A QUEER RIDE
"Look out for the ink on the Doll's face," said the janitor to his
little girl, as he handed her the toy. "And see, the Monkey also has ink
on the end of his tail. I brought them home to you, to see if you could
clean them."
"Oh, then I can't keep them!" exclaimed the little girl in a sad voice.
"And they are so cute, too, even if they are covered with ink! How did
it happen?"
"A water pipe burst in the school, and there was so much running around
that an ink bottle in the teacher's desk got upset, I suppose, and then
the ink splashed on the Monkey and the Doll," said the janitor.
"But how did they get in the teacher's desk?" the little girl wanted to
know.
"I guess she must have taken them away from the children who had them
out, playing with them during lesson time," answered the janitor. And he
was right about that, as we know, but he was wrong about the bottle of
ink.
"But perhaps you can clean them," said the janitor to his little girl.
"That's why I brought the toys home to you."
"Yes, I can wash the Doll's face with soap and water," answered the
little girl. "But I don't believe I can get the ink off the Monkey's
tail. He's made of plush, and ink stains that very badly."
Then she got a basin of soap and water and began to wash the Doll's
face. In a little while the ink spots began to fade away, for the
Doll's head was of porcelain, though she was stuffed with cotton.
"It's going to leave the Doll a little darker color, though," said the
little girl to her father. "I can't get her as nice and white as she was
at first."
"Well, never mind, you can pretend she went to the seashore and got
tanned," said the janitor, laughing. "Did you get the ink out of the
Monkey's tail?" he asked.
"No, it won't come out," was the answer, and it would not. The ink on
the tail of the Monkey on a Stick was there to stay, so it seemed.
"There! Just see what happened by your fooling!" said the Doll to the
Monkey a little later, when they were left alone for a few minutes. "My
face will always be dark, and your tail will be inky."
"I don't so much mind about my tail," answered the Monkey. "I think it
will be rather stylish to have it dark and inky on the end. But I am
sorry about your face. I never thought about the ink staying on or I
never would have daubed you the way I did."
"Well, don't feel too bad about it," advised the Doll, with a smile. "I
just happened to remember that it is stylish to be tanned. All the other
dolls and toys will think I have spent a vacation at the seashore, as
the janitor says. Really, after I get used to it, I shall be glad you
put the ink on me."
But the Monkey still felt sorry.
That night the janitor's little girl played with the Monkey on a Stick,
making him do all sorts of funny tricks. He would climb up when she
pulled the string, and sometimes he would just stand up on the top of
his stick, almost as straight as the Bold Tin Soldier.
Then, again, he would turn over backward and slide down head first to
the bottom of the pole. Another time he would tumble forward and slide
down the other way, turning somersaults on the trip.
"Oh, I just love this Monkey!" said the little girl.
In the morning the janitor took back to school in his pocket the Monkey
and the Doll.
"Be sure and bring them to me again, if nobody wants them!" called the
little girl, who had almost got the Doll's face clean.
"I will," her father promised.
The school was all right again the next day. The broken pipes had been
mended, and the boys and girls could come back to their lessons. The
teacher in the room where Herbert, Dick and their friends studied was
much surprised when the janitor gave her the Doll and the Monkey, and
told about finding them in her desk with an upset bottle of ink. He
related how he had taken them home over-night for safe keeping.
"And so your little girl cleaned them," said the teacher. "That was very
good of her, and I am going to make her happy. You may take back to her
this doll, with the make-believe tanned face."
"Are you really going to give my little girl the doll?" asked the
janitor.
"Yes," replied the teacher. "The little girl from whom I took the doll
is not coming back to this school any more, and her mother sent word I
might give the doll away. So I'll give her to your little girl."
"That is very kind of you," said the janitor. "My little girl will be
happy."
The Monkey was put back in the desk until after school. Then Herbert was
called up.
"Here is your Monkey on a Stick, Herbert," said the teacher. "You must
not bring him to school again."
"No'm, I won't!" promised the little boy.
"I am sorry he got that blot of ink on the end of his tail," went on the
teacher.
"Oh, I don't mind," said Herbert, with a smile. "He can climb his stick
just the same."
And the Monkey really could. The ink on his tail didn't bother him a
bit. Up and down the stick he went, when Herbert pulled the string, and
even the teacher had to laugh, the Monkey was so funny.
"I'm so glad I have my Monkey back!" thought Herbert as he ran along the
street.
All the other boys and girls were ahead of him, as he had been kept in
a little while after school to get his toy back. All at once, as Herbert
was passing a candy store, he saw, coming out of it, Dick, the boy who
owned the White Rocking Horse.
"Oh, hello, Herbert!" called Dick, giving his friend a piece of candy.
"So you have your Monkey back!"
"Yes," Herbert answered. "I stayed in to get him."
"I know how we can have some fun with him," went on Dick.
"How?" Herbert wanted to know.
"We can give him a ride on the back of our dog Carlo," went on Dick. "We
can take the Monkey off the stick, and tie him on Carlo's back. Then
Carlo will run and the Monkey will have a fine ride."
The two boys hurried down the street toward Dick's house.
"This world is full of surprises," thought the Monkey. "I wonder what
my toy friends in the store would think if they knew I was going to have
a ride on a dog's back. What a wonderful adventure it may be!"
The Monkey was not afraid. He was a courageous chap, almost as brave as
the Bold Tin Soldier. One has to be brave to climb up and down a stick
day after day, and turn somersaults from the top; I think.
"How can we make my Monkey stay on your Carlo's back?" asked Herbert, as
they reached Dick's house.
"We can tie him on, same as my sister once tied her Sawdust Doll to the
back of the Lamb on Wheels," Dick answered.
"And maybe, some day, we can have a little show," said Herbert.
"What kind of show?" Dick asked, as he ate the last piece of candy he
had bought on his way from school, having shared some with Herbert.
"Oh, a show with my Monkey in it, and your Rocking Horse, and Arnold's
Tin Soldiers, and Mirabell's Lamb and Madeline's Candy Rabbit," Herbert
replied.
"Here, Carlo! Carlo!" called Dick. "Come and give Herbert's Monkey a
ride on your back."
Carlo came running up, wagging his tail. He liked to play with the boys,
and he did not make a bit of fuss when Dick and Herbert tied the Monkey
on his back. Of course the Monkey was taken off his stick for this
strange ride. He was tied on with bits of string, as the boys had plenty
of this in their pockets.
"Hold still a minute, Carlo!" called Dick, for the dog was wiggling and
twisting around. "Hold still and we'll soon be ready."
"How are you going to make him run, after we get the Monkey fastened on
his back?" asked Herbert.
"Oh, that's easy," Dick answered. "We'll just run down the meadow toward
the brook and he'll follow us all right. He'll give the Monkey a fine
ride, won't you, Carlo?"
"Bow wow!" barked the dog, which, I suppose, was his way of saying:
"Yes!"
"Well, I surely hope nothing serious will happen," thought the Monkey,
as he found himself being tied on the dog's fuzzy back. "I have had many
adventures, but never one like this. I hope nothing terrible happens!"
In another minute the boys tied the last knot. There sat the Monkey, off
his stick, on Carlo's back.
"Come on, now!" cried Dick, and he and Herbert started to run.
With a bark Carlo took after them, the Monkey bobbing backward and
forward on the dog's back.
"As long as they can't very well see me, I'll grab hold of the dog's
hair in my hands," said the Monkey. "In that way I can hold on better.
Some of the strings may break."
He clutched his hands tightly in the dog's hair. Carlo ran faster and
faster after the boys.
"Don't go so quick!" begged the Monkey.
"Bow wow! I have to!" barked Carlo.
"Oh, I know something dreadful will happen!" exclaimed the Monkey. "I
just know it!"