AFTER his experience in the pickle jar the Dunce made a resolution to
try to be good whenever he went into a big house. But the busy little
fellow couldn’t keep out of mischief, and it wasn’t long before he got
into trouble again. He didn’t really mean to be naughty, for he was a
most kind hearted little chap, but being so full of life and so curious
he simply couldn’t be quiet.
He loved to look into everything he saw, and being a good climber he
wanted to crawl over everything. The little people had been skating all
morning and they had stopped at a house, on their way home, to warm
themselves. The Dunce had gone prowling about the place and had found a
child’s play room with many wonderful toys in it which he wished his
friends to see.
“Jimminie Christmas!” he shouted, “there’s building blocks and dolls,
chairs and tables and everything! Come on in!”
The Teenie Weenies followed the Dunce to a nursery where they found all
sorts of pretty toys. The little folks enjoyed themselves for some time
looking at the many playthings, but the thing they liked most was a
beautiful arch or house made out of building blocks.
Of course, the Dunce had to climb to the very top of the house, where he
sat shouting at the Teenie Weenies below.
[‡Illustration: Dunce falling down]
“Jinks!” he cried, “you get a dandy view up here; I can see way over to
the other side of the room.”
“You’d better come down,” warned the Doctor. “The first thing you know
you’ll fall off and break your foolish neck.”
At this moment the Clown, who had been balancing himself on a spool,
suddenly slipped and went crashing into the house.
“Run for your lives!” screamed the Cook, as the house toppled forward.
One of the small boys, who had started to climb up the house, clung
screaming to the column and the Dunce gave a mighty leap off the top,
while those who were on the floor ran with all their might.
The house came crashing down and it was the luckiest thing in the world
that no one was badly hurt. Outside of being badly scared and pretty
well shaken up the small boy and Dunce were none the worse for their
fall.
“This is a fine pickle,” said the General. “Now we’ll have to get
pulleys and ropes and build this house up again just as we found it.”
[‡Illustration: Boy with nail]
The Teenie Weenies hurried home for the necessary tools and it took
fully four hours of hard work to build the house again just as they had
found it. The little folks did the work so well that the child who had
first built the house never suspected for a moment what had happened to
it.
That night Rufus Rhyme wrote a verse about the Dunce’s fall. It was
called “Humpty Dumpty Dunce,” and here it is just as the Poet set it
down:
Twenty times a day or more, the Dunce goes tumbling on the floor,
He must be made of iron and rocks to stand so many bumpy knocks.
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