. He +saved a lot of damage. The water in the kitchen will not do much harm, +but if it had flooded the rest of the house it would." + +Then the Donkey was put away in the closet where he belonged, together +with the animals from the Noah's Ark. + +"How cold and shivery you are, Mr. Donkey," said the Noah's Ark Lamb, +when the Donkey had been placed on the closet shelf, after the flood. + +"I guess you'd be cold and shivery, too, if you had been through such an +adventure as just happened to me!" answered the Donkey. + +"Oh, tell us about it!" begged the Lion. "We have been quite dull here +all evening, wondering where you were." + +So the Donkey told his story of the burst pipe, and after that the +animals went to sleep. + +Joe was quite surprised when, the next morning, he was told what had +happened. And when the plumber came to fix the broken pipe Joe showed +the man the Nodding Donkey who had first given warning of the flood. + +"He is a fine toy!" said the plumber. + +After this Joe's Nodding Donkey had many adventures in his new home. I +wish I had room to tell you all of them, but I can only mention a few. + +The weather grew colder and colder, and some days many snowflakes fell. +The Donkey, looking out of the window, saw them, and he thought of Santa +Claus and North Pole Land. + +Joe was not as lively as he had been that day he went to Mr. Mugg's +store and bought the toy. There were days when Joe never took the +Nodding Donkey off the shelf at all. The wooden toy just had to stay +there, while Joe lay on a couch near the window and looked out. + +"This is too bad!" thought the Donkey. "Joe ought to run about and play +like Arnold and Sidney. They have lots of fun in the snow, and they take +out the Calico Clown and the Bold Tin Soldier, too. I wish Joe would +take me out. I don't mind the cold of the snow as much as I minded the +cold water." + +But Joe seemed to have forgotten about his Nodding Donkey. The toy stood +on a shelf over the couch where the lame boy lay. Once in a while Joe +would ask his mother to hand him down the Donkey, but more often the +lame boy would lie with his eyes closed, doing nothing. + +Then, one day, a sad accident happened. Mrs. Richmond was upstairs, +getting Joe's bed ready for him. Though it was not yet night, he said he +felt so tired he thought he would go to bed. On the shelf over his head +was the Nodding Donkey. + +Suddenly, in through a kitchen window that had been left open came +Frisky, the Chattering Squirrel. Over the floor scampered the lively +little chap, and he gave a sort of whistle at Joe. + +"Oh, hello, Frisky!" said the lame boy, opening his eyes. "I'm glad you +came in!" + +Of course Frisky could not say so in boy language, but he, too, was glad +to see Joe. + +"Come here, Frisky!" called Joe, and he held out his hand. + +"I guess he has some nuts for me," thought the squirrel, and he was +right. In one pocket Joe had some nuts, and now he held these out to his +little live pet. + +Frisky took a nut in his paw, which was almost like a hand, and then, as +squirrels often do, he looked for a high place on which he might perch +himself to eat. Frisky saw the shelf over Joe's couch, the same shelf on +which stood the Nodding Donkey. + +"I'll go up there to eat the nut," said Frisky to himself. + +Up he scrambled, but he was such a lively little chap that in swinging +his tail from side to side he brushed it against the Nodding Donkey. + +With a crash that toy fell to the floor near Joe's couch! + +"Oh, Frisky! Look what you did!" cried Joe. But the squirrel was so busy +eating the nut that he paid no attention to the Donkey. + +Joe picked up his plaything. One of the Donkey's varnished legs was +dangling by a few splinters. + +"Oh! Oh, dear!" cried Joe. "My Donkey's leg is broken! Now he will have +to go on crutches as I do! Mother! Come quick!" cried Joe. "Something +terrible has happened to my Nodding Donkey!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A LONESOME DONKEY + + +"What is the matter, Joe? What has happened?" asked Mrs. Richmond, +hurrying downstairs, leaving her son's bed half made. + +Mrs. Richmond, hurrying into the room where she had left Joe lying on +the couch, saw him sitting up and holding his Nodding Donkey in his +hands. + +"Oh, look, Mother!" and Joe's voice sounded as if he might be going to +cry. "Look what Frisky did to my Donkey! Knocked him off the shelf, and +his left hind leg is broken." + +"That is too bad," said Mrs. Richmond, but her face showed that she was +glad it was not Joe who was hurt. "Yes, the Donkey's leg is broken," +she went on, as she took the toy from her son. "Frisky, you are a bad +squirrel to break Joe's Donkey!" and she shook her finger at the +chattering little animal, who, perched on the shelf, was eating the nut +the boy had given him. + +"Oh, Mother! Frisky didn't mean to do it," said Joe. "It wasn't his +fault. I guess the Nodding Donkey was too close to the edge of the +shelf. But now his leg is broken, and I guess he'll have to go on +crutches, the same as I do; won't he, Mother?" + +The Nodding Donkey did not hear any of this. The pain in his leg was so +great that he had fainted, though Joe and his mother did not know this. +But the Donkey really had fainted. + +"No, Joe," said Mrs. Richmond, after a while, "your Donkey will not have +to go on crutches, and I hope the day will soon come when you can lay +them aside." + +"What do you mean, Mother?" Joe asked eagerly. "Do you think I will +ever get better?" + +"We hope so," she answered softly. "In a few days you are going to a +nice place, called a hospital, where you will go to sleep in a little +white bed. Then the doctors will come and, when you wake up again, your +legs may be nice and straight so, after a while, you can walk on them +again without leaning on crutches." + +"Oh, won't I be glad when that happens!" cried Joe, with shining eyes. +"But what about my Nodding Donkey, Mother? Can I take him to the +hospital and have him fixed, too, so he will not need crutches?" + +"Well, we shall see about that," Mrs. Richmond said. "I'll tie his leg +up now with a rag, and when your father comes home he may know how to +fix it. I never heard of a donkey on crutches." + +"I didn't either!" laughed Joe. He felt a little happier now, because he +hoped he might be made well and strong again, and because he hoped his +father could fix the broken leg of the Nodding Donkey. + +Mrs. Richmond got a piece of cloth, and, straightening out the Donkey's +leg as best she could, she tied it up. Then she put the toy far back on +the shelf, laying it down on its side so it would not fall off again, or +topple over. + +Frisky scampered out of the window, back to his home in the hollow tree +at the end of the yard. Frisky never knew what damage he had done. He +was too eager to eat the nut Joe had given him. + +"Now lie quietly here, Joe," his mother said. "I will soon have your bed +ready for you, and then you can go to sleep." + +"I don't want to go until Daddy comes home, so he can fix my Donkey," +said the boy, and his mother allowed him to remain up until Mr. Richmond +came from the office. + +"Oh, ho! So the Donkey has a broken leg, has he?" asked Mr. Richmond in +his usual jolly voice, when he came in where Joe was lying on the +couch. "Well, I think I can have him fixed." + +"How?" asked the little lame boy. + +"I'll take him back to the same toy store where you bought him," +answered his father. "Mr. Mugg knows how to mend all sorts of toys." + +By this time the Donkey had gotten over the fainting fit, as his leg did +not hurt him so much after Mrs. Richmond had tied the rag around it. And +now the Donkey heard what was said. + +"Take me back to the toy store, will they?" thought the Donkey to +himself. "Well, I shall be glad to have my leg mended, and also to see +the China Cat and some of my other friends. But I want to come back to +Joe. I like him, and I like it here. Besides, I am near the Calico Clown +and the Bold Tin Soldier. Yes, I shall want to come back when my leg is +mended." + +Mr. Richmond, still leaving on the Donkey's leg the rag Mrs. Richmond +had wound around it, put the toy back on the shelf. Then he carried Joe +up to bed. + +"When will the doctors operate on our boy, to make him better?" asked +Mrs. Richmond of her husband, when Joe was asleep. + +"In about a week," was his answer. "I stopped at the hospital to-day, +and made all the plans. Joe is to go there a week from to-day." + +"Will his Nodding Donkey be mended by that time?" asked Mrs. Richmond. +"I think Joe would like to take it to the hospital with him." + +"I'll try to get Mr. Mugg to finish it so Joe may have it," said Mr. +Richmond. "Poor boy! He has had a hard time in life, but if this +operation is a success he will be much happier." + +All night long the Nodding Donkey lay on the shelf, his broken leg +wrapped in the cloth. He did not nod now, for, lying down as he was, his +head could not shake and wabble. Besides, the toy felt too sad and was +in too much pain to nod, even if he had stood on his feet. But of course +he couldn't stand up with a broken leg. Indeed not! + +In the closet, where they were kept, the animals from Noah's Ark talked +among themselves that night. + +"Where is the Nodding Donkey?" asked the Lion. "Why is he not here with +us?" + +"I hope he hasn't become too proud, because he is a new, shiny toy and +we are old and battered," said the Tiger sadly. + +"Nonsense!" rumbled the Elephant. "The Nodding Donkey is not that kind +of toy. He would be here if he could. Some accident has happened, you +may depend on it." + +"Well, I'm glad my train didn't run over him," said the Engineer of the +toy locomotive. + +"It was some kind of accident, I'm sure," insisted the Elephant. "I +heard Joe cry out, and his mother came running downstairs." + +And it was an accident, as you know. All night the Nodding Donkey lay on +the shelf in the dining room. He had no other toys to talk to, and +perhaps it was just as well, for he did not feel like talking with his +broken leg hurting him as it did. + +Early the next morning Mr. Richmond was on his way to the office, taking +the Nodding Donkey with him. + +"Let me see him once more before you take him to the toy shop to be +fixed!" begged Joe, who had been told what was to be done with his +plaything. + +Joe's father put the Nodding Donkey into his son's hands. + +"Poor fellow!" murmured Joe, gently touching the broken leg. "You are a +cripple like me, now. I hope they make you well again." + +Then, with another kind pat, Joe gave the Donkey back to his father, +and, a little later, Mr. Richmond walked into Mr. Mugg's store with the +toy. + +"Hum! Yes, that is a bad break, but I think I can fix it," said the +jolly old gentleman. + +"Let me see," begged Miss Angelina, peering over her father's shoulder, +with a dustbrush under her arm. She had been dusting the toys ready for +the day's business. + +"The leg isn't broken all the way off," said Miss Geraldine, who was +washing the face of a China Doll, that, somehow or other, had fallen in +the dust. + +"Yes, that is a good thing," observed Mr. Mugg. "I can glue the parts +together and the Donkey will be as strong as ever. Leave it here, Mr. +Richmond. I'll fix it." + +"And may I have it back this week?" asked the other. "My boy is going to +the hospital to have his legs made strong, if possible, and I think he +would like to take the Donkey with him." + +"You may have it day after to-morrow," promised the toy man. + +The Nodding Donkey was still in such pain from his broken leg that he +did not pay much attention to the other toys in the store. But Mr. Mugg +lost no time in getting to work on the broken toy. + +"Heat me the pot of glue, Geraldine," he called to his daughter, "and +get me some paint and varnish. When I mend the broken leg I'll paint +over the splintered place, so it will not show." + +The Nodding Donkey was taken to a work bench. Mr. Mugg, wearing a long +apron and a cap, just like the workmen in the shop of Santa Claus, sat +down to begin. + +With tiny pieces of wood, put in the broken leg to make it as strong as +the others that were not broken, with hot, sticky glue, and with strands +of silk thread, Mr. Mugg worked on the Nodding Donkey. The toy felt like +braying out as loudly as he could when he felt the hot glue on his leg, +but he was not permitted to do this, since Mr. Mugg was looking at him. +So he had to keep silent, and in the end he felt much better. + +"There, I think you will do now," said Mr. Mugg, as he tightly bound +some bandages on the Donkey's leg. "When it gets dry I will paint it +over and it will look as good as new." + +The mended Donkey was set aside on a shelf by himself, and not among the +toys that were for sale. All day and all night long he remained there. +He was feeling too upset and in too much pain to be lonesome. All he +wished for was to be better. + +In the morning he was almost himself again. Mr. Mugg came, and, finding +the glue hard and dry, took off the bandages. Then with his knife he +scraped away little hard pieces of glue that had dried on the outside, +and the toy man also cut away some splinters of new wood that stuck +out. + +"Now to paint your leg, and you will be finished," said Mr. Mugg. + +The smell of the paint and varnish, as it was put on him, made the +Nodding Donkey think of when he had first come to life in the workshop +of Santa Claus. He was feeling quite young and happy again. + +"There you are!" cried Mr. Mugg, as he once more set the Donkey on the +shelf for the paint and varnish to dry. And this time the Donkey was +allowed to be among the other toys, though he was not for sale. + +That night in the store, when all was quiet and still, the Nodding +Donkey shook his head and spoke to the China Cat, who was not far away. + +"Well, you see I am back here again," said the Nodding Donkey. + +"Have you come to stay?" asked the China Cat. "You can't imagine how +surprised I was when I saw you brought in! But what has happened?" + +Then the Donkey told of his accident, and how he had been mended. + +"Your leg looks all right now," said the China Cat, glancing at it in +the light of the one lamp Mr. Mugg left burning when he closed his +store. + +"Yes, I am feeling quite myself again," said the Donkey. "But I am not +here to stay. I must go back to Joe, the lame boy." + +"At least we shall have a chance to talk over old times for a little +while," said the China Cat. "I came near being sold yesterday. A lady +was going to buy me for her baby to cut his teeth on. Just fancy!" + +"I don't believe you would have liked that," said the Donkey. + +"No, indeed!" mewed the China Cat. Then she and the Donkey and the other +toys talked for some hours, and told stories. On account of his paint +not being dry the Donkey did not walk around, jump or kick as he had +used to do. + +In the morning the toys had to stop their fun-making, for Mr. Mugg and +his daughters came to open the store for the day. And in the afternoon +Mr. Richmond called to get the mended toy. + +And you can imagine how glad Joe was to get his Donkey back again. + +"I'll never let Frisky break any more of your legs," said Joe, as he +hugged the Donkey to him. "I'll take you to bed with me to-night." + +But though Joe was allowed to take his Donkey to bed with him, it was +thought best not to send the toy to the hospital with the little boy, +when he went early the next week. + +"Good-by, Nodding Donkey!" called Joe to his toy, as he was driven away; +and when Mrs. Richmond put the mended Donkey away on the closet shelf, +there were tears in her eyes. + +The Nodding Donkey knew that something was wrong, but he did not +understand all that was happening. He had seen Joe taken away, and he +saw himself put in the closet with the Noah's Ark animals. + +"What is the matter?" asked the Lion. "Is Joe tired of playing with you, +as he grew tired of us?" + +"I hope not," said the Nodding Donkey sadly. + +But as that day passed, and the next, the Nodding Donkey grew very +lonesome for Joe, for he had learned to love the little lame boy. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +JOE CAN RUN + + +About a week after Joe had been taken to the hospital, where he had been +put in a little white bed, with a rosy-cheeked nurse to look after him, +there came a knock on the door of the house where Joe lived, and where +the Nodding Donkey also had his home. + +"Is Joe here?" asked a little girl named Mirabell, who carried in her +arms a toy Lamb on Wheels. + +"Joe? No, dear, he isn't here. He is in the hospital having his lame +legs fixed," answered Mrs. Richmond. "Didn't you hear about his going +away?" + +"No," answered Mirabell, "I didn't. But Sidney said Joe had a Nodding +Donkey, and I brought my Lamb on Wheels to see the Donkey." + +"That is very kind of you," said Mrs. Richmond. "Come in. We are quite +worried about Joe, and we hope he will get well and strong so he can run +about. But it will be some time yet before he comes from the hospital." + +Mirabell entered the house with her Lamb on Wheels. The little girl +looked sad when she heard about Joe, but a smile came over her face when +she saw the Nodding Donkey, which Joe's mother brought from the closet. + +"Oh, what a lovely Donkey!" cried Mirabell. "See, Lamb!" and she held up +her toy. "Meet Mr. Nodding Donkey!" + +The Donkey nodded his head, but the Lamb could not do that. However, she +looked kindly at the nodding toy. + +While Mirabell was playing with her Lamb and the Donkey there came +another knock on the door of Joe's house. + +"It is Herbert with his Monkey on a Stick," said Mrs. Richmond. "Come +in," she added, as she opened the door. + +"Is Joe back yet?" asked Herbert, after he had said "hello" to Mirabell +and put his Monkey toy on the table. + +"No, Joe is still in the hospital," answered the lame boy's mother. "He +will be home in about three weeks, we hope. Here is his Nodding Donkey +toy." + +"Oh, that's fine!" cried Herbert. "Arnold told me about it, and I wanted +to see it. My mother told me about Joe going to the hospital, and I came +to see how he was." + +"It is very kind of you," said Joe's mother. "Now I'll leave you +children to play with your toys awhile, until I call up the hospital on +the telephone and see how Joe is to-day. I have not had a chance to +visit him yet." + +Herbert and Mirabell had fun playing together, and with the Lamb on +Wheels, the Monkey on a Stick, and the Nodding Donkey. After a while the +children were given some bread and jam by Mrs. Richmond, who called +them into another room to eat it. + +"I heard from the hospital that Joe is much better to-day," said Mrs. +Richmond, as she spread more bread and butter for her little visitors. + +While they were left in the room by themselves, the toys spoke to one +another. + +"You are a new one, aren't you?" asked the Lamb of the Donkey. + +"Yes," was the answer. "Joe got me only a little while before he was +taken to the hospital, wherever that is. I guess I was in the hospital +myself, when I had my broken leg mended." + +"Oh, tell us about it!" begged the Monkey, as he climbed to the top of +his stick and slid down again. + +So the Donkey told how Frisky had knocked him off the shelf, breaking +his leg. + +"And Joe had something the matter with his legs, too, so that's why he +had to go to the hospital," added the Donkey, as he finished his story. +"I do hope he comes back soon, for I am lonesome without him." + +The toys spent a happy half hour together, and then when Mirabell and +Herbert came back into the room, having finished their bread and jam, +the Donkey, the Lamb, and the Monkey had to become quiet. + +"We'll come over again, when Joe gets home," said Mirabell, as she and +Herbert left. + +"And we'll get the other boys and girls and give him a toy party," added +the owner of the Monkey. + +"Oh, that will be lovely!" said Mrs. Richmond. + +The Nodding Donkey was put back in the closet, where he told the Noah's +Ark animals all about the visit of the Monkey and Lamb. + +"I have heard of those toys," said the Elephant. "They know the Sawdust +Doll, the White Rocking Horse, the Candy Rabbit, and the Bold Tin +Soldier." + +"My, what a lot of jolly toys there are!" said the Donkey. And then he +grew silent, thinking of poor little Joe in the hospital. + +Joe did not have an easy time. He was very ill and in great pain, but +the kind doctors and nurses looked well after him, and his father and +mother went to see him almost every day. One afternoon, when Joe had +been in the hospital for what seemed to him a whole year, his father and +the doctor came into the room. There was also a nurse, and she began to +put on Joe the clothes he wore in the street. + +"What is going to happen?" asked the boy. + +"I am going to take you home, and give your mother a joyful surprise," +said his father. + +"Oh, how glad I am!" cried Joe. "And then I can see my Nodding Donkey, +can't I? Is he all right, Daddy?" + +"As right and as fine as ever," answered Mr. Richmond. + +Joe could hardly sit still during the ride home. He got out of the +automobile and went through the snow up to the front door. His father +opened it, and Joe saw his mother standing at the end of the hall. + +For a moment Mrs. Richmond could hardly believe what she saw. + +"Joe! Joe, my little boy!" she cried. "Oh, you have come home again! Are +you all right? Are your legs better? Can you walk?" + +"Can I walk, Mother!" cried Joe, in a happy voice. "Of course I can! I +can walk without my crutches, and I can run! I can run! See!" + +And with that Joe ran down the hall and into his mother's arms. + +Oh, what a joyful happy time there was! Joe's legs were straight and +strong again, and he did not need his crutches any more. + +"And now where is my Nodding Donkey?" he asked. "I want to see him!" + +"I'll get him for you," offered his mother, and when the toy was set on +the table near Joe, it nodded its head to welcome him home. + +"Oh, my dear Donkey! how I missed you while I was in the hospital," said +Joe. + +"And I missed you, too," thought the Donkey. + +Two or three days after this, when Joe had gotten used to being at home +again, there came a knock at the door. Outside happy voices were talking +and laughing. + +When Joe opened the door there stood Dorothy with her Sawdust Doll, Dick +with his White Rocking Horse, Arnold with his Bold Tin Soldier, Mirabell +with her Lamb, Madeline, who had a Candy Rabbit, Herbert, who carried a +Monkey on a Stick, and Sidney with the Calico Clown. + +"Surprise on Joe! Surprise on Joe!" cried the children. "We have come to +make a Toy Party for you and your Nodding Donkey!" + +"Oh, how glad I am!" Joe laughed. "Look at my legs!" he went on. "They +are straight now, and I don't have to go on crutches. And my Nodding +Donkey, who had a broken leg, is well, too! He doesn't have to go on +crutches, either!" + +"Hurray!" cried Dick, and all the other boys and girls said: "Hurray! +Hurray! Hurray!" + +Then the Toy Party began, and the children and the toys had so much fun +that it would take three books just to tell about half of it. Joe and +his Nodding Donkey were the guests of honor, and all the others tried to +make them feel happy. And Joe was happy! One look at his smiling face +told that. + +As for the Nodding Donkey, you could tell by the way he moved his head +that never, in all his life, had he had such a good time. + +When Mrs. Richmond called the children to the dining room to eat, the +toys were left by themselves in a playroom. + +"Ladies and Gentlemen," said the Calico Clown in his jolly voice, "we +have all met together, after a long time of being apart. We have all had +good times together, and now I hope you will all agree with me when I +say that we are glad to welcome the Nodding Donkey among us." + +[Illustration: The Nodding Donkey is Welcomed by the Calico Clown. + _Page 118_] + +"Yes, he is very welcome," said the Sawdust Doll. "We are glad he has +come to live in this part of the world." + +"I am glad of it myself," said the Nodding Donkey. "I never knew, while +I was in the workshop of Santa Claus, that so many things could happen +down here. Yes, I am very happy that I came. There is only one thing I +wish." + +"What is that?" asked the Monkey. + +"I wish the China Cat were here," said the Donkey. "She lives in Mr. +Mugg's store, and I'm sure you would all like her, she is so clean and +white." + +"Three cheers for the China Cat!" called the Bold Tin Soldier, waving +his sword. + +And the toys cheered among themselves. + +"Tell me more about this China Cat," begged the Candy Rabbit to the +Donkey. "Is she anything like me?" + +The Nodding Donkey was just going to tell about the China Cat when Joe +and the other children came trooping back into the room, having finished +their lunch. + +"Now let's play circus!" cried Joe. "We have a lot of toys and animals +now. Let's play circus." + +And so they did. But as there is a story to tell about the China Cat, +and as I have no room in this book, I will make up another, and it will +be all about the Nodding Donkey's friend, the white China Cat, and how +she had many adventures, but managed to keep herself clean. + +As for Joe and his friends, they had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy +New Year, and the Nodding Donkey lived for a long while after that, +happy and contented, and he never even had so much as a pain in the +broken leg that Mr. Mugg had mended so nicely. + + +THE END + + + + +THE MAKE-BELIEVE STORIES + +(Trademark Registered.) + +By LAURA LEE HOPE + +Author of THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS, ETC. + + * * * * * + +Colored Wrappers and Illustrations by HARRY L. SMITH + + * * * * * + +In this fascinating line of books Miss Hope has the various toys come to +life "when nobody is looking" and she puts them through a series of +adventures as interesting as can possibly be imagined. + + * * * * * + +THE STORY OF A SAWDUST DOLL + +How the toys held a party at the Toy Counter; how the Sawdust Doll was +taken to the home of a nice little girl, and what happened to her there. + + +THE STORY OF A WHITE ROCKING HORSE + +He was a bold charger and a man purchased him for his son's birthday. +Once the Horse had to go to the Toy Hospital, and my! what sights he saw +there. + + +THE STORY OF A LAMB ON WHEELS + +She was a dainty creature and a sailor bought her and took her to a +little girl relative and she had a great time. + + +THE STORY OF A BOLD TIN SOLDIER. + +He was Captain of the Company and marched up and down in the store at +night. Then he went to live with a little boy and had the time of his +life. + + +THE STORY OF A CANDY RABBIT + +He was continually in danger of losing his life by being eaten up. But +he had plenty of fun, and often saw his many friends from the Toy +Counter. + + +THE STORY OF A MONKEY ON A STICK + +He was mighty lively and could do many tricks. The boy who owned him +gave a show, and many of the Monkey's friends were among the actors. + + +THE STORY OF A CALICO CLOWN + +He was a truly comical chap and all the other toys loved him greatly. + + +THE STORY OF A NODDING DONKEY + +He made happy the life of a little lame boy and did lots of other good +deeds. + + +THE STORY OF A CHINA CAT + +The China Cat had many adventures, but enjoyed herself most of the time. + + +THE STORY OF A PLUSH BEAR + +This fellow came from the North Pole, stopped for a while at the toy +store, and was then taken to the seashore by his little master. + + +THE STORY OF A STUFFED ELEPHANT + +He was a wise looking animal and had a great variety of adventures. + + * * * * * + +=GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK= + + + + +THE PUSS-IN-BOOTS, Jr. SERIES + +By DAVID CORY + +Author of "The Little Jack Rabbit Stories" and "Little Journeys to +Happyland" + + * * * * * + +=Handsomely Bound. Colored Wrappers. Illustrated. Each Volume Complete +in Itself.= + + * * * * * + +To know Puss Junior once is to love him forever. That's the way all the +little people feel about this young, adventurous cat, son of a very +famous father. + + +THE ADVENTURES OF PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR. + +FURTHER ADVENTURES OF PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR. + +PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR. IN FAIRYLAND + +TRAVELS OF PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR. + +PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND OLD MOTHER GOOSE + +PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., IN NEW MOTHER GOOSE LAND + +PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND THE GOOD GRAY HORSE + +PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND TOM THUMB + +PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND ROBINSON CRUSOE + +PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND THE MAN IN THE MOON + + * * * * * + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK + + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Note: + +Page 79, "pile coal" changed to "piles of coal". + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of a Nodding Donkey, by Laura Lee Hope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF A NODDING DONKEY *** + +***** This file should be named 17679.txt or 17679.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/6/7/17679/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Emmy and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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