OUT IN THE RAIN
You remember that Nip, the big dog, had carried away the Stuffed
Elephant when Archie set his Christmas toy down on the barn floor for a
moment. And, coming back, after having gone to look for the nest of a
cackling hen, Archie did not find his Elephant awaiting him as he
expected to.
"Oh, Elsie!" exclaimed the little boy. "Didn't I leave my Elephant right
here?" and he pointed to the place where he had set it.
"Why, yes, I think you did," Elsie answered. "I saw you put it there. I
was going to leave my Doll there, too, but she isn't feeling very well,
and has a little cold, so I carried her in my arms. I have her here
now," she added, as she held up her Christmas toy.
"Well, my Elephant is gone!" exclaimed Archie. "And I know I left it
here! Yes, you can see where his feet stood," he added, as he pointed to
some marks in the dust of the barn floor.
Elsie, holding her Doll, stooped down beside her brother and looked at
the dust.
"There are lots of marks," said the little girl. "Your Elephant must
have been walking around. Oh, Archie!" she cried, with shining eyes,
"maybe he came to life and walked away!"
"Nope! He couldn't do that!" Archie said. Of course he knew nothing of
what the toys did after dark--how they made believe come to life,
talked, and had fun among themselves.
"But now I know what has happened!" Archie exclaimed. "I can tell by the
marks in the dust."
"What did happen?" asked Elsie.
"Nip has been here," went on the little boy. "I can tell his paw marks
in the dust. It wasn't my Elephant walking around, it was Nip! And Nip
has carried off my Elephant!"
"Oh, just as he did once with my old Rag Doll!" cried Elsie.
"That's it!" her brother said. "Nip has carried away my Elephant. Come
here, Nip! Where are you?" called Archie.
Now Nip was always ready to come when Archie called, for he and the
little boy had many good times together, romping and playing tag in the
yard. So, when he heard his name called, Nip came running into the barn
to where Elsie and Archie were standing.
"Nip!" sternly said Archie, as he shook his finger at his big dog, "did
you take my Elephant? Did you carry him away?"
Now Nip understood a great deal that was said to him. He knew when he
was being scolded for having done wrong, and he knew he was being
scolded now. He also knew that he had taken away the Elephant. So, when
Archie talked this way, Nip hung his head and put his tail between his
legs.
"Nip!" went on Archie, "where is my Stuffed Elephant? Go get it! Bring
back my Elephant! Go on, Nip!"
Nip gave a little bark. He sprang up, barked again, louder than before,
and off he ran to a dim and distant part of the barn.
"Is he going after your Elephant?" asked Elsie.
"I hope so," her brother answered. "We'll follow him and see where he
goes."
But Nip ran too fast for the children to follow. Down the stairs, into
the dark corner of that part of the barn where the garden tools were
kept, ran Nip. He knew he had been found out, and that he must bring
back Archie's Elephant.
So, just as the Shovel, the Rake and the Pick had hurried away to look
for the prize, and while the Wheelbarrow, the Hoe and the Lawn Mower
were fussing to see why they couldn't have a chance to win, Nip pounced
down on the Elephant, lifted him up, and started back with him to
Archie.
"Oh, I'm so glad you came to get me!" said the Elephant. "I was just
going to try to find my way back myself, for I have had a most dreadful
time trying to settle a dispute among the garden tools. Oh, I never
should like to be a Judge!"
Nip did not answer, because he had the Stuffed Elephant in his mouth.
"I hope we are going to be friends, Mr. Nip," went on the Elephant.
"Please don't carry me away again."
Nip wanted to say that he would not, for he felt sorry because of the
trick he had played. But just then Elsie and Archie came running up, and
the dog could not talk, nor could the Elephant pretend to be alive, for
the eyes of the children were upon them.
"Oh, he has my Elephant!" joyfully cried Archie. "I guess you must have
hidden him, Nip, for you knew where to find him! Bring my Elephant
here!"
Nip put the Elephant down on the barn floor at Archie's feet, and then
the dog wagged his tail.
"He's asking you to forgive him," said Elsie.
"And I will," promised Archie. "But don't do it again!" he added,
shaking his finger at Nip.
"Bow wow!" barked the dog, and perhaps that meant he would not.
"Oh, I'm so glad to have my Elephant back!" said Archie, as he began
playing with his toy.
"And I'm glad to be back," thought the Elephant. "That Judge business
was a great trial!"
Through the spring and into the summer Archie had fun with his Christmas
Elephant. Then one day something very exciting happened. Archie was
playing out in the back yard, near a little brook, with his Elephant,
when along the front road came a hand-organ man and a monkey. Archie and
his sister ran to hear the music and see the monkey, and Archie left his
Elephant in the grass.
Soon after this it began to rain very hard and the children hurried into
the house. Going up the steps Archie fell and bumped his head, making
his nose bleed, and there was so much excitement for a time that the
Elephant was forgotten. He was left out in the storm, and the rain came
down harder and harder, making little puddles and tiny brooks in the
yard; brooks that flowed into the large one.
"Oh, this is dreadful!" thought the poor Elephant, as the rain pelted
down on him. "Of course if I was real I wouldn't mind the rain, for real
Elephants like water. But I'm getting soaking wet! It's beginning to
come through my stuffing. I'm feeling like a sponge!
"Oh, why doesn't Archie come and get me, or at least give me an
umbrella! I think I'll try to walk under a toadstool to keep out of the
wet. If I can only find one large enough."
As no one was watching him, the Elephant had a chance to move about and
make believe come to life. But he had waited too long. The rain had
soaked into his cotton stuffing making him so heavy that now he could
not move.
"Oh, what is going to happen?" he thought.
He tried to lift first one leg, then another, but it was hard work. The
water was beginning to rise about him. His feet were in mud puddles. He
struggled hard to pull them out, and then, all at once, he lurched to
one side, and fell over flat--right into a pool of water!