SAVING THE SAWDUST DOLL
The bird was just going to flutter down and pull some more wool from
the back of the Lamb on Wheels, when the Bold Tin Soldier, waving
his sword, happened to strike it on the iron wheels of the wooden
platform on which Miss Lamb stood. The shiny sword made a clanking
sound, and, hearing this, the bird, instead of fluttering to the
Lamb's back, perched on the porch railing.
"Well, you'd better not come and pull any more wool from my friend,
Miss Lamb!" said the Soldier Captain.
"Oh, please excuse me!" chirped the bird. "Oh, what a mistake I have
made! Why, you are only a _toy_ lamb, aren't you?" he asked the
plaything.
"Of course I am a toy," answered the Lamb on Wheels. "But I can talk
and move around when no human eyes watch me."
"That's just the trouble," said the bird. "I took you for a
_real_ lamb, and that is why I pulled some wool from your back.
I wouldn't have done it for the world if I had known you were a toy!
Please excuse me. I made a mistake."
"Do you mean to say," asked the Bold Tin Soldier, "that you could
pull wool from the back of a real, live lamb?"
"Of course I could!" chirped the bird.
"What for?" asked the Wooden Doll.
"To line my nest with, of course," answered Mr. Bird. "You see I am
helping my wife make a nest. She is going to lay eggs in it and
hatch out baby birds. And we want the nest nice and soft for the
little ones. So, when I saw the woolly Lamb here on the porch, I
flew down to pick some soft stuff from her back. I never thought she
was a _toy_."
"Don't the real lambs mind if you pull wool from their backs?" asked
the Wooden Doll.
"Not at all," was the answer. "The real lambs, down in the green
pasture by the brook, often have loose bits of wool on their backs.
Other birds and I fly down, take off the loose pieces, and line our
nests with them. Sometimes, when I can not get wool, I take the soft
fluffy cotton from the milkweed plant, but I like lambs' fleece the
best. It is so soft and warm for the little birds. But don't worry,
Miss Lamb, I will not bother you again."
"I am sorry I can not let you have more of my wool," went on the
Lamb on Wheels. "But, you see, not being real, my wool is glued fast
to my back, and every time you take some off it pulls. And I can't
grow any more like a real lamb."
"Yes, I know," chirped the bird. "Well, now I will fly to the green
meadow and get some wool from a real lamb. Please forgive me,
friends, for making trouble."
"Oh, that's all right," said the Bold Tin Soldier, putting away his
shiny sword.
So, when the bird had flown away, the three toys were happy together
again--the Bold Tin Soldier Captain, the Lamb on Wheels, and the
Wooden Doll. Then the children came back to have more fun, and the
toys had to be very still and quiet, moving about only as Arnold or
Mirabell moved them.
When supper time came Arnold put his Tin Soldiers back in their box,
and set them away on a shelf in the dark closet. He also put his
wooden cannon there, while Mirabell put her Doll and other toys on
the floor of the closet, as she could not quite reach up to the
shelf.
"Do you think you are going to like it here, Captain?" asked one of
the Tin Soldiers, when the closet door was shut and the toys could
do as they pleased, since no eyes could see them.
"Yes, I think this will be a nice place," was the answer. "Arnold is
going to be kind to us, I can see that."
"Yes, sir, he is a fine boy."
"I shouldn't think you would like being made to fight so often,"
said the Wooden Doll. "Dear me, you seem to do nothing but go into
battle and shoot your guns or draw your swords!"
"That is a soldier's life," said the Captain. "That is what we were
made for, to fight and protect the weak. If ever you need our help,
just call on us, Miss Doll."
The next morning Arnold opened the closet and took out his box of
Tin Soldiers where they stood in their places straight and stiff,
with their Captain at their head.
"What are you going to do, Arnold?" asked Mirabell.
"I'm going over to Dick's house to have some fun," he answered. "I
will let him play with my Soldiers, and he will let me ride on his
White Rocking Horse."
"Oh, then I'm going over and take my Lamb!" exclaimed Mirabell.
"I'll let Dorothy play with her, and maybe she'll let me take her
Sawdust Doll."
"Come on. We'll have lots of fun," said Arnold.
So the children, with their toys, went next door to the house where
Dick and Dorothy lived. Mirabell and Arnold found their friends out
on the lawn, and Dick had his Rocking Horse while Dorothy was
playing with her Sawdust Doll.
"Oh, now we will have some dandy fun!" cried Dick. "Let me see your
new Tin Soldiers, Arnold."
The grass was nice and smooth, and soon the Bold Tin Captain and his
men were set up in rows, just as if they were on parade. Dick took
half the Tin Soldiers and Arnold the other half, and then the little
boys pretended to have a battle, only, of course, no one was hurt.
"May I ride your Rocking Horse?" asked Arnold, presently.
"Of course," answered Dick. "You take a nice, long ride, while I
play with your Soldiers."
And while this was going on Mirabell and Dorothy played with the
Sawdust Doll and the Lamb on Wheels. And how the toys did wish they
were alone, so they could talk to one another! Of course the Sawdust
Doll and the Rocking Horse, living in the same house, saw each other
very often, and at night they could talk and play together. But it
had been some time since either of them had seen the Bold Tin
Soldier and his men, and the Doll and Horse were very anxious to
hear the news from the store.
"Oh, my dear!" whispered the Lamb on Wheels to the Sawdust Doll,
when they had a chance to talk together alone for a moment, which
was when Dorothy and Mirabell went into the house to get some
crackers for a play party, "you have no idea what an exciting story
the Bold Tin Soldier has to tell you!"
"What about?" asked the Sawdust Doll.
"About how he saved the Calico Clown," was the answer. "He'll tell
you about it when he has the chance."
"I shall be glad to hear it," said the Sawdust Doll. "But I hope
nothing serious happened to the Clown."
"No. But it might have," answered the Lamb. "Hush! Here come the
children back. We may not talk any longer."
But a little later on there was a chance for all four of the toys to
talk among themselves. And there was quite an adventure, too, for
the Bold Tin Soldier and the Sawdust Doll.
After they had played for some time, Dorothy and Mirabell and Dick
and Arnold saw Patrick, the gardener, get out the hose.
"Oh, may we sprinkle a little?" cried Dick.
"Yes, please let us squirt some water on the flowers," begged
Dorothy.
"If you'll be very careful not to get wet you may," said Patrick.
Over the lawn ran the four children, leaving their toys on the
grass. And, seeing this, the Bold Tin Soldier said:
"Ah, now we have a chance to do as we please!"
"Then you must please tell me how you saved the Calico Clown,"
begged the Sawdust Doll.
"Shiver my sword!" cried the Soldier, laughing, "have you heard that
story, also? It was nothing--just a little happening. We soldiers
must do our duty, you know."
"Yes, but tell me about it," begged the Doll, and the Captain did.
"My, how brave you are!" said the Sawdust Doll, when he had
finished. "And now tell me about the Candy Rabbit, the Monkey on a
Stick, the Elephant on Roller Skates, and all the others."
"Yes, do tell her," urged the Lamb.
"Yes, I want to hear about the Elephant," said the White Rocking
Horse. "He tried to race with me once. Ha! Ha! That was funny!"
So the Bold Tin Soldier told of the happenings in the toy department
of the store, and the toys were having a good time among themselves
when, all of a sudden, into the yard ran a big dog. He was much
larger than Carlo, the poodle dog that had once carried off the
Sawdust Doll in his mouth.
With a wiff-wuffing bark this dog ran right among the toys who were
talking together.
"Oh dear me!" cried the Sawdust Doll.
"Ha! what is the matter with you?" asked the dog, who was neither
very good nor very polite. "What are you 'oh dearing' about? I guess
I'll just take you home to let my puppies play with you!"
He sprang towards the Sawdust Doll and was just going to pick her up
in his mouth, when the Bold Tin Soldier drew his sword.
"Keep away from my friend, the Sawdust Doll!" cried the Captain.
"Who says so?" barked the big dog.
"I do!" answered the Tin Soldier. "I will save the Sawdust Doll from
being carried away!"