16770	----	The Adventures of two Dutch Dolls and a "Golliwogg" Pictures By [signed] Florence K. Upton Words By Bertha Upton DeWolfe, Fiske & Co. Boston [Illustration] 'Twas on a frosty Christmas Eve When Peggy Deutchland woke From her wooden sleep On the counter steep And to her neighbour spoke, "Get up! get up, dear Sarah Jane! Now strikes the midnight hour, When dolls and toys Taste human joys, And revel in their power. [Illustration] I long to try my limbs a bit, And you must walk with me; Our joints are good Though made of wood, And I pine for liberty. [Illustration] For twelve long months we've lain in here. But we don't care a fig; When wide awake It does not take Us long to dance a jig. [Illustration] But who comes here across our path, In gay attire bedight? A little girl With hair in curl, And eyes so round and bright. [Illustration] Good evening Miss, how fine you look, Beside you I feel bare; I must confess I need a dress If I would look as fair. [Illustration] On that high pole I see a flag With colors red and blue; Dear Sarah Jane 'Tis very plain A climb you'll have to do. [Illustration] You're young and light--so now be quick Dear sister good and kind; You look dismayed Don't be afraid, It's not so hard you'll find. Then up the pole with trembling limbs, Poor Sarah Jane did mount; She dared not lag, But seized the flag, Ere you could twenty count. Big Peggy gazed with deep concern, And mouth wide open too; Her only care That she might wear A gown of brilliant hue. [Illustration] [Illustration] Now Peg' by instinct seemed to know Where scissors might be got; The "fits" were bad, But then she had No patterns on the spot. Soon where the garments hurried on; Sarah looked well in blue; Mirror in hand She took her stand, While Peggy pinned her's through. [Illustration] [Illustration] Said Peggy--"After work so hard, I think a rest we need; Let's take a ride Seated astride Upon this gentle steed." Then simple Sarah Jane climbed up Upon his wooden back; With tim'rous heart She felt him start Upon the open track. [Illustration] Ere long they knew that hidden there, Beneath a stolid mien, Dwelt a fierce will. They could not still They rode as if by steam! [Illustration] Peggy held on with tightening grip, While Sarah Jane behind, Having no hold To make her bold, To screaming gave her mind. "O Peggy! put me down I pray! I ride in mortal dread! Do make him stop, Or I shall drop And break my wooden head!" E'en as those piteous words she spoke, They struck a fearful "snag" Their grips they lost, And both were tossed Upon the cruel "flag". [Illustration] Their senses for a moment gone, They lay in ghastly plight; Their fiery steed From burden freed, Maintained his onward flight. Then each in aching consciousness Rose slowly with sad groans; Next faced about With angry shout, Followed by tears and moans. [Illustration] Each blamed the other for the fall; Until, in gentler mood, Their hurts they dress, While both confess The crying did them good. A wooden crutch poor Peggy finds To help her on her feet; Both solemn-faced Their steps retraced To where they first did meet. [Illustration] But sorrow's tears are quickly dried With dolls as well as men.-- A jolly crowd All laughing loud (I think you'll count just ten.) Mounted a little wooden cart, While Peggy, brave and tried, Got up in front To bear the brunt Of "Hobby's" mighty stride. [Illustration] Finding a pleasant open space, Gay Peg' unships her load; Suggests a game Which, it is plain, Will soon be quite the "mode." She tells of former Christmas nights, When many of her kind, At leap-frog played, And merry made, Fast running like the wind. The happy moments swiftly sped In unabated glee; Their lungs were strong, Their legs were long, And supple at the knee. [Illustration] But soon they hear the clock strike "two" The hours are flying fast! With much to do Ere night be thro' Its' pleasures overpast! "Just one leap more!" cries Sarah Jane, "This fills my wildest dream!" E'en as she spoke, Peg' Deutchland broke Into a piercing scream. Then all look round, as well they may To see a horrid sight! The blackest gnome Stands there alone, They scatter in their fright. With kindly smile he nearer draws; Begs them to feel no fear. "What is your name?" Cries Sarah Jane; "The 'Golliwogg' my dear." Their fears allayed--each takes an arm, While up and down they walk; With sidelong glance Each tries her chance, And charms him with "small talk". [Illustration] Another wonder now attracts The simple Sarah Jane; Upon one knee She drops with glee, In case this box contain Some pretty thing to give her joy, Some new-discovered treat! Old Peg', who planned The fun in hand, Watches with face discreet. [Illustration] The lock unlatched, the lid springs up, Knocks Sarah on her back, With flying hair And trying stare, Out of the box springs "Jack". Our naughty Peg' enjoys the scene, Laughs long with fiendish glee; Next takes to flight, Gets out of sight, Fresh tricks to plan you'll see. [Illustration] Soon Sarah's heart new courage takes, She hits upon a plan; Makes up her mind To run behind And kill the staring man! Attempts are vain, he will not die! In terror Sarah flees; Meets a new toy Called "Scissors Boy", And begs him just to please. [Illustration] To help her pay bad Peggy back For her malicious tricks; Nor does she see That even he Enjoys her woeful "fix". Peg's pious face and peaceful pose You'd think portended fair, When like a flash She makes a dash, Sends Sarah high in air! [Illustration] Entangled in the "Scissors Boy", Alas! death seems quite near; Her trust betrayed, This hapless maid Sobs out her grief and fear. 'Twas Peggy's fault the whole way through; The boy had meant no harm. Both ran away, Nor thought to stay Poor Sarah's fright to calm. [Illustration] A handsome soldier passing by, His heart quite free from guile, With martial air And manner rare Soon helped the girl to smile. He said the Ball would now begin And begged her for a dance; She bowed so low, It looked as tho' Her style had come from France. [Illustration] A lively waltz the couple take, While all admire their grace, As round and round Upon the ground They spin with quickened pace. And shameless Peg' sits on a chair A true "flower of the wall" While Sarah Jane, Tis very plain, Need never rest at all. [Illustration] With graceful compliment the Clown Bows low before the belle, Whose modest face, And simple grace, In starry robe looked well. "I know I'm but a stupid Clown, And play a clumsy role; Yet underneath This painted sheath I wear an ardent Soul." [Illustration] Just then a jovial African With large admiring eyes, Seizes her hand Just as the band To give them a surprise Strikes up the "Barn-dance"; like a flash Both spring into their place! Away they go First quick, then slow, Each movement fraught with grace. [Illustration] The jolly pair then pause to watch A "Magnate" from Japan, Who quite alone So far from home (Poor harmless little man) Dances a curious Eastern dance To many a jingling bell; His brilliant dress, They both confess, Becomes him very well. [Illustration] And now the Ball is at its height, A madly whirling throng; Each merry pair A smile doth wear. And Sambo sings a song. While in their midst the artist head Of "Golliwogg" appears, With Peg beside, Whose graceful stride No criticism fears. [Illustration] But even wooden limbs get tired And want a change of play, So "Golliwogg" A "jolly dog" Suggests they run away. The big shop door is bolted fast, But through the yard behind, Peggy has spied One open wide, Which she will shortly find. [Illustration] [Illustration] A touch--A push--and out they fly Into the starlight night; No one must know The way they go They cover up their flight. And though their laughing faces tell How they enjoy the fun, No sound they make, But quickly take Unto their heels and run. [Illustration] Nor stop until they reach a field, And find a lovely slide; No fear has Peg, But Meg and Weg Cling screaming as they glide. The "Golliwogg" with flying hair, Takes the first lead you see, Nor minds at all The "Midget" small, Her arms outstretched in glee. [Illustration] The sliders never dreamed of harm, They sailed like ships at sea; 'Twas Meg and Weg, Who Tripped up Peg, And brought to grief their spree. The wrong man often gets the blame 'Twas just so in this case, And balls of snow They madly throw At "Golliwogg's" kind face. [Illustration] He catches one in either eye, And then turns tail to run; The steady aim Of Sarah Jane Grows very serious fun. He does not like the way girls act, For five to one's not fair; There's no escape One hits his nape, Another strikes his hair. [Illustration] "Vengeance!" he cries, "I'll pay them out! If girls will play with boys, There's got be Equality, So here's for equipoise!" And then some monster balls he makes, He does not spare the snow And as each back Receives a whack, Like ninepins down they go. In life we have our "ups" and "downs", These dolls enjoyed the same; Though down went Weg, Don't think, I beg, 'Twas due to Sarah Jane. You see the sled was pretty full, The hill was rather steep; Weg was to steer But in her fear She took a backward leap. [Illustration] Anon all reached the valley safe, And skating longed to try; The ice seemed good, As each one stood Upon the bank hard by. While "Golliwogg" with cautious steps, Toward the middle skates; They hear a crack! They cry, "come back To your devoted mates!" [Illustration] Too late! alas their call is vain! He swiftly disappears! His kind forethought Is dearly bought, It melts them unto tears. But sturdy Peg is quick to act, She gives an order clear, "Creep on your knees, And by degrees We to the hole will steer." [Illustration] They reach in time, Peg drags him out With all her might and main; Poor "Golliwogg", A dripping log, Must be got home again. Behold sure signs of early dawn, As down the field they start; A leaden weight, This living freight, With faintly beating heart. [Illustration] In half an hour the sun comes up, And shows a merry face; He winks an eye As passing by He sees the skating place. And when he peeps into the shop With jolly laughing eye, Tho' he's not blind He cannot find A single toy awry! 
11757	----	This eBook is courtesy of the Celebration of Women Writers, online at http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/. THE Velveteen Rabbit OR HOW TOYS BECOME REAL by Margery Williams Illustrations by William Nicholson DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY, INC. Garden City New York _________________________________________________________________ To Francesco Bianco from The Velveteen Rabbit _________________________________________________________________ List of Illustrations Christmas Morning The Skin Horse Tells His Story Spring Time Summer Days Anxious Times The Fairy Flower At Last! At Last! _________________________________________________________________ HERE was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat was spotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his ears were lined with pink sateen. On Christmas morning, when he sat wedged in the top of the Boy's stocking, with a sprig of holly between his paws, the effect was charming. There were other things in the stocking, nuts and oranges and a toy engine, and chocolate almonds and a clockwork mouse, but the Rabbit was quite the best of all. For at least two hours the Boy loved him, and then Aunts and Uncles came to dinner, and there was a great rustling of tissue paper and unwrapping of parcels, and in the excitement of looking at all the new presents the Velveteen Rabbit was forgotten. Christmas Morning For a long time he lived in the toy cupboard or on the nursery floor, and no one thought very much about him. He was naturally shy, and being only made of velveteen, some of the more expensive toys quite snubbed him. The mechanical toys were very superior, and looked down upon every one else; they were full of modern ideas, and pretended they were real. The model boat, who had lived through two seasons and lost most of his paint, caught the tone from them and never missed an opportunity of referring to his rigging in technical terms. The Rabbit could not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn't know that real rabbits existed; he thought they were all stuffed with sawdust like himself, and he understood that sawdust was quite out-of-date and should never be mentioned in modern circles. Even Timothy, the jointed wooden lion, who was made by the disabled soldiers, and should have had broader views, put on airs and pretended he was connected with Government. Between them all the poor little Rabbit was made to feel himself very insignificant and commonplace, and the only person who was kind to him at all was the Skin Horse. The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it. "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real." "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." "I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled. The Skin Horse Tells His Story "The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always." The Rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad. He wished that he could become it without these uncomfortable things happening to him. There was a person called Nana who ruled the nursery. Sometimes she took no notice of the playthings lying about, and sometimes, for no reason whatever, she went swooping about like a great wind and hustled them away in cupboards. She called this "tidying up," and the playthings all hated it, especially the tin ones. The Rabbit didn't mind it so much, for wherever he was thrown he came down soft. One evening, when the Boy was going to bed, he couldn't find the china dog that always slept with him. Nana was in a hurry, and it was too much trouble to hunt for china dogs at bedtime, so she simply looked about her, and seeing that the toy cupboard door stood open, she made a swoop. "Here," she said, "take your old Bunny! He'll do to sleep with you!" And she dragged the Rabbit out by one ear, and put him into the Boy's arms. That night, and for many nights after, the Velveteen Rabbit slept in the Boy's bed. At first he found it rather uncomfortable, for the Boy hugged him very tight, and sometimes he rolled over on him, and sometimes he pushed him so far under the pillow that the Rabbit could scarcely breathe. And he missed, too, those long moonlight hours in the nursery, when all the house was silent, and his talks with the Skin Horse. But very soon he grew to like it, for the Boy used to talk to him, and made nice tunnels for him under the bedclothes that he said were like the burrows the real rabbits lived in. And they had splendid games together, in whispers, when Nana had gone away to her supper and left the night-light burning on the mantelpiece. And when the Boy dropped off to sleep, the Rabbit would snuggle down close under his little warm chin and dream, with the Boy's hands clasped close round him all night long. And so time went on, and the little Rabbit was very happy-so happy that he never noticed how his beautiful velveteen fur was getting shabbier and shabbier, and his tail becoming unsewn, and all the pink rubbed off his nose where the Boy had kissed him. Spring came, and they had long days in the garden, for wherever the Boy went the Rabbit went too. He had rides in the wheelbarrow, and picnics on the grass, and lovely fairy huts built for him under the raspberry canes behind the flower border. And once, when the Boy was called away suddenly to go out to tea, the Rabbit was left out on the lawn until long after dusk, and Nana had to come and look for him with the candle because the Boy couldn't go to sleep unless he was there. He was wet through with the dew and quite earthy from diving into the burrows the Boy had made for him in the flower bed, and Nana grumbled as she rubbed him off with a corner of her apron. Spring Time "You must have your old Bunny!" she said. "Fancy all that fuss for a toy!" The Boy sat up in bed and stretched out his hands. "Give me my Bunny!" he said. "You mustn't say that. He isn't a toy. He's REAL!" When the little Rabbit heard that he was happy, for he knew that what the Skin Horse had said was true at last. The nursery magic had happened to him, and he was a toy no longer. He was Real. The Boy himself had said it. That night he was almost too happy to sleep, and so much love stirred in his little sawdust heart that it almost burst. And into his boot-button eyes, that had long ago lost their polish, there came a look of wisdom and beauty, so that even Nana noticed it next morning when she picked him up, and said, "I declare if that old Bunny hasn't got quite a knowing expression!" That was a wonderful Summer! Near the house where they lived there was a wood, and in the long June evenings the Boy liked to go there after tea to play. He took the Velveteen Rabbit with him, and before he wandered off to pick flowers, or play at brigands among the trees, he always made the Rabbit a little nest somewhere among the bracken, where he would be quite cosy, for he was a kind-hearted little boy and he liked Bunny to be comfortable. One evening, while the Rabbit was lying there alone, watching the ants that ran to and fro between his velvet paws in the grass, he saw two strange beings creep out of the tall bracken near him. They were rabbits like himself, but quite furry and brand-new. They must have been very well made, for their seams didn't show at all, and they changed shape in a queer way when they moved; one minute they were long and thin and the next minute fat and bunchy, instead of always staying the same like he did. Their feet padded softly on the ground, and they crept quite close to him, twitching their noses, while the Rabbit stared hard to see which side the clockwork stuck out, for he knew that people who jump generally have something to wind them up. But he couldn't see it. They were evidently a new kind of rabbit altogether. Summer Days They stared at him, and the little Rabbit stared back. And all the time their noses twitched. "Why don't you get up and play with us?" one of them asked. "I don't feel like it," said the Rabbit, for he didn't want to explain that he had no clockwork. "Ho!" said the furry rabbit. "It's as easy as anything," And he gave a big hop sideways and stood on his hind legs. "I don't believe you can!" he said. "I can!" said the little Rabbit. "I can jump higher than anything!" He meant when the Boy threw him, but of course he didn't want to say so. "Can you hop on your hind legs?" asked the furry rabbit. That was a dreadful question, for the Velveteen Rabbit had no hind legs at all! The back of him was made all in one piece, like a pincushion. He sat still in the bracken, and hoped that the other rabbits wouldn't notice. "I don't want to!" he said again. But the wild rabbits have very sharp eyes. And this one stretched out his neck and looked. "He hasn't got any hind legs!" he called out. "Fancy a rabbit without any hind legs!" And he began to laugh. "I have!" cried the little Rabbit. "I have got hind legs! I am sitting on them!" "Then stretch them out and show me, like this!" said the wild rabbit. And he began to whirl round and dance, till the little Rabbit got quite dizzy. "I don't like dancing," he said. "I'd rather sit still!" But all the while he was longing to dance, for a funny new tickly feeling ran through him, and he felt he would give anything in the world to be able to jump about like these rabbits did. The strange rabbit stopped dancing, and came quite close. He came so close this time that his long whiskers brushed the Velveteen Rabbit's ear, and then he wrinkled his nose suddenly and flattened his ears and jumped backwards. "He doesn't smell right!" he exclaimed. "He isn't a rabbit at all! He isn't real!" "I am Real!" said the little Rabbit. "I am Real! The Boy said so!" And he nearly began to cry. Just then there was a sound of footsteps, and the Boy ran past near them, and with a stamp of feet and a flash of white tails the two strange rabbits disappeared. "Come back and play with me!" called the little Rabbit. "Oh, do come back! I know I am Real!" But there was no answer, only the little ants ran to and fro, and the bracken swayed gently where the two strangers had passed. The Velveteen Rabbit was all alone. "Oh, dear!" he thought. "Why did they run away like that? Why couldn't they stop and talk to me?" For a long time he lay very still, watching the bracken, and hoping that they would come back. But they never returned, and presently the sun sank lower and the little white moths fluttered out, and the Boy came and carried him home. Weeks passed, and the little Rabbit grew very old and shabby, but the Boy loved him just as much. He loved him so hard that he loved all his whiskers off, and the pink lining to his ears turned grey, and his brown spots faded. He even began to lose his shape, and he scarcely looked like a rabbit any more, except to the Boy. To him he was always beautiful, and that was all that the little Rabbit cared about. He didn't mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magic had made him Real, and when you are Real shabbiness doesn't matter. And then, one day, the Boy was ill. His face grew very flushed, and he talked in his sleep, and his little body was so hot that it burned the Rabbit when he held him close. Strange people came and went in the nursery, and a light burned all night and through it all the little Velveteen Rabbit lay there, hidden from sight under the bedclothes, and he never stirred, for he was afraid that if they found him some one might take him away, and he knew that the Boy needed him. It was a long weary time, for the Boy was too ill to play, and the little Rabbit found it rather dull with nothing to do all day long. But he snuggled down patiently, and looked forward to the time when the Boy should be well again, and they would go out in the garden amongst the flowers and the butterflies and play splendid games in the raspberry thicket like they used to. All sorts of delightful things he planned, and while the Boy lay half asleep he crept up close to the pillow and whispered them in his ear. And presently the fever turned, and the Boy got better. He was able to sit up in bed and look at picture-books, while the little Rabbit cuddled close at his side. And one day, they let him get up and dress. It was a bright, sunny morning, and the windows stood wide open. They had carried the Boy out on to the balcony, wrapped in a shawl, and the little Rabbit lay tangled up among the bedclothes, thinking. The Boy was going to the seaside to-morrow. Everything was arranged, and now it only remained to carry out the doctor's orders. They talked about it all, while the little Rabbit lay under the bedclothes, with just his head peeping out, and listened. The room was to be disinfected, and all the books and toys that the Boy had played with in bed must be burnt. "Hurrah!" thought the little Rabbit. "To-morrow we shall go to the seaside!" For the boy had often talked of the seaside, and he wanted very much to see the big waves coming in, and the tiny crabs, and the sand castles. Just then Nana caught sight of him. "How about his old Bunny?" she asked. "That?" said the doctor. "Why, it's a mass of scarlet fever germs!-Burn it at once. What? Nonsense! Get him a new one. He mustn't have that any more!" Anxious Times And so the little Rabbit was put into a sack with the old picture-books and a lot of rubbish, and carried out to the end of the garden behind the fowl-house. That was a fine place to make a bonfire, only the gardener was too busy just then to attend to it. He had the potatoes to dig and the green peas to gather, but next morning he promised to come quite early and burn the whole lot. That night the Boy slept in a different bedroom, and he had a new bunny to sleep with him. It was a splendid bunny, all white plush with real glass eyes, but the Boy was too excited to care very much about it. For to-morrow he was going to the seaside, and that in itself was such a wonderful thing that he could think of nothing else. And while the Boy was asleep, dreaming of the seaside, the little Rabbit lay among the old picture-books in the corner behind the fowl-house, and he felt very lonely. The sack had been left untied, and so by wriggling a bit he was able to get his head through the opening and look out. He was shivering a little, for he had always been used to sleeping in a proper bed, and by this time his coat had worn so thin and threadbare from hugging that it was no longer any protection to him. Near by he could see the thicket of raspberry canes, growing tall and close like a tropical jungle, in whose shadow he had played with the Boy on bygone mornings. He thought of those long sunlit hours in the garden-how happy they were-and a great sadness came over him. He seemed to see them all pass before him, each more beautiful than the other, the fairy huts in the flower-bed, the quiet evenings in the wood when he lay in the bracken and the little ants ran over his paws; the wonderful day when he first knew that he was Real. He thought of the Skin Horse, so wise and gentle, and all that he had told him. Of what use was it to be loved and lose one's beauty and become Real if it all ended like this? And a tear, a real tear, trickled down his little shabby velvet nose and fell to the ground. And then a strange thing happened. For where the tear had fallen a flower grew out of the ground, a mysterious flower, not at all like any that grew in the garden. It had slender green leaves the colour of emeralds, and in the centre of the leaves a blossom like a golden cup. It was so beautiful that the little Rabbit forgot to cry, and just lay there watching it. And presently the blossom opened, and out of it there stepped a fairy. She was quite the loveliest fairy in the whole world. Her dress was of pearl and dew-drops, and there were flowers round her neck and in her hair, and her face was like the most perfect flower of all. And she came close to the little Rabbit and gathered him up in her arms and kissed him on his velveteen nose that was all damp from crying. "Little Rabbit," she said, "don't you know who I am?" The Rabbit looked up at her, and it seemed to him that he had seen her face before, but he couldn't think where. "I am the nursery magic Fairy," she said. "I take care of all the playthings that the children have loved. When they are old and worn out and the children don't need them any more, then I come and take them away with me and turn them into Real." "Wasn't I Real before?" asked the little Rabbit. "You were Real to the Boy," the Fairy said, "because he loved you. Now you shall be Real to every one." The Fairy Flower And she held the little Rabbit close in her arms and flew with him into the wood. It was light now, for the moon had risen. All the forest was beautiful, and the fronds of the bracken shone like frosted silver. In the open glade between the tree-trunks the wild rabbits danced with their shadows on the velvet grass, but when they saw the Fairy they all stopped dancing and stood round in a ring to stare at her. "I've brought you a new playfellow," the Fairy said. "You must be very kind to him and teach him all he needs to know in Rabbit-land, for he is going to live with you for ever and ever!" And she kissed the little Rabbit again and put him down on the grass. "Run and play, little Rabbit!" she said. But the little Rabbit sat quite still for a moment and never moved. For when he saw all the wild rabbits dancing around him he suddenly remembered about his hind legs, and he didn't want them to see that he was made all in one piece. He did not know that when the Fairy kissed him that last time she had changed him altogether. And he might have sat there a long time, too shy to move, if just then something hadn't tickled his nose, and before he thought what he was doing he lifted his hind toe to scratch it. And he found that he actually had hind legs! Instead of dingy velveteen he had brown fur, soft and shiny, his ears twitched by themselves, and his whiskers were so long that they brushed the grass. He gave one leap and the joy of using those hind legs was so great that he went springing about the turf on them, jumping sideways and whirling round as the others did, and he grew so excited that when at last he did stop to look for the Fairy she had gone. He was a Real Rabbit at last, at home with the other rabbits. At Last! At Last! Autumn passed and Winter, and in the Spring, when the days grew warm and sunny, the Boy went out to play in the wood behind the house. And while he was playing, two rabbits crept out from the bracken and peeped at him. One of them was brown all over, but the other had strange markings under his fur, as though long ago he had been spotted, and the spots still showed through. And about his little soft nose and his round black eyes there was something familiar, so that the Boy thought to himself: "Why, he looks just like my old Bunny that was lost when I had scarlet fever!" But he never knew that it really was his own Bunny, come back to look at the child who had first helped him to be Real. 
17276	----	[Illustration: Candy Rabbit Looks Into the Large Egg. _Frontispiece_--(_Page_ 2)] _MAKE BELIEVE STORIES_ (Trademark Registered) THE STORY OF A CANDY RABBIT BY LAURA LEE HOPE AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF A SAWDUST DOLL," "THE STORY OF A BOLD TIN SOLDIER," "THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES," "THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES," "THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES," 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 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 BUNNY BROWN SERIES= =THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES= =THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES= GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP THE STORY OF A CANDY RABBIT CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I IS HE IN FAIRYLAND? 1 II THE RABBIT'S NEW HOME 13 III THE BAD CAT 27 IV UP IN THE AIR 38 V THE ORGAN GRINDER 50 VI THE PEDDLER'S BASKET 65 VII IN THE BATHTUB 74 VIII IN A WHEELBARROW 84 IX AT THE PARTY 94 X IN A BOY'S POCKET 107 THE STORY OF A CANDY RABBIT CHAPTER I IS HE IN FAIRYLAND? The Candy Rabbit sat up on his hind legs and looked around. Then he rubbed his pink glass eyes with his front paws. He rubbed his eyes once, he rubbed them twice, he rubbed them three times. "No, I am not asleep! I am not dreaming," said the Candy Rabbit, speaking to himself in a low voice. "I am wide awake, but what strange things I see! I wonder what it all means!" On one side of the Candy Rabbit was a large egg. It was larger than any egg the Candy Rabbit had ever seen, and there was a little glass window in one end of the egg. "This is very strange," said the sweet chap, rubbing his eyes again. "Who ever heard of an egg with a window in it? I wonder if any one lives in that egg? It is not large enough for a house, of course; but still, some very little folk might stay in it. I'll take a look through that window." The Candy Rabbit gave three hops and stood closer to the large egg. It glittered and sparkled in the light as newly fallen snow glitters under the moon. The Candy Rabbit looked in through the glass window, and what he saw inside the egg made him wonder more and more. For he saw a church and some houses, a path leading over a little brook of water, and on the bank of the brook stood a little boy fishing. "Well, I do declare!" exclaimed the Candy Rabbit. "Think of all those things inside an egg--a church, a house and a little boy! I wonder what has happened to me! Yesterday I was on the toy counter, with the Calico Clown and the Monkey on a Stick, and to-day I seem to be in Fairyland. I wonder if this really is Fairyland? I guess I'd better look around some more." He glanced again through the little glass window in the egg, and he thought he saw the little boy on the bank of the brook smiling at him. And the Candy Rabbit smiled back. Then the Bunny turned around and he saw, near him, a big chocolate egg. It was covered with twists and curlicues of sugar and candy, and in the end of this egg, also, was a glass window. "Well, this certainly is surprising!" exclaimed the Candy Rabbit. "I wonder what I can see through that window!" He looked and saw a little duck and a little chicken inside the chocolate egg. The little chicken was on one end of a small seesaw, and the little duck was on the other end. And as the Candy Rabbit looked through the glass window, he saw the seesaw begin to go up and down. The Candy Rabbit shook his head. Once more he rubbed his paws over his pink glass eyes. "I have heard of many strange things," he said to himself. "The Sawdust Doll told some of her queer adventures, and so did the White Rocking Horse and the Bold Tin Soldier. But never, in all my life, did I ever see a chocolate egg with a glass window and a little chicken and a duck inside seesawing and teeter-tautering! I think I had better go to the doctor's, something must be the matter with me!" "What's the matter with you?" suddenly asked a voice behind the Candy Rabbit. The sweet chap turned so quickly that he almost cracked one of his sugary ears. He saw, just back of him, a real fuzzy, furry rabbit. At least the rabbit seemed real, for his ears slowly moved backward and forward, his head turned from side to side, and, every now and then, he would rise on his hind legs and then crouch down again. "What's the matter with you?" asked this Fuzzy Bunny of the Candy Rabbit. "I--I really don't know what is the matter," was the answer. "You seem to be all right," went on the other rabbit, as he slowly turned his head and bobbed up and down. "Yes, I seem to be," said the Candy Rabbit, feeling his head and body as far as he could reach, as if to make sure no part of him was broken, or lost, or out of place. "But can you tell me this?" he asked. "A little while ago I was on the toy counter of this store with the Calico Clown and the Monkey on a Stick. And now I seem to be in Fairyland. Tell me, am I dreaming, or is this really Fairyland, where eggs have windows in them and hold little chickens and ducks who seesaw?" The other Rabbit smiled, and kept on bobbing up and down, waving his ears and turning his head from side to side. "Oh, please stop that and answer me if you can," begged the Candy Rabbit, in rather a sharp voice. "Why do you do that?" "I have to," was the answer. "I have to keep on doing this until I run down." "Run down where?" asked the Candy Rabbit. "I mean until the clock-work inside me runs down," explained the Fuzzy Rabbit. "You see, I am wound up, and when I am wound I have to rise up and stoop down on my hind legs. I have to twist my head and wiggle my ears. I'll go on this way for half an hour more. But don't let that bother you. I can still talk, and I'm glad you're here. You're some company. These eggs never say anything," and with his ears he pointed to the chocolate one and the glittery one, each of which had glass windows. "Ask him how he likes it here," suggested a voice on the other side of the Candy Rabbit. Turning, he saw a big chocolate chap, almost like himself, except that this Rabbit was very dark in color. The Chocolate Rabbit waved his ears in a kind way at the Candy Bunny, and went on: "How do you like it here?" The Candy Rabbit gave another look around, and the more he looked the more certain he was that he was in Fairyland. Over at one end of what seemed to be a table he saw a little chicken harnessed to a tiny wagon, made from what appeared to be an egg shell, and a little doll sat in the egg-shell carriage, driving the chicken with little silk ribbon horse reins. Turning around, so that he might not miss anything, the sweet fellow saw a large basket of flowers, and, nestled in among the blossoms, were some Candy Rabbits like himself, only smaller. Over in one corner were piled some cards, with pretty pictures on them, and near them was a small basket, filled with what seemed to be green grass, in which were hidden many small candy eggs. "Yes, this surely must be Fairyland, and I know I shall like it here," said the Candy Rabbit, speaking half aloud. "But how did I get here, and where are the Calico Clown and the Monkey on a Stick?" "Oh, they are not so far away," answered the Fuzzy Rabbit. "And you are not really in Fairyland, though this does seem like it, I suppose," and his eyes roved over the gay and pretty scene. "Then where am I?" asked the Candy Rabbit again. "If this isn't Fairyland, where am I?" The Chocolate Rabbit grinned. "You are on the Easter Novelty Counter," was the Fuzzy Rabbit's answer. "Where in the world is that?" asked the Candy Rabbit. "Is it anywhere near the North Pole Workshop of Santa Claus?" The Chocolate Rabbit gave a loud laugh. "He doesn't even know his own store," said this dark-complexioned chap. "Why, my dear fellow," he went on, "the Easter Novelty Counter is just around the corner from the toy section, where you have lived so long. The Calico Clown, the Monkey on a Stick and the other friends you speak of are there. You are not very far away from them." "That's good," said the Candy Rabbit. "But why am I on the Easter Novelty Counter, and how did I get here?" "You were put here because this is Easter time," answered the Chocolate Rabbit. "But I don't remember coming here," said the Candy Rabbit. "No," said the Fuzzy Rabbit with the clock-work inside him, which made him turn about and bow, "I dare say not. You were asleep when one of the girl clerks from your counter brought you over here. But we are glad to have you among us." Just then it began to get light, for all this talk had taken place in the night, when only a dim light burned in the toy store. And with the coming of morning the clerks arrived, and also the customers to buy Easter novelties and other things. The Fuzzy Rabbit stopped waving his ears and became quiet. The Candy Rabbit no longer talked to the Chocolate Bunny. A girl clerk led a lady, in a warm fur coat, over toward the counter. "Here are some fine Easter presents," said the girl. "We have rabbits of all kinds." "I want a large one for a little girl," said the lady. "I promised to send Madeline a nice Bunny." And then the Candy Rabbit felt himself being picked up and looked at. "Oh, I wonder what is going to happen?" he thought. The lady in the fur cloak turned the Candy Rabbit around and around, and even upside down, looking carefully at him. CHAPTER II THE RABBIT'S NEW HOME "Goodness me!" said the sweet chap to himself, as the lady swung him to one side so she might look at his eyes better. "This is worse than being on a merry-go-round! I am feeling quite dizzy! I hope I am not going to be seasick, as the Lamb on Wheels thought she was going to be when the sailor bought her." But the Candy Rabbit was not made ill. The lady stopped turning him around and around and said to the girl clerk: "This Rabbit seems to be just what I want for an Easter present. I'll take him." "Shall I send it or will you take it with you?" asked the clerk. "Ill take it," the lady answered. "A Candy Rabbit is not very hard to carry." She handed him back to the clerk, but something happened. Whether the clerk did not take a good hold of the Candy Rabbit, or whether the lady let go of him too soon, I don't know. But, all of a sudden, the Candy Rabbit slipped from the lady's hand and began falling. Straight toward the floor he fell! "Oh!" he thought, "if I fall to the hard floor I shall certainly be smashed, and then I shall be of no use as an Easter present. All I'll be good for will be to be eaten, like any other piece of candy! Oh, dear, this is dreadful!" Faster and faster, nearer and nearer to the floor fell the Candy Rabbit, and, while the customer and the clerk looked, it seemed certain that he must be broken all to bits. But listen! The toy counter was not far away from the one where the Candy Rabbit and other Easter novelties were displayed. And on the counter were the Calico Clown and the Monkey on a Stick, besides a Jumping Jack. Now whether one of these toys pushed it off the counter I cannot say; all I know is that a big, soft, rubber ball suddenly fell to the floor from the toy counter, rolled along and came to a stop just at the very place where the Candy Rabbit was falling. And what did the Candy Rabbit do but fall on the soft, rubber ball! Right down on the squidgy-squdgy ball toppled the sweet chap, and it was like falling on a feather bed. The Candy Rabbit was not hurt a bit, but just bounced straight up, almost as far as he had fallen down, and the girl clerk caught him in her hands. "Oh, I'm so glad he wasn't broken!" she exclaimed. "So am I!" said the lady. "How remarkable! The rubber ball rolled along just in time. If every time any one or anything fell a rubber ball would happen along it would be very nice, wouldn't it?" "Indeed it would," answered the girl clerk. And, mind you, I'm not saying that the Calico Clown or the Monkey on a Stick pushed the rubber ball off the toy counter so that it rolled over in time for the Candy Rabbit to fall on it. I am not saying that for sure, but it might have happened. "I'd better wrap this Rabbit up before anything else happens to him," said the clerk, with a laugh. "Please do," begged the lady. As for the Candy Rabbit, his little sugar heart was beating very fast because of the fright he had got when he thought he was going to be broken to bits. But of course neither the lady nor the girl knew this. They just thought he was made of sugar, and nothing else. The girl quickly wrapped the Rabbit up in some sheets of soft tissue paper, and some padding made of curled wood, called excelsior. Some of the curled wood got in the Rabbit's ear and tickled him and made him smile. "Well, now I am going on a journey," said the Candy Rabbit to himself, as he felt the lady carrying him out of the store. "I wish I had time to say good-bye to my new friends on the Easter counter, and to the Calico Clown and the Monkey on a Stick. But perhaps I shall see them again, and maybe I shall meet the Sawdust Doll or the Bold Tin Soldier." Just what happened, while he was wrapped in the store bundle, of course the Candy Rabbit did not know, but he felt that he was being taken on quite a journey. And indeed he was, for the lady who had bought him for an Easter present rode home with him in an automobile, and once, in the street, the fire engines came along and the automobile had to hurry to get out of the way. All that the Candy Rabbit could hear was a great noise, a rumble, a clang, a ringing of bells, and much shouting. Then the automobile went on again, and soon stopped. The Candy Rabbit felt himself being lifted from the seat of the automobile, and, still in his bundle, he was carried toward a house. He did not know it at the time, but it was to be a new home for him. Mirabell's mother, who was Madeline's Aunt Emma, was the lady who had bought the Candy Rabbit. "Here is Madeline's Easter present that I promised her," said Mirabell's mother, handing the wrapped-up Bunny to Madeline's mother. "And there are some eggs in a basket for Herbert. Hide them away from the children until to-morrow." "I will," said Madeline's mother, and then she carried the bundles into the house, while Mirabell's mother went on home in her automobile. "Oh, Mother! What have you?" cried the voice of a little girl, as the lady entered the house with the bundle in which the Candy Rabbit was wrapped. "Is it something good to eat?" asked a boy's voice. "Now, Herbert and Madeline, you must not ask too many questions," said their mother, with a laugh. "This isn't exactly Christmas, you know, but it will soon be Easter, and----" "Oh, I know what it is!" cried the little girl, whose name was Madeline. "It's the eggs and baskets we have to hunt for on Easter morning, Herbert! Oh, what fun!" "Hurray!" cried Herbert. "I wish it were Easter now." "It soon will be," said his mother, and then she put away the Candy Rabbit where the children could not find him. And the place where she put him was in a closet in her room. She took the curled wood and the paper wrappings from the Rabbit, and set him on a shelf. At first it was so dark in the closet that the Candy Rabbit could see nothing. But he knew he would soon get used to this. Then, as his eyes began to see better and better in the dark, as all rabbits can, he smelled something he liked very much. "It's just like the perfume counter in the store," said the Rabbit, speaking out loud, which he could do now, as there were no human eyes to see him. "It's just like perfume!" "It _is_ perfume!" a voice suddenly said, and the Candy Rabbit was very much surprised. "Who are you?" he asked. And then he saw, standing on the shelf near him, what seemed to be a little doll made of glass. On her head was a funny little cap, ending in a point, like the cap a dunce wears in school in the story books, and as the Candy Rabbit hopped nearer this Glass Doll the sweet smell of perfume became stronger. "Where is all the nice smell?" asked the Candy Rabbit. "I am it," answered the Glass Doll. "I am made hollow, and inside I am filled with perfume. There is a hole in the top of my head and up through my pointed cap, and whenever the lady stands me on my head and jiggles me up and down some perfume spills out on her handkerchief." "Stands you on your head!" cried the Candy Rabbit. "I shouldn't think you would like that!" "Oh, well, I'm used to it by this time," said the Glass Doll. "But tell me, who are you, and what are you doing here?" "I am a Candy Rabbit, and I guess I am going to be an Easter present," was the answer. And, surely enough, he was. Later that night Madeline's mother opened the closet door. The Candy Rabbit saw her take down the Glass Doll, tip her upside down and sprinkle a little perfume on her fingers, which she rubbed on her hair. "And now we shall hide the Easter baskets, so Madeline and Herbert may hunt for them and find them to-morrow morning," said the lady. "I must hide this Rabbit extra well, so Madeline will have a lot of fun searching for him." "Put him behind the piano," said a man. He was the children's father. "I will," said Mother, and that is where the Candy Rabbit was hidden. Near him was placed a little basket filled with Easter eggs. Some of them were made of candy, and others were like those in the store--filled with pretty scenes. "Those are the places I thought were Fairyland," said the Candy Rabbit to himself, as he looked at the basket of eggs. "I wish some Chicken or Duck were here for me to talk to. Eggs can't say very much." And of course that was true. Not until an egg turns into a chicken can it move about and say things by cackling--or crowing, if it's a rooster instead of a hen. "I suppose I might hop around the room and find some one to talk to," thought the Candy Rabbit to himself, when he noticed that he was left alone behind the piano with the basket of eggs. "But perhaps it would be better to wait, since I am a stranger here." So the Candy Rabbit kept very still and quiet all night, and in the morning it was Easter Sunday. Herbert and Madeline were up early, for it was one of the joys of their lives to hunt for Easter eggs. Eagerly they ran about the rooms, looking under chairs, on mantels, behind the phonograph and beneath the sofa. "Oh, I've found one basket!" cried Herbert, as he saw a large one, filled with green curled wood and eggs, under the library table. "And I've found another!" shouted Madeline, as, after rather a long search, she looked behind the piano. "I've found a basket and--and--Oh, Herbert! look what a lovely Candy Rabbit. Oh, I'm so glad!" and the little girl picked up the Candy Rabbit and fairly hugged him. The Candy Rabbit was very happy. He had now found some one to love him--some one to whom he could belong, as the Sawdust Doll belonged to the little girl Dorothy. As Madeline took up her Easter basket and the Rabbit, Herbert, who was eating some of his candy eggs, called: "Here come Dorothy and Dick over to show us their Easter baskets." "And I'm going to show Dorothy my Candy Rabbit!" cried Madeline. Running to the window, Madeline held up the Rabbit, and he, looking out of his glass eyes, saw a sight that gladdened his heart. In Dorothy's arms was the Sawdust Doll--the same Sawdust Doll who had lived in the store whence the Candy Rabbit had come. As Dorothy and Dick came laughing into the room where Madeline and Herbert were, the children called to one another: "Happy Easter! Happy Easter!" CHAPTER III THE BAD CAT "What a pretty Candy Rabbit!" said Dorothy to Madeline. "Where did you get him?" "He's one of my Easter presents," answered Madeline. "Herbert and I have just finished hunting for our baskets." "Did you find them all, and all the eggs?" inquired Dick. "Dorothy and I got up early to hunt for ours." "I think I found every one," replied Herbert. "But last year, I remember, I missed one big candy egg, and I didn't find it until a week later." The children showed each other their holiday presents, and the Candy Rabbit was much admired. Dorothy and Dick took him up in their hands so they might see him better. "Goodness! I hope they don't drop me," thought the Rabbit. "There isn't any rubber ball here for me to fall on, as there was in the store. I certainly hope they don't drop me!" But Dorothy and Dick were very careful, and, after they had looked at and admired the Rabbit, he was put down on a chair not far from Dorothy's Sawdust Doll. The Candy Rabbit kept wishing that the children would go out of the room for a while, so he might talk to the Doll, whom he had not seen for a long time. And, after a while, Madeline's mother called the children to show them an Easter present which she had received. Out of the room trooped the four children, leaving the Candy Rabbit and the Sawdust Doll together, with no one to watch what they said or did. "Now I have a chance to talk to you!" exclaimed the Sawdust Doll. "I've just been waiting to ask how all my friends are at the toy store. And how are you? How did you get here? Do you like living in a house with children more than in the store? Tell me all about it!" "Goodness!" laughed the Candy Rabbit. "You talk as fast as a phonograph Doll when she has been wound up tight." "Well, we'll have to talk fast if we want to tell each other anything before those children get back," said the Sawdust Doll. "Now you tell me your adventures, and then I'll tell you mine." The two toy friends talked for some time, the Candy Rabbit relating the latest news of the toy store, and the Sawdust Doll speaking of the nice home she had with Dorothy, and how kind Dick was to the White Rocking Horse. Then the Rabbit wanted to know about the Lamb on Wheels and the Bold Tin Soldier, and, as the Sawdust Doll had heard from them lately, she told some of their adventures. "I do wish I could see the Calico Clown and the Monkey on a Stick once more," sighed the Sawdust Doll. "They were certainly the jolliest toys I ever knew." "Yes, they were," agreed the Candy Rabbit. "And I don't believe the Clown has yet found any one to answer his riddle about what makes more noise than a pig under a gate." "Hush! Here come the children!" exclaimed the Sawdust Doll in a low voice. Madeline and Herbert, Dorothy and Dick, having seen the present Madeline's mother had received, had come back into the room again. "What shall we do now?" asked Madeline. "Let's play with your Rabbit and my Doll," suggested Dorothy. Madeline thought this would be nice, but as Dick did not care much about such fun he said he and Herbert would go back home and get out his Rocking Horse. "And I'll get Arnold and his Tin Soldiers and we'll have some fun," he added. "Come on, Herb." "If you see Mirabell, send her over here to play with us," called Dorothy to her brother, and Dick said he would do so. "Tell her to bring her Lamb on Wheels," she added. The two little girls had good times playing with the Sawdust Doll and the Candy Rabbit, and, after a while, Madeline's mother brought in a plate of cookies for the little girls to eat. "We'll have a play party," said Madeline. "I'll set my Candy Rabbit up here on the goldfish stand where he can watch us, for he can't eat anything, you know." "And I'll set my Sawdust Doll over in this chair where she can see us," said Dorothy. "My Doll can eat make-believe things when I have a play party, but we won't pretend that now. We'll just eat the cookies ourselves." "Yes," agreed Madeline. So she put her Candy Rabbit on the goldfish stand. This was a round table on which stood a bowl of real, live goldfish. The fish swam around in the water, and now and then they stopped swimming to look out through the glass with their big, round eyes. The top of the goldfish globe was open, and sometimes Madeline was allowed to feed the fish when her mother stood by. The fish ate tiny bits of biscuit bought for them at the fish, bird and dog store. Dorothy's Sawdust Doll was propped up in a chair not far from the goldfish. Then the two little girls began to eat the cookies. While this was going on a bad cat had sneaked into the room. The cat was a big fellow, and he often got into mischief. He sometimes chased birds, and, more than once, Patrick, the gardener at Dick and Dorothy's house, had driven him away from the coops where the little chickens lived with the old hen. "Goodness, I hope that cat isn't after me!" thought the Candy Rabbit. "Mercy! I hope the cat doesn't carry me off, the way the dog Carlo once did," thought the Sawdust Doll. But the bad cat was paying no attention to either the Doll or the Rabbit. The cat's eyes were on the live goldfish in the glass bowl, and, when I tell you that cats are very fond of fish, you can guess what is going to happen. With a quick, silent spring, making no noise on his soft, padded paws, the cat first jumped into the chair beside the Sawdust Doll. "Oh, dear me, he certainly is going to carry me off!" thought the Doll. "I wish I dared scream!" But the cat was not after the Doll. With another jump Tom landed on the table beside the bowl of goldfish. "Goodness sakes alive! my time has come," thought the poor frightened Candy Rabbit. "The cat is going to eat me!" But Tom was not after a Candy Rabbit. His greedy eyes were on the swimming goldfish in the open glass bowl. Dorothy and Madeline sat with their backs to the little table on which stood the bowl of fish and the Candy Rabbit. The little girls were busy talking. All of a sudden Tom stood up on his hind legs and put his forepaws on the edge of the bowl. As he did this the fish began swimming around swiftly, very much frightened, indeed, just as you may have seen a canary bird flutter in a cage when some cat came too close. "Oh, he isn't after me--he's after the fish!" thought the Candy Rabbit. "Oh, the poor fish! I wish I could save them!" Tom was switching his tail to and fro, as cats always do when they are about to catch a bird, a fish or anything alive. The fish were swimming about faster and faster inside their bowl of water. They could make no noise. Some fish, such as catfish, can make a little sound out of water, and so can the fish called grunters, but I never heard of any other fish making any noise. Though of course they may be able to talk among themselves, for all I know. Standing with his forepaws on the edge of the glass bowl, Tom dipped one paw down toward the water to get a fish. His tail kept on switching to and fro, and, all at once, it switched against the Candy Rabbit and tilted the Bunny over toward the glass bowl. "Tinkle-tinkle! Tink!" went the hard ears of the Candy Rabbit against the glass, making a noise like the ringing of a little bell. "What's that?" suddenly cried Madeline, turning from the table where she sat with Dorothy eating cookies. Dorothy also turned and looked. The two little girls saw Tom up on the goldfish table. "Oh, you bad cat, get down from there!" cried Madeline, and she looked for something to throw at Tom. "Get away from our fish!" she cried. The cat paused a moment, and then, seeing he would be caught if he tried to get a fish, down he jumped, with a last, angry switch of his tail at the Candy Rabbit. "That was all your fault!" hissed the cat to the Bunny in a whisper. "If you hadn't made a noise they wouldn't have seen me. I'll fix you for that, Mr. Candy Rabbit!" CHAPTER IV UP IN THE AIR Madeline and Dorothy were so surprised at first at seeing the bad cat in the room that they did not know what to do, except that Madeline called "Scat!" to him. But when the cat jumped down and started to run out of the room, the little girls began to talk very fast. "Oh, wasn't he a bold thing!" cried Madeline. "Did he get any of your goldfish?" Dorothy asked. She and Madeline hurried over to the bowl and counted the swimming fishes. "No, there are five there, and that's all we had," said Madeline. "The naughty cat didn't get any." "What do you suppose made that noise like the ringing of a bell?" asked Dorothy. "It was the Candy Rabbit," answered Madeline. "Look! He fell over against the glass bowl, and, lots of times, when I've been feeding the fish and have struck the bowl, it has rung like a bell. The Candy Rabbit did that, and that's what made me look around." "Wouldn't it have been funny if the Rabbit had made the bowl tinkle all by himself?" asked Dorothy, with a laugh. "Yes. But he couldn't," said Madeline. And, now I come to think of it, maybe the Candy Rabbit did topple over by himself, to strike against the bowl and so cause Dorothy and Madeline to turn around in time to stop the bad cat from getting the goldfish. Mind you, I am not saying for sure that this happened. The cat's tail certainly brushed against the Candy Rabbit, but the sweet chap may have tinkled against the glass globe himself. He surely wanted to save the fish from being eaten. During the rest of Easter Sunday the children played quietly with their toys. Mirabell and Arnold, the other little boy and girl, came over to Madeline's house with their gifts and every one had a happy time. The Candy Rabbit was looked at over and over again, but, though he liked this and was glad and happy he had come to live with Madeline, yet he could not help worrying about what the cat had said. "I wonder if a cat can do anything to me," thought the sweet chap, over and over again. "I must be on the watch. He may try to sneak in again." But, as the days passed and nothing happened, the Candy Rabbit did not worry so much, nor think so much about it. He saw nothing more of the cat. Madeline took very good care of her Candy Rabbit. She got a piece of pink ribbon and tied it around her Easter toy's neck, making him look very pretty. "Now I am as stylish as Dorothy's Sawdust Doll, who has a blue ribbon on her hair," thought the Candy Rabbit. And because of that very same pink ribbon something dreadful happened a few days later. I will tell you about it. After Easter the weather gradually became warmer and sunnier. Doors and windows could be left open, and the flowers in the yard began to blossom. One day the Candy Rabbit was placed by Madeline on a chair in the dining room, near the bowl of goldfish on their little round table. The Sawdust Doll was not in the room, for Dorothy had her toy out in her own yard playing. The Candy Rabbit was lonesome, for he did not know how to talk to the goldfish. All of a sudden, in through the open window, jumped the same bad cat that had been there before. His tail was lashing to and fro, and his whiskers were wiggling up and down. "Meow!" said the cat. "Oh, dear, here he is again!" said the Candy Rabbit, and, being able, as all toys are, to speak and understand animal language, the Candy Rabbit went on: "Have you come to try to catch a goldfish, Mr. Tom?" [Illustration: "It Was Not My Fault," Said Candy Rabbit. _Page_ 43] "Not now!" was the snarling answer. "I came to pay you back, as I said I would! Only for your toppling over and making the glass globe tinkle, I would have had a goldfish before this. It's all your fault, and I'm going to pay you back!" "It was not my fault!" said the Rabbit. "You knocked me over yourself with your switching tail. But if I could have stopped you in any other way from getting a goldfish, I would have done it." "Ha! So that's the way you feel about it, is it?" growled the cat. "Well, I'm going to fix you!" "How?" asked the Candy Rabbit, wondering what was going to happen. "What are you going to do?" "I'm going to carry you off to the fields and lose you in the tall grass," was the answer. "Then the next time I want to catch a goldfish you will not give the alarm." "Oh, please don't take me away!" begged the Candy Rabbit. "Yes, I will!" said the cat. "I'll carry you away by that pink ribbon around your neck." All of a sudden, before the Candy Rabbit could hop out of the way, the bad cat sprang across the room and caught in his teeth the end of the pink ribbon that was around the neck of the Candy Easter toy. "Stop it! Stop! Please let me go!" cried the Candy Rabbit. "I'll fix you!" was all the cat answered. Then, carrying the Candy Rabbit in his mouth by means of the ribbon, the bad cat sprang out of the window again and was soon trotting through the tall grass of the lots near the house where Madeline lived. The grass swished and swashed against the legs and ears of the Candy Rabbit as the cat carried him along. The Rabbit was not hurt any, because the ribbon was not tied very tightly about his neck. And of course the cat's teeth did not touch him. But, for all that, the Candy Rabbit was very angry and somewhat alarmed. "What are you going to do with me?" he asked the cat. "You'll see!" was the answer. "I'm going to fix you for spoiling my chance of getting a goldfish dinner! I'm going to lose you, and then I'll go back and get a fish." Carrying the Candy Rabbit a little way farther into the tall grass, the cat suddenly let go of the ribbon. The Rabbit fell down, but as the grass was soft, like a cushion, he was not hurt. He gave a little grunt as he fell down. "Now you stay here a while and see how you like it," said the bad cat, and away he trotted, hoping to get a meal of goldfish this time. And there came to the poor Candy Rabbit from the distance the sound of the Cat's voice as he laughed, "Ha-ha," and snarled, "I've fixed _you_ all right! Ha-ha!" "Dear me!" thought the poor Candy Rabbit, "I wonder what will happen to me. I must try to get out of here. I can hop, as long as no human eyes see me. Maybe I can get back in time to warn the goldfish of their danger." The Rabbit tried to hop, but, being made of candy as he was, with rather stiff legs that were not very long, he could not go very fast. And when he had made a few hops he was very tired. "Dear me! I shall have to stay here forever, perhaps," he sighed. "And, if it rains and I get wet, I'll melt and there will be nothing left of me! Oh, what trouble I am in!" The Candy Rabbit crouched down in the grass, and pretty soon he heard some voices talking. He knew they were the voices of boys, and, in a little while, he heard one say: "Now, Herbert, you hold the kite and I'll run with it." "All right, Dick," said some one else. "I hope it flies away up high in the air." "I'll keep the tail clear of the weeds," said another boy. "That's the way, Dick," said the first boy. The Candy Rabbit, down in the grass, heard this. "They must be Dick, Herbert and Arnold," he thought. "They have come here to fly their kite. I hope they find me and take me home in time to save the goldfish from the cat." There was more talk and laughter among the boys, but the Candy Rabbit could not see what they were doing. All at once, though, one boy said. "The tail of the kite is not heavy enough. We've got to tie something to it. And, oh, here is the very thing!" he went on. "We'll give him a ride up in the air!" "Give who a ride?" asked Dick, for it was Herbert who had spoken. "Give Madeline's Candy Rabbit a ride on the end of the kite tail," went on Herbert. "Here's her Rabbit down in the grass." "How did he get here?" asked Arnold. "I don't know. Maybe my sister carried him over the fields to show to some girl and dropped him. But we'll give the Candy Rabbit a ride in the air. He will be just heavy enough for the kite tail. I'll tie him on." And then, before the Candy Rabbit could hop away, even if he had been allowed to do so (which he was not) Herbert began tying him on the end of the kite tail by means of the pink ribbon. A moment later the Rabbit felt himself sailing through the air. CHAPTER V THE ORGAN GRINDER Since the Candy Rabbit had left the toy store, after having been put on the Easter novelty counter, so many things had happened that he was beginning to get used to them. But sailing through the air on the tail of a kite was something he had never done before. Up he went, higher and higher, as the wind blew the kite. The Candy Rabbit looked down toward the ground. It seemed a long way off--very far from him. "If I should fall now, as I fell when the lady dropped me in the toy store," thought the Candy Rabbit, "I think it would be the end of me. There is no soft rubber ball here on which to land." Dick, Arnold and Herbert, the three boys who had been flying their kite when they found the Candy Rabbit in the grass, were laughing and shouting as they saw the tail switching to and fro, with the Easter Bunny tied on the end. "That Rabbit was just the thing needed to make our kite go up," said Dick. "Yes," agreed Arnold. "But it's funny the Rabbit was out in the grass here, wasn't it?" "Oh, I guess my sister must have dropped him," remarked Herbert. "When we get through flying the kite I'll take the Rabbit off the tail and carry him back to Madeline." Up and up, and to and fro, switched the Candy Rabbit on the kite tail. Of course a bunch of grass, a wad of paper, or even a stone would have been just as well for the boys to have used as a weight. But they had happened to see the Candy Rabbit, and had taken him. Boys are sometimes like that, you know. How long Herbert, Dick and Arnold might have let the Candy Rabbit sail about on the end of the kite tail I cannot say, but when the three chums had been having this fun for about half an hour, all of a sudden Madeline and her two friends, Mirabell and Dorothy, came running across the field. "Oh, Herbert! what do you think?" cried Madeline, when she saw her brother. "That bad old cat came into our house again, and tried to catch one of our goldfish!" "Did he get any?" asked Herbert. "No, but he almost did. Dorothy came over with her Sawdust Doll just as the cat was dipping his paw down into the bowl, and what do you think Dorothy did?" asked Madeline. "I don't know. What did she do?" asked Herbert. "I just threw my Sawdust Doll at the cat!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I knew it couldn't hurt her, 'cause she's stuffed with sawdust." "Did you hit him?" Dick asked. "I almost did," answered Dorothy. "Anyhow, I scared him away, and he didn't get any goldfish." "That's good," said Arnold. "I wish I'd been there!" said Dick. Just then Madeline looked up and saw something dangling on the end of the kite tail. "Why, Herbert!" she cried, "what have you there? Oh, you have my Candy Rabbit on your kite! I was looking all over for him. Where'd you get him?" "I found him here in the field where you dropped him," answered her brother. "I didn't drop my Candy Rabbit here," went on Madeline. "I wouldn't do such a thing. I left him in the house, and then I couldn't find him, and I was coming to ask if you had seen him. I thought maybe Carlo had carried him off as he carried Dorothy's doll once." "Well, if you didn't take your Candy Rabbit out and leave him here in the field, maybe Carlo did," said Herbert. "Anyhow, we didn't hurt him and you can have him back again. We can tie a bunch of weeds on the kite tail. They'll be just as good as the Rabbit." "Oh, the idea of saying my Candy Rabbit is like a bunch of weeds!" cried Madeline. "Give him right back to me this minute, Herbert!" and she shook her finger at her brother. "All right," Herbert answered. "Pull the kite down, fellows." "All right." Down came the kite when the string was wound up, and slowly the Candy Rabbit floated back to earth. Madeline stood under the tail with her dress held out to catch the Bunny in it. And down he came, not being hurt a bit. Quickly Madeline loosened her Easter toy from the kite tail, and she nestled him in her arms. "You poor little Bunny!" she murmured. "I guess he was scared half to death away up there in the air." She and the other girls looked at the toy. He did not seem to be harmed in the least. "But he's got a green grass stain on one ear," said Mirabell. "That only makes him look more stylish," said Dorothy. "And green goes well with the pink color of his ribbon," added Madeline. "Oh, I'm so glad to get my Rabbit back." Madeline took her Candy Rabbit back to the house. There she and the girls had some fun, and the boys kept on flying the kite. They used a bunch of weeds as a weight on the tail, instead of the Rabbit, as they had done at first. And of course neither Madeline nor any of the others knew that the cat had carried the Bunny away and had dropped him in the grassy field. They all thought Carlo had done it, but of course there was no way of finding out for sure, except by reading this book. In this the true story of the Candy Rabbit is told for the first time. Madeline tried to get the green grass-stain off her Rabbit's ear, but it would not come out. "Why don't you scrape it off?" asked Herbert. "Why, I might scrape off half his ear! No, indeed!" Madeline said. "Well, wash it off," suggested Dick, who had come over to play with Herbert. "Take him up to the bathroom and wash his ear. My mother washes my ears." "Pooh! your ears aren't made of candy," said Madeline. "No. And I'm glad they're not, or the fellows would be biting pieces off all the while," laughed Dick. "Well, I guess I won't wash my Candy Rabbit--at least not just yet," said Madeline. "I'll wait until he gets a few more stains on him." Several days passed. The bad cat did not again try to catch the goldfish. He seemed to have been frightened away when Dorothy threw the Sawdust Doll at him. And, I am glad to say, the Doll was not hurt in the least. In fact, she rather liked scaring cats. One day Madeline took her Candy Rabbit out into the kitchen where the cook was making a cake. She had just put the cake into the oven to bake, and there were several dishes on the table--dishes in which were dabs of sweet, sugary icing and cake batter. "Oh, may I please clean out some of the cake dishes?" asked Madeline. "Yes," answered the cook kindly. This was one of the pleasures Madeline and Herbert enjoyed on baking day, but Herbert was not on hand then, so Madeline had all the dishes to herself. She set her Candy Rabbit on a shelf, got a spoon, and began to clean the icing dish. Of course you know that means she scraped the dish with the spoon and ate the icing she scraped up. Yes, and I think she even licked the spoon. After she had finished the white icing dish there was a chocolate one to start on. "Oh, I'm going to have a dandy time!" laughed the little girl. She forgot all about her Candy Rabbit. There he sat on a shelf near the gas stove, and as the cakes in the oven began to bake, the fire grew hotter and hotter and the Candy Rabbit began to feel very strange. "Dear me, I am afraid I am going to melt!" he said to himself, not daring to speak aloud when Madeline and the cook were there. The kitchen grew warmer and warmer, the stove became hotter and hotter, and, on the shelf where the Candy Rabbit sat, it was like a summer day in the blazing sun. "This is worse than anything that ever happened to me before," said the Candy Rabbit. "I think I'll just melt down into a lump of sugar! That would be dreadful!" Of course it would, and Madeline would have been very sorry if anything like that had happened. One of the ears of the Rabbit was just getting soft and drooping over a little to one side, when the cook happened to look toward the shelf. "Oh, Madeline, my dear!" she cried. "Your Candy Rabbit!" "What's the matter?" asked the little girl, looking up from the dish she was scraping clean with a spoon, in order to eat the last of the chocolate inside. "He will melt if you leave him on that shelf near the hot stove," went on the cook. "Look, one of his ears is drooping!" "Oh, dear!" screamed Madeline, and, dropping the spoon, she caught her Easter toy from the shelf. It was only just in time, too, for the poor Rabbit was just beginning to melt. In fact, one of his ears did soften and twist over to one side a little. But Madeline quickly took him out on the cool porch, and the Rabbit felt better. However, that queer twist, or droop, stayed in one ear--not the one with the grass-stain on, but the other. "I don't care," Madeline said, when her toy was cool and all right again. "It makes him look different from the other Candy Rabbits to have a twisted ear. It's so funny!" Happy days followed for the Bunny. The children played sometimes in one house and sometimes in another, taking their toys with them, and sometimes the Rabbit had a chance to talk to the Sawdust Doll, the Bold Tin Soldier, the White Rocking Horse or the Lamb on Wheels, for the children would often leave their toys together, as the boys and girls went out to play in the yards or on the verandas. "I wonder how the Calico Clown is getting along," said the Candy Rabbit to the Sawdust Doll on one of the days when they were together. They were on the porch of Madeline's house, and Madeline, Mirabell and Dorothy were around in the back yard playing in a sand pile. "I should like to see him, and also the Monkey on a Stick," said the Doll. "Hark! What's that?" she suddenly asked, as strains of music were heard. "It's a hand organ, and here comes a man playing it," said the Candy Rabbit. "Has he a monkey with him to gather pennies in his hat?" asked the Sawdust Doll. "No. But he has a little girl with him. She has a basket. I guess she gathers pennies in that. Maybe the organ man had a monkey but it ran away," suggested the Rabbit. "Maybe," agreed the Doll. "Oh, isn't that nice music!" she cried. "It makes me feel like dancing!" The hand-organ man was, indeed, playing a nice tune. The girl who was with him came into the yard and up the steps, holding out her basket ready for pennies. The little girls being in the back yard, no one was near the front of the house. "Ah, a Candy Rabbit and a Sawdust Doll!" exclaimed the organ man's girl. "Nobody seems to want them. I have a doll of my own, but I have no Candy Rabbit. I think I will take this one. I would rather have him than pennies!" And, looking quickly here and there to see if any one was going to toss her a penny, but seeing no one, the hand-organ man's little girl picked up the Candy Rabbit, tucked it under her apron, and quickly went down the steps again. "Well, of all things!" thought the Candy Rabbit, as he felt himself being taken away in this fashion. "Of all things! What is this hand-organ girl going to do with me?" And that is something we must find out. CHAPTER VI THE PEDDLER'S BASKET Slowly down the street walked the organ grinder, turning the crank and making music. His little girl, an Italian child, after putting the Candy Rabbit under her apron, looked around the house where Madeline lived to see if any one might be coming out with pennies. But no one came. Madeline and Dorothy and Mirabell were in the back yard where they had gone to play in the sand pile, after leaving the Sawdust Doll and the Candy Rabbit on the front veranda. Madeline's mother was not at home, and the cook was too busy in the kitchen to bother with giving pennies to organ grinders, though she might have done so if she had had time and had had plenty of pennies. As for Madeline and Dorothy and Mirabell, they had given one look down the street when they heard the hand-organ music. Then, as they saw he had no monkey with him, Madeline said: "Oh, a hand-organ isn't any fun unless it has a monkey. We don't want to bother waiting to see this one. Come on and play." So, as I have told you, they were in the back yard, leaving the Doll and the Rabbit on the veranda. And then the hand-organ man's little girl had come along and taken the Rabbit. "I'll take him home with me. Nobody wants him," she said to herself as she went down off the veranda with the candy chap under her apron. And she really thought the Rabbit had been put out because no one wanted him. She slipped the Bunny into a large pocket in the skirt of her dress and hurried on after her father, who had walked down the street grinding out his tunes. The organ grinder's little girl did not tell her father about the Candy Rabbit until that night when they reached their home after their day's travel. With the organ man lived his brother, who was a peddler. He had a big basket in which he carried pins, needles, pin cushions, little looking glasses, court plaster and odds and ends, called "notions." This peddler man went about from house to house selling notions to such as wanted to buy them. He, too, had been about all day, peddling with his basket, and he reached home about the same time as did his brother, the organ grinder, and the little girl. The family had supper, and, after that, Rosa brought out the Candy Rabbit. All the while the Bunny had been in her pocket, and the sweet chap did not like it very much. "I want to be out where I can see things," murmured the Rabbit. "I want to see what is happening. It is dreadful to be kidnapped like this and carried away from home!" For that is what really had happened--the Candy Rabbit had been kidnapped by Rosa, the organ girl, though, really, she did not mean to do wrong in taking him. But when the Bunny was taken out of Rosa's pocket and set on the supper table in the light, he looked around him. It was quite a different home from Madeline's--not nearly so nice, the Candy Rabbit thought, but of course he dared say nothing. "Ah, what a fine Rabbit! Where did you get him?" asked Rosa's father. "He was thrown away on a veranda of a house where I got no pennies," she answered. "No one wanted him, so I took him." "He is a fine Candy Rabbit," said Joe, the peddler, looking at the Bunny. "He is almost new. I guess he came from an Easter novelty counter. Once I sold Easter toys, but now I sell only pins and needles. Yes, he is a fine Rabbit, Rosa. Are you going to eat him? He is made of candy." "Eat him! Oh, no! I am going to keep him, always!" said the little girl, hugging the Rabbit in her arms. The Bunny liked to be hugged and petted, and, though he would rather have been in Madeline's house, still he was glad the little organ girl liked him. "Nobody wanted the Rabbit, so I took him," said Rosa, and she really thought this was so. But of course Madeline wanted her Candy Rabbit very much. And when she and Dorothy and Mirabell came back to the veranda after their play in the sand pile and found the Sawdust Doll there and the Bunny gone, poor Madeline felt very bad indeed. She cried, and she looked all over for her Easter toy, but he was not to be found. At first Madeline thought perhaps her brother or one of the other boys had taken the Bunny to tie to the kite again, but Herbert said that he and his chums had not seen the toy. Then Madeline thought perhaps Carlo, the little dog, had carried the Bunny away, as once he carried off the Sawdust Doll, but this could not have happened, as Carlo had been kept chained in his kennel all that day. "Well, my Candy Rabbit is gone, and I wish I could find him, and I'm awful lonesome without him," sobbed Madeline, and she was not happy even when her mother said she or Aunt Emma would buy her another. And all the while the organ grinder's little girl had the Candy Rabbit. And that night, when the time came for Rosa to go to bed, she looked for a safe place to put the Easter toy. The little girl saw the big basket of the peddler in a corner of the room. "I'll put the Candy Rabbit on one of the pin cushions in Uncle Joe's basket," said Rosa to herself. "He can sleep there all night. To-morrow I will make a little nest for him." And the Candy Rabbit was so tired after all the adventures he had met with that day that he fell asleep almost at once, and passed a very pleasant night in the basket on the pin cushion, which was stuffed with sawdust, just like Dorothy's doll. Peddler Joe was up early the next morning. He was up before either his brother, Tony, or the little girl, Rosa. Joe cooked himself some breakfast on an old oil stove, and then, taking his basket, he went out. He did not even turn back the oilcloth cover to see that his pins, needles, cushions and other notions were all in place. He felt sure that they were. And of course he did not know the Candy Rabbit was in his basket. But there the Candy Rabbit was, in the peddler's basket, on the cushion. "Dear me! what is happening now?" thought the Candy Rabbit, as he was suddenly awakened by being jiggled and joggled about in the basket. "Am I at sea? Have I been taken on a ship, and am I crossing the ocean?" For that is what the motion was like--just the same as the Lamb of Wheels felt when she was on the raft. And Joe, the peddler, not knowing the Bunny was in the basket, carried the sweet chap farther and farther away. We must now see what happened to him. CHAPTER VII IN THE BATHTUB Joe, the peddler, stopped at several houses with his big basket of notions. "Any pins? Any needles? Any court-plaster? Any pin cushions needed to-day?" he would ask, as he went to door after door. He would lift back half of the oilcloth cover of his basket to show his wares. "No, nothing to-day! We have all the pins we need," was all the answer he received in many places. "Well, I do not seem to be going to have very good luck to-day," thought Joe, as he tramped on. "I hope Rosa and her father do better with the hand organ. I have sold nothing yet." And, all this while, Joe didn't know anything of the Candy Rabbit in his basket. But the Rabbit was there, just the same. He had awakened when Peddler Joe picked up the basket. The Candy Rabbit found himself lying on the new pin cushion, where Rosa had placed him. But as the basket was lifted up and swung on Joe's shoulder by means of a strap, it was so tilted that the Candy Rabbit slipped off the cushion and fell down in among a pile of papers of pins. "Oh, dear!" thought the sugary chap. "Now I'll be all stuck up!" But he was not, I am glad to say. The pins were fastened on papers, which were then folded together, so that the points did not stick out, and the candy fellow was not even scratched. Up and down the street went Joe the peddler, trying to sell his notions. Finally he came to the very house where Madeline lived, and where Rosa had taken the Candy Rabbit from the veranda the day before. "Maybe I shall sell something here," thought Joe. He went up the steps and rang the bell. As it happened, Madeline's mother was in the hall and she opened the door. Madeline was also in the hall, just getting ready to go to see some little friends. "Any pins? Any needles? Any notions to-day?" asked Joe, as he held his basket out for Madeline's mother to see. And this time, and for the first time that morning, Joe pulled back the oilcloth cover from the other side. That was the reason he had not yet seen the Rabbit. But now, as the oilcloth was rolled back, the sweet chap, lying on his side among the papers of pins, was shown. Madeline's mother was just going to say she did not care for any needles or sticking-plaster when the little girl, looking into the basket, spied the Bunny. "Oh, look!" cried Madeline! "There he is--my Candy Rabbit! How did he get in the basket? Oh, Mother, my Candy Rabbit has come home to me!" Madeline's mother was just as astonished as was the little girl; and Peddler Joe was surprised also. "How did my little girl's Candy Rabbit get in your basket?" asked Madeline's mother. "I don't know," Joe answered. "I did not know he was here. He is a surprise to me. If he is yours, take him." He handed the Candy Rabbit to Madeline, who was overjoyed to get her Easter toy back again. Eagerly she looked at him, to make sure he was not hurt or damaged. "Are you sure he is the same Rabbit--your Candy Rabbit?" asked Mother. "Oh, yes, very sure," answered Madeline. "Look, here is the green spot on his ear, where he fell in the grass the day the boys tied him to the kite tail. And, see! one ear is bent a little. It happened when he was too near the heat, the day I was eating chocolate from the cake dishes. He's my Candy Rabbit, all right!" "Then I am glad you have him back, little girl," said Peddler Joe. "Rosa must have take him by mistook, you know--she pick him up when she go around with the organ." Then he told how his little niece had found the Rabbit, and, thinking the toy belonged to no one, had brought it home. "I buy her another Rabbit so she not be feeling bad," said Joe, with a smile. "She did not mean to take yours, little girl. And now maybe you want some needles or pins?" he said to Madeline's mother. "Yes, I think I will buy a few, because you were so good as to bring back my little girl's Easter present that was given her by her aunt," Mother said. And Joe was glad because he had sold something from his basket. Madeline was glad to get back her Candy Rabbit, and she stayed so long looking at him that her mother said: "You had better run on, or your little friends will grow impatient waiting for you, my dear. Put your Rabbit away, and hurry along now." So Madeline put her Rabbit on a shelf in the playroom, and went out to play, and her mother gave Joe money for pins, needles and some court-plaster. "Maybe I have good luck and make a lot of money to-day, and then I buy Rosa a nice Candy Rabbit for herself," the peddler said to himself, as he went down the street. And, while I am about it, I might as well tell you that Joe did buy Rosa a nice Rabbit for herself. He took it home to her that night, lifting it out of his basket and putting it into her hands. When the organ grinder's little girl awakened and found that her peddler uncle had gone, taking his basket and the Rabbit she had put to sleep in it without his knowledge, Rosa felt very bad. She was sad as she gathered pennies for her father that day. But at night, when Uncle Joe came back with a new Candy Rabbit, Rosa was happy again. And Madeline was happy with her own Easter toy. Rosa's uncle and her father told her it was wrong to have taken another little girl's toy without asking, and she was sorry when she understood that, but she was happy with her new plaything. In the afternoon Mirabell and Dorothy went home with Madeline. "I want to show you my Candy Rabbit again," Madeline said to her little girl chums. And when Mirabell and Dorothy had looked at the Rabbit, seeing the speck of green paint on one ear and the other ear that was a little bent from the heat, Madeline said: "I'm going to wash him!" Without saying anything to her mother about it, Madeline took her Candy Rabbit, and, with her two little friends, went up to the bathroom. She drew the tub full of water, and while she was doing this she set the Rabbit on a glass shelf near the towel rack. "Are you going to let him swim in the bathtub?" asked Dorothy. "Goodness me, I hope not!" thought the Candy Rabbit, who heard this question. "I can't swim! I'll surely drown if she puts me in the bathtub!" And he was glad when he heard Madeline say: "No, I'm not going to put him in the tub. But I want plenty of water, for I must get him nice and clean. I'm going to have a party, and I want my Candy Rabbit to look pretty. I'll dip my nail brush in the bathtub and scrub him." "And we'll help you," said Dorothy and Mirabell. "There, I guess I have water enough," said Madeline, as she turned off the tub faucet. There were some drops of water on her hands, and she reached for a towel to dry them. How it happened none of the little girls knew, but the towel on the rack must have caught on the Candy Rabbit, sitting on the glass shelf. And when Madeline pulled the towel she pulled her Easter toy off the shelf and into the bathtub of water. "Splish! Splash!" went the Candy Rabbit into the water. "Oh, I'm going to drown! I know I'm going to drown!" thought the poor sweet chap, as the water closed over his ears. CHAPTER VIII IN A WHEELBARROW Madeline screamed, Mirabell screamed, and Dorothy screamed. The three little girls screamed together when they saw the Candy Rabbit fall into the bathtub. And, even under water as his ears were, the Candy Rabbit heard them. "Well, I hope they do something more than yell," thought the poor, sugary chap. "If they don't pull me out pretty soon I'll melt, as well as drown, and I dare not try to swim when they're looking at me!" You know what the rule is in Make-Believe Toyland--none of the things dare move when human eyes look at them. And the three little girls were surely looking at the Candy Rabbit now, as he bobbed about in the bathtub. "Oh, look what happened!" cried Dorothy, pointing to the toy. "Your Candy Rabbit is in the bathtub!" screamed Mirabell. "Yes, and I'm going to get him out!" exclaimed Madeline. She quickly stooped down, grasped the Candy Rabbit by his ears, and lifted him, dripping wet, out of the bathtub of water. "Oh, he's soaked through, poor thing!" murmured Dorothy. "Do you s'pose he's spoiled?" asked Mirabell. "I--I hope not," said Madeline with a catch in her voice, as if she were going to cry. "I guess I got him out in time." "I think so, too." Madeline's mother, hearing the screams of the little girls in the bathroom, ran to see what the matter was. "Has anything happened, children?" she asked. "My Candy Rabbit got caught on the towel and I pulled him into the bathtub of water," Madeline explained. "Will he come all to pieces, Mother?" Mother looked at the Candy Rabbit carefully. He did not seem to be harmed much. Inside of him his heart was beating very fast, because of his adventure, but no one knew that. "I think he is not much damaged, Madeline," said her mother, with a smile. "He is made of very hard sugar--is your Candy Rabbit. It would take more of a soaking than he got to melt him. What were you doing with him in the bathroom?" "I was going to wash him, Mother, 'cause maybe he got soiled in the peddler's basket." "Well, he has had his bath all right," said Mother, with a laugh. "And I think he is pretty clean. He does not seem to be melting any, but it would be well to let him dry. Here, I'll set him on the window sill and open the window. The breeze will dry him off better than if you wiped him with a towel. Then you will not wipe off any of his sugar." "Oh, I'm so glad he is all right," said Madeline. "I thought he would melt and run down the drain pipe from the bathtub." "Drain pipe!" The Rabbit shivered. Mother set the Candy Rabbit, which was quite wet, on a clean cloth on the bathroom window sill, leaving the sash open. "The cloth will soak up some of the water, and the gentle wind will blow the rest off and dry him," said Madeline's mother. The three little girls looked at the Candy Rabbit sitting on the sill of the open window in the bathroom. "Doesn't he look cute?" cried Madeline. "Too sweet for anything!" said Dorothy. "Of course he looks _sweet_!" said Mirabell. "He's made of sugar, you know!" Then the three little girls laughed and went downstairs to play with Dorothy's Sawdust Doll and Mirabell's Lamb on Wheels. Left to himself on the window sill, the Candy Rabbit took a long breath. "That was a narrow escape I had," he said. "I was very nearly drowned and melted in the water. I had better keep very still and quiet until I am quite dry again, or I may come apart like the Jack in the Box who jumped off his spring. Yes, I will sit here very quietly until I am dry. I do feel so wet and sticky!" The Candy Rabbit looked around the bathroom. There was no other toy there with whom he could play, even if he had felt like moving around just then, which he did not feel like doing. "The Calico Clown and the Monkey on a Stick will think it quite wonderful when I tell them what has happened to me," said the Candy Rabbit to himself, as he sat there, drying. "I suppose they must have had some adventures, also, but I don't believe either of them ever fell into a bathtub of water." Feeling rather lonesome, the Rabbit looked for some one to whom he might talk. He saw cakes of soap, towels, and wash cloths. There was also a large sponge in a wire basket hanging over the edge of the bathtub. "I have heard that sponges are animals," said the Candy Rabbit. "I wonder if this one is alive and will speak to me. I'll try. Hello there, Mr. Sponge!" he called. "You must be quite a swimmer. Are you as good as a goldfish--one of those the bad cat tried to get?" But the sponge said never a word. Maybe it was too dry to speak, for it had not been in the water since early morning. The Candy Rabbit knew it was of no use to talk to a cake of soap or a wash cloth, so he became quiet and sat on the window sill, drying off. [Illustration: "Hello There, Mr. Sponge!" Said Candy Rabbit. _Page_ 90] At first the wind, which came in through the open bathroom window, drying the Candy Rabbit, was a gentle breeze. Then it began to blow harder, so hard, in fact, that Herbert, Dick and Arnold got out their kites and began flying them. "Dear me! this wind is blowing harder and harder," said the Candy Rabbit to himself. "I hope I do not take cold here." Stronger and stronger the wind blew. Part of the time it blew _in_ through the bathroom window, and part of the time it blew _out_. And then, all of a sudden, there came a hard gust, and it toppled the Candy Rabbit right off the sill. "Dear me, I am falling!" exclaimed the Candy Rabbit. "Oh, I am falling out of the window!" And this was true. He had fallen _out_ instead of falling _in_, and, in the end, this was a good thing for him. For if he had fallen inside the bathroom he would have toppled down on the hard, tiled floor, and have been broken to pieces. As it was, falling out of the window, he had a better chance. Down, down, down, out of the window fell the Candy Rabbit. He fell so fast that his breath was taken away. He felt himself drying fast. The last drops of water, caused by his topple into the bathtub, were blown off by the breeze as he fell. "Oh, when I hit the ground there is going to be a terrible smash!" thought the poor Candy Rabbit. "This, surely, is the last of me! Good-bye, everybody!" But, as it happened, just then Patrick, the gardener, was passing along with a wheelbarrow full of freshly cut grass. He had cut the lawn in front of the house where Dorothy lived, and now Patrick was wheeling the loose grass across Madeline's yard to give to a pony in a stable in the house just beyond Madeline's. And, all of a sudden, just as Patrick came along with the wheelbarrow full of grass, the Candy Rabbit fell out of the bathroom window. And, very, very luckily, the sweet chap, instead of hitting the ground, fell into the soft grass on the wheelbarrow. For a moment he could not get his breath, and he was buried deep in the long, green spears and stems. And then, as he felt that he was not broken to bits, the Candy Rabbit murmured: "I am saved!" CHAPTER IX AT THE PARTY Patrick, the gardener, had set his wheelbarrow down to rest just as he came under the bathroom window of Madeline's house. And Patrick had his back turned, and was looking at Carlo, the little dog, chasing his tail just when the Candy Rabbit fell into the grass. So Patrick did not see what had happened. "But I know what has happened," said the sweet chap to himself. "Only for the soft grass I would have broken all to pieces! I wish I dared call out and tell Patrick I am here. But I dare not. I must keep still and say nothing." "Well, I must hurry along and give this grass to the pony," said the gardener, after he had seen Calico catch his tail. "The pony must be hungry." Over across Madeline's yard, to the yard where the pony lived in a little stable, went Patrick with the wheelbarrow full of grass and the Candy Rabbit. Only, of course, Patrick did not know he had the sugary fellow. "Well, how are you, little pony?" cried the jolly Patrick, when he reached the stable. The pony gave a soft little whinny in answer. "I have some nice grass for you," went on Patrick. "Nice, sweet, green grass that I, myself, cut off the lawn. You shall eat it all up." Once again the little horse talked in the only way he could make Patrick understand, which was by whinnying. He meant that he would be glad to eat the grass. "But I hope he doesn't eat me!" thought the Candy Rabbit. "It is lucky I can speak and understand animal talk. When I get in the pony's stall I'll call out and ask him not to chew me up with the grass." But the Candy Rabbit did not have to do this. For when Patrick began to take from the wheelbarrow the grass he had gathered for the pony, the gardener saw something gleaming in the sunshine amid the green stems. "Hello! what's this?" cried Patrick, leaning over to take a better look. "What's this in my grass? Can it be a glass bottle? If it is it's a good thing I didn't give it to the pony, or he might have cut himself on it." Patrick took the shining object from the midst of the grass. In an instant he saw what it was. "A Candy Rabbit! Madeline's Candy Rabbit!" cried the gardener. He knew it very well, just as he knew the Sawdust Doll, the Lamb on Wheels, and the Bold Tin Soldier. Madeline had often showed Patrick her Candy Rabbit. The pony was soon fed, and then, with the Candy Rabbit in his pocket and slowly wheeling the empty barrow, Patrick made his way to Madeline's house. He knocked at the back door, and the cook, with a dab of flour on her nose, answered. "What have you been doing to yourself, Cook?" asked the gardener, with a laugh. "Why? Is anything wrong?" she asked, rather surprised. "Your nose is dabbed with flour," went on Patrick. "Oh, that!" laughed the cook. "You see, Madeline is going to have a party, and I'm so busy making cookies and cakes that it's a wonder flour isn't all over my face as well as on my nose. But what have you there?" she asked, seeing the Bunny in Patrick's hand. "Madeline's Candy Rabbit," answered the gardener. "I don't know how it got in my barrow of grass, but I brought him back. Is Madeline in?" "Yes, I'll call her," said the cook. And when the little girl came running out and saw her Bunny, she was much surprised. "Why! Why! How did you get him, Patrick?" she asked. "I left him up on the bathroom window sill to dry, after he fell into the bathtub." "Ah, that accounts for it then!" laughed the gardener. "The wind must have blown him out of the window, and he fell into my barrow just as I set it down to rest. Well, it's lucky I had grass in the barrow instead of stones. If your rabbit had fallen on _them_ he might have broken off his ears." "That would have been dreadful!" exclaimed Madeline. "Oh, thank you, so much, Patrick, for bringing my Bunny back to me." "Well, keep him safe, now you have him," advised Patrick. Then he went off whistling and trundling his empty wheelbarrow, and once more the Candy Rabbit was back with Madeline, where he belonged, and thankful to be there. "You are nice and dry now," said the little girl, as she looked over her Easter toy. "And you didn't get any more grass stains on you when you fell out of the window. Your ear it still a little bent, but that only makes you look more stylish. "Now I am going to put a new pink ribbon on your neck, 'cause the one I took off when I was going to wash you is all soiled. I'll put a new ribbon on you and then you may come to the party to-morrow." Madeline told her mother how the Rabbit had fallen out of the window. Then the little girl got a pretty pink ribbon, and, after tying it on his neck, she again showed her Easter present to Mirabell and Dorothy. "He looks as good as new," said Mirabell. "Yes," agreed Dorothy. "I guess falling into the bathtub and the wheelbarrow of grass did him good." "And we'll have lots of fun at the party," said Madeline. "Now I will put my Rabbit away, and we'll get ready for a good time." The Rabbit was set on a shelf in a dark closet. "Well, goodness knows I am glad to be by myself for a while and keep quiet," thought the sugary chap, as he sat down on the shelf in the dark. "I have had enough of adventures for a day or two. I wonder if there is any one here to whom I can talk. I wish the Sawdust Doll or the Bold Tin Soldier or the Calico Clown were here. They would love to hear me tell of what has happened." Madeline and her girl friends spent the rest of that day and part of the next one getting ready for the party, and at last the time came to have it. Madeline was all dressed up, and she brought her Candy Rabbit out of the closet and smoothed the ribbon on his neck. "Tinkle! Tinkle! Tinkle!" rang the door bell. "Oh, here come Dorothy and Dick to the party!" cried Madeline, running to meet her friends. She carried the Candy Rabbit with her. Dorothy had her Sawdust Doll, but the White Rocking Horse was too large for Dick to bring over. One after another more children came to the party, among them Mirabell and Arnold. Mirabell did not bring her Lamb on Wheels for the same reason that Dick left his Horse at home--the Lamb was a little too large for a house party, though she would fit very well on the lawn. But Arnold, who was Mirabell's brother, brought something to the party. It was the Bold Tin Soldier--the Captain of the Tin Soldiers, of whom Arnold had a whole box. And while the little girls who had come to Madeline's party were smoothing out their dresses and looking at their dolls and talking to one another, Arnold walked off with Dick to a corner of the room. "Look what I have!" whispered Arnold, showing the Bold Tin Soldier. "Why did you bring him?" Dick wanted to know. "So if we don't like the games the girls play we can go off in a room by ourselves and have fun with my Soldier," was the answer. "But maybe we'll have some fun, anyhow." "Let me hold your Soldier for a while," begged Dick, and Arnold handed over the Captain. After a while the little boys went back to where the other children were and all began to play games. Madeline set her Candy Rabbit on the table near Dorothy's Sawdust Doll, and the two toys looked at each other. All sorts of games were played. One was "hide the thimble," and when it was Madeline's turn to hide it she put it right between the front legs of her Candy Rabbit as he sat on the table. Not one of the boys or girls thought of looking there for it, so they had to give up, and it was Madeline's turn to hide it again. This time she put the thimble on top of the head of Dorothy's Sawdust Doll, who had on a new blue ribbon in honor of the party. It was a gold thimble that the children were playing with, and the Sawdust Doll, catching sight of her reflection in the glass over one of the pictures in the room, noted this fact. "That golden gleam against the blue of my ribbon is certainly very pretty and becoming," she thought. "I hope Dorothy will notice it and will get a gold ornament for my hair. I like to be a toy, but sometimes it is a great nuisance not to be able to tell your little girl and boy parents what you would like to have them do." All this time the children were hunting for the thimble, and, though it was in plain sight, it was not until some time afterward that Mirabell saw it. After the thimble game the children played "Blind Man's Buff," "Puss in the Corner" and "Going to Jerusalem." Pretty soon it was time to eat ice cream and cake. That is one of the nicest times at a party, I think; and Dick, Arnold and Herbert, as well as the other boys and girls, thought the same thing, I am sure. While they were in another room, eating the good things, the Candy Rabbit and the Sawdust Doll were left to themselves. "I have been wanting to talk to you for the longest time!" said the Sawdust Doll. "And I have so many things to tell you," said the Candy Rabbit. "Such remarkable adventures!" He started to hop across the table, to get nearer to the Sawdust Doll, but he did not see the thimble which the children had been playing with, and which had been left on the table. The Candy Rabbit jumped on the thimble, which rolled out from under his paws. "Oh, look out! You're going to fall!" cried the Sawdust Doll. And down fell the Candy Rabbit. [Illustration: Candy Rabbit Has a Tumble. _Page_ 107] CHAPTER X IN A BOY'S POCKET "Are you hurt?" asked the Sawdust Doll anxiously, looking with sympathy at the Candy Rabbit. "Let me help you up!" "Oh, thank you, I can get up myself," answered the sugary chap. "And I am not at all hurt. The table cloth was soft." He was just going to get up and hop over to the Doll when, all at once, the Sawdust toy exclaimed: "Be quiet! Here come the children back!" And into the room trooped the boys and girls, having finished eating the ice cream and cake. "Oh, look at my Bunny!" cried Madeline. "Somebody jiggled him over on his side." She set him up straight again, near the Sawdust Doll, and then she helped the other children have fun in more games. After a while Dick and Arnold went off in a corner by themselves, and began playing with Arnold's Bold Tin Soldier. While they were doing this a boy named Tom saw them. "I wonder what they are doing?" thought Tom. "I wonder what they are looking at? It's something Arnold has in his pocket. I wish I had something in my pocket to play with. Maybe I can find something!" I am sorry to say Tom was not always a good boy. Sometimes he was cross and unpleasant. He would pull the hair of little girls, though I hardly believe he meant to hurt them. He only did it to tease them. Tom saw Madeline's Candy Rabbit on the table, and, as the other boys and girls were just then in another room, no one saw what Tom did. Sneaking up to the table, Tom reached over, took the Candy Rabbit, and put him in his pocket. "Now I have something to play with," whispered Tom to himself. Tom had many other things in his pocket. There was a small rubber ball, some pieces of string, a broken knife, two or three nails, some round, shiny pieces of tin, a whistle that wouldn't whistle, a red stone, a yellow stone, and many other odds and ends. Down among these objects the Candy Rabbit was pushed and jammed. The only ones who saw Tom hurry away with the Candy Rabbit were the little girls' dolls. The Sawdust Doll, a Celluloid Doll belonging to Mirabell, and an old snub-nosed Wooden Doll, that Madeline had brought down from the attic, were on the table when Tom took the Candy Rabbit away in his pocket. "Oh-oo-o-oh!" exclaimed the Sawdust Doll. "Look at him!" "Isn't he terrible!" said the Wooden Doll. "If we could only do something to stop him!" sighed the Celluloid Doll. But they could do nothing. Watching his chance, Tom hurried out of Madeline's house, carrying with him the Easter present. And as for the poor Candy Rabbit, he did not know what to do. He could not get out of that boy's pocket, no matter how hard he tried. "I'll show this Candy Rabbit to Sam and Pete," said Tom to himself, as he hurried down the street. "We'll have some fun with it." Sam and Pete were two boys with whom Tom played. Tom looked for them as he ran down the street, the Candy Rabbit jiggling around among the things in his pocket. "I hope my ears aren't broken off," sighed the poor Bunny. "This is the most dreadful and cramped place I was ever in." Suddenly Tom spied his two chums. "Hi there!" he called to them. "Look what I got!" "What?" He took the Candy Rabbit from his pocket and held him up. "That's a dandy!" exclaimed Pete. "Where'd you get him?" asked Sam. "Oh, I borrowed him at a party," Tom answered. "Let's see it closer," begged Sam, and Tom handed over the Candy Rabbit. "Why, he's good to eat!" cried Sam, when he had the Rabbit in his hands. "He's made of sugar, and he's good to eat!" Tom looked at Sam and then at Pete. Then all three of the boys looked at each other. "I--I'm sort of hungry for candy," said Pete, in a low voice. "So'm I," admitted Sam. "And I guess I am, too," declared Tom. "I didn't know this Rabbit was good to eat. But, as long as he is, we'll divide him up and have a regular party. Come on over on my porch, fellows, and we'll eat the Candy Rabbit!" Now, when the sweet chap heard this he was very much frightened. Of all his adventures this seemed the very worst! Over to Tom's porch went the three boys, and they sat down. "We'll divide this Candy Rabbit into three pieces," said Tom. He was just going to break off one of the ears when some one came out of the house and up behind the boys as they sat on the steps. "What have you there, Tom?" asked a voice suddenly. The three chums turned around. It was Tom's mother who had spoken. "Oh, it's just a Candy Rabbit," Tom answered. "We're going to eat him." "Where did you get him?" asked Tom's mother. "Let me see." And when she saw the Candy Rabbit Tom's mother knew at once that it was no common Rabbit, such as you may buy in the five-and-ten-cent store. The Candy Rabbit was a very fancy fellow indeed! "Why, Tom!" exclaimed his mother. "This Rabbit belongs to Madeline. I saw it over at her house when I called there one day. Did you take Madeline's Rabbit when you were in her house at the party? Oh, Tom, what a naughty boy! I am so sorry!" She reached over and took the Candy Rabbit just in time, for Tom had been going to break off the ears. "Why did you take it?" asked Tom's mother. "Oh, er--just--because," he answered, squirming around. "Dick and Arnold had something, and I wanted something in my pocket. So I took the Rabbit." "I must take it back and tell Madeline you are sorry, and you must tell her so yourself the next time you see her," said Tom's mother. Tom's mother took the Easter toy back to Madeline, who had just missed him, and she and all the boys and girls still left at the party were hunting for him. "Please forgive Tom for being so naughty as to take your Candy Rabbit," begged the boy's mother, and Madeline said she would. "Oh, I am so glad to have you back!" cried Madeline, hugging her Candy Rabbit. "And I am glad to get back," said the Rabbit, though of course he dared not speak aloud. Madeline smoothed out the pink ribbon on the Bunny's neck. It had been crumpled in Tom's pocket. Then the little girl put her Rabbit away on a shelf in a closet while she helped her mother and the cook clear away the things after the party. "Dear me, I wonder what will happen next," said the Candy Rabbit, out loud, for he knew no one could hear him in there. "Why, has anything happened to you?" asked a voice. "I should say so!" exclaimed the Candy Rabbit. "But who are you, if I may ask?" "Oh, I'm a match-safe Cat," was the answer, and then, his eyes having become used to the dark, the Candy Rabbit saw that he was sitting near a hollow porcelain Cat, used to hold burnt matches. "Dear me, how strange!" murmured the Bunny. "It is no stranger to see a Cat full of burnt matches than it is to see a Candy Rabbit with pink glass eyes," was the answer. "I suppose not," agreed the Candy Bunny. Then the Rabbit and the Cat became good friends and told each other stories there in the dark closet. "My! you certainly have had some adventures," mewed the Cat, when she had heard about the Bunny's trip on the tail of a kite. "Did nothing exciting ever happen to you?" the Rabbit wanted to know. "Yes, once," replied the Cat. "I am hollow, as you see, and I am generally filled with burnt wooden matches. "Well, one day, somebody put a blazing match in me by mistake, and, in an instant, all the partly burnt matches were on fire. There I was, all burning up inside." "Oh, that must have been dreadful!" cried the Candy Rabbit. "It was, until Madeline's mother threw a glass of water over me and put out the fire," said the Cat. "Then I was all right, except for being blackened and smoked. Of course it doesn't show in the dark, but it's there all the same." The Candy Rabbit stayed in the closet with the Porcelain Cat all night, and the two were company for one another. The next day Madeline took her Easter toy for a ride in the doll carriage, and Dorothy had her Sawdust pet with her. The little girls talked about the party. "Wouldn't it have been dreadful if Tom had eaten your Rabbit?" asked Dorothy. "Terribly dreadful!" said Madeline. "I am glad it didn't happen." "And I'm glad, too," thought the Candy Rabbit. "I hope my adventures are over now." But they were not, though I have no room to tell you any more. I will just mention a few. Once Herbert and Dick took the Candy Rabbit and gave him a ride in Herbert's toy train of cars. But the engine went so fast that the train ran off the track. The Candy Rabbit was thrown off, and a little piece of sugar was chipped off one of his paws. But that did not hurt very much. And, another time, the Candy Rabbit was almost run over by Dick, who was gliding around on roller skates. Only that Patrick, the gardener, caught the Bunny out of the way just in time, the sweet chap would have been crushed. One day Herbert called to Madeline and said: "Daddy is going to bring me a present from the store to-day." "Is he? What kind?" asked Madeline. "Is it going to be a Jumping Jack?" "That, or something just as funny," Herbert answered. "I want something that moves and jumps. Candy Rabbits are very nice, but I want something livelier." "Will you let me see it when you get it?" asked his sister. "Yes," promised Herbert. And what fun he had with his toy will be told to you in the next book, to be called: "The Story of a Monkey on a Stick." As for the Candy Rabbit, I might add that he grew sweeter and sweeter each day, and he and Madeline lived happily forever after. Though one of his ears was bent, and a piece chipped off one paw, that did not matter. Madeline loved her Bunny very much. 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 BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS For Little Men and Women By LAURA LEE HOPE Author of "The Bunny Brown Series," Etc. * * * * * =Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume Complete in Itself.= * * * * * These books for boys and girls between the ages of three and ten stands among children and their parents of this generation where the books of Louisa May Alcott stood in former days. The haps and mishaps of this inimitable pair of twins, their many adventures and experiences are a source of keen delight to imaginative children everywhere. 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 THE GREAT WEST THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CEDAR CAMP THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE COUNTY FAIR THE BOBBSEY TWINS CAMPING OUT THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND BABY MAY * * * * * GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK. * * * * * Transcriber's Notes: Punctuation normalized. Page 9, "seasaw" changed to "seesaw", "seesaw begin to go up..." 
17277	----	[Illustration: Monkey Shook Paws With Candy Rabbit. _Frontispiece_--(Page 6)] _MAKE BELIEVE STORIES_ (Trademark Registered) THE STORY OF A MONKEY ON A STICK BY LAURA LEE HOPE Author of "The Story of a Sawdust Doll," "The Story of a White Rocking Horse," "The Bobbsey Twins Series," "The Bunny Brown Series," "The Six Little Bunkers Series," 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 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 BUNNY BROWN SERIES= =THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES= =THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES= GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP THE STORY OF A MONKEY ON A STICK CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. A STRANGE AWAKENING 1 II. THE MONKEY AT SCHOOL 13 III. THE JANITOR'S HOUSE 25 IV. A QUEER RIDE 38 V. MONKEYSHINES 50 VI. IN A CAVE 60 VII. OUT IN THE RAIN 73 VIII. HERBERT FINDS THE MONKEY 85 IX. MONKEY IN A TENT 95 X. MONKEY IN A SHOW 107 THE STORY OF A MONKEY ON A STICK CHAPTER I A STRANGE AWAKENING The Monkey on a Stick opened his eyes and looked around. That is he tried to look around; but all he could see, on all sides of him, was pasteboard box. He was lying on his back, with his hands and feet clasped around the stick, up which he had climbed so often. "Well, this is very strange," said the Monkey on a Stick, as he rubbed his nose with one hand, "very strange indeed! Why should I wake up here, when last night I went to sleep in the toy store? I can't understand this at all!" Once more he looked about him. He surely was inside a pasteboard box. He could see the cover of it over his head as he lay on his back, and he could see one side of the box toward his left hand, while another side of the box was at his right hand. "And," said the Monkey on a Stick, speaking to himself, as he often did, "I suppose the bottom of the pasteboard box is under me. I must be lying on that." He unclasped the toes of his left foot from the stick and banged his foot down two or three times. "Yes, there's pasteboard all around me," said the Monkey. "This surely is very strange! I wonder if the Calico Clown has been up to any of his tricks? Maybe he thinks I'm a riddle, and he's going to tell it to the Elephant from the Noah's Ark, or else make a joke of me to the Jumping Jack. I haven't been shut up in a box before--not since the time Santa Claus brought me from his workshop at the North Pole. I wonder what this means?" The Monkey raised his head and banged it on the box cover. "Oh, my cocoanut!" cried the Monkey, for that is what he sometimes called his head. "My poor cocoanut!" he went on, as he put up his hand. "I wonder if I raised a big lump on my cocoanut!" But his head seemed to be all right, and, taking care not to bang himself again, the Monkey began pushing on the box cover. It was not heavy, and he slowly raised it until he could look out. As I have told you in the other books of this series, the Monkey on a Stick, and the other toys as well, could move about and talk, when they kept to certain rules. You may find out what those rules were by looking in the other books. The Monkey on a Stick looked out from beneath the cover of the box, and what he saw surprised him almost as much as he had been startled when he found pasteboard on all sides of him. For the Monkey saw that he was in the room of a strange house, and not in the big toy department of the store where he had lived for so long a time. "I say!" chattered the Monkey to himself, "there is something wrong here. They must have given me paregoric to make me sleep, and then have put me in a box and carted me down to some other part of the store. I'm sure the Calico Clown must have had a hand in this. He and his jokes and riddles about what makes more noise than a pig under a gate! I'll fix him when I get out of here!" The Monkey raised the box cover higher and began to call: "Hi there, Calico Clown! what do you mean by shutting me up in a pasteboard box? What's the joke? Come on, Mr. Elephant from Noah's Ark! Come and help me out! Ho, Jack-Jump! Hi, Jack-Box! Where are you all? I don't see any of you!" For, as he looked around the room, from under the cover of the box, the Monkey saw not a sign of his former friends. "This is stranger and stranger," he murmured. "I say!" he cried aloud again, "isn't any one here?" "Yes, I'm here," answered a voice which, the Monkey knew at once, came from a toy like himself. "What's the trouble?" this voice went on. "Why are you making such a fuss? Who are you, anyhow?" "I'm a Monkey on a Stick," answered the toy chap in the box. "And who are you? I seem to know your voice. Where are you?" "Here I am," came the answer. The Monkey raised the box cover higher, and then he cried: "Why, bless my tail! The Candy Rabbit! Well, of all things! Oh, I'm so glad to see you! How are you?" and the Monkey jumped out of his box, and, laying down his stick, ran across the table and shook paws with a beautiful Candy Rabbit, who had a pink nose and pink glass eyes. The Rabbit was on the table, and the Monkey saw that his pasteboard box was there likewise. "I am quite well, thank you," answered the Candy Rabbit, as he waved his big ears to and fro. "And I am glad to see you--very glad! I knew there was some kind of toy in that box, but I did not know it was you. I haven't seen you since we lived in the toy store together, with the Sawdust Doll, the Lamb on Wheels, the Bold Tin Soldier, the Calico Clown and the White Rocking Horse." "Yes, and don't forget the two Jacks," went on the Monkey on a Stick, "the Jumping Jack and the Jack in the Box. Then there was the Elephant who tried to race on roller skates with the White Rocking Horse." "I'm not forgetting them," answered the Rabbit. "But listen!" exclaimed the Monkey. "Can you tell me this? I went to sleep in the toy store, and I woke up here--in a house, I guess it is--in a pasteboard box on a table set with dishes." "Yes, this is a house," said the Candy Rabbit. "I live here with a little girl named Madeline. There is also a boy named Herbert here. And these really are dishes on the table. It is the breakfast table, and soon the children will be down to eat." "But what am I doing here?" asked the Monkey in great surprise. "I can't understand it! Why am I here? I went to sleep in the store, and I woke up on a breakfast table. Can this be a trick or a riddle of the Calico Clown's? Is he going to ask what is more surprised than a Monkey on a Stick at the breakfast table, as he asks what makes more noise than a pig under a gate?" "No, I think the Calico Clown had nothing to do with your being here," said the Candy Rabbit with a smile. "Then who did?" asked the Monkey. "Herbert. A boy who lives here with his sister Madeline," went on the Rabbit. "Dear me! this is getting more and more riddly-like and jokey," said the Monkey. "I don't understand it at all! Why am I not in the store where I belong?" "Because you don't belong there any more," cried the Candy Rabbit. "You were bought for the boy Herbert, and you are here at his breakfast plate as a surprise." "Well, he isn't going to be any more surprised than I am," chattered the Monkey. "I don't seem to understand this at all. How did I get here?" "I imagine that, after you went to sleep in the store last night, one of the clerks at the toy counter put you in the pasteboard box, wrapped you up and sent you here." "I see how it happened," said the Monkey. "I went to sleep in the store yesterday afternoon. I had been up late the night before, as we toys were having some fun. I was trying to guess a riddle the Calico Clown asked. It was how do the seeds get inside the apple when there aren't any holes in the skin. I was thinking of that riddle, and it kept me up quite late the night before." "Did you think of the answer?" "No, I didn't," said the Monkey; "any more than I can think of the answer to the Clown's riddle of what makes more noise than a----" "Hush! Here come Madeline and Herbert to breakfast!" suddenly whispered the Rabbit. "Back to your box as quick as you can. We toys are not allowed to move about by ourselves when any one sees us, you know." "Yes, I know!" chattered the Monkey. Nimbly he sprang back to his box, and clasped the stick, up and down which he climbed when a string was pulled. As he pulled the box cover down over his head he heard the joyous shouts and laughter of two children as they ran into the room. "Happy birthday, Herbert!" called Madeline. "Look and see what Daddy bought for you yesterday!" When Herbert had the cover off the box and had looked at the Monkey on a Stick lying there with a funny grin on his face, the boy smiled and cried: "Oh, it's a Climbing Monkey! Oh, this is just what I wanted! Oh, now I can have a show and a circus and I'll ask Dick to come and bring his Rocking Horse, and Arnold can come and bring his Bold Tin Soldier, and we'll have lots of fun. Oh, look at my Monkey climb his stick!" Herbert took his new birthday toy from the box, and, by pulling the string, made the Monkey go up and down as fast as anything. Madeline picked up her Candy Rabbit, and though that Bunny said nothing, he could see all that went on. "Oh, this is a dandy Monkey!" cried Herbert. "I can give a show with him!" While the little boy was making the funny chap go up and down the stick, the door of the breakfast room opened and some one came in. CHAPTER II THE MONKEY AT SCHOOL "Well, children, why aren't you eating breakfast?" a voice asked, and Herbert, turning around, saw his mother. The Monkey on a Stick, who, if he could not talk or do any tricks just then, could use his eyes, saw a pleasant-faced lady entering the room. She was smiling at Madeline, who had her Candy Rabbit in her hands, and at Herbert. "Oh, look, Mother, what I found at my plate!" exclaimed Herbert, and he pulled the string, and made the Monkey run up and down the stick. "It's my birthday present!" "Yes, Daddy said he was going to get you something," said Mother. "It came from the store late yesterday afternoon, and I put it away, and had it laid at your breakfast place this morning. Do you like it?" "Oh, it's dandy!" exclaimed Herbert. "I love it!" The children sat down and had an orange and some oatmeal and a glass of milk and a roll with golden yellow butter on it. But of course the Monkey and the Candy Rabbit had nothing to eat. They did not want anything. Being toys, you see, they did not have to eat. Though, at times, they could eat certain things if they wished. Madeline kept her Candy Rabbit near her plate. All of a sudden, as the little girl was eating, she dropped her spoon in her oatmeal dish, and a drop of milk spattered into the glass eye of the Candy Rabbit. "Oh, look what you did!" exclaimed Herbert, who saw what had happened. "You'll blind your Rabbit." "Oh, my poor Rabbit!" said Madeline, and, with her napkin, she carefully wiped the drop of milk out of the Rabbit's eye. And the Bunny never even blinked. That's what it is to be a Candy Rabbit, and have glass eyes. Not all of us are as lucky as that, are we? A little later Herbert dropped a piece of his buttered roll. It fell near the Monkey, who was lying on the table near the breakfast plate of the little boy. Some of the butter from the roll stuck to the stick which the Monkey climbed up and down. "Now look what you did, Herbert!" said Madeline. "You'll make the stick so slippery with butter that the Monkey may fall off." "Come, children," called Mother, as she again entered the room. "You must finish your breakfast and go to school. Put your Monkey back in the box, Herbert. Don't be late for school." "No'm, we won't!" promised the brother and sister. A little later they were on their way, walking side by side on the path that led to the red school house down by the white bridge. Madeline looked at her brother curiously as they came near the building where they studied their lessons. "Have you got your books under your coat, Herbert?" asked Madeline. "No, I haven't my books," he said. "Well, what have you?" asked Madeline. "You have _something_, for I can see a lump. What is it?" Before Herbert could answer, if he had wanted to, the bell rang and the two children, and some others who were straggling along, had to run so they would not be late. Then, for a time, Madeline forgot what it was her brother was bringing to school under his coat. Just before recess, his teacher, looking down toward Herbert, sitting near Dick and Arnold, called out: "What have you there, Herbert? What are you showing to the other boys under your desk?" "It--it's a Monkey!" answered Madeline's brother. "A _monkey_!" exclaimed the teacher. "Yes. It's my birthday Monkey," went on the little boy. "Oh! A birthday monkey!" the teacher said again. "I think I had better call the janitor and have him take care of your monkey for you," and she started toward the door. "Oh, no'm! He isn't a live monkey," said Herbert. "He's just a toy one, on a stick." "Herbert, you may bring me that Monkey," the teacher said, and Herbert, very red in the face, walked up to the platform on which stood his teacher's desk. In his hand Herbert carried his Monkey on a Stick. "Where did you get this?" his teacher asked, as she took the toy from Herbert and laid it on top of her desk. "I got it for my birthday," he answered. "This morning." "But why did you bring it to school?" went on the teacher. "You are nearly always a good boy. Why did you bring your Monkey to school, Herbert?" "Oh, I--I just wanted to show him to Arnold and Dick," was the answer. "We're going to have a show, and my Monkey is going to be in it. I brought him to school under my coat!" "Oh! Oh!" exclaimed Madeline, before she thought what she was saying. "I saw something under his coat, and I thought it was his books. Oh! Oh! And it was his Monkey!" All the children laughed when Madeline said this, and even the teacher could not help smiling. But she said: "Silence, please, children. We must keep on with our lessons. And, Herbert, it was wrong of you to bring your Monkey to school and take him out to show to other boys. As a little punishment I shall keep your toy in my desk until after school to-night. Then you may have him back." "Yes'm," returned Herbert, still rather red in the face. He went back to his desk, and the other children went on with their lessons. The teacher put the Monkey on a Stick inside a big drawer. "Well, this is the first of my adventures since I went to sleep in the store and awakened in Herbert's house," thought the Monkey to himself, as he found that he was shut up inside the teacher's desk. "I wondered what Herbert was going to do with me when he slipped me under his coat at the breakfast table. Now I must see what we have here." It was not very dark inside the drawer of the teacher's desk. Enough light came through the keyhole for the Monkey to see, and, among other things, he noticed a bottle of ink and a small Doll. He was pleased to see the Doll. "Oh, here is a toy like myself!" said the Monkey, speaking in a whisper. "How do you do?" he went on, sitting up and bowing to his new acquaintance. "Are you any relation to the Sawdust Doll?" he asked politely. "I'm a second or third cousin," was the answer. "She is stuffed with sawdust, but I am stuffed with cotton." "Then I will call you Miss Cotton Doll," went on the Monkey. "What brought you here? Were you so bad in school that you had to be shut up in a desk?" "No, not exactly. But a little girl named Mary brought me in her school bag yesterday, and she took me out in the study hour, and the teacher said it was wrong. So she took me away from the little girl named Mary." "I thought Mary brought a lamb to school," said the Monkey on a Stick, who, having lived in a toy store, of course knew all about toy books and Mother Goose verses. "That was another Mary," went on the Cotton Doll. "Besides Mary didn't _bring_ the lamb to school, it _followed_ her one day." "Oh, so it did--I had forgotten," went on the Monkey. "But my Mary _brought_ me to school," said the Cotton Doll, "and her teacher took me away. She put me in this desk drawer; the teacher did." "Well, now we're here, let's have some fun," said the Monkey to the Cotton Doll after a bit. "We are all alone by ourselves, and we can do as we please. Let's look around and play. We can't stand up, as the drawer isn't high enough, but we can crawl on our knees. Let's see what else is here." "All right," agreed the Cotton Doll. So while the teacher was hearing the lessons of Herbert, Madeline and the other boys and girls, the Monkey (crawling off his stick for the time being) and the Cotton Doll went creeping on their hands and knees around the drawer. "Let's look in the bottle of ink," proposed the Monkey, as he crawled near it, and began pulling at the cork. "Oh, don't do that!" cried the Cotton Doll, in a whisper, of course. "Don't open it! You'll get all black!" "Oh, if it's black ink, I know what we can do!" said the Monkey. "We can black up like colored minstrels, and have a little show in here by ourselves. I'll black your face with the ink, and you can black mine, though I am pretty brown now." "But I don't want my face blacked with ink!" cried the Cotton Doll, as the Monkey took the cork from the bottle. "I don't want to be a minstrel!" "Oh, but you must!" insisted the Monkey, laughing, and, catching hold of the Cotton Doll in one hand, he tilted up the ink bottle in the other, and dipped in the end of his tail. "Now I'll paint you nice and black!" he laughed. "Oh, don't! Please don't!" begged the Cotton Doll, as she tried to get away from the Monkey. But she couldn't, for he held her tightly, and the inky end of the tail was coming nearer and nearer to her face. CHAPTER III THE JANITOR'S HOUSE "There you are! Oh, how funny you look!" chattered the Monkey on a Stick in a whisper to the Cotton Doll, as they were both shut up together in the teacher's desk. "You don't know how funny you look! If I only had a looking-glass I'd show you!" "I don't care! I think you're real mean!" said the Cotton Doll. "Don't you dare put any more ink on me!" "I guess I've got enough on you now!" laughed the Monkey. "There's a spot on your nose, one on your chin, and one on each of your cheeks." As he spoke the Monkey put the cork back in the ink bottle and wiped the inky end of his tail off on a piece of blotting paper in the desk. "What's that you say?" cried the Cotton Doll. "Did you dare put ink on my nose, on my chin and my cheeks?" "That's what I did, just for fun!" chattered the mischievous Monkey. And, really, he had done just that. Oh, he was a regular "cut-up" when he was by himself, that Monkey was. "I must look terrible!" said the poor Cotton Doll, and, raising her hands, she rubbed them over her face. She felt the wet spots where the Monkey had daubed her with ink. "Oh! aren't you mean?" cried the Cotton Doll. "My little girl mistress will never like me again when the teacher gives me back to her. I'm all spoiled!" "No, you just look funny!" laughed the Monkey. "You looked funny when I put ink spots on you, but now you look funnier than ever, 'cause you've spread the ink all around, and made big splotches of it. Oh, my! Excuse me while I laugh!" he cried, and he wiggled and twisted around on the bottom of the drawer, laughing in whispers at the funny look on the face of the Cotton Doll. "You're too mean for anything!" said the Doll to the Monkey, and she was almost ready to cry. But she happened to think that if she shed any tears they would wash down through the ink on her cheeks and make her look queerer than ever. So she did not cry. "I'm never going to speak to you again, so there!" exclaimed the Cotton Doll, and she would have stamped her foot if there had been room for her to stand up in the desk drawer--which there wasn't. So she just banged her heels on the bottom of it. "Oh, I'll be good!" promised the Monkey. "I won't put any more ink on you, and I'll see if I can get some of it off on this piece of blotting paper. I blotted my tail on it." He tried to clean the Doll's face, but, by this time, the ink had dried, and you know how hard it is to get dried ink off your fingers after you have written a letter. Well, it was this way with the Cotton Doll. The ink stayed on her face. "Well, if you have ink on your face I've also got some on the end of my tail, where I dipped it into the bottle," said the Monkey chap, thinking to cheer up the Doll by this. "Yes, but the ink doesn't show on your brown tail as it does on my white face," said the Doll. "However, there is no use crying over spilled milk, I suppose," she went on. "Only if you do such a thing again I'll never speak to you as long as I live!" "I'll never do it again," said the Monkey in a sorrowful voice. "Now let's have some fun. You tell me some of your adventures and I'll tell you some of mine. Did you ever live in a store?" "Oh, yes, that's where I came from," answered the Doll. "And was there a Calico Clown in your store, who was always asking what it was that made more noise than a pig under a gate?" asked the Monkey. "No. But there was a Jumping Jack who was always trying to see how high he could kick, and one day he nearly kicked my hat off," said the Cotton Doll. "But tell me, please, some of your adventures." The Monkey was just starting to tell how the Calico Clown's red and yellow trousers were burned in the gas jet one day, when, all of a sudden, there was a great noise and commotion in the schoolroom. The Monkey and the Doll could not tell what had caused it, though the Monkey did try to look out through the keyhole. "Can you see anything?" asked the Doll. "I can see some water dripping down," answered the long-tailed chap, "and the teacher and the children are running around as fast as anything." "Oh, I wonder what has happened!" exclaimed the Doll. And just then she and the Monkey on a Stick heard the teacher say: "Run out quickly, children! Run out, all of you. A water pipe has burst and there's a regular rain storm inside our nice schoolroom." "Please can't I have my Monkey on a Stick before I go out?" asked Herbert. "You put him in your desk, Teacher!" "And I want my knife you took away, please!" called another boy. "We have no time for those things, now," the teacher said. "The water is coming down fast, and we'll all be wet through if we stay. The Monkey, knife and other things will be all right in my desk. Get your hats, and pass out quickly. More pipes may burst and flood the school. "Go home, children, all of you," said the teacher. "To-morrow the pipes will be mended, and, if the school is dry enough, we will go on with our lessons. But run home now." You may well imagine that most of the boys and girls were glad of the holiday that had come to them so unexpectedly. But Herbert felt sorry; that he had to leave his Monkey on a Stick in school. When he reached home he acted so strangely that his mother wanted to know what the matter was. Of course Herbert had to tell that he had taken his Monkey to school, and he also had to tell what had happened afterward. "Of course you did wrong," said Herbert's mother, "and you must suffer a little punishment." "What kind of punishment?" asked Herbert. "The punishment of not having your Monkey," was the answer. And now we must see what happened to the Monkey on a Stick. "What do you imagine will happen next?" asked the Doll of the Monkey, for they had heard what had been said. "I don't know," was the answer. "But if we are left alone here in the room we can get out of the desk and have some fun." "Oh, so we can!" cried the Doll. "I'm tired of being shut up here. Can you open the desk, Mr. Monkey?" "I think so," was the reply. The Monkey was just going to raise the lid, by prying under it with the long stick up and down which he climbed, when, all of a sudden, there was a noise in the room. "Some one is coming!" whispered the Doll. "I hear them," said the Monkey. He looked out through the keyhole and saw a man wading through the water toward the desk. "I guess it's the night watchman," went on the Monkey in a whisper. "We don't have a night watchman in school," whispered back the Doll. "But we have a janitor. Maybe it's the janitor coming." And so it was. The janitor had shut off some of the water in the broken pipes, and he was going about from room to room to see how much damage had been done. He walked up to the desk inside of which the Monkey and Doll had been placed. "Well, I do declare!" exclaimed the janitor, and the Monkey and the Doll heard him. "There's ink running out of the drawer of the teacher's desk! Ink running out of her desk, and water running out of the broken pipes! Sure the school had bad luck to-day! But I must see about this ink. It may spoil everything in the drawer. The bottle must have been upset and the cork came out when the teacher and children were running around after the pipes burst." The Monkey turned away from the keyhole and looked at the bottle of ink. Surely enough, it lay on its side, and the cork was out. A stream of black liquid was running out of the bottle, dripping down through a crack in the teacher's desk. "Oh, do you suppose you did that?" asked the Doll in a whisper of the Monkey. "I--I guess maybe I did," he answered. "After I dipped my tail in the ink and marked your face, maybe I didn't put the cork back in tightly enough. And when I jumped around, to see what all the racket was about, I must have knocked the bottle over." The janitor opened the lid of the desk, at the same time saying: "I'd better take the teacher's things out and keep them for her until morning. What with the ink and water, everything may be spoiled." A bright light shone in on the Monkey and the Doll when the top of the desk was opened by the janitor. Of course both the toys kept very still as soon as the janitor looked at them. This was the rule, as I have told you in the other books. It did not take the school janitor long to cork the ink bottle and stop any more of the black fluid running out. "Well, well!" said the janitor, looking at the ink-splashed Doll and the ink-tipped Monkey. "I'll take these two toys home and maybe my little girl can clean them. Then I'll bring them back to school to-morrow, and the teacher can give them to whoever owns them. Yes, I'll take the Monkey and Doll home to my house." And this the janitor did. He stuffed the Monkey on a Stick, and also the Cotton Doll, into his pocket, taking care, of course, not to break them, and then, having cleaned from the room as much of the water as he could, the janitor went home. "Look what I've brought you," he said to his little girl, as he took the Monkey and the Doll out of his pocket on reaching home. "Oh, aren't they funny!" cried the little girl, dancing up and down. "May I have them to keep?" "Gracious me! what is going to happen now?" thought the Monkey on a Stick. CHAPTER IV 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!" CHAPTER V MONKEYSHINES Over the green meadow, with the Monkey on his back, ran Carlo the dog. In front of the dog raced Herbert and Dick, now and then looking back and laughing. It was great fun for the boys to see the Monkey having a ride on the dog's back. And, to tell the truth, Carlo and the Monkey were enjoying it themselves. "Do I hurt you, holding on this way?" asked the Monkey of Carlo, grasping tightly the dog's woolly back. "Do I pull your hair any?" "Oh, not much," Carlo barked in answer. "I don't mind a little pull like that." "You see I'm so afraid of falling off and breaking my tail, or something like that," went on the Monkey. "Well, you're tied on, so I don't believe you'll fall," replied the dog. "Those boys are used to tying things. Once they tied Madeline's Candy Rabbit on the end of a kite tail, and he nearly went to the moon, I guess." "Oh, yes, I heard about that," said the Monkey. "Only I heard it was a star, not the moon." And then he noticed that he was tied on rather tightly, and he felt there was not much chance of his falling. So he did not hold so hard to the dog's back, and Carlo was glad of this. Herbert and Dick, looking back to see if Carlo was running after them (which indeed he was) saw the Monkey bobbing to and fro on the dog's back. "It looks just as if the Monkey was holding on, doesn't it?" asked Dick of his chum. "Yes, it does," admitted Herbert. "Wouldn't it be funny if my Monkey was _really_ alive, as your dog is, and could ride him whenever he wanted to?" "It would be funny," said Dick. "Very funny!" Pretty soon the boys came to a little brook that ran through the meadow. They stopped on the edge, and looked down into the water in which tiny fishes were swimming. "Shall we jump across the brook and run in the field on the other side?" asked Dick of Herbert. "If we do, won't Carlo jump over, too?" asked Herbert. "And if he tries to jump over, he may fall in and get all wet, and so will my Monkey." "Carlo won't mind getting wet!" laughed Dick. "But it might not be good for your Monkey. Perhaps we'd better stay on this side of the brook, and then everything will be all right." "I think so, too!" agreed Herbert. So the two boys did not try to jump over the stream, but waited on the edge of it for Carlo to catch up to them. Along came the fussy little dog, barking and yelping, for he did not like to be left very far behind. And on his back, still bobbing about, was the Monkey on a Stick. No, I am wrong. The Monkey was not on his Stick just then. Herbert had taken him off to give him a ride. It was easy to take the Monkey off his Stick and put him back on. Up ran Carlo; and as soon as he saw the brook full of water what did that little dog do but start to run right into it! "Oh, look out! Stop him!" cried Herbert. "He'll get my Monkey all wet and spoil him!" "Come back, Carlo! Come back!" ordered Dick, making a jump toward his pet. But Carlo had no idea of going too deep into the brook. He just wanted to get a drink. So he waded in only a little way, stopping just before the dangling feet of the Monkey would have got wet. "Oh, I guess he isn't going to roll in the water," said Dick. "Sometimes he does that--just rolls right over in it like a fish." "If he did that now, with my Monkey on his back, he'd spoil him," said Herbert. "I'm glad he didn't." Carlo lapped the cool water up with his red tongue, and then he waded out of the brook and toward the boys. He seemed to be asking them: "What shall we do next? That was fun--giving the Monkey a ride. But what shall we do next?" "I know what we can do," said Dick to Herbert, after they had sailed some little make-believe ships in the brook, while Carlo lay in the grass on the bank. "We can take your Monkey and my dog down the street. People will see him and laugh. Shall we do that?" "Oh, yes. Let's do it!" exclaimed Herbert. Once more the boys started to run across the meadow, and Carlo, seeing them go, and not wanting to be left behind, started after them with a "bow-wow." The Monkey was still on his back. The two boys were almost across the meadow, and were thinking what fun it would be to see the dog going down the street, giving the Monkey a ride, when, all of a sudden, Carlo saw a cat. Now you know what dogs do when they see cats. They chase them, just for fun, you understand. And this is what Carlo did--he raced after this cat as fast as he could go. "Carlo!" chattered the Monkey. Now, somehow or other, the strings by which the boys had fastened the Monkey on the back of the dog had become loosened. One knot after another came undone, and the Monkey felt himself slipping. "Oh, wait a minute! Wait a minute, Carlo!" cried the Monkey, for he could talk now, being out of hearing of the boys. "Wait! Wait!" cried the Monkey. "I am falling off!" "I can't wait!" barked Carlo. "I must get that cat!" On he ran, faster than before. Dick and Herbert saw him, and Dick cried: "Oh, look at my dog chasing a cat. Let's see if he gets her." So they ran after the dog. Faster and faster went Carlo, and the strings that held the Monkey on became looser and looser until, at last, they slipped off altogether, and down fell the Monkey into the grass. The grass was tall and thick, and at the moment when the Monkey fell Dick and Herbert were down in a sort of little valley, and they did not see what had happened. So the Monkey fell off the dog's back before they noticed it. As for Carlo, all he was thinking of was getting the cat. And the boys went after him. On all sides of the Monkey was green grass, nice and soft. A little farther off were some trees. The Monkey could see them as he looked over the top of the grass. "I wish I could climb one of those trees," said the toy Monkey half aloud. "I've been climbing up and down a stick so long that I am rather tired of it. I think I ought to climb trees." The Monkey was beginning to feel strange. It was the first time he had ever been by himself, alone in a green field, with the warm sun shining on him. "I feel just like doing something!" said the Monkey, speaking out loud this time, though he could see no one to whom he might talk. "I'm going to cut up! Hi yi!" he shouted. "I'm going to jump and turn somersaults and everything." And with that he began leaping about on the soft, green grass. He jumped this way and that. He jumped forward and backward and he turned front somersaults and backward somersaults. Then, all of a sudden, a voice called, saying: "What in the world are you doing, my friend?" The Monkey stopped short, and flipped his tail from side to side. "Well, I don't see you, and I don't know who you are," he said, "but if you want to know what I'm doing, I'm cutting up Monkeyshines! That's what I'm doing! Cutting up Monkeyshines!" CHAPTER VI IN A CAVE Out from under a large, green leaf, underneath which he had been sitting, crawled a long green creature. The green creature looked at the brown Monkey, who, after jumping about, sat down on a little hummock of grass to rest. "What did you say you were doing?" asked the bug. "Cutting up Monkeyshines," was the answer. "We Monkeys, whether we are toys or not, call our fun 'Monkeyshines,' and I thought I'd cut up a few while I was here by myself. I didn't know you minded." "Oh, bless you, I don't mind," said the green creature. "I like to watch you. It is fun. You are quite a jumper, and I am something of a jumper myself." "Who are you?" asked the Monkey. "I'm a Grasshopper," was the answer. "I live here in this green meadow and sing songs all day long." "I am glad to meet you, Mr. Grasshopper," said the Monkey. "Singing songs must be nice." So the Monkey and the Grasshopper sat there talking together. The Monkey told the different things that had happened to him from the time he had awakened in a box on the breakfast table until he fell off Carlo's back. "Do you have any adventures here in the meadow?" asked the chap who had been cutting up Monkeyshines. "Oh, yes, we have had things happen here," said the Grasshopper. "Of course they are not as exciting as those you have told me about. But we rather like them. Do you want to----" But just then something began running through the tall grass a short distance away from where the Monkey sat on a hummock. At first the Monkey thought it was Carlo, the dog, coming back, but in another moment he saw a pink nose and two long, flapping ears. He knew then it was not Carlo, but he thought it was another friend of his, so the Monkey called: "I say! Hold on there a minute! I want to talk to you, my friend! Wait, can't you?" "Who is it?" asked the Grasshopper, stretching out one long hind leg. "Who do you see?" "My friend, the Candy Rabbit," was the answer. "He just ran through the grass." "That isn't a Candy Rabbit," said the Grasshopper. "Who is it, then?" asked the Monkey, in surprise. "That's Jack Hare, a real, live rabbit who lives in the meadow here," was the reply. "He wouldn't like it if you called him a Candy Rabbit." The grass waved to and fro, and a moment later a big, white rabbit came jumping through, and sat down on his hind legs near the big leaf on which the Grasshopper was perched. The Monkey could see that this rabbit was different from the one made of candy. This bunny was larger, and his nose was not so pink. His ears, too, were bigger. "Hello, who's your friend, Mr. Grasshopper?" asked Jack Hare. "He is a stranger in our meadow," was the answer. "I just met him. He was cutting up some--er--polishes, I think he said." "Shines! Shines! Monkeyshines, not polishes, though they are somewhat alike," explained the Monkey. "I cut some Monkeyshines after I fell off a dog's back." "A dog! Good gracious! Don't tell me there's a _dog_ around here!" exclaimed Jack Hare, looking quickly over his shoulder. "A dog will chase me as soon as he will a cat. I guess I'd better be going." "Oh, don't be afraid," said the Monkey. "The dog I mean is Carlo. He is chasing a cat now, and so he won't come here." The Grasshopper and the Live Rabbit sat looking at the Monkey. Soon, from under another leaf, came hopping a black bug not quite as large as the green one. The black bug wiggled her legs and chirped cheerfully: "Well, well! Whom have we here?" "Oh, this is Mr. Monkey Shine," said the Grasshopper. "Allow me to introduce you to Mr. Monkey Shine, Miss Cricket!" and the green creature nodded from one to the other. "Excuse me, I am Monkey on a Stick, not Monkey Shine, though I do cut up shines once in a while," said the jolly chap who had fallen off Carlo's back. "That is my right name--Monkey on a Stick." "I'm pleased to meet you," chirped the Cricket. "Welcome to our meadow, Monkey on a Stick." "Thank you," replied the Monkey. Then the Grasshopper, the Live Rabbit and the Cricket sat and looked at the Monkey, and, after a while, he cut some more Monkeyshines for them, even standing on his head and waving his tail in the air. "I wonder if I could do that," said Jack Hare. "I'm going to try." "Better not," warned the Monkey. "In turning over you might break off your ears." "Oh, my ears are not made of candy. They will bend, and not break," said Jack Hare. "Here goes! I'm going to turn a somersault just as you did. Maybe I can cut some Monkeyshines, too!" Well, the Live Rabbit tried, but I can not say that he did it very well. First he fell over to one side, and then he fell to the other side. And once he got stuck in the middle, standing on his head with his ears lying flat along the ground and his legs sticking up in the air. "Go on over! Why don't you turn all the way over?" asked the Grasshopper. [Illustration: Monkey Does Some "Monkey Shines." _Page 65_] "I--I can't!" answered the Live Rabbit. "I seem to be stuck half way! If one of you would be so kind as to give me a push, or a pull, I might finish my somersault. Come on, help me!" "I'll help you," kindly said the Monkey. He took hold of the Live Rabbit's hind legs and gave him a push. Over went Jack Hare, finishing his somersault, though not doing it very well. The Live Rabbit thanked the Monkey on a Stick for what he had done and then said: "Since you have come to our meadow would you not like to visit my house?" "Where do you live?" asked the Monkey. "In a burrow, or underground house, called a cave," answered the Rabbit. "Perhaps you may not like it, but we Bunnies think it rather nice. Will you come to my cave, and visit the other Rabbits?" "I should love to," said the Monkey. "But you see I belong to a little boy named Herbert. He got me for a birthday present, and he and Dick tied me on the dog's back. I fell off and the two boys may come back here to look for me. If I should go to your cave they might come here, and, not finding me, might think I had left them forever. I like Herbert, and as his friends have some of the other toys with whom I used to live in the store, I want to stay with him." "That is easily managed," said the Grasshopper. "You go and visit Jack Hare's cave, Mr. Monkey. Miss Cricket and I will stay here, and if we see the boys and the dog coming back, looking for you, we'll hop over and tell you." So it was planned that the Monkey should visit the Rabbit's cave, and if by any chance, Herbert and Dick came back, the Grasshopper and Cricket would bring word to the Monkey, who could quickly hop back. "Come along, Mr. Monkey," called the Rabbit, and soon the two new friends were jumping through the grass together. The Monkey was off his stick, and so he could get along quite well, though not quite so fast as Jack Hare. But the Rabbit took short jumps and did not get too far ahead, waiting for the Monkey to catch up to him. "Here we are at my cave," said Jack Hare at length, stopping in front of a hole in the ground. "Oh, so this is where you live, is it?" asked the Monkey. He had hopped across the green meadow through the grass after his new friend. "Yes, we'll go down in now, and meet Mrs. Hare and the children," went on the Live Rabbit. "Mind your step, and don't fall. It's rather steep until you get inside." "And it's dark, too," said the Monkey, following the Rabbit down the hole into the ground. "How in the world do you see?" "Oh, I forgot you aren't like us animals, and can not see quite so well in the dark," said the Live Rabbit. "Just a moment, I'll turn on the lamps." He stopped and gave three thumps with, his feet on the earthen sides of the cave. Instantly a soft glow shone all around, and the Monkey could see very well indeed. "Do you have electric lights?" he asked in surprise. "No. These are lightning bugs," was the Rabbit's answer. "I keep them to make the place bright when strangers come. We Rabbits don't need light ourselves, for we can see in the dark." "Some of the toys can, also," said the Monkey. "But I am not very good at that sort of thing yet. I like light. We had gas and electricity at the toy store." The Monkey followed the Live Rabbit on down through the winding burrow. It twisted and turned, this way and that, now to the right and now to the left. Here and there, clinging to the earthen sides, were lightning bugs, which made the place so bright that the Monkey did not stumble once. "But why does it twist and turn so, like a corkscrew?" the Monkey asked the Rabbit. "We always build our burrow caves like this, to keep out dogs and other enemies," was the reply. "My real home is still a little farther on. We'll be there in a moment." The Monkey followed on, and soon came to a place where, seated about a table made from a piece of a flat stump, were several little Rabbit children and a lady Rabbit. "This is my family," said the Live Rabbit. "Mrs. Hare, allow me to present Mr. Monkey on a Stick, who has come to pay us a visit." "Pleased to meet you," said Mrs. Rabbit, bowing low. "Hi, Daddy!" called one of the little Rabbits, "where's his stick?" And then everybody laughed. CHAPTER VII OUT IN THE RAIN "Please excuse little Johnnie Hare," said Mrs. Hare to the Monkey. "He didn't mean to be impolite, asking for your stick." "Oh, I know," said the Monkey. "He's just like all children--they just ask what they want to know about. And I suppose it does seem funny to be a Monkey on a Stick and then not have your stick with you. But I can tell you where my stick is, Johnnie," said the Monkey to the little Rabbit chap, and then he related his adventure on Carlo's back. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" said all the other little Rabbits, opening wide their eyes when they heard this story. "Tell us another, please!" "We are just going to have dinner," said Mrs. Hare. "Won't you sit down, Mr. Monkey on a Stick, and take something? We have some nice carrots and turnips." "Thank you, I'll take a little," said the Monkey. A little chair, made from a piece of wood gnawed out by Mr. Jack Hare, was brought up for the Monkey to sit on, and then the Rabbit family and the visitor gathered around the table and began eating. I can not say that the little Rabbit children ate much, for they turned around so often to look at Mr. Monkey, that, half the time, they missed putting things in their mouths and dropped them on the table. But no one minded this, and every one laughed, so there was a most jolly good time. The lightning bugs kept on glowing, so it was not at all dark in the cave, though it would have been only for these fireflies. Mr. and Mrs. Hare had many questions to ask Mr. Monkey on a Stick about his adventures, and he told them of the Calico Clown, the Sawdust Doll and others from the toy store, including the Candy Rabbit. "Just fancy!" exclaimed Mrs. Hare. "A Rabbit made of candy! I'm glad you're not that kind, Jack." "So am I," said her husband. "I'd be afraid, every time I jumped, that I'd break a leg or an ear, if I were made of candy." "Now I must show you our cave house," said Mrs. Hare, when the meal was finished. "We think it is very nice." "I'm sure it is," returned the Monkey. So he was taken about, and he looked at the different burrows, or rooms, in the cave house of Mr. Jack Hare. There were rooms for the children Rabbits and rooms for Mr. and Mrs. Hare. In each room were lightning bugs to give light, though as Mr. Hare said, they were needed only when company came that could not see well in the dark. "We put out every light when Mr. Mole comes," said Mrs. Hare. "Why is that?" asked the Monkey. "Because he has no eyes, and doesn't need to see," was the answer. "He just feels and noses his way around. All darkness is the same to him." "Dear me! Well, I like a little light," said the Monkey. "But I think now, since I have been here quite a while, that I had better go back. Herbert and Dick might be walking over the meadow, looking for me, for they know which way Carlo ran, with me on his back, and they often find things that are lost--those boys do." "Oh, stay just a little longer," urged Mrs. Hare. "And tell us another story!" begged Johnnie Hare. "Well, I will," said the Monkey, and he did. He told about some of the funny things that had happened in the toy store--things I have told you children about in the other books. And the bunny boys and girls liked the story told by the Monkey on a Stick very much indeed. The Monkey enjoyed himself so much in the cave house of Mr. Jack Hare that he stayed longer than he intended. It was along in the middle of the afternoon before he came out, and as the Monkey and Mr. Hare reached the outer opening of the burrow the rabbit gentleman knocked on the ground three times with his hind feet. "What's that for?" asked the Monkey. "To turn off the lightning bugs," was the answer. "No use burning lights when no one needs them. I'll turn them on if you call again." "Thank you, I shall be glad to pay you another visit," said the Monkey. "But just now I feel that I must get back to where you first saw me. I want to ask the Grasshopper or Miss Cricket if they have seen the boys or the dog." "Well, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll not go back with you," said the Rabbit. "I am not fond of dogs, and they are altogether too fond of me. Good-bye!" Then he hopped away, waving his paw at the Monkey, and the Monkey jumped through the grass to the place where he had fallen from the dog's back. There he found Mr. Grasshopper and Miss Cricket. They were eating some of the green things that grew all around them. "Have you seen anything of my friends?" asked the Monkey, as he hopped up and sat on the hummock of grass where he had been resting after cutting up his Monkeyshines. "No, neither the boys nor the dog have been here," said the Grasshopper. "But I heard a dog barking," said Miss Cricket. "It may have been the Carlo you spoke about." "And I heard some boys talking," went on the Grasshopper. "They may have been Dick and Herbert. But they did not come here. Why don't you jump along until you find them?" "Yes, I suppose I could do that," agreed the Monkey. "But I'll wait a little while, and, if they don't come for me, I'll see if I can find them. As soon as I see them, though, I shall have to stop, and not move. We toys are not allowed to move or talk as long as human eyes see us." "That's a funny rule," said Miss Cricket. "But then you are a funny fellow, Mr. Monkey on a Stick." "If you think I'm funny, you ought to see my friend, the Calico Clown," said the Monkey. "He's full of jokes and riddles. He has a queer one about a pig making a noise under a gate." "My goodness! why did he do that?" asked the Grasshopper. "Do what?" inquired the Monkey. "Why did the pig make a noise under the gate?" the Grasshopper wanted to know. "Why couldn't he stay in his pen where he belonged, or in the barnyard?" "That's what the riddle's about, I suppose," said the Monkey. "Anyhow, none of us can answer, and the Clown's always asking it. If you want to see some one really funny, meet the Calico Clown." After a little more talk among the three friends, the Monkey said he thought he would hop along and see if he could find the two boys or the dog. "Aren't you afraid, if you find the dog alone, he may bite you?" asked the Grasshopper. "Oh, my, no!" exclaimed the Monkey. "Carlo is a friend of mine. If he found me he would take me home to Herbert's house. I had even rather find him than the boys, for I can talk to the dog, and I can't talk to Dick and Herbert." "Well, we wish you luck," chirped the Cricket, and the Grasshopper did also. Away hopped the Monkey, making his journey through the tall grass of the green meadow. The grass was rather high, and he could not see very well. But he looked the best he could on every side, and, every now and then, he stopped to listen. He wanted to hear the barking of Carlo or the shouts of Dick and Herbert, who, as he guessed, were, even then, looking for him. But the boys looked in the wrong place, and, as it happened, the Monkey jumped in the wrong direction. The only creatures the Monkey met were bugs and beetles, butterflies and birds, grasshoppers and crickets in the grass. They all spoke to him kindly, and though some of them said they had seen or heard the boys and the dog, none seemed able to tell the Monkey how to find his friends. "And it is getting late, too," said the Monkey to himself, as he looked up at the sky. "Soon the sun will set, and it will be dark. And then it will be so much the harder for me to find Dick and Herbert and Carlo, or for them to find me. Well, I suppose I must make the best of it." He was a plucky Monkey chap, almost as adventurous as the Bold Tin Soldier, and he kept jumping on through the tall grass of the meadow. All at once, as he skipped along, being able to move quite fast now that he was off his stick, the Monkey stumbled over a stone and fell flat down. "Ouch!" he cried, as he picked himself up. "I hope I haven't broken anything." Very luckily he had not. He was as good as ever, except that his plush fur was rumpled a bit. But he soon brushed himself smooth again, and he was about to hop on, when, all at once, he felt a splash of water on his head. "Dear me! is some one squirting water at me from a toy rubber ball or a water pistol?" exclaimed the Monkey. More drops splashed down, dozens and dozens of them. Then the Monkey looked up and cried: "Oh, it's raining! It's pouring! I'll be soaking wet! I'll be drowned out in the rain without an umbrella or rubbers! Oh, my!" And the rain came down harder and harder and _harder_. CHAPTER VIII HERBERT FINDS THE MONKEY Poor Monkey on a Stick! Oh, I forgot! He wasn't on a stick now, was he? Herbert had the stick, and it was just as well he had, for the Monkey, being rid of it, could hop around better. "And I need to hop around a lot, to keep out of the wet," said the Monkey to himself, after he had come from the Rabbit's cave and had been caught in the rain. Harder and harder the big drops came pelting down. At first the Monkey tried to keep dry by crawling under the grass. But, thick and tall as it was, it was not like an umbrella, and the drops came through. Soon the Monkey was very wet. "I know I'll catch cold!" he said sorrowfully. "I'll get the snuffles! I'm not used to being soaked like this." And, truly, he was not. Since he had been made at the workshop of Santa Claus, the Monkey had never been out in a rain storm. He had always been either in the toy factory, the department store, or in some house, and when he was taken from one place to another he was always well wrapped up, so it did not matter whether there was snow or rain. But now it was different. The Monkey was getting wetter and wetter each minute. "It's the first time I've been in so much water since the janitor's little girl tried to wash the ink spot off the end of my tail," the Monkey said. Just then he heard a voice calling: "Come over here, Mr. Monkey! Over this way, and you can stand under this big leaf, which is like an umbrella!" "Hello! Who are you?" asked the Monkey, looking around, but seeing no one. By this time he had crossed the green meadow and was near a little clump of trees. "I am Jack in the Pulpit," was the answer. "I live on the edge of the woods. There are big fern leaves here under which you can be safe from the rain. Hop over!" So the Monkey hopped through the wet grass until he came close to the trees in the woods. Then the voice called again: "Straight ahead now, and you'll see me!" The Monkey looked, and saw a queer little thin green chap, standing up in the middle of a sort of brown, striped leaf that curled over his head, just as in some churches the pulpit curls down over the preacher's head. "Who did you say you were?" asked the Monkey. "I am Jack in the Pulpit," was the answer. "Some folks call me a plant, and others a flower. They don't know I am really alive, and can come to life as you toys do. I saw you getting wet, so I called to you. Get under one of these big, broad fern leaves, and it will keep the rain off as well as an umbrella." Jack in the Pulpit nodded toward a big fern leaf near where he himself was growing, and in an instant the Monkey had crawled under this shelter. Truly enough it kept off the rain, the drops pattering down on the leaf over the Monkey's head as they used to patter on the roof of the toy store. No longer was he out in the rain. "Thank you for telling me how to keep out of the wet," said the Monkey to Jack in the Pulpit. "Oh, you are very welcome," was the answer. "And now please tell me about yourself and whether you have had any adventures. I love to hear about adventures." So the Monkey told all about himself, even down to the time when he fell off Carlo's back and visited the cave of Jack Hare. "And I suppose Herbert is looking for me now," said the Monkey. "Oh, I hardly think he would be looking for you in all this rain," said Jack in the Pulpit. "Besides it will soon be night. You had better make up your mind to stay here until morning. Then the sun will be shining and you can hop back to the place where you fell off the dog's back. Then Herbert and Dick may come along and find you." "That's what I'll do," said the Monkey. Just as the Jack had said it would, it soon became dark, and it kept on raining. But the Monkey curled up under the big fern leaf, where it was nice and dry. Soon the Monkey began to feel warm and sleepy, and, before he knew it, he was fast asleep. In the morning the rain had stopped. The sun came out bright and warm and dried up the damp grass. Jack in the Pulpit awoke, and, looking over toward the Monkey, fast asleep under the broad leaf, called: "Hi, there, Mr. Monkey! It's morning! Now maybe you can find Herbert, or he can find you!" "Dear me! Morning so soon?" exclaimed the Monkey, stretching out his legs. "I must have slept very soundly." "Did you dream any?" asked the Jack. "Not that I remember," was the answer. "But I am glad the rain has stopped. Now I'll hop over the meadow, back to the place where I fell off Carlo's back, and I'll wait there until Herbert comes for me, as I am sure he will." "I shall be sorry to see you go," said Jack, "but I suppose it has to be. If you ever get back this way again, stop and see me." The Monkey said he would and then, smoothing down his plush, he sat out in the sun awhile to get a little dryer and warmer. He looked at the end of his tail. "The ink is almost washed off," he said. "I am glad of that." Then he began to hop across the field, making his way through the tall grass. He thought he would know it when he came to the place where the string had come loose, and where he had fallen from Carlo's back, but the grass looked so much alike all over that the Monkey was beginning to think he might be lost in it. All at once, however, he heard a voice saying: "Well, you've come back, have you?" The Monkey looked around, and there sat his friend Mr. Grasshopper, and near him was Miss Cricket. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" cried the Monkey. "I was looking for the place I first met you--the place where I fell off the dog's back." "It is right here," said the Grasshopper. "This is where I first noticed you. And there is the hummock of grass you sat on." Then the Monkey knew he was back at the place he wished to reach. He sat down and talked with the Grasshopper and the Cricket, telling them of his visit to Jack Hare's cave, and also how he had slept all night under a leaf near Jack in the Pulpit. "Hark!" suddenly called the Grasshopper. "What's the matter?" asked the Monkey. "I think you are going to get your wish," was the Grasshopper's answer. "I hear boys talking and a dog barking. We had better be going, Miss Cricket. Good-bye, Mr. Monkey on a Stick!" "Good-bye," called the Cricket. With that they hopped away. The Monkey listened, and, surely enough, he heard the barking of a dog and the talking of two boys. "It was right about here he must have fallen off," said one boy. "It might have been farther on," said another boy. And just then the grass began to wave from side to side, and through it came bursting Carlo, the little dog! At once he saw the Monkey. "Bow wow! Oh, here you are!" barked Carlo. "I thought I should find you." "I'm glad you did," said the Monkey. Then the two friends had no further chance to talk, for Dick and his chum came running along when they heard the dog bark. "Oh, here he is!" cried Herbert. "I've found my lost Monkey. Now I'm going to put him back on his stick!" CHAPTER IX MONKEY IN A TENT Herbert and Dick, with Carlo the dog, had searched through the meadow all the afternoon, to find the Monkey, but they did not find him. At night the two boys had gone to their homes, and Herbert felt sad at losing his toy. "Never mind," said Madeline, as she let Herbert hold her Candy Rabbit, "to-morrow I'll help you look for your Monkey. Maybe he's hiding down in the tall grass, as Dorothy's Sawdust Doll once did." "Maybe," said Herbert hopefully. But still he felt sad. The next day he and Dick and Carlo again went to the meadow. They looked all around, and at last they found the Monkey, as I have told you. Of course neither of the boys knew what an adventure the Monkey had had, nor how he had gone to visit Jack Hare in the cave, and had seen the little Rabbits. Nor did they know how he had become dried out by sleeping under the fern leaf. "Well, now we'll have some fun, as long as I have my Monkey back," said Herbert, and he and Dick, followed by the dog, went back across the meadow. "What are you going to do?" asked Dick. "Put up a tent and have a show," Herbert answered. "You can bring your White Rocking Horse, and Arnold can bring his Bold Tin Soldier. If Dorothy wants to, she can bring her Sawdust Doll, Mirabell can bring her Lamb of Wheels, and my sister Madeline can bring her Candy Rabbit." "That'll be a fine show!" cried Dick. The two little boys hurried back to Herbert's house, and told his mother what they were going to do. Herbert showed his mother the Monkey he had found in the meadow, and Dick hurried over to his house to get his Rocking Horse, and to tell his sister about the show. "What can I make a tent of?" asked Herbert. "Oh, I think I can let you take some old sheets," said his mother, "and you can hang them over the clothesline in the yard. That will make a nice little tent for your show." "Yes, that will be fine," said Herbert. "Thank you, Mother." He carried his Monkey into the house and put him on a table, where Madeline was sitting, playing with her Candy Rabbit. "Watch my Monkey so he doesn't jump away, will you, please?" asked Herbert of his sister, laughing and pretending his toy was alive. "What are you going to do?" asked Madeline. "Make a tent to have a show," answered her brother. "Oh, let me help!" she cried, and she set her Candy Rabbit down on the table near the Monkey and ran out with Herbert. Mother gave the children the sheet, and in a little while the sheet tent was being put up in the yard over the clothesline. [Illustration: Monkey Thanks Jack in the Pulpit. _Page 89_] As soon as the Candy Rabbit and Monkey found themselves alone they looked at one another and began to talk, as they were allowed to do. "Where in the world have you been?" asked the Candy Rabbit. "You may well ask that," replied the Monkey. "I have had _so_ many adventures, and I met some friends of yours." "Friends of mine?" repeated the Candy Rabbit. "Do you mean the Lamb on Wheels or the Bold Tin Soldier?" "Neither one. I mean Live Rabbits," answered the Monkey. Then he told of going to the cave of Jack Hare and of being caught in the rain storm. "Oh, what wonderful adventures!" exclaimed the Candy Rabbit. "What happened to you while I was away?" asked the Monkey. "Oh, many things," answered the Candy Rabbit. "Once Madeline left me alone, and the cat came in and began to lick the sugar off my pink nose. Another time a little mouse came out of a hole in the closet where I am kept at night, and nibbled a few crumbs of sweetness off the end of my stubby tail." "Gracious!" cried the Monkey. "Weren't you scared?" "A little," answered the Rabbit. "But I jumped to one side, and when Madeline opened the closet door the mouse ran away." All the while the Monkey and Candy Rabbit were talking, Herbert, Dick and Arnold, with Madeline, Dorothy and Mirabell to help, were putting up the sheet tent in Herbert's yard. The clothesline was pulled tight between two posts and the sheets put over the line. The edges were fastened to the ground with wooden rings, and then some pieces of cloth were pinned to the back of the sheet to close that end. It took two or three days to make the tent, but at last it was finished. "We'll leave one end open for the front door," said Herbert. "But if we do that everybody can look in and see our show for nothing," objected Dick. "That isn't right. They ought to give one pin, or two pins, to come to see our show." "We can pin some pieces of cloth at the front end of the tent," suggested Mirabell. "I have an old shawl over at my house that Mother lets me spread on the grass when I play with my Lamb on Wheels. I'll get that to close the front of the tent." The old shawl was just what was needed to make a front "door" for the show tent, and soon it was pinned in place. Some old boxes were found by Patrick, the kind gardener, and these were to be used for seats. "Now we'd better all go and get our things that are going to be in the show," said Herbert. "I'll bring out my Monkey." "And I'll get my Candy Rabbit," offered Madeline. "I'll have to have somebody help me carry over my Tin Soldier Captain and all the men," said Arnold. "I don't want to drop any of 'em." "I'll help you, as soon as I bring out my Monkey," offered Herbert. "And I'd like somebody to help me carry over my Lamb," said Mirabell. "I'll help you," said Dick. "I'll bring over my White Rocking Horse and your Lamb, Mirabell." So, as it happened, Herbert's Monkey and Madeline's Candy Rabbit were the first of the toy friends to be brought into the tent. The Monkey was on his stick, as Herbert was going to make him do tricks by climbing up to the top of it, and turning somersaults, as it was intended for the Monkey to do. "Do you think my Rabbit and your Monkey will be all right if we leave them here alone in the tent?" asked Madeline, as the toys were put down on one of the boxes, and she and her brother started to help the other children carry in their things. "Oh yes, they'll be all right," said Herbert. But he and Madeline had not been very long away, and the Monkey and Candy Rabbit had not been very long alone in the tent, before something happened. All at once, just as the Monkey was thinking of asking the Candy Rabbit what tricks that sweet chap was going to do in the show, a loud noise was heard in the tent. "Baa-a-a-a-!" was what the Rabbit and the Monkey heard. "Was that you?" asked the Monkey of the Rabbit. "I was just going to ask if you had called," said the Rabbit. "Baa-a-a-a-a!" came again. "It sounds like the Lamb on Wheels," said the Candy Rabbit. "Oh, it can't be," said the Monkey. "She'd come in to see us. Who do you suppose it is?" "Baa-a-a-a-a!" sounded again, and then a funny black nose, followed by a head with curving horns on it, was thrust into the tent. "This isn't the Lamb!" cried the Monkey. "Indeed I'm not a Lamb!" was the answer. "I'm a Billy Goat! Baa-a! Baa-a-a-a! What's going on here?" he bleated. "We're going to have a show," said the Monkey. "I am going to be in it, and so is the Candy Rabbit." "Oh, no, the Candy Rabbit isn't!" said the Goat. "He isn't going to be in the show. He's going to be in _me_, for I am going to eat him! I am very fond of candy, and I've been looking for some for a long time. I wondered what was in this tent, and now I know. I saw it from over in the vacant lots where I live. Then I came over to peep in, when I saw that the boys and girls had gone. Yes, indeed! I like sugar, and I'm going to eat the Candy Rabbit!" The bad Goat, with his sharp horns, walked into the tent and over toward the box on which the Candy Rabbit sat near the Monkey on a Stick. "Oh, yum-yum! How I love candy!" bleated the goat, wiggling his whiskers and smacking his lips. "How I love sugar! I'm going to nibble some sweetness off the ears of the Candy Rabbit." "Oh, no you're not!" suddenly cried the Monkey. "Why not? Who will stop me?" asked the bad Goat, stamping his foot. "I will!" cried the brave Monkey on a Stick. "Here! You get out of this tent!" and the Monkey stood straight up on his stick and looked with both eyes at the goat. [Illustration: Monkey Protects Candy Rabbit. _Page 106_] CHAPTER X MONKEY IN A SHOW The bad Goat walked closer and closer to the Candy Rabbit. And that poor Bunny toy was so frightened that he did not think of jumping out of the way. "I'm going to get sweetness off your ears," said the Goat, teasing. "Oh, if you bite my ears I can't be in the show!" said the poor Rabbit. The Monkey climbed higher and higher on his stick, after he had said he would stop the Goat from eating the Candy Rabbit. And now, just as the Goat was going to take the Bunny up from the box, the Monkey suddenly gave a jump! Oh, such a jump! Off his stick he jumped, and he landed right on the Goat's back. With his hands the Monkey began to pull the Goat's hair. He even reached around and pulled the Goat's whiskers, the Monkey did. "Baa-a-a-a-a!" bleated the Goat. "Stop, Monkey! You're hurting me! You're pulling my hair!" "Then get out of this tent and leave the Candy Rabbit alone!" shouted the Monkey. "No! I want sweet stuff!" bleated the bad Goat. Then the Monkey jumped off the Goat's back, and, catching up the stick, on which he climbed to the top when the string was pulled, the Monkey began hitting the Goat over the nose with it. "Oh, my nose! My soft and tender nose!" bleated the Goat, as he ran out of the tent. "Thank you, so much, for saving me," said the Rabbit to the Monkey, as the likely chap climbed back on his stick. "I am very glad I could help you," said the Monkey. "I guess that Goat won't come back in a hurry!" And as the Groat ran out of the tent, the children, bringing up their other toys to have the show, saw him. "Oh, look at the big sheep!" cried Madeline. "That isn't a sheep, it's a goat," said her brother. "Oh, maybe he ate my Candy Rabbit!" cried the little girl. "I must go and look." She and the other children hurried into the tent. There were the Monkey and the Rabbit safe together. But the children did not know what a narrow escape the Rabbit had had. By this time Arnold, with the help of the other boys, had brought over his Bold Tin Soldier and the other men in the army company; Dick had brought his White Rocking Horse; and Dorothy's Sawdust Doll and Mirabell's Lamb on Wheels were also in the tent. Of course Herbert's Monkey and Madeline's Candy Rabbit were the first to be in the show. "Now the performance is going to start!" cried Herbert, when the brothers and sisters were seated on the benches, which were made from the boxes Patrick, the gardener, had given Dick. "The show is going to start! All ready!" Besides the six children mentioned there were others who lived on the same street with these six friends. These children had all come to the show. The boys and girls brought two pins to get in. Those who brought toy animals to act in the show did not have to bring any pins to come in. "The first act in the show!" called Herbert, who was the ringmaster, "will be Mr. Dick riding on his White Rocking Horse! Ladies and Gentlemen, see Mr. Dick!" "Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!" cried the children, clapping their hands. Dick drew his horse out into the middle of the tent. Of course if the Rocking Horse had been there alone he could have trotted out by himself. But, as it was, Dick had to drag him. Then Dick climbed on the back of his white steed, took hold of the reins, and cried: "Gid-dap!" Back and forth rocked Dick on his Horse, and, as I have told you in the book about this toy, the Horse could move along whenever any one was on his back. He moved just as a rocking chair moves. Across the middle of the tent rode Dick on his Rocking Horse. The little chap pretended he was a cowboy, and swung his cap around his head, and he even made believe lasso wild bulls with a piece of clothesline. "Bang! Bang!" cried Dick, shooting make-believe pistols the way real cowboys do. "Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!" cried all the children, for they liked to see Dick ride the White Rocking Horse. "What's next, Herbert?" asked Madeline. "Hush, you mustn't talk in the show," cautioned her brother. "The ringmaster is the only one who can talk, and I'm him. The next part of the show is the dance of the Sawdust Doll." This was Dorothy's chance, and she came out with her toy. And then and there the Sawdust Doll did a funny little dance while Mirabell played on a mouth organ. Of course Dorothy had to hold the Doll and dance around with her, but it was as good as if the Doll had done it herself, and the boys and girls clapped their hands. "Isn't this a wonderful show?" whispered the Sawdust Doll to the Monkey, when she had a chance, as the children crowded down to one end of the tent to get some cookies Herbert's mother brought out to them. "Yes, you did your part very well," whispered back the Monkey. "Do you think I shall get a chance to do any of my tricks?" "Oh, yes," answered the Doll. "I'm sure you're going to be the best part of the show." When the cookies were eaten, Herbert again took the part of ringmaster. "The next thing in the show will be a fight with the Tin Soldiers," said Herbert. "Mr. Dick will take half of them and Mr. Arnold will take the other half, and there will be a battle right here in the tent." Dick and Arnold divided the Tin Soldiers between them, and set them in two armies on one of the big box tops. Then the tin fighters were moved backward and forward, just as in real battle. "Bang! Bang!" Arnold would shout. "Bang! Bang!" Dick would answer, and so the make-believe guns were fired. The Bold Tin Soldier Captain was moved to and fro, and so were the privates, the Corporal and the Sergeant. "Now the fight is over," said Herbert, after a while. "We'll make believe both sides won, 'cause it will be nicer that way. And you can take the soldiers away, Arnold, 'cause next is going to be a race between the Candy Rabbit and the Lamb on Wheels." "Oh, my Rabbit can't race with the Lamb!" objected Madeline. "The Lamb is too big." "Yes, I guess that's so," admitted her brother. "Well, then the next part of the show," he cried in a loud voice, "will be when the Candy Rabbit rides around the ring on the back of the Lamb on Wheels." "Oh, that will be nice," said Mirabell, blowing a kiss to her woolly Lamb. The two girls left their seats and took their places in the middle of the tent. Mirabell tied a string to her Lamb and then Madeline took her Candy Rabbit and held him on the fleecy back of the Lamb. Around and around the little grass ring in the tent rode the Candy Rabbit on the back of the Lamb, and the boys and girls thought it was a very nice part of the show. One of the Lamb's wheels squeaked a little where she had caught rheumatism after her ride down the brook. "And now we come to the last act!" said Herbert. "This will be some tricks by my Monkey on a Stick." "I'm glad my chance has come at last," thought the Monkey to himself. "I must do my best!" The Monkey had got back on his stick himself after he had driven the Goat out of the tent, and now the funny chap was all ready to do whatever Herbert wanted. "The first trick," said the little boy ringmaster, "will be turning a front somersault!" He pulled the string, up the stick went the Monkey, and then and there, before the crowd of boys and girls in the tent, the lively fellow turned a somersault head over tail. "Hurray! Hurray!" cried Dick and the others, clapping their hands. "The next trick," went on Herbert, "will be when my Monkey turns a back somersault." Once more the string was pulled. Up the stick shinned the Monkey, and, when he reached the top, he turned a back somersault. Of course this was harder than a front one, and the boys and girls clapped all the more. "And now, Ladies and Gentlemen!" cried Herbert, just like a real ringmaster in a real circus, "the next trick will be when my Monkey does a flip-flap-flop!" And, indeed, that was a very hard trick to do. But the Monkey did it when Herbert pulled the string, and all the boys and girls said it was fine, and that the show was one grand affair. The Monkey did several other tricks, and then Herbert's mother, outside the tent, called, just like a circus vendor: "Here's your pink lemonade! Here's your pink lemonade!" And, as true as I'm telling you, she had made a big pitcher of sweet lemonade for the children, and had colored it pink with strawberry juice. "Oh! Ah! Um!" said the boys and girls, and, really, I think the lemonade was almost as good a part of the show as the tricks of the Monkey, the fight of the Tin Soldiers, or the dance of the Sawdust Doll. "Well, the show is over. I wonder what will happen next," said the Lamb on Wheels to the Bold Tin Captain. "Maybe the children will have another," said the Monkey. "But, while we have the chance, I would like to talk to my friends the Sawdust Doll, the Bold Tin Soldier, the White Rocking Horse, and all the others." And so the toys talked among themselves, and told of their different adventures, just as I have told you in the different books. And they all said the Monkey was very brave to have driven away the bad Goat as he had done. "I'd like to know what the Calico Clown is doing all this time, since we came away from the toy store," said the Monkey, after a while. "So would I," put in the Sawdust Doll. "I wonder if anything has happened to him." And as perhaps you children are wondering the same thing, I have decided to make the next book about that funny chap. The volume will be called "The Story of a Calico Clown." He had many wonderful adventures to tell about. As for the Sawdust Doll, the Lamb on Wheels, the White Rocking Horse, the Candy Rabbit, the Bold Tin Soldier and the Monkey on a Stick, why, they had some strange adventures, too, and they took part in another show. But this is all I have to tell you just now about the Monkey on a Stick, except to say that he lived for many years with Herbert and Madeline, and had many happy times. THE END THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS SERIES By LILLIAN ELIZABETH ROY * * * * * =Handsomely Bound. Colored Wrappers. Illustrated.= =For Children 6 to 12 Years= * * * * * This series presents early American history in a manner that impresses the young readers. Because of George and Martha Washington Parke, two young descendants of the famous General Washington, these stories follow exactly the life of the great American, by means of playing they act the life of the Washingtons, both in battles and in society. THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS Their thrilling battles and expeditions generally end in "punishment" lessons read by Mrs. Parke from the "Life of Washington." The culprits listen intently, for this reading generally gives them new ideas for further games of Indian warfare and Colonists' battles. THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS RELATIVES The Davis children visit the Parke home and join zealously in the games of playing General Washington. So zealously, in fact, that little Jim almost loses his scalp. THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS' TRAVELS The children wage a fierce battle upon the roof of a hotel in New York City. Then, visiting the Davis home in Philadelphia, the patriotic Washingtons vanquish the Hessians on a battle-field in the empty lot back of the Davis property. THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS AT SCHOOL After the school-house battle the Washingtons discover a band of gypsies camping near the back road to their homes and incidentally they secure the stolen horse which the gypsies had taken from the "butter and egg farmer" of the Parkes. THE LITTLE WASHINGTONS' HOLIDAYS They spend a pleasant summer on two adjoining farms in Vermont. During the voyage they try to capture a "frigate" but little Jim is caught and about to be punished by the Captain when his confederates hasten in and save him. * * * * * =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 notes: Punctuation normalized. Page 58, somesaults changed to "somersaults." (turn somersaults and) 
17679	----	_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". 
18655	----	[Illustration: MR. JONAH LEAVES THE WHALE FOR THE ARK _The Cruise of the Noah's Ark._ _Frontispiece_] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- _LITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPY LAND_ _(Trademark Registered)_ THE CRUISE OF THE NOAH'S ARK By DAVID CORY Author of The Little Jack Rabbit Series _Profusely Illustrated_ _GROSSET & DUNLAP_ PUBLISHERS NEW YORK Made in the United States of America -------------------------------------------------------------------------- _LITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPY LAND_ (Trademark Registered) The Cruise of the Noah's Ark The Magic Soap-Bubble The Iceberg Express BY DAVID CORY Author of Little Jack Rabbit Series (Trademark Registered) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright, 1922, by GROSSET & DUNLAP -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS ALL ABOARD! 3 COCK-A-DOODLE-DO 17 THE CIRCUS 31 THE MAJESTY OF THE LAW 49 MAN OVERBOARD 59 FIRE! FIRE! 75 REPAIRS 87 THE ICEBERG 99 A THRILLING RESCUE 111 A LEAK 125 THE PICNIC 135 THE STORM 143 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Illustration: Mr. Noah "shooed" the Hen aboard the Ark.] ALL ABOARD! A stands for Animal, Ant or Ape, Quite different in spelling as well as in shape. "Oh, dear!" sighed Marjorie, "I'm tired of writing in this old copy book. What's the use of making the letters just like the copy, anyhow? Mother doesn't. Her capitals are very different." B stands for Bruin, Bee or Bug-- The Bee has a sting and the Bear has a hug! "Oh, dear!" sighed Marjorie again, while she rested her head on her arm and looked over at the Noah's Ark. And then, all of a sudden, something very strange happened. Mr. Noah came out of his little Ark and said, "You had better come with us, for it is going to rain for 40 days and 40 nights, and goodness knows where this nursery will be by the end of that time; probably floating about, half full of water, in the apple orchard." "Do you really mean it?" asked Marjorie, gazing anxiously out of the window at the rain which was falling in torrents. "I certainly do," replied Mr. Noah. And then Mrs. Noah poked her head out of a little window in the Ark. "Listen to Mr. Noah, my dear, for he was certainly right the first time, and why shouldn't he be now?" Mr. Noah smiled and walked across the table towards a little yellow hen. "Shoo," he cried, as the contrary fowl tried to dodge around a toy automobile. "Shoo there. You know you can't swim like Mrs. Duck, so why don't you have some sense and get aboard out of harm's way?" As he finished speaking, water began to pour over the windowsill, and soon the nursery floor was ankle deep. Marjorie stood on a chair and, climbing upon the table, walked over to the Ark. On her way she picked up her rag doll, Maria Jane, and the little toy automobile. "Hurry, my dear," cried Mr. Noah, "here comes the water over the edge of the table." As it was, Maria Jane was splashed a bit, and so was the automobile before it was pushed through the narrow doorway, for the Ark was rolling from side to side in rather a dangerous manner. "Make everything tight. Close the hatches and the portholes!" commanded Capt. Noah (for now that they were actually afloat, this seemed the proper title for him), and in a few minutes it was comfortable and snug inside. And then, all of a sudden, a big wave carried them over the windowsill and out into the garden. But it didn't look very much like the garden, for only the tops of the rose bushes could be seen, and the roses rested on the water like pond lilies. And then, away sailed the Ark, across the garden, over the fence, down the road, until it reached an open space. "The ocean!" cried Mrs. Noah. "Nonsense!" exclaimed Marjorie, "I beg your pardon, Mrs. Noah, I mean it's Uncle Spencer's meadow. Why, there's Tim! Let's save him!" And Marjorie ran down to the lower floor of the Ark and commenced to unfasten the door. "Careful, my dear," cried Capt. Noah. "What are you about?" "Oh, hurry, Captain," begged Marjorie, "Tim, Uncle Spencer's dog, is in the water and I want to bring him aboard." "Here, mates, bring me a life line," shouted Capt. Noah, and in less time than I can take to tell it the line was thrown to the little dog, who managed to catch hold of it with his teeth just in time, for the Ark was going at a tremendous rate of speed. "Don't haul in too fast," advised Capt. Noah, as his three sons began pulling in the rope, "or he'll be drawn under the water and smothered before we can get him aboard." At last, the little dog was landed safely on the deck. Everybody ran away from him to avoid getting a shower bath as he shook himself again and again. "Well, you've all proved to be brave lifesavers," said Mrs. Noah. "Now I'll give him some warm milk and dry him by the kitchen fire, or he may get a severe cold. Goodness knows what would happen if he gave it to the other animals and they all got to sneezing and coughing at the same time." And then the good woman took the little dog down into the hold of the Ark, where the pantry and kitchen were, and he was soon fast asleep by the stove, none the worse for his wetting. It was now time for supper, so Mrs. Noah busied herself preparing the evening meal, while Capt. Noah and his three sons, Ham, Shem and Japheth, fed the animals. This was not an easy matter, for each animal had a different taste, and the fodder had to be carefully measured so as to give each one enough and no more. The elephant ate almost a bale of hay for each meal, and the lion ate about twenty large Delmonico steaks. "It's lucky we haven't a whale on board," said Capt. Noah, as he rolled a bale of hay up to Mrs. Elephant, at the same time warning Ham not to give the lion a sirloin steak by mistake. "You might feed the pigs, too," he added, wiping his forehead with a red-bordered handkerchief. "They seem to like you, Ham. I guess they consider you one of the family!" Marjorie thought the rabbits were very pretty, but just as she was about to play a game of hide and go seek with them, the supper bell rang, and as soon as the three Noah boys had washed their hands and combed their hair they came to the table. Shem pulled out his mother's chair and Ham politely helped Marjorie into hers. It was all very interesting to the little girl, and when Mrs. Noah looked over at her and said, in a motherly way, "I always wanted a little girl of my own," Marjorie felt quite at home. "Thank you, ma'am," she said, "but I think you have very nice boys!" After the supper table was cleared and the dishes washed, Mrs. Noah and Marjorie went up on deck, where they found Capt. Noah contentedly smoking his pipe. The three boys were having a merry time with the little dog. The rain had stopped and the sky was full of stars. "I don't know how much of a rainfall we have had this time," said Capt. Noah, "but it must have been pretty heavy, for there seems to be as much water around as there was when it rained for 40 days and 40 nights." And then, all of a sudden, a harsh, grating noise was heard and everybody jumped up. "Have we struck a rock?" inquired Mrs. Noah anxiously. "I don't know," answered Capt. Noah, peering over the side. "I can't see bottom." Suddenly the Ark stopped altogether. "Guess we're aground now, all right," said Japheth. "It's too dark to tell much about it, though." "No, it isn't!" cried a deep, gurgling voice, and their astonished eyes saw the head of a whale rise above the bow. "I have a passenger for you," continued the whale. "He doesn't like his present mode of travel, so I'm going to ship him over to you." "How do you know we want him?" inquired Capt. Noah, going forward to investigate. "We have a pretty full house as things are. And, besides, he might be a Jonah." "That's just who he is!" spouted the whale, with a gleeful gurgle, and before any one could say "Jack Robinson!" Mr. Jonah appeared upon the deck of the Ark, and with a swish of his great tail the whale disappeared in the darkness. "Sorry if I am intruding," said Mr. Jonah apologetically, "but the truth is it was so dark and uncomfortable inside that whale that I would have had nervous prostration had I been obliged to remain there another minute." "Well," said Mrs. Noah, slowly, looking Mr. Jonah over and seeing that he wasn't such a bad looking person, after all, although a trifle damp, "we'll see how we get along." By this time Marjorie began to feel tired. "Would you mind," she said, turning to Mrs. Noah, "if I went to bed? I feel so sleepy, and it's long past Maria Jane's bedtime, I'm sure." "Come right along with me," answered Mrs. Noah kindly. "Good night, all," said Marjorie, following Mrs. Noah into the Ark. "You shall sleep in the room next to mine," said Mrs. Noah, turning to the little girl with a smile as she led the way into a pretty bedroom. "Would you like me to unfasten your dress for you?" "I think I can manage that," replied Marjorie, "but if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to have you wait and tuck me in bed after I've said my prayers. I can't very well tuck in the sheets at the side after I'm once in." So good, kind, motherly Mrs. Noah tucked in the little girl and kissed her good night, and in a few minutes she was fast asleep, with her arms tightly clasped around her rag doll, Maria Jane. [Illustration: Ham is sent to the "brig" for chasing the pigs around the deck.] COCK-A-DOODLE-DO "Cock-a-Doodle-Do, My Master's lost a shoe, But what's the use of an excuse A rubber boot'll do." Marjorie leaped out of bed and ran over to the window to see where the Ark had drifted during the night. To her surprise it was aground on the roof of a big barn. And, goodness me! Didn't the weathercock look handsome, with his gilt feathers shining brightly in the rays of the morning sun as he turned to and fro with every little change of wind. "Good morning," said Marjorie. "Isn't it a beautiful day?" "I don't feel sure about anything," replied the weathercock. "I used to be a jolly weathercock, but now, with all this water around, I feel more like a lighthouse." "Then why didn't you warn us off the reef--I mean the roof?" asked Marjorie. "I did, but everybody was asleep and paid no attention to me." And just then the wind came in a sudden gust and the weathercock flew around to face it. "Goodness," he cried, "I believe it's going to rain again." "Ahoy, there," shouted Capt. Noah from the deck below, "tell that gilt rooster I'm going to shove off. If he wants to come aboard he'd better be quick about it." "Would you like to come with us?" asked Marjorie. "I'd like to have you. I once read about a very nice weathercock in 'Old Mother Goose.'" "Thank you, I think I will," replied the weathercock, hopping nimbly on to the flagpole of the Ark. "I shall feel more at home here now that the green meadows have turned into an ocean. A barn is no place for a rooster when the water is above the hayloft." Marjorie had no time to answer, for just then the rain began to fall in torrents, making it necessary to close the window. In a few minutes the Ark began to quiver and shake, and then, with a loud grating noise it slipped off the ridge of the roof and once more floated down the tide. "Good-by, red barn, with your loft of hay, We're off on a voyage to Far Away," crowed the weathercock. And then Marjorie waved her hand from behind the window pane and ran down to breakfast where in a few minutes the family were all seated around the table. "What did you give the pigs for supper last night?" asked Capt. Noah, looking at Ham suspiciously. "Why, father?" asked Ham, in a low voice. "Because they don't seem well this morning." "I gave them some green apples," said Ham. "W-e-l-l," replied Capt. Noah, "don't know as that should make them ill?" "I chased them 'round the deck." "What in thunder did you do that for?" asked his father. "I wanted to see them slide when they turned the corners," said Ham, sheepishly. "Perhaps they were seasick," interposed Mrs. Noah, who began to feel sorry for Ham. "Perhaps they weren't," said Capt. Noah, sternly. "I think, young man, you had better be locked up in the brig for the rest of the day and fed on bread and water. We can't afford to have any passengers abused by the crew," and then he turned to Marjorie and smiled, "even if one of the crew happens to be the captain's son." And after that, poor Ham was solemnly marched up to the brig and locked in, much to Marjorie's regret, for she liked Ham very much, although he was the most mischievous of all Capt. Noah's sons. It was still raining heavily, and as the wind was blowing quite a gale the sea became rough and the Ark began to roll from side to side. Pretty soon the animals grew uneasy, and strange noises came from many parts of the boat. The roar of the tiger mingled with the trumpeting of the elephant and the howling of the wolf made a dreadful discord with the bellowing of the buffalo. Then the monkeys started to chatter, and the parrots to screech, the horses to neigh and the pigs to squeak, the cows to moo and the donkeys to bray, the wild hyena to laugh and the little lambs to bleat. But luckily toward evening the storm went down, and if it had not I guess Mrs. Noah would have gone crazy. The dove, which was the most quiet and peaceful of all the passengers, perched herself on Marjorie's shoulder. "You shall sleep in my cabin," said the little girl, stroking its glossy neck. "I'm sure you'd never get a wink of sleep if you had to stay below decks tonight." Toward evening the weather grew calm, and after supper the rain having stopped, Marjorie went on deck for some fresh air. The weathercock, on seeing the dove perched on the little girl's shoulder, called out politely, "Good evening, ladies." "Aren't you glad it cleared off?" asked Marjorie, looking up with a smile. "Indeed I am," he replied, swinging around on one toe like a dancer. "Isn't he graceful?" cooed the dove in Marjorie's ear. "S-s-sh!" she answered. "Don't let him hear you. He might get conceited." "What are you talking about down there?" asked the weathercock. "Oh, nothing in particular," answered the dove. "I was just receiving a little advice from Marjorie." "Well, you probably won't use it," said the weathercock. "So you might just as well hand it over to me." "My, how curious you are!" laughed Marjorie. "You'd be, too," answered the weathercock, "if you were in the habit of having the winds tell you each day what was going on. It's not so much curiosity as habit." Just then Mrs. Noah called: "Marjorie, I think you'd better come in. It's too damp outside, my dear." The cabin looked very cozy. Mrs. Noah was seated by the table knitting a pair of socks for the captain, and the three boys were writing in their copy books. "I think, my dear," said Mrs. Noah, kindly, "it would be a good thing for you to do a little studying each day." So Marjorie seated herself at the table and Mrs. Noah opened a writing book and laid it before her. With a cry of surprise Marjorie turned to Mrs. Noah: "Why, it's the very copy book I have at home!" "'A stands for Animal, Ant or Ape, Quite different in spelling as well as in shape.'" "The very same," cried Marjorie again. "See how well you can make the capital letters," suggested Mrs. Noah. "If you fill in this book nicely you can take it home with you and show your mother how well you employed your time aboard the Ark." "Oh, thank you," cried Marjorie. "That will be lovely. Mother is always worrying about my handwriting. I shall try my best to improve." Mrs. Noah then turned to look in Ham's book. "That is not a very good 'C' you have just made," she said. "Well, you see," answered Ham, with a laugh, "the sea is so rough that it made my 'C' rough, too." Everybody laughed at Ham's witty excuse. "What's all this levity about?" asked Capt. Noah, entering the cabin. "Coo!" said the little dove, "Coo!" said she, "And they all lived together In the big green tree." "Hello!" exclaimed Capt. Noah, forgetting his own question, "the dove spouting poetry, eh? Well, we'll have to give an entertainment. There must be lots of talent on board. Plenty of material for a circus, anyhow." "How jolly!" exclaimed Marjorie. "I'll make a ring to-morrow," said Japheth. "I've already trained one of the little pigs to walk on its hind legs," said Ham. "It's the white one with the pink nose." "The elephant and I are great friends," added Shem. "I think he'd do anything I asked him. To-night when I rolled up his bale of hay, he said, 'Hey, young man, look out for my toes!' And then he stood up on top of the bale on his hind legs just as they do in the circus. I'll bet I could make him do a lot of stunts." "Just you wait until you see my wrestling monkeys," cried Ham. "I've taught two of them already. They'll be better than a moving picture show." "My goodness, I think you have very clever boys," said Marjorie, who was tickled to death to think they were going to have a circus. Mrs. Noah did not reply at once. I guess she was thinking it over. "Well, perhaps they are," she said by and by. "I never thought of it in just that way. I'm afraid I've always thought them mischievous." "What time shall we have the circus?" asked Ham. "Not too soon after breakfast," said Capt. Noah. "I don't want any sick animals aboard." "We'll be careful," said Japheth. "Let's go to bed now so as to wake up bright and early to-morrow." [Illustration: The Laughing Hyena had to be put to bed for fear she would laugh herself to death.] THE CIRCUS The ark goes sailing down the bay Upon the rushing tide; And the circus will commence to-day With the animals safe inside. This is the song the weathercock sang early the next morning. Marjorie rubbed her eyes, and then jumped out of bed and looked out of the window. "Good morning," she said to the merry gilt rooster, "it's a fine day for the circus. That was a pretty verse you just sang. Did you make it up?" "Oh, yes," said the weathercock proudly. "Just couldn't help it, you know. The circus doesn't come to town every day in the week." Well, after that, Marjorie hurried down to the breakfast table, where she found Mr. Jonah seated with the rest of the family. She had forgotten all about him, and so had I and maybe you have too, for you see, Mr. Jonah hadn't been feeling very well and had remained in his cabin since the day he'd left the whale. "It's certainly a relief to be once more at a breakfast table," he said. "Traveling inside a whale is like sailing in a submarine. Although a whale is supposed to be neutral, nevertheless, I was frightened to death for fear we might be torpedoed!" "Yes, indeed," sighed Mrs. Noah, "these awful times one isn't safe anywhere." "That's right," exclaimed Capt. Noah, "we must keep a sharp lookout. There's no telling how soon we may be in the war zone, and I am responsible for the safety of all my passengers!" And just then the Weathercock shouted something which sounded very much like "Periscope!" Well, you can imagine how excited everybody was after that. "Where away?" asked Capt. Noah. "Dead ahead," screamed the Weathercock. Instantly all eyes were turned in that direction. Some distance ahead stretched a long, smooth, sandy beach, on which was a huge billboard with the words "Perry's Slope." "Bah!" exclaimed Capt. Noah, "Perry's Slope isn't 'Periscope.' Well, I'm glad it isn't." "Are we going ashore?" asked Mr. Jonah. "Looks like it," answered Capt. Noah; "the ark is pointed for the beach. Hope we don't bump too hard. Some of the animals might get hurt." The Ark was going at a fast clip, and as they neared the shore every one clung tightly to the railing. "Hold fast," shouted the Weathercock, as the bow touched the beach. In another minute the Ark skimmed gracefully over the sand with as much ease as it had sailed upon the ocean. "Wonderful boat you have," exclaimed Mr. Jonah, looking at Capt. Noah. "Ought to be proud of her. She's a dandy." Before the latter had time to reply the Ark stopped, and everyone rushed toward the gang-plank. "Let it down easily," commanded Capt. Noah, "easy, there!" "Why, the Ark's on wheels," cried Marjorie, as she stepped on the sandy beach, "regular automobile wheels." "Well, I declare," exclaimed Mrs. Noah, "so it is." "Let's call it the 'Arkmobile,'" suggested Ham. "Just the thing," said Shem, "don't you think so, father?" Capt. Noah did not reply for a moment, for he was busily engaged inspecting the bottom of the Ark. "I was looking to see if it were built to run on the land," he replied, "or whether it just went this far on account of its momentum." "What's that noise?" asked Japheth. "Sounds like the engine of an automobile," answered Shem. "It's coming from the Ark," cried Ham. Capt. Noah hurriedly went below. Presently he returned, smiling with satisfaction. "There's a regular automobile engine in the hold, way aft," he said. "And it's connected with a shaft, so that it will turn the wheels. We'll have no difficulty in traveling on land." "Hurrah for the Arkmobile!" shouted Ham. "On land or on sea, Wherever we be, The Arkmobile Is the thing for me," sang Marjorie, skipping about on the sand. "Over sand, over foam, Wherever we roam, The Arkmobile Will carry us home," sang the Weathercock, and then he said: "I guess I'll come down from the flagpole if you're going to camp here. If you're not, I'll stay where I am, for it's a pretty good climb, and I'm not much of a sailor as yet." "Let's stay here and have the circus," said Ham. "We can make a splendid ring in the sand--in fact, we can have three rings if we want to. All we have to do, you know, is to throw up the sand in a circle." Every one agreed that it was an ideal spot, so the boys set to work at once. Mrs. Noah made Marjorie a wonderful dress, covered with gold spangles. "I'm going to ride the big white horse just like a circus rider," cried Marjorie. "And I shall stand up on the saddle and jump through my hoop. Ham can hold it." "Of course I will," he cried, looking up from his work. "And I'll be jolly glad when this ring is finished. I had no idea it would take so long." "Hurrah! Mine's finished," cried Japheth. "And so's mine," shouted Shem. "Well, I think mine's the biggest of all," said Ham. "It must be, or I'd have finished when you fellows did." "Father ought to put on his dress suit," said Shem, "and snap the whip when Marjorie rides around the ring. You know just the way they do in the real circus." "Great Scott!" exclaimed Capt. Noah, overhearing the remark as he descended the gang-plank. "I didn't bargain for this. But I suppose I might as well put it on," and he turned back into the Ark. The sound of hammering at that moment reached them. "What's going on?" asked Ham. "Let's see," suggested Shem, but before they reached the gang-plank Mr. Jonah appeared. On his legs were strapped a pair of stilts, which made him at least eight feet high. "I'm going to be the giant," he said with a laugh, bumping down the gang-plank in a clumsy manner. "I say, Mrs. Noah, could you sew the legs of an old pair of trousers on to mine, so the stilts won't show?" "Of course I can," replied Mrs. Noah, bursting into laughter. "But I'm afraid they won't match." In due course of time Marjorie's circus dress was finished and the giant's trousers lengthened, the upper part being blue and the lower part gray, but perfectly satisfactory to the wearer. Every one was now waiting impatiently for Capt. Noah when, suddenly, his head appeared at one of the port holes. "Mother," he called, "where are my white dress ties? I can't find them anywhere." So Mrs. Noah laid down her work basket and went into the Ark to find them. And in a few minutes Capt. Noah appeared in full dress, his silk hat upon his head and a long whip in his hand. As he came down the plank, Japheth led out the big white horse, and after helping Marjorie to mount, led him into the center ring. Shem then opened the big door in the Ark and all the animals solemnly marched out and arranged themselves about the rings. Next came Ham, leading his two wrestling monkeys and after him came Shem with his elephant. [Illustration: THE CIRCUS--MR. NOAH AS RINGMASTER] Mr. Jonah, towering above the heads of the tallest animals, including the giraffe, announced that the circus would commence. "Ladies and gentlemen," he began, "allow me to introduce to you the most wonderful child rider in the world, Marjorie Hall, on her beautiful white horse, Marshmallow. Marjorie, without doubt, is the most daring bareback rider in the universe." There was a great clapping of hands, hoofs and paws at this announcement, for she had become a great favorite with the Noah's Ark people. "Ladies and gentlemen," went on Mr. Noah, "you see before you in Ring No. 2 the most famous wrestlers of the world, Jocko and Monko. In Ring No. 3 is the largest elephant in existence." While all this was going on the Noah boys had run into the Ark. Presently they returned, dressed up as clowns, and then the fun commenced. Ham held up a hoop, which he had carefully covered with tissue paper, and to Mrs. Noah's amazement Marjorie leaped through it as if she had been a circus bareback rider all her life. The boys performed marvelous feats of tumbling and jumping, and were so funny that half of the animals nearly split their sides with laughing. The laughing hyena had to be carried into the Ark and put to bed for fear she would laugh herself to death. "Well, well," exclaimed Mrs. Noah, when it was all over, "I certainly never enjoyed the circus so much in all my life, not even when I was a little girl." And that night every one slept like a top, let me tell you, for each one was tired out with the day's work. Even the weathercock, I think, tucked his head under his gilt wings and snored! [Illustration: The Megaphone made Captain Noah as mad as a hornet.] THE MAJESTY OF THE LAW "Wake up! Wake up! We're off again, Over hill and over plain! The Arkmobile on sea or land Can sail away at our command." Again the Weathercock awoke little Marjorie, on board the Noah's Ark, where we left her in the last chapter, you remember. It was the morning after the circus, and she probably would have slept much later had not the faithful bird, as usual, sung his bit of verse. You see this wonderful Weathercock was just like an alarm clock. "Where's the ocean?" asked Marjorie, looking out of the window. "Why, we're traveling on land!" "Of course we are," answered the Weathercock. "Didn't you see the wheels on the bottom of the Ark yesterday?" "So I did," admitted Marjorie. "I'd forgotten all about them." "Well, how did you like my poetry? You see, I make up a new verse every morning, so as to be sure to wake you up." "I think you are a great poet," answered the little girl. The Weathercock got very red in the gills. I guess that's the only way he could blush. So let the rain or sunshine come, Across the land, we'll swiftly hum, We are prepared for rain or shine, For dusty road or foamy brine. "Hurrah!" shouted the Elephant from down below. "Bravo, Sir Chanticleer!" "You'll have to excuse me now," said Marjorie to the Weathercock, "for I must pull on my shoes and stockings and brush my hair. You don't have to bother about such things, you know. That's one advantage of being a weathercock." After breakfast, as they all sat in the cabin, Capt. Noah remarked: "I'm getting a trifle worried. You see, I can't tell by the barometer whether the Ark is floating or wheeling. Now, that is rather important. If we keep on in this way I shall have to get a speedometer. It wouldn't be very nice to be arrested for breaking the speed laws and be locked up in jail." Mrs. Noah turned pale and the Weathercock shifted about uneasily on the top of the flagpole. "No, indeed," he said, "I don't want to be a jailbird." "Well, what's the best thing to do?" asked Mrs. Noah. "Count the telegraph poles as we go along," suggested Ham. "I think there are about thirty to a mile, and see how long it takes to pass them." "That's a good idea," said Mr. Jonah, but when they looked out of the portholes they couldn't find any telegraph poles. And just then, all of a sudden, a pistol shot rang out clear and loud. The Arkmobile came to a sudden stop, and a voice outside was heard to exclaim: "Where's the chauffeur?" Capt. Noah rushed up on deck, followed by his family, Mr. Jonah and Marjorie. "What's the matter?" asked Capt. Noah, looking about to find the owner of the voice. "Oh, that's what they all say!" came the reply. "You know jolly well what's the matter!" "Who are you, and where are you?" asked Capt. Noah, vainly trying to find this remarkable person, who seemed to be nothing but a voice. "Who am I? You'll find out pretty quick. Where am I? You'd better find that out even quicker!" Looking up to the Weathercock, Capt. Noah shouted: "Ahoy, there, Lookout! Who's delaying us?" "The Majesty of the Law," came the answering voice again--this time so distinctly that every one turned in the direction from which it came, and then a huge megaphone on the top of a post repeated: "The Majesty of the Law!" "Well, I'll be blowed!" exclaimed Capt. Noah. "You have exceeded the speed limit," said the Megaphone, "and you are fined $15!" "Oh!" interposed Mrs. Noah. "I'm sure you must be mistaken. I'm sure we were not exceeding it $15 worth." "So am I!" added Mr. Jonah. "In fact, I didn't think we were exceeding anything. We were just rolling along, don't you know, quite comfortably." "Well, suppose I haven't the money with me?" asked Capt. Noah. "Fifteen days in jail," answered the Megaphone. "Mercy!" cried Mrs. Noah. "Don't worry," whispered Capt. Noah. "I'll borrow the money from Mr. Jonah." Mr. Jonah was very obliging and lent the money, saying he had had no chance to spend a cent while he was aboard the whale. "Now, where shall I put the money?" asked Capt. Noah. "In the little box back of me," replied the Megaphone. And as soon as the money was dropped in the Megaphone shouted: "The prisoner is discharged!" "Prisoner!" shouted Capt. Noah, as mad as a hornet. "How dare you call me a prisoner!" But before he had time to say another word the Arkmobile started off and the Megaphone was left behind. "Jehosaphat!" exclaimed Capt. Noah, wiping the perspiration from his forehead with his red bordered handkerchief. "Bad enough to be robbed of $15, but to be called a 'prisoner'--well, that does make me angry." "Never mind, my dear," said Mrs. Noah, soothingly. "All's well that ends well. Just think, if we hadn't been able to borrow that $15, we'd have spent fifteen days in jail!" And then, all of a sudden the Weathercock shouted: "Everybody in the cabin! Water dead ahead!" My goodness me! you should have seen the animals pull their heads in through the portholes. Poor Mrs. Giraffe didn't get hers inside in time and her bonnet got soaking wet, for as soon as the Ark struck the water the spray flew here and there and everywhere and the deck was flooded ankle deep. But the Ark was a sturdy craft, and as soon as it once more felt the ocean beneath it, rode the waves as gracefully as a swan. "I guess we won't be fined for speeding now," laughed Marjorie, and in the next chapter you shall hear what further adventures she had aboard this wonderful Noah's Ark. [Illustration: The Weathercock called out that he could see the little red Ant on the life-preserver.] MAN OVERBOARD Wake up! Wake up! and sing your song As we roll merrily along. Above the meadow sings the lark, So let us sing aboard the Ark. "There goes the Weathercock," cooed the Dove, flying over to the porthole and looking out over the bright blue ocean. "Tell him I'll get up in a minute," yawned Marjorie. So the Dove, who slept in Marjorie's cabin in a pretty gilt cage, spoke to the Weathercock, after which she commenced to sing: There's a robin in the woodland, There's a robin in the sea, But they are just as different As different can be. The one that's in the forest Has feathers and a tail; The one that's in the ocean Has a scaly coat of mail. The robin in the forest Could never take a swim; The robin of the ocean Could never fly or skim Across a grassy meadow, Nor fly up in a tree. But he can do all kinds of stunts Within the deep blue sea. "Where did you learn all that?" asked Marjorie, pulling on her stockings. "Listen; there's another verse and maybe two or three," cooed the Dove, and then she began to sing again: The robin of the woodland Has a pretty crimson vest; He sings a merry, blithesome song And builds a cozy nest. The robin of the ocean Has fins that look like wings. He doesn't build a nest at all, He grunts, but never sings. Yet both of them are robins, As some of us have heard-- Although the ocean one's a fish, The woodland one's a bird. "Cock-a-doodle-do!" crowed the Weathercock, as the Dove finished her song. "Hurrah for you! You are the poet of the Ark." "Oh, no!" replied the modest little Dove. "That is not my own. My mother taught me that song when I was a Dovelet." "Is that so?" said the Weathercock, and he gave a sigh of relief, for I guess he wanted to be the only poet on board the Ark and sing his little songs every morning just as he had always done. By this time Marjorie was dressed and, taking the Dove on her shoulder, went down to the diningroom. As usual, the Noah boys were on hand with great and glorious appetites. "How are the animals this morning?" inquired Capt. Noah, helping himself to a big saucer of oatmeal. "Pretty well," answered Japheth. "Some of the insects are getting restless," said Ham. "I should say so," exclaimed Mrs. Noah. "Here's that big red Ant in the sugar bowl." "Catch him," cried Shem, "we ought to put him back where he belongs."' But the Ant all of a sudden crawled out of the sugar bowl and ran down the leg of the table and out on deck. "There he goes!" shouted Marjorie. "Quick, or he'll get away!" cried Capt. Noah. "I can't afford to lose a single passenger!" Instantly the boys darted after the fleeing insect, but just as they were about to snatch him up from the deck a wave washed him overboard. "Man overboard!" shouted the Weathercock. And, my goodness! What a commotion there was after that! All the animals rushed up on deck to see who had fallen into the ocean. "Throw him a life-preserver!" yelled Mr. Jonah, and in a second Ham unfastened a large "horsecollar" life-preserver and tossed it into the ocean. "Suppose he can't reach it," said the elephant. "I guess I'd better jump in and save him," and overboard went the big animal with a loud splash. "Where is he?" asked the Elephant, after looking around in vain for the Ant. "I can't see him!" And no wonder, for the sea was rough, and it was no easy matter to find so small a passenger. "Get my telescope!" yelled Capt. Noah. "I think it's in my workbasket," said Mrs. Noah to Ham, who started at once to obey his father's command. "If it isn't it may be in your toolchest. I think you had it the other day when you were going to make an anti-aircraft gun out of it for your toy army." "That's where I found it," said Ham, a minute later, appearing breathless with the telescope. "Where abouts?" screamed the Elephant, who was now some distance from the Ark. "Wait a minute, can't you?" yelled Capt. Noah. "I've got to adjust the thing. These boys have been meddling with it!" When this was finally done, Capt. Noah swept the sea with his glass, but in vain; the form of the poor Ant was nowhere to be seen. "Shiver my timbers!" said Capt. Noah, under his breath. "What will happen to me if I lose a passenger?" "Hurry up!" gasped the Elephant, now thoroughly worn out by the buffeting of the waves. "Hurry up, I'm most in." "Well, we'll have to get you out, then," answered Capt. Noah. "Swim around to the port side," said Ham; "we'll hoist you up by the davits." "I hate to give up looking for the Ant," said the Elephant, as he slipped the ropes under his big body. And then, after much tugging and hauling away on the ropes he was lifted up even with the deck. But beyond this it was impossible to do anything. The davits refused to swing in, being hindered by the immense size of the animal. "Put your trunk on the deck," suggested Mr. Jonah. "That will make you weigh less, and perhaps we can roll you over the edge." "Yes, that's a good idea," said Shem. "Put your baggage aboard first." "This is no time for joking----We have lost one passenger and are in danger of losing another. It will look very strange to lose the largest and the smallest on the same day," said poor Capt. Noah, despairingly. [Illustration: MR. ELEPHANT HAS TROUBLE GETTING ABOARD] Well, just then, Mrs. Elephant came up from the hold. She had overslept herself, and had only now heard the commotion on deck. On seeing her mate swinging from the davits she set up a loud trumpeting. "Goodness, gracious, Ella!" said the Elephant. "Don't carry on like that. Screaming won't get me out. Get hold of me and help pull." This was good advice, and pretty soon Mr. Elephant was landed safely on board the Ark. Just then the Weathercock called out that he could see the little red Ant on the life-preserver. "Thank goodness!" exclaimed Capt. Noah, and the Ark was turned in the direction pointed out by the faithful lookout. Then Mr. Jonah leaned over and pulled in the life-preserver as the Ark slowly came alongside, and just in the nick of time, for the poor Ant was nearly dead. "Give him to me," said Mrs. Noah. "A little Jamaica ginger and a warm blanket will bring him 'round, I guess." "Well, well!" exclaimed Capt. Noah, as the motherly form of Mrs. Noah disappeared down the companionway. "This has been an exciting forenoon," and then he wiped his forehead with his red bordered handkerchief and looked about him. "All you animals go below deck!" he commanded, "or else we'll have somebody else overboard." So Mrs. Elephant led Mr. Elephant, who was wet to the skin and shivering with the cold, down to the hold, where she put him to bed with a hot water bag at his feet and a woolen night cap on his head. "Are you going to put this down in your log book?" asked Marjorie. "I think it will make a very interesting story and I've heard from old sailors that they always put down everything that happens in the log book." "Of course I will," answered Capt. Noah. "Bring me the log book, Japheth. You haven't done anything this morning. Suppose you jot it down. I declare, I'm all tuckered out with excitement and worry." "You'd better lie down and rest, father," said Mrs. Noah, coming up on deck. "I have the Ant very comfortable now, and I feel sure he will recover in a short time." So Capt. Noah went below to rest, and the little Dove perched herself on Marjorie's shoulder and watched Capt. Noah's son write in the log book. And what do you suppose he wrote? Well, it was something like this, for the little Dove told me afterwards: The little red Ant fell into the sea, But, oh, dear you, and oh, dear me! And then the Elephant with a shout Jumped in and tried to pull him out. But he wasn't saved by the Elephant; It was Mr. Jonah who saved the Ant. And in the next chapter I'll tell you more about Marjorie on board the Ark. [Illustration: The Whale put out the fire, but he nearly sank the Ark.] FIRE! FIRE! "Fire! Fire! Fire!" Marjorie awoke with a start. The Weathercock was again sounding the warning, "Fire! Fire! Fire!" "Where?" cried Marjorie, looking out of the porthole at the excited Weathercock and then down to the deck, where at that moment Capt. Noah and his sons appeared, each armed with a pail. The fire evidently was at the forward end of the Ark, for Noah and his crew ran in that direction. It took Marjorie but a few minutes to dress, and just as she reached the deck, Mr. Jonah appeared. "This is a poor way to put out a fire," he said, as he tossed the water from his pail down the hatchway, from which was rising a thick cloud of smoke. "We need a hose and a pump." "Hurry up, Jonah!" commanded Capt. Noah. "This fire is getting too much headway to suit me. I'm afraid the animals will be roasted if we don't put it out pretty soon!" As he finished speaking the Elephant rushed on deck and, leaning over the side of the Ark, filled his trunk with water, which he immediately squirted over himself. And then Mrs. Elephant did the same. "I was never so warm before," she remarked; "not even in India. If I had stayed another minute below deck I would have been scarred for life!" By this time the deck was crowded. Some of the animals were nearly frightened to death; some were choking with the smoke, while others were filling the air with noises of all kinds. It was as if pandemonium were let loose. Those animals which could climb were soon scrambling to the roof of the Ark, where they sat on or clung desperately to the ridgepole. The deck grew hotter and hotter, and it was necessary for every one to dance about in order to keep his feet from blistering. "Holy sufferin' mackerel!" exclaimed Capt. Noah, now realizing the seriousness of the situation. "Are we to be burned at sea?" "Get the Elephants to squirt water down the hold," suggested Ham. "Get busy," said Capt. Noah to the Elephants. "Your trunks are nearly as good as hose. Why don't you help us?" "What do you say, Ella?" said the Elephant. "If we don't we may have to swim later." Without answering, she went forward and commenced drawing up the salt water in her trunk and then sending it in a swift stream down into the hold. The fire, however, was gaining fast, and in spite of the efforts of the Elephants and the crew the danger increased to an alarming extent, and at last the flames leaped forth and crawled over the deck. The animals howled and rushed to the stern of the Ark, which raised the bow high in the air, and thus added to the danger. "If it would only rain!" said Mrs. Noah, who sat on a coil of rope, her sealskin coat on her arm and her jewel box in her hand. "If it would only rain! This can't be the forty-first day, can it? Time does go so fast." Well, I guess something terrible would have happened if just then all of a sudden the Weathercock hadn't seen the Whale, who had landed Mr. Jonah aboard, some two or three chapters ago. "There's the Whale!" shouted the Weathercock. "See him spout!" "Run up a signal of distress!" commanded Capt. Noah. "He might save Mr. Jonah for old times' sake!" "If he'd only get up close and spout water over the Ark, he'd put out the fire pretty quick," said Ham. "Good idea," said Capt. Noah. "Ship ahoy!" yelled Mr. Jonah, waving his red bandanna handkerchief in the air. "Ahoy! Ahoy!" Then the Whale stopped spouting and made for the Ark. "He's coming! He's coming!" shouted the Weathercock. "Don't stop squirting water," said Capt. Noah to the Elephants. "On with the pail brigade!" screamed Ham. And then the monkeys slid down from the roof and grabbed hold of the pails and threw water down the hold. But still the cruel flames crept nearer and nearer. "Oh, dear!" sighed Mrs. Noah. "I'm afraid my sealskin coat will get singed, and after all the trouble I've had putting it up in camphor." And then, all of a sudden, a tremendous stream of water fell upon the Ark, soaking every one to the skin. And soon the deck was a river, and the steam that came out of the hold almost suffocated everybody. "Goodness me!" screamed Mrs. Noah. "We'll be swamped!" "Hold on, there," shouted Capt. Noah, leaning over the side of the Ark, where the Whale lay like a fire patrol boat in action. "Hold on! Turn off the hose, or you'll drown us!" So the good-natured Whale shut off the water, while Capt. Noah added: "A Turkish bath has nothing on this!" "It was awfully kind of you to come to our rescue," said Mrs. Noah, smiling sweetly at the Whale as she leaned over the railing. "Well, if you hadn't come just when you did," said Capt. Noah, "I guess we'd all have gone down to Davey Jones' locker." "Don't mention it," said the Whale. "Glad to have been able to do you a little favor. You see," he added in a low voice, "Mr. Jonah was never satisfied when he was my guest. He was always complaining about the dampness. So when you came along and I had a chance to put him aboard the Ark I was tickled to death. In fact, I was so glad to get rid of my passenger that I made up this little poem," and then the Whale began to spout: "It's not so very pleasant, when sailing on the sea, To have a passenger aboard who's sulky as can be; And that's the reason, after dark, I landed him aboard the Ark." And after that he swam away, and the Ark began once more to skim over the dark blue sea. And by and by, after a while, Capt. Noah said: "We'll have to make new bunks and berths for the animals, I guess, for the fire has burned up everything." And, oh, dear me! When he went below he saw that everything was burned to a cinder. "We'll have to land somewhere and make repairs," said Mr. Jonah. "I guess we will," said Capt. Noah, and all the animals began to howl and make dreadful noises, for they didn't want to go down in the smoky hold, you see. And just then all of a sudden the Weathercock called out: "Land to starboard!" And, sure enough, looming up in the dim distance was a mountainous shore line. [Illustration: The Squirrel came aboard with a bag of nuts.] REPAIRS Ahoy, ahoy, Mount Ararat, Now we know where we are at. Run the Ark up high and dry, Close against the bright blue sky. "Not a bit of it!" shouted Capt. Noah, looking up at the Weathercock, "I don't propose to take any chances running up that mountain side. Suppose our motor gave out? We'd be in a nice fix. We'll run up on the shore and heave to." The Ark, obeying Capt. Noah's guiding hand, swept up on the beach and came to a standstill some 200 feet from the water. "We can cut all the timber we need for repairs now," said Japheth, looking over toward a big forest that lay back from the beach. "The animals, too, can have a nice frolic on the sand. It will do them good after being cooped up on board ship for so long." And in a short time the Ark was empty and all the animals were having a fine time making castles in the sand and picking up pretty sea shells. And after a while Capt. Noah got out his axe and saw, and calling to Mr. Jonah, and his three boys, started off for the forest, and as soon as he cut down a tree, Mr. Jonah and the three boys sawed it up into logs. "I guess we have enough now," said Capt. Noah. "Guess we'd better start and split them into planks." This was not such easy work, but after a while, they had quite a pile of lumber on hand. "If we only had a wagon to haul the logs to the Ark," said Capt. Noah, wiping his forehead with his red bordered handkerchief. And just then Marjorie came riding down the gang-plank in the little toy automobile. "I'll take them back to the Ark," she said, and after a while, not so very long, they were all aboard. Well, by this time it was pretty dark, and Capt. Noah felt uneasy about the animals, so he stood up on the bow of the big boat and called out: "All aboard for the night!" "All aboard for the night!" he called out again, and then he turned to little Marjorie and said, "I'd never forgive myself if anything should happen to any one of my passengers." But, oh dear me! When Capt. Noah, who had stood by the gang-plank and checked off each animal as he came aboard, found that the little red squirrel was missing, he was dreadfully worried. "Goodness me!" he exclaimed, "if that squirrel has gone off into the woods, how will we ever find him?" "Well, there's no use in worrying," said Mrs. Noah, who just then came up from below deck. "Come down and get a nice hot cup of tea. After you've eaten something you'll know better what to do." Well, after supper, everybody felt better, so Capt. Noah and his crew came up on deck to look for the lost squirrel. The moon was just coming up out of the east, making a silver path across the water right up to the Ark. As Capt. Noah looked over the railing to the sand below he saw a little figure walking directly in the silver moon path. It seemed to be carrying something heavy; for it paused every now and then to rest. "It's the little red squirrel," shouted Marjorie. "So it is," said Capt. Noah. "Helloa, there!" he shouted, "wait and I'll let down the gang-plank!" "Whew, but I'm tired!" panted the red squirrel, as he crawled up on deck. "This bag of nuts is as heavy as lead!" And then he let the well-filled bag slip from his shoulders to the deck. "Don't you ever stay out as late as this again, sir," said Capt. Noah, pulling in the gang-plank and making it fast for the night. "If you do, you won't get shore leave for a long time." "I'm glad you're back," whispered Marjorie, "for we were all dreadfully worried about you," and this so pleased the little red squirrel that he gave her a handful of chestnuts. "Come along with me," said Capt. Noah, "I'm going below to see what the boys are doing." So Marjorie and the little squirrel followed the captain without a word, for they saw that he was somewhat vexed. Below deck all was in confusion, for the animals, after finishing their supper, were trying to find places to sleep. Although Mr. Jonah and the boys had made the place as clean as possible since the fire, they had not, of course, been able in so short a time to replace the bunks and pens in which the animals had slept. Everybody was in everybody else's way. The smaller animals were squeezed into corners by the larger ones, and the Elephant complained that the red Ant kept treading on his toes. "Order! Order!" shouted Capt. Noah. "What are you doing, Jonah, and where are you, boys?" he called out, peering into the darkness, for of course all the electric lights were out and the hold was in total darkness. "Here we are," answered Mr. Jonah. "We're doing the best we can," and he came out of the darkness and rested his pitchfork on the floor while he wiped the perspiration from his forehead. "I was spreading out the straw for bedding. Ham is giving the pigs a drink before they go to bed." And just then the other two boys appeared. "What are you doing here?" Japheth asked the muley cow, which stood by quietly chewing her cud. But the muley cow only said, "Moo-o-oo!" "Well, you come along with me. All the cows are at the other end of the Ark." "Don't be impatient," said Capt. Noah, for the muley cow was a very gentle creature and never tried to butt any one with her horns, because she didn't have any, you know. While all this was going on Marjorie and the little squirrel stood in the doorway. "Glad you weren't lost," said Shem, patting the squirrel on the back as if he were a little pet dog. "The other squirrels said they wouldn't go to bed until you were found." "Where are they?" asked the little red squirrel. "I'm pretty sleepy and would like to cuddle up for the night," and then he swung his bag of nuts over his shoulder and followed Shem, but before he went he whispered to Marjorie that he'd give her some hickory nuts in the morning. After a while everything was made snug and tight for the night. Mr. Jonah put away his pitchfork and the boys hung up the water pails. Then a lighted lantern was hung at each end of the cabin, and the evening chores were done, just the same as if they had been on a farm, you know. And after that Marjorie went up on deck, where the weathercock was sitting on the flagpole in the moonlight. "Oh, I love to be a sailor And sail the ocean blue, And hear the Captain shout 'Ahoy!' And order 'round the crew. "And when the waves are rolling high The wind is blowing strong, I sing my cock-a-doodle-do Just like a sailor song. "Oh, I'm a sailor rooster, And my name is Shanghai Joe, And I'll sail the sea from A to Z, I'm a sailor bird, Heave ho!" "Well, I'm glad you're so happy," said little Marjorie, and maybe she felt just a little bit homesick, for she was far away from home. And just then Mrs. Noah came on deck and said, "Come, Madge, it's time for bed," and then she picked her up and carried her into her cabin and tucked her in for the night as comfortable as you please. And in the next chapter I'll tell you what happened in the morning. [Illustration: Mr. Jonah and the Animals huddled around the stove to get warm.] THE ICEBERG Jingle bells! Jingle bells! It's getting cold as ice, Put your furs and mittens on, Wrap up warm and nice. Marjorie awoke with a start. My, how cold it was! The porthole glass was covered with a network of frosty lace, and the little Dove, who slept in Marjorie's cabin, pulled her head out from under her wing and shivered. "What has happened?" asked Marjorie, sitting up in bed and looking about her. Perhaps she expected to see Jack Frost sitting in the rocking chair! Quickly pulling on her slippers she ran to the porthole to ask her good friend the Weathercock the reason for this sudden drop in the temperature. She found him, as usual, perched on the flagpole. His comb was very red, as if Jack Frost had given it a nip, and now and then he raised one leg to his breast to warm his toes in the fluffy feathers. "Good morning," said Marjorie. "Isn't it freezing?" "Do you wonder?" answered the Weathercock, pointing to a large iceberg close at hand. She turned to look and, sure enough, just a few feet away was a great mountain of ice. "We're aground on an iceberg," went on the Weathercock. "We ran into an ice floe last night and the Ark slipped upon the ledge of the iceberg and grounded." "Goodness gracious!" cried Marjorie. "What are we ever going to do?" "I'm sure I don't know," answered the Weathercock. "I'll have to get some woolen socks and a pair of felt shoes or my toes will be frostbitten!" "Perhaps Mrs. Noah will knit you a pair," said Marjorie. "I'm going down to breakfast now and I'll speak to her about it." "Thank you," replied the Weathercock. "And tell her I wouldn't mind having a worsted muffler, too." Down below matters were even worse, for the fresh water had frozen during the night, so that it was impossible to give the animals a drink. Mrs. Noah had been forced to melt a piece of ice in a pan over the fire in order to have water with which to make the coffee. "Whew!" exclaimed Capt. Noah, coming in from deck and closing the door as quickly as possible. "My hands are almost frozen. This is as bad as a trip to the North Pole. Perhaps worse, for we are totally unprepared for this kind of weather." Just then Mr. Jonah and the boys came in, rubbing their hands and stamping their feet to keep warm. "Merry Christmas!" laughed Ham, "the skating's fine out on the ice floe!" "How jolly!" cried Marjorie. "Let's go skating after breakfast!" "No, sir-e-e," said Capt. Noah. "The boys must help me float the Ark. One of the rubber-tired wheels is crushed and it will take a lot of hard work to get her off." "We'd better set about it as soon as possible," said Mr. Jonah, after Capt. Noah had made an inspection. "Some of the animals are nearly perishing with the cold. The monkeys are rolled up so tight you'd think they were fur balls. Only the polar bears seem to enjoy life, and they are just crazy to take a run on the ice." "Let them wait," said Capt. Noah; "we have more serious things to attend to than pleasure for the moment." "Well, come and get a good hot breakfast first," said Mrs. Noah, bringing in the steaming coffee pot and a plate of hot corn muffins. "After breakfast you'll all feel differently." This was, indeed, good advice, and when breakfast was over Capt. Noah said, "Get the crowbar and the wooden rollers, Japheth. We'll see if we can't start the old Ark moving. Maybe she's stuck too deep in the ice, but we'll try, at any rate." "Here, my little girl," said kind Mrs. Noah to Marjorie, "put on this muffler if you're going out. It's pretty cold." So Marjorie tied the warm muffler around her neck and stepped out on deck. A beautiful sight met her eyes. Towering high above was a mountain of glittering ice, while as far as the eye could reach was a field of ice and snow. Under the rays of the morning sun parts of the great berg glittered like a rainbow. It was so cold that Marjorie had to jump up and down to keep her toes from freezing. Down on the ice, close to the Ark, Capt. Noah and his crew were busily at work. One of the auto wheels had sunk deep into the ice and acted like an anchor. The other wheels also were embedded in the ice so that the Ark was held as if in a vise. "Guess we'll have to give it up," exclaimed Capt. Noah after an hour's hard work, during which time the Ark had not moved an inch. "We'd better make up our minds to winter here until the iceberg floats into a warmer climate and either melts or breaks apart." "That's cheerful," said Mr. Jonah. "I've nothing but summer flannels and a mackintosh with me." "What about some of the poor animals who are used to the Torrid Zone?" replied Capt. Noah, shouldering the crowbar and climbing up the rope ladder to the deck. Mr. Jonah did not reply, but turned up his coat collar and stamped upon his feet to warm them. "The hairless Mexican dog will surely die if we don't do something for him," said Ham. "I think I'll ask mother if she won't let him stay in the kitchen." But Mrs. Noah did not seem very pleased over the suggestion. "Gracious me!" she said. "Shem already has two parrots, a marmoset and a little green snake in the kitchen. I don't suppose one more animal would make much difference, if it will only keep from under my feet. I nearly stepped on one of the snakes this morning, and the kitchen is none too large, anyway." "Don't you boys worry your mother any more," said Capt. Noah sternly. "The animals have got to make the best of it. Any one who travels by sea undergoes some risk and I'm sure I'm as careful a captain as a man could be. It's lucky we didn't go down to the bottom of the sea when we struck the berg, instead of running up on it safely." After dinner Capt. Noah and Mr. Jonah held a consultation as to what was the best thing to do under the circumstances. "Of course, some of the animals, like the polar bears and the seals, will enjoy a vacation on the ice. The penguins, too, will be glad to have a little change. We can let them out and the rest of the Arctic passengers. But how to keep the other animals warm, puzzles me. We haven't coal enough to keep the furnaces going for very long." Mr. Jonah stroked his chin reflectively. "We might dig a channel from the Ark to the edge of the berg and then float the Ark," he said, after a pause. "That's a pretty good scheme," said Capt. Noah. "We'll get to work at once. Here, you boys, get the pickaxes and come with me." By evening the canal was finished. "Now, when the tide rises," said Capt. Noah, resting on the handle of his pickax, "perhaps the old tub will float." It was now quite dark, so all hands returned to the Ark. The animals which had been allowed to play on the ice had all returned except the two polar bears, who begged Capt. Noah to let them stay out all night, as they wished to see the Northern Lights from the top of the iceberg. It was a very tired family that gathered around the supper table that evening. But after the meal was over the Weathercock began to sing: "It's time for bed, and all the Ark Should soon be snoring in the dark, The elephant and kangaroo, The lion and the curled horn gnu, Have gone to bed, and so should you, So good night, cock-a-doodle-doo!" [Illustration: Ham rescues the Polar Bears from the iceberg.] A THRILLING RESCUE We're off! we're off! we're off again To sail upon the rolling main. The ice no longer holds us fast, We're sailing safe and free at last! This is what the Weathercock sang loud and clear the next morning. It woke up Marjorie with a start, and running to the porthole she saw that they were once more upon the ocean blue. "How did it happen?" she asked, turning to her faithful friend on the flagpole, who was still crowing and flapping his wings at a great rate. "How did it all happen?" "While you were asleep, my dear little Madge," answered the Weathercock. "I didn't ask you when, I asked you how," laughed Marjorie, for she was delighted, you see, to be once more sailing over the great big ocean. "You'd better not ask me any more questions," said the Weathercock quickly. "You just better hurry up and dress and ask Capt. Noah what he is going to do about the castaways." "The what?" gasped Marjorie. "The castaways. The two polar bears who are still on the iceberg." "Goodness gracious!" she cried. "I'll hurry and get on my boots. I must tell Capt. Noah at once." In a few minutes she was running down to the lower cabin. "Capt. Noah! Capt. Noah!" she shouted. "Capt. Noah, the polar bears are left on the iceberg!" The captain, who had overslept himself, put his head out of his cabin door. "What is all the excitement about?" he asked sleepily. "The bears are left on the iceberg!" shouted Marjorie again. "Well, that's all right. I told them they could stay out all night. They will come aboard for breakfast, no doubt!" "They can't! They can't!" cried Marjorie in great excitement. "The Ark is afloat again and we are sailing away." "Blubber and rubber!" exclaimed the captain, now even more excited than the little girl. "Mother!" he cried, "the Ark's afloat and two of our passengers are still ashore!" Mrs. Noah opened her eyes. "What did you say, my dear?" she asked, sleepily. The captain by this time had pulled on his sailor suit and, closing the cabin door with a bang, rushed out on deck, with Marjorie close at his heels. In the distance the iceberg could be seen indistinctly through the morning mist. "Hard-a-port!" shouted Capt. Noah. Mr. Jonah, who was at the wheel, woke up with a start. He was so tired with cutting the ice the day before that he had fallen sound asleep at his post. "You landlubber," cried Capt. Noah. "What do you mean by falling asleep?" "This is my first experience before the mast," apologized poor Jonah. "I've always been a passenger. Please don't get provoked." "Provoked!" yelled Capt. Noah. "Provoked! I feel like throwing you overboard!" "Steer for the iceberg!" "I won't throw you overboard until later!" Mr. Jonah heaved a sigh of relief, for at first I guess he thought he'd have to go back to the Whale without having the chance of Capt. Noah cooling off. Marjorie stood close to the rail, straining her eyes for a glimpse of the polar bears. The three Noah boys now came on deck, and Ham handed the spyglass to his father. "I see them! I see them!" cried Capt. Noah. "One of them is waving a flag!" "Let me look," said Marjorie, who was dreadfully worried about them. Yes, there they were. On the top of the berg she could dimly see two figures and a white object waving back and forth. The sea was getting rough and the Ark rolled about in a most uncomfortable manner. The Weathercock clung tightly to his post, however, and flapped his wings now and then. "Look out!" he cautioned as the Ark neared the berg. "Be careful or you'll stave a hole in the Ark!" "Hurry up!" shouted the polar bears. "We're nearly starved. We want our breakfast." "Want your breakfast!" muttered Capt. Noah under his breath. "You'll be wanting something more than breakfast if we don't find a way to get you aboard!" "Let them swim!" suggested Ham. "Run up close and let them jump!" advised Shem. "Let them fly!" chuckled Japheth, unsympathetically, who was somewhat tired of feeding the animals and felt that two less would not be such an awful thing after all. "Nothing of the sort," cried Capt. Noah. "I am responsible for the safety of every passenger. I will take no such chances." "What are we going to do, then?" asked Mr. Jonah, looking over the side of the Ark to make sure that it was not getting too close to the dangerous berg, which jutted out in ragged points beneath the water. "Launch the life-boat!" commanded Capt. Noah. "Who will volunteer?" "I will!" cried Ham, and in less time than I can take to tell it, Ham and his trained monkeys lowered the boat and jumped in. "Shove off!" commanded Cockswain Ham, and with a strong pull and a loud "Yo-ho!" the little boat shot away. Ham held firmly to the tiller and kept the bow pointed toward the big rollers, while the monkeys handled the oars. "Pull for the shore, sailor, pull for the shore," sang the Weathercock. The bears, who had slid down the iceberg close to the water's edge, stood anxiously waiting. "Careful, now!" cried Ham. "Pull on your starboard oar!" The boat grazed the iceberg. "Jump!" shouted Ham. "Quick!" And then one of the bears gave a spring and landed in the boat. His mate, however, slipped, and a big wave at that moment whirled the boat away from the ice, and with a big splash he landed in the water. "Throw him a life-preserver!" shouted Capt. Noah. "Throw him a life line!" yelled Shem. "Throw him the anchor!" growled Japheth, who never had liked the Polar Bears, I guess. But Cockswain Ham was not the least bit rattled. He steered the boat toward the frightened bear and told him to catch hold. "Now pull for all you're worth!" shouted Ham to the monkeys, "and we'll tow Brother Bear." But, oh, dear me! The great waves kept washing over the little boat, and the two monkeys had a hard time rowing with that great heavy bear dragging on the stern. "They'll be swamped!" screamed Mrs. Noah, as a tremendous great wave dashed over the little life-boat. "Bail, bail, you lubber!" shouted Ham. "We'll all be in Davy Jones's locker if you don't!" Well, pretty soon they came alongside the Ark, and Capt. Noah let down a rope ladder, up which the two bears managed to scramble after a hard struggle. And after that Cockswain Ham and his gallant crew came aboard, and the life-boat was hoisted up on deck. Motherly Mrs. Noah at once put the two bears to bed after a hot mustard bath and a drink of Jamaica ginger. "Well, this beats the old days all holler!" exclaimed Capt. Noah. "We never had such accidents on my first voyage. It just rained and rained for forty days and forty nights." "That's the truth, my dear," agreed Mrs. Noah. "I remember it very well. Ham was just a baby, and the other two boys were little fellows. It was hard work finding something new for them to do each day. Rainy days on board ship--well, I never want to go through with it again." "I should think your boys would think you're just lovely," said little Marjorie. "Well, I guess we do," said Ham, kissing his mother. "You know we do, mother dear." "Of course I do," she replied, giving him a hug. "Go and kiss your mother," said Capt. Noah to Shem and Japheth, "or she won't give you any breakfast." And then they both ran over to her and kissed her, glad of an excuse to show their real feelings. "Now, come and get something nice and hot for breakfast," said Mrs. Noah, "for if we don't eat breakfast pretty soon, we'll have to call it lunch." And in the next chapter you shall hear of a dreadful collision, but don't worry, for I shan't let anything happen to little Marjorie and the kind Noah family. [Illustration: Captain Noah discovers a leak in the side of the Ark.] A LEAK "Look out! Look out! A boat in sight; Turn quickly to the left or right; You'll have a smash-up, sure as fate-- Alas! my warning came too late!" sang the Weathercock. And, oh, dear me! He was right! Crash! Bang! The Noah's Ark shivered from bow to stern, and all the animals were thrown off their feet. Little Marjorie awoke with a start. It was just daylight, and far off in the east the rising sun was tinging the sky pink and gold. She hurriedly put on her clothes and ran out on deck, where she met Capt. Noah and his sons. "Whales and porpoises!" exclaimed Capt. Noah. "Mr. Jonah has been asleep at the switch again, I'll bet!" And then he ran forward and looked over the bow of the Ark. Only a few yards off was the charred hull of a vessel, riding low in the water. Quickly examining his own ship, Capt. Noah discovered a hole on the starboard side. And then, all of a sudden, the animals came rushing up on deck. "The Ark is filling with water," cried Mrs. Elephant, "and my slippers are all soaking wet. If I had remained below another minute they would have been ruined!" She had hardly finished when all the rats and mice scrambled up the companionway. "A bad sign!" said Capt. Noah. "It shows the Ark is sinking!" Mrs. Noah gave a scream. She had hastily thrown a kimono over her nightdress at the first warning and had hurried on deck. "Don't worry," said little Marjorie bravely. "Capt. Noah will stop the leak." "I hope so," he said. Then, turning to the passengers, he asked: "Who will volunteer to go with me below deck?" "I will!" shouted Ham. "And so will I!" said the Elephant. "Come along, then," said Capt. Noah. "Throw me down the tarpaulin and some planks," he called up a few minutes later. But, oh dear me! The water had gained such headway that the tarpaulin was of no use at all, and I don't know what would have happened if the Elephant hadn't sat down squarely on the hole, blocking it up so that not a single drop of water leaked in. "Bully for you!" cried Capt. Noah. "That's the best stunt I've seen yet!" "It's not very comfortable," said the Elephant, with a shiver. "My, but the water's chilly!" "Start the pumps!" commanded Capt. Noah, rushing to the foot of the companionway. "Set some of the animals to work!" Well, after a while the Ark was pumped dry, and everybody heaved a sigh of relief. "How long do you expect me to be a water plug?" asked the Elephant. "You don't expect me to sit here for the rest of the voyage?" "I don't know what we'll do if you get up," answered Capt. Noah. "Neither do I," said the Elephant. "Let's call Mr. Jonah," said Capt. Noah. "What's the use?" said the Elephant. "What good will he do? If he hadn't been asleep at the tiller we never would have had the accident." "We might punish him for neglect of duty," said Capt. Noah. "We'll plug the hole up with him. He can sit on the opening for a punishment." "Great idea!" chuckled the Elephant. "Bring him down." So Capt. Noah hastened on deck to look for poor Mr. Jonah. And pretty soon he came back with Mr. Jonah, who of course didn't know what they were going to do with him. "What do you want me for?" he asked. "It's pretty damp down here." "Hello!" said the Elephant. "Excuse my not rising!" "Certainly," said Mr. Jonah, "but you don't look very comfortable." And then, quick as a wink, the Elephant reached out his trunk and grabbed poor Mr. Jonah. "Help! Murder!" yelled Jonah, nearly strangled by the water, which rushed into the Ark as the Elephant got up. "Keep quiet!" commanded Capt. Noah, and then the Elephant pushed poor Mr. Jonah into the hole. "It's all your fault that we had this accident. Now you can stop up the leak!" Mr. Jonah was too frightened to speak. Finally, when he partly recovered from his fright he said: "But what am I to do?" "Don't do a thing," said Capt. Noah, pushing him down as he started to get up. "You just sit there and be a hero!" "I won't!" cried Mr. Jonah. "Then we'll all drown, and you, too!" said Capt. Noah. And just then the Weathercock shouted out loud and clear: "Land ahead! Land ahead!" And in a few short seconds the Ark rolled upon a sandy beach and came to a standstill. "Throw out the anchor!" commanded Capt. Noah. "We won't take any chances this time." And pretty soon all the animals were playing on the sand, while Mrs. Noah, with Marjorie and the boys, made a fire under some palm trees. Suddenly Capt. Noah remembered Mr. Jonah. "Thunder and lightning!" he exclaimed, and at once descended into the hold, where he found poor Mr. Jonah still sitting on the hole in the Ark. "Arise, noble man!" said Capt. Noah, bursting into laughter. "Thank goodness," said Jonah. "I feel as stiff as a glass bottle stopper." And in the next chapter you shall hear of a wonderful picnic which they all had on this little green island in the middle of the big blue ocean. [Illustration: The boys were busy with Captain Noah repairing the Ark.] THE PICNIC "Don't leave me alone on the Ark, Marjie, dear, For I shall be lonely I very much fear. Now, how would you like to be left alone High up on a perch where the wild breezes moan?" "The Weathercock wants to come with us," said Marjorie. "Then why doesn't he?" said Capt. Noah, who was busily engaged in making the anchor line fast. "I'll tell him to come with us." And she ran up the gang-plank and called to the lonely Weathercock: "Why don't you fly down? We'd like to have you come ashore with us." "That's all I wanted to know," said the faithful bird. "Look out! Here she goes!" And with a great flutter and flapping of his gilt wings he landed on the sand. And after that he and Marjorie went over to the clump of palm trees where Mrs. Noah and the boys were resting. "This would be a fine spot for a picnic," she said. "Did you ever go to one?" "No, I've never been to one, although I once went to a fair with father," said Marjorie. "Well, while the boys are busy with Capt. Noah mending the Ark, we'll get a fire started and have our lunch out here beneath the trees." It didn't take long to get the fire started, for Mrs. Noah wished to surprise the Captain when he came back, and pretty soon the kettle was singing away: "Hurray for the jolly picnic And the crew of the red Noah's Ark. I'll whistle and sing like a bird in the spring, While the red flames gleam and spark." "There are some nice clams on the beach," said Mrs. Noah. So the Weathercock took a basket and went down to the water's edge and brought back enough for everybody. And I guess Mrs. Noah had been to many a clam bake, for she knew just how to roast them in a pile of seaweed and red hot stones. Well, pretty soon Capt. Noah with Mr. Jonah and the three boys came out of the Ark and sat down beneath the palm trees, and then all the animals sat around in a ring, for this was the first picnic they had ever been to. "I'm as hungry as a bear," said little Marjorie, and then the Elephant began to laugh, but the bear only smiled and spread his bread with honey. Of course, some of the animals didn't eat any of Mrs. Noah's lunch. The giraffe stood near by and ate the tender leaves off the tops of the trees and the monkeys ate cocoanuts, and the ducks and geese kept close to the water and snapped up little fishes and snails. But everybody had a wonderful time. "I think, Mother," said Capt. Noah, wiping the crumbs from the tablecloth, and holding them out to a little brown thrush who had sat on his shoulder during the meal, "we had better spend the night ashore. I'll bring the big tent from the Ark and set it up under the trees. I'm going to do a little painting inside the Ark this afternoon." "That's a very good idea," said Mrs. Noah. When the tent was set up and the ropes securely fastened to the pegs which had been driven into the ground, Mrs. Noah and Marjorie busied themselves fixing it up inside in order to make it comfortable for the night. And when evening came, a bright fire was lighted and after supper, everybody sat around and talked. Ham popped corn and Marjorie roasted apples. "Nine o'clock," said Capt. Noah, "time for bed. We must be up early in the morning." "It was the loveliest picnic I ever had," said Marjorie, as she kissed Mrs. Noah good night. [Illustration: Captain Noah called all the Animals aboard the Ark] THE STORM By noon the next day Capt. Noah reported that the paint was dry and the Ark ready to set sail. "We must get the animals together," he said, looking anxiously about. "I can't imagine where they have all gone to." "Well, I'll have everything packed and ready to put aboard by the time you round up your passengers," laughed Mrs. Noah who never seemed to worry about anything, and Marjorie thought she was the nicest person she had ever met. "Come, boys," commanded Capt. Noah, "let's start the hunt. I hope the island isn't large, for I don't fancy walking many miles in this hot climate." So they all started off, Mr. Jonah and the three Noah boys following Capt. Noah, and after walking for some time they came to the top of a hill, from which they had a good view of the island. And not very far away were all the animals, enjoying themselves to their hearts' content. Capt. Noah took his bugle and blew a long blast, and at once all the animals looked around. Then he blew again, and after that the animals formed in line with the Elephant at their head and marched toward them. When they reached the Ark the gang-plank was lowered and they all marched aboard. Everything below decks was in apple-pie order and the animals all seemed glad to be once more back in the Ark. "All's well that ends well," said Capt. Noah, turning to Mr. Jonah. "My duty is to land these animals safely after the rain is over. But it looks to me as if it were going to commence again." "There's a big black cloud in the west," shouted the Weathercock, who had flown up to his perch on the flagpole and was keeping a sharp lookout. "Yes, I guess we're going to have some nasty weather," said Capt. Noah. "Let us hurry and get the Ark afloat." In a few minutes the great boat was in motion, and after a short run down to the water, it once more rode the waves. "You'd better come down to the cabin," Capt. Noah called out to the Weathercock as a flash of lightning passed across the sky. "We're going to have a storm, and you may be blown off your perch." So the Weathercock came down and perched on his shoulder, and then he began to sing: "Oh, the animals came into the Ark, The little dog with a bow-wow bark, The lion gave a kingly roar, And the monkey shook the rat by the paw, And the muley cow said moo-o-o, And the rooster sang his cockle-do." Well, it didn't take long for Capt. Noah and his crew to make everything snug and tight. But, oh dear me! How the thunder roared and the lightning flashed, but in spite of all this, Marjorie grew so sleepy that pretty soon she went up to her little cabin with the dove on her shoulder, and crept into bed. And then something strange happened. The Weathercock, although he had hopped into the cabin to escape the storm, went out on deck every now and then to look about him, so as to report to Capt. Noah the whereabouts of the Ark. He didn't seem to mind the storm, for a weathercock is used to all sorts of weather and knows just from what quarter the wind is blowing, you know. About midnight, after coming in from deck, he hopped up to little Marjorie's cabin and knocked on the door. But she was so fast asleep she didn't hear him, and if it hadn't been for the dove, who was a very light sleeper, I don't believe the Weathercock would ever have been able to tell Marjorie this strange thing that had happened. But just as soon as the little dove heard the knocking, she flew down from her cage and opened the door. And after the Weathercock had whispered to her she went over to where Marjorie lay sound asleep in her berth. And just then the Ark grated on something and came to a standstill, but so gradually did the great boat stop that Capt. Noah, who was also sound asleep, did not even move in his berth. "Wake little Marjorie," whispered the Weathercock, and then the little white bird leaned over the pillow, and sang in a low voice: "Wake up, wake up, Marjorie dear, Come to the window, Your home is quite near. See, we are landed Upon your own roof, Just outside your bedroom. Come, here is the proof-- I'll lift up the curtain; There's your little bed, With the cosy white pillow And cover of red." "What is it? Where am I?" asked Marjorie, opening her eyes. "Come," said the Weathercock, "follow me." Dreamily she got up and followed him to the window. Opposite was her own little bedroom window. "Step over carefully," whispered the Weathercock, while the Dove took her by the hand. Marjorie stepped across the open space and entered her bedroom. Then she walked over to her own little bed and crept inside. "Go to sleep!" whispered the Weathercock. "See you in the morning," cooed the Dove, and with a gentle flutter they disappeared through the window. Indistinctly Marjorie heard the Ark cast away from the windowsill. And the voice of Capt. Noah came faintly to her ears: "Careful, now! We must slip in through the nursery window without waking the household." As the "Noah's Ark" slowly drifted in through the nursery window, Captain Noah ran forward with a hawser, ready to make fast to the book case near the big table. "Well! Well!" he exclaimed. "It is nice to be home again!" "It certainly is!" said Mrs. Noah, as she and the three boys came out on deck. "It is wonderful that the water has done no damage to Marjorie's pretty nursery." "See how fast it is running away!" exclaimed Ham. "Lucky we sailed home tonight!" Just then Mr. Noah looked at the book case. "Gee Hossephat!" he exclaimed. "See that book--'The Cruise of the Noah's Ark'--why there is my picture on the cover!" "Look! Look!" shouted Japheth. "There are more books in the series of 'Little Journeys to Happyland!'" "So there are," laughed Mrs. Noah. "I would like to read 'The Iceberg Express.' That sounds interesting." "I think 'A Little Journey to Happyland in the Magic Soap Bubble' would be some trip!" exclaimed Shem. "Time for bed," suddenly exclaimed Captain Noah. "I am going to turn out all the lights on the 'Noah's Ark.' No time tonight for you to read these other books in this series," and with these words he turned out the red light on the port side of the Ark and the green light on the starboard side and with a sigh of relief added, "Thank goodness! All the animals are well and Marjorie upstairs asleep in her little bed and the old 'Noah's Ark' back safe in the nursery." As Captain Noah ceased speaking, the Weathercock fluttered off the Ark and over to the nursery window. Pausing a moment on the sill, he turned for one last look, and then flew straight away for Uncle Spencer's barn. "Home again!" he chuckled. "Who'd have thought I'd ever be A pilot on the deep blue sea." THE END -------------------------------------------------------------------------- LITTLE JACK RABBIT BOOKS (Trademark Registered.) By DAVID CORY Colored Wrapper and Text Illustrations Drawn by H. S. BARBOUR PRINTED IN LARGE TYPE EASY TO READ. FOR CHILDREN FROM 3 TO 8 YEARS A unique series, about the furred and feathered little people of the woods and meadows. LITTLE JACK RABBIT'S ADVENTURES Little Jack Rabbit is a jolly fellow, but he has to keep away from Danny Fox, Wicked Weasel and Hungry Hawk. LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND DANNY FOX Many a hairbreadth escape has Little Jack Rabbit from this old rascal, who lives on the woody hillside under a pile of rocks. LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE SQUIRREL BROTHERS Mr. Squirrel Nutcracker's two boys are great friends of Little Jack, but old Barney Owl makes a lot of trouble for all three. LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNK Little Jack Rabbit visits Chippy Chipmunk's store, but you should read about what happens to the sign over the door. LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN BEAR The Big Brown Bear is a particular friend of Little Jack Rabbit. Cosey Cave, where he lives, is well stored with honey and lollypops. LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE JOHN HARE Tells all about the bunnymobile, Ragged Rabbit Giant and the Rabbit Fairies. LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND PROFESSOR CROW Professor Crow, with his Wisdom Book, teaches Little Jack Rabbit many interesting things. Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York -------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES 1. Punctuation has been normalized to contemporary standards. 2. List of books relocated to after title page. 3. Typographic errors corrected in original: p. 11 Japhet to Japheth ("said Japheth") p. 27 Japhet to Japheth ("said Japheth") 
19333	----	Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original lovely illustrations. See 19333-h.htm or 19333-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/1/9/3/3/19333/19333-h/19333-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/1/9/3/3/19333/19333-h.zip) Make Believe Stories (Trademark Registered) THE STORY OF A CHINA CAT by LAURA LEE HOPE Author of "The Story of a Sawdust Doll," "The Story of a Nodding Donkey," "The Bobbsey Twins Series," "The Bunny Brown Series," "The Six Little Bunkers Series," 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 China Cat [Illustration: The China Cat Has a Ride in Nodding Donkey's Wagon. _Frontispiece_--(_Page 113_)] CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I TOY-SHOP FUN 1 II A NICE LITTLE GIRL 14 III "FIRE! FIRE!" 28 IV A LITTLE BLACK BOY 38 V ROUGH PLAY 50 VI A TERRIBLE STORM 63 VII THE RESCUE 76 VIII JENNIE GETS THE CAT 87 IX AN OLD FRIEND 101 X THE GLARING EYES 111 THE STORY OF A CHINA CAT CHAPTER I TOY-SHOP FUN Toot! Toot! Tootity-toot-toot! "Goodness me! who is blowing the horn?" asked the Talking Doll, as she sat up on the shelf in the toy shop. "This isn't Friday; and we don't want any fish!" "Speak for yourself, if you please," said a large, white China Cat, who had just finished washing a few specks of dirt off her shiny coat with her red tongue. "I could enjoy a bit of fish right now." "I should rather have pie," said the Talking Doll. "But who blew the horn? That is what I'd like to know. No one has a horn in this toy shop that I know anything about." "It wasn't a horn--that was a trumpet," said another voice. "I'll blow it again!" Then there sounded a jolly noise through the quiet toy shop, which was in darkness except for one electric light in the middle of the store. Toot! Toot! Tootity-toot-toot! echoed the merry notes. "What a pretty sound," said the Jumping Jack, as he jerked his arms and legs up and down, for he had just awakened from his long day of sleep. "Isn't it nice," agreed Tumbling Tom, a queer toy who never could stand up, because he was made in such a funny way that he always fell down. "I wonder if there is going to be a parade?" "Who is blowing that horn, anyway?" asked the Talking Doll. "I tell you it isn't a horn--it's a trumpet, and I am blowing it," said a voice in the front part of the toy store. "I came in only to-day, but I thought perhaps you other toys would like a little music, so I tuned up my trumpet. But please don't call it a horn. I am not a fish man!" With that there came walking along the shelf, from the front part of the store, a little man wearing a blue coat, dark red trousers, and a hat with a long, sweeping plume. I say he was a little man, but I mean he was a toy, dressed up like a man such as you see in fairy stories. In his hand he carried a little golden trumpet. As he walked along the shelf, where the other toys stood, the Trumpeter, for such he was, blew another blast on his golden instrument. And the blast was such a jolly one that every toy in the store felt like dancing or singing. The Jumping Jack worked his arms and legs faster than they had ever jerked about before. The Talking Doll swayed on her feet as though waltzing, and even the China Cat beat time with her tail. "That certainly was very nice," said the Talking Doll, when the Trumpeter had finished the tune. "Did you say you just came here to be one of us?" "Just to-day," was the answer. "I came in a large box, straight from the workshop of Santa Claus, at the North Pole, and I--" "Oh! The North Pole!" suddenly mewed the China Cat. "What's the matter? Does it make you chilly to hear about the North Pole, where I came from?" asked the Trumpeter. "No," answered the Cat. "I was just thinking of a friend of mine who once lived there. You remember him," she added, turning to the Jumping Jack. "I mean the Nodding Donkey." "Of course I remember him!" said the Jumping Jack. "I should say I did! A most jolly chap, always bowing to you in the most friendly way. He isn't here any more." "No, he was bought for a little lame boy who had to go on crutches," said the Talking Doll. "I remember the Nodding Donkey very well. I say he was bought for a little lame boy. But the truth of the matter is that the lame boy got well, and now is just like other boys. Once the Nodding Donkey's leg was broken and he was brought back here for Mr. Mugg to fix." "Who is Mr. Mugg?" asked the Trumpeter, as he rubbed his horn to make it more shiny. "Excuse me for asking, but I have not been here very long, you know," he added. "Mr. Horatio Mugg is the man who keeps this toy store," explained the China Cat. "He and his daughters, Angelina and Geraldine, keep us toys in order, dust us off and sell us whenever any one comes in to buy playthings." "Then it seems I am not to stay here always," went on the Trumpeter. "Well, I like a jolly life, going about from place to place. I had fun at the North Pole, and now I hope I shall have some fun here. That's why I blew my trumpet--to start you toys into life." "We always come to life after dark, and make believe we are alive when no one sees us," explained the China Cat. "That is one of the things we are allowed to do. But as soon as daylight shines, or when any one comes into the store to look at us, we must turn back into toys that can move only when we are wound up. That is, all except me. I have no springs inside me--I move of myself whenever make-believe time comes," she added, and she switched her tail from side to side. "Well, I have springs inside me," said the Talking Doll, "and also a little phonograph. When it is wound up I can say 'papa' and 'mama' and 'I am hungry.' But when we are by ourselves, as we are now, I can say what I please." "I, too, have springs inside me," said the Trumpeter. "That is how I blow my trumpet. But now, as we are by ourselves and it is night, why not have some fun? Let's do something. Perhaps, as a newcomer, I should let some one else start it. But I could not bear to lie on the shelf, doing nothing, especially when it is so near the jolly Christmas season. So I just blew my trumpet to awaken you all." "And I'm glad you did," said the Jumping Jack. "I say let's have some fun! Shall I show you how well I can jump?" he asked. "If this is your first night here," he said to the Trumpeter, "you do not know all the tricks I can do." "I should be most happy to see you do some," replied the Trumpeter. "Oh, that Jumping Jack. He thinks he is the only one who can jump!" whispered a Jack in the Box to Tumbling Tom. "If I could get out of this box I'd show him some jumps that would make him open his eyes!" "And as for tumbles!" said Tom. "Why, I can beat him all to pieces! But we must be polite, you know, especially before strangers--I mean the Trumpeter. Don't let's have a quarrel." "All right," agreed the Jack in the Box, or Jack Box, as he was called for short. "Now watch me jump!" cried Jumping Jack. "Clear the shelf, if you please. The Trumpeter has never seen any of my circus tricks!" So the toys in the shop of Mr. Horatio Mugg got ready to have a jolly night. Just as the China Cat had said, the toys had the power of making believe. They could pretend to come to life, and talk among themselves, and do things they never would think of doing in the daytime. This was when no human eyes saw them. "Attention now, everybody!" called the Jumping Jack, just like the ringmaster in a circus. "First I will climb to the top of the highest shelf, and then I will jump down." "Won't you hurt yourself?" asked the Trumpeter. "Oh, no, I'll land on a big rubber ball and bounce," the Jumping Jack answered. "If you want to, Trumpeter," he added, "you can blow a blast on your horn to start me off. It will be more exciting if you do that." "All right," agreed the new toy. Up climbed the Jumping Jack until he stood on the very highest shelf of the store--the shelf where all the extra drums were kept out of the way. "It makes me dizzy to look at him," said the Talking Doll, and she covered her eyes with her hand. "Yes, suppose he should fall," said the China Cat. "But he must show off, I suppose. I'd rather have less exciting fun--such as a game of tag." "Hush!" begged the Trumpeter. "He is ready to jump, I think. Hello there, Jack!" he called to the toy on the top shelf. "Are you ready?" "All ready!" was the answer. "Blow your trumpet, and I'll jump!" The Trumpeter raised his golden horn to his lips. Toot! Toot! Tootity-toot-toot! came the blast. "Here I come!" shouted the Jumping Jack. "Oh, dear! Tell me when it is all over!" begged the Talking Doll, putting both her hands over her eyes. Down, down, down, came the Jumping Jack, past shelf after shelf of toys, until he landed with a bounce on a rubber ball on the very lowest shelf, where the Cat and the Doll stood. Up in the air bounced the Jack again, for the ball was like the springs of a bed. Then he came down upon the ball a second time and bounced up once more, and this time he came down on the shelf. "Ouch! Mew! Mew!" cried the China Cat. "What's the matter? Did the Jumping Jack fall and break his leg like the Nodding Donkey?" asked the Talking Doll. "Oh, I dare not look! Tell me about it!" "Of course he didn't break his leg!" said the Cat. "But he stepped on my tail; that's what he did! Right on my tail! I hope it isn't broken," she went on, as she looked carefully at the tip. "Oh, I beg your pardon! I am so sorry!" exclaimed the Jumping Jack. "I didn't mean to do that. The ball rolled, and I slipped." "Well, there is no great harm done, I am glad to say," said the China Cat, again carefully looking at the tip of her tail. "But if you had landed a little harder you would have broken it, and then I should be a damaged toy, and Mr. Mugg would have had to sell me for half price." "But didn't I do a good jump?" asked the Jack of the Trumpeter. "One of the finest I ever saw," was the answer. "But suppose we play something more quiet." "Let's have a dance!" proposed the Talking Doll. "The Trumpeter can play for us. I love to dance!" [Illustration: The Jumping Jack Danced With the China Cat. _Page 12_] "So do I," said a Soldier Captain, who was one of a number of wooden soldiers in a box. "May I have a waltz with you, Miss Doll?" "Yes," she answered. "Thank you, Captain." And while the Trumpeter played, the toys danced. The Jumping Jack danced with the China Cat, but she said his style was jerky. Then Tumbling Tom danced with the white cat, but Tom kept falling down all the while so that dance was, really, not a success. "Let's play tag," said the Talking Doll after a while. "I am sure the Trumpeter is tired of playing so many tunes for us." "All right! Tag will be fun!" agreed the China Cat. "I'll be it. Scatter now, so I shall have to run to tag you." The toys spread themselves about the shelves of Mr. Mugg's shop, and the China Cat, whose shiny coat was as white as snow, was just getting ready to run after the Trumpeter when suddenly the toy pussy gave a loud mew. "Take her away! Take her away! Don't let her come near me!" cried the China Cat. "Oh, Captain!" she exclaimed to the wooden soldier, "don't let her get near me! Take her away!" and the China Cat acted so strangely that the other toys did not know what to think. CHAPTER II A NICE LITTLE GIRL Everybody had been so happy and jolly in the toy shop, and there was so much fun going on, that when the China Cat acted so oddly and mewed so loudly, there was great excitement for a time. "Don't tell me there is a fire!" cried a little Ballet Dancer, whose skirts of tissue paper and tulle would be sure to flare up the first thing in case of a blaze. "No, there isn't a fire," said a toy Policeman. "If there was I should turn in an alarm." "But what is the matter?" asked the Talking Doll. "Did that crazy Jumping Jack again step on the China Cat's tail?" "Indeed I did not," answered the Jumping Jack. And all this while the China Cat kept mewing. "Take her away! Don't let her come near me! The black will rub off, I'm sure, and I shall be ruined and damaged. Oh, take her away, Soldier Captain!" and the China Cat, in her white coat, snuggled as close as she could to the brave officer with his shiny sword. "What is the matter? Who is black? Please tell me what to do so I can help you," begged the Captain. "Why, don't you see!" exclaimed the China Cat. "That black doll is coming to play tag with us! She belongs on the other side of the store, among the Hallowe'en novelties! If she rubs up against me she'll get me all black, and I can't stand it to be dirty!" All the other toys glanced toward the toy at which the China Cat pointed with one paw. Walking along the edge of the shelf was a fuzzy-haired black Doll, her face as shiny as the stove pipe. She was called a Topsy Doll. "Whut's de mattah heah?" asked Topsy, talking just as a colored doll should talk. "Don't yo' all want fo' me to come an' play tag wif yo'?" "We'd love to have you," said the Jumping Jack, who, being all sorts of colors, did not mind one more. "But our China Cat is afraid some of your black might rub off on her." "Ha! Ha! Ha!" laughed Topsy. "Dat suah am funny! Why, my black doesn't come off! I spects maybe I's white inside, but de black on de outside don't come off! Ha! Ha! Ha!" "Really, doesn't it? Won't you smut me all up?" asked the China Cat. "No, I won't! Hones' to goodness I won't!" promised the Topsy Doll. "Some folks do say I's terrible mischievous but I can't help it. I growed up dat way, I reckon!" With that Topsy bent over and pulled one of the ears of Tumbling Tom. "Hey there! Stop it!" cried that toy, and he leaned over to tickle Topsy, but he leaned too far and down he fell. "Ha! Ha! Ha!" laughed the black Doll. "Golly, I's mischievous; but mah black won't rub off! Look!" Topsy took up from the shelf a piece of the white paper Mr. Mugg used to wrap up the toys when they were purchased. Topsy rubbed this piece of paper on her black, shiny cheek as hard as she could rub it. Then she held it out to the China Cat. The paper was as white as before. "See!" cried Topsy. "Mah black won't rub off! Now can't I play tag wif yo' all?" "Oh, yes, let her; do!" begged the Talking Doll. "She's so cute!" "Of course she may play if she will not smut me," said the China Cat. "Please don't believe I'm fussy," she went on; "but I shall never be sold if I do not keep myself white and clean. I thought at first that Topsy had been down in the coal bin." "No'm," answered that colored Doll. "I's awful mischievous, but I don't play in no coal. No indeedy!" "I'm glad of that," said the China Cat. "Now I'll be it, and see if I can tag any of you. Look out! I'm coming!" With that the white Cat began chasing about on the shelves, trying to tag the other toys, who, you may be sure, kept well out of her reach. "No fair tagging with your tail--that is so long!" called the Talking Doll, as she dodged around the corner of the Jack in the Box, who could not get loose to join the fun. "You must tag us with your paws." "Yes, I'll do that," agreed the China Cat. "I'll only tag you with my paws. And I think I'll tag you right now!" she called to the Topsy Doll. "Oh, ho! Yo' all here has got to be mighty lively to tag me!" the black toy laughed, and, just as the China Cat was about to touch her, Topsy dodged to one side and the China Cat nearly slipped off the shelf. "Oh, my dear! you must be careful," cried the Talking Doll. "Think what would happen if you hit the floor!" "Oh, I don't dare think of it!" mewed the China Cat, with a shudder. "I should be broken to bits!" So after that the Cat did not run quite so fast. Topsy was a very lively little doll. She skipped here and there, and kept the other toys laughing at her funny tricks and the queer way her kinky hair bobbed about her head. So the game went on, and at last the China Cat managed to touch the Jumping Jack with her paw. "Tag! You're it!" cried the China Cat. "Now it's your turn to do the chasing, Mr. Jack!" The game went on faster than ever, and such jolly fun as there was you never would have dreamed could happen in a toy shop, unless you could have seen it yourself. But of course that is not allowed. If you had so much as peeked in with one eye, all the toys would have become as quiet as a chocolate mouse. At last they grew tired of such exciting fun. One after another had taken a turn at being it for tag. "I know what let's do," suggested the Soldier Captain, after they had rested. "Let's have some riddles." "Hi!" cried Topsy, "am riddles good to eat?" "No, indeed," answered the Talking Doll. "Riddles are something you have to guess." "Den I mus' be a riddle!" said the colored Doll. "What makes you think so?" asked the China Cat. "'Cause some ob de toys in mah pa't of de store says as how I kept 'em _guessin'_," was the answer. "Dey done say dey nebber know whut I'm gwine to do nex'. I suah mus' be a riddle." "Oh, no, that isn't a riddle," the Soldier Captain explained. "A riddle is like a puzzle. For instance, I ask you what has four legs, and yet can't walk?" "Hu! Dey ain't _nothin'_ whut has fo' legs an' can't walk!" declared Topsy. "Dat's silly! I's got only _two_ legs, but I can walk when nobody looks at me. An' dat Noah's Ark Elephant, he's got _fo'_ legs, an' he can walk. What is dat has fo' legs an' can't walk I axes yo', Mr. Soldier Captain?" "A table has four legs and yet it can't walk," laughed the wooden officer. "That's a riddle, Topsy. Now see if you can tell one." So the Topsy Doll and the other toys began to think of riddles, asking them of one another. But, somehow or other, the China Cat was very still and quiet. She did not enter into this fun as she had into the game of tag. "What's the matter?" asked the Jumping Jack, when he had guessed a funny riddle about a little green hen. "Are you watching for mice, China Cat? There are some little ones, made of cloth and wood over in the novelty department where Topsy came from." "No, I am not thinking of mice," answered the China Cat. "To tell you the truth, Mr. Jumping Jack, I was thinking of the Nodding Donkey. He came back here, you know, to have his leg fixed, and he spoke about how happy he was with the little lame boy, who, I'm glad to know, is lame no longer. I was just wondering if I would go to a nice home such as he has." "I suppose all us toys will be sold, one after another," said the Jumping Jack. "But it is so nice here that I dread to think of going away." "Yes, it is nice in Mr. Mugg's store," the China Cat agreed. "But I suppose we must do as we are told. Dear Nodding Donkey! How I should like to see him again. I wonder--" "Hush! Quiet, everybody! Back to your shelves!" suddenly cried Tumbling Tom. "Morning is about to come and Mr. Mugg and his daughters will soon be here. They must never catch us moving about!" Such a scramble as there was! The China Cat, the Talking Doll, the Trumpeter, the Policeman, the Fireman, the Jumping Jack, Tumbling Tom and Jack Box all made haste to get on the shelves where they belonged. The Topsy Doll, with her kinky hair, darted toward the novelty department. "I's glad yo' all let me play wif yo'," she said in her queer talk. "An' I didn't get any black on yo'; did I, Miss China Cat?" "No, indeed. You were very nice," was the answer. "Come and play with us again." Then it was time for the toys to be very still and quiet, for the door of the store opened, and in came Mr. Mugg. "Ah, this is going to be a lovely day!" said the jolly toy-shop man. "I shall do a good business to-day!" A little later in came his daughters, Geraldine and Angelina. They began dusting and setting the store to rights for the day's business. "Oh, my dear! look at this," said Angelina to her sister. "What is the matter?" asked Geraldine, pausing with a feather duster under her arm. "Why, the lovely white China Cat has a speck of dirt on her back," said Angelina. "I must have forgotten to dust her yesterday." "Oh, my!" thought the China Cat, who heard what was said, though she could not turn around to lick off the speck with her red tongue, "some black must have come off Topsy after all." "Oh, no, it isn't dirt," said Angelina, as she took the Cat down to look more closely at her. "It's just a little speck of black feather from my duster. It must have just got on." "Oh, I'm so glad of that!" thought the white Cat. "I wouldn't want to think that Topsy's black rubbed off." Soon the store was in readiness for customers, and among the first to enter that morning was a little girl. She was with a lady, who was the little girl's aunt. "Now, Jennie," said the aunt, as Mr. Mugg came forward to wait on them, "what present would you like? You may pick out anything you please." "Oh, Aunt Clara! How lovely of you!" cried Jennie Moore, for that was her name. "Let me see now. What would I like best?" While Jennie was looking along the shelves of toys her aunt said in a low tone to Mr. Mugg: "Jennie has been such a good girl, helping her mother who was ill, that I promised her any toy she wished." "That is very kind of you, I am sure," said Mr. Mugg, rubbing his hands and looking over the tops of his glasses. "We have many toys here for good little girls, and for good boys, too. Not long ago I sold a Nodding Donkey to a lame boy, and, would you believe me; that boy isn't lame at all now," and Mr. Mugg laughed, and Aunt Clara laughed also. But Jennie was looking along the shelves of toys. The China Cat looked down, and when she saw what a nice little girl Jennie was, so neat and clean, the China Cat thought to herself: "If I have to be taken away and belong to some child, I think I should like to go to Jennie's house. I'm sure she would be kind to me and love me, and I would love her." Jennie seemed to be thinking the same thing about the China Cat, for suddenly she reached up and took down the white toy. "Here, Aunt Clara, this is what I would like," said Jennie. She walked toward her aunt and Mr. Mugg with the China Cat in her hand, but, just before she reached them, Jennie tripped over a velocipede on the floor, and seemed about to fall. "Oh, Jennie, don't drop that China Cat, whatever you do!" cried her aunt. CHAPTER III "FIRE! FIRE!" Had Jennie Moore stumbled and dropped the China Cat to the floor of the toy shop that would have been the end of this book. For if the Cat had fallen she surely would have been broken to bits. And, though Mr. Mugg might have been able to glue the pieces together again, the China Cat never would have been like herself, and there would be no story about her. But, as it happened, there was a soft footstool just in front of the velocipede over which Jennie stumbled, and the little girl fell down on that, still holding the China Cat in her hands. Not once did Jennie let go of the toy she had taken off the shelf. "Oh, my dear little girl! I hope you did not hurt yourself!" cried Mr. Horatio Mugg, as he sprang forward to raise Jennie from the footstool, across which she had fallen. "And I hope she hasn't broken the China Cat!" exclaimed Aunt Clara. "Well," replied Mr. Mugg, with a kind smile, "breaking the China Cat would not have been so bad. I could easily send to the workshop of Santa Claus and get another toy. But nice little girls, if they fall and hurt themselves, are not so easily mended. I am glad you are not hurt, my dear," he went on, as he helped Jennie to her feet. "And I am glad the China Cat is not broken," said Aunt Clara. "It is a lovely piece of work." "Yes, it is one of my choicest toys," said Mr. Mugg. "It can not talk, like some of my dolls, nor spring about like some of the Jumping Jacks. But the Cat is so clean and white that it would be an ornament in any home." "She'll look lovely on my bureau," said Jennie. "Does her head come off, Mr. Mugg?" the nice little girl asked, as her aunt was looking carefully at the China Cat. "Oh, my, no!" laughed the toy-shop man. "I once had a cat whose head could be lifted off, and burned matches could be dropped down inside her. But this Cat isn't that kind." "I should hope not!" thought the China Cat, while Aunt Clara was looking her over. "Not that I don't consider my cousin, the Match Cat, as nice as I am," she told herself, "but I'm just different; that's all! I hope I may go to live with this little girl. I shall be able to keep myself spotless and white in her home, I'm sure." But the China Cat was not yet to leave the toy store. And there were some strange adventures soon to happen, as I shall tell you. "Well, Jennie," said Aunt Clara, as she again let the little girl take the China Cat, "if you think you want this toy you may have it. But we will not take it with us now. I have some other shopping to do, and if we carry the Cat with us something may happen to her." "Oh, can't I take her now?" pleaded Jennie. "No, my dear," her aunt answered. "Mr. Mugg will put her aside for you, and I will come in to-morrow and get her." "Yes, I'll save the China Cat for you," promised the toy man. "If I may be sure of having her I don't mind," said Jennie. "But we must be sure and come after her to-morrow, Auntie." "We will come to-morrow surely," said Aunt Clara, and then, after Jennie had taken one more look at the toy she hoped soon would be hers, she followed her aunt out of the store. Mr. Mugg and his two daughters were very busy in their toy shop that day. A load of packing boxes arrived, direct from the North Pole workshop of Santa Claus, and these boxes were stored down in the basement. "We will open those boxes some day next week," said Mr. Mugg to his daughters. "Perhaps among the new toys there may be another China Cat. I certainly hope so, for when Jennie's aunt comes for this one we shall feel lonesome." Mr. Mugg took a box of matches and went down into the basement to light the gas and see about storing away the cases of new toys. And when the men had opened some, not taking many of the toys out, however, the storekeeper was called up stairs by one of his daughters. "Leave the cases the way they are," he said to the expressmen. "Don't open any more. I'll do that later in the week." Then Mr. Mugg turned the gas down low, for he thought he might come back again, and up the stairs he hurried to see what his daughter wanted. As he walked across the basement floor the box of matches dropped out of his pocket, near some straw from one of the packing cases. "I'll get the matches when I come back," thought the toy man. But the rest of the day he was so busy he forgot all about them. Back on the shelf, out of sight, the China Cat thought over what had happened that day. "I surely am glad Jennie didn't let me fall and break," said the Cat to herself. "And I am glad I am going to belong to such a nice, clean little girl." Then, as one could see her, hidden away as she was, the China Cat washed her paws with her red tongue. Once again night came. The toy store was closed, and all the lights turned out except a small one in the middle of the store. For a time it was quiet, and then, once more, the Trumpeter blew a jolly blast on his horn. Toot! Toot! Toot! went the trumpet. "Are you ready for more fun?" asked the Talking Doll. "Yes," was the answer. "It is now night, no one can see us, and we can do as we please. Let's play tag again," said a number of toys. "Where is the China Cat?" asked Tumbling Tom. "We don't want to leave her out of the good times." "Oh, I'm here!" mewed the white pussy. "I'm just sort of hidden away so I will not be sold. I am to go to a little girl named Jennie Moore." "Hum! Jennie Moore! Seems to me I heard her spoken of by the father of the little lame boy when the Nodding Donkey was brought back here to have his leg mended," said the Jumping Jack. "Wouldn't it be funny, Miss China Cat, if you should go to live in a house near your friend, the Nodding Donkey?" "It would be very nice, I think," said the China Cat. "But I have something new to suggest," she went on, as she moved out near the edge of the shelf. "Instead of playing tag, why can't all of us go down into the basement?" "What for?" asked Tumbling Tom. "I heard it said that a new lot of toys was put down in the basement to-day," went on the China Cat. "Let's go down and call on them. It's always polite to call on new neighbors, you know," she added. "Yes, let's do that!" shouted the Trumpeter. "We'll make them feel at home." So down the cellar stairs trooped the China Cat, the Talking Doll, the Jumping Jack, Jack Box and many other toys. Clip! Clap! Clump! they went down the stairs. "Hello, new toys!" mewed the China Cat. "We have come to call on you!" "That is very kind of you," said a Red Fireman, who was one of the new toys that had been taken from the boxes. "We were just wondering what sort of place this was--so dark and gloomy." "Oh, this is the basement," said the China Cat. "The toy store is up above. You'll be brought up there with us, soon, we hope. But we came to visit you and cheer you up." "And we are very glad," said a Cloth Doll. "I was getting tired of lying here on my back." "Let us play some games," proposed the China Cat. "We can ask riddles, have a game of tag, or, those of you who are unpacked, can join in a race." "I say let's have a race!" cried the Engineer of a toy train of cars on the floor. "I haven't had a race with my engine and cars since Mr. Mugg lifted us out of our box. Come on! I'll get up steam and have a race." Before any one could stop him, the Engineer started his train of iron cars over the floor of the basement. Toot! Toot! he blew the whistle. Suddenly there was a crackling sound and then a flash of flame. "What's the matter!" cried the China Cat. "Oh, I have run over a box of matches!" exclaimed the toy Engineer. "They have begun to blaze and the straw from the packing cases is catching! Oh, look what I did, but I didn't mean to!" Surely enough, the toy cars had run over the box of matches Mr. Mugg had dropped, and now the flames and smoke were filling the basement of the toy shop. "Fire! Fire! Fire!" cried the toy Policeman, banging with his club. CHAPTER IV A LITTLE BLACK BOY So many things began happening at once in the basement of the toy shop, after the train of cars ran over the box of matches, that the China Cat, the Jumping Jack and even the Policeman, who was supposed to keep order, never knew half that took place. All the toys knew was that they began to choke with the smoke from the burning straw, and some of them, who were too close to the box of blazing matches, felt the heat very much. [Illustration: "We Must Hurry Out!" Mewed the China Cat. _Page 38_] "Oh, we must hurry out of here!" mewed the China Cat. "I should say so!" exclaimed the Policeman. "Come on! Move lively! No loitering!" he cried, as he had done that time when he tickled the Nodding Donkey in the ribs with the club. "Everybody get out of the way of the fire!" went on the toy Policeman, swinging his club. "Where are the engines and the firemen?" he called. "Here we are! I'm coming," cried an excited voice, and there clattered along the basement floor of the toy shop a little fire engine, on which was perched a toy Fireman. "Let me get at the blaze!" cried this Fireman, who was dressed all in red. "Who started it, anyhow?" "I did," answered the Engineer of the train of iron cars. "I ran over a box of matches, but I did not mean to." "Well, it is going to be a bad fire!" said the Fireman. "Everybody must get out." "Except you and me," added the Policeman, "I have ordered them all back to their shelves, but you and I must stay here. I will remain on guard while you put out the fire!" he said. "Right!" cried the brave Fireman, as he got down off his engine. By this time the straw had set fire to some of the wooden boxes which Mr. Mugg had opened that day to take out the toys. The burning straw and wood made more smoke than ever, so that the China Cat choked, and the Talking Doll was coughing so hard she could not speak. "Hurry with that water!" ordered the Policeman. "Squirt a lot of water from the hose on the blaze, Mr. Fireman!" But the sad part of it was that there was no water in the toy engine. They are not made that way, though sometimes boys, who get engines for presents, put water in them to play with. But though the Fireman ran out his tiny hose, and pointed it straight at the blaze, no water spurted from the nozzle. "It is getting too hot here for me!" cried the Policeman. "I'm afraid we can't do anything, Mr. Fireman. We had better run upstairs with the rest of the toys!" "What about the toys still in the boxes--those that Mr. Mugg has not unpacked?" asked the Fireman. "The toys still in the boxes can not get out to run upstairs." "No, that's so," admitted the Policeman, stepping back out of the smoke, and scratching his nose with his club. "What shall we do?" "I'll get my ax and chop open the boxes," the toy Fireman answered. "We fire-fighters have to do that. If only I had water in my engine I could soon put out this blaze." But there was no use wishing that now, and, just as the Fireman had said, the poor toys, still nailed up in the boxes, were likely to have a hard time. "Let us out! Please let us out!" begged the Dolls, the toy Dogs, the toy Cats and the other playthings, all shut up as they were. They could smell the smoke, if they could not see the blaze. "I'll save you! The Policeman and I will get you out!" cried the brave Fireman, as he dashed back to his engine to get the small ax which hung there. Meanwhile the China Cat, the Talking Doll and some of the Jumping Jacks were hurrying up the basement steps much faster than they had gone down. They wanted to get out of the fire and smoke. "If only the Nodding Donkey were here, I'm sure he could have ridden me on his back out of danger," thought the China Cat. "He was very fond of me, and I like him. But he is not here!" There was such a crowd of toys, all trying to get up the basement stairs at once, and the smoke was so thick now, that the Policeman and Fireman had also to run back, and there might have been a sad accident, only that the regular fire department men came along just then. Some one in the street had seen smoke coming from the basement of the toy shop. "Fire! Fire! Fire!" was the cry, and this time it was a real shout, and not such as the toys had given. Then the man who had smelled and seen the smoke ran and pulled an alarm box. There was a clang of bells and loud toots of a whistle. There was a rush of many feet, and then a loud crash as the real firemen burst open the door of the toy shop. "The fire is in the basement!" cried one fireman, wearing a rubber coat and hat to keep himself dry for the water would soon be spraying from the hose of the real, big engine. "Yes, it's in the basement," said a real policeman, who had arrived almost as soon as had the firemen. "And Mr. Mugg has a lot of new toys down there. We must carry them out for him!" Of course as soon as the door of the shop had been burst open, and the real firemen and policemen had come in, not a toy dared move or speak, for they would have been seen. So they had to stay just where they were. Some were half way up the basement stairs; the China Cat had just reached the middle of the first floor, when she had to come to a stop; the Talking Doll was on the top step of the stairs, and there she had to stay. It was there that a fireman saw her as he was about to rush down into the basement. The firemen carried lanterns so they could see in the darkened store. "The toys are scattered all about," said the fireman, picking up the Talking Doll. "There must have been an explosion!" Of course he did not know that the toys themselves had gone down into the basement to play, and that the fire was caused by the train running over the box of matches. "We must carry out some of these toys before we begin to squirt the water, or they will all be spoiled," said the fireman who had picked up the Talking Doll. "Water will ruin them as much as the blaze. Come on, boys!" he called. "Save the toys!" Here and there about the store, and down in the basement, rushed the firemen and policemen. Toys that were scattered about were hastily piled in open boxes. Then the boxes were dragged out on the sidewalk. Quite a crowd gathered in the street, for more engines, firemen and policemen were arriving all the while. "Oh, this is dreadful!" thought the China Cat, as a whiff of smoke blew in her face. "I shall be all blackened and ruined!" Clang! Clang! rang the bells on the real fire engine. Toot! Toot! blew the whistles. "Here is a toy cat! Put her in that box!" called one fireman to another, who was dragging out a wooden box into which he had tossed the Talking Doll, a Jumping Jack and a dozen Green Pigs. "Take them out; and then we must begin to use the water! The fire is getting too hot!" The China Cat could feel the heat, and she noticed that the red color on the cheeks of a Painted Doll was all running down, making her look very streaked. "Oh, what a bump!" thought the China Cat, as she felt herself tossed into the packing box. She landed in between the Talking Doll and a Jumping Jack. "Out on the sidewalk with that box!" cried the fireman, and he and some others began dragging out the one in which was the China Cat. There had been a great deal of noise and excitement in the store, but there was five times as much noise out on the sidewalk. Just as the box containing the China Cat was dragged toward the door, a shower of water sprinkled down. "Oh, dear me!" thought the China Cat. "I can't bear to be wet, and now it is raining! But I hope it will wash from me some of the black smoke." However, it was not rain that the China Cat felt, but water from the hose of a real engine. The firemen were beginning to squirt water on the blaze, to save as much as they could of Mr. Mugg's store and of his toys, and some of the water from the hose sprayed on the China Cat. By this time it was getting to be morning, and crowds of men and boys, with a few women, on their way to early work, stopped to look at the fire. Smoke was pouring out of Mr. Mugg's basement, and some one had hurried to the toy-shopkeeper's house to awaken him and his daughters and tell them what was happening. "Oh, look at the toys!" cried a group of boys, as they came running up the street to see where the fire was. "Oh, look at 'em!" "Keep back now! Let those toys alone!" warned a policeman who was on guard. Most of the boys stepped back off the sidewalk, but when the policeman's back was turned a little black boy, who stood somewhat apart from the others, sneaked up to the packing box into which the China Cat and the Talking Doll had been thrown. "Golly, what a lot ob toys!" murmured the little negro boy, whose name was Jeff. "I reckon as how I kin git one fo' nuffin, if dat p'liceman don't see me." Jeff, who was dirty and ragged, watched his chance. He had come from his home in a tenement house, not far from the fire, and his eyes glistened when he saw so many toys out on the street. "Um-ah! Jest look at 'em!" murmured Jeff. "Golly! I kin git one as easy as not outen dat open box! Wait till dat p'liceman turns around." Jeff watched his chance. The policeman on guard moved off to one side. In an instant Jeff, the dirty little black boy, sneaked up, and, thrusting in his hand, which was black with dirt as well as being covered with black skin, he took up the pure, white China Cat. "Dis am just whut I want!" whispered Jeff. "Oh, my, how dirty he is! Oh, I can't bear to have him touch me!" thought the China Cat. "I dread dirt more than I do water! Oh, what shall I do?" But she had no chance to do anything just then, for, with a quick motion, Jeff, the colored boy, thrust the China Cat inside his dirty, ragged blouse. "Oh, I'll be smothered!" thought the poor China Cat. "What a dreadful fate to be taken away by a dirty boy! And only an hour ago I was so happy! Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" CHAPTER V ROUGH PLAY You can just imagine how the China Cat felt. Always so clean and white, always washing herself if she found the least speck of dirt on her, always keeping as much as possible away from dust and grime--and now to be spattered with water, blackened by the smoke of the fire, and finally thrust inside the soiled blouse of a not very clean boy! Oh, it was terrible! The China Cat said it was, over and over again; to herself, of course, for she dared not speak aloud, nor so much as mew, while Jeff, the colored boy, had her. And Jeff certainly had the China Cat. Jeff's eyes sparkled with delight as he pressed the toy up under his blouse, out of sight, and then he darted away from the pile of toys, on the sidewalk--toys that had hastily been carried out of the burning store. "Hi, golly! I's done gone fool dat p'liceman," murmured Jeff, as he stepped off the sidewalk and made his way out of the crowd in front of the burning store. "He tole me to keep away from dem toys! But I sneaks up when he isn't lookin', an' I gits de bestest toy ob all! Golly! I's smarter dan a p'liceman, I is!" Jeff grinned, showing two rows of white teeth in his black face. Indeed, Jeff's teeth were the only clean things about him, it seemed. At least they were white, though I can not say that he ever used a tooth brush. His teeth were as white as was the China Cat when she was her very cleanest. But she was not at all clean now. And you know how unhappy this made her feel. There was so much excitement now in front of Mr. Mugg's toy shop, with the fire, the smoke, the water, the fire engines, the firemen and the police, to say nothing of the crowd that had gathered, that no one paid any attention to Jeff. Away he sneaked, with the China Cat under his blouse. "I's smart, I is!" said Jeff to himself, grinning. "I could 'a' tooken a lot ob toys; but I liked dis Cat bestest ob all. She's so white!" Jeff did not mind the black specks from the fire that had settled on the cat, and he cared nothing about the grimy marks his own dirty hands had made. It was broad daylight now, and the firemen were getting the best of the fire. By pouring a lot of water from their hose down in the basement, the blaze had been put out, though there was still much smoke. Jeff, the negro boy, shuffled off down the street on his way back to his home. When he was nearly there he met some other colored boys. One of these lads, named Sam, saw that Jeff was hiding something under his blouse. "Hello, Jeff!" called Sam. "Whut yo' got there? Something good to eat?" "Nope, 'tain't nuffin to eat!" declared Jeff. He and Sam talked negro talk, of course, just like Topsy, the colored doll, whom the China Cat at first thought would rub off some of her black. "Whut yo' got then?" asked Sam. "Show me!" "Yes, show what yo' got, Jeff!" cried the other colored boys. "Oh, I ain't got nuffin much!" Jeff answered, as he moved away from Sam and the other boys. Sometimes they had taken things away from Jeff, and Jeff was afraid that was what they were now going to do. Inside the blouse of the colored boy the China Cat heard what was said, but she could see nothing. "I wonder what is going to happen?" she thought. "Jeff has got something!" declared Sam to his chums. "Let's catch him an' take it away!" "All right!" agreed the other colored boys. They made a rush for Jeff, but he was too quick for them. Pressing his hands over his blouse, at the spot where the China Cat was stuffed, so she would not bounce out, Jeff ran down the street. "I's got something yo' can't have!" he cried. "An' yo' all can't catch me, an' git it; dat's whut yo' can't!" Away he sped, and he was such a good runner that the other boys could not come up to him. Around the corner of one street, down another and up a third ran Jeff, and then he darted down the stairs into what was almost a cellar, though it was called a basement. It was here, in some poor, miserable rooms, that Jeff lived with his brothers and sisters. "Whut de mattah, Jeff?" asked his mother, a large, fat, colored washerwoman. "Am de p'licemans after yo' a'gin?" Jeff had run so hard that he was out of breath, and could not speak for a few moments. Hidden as she was, inside his blouse, the China Cat could feel Jeff's heart pumping hard, and notice his rapid breathing. "Dear me!" thought the China Cat, "this is a dreadful state of affairs. I wonder if I am ever to get out of this smothering place. I don't like it, cooped up like this! I want to get out in the air, and have Geraldine or Angelina wash me!" You see the China Cat did not know all that had happened to her. She hoped she would soon be back in Mr. Mugg's store, washed nice and clean, and set on a shelf. But the store of poor Mr. Mugg was in a sad state now, even though the fire had been put out. As Jeff's breathing became easier, his brothers and sisters, who were just getting up out of their beds, crowded around him. His mother, who was getting breakfast, asked him again: "Jeff, am de p'licemans tryin' to git yo'?" "Nope!" answered the colored boy. "I runned 'cause I wanted to git away from Sam Brown an' his crowd. Dey was gwine to take mah cat away from me!" "Yo' _cat_?" cried Jeff's mother. "Where'd yo' git a _cat_?" Jeff wiggled and twisted as he reached his hand inside his blouse and pulled out the China Cat. "Dere she am!" he cried, holding her up. "Dere's mah pussy! I done got her at de fire, an' de p'liceman didn't see me!" For a moment there was silence in the dingy basement tenement where Jeff lived. His brothers and sisters, all smaller than he, crowded up around him as he held the China Cat high in the air. "Ain't she jess boo'ful!" murmured one little black girl. "Kin she wiggle her haid, like I done see a Donkey shake his haid in de toy shop?" asked one of Jeff's brothers. "Lemme hab her!" pleaded the littlest black girl of all. "No, suh!" declared Jeff. "Dis am mah white pussy, dat I done took outen de fire an' de p'liceman didn't see me, an' I's gwine to keep her, I is!" He held the China Cat higher above his head. "Oh, mercy me!" thought the poor white pussy, "I hope he doesn't let me fall. Oh, how miserable I am! So dirty, and in such an unpleasant place! I thought I'd be back in the toy shop with the Talking Doll and my other friends!" The China Cat did not at first know where she was when Jeff pulled her out from beneath his blouse. It had been dark in there, but it was lighter in the kitchen, and this confused the toy animal. But when she had a chance to look around, held up high in the air as she was, she did not at all like her new home. And she was very much afraid that Jeff would let her fall. But the colored boy did not. He set the China Cat on the table, right down in a little puddle of molasses that had been spilled when the table was set for breakfast. "Oh, dear me, this is worse and worse!" thought the China Cat, as she felt the sticky stuff on her tail. "I shall never get clean and white again now!" As for Jeff and his brothers and sisters, they did not seem to mind a bit of molasses on the table. Indeed, one of the little colored girls put her finger in the sweet, sticky puddle, and then she put her finger in her mouth. "Dat's good!" she murmured. "Me 'ikes 'lasses, me does!" But the others were more interested in the China Cat. They stared at her with all their eyes, and Jeff's mother asked: "Where yo' done say yo' got her?" "At de fire," Jeff explained. "I heard de engines puffin' past early dis mawnin', an' I gits up an' goes out. Dere was a toy store on fire, an' dey frowed a lot ob toys out in de street. Dere was Jumpin' Jacks, an' Dolls, an' Steamboats, an'--an'--" Two of the older colored boys started on a rush for the door, one of them crying: "I'se gwine to git a steamboat!" "Yo' can't git none now, Sim!" shouted Jeff. "De p'licemans is all aroun' de place. Dey won't let you take nuffin. But I done fooled 'em. Anyhow, de fire's out now, an' dey'll be puttin' de toys back. But I done got a white cat!" So he had, but the China Cat was not so very white now. Besides the dirt from the fire and the grime from Jeff's hands, she was sticky with molasses, and every bit of dust flying about the basement room seemed to settle on the poor toy pussy. "Lemme hab her, Jeff!" pleaded one of his sisters. "Well, I done let yo' hold her for a minute," said Jeff, and he gave the China Cat into the hands of the little black girl. But as this girl had been eating bread and sugar, she got the poor China Cat stickier than ever. "Lemme hold her now, Jeff!" pleaded another black tot. "Nope, I ain't held her long 'nuff!" declared the first. "Heah! Gib her to me!" ordered the second. "No! No! Jeff said I could hab her!" cried the first. One tried to take the China Cat away from the other, and in the scramble a chair was upset and the toy nearly fell to the floor. "This is the most dreadful place I was ever in!" thought the China Cat, who, of course, could do nothing to save herself. "If they let me fall I shall be broken, all dirty and soiled as I am." But Jeff was not going to let that happen. "Heah! Gib me back mah cat, whut I done got at de fire!" he said, and he grabbed it from his sister's hand. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" wailed the little black girl. "Heah! Hush yo' noise now!" called Jeff's mother. "Set up to de table an' hab yo' brekfus'! Stop playin'!" "Dear me, they call that _playing_!" thought the China Cat. "I wonder what they would do in a game of _tag_? Oh, what is ever to become of me?" Jeff took the toy and set it on a shelf in the kitchen, and then he sat down to his breakfast. Every once in a while he would look up at the China Cat. "I's glad I done got yo'," Jeff would murmur. "Yo' suah am a fine toy!" After breakfast he took the China Cat down off the shelf and let his sisters look at her. But no sooner did one of the little colored girls have the cat in her hands than she darted out of the basement. "Now I's got her, an' I's gwine t' hab some fun!" cried Arabella. Arabella was the name of this one of Jeff's sisters. "I's gwine to hab fun wid dis cat!" Up the stairs and out into the street she ran, holding the China Cat in such a tight grip that, had the toy been a real pussy, she would have been choked. CHAPTER VI A TERRIBLE STORM Jeff was not going to let his China Cat be taken from him in this fashion. With a yell he darted up the basement steps and ran after his sister. "Come back heah! Bring back mah cat!" yelled the colored boy. "No! No!" screamed his sister. "I done got her, an' she's mine now! She suah is mine!" Faster and faster the little colored girl raced down the street, but of course she could not run as fast as Jeff, who soon caught up to her. Reaching forth his hands, which were now dirtier than before, Jeff caught hold of his sister's kinky hair. "Ouch! Oh, yo' stop dat, Jeff!" she wailed. "Gib me back mah white cat!" he demanded, and he took the toy roughly from his sister. Arabella began to cry, and a man who was passing stopped and looked at the colored children. "What are you doing?" he asked. "Oh, we's only playin'," answered Jeff. "She took mah cat, an' I wanted it back." "Hum!" mused the man. "That's a queer kind of play, I think. And if you drop that cat on the sidewalk you won't be able to play with her, for she'll be broken to pieces." "What a dreadful thing! Oh, if that should happen!" thought the China Cat, who heard all that was said. "I ain't gwine to drop her," declared Jeff, as he turned away with the China Cat in his dirty hands. With tears on her black cheeks, Arabella followed her brother back to the tenement. Jeff put his toy down on the table again. On one wall of the room was a looking glass. It was cracked and not very clean, but as a ray of sunshine entered the dingy basement the China Cat, by the gleam of it, saw her reflection. "Why, I hardly know myself!" she whispered, not daring, of course, to speak aloud or to move and make believe come to life. There were too many colored children looking at her. "Oh, what a fright I am!" thought the China Cat and sighed. Well might she think that. On her nose was a big speck of dirt, and there were other specks on her back and sides. Her tail, too, that was always so spotless, was now daubed with molasses and smoke grime from the fire. The China Cat was white now only in spots. "The Nodding Donkey would hardly speak to me if he saw me now," she thought. "I'm glad he isn't here." "Now don't yo' touch my cat!" warned Jeff, as he got up from the table, where he had been playing with the toy. "Whut yo' gwine do?" asked Arabella, who had got over her crying spell. "I's gwine make a stable fo' my cat," answered the colored lad. "Cat's don't live in stables! Dey lives in under de back porch," said Arabella. "In a box." "Cats do so live in stables, 'cause I done seen 'em!" declared Jeff. "An' dey catches rats an' mice. I's gwine make a stable fo' my cat whut I done got at de fire an' de p'liceman didn't see me!" and he laughed as he thought of how he had fooled the officer. Jeff hunted around in the woodpile until he found what he wanted. This was a large cigar box, and with a knife Jeff soon cut a hole in one side, large enough to slip the China Cat through. "Dere's her stable!" he declared with satisfaction. As for the China Cat, when she was shut up in the cigar box, she wanted, most dreadfully, to sneeze. For the box smelled very strongly of tobacco, and it made her nose tickle. But she dared not so much as utter a faint _aker-choo_ for fear she would be heard. So the China Cat held back the sneeze, though it made her nose ache, and she was very glad when Jeff took her out of the cigar box stable. During the remainder of that day the colored boy and his sisters and brothers took turns playing with the China Cat. For, after a while, Jeff allowed the others to handle his toy. And the China Cat was passed around among the colored children so often that she kept getting more and more dirty. And on account of having spots of molasses on her, every bit of dirt and grime that touched her stuck right there. Jeff and his brothers and sisters did not think of washing themselves, much less of washing the China Cat. At last, after having been much handled and passed from one to another, the China Cat was set on a shelf in the kitchen of the basement tenement where the colored family lived. Many other colored folk lived in the same house, and in adjoining houses. "At last I have time to breathe, but I am so dirty I do not know what to do," said the China Cat to herself. "I do not believe that any of the other toys that came from the workshop of Santa Claus ever had such an unpleasant adventure as I am having." But if the China Cat had only known it, the Lamb on Wheels, about whom one of these Make Believe books has been written, had an adventure almost as sad. The Lamb went down into a coal bin, which was a great deal blacker than the negro tenement. "I wonder what will happen to me next?" thought the China Cat, as she found herself perched on the kitchen shelf. She could look down and see Jeff, his brothers and his sisters, and his father and mother, eating supper. They did not offer the China Cat anything to eat, of course. Toys don't have to eat, which is very lucky sometimes. "Come now, chilluns! Off to bed wif yo' all!" called Jeff's mother, when supper was finished. "Yo' was up early, an' yo' mus' git to bed early." "Can't I play with my China Cat?" asked Jeff. "No, indeedy!" declared the colored woman, shaking her head. "Yo' leave dat cat alone, an' git to bed!" So to bed went Jeff and the other children. Their beds were down in the basement, in a room just off the kitchen. It was not a very nice home, but it was the best they could get. Soon it began to grow dark, but there was a street lamp that shone in one of the basement windows, so the China Cat, who could see pretty well in the dark anyhow, managed to look about her. On the same shelf where she sat, and not far away, was a little Cloth Dog. "Dear me!" said the China Cat, speaking out loud now, for there was no one in the kitchen, all the family having gone to bed. "Dear me, I didn't know you were here!" "Oh, yes, I'm here!" barked the Cloth Dog. "That is, what's left of me." He and the China Cat did not quarrel, though in real life very few dogs and cats are friends. But it is much different with toys. "Why, has anything happened to you?" asked the China Cat. "Gracious, yes!" exclaimed the Cloth Dog. "Can't you see that my tail is pulled off?" The China Cat stretched her neck and looked at the Cloth Dog. Surely enough, in the gleam from the street light she saw that he had no tail. "Oh, how dreadful!" mewed the Cat. "How did it happen? It must pain you?" "Not so much as at first," said the Dog. "I'm used to it now. One of the colored children pulled my tail off. I think it was the one they call Arabella. She's always grabbing things away from the others." "Yes, she grabbed me," said the China Cat. "But I'm glad she didn't pull off my tail. I'm dirty and sticky, and I hardly know myself, but, thank goodness, I'm _all_ here." "That's more than I can say of myself," said the Cloth Dog sadly. "And I'm afraid you will not be all there after a few days in this house. It's a dreadful place, and the children are so rough!" "How did you come to be here?" asked the China Cat. "Were you brought here from the workshop of Santa Claus?" "Bless your whiskers, no!" barked the Cloth Dog. "Of course I _once_ came from North Pole Land, but that was years ago. I was a good-looking toy then, and I had a fine tail. But after a while the children with whom I lived grew tired of me. I was tossed about, thrown into corners, and at last put out in the ashes. There one of these colored children found me, and brought me here. And the very first day there was a scrabble and a fight over me, and my tail was pulled off." "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that!" sighed the China Cat. "If you could only be taken to the store of Mr. Mugg he would put a new tail on you. He mended the broken leg of the Nodding Donkey." "I'm afraid it is too late," whined the Cloth Dog. "But I am sorry for you. You are such a fine toy, and almost new." "Yes, I am quite new. In fact, I have never been sold as yet," said the Cat. "I wouldn't be out of the store now, except for the fire. I was going to be taken by a very nice little girl named Jennie Moore. But now, alas, it is too late for that!" "Tell me about the fire," begged the Cloth Dog. "It will make me forget that I have no tail." So there on the shelf in the tenement kitchen, the China Cat told the Cloth Dog the story of the fire in the toy shop, and how she had come to be taken away by Jeff. "I wondered where he had found you when I saw him bring you in this morning," barked the Dog, when the Cat finished her story. "Indeed, you have had many adventures; almost as many as I." The two unfortunate toys became very friendly there in the half darkness of the night. The Cat was just telling about the Nodding Donkey, and how he had made the lame boy smile, when she suddenly stopped mewing. "What's the matter?" asked the Cloth Dog. "I heard a noise," said the China Cat. "Oh, that's only rain," went on the Dog. "It is raining hard outside, and you hear it more plainly here because we are so near the street. Don't worry. Though this place is dirty, no rain comes in." So the Cat went on with her story, but as the rain came down harder and faster it brought her another adventure. Not far from the tenement was a river. And because there had been much rain before this last hard shower, the river had risen very high, until it was almost ready to overflow the banks. Down pelted the rain, and soon there was a louder roar in the street outside. "Is that just the rain?" asked the Cat of the Dog. "It does sound a little different," the Dog replied. "I wonder if anything is happening? And see, what is that on the floor?" "It is water!" cried the Cat, catching the gleam of it in the light of the street lamp. "Water is running in under the door!" she added. "Then the river must be overflowing," barked the Dog. "The water is running in here. Oh, what shall we do?" As the two toys watched they saw the puddle of water on the floor grow larger. The rain pelted down harder than before, and all at once there was a shouting in the streets. "Get out! Get out, everybody!" came the cry. "There's a big flood! The river is rising! Get up and get out, everybody!" CHAPTER VII THE RESCUE For a few moments after this wild shouting in the street there was no sound in the negro basement where the China Cat and the Cloth Dog without any tail were perched on the shelf. The rain pelted down harder than before, a regular flood in itself, and to the noise of the drops was added the roar from the flooded river. Presently there came a pounding on the basement door of the tenement where Jeff, the colored boy, lived. Bang! Bang! Bang! came the loud knock. "Who's dat?" asked Jeff's mother from the bedroom where she was sleeping. "Who's dat knockin' at de do'?" Bang! Bang! Bang! came the sound again. "Can that be thunder?" whispered the China Cat to the Cloth Dog. "No, this isn't a thunderstorm," answered the Dog. "It is much worse than any thunderstorm I ever heard. There is going to be a bad time here, with a flood and everything." "Who's dat?" asked the voice of Jeff's mother again, as the pounding at the door sounded a second time. "The police!" was the answer. Jeff, who had been awakened, heard this answer. He covered his head with the clothes, and cowered down in the bed. "Oh, mah good land!" thought Jeff when he heard this. "De p'lice has done come to git me 'cause I took de China Cat! Oh, good land! I ain't so smart as I thought! Oh, dey's gwine 'rest me suah!" But the police had not come to get Jeff. Once more the officer pounded with his club on the basement door. "Come there!" he cried. "Get up and dress and skip out if you don't want to be drowned! The river is rising. It will flood all these basement tenements! You'll have to clear out--all of you! Wake up and get out! We'll help you! Open the door!" "Oh, massy me! A flood!" cried Jeff's mother. "Does yo' heah dat, Rastus?" she called to her husband. "Dere's a flood an' we's done got to run out! Git up an' open de do' an' I'll roust up de chilluns!" "I'll open the do,' Ma," said Jeff, slipping out of his bed, and as he swung the door open there stood a policeman. "Come, boy; lively!" cried the officer. "You were long enough answering my knock. You've all got to leave here! How many of you are there?" "Ten," answered Jeff, and he looked over the mantel shelf to see if the officer noticed the China Cat. But the policeman had something else to do just then. He and others had been sent to the tenement district, near the rising river, to rouse and save the poor people from the flood. "Ten, eh?" cried the policeman. "That's quite a family. Well, don't stop to put on more than a few clothes. There isn't any time to save things. The river will be pouring in here soon." "Some of it's heah already," remarked Jeff, as he saw the water on the floor. "Lively now!" called the policeman again. "Here, let me take some of those," he said, as Jeff's father came out of a bedroom carrying in his arms two sleepy little colored girls. The policeman wore a big rubber raincoat, which was dripping wet, and in the gleam of a light, which Jeff's father made, the wet rubber coat glistened brightly. The policeman took the two little sisters of Jeff, and tucked them under his rubber coat. They were too sleepy to cry, having just been lifted from bed. "This will keep you dry," said the officer. "I'll put you in the wagon and send you to the station house." "Is yo'--is yo' gwine to 'rest 'em?" asked Jeff. "Arrest 'em? No. What for?" asked the officer, with a smile, as he splashed, with his rubber boots, into the puddle of water on the tenement floor. "They haven't done anything, and you haven't done anything to be arrested for, have you?" Jeff looked at the White China Cat, but did not answer. "I'll just carry these youngsters out to the wagon, and then come back for more," the policeman went on. "You'll all be kept safe in the station house, or some place, until the river goes down." Jeff breathed easier. He was afraid it had been found out that he took the China Cat. He darted quickly back into his bedroom and began putting on his shoes. That was all he had taken off when he curled up to go to sleep. He had only a few clothes, and he slept in them. So did most of the other children of the tenements in cold weather. Out into the rain splashed the policeman carrying the two little colored girls. They were softly crying now, but he comforted them as best he could, and kept them dry under his coat. The rain was coming down harder than ever and the roar of the rising river was louder. When Jeff's father and mother and the other children were ready to be taken out, the water on the floor of the tenement was up to the policeman's knees. "You'll have to hurry!" he called to the frightened family. "We have to rescue a lot of other people. Skip out and get into the wagon and you'll be safe." As Jeff and the others made their way up the steps to the sidewalk they saw and heard more of the terrible storm. There was water in the streets. With the rising of the river and the rain, the streets were almost like little creeks themselves. Outside the tenement stood the police patrol wagon. As many of the poor people as possible had been crowded into it, Jeff and his folks among them. "Are any more left in your rooms?" asked the officer who had pounded with his club on the door to awaken the sleepers. "No, we's all out," answered Jeff's mother. "Think I'll take a look and make sure," said the policeman. Back through the flood he waded in his rubber boots, and down he went into the basement where the lamp was still burning. "Any one here?" asked the officer. He listened, but there was no sound save the pelting of the rain, the roar of the river, and the trickle of water as it rose higher and higher in the basement. Up on their shelf the China Cat and the Cloth Dog sat and looked down. They had not dared to speak or move while any one was in the room. But they had just begun to feel that it was time for them to do something to save themselves when the policeman came in again. Then they had to remain quiet, though they were much afraid of being drowned in the flood. "Hello!" suddenly exclaimed the police officer as he saw the China Cat. "Seems to me I know you! I remember about you! I wonder how you got here? You were among the toys taken from Mr. Mugg's shop during the fire. Well! Well! To think of finding you here, Miss China Cat! I shouldn't be surprised but what that oldest colored boy might know something about you. But I'll take you along, and hand you back to Mr. Mugg, where you belong." With that the policeman reached up, lifted down the China Cat, and thrust her into an inside pocket, where his rubber coat would keep her nice and dry. "Though if he only knew it," thought the China Cat, "I'd just as soon be rained on a little, to clean me off. Oh, but I am so dirty!" However, the policeman did not stop to think that perhaps the Cat might like to be cleaned. In fact, he did not think she had any feelings at all, for it was a long while since he had been little enough to play with toys and enjoy make believe games. Into his pocket went the China Cat. Then the policeman looked at the Cloth Dog on the shelf. "You never came from the toy shop, that's certain," said the officer. "No use taking you!" So he left the poor Cloth Dog, without any tail, alone on the kitchen shelf, but he took the China Cat away with him in his pocket, the policeman did. Out into the rain-soaked street the officer made his way once more. "Nobody left in here, Jim," he called to the other officer on the police wagon. "Get those people to the station, and then come back. There's a lot more who will have to be rescued this night. It's going to be a bad flood." And so it was, though the China Cat saw little of it, for she was safe and snug in the officer's pocket. It was black and dark in there, but it was warm, though a bit smothery. And it was clean, which the China Cat liked best of all. "Though I am very dirty myself," she said. "I hope I get somewhere so I can wash." All night long the rescue of people from the flood was kept up. Jeff and his family were taken to a place of refuge where they were given something to eat and beds on which to lie down. All night long the policemen worked, and when morning came all those who had been in danger were saved. The officer who had the China Cat in his pocket walked into his station house just as day was breaking. "Here is something you'll like to hear about," said the policeman to the sergeant behind the desk, as he set the toy on the top of it. "A cat! My land! where'd you get her?" asked the sergeant. "She'll be just what we want to catch mice around here! Here, puss, puss!" he called. "Oh, my! he thinks I'm alive," said the China Cat to herself. CHAPTER VIII JENNIE GETS THE CAT The policeman who had rescued the China Cat from the flood in the basement of the negro tenement stood and looked at the sergeant behind the desk in the station house. Then the policeman looked at the China Cat which he had set on top of the desk. "What's the matter with you? Why are you acting so funny?" asked the sergeant of the policeman. "Funny? I'm not acting funny. You are," the policeman laughed. "How am I funny?" the sergeant wanted to know. "Why, you're calling that cat, and asking her to catch mice, and--" "Of course I'm asking her to catch mice," said the sergeant. "There's a lot of mice around here and--" "Ha! Ha!" laughed the policeman. "_That_ cat will never catch any mice. She's a toy, a China Cat, and she was stolen from that toy shop where there was a fire yesterday. It was Horatio Mugg's place. A lot of the toys were set out on the sidewalk, and some negroes who live near by walked off with quite a lot. Mr. Mugg, after the fire, made out a list of his toys that were missing, and among them was this China Cat. I had one of the lists. "Then, when I was sent to rescue the people from the flood, I saw this Cat on the mantel. I brought her here, as I do with all stolen things I find, and you can send her back to Mr. Mugg." The sergeant put on his glasses, for he was rather an elderly man, and looked carefully at the China Cat. "Bless me!" exclaimed the sergeant, "she _is_ a China Cat after all. I took her for a real black and white pussy." "Oh, dear me!" thought the China Cat. "He thought I was partly _black_! I must be _very_ dirty indeed. My toy friends would never know me! Oh, shall I ever be clean again?" "Yes, it is only a toy China Cat," said the policeman who had rescued the pussy, as well as the negro family. "I guess she was pure white once. But she got blackened in the fire, and it didn't wash off in the flood, though goodness knows it rained enough!" "I should say so," agreed the sergeant. "Well, leave the China Cat here, and I will send her back to Mr. Mugg. You didn't see any of his other stolen toys, did you?" "No," the policeman answered, "I did not. There was a little Cloth Dog on the same shelf, but he had no tail and one eye was almost gone, so I knew he didn't belong in the toy store, and I let him stay there." "Poor little Cloth Dog!" thought the China Cat. "I wonder what will become of him?" However, she never heard, nor did she ever again see her little friend without any tail. But I might tell you that the little Cloth Dog was still on the mantel when the flood went down and Jeff and the family moved back into their basement. The Cloth Dog was not drowned, and he lived for many years after that, even without his tail, though I cannot say he was very happy. "Well, you take care of the China Cat. I am going to get my breakfast," said the policeman who had brought the white pussy into the station house. "I'll take care of her, and send her back to Mr. Mugg as soon as I have a chance," the sergeant promised. Then he set the China Cat off the top of the big desk, and on a smaller one, so she would not get broken. All the remainder of the morning the China Cat was in the police station, though she was not arrested, you understand. Oh, my, no! She had done nothing wrong, even though she was very dirty. But of course being dirty was not her fault. The China Cat saw many strange sights as she sat in the police station, and some of the sights were sad ones. She heard much about the flood, too, for it was a very high one, the river having overflowed its banks in many places. At last all the poor people were rescued, and the police sergeant, who had been very busy, was given a few moments' rest. He leaned back in his chair and looked at the China Cat. "I think I shall telephone Mr. Mugg and tell him to come here and get his China Cat," the sergeant said. "This may not be his toy. It may have been stolen from some other store. But I'll soon find out." So the police sergeant telephoned to Mr. Mugg. The toy-store keeper and his daughters, Angelina and Geraldine, were very busy, getting things to rights after the fire. It had not been as bad as was at first supposed, being down in the basement. Some smoke and water got up on the main floor, however, but this was soon cleaned up and the store put to rights again. "What's that?" cried Mr. Mugg over the telephone, though of course the China Cat could not hear what he said. "You have my white China Cat? Oh, I am so glad! I'll be right down to get her." "All right," answered the sergeant. "She is here waiting for you. Though I would not call her very white," he added as he hung up the telephone. "What do you think of that, Geraldine--Angelina!" called Mr. Mugg to his two daughters. "Our China Cat, that was stolen when the toys were carried out on account of the fire, has been found!" "Oh, I am so glad!" said Geraldine. "Where is she?" asked Angelina. "In the police station," her father replied. "I am going down to get her." "I'll go with you," offered Geraldine. "I want to see the China Cat again. I hope she isn't chipped. Who had her?" But this Mr. Mugg did not know, for the sergeant did not tell him the whole story over the telephone. A little later Mr. Mugg and Geraldine were in the police station. "I have come for my China Cat," said Mr. Mugg, rubbing his hands and looking over the tops of his glasses. "Here she is," said the sergeant, and he handed over the pussy who had been rescued from the flood. For a moment the toy-store keeper looked at the plaything. Then he sadly shook his head. "No, I am sorry to say that is not my China Cat," he said. Well, you can just imagine how the China Cat felt. Her heart, such as she had, was beating with joy when she saw Mr. Mugg and Geraldine come into the station house. But now to hear Mr. Mugg say she was not his Cat! Oh, it was terrible, I do assure you! "Not your Cat?" exclaimed the sergeant. "Why, I understood a lot of toys were stolen from your shop after the fire, and a China Cat was among them." "Yes, that is so," answered Mr. Mugg. "But my China Cat was a white one, and this is black and white. No, she does not belong to me." He turned away, and the China Cat would have shed tears if China Cats ever cry. But Miss Geraldine stepped forward. "Please let me look at that toy," she said. The sergeant handed her the China Cat. Geraldine looked closely at her. Then she gave a joyful cry. "Why, of course she is our Cat, Father!" said Geraldine. "She is just grimy and dirty. That's the reason you think she is black and white. If I could only wash her you'd see that she is our own China Cat." "Do you think so?" asked Mr. Mugg, hopefully. "I'm sure of it!" declared his daughter. "Oh, if I only had a little soap and water." "We can let you have some, lady," said the sergeant. "You may take the cat to the washroom and clean her." This Miss Geraldine did. Under the stream of water, when some soap had been rubbed on the China Cat, a great change took place. Off came the grime of the smoke! Off came the spots of sticky molasses! Off came the soiled marks made by Jeff's dirty hands! The White Cat, not coming to life while Miss Geraldine had her, of course got no soap in her eyes, as would have happened if she had been real. Soon all the black, the grime, and the dirty spots were washed away. Geraldine dried the China Cat on a towel the sergeant gave her, and then held the plaything up in front of her father. "Now isn't that our Cat?" asked Miss Geraldine. Mr. Mugg looked carefully over the tops of his glasses. He ran his hands through his hair and then through his whiskers, and then rubbed his hands together. "Why--er--yes--er--my dear--that _is_ our China Cat!" he said. "We'll take her right back to the store! Oh, I'm very glad to get her back. Thank you, very much," he said to the police sergeant. "You are welcome," replied the officer. Then Geraldine and her father hurried back to the toy shop, carrying the China Cat. As for the white pussy, you can imagine how glad and happy she was to be clean again. Nothing else mattered for the time, and she would have mewed out a song if she had been allowed to do so. But of course she could not. "Put her in the window," said Mr. Mugg, when he and his daughter reached the toy shop. "That little girl who was going to buy her may see the Cat and come in for her." So the China toy was again put in the show window of the shop, which had been cleaned and put to rights after the fire. In the same window was some doll's furniture, and on the bureau was a looking glass. The China Cat caught a glimpse of herself. She was as clean and white as a new snowball. "Oh, how glad I am!" she said to herself. She looked all around. There in the window with her were most of the toys she had known for a long time. They did not seem to have been burned or scorched by the fire. In fact, though some of his playthings were damaged, Mr. Mugg did not, of course, put any of these in his show window. Near the China Cat was a Jumping Jack, a Jack in the Box, the Talking Doll, a Policeman and a Fireman--not the same Policeman and Fireman who had been in the basement, but some just like them. Throughout the store was a smell of smoke; but this could not be helped. The China Cat would have liked very much to speak to some of the other toys, but she was not allowed to do so. "But when night comes," she said to herself, "I shall have a chance. Then we can all talk about the fire. I wonder if any of my friends had such adventures as I had?" But the China Cat did not get the chance she hoped for. That very afternoon, the same day that she had been put in the show window, a little girl and a lady came to a stop outside the toy shop, to look in through the glass. "Oh, Aunt Clara! See!" cried the little girl. "There is the China Cat you were going to buy for me! Mr. Mugg thought she was smashed in the fire, but she wasn't and here she is. Oh, please take me in and get me the China Cat!" "Very well, my dear," said Aunt Clara. "I promised you the toy and you may have her." The China Cat heard what was said, and, looking out of the window, she saw the same nice little girl who had once held her in her hands. "Oh, I hope nothing happens this time," whispered the Cat. "I should like to live with that nice little girl." "We have come for the China Cat, Mr. Mugg," said Aunt Clara, as the toy man came forward to wait on his customers. "We called right after the fire, but everything was so upset we did not come in." "Oh, wasn't that fire dreadful!" sighed Mr. Mugg, raising his hands. "I thought my whole place would burn! But the firemen carried out a lot of the toys, and though this white China Cat was stolen, I have her back. So you want her, do you, little girl?" he asked. "Oh, I want her very much!" said Jennie Moore, and the China Cat was placed in her hands. "Now for some new adventures," thought the toy, as she felt the nice little girl softly rubbing her white head. CHAPTER IX AN OLD FRIEND Jennie Moore's aunt paid Mr. Mugg for the white China Cat, and the little girl carried the toy out of the store, not even waiting to have wrapping paper put around her. "She is afraid the China Cat may be caught in another fire, or that something will happen," laughed the aunt, as she followed her niece. "Oh, I hope there will never be another fire!" exclaimed Mr. Mugg, as he bowed his customers out of the door. "I can't imagine what started this one. But I am glad the China Cat is safe, though she did get very dirty." "She is clean now," said Jennie, turning her China Cat over and over, and not finding a speck of dirt on her. "What are you going to call your China Cat, Jennie?" asked Aunt Clara, when they had almost reached the home of the nice little girl. "I will call her Snowball," was the answer. "She is white, just like a snowball." "And from what Mr. Mugg said, I imagine she was as black as coal after the fire," laughed Aunt Clara. "Well, I am glad Snowball is clean and white now, and that you at last have her. Take good care of her and don't drop your cat, for I think she will break easily." "I'll be careful," promised Jennie. "Oh, how different this is from the time when that terrible black boy, Jeff, had me," thought the China Cat, as she was taken into Jennie's home. There the rooms were bright, cheerful and sunny, with soft carpets on the floor and beautiful ornaments all about. "Now we'll have some fun, Snowball," said Jennie to the China Cat, as she set her toy down on a table, while she took off her hat and coat, for it was winter and the weather was cold, even though it did rain at times, instead of snow. "You will not have to be afraid of a flood here, Snowball," went on Jennie, "for we are far from the river." "Thank goodness for that," thought the China Cat, who heard all that was said, though she could not move when Jennie, or any one else, was looking at her. Jennie played with the China Cat all the rest of that day. Once the nice little girl dressed the China Cat up in doll's clothes and pretended she was a doll. "Though I cannot say I liked that," said the China Cat, telling her adventures afterward to her friend, the Talking Doll. "The clothes sort of tickled me. But Jennie was so kind and good I did not want to make a fuss." When evening came Jennie put her China Cat away in a closet in her room, where there were many other toys. At first it was so dark that the China Cat could see nothing, but, after a while, she saw where some light came in through the keyhole, and then Snowball could look about her. The light that came through the hole was not daylight, for it was now night, and Jennie was going to bed. It was the light from a little lamp that burned all night just outside Jennie's room, and the China Cat was glad of that, for by the gleam she was able to see her way around the closet. "Thank goodness now I can move and stretch myself a bit," said the China Cat, speaking out loud, in toy language. "I haven't had a chance to do as I pleased since just before the fire." "What's that about a fire?" suddenly asked a voice just behind the China Cat. She looked around the shelf on which she sat but could see no one, though a Wooden Doll, with funny, staring eyes, was looking straight at her. "Did you speak?" asked the China Cat of the Wooden Doll. "No," was the answer. "Though I was just going to. I'm glad you have come here to live with us. You'll like it here. Jennie is such a nice little girl." "We're all nice!" cried the same voice that had asked about the fire. "Who is that?" asked the China Cat, for, as before, she saw no one. "Oh, it's probably Jack," answered the Wooden Doll. "He's always playing jokes." "Jack who?" asked the China Cat. "Jack Box," answered the Wooden Doll. "He's one of those funny, pop-up Jacks in a Box, and he's always trying to fool some one. I suppose, because you are the newest toy to come here, that he is playing a trick on you." "No trick, Wooden Doll! Just trying to be friendly and jolly--that's all!" went on the voice, with a laugh, and from a box near the China Cat sprang one of the queer Jacks that have such a sudden way of appearing. "Oh! How you surprised me!" mewed the Cat. "That's just my way! Can't help it! Have to jump when my spring uncoils!" said the Jack, with a broad grin on his face. "Let's have some fun!" he went on. "It's our chance to make believe come to life, now that Jennie has gone to bed. Sweet child. I like her, don't you?" he asked Snowball. "Yes. But how you rattle on," said the China Cat. "You don't give one a chance to think." "Yes, Jack is always like that," said the Wooden Doll. "Well, let's have some fun," went on Jack. "What do you say to a game of tag?" Leaning over, which he could readily do, as the coiled spring inside him was so easy to bend, Jack touched the China Cat. But Jack must have leaned too far, or too suddenly, for he brushed the Wooden Doll to one side. "Oh, look out!" she cried. "You have knocked me off the shelf! Oh, there I go!" and the Wooden Doll fell straight down! "Now you have done it!" mewed the China Cat. "I hope her neck isn't broken," said a tiny Celluloid Doll. "Oh, what an accident!" "I--I didn't mean to do it," said Jack sadly. "I'll go down and pick her up." "Hush! Keep quiet, all of you!" suddenly mewed the China Cat. "Some one is coming!" On the other side of the closet door, in the room where Jennie slept, the toys could hear the voice of the little girl calling: "Aunt Clara! Aunt Clara! Come here! There's something in my toy closet. I heard a noise! Maybe that colored boy is trying to get Snowball, my China Cat." "Nonsense, Jennie. You imagined it, dear. Go to sleep now," replied her aunt, coming in from her room and turning up the light. "No, I didn't imagine it," declared Jennie. "I heard a noise in my closet. Please look, Aunt Clara." So Aunt Clara opened the door, and there she saw the Wooden Doll on the floor. The Doll had fallen on some felt slippers and so was not in the least hurt. "There it is," said Jennie's aunt. "Your Wooden Doll fell off the shelf. You couldn't have put her far enough back." "Oh!" murmured Jennie sleepily. "I'm glad she wasn't broken, and I'm glad my China Cat is all right." Then Jennie went to sleep again, but she never knew, nor did her aunt, that Jack had knocked down the Wooden Doll. "Behave yourself now, Jack," said the Celluloid Doll, when the toys were once more left alone. "If you play, let it be some easy game, like telling stories or riddles." "All right," agreed Jack. "Suppose the China Cat tells us the story of the fire and the flood." So the China Cat did, just as they are set down in this book. And after that the toys played guessing games, and told riddles until it was time for them to stop, as morning was at hand. Jennie awakened early, and got her China Cat from the closet. "You are one of my nicest toys," said the little girl. "To-day I am going to put you in the front window where you can see everything, and where the other children can see you." So after breakfast the China Cat was set in the front window of the house, while Jennie sat near in a chair reading a book of fairy stories. After a while Jennie was called away to help her aunt, and the China Cat was left alone. For the first time that day she could look about as she pleased, moving her head and stretching her paws, as no one was in the room. [Illustration: The China Cat Gazed Out of the Window. _Page 110_] The China Cat gazed out of the window toward the house next door, and what was her great surprise to see in the front window there an old friend. "Well, I do declare!" mewed the China Cat to herself. "How did he get here? Oh, if I could only speak to him! See, he is bowing to me! Oh, isn't this just wonderful!" CHAPTER X THE GLARING EYES Snowball, the China Cat, was so excited that she felt she must really jump out of the window and go across the yard to her old friend, when Jennie, the little girl, came back into the room. Of course the China Cat had to be very still and quiet then. "Oh, Joe has his Nodding Donkey in the window!" exclaimed Jennie. "That's a sign he wants me to come over and play with him. I'll go and ask Aunt Clara if I may go!" Out of the room sped Jennie again, and the China Cat, who had heard what the little girl said, mewed to herself: "At last I shall have a chance to see the Nodding Donkey again." For it was this old friend at whom the China Cat had looked through the window, watching him nod his head. "Yes, Jennie. What is it?" asked Aunt Clara, as the little girl called to her. "Please may I go over and see Joe?" begged Jennie. "He has set his Nodding Donkey in his front window, and that means he wants me to come over. He always does that when he wants me. I'll take my new China Cat over to see him." "Very well, dear," agreed Aunt Clara, and a little later Jennie was crossing the yard, carrying Snowball under her arm. The China Cat was very glad that she was going to be taken to see the Nodding Donkey, with whom she used to live in Mr. Mugg's store. "I'm glad you came over, Jennie," said Joe, as he opened the door for the little girl. "What have you?" "My new China Cat, named Snowball. I brought her over so she could play with your Nodding Donkey." "I guess maybe they know one another," said Joe. "They came from the same store, you know." "Oh, so they did!" exclaimed Jennie. "I have a toy wagon," said Joe. "I'll hitch my Nodding Donkey up to it, and we'll give your China Cat a ride." "Oh, that will be fun!" cried Jennie. "Only don't upset her, for if she falls out she may break off her tail." "I'll be careful," promised Joe, and then he and Jennie had a lot more fun with the Nodding Donkey and the China Cat. They were just thinking up another game to play when Joe cried: "Here come Dorothy with her Sawdust Doll and Mirabell with her Lamb on Wheels." "I should like to meet those toys," mewed the Cat to herself. And, a little later she did, as two other little girls came in to play with Joe. Then along came Dick, who was Dorothy's brother, and he brought his White Rocking Horse, though it was rather a large and heavy toy to carry. And Arnold, who was Mirabell's brother, brought along his Bold Tin Captain Soldier and his men. Now began a very gladsome time for Snowball. She lived in a fine house, with a dear little girl for a mistress, and she had no more troubles. Thus Winter passed and Spring came, with warm, sunny days when the children could play with their toys on the porches. One day Joe took his Nodding Donkey and went over to call on Jennie and her China Cat. But just as Joe was going up the porch steps he heard a hand organ down the street. "Maybe there's a monkey with that hand organ!" said Joe to himself. So, without stopping to ring the bell, or letting Jennie know he had come to call, Joe set his Nodding Donkey down on the porch and ran out of the yard. And now I must tell you what happened. The hand organ was quite a distance from Jennie's house, and it took Joe some little time to reach it. While he was gone, having, as I said, left his Nodding Donkey on Jennie's porch, along came sneaking Jeff, the colored boy. Jeff's family had moved back into their basement tenement after the flood, and Jeff was the same dirty, careless colored boy as before. He, too, had heard the music of the hand organ down the street and he wanted to see if there was a monkey. But as he was passing Jennie's house he looked toward the porch, and there he saw Joe's Nodding Donkey. "Oh, golly!" whispered Jeff to himself, "dis yeah is mah chance! I kin git dat Donkey, suah!" Sneaking along, Jeff softly opened the gate and went into Jennie's yard. On tiptoes he approached the porch where the Nodding Donkey was slowly shaking his head up and down. "Dis yeah suah is a fine toy!" muttered Jeff. "It's a heap sight better dan de China Cat I got at de fire! I'll take dis Donkey!" Jeff reached the porch and stretched out his black, dirty hands to take the Nodding Donkey. But, as he did so, the negro boy happened to look up at a side window, and there, on a table behind the glass, sat the China Cat! The China Cat had big, staring eyes, and now because of the way the sun shone on them, they seemed to glare straight at Jeff. They even seemed to open wider, and move and blink, did those glaring eyes of the China Cat. Jeff stood still and pulled back his hands that had been about to take the Nodding Donkey. "Oh, golly!" he murmured. "Oh, dey's lookin' straight at me, dey is! Dat's de China Cat I tooked from de fire, an' she must have come to life! Oh, I dassn't take dat Donkey while she's glarin' at me wif dem big eyes! Oh, I's skeered, I is!" With that Jeff turned and started on a run out of the yard. The Nodding Donkey, who had been very much afraid he was about to be stolen, was so thankful he did not know what to do. And the China Cat, who had feared that her friend was about to be taken from her, kept on staring as hard as she could. Jeff ran faster. He gave one look back over his shoulder to see if any one might be chasing him, and he caught sight of the Cat's eyes again. "Oh, golly!" cried Jeff. At that moment his foot caught in a loose board of the walk, and down fell that bad boy Jeff with a bang, bruising knees and his nose and his chin. "Ouch!" cried Jeff, as he got up and limped away. "It serves him right," said the China Cat to herself, "for trying to take my friend, the Nodding Donkey." "I guess you won't come back here in a hurry," said the Donkey to himself, as he saw Jeff going off down the street as fast as he could go. And the colored boy never did. Joe came back, after having seen the hand organ and the monkey, and Joe carried his Nodding Donkey into Jennie's house. There the children played with their toys. "How can I ever thank you?" said the Nodding Donkey to the China Cat. "With your big, glaring eyes you saved me from that colored boy." "I am glad I did," mewed the Cat. "I didn't want you to be taken away from me. You are the best friend I have." "I am glad you think so," brayed the Nodding Donkey. "I had another very good friend in the workshop of Santa Claus, at the North Pole, but I have not seen him for a long time." "Who was that?" asked the China Cat. "He was a Plush Bear," answered the Nodding Donkey. "A most wonderful Plush Bear! When he was wound up he moved his head and his paws and he growled as natural as anything." "Oh, tell me about him!" mewed the China Cat. "Tell me about the Plush Bear." The Nodding Donkey was just going to do this when Jennie and Joe came into the room and the toys had to remain quiet, not even talking. But I happen to know the story of the Plush Bear, and it is to be the very next one I tell you of these Make Believe Stories. Of course Snowball had many more good times while she lived with Jennie, which she did for many years. She often had fun with the Nodding Donkey and other toys. One day Joe came over to Jennie's house, carrying his Nodding Donkey, a toy which was seldom out of his arms. "Oh, Jennie!" cried Joe, "let's have a picnic in the woods for our toys. I'll take my Donkey, you can take your China Cat and I'll get Dorothy, Dick and the others to bring their toys." "Oh, what fun to have a Toy Picnic!" exclaimed Jennie. And the Nodding Donkey and the China Cat looked at one another most happily. They liked good times. The Toy Picnic was a great success, and how the boys and girls did laugh when the China Cat fell into the brook! "But it doesn't hurt her," said Jennie, "and I was going to give her a bath, anyhow, 'cause I got some sticky candy on her tail." The Cat, herself, was glad to be washed and clean, and here we must leave her, having fun as she is with the other toys. THE END HAPPY HOME SERIES By HOWARD R. GARIS * * * * * Individual Colored Wrappers and Colored Illustrations by LANG CAMPBELL * * * * * Mr. Garis has written many stories for boys and girls, among them his Uncle Wiggly volumes, but these books are something distinctly new, surprising and entertaining. ADVENTURES OF THE GALLOPING GAS STOVE A tale of how Gassy mysteriously disappeared, and how he came riding home on the back of an elephant. It is also related how he broke his leg, and fed a hungry family in a cottage near a lake. ADVENTURES of the RUNAWAY ROCKING CHAIR Racky creaked and groaned when fat Grandma sat on him too hard. He felt himself ill-treated, so he vanished. He did not intend to take Grandma's glasses with him, but he did. And he rocked a bunny to sleep. ADVENTURES OF THE TRAVELING TABLE Tippy, the table, always wanted to travel and see the world, but he did not know how to start. Until, all of a sudden, a diamond ring was hidden in his leg and a balloon carried him off through the air. ADVENTURES OF THE SLIDING FOOT STOOL Just because he did not want to be used as a milking stool by the Maiden All Forlorn, Skiddy slid away Christmas eve. With him went Jack the Jumper, and they had a wonderful time in the toy shop. ADVENTURES OF THE SAILING SOFA Skippy always wanted to be a sailor. When the high water came in the spring, the sofa went sailing. He had a Rooster for a crew, while Tatter, the rag doll with one shoe button eye, was Captain. * * * * * 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 Notes: Obvious punctuation errors repaired. Happy Home ad, "top" changed to "toy". (in the toy shop) 
23456	----	file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive.) MORE DOLLIES RUTH COBB AND RICHARD HUNTER THE DUMPY BOOKS FOR CHILDREN 25. More Dollies _The Dumpy Books for Children_ CLOTH, ROYAL 32mo, 1/6 EACH 1. The Flamp. 2. Mrs. Turner's Cautionary Stories. 3. The Bad Family. 4. The Story of Little Black Sambo. 5. The Bountiful Lady. 6. A Cat Book. 7. A Flower Book. 8. The Pink Knight. 9. The Little Clown. 10. A Horse Book. 11. Little People: An Alphabet. 12. A Dog Book. 13. The Adventures of Samuel and Selina. 14. The Little Girl Lost. 15. Dollies. 16. The Bad Mrs. Ginger. 17. Peter Piper's Practical Principles. 18. Little White Barbara. 19. The Japanese Dumpy Book. 20. Towlocks and His Wooden Horse. 21. The Three Little Foxes. 22. The Old Man's Bag. 23. The Three Goblins. 24. Dumpy Proverbs. 25. More Dollies. 26. Little Yellow Wang-lo. 27. Plain Jane. 28. The Sooty Man. 29. Fishy-Winkle. _A Cloth Case to contain Twelve Volumes can be had, price 2s. net; or the First Twelve Volumes in Case, price £1 net._ London: GRANT RICHARDS, 48, LEICESTER SQUARE. More Dollies Pictures by Ruth Cobb Verses by Richard Hunter ILLUSTRATED IN COLOURS _London:_ GRANT RICHARDS 1903 [Illustration] Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas brings presents For little girls and boys; Saint Nicholas brings dozens Of all the nicest toys. Hang out your biggest stocking Before you go to sleep; But if you hear him coming, You mustn't even peep. [Illustration: Saint Nicholas.] [Illustration: The Sea-side Doll.] The Sea-side Doll. There's one doll for winter, When ice comes and snow; Another for spring time, When primroses grow. A dolly for dark nights, To take into bed; And one for the morning, Till lessons are said. But this is the dolly To play on the sands, You see both a pail and A spade in her hands. Ping-Pong. Sing a song of Ping-pong, Fast away he ran: "Come along," said Ping-pong, "Catch me if you can!" Sing a song of Ping-pong, Racquet and a ball: "Come along," said Ping-pong, "You can't run at all!" [Illustration: Ping-Pong.] [Illustration: Jujuba.] Jujuba. Here's Uncle Jujuba, Who has a sweet tooth; He used to eat sugar- Cane oft in his youth, In South Carolina, Where sugar-cane grows, From which they make sugar, As everyone knows. Blue-Coat. His dressing-gown's blue, and His girdle is red; He wears a black cap On top of his head. He carries a candle To give you a light, In case you should ever Get up in the night. [Illustration: Blue-Coat.] [Illustration: Punch.] Punch. There is a queer dolly named Punch, Who has a remarkable hunch. The tip of his nose Is red as a rose, And that's how you know Mister Punch. The Shepherdess. Shepherdess! Shepherdess! Looks to the sheep; Shepherdess! Shepherdess! Watches their sleep. Shepherdess! Shepherdess! When they cry "Baa," Shepherdess! Shepherdess! Knows where they are. [Illustration: The Shepherdess.] [Illustration: The Cowboy.] The Cowboy. There was a bold cowboy Came out of the west; Of all the bold riders, This cowboy's the best. The horse he brought with him Will not run away; But stands by the side of His master all day. Blackman the Giant. This is the long and The short of it too: One dolly stood still, The other one grew. She who is little Prefers to be tall; Blackman the giant Would like to be small. [Illustration: Blackman the Giant.] [Illustration: The Twins.] The Twins. If one were not blue, While the other is red, You'd fancy that Su- San was Mary instead. If one were not red, While the other is blue, 'Twould surely be said, That Miss Mary was Sue! The Highlander. Right about, left about, Halt and stand at ease! Shoulder arms, attention, Steady, if you please. Order arms, present arms, Forward, by your right! Double, double, double, Double to the fight! [Illustration: The Highlander.] [Illustration: Policeman.] Policeman. When little dolls in Nurs'ry Street, Do anything that's wrong; Throw stones, or knock each other down, Policeman comes along. "Move on, move on," Policeman cries; Be sure they never fail; For if they did not move at once, He'd take them off to jail. Mollie. Mollie's frock is crimson, Her petticoat's of lace; Mollie's hair is golden, And curls about her face. Mollie's friends are many, She's off to visit one; Mollie takes her sunshade, To keep away the sun. [Illustration: Mollie.] [Illustration: The Swinging Clown.] The Swinging Clown. Swing up! Swing down! Here goes the clown. Swing left! Swing right! Mind you hold tight. Swing low! Swing high! Right to the sky. Algeria. Dolly's home's far away, Far away in Algiers, On the African coast, She won't see it for years. But she whispers at night, And her eyes fill with tears; "How I wish--how I wish, I were back in Algiers!" [Illustration: Algeria.] [Illustration: Dame Crump.] Dame Crump. Some dolls are ev'ry bit as good As little girls and boys; They never pout or shake themselves, And never make a noise. But other dollies make mistakes; Won't do as they are told; Won't stand upright, or shut their eyes, However much you scold! And then's the time for old Dame Crump To enter with her stick, And make them mind their p's and q's; 'Tis well if they are quick! Prince Charming. This is Prince Charming, Whom often you meet, Riding or walking In Nursery Street. See the red feather He wears in his hat, Always you know he's Prince Charming by that. [Illustration: Prince Charming.] [Illustration: Mister Merryman.] Mister Merryman. He's always standing on his toes, And never on his heels; He's always holding up his arms-- I wonder how it feels. Two balls are always in his hands, He never lets them drop; He's always smiling just like this, And never seems to stop. Dinah. Dinah's cheeks are black as coal; Dinah's lips are red; Dinah's eyes are bright, although Dinah's off to bed. Dinah's bows are green and blue; Dinah's teeth are white; Dinah's bottle's meant to feed Dinah in the night. [Illustration: Dinah.] [Illustration: Smiler.] Smiler. He smiles throughout the morning, And all the afternoon; He smiles whene'er the sun shines, And also at the moon. He smiles upon the carpet, Or when you pick him up; He smiles all through his dinner, And when he goes to sup. The Coachman. There was a grand coachman, Who drove the Lord Mayor; And never drove less than A carriage and pair. He wore a red waistcoat, He carried a whip, And when the boys saw him, They shouted "Hip! hip!" [Illustration: The Coachman.] [Illustration: Little Yam Mango.] Little Yam Mango. Little Yam Mango Has beautiful eyes, Also the brightest Of scarlet neckties. Little Yam Mango Will never go out; Being so lazy, He's grown very stout. Brownie. There is a brown dolly Who has a guitar; She plays on it always, Tra lal, tra lal la! She has a new ditty For every day; I wish you could hear it, Tra lal, tra lal lay! [Illustration: Brownie.] [Illustration: The Imp.] The Imp. You may call him an imp, Or a gnome or a sprite; And whate'er you call him You are sure to be right. He is here, he is there, He will never stay long; If you think he is caught, You are sure to be wrong. 
23523	----	Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original 70 illustrations. See 23523-h.htm or 23523-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/2/3/5/2/23523/23523-h/23523-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/2/3/5/2/23523/23523-h.zip) ADVENTURES IN TOYLAND To my little friends Dorothy & Doris in recollection of the time we spent in fairyland together. Altemus' Young People's Library ADVENTURES IN TOYLAND What the Marionette Told Molly by EDITH KING HALL With Seventy Illustrations Copyright 1900 by Henry Altemus Company Philadelphia Henry Altemus Company Contents Page. Chap. I. AFTER THE SHUTTERS WERE UP 13 " II. THE RABBIT AND THE MOUSE 20 " III. BELINDA 57 " IV. THE OFFICER AND THE ELEPHANT 75 " V. THE LITTLE DANCER 93 " VI. THE HANSOM-DRIVER 107 " VII. PROUD CLARIBELLE 121 " VIII. THE GROCER AND THE FARTHING DOLL 139 " IX. THE LAST PERFORMANCE 156 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Molly and the Marionette, Frontispiece Page. Unrolling the Adventures v Three Friends in Fairyland vi The Farthing Doll gets a Surprise vii From Noah's Ark vii Four Merry Ducklings ix Birds of a Feather xii A Procession from the Ark 13 "Molly's astonishment was great" 15 The two Dancers 19 The Marionette is waiting 20 The Rabbit plays and the Mouse dances 21 The Mouse collects the Money 24 A Pair of Conspirators 26 "The Sentry is both brave and wicked" 29 The Mouse discloses its Plan 31 The Owl listens behind the Sentry-box 35 The Owl takes charge of the Drum 37 On their way to the Sentry-box 39 The Rabbit bids the Sentry Good-day 41 The Rabbit spreads the Gum over the Floor 44 The Mouse tries to look pious 49 The Rabbit takes Vengeance 52 Two little Tell-tales 56 Here the Marionette paused 57 Belinda shuts her Eyes 59 "Simplicity and Self" 61 The Sailor-lad tries to startle Belinda 65 "Oh, Belinda, how I love you!" 69 Bedtime in the Ark 74 The Marionette in a hurry 75 The Two Enemies 76 "The Lady Dolls shrieked" 79 The Officer threatens the Elephant 81 "He fell under the animal's trunk" 87 "He grunted and walked slowly away" 92 Molly sits beside her Friend 93 "One day she saw the Bicycle-man" 96 "A very handsome fellow" 97 "Something within her went--_Snap_!" 103 "Alas! alack-a-day!" 106 "Come, this won't do!" 107 "The Hansom-driver was very plain" 109 "The Butcher, the Baker, and the Clown" 111 "My face is my fortune" 113 "Every time he looked in the Glass" 115 "Drove off as fast as he could" 120 "I should like to hear about her" 121 "Claribelle was a haughty doll" 123 "The Rag Doll was a pushing person" 125 The Driver begins to sing 127 "Then she swept away" 131 "The Driver got up with dignity" 133 "He loved but drove away" 135 Proud Claribelle is penitent 138 "The two met as usual" 139 The Grocer meets the Farthing Doll 140 "They walked away hand in hand" 143 "She handed him a joint of beef" 147 "Supposing I said 'Yes' and you said 'No '" 149 "They were happy ever after" 152 "Molly ran away content" 155 "The little Marionette lay on the ground" 156 "They had just finished their dance" 160 "I begin to understand--nerves" 165 The General rides off to the nearest chemist 167 The Clown dances a double-shuffle 169 "You are not crying, dear, are you?" 171 "She rocked to and fro silently" 175 The Marionette fell asleep quite happily 177 CHAPTER I All sorts of toys were to be found in that toy-shop. It was truly a place to please any child! A little girl, who had come to stay there with her aunt--the owner of the shop--and her little cousin, was always to be found amongst the toys; she was forever picking up and admiring this one, stroking that one, nursing another. All her spare moments were spent in the shop. It so happened one evening that she wandered in after the shutters were put up, and the place was deserted. She paused before the spot where she was accustomed to find her favorite doll, a little lady Marionette, who, when wound up, danced gayly in company with her partner, a very fine gentleman. They were both very prettily dressed. The little lady Marionette wore a beautiful white silk dress brocaded with pink roses, whilst her partner had on a blue velvet coat, knee breeches, white silk stockings, and diamond shoe buckles. Their clothes were really very grand! And they danced so gayly, too. "Just as if they like dancing with each other!" the little girl once said to her aunt. "You are a fanciful child, Molly," answered the woman, laughing. "All the same, I believe I am right," replied the little girl. This evening, however, they were not to be found in their accustomed place. The little platform on which they danced was there, but the dolls themselves were gone! The little girl looked round the shop much bewildered. "Where _can_ they be?" she said. At last she saw the little lady Marionette sitting on the right hand counter, with her back against the Noah's Ark. "Well, how funny!" exclaimed the little girl aloud. "How have _you_ got there?" "Walked, of course," answered the little Marionette in a sweet little voice. The little girl's astonishment at this reply was very great. So great that it kept her silent. "You seem rather surprised," said the little Marionette. "Why?" "Why, I never knew you could talk!" she exclaimed, recovering a little from her surprise. "Or any other toy, either," she added. "Life is full of surprises," remarked the little Marionette; "especially in the toy-shop." "I wish you would tell me all about it," said the little girl, becoming bolder. "If toys can walk and talk, why don't children know it?" "Because, although they have known many toys, yet they are very ignorant regarding their habits," she answered. "_That_ is the reason. "At the same time," she continued, "as it is, generally speaking, only when mortals are not present that we _can_ move and speak freely, this ignorance is, perhaps, partly excusable." "But how long will you be able to go on talking to me?" "That I can't tell you. I can only say that our power of talking to a Mortal--a power which comes but once in the lifetime of every toy--generally lasts from a fortnight to three weeks." The little girl clapped her hands. "You will be able to talk to me, then, every day that I am here!" she exclaimed with pleasure. "I am only going to stay with my aunt and my cousin for twelve days longer." She paused a moment, then added: "How I should like you to tell me some stories of toys--a new story every day, you know. Couldn't you do that?" The little Marionette looked doubtful. "Before I attempt anything of the sort, I shall have to consult Father Christmas--the well-known and much-esteemed patriarch. As he is the Head of our Society, I should like to do nothing without his advice and sanction." The little girl sighed anxiously. "I _do_ hope he'll say 'yes'," she said. "I want so much to hear stories of toys told by a toy." "I'll do my best to please you," said the little Marionette. "Come here at the same time to-morrow,--by yourself, for I can only speak before one Mortal at a time,--and I will see what I can do." "Thank you," she said gratefully. "Please give my best love to Father Christmas; and tell him if he says 'yes' I will see that Auntie puts him at the very top of the Christmas tree." She turned to go, then paused and came back. "I should just like to ask you one thing before I go," she said. "Don't you and your partner enjoy dancing together?" The pink cheeks of the little lady seemed to grow a little pinker. "Perhaps we do," she replied. "I thought so," remarked her new friend with some satisfaction. "Good evening! I shall come again to-morrow at this same time." CHAPTER II The next evening the little girl returned to the Noah's Ark, where she found the little Marionette in the same position. "Well!" she said eagerly. "I have consulted Father Christmas," answered the little Marionette. "He is of the opinion that I may, without harm, tell you tales of _some_ of the toys. You shall therefore hear the most interesting stories I can remember." "That will be very nice," said the little girl. "Will you begin at once?" "At once," she agreed, and began the story of "The Rabbit and the Mouse." THE RABBIT & THE MOUSE The white Rabbit and the brown Mouse were both talented, though in different ways. The Rabbit's talent showed itself in the precision and vigor with which he could beat a drum as he sat on his hind-legs; the Mouse in the swiftness and grace with which he could speed to and fro upon the counter. Talking over the matter, they arrived at the conclusion that if they went up and down the counter together as a traveling-show they might turn a very pretty penny. The Rabbit was to display his musical talent, whilst the Mouse was to exhibit his powers of graceful movement. The profits were to be equally divided. Such, at least, was the arrangement as _understood_; but it was not a _written_ agreement, which was a great mistake. The reason, however, that the two partners omitted to be more business-like was this: the Rabbit trusted the Mouse, and the Mouse hoped to cheat the Rabbit. Not that anything of the sort was openly expressed, but each was quite well aware of his own view of the matter. The two started off upon the most amiable terms, stopping at such places as they thought most likely to prove profitable: in front of the dolls' houses; before the race-courses; by the shops. Then the Rabbit would announce loudly: "I am a rare-bit from Wales, and the Mouse is a tit-bit from Ireland. We charge no fees for performing, but trust to your kind generosity." After this the Rabbit played the drum with great energy, whilst the Mouse ran up and down in the most nimble manner. It was probably owing to a report which got abroad, to the effect that the performers were noble strangers, working in the cause of charity, that the success of the pair was so great. It was, indeed, wonderful, and in a short time the two had gained quite a little fortune. It was the Mouse who collected the money. For purposes of his own, he persuaded the Rabbit to let him always take upon himself this duty. And his companion, who was rather stiff in the joints after sitting perfectly still upon his hind-legs for the length of time he was obliged to, was quite willing to let the Mouse do as he wished. Not that he would have been willing to had he known the real facts of the case. For as you will understand by what I have said, the Mouse was acting towards him in the most dishonest fashion, in spite of his many fair words and speeches. It was in this way that he plotted against his friend: As soon as a certain sum of money had been collected, the Mouse always suggested that he should go and invest it. To this the Rabbit never made any objection, having great faith in the Mouse as an animal with a good business head. When the little rascal returned after a long absence, he had always a fine story to tell of the cleverness with which he had laid out the money, and of the fortune which would shortly be coming in. This was perfectly untrue. The Mouse was not investing a penny. On the contrary, he was hoarding it all up, and for his own benefit. There was a certain Horse who lived some little way off in a luxurious stable. Here the Mouse was minded to pass his last years, so soon as he had made a sufficiently large fortune, or unless chance removed him from the toy-shop. But in order to carry out his plan, he would have to pay the Horse a large sum for the right of sharehold--since it was his stall he wished to share,--and also to get the warm, cosy corner he especially desired. The Horse himself was not the noble creature nature had intended him to be. He was to the full as greedy as the Mouse, and was indeed his helper in the plot. It was to the Horse the little swindler always ran when he pretended that he was going to invest the money, and it was in his stall that it was hidden. By the end of the half-year the Horse and the Mouse calculated that they would have sufficient money to carry out their design; when they intended to add further to their wickedness by causing the Rabbit to be killed, in order to prevent his asking any tiresome questions. Now, as the time drew near when the money, had it been invested, should have brought in some returns, the Rabbit began to talk of what he intended doing with _his_ share. "I think," said he, "after I have supplied my own wants, I shall found a drum-scholarship for Musical Rabbits;" for he was a creature of a kind and generous nature, and truly devoted to the cause of art. "A most excellent notion," said the Mouse. "I shall follow your good example, and found a scholarship for the encouragement of harmonious squeaking amongst Mice. One cannot do too much to encourage the love of music amongst all classes." "When will our first dividends be paid?" asked the Rabbit. "The money ought to have been paid already," answered the little scamp, "but business is very bad just at present. I would explain the matter to you, but I doubt you would not understand all the details." "Very good; I will not trouble you," answered his companion easily. "I have perfect faith in your judgment, and will leave all to you." Yet from time to time, as was natural, he still made inquiries, which the Mouse began to find troublesome. He therefore consulted with his wicked friend the Horse, and they resolved that, as the half-year was approaching, and they had got sufficient money for what they wanted, it was better to delay the carrying out of their plot no longer, but to kill the Rabbit as soon as it could be managed--indeed that very day. "To whom shall we intrust the deed?" asked the Horse. "There would be too great a risk for either of us to undertake it, I fear. If we were discovered there would at once be an end of all our plans. Our money would be taken, and possibly our lives also." The Mouse considered for a moment, then he said: "I think I know the very fellow for the job. There is the Sentry who always stands in his wooden box. He is a chap who will do anything to vary the dulness of his life and earn a little money. He told me so the other day. He is both brave and wicked. Let _him_ him do the deed." "Very well," replied the Horse; "I think your idea is good. Will you arrange the matter so that it be carried out without any mistake?" "Leave it to me," replied the other. "You need not disturb yourself. The days of the Rabbit are numbered." "Good!" neighed the Horse; "and the quantity of my corn, oats,--besides carrots, apples, and other luxuries,--will be _beyond_ number. We'll at once open an account with the fruiterer and corn-dealer." "Also the cheese-monger," said the Mouse. "Well, I must go; there is not a moment to be lost if we wish to carry out our plan." Then he hurried off to the Sentry. "Sentry," said he, "are you prepared to run some risk for the sake of money?" "For the sake of money I'm prepared to do anything," said the wicked fellow. "Then listen," said the Mouse. "There is a sum of money that, strictly speaking, ought to be divided between the Rabbit and myself. But the best way appears to be that I should have it all. But that is a little difficult so long as he is alive. So I come to you to ask you if you will kill him, provided I fill your knapsack with gold." "Upon that condition, yes," said the ruffian. "But don't attempt to break it, or I shall put an end to you as well as your friend." "Never fear. Rest assured you shall have it," said the Mouse. "Now for the details of the plot," he continued. "I am going to propose to the Rabbit a private performance in front of your sentry-box. I shall say I have suggested it in order to vary the terrible dulness of your existence. Having finished our performance I shall lead the way straight forward, _with our backs towards you_. When we have gone a few steps I shall remark loudly, 'That Sentry friend of ours is a smart chap; _he_ knows how to handle the bayonet'. This is to be the signal for you to step quietly out of your box, and, pretending to stumble, stab the Rabbit in the back with your bayonet. This should be quite easy, for he is sure to be walking away on his hind-legs. He has fallen into that habit since he has taken to playing the drum. You and I will, of course, exhibit much grief, and declare that his death was an unfortunate accident. You see the plan offers no difficulty." "Then if the _plan_ offers no difficulty, _I_ won't," said the Sentry, with a cold-blooded laugh. "When is it to be carried out?" "This very day, in about two hours' time," replied the Mouse. "Well, good-bye for the present, I think it is all very nicely arranged;" and he nimbly scurried back to tell the Horse that the Rabbit was to be killed by the Sentry; which he did with the utmost glee. Perhaps, however, his glee would not have been so great had he known that whilst he was giving his account of what had occurred to the Horse, _his wicked plan was at the same time being told to the intended victim_! This is how such a strange thing happened. Whilst the Mouse and the Sentry were talking, they had forgotten that the Owl's usual position was just behind the sentry-box. Or, if they thought of it at all, they gave no heed to the fact, being aware that the Owl was accustomed to sleep during the whole of the day. It so happened, however, that at the very moment the Mouse began his conversation with the Sentry, the Owl awakened with a start from a bad daymare, and all but hooted with fright. Growing calm as he became wider awake, he was going off to sleep again,--when the name of the Rabbit caught his ear. Being well acquainted with both him and the Mouse, whose squeaking voice he recognized, the Owl listened to what was being said, at first with drowsy then with startled attention. He only waited until he had learned all the details of the vile plot, and then, overcoming, in the cause of friendship, every desire to close his heavy eyes, he stole away, and imparted his startling news to the astonished Rabbit. "_Impossible!_" exclaimed his hearer, letting his drum-stick fall with a crash upon the instrument he had been industriously practising. "I would as soon doubt my own honor as that of the little Mouse--my friend and companion through weal and woe. _Impossible!_ You must have dreamt it, or invented it." "Don't be so hasty in your judgment," remarked the Owl. "I have neither dreamt nor invented it. If you doubt me go without delay to the brown Horse's stable, where you will find the Mouse at this present moment talking with his wicked companion. I will wait here until you return, in case I may be needed to help you in your difficulty." "Many thanks," said the Rabbit, and leaving his drum in charge of the Owl he hurried away. But a short time passed, and then he returned with a look of horror and dismay. "All you have told me is but too true," he exclaimed. "Let me tender you my most sincere apologies for having doubted your word. Unseen by my faithless friend, I listened to his conversation with the Horse, and overheard more than enough to convince me of the truth of your story. "Yet who," he continued sorrowfully, "who could have believed it of that little Mouse? Who would have imagined so great an amount of deceit dwelt in so small a body?" Then he recovered his spirit. "I will baulk him yet!" he exclaimed, his pink eyes flashing, and his white fur bristling with excitement. "How can I help you?" asked the Owl. "I will endeavor to keep awake as long as I am wanted." "Wait a moment," answered the Rabbit, and then he beat a tattoo thoughtfully on his drum. "I think I have arrived at a conclusion," he said presently. "I will meet their dastardly plot by a counter-plot. I do not expect the Mouse back for another half-hour; he told me he should be busy till half-past twelve putting away our recent earnings. This will just give us time to do what I wish. "Here is _my_ plot," he continued. "Having procured a bottle of gum we will go to the sentry-box, at the back of which you will take up your position. I will tell the Sentry you have been telling me a most comical little dream you have had--the one, indeed, you told me of late. He is a great fellow for good stories, and will certainly hurry off to hear it. "Whilst he is away I will spread the bottom of the sentry-box with gum. When, on his return, he steps into the box, I shall keep him still, and give the gum time to take effect, by offering him a bet of a gold piece that he will not stand perfectly motionless whilst I go home and back. He is very fond of a bet, and is sure to accept it. Leaving you to see that he acts fairly, I shall go and meet the Mouse, returning here for the performance which is to be suggested. "That, however, I shall cut short, having no desire to waste my talent on a villain like the Sentry. I shall turn away with the Mouse, who, on giving the signal agreed upon, will, to his amazement, find that it is followed by no result. For by that time the Sentry will be gummed so tightly to the floor of his sentry-box that he will not be able to move an inch. "Having enjoyed the sight of their confusion I shall punish them, biting off the head of the Mouse--for whose deceit no punishment can be too severe,--and beating the Sentry about the head until he can't see out of his eyes. Nor shall the Horse escape my vengeance. I shall creep into his stall, and suddenly, and with a precise aim, throw a piece of gold at the pupils of his wicked eyes. Thus he will be totally blinded by the gold he has wrongfully helped to keep. A most fit and proper punishment." "Your plans are well and thoughtfully worked out," said the Owl, blinking his eyes. "To business, then," remarked the Rabbit; and the two having first procured the gum took their way to the sentry-box; the Rabbit strolling thither on his hind-legs to avoid any appearance of alarm or haste, the Owl hopping by his side with a certain grave and sleepy dignity. Arrived at the sentry-box, the Owl placed himself behind it, whilst the Rabbit, concealing the bottle of gum under his drum, went to the front and bid the Sentry "good-day." "Good-day," said the Sentry. "What are you grinning at?" For the Rabbit was smiling from ear to ear. "Nothing of much consequence," he replied. "Merely a most comical little dream that the Owl--who happens for a wonder to be awake--has been telling me. It made me die of laughter." "Pass it on," said the Sentry. "I shouldn't think of doing that," replied the Rabbit. "I don't approve of telling people's own particular little stories; they prefer the fun of relating them themselves. Look here, you go round for a moment or two and get him to let you hear it before he drops asleep again. It is an occasion to seize, for he is hardly ever awake when other people are, and he tells a story better than anyone else I know." "Well, I rather think I will," answered the Sentry. "I'm very fond of a good story. You take my place whilst I'm away, there's a good fellow. Here, put down your drum and take my bayonet." "Very good," answered the Rabbit, and the Sentry hurried off. The moment he had turned the corner the Rabbit set to work and spread gum all over the floor of the sentry-box. Then, standing outside, he took up the bayonet and mounted guard, first carefully hiding the tell-tale bottle behind a box of bricks. By and by the Sentry returned. "Well, it was not a very good story after all," he said rudely. "Thank you for nothing. Why aren't you in the sentry-box? I am inclined to bayonet you for breaking your word." "I should not have been able to move about sufficiently," the Rabbit answered. "I should have suffered from cramp." "Stuff and nonsense!" the Sentry replied. "I stand in it for hours at a time." "But not without moving?" asked the Rabbit, with an air of disbelief. "Without stirring an eighth of an inch," the Sentry said. "I don't believe it," replied the Rabbit. "I challenge you to keep perfectly still for any length of time. I bet you a gold piece you won't stand motionless whilst I run home and back again." "Done!" said the Sentry, and straightway stepped into his box. "This sentry-box gets slimy and dirty," he said, without the least idea of what the Rabbit had done. "It is quite sticky with dirt. It wouldn't be a bad thing if you were to clean it out for me some day." "I'll see," answered the other carelessly, fearing to be either too polite or too rude lest he should arouse any suspicions in the Sentry's mind. "I don't generally care to do other people's dirty work, but I may do that some day when I am not busy. You serve your country, so you deserve a little help." "If you don't do it willingly, you shall do it unwillingly," he blustered. "If _I_ serve my country, _you_ must serve me." "There's plenty of time to think it over," answered the Rabbit. "In the meanwhile, you can't stir even to have it cleaned or you lose your bet. I'm off. But wait, I must call the Owl to be a witness that you keep strictly to the terms we have agreed upon." Then, having called the Owl and stated the terms of the bet, the Rabbit went home. Here he awaited the arrival of the Mouse, who presently returned, full of pretended sympathy for the dulness of the Sentry's life. "He told me to-day," said the little rascal, "that the dulness of his life was killing him. It struck me that it would be really an act of charity on our part to give him a little performance, and let him fully understand we expect no money for it. I hinted at something of the sort to him, and the poor fellow's face lighted up in a way that was quite touching. Suppose we go his way now as we have a little spare time." "I'm quite willing to," replied the Rabbit. "But I've just come from him, and he never complained of dulness to me. In fact, he was in quite good enough spirits to have a bet with me on the subject of his being able to stand motionless for a certain time." "Oh, he did that to try and kill care, no doubt," answered the Mouse. "I know him well, though he is a reserved chap and opens out his heart to few. Come on." Now by the time the Rabbit and the Mouse returned to the sentry-box, the gum had had time to get well dried, so that the Sentry was firmly fixed in his box. Nevertheless, there was still the danger that he might attempt to move, and so find out too soon the trick that had been played upon him. To avert this, directly the Rabbit came back again he lost no time in remarking to the Sentry: "Yes, I acknowledge you have won the bet. But you have only just managed to do so; you are looking quite tired out. Another five minutes or less, and you would have been unable to stand still a moment longer." "Double or quits!" cried the Sentry. "For another gold piece, I'll engage to keep still for the time you mention. If I fail to do so, of course you don't pay me anything." "Agreed," said the Rabbit. "Oh, friends," exclaimed the Mouse, shaking his head, "do not give way to this habit! It is, indeed, a sad, bad one." This he merely said to impress the Owl (on whom he had not counted as a spectator) with a sense of his moral worth. He hoped by this means to counteract any after suspicions that might arise in the good bird's mind. "As to that," said the Sentry, who was generally rude whether he was addressing friend or foe, "it is my own concern whether I bet or not. You had better not trouble yourself with my affairs, but if you really mean to give me one of your performances you would do well to begin." "Just as you will," the Mouse said. "But I can't help taking an interest in the welfare of those with whom I have to do." Then addressing the Rabbit: "Dear friend," he said smoothly, "will you open with your famous _rêverie_, 'Dreamings of a Drum,' whilst I perform my _pas de quatre_, 'Twirlings of the Toes?'" "Very good," agreed the Rabbit. And the two performers began. But in a few moments the Rabbit stopped. "I cannot continue," he said. "I am suffering from cramp in the muscles of my drum-legs." "Dear! What a pity!" exclaimed the Mouse. "Come for a walk and brace yourself up." "All right!" answered the Rabbit. "We'll go and fetch the gold pieces which I must give this fellow." "Can't you give me something at once?" asked the Sentry, who did not, in his greed of gold, wish to lose the chance of getting all he could. "I've nothing with me," replied the Rabbit. And so saying he followed the Mouse, who with his back towards the Sentry had already moved away. They had hardly gone more than half a dozen steps when the Mouse said suddenly and loudly: "That Sentry friend of ours is a smart chap; _he_ knows how to handle the bayonet." "You are right," answered the Rabbit, and walked on, the Mouse doing the same, though with lagging steps. Presently a look of anger and wonder crept into his eyes, remarking which the Rabbit laughed. "What are you laughing at?" asked the Mouse uneasily. "At nothing particular," answered his companion. "Cheerfulness, you know, is a habit of the mind." At this moment a loud groan burst from the Sentry, who during this time had been struggling to get free, and in a last frantic effort, had just succeeded in giving a most painful rick to his back. "Our Sentry friend does not look happy," said the Rabbit grimly. "He is not well, I suppose," answered the Mouse nervously. "What has happened, I wonder?" "ALL IS DISCOVERED!" exclaimed the Rabbit loudly. Then as the Mouse made a desperate effort to run away, the Rabbit dealt him a blow on the back which injured the clockwork within his body and quite put a stop to his flight. "I know all!" the Rabbit said sternly. "You are a little villain! What defence can you offer for so grossly deceiving me?" But the Mouse made no reply. In a fury of disappointment and fear he was biting the Rabbit's legs, hoping thus to disable him and prevent his punishing the treachery that had been brought to light. "Desist!" cried the Rabbit, "or I shall end your life without delay. I repeat, what excuse can you offer for having so wickedly broken the terms of our agreement? You have tried to rob me of my life and my money. Make your defence." "There was no written agreement," answered the Mouse shamelessly. "Each was at liberty to understand it in his own way." "Most wicked of animals, you are not fit to live," cried the Rabbit with disgust. "Your moments are numbered." Then before the Mouse could offer any protest, the Rabbit bit his head right off and swallowed it. "You will observe," said the Rabbit to the Owl with dignity, "that I still maintain my proper position in the eyes of the world as a Welsh rare-bit, but the Mouse, owing to his misdeeds, is now in the contemptible state of the biter bit. Such is the end of the wicked. "As for you," he continued to the Sentry, who, with his boastful spirit crushed, stood trembling in the Sentry-box; "as for you, you have seen too much of the world and its ways. It would be better for you to see a little less of it for a time." Then, according to his intention, the Rabbit beat the Sentry about the head until he could not see out of his eyes. "It now only remains to deal with the Horse. I go to give him the due reward of his deeds," the Rabbit remarked, taking up his drum and preparing to leave. But pausing a moment he added to the Owl: "With regard to you, my good friend, if ever an opportunity arises by which I can show you my gratitude for your kind services, rest assured that I shall eagerly avail myself of it." Now, the next morning the woman who keeps this shop spoke severely to her own little girl. "You have been touching the toys and damaging them," she said with anger. "See what mischief you have done! You have knocked off the head of this mouse--and, what is more, I can't find it anywhere,--you have rubbed all the paint off this sentry's face, and you have broken the glass eyes of this brown horse. You shall be punished." The little girl began to whimper. "I have not hurt the toys," she said. "I have never touched them since you put me to bed for breaking the baby doll." The woman looked puzzled: "If you say you haven't, you haven't, I suppose," she said, "for I know you are a truthful child. Then how has it happened? I shouldn't think any customer would do it without my noticing. I can't understand it." Nor can she to this day. But we can: you, the Rabbit, the Owl, the Sentry, the Horse, and myself. But not the Mouse, for he has lost his head. CHAPTER III Here the little Marionette paused. "That is all," she said. "What a good thing that the Mouse had his head bitten off," said the little girl thoughtfully. "It was just as well," the Marionette answered, "since he could use it to no better purpose." "Some of the toys were very wicked in that story, I think; dreadfully wicked." "I think the same. They were bad, wicked toys, with bad, wicked ways." "Are many of the toys you know as wicked as that?" asked Molly. "Oh, dear no!" said the little Marionette, quite shocked. "Most of my friends and acquaintances are really wonderfully well-behaved." "Do you know, I should like you next time to tell me about one of them." "About some one simple, perhaps?" "Yes, I think so." The little Marionette thought a moment. Then she said: "I know of no one more simple than Belinda." "Tell me about her, if you please." "Very good. You shall hear of Belinda and her simplicity." So the next day she told her friend the story of "Belinda." BELINDA Belinda was a little wax doll who had a most charming way of opening and shutting her eyes. When Mortals were about, she could not do it unless they helped by pulling a wire. But when once the shop was closed, and the toys, left to themselves, could move at pleasure, _then_ Belinda pulled her own wires and opened and shut her eyes as she pleased. She did this in so simple and unaffected a fashion that it delighted everyone to see her. "What simplicity! what delightful simplicity!" said the other toys. "'Tis really charming!" "Singularly simple," repeated the Butcher, who always stood at the door of his shop, watching for the customers that so seldom came. "She is like an innocent lamb," he added, his thoughts turning to his trade; "a simple, harmless lamb." "Elle est très gentille, la petite Belinde," remarked Mademoiselle Cerise, the French doll just arrived from Paris. "Elle est une jeune fille fort bien élevée; elle ferme les yeux d'une façon vraiment ravissante." "Here we are again, Simplicity and Self!" said the Clown, turning a somersault and landing by Belinda's side with a broad grin upon his face. She made no reply, but instantly closed her eyes. She was not quite sure but that he was laughing at her, so she thought it more prudent not to see him. "There! did you notice?" ... "Wasn't it pretty and simple?" said all the Toys to one another as they looked at Belinda. I must, however, make an exception when I say "all" the Toys. There was one who did not utter a word. This was Jack, the curly-headed Sailor-Boy, who was deeply in love with Belinda. He was so unhappy about the matter that he feared to speak of her lest in so doing the thought of his sorrow should make him shed unmanly tears in public. I will tell you the cause of his grief. He could not make her see how much he loved her. Whenever he came near her she immediately closed her eyes. So that it did not matter what expression he assumed, it was all wasted on Belinda. He worried himself about it very much. "Is it," said he to himself, "because she doesn't happen to see, or because she doesn't wish to see? How can I make her open her eyes? Shall I speak to her coldly or gently, with mirth or with melancholy, in poetry or in prose?" "I will be poetical," he resolved; "I will sing her a song of love. That may induce her to open her eyes." Now Jack was only a simple Sailor-Lad; he knew little music and less poetry. A few sea-songs and one or two little ballads, these were all he had to trust to, and he could think of none that seemed suitable to the occasion. He thought long, and finally remembered the beginning of an old song which, with a little alteration, would, he decided, do very well. So, in a rough but tender voice, he thus sang to his lady-love:-- "Of all the girls I love so well, There's none I love like 'Linder; She is the darling of my heart,-- And Linder rhymes with cinder." "This," he said to himself, "will teach her how deep and how true my love is for her. _This_ should open her eyes." But Belinda, quite unmoved, sat with them tightly closed. "I will try again," he said to himself. And he sang the verse once more, though this time his voice shook so greatly with emotion that he was obliged to stop in the middle in order to steady it. After this he sat silent, hoping that Belinda would even now open her eyes. "Then," said he, "she will see how sad I look, and she will surely be touched." But disappointment was again his lot. She never opened even half an eye. "Shiver my timbers!" said the luckless Sailor-Lad, "she'll be the death of me." And he went away mournfully whistling "_The Death of Nelson_." Then he tried to startle her by suddenly shouting within her hearing a few seafaring expressions he knew. "Hard-a-port! Lay aft! Yo, heave ho!" She half-opened her eyes, but immediately closed them again. "Those expressions sound a little rough," she remarked. He felt sorely tried. "None so blind as those who _won't_ see, my lass," he said one day. "I should have thought," she answered with unaffected surprise, "it was those who _can't_ see." "Have you looked up through the sky-light this afternoon?" he asked. "The sunset is glorious." "Describe it to me. I love descriptions," she said with simple enthusiasm. "You had better see it for yourself," he said crossly and turned away. He felt so wretched that really he would have liked to go to sea. He sighed again,--and looked back at Belinda. Why, her eyes were open! He hurried over to her, pinching with great energy his arm as he went, in order to make himself tearful, and thus, if possible, appear more miserable than he already did. The tears did come, but just as he got to Belinda she closed her eyes once more. "The sunset is indeed perfect," she said, "I have been watching it till my eyes ache, and I cannot keep them open any longer." "I look just as if I had a cold in my head. You can see that for yourself, can't you?" he asked, hoping that this question would induce her to glance at him and observe his tears. "Why, no," she answered, "I can't because my eyes are closed. But if you say so, I suppose you must be correct." "Belinda, I love you," said he. "Thank you very much," answered she. "Isn't it extraordinary weather for this time of the year? I can hardly believe that we are in the middle of summer." Poor Jack left in despair, and this time he whistled a funeral march. But like a true-hearted sailor, he resolved to try again. So the next day he said to her: "Belinda, I'm afraid we are going to have heavy weather, there are so many clouds overhead. Look up out of the sky-light and you will see for yourself." "I would rather not," she said, keeping her eyes tightly closed. "I don't like seeing clouds; it depresses my spirits." "You can look out of the sky-light _now_," he said to her later, "without being afraid of seeing the clouds. They have all cleared away and it is blue again." "Then I can enjoy my afternoon nap," she remarked simply, "without fear of thunder." And on this occasion the poor curly-headed Sailor felt too miserable even to attempt whistling; he went away in dumb despair! It was just about this time that Mademoiselle Cerise was bought by a lady as a present for her little god-daughter. "But the color of the doll's dress has become faded," said the lady. "She must have a new one before I take her." "That can easily be arranged in a day," said the owner of the shop. "Very well," answered the lady, "then I will buy her. You need not send her. I will bring my little friend with me to-morrow afternoon when we shall be passing your shop. She will like to carry her new doll through the streets." Next morning when Mademoiselle Cerise was brought back to the shop after having been absent since the previous afternoon, the Sailor-Lad was struck by something very familiar about the appearance of her new blue muslin dress. At first he could not think why. Then he understood; the muslin was--so it seemed to him--of exactly the same pattern and exactly the same color as Belinda's dress. As he realized this a sudden thought struck him, upon which he acted without delay. Coming up to Belinda softly, who was sitting with her eyes closed, he exclaimed loudly and suddenly in her ear: "Belinda, Belinda! Mademoiselle Cerise has on a dress precisely like yours!" "No!" she said, and opened her eyes in a moment. She gazed around anxiously for Mademoiselle Cerise, but the Sailor-Boy placed himself right before her and looked at her as adoringly as he knew how. "Oh, Belinda," he said, "how I love you!" "Do you?" said she with great surprise. "Well, you don't love me more than I love you." "You make me very happy, my lass," said he. "But why are you astonished at my saying I love you? Have I not told you so before?" "I thought you were quizzing," she answered. "The sad expression of my face should have told you I was not quizzing," he replied. "How could I tell what your expression was when I never saw it?" she asked with some reproach. "You did not see it because you always closed your eyes when I spoke to you," he replied. "What made you do that?" Belinda thought a moment "It was merely a habit I had fallen into," said she. "You should never become a slave to a habit," replied the curly-headed Sailor-Lad. He spoke reprovingly, as he thought of his many heart-aches. She did not like to be reproved, so she changed the subject. "You made a mistake," she said. "Mademoiselle Cerise's dress is very pretty, but it is not _precisely_ like mine; the pattern is larger and a little louder, and the color is lighter and a little harsher." "Well, perhaps," said the Sailor-Lad. He spoke very cheerful now, he felt in such good spirits. * * * * * "I am very glad that the Sailor-Boy was happy at last," said the little girl. "I was afraid Belinda never meant to open her eyes." "It certainly looked like it at one time," answered the little Marionette. "However, it was all right in the end, for she opened them in time to prevent her Sailor-Boy's heart from breaking." "I wonder why she kept them closed so long." "I wonder," reflected the little Marionette. And she smiled. "Force of habit, I suppose, as she herself said," she remarked after a pause. "We all have our little ways. Now what sort of story would you like to-morrow?" The little girl thought deeply for a few moments. Then she said: "You have told me a story about a sailor, so I should like the next one to be about a soldier." "A soldier--a soldier--" the Marionette answered. "I don't think I know one about a soldier--Yes, stay; there is the story of the Officer and the Elephant. That is about a soldier." "An Officer and an Elephant! How nice!" exclaimed the little girl eagerly. "I am quite certain it must be very funny." "I don't think the Officer found it so," the little lady replied, giving a sweet, little tinkling laugh. "Didn't he?" asked her listener with much interest. "I wish you would tell me all about it now," she continued; "I want so much to hear it." "Not now," replied the little Marionette, "it is getting too late; all the animals in the Noah's Ark are fast asleep. Listen, they are snoring loudly. Come to-morrow at the same time. Be punctual, for the story is a long one." "Yes, I will," promised the little girl. CHAPTER IV The next day she was as good as her word, arriving to the very minute. It was the little Marionette who was not in time. It was quite five minutes before she tripped up the counter and greeted her little friend. The little girl looked at her with some reproach. "It is _you_ who are late, not I," she said. "Is it?" replied the little Marionette. "Well, I _am_ ashamed. However, here I am now, so I will begin at once to tell you my tale." And settling herself down, and smoothing out her beautiful brocade dress, she began without further ado, the story of: "The Officer and the Elephant." THE OFFICER & THE ELEPHANT Amongst all the Toys in the toy-shop, none were so disliked and feared as the twelve Wooden Soldiers who, with an imposing Officer at their head, proudly faced the world in double file. In the first place, they were intensely proud and vain. They showed this in everything they did. For example, their drill was of the most simple description. It merely consisted in their moving backwards and forwards from one another on a platform of sticks, which could be drawn out or in at pleasure. This, it will easily be believed, required no great skill or knowledge. Yet, to judge from the pride expressed upon the faces of the Wooden Soldiers as they went through this simple movement, one would have certainly imagined it was exceedingly difficult. Their foolish pride was also displayed in their manner towards others. No one ventured to ask them even the most civil of questions for fear of receiving a rude answer. Father Christmas one afternoon happened to inquire at the Commanding-officer what time it was. "Time," he replied, "for little boys to be in bed." "You might," said the patriarch gravely, "have shown a little respect for the length of my beard and the whiteness of my hairs. 'Tis hardly the way to speak to a man of my years and standing. One, too, who with the decline of the year expects to be at the top of the tree." But the Officer merely laughed loudly and shrugged his shoulders. From this instance, which is only one example of many, you will easily understand how the Wooden Soldiers came to be disliked in the toy-shop. As for the fear they inspired, this was partly owing to the long swords they wore, and partly owing to the boasting way in which they vowed they could use them. "My men and I really command the whole shop," said the Officer one day. "Moreover, who faces one, faces all, for we all march in the same direction. We not only have our good swords, but we know how to use them. They are sheathed now, but let no one count upon that to offend us. Let but a foolhardy toy dare insult us, and--" here he gave the word of command, and instantly a dozen and one swords sprang from their scabbards. The lady Dolls shrieked, the Grocer and the Butcher began to put up their shutters with trembling hands; the white, furry Rabbit became a shade whiter; and the corners of the Clown's mouth dropped instead of going up as usual. It was plain that a general panic was felt. The only Toy that did not appear to be affected was the great gray Elephant lately arrived. He twisted his trunk round thoughtfully, but never changed countenance. The Officer saw the general terror he had inspired, and both he and his Soldiers were well pleased. "Besides," he continued, speaking more loudly than before, "if our swords fail us we shall have recourse to gunpowder, which will make short work of our enemies." The Elephant looked at the Officer and his men. "I don't see it," he said bluntly. "I didn't suppose you would," said the Officer scornfully. "Don't speak in such a hurry. The powder I'm speaking of is felt but not seen. It's our last improvement, arrived at by slow degrees. Gunpowder,--smokeless gunpowder,--soundless gunpowder,--invisible gunpowder. Thus we may surround an enemy with enough gunpowder to blow up a town, but they neither see it nor hear it. In fact, they know nothing about it until they are blown up." This time all the Toys nearly expired with fright! The Elephant only remained, as before, unmoved. "Invisible gunpowder is more humane in the end," the Officer continued. "You are quite unaware of what is happening until you find yourself in pieces." "The same thing may happen to yourself, I suppose?" asked the Elephant, in his heavy and clumsy fashion. "Beg pardon; did anyone speak?" inquired the Officer in the most insulting of voices. For he despised the Elephant and wished to snub him. "I asked you if the same might not happen to yourself?" the Elephant repeated, regardless of the Officer's attempt to make him appear foolish. "What if the enemy serves you the same way?" "That difficulty, my good beast," he answered in his most overbearing manner, "is easily disposed of. We have special Soldiers trained to _smell_ gunpowder. We have merely to send out these scouts, and we can trace the gunpowder anywhere within gunshot." "I don't believe it," said the Elephant. The Officer at this laughed a grim laugh, truly awful to hear. "Ha, Ha!" he exclaimed; "do not provoke me too far lest I slay you with my sword. I'm a man of sport, and to do the act would cause me no little diversion. Beware!" The Elephant made no reply, which induced the Officer to think he had frightened him. "A great clumsy beast of no spirit," he said to his Soldiers. "Right, sir," answered the Soldiers. "Now to drill," he continued sharply. "Attention! Eyes right, eyes left; right movement, left movement; swords out, swords in! Mark--_time_!" This last command they were obliged to obey with their heads, their feet being tightly gummed on to the platform. So tightly gummed that they could not get free even when Mortals were not present, and all the Toys were at liberty to speak, walk, and talk. Indeed, nothing but a strong blow could possibly loosen them from their position. Therefore, when they marched or even took a simple walk they were obliged to march or walk in a body, taking the platform with them. Again, if the Commanding-officer granted leave of absence to one, he was obliged to grant it to all, even to himself, otherwise no one could have taken it. "Come," said the Officer to the Elephant one day, "you are a bright beast. Let me propound you a mathematical problem. If a herring and a half cost three halfpence, how much would six herrings cost?" "Just as much as they ought to, if you went to an honest fishmonger," answered the Elephant. The Officer and his men laughed loudly. "Capital, capital!" said the bully. "If you distinguish yourself in this way we shall have to make you Mathematical Instructor-in-General to the whole army." But the Elephant made no reply. "That's the thickest-skinned animal I ever met," said the Officer to his men. But herein he made a mistake. The Elephant never forgot an insult, but paid it back upon the first opportunity. The opportunity, in this case, was not long in arriving; it came, indeed, all too soon for the Officer's taste. It occurred in this way. One day a little boy came into the shop and asked to look at some soldiers, upon which the shopwoman showed him the wooden warriors. "No, I don't like them," he said; "they have to move all the same way at once. It is very stupid of them. Have you no others?" "Not just at the moment," replied the shopwoman. "We are expecting some more. They should have been here several days ago." "Then I'll take a train," said the boy. "But it is very funny that you should have such a poor lot of soldiers as these." "That silly remark will make the Toys less afraid of us," thought the Officer to himself with some alarm. "I shall make the men practise sword-drill in the most open fashion for several hours. This will remind the world that we are not to be trifled with." But it is one thing to make a resolution and quite another thing to carry it into effect. This the Officer was to experience ere the day was over. For in putting the Soldiers back into their place the shopwoman happened to hit the Officer with some force against a dolls' house. Being a very hard blow it knocked him off the platform, and, unnoticed by her, he fell on his back upon the counter. Now came the time for the Elephant's revenge. _The Officer fell just under the animal's trunk!_ It was, as the Officer at once realized, by no means a pleasant situation. As his men were some yards away from him, and unable to come in a body to his rescue till perhaps too late, the Officer was exceedingly uneasy. "I had better soothe the monster," he said to himself. Then aloud, and in a pleasant voice: "What a nice handy trunk that is of yours; you must be able to carry so much in it? As for me, I have to travel with a portmanteau, a Gladstone-bag, a hat-box, and a gun-case; it is a terrible nuisance." He paused, but the Elephant made no reply. "This is not very pleasant," said the Officer uneasily to himself. "I fear the beast is of a sulky temper. What _will_ happen to me?" And he lay still, trembling and fearful. At last the day closed in, the Mortals shut up the shop and left, and the time of the Toys arrived. The Elephant then addressed the Officer in a slow voice and ponderous manner. "I feel inclined to trample on you," he remarked. The Officer closed his eyes with terror; then, half-opening them, he endeavored to look defiantly and speak boldly. "Pre-pre-sump-tu-tu-ous b-b-b-beast!" he faltered. The Elephant looked at him threateningly. "It was on-on-ly my f-f-un!" stammered the Officer, trembling with fear, and all the crimson fading from his cheeks. "Do you wish me to spare your life?" asked the Elephant. "It is very valuable," the Officer replied more calmly as he regained courage, and unable to forget his foolish pride even in that awful moment. "The world can do without it," said the great beast threateningly. "Spare me!" cried the coward and bully. The Elephant paused. "Very good," he answered, "but only upon my own conditions." "Certainly, certainly," the Officer said in a fawning voice. "Many thanks; any conditions that you may think proper." After this the Elephant thought for a long while. Then he said: "These are my conditions. You must submit to let me carry you up and down the counter, stopping before such Toys as I shall see fit. And whenever I stop, you are to announce yourself in these words: 'Good-evening. Have you kicked the coward and the bully? The real genuine article, no imitation. If you have not kicked him already, kick him without delay.'" "It is too bad of you to require me to say this," the Officer cried, his anger for the moment overcoming his fear. "But then you are not a gentleman. You are--" "When you have done," interrupted the Elephant, "I will begin." So saying, and amidst the intense excitement of the other Toys, the Elephant, with his trunk, slowly picked up his fallen foe by the back of the coat and began his ponderous march--so triumphant for himself, so humiliating for the Officer. The programme was carried out exactly as the Elephant had said it should be, for the great gray beast was a beast of his word. He never made up his mind in a foolish hurry, but having made it up he rarely altered it. And so it was upon this occasion. After every few steps the huge creature stopped before one or another of the Toys, when the former tyrant was obliged to announce himself as a coward and a bully, and invite a kicking, an invitation which was always accepted, and acted upon with much heartiness. Finally the avenger laid the Officer on the platform, from which the Wooden Soldiers had been watching with amazement and horror the journey of the Commanding-officer; understanding as they did for the first time the strength of the great beast and afraid to interfere. Having placed his humble foe in his old position, only upon his back instead of upon his feet, the Elephant with his trunk deliberately knocked over all the Soldiers one after the other. Then he grunted and walked slowly away. So ended the reign of terror which the Officer and his Soldiers had established over the toy-shop. And so universal was the relief experienced after the strain that had been felt, that the Elephant was everywhere hailed as a Friend to the Public. Indeed, during the remainder of his stay in the shop, he was treated with greater respect and deference than any other toy,--Father Christmas only excepted,--and when he left at Christmas-time, the regret expressed was both loud and sincere. CHAPTER V "I am a little bit sorry for the Officer," said the little girl. "He must have been a good deal hurt. And he must have felt very silly, too," she added. "Almost worse than being hurt, isn't it?" said the little Marionette. "Yes, I was a little sorry for him myself; but I think he deserved all he got." "Yes; because he _was_ a horrid bully, wasn't he?" said the little girl. "And his men, too, were as bad as he. I always used to like toy-soldiers. I never shall again." "I should not like you to judge of all soldiers by the wooden ones I have told you of," said the Marionette. "We _have_ had in the shop sets of wooden and tin soldiers of the highest character; gallant fellows, beloved and esteemed by all. I will tell you of them to-morrow if you like." The little girl considered a moment. "I think," she said at length, "I would rather hear something quite different for a change. If you do not mind," she added politely. "Not in the least," replied the little lady. "I shall think of a story that shall have nothing to do with soldiers, good, bad, or indifferent." So on the morrow when they met again the Marionette said: "I have thought of quite a different sort of story to the one I told you yesterday." "Thank you," said her little friend. "Please begin." "Yes," she said as the little Marionette remained silent. "Yes--yes--_do_ begin!" "Patience, patience! I am just considering for a moment if I have the story correct in every respect. It is now some time since it happened, and one's memory is apt to play one tricks when one is telling stories of other people. But I think I remember it correctly. So I will begin without further delay the history of: 'The Little Dancer.'" THE LITTLE DANCER There never was a prettier dancer than the Little Dancer of the frizzy dark hair, and the blue tulle dress with silver spangles. Forward, backward, forward, backward went her little feet with rapid, dainty movement, whilst the small musical-box--on the top of which she gracefully danced--tinkled, tinkled, tinkled out its gay little tune, and all the Toys watched her with the greatest delight. Truly she bewitched all who saw her, and gained much admiration. But she was very modest, and not at all conceited, so that she was not only admired but also loved; which, as you will agree, is far better. She took life very easily and happily, till it happened one day that she saw the Bicycle-man, and unfortunately fell in love with him as he went by. He was a very handsome fellow, and made a good appearance upon his bicycle. Directly the Little Dancer saw him she loved him, and she lost no time in telling him so. She spoke without any hesitation. "Dear heart, I love you," she said as she danced. Now the Bicycle-man was very vain, and was therefore not a little gratified at the impression he had made. But he pretended to be much displeased. "You should not have said that until I had first said something of the sort," replied the Bicycle-man. "It was not your place to speak first. You are very forward." And he rode on. The Little Dancer was much distressed. "He is angry," she said to her friend the Little China Doll next to her, with the two long flaxen pigtails hanging down her back. "He is angry." And she danced more slowly and less gaily. "What of that?" said her friend, tossing her head. "It is of no consequence." "No; it is of no consequence," repeated the Little Dancer. But she felt unhappy. The next day the Bicycle-man passed that way again, and she danced her very best, hoping to win his heart. "That is really not bad," he said; "not at all bad. You dance quite nicely, as dancing goes." "Oh sweetheart, I love you!" she said, encouraged by his praise. "I really cannot stand such remarks," said the Bicycle-man. "They make me both angry and confused." And he went on, leaving her in tears. "Why do you trouble about him?" said the Little China Doll. "He is not worth it. A penny Toy, indeed! You turn his head. Take no more notice of him." "I won't," replied the Little Dancer tearfully. So the next time he stopped to watch her dancing she did not speak to him. "You are getting rude now," he said. "I am not sure whether that is not worse than being forward." "What shall I say?" asked the Little Dancer. "My words do not please you." "I should not be displeased if you were to say 'good-day'," he replied. "It would only be polite, and I never find fault with politeness." "Good-day," she said, as she practised her steps. "Is that all?" he inquired. "That is all," she answered. "I have a bit of news for you," he said. "I am thinking of marrying the doll to whom the Red House belongs. It is a comfortable house, well built, and well appointed. You shall come and have tea with us." The Little Dancer burst into tears, and her feet moved more slowly. "Why are you crying?" asked the Bicycle-man, with pretended surprise. "Dear heart, Oh dear heart, I love you!" she wept. "Well, well, so do many others," he answered. "It isn't my fault" And mounting his bicycle he rode away. "Don't you see you are making him terribly conceited?" said the Little China Doll. "It is absurd of you. Try to be more sensible." "I love him so, I love him so!" sobbed the Little Dancer. "My heart is broken." On the morrow the Bicycle-man appeared as usual. "It is all settled," he said. "I hope to marry the doll to whom the Red House belongs, before the week is out. I fear my marriage will be a disappointment to many a lady." The Little Dancer made no reply: she was too heart-broken to utter a sound. "Are you not going to wish me happiness?" he asked. But the Little Dancer still spoke not. She danced faster and faster as the tears fell from her eyes. The Bicycle-man did not notice how quickly her tears were falling. "Your silence is a sad want of manners," he said. "Uncivility is far from attractive." Still the little Dancer made no answer; she could not speak, she was crying so bitterly. "Well, good-day," he said. "It is very evident that you did not pay the extra twopence for manners." Then he left. "Stop dancing," said the Little China Doll to the Little Dancer. "You are not in a fit state to dance. You will kill yourself." "I _must_ dance till I forget, or till I die," she answered--sobbing. And then she danced faster, _faster_, FASTER, till she went at quite a furious rate. Her little feet went to and fro so quickly you could hardly see them. The China Doll implored the poor Little Dancer to stop, but she did not heed her. She continued dancing, dancing, dancing all through the day, all through the evening, and far into the night. Till, at last, something within her went--_Snap_! And she fell flat on the ground, and the gay little tune stopped suddenly. The clockwork within her had broken. She had danced herself to death! The next morning the Bicycle-man came again. "The wedding is put off--" he began. Then he saw the lifeless form of the Little Dancer, and he turned pale. "You have killed her by your vanity," said the China Doll severely. "If you had stayed away she would have forgotten you. But you _would_ come because it pleased your conceit to hear her say she loved you, and to hear her lament because you did not love her. She has danced herself to death in her despair. Alas! Alas! My poor friend!" "I really believe I loved her after all," said the Bicycle-man in a sad voice. "What can I say or do to make some slight amends? Tell me." "There is nothing to be said or done," said the China Doll. "The poor Little Dancer is dead. It is too late! Go and marry the Doll of the Red House." "I don't want to _now_," he answered. "Henceforward my life shall be passed mourning for the Little Dancer who broke her heart because of me. And from this time I shall ride my bicycle sitting with my back to the handle, and with my hands behind me. It will be a most absurd position, but it will serve as a punishment to remind me of the sad end to which my vanity brought my poor little sweetheart." And he strictly kept his resolve. At first the other Toys laughed: then they wondered; then they inquired into the meaning of so strange a performance. And when they heard the story, such of them as had heads shook them, and all said gravely: "'Tis well and nobly meant. But it won't mend the poor Little Dancer's heart. Alas! Alack-a-day!" CHAPTER VI When the tale was ended the little girl took out her handkerchief and wiped her eyes. "Come, this won't do," said the little Marionette. "I should not have told you the story if I had thought you were going to take it so much to heart." "I am very sorry for the poor Little Dancer," she replied sadly; "I wish that the Bicycle-man had not been so unkind." "Well, well, it is all over now. Wipe your eyes; you can't do any good by crying, and I don't like seeing tears," said her friend. "Never mind; I rather like feeling sad," Molly answered politely, though tearfully. "Still, a little sadness goes a long way," remarked the Marionette. "There is no doubt of that. I think I had better tell you something to amuse you now." She thought a moment and then she laughed. "What are you laughing at?" asked the little girl with curiosity. "At the remembrance of the Hansom-driver," she answered. "I never can think of him without laughing. Shall I tell you his story? I shall have time to do so this evening, for it is short, like the one I have just finished." And she began the story of: "The Hansom-driver." THE HANSOM DRIVER The Hansom-driver was indeed very plain, but he fancied himself very beautiful. 'Tis thus that we are liable to make errors of judgment; especially respecting ourselves. His cheeks were crimson and his nose was the same hue, yet he was quite convinced that all the young lady dolls envied him his complexion. His eyes were dull as lead, but in his boundless conceit he always compared them to sparkling diamonds. In a word, his appearance was terribly against him, yet his constant complaint was that he attracted so much attention, and won so much admiration wherever he went, that he could almost find it in his heart to wish he had been born ugly. His own looks were his constant topic of conversation, till at length the other Toys quaked when he opened his mouth, knowing very well how they were going to suffer. Amongst those who suffered the most from his talk were the Butcher, the Baker, and the Clown. They lived at the opposite side of the counter, where he drove every morning to give his orders for bread and meat. He never thought of driving away at once when he had done this, but always stopped to make remarks upon his own appearance; till at length, in common with the rest of the world, they became wearied to death of the subject. The Butcher and Baker tried to put a stop to it by making uncivil remarks, and the clown by making rude jests. But the conceit of the Hansom-driver still remained. One day when he was talking to his three acquaintances, the Butcher happened to remark on the beauty of the sunset-glow the previous evening. "Some people," said the Hansom-driver at once, "admire the beautiful glow of the sunset sky, some the beautiful glow of the healthy countenance. By the by, a chap I met yesterday told me my face was simply glowing with health." "Especially your nose, my pretty fellow," remarked the Clown. "From my brow to my chin, I am, I believe, suffused with the glow of a pretty color," replied the Hansom-driver. "Naturally it does not skip my nose. And very glad I am it does not; I should not like any feature to feel neglected or left out in the cold." "He becomes quite unbearable," whispered one lady doll to another. "Quite," she replied in the same tone. The Hansom-driver smiled as he saw them whisper. He did not doubt but that they were making some flattering remarks about himself. "Speak out, ladies," he said. But they turned away in silent anger. Most people would have been annoyed at this behavior. Not so the Hansom-driver. In his great vanity he completely misread their silence. "A compliment about me," he laughed. "Doubtless too great a one to be said aloud." "You needn't fancy _that_," said the Butcher rudely. "You hear a good many compliments, I don't deny, but they all come from the same source--your own block of a head. When you are absent you get few enough, that I know for a positive fact." "Not that there is anything surprising in it," the Baker said to the Hansom-driver in quite as rude a manner as the Butcher. "I am not yet aware that you are a subject for compliments." "'My face is my fortune, sir, he said'," misquoted the Hansom-driver with great conceit; "and a very handsome fortune, too," he added. "Your face!" exclaimed the Butcher. "Why, a sheep's face is more to be admired than yours." "I beg to differ," the Hansom-driver said, shaking his head. "I've never yet seen a really good-looking face amongst a flock of sheep." "So you actually think yours is good-looking?" sneered the Baker. "Why, I could make a better-looking one out of a piece of dough." "I defy you to," the Hansom-driver replied. "A face like mine is not easily copied. Nor am I the only person of that opinion. All the ladies think that I am beautiful. And of course I go by what they think." "And who," he asked, with a bow towards a little group of lady dolls, "who can be better judges of the matter?" "Do you think they consider you good-looking?" inquired the Clown. "Get along, you dreamer!" "I do not think it, I know it," he replied. "We don't," said the Butcher and the Baker. "Put it to the proof. We challenge you. Let the ladies vote upon the matter and they will prove you mistaken." "Very well," answered the Hansom-driver. "The result will be favorable to me. Of that I have no doubt." "All right! To business," said the Butcher. "What about the ladies' decision as to this fellow's claim of beauty?" "Ay; when shall it be given?" inquired the Hansom-driver, anxious to lose no time. "In a fortnight at the earliest," said the Clown. "The making up of ladies' minds, as of Christmas puddings, requires plenty of thought and preparation." "Good!" said the Hansom-driver. Then he got up upon the seat of his hansom, whipped up his horse, and drove off. Now, during the fortnight he was, if possible, more conceited than ever. He never ceased making vain speeches respecting his looks, and could indeed be induced to speak of nothing else. "I have not the slightest fear as to the ladies' decision," he boastfully remarked. "When I look in the glass I see how impossible it is that they should have anything but one opinion. By the by, a most curious little incident occurred last night. I was sauntering about my end of the counter, when the white Polar Bear walked right up against me. 'Hulloa!' I said, 'look out where you are going.' 'I beg your pardon, I'm sure,' said he; 'It was a little mistake. I was trying to find my way home, and catching sight of your right eye, mistook it for the Polar Star and guided myself by its light.' 'Very flattering,' I said, 'but I'd prefer you not to tread on my toes.' Strange, wasn't it?" "Most strange!" the Butcher jeered. "The Polar Bear has never been able to see clearly since the shopwoman's baby poked out both his eyes. Your story is a little far-fetched, my good chap." "Oh, what a surprise!" laughed the Clown, as the Hansom-driver, unable to avoid looking a little silly, turned his head aside and pretended to sneeze. "I've a piece of news for you," said the Baker; "another surprise. The ladies have made up their minds already. Instead of a fortnight they have only taken a week to decide. They have but one opinion, and the Clown has been instructed to deliver it to you to-morrow morning when you come to give your orders. I may warn you that you will find a great crowd of Toys waiting to hear it." "Let come who will," vaunted the Hansom-driver. "_I_ fear no crowd. The more Toys to witness my moment of triumph, the better." And it was in this frame of mind that, on the following morning, he drove to the Butcher's shop, outside of which a large crowd was gathered. "Well," he said with a smile to the Clown who headed the crowd; "well, and what is the ladies' opinion about my beauty?" "The ladies have decided," said the Clown, nodding his head and speaking very rapidly, "the ladies have all decided--mind you, _all_ decided--that you _are_ a hansom man. And so say I." The Hansom-driver climbed down from his seat. "Shake hands," he said. "One doesn't find a fellow of sense like you every day." The Clown shook hands, then turned a somersault and grinned from ear to ear. "Handsome," he said slowly, "but _without_ the _d_ and the _e_. Mark that, my child. No _beauty, but a hansom man_. Ho-la! What's the time of day? Time to go away?" For the Hansom-driver had mounted to his seat, and, whipping up his horse, was driving off as fast as he could. CHAPTER VII "That was very funny," said the little girl; "it made me laugh very much." "It made all the Toys laugh," said the Marionette--"except the Hansom-driver himself. And, perhaps, he might be excused for not doing so." "He _was_ a vain thing," said the little girl. "He was," the Marionette agreed. "However, we must not be too severe on him. He had his good points after all. He was not bad-tempered, for example, like poor Claribelle, who at one time was quite unbearable, and made herself disliked by everyone. Though in the end, poor creature, she became, it is true, an altered character." "'Poor Claribelle!' Who was she?" "A young lady doll whose bad temper, unfortunately for her, brought her great sorrow. "I should like to hear about her," said the little girl. The little Marionette mused a moment. "I should not do wrong to tell you," she remarked. "The story of this poor, proud creature may perhaps serve as a lesson and warning to some other haughty and fanciful young lady. Yes, you shall hear to-morrow evening of Claribelle." And so the next evening, in a grave voice that befitted the tale, she told the story of "Proud Claribelle." PROUD CLARIBELLE Claribelle was a very haughty doll. She was very beautiful, with great brown eyes and a mass of dark hair that fell to her waist. She had fine clothes, too; a pink silk dress, a large straw hat trimmed with lace and pink roses, pink silk stockings and bronze shoes, and round her neck a string of pearls, which were the envy of every lady doll in the toy-shop. She held her head very high indeed, and would not speak to this doll because it was "frumpish," or that doll because it was not in the same set as herself. The China Doll she really could not be on intimate terms with, because she had a crack across her cheek. Fancy being seen walking with a cracky person! Also, she must really decline being introduced to the Farthing Doll. A very good, worthy person, no doubt, but really she and a doll worth a farthing could not possibly have many tastes in common. As to the Rag Doll, she was a pushing person. At a tea-party at which they had both been present, she had asked Claribelle if she didn't think that skirts were fuller. To think of discussing clothes with a creature of rags! The idea was really too comical! It was thus, and in this proud spirit, that Claribelle talked about the other and more modest Toys. There were, indeed, very few that she would take the slightest notice of. As a matter of fact, when she walked down the counter she held her nose so much in the air that it was very rarely she saw anyone. She did not care in the least whether she trod on other people's toes or not. From this you will easily understand that she was a Toy who gained more admiration than love. There was, however, one who was truly devoted to Claribelle. This was the Driver of the Wagon, who was always of the opinion that beneath her haughty manner lay a kind heart. They were engaged to be married, and with true affection he often spoke to her about her haughty manner to the other Toys. On such occasions Claribelle tossed her head and flew into a passion, often sulking for hours afterwards. Yet, although she so sorely tried the Driver's patience, he continued to love her. And when all other means had failed he would often sing her back to good temper, for he had a beautiful tenor voice. He was a little proud of his voice, and used to practise every night, partly because he loved music, also because he delighted to show his devotion to Claribelle by singing her little love-songs in a well-trained manner. He was of a kindly, genial nature, so that you would have thought it was hardly possible to quarrel with him. But Claribelle's pride not seldom caused a dispute between them, and she would often start a heated argument without any reason. It was thus one day that a quarrel arose which ended in the most serious manner. They were out driving in the Wagon, when the Driver, remembering he owed a call on the Farthing Doll, proposed that he and Claribelle should go thither. "What!" she exclaimed haughtily. "Pay a call on that Farthing creature! _Certainly_ not!" "I, at least, must go, sooner or later," the Driver replied. "Why?" she asked much displeased. "Because did I not call," answered he kindly but firmly, "I should be lacking in courtesy to a lady who has never shown me anything but the utmost civility. However, since you do not wish it, I will not go to-day." "I do not wish you to go at all," she said. "But I see it is quite sufficient for me to say that I do not desire you to do a thing, for you to do it." And after this she sulked and said she did not love him. Upon this the Driver bethought him a new song he had just learnt, and he determined to sing it in the hope of winning her back to good temper. So he began: "'Oh, down in Alabama, before I was set free, I loved a dark-eyed, yaller girl, And thought--'" But he got no further, for here Claribelle interrupted him. "Does that apply to _me_?" she said with flashing eyes. "Well, you _have_ dark eyes, you know," he said pleasantly, hoping to make her smile. "Beautiful dark eyes, too." "Stop the wagon!" she said furiously. "I will not be so insulted. Dark eyes, yes; but yaller! yaller! yaller!" "Allow me to explain. I only--" began the Driver. "_Yaller_, indeed! Stop the Wagon!" "I should like to say--" "A dark-eyed, _yaller_ girl! Stop the Wagon,--and consider our engagement at an end." "_Will_ you let me--" But Claribelle shook her head furiously, and in her rage tried to jump out of the Wagon. So the Driver, fearing she would break her neck, did as she requested and pulled up his horse, when she immediately alighted. Then she swept away, flouncing her pink silk dress, and with her head in the air. The Driver called later and tried to pacify her, but she would not listen. She only turned her back upon him--which was a very rude thing to do--and persisted in saying that their engagement was at an end. So the Wagoner whipped up his horse and went away sad and sorry. He looked, indeed, so sad that the haughty Claribelle nearly repented of her pride and was just about to call him back. "But he'll return to-morrow," she said to herself, "and he must be taught not to make false remarks about my complexion. Fancy calling me 'yaller!'" The next day he came as she expected. "Do I still look yaller?" Claribelle asked scornfully. "Let bygones be bygones," said he. "Besides, I never called you yaller." "Our engagement is ended," she said. "Claribelle," he said kindly but firmly, "listen to what I say. If you do not tame your proud temper, you will one day bring sorrow upon yourself." Then he left, wounded and displeased. The next day he came again. "I may be going away," he said, "to the other side of the shop, to the opposite counter." "Do I still look yaller?" Claribelle asked, tossing her head. "Aren't you sorry I am going?" he replied. "I haven't time to think of trifles," she said haughtily. "Cruel Claribelle," he said. "I shall not send you a letter, not even a post-card." "Letters are dull," she said coldly, "and post-cards are vulgar." "You will repent of this some day," he replied. And he turned and went away in anger. On the morrow he came once more. "I have come to say good-bye," he said. "Oh!" she replied; but not a word more. "Aren't you sorry?" he asked again. "Yes," she replied, "because the Farthing Doll put her foot on my dress this morning in passing me, and tore it. She is a clumsy thing." "You are trying my patience too far," he said. "Proud Claribelle, beware! Beware, proud Claribelle!" "You confirm me in my resolution," said she. "I will never marry a Toy who gives way to his temper over nothing. Once for all, our engagement is at an end." "I cannot believe that," he said. "Do you really mean it?" "Certainly," she answered. "So be it," he replied. Then he got up from his chair with dignity, made a low bow, mounted his Wagon, and drove away. "I almost wish I had not said that," thought the haughty Beauty uneasily. "I never meant him to go away so soon. If he had stayed I should, perhaps, have altered my mind. I will tell him so when he comes to-morrow." But next day he did not come. Then a few tears fell from Claribelle's haughty eyes. Nor did he come on the next, and then she shed more. Nor on the following day; nor the day after that, nor the day after _that_,--nor ever again! And each day poor Claribelle wept more and more, till it was sad to see her. At last she heard the Wagoner had left the toy-shop altogether, and she knew she should never see him again. And she cried, and cried, and cried, till she cried away every bit of pride in her nature! Indeed, from being the proudest Toy in the shop she became the meekest and gentlest--kind and thoughtful to all. So the other Toys would often remark one to the other with surprise and pleasure: "Lo! how poor Claribelle hath been chastened by sorrow!" "Poor, _poor_ Claribelle! I _am_ sorry for her!" said the little girl. "She had, indeed, a severe lesson," answered the little Marionette. "And did the Wagoner ever come back?" "Never, never. He loved, but drove away." "How sad!" sighed the little girl. "Sad, indeed," said the Marionette. "Well, as I always say, let all young ladies take warning by the story of Proud Claribelle, and then it will not have been told in vain." There was a pause. Then the little girl said: "Next time you tell me a story I should like it to be happy all through. Happy, you know, from beginning to end." The little Marionette thought a few moments, then shook her head. "I can't remember such a story," she said. "I think there must be very few." "I am sorry for that," answered the little girl, disappointed. "I wanted very much to hear one." "We must take things as they are," said the little lady cheerfully. "If I don't know many stories that are happy all the way through, I know plenty that are so at the beginning, or the middle, or the end; or even more than that." "Which do you like best?" said the little girl. "Oh, stories with a happy ending! You can forget that the beginning or middle has been sad, and you can go away smiling." "Then tell me to-morrow a story that ends happily." "If you will," said the little Marionette. CHAPTER VIII On the morrow, when the two met as usual, the Marionette said to the little girl: "Good evening. I have thought of a story that will please you." "Then I suppose it ends most happily, doesn't it?" asked Molly. "Quite right," she replied. "I am going to tell you one that ends as happily as you could wish it to. You will, I am sure, be quite satisfied with the conclusion of: 'The Grocer and the Farthing Doll.'" THE GROCER AND THE FARTHING DOLL Never was there a love affair more perplexing than the love affair of the Grocer and the Farthing Doll. It puzzled the whole toy-shop; it even puzzled the two lovers themselves. The affair was rather difficult to understand, but I will try to explain it to you as simply as I can. Everyone knew that the Grocer and the Farthing Doll loved each other; the Grocer knew he loved the Farthing Doll, but he did not know that she loved him; the Farthing Doll knew that she loved the Grocer, but she didn't know if he loved her. So everything was at a stand-still, and none of the other dolls knew how to bring the matter to a happy end. No one quite liked to interfere. And for these reasons: The Grocer was very proud and would take no advice, whilst the Farthing Doll was so sensitive that a single wrong word might cause her a serious illness. Again, the Grocer wouldn't ask the Farthing Doll to marry him because, being a proud Toy, he feared the humiliation of her saying "No." She, on her part, would not say much to help him, lest it should look as if she were forward. It was thus that matters stood, when, walking along the counter one day, the Farthing Doll met the Grocer sauntering by with a sad face. "Well!" she exclaimed, with a start of surprise. "Fancy seeing you here!" "My shop is close by," he answered. "Don't you remember?" "To be sure," she said. "How odd of me to forget." "I'm very pleased to see you," said the Grocer. "I am glad of that, for I have every wish to please you," said the Farthing Doll. "Is that satisfactory?" he asked. "It ought to be," she replied. "I don't know," the Grocer said. "You may wish to please, without loving. For instance, you may try to please a turkey by giving him the best of grain. But that is not because you love him. It is merely because you wish to fatten him well for your Christmas dinner." "Good-morning!" said the Farthing Doll coldly. "Stay!" the Grocer cried. "I have an idea. We appear to have some difficulty in finding out the Truth. Let us go and hunt for it." "Where is it to be found?" she asked. "At the bottom of a Well, so I've heard." "Then I suppose the first thing is to find the Well." "Exactly so," he said. "Come, let us start." So they walked away hand in hand. They hunted all up and down the counter, and asked directions of many dolls. But never a Well could they find. "See!" exclaimed the Farthing Doll at last; "here's a square thing that looks something like a Well. Go, open it and look down." "What may be inside, though?" he said cautiously. "Truth, Truth, you silly thing!" she said impatiently. "Go!" So he went and opened the lid. But it was not a Well at all. It was merely the abode of Jack-in-the-box, and when the Grocer looked in Jack jumped out. He jumped up so suddenly that he knocked the Grocer flat on his back. The poor fellow got up and rubbed his head. "One gets very hard blows sometimes in the search for Truth," he said ruefully. "You shouldn't be in such a hurry," remarked Jack-in-the-box. "Take things more calmly, and ask the Policeman. Kindly shut up the lid of my box. I can't very well manage it myself, I'm so springy. Close it firmly, please, or I shall be jumping out again, and I don't want to do that. I wish to stay indoors to-day as much as possible, for I have a heavy cold in my head and am sneezing every two minutes." "_That_ didn't do much good," said the Grocer when he had done as he was asked, and closed the lid of Jack's box. "Let us find the Policeman," she said, holding out her hand. "An excellent idea," he replied as he took it. "There he is, just outside that dolls' house. "Constable," he said, "can you direct us to the Well with Truth at the bottom?" "First to the right, second to the left, and keep on till you come to it," the policeman answered, without removing his eyes from the kitchen window. "Not that I ever heard tell of any such Well," he added, putting his head inside and speaking to the Little China Doll within. "Then you're a deceiver," she said severely, as she handed him a joint of beef tightly gummed on to a wooden platter. "You're sure to arrive at anything if you keep on till you get it," he answered carelessly. "So it doesn't really matter if you take the first to the right and the second to the left, or the second to the right and the first to the left. You are bound to get there in time.... This beef is gummed so tightly to the dish that it is a job to get it off...." In the meantime the Grocer and the Farthing Doll were wandering about trying to find the Well. They sought for a long time, but they could not see a sign of it. "We'll never find it," she said in despair. "And I am growing so tired I am beginning to lose all my good looks. All the crimson is wearing off my cheeks." "Come, come, my dear, we won't give up yet," he said. "Console yourself; I believe many others have been in the same plight before us." "I don't mind if they have," she said, tired and impatient. Now the Grocer was a man of quick intellect. His thoughts were not solely given to the selling of raisins, currants, flour, rice and other groceries. As the Farthing Doll spoke, a very clever idea came into his head. "Wait!" he said thoughtfully. "Your last remark has given me a new idea. You mentioned the word _mind_! Mind,--mind,--mind. Yes,--now why should we not give up seeking for truth in a Well, and try to find it in our minds?" "Have we got them?" she asked doubtfully. "I think so," he replied. "Then where are they kept?" He pondered. "In our heads, I imagine," he said. And tapping his forehead to help out his thought he remarked. "Let us begin. Here is my first question: Do you approve of marriages with Grocers?" "Before I answer," said the Farthing Doll cautiously, "I should like to hear if you approve of marriages with Farthing Dolls? Some people don't." "Ladies first. It is your place to reply to me before I reply to you." "I prefer the last word; you may have the first." "It is all very well to expect me to answer you, but supposing _I_ said 'Yes' and _you_ said 'No,' fancy how my pride would suffer!" "But supposing I said 'Yes' and you said 'No,' picture to yourself what my feelings would be. I should not recover from the blow." "We have got ourselves into a difficult position," said the Grocer. "Let us start afresh. If I wrote you a letter, how would you answer it?" "As I thought best," she said. "But tell me how would you write it?" "As I thought fit," he replied. "What would your 'best' be?" "That would depend on your 'fit'," she answered. The Grocer sighed and knit his brows. "It seems very difficult to come to an understanding with you," he said. And then they were both silent for a long while. As a matter of fact, this was because they were both so depressed that they could think of nothing further to say. The Farthing Doll was the first to break the silence. "Perhaps," she said sadly, "we had better start looking for that Well again. The Policeman told us that if we kept on we should come to it." "I am not sure that I trust the Policeman," he answered. "It struck me that he wished, unobserved, to enjoy some food from the dolls' house kitchen. He wanted to get rid of us." "What is to be done then?" she asked. The Grocer thought for a long while. Then he spoke again. "I have another idea," he remarked. "Let us look for Truth not in the Well, nor in our Minds, but in our Hearts. Do you agree?" "Yes, I do," she said. "But how shall we set about it?" "Let our Hearts speak," he replied. After this they were silent for a moment or two. Then the Grocer and the Farthing Doll clasped each other's hands and spoke at the same moment. "My Heart's Dearest, I love you," said he. "You are my Best Beloved," said she. So the matter ended happily, to their own joy and to the joy of the whole toy-shop. And these two lovers found Truth at last: not in the bottom of a Well, but in the depths of their own Hearts. And they married and were happy ever after. * * * * * "That was a nice ending," remarked the little girl. "I like it." "Yes; very satisfactory, wasn't it?" said the little lady. "How will the next story end, happily or sadly?" "I haven't thought of it yet. You shall know to-morrow." "I think I must go now," said the little girl. "I promised my little cousin to have a game of nine-pins with her before bed-time." "Wait," said the Marionette. "I have something to tell you. I think to-morrow evening will be the last time I shall be able to speak with you. My power of talking to a Mortal is going; it will not last after our next meeting." "Oh, I _am_ sorry!" exclaimed the little girl. "I do not leave till two days after to-morrow, and I thought that you would be able to go on telling me stories up to the very last evening." The little Marionette shook her head. "It will be impossible," said she. "And after to-morrow we shall not be able to talk to each other any more," exclaimed the little girl. "Oh, how sad!" "Never mind, even if we cannot talk we can remain good friends. The deepest friendship is often the quietest." "Then we can be very great friends indeed," said the little girl with much affection. "I am so glad, dear!" "I am going out to-morrow afternoon to see the pantomime, but I shall come here as early as I can," she added as she went away. "Don't you be late." "No, I won't," answered the Marionette. "Remember!" "Yes, I'll remember." "_How_ will you remember?" "I'll tie a knot in my hair, so that when I brush it I shall feel that there is something to recollect." "That's a good idea," said the little girl, and ran away in content. CHAPTER IX The next evening, as soon as the little girl came in, she went to their meeting-place by the Noah's Ark. But the little Marionette was not to be found. "This is too bad of her!" said the little girl. "Our last time! And after she has promised not to be late!" Tears rose to her eyes. "I am very much disappointed," said she as she walked up and down the shop looking for her friend. "I shall never find her.... Why, _there_ she is!" she exclaimed suddenly. And she hurried up to the little Marionette, who, half-concealed by a big Drum, lay on the ground beside a Puzzle. "You are not very kind," remarked the little girl reproachfully. "I asked you to be early, and you never came at all." "I am very sorry," answered the little Marionette in a tired voice. Then she sat up, and the little girl saw with much sorrow and surprise that she was quite disfigured. Her nose was broken, her eyes were crooked, and her face was quite knocked about. All the little girl's annoyance vanished, and her heart was full of pity. "Oh, you poor dear little dolly!" she cried; "what _has_ happened to you?" "I have hurt myself," was the answer. "I tripped up over this Puzzle." "I am sorry. Are you very badly hurt?" asked her little friend with pity. "Never mind me. I promised to tell you one more story, and I shall do so," answered the little Marionette. She spoke very sadly, and the little girl picked her up and kissed her. "Would you not like to put off telling me a story to-day?" she asked. "No. I should like to do so," the Marionette answered, "for it is our last meeting. Put me back on the counter and I will tell it to you." "Shall I put you back where I found you?" "No, take me back to our old place. I am tired of this Puzzle." So the little girl took her to the Noah's Ark, and placed her with her back to it. "What is your story about, dear?" the little girl asked, drawing her chair close to the counter, and bending her head close to the little Marionette, the better to hear her small voice--weaker and more tiny that evening than usual. "About a little Marionette like myself, whose best and dearest friend left her and thought she didn't mind. And all the while she minded so very much! More than she knew how to say!" "Poor little Marionette!" said Molly. "It _was_ sad, for it was only a mistake, wasn't it?" said the little Marionette lady with a sigh. "But you shall hear all about it. Listen whilst I tell you the story of: 'The Last Performance.'" THE LAST PERFORMANCE The two little Marionette dolls had just finished their dance before an admiring throng of Toys, and the curtain had, that moment, fallen upon their last performance. "So now," sighed the little lady Marionette to her partner; "so now the play is over. We shall never act together again. I heard the woman who owned the shop say that she was going to separate us, and sell us as ordinary Toys. She said there was so little demand for Marionettes nowadays.... But you heard that as well as I, didn't you?" "Yes, I heard," he answered. "And more, too. She said she was going to send me away with some other Toys to a Christmas-tree. So that it will be good-bye for a long while." The little lady Marionette patted the paniers of her pretty brocade dress and remained silent. "You don't mind that, do you?" her partner said. "I thought you wouldn't." "I do mind," she answered at last. "Yes; very much I am sure," he said. "You hurt my feelings," she replied. "I wouldn't do that for the whole world--not for ten worlds," he answered. She smiled. "Oh, you smile!" he said. "Then you do not mind very much after all." "I smile because it makes me happy to hear you speak kindly to me again," she answered. But her answer did not please him. "You smile at everything," he said "Nothing troubles you much." "It troubles me that you should be going away; away from me into the wide world," she said. "It will trouble you for half an hour, not longer," said he. "Only half an hour, that's all. I must leave you now." "Don't," said she. "_Stay._" "I can't," said he. "Good-bye." And he went straight away without another word. "He does not know how dear he is to my heart or he would not leave me so," said the little Marionette to herself after he had left. Then she threw herself down on the counter and cried as if her heart were breaking. She threw herself down so violently that she broke her nose and knocked her eyes awry. But she was too miserable to care. She lay still and cried on. At last a friend of hers came along--a friend who was a Doll of common sense and practical ways. "What is all this about?" she asked. "Why are you crying?" "Because half an hour may last for so long," wept the little Marionette. "You are talking nonsense," she replied contemptuously. "Everybody knows that half an hour can only last thirty minutes." "Not always. It may sometimes last a whole year--many years." "Tut, tut!" replied the common-sense Doll; "you have no reasoning power. That I can see by your face. Still, if I can help you I will. What would you have me do?" "Give me back my dream," said the Marionette. Then she covered her face with her hands and gave a great sigh. The common-sense Doll looked even more practical than before. "That is it, is it?" she said. "A morbid longing after a Dream. I begin to understand. Nerves,--indigestion,--too many sweet things,--I fear I cannot, then, be of much assistance. However, the General of the Tin Soldiers has a wonderful turn for doctoring, quite a natural gift. I will send him to you. He may be able to do you some good." So she went on her way, and the little Marionette was once more alone with her sorrow and regret. By and by, however, the General of the Tin Soldiers trotted up on his handsome black charger, and reined in before her. "My dear little lady," he said kindly, if pompously, "in what pitiful condition do I find you? Come, come, tell an old soldier, who has been through much himself, all about it." And, as she did not at once answer: "Well," he continued good-naturedly, "never mind. Do not trouble to speak, I will prescribe for you. I recognize your complaint, and have already treated with much success a large number of my Tin Soldiers suffering in the same way. This, then, is my prescription for your malady: plenty of fresh air; exercise in moderation; early hours and plain diet. But don't let your diet become monotonous. For example, a rice pudding one day, sago the next, tapioca the third. And a little gentle amusement every now and then to keep up your spirits; Christy Minstrels; a pleasant, little musical gathering of friends; and so on. Finally, a powerful tonic to put a little more color into those poor little cheeks. Kindly permit me to feel your pulse." And so saying the General bent from his saddle and courteously took the little Marionette's hand. Then, looking much alarmed, "_Galloping, galloping!_" he exclaimed, "I must do likewise, and order you a tonic at the nearest chemist's without delay." And putting spurs into his horse he rode away hurriedly. "All that won't do me any good," said the little Marionette aloud. "I don't want that." "What do I want?" she sighed. "A jest, my good creature," said a voice near her, and looking up she saw the Clown with his hands in his pockets dancing a double-shuffle in front of her. "A jest," he repeated. Then as he danced and shook the bells on his cap, he chanted in time to the movement of his feet-- "Broken nose and crooked eyes, Broken heart and mournful sighs,-- Life's a jest for a' that." "No, it isn't; not to me," answered the little Marionette very sadly. "It will be, by and by," he said cheerfully. "No; not to me," she repeated. The Clown looked at her with sympathy. "Shall I tell you a good story?" he asked. "Quite one of my best?" "You are very kind," said the little Marionette. "I think, though, I would rather hear it another time, if you do not mind." "Not at all," answered the Clown as he danced away, jingling his bells as he went. "_I_ don't mind, I'm not easily hurt. But take my advice, if the situation is not a jest in itself make a jest dove-tail into the situation. Good-bye, my little friend. Cheer up." "Cheer up!" repeated the little lady. "But it is not easy. I shall have to wait until the half-hour is over before I can do that." After this she lay on the counter quietly, without taking notice of anything or anyone. And the other Toys, seeing she wished to be left to herself, did not disturb her. By and by, the time when the Toys are able to talk and move about passed by, and they all became still once more: just as you are accustomed to see them. And people passed in and out, and to and fro, but the little lady Marionette lay unobserved--alone and unhappy in her corner of the counter. "The half-hour is very long," she said. "Will it ever end? My heart is very heavy...." The little Marionette made a long pause. "Go on, if you please," said the little girl. But the little lady remained silent. "_Do_ go on," repeated her small friend. Yet she never answered. "What is the matter with you?" asked the little girl impatiently. She looked closely at the Marionette as she spoke. Why, were those tears she saw, or was it only the light shining upon the little lady's glass eyes? Glass eyes shine very easily, it is true. Still, supposing she _were_ crying and wanted to be comforted? She would ask her. "You are not crying, dear, are you?" said the little girl. The little Marionette gave a great sigh. "Perhaps," she replied gently. "What is it about?" asked the little girl with much sympathy. Then all at once she understood. "I believe," she exclaimed, "you have been telling me a story about yourself! It all happened to you to-day, while I was away, didn't it?" The little lady rubbed two tiny wax hands across her two glass eyes. "You have guessed rightly," she said in a little faltering voice. "Oh, I am sorry!" said her little friend with great sympathy. "I have been out all the afternoon, so I never heard Auntie say she was going to send you and your partner away from each other. And fancy his going away and leaving you as he did! You poor little thing, how I _wish_ I could do something to make you happier!" Molly thought a moment. "I know!" she exclaimed; "you shall belong to me, my dear. I shall ask Auntie to give you to me, and you shall be my very own dolly!" "Come with me, darling," she continued, hugging the little Marionette tightly, "and I will sing you to sleep in Auntie's big rocking-chair. I will make up a nice song all by myself and all about you. You will see then how much I love you, and you won't cry any more. When you wake up you will feel happier again." And going into the room at the back of the shop, she drew a rocking-chair near the cheerful blaze of the bright fire and sat down, still clasping the little Marionette in her arms. At first she rocked to and fro silently, and with a thoughtful expression. Presently she gave a sudden jerk to the rocking-chair, and sung in a shrill sweet voice, and with some energy-- "Lulla_by_, little dolly, lulla_by_, lulla_by_, Your poor nose is broken, your eyes are awry, But I'll love you and kiss you, so you must just try Not to cry, little dolly,--lulla_by_, lulla_by_." "Lullaby," she said more gently, and kissed her fondly. Then she began afresh, but more softly and soothingly-- "Lulla_by_, little dolly, lulla_by_, lulla_by_, You know you are ugly and rather a guy, But my arms are around you, so why should you sigh? Just you sleep, little dolly,--lulla_by_, lulla_by_." "Lullaby," she whispered, and kissed her again very tenderly. "This is not poetry, only rhyme, and not very flattering rhyme either," murmured the little Marionette. "But if it is not poetry it is love.... And it brings comfort to my sore heart, which the reasoning, and the doctoring, and the jesting could not do...." She whispered something more, but very weakly. Her power of talking to a Mortal had all but left her, and the child had to put her head quite close to the little lady so as to be able to catch what she said. "Let me always stay with you," the little Marionette just managed to whisper. "Always, dear," said her little friend. And then the little lady fell asleep quite happily. That at least was what the little girl thought. And if _she_ thought so _we_ might as well think the same. * * * * * "You want me to give you that little Marionette?" said the owner of the toy-shop to the little girl that same evening. "Very well, Molly, you shall have her." "Oh, thank you, Auntie!" replied her little niece with much gratitude. "There is not very much to thank me for," remarked her aunt. "She is not worth anything now. I can't imagine," she added, "how it is that she has got so knocked about." Now the little girl had no need to imagine it, for she knew. But she kept her knowledge to herself, fearing that if she told her Aunt what had happened she would be laughed at as a fanciful child. But we should not have laughed at her,--should we? There would have been no fancy at out the matter for us. For _we_ know that the Toy World is a very real World indeed! * * * * * Altemus' New Illustrated YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY A new series of choice literature for children, selected from the best and most popular works. Handsomely printed on fine paper from large type, with numerous colored illustrations and black and white engravings, by the most famous artists, making the handsomest and most attractive series of juvenile classics before the public. Fine English cloth, handsome new original designs, 40 cents each. THE ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE. 70 illustrations. ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. 42 illustrations. THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE. 50 illustrations. BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 46 illustrations. A CHILD'S STORY OF THE BIBLE. 72 illustrations. A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 49 illustrations. �SOP'S FABLES. 62 illustrations. SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON. 50 illustrations. EXPLORATION AND ADVENTURE IN AFRICA. 80 illustrations. GULLIVER'S TRAVELS. 50 illustrations. MOTHER GOOSE'S RHYMES, JINGLES AND FAIRY TALES. 234 illustrations. THE STORY OF THE FROZEN SEAS. 70 illustrations. WOOD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 80 illustrations. BLACK BEAUTY. By Anna Sewell. 50 illustrations. ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS. 130 illustrations. ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 75 illustrations. GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES. 50 illustrations. FLOWER FABLES. By Louisa M. Alcott. 50 illustrations. AUNT MARTHA'S CORNER CUPBOARD. By Mary and Elizabeth Kirby. 54 illustrations. WATER BABIES. By Charles Kingsley. 84 illustrations. UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 90 illustrations. TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE. By Charles and Mary Lamb. 65 illustrations. ADVENTURES IN TOYLAND. 70 illustrations. ADVENTURES OF A BROWNIE. 18 illustrations. MIXED PICKLES. 31 illustrations. LITTLE LAME PRINCE. By Miss Mulock. 24 illustrations. THE SLEEPY KING. 77 illustrations. RIP VAN WINKLE. By Washington Irving. 46 illustrations. A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES. By Robert Louis Stevenson. 100 illustrations. ANIMAL STORIES FOR LITTLE PEOPLE. 50 illustrations. * * * * * Altemus' STORIES FROM HISTORY SERIES A series of stories from history which every boy and girl should know. No library is complete without these valuable contributions to juvenile literature. Profusely illustrated. Bound in cloth with illuminated covers, 40 cents each. ROMULUS, THE FOUNDER OF ROME. By Jacob Abbott. 49 illustrations. CYRUS THE GREAT, THE FOUNDER OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. By Jacob Abbott. 40 illustrations. DARIUS THE GREAT, KING OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS. By Jacob Abbott. 34 illustrations. XERXES THE GREAT, KING OF PERSIA. By Jacob Abbott. 39 illustrations. ALEXANDER THE GREAT, KING OF MACEDON. By Jacob Abbott. 51 illustrations. PYRRHUS, KING OF EPIRUS. By Jacob Abbott. 45 illustrations. HANNIBAL, THE CARTHAGINIAN. By Jacob Abbott. 37 illustrations. JULIUS C�SAR, THE ROMAN CONQUEROR. By Jacob Abbott. 44 illustrations. DICKENS' CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 80 illustrations. ALFRED THE GREAT, OF ENGLAND. By Jacob Abbott. 40 illustrations. WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, OF ENGLAND. By Jacob Abbott. 43 illustrations. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 70 illustrations. HERNANDO CORTEZ, THE CONQUEROR OF MEXICO. By Jacob Abbott. 30 illustrations. QUEEN ELIZABETH, OF ENGLAND. By Jacob Abbott. 49 illustrations. MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. By Jacob Abbott. 45 illustrations. GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. 68 illustrations. KING CHARLES THE FIRST, OF ENGLAND. By Jacob Abbott. 41 illustrations. KING CHARLES THE SECOND, OF ENGLAND. By Jacob Abbott. 28 illustrations. MADAME ROLAND, A HEROINE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. By Jacob Abbott. 42 illustrations. MARIE ANTOINETTE, QUEEN OF FRANCE. By John S. C. Abbott. 41 illustrations. JOSEPHINE, EMPRESS OF FRANCE. By Jacob Abbott. 40 illustrations. BATTLES OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. By Prescott Holmes. 70 illustrations. MILITARY HEROES OF THE UNITED STATES. 60 illustrations. HEROES OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 60 illustrations. LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. With portraits and illustrations. BATTLES OF THE WAR FOR THE UNION. By Prescott Holmes. 80 illustrations. YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 50 illustrations. * * * * * Altemus' Illustrated MOTHER GOOSE SERIES A series of entirely new editions of the most popular books for young people. Handsomely printed from large, clear type, on choice paper; each volume containing about one hundred illustrations. Half vellum, with illuminated sides (6-7/8 x 8-3/4 inches). Price, 50 cents each. ALADDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP.--OUR ANIMAL FRIENDS.--BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.--BIRD STORIES FOR LITTLE PEOPLE.--CINDERELLA; OR, THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER.--THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.--JACK AND THE BEAN-STALK.--JACK THE GIANT-KILLER.--LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD.--PUSS IN BOOTS.--THE SLEEPING BEAUTY.--WHO KILLED COCK ROBIN? * * * * * Altemus' Illustrated LITTLE MEN AND WOMEN SERIES A new series for young people, by the best known English and American authors. Profusely illustrated, and with handsome and appropriate bindings. Cloth, 12mo. Price, 50 cts. each. BLACK BEAUTY. By Anna Sewell. HIAWATHA. By Henry W. Longfellow. ALICE IN WONDERLAND AND THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS. By Lewis Carroll. PAUL AND VIRGINIA. By Sainte Pierre. GALOPOFF, THE TALKING PONY. By Tudor Jenks. GYPSY, THE TALKING DOG. By Tudor Jenks. CAPS AND CAPERS. By Gabrielle E. Jackson. DOUGHNUTS AND DIPLOMAS. By Gabrielle E. Jackson. FOR PREY AND SPOILS. By Frederick A. Ober. TOMMY FOSTER'S ADVENTURES. By Frederick A. Ober. TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE. By Charles and Mary Lamb. A LITTLE ROUGH RIDER. By Tudor Jenks. ANOTHER YEAR WITH DENISE AND NED TOODLES. By Gabrielle E. Jackson. POOR BOYS' CHANCES. By John Habberton. SEA KINGS AND NAVAL HEROES. By Hartwell James. POLLY PERKINS'S ADVENTURES. By E. Louise Liddell. FOLLY IN FAIRYLAND. By Carolyn Wells. FOLLY IN THE FOREST. By Carolyn Wells. THE BOY GEOLOGIST. By Prof. E. J. Houston. HELEN'S BABIES. By John Habberton. * * * * * Altemus' Illustrated WEE BOOKS FOR WEE FOLKS Filled with charming stories, beautifully illustrated with pictures in colors and black and white. Daintily, yet durably bound. Price, 50 cents each. NURSERY TALES.--NURSERY RHYMES.--THE STORY OF PETER RABBIT.--THE FOOLISH FOX.--THREE LITTLE PIGS.--THE ROBBER KITTEN. * * * * * CHILDREN'S GIFT SERIES A new series of the most famous children's classics, in new and attractive bindings with full page illustrations in color and black and white. Cloth, 4to, 75 cents each. ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND.--THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE.--A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES.--MOTHER GOOSE'S RHYMES, JINGLES AND FAIRY TALES.--SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON.--THE ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE.--GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES.--ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.--BIBLE PICTURES AND STORIES.--ANIMAL STORIES FOR LITTLE PEOPLE. * * * * * ONE-SYLLABLE SERIES For Young Readers Embracing popular works arranged for the young folks in words of one syllable. With numerous illustrations by the best artists. Handsomely bound, with illuminated covers. Price, 50 cents each. �SOP'S FABLES.--A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST.--THE ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE.--BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.--SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON.--GULLIVER'S TRAVELS.--A CHILD'S STORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.--A CHILD'S STORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.--BIBLE STORIES FOR LITTLE CHILDREN.--THE STORY OF JESUS. * * * * * Altemus' Illustrated DAINTY SERIES OF CHOICE GIFT BOOKS Bound in half-white vellum, illuminated sides, unique designs in gold and colors, with numerous half-tone illustrations. Price, 50 cents each. THE SILVER BUCKLE. By M. Nataline Crumpton. CHARLES DICKENS' CHILDREN STORIES. THE CHILDREN'S SHAKESPEARE. YOUNG ROBIN HOOD. By G. Manville Fenn. HONOR BRIGHT. By Mary C. Rowsell. THE VOYAGE OF THE MARY ADAIR. By Frances E. Crompton. THE KINGFISHER'S EGG. By L. T. Meade. TATTINE. By Ruth Ogden. THE DOINGS OF A DEAR LITTLE COUPLE. By Mary D. Brine. OUR SOLDIER BOY. By G. Manville Fenn. THE LITTLE SKIPPER. By G. Manville Fenn. LITTLE GERVAISE AND OTHER STORIES. THE CHRISTMAS FAIRY. By John Strange Winter. MOLLY THE DRUMMER BOY. By Harriet T. Comstock. HOW A "DEAR LITTLE COUPLE" WENT ABROAD. By Mary D. Brine. THE ROSE-CARNATION. By Frances E. Crompton. MOTHER'S LITTLE MAN. By Mary D. Brine. LITTLE SWAN MAIDENS. By Frances E. Crompton. LITTLE LADY VAL. By Evelyn Everett Green. A YOUNG HERO. By G. Manville Fenn. QUEEN OF THE DAY. By L. T. Meade. THAT LITTLE FRENCH BABY. By John Strange Winter. THE POWDER MONKEY. By G. Manville Fenn. THE DOLL THAT TALKED. By Tudor Jenks. WHAT CHARLIE FOUND TO DO. By Amanda M. Douglas. * * * * * Altemus' YOUNG FOLKS PUZZLE PICTURES' SERIES A new series for young people, including numerous Puzzle Pictures by the best artists. Full cloth, illuminated cover design. Price, 50 cents each. MOTHER GOOSE'S PUZZLE PICTURES. THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT, WITH PUZZLE PICTURES. ANIMAL TALES, WITH PUZZLE PICTURES. THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, WITH PUZZLE PICTURES. DOG TALES, CAT TALES AND OTHER TALES, WITH PUZZLE PICTURES. * * * * * Altemus' Illustrated MOTHER STORIES SERIES An entirely new series, including the best stories that mothers can tell their children. Handsomely printed and profusely illustrated. Ornamental cloth. Price, 50 cents each. MOTHER STORIES. 89 illustrations. MOTHER NURSERY RHYMES AND TALES. 135 illustrations. MOTHER FAIRY TALES. 117 illustrations. MOTHER NATURE STORIES. 97 illustrations. MOTHER STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT. 45 illustrations. MOTHER STORIES FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT. 45 illustrations. MOTHER BEDTIME STORIES. 86 illustrations. MOTHER ANIMAL STORIES. 92 illustrations. MOTHER BIRD STORIES. 131 illustrations. MOTHER SANTA CLAUS STORIES. 91 illustrations. * * * * * THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB SERIES By H. Irving Hancock The keynote of these books is manliness. The stories are wonderfully entertaining, and they are at the same time sound and wholesome. No boy will willingly lay down an unfinished book in this series. 1 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OF THE KENNEBEC; Or, The Secret of Smugglers' Island. 2 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT NANTUCKET; Or, The Mystery of the Dunstan Heir. 3 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OFF LONG ISLAND; Or, A Daring Marine Game at Racing Speed. 4 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AND THE WIRELESS; Or, The Dot, Dash and Dare Cruise. 5 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB IN FLORIDA; Or, Laying the Ghost of Alligator Swamp. 6 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT THE GOLDEN GATE; Or, A Thrilling Capture in the Great Fog. 7 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB ON THE GREAT LAKES; Or, The Flying Dutchman of the Big Fresh Water. Cloth, Illustrated. Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS By Frank Gee Patchin Have you any idea of the excitements, the glories of life on great ranches in the West? Any bright boy will "devour" the books of this series, once he has made a start with the first volume. 1 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE RANCH; Or, The Boy Shepherds of the Great Divide. 2 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS' GREATEST ROUND-UP; Or, Pitting Their Wits Against a Packers' Combine. 3 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE PLAINS; Or, Following the Steam Plows Across the Prairie. 4 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS AT CHICAGO; Or, The Conspiracy of the Wheat Pit. Cloth, Illustrated. Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * SUBMARINE BOYS SERIES By Victor G. Durham These splendid books for boys and girls deal with life aboard submarine torpedo boats, and with the adventures of the young crew, and possess, in addition to the author's surpassing knack of storytelling, a great educational value for all young readers. 1 THE SUBMARINE BOYS ON DUTY; Or, Life on a Diving Torpedo Boat. 2 THE SUBMARINE BOYS' TRIAL TRIP; Or, "Making Good" as Young Experts. 3 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES; Or, The Prize Detail at Annapolis. 4 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SPIES; Or, Dodging the Sharks of the Deep. 5 THE SUBMARINE BOYS' LIGHTNING CRUISE; Or, The Young Kings of the Deep. 6 THE SUBMARINE BOYS FOR THE FLAG; Or, Deeding Their Lives to Uncle Sam. 7 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SMUGGLERS; Or, Breaking Up the New Jersey Customs Frauds. Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * THE SQUARE DOLLAR BOYS SERIES By H. Irving Hancock The reading boy will be a voter within a few years; these books are bound to make him think, and when he casts his vote he will do it more intelligently for having read these volumes. 1 THE SQUARE DOLLAR BOYS WAKE UP; Or, Fighting the Trolley Franchise Steal. 2 THE SQUARE DOLLAR BOYS SMASH THE RING; Or, In the Lists Against the Crooked Land Deal. Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * BEN LIGHTBODY SERIES By Walter Benham 1 BEN LIGHTBODY, SPECIAL; Or, Seizing His First Chance to Make Good. 2 BEN LIGHTBODY'S BIGGEST PUZZLE; Or, Running the Double Ghost to Earth. Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * PONY RIDER BOYS SERIES By Frank Gee Patchin These tales may be aptly described as those of a new Cooper. In every sense they belong to the best class of books for boys and girls. 1 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ROCKIES; Or, The Secret of the Lost Claim. 2 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN TEXAS; Or, The Veiled Riddle of the Plains. 3 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN MONTANA; Or, The Mystery of the Old Custer Trail. 4 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE OZARKS; Or, The Secret of Ruby Mountain. 5 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ALKALI; Or, Finding a Key to the Desert Maze. 6 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW MEXICO; Or, The End of the Silver Trail. 7 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE GRAND CANYON; Or, The Mystery of Bright Angel Gulch. Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * THE BOYS OF STEEL SERIES By James R. Mears The author has made of these volumes a series of romances with scenes laid in the iron and steel world. Each book presents a vivid picture of some phase of this great industry. The information given is exact and truthful; above all, each story is full of adventure and fascination. 1 THE IRON BOYS IN THE MINES; Or, Starting at the Bottom of the Shaft. 2 THE IRON BOYS AS FOREMEN; Or, Heading the Diamond Drill Shift. 3 THE IRON BOYS ON THE ORE BOATS; Or, Roughing It on the Great Lakes. 4 THE IRON BOYS IN THE STEEL MILLS; Or, Beginning Anew in the Cinder Pits. Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * WEST POINT SERIES By H. Irving Hancock The principal characters in these narratives are manly, young Americans whose doings will inspire all boy readers. 1 DICK PRESCOTT'S FIRST YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Two Chums in the Cadet Gray. 2 DICK PRESCOTT'S SECOND YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Finding the Glory of the Soldier's Life. 3 DICK PRESCOTT'S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Standing Firm for Flag and Honor. 4 DICK PRESCOTT'S FOURTH YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Ready to Drop the Gray for Shoulder Straps. Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * ANNAPOLIS SERIES By H. Irving Hancock The Spirit of the new Navy is delightfully and truthfully depicted in these volumes. 1 DAVE DARRIN'S FIRST YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Plebe Midshipmen at the U. S. Naval Academy. 2 DAVE DARRIN'S SECOND YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Midshipmen as Naval Academy "Youngsters." 3 DAVE DARRIN'S THIRD YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Leaders of the Second Class Midshipmen. 4 DAVE DARRIN'S FOURTH YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Headed for Graduation and the Big Cruise. Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * THE YOUNG ENGINEERS SERIES By H. Irving Hancock The heroes of these stories are known to readers of the High School Boys Series. In this new series Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton prove worthy of all the traditions of Dick & Co. 1 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN COLORADO; Or, At Railroad Building in Earnest. 2 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN ARIZONA; Or, Laying Tracks on the "Man-Killer" Quicksand. 3 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN NEVADA; Or, Seeking Fortune on the Turn of a Pick. 4 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN MEXICO; Or, Fighting the Mine Swindlers. Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * BOYS OF THE ARMY SERIES By H. Irving Hancock These books breathe the life and spirit of the United States Army of to-day, and the life, just as it is, is described by a master pen. 1 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS IN THE RANKS; Or, Two Recruits in the United States Army. 2 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS ON FIELD DUTY; Or, Winning Corporal's Chevrons. 3 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS AS SERGEANTS; Or, Handling Their First Real Commands. 4 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS IN THE PHILIPPINES; Or, Following the Flag Against the Moros. (Other volumes to follow rapidly.) Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * BATTLESHIP BOYS SERIES By Frank Gee Patchin These stories throb with the life of young Americans on to-day's huge drab Dreadnaughts. 1 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS AT SEA; Or, Two Apprentices in Uncle Sam's Navy. 2 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS FIRST STEP UPWARD; Or, Winning Their Grades as Petty Officers. 3 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN FOREIGN SERVICE; Or, Earning New Ratings in European Seas. 4 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN THE TROPICS; Or, Upholding the American Flag in a Honduras Revolution. (Other volumes to follow rapidly.) Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS SERIES By Janet Aldridge Real live stories pulsing with the vibrant atmosphere of outdoor life. 1 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS UNDER CANVAS; Or, Fun and Frolic in the Summer Camp. 2 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ACROSS COUNTRY; Or, The Young Pathfinders on a Summer Hike. 3 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS AFLOAT; Or, The Stormy Cruise of the Red Rover. Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * HIGH SCHOOL BOYS SERIES By H. Irving Hancock In this series of bright, crisp books a new note has been struck. Boys of every age under sixty will be interested in these fascinating volumes. 1 THE HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN; Or, Dick & Co.'s First Year Pranks and Sports. 2 THE HIGH SCHOOL PITCHER; Or, Dick & Co. on the Gridley Diamond. 3 THE HIGH SCHOOL LEFT END; Or, Dick & Co. Grilling on the Football Gridiron. 4 THE HIGH SCHOOL CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM; Or, Dick & Co. Leading the Athletic Vanguard. Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS SERIES By H. Irving Hancock This series of stories, based on the actual doings of grammar school boys, comes near to the heart of the average American boy. 1 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS OF GRIDLEY; Or, Dick & Co. Start Things Moving. 2 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS SNOWBOUND; Or, Dick & Co. at Winter Sports. 3 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN THE WOODS; Or, Dick & Co. Trail Fun and Knowledge. 4 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER ATHLETICS; Or, Dick & Co. Make Their Fame Secure. Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * HIGH SCHOOL BOY'S VACATION SERIES By H. Irving Hancock "Give us more Dick Prescott books!" This has been the burden of the cry from young readers of the country over. Almost numberless letters have been received by the publishers, making this eager demand; for Dick Prescott, Dave Darrin, Tom Reade, and the other members of Dick & Co. are the most popular high school boys in the land. Boys will alternately thrill and chuckle when reading these splendid narratives. 1 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' CANOE CLUB; Or, Dick & Co.'s Rivals on Lake Pleasant. 2 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER CAMP; Or, The Dick Prescott Six Training for the Gridley Eleven. 3 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' FISHING TRIP; Or, Dick & Co. in the Wilderness. 4 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' TRAINING HIKE; Or, Dick & Co. Making Themselves "Hard as Nails." Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * THE CIRCUS BOYS SERIES By Edgar B. P. Darlington Mr. Darlington's books breathe forth every phase of an intensely interesting and exciting life. 1 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE FLYING RINGS; Or, Making the Start in the Sawdust Life. 2 THE CIRCUS BOYS ACROSS THE CONTINENT; Or, Winning New Laurels on the Tanbark. 3 THE CIRCUS BOYS IN DIXIE LAND; Or, Winning the Plaudits of the Sunny South. 4 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI; Or, Afloat with the Big Show on the Big River. Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * THE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SERIES By Jessie Graham Flower, A. M. These breezy stories of the American High School Girl take the reader fairly by storm. 1 GRACE HARLOWE'S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Merry Doings of the Oakdale Freshman Girls. 2 GRACE HARLOWE'S SOPHOMORE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Record of the Girl Chums in Work and Athletics. 3 GRACE HARLOWE'S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, Fast Friends in the Sororities. 4 GRACE HARLOWE'S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Parting of the Ways. Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. * * * * * THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS SERIES By Laura Dent Crane No girl's library--no family book-case--can be considered at all complete unless it contains these sparkling twentieth-century books. 1 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT NEWPORT; Or, Watching the Summer Parade. 2 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE BERKSHIRES; Or, The Ghost of Lost Man's Trail. 3 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE HUDSON; Or, Fighting Fire in Sleepy Hollow. 4 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO; Or, Winning Out Against Heavy Odds. 5 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT PALM BEACH; Or, Proving Their Mettle Under Southern Skies. Cloth, Illustrated Price, per Volume, 50c. 
19425	----	[Illustration: Cover] [Illustration: Inside Front Cover] _MAKE BELIEVE STORIES_ (Trademark Registered) THE STORY OF A STUFFED ELEPHANT BY LAURA LEE HOPE AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF A SAWDUST DOLL," "THE STORY OF A CHINA CAT," "THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES," "THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES," "THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES," ETC. ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY L. SMITH NEW YORK GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS Made in the United States of America Copyright, 1922, by GROSSET & DUNLAP The Story of a Stuffed Elephant [Illustration: "Now Hold on Tightly," Said the Elephant. _The Story of a Stuffed Elephant. Frontispiece_--(_Page_ 52)] CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I THE ELEPHANT AND THE MOUSE 1 II THE MAN AND THE ELEPHANT 14 III UP IN THE ATTIC 28 IV CHRISTMAS FUN 41 V IN THE BARN 54 VI A DANGEROUS SLIDE 66 VII THE BIG DOG 77 VIII AN ELEPHANT JUDGE 87 IX OUT IN THE RAIN 102 X A VOYAGE HOME 110 THE STORY OF A STUFFED ELEPHANT CHAPTER I THE ELEPHANT AND THE MOUSE "Oh, how large he is!" "Isn't he? And such wonderfully strong legs!" "See his trunk, too! Isn't it cute! And he is well stuffed! This is really one of the best toys that ever came into our shop, Geraldine; don't you think so?" "Yes, Angelina. I must call father to come and look at him. He will make a lovely present for some boy or girl--I mean this Stuffed Elephant will make a lovely present, not our father!" and Miss Angelina Mugg smiled at her sister across the big packing box of Christmas toys they were opening in their father's store. "Oh, no! Of course we wouldn't want father to be given away as a toy!" laughed Geraldine. "But this Stuffed Elephant--oh, I just love him!" Miss Geraldine Mugg caught up the rather large toy animal and hugged it tightly in her arms. "Be careful!" called her sister. "You may break him!" "Oh, he's just a Stuffed Elephant!" laughed Geraldine. "I mean he hasn't any works inside him to wind up. He's just full of cotton! But I am beginning to like him more than I care for some of the toys that do wind up. I almost wish I were small again, so I could have this Elephant for myself!" "He is nice," admitted Angelina. "Well, I'm glad they like me," thought the Stuffed Elephant to himself, for just now he was not allowed to speak out loud or move around, as the Make Believe toys could do at certain times. But these times were when no eyes of boys, girls, men or women were looking. It was mainly at night, after the store was closed for the day, that the toys had their fun--talking to one another, moving about, doing tricks, and the like of that. Now all that the Stuffed Elephant could do was to stand on his four sturdy legs, with his tail on one end, and his trunk, almost like a second tail, at the other end of his body. He had two white tusks sticking out on either side of his trunk, and at first you might have thought these tusks were toothpicks. But they were not. An elephant's tusks are really teeth, grown extra long so he can dig up the roots of trees and the plants on which he feeds. But a Stuffed Elephant doesn't dig with his tusks, of course. He never has to eat, being already stuffed, you know. And the Elephant in this story was well stuffed with cotton. "I am sure this Elephant is going to be one of our very nicest Christmas toys," went on Miss Geraldine Mugg, as she lifted more playthings from the big box that had come from the workshop of Santa Claus at the North pole. "Yes, I wish we had more like him," added Miss Angelina. The two ladies helped their father, Mr. Horatio Mugg, in his toy store. It was a delightful place for children, and many a boy and girl would have been glad to stay all day in the "Mugg Toy Shop," as the big sign out in front named the place. "Well, here are some more of those China Cats," went on Miss Geraldine, as she lifted some white pussies from the box. "Oh, aren't they darling!" exclaimed her sister. "Do you remember the first China Cat we had?" "Indeed I do! It was bought for a little girl named Jennie. And she told me, only the other day, that her China Cat had had ever so many adventures!" "The dear child! The children, I believe, really think their toys are alive, and can move about!" "Of course we can, only you don't know it, and you never see us!" whispered the Stuffed Elephant to himself. And then he winked one eye at a China Cat--an eye that neither Angelina nor Geraldine saw blinking. Gracious! how surprised the two ladies would have been to see a Stuffed Elephant winking one eye at a China Cat. But stranger things than that are going to happen, I promise you! "Be careful, Geraldine! Be careful!" suddenly cried Angelina, as her sister arose from stooping over the box, and started toward the shelves with an armful of toys. "What's the matter?" "Why, you nearly stepped on the Stuffed Elephant!" "Oh, I'm glad that it didn't really happen! We have only one toy like him, and it would never do to have him crushed all out of shape before he is sold for Christmas. I forgot that we left him standing on the floor. Gracious, but he's a big fellow!" she exclaimed. "I'll lift him up on the shelf," Angelina said. She picked up the Stuffed Elephant. Really he was one of the largest toys that had ever come from the workshop of Santa Claus. And he was a very finely made toy, only the best cotton and cloth having been used. "Does he squeak?" asked Geraldine, as she saw her sister set the creature with trunk and tusks on a broad shelf. "Squeak? Goodness, of course not! What made you think that?" "Well, some of the toy animals have a squeaker inside them, and make a noise when you press it. I was thinking perhaps the elephant had a squeaker." "No. If he had anything he would have a sort of trumpet in him," said Angelina. "Real elephants make a trumpeting noise through their trunks, but of course a stuffed one can't!" "Oh, ho! You just wait until it gets dark and this toy shop is closed!" whispered the Stuffed Elephant to himself. "Then I'll show you whether I can trumpet or not. Though I forgot. I can't show you nor let you hear, it isn't allowed. But after the store is closed we'll have some fun!" Toy after toy was taken from the big packing box. There were Sawdust Dolls, Candy Rabbits, Tin Soldiers, Plush Bears and a Monkey on a Stick--just like other toys of the same name who had had many adventures, and about whom stories like this have been written. As the toys were taken out of the box they were placed on the shelves in Mr. Mugg's store. This was in a back room, for the toys had yet to be sorted and looked over, to make sure each one was all right, before they were put in the front part of the store to be sold. Mr. Mugg had a larger and finer store than the one before the fire, when the China Cat had so nearly been melted by the great heat. And, having a larger store, Mr. Mugg bought larger Christmas playthings, such as the Stuffed Elephant. Finally all the new toys were taken from the box and placed around on the shelves. While Angelina and Geraldine had been doing this, their father was in the front part of the store, waiting on customers. After a bit, when it grew dark outside, and the lights were lit inside the store, Mr. Mugg locked the front door and came back into the rear room. "I think we have worked enough for to-day," the toy man told his daughters. "We will wait until to-morrow before looking over the new things and marking prices on them. I am tired and want to go to bed." "Good!" thought the Stuffed Elephant. "That is, I'm not glad Mr. Mugg is tired," he went on, in his thoughts; "but I'm glad he is going to bed so I can move about and talk to some of my toy friends. It's been no fun to be shut up in that box ever since I came from the shop of Santa Claus." A little later the store was in darkness, except for a small light burning near the safe, so the passing policeman could look and see that no burglars were breaking into it. "Hello, everybody!" suddenly called the Stuffed Elephant, waving his trunk around in the air. "How are you all?" "Who is that speaking?" asked a Nodding Donkey, a toy whose head kept moving all the while, as it was fastened on a pivot. "A new chap--a Stuffed Elephant," answered a Jumping Jack, who wore a blue and yellow cap. "A Stuffed Elephant! Let me see him! I never heard of such a creature!" brayed the Nodding Donkey, and he slid along the shelf to get a better view. For it was the mystic hour when the Make Believe toys could pretend to be alive--when they could move about and talk. "Here I am, right over here!" trumpeted the Stuffed Elephant, and if Miss Geraldine and Miss Angelina, or even Mr. Mugg, could have heard him they would have been very much surprised. "Oh, you have two tails!" cried the Nodding Donkey. "No, only one," said the Stuffed Elephant. "The other is my trunk. It really is a long nose, but it is called a trunk." "Is there anything inside it?" asked a Calico Clown. "Nothing but air--I breathe through my trunk," the Stuffed Elephant answered. "But I, myself, am filled with the very best cotton, lots and lots of it! Have you cotton inside you?" he asked the Donkey. "No, I'm wood clear through," was the reply. "But as long as you are a new toy, let me welcome you among us. We are glad to see you. What is the latest news from the land of Santa Claus?" "Well, let me see. So many things happen up there that I hardly know where to start to tell you about them," replied the Stuffed Elephant. "In the first place----" "I'm stuffed, too!" suddenly interrupted a high, squeaky voice. "Only I'm stuffed with sawdust. Here I am, over here!" "Yes, Miss Sawdust Doll, we see you," brayed the Nodding Donkey. "But please don't interrupt the Stuffed Elephant. He is going to tell us about Santa Claus, and I want to hear, as it is some time since I came from the North Pole." "Well, I can tell you as well as that Stuffed Elephant can," went on the squeaky Sawdust Doll. "I came from Santa Claus's shop in the same box with him." "You're not the first Sawdust Doll, though. She was bought by a little girl named Dorothy, I've heard said," remarked a rubber dog. "Yes, that's right," said the Nodding Donkey. "And her brother Dick had a White Rocking Horse. But as long as the Stuffed Elephant kindly offered first to tell us the latest news from the North Pole, I think it would be only polite to let him finish." "Oh, of course--yes!" squeaked the new Sawdust Doll. "Well," began the creature with the trunk and tusks, "I think I will tell you----" But just then there was a whirring noise at the end of the shelf, and a little voice cried: "Oh, save me, somebody! Please save me! I'm wound up too tight, and my wheels are running away with me! I'll run to the edge of the shelf and fall off! Save me, somebody, please!" A Rolling Mouse, that could run across the room on wheels when wound up, dashed along the toy shelf. As she had said, she was in danger of falling off. Straight toward the Stuffed Elephant ran the Rolling Mouse, squeaking in fright. "I'll save you! I'll save you!" trumpeted the big toy. "Don't be afraid, Miss Mouse! I'll save you!" He uncoiled his long nose of a trunk, and stretched it out toward the Rolling Mouse. CHAPTER II THE MAN AND THE ELEPHANT "Catch me! Save me! Catch me before I fall off the shelf and break to pieces!" squeaked the Rolling Mouse. "Don't be afraid! I'm right here!" trumpeted the Stuffed Elephant. On his sturdy legs, big and round and stuffed with cotton, the Elephant stepped to the edge of the shelf. As quickly as the China Cat could blink her eyes, the Elephant reached across with the tip of his trunk and caught the Rolling Mouse just as she was going to slip over the edge of the shelf. Holding her very gently, so as not to squeeze the breath out of the Mouse, the Elephant lifted the tiny creature up in the air, keeping her there until her spring ran down. Then, in a spirit of fun, he reached around and set the Mouse down on his broad back. "There you are!" laughed the Stuffed Elephant in his hearty voice. "There you are, Miss Mouse!" "Yes, but where am I? Oh, so _high_ up as I am! Oh, where am I?" squeaked the little mouse. "You're up on my back," laughed the jolly Elephant toy. "Don't be afraid. Stay there and I'll give you a ride to where you came from. On what shelf do you belong?" "Oh, put me down! Oh, I'm so afraid I'll fall off!" cried the tiny mouse. "It is almost as high up here, on your back, as it would be to fall to the floor from the shelf. Do please put me down, kind Mr. Elephant!" "Don't be silly, Miss Mouse!" brayed the Nodding Donkey. "The Elephant is good and strong, and he is also careful. He will not let you fall." "Are you sure?" asked the little Mouse, trembling. "Of course I will not let you fall!" chuckled the Elephant. "Just stay quietly on my back, and I'll take you where you came from." "But maybe her wheels will go around again and make her roll off," remarked the Sawdust Doll. "No, the spring unwound as I slid across the shelf," said the Rolling Mouse. "I'm all right now. Mr. Mugg wound me up to-day to show me to a little boy. But the boy wanted a pair of skates, and not a mouse like me. So Mr. Mugg put me down on the shelf without letting my spring unwind. He stuck me up against a Tin Soldier, and the Soldier kept me from rolling around. But just now the Soldier came out to look at the new Stuffed Elephant. That left nothing to hold me back, and away I rolled." "Oh, I'm sorry," said the Tin Soldier, touching his red cap in a salute to Miss Mouse. "I'll forgive you, as I know you didn't mean to do it," said the Mouse toy, with a smile that made her whiskers wiggle. "But I do wish you'd put me down, Mr. Elephant. I am nervous up on your back, broad and big as it is." "All right, Miss Rolling Mouse, I'll lift you down," trumpeted the Elephant. "And here you are at your own place on the shelf." The big toy, stuffed as he was with cotton, reached back with his trunk, gently picked up the mouse in it, and set her down where she had started to roll from. As she had said, the wheels no longer whizzed around, as the spring which made them move had all uncoiled. It had "run down," as it is called. "There you are!" went on the Elephant, after he had gently put down the Mouse toy. "Any time you are afraid of falling off the shelf, just call for me and I'll save you with my trunk." "You are very kind," said the Mouse. "And so big and strong!" "Isn't he big, though!" giggled the Sawdust Doll. "I wonder if he is strong enough to give me a ride on his back?" "Of course he is!" brayed the Nodding Donkey. "Do you want a ride on my back, Miss Sawdust Doll?" asked the good-natured Elephant. "All right! Up you go!" With a swing of his trunk he set the Doll on his back as he had done with the Mouse. Then the Stuffed Elephant carefully walked around among the other toys, taking care not to step on any of them. "I'm glad the Elephant has come to stay with us," whispered a little Celluloid Doll. "I'd love to ride on his back, but I don't like to ask him." "I'll ask for you if you're too bashful to do it," said the Calico Clown, and he did. "Why, of course I'll ride you, too, Miss Celluloid Doll," chuckled the Elephant. "I'll ride all of you in turn--that is all but the very largest toys. They might make my seams come open and the cotton stuffing puff out." For the Elephant was made of gray cloth, you know, and he was sewed together, his tusks of wood being stuck in on either side of his trunk. "I thought Elephants were always afraid of mice," said the Celluloid Doll, when she was having her ride. "Pooh! Me afraid of a little mouse!" laughed the big Elephant. "I guess not! What made you think that?" "It's in some of the story books," went on the tiny Celluloid Doll. "The story says real, live elephants are afraid of mice because they fear the tiny creatures will crawl up the nose holes in their trunks." "That may be all right for real, live elephants," laughed the big, stuffed toy. "But I am only make-believe, you know, like the rest of you toys. The Rolling Mouse couldn't get up my nose." "And if I could I wouldn't, because you have been so kind to me," squeaked the little mouse toy. "Next time I ride on your back I shall not be so afraid." "Would you like to ride now, Miss Mouse?" asked the Elephant, as he set down with his trunk a Fuzzy Duck who had just been given a ride around the shelf. "Oh, no, thank you; not now," answered the Mouse. "And I think it will soon be time for us to stop our make-believe fun. It will be morning in a little while, and you know we can't talk or laugh or do anything in daylight, when Mr. Mugg and his daughters or any customers are in the store." "I hope the Elephant will have time to tell us a little of what has happened in North Pole Land since we came away," said a Rocking Horse, who had been in the toy store a long time. "Yes, do tell us!" begged the other playthings. "I will," said the Elephant. So the Elephant, swaying on his four big legs, in the same way that real elephants do, told the latest news from the workshops of Santa Claus, whence he had lately come with the box of other toys. "Is Santa Claus as jolly as ever?" asked a Tin Horse. "Just as jolly!" replied the Elephant. "More so, if anything. His whiskers are a little longer, and his cheeks are a little redder, but that is all. I heard him tell some of his workmen, as they packed me in the box, that he hoped I'd like it down on Earth, among the boys and girls." "You're sure to like it," said the Nodding Donkey. "A brother of mine used to be in this store, and he was given to a boy who took very good care of him." "And a sister of yours is owned by a little girl named Dorothy," a Cloth Rabbit said to the Sawdust Doll. "She has lovely fun, your sister has." "You'll very likely go to some boy. It seems to me you are too big a toy for a little girl," said the Calico Clown to the Stuffed Elephant. "What will happen then?" the Elephant asked. But just then Mr. Mugg came in to open the shop for the day, and the toys had to stop talking and pretend to be stiff and unable to move. They always had to be this way when any one looked at them. "Well," said Mr. Mugg, as he and his daughters began dusting the toys, ready for the day's business, "Christmas is coming, and we shall soon be losing some of our toys." "You mean people will come in to buy them," smiled Geraldine. "Yes," her father answered. "Well, I hope this lovely, big Stuffed Elephant goes to some one who will take good care of him," remarked Angelina, as she moved the big toy farther front on the shelf. "Oh, my!" she exclaimed. "His back is all dusty!" "Dusty!" cried Geraldine. "Did you let him fall on the floor?" "Indeed I did not! He hasn't been off this shelf or moved since he was taken out of the box last night." "Then I wonder how this dust got on his back." "I haven't the least idea," answered Angelina. "But I'll take it off with a brush." This she did. Of course _you_ know how the dust got on the Elephant's back. It came from the toys who rode him along the shelf. And, though neither of the Mugg sisters knew it, the Elephant _had_ moved from his place on the shelf. He had walked all about it. People began to come into the store to look about for Christmas. As Santa Claus is so busy nowadays he has to let some of the toy buying be done by the grown folks, and a number of them came in to see what their little boys and girls would like. Among those who passed by the shelf on which the Stuffed Elephant stood, was a jolly-looking man, wearing a big fur coat, for the day was cold and it was snowing outside. "Oh, ho!" exclaimed the man, as he saw the Stuffed Elephant. "This is just what my son Archie wants--an Elephant! I'll get this for him, as he wrote Santa Claus a letter saying he wanted a Stuffed Elephant more than anything else." "This Elephant is just from the shop of Santa Claus," said Angelina Mugg, as she stepped up to wait on the man. "Is he, indeed?" "Yes, he was taken out of the box only last night. He is well made and strong, and he has heaps and heaps of cotton stuffing inside him. Even if he fell over on a little baby, this big Elephant would do no harm, as he is so soft." "He is, indeed," said the man, feeling the toy. "I suppose he doesn't bite?" he added, looking at Miss Angelina and smiling. "Oh, of course he doesn't bite!" laughed Miss Mugg. "Shall I have him sent to your house so your son Archie will get him for Christmas?" "Thank you, it is so near Christmas that I think I had better take the Elephant with me," said Mr. Dunn. "I have my auto outside, and as it is a closed car the Elephant will not take cold." "I'm glad of that," said Miss Angelina. Very often she used to make believe the toys were real, and alive, and could take cold, and become ill. Of course she did not know that the toys really could move about after dark, when no one saw them. "Yes, I'll take the Elephant with me," went on Mr. Dunn. "I'll hide him away in the attic until Christmas, and then let Santa Claus give him to Archie. That boy of mine just loves animal toys!" A little later the Stuffed Elephant was standing in among some other packages in the back of the auto. On the front seat Mr. Dunn was guiding the car through the storm, for it was now snowing hard. "My! This reminds me of North Pole Land!" thought the Elephant, as he looked out of the windows of the car and saw the white flakes swirling about. "The ground is covered, too!" It had been snowing some time before Mr. Dunn went to the toy store, and now he was having hard work to make his machine plow through the drifts on the way home. "They took me away in such a hurry I had no time to say good-bye to any of my toy friends," thought the Elephant, as he snuggled down in the blanket in the rear of the auto. For elephants need to be kept warm, you know--that is, real ones, and this Stuffed Elephant made believe he was real. "But of course I shouldn't have dared say anything while people were around," thought the toy. "I hope I see some of them again, for it wasn't very polite to come away as I did." All at once, as the auto was rolling along quite fast, it came to a sudden stop, with a bump and a jerk. "Hello! We're stuck!" cried the man. "I must see if I can break through the snowdrift." He backed the car and started ahead again, with the motor going full speed. Bang! the car struck the snowdrift. There was a crash of glass. "Oh, dear!" whispered the Elephant to himself, for he went toppling, legs over head, out through a broken window of the car. Into a deep snowdrift stuck the poor Stuffed Elephant. [Illustration: The Stuffed Elephant Stuck in a Snowdrift. _The Story of a Stuffed Elephant._ _Page_ 27] "Oh, this is terrible!" sighed the toy. "Oh, I am freezing to death!" CHAPTER III UP IN THE ATTIC Banging puffing, and grinding noises sounded all about the Stuffed Elephant. Around him swirled the white flakes of snow, but he could hardly see them, for part of his head, part of his trunk, and one eye were stuck in the drift. Mr. Dunn's automobile had lurched to one side as Archie's father tried to send it through a big, white drift. And the noise was made by the motor, or engine, of the car, working its best to force the car ahead. The glass window of the automobile had broken as it tipped to one side, a piece of ice flying through. And it was through the broken window that the Stuffed Elephant had been tossed, right out into a snowdrift! "Oh, but it's so cold! So cold!" said the Elephant, shivering. Of course it was cold up at the North Pole where Santa Claus has his workshop, and there was more snow and ice than near Archie's home. But up there the Elephant had been inside the warm shop, just as he had been kept in the warm toy store, and, until a few minutes ago, in the warm auto. "Well, I guess I'll have to back up and go around another way," said Mr. Dunn, after a while. "I can't make my machine go through that snowdrift. No use trying! I'll upset if I do! Hello, one of the windows is broken, too! I'm sorry about that, but I can go on with a broken window, which I couldn't do if I had a broken wheel. And I guess the toys won't take cold. Yes, I must back up and go home by another road." Starting the car slowly, Mr. Dunn backed it out of the drift. The front wheels and the radiator, where the water is, were covered with masses of white flakes, but aside from the broken window no damage had been done. "I'd better hurry home, too," said Mr. Dunn, talking to himself, a way some jolly men have. "It's snowing worse, and I don't want to be kept out here all night. I want to get back with the Christmas presents. Archie will surely like that Stuffed Elephant." And then, never thinking that the Elephant had been tossed out of the broken window into a bank of snow, Mr. Dunn started his car off on another road, leaving the poor Elephant stuck in the drift. "Oh, this is dreadful! Terrible!" thought the Elephant. "I am freezing to death! Santa Claus wanted me to have adventures, but none like this, I'm sure! What shall I do?" If the Elephant had only been allowed to come to life and call out when Mr. Dunn was around all would have been well. For, though Archie's father might have been surprised at hearing a toy speak, he never would have gone away and left it in the snow. But the toy Elephant did not dare call out, though, now that no one could see him, he pretended to come to life and began to struggle to get out of the snow. It was getting dark, and growing colder, and even a toy Elephant does not like to be left all night in a snowdrift. "Oh, if only I can pull my trunk out and get the snow from my left eye, maybe I can see which path Mr. Dunn took and follow him home," thought the Elephant. "I don't want to stay here alone! It is dark, and no human eyes can see me moving. I must get out!" He struggled and wiggled, but he seemed to be sinking deeper into the snow instead of getting out. Down, down, down into the white flakes sank the poor Stuffed Elephant, farther and farther, down--down--down---- Knowing nothing of having lost the fine new Elephant out of his auto, Mr. Dunn went along by an easier road, where there were not so many drifts. He was driving past a garage when a man outside called: "Hey, mister! Your car door is open!" "I guess you mean the window is broken, don't you?" asked Archie's father. "I know about that, thank you. I ran into a drift." "No, your door is wide open, and is swinging to and fro," the garage man went on. "It may bang against something and break off. Wait a minute and I'll close it for you." Mr. Dunn had slowed his car as the man called to him, and now he brought it to a stop. "So the door is open, is it?" Mr. Dunn asked. "Well, that's too bad. I didn't know about that. It must have come open after the glass was broken. And if the door is open some of the things may have fallen out. I'd better get down and take a look." And no sooner had Mr. Dunn looked within the car than he cried: "The Elephant is gone!" "Elephant!" exclaimed the garage man. "Elephant?" "Surely! An Elephant I was taking home to my boy Archie," went on Mr. Dunn. "I had the Elephant in the car and----" "Oh, my!" cried the garage man, backing away, and nearly falling into a snowdrift himself. "Do you mean to tell me you had an _elephant_ in that machine?" "Oh, I see what you're thinking of! You mean a real elephant, and I'm speaking of the Stuffed Elephant that I bought in the toy store. It's a toy Elephant that is lost," Mr. Dunn explained. "Oh, that's different!" laughed the man. "I was wondering how a real elephant could get inside your car--unless he was a baby one." "No, this was a toy one," said Mr. Dunn. "And I think I know where he must have slipped out--back at the big drift where I broke the glass of the door, trying to smash my way through. I'll go back there and see if I can find Archie's Christmas present." Back through the storm drove Mr. Dunn. The snow was coming down thicker and faster, and the wind was piling it into more drifts. It was dark, too, but the headlights on the car made the road bright enough, especially on account of the white snow, for Mr. Dunn to see his way. Soon he was back again at the same drift which had made him turn about and take another road. "Now to find that Elephant," said Mr. Dunn. All this while the Stuffed Elephant had been trying to wiggle out of the snowdrift. But, not being used to such work, he was not having very good luck. The snow was soft, and the more he wiggled the deeper in he sank. "Oh, dear!" sighed the poor Elephant. "What am I going to do? The snowflakes are getting in my trunk! And they tickle me and make me want to sneeze. It's no fun to be in a snowdrift. I used to like to look at them through the window in the shop of Santa Claus, but they're prettier to look at than to be in. "If only a lot of the Nodding Donkeys and four or five of the White Rocking Horses were here now, they could pull me out of this drift," went on the Elephant. "But they aren't, and I'll have to help myself. I wonder if I gave a trumpet or two through my trunk whether that would do any good?" He was just about to try it when, all at once, he heard a noise. "That sounds like an automobile," thought the Elephant. "I daren't move or trumpet if any real folks are around. I'll have to stay quiet and then--oh, then I'll sink deeper into the snow!" Just then a man's voice said: "It was right here I ran into the drift. The Elephant must be somewhere about here." Dazzling lights shone in the Elephant's one eye that was not in the drift. He saw a big auto come to a stop just the other side of the snowdrift. And Mr. Dunn, for he it was, jumped out. "Oh, now I'll be all right, I guess!" joyfully thought the poor Elephant. Mr. Dunn stalked through the snow, until he was close to the drift. The headlights on the car made it almost as bright as if the moon had shone. "Ah, there he is!" cried Archie's father. A moment later he caught hold of one of the Elephant's hind legs and pulled him from the drift. "Here's Archie's Elephant!" exclaimed Mr. Dunn. "Not hurt a bit! Only some snow on him, but that will brush off. I'm glad that man at the garage saw my open door, or I'd never have known I had lost the Elephant. Now for home!" A moment later the Elephant was put back into the auto with the other Christmas toys. "I'll cover them with a blanket to keep the snow from blowing in on them through the broken window," said Mr. Dunn to himself. The Elephant was glad of this, for he felt very cold. Then back started the auto, and it was so warm and cozy under the blanket that the Elephant almost fell asleep. He wanted to talk to the other toys, and tell them what had happened, but he did not dare do this with Mr. Dunn on the front seat. At last the car turned into the drive of a handsome country place. Mr. Dunn tooted the horn, a door of the house opened, letting out a stream of light, and a boy's voice cried: "You're late, Daddy!" "Yes, I ran into a snowdrift. But now listen to me, Archie! You go inside and keep out of the way until I bring in some things." "Oh, Daddy! What you going to bring in?" cried a small boy. "Never mind now. They aren't for you to see--just yet. Besides, they are covered with snow, for some came in through the broken window, and I don't want you to catch cold. Go hide yourself, Archie, until I call you to come." Archie laughed and went into another room, away from the front hall, and then Mr. Dunn carried in many bundles, including the Stuffed Elephant, which was not closely wrapped in paper, as were some of the others. "Oh! From Santa Claus! For Archie!" whispered Mrs. Dunn. "Hush!" cautioned her husband. "He might hear! I'll take the things up to the attic to stay there until Santa Claus says it's time to put them under the tree at Christmas." So the Elephant was carried up to the attic. It was a queer, old, dusty place, and when the Elephant had been put on the floor, with some other toys, Mr. Dunn went downstairs and closed the door. At first the Elephant did not know where he was. But he soon saw the moonlight streaming in through a window, and he noticed the other toys about him. "Hello, there! Who are you?" asked a creaking voice, and near the Elephant a big wheel of wood began slowly turning. "Anybody want a ride?" asked the Wheel. "I'm a spinner, I am, and I'm making believe I'm a Merry-Go-Round! Any one want a ride?" "Dear me! What a strange place an attic is," thought the Stuffed Elephant. "It isn't as nice as the toy shop, but still maybe I can have some fun. I wonder if I could ride on that wheel? I'm afraid I'm too big. But I could try. I may never have another chance, and----" But before the Elephant could ask the Spinning Wheel how to get on, all at once there was a banging noise in one corner of the attic, and a voice cried: "Make way! Stand aside! Here I come!" "My! I wonder who this is. Not a Lion I hope," thought the Elephant. CHAPTER IV CHRISTMAS FUN Since there were no real persons up in the attic--no boys or girls or grown folks--to spy around, the toys and other things in the dusty top of the house could do as they pleased. The toys could pretend to come to life, and even such a thing as a Spinning Wheel could whirl about and speak. Thus when the Spinning Wheel had invited whoever wished to get on and have a Merry-Go-Round ride, and the harsh voice had called: "Make way! Here I come!" the Stuffed Elephant hardly knew what was going to happen. Then, all at once, a big brown Rat--a real, live rat and not a toy--ran from a hole in the corner, and, with a squeal of delight, jumped up on the twirling Spinning Wheel. "Here I go on the Merry-Go-Round! I ride this way every night!" squeaked the Rat to the Elephant and the other Christmas toys which Mr. Dunn had hidden in the attic until it was time for Santa Claus to come around. "Do you, indeed?" asked the Elephant. "You must have lots of fun." "I do," answered the Brown Rat. "But who are you?" and he stood up among the spokes of the Spinning Wheel and looked over toward the moonlight patch on the floor where stood the new toy. "I am a Stuffed Elephant," was the answer. "And I have just had the most dreadful adventure! I was pitched out of the auto into a snow bank." "I don't like snow!" squeaked the Rat. "It's too cold. But I am glad to see you, Mr. Elephant. Don't you want a ride on this Merry-Go-Round?" "Thank you, I'm afraid I'm too big," answered the Elephant. "And I never before saw a Merry-Go-Round that spun this way, like a wheel. In Mr. Mugg's store, where I came from, there was a toy Merry-Go-Round, but it spun like a top." "I'm not a regular Merry-Go-Round," said the Spinning Wheel. "I just make believe I'm one up here in the attic. Time was when I used to spin yarn for the grandmother of Mr. Dunn. But now all yarn is spun in factories by machinery, and spinning wheels are out of fashion. So I am up here in the dust, and it makes the time pass more quickly to pretend I am a Merry-Go-Round." "Yes, and we Rats and Mice have good times!" cried the brown chap, as he wound his tail among the spokes of the wheel, to hold on tightly as he spun around and around. "I believe I'd like a ride, too," said a Tin Soldier, which was another toy Mr. Dunn had brought home. "All right! Climb up!" called out the Rat. So the Tin Soldier, being able to pretend to come to life since no prying eyes saw him, got up on the Spinning Wheel and rode with the Rat. The Elephant wanted to have this fun, but he was too large to get on the wheel. "Besides," he said, "something might happen to my trunk." He was very proud of his trunk and his tusks, was the Stuffed Elephant. Several days passed, during which the toys had to remain hidden in the attic, waiting for Christmas. They did not mind it, however, as they were left to themselves and could have fun. At last, however, Christmas eve came, and when the house was quiet and still, when Santa Claus was on his way flying over the chimneys with his sleigh and eight reindeer, the Stuffed Elephant and the other toys were carried down to the parlor and placed beneath the Christmas tree. And when Christmas morning came Archie Dunn came racing downstairs, in his little pajamas, crying: "Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! What did Santa Claus leave for me?" "Go and look," replied his mother. When Archie saw all his toys, but especially the Stuffed Elephant, the little boy shouted and clapped his hands for joy and cried: "Oh, what a lovely Christmas! Oh, I always wanted a Stuffed Elephant, and now I have it! Oh, what a fine, big Elephant you are!" He threw his arms around the stuffed creature's neck and hugged him so hard that the cotton stuffing almost oozed out of the Elephant's ears. "I hope he doesn't squeeze me any harder," thought the Elephant, though he dared not so much as give a trumpet sound, and as for saying anything or waving his trunk--that was not to be thought of! For Archie was there, and his sister Elsie, and Mr. and Mrs. Dunn and the servants--a room full of people--and of course the Elephant had to remain quiet. "Look at my new Dollie!" called Elsie to Archie, and it is a good thing the little boy had something else to look at, or he might have kept on squeezing the Elephant until he was out of shape. "Yes, your Dollie is nice, but I like my Elephant better," said Archie. "Elephants is for boys an' Dollies is for girls; isn't they, Daddy?" asked Elsie. "I guess that's right," replied Mr. Dunn. "But get dressed now, children, and have breakfast. Then you may play with your toys." Archie and Elsie were so excited over Christmas that they did not want to stop to dress, or even eat. But they managed to get some clothes on, eat a little, and then they started again to play with the many presents Santa Claus had brought them. About ten o'clock Elsie, looking out of the window across the snow-covered yard, gave a squeal of delight and cried: "Oh, here comes Mirabell, and she has her Lamb on Wheels! Oh, now we can have fun, and I can show her my new Doll!" "Is anybody else coming?" asked Archie. "I want to show somebody my Stuffed Elephant." Elsie looked again, before running to the door to welcome her little caller. "Yes," went on Archie's sister, "I see Joe, and he has his Nodding Donkey!" "That's good!" laughed Archie. Into the house came Mirabell, who carried a Lamb on Wheels, which had been given her as a present some time before. "Course this isn't for Christmas," said the little girl. "I didn't bring out my Christmas presents 'ceptin' this," and she showed on her finger a gold ring that Santa Claus had left. "And I got a steam engine, only I couldn't bring it over," said Joe, who used to be lame but who was better now. "So I just brought my old Nodding Donkey," he added. "He was in the hospital once, as I was, and Mr. Mugg mended his broken leg." At the mention of the name "Mr. Mugg" the Stuffed Elephant began to listen more carefully. If he had dared he would have flapped his big ears, but that was not allowed. "I wonder," thought the Elephant, "if he means the same Mr. Mugg of the toy store where I came from? I wish the children would go out of the room a minute until I could speak to the Nodding Donkey and the Lamb on Wheels." But the children were having too much fun to leave the room. Mirabell with her Lamb and Joe with his Donkey looked at the presents Santa Claus had brought for Elsie and Archie. Then there came a ring at the door bell, and in came a boy named Sidney, with a Calico Clown, and a girl named Dorothy with a Sawdust Doll. These toys were not new Christmas presents, for Dorothy and Sidney had brought only their old toys, since it was snowing again. The Stuffed Elephant was getting excited. He had heard these other toys spoken of by his friends in Mr. Mugg's store, and wanted to talk to them. But while the children were in the room he dared not say a word. At last, however, Mrs. Dunn invited the little callers out to the dining room to have some milk and cake, and out they rushed, leaving the toys in the middle of the floor. "Ah, at last we are alone!" said the Elephant. "Please tell me, Mr. Nodding Donkey," he said, "were you ever in Mr. Mugg's store?" "I came from there," was the answer. "So did I!" joyfully exclaimed the Elephant. "I don't remember seeing you there," the Nodding Donkey said, swaying his head up and down. "I was one of the very newest toys," went on the Elephant. "I suppose you were there last year, or the one before." "Yes," said the Donkey, "it was some time ago, and I have had many adventures. Tell me, did you ever have a broken leg?" "Mercy, no!" exclaimed the Elephant. "Well, I did. And Mr. Mugg mended it for me," went on the Donkey, proudly. "This Sawdust Doll here," he went on, "has also had many adventures. Tell him about them, Sawdust Doll." "Oh, it would take too long," replied Dorothy's plaything. "But they are all in a book. And Dorothy's brother Dick has a White Rocking Horse, and his adventures are in a book, too." "For that matter I have had a book written about me," said the Donkey. "So have I!" declared the Calico Clown, jumping up and down. "It tells about my trousers catching fire." "I wonder if I'll ever have a book written about me," sighed the Elephant. "Perhaps," answered the Lamb on Wheels. "You are much larger than I, and there is a book about me. But let's have some fun, now that the children are out of the room." "All right," agreed the Elephant. "This is like it used to be in Mr. Mugg's store after closing time. What shall we do?" "I know what I should like to do," said the Calico Clown, as he looked at the big stuffed toy. "What?" asked the Nodding Donkey. "I should like to ride on the Elephant's back," went on the Clown. "All my life I have wanted a ride on an elephant's back, and I never yet had the chance." "You shall have it now," replied the kind Elephant. "I'll come over and get you. Can you climb up? I'm pretty tall, you see." "I'll stand on top of this toy trolley car," said the Clown. One of Archie's presents was a toy trolley car, and by jumping up on this the Clown managed to reach the Elephant's back. "Now hold on tightly, and you won't fall," said the Elephant. "If I had thought, I could have lifted you up in my trunk, as I did the Rolling Mouse. But I'll lift you down again. Sit tight now." So the Clown sat tight, and the Elephant walked around the room with him, giving the gay fellow a fine ride. The Sawdust Doll was just making up her mind that she would be brave enough to get on the Elephant's back, when, all at once, the Nodding Donkey cried: "Quick! Quiet every one! The children are coming back!" "Oh, let me get off your back!" whispered the Clown to the Elephant. "They must never see me up here. It isn't allowed!" But he was too late! Before he could slide off the Stuffed Elephant, Archie, Elsie and the other children came running into the room! "Oh! Oh! Oh!" they cried, as they saw the Calico Clown on the back of the Stuffed Elephant. CHAPTER V IN THE BARN Hearing the shouts of the children as they hurried back into the room where the Christmas tree stood, Archie's mother came to see what the matter was. "Oh, Mother!" exclaimed Archie. "Look! The Clown is riding on my Elephant's back! Isn't he funny?" "He looks very odd!" said Mrs. Dunn. "Who put him up there? Did you lift Sidney's Calico Clown to your Stuffed Elephant's back, Archie?" "Oh, no, Mother!" Archie answered. "It wasn't I." "Nor I," said Elsie. "And I didn't, either," said the other children in turn. "Well," said Mrs. Dunn, looking from one to the other, "of course the Clown couldn't have gotten up on the Elephant's back by himself, and of course the Elephant couldn't have lifted him there with his trunk. Though I know a live clown could jump on a live elephant's back, and a live elephant could lift a live clown up in his trunk. But these are only toys. They must be moved about." "Well, I didn't put the Clown there," said Archie again. "Nor I!" echoed the other children. And while this talk was going on the Elephant, the Clown, and the other Christmas toys were very much worried lest their part in the fun be found out. Of course we know how the Clown got on the Elephant's back, but Mrs. Dunn did not, nor did the children. They didn't know that the toys had the power to make believe come to life when no one was watching them. "If they had only stayed out of the room a little longer, I would have had a chance to slip down off the Elephant's back, and all would be well," thought the Calico Clown. "But, coming in so quickly, they caught me! I hope they never find out about our having fun when they are out of the room, or they'll never leave us toys alone." "How do you s'pose that Clown got on my Elephant?" asked Archie of his mother, a little later. "I think some of you children must have put him there, and forgotten about it," said Mrs. Dunn. "No! No!" the children cried. "Well, then Nip must have been playing with the Clown and just dropped him on the Elephant's back," said Mrs. Dunn. Nip was Archie's dog, a great big fellow, but very kind and good, and especially fond of children. He was called Nip because he used to playfully nip, or pretend to bite, cats. He never really bit them, though. "But Nip isn't here to take the Clown up in his mouth and put him on my Elephant," Archie said. "Oh, I guess your dog ran in here while you were out in the other room, eating the cake and drinking the milk," Mrs. Dunn said. "Then Nip ran out again, after dropping the Clown. Anyhow, we don't need to worry about it. Go on with your Christmas fun." This the children did. And having seen the Clown on the Elephant, Dorothy wanted to have her Sawdust Doll ride in the same way. So the Clown was lifted off and the Doll was lifted on. "Oh, I'm having my wish! I'm having my wish!" joyfully thought the Sawdust Doll to herself, as she was put on the Elephant's back, and Archie pulled the big, stuffed animal about the room. The Elephant, too, was glad to give his friend the Doll a ride on his back as he had carried the Rolling Mouse and the other toys, though of course he could not speak and tell her so, for there were children in the room. The Doll, too, would have been glad to thank Mr. Elephant, but it was not allowed. So all the Stuffed Elephant could do was to swing his cloth trunk to and fro, as Archie pulled him over the smooth floor, and all the Sawdust Doll could do was to wave her arms a little. The children thought it such fun to give the smaller toys rides on the back of the big, Stuffed Elephant that they shouted and laughed with glee, making a great deal of noise. And there was more noise when Dick, who owned the White Rocking Horse, came over with his friend Herbert, who had a toy Monkey on a Stick. "Oh, my dear children! You are making so much noise!" called Mrs. Dunn, entering the Christmas tree room. "Don't you want to go out in our big barn to play?" "Isn't it cold out in the barn?" asked Mirabell, as she looked from the window and saw the snowflakes falling. "I wouldn't want my Lamb to catch cold." "It isn't cold in our barn," Archie answered. "It has steam heat, 'cause my father doesn't want the horses to catch cold. And he doesn't want the water in our automobile to freeze, either, so he has steam heat in our barn." "And it's warm and cozy," added Elsie. "Oh, out there we can have a lot of fun!" "Let's go out there then," said Joe. "My Donkey likes it in barns, I guess." "And so will my Elephant!" called Archie. A little later the children were running over the snow to the big barn on Mr. Dunn's country estate. The gardener had shoveled a path through the snow from the house to the barn; so the children would not get their feet wet. Each child carried some toy, and Archie had all he could do to clasp the big elephant in his arms. For Archie was a small boy and the Elephant was one of the largest toys. Once, on the way from the house to the barn, Archie, carrying the Elephant, stumbled and nearly fell. "Oh!" cried the little boy, as he slipped along the snowy path. "Oh!" The Elephant wanted to cry "Oh!" also, but he dared not. He felt shivery and frightened, though, as he saw the banks of snow on either side of him. "I don't want to be pitched into another drift, head first," he thought to himself. But Archie did not fall, and the Elephant did not get a second bath in the snow, for which he was very glad. Into the warm barn trooped the children with their Christmas toys, some old and some new. Jake, the man who looked after the horses, giving them oats from a big bin, and hay from the loft, opened the doors for the children, and laughed to see how happy they were. "We're going to play here and have a lot of fun, Jake!" called Archie. "See my big Elephant! I just got him for Christmas!" "He is a fine fellow," Jake agreed. "Shall I put him in a stall as I do the horses?" "No, we are going to keep him here to play with," said Archie. "And I think I'll get a little hay to make believe feed him." "Well, be careful," warned Jake. "Don't fall off the haymow." The haymow was a big place in the barn where the dried grass (which is what hay is, you know) was stored away. While the other children were having fun with their toys, Archie climbed to the mow to get some hay for his Elephant. Now dried hay is slippery, as you know if you have ever tried to climb up a pile of it in a barn. And no sooner was Archie at the top of the mow than down he slid, on the hill of hay. "Oh, I'm falling!" he cried, and his sister and the other children came running to see what would happen. Archie slid down the haymow toward the floor of the barn. And it seemed as if he would get a hard bump. But, as it happened, a lot of the hay slid along with the little boy, and it was under him when he struck the barn floor. So he fell on the hay, which was like a cushion, and Archie wasn't hurt in the least. In fact he rather liked it. "Oh, this is fun!" he cried. "I'm going to slide down the haymow some more!" Again he climbed to the top, and down he slid, sitting upright as though on a chair. Again he slipped over the edge of the mow and fell on the pile of hay on the barn floor. "Hurray!" shouted Joe, who, being no longer lame, could play like other boys. "I'm going to try that!" He did, as did the other boys and girls, and soon they had forgotten their Christmas toys for the time being, in the newer fun of sliding down the hay. Thus the Elephant, the Donkey, and the different make-believe animals were left to themselves in a distant part of the barn. "This is our chance," said the Donkey to the Elephant. "Let's walk around. My legs are stiff, especially the one that was broken and which Mr. Mugg mended." "Yes, a little walk will do us good," agreed the Elephant. "I am a bit stiff myself, and I want to swing my trunk." So the Donkey and Elephant, making believe come to life, walked about the barn floor, while the children were farther off, sliding down the haymow. There were many strange things in the barn--at least strange to the Elephant and Donkey. There were garden tools of all sorts, rakes, hoes, shovels and picks. There were strange pieces of machinery for cutting hay, planting corn and potatoes, and the like. In one corner was a big wheel, with a rope around it, and for a moment the Elephant thought his friend the Spinning Wheel had come out to the barn to play. But a second look showed that this wheel was larger, stronger and different in every way. "I wonder what this wheel and rope are for?" said the Elephant to the Nodding Donkey. "I don't know, I'm sure," brayed the nodding toy. Just then the wheel turned slowly, and the long, dangling rope swayed to and fro. "I wonder what that is for!" went on the Elephant. Like most animals he was curious about something he did not understand, just as your cat or dog will try to find out what causes a strange noise. "Why don't you reach up with your trunk and feel it?" asked the Donkey. "I have heard you say your trunk was almost like a hand to you." "It is," the Elephant answered. "I will feel the rope and wheel and see what it is like." As the children were in another part of the barn, having fun in the haymow, and as there were no prying eyes to watch, the Elephant could do as he pleased. He raised his trunk and stretched it toward the dangling rope. And then, all of a sudden, something happened. The rope turned and twisted like a snake, a loop of it wound around the Elephant's neck, and a moment later he felt himself being lifted off the barn floor in the hempen coils. Through the air, like the pendulum of a big clock, he swayed, and as the rope pulled tighter and tighter the poor Elephant cried: "Oh, my dear friend Nodding Donkey! I am in a terrible state! The rope is so tight it is squeezing all the cotton stuffing out of me! Oh, what shall I do?" CHAPTER VI A DANGEROUS SLIDE Anxious as the Nodding Donkey was to help his friend the Stuffed Elephant, nothing could be done. For the rope had suddenly been pulled up, taking the Elephant with it. And there he swung, dangling to and fro, the coil of the rope getting tighter and tighter around his neck, choking the poor toy. "Oh, I know all the stuffing will be squeezed out of me! I just know it will!" sighed the Elephant. "Then I'll look like a balloon with all the air out of it! Oh dear!" "Can't you get yourself loose?" asked the Donkey. "I wish I could climb up and help you, but I can't." "And I'd help you, for I am a good climber, only I can't get off my stick. I'm fastened on tight just now," chattered Herbert's Monkey. "Well, something will have to be done, if I am to be saved!" called the Elephant, of course not speaking loudly enough for the children, in another part of the barn, to hear. Archie and his friends were still having fun sliding down the slippery hay, and they were making a great deal of noise. But you know how it is yourself. You often get tired of playing one game and want to go to another. It was this way with Archie and his friends. They slid and slid and slid on the hay until they had had enough of it. Then Elsie said: "Let's go back and get our playthings. I want to see my Christmas Dollie." Back to where they had left the toys trooped the children, and Archie, who ran ahead, was just in time to see his Stuffed Elephant swaying on the rope that was choking him. "Oh, look! Look at my Elephant!" cried Archie. "He's hung on a rope! Oh, he'll be killed! Oh, dear!" "Run and grab him down! Pull him down!" shouted Joe. Archie ran, but by this time the rope was pulled up still farther and the Elephant was so far above the barn floor that even Herbert, who was taller than Archie, could not reach the plaything. "Oh, stop!" cried Archie. "Stop hurting my nice Elephant, Rope!" Archie's voice was loud and clear. Suddenly the rope which had been winding up, around the big wheel, came to a stop, and a voice called: "What's the matter down there? Are any of you children hurt?" "Oh, that's Jake!" exclaimed Elsie. "It's our man Jake!" "What's the trouble there, Archie?" Jake asked. He was somewhere in the loft of the barn. "It's my Elephant!" Archie answered, trying to keep from crying. "My nice, Stuffed Christmas Elephant. He's hanging on a rope!" "On a rope!" exclaimed Jake. "Do you mean this wheel rope that I use to hoist up bags of oats to the bin here? Is it that rope?" "I don't know--but it's some rope!" Archie answered. "Can't you save my Elephant?" "Of course I can!" called Jake. "Don't worry! Your Elephant isn't alive--choking with a rope can't hurt him!" "Yes, it can, too!" insisted Archie. "It can choke all the stuffing out of him and make him flat like a pancake." "Well, yes, that might happen," admitted Jake. "But I didn't know any of your toys were tangled in the hoisting rope, or I would not have pulled it. Wait a minute, now, and I'll turn the wheel the other way and let your Elephant down to you." Slowly the big wheel turned in the other direction, and the end of the rope that was about the Elephant's neck dropped toward the barn floor. The Elephant, also, began slowly to come down. "Thank goodness!" said the toy to himself. "I could not have stood being hanged much longer. I'm glad it's over!" And it was over a moment later when Archie could reach up, take the loop of rope from around his plaything's neck and set the Elephant down on the barn floor. "How did it happen?" asked Jake. He came down out of the loft, or place where he stored the bags of oats. The oats were hauled to the lower floor of the barn. There a rope was put about each bag and it was lifted to the upper floor where it was stored in a bin. The lifting rope went around a big wheel, acting like a dumbwaiter in some houses. Jake had turned the wheel by pulling on a second rope upstairs in the barn, and as the wheel turned it wound up the longer rope. It was the end of this rope that had looped itself about the Elephant. "How did it happen?" asked Jake again. "I don't know," Archie replied. "I left my Elephant here when I went to slide down the hay. When I came back he was on the rope." "Some of you children must have left the Elephant too near the end of the rope," said Jake. "When I wound it up the Elephant became tangled in a loop, and of course he was lifted up." "Nope! We didn't any of us leave the Elephant near the rope; did we?" asked Archie of his little friends. "Nope!" they all answered. "Well, that's queer," said Jake. "That Elephant never got on the rope by himself, I'm sure." But that is just what the Elephant did, as we know. "Anyhow I'm glad he's all right now," said Archie, as he looked carefully at his new toy. "None of the stuffing came out." But it might have, if the Elephant had been left hanging much longer on the rope. Finding that everything was all right and that none of the children was in danger, Jake went back to the oat bin. There was a long chute, or slide, from the upper bin to a box on the first floor of the barn. And the oats came rushing down this slide when a door in the top bin was opened. This door could be opened by pulling a rope near the horse stalls, and sometimes Archie was allowed to pull the rope, open the door of the large grain bin, and let the oats slide down the chute to the smaller bin on the lower floor. But this day Jake was putting a new supply of oats in the upper bin, and Archie was not allowed to play near it. The little boy and his friends soon began having more fun with their Christmas toys, giving the Clown and smaller dolls rides on the back of the Stuffed Elephant. Thus Christmas passed, New Year's came, and the Elephant lived and was happy in Archie's home. The Elephant did not often think of Mr. Mugg and his daughters Geraldine and Angelina. He liked it much better, did the Elephant, in Archie's house than in the store. Of course the toy store was a jolly place, but no boys or girls were permitted to play with the toys. They were there for sale, and could only be played with after being bought and taken home. So the Elephant was glad he belonged to Archie, who was a boy that took very good care of his playthings. Nearly every day Joe, Dick or Arnold would come over to see Archie, bringing their playthings, and in this way the Elephant met many friends whose adventures are related in the other books of this series. And at night, when Archie and Elsie were in bed, of course the Elephant, and the other toys in the Dunn house, had their usual fun. They would make believe come to life and talk and play about in the nursery or in the closet--wherever they happened to be left at the close of the day. It was still winter, though Archie and Elsie wished spring would come so they might play oftener out of doors. And one rainy day, when it was too cold and stormy to be out, Archie and Elsie went to the big, warm barn to have fun. Archie carried his Elephant and Elsie had her Doll. "Let's go upstairs to the grain bins," suggested Elsie, when they had played about in the hay for a time. "Maybe Jake will let us open the bin door from up there, and we can watch the oats slide down the chute," said Archie. "I like to watch the oats slide." "So do I," Elsie admitted. The grain bin was so built that the door of the chute could be opened from above or below. Up to the upper floor of the barn went the two children, with the Elephant and the Doll. "Are you here, Jake?" called Archie, but there was no answer. "I don't guess he's around," said Elsie. "I don't guess so, either," replied Archie. "But I don't guess he'd care if I let down some oats. I looked in the lower bin and there's hardly any there. I'm going to let some down the chute." "I'll watch you," offered Elsie, as she set her Doll on top of a big oat box. The cover to the box was open. Archie liked this because he could see the smooth oats go down the wooden chute, or slide, like so much water. "I'll let a lot of oats down," the little boy said to his sister. He placed his Elephant on the edge of the bin, near the Doll. Then Archie pulled on the handle that opened the door. It was hard work, for the oats pressed against the door. Elsie came to help him, and at last the children managed to get it open. "There they go!" cried Archie, as the oats began to pour down the chute. "Yes, and there goes your Elephant!" shouted Elsie. As she spoke, the stuffed toy fell into the oat bin, and, a moment later, the poor chap was sucked into the smooth chute, with the running grain, and the oats closed over his head. Lost to the sight of the children, the Stuffed Elephant was taking a dangerous slide. CHAPTER VII THE BIG DOG Archie was so surprised at what happened that, for a moment, he could do nothing but stand and look at the stream of oats gliding down the wooden chute to the bin on the floor below. "There goes your Elephant!" cried Elsie again. "He fell right into the oats, Archie!" "Yes--yes--I--I see he did!" stammered the little boy. "I'm glad my Doll didn't go, too!" went on Elsie. "I guess I'd better take her away 'fore she tumbles in." Elsie reached over to take her toy from the side of the oat bin where the Christmas Doll had been put by her mistress. But Elsie's foot slipped on some hay on the floor, she tried to save herself from falling, her arm struck her Doll, and, a moment later, the Doll was sliding down the stream of smooth oats as the Elephant had done. "Oh! Oh!" cried Archie. "Look at your Doll! She went down just like my Elephant!" "Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" wailed Elsie. "Where has she gone?" "Down into the oat bin on the first floor," explained Archie. "The oats go from this big bin to the little bin where Jake takes them out to give to the horses. Don't cry, Elsie. We'll get your Doll back." Archie had almost been going to cry himself when he saw his Elephant being buried in the rushing stream of oats. But when he heard his sister's sobs he made up his mind to be brave and try to help her. Archie was so excited that he still held up the sliding door of the oat bin, and the grains kept on sliding down the chute, carrying with them the Elephant and Doll, though now the toys were not in sight. "Come on downstairs and get my Doll!" begged Elsie, tugging at her brother's hand. "Come on and get your Elephant and my Doll." "Yes, we'd better do that," Archie agreed. Then he saw that he was still holding open the little door in the oat bin, so that pecks and bushels of the grains were still sliding down the chute. "I'd better close that, or the Elephant and the Doll will be buried away down under so many oats they'll never get out," said the little boy. He let go the handle that they had pulled to raise the door, and it dropped shut, thus preventing any more oats from sliding down the chute. Then he took Elsie's hand and hurried toward the stairs that led to the lower floor of the barn. Meanwhile, as you have guessed, the Elephant and the Doll were not having a very good time. At first, when the Elephant felt himself fall in with the sliding oats, he did not know what had happened. "I wonder what sort of adventure this is!" thought the Elephant. "It's almost as bad as being pitched out into a snow drift, though I'm glad it isn't cold. These oats are very scratchy, though, and they make me want to sneeze. But where am I going?" The Elephant did not know. All he could tell was that he was being hurried along in the dark with a lot of oats, for it was dark inside the grain chute. Down, down, down went the Elephant, just as he had gone up, up, up on the rope. "Where shall I land?" thought the Elephant. A moment later he found out, for he was shot from the chute into the almost empty grain bin on the lower floor. Out of the chute tumbled the Elephant, and he was very glad to be in an open space once more. "But it is almost as dark as it was before," he said. A little light came from the top of the bin which did not close tightly, but it was only a little light. But the Elephant's troubles were not over. For no sooner had he been slid clear of the chute, landing on his feet, very luckily, than more oats poured out, for Archie was still holding open the door of the grain bin up above. So many oats came sliding down the chute that they rose all around the Elephant like rising water around a rock. The oats rose to his knees, to his stomach, where they tickled him a little, and then began to rise over his back. "Oh!" he trumpeted, raising his trunk as high as he could. "I am going to be covered from sight in the oats!" And then, when the oats almost covered his eyes, he had a glimpse of the Doll coming down the chute, in a shower of oats. "Oh, you poor child!" called the Elephant. "Yes, isn't this terrible!" exclaimed the Doll. "Oh, how are we ever going to get out?" The Elephant tried to answer, but now the oats rose over his mouth and he could not speak. Only the top of his head and the tip of his trunk stuck out above the oats. The Doll, having come down a little later, was not so deeply covered by the grains. She tried to stand up, to keep her head as far above the oats as she could, but it was hard work. Around and around she slipped, from side to side. More and more oats poured down, for Archie still held open the door, and at last the poor Doll was covered from sight, as was the Elephant. And it was now that Archie and Elsie came racing down the stairs. Archie called: "Jake! Jake! Come here! Where are you? Oh, my Elephant is in the oat bin, and so is Elsie's Doll, and we've got to get 'em out!" "What's that? Elsie in the oat bin?" cried Jake, who had just come back to the barn. "No, not Elsie, but her Doll!" shouted Archie. "And so is my Stuffed Elephant." "Well, that isn't so bad as if one of you children were in the bin," replied Jake. "I'll help you, though. Show me which bin." Archie told what he had done, and when Jake opened the bin on the lower floor it was brim full and running over with oats. "You surely let down enough grain," said Jake. "How are you going to get my Doll?" Elsie asked. "And my Elephant?" added Archie. "Oh, I'll shovel them out," said Jake. "Don't be afraid. I'll get the Doll and the Elephant." "Well, you'd better hurry, 'cause they may smother," Elsie said. "I'll hurry," promised Jake. With a shovel he carefully took some of the oats from the bin, so that first Elsie's Doll could be seen, and then the Elephant came into view. "There you are!" said kind Jake, as he handed the toys back to the children. "My, wasn't that a terrible time?" said the Doll to the Elephant that night, when they were left by themselves in a closet. "I should say so!" agreed the Elephant. "I never want anything like that to happen again! I hope I have no more adventures!" But he was to have more. For a time, however, nothing very exciting happened. Archie played with his Elephant and Elsie with her Doll, and their boy and girl friends brought over their toys to have fun with. Often they amused themselves in the big, warm barn, though never again did Archie go near the grain bin. Sometimes Nip, the big dog, would go to the barn to play with the children, and once, though not meaning to, the Elephant gave the dog a scare. It was this way. Archie had set his elephant down on the barn floor, near a big box. Nip, the dog, coming suddenly around the corner of the box, did not know the Elephant was there until a draft of wind swayed the Elephant's trunk, making it wiggle to and fro. "Oh, my! A snake! A snake!" cried Nip, who was afraid of the crawling creatures. "It's a big snake!" "Nonsense! I'm not a snake," said the Elephant, who could speak, since Elsie and Archie were in another part of the barn. "What was it that looked like a snake?" howled Nip. "It was my trunk. The wind blew it," was the answer. "Hum!" said Nip, who, now that he took a second look, saw that there was really no snake, and nothing to frighten him. "Hum! I believe you did that on purpose, just to scare me!" "No, really I didn't!" said the Elephant. "Yes, you did, too!" barked Nip. "And, just for that, I'm going to play a trick on you!" "Please don't!" begged the Elephant. "Yes, I will!" growled Nip, who was a little angry, and not as kind as he might have been. "I'm going to carry you away off!" he barked. Then, before the Elephant could do anything to save himself, Nip, the big dog, caught the soft Stuffed Elephant up by his back and carried him into a dark and distant part of the barn. CHAPTER VIII AN ELEPHANT JUDGE "Let me go! Oh, please put me down! Where are you taking me?" called the Stuffed Elephant to Nip, the big dog. Nip did not answer. This was not because he could not speak the toy language or the language of Stuffed Elephants. But Nip held Archie's Christmas plaything in his mouth, and you know a dog can't even bark when he has anything in his mouth. He can only growl. Now, Nip was not a bad dog. And though he was playing a trick on the Stuffed Elephant, still Nip was not cross enough to do any growling. So he just kept still, and trotted along the barn floor, carrying the Elephant. Nip, being a big dog, had no trouble in carrying the Stuffed Elephant, though the toy was rather large. Stuffed with cotton, as the Elephant was, he was not very heavy, you see. "Stop! Oh, please let me go! Where are you taking me?" asked the Elephant again. But Nip answered never a word. All the dog had said at first was: "I am going to carry you away off!" And he seemed to be doing this. Through the barn he trotted with the Stuffed Elephant in his mouth. The Elephant had never been in this part of the barn before. Archie and Elsie never came here to play. It was too dark, and rather dusty and dirty, with cobwebs hanging down from the walls and ceiling. Down the stairs trotted Nip, still carrying the Elephant. The dog trotted over to a dim and dusty corner, dropped the Christmas toy upside down on the floor and then barked: "There you are! Now let's see you find your way back! I'll teach you to scare me by making believe your trunk is a snake!" "Oh, but I didn't do that! Really I didn't!" exclaimed the Elephant, as he scrambled to his feet. He could move about and talk now, because no human eyes were there to watch him. "It was all an accident," he went on. "The wind blew my trunk! I didn't wave it at you to scare you by making you think it was a snake. Really I didn't!" "Yes, you did!" said Nip, and away he ran, soon being lost to sight in the darkness of this part of the barn. For a little while the Stuffed Elephant stood there, swaying slowly to and fro, as real elephants do. He reached out with his trunk and gently touched the wooden walls. He could dimly see things all about him, but he did not know what they were. "Oh, dear!" sighed the poor Stuffed Elephant. "I don't like this at all! I wonder what I had better do?" He was trying to think, and wondering if he could walk up the stairs and find his way back to the place where Archie had left him before Nip carried him away, when, suddenly, the Stuffed Elephant heard voices talking. "Maybe he could settle it," said one voice. "Well, I'm willing to leave it to him if you are," said a second. "Who is he, anyhow?" asked a third voice. "Oh, he's some sort of animal," went on the first voice. "He isn't an angleworm, I know that much, but just what sort he is I don't know. But he looks smart, and maybe he can settle this dispute for us." "I am a Stuffed Elephant, that's who I am," said Archie's pet, speaking for himself. "And who are you, if you please? I can't see any one, but I hear you talking. Who are you?" "I am the Garden Shovel," answered the first voice; "and I claim to be the most useful tool in all the world. Without me there never would be any garden, and things would not grow." "Nonsense!" exclaimed the second voice. "I am the Garden Rake, and I claim to be the most useful tool the gardener ever uses. Without me the ground would never be raked nice and smooth, so the seeds could be put in. I should get the prize for being the most useful." "How foolishly you talk!" put in the third voice. "Every one knows that I am entitled to the prize. Talk about shoveling the ground, and raking the ground! What can you two do by yourselves, or together, for that matter, if the ground is hard? Answer me that. You must send for me, you know you must!" "And who are you?" asked the Stuffed Elephant, for this tool had not yet named himself. "I am the Pick," was the answer. "And with my sharp points the hardest ground can be made soft, so the Rake and the Shovel can work. I am the most useful tool of all." "No, I am!" cried the Rake. "Indeed you are not! I am!" exclaimed the Shovel. "Well, there we are! Just where we started!" complained the Pick. "Why not leave it to this gentleman animal here. What did you say your name was?" he asked politely, and then Archie's toy saw the Pick, the Rake and the Shovel step out from a dark corner and stand in a row before him. "I am the Stuffed Elephant," was the answer. "This is my first visit to this part of the barn. What is it you want me to do?" "If this is your first visit you have never seen any of us before, have you?" asked the Shovel. "Never before did I see any of you," the Elephant replied. "Just the proper one for a Judge!" declared the Rake. "He will be honest and fair." "I'm willing to have him if you two are," said the Pick. "What's it all about?" asked the Elephant. "I don't understand. What is a Judge?" "Some one who tells the right from the wrong," answered the Rake. "Listen, Mr. Stuffed Elephant! Get up on that box, for a Judge must be above every one else, and we will tell you what the trouble is." The Elephant got up on a strong, empty onion crate, and stood there with the Shovel, the Rake and the Pick standing in a row in front of him. "You must say 'Ahem!' and bang on the box, like a real Judge," said the Shovel. "Ahem!" coughed the Elephant, as loudly as he could. Then he took up a piece of wood in the end of his trunk, and banged on the side of the onion crate. "Now this is like a real court," said the Rake, "and we shall have our quarrel settled." "Oh, have you three been quarreling?" asked the Elephant Judge. "Well, not exactly; and the quarrel is not an angry one," replied the Shovel. "You see," he went on, "we three tools work in the garden. Or, rather, Jake, the man, uses us when he works. Now I claim I am the most useful of the three. Jake always takes me out when there is a bit of ground to be spaded up, or turned over, when he wants to make the garden in the spring. So I think, Mr. Judge Elephant, Your Honor, that I am entitled to the prize." "Hum! Let me see now," said the Elephant, trying to look very wise. "I suppose I must listen to what the others have to say." "Oh, yes, indeed!" exclaimed the Rake. "We must each state our case, as in a real court, and then you shall decide who is right. Now, for myself--Oh, by the way, had you quite finished?" he asked of the Shovel, politely. "Yes," was the answer, "I think I said enough to have the Elephant Judge give me the prize. Go on, Mr. Rake." "Well," said the Rake, smiling a little to show his teeth, "I claim to be more useful than the Shovel. It is true Jake uses him to turn the ground over. But before the ground can be turned Jake uses me to take away the dead leaves and sticks that are not wanted. And even after the Shovel is used to turn the ground over, no seeds can be planted, and the garden can not really be made, until I am used again to smooth things over. So I claim to be the most useful tool." The Rake stepped back in line with the others, and they all waited for the Elephant to speak. "Ahem!" said the animal judge very loudly. "There is one more to be heard. Proceed, Mr. Pick." The Pick, who had at least two good points in his favor, stepped forward, made a stiff little bow with his handle, and said: "What my friends Rake and Shovel have told you, of course is true. They are useful, each in his own way. But I do the really hard work of the garden. When the earth is packed hard and dry, so that neither the Shovel nor the Rake can be used, Jake always comes and gets me. I am larger and stronger than either the Rake or the Shovel, though of course the Rake has a longer handle. But it is a very thin handle, and if Jake struck as hard a blow with the Rake as he strikes with me, the Rake's handle would break. And no matter how hard he digs the Shovel into the hard ground, no earth can be turned over until I first loosen it. So I claim the prize." The Pick stepped back in line with the other two, all three bowed politely and waited. "What am I to do now?" asked the Elephant. "You must act as Judge and tell which of us is the most useful, to decide who gets the prize," said the Rake. "That is it," chimed in the Pick and the Shovel. "This is very hard--very hard indeed," sighed the Elephant. "In fact I never before knew how hard it was to decide between right and wrong. Let me think a minute." He passed his trunk over his head, which was beginning to ache with all the talk he had listened to. "Hum! Let me see now," the Elephant spoke slowly. "It is true, Mr. Shovel, that you are very useful. Without you the ground could not be turned." "There! See! I told you I'd get the prize!" cried the Shovel. "Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" trumpeted the Elephant. "I have not finished. It is also true," he went on, "that the Rake is very useful. Before the Shovel can be used the ground must be raked clean, and after the Shovel has spaded the earth, it must be raked smooth." "There! I knew it! Oh, what a fine Judge! He is going to say I am entitled to the prize!" exclaimed the Rake, laughing. "Not yet! Wait a minute!" cried the Elephant. "I have not finished! I want to say that the Pick used very good arguments. He is right when he says without him, in case the ground is hard, nothing can be done. And he certainly is the strongest, so I think----" "Oh, ho! What did I tell you! I get the prize!" cried the Pick. "Wait a minute! I have not finished!" said the Elephant Judge. "What I was going to say was that before I could decide who wins I must see the prize. What is the prize? Bring it here that I may see it, and then I will decide who is to get it." [Illustration: "Wait a Minute!" Trumpeted the Elephant. _The Story of a Stuffed Elephant._ _Page_ 97] "Oh, the prize!" cried the Shovel. "That's so, we forgot all about it!" gasped the Rake. "What was the prize to be?" asked the Pick. "I declare we did not settle on any. How stupid!" "Until I see the prize I cannot give judgment," said the Elephant; "so the case will have to 'go over,' as I believe they say in Court, until the prize is brought here. Stop disputing now, and get me the prize!" "Yes! Yes! The prize! The prize!" cried the Rake, the Shovel and the Pick, and away they scurried. "Ha! Ha! Ha!" laughed another voice in the corner whence had come the three tools. "What silly chaps!" came in another voice. "To forget the most important thing of all--the prize!" added another. "Who are you, if you please?" asked the Elephant, stepping down off the onion crate. "I'm the Hoe," was the answer of the first. "If I had wished I could have told how useful I am. In fact, I think I will have a try for the prize." "I'm just as much entitled to it as you are," some one else said. "You needn't think you can get ahead of me!" "Who are you?" asked the Elephant. "The Wheelbarrow," was the reply. "You ought to see the loads I carry. I ought to get the prize!" "What about me?" asked a third voice. "Who are you?" asked the Elephant. "The Lawn Mower. Just think what an ugly place this estate would be unless I kept the grass trim and neat. It should be my prize." "Oh, my goodness!" exclaimed the poor Elephant. "If there are to be more disputes, and more evidence in this case, I shall go mad. Stop!" he cried, as the Wheelbarrow, the Hoe, and the Lawn Mower came forward, all talking at once. "Stop! I will do nothing until I see the prize! Court is adjourned!" And as the Elephant said this the sound of loud barking sounded through the barn. "Oh, maybe that is Nip coming to carry me back," thought the Elephant. "I certainly hope so!" CHAPTER IX 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! CHAPTER X A VOYAGE HOME Down pelted more and more rain, harder and harder, until the back yard, where Archie had been playing with the Stuffed Elephant, was almost a little lake of water. The puddle rose higher and higher around the Stuffed Elephant as he lay on his side, unable to move because he was so soaked with water--like a sponge. Inside the house where Archie lived there was trouble, because the little boy was hurt worse in his fall than was at first supposed. They had to send for the doctor, and of course no one thought of the poor Elephant. "I'm glad I'm not out in this rain with my Doll," said Elsie, as she sat at the window after the doctor had gone. "Yes, it is a regular flood," said Mother, sadly thinking of her little boy. And still no one thought of the Elephant out in all the storm. If Elsie remembered anything at all, she probably thought that Archie had brought his Elephant into the house. As for Archie, the doctor had given him something to make him sleep, and the little boy was too ill even to dream of his Christmas toy. As for the Elephant; well, he was in a sad state! The wet cotton stuffing inside him was cold and clammy. His trunk was like a wet piece of paper, and he feared his wooden tusks would come out, if the glue that held them in got too much soaked. "Oh, dear! What am I to do?" thought the poor toy. Now it happened that Jeff, the colored boy who had once taken the China Cat from Mr. Mugg's store after a fire, lived not far from Archie's home. Jeff and his folks had moved to the country from the city. And about this time Jeff's mother sent him to the store. "Has Ah done gotta go in all dis rain?" asked the little colored boy. "Yo' suah has, Honey!" replied his mother. "Yo' isn't salt or sugah, an' yo' won't melt. Put on yo' ole coat an' go to de sto'!" So Jeff went. He took a "short cut" which led across the Dunn's back yard, and Jeff passed the place where the poor Elephant lay in a puddle of water. "Oh, golly!" cried Jeff, his white teeth glistening against his funny black face as he laughed. "Ah'd done gone an' found annuder playtoy! Only dis one Ah done found in de rain, but de udder one was in a fiah! Ah knows whut Ah's gwine to do. I'll put dis Leffelant on a board till Ah comes back from de sto'. Den Ah'll take him home wif me!" Jeff looked around until he found a flat board, large enough to hold the elephant. Putting the toy on this board, Jeff laid it to one side, and ran on to the store. He did not want to take the Elephant with him for fear some one would see it and ask him about it. But Jeff was not to have that Elephant. While the colored boy was at the store the rain came down harder than ever, making so much water that the little brook in Archie's back yard rose higher and higher. So high did the brook rise that the water reached the board on which the limp and soaking Elephant was lying on his side. And then the water lifted up the board, Elephant and all, and floated them down stream. "Oh, my!" thought the poor Stuffed Elephant. "This is the last of me! I am going on a long voyage! I shall never see Archie again!" Down the stream he floated on the board which was like a boat. Once a fish poked his head out of the water and called: "Who are you and where are you going?" Before the Elephant could answer the swift current had carried him farther downstream and away from the fish. Once the board with the Elephant on it bumped against a big Water Rat. "Be careful who you're bumping!" snarled the Rat. [Illustration: "Be Careful Who You're Bumping!" Snarled the Rat. _The Story of a Stuffed Elephant._ _Page_ 114] "Excuse me," replied the Elephant. "I didn't mean to." The Rat tried to bite the Elephant's trunk, but again the swift current carried the boat downstream. Finally the rain stopped, after a day or so, but by that time the Elephant had been carried a long way down the brook, at last coming to a stop when the board was caught in the roots of an overhanging tree. By now the Elephant was almost glued fast to the board, so wet and soaking was he. The rain stopped, the brook went down, the sun came out, and the Elephant dried. But he still lay on the board, on the bank of the stream, under the roots of the tree. A man, who happened to be passing, saw the Elephant, picked him off the board, and, seeing that he was an expensive toy, took the plaything to his home. "What a fine Elephant!" said the man's wife. "I'll put him on the mantel, over the stove, so he'll dry out more. Some child lost this. We haven't any children small enough to want to keep it. I wish I could find out who owned this Elephant." "I wish so, myself," thought the Elephant. "Oh, shall I ever get back to Archie?" It was a day or so after the big storm that Archie was able to be up and around, and the first thing he thought of, when he could go outdoors, was his Elephant. "Oh, where is he?" cried the little boy. "I 'member I left him in the yard when we heard the hand-organ music and ran to see the monkey. And then it rained and I fell down and bumped my nose. Oh, where is my Elephant?" "If you left him out here in the yard I fear the Elephant has floated away," said Mrs. Dunn. "The brook rose very high--almost up to our back steps--and it probably carried your Elephant away." "Oh, shall I ever get him back?" cried Archie, feeling sad. "I'm afraid not," his mother answered. Archie felt so bad about his toy that his father put an advertisement in the paper, asking whoever found the Elephant to please bring him back and get a reward. If Jeff, the colored boy, had been able to read, he might have seen the advertisement and have told what he did with the toy. But Jeff never read the papers. And, besides, it rained so hard when the colored boy went back from the store, after putting the Elephant on the board, that Jeff had to go home another way, and he forgot all about the stuffed plaything he had set aside. But the man who had taken the Elephant home read the paper, and he saw the advertisement Mr. Dunn put in. "There!" called the man to his wife. "Now I know where that Elephant belongs. I'll take him back to the little boy." "Well, he's good and dry," said his wife. "I mean the Elephant is good and dry. He's almost as good as new." And, in fact, the Elephant was, for she had brushed off all the mud, and the heat had dried out the water. Carrying the Stuffed Elephant, the man who had found the toy took it to Archie's house. "Oh, here he is! My Christmas Elephant! He's come back to me! Oh, how glad I am!" cried Archie, as he clasped the cotton creature in his arms. "Oh, how glad I am!" "And I'm glad, too!" thought the Elephant. "I feared I would never see Archie and Elsie again! And I'm even glad to see Nip!" for the dog came to the door, wagging his tail. And so, after several adventures, the Stuffed Elephant was back home again, but many more things happened to him, though I have no room for them in this book. The Elephant even acted again as Judge in the dispute of the Rake, the Shovel and the Pick, but who won the prize I cannot tell. I think each should have had a prize. Don't you? Once again there was happiness in the Dunn house, for the lost Elephant was back, and Elsie gave her brother a pink ribbon to tie on his toy's neck. "It may look pretty, but it tickles me," thought the Elephant, as Archie pulled him about. THE END THE STORY LADY SERIES By GEORGENE FAULKNER * * * * * =Illustrated. Every Volume Complete in Itself= * * * * * What child does not love to hear again and again these charming and thrilling tales that have been handed down through the ages from generation to generation--the best liked and the most famous of the world's myths, legends and fairy lore about animals, birds, witches, fairies, giants, dwarfs and beloved heroes and heroines from many different countries. These are the stories that children read and re-read with wonder and delight. In these volumes they are told in simple, charming language by Georgene Faulkner, known by thousands of youngsters and grown-ups as "The Story Lady." _THE STORY LADY BOOKS_ SQUEAKY AND THE SCARE BOX THE FLYING SHIP THE SNOW MAIDEN THE GOLDEN FISH THE GINGERBREAD BOY THE THREE BEARS THE LITTLE RED HEN AND THE FOX * * * * * GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK THE HONEY BUNCH BOOKS By HELEN LOUISE THORNDYKE * * * * * Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations Drawn by WALTER S. ROGERS * * * * * Honey Bunch is a dainty, thoughtful little girl, and to know her is to take her to your heart at once. Little girls everywhere will want to discover what interesting experiences she is having wherever she goes. HONEY BUNCH: JUST A LITTLE GIRL HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE CITY HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS ON THE FARM HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE SEASHORE HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST LITTLE GARDEN HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS IN CAMP HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST AUTO TOUR HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP ON THE OCEAN HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP WEST HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST SUMMER ON AN ISLAND HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP TO THE GREAT LAKES HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP IN AN AIRPLANE HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE ZOO * * * * * GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS NEW YORK * * * * * 
36815	----	Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 36815-h.htm or 36815-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36815/36815-h/36815-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36815/36815-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See http://www.archive.org/details/advancedtoymakin00mitc Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by "pound" or "number" signs is in bold face (#bold#). ADVANCED TOY MAKING FOR SCHOOLS by DAVID M. MITCHELL Instructor Manual Arts Willson Junior High School, Cleveland, Ohio [Illustration] The Manual Arts Press Peoria, Illinois Copyright 1922 David M. Mitchell 12 B 22 Printed in United States of America PREFACE Toys are today regarded as educational factors in the life of boys and girls. New toys come into demand at frequent intervals in the growth and mental development of the child. On account of the unfailing interest on the part of the pupils in toys and because of the unlimited educational possibilities contained in toy making, this work is rightfully taking an increasingly important place in the manual arts program in the schools. This book is the outgrowth of toy-making problems given to junior-high and high-school pupils. The author claims no originality for some of the toys. However, most of them have been originated or improved upon in the author's classes. While it is entirely satisfactory to have any of the toys mentioned in this book made as individual projects, they are here offered as suitable group projects or production projects, and it is hoped that the suggested form of shop organization for production work as treated in Part I is flexible enough so that the plan can be applied to most any shop conditions. The drawings of toys in Part II will suggest a variety of articles which may be used in carrying out the production work. Of course, the success of organizing and conducting classes for this kind of work depends largely upon the instructor. He must know definitely what he is trying to get done. He must adopt and pursue such methods of dealing with both the members of the class and the material as will contribute directly towards the desired end. Toy making carried on by the so-called productive plan, if handled properly, will bring out many of the essentials of an organization typical of the commercial industries. Together with its educational possibilities and its power to attract the attention of those engaged in this activity, toy making will rightfully take its place alongside other important subjects offered in a complete industrial arts course. The author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to William E. Roberts, supervisor of manual training, Cleveland Public Schools, for valuable suggestions and inspiration; to Joseph A. Shelley, Jersey City, N. J., for suggestions on finishing kiddie car wheels; to the Eclipse Air Brush Company, Newark, N. J., for valuable information and photographs of air brush equipment; and to the American Wood Working Machinery Co., for the use of the illustrations showing the operation of the turning lathe, universal saw, and other woodworking machines. D. M. MITCHELL Cleveland, Ohio, 1921. CONTENTS PART I OPERATIONS IN TOY MAKING CHAPTER I. PRODUCTIVE WORK 11 1. Suggested plan for shop organization. 2. Grouping of students. 3. The time clerk and tool-room clerk. 4. Recording attendance. 5. Time cards. 6. Using time card. 7. Grading students. 8. Preliminary discussion and preparation for shopwork. 9. Bazaars, toy sales, etc. CHAPTER II. COLORING TOYS 21 10. Sanitation emphasized. 11. Preparation of surfaces. 12. Application of water colors. 13. Analine water stains. 14. Formulas for analine water stains. 15. Oil stains. 16. Shellacking. 17. Varnishing. 18. Points on Varnishing. 19. Colored varnish. 20. Another suggestion for finishing. 21. Use of paint. 22. Ingredients of good paint. 23. Application of paint. 24. Preparation of surface. 25. Tinting materials. 26. Mixing paints. 27. Paint formulas. 28. Formulas for making tinted paint. 29. Enameling. 30. The dipping method. 31. Polishing by tumbling. 32. Care of brushes. 33. Paint application by means of compressed air. 34. Uses of pneumatic sprayers. 35. Construction of pneumatic painting outfit. 36. Special attachments for different surfaces. 37. Cleaning pneumatic machines. 38. Directions for cleaning machine. 39. Directions for operating pneumatic equipment. 40. Preparing colors. CHAPTER III. COMMON WOODS USED IN TOY MAKING 42 41. Economy in selecting material. 42. Qualities of different woods used. CHAPTER IV. USE OF JIGS AND FIXTURES 43 43. Value of jigs and fixtures. 44. Cutting small wheels. 45. Turning wheels. 46. Use of wheel cutter. 47. Use of coping saw. 48. Cutting sharp corners. 49. Removing the saw-blade from frame. 50. Making heavy wheels. 51. Designs for wheels. 52. Cutting wheels on band-saw. 53. Boring holes in wheels. CHAPTER V. OPERATION OF WOODWORKING MACHINES 54 54. Importance of machine operations. 55. Operating the lathe. 56. Face plate turning. 57. The universal saw. 58. The hand jointer. 59. The sander. PART II DRAWINGS FOR TOYS PAGE Plate 1. Fox and Geese Game 64 " 2. Ring Toss 65 " 3. Baby's Cart 66 " 4. Hay Cart 67 " 5. Horse Head 68 " 6. Horse on Wheels 69 " 7. Kido Kar Trailer 70 " 8. Auto Roadster 71 " 9. Auto Racer 72 " 10. Passenger Car 73 " 11. Milk Wagon 74 " 12. Table for Doll House 75 " 13. Chair and Rocker 76 " 14. Buffet 77 " 15. Toy Wheel-Barrow 78 " 16. Horse Barrow 79 " 17. Doll's Carriage 80 " 18. Noah's Ark 81 " 19. "Bean Bag" Game Board 82 " 20. Child's Swing No. 1 83 " 21. Child's Swing No. 2 84 " 22. Doll's Bed, No. 1 85 " 23. Doll's Bed, No. 2 86 " 24. Adjustable Stilts 87 " 25. Scooter 88 " 26. Steering Coaster 89 " 27. Kido Kar 90 " 28. Kid Kar Junior 91 " 29. Pony Kar 92 " 30. Duplex Speedster 93 " 31. Rock-a-Doodle 94 " 32. Sled 95 " 33. "Sturdy Flyer" Sled 96 " 34. Ducky Loo 97 " 35. Duck Rocker 98 " 36. Jitney 99 " 37. Junior Roadster 100 " 38. Details of Junior Roadster 101 " 39. Senior Coaster 102 " 40. Details of Senior Coaster 103 " 41. Auto-Kar 104 " 42. Choo-Choo-Kar 105 " 43. Teeter-Totter 106 " 44. Teeter Rocker 107 " 45. Checker Board 108 " 46. Child's Costumer 109 " 47. Baby's Chair 110 " 48. Children's Sand Box 111 " 49. Sand Box No. 2 112 " 50. Doll's House No. 1 113 " 51. Doll's House No. 2 114 " 52. Doll's House No. 2 115 " 53. Dumb Bell & Indian Club 116 " 54. Bats 117 SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS Where the work is to be done on the so-called productive basis, it is of utmost importance that, before starting, the classes should be so organized as to allow the work to be carried on in the most efficient, progressive manner. The form of shop organization suggested in this book is recommended. However, the instructor may, particularly if he has had good practical shop experience, employ other methods of organization that are just as good and possibly even better for his particular class and the conditions under which he has to work. It is also of great importance that the instructor should acquaint himself with the processes involved in the making of each toy before allowing the class to begin it. This may be accomplished by the making of a sample of the contemplated project, carefully analyzing its different parts and arranging the operations in a logical sequence. This phase of the work may be done during class discussions and demonstrations at which time the different jigs and fixtures needed for progressive production may also be developed. The different methods of coloring toys have been suggested with the hope that the student will gain a realization of the importance of finishing, from both the artistic and the practical point of view. The application of paint by means of compressed air is the latest development in the coloring of toys, and an equipment in the school shop illustrating the principles of compressed air as applied to productive finishing of toys, is a step forward in making school shops function as they should. The working drawings in this book should serve as suggestions. They have been so constructed as to be free from unnecessary technicalities, and to leave as much opportunity as possible for the exercise and development of the student's judgment. It will be found that toy making offers itself readily to the desired co-operation and correlation with other departments in the school. For instance, the art department may aid with the designing and color scheme to be used on toys; the general metal shop may help in the making of necessary metal parts: the mechanical drawing department can co-operate in the making of working drawings; the mathematics department can figure the costs of production, etc., etc. It is hoped that the purpose of this book is not merely to set forth a few plans and drawings for the construction of toys, but to give the work the broadest possible application; creating a constructive influence on the minds of the students, in which case it will also act as a means of bringing into closer relationship their life outside of school with the work in school. [Illustration: TOY MAKING ON A PRODUCTIVE BASIS EMPLOYING FACTORY METHODS] PART I OPERATIONS IN TOY MAKING CHAPTER I PRODUCTIVE WORK #1. Suggested Plan for Shop Organization.#--While it is entirely satisfactory to have any of the toys mentioned in this book made as individual projects, they are here offered as suitable group projects or production projects. Production work may be defined as work done by a class to turn out a number of similar projects that have a marketable value, with the aid of jigs, fixtures, and other means of duplication, illustrating the industrial or practical application to the tasks in hand, Figs. 1, 2, and 3. This does not mean, however, that the school shops be transformed into a factory in the full sense of the word. It should differ from a factory in that the education of the student is the major part of the product, while in the factory production is the foremost aim. In doing work by the productive plan two important problems will present themselves at the outset; first, the time element; and second, industrial or practical application to the tasks in hand. A brief explanation of the plan of organization in one of the author's classes will attempt to show how nearly these problems can be solved. [Illustration: Fig. 1. Material for toys, prepared on a large scale] #2. Grouping of Students.#--Classes are divided into groups of between four and six boys, with a boy foreman appointed at the head of each group. The foreman is held responsible for the work turned out by his boys. He is to see that they understand just what is to be done and how it is to be done. All the group foremen are directly responsible to the general foreman who in turn is responsible to the instructor. The general foreman is to act as an inspector of finished work after it has received the group foreman's O.K. He is also held responsible for the condition of the shop during his class hour. This includes looking after all material, the manner in which stock is put away after class, and adherence to all shop rules that have been adopted to help in the efficiency of shop procedure. [Illustration: Fig. 2. A large order of toys partly constructed] #3. The Time Clerk and Tool-Room Clerk.#--A "_Time Clerk_" is appointed to take charge of the time cards. He is also held responsible for all the clerical work that is to be done in the shop. A _Tool-Room Clerk_ is appointed to take charge of the shop tool room. He is to keep check of all tools given out and taken in. His spare time should be devoted to the care of tools. If possible, each boy in the class should be given an opportunity to act in each capacity that has been created, so that he may get the most varied experience in shop procedure. This will necessitate the changing of boys from one group to another; the changing of foremen, clerks, etc., at intervals which will of course be governed by the size of the class and the number of hours devoted to the work. [Illustration: Fig. 3. Milk wagons completed by the production method] #4. Recording Attendance.#--Boys, upon entering the shop, register their presence at the Time-Card Rack, Fig. 4. This is done by turning the time card shown in Fig. 5, so that the back side, which has the word present printed at top, is exposed. The time clerk then inspects the cards and notes those that have not been turned, and records the absences. He then fills in the date and passes the cards out to the boys in the shop. Toward the latter part of the period, a few minutes time is given the boys to fill in the necessary data on the time card. The time cards are then collected by the time clerk and put into a box where the time cards of all the classes are kept. In the meantime the time clerk puts back into the time rack the cards of the incoming class. This duty is performed by the time clerks of all the classes, thereby necessitating the use of only one time card rack. [Illustration: Fig. 4. The time-card rack.] #5. Time Cards.#--Referring to the time card mentioned in Fig. 5 it will be seen that the workman's shop number is filled in at the top. Then under the heading of "Woodworking Department" are two horizontal rows of items which need very little explanation. Following are three columns headed "Operation," "Assignment," and "Time." Below the word "Operation" are set down the various operations undertaken in the woodworking department, with several vacant spaces provided where other and special operations can be filled in. It will also be noticed that "Operations" are divided into two kinds, machine work and bench work. The instructor's glance at the time card will tell him at once what phase of the work the boy has been employed in and will help him in apportioning the work so that the boy is offered a varied experience. #6. Using Time Card.#--For shops that are not equipped with the kind of machines marked on the illustrated card, it would be well to omit the names of machines in the "operation" column. The instructor may then fill in the operation whatever it may be. Under the heading "Assignment" and against the operation which is to be undertaken by the student, the instructor writes in the name of the part to be made. This is the student's assignment and it should be read by him at the time he records his presence at the time-card rack upon entering the shop. In making assignments, the instructor may find it rather difficult to keep up with large classes of boys. This difficulty may be overcome by making an assignment to an entire group instead of to each boy. For example, in a class of twenty-five that would probably be divided into five groups, the instructor may make the assignment to the foreman of each group and each foreman in turn can inform the boys of his group as to the nature of the assignment. The boys can then enter the assignment on their time cards at the end of the period when the time spent on the job at hand is also recorded. The student's shop number, name, and grade should be filled in by the time clerk who can get out a number of cards for each student in advance and these are kept ready for use by the instructor. The instructor can then mark the project and the job number together with the student's assignment. At the same time he estimates the journeyman's time and rate and enters them in the space provided. The time card in Fig. 5, is 3½ inches by 9 inches, made of three-ply bristol board. All worker's cards are printed on white colored bristol while those of the foremen are of blue colored bristol. This plan is for the instructor's convenience to be able to pick out the foremen's time cards at a glance. In the triple column under the heading "TIME" is provided room for the date and spaces in which the student can write the time in minutes spent on the various operations on that date. The triple columns on each side of the card allow of the cards being used for six days. If a job lasts longer than six days another card should be used marking them No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the space marked "Card No." Both cards should be fastened and kept together. [Illustration: Fig. 5. Time card] Effort should always be made to have all the assignments short (less than six days) so that the student's record may be computed at the end of each week by the time clerk. #7. Grading Students.#--The next four spaces contain in condensed form, the information itemized in other parts of the card. This, together with other information set down by the instructor, is the vital material sought for. The item A "Journeyman's Time" is very easily recorded by the instructor. It is arrived at in the same way as in making out the estimate for any piece of work and can be recorded almost at once. The main purpose here is to set for the student a standard of time on which to work. The item B is the rate in points per hour, based on the journeyman's time. The item C is the total of the student's time added together from the various spaces under "Time." Item D "Quality Decimal" is the quality of the student's job expressed in the form of a decimal, with 100% as the maximum. This mark should be filled in by the instructor when the student completes his job. The next item, the number of points the student earns is found by the formula Points = (A�B)D Points earned per hour = ((A�B)D)/C For example, a student receives an assignment to cut to thickness, width, and length, sixty chair legs. The size of the legs he is to get from the job blueprint. He spends 60 minutes a day, for three days, making a total of 180 minutes or 3 hours. The time it would take a journeyman to do the same job is estimated at 2 hours. The rate adopted is at 80 points per hour; the journeyman therefore earns A�B = 2�80 = 160 Points. The quality of the student's job is graded by the instructor as 75%. The number of points the student earns is found by the formula Points = (A�B)D = (2�80).75 = 120 Points. To find the number of points the student earns per hour, divide 120 points by the number of hours it took the student to complete the job, which equals 120÷3 = 40, the number of points the student earns per hour. However, if the student would be graded 100%, he would earn the same number of points as the journeyman. But of course, he would have done it in three hours where the journeyman has earned the same number of points in two hours. It will readily be seen that this scheme offers the student an everlasting incentive to equal the journeyman's record. Having obtained the points on the time card or assignment card as it may be called, these are then transferred to a monthly accomplishment sheet as shown in Fig. 6, which is provided for all the students in all classes. [Illustration: Fig. 6. Monthly accomplishment sheet] The total number of points for each boy, group, and class can then be easily obtained. These totals can be put up in poster form and hung on the shop's bulletin board, showing the standing of each boy, group, and class. It is surprising the amount of interest and competition that can be aroused; everyone working for the highest honors, unconsciously, with a competitive spirit that will bring out considerable thought and effort to the matter of handling material for maximum production. #8. Preliminary Discussion and Preparation for Shopwork.#--Of course, no time card or assignment-record scheme can hope entirely to eliminate the necessary preliminary discussions and preparation. The author has found it of material help to meet the foremen of all the classes at hours other than their regular class hour and discuss such topics as "Securing Cooperation," "Instructing Workers," "Maintaining Cleanliness and Order," "Records and Reports," "Inspecting Work," "Routing Material Thru Shop," "Care of Stock," etc. Details regarding construction and assembling should be worked out by the instructor beforehand, and also developed with the class as the work progresses. Care should be taken that plans are carefully made regarding the storage of stock and unfinished parts. The old saying, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," is an old one, but a good one. #9. Bazaars, Toy Sales, Etc.#--The plan of selling toys, that are made in the school shop, to the boys and girls of the school is a plausible one. It can very easily be accomplished in the form of bazaars, exhibitions, or school toy sales. The writer has had a number of samples of different toys made and put on exhibition, and orders taken, requiring a deposit on each order. These were then turned in to the shop department and the toys made on the productive plan. The boys in the shop would receive school checks, Fig. 7, for the total number of points that they earned for the semester. These checks could then be used by them towards the purchasing of any of the toys that were put on sale; a certain number of points required for the purchase of different toys. [Illustration: Fig. 7. Credit check, based on number of points carved] This plan was made possible by adding on to the number of orders received an additional number equal to the number of boys in the shop. For example, twenty-four orders for toy milk wagons were received by a class of twenty-four boys. Then instead of making twenty-four toy milk wagons we doubled the number and made forty-eight of them. The price that was figured on for the twenty-four orders would more than cover the cost of material for the other twenty-four articles that the boys would be able to buy with their earned checks. CHAPTER II COLORING TOYS #10. Sanitation Emphasized.#--All application of color to toys should carry with it a realization that toys are meant primarily for children and that all paints should therefore be free from poisonous compounds. All paints used should be of good quality so that it will not come off easily to discolor the hands or tongues of children who cannot resist the temptation of sticking everything possible into their mouths. #11. Preparation of Surfaces.#--Wooden toys may be finished quite bright and in various colors. Before applying the color it is absolutely necessary that every part of the toy has been thoroly sanded. Where sanding is done by machine, care should be taken not to sand the wood too much. Many difficulties may arise from too much as well as from too little sanding. In hand sanding, the use of a block 2½" � 3½", to which is glued a piece of cork, is recommended. #12. Application of Water Colors.#--Toys may be colored by the use of different materials and by various methods. Kalsomine colors, opaque water colors, variously known as show card colors, liquid tempera, and letterine,--all come under the heading of water colors. All but the kalsomine may be obtained in small jars and ready for use. Kalsomine colors come in powder form in various colors and may easily be prepared by mixing with water and a little glue to bind the parts together. They are much cheaper than the ordinary forms of transparent and opaque water colors. They may be applied with the ordinary water color brushes. After a coat of water color has been applied to the toy, it may be necessary to remove the rough parts with very fine sand paper. Care should be taken not to "cut thru" when sanding. To preserve and protect the water color on the toy a coat of white shellac may be applied. If a more durable finish is desired a coat of good clear varnish over the shellac will serve the purpose. #13. Analine Water Stains.#--For general finishing of toys analine water stains will produce excellent results. They are known for their ability to penetrate the wood deeply and the ease with which any shade can be produced. Water stain raises the grain of the wood more than any other. This makes it necessary to sandpaper down the raised grain until smooth and then proceed with the shellacking and varnishing until the desired results are obtained. In preparing analine water stains, only analines that are soluble in water are used. Place an ounce of the analine to a quart of hot or boiling water, pouring the water over the dye-stuff and stirring meanwhile with a wooden paddle or stick. Soft water is the best. In about an hour the dye may be filtered thru a piece of fine woven cloth. As metal is apt to discolor the dye, it is better to use a glass container. If the prepared solution is too strong it may be diluted in more water. Use hot water for diluting the stain. The work with water stain must be done quickly in order to obtain a uniform coloring on the surface. Water stains are used a great deal where the dipping process is employed in the finishing of toys. A hot dipping stain is preferable to a cold dipping stain, first, because it penetrates more readily and second, because it dries quicker. #14. Formulas for Analine Water Stains.#--(Stock Solutions). _Red_: Rose benzol five parts, water ten parts. _Rose Red_: Dissolve 3 oz. Rose Bengal in 5 pints of water. _Blue_: (a) Dissolve 1 oz. of the best indigo carmine in 8 oz. of water. (b) Prussian blue dissolved in water. _Dark Blue_: Dissolve 3 oz. Bengal blue in 3½ pints of boiling water, and stir and filter the fluid in ten minutes time. _Green_: Mix Prussian blue and raw sienna in such proportions as will give the desired color. Mix in water. _Brown_: Dissolve 3 oz. of Bismark brown in ½ gal. of water. _Yellow_: Auramine 4 parts, sulphate of soda 10 parts, mixed in water. _Black_: Nigrosine black, four ounces, dissolved in one gallon of boiling water. When wanted for use, these analines may be diluted with water. The rule is, an ounce of analine to the gallon of water to form a working stain. Or to a pint of the stock solution, as it is called, you may add three pints of water. #15. Oil Stains.#--It will be found that quicker work can be done with oil stain than with water colors. For that reason, oil stains are also used a great deal as a dipping stain. In preparing oil stains, the best mineral or earth pigments to dissolve with turpentine are Van Dyke brown, chrome green, burnt and raw sienna, and lamp black. #16. Shellacking.#--There are two kinds of shellac, orange and white. The white shellac is orange shellac that has been bleached. The purpose of shellac as commonly understood is to give a quick coat over the stain. The thin coat formed serves as a protector for the stain and also as an undercoater for the following coat of varnish. In this way at least one coat of varnish is eliminated and a great deal of time saved because the shellac dries within a few minutes. To thin shellac use denatured alcohol. On cheaper toys a coat of shellac only may be used as a covering for the color stain. If orange shellac is used it will be found that it effects the color of the stain used. White shellac also produces a slight change in color and for this reason many working with toys will use a good clear varnish instead. #17. Varnishing.#--Two or three coats of varnish will produce a very durable finish. The first coat of varnish ought not be quite as heavy as the succeeding coats. If the varnish is of extra heavy body it should be reduced slightly for the first coat. The best varnish reducer is thin varnish. To prepare this reducer, take one part varnish (the same varnish to be reduced), and two parts of turpentine. Shake these together well and let stand twenty-four hours before using. This will reduce the consistency of the varnish without tearing down the body as pure turpentine would. The first coat of varnish should be allowed to dry thoroly before the second coat is applied. Oil varnishes made from good hard gums, pure linseed oil, and turpentine, are the most valuable. In using turpentine to thin varnish care should be taken that adulterated turpentine is not used. To play the game safe it is advisable to use a little benzine, for it will not injure the varnish, but will evaporate entirely, and not flatten the varnish as turpentine does. #18. Points on Varnishing.#--(1) The less varnish is worked under the brush the better its luster. (2) Use clean brush and pot, and clean varnish. See that the surface is clean before beginning to varnish. (3) Allow a coat of varnish plenty of time for drying until it becomes hard. #19. Colored Varnish.#--Colored varnish is that in which a proportion of varnish is added to the pigment and thinned. The base is usually an earth color such as ochre, sienna, venitian red, Van Dyke brown, umber, lamp black, etc. With this the work can be done in one coat. This method of finishing is usually employed on the cheaper class of toys where it isn't advisable to apply an expensive finish. #20. Another Suggestion for Finishing.#--Tint a gallon of benzine or gasoline with chrome green, chrome yellow, and vermilion, ground in Japan until the desired shade is obtained. This formulae is especially good for dipping purposes. #21. Use of Paint.#--Although paint can be bought ready prepared and in any color, as has been stated, it is advisable to have the students mix their own colors and choose their own color scheme. #22. Ingredients of good Paint.#--The best paints are usually made by mixing together white lead, linseed oil, pigment of the desired color (colors ground in oil), and a drier. While white lead is sufficient as the pigment for white paint, a better result is obtained by mixing zinc oxide with the white lead. These two substances have the convenient property of balancing each other's disadvantages. For instance, zinc oxide has a tendency to crack and to peal, which is overcome by the tougher coating formed by the white lead. Again, when white lead is exposed to light and weathering, it becomes chalky, which fault is remedied by the property possessed by zinc oxide, of remaining hard. The linseed oil used is obtained from flaxseed by pressing the thoroly ground seed. About twenty-three gallons of oil can be obtained from one bushel of the seed. By boiling the oil with lead oxide or manganese oxide it can take more oxygen from the air, and thereby its drying powers are increased. Driers are substances that absorb oxygen from the air and give part of it to the oil. The raw linseed oil absorbs the oxygen from the air very slowly, but the addition of turpentine is a great aid in overcoming this defect. To insure the best results in painting, one must first consider the kind and condition of the surface to be painted, and to what use the toy will be put; then decide on the proper composition and consistency of the paint. #23. Application of Paint.#--In applying the paint to the toy the first coat should be thinned. This will act as a primer or undercoat for the succeeding coats of paint. Care should be taken that plenty of time is allowed between coats for the paint to dry thoroly. Three coats of paint will produce a good finish. #24. Preparation of surface.#--All woodwork must be sanded and thoroly dry before any paint is applied. Care should be taken to see that all knots and sappy streaks shall be covered with a coat of orange shellac. Then apply the first coat. After the priming coat of paint is thoroly dry, putty up all knot holes, dents, cracks, and other defects in the surface with a pure linseed oil putty composed of equal parts of white lead and whiting. When putty is dry, proceed with the other coats. #25. Tinting Materials.#--Formulas for making tints are to be followed only in a general way. Make some allowance for slight variations in the strength and tone of different makes of colors. Chromes and ochres vary noticeably. Weigh out your color and add it gradually, not all at once, noting the effect as you go. When you reach the desired shade, stop, regardless of what the formula calls for. Turpentine and dark driers will slightly alter shades. Make allowance for this. #26. Mixing Paints.#--Faulty mixing, even with the best of materials, is not likely to make durable paint. The important thing is to give the lead and oil a chance to incorporate themselves in that close union which they always make if allowed to do so. The following directions give best results. The order is important. (1) Break up the white lead with a paddle, using only enough oil to bring it to the consistency of colors in oil. (2) Add your colors for tinting. Coloring matter added after the paint has been thinned is likely to break up in lumps which leave streaks when brushed out. (3) Put in drier. (4) Add remainder of oil, stirring well. (5) Last of all, put in turpentine. Thinners help only the flow of the paint never the quality. To strain paint thru cheese cloth before using will be a safeguard against lumpy colors and streakiness. Paint also spreads further if strained. #27. Paint Formulas.#--As most toys are exposed to the weather a great deal, the following formulas are recommended. These take no account of tinting materials. (a) Priming Coat: 25 pounds pure white lead 1 gallon pure raw linseed oil ½ gallon pure turpentine ¼ pint drier, free from rosin (b) Body Coat: 25 pounds pure white lead 3/8 gallon pure raw linseed oil 3/8 gallon pure turpentine ¼ pint drier, free from rosin (c) Finishing Coat: 25 pounds pure white lead 1 gallon pure raw linseed oil ¼ pint pure turpentine ¼ pint drier. One must exercise his own discretion in using a larger or smaller quantity of oil according to whether the wood is oil absorbing, as white pine, poplar, and basswood, or less permeable, as yellow pine, cypress, spruce, and hemlock. #28. Formulas for Making Tinted Paint.#--Any color or tint may be obtained by varying the addition of tinting colors. These tinting colors are called "colors in oil." The colors should be added to the white lead before the paint is thinned. To twenty-five pounds of white lead ground in oil add colors in oil as follows: Medium Blue Slate 3½ oz. lamp black Gray Blue ¼ oz. lamp black 1 oz. Prussian blue ¼ oz. medium chrome green Dark Drab 5 lbs. French ochre ½ lb. lamp black ¼ lb. Venitian red Dark Slate 2 oz. lamp black 3 oz. medium chrome yellow Dark Lilac 1 oz. lamp black 5 oz. Venitian red Lilac ½ oz. lamp black 1½ oz. Venitian red Forest Green 1½ oz. lamp black 8 lbs. light green 5 oz. medium chrome yellow Buff 1½ lb. French ochre 3/8 oz. Venitian Red Cream 5 oz. French ochre Sea Green 3/8 oz. lamp black ½ oz. medium chrome green 1¼ oz. medium chrome yellow Where tinting colors are used in sufficiently large quantities to alter the consistency of the paint, add one-half as much linseed oil and turpentine, by weight, as you add tinting material. #29. Enameling.#--When using enamel as a finish for toys, care should be taken that the surface of the toy is in proper condition. To obtain good results proceed as follows: Give the wood a coat of shellac. Sand lightly and dust. The following coat should consist of part of white paint and one part of the enamel to be used. This coat should be slightly tinted with the finishing color, if the finishing coat is not white. Allow twenty-four hours for drying thoroly; then sand with No. OO sand paper. Next apply a coat of enamel of the color desired for the finished work. (Enamels may be tinted with colors ground in oil.) Should the enamel not work freely, add a spoonful of benzine to a gallon of enamel. Turpentine may also be used as a thinner for enamel. A better finish of enamel consists of two coats of paint before applying the enamel. This gives it a stronger body and of course makes it more durable. Because of its durability and for sanitary reasons enamel is the most desirable finish for toys. Its glossy finish is attractive and very appealing to children. #30. The Dipping Method.#--When a considerable quantity of toys is to be finished, the problem to be faced will be the cost of application of the paint rather than the cost of the paint itself. The dipping process, (immersing the material to be covered) is found to be the most successful, especially in toy making, where so many small parts are used. Many of the small pieces made can be subjected to the dipping process at quite a saving of time and labor, with probably better results than where the application of paint or stain is done with a brush. The success of the dipping process depends on the arrangement adopted for holding the toys while the actual dipping is done and while they are drying. Here the exercise of a little ingenuity on the part of the students and teacher, will overcome most difficulties. Supposing that a number of checkers, or handles, or small wheels are to be stained. A dipping frame as shown in Fig. 8 could very easily be prepared. You will notice the screen tray (which is removable), and the tin sheet which slopes towards the container. The small pieces to be stained can be handled in wire baskets with mesh just small enough so that the pieces will not fall thru. The wire basket is then immersed in the container and worked up and down, so that the liquid will penetrate and touch all pieces. It is then pulled up and swung over the screen tray, where the contents of the wire basket is dumped. Here, the superfluous paint will drip off on the tin sheet, which, because of its slope, will cause the superfluous paint to flow back in to the container. Fig. 9 shows the dipping frame in use. The screen tray can be removed and placed in a rack to allow for further drying. Several trays could then be made and a rack to hold them could very easily be constructed. The paint used for dipping purposes must so be prepared that too much does not run off or too much stay on, for this is surely one way to spoil the work. It should be thinned to the right consistency and care should be taken that the thinners used are of the best quality. Where larger pieces of work are to be dipped, wire attachments could be devised and each part hung separately over the dipping frame until ready to be placed in a rack. If the wire attachment forms a hook on one end, it will be possible to hang up the toy until drained and dried. In removing the toy from the paint it should be drawn out very slowly so that the surface of the paint may be left as smooth as possible. Where one desires line effects on toys, these may be lined in afterwards with a small size striping brush or sign painter's pencil. [Illustration: Fig. 8. Dipping frame] [Illustration: Fig. 9. Using the dipping frame] #31. Polishing by Tumbling.#---Excellent results in polishing large quantities of small pieces, may be obtained by tumbling. The material to be polished should be thoroly dry. The parts are then placed in a tumbler as shown in Fig. 10. Cut up paraffine wax into small pieces, using about one-fourth pound to each tumbler full of toys. Allow these to tumble several hours. This will distribute the wax evenly over the parts and produce a polished surface. The tumbler as shown in Fig. 10 is turned by hand, altho it could very easily be placed in a lathe, where one is available. #32. Care of Brushes.#--A suitable place should be provided for brushes that are not in use. A tin-lined keeper is recommended. Brushes should be suspended so that their bristles will not touch the bottom of the keeper, and have the liquid in which they are kept come well up over the bristles, so that none of the paint or varnish may dry in the butt of the brush. #33. Paint Application by Means of Compressed Air.#--In recent years, great advancement has been made in the application of paint by means of compressed air. The early use of pneumatic painting equipment was confined almost exclusively to the application of finishing materials such as japans, enamels, lacquers, varnishes, etc., on manufactured products. But in the past few years improvements have been made which eliminate all of the difficulties originally experienced and make possible the use of this method for interior and exterior painting, such as buildings, ships, etc.; and at present, a large portion of factory maintenance work is done in this manner. Excessive fumes have been eliminated and all materials can be applied without removing the volatile thinners, solvents, binders, etc., thru air reduction. This is brought about thru the use of low pressure and the perfection of ingenious patent nozzles and other improvements. [Illustration: Fig. 10. Tumbler for polishing small pieces] #34. Uses of Pneumatic Sprayers.#--Pneumatic paint sprayers, or air brushes, are extensively used in the manufacture of toys, furniture, automobile bodies, sewing machines, telephones, electrical equipment; in fact, very nearly all manufactured products, as well as on ships, structural steel and iron work, bridges and buildings. The speed of the air brush is very great compared with hand-brush work. Usually, an air-brush operator will accomplish as much in one hour as a hand or bristle-brush worker will in one day; and it is possible to obtain an even coating, free from sags, runs or brush-marks and better results are obtained than with the hand brush method. A film of paint can be applied in one operation equal to two hand-brush coats, as it is not necessary to reduce paints by thinning as much for air brush application, in a great many instances, as is the usual practice for hand-brushing. The air sprayer can also reach places inaccessible to the hand brush, and a perfect coat can be applied over rough, uneven surfaces, which could not be obtained by hand-brushing. In considering pneumatic painting equipment, the most important thing to be kept in mind is the proper application of materials. This can be successfully accomplished only thru the use of compressed air at low pressures. By this is meant using only sufficient main-line air to lay the paint, enamel, varnish or whatever finish may be used, on the object. Excessive pressure results in fumes, waste of material and air reduction taking place. By air reduction is meant the removal of the more volatile solvents, thinners, binders, etc., thru evaporation, and the material thus loses its adherent and coherent properties. Both types of air-brush equipment illustrated here require three cubic feet of air per minute to operate and the pressure necessary depends on the density, consistency or viscosity of the material used. For example, undercoaters, japans, etc.; require from twelve to fifteen pounds of pressure to apply perfectly; while enamels and varnishes take from eighteen to twenty-five pounds. Water stains require about five pounds of pressure. #35. Construction of Pneumatic Painting Outfit.#--A pneumatic painting outfit for finishing work consists essentially of an air brush, either of the attached-container type or the gun-type with separate paint tank, and a small compressor of sufficient capacity to operate the air brush, which can be belt-driven from shafting or direct connected. An exhaust hood with fan, for the removal of fumes, is advisable where the operation is reasonably continuous and especially where lacquers are used. The paint, ready for application, is poured into the tank; and the compressed air line leads to the tank with a branch line for air and paint from the tank to the nozzle of the gun type of machine; while only the air line is required with the attached-container type. The air hose used is 5/16" in diameter while the paint or fluid hose is the same size. The paint hose is made of a special compound to resist the action of the thinners, solvents, etc., used in the paint; and it is important to have this correct, so that the lining will not disintegrate and clog the air brush or gun. Fig. 11 shows a five-gallon container type. It will be noticed that the fluid connection is nearest the nozzle and that the air connection is at the bottom of the grip. #36. Special Attachments for Different Surfaces.#--A cone nozzle is furnished for painting irregular surfaces and a fan nozzle for wide, flat work. Adjusting and locking the nozzle regulates the degree of atomization. The jets of the fan nozzle are depressed to prevent being knocked out of alignment. Final regulation of the flow of material is made on the back of the gun, independent of the pressure on the material container. A wide variety of adjustment is possible with this positive regulation. The first pull on the trigger gives air only, which can be used for dusting ahead of the work; and as the trigger is released, the air valve closes last, which prevents clogging and dripping. When adjustments have been made the trigger action is the only moving part of the machine. Figs. 12 and 13 show the five-gallon container type in actual use. #37. Cleaning Pneumatic Machines.#--It is not necessary to take the gun apart nor disconnect the hose to clean the machine. Thinner can be run thru the device without loss by placing a small can of reducer of the last material used in the machine, and forcing it thru in the usual manner. [Illustration: Fig. 11. A five-gallon air brush outfit] #38. Directions for Cleaning Machine.#--Close right-hand Air Valve and open release valve. Unscrew air nozzle a few turns. Obstruct outlet with thumb and pull trigger. Spraying pressure is thus forced thru gun and fluid hose and the material backed into the container. It is advisable frequently to run thinner thru the machine as follows: (1) Place small can of thinner in center of container directly beneath fluid tube. (2) Replace cover and tighten wing-nuts. (3) Close left-hand air valve and open right-hand air valve. Pressure on container will force thinner thru the machine and clean perfectly without loss. Do not use spraying pressure in cleaning. The thinner can be used again for either cleaning or thinning purposes. [Illustration: Fig. 12. Using pneumatic paint sprayers] #39. Directions for Operating Pneumatic Equipment.#-- 1. Attach main-line air hose to air filter. 2. Attach fluid hose to connection marked "Fluid" on tank and to the front connection near air nozzle on hand-piece. [Illustration: Fig. 13. A five-gallon outfit in actual use] 3. Attach air hose to connection marked "Air" on cover and to the handle connection on hand-piece. 4. Thoroly mix and strain material so that it is entirely free from skins, lumps, and foreign materials. 5. Tighten wing-nuts until paint container is air-tight. 6. See that release valve is closed. Then open right-hand air valve, turn fluid-pressure regulator until gage shows 5 lbs. pressure in container. Pull trigger and use fluid regulator on gun to control the flow. If material is heavy, increase pressure in container. [Illustration: Fig. 14. Attached container type of sprayer] 7. Open left-hand air valve and turn spraying pressure regulator until sufficient pressure (5 lbs. to 25 lbs.), is obtained to lay the material on. 8. Make final adjustment of the flow of material with fluid regulator on back of hand-piece and get proper spray by adjusting the air nozzle. 9. Spraying pressure and pressure in the container depends upon the density of the material used and the size of the surface to be coated. A little experimenting on the part of the operator will determine the best pressure to use. When the fan nozzle is used, 3 to 5 lbs. more pressure should be applied to the material container and from 5 to 8 lbs. more atomizing or spraying pressure used. Fig. 14 shows a complete attached container which operates on identically the same principles as the type shown in Fig. 11. It consists of a 1½ pint container, reducing outfit, compressor, and air tank. The 1½ pint container as shown in Fig. 15 is supplied complete with two fluid tips, gasket, agitator tube, cup-holder, hose union, and six feet of air hose. The reducing outfit in Fig. 16 consists of a regulative valve, an air gage, and an air filter, complete with connections and fittings. This outfit is for the purpose of maintaining an even low spraying pressure. Regulated pressure is applied to the air-tight material container, raising the coating material to the nozzle where only sufficient main-line pressure is used to lay the coating on. The spraying pressure necessarily depends on the density, consistency and viscosity of the material used. [Illustration: Fig. 15. A one and one-half pint container and parts] For fine finishing work, where the quantity of materials used each day is not great, or where the colors are changed frequently, the attached container type is recommended. #40. Preparing Colors.#--The three primary colors are red, blue and yellow. With the three primary colors at hand, almost every variety of color desirable for ordinary use can be easily prepared. Fig. 17 shows a color chart. Red mixed with yellow will result in orange. Red mixed with blue will result in purple. Yellow mixed with blue will result in green. The colors obtained by mixing any two primaries are called secondary colors. Therefor the secondary colors are orange, purple and green. Orange mixed with purple will result in brown. Orange mixed with green will result in olive. Purple mixed with green will result in slate. The colors obtained by mixing any two secondaries are called tertiary colors. The tertiary colors are brown, olive and slate. Of course different tones of each color can be made up by mixing unequal proportions. [Illustration: Fig. 16. Reducing outfit] [Illustration: Fig. 17. Chart showing proportions required for standard colors] CHAPTER III COMMON WOODS USED IN TOY MAKING #41. Economy in Selecting Material.#--Economic use of materials should be encouraged at all times. Toy making offers an excellent opportunity where economy may be taught in the most practical way. Where toys are to be painted, more than one kind of wood may be used in the same toy and thereby using up small pieces of wood that would otherwise be called scrap. Yet, it is not advisable to sacrifice the strength and durability of the whole toy for the sake of using up a piece of scrap wood which weakens the particular part of the toy where it is used. For that, in the long run, is not economy. #42. Qualities of Different Woods Used.#--The following are some of the common woods used in toy making. Maple: hard, fine grained, compact, tough, used for wheels, axles, handles, dowel rods, etc. Ash: white, strong, open grained, easily worked; used for bodies of coasters, wheels, axles, oars, etc. Oak: hard, firm and compact, strong and durable, hard to work. Birch: moderately hard and heavy, even grained; difficult to split, but easily worked. Chestnut: resembles oak in appearance, is much softer, moderately hard, course grained, not strong, but durable. Cypress: moderately hard, very fine and close grained, virtually indestructable; known as "the wood eternal". Basswood: white, light, soft, tough, closed grained, easily worked, not strong, but durable; used for almost any part of a toy where much strength is not required. White Pine: very light, soft, close and straight grained, inferior; easy to work. Yellow Pine, yellowish, grain noticeable, harder than white pine, stronger. Tulip (yellow poplar): light, soft, close and straight grained; tougher than many woods equally soft, compact, not very strong or durable, easily worked. Spruce: straight growing, light, straight and even in grain, tough, elastic, easy to work. CHAPTER IV USE OF JIGS AND FIXTURES #43. Value of Jigs and Fixtures.#--The use of jigs, fixtures, and other labor-saving devices is an important factor in illustrating industrial and practical applications in the school shop. It is advisable to let each group of boys work out its own jig or fixture for the particular job they have on hand. The three most common forms of jigs are cutting jigs, boring jigs, and assembling jigs. The important reasons for the use of such devices are: (1) They illustrate the speed of output in shop work. (2) They give the student a good idea of machine operation. (3) They help in making the parts interchangeable. (4) They offer an opportunity for getting first hand information on cutting edge tools and their proper uses. (5) They show the boy the value of the use of jigs in factory work. The toys illustrated in this book have many simple operations, such as cutting stock to length, drilling holes, surfacing, etc., that can be easily done by the use of the proper fixtures. For that reason toys are desirable projects to be made by the productive plan. Fig. 18 shows the use of a jig and the miter box. #44. Cutting Small Wheels.#--A circle of the desired size wheel may be laid out on the wood with the aid of a compass, and cut in the outline with a coping saw or band saw. Of course, it would take quite a long time by this method to make the small wheels in large quantities and besides the result would not be as good as when the wheels are made by machine. #45. Turning Wheels.#--Another way to produce wheels is to turn a cylinder to the required diameter, on the turning lathe. Then cut the cylinder on the circular saw into required thicknesses of wheels desired. This method is recommended for quick work. [Illustration: Fig. 18. Production of toys by use of jigs] If it is desired to round the end of wheels the operation can be done by leaving the cylinder in the lathe and applying the broad side of the skew chisel as shown in Fig. 33. The wheels may then be polished with a cloth after they have been sanded and while rotating in the lathe as shown in Fig. 34. In sanding, use first a fairly course grade of sandpaper, No. 1 or 1½ and afterwards a fine grade, No. O or OO. Before applying the cloth the wood may be varnished lightly while the lathe is not running, taking care to wipe off all the surplus varnish. The varnish will assist in giving the surface a fine polish when the cloth is applied. For further explanations of the use of the turning lathe, see Sec. 55. #46. Use of Wheel Cutter.#--Still another method of making small wheels is by use of the wheel cutter as shown in Fig. 19. This wheel cutter may be used in the ordinary bit brace. Good results may be obtained where the wheels are made out of thin, soft wood. This wheel cutter is known on the market as a leather washer cutter. If one cannot be obtained it can easily be made in the school machine shop at a small cost. Fig. 20 shows a drawing of a wheel cutter. You will notice that the blade can be adjusted to cut any diameter desired. #47. Use of Coping Saw.#--Where a band saw is not included in the shop equipment, many articles such as animal forms and small wheels could very easily be cut out with a coping saw. [Illustration: Fig. 19. Wheel cutter in use] A saw board, as shown in Fig. 21 should be fastened to a table top with an iron clamp; or, a saw board made to fasten in a vise may also be used. [Illustration: Fig. 20. Details of a wheel cutter which may be made in school] When cutting out the toy part, the coping saw should be held in a vertical position as shown in Fig. 22, and in an up-and-down motion, with short fast strokes, following the outline carefully. Cut on the line. Do not press hard on the saw for the blade is very thin and can very easily be broken, but it should last a long time if used correctly. [Illustration: Fig. 21. Clamping the saw board to the bench] [Illustration: Fig. 22. Correct method of holding coping saw] #48. Cutting Sharp Corners.#--When cutting a sharp turn in the wood with the coping saw, care should be taken not to twist the saw blade out of shape. Upon reaching the sharp turn, continue the up-and-down motion, but without doing any cutting; turn the wood very slowly until you have made the complete turn, then continue with the sawing and follow the rest of the outline carefully. [Illustration: Fig. 23. Removing the saw-blade] #49. Removing the Saw-Blade from Frame.#--To remove the saw-blade from the frame, place the head of the frame against the table top as shown in Fig. 23. Pressing down on the handle will release the saw-blade. When inserting the blade into the frame the same method may be followed, being careful that the teeth of the saw-blade point toward the handle of the frame. The blade may be put in the end or the side slots of the frame, using the side slots only when the end slots will not serve the purpose. #50. Making Heavy Wheels.#--In turning heavier wheels that are to be used for coasters, kiddie cars, etc., the work is done with the head stock only, the wood being supported by the screw-center chuck or face plate. In turning the wheel the first step is the scraping cut as shown in Fig. 24. This cut is properly made with the concave chisel held in such a position as to give a light scraping cut. Care should be exercised not to allow the chisel to extend too deeply, otherwise the material will chip with the grain. After the desired circumference has been obtained the surface should be worked to the desired form as shown in Fig. 25. This is accomplished by using the lathe rest, set at right angles with the bed or parallel with the face plate. The illustration in Fig. 26 shows the use of the dividers in marking off the position of the various corrugations in the wheel that is being turned. The sanding should be done while the wheel is in the lathe. Use first a fairly course grade of sand paper and afterwards a fine grade, No. O or OO. #51. Designs for Wheels.#--Suggestions for wooden toy wheels are shown in Fig. 27. Those numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are plain wooden wheels varying in design only. No. 8 and 9 are re-enforced with zinc and large iron washers. No. 10 shows a segment of an iron pipe fitted in the center of the wheel to prevent wearing away of material. No. 11 shows a spoke wheel. The spokes are made of dowel rods; these fitting into a hub that can easily be turned out on the lathe. No. 13 shows a wheel built in segments which is then cut out on the band saw to resemble a standard spoke wheel. The rim is 1/8" steel, fastened to spokes with very small rivets. [Illustration: Fig. 24. Making heavy wheels. The scraping cut] #52. Cutting Wheels on Band-Saw.#--A circle of the required size wheel may be marked off on the wood with a compass, then cut in the outline on the band-saw. This method will leave square corners and will be more or less out of truth with the center of the wheel. To true up and smooth the outside of the wheel the lathe attachment as shown in Fig. 28 can be easily prepared. This attachment consists of a block _A_ fastened to the lathe bed with a single bolt, and a stop _B_ fastened to the upper face of the block _A_. The carriage _C_ is a loose piece the same thickness as the stop _B_ and is provided with a dowel rod to fit the central hole in the wheel. This dowel rod is so located that when the edge of the carriage _C_ is tight against the edge of the stop _D_, the distance from the center of the dowel rod to the face of the abrasive material on the disk, will be equal to the radius of the finished wheel. [Illustration: Fig. 25. Smoothing the side of wheels] The wood is cut out on the band saw a scant 1/16" over-size in diameter, and is then placed on the dowel rod in the carriage _C_ which is held flat on block _A_ while the edge of the blank is brought in contact with the grinding disc face by pushing the carriage forward with the left hand while the blank is slowly revolved with the right. This grinding is continued until the edges of stop _B_ and carriage _C_ will remain in contact during a complete revolution of the wheel blank. During this grinding process, the carriage should be moved back and forth from the edge to the center of the grinding disc so that the wear on the abrasive material may be equalized. [Illustration: Fig. 26. Using dividers to mark for cuts] A similar device used for chamfering the edges of the blanks is also shown in Fig. 28, as it looks when viewed from the front of the lathe. The preceding description will suffice for this as the same system of lettering has been used. It differs only in that block _A_ is made to set at an angle of 45 degrees instead of being level. [Illustration: Fig. 27. Many ways of making wheels for toys] [Illustration: Fig. 28. Simple attachments which may be made for lathe] Grinding discs may be made either of metal or wood. Metal is preferable but a hardwood disc fastened to a metal face plate will answer very well. There are many methods of fastening the abrasing material to the disc but the most convenient way is by the use of stick belt dressing. The disc is coated with dressing by holding the stick against it as it revolves and the abrasive is applied before the dressing has set. A pair of dividers or trammels is used to cut the abrasive material to the same diameter as the disc and it should be warmed on the uncoated side before it is applied. It sticks tightly to the disc but is easily removed and replaced with fresh material in a few minutes. #53. Boring Holes in Wheels.#--The center holes in wheels may be bored with bit and brace, but better results are obtained if the holes are bored in the lathe. A drill chuck fitted to the live spindle and a drilling pad for the tail stock spindle will be required to do this job efficiently. The tail stock is locked fast and the wheel to be drilled is placed against the drilling pad and fed up to the revolving bit by turning the tail spindle feed wheel. This method will produce a cleaner hole and one that is square with the wheel face. CHAPTER V OPERATION OF WOODWORKING MACHINES #54. Importance of Machine Operations.#--A fair understanding of what is the correct position to take at some of the principal machines such as the lathe, universal saw, jointer, and sander, is very important to the student in the wood-working department. Such knowledge is of special importance to the one engaged in toy making, where every knowledge of use of machines, is put to the test. [Illustration: Fig. 29. The roughing cut] [Illustration: Fig. 30. The sizing cut] Sufficient examples are given to enable the student to arrive at a fair understanding of the correct postures. #55. Operating the Lathe.#--The lathe is perhaps one of the most important machines used in toy making. It lends itself to unlimited varieties of work and for that reason is really indispensible in the shop. [Illustration: Fig. 31. The paring cut] In Fig. 29 the student is preparing to take the _roughing cut_ in turning a cylinder. This operation consists of removing the corners of the square piece and is done with the tool known as the _gouge_. After the roughing cut has been taken, calipers set to the diameter desired will determine the depth of the next cut, _sizing cut_. The illustration in Fig. 30 shows the student performing this operation with the _cut-off tool_. [Illustration: Fig. 32. Using the cut-off tool] When the correct dimension has been found, the next step in the process of turning a cylinder is the _paring cut_ or finishing cut, Fig. 31. This is done with the _skew_ or _bevel chisel_. A very thin shaving is removed by this operation. The ends are then cut by using the cut-off tool as shown in Fig. 32. It is merely taking a slice off the end. If a very thin slice is to be removed, it is usually made by the long point of the skew chisel. If it is more than a quarter of an inch it should be _sized_ and then removed by the skew. [Illustration: Fig. 33. Making convex surfaces] If it is desired to round the end of a piece or to produce a convex surface the operation can be done by applying the broad side of the skew chisel, as in Fig. 33. #56. Face Plate Turning.#--The preceding paragraphs describe the process of turning when the piece is supported between the live and the dead centers. The processes shown in Figs. 24, 25 and 26, illustrate the character of the work done with the head stock only when the piece is supported by the screw-center chuck or face plate. [Illustration: Fig. 34. Polishing wood in lathe] The first step in face plate turning is the scraping cut, Fig. 24. This cut is properly made with the concave chisel held in such a position as to give a light scraping cut. Care should be exercised not to allow the chisel to extend too deeply, otherwise the material will chip with the grain. After the desired circumference has been obtained the surface should be smoothed with the skew chisel. [Illustration: Fig. 35. Cutting off stock] [Illustration: Fig. 36. Fluting on circular saw] Fig. 25 shows the student modeling a rosette, using the rest, set at right angles with the bed or parallel with the face plate. Prior to the modeling a shearing cut should be taken with the skew chisel to face off the material to an even surface. [Illustration: Fig. 37. Cutting with special fence] The illustration in Fig. 26 shows the use of the dividers. The student is marking off to a uniform scale the position of the various corrugations in the rosette he is turning. #57. The Universal Saw.#--The operations that can be performed on the universal saw are so many that no attempt will be made to illustrate them all here. But enough are given to show the characteristic operations involved in cross-cutting, ripping, and dadoing,--the three basic uses of a circular saw. [Illustration: Fig. 38. Grooving, or ripping special work] It is a more dangerous tool than the lathe and the guard should be kept over the saw at all times, except of course, in dadoing when it can not be used. Figs. 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, illustrate the basic uses of a circular saw. [Illustration: Fig. 39. Cutting segments] [Illustration: Fig. 40. Surfacing board on jointer] #58. The Hand Jointer.#--The great variety of work that can be done on a hand jointer depends very largely upon the knowledge and skill of the operator. It lends itself to so many operations, that the student gains much in knowledge and efficiency. [Illustration: Fig. 41. Cutting bevels on jointer] The five operations shown in Figs. 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44, give a fair idea of the scope of work that is usually accomplished on a hand jointer and show something of the method by which the work should be done. The jointer is another tool where the use of the guard should never be omitted. #59. The Sander.#--The sander is an interesting machine in the school shop for on it considerable "forming" can be done as with the lathe, altho its prime use is to make smooth or polish. [Illustration: Fig. 42. Jointing the edge] In Fig. 45 the boy at the left is forming a mitre while the one on the right is smoothing surface. [Illustration: Fig. 43. Rabetting on the jointer] [Illustration: Fig. 44. Cutting miter joints] [Illustration: Fig. 45. The machine sander in operation] PART II. DRAWINGS FOR TOYS [Illustration: PLATE 1 _FOX and GEESE GAME_] [Illustration: PLATE 2 _RING TOSS_] [Illustration: PLATE 3 _BABY'S CART_] [Illustration: PLATE 4 _HAY CART_] [Illustration: PLATE 5 _Horse Head_] [Illustration: PLATE 6 _HORSE ON WHEELS For Milk Wagon_] [Illustration: PLATE 7 _KIDO KAR TRAILER_] [Illustration: PLATE 8 _AUTO ROADSTER_] [Illustration: PLATE 9 _AUTO RACER_] [Illustration: PLATE 10 _PASSENGER CAR_] [Illustration: PLATE 11 _MILK WAGON_] [Illustration: PLATE 12 _TABLE_ _Toy Furniture For Doll House_] [Illustration: PLATE 13 _CHAIR and ROCKER_ _Toy Furniture For Doll House_] [Illustration: PLATE 14 _BUFFET_ _Toy Furniture For Doll House_] [Illustration: PLATE 15 _TOY WHEEL-BARROW_] [Illustration: PLATE 16 _HORSE BARROW_] [Illustration: PLATE 17 _DOLL'S CARRIAGE_] [Illustration: PLATE 18 _NOAH'S ARK_] [Illustration: PLATE 19 _"BEAN BAG" GAME BOARD_] [Illustration: PLATE 20 _CHILD'S SWING_ #1] [Illustration: PLATE 21 _CHILD'S SWING_ #2] [Illustration: PLATE 22 _DOLL'S BED_] [Illustration: PLATE 23 _DOLL'S BED_] [Illustration: PLATE 24 _ADJUSTABLE STILTS_] [Illustration: PLATE 25 _SCOOTER_] [Illustration: PLATE 26 _STEERING COASTER_] [Illustration: PLATE 27 _KIDO KAR & DETAILS_] [Illustration: PLATE 28 _KID KAR JUNIOR_] [Illustration: PLATE 29 _PONY KAR_] [Illustration: PLATE 30 _DUPLEX SPEEDSTER_] [Illustration: PLATE 31 _ROCK-A-DOODLE_] [Illustration: PLATE 32 _SLED_] [Illustration: PLATE 33 _"Sturdy Flyer" Sled_] [Illustration: PLATE 34 _DUCKY LOO_] [Illustration: PLATE 35 _DUCK ROCKER_] [Illustration: PLATE 36 _JITNEY_] [Illustration: PLATE 37 _JUNIOR ROADSTER_] [Illustration: PLATE 38 _Details of JUNIOR ROADSTER_] [Illustration: PLATE 39 _SENIOR COASTER & DETAILS_] [Illustration: PLATE 40 _DETAILS OF SENIOR COASTER_] [Illustration: PLATE 41 _AUTO-KAR_] [Illustration: PLATE 42 _MOTO-KAR_ _CHOO-CHOO-KAR_] [Illustration: PLATE 43 _Teetter-Totter_] [Illustration: PLATE 44 _TEETER ROCKER_] [Illustration: PLATE 45 _CHECKER BOARD_] [Illustration: PLATE 46 _CHILD'S COSTUMER_] [Illustration: PLATE 47 _BABY'S CHAIR_] [Illustration: PLATE 48 _CHILDREN'S SAND BOX_] [Illustration: PLATE 49 _SAND BOX #2_] [Illustration: PLATE 50 _DOLL'S HOUSE-#1_] [Illustration: PLATE 51 _DOLL'S HOUSE-#2_] [Illustration: PLATE 52 _DOLL'S HOUSE-#2_] [Illustration: PLATE 53 _DUMB BELL_ _INDIAN CLUB_] [Illustration: PLATE 54 _BATS_] INDEX A Auto kar, Plate 41, 104 Auto racer, Plate 9, 72 Auto Roadster, Plate 8, 71 B Bats, base ball, Plate 54, 117 Bazaars, toy sales, etc., 19 Bed, doll's, Plates 22, 23, 85, 86 Boring holes in wheels, 53 Brushes, care of, 31 Buffet, Plate 14, 77 C Car, baby's, Plate 36, 99 Car, passenger, Plate 10, 73 Cars, auto, motor, choo-choo, Plates 41, 42, 104, 105 Cart, baby's, Plate 3, 66 Cart, hay, Plate 4, 67 Carriage, dolls, Plate 17, 80 Chair & rocker, Plate 13, 76 Chair, baby's, Plate 47, 110 Checker board, Plate 45, 108 Check, credit, Fig. 7, 20 Coasters, Plates 26, 37, 39, 89, 101, 103 Coloring toys, 21 Sanitation emphasized, 21 Preparation of surfaces, 21 Application of water colors, 21 Analine water stains, 22 Formulas for analine water stains, 22 Oil stains, 23 Shellacking, 23 Varnishing, 23 Points on varnishing, 24 Color varnish, 24 Use of paint, 24 Dipping method, 28, 30 Polishing by tumbling, 31 Paint application by compressed air, 31 Colors, preparing, 39 Color chart, Fig. 17, 41 Contents, Table of, 5 Coping saw, use of, 45 Correlation, 7 Costumer, child's, Plate 46, 109 D Doll's house, Plates 50, 51, 52, 113, 114, 115 Dipping frame, 29 Drawings for toys, 63 Dumb bell, Plate 53, 116 E Enameling, 27 F Foremen, shop, 11 Fox & geese game, Plate 1, 64 Furniture, doll, 75, 76, 77 G Game board, "Bean Bag," Plate 19, 82 Game board, "Fox & Geese," Plate 1, 64 Grading students, 17 H Horse head, Plate 5, 68 Horse on wheels, Plate 6, 69 House, doll's, Plates 50, 51, 52, 113, 114, 115 I Indian club, Plate 53, 116 J Jigs & fixtures, 43 Jointer, hand, 59 K Kiddie kars, Plates 27, 28, 29, 90, 91, 92 L Lathe, operating the, 54, 55, 56, 57 M Machines, operating of woodworking, 54 N Noah's ark, Plate 18, 81 O Organization, plan for shop, 11 P Paint, use of, 24 Ingredients of, 24 Application, 25 Preparation of surface, 25 Tinting materials, 25 Mixing, 25 Formulas, 26 Formulas for tinted paint, 26 Enameling, 27 Plan for shop organization, 11 Grouping students, 11 Time clerk, 13 Tool-room clerk, 13 Recording attendance, 14 Time-card rack, 14 Time cards, 15 Grading students, 17 Accomplishment sheet, 18 Preparation for shop work, 19 Pneumatic equipment, 36 Preface, 3 Productive work, 11 R Ring toss, Plate 2, 65 Rocking chair, Plate 13, 76 Rocker, duck, Plate 35, 98 Rocker, ducky loo, Plate 34, 97 Rock-a-doodle, Plate 31, 94 S Sand box, Plates 48, 49, 111, 112 Sander, 60, 62 Saw, universal, 58 Scooter, Plate 25, 88 Sleds, Plates 32, 33, 95, 96 Sprayer, pneumatic air, 31, 33, 34 Sprayer, directions for operating, 36 Speedster, duplex, Plate 30, 93 Stain, oil, 23 Stain, analine water, 22 Stilts, adjustable, Plate 24, 87 Suggestions to teachers, 7 Swing, child's, Plates 20, 21, 83, 84 T Table for doll house, Plate 12, 75 Teeter-totter, Plate 43, 106 Teeter-rocker, Plate 44, 107 Time clerk, 13 Time cards, 15 Tool-room clerk, 13 Toy sales, 19 Trailer, kido-kar, Plate 7, 70 Tumbler, drawing of, 32 Tumbling, polishing by, 31, 32 V Varnishing, 23 Varnish, colored, 24 Varnishing, points on, 24 W Wagon, milk, Plate 11, 74 Water colors, 21 Wax polishing, 31 Wheel-barrow, toy, Plate 15, 78 Wheel-barrow, horse design, Plate 16, 79 Wheel cutter, 45, 46 Wheels, cutting small, 43 Wheels, designs, Fig. 27, 49, 51 Wheels, turning, 43 Woods used in toy making, 42 
33368	----	[Illustration: HURRAH! WE ARE GOING TO SANDBAY. _Page 1._] TALES OF THE TOYS, TOLD BY THEMSELVES. BY FRANCES FREELING BRODERIP. AUTHOR OF "MY GRANDMOTHER'S BUDGET," "MERRY SONGS FOR LITTLE VOICES," "MAMMA'S MORNING GOSSIPS," ETC. With Illustrations by Tom Hood. [Illustration] LONDON: GRIFFITH AND FARRAN, (_Successors to Newbery and Harris._) CORNER OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD. MDCCCLXIX. CONTENTS. PAGE. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY.--THE TURNING OUT OF THE TOY CUPBOARD 1 CHAPTER II. THE HISTORY OF THE BALL; WITH THE STORY OF THE POOR WIDOW WHO MADE IT 19 CHAPTER III. THE HOOP'S ROUND OF ADVENTURES 33 CHAPTER IV. THE FATE OF THE LEADEN TEA-THINGS 47 CHAPTER V. THE MAKING OF THE KITE BY THE HOME CIRCLE 64 CHAPTER VI. THE DOLL AND ALL HER MISTRESSES 79 CHAPTER VII. THE TOY KITCHEN; AND ITS MAKER 98 CHAPTER VIII. THE FATE OF THE SHUTTLECOCK 113 CHAPTER IX. WHAT BECAME OF NOAH'S ARK AND ALL ITS BEASTS 129 CHAPTER X. THE MARBLES AND THEIR PROCEEDINGS 142 CHAPTER XI. WHY THE ROCKING HORSE RAN AWAY 159 CHAPTER XII. THE MISHAP OF THE SKIPPING-ROPE 176 CHAPTER XIII. THE HUMMING TOP'S HISTORY 194 CHAPTER XIV. THE INTERRUPTION AND CONCLUSION 210 [Illustration] [Illustration] TALES OF THE TOYS. CHAPTER I.--INTRODUCTORY. THE TURNING OUT OF THE TOY CUPBOARD. "Hurrah! We are going to have such a jolly holiday!" shouted Frank, suddenly bursting out of his imprisonment in the slate closet, to the great disturbance of his sisters, who were peaceably occupied with their lessons. "Frank," said Miss Watson, "I must really at last report you to your Papa. I do not like to trouble him if I can help it, but I am afraid you will oblige me to do so. I desired you not to leave the book closet until you had made up your mind to sit straight on your chair, and go through the multiplication table properly." "We're to go to Sandbay for a month!" shouted Frank, capering about and clapping his hands. "To Sandbay, Frank! oh, how charming!" cried Celia and Florry, with one voice. "We shall be able to collect so many shells, and perhaps to get some anemones!" said Celia. "I shall make such gardens and ovens in the sand!" cried Florry, opening her blue eyes as wide as possible. "I wonder what has become of my spade?" "I'll leave Pa no peace till he takes me out for a sail," said Frank, whose antics had not yet subsided. "I think you have all gone suddenly mad!" said Miss Watson. "Celia, I am surprised at _you_! I have ceased to hope for quiet manners from Frank, and Florry is so little, she scarcely knows better; but your giddiness is not usual." "I beg your pardon, Miss Watson," replied Celia, demurely; "only it was so nice to think of going to the Sea." "But I don't understand the matter now," said poor Miss Watson, looking very mystified; "you knew nothing about this at breakfast, Frank, and how your companionship with the books and slates in the cupboard has enlightened you now, I don't know, nor can I give even a remote guess!" "Why, the store cupboard in the dining room is next to the book closet," replied Frank, eagerly, "and just now, when I had got my hand on the lock of the door to come out and tell you I had had enough of solitary imprisoning, I heard Mamma come into the store cupboard (for some jam, I daresay!) and she said out loud to somebody, 'I mean to take the children for a month to Sandbay this summer!' That's what made me rush out to tell the girls the good news!" "Well, Frank, I never believed you guilty of the meanness of listening before," said Miss Watson, rather severely. "I didn't listen," said Frank, rather sulkily. "You can hear very plainly in the book closet, Miss Watson," said Celia. "When I have put away the books sometimes, I have heard Ellen laying the luncheon in the dining room from the store cupboard door being left open. I am sure we should not listen on purpose, and I don't think Frank could help hearing it, if Mamma spoke distinctly." "It's very nice of you, Celia, to be always so ready to excuse your brother," said Miss Watson, "and I _do_ believe Frank above such mean, dishonest habits as that; and so I suppose I must overlook his boisterous conduct this once, as the news he heard by accident seems so exciting to you all." "Oh, Miss Watson, don't you like the sea too?" enquired little Florry; "it's so nice to stand on a heap of sand and let the waves come round you." "Well, Florry," replied Miss Watson, smiling, "there are many more pleasant things at the seaside than getting your feet wet through; but I suppose _you_ like letting the waves chase you!" "Then there is the bathing," said Celia, delightedly; "I do so love a dip in the cool, green salt water, and the dancing about in it, and waiting for a great wave to come over one!" "Girls ought to learn to swim!" said Frank, very sententiously. "Suppose a big wave carried you out of your depth, and no one was near to fetch you out again but the old Molly of a bathing woman!" "I have not the least doubt in the world," said Miss Watson, "that you will all enjoy your trip to Sandbay very much. But I think people should _earn_ their holiday before they have it, or even waste much time beforehand in planning how to spend it. We shall get no lessons at all this morning if we are to be hindered like this, and the consequence will be, Frank, that as so often is the case, you will spend your playtime in going over them again." "Suppose we all settle down steadily," suggested sensible Celia, "and put the thoughts of the sea out of our minds till we have done. Look, Miss Watson, it only wants a quarter to one, and we have finished all but our copies!" "There's the 'vexation' to be got through first, by me at any rate," said Frank, with a rueful air. "I wish the man who invented it had all the 'three times' from one to twelve printed on him with a cat-o'-nine tails, every time a fellow is forced to go through it!" "When you are a rich old merchant in the City, Frank," replied Miss Watson, smiling, "you will find the 'vexation' a pleasure, as you add up your pounds and shillings, or calculate the value of your cargoes!" "I wonder if Sir Walter Raleigh bothered his head with all this rubbish," growled Frank. "I daresay he counted up his ingots on his fingers. Such a leader as he was never wasted his time and trouble on the bothering old multiplication tables, _I_ know." "Raleigh was a scholar and a poet too, Frank," replied Miss Watson; "you could hardly have chosen a worse example of your theory. He was an Oriel College man, and wrote a history of the world during his captivity in the Tower. He employed his imprisonment better than you have done, you see!" "I have finished my copy, Miss Watson," said Celia, "may I go now, please? I have nothing more to do until the afternoon." "Yes, Celia; but, Florry, how carelessly you have written yours! I am afraid the thoughts of going to the sea have bewildered your little head so, that your fingers have travelled along without any guidance, like runaway horses with the coachman fast asleep!" Florry blushed and hung her head over the ill-written book, and was silent, for she knew that she had been thinking more of the pleasure before her, and musing where her wooden spade could be, than of her lessons; I am afraid that morning set a mark of "Careless!" in both Frank's and her score. However, school time ended at last, and off with a shout went Frank to hear all about the plans from Celia, for he had no doubt she had been talking the matter over with Mamma. Miss Watson was putting on her bonnet and mantle in order to return home for the usual weekly half holiday, when Mrs. Spenser entered the room. "I find, Miss Watson," said she, smiling, "that Frank's long ears have managed to catch what Mr. Spenser and I have been arranging for the summer holidays. The house is so very dirty and worn now, after our long residence in it, that we find it will be best to set about a thorough course of paint, paper, and whitewash, so that I have resolved to give the children a month at Sandbay during these holidays, which will do them all a great deal of good, I think." "I hope it will, indeed," replied Miss Watson; "and I am sure you will find it more agreeable to leave the house in possession of the workmen; all painting and papering is so unpleasant to endure." "Yes, indeed," said Mrs. Spenser, "I have a great horror of the whole operation; and, besides, Mr. Spenser thinks it will be more thoroughly done, if everything is packed away, and we are all out of the house. It will be very pleasant to be away from the heat of town, and with plenty of sea breezes to freshen up the children. Celia, I think, is looking rather delicate." "A little sea wind, and a few rambles on the shore, will soon bring back her rosy cheeks," replied Miss Watson, shaking hands with Mrs. Spenser, as she took her leave. "I hope you will all be very much the better for the change." For the rest of the next week--the last but one before the holidays began--Binswood Villa was a scene of endless bustle and confusion. The children enjoyed it all immensely, and rejoiced secretly at the little interruptions to the usual routine of their daily lessons, which were now taken in "pic-nic fashion," as Celia declared. For after the dining-room was cleared of its furniture, the schoolroom was obliged to be used for luncheon and dinner. And at last, joy of joys, the schoolroom itself had to be partially given up, and the weather being very warm and dry, the last few days' school was held in the arbour in the garden. The children enjoyed the remove greatly; but Frank declared that it was a sore trial to Miss Watson, for she had earwigs up her sleeve and snails on her gown! "I am too fond of a garden, Frank, to mind even these mishaps," said Miss Watson, laughing; "and as they have not yet fallen to my share, I won't fear them beforehand. I think all the garden inhabitants recognise _you_ for their lawful prey, for I can see a little money-spinner spider making a tour of your collar now!" Then there was all the packing to be done. Mamma very wisely got over her share of the business during the quiet hours when the young folks were at school, and, therefore, managed to get everything stowed away in tolerable order. And she found out the wisdom of her plan soon enough, for the confusion and trouble that reigned during the three days' holiday before they left, nearly drove poor Nurse out of her senses. But at last even all these worries were happily got over, and Celia's treasures safely put away, Frank's bat and ball and cricket-shoes hunted up, and Florry's missing wooden spade found behind the clock-case. Mrs. Spenser and the Nurse had the worst part of the business even now, in arranging and packing all the frocks and pinafores, socks and jackets in small compass for their long visit. Young folks are very apt not to think of all these things, and seem to imagine that hats and caps, gloves and shoes grow on the bushes, and are produced by rain and sunshine, like the garments of the flowers! Most mothers and nurses could tell a very different tale; and could, if they pleased, prove, that if little girls were as idly managed as the doll family are, life would not be so easy or quite so pleasant, to the juveniles at least. At last the happy day of the journey arrived, and the Spensers, with all their luggage, were safely crammed into a couple of cabs, and borne off to the railway station on their way to Sandbay. Little Florry persisted in carrying her precious wooden spade, for fear it should be left behind, a proceeding that resulted in its being left in the refreshment-room at Hembery station, and only regained at the risk of Frank's being left behind; and it was finally forgotten in the carriage when they changed at Dawlish junction, its little tired owner being carried fast asleep in Nurse's arms. And so before Papa left them all comfortably settled in their airy lodgings at Sandbay, he was obliged to take his tearful little girl to the one toy-shop and buy her a new one. "Which you gained by, Florry," remarked Frank; "for Pa gave you a bucket into the bargain; so now you can make ovens enough to bake all the rolls in Sandbay!" And then, like a good-natured brother as he was, he printed Florry's name in great capital letters on her spade, with the name of the house they lived in, so that when she left it behind on the sands, there was a chance of its being brought back again. And Celia and her mother rambled about by the edge of the sea, and collected shells and sea-weed, or took long walks through the pretty country round Sandbay, till the rosy cheeks Miss Watson prophesied became quite Celia's usual look. Meanwhile, Mr. Spenser having seen the little colony comfortably established, returned back to town, for he was going to stay with a sister who lived near his own house, in order to keep an occasional watch over the workmen. And so the town villa, which a few hours before had been the scene of such confusion and bustle,--such noisy voices and pattering feet,--was left empty to the echoes and the dust which now had time to settle peaceably over the bare boards and dingy windows. An old charwoman had the charge of it, and was to sleep in the kitchen; but as the workmen were not to come till the day after, she contented herself with merely sweeping down the house in the afternoon, ready for the whitewashers next day; and then, locking all up safe, with old Growler, the dog, inside, she set off, after an early cup of tea, to get in her provisions for the next day. It was, indeed, a change! The bed-rooms had lost their nice white little beds and curtains; the drawing-room was a dusty desert, with no piano and no work-tables; while the kitchen yawned like a gloomy cavern, stripped of its bright tins and cheerful dishes. And the dusky shades of evening fell and wrapped it in still darker shadows, while the distant roar and din of the streets seemed to sound quite far off. So then the crickets, who felt sure something unusual must be the matter, chirped, and made enquiries of each other, in the most noisy manner; while the mice, quite enraptured with the quiet and vacancy, came out and had regular pic-nic parties all over the house. The furniture and packages had all been stowed away in one large room at the top of the house, which had then been securely locked and fastened. But one nook had been neglected in the midst of all the bustle. Busy as she had been with preparing the summer clothes, putting away all the winter ones, and setting aside all in her own particular domain, Nurse had utterly overlooked the old toy cupboard! It is true it was now seldom used; for even Florry cared little for the broken and discarded toys it contained, and so it was not to be wondered at that the old store of rubbish had not been remembered. Some officious person had unlatched the door and left it ajar, and a good blast of wind in the afternoon, when old Mrs. Davis set the window open first, had pushed it quite back, though she had not observed the fact when she closed the nursery windows before she left. On the floor lay a heap of old leaden tea-things, mixed up with some of the inhabitants of a battered Noah's Ark which lay empty on its side on the top shelf. Several old marbles were nestled cosily up in an old toy kitchen which had been turned upside down to receive them. A humming-top, whose key had departed, lay side by side with a shuttlecock that had been shorn of half its feathers. The skipping-rope had become hopelessly entangled with the tail of the kite; the hoop had hung itself round the neck of a very ancient rocking-horse, whose mane and tail had long disappeared; to add to its misfortunes the poor animal now lacked the whole of one leg, and part of another, and being past mending, it had not seen daylight for a long while. A doll, with one arm, and whose bland, faded face had lost all expression with her missing eyes, presided in a solemn manner over the whole. The shelf above was empty, with one exception, for on it lay a very large ball, made of leather in many pieces, carefully joined together. Why it had been placed in the old toy cupboard was a mystery, for it seemed nearly new from the brightness of its colours and the full roundness of its form. That it was gifted with more strength and vitality than its companions was evident enough, for it gave a violent roll on the shelf, and then bounded suddenly down into the midst of its companions. "And so _we've_ got a holiday at last," said the Ball, with a lively frisk as he spoke. "Oh! don't be so rough," faintly shrieked the Doll; "you have almost taken away all the little breath I had left!" "I'll fan you with the greatest pleasure!" said the Kite, eagerly, "or at least, I'll try to do so, for I have stood here so long, that I am quite stiff, but I'll do my best!" And so he vigorously flapped backwards and forwards, till all the dust was set in motion that had rested quiet so long. So that at last, the Rocking-horse even was roused from his long slumber, and hobbled out of the corner on his lame legs. "How very pleasant!" exclaimed the Ball, hopping about with the greatest agility; "I declare it is quite worth while living in retirement for a while, if only to enjoy life once more when we come back to it again. How's the Doll now?" enquired he, politely, bounding towards her. "Better I hope," puffed the Kite; "but you know this cupboard has been stifling for a long while, and so now the first breeze of fresh air is almost too much for us all." "Speak for yourself," snapped the Shuttlecock, very peevishly; "you have fanned out my last feather, and what I'm to do now I can't think; I'm nothing but cork and leather!" "We are none of us much to be boasted of," remarked the old leaden Teapot; "I'm sure I have been battered and dinted till I've no shape left. But one gets used in time to being trodden on." "Yes, indeed, and to get one's horns and legs snapped off," chimed in an eager lilac wooden Cow, who certainly had lost most of her members, "over and above parting with your relations. My twin brother was destroyed ages ago, and so was the scarlet cat's, and there's not even one elephant left in the ark, nor a camel, nor a canary, nor a ladybird, nor a bear." "Oh! never mind your elephants and ladybirds," interrupted the Ball, irreverently; "we shall waste all our time in this arguing and quarrelling!" "It's easy for you to talk, young man," remarked the Shuttlecock, sarcastically; "_you_ have never been into the battle of life, or lost all your feathers." "This is very stupid work," said the Skipping-rope, coiling about and trying to disentangle herself from the Kite, a proceeding that resulted in one of her handles coming off, and the Kite being shorn of the tassel at the end of his tail. "Well, what _are_ we to do with ourselves," asked the Rocking-Horse, "we are not all of us quite so lively as you, my friend Ball. To us a holiday conveys the idea of _rest_, not restlessness." "Then I should think holidays were superfluous things to you!" muttered the Ball, as he took an extra roll out into the room; "but what are we to do, then?" "Tell stories," suggested the Doll, and the Rocking-Horse and Kite seconded the motion. The Ball bounded about very impatiently, and proposed a game of play, but he was outvoted, and the first motion was carried. But the noise of the argument had awakened the Humming-top, and he began to buzz and hum in such a drony, drowsy fashion, that in sheer terror and dread, the Ball threw himself gallantly into the gap, and promised to tell the first story himself, on condition that he should be allowed to roll softly about the room for the rest of the evening. This was very willingly agreed to, and all the party being comfortably arranged, the Doll having taken care to ensure the services of the Kite, the Ball begun his proffered story in the following manner. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER II. THE HISTORY OF THE BALL; WITH THE STORY OF THE POOR OLD WIDOW WHO MADE IT. "If I were not of a very lively character," remarked the Ball, "I should feel rather shy at making my first appearance as a story teller. But you know all people of my giddy habits are not much given to serious consideration. We make a bold spring and bound down into the middle of a matter, while all the graver folks are nervously trembling on the very brink. And so, instead of beginning at the very first chapter of my story, and telling you that I first grew on an animal's back as skin, and was then turned into leather, I will skip the dry part of my history, and begin with some of my later impressions." "Now," said the Humming-top, gravely, "I think I must rather protest against this summary way of disposing of some of the most interesting facts respecting your origin. I should like to know a little more about you, my dear friend. Pray indulge us with all the particulars of your early years: your first recollections." "I had thought," said the Ball, modestly, "that all these minute facts could hardly be very interesting, and I have a great fear of tiring out your attention, and of being called _prosy_," added he, slily. "That is impossible," answered the Humming-top, in a pompous manner; "let me beg of you to relieve our curiosity. I am sure I may speak for all the rest of our friends," said he, with a very solemn bow to each member of the party. The Toys, only too ready to enjoy the least variation of their long retired life, eagerly agreed, and the Ball resumed his story:-- "I am afraid I am not very clever at giving accurate descriptions of things in which I don't take much interest, and as you may suppose my real life only begun when all my several portions were collected together. I am composed, as you see, of several sections, each of the same size and shape, but all varying in colour and material. This quarter of me is composed of two portions of a pale, tawny leather; and this grew on the back of a fine robust young lamb, who frisked away his brief life on a sunny pasture in Denmark. He formed one of the members of a huge flock of sheep, belonging to a well-to-do farmer, whose riches in herds of cattle and flocks of sheep were accumulating for the dowry of his only child Mari. She was the best dowered maiden for fifty miles round, and though young in her teens, made the yellowest butter and firmest cheese for three villages round. Her father was a thrifty, enterprising man, who was especially successful in rearing fine lambs; thereby giving his old bachelor brother the tanner, plenty of employment in dressing the hides and fleeces, thus keeping "two mills going at once," as he said. The old tanner had a trade secret of his own for curing the skins in some peculiar way with the bark of the willows that grew so plentifully on the borders of the stream that ran through his tan yards. No one's hides sold so readily as old Johann Nilson's, or fetched so good a price in the market. They were entirely reserved for making gloves, and exported to England for that purpose. "The next two sections of my figure are, as you see, of a bright scarlet colour; and, like those two on the opposite side, which are of a rich dark blue, are made of morocco leather. This is made from the skin of Spanish goats, carefully tanned with oak bark, and then dyed on the grain side. The crimson portion owes its hue to being steeped in a bath with the little cochineal insect; and the blue to indigo. It is then curried and glazed till it becomes as shining and smooth as you see it. "Half of my fourth and last section is made of kid that was once pure white; and of the same kind as that used for ladies' gloves and boots. But time and rough usage have turned it now to a somewhat dingy hue. This was made from the skin of a calf, which was carefully steeped in baths of lime and bran, and then dressed with flour paste, and well stretched; being finally polished and smoothed with hot irons. This came from France, and after all this toil and care bestowed upon it, was beautifully soft and white, as supple as you could desire, and ready to be made into gloves. The other half of my last portion is formed of what is called chamois leather, being made from the skin of a lively little chamois that in vain once fled along Alpine peaks to escape his fleet hunter. The only part that now remains to account for is the small round portion at each end, which, from its dark, peculiar, tawny hue and pleasant scent, you have no doubt recognised as Russia leather. This, which is so highly prized because insects will not destroy it, or damp penetrate through it, owes much of its virtue to its being tanned with the bark of the graceful birch tree. "I have now, I think, satisfied even my friend the Humming-top, and may proceed to tell you that these several portions of my frame, coming as they did from various countries, and owing their colour and texture to different ways of preparing them, were all stored together in a very large wholesale warehouse, in a narrow, gloomy lane in the heart of London. These were all sold out again to travel once more, some to the glove-making counties; others to great shoe factories; some to makers of dressing cases and purses; others to grocers in town or country for polishing plate and glass. With all this general separation, there were a good many stray pieces, some torn off by accident, others used for pattern samples, which were always carefully collected, down to the smallest bits, and put into an old box by the boy who swept the warehouse. His master allowed him to collect them each week and carry them home to his mother, a poor, industrious widow, who earned a scanty living for her children and herself by making toys for a shop in the suburbs. "The eldest son, Sam, was shop-boy at this great leather warehouse; and feeling the importance of his position as the man of the family, and the only one receiving regular wages, and being in a place, he was not a little proud. He drew himself up on tip-toe, for he was, unluckily, rather short for his age, and spoke in the deepest tones he could make his naturally squeaky voice take, which sounded like the chirp of the cuckoo, when "in leafy June, he is out of tune!" But Sam was a good boy, and loved his mother and little sisters dearly, and would have bristled, like an angry cock robin, in the smallest but fiercest displeasure, if any one had tried to invade the parent nest. "It was Saturday night, and Sam was very tired, for he was at everyone's call, being the youngest and smallest there; and though he was pert and perky, he was good-natured and willing, so his poor thin legs had been well trotted about. But tired as he was, he gave a careful look round for any stray bits, and then tucked his little old box under his arm, and walked home. He stopped at the door of a very dingy house, up a dark, dirty court, and opening it, mounted the close, steep staircase. After climbing up two stories, he sat down to rest awhile, to get breath to mount the last one. At last he wearily picked up the box, and, step by step, painfully went up to the door of the back room. And this was his _home_, his only idea of comfort and rest after his long day's toil. But his mother was a good and tender woman, and though she had only this one small room to dwell in, where her three children and herself lived and slept, she tried her very best to keep it as wholesome and cheerful as she could, with the poor means she had. "A pleasant place it seemed to poor little Sam as he went in, with the kettle singing merrily on the hob, and the summer sunset shining in over the tall chimney-pots, through a clean window, between two cracked pots of blooming mignonette. Many little children were, no doubt, going to bed then in country cottages, tired out with their long rambles in country lanes--dirty with dust and forbidden mud-pies--and hungry for the crust of very dry bread--but healthy from their day's long breathing of pure air. But Sam only exchanged the close city warehouse, with its disagreeable smell of leather, for that of a room in which his mother and sisters breathed most of the day the smoky air among the chimney tops. In he came, only too glad to rest, and thankful for the warm tea his mother had ready for him. And then he showed his treasure of pieces of leather, such a big bundle this time, that little Susan clapped her hands quite gaily; and his mother said that there was enough for a half score dozen of balls at least! "The poor widow made leather balls to sell to a toy shop; her eldest girl, Jemima, always called Jemmie, made little toy bedsteads, for she had been lame from her birth. Little Susan, the youngest, helped as well as she could by making the little bolsters and mattresses for the dolls' bedsteads, which were to form the toys of luckier and younger children. She was a grave little morsel, with long thin, _thin_ limbs, and hollow cheeks--but she would have been pretty, with her large soft blue eyes and long yellow hair, if she had been well fed and healthy. "Their mother took the box of leather scraps from Sam, and having made him comfortable at his meagre tea, she began at once to arrange her work; for the last week she had quite used up all her scraps, and had been obliged to use her spare time in helping Jemmie with the bedsteads. So she picked out the colours, and laid her card patterns on them, and cut them with as little waste as possible, and as I was the first ball she finished that evening, I saw and heard all that ensued. "'Are you very tired Sam,' she asked, 'you're late home to-night. However, to-morrow is blessed Sunday, and you can take your rest with all the other poor creatures God has made His holiday for.' "'Oh yes, mother,' said Jemmie, her sallow face quite lighted up, 'and we can have another walk in the Park, you know. Only I wish I could walk better, it is such slow work hopping along.' "'So it is, Jemmie,' replied her mother, sighing, 'but thank God, child, you don't keep your bed; that would break my heart. I hope it'll please Him to spare me _that_ sorrow, and then I'll be contented if you can only crawl like a snail.' "'I wish it was treat time,' said little Susan; 'oh, how we did enjoy it, mother! if only you had been there! Oh, they were such grand trees in the forest, mother, they seemed to reach up to the clouds; I'm sure the birds couldn't build their nests up there! Why they were three times higher nor these chimbley stacks!' "'I liked the ride best,' said Jemmie; 'wasn't it nice to be carried along like that, and resting all the time; and teacher was so kind. She lent me her thick shawl to sit on; and how nice it was. What a lot of flowers we brought you, mother. And how nice and dry our acorns have kept.' "'When I'm only a little bit older,' said Sam, 'and earn more money, we'll have such jaunts into the country; won't it be fun to climb a tree, and lie on the grass!' "The mother sighed wearily; but she encouraged the children to gossip on cheerfully, for the work went twice as quick, while the memories were living over again the few, few days of fresh air and sunshine they had known. And the work _must_ be done, for the sake of food and shelter, such as it was. As for clothes, they were not thought of; for they were darned, patched, and "tidied up," till they were _all_ darn, and only replaced, when some kind friend gave a cast off garment. Jemmie made pretty little dolls' bedsteads, the frames of which, made of white wire, she bent into shape, and strengthened with slender strips of tin. Sam soldered them neatly together for her in his precious spare time, the wire and tin being sold to her cheap, cut ready into lengths, by a friendly tinman. Then Jemmie trimmed them up with white muslin worked round with gay coloured yarn. They were such pretty little toys that she found a tolerably ready sale for them. "'What a sight of work you've got for me, Jemmie!' said Sam, as his mother cleared away the tea, and his sister got out the wires. 'A chap ought to have a lot of strength for such a nigger drivin' missus as you!' "'Never mind, Sam,' said Jemmie, cheerfully; 'don't do no more nor you feels inclined for. But Mr. Dobbs had such a lot of bits for _me_ this week, and as mother was slack of work, she turned to and made up all the curtains and valances, and I had only to do the wool work. So we've got a sight of 'em done, and then, if mother has time this week, she thought she'd take a few round and sell 'em.' "'So she shall!' said Sam, setting vigorously to work, '_I_ don't mind, there's lots of work yet in this here feller, all along of your cup of tea, mother, and the holiday to-morrow.' "'I think it wouldn't do no harm, Jemmie,' said the widow, as she finished me, and laid me aside, 'if you was to send one of your bedsteads to Mr. Nethersole's little Miss. He's kind to Sam, and it seems only a dutiful way of thanking for all these nice bits. You've got enough and to spare.' "'Take one and welcome, Sam,' said Jemmie, limping off to the cupboard and bringing one out; 'you shall have this here for little Miss. It's the king of the lot, and is worked in the last bit of magenter wool I've got.' "Sam quite approved of this offering to his ruling powers, and on Monday morning he set off early to his work, refreshed and brightened by his brief holiday, and very proud of the bedstead, which he carried carefully in a paper bag. "It was duly presented, and not only admired, but brought Sam a message which made him tear home at headlong speed after his day's work, and face the stairs with the desperate energy that helps a soldier to storm a wall, and that carried Sam, hot and breathless, into the room to tell the good news in gasps that frightened Susan out of her wits, and nearly drove his mother frantic. At last, by patting his back, and making him sit in her low chair by the open window, the calmer Jemmie found out that Mrs. Nethersole had sent to say she liked the doll's bedstead so much that she should be glad to have three dozen like them, for which she would give five-and-twenty shillings a dozen, as she was going to have a stall at a very large bazaar, and had not much time to work for it herself. "'And you can make a lot of balls, mother, and she'll try and sell 'em for you, and will guarantee two dozen at sixpence each. She's a jolly brick, mother, that she is! But the best of it is to come, for they had me into the parlour and asked me all about us; and master has riz my wages a shilling a week. I'm the happiest chap in London, and I'll never call him "old skinny" no more, that I won't! Hurray, Jemmie! Up ye goes Sue.' "I am sorry, my friends," said the Ball, "I can tell you no more of them; for you see I was packed up with the rest and sent off to the Crystal Palace, where Mrs. Spenser bought me on the bazaar day, and I have lived among you ever since. But I should like to know how Sam, and Jemmie, and little Sue are getting on." [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER III. THE HOOP'S ROUND OF ADVENTURES. When the Ball had concluded his story, and had modestly taken a leap backwards out of the way, he was eagerly accorded the warm thanks of the party, and desired in his turn to call upon some one else. "I am sure I feel deeply honoured that you should be amused with my poor story, and hope sincerely that my successors will have something more interesting to relate. I will now call upon our merry friend the Hoop, to give us his experiences in life." "O dear me," cried the Hoop, rolling slowly out of his corner, but contriving in his course to scatter the Marbles to all the corners of the room, and to knock down the Doll also. "My dear Doll, how sorry I am, alas! alas! I am so very unlucky in always doing awkward things." "Oh," sighed the Doll, "I can't bear much more! I am almost gone now!" "Come and sit on my roof," said the Noah's Ark, very compassionately, "it is not at all rickety, I can assure you, for _your_ light weight; and I will keep you out of all harm." And so he carefully consoled and took care of the poor old Doll. "I don't think awkwardness goes by luck," snapped the Shuttlecock; "people need not be clumsy unless they choose. It is carelessness, and giddiness, that cause all these mishaps!" "I daresay you are right," said the Hoop, candidly, "I always was a giddy young thing. But where are all the Marbles gone! poor little fellows; I must go and help them back!" "You had much better stay where you are!" whispered the Ball, "you'll only get into fresh scrapes; there's the Kite just in your way, and if you poke a hole in his head, you won't hear the last of it in a hurry, I'll promise you!" So the Hoop edged himself into a corner, where he stood safely propped against the door, for although he was a careless, awkward fellow, he was really very good-natured, and would not vex any one on purpose. "I have really no story to tell you," said he; "for, as you see, I am simply a large iron ring, and could not have been very difficult to make. And as to any relation of my round of adventures, they are, I am sorry to say, only one long list of accidents and mishaps. But as our good friend the Ball has set us all a noble example by so readily obliging the company, I will also do my best. My first step in life was to be hung with several of my companions at the door of a toy shop at Sydenham. Here, however, I did not stay long, for I was selected by a little boy, called Edward Moore, who had saved up his pocket money for many weeks in order to purchase me. My first unfortunate beginning occurred almost at the shop door, for Master Teddy, in all the rapture of first calling me "his very own," gave me such an energetic tap with the new stick, that I went over the smooth pavement as if I had been oiled; ran sharply over an old gentleman's gouty foot, and only checked myself in my mad career by slipping through some railings, and tumbling down a strange area. "I could see nothing at first, but heard the old gentleman bawling angrily for the police; but, very luckily, as usual, none happened to be about, and after a little while the hubbub subsided, and the old gentleman, after abusing and threatening my poor Teddy well, limped off, and my disconsolate owner had time to peep down the areas, and try to recover his lost property. I had no idea of remaining buried in that dismal den, so I managed to roll off the flower pot I had fallen on, and by the jangle attracted his attention. He rang the bell, and coaxed the maid-servant to let him go down and fetch me. "'Get along with you, yer impedent monkey, a-ringing at people's bells, and a-calling one up in the middle of cooking! I shan't let you in! _I_ don't care for your hoop, nor you neither!' "'Oh, do Mary! there's a kind girl,' coaxed Teddy; 'I know you're good-natured, because you've got such a laughish mouth! _Do_ give me my hoop, it's just new, and I've saved up for it ever so long, you can't think!' "'Bless the boy's imperence,' said she, half laughing, 'who told you my name was Mary, which it isn't, for it's Jane! You're very saucy, and have no call to make rude remarks about my mouth. Go along with with ye, there's your precious hoop!' "And so saying, she gave me a toss which sent me spinning up into daylight again, and nearly knocked off a grand young lady's smart hat, who walked grumbling off, looking daggers at Teddy, and muttering something about "pests of children!" "Teddy, however, was too rejoiced to regain me to care for anything else, and shouting his thanks to Jane, he set off home at a good pace, taking me on his arm till he got out of the paved street into the green lanes. And here for many a day we ran races, and one of us at least was mightily tired. At last, one unlucky day Teddy's mother sent him on an errand to a shop in the middle of the most frequented street, and he had now become so used to his indispensable companion, that he took me with him, of course. We went, on very merrily, till we came to the corner of a crossing, when, thinking he could send me over before a great coal waggon came too near, Teddy gave me such a tap that I bounded over the street in no time. But the curb stone tripped me up first, and in hopping over that I took an unfortunate slide, and rolled into the open door of a china shop. Before I could stop myself I had knocked down two jugs, run over a pile of plates, and fallen into the middle of an array of wineglasses, just newly unpacked from a great crate close by. "I am used to misfortunes now, and am of a very buoyant disposition, but never shall I forget the crash and smash of that early calamity. Teddy stood aghast for one brief instant, and then turned to run away, even forgetting _me_ in the catastrophe. But that short moment had been enough to satisfy the horrified china merchant as to the author of the damage, and making a rapid spring across the road, he seized Teddy by the collar, and sternly hauled him into the shop. The poor boy was bewildered by the sudden accident, and half deafened by the shrill scolding of Mrs. Delf, who, having heard the crash, had rushed into the fray, and was now picking up the pieces. "'Two of the best Parian jugs!--I thought the police seized all the hoops as was seen,--nine willow cheeseplates,--and oh my! what a sight of glasses! You've done it now, and no mistake, you little vagabond!' "Her husband, however, seeing that Teddy was evidently a gentleman's son, after a few threats of fetching the police, decided upon accompanying him home, with a bill of the damages. Teddy begged and implored to be let off with many tears, but the man was determined, and taking me in one hand, he laid the other on Teddy's shoulder, and marched off in the direction of Willow Lodge, with the bill in his pocket. I must really draw a veil over the dreadful picture of the scene there, as my feelings will not allow me to do justice to the anger of Teddy's father, and the horror of his mother, at the money they had to pay for _that_ accident. Let it suffice that poor Teddy had a whipping that cured his roving propensities for some time, and I was confiscated, and placed in ignominious imprisonment in the stable. "Some months must have elapsed in the meanwhile, for when I was first shut up it was the end of the late summer, and when I saw daylight again it was spring-time, for the lilacs and laburnums were in full flower. How glad I was to rub off a little of the rust I had acquired from lying so long in that damp place, and how delighted was Teddy once more to get hold of me. "'I tell you what it is, old fellow,' said Teddy, rubbing me industriously with his pocket handkerchief; 'you must not let me into any more scrapes, for I could only get you again by promising Ma to be very careful, and only take you in the lanes. So we must mind what we are about!' "And so we did; and were as sober and steady as possible; perhaps, now that I was a little rusty from want of exercise, I was not as nimble as I used to be, but we got on very well, very comfortably indeed, and I began to think our troubles were over, and that we were getting older and more sedate. We had a few minor mishaps, but these were not of a serious order; for instance, when I just happened to run against little Polly Stubbs, a small toddling body of two years old; and upset her. But, then, after all, she was a very waddley sort of duck on her feet, and was very good tempered, so after the first shriek, she scrambled up with her little fat roley-poley body, and began to laugh. And Teddy was so delighted with her good temper, that he patted her dirty cheeks, and gave her such a big lump of gingerbread out of his pocket (where it had been rubbed all crumbling with his marbles), that her cheeks stuck out on each side as if she had a swelled face, she had stuffed her mouth so full. "Then another day we found a charming shady lane with no house in sight, and not a sound of a carriage to be heard, and so off we went helter-skelter,--I gliding swiftly on in advance, like a slender snake, and Teddy tearing along behind with his short, stumpy legs, and his face as red as a full blown peony,--puffing like a pair of bellows. He had reached me after a long chase, and gave me a good bowl on, when we turned round a slight winding, and came right into the middle of a brood of young ducklings, with their fat majestic mother waddling after them. Oh there was a scatter, as I rushed into the middle of them like a steam-engine coming, express into a flock of sheep! Some tumbled headlong into the pond hard by, others scrambled off out of the way as they best could, while old mother duck quacked and waddled like one possessed. But one poor little lame duckling, the last of the troop, was just in my way. I could not stop myself, so the only thing I could do to prevent myself from killing or hurting her, was to fall, which I did, flat round her in the dusty road, to her infinite fright. But she was not hurt, and, after crouching down for a moment, she recovered, and scrambling weakly over my prostrate circle, she limped off to the pond, and then sailed off into deep water with a delighted quackle that amply repaid me. "Our next misfortune was worse; but it did not cause any serious consequences to us, although for a long time, warned by his previous experience, poor Teddy walked about with a grave face, and trembled at every ring of the bell. We were out as usual, and _had_, perhaps, put more steam on than was quite necessary, for it was one of those lovely fresh mornings in early June, that are as bracing as a glass of cold water, or a breath of pure air. Teddy was capering and dancing along, and had dealt me one of what he called his "left handers" which were awkward, uncertain strokes, that _I_ privately christened "wobblers!" Well, he had just given me a wobbler, when a horrid pebble came in my way; and what business pebbles have in the way in the middle of a foot path _I_ never could discover. They are quite out of their own track, and very much in the way of elderly ladies and gentlemen who have pet "callosities." Why, every toddling child tumbles over them, and as for _my_ family, we abhor them! Let them be kept to their beaches, and brooks, and not interfere with our few suburban enjoyments! Well, as I was saying, when indignation got the better of me, I was turned _out_ of my course by one of those hateful round, slippery pebbles, and _into_ a strange garden, and a very smart one too! I slipped over the smooth, dewy grass like lightning, and right through a clump of hyacinths, ending my career by falling in a scrambling, all-four sort of fashion all over a bed of choice tulips. How many I beheaded I do not know, for Teddy, after peeping with a horrified face over the hedge, and seeing no one about, made a rush in to rescue me, and carrying me off, never stopped running till we were safe at home in the old stable. "As I said before, we were not found out in that instance, and, after a little seclusion, we came again into active life, when the crowning misery happened that parted me from my poor little master. We were going out quietly enough, and in a solitary lane too, turning as steadily as a rusty old windmill, so that I felt half asleep; when suddenly I was twirled about, whisked here and there, and then dropped in the dust, amidst such a confusion of shouting and screaming as beggars description. And this time it was owing to a donkey! This perverse animal, after having never been known from his youth to do more than walk or jog-trot under any treatment whatever, had at this unlucky time taken it into his long-eared head to run away full gallop with his owner, a deaf old woman, hanging on to the front of the little cart, with all her market produce jumbled together as it had never been before. Down he came thundering upon us, and before poor Teddy could catch me up, while he had but scant time to get into the hedge himself, I got entangled in the wretched little brute's rough legs, and down we all came, old woman, donkey, cart, and all, with a perfect set of fireworks of onions, cabbages and potatoes, flying in the air all round us. The first thing I noticed after the general crash was Teddy, who sat in the hedge shrieking with laughter, and a funny appearance I daresay we all presented. The cart, with one wheel off, was dragged and knocked about by the wretched little donkey's struggles to regain his legs. But the old woman had been shot down on the top of him, and as she was very fat and heavy she lay there like a sack of beans, only uttering fearful moans and shouts, with her face covered with bruised strawberries, and a shower of green peas all over her. "Teddy scrambled out of the hedge and very kindly helped up the old woman and her donkey, and collected all her stray vegetables as well as he could, for he was a very good-hearted boy, in spite of his carelessness. But the crabbed old woman laid all the blame on him, and following him slily home, beset the house, and made such a fuss, that Teddy got in the wars again worse than ever. His mother believed his account of the mischief, because, with all his faults, he was very truthful; but his father was very angry, and though he only paid the old woman half her outrageous demand, he punished Teddy severely, and wound up by depriving him of me altogether. "'Well Ma!' said poor Teddy, almost tearfully, 'if I must not have my hoop myself, I know no one I'd sooner give it to than Frank Spenser, my old schoolfellow. Pa's so angry with me about it, I don't like to ask him; but if _you_ would, I daresay he'd let Frank have it.' "His mother, who was really sorry for him, did so very readily, and Teddy had the only satisfaction left him, in giving me to his friend. Frank was almost too old to care for a hoop, but he did not like to hurt the poor boy by refusing, so he took me with a very good grace, and promised to take great care of me; which he certainly has done by shutting me up here like this; and so now my friends I think I have related my whole round of adventures to you, as far as I can myself remember." [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER IV. THE FATE OF THE LEADEN TEA-THINGS. The rest of the Toys having thanked the Hoop for his story, he once more rolled himself lazily into a comfortable position, and took his rights by calling upon the leaden Teapot, to entertain them next. But such an uproar arose among all the leaden Tea-things; the cups and saucers, clattering and clanking like mad, and the milk jug even mounting on the sugar basin to be heard the better, that for a few moments no one could be heard. But the little Teapot set to work vigorously, and soon reduced her unruly family to order. She rolled one teacup here, and bowled over another there, piled up the plates before they knew where they were, and toppled down the milk jug into its proper place, before it recovered enough to defend itself. Then she sat down and volubly began her story, while her tribe were temporarily pacified. "I am afraid," said she, "you will not like my story at all, for it's not half so lively and entertaining as the Hoop's, in fact there's nothing merry about it, but quite the reverse. I can tell you nothing of my birthplace or of my original history, for you see I've had a large family to keep together, and look after, and I've been so battered and knocked about in my course through life, that my memory is sadly impaired. So I can only tell you that we all came from Germany, where we were made, and were carefully packed in a little pasteboard box, in which we travelled to the English house to which we were sent, with numbers of others. We remained for some time in seclusion on the shelf of the toy warehouse, and were then drafted off to a little toy-shop at the West end of London. Our present owner was a notable little woman, the wife of a head workman at a large cabinet manufactory, and as she had two or three small children, she was glad to make ends meet by fitting out her front parlour as a little toy-shop. It was a very quiet, nice street, not far from a large hotel, and as the rents were rather high, the houses were only let to fairly respectable people. The little woman let her first floor, neatly, but plainly, furnished, to an elderly lady; and by all these small helps, added to her husband's wages, they lived very comfortably, and brought up their little ones nicely. A younger sister of the wife's lived with them, and was a great help in waiting on the old lady and in serving the customers. "Rose was such a good-tempered girl, she was a great favourite with all the young purchasers; she never cared what trouble she took to suit them, and turned over the whole stock of toys that she might find what they wanted. All the little poor children in the neighbourhood used to watch to see when she came into the shop to make their small bargains. She never grumbled while they picked out the prettiest faces that suited their fancy among the halfpenny wooden dolls, and she kept a choice corner of very cheap toys on purpose for all these little ones, who so rarely knew what the pleasure of buying a toy was. But I think she had her reward when she saw the little eyes nearly sparkle, and the pale, thin faces get a little colour, as they trotted happily off with their few and scanty treasures cuddled up in their old ragged pinafores. We lay for a long time on the counter with our lid off, to tempt the young folks who came to the shop, so I had some opportunity to see all the different customers. "I suppose my own busy, careful life, with all my tribe of young ones, has made me understand all these things better, for I remember so much of this time, while I have forgotten a great deal else. How often I have seen the richer class of children come in with their governesses or servants, and just glancing over the toys carelessly, they have selected what they wanted, and have gone off, with no more than a passing pleasure with their possessions. And very likely in a fortnight the same party have returned again, and carried off something else, feeling more careless than before at the sight of the playthings they had almost exhausted. "Different to them, as station and dress could make them, were Rose's little friends. The golden hair, or dark braids of the little ladies, and their flower-like faces, set off with their trim hats, and tasteful, cool, well-made dresses, did not contrast more strongly with the sallow faces, ragged, short locks, tangled with wind and weather, and the patched or ragged garments of the poorer children, than did their manners and wants. These latter little ones were the small evening audience who flattened their noses against the bright, gas-lighted window of the gay toy-shop, and who knew all its contents by heart, as well as its owner. But they never hoped, poor little souls! except in dreams, for all these beautiful toys. Dirty little Polly, who stood pointing with her smutty finger, and elbowing her sister to look at the grand doll dressed in muslin and ribbon, only gazed at it in a sort of ecstatic rapture, and had no more idea, indeed far less, of having it for her very own, than little Lady Edith had of owning the Crystal Palace. Pence, scanty, hard-earned pence, were too much wanted for bread and food, to be easily got to lay out even in two half-penny dolls in a year! But when a happy piece of good fortune did come about, and these poor little creatures really had a whole penny they could call _their own_, oh, how difficult it was to spend it! How much they wanted for it! and what a business it was to decide what it should be laid out in! And the one-jointed doll or penny cart was like a pot of gold to its happy little owner for months afterwards! "Rose had other friends as well, however, as these poor little ragged customers, for her pleasant face and gentle voice made her popular with all, and she had a tasteful way of arranging the one window of the toy-shop that made it quite attractive to older eyes than the children. One day in late autumn, a lady, with a nurse and a little girl, paused before it for a moment, and after a brief inspection they came into the shop. "'I think a box of tea-things will be almost the best thing for her, Lee,' said the lady to her nurse. "'I sould ike a bots of tea-sings wey mush!' said the little thing, as the servant sat down, and placed her on her lap. "'So you shall have some, my pet, and then you will be able to make tea for all the dollies,' replied the nurse. "'Have you any boxes of wooden tea-things?' asked the lady. "Rose placed before them a tolerably large assortment; some made of china, very brightly ornamented with pink and blue flowers; some made of glass, white with tiny gold sprays and stars, but these were voted dangerous for baby, because they would break easily, and might cut her little fat hands. Then the wooden sets were examined, but they were painted freely, and mamma and nurse thought they might go to the rosy mouth more closely and often than would be quite wholesome, and baby would not look at the plain, white Swiss carved tea-sets, pretty as they were. "'Fower ike those, wey pitty,' cried she, eagerly, as Rose brought out our box of large polished leaden tea-things. "'Then she shall have them!' decided Mamma at once, 'and a very good choice too, Lee, don't you think so? They will be quite safe, and neither break nor spoil so easily as the rest. How much are they? I will take these please!' "And so Rose packed us carefully up in paper and gave us to the nurse, who, taking up the little girl, carefully tied on her warm fur cape and carried her after the lady. They walked for a short distance, and then stopped at the door of a house in a handsome square. The lady's beautiful dress and elegant air had somewhat prepared me for our new home, which was one of luxury. The lady, after tenderly kissing the little one, stopped at the door of her dressing room, while the nurse and my new owner mounted another flight, and reached the spacious and airy day nursery. The little rosy girl was rolled out of all her velvet wraps, and a very pretty snowy embroidered pinafore was put on her, after her glossy bright flaxen curls had been carefully arranged by the nurse. The little thing had borne all this very impatiently, and had fretted and fidgeted to get away to her new toys; but her nurse would not let her go till she was "made tidy," as she called it. "'You shall have your little table, Miss Lily,' said she, 'and make tea till bedtime afterwards, if you like, but you must stand still first, like a lady, and be made to look neat. Don't you know mamma never goes down to breakfast or dinner till Lance has dressed her and done her hair?' "But when these operations were all over, Nurse set out the little table, and covered it with a clean towel for a table cloth, and placed Lily's pretty wicker chair beside it. And when the real nursery teatime came, she gave Lily a lump of sugar, broken into little bits with the scissors, and two nice, dry biscuits to play with. So fat little Lily was mightily contented, and spread out her toys, and played at making tea for her dolls, while she herself ate up the biscuits and sugar with great delight. And by-and-bye Mamma came up to see how all was going on, before she went down to dinner, and she found her pet, trotting round the little table and humming like a big humble bee. "And so the time went merrily by, and if we had a few misfortunes, still we got on pretty well. To be sure, I gained this great dint in my side owing to my little mistress setting the leg of her chair suddenly on me. And some of the saucers and plates were swept up with the dust, and thrown away by a new, careless nursery maid. But on the whole we were rather well off, for Nurse was a patient, orderly woman, and went round the day nursery every evening herself, picking up the pet's playthings and putting them away. "And as for dear little merry Lily, she grew and throve, like a sweet-tempered child as she was, as fair as her namesake blossoms. She had called herself "Fower" in her childish talk, because Lily was not easily managed by her little tongue, and she had quite understood that she was called after the pretty-looking, innocent, white flowers that blossomed in the same month as her birthday fell in, the merry month of May. "One unfortunate day when we had been there some time, to the amazement of Nurse, she got up in such a fretful, cross humour nothing would pacify her. This was unusual, and so was her turning away from her nice bread and milk, and crying peevishly when she was spoken to. The poor child was evidently ailing, and Nurse lost no time in sending down word of it to her mistress. The fond mother hurried upstairs, but little Lily would only cling to her and sob, and bury her flushed face on her shoulder. So the doctor was sent for in haste, and he came quickly, and pronounced that the little one was sickening for some illness; measles, _he hoped_, but he could not positively say. So poor Mamma sat there, and gave Lily the medicine, and tried to amuse her with setting us in order before her. But Lily pushed us all away so hastily that we rolled to all corners of the room, and Nurse was too busy and sad to pick us up in a hurry that day, or for many days after. "For poor little Lily grew worse, and the doctor pronounced it to be fever, and of a very severe kind. Days and days the little feverish head tossed wearily on the pillow, and then all the golden curls were cut off, matted as they were, and laid aside carefully in a drawer by poor Nurse, who cried over them as if her heart would break. The fever subsided, but the little exhausted body had not strength to recover from it, and she grew daily weaker, quite too weak to be removed to a fresh air. Poor Nurse picked us up one night, half unconsciously, and put us back in the old toy drawer, where we remained, till one afternoon she came hastily to fetch us out again. She carried us downstairs into the beautiful bed-room where Mrs. Arden slept. But both Papa and Mamma were too anxious about their only darling to be very particular about their own comfort, and so her father slept in his dressing-room close by, while the mother kept a ceaseless watch by the sick bed. "When the lid was taken off, and nurse turned us out on the white counterpane, I could hardly recognise my little mistress. Did these sunken cheeks and hollow eyes, these little wasted hands belong to the "Fower," as she had called herself? She was indeed a faded flower, a drooping lily, and her bright, golden curls were all gone, like her rosy, childish bloom. But sickness had not been able to subdue the innocent, loving nature and bright spirit; and though the smile on her pale little mouth made her mother turn away in tears, it was the same happy tone in the weak thread of a voice that whispered:-- "'Fower make tea now! Fower been _so_ sick, but see like some tea! mother make it now!' and the little head, shorn so sadly of its golden glories, fell back weakly on the pillow, and the sudden gleam of light died out of the blue eyes. "'Yes, dear one, mother _will_ make tea for "Flower," so many cups; and when Lily gets better and grows a strong girl again, mother and she will have feasts every day, and all day long.' "'Fower like that, but _so_ tired;' breathed the little one, feebly, and so Nurse hastened to catch us all up from the bed, and hurriedly cramming us into the box, she put us on the dressing table. "Next day "Fower" seemed to brighten up a little, and when we were laid out on the bed, she took us up languidly, and pretended to drink. But she was soon weary, and even our slight weight was too heavy for the frail hand. And so day after day passed by with no great change, finding us each morning laid out on the bed, near the little weary hands, tired of doing nothing; and afternoon saw us gathered away, while the curtains were drawn across the window to keep out the bright glare of the spring sunshine. And day by day the tender mother hoped on, while the more experienced Nurse shook her head, and the skilful doctor was silent, though so _very_ gentle with the anxious mother and the little drooping child. "At last a day came, one of the early ones in May, when even Lee thought Lily looked clearer and brighter. Papa brought in a bunch of the finest lilies of the valley from Covent Garden Market, and his poor, wan little "Fower" was delighted with them. "'It will be her birthday in a week,' said her mother, cheerfully; 'Papa must bring her some more then. I hope Lily will be better, and able to sit up then!' "'Fower have a gand tea party, and pum take, so fine! where's my tea-fings?' "Nurse brought out the pet playthings, and arranged them on the bed before little "Fower," and Papa went off in quite gay spirits to his business. And Mamma took out a little white frock she had been embroidering for "Fower's" birthday wear, and which had been laid away for a long while out of sight. Nurse seemed to have no very settled purpose in the work way, and stole quietly about, arranging everything in a still dreamy kind of fashion. Meanwhile little "Fower" lay back in the soft bed, supported on downy pillows, and with pale pink lined muslin curtains floating round her. Her blue eyes rested upon us with a bright, far-away look that did not last long, as the fingers of one hand played with us, the other holding the bunch of lilies. "Presently Nurse came rapidly over. 'The dear child is fainting!' she said, as she held up the little shorn head. "'Fower thirsty!' murmured the little voice, like a faint sigh, as the blue eyes seemed to lose all their light, and the lilies dropped out of the open fingers. "'Lily, _my_ Lily!' cried the poor mother, eagerly, 'look up, my darling, you are better dear; let mother give her a little water out of her tiny teacup.' "The kind-hearted nurse laid down the heavy head, and spent all her heartfelt care now on her poor mistress. Her little "Fower" had gone in an angel's hand, to be planted a living blossom in her heavenly Father's garden, where her deep thirst would be satisfied quite, and the shining robe of the white lilies of heaven was waiting for her. "The little worn-out, earthly form was laid to rest with the bunch of lilies in the cold hands, and a wreath of fresh-gathered flowers on her head. And poor Nurse, thoughtfully gathered up all the toys that the little one had played with, and put them carefully out of the desolate mother's sight. And in after years I heard that other little blossoms came to fill up that grand nursery, but Nurse never loved them as she did little "Fower," and the mother gave her all the toys, very tearfully. "'I don't like to hoard them up,' she said, 'for after all I need no memorials to remind me of my Lily, and I like to think of her growing now a sweet, fair flower in her heavenly Father's garden, and yet I could not bear to see all these things played with and thrown about in the nursery. So take them, Nurse, and let them give pleasure to other little ones.' "And thus Nurse Lee took charge of us, and one evening coming to drink tea in Mrs. Spenser's nursery, she brought us all in our box for Miss Celia, who was then a little girl. But since she grew older, we were stuffed away by chance in this old cupboard. I told you all fairly that mine was a melancholy story," added the Teapot, in an injured sort of voice, "and you see I am right, and now I've done!" The rest of the Toys did not make much remark, for they were all rather saddened by the story of little "Fower," but the Ball, who could not be very grave for long together, bounced up briskly, and told the Teapot, she was entitled to call on any of the rest of the company for a story in turn. "I would rather not," replied the Teapot, eagerly; "I am but a foolish body at all such formal doings. Pray let the next in turn favour us." Then the Ball, rather afraid of a discussion, turned it off with a joke and said:-- "Well, then, in your name I will call upon the Kite for a story, for, as he flies so high, he can't be very nervous, and no doubt he has seen a good deal in high latitudes, that we shall be glad to hear!" The Kite waved a graceful bow all round, and professed his entire readiness to be at the service of the company. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER V. THE MAKING OF THE KITE BY THE HOME CIRCLE. "I will begin," said he, "by describing my first appearance in my present form. Never did a large ship launch or the building of a great mansion require more care and pains, or entirely engross more workmen than I did in _my_ construction. My architect-in-chief, I must tell you, was George Vernon, Esquire, commonly called "Uncle Gee," and the workmen he employed under his orders were as follows. Foreman, or rather forewoman, Mrs. Tufnell, otherwise called indifferently, mother, mamma, or mummy; and as workpeople, Bob, aged eleven; Tom, aged ten; Mary, alias Polly, aged nine; Jeanie, usually termed "Jean," aged eight; Theodore, popularly christened "Dora," because he was a little given to tearfulness and whines, aged seven; and lastly little Lucy, who still bore the name of "baby," and who numbered five summers. "Now Uncle Gee had come home for his holidays, for though he was nearly grown up, and seemed a giant in cleverness to all his little nephews and nieces, he was still at Oxford, and working hard at his studies. But he was very fond of all the little folks at Summerfield Rectory, and the days to the long vacation were nearly as eagerly counted by Uncle Gee, even amidst his more serious business, as by the flock of eager little adorers at the quiet home in the west. Everything that was nice and pleasant was deferred until his arrival, and a queer variety of treasures were hoarded up for his inspection long before he came. "And Uncle Gee amply rewarded his faithful adherents, for when he came, he brought universal sunshine with him, and was as ready to enter into all their pursuits and share all their games as the veriest child amongst them. He was the best teacher of trapbat and rounders Bob and Tom knew for miles round; and yet he was as skilful and neathanded at repairing the damages in Mary's doll house, and the fractures of baby's doll, so that he might have been a carpenter by trade. "So when at teatime, one summer evening, Mamma said to the children, who were all round the large long table, 'To-morrow Uncle Gee is coming!' they all burst out in one regular shout of delight, for this time he had gone on a visit to a friend first, and his young relations' calculations had been all put out, and they had been waiting day after day in the vain hope of seeing him. The noise and chatter round the tea table that evening were really deafening, and would have been quite annoying to anyone but Mamma, who smiled, and said it was a little taste of preparation for the uproar that always lasted all through Uncle Gee's visit. "And next day he came, to the great delight of all the young folks, and if he had been nearly as patient as Mamma, and quite as brave as Papa, (who did not even fear mad bulls, said baby!) why he would have been driven deaf, dumb, and blind, by all the voices talking in their loudest keys at once, or else would have expected to be torn in pieces by all the eager hands that clung to him and pulled him about. I think Papa and Mamma, and Uncle Gee too, in spite of all their kindness and affection for the uproarious little mob, were thankful enough when the children's bedtime came, and they were all taken off, loudly declaring that it was _not_ time yet. "Next morning they were all up like larks, and had finished dressing sooner than usual, but, to their great horror, they looked out and saw the sky covered with leaden clouds, and heard the steady, heavy drops of rain falling on the sky-light over the staircase. "'What a nuisance,' growled Bob and Tom, 'when we wanted to try the new field, and Uncle Gee promised to have a game of cricket with us!' "'O dear,' said Mary, in dismay, 'and I wanted to show him the new hammock swing Papa has given us!' "'We've lost our swing for certain,' said Jeanie, who was a regular romp; 'what a bother!' "'Rain, rain, go to Spain,' chanted Baby, in her squeaky voice--while Dora joined in chorus. "'Who's singing that contraband rhyme?' said Papa, coming in; 'I'm too thankful for the rain for the sake of my peas and potatoes!' "'And the strawberries too,' chimed in Mamma; 'just think, children, how they were shrivelling for want of rain.' "'But we can't get out,' bawled all the children, 'and now Uncle Gee's come we had such lots of things to show him!' "'What's the matter now?' said Uncle Gee, coming in. 'All this racket about a little rain! Why, I was just thinking, while I was dressing, what a jolly day it would be to make a Kite!' "'Make a Kite!' shouted Bob; 'O how stunning; O Uncle Gee, can you show us how to do it?' "'I think I can, Bob,' replied his Uncle, 'but at any rate we'll try, and with Mamma's help perhaps we can manage it. I dare say she will let us have the school-room to make all our litters in, and I shall want every man jack of you to help!' "'Am I man jack too, Uncle Gee?' asked Baby, very anxiously. "'I should think so,' said Uncle Gee, kissing her, 'a very useful one too; you shall help with the fine fringy tail!' "And when breakfast was over, to work they all went. Papa found some capital slips of light thin wood, and lent his best knife into the bargain. Mamma contributed some beautiful white glazed lining to cover the frame with, and lent her nice glue pot as well. Uncle Gee soon had the long table in the school-room covered with all sorts of things, and had set everybody to work as well. Bob and Tom busily hammered, fixed, planed, and cut, till they hindered Uncle Gee terribly; and when he saw Mary take up the scissors, and begin to measure the calico, he stopped short, and called a truce. "'Now,' said he, 'if all are going to be at work, and no one master, we shall soon get into a fix, and knock over the whole concern. If we are to get the Kite made to-day, you must all obey orders. Mary, you and Jeanie can find me some strips of coloured paper, can't you, for the tail; and Dora, ask Nelson if she can let us have a long ball of string.' "And so the work went on merrily. Bob and Tom doing the looking on, and Mary and Jean smoothing and snipping the bits for the tail, and making the tassel for the end. Dora fetched out a box of colours of his own, and suggested painting a face on it. "'Capital!' cried Uncle Gee; 'and I'll tell you how you can make yourself useful, Dora, and that's by rubbing up a lot of colour on the back of a clean plate, I'll show you how;' and so to work Dora went with a will, and soon had a rare quantity all ready for the skilful hand of the artist. "Meanwhile, under Uncle Gee's superintendence, and with Mamma's help, Polly and Jean had supplied the long piece of string, provided for the tail with its cross pieces of paper to serve as light weights, and they were now busily snipping some very fine red paper Mamma had routed out from amongst her hoards for them, in order to make a grand tassel to finish the tail with. "'Does not this remind you of our own old days?' said Mamma to Uncle Gee, as she came in for awhile to help in the interval of her busy morning occupations. "'Don't you remember what trouble we used to take with our toys and playthings; and how seldom we were able to buy any real toys. I _do_ think children have many more than are good for them,' continued she. "'Well, they don't value them now, as we did our patched up contrivances, do they?' replied George; 'but look, sister, won't this be a capital Kite? I think I never made a better, e'en in my boyish days! I am sure it ought to fly well!' "And so saying, he raised up the large, carefully planned framework of slips of wood, with the calico neatly glued on it. "'I am going to leave it to dry now,' said Uncle Gee; 'I can't paint it while it is wet; and so now, young people, as I have worked in your service all the morning, it is high time you did for mine. I am going to write a letter, and have no more time to spare until after lunch. So you must promise me to leave this table untouched, and go and amuse yourselves until by-and-bye.' "The children agreed to this very fair bargain, and very sensibly dispersed, and amused themselves until lunch time, which was really their dinner time. "When they all came down with carefully brushed hair, and shining, clean faces, and took their places round the great table, they were about as merry a party as you would find anywhere, in spite of the drenching rain, which had poured steadily on the whole day. "'The Kite is getting beautifully dry and tight,' said Uncle George, as he took the place left for him; 'I peeped into the school-room as I came down, and I see it is drying fast and nicely. And what shall we make it? A flying dragon, like the Chinese flags and lanterns?' "'O yes! Uncle Gee,' cried Dora, with his eyes as round as cricket balls; 'do make it a dragon--a green dragon, with a fiery tail!' "'Or a likeness--warranted genuine--of old Bogey himself,' laughed Bob. "'A fairy with wings,' suggested Mary, 'with a star on her forehead, and a girdle round her waist.' "'Or a ship,' said Jeanie, her dark face glowing; 'a ship with masts and sails painted for her, because you know she _does_ sail through the air, Uncle Gee!' "'Paint it like a daisy,' said Baby, 'or make buttercups all over it!' "'Well, we'll see,' said Uncle Gee; 'when dinner is over we'll have a solemn council on the matter, and the most votes shall carry the day.' "'Can anyone tell me anything particular about a Kite?' enquired Papa; 'I think there ought to be a story somewhere; does anyone know it?' "'I do,' cried Tom, eagerly; 'Dr. Franklin found out about lightning with a Kite, didn't he?' "'Yes,' replied Papa, 'you are right Tom; but what did he find out by it, and how? Do you know?' "'No,' said Tom, frankly; 'I only remember he made a Kite to find out something he wanted to know about lightning, and there was something about a key, but I don't remember, Papa.' "'I am glad you recollected a little about it,' said Papa, 'and I will tell you what the story was. Franklin, as you know, had long studied the effect of storms, and what is called Electricity. He was busied with setting some plans to work, which would enable him to try some experiments on the subject. But one day, while he was thinking over the matter, it flashed across his mind that a kite, such as he had seen his boys playing with, might help him to solve the puzzle. So he made one, not like yours, but out of a silk handkerchief, and fixed an iron point to the end of his stick, and where his string ended he hung a key. During the next thunderstorm that happened he went out and flew his kite; and by these simple means found out what he had wanted to know. You would hardly understand what the question was, or how it was explained to him in this way, until you are rather older, and are able to understand a little more of all the curious phenomena of electricity. You are all very much frightened and roused when we have a heavy thunderstorm, because it is such a terrible thing, that you see the danger, but some day you will know that the electric telegraph we send messages by is the same power in a smaller, far smaller degree, turned to man's use. It is only God who can send the severe thunderstorm, which while it clears and purifies the air, and thus does a great deal of good, may also do a great deal of harm; and to save some of this was, shortly, the object of Franklin's enquiries. He saw that if his idea was correct, rods of iron might be planted near houses, or suspended from vessels, by which means the lightning would pass harmlessly down into the water or the earth.' "'And now,' said Uncle Gee, 'we must thank Papa for his lesson, children, and a very good one it is, and go to our work. I think if you were all to ask Papa very nicely, he might perhaps give you a simple explanation about thunder and lightning; and I daresay his school children would not be sorry to hear it too.' "Papa promised to "think about it," and then off went the happy party into the school-room, where they found the great Kite stretched out like a large white bird or a windmill sail. Very dry, and nice and flat it was, and delighted enough they all were with it. "'Now,' said Uncle Gee, 'once for all what is it to be? A ship, a dragon, a Chinaman, or what? It is to be put to the vote--what do you say, Bob, you are the eldest?' "'What you like, Uncle Gee! A dragon would be a jolly thing, but let it be as you like!' "'I should like a ship,' said Tom; 'a big ship, with sails and an anchor!' "'We would rather leave it to Uncle Gee,' said the girls and Dora; 'he is sure to make a capital thing of it, and he has an idea of something or other, we think!' "'I shall make it into a flying fish, if you leave it to me,' said Uncle Gee, laughing, 'so you had better arrange it among yourselves.' "And so there was a great deal of talking and chattering among them all, and at last they agreed to ask Uncle Gee to make it a bird. "'We can't settle what kind of bird it is to be,' said Bob; 'I wanted an eagle, but Tom liked an owl better, and Mary said she liked a ringdove, while Jeanie said it must be a peacock. Dora wanted a swan, and Baby bawled out for a robin! So we're not agreed in anything but that it is to be a bird. So you must decide out of all the number, Uncle Gee.' "'All right,' was Uncle Gee's reply, and to work he went and painted away vigorously to the young ones' great delight, while they all looked on and made remarks as he sketched in the outline. But they begun to press round him so, and make such queer suggestions, that he declared he would not do another stroke till they left him alone. So off they went to the other end of the table, and got the tail in order. It was a tail indeed! made of stripes of all coloured paper tied up, and ending with a tassel of various colours, whose fringes were feathery and full enough for a mandarin's pigtail. "By the time that the tail was finished to the satisfaction of all, Uncle Gee had completed the Kite, and turning it round to the children, exhibited a bird of such a kind as had never been seen before! It had the head of an owl, with its great staring eyes, the broad wings of an eagle, the neck of the ringdove, the ruddy breast of the robin, the many-eyed tail of the peacock, and the yellow webbed feet of the swan! "The children gazed at it for a moment in utter surprise, and then burst into shouts of approval. "'There,' said Uncle Gee, 'I hope I have satisfied you all, and every one in particular. I am sure such a bird as this would make his fortune at the Zoological Gardens!' "'Oh! what a jolly fellow!' shouted Bob and Tom, clapping their hands, while the girls danced round quite delighted. "'Now,' said Uncle Gee, 'I think to-morrow will be a fine day after the rain, and we shall be able to make this fine fellow fly.' "So they tied on my tail, and made me thoroughly ready for the next morning's cruise, and then all went to bed the happiest set of little ones within fifty miles round. "Many a flight I had with them over field and fallow, meadow and moor; many a dance I led them, and many a tree have I got entangled with, so that at last Bob became quite expert at climbing trees, and all owing to the practice he had in getting me out of scrapes. But time passed on, and when Bob and Tom went to school, Uncle Gee thought it was not safe to trust me to Dora and the girls, so he promised to make them another some day, and he gave me to the Spensers! So here you have an end of my history, which contains, as you see now, no flying adventures at all. If I had time, I could tell you of many curious things I saw in my airy flights, and some about the clouds I went so near. But I must defer that until another day, and meanwhile, in my turn, I ask our charming friend the Doll to oblige us with the account of her experiences in life." [Illustration] CHAPTER VI. THE DOLL AND ALL HER MISTRESSES. "Oh," said the Doll, "can you not excuse me? My poor little story is so very dull and flat after all we have heard, and, indeed, I am afraid I have not strength or vivacity enough to carry it through to the end!" "No, indeed," replied the Ball, "we are not going to let you off. We are all of us taking our turns, and you must bear your share like the rest." "I am sure," said the Kite, in a pacifying manner, "our fair friend will be only too happy to do her part in this pleasant task; she merely feels an amiable modesty, and undervalues her own charming powers." "You flatter me too much," replied the Doll, "in all respects but one. But you are right in believing I am anxious to oblige every one, for that is the case really. And so now I will do my best, only prefacing my humble story by saying that I really know nothing of my origin, or where I was made. My first conscious remembrance was that of lying on a beautiful carved table in the midst of a quantity of silk and lace. Two or three gay girls were sitting round the table and gossiping merrily, while their busy fingers flew at their pretty work. They were dressing myself and one or two of my sisters for their Christmas tree. "'That is a piece of the first silk dress I ever had,' said bright-haired Madeline, the eldest of them; 'I remember how proud I was of it, and how I enjoyed its rustle. It was short, you know, Laura, for I was a little girl then.' "'You don't care so much about silk dresses now, Maddy,' replied Laura; 'I think a new riding habit is your present ambition, isn't it?' "'This piece will make the doll a very grand bodice,' said Edith; 'the pale blue suits her complexion, don't you think so, Maddy? That is a piece of my last year's sash.' "And so they chatted and worked, till I was attired in a very tasteful and fashionable manner. For though, alas! there are now no remains of my former charms, I was reckoned a great beauty in my day, and was indeed quite one of the belles of the season. I had real hair, very soft and flaxen, and what is more, real eyelashes and eyebrows! You can see no trace of them now, for reasons I will relate presently. But without vanity, I may say I was charmingly pretty in those days, for I was the real model of a sweet fat baby child of about two years old. My face, neck, arms and feet had all the pretty wrinkles and dimples that adorn that age; and the soft pink wax, delicately coloured, gave a very fair notion of the tender pinky skin. So with very good taste my lady milliners dressed me in a short full white India muslin frock over a pale blue silk slip, trimmed the bodice and sleeves lavishly with sashes, bows, and loops of the same, and tied a pretty blue ribbon carelessly through my very natural curls. My attire was completed by white open work socks, and blue kid shoes; but Maddy crowned all her work by her last addition. Running hastily upstairs, she brought down a little box of small pearl beads, and after being seated at a remote table by herself for half an hour, while her friends were busily employed in giving the finishing touches to another of our company, who was attired as Red Riding Hood, she came suddenly forward, saying gaily,-- "'I think I have added a last grace to _my_ doll that ought to be irresistible, and make her the admired of all beholders.' "And she showed on the tip of her finger a dainty little straw hat, coquettishly trimmed with a band of blue velvet, with a drooping fringe of blonde round the rim, having pearl drops to each point of the lace. "I was duly admired, and on the eventful evening was considered the prettiest doll on the tree, and many a little childish face cast longing eyes upon me, vainly hoping I might fall to her lot. But mine was a different destiny--a far higher one, as I imagined then! A dainty, lace-bordered ticket on my skirt showed that I was intended for Lady Alicia Wentworth, the little god-daughter of the lady of the house. After the festive evening was over, with all its glare of bright lights, and sounds of young voices and gay music, I was taken down from my proud position, which had not been free from peril, owing to the dangerous neighbourhood of the lighted tapers to my flimsy skirts. Little Lady Alicia lived too far off, and was too fully engrossed with the gaieties of her own immediate surroundings, to come to the party; and therefore I was most carefully packed in silver paper and wool, and sent to her. "My first little mistress was not by any means a very engaging child. She was very sickly, which perhaps rendered her more fretful than she would otherwise have been; but she would not have been so peevish, except for the fact that, as an only child, she had been spoiled and indulged to such an extent, that she could neither be happy nor contented herself, nor allow any one near her to be so either. When the lid of the box was opened, she, with a little momentary eagerness for the new toy, pulled off the silver paper and wool, and brought me out of my travelling box. "'It's a horrid Baby Doll,' she exclaimed, in a loud tone of angry disappointment, 'a stupid, old-fashioned, ugly Baby Doll! and I hate them, horrid, stupid things; what did they send me that for?' and she burst into a roar of passionate ill-temper. In vain did governess and maid try to pacify her; she screamed and pouted till her foolish, doting mother was obliged to sacrifice some visits she was going to make in order to drive in with her spoiled child to the nearest toy-shop, to purchase an expensive and more gaily-attired doll. "'I can't think what Mrs. Levesque could have been thinking of,' she murmured, pettishly, as she got into the carriage again, 'to send Alicia such a foolish thing, after making such a fuss about it too! It has vexed the poor little thing so, and upset her too much, which Dr. Blueby says is _so_ bad for her!' "So when they returned home, Alicia went off with her new purchase, for a few hours of good humour and peace, while her ladyship desired the governess to pack me up in the box, and send me down with her compliments to the Rectory, to Dr. Stewart's little daughter, Flora. I found my new home much more to my taste; for, although also an only child, this little maiden was of a very different mind to the other. She was more delicate in health than the young lady at the Castle, for from a serious weakness of the spine she was obliged to lie down for many hours in the day, and was not able to run about and enjoy herself in the garden, as she often wished to do. But she was a naturally even-tempered child, and although she had long been motherless, her wise father had been a tender and judicious guardian, and her old nurse, who had watched over her from babyhood, loved her as a child of her own. "I was amply repaid for the slights and affronts I had experienced from Lady Alicia, when I was carried in my box to the reclining board where Flora was then lying, for her father, delighted enough to bring his patient little girl a new pleasure, carried me in himself, saying,-- "'Flora, here is a New Year's gift for you from the Castle. It is very kind of Lady Ennismore to remember my little girl. I am almost inclined to think it is a doll, my dear,' he added, as Flora sat up and took the box, her thin hands trembling with eager joy, and her sallow face flushing at the sight. When I was revealed to her, she gave one rapturous exclamation, and hugged me affectionately to her. "'O Papa, a doll, a real Baby Doll, and dressed in such lovely clothes! Did you ever see anything so beautiful! Oh, how kind of Lady Ennismore. I suppose she had some down for Lady Alicia to choose from.' "'It was very thoughtful and kind of her to remember you, Flora, and I must go and thank her for the great pleasure she has given you.' "Then nurse was summoned, and expected to go over all the beauties of the new doll half a dozen times at least; my hair, my eyelashes, and my dimpled neck and arms received their full share of admiration. Nothing could have more enraptured Flora, for she was the greatest baby worshipper in the parish, and many a poor little nursling owed most of its occasional treats to the petitions of Flora. And so now my happy life began. I was carefully nestled up every night on a soft pillow, covered with a fine pocket-handkerchief, and only handled and nursed in the most careful way in the world. I lived with little Flora Stewart for six years, and was in nearly as good condition at the end of the time as at first. It is true, my complexion was somewhat tarnished by the air and dust, and my hair had become a little thinner, but no careless scratch defaced my countenance, or awkward fracture had injured my frail limbs. My fine muslin frock, indeed, had been frequently washed, and my hat cleaned and re-trimmed, while a pretty silk mantle added to my wardrobe, hid a good deal of the faded hue of my azure decorations. But for the last two years I had been laid away carefully in a drawer, for Flora had long ceased playing with me, and valued me more as a treasure of her childish days than anything else. She was now a tall, slender girl of nearly eighteen, having by the aid of all the watchful care spent on her earlier years quite outgrown the tendency to disease that had so threatened her childhood. She had grown up with the same sweet, unselfish nature though, and old affection for little children that had been so remarkable even in her early years; only that now she was able to be out among them all, and she might frequently be seen, the centre of a group of eager school children, all striving for her notice, while the babes in the cottages, who could not speak yet, would greet her with a crow and a spring as they were taken in her gentle arms. I have never seen my dear second mistress since our parting; but I have heard that she has little ones of her own now to love and care for, although they do not engross all her thoughts, for the little dark-skinned Hindoos will run to meet her as eagerly as her old school-class used to do; for she married a clergyman, who went out to India, and she has never returned home since. Dr. Stewart died long before her departure, and the old Rectory home was broken up; and when that happened, Flora gave me to a little child friend of hers, called Christie Johnson. "My third mistress was the greatest trial I had; for though she loved me dearly in a hasty sort of way, she was such a Tomboy, and so thoughtless, that under her charge I fell into numberless sad scrapes and accidents. Once I was dropped in the bath by Harold, her little brother, thereby losing what colour remained to me; and another time I was run over by a waggon, having been dropped out of the baby's perambulator, where I had been hastily placed, while Christie ran off to look for a bird's nest in a thorn bush. Under the awful crushing progress of that broad wheeled waggon both my wax arms and one of my legs were hopelessly smashed flat in the dusty road, my head and chest escaping by a miracle. Christie was terribly vexed at the catastrophe, but that did not mend my legs and arms, and I have therefore ever since led a miserable maimed existence. And the worst of it was that Alan and Willie had lost all respect for me, and never thought it necessary to be even commonly civil to me, now that my wax arms and legs were gone. I say _legs_ purposely, for my sole remaining limb came to pieces by a fall down stairs. From that time my degradation commenced, and my daily existence was a miserable series of petty tortures, such as the ingenuity of a boy could alone devise. I was now the helpless and defenceless prey of those foes of our race; for Christie, although she occasionally rescued me from utter destruction, was too much of a romp herself, and too careless to look after my welfare thoroughly! "And so I found myself now continually reduced to becoming a frequent and convenient missile to the boys during their incessant wars and struggles. The stumps of my legs and arms were so very convenient to lay hold of, as they swung me round their heads, before sending me whirling through the air, or as they more forcibly than eloquently expressed it,-- "'Christie's torso of a doll is such a jolly thing to chuck at a fellow, when you can't hit him!' "Even little Harold, the two-year-old baby, who could not achieve such feats as these, could drag me about, as he did, by my poor stumps of legs, and cry, 'Who buy ducks? I dot ducks a sell!' "The life I led in that riotous nursery was indeed an ordeal, and during its course not only my few remaining charms were obliterated, like my eyes, which were perseveringly rattled into the back of my head by Ethel, but my wardrobe also vanished piecemeal. First my shoes went one by one, and the socks followed, no one knew how or where, but they were most probably dropped out of doors somewhere, like my hat, which took flight in a rough wind at the seaside! For Christie's mode of carrying me when she took me out for a walk was original certainly, but not a model to be recommended to mothers of live dolls. She would tuck me roughly under one arm, without taking any trouble to see whether my head or my feet were uppermost, and would then set off at the round trot for which she was famous, and that had earned from her brothers her nickname, "the postman." "The fictitious illnesses I have gone through would have furnished patients for the largest hospital in the world, but my last indisposition was of a character that made a more permanent alteration even in me. Now measles of a very malignant kind were at that time raging in the neighbourhood, and Christie's mother was very particular in keeping her children as much as possible out of the infection. Ethel, Christie's youngest sister, a child of about six years of age, had heard this talked over in parlour and nursery, and had imbibed a secret terror of this mysterious sickness which seemed so much dreaded by mother and nurse. And if mothers and nurses only suspected how _very_ long the ears of little pitchers really are, and how much more they are inclined to take in all that _should_ not concern them, I think they would be as careful as the House of Commons in sending out all intruders when serious questions were debated in committee. I am only a doll, and have therefore no vote in the matter, or else if I _had_ a voice in the counsels of Home Government, I would suggest that the little ears which take in lessons and let them out again on the other side, and which have yet the power of catching and retaining all matters _not_ necessary to their instruction, should be excluded from all graver deliberations. "But this is a digression, and as it is one that belongs to a world beyond our little kingdom, it is perhaps not quite my business to enter on it at all. Where was I in my story? I am quite ashamed of trespassing so on your patience; but time and hard usage have so enfeebled my poor broken memory, that I almost forget all I am doing or saying!" "You were mentioning a serious illness that occurred to you," suggested the Humming Top, very gravely; "pray relieve our minds as to its symptoms and duration!" "Oh yes," resumed the Doll, languidly; "I was telling you how I really had the measles when they were so prevalent in our neighbourhood. Ethel, as I said before, was terribly alarmed at the vague disease; and not at all pleased with Baby Harold, who trotted soberly about the nursery, singing in his fashion, "'I dowing a have a measoos a morrer!' till Ethel got hold of him, and drew such an awful picture of what she imagined they must be, including a plentiful allowance of powders, currant jam, and castor oil, that he roared in terror. "'What's the row here?' asked Alan, lounging in at the time, and throwing himself full length on the hearth rug. "'I dowing a have a measoos, and Efel says I sail be sick--so bad--and Smif dive me powders!' sobbed Harold, dolefully. "'What rubbish!' growled Alan; 'you're _not_ going to have them, Harold; you can't till Ethel has had them first herself; you daren't, you know; don't you recollect what Nurse says when you want to be helped to pudding before her,--"Age before honesty, Master Harold;" and so Ethel shall have the measles first too!' "'I won't, Alan,' whined Ethel; 'if you say such horrid things, I'll tell Mamma. I shan't have the measles, shall I Nurse?' "'I hope not, from my heart,' answered Nurse, very fervently; 'I've handful enough with you as it is, but goodness forbid you should be all laid up just now.' "Next morning, when Ethel was washed and dressed, and went into the day nursery to breakfast, Alan beckoned her out with a very grave face, and told her to follow him down to the school-room. She did so, full of curiosity at the unusual event; but when he opened the door and led her in, she was still further puzzled. The tablecloth was laid for breakfast for the elder ones, but the blinds were all down, and on the table lay something stretched out under a towel. [Illustration: DOLLY'S ATTACK OF THE MEASLES. _Page 94._] "'Take it off and look, Ethel,' said Alan; and when she did so, she started back in horror, for there I lay, with my face and throat all covered with bright red round spots. 'She has got the measles, Ethel,' said Alan, going off into roars of mischievous laughter. "Poor Ethel shrieked and rushed away, sobbing as if her heart would break, till there was such a commotion that Papa came in to see what was the matter. He was very angry indeed with Alan, and told him how cruel it was to frighten a younger child, and a girl too, in this manner; and Alan's explanation that it was only to punish Ethel for teasing little Harold did not make matters better. "'You have no authority to punish any of your brothers and sisters,' said Mr. Johnson; 'and you have only reduced yourself to the level of Ethel's childish naughtiness by playing a trick very unworthy of you, and that might have led to worse results. Frightening any one is the most cruel sport that exists, and one of the most dangerous. When you fell out of the boat at Barmouth three months ago, Alan, you would have thought it very cruel of me to keep you holding on to the side of the boat, just to laugh at your fright at being so nearly drowned!' "'But Ethel's fright was so silly and unreasonable,' muttered Alan. "'So are most alarms, Alan, but they cause the same suffering, and are sometimes as hurtful in their consequences. Don't let me ever hear of any thing of the kind again. You are, I know, very fond of all your brothers and sisters, and would not give them any pain willingly. Now remember, my boy, in future, that a pain of the mind, such as this fright, is infinitely worse than a severe blow, and it is not manly to hurt the weaker ones in any way.' "Alan was really sorry for the end of his freak, and he kissed Ethel, and remembered the lesson I have no doubt. But the silly little girl never liked me again, although Nurse washed me white, in her careful way, scrubbing off all the red paint with which Alan had so profusely embellished me. And after a while I had so completely fallen into oblivion, that I was undisturbed, till one evening, some years after, when Ethel was fifteen, and had forgotten all about my early disfigurement, I was fetched out to amuse little Florry Spenser, who drank tea there, and she cuddled me up so tight, and was so loath to part with me, that she was allowed to carry me home, and played with me for some days. My reign, however, did not last very long, for when her aunt gave her a very grand new wax baby, I was cast aside, and have lived here ever since in the deepest seclusion, as you are all aware. And now, my friends, I have done my poor best in your service, and have finished." And the Doll sank back with a weary sigh. The Ball, who, by virtue of having been the first story teller, seemed to have taken on himself the office of spokesman, made the Doll an elaborate compliment on her story, and then, as her representative, requested the Toy Kitchen to take up the next story. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER VII. THE TOY KITCHEN; AND ITS MAKER. "Which mine, said the Kitchen, will take you, I am afraid, ladies and gentlemen, into a lower class of society than you are used to. I am not much of a hand at telling stories, and can't find words to say what I would, but I'll do my best. My first start in life is very easily described, for I am the handiwork of an old man who lived in a dark underground kitchen in one of the back streets of Westminster. Old Joe's neighbours were not, I am afraid, at all of a respectable kind, setting apart their poverty; but the old man held himself aloof and earned his scanty living, troubling no one, and interfering with none. From all I have heard him mutter to himself in his odd way while he was busy, and from what I heard his only visitor say, I think he must have been a paper-hanger or carpenter. But he had been disabled from active work by a fall from a window which he was cleaning, and after that, had been sorely put to it, in order to earn a living. I am sure he must have had two little children at some time or other, and no doubt lost them from some of the countless illnesses which lie ready in waiting, like great flocks of wolves, for the _poor_ children in great cities. Perhaps the wolf in their case was called "Fever," or perhaps "Cholera"; or, more likely still, "Hunger," or "Want of fresh air"; but all I can tell is that they were both dead since their mother, who must have died and left them all early, and poor old Joe then cared no more to exert himself in seeking the work that was so hard to get, and so difficult to keep. "The business the old man now took up, his trade, as he called it, was the making of little toy kitchens, which he hawked about once a week, and sold for the modest sum of twopence each. They were most ingeniously made out of pieces of very thin board, something of the same kind they make hat boxes of. These pieces he bought in large quantities cheap, and cut to suit his purpose. The floors were made of more solid wood, and the walls were papered with odd scraps of wall paper, sample patterns and such like, which some of his old employers gave him. The old man, with a few bits of wood, and the help of a little rough paint, constructed the rude likeness of a kitchen range, and a dresser, and very tidy little affairs we were for the price. "'I should like to put a kitchen table,' said old Joe, surveying me with a critical eye, half screwed up; 'it would make it more comferble like, and make both ends match. But I can't do it for the money no how. I'm bound to make a penny at least on each one to pay for my time, so the table must wait till better days.' "I was a larger and better specimen of Joe's work, for I had been made at a time when the stock had been rather large, and prices low, and so I was generally kept as a sort of show article of what Joe _could_ do when he liked. I had more room than Joe generally measured out to his usual kitchens, and having been originally papered with an especially neat and "becoming" hanging, as Joe said, I had become quite a ruling favourite with the old man. I was now promoted to the place of honour on his tray, not for selling purposes, but for exhibition. "'That there chap will cost fourpence,' replied Joe to all his little customers when they picked me out; 'leastways one like him. This here, you see, is my adver-_tise_-ment. I couldn't afford to sell one like it for less than fourpence. The walls are so well papered, you see, and the bars of the range is shown, with the flames a rushin through 'em!' "'I should like a nice ittle kishin,' said a fat, roley-poley little butcher's daughter to her burly father, as he was leisurely wandering outside his shop, admiring and looking over his nice joints of prime meat. "'Like a what, my duck?' said the jolly butcher, lifting up the rosy little petitioner, and giving her an airy ride on his shoulder; 'what is it my pussy cat wants to-day of her dad?' "'A kishin,' said the child, 'a kishin--old man got such lots of kishins!' "The butcher gazed about him with a calm, placid, satisfied air, like one of his own slain bullocks, when grazing peacefully in their meadows, and then catching sight of Joe in the distance, ran heavily after him with the delighted child. They soon reached the old man, and turned over his wares. "'There's a booful one, dad,' said the fat child, 'a booful one with a fire lighted! Oh, I like that _so_ much!' "'I'll bring ye one next week, Miss,' replied old Joe, seeing they were good customers; 'this here ain't for sale, but I'll bring the fellow to ye next week.' "'I want it now,' pouted the child, peevishly. "'What's the price of him, master?' asked the butcher. 'Don't be cross, Phoebe, you shall have it.' "'I can't sell he,' replied the old man, 'but I'll bring you another just like it to-night, and it will be fourpence; I can't sell 'em no lower because of the time and trouble they takes.' "'I want it now, I want a kishin now,' whined Phoebe, hiding her red, cross face on her father's shoulder. "'I'll give ye sixpence for that one, old chap,' said her father, positively, 'and if you won't sell it, you may go to Coventry, if you like!' "'I wouldn't sell that one for a shilling for a reason I have,' said Joe; 'but as little Miss have a set her heart on it so, I'll go back and fetch t'other one now. Will that do, little Missee? And if you are a good girl, and don't cry, and wait with patience till I come back, old Joe will bring you a kitchen table with it into the bargain!' "Like a sensible child, as she was, Phoebe said she would, and nodding a half reluctant and doubting farewell to the old man, she saw him set off at his best pace on his way home to fetch her the fellow kitchen to myself. And not for any sum of money would old Joe have broken any promise he had made to a child. When he got back to his dark, cold room, he found his one friendly visitor waiting for him, but only begged her to sit down and wait for him a little while so that he could run back to the child with the toy. He was more than rewarded, even in very profitable ways, for not only did the little girl, who had been eagerly watching for him on the steps, rush out clapping her hands for the promised Kitchen, but the good-natured butcher, seeing how the old man must have hurried to keep his word to the little one, gave him a nice bit of steak at the same time with the price of the toy, telling him he was afraid he would miss his dinner, and so, perhaps, that would make up. "'Thank ye, kindly,' replied the old man, 'but you see I ain't no dinner to lose to speak of, cos I always has a crust of bread and cheese, leastways, unless any kind soul gives me a old bone or some broken wittles!' "'Well, you can have a cosy broil to-day,' laughed the butcher; ''tis prime meat, and that I'll answer for!' "Poor old Joe trotted off in high glee with his prize, buying a "happorth" of onions and a "pennorth of all sorts" to flavour his stew with. For old Joe, being a handy and sensible sort of fellow, had in course of time become quite a cook, with the poor scraps his scanty means furnished. Nor was he the only one to benefit by it, for many a tea-cupful of what was proudly called "broth" did Joe spare to one or two starving mothers hard by, for their ailing little ones. But old Joe had a visitor to-day, his long lost wife's blind sister, and so he was proud indeed to make a feast in her honour; and while his little scrap of meat was slowly simmering, with the odds and ends of garden-stuff he had bought, Joe made his visitor as comfortable as he could, and gave her his kitchens to "feel," as she could not see. "'I'm getting quite a hand at making 'em, Liza,' said the old man, cheerily; 'I've got quite a sight of little customers, and I think I shall get on by degrees, you know, werry slow, to make some better-most kinds, and sell the bigger ones at fourpence a-piece! And then I can throw in a kitchen table into the bargain, you know, which will make 'em more completer.' "Poor blind Liza admired to his heart's content, and felt us all over with her wonderfully sensitive fingers, which almost seemed to find out what sort of paper we were covered with, and she was not without her bit of proud satisfaction, too, for she had brought Joe a pretty little square basket, with a lid to it, which had been the work of her own poor, unguided fingers. She had been placed by a very charitable lady in a blind school, where she had learned basket-work, and she now was able to help her old mother by her work, which was disposed of for her at a shop established for that especial purpose in the Euston Road. "Joe was mightily delighted with his basket, and said it was what he had been wanting all along to keep his coppers in on his tray of toys. And so, after a merry evening, Joe limped off to see the poor blind woman safe to her home, about three miles distant. This was old Joe's solitary holiday for many a month, for he had no friends and few acquaintances, except the poor women who came thankfully to him now and then for one of his savoury messes for their sick little ones, and they had no time to spare, for they were most of them poor hard-working drudges, who were very grateful for his help, and indeed often brought him their own poor scraps of food to cook for their little invalids, while they earned a few pence by washing, or hawking flowers, or fire papers. And the kind-hearted old man would stir and simmer the scanty scraps in his solitary saucepan, and take a world of care and pains with the "broth" to make it relishing for the poor sickly little babes. He would often put it into the cracked mug or pie-dish, and carry it himself to the forlorn sufferer, and stay and have a bit of merry chat. There was not a child in the neighbourhood who did not know and love Joe, and few indeed who had not received some small kindness from him. He was only a very poor and infirm old man, and had but little in his power to give or do, but what he could was all done so cheerfully and kindly, that the very sight of his old wrinkled, weather-beaten face seemed like sunshine in the wretched rooms where poverty and want lived so hardly. "More than one even of his little kitchens had been generously given away by Joe, and though they were really of no value, to him they were the produce of hours of labour and pains, and the means by which he earned his scanty living. Poor little Biddy Doolan, a small child, who had been wasting away many months in a slow decline, was found by her mother (who had gone to the dispensary for some medicine for her), lying back on the heap of straw, cold and lifeless, with the treasured kitchen, the _one_ toy of a long miserable childhood, cuddled fast in the thin stiff arms. Old Joe cried over her like a child, and was more active than ever in his errands among the sick children. He was at last christened "Dr. Joe," by universal consent, and was really often sent for after the regular doctor, and he came as regularly, although he had no fee beyond the thanks of his poor little patients. "I used always to accompany him in his weekly long journeys, holding the place of honour on the trays, next to Liza's basket, and many a funny scene have we witnessed together. Joe's customers were "legion," for every child that could raise twopence was ready enough to buy one of the kitchens. And as times did get a little better, Joe _was_ able to add the long wished-for wooden table, which gave a great finish and air of reality to his little constructions. His sales rose one third after this, and Joe's spirits went up with them. On Liza's next visit she suggested that he might make a parlour too, she thought, and old Joe, getting quite venturesome, jumped at the idea. "'I've a cousin in service, Joe,' said Liza, 'she lives nurse at Mrs. Spenser's, and I'll ask her if she can't save us up a few bits and scraps of print and muslin. I think I could help you a little too, even if 'tis only in a small way.' "'Thankee sure, Liza,' replied Joe, delighted, 'and now I'll tell ye what, you and mother come up some afternoon, and we'll see what we can do between us all. I'll see ye safe back at night.' "And blind Liza and her mother did come, and what between Liza's neat and clever fingers, her old mother's sharp eyes, and Joe's own handy work, they had speedily turned out half a dozen little parlours, that Joe fairly hopped round, shouting with delight. The cousin had been very generous and set them up with a tolerable hoard of bits and scraps, so that, what with paper and paint and all, they were, as Joe declared, "fit for a queen to live in." The walls were papered with Joe's choicest scraps, and the floor carpeted with a piece of print, while scraps of muslin stood for curtains. Liza had manufactured some square cushions of a suitable size, which did duty for ottomans, and a round piece of card board, glued on a pillar leg, composed of an empty cotton reel painted brown, did duty for a centre table. Then Joe decorated the centre of the back wall with what he considered a splendid likeness of a grand drawing room grate. He looked at his work with great satisfaction, and was never weary of pointing out the best charms of each parlour to the old lady, Liza's mother, who really was a very useful and agreeable helper to the party. She perched her old horn spectacles on the tip of her little nose, and peeped in, suggesting improvements here and there, and she cut out the carpets quite tidily. Their only regret was that Liza could not see them too, but she was so cheerful, and guessed and described what the parlours were like so well, that they declared she must have eyes in the tips of her fingers. "'Now,' said Joe, as they finished the sixth by the dim light of a halfpenny dip, 'ladies, I'm uncommon obliged to you for your help, which great it is, and well I shall do by it, I don't doubt, but I'm afraid I shan't manage 'em so well for myself arterwards.' "'O yes, you will Joe,' replied Liza, cheerfully; 'you know you always were a handy man; you can cut the carpets and curtains every bit as well as mother can. And as for the ottomy's, I'll make you a dozen or two when I'm home, and I'll bring 'em to you next week, or what's better still, you can fetch 'em. Don't you think its Joe's turn to return our visit, mother?' "'Indeed I do,' replied the old woman, 'and Joseph knows he'll be welcome.' "And thus it was arranged, and in about ten days' time Joe went to their house, and carried them a very glowing account of the remarkable success that had attended him "along of the parlours;" he also opened his heart so much, that he actually took me with him, as an offering to Liza. I am very much afraid the glory of those horrid little new parlours had quite put him out of conceit with me. Liza had been as good as her word, and furnished Joe with a pocket full of ottomy's, all covered with gay shreds of chintz. The nurse at Mrs. Spenser's had sent them a most bountiful collection of bits, for she had spoken to her mistress, and told her the purpose she was collecting them for, and Mrs. Spenser, with her usual kindness, had herself found a good parcel of bits to add to the store. "On hearing this, Joe thought he could do no less than to leave me with his humble and grateful duty to the young ladies at Mrs. Spenser's house, on his way back to his own underground home. And so this is how I became a member of your circle, my friends, and have had the honour of being called on to amuse you in my turn. I believe, from a few words I heard nurse let fall some time ago, that my old master is still alive, and doing a flourishing trade in "Kitchens and Parlours!" And I have no doubt he is still carrying out his less lucrative, but charitable calling, among the sick children of his wretched neighbourhood." "We are all much obliged to you for your history," said the Ball, "which is quite as interesting as any we have heard this evening. And now I shall call upon our very fair friend the Shuttlecock for the next story." [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER VIII. THE FATE OF THE SHUTTLECOCK. "Oh," simpered the Shuttlecock, "I am quite distracted at the idea of being called upon to take any part in public affairs. And, alas, how it will torture my sensitive feelings to recall to mind the bright scenes in which I appeared, and was once one of the most important actors! Ah, my friends, although you see me reduced to this--to _this_ miserable shadow of what I once was--you are not to imagine I was always thus faded, thus broken and destroyed! No! In my youth my heart was indeed light within me; for was it not of the best and most expensive species of cork? A portion of a noble tree that once waved its umbrageous branches in the fair land of Spain, and that fulfilled a better purpose, even than that of sheltering a fair group of dark-eyed Castilian maids, by furnishing the substance that was to assume so fair a shape as I did once! My outside was no less beautiful, for I was covered with the best and brightest hued scarlet morocco leather, and gilded richly besides. A noble coronet of graceful plumes, once white as driven snow, adorned me, plucked I doubt not, from the soaring pinion of some beautiful bird. Not low, therefore, could have been the rank of him to whom I owe my existence; indeed I have very little reason to doubt that he was of very ancient lineage and noble name. But alas! It is unavailing to recall all these bright departed glories, which have long, long since fled, and left me the wreck you behold me!" So saying, the Shuttlecock feebly waved her last remaining dingy feather, and sank down on her side, as if in despair. But the Kite fanned her very busily; and the Humming Top gave her such a long, tiresome lecture on the duty of being contented, that she speedily recovered herself, and continued her story. "My first public appearance in life was on the occasion of a superb Fancy Fair, which was held in the ancestral park of one of our country's proudest nobles. It was for the benefit of a distinguished charity, and some of the fairest and most fashionable ladies of the court were to hold stalls on the occasion. It was whispered that even Royalty or some of its branches might visit the spot, and therefore every effort was made to give the fête a worthy success. Words would fail me were I to describe to you the beauty of the scene on the important day. A monster marquee was erected on the most commanding site in the fine domain, and decorated gaily with the flags of all nations. A fine avenue of aged trees made a noble sheltered walk for the gay visitors, and it led almost all the way to the marquee, the space between being covered with a smart scarlet-striped awning overhead. "I had time to observe all this, as I was carried in a basket from the Castle, down the green slopes to the marquee, by one of the many smart ladies' maids in attendance. But when we entered, the effect, at once so fairy-like and so elegant, rendered me motionless and almost senseless. The interior was draped with pink and green, and the elegant stalls were being laid out with all their pretty trifles. I was honoured with a place on the stall of the Duchess herself, and had therefore an excellent opportunity of witnessing the habits and manners of real high life, and I felt at once in my element. Here, thought I, am I placed in my natural sphere, a dweller with the fair and the noble, surrounded with rank and beauty, and breathing only the refined air of higher life. I was cut short in my musings by Lord Adolphus, the youngest son of the Duchess, who, with the charming vivacity so natural to his birth and station, abstracted me from the dainty basket in which I reposed, with a few companions of less merit. I was soon in full activity, and took my first flights to admiration, by the ready and graceful assistance of himself and a young companion, also a titled member of society. "'What a jolly shuttlecock,' remarked Lord Adolphus, 'it goes as high as the top of the tent, I declare. I say, Gerry, do you think you could pitch it over, outside? I'll bet you twopence you don't.' "'I'll lay six to one, I _do_,' replied Sir Gerald, running eagerly out of the tent, with me in his hand. He did not exhibit _quite_ the same amount of refinement as his noble young friend; in fact, he was more like boys in general, and lacked that _perfume_, if I may call it so, of high breeding which so signally showed itself in _my_ earliest friend, Lord Adolphus. After a spirited contest between the two gallant boys, I _was_ thrown over the marquee, and, after such a lofty and prolonged flight, fell exhausted, without the power of saving myself, into a little crystal pool of water close by. I heard my noble young playfellows searching for me everywhere, and began to entertain a deadly fear that I should be left in my watery prison. Luckily, the warm day and their game had made them thirsty, and they both came to quench their thirst here, little thinking of finding me, whom they had no doubt so long and vainly searched for. "'By Jove, Dolly,' cried Sir Gerald, '_here's_ the shuttlecock after all!' "'What a lark,' replied Lord Adolphus; 'it's been chucked into old Rosamond's well, and ought to come out beautiful for ever!' "'I'm glad we found it,' said Sir Gerald; 'or perhaps there'd have been a row. I saw Githa count 'em all, and she'd have been sure to bully us about it.' "'We could have given her the tin for it then,' replied Adolphus, 'only I'm so hard up just now. I owe a lot of money for sweets and tarts; and I want to buy a cricket bat this quarter. But hulloa, Gerry, how wet the beggar is?' "But the dear gentlemanly fellow, soon remedied this fault, for he wiped me carefully with his own cambric handkerchief, and I was not the worse, except that my coronet of plumes looked rather damp, or, as Sir Gerald facetiously expressed it, "all draggletail!" "A little sojourn in the glowing Sun, soon restored my feathers to their early beauty, as I was carefully taken back, no worse for my pleasant little gambol, and placed in the basket again, on the Duchess's stall. The hour of opening arrived, one o'clock; but, out upon the cruel Fates! long before the turning point of noon, lowering clouds had veiled the bright, too treacherously bright rays of the Sun, and heavy, drenching showers succeeded, ending in a steady downpour that promised to last out the day. Oh dear! What ruin and destruction ensued to the elegant erection of the morning! The marquee leaked in many places from the sudden violence of the storm, and none of the precautions, hastily taken, would make it quite water-tight. The unlucky visitors, with their gay summer dresses all sopped and clinging with wet, crowded in to gain what little shelter they could; and all was damp, dreary and desolate! The higher class, more fortunate than the rest, accompanied the Duchess to the Castle; the stalls were deserted in favour of the younger, and less particular among the gay party, and the marquee was only crowded by the more persevering vulgar mob, who were determined to have, as I heard one of the horrors avow, "their full pennorth," all they could see and get for their money. "An evil destiny which seems to have fallen upon me early, relentlessly followed me now, and ruled my unwilling sacrifice. I was positively sold from the stall of the Duchess, by her Grace's own maid, to a rich grocer in the city, for the sum of sixpence! Oh, degradation indeed! Fallen, fallen, fallen from my high estate indeed was I. No friendly hand interposed; no better purchaser came, so I was ignominiously wrapped in paper and put in Mr. Figge's pocket. Nor had ruthless fortune yet done with me, for when I was carried to the abode of the Figge's, although I had been really destined as a gift to his only daughter, Araminta Philippina, I was, by mistake in the hurry of returning, dropped in the carriage, and although a vigorous search seemed to be made by the fine footman, he did not succeed in finding me, and I remained hid in a far back corner of the roomy equipage for some days. Had I fallen to the share of Araminta Philippina, I should at least have retained the small consolation of being incessantly pointed out as having been bought from the Duchess herself, and a faint ray of my lost station would have still glimmered about me. "But, alas, on emerging from my obscurity, I found I had indeed fallen in life, and from the highest to the lowest, for I was now located in the Mews, where Mr. Figge's carriage was kept; and having been found during its dusting and arrangement by the wife of the coachman, I was handed over to her horrible tribe of uncouth, ill-behaved children. "Oh, for the language that I heard round me now! It made my very feathers quiver sometimes; and as for the flights I took now,--ugh--it makes me shudder to recall them! I who had bathed in fair Rosamond's crystal stream, was now doomed to be plunged in the inky rills that ran in the gutters round the sooty roofs. My beautiful red leather cover was soon dyed a dingy black; most of my feathers were violently pulled out by some of the younger ones, and the rest became somewhat of the colour of a London sparrow. At last, as a sort of release from worse miseries, I was tossed up so high by the horrid little flat wooden bat, which now became the means of my ascending, (and that in the hands of the coachman's eldest son, was an instrument of indiscriminate torment to everything animate and inanimate), that I fell on the ledge of a back window in one of the houses in a square adjoining. The boy, I imagine, did not dare to go round to the house to ask for me again, and was therefore reduced to his original stock of playthings, consisting chiefly of a mutilated ginger-beer bottle, some oyster shells, and a brickbat. "Meanwhile I dwelt for some time on the window ledge, exposed to the wind and rain, but at any rate free from the vulgar annoyances to which I had been subjected of late. And this I could endure more calmly, and I had almost become resigned to my hard lot, when one day to my astonishment the window was opened. A young woman leant out with a hammer and nails in her hands, and proceeded to fix one in firmly on the side of the window. She did not see me, for I had become securely lodged in the other corner almost out of sight, and so she did not either pick me up, nor what I secretly feared most, throw me back again into the low haunts of my former miserable and odious life. She contented herself with merely hanging out a bird in its cage, and then partially closed the window again, and, I suppose, left the room. "It is not my usual habit to make acquaintance _too_ readily with strangers, and therefore I did not commence a conversation with my feathered neighbour; but, then, as you are doubtless well aware, birds are generally of a sociable disposition, and prone to make remarks and enter into conversation with comparative strangers. And my new neighbour proved no exception to the rule, for he began to chatter and chirp in the most voluble manner, and had speedily related all his own personal history, and that of several members of his family. But I am not very fond of the affairs of people that do not belong to my own class, and therefore did not pay much attention to his gossip. He was of a prying disposition too, as very communicative people generally are, and seemed rather anxious to know all about me. But I rather politely but loftily repelled him, for I did not choose my misfortunes to be the common talk of such small people. So I briefly informed him I had been far better off, and indeed it was now, only owing to peculiar circumstances I wished to remain for a time in comparative retirement. "From him I learned that his owner was the under housemaid at this house, and that she was shortly about to leave, having obtained another situation where there was less work to do. The bird prattled in a lively fashion about the merry life he had led hitherto and the continued change he had seen, and seemed to be quite looking forward to what he called "his next place." "'I only wish you were going with me, you poor thing; I am sure you must be moped to death with staying up here by yourself so long. Don't you think you could manage to roll into my cage, and then we could go off together?' "My propriety was terribly shocked by this proposal of the goldfinch's, and for some time I could give him no answer. "'You silly thing!' said he, angrily, at last, 'surely you may travel with your own relations, and you know you and I must be kin, because we have both the distinguished ornament of feathers.' "This delicate compliment softened me a little, I must confess!" said the Shuttlecock, bridling up with a very dignified air, which, in her dilapidated state, with her one ragged feather sticking out all awry, was a very comic affair. Consequently none of the toys could help laughing; as for the Kite, he was so amused that he waggled about like a sail in a rough wind. Even the languid, delicate Doll could not forbear a feeble smile, and the Shuttlecock became so indignant, that she would have bounced out of the party, had her powers been equal to her spirit. But, alas, though her cork was still sound, her wings had departed, and the solitary draggletail feather was not sufficient to waft her above the rude mirth of her auditors. But she was so deeply offended that it took the Ball a long time, and a world of trouble, to pacify her. At last, on his hinting that as time was passing by he should be reduced to calling upon another member present for a story, she permitted herself to be pacified, and resumed her narrative, with a more haughty air, and in finer words than before:-- "My poor autobiography can be concluded in very few words now, for I have but little more to relate. My feathered connection, for he certainly made his claim good to a distant relationship, would take no denial, and told me he had set his heart on taking me with him when he went; and that he had a plan of his own by which he would be able to carry out his purpose. I therefore submitted to his decision, and counted the days, I must honestly own, very eagerly, until the period of our joint captivity arrived. The evening before, my bird relation requested a friendly Breeze, with whom he was on friendly terms, to blow me close to his cage. I was then, I should tell you, possessed still of several of my plumes, although they were in a dingy condition, and therefore more able to help myself. A good strong gust then, at the right moment, and carefully adjusted to the right quarter, sufficed to take me to the ledge of the bird's food box. From thence he speedily, though with some amount of hard work, managed to pull and drag me inside the cage, a friendly wire stretching widely for the purpose. My friend then carefully pushed me under his seed-box, knowing that as long as I was pretty well out of sight, his mistress, Mary, would not take much trouble about it. From former experience and frequent removes, he knew well she would only find time to tie him up, cage and all, in a blue handkerchief, and carry him off at the very last moment. All this came to pass, as he so sagely predicted, and after being blinded-up in this fashion for some time, and jogged and shaken in a very uncomfortable manner, we came to our journey's end in a bedroom in this house. We were not disturbed till next morning, for Mary had only time to give my friend his seed and water, before she set off on her new round of duties. Two days after, however, she managed to find time to think of the bird. "'You shall go down stairs into the kitchen, my pretty Dick,' said she, chirping to him, 'for cook says she is fond of birds, and will give me some sugar for you. But I must clean your cage first, for you are not fit to be seen, I'm sure, now!' "And so saying, she proceeded to make Dick's house clean and neat, and in the course of doing so, she came upon me. 'Why, Dickey,' she said, laughing, 'have you been trying a game of shuttlecock, by way of sport? How came this in your cage, I wonder!' "Dick tried to explain in his bird fashion, and did so, _I_ thought, very intelligibly, but, then, as you know, all human beings are so very difficult of comprehension. So she took me out in spite of all my poor cousin's protests, and laid me on the table in her room. On the following Sunday, when Mary was to stay at home with the little ones while nurse went to church, she remembered me, and brought me down to amuse the young Spensers. Like all the rest of their race, they soon became tired of me, and I was thrust away in this dusty cupboard till now. Of all the histories that have been related to amuse you, none, I am sure, have surpassed mine for vicissitudes and changes. I was the early companion of Duchesses and Lords, and yet have been doomed to endure the society of coachmen and stable boys, and to be rescued from a rackety bird-cage to end my days in a dusty cupboard!" Then the Shuttlecock ceased to speak, and betook herself to her corner, to bewail in private the sad downfall she had endured. "And now," said the Ball, "I will call upon our venerable friend, the Noah's Ark; I am sure he will be able to tell us a great deal that is very interesting about himself and his numerous tribe." The poor old Ark creaked slowly forward, and announced his willingness to add his history to the rest, beginning in the following words. [Illustration] CHAPTER IX. WHAT BECAME OF NOAH'S ARK AND ALL ITS BEASTS. "I must tell you a little about the hands that first made us, and to do so I must take you in fancy to the high Alps in Switzerland. There, during the long bright summer months, according to the practice of the country, the flocks and herds are pastured, only descending to the villages in autumn, when food and fodder grow scant. A temporary dwelling is erected, in which the Sennerin, the young girl who usually takes charge of them, lives for the season, and where she follows the dairy business peculiar to her calling. The long summer days pass so calmly and pleasantly there, while the cows and their young ones crop the juicy herbage of these mountain pastures. Meanwhile the shepherd lads, and those who are not busied in more active labours, often pass their leisure hours, while guarding their flocks with the help of their intelligent dogs, in carving cleverly some pretty little toys in the light wood peculiar to their province. These find a ready sale with the travellers, who climb these lofty heights to feast their eyes on the ranges of distant peaks and Alpine passes, that seem almost reaching up to the sky. "Sitting on the grass, with their quaint, old-fashioned knives, these lads carve elegant and graceful trifles, that often eventually find their way into royal palaces, and are used by many dainty fingers. My maker, however, was more given to the construction of toys for children; he preferred fashioning all kinds of animals and reptiles, to making flower bestudded paper knives or perforated work baskets; and he found a very good and ready sale for all he had time to manufacture. By his patient and incessant industry, he had earned a comfortable living for many years for his blind and aged mother, to whom he was a most dutiful and tender son. Never a penny of Fritz's money was spent in idle folly, for neither gay ribbons for his hat nor silver buckles for his shoes ever wiled away his earned money from its pious purpose. He certainly was a true but very humble admirer of our Sennerin, who was the only daughter of a rich farmer of the village; and I had a few opportunities for noticing that she always prized more the simple Alpine roses, for which Fritz had climbed many a dangerous spot, than she did the elaborate carvings or purchased trinkets which were offered to her by others. I hope long ere this, Fritz, the good son and industrious villager, is the owner of the goodly farm, and the happy husband of the pretty Sennerin. But I did not remain long enough to know much of the progress of his affairs; for although it took him half the summer to make me and two similar Arks, we were readily disposed of at once, on his return to the village. The toy merchant made his yearly visit then, and carried us all off with a host of other articles of similar manufacture. "I hope I may be excused for a little pardonable vanity in describing our personal appearance to you; for, in common with you all, I have been also divested by time and rough usage of most of my early charms. When I was first springing from beneath the skilful fingers of Fritz, I was the prettiest specimen of a model Swiss cottage set upon a boat floor, that ever was made. My walls were formed of the pretty very white species of wood, used by these deft shepherd carvers, and light, graceful openwork patterns were formed on them, by delicately cut cross pieces of a darker shade. The roof, with wide projecting eaves, after the regular chalet pattern, had its cross beams, and here and there the usual stones, laid on it, which, in the original structures, are placed there to add some weight of resistance to the furious mountain gales that come sweeping down the deep gorges. There was a row of windows, which were really cut out and glazed, through which you might obtain a view of the jumble of animals huddled together inside. A perforated gallery of light wood ran all round the walls half way up, from whence a staircase, general to these Swiss cottages, led down, and in this case terminated on the floor of the flat wooden boat, which of rather unusual depth, formed the bottom of the Ark. "As to my contents, they were of a rather miscellaneous character, for although Fritz had a natural love for animals, and considerable success in copying those with which he was acquainted, his knowledge of the more distant creation was limited to the quaint old woodcuts in his mother's Bible, in which they were drawn with more spirit and imagination than correctness. And so Fritz's horses, oxen, pigs, sheep, dogs, and goats were characteristic and good, but his elephant and camel, though original, were eccentric, to use a mild term. They were all executed, however, with great pains, and the wood from which they were carved was specially selected with a view to their colour and marks. Thus, for example, the tiger, though his outline and shape were rather doubtful, and he partook more than he should of the square frame of a cow, was cut out of a bit of wood where a knot had been, which caused it to be streaked in a manner very suitable to the stripes of that animal. The birds generally were a greater success, for with most of these Fritz was tolerably familiar. We had certainly all spent a very pleasant summer, high up in the Alps, with the most delicious clear sky overhead and the fragrant herbage beneath. It was so calm and clear, that the silence was broken alone by the far off sheep and goat bells, the faint low of the drowsy cattle, or the sweet song of distant birds. How often I have recalled that pleasant early life, which was so very speedily terminated. "The toy merchant soon packed up his wares and departed, and we saw and heard nothing more, until we were unpacked from a huge case of other toys, and placed in the window of a famous toyshop in St. Paul's Churchyard. In the window there, for some months, we attracted numberless groups of delighted little admirers, but our high price placed us beyond the reach of most people. Our turn came at last; we were selected by a doating grandpapa for his pet little grand-daughter, and carefully packed up and taken to the abode of our future owner. The pretty little child was too young as yet to have such a beautiful and costly toy in her own charge, so her Mamma undertook the care of us, and Beatrice was allowed to play with us occasionally. "She was a queer little mortal, this new mistress of ours, and not particularly fond of toys in general. She was highly delighted at first, and twice or thrice when she was allowed to play with us, she arranged us carefully in pairs on the table. But when Nurse or Mamma tried to improve her knowledge, and give her a sly object lesson on zoology, Miss Beatrice grew refractory, and cared for us no more. Unfortunately on one occasion when her Mamma was seriously ill, the nurse gave us to her to play with, to keep her quiet, and the whole house being somewhat upset by the illness, the child was not taken much notice of. Alas, when Nurse came in the evening to collect my animals and put me away, she found a most deplorable state of things. Beatrice had been dragging me about as a carriage for her doll, and had thus damaged my pretty railed gallery and staircase past all mending. My roof was in three pieces, and the reckless little savage had first strewn all my beasts over the floor, and then as deliberately walked over them. Oh, what a havoc was there! My poor dear cows and sheep, that had cost the ingenious Fritz so much time and trouble, had not three legs to boast of between them, and as for the birds, they were most of them pounded to pieces and bits. I thought with bitter regret of the green mountain heights where we had so merrily proceeded under Fritz's laborious fingers, and had been the admiration of the whole little Swiss village. "When Beatrice's mother was better, she was much vexed to hear what had happened to us, and was very angry indeed with Beatrice for her wilful mischief. I believe from that time, the child took a dislike to us, for she was a capricious, odd-tempered little thing, and certainly never played with us without doing us some further injury. As for the animals, they were left and dropped all over the house. Poor old Grandmamma coming to spend the day, fell down and sprained her ancle by treading on the elephant. The camel was thrown through one of the windows by a little boy visitor during a romp with Beatrice, and Aunt Priscilla was almost irreparably offended the last time she stayed there, by finding a wooden pig in her fur-lined slipper. She put her foot hastily in without seeing it, and hurt it so, that she declared she was lame for a month afterwards. In short, we were always in trouble in some way or other, and Beatrice's mother more than once threatened to give us away. "It would have been a small consolation to us if our young owner had played with us sometimes, or taken ever so little pride in us. But no; she only took us out to bring more shame and disgrace on us, and on herself. For instance, once when her Godmother took her to church for the first time, Beatrice took her handkerchief out of her pocket, and with it a number of wooden animals, which fell in a pattering shower on the pavement. Naughty Beatrice would stop in the middle of the aisle and pick us all up, to the astonishment of the congregation, the horror of her Godmother, and the utter scandal of the grave old clerk. Nay, worse even, for when the sermon commenced, she rushed out of her seat, and began to hunt about under the people's feet in the free benches for a missing camelopard! "After this terrible mishap, Nurse laid hands on all the stray animals she could find, and clapped them all hastily into my box, shutting down the lid decidedly, and promising Beatrice she should see us no more. She was as good as her word, and hid us behind a great pile of clean dimity curtains in the linen closet, where we remained snugly packed away for some time. But, alas! one day our mischievous little mistress, during one of her prowls, chanced to see the open door of the linen closet, and could not resist a sudden raid upon it. To her great joy, she found us, and carefully lugging us out, she hid us in her little cot till bedtime. "It happened to be the day of a dinner party, and all the servants were very busy with the preparations for it, while the lady of the house was equally engaged in superintending the arrangements. In the evening, while dinner was proceeding, Beatrice, well-dressed for the occasion, was taken down into the drawing-room, to wait till she could go in to dessert. Her nurse, no doubt, was using her ears and eyes in other matters, and so the mischievous little maid was left to her own devices. The results, however, were very unpleasantly visible to her Mamma, when having helped a lady to some trifle, she observed her become very red, and lay down her spoon. On enquiry, she found that she had met with a wooden frog in the trifle, and on further search, some more of my unlucky animals were found located among the sweet dishes. A huge dog was floundering in the jelly, and a regular flight of birds had got about the blancmange. "The end of this disagreeable affair was, that Miss Beatrice was sent to bed in dire disgrace, and the poor innocent animals, all sticky from their sweet bath, were consigned to the fire. The few remaining creatures that were left of all the numerous flock Fritz had so proudly made, were hastily gathered together, and with me, given away next morning. "Our next owner was a little boy, a very quiet little fellow, to whom we became the greatest treasure in the world. He thought me the most beautiful toy that was ever made, although I was in such a sadly damaged condition. His only grief was, that my stock of animals had now dwindled down to about twenty, and of these, most were maimed or deficient in some way. However, he wisely made the best of a bad matter, and set to work to repair the damage as well as he could. With his elder brother's kind help, and the loan of a glue-pot, he repaired, as neatly as possible, the breakage of my gallery and staircase. With pins, cork, and sealing-wax, he next proceeded to tinker-up the poor mutilated animals, and succeeded in making them all stand pretty firmly once more. It would have done Fritz's honest heart good to see how carefully the little fellow handled his masterpiece, and how very conscientiously he tried to put all to rights again. And if the horse _had_ two odd scarlet legs made out of sealing-wax, it was better than going a cripple for life; and as for the squirrel, he need not have grumbled, for a black pin for a tail was better than none. To be sure, he did stick the bear's head on the wrong way, but then it did not much matter, it only looked as if he had met with a tree he wanted to climb, and was looking up it. "And so once more we were patched up into ordinary respectability, and so pretty did we look, even in our less bright condition, that at last, as Harry was a little too old to play with such toys, and cared much more for making and mending them, we were laid out in great style, and to as much advantage, on the little chess table in the bow window, and covered with a glass shade to preserve us from the dust! "Here we dwelt in state for some years, while Harry grew up and went to school, and after that to college, and ceased to care for such trifles. And then his mother gave us to Celia Spenser, on her birthday, who was much delighted, and for a long while we were a very favourite toy of hers; but her little brothers and sister made fresh ravages on our impaired value, although it is but fair to say the misfortunes were unintentional, and they were really sorry when they had broken any of my beams, or lost an animal. And now our turn has come to be cast aside, and so here we are with the rest of the old pensioners!" And having said this, the Ark creaked his lid down again, and finished his story, for which he received the thanks of all the assembled party. "Now," said the Ball, musing gravely, "I shall call next in order on the Marbles to relate their general history, and as I don't know which of them to ask first, I must call upon them collectively." [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER X. THE MARBLES AND THEIR PROCEEDINGS. "We are of what may be styled republican principles," said a large China Marble, rolling out of the heap. "Of all the speakers who have already come forward, the Kite, Doll, and yourself, for instance, are simple individuals. The Tea-things are a large family, under the rule of their mother, the Teapot; a kind of domestic despotism. The Noah's Ark might represent a constitutional or limited monarchy, where the Ark is a sort of governing or holding together of the rest of the members. And so they have all very properly, as representatives, related their own peculiar history. But _we_ Marbles are a republic, and therefore can't quite tell all our story as one, because several kinds or classes of us wish to tell their own separate tale." "I daresay this is all very clever, and very true," replied the Ball, suppressing a yawn; "but I don't quite understand all you have said. However, let that pass; the only question before us is, how the proceedings are to be arranged in this manner. I think, as President of our party, I can hardly allow all of you to relate a distinct story, because there are several other people who are waiting in their turn, and it is due to them, as well as fair to the rest, not forgetting those who have gone before, that we should not spend all our time in hearing separately half a dozen members of your party." "But we have no story to tell as a body," urged a Bright Glass Marble; "if you won't hear us separately, we have no whole adventure to relate worth mentioning." The Ball, somewhat puzzled, consulted gravely with the rest; and after whispering in one corner with the Kite, and in another with the Rocking Horse--after having failed in obtaining any opinion from the Doll, who was too languid to care much about the matter, and having skilfully evaded the Humming Top, who had more to say on the subject than any one cared to hear--he once more took his place, and gave his decision thus:-- "After a consultation and council with several distinguished members of our party, I am happy to tell you that we are willing to allow three of you to relate your separate stories, on the distinct understanding that they do not exceed, in their united length, the narrations that have gone before." On behalf of his companions, the China Marble who had first spoken, willingly agreed to the terms, and called upon the Bright Glass Marble to speak first. And so the small green glassy thing rolled smoothly forward, looking like a little curled-up snake, and began to speak. "I am not going to relate to you the usual pursuits and habits of a common Marble! I am not made like them of mere earth or clay, but of glass--bright shining glass--the result of a marvellous combination of different things by the aid of chemical skill and knowledge. These delicate threads that you can perceive winding gracefully and symmetrically through me are of Venetian origin, and the mode of making them--once a trade secret--was first discovered in that "city of an hundred isles." I was not baked in a hot oven, as my humbler brethren are, but melted and cleared again and again in a far fiercer heat, until my nature became refined and purified, and my clear colour green as the sea which glides like a glittering network through and round Venice. "Nor was all this trouble taken with me only that I might become a mere child's toy, like these dingy, earthen globes; no! I was designed to become a member of a charming party, who lived in separate apartments, on a large mahogany board, and our party was elegantly called for that reason by the French name of _Solitaire_! Some of my family were crimson, some blue, some striped like sea-shells, some flaked with gold, but all beautiful. We lived for a long time appropriately enough in the Crystal Palace, where we lay with hosts of other brilliant things, too numerous to mention, on a long counter in the Bohemian Court. I may say, without vanity, that we were the objects of admiration to thousands, and many of our sparkling host were carried off like trophies, to adorn the mansions of the great and noble. "My destination was at first a fortunate one; but, alas, in common with yourselves, I have also met with reverses in life; and on _me_, poor little me, Fate seems to have poured out all her hardest punishment. We were purchased at first by Lord Latimer for his little daughter Florine, and for a while laid on inlaid tables and were only handled by fair and jewelled fingers. I need not enter into the plan of the game of Solitaire, which had just then come out fresh, and was universally popular, for, as in many other cases what is _play_ to others is _work_ to us. I had nothing to complain of, however, for my fair young mistress was very gentle and lady-like, and skilled in the game, so that we were daintily used and carefully kept. Indeed while we breathed the perfumed air of that luxurious boudoir, sweetened with the rarest exotic flowers, and ornamented with every graceful trinket and toy that could please its owner, our life passed like a fairy dream. But sweet and amiable as Florine was, she too had her faults, and a love of change and novelty was one of them. When she had possessed us a brief year, she grew weary of us, and passed on to other amusements. Her whole thoughts were now given to table croquet, and we lay idle and disused. At last one day we were coolly given away to little Rosie Herbert, a small friend of hers, who carried us exultingly off at once. Unluckily our new owner was a mere raw school girl, and having no mother, and more of her own way than was good for her, we were taken by her to school, and there we ran the gauntlet of twenty or thirty school girls, and never knew ten minutes' peace through the day, except at meal times. We now became acquainted with rough treatment, for we were usually sent rolling on the floor into all corners of the room half a dozen times a day, and many of my friends were lost entirely by these means. What became of them eventually I do not know, as we never met all together again, the vacant place in the board being filled up by Rosie with _beans_, neighbours, I need hardly say, not by any means acceptable to the poor remainder of us! What we underwent at that dreadful school, or even a tithe of the mischievous pranks we saw there, would take too long a time to describe; and the only wonder is, that any of us escaped to tell the tale, for when our novelty wore off, the value for us lessened also. One unscrupulous girl made frequent use of us to torment her enemies by putting some of us in their beds, others in their shoes, nay, even one girl narrowly escaped choking by nearly swallowing _me_ in a cup of tea, into which I had been slily slipped. One or two of us broke a few window panes, and we were frequently sent rolling about the writing table, until at last Miss Blunt desired Rosie to collect us all, and keep us in her play-box till the holidays, on pain of entire confiscation. "We then, or at least the few survivors of our once numerous band, hoped we had now at last a little interval of peace, before we retired into private life. On once more emerging from obscurity, and accompanying Rosie home, we found that our chance was not much improved, for we were continually being slily purloined to replenish her brother Robert's marble bag. For a long time I had seen my companions gradually disappearing one by one, and dreaded the time when I too must follow, and at last the terrible moment arrived. I was carried off, and once more became a haunter of a school, but this time it was one for boys, and from my former experience, I was in utter despair at the fate before me. Fortunately, however, in the first game of marbles in which Robert indulged after I came into his possession, I was won by Frank Spenser. He was just on the eve of leaving school, and consequently I had no very unpleasant encounters to anticipate. With the rest of my companions I was put aside and forgotten, and that is how I came to reside in the toy cupboard!" "Well," said one of the common marbles, coming forward, "_I_ can't lay any claim to such a fine appearance, nor shall I be able to relate such a distinguished history. My origin is humble enough, for I am made of clay, in common with many other things of far more importance than marbles. My first appearance in life was in a wicker basket with a lot of others in the dingy window of old Spattleberry's shop, where we lived in company with bottles of lollipops, ginger beer, jam tarts, string, slate pencil, tops, knives, and parliament. I have lived in a public school almost all my life, and I only wish I could get back there once more. None of your grand scented drawing rooms and faddling girls for me! I prefer boys for companions, and revel in a playground; why I don't even object to a jacket pocket! I can't say I have exactly a partiality for pockets in general, for my friends, the boys, _are_ rather apt to put queer things in them, such as biscuit crumbs, beetles, fishing worms, and a host of other odds and ends, not to mention an occasional snake. But I've been very lucky, for I was a favourite alley, and have a bright red ring round me, so that I was pretty generally kept in careful quarters. Oh! how many jolly games I have had in the capital playground of Dewberry Grammar School with my owner, Ben Baily, and his chum, Bill Smith. The marbles I won for him, helped by his own good play, for he _was_ a first-rate player, made quite a goodly store in his play-box. Many a boy who had been so lucky, and who played so well, would have sold them secretly to old Spattleberry, as indeed I have known some mean boys do. But Ben was an honest, open-hearted fellow, born to be a sailor, so I was not surprised to hear of him afterwards as a naval cadet, going through a course of training in the "Dreadnought" frigate. But at the time I knew him he was only a truthful, frank schoolboy, very mischievous, and getting into lots of scrapes, but then they were never wicked ones, or likely to do harm to anybody, and only arising from the spirit of fun in him, that brimmed over sometimes. "I soon discovered how his hoard of marbles gradually melted away, for I saw him several times fill the empty bag of a little fellow who had lost his all, and who found a generous friend in Ben. But though he was very kind to the little ones, and liberal too in his way, nothing roused him to a regular raging passion quicker than meanness or cheating. Now little Sam Markham, who first bought me from old Spattleberry, was the meanest little sneak that ever lived, and did not care what he did, so long as he was not found out. Ben had an instinctive dislike of him, and never played with him, so that there was a sort of unspoken feud between them. Mean little Sam feared Ben's blunt, straightforward ways; and Ben had a sort of big contempt for Sam's trickfulness and shifty ways, and so they gave each other usually, what Ben would have called, a "wide berth." "But one day, Ben happened to perch himself on a very high bough of the old elm tree that stood in a corner of the playground; for he was always given to climbing, and that he knew from long experience was a secure nook to rest in away from intrusion. Many a summer holiday did he spend studying Robinson Crusoe, or Peter Simple, or something of that sort. But on this day he happened to have got "Snarley-yow," which some chum had lent him, and he was deaf and blind to almost everything. But a loud squabble under the tree at last aroused him a little, and 'It's not fair, Sam; I know you're cheating,' reached his ears; and shaking himself like a waking dog, he peered down through the leaves and branches to see what was the matter. There stood Sam, his eyes twinkling, and his mouth grinning from ear to ear, as he pocketed a lot of marbles, confiscated from "blundering Bill," as William Smith was politely christened by the boys. Now Bill was a good deal younger than that little sharper, Sam, and a novice to boot in the game, and so was not near a match for him. Ben's honest blood boiled, and he only waited a few minutes just to witness some most gross cheating, and to see poor Bill turn away with his empty bag, when he slid down the old tree trunk like a thunderbolt, coming down upon sly Sam, and sending all his ill-gotten gains spinning to every corner of the playground. Sam had the soundest thrashing he had ever experienced, and was mulcted besides of all the marbles he had robbed Bill of; and though Ben was scarcely his equal in size, and a year younger, he was far too formidable and uncompromising an antagonist for Sam to contend openly with. So he resigned his ill-gotten plunder, and slunk off rubbing his shoulders, while Ben picked up "Snarley-yow," which he had pitched away in the beginning of the fray, and somewhat too tired to re-climb his favourite look-out, threw himself on a patch of grass hard by. From that hour the friendship of little Bill Smith and Ben was sealed and cemented by Bill's giving and Ben's taking me as an offering, each ignorant that I had really originally belonged to Sam. The latter was too cowardly to reclaim even his own, and therefore contented himself from that time by lavishing every petty but secret malignity he could devise upon the two friends. But Ben very speedily left Dewberry, and went to the Naval School, and gave me with one or two more especial favourites to Frank Spenser." "I believe I am the next delegate," said a fine bright, speckled marble, rolling forward; "and I consider it only candid to warn you that I am not what I may appear to be. My outward looks would lead you to suppose I was made of agate, or polished stone at least, but I have really been the innocent cause of so much deception that I think it only right to state at the beginning that I am only composed of some species of chinaware, so highly glazed as to appear like a better material. We found a very ready sale at the better class of toy shops and were very popular among the young fry, who cared more for outward looks, and were not so skilful in selecting really good articles as the bigger boys. "I was purchased at the "Civet Cat," in Brompton, by little Augusta Finekyn, as a present for her brother Fred on his approaching birthday, and as I cost the large sum of fourpence, she had saved a month's pocket money for the purpose. She intended to keep me as a profound secret until the auspicious day; but her plan was really defeated by several unlucky mishaps. First of all, she dropped me in the middle of a crowded crossing, and was very nearly run over by an omnibus in her search for me, and only rescued by the old crossing sweeper. The paper in which I had been wrapped was so saturated with mud, that she was obliged to take it off and wrap me in a corner of her pocket handkerchief. When she arrived at home she took off her things, forgetting me in her hurry, and ran down to dinner. During that meal, having occasion to want her handkerchief she drew it out of her pocket and me with it, sending me rolling among the dishes and plates, to her great dismay. However, Freddy was good-natured, and did not wish to vex his little sister, and so he pretended not to see me. Three days intervened before the birthday, and incessantly during that time did luckless Augusta contrive to drop me about in the oddest places, putting Fred's gravity and good humour to the sorest test possible, and I think both were equally relieved when the day arrived at last, and she was able to present it in due form. Fred had plenty of marbles of a better kind and more suitable for playing, but he did not vex his affectionate little sister by telling her so. For a long time I was kept in his desk with a funny jumble of other odds and ends not often wanted, but never exposed to view, for poor Fred on first returning to school had innocently exhibited me as an _agate_ marble, fully believing I really was so. But a more knowing boy, the son of a working jeweller who was on the same form with him, soon undeceived him, and from that time, with natural disgust at having been "so green," as his schoolfellow said, Fred carefully buried me in the recesses of his desk, and showed me no more. "When he left school I went back among his other valuables, and was buried for many years in his old play-box. But one day I was rummaged out with a host of other antiquated things and laid on the table. A very smart young lady in a gay muslin dress, plentifully be-dropped with knots of ribbon, seemed to be "tidying up" as she called it; a process that appeared to me to consist in routing out and clearing away all the old hoards, and making the room as bare as an empty shop. "'Oh dear,' she laughed, as I tumbled out with the rest of the boyish treasures; 'here's that wretched old marble, which was _not_ agate after all. The little horror! Here, Jane, give it to Cook; she wanted a marble the other day to put into her tea-kettle, and this will be just the thing for her.' "And so I was consigned to Cook, and for many months continued to roll and rattle about in the bottom of her horrid old black tea-kettle, accumulating all the disagreeable "fur," as she called it, that is generally found lining the inside of a kettle where the water in use is very hard. My pretty streaks and spots soon disappeared beneath this dreadful covering, and no one now--not even Fred Finekyn himself--(far less the airyfied young lady, into whom my early admirer, Augusta, had merged), would have recognised the gay and polished marble in the rough, stony-looking lump that made such a dull clatter in the kettle. "But all things come to an end, even long captivities, and so one happy day saw me, still an inhabitant of the old kettle, sold at the sale, which took place when the Finekyns went "abroad." After this I resided for some time at a marine store-shop, and there my house and I parted company, and I was sent once more into the world as a marble, for the kettle was sold elsewhere, and I was dropped out during the examination of the old woman purchaser. When I was picked up, the shopman soon finding out that I was worth looking at, cleaned me, and restored me to a faint likeness of my former show, and sold me for the reduced price of twopence to an eager school boy. After a good many vicissitudes and changes, I came into Frank Spenser's possession, and became, with the rest, an inmate of the toy-cupboard." The Ball, spying another little marble rolling forward as if to speak, returned thanks to them for their three stories, and called on the Rocking-Horse to be the next entertainer. [Illustration] CHAPTER XI. WHY THE ROCKING HORSE RAN AWAY. "I could tell you lots of stories," said the Rocking Horse, stumbling and limping forward, as lightly as he could with his mutilated members, "for I have really seen so much of life, and have had so many little riders in turn. There was my first owner, dear bright golden-haired Charlie, "Bonnie Prince Charlie," as he was called by all, with his bright smile, and sunny eyes, and his musical laugh. He was going to be a knight-errant, and ride about all over the country, rescuing distressed damsels, and setting captives free, and fighting at least ten people at once! There was a pretty little girl, who used to come sometimes to spend the day with his sisters, and Charlie was very fond of her, calling her his princess. Little Julia was a nice child, and was never better pleased than when she was mounted on me behind Charley, with her fat arms clasped tight round his waist. The stories that boy used to invent, surpassed anything I ever heard before or since; I am sure he must have read a good deal, and remembered it all too, to be able to describe the things he did. And Julia used to cuddle up to him, and say what he bid her, for she was a sweet, docile little thing, but she did not understand a tenth part of what he told her, and she used to get so frightened, and cling so tight, and call out 'O Charlie, don't rock so hard, please,' when he grew excited and set me off at first rate speed. And then Charlie used to say, 'You must not say that, Judy; you ought to say, Pray lessen your speed, gallant knight, your war charger is so fleet!' and Julia would say so, and all went smoothly enough till Charlie went off again full pelt, and then the whole thing was gone over again. But one day, one warm summer evening, Charlie was a little more wild than usual, and forgetting what he was about, he rocked too furiously, and down we all came together. It did not much matter to Charlie and me, for it was neither our second nor third tumble, and he used only to jump up again, and rush to see whether I was damaged, before he looked at his own bruised knees, and say, 'That was a horrid spill, old boy, but never mind, we haven't damaged _your_ knees, anyhow!' "But this time it was a more serious case, and I lay uncared for, while Charlie scrambled hastily up, and, like a brave boy, looked first after his poor little playmate. She was more hurt than either, and lay moaning piteously, till Charlie ran in a fright and fetched his mother. When the doctor came, as he did pretty quickly, he said poor Julia's little fat arm was broken, and she could not be removed, even home. Oh, what a sad time that was; the whole household seemed to watch night and day over the little patient sufferer, and poor Charlie roamed about in a miserable and distracted way that was quite sad to see. She was delirious and in some danger for a time; and while it lasted Charlie came and sat by me and told me all his sorrow in the most disconsolate way in the world. "'You've broken _your_ leg, gallant grey,' he said to me; 'but then the carpenter can mend that with no great ado, and _I've_ sprained my ancle, but that's nothing, for it does not hurt much, and I can easily bear that; but I wish we had both broken all our legs, before dear little Julia had been hurt. I'm afraid I shall never be a good knight now!' "And then he laid his head on his knees, and actually cried bitterly. But all turned out better in the end, for the doctor cured Julia, and when the patient little girl grew better, all her care was to comfort Charlie, and she left her own mother (who had come to nurse her), no peace until she had formally forgiven Charlie. But poor contrite Charlie could not so readily forgive himself, and as a proof of his real wish to cure himself of his careless habits, he gave me away to Philip Reeves, an old friend of his, taking tender care to have me effectually mended up, and bidding me a most affectionate farewell. I did not like my new home very much, for though I had carried double before, little Julia was a mere feather weight, and Charlie rode very lightly; but the Reeves's children mounted me two and three at a time played rude, practical jokes and treated me with all sorts of indignities. Once the little wretches actually set Tom on me with his face to my tail, and then called me a donkey, and shouted out, 'Gee up, Neddy!' And as for falls, we were always tumbling about,--my entire occupation was tumbling about. They dragged off all my pretty harness in tatters, by way of hauling me up again, and then replaced it with a horrid lot of common rope. As for my tail, oh, that was too bad! That abominable little Annie, the baby, got hold of me after one of my falls, and by the help of nurse's scissors, which had been dropped just by, she managed to shear all the hair off close to the stump, and disfigured me for life. Then another of my legs was broken, past mending. And so I lost all my good looks by degrees. To finish my troubles, the two younger boys took it into their heads that I wanted rubbing down, and they set to work with a vengeance, with the help of the nursery bath and a hard hair brush, and by the time they were found out, the nursery was swimming, and my poor complexion gone for ever! "No one could stand that, and patience won't last for ever, so you cannot be surprised at my running away, and I think I managed my escape pretty luckily. One Saturday night, when the workwoman was there, her son came to fetch her home, and she somehow smuggled him into the empty nursery to wait until she was ready to go home with him. The children had all been put in their bath, and packed off early to bed, and Susan, the nursemaid, had run downstairs for a few minutes' gossip in the kitchen. Bob, the boy, began to eye me with great attention, and at last he drew near and began to play with me. His mother went to put on her bonnet and shawl, and Bob seized the opportunity. "'You be a tidy pony!' said he, 'will you go along with me?' "As I made no objection, and indeed was glad to go, he whipped me up in his arms, ran down the back stairs and off with me like a shot. I was in a dreadful fright for fear we should be found out, I can tell you, for there was a wretched small woolly toy-dog, an old enemy of mine, and the little horror barked with all his might, and tried to give the alarm. But luckily for me, little Annie had that day poked a pin through the kid over his sound-hole, and so he had almost lost his voice, and was not heard at all. When I came to reflect on the matter calmly, I must own it _was_ rather an undignified method of running away, but I was too anxious at the time to escape, and did not think much about it. Bob hurried down some back lanes and byeways till he reached his own door, and then he rushed in, and running upstairs, hid me under his bed. He was up in the morning long before his mother, and got me out into the back-yard, hiding me behind the old water-butt. Bob's mother happened to be that week very busy, and away every day, so that he easily kept me out of the way. There was a nice hue and cry at the Reeves's when the children found out I had vanished, and Bob's mother came home each day, giving him a full history of the loss, little suspecting he was concerned in it. "But evil deeds seldom meet with thorough success, and so Bob found out, for a playfellow of his, it seems, had watched enough of his proceedings to find out that all was not right, and one day he attacked him on the subject. Bob was in a terrible fright, and at last made up his mind to take me back to the Reeves's again, hoping to smuggle me in after the same fashion he had brought me away. I was not much improved, as you may fancy, after being stabled so long behind that dirty tarred barrel. Indeed, I think the Reeves's children might almost have met me without recognising me. But they were not destined to be put to the trial, for just as Bob got near to the door, out sallied a whole tribe of the young ones, bound for a late walk. Bob beat a precipitate retreat, and pitched me headlong into a big laurel hedge, near the gate. As it proved afterwards, the children had not seen me, and so there I lay all night, when a drenching rain came down, and washed off all the paint I had left. I was now a poor wreck of a thing, and did not look as if I was of any value, and I was so out of heart and miserable, that I did not care what became of me. So when I was picked out of the hedge by Bill Soames, and carried to his cottage-home as a precious treasure, I was resigned to my fate. Horses, said I to myself, are peculiarly liable to these ups and downs of life, for, as we all know, the spirited racer that wins the Challenge Cup, may end his days harnessed to a cart. And so why should I lament my fate! I dare say, Bill Soames will be kind to me, and he looks as if he could ride. And so he could too, and many a prance we had on the brick floor of that old cottage, for in spite of my lame legs and docked tail, there was a little life and spirit left still in the poor old nag. And through all my life, I have been _very_ lucky in one thing, my foundations were good! Let what would happen to my legs or tail, at any rate, my rockers never came off! So I could get on pretty fairly even now, and Bill was as proud of me as if I had been a real flesh and blood steed. "Many and many a box on the ears did he get from his mother, for picking her lilac or her roses to stick in my ears; and the day when she gave him some old scraps of dirty ribbon was a joyous day for him. The only pity was that his wish to adorn me to the best advantage led him in a weak moment to accept the proposal of George Hall, the little painter, who offered to make me as good as new! I can't bear to think of it, much less describe _that_ operation, and you may take my word for it I should have run away again, if I had not been tied up to the leg of the great wooden table. Bill remarked that he had seen the farrier singe and clip horses, and he always took good care to tie them up tight first. And so there I was at their mercy, and I came out of their hands such a figure, that I only wonder the nervous old cat, who lived there too, did not have a fit at the first sight of me. I had been painted black, with great white spots, just like big white wafers plentifully besprinkled all over me; and they had picked out my eyes and nose with such bright red borders, that it looked as if I breathed fire and flame, and I should have made a capital steed for the Fire-King in the pantomime. Bill was so delighted with me, that when I was dry and fit to be touched, he took more pains and care of me than ever. He stabled me in a corner, always offered me a share of his supper (but, as you may suppose, I don't eat bread and cheese), and covered me over from the dust with the counterpane of his own bed. "So I was obliged to make the best of it, and bear my terrible disfigurement as well as I could, for the sake of the good, warm-hearted lad, who loved me so very dearly. And at last I got used to my new colour, and even the atrocious spots, for everybody round was always admiring me, and praising my beauty; and I began to think I was not so very bad after all, till one day, when the memory of all my reverses and troubles seemed to come back over me like a thunderbolt. I was standing out on the little green space before the cottage, in the sun, as I often did, for Bill was very fond of mounting and riding in the sight of all passers by. There was a low green quickset hedge dividing the cottage garden from the road, and a open wooden gate. I heard a voice say, 'I'll be shot if that ain't the very likeness of him. If he were only of a dirty white, and hadn't no spots, I'd say for certain it were he. There's a lump in his hind leg looks uncommon like the jine where he were broken!' "Just at this moment, George Hall and Bill came out of the cottage door, and the speaker shuffled off rather fast, but not until I had managed to catch a glimpse of him, and had recognised my old friend Bob, with whom I had first eloped. And the very next day, when I was out as usual, who should come by but "Bonnie Prince Charlie," hand in hand with little Julia. I declare the few hairs of my mane and tail fairly stiffened at the sight of them, and I longed to be able to trot out like a fairy horse and ask them to get on my back, and let me carry them off to some delightful island, and make them a real prince and princess! Dear little Julia, she had not quite got back her nice rosy fat cheeks, but her eyes were as bright, and her merry voice as sweet as ever, as she prattled merrily to Charlie, who watched over her in the most careful way, guarding the poor lame arm quite jealously from harm. I heard them before I saw them, and knew their dear voices, bless them! in a moment. "'You shall have a carriage and pair, Judy, at least,' said Charlie, 'and a gentle mare for riding on, with a long tail and flowing mane. And you will be able to plait them up with ribbons, as Camilla did, you know, for Black Auster.' "'I would rather have a little Shetland pony,' said Julia, 'I'm _so_ afraid of big horses, Charlie!' "'Why a pony is the most dangerous of all, Julia,' replied Charley with a learned air; 'it is so much more frisky, and apt to run away. But we'll take care to have one that's warranted to carry a lady.' "'But I'm not a real grown-up lady yet, am I?' said the innocent little girl, turning her blue wondering eyes full on Charlie, who she evidently thought the most wonderful hero in the world. Charlie laughed, and pulled her curls, and said he hoped _he_ should be able to take better care of her when he was bigger, 'better than I _have_ done, Ju,' he added, somewhat dolefully; 'I shall not forget that spill with Gallant Grey in a hurry. What a jolly horse he was too, and how delighted I was when Papa let me choose him at that lovely shop in London, where they sell nothing but horses, and a little girl sits and rocks on one in the window, you know. Poor old Gallant Grey, I wonder how he's getting on, and whether Phil Reeves has had as many spills as I have. But halloa, Ju, here's a queer thing! why, if there is not a rocking-horse in that little garden!' "As Bonnie Prince Charlie and his little princess stood hand-in-hand at the gate and peeped at me with surprise through the rails, I could have eaten my head with vexation to think I could not even neigh a "how d'ye do?" to them. "'My eyes,' said Charlie, as he slowly turned away, 'what an old nag _that_ is! not a bad made animal, but what a colour, and what spots! What can he be? Perhaps they're going to have Guy Faux on horseback, and are getting ready the steed!' "And off went Charlie and Julia, and I could hear their merry voices ringing with laughter, for a long way down the lane. If it had only been in my nature to cry, I should have shed red hot tears of vexation, enough to burn up the little grass plat I stood on. I never saw Charlie and Julia again, and lived for a long while a sort of humdrum existence with Bill Soames. But life seemed very flat after that sad mortification, and I never went on the little grass plat again without remembering it. And time passed on, and when Bill grew bigger and went out to work, he gave me away to another chum, who was a horrid sailor boy, and had no more notion of riding than a teaspoon. He soon grew tired of me, and passed me on to some one else. And so have I served many masters, and have in my time been kept in some very queer stables. But I never cared for any of my subsequent owners so much as I did for Charlie, and Bill Soames, for they were all dull, uninteresting boys, who treated me as a mere toy, and cared less for me than a top or a kite. "When I came to Harry Spenser, however, I began to think I was going to have a sort of second life, and be happy once more. The first thing that made me take to him was that he saved up his pocket money till he could afford to have me re-painted. I was now a bright bay, with a white star on my forehead, and though I bore a good many marks of ill usage and former accidents, and both my knees were broken, still at a distance I looked pretty well. Harry's little brother, Frank, thought me perfection, and christened me "Bay Middleton," and had many a pleasant ride on me. But Harry was just in all the delight of the perusal of the Arabian nights, and could think of nothing but the Enchanted Horse, and he played at being Prince Firouz Schah, till I was quite tired of it. He drove two huge nails in my neck to serve for the two pegs that he was to turn, the one to raise him up among the clouds like a bird, and the other to lower him to earth once more. The latter peg is still here, as you may see, behind my ear, but they never performed that feat with me, for Harry was not magician enough to endow me with flying powers. He tried very hard to get Celia to play the part of the Princess of Bengal, but though she was very willing and obliging, and tried to do what he wished, she was too big to ride behind him, and he did not think her quite majestic enough for the part. At last, when Harry went off to Eton, I was put away here, and though for a time I indulged in a faint hope that he might look for me on his return for the holidays, I was disappointed, and even Frank has never looked for me since. And so now, my friends, I have given you a history of all that has befallen me, including the famous episode of my running away." The Toys, who had been much amused by the relation of the Rocking Horse, more particularly by the grave manner in which he spoke, to which his very rackety and dilapidated appearance lent a ludicrous effort, now thanked him very heartily for his story, and proceeded to call on the Skipping-rope for the next story. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER XII. THE MISHAP OF THE SKIPPING-ROPE. "Story," said the Skipping-rope, "to be sure you shall have it, and a very queer one it is, quite the oddest of the lot, I rather think. But I shall be very happy to begin it at once, if the Kite will be so good as to disentangle his tail." "Pshaw," growled the Kite, "why, I was obliged to tell mine while you were tugging at me all the while. Two or three times, when I had something very particular to say, you pulled my tail, suddenly, and I lost the thread of my discourse. So tit for tat, my friend, do you unwind your yarn, and I won't serve you any worse than you did me." The Skipping-rope, finding she could not gain her point, gave herself a spiteful wriggle, which nearly tore off the grand tassel at the end of the Kite's tail, and set off full gallop in her recital, leaving him no breathing time to complain:-- "I began life," said she, "as a mere length of rope, although I only form now a small portion of the coil to which I belonged. I was the property of a poor fisherman, who lived in a hut belonging to a cluster of storm-beaten cots, called by great courtesy, the 'village' of Rocksand, in Devonshire. All the people who lived there were very poor, and gained a precarious living by fishing, while their wives occupied the spare time left after "keeping house, and minding the childer," by cultivating the very small bits of garden ground that belonged to them, and which were situated on the top of a very lofty cliff, some height above the nestling cottages which were huddled under its shelter on the shore, not so very far above the high tide line. Indeed, in stormy weather, the rough seas which churned up the restless pebbles on the beach, sent their waves in very adverse weather, and during winds that set dead in shore, into somewhat disagreeable nearness to the doorsteps! And as for the spray, well! in storms it put out the fires, by falling down the low wide chimneys, but in ordinary weather people never minded it. "As for the children, they were like little ducklings, and directly they were big they took to the water like young Newfoundland puppies; and while they were too small for that, they played in it, and made "sand pies," for there was no mud there, and became dirty and draggled, and therefore happy to their heart's content. And a rare hardy, ruddy set they were, living on the very scantiest and coarsest fare, and thriving on the salt fresh breezes, like young giants, as they were. My owner was a tall, strong young man, who supported his wife and two little ones by his own incessant hard work. He was a capital climber too, and was very fond of scrambling about the face of the cliff in almost inaccessible places for birds' nests and eggs, of which he had quite a large collection. He used to blow and preserve the eggs, replace them in their pretty and curious nests, and then offer them for sale in the neighbouring town. He also collected the samphire growing on the rocky masses that jutted out into the sea, and for which his wife found a ready sale in the town market. They were frugal, hard-working people, but they often found it very difficult to provide food and clothing for their little ones, and to keep the boat and nets in good repair. I am proud to say I was a very useful member of the family, and was wanted everywhere. During the intervals of time, when my services were not required in the boat, I did duty as a clothes line, which rather grated against my dignity, for I fancied it was not the sort of work I ought to be set to do. However, I consoled myself with the reflection that I had nothing to do with common clothes props or garden walls, for I was generally stretched out on the beach, in a sheltered nook behind the cottage. One end was tied fast to an old mast that now bore a weathercock, and the other was fastened to a ring in a piece of rock, near by. So I was patiently contented to hold up all the family wardrobe to dry, for it was not a very large one, and I knew every time exactly what I should have to carry. And the sea winds were very obliging, and dried all the clothes so fast, that my patience was not much tested. "I tethered the little boat to her landing-place close by, and many a time has Mary been only too glad to lay hold of me, when her husband threw me ashore, after a long night's buffeting with the winds and waves. Even little Robin came behind her and gave fierce tugs at me, to "draw daddie home again!" Once I saved his father's life, so precious to all that little family, for he would have been sorely missed, while there were so many young mouths to feed. It so happened on the day I mean, that he had taken me out with him, not a usual thing unless it threatened stormy weather. But that morning, when he set out early, the sky was as blue and cloudless as on a bright summer's day, and there was hardly a puff of wind going. He put up his little sail, but it flapped almost lazily against the mast, and he and his "mate," as he called the old boatman (who was a sort of second partner in the boat and fishing gear), had to take to their oars and row to the fishing stakes and nets. They had taken a good stock of fish, and were thinking of getting back with the tide, when a sudden squall arose, beginning with "the little black cloud, as big as a man's hand," and ending in a fierce wind, that soon lashed the sea up into big mountains of waves. The fisherman, while prudently watching and carefully managing his sail, had stood on the seat of the boat, but a sudden gust coming as the wind chopped round to another point, he stepped hastily on the side, his foot slipped on the wet edge, and he overbalanced and fell into the raging waves. The old boatman, who was used to mishaps at sea, dropped the tiller, and rushed to his mate's assistance, and when he came to the surface threw an end of my rope to him. By the help of this and the oar, he managed with some difficulty, and after he had swam some time alongside, by my help to drag him on board again, though with no small danger of upsetting the frail skiff. They were some time in getting back, for the poor fellow was rather exhausted by his ducking and long swim in the water, and could not pull the oar with his usual skill. After that feat, I was still more valued, and invariably taken out in the boat in case of future accidents. "And now the summer came on, and with it the busiest time of the women of Rocksand, for most of them were hard at work early and late in their little patches of garden ground. The fishermen generally left all these matters to their wives, but my master was an industrious young man, and was not particular what he turned his hand to, so that he might often have been seen in the potato ground, hoeing and weeding, while his mates were lying on the shore watching the weather or smoking their pipes at the cottage doors. Just now, the crop of potatoes was being dug, and so John Pike and his wife were hard at work on their ridges. It was a long trudge from the village, and the weather was hot, so Mary had brought both her children with her. The youngest, about two years old, she had laid on an old shawl under the hedge, and there he sat propped up, and mighty busy over a basket of shells she had brought up for him to play with. The elder boy, about five, was trotting about very soberly, so that they did not watch him perhaps as keenly as they ought, and so he scrambled through a hole in the fence to the next field, and somehow managed to tumble into the old well there. The fright of his parents on hearing his shrieks may be imagined but not described, and they both rushed to the direction the sound came from. John soon saw what was the matter, and running back, snatched me hastily up, and ran to the side of the well. It was luckily an old one, long unused, and in consequence of the dry weather had but little water. It took John very few seconds to throw one end of me hastily but tightly round a tree close by, and let himself down. He got hold of the little fellow, and climbed out again with my help, laying him on the grass, when he got him out. For a long time they thought the child was dead; but they carried him home, and very luckily met the village doctor on their way, by whose skill, after long, long persevering efforts he was brought slowly to life. But for many a month after that he was ill from the combined effects of the shock, the bad air, the fright, and the water. Indeed, as the doctor said, he must have spent a cat's nine lives in getting through it at all. "It was a sad trial for poor John and his wife, although they bore it patiently enough, only thankful that their Robin was spared to them. But his mother had no time to give to her crops now, and John had more than he could manage with his fishing besides, and was not able to make it as profitable as usual. But all their poor neighbours were very kind to them, and would always bring in any bit of more tempting food than they usually had, for poor little Robin. He lay patient enough on his hard bed, and was very cheerful and bright when his illness would allow it. His father had delighted him beyond measure by tying me to the top of his bed, so that he could drag himself up into a sitting posture by my help, and he fancied himself quite a sailor, and used to lie there smiling, and talking in a low voice to himself about the ropes and rigging of a ship. Old Bill, the boatman, his father's mate, had made him a little boat, and while he was finishing it, he used to sit by poor Robin's bedside, and tell him all about the different parts of a ship, so that the child (who was naturally quick, and was now no doubt made more so by his illness, and long rest), soon became quite knowing about the different sails and ropes. "'This is a sloop, Bill, aint it,' he used to say, ''cause she's only got one mast. I should like to have a brig with two masts, and lots of sails!' "Poor little Robin! he was never well again, for, as it seemed afterwards, his spine had received some injury from the fall, which it never recovered. He only lived to be twelve years old, and during that time could never get about like other boys, and was continually laid up, especially in the cold winter season, for months together. But as his body became so weak, his mind seemed to grow instead, and he was more like a man than a child in his thoughts and ways, though _always_ patient. He improved on his old tutor's lessons too, and became quite a skilful boat maker, and turned out some very pretty little wooden models of ships and boats, all properly rigged, which his mother sold for him in the market at the town hard by. He was able by these means to add a little to the family fund, and though his gains were, of course, but small, it was better than being a helpless burthen upon his poor parents, and the light work whiled away many a weary hour of suffering and pain for him. Through all the years that had passed since his accident, I had been left still tied to the tester of his bed, and I still served to help him to drag up his feeble limbs, and to turn in bed, for he was very feeble, poor fellow. [Illustration: JACK IN JEOPARDY. _Page 188._] "But I was destined to play an important part once more, and for the last time in the family history. When Robin was about twelve years old, there came a very severe winter, which was sorely felt all through the little fishing village, and by none more heavily than the poor fisherman's family. The fishing turned out badly, and the previous potato crop having been a scanty one, they barely found enough to live upon. Poor Robin had been more than usually delicate and ailing during that winter, and suffered more than the rest from all the privations. The spring drew on drearily enough, cold, dull, and cheerless, so that there scarcely seemed a glimpse of hope of better days. One day when John was almost out of heart and hope, he set off on a long ramble, hoping by diligent climbing and search to find at any rate a few rare birds' nests in the crevices of the cliffs. Everything had gone worse even than usual, there had been no fish caught worth mentioning for many days, and John's poor old patched and mended nets were rapidly falling to pieces in spite of all his care, while he was not able to buy enough bread for the little household, not to mention material for new nets. So he climbed wearily on, and rounded rock after rock, meeting with but little success, till at last he had reached a long distance from home, and had climbed a good way up one of the tallest cliffs in the neighbourhood. He was rewarded by finding a couple of rare nests full of eggs, and with renewed hope he climbed eagerly on. He saw one just a little above him, but in a very awkward place to get at, for there was a cleft in the rock he must leap over to get at it. He had a steady head and a light foot, and took the leap without hesitation, when, to his horror, as he alighted on the other side a piece of the mouldering stone broke off, and fell rolling down with a loud noise, crumbling to pieces as it bounded down the sharp rocky face of the cliff. There was now too wide a space between for him to risk the return, and there he stood on a narrow ledge of rock, with the sharp peaks and the roaring sea beneath him, and a steep wall of cliff stretching up above his head. John Pike was a brave man, and had been used to face many a danger, but the blood seemed to leave his heart, and his breath almost stopped, as he understood the full peril of his position. It was indeed a serious one, and as he thought over the scant chance there was of any help or rescue, he covered his face with his hands and groaned in agony for those at home, more than for himself. And while he stood there, despairing of all human aid, many a prayer went up from his heart's core to God for help for the sake of his wife and poor Robin. And then he set to work with all his best energy to make his terrible position known. He had fortunately a handkerchief in his pocket, and this he tied to the walking-stick he always took with him on his climbing expeditions. He shouted at frequent intervals in the hope of making some one hear, and at last, to his great joy, he espied a little figure below on the distant beach! It was a poor shrimper, with her nets on her back, returning home, and she saw at a glance how the case stood, and hastened at once to the village to give an alarm. In a shorter space of time than could have been hoped even, John saw a number of his fellow fishermen hastening down the beach to him. He could not catch their words, but he understood from their signs that they found it would be impossible to get him down again, and so they were going to mount the cliff, and try and get at him that way. As they passed the village on their way to the top of the cliff, poor Mary rushed out wildly to them, for she had by accident heard the truth, anxiously as her kind neighbours had tried to prevent it. They hastily told her their plans, and asked her for the longest ropes she had, as they would want all they could get. She hurriedly dragged me down, and rushed after them, for, as she said, she could not stay at home, while her husband was in such peril, and she must see the worst with her own eyes. When they reached the top of the cliff, the fishermen hastily rigged up a sort of rude windlass, and knotting the lengths of rope firmly together, they succeeded in making a line long enough to reach him, and firm enough to bear him. It was an anxious time, while they gradually drew him up the steep face of the cliff. They did not dare to pull quickly, for fear he should be dashed against the rock and lose his hold, and they were also afraid of grazing the rope against the jagged rocks. But at last, with great care, and by his own prudent management and skill in guiding the rope, he was landed safely on the top of the cliff. Poor Mary was so overjoyed at his escape, that when they all turned to go home, and were tying up the rope again, she caught me up, and declared she should value me to her dying day. Strangely enough, I was the only rope that was damaged of all, for I had been chafed a good deal against the rock, and in one place was nearly cut through. For a long while after Mary shuddered so at the sight of that piece of me, that at last Robin, who had regained possession of me, cut me through. The longer piece was kept for the boat, and the shorter length you now behold was tied up again for poor Robin's use as before. "There was not one in the village who did not heartily rejoice at John's rescue; and it almost seemed as if after that things had come to the worst, for they began to mend. There were more fish taken than had been known on that coast for many years, and the weather proved most fortunate for getting in the humble crops, so that John had some new nets at last; and the poor family had enough to eat. But better food and brighter days could not save poor Robin; the long winter had told too heavily upon him to enable him to rally again. By the time the blackberries were in flower on the top of the cliff, Robin had faded away, like their leaves, but very patient, very happy to the last. His mother had fancied him asleep, as he lay so quietly with one of my ends still held fast in his wasted fingers. His mother fretted so for him, and took his loss so sadly to heart, that it was pitiable to see her. The sight of his vacant bed, and the cord still hanging there, seemed to go like a knife to her heart; and therefore John took me away one day without her knowledge, and put me out of sight. "I was forgotten for many years, so many indeed, that when I next came to daylight I found everything strange and altered in the cottage. John and his wife, grown old and past work, had gone to live in another house, better sheltered from the wind, and one of their children, now married, had settled there instead. I was tossed about for a long while, for no one now living knew my real history, and had therefore little value for me, and indeed I was more especially held in dislike by the young ones, as affording them just that taste of "the rope's end" that they did not covet. "The end of my career was that of being tied round a box, when one of the daughters went to service, and left Rocksand, and thus I came to town. My life here had nothing remarkable in it; I was put to my present use one day when one of the young Spensers was taken with a passion for skipping. They declared I was heavier and better than all the smart skipping-ropes to be bought at the toy shop, and made such continual use of me, that I am really almost threadbare. But I was poked away in this cupboard on the occasion of some great nursery clearing, and here I have lived ever since." "How you must have regretted your freedom," said the Kite, in a sympathising tone; "I feel myself sometimes quite what I may call sky-sick! I would give all my tassels and fringes for one more good flight through the clear air. When I think of the bright sun, and the nice fleecy clouds, I am almost inclined to tumble to pieces for grief, to think I can't get out of this horrid, dusty stuffy hole of a toy cupboard, as they call it! A prison _I_ consider it, and a cruel one too!" "I _would_ give anything I could," sighed the old Skipping-rope, "for even one breath of the fresh salt sea breeze. I think of the dancing waves glittering in the sun, till I feel quite giddy. But it is no use repining, and after all, really this little break on the monotony of our existence is very pleasant." "It _is_ very pleasant," assented the Ball, "but I am afraid our time to-night at any rate grows very short, for it is almost dark, and that terrible old woman will be coming back. So with your leave, my friends, I will call upon the Humming Top for his story." [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER XIII. THE HUMMING TOP'S HISTORY. The Humming Top, who had begun to fear he should not be allowed a chance of speaking at all, and who felt just a little put out at coming so late in the list, gave himself a majestic twirl, and spun for a minute or two before he condescended to speak. At last, when he had reached a commanding position, he leaned gracefully back, and commenced his story in a very grand manner and air:-- "As I perceive, my friends, that your curiosity is more directed to our adventures in the world, than to our origin and construction, and as few of you have discoursed upon your native places and earliest histories, I will not trouble you with mine. Sufficient to the purpose is it that I made my first appearance in the world on a large stall in the Soho Bazaar, which was then in all its early glory. I was then, I may say, splendid in appearance, for I was painted in many brilliant hues, and there was no lack of gilding about me, so that when I was properly spun, I appeared like a gorgeous flower, all one mass of dazzling hues. Indeed, when the lady who superintended the stall took me out of the folds of silver paper in which I was carefully wrapped, she laughed, and said to her assistant, 'why surely this must be the King of the Humming Tops!' I was placed in a very prominent position among all the gay toys which adorned the counter, and I must say they were all exceedingly nice in their behaviour, and paid a great deal of respect to me. Many pleasant days I passed there with my companions, for I was of a rather high price, and those were dear times for articles of luxury and pleasure. We had no cheap twopenny and penny toys then, for it was long before Christmas trees became generally known in England. I have always regretted the inroads of those new comers, because they have introduced so many cheap toys--penny toys, indeed; fancy a whole stall devoted to penny toys!" "I must beg entirely to disagree with you," interrupted the Ball; "I for one most distinctly say, that I don't see why all these simple pleasures should be kept for rich children only. I am sure our friend, the Teapot, in the course of her story, gave us a very truthful description of the value of toys to the poor children." "If I may be allowed to speak again," said the Teapot, eagerly, "I would say with all my strength that I am glad of the cheapness of common toys. I am sure the Humming Top has never seen what I have; how should he, mixing up, as he has done, with only the better class of playthings? But if I were asked," continued the little motherly Teapot, getting quite warm on the subject--"if I were asked 'What was the good of toys?' I should reply, 'To please poor children.'" "I quite agree with you," remarked the Toy Kitchen; "and though, as I said before, I am not very clever at explaining my meaning, I should like to say a few words too. I have spent most of my life among the poor, as I have told you before, and I have often thought that whoever invented toys must have meant them first of all for the poor, more particularly the poor little children who live in great cities. Now, there is an old proverb, I often heard my old master repeat, that 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,' and he said it was the truest word ever spoken. And if the better-off children want a little play to liven up their days, when they are fed with plenty of good food, and live in pure air, their hardest work being book lessons, what must poor children do, who very often earn their very scanty living from the cradle almost? Our good friend, the Teapot, has told us how the sight of a halfpenny toy will bring such delight to little dim eyes, and skinny faces, as must be pleasant to see; so I for one say with all my might, 'Prosperity, and plenty of it, to the cheap toys!'" The Humming Top was quite disgusted with this long discussion, and pooh-poohed it all as very low; but the number of votes was against him, so with an offended roll round, he took up the thread of his story. "Well, there is no accounting for tastes, and so I will say no more, only that I have been brought up so entirely among people of the better classes, that I cannot say much on any other subject. I told you before that I lay for some time unsold, on account of the highness of my price, and during that time made acquaintance with many sets of companions,--dolls, boxes of soldiers, and various others. At last, to my great joy, I was selected by a lady for her little daughter, and taken home to a very nice large house in Russell Square. "Little Mary was an only child, and was therefore the idol of her parents; but, although she was much indulged, she was not by any means a spoiled child. Used as she had been from her cradle to the companionship of much older persons, she was a quiet, well-behaved little damsel enough. Her father and mother were not at all young, and having neither brothers nor sisters to play with, Mary naturally knew and felt little of the riotous gaiety of a child. The nursery was as tidy and as neatly arranged as any room in that handsome but formal house, and the _litter_ of playthings was not much known there in those days. Mary had one or two dolls, very smartly dressed, but the prim little damsel played with them in a sort of grave, old-fashioned, motherly way that had no childishness in it. Her books were kept on a small bookshelf hung up on purpose, and her toys were put away in orderly fashion in a drawer. "How happy I was! for I was used carefully and well, never flung violently about or used roughly, and my little mistress had a dainty way of spinning me that would have won the affection of the hardest and sternest of Humming Tops. During all the years I lived with her, I never saw her look untidy, or with a spot or soil on frock or pinafore, nor did I ever know her to be anything but placid and gentle, very happy but very grave. So it was no wonder her father and mother loved her so dearly, and lavished on her every comfort and pleasure that money could purchase. And she grew up to be a very sweet, quiet girl, the comfort of her old parents, and beloved more in her own home than anywhere else. She did not care for gaiety much, nor wish to go to many parties or plays, and even when she did, she was so modest and retiring in her manner that she was often passed over without much notice, and very few would have known her for the rich heiress that she was. And this of course, you know, was long after we had parted company. For, strange to say, she seemed to grow younger in some things, as she grew older in years, and when she was fifteen or sixteen, she looked more of a child than she did when she was really little. She had a simple, earnest way with her that was very pleasant, and she was fond of her old toys till she grew up. I don't mean to say she played with us then, but she valued us as the treasures of her childhood, her happy childhood, and put us carefully away as old friends. Indeed, as far as I am concerned, I may even date our intimate fellowship far later than this, for when she was a woman grown, she would often take me out in a sort of musing way, and say, 'Come, old Busy Bee, and give me a little of your humming?' She called me 'old Busy Bee,' you must know, as a sort of pet nickname. And you may be sure I put on my best waltzing powers, and hummed like twenty Dumbledores in a churn! And as she grew up she had plenty of suitors, and her parents wished her to go out sometimes to grand balls and parties, so that she was much admired and followed. I have often known her come home from one of these, and come into her room, and, throwing off her rich dress and ornaments, she would sit down by a little table and take me out and spin me in a sort of absent way. "'Busy Bee, there are plenty come wooing to little plain, quiet Mary; what shall she say, Busy Bee? Come, hum me an answer!' "And then I hummed away loudly, and told her that she was so good and sweet, that she was fit for any lord in the land. But she would always wilfully misunderstand me, and she would reply:-- "'You are right, Busy Bee! I must never leave the dear father and mother; if the king himself came a wooing, I would make him a low curtsey, Busy Bee, like this, and say, 'No, I thank your Majesty!'' "But at last a day came when the kind, loving old father was taken ill, and carried to his long home, and his faithful old wife did not very long survive him, and so poor Mary was left all alone. I say poor Mary, for though she had plenty of money, and houses, and dresses, and fine jewels, not to speak of hosts of busybody relations who were always looking her up, she had lost the tender love that had been her joy from infancy. And hers was one of those loving natures that are shaken to the very core of their hearts by these heavy sorrows, which break up all the firm foundations of a young life, and that however bravely they may be borne, as they were indeed in her case, poor dear, are long felt, and suffered. Our merry evening gossips had ceased for a long time, and indeed I had almost begun to fancy I was intended to be the inhabitant of the drawer for the rest of my life. An old Fan who had slipped in with us by accident, told me that Mary had been abroad for many months with an aunt of hers, and that she might not return for some time. One night, however, I heard an unusual bustle in the neighbourhood, and presently our drawer was pulled open by a hand whose touch thrilled me in a moment, for I knew it was that of my dear mistress. "'Poor old Busy Bee,' said she, softly, 'you and I have not hummed together for a long while, so come out of your hiding place, old friend, and hum away as pleasantly as you used to do!' "As you may suppose, I was not slow to obey the summons, and I was soon spinning and humming on the table before her, and telling her in my way how very glad I was to see her once more. But she did not listen to me this night, and even let me roll off the table more than once, holding me in one hand after she picked me up, and absently threading me without the key. "'Well, Busy Bee,' she said at last, softly, 'we are going a long, long journey, and I daresay shall not see the old house again for many, many years! I wonder if you will hum as well in India, Busy Bee, or whether the hot, sultry air there will cause you to be drowsy. But it does not matter whether it is hot or cold, so long as you are happy! Go back to night to your place in the drawer, and to-morrow you shall be packed carefully away in one of those grand new trunks Morris is so proud of and so busy over. You will have a trip on the deep, deep sea, and when you next come out you will perhaps see palm trees and black people! You will have to learn Hindostanee, Busy Bee, and forget all your English ways of humming.' "Then my mistress put me carefully back in the drawer, and I lost no time in telling the fan what delightful things were in store for us, and we both dropped asleep planning what we should do in India, though not before we had had a vehement quarrel, for the Fan gave herself such airs, and said we were going out entirely on her account, for that she had many relations in that country, and the heads of the family were called Punkahs, and were high in office there. But we were both doomed to disappointment, for time passed on, and we never came out of our drawer after all. We did not know any more until a long, long while afterwards, when we were routed out of the drawer by accident, by the old housekeeper. 'Bless my heart, Ann,' said she, 'dear Miss Mary, or, as I should say, Mrs. Warren, never took her poor little old treasures after all. I suppose Morris forgot to look in this drawer, for I know she cleared all the rest. I'll be bound how sorry she was when she unpacked at Calcutta, and missed them. If we get a chance, Maynard, we'll send these over to her, when another box goes.' "This was a terrible blow to us, to find that our dear young mistress had married and gone away to India without us. The fan was inconsolable, and led me such a life with her groans and sighs that I wished myself anywhere else, and could only hope old Mrs. Jones would be as good as her word and send us over. But she never did, and there we lay no doubt for many years almost untouched. From what I could find out from stray bits of news, the house was left in the charge of the old Aunt with whom Mary had lived after the death of her parents, and who now had two daughters living with her, both middle-aged women, and one of them a widow. So there were no young children in the house, and we never heard merry voices nor pattering feet, nor saw any little faces in the deserted room. I was always of a more quiet nature, and so I bore my long captivity better than the Fan did. She, poor frivolous, fluttering thing, could only lament over the balls and parties she had once known, and sigh over her imprisonment. "But the longest day must come to an end at last, and so ours did, for we were aroused from our lethargy by a little shrill voice, which cried, 'O Mamma, which is the drawer where the toys were kept?' "'Here, my darling,' answered a soft, low voice, which vibrated through every fibre of both the fan and myself, for we recognised the tones of our dear mistress once more. And then we saw her too, for the long-closed drawer was opened at last, and we beheld her, a slender, sweet-looking woman, with her little daughter, Ellen, by her side. We could have fancied from her size that our own little Mary was there again, but when she looked round, her sallow complexion, bright, restless eyes, and long dark hair, plainly bespoke the little Indian-born child. "'May I have all these for my very own, dear Mamma?' asked she, in her little eager voice. "'Yes, Nelly, you may if you like, on condition you take care of my poor old playthings, especially this Humming Top, which I used to call my Busy Bee, Nelly, when I was young. It was given to me when I was a little child; but then _I_ was very careful of _my_ toys, and put them away neatly when I had done with them, very unlike a little girl I know, but we won't mention names, who destroys her toys sadly.' "But Nelly was too busy over her fresh hoard to listen to any warnings, and for a little while she kept her word, and put us away when she had done playing with us. But this did not last long, for she was a careless child, _very_ different to her dear mother. I had been secretly hoping that my good mistress would take me under her especial charge again, and that I should see a little more of her. But I suppose she was too busied with her many cares and occupations now, and she had so long broken off all her old habits and ways of thinking, that she hardly seemed like the same. But you see she had been away all these years, and perhaps passed through many changes, and had lost these old memories to which we clung so fast. "As for Nelly, Oh! what a child she was, as different to her mother as night to day; noisy and active, restless and wild spirited, the old house echoed as it had not done for many generations. There was more untidiness, uproar, and trouble in one week now than had been seen in three years before. As for the poor old nursery, how Mrs. Warren could come in as calmly, and smile as she did, seeming pleased at all the disorder and her little girl's high spirits--_rudeness_, _we_ called it--we could never understand. The poor Fan used to wave mournfully at me sometimes with the few sticks she had left, and really I almost believe we half regretted our old quiet. Miss Nelly was more fond of the Fan than anything, and gave it plenty of employment, almost wearing it out in doing so; but she turned up her little pert nose at me, and called me a prosy old drone! Yes, actually, you may well be surprised, but after I had been spinning with all my might, and humming the best air I knew, she would push me roughly from her, and go off to something else. To be sure it was her way with everything, for she brought home a number of pretty Indian toys, all made of wood, and painted in very gay colours with beautiful varnish; but these she utterly despised and flung about. They would have been quite tip-top society at a bazaar or in a fancy fair, and the poor things felt their degradation keenly, only being foreigners, they could not make themselves so easily understood. But I could repeat such tales to you that they told me of their native country, and their makers!" [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER XIV. THE INTERRUPTION AND CONCLUSION. Just at this moment the Humming Top was suddenly interrupted by a violent, loud noise which checked his humming pretty quickly, and startled all the rest of the toys so much, that they rolled and rattled back into their shelter, the toy cupboard, as speedily as they could. "Vich of the painters is a coming to-morrow, Seusan, my child," said old Mrs. Jones, the charwoman, as she popped her head in at the door, and held up a tall dip in a tin candlestick to see if all was safe. "Well, I thought I'd a shet up these here windows," said she, "but I s'pose I didn't, and the wind must have blowed the cupboard door open, and sent these here old playthings all over the room. Come in, my dear, and just help me to put them in again, will ye?" And with Susan's help, old Mrs. Jones made a complete, clean sweep of all the poor dilapidated toys, huddled them roughly back into their cupboard, and shut the door, not only turning the button firmly, but locking it as well. "Them painter chaps," said Mrs. Jones, as she put the key in her great dimity pocket, "isn't to be trusted no ways. They're as likely to shy all them old playthings out o' winder as not, and then the poor children would miss 'em when they come home." And so the room was once more left to stillness and darkness for the night. The little mice came out and ran riot about the bare floor, and tried to get into the cupboard, but they could not manage it; and the crickets chirped loudly in the distant kitchen, for they were so used to Mrs. Jones, they did not mind her a bit. But the poor toys were really shut up again, and their holiday ended much quicker than they had expected. They heard the distant sounds of the workmen all over the house, and even heard them come into the nursery itself, but they saw nothing more. They could even hear the regular dabs and sweeps of the painter's brush, especially when he was at work on the door that shut them up so closely, and then afterwards they heard the paper hangers ripping off the old papers with a rushing noise, and scraping and sizing the walls for the new paper, but they never got out. Then the next sounds that greeted them, after a long interval, were the voices of Mr. Spenser and old Mrs. Jones. He had come to see how the house looked after the workmen had left, and she was showing him all over it. "The nursery looks very nice, sir," she said, as she opened the door, "the old dirty paper all gone, and new paint, you can hardly know it again. This here new paper, to my mind, with the trails of roses and jessamy, is the prettiest in the house!" "It looks very clean and bright certainly," replied Mr. Spenser, "but why don't you open this door too? You can't have too much air!" "This is only a cupboard, sir," answered Mrs. Jones. "There were a lot of old playthings left here, and I thought them painters might fling 'em about, so I just turned the key, sir, but I'm going to clean it right down to-morrow. I thought, sir, that may be, the young ladies and gentlemen might be put out if they found all their little things losed. But here's the key, sir, in my pocket, and now they're all off the premises, there's no need to keep it locked up." "Quite right, Mrs. Jones," said Mr. Spenser, "I'm very glad you had so much thought. I don't know how Nurse came to overlook this cupboard." "Why, there, she had such a deal to do with packing up all the things, sir," replied Mrs. Jones, "that t'aint to be wondered at, and its all safe enough to my certain knowledge;" and then, after a little fumbling, she unlocked the door, and threw it wide open, disclosing all the heap of old toys huddled up together. "Well this _is_ a queer collection!" said Mr. Spenser, laughing; "a regular museum of antediluvian playthings! Where on earth could they have come from? I don't remember seeing the children with any of these, even any time back! However, shut them up, Mrs. Jones, till the children come home, and then we'll enquire into the matter!" Again was the door shut, and the Toys consigned once more to quiet and darkness, but this time only the button was turned, and not the key, so they slumbered peacefully enough and with the hope of freedom before them. And next morning if they had not a holiday to themselves, they had at any rate a little fresh air and sunshine. They were all turned out on the floor, while Mrs. Jones brought her pail and scrubbing brush, and gave the cupboard one of her "good cleans," as she called them. And when it was all thoroughly dry, which she had taken care to hasten by setting the windows and doors open, she came back and began to replace the Toys. "Now I've cleaned the cupboard, I s'pose I'm bound to tidy up the playthings," said she to herself; "anyhow I'll dust 'em a bit." How they all quaked as they came under her hands, for she did dust them with a vengeance! She rubbed and scrubbed them with an old piece of tea cloth, she tugged asunder the Kite and the Skipping-rope in a lively manner, that ended in the loss of half his long tail and much of his fringe, she shook the dust out of the old Doll, and almost all the little life and bran she had left with it; she mixed up the Tea-things and Marbles in a bowl of cold water, and then dry rubbed them with a hard duster; she bumped the Ball, she flapped the Toy Kitchen, she rubbed down the Rocking Horse till his last leg fell off; in short she cleaned them all, up and down, till they hardly knew whether they were wood or tin! She finished up by arranging them all after her own fancy on the shelf of the cupboard. "Well really," said she, taking a step backward to survey the general effect, "it looks almost as nice as a toy shop!" And in the pride of her heart at her own work, she left the door ajar, that it might not be lost upon the family. And by-and-bye the housemaid and cook returned from their holiday, and they set to work and unpacked all the furniture out of the lumber room and replaced each article in its proper position. And the carpenter came and nailed down the carpets and put up the curtains, and the work proceeded fast and merrily, for they were all expected home the next evening. So the Toys heard and saw more life around them than they had done for years, but they were not able to resume their gossips, for there were people in and out the whole day; and even by night they were not alone, for the cook slept in the room on a hasty-shake down bed, so as to be able to get every other room settled. And when the evening came, the arrival of the family was soon made known by the noisy bustle of the children and the clatter all over the house. The mice trembled with fear behind the wainscots, and the crickets shrunk back into their farthest holes, for they understood well enough that their reign was over for the present. As for the Toys, they rather rejoiced than otherwise, for they had been in their time used to human companionship, and after their lonely captivity, were not sorry to welcome it once again. And as for the children, they were boiling over with wild spirits and merriment at their return to such a pleasant, bright home. They rambled all over the house, and held solemn councils in each room as to the new paper and paint, and were altogether thoroughly happy. Their long visit by the seaside had done them a world of good, for the fresh salt breezes had seemed to send new strength to every fibre of their bodies and rosy colour to their cheeks, although the sun had done his part so well, that they were tanned of a healthy brown as well as red. Indeed, as Frank said, they had all had a coat of paint too, only that it was of a light mahogany colour! When Miss Watson came next morning, she was so hugged, and welcomed, and talked to eagerly by all three at once, that after enduring it patiently for a little while, she laughed gaily, and said:-- "My dears, I really must say to you, as the French king did to his courtiers and the donkey, when they all deafened him with their clamour, 'one at a time, gentlemen, if you please!' for while Celia prattles in one ear, and Florry gabbles in the other, and while Frank dances before me and shouts into both, I am quite unable to understand one word from either. You are not more rejoiced to see me than I am to welcome you all back, especially my dear Celia," said Miss Watson, as she affectionately drew Celia close to her and kissed her, "for I see I have been a true prophet, and that you have found the roses I promised you. So I think, as this morning evidently is not likely to be spent in lessons, I must take you one at a time and hear all you have to tell me, only remember, gentlemen, it must be one at a time!" They all laughed heartily, and promised to comply with her desire, and so, as Frank said he could not keep his word if he stayed there, for he should be sure to begin telling her some of his adventures, he went off to the garden to see how that was getting on, and whether the scarlet runners in his little plot bid fair to give him one dish of beans that year. Florry was so eager to talk to Miss Watson, and so full of chatter, that by common consent she was banished to the nursery, where she made a descent upon the open toy cupboard, and routed them all about till they hardly knew what had come upon them. Meanwhile Miss Watson and Celia had a very pleasant chat upon all that had happened during the holidays. And presently Mrs. Spenser came in, and greeted Miss Watson heartily. "It does seem so good to be at home again," she said. "We have enjoyed our trip immensely, and the young folks have benefited by it so much that I quite rejoice in it. Don't you think Celia is looking blooming again, Miss Watson. You were quite right in your predictions; the nice rambles and drives on the beach, and a fair amount of sea bathing, have indeed brought back her rosy cheeks. And Frank is all the better for it too, so I think the change will quite set him up before he goes to Westminster. And I don't know whether they told you that dear Harry came to us from Winchester, and was with us the whole time, which was a great treat, especially to me; and, dear boy, he enjoyed it so much. He is grown such a fine fellow, Miss Watson, you would hardly know your old pupil, and he is now gone to spend the rest of his vacation with his uncle Henry, in the Isle of Man." "I am sure it has done you all good," replied Miss Watson, "but I must confess, my dear Mrs. Spenser, the change for the better in yourself seems to me the best of all. You were looking so worn and thin when I last saw you, that I observed to my sister I thought _you_ were the person who needed change most!" "I believe I did," answered Mrs. Spenser, smiling; "I had been feeling far from strong for a long while, so that the rest and freedom from care has been a real holiday to me. But I _am_ so glad to get home once more, indeed, I believe one of the great blessings in going away lies in the pleasure of coming back; and all looks so fresh and bright, it is like a new house!" "Mamma, Mamma," cried Florry, eagerly, "we have found all the old toys we thought we had lost! There was a cupboard in the nursery, which Nurse says she had lost the key of for a long while--and she thought it was empty. Do come and see, Celia; there's your old doll, and the skipping-rope, and all Harry's marbles, besides the big kite, and such a lot of things." "Oh!" said Celia, clapping her hands and dancing round the room, "it's like Ali Baba's hoard of riches, and Frank says it's a regular treasure of Toys!" [Illustration] WERTHEIMER, LEA AND CO., PRINTERS, FINSBURY CIRCUS. Transcriber's notes: 1. Extensive normalisation of " (used for direct speech) and ' (used for speech-within-speech). 2. Corrected "could'nt" to "couldn't". 3. Replaced "roley poley" with "roley-poley" for consistency. 4. Corrected "surburban" to "suburban". 5. Corrected "I can, myself remember" to "I can myself remember" (superfluous comma). 6. Corrected "and done her hair." to "and done her hair?" (? missing in original) 7. Corrected "usually termed 'Jean'" to "usually termed 'Jean,'" (comma missing in original) 8. Corrected "lovedher" to "loved her". 9. Corrected "wont" to "won't". 10. Corrected "the fellow to he" to "the fellow to ye". 11. Corrected "Mrs. Spencer's" to "Mrs. Spenser's" (typo 3x). 12. Corrected "The Story of the Leaden Tea-things" (ToC) to "The Fate of the Leaden Tea-things" (used in text). 13. Corrected "The Toy Kitchen and its Maker" (ToC) to "The Toy Kitchen; and its Maker" (used in text). 14. Corrected "pantomine" to "pantomime" (typo). 15. Corrected "belonging" to "belonged" (typo). 16. Corrected "is'nt" to "isn't". 17. Corrected "such a lot of things. Oh!" to "" such a lot of things." "Oh!" (change of speaker). 18. Changed for consistency: playbox to play-box, kindhearted to kind-hearted, goodnatured to good-natured, "penn'orth" to "pennorth". 19. Corrected "drivin" to "drivin'". 20. Corrected "hav'nt" to "haven't". 
34467	----	IN CAMP WITH A TIN SOLDIER. IN CAMP WITH A TIN SOLDIER BY JOHN KENDRICK BANGS ILLUSTRATED BY E. M. ASHE [Illustration] NEW YORK R. H. RUSSELL & SON MDCCCXCII COPYRIGHT, 1892. BY JOHN KENDRICK BANGS. TO RUSSELL. CHAPTER I. THE START. "Br-r-r-rub-a-dub-dub! Br-r-r-rub-a-dub-a-dub-dub! Br-r-r-rub-adub-dub-a-dub-dub-a-dub-dub!" "What's that?" cried Jimmieboy, rising from his pillow on the nursery couch, and looking about him, his eyes wide open with astonishment. "What's what?" asked mamma, who was sitting near at hand, knitting a pair of socks for a small boy she knew who would shortly want them to keep his feet warm when he went off coasting with his papa. "I thought I heard soldiers going by," returned Jimmieboy, climbing up on the window-sill and gazing anxiously up and down the street. "There were drums playing." "I didn't hear them," said mamma. "I guess you imagined it. Better lie down again, Jimmieboy, and rest. You will be very tired when papa gets home, and you know if you are tired you'll have to go to bed instead of taking supper with him, and that would be too bad on his birthday." "Is papa really going to have a birthday to-day?" queried the little fellow. "And a cake with candles in it?" "Yes," answered mamma. "Two cakes with candles on them, I think," she added. "What's he to have two cakes for? I had only one," said Jimmieboy. "One cake wouldn't be big enough to hold all the candles," mamma answered. "You see, papa is a few years older than you are--almost six times as old to-day, and if he has a candle for every year, he'll have to have two cakes to hold them all." "Is papa six years old to-day?" asked Jimmieboy, resuming his recumbent position on the pillow. "Oh, indeed, yes, he's thirty," said mamma. "How many is thirty?" asked Jimmieboy. "Never mind, dearest," returned mamma, giving Jimmieboy a kiss. "Don't you bother about that. Just close those little peepers and go to sleep." So Jimmieboy closed his eyes and lay very still for a few minutes. He was not sorry to do it, either, because he really was quite sleepy. He ought to have had his nap before luncheon, but his mamma had been so busy all the morning, making ready for his papa's birthday dinner, that she had forgotten to call him in from the playground, where he was so absorbed in the glorious sport of seesawing with his little friend from across the way that he never even thought of his nap. As many as five minutes must have slipped by before Jimmieboy opened his eyes again, and I doubt if he would have done so even then had he not heard repeated the unmistakable sounds of drums. "I did hear 'em that time, mamma," he cried, starting up again and winking very hard, for the sand-man had left nearly a pint of sand in Jimmieboy's eyes. "I heard 'em plain as could be." To this second statement of Jimmieboy's that he heard soldiers going by somewhere, there was no answer, for there was no one in the room to give him one. His mamma, supposing that he had finally fallen asleep, had tiptoed out of the room and was now down stairs, so that the little fellow found himself alone. As a rule he did not like to be alone, although he knew of no greater delight than that of conversing with himself, and he was on the point of running to the door to call to his mother to return, when his attention was arrested by some very curious goings-on in a favorite picture of his that hung directly over the fire-place. This picture was not, under ordinary circumstances, what any one would call a lively picture--in fact, it was usually a very quiet one, representing a country lane shaded on either side by great oak-trees that towered up into the sky, their branches overhanging the road so as to form a leafy arch, through which only an occasional ray of the sun ever found its way. From one end to the other of this beautiful avenue there were no signs of life, save those which were presented by the green leaves of the trees themselves, and the purling brook, bordered by grasses and mosses, that was visible a short distance in; no houses or cows or men or children were there in sight. Indeed, had it not been for a faint glimmering of sunlight at the far end of the road, some persons might have thought it a rather gloomy scene, and I am not sure but that even Jimmieboy, had he not wondered what there could be beyond the forest, and around the turn which the road took at that other end, would have found the picture a little depressing. It was his interest in what might possibly lie beyond the point at which the picture seemed to stop that had made it so great a favorite with him, and he had frequently expressed a desire to take a stroll along that road, to fish in the little stream, and to explore the hidden country around the turn. So great was his interest in it at one time, that Jimmieboy's papa, who was a great person for finding out things, promised to write to the man who had painted the picture and ask him all about the unseen land, so that his little son's curiosity might be satisfied, a promise which he must have kept, for some days later, on his return from business, he took a piece of paper from his pocket and gave it to Jimmieboy, saying that there was the artist's answer. Jimmieboy couldn't read it, of course, because at that time he had not even learned his letters, so he got his papa to do it for him, and they made the pleasing discovery that the artist was a poet as well as a painter, for the answer was all in rhyme. If I remember rightly, this is the way it read: AROUND THE TURN. Around the turn are kings and queens; Around the turn are dogs and cats; Around the turn are pease and beans, And handsome light blue derby hats. Around the turn are grizzly bears; Around the turn are hills and dales; Around the turn are mice and hares, And cream and milk in wooden pails. Indeed, you'll find there horses, pigs, Great seas and cities you'll discern; All things, in fact, including figs, For all the world lies round the turn. This explanation was quite satisfactory to Jimmieboy, although he was a little fearful as to what might happen if the grizzly bears should take it into their heads to come down into the nursery and hug him, which was certainly not an unlikely thing for them to do, for the mice had come--he had seen them himself--and his mamma had often said that he was a most huggable little fellow. Now there was undoubtedly some sign of life down the road, for Jimmieboy could see it with his own eyes. There was something moving there, and that something was dressed in gay colors, and in front of it was something else that shone brightly as an occasional ray of the sun shimmered through the trees and glistened upon it. In an instant all thought of his mamma had flown from his mind, so absorbed was he by the startling discovery he had made up there in the picture. To turn back from the door and walk over to the fire-place was the work of a moment, and to climb up on the fender and gaze into the picture occupied hardly more than another moment, and then Jimmieboy saw what it was that was moving down the road, and with delighted ears heard also what that other thing was that preceded the moving thing. The first thing was a company of tin soldiers marching in perfect time, their colors flying and the captain on horseback; and the other thing in front was a full brass band, discoursing a most inspiring military march in a fashion that set Jimmieboy strutting about the nursery like a general. As the little fellow strode around the room his step was suddenly arrested by a voice immediately at his feet. "Hi, there, Jimmieboy!" it said. "Please be careful where you are walking. You nearly stepped on me that time." Jimmieboy stopped short and looked down upon the floor. "Hello!" he said. "What are you doing there, colonel?"--for it was none other than the colonel of the tin soldiers himself who had thus requested him to look out where he stepped. "There's trouble on hand," said the colonel, climbing up on to a footstool so as to be nearer Jimmieboy's ear, for he did not wish to alarm everybody by shouting out the dreadful news he had to impart. Jimmieboy's mamma, for instance, was a timid little woman, and she would have been very much frightened if she had known what had happened. "There's a great deal of trouble on hand," the colonel repeated. "The Noah in your ark fell asleep last night before the animals had gone to bed, and while he was napping, the Parallelopipedon got loose, ate up the gingerbread monkey and four peppermint elephants, and escaped out of the back window to the woods. Noah didn't find it out until an hour ago, when he went to feed the elephants, and immediately he made the discovery word came from the Pannikins, who live around the turn there in the woods, that the Parallelopipedon had eaten the roof off their house, and was at the time the letter was written engaged in whittling down the fences with a jackknife, and rolling all the pumpkins down the mountainside into Tiddledywinkland, and ruining the whole country. We have got to capture that animal before breakfast. If we don't, there's no telling what may happen. He might even go so far as to come back, and that would be horrible." "I don't think I remember the Parawelopipedon," said Jimmieboy, pronouncing the animal's name with some difficulty. "What kind of an animal was that?" "Oh, he's an awful animal," returned the colonel. "I don't blame you for not remembering him, though, because he is a hard animal to remember. He is the only animal they had like him in the ark. They couldn't find two of his sort, and I rather guess they are glad they couldn't, because his appetite is simply dreadful, and the things he eats are most embarrassing. He's the one your papa was telling you about last night before you went to bed. Don't you remember the rhyme he told you--beginning this way: 'The Parallelopipedon I do not like, because He has so many, many sides, And ninety-seven claws'?" "Oh, yes," replied Jimmieboy. "He is the same animal that---- 'Hasn't got a bit of sense, Or feather to his name; No eye, no ear with which to hear, But gets there just the same.'" "That's it! that's it!" cried the colonel. "And don't you remember, 'There's not a thing he will not eat, From pie to sealing-wax, Although he shows a preference for Red bricks and carpet tacks'?" "Yes, I remember that very well now," said Jimmieboy. "Wasn't there a verse about his color, too? Didn't it say: 'His color is a fearful one-- A combination hue Of yellow, green, and purple, mixed With solferino blue'?" "No; that was the Parallelogram," replied the colonel. "A Parallelopipedon is six times as bad as a Parallelogram. His color has a verse about it, though, that says: 'His hue is the most terrible That ever man has seen; 'Tis pink and saffron, blue and red, Mixed up with apple green'." "Dear me!" cried Jimmieboy. "And do you mean to say he's really got away?" "I do, indeed," returned the colonel. "Got away, and Noah is glad of it, because he doesn't have to feed him any more. But it'll never do to let him stay loose; he will do too much damage. Why, Jimmieboy, suppose he should overeat himself and die? He's the only one in the world, and we can't afford to lose an animal like that; besides, after he has ruined all the country around the turn, it's just as like as not he'll begin on the rest of the picture, and eat it all up, frame and all." "My!" cried the little boy. "That would be terrible, wouldn't it! You are right--he must be captured. I have half a mind to go along with you and help." "Half a mind isn't enough," retorted the colonel, shaking his head. "You can't go into the soldier business unless you have a whole mind--so good-by, Jimmieboy. I must be running along; and should I not return, as the poet says, 'Pray do not weep for me, my boy, But, as the years slip by, Drop all your pennies in a bank-- Brave soldiers never die; And some day I'll turn up again, Exalted, high in rank, And possibly I'll find some use For that small sum in bank.'" "I'm not going to stay here while you are fighting," said Jimmieboy, with a determined shake of his head. "I've got a whole mind to go with you, and a uniform to wear as well. But tell me, can I get up there on the road?" "Certainly," said the colonel. "I'll show you how, only put on your uniform first. They won't let you go unless you are suitably dressed. Little boys, with striped trousers like yours, would be out of place, but with a uniform such as yours is, with real gold on the cap and brass buttons on the coat--well, I'm not sure but what they'll elect you water-carrier, or general, or something equally important." So Jimmieboy hurried to his clothes-closet and quickly donned his military suit, and grasping his sword firmly by the hilt, cried out: "Ready!" "All right," said the colonel. "They are waiting for us. Close your eyes." Jimmieboy did as he was told. "One--two--three--eyes open!" cried the colonel. Again Jimmieboy did as he was ordered, although he couldn't see why he should obey the colonel, who up to this afternoon had been entirely subject to his orders. He opened his eyes at the command, and, much to his surprise, found himself standing in the middle of that wooded road in the picture, beneath the arching trees, the leaves of which rustled softly as a sweet perfumed breeze blew through the branches. About him on every side were groups of tin soldiers talking excitedly about the escape of the devastating Parallelopipedon, every man of them armed to the teeth and eager for the colonel's command to start off on the search expedition. The band was playing merrily under the trees up the road near the little brook, and back in the direction from which he had come, through the heavy gilt frame, Jimmieboy could see the nursery just as he had left it, while before him lay the turn at the end of the wood and the unknown country now soon to be explored. CHAPTER II. JIMMIEBOY RECEIVES HIS ORDERS. For a few moments Jimmieboy was so overcome by the extreme novelty of his position that he could do nothing but wander in and out among the trees, wondering if he really was himself, and whether the soldiers by whom he was surrounded were tin or creatures of flesh and blood. They certainly looked and acted like human beings, and they talked in a manner entirely different from what Jimmieboy was accustomed to expect from the little pieces of painted tin he had so often played with on the nursery floor, but he very soon learned that they were tin, and not made up, like himself, of bone and sinew. The manner of his discovery was this: One of the soldiers, in a very rash and fool-hardy fashion, tried to pick up a stone from the road to throw at a poor little zinc robin that was whistling in the trees above his head, and in bending over after the stone and then straightening himself up to take aim, he snapped himself into two distinct pieces--as indeed would any other tin soldier, however strong and well made, and of course Jimmieboy was then able to see that the band with whom he had for the moment cast his fortunes were nothing more nor less than bits of brittle tin, to whom in some mysterious way had come life. The boy was pained to note the destruction of the little man who had tried to throw the stone at the robin, because he was always sorry for everybody upon whom trouble had come, but he was not, on the whole, surprised at the soldier's plight, for the simple reason that he had been taught that boys who threw stones at the harmless little birds in the trees were naughty and worthy of punishment, and he could not see why a tin soldier should not be punished for doing what a small boy of right feelings would disdain to do. After he had made up his mind that his companions were really of tin, he became a bit fearful as to his own make-up, and the question that he now asked himself was, "Am I tin, too, or what?" He was not long in answering this question to his own satisfaction, for after bending his little fingers to and fro a dozen or more times, he was relieved to discover that he had not changed. The fingers did not snap off, as he had feared they might, and he was glad. Barely had Jimmieboy satisfied himself on this point when a handsomely dressed soldier, on a blue lead horse, came galloping up, and cried out so loud that his voice echoed through the tall trees of the forest: "Is General Jimmieboy here?" "Jimmieboy is here," answered the little fellow. "I'm Jimmieboy, but I am no general." "But you have on a general's uniform," said the soldier. "Have I?" queried Jimmieboy, with a glance at his clothes. "Well, if I have, it's because they are the only soldier clothes I own." "Well, I am very sorry," said the soldier on horseback, "but if you wear those clothes you've got to be general. It's a hard position to occupy, and of course you'd rather be a high-private or a member of the band, but as it is, there is no way out of it. If the clothes would fit any one else here, you might exchange with him; but they won't, I can tell that by looking at the yellow stripes on your trousers. The stripes alone are wider than any of our legs." "Oh!" responded Jimmieboy, "I don't mind being general. I'd just as lief be a general as not; I know how to wave a sword and march ahead of the procession." At this there was a roar of laughter from the soldiers. "How queer!" said one. "What an absurd idea!" cried another. "Where did he ever get such notions as that?" said a third. And then they all laughed again. "I am afraid," said the soldier on horseback, with a kindly smile which won Jimmieboy's heart, "that you do not understand what the duties of a general are in this country. We aren't bound down by the notions of you nursery people, who seem to think that all a general is good for is to be stood up in front of a cannon loaded with beans, and knocked over half a dozen times in the course of a battle. Have you ever read those lines of High-private Tinsel in his little book, 'Poems in Pewter,' in which he tells of the trials of a general of the tin soldiers?" "Of course I haven't," said Jimmieboy. "I can't read." "Just the man for a general, if he can't read," said one of the soldiers. "He'll never know what the newspapers say of him." "Well, I'll tell you the story," said the horseman, dismounting, and standing on a stump by the road-side to give better effect to the poem, which he recited as follows: "THE TIN SOLDIER GENERAL. I walked one day Along the way That leads from camp to city; And I espied At the road-side The hero of my ditty. His massive feet, In slippers neat, Were crossed in desperation; And from his eyes Salt tears did rise In awful exudation." "In what?" asked Jimmieboy, who was not quite used to grown-up words like exudation. "Quarts," replied the soldier, with a frown. "Don't interrupt. This poem isn't good for much unless it goes right through without a stop--like an express train." And then he resumed: "It filled my soul With horrid dole To see this wailing creature; How tears did sweep, And furrow deep, Along his nasal feature! My eyes grew dim To look at him, To see his tear-drops soiling His necktie bold, His trimmings gold, And all his rich clothes spoiling; And so I stopped, Beside him dropped, And quoth, 'Wilt tell me, mortal, Wherefore you sighed?' And he replied: 'Wilt I? Well, I shouldst chortle.'" "I don't know what chortle means," said Jimmieboy. "Neither do I," said the soldier. "But I guess the man who wrote the poem did, so it's all right, and we may safely go on to the next verse, which isn't very different in its verbiology--" "Its wha-a-at?" cried a dozen tin soldiers at once. "Gentlemen," said the declaiming soldier, severely, "there are some words in our language which no creature should be asked to utter more than once in a life-time, and that is one of them. I shall not endanger my oratorical welfare by speaking it again. Suffice it for me to say that if you want to use that word yourselves, you will find it in the dictionary somewhere under F, or Z, or Ph, or some other letter which I cannot at this moment recall. But the poem goes on to say: "Then as we sat The road-side at-- His tears a moment quelling-- In accents pale He told the tale Which I am also telling." "Dear me!" said a little green corporal at Jimmieboy's side. "Hasn't he begun the story yet?" "Yes, stupid," said a high-private. "Of course he has; but it's one of those stories that take a long time to begin, and never finish until the very end." "Oh yes, I know," said another. "It's a story like one I heard of the other day. You can lay it down whenever you want to, and be glad to have the chance." "That's it," said the high-private. "I wish you fellows would keep still," said the soldier who was reciting. "I ought to have been a quarter of the way through the first half of that poem by this time, and instead of that I'm only a sixteenth of the way through the first eighth." "You can't expect to go more than eight miles an hour," said the corporal, "even in poetry like that. It can't be done." "But what happened?" asked Jimmieboy, who was quite interested to hear the rest of the poem. "I'll have to tell you some other time, general," replied the soldier. "These tin warriors here haven't any manners. Some day, when you have time to spare, I'll tell you the rest of it, because I know you'll be glad to hear it." "Yes, general," put in the corporal, with a laugh. "Some day when you have a year to spare get him to tell you the first twenty-seventh of the next ninety-sixth of it. It won't take him more than eleven months and thirty-two days to do it." "Bah!" said the poetic soldier, mounting his horse and riding off with an angry flush on his cheek. "Some day, when I get promoted to the ranks, I'll get even with you." "Who is he, anyhow?" asked Jimmieboy, as the soldier rode off. "He's Major Blueface, and he has to look after the luggage," replied the corporal. "And as for that poem of his, Jimmieboy, I want to warn you. He has a printed copy of it that takes seven trunks to carry. He says it was written by High-private Tinsel, but that's all nonsense. He wrote it himself." "Then I like it all the better," said Jimmieboy. "I always like what people I like write." "There's no accounting for tastes," returned the corporal. "We don't any of us like the major. That's why we made him major. Looking after luggage is such awfully hard work, we didn't want to make any one else do it, and so we elected him." "Why don't you like him?" asked Jimmieboy. "He seems to me to be a very nice soldier." "That's just it," returned the corporal. "He's just the kind of soldier to please little boys like you, and he'd look perfectly splendid in a white and gold parlor like your mamma's, but in camp he's a terror. Keeps his boots shined up like a looking-glass; wears his Sunday uniform all the time; in fact, he has seven Sunday uniforms--one for each day of the week; and altogether he makes the rest of us feel so mean and cheap that we can't like him. He offered a prize once to the soldier who'd like him the best, and who do you think won it?" "I don't know," said Jimmieboy. "Who?" "He won it himself," retorted the corporal. "Nobody else tried. But you'd better go over to the colonel's quarters right away, Jimmieboy. You know he wants you." "He hasn't sent for me, has he?" asked the boy. "Of course he has. That's what the major came to tell you," answered the corporal. "But he didn't say so," returned Jimmieboy. "No, he never does what he is sent to do," explained the corporal. "That's how we know. If he had told you the colonel wanted you, we'd all know the colonel didn't want you. He's a queer bird, that major. He's so anxious to read his poem to somebody that he always forgets his orders, and when he does half remember what he is sent to do, we can tell what the orders are by what he doesn't say." "I shouldn't think he'd be a good man to look after the luggage if he forgets everything that way," said Jimmieboy. "That's just where he's great," returned the corporal. "For, don't you see, every man in the regiment wants to carry about three times as much luggage as he ought to, and the major makes it all right by forgetting two-thirds of it. Oh, there's no denying that he's one of the greatest luggage men there ever was; but you run along now, or the colonel may lose his temper, and that always delays things." "I'm not afraid of the colonel," said Jimmieboy, bravely. "Neither are we," said the corporal, in reply to this, "but we don't like to have our campaign delayed, and when the colonel loses his temper we have to wait and wait until he finds it again. Sometimes it takes him a whole week." So Jimmieboy, wondering more and more at the singular habits of the tin soldiers, ran off in search of the colonel, whom he found sitting by the brook-side fishing, and surrounded by his staff. "Hello!" said Jimmieboy, as he caught sight of the colonel. "Having any luck?" "Lots," said the colonel. "Been here only five minutes, and I've caught three hickory twigs, a piece of wire, and one of the finest colds in my head I ever had." "Good," said Jimmieboy, with a laugh. "But aren't there any fish there?" "Plenty of 'em," answered the colonel. "But they're all so small I'd have to throw 'em back if I caught 'em. They know that well enough, and so save me trouble by not biting. But I say, I suppose you know we can't start this expedition without ammunition?" "What's that?" queried Jimmieboy, to whom the word ammunition was entirely new. "Ammunition? Why, that's stuff to load our guns with," returned the colonel. "You must be a great general not to know that." "You must excuse me," said Jimmieboy, with a blush. "There is a great deal that I don't know. I'm only five years old, and papa hasn't had time to tell me everything yet." "Well, it's all right, anyhow," replied the colonel. "You'll learn a great deal in the next hundred years, so we won't criticise; but of course, you know, we can't go off without ammunition any more than a gun can. Now, as general of the forces, it is your duty to look about you and lay in the necessary supplies. For the guns we shall need about fourteen thousand rounds of preserved cherries, seventeen thousand rounds of pickled peaches for the cannon, and a hundred and sixty-two dozen cans of strawberry jam for me." Jimmieboy's eyes grew so round and large as he listened to these words that the major turned pale. "Then," continued the colonel, "we have to have powder and shell, of course. Perhaps four hundred and sixteen pounds of powdered sugar and ninety-seven barrels of shells with almonds in 'em would do for our purposes." "But--but what are we to do with all these things, and where am I to get them?" gasped Jimmieboy, beginning to be very sorry that he had accepted so important a position as that of general. "Do with 'em?" cried the colonel. "What'll we do with 'em? Why, capture the Parallelopipedon, of course. What did you suppose we'd do with 'em--throw them at canary-birds?" "You don't load guns with preserved cherries, do you?" asked the boy. "We don't, eh? Well, I just guess we do," returned the colonel. "And we load the cannon with pickled peaches, and to keep me from deserting and going over to the enemy, they keep me loaded to the muzzle with strawberry jam from the time I start until we get back." "You can't kill a Parawelopipedon with cherries and peaches, can you?" asked Jimmieboy. "Not quite, but nearly," said the colonel. "We never hit him with enough of them to kill him, but just try to coax him with 'em, don't you see? We don't do as you do in your country. We don't shoot the enemy with lead bullets, and try to kill him and make him unhappy. We try to coax him back by shooting sweetmeats at him, and if he won't be coaxed, we bombard him with pickled peaches until they make him sick, and then he has to surrender." "It must be pretty fine to be an enemy," said Jimmieboy, smacking his lips as he thought of being bombarded with sweetmeats. "It is," exclaimed the colonel, with enthusiasm. "It's so nice, that they have to do the right thing by me in the matter of jam to keep me from being an enemy myself." "But what do I get?" returned Jimmieboy, who couldn't see why it would not be pleasant for him to be an enemy, and get all these delightful things. "You? Why, you get the almonds and the powdered sugar and all the mince-pie you can eat--what more do you want?" said the colonel. "Nothing," gasped Jimmieboy, overcome by the prospect. "I wouldn't mind being a general for a million years at that rate." With which noble sentiment the little fellow touched his cap to the colonel, and set off, accompanied by a dozen soldiers, to find the cherries, the peaches, the almonds, and the powdered sugar. CHAPTER III. MAJOR BLUEFACE TRIES TO ASSIST. The expedition under Jimmieboy's command had hardly been under way a quarter of an hour when the youthful general realized that the colonel had not told him where the cherries and peaches and other necessary supplies were to be found. "Dear me," he said, stopping short in the road. "I don't know anything about this country, and I am sure I sha'n't be able to find all those good things--except in my mamma's pantry, and it would never do for me to take 'em from there. I might have to fight cook to get 'em, and that would be dreadful." "Yes, it would," said Major Blueface, riding up as Jimmieboy spoke these words. "It would be terribly awful, for if you should fight with her now, she wouldn't make you a single pancake or pie or custard or anything after you got back." "I'm glad you've come," said Jimmieboy, with a sigh of relief. "Perhaps you can tell me what I've got to do to get that ammu--that ammu--oh, that ammuknow, don't you?" "Ammunition?" suggested the major. "Yes, that's it," said Jimmieboy. "Could you tell me where to get it?" "I could; but, really," returned the major, "I'm very much afraid I'd better not, unless you'll promise not to pay any attention to what I say." "I don't see what good that would do," said Jimmieboy, a little surprised at the major's words. "What's the use of your saying anything, if I am not to pay any attention to you?" "I'll tell you if you'll sit down a moment," was the major's reply, upon which he and Jimmieboy sat down on a log at the road-side. The major then recited his story as follows: "THE MAJOR'S MISFORTUNE. When I was born, some years ago, The world was standing upside down; Pekin was off in Mexico, And Paris stood near Germantown. The moon likewise was out of gear. And shone most brilliantly by day; The while the sun did not appear Until the moon had gone away. Which was, you see, a very strange, Unhappy way of doing things, And people did not like the change, Save clods who took the rank of kings. For kings as well were going wrong, And 'stead of crowns wore beaver hats, While those once mean and poor grew strong; The dogs e'en ran from mice and rats. The Frenchman spoke the Spanish tongue, The Russian's words were Turkestan; And England's nerves were all unstrung By cockneys speaking Aryan. Schools went to boys, and billie-goats Drove children harnessed up to carts. The rivers flowed up hill, and oats Were fed to babies 'stead of tarts. With things in this shape was I born. The stars were topsy-turvy all, And hence it is my fate forlorn When things are short to call them tall; When thing are black to call them white; And if they're good to call them bad; To say 'tis day when it is night; To call an elephant a shad. And when I say that this is this, That it is that you'll surely know; For truth's a thing I always miss, And what I say is never so." "Poor fellow!" cried Jimmieboy. "How very unpleasant! Is that really a true story?" "No," returned the major, sadly. "It is not true." And then Jimmieboy knew that it was true, and he felt very sorry for the major. "Never mind, major," he said, tapping his companion affectionately on the shoulder. "I'll believe what you say if nobody else does." "Oh, don't, don't! I beg of you, don't!" cried the major, anxiously. "I wouldn't have you do that for all the world. If you did, it would get us into all sorts of trouble. If I had thought you'd do that, I'd never have told you the story." "Very well," said Jimmieboy, "then I won't. Only I should think you'd want to have somebody believe in you." "Oh, you can believe in me all you want," returned the major. "I'm one of the finest fellows in the world, and worthy of anybody's friendship--and if anybody ought to know, Jimmieboy, I'm the one, for I know myself intimately. I've known myself ever since I was a little bit of a boy, and I can tell you if there's any man in the world who has a noble character and a good conscience and a heart in the right place, I'm him. It's only what I say you mustn't believe in. Remember that, and we shall be all right." "All right," said Jimmieboy. "We'll do it that way. Now tell me what you don't know about finding preserved cherries and pickled peaches. We've got to lay in a very large supply of them, and I haven't the first idea how to get 'em." "H'm! What I don't know about 'em would take a long time to tell," returned the major, with a shake of his head, "because there's so much of it. In the first place, "I do not know If cherries grow On trees, or roofs, or rocks; Or if they come In cans--ho-hum!-- Or packed up in a box. Mayhap you'll find The proper kind Down where they sell red paint; And then, you see, Oh, dear! Ah, me! And then again you mayn't." "That appears to settle the cherries," said Jimmieboy, somewhat impatiently, for it did seem to him that the major was wasting a great deal of valuable time. "Oh, dear me, no!" ejaculated the major. "I could go on like that forever about cherries. For instance: "You might perchance Get some in France, And some in Germany; A crate or two In far Barboo, And some in Labradee." "Where's Labradee?" asked Jimmieboy. "It's Labrador," said the major, with a smile; "but Labradee rhymes better with Germany, and as long as you know I'm not telling the truth, and are not likely to go there, it doesn't make any difference if I change it a little." "That's so," said Jimmieboy, with a snicker. "But how about those peaches? Do you know anything that isn't so about them?" "Oh, yes, lots," said the major. "I know that when the peach is green, And growing on the tree, It's harder than a common bean, And yellow as can be. I know that if you eat a peach That's just a bit too young, A lesson strong the act will teach, And leave your nerves unstrung. And, furthermore, I know this fact: The crop, however hale In every year before 'tis packed, Doth never fail to fail." "That's very interesting," said Jimmieboy, when the major had recited these lines, "but it doesn't help me a bit. What I want to know is how the pickled peaches are to be found, and where." "Oh, that's it, is it?" said the major. "Well, it's easy enough to tell you that. First as to how you are to find them--this applies to huckleberries and daisies and fire-engines and everything else, just as well as it does to peaches, so you'd better listen. It's a very valuable thing to know. "The way to find a pickled peach, A cow, or piece of pumpkin pie, A simple lesson is to teach, As can be seen with half an eye. Look up the road and down the road, Look North and South and East and West. Let not a single episode Come in betwixt you and your quest. Search morning, night, and afternoon, From Monday until Saturday; By light of sun and that of moon, Nor mind the troubles in your way. And keep this up until you get The thing that you are looking for, And then, of course, you need not fret About the matter any more." "You are a great help," said Jimmieboy. "Don't mention it, my dear boy," replied the major, so pleased that he smiled and cracked some of the red enamel on his lips. "I like to be useful. It's almost as good as being youthful. In fact, to people who lisp and pronounce their esses as though they were teeaitches, it's quite the same. It was very easy to tell you how to find a pickled peach, but it's much harder to tell you where. In fact, I don't know that I can tell you where, but if I were not compelled to ignore the truth I should inform you at once that I haven't the slightest idea. But, of course, I can tell you where you might find them if they were there--which, of course, they aren't. For instance: "Pickled peaches might be found In the gold mines underground; Pickled peaches might be seen Rolling down the Bowling Green; Pickled peaches might spring up In a bed of custard cup; Pickled peaches might sprout forth From an ice-cake in the North; I have seen them in the South In a pickaninny's mouth; I have seen them in the West Hid inside a cowboy's vest; I have seen them in the East At a small boy's birthday feast; Maybe, too, a few you'd see In the land of the Chinee; And this statement broad I'll dare: You might find them anywhere." "Thank you," said Jimmieboy. "I feel easier now that I know all this. I don't know what I should have done if I hadn't met you, major." "It's very unkind of you to say so," said the major, very much pleased by Jimmieboy's appreciation. "Of course you know what I mean." "Yes," answered Jimmieboy, "I do. Now I'll tell you what I think. I think pickled peaches come in cans and bottles." "Bottles and cans, Bottles and cans, When a man marries it ruins his plans," quoted the major. "I got married once," he added, "but I became a bachelor again right off. My wife wrote better poetry than I could, and I couldn't stand that, you know. That's how I came to be a soldier." "That hasn't anything to do with the pickled peaches," said Jimmieboy, impatiently. "Now, unless I am very much mistaken, we can go to the grocery store and buy a few bottles." "Ho!" jeered the major. "What's the use of buying bottles when you're after pickled peaches? 'Of all the futile, futile things-- Remarked the Apogee-- That is as truly futilest As futilest can be.' You never heard my poem on the Apogee, did you, Jimmieboy?" "No. I never even heard of an Apogee. What is an Apogee, anyhow?" asked the boy. "To give definitions isn't a part of my bargain," answered the major. "I haven't the slightest idea what an Apogee is. He may be a bird with a whole file of unpaid bills, for all I know, but I wrote a poem about him once that made another poet so jealous that he purposely caught a bad cold and sneezed his head off; and I don't blame him either, because it was a magnificent thing in its way. I'll tell it to you. Listen: "THE APOGEE. The Apogee wept saline tears Into the saline sea, To overhear two mutineers Discuss their pedigree. Said he: Of all the futile, futile things That ever I did see. That is as truly futilest As futilest can be. He hied him thence to his hotel, And there it made him ill To hear a pretty damosel A bass song try to trill. Said he: Of all the futile, futile things-- To say it I am free-- That is about the futilest That ever I did see. He went from sea to mountain height, And there he heard a lad Of sixty-eight compare the sight To other views he'd had; And he Remarked: Of all the futile things That ever came to me, This is as futily futile As futile well can be. Then in disgust he went back home, His door-bell rang all day, But no one to the door did come: The butler'd gone away. Said he: This is the strangest, queerest world That ever I did see. It's two per cent. of earth, and nine- Ty-eight futility." "Isn't that elegant?" added the major, when he had finished. "It sounds well," said Jimmieboy. "But what does it mean? What's futile?" "Futile? What does futile mean?" said the major, slowly. "Why, it's--it's a word, you know, and sort of stands for 'what's the use.'" "Oh," replied Jimmieboy. "I see. To be futile means that you are wasting time, eh?" "That's it," said the major. "I'm glad you said it and not I, because that makes it true. If I'd said it, it wouldn't have been so." "Well, all I've got to say," said Jimmieboy, "is that if anybody ever came to me and asked me where he could find a futile person, I'd send him over to you. Here we've wasted nearly the whole afternoon and we haven't got a single thing. We haven't even talked of anything but peaches and cherries, and we've got to get jam and sugar and almonds yet." Here the major smiled. "It isn't any laughing matter," said Jimmieboy. "It's a very serious piece of business, in fact. Here's this Parawelopipedon going around ruining everything he can lay his claws on, and instead of helping me out of the fix I'm in, and starting the expedition off, you sit here and tell me about Apogees and other things I haven't time to hear about." "I was only smiling to show how sorry I was," said the major, apologetically. "I always smile when I am sad, And when I'm filled with glee A solitary tear-drop trick- Les down the cheek of me." "Oh, that's it," said Jimmieboy. "Well, let's stop fooling now and get those supplies." "All right," assented the major. "Where are the soldiers who accompanied you? We'll give 'em their orders, and you'll have the supplies in no time." "How's that?" queried Jimmieboy. "Why, don't you see," said the major, "that's the nice thing about being a general. If you have to do something you don't know how to do, you command your men to go and do it. That lifts the responsibility from your shoulders to theirs. They don't dare disobey, and there you are." "Good enough!" cried Jimmieboy, delighted to find so easy a way out of his troubles. "I'll give them their orders at once. I'll tell them to get the supplies. Will they surely do it?" "They'll have to, or be put in the guard-house," returned the major. "And they don't like that, you know, because the guard-house hasn't any walls, and it's awfully draughty. But, as I said before, where are the soldiers?" "Why!" said Jimmieboy, starting up and looking anxiously about him. "They've gone, haven't they?" "They seem to have," said the major, putting his hand over his eyes and gazing up and down the road, upon which no sign of Jimmieboy's command was visible. "You ordered them to halt when you sat down here, didn't you?" "No," said Jimmieboy, "I didn't." "Then that accounts for it," returned the major, with a scornful glance at Jimmieboy. "They've gone on. They couldn't halt without orders, and they must be eight miles from here by this time." "What'll happen?" asked the boy, anxiously. "What'll happen?" echoed the major. "Why, they'll march on forever unless you get word to them to halt. You are a gay general, you are." "But what's to be done?" asked Jimmieboy, growing tearful. "There are only two things you can do. The earth is round, and in a few years they'll pass this way again, and then you can tell them to stop. That's one thing you can do. The second is to despatch me on horseback to overtake and tell them to keep right on. They'll know what you mean, and they'll halt and wait until you come up." "That's the best plan," cried Jimmieboy, with a sigh of relief. "You hurry ahead and make them wait for me, and I'll come along as fast as I can." So the major mounted his horse and galloped away, leaving Jimmieboy alone in the road, trudging manfully ahead as fast as his small legs could carry him. [Illustration: THE PARALLELOPIPEDON AND THE MIRROR. PAGE 54.] CHAPTER IV. JIMMIEBOY MEETS THE ENEMY. As the noise made by the clattering hoofs of Major Blueface's horse grew fainter and fainter, and finally died away entirely in the distance, Jimmieboy was a little startled to hear something that sounded very like a hiss in the trees behind him. At first he thought it was the light breeze blowing through the branches, making the leaves rustle, but when it was repeated he stopped short in the road and glanced backward, grasping his sword as he did so. "Hello there!" he cried. "Who are you, and what do you want?" "Sh-sh-sh!" answered the mysterious something. "Don't talk so loud, general, the major may come back." "What if he does?" said Jimmieboy. "I rather think I wish he would. I don't know whether or not I'm big enough not to be afraid of you. Can't you come out of the bushes and let me see you?" "Not unless the major is out of sight," was the answer. "I can't stand the major; but you needn't be afraid of me. I wouldn't hurt you for all the world. I'm the enemy." "The what?" cried Jimmieboy, aghast. "I'm the enemy," replied the invisible object. "That's what I call myself when I'm with sensible people. Other people have a long name for me that I never could pronounce or spell. I'm the animal that got away." "Not the Parallelopipedon?" said Jimmieboy. "That's it! That's the name I can't pronounce," said the invisible animal. "I'm the Parallelandsoforth, and I've been trying to have an interview with you ever since I heard they'd made you general. The fact is, Jimmieboy, I am very anxious that you should succeed in capturing me, because I don't like it out here very much. The fences are the toughest eating I ever had, and I actually sprained my wisdom-tooth at breakfast this morning trying to bite a brown stone ball off the top of a gate post." "But if you feel that way," said Jimmieboy, somewhat surprised at this unusual occurrence, "why don't you surrender?" "Me?" cried the Parallelopipedon. "A Parallelandsoforth of my standing surrender right on the eve of a battle that means all the sweetmeats I can eat, and more too? I guess not." "I wish I could see you," said Jimmieboy, earnestly. "I don't like standing here talking to a wee little voice with nothing to him. Why don't you come out here where I can see you?" "It's for your good, Jimmieboy; that's why I stay in here. I am an awful spectacle. Why, it puts me all in a tremble just to look at myself; and if it affects me that way, just think how it would be with you." "I wouldn't be afraid," said Jimmieboy, bravely. "Yes, you would too," answered the Parallelopipedon. "You'd be so scared you couldn't run, I am so ugly. Didn't the major tell you that story about my reflection in the looking-glass?" "No," answered Jimmieboy. "He didn't say anything about it." "That's queer. The story is in rhyme, and the major always tells everybody all the poetry he knows," said the invisible enemy. "That's why I never go near him. He has only enough to last one year, and the second year he tells it all over again. I'm surprised he never told you about my reflection in the mirror, because it is one of his worst, and he always likes them better than the others." "I'll ask him to tell it to me next time I see him," said Jimmieboy, "unless you'll tell it to me now." "I'd just as lief tell you," said the Parallelopipedon. "Only you mustn't laugh or cry, because you haven't time to laugh, and generals never cry. This is the way it goes: "THE PARALLELOPIPEDON AND THE MIRROR. The Parallelopipedon so very ugly is, His own heart fills with terror when he looks upon his phiz. That's why he wears blue goggles--twenty pairs upon his nose, And never dares to show himself, no matter where he goes. One day when he was walking down a crowded village street, He looked into a little shop where stood a mirror neat. He saw his own reflection there as plain as plain could be; And said, 'I'd give four dollars if that really wasn't me.' And, strange to say, the figure in the mirror's silver face Was also filled with terror at the other's lack of grace; And this reflection trembled till it strangely came to pass The handsome mirror shivered to ten thousand bits of glass. To this tale there's a moral, and that moral briefly is: If you perchance are burdened with a terrifying phiz, Don't look into your mirror--'tis a fearful risk to take-- 'Tis certain sure to happen that the mirror it will break." "Well, if that's so, I guess I don't want to see you," said Jimmieboy. "I only like pretty things. But tell me; if all this is true, how did the major come to say it? I thought he couldn't tell the truth." "That's only as a rule. Rules have exceptions. For instance," explained the Parallelopipedon, "as a rule I can't pronounce my name, but in reciting that poem to you I did speak my name in the very first line--but if you only knew how it hurt me to do it! Oh dear me, how it hurt! Did you ever have a tooth pulled?" "Once," said Jimmieboy, wincing at the remembrance of his painful experience. "Well, pronouncing my name is to me worse than having all my teeth pulled and then put back again, and except when I get hold of a fine general like you I never make the sacrifice," said the Parallelopipedon. "But tell me, Jimmieboy, you are out after preserved cherries and pickled peaches, I understand?" "Yes," said Jimmieboy. "And powdered sugar, almonds, jam, and several other things that are large and elegant." "Well, just let me tell you one thing," said the Parallelopipedon, confidentially. "I'm so sick of cherries and peaches that I run every time I see them, and when I run there is no tin soldier or general of your size in the world that can catch me. Now what are we here for? I am here to be captured; you are here to capture me. To accomplish our various purposes we've got to begin right, and you might as well understand now as at any other time that you are beginning wrong." "I don't know what else to do," said Jimmieboy. "I'm obeying orders. The colonel told me to get those things, and I supposed I ought to get 'em." "It doesn't pay to suppose," said the Parallelopipedon. "Many a victory has been lost by a supposition. As that old idiot Major Blueface said once, when he tried to tell an untruth, and so hit the truth by mistake: 'Success always comes to The mortal who knows, And never to him who Does naught but suppose. For knowledge is certain, While hypothesees Oft drop defeat's curtain On great victories.'" "What are hypothesees?" asked Jimmieboy. "They are ifs in words of four syllables," said the Parallelopipedon, "and you want to steer clear of them as much as you can." "I'll try to," said Jimmieboy. "But how am I to get knowledge instead of hypotheseeses? I have to take what people tell me. I don't know everything." "Well, that's only natural," said the Parallelopipedon, kindly. "There are only two creatures about here that do know everything. They--between you and me--are me and myself. The others you meet here don't even begin to know everything, though they'll try to make you believe they do. Now I dare say that tin colonel of yours would try to make you believe that water is wet, and that fire is hot, and other things like that. Well, they are, but he doesn't know it. He only thinks it. He has put his hand into a pail of water and found out that it was wet, but he doesn't know why it is wet any more than he knows why fire is hot." "Do you?" queried Jimmieboy. "Certainly," returned the Parallelopipedon. "Water is wet because it is water, and fire is hot because it wouldn't be fire if it wasn't hot. Oh, it takes brains to know everything, Jimmieboy, and if there's one thing old Colonel Zinc hasn't got, it's brains. If you don't believe it, cut his head off some day and see for yourself. You won't find a whole brain in his head." "It must be nice to know everything," said Jimmieboy. "It's pretty nice," said the Parallelopipedon, cautiously. "But it's not always the nicest thing in the world. If you are off on a long journey, for instance, it's awfully hard work to carry all you know along with you. It has given me a headache many a time, I can tell you. Sometimes I wish I did like your papa, and kept all I know in books instead of in my head. It's a great deal better to do things that way; then, when you go travelling, and have to take what you know along with you, you can just pack it up in a trunk and make the railroad people carry it." "Do you know what's going to happen to-morrow and the next day?" asked Jimmieboy, gazing in rapt admiration at the spot whence the voice proceeded. "Yes, indeed. That's just where the great trouble comes in," answered the Parallelopipedon. "It isn't so much bother to know what has been--what everybody knows--but when you have to store up in your mind thousands and millions of things that aren't so now, but have got to be so some day, it's positively awful. Why, Jimmieboy," he said, impressively, "you'd be terrified if I told you what is going to be known by the time you go to school; it's awful to think of all the things you will have to learn then that aren't things yet, but are going to be within a year or two. I'm real sorry for the little boys who will live a hundred years from now, when I think of all the history they will have to learn when they go to school--history that isn't made yet. Just take the Presidents of the United States, for instance. In George Washington's time it didn't take a boy five seconds to learn the list of Presidents; but think of that list to-day! Why, there are twenty-five names on it now, and more to come. It gets harder every year. Now I--I know the names of all the Presidents there's ever going to be, and it would take me just eighteen million nine hundred and sixty-seven years, eleven months and twenty-six days, four hours and twenty-eight minutes to tell you all of them, and even then I wouldn't be half through." "Why, it's terrible," said Jimmieboy. "Yes, indeed it is," returned the Parallelopipedon. "You ought to be glad you are a little boy now instead of having to wait until then. The boys of the year 19,605,726,422 are going to have the hardest time in the world learning things, and I don't believe they'll get through going to school much before they're ninety years old." "I guess the colonel is glad he doesn't know all that," said Jimmieboy, "if it's so hard to carry it around with you." "Indeed he ought to be, if he isn't," ejaculated the Parallelopipedon. "There's no two ways about it; if he had the weight of one half of what I know on his shoulders, it would bend him in two and squash him into a piece of tin-foil." "Say," said Jimmieboy, after a moment's pause. "I heard my papa say he thought I might be President of the United States some day. If you know all the names of the Presidents that are to come, tell me, will I be?" "I don't remember any name like Jimmieboy on the list," said the Parallelopipedon; "but that doesn't prove anything. You might get elected on your last name. But don't let's talk about that--that's politics, and I don't like politics. What I want to know is, do you really want to capture me?" "Yes, I do," said Jimmieboy. "Then you'd better give up trying to get the peaches and cherries," said the Parallelopipedon, firmly. "I won't have 'em. You can shoot 'em at me at the rate of a can a minute for ninety-seven years, and I'll never surrender. I hate 'em." "But what am I to do, then?" queried the little general. "What must I do to capture you?" "Get something in the place of the cherries and peaches that I like, that's all. Very simple matter, that." "But I don't know what you like," said Jimmieboy. "I never took lunch with you." "No--and you never will," answered the Parallelopipedon. "And for a very good reason. I never eat lunch, breakfast, tea, or supper. I never eat anything but dinner, and I eat that four times a day." Jimmieboy laughed, half with mirth at the oddity of the Parallelopipedon's habit of eating, and half with the pleasure it gave him to think of what a delectable habit it was. Four dinners a day seemed to him to be the height of bliss, and he almost wished he too were a Parallelopipedon, that he might enjoy the same privilege. "Don't you ever eat between meals?" he asked, after a minute of silence. "Never," said the Parallelopipedon. "Never. There isn't time for it in the first place, and in the second there's never anything left between meals for me to eat. But if you had ever dined with me you'd know mighty well what I like, for I always have the same thing at every single dinner--two platefuls of each thing. It's a fine plan, that of having the same dishes at every dinner, day after day. Your stomach always knows what to expect, and is ready for it, so you don't get cholera morbus. If you want me to, I'll tell you what I always have, and what you must get me before you can coax me back." "Thank you," said Jimmieboy. "I'll be very much obliged." And then the Parallelopipedon recited the following delicious bill of fare for the young general. "THE PARALLELOPIPEDON'S DINNER. First bring on a spring mock-turtle Stuffed with chestnuts roasted through, Served in gravy; then a fertile Steaming bowl of oyster stew. Then about six dozen tartlets Full of huckleberry jam, Edges trimmed with juicy Bartletts-- Pears, these latter--then some ham. Follow these with cauliflower, Soaked in maple syrup sweet; Then an apple large and sour, And a rich red rosy beet. Then eight quarts of cream--vanilla Is the flavor I like best-- Acts sublimely as a chiller, Gives your fevered system rest. After this a pint of coffee, Forty jars of marmalade, And a pound of peanut toffee, Then a pumpkin pie--home-made. Top this off with pickled salmon, Cold roast beef, and eat it four Times each day, and ghastly famine Ne'er will enter at your door." "H'm! h'm! h'm!" cried Jimmieboy, dancing up and down, and clapping his hands with delight at the very thought of such a meal. "Do you mean to say that you eat that four times a day?" "Yes," said the Parallelopipedon, "I do. In fact, general, it is that that has made me what I am. I was originally a Parallelogram, and I ate that four times a day, and it kept doubling me up until I became six Parallelograms as I am to-day. Get me those things--enough of them to enable me to have 'em five times a day, and I surrender. Without them, I go on and stay escaped forever, and the longer I stay escaped, the worse it will be for these people who live about here, for I shall devastate the country. I shall chew up all the mowing-machines in Pictureland. I'll bite the smoke-stack off every railway engine I encounter, and throw it into the smoking car, where it really belongs. I'll drink all the water in the wells. I'll pull up all the cellars by the roots; I may even go so far as to run down into your nursery, and gnaw into the wire that holds this picture country upon the wall, and let it drop into the water pitcher. But, oh dear, there's the major coming down the road!" he added, in a tone of alarm. "I must go, or he'll insist on telling me a poem. But remember what I say, my boy, and beware! I'll do all I threaten to do if you don't do what I tell you. Good-by!" There was a slight rustling among the leaves, and the Parallelopipedon's voice died away as Major Blueface came galloping up astride of his panting, lather-covered steed. CHAPTER V. THE MAJOR RETURNS. "Well," said Jimmieboy, as the major dismounted, "did you catch up with them?" "No, I didn't," returned the major, evidently much excited. "I should have caught them but for a dreadful encounter I had up the road, for between you and me, Jimmieboy, I have had a terrible adventure since I saw you last, and the soldiers I went to order back have been destroyed to the very last man." "Dear me!" cried Jimmieboy. "I am glad I didn't go with you. What happened?" "I was attacked about four miles up the road by a tremendous sixty-pound Quandary, and I was nearly killed," said the major. "The soldiers had only got four and a half miles on their way, and hearing the disturbance and my cries for help they hastened to the rescue, and were simply an-ni-hi-lated, which is old English for all mashed to pieces." "But how did you escape?" said the boy. "Oh, I had a way, and it worked, that's all. I'm the safest soldier in the world, I am. You can capture me eight times a day, but I am always sure to escape," said the major, proudly. "But, my dear general, how is it that you do not tremble? Are you not aware that under the circumstances you ought to be a badly frightened warrior?" "I don't tremble, because I don't know whether you are telling the truth or not," said Jimmieboy. "Besides, I never saw a Quandary, and so I can't tell how terrible he is. Is he dreadful?" "He's more than dreadful," returned the major. "No word of two syllables expresses his dreadfulness. He is simply calamitous; and if there was a longer word in the dictionary applying to his case I'd use it, if it took all my front teeth out to say it." "That's all very well," said Jimmieboy, "but you can't make me shiver with fear by saying he's calamitous. What does he do? Bite?" "Bite? Well, I guess not," answered the major, scornfully. "He doesn't need to bite. Would you bite an apple if you could swallow it whole?" "I think I would," said Jimmieboy. "How would I get the juice of it if I didn't?" "You'd get just as much juice whether you bit it or not," snapped the major, who did not at all like Jimmieboy's coolness under the circumstances. "The Quandary doesn't bite anything, because his mouth is so large there isn't anything he can bite. He just takes you as you stand, gives a great gulp, and there you are." "Where?" queried Jimmieboy, who could not quite follow the major. "Wherever you happen to be, of course," said the major, gruffly. "You aren't a very sharp general, it seems to me. You don't seem to be able to see through a hole with a millstone in it. I have to explain everything to you just as if you were a baby or a school-teacher, but I can just tell you that if you ever were attacked by a Quandary you wouldn't like it much, and if he ever swallowed you you'd be a mighty lonesome general for a little while. You'd be a regular land Jonah." "Don't get mad at me, major," said Jimmieboy, clapping his companion on the back. "I'll be frightened if you want me to. Br-rr-rrr-rrr-rrrrr! There, is that the kind of a tremble you want me to have?" "Thank you, yes," the major replied, his face clearing and his smile returning. "I am very much obliged; and now to show you that you haven't made any mistake in getting frightened, I'll tell you what a Quandary is, and what he has done, and how I managed to escape; and as poetry is the easiest method for me to express my thoughts with, I'll put it all in rhyme. "THE QUANDARY. He is a fearful animal, That quaint old Quandary-- A cousin of the tragical And whimsically magical Dilemma-bird is he. He has an eye that's wonderful-- 'Tis like a public school: It has a thousand dutiful, Though scarcely any beautiful, Small pupils 'neath its rule. And every pupil--marvelous Indeed, sir, to relate-- When man becomes contiguous, Makes certainty ambiguous-- Which is unfortunate. For when this ambiguity Has seized upon his prize, Whate'er man tries, to do it he Will find when he is through it, he Had best done otherwise. And hence it is this animal, Of which I sing my song, This creature reprehensible, Is held by persons sensible Responsible for wrong. So if a friend or foe you see Departing from his aim, Be full, I pray, of charity-- He may have met the Quandary, And so is not to blame." "That is very pretty," said Jimmieboy, as the major finished; "but, do you know, major, I don't understand one word of it." Much to Jimmieboy's surprise the major was pleased at this remark. "Thank you, Jimmieboy," he said. "That proves that I am a true poet. I think there's some meaning in those lines, but it's so long since I wrote them that I have forgotten exactly what I did mean, and it's that very thing that makes a poem out of the verses. Poetry is nothing but riddles in rhyme. You have to guess what is meant by the lines, and the harder that is, the greater the poem." "But I don't see much use of it," said Jimmieboy. "Riddles are fun sometimes, but poetry isn't." "That's very true," said the major. "But poetry has its uses. If it wasn't for poetry, the poets couldn't make a living, or if they did, they'd have to go into some other business, and most other businesses are crowded as it is." "Do people ever make a living writing poetry?" Jimmieboy asked. "Once in a while. I knew a man once who did. He called himself the Grocer-Poet, because he was a grocer in the day-time and a poet at night. He sold every poem he wrote, too," said the major. "To a newspaper?" asked Jimmieboy. "Oh, no," said the major. "He bought 'em from himself. When he'd wake up in the morning as a grocer he'd read what he had written the night before as a poet, and then he'd buy the verses from himself and throw them into the fire. But to return to the Quandary. He has awfully bad manners. He stares you right in the face whenever he meets you, and no matter what you want to do he tries to force you to do the other thing. The only way to escape him is not to do anything, but go back where you started from, and begin all over again." "Where did you meet him?" asked Jimmieboy. "Where? Why, where he's always met, of course, at a fork in the road. That's where he gets in his fine work," said the major. "Suppose, for instance, you were out for a stroll, and you thought you'd like to go--well, say to Calcutta. You stroll along, and you stroll along, and you stroll along. Then you come to a place where the road splits, one half going to the right and one to the left, or, if you don't like right and left, we'll say one going to Calcutta by way of Cape Horn, and the other going to Calcutta by way of Greenland's icy mountains." "It's a long walk either way," said Jimmieboy. "Yes. It's a walk that isn't often taken," assented the major, with a knowing shake of the head. "But at the fork of this road the Quandary attacks you. He stops you and says, 'Which way are you going to Calcutta?' and you say, 'Well, as it is a warm day, I think I'll go by way of Greenland's icy mountains.' 'No,' says the Quandary, 'you won't do any such thing, because it may snow. You'd better go the other way.' 'Very well,' say you, 'I'll go the other way, then.' 'Why do you do that?' queries the Quandary. 'If it should grow very warm you'd be roasted to death.' 'Then I don't know what to do,' say you. 'What is the matter with going both ways?' says the Quandary, to which you reply, 'How can I do that?' 'Try it and see,' he answers. Then," continued the major, his voice sinking to a whisper--"then you do try it and you do see, unless you are a wise, sagacious, sapient, perspicacious, astute, canny, penetrating, needle-witted, learned man of wisdom like myself who knows a thing or two. In that case you don't try, for you can see without trying that any man with two legs who tries to walk along two roads leading in different directions at once is just going to split into at least two halves before he has gone twenty miles, and that is just what the Quandary wants you to do, for it's over such horrible spectacles as a man divided against himself that he gloats, and when he is through gloating he swallows what's left." "And what does the wise, sagacious, sappy, perspiring man of wisdom like yourself who knows a thing or two do?" asked Jimmieboy. "I didn't say sappy or perspiring," retorted the major. "I said sapient and perspicacious." "Well, anyhow, what does he do?" asked Jimmieboy. "He gives up going to Calcutta," observed the major. "Oh, I see. To gain a victory over the Quandary you turn and run away?" asked Jimmieboy. "Yes, that's it. That's what saved me. I cried for help, turned about, and ran back here, and I can tell you it takes a brave man to turn his back on an enemy," said the major. "And why didn't the soldiers do it too?" queried Jimmieboy. "There wasn't anybody to order a retreat, so when the Quandary attacked them they marched right on, single file, and every one of 'em split in two, fell in a heap, and died." "But I should think you would have ordered them to halt," insisted Jimmieboy. "I had no power to do so," the major replied. "If I had only had the power, I might have saved their lives by ordering them to march two by two instead of single file, and then when they met the Quandary they could have gone right ahead, the left-hand men taking the left-hand road, the right-hand men the right, but of course I only had orders to tell them to come back here, and a soldier can only obey his orders. It was awful the way those noble lives were sacrifi--" Here Jimmieboy started to his feet with a cry of alarm. There were unmistakable sounds of approaching footsteps. "Somebody or something is coming," he cried. "Oh, no, I guess not," said the major, getting red in the face, for he recognized, as Jimmieboy did not, the firm, steady tread of the returning soldiers whom he had told Jimmieboy the Quandary had annihilated. "It's only the drum of your ear you hear," he added. "You know you have a drum in your ear, and every once in a while it begins its rub-a-dub-dub just like any other drum. Oh, no, you don't hear anybody coming. Let's take a walk into the forest here and see if we can't find a few pipe plants. I think I'd like to have a smoke." "Why, you naughty major!" cried Jimmieboy, shaking his arm, which his companion had taken, free from the major's grasp. "You've been telling me a great big fib, because there are the soldiers coming back again." "What!" ejaculated the major, in well-affected surprise. "Well, I declare! So they are. Dear me! Why, do you know, general, that is the most marvelous cure I ever saw in my life. To think that all those men whom I saw not an hour ago lying dead on the field of battle, all ready for the Quandary's luncheon, should have been resusitated in so short a time, as--" "Halt!" roared Jimmieboy, interrupting the major in a most unceremonious fashion, for the soldiers by this time had reached a point in the road directly opposite where he was sitting. The soldiers halted. "Break ranks!" cried Jimmieboy, after the corporal had told him the proper order to give next. The soldiers broke ranks, and in sheer weariness threw themselves down on the soft turf at the side of the road--all except the corporal, who at Jimmieboy's request came and sat down at the general's side to make his report. "This is fine weather we are having, corporal," said the major, winking at the subordinate officer, and trying to make him understand that the less he said about the major the better it would be for all concerned. "Yes," returned the corporal. "Better for sleeping than for military duty, eh, major?" Here the major grew pale, but had the presence of mind to remark that he thought it might rain in time for tea. "There's something behind all this," thought Jimmieboy; "and I'm going to know what it all means." Then he said aloud, "You have had a very speedy recovery, corporal." Here the major cleared his throat more loudly than usual, blushed rosy red, and winked twice as violently at the corporal as before. "Did you ever hear my poem on the 'Cold Tea River in China'?" he asked. "No," said the corporal, "I never did, and I never want to." "Then I will recite it for you," said the major. "After the corporal has made his report, major," said Jimmieboy. "It goes this way," continued the major, pretending not to hear. "Some years ago--'way back in '69--a Friend and I went for a trip through China, That pleasant land where rules King Tommy Chang, Where flows the silver river Yangtse-Wang-- Through fertile fields, through sweetest-scented bowers Of creeping vinous vines and floral flowers." "My dear major," interrupted Jimmieboy, "I do not want to hurt your feelings, but much as I like to hear your poetry I must listen to the report of the corporal first." "Oh, very well," returned the major, observing that the corporal had taken to his heels as soon as he had begun to recite. "Very well. Let the corporal proceed." Jimmieboy then saw for the first time that the corporal had fled. "Why, where is he?" he asked. "I do not know," returned the major, coldly. "I fancy he has gone to the kitchen to cook his report. He always goes off when I recite." "Oh, well, never mind," said Jimmieboy, noticing that the major was evidently very much hurt. "Go on with the poem about 'Cold Tea River.'" "No, I shall not," replied the major. "I shall not do it for two reasons, general, unless you as my superior officer command me to do it, and I hope you will not. In the first place, you have publicly humiliated me in the presence of a tin corporal, an inferior in rank, and consequently have hurt my feelings more deeply than you imagine. I am not tall, sir, but my feelings are deep enough to be injured most deeply, and in view of that fact I prefer to say nothing more about that poem. The other reason is that there is really no such poem, because there is really no such a stream as Cold Tea River in China, though there might have been had Nature been as poetic and fanciful as I, for it is as easy to conceive of a river having its source in the land of the tea-trees, and having its waters so full of the essence of tea gained from contact with the roots of those trees, that to all intents and purposes it is a river of tea. Had you permitted me to go on uninterrupted I should have made up a poem on that subject, and might possibly by this time have had it done, but as it is, it never will be composed. If you will permit me I will take a horseback ride and see if I cannot forget the trials of this memorable day. If I return I shall be back, but otherwise you may never see me again. I feel so badly over your treatment of me that I may be rash enough to commit suicide by jumping into a smelting-pot and being moulded over again into a piece of shot, and if I do, general, if I do, and if I ever get into battle and am fired out of a gun, I shall seek out that corporal, and use my best efforts to amputate his head off so quickly that he won't know what has happened till he tries to think, and finds he hasn't anything to do it with." Breathing which horrible threat, the major mounted his horse and galloped madly down the road, and Jimmieboy, not knowing whether to be sorry or amused, started on a search for the corporal in order that he might hear his report, and gain, if possible, some solution of the major's strange conduct. CHAPTER VI. THE CORPORAL'S FAIRY STORY. Jimmieboy had not long to search for the corporal. He found that worthy in a very few minutes, lying fast asleep under a tree some twenty or thirty rods down the road, snoring away as if his life depended upon it. It was quite evident that the poor fellow was worn out with his exertions, and Jimmieboy respected his weariness, and restrained his strong impulse to awaken him. His consideration for the tired soldier was not without its reward, for as Jimmieboy listened the corporal's snores took semblance to words, which, as he remembered them, the snores of his papa in the early morning had never done. Indeed, Jimmieboy and his small brother Russ were agreed on the one point that their father's snores were about the most uninteresting, uncalled for, unmeaning sounds in the world, which, no doubt, was why they made it a point to interrupt them on every possible occasion. The novelty of the present situation was delightful to the little general. To be able to stand there and comprehend what it was the corporal was snoring so vociferously, was most pleasing, and he was still further entertained to note that it was nothing less than a rollicking song that was having its sweetness wasted upon the desert air by the sleeping officer before him. This is the song that Jimmieboy heard: "I would not be a man of peace, Oh, no-ho-ho--not I; But give me battles without cease; Give me grim war with no release, Or let me die-hi-hi. I love the frightful things we eat In times of war-or-or; The biscuit tough, the granite meat, And hard green apples are a treat Which I adore-dor-dor. I love the sound of roaring guns Upon my e-e-ears, I love in routs the lengthy runs, I do not mind the stupid puns Of dull-ull grenadiers. I should not weep to lose a limb, An arm, or thumb-bum-bum. I laugh with glee to hear the zim Of shells that make my chance seem slim Of getting safe back hum. Just let me sniff gunpowder in My nasal fee-a-ture, And I will ever sing and grin. To me sweet music is the din Of war, you may be sure." "Well, I declare!" cried Jimmieboy. "If my dear old papa could snore songs like that, wouldn't I let him sleep mornings!" "He does," snored the corporal. "The only trouble is he doesn't snore as clearly as I do. It takes long practice to become a fluent snorer like myself--that is to say, a snorer who can be understood by any one whatever his age, nation, or position in life. That song I have just snored for you could be understood by a Zulu just as well as you understood it, because a snore is exactly the same in Zuluese as it is in your language or any other--in which respect it resembles a cup of coffee or a canary-bird." "Are you still snoring, or is this English you are speaking?" asked Jimmieboy. "Snoring; and that proves just what I said, for you understood me just as plainly as though I had spoken in English," returned the corporal, his eyes still tightly closed in sleep. "Snore me another poem," said Jimmieboy. "No, I won't do that; but if you wish me to I'll snore you a fairy tale," answered the corporal. "That will be lovely," said Jimmieboy. "I love fairy tales." "Very well," observed the corporal, turning over on his back and throwing his head back into an uncomfortable position so that he could snore more loudly. "Here goes. Once upon a time there was a small boy named Tom whose parents were so poor and so honest that they could not afford to give him money enough to go to the circus when it came to town, which made him very wretched and unhappy, because all the other little boys who lived thereabouts were more fortunately situated, and had bought tickets for the very first performance. Tom cried all night and went about the town moaning all day, for he did want to see the elephant whose picture was on the fences that could hold itself up on its hind tail; the man who could toss five-hundred-pound cannon balls in the air and catch them on top of his head as they came down; the trick horse that could jump over a fence forty feet high without disturbing the two-year-old wonder Pattycake who sat in a rocking-chair on his back. As Tom very well said, these were things one had to see to believe, and now they were coming, and just because he could not get fifty cents he could not see them. "Then he thought, 'Here! why can't I go out into the world, and by hard work earn the fifty cents I so much need to take me through the doors of the circus tent into the presence of these marvelous creatures?' "And he went out and called upon a great lawyer and asked him if he did not want a partner in his business for a day, but the lawyer only laughed and told him to go to the doctor and ask him. So Tom went to the doctor, and the doctor said he did not want a partner, but he did want a boy to take medicines for him and tell him what they tasted like, and he promised Tom fifty cents if he would be that boy for a day, and Tom said he would try. "Then the doctor got out his medicine-chest and gave Tom twelve bottles of medicine, and told him to taste each one of them, and Tom tasted two of them, and decided that he would rather do without the circus than taste the rest, so the doctor bade him farewell, and Tom went to look for something else to do. As he walked disconsolately down the street and saw by the clock that it was nearly eleven o'clock, he made up his mind that he would think no more about the circus, but would go home and study arithmetic instead, the chance of his being able to earn the fifty cents seemed so very slight. So he turned back, and was about to go to his home, when he caught sight of another circus poster, which showed how the fiery, untamed giraffe caught cocoanuts in his mouth--the cocoanuts being fired out of a cannon set off by a clown who looked as if he could make a joke that would make an owl laugh. This was too much for Tom. He couldn't miss that without at least making one further effort to earn the money that would pay for his ticket. "So off he started again in search of profitable employment. He had not gone far when he came to a crockery shop, and on stopping to look in the large shop window at the beautiful dishes and graceful soup tureens that were to be seen there, he saw a sign on which was written in great golden letters 'BOY WANTED.' Now Tom could not read, but something told him that that sign was a good omen for him, so he went into the shop and asked if they had any work that a boy of his size could do. "'Yes,' said the owner of the shop. 'We want an errand-boy. Are you an errand-boy?' "Tom answered bravely that he thought he was, and the man said he would give him a trial anyhow, and sent him off on a sample errand, telling him that if he did that one properly, he would pay him fifty cents a day for as many days as he kept him, giving him a half holiday on all circus-days. Tom was delighted, and started off gleefully to perform the sample errand, which was to take a basketful of china plates to the house of a rich merchant who lived four miles back in the country. Bravely the little fellow plodded along until he came to the gate-way of the rich man's place, when so overcome was he with happiness at getting something to do that he could not wait to get the gate open, but leaped like a deer clear over the topmost pickets. But, alas! his very happiness was his ruin, for as he landed on the other side the china plates flew out of the basket in every direction, and falling on the hard gravel path were broken every one." "Dear me!" cried Jimmieboy, sympathetically. "Poor little Tom." "Whereat the cow Remarked, 'Pray how-- If what you say is true-- How should the child, However mild, Become so wildly blue?'" snored the corporal. "What's the matter with you?" asked Jimmieboy, very much surprised at the rhyme, which, so far as he could see, had nothing to do with the fairy story. "What's the matter with me?" returned the corporal. "Nothing. Why?" "There wasn't anything about a cow in the fairy story you were telling about Tom," said Jimmieboy. "Was I telling that story about Tom?" asked the sleeping soldier. "Certainly," replied Jimmieboy. "Then you must have interrupted me," snored the corporal. "You must never interrupt a person who is snoring until he gets through, because the chances are nine out of ten that, being asleep, he won't remember what he has been snoring about, and will go off on something else entirely. Where was I when you interrupted?" "You had got to where Tom jumped over the gate and broke all the china plates," answered Jimmieboy. "Very well, then. I'll go on, but don't you say another thing until I have finished," said the corporal. Then resuming his story, he snored away as follows: "And falling on the hard gravel path the plates were broken every one, which was awfully sad, as any one could understand who could see how the poor little fellow threw himself down on the grass and wept. Dear me, how he wept! He wept so long and such great tears, that the grass about him for yards and yards looked as fresh and green as though there had been a rain-storm. "'Oh, dear! what shall I do?' cried Tom, ruefully regarding the shattered plates. 'They'll beat me if I go back to the shop, and I'll never get to see the circus after all.' "'No,' said a voice. 'They will not beat you, and I will see that you get to the circus.' "'Who are you?' asked Tom, looking up and seeing before him a beautiful lady, who looked as if she might be a part of the circus herself. 'Are you the lady with the iron jaw or the horseback lady that jumps through hoops of fire?' "'Neither,' replied the lady. 'I am your Fairy Godmother, and I have come to tell you that if you will gather up the broken plates and take them up to the great house yonder, I will fix it so that you can go to the circus.' "'Won't they scold me for breaking the plates?' asked Tom, his eyes brightening and his tears drying. "'Take them and see,' said the Fairy Godmother, and Tom, who was always an obedient lad, did as he was told. He gathered up the broken plates, put them in his basket, and went up to the house. "'Here are your plates,' he said, all of a tremble as he entered. "'Let's see if any of them are broken,' said the merchant in a voice so gruff that Tom trembled all the harder. Surely he was now in worse trouble than ever. "'H'm!' said the rich man taking one out and looking at it. 'That seems to be all right.' "'Yes,' said Tom, meekly, surprised to note that the plate was as good as ever. 'It has been very neatly mended.' "'Very what?' roared the rich man, who didn't want mended plates. 'Did you say mended?' "'Oh, no, sir!' stammered Tom, who saw that he had made a bad mistake. 'That is, I didn't mean to say mended. I meant to say that they'd been very highly recommended.' "'Oh! Recommended, eh?' returned the rich man more calmly. 'That's different. The rest of them seem to be all right, too. Here, take your basket and go along with you. Good-by!' "And so Tom left the merchant's house very much pleased to have got out of his scrape so easily, and feeling very grateful to his Fairy Godmother for having helped him. "'Well,' said she, when he got back to the gate where she was awaiting him, 'was everything all right?' "'Yes,' said Tom, happily. 'The plates were all right, and now they are all left.' "The Fairy Godmother laughed and said he was a bright boy, and then she asked him which he would rather do: pay fifty cents to go to the circus once, or wear the coat of invisibility and walk in and out as many times as he wanted to. To this Tom, who was a real boy, and preferred going to the circus six times to going only once, replied that as he was afraid he might lose the fifty cents he thought he would take the coat, though he also thought, he said, if his dear Fairy Godmother could find it in her heart to let him have both the coat and the fifty cents he could find use for them. "At this the Fairy Godmother laughed again, and said she guessed he could, and, giving him two shining silver quarters and the coat of invisibility, she made a mysterious remark, which he could not understand, and disappeared. Tom kissed his hand toward the spot where she had stood, now vacant, and ran gleefully homeward, happy as a bird, for he had at last succeeded in obtaining the means for his visit to the circus. That night, so excited was he, he hardly slept a wink, and even when he did sleep, he dreamed of such unpleasant things as the bitter medicines of the doctor and the broken plates, so that it was just as well he should spend the greater part of the night awake. "His excitement continued until the hour for going to the circus arrived, when he put on his coat of invisibility and started. To test the effect of the coat he approached one of his chums, who was standing in the middle of the long line of boys waiting for the doors to open, and tweaked his nose, deciding from the expression on his friend's face--one of astonishment, alarm, and mystification--that he really was invisible, and so, proceeding to the gates, he passed by the ticket-taker into the tent without interference from any one. It was simply lovely; all the seats in the place were unoccupied, and he could have his choice of them. Surely nobody could ask for anything better. "You may be sure he chose one well down in front, so that he should miss no part of the performance, and then he waited for the beginning of the very wonderful series of things that were to come. "Alas! poor Tom was again doomed to a very mortifying disappointment. He forgot that his invisibility made his lovely front seat appear to be unoccupied, and while he was looking off in another direction a great, heavy, fat man entered and sat down upon him, squeezing him so hard that he could scarcely breathe, and as for howling, that was altogether out of the question, and there through the whole performance the fat man sat, and the invisible Tom saw not one of the marvelous acts or the wonderful animals, and, what was worse, when a joke was got off he couldn't see whether it was by the clown or the ring-master, and so didn't know when to laugh even if he had wanted to. It was the most dreadful disappointment Tom ever had, and he went home crying, and spent the night groaning and moaning with sorrow. "It was not until he began to dress for breakfast next morning, and his two beautiful quarters rolled out of his pocket on the floor, that he remembered he still had the means to go again. When he had made this discovery he became happy once more, and started off with his invisible coat hanging over his arm, and paid his way in for the second and last performance like all the other boys. This time he saw all there was to be seen, and was full of happiness, until the lions' cage was brought in, when he thought it would be a fine thing to put on his invisible coat, and enter the cage with the lion-tamer, which he did, having so exciting a time looking at the lions and keeping out of their way that he forgot to watch the tamer when he went out, so that finally when the circus was all over Tom found himself locked in the cage with the lions with nothing but raw meat to eat. This was bad enough, but what was worse, the next city in which the circus was to exhibit was hundreds of miles away from the town in which Tom lived, and no one was expected to open the cage doors again for four weeks. "When Tom heard this he was frightened to death almost, and rather than spend all that time shut up in a small cage with the kings of the beasts, he threw off the coat of invisibility and shrieked, and then--" "Yes--then what?" cried Jimmieboy, breathlessly, so excited that he could not help interrupting the corporal, despite the story-teller's warning. "The bull-dog said he thought it might, But pussy she said 'Nay,' At which the unicorn took fright, And stole a bale of hay," snored the corporal with a yawn. "That can't be it! that can't be it!" cried Jimmieboy, so excited to hear what happened to little Tom in the lions' cage that he began to shake the corporal almost fiercely. "What can't be what?" asked the corporal, sitting up and opening his eyes. "What are you trying to talk about, general?" "Tom--and the circus--what happened to him in the lions' cage when he took off his coat?" cried Jimmieboy. "Tom? And the circus? I don't know anything about any Tom or any circus," replied the corporal, with a sleepy nod. "But you've just been snoring to me about it," remonstrated Jimmieboy. "Don't remember it at all," said the corporal. "I must have been asleep and dreamed it, or else you did, or maybe both of us did; but tell me, general, in confidence now, and don't ever tell anybody I asked you, have you such a thing as a--as a gum-drop in your pocket?" And Jimmieboy was so put out with the corporal for waking up just at the wrong time that he wouldn't answer him, but turned on his heel, and walked away very much concerned in his mind as to the possible fate of poor little Tom. CHAPTER VII. A DISAGREEABLE PERSONAGE. It cannot be said that Jimmieboy was entirely happy after his falling out with the corporal. Of course it was very inconsiderate of the corporal to wake up at the most exciting period of his fairy story, and leave his commanding officer in a state of uncertainty as to the fate of little Tom; but as he walked along the road, and thought the matter all over, Jimmieboy reflected that after all he was himself as much to blame as the corporal. In the first place, he had interrupted him in his story at the point where it became most interesting, though warned in advance not to do so, and in the second, he had not fallen back upon his undoubted right as a general to command the corporal to go to sleep again, and to stay so until his little romance was finished to the satisfaction of his superior officer. The latter was without question the thing he should have done, and at first he thought he would go back and tell the corporal he was very sorry he hadn't done so. Indeed, he would have gone back had he not met, as he rounded the turn, a singular-looking little fellow, who, sitting high in an oak-tree at the side of the road, attracted his attention by winking at him. Ordinarily Jimmieboy would not have noticed anybody who winked at him, because his papa had told him that people who would wink would smoke a pipe, which was very wrong, particularly in people who were as small as this droll person in the tree. But the singular-looking little fellow winked aloud, and Jimmieboy could not help noticing him. Like most small boys Jimmieboy delighted in noises, especially noises that went off like pop-guns, which was just the kind of noise the tree dwarf made when he winked. "Hello, you!" said Jimmieboy, as the sounds first attracted his attention. "What are you doing up there?" "Sitting on a limb and counting the stars in the sky," answered the dwarf. Jimmieboy laughed. This seemed such a curious thing to do. "How many are there?" he asked. "Seventeen," replied the dwarf. "Ho!" jeered Jimmieboy. "There are, really," said the dwarf. "I counted 'em myself." "There's more than that," said Jimmieboy. "I've had stories told me of twenty-seven or twenty-eight." "That doesn't prove anything," returned the dwarf, "that is, nothing but what I said. If there are twenty-eight there must be seventeen, so you can't catch me up on that." "Come down," said Jimmieboy. "I want to see you." "I can't come now," returned the dwarf. "I'm too busy counting the eighteenth star, but I'll drop my telescope and let you see me through that." "I'll help you count the stars if you come," put in Jimmieboy. "How many stars can you count a day?" "Oh, about one and a half," said the dwarf. "I could count more than that, only I'm cross-eyed and see double, so that after I've got through counting, I have to divide the whole number by two to get the proper figures, and I never was good at dividing. I've always hated division--particularly division of apples and peaches. There is no meaner sum in any arithmetic in the world than that I used to have to do every time I got an apple when I was your age." "What was the sum?" asked Jimmieboy. "It was to divide one apple by three boys," returned the queer little man. "Most generally that would be regarded as a case of three into one, but in this instance it was one into three; and, worse than all, while it pretended to be division, and was as hard as division, as far as I was concerned it was subtraction too, and I was always the leftest part of the remainder." "But I don't see why you had to divide your apples every time you got any," said Jimmieboy. "That's easy enough to explain," said the dwarf. "If I didn't divide, and did eat the whole apple, I'd have a fearful pain in my heart; whereas if I gave my little brothers each a third, it would often happen that they would get the pain and not I. After one or two experiments I fixed it so that I never got the pain part any more--for you know every apple has an ache in it--and they did, so, you see, I kept myself well as could be, and at the same time built up quite a reputation for generosity." "How did you fix it so as to give them the pain part always?" queried Jimmieboy. "Why, I located the part of the apple that held the pain. I did not divide one apple I got, but ate the whole thing myself, part by part. I studied each part carefully, and discovered that apples are divided by Nature into three parts, anyhow. Pleasure was one part, pain was another part, and the third part was just nothing--neither pleasure nor pain. The core is where the ache is, the crisp is where the pleasure is, and the skin represents the part which isn't anything. When I found that out I said, 'Here! What is a good enough plan for Nature is a good enough plan for me. I'll divide my apples on Nature's plan.' Which I did. To one brother I gave the core; to the other the skin; the rest I ate myself." "It was very mean of you to make your brothers suffer the pain," said Jimmieboy. "Well, they had their days off. One time one brother'd have the core; another time the other brother'd have it. They took turns," said the dwarf. "It was mean, anyhow!" cried Jimmieboy, who was so fond of his own little brother that he would gladly have borne all his pains for him if it could have been arranged. "Well, meanness is my business," said the dwarf. "Your business?" echoed Jimmieboy, opening his eyes wide with astonishment, meanness seemed such a strange business. "Certainly," returned the dwarf. "Don't you know what I am? I am an unfairy." "What's that?" asked Jimmieboy. "You know what a fairy is, don't you?" said the dwarf. "Yes. It's a dear lovely creature with wings, that goes about doing good." "That's right. An unfairy is just the opposite," explained the dwarf. "I go about doing unfair things. I am the fairy that makes things go wrong. When your hat blows off in the street the chances are that I have paid the bellows man, who works up all these big winds we have, to do it. If I see people having a good time on a picnic, I fly up to the sky and push a rain cloud over where they are and drench them, having first of course either hidden or punched great holes in their umbrellas. Oh, I can tell you, I am the meanest creature that ever was. Why, do you know what I did once in a country school?" "No, I don't," said Jimmieboy, in tones of disgust. "I don't know anything about mean things." "Well, you ought to know about this," returned the dwarf, "because it was just the meanest thing anybody ever did. There was a boy who'd studied awfully hard in hopes that he would lead his class when the holidays came, and there was another boy in the school who was equal to him in everything but arithmetic, and who would have been beaten on that one point, so that the other boy would have stood where he wanted to, only I helped the second boy by rubbing out all the correct answers of the first boy and putting others on the slate instead, so that the first boy lost first place and had to take second. Wasn't that mean?" "It was horrid," said Jimmieboy, "and it's a good thing you didn't come down here when I asked you to, for if you had, I think I should now be slapping you just as hard as I could." "Another time," said the unfairy, ignoring Jimmieboy's remark, "I turned myself into a horse-fly and bothered a lame horse; then I changed into a bull-dog and barked all night under the window of a man who wanted to go to sleep, but my regular trick is going around to hat stores and taking the brushes and brushing all the beaver hats the wrong way. Sometimes when people get lost here in the woods and want to go to Tiddledywinkland, I give them the wrong directions, so that they bring up on the other side of the country, where they don't want to be; and once last winter I put rust on the runners of a little boy's sled so that he couldn't use it, and then when he'd spent three days getting them polished up, I pushed a warm rain cloud over the hill where the snow was and melted it all away. I hide toys I know children will be sure to want; I tear the most exciting pages out of books; I spill salt in the sugar-bowls and plant weeds in the gardens; I upset the ink on love-letters; when I find a man with only one collar I fray it at the edges; I roll collar buttons under bureaus; I--" "Don't you dare tell me another thing!" cried Jimmieboy, angrily. "I don't like you, and I won't listen to you any more." "Oh, yes, you will," replied the unfairy. "I am just mean enough to make you, and I'll tell you why. I am very tired of my business, and I think if I tell you all the horrid things I do, maybe you'll tell me how I can keep from doing them. I have known you for a long time, only you didn't know it." "I don't believe it," said Jimmieboy. "Well, I have, just the same," returned the dwarf. "And I can prove it. Do you remember, one day you went out walking, how you walked two miles and only met one mud-puddle, and fell into that?" "Yes, I do," said Jimmieboy, sadly. "I spoiled my new suit when I fell, and I never knew how I came to do it." "I made you do that!" said the unfairy, triumphantly. "I grabbed hold of your foot, and upset you right into it. I waited two hours to do it, too." "You did, eh?" said Jimmieboy. "Well, I wish I had an axe. I'd chop that tree down, and catch you and make you sorry for it." "I am sorry for it," said the dwarf. "Real sorry. I've never ceased to regret it." "Oh, well, I forgive you," said Jimmieboy, "if you are really sorry." "Yes, I am," said the dwarf; "I'm awfully sorry, because I didn't do it right. You only ruined your suit and not that beautiful red necktie you had on. Next time I'll be more careful and spoil everything. But let me give you more proof that I've known you. Who do you suppose it was bent your railway tracks at Christmas so they wouldn't work?" "You!" ejaculated Jimmieboy. "Yes, sirree!" roared the dwarf. "I did, and, what is more, it was I who chewed up your best shoes and bit your plush dog's head off; it was I who ate up your luncheon one day last March; it was I who pawed up all the geraniums in your flower-bed; and it was I who nipped your friend the postman in the leg on St. Valentine's day so that he lost your valentine." "I've caught you there," said Jimmieboy. "It wasn't you that did those things at all. It was a horrid little brown dog that used to play around our house did all that." "You think you are smart," laughed the dwarf. "But you aren't. I was the little brown dog." "I don't see how you can have any friends if that is the way you behave," said Jimmieboy, after a minute or two of silence. "You don't deserve any." "No," said the dwarf, his voice trembling a little--for as Jimmieboy peered up into the tree at him he could see that he was crying just a bit--"I haven't any, and I never had. I never had anybody to set me a good example. My father and my mother were unfairies before me, and I just grew to be one like them. I didn't want to be one, but I had to be; and really it wasn't until I saw you pat a hand-organ monkey on the head, instead of giving him a piece of cake with red pepper on it, as I would have done, that I ever even dreamed that there were kind people in the world. After I'd watched you for a while and had seen how happy you were, and how many friends you had, I began to see how it was that I was so miserable. I was miserable because I was mean, but nobody has ever told me how not to be mean, and I'm just real upset over it." "Poor fellow!" said Jimmieboy, sympathetically. "I am really very, very sorry for you." "So am I," sobbed the dwarf. "I wish you could help me." "Perhaps I can," said Jimmieboy. "Well, wait a minute," said the dwarf, drying his eyes and peering intently down the road. "Wait a minute. There is a sheep down the road there tangled up in the brambles. Wait until I change myself into a big black dog and scare her half to death." "But that will be mean," returned Jimmieboy; "and if you want to change, and be good, and kind, why don't you begin now and help the sheep out?" "H'm!" said the dwarf. "Now that is an idea, isn't it! Do you know, I'd never have thought of that if you hadn't suggested it to me. I think I will. I'll change myself into a good-hearted shepherd's boy, and free that poor animal at once!" The dwarf was as good as his word, and in a moment he came back, smiling as happily as though he had made a great fortune. "Why, it's lovely to do a thing like that. Beautiful!" he said. "Do you know, Jimmieboy, I've half a mind to turn mean again for just a minute, and go back and frighten that sheep back into the bushes just for the bliss of helping her out once more." "I wouldn't do that," said Jimmieboy, with a shake of his head. "I'd just change myself into a good fairy if I were you, and go about doing kind things. When you see people having a picnic, push the rain cloud away from them instead of over them. Do just the opposite from what you've been doing all along, and pretty soon you'll have heaps and heaps of friends." "You are a wonderful boy," said the dwarf. "Why, you've hit without thinking a minute the plan I've been searching for for years and years and years, and I'll do just what you say. Watch!" The dwarf pronounced one or two queer words the like of which Jimmieboy had never heard before, and, presto change! quick as a wink the unfairy had disappeared, and there stood at the small general's side the handsomest, sweetest little sprite he had ever even dreamed or read about. The sprite threw his arms about Jimmieboy's neck and kissed him affectionately, wiped a tear of joy from his eye, and then said: "I am so glad I met you. You have taught me how to be happy, and I am sure I have lost eighteen hundred and seven tons in weight, I feel so light and gay; and--joy! oh, joy! I no longer see double! My eyes must be straight." "They are," said Jimmieboy. "Straight as--straight as--well, as straight as your hair is curly." And that was as good an illustration as he could have found, for the sprite's hair was just as curly as it could be. CHAPTER VIII. ARRANGEMENTS FOR A DUEL. "Where are you going, Jimmieboy?" asked the sprite, after they had walked along in silence for a few minutes. "I haven't the slightest idea," said Jimmieboy, with a short laugh. "I started out to provision the forces before pursuing the Parawelopipedon, but I seem to have fallen out with everybody who could show me where to go, and I am all at sea." "Well, you haven't fallen out with me," said the sprite. "In fact, you've fallen in with me, so that you are on dry land again. I'll show you where to go, if you want me to." "Then you know where I can find the candied cherries and other things that soldiers eat?" asked Jimmieboy. "No, I don't know where you can find anything of the sort," returned the sprite. "But I do know that all things come to him who waits, so I'd advise you to wait until the candied cherries and so forth come to you." "But what'll I do while I am waiting?" asked Jimmieboy, who had no wish to be idle in this new and strange country. "Follow me, of course," said the sprite, "and I'll show you the most wonderful things you ever saw. I'll take you up to see old Fortyforefoot, the biggest giant in all the world; after that we'll stop in at Alltart's bakery and have lunch. It's a great bakery, Alltart's is. You just wish for any kind of cake in the world, and you have it in your mouth." "Let's go there first, I'm afraid of giants," said Jimmieboy. "They eat little boys like me." "Well, I don't blame them for that," said the sprite. "A little boy as sweet as you are is almost too good not to eat; but I'll take care of you. Fortyforefoot I haven't a doubt would like to eat both of us, but I have a way of getting the best of fellows of that sort, so if you'll come along you needn't have the slightest fear for your safety." "All right," said Jimmieboy, after thinking it all over. "Go ahead. I'll follow you." At this moment the galloping step of a horse was heard approaching, and in a minute Major Blueface rode up. "Why, how do you do, general?" he cried, his face beaming with pleasure as he reined in his steed and dismounted. "I haven't seen you in--my!--why, not in years, sir. How have you been?" "Quite well," said Jimmieboy, with a smile, for the major amused him very much. "It doesn't seem more than five minutes since I saw you last," he added, with a sly wink at the sprite. "Oh, it must be longer than that," said the major, gravely. "It must be at least ten, but they have seemed years to me--a seeming, sir, that is well summed up in that lovely poem a friend of mine wrote some time ago: "'When I have quarreled with a dear Old friend, a minute seems a year; And you'll remember without doubt That when we parted we fell out.'" "Very pretty," said the sprite. "Very pretty, indeed. Reminds me of the poems of Major Blueface. You've heard of him, I suppose?" "Yes," said the major, frowning at the sprite, whom he had never met before. "I have heard of Major Blueface, and not only have I heard of him, but I am also one of his warmest friends and admirers." "Really?" said the sprite, not noticing apparently that Jimmieboy was nearly exploding with mirth. "How charming! What sort of a person is the major, sir?" "Superb!" returned the major, his chest swelling with pride. "Brave as a lobster, witty as a porcupine, and handsome as a full-blown rose. In short, he is a wonder. Many a time have I been with him on the field of battle, where a man most truly shows what he is, and there it was, sir, that I learned to love and admire Major Blueface. Why, once I saw that man hit square in the back by the full charge of a brass cannon loaded to the muzzle with dried pease. The force of the blow was tremendous--forcible enough, sir, in fact, to knock the major off his feet, but he never quailed. He rose with dignity, and walked back to where the enemy was standing, and dared him to do it again, and when the enemy did it again, the major did not forget, as some soldiers would have done under the circumstances, that he was a gentleman, but he rose up a second time and thanked the enemy for his courtesy, which so won the enemy's heart that he surrendered at once." "What a hero!" said the sprite. "Hero is no name for it, sir. He is a whole history full of heroes. On another occasion which I recall," cried the major, with enthusiasm, "on another occasion he was pursued by a lion around a circular path--he is a magnificent runner, the major is--and he ran so much faster than the lion that he soon caught up with his pursuer from the rear, and with one blow of his sword severed the raging beast's tail from his body. Then he sat down and waited until the lion got around to him again, his appetite increased so by the exercise he had taken that he would have eaten anything, and then what do you suppose that brave soldier did?" "What?" asked Jimmieboy, who had stopped laughing to listen. "He gave the hungry creature his own tail to eat, and then went home," returned the major. "Is that a true story?" asked the sprite. "Do you think I would tell an untrue story?" asked the major, angrily. "Not at all," said the sprite; "but if the major told it to you, it may have grown just a little bit every time you told it." "No, sir. That could not be, for I am Major Blueface himself," interrupted the major. "Then you are a brave man," said the sprite, "and I am proud to meet you." "Thank you," said the major, his frown disappearing and his pleasant smile returning. "I have heard that remark before; but it is always pleasant to hear. But what are you doing now, general?" he added, turning and addressing Jimmieboy. "I am still searching for the provisions, major," returned Jimmieboy. "The soldiers were so tired I hadn't the heart to command them to get them for me, as you said, so I am as badly off as ever." "I think you need a rest," said the major, gravely; "and while it is extremely important that the forces should be provided with all the canned goods necessary to prolong their lives, the health of the commanding officer is also a most precious consideration. As commander-in-chief why don't you grant yourself a ten years' vacation on full pay, and at the end of that time return to the laborious work you have undertaken, refreshed?" "But what becomes of the war?" asked Jimmieboy. "If I go off, there won't be any war." "No, but what of it?" replied the major. "That'll spite the enemy just as much as it will our side; and maybe he'll get so tired waiting for us to begin that he'll lie down and die or else give himself up." "Well, I don't know what to do," said Jimmieboy, very much perplexed. "What would you do?" he continued, addressing the sprite. "I'd hire some one else to take my place if I were you, and let him do the fighting and provisioning until you are all ready," said the sprite. "Yes, but whom can I hire?" asked the boy. "The Giant Fortyforefoot," returned the sprite. "He'd be just the man. He's a great warrior in the first place and a great magician in the second. He can do the most wonderful tricks you ever saw in all your life. For instance, "He'll take two ordinary balls, He'll toss 'em to the sky, And each when to the earth it falls Will be a satin tie. He'll take a tricycle in hand, He'll give the thing a heave, He'll mutter some queer sentence, and 'Twill go right up his sleeve. He'll ask you what your name may be, And if you answer 'Jim!' He'll turn a handspring--one, two, three! Your name will then be Tim. He'll take a fifty-dollar bill, He'll tie it to a chain, He'll cry out 'Presto!' and you will Not see your bill again." "I'd like to see him," said Jimmieboy. "But I can't say I want to be eaten up, you know, and I'd like to have you tell me before we go how you are going to prevent his eating me." "Very proper," said Major Blueface. "You suffer under the great disadvantage of being a very toothsome, tender morsel, and in all probability Fortyforefoot would order you stewed in cream or made over into a tart. My!" added the major, smacking his lips so suggestively that Jimmieboy drew away from him, slightly alarmed. "Why, it makes my mouth water to think of a pudding made of you, with a touch of cinnamon and a dash of maple syrup, and a shake of sawdust and a hard sauce. Tlah!" This last word of the major's was a sort of ecstatic cluck such as boys often make after having tasted something they are particularly fond of. "What's the use of scaring the boy, Blueface?" said the sprite, angrily, as he noted Jimmieboy's alarm. "I won't have anymore of that. You can be as brave and terrible as you please in the presence of your enemies, but in the presence of my friends you've got to behave yourself." The major laughed heartily. "Jimmieboy afraid of me?" he said. "Nonsense! Why, he could rout me with a frown. His little finger could, unaided, put me to flight if it felt so disposed. I was complimenting him--not trying to frighten him. "When I went into ecstasies O'er pudding made of him, 'Twas just because I wished to please The honorable Jim; And now, in spite of your rebuff, The statement I repeat: I think he's really good enough For any one to eat." "Well, that's different," said the sprite, accepting the major's statement. "I quite agree with you there; but when you go clucking around here like a hen who has just tasted the sweetest grain of corn she ever had, or like a boy after eating a plate of ice-cream, you're just a bit terrifying--particularly to the appetizing morsel that has given rise to those clucks. It's enough to make the stoutest heart quail." "Nonsense!" retorted the major, with a wink at Jimmieboy. "Neither my manner nor the manner of any other being could make a stout hart quail, because stout harts are deer and quails are birds!" This more or less feeble joke served to put the three travelers in good humor again. Jimmieboy smiled over it; the sprite snickered, and the major threw himself down on the grass in a perfect paroxysm of laughter. When he had finished he got up again and said: "Well, what are we going to do about it? I propose we attack Fortyforefoot unawares and tie his hands behind his back. Then Jimmieboy will be safe." "You are a wonderfully wise person," retorted the sprite. "How on earth is Fortyforefoot to show his tricks if we tie his hands?" "By means of his tricks," returned the major. "If he is any kind of a magician he'll get his hands free in less than a minute." "Then why tie them at all?" asked the sprite. "I'm not good at conundrums," said the major. "Why?" "I'm sure I don't know," returned the sprite, impatiently. "Then why waste time asking riddles to which you don't know the answer?" roared the major. "You'll have me mad in a minute, and when I'm mad woe be unto him which I'm angry at." "Don't quarrel," said Jimmieboy, stepping between his two friends, with whom it seemed to be impossible to keep peace for any length of time. "If you quarrel I shall leave you both and go back to my company." "Very well," returned the major. "I accept the sprite's apology. But he mustn't do it again. Now as you have chosen to reject my plan of attacking Fortyforefoot and tying his hands, suppose you suggest something better, Mr. Sprite." "I think the safe thing would be for Jimmieboy to wear this invisible coat of mine when in the giant's presence. If Fortyforefoot can't see him he is safe," said the sprite. "I don't see any invisible coat anywhere," said the major. "Where is it?" "Nobody can see it, of course," said the sprite, scornfully. "Do you know what invisible means?" "Yes, I do," retorted the major. "I only pretended I didn't so that I could make you ask the question, which enables me to say that something invisible is something you can't see, like your jokes." "I can make a better joke than you can with my hands tied behind my back," snapped the sprite. "I can't make jokes with your hands tied behind your back, but I can make one with my own hands tied behind my back that Jimmieboy here can see with his eyes shut," said the major, scornfully. "What is it? I like jokes," said Jimmieboy. "Why--er--let me see; why--er--when is a sunbeam sharp?" asked the major, who did not expect to be taken up so quickly. "I don't know; when?" asked Jimmieboy. "When it's a ray, sir. See? Ray, sir--razor. Ha! ha! Pretty good, eh?" laughed the major. "Bad as can be," said the sprite, his nose turned up until it interfered with his eyesight. "Now hear mine, Jimmieboy. When is a joke not a joke?" "Haven't the slightest idea," observed Jimmieboy, after scratching his head and trying to think for a minute or two. "When it's one of the major's," roared the sprite, whereat the woods rang with his laughter. The major first turned pale and then grew red in the face. "That settles it," he said, throwing off his coat. "That is a deadly insult, and there is now no possible way to avoid a duel." "I am ready for you at any time," said the sprite, calmly. "Only as the challenged party I have the choice of weapons, and inasmuch as this is a hot day, I choose the jawbone." "Not a talking match, I hope?" said the major, with a gesture of impatience. "Not at all," replied the sprite. "A story-telling contest. We will withdraw to that moss-covered rock underneath the trees in there, gather enough huckleberries and birch bark for our luncheon, and catch a mess of trout from the brook to go with them, and then we can fight our duel all the rest of the afternoon." "But how's that going to satisfy my wounded honor?" asked the major. "I'll tell one story," said the sprite, "and you'll tell another, and when we are through, the one that Jimmieboy says has told the best story will be the victor. That is better than trying to hurt each other, I think." "I think so too," put in Jimmieboy. "I'm ready for it." "Well, it isn't a bad scheme," agreed the major. "Particularly the luncheon part of it; so you may count on me. I've got a story that will lift your hair right off your head." So Jimmieboy and his two strange friends retired into the wood, gathered the huckleberries and birch bark, caught, cooked, and ate the trout, and then sat down together on the moss-covered rock to fight the duel. The two fighters drew lots to find out which should tell the first story, and as the sprite was the winner, he began. And the story he told was as follows. CHAPTER IX. THE SPRITE'S STORY. "When I was not more than a thousand years old--" said the sprite. "Excuse me," interrupted the major. "But what was the figure?" "One thousand," returned the sprite. "That was nine thousand years ago--before this world was made. I celebrated my ten-thousand-and-sixteenth birthday last Friday--but that has nothing to do with my story. When I was not more than a thousand years of age, my parents, who occupied a small star about forty million miles from here, finding that my father could earn a better living if he were located nearer the moon, moved away from my birthplace and rented a good-sized, four-pronged star in the suburbs of the great orb of night. In the old star we were too far away from the markets for my father to sell the products of his farm for anything like what they cost him; freight charges were very heavy, and often the stage-coach that ran between Twinkleville and the moon would not stop at Twinkleville at all, and then all the stuff that we had raised that week would get stale, lose its fizz, and have to be thrown away." "Let me beg your pardon again," put in the major. "But what did you raise on your farm? I never heard of farm products having fizz to lose." "We raised soda-water chiefly," returned the sprite, amiably. "Soda-water and suspender buttons. The soda-water was cultivated and the suspender buttons seemed to grow wild. We never knew exactly how; though from what I have learned since about them, I think I begin to understand the science of it; and I wish now that I could find a way to return to Twinkleville, because I am certain it must be a perfect treasure-house of suspender buttons by this time. Even in my day they used to lie about by the million--metallic buttons every one of them. They must be worth to-day at least a dollar a thousand." "What is your idea about the way they happened to come there, based on what you have learned since?" asked the major. "Well, it is a very simple idea," returned the sprite. "You know when a suspender button comes off it always disappears. Of course it must go somewhere, but the question is, where? No one has ever yet been known to recover the suspender button he has once really lost; and my notion of it is simply that the minute a metal suspender button comes off the clothes of anybody in all the whole universe, it immediately flies up through the air and space to Twinkleville, which is nothing more than a huge magnet, and lies there until somebody picks it up and tries to sell it. I remember as a boy sweeping our back yard clear of them one evening, and waking the next morning to find the whole place covered with them again; but we never could make money on them, because the moon was our sole market, and only the best people of the moon ever used suspenders, and as these were unfortunately relatives of ours, we had to give them all the buttons they wanted for nothing, so that the button crops became rather an expense to us than otherwise. But with soda-water it was different. Everybody, it doesn't make any difference where he lives, likes soda-water, and it was an especially popular thing in the moon, where the plain water is always so full of fish that nobody can drink it. But as I said before, often the stage-coach wouldn't or couldn't stop, and we found ourselves getting poorer every day. Finally my father made up his mind to lease, and move into this new star, sink a half-dozen soda-water wells there, and by means of a patent he owned, which enabled him to give each well a separate and distinct flavor, drive everybody else out of the business." "You don't happen to remember how that patent your father owned worked, do you?" asked the major, noticing that Jimmieboy seemed particularly interested when the sprite mentioned this. "If you do, I'd like to buy the plan of it from you and give it to Jimmieboy for a Christmas present, so that he can have soda-water wells in his own back yard at home." "No, I can't remember anything about it," said the sprite. "Nine thousand years is a long time to remember things of that kind, though I don't think the scheme was a very hard one to work. For vanilla cream, it only required a well with plain soda-water in it with a quart of vanilla beans and three pints of cream poured into it four times a week; same way with other flavors--a quart of strawberries for strawberry, sarsaparilla for sarsaparilla, and so forth; but the secret was in the pouring; there was something in the way papa did the pouring; I never knew just what it was. He always insisted on doing the pouring himself. But if you don't stop asking questions I'll never finish my story." "You shouldn't make it so interesting if you don't want us to have our curiosity excited by it," said Jimmieboy. "I'd have asked those questions if the major hadn't. But go ahead. What happened?" "Well, we moved, and in a very short time were comfortably settled in the suburban star I have mentioned," continued the sprite. "As we expected, my father grew very, very rich. He was referred to in the moon newspapers as 'The Soda-water King,' and once an article about him said that he owned the finest suspender-button mine in the universe, which was more or less true, but which, as it turned out, was unfortunate in its results. Some moon people hearing of his ownership of the Twinkleville Button Mines came to him and tried to persuade him that they ought to be worked. Father said he didn't see any use of it, because the common people didn't wear suspenders, and so didn't need the buttons. "'True,' said they, 'but we can compel them to need them, by making a law requiring that everybody over sixteen shall wear suspenders.' "'That's a good idea,' said my father, and he tried to have it made a law that every one should wear suspenders, high or low, and as a result he got everybody mad at him. The best people were angry, because up to that time the wearing of suspenders had been regarded as a sign of noble birth, and if everybody, including the common people, were to have them they would cease to be so. The common people themselves were angry, because to have to buy suspenders would simply be an addition to the cost of living, and they hadn't any money to spare. In consequence we were cut off by the best people of the moon. Nobody ever came to see us except the very commonest kind of common people, and they came at night, and then only to drop pailfuls of cod-liver oil, squills, ipecac, and other unpopular things into our soda-water wells, so that in a very short time my poor father's soda-water business was utterly ruined. People don't like to order ten quarts of vanilla cream soda-water for Sunday dinner, and find it flavored with cod-liver oil, you know." "Yes, I do know," said Jimmieboy, screwing his face up in an endeavor to give the major and the sprite some idea of how little he liked the taste of cod-liver oil. "I think cod-liver oil is worse than measles or mumps, because you can't have measles or mumps more than once, and there isn't any end to the times you can have cod-liver oil." "I'm with you there," said the major, emphasizing his remark by slapping Jimmieboy on the back. "In fact, sir, on page 29 of my book called 'Musings on Medicines' you will find--if it is ever published--these lines: "The oils of cod! The oils of cod! They make me feel tremendous odd, Nor hesitate I here to state I wildly hate the oils of cod." "Bravo!" cried the sprite. "When I start my autograph album I want you to write those lines on the first page." "With pleasure," returned the major. "When shall you start the album?" "Never, I hope," replied the sprite, with a chuckle. "And now suppose you don't interrupt my story again." Clouds began to gather on the major's face again. The sprite's rebuke had evidently made him very angry. "Sir," said he, as soon as his feelings permitted him to speak. "If you make any more such remarks as that, another duel may be necessary after this one is fought--which I should very much regret, for duels of this sort consume a great deal of time, and unless I am much mistaken it will shortly rain cats and dogs." "It looks that way," said the sprite, "and it is for that very reason that I do not wish to be interrupted again. Of course ruin stared father in the face." "How rude of ruin!" whispered the major to Jimmieboy, who immediately silenced him. "Trade having fallen away," continued the sprite, "we had to draw upon our savings for our bread and butter, and finally, when the last penny was spent, we made up our minds to leave the moon district entirely and try life on the dog-star, where, we were informed, people only had one eye apiece, and every man had so much to do that it took all of his one eye's time looking after his own business so that there wasn't any left for him to spend on other people's business. It seemed to my father that in a place like this there was a splendid opening for him." "In what line?" queried the major. "Renting out his extra eye to blind men," roared the sprite. Jimmieboy fell off the rock with laughter, and the major, angry at being so neatly caught, rose up and walked away but immediately returned. "If this wasn't a duel I wouldn't stay here another minute," he said. "But you can't put me to flight that way. Go on and finish." "The question now came up as to how we should get to the dog-star," resumed the sprite. "Our money was all gone. Nobody would lend us any. Nobody would help us at all." "I should think they'd have been so glad you were leaving they'd have paid your fare," said the major, but the sprite paid no attention. "There was no regular stage line between the moon and the dog-star," said he, "and we had only two chances of really getting there, and they were both so slim you could count their ribs. One was by getting aboard the first comet that was going that way, and the other was by jumping. The trouble with the first chance was that as far as any one knew there wasn't a comet expected to go in the direction of the dog-star for eight million years--which was rather a long time for a starving family to wait, and besides we had read of so many accidents in the moon papers about people being injured while trying to board comets in motion that we were a little timid about it. My father and I could have managed very well; but mother might not have--ladies can't even get on horse cars in motion without getting hurt, you know. "Then the other scheme was equally dangerous. It's a pretty big jump from the moon to the dog-star, and if you don't aim yourself right you are apt to miss it, and either fall into space or land somewhere else where you don't want to go. For instance, a cousin of mine who lived on Mars wanted to visit us when we lived at Twinkleville, but he was too mean to pay his fare, thinking he could jump it cheaper. Well, he jumped and where do you suppose he landed?" "In the sun!" cried the major, in horror. "No. Nowhere!" returned the sprite. "He's jumping yet. He didn't come anywhere near Twinkleville, although he supposed that he was aimed in the right direction." "Will you tell me how you know he's falling yet?" asked the major, who didn't seem to believe this part of the sprite's story. "Certainly. I saw him yesterday through a telescope," replied the sprite. The major began to whistle. "And he looked very tired, too," said the sprite. "Though as a matter of fact he doesn't have to exert himself any. All he has to do is fall, and, once you get started, falling is the easiest thing in the world. But of course with the remembrance of my cousin's mistake in our minds, we didn't care so much about making the jump, and we kept putting it off and putting it off until finally some wretched people had a law made abolishing us from the moon entirely, which meant that we had to leave inside of twenty-four hours; so we packed up our trunks with the few possessions we had left and threw them off toward the dog-star; then mother and father took hold of hands and jumped and I was to come along after them with some of the baggage that we hadn't got ready in time. "According to my father's instructions I watched him carefully as he sped through space to see whether he had started right, and to my great joy I observed that he had--that very shortly both he and mother would arrive safely on the dog-star--but alas! My joy was soon turned to grief, for a terrible thing happened. Our great heavy family trunk that had been dispatched first, and with truest aim, landed on the head of the King of the dog-star, stove his crown in and nearly killed him. Hardly had the king risen up from the ground when he was again knocked down by my poor father, who, utterly powerless to slow up or switch himself to one side, landed precisely as the trunk had landed on the monarch's head, doing quite as much more damage as the trunk had done in the beginning. When added to these mishaps a shower of hat-boxes and hand-bags, marked with our family name, fell upon the Lord Chief Justice, the Prime Minister and the Heir Apparent, my parents were arrested and thrown into prison and I decided that the dog-star was no place for me. Wild with grief, and without looking to see where I was going, nor in fact caring much, I gave a running leap out into space and finally through some good fortune landed here on this earth which I have found quite good enough for me ever since." Here the sprite paused and looked at Jimmieboy as much as to say, "How is that for a tale of adventure?" "Is that all?" queried Jimmieboy. "Mercy!" cried the major, "Isn't it enough?" "No," said Jimmieboy. "Not quite. I don't see how he could have jumped so many years before the world was made and yet land on the world." "I was five thousand years on the jump," explained the sprite. "It was leap-year when you started, wasn't it?" asked the major, with a sarcastic smile. "And your parents? What finally became of them?" asked Jimmieboy, signaling the major to be quiet. "I hadn't the heart to inquire. I am afraid they got into serious trouble. It's a very serious thing to knock a king down with a trunk and land on his head yourself the minute he gets up again," sighed the sprite. "But didn't you tell me your parents were unfairies?" put in Jimmieboy, eying the sprite distrustfully. "Yes; but they were only my adopted parents," explained the sprite. "They were a very rich old couple with lots of money and no children, so I adopted them not knowing that they were unfairies. When they died they left me all their bad habits, and their money went to found a storeroom for worn out lawn-mowers. That was a sample of their meanness." "Well that's a pretty good story," said Jimmieboy. "Yes," said the sprite, with a pleased smile. "And the best part of it is it's all true." "Tut!" ejaculated the major, scornfully. "Wait until you hear mine." CHAPTER X. THE MAJOR'S TALE. "A great many years ago when I was a souvenir spoon," said the major, "I belonged to a very handsome and very powerful potentate." "I didn't quite understand what it was you said you were," said the sprite, bending forward as if to hear better. "At the beginning of my story I was a souvenir spoon," returned the major. "Did you begin your career as a spoon?" asked the sprite. "I did not, sir," replied the major. "I began my career as a nugget in a lead mine where I was found by the king of whom I have just spoken, and on his return home with me he gave me to his wife who sent me out to a lead smith's and had me made over into a souvenir spoon--and a mighty handsome spoon I was too. I had a poem engraved on me that said: 'Aka majo te roo li sah, Pe mink y rali mis tebah.' Rather pretty thought, don't you think so?" added the major as he completed the couplet. "Very!" said the sprite, with a knowing shake of his head. "Well, I don't understand it at all," said Jimmieboy. "Ask this native of Twinkleville what it means," observed the major with a snicker. "He says it's a pretty thought, so of course he understands it--though I assure you I don't, for it doesn't mean anything. I made it up, this very minute." The sprite colored deeply. It was quite evident that he had fallen into the trap the major had set for him. "I was only fooling," he said, with a sickly attempt at a smile. "Go on with your story." "I think perhaps the happiest time of my life was during the hundreds of years that I existed in the royal museum as a spoon," resumed the major. "I was brought into use only on state occasions. When the King of Mangapore gave a state banquet to other kings in the neighborhood I was the spoon that was used to ladle out the royal broth." Here the major paused to smack his lips, and then a small tear appeared in one corner of his eye and trickled slowly down the side of his nose. "I always weep," he said, as soon as he could speak, "when I think of that broth. Here is what it was made of: 'Seven pies of sweetest mince, Then a ripe and mellow quince, Then a quart of tea. Then a pint of cinnamon, Next a roasted apple, done Brown as brown can be. Add of orange juice, a gill, And a sugared daffodil, Then a yellow yam. Sixty-seven strawberries Should be added then to these, And a pot of jam. Mix with maple syrup and Let it in the ice-box stand Till it's good and cold-- Throw a box of raisins in, Stir it well--just make it spin-- Till it looks like gold.' Oh, my!" cried the major. "What a dish it was, and I, I used to be dipped into a tureen full of it sixteen times at every royal feast, and before the war we had royal feasts on an average of three times a day." "Three royal banquets a day?" cried Jimmieboy, his mouth watering to think of it. "Yes," returned the major. "Three a day until the unhappy war broke out which destroyed all my happiness, and resulted in the downfall of sixty-four kings." "How on earth did such a war as that ever happen to be fought?" asked the sprite. "I am sorry to say," replied the major, sadly, "that I was the innocent cause of it all. It was on the king's birthday that war was declared. He used to have magnificent birthday parties, quite like those that boys like Jimmieboy here have, only instead of having a cake with a candle in it for each year, King Fuzzywuz used to have one guest for each year, and one whole cake for each guest. On his twenty-first birthday he had twenty-one guests; on his thirtieth, thirty, and so on; and at every one of these parties I used to be passed around to be admired, I was so very handsome and valuable." "Absurd!" said the sprite, with a sneering laugh. "The idea of a lead spoon being valuable!" "If you had ever been able to get into the society of kings," the major answered, with a great deal of dignity, "you would know that on the table of a monarch lead is much more rare than silver and gold. It was this fact that made me so overpoweringly valuable, and it is not surprising that a great many of the kings who used to come to these birthday parties should become envious of Fuzzywuz and wish they owned a treasure like myself. One very old king died of envy because of me, and his heir-apparent inherited his father's desire to possess me to such a degree that he too pined away and finally disappeared entirely. Just regularly faded out of sight. Didn't die, you know, as you would, but vanished. "So it went on for years, and finally on his sixty-fourth birthday King Fuzzywuz gave his usual party, and sixty-four of the choicest kings in the world were invited. They every one came, the feast was made ready, and just as the guests took their places around the table, the broth with me lying at the side of the tureen was brought in. The kings all took their crowns off in honor of my arrival, when suddenly pouf! a gust of wind came along and blew out every light in the hall. All was darkness, and in the midst of it I felt myself grabbed by the handle and shoved hastily into an entirely strange pocket. "'What, ho, without there!' cried Fuzzywuz. 'Turn off the wind and bring a light.' "The slaves hastened to do as they were told, and in less time than it takes to tell it, light and order were restored. And then a terrible scene ensued. I could see it very plainly through a button-hole in the cloak of the potentate who had seized me and hidden me in his pocket. Fuzzywuz immediately discovered that I was missing. "'What has become of our royal spoon?' he roared to the head-waiter, who, though he was an African of the blackest hue, turned white as a sheet with fear. "'It was in the broth, oh, Nepotic Fuzzywuz, King of the Desert and most noble Potentate of the Sand Dunes, when I, thy miserable servant, brought it into the gorgeous banqueting hall and set it here before thee, who art ever my most Serene and Egotistic Master,' returned the slave, trembling with fear and throwing himself flat upon the dining-hall floor. "'Caitiff!' cried the king. 'I believe thou hast played me false. Do spoons take wings unto themselves and fly away? Are they tadpoles that they develop legs and hop as frogs from our royal presence? Do spoons evapidate----' "'Evaporate, my dear,' suggested the queen in a whisper. "'Thanks,' returned the king. 'Do spoons evaporate like water in the sun? Do they raise sails like sloops of war and thunder noiselessly out of sight? No, no. Thou hast stolen it and thou must bear the penalty of thy predilection----' "'Dereliction,' whispered the queen, impatiently. "'He knows what I mean,' roared the king, 'or if he doesn't he will when his head is cut off.'" "Is that what all those big words meant?" asked Jimmieboy. "As I remember the occurrence, it is," returned the major. "What the king really meant was always uncertain; he always used such big words and rarely got them right. Reprehensibility and tremulousness were great favorites of his, though I don't believe he ever knew what they meant. But, to continue my story, at this point the king rose and sharpening the carving knife was about to behead the slave's head off when the potentate who had me in his pocket cried out: "'Hold, oh Fuzzywuz! The slave is right. I saw the spoon myself at the side of yon tureen when it was brought hither.' "'Then,' returned the king, 'it has been percolated----' "'Peculated,' whispered the queen. "'That's what I said,' retorted Fuzzywuz, angrily. 'The spoon has been speculated by some one of our royal brethren at this board. The point to be liquidated now is, who has done this deed. What, ho, without there! A guard about the palace gates--and lock the doors and bar the windows. We shall have a search. I am sorry to say, that every king in this room save only myself and my friend Prince Bigaroo, who at the risk of his kingly dignity deigned to come to the rescue of my slave, must repeal--I should say reveal--the contents of his pockets. Prince Bigaroo must be innocent or he would not have ejaculated as he hath.' "You see," said the major, in explanation, "Bigaroo having stolen me was smart enough to see how it would be if he spoke. A guilty person in nine cases out of ten would have kept silent and let the slave suffer. So Bigaroo escaped; but all the others were searched and of course I was not found. Fuzzywuz was wild with sorrow and anger, and declared that unless I was returned within ten minutes he would wage war upon, and utterly destroy, every king in the place. The kings all turned pale--even Bigaroo's cheek grew white, but having me he was determined to keep me and so the war began." "Why didn't you speak and save the innocent kings?" asked the sprite. "How could I?" retorted the major. "Did you ever see a spoon with a tongue?" The sprite made no answer. He evidently had never seen a spoon with a tongue. "The war was a terrible one," said the major, resuming his story. "One by one the kings were destroyed, and finally only Bigaroo remained, and Fuzzywuz not having found me in the treasures of the others, finally came to see that it was Bigaroo who had stolen me. So he turned his forces toward the wicked monarch, defeated his army, and set fire to his palace. In that fire I was destroyed as a souvenir spoon and became a lump of lead once more, lying in the ruins for nearly a thousand years, when I was sold along with a lot of iron and other things to a junk dealer. He in turn sold me to a ship-maker, who worked me over into a sounding lead for a steamer he had built. On my first trip out I was sent overboard to see how deep the ocean was. I fell in between two huge rocks down on the ocean's bed and was caught, the rope connecting me with the ship snapped, and there I was, twenty thousand fathoms under the sea, lost, as I supposed, forever. The effect of the salt water upon me was very much like that of hair restorer on some people's heads. I began to grow a head of green hair--seaweed some people call it--and to this fact, strangely enough, I owed my escape from the water. A sea-cow who used to graze about where I lay, thinking that I was only a tuft of grass gathered me in one afternoon and swallowed me without blinking, and some time after, the cow having been caught and killed by some giant fishermen, I was found by the wife of one of the men when the great cow was about to be cooked. These giants were very strange people who inhabited an island out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, which was gradually sinking into the water with the weight of the people on it, and which has now entirely disappeared. There wasn't one of the inhabitants that was less than one hundred feet tall, and in those days they used to act as light-houses for each other at night. They had but one eye apiece, and when that was open it used to flash just like a great electric light, and they'd take turns at standing up in the middle of the island all night long and turning round and round and round until you'd think they'd drop with dizziness. I staid with these people, I should say, about forty years, when one morning two of the giants got disputing as to which of them could throw a stone the farthest. One of them said he could throw a pebble two thousand miles, and the other said he could throw one all the way round the world. At this the first one laughed and jeered, and to prove that he had told the truth the second grabbed up what he thought was a pebble, but which happened to be me and threw me from him with all his force." "Did you go all the way around?" queried Jimmieboy. "Did I? Well, rather. I went around once and a half. And sad to say I killed the giant who threw me," returned the major. "I went around the world so swiftly that when I got back to the island the poor fellow hadn't had time to get out of my way, and as I came whizzing along I struck him in the back, went right through him, and leaving him dead on the island went on again and finally fell into a great gun manufactory in Massachusetts where I was smelted over into a bullet, and sent to the war. I did lots of work for George Washington. I think I must have killed off half a dozen regiments of his enemies, and between you and me, General Washington said I was his favorite bullet, and added that as long as he had me with him he wasn't afraid of anybody." Here the major paused a minute to smile at the sprite who was beginning to look a little blue. It was rather plain, the sprite thought, that the major was getting the best of the duel. "Go on," said Jimmieboy. "What next? How long did you stay with George Washington?" "Six months," said the major. "I'd never have left him if he hadn't ordered me to do work that I wasn't made for. When a bullet goes to war he doesn't want to waste himself on ducks. I wanted to go after hostile generals and majors and cornet players, and if Mr. Washington had used me for them I'd have hit home every time, but instead of that he took me off duck shooting one day and actually asked me to knock over a miserable wild bird he happened to want. I rebelled at this. He insisted, and I said, 'very well, General, fire away.' He fired, the duck laughed, and I simply flew off into the woods on the border of the bay and rested there for nearly a hundred years. The rest of my story is soon told. I lay where I had fallen until six years ago when I was picked up by a small boy who used me for a sinker to go fishing with, after which I found my way into the smelting pot once more, and on the Fifteenth of November, 1892, I became what I am, Major Blueface, the handsomest soldier, the bravest warrior, the most talented tin poet that ever breathed." A long silence followed the completion of the major's story. Which of the two he liked the better Jimmieboy could not make up his mind, and he hoped his two companions would be considerate enough not to ask him to decide between them. "I thought they had to be true stories," said the sprite, gloomily. "I don't think it's fair to tell stories like yours--the idea of your being thrown one and a half times around the world!" "It's just as true as yours, anyhow," retorted the major, "but if you want to begin all over again and tell another I'm ready for you." "No," said the sprite. "We'll leave it to Jimmieboy as it is." "Then I win," said the major. "I don't know about that, major," said Jimmieboy. "I think you are just about even." "Do you really think so?" asked the sprite, his face beaming with pleasure. "Yes," said Jimmieboy. "We'll settle it this way: we'll give five points to the one who told the best, five points to the one who told the longest, and five points to the one who told the shortest story. As the stories are equally good you both get five points for that. The major's was the longest, I think, so he gets five more, but so does the sprite because his was the shortest. That makes you both ten, so you both win." "Hurrah!" cried the major. "Then I do win." "Yes," said the sprite, squeezing Jimmieboy's hand affectionately, "and so do I." Which after all, I think, was the best way to decide a duel of that sort. CHAPTER XI. PLANNING A VISIT. "Well, now that that is settled," said the major with a sigh of relief, "I suppose we had better start off and see whether Fortyforefoot will attend to this business of getting the provisions for us." "Yes," said the sprite. "The major is right there, Jimmieboy. You have delayed so long on the way that it is about time you did something, and the only way I know of for you to do it is by getting hold of Fortyforefoot. If you wanted an apple pie and there was nothing in sight but a cart-wheel he would change it into an apple pie for you." "That's all very well," replied Jimmieboy, "but I'm not going to call on any giant who'd want to eat me. You might just as well understand that right off. I'll try on your invisible coat and if that makes me invisible I'll go. If it doesn't we'll have to try some other plan." "That is the prudent thing to do," said the major, nodding his approval to the little general. "As my poem tries to teach, it is always wise to use your eyes--or look before you leap. The way it goes is this: 'If you are asked to make a jump, Be careful lest you prove a gump-- Awake or e'en in sleep-- Don't hesitate the slightest bit To show that you've at least the wit To look before you leap. Why, in a dream one night, I thought A fellow told me that I ought To jump to Labrador. I did not look but blindly hopped, And where do you suppose I stopped? Bang! On my bedroom floor! I do not say, had I been wise Enough that time to use my eyes-- As I've already said-- To Labrador I would have got: But this _is_ certain, I would not Have tumbled out of bed.' "The moral of which is, be careful how you go into things, and if you are not certain that you are coming out all right don't go into them," added the major. "Why, when I was a mouse----" "Oh, come, major--you couldn't have been a mouse," interrupted the sprite. "You've just told us all about what you've been in the past, and you couldn't have been all that and a mouse too." "So I have," said the major, with a smile. "I'd forgotten that, and you are right, too. I couldn't have been a mouse. I should have put what I was going to say differently. If I had ever been a mouse--that's the way it should be--if I had ever been a mouse and had been foolish enough to stick my head into a mouse-trap after a piece of cheese without knowing that I should get it out again, I should not have been here to-day, in all likelihood. Therefore the general is right. Try on the invisible coat, Jimmieboy, and let's see how it works before you risk calling on Fortyforefoot." "Here it is," said the sprite, holding out his hands with apparently nothing in them. Jimmieboy laughed a little, it seemed so odd to have a person say "here it is" and yet not be able to see the object referred to. He reached out his hand, however, to take the coat, relying upon the sprite's statement that it was there, and was very much surprised to find that his hand did actually touch something that felt like a coat, and in fact was a coat, though entirely invisible. "Shall I help you on with it?" asked the major. "Perhaps you'd better," said Jimmieboy. "It feels a little small for me." "That's what I was afraid of," said the sprite. "You see it covers me all over from head to foot--that is the coat covers all but my head and the hood covers that--but you are very much taller than I am." Here Jimmieboy, having at last got into the coat and buttoned it about him, had the strange sensation of seeing all of himself disappear excepting his head and legs. These remaining uncovered were of course still in sight. "Ha-ha-ha!" laughed the major, merrily, as Jimmieboy walked around. "That is the most ridiculous thing I ever saw. You're nothing but a head and pair of legs." Jimmieboy smiled and placed the hood over his head and the major roared louder than ever. "Ha-ha-ha-ha!" he cried. "Oh, my--oh, dear! That's funnier still--now you're nothing but a pair of legs. Hee-hee-hee! Take it off quick or I'll die with laughter." Jimmieboy took off the hood. "I'm afraid it won't do, Spritey," he said. "Fortyforefoot would see my legs and if he caught them I'd be lost." "That's a fact," said the sprite, thoughtfully. "The coat is almost two feet too short for you." "It's more than two feet too short," laughed the major. "It's two whole legs too short." "This is no time for joking," said the sprite. "We've too much to talk about to use our mouths for laughing." "All right," said the major. "I won't get off any more, or if I do they won't be the kind to make you laugh. They will be sad jokes--like yours. But I say, boys," he added, "I have a scheme. It is of course the scheme of a soldier and may be attended by danger, but if it is successful all the more credit to the one who succeeds. We three people can attack Fortyforefoot openly, capture him, and not let him go until he provides us with the provisions." "That sounds lovely," sneered the sprite. "But I'd like to know some of the details of this scheme. It is easy enough to say attack him, capture him and not let him go, but the question is, how shall we do all this?" "It ought to be easy," returned the major. "There are only three things to be done. The first is to attack him. That certainly ought to be easy. A kitten can attack an elephant if it wants to. The second is to capture him, which, while it seems hard, is not really so if the attack is properly made. The third is not to let him go." "Clear as a fog," put in the sprite. "But go on." "Now there are three of us--Jimmieboy, Spriteyboy and Yourstrulyboy," continued the major, "so what could be more natural than that we should divide up these three operations among us? Nothing! Therefore I propose that Jimmieboy here shall attack Fortyforefoot; the sprite shall capture him and throw him into a dungeon cell and I will crown the work by not letting him go." "Magnificent!" said the sprite. "Jimmieboy and I take all the danger I notice." "Yes," returned the major. "I am utterly unselfish about it. I am willing to put myself in the background and let you have all the danger and most of the glory. I only come in at the very end--but I don't mind that. I have had glory enough for ten life-times, so why should I grudge you this one little bit of it? My feelings in regard to glory will be found on the fortieth page of Leaden Lyrics or the Ballads of Ben Bullet--otherwise myself. The verses read as follows: 'Though glory, it must be confessed, Is satisfying stuff, Upon my laurels let me rest For I have had enough. Ne'er was a glorier man than I, Ne'er shall a glorier be, Than, trembling reader, you'll espy-- When haply you spy me. So bring no more--for while 'tis good To have, 'tis also plain A bit of added glory would Be apt to make me vain.' And I don't want to be vain," concluded the major. "Well, I don't want any of your glory," said the sprite, "and if I know Jimmieboy I don't think he does either. If you want to reverse your order of things and do the dangerous part of the work yourself, we will do all in our power to make your last hours comfortable, and I will see to it that the newspapers tell how bravely you died, but we can't go into the scheme any other way." "You talk as if you were the general's prime minister, or his nurse," retorted the major, "whereas in reality I, being his chief of staff, am they if anybody are." Here the major blushed a little because he was not quite sure of his grammar. Neither of his companions seemed to notice the mixture, however, and so he continued: "General, it is for you to say. Shall my plan go or shall she stay?" "Well, I think myself, major, that it is a little too dangerous for me, and if any other plan could be made I'd like it better," answered Jimmieboy, anxious to soothe the major's feelings which were evidently getting hurt again. "Suppose I go back and order the soldiers to attack Fortyforefoot and bring him in chains to me?" "Couldn't be done," said the sprite. "The minute the chains were clapped on him he would change them into doughnuts and eat them all up." "Yes," put in the major, "and the chances are he would turn the soldiers into a lot of toy balloons on a string and then cut the string." "He couldn't do that," said the sprite, "because he can't turn people or animals into anything. His power only applies to things." "Then what shall we do?" said Jimmieboy, in despair. "Well, I think the best thing to do would be for me to change myself into a giant bigger than he is," said the sprite. "Then I could put you and the major in my pockets and call upon Fortyforefoot and ask him, in a polite way, to turn some pebbles and sticks and other articles into the things we want, and, if he won't do it except he is paid, we'll pay him if we can." "What do you propose to pay him with?" asked the major. "I suppose you'll hand him half a dozen checkerberries and tell him if he'll turn them into ten one dollar bills he'll have ten dollars. Fine way to do business that." "No," said the sprite, mildly. "You can't tempt Fortyforefoot with money. It is only by offering him something to eat that we can hope to get his assistance." "Ah? And you'll request him to turn a handful of pine cones into a dozen turkeys on toast, I presume?" asked the major. "I shall do nothing of the sort. I shall simply offer to let him have you for dinner--you will serve up well in croquettes--Blueface croquettes--eh, Jimmieboy?" laughed the sprite. The poor major turned white with fear and rage. At first he felt inclined to slay the sprite on the spot, and then it suddenly flashed across his mind that before he could do it the sprite might really turn himself into a giant and do with him as he had said. So he contented himself with turning pale and giving a sickly smile. "That would be a good joke on me," he said. "But really, my dear Mr. Sprite, I don't think I would enjoy it, and after all I have a sort of notion that I would disagree with Fortyforefoot--which would be extremely unfortunate. I know I should rest like lead on his digestion--and that would make him angry with you and I should be sacrificed for nothing." "Well, I wouldn't consent to that anyhow," said Jimmieboy. "I love the major too much to----" "So do we all," interrupted the sprite. "Why even I love the major and I wouldn't let anybody eat him for anything--no, sir!--not if I were offered a whole vanilla éclaire would I permit the major to be eaten. But my scheme is the only one possible. I will turn myself into a giant twice as big as Fortyforefoot; I will place you and the major in my pockets and then I will call upon him. He will be so afraid of me that he will do almost anything I ask him to, but to make him give us the very best things he can make I would rather deal gently with him, and instead of forcing him to make the peaches and cherries I'll offer to trade you two fellows off for the things we need. He will be pleased enough at the chance to get anything so good to eat as you look, and he'll prepare everything for us, and he will put you down stairs in the pantry. Then I will tell him stories, and some of the major's jokes, to make him sleepy, and when finally he dozes off I will steal the pantry key and set you free. How does that strike you, general?" "It's a very good plan unless Fortyforefoot should find us so toothsome looking that he would want to eat us raw. We may be nothing more than fruit for him, you know, and truly I don't want to be anybody's apple," said Jimmieboy. "You are quite correct there, general," said the major, with a chuckle. "In fact, I'm quite sure he'd think you and I were fruit because being two we are necessarily a pear." "It won't happen," said the sprite. "He isn't likely to think you are fruit and even if he does I won't let him eat you. I'll keep him from doing it if I have to eat you myself." "Oh, of course, then, with a kind promise like that there is nothing left for us to do but accept your proposition," said the major. "As Ben Bullet says: 'When only one thing can be done-- If people only knew it-- The wisest course beneath the sun Is just to go and do it.'" "I'm willing to take my chances," said Jimmieboy, "if after I see what kind of a giant you can turn yourself into I think you are terrible enough to frighten another giant." "Well, just watch me," said the sprite, taking off his coat. "And mind, however terrifying I may become, don't you get frightened, because I won't hurt you." "Go ahead," said the major, valiantly. "Wait until we get scared before talking like that to us." "One, two, three!" cried the sprite. "Presto! Change! 'Bazam, bazam, A sprite I am, Bazoo, bazee, A giant I'd be.'" Then there came a terrific noise; the trees about the little group shook to the very last end of their roots, all grew dark as night, and as quickly grew light again. In the returning light Jimmieboy saw looming up before him a fearful creature, eighty feet high, clad in a magnificent suit embroidered with gold and silver, a fierce mustache upon his lip, and dangling at his side was a heavy sword. It was the sprite now transformed into a giant--a terrible-looking fellow, though to Jimmieboy he was not terrible because the boy knew that the dreadful creature was only his little friend in disguise. "How do I look?" came a bellowing voice from above the trees. "First rate. Horribly frightful. I'm sure you'll do, and I am ready," said Jimmieboy, with a laugh. "What do you think, major?" But there came no answer, and Jimmieboy, looking about him to see why the major made no reply, was just in time to see that worthy soldier's coat-tails disappearing down the road. The major was running away as fast as he could go. CHAPTER XII. IN FORTYFOREFOOT VALLEY. "You've frightened him pretty well, Spritey," said Jimmieboy, with a laugh, as the major passed out of sight. "Yes," returned the sprite. "But you don't seem a bit afraid." "I'm not--though I think I should be if I didn't know who you are," returned Jimmieboy. "You are really a pretty hideous affair." "Well, I need to be if I am to get the best of Fortyforefoot, but, I say, you mustn't call me Spritey now that I am a giant. It won't do to call me by any name that would show Fortyforefoot who I really am," said the sprite, with a warning shake of his head. "But what shall I call you?" asked Jimmieboy. "Bludgeonhead is my name now," replied the sprite. "Benjamin B. Bludgeonhead is my full name, but you know me well enough to call me plain Bludgeonhead." "All right, plain Bludgeonhead," said Jimmieboy, "I'll do as you say--and now don't you think we'd better be starting along?" "Yes," said Bludgeonhead, reaching down and grabbing hold of Jimmieboy with his huge hand. "We'll start right away, and until we come in sight of Fortyforefoot's house I think perhaps you'll be more comfortable if you ride on my shoulder instead of in my coat-pocket." "Thank you very much," said Jimmieboy, as Bludgeonhead lifted him up from the ground and set him lightly as a feather on his shoulder. "My, what a view!" he added, as he gazed about him. "I think I'd like to be as tall as this all the time, Bludgeonhead. What a great thing it would be on parade days to be as tall as this. Why I can see miles and miles of country from here." "Yes, it's pretty fine--but I don't think I'd care to be so tall always," returned Bludgeonhead, as he stepped over a great broad river that lay in his path. "It makes one very uppish to be as high in the air as this; and you'd be all the time looking down on your friends, too, which would be so unpleasant for your friends that they wouldn't have anything to do with you after a while. Hang on tight now. I'm going to jump over this mountain in front of us." Here Bludgeonhead drew back a little and then took a short run, after which he leaped high in the air, and he and Jimmieboy sailed easily over the great hills before them, and then alighted safe and sound on the other side. "That was just elegant!" cried Jimmieboy, clapping his hands with glee. "I hope there are lots more hills like that to be jumped over." "No, there aren't," said Bludgeonhead, "but if you like it so much I'll go back and do it again." "Let's," said Jimmieboy. Bludgeonhead turned back and jumped over the mountain half a dozen times until Jimmieboy was satisfied and then he resumed his journey. "This," he said, after trudging along in silence for some time, "this is Fortyforefoot Valley, and in a short time we shall come to the giant's castle; but meanwhile I want you to see what a wonderful place this is. The valley itself will give you a better idea of Fortyforefoot's great power as a magician than anything else that I know of. Do you know what this place was before he came here?" "No," said Jimmieboy. "What was it?" "It was a great big hole in the ground," returned Bludgeonhead. "A regular sand pit. Fortyforefoot liked the situation because it was surrounded by mountains and nobody ever wanted to come here because sand pits aren't worth visiting. There wasn't a tree or a speck of a green thing anywhere in sight--nothing but yellow sand glaring in the sun all day and sulking in the moon all night." "Why how could that be? It's all covered with beautiful trees and gardens and brooks now," said Jimmieboy, which was quite true, for the Fortyforefoot Valley was a perfect paradise to look at, filled with everything that was beautiful in the way of birds and trees and flowers and water courses. "How could he make the trees and flowers grow in dry hot sand like that?" "By his magic power, of course," answered Bludgeonhead. "He filled up a good part of the sand pit with stones that he found about here, and then he changed one part of the desert into a pond so that he could get all the water he wanted. Then he took a square mile of sand and changed every grain of it into blades of grass. Other portions he transformed into forests until finally simply by the wonderful power he has to change one thing into another he got the place into its present shape." "But the birds, how did he make them?" asked the little general. "He didn't," said Bludgeonhead. "They came of their own accord. They saw what a beautiful place this was and they simply moved in." Bludgeonhead paused a moment in his walk and set Jimmieboy down on the ground again. "I think I'll take a rest here before going on. We are very near to Fortyforefoot's castle now," he said. "I'll sit down here for a few moments and sharpen my sword and get in good shape for a fight if one becomes necessary. Don't wander away, Jimmieboy. This place is full of traps for just such fellows as you who come in here. That's the way Fortyforefoot catches them for dinner." So Jimmieboy staid close by Bludgeonhead's side and was very much entertained by all that went on around him. He saw the most wonderful birds imaginable, and great bumble-bees buzzed about in the flowers gathering honey by the quart. Once a great jack-rabbit, three times as large as he was, came rushing out of the woods toward him, and Jimmieboy on stooping to pick up a stone to throw at Mr. Bunny to frighten him away, found that all the stones in that enchanted valley were precious. He couldn't help laughing outright when he discovered that the stone he had thrown at the rabbit was a huge diamond as big as his fist, and that even had he stopped to choose a less expensive missile he would have had to confine his choice to pearls, rubies, emeralds, and other gems of the rarest sort. And then he noticed that what he thought was a rock upon which he and Bludgeonhead were sitting was a massive nugget of pure yellow gold. This lead him on to inspect the trees about him and then he discovered a most absurd thing. Fortyforefoot's extravagance had prompted him to make all his pine trees of the most beautifully polished and richly inlaid mahogany; every one of the weeping willows was made of solid oak, ornamented and carved until the eye wearied of its beauty, and as for the birds in the trees, their nests were made not of stray wisps of straw and hay stolen from the barns and fields, but of the softest silk, rich in color and lined throughout with eiderdown, the mere sight of which could hardly help being restful to a tired bird--or boy either, for that matter, Jimmieboy thought. "Did he make all this out of sand? All these jewels and magnificent carvings?" he asked. "Yes," said Bludgeonhead. "Simply took up a handful of sand and tossed it up in the air and whatever he commanded it to be it became. But the most wonderful thing in this place is his spring. He made what you might call a 'Wish Dipper' out of an old tin cup. Then he dug a hole and filled it with sand which he commanded to become liquid, and, when the sand heard him say that, it turned to liquid, but the singular thing about it is that as Fortyforefoot didn't say what kind of liquid it should be, it became any kind. So now if any one is thirsty and wants a glass of cider all he has to do is to dip the wish dipper into the spring and up comes cider. If he wants lemonade up comes lemonade. If he wants milk up comes milk. It's simply great." As Bludgeonhead spoke these words Jimmieboy was startled to hear something very much like an approaching footstep far down the road. "Did you hear that?" he asked, seizing Bludgeonhead by the hand. "Yes, I did," replied Bludgeonhead, in a whisper. "It sounded to me like Fortyforefoot's step, too." "I'd better hide, hadn't I?" said Jimmieboy. "Yes," said Bludgeonhead. "Come here and be quick about it. Climb inside my coat and snuggle down out of sight in my pocket. We musn't let him see you yet awhile." Jimmieboy did as he was commanded, and found the pocket a very comfortable place, only it was a little stuffy. "It's pretty hot in here," he whispered. "Well, look up on the left hand corner of the outer side of the pocket and you'll find two flaps that are buttoned up," replied Bludgeonhead, softly. "Unbutton them. One will let in all the air you want, and the other will enable you to peep out and see Fortyforefoot without his seeing you." In a minute the buttons were found and the flaps opened. Everything happened as Bludgeonhead said it would, and in a minute Jimmieboy, peering out through the hole in the cloak, saw Fortyforefoot approaching. The owner of the beautiful valley seemed very angry when he caught sight of Bludgeonhead sitting on his property, and hastening up to him, he cried: "What business have you here in the Valley of Fortyforefoot?" Jimmieboy shrank back into one corner of the pocket, a little overcome with fear. Fortyforefoot was larger and more terrible than he thought. "I am not good at riddles," said Bludgeonhead, calmly. "That is at riddles of that sort. If you had asked me the difference between a duck and a garden rake I should have told you that a duck has no teeth and can eat, while a rake has plenty of teeth and can't eat. But when you ask me what business I have here I am forced to say that I can't say." "You are a very bright sort of a giant," sneered Fortyforefoot. "Yes," replied Bludgeonhead. "The fact is I can't help being bright. My mother polishes me every morning with a damp chamois." "Do you know to whom you are speaking?" asked Fortyforefoot, threateningly. "No; not having been introduced to you, I can't say I know you," returned Bludgeonhead. "But I think I can guess. You are Anklehigh, the Dwarf." At this Fortyforefoot turned purple with rage. "Anklehigh the Dwarf?" he roared. "I'll right quickly teach thee a lesson thou rash fellow." Fortyforefoot strode up close to Bludgeonhead, whose size he could not have guessed because Bludgeonhead had been sitting down all this time and was pretty well covered over by his cloak. [Illustration: BLUDGEONHEAD SHOWS JIMMIEBOY TO FORTYFOREFOOT. PAGE 174.] [Blank Page] "I'll take thee by thine ear and toss thee to the moon," he cried, reaching out his hand to make good his word. "Nonsense, Anklehigh," returned Bludgeonhead, calmly. "Don't be foolish. No dwarf can fight with a giant of my size." "But I am not the dwarf Anklehigh," shrieked Fortyforefoot. "I am Fortyforefoot." "And I am Bludgeonhead," returned the other, rising and towering way above the owner of the valley. "Mercy sakes!" cried Fortyforefoot, falling on his knees in abject terror. "He'd make six of me! Pardon, O, Bludgeonhead. I did not know you when I was so hasty as to offer to throw you to the moon. I thought you were--er--that you were--er----" "More easily thrown," suggested Bludgeonhead. "Yes--yes--that was it," stammered Fortyforefoot. "And now, to show that you have forgiven me, I want you to come to my castle and have dinner with me." "I'll be very glad to," replied Bludgeonhead. "What are you going to have for dinner?" "Anything you wish," said Fortyforefoot. "I was going to have a very plain dinner to-night because for to-morrow's dinner I have invited my brother Fortythreefoot and his wife Fortytwoinch to have a little special dish I have been so fortunate as to secure." "Ah?" said Bludgeonhead. "And what is that dish, pray?" "Oh, only a sniveling creature I caught in one of my traps this afternoon. He was a soldier, and he wasn't very brave about being caught, but I judge from looking at him that he will make good eating," said Fortyforefoot. "I couldn't gather from him who he was. He had on a military uniform, but he behaved less like a warrior than ever I supposed a man could. It seems from his story that he was engaged upon some secret mission, and on his way back to his army, he stumbled over and into one of my game traps where I found him. He begged me to let him go, but that was out of the question. I haven't had a soldier to eat for four years, so I took him to the castle, had him locked up in the ice-box, and to-morrow we shall eat him." "Did he tell you his name?" asked Bludgeonhead, thoughtfully. "He tried to but didn't succeed. He told me so many names that I didn't believe he really owned any of them," said Fortyforefoot. "All I could really learn about him was that he was as brave as a lion, and that if I would spare him he would write me a poem a mile long every day of my life." "Very attractive offer, that," said Bludgeonhead, with a smile. "Yes; but I couldn't do it. I wouldn't miss eating him for anything," replied Fortyforefoot, smacking his lips, hungrily. "I'd give anything anybody'd ask, too, if I could find another as good." "Would you, honestly?" asked Bludgeonhead. "Well, now, I thought you would, and that is really what I have come here for. I have in my pocket here a real live general that I have captured. Now between you and me, I don't eat generals. I don't care for them--they fight so. I prefer preserved cherries and pickled peaches and--er--strawberry jam and powdered sugar and almonds, and other things like that, you know, and it occurred to me that if I let you have the general you would supply me with what I needed of the others." "You have come to the right place, Bludgeonhead," said Fortyforefoot, eagerly. "I'll give you a million cans of jam, all the pickled peaches and other things you can carry if this general you speak about is a fine specimen." "Well, here he is," said Bludgeonhead, hauling Jimmieboy out of his pocket--whispering to Jimmieboy at the same time not to be afraid because he wouldn't let anything happen to him, and so of course Jimmieboy felt perfectly safe, though a little excited. "Beautiful!" cried Fortyforefoot. "Superb! Got any more?" "No," answered Bludgeonhead, putting Jimmieboy back into his pocket again. "If I ever do find another, though, you shall have him." This of course put Fortyforefoot in a tremendously good humor, and before an hour had passed he had not only transformed pebbles and twigs and leaves of trees and other small things into the provisions that the tin soldiers needed, but he had also furnished horses and wagons enough to carry them back to headquarters, and then Fortyforefoot accompanied by Bludgeonhead entered the castle, where the proprietor demanded that Jimmieboy should be given up to him. Bludgeonhead handed him over at once, and ten minutes later Jimmieboy found himself locked up in the pantry. Hardly had he time to think over the strange events of the afternoon when he heard a noise in the ice-box over in one corner of the pantry, and on going there to see what was the cause of it he heard a familiar voice repeating over and over again these mournful lines: "From Giant number one I ran-- But O the sequel dire! I truly left a frying-pan And jumped into a fire." "Hullo in there," whispered Jimmieboy. "Who are you?" "The bravest man of my time," replied the voice in the ice-box. "Major Mortimer Carraway Blueface of the 'Jimmieboy Guards.'" "Oh, I am so glad to find you again," cried Jimmieboy, throwing open the ice-box door. "I thought it was you the minute I heard your poetry." "Ah!" said the major, with a sad smile. "You recognized the beauty of the poem?" "Not exactly," said Jimmieboy. "But you said you were in the fire when I knew you were in the ice-box, and so of course----" "Of course," said the major, with a frown. "You remembered that when I say one thing I mean another. Well, I'm glad to see you again, but why did you desert me so cruelly?" CHAPTER XIII. THE RESCUE. For a moment Jimmieboy could say nothing, so surprised was he at the major's question. Then he simply repeated it, his amazement very evident in the tone of his voice. "Why did we desert you so cruelly?" "Yes," returned the major. "I'd like to know. When two of my companions in arms leave me, the way you and old Spriteyboy did, I think you ought to make some explanation. It was mean and cruel." "But we didn't desert you," said Jimmieboy. "No such idea ever entered our minds. It was you who deserted us." "I?" roared the major fiercely. "Certainly," said Jimmieboy calmly. "You. The minute Spritey turned into Bludgeonhead you ran away just about as fast as your tin legs could carry you--frightened to death evidently." "Jimmieboy," said the major, his voice husky with emotion, "any other person than yourself would have had to fight a duel with me for casting such a doubt as you have just cast upon my courage. The idea of me, of I, of myself, Major Mortimer Carraway Blueface, the hero of a hundred and eighty-seven real sham fights, the most poetic as well as the handsomest man in the 'Jimmieboy Guards' being accused of running away! Oh! It is simply dreadful! "I've been accused of dreadful things, Of wearing copper finger-rings, Of eating green peas with a spoon, Of wishing that I owned the moon, Of telling things that weren't the truth, Of having cut no wisdom tooth, In times of war of stealing buns, And fainting at the sound of guns, Yet never dreamed I'd see the day When it was thought I'd run away. Alack--O--well-a-day--alas! That this should ever come to pass! Alas--O--well-a-day--alack! It knocks me flat upon my back. Alas--alack--O--well-a-day! It fills me full of sore dismay. Aday--alas--O--lack-a-well--" "Are you going to keep that up forever?" asked Jimmieboy. "If you are I'm going to get out. I've heard stupid poetry in this campaign, but that's the worst yet." "I only wanted to show you what I could do in the way of a lamentation," said the major. "If you've had enough I'll stop of course; but tell me," he added, sitting down upon a cake of ice, and crossing his legs, "how on earth did you ever get hold of the ridiculous notion that I ran away frightened?" "How?" ejaculated Jimmieboy. "What else was there to think? The minute the sprite was changed into Bludgeonhead I turned to speak to you, and all I could see of you was your coat-tails disappearing around the corner way down the road." "And just because my coat-tails behaved like that you put me down as a coward?" groaned the major. "Didn't you run away?" Jimmieboy asked. "Of course not," replied the major. "That is, not exactly. I hurried off; but not because I was afraid. I was simply going down the road to see if I couldn't find a looking-glass so that Spriteyboy could see how he looked as a giant." Jimmieboy laughed. "That's a magnificent excuse," he said. "I thought you'd think it was," said the major, with a pleased smile. "And when I finally found that there weren't any mirrors to be had along the road I went back, and you two had gone and left me." "And what did you do then?" asked Jimmieboy. "I wrote a poem on sleep. It's a great thing, sleep is, and I wrote the lines off in two tenths of a fifth of a second. As I remember it, this is the way they went: "SLEEP. Deserted by my friends I sit, And silently I weep, Until I'm wearied so by it, I lose my little store of wit; I nod and fall asleep. Then in my dreams my friends I spy-- Once more are they my own. I cease to murmur and to cry, For then 'tis sure to be that I Forget I am alone. 'Tis hence I think that sleep's the best Of friends that man has got-- Not only does it bring him rest But makes him feel that he is blest With blessings he has not." "Why didn't you go to sleep if you felt that way?" said Jimmieboy. "I wanted to find you and I hadn't time. There was only time for me to scratch that poem off on my mind and start to find you and Bludgeyboy," replied the major. "His name isn't Bludgeyboy," said Jimmieboy, with a smile. "It's Bludgeonhead." "Oh, yes, I forgot," said the major. "It's a good name, too, Bludgeonpate is." "How did you come to be captured by Fortyforefoot?" asked Jimmieboy, after he had decided not to try to correct the major any more as to Bludgeonhead's name. "There you go again!" cried the major, angrily. "The idea of a miserable ogre like Fortyforefoot capturing me, the most sagacitacious soldier of modern times. I suppose you think I fell into one of his game traps?" "That's what he said," said Jimmieboy. "He said you acted in a very curious way, too--promised him all sorts of things if he'd let you go." "That's just like those big, bragging giants," said the major. "The idea! why he didn't capture me at all. I came here of my own free will and accord." "What? Down here into this pantry and into the ice-chest? Oh, come now, major. You can't fool me," said Jimmieboy. "That's nonsense. Why should you want to come here?" "To meet you, of course," retorted the major. "That's why. I knew it was part of your scheme to come here. You and I were to be put into the pantry and then old Bludgeyhat was to come and rescue us. I was the one to make the scheme, wasn't I?" "No. It was Bludgeonhead," said Jimmieboy, who didn't know whether to believe the major or not. "That's just the way," said the major, indignantly, "he gets all the credit just because he's big and I don't get any, and yet if you knew of all the wild animals I've killed to get here to you, how I met Fortyforefoot and bound him hand and foot and refused to let him go unless he would permit me to spend a week in his ice-chest, for the sole and only purpose that I wished to meet you again, you'd change your mind mighty quick about me." "You bound Fortyforefoot? A little two-inch fellow like you?" said Jimmieboy. "Why not?" asked the major. "Did you ever see me in a real sham battle?" "No, I never did," said Jimmieboy. "Well, you'd better never," returned the major, "unless you want to be frightened out of your wits. I have been called the living telescope, sir, because when I begin to fight, in the fiercest manner possible, I sort of lengthen out and sprout up into the air until I am taller than any foe within my reach." "Really?" queried Jimmieboy, with a puzzled air about him. "Do you doubt it?" asked the major. "Well, I should like to see it once," said Jimmieboy. "Then I might believe it." "Then you will never believe it," returned the major, "because you will never see it. I never fight in the presence of others, sir." As the major spoke these words a heavy footstep was heard on the stairs. "What is that?" cried the major, springing to his feet. "I do not ask you for your gold, Nor for an old straw hat-- I simply ask that I be told Oh what, oh what is that?" "It is a footstep on the stairs," said Jimmieboy. "Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" moaned the major "If it is Fortyforefoot all is over for us. This is what I feared. "I was afraid he could not wait, The miserable sinner, To serve me up in proper state At his to-morrow's dinner. Alas, he comes I greatly fear In search of Major Me, sir, And that he'll wash me down with beer This very night at tea, sir." "Oh, why did I come here--why----" "I shall!" roared a voice out in the passage-way. "You shall not," roared another voice, which Jimmieboy was delighted to recognize as Bludgeonhead's. "I am hungry," said the first voice, "and what is mine is my own to do with as I please. I shall eat both of them at once. Stand aside!" "I will toss you into the air, my dear Fortyforefoot," returned Bludgeonhead's voice, "if you advance another step; and with such force, sir, that you will never come down again." "Tut, tut! I am not so easily tossed. Stand aside," roared the voice of Fortyforefoot. The two prisoners in the pantry heard a tremendous scuffling, a crash, and a loud laugh. Then Bludgeonhead's voice was heard again. "Good-by, Fortyforefoot," it cried. "I hope he is not going to leave us," whispered Jimmieboy, but the major was too frightened to speak, and he trembled so that half a dozen times he fell off the ice-cake that he had been sitting on. "Give my love to the moon when you pass her, and when you get up into the milky way turn half a million of the stars there into baked apples and throw 'em down to me," called Bludgeonhead's voice. "If you'll only lasso me and pull me back I'll do anything you want me to," came the voice of Fortyforefoot from some tremendous height, it seemed to Jimmieboy. "Not if I know it," replied Bludgeonhead, with a laugh. "I think I'd like to settle down here myself as the owner of Fortyforefoot Valley. Good-bye." Whatever answer was made to this it was too indistinct for Jimmieboy to hear, and in a minute the key of the pantry door was turned, the door thrown open, and Bludgeonhead stood before them. "You are free," he said, grasping Jimmieboy's hand and squeezing it affectionately. "But I had to get rid of him. It was the only way to do it. He wanted to eat you right away." "And did you really throw him off into the air?" asked Jimmieboy, as he walked out into the hall. "Yes," said Bludgeonhead. "See that hole in the roof?" he added, pointing upward. "My!" ejaculated Jimmieboy, as he glanced upward and saw a huge rent in the ceiling, through which, gradually rising and getting smaller and smaller the further he rose, was to be seen the unfortunate Fortyforefoot. "Did he go through there?" "Yes," replied Bludgeonhead. "I simply picked him up and tossed him over my head. He'll never come back. I shall turn myself into Fortyforefoot and settle down here forever, only instead of being a bad giant I shall be a good one--but hallo! Who is this?" The major had crawled out of the ice-chest and was now trying to appear calm, although his terrible fright still left him trembling so that he could hardly speak. "It is Major Blueface," said Jimmieboy, with a smile. "Oh!" cried Bludgeonhead. "He was Fortyforefoot's other prisoner." "N--nun--not at--t--at--at all," stammered the major. "I def--fuf--feated him in sus--single combat." "But what are you trembling so for now?" demanded Bludgeonhead. "I--I am--m not tut--trembling," retorted the major. "I--I am o--only sh--shivering with--th--the--c--c--c--cold. I--I--I've bub--been in th--that i--i--i--ice bu--box sus--so long." Jimmieboy and Bludgeonhead roared with laughter at this. Then giving the major a warm coat to put on they sent him up stairs to lie down and recover his nerves. After the major had been attended to, Bludgeonhead changed himself back into the sprite again, and he and Jimmieboy sauntered in and out among the gardens for an hour or more and were about returning to the castle for supper when they heard sounds of music. There was evidently a brass band coming up the road. In an instant they hid themselves behind a tree, from which place of concealment they were delighted two or three minutes later to perceive that the band was none other than that of the "Jimmieboy Guards," and that behind it, in splendid military form, appeared Colonel Zinc followed by the tin soldiers themselves. "Hurrah!" cried Jimmieboy, throwing his cap into the air. "Ditto!" roared the sprite. "The same!" shrieked the colonel, waving his sword with delight, and commanding his regiment to halt, as he caught sight of Jimmieboy. [Illustration: BLUDGEONHEAD COMES TO THE RESCUE. PAGE 187.] [Blank Page] "Us likewise!" cheered the soldiers: following which came a trembling voice from one of the castle windows which said: "I also wish to add my cheer Upon this happy day; And if you'll kindly come up here You'll hear me cry 'Hooray.'" "It's Major Blueface's voice!" cried the colonel. "Is the major ill?" "No," said the sprite, motioning to Jimmieboy not to betray the major. "Only a little worn-out by the fight we have had with Fortyforefoot." "With Fortyforefoot?" echoed the colonel. "Yes," said the sprite, modestly. "We three have got rid of him at last." "Then the victory is won!" cried the colonel. "Do you know who Fortyforefoot really was?" "No; who?" asked Jimmieboy, his curiosity aroused. "The Parallelopipedon himself," said the colonel. "We found that out last night, and fearing that he might have captured our general and our major we came here to besiege him in his castle and rescue our officers." "But I don't see how Fortyforefoot could have been the Parallelopipedon," said Jimmieboy. "What would he want to be him for, when, all he had to do to get anything he wanted was to take sand and turn it into it?" "Ah, but don't you see," explained the colonel, "there was one thing he never could do as Fortyforefoot. The law prevented him from leaving this valley here in any other form than that of the Parallelopipedon. He didn't mind his confinement to the valley very much at first, but after a while he began to feel cooped up here, and then he took an old packing box and made it look as much like a living Parallelopipedon as he could. Then he got into it whenever he wanted to roam about the world. Probably if you will search the castle you will find the cast-off shell he used to wear, and if you do I hope you will destroy it, because it is said to be a most horrible spectacle--frightening animals to death and causing every flower within a mile to wither and shrink up at the mere sight of it." "It's all true, Jimmieboy," said the sprite. "I knew it all along. Why, he only gave us those cherries and peaches there in exchange for yourself because he expected to get them all back again, you know." "It was a glorious victory," said the colonel. "I will now announce it to the soldiers." This he did and the soldiers were wild with joy when they heard the news, and the band played a hymn of victory in which the soldiers joined, singing so vigorously that they nearly cracked their voices. When they had quite finished the colonel said he guessed it was time to return to the barracks in the nursery. "Not before the feast," said the sprite. "We have here all the provisions the general set out to get, and before you return home, colonel, you and your men should divide them among you." So the table was spread and all went happily. In the midst of the feast the major appeared, determination written upon every line of his face. The soldiers cheered him loudly as he walked down the length of the table, which he acknowledged as gracefully as he could with a stiff bow, and then he spoke: "Gentlemen," he said, "I have always been a good deal of a favorite with you, and I know that what I am about to do will fill you with deep grief. I am going to stop being a man of war. The tremendous victory we have won to-day is the result entirely of the efforts of myself, General Jimmieboy and Major Sprite--for to the latter I now give the title I have borne so honorably for so many years. Our present victory is one of such brilliantly brilliant brilliance that I feel that I may now retire with lustre enough attached to my name to last for millions and millions of years. I need rest, and here I shall take it, in this beautiful valley, which by virtue of our victory belongs wholly and in equal parts to General Jimmieboy, Major Sprite and myself. Hereafter I shall be known only as Mortimer Carraway Blueface, Poet Laureate of Fortyforefoot Hall, Fortyforefoot Valley, Pictureland. As Governor-General of the country we have decided to appoint our illustrious friend, Major Benjamin Bludgeonhead Sprite. General Jimmieboy will remain commander of the forces, and the rest of you may divide amongst yourselves, as a reward for your gallant services, all the provisions that may now be left upon this table. It is all yours. I demand but one condition. That is that you do not take the table. It is of solid mahogany and must be worth a very considerable sum. Now let the saddest word be said, Now bend in sorrow deep the head. Let tears flow forth and drench the dell: Farewell, brave soldier boys, farewell." Here the major wiped his eyes sadly and sat down by the sprite who shook his hand kindly and thanked him for giving him his title of major. "We'll have fine times living here together," said the sprite. "Well, rather!" ejaculated the major. "I'm going to see if I can't have myself made over again, too, Spritey. I'll be pleasanter for you to look at. What's the use of being a tin soldier in a place where even the cobblestones are of gold and silver." "You can be plated any how," said Jimmieboy. "Yes, and maybe I can have a platinum sword put in, and a real solid gold head--but just at present that isn't what I want," said the major. "What I am after now is a piece of birthday cake with real fruit raisins in it and strips of citron two inches long, the whole concealed beneath a one inch frosting. Is there any?" CHAPTER XIV. HOME AGAIN. "I don't think we have any here," said Jimmieboy, who was much pleased to see the sprite and the major, both of whom he dearly loved, on such good terms. "But I'll run home and see if I can get some." "Well, we'll all go with you," said the colonel, starting up and ordering the trumpeters to sound the call to arms. "All except Blueface and myself," said the sprite. "We will stay here and put everything in readiness for your return." "That is a good idea," said Jimmieboy. "And you'll have to hurry for we shall be back very soon." This, as it turned out, was a very rash promise for Jimmieboy to make, for after he and the tin soldiers had got the birthday cake and were ready to enter Pictureland once more, they found that not one of them could do it, the frame was so high up and the picture itself so hard and impenetrable. Jimmieboy felt so badly to be unable to return to his friends, that, following the major's hint about sleep bringing forgetfulness of trouble, he threw himself down on the nursery couch, and closing his brimming eyes dozed off into a dreamless sleep. It was quite dark when he opened them again and found himself still on the couch with a piece of his papa's birthday cake in his hand, his sorrows all gone and contentment in their place. His papa was sitting at his side, and his mamma was standing over by the window smiling. "You've had a good long nap, Jimmieboy," said she, "and I rather think, from several things I've heard you say in your sleep, you've been dreaming about your tin soldiers." "I don't believe it was a dream, mamma," he said, "it was all too real." And then he told his papa all that had happened. "Well, it is very singular," said his papa, when Jimmieboy had finished, "and if you want to believe it all happened you may; but you say all the soldiers came back with you except Major Blueface?" "Yes, every one," said Jimmieboy. "Then we can tell whether it was true or not by looking in the tin soldier's box. If the major isn't there he may be up in Fortyforefoot castle as you say." Jimmieboy climbed eagerly down from the couch and rushing to the toy closet got out the box of soldiers and searched it from top to bottom. The major was not to be seen anywhere, nor to this day has Jimmieboy ever again set eyes upon him. THE END. Transcriber's Note: The use of capitalisation for major and general has been retained as appears in the original publication. Punctuation has been standardised. Changes have been made as follows: Page 60 ejaculated the Paralleopipedon _changed to_ ejaculated the Parallelopipedon? Page 74 should have been resusticated _changed to_ should have been resusitated Page 85 he would pay him fifty cent _changed to_ he would pay him fifty cents Page 131 For intance, a cousin of mine _changed to_ For instance, a cousin of mine Page 159 to do but accept your propostion _changed to_ to do but accept your proposition 
39778	----	scanned images of public domain material from the Internet Archive. [Illustration: Book Cover] MOLLIE AND THE UNWISEMAN ABROAD _HOLIDAY EDITIONS_ _of_ _JUVENILE CLASSICS_ * * * * * THE PRINCESS AND THE GOBLIN By George Macdonald _Twelve full-page illustrations in color, and the original wood engravings. Decorated chapter-headings and lining-papers. Ornamental cloth, $1.50._ * * * * * THE PRINCESS AND CURDIE By George Macdonald _Twelve full page illustrations in color, and decorated chapter-headings and lining-papers. Ornamental cloth, $1.50._ * * * * * AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND By George Macdonald _Twelve full-page illustrations in color. Decorated chapter-headings and lining-papers. Cloth, ornamental, $1.50._ * * * * * A DOG OF FLANDERS By "Ouida" _Illustrated with full-page color plates, and decorated chapter-headings and lining-papers. Cloth, ornamental, $1.50._ * * * * * J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY Publishers Philadelphia [Illustration: "I'VE BEEN TRYING TO FIND OUT HOW TO TIE A SINKER TO THIS SOUP"--_Page 47_] MOLLIE AND THE UNWISEMAN ABROAD BY JOHN KENDRICK BANGS * * * * * _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR BY_ GRACE G. WIEDERSEIM * * * * * [Illustration] * * * * * PHILADELPHIA & LONDON J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 1910 COPYRIGHT 1910 BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY TO MY FRIENDS THE CHILDREN CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE FOREWORD 11 Introducing Two Heroes and a Heroine. I. MOLLIE, WHISTLEBINKIE, AND THE UNWISEMAN 13 II. THE START 31 III. AT SEA 48 IV. ENGLAND 64 V. A CALL ON THE KING 81 VI. THEY GET SOME FOG AND GO SHOPPING 98 VII. THE UNWISEMAN VISITS THE BRITISH MUSEUM 114 VIII. THE UNWISEMAN'S FRENCH 130 IX. IN PARIS 147 X. THE ALPS AT LAST 163 XI. THE UNWISEMAN PLANS A CHAMOIS COMPANY 178 XII. VENICE 194 XIII. GENOA, GIBRALTAR, AND COLUMBUS 211 XIV. AT THE CUSTOM HOUSE 228 XV. HOME, SWEET HOME 245 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE "I've Been Trying to Find Out How to Tie a Sinker to this Soup" _Frontispiece_ "Take Care of Yourself, Fizzledinkie, and don't Blow too much through the Top of Your Hat" 29 Molly Makes Her Courtesy to Mr. King 88 "These are the Kind His Majesty Prefers," said the girl 104 "Have You Seen the Ormolu Clock of Your Sister's Music Teacher?" 154 "Out the Way There!" cried the Unwiseman 168 The Chamois Evidently Liked this Verse for its Eyes Twinkled 182 They all Boarded a Gondola 199 The Unwiseman Looked the Official Coldly in the Eye 229 "I'm Never Going to Leave You Again, Boldy," he was saying 246 FOREWORD INTRODUCING TWO HEROES AND A HEROINE I. There were three little folks, and one was fair-- Oh a rare little maid was she. Her eyes were as soft as the summer air, And blue as the summer sea. Her locks held the glint of the golden sun; And her smile shed the sweets of May; Her cheek was of cream and roses spun, And dimpled the livelong day. II. The second, well he was a rubber-doll, Who talked through a whistling hat. His speech ran over with folderol, But his jokes they were never flat. He squeaked and creaked with his heart care-free Such things as this tale will tell, But whether asleep or at work was he The little maid loved him well. III. The third was a man--O a very queer man! But a funny old chap was he. From back in the time when the world began His like you never did see. The things he'd "know," they were seldom so, His views they were odd and strange, And his heart was filled with the genial glow Of love for his kitchen range. IV. Now the three set forth on a wondrous trip To visit the lands afar; And what befel on the shore, and ship, As she sailed across the bar, These tales will make as plain as the day To those who will go with me And follow along in the prank and play Of these, my travellers three. I. MOLLIE, WHISTLEBINKIE, AND THE UNWISEMAN Mollie was very much excited, and for an excellent reason. Her Papa had at last decided that it was about time that she and her Rubber-Doll, Whistlebinkie, saw something of this great big beautiful world, and had announced that in a few weeks they would all pack their trunks and set sail for Europe. Mollie had always wanted to see Europe, where she had been told Kings and Queens still wore lovely golden crowns instead of hats, like the fairies in her story-book, and the people spoke all sorts of funny languages, like French, and Spanish, and real live Greek. As for Whistlebinkie, he did not care much where he went as long as he was with Mollie, of whom like the rest of the family he was very fond. "But," said he, when he was told of the coming voyage, "how about Mr. Me?" Now Mr. Me was a funny old gentleman who lived in a little red house not far away from Mollie's home in the country. He claimed that his last name was Me, but Mollie had always called him the Unwiseman because there was so much he did not know, and so little that he was willing to learn. The little girl loved him none the less for he was a very good natured old fellow, and had for a long time been a play-mate of the two inseparable companions, Mollie and Whistlebinkie. The latter by the way was called Whistlebinkie because whenever he became excited he blew his words through the small whistle in the top of his hat, instead of speaking them gently with his mouth, as you and I would do. "Why, we'll have to invite him to go along, too, if he can afford it," said Mollie. "Perhaps we'd better run down to his house now, and tell him all about it." "Guess-sweed-better," Whistlebinkie agreed through the top of his beaver, as usual. And so the little couple set off down the hill, and were fortunate enough to find the old gentleman at home. "Break it to him gently," whispered Whistlebinkie. "I will," answered Mollie, under her breath, and then entering the Unwiseman's house she greeted him cheerily. "Good Morning, Mr. Me," she said. "Is it?" asked the old gentleman, looking up from his newspaper which he was reading upside-down. "I haven't tasted it yet. I never judge a day till it's been cooked." "Tasted it?" laughed Mollie. "Can't you tell whether a morning is good or not without tasting it?" "O I suppose you can if you want to," replied the Unwiseman. "If you make up your mind to believe everything you see, why you can believe a morning's good just by looking at it, but I prefer to taste mine before I commit myself as to whether they are good or bad." "Perfly-'bsoyd!" chortled Whistlebinkie through the top of his hat. "What's that?" cried Mollie. "Still talks through his hat, doesn't he," said the Unwiseman. "Must think it's one of these follytones." "Never-erd-o-sutcha-thing!" whistled Whistlebinkie. "What's a follytone?" "You _are_ a niggeramus," jeered the Unwiseman. "Ho! Never heard of a follytone. Ain't he silly, Mollie?" "I don't think I ever heard of one either, Mr. Unwiseman," said Mollie. "Well-well-well," ejaculated the Unwiseman in great surprise. "Why a follytone is one of those little boxes you have in the house with a number like 7-2-3-J-Hokoben that you talk business into to some feller off in Chicago or up in Boston. You just pour your words into the box and they fall across a wire and go scooting along like lightning to this person you're talkin' to." "Oh," laughed Mollie. "You mean a telephone." "I call 'em follytones," said the Unwiseman coolly. "Your voice sounds so foolish over 'em. I never tried 'em but once"--here the old man began to chuckle. "Somebody told me Philadelphia wanted me, and of course I knew right away they were putting up a joke on me because I ain't never met Philadelphia and Philadelphia ain't never met me, so I just got a little squirt gun and filled it up with water and squirted it into the box. I guess whoever was trying to make me believe he was Philadelphia got a good soaking that time." "I guess-smaybe-he-didn't," whistled Whistlebinkie. "Well he didn't get me anyhow," snapped the Unwiseman. "You don't catch me sending my voice to Philadelphia when the chances are I may need it any minute around here to frighten burgulars away with. The idea of a man's being so foolish as to send his voice way out to Chicago on a wire with nobody to look after it, stumps me. But that ain't what we were talking about." "No," said Mollie gravely. "We were talking about tasting days. You said you cooked them, I believe." "That's what I said," said the Unwiseman. "I never knew anybody else to do it," said Mollie. "What do you do it for?" "Because I find raw days very uncomfortable," explained the Unwiseman. "I prefer fried-days." "Everyday'll be Friday by and by," carolled Whistlebinkie. "It will with me," said the old man. "I was born on a Friday, I was never married on a Friday, and I dyed on Friday." "You never died, did you?" asked Mollie. "Of course I did," said the Unwiseman. "I used to have perfectly red hair and I dyed it gray so that young people like old Squeaky-hat here would have more respect for me." "Do-choo-call-me-squeekyat!" cried Whistlebinkie angrily. "All right, Yawpy-tile, I won't--only----" the Unwiseman began. "Nor-yawpy-tile-neither," whistled Whistlebinkie, beginning to cry. "Here, here!" cried the Unwiseman. "Stop your crying. Just because you're made of rubber and are waterproof ain't any reason for throwing tears on my floor. I won't have it. What do you want me to call you, Wheezikid?" "No," sobbed Whistlebinkie. "My name's--Whizzlebinkie." "Very well then," said the Unwiseman. "Let it be Fizzledinkie----only you must show proper respect for my gray hairs. If you don't I'll have had all my trouble dyeing for nothing." Whistlebinkie was about to retort, but Mollie perceiving only trouble between her two little friends if they went on at this rate tried to change the subject by going back to the original point of discussion. "How do you taste a day to see if it's all right?" she asked. "I stick my tongue out the window," said the Unwiseman, "and it's a good thing to do. I remember once down at the sea-shore a young lady asked me if I didn't think it was just a sweet day, and I stuck my tongue out of the window and it was just as salt as it could be. Tasted like a pickle. 'No, ma'am, it ain't,' says I. 'Quite the opposite, it's quite briny,' says I. If I'd said it was sweet she'd have thought I was as much of a niggeramus as old Fizz----" "Do you always read your newspaper upside-down?" Mollie put in hastily to keep the Unwiseman from again hurting Whistlebinkie's feelings. "Always," he replied. "I find it saves me a lot of money. You see the paper lasts a great deal longer when you read it upside-down than when you read it upside-up. Reading it upside-up you can go through a newspaper in about a week, but when you read it upside-down it lasts pretty nearly two months. I've been at work on that copy of the _Gazette_ six weeks now and I've only got as far as the third column of the second page from the end. I don't suppose I'll reach the news on the first column of page one much before three weeks from next Tuesday. I think it's very wasteful to buy a fresh paper every day when by reading it upside-down backwards you can make the old one last two months." "Do-bleeve-youkn-reada-tall," growled Whistlebinkie. "What's that?" cried the old man. "I-don't-be-lieve-you-can-read-at-all!" said Whistlebinkie. "O as for that," laughed the old man, "I never said I could. I don't take a newspaper to read anyhow. What's the use? Fill your head up with a lot of stuff it's a trouble to forget." "What _do_ you take it for?" asked Mollie, amazed at this confession. "I'm collecting commas and Qs," said the Unwiseman. "I always was fond of pollywogs and pug-dogs, and the commas are the living image of pollywogs, and the letter Q always reminds me of a good natured pug-dog sitting down with his back turned toward me. I've made a tally sheet of this copy of the _Gazette_ and so far I've found nine thousand and fifty-three commas, and thirty-nine pugs." Whistlebinkie forgot his wrath in an explosion of mirth at this reply. He fairly rolled on the floor with laughter. "Don't be foolish, Fizzledinkie," said the Unwiseman severely. "A good Q is just as good as a pug-dog. He's just as fat, has a fine curly tail and he doesn't bite or keep you awake nights by barking at the moon or make a nuisance of himself whining for chicken-bones while you are eating dinner; and as far as the commas are concerned they're better even than pollywogs, because they don't wiggle around so much or turn into bull-frogs and splash water all over the place." "There-raintenny-fleeson-cues-sneether," whistled Whistlebinkie. "I didn't catch that," said the Unwiseman. "Talk through your nose just once and maybe I'll be able to guess what you're trying to say." "He says there are not any fleas on Qs," said Mollie with a reproving glance at Whistlebinkie. "As to that I can't say," said the Unwiseman. "I never saw any--but anyhow I don't object to fleas on pug-dogs." "You don't?" cried Mollie. "Why they're horrid, Mr. Unwiseman. They bite you all up." "Perfly-awful," whistled Whistlebinkie. "You're wrong about that," said the Unwiseman. "They don't bite you at all while they're on the pug-dog. It's only when they get on you that they bite you. That's why I say I don't mind 'em on the pug-dogs. As long as they stay there they don't hurt me." Here the Unwiseman rose from his chair and walking across the room opened a cupboard and taking out an old clay pipe laid it on one of the andirons where a log was smouldering in the fire-place. "I always feel happier when I'm smoking my pipe," he said resuming his seat and smiling pleasantly at Mollie. "Put it in the fire-place to warm it?" asked Whistlebinkie. "Of course not, Stupid," replied the Unwiseman scornfully. "I put it in the fire-place to smoke it. That's the cheapest and healthiest way to smoke a pipe. I don't have to buy any tobacco to keep it filled, and as long as I leave it over there on the andiron I don't get any of the smoke up my nose or down my throat. I tried it the other way once and there wasn't any fun in it that I could see. The smoke got in all my flues and I didn't stop sneezing for a week. It was dreadful, and once or twice I got scared and sent for the fire-engines to put me out. I was so full of smoke it seemed to me I must be on fire. It wasn't so bad the first time because the firemen just laughed and went away, but the second time they came they got mad at what they called a second false alarm and turned the hose on me. I tell you I was very much put out when they did that, and since that time I've given up smoking that way. I never wanted to be a chimney anyhow. What's the use? If you're going to be anything of that sort it's a great deal better to be an oven so that some kind cook-lady will keep filling you up with hot-biscuits, and sponge-cake, and roast turkey." "I should think so," said Mollie. "That's one of the nice things about being a little girl----you're not expected to smoke." "Well I don't know about that," said the Unwiseman. "Far as I can remember I never was a little girl so I don't know what was expected of me as such, but as far as I'm concerned I'm perfectly willing to let the pipe get smoked in the fire-place, and keep my mouth for expressing thoughts and eating bananas and eclairs with, and my throat for giving three cheers on the Fourth of July, and swallowing apple pie. That's what they were made for and hereafter that's what I'm going to use 'em for. Where's Miss Flaxilocks?" Miss Flaxilocks was Mollie's little friend and almost constant companion, the French doll with the deepest of blue eyes and the richest of golden hair from which she got her name. "She couldn't come to-day," explained Mollie. "Stoo-wexited," whistled Whistlebinkie. "What's that?" asked the Unwiseman. "Sounds like a clogged-up radiator." "He means to say that she is too excited to come," said Mollie. "The fact is, Mr. Unwiseman, we're all going abroad----" "Abroad?" demanded the Unwiseman. "Where's that?" "Hoh!" jeered Whistlebinkie. "Doesn't know where abroad is!" "How should I know where abroad is?" retorted the Unwiseman. "I never had any. What is it anyhow? A new kind of pie?" "No," laughed Mollie. "Abroad is Europe, and England and----" "And Swizz-izzer-land," put in Whistlebinkie. "Swizz-what?" cried the Unwiseman. "Switzerland," said Mollie. "It's Switzerland, Whistlebinkie." "Thass-watised, Swizz-izzerland," said Whistlebinkie. "What's the good of them?" asked the Unwiseman. "O they're nice places to visit," said Mollie. "Do you walk there?" asked the Unwiseman. "No--of course not," said Mollie with a smile. "They're thousands of miles away, across the ocean." "Across the ocean?" ejaculated the Unwiseman. "Mercy! Ain't the ocean that wet place down around New Jersey somewhere?" "Yes," said Mollie. "The Atlantic Ocean." "Humph!" said the Unwiseman. "How you going to get across? There ain't any bridges over it, are there?" "No indeed," said Mollie. "Nor no trolleys?" demanded the Unwiseman. Mollie's reply was a loud laugh, and Whistlebinkie whistled with glee. "Going in a balloon, I suppose," sneered the Unwiseman. "That is all of you but old Sizzerinktum here. I suppose he's going to try and jump across. Smart feller, old Sizzerinktum." "I ain't neither!" retorted Whistlebinkie. "Ain't neither what--smart?" said the Unwiseman. "No--ain't goin' to jump," said Whistlebinkie. "Good thing too," observed the Unwiseman approvingly. "If you did you'd bounce so high when you landed that _I_ don't believe you'd ever come down." "We're going in a boat," said Mollie. "Not a row boat nor a sail boat," she hastened to explain, "but a great big ocean steamer, large enough to carry over a thousand people, and fast enough to cross in six days." "Silly sort of business," said the Unwiseman. "What's the good of going to Europe and Swazzoozalum--or whatever the place is--when you haven't seen Albany or Troy, or New Rochelle and Yonkers, or Michigan and Patterson?" "O well," said Mollie, "Papa's tired and he's going to take a vacation and we're all going along to help him rest, and Flaxilocks is so excited about going back to Paris where she was born that I have had to keep her in her crib all the time to keep her from getting nervous procrastination." "I see," said the Unwiseman. "But I don't see why if people are tired they don't stay home and go to bed. That's the way to rest. Just lie in bed a couple of days without moving." "Yes," said Mollie. "But Papa needs the salt air to brace him up." "What of it?" demanded the Unwiseman. "Can't you get salt air without going across the ocean? Seems to me if you just fill up a pillow with salt and sleep on that, the way you do on one of those pine-needle pillows from the Dadirondacks, you'd get all the salt air you wanted, or build a salt cellar under your house and run pipes from it up to your bedroom to carry the air through." "It wouldn't be the same, at all," said Mollie. "Besides we're going to see the Alps." "Oh--that's different. Of course if you're going to see the Alps that's very different," said the Unwiseman. "I wouldn't mind seeing an Alp or two myself. I always was interested in animals. I've often wondered why they never had any Alps at the Zoo." "I guess they're too big to bring over," said Mollie gravely. "Maybe so, but even then if they catch 'em young I don't see," began the Unwiseman. Whistlebinkie's behavior at this point was such that Mollie, fearing a renewal of the usual quarrel between her friends ran hastily on to the object of their call and told the Unwiseman that they had come to bid him good-bye. "I wish you were going with us," she said as she shook the old gentleman's hand. "Thank you very much," he replied. "I suppose it would be nice, but I have too many other things to attend to and I don't see how I could spare the time. In the first place I've got all those commas and Qs to look after, and then if I went away there'd be nobody around to see that my pipe was smoked every day, or to finish up my newspaper. Likewise also too in addition the burgulars might get into my house some night while I was away and take the wrong things because I haven't been able yet to let 'em know just what I'm willing to have 'em run off with, so you see how badly things would get mixed if I went away." "I suppose they would," sighed Mollie. "There'd be nobody here to exercise my umbrella on wet days, either," continued the old gentleman, "or to see that the roof leaked just right, or to cook my meals and eat 'em. No--I don't just see how I _could_ manage it." And so the old gentleman bade his visitors good-bye. [Illustration: "TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, FIZZLEDINKIE, AND DON'T BLOW TOO MUCH THROUGH THE TOP OF YOUR HAT"] "Take care of yourself, Fizzledinkie," he observed to Whistlebinkie, "and don't blow too much through the top of your hat. I've heard of boats being upset by sudden squalls, and you might get the whole party in trouble by the careless use of that hat of yours." Mollie and her companion with many waves of their hands back at the Unwiseman made off up the road homeward. The old gentleman gazed after them thoughtfully for awhile, and then returned to his work on his newspaper. "Queer people--some of 'em," he muttered as he cut out his ninety-ninth Q and noted the ten-thousand-six-hundred-and-thirty-eighth comma on his pollywog tally sheet. "Mighty queer. With a country of their own right outside their front door so big that they couldn't walk around it in less than forty-eight hours, they've got to go abroad just to see an old Alp cavorting around in Whizzizalum or whatever else that place Whistlebinkie was trying to talk about is named. I'd like to see an Alp myself, but after all as long as there's plenty of elephants and rhinoceroses up at the Zoo what's the good of chasing around after other queer looking beasts getting your feet wet on the ocean, and having your air served up with salt in it?" And as there was nobody about to enlighten the old gentleman on these points he went to bed that night with his question unanswered. II. THE START Other good byes had been said; the huge ocean steamer had drawn out of her pier and, with Mollie and Whistlebinkie on board, together with Flaxilocks and the rest of the family, made her way down the bay, through the Narrows, past Sandy Hook and out to sea. The long low lying shores of New Jersey, with their white sands and endless lines of villas and summer hotels had gradually sunk below the horizon and the little maid was for the first time in her life out of sight of land. "Isn't it glorious!" cried Mollie, as she breathed in the crisp fresh air, and tasted just a tiny bit of the salt spray of the ocean on her lip. "I guesso," whistled Whistlebinkie, with a little shiver. "Think-ide-like-it-better-'fwe-had-alittle-land-in-sight." "O no, Whistlebinkie," returned Mollie, "it's a great deal safer this way. There are rocks near the shore but outside here the water is ever so deep--more'n six feet I guess. I'd be perfectly happy if the Unwiseman was only with us." Just then up through one of the big yawning ventilators, that look so like sea-serpents with their big flaming mouths stretched wide open as if to swallow the passengers on deck, came a cracked little voice singing the following song to a tune that seemed to be made up as it went along: "Yo-ho! Yo-ho-- O a sailor's life for me! I love to nail The blithering gale, As I sail the bounding sea. For I'm a glorious stowaway, I've thrown my rake and hoe away, On the briny deep to go away, Yeave-ho--Yeave-ho--Yo-hee!" "Where have I heard that voice before!" cried Mollie clutching Whistlebinkie by the hand so hard that he squeaked. "It's-sizz!" whistled Whistlebinkie excitedly. "It's what?" cried Mollie. "It's-his!" repeated Whistlebinkie more correctly. "Whose--the Unwiseman's?" Mollie whispered with delight. "Thass-swat-I-think," said Whistlebinkie. And then the song began again drawing nearer each moment. "Yeave-ho, Yo-ho, O I love the life so brave. I love to swish Like the porpoise fish Over the foamy wave. So let the salt wind blow-away, All care and trouble throw-away, And lead the life of a Stowaway Yeave-ho--Yeave-ho--Yo-hee!" "It is he as sure as you're born, Whistlebinkie!" cried Mollie in an ecstacy of delight. "I wonder how he came to come." "I 'dno," said Whistlebinkie. "I guess he's just went and gone." As Whistlebinkie spoke sure enough, the Unwiseman himself clambered out of the ventilator and leaped lightly on the deck alongside of them still singing: "Yeave-ho, Yo-ho, I love the At-lan-tic. The water's wet And you can bet The motion makes me sick. But let the wavelets flow away You cannot drive the glow away From the heart of the happy Stowaway. Yeave-ho--Yeave-ho--Yo-hee!" Dear me, what a strange looking figure he was as he jumped down and greeted Mollie and Whistlebinkie! In place of his old beaver hat he wore a broad and shiny tarpaulin. His trousers which were of white duck stiffly starched were neatly creased down the sides, ironed as flat as they could be got, nearly two feet wide and as spick and span as a snow-flake. On his feet he wore a huge pair of goloshes, and thrown jauntily around his left shoulder and thence down over his right arm to his waist was what appeared to be a great round life preserver, filled with air, and heavy enough to support ten persons of his size. "Shiver my timbers if it ain't Mollie!" he roared as he caught sight of her. "And Whistlebinkie too--Ahoy there, Fizzledinkie. What's the good word?" "Where on earth did you come from?" asked Mollie overjoyed. "I weighed anchor in the home port at seven bells last night; set me course nor-E by sou-sou-west, made for the deep channel running past the red, white and blue buoy on the starboard tack, reefed my galyards in the teeth o' the blithering gale and sneaked aboard while Captain Binks of the good ship _Nancy B._ was trollin' for oysters off the fishin' banks after windin' up the Port watch," replied the Unwiseman. "It's a great life, ain't it," he added gazing admiringly about him at the wonderful ship and then over the rail at the still more wonderful ocean. "But how did you come to come?" asked Mollie. "Well--ye see after you'd said good-bye to me the other day, I was sort of upset and for the first time in my life I got my newspaper right side up and began to read it that way," the old gentleman explained. "And I fell on a story of the briny deep in which a young gentleman named Billy The Rover Bold sailed from the Spanish main to Kennebunkport in a dory, capturing seventeen brigs, fourteen galleons and a pirate band on the way. It didn't say fourteen galleons of what, but thinkin' it might be soda water, it made my mouth water to think of it, so I decided to rent my house and come along. About when do you think we'll capture any Brigs?" "You rented your house?" asked Mollie in amazement. "Yes--to a Burgular," said the Unwiseman. "I thought that was the best way out of it. If the burgular has your house, thinks I, he won't break into it, spoiling your locks, or smashing your windows and doors. What he's got likewise moreover he won't steal, so the best thing to do is to turn everything over to him right in the beginning and so save your property. So I advertised. Here it is, see?" And the Unwiseman produced the following copy of his advertisement. FOR TO BE LET ONE FIRST CLASS PREMISSES ALL MODDERN INCONVENIENCES HOT AND COAL GAS SIXTEEN MILES FROM POLICE STATION POSESSION RIGHT AWAY OFF ONLY BURGULARS NEED APPLY. Address, The Unwiseman, At Home. "One of 'em called the next night and he's taken the house for six months," the Unwiseman went on. "He's promised to keep the house clean, to smoke my pipe, look after my Qs and commas, eat my meals regularly, and exercise the umbrella on wet days. It was a very good arrangement all around. He was a very nice polite burgular and as it happened had a lot of business he wanted to attend to right in our neighborhood. He said he'd keep an eye on your house too, and I told him about how to get in the back way where the cellar window won't lock. He promised for sure he'd look into it." "Very kind of him I'm sure," said Mollie dubiously. "You'd have liked him very much--nicest burgular I ever met. Had real taking ways," said the Unwiseman. "Howd-ulike-being-outer-sighter-land?" asked Whistlebinkie. "Who, me?" asked the Unwiseman. "I wouldn't like it at all. I took precious good care that I shouldn't be neither." "Nonsense," said Mollie. "How can you help yourself?" "This way," said the Unwiseman with a proud smile of superiority, taking a bottle from his pocket. "See that?" he added. "Yes," said Mollie. "What is it?" "It's land, of course," replied the Unwiseman, holding the bottle up in the light. "Real land off my place at home. Just before I left the house it occurred to me that it would be pleasant to have some along and I took a shovel and went out and got a bottle full of it. It makes me feel safer to have the land in sight all the way over and then it will keep me from being homesick when I'm chasing those Alps down in Swazoozalum." "Swizz-izzerland!" corrected Whistlebinkie. "Swit-zer-land!" said Mollie for the instruction of both. "It's not Swazoozalum, or Swizziz-zerland, but Switzerland." "O I see--rhymes with Hits-yer-land--when the Alp he hits your land, then you think of Switzerland--that it?" asked the Unwiseman. "Well that's near enough," laughed Mollie. "But how does that bottle keep you from being homesick?" "Why--when I begin to pine for my native land, all I've got to do is to open the bottle and take out a spoonful of it. 'This is my own, my native land,' the Poet said, and when I look at this bottle so say I. Right out of my own yard, too," said the Unwiseman, hugging the bottle tightly to his breast. "It's queer isn't it how I should find out how to travel so comfortably without having to ask anybody." "I guess you're a genius," suggested Whistlebinkie. "Maybe I am," agreed the Unwiseman, "but anyhow you know I just knew what to do as soon as I made up my mind to come along." Mollie looked at him admiringly. "Take these goloshes for instance. I'm the only person on board this boat that's got goloshes on," continued the old gentleman, "and yet if the boat went down, how on earth could they keep their feet dry? It's all so simple. Same way with this life preserver--it's nothing but an old bicycle tire I found in your barn, but just think what it would mean to me if I should fall overboard some day." "Smitey-fine!" whistled Whistlebinkie. "It is that. All I'll have to do is to sit inside of it and float till they lower a boat after me," said the Unwiseman. "What have you done about getting sea-sick?" asked Mollie. "Ah--that's the thing that bothered me as much as anything," ejaculated the Unwiseman, "but all of a sudden it came to me like a flash. I was getting my fishing tackle ready for the trip and when I came to the sinkers, there was the idea as plain as the nose on your face. Six days out, says I, means thirty-seven meals." "Thirty-seven?" asked Mollie. "Yes--three meals a day for six days is--," began the Unwiseman. "Only eighteen," said Mollie, who for a child of her size was very quick at multiplication. "So it is," said the Unwiseman, his face growing very red. "So it is. I must have forgotten to set down five and carry three." "Looks that way," said Whistlebinkie, with a mirthful squeak through the top of his hat. "What you did was to set down three and carry seven." "That's it," said the Unwiseman. "Three and seven make thirty-seven--don't it?" "Looked at sideways," said Mollie, with a chuckle. "I know I got it somehow," observed the Unwiseman, his smile returning. "So I prepared myself for thirty-seven meals. I brought a lead sinker along for each one of them. I'm going to tie one sinker to each meal to keep it down, and of course I won't be sea-sick at all. There was only one other way out of it that I could think of; that was to eat pound-cake all the time, but I was afraid maybe they wouldn't have any on board, so I brought the sinkers instead." "It sounds like a pretty good plan," said Whistlebinkie. "Where's your State-room?" "I haven't got one," said the Unwiseman. "I really don't need it, because I don't think I'll go to bed all the way across. I want to sit up and see the scenery. When you've only got a short time on the water and aren't likely to make a habit of crossing the ocean it's too bad to miss any of it, so I didn't take a room." "I don't think there's much scenery to be seen on the ocean," suggested Mollie. "It's just plain water all the way over." "O I don't think so," replied the Unwiseman. "I imagine from that story about Billy the Rover there's a lot of it. There's the Spanish main for instance. I want to keep a sharp look out for that and see how it differs from Bangor, Maine. Then once in a while you run across a latitude and a longitude. I've never seen either of those and I'm sort of interested to see what they look like. All I know about 'em is that one of 'em goes up and down and the other goes over and back--I don't exactly know how, but that's the way it is and I'm here to learn. I should feel very badly if we happened to pass either of 'em while I was asleep." "Naturally," said Mollie. "Then somewhere out here they've got a thing they call a horrizon, or a horizon, or something like that," continued the Unwiseman. "I've asked one of the sailors to point it out to me when we come to it, and he said he would. Funny thing about it though--he said he'd sailed the ocean for forty-seven years and had never got close enough to it to touch it. 'Must be quite a sight close to,' I said, and he said that all the horrizons he ever saw was from ten to forty miles off. There's a place out here too where the waves are ninety feet high; and then there's the Fishin' Banks--do you know I never knew banks ever went fishin', did you? Must be a funny sight to see a lot o' banks out fishin'. What State-room are you in, Mollie?" "We've got sixty-nine," said Mollie. "Sixty-nine," demanded the Unwiseman. "What's that mean?" "Why it's the number of my room," explained Mollie. "O," said the Unwiseman scratching his head in a puzzled sort of way. "Then you haven't got a State-room?" "Yes," said Mollie. "It's a State-room." "I don't quite see," said the Unwiseman, gazing up into the air. "If it's a State-room why don't they call it New Jersey, or Kansas, or Mitchigan, or some other State? Seems to me a State-room ought to be a State-room." "I guess maybe there's more rooms on board than there are States," suggested Whistlebinkie. "There ain't more than sixty States, are there, Mollie?" "There's only forty-six," said Mollie. "Ah--then that accounts for number sixty-nine," observed the Unwiseman. "They're just keeping a lot of rooms numbered until there's enough States to go around." "I hope we get over all right," put in Whistlebinkie, who wasn't very brave. "O I guess we will," said the Unwiseman, cheerfully. "I was speaking to that sailor on that very point this morning, and he said the chances were that we'd go through all right unless we lost one of the screws." "Screws?" inquired Whistlebinkie. "Yes--it don't sound possible, but this ship is pushed through the water by a couple of screws fastened in back there at the stern. It's the screws sterning that makes the boat go," the Unwiseman remarked with all the pride of one who really knows what he is talking about. "Of course if one of 'em came unfastened and fell off we wouldn't go so fast and if both of 'em fell off we wouldn't go at all, until we got the sails up and the wind came along and blew us into port." "Well I never!" said Whistlebinkie. "O I knew that before I came aboard," said the Unwiseman, sagely. "So I brought a half dozen screws along with me. There they are." And the old gentleman plunged his hand into his pocket and produced six bright new shining screws. "You see I'm ready for anything," he observed. "I think every passenger who takes one of these screwpeller boats--that's what they call 'em, screwpellers--ought to come prepared to furnish any number of screws in case anything happens. I'm not going to tell anybody I've got 'em though. I'm just holding these back until the Captain tells us the screws are gone, and then I'll offer mine." "And suppose yours are lost too, and there ain't any wind for the sails?" demanded Whistlebinkie. "I've got a pair o' bellows down in my box," said the Unwiseman gleefully. "We can sit right behind the sails and blow the whole business right in the teeth of a dead clam." "Dead what?" roared Mollie. "A dead clam," said the Unwiseman. "I haven't found out why they call it a dead clam--unless it's because it's so still--but that's the way we sailors refer to a time at sea when there isn't a handful o' wind in sight and the ocean is so smooth that even the billows are afraid to roll in it for fear they'd roll off." "We sailors!" ejaculated Whistlebinkie, scornfully under his breath. "Hoh!" "Well you certainly are pretty well prepared for whatever happens, aren't you, Mr. Unwiseman," said Mollie admiringly. "I like to think so," said the old gentleman. "There's only one thing I've overlooked," he added. "Wass-that?" asked Whistlebinkie. "I have most unaccountably forgotten to bring my skates along, and I'm sure I don't know what would happen to me without 'em if by some mischance we ran into an iceberg and I was left aboard of it when the steamer backed away," the Unwiseman remarked. Here the deck steward came along with a trayful of steaming cups of chicken broth. "Broth, ma'am," he said politely to Mollie. "Thank you," said Mollie. "I think I will." Whistlebinkie and the Unwiseman also helped themselves, and a few minutes later the Unwiseman disappeared bearing his cup in his hand. It was three hours after this that Mollie again encountered him, sitting down near the stern of the vessel, a doleful look upon his face, and the cup of chicken broth untasted and cold in his hands. "What's the matter, dearie?" the little girl asked. "O--nothing," he said, "only I--I've been trying for the past three hours to find out how to tie a sinker to this soup and it regularly stumps me. I can tie it to the cup, but whether it's the motion of the ship or something else, I don't know what, I can't think of swallowing _that_ without feeling queer here." And the poor old gentleman rubbed his stomach and looked forlornly out to sea. III. AT SEA It was all of three days later before the little party of travellers met again on deck. I never inquired very closely into the matter but from what I know of the first thousand miles of the ocean between New York and Liverpool I fancy Mollie and Whistlebinkie took very little interest in anybody but themselves until they had got over that somewhat uneven stretch of water. The ocean is more than humpy from Nantucket Light on and travelling over it is more or less like having to slide over eight or nine hundred miles of scenic railroads, or bumping the bumps, not for three seconds, but for as many successive days, a proceeding which interferes seriously with one's appetite and gives one an inclination to lie down in a comfortable berth rather than to walk vigorously up and down on deck--though if you _can_ do the latter it is the very best thing in the world _to_ do. As for the Unwiseman all I know about him during that period is that he finally gave up his problem of how to tie a sinker to a half-pint of chicken broth, and diving head first into the ventilator through which he had made his first appearance on deck, disappeared from sight. On the morning of the fourth day however he flashed excitedly along the deck past where Mollie and Whistlebinkie having gained courage to venture up into Mollie's steamer chair were sitting, loudly calling for the Captain. "Hi-hullo!" called Mollie, as the old gentleman rushed by. "Mr. Me!"--Mr. Me it will be remembered by his friends was the name the Unwiseman had had printed on his visiting cards. "Mister Me--come here!" The Unwiseman paused for a moment. "I'm looking for the Captain," he called back. "I find I forgot to tell the burgular who's rented my house that he mustn't steal my kitchen stove until I get back, and I want the Captain to turn around and go back for a few minutes so that I can send him word." "He wouldn't do that, Mr. Me," said Mollie. "Then let him set me on shore somewhere where I can walk back," said the Unwiseman. "It would be perfectly terrible if that burgular stole my kitchen stove. I'd have to eat all my bananas and eclairs raw, and besides I use that stove to keep the house cool in summer." "There isn't any shore out here to put you on," said Mollie. "Where's your bottle of native land?" jeered Whistlebinkie. "You might walk home on that." "Hush, Whistlebinkie," said Mollie. "Don't make him angry." "Well," said the Unwiseman ruefully. "I'm sure I don't know what to do about it. It is the only kitchen stove I've got, and it's taken me ten years to break it in. It would be very unfortunate just as I've got the stove to do its work exactly as I want it done to go and lose it." "Why don't you send a wireless message?" suggested Mollie. "They've got an office on board, and you can telegraph to him." "First rate," said the old man. "I'd forgotten that." And the Unwiseman sat down and wrote the following dispatch: DEAR MR. BURGULAR: Please do not steal my kitchen stove. If you need a stove steal something else like the telephone book or that empty bottle of Woostershire Sauce standing on the parlor mantel-piece with the daisy in it, and sell them to buy a new stove with the money. I've had that stove for ten years and it has only just learned how to cook and it would be very annoying to me to have to get a new one and have to teach it how I like my potatoes done. You know the one I mean. It's the only stove in the house, so you can't get it mixed up with any other. If you do I shall persecute you to the full extent of the law and have you arrested for petty parsimony when I get back. If you find yourself strongly tempted to steal it the best thing to do is to keep it red hot with a rousing fire on its insides so that it will be easier for you to keep your hands off. Yours trooly, THE UNWISEMAN. P.S. Take the poker if you want to but leave the stove. It's a wooden poker and not much good anyhow. Yours trooly, THE UNWISEMAN. "There!" he said as he finished writing out the message. "I guess that'll fix it all right." "It-tortoo," whistled Whistlebinkie through the top of his hat. "What?" said Mollie, severely. "It-ought-to-fix-it," repeated Whistlebinkie. And the Unwiseman ran up the deck to the wireless telegraph office. In a moment he returned, his face full of joy. "I guess I got the best of 'em that time!" he chortled gleefully. "What do you suppose Mollie? They actually wanted me to pay twenty-one dollars and sixty cents for that telegram. The very idea!" "Phe-ee-ew!" whistled Whistlebinkie. "Very far from few," retorted the Unwiseman. "It was many rather than few and I told the man so. 'I can buy five new kitchen stoves for that amount of money,' said I. 'I can't help that,' said the man. 'I guess you can't,' said I. 'If you could the price o' kitchen stoves would go up'." "What did you do?" asked Mollie. "I told him I was just as wireless as he was, and I tossed my message up in the air and last time I saw it it was flying back to New York as tight as it could go," said the Unwiseman. "I guess I can send a message without wires as well as anybody else. It's a great load off my mind to have it fixed, I can tell you," he added. "What have you been doing with yourself since I saw you last, Mr. Me?" asked Mollie, as her old friend seated himself on the foot-rest of her steamer chair. "O I've managed to keep busy," said the Unwiseman, gazing off at the rolling waves. Whistlebinkie laughed. "See-zick?" he whistled. "What me?" asked the Unwiseman. "Of course not--we sailors don't get sea-sick like land-lubbers. No, sirree. I've been a little miserable due to my having eaten something that didn't agree with me--I very foolishly ate a piece of mince pie about five years ago--but except for that I've been feeling first rate. For the most part I've been watching the screw driver--they've got a big steam screw driver down-stairs in the cellar that keeps the screws to their work, and I got so interested watching it I've forgotten all about meals and things like that." "Have you seen horrizon yet?" asked Whistlebinkie. "Yes," returned the Unwiseman gloomily. "It's about the stupidest thing you ever saw. See that long line over there where the sky comes down and touches the water?" "Yep," said Whistlebinkie. "Well that's what they call the horrizon," said the Unwiseman contemptuously. "It's nothin' but a big circle runnin' round and round the scenery, day and night, now and forever. It won't go near anybody and it won't let anybody go near it. I guess it's just about the most unsociable fish that ever swam the sea. Speakin' about fish, what do you say to trollin' for a whale this afternoon?" "That would be fine!" cried Mollie. "Have you any tackle?" "Oh my yes," replied the Unwiseman. "I've got a half a mile o' trout line, a minnow hook and a plate full o' vermicelli." "Vermicelli?" demanded Mollie. "Yes--don't you know what Vermicelli is? It's sort of baby macaroni," explained the Unwiseman. "What good is it for fishing?" asked Whistlebinkie. "I don't know yet," said the Unwiseman "but between you and me I don't believe if you baited a hook with it any ordinary fish who'd left his eyeglasses on the mantel-piece at home could tell it from a worm. I neglected to bring any worms along in my native land bottle, and I've searched the ship high and low without finding a place where I could dig for 'em, so I borrowed the vermicelli from the cook instead." "Does-swales-like-woyms?" whistled Whistlebinkie. "I don't know anything about swales," said the Unwiseman. "I meant-twales," said Whistlebinkie. "Never heard of a twale neither," retorted the Unwiseman. "Just what sort of a rubber fish is a twale?" "He means whales," Mollie explained. "Why don't he say what he means then?" said the Unwiseman scornfully. "I never knew such a feller for twisted talk. He ties a word up into a double bow knot and expects everybody to know what he means right off the handle. I don't know whether whales like vermicelli or not. Seems to me though that a fish that could bite at a disagreeable customer like Jonah would eat anything whether it was vermicelli or just plain catterpiller." "Well even if they did you couldn't pull 'em aboard with a trout line anyhow," snapped Whistlebinkie. "Whales is too heavy for that." "Who wants to pull 'em aboard, Smarty?" retorted the Unwiseman. "I leave it to Mollie if I ever said I wanted to pull 'em aboard. Quite the contrary opposite. I'd rather not pull a whale on board this boat and have him flopping around all over the deck, smashing chairs and windows, and knockin' people overboard with his tail, and spouting water all over us like that busted fire-hose the firemen turned on me when I thought I'd caught fire from my pipe." "You did say you'd take us fishing for whales, Mr. Me," Mollie put in timidly. "That's a very different thing," protested the Unwiseman. "Fishin' for whales is a nice gentle sport as long as you don't catch any. But of course if you're going to take his side against me, why you needn't go." And the Unwiseman rose up full of offended dignity and walked solemnly away. "Dear me!" sighed Mollie. "I'm so sorry he's angry." "Nuvver-mind," whistled Whistlebinkie. "He won't stay mad long. He'll be back in a little while with some more misinformation." Whistlebinkie was right, for in five minutes the old gentleman returned on the run. "Hurry up, Mollie!" he cried. "The sailor up on the front piazza says there's a school of Porpoises ahead. I'm going to ask 'em some questions." Mollie and Whistlebinkie sprang quickly from the steamer chairs and hurried along after the Unwiseman. "I've heard a lot about these Schools of Fish," the Unwiseman observed as they all leaned over the rail together. "And I never believed there was such a thing, because all the fish I ever saw were pretty stupid--leastways there never were any of them could answer any of the questions I put to 'em. That may have been because being out o' water they were very uncomfortable and feelin' kind of stiff and bashful, but out here it ought to be different and I'm going to examine 'em and see what they're taught." "Here they come!" cried Mollie, as a huge gathering of porpoises plunging and tumbling over each other appeared under the lee of the vessel. "My what a lot!" "Hi there, Porpy!" shouted the Unwiseman. "Por-pee, come over here a minute. What will seven times eight bananas divided by three mince pies multiplied by eight cream cakes, subtracted from a Monkey with two tails leave?" The old man cocked his head to one side as if trying to hear the answer. "Don't hear anything, do you?" he asked in a moment. "Maybe they didn't hear you," suggested Mollie. "Askem-something-geezier," whistled Whistlebinkie. "Something easier?" sniffed the Unwiseman. "There couldn't be anything easier than that. It will leave a very angry monkey. You just try to subtract something from a monkey some time and you'll see. However it is a long question so I'll give 'em another." The old gentleman leaned forward again and addressing the splashing fish once more called loudly out: "If that other sum is too much for you perhaps some one of you can tell me how many times seven divided by eleven is a cat with four kittens," he inquired. Still there was no answer. The merry creatures of the sea were apparently too busy jumping over each other and otherwise indulging in playful pranks in the water. "They're mighty weak on Arithmetic, that's sure," sneered the Unwiseman. "I guess I'll try 'em on jography. Hi there, Porpee--you big black one over there--where's Elmira, New York?" The Porpoise turned a complete somersault in the air and disappeared beneath the water. "Little Jackass!" growled the Unwiseman. "Guess he hasn't been going to school very long not to be able to say that Elmira, New York, is at Elmira, New York. Maybe we'll have better luck with that deep blue Porpoise over there. Hi-you-you blue Porpoise. What's the chief product of the lunch counter at Poughkeepsie?" Again the Unwise old head was cocked to one side to catch the answer but all the blue porpoise did was to wiggle his tail in the air, as he butted one of his brother porpoises in the stomach. The Unwiseman looked at them with an angry glance. "Well all I've got to say about you," he shouted, "is that your father and mother are wasting their money sending you to school!" To which one of the Porpoises seemed to reply by sticking his head up out of the crest of a wave and sneezing at the Unwiseman. "Haven't even learned good manners!" roared the old gentleman. Whereupon the whole school indulged in a mighty scrimmage in the water jumping over, under and upon each other and splashing the spray high in the air until finally Whistlebinkie in his delight at the sight cried out, "I-guess-sitz-the-football-team!" "I guess for once you're right, Whistlebinkie," cried the Unwiseman. "And that accounts for their not knowing anything about 'rithmetic, jography or Elmira. When a feller's a foot-ball player he don't seem to care much for such higher education as the Poughkeepsie lunch counter, or how many is five. I knew the boys were runnin' foot-ball into the ground on land, but I never imagined the fish were running it into the water at sea. Too bad--too bad." And again the Unwiseman took himself off and was not seen again the rest of the day. Nor did Mollie and Whistlebinkie see much of him for the rest of the voyage for the old fellow suddenly got it into his head that possibly there were a few undiscovered continents about, the first sight of which would win for him all of the glory of a Christopher Columbus, and in order to be unquestionably the very first to catch sight of them, he climbed up to the top of the fore-mast and remained there for two full days. Fortunately neither the Captain nor the Bo'-sun's mate noticed what the old gentleman was doing or they would have put him in irons not as a punishment but to protect him from his own rash adventuring. And so it was that the Unwiseman was the first person on board to catch a glimpse of the Irish Coast, the which he announced with a loud cry of glee. "Land ho--on the starboard tack!" he cried, and then he slid down the mast-head and rushed madly down the deck crying joyfully, "I've discovered a continent. Hurray for me. I've discovered a continent." "Watcher-goin'-t'do-with it?" whistled Whistlebinkie. "Depends on how big it is," said the Unwiseman dancing gleefully. "If it's a great big one I'll write my name on it and leave it where it is, but if it's only a little one I'll dig it up and take it home and add it to my back yard." But alas for the new Columbus! It soon turned out that his new discovery was only Ireland which thousands, not to say millions, had discovered long before he had, so that the glory which he thought he had won soon faded away. But the old gentleman was very amiable about it after he got over his first disappointment. "I don't care," he confided to Mollie later on. "There isn't anything in discovering continents anyway. Look at Columbus. He discovered America, but somebody else came along and took it away from him and as far as I can find out he don't even own an abandoned farm in the United States to-day. So what's the good?" "Thass-wat-I-say," whistled Whistlebinkie. "I wouldn't give seven cents to discover all the continents there is. I'd ruther be a live rubber doll than a dead dishcover anyhow." Later in the afternoon when the ship had left Queenstown, Mollie found the Unwiseman sitting in her steamer chair hidden behind a copy of the London _Times_ which had been brought aboard, and strange to relate he had it right-side up and was eagerly running through its massive columns. "Looking for more pollywogs?" the little girl asked. "No," said the Unwiseman. "I'm trying to find the latest news from America. I want to see if that burgular has stole my stove. So far there don't seem to be anything about it here, so the chances are it's still safe." "Do you think they'd cable it across?" asked Mollie. "What the stove?" demanded the Unwiseman. "You can't send a stove by cable, stupid." "No--the news," said Mollie. "It wouldn't be very important, would it?" "It would be important to me," said the Unwiseman, "and inasmuch as I bought and paid for their old paper I've got a right to expect 'em to put the news I want in it. If they don't I'll sue 'em for damages and buy a new stove with the money." The next morning bright and early the little party landed in England. IV. ENGLAND The Unwiseman's face wore a very troubled look as the little party of travellers landed at Liverpool. He had doffed his sailor's costume and now appeared in his regular frock coat and old fashioned beaver hat, and carried an ancient carpet-bag in his hand, presenting to Mollie and Whistlebinkie a more familiar appearance than while in his sea-faring clothes, but he was evidently very much worried about something. "Cheer up," whistled Whistlebinkie noting his careworn expression. "You look as if you were down to your last cream-cake. Wass-er-matter?" "I think they've fooled us," replied the Unwiseman with a doubtful shake of his gray head. "This don't look like England to me, and I've been wondering if that ship mightn't be a pirate ship after all that's carried us all off to some strange place with the idea of thus getting rid of us, so that the Captain might go home and steal our kitchen-stoves and other voluble things." "Pooh!" ejaculated Whistlebinkie. "What makes you thinkit-taint England?" "It's too big in the first place," replied the Unwiseman, "and in the second it ain't the right color. Just look at this map and you'll see." Here Mr. Me took a map of the world out of his pocket and spread it out before Whistlebinkie. "See that?" he said pointing to England in one corner. "I've measured it off with a tape measure and it's only four inches long and about an inch and a half wide. This place we're in now is more'n five miles long and, as far as I can see two or three miles across. And look at the color on the map." "Tspink," said Whistlebinkie. "I don't know what you mean by tspink," said the Unwiseman, "but----" "It's-pink," explained Whistlebinkie. "Exactly," said the Unwiseman. "That's just what it is, but that ain't the color of this place. Seems to me this place is a sort of dull yellow dusty brown. And besides I don't see any houses on the map and this place is just chock-full of them." "O well, I guess it's all right," said Whistlebinkie. "Maybe when we get further in we'll find it grows pinker. Cities ain't never the same color as the country you know." "Possibly," said the Unwiseman, "but even then that wouldn't account for the difference in size. Why should the map say it's four inches by an inch and a half, when anybody can see that this place is five miles by three just by looking at it?" "I guess-smaybe it's grown some since that map was made," suggested Whistlebinkie. "Being surrounded by water you'd think it would grow." Just then a British policeman walked along the landing stage and Whistlebinkie added, "There's a p'liceman. You might speak to him about it." "Good idea," said the Unwiseman. "I'll do it." And he walked up to the officer. "Good morning, Robert," said he. "You'll pardon my curiosity, but is this England?" "Yessir," replied the officer politely. "You are on British soil, sir." "H'm! British, eh?" observed the Unwiseman. "Just what _is_ that? French for English, I suppose." "This is Great Britain, sir," explained the officer with a smile. "Hingland is a part of Great Britain." "Hingland?" asked the Unwiseman with a frown. "Yessir--this is Hingland, sir," replied the policeman, as he turned on his heel and wandered on down the stage leaving the Unwiseman more perplexed than when he had asked the question. "It looks queerer than ever," said the Unwiseman when he had returned to Whistlebinkie. "These people don't seem to have agreed on the name of this place, which I consider to be a very suspicious circumstance. That policeman said first it was England, then he said it was Great Britain, and then he changed it to Hingland, while Mollie's father says it's Liverpool. It's mighty strange, and I wish I was well out of it." "Why did you call the p'liceman Robert, Mr. Me?" asked Whistlebinkie, who somehow or other did not seem to share the old gentleman's fears. "O I read somewhere that the English policemen were all Bobbies," the Unwiseman replied. "But I didn't feel that I'd ought to be so familiar as to call him that until I'd got to know him better, so I just called him Robert." Later on Mollie explained the situation to the old fellow. "Liverpool," she said, "is a part of England and England is a part of Great Britain, just as Binghamton is a part of New York and New York is a part of the United States of America." "Ah--that's it, eh?" he answered. "And how about Hingland?" "That is the way some of the English people talk," explained Mollie. "A great many of them drop their H's," she added. "Aha!" said the Unwiseman, nodding his head. "I see. And the police go around after them picking them up, eh?" "I guess that's it," said Mollie. "Because if they didn't," continued the Unwiseman, "the streets and gutters would be just over-run with 'em. If 20,000,000 people dropped twenty-five H's apiece every day that would be 500,000,000 H's lyin' around. I don't believe you could drive a locomotive through that many--Mussy Me! It must keep the police busy pickin' 'em up." "Perfly-awful!" whistled Whistlebinkie. "I'm going to write a letter to the King about it," said the Unwiseman, "and send him a lot of rules like I have around my house to keep people from being so careless." "That's a splendid idea," cried Mollie, overjoyed at the notion. "What will you say?" "H'm!" said the Unwiseman. "Let me see--I guess I'd write like this:" and the strange old man sat down on a trunk and dashed off the following letter to King Edward. DEAR MISTER KING: Liverpool, June 10, 19--. I understand that the people of your Island is very careless about their aitches and that the pleece are worked to a frazzil pickin' 'em up from the public highways. Why don't you by virtue of your exhausted rank propagate the following rules to unbait the nuisance? I. My subjex must be more careful of their aitches. II. Any one caught dropping an aitch on the public sidewalks will be fined two dollars. III. Aitches dropped by accident must be picked up to once immediately and without delay. IV. All aitches found roaming about the city streets unaccompanied by their owners will be promptly arrested by the pleece and kept in the public pound until called for after which they will be burnt, and the person calling for them fined two dollars. V. All persons whether they be a pleeceman or a Dook or other nobil personidges seeing a strange aitch lying on the sidewalk, or otherwise roaming at random without any visible owner whether it is his or not must pick it up to once immediately and without delay under penalty of the law. VI. Capital H's must be muzzled before took out in public and must be securely fastened by glue or otherwise to the words they are the beginning of. VII. Anybody tripping up on the aitch of another person thus carelessly left lying about can sue for damages and get two dollars for a broken leg, five dollars for a broken nose, seven dollars and a half for a black eye, and so on up, from the person leaving the aitch thus carelessly about, or a year's imprisonment, or both. VIII. A second offense will be punished by being sent to South Africa for five years when if the habit is continued more severe means will be taken like being made to live in Boston or some other icebound spot. IX. School teachers catching children using aitches in this manner will keep them in after school and notify their parents who will spank them and send them to bed without their supper. X. Pleecemen will report all aitches found on public streets to the public persecutor and will be paid at the rate of six cents a million for all they pick up. I think if your madjesty will have these rules and regulations printed on a blue pasteboard card in big red letters and hung up all over everywhere you will be able, your h. r. h., to unbait this terrible nuisance. Yoors trooly, THE UNWISEMAN. P.S. It may happen, your h. r. h., that some of your subjex can't help themselves in this aitch dropping habit, and it would therefore be mercyful of you to provide letter boxes on all the street cornders where they could drop their aitches into without breaking the rules of your high and mighty highness. Give my love to the roil family. Yoors trooly, THE UNWISEMAN. "There," he said when he had scribbled the letter off with his lead pencil. "If the King can only read that it ought to make him much obliged to me for helping him out of a very bad box. This Island ain't so big, map or no map, that they can afford to have it smothered in aitches as it surely will be if the habit ain't put a stop to. I wonder what the King's address is." "I don't know," said Whistlebinkie with a grin. "He and I ain't never called on each other yet." "Is King his last name or his first, I wonder," said the Unwiseman, scratching his head wonderingly. "His first name is Edward," said Mollie. "It used to be Albert Edward, but he dropped the Albert." "Edward what?" demanded the Unwiseman. "Don't they call him Edward Seventh?" "Yes they do," said Mollie. "Then I guess I'll address it to Edward S. King, Esquire, Number Seven, London--that's where all the kings live when they're home," said the Unwiseman. And so the letter went addressed to Edward S. King, Esquire, Number Seven, London, England, but whether His Majesty ever received it or not I do not know. Certainly if he did he never answered it, and that makes me feel that he never received it, for the King of England is known as the First Gentleman of Europe, and I am quite sure that one who deserves so fine a title as that would not leave a polite letter like the Unwiseman's unanswered. Mollie's father was very much impressed when he heard of the Unwiseman's communication. "I shouldn't be surprised if the King made him a Duke, for that," he said. "It is an act of the highest statesmanship to devise so simple a plan to correct so widespread an evil. If the Unwiseman were only an Englishman he might even become Prime Minister." "No," said the Unwiseman later, when Mollie told him what her father had said. "He couldn't make me Prime Minister because I haven't ever studied zoology and couldn't preach a sermon or even take up a collection properly, but as for being a Duke--well if he asked me as a special favor I might accept that. The Duke of Me--how would that sound, Mollie?" "Oh it would be perfectly beautiful!" cried Mollie overwhelmed by the very thought of anything so grand. "Or Baron Brains--eh?" continued the Unwiseman. "That would just suit you," giggled Whistlebinkie. "Barren Brains is you all over." "Thank you, Fizzledinkie," said the Unwiseman. "For once I quite agree with you. I guess I'll call on some tailor up in London and see what it would cost me to buy a Duke's uniform so's to be ready when the King sends for me. It would be fine to walk into his office with a linen duster on and have him say, 'From this time on Mister Me you're a Duke. Go out and get dressed for tea,' and then turn around three times, bow to the Queen, whisk off the duster and stand there in the roil presence with the Duke's uniform already on. I guess he'd say that was American enterprise all right." "You'd make a hit for sure!" roared Whistlebinkie dancing up and down with glee. "I'll do it!" ejaculated the Unwiseman with a look of determination in his eyes. "If I can get a ready-made Duke's suit for $8.50 I'll do it. Even if it never happened I could wear the suit to do my gardening in when I get home. Did your father say anything about this being England or not?" "Yes," said Mollie. "He said it was England all right. He's been here before and he says you can always tell it by the soldiers walking around with little pint measures on their heads instead of hats, and little boys in beaver hats with no tails to their coats." "All right," said the Unwiseman. "I'm satisfied if he is--only the man that got up that map ought to be spoken to about making it pink when it is only a dull yellow dusty gray, and only four inches long instead of five miles. Some stranger trying to find it in the dark some night might stumble over it and never know that he'd got what he was looking for. Where are we going to from here?" "We're going straight up to London," said Mollie. "The train goes in an hour--just after lunch. Will you come and have lunch with us?" "No thank you," replied the Unwiseman. "I've got a half dozen lunches saved up from the ship there in my carpet bag, and I'll eat a couple of those if I get hungry." "Saved up from the ship?" cried Mollie. "Yep," said the Unwiseman. "I've got a bottle full of that chicken broth they gave us the first day out that I didn't even try to eat; six or seven bottlefuls of beef tea, and about two dozen ginger-snaps, eight pounds of hard-tack, and a couple of apple pies. I kept ordering things all the way across whether I felt like eating them or not and whatever I didn't eat I'd bottle up, or wrap up in a piece of paper and put away in the bag. I've got just three dinners, two breakfasts and four lunches in there. When I get to London I'm going to buy a bunch of bananas and have an eclaire put up in a tin box and those with what I've already got ought to last me throughout the whole trip." "By the way, Mr. Me," said Mollie, a thoughtful look coming into her eyes. "Do you want me to ask my Papa to buy you a ticket for London? I think he'd do it if I asked him." "I know he would," said Whistlebinkie. "He's one of the greatest men in the world for doing what Mollie asks him to." "No thank you," replied the Unwiseman. "Of course if he had invited me to join the party at the start I might have been willing to have went at his expense, but seeing as how I sort of came along on my own hook I think I'd better look after myself. I'm an American, I am, and I kind of like to be free and independent like." "Have you any money with you?" asked Mollie anxiously. "No," laughed the Unwiseman. "That is, not more'n enough to buy that Duke's suit for $8.50 with. What's the use of having money? It's only a nuisance to carry around, and it makes you buy a lot of things you don't want just because you happen to have it along. People without money get along a great deal cheaper than people with it. Millionaires spend twice as much as poor people. Money ain't very sociable you know and it sort of hates to stay with you no matter how kind you are to it. So I didn't bring any along except the aforesaid eight-fifty." "Tisn't much, is it," said Mollie. "Not in dollars, but it's a lot in cents--eight hundred and fifty of 'em--that's a good deal," said the Unwiseman cheerfully. "Then each cent is ten mills--that's--O dear me--such a lot of mills!" "Eight thousand five hundred," Mollie calculated. "Goodness!" cried the Unwiseman. "I hope there don't anybody find out I've got all that with me. I'd be afraid to go to sleep for fear somebody'd rob me." "But _how_--how are you going to get to London?" asked Mollie anxiously. "It's too far to walk." "O I'll get there," said the Unwiseman. "He'll probably get a hitch on the cow-catcher," suggested Whistlebinkie. "Don't you worry," laughed the Unwiseman. "It'll be all right, only--" here he paused and looked about him to make sure that no one was listening. "Only," he whispered, "I wish somebody would carry my carpet-bag. It's a pretty big one as you can see, and I _might_--I don't say I would--but I might have trouble getting to London if I had to carry it." "I'll be very glad to take care of it," said Mollie. "Should I have it checked or take it with me in the train?" "Better take it with you," said the Unwiseman. "I haven't any key and some of these railway people might open it and eat up all my supplies." "Very well," said Mollie. "I'll see that it's put in the train and I won't take my eyes off it all the way up to London." So the little party went up to the hotel. The Unwiseman's carpet-bag was placed with the other luggage, and the family went in to luncheon leaving the Unwiseman to his own devices. When they came out the old fellow was nowhere to be seen and Mollie, much worried about him boarded the train. Her father helped her with the carpet-bag, the train-door was closed, the conductor came for the tickets and with a loud clanging of bells the train started for London. It was an interesting trip but poor little Mollie did not enjoy it very much. She was so worried to think of the Unwiseman all alone in England trying some new patent way of his own for getting over so many miles from Liverpool to the capital of the British Empire. "We didn't even tell him the name of our hotel, Whistlebinkie," she whispered to her companion. "How will he ever find us again in this big place." "O-he'll-turn-up orright," whistled Whistlebinkie comfortingly. "He knows a thing or two even if he is an Unwiseman." And as it turned out Whistlebinkie was right, for about three minutes after their arrival at the London hotel, when the carpet-bag had been set carefully aside in one corner of Mollie's room, the cracked voice of the Unwiseman was heard singing: "O a carpet-bag is more comfortabler Than a regular Pullman Car. Just climb inside and with never a stir, Let no one know where you are; And then when the train goes choo-choo-choo And the ticket man comes arown, You'll go without cost and a whizz straight through To jolly old London-town. To jolly, to jolly, to jolly, to jolly, to jolly old London-town." "Hi there, Mollie--press the latch on this carpet-bag!" the voice continued. "Where are you?" cried Mollie, gazing excitedly about her. "In here," came the voice from the cavernous depths of the carpet-bag. "In the bag," gasped Mollie, breathless with surprise. "_The_ same--let me out," replied the Unwiseman. And sure enough, when Mollie and Whistlebinkie with a mad rush sped to the carpet-bag and pressed on the sliding lock, the bag flew open and Mr. Me himself hopped smilingly up out of its wide-stretched jaws. V. A CALL ON THE KING "Mercy!" cried Mollie as the Unwiseman stepped out of the carpet-bag, and began limbering up his stiffened legs by pirouetting about the room. "Aren't you nearly stufficated to death?" "No indeed," said the Unwiseman. "Why should I be?" "Well _I_ should think the inside of a carpet-bag would be pretty smothery," observed Mollie. "Perhaps it would be," agreed the Unwiseman, "if I hadn't taken mighty good care that it shouldn't be. You see I brought that life-preserver along, and every time I needed a bite of fresh air, I'd unscrew the tin cap and get it. I pumped it full of fine salt air the day we left Ireland for just that purpose." "What a splendid idea!" ejaculated Mollie full of admiration for the Unwiseman's ingenuity. "Yes I think it's pretty good," said the Unwiseman, "and when I get back home I'm going to invent it and make a large fortune out of it. Of course there ain't many people nowadays, especially among the rich, who travel in carpet-bags the way I do, or get themselves checked through from New York to Chicago in trunks, but there are a lot of 'em who are always complaining about the lack of fresh air in railroad trains especially when they're going through tunnels, so I'm going to patent a little pocket fresh air case that they can carry about with them and use when needed. It is to be made of rubber like a hot-water bag, and all you've got to do before starting off on a long journey is to take your bicycle pump, pump the fresh-air bag full of the best air you can find on the place and set off on your trip. Then when the cars get snuffy, just unscrew the cap and take a sniff." "My goodness!" cried Mollie. "You ought to make a million dollars out of that." "Million?" retorted the Unwiseman. "Well I should say so. Why there are 80,000,000 people in America and if I sold one of those fresh-air bags a year to only 79,000,000 of 'em at two dollars apiece for ten years you see where I'd come out. They'd call me the Fresh Air King and print my picture in the newspapers." "You couldn't lend me two dollars now, could you?" asked Whistlebinkie facetiously. "Yes I _could_," said the Unwiseman with a frown, "but I won't--but you can go out on the street and breathe two dollars worth of fresh air any time you want to and have it charged to my account." Mollie laughed merrily at the Unwiseman's retort, and Whistlebinkie for the time being had nothing to say, or whistle either for that matter. "You missed a lot of interesting scenery on the way up, Mr. Me," said Mollie. "No I didn't," said the Unwiseman. "I heard it all as it went by, and that's good enough for me. I'd just as lief hear a thing as see it any day. I saw some music once and it wasn't half as pretty to look at as it was when I heard it, and it's the same way about scenery if you only get your mind fixed up so that you can enjoy it that way. Somehow or other it didn't sound so very different from the scenery I've heard at home, and that's one thing that made me like it. I'm very fond of sitting quietly in my little room at home and listening to the landscape when the moon is up and the stars are out, and no end of times as we rattled along from Liverpool to London it sounded just like things do over in America, especially when we came to the switches at the railroad conjunctions. Don't they rattle beautifully!" "They certainly do!" said Whistlebinkie, prompted largely by a desire to get back into the good graces of the Unwiseman. "I love it when we bump over them so hard they make-smee-wissle." "You're all right when you whistle, Fizzledinkie," smiled the Unwiseman. "It's only when you try to talk that you are not all that you should be. Woyds and you get sort of tangled up and I haven't got time to ravel you out. But I say, Mollie, we're really in London are we?" "Yes," said Mollie. "This is it." "Well I guess I'll go out and see what there is about it that makes people want to come here," said the Unwiseman. "I've got a list of things I want to see, and the sooner I get to work the sooner I'll see 'em. First thing I want to get a sight of is a real London fog. Then of course I want to go down to the Aquarium and see the Prince of Whales, and call on the King and Queen, and meet a few Dukes, and Earls and things like that. Then there's the British Museum. I'm told there is a lot of very interesting things down there including some Egyptian mummies that are passing their declining years there. I've never talked to a mummy in my life and I'd rather like to meet a few of 'em. I wonder if Dick Whittington's cat is still living." "O I don't believe so," said Mollie. "He must have died long years ago." "The first time and maybe the second or third or even the fourth time," said the Unwiseman. "But cats have nine lives and if he lived fifty years for each of them that would be--let's see, four times nine is eighteen, three times two is ten, carry four and----" "It would be 450 years," laughed Mollie. "Pretty old cat," said Whistlebinkie. "Well there's no harm in asking anyhow, and if he is alive I'm going to see him, and if he isn't the chances are they've had him stuffed and a stuffed cat is better to look at than no cat at all," said the Unwiseman, brushing off his hat preparatory to going out. "Come on, Mollie--are you ready?" The little party trudged down the stairs and out upon the avenue upon which their hotel fronted. "Guess we'd better take a hansom," said the Unwiseman as they emerged from the door. "We'll save time going that way if the driver knows his business. We'll just tell him to go where we want to go, and in that way we won't have to keep asking these Roberts the way round." "Roberts?" asked Mollie, forgetting the little incident at Liverpool. "Oh well--the Bobbies--the pleecemen," replied the Unwiseman. "I want to get used to 'em before I call them that." So they all climbed into a hansom cab. "Where to, sir?" asked the cabby, through the little hole in the roof. "Well I suppose we ought to call on the King first," said the Unwiseman to Mollie. "Don't you?" "I guess so," said Mollie timidly. "To the King's," said the Unwiseman, through the little hole. "Beg pardon!" replied the astonished cabby. "Don't mention it," said the Unwiseman. "Drive to the King's house first and apologize afterwards." "I only wanted to know where you wished to go, sir," said the cabby. "The King's, stupid," roared the Unwiseman, "Mr. Edward S. King's--didn't you ever hear of him?" "To the Palace, sir?" asked the driver. "Of course unless his h. r. h. is living in a tent somewhere--and hurry up. We didn't engage you for the pleasures of conversation, but to drive us," said the Unwiseman severely. The amazed cabman whipped up his horse and a short while afterwards reached Buckingham Palace, the home of the King and Queen in London. At either side of the gate was a tall sentry box, and a magnificent red-coated soldier with a high bear-skin shako on his head paced along the path. "There he is now," said the Unwiseman, excitedly, pointing at the guard. "Isn't he a magnificent sight. Come along and I'll introduce you." The Unwiseman leapt jauntily out of the hansom and Mollie and Whistlebinkie timidly followed. "Howdido, Mr. King," said the Unwiseman stepping in front of the sentry and making a profound salaam and almost sweeping the walk with his hat. "We've just arrived in London and have called to pay our respects to you and Mrs. King. I hope the children are well. We're Americans, Mr. King, but for the time being we've decided to overlook all our little differences growing out of the Declaration of Independence and wish you a Merry Fourth of July." The sentry was dumb with amazement at this unexpected greeting, and the cabby's eyes nearly dropped out of his head they bulged so. "Mollie, dear," continued Mr. Me, "Come here, my child and let me introduce you to Mr. King. Mr. King, this is a little American girl named Mollie. She's a bit bashful in your h. r. h's presence because between you and me you are the first real King she's ever saw. We don't grow 'em in our country--that is not your kind. We have Cattle Kings and Steel Kings, and I'm expecting to become a Fresh Air King myself--but the kind that's born to the--er--to the purple like yourself, with a gilt crown on his head and the spectre of power in his hand we don't get even at the circus." [Illustration: MOLLY MAKES HER COURTESY TO MR. KING] "Very glad to meet you," gasped Mollie, feasting her eyes upon the gorgeous red coat of the sentry. The sentry not knowing what else to do and utterly upset by the Unwiseman's eloquence returned the gasp as politely as he could. "She's a mighty nice little girl, Mr. King," said the Unwiseman with a fond glance of admiration at Mollie. "And if any of your little kings and queens feel like calling at the hotel some morning for a friendly Anglo-American romp, Mollie will be very glad to see them. This other young person, your h. r. h., is Whistlebinkie who belongs to one of the best Rubber families of the United States. He looks better than he talks. Whistlebinkie, Mr. King. Mr. King, Whistlebinkie." Whistlebinkie, too overcome to speak, merely squeaked, a proceeding which seemed to please the sentry very much for he returned a truly royal smile and expressed himself as being very glad to meet Whistlebinkie. "Been having pretty cold weather?" asked the Unwiseman genially. "Been rawther 'ot," said the sentry. "I only asked," said the Unwiseman with a glance at the guard's shako, "because I see you have your fur crown on. Our American Kings wear Panama crowns this weather," he added, "but then we're free over there and can do pretty much what we like. Did you get my letter?" "Beg your pardon?" asked the sentry. "Mercy!" ejaculated the Unwiseman under his breath. "What an apologetic people these English are--first the cabby and now the King." Then he repeated aloud, "My letter--I wrote to you yesterday about this H dropping habit of your people, and I was going to say that if after reading it you decided to make me a Duke I'd be very glad to accept if the clothes a Duke has to wear don't cost more than $8.50. I might even go as high as nine dollars if the suit was a real good one that I could wear ten or eleven years--but otherwise I couldn't afford it. It would be very kind of your h. r. h. to make me one, but I've always made it a rule not to spend more than a dollar a year on my clothes and even a Duke has got to wear socks and neckties in addition to his coats and trousers. Who is your Majesty's Tailor? That red coat fits you like wall-paper." The sentry said something about buying his uniforms at the Army and Navy stores and the Unwiseman observed that he would most certainly have to go there and see what he could get for himself. "I'll tell 'em your h. r. h. sent me," he said pleasantly, "and maybe they'll give you a commission on what I buy." A long pause followed broken only by Whistlebinkie's heavy breathing for he had by no means recovered from his excitement over having met a real king at last. Finally the Unwiseman spoke again. "We'd like very much to accept your kind invitation to stay to supper, Mr. King," he observed--although the sentry had said nothing at all about any such thing--"but we really can't to-night. You see we are paying pretty good rates at the hotel and we feel it a sort of duty to stay there and eat all we can so as to get our money's worth. And we'd like to meet the Queen too, but as you can see for yourself we're hardly dressed for that. We only came anyhow to let you know that we were here and to tell you that if you ever came to America we'd be mighty glad to have you call. I've got a rather nice house of my own with a kitchen-stove in it that I wouldn't sell for five dollars that you would enjoy seeing. It's rented this summer to one of the most successful burgulars in America and I think you'd enjoy meeting him, and don't hesitate to bring the children. America's a great place for children, your h. r. h. It's just chock full of back yards for 'em to play in, and banisters to slide down, and roller skating rinks and all sorts of things that children enjoy. I'll be very glad to let you use my umbrella too if the weather happens to be bad." The sentry was very much impressed apparently by the cordiality of the Unwiseman's invitation for he bowed most graciously a half dozen times, and touched his bear-skin hat very respectfully, and smiled so royally that anybody could see he was delighted with the idea of some day visiting that far off land where the Unwiseman lived, and seeing that wonderful kitchen-stove of which, as we know, the old gentleman was so proud. "By the way," said the Unwiseman, confidentially. "Before I go I'd like to say to you that if you are writing at any time to the Emperor of Germany you might send him my kind regards. I had hoped to be able to stop over at Kettledam, or wherever it is he lives--no, it's Pottsdam--I always do get pots and kettles mixed--I had hoped to be able, I say, to stop over there and pay my respects to him, but the chances are I won't be able to do so this trip. I'd hate to have him think that I'd been over here and hadn't paid any attention to him, and if you'll be so kind as to send him my regards he won't feel so badly about it. I'd write and tell him myself, but the fact is my German is a little rusty. I only know German by sight--and even then I don't know what it means except Gesundheit,--which is German for 'did you sneeze?' So you see a letter addressed to Mr. Hoch----" "Beg pardon, but Mr. Who sir?" asked the Sentry. "Mr. Hoch, der Kaiser," said the Unwiseman. "That's his name, isn't it?" The sentry said he believed it was something like that. "Well as I was saying even if I wrote he wouldn't understand what I was trying to say, so it would be a waste of time," said the Unwiseman. The sentry nodded pleasantly, and his eyes twinkled under his great bear-skin hat like two sparkling bits of coal. "Good bye, your h. r. h.," the Unwiseman continued, holding out his hand. "It has been a real pleasure to meet you, and between you and me if all kings were as good mannered and decent about every thing as you are we wouldn't mind 'em so much over in America. If the rest of 'em are like you they're all right." And so the Unwiseman shook hands with the sentry and Mollie did likewise while Whistlebinkie repeated his squeak with a quaver that showed how excited he still was. The three travellers re-entered the hansom and inasmuch as it was growing late they decided not to do any more sight-seeing that day, and instructed the cabby to drive them back to the hotel. "Wonderfully fine man, that King," said the Unwiseman as they drove along. "I had a sort of an idea he'd have a band playing music all the time, with ice cream and cake being served every five minutes in truly royal style." "He was just as pleasant as a plain everyday policeman at home," said Mollie. "Pleasanter," observed the Unwiseman. "A policeman at home would probably have told us to move on the minute we spoke to him, but the King was as polite as ginger-bread. I guess we were lucky to find him outside there because if he hadn't been I don't believe the head-butler would have let us in." "How-dy'u-know he was the King?" asked Whistlebinkie. "Oh I just felt it in my bones," said the Unwiseman. "He was so big and handsome, and then that red coat with the gold buttons--why it just simply couldn't be anybody else." "He didn't say much, diddee," whistled Whistlebinkie. "No," said the Unwiseman. "I guess maybe that's one of the reasons why he's a first class King. The fellow that goes around talking all the time might just as well be a--well a rubber-doll like you, Fizzledinkie. It takes a great man to hold his tongue." The hansom drew up at the hotel door and the travellers alighted. "Thank you very much," said the Unwiseman with a friendly nod at the cabby. "Five shillin's, please, sir," said the driver. "What's that?" demanded the Unwiseman. "Five shillin's," repeated the cabby. "What do you suppose he means?" asked the Unwiseman turning to Mollie. "Why he wants to be paid five shillings," whispered Mollie. "Shillings is money." "Oh--hm--well--I never thought of that," said the Unwiseman uneasily. "How much is that in dollars?" "It's a dollar and a quarter," said Mollie. "I don't want to buy the horse," protested the Unwiseman. "Come now!" put in the driver rather impatiently. "Five shillin's, sir." "Charge it," said the Unwiseman, shrinking back. "Just put it on the bill, driver, and I'll send you a cheque for it. I've only got ten dollars in real money with me, and I tell you right now I'm not going to pay out a dollar and a quarter right off the handle at one fell swoop." "You'll pay now, or I'll--" the cabby began. And just then, fortunately for all, Mollie's father, who had been looking all over London for his missing daughter, appeared, and in his joy over finding his little one, paid the cabby and saved the Unwiseman from what promised to be a most unpleasant row. VI. THEY GET SOME FOG AND GO SHOPPING The following day the Unwiseman was in high-feather. At last he was able to contemplate in all its gorgeousness a real London fog of which he had heard so much, for over the whole city hung one of those deep, dark, impenetrable mists which cause so much trouble at times to those who dwell in the British capital. "Hurry up, Mollie, and come out," he cried enthusiastically rapping on the little girl's door. "There's one of the finest fogs outside you ever saw. I'm going to get a bottle full of it and take it home with me." "Hoh!" jeered Whistlebinkie. "What a puffickly 'bsoyd thing to do--as if we never didn't have no fogs at home!" "We don't have any London fogs in America, Whistlebinkie," said Mollie. "No but we have very much finer ones," boasted the patriotic Whistlebinkie. "They're whiter and cleaner to begin with, and twice as deep." "Well never mind, Whistlebinkie," said Mollie. "Don't go looking around for trouble with the Unwiseman. It's very nice to be able to enjoy everything as much as he does and you shouldn't never find fault with people because they enjoy themselves." "Hi-there, Mollie," came the Unwiseman's voice at the door. "Just open the door a little and I'll give you a hatful of it." "You can come in," said Mollie. "Whistlebinkie and I are all dressed." And the little girl opened the door and the Unwiseman entered. He carried his beaver hat in both hands, as though it were a pail without a handle, and over the top of it he had spread a copy of the morning's paper. "It's just the finest fog ever," he cried as he came in. "Real thick. I thought you'd like to have some, so I went out on the sidewalk and got a hat full of it for you." Mollie and Whistlebinkie gathered about the old gentleman as he removed the newspaper from the top of his hat, and gazed into it. "I do-see-anthing," whistled Whistlebinkie. "You don't?" cried the Unwiseman. "Why it's chock full of fog. You can see it can't you Mollie?" he added anxiously, for to tell the truth the hat did seem to be pretty empty. Mollie tried hard and was able to convince herself that she could see just a tiny bit of it and acted accordingly. "Isn't it beautiful!" she ejaculated, as if filled with admiration for the contents of the Unwiseman's hat. "I don't think I ever saw any just like it before--did you, Mr. Me?" "No," said the Unwiseman much pleased, "I don't think I ever did--it's so delicate and--er--steamy, eh? And there's miles of it outdoors and the Robert down on the corner says we're welcome to all we want of it. I didn't like to take it without asking, you know." "Of course not," said Mollie, glancing into the hat again. "So I just went up to the pleeceman and told him I was going to start a museum at home and that I wanted to have some real London fog on exhibition and would he mind if I took some. 'Go ahead, sir,' he said very politely. 'Go ahead and take all you want. We've got plenty of it and to spare. You can take it all if you want it.' Mighty kind of him I think," said the Unwiseman. "So I dipped out a hat full for you first. Where'll I put it?" "O----," said Mollie, "I--I don't know. I guess maybe you'd better pour it out into that vase up there on the mantel-piece--it isn't too thick to go in there, is it?" "It don't seem to be," said the Unwiseman peering cautiously into the hat. "Somehow or other it don't seem quite as thick inside here as it did out there on the street. Tell you the truth I don't believe it'll keep unless we get it in a bottle and cork it up good and tight--do you?" "I'm afraid not," agreed Mollie. "It's something like snow--kind of vaporates." "I'm going to put mine in a bottle," said the Unwiseman, "and seal the cork with sealing wax--then I'll be sure of it. Then I thought I'd get an envelope full and send it home to my Burgular just to show him I haven't forgotten him--poor fellow, he must be awful lonesome up there in my house without any friends in the neighborhood and no other burgulars about to keep him company." And the strange little man ran off to get his bottle filled with fog and to fill up an envelope with it as well as a souvenir of London for the lonesome Burglar at home. Later on Mollie encountered him leaving the hotel door with a small shovel and bucket in his hand such as children use on the beach in the summer-time. "The pleeceman says it's thicker down by the river," he explained to Mollie, "and I'm going down there to shovel up a few pailsful--though I've got a fine big bottleful of it already corked up and labelled for my museum. And by the way, Mollie, you want to be careful about Whistlebinkie in this fog. When he whistles on a bright clear day it is hard enough to understand what he is saying, but if he gets _his_ hat full of fog and tries to whistle with that it will be something awful. I don't think I could stand him if he began to talk any foggier than he does ordinarily." Mollie promised to look out for this and kept Whistlebinkie indoors all the morning, much to the rubber-doll's disgust, for Whistlebinkie was quite as anxious to see how the fog would affect his squeak as the Unwiseman was to avoid having him do so. In the afternoon the fog lifted and the Unwiseman returned. "I think I'll go out and see if I can find the King's tailor," he said. "I'm getting worried about that Duke's suit. I asked the Robert what he thought it would cost and he said he didn't believe you could get one complete for less than five pounds and the way I figure it out that's a good deal more than eight-fifty." "It's twenty-five dollars," Mollie calculated. "Mercy!" cried the Unwiseman. "It costs a lot to dress by the pound doesn't it--I guess I'd better write to Mr. King and tell him I've decided not to accept." "Better see what it costs first," said Whistlebinkie. "All right," agreed the Unwiseman. "I will--want to go with me Mollie?" "Certainly," said Mollie. And they started out. After walking up to Trafalgar Square and thence on to Piccadilly, the Unwiseman carefully scanning all the signs before the shops as they went, they came to a bake-shop that displayed in its window the royal coat of arms and announced that "Muffins by Special Appointment to H. R. H. the King," could be had there. "We're getting close," said the Unwiseman. "Let's go in and have a royal cream-cake." Mollie as usual was willing and entering the shop the Unwiseman planted himself before the counter and addressed the sales-girl. "I'm a friend of Mr. King, Madame," he observed with a polite bow, "just over from America and we had a sort of an idea that we should like to eat a really regal piece of cake. What have you in stock made by Special Appointment for the King?" "We 'ave Hinglish Muffins," replied the girl. "Let me see a few," said the Unwiseman. The girl produced a trayful. "Humph!" ejaculated the Unwiseman looking at them critically. "They ain't very different from common people's muffins are they? What I want is some of the stuff that goes to the Palace. I may look green, young lady, but I guess I've got sense enough to see that those things are _not_ royal." [Illustration: "THESE ARE THE KIND HIS MAJESTY PREFERS," SAID THE GIRL] "These are the kind his majesty prefers," said the girl. "Come along, Mollie," said the Unwiseman turning away. "I don't want to get into trouble and I'm sure this young lady is trying to fool us. I am very much obliged to you, Madame," he added turning to the girl at the counter. "We'd have been very glad to purchase some of your wares if you hadn't tried to deceive us. Those muffins are very pretty indeed but when you try to make us believe that they are muffins by special appointment to his h. r. h., Mr. Edward S. King, plain and simple Americans though we be, we know better. Even my rubber friend, Whistlebinkie here recognizes a bean when he sees it. I shall report this matter to the King and beg to wish you a very good afternoon." And drawing himself up to his full height, the Unwiseman with a great show of dignity marched out of the shop followed meekly by Mollie and Whistlebinkie. "I-didn-tsee-an-thing th-matter-withem," whistled Whistlebinkie. "They looked to me like firs-class-smuffins." "No doubt," said the Unwiseman. "That's because you don't know much. But they couldn't fool me. If I'd wanted plain muffins I could have asked for them, but when I ask for a muffin by special appointment to his h. r. h. the King I want them to give me what I ask for. Perhaps you didn't observe that not one of those muffins she brought out was set with diamonds and rubies." "Now that you mention it," said Mollie, "I remember they weren't." "Prezactly," said the Unwiseman. "They weren't even gold mounted, or silver plated, or anything to make 'em different from the plain every day muffins that you can buy in a baker's shop at home. I don't believe they were by special appointment to anybody--not even a nearl, much less the King. I guess they think we Americans don't know anything over here--but they're barking up the wrong tree if they think they can fool me." "We-mightuv-tastedum!" whistled Whistlebinkie much disappointed, because he always did love the things at the baker's. "You can't tell just by lookin' at a muffin whether it's good or not." "Well go back and taste them," retorted the Unwiseman. "It's your taste--only if I had as little taste as you have I wouldn't waste it on that stuff. Ah--this is the place I've been looking for." The old man's eyes had fallen upon another sign which read "Robe Maker By Special Appointment to T. R. H. The King and The Queen." "Here's the place, Mollie, where they make the King's clothes," he said. "Now for it." Hand in hand the three travellers entered the tailor's shop. "How do you do, Mr. Snip," said the Unwiseman addressing the gentlemanly manager of the shop whose name was on the sign without and who approached him as affably as though he were not himself the greatest tailor in the British Isles--for he couldn't have been the King's tailor if he had not been head and shoulders above all the rest. "I had a very pleasant little chat with his h. r. h. about you yesterday. I could see by the fit of his red jacket that you were the best tailor in the world, and while he didn't say very much on the subject the King gave me to understand that you're pretty nearly all that you should be." "Verry gracious of his Majesty I am sure," replied the tailor, washing his hands in invisible soap, and bowing most courteously. "Now the chances are," continued the Unwiseman, "that as soon as the King receives a letter I wrote to him from Liverpool about how to stamp out this horrible habit his subjects have of littering up the street with aitches, clogging traffic and overworking the Roberts picking 'em up, he'll ask me to settle down over here and be a Duke. Naturally I don't want to disappoint him because I consider the King to be a mighty nice man, but unless I can get a first-class Duke's costume----" "We make a specialty of Ducal robes, your Grace," said the Tailor, manifesting a great deal of interest in his queer little customer. "Hold on a minute," cried the Unwiseman. "Don't you call me that yet--I shant be a grace until I've decided to accept. What does an A-1 Duke's clothes cost?" "You mean the full State----" began the Tailor. "I come from New York State," said the Unwiseman. "Yes--I guess that's it. New York's the fullest State in the Union. How much for a New York State Duke?" "The State Robes will cost--um--let me see--I should think about fifteen hundred pounds, your Lordship," calculated the Tailor. "Of course it all depends on the quality of the materials. Velvets are rawther expensive these days." Whistlebinkie gave a long low squeak of astonishment. Mollie gasped and the Unwiseman turned very pale as he tremblingly repeated the figure. "Fif-teen-hundred-pounds? Why," he added turning to Mollie, "I'd have to live about seven thousand years to get the wear out of it at a dollar a year." "Yes, your Lordship--or more. It all depends upon how much gold your Lordship requires--" observed the Tailor. "Seems to me I'd need about four barrels of it," said the Unwiseman, "to pay a bill like that." "We have made robes costing as high as 10,000 pounds," continued the Tailor. "But they of course were of unusual magnificence--and for special jubilee celebrations you know." "You haven't any ready made Duke's clothes on hand for less?" inquired the Unwiseman. "You know I'm not so awfully particular about the fit. My figure's a pretty good one, but after all I don't want to thrust it on people." "We do not deal in ready made garments," said the Tailor coldly. "Well I guess I'll have to give it up then," said the Unwiseman, "unless you know where I could hire a suit, or maybe buy one second-hand from some one of your customers who's going to get a new one." "We do not do that kind of trade, sir," replied the Tailor, haughtily. "Well say, Mr. Snip--ain't there anything else a chap can be made beside a Duke that ain't quite so dressy?" persisted the old gentleman. "I don't want to disappoint Mr. King you know." "Oh as for that," observed the Tailor, "there are ordinary peerages, baronetcies and the like. His Majesty might make you a Knight," he added sarcastically. "That sounds good," said the Unwiseman. "About what would a Knight gown cost me--made out of paper muslin or something that's a wee bit cheaper than solid gold and velvet?" This perfectly innocent and sincerely asked question was never answered, for Mr. Snip the Tailor made up his mind that the Unwiseman was guying him and acted accordingly. "Jorrocks!" he cried haughtily to the office boy, a fresh looking lad who had broken out all over in brass buttons. "Jorrocks, show this 'ere party the door." Whereupon Mr. Snip retired and Jorrocks with a wink at Whistlebinkie showed the travellers out. "Well did you ever!" ejaculated the Unwiseman. "You couldn't have expected any haughtier haughtiness than that from the King himself." "He was pretty proud," said Mollie, with a smile, for to tell the truth she had had all she could do all through the interview to keep from giggling. "He was proud all right, but I didn't notice anything very pretty about him," said the Unwiseman. "I'm going to write to the King about both those places, because I don't believe he knows what kind of people they are with their bogus muffins and hoity-toity manners." They walked solemnly along the street in the direction of the hotel. "I won't even wait for the mail," said the Unwiseman. "I'll walk over to the Palace now and tell him. That tailor might turn some real important American out of his shop in the same way and then there'd be a war over it." "O I wouldn't," said Mollie, who was always inclined toward peace-making. "Wait and write him a letter." "Send-im-a-wireless-smessage," whistled Whistlebinkie. "Good idea!" said the Unwiseman. "That'll save postage and it'll get to the King right away instead of having to be read first by one of his Secretaries." So it happened that that night the Unwiseman climbed up to the roof of the hotel and sent the following wireless telegram to the King: MY DEAR MR. KING: That tailor of yours seems to think he's a Grand Duke in disguise. In the first place he wanted me to pay over seven thousand dollars for a Duke's suit and when I asked him the price of a Knight-gown he told Jorrocks to show me the door, which I had already seen and hadn't asked to see again. He's a very imputinent tailor and if I were you I'd bounce him as we say in America. Furthermore they sell bogus muffins up at that specially appointed bake-shop of yours. I think you ought to know these things. Nations have gone to war for less. Yours trooly, THE UNWISEMAN. P.S. I've been thinking about that Duke proposition and I don't think I care to go into that business. Folks at home haven't as much use for 'em as they have for sour apples which you can make pie out of. So don't do anything further in the matter. "There," said the Unwiseman as he tossed this message off into the air. "That saves me $8.50 anyhow, and I guess it'll settle the business of those bogus muffin people and that high and mighty tailor." VII. THE UNWISEMAN VISITS THE BRITISH MUSEUM "What's the matter, Mr. Me?" asked Mollie one morning after they had been in London for a week. "You look very gloomy this morning. Aren't you feeling well?" "O I'm feeling all right physically," said the Unwiseman. "But I'm just chock full of gloom just the same and I want to get away from here as soon as I can. Everything in the whole place is bogus." "Oh Mr. Me! you mustn't say that!" protested Mollie. "Well if it ain't there's something mighty queer about it anyhow, and I just don't like it," said the Unwiseman. "I know they've fooled me right and left, and I'm just glad George Washington licked 'em at Bunco Hill and pushed 'em off our continent on the double quick." "What is the particular trouble?" asked Mollie. "Well, in the first place," began the old gentleman, "that King we saw the other day wasn't a real king at all--just a sort of decoy king they keep outside the Palace to shoo people off and keep them from bothering the real one; and in the second place the Prince of Whales aint' a whale at all. He ain't even a shiner. He's just a man. I don't see what right they have to fool people the way they do. They wouldn't dare run a circus that way at home." Mollie laughed, and Whistlebinkie squeaked with joy. "You didn't really expect him to be a whale, did you?" Mollie asked. "Why of course I did," said the Unwiseman. "Why not? They claim over here that Britannia rules the waves, don't they?" "They certainly do," said Mollie gravely. "Then it's natural to suppose they have a big fish somewhere to represent 'em," said the Unwiseman. "The King can't go sloshing around under the ocean saying howdido to porpoises and shad and fellers like that. It's too wet and he'd catch his death of cold, so I naturally thought the Prince of Whales looked after that end of the business, and now I find he's not even a sardine. It's perfectly disgusting." "I knew-he-wasn't-a-fish," said Whistlebinkie. "Well you always were smarter than anybody else," growled the Unwiseman. "You know a Roc's egg isn't a pebble without anybody telling you I guess. You were born with the multiplication table in your hat, but as for me I'm glad I've got something to learn. I guess carrying so much real live information around in your hat is what makes you squeak so." The old gentleman paused a moment and then he went on again. "What I'm worrying most about is that mock king," he said. "Here I've gone and invited him over to America, and offered to present him with the freedom of my kitchen stove and introduce him to my burgular. Suppose he comes? What on earth am I going to do? I can't introduce him as the real king, and if I pass him off for a bogus king everybody'll laugh at me, and accuse me of bringing my burgular into bad company." "How did you find it out?" asked Mollie sadly, for she had already written home to her friends giving them a full account of their reception by his majesty. "Why I went up to the Palace this morning to see why he hadn't answered my letter and this time there was another man there, wearing the same suit of clothes, bear-skin hat, red jacket and all," explained the Unwiseman. "I was just flabbergasted and then it flashed over me all of a sudden that there might be a big conspiracy on hand to kidnap the real king and put his enemies on the throne. It was all so plain. Certainly no king would let anybody else wear his clothes, so this chap must have stolen them and was trying to pass himself off for Edward S. King himself." "Mercy!" cried Mollie. "What did you do? Call for help?" "No sirree--I mean no ma'am!" returned the Unwiseman. "That wouldn't help matters any. I ran down the street to a telephone office and rang up the palace. I told 'em the king had been kidnapped and that a bogus king was paradin' up and down in front of the Palace with the royal robes on. I liked that first king so much I couldn't bear to think of his lyin' off somewhere in a dungeon-cell waiting to have his head chopped off. And what do you suppose happened? Instead of arresting the mock king they wanted to arrest me, and I think they would have if a nice old gentleman in a high hat and a frock coat like mine, only newer, hadn't driven up at that minute, bowing to everybody, and entered the Palace yard with the whole crowd giving him three cheers. Then what do you suppose? They tried to pass _him_ off on me as the _real_ king--why he was plainer than those muffins and looked for all the world like a good natured life insurance agent over home." "And they didn't arrest you?" asked Mollie, anxiously. "No indeed," laughed the Unwiseman. "I had my carpet-bag along and when the pleeceman wasn't looking I jumped into it and waited till they'd all gone. Of course they couldn't find me. I don't believe they've got any king over here at all." "Then you'll never be a Duke?" said Whistlebinkie. "No sirree!" ejaculated the Unwiseman. "Not while I know how to say no. If they offer it to me I'll buy a megaphone to say no through so's they'll be sure to hear it. Then there's that other wicked story about London Bridge falling down. I heard some youngsters down there by the River announcing the fact and I nearly ran my legs off trying to get there in time to see it fall and when I arrived it not only wasn't falling down but was just ram-jam full of omnibuses and cabs and trucks. Really I never knew anybody anywhere who could tell as many fibs in a minute as these people over here can." "Well never mind, Mr. Me," said Mollie, soothingly. "Perhaps things have gone a little wrong with you, and I don't blame you for feeling badly about the King, but there are other things here that are very interesting. Come with Whistlebinkie and me to the British Museum and see the Mummies." "Pooh!" retorted the Unwiseman. "I'd rather see a basket of figs." "You never can tell," persisted Mollie. "They may turn out to be the most interesting things in all the world." "I can tell," said the Unwiseman. "I've already seen 'em and they haven't as much conversation as a fried oyster. I went down there yesterday and spent two hours with 'em, and a more unapproachable lot you never saw in your life. I was just as polite to 'em as I knew how to be. Asked 'em how they liked the British climate. Told 'em long stories of my house at home. Invited a lot of 'em to come over and meet my burgular just as I did the King and not a one of 'em even so much as thanked me. They just stood off there in their glass cases and acted as if they never saw me, and if they did, hadn't the slightest desire to see me again. You don't catch me calling on them a second time." "But there are other things in the Museum, aren't there?" asked Mollie. The Unwiseman's gloom disappeared for a moment in a loud burst of laughter. "Such a collection of odds and ends," he cried, with a sarcastic shake of his head. "I never saw so much broken crockery in all my life. It looks to me as if they'd bought up all the old broken china in the world. There are tea-pots without nozzles by the thousand. Old tin cans, all rusted up and with dents in 'em from everywhere. Cracked plates by the million, and no end of water-pitchers with the handles broken off, and chipped vases and goodness knows what all. And they call that a museum! Just you give me a half a dozen bricks and a crockery shop over in America and in five minutes I'll make that British Museum stuff look like a sixpence. When I saw it first, I was pretty mad to think I'd taken the trouble to go and look at it, and then as I went on and couldn't find a whole tea-cup in the entire outfit, and saw people with catalogues in their hands saying how wonderful everything was, I just had to sit down on the floor and roar with laughter." "But the statuary, Mr. Me," said Mollie. "That was pretty fine I guess, wasn't it? I've heard it's a splendid collection." "Worse than the crockery," laughed the Unwiseman. "There's hardly a statue in the whole place that isn't broken. Seems to me they're the most careless lot of people over here with their museums. Half the statues didn't have any heads on 'em. A good quarter of them had busted arms and legs, and on one of 'em there wasn't anything left but a pair of shoulder blades and half a wing sticking out at the back. It looked more like a quarry than a museum to me, and in a mighty bad state of repair even for a quarry. That was where they put me out," the old gentleman added. "Put you out?" cried Mollie. "Oh Mr. Me--you don't mean to say they actually put you out of The British Museum?" "I do indeed," said the Unwiseman with a broad grin on his face. "They just grabbed me by my collar and hustled me along the floor to the great door and dejected me just as if I didn't have any more feeling than their old statues. It's a wonder the way I landed I wasn't as badly busted up as they are." "But what for? You were not misbehaving yourself, were you?" asked Mollie, very much disturbed over this latest news. "Of course not," returned the Unwiseman. "Quite the contrary opposite. I was trying to help them. I came across the great big statue of some Greek chap--I've forgotten his name--something like Hippopotomes, or something of the sort--standing up on a high pedestal, with a sign, "HANDS OFF "hanging down underneath it. When I looked at it I saw at once that it not only had its hands off, but was minus a nose, two ears, one under-lip and a right leg, so I took out my pencil and wrote underneath the words Hands Off: "LIKEWISE ONE NOZE ONE PARE OF EARS A LEG AND ONE LIPP "It seemed to me the sign should ought to be made complete, but I guess they thought different, because I'd hardly finished the second P on lip when whizz bang, a lot of attendants came rushing up to me and the first thing I knew I was out on the street rubbing the back of my head and wondering what hit me." "Poor old chap!" said Mollie sympathetically. "Guess-you-wisht-you-was-mader-ubber-like-me!" whistled Whistlebinkie trying hard to repress his glee. "What's that?" demanded the Unwiseman. "I-guess-you-wished-you-were-made-of-rubber-like-me!" explained Whistlebinkie. "Never in this world," retorted the Unwiseman scornfully. "If I'd been made of rubber like you I'd have bounced up and down two or three times instead of once, and I'm not so fond of hitting the sidewalk with myself as all that. But I didn't mind. I was glad to get out. I was so afraid all the time somebody'd come along and accuse me of breaking their old things that it was a real relief to find myself out of doors and nothing broken that didn't belong to me." "They didn't break any of your poor old bones, did they?" asked Mollie, taking the Unwiseman's hand affectionately in her own. "No--worse luck--they did worse than that," said the old gentleman growing very solemn again. "They broke that bottle of my native land that I always carry in my coat-tail pocket and loosened the cork in my fog bottle in the other, so that now I haven't more than a pinch of my native land with me to keep me from being homesick, and all of the fog I was saving up for my collection has escaped. But I don't care. I don't believe it was real fog, but just a mixture of soot and steam they're trying to pass off for the real thing. Bogus like everything else, and as for my native land, I've got enough to last me until I get home if I'm careful of it. The only thing I'm afraid of is that in scooping what I could of it up off the sidewalk I may have mixed a little British soil in with it. I'd hate to have that happen because just at present British soil isn't very popular with me." "Maybe it's bogus too," snickered Whistlebinkie. "So much the better," said the Unwiseman. "If it ain't real I can manage to stand it." "Then you don't think much of the British Museum?" said Mollie. "Well it ain't my style," said the Unwiseman, shaking his head vigorously. "But there was one thing that pleased me very much about it," the old man went on, his eye lighting with real pleasure and his voice trembling with patriotic pride, "and that's some of the things they didn't have in it. It was full of things the British have captured in Greece and Italy and Africa and pretty nearly everywhere else--mummies from Egypt, pieces of public libraries from Athens, second-story windows from Rome, and little dabs of architecture from all over the map except the United States. That made me laugh. They may have had Cleopatra's mummy there, but I didn't notice any dried up specimens of the Decalculation of Independence lying around in any of their old glass cases. They had a whole side wall out of some Roman capitol building perched up on a big wooden platform, but I didn't notice any domes from the Capitol at Washington or back piazzas from the White House on exhibition. There was a lot of busted old statuary from Greece all over the place, but nary a statue of Liberty from New York harbor, or figger of Andrew Jackson from Philadelphia, or bust of Ralph Waldo Longfellow from Boston Common, sitting up there among their trophies--only things hooked from the little fellers, and dug up from places like Pompey-two-eyes where people have been dead so long they really couldn't watch out for their property. It don't take a very glorious conqueror to run off with things belonging to people they can lick with one hand, and it pleased me so when I couldn't find even a finger-post, or a drug-store placard, or a three dollar shoe store sign from America in the whole collection that my chest stuck out like a pouter pigeon's and bursted my shirt-studs right in two. They'd have had a lump chipped off Independence Hall at Philadelphia, or a couple of chunks of Bunco Hill, or a sliver off the Washington Monument there all right if they could have got away with it, but they couldn't, and I tell you I wanted to climb right up top of the roof and sing Yankee Doodle and crow like a rooster the minute I noticed it, I felt so good." "Three cheers for us," roared Whistlebinkie. "That's the way to talk, Fizzledinkie," cried the old gentleman gleefully, and grasping Whistlebinkie by the hand he marched up and down Mollie's room singing the Star Spangled Banner--the Unwiseman in his excitement called it the Star Spangled Banana--and Columbia the Gem of the Ocean at the top of his lungs, and Mollie was soon so thrilled that she too joined in. "Well," said Mollie, when the patriotic ardor of her two companions had died down a little. "What are you going to do, Mr. Me? We've got to stay here two days more. We don't start for Paris until Saturday." "O don't bother about me," said the old man pleasantly. "I've got plenty to do. I've bought a book called 'French in Five Lessons' and I'm going to retire to my carpet-bag until you people are ready to start for France. I've figured it out that I can read that book through in two days if I don't waste too much of my time eating and sleeping and calling on kings and queens and trying to buy duke's clothes for $8.50, and snooping around British Museums and pricing specially appointed royal muffins, so that by the time you are ready to start for Paris I'll be in shape to go along. I don't think it's wise to go into a country where they speak another language without knowing just a little about it, and if 'French in Five Lessons' is what it ought to be you'll think I'm another Joan of Ark when I come out of that carpet-bag." And so the queer old gentleman climbed into his carpet-bag, which Mollie placed for him over near the window where the light was better and settled down comfortably to read his new book, "French in Five Lessons." "I'm glad he's going to stay in there," said Whistlebinkie, as he and Mollie started out for a walk in Hyde Park. "Because I wouldn't be a bit surprised after all he's told us if the pleese were looking for him." "Neither should I," said Mollie. "If what he says about the British Museum is true and they really haven't any things from the United States in there, there's nothing they'd like better than to capture an American and put him up in a glass case along with those mummies." All of which seemed to prove that for once the Unwiseman was a very wise old person. VIII. THE UNWISEMAN'S FRENCH The following two days passed very slowly for poor Mollie. It wasn't that she was not interested in the wonders of the historic Tower which she visited and where she saw all the crown jewels, a lot of dungeons and a splendid collection of armor and rare objects connected with English history; nor in the large number of other things to be seen in and about London from Westminster Abbey to Hampton Court and the Thames, but that she was lonesome without the Unwiseman. Both she and Whistlebinkie had approached the carpet-bag wherein the old gentleman lay hidden several times, and had begged him to come out and join them in their wanderings, but he not only wouldn't come out, but would not answer them. Possibly he did not hear when they called him, possibly he was too deeply taken up by his study of French to bother about anything else--whatever it was that caused it, he was as silent as though he were deaf and dumb. "Less-sopen-thbag," suggested Whistlebinkie. "I-don'-bleeve-hes-sinthera-tall." "Oh yes he's in there," said Mollie. "I've heard him squeak two or three times." "Waddeesay?" said Whistlebinkie. "What?" demanded Mollie, with a slight frown. "What-did-he-say?" asked Whistlebinkie, more carefully. "I couldn't quite make out," said Mollie. "Sounded like a little pig squeaking." "I guess it was-sfrench," observed Whistlebinkie with a broad grin. "Maybe he was saying Wee-wee-wee. That's what little pigs say, and Frenchmen too--I've heard 'em." "Very likely," said Mollie. "I don't know what wee-wee-wee means in little pig-talk, but over in Paris it means, 'O yes indeed, you're perfectly right about that.'" "He'll never be able to learn French," laughed Whistlebinkie. "That is not so that he can speak it. Do you think he will?" "That's what I'm anxious to see him for," said Mollie. "I'm just crazy to find out how he is getting along." But all their efforts to get at the old gentleman were, as I have already said, unavailing. They knocked on the bag, and whispered and hinted and tried every way to draw him out but it was not until the little party was half way across the British Channel, on their way to France, that the Unwiseman spoke. Then he cried from the depths of the carpet bag: "Hi there--you people outside, what's going on out there, an earthquake?" "Whatid-i-tellu'" whistled Whistlebinkie. "That ain't French. Thass-singlish." "Hallo-outside ahoy!" came the Unwiseman's voice again. "Slidyvoo la slide sur le top de cette carpet-bag ici and let me out!" "That's French!" cried Mollie clapping her hands ecstatically together. "Then I understand French too!" said Whistlebinkie proudly, "because I know what he wants. He wants to get out." "Do you want to come out, Mr. Unwiseman?" said Mollie bending over the carpet-bag, and whispering through the lock. "Wee-wee-wee," said the Unwiseman. "More-pig-talk," laughed Whistlebinkie. "He's the little pig that went to market." "No--it was the little pig that stayed at home that said wee, wee, wee all day long," said Mollie. "Je desire to be lettyd out pretty quick if there's un grand big earthquake going on," cried the Unwiseman. Mollie slid the nickeled latch on the top of the carpet-bag along and in a moment it flew open. "Kesserkersayker what's going on out ici?" demanded the Unwiseman, as he popped out of the bag. "Je ne jammy knew such a lot of motiong. London Bridge ain't falling down again, is it?" "No," said Mollie. "We're on the boat crossing the British Channel." "Oh--that's it eh?" said the Unwiseman gazing about him anxiously, and looking rather pale, Mollie thought. "Well I thought it was queer. When I went to sleep last night everything was as still as Christmas, and when I waked up it was movier than a small boy in a candy store. So we're on the ocean again eh?" "Not exactly," said Mollie. "We're on what they call the Channel." "Seems to me the waves are just as big as they are on the ocean, and the water just as wet," said the Unwiseman, as the ship rose and fell with the tremendous swell of the sea, thereby adding much to his uneasiness. "Yes--but it isn't so wide," explained Mollie. "It isn't more than thirty miles across." "Then I don't see why they don't build a bridge over it," said the Unwiseman. "This business of a little bit of a piece of water putting on airs like an ocean ought to be put a stop to. This motion has really very much unsettled--my French. I feel so queer that I can't remember even what _la_ means, and as for _kesserkersay_, I've forgotten if it's a horse hair sofa or a pair of brass andirons, and I had it all in my head not an hour ago. O--d-dud-dear!" The Unwiseman plunged headlong into his carpet-bag again and pulled the top of it to with a snap. "Oh my, O me!" he groaned from its depths. "O what a wicked channel to behave this way. Mollie--Moll-lie--O Mollie I say." "Well?" said Mollie. "Far from it--very unwell," groaned the Unwiseman. "Will you be good enough to ask the cook for a little salad oil?" "Mercy," cried Mollie. "You don't want to mix a salad now do you?" "Goodness, no!" moaned the Unwiseman. "I want you to pour it on those waves and sort of clam them down and then, if you don't mind, take the carpet-bag----" "Yes," said Mollie. "And chuck it overboard," groaned the Unwiseman. "I--I don't feel as if I cared ever to hear the dinner-bell again." Poor Unwiseman! He was suffering the usual fate of those who cross the British Channel, which behaves itself at times as if it really did have an idea that it was a great big ocean and had an ocean's work to do. But fortunately this uneasy body of water is not very wide, and it was not long before the travellers landed safe and sound on the solid shores of France, none the worse for their uncomfortable trip. "I guess you were wise not to throw me overboard after all," said the Unwiseman, as he came out of the carpet-bag at Calais. "I feel as fine as ever now and my lost French has returned." "I'd like to hear some," said Mollie. "Very well," replied the Unwiseman carelessly. "Go ahead and ask me a question and I'll answer it in French." "Hm! Let me see," said Mollie wondering how to begin. "Have you had breakfast?" "Wee Munsieur, j'ay le pain," replied the Unwiseman gravely. "What does that mean?" asked Mollie, puzzled. "He says he has a pain," said Whistlebinkie with a smile. "Pooh! Bosh--nothing of the sort," retorted the Unwiseman. "Pain is French for bread. When I say 'j'ay le pain' I mean that I've got the bread." "Are you the jay?" asked Whistlebinkie with mischief in his tone. "Jay in French is I have--not a bird, stupid," retorted the Unwiseman indignantly. "Funny way to talk," sniffed Whistlebinkie. "I should think pain would be a better word for pie, or something else that gives you one." "That's because you don't know," said the Unwiseman. "In addition to the pain I've had oofs." "Oooffs?" cried Whistlebinkie. "What on earth are oooffs?" "I didn't say oooffs," retorted the Unwiseman, mocking Whistlebinkie's accent. "I said oofs. Oofs is French for eggs. Chickens lay oofs in France. I had two hard boiled oofs, and my pain had burr and sooker on it." "Burr and sooker?" asked Mollie, wonderingly. "I know what burr means--it's French for chestnuts," guessed Whistlebinkie. "He had chestnuts on his bread." "Nothing of the sort," said the Unwiseman. "Burr is French for butter and has nothing to do with chestnuts. Over here in France a lady goes into a butter store and also says avvy-voo-doo burr, and the man behind the counter says wee, wee, wee, jay-doo-burr. Jay le bonn-burr. That means, yes indeed I've got some of the best butter in the market, ma'am." "And then what does the lady say?" asked Whistlebinkie. The Unwiseman's face flushed, and he looked very much embarrassed. It always embarrassed the poor old fellow to have to confess that there was something he didn't know. Unwisemen as a rule are very sensitive. "That's as far as the conversation went in my French in Five Lessons," he replied. "And I think it was far enough. For my part I haven't the slightest desire to know what the lady said next. Conversation on the subject of butter doesn't interest me. She probably asked him how much it was a pound, however, if not knowing what she said is going to keep you awake nights." "What's sooker?" asked Mollie. "Sooker? O that's what the French people call sugar," explained the Unwiseman. "Pooh!" ejaculated Whistlebinkie, scornfully. "What's the use of calling it sooker? Sooker isn't any easier to say than sugar." "It's very much like it, isn't it?" said Mollie. "Yes," said the Unwiseman. "They just drop the H out of sugar, and put in the K in place of the two Gees. I think myself when two words are so much alike as sooker and shoogger it's foolish to make two languages of 'em." "Tell me something more to eat in French," said Whistlebinkie. "Fromidge," said the Unwiseman bluntly. "Fromidge? What's that!" asked Whistlebinkie. "Cheese," said the Unwiseman. "If you want a cheese sandwich all you've got to do is to walk into a calf--calf is French for restaurant--call the waiter and say 'Un sandwich de fromidge, silver plate,' and you'll get it if you wait long enough. Silver plate means if you please. The French are very polite people." "But how do you call the waiter?" asked Whistlebinkie. "You just lean back in a chair and call garkon," said the Unwiseman. "That's what the book says, but I've heard Frenchmen in London call it gas on. I'm going to stick to the book, because it might turn out to be an English waiter and it would be very unpleasant to have him turn the gas on every time you called him." "I should say so," cried Whistlebinkie. "You might get gas fixturated." "You never would," said the Unwiseman. "Anybody who isn't choked by your conversation could stand all the gas fixtures in the world." "I don't care much for cheese, anyhow," said Whistlebinkie. "Is there any French for Beef?" "O wee, wee, wee!" replied the Unwiseman. "Beef is buff in French. Donny-moi-de-buff--" "Donny-moi-de-buff!" jeered Whistlebinkie, after a roar of laughter. "Sounds like baby-talk." "Well it ain't," returned the Unwiseman severely. "Even Napoleon Bonaparte had to talk that way when he wanted beef and I guess the kind of talk that was good enough for a great Umpire like him is good enough for a rubber squeak like you." "Then you like French do you, Mr. Me?" asked Mollie. "Oh yes--well enough," said the Unwiseman. "Of course I like American better, but I don't see any sense in making fun of French the way Fizzledinkie does. It's got some queer things about it like calling a cat a chat, and a man a homm, and a lady a femm, and a dog a chi-enn, but in the main it's a pretty good language as far as I have got in it. There are one or two things in French that I haven't learned to say yet, like 'who left my umbrella out in the rain,' and 'has James currycombed the saddle-horse with the black spot on his eye and a bob-tail this morning,' and 'was that the plumber or the piano tuner I saw coming out of the house of your uncle's brother-in-law yesterday afternoon,' but now that I'm pretty familiar with it I'm glad I learned it. It is disappointing in some ways, I admit. I've been through French in Five Lessons four times now, and I haven't found any conversation in it about Kitchen-Stoves, which is going to be very difficult for me when I get to Paris and try to explain to people there how fine my kitchen-stove is. I'm fond of that old stove, and when these furriners begin to talk to me about the grandness of their country, I like to hit back with a few remarks about my stove, and I don't just see how I'm going to do it." "What's sky-scraper in French?" demanded Whistlebinkie suddenly. "They don't have sky-scrapers in French," retorted the old gentleman. "So your question, like most of the others you ask, is very very foolish." "You think you can get along all right then, Mr. Me?" asked Mollie, gazing proudly at the old man and marvelling as to the amount of study he must have done in two days. "I can if I can only get people talking the way I want 'em to," replied the Unwiseman. "I've really learned a lot of very polite conversation. For instance something like this: "Do you wish to go anywhere? No I do not wish to go anywhere. Why don't you wish to go somewhere? Because I've been everywhere. You must have seen much. No I have seen nothing. Is not that rather strange? No it is rather natural. Why? Because to go everywhere one must travel too rapidly to see anything." "That you see," the Unwiseman went on, "goes very well at a five o'clock tea. The only trouble would be to get it started, but if I once got it going right, why I could rattle it off in French as easy as falling off a log." "Smity interesting conversation," said Whistlebinkie really delighted. "I'm glad you find it so," replied the Unwiseman. "It's far more interesting in French than it is in English." "Givus-smore," whistled Whistlebinkie. "Give us what?" demanded the Unwiseman. "Some-more," said Whistlebinkie. "Well here is a very nice bit that I can do if somebody gives me the chance," said the Unwiseman. "It begins: "Lend me your silver backed hand-glass. Certainly. Who is that singing in the drawing room? It is my daughter. It is long since I heard anyone sing so well. She has been taking lessons only two weeks. Does she practice on the phonograph or on her Aunt's upright piano? On neither. She accompanies herself upon the banjo. I think she sings almost as well as Miss S. Miss S. has studied for three weeks but Marietta has a better ear. What is your wife's grandmother knitting? A pair of ear-tabs for my nephew Jacques. Ah--then your nephew Jacques too has an ear? My nephew Jacques has two ears. What a musical family!" "Spul-lendid!" cried Whistlebinkie rapturously. "When do you think you can use that?" "O I may be invited off to a country house to spend a week, somewhere outside of Paris," said the Unwiseman, "and if I am, and the chance comes up for me to hold that nice little chat with my host, why it will make me very popular with everybody. People like to have you take an interest in their children, especially when they are musical. Then I have learned this to get off at the breakfast-table to my hostess: "I have slept well. I have two mattresses and a spring mattress. Will you have another pillow? No thank you I have a comfortable bolster. Is one blanket sufficient for you? Yes, but I would like some wax candles and a box of matches." "That will show her that I appreciate all the comforts of her beautiful household, and at the same time feel so much at home that I am not afraid to ask for something else that I happen to want. The thing that worries me a little about the last is that there might be an electric light in the room, so that asking for a wax candle and a box of matches would sound foolish. I gather from the lesson, however, that it is customary in France to ask for wax candles and a box of matches, so I'm going to do it anyhow. There's nothing like following the customs of the natives when you can." "I'd like to hear you say some of that in French," said Whistlebinkie. "Oh you wouldn't understand it, Whistlebinkie," said the Unwiseman. "Still I don't mind." And the old man rattled off the following: "Avvy-voo kelker chose ah me dire? Avvy-voo bien dormy la nooit dernyere? Savvy-voo kieskersayker cetum la avec le nez rouge? Kervooly-voo-too-der-sweet-silver-plate-o-see-le-mem. Donny-moi des boogies et des alloomettes avec burr et sooker en tasse. La Voila. Kerpensy-voo de cette comedie mon cher mounseer de Whistlebinkie?" "Mercy!" cried Whistlebinkie. "What a language! I don't believe I _ever_ could learn to speak it." "You learn to speak it, Whistlebinkie?" laughed the old gentleman. "You? Well I guess not. I don't believe you could even learn to squeak it." With which observation the Unwiseman hopped back into his carpet-bag, for the conductor of the train was seen coming up the platform of the railway station, and the old gentleman as usual was travelling without a ticket. "I'd rather be caught by an English conductor if I'm going to be caught at all," he remarked after the train had started and he was safe. "For I find in looking it over that all my talk in French is polite conversation, and I don't think there'd be much chance for that in a row with a conductor over a missing railway ticket." IX. IN PARIS The Unwiseman was up bright and early the next morning. Mollie and Whistlebinkie had barely got their eyes open when he came knocking at the door. "Better get up, Mollie," he called in. "It's fine weather and I'm going to call on the Umpire. The chances are that on a beautiful day like this he'll have a parade and I wouldn't miss it for a farm." "What Umpire are you talking about?" Mollie replied, opening the door on a crack. "Why Napoleon Bonaparte," said the Unwiseman. "Didn't you ever hear of him? He's the man that came up here from Corsica and picked the crown up on the street where the king had dropped it by mistake, and put it on his own head and made people think he was the whole roil family. He was smart enough for an American and I want to tell him so." "Why he's dead," said Mollie. "What?" cried the Unwiseman. "Umpire Napoleon dead? Why--when did that happen? I didn't see anything about it in the newspapers." "He died a long time ago," answered Mollie. "Before I was born, I guess." "Well I never!" ejaculated the Unwiseman, his face clouding over. "That book I read on the History of France didn't say anything about his being dead--that is, not as far as I got in it. Last time I heard of him he was starting out for Russia to give the Czar a licking. I supposed he thought it was a good time to do it after the Japs had started the ball a-rolling. Are you sure about that?" "Pretty sure," said Mollie. "I don't know very much about French history, but I'm almost certain he's dead." "I'm going down stairs to ask at the office," said the Unwiseman. "They'll probably know all about it." So the little old gentleman pattered down the hall to the elevator and went to the office to inquire as to the fate of the Emperor Napoleon. In five minutes he was back again. "Say, Mollie," he whispered through the key-hole. "I wish you'd ask your father about the Umpire. I can't seem to find out anything about him." "Don't they know at the office?" asked Mollie. "Oh I guess they know all right," said the Unwiseman, "but there's a hitch somewhere in my getting the information. Far as I can find out these people over here don't understand their own language. I asked 'em in French, like this: 'Mounseer le Umpire, est il mort?' And they told me he was _no_ more. Now whether _no_ more means that he is not mort, or _is_ mort, depends on what language the man who told me was speaking. If he was speaking French he's not dead. If he was speaking English he _is_ dead, and there you are. It's awfully mixed up." "I-guess-seez-ded-orright," whistled Whistlebinkie. "He was dead last time I heard of him, and I guess when they're dead once there dead for good." "Well you never can tell," said the Unwiseman. "He was a very great man, the Umpire Napoleon was, and they might have only thought he was dead while he was playing foxy to see what the newspapers would say about him." So Mollie asked her father and to the intense regret of everybody it turned out that the great Emperor had been dead for a long time. "It's a very great disappointment to me," sighed the Unwiseman, when Mollie conveyed the sad news to him. "The minute I knew we were coming to France I began to read up about the country, and Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the things I came all the way over to see. Are the Boys de Bologna dead too?" "I never heard of them," said Mollie. "I feel particularly upset about the Umpire," continued the Unwiseman, "because I sat up almost all last night getting up some polite conversation to be held with him this morning. I found just the thing for it in my book." "Howdit-go?" whistled Whistlebinkie. "Like this," said the Unwiseman. "I was going to begin with: "'Shall you buy a horse?' "And the Umpire was to say: "'I should like to buy a horse from you.' "And then we were to continue with: "'I have no horse but I will sell you my dog.' 'You are wrong; dogs are such faithful creatures.' 'But my wife prefers cats----'" "Pooh!" cried Whistlebinkie. "You haven't got any wife." "Well, what of it?" retorted the Unwiseman. "The Umpire wouldn't know that, and besides she _would_ prefer cats if I had one. You should not interrupt conversation when other people are talking, Whistlebinkie, especially when it's polite conversation." "Orright-I-pol-gize," whistled Whistlebinkie. "Go on with the rest of it." "I was then going to say:" continued the Unwiseman, "'Will you go out this afternoon?' 'I should like to go out this afternoon.' 'Should you remain here if your mother were here?' 'Yes I should remain here even if my aunt were here.' 'Had you remained here I should not have gone out.' 'I shall have finished when you come.' 'As soon as you have received your money come to see me.' 'I do not know yet whether we shall leave tomorrow.' 'I should have been afraid had you not been with me.' 'So long.' 'To the river.'" "To the river?" asked Whistlebinkie. "What does that mean?" "It is French for, 'I hope we shall meet again.' Au river is the polite way of saying, 'good-bye for a little while.' And to think that after having sat up until five o'clock this morning learning all that by heart I should find that the man I was going to say it to has been dead for--how many years, Mollie?" "Oh nearly a hundred years," said the little girl. "No wonder it wasn't in the papers before I left home," said the Unwiseman. "Oh well, never mind----." "Perhaps you can swing that talk around so as to fit some French Robert," suggested Whistlebinkie. "The Police are not Roberts over here," said the Unwiseman. "In France they are Johns--John Darms is what they call the pleece in this country, and I never should think of addressing a conversation designed for an Umpire to the plebean ear of a mere John." "Well I think it was pretty poor conversation," said Whistlebinkie. "And I guess it's lucky for you the Umpire is dead. All that stuff didn't mean anything." "It doesn't seem to mean much in English," said the Unwiseman, "but it must mean something in French, because if it didn't the man who wrote French in Five Lessons wouldn't have considered it important enough to print. Just because you don't like a thing, or don't happen to understand it, isn't any reason for believing that the Umpire would not find it extremely interesting. I shan't waste it on a John anyhow." An hour or two later when Mollie had breakfasted the Unwiseman presented himself again. "I'm very much afraid I'm not going to like this place any better than I did London," he said. "The English people, even if they do drop their aitches all over everywhere, understand their own language, which is more than these Frenchmen do. I have tried my French on half a dozen of them and there wasn't one of 'em that looked as if he knew what I was talking about." "What did you say to them?" asked Mollie. [Illustration: "HAVE YOU SEEN THE ORMOLU CLOCK OF YOUR SISTER'S MUSIC TEACHER?"] "Well I went up to a cabman and remarked, just as the book put it, 'how is the sister of your mother's uncle,' and he acted as if I'd hit him with a brick," said the Unwiseman. "Then I stopped a bright looking boy out on the rue and said to him, 'have you seen the ormolu clock of your sister's music teacher,' to which he should have replied, 'no I have not seen the ormolu clock of my sister's music teacher, but the candle-stick of the wife of the butcher of my cousin's niece is on the mantel-piece,' but all he did was to stick out his tongue at me and laugh." "You ought to have spoken to one of the John Darms," laughed Whistlebinkie. "I did," said the Unwiseman. "I stopped one outside the door and asked him, 'is your grandfather still alive?' The book says the answer to that is 'yes, and my grandmother also,' whereupon I should ask, 'how many grandchildren has your grandfather?' But I didn't get beyond the first question. Instead of telling me that his grandfather was living, and his grandmother also, he said something about Ally Voozon, a person of whom I never heard and who is not mentioned in the book at all. I wish I was back somewhere where they speak a language somebody can understand." "Have you had your breakfast?" asked Mollie. A deep frown came upon the face of the Unwiseman. "No--" he answered shortly. "I--er--I went to get some but they tried to cheat me," he added. "There was a sign in a window announcing French Tabble d'hotes. I thought it was some new kind of a breakfast food like cracked wheat, or oat-meal flakes, so I stopped in and asked for a small box of it, and they tried to make me believe it was a meal of four or five courses, with soup and fish and a lot of other things thrown in, that had to be eaten on the premises. I wished for once that I knew some French conversation that wasn't polite to tell 'em what I thought of 'em. I can imagine a lot of queer things, but when everybody tells me that oats are soup and fish and olives and ice-cream and several other things to boot, even in French, why I just don't believe it, that's all. What's more I can prove that oats are oats over here because I saw a cab-horse eating some. I may not know beans but I know oats, and I told 'em so. Then the garkon--I know why some people call these French waiters gason now, they talk so much--the garkon said I could order _a la carte_, and I told him I guessed I could if I wanted to, but until I was reduced to a point where I had to eat out of a wagon I wouldn't ask his permission." "Good-for-you!" whistled Whistlebinkie, clapping the Unwiseman on the back. "When a man wants five cents worth of oats it's a regular swindle to try to ram forty cents worth of dinner down his throat, especially at breakfast time, and I for one just won't have it," said the Unwiseman. "By the way, I wouldn't eat any fish over here if I were you, Mollie," he went on. "Why not?" asked the little girl. "Isn't it fresh?" "It isn't that," said the Unwiseman. "It's because over here it's poison." "No!" cried Mollie. "Yep," said the Unwiseman. "They admit it themselves. Just look here." The old gentleman opened his book on French in Five Lessons, and turned to the back pages where English words found their French equivalents. "See that?" he observed, pointing to the words. "Fish--poison. P-O-I-double S-O-N. 'Taint spelled right, but that's what it says." "It certainly does," said Mollie, very much surprised. "Smity good thing you had that book or you might have been poisoned," said Whistlebinkie. "I don't believe your father knows about that, does he, Mollie?" asked the old man anxiously. "I'm afraid not," said Mollie. "Leastways, he hasn't said anything to me about it, and I'm pretty sure if he'd known it he would have told me not to eat any." "Well you tell him with my compliments," said the Unwiseman. "I like your father and I'd hate to have anything happen to him that I could prevent. I'm going up the rue now to the Loover to see the pictures." "Up the what?" asked Whistlebinkie. "Up the rue," said the Unwiseman. "That's what these foolish people over here call a street. I'm going up the street. There's a guide down stairs who says he'll take me all over Paris in one day for three dollars, and we're going to start in ten minutes, after I've had a spoonful of my bottled chicken broth and a ginger-snap. Humph! Tabble d'hotes--when I've got a bag full of first class food from New York! I tell you, Mollie, this travelling around in furry countries makes a man depreciate American things more than ever." "I guess you mean _ap_preciate," suggested Mollie. "May be I do," returned the Unwiseman. "I mean I like 'em better. American oats are better than tabble d'hotes. American beef is better than French buff. American butter is better than foreign burr, and while their oofs are pretty good, when I eat eggs I want eggs, and not something else with a hard-boiled accent on it that twists my tongue out of shape. And when people speak a language I like 'em to have one they can understand when it's spoken to them like good old Yankamerican." "Hoorray for-Ramerrica!" cried Whistlebinkie. "Ditto hic, as Julius Cæsar used to say," roared the Unwiseman. And the Unwiseman took what was left of his bottleful of their native land out of his pocket and the three little travellers cheered it until the room fairly echoed with the noise. That night when they had gathered together again, the Unwiseman looked very tired. "Well, Mollie," he said, "I've seen it all. That guide down stairs showed me everything in the place and I'm going to retire to my carpet-bag again until you're ready to start for Kayzoozalum----" "Swizz-izzer-land," whistled Whistlebinkie. "Switzerland," said Mollie. "Well wherever it is we're going Alp hunting," said the Unwiseman. "I'm too tired to say a word like that to-night. My tongue is all out of shape anyhow trying to talk French and I'm not going to speak it any more. It's not the sort of language I admire--just full o' nonsense. When people call pudding 'poo-dang' and a bird a 'wazzoh' I'm through with it. I've seen 8374 miles of pictures; some more busted statuary; one cathedral--I thought a cathedral was some kind of an animal with a hairy head and a hump on its back, but it's nothing but a big overgrown church--; Napoleon's tomb--he is dead after all and France is a Republic, as if we didn't have a big enough Republic home without coming over here to see another--; one River Seine, which ain't much bigger than the Erie Canal, and not a trout or a snapping turtle in it from beginning to end; the Boys de Bologna, which is only a Park, with no boys or sausages anywhere about it; the Champs Eliza; an obelisk; and about sixteen palaces without a King or an Umpire in the whole lot; and I've paid three dollars for it, and I'm satisfied. I'd be better satisfied if I'd paid a dollar and a half, but you can't travel for nothing, and I regard the extra dollar and fifty cents as well spent since I've learned what to do next time." "Wass-that?" whistled Whistlebinkie. "Stay home," said the Unwiseman. "Home's good enough for me and when I get there I'm going to stay there. Good night." And with that the Unwiseman jumped into his carpet-bag and for a week nothing more was heard of him. "I hope he isn't sick," said Whistlebinkie, at the end of that period. "I think we ought to go and find out, don't you, Mollie." "I certainly do," said Mollie. "I know I should be just stufficated to death if I'd spent a week in a carpet-bag." So they tip-toed up to the side of the carpet-bag and listened. At first there was no sound to be heard, and then all of a sudden their fears were set completely at rest by the cracked voice of their strange old friend singing the following patriotic ballad of his own composition: "Next time I start out for to travel abroad I'll go where pure English is spoken. I'll put on my shoes and go sailing toward The beautiful land of Hoboken. "No more on that movey old channel I'll sail, The sickening waves to be tossed on, But do all my travelling later by rail And visit that frigid old Boston. "Nay never again will I step on a ship And go as a part of the cargo, But when I would travel I'll make my next trip Out west to the town of Chicago. "My sweet carpet-bag, you will never again Be called on to cross the Atlantic. We'll just buy a ticket and take the first train To marvellous old Williamantic. "No French in the future will I ever speak With strange and impossible, answers. I'd rather go in for that curious Greek The natives all speak in Arkansas. "To London and Paris let other folks go I'm utterly cured of the mania. Hereafter it's me for the glad Ohi-o, Or down in dear sweet Pennsylvania. "If any one asks me to cross o'er the sea I'll answer them promptly, 'No thanky-- There's beauty enough all around here for me In this glorious land of the Yankee.'" Mollie laughed as the Unwiseman's voice died away. "I guess he's all right, Whistlebinkie," she said. "Anybody who can sing like that can't be very sick." "No I guess not," said Whistlebinkie. "He seems to have got his tongue out of tangle again. I was awfully worried about that." "Why, dear?" asked Mollie. "Because," said Whistlebinkie, "I was afraid if he didn't he'd begin to talk like me and that would be perf'ly awful." X. THE ALPS AT LAST When the Unwiseman came out of the carpet-bag again the travellers had reached Switzerland. Every effort that Mollie and Whistlebinkie made to induce him to come forth and go about Paris with them had wholly failed. "It's more comfortable in here," he had answered them, "and I've got my hands full forgetting all that useless French I learned last week. It's very curious how much harder it is to forget French than it is to learn it. I've been four days forgetting that wazzoh means bird and that oofs is eggs." "And you haven't forgotten it yet, have you," said Whistlebinkie. "O yes," said the Unwiseman. "I've forgotten it entirely. It occasionally occurs to me that it is so when people mention the fact, but in the main I am now able to overlook it. I'll be glad when we are on our way again, Mollie, because between you and me I think they're a lot of frauds here too, just like over in England. They've got a statue here of a lady named Miss Jones of Ark and I _know_ there wasn't any such person on it. Shem and Ham and Japhet and their wives, and Noah, and Mrs. Noah were there but no Miss Jones." "Maybe Mrs. Noah or Mrs. Shem or one of the others was Miss Jones before she married Mr. Noah or Shem, Ham or Japhet," suggested Whistlebinkie. "Then they should ought to have said so," said the Unwiseman, "and put up the statue to Mrs. Noah or Mrs. Shem or Mrs. Ham or Mrs. Japhet--but they weren't the same person because this Miss Jones got burnt cooking a steak and Mrs. Noah and Mrs. Ham and Mrs. Shem and Mrs. Japhet didn't. Miss Jones was a great general according to these people and there wasn't any military at all in the time of Noah for a lady to be general of, so the thing just can't help being a put up job just to deceive us Americans into coming over here to see their curiosities and paying guides three dollars for leading us to them." "Then you won't come with us out to Versailles?" asked Mollie very much disappointed. "Versailles?" asked the Unwiseman. "What kind of sails are Versailles? Some kind of a French cat-boat? If so, none of that for me. I'm not fond of sailing." "It's a town with a beautiful palace in it," explained Mollie. "That settles it," said the Unwiseman. "I'll stay here. I've seen all the palaces without any kings in 'em that I need in my business, so you can just count me out. I may go out shopping this afternoon and buy an air-gun to shoot alps with when we get to--ha--hum----" "Switzerland," prompted Mollie hurriedly, largely with the desire to keep Whistlebinkie from speaking of Swiz-izzer-land. "Precisely," said the Unwiseman. "If you'd given me time I'd have said it myself. I've been practising on that name ever since yesterday and I've got so I can say it right five times out of 'leven. And I'm learning to yodel too. I have discovered that down in--ha--hum--Swztoozalum, when people don't feel like speaking French, they yodel, and I think I can get along better in yodeling than I can in French. I'm going to try it anyhow. So run along and have a good time and don't worry about me. I'm having a fine time. Yodeling is really lots of fun. Trala-la-lio!" So Mollie and Whistlebinkie went to Versailles, which by the way is not pronounced Ver-sails, but Ver-sai-ee, and left the Unwiseman to his own devices. A week later the party arrived at Chamounix, a beautiful little Swiss village lying in the valley at the base of Mont Blanc, the most famous of all the Alps. "Looks-slike-a-gray-big-snow-ball," whistled Whistlebinkie, gazing admiringly at the wonderful mountain glistening like a huge mass of silver in the sunlight. "It is beautiful," said Mollie. "We must get the Unwiseman out to see it." "I'll call him," said Whistlebinkie eagerly; and the little rubber-doll bounded off to the carpet-bag as fast as his legs would carry him. "Hi there, Mister Me," he called breathlessly through the key-hole. "Come out. There's a nalp out in front of the hotel." "Tra-la-lulio-tra-la-lali-ee," yodeled the cracked little voice from within. "Tra-la-la-la-lalio." "Hullo there," cried Whistlebinkie again. "Stop that tra-la-lody-ing and hurry out, there's a-nalp in front of the hotel." "A nalp?" said the Unwiseman popping his head up from the middle of the bag for all the world like a Jack-in-the-box. "What's a nalp?" "A-alp," explained Whistlebinkie, as clearly as he could--he was so out of breath he could hardly squeak, much less speak. "Really?" cried the Unwiseman, all excitement. "Dear me--glad you called me. Is he loose?" "Well," hesitated Whistlebinkie, hardly knowing how to answer, "it-ain't-exactly-tied up, I guess." "Ain't any danger of its coming into the house and biting people, is there?" asked the Unwiseman, rummaging through the carpet-bag for his air-gun, which he had purchased in Paris while the others were visiting Versailles. "No," laughed Whistlebinkie. "Tstoo-big." "Mercy--it must be a fearful big one," said the Unwiseman. "I hope it's muzzled." Armed with his air-gun, and carrying a long rope with a noose in one end over his arm, the Unwiseman started out. "Watcher-gone-'tdo-with-the-lassoo?" panted Whistlebinkie, struggling manfully to keep up with his companion. "That's to tie him up with in case I catch him alive," said the Unwiseman, as they emerged from the door of the hotel and stood upon the little hotel piazza from which all the new arrivals were gazing at the wonderful peak before them, rising over sixteen thousand feet into the heavens, and capped forever with a crown of snow and ice. [Illustration: "OUT THE WAY THERE!" CRIED THE UNWISEMAN] "Out the way there!" cried the Unwiseman, rushing valiantly through the group. "Out the way, and don't talk or even yodel. I must have a steady aim, and conversation disturbs my nerves." The hotel guests all stepped hastily to one side and made room for the hero, who on reaching the edge of the piazza stopped short and gazed about him with a puzzled look on his face. "Well," he cried impatiently, "where is he?" "Where is what?" asked Mollie, stepping up to the Unwiseman's side and putting her hand affectionately on his shoulder. "That Alp?" said the Unwiseman. "Whistlebinkie said there was an alp running around the yard and I've come down either to catch him alive or shoot him. He hasn't hid under this piazza, has he?" "No, Mr. Me," she said. "They couldn't get an Alp under this piazza. That's it over there," she added, pointing out Mont Blanc. "What's it? I don't see anything but a big snow drift," said the Unwiseman. "Queer sort of people here--must be awful lazy not to have their snow shoveled off as late as July." "That's the Alp," explained Mollie. "Tra-la-lolly-O!" yodeled the Unwiseman. "Which is yodelese for nonsense. That an Alp? Why I thought an Alp was a sort of animal with a shaggy fur coat like a bear or a chauffeur, and about the size of a rhinoceros." "No," said Mollie. "An Alp is a mountain. All that big range of mountains with snow and ice on top of them are the Alps. Didn't you know that?" The Unwiseman didn't answer, but with a yodel of disgust turned on his heel and went back to his carpet-bag. "You aren't mad at me, are you, Mr. Me?" asked Mollie, following meekly after. "No indeed," said the Unwiseman, sadly. "Of course not. It isn't your fault if an Alp is a toboggan slide or a skating rink instead of a wild animal. It's all my own fault. I was very careless to come over here and waste my time to see a lot of snow that ain't any colder or wetter than the stuff we have delivered at our front doors at home in winter. I should ought to have found out what it was before I came." "It's very beautiful though as it is," suggested Mollie. "I suppose so," said the Unwiseman. "But I don't have to travel four thousand miles to see beautiful things while I have my kitchen-stove right there in my own kitchen. Besides I've spent a dollar and twenty cents on an air-gun, and sixty cents for a lassoo to hunt Alps with, when I might better have bought a snow shovel. _That's_ really what I'm mad at. If I'd bought a snow shovel and a pair of ear-tabs I could have made some money here offering to shovel the snow off that hill there so's somebody could get some pleasure out of it. It would be a lovely place to go and sit on a warm summer evening if it wasn't for that snow and very likely they'd have paid me two or three dollars for fixing it up for them." "I guess it would take you several hours to do it," said Whistlebinkie. "What if it took a week?" retorted the Unwiseman. "As long as they were willing to pay for it. But what's the use of talking about it? I haven't got a shovel, and I can't shovel the snow off an Alp with an air-gun, so that's the end of it." And for the time being that _was_ the end of it. The Unwiseman very properly confined himself to the quiet of the carpet-bag until his wrath had entirely disappeared, and after luncheon he turned up cheerily in the office of the hotel. "Let's hire a couple of sleds and go coasting," he suggested to Mollie. "That Mount Blank looks like a pretty good hill. Whistlebinkie and I can pull you up to the top and it will be a fine slide coming back." But inquiry at the office brought out the extraordinary fact that there were no sleds in the place and never had been. "My goodness!" ejaculated the Unwiseman. "I never knew such people. I don't wonder these Switzers ain't a great nation like us Americans. I don't believe any American hotel-keeper would have as much snow as that in his back-yard all summer long and not have a regular sled company to accommodate guests who wanted to go coasting on it. If they had an Alp like that over at Atlantic City they'd build a fence around it, and charge ten cents to get inside, where you could hire a colored gentleman to haul you up to the top of the hill and guide you down again on the return slide." "I guess they would," said Whistlebinkie. "Then they'd turn part of it into an ice quarry," the Unwiseman went on, "and sell great huge chunks of ice to people all the year round and put the regular ice men out of business. I've half a mind to write home to my burgular and tell him here's a chance to earn an honest living as an iceman. He could get up a company to come here and buy up that hill and just regularly go in for ice-mining. There never was such a chance. If people can make money out of coal mines and gold mines and copper mines, I don't see why they can't do the same thing with ice mines. Why don't you speak to your Papa about it, Mollie? He'd make his everlasting fortune." "I will," said Mollie, very much interested in the idea. "And all that snow up there going to waste too," continued the Unwiseman growing enthusiastic over the prospect. "Just think of the millions of people who can't get cool in summer over home. Your father could sell snow to people in midsummer for six-fifty a ton, and they could shovel it into their furnaces and cool off their homes ten or twenty degrees all summer long. My goodness--talk about your billionaires--here's a chance for squillions." The Unwiseman paced the floor excitedly. The vision of wealth that loomed up before his mind's eye was so vast that he could hardly contain himself in the face of it. "Wouldn't it all melt before he could get it over to America?" asked Mollie. "Why should it?" demanded the Unwiseman. "If it don't melt here in summer time why should it melt anywhere else? I don't believe snow was ever disagreeable just for the pleasure of being so." "Wouldn't it cost a lot to take it over?" asked Whistlebinkie. "Not if the Company owned its own ships," said the Unwiseman. "If the Company owned its own ships it could carry it over for nothing." The Unwiseman was so carried away with the possibilities of his plan that for several days he could talk of nothing else, and several times Mollie and Whistlebinkie found him working in the writing room of the hotel on what he called his Perspectus. "I'm going to work out that idea of mine, Mollie," he explained, "so that you can show it to your father and maybe he'll take it up, and if he does--well, I'll have a man to exercise my umbrella, a pair of wings built on my house where I can put a music room and a library, and have my kitchen-stove nickel plated as it deserves to be for having served me so faithfully for so many years." An hour or two later, his face beaming with pleasure, the Unwiseman brought Mollie his completed "Perspectus" with the request that she show it to her father. It read as follows: THE SWITZER SNOW AND ICE CO. THE UNWISEMAN, _President_. MR. MOLLIE J. WHISTLEBINKIE, _Vice-President_. A. BURGULAR, _Seketary and Treasurer_. I. To purchase all right, title, and interest in one first class Alp known as Mount Blank, a snow-clad peak located at Switzerville, Europe. For further perticulars, see Map if you have one handy that is any good and has been prepared by somebody what has studied jography before. II. To orginize the Mount Blank Toboggan Slide and Sled Company and build a fence around it for the benefit of the young at ten cents ahead, using the surplus snow and ice on Mount Blank for this purpose. Midsummer coasting a speciality. III. To mine ice and to sell the same by the pound, ton, yard, or shipload, to Americans at one cent less a pound, ton, yard, or shipload, than they are now paying to unscrupulous ice-men at home, thereby putting them out of business and bringing ice in midsummer within the reach of persons of modest means to keep their provisions on, who without it suffer greatly from the heat and are sometimes sun-struck. IV. To gather and sell snow to the American people in summer time for the purpose of cooling off their houses by throwing the same into the furnace like coal in winter, thereby taking down the thermometer two or three inches and making fans unnecessary, and killing mosquitoes, flies and other animals that ain't of any use and can only live in warm weather. V. Also to sell a finer quality of snow for use at children's parties in the United States of America in July and August where snow-ball fights are not now possible owing to the extreme tenderness of the snow at present provided by the American climate which causes it to melt along about the end of March and disappear entirely before the beginning of May. VI. Also to sell snow at redoosed rates to people at Christmas Time when they don't always have it as they should ought to have if Christmas is to look anything like the real thing and give boys and girls a chance to try their new sleds and see if they are as good as they are cracked up to be instead of having to be put away as they sometimes are until February and even then it don't always last. This Company has already been formed by Mr. Thomas S. Me, better known as the Unwiseman, who is hereby elected President thereof, with a capital of ten million dollars of which three dollars has already been paid in to Mr. Me as temporary treasurer by himself in real money which may be seen upon application as a guarantee of good faith. The remaining nine million nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-seven dollars worth is offered to the public at one dollar a share payable in any kind of money that will circulate freely, one half of which will be used as profits for the next five years while the Company is getting used to its new business, and the rest will be spent under the direction of the President as he sees fit, it being understood that none of it shall be used to buy eclairs or other personal property with. "There," said the Unwiseman, as he finished the prospectus. "Just you hand that over to your father, Mollie, and see what he says. If he don't start the ball a-rolling and buy that old Mountain before we leave this place I shall be very much surprised." But the Unwiseman's grand scheme never went through for Mollie's father upon inquiry found that nobody about Chamounix cared to sell his interest in the mountain, or even to suggest a price for it. "They're afraid to sell it I imagine," said Mollie's father, "for fear the new purchasers would dig it up altogether and take it over to the United States. You see if that were to happen it would leave an awfully big hole in the place where Mount Blank used to be and there'd be a lot of trouble getting it filled in." For all of which I am sincerely sorry because there are times in midsummer in America when I would give a great deal if some such enterprise as a "Switzer Snow & Ice Co." would dump a few tons of snow into my cellar for use in the furnace. XI. THE UNWISEMAN PLANS A CHAMOIS COMPANY The Unwiseman's disappointment over the failure of his Switzer Snow & Ice Company was very keen at first and the strange old gentleman was inclined to be as thoroughly disgusted with Switzerland as he had been with London and Paris. He was especially put out when, after travelling seven or eight miles to see a "glazier," as he called it, he discovered that a glacier was not a frozen "window-pane mender" but a stream of ice flowing perennially down from the Alpine summits into the valleys. "They bank too much on their snow-drifts over here," he remarked, after he had visited the _Mer-de-Glace_. "I wouldn't give seven cents to _see_ a thing like that when I've been brought up close to New York where we have blizzards every once in a while that tie up the whole city till it looks like one glorious big snow-ball fight." And then when he wanted to go fishing in one of the big fissures of the glacier, and was told he could drop a million lines down there without getting a bite of any kind he announced his intention of getting out of the country as soon as he possibly could. But after all the Unwiseman had a naturally sun-shiny disposition and this added to the wonderful air of Switzerland, which in itself is one of the most beautiful things in a beautiful world, soon brought him out of his sulky fit and set him to yodeling once more as gaily as a Swiss Mountain boy. He began to see some of the beauties of the country and his active little mind was not slow at discovering advantages not always clear to people with less inquisitiveness. "I should think," he observed to Mollie one morning as he gazed up at Mount Blanc's pure white summit, "that this would be a great ice-cream country. I'd like to try the experiment of pasturing a lot of fine Jersey cows up on those ice-fields. Just let 'em browze around one of those glaciers every day for a week and give 'em a cupful of vanilla, or chocolate extract or a strawberry once in a while and see if they wouldn't give ice-cream instead o' milk. It would be worth trying, anyhow." Mollie thought it would and Whistlebinkie gave voice to a long low whistle of delight at the idea. "It-ud-be-bettern-soder-watter-rany-way!" he whistled. "Anything would be better than soda water," said the Unwiseman, who had only tried it once and got nothing but the bubbles. "Soda water's too foamy for me. It's like drinking whipped air." But the thing that pleased the Unwiseman more than anything else was a pet chamois that he encountered at a little Swiss Chalet on one of his tours of investigation. It was a cunning little animal, very timid of course, like a fawn, but tame, and for some reason or other it took quite a fancy to the Unwiseman--possibly because he looked so like a Swiss Mountain Boy with a peaked cap he had purchased, and ribbons wound criss-cross around his calves and his magnificent Alpen-stock upon which had been burned the names of all the Alps he had _not_ climbed. And then the Unwiseman's yodel had become something unusually fine and original in the line of yodeling, which may have attracted the chamois and made him feel that the Unwiseman was a person to be trusted. At any rate the little animal instead of running away and jumping from crag to crag at the Unwiseman's approach, as most chamois would do, came inquiringly up to him and stuck out its soft velvety nose to be scratched, and permitted the Unwiseman to inspect its horns and silky chestnut-brown coat as if it recognized in the little old man a true and tried friend of long standing. "Why you little beauty you!" cried the Unwiseman, as he sat on the fence and stroked the beautiful creature's neck. "So you're what they call a shammy, eh?" The chamois turned its lovely eyes upon his new found friend, and then lowered his head to have it scratched again. "Mary had a little sham Whose hide was soft as cotton, And everywhere that Mary went The shammy too went trottin'." sang the Unwiseman, dropping into poetry as was one of his habits when he was deeply moved. [Illustration: THE CHAMOIS EVIDENTLY LIKED THIS VERSE FOR ITS EYES TWINKLED] The chamois evidently liked this verse for its eyes twinkled and it laid its head gently on the Unwiseman's knee and looked at him appealingly as if to say, "More of that poetry please. You are a bard after my own heart." So the Unwiseman went on, keeping time to his verse by slight taps on the chamois' nose. "It followed her to town one day Unto the Country Fair, And earned five hundred dollars just In shining silver-ware." Whistlebinkie indulged in a loud whistle of mirth at this, which so startled the little creature that it leapt backward fifteen feet in the air and landed on top of a small pump at the rear of the yard, and stood there poised on its four feet just like the chamois we see in pictures standing on a sharp peak miles up in the air, trembling just a little for fear that Whistlebinkie's squeak would be repeated. A moment of silence seemed to cure this, however, for in less than two minutes it was back again at the Unwiseman's side gazing soulfully at him as if demanding yet another verse. Of course the Unwiseman could not resist--he never could when people demanded poetry from him, it came so very easy--and so he continued: "The children at the Country Fair Indulged in merry squawks To see the shammy polishing The family knives and forks. "The tablespoons, and coffee pots, The platters and tureens, The top of the mahogany, And crystal fire-screens." "More!" pleaded the chamois with his soft eyes, snuggling its head close into the Unwiseman's lap, and the old gentleman went on: "'O isn't he a wondrous kid!' The wondering children cried. We didn't know a shammy could Do such things if he tried. "And Mary answered with a smile That dimpled up her chin 'There's much that shammy's cannot do, But much that shammy-skin.'" Whistlebinkie's behavior at this point became so utterly and inexcusably boisterous with mirth that the confiding little chamois was again frightened away and this time it gave three rapid leaps into the air which landed it ultimately upon the ridge-pole of the chalet, from which it wholly refused to descend, in spite of all the persuasion in the world, for the rest of the afternoon. "Very intelligent little animal that," said the Unwiseman, as he trudged his way home. "A very high appreciation of true poetry, inclined to make friendship with the worthy, and properly mistrustful of people full of strange noises and squeaks." "He was awfully pretty, wasn't he," said Mollie. "Yes, but he was better than pretty," observed the Unwiseman. "He could be made useful. Things that are only pretty are all very well in their way, but give me the useful things--like my kitchen-stove for instance. If that kitchen-stove was only pretty do you suppose I'd love it the way I do? Not at all. I'd just put it on the mantel-piece, or on the piano in my parlor and never think of it a second time, but because it is useful I pay attention to it every day, polish it with stove polish, feed it with coal and see that the ashes are removed from it when its day's work is done. Nobody ever thinks of doing such things with a plain piece of bric-a-brac that can't be used for anything at all. You don't put any coal or stove polish on that big Chinese vase you have in your parlor, do you?" "No," said Mollie, "of course not." "And I'll warrant that in all the time you've had that opal glass jug on the mantel-piece of your library you never shook the ashes down in it once," said the Unwiseman. "Mity-goo-dreeson-wy!" whistled Whistlebinkie. "They-ain't never no ashes in it." "Correct though ungrammatically expressed," observed the Unwiseman. "There never are any ashes in it to be shaken down, which is a pretty good reason to believe that it is never used to fry potatoes on or to cook a chop with, or to roast a turkey in--which proves exactly what I say that it is only pretty and isn't half as useful as my kitchen-stove." "It would be pretty hard to find anything useful for the bric-a-brac to do though," suggested Mollie, who loved pretty things whether they had any other use or not. "It all depends on your bric-a-brac," said the Unwiseman. "I can find plenty of useful things for mine to do. There's my coal scuttle for instance--it works all the time." "Coal-scuttles ain't bric-a-brac," said Whistlebinkie. "My coal scuttle is," said the Unwiseman. "It's got a picture of a daisy painted on one side of it, and I gilded the handle myself. Then there's my watering pot. That's just as bric-a-bracky as any Chinese china pot that ever lived, but it's useful. I use it to water the flowers in summer, and to sift my lump sugar through in winter. Every pound of lump sugar you buy has some fine sugar with it and if you shake the lump sugar up in a watering pot and let the fine sugar sift through the nozzle you get two kinds of sugar for the price of one. So it goes all through my house from my piano to my old beaver hat--every bit of my bric-a-brac is useful." "Wattonearth do-you-do with a-nold beevor-at?" whistled Whistlebinkie. "I use it as a post-office box to mail cross letters in," said the Unwiseman gravely. "It's saved me lots of trouble." "Cross letters?" asked Mollie. "You never write cross letters to anybody do you?" "I'm doing it all the time," said the Unwiseman. "Whenever anything happens that I don't like I sit down and write a terrible letter to the people that do it. That eases off my feelings, and then I mail the letters in the hat." "And does the Post-man come and get them?" asked Mollie. "No indeed," said the Unwiseman. "That's where the beauty of the scheme comes in. If I mailed 'em in the post-office box on the lamp-post, the post-man would take 'em and deliver them to the man they're addressed to and I'd be in all sorts of trouble. But when I mail them in my hat nobody comes for them and nobody gets them, and so there's no trouble for anybody anywhere." "But what becomes of them?" asked Mollie. "I empty the hat on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of every month and use them for kindling in my kitchen-stove," said the Unwiseman. "It's a fine scheme. I keep out of trouble, don't have to buy so much kindling wood, and save postage." "That sounds like a pretty good idea," said Mollie. "It's a first class idea," returned Mr. Me, "and I'm proud of it. It's all my own and if I had time I'd patent it. Why I was invited to a party once by a small boy who'd thrown a snow-ball at my house and wet one of the shingles up where I keep my leak, and I was so angry that I sat down and wrote back that I regretted very much to be delighted to say that I'd never go to a party at his house if it was the only party in the world besides the Republican; that I didn't like him, and thought his mother's new spring bonnet was most unbecoming and that I'd heard his father had been mentioned for Alderman in our town and all sorts of disgraceful things like that. I mailed this right in my hat and used it to boil an egg with a month later, while if I'd mailed it in the post-office box that boy'd have got it and I couldn't have gone to his party at all." "Oh--you went, did you?" laughed Mollie. "I did and I had a fine time, six eclairs, three plates of ice cream, a pound of chicken salad, and a pocketful of nuts and raisins," said the Unwiseman. "He turned out to be a very nice boy, and his mother's spring bonnet wasn't hers at all but another lady's altogether, and his father had not even been mentioned for Water Commissioner. You see, my dear, what a lot of trouble mailing that letter in the old beaver hat saved me, not to mention what I earned in the way of food by going to the party which I couldn't have done had it been mailed in the regular way." Here the old gentleman began to yodel happily, and to tell passersby in song that he was a "Gay Swiss Laddy with a carpet-bag, That never knew fear of the Alpine crag, For his eye was bright and his conscience clear, As he leapt his way through the atmosphere, Tra-la-la, tra-la-la, Trala-lolly-O." "I do-see-how-yood-make-that-shammy-useful," said Whistlebinkie. "Except to try your poems on and I don't b'lieve he's a good judge o' potery." "He's a splendid judge of queer noises," said the Unwiseman, severely. "He knew enough to jump a mile whenever you squeaked." "Watt-else-coodie-doo?" asked Whistlebinkie through his hat. "You haven't any silver to keep polished and there aren't enough queer noises about your place to keep him busy." "What else coodie-do?" retorted the Unwiseman, giving an imitation of Whistlebinkie that set both Mollie and the rubber doll to giggling. "Why he could polish up the handle of my big front door for one thing. He could lie down on his back and wiggle around the floor and make it shine like a lookin' glass for another. He could rub up against my kitchen stove and keep it bright and shining for a third--that's some of the things he couldie-doo, but I wouldn't confine him to work around my house. I'd lead him around among the neighbors and hire him out for fifty cents a day for general shammy-skin house-work. I dare say Mollie's mother would be glad to have a real live shammy around that she could rub her tea-kettles and coffee pots on when it comes to cleaning the silver." "They can buy all the shammys they need at the grocer's," said Whistlebinkie scornfully. "Dead ones," said the Unwiseman, "but nary a live shammy have you seen at the grocer's or the butcher's or the milliner's or the piano-tuner's. That's where Wigglethorpe----" "Wigglethorpe?" cried Whistlebinkie. "Yes Wigglethorpe," repeated the Unwiseman. "That's what I have decided to call my shammy when I get him because he will wiggle." "He don't thorpe, does he?" laughed Whistlebinkie. "He thorpes just as much as you bink," retorted the Unwiseman. "But as I was saying, Wigglethorpe, being alive, will be better than any ten dead ones because he won't wear out, maids won't leave him around on the parlor floor, and just because he wiggles, the silver and the hardwood floors and front door handles will be polished up in half the time it takes to do it with a dead one. At fifty cents a day I could earn three dollars a week on Wigglethorpe----" "Which would be all profit if you fed him on potery," said Whistlebinkie with a grin. "And if I imported a hundred of them after I found that Wigglethorpe was successful," the Unwiseman continued, very wisely ignoring Whistlebinkie's sarcasm, "that would be--hum--ha----" "Three hundred dollars a week," prompted Mollie. "Exactly," said the Unwiseman, "which in a year would amount to--ahem--three times three hundred and sixty-five is nine, twice nine is----" "It comes to $15,600 a year," said Mollie. "Right to a penny," said the Unwiseman. "I was figuring it out by the day. Fifteen thousand six hundred dollars a year is a big sum of money and reckoned in eclairs at fifty eclairs for a dollar is--er--is--well you couldn't eat 'em if you tried, there'd be so many." "Seven hundred and eighty thousand eclairs," said Mollie. "That's what I said," said the Unwiseman. "You just couldn't eat 'em, but you could sell 'em, so really you'd have two businesses right away, shammys and eclaires." "Mitey-big-biziness," hissed Whistlebinkie. "Yes," said the Unwiseman, "I think I'll suggest it to my burgular when I get home. It seems to me to be more honorable then burguling and it's just possible that after a summer spent in the uplifting company of my kitchen stove and having got used to the pleasant conversation of my leak, and seen how peaceful it is to just spend your days exercising a sweet gentle umbrella like mine, he'll want to reform and go into something else that he can do in the day-time." By this time the little party had reached the hotel, and Mollie's father was delighted to hear of the Unwiseman's proposition. It was an entirely new idea, he said, although he was doubtful if it was a good business for a burgular. "People might not be willing to trust him with their silver," he said. "Very well then," said the Unwiseman. "Let him begin on front door knobs and parlor floors. He's not likely to run away with those." The next day the travellers left Switzerland and when I next caught sight of them they had arrived at Venice. XII. VENICE It was late at night when Mollie and her friends arrived at Venice and the Unwiseman, sleeping peacefully as he was in the cavernous depths of his carpet-bag, did not get his first glimpse of the lovely city of the waters until he waked up the next morning. Unfortunately--or possibly it was a fortunate circumstance--the old gentleman had heard of Venice only in a very vague way before, and had no more idea of its peculiarities than he had of those of Waycross Junction, Georgia, or any other place he had never seen. Consequently his first sight of Venice filled him with a tremendous deal of excitement. Emerging from his carpet-bag in the cloak-room of the hotel he walked out upon the front steps of the building which descended into the Grand Canal, the broad waterway that runs its serpentine length through this historic city of the Adriatic. "'Gee Whittaker!'" he cried, as the great avenue of water met his gaze. "There's been a flood! Hi there--inside--the water main has busted, and the whole town's afloat. Wake up everybody and save yourselves!" He turned and rushed madly up the hotel stairs to the floor upon which his friends' rooms were located, calling lustily all the way: "Get up everybody--the reservoy's busted; the dam's loose. To the boats! Mollie--Whistlebinkie--Mister and Mrs. Mollie--get up or you'll be washed away--the whole place is flooded. You haven't a minute to spare." "What's the matter, Mr. Me?" asked Mollie, opening her door as she recognized the Unwiseman's voice out in the hallway. "What are you scaring everybody to death for?" "Get out your life preservers--quick before it is too late," gasped the Unwiseman. "There's a tidal wave galloping up and down the street, and we'll be drowned. To the roof! All hands to starboard and man the boats." "What _are_ you talking about?" said Mollie. "Look out your front window if you don't believe me," panted the Unwiseman. "The whole place is chuck full of water--couldn't bail it out in a week----" "Oh," laughed Mollie, as she realized what it was that had so excited her friend. "Is that all?" "All!" ejaculated the Unwiseman, his eyebrows lifting higher with astonishment. "Isn't it enough? What do you want, the whole Atlantic Ocean sitting on your front stoop?" "Why--" began Mollie, "this is Venice----" "Looks like Watertown," interrupted the Unwiseman. "Thass-swattit-izz," whistled Whistlebinkie. "Venice is a water town. It's built on it." "Built on it?" queried the Unwiseman looking scornfully at Whistlebinkie as much as to say you can't fool me quite so easily as that. "Built on water?" he repeated. "Exactly," said Mollie. "Didn't you know that, Mr. Me? Venice is built right out on the sea." "Well of all queer things!" ejaculated the Unwiseman, so surprised that he plumped down on the floor and sat there gazing wonderingly up at Mollie. "A whole city built on the sea! What's the matter, wasn't there land enough?" "Oh yes, I guess there was plenty of land," said Mollie, "but maybe somebody else owned it. Anyhow the Venetians came out here where there were a lot of little islands to begin with and drove piles into the water and built their city on them." "Well that beats me," said the Unwiseman, shaking his head in bewilderment. "I've heard of fellows building up big copperations on water, but never a city. How do they keep the water out of their cellars?" "They don't," said Mollie. "Maybe they build their cellars on the roof," suggested Whistlebinkie. "Well," said the Unwiseman, rising from the floor and walking to the front window and gazing out at the Grand Canal, "I hope this hotel is anchored good and fast. I don't mind going to sea on a big boat that's built for it, but I draw the line at sailin' all around creation in a hotel." The droll little old gentleman poised himself on one toe and stretched out his arms. "There don't seem to be much motion, does there," he remarked. "There isn't any at all," said Mollie. "It's perfectly still." "I guess it's because it's a clam day," observed the Unwiseman uneasily. "I hope it'll stay clam while we're here. I'd hate to be caught out in movey weather like they had on that sassy little British Channel. This hotel would flop about fearfully and _I_ believe it would sink if somebody carelessly left a window open, to say nothing of its falling over backward and letting the water in the back door." "Papa says it's perfectly safe," said Mollie. "The place has been here more'n a thousand years and it hasn't sunk yet." "All right," said the Unwiseman. "If your father says that I'm satisfied because he most generally knows what he's talking about, but all the same I think we should ought to have brought a couple o' row boats and a lot of life preservers along. I don't believe in taking any chances. What do the cab-horses do here, swim?" "No," said Mollie. "There aren't any horses in Venice. They have gondolas." "Gondolas?" repeated the Unwiseman. "What are gondolas, trained ducks? Don't think much o' ducks as a substitute for horses." "Perfly-bsoyd!" whistled Whistlebinkie. "I should think they'd drive whales," said the Unwiseman, "or porpoises. By Jiminy, that would be fun, wouldn't it? Let's see if we can't hire a four whale coach, Mollie, and go driving about the city, or better yet, if they've got them well broken, get a school of porpoises. We might put on our bathing suits and go horseback riding on 'em. I don't take much to the trained duck idea, ducks are so flighty and if they shied at anything they might go flying up in the air and dump us backwards out of our cab into the water." "We're going to take a gondola ride this morning," said Mollie. "Just you wait and see, Mr. Me." [Illustration: THEY ALL BOARDED A GONDOLA] So the Unwiseman waited and an hour later he and Mollie and Whistlebinkie boarded a gondola in charge of a very handsome and smiling gondolier who said his name was Giuseppe Zocco. "Soako is a good name for a cab-driver in this town," said the Unwiseman, after he had inspected the gondola and ascertained that it was seaworthy. "I guess I'll talk to him." "You-do-know-Eye-talian," laughed Whistlebinkie. "It's one of the languages I _do_ know," returned the Unwiseman. "I buy all my bananas and my peanuts from an Eye-talian at home and for two or three years I have been able to talk to him very easily." He turned to the gondolier. "Gooda da morn, Soako," he observed very politely. "You havea da prett-da-boat." "Si, Signor," returned the smiling gondolier, who was not wholly unfamiliar with English. "See what?" asked the Unwiseman puzzled, but looking about carefully to see what there was to be seen. "He says we're at sea," laughed Whistlebinkie. "Oh--well--that's it, eh?" said the Unwiseman. "I thought he only spoke Eye-talian." And then he addressed the gondolier again. "Da weather's mighta da fine, huh? Not a da rain or da heava da wind, eh? Hopa da babe is vera da well da morn." "Si, Signor," said Giuseppe. "Da Venn greata da place. Too mucha da watt for me. Lika da dry land moocha da bett, Giuseppe. Ever sella da banann?" continued the Unwiseman. "Non, Signor," replied Giuseppe. "No sella da banann." "Bully da bizz," said the Unwiseman. "Maka da munn hand over da fist. You grinda da org?" "Huh?" grinned Giuseppe. "He doesn't understand," said Mollie giggling. "I asked him if he ever ground a hand-organ," said the Unwiseman. "Perfectly simple question. I aska da questch, Giuseppe, if you ever grinda da org. You know what I mean. Da musica-box, wid da monk for climba da house for catcha da nick." "What's 'catcha da nick'?" whispered Whistlebinkie. "To catch the nickels, stoopid," said the Unwiseman; "don't interrupt. No hava da monk, Giuseppe?" he asked. "Non, Signor," said the gondolier. "No hava da monk." "Too bad," observed the Unwiseman. "Hand-org not moocha da good without da monk. Da monk maka da laugh and catcha da mun by da cupful. If you ever come to America, Giuseppe, no forgetta da monk with a redda da cap." With which admonition the Unwiseman turned his attention to other things. "Is that really Eye-talian?" asked Whistlebinkie. "Of course it is," said the Unwiseman. "It's the easiest language in the world to pick up and only requires a little practice to make you speak it as if it were your own tongue. I was never conscious that I was learning it in my morning talks with old Gorgorini, the banana man at home. This would be a great place for automobiles, wouldn't it, Mollie?" he laughed in conclusion. "I don't guesso," said Whistlebinkie. The gondolier now guided the graceful craft to a flight of marble steps up which Mollie and her friends mounted to the Piazza San Marco. "This is great," said the Unwiseman as he gazed about him and took in its splendors. "It's a wonder to me that they don't have a lot of places like this on the way over from New York to Liverpool. Crossing the ocean would be some fun if you could step off every hour or two and stretch your legs on something solid, and buy a few tons of tumblers, and feed pigeons. Fact is I think that's the best cure in the world for sea-sickness. If you could run up to a little piazza like this three times a day where there's a nice restaurant waiting for you and no motion to spoil your appetite I wouldn't mind being a sailor for the rest of my life." The travellers passed through the glorious church of San Marco, inspected the Doge's Palace and then returned to the gondola, upon which they sailed back to their hotel. "Moocha da thanks, Giuseppe," said the Unwiseman, as he alighted. "Here's a Yankee da quart for you. Save it up and when you come to America as all the Eye-talians seem to be doing these days, it will help start you in business." And handing the gondolier a quarter the Unwiseman disappeared into the hotel. The next day he entered Mollie's room and asked permission to sit out on her balcony. "I think I'll try a little fishing this afternoon," he said. "It isn't a bad idea having a hotel right on the water front this way after all. You can sit out on your balcony and drop your line out into the water and just haul them in by the dozen." But alas for the old gentleman's expectations, he caught never a fish. Whether it was the fault of the bait or not I don't know, but the only things he succeeded in catching were an old barrel-hoop that went floating along the canal from the Fruit Market up the way, and, sad to relate, the straw hat of an American artist on his way home in his gondola from a day's painting out near the Lido. The latter incident caused a great deal of trouble and it took all the persuasion that Mollie's father was capable of to keep the artist from having the Unwiseman arrested. It seems that the artist was very much put out anyhow because, mix his colors as he would, he could not get that peculiarly beautiful blue of the Venetian skies, and the lovely iridescent hues of the Venetian air were too delicate for such a brush as his, and to have his straw hat unceremoniously snatched off his head by an old gentleman two flights up with an ordinary fish hook baited with macaroni in addition to his other troubles was too much for his temper, not a good one at best. "I am perfectly willing to say that I am sorry," protested the Unwiseman when he was hauled before the angry artist. "I naturally would be sorry. When a man goes fishing for shad and lands nothing but a last year's straw hat, why wouldn't he be sorry?" "That's a mighty poor apology!" retorted the artist, putting the straw hat on his head. "Well I'm a poor man," said the Unwiseman. "My expenses have been very heavy of late. What with buying an air-gun to shoot Alps with, and giving a quarter to the Ganderman to help him buy a monkey, I'm reduced from nine-fifty to a trifle under seven dollars." "You had no business fishing from that balcony!" said the artist angrily. "I haven't any business anywhere, I've retired," said the Unwiseman. "And I can tell you one thing certain," he added, "if I was going back into business I wouldn't take up fishing for straw hats and barrel-hoops in Venice. There's nothing but to trouble in it." "I shall lodge a complaint against you in the Lion's Mouth," said the artist, with a slight twinkle in his eye, his good humor returning in the presence of the Unwiseman. "And I shall fall back on my rights as an American citizen to fish whenever I please from my own balcony with my own bait without interruption from foreign straw hats," said the Unwiseman with dignity. "What?" cried the artist. "You an American?" "Certainly," said the Unwiseman. "You didn't take me for an Eye-talian, did you?" "So am I," returned the artist holding out his hand. "If you'd only told me that in the beginning I never should have complained." "Don't mention it," said the Unwiseman graciously. "I was afraid you were an Englishman, and then there'd been a war sure, because I'll never give in to an Englishman. If your hat is seriously damaged I'll give you my tarpaulin, seeing that you are an American like myself." "Not at all," said the artist. "The hat isn't hurt at all and I'm very glad to have met you. If your hook had only caught my eye on my way up the canal I should have turned aside so as not to interfere." "Well I'm mighty glad it didn't catch your eye," said the Unwiseman. "I could afford to buy you a new straw hat, but I'm afraid a new eye would have busted me." And there the trouble ended. The artist and the Unwiseman shook hands and parted friends. "What was that he said about the Lion's Mouth?" asked the Unwiseman after the artist had gone. "He said he'd lodge a complaint there," said Mollie. "That's the way they used to do here. Those big statues of lions out in front of the Doggies' Palace with their mouths wide open are big boxes where people can mail their complaints to the Government." "Oh, I see," said the Unwiseman. "And when the Doggies get the complaints they attend to 'em, eh?" "Yes," said Mollie. "And who are the Doggies?" asked the Unwiseman. "They don't have dogs instead of pleece over here, do they? I get so mixed up with these Johns, and Bobbies, and Doggies I hardly know where I'm at." "I don't exactly understand why," said Mollie, "but the people in Venice are ruled by Doggies." "They're a queer lot from Buckingham Palace, London, down to this old tow-path," said the Unwiseman, "and if I ever get home alive there's no more abroad for your Uncle Me." On the following day, Mollie's parents having seen all of Venice that their limited time permitted, prepared to start for Genoa, whence the steamer back to New York was to sail. Everything was ready, but the Unwiseman was nowhere to be found. The hotel was searched from top to bottom and not a sign of him. Giuseppe Zocco denied all knowledge of him, and the carpet-bag gave no evidence that he had been in it the night before as was his custom. Train-time was approaching and Mollie was distracted. Even Whistlebinkie whistled under his breath for fear that something had happened to the old gentleman. "I hope he hasn't fallen overboard!" moaned Mollie, gazing anxiously into the watery depths of the canal. "Here he comes!" cried Whistlebinkie, jubilantly, and sure enough down the canal seated on a small raft and paddling his way cautiously along with his hands came the Unwiseman, singing the popular Italian ballad "Margherita" at the top of his lungs. "Gander ahoy!" he cried, as he neared the hotel steps. "Sheer off there, Captain, and let me into Port." The gondolier made room for him and the Unwiseman alighted. "Where _have_ you been?" asked Mollie, throwing her arms about his neck. "Up the canal a little way," he answered unconcernedly. "I wanted to mail a letter to the Doggie in the Lion's Mouth." "What about?" asked Mollie. "Watertown, otherwise Venice," said the Unwiseman. "I had some suggestions for its improvement and I didn't want to go way without making them. There's a copy of my letter if you want to see it," he added, handing Mollie a piece of paper upon which he had written as follows: 29 Grand Canal St., Venice, It. ANCIENT & HONORABLE BOW-WOWS: I have enjoyed my visit to your beautiful but wet old town very much and would respectfully advise you that there are several things you can do to keep it unspiled. These are as follows to wit viz: I. Bale it out once in a while and see that the barrel hoops in your Grand Canal are sifted out of it. They're a mighty poor stubstishoot for shad. II. Get a few trained whales in commission so that when a feller wants to go driving he won't have to go paddling. III. Stock your streets with trout, or flounders, or perch or even sardines in order that us Americans who feel like fishing won't have to be satisfied with a poor quality of straw hat. IV. During the fishing season compel artists returning from their work to wear beaver hats or something else that a fish-hook baited with macaroni won't catch into thus making a lot of trouble. V. Get together on your language. I speak the very best variety of banana-stand Italian and twenty-three out of twenty-four people to which I have made remarks in it have not been able to grasp my meaning. VI. Pigeons are very nice to have but they grow monotonous. Would suggest a half dozen first class American hens as an ornament to your piazza. VII. Stop calling yourself Doggies. It makes people laugh. With kind regards to the various Mrs. Ds, believe me to be with mucho da respecto, Yoursa da trool, Da Unadawisamann. P.S. If you ever go sailing abroad in your old town point her nose towards my country. We'll all be glad to see you over there and can supply you with all the water you need. Y da T, MISTER ME. It was with these recommendations to the Doges that the Unwiseman left Venice. Whether they were ever received or not I have never heard, but if they were I am quite sure they made the "Doggies" yelp with delight. XIII. GENOA, GIBRALTAR, AND COLUMBUS "Whatta da namea dissa cit?" asked the Unwiseman in his best Italian as the party arrived at Genoa, whence they were to set sail for home the next day. "This is Genoa," said Mollie. "What's it good for?" demanded the old gentleman, gazing around him in a highly critical fashion. "It's where Christopher Columbus was born," said Mollie. "Didn't you know that?" "You don't mean the gentleman who discovered the United States, do you?" asked the Unwiseman, his face brightening with interest. "The very same," said Mollie. "He was born right here in this town." "Humph!" ejaculated the Unwiseman. "Queer place for a fellow like that to be born in. You'd think a man who was going to discover America would have been born a little nearer the United States than this. Up in Canada for instance, or down around Cuba, so's he wouldn't have so far to travel." "Canada and Cuba weren't discovered either at that time," explained Mollie, smiling broadly at the Unwiseman's ignorance. "Really?" said the Unwiseman. "Well that accounts for it. I always wondered why the United States wasn't discovered by somebody nearer home, like a Canadian or a Cuban, or some fellow down around where the Panama hats come from, but of course if there wasn't any Canadians or Cubans or Panama hatters around to do it, it's as clear as pie." The old gentleman paused a moment, and then he went on: "So this is the place that would have been our native land if Columbus hadn't gone to sea, is it? I think I'll take home a bottle of it to keep on the mantel-piece alongside of my bottle of United States and label 'em' My Native Land, Before and After.'" "That's a very good idea," said Mollie. "Then you'll have a complete set." "I wonder," said the Unwiseman, rubbing his forehead reflectively, "I wonder if he's alive yet." "What, Christopher Columbus?" laughed Mollie. "Yes," said the Unwiseman. "I haven't seen much in the papers about him lately, but that don't prove he's dead." "Why he discovered America in 1492," said Mollie. "Well--let's see--how long ago was that? More'n forty years, wasn't it?" said the Unwiseman. "I guess it was more than forty years ago," giggled Mollie. "Well--say fifty then," said the Unwiseman. "I'm pretty nearly that old myself. I was born in 1839, or 1843, or some such year, and as I remember it we'd been discovered then--but that wouldn't make him so awfully old you know. A man can be eighty and still live. Look at old Methoosalum--he was nine hundred." "Oh well," said Mollie, "there isn't any use of talking about it. Columbus has been dead a long time----" "All I can say is that I'm very sorry," interrupted the Unwiseman, with a sad little shake of his head. "I should very much like to have gone over and called on him just to thank him for dishcovering the United States. Just think, Mollie, of what would have happened if he hadn't! You and I and old Fizzledinkie here would have had to be Eye-talians, or Switzers, and live over here all the time if it hadn't been for him, and our own beautiful native land would have been left way across the sea all alone by itself and we'd never have known anything about it." "We certainly ought to be very much obliged to Mr. Columbus for all he did for us," said Mollie. "I-guess-somebuddyelse-wudda-donit," whistled Whistlebinkie. "They cuddn'-ta-helptit-with-all-these-socean steamers-going-over-there every-day." "That's true enough," said the Unwiseman, "but we ought to be thankful to Columbus just the same. Other people _might_ have done it, but the fact remains that he _did_ do it, so I'm much obliged to him. I'd sort of like to do something to show my gratitude." "Better write to his family," grinned Whistlebinkie. "For a rubber doll with a squeak instead of brain in his head that's a first rate idea, Fizzledinkie," said the old gentleman. "I'll do it." And so he did. The evening mail from the Unwiseman's hotel carried with it a souvenir postal card addressed to Christopher Columbus, Jr., upon which the sender had written as follows: GENOA, Aug. 23, 19--. DEAR CHRISTOPHER: As an American citizen I want to thank you for your Papa's very great kindness in dishcovering the United States. When I think that if he hadn't I might have been born a Switzer or a French John Darm it gives me a chill. I would have called on you to say this in person if I'd had time, but we are going to sail tomorrow for home and we're pretty busy packing up our carpet-bags and eating our last meals on shore. If you ever feel like dishcovering us on your own account and cross over the briny deep yourself, don't fail to call on me at my home where I have a fine kitching stove and an umbrella which will always be at your disposal. Yours trooly, THE UNWISEMAN, U. S. A. Later in the evening to the same address was despatched another postal reading: P.S. If you happen to have an extra photograph of your Papa lying around the house that you don't want with his ortygraph on it I shall be glad to have you send it to me. I will have it framed and hung up in the parlor alongside of General Washington and President Roosevelt who have also been fathers of their country from time to time. Yours trooly, THE UNWISEMAN, U. S. A. "I'm glad I did that," said the Unwiseman when he told Mollie of his two messages to Christopher, Jr. "I don't think people as a rule are careful enough these days to show their thanks to other people who do things for them. It don't do any harm to be polite in matters of that kind and some time it may do a lot of good. Good manners ain't never out of place anywhere anyhow." In which praiseworthy sentiment I am happy to say both Mollie and Whistlebinkie agreed. The following day the travellers embarked on the steamer bound for New York. This time, weary of his experience as a stowaway on the trip over, the Unwiseman contented himself with travelling in his carpet-bag and not until after the ship had passed along the Mediterranean and out through the straits of Gibraltar, did he appear before his companions. His first appearance upon deck was just as the coast of Africa was fading away upon the horizon. He peered at this long and earnestly through a small blue bottle he held in his hand, and then when the last vestige of the scene sank slowly behind the horizon line into the sea, he corked the bottle up tightly, put it into his pocket and turned to Mollie and Whistlebinkie. "Well," he said, "that's done--and I'm glad of it. I've enjoyed this trip very much, but after all I'm glad I'm going home. Be it ever so bumble there's no place like home, as the Bee said, and I'll be glad to be back again where I can sleep comfortably on my kitchen-stove, with my beloved umbrella standing guard alongside of me, and my trusty leak looking down upon me from the ceiling while I rest." "You missed a wonderful sight," said Mollie. "That Rock of Gibraltar was perfectly magnificent." "I didn't miss it," said the Unwiseman. "I peeked at it through the port-hole and I quite agree with you. It is the cutest piece of rock I've seen in a long time. It seemed almost as big to me as the boulder in my back yard must seem to an ant, but I prefer my boulder just the same. Gibrallyper's too big to do anything with and it spoils the view, whereas my boulder can be rolled around the place without any trouble and doesn't spoil anything. I suppose they keep it there to keep Spain from sliding down into the sea, so it's useful in a way, but after all I'm just as glad it's here instead of out on my lawn somewhere." "What have you been doing all these days?" asked Mollie. "O just keeping quiet," said the Unwiseman. "I've been reading up on Christopher Columbus and--er--writing a few poems about him. He was a wonderful man, Columbus was. He proved the earth was round when everybody else thought it was flat--and how do you suppose he did it?" "By sailin' around it," said Whistlebinkie. "That was after he proved it," observed the Unwiseman, with the superior air of one who knows more than somebody else. "He proved it by making an egg stand up on its hind legs." "What?" cried Mollie. "I didn't know eggs had hind legs," said Whistlebinkie. "Ever see a chicken?" asked the Unwiseman. "Yes," said Whistlebinkie. "Well, a chicken's only an advanced egg," said the Unwiseman. "That's true," said Mollie. "And chickens haven't got anything but hind legs, have they?" demanded the old gentleman. "Thass-a-fact," whistled Whistlebinkie. "And Columbus proved it by making the egg stand up?" asked Mollie. "That's what history tells us," said the Unwiseman. "All the Harvard and Yale professors of the day said the earth was flat, but Columbus knew better, so he just took an egg and proved it. That's one of the things I've put in a poem. Want to hear it?" "Indeed I do," said Mollie. "It must be interesting." "It is--it's the longest poem I ever wrote," said the Unwiseman, and seeking out a retired nook on the steamer's deck the droll old fellow seated himself on a coil of rope and read the following poem to Mollie and Whistlebinkie. COLUMBUS AND THE EGG. "Columbus was a gentleman Who sailed the briny sea. He was a bright young Genoan In sunny Italy Who once discovered just the plan To find Amerikee." "Splendid!" cried Mollie, clapping her hands with glee. "Perfly-bully!" chortled Whistlebinkie, with a joyous squeak. "I'm glad you like it," said the Unwiseman, with a smile of pleasure. "But just you wait. The best part of it's to come yet." And the old gentleman resumed his poem: "He sought the wise-men of his time, And when the same were found, He went and whispered to them, 'I'm Convinced the Earth is round, Just like an orange or a lime-- I'll bet you half a pound!' "Each wise-man then just shook his head-- Each one within his hat. 'Go to, Columbus, child,' they said. '_We_ know the Earth is flat. Go home, my son, and go to bed And don't talk stuff like that.' "But Christopher could not be hushed By fellows such as they. His spirit never could be crushed In such an easy way, And with his heart and soul unsquushed He plunged into the fray." "What's a fray?" asked Whistlebinkie. "A fight, row, dispute, argyment," said the Unwiseman. "Don't interrupt. We're coming to the exciting part." And he went on: "'I'll prove the world is round,' said he 'For you next Tuesday night, If you will gather formally And listen to the right.' And all the wise-men did agree Because they loved a fight. "And so the wise-men gathered there To hear Columbus talk, And some were white as to the hair And some could hardly walk, And one looked like a Polar Bear And one looked like an Auk." "How-dju-know-that?" asked Whistlebinkie. "Does the history say all that?" "No," said the Unwiseman. "The history doesn't say anything about their looks, but there's a picture of the whole party in the book, and it was just as I say especially the Polar Bear and the Auk. Anyhow, they were all there and the poem goes on to tell about it. "Now when about the room they sat Columbus he came in; Took off his rubbers and his hat, Likewise his tarpaulin. He cleared his throat and stroked the cat And thuswise did begin." "There wasn't any cat in the picture," explained the Unwiseman, "but I introduced him to get a rhyme for hat and sat. Sometimes you have to do things like that in poetry and according to the rules if you have a license you can do it." "Have you got a license?" asked Whistlebinkie. "Not to write poetry, but I've got a dog-license," said the Unwiseman, "and I guess if a man pays three dollars to keep a dog and doesn't keep the dog he's got a right to use the license for something else. I'll risk it anyhow. So just keep still and listen. "'You see this egg?' Columbus led. 'Now watch me, sirs, I begs. I'll make it stand upon its head Or else upon its legs.' And instantly 'twas as he said As sure as eggs is eggs. "For whether 'twas an Egg from school Or in a circus taught, Or whether it was just a cool Egg of unusual sort, That egg stood up just like a spool According to report." "I bet he smashed in the end of it," said Whistlebinkie. "Maybe it was a scrambled egg, maybe he stuck a pin in an end of it. Maybe he didn't. Anyhow, he made it stand up," said the Unwiseman, "and I wish you'd stop squeakyrupting when I'm reading." "Go ahead," said Whistlebinkie meekly. "It's a perfly spulendid piece o' potery and I can't help showing my yadmiration for it." "Well keep your yadmiration for the yend of it," retorted the Unwiseman. "We'll be in New York before I get it finished at this rate." Whistlebinkie promised not to squeak again and the Unwiseman resumed. "'O wonderful!' the wise-men cried. 'O marvellous,' said they. And then Columbus up and tried The egg the other way, And still it stood up full of pride Or so the histories say. "Again the wise-men cried aloud, 'O wizard, marvellous! Of all the scientific crowd This is the man for us-- O Christopher we're mighty proud Of you, you little cuss!'" "That wasn't very polite," began Whistlebinkie. "Now Squeaky," said the Unwiseman. "'Scuse!" gasped Whistlebinkie. And the Unwiseman went on: "'For men who make an omlette We really do not care; To poach an egg already yet Is easy everywhere; But he who'll teach it etiquette-- He is a genius rare. "'So if _you_ say the Earth is round We think it must be so. Your reasoning's so very sound, Columbus don't you know. Come wizard, take your half-a-pound Before you homeward go.'" Whistlebinkie began to fidget again and his breath came in little short squeaks. "But I don't see," he began. "It didn't prove----" "Wait!" said the Unwiseman. "Don't you try to get in ahead of the finish. Here's the last verse, and it covers your ground. "And thus it was, O children dear, Who gather at my knee, Columbus showed the Earth the sphere It since has proved to be; Though how the Egg trick made it clear, I'm blest if I can see." "Well I'm glad you put that last voyse in," said Whistlebinkie, "because I don't see either." "Oh--I guess they thought a man who could train an egg to stand up was a pretty smart man," said Mollie, "and they didn't want to dispute with him." "I shouldn't be surprised if that was it," said the Unwiseman. "I noticed too in the picture that Columbus was about twice as big as any of the wise-men, and maybe that had something to do with it too. Anyhow, he was pretty smart." "Is that all you wrote?" asked Whistlebinkie. "No," said the Unwiseman. "I did another little one called 'I Wonder.' There are a lot of things the histories don't tell you anything about, so I've put 'em all in a rhyme as a sort of hint to people who are going to write about him in the future. It goes like this: "When Christopher Columbus came ashore, The day he landed in Americor I wonder what he said when first he tried Down in the subway trains to take a ride? "When Christopher Columbus went up town And looked the country over, up and down, I wonder what he thought when first his eye Was caught by the sky-scrapers in the sky? "When Christopher put up at his hotel And first pushed in the button of his bell And upward came the boy who orders takes, I wonder if he ordered buckwheat cakes? "When Christopher went down to Washington To pay his call the President upon I wonder if the President felt queer To know that his discoverer was here? "I wonder when his slow-poke caravels Were tossed about by heavy winds and swells, If he was not put out and mad to spy The ocean steamers prancing swiftly by?" "I don't know about other people," said the Unwiseman, "but little things like that always interest me about as much as anything else, but there's nary a word about it in the papers, and as far as my memory is concerned when he first came I was too young to know much about what was going on. I do remember a big parade in his honor, but I think that was some years after the discovery." "I guess it was," said Mollie, with a laugh. "There wasn't anything but Indians there when he arrived." "Really? How unfortunate--how very unfortunate," said the Unwiseman. "To think that on the few occasions that he came here he should meet only Indians. Mercy! What a queer idea of the citizens of the United States he must have got. Really, Mollie, I don't wonder that instead of settling down in New York, or Boston, or Chicago, he went back home again to live. Nothing but Indians! Well, well, well!" And the Unwiseman wandered moodily back to his carpet-bag. "With so many nice people living in America," he sighed, "it does seem too bad that he should meet only Indians who, while they may be very good Indians indeed, are not noted for the quality of their manners." And so the little party passed over the sea, and I did not meet with them again until I reached the pier at New York and discovered the Unwiseman struggling with the Custom House Inspectors. XIV. AT THE CUSTOM HOUSE "Hi there--where are you going with that carpet-bag?" cried a gruff voice, as the Unwiseman scurried along the pier, eager to get back home as speedily as possible after the arrival of the steamer at New York. "Where do you suppose I'm going?" retorted the Unwiseman, pausing in his quick-step march back to the waiting arms of his kitchen-stove. "Doesn't look as if I was walkin' off to sea again, does it?" "Come back here with that bag," said the man of the gruff voice, a tall man with a shiny black moustache and a blue cap with gold trimmings on his head. "What, me?" demanded the Unwiseman. "Yes, you," said the man roughly. "What business have you skipping out like that with a carpet-bag as big as a house under your arm?" "It's my bag--who's got a better right?" retorted the Unwiseman. "I bought and paid for it with my own money, so why shouldn't I walk off with it?" "Has it been inspected?" demanded the official. "It don't need to be--there ain't any germans in it," said the Unwiseman. "Germans?" laughed the official. "Yes--Mike robes--you know----" continued the Unwiseman. "O, you mean germs," said the official. "Well, I didn't say disinfected. I said inspected. You can't lug a bag like that in through here without having it examined, you know. What you got in it?" [Illustration: THE UNWISEMAN LOOKED THE OFFICIAL COLDLY IN THE EYE] The Unwiseman placed his bag on the floor of the pier and sat on it and looked the other coldly in the eye. "Who are you anyhow?" he asked. "What right have you to ask me such impident questions as, What have I got in this bag?" "Well in private life my name's Maginnis," said the official, "but down here on this dock I'm Uncle Sam, otherwise the United States of America, that's who." The Unwiseman threw his head back and roared with laughter. "I do not mean to be rude, my dear Mr. Maginnis," he said, "but I really must say Tutt, Tush, Pshaw and Pooh. I may even go so far as to say Pooh-pooh--which is twice as scornful as just plain pooh. _You_ Uncle Sam? You must think I'm as green as apples if you think I'll believe that." "It is true nevertheless," said the official sternly, "and unless you hand over that bag at once----" "Well I know better," said the Unwiseman angrily. "Uncle Sam has a red goatee and you've got nothing but a shiny black moustache that looks like a pair of comic eyebrows that have slipped and slid down over your nose. Uncle Sam wears a blue swallow-tail coat with brass buttons on it, and a pair of red and white striped trousers like a peppermint stick, and you've got nothin' but an old pea-jacket and blue flannel pants on, and as for the hat, Uncle Sam wears a yellow beaver with fur on it like a coon-cat, while that thing of yours looks like a last summer's yachtin' cap spruced up with brass. You're a very smart man, Mr. Maginnis, but you can't fool an old traveller like me. I've been to Europe, I have, and I guess I know the difference between a fire-engine and a clothes horse. Uncle Sam indeed!" "I must inspect the contents of that bag," said the official firmly. "If you resist it will be confiscated." "I don't know what confiscated means," returned the Unwiseman valiantly, "but any man who goes through this bag of mine goes through me first. I'm sittin' on the lock, Mr. Maginnis, and I don't intend to move--no, not if you try to blast me away. A man's carpet-bag is his castle and don't you forget it." "What's the matter here?" demanded a policeman, who had overheard the last part of this little quarrel. "Nothing much," said the Unwiseman. "This gentleman here in the messenger boy's clothes says he's the President o' the United States, Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Army and Navy, all rolled into one, thinking that by so doing he can get hold of my carpet-bag. That's all. Anybody can see by lookin' at him that he ain't even the Department of Agriculture. The United States Government! Really it makes me laugh." Here the Unwiseman grinned broadly, and the Policeman and the official joined in. "He's a new kind of a smuggler, officer," said Mr. Maginnis, "or at least he acts like one. I caught him trotting off with that bag under his arm, and he refuses to let me inspect it." "I ain't a smuggler!" retorted the Unwiseman indignantly. "You'll have to let him look through the bag, Mister," said the Policeman. "He's a Custom House Inspector and nobody's allowed to take in baggage of any sort that hasn't been inspected." "Is that the law?" asked the Unwiseman. "Yep," said the Policeman. "What's the idea of it?" demanded the Unwiseman. "Well the United States Government makes people pay a tax on things that are made on the other side," explained the Inspector. "That's the way they make the money to pay the President's salary and the other running expenses of the Government." "Oh--that's it, eh?" said the Unwiseman. "Well you'd ought to have told me that in the beginning. I didn't know the Government needed money to pay the President. I thought all it had to do was to print all it needed. Of course if the President's got to go without his money unless I help pay, I'll be only too glad to do all I can to make up the amount you're short. He earns every penny of it, and it isn't fair to make him wait for it. About how much do you need to even it up? I've only got four dollars left and I'm afraid I'll have to use a little of it myself, but what's left over you're welcome to, only I'd like the President to know I chipped in. How much does he get anyhow?" "Seventy-five thousand dollars," said the Inspector. "And there are 80,000,000 people in the country, ain't there?" asked the Unwiseman. "About that?" said the Inspector. "So that really my share comes to--say four and a quarter thousandths of a cent--that it?" demanded the Unwiseman. "Something like that," laughed the Inspector. "Well then," said the Unwiseman, taking a copper coin from his pocket, "here's a cent. Can you change it?" "We don't do business that way," said the Inspector impatiently. "We examine your baggage and tax that--that's all. If you refuse to let us, we confiscate the bag, and fine you anywhere from $100 to $5000. Now what are you going to do?" "What he says is true," said the Policeman, "and I'd advise you to save trouble by opening up the bag." "O well of course if _you_ say so I'll do it, but I think it's mighty funny just the same," said the Unwiseman, rising from the carpet-bag and handing it over to the Inspector. "In the first place it's not polite for an entire stranger to go snooping through a gentleman's carpet-bag. In the second place if the Secretary of the Treasury hasn't got enough money on hand when pay-day comes around he ought to state the fact in the newspapers so we citizens can hustle around and raise it for him instead of being held up for it like a highwayman, and in the third place it's very extravagant to employ a man like Mr. Maginnis here for three dollars a week or whatever he gets, just to collect four and a quarter thousandths of a cent. I don't wonder there ain't any money in the treasury if that's the way the Government does business." So the inspection of the Unwiseman's carpet bag began. The first thing the Inspector found upon opening that wonderful receptacle was "French in Five Lessons." "What's that?" he asked. "That's a book," replied the Unwiseman. "It teaches you how to talk French in five easy lessons." "What did you pay for it?" asked the Inspector. "I didn't pay anything for it," said the Unwiseman. "I found it." "What do you think it's worth?" queried the Inspector. "Nothing," said the Unwiseman. "That is, all the French I got out of it came to about that. It may have been first class looking French, but when I came to use it on French people they didn't seem to recognize it, and it had a habit of fading away and getting lost altogether, so as far as I'm concerned it ain't worth paying duty on. If you're going to tax me for that you can confisticate it and throw it at the first cat you want to scare off your back-yard fence." "What's this?" asked the Inspector, taking a small tin box out of the bag. "Ginger-snaps, two bananas and an eclair," said the Unwiseman. "I shan't pay any duty on them because I took 'em away with me when I left home." "I don't know whether I can let them in duty-free or not," said the Inspector, with a wink at the Policeman. "Well I'll settle that in a minute," said the Unwiseman, and reaching out for the tin-box in less than two minutes he had eaten its contents. "You can't tax what ain't, can you?" he asked. "Of course not," said the Inspector. "Well then those ginger-snaps ain't, and the bananas ain't and the eclair ain't, so there you are," said the Unwiseman triumphantly. "Go on with your search, Uncle Sammy. You haven't got much towards the President's salary yet, have you!" The Inspector scorned to reply, and after rummaging about in the bag for a few moments, he produced a small box of macaroni. "I guess we'll tax you on this," he said. "What is it?" "Bait," said the Unwiseman. "I call it macaroni," said the Inspector. "You can call it what you please," said the Unwiseman. "I call it bait--and it's no good. I can dig better bait than all the macaroni in the world in my back yard. I fish for fish and not for Eye-talians, so I don't need that kind. If I can't keep it without paying taxes for it, confisticate it and eat it yourself. I only brought it home as a souvenir of Genoa anyhow." "I don't want it," said the Inspector. "Then give it to the policeman," said the Unwiseman. "I tell you right now I wouldn't pay five cents to keep a piece of macaroni nine miles long. Be careful the way you handle that sailor suit of mine. I had it pressed in London and I want to keep the creases in the trousers just right the way the King wears his." "Where did you buy them?" asked the Inspector, holding the duck trousers up in the air. "Right here in this town before I stole on board the _Digestic_," said the Unwiseman. "American made, are they?" asked the Inspector. "Yes," said the Unwiseman. "You can tell that by lookin' at 'em. They're regular canvas-back ducks with the maker's name stamped on the buttons." Closer inspection of the garment proved the truth of the Unwiseman's assertion and the Inspector proceeded. "Didn't you make any purchases abroad?" he asked. "Clothes or jewels or something?" "I didn't buy any clothes at all," said the Unwiseman. "I did ask the price of a Duke's suit and a Knight gown, but I didn't buy either of them. You don't have to pay duty on a request for information, do you?" "You are sure you didn't buy any?" repeated the Inspector. "Quite sure," said the Unwiseman. "A slight misunderstanding with the King combined with a difference of opinion with his tailor made it unnecessary for me to lay in a stock of royal raiment. And the same thing prevented my buying any jewels. If I'd decided to go into the Duke business I probably should have bought a few diamond rings and a half a dozen tararas to wear when I took breakfast with the roil family, but I gave that all up when I made up my mind to remain a farmer. Tararas and diamond rings kind of get in your way when you're pulling weeds and planting beets, so why should I buy them?" "How about other things?" asked the Inspector. "You say you've been abroad all summer and haven't bought anything?" "I didn't say anything of the sort," said the Unwiseman. "I bought a lot of things. In London I bought a ride in a hansom cab, in Paris I bought a ride in a one horse fakir, and in Venice I bought a ride in a Gandyola. I bought a large number of tarts and plates of ice cream in various places. I bought a couple of souvenir postal cards to send to Columbus's little boy. In Switzerland I didn't buy anything because the things I wanted weren't for sale such as pet shammys and Alps and Glaziers and things like that. There's only two things that I can remember that maybe ought to be taxed. One of 'em's an air gun to shoot alps with and the others a big alpen-stock engraved with a red hot iron showing what mountains I didn't climb. The Alpen-stock I used as a fish pole in Venice and lost it because my hook got stuck in an artist's straw hat, but the air gun I brought home with me. You can tax it if you want to, but I warn you if you do I'll give it to you and then you'll have to pay the tax yourself." Having delivered himself of this long harangue, the Unwiseman, quite out of breath, sat down on Mollie's trunk and waited for new developments. The Inspector apparently did not hear him, or if he did paid no attention. The chances are that the Unwiseman's words never reached his ears, for to tell the truth his head was hidden way down deep in the carpet-bag. It was all of three minutes before he spoke, and then with his face all red with the work he drew his head from the bag and, gasping for air observed, wonderingly: "I can't find anything else but a lot of old bottles in there. What business are you in anyhow?" he asked. "Bottles and rags?" "I am a collector," said the Unwiseman, with a great deal of dignity. "Well--after all I guess we'll have to let you in free," said the Inspector, closing the bag with a snap and scribbling a little mark on it with a piece of chalk to show that it had been examined. "The Government hasn't put any tax on old bottles and junk generally so you're all right. If all importers were like you the United States would have to go out of business." "Junk indeed!" cried the Unwiseman, jumping up wrathfully. "If you call my bottles junk I'd like to know what you'd say to the British Museum. That's a scrap heap, alongside of this collection of mine, and I don't want you to forget it!" And gathering his belongings together the Unwiseman in high dudgeon walked off the pier while the Inspector and the Policeman watched him go with smiles on their faces so broad that if they'd been half an inch broader they would have met behind their necks and cut their heads off. "I never was so insulted in my life," said the Unwiseman, as he told Mollie about it in the carriage going up to the train that was to take them back home. "He called that magnificent collection of mine junk." "What was there in it?" asked Mollie. "Wait until we get home and I'll show you," said the Unwiseman. "It's the finest collection of--well just wait and see. I'm going to start a Museum up in my house that will make that British Museum look like cinder in a giant's eye. How did you get through the Custom House?" "Very nicely," said Mollie. "The man wanted me to pay duty on Whistlebinkie at first, because he thought he was made in Germany, but when he heard him squeak he let him in free." "I should think so," said the Unwiseman. "There's no German in his squeak. He couldn't get a medium sized German word through his hat. If he could I think he'd drive me crazy. Just open the window will you while I send this wireless message to the President." "To the President?" cried Mollie. "Yes--I want him to know I'm home in the first place, and in the second place I want to tell him that the next time he wants to collect his salary from me, I'll take it as a personal favor if he'll come himself and not send Uncle Sam Maginnis after it. I can stand a good deal for my country's sake but when a Custom House inspector prys into my private affairs and then calls them junk just because the President needs a four and a quarter thousandth of a cent, it makes me very, very angry. It's been as much as I could do to keep from saying 'Thunder' ever since I landed, and that ain't the way an American citizen ought to feel when he comes back to his own beautiful land again after three months' absence. It's like celebrating a wanderer's return by hitting him in the face with a boot-jack, and I don't like it." The window was opened and with much deliberation the Unwiseman despatched his message to the President, announcing his return and protesting against the tyrannous behavior of Mr. Maginnis, the Custom House Inspector, after which the little party continued on their way until they reached their native town. Here they separated, Mollie and Whistlebinkie going to their home and the Unwiseman to the queer little house that he had left in charge of the burglar at the beginning of the summer. "If I ever go abroad again," said the Unwiseman at parting, "which I never ain't going to do, I'll bring a big Bengal tiger back in my bag that ain't been fed for seven weeks, and then we'll have some fun when Maginnis opens the bag!" XV. HOME, SWEET HOME "Hurry up and finish your breakfast, Whistlebinkie," said Mollie the next morning after their return from abroad. "I want to run around to the Unwiseman's House and see if everything is all right. I'm just crazy to know how the burglar left the house." "I-mall-ready," whistled Whistlebinkie. "I-yain't-very-ungry." "Lost your appetite?" asked Mollie eyeing him anxiously, for she was a motherly little girl and took excellent care of all her playthings. "Yep," said Whistlebinkie. "I always do lose my appetite after eating three plates of oat-meal, four chops, five rolls, six buckwheat cakes and a couple of bananas." "Mercy! How do you hold it all, Whistlebinkie?" said Mollie. "Oh--I'm made o'rubber and my stummick is very 'lastic," explained Whistlebinkie. So hand in hand the little couple made off down the road to the pleasant spot where the Unwiseman's house stood, and there in the front yard was the old gentleman himself talking to his beloved boulder, and patting it gently as he did so. [Illustration: "I'M NEVER GOING TO LEAVE YOU AGAIN, BOLDY," HE WAS SAYING] "I'm never going to leave you again, Boldy," he was saying to the rock as Mollie and Whistlebinkie came up. "It is true that the Rock of Gibraltar is bigger and broader and more terrible to look at than you are but when it comes right down to business it isn't any harder or to my eyes any prettier. You are still my favorite rock, Boldy dear, so you needn't be jealous." And the old gentleman bent over and kissed the boulder softly. "Good morning," said Mollie, leaning over the fence. "Whistlebinkie and I have come down to see if everything is all right. I hope the kitchen-stove is well?" "Well the house is here, and all the bric-a-brac, and the leak has grown a bit upon the ceiling, and the kitchen-stove is all right thank you, but I'm afraid that old burgular has run off with my umbrella," said the Unwiseman. "I can't find a trace of it anywhere." "You don't really think he has stolen it do you?" asked Mollie. "I don't know what to think," said the Unwiseman, shaking his head gravely. "He had first class references, that burgular had, and claimed to have done all the burguling for the very nicest people in the country for the last two years, but these are the facts. He's gone and the umbrella's gone too. I suppose in the burgular's trade like in everything else you some times run across one who isn't as honest as he ought to be. Occasionally you'll find a burgular who'll take things that don't belong to him and it may be that this fellow that took my house was one of that kind--but you never can tell. It isn't fair to judge a man by disappearances, and it is just possible that the umbrella got away from him in a heavy storm. It was a skittish sort of a creature anyhow and sometimes I've had all I could do in windy weather to keep it from running away myself. What do you think of my sign?" "I don't see any sign," said Mollie, looking all around in search of the object. "Where is it?" "O I forgot," laughed the old gentleman gaily. "It's around on the other side of the house--come on around and see it." The callers walked quickly around to the rear of the Unwiseman's house, and there, hanging over the kitchen door, was a long piece of board upon which the Unwiseman had painted in very crooked black letters the following words: THE BRITISH MUSEUM JUNIOR Admishun ten cents. Exit fifteen cents. Burgulars one umbrella. THE FINEST COLECTION OF ALPS AND SOFORTHS ON EARTH. CHILDREN AND RUBER DOLLS FREE ON SATIDYS. "Dear me--how interesting," said Mollie, as she read this remarkable legend, "but--what does it mean?" "It means that I've started a British Museum over here," said the Unwiseman, "only mine is going to be useful, instead of merely ornamental like that one over in London. For twenty-five cents a man can get a whole European trip in my Museum without getting on board of a steamer. I only charge ten cents to come in so as to get people to come, and I charge fifteen cents to get out so as to make 'em stay until they have seen all there is to be seen. People get awfully tired travelling abroad, I find, and if you make it too easy for them to run back home they'll go without finishing their trip. I charge burgulars one umbrella to get in so that if my burgular comes back he'll have to make good my loss, or stay out." "Why do you let children and rubber dolls in free?" asked Mollie, reading the sign over a second time. "I wrote that rule to cover you and old Squizzledinkie here," said the old gentleman, with a kindly smile at his little guests. "Although it really wasn't necessary because I don't charge any admission to people who come in the front door and you could always come in that way. That's the entrance to my home. The back-door I charge for because it's the entrance to my museum, don't you see?" "Clear as a blue china alley," said Whistlebinkie. "Come in and see the exhibit," said the Unwiseman proudly. And then as Mollie and Whistlebinkie entered the house their eyes fell upon what was indeed the most marvellous collection of interesting objects they had ever seen. All about the parlor were ranged row upon row of bottles, large and small, each bearing a label describing its contents, with here and there mysterious boxes, and broken tumblers and all sorts of other odd things that the Unwiseman had brought home in his carpet-bag. "Bottle number one," said he, pointing to the object with a cane, "is filled with Atlantic Ocean--real genuine briny deep--bottled it myself and so I know there's nothing bogus about it. Number two which looks empty, but really ain't, is full of air from the coast of Ireland, caught three miles out from Queenstown by yours trooly, Mr. Me. Number three, full of dust and small pebbles, is genuine British soil gathered in London the day they put me out of the Museum. 'Tain't much to look at, is it?" he added. "Nothin' extra," said Whistlebinkie, inspecting it with a critical air after the manner of one who was an expert in soils. "Not compared to American soil anyhow," said the Unwiseman. "This hard cake in the tin box is a 'Muffin by Special Appointment to the King,'" he went on with a broad grin. "I went in and bought one after we had our rumpus in the bake-shop, just for the purpose of bringing it over here and showing the American people how vain and empty roilty has become. It is not a noble looking object to my eyes." "Mine neither," whistled Whistlebinkie. "It looks rather stale." "Yes," said the Unwiseman. "And that's the only roil thing about it. Passing along rapidly we come soon to a bottleful of the British Channel," he resumed. "In order to get the full effect of that very conceited body of water you want to shake it violently. That gives you some idea of how the water works. It's tame enough now that I've got it bottled but in its native lair it is fierce. You will see the instructions on the bottle." Sure enough the bottle was labeled as the Unwiseman said with full instructions as to how it must be used. "Shake for fifteen minutes until it is all roiled up and swells around inside the bottle like a tidal wave," the instructions read. "You will then get a small idea of how this disagreeable body of water behaves itself in the presence of trusting strangers." "Here is my bottle of French soil," said the Unwiseman, passing on to the next object. "It doesn't look very different from English soil but it's French all right, as you would see for yourself if it tried to talk. I scooped it up myself in Paris. There's the book--French in Five Lessons--too. That I call 'The French Language,' which shows people who visit this museum what a funny tongue it is. That pill box full of sand is a part of the Swiss frontier and the small piece of gravel next to it is a piece of an Alp chipped off Mount Blanc by myself, so that I know it is genuine. It will give the man who has never visited Swaz--well--that country, a small idea of what an Alp looks like and will correct the notion in some people's minds that an Alp is a wild animal with a long hairy tail and the manners of a lion. The next two bottles contain all that is left of a snow-ball I gathered in at Chamouny, and a chip of the Mer de Glace glazier. They've both melted since I bottled them, but I'll have them frozen up again all right when winter comes, so there's no harm done." "What's this piece of broken china on the table?" asked Mollie. "That is a fragment of a Parisian butter saucer," said the Unwiseman. "One of the waiters fell down stairs with somebody's breakfast at our hotel in Paris one morning while we were there," he explained, "and I rescued that from the debris. It is a perfect specimen of a broken French butter dish." "I don't think it's very interesting," said Mollie. "Well to tell you the truth, I don't either, but you've got to remember, my dear, that this is a British Museum and the one over in London is chuck full of broken china, old butter plates and coffee cups from all over everywhere, and I don't want people who care for that sort of thing to be disappointed with my museum when they come here. Take that plaster statue of Cupid that I bought in Venice--I only got that to please people who care for statuary." "Where is it?" asked Mollie, searching the room with her eye for the Cupid. "I've spread it out through the Museum so as to make it look more like a collection," said the Unwiseman. "I got a tack-hammer as soon as I got home last night and fixed it up. There's an arm over on the mantel-piece. His chest and left leg are there on top of the piano, while his other arm with his left ear and right leg are in the kitchen. I haven't found places for his stummick and what's left of his head yet, but I will before the crowd begins to arrive." "Why Mr. Me!" protested Mollie, as she gazed mournfully upon the scraps of the broken Cupid. "You didn't really smash up that pretty little statue?" "I'm afraid I did, Mollie," said the Unwiseman sadly. "I hated to do it, but this is a Museum my dear, and when you go into the museum business you've to do it according to the rules. One of the rules seems to be 'No admission to Unbusted Statuary,' and I've acted accordingly. I don't want to deceive anybody and if I gave even to my kitchen-stove the idea that these first class museums over in Europe have anything but fractures in them----" "Fragments, isn't it?" suggested Mollie. "It's all the same," said the Unwiseman, "Fractures or fragments, there isn't a complete statue anywhere in any museum that I ever saw, and in educating my kitchen-stove in Art I'm going to follow the lead of the experts." "Well I don't see the use of it," sighed Mollie, for she had admired the pretty little plaster Cupid very much indeed. "No more do I, Mollie dear," said the Unwiseman, "but rules are rules and we've got to obey them. This is the Grand Canal at Venice," he added holding up a bottle full of dark green water in order to change the subject. "And here is what I call a Hoople-fish from the Adriatic." "What on earth is a Hoople-fish?" cried Mollie with a roar of laughter as she gazed upon the object to which the Unwiseman referred, an old water soaked strip of shingley wood. "It is the barrel hoop I caught that day I went fishing from the hotel balcony," explained the Unwiseman. "I wish I'd kept the artist's straw hat I landed at the same time for a Hat-fish to complete my collection of Strange Shad From Venice, but of course that was impossible. The artist seemed to want it himself and as he had first claim to it I didn't press the matter. The barrel-hoop will serve however to warn Americans who want to go salmon fishing on the Grand Canal just what kind of queer things they'll catch if they have any luck at all." "What's this?" asked Whistlebinkie, peering into a little tin pepper pot that appeared to contain nothing but sand. "You must handle that very carefully," said the Unwiseman, taking it in one hand, and shaking some of the sand out of it into the palm of the other. "That is the birth-place of Christopher Columbus, otherwise the soil of Genoa. I brought home about a pail-ful of it, and I'm going to have it put up in forty-seven little bottles to send around to people that would appreciate having it. One of 'em is to go to the President to be kept on the White House mantel-piece in memory of Columbus, and the rest of them I shall distribute to the biggest Museums in each one of the United States. I don't think any State in the Union should be without a bottle of Columbus birth-place, in view of all that he did for this country by discovering it. There wouldn't have been any States at all of it hadn't been for him, and it strikes me that is a very simple and touching way of showing our gratitude." "Perfectly fine!" cried Mollie enthusiastically. "I don't believe there's another collection like this anywhere in all the world, do you?" she added, sweeping the room with an eye full of wondering admiration for the genius that had gathered all these marvellous things together. "No--I really don't," said the Unwiseman. "And just think what a fine thing it will be for people who can't afford to travel," he went on. "For twenty-five cents they can come here and see everything we saw--except a few bogus kings and things like that that ain't really worth seeing--from the French language down to the Venetian Hoople-fish, from an Alp and a Glazier to a Specially Appointed Muffin to the King and Columbus's birth-place. I really think I shall have to advertise it in the newspapers. A Trip Abroad Without Leaving Home, All for a Quarter, at the Unwiseman's Museum. Alps a Specialty." "Here's a couple of empty bottles," said Whistlebinkie, who had been snooping curiously about the room. "Yes," said the Unwiseman. "I've more than that. I'm sorry to say that some of my exhibits have faded away. The first one was filled with London fog, and as you remember I lost that when the cork flew out the day they dejected me from the British Museum. That other bottle when I put the cork in it contained a view of Gibraltar and the African Coast through the port-hole of the steamer, but it's all faded out, just as the bird's-eye view of the horizon out in the middle of the ocean that I had in a little pill bottle did. There are certain things you can't keep even in bottles--but I shall show the Gibraltar bottle just the same. A bottle of that size that once contained that big piece of rock and the African Coast to boot, is a wonderful thing in itself." In which belief Mollie and Whistlebinkie unanimously agreed. "Was the kitchen-stove glad to see you back?" asked Whistlebinkie. "Well--it didn't say very much," said the Unwiseman, with an affectionate glance out into the kitchen, "but when I filled it up with coal, and started the fire going, it was more than cordial. Indeed before the evening was over it got so very warm that I had to open the parlor windows to cool it off." "It's pretty nice to be home again, isn't it," said Mollie. "Nice?" echoed the old gentleman. "I can just tell you, Miss Mollie Whistlebinkie, that the finest thing I've seen since I left home, finer than all the oceans in the world, more beautiful than all the Englands in creation, sweeter than all the Frances on the map, lovelier than any Alp that ever poked its nose against the sky, dearer than all the Venices afloat--the greatest, most welcome sight that ever greeted my eyes was my own brass front door knob holding itself out there in the twilight of yesterday to welcome me home and twinkling in the fading light of day like a house afire as if to show it was glad to see me back. That's why the minute I came into the yard I took off my hat and knelt down before that old brass knob and kissed it." The old man's voice shook just a little as he spoke, and a small teardrop gathered and glistened in a corner of his eye--but it was a tear of joy and content, not of sorrow. "And then when I turned the knob and opened the door," he went on, "well--talk about your Palaces with all their magnificent shiny floors and gorgeous gold framed mirrors and hall-bedrooms as big as the Madison Square Garden--they couldn't compare to this old parlor of mine with the piano over on one side of the room, the refrigerator in the other, the leak beaming down from the ceiling, and my kitchen-stove peeking in through the door and sort of keeping an eye on things generally. And not a picture in all that 9643 miles of paint at the Loover can hold a candle to my beloved old Washington Crossing the Delaware over my mantel-piece, with the British bombarding him with snow-balls and the river filled to the brim with ice-bergs--no sirree! And best of all, nobody around to leave their aitches all over the place for somebody else to pick up, or any French language to take a pretty little bird and turn it into a wazzoh, or to turn a good honest hard boiled egg into an oof, but everybody from Me myself down to the kitchen-stove using the good old American language whenever we have something to say and holding our tongues in the same when we haven't." "Hooray for us!" cried Whistlebinkie, dancing with glee. "That's what I say," said the Unwiseman. "America's good enough for me and I'm glad I'm back." "Well I feel the same way," said Mollie. "I liked Europe very much indeed but somehow or other I like America best." "And for a very good reason," said the Unwiseman. "What?" asked Mollie. "Because it's Home," said the Unwiseman. "I guess-thassit," said Whistlebinkie. "Well don't guess again, Fizzledinkie," said the Unwiseman, "because that's the answer, and if you guessed again you might get it wrong." And so it was that Mollie and the Unwiseman and Whistlebinkie finished their trip abroad, and returned better pleased with Home than they had ever been before, which indeed is one of the greatest benefits any of us get out of a trip to Europe, for after all that fine old poet was right when he said: "East or West Home is best." In closing I think I ought to say that the Unwiseman's umbrella turned up in good order the next morning, and where do you suppose? Why up on the roof where the kind-hearted burglar had placed it to protect the Unwiseman's leak from the rain! So he seems to have been a pretty honest old burglar after all. THE END. 
39820	----	scanned images of public domain material from the Internet Archive. [Illustration: "Simple enough; I've stopped the clock," he said.--Page 132.--_Frontispiece._] [Illustration: MOLLIE AND THE UNWISEMAN By JOHN KENDRICK BANGS Illustrations by ALBERT LEVERING and CLARE VICTOR DWIGGINS. Henry T. Coates & Co., Philadelphia.] COPYRIGHT, 1902, BY HENRY T. COATES & CO. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. BOPEEP. IN WHICH MOLLIE MEETS THE UNWISEMAN 7 II. A VISIT TO THE UNWISEMAN. IN WHICH MOLLIE RENEWS AN ACQUAINTANCE 29 III. IN THE HOUSE OF THE UNWISEMAN. IN WHICH MOLLIE READS SOME STRANGE RULES 49 IV. A CALL FROM THE UNWISEMAN. IN WHICH MOLLIE'S CALL IS RETURNED 67 V. THE UNWISEMAN IS OFFENDED. IN WHICH THE OLD GENTLEMAN TAKES HIS LEAVE 85 VI. THE CHRISTMAS VENTURE OF THE UNWISEMAN. IN WHICH THE UNWISEMAN GOES INTO AN UNPROFITABLE BUSINESS 103 VII. THE UNWISEMAN'S NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS. IN WHICH THE UNWISEMAN GIVES UP SOME VERY DISTINGUISHED WORDS 123 VIII. THE UNWISEMAN TURNS POET. IN WHICH THE UNWISEMAN GOES INTO LITERATURE 139 IX. THE POEMS OF THE UNWISEMAN. IN WHICH MOLLIE LISTENS TO SOME REMARKABLE VERSES 155 X. THE UNWISEMAN'S LUNCHEON. IN WHICH THE UNWISEMAN MAKES SOME SENSIBLE REMARKS ON EATING 173 XI. THE UNWISEMAN'S NEW BUSINESS. IN WHICH THE OLD GENTLEMAN AND MOLLIE AND WHISTLEBINKIE START ON THEIR TRAVELS 189 LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. Page "SIMPLE ENOUGH, I'VE STOPPED THE CLOCK." _Frontispiece_ THE UNWISEMAN SPED OFF LIKE LIGHTNING TO THE VILLAGE DRUG-STORE 46 "OH YES!" SAID MOLLIE, "IF YOU MUST STEAL SOMETHING, STEAL A BOYLED EGG" 66 "NO, THANK YOU," SAID THE UNWISEMAN, WITH AN ANXIOUS PEEP AT THE CEILING 76 "OUCH!" HE CRIED, "THE BROOK MUST BE AFIRE!" 98 "I ALWAYS WEEP OUT OF THE WINDOW." 146 THE UNWISEMAN READS HIS POEM, "MY WISH AND WHY I WISHED IT." 162 "IF YOU WANT TO SPEAK SOME OTHER LANGUAGE YOU CAN GO OUTSIDE AND SPEAK IT." 184 [Illustration] [Illustration: I. Bopeep. In which Mollie meets the Unwiseman. Mollie] had been romping in the hay all the afternoon. With her were Flaxilocks, the French doll, and young Whistlebinkie, the rubber boy, who had got his name from the fact that he had a whistle set in the top of his beaver hat. Flaxilocks and Whistlebinkie could stand a great deal of romping, and so also could Mollie, but, on the whole, the little girl was not so strong as the dolls were, and in consequence along above five o'clock, having settled herself down comfortably on the shaded side of the hay-stack, a great pillow of sweet-scented clover grass under her head, it is not to be wondered at that Mollie should begin to ponder. Now it is a curious thing, but Mollie always has singular adventures when she ponders. Things happen to her then which happen at no other times, and which also, as far as I have been able to find out, never happen to other little girls. It was this way upon this particular afternoon, as you will see when you read on. She had been pondering for three or four minutes when almost directly at her side she heard a sob. "Who's that?" she asked, sleepily, gazing around her. "Who's what?" said Flaxilocks, sitting up and opening her great blue eyes so suddenly that something inside of her head seemed to click. [Illustration: "Somebody's sobbing," said Mollie.] "Somebody's sobbing," said Mollie. "I guess not," returned Flaxilocks. "We are all alone here. Nobody could have sobbed unless it was Whistlebinkie. Whistlebinkie, did you sob?" "No," said Whistlebinkie, "'twasn't me. I can't sob because I haven't got a sobber to sob with. I've only got a whistle." "Maybe I dreamed it," said Mollie, apparently satisfied for the moment, and then the three threw themselves back on the hay once more and began their pondering anew. They did not ponder very long, however, for in a few moments Flaxilocks rose up again and observed: "I heard a sob myself just now, Mollie." "So-_di_," whistled Whistlebinkie, through the top of his hat. "Whistlebinkie," said Mollie, severely, "how often must I tell you not to talk through your hat, but through your mouth? So-_di_ doesn't mean anything. It isn't English. If you will only remember to use your hat to whistle through and your mouth for conversation every one will be able to understand. What do you mean by So-_di_?" "So--did--I," said Whistlebinkie, meekly, this time using his mouth as Mollie had instructed him to do. "Then you heard the sob?" "Yes--ma'am--plain--as--can--be," returned Whistlebinkie. "And no wonder," observed Flaxilocks, pointing one of her kid fingers off to her left. "Why shouldn't we all hear a sob when there is a poor little maid weeping so near at hand?" "So there is," said Mollie, looking toward the spot at which Flaxilocks was pointing, where there sat a pretty little shepherdess with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Isn't it queer?" "Very," said Whistlebinkie. "Shall I give a whistle of surprise, ma'am?" "No," said Mollie. "I'm not surprised enough for that." Then she got up and walked over to the strange little girl's side, and taking her hand in hers asked her softly why she wept. "I'm little Bopeep," said the stranger. "And I've lost my sheep, and I don't know where to find them." "Oh, is that all?" asked Mollie. "Isn't it enough?" returned Bopeep, gazing with surprise at Mollie through her tears. "They were all spring lambs and I'm very much afraid some hungry man may have stolen them away and drowned them in the mint sauce pond." "Dear me, how dreadful!" cried Mollie. "Shall I give a whistle of terror, ma'am?" asked Whistlebinkie. "No, don't," said Flaxilocks. "Save your breath. We ought to help Bopeep to find her flock." "That's so," said Mollie. "Would you like to have us do that, Bopeep?" "Oh, it would be very sweet of you if you would," sobbed the little shepherdess. "I can't tell you how glad I'd be." [Illustration: "I'll whistle it for you."] "I'll whistle it for you if you want me to," said the obliging Whistlebinkie, which, as no one objected, he immediately proceeded to do. When he had finished Bopeep thanked him, and asked him if he were any relation to her old friend Flutiboy who was the only person she knew who could whistle as charmingly as he, which pleased Whistlebinkie very much because he had heard of the famous Flutiboy, and was well aware that he was the champion whistler of the world. "Now let us be off to find the sheep," said Mollie. "Which way did they go, Bopeep?" "They went every way," said Bopeep, her eyes filling with tears again. "I don't see how that could be," said Flaxilocks, "unless one quarter of lamb went one way, and another another, and so on." "Oh, it was easy enough for them," said Bopeep. "There were four of them, and one went north, one south, one east, and one west. If they had all run off together I could have run away with them, but as it was all I could do was stand still and let them go. I love them all equally, and since I couldn't favor any special one, or divide myself up into four parts, I had to let them go." "Perflyawfle," whistled Whistlebinkie through his hat. "Whistlebinkie!" cried Mollie, reprovingly. "Puf-fick-ly or-full," said Whistlebinkie distinctly through his little red rubber teeth. "Well, I say we keep together in looking for them, anyhow," said Flaxilocks. "Because it's bad enough to lose the sheep without losing ourselves, and it seems to me there being four of us we can find the first sheep four times as quickly if we stick together as we could if we went alone; and that of course means that we'll find the four sheep sixteen times as quickly as we would if we went alone." "I don't quite see that," said Bopeep. "It's plain enough," observed Flaxilocks. "Four times four is sixteen." "Oh, yes," said Bopeep. "I see." "Sodwi," whistled Whistlebinkie. "I mean so--do--I," he added quickly, as he noted Mollie's frown. So the four little folk started off in search of the missing sheep, Whistlebinkie and Flaxilocks running on ahead, and Mollie and Bopeep with their arms lovingly about each other bringing up in the rear. "Did you ever lose the sheep before, Bopeep?" asked Mollie, after they had walked a little way in silence. "Oh my, yes," returned Bopeep. "I'm losing them all the time. It is a part of my duty to lose them. If I didn't, you know, the nursery rhyme couldn't go on." "And you always find them again?" Mollie put in. "Always. That's got to happen, too. If they didn't come back and bring their tails behind them the nursery rhyme would be spoiled again." "Then I don't see why you feel so badly about it," said Mollie. [Illustration: "And I only get five cents a quart."] "I have to," replied Bopeep. "That's part of my business, too. I sometimes wish old Mother Goose hadn't employed me to look after the sheep at all, because it keeps me crying all the time, and I don't find crying very pleasant. Why, do you know, I have been in this sheep-losing business for nearly two hundred years now, and I've cried about seventy gallons of tears every year. Just think of that. That means fourteen thousand gallons of tears, and I only get five cents a quart, which doesn't more than pay my dressmaker's bills. I asked my employers some years ago to let me have an assistant to do the crying for me, but they wouldn't do it, which I think was very mean, don't you?" "Yes, I do," said Mollie. "I should think just losing the sheep was hard enough work for a little girl like you to attend to." "That's what I think--but dear me, where are Whistlebinkie and Flaxilocks going?" said Bopeep. "They mustn't go that way. The first place we must go to is the home of the Unwiseman." "The what?" demanded Mollie. "The Unwiseman. He's an unwiseman who doesn't know anything," explained Bopeep. "The rules require that we go to him first and ask him if he knows where the sheep are. He'll say he doesn't know, and then we'll go on to the little old woman who lives under the hill. She'll know where they are, but she'll tell us wrong. Hi! Whistlebinkie and Flaxilocks! Turn off to the left, and stop at that little red house under the oak tree." "There isn't any little red house under the oak tree," said Mollie. "Oh, yes, there is," said Bopeep. "Only you've got to know it's there before you can see it. The Unwiseman lives there." [Illustration: Sat in the doorway trying to smoke a pipe filled with soapsuds.] Whistlebinkie and Flaxilocks did as they were told, and, sure enough, in a minute there appeared a little red house under the oak tree just as Bopeep had said. Mollie was delighted, it was such a dainty little house, with its funny gables and a roof made of strawberry icing. The window-panes were shining like silver, and if Bopeep was not mistaken were made of sugar. But funnier still was the Unwiseman himself, a queer-looking, wrinkled-up little old man who sat in the doorway trying to smoke a pipe filled with soapsuds. "Good-afternoon, O Unwiseman," said Bopeep. "Hoh!" sneered the Unwiseman. "Good-afternoon! This isn't afternoon. It's day before yesterday morning." Mollie giggled. "Hush!" whispered Bopeep. "He doesn't know any better. You can see that he doesn't know anything by looking at his pipe. He's been trying to smoke those soapsuds now for a week. The week before he was trying to blow bubbles with it, only he had corn-silk in it then instead of soapsuds. That shows what kind of a man he is." "What can I do for you to-day, Bopeep?" asked the Unwiseman as he touched a lighted match to the suds, which immediately sputtered and went out. "I wanted to know if you had seen anything of my sheep," said Bopeep. [Illustration: "They aren't anything like telegraph poles or wheelbarrows, are they?"] "Let's see," said the Unwiseman. "Let's see. Sheep are what? They aren't anything like telegraph poles or wheelbarrows, are they?" "No," said Bopeep, "they are not." "Then maybe I have seen them," said the Unwiseman, with a smile of satisfaction. "Maybe I have. Several things went by here day after to-morrow that weren't a bit like wheelbarrows or telegraph poles. They may have been your sheep. One of the things had four red wheels on it--have any of your sheep got four red wheels on them?" Whistlebinkie nearly exploded as the Unwiseman said this, but the queer old gentleman was not learned enough to know mirth when he saw it, so that no harm was done. "No," said Bopeep. "My sheep had no wheels." "Then I must have seen them," said the Unwiseman. "There was a thing went by here a week from next Tuesday noon that hadn't any wheels. It had two legs and carried a fan, or a fish-pole--I couldn't tell which it was--and it was whistling. Maybe that was one of the sheep." "No," said Bopeep again, shaking her head. "My sheep don't whistle and they have four legs." "Nonsense," said the Unwiseman, with a wink. "You can't fool me that way. I know a horse when I hear one described, and when any one tells me that the thing with four legs and no whistle is a sheep I know better. And so my dear, since you've tried to trifle with me you can go along. I won't tell you another thing about your old sheep. I don't know anything about 'em anyhow." Whereupon the old man got up from his chair and climbed the oak tree to look for apples, while the searching party went on to the little old woman who lived under the hill, and Bopeep asked her if she knew anything about the sheep. [Illustration: "One of 'em's gone to the moon."] "Yes," said the little old woman, with a frown which frightened poor Whistlebinkie so that he gasped and whistled softly in spite of his efforts to keep quiet. "Yes, I've seen your sheep. I know just where they are, too. One of 'em's gone to the moon. Another has been adopted by a girl named Mary, who is going to take it to school and make the children laugh. Another has sold his wool to a city merchant, and the fourth has accepted an invitation to dinner from a member of Congress. He will reach the dinner at half-past seven to-night on a silver platter. He will be decorated with green peas and mint sauce. Now get along with you." Mollie felt very sorry for poor Bopeep as she listened to this dreadful statement, and she was very much surprised to see Bopeep smiling through it all. "Why did you smile?" she asked the little shepherdess as they wended their way home again. [Illustration: "She lives on ink and it makes her disagreeable."] "Because I knew from what she said that she knew the sheep were safe--but she lives on ink, and that makes her disagreeable. She just wanted to make me feel as disagreeable as she does, and she told me all that nonsense to accomplish that purpose." "The horrid thing!" said Mollie. "No," said Bopeep. "She isn't really horrid. It's only because she lives on ink that she seems so. Suppose you had to live on ink?" "I'd be horrid, too," said Mollie. "There they are!" cried Bopeep joyfully, and sure enough there were the sheep, and they had brought their tails behind them, too. They were grazing close beside the hay-stack on which Mollie had been pondering. "I am very much obliged to you for your help and company," said Bopeep, "and now as it is six o'clock, I must drive my sheep home. Good-by." "Good-by," said Mollie, kissing the little shepherdess affectionately. "Good-by," said Flaxilocks, sinking back on the clover pillow, and closing her great blue eyes again. "Gubby," whistled Whistlebinkie through his hat. "Wasn't it queer?" said Mollie later as they wended their way home again. "Very," said Flaxilocks. "Queeresperiensieverad," whistled Whistlebinkie. "What's that?" cried Mollie. "Queerest--experience--I--ever--had," said Whistlebinkie. "Ah!" said Mollie. "I didn't care much for the little old woman under the hill, but that funny old Unwiseman--I'd like to meet him again." And the others agreed that it would indeed be pleasant to do so. [Illustration: II. A Visit to the Unwiseman. In which Mollie renews an acquaintance. "Whistlebinkie,"] said Mollie, one afternoon, as she and he were swaying gently to and fro in the hammock, "do you remember the little red house under the oak tree?" "Yessum," whistled Whistlebinkie, "I mean yes--ma'am," he added hurriedly. "And the Unwiseman who lived there?" "Yes, I remember him puffickly," said Whistlebinkie. "I think he knows less than any person I ever sawed." "Not sawed but saw, Whistlebinkie," said Mollie, who was very anxious that her rubber doll should speak correctly. "Oh, yes!" cried Whistlebinkie. "I think he sawed less than any man I ever knew--or rather--well--I guess you know what I mean, don't you?" "Yes, I do," said Mollie, with a smile. "But tell me, Whistlebinkie dear, wouldn't you like to go with me, and pay the Unwiseman a visit?" "Has he sent you a bill?" asked Whistlebinkie. "What for, pray?" queried Mollie, with a glance of surprise at Whistlebinkie. "To tell you that you owed him a visit, of course," said Whistlebinkie. "There isn't any use of our paying him anything unless we owe him something, is there?" "Oh, I see!" said Mollie. "No, we don't owe him one, but I think we'd enjoy ourselves very much if we made him one." "All right, let's," said Whistlebinkie. [Illustration: A pasteboard visit.] "What'll we make it of, worsted or pasteboard?" "Whistlebinkie," observed Mollie, severely, "you are almost as absurd as the old man himself. The idea of making a visit out of worsted or pasteboard! Come along. Stop your joking and let us start." The rubber doll was quite willing to agree to this, and off they started. In a very little while they were down under the spreading branches of the great oak tree, but, singular to relate, the little red house that had stood there the last time they had called was not to be seen. "Dear me!" cried Mollie, "what can have become of it, do you suppose, Whistlebinkie?" "I give it up," said the rubber doll, scratching his hat so that he could think more easily. "Haven't an idea--unless the old man discovered that its roof was made of strawberry icing, and ate it up." "Ho! Ho! Ho!" laughed some one from behind them. Mollie and Whistlebinkie turned quickly, and lo and behold, directly behind them stood the little Unwiseman himself, trying to dig the oak tree up by the roots with a small teaspoon he held in his hand. "The idea of my eating up my house! Hoh! What nonsense. Hoh!" he said, as the visitors turned. "Well, what has become of it, then?" asked Mollie. "I've moved it, that's what," said the Unwiseman. "I couldn't get any apples on this oak tree, so I moved my house over under the willow tree down by the brook." "But you can't get apples on a willow tree, either, can you?" asked Mollie. "I don't know yet," said the Unwiseman. "I haven't lived there long enough to find out, but I can try, and that's all anybody can do." "And what are you doing with that teaspoon?" asked Whistlebinkie. [Illustration: "You see, I don't want to swallow an acorn and have a great big tree like that grow up in me."] "I'm digging up this oak tree," said the Unwiseman. "I want to get the acorn it grew out of. I'm very fond of acorns, but I'm afraid to eat them, unless the tree that's in 'em has grown out. You see, I don't want to swallow an acorn, and have a great big tree like that grow up in me. It wouldn't be comfortable." Whistlebinkie said he thought that was a very good idea, because there could not be any doubt that it would be extremely awkward for any man, wise or unwise, to have an oak tree sprouting up inside of him. "What are you so anxious to know about my house for?" asked the Unwiseman, suddenly stopping short in his work with the teaspoon. "You don't want to rent it for the summer, do you?" "Whistlebinkie and I have come down to call upon you, that's all," explained Mollie. "Well now, really?" said the Unwiseman, rising, and dropping the teaspoon. "That's too bad, isn't it? Here you've come all this way to see me and I am out. I shall be so disappointed when I get home and find that you have been there and I not there to see you. Dear! Dear! How full of disappointments this world is. You couldn't come again last night, could you? I was home then." [Illustration: Turning the clock back.] "Not very well," said Whistlebinkie. "Mollie's father doesn't like it if we turn the clock back." "Dear me! That's too bad, too! My!" said the old fellow, with a look of real sadness on his face. "What a disappointment, to be sure. You call and find me out! I _do_ wish there was some way to arrange it, so that I might be at home when you call. You can't think of any, can you, Miss Whistlebinkie?" "Perhaps now that you know we are coming," said Mollie, who, while her last name was _not_ Whistlebinkie, did not think it necessary to pay any attention to the old man's mistake, which amused her very much, "perhaps now that you know we are coming you might run ahead and be there when we arrive." "That's the scheme!" said Whistlebinkie. "Yes, that's a first-rate plan," said the old man, nodding his head. "There's only one thing against it, perhaps." "What's that?" asked Whistlebinkie. "That I don't know," replied the Unwiseman, "which is very unfortunate, because it may be serious. For instance, suppose the objection should turn out to be in the shape of a policeman, who had a warrant to arrest me for throwing stones at somebody's pet tiger. What could I do?" "But you haven't been throwing stones at anybody's pet tiger, have you?" asked Mollie. [Illustration: "Not while I was awake, but I may have done it in my sleep, you know."] "Not while I was awake," said the Unwiseman. "But I may have done it in my sleep, you know. People do lots of things in their sleep that they never do while awake. They snore, for instance; and one man I know, who always rides when he is awake, walks in his sleep." "Let's try it, anyway," said Whistlebinkie. "It may be that there won't be any trouble, after all." "Very well," assented the Unwiseman. "I'm willing if you are, only if I am arrested it will be all your fault, and you must promise to tell the policeman that it was you who threw the stones at the tiger and not I." Mollie and Whistlebinkie feeling sure that nothing of the kind would happen, readily made the promise, and the queer little old man started off for his house as fast as his legs could carry him. The two small visitors followed slowly, and in a few minutes had reached the Unwiseman's door down by the willow tree. The door was tightly closed, so they knocked. For a while there was no answer, and then they knocked again. In response to this they heard a shuffling step within, and a voice which they recognized as that of the Unwiseman called out: [Illustration: "Is that a policeman?"] "Is that a policeman? Because if it is, I'm not at home. I went out three weeks ago and won't be back again for six years, and, furthermore, I never threw stones at a pet tiger in my life unless I was asleep, and that don't count." "We aren't policemen," said Mollie. "We're Mollie and Whistlebinkie come to see you." "Oh, indeed!" cried the Unwiseman from within, as he threw the door open wide. "Why, what a pleasant surprise! I had no idea you were coming. Walk right in. So glad to see you." Whistlebinkie giggled slightly through his beaver hat as he and Mollie, accepting the invitation, walked in and seated themselves in a droll little parlor that opened on the left-hand side of the hall. "So this is your house, is it?" said Mollie, glancing about her with much interest. "Yes," said the Unwiseman; "but, Miss Whistlebinkie, won't you kindly sit on the table instead of on that chair? So many people have been hurt by chairs breaking under them--many times more than are hurt from sitting on tables--that I have to be very careful. I have no doubt the chairs are strong enough to hold you, but I don't want to take any chances. I think it will rain next year, don't you?" he added. "And you haven't brought any umbrellas! Too bad, too bad. If you should get wet, you'd find it very damp. Really, you ought never to go out without an umbrella. I always do, but then I know enough to go in when it rains, so of course don't need one." "I see you have a piano," said Whistlebinkie, taking in the furniture of the parlor. "Yes," replied the Unwiseman. "It's a very fine one, too. It has lots of tunes locked up in it." [Illustration: "Are you fond of music?" asked Mollie. "No, I hate it," said the Unwiseman.] "Are you fond of music?" asked Mollie. "No, I hate it," said the Unwiseman. "That's why I have the piano. There's just so much less music in the world. Nobody can get at the keys of that piano, so you see it's never played, which pleases me very much. If I were rich enough, I'd buy all the pianos, and organs, and fiddles, and horns, and drums in the world, and I'd keep 'em all locked up so that there never would be any more music at all." "I am sorry to hear that," said Mollie. "I love music." "Well," said the old man, generously, "you can have my share. Whenever anybody brings any music around where I am hereafter, I'll do it up in a package, and send it to you." "Thank you very much," said Mollie. "It's very good of you." "Oh, it's no favor to you, I am sure!" put in the Unwiseman, hastily. "In fact, it's the other way. I'm obliged to you for taking it off my hands. If you want to you can open the piano right away, and take out all the tunes there are in it. I'll go off on the mountains while you are doing it, so that it won't annoy me any." "Oh, no!" said Mollie. "I'd a great deal rather have you to talk to than all the tunes in the piano." "Very well," said the old man, with a smile of pleasure. "What shall we talk about, frogs?" "I don't know anything about frogs," said Mollie. "Neither do I," returned the Unwiseman. "I don't know the difference between a frog and a watch-chain, except that one chains watches and the other doesn't, but which does and which doesn't I haven't a notion." "I see you have all your pictures with their faces turned to the wall," said Mollie, looking about the room again so as to avoid laughing in the Unwiseman's face. "What is that for?" "That's to make them more interesting," replied the Unwiseman. "They're a very uninteresting lot of pictures, and I never could get anybody to look at 'em until I turned them hind side before, that way. Now everybody wants to see them." Mollie rose up, and turned one of them about so that she could see it. "It's very pretty," she said. "What is it a picture of--a meadow?" [Illustration: "It's a picture of me."] "No. It's a picture of me," said the Unwiseman. "And it's one of the best I ever had taken." "But I don't see you in it," said Mollie. "All I can see is a great field of grass and a big bowlder down in one corner." "I know it," said the Unwiseman. "I'm lying on my back behind the bowlder asleep. If you could move the bowlder you could see me, but you can't. It's too heavy, and, besides, I think the paint is glued on." "I hope you don't lie on the ground asleep very much," said Mollie, gravely, for she had taken a great liking to this strange old man who didn't know anything. "You might catch your death of cold." "I didn't say I was lying on the ground," said the Unwiseman. "I said I was lying on my back. People ought not to catch cold lying on a nice warm back like mine." "And do you live here all alone?" asked Mollie. "Yes, I don't need anybody to live with. Other people know things, and it always makes them proud, and I don't like proud people." "I hope you like me," said Mollie, softly. "Yes, indeed, I do," cried the Unwiseman. "I like you and Whistlebinkie very much, because you don't either of you know anything either, and so, of course, you aren't stuck up like some people I meet who think just because they know the difference between a polar bear and a fog horn while I don't that they're so much better than I am. I like you, and I hope you will come and see me again." "I will, truly," said Mollie. "Very well--and that you may get back sooner you'd better run right home now. It is getting late, and, besides, I have an engagement." "You?" asked Mollie. "What with?" "Well, don't you tell anybody," said the Unwiseman; "but I'm going up to the village to the drug store. I promised to meet myself up there at six o'clock, and it's quarter past now, so I must hurry." "But what on earth are you going to do there?" asked Mollie. "I'm going to buy myself a beaver hat just like Whistlebinkie's," returned the Unwiseman, gleefully, "I've got to have something to keep my tablecloth in, and a beaver hat strikes me as just the thing." [Illustration: The unwiseman sped off like lightning to the village drug store.] Saying which the Unwiseman bowed Mollie and Whistlebinkie out, and sped off like lightning in the direction of the village drug store, but whether or not he succeeded in getting a beaver hat there I don't know, for he never told me. [Illustration: III. In the House of the Unwiseman. In which Mollie reads some strange rules. A few] days later Mollie and Whistlebinkie were strolling together through the meadows when most unexpectedly they came upon the little red house of the Unwiseman. "Why, I thought this house was under the willow tree," said Mollie. "Sotwuz," whistled Whistlebinkie through his hat. "What are you trying to say, Whistlebinkie?" asked Mollie. "So--it--was," replied Whistlebinkie. "He must have moved it." "But this isn't half as nice a place for it as the old one," said Mollie. "There isn't any shade here at all. Let's knock at the door, and see if he is at home. Maybe he will tell us why he has moved again." Mollie tapped gently on the door, but received no response. Then she tried the knob, but the door was fastened. "Nobody's home, I guess," she said. "The back door is open," cried Whistlebinkie, running around to the rear of the house. "Come around this way, Mollie, and we can get in." So around Mollie went, and sure enough there was the kitchen door standing wide open. A chicken was being grilled on the fire, and three eggs were in the pot boiling away so actively that they would undoubtedly have been broken had they not been boiling so long that they had become as hard as rocks. "Isn't he the foolishest old man that ever was," said Mollie, as she caught sight of the chicken and the eggs. "That chicken will be burned to a crisp, and the eggs won't be fit to eat." "I don't understand him at all," said Whistlebinkie. "Look at this notice to burglars he has pinned upon the wall." Mollie looked and saw the following, printed in very awkward letters, hanging where Whistlebinkie had indicated: NOTISS TO BURGYLERS. If you have come to robb mi house you'd better save yourselfs the trouble. My silver spoons are all made of led, and my diamonds are only window glass. If you must steel something steel the boyled eggs, because I don't like boyled eggs anyhow. Also plese if you get overcome with remoss for having robbed a poor old man like me and want to give yourselfs upp to the poleese, you can ring up the poleese over the tellyfone in Miss Mollie Wisslebinkie's house up on Broadway. Yoors trooly, THE UNWISEMAN. P. S. If you here me coming while you are robbing me plese run, because I'm afraid of burgylers, and doo not want to mete enny. N. G. If you can't rede my handwriting you'd better get someboddy who can to tell you what I have ritten, because it is very important. Wishing you a plesant time I am egen as I sed befour Yoors tooly, THE UNWISEMAN. "What nonsense," said Mollie, as she read this extraordinary production. "As if the burglars would pay any attention to a notice like that." [Illustration: "It might make 'em laugh so they'd have fits; and then they couldn't burgle."] "Oh, they might!" said Whistlebinkie. "It might make 'em laugh so they'd have fits, and then they couldn't burgle. But what is that other placard he has pinned on the wall?" "That," said Mollie, as she investigated the second placard, "that seems to be a lot of rules for the kitchen. He's a queer old man for placards, isn't he?" "Indeed he is," said Whistlebinkie. "What do the rules say?" "I'll get 'em down," said Mollie, mounting a chair and removing the second placard from the wall. Then she and Whistlebinkie read the following words: KITCHING RULES. 1. No cook under two years of age unaccompanied by nurse or parent aloud in this kitching. 3. Boyled eggs must never be cooked in the frying pan, and when fried eggs are ordered the cook must remember not to scramble them. This rule is printed ahed of number too, because it is more important than it. 2. Butcher boys are warned not to sit on the ranje while the fiyer is going because all the heat in the fiyer is needed for cooking. Butcher boys who violate this rule will be charged for the cole consumed in burning them. [Illustration: "The fiyer must not be allowed to go out without someboddy with it."] 7. The fiyer must not be aloud to go out without some boddy with it, be cause fiyers are dangerous and might set the house on fiyer. Any cook which lets the house burn down through voilating this rule will have the value of the house subtracted from her next month's wages, with interest at forety persent from the date of the fiyer. 11. Brekfist must be reddy at all hours, and shall consist of boyled eggs or something else. 4. Wages will be pade according to work done on the following skale: For cooking one egg one hour 1 cent. " " " leg of lamb one week 3 " " " pann cakes per duzzen 2 " " " gravey, per kwart 1 " " stooing proons per hundred 2 " In making up bills against me cooks must add the figewers right, and substract from the whole the following charges: For rent of kitchchen per day 10 cents. For use of pans and kittles 15 " For cole, per nugget 3 " Matches, kindeling and gas per day 20 " Food consoomed in tasting 30 " Sundries 50 " 13. These rules must be obayed. Yoors Trooly, THE UNWISEMAN. P. S. Ennyboddy violating these rules will be scolded. Yoors Tooly, THE UNWISEMAN. Whistlebinkie was rolling on the floor convulsed with laughter by the time Mollie finished reading these rules. He knew enough about house-keeping to know how delightful they were, and if the Unwiseman could have seen him he would doubtless have been very much pleased at his appreciation. "The funny part of it all is, though," said Mollie, "that the poor old man doesn't keep a cook at all, but does all his own housework." "Let's see what kind of a dining-room he has got," said Whistlebinkie, recovering from his convulsion. "I wonder which way it is." "It must be in there to the right," said Mollie. "That is, it must if that sign in the passage-way means anything. Don't you see, Whistlebinkie, it says: 'This way to the dining-room,' and under it it has 'Caution: meals must not be served in the parlor'?" "So it has," said Whistlebinkie, reading the sign. "Let's go in there." So the two little strangers walked into the dining-room, and certainly if the kitchen was droll in the matter of placards, the dining-room was more so, for directly over the table and suspended from the chandelier were these RULES FOR GUESTS. Guests will please remember to remove their hats before sitting down at the tabel. Soup will not be helped more than three times to any guest, no matter who. It is forbidding for guests to criticize the cooking, or to converse with the waiteress. [Illustration: "Guest's will kindly not make fun of the host."] Guest's will kindly not contradict or make fun of their host, since he is very irritable and does not like to be contradicted or made fun of. Guests will oblige their host by not asking for anything that is not on the bill of fare. In a private house like this it would be very awkward to have to serve guests with fried potatoes at a time when ice-cream or mince pie has been ordered. Horses and wheelbarrows are not aloud in this dining-room under any circumstances whatever. Neither must cows or hay scales be brought here. Guests bringing their own olives will be charged extra. Also their own assalted ammonds. Spoons, platters, and gravy boats taken from the table must be paid for at market rates for articles so taken away. Any guest caught violating any or all of these rules will not be aloud any dessert whatever; and a second voilition will deprive them of a forth helping to roast beef and raisins. Yoors Tooly, THE UNWISEMAN. N. G. Any guest desiring to substitute his own rules for the above is at libbity to do so, provided he furnishes his own dining-room. "They're the most ridiculous rules I ever heard of," said Mollie, with a grin so broad that it made her ears uncomfortable. "The idea of having to tell anybody not to wear a hat at the table! He might just as well have made a rule forbidding people to throw plates on the floor." "I dessay he would have, if he'd thought of it," returned Whistlebinkie. "But just look at these rules for the waitress. They are worse than the others." Then Whistlebinkie read off the rules the Unwiseman had made for the waitress, as follows: RULES FOR THE WAITERESS. 1. Iced water must never be served boiling, nor under any circumstances must ice-cream come to the tabel fried to a crisp. 2. Waiteresses caught upsetting the roast beef on a guest's lap will be charged for the beef at the rate of $1.00 a pound, and will have to go to bed without her brekfist. 3. All cakes, except lady-fingers, must be served in the cake basket. The lady-fingers must be served in finger bowls, whether this is what the waiteress is used to or not. This is my dining-room, and I am the one to make the rules for it. 4. All waiteresses must wear caps. Their caps must be lace caps, and not yotting caps, tennis caps, or gun caps. The caps must be worn on the head, and not on the hands or feet. All waiteresses caught voilating this rule will not be allowed any pie for eight weeks. 5. Meals must not be served until they are ready, and such silly jokes as putting an empty soup tureen on the table for the purpose of fooling me will be looked upon with disfavor and not laughed at. 6. Waiteresses must never invite their friends here to take dinner with me unless I am out, and they mustn't do it then either, because this is my dining-room, and I can wear it out quick enough without any outside help. 7. Waiteresses must not whistle while waitering on the tabel, because it isn't proper that they should. Besides, girls can't whistle, anyhow. 8. At all meals dessert must be served at every other course. In serving a dinner this course should be followed: 1. Pie. 2. Soup. 3. Custard. 4. Roast Beef. 5. Ice-cream. 6. Sallad. 7. Pudding. 8. Coffee. 9. More Pudding. 9. In case there is not enough of anything to go around more will be sent for at the waiteresses' expense, because the chances are she has been tasting it, which she hadn't any business to do. 10. To discourage waiteresses in losing spoons, and knives, and forks, any waiteress caught losing a spoon or a knife and a fork will have the price of two spoons, two knives, and two forks substracted off of her next month's wages. Yoors Tooly, THE UNWISEMAN. [Illustration: "Riteing rules isn't easy work."] N. G. All waiteresses who don't like these rules would better apply for some other place somewhere else, because I'm not going to take the trouble to get up a lot of good rules like these and then not have them obeyed. Riteing rules isn't easy work. "Well I declare!" said Mollie, when they had finished reading. "I don't wonder he has to live in his little old house all by himself. I don't believe he'd get anybody to stay here a minute, if those rules had to be minded." "Oh, I don't know," said Whistlebinkie. "They all seem reasonable enough." "I think I'll take 'em down and show them to my mamma," said Mollie, reaching out to do as she said. "No, no, don't do that," said Whistlebinkie. "That wouldn't be right. They are his property, and it would never do for you to steal them." "That's so," said Mollie. "I guess you are right." "If you want to steal something why don't you do as he asked you to?" put in Whistlebinkie. "What did he ask me to do?" "Why don't you remember the notice to burglars?" [Illustration: "Oh, yes!" said Mollie, "if you must steal something, steal a boyled egg."] "Oh, yes!" said Mollie. "'If you must steal something steal a boyled egg.'" "That's it. He doesn't like boyled eggs." "And neither do I," said Mollie. "Particularly when they are as hard as bullets." And then hearing the tinkle of the tea bell at home Mollie and Whistlebinkie left the Unwiseman's house without stealing anything, which after all was the best thing to do. [Illustration: IV. A Call From the Unwiseman. In which Mollie's call is returned. Mollie] [Illustration: "Should any queen read these lines, the author hopes she will see that her daughter is brought up to look after household affairs."] had been very busy setting things to rights in Cinderella's house one autumn afternoon not long after her visit to the Unwiseman. Cinderella was a careless Princess, who allowed her palace to get into a very untidy condition every two or three weeks. Bric-a-brac would be strewn here and there about the floor; clocks would be found standing upside down in the fire-places; andirons and shoe buttons would litter up the halls and obstruct the stairways--in short, all things would get topsy-turvy within the doors of the Princess' house, and all because Princesses are never taught house-keeping. Should any King or Queen read these lines, the author hopes that his or her Majesty will take the hint and see to it that his or her daughters are properly brought up and taught to look after household affairs, for if they do not, most assuredly the time may come when the most magnificent palace in the world will be allowed to go to ruin through mere lack of attention. It was a long and hard task for the little mistress of the nursery, but she finally accomplished it; apple-pie order once more ruled in the palace, the Princess' diamonds had been swept up from the floor, and stored away in the bureau drawers, and Mollie was taking a well-earned rest in her rocking-chair over by the window. As she gazed out upon the highway upon which the window fronted, she saw in the dim light a strange shadow passing down the walk, and in a minute the front door-bell rang. Supposing it to be no one but the boy with the evening paper, Mollie did not stir as she would have done if it had been her papa returning home. The paper boy possessed very little interest to her--indeed, I may go so far as to say that Mollie despised the paper boy, not because he was a paper boy, but because he was rude, and had, upon several occasions recently made faces at her and told her she didn't know anything because she was a girl, and other mean things like that; as if being a girl kept one from finding out useful and important things. So, as I have said, she sat still and gazed thoughtfully out of the window. Her thoughts were interrupted in a moment, however, by a most extraordinary proceeding at the nursery door. It suddenly flew open with a bang, and Whistlebinkie came tumbling in head over heels, holding the silver card-receiver in his hand, and whistling like mad from excitement. "Cardfew," he tooted through the top of his hat. "Nwiseman downstairs." "What are you trying to say, Whistlebinkie?" asked Mollie, severely. "Here is a card for you," said Whistlebinkie, standing up and holding out the salver upon which lay, as he had hinted, a card. "The gentleman is below." Mollie picked up the card, which read this way: Mr. ME. My House. "What on earth does it mean?" cried Mollie, with a smile, the card seemed so droll. "It is the Unwiseman's card. He has called on you, and is downstairs in the parlor--and dear me, how funny he does look," roared Whistlebinkie breathlessly. "He's got on a beaver hat, a black evening coat like your papa wears to the theatre or to dinners, a pair of goloshes, and white tennis trousers. Besides that he's got an umbrella with him, and he's sitting in the parlor with it up over his head." Whistlebinkie threw himself down on the floor in a spasm of laughter as he thought of the Unwiseman's appearance. Mollie meanwhile was studying the visitor's card. "What does he mean by 'My House'?" she asked. "That's his address, I suppose," said Whistlebinkie. "But what shall I tell him? Are you in?" "Of course I'm in," Mollie replied, and before Whistlebinkie could get upon his feet again she had flown out of the room, down the stairs to the parlor, where, sure enough, as Whistlebinkie had said, the Unwiseman sat, his umbrella raised above his head, looking too prim and absurd for anything. "How do you do, Miss Whistlebinkie?" he said, gravely, as Mollie entered the room. "I believe that is the correct thing to say when you are calling, though for my part I can't see why. People do so many things that there's a different way to do almost all of them. If I said, 'how do you do your sums?' of course there could be a definite answer. 'I do them by adding, or by substracting.' If any one calling on me should say, 'how do you do?' I'd say, 'excuse me, but how do I do what?' However, I wish to be ruled by etiquette, and as I understand that is the proper question to begin with, I will say again, 'how do you do, Miss Whistlebinkie?' According to my etiquette book it is your turn to reply, and what you ought to say is, 'I'm very well, I thank you, how are you?' I'm very well." "I'm delighted to hear it, Mr. Me," returned Mollie, glad of the chance to say something. "I have thought a great deal about you lately." "So have I," said the Unwiseman. "I've been thinking about myself all day. I like to think about pleasant things. I've been intending to return your call for a long time, but really I didn't know exactly how to do it. You see, some things are harder to return than other things. If I borrowed a book from you, and wanted to return it, I'd know how in a minute. I'd just take the book, wrap it up in a piece of brown paper, and send it back by mail or messenger--or both, in case it happened to be a male messenger. Same way with a pair of andirons. Just return 'em by sending 'em back--but calls are different, and that's what I've come to see you about. I don't know how to return that call." "But this is the return of the call," said Mollie. "I don't see how," said the Unwiseman, with a puzzled look on his face. "This isn't the same call at all. The call you made at my house was another one. This arrangement is about the same as it would be in the case of my borrowing a book on Asparagus from you, and returning a book on Sweet Potatoes to you. That wouldn't be a return of your book. It would be returning _my_ book. Don't you see? Now, I want to be polite and return your call, but I can't. I can't find it. It's come and gone. I almost wish you hadn't called, it's puzzled me so. Finally, I made up my mind to come here, and apologize to you for not returning it. That's all I can do." "Don't mention it," said Mollie. "Oh, but I must! How could I apologize without mentioning it?" said the Unwiseman, hastily. "You wouldn't know what I was apologizing for if I didn't mention it. How have you been?" "Quite well," said Mollie. "I've been very busy this fall getting my dolls' dresses made and setting everything to rights. Won't you--ah--won't you put down your umbrella, Mr. Me?" [Illustration: "No, thank you," said the unwiseman, with an anxious peep at the ceiling.] "No, thank you," said the Unwiseman, with an anxious peep at the ceiling. "I am very timid about other people's houses, Miss Whistlebinkie. I have been told that sometimes houses fall down without any provocation, and while I don't doubt that your house is well built and all that, some nail somewhere might give way and the whole thing might come down. As long as I have the umbrella over my head I am safe, but without it the ceiling, in case the house did fall, would be likely to spoil my hat. This is a pretty parlor you have. They call it white and gold, I believe." "Yes," said Mollie. "Mamma is very fond of parlors of that kind." "So am I," said the Unwiseman. "I have one in my own house." "Indeed?" said Mollie. "I didn't see it." [Illustration: "I don't like to get angry."] "You were in it, only you didn't know it," observed the Unwiseman. "It was that room with the walls painted brown. I was afraid the white and gold walls would get spotted if I didn't do something to protect them, so I had a coat of brown paint put over the whole room. Good idea that, I think, and all mine, too. I'd get it patented, if I wasn't afraid somebody would make an improvement on it, and get all the money that belonged to me, which would make me very angry. I don't like to get angry, because when I do I always break something valuable, and I find that when I break anything valuable I get angrier than ever, and go ahead and break something else. If I got angry once I never could stop until I'd broken all the valuable things in the world, and when they were all gone where would I be?" "But it seems to me," said Mollie, as she puzzled over the Unwiseman's idea, of which he seemed unduly proud, "it seems to me that if you cover a white and gold parlor with a coat of brown paint, it doesn't stay a white and gold parlor. It becomes a brown parlor." "Not at all," returned the Unwiseman. "How do you make that out? Put it this way: You, for instance, are a white girl, aren't you?" "Yes," said Mollie. "That is, they call you white, though really you are a pink girl. However, for the sake of the argument, you are white." "Certainly," said Mollie, anxious to be instructed. "And you wear clothes to protect you." "I do." "Now if you wore a brown dress, would you cease to be a white girl and become a nigrio?" "A what?" cried Mollie. "A nigrio--a little brown darky girl," said the Unwiseman. "No," said Mollie. "I'd still be a white or pink girl, whatever color I was before." "Well--that's the way with my white and gold parlor. It's white and gold, and I give it a brown dress for protection. That's all there is to it. I see you keep your vases on the mantel-piece. Queer notion that. Rather dangerous, I should think." Mollie laughed. "Dangerous?" she cried. "Why not at all. They're safe enough, and the mantel-piece is the place for them, isn't it? Where do you keep yours?" "I don't have any. I don't believe in 'em," replied the Unwiseman. "They aren't any good." "They're splendid," said Mollie. "They're just the things to keep flowers in." "What nonsense," said the Unwiseman, with a sneer. "The place to keep flowers is in a garden. You might just as well have a glass trunk in your parlor to hold your clothes in; or a big china bin to hold oats or grass in. It's queer how you people who know things do things. But anyhow, if I did have vases I wouldn't put 'em on mantel-pieces, but on the floor. If they are on the floor they can't fall off and break unless your house turns upside down." "They might get stepped on," said Mollie. [Illustration: "I'm fond of the wet."] "Poh!" snapped the Unwiseman. "Don't you wise people look where you step? I do, and they say I don't know enough to go in when it rains, which is not true. I know more than enough to go in when it rains. I stay out when it rains because I like to. I'm fond of the wet. It keeps me from drying up, and makes my clothes fit me. Why, if I hadn't stayed out in the rain every time I had a chance last summer my flannel suit never would have fitted me. It was eight sizes too big, and it took sixteen drenching storms to make it shrink small enough to be just right. Most men--wise men they call themselves--would have spent money having them misfitted again by a tailor, but I don't spend my money on things I can get done for nothing. That's the reason I don't pay anything out to beggars. I can get all the begging I want done on my place without having to pay a cent for it, and yet I know lots and lots of people who are all the time spending money on beggars." "There is a great deal in what you say," said Mollie. "There generally is," returned the Unwiseman. "I do a great deal of thinking, and I don't say anything without having thought it all out beforehand. That's why I'm so glad you were at home to-day. I mapped out all my conversation before I came. In fact, I wrote it all down, and then learned it by heart. It would have been very unpleasant if after doing all that, taking all that trouble, I should have found you out. It's very disappointing to learn a conversation, and then not converse it." "I should think so," said Mollie. "What do you do on such occasions? Keep it until the next call?" "No. Sometimes I tell it to the maid, and ask her to tell it to the person who is out. Sometimes I say it to the front door, and let the person it was intended for find it out for herself as best she can, but most generally I send it to 'em by mail." Here the Unwiseman paused for a minute, cocking his head on one side as if to think. "Excuse me," he said. "But I've forgotten what I was to say next. I'll have to consult my memorandum-book. Hold my umbrella a minute--over my head please. Thank you." Then as Mollie did as the queer creature wished, he fumbled in his pockets for a minute and shortly extracting his memorandum-book from a mass of other stuff, he consulted its pages. "Oh, yes!" he said, with a smile of happiness. "Yes, I've got it now. At this point you were to ask me if I wouldn't like a glass of lemonade, and I was to say yes, and then you were to invite me up-stairs to see your play room. There's some talk scattered in during the lemonade, but, of course, I can't go on until you've done your part." He gazed anxiously at Mollie for a moment, and the little maid, taking the hint, smilingly said: "Ah! won't you have a little refreshment, Mr. Me? A glass of lemonade, for instance?" "Why--ah--certainly, Miss Whistlebinkie. Since you press me, I--ah--I don't care if I do." And the caller and his hostess passed, laughing heartily, out of the white and gold parlor into the pantry. [Illustration: V. The Unwiseman is Offended. In which the Old Gentleman takes his leave.] "How do you like your lemonade?" asked Mollie, as she and the Unwiseman entered the pantry. "Very sour or very sweet?" "What did you invite me to have?" the Unwiseman replied. "Lemonade or sugarade?" "Lemonade, of course," said Mollie. "I never heard of sugarade before." "Well, lemonade should be very lemony and sugarade should be very sugary; so when I am invited to have lemonade I naturally expect something very lemony, don't I?" "I suppose so," said Mollie, meekly. "Very well, then. That answers your question. I want it very sour. So sour that I can't drink it without it puckering my mouth up until I can't do anything but whistle like our elastic friend with the tootle in his hat." "You mean Whistlebinkie?" said Mollie. "Yes--that India-rubber creature who follows you around all the time and squeaks whenever any one pokes him in the ribs. What's become of him? Has he blown himself to pieces, or has he gone off to have himself made over into a golosh?" "Oh, no--Whistlebinkie is still here," said Mollie. "In fact, he let you into the house. Didn't you see him?" "No, indeed I didn't," said the Unwiseman. "What do you take me for? I'm proud, I am. I wouldn't look at a person who'd open a front door. I come of good family. My father was a Dunderberg and my mother was a Van Scootle. We're one of the oldest families in creation. One of my ancestors was in the Ark, and I had several who were not. It would never do for one in my position to condescend to see a person who opened a front door for pay. "That's why I don't have servants in my own house. I'd have to speak to them, and the idea of a Dunderberg-Van Scootle engaged in any kind of conversation with servants is not to be thought of. We never did anything for pay in all the history of our family, and we never recognize as equals people who do. That's why I have nothing to do with anybody but children. Most grown up people work." "I don't see how you live," said Mollie. "How do you pay your bills?" "Don't have any," said the Unwiseman. "Never had a bill in my life. I leave bills to canary birds and mosquitoes." "But you have to buy things to eat, don't you?" "Very seldom," said the Unwiseman. "I'm never hungry; but when I do get hungry I can most generally find something to eat somewhere--apples, for instance. I can live a week on one apple." "Well, what do you do when you've eaten the apple?" queried Mollie. "What an absurd question," laughed the Unwiseman. "Didn't you know that there was more than one apple in the world? Every year I find enough apples to last me as long as I think it is necessary to provide. Last year I laid in fifty-three apples so that if I got very hungry one week I could have two--or maybe I could give a dinner and invite my friends, and they could have the extra apple. Don't you see?" "Well, you are queer, for a fact!" said Mollie, getting a large lemon out of the pantry closet and cutting it in half. As the sharp steel blade of the knife cut through the crisp yellow lemon the eyes of the Unwiseman opened wide and bulged with astonishment. "What on earth are you doing, Miss Whistlebinkie?" he said. "Why do you destroy that beautiful thing?" It was Mollie's turn to be surprised. "I don't know what you mean," she said. "Why shouldn't I cut the lemon? How can I make a lemonade without cutting it?" "Humph!" said the Unwiseman, with a half sneer on his lips. "You'll go to the poor-house if you waste things like that. Why, I've had lemonade for a year out of one lemon, and it hasn't been cut open yet. I drop it in a glass of water and let it soak for ten minutes. That doesn't use up the lemon juice as your plan does, and it makes one of the bitterest sour drinks that you ever drank--however, this is your lemonade treat, and it isn't for me to criticize. My book of etiquette says that people out calling must act according to the rules of the house they are calling at. If you asked me to have some oyster soup and then made it out of sassafras or snow-balls, it would be my place to eat it and say I never tasted better oyster soup in my life. That's a funny thing about being polite. You have to do and say so many things that you don't really mean. But go ahead. Make your lemonade in your own way. I've got to like it whether I like it or not. It isn't my lemon you are wasting." Mollie resumed the making of the lemonade while the Unwiseman looked about him, discovering something that was new and queer to him every moment. He seemed to be particularly interested in the water pipes. "Strange idea that," he said, turning the cold water on and off all the time. "You have a little brook running through your house whenever you want it. Ever get any fish out of it?" "No," said Mollie, with a laugh. "We couldn't get very big fish through a faucet that size." [Illustration: "Why don't you have larger faucets and catch the fish?"] "That's what I was thinking," said the Unwiseman, turning the water on again; "and furthermore, I think it's very strange that you don't fix it so that you can get fish. A trout isn't more than four inches around. You could get one through a six-inch pipe without any trouble unless he got mad and stuck his fins out. Why don't you have larger faucets and catch the fish? I would. If there aren't any fish in the brook you can stock it up without any trouble, and it would save you the money you pay to fish-markets as well as the nuisance of going fishing yourself and putting worms on hooks." A long hilarious whistle from the pantry door caused the Unwiseman to look up sharply. "What was that?" he said. "Smee," came the whistling voice. "It's Whistlebinkie," said Mollie. "Is his real name Smee?" asked the Unwiseman. "I thought Whistlebinkie was his name." "So it is," said Mollie. "But when he gets excited he always runs his words together and speaks them through the top of his hat. By 'smee' he meant 'it's me.' Come in, Whistlebinkie." "I shall not notice him," said the Unwiseman, stiffly. "Remember what I said to you about my family. He opens front doors for pay." "Donteither," whistled Whistlebinkie. "You wrong him, Mr. Unwiseman," said Mollie. "He isn't paid for opening the front door. He just does it for fun." "Oh! well, that's different," said the proud visitor. "If he does it just for fun I can afford to recognize him--though I must say I can't see what fun there is in opening front doors. How do you do, Whistlebinkie?" "Pretwell," said Whistlebinkie. "How are you?" "I hardly know what to say," replied the Unwiseman, scratching his head thoughtfully. "You see, Miss Mollie, when I got up my conversation for this call I didn't calculate on Whistlebinkie here. I haven't any remarks prepared for him. Of course, I could tell him that I am in excellent health, and that I think possibly it will rain before the year is over; but, after all, that's very ordinary kind of talk, and we'll have to keep changing the subject all the time to get back to my original conversation with you." "Whistlebinkie needn't talk at all," said Mollie. "He can just whistle." "Or maybe I could go outside and put in a few remarks for him here and there, and begin the call all over again," suggested the Unwiseman. "Oh, no! Dodoothat," began Whistlebinkie. "Now what does he mean by dodoothat?" asked the visitor, with a puzzled look on his face. "He means don't do that--don't you, Whistlebinkie? Answer plainly through your mouth and let your hat rest," said Mollie. "That--swat--I--meant," said Whistlebinkie, as plainly as he could. "He--needn't--botherto--talk--toomee--to me, I mean. I only--want--to--listen--towhim." "What's towhim?" asked the Unwiseman. "To you is what he means. He says he's satisfied to listen to you when you talk." "Thassit," Whistlebinkie hurried to say, meaning, I suppose, "that's it." "Ah!" said the Unwiseman, with a pleased smile. "That's it, eh? Well, permit me to say that I think you are a very wonderfully wise rubber doll, Mr. Whistlebinkie. I may go so far as to say that in this view of the case I think you are the wisest rubber doll I ever met. You like my conversation, do you?" "Deedido," whistled Whistlebinkie. "I think it's fine!" "I owe you an apology, Whistlebinkie," said the Unwiseman, gazing at the doll in an affectionate way. "I thought you opened front doors for pay, instead of which I find that you are one of the wisest, most interesting rubber celebrities of the day. I apologize for even thinking that you would accept pay for opening a front door, and I will esteem it a great favor if you will let me be your friend. Nay, more. I shall make it my first task to get up a conversation especially for you. Eh? Isn't that fine, Whistlebinkie? I, Me, the Unwiseman, promise to devote fifteen or twenty minutes of his time to getting up talk for you, talk with thinking in it, talk that amounts to something, talk that ninety-nine talkers out of a hundred conversationalists couldn't say if they tried; and all for you. Isn't that honor?" "Welliguess!" whistled Whistlebinkie. "Very well, then. Listen," said the Unwiseman. "Where were we at, Miss Mollie?" "I believe," said Mollie, squeezing a half a lemon, "I believe you were saying something about putting fish through the faucet." "Oh, yes! As I remember it, the faucets were too small to get the fish through, and I was pondering why you didn't have them larger." "That was it," said Mollie. "You thought if the faucets were larger it would save fish-hooks and worms." "Exactly," said the Unwiseman. "And I wonder at it yet. I'd even go farther. If I could have a trout-stream running through my house that I could turn on and off as I pleased, I'd have also an estuary connected with the Arctic regions through which whales could come, and in that way I'd save lots of money. Just think what would happen if you could turn on a faucet and get a whale. You'd get oil enough to supply every lamp in your house. You wouldn't have to pay gas bills or oil bills, and besides all that you could have whale steaks for breakfast, and whenever your mother wanted any whale-bone, instead of sending to the store for it, she'd have plenty in the house. If you only caught one whale a month, you'd have all you could possibly need." "It certainly is a good idea," said Mollie. "But I don't think----" "Wait a minute, please," said the Unwiseman, hastily. "That don't think remark of yours isn't due until I've turned on this other faucet." Suiting his action to his word, the Unwiseman turned on the hot-water faucet, and plunging his hand into the water, slightly scalded his fingers. [Illustration: "Ouch!" he cried; "the brook must be afire!"] "Ouch!" he cried. "The brook must be afire! Now who ever heard of that? The idea of a brook being on fire! Really, Miss Whistlebinkie, you ought to tell your papa about this. If you don't, the pipes will melt and who knows what will become of your house? It will be flooded with burning water!" "Oh, no!--I guess not. That water is heated down stairs in the kitchen, in the boiler." "But--but isn't it dangerous?" the Unwiseman asked, anxiously. "Not at all," said Mollie. "You've been mistaken all along, Mr. Me. There isn't any brook running through this house." "I?" cried the Unwiseman, indignantly. "Me? I? The Unwiseman mistaken? Never! I never made a mistake but once, Miss Mary J. Whistlebinkie, and that was in calling upon you. I'm going home at once. You have outrageously offended me." "I didn't mean to," pleaded Mollie. "I was only trying to tell you the truth. This water comes out of a tank." [Illustration: "I am going straight home."] "Excuse me," said the Unwiseman, indignantly. "You have said that I have made a mistake. You charge me with an act of which I have never been guilty, and I am going straight home. You said something that wasn't in the conversation, and we can never get back again to the point from which you have departed." "Oh! do stay," said Whistlebinkie. "You haven't seen the nursery yet, and the hardwood stairs, and all the lovely things we have here." "No, I haven't--and I sha'n't now!" retorted the Unwiseman. "I had some delicious remarks to make about the nursery, but now they are impossible. I shall not even drink your lemonade. I am going home!" And without another word the Unwiseman departed in high dudgeon. "Isn't it too bad," said Mollie, as she heard the front door slam after the departing guest. "Yes," said Whistlebinkie. "I wanted him to stay until it was dark. I should like so much to know what he'd have to say about gas." [Illustration: VI. The Christmas Venture of the Unwiseman. In which the Unwiseman goes into an unprofitable business. It] was the Saturday before Christmas. Mollie and Whistlebinkie started out in the afternoon to watch the boys skating for a while, after which they went to the top of the great hill just outside the village to take a coast or two. Whistlebinkie had never had any experience on a sled, and he was very anxious to try it just once, and, as Mollie was a little sleepy when he began persuading her to take him some time when she went, for the sake of peace and rest she had immediately promised what he wished of her. So here they were, on this cold, crisp December day, laboriously lugging Mollie's sled up the hill. "Tain-teesy!" whistled Whistlebinkie. "What's that you say?" panted Mollie, for she was very much out of breath. "Tain-teesy," repeated Whistlebinkie. "I can't wissel well when I'm out of breath." "Well, I guess I know what you mean," said Mollie. "You mean that it isn't easy pulling this sled up hill." "Thassit!" said Whistlebinkie. "If this is what you call coasting, I don't want any more of it." "Oh, no!" said Mollie. "This isn't coasting. This is only getting ready to coast. The coast comes when you slide down hill. We'll come down in about ten seconds." "Humph!" said Whistlebinkie. "All this pulling and hauling for ten seconds' worth of fun?" [Illustration: "Sliding down hill is never any fun unless you live at the top of the hill."] "That's what I say!" said a voice at Mollie's elbow. "Sliding down hill is never any fun unless you live at the top of the hill and wish to go down to the level to stay forever." "Why," cried Mollie, delightedly, as she recognized the voice; "why it's the Unwiseman!" "Sotiz!" roared Whistlebinkie, intending, of course to say "so it is." "Certainly it is," said the Unwiseman; "for how could it be otherwise, seeing as I am not a magic lantern and so cannot change myself into some one else? I've got to stay Me always." "Magic lanterns can't change themselves into anything else," said Mollie. "You must mean magician." "Maybe I must," said the Unwiseman. "I guess you are right. Some people call 'em by a long name like prestodigipotatoes, but your word is good enough for me, so we'll let it go at that. I'm not a magellan, so I can't transfigure myself. Therefore, I am still the Unwiseman at your service. But tell me, are you going sliding?" "Yes," said Mollie. "Want to come with us?" "I'd like to, but I'm afraid I can't. I'm very busy," replied the Unwiseman. "I'm going into business." "You?" cried Mollie, in amazement. "Why, didn't you tell me once that you never worked? That no member of your family had ever worked, and that you despised trade?" "Iyeardim," put in Whistlebinkie. "What's that?" queried the Unwiseman, frowning at Whistlebinkie. "What does iyeardim mean?" "It's Whistlebinkie for 'I heard him,'" explained Mollie. "He means to say that he heard you say you had never worked and never intended to." "No doubt," said the Unwiseman. "No doubt. But misfortune has overtaken me. I have ceased to like apples." "Ho!" laughed Mollie. "What has that to do with it?" "I have ceased to like apples and have conceived an unquenchable thirst for chocolate eclaires," said the Unwiseman. "Hitherto, as I once told you, I have lived on apples, which cost me nothing, because I could pick them up in the orchard, but chocolate eclaires cost money. I have been informed, and I believe, they cost five cents a piece; that they do not grow on trees, but are made by men calling themselves fakirs----" "Bakers, you mean, I guess," interrupted Mollie. "It may be," said the Unwiseman, "though neither fakir nor baker seems to me to be so good a name for a man who makes cakes as the word caker." "But there isn't any such word," said Mollie. "Then that accounts for it," said the Unwiseman. "If there were such a word those men would be called by it. But to come back to the chocolate eclaires, whether they are made by bakers, fakirs, or plumbers, they cost money; if I don't have them I shall starve to death, for I can never more eat apples; therefore, to live I must make some money, and to make money I must go into business." "Well, I haven't any doubt it will be good for you," said Mollie. "It's always well to have something to do. What business are you going into?" "Ah!" said the Unwiseman, with a shake of his head. "That's my secret. I've got a patent business I'm going into. It's my own invention. I was going to be a lawyer at first, but I heard that lawyers gave advice. I don't intend to give anything. There isn't any money in giving things, so, of course, I decided not to be a lawyer--besides, I know of a man who was a lawyer and he spent all of his life up to his ears in trouble, and he didn't even own the trouble. It all belonged to his victims." "Why don't you become a minister?" suggested Mollie. "That's too hard work," said the Unwiseman. "You've got to go to church three times every Sunday, and, besides, my house wouldn't look well with a steeple on it. Then, too, I'd have to take a partner to ring the bell and play the organ, and, of course, he'd want half the collections. No: I couldn't be a minister. I'm too droll to be one, even if my house would look well with a steeple on it. I did think some of being a doctor, though." "Why don't you?" said Mollie. "Doctors are awfully nice people. Our doctor is just lovely. He gives me the nicest medicines you ever saw." "That may be true; but I don't want to be a doctor," returned the Unwiseman. "You have to study an awful lot to be a doctor. I knew a man once who studied six weeks before he could be a doctor, and then what do you suppose happened? It was awfully discouraging." "What was it?" queried Mollie. "Why, he practised on a cat he owned, to see what kind of a doctor he had become, and the cat died all nine times at once; so the poor fellow, after wasting all those weeks on study, had to become a plumber, after all. Plumbing is the easiest profession of all, you know. You don't have to know anything to be a plumber, only you've got to have strong eyes." "I didn't know that," said Mollie. "Oh my, yes!" returned the Unwiseman. "You can't be a plumber unless you have strong eyes. It is very bad for a weak-eyed person to have to sit on the floor and look at a pipe all day. That is one reason why I'm not going to be a plumber. The other reason is that they never get any rest. They work all day eying pipes, and then have to sit up all night making out bills, and then they burn their fingers on stoves, and they sometimes get their feet wet after springing a leak on a pipe, and, altogether, it isn't pleasant. People play jokes on plumbers, too; mean jokes. Why, I knew a plumber who was called out in the middle of the night once by a city man who was trying to be a farmer during the summer months, and what do you suppose the trouble was?" "I'm sure I don't know," said Mollie. "What?" "The city man said he'd come home late and found the well full of water, and what was worse, the colander was riddled with holes. Twelve o'clock at night, mind you, and one of these bitter cold summer nights you find down in New Jersey." "That was awfully mean," said Mollie. "That is, it was if the city man didn't know any better." "He did know better. He did it just for a joke," said the Unwiseman. "And didn't the plumber put in a great big bill for that?" asked Mollie. "Yes--but the city man couldn't pay it," said the Unwiseman. "That was the meanest part of the joke. He went and lost all his money afterward. I believe he did it just to spite the plumber." "Well," said Mollie, "here we are at the top of the hill at last. Won't you change your mind and go down with us, just once?" "Nope," returned the Unwiseman. "I can't change my mind. Can't get it out of my head, to change. Besides, I must hurry. I've got to get a hundred pairs of stockings before Christmas Eve." "Oh!" said Mollie. "I see. You are going into the stocking business." "No, I'm not," said the queer old fellow, with a knowing smile. "There isn't much money in selling stockings. I've got a better idea than that. You come around to my house Christmas morning and I'll show you a thing or two--that is, I will if I can get the hundred pairs of stockings--you couldn't lend me a few pairs, could you?" "I guess maybe so," said Mollie. "All right--thank you very much," said the Unwiseman. "I'll be off now and get them. Good-by." And before Mollie could say another word he was gone. "Isn't he the worst you ever saw?" said Mollie. "Puffickly-digulous," said Whistlebinkie. "I wonder what his business is to be," observed Mollie, as she seated herself on the sled and made ready for the descent. "I haven't the slightest ideeeee-eeeeeeee-eeeee-eeee-ah!" whistled Whistlebinkie; a strange and long-drawn-out word that; but whistling dolls are very like boys and girls when they are sliding down hill. Mollie had set the sled in motion just as Whistlebinkie started to speak, and her little rubber companion could not get away from the letter _e_ in idea until he and his mistress ran plump into the snow-drift at the foot of the hill. "My!" said Whistlebinkie, blowing the snow out of his whistle. "Wasn't that fine! I could do that all day." "You could if the hill was long enough," said Mollie, sagely. "But come, we must go home now." And home they went. In the forty-eight or more hours that passed before Christmas morning came, Mollie often wondered at the business venture of the Unwiseman. What it could be she could not guess. The hundred pairs of stockings mystified her exceedingly, and so, when Christmas morning finally dawned, the first thing she and Whistlebinkie did was to post off at full speed to the house of the Unwiseman. "I wonder where his home is now?" said Whistlebinkie, as they walked along. "I haven't the slightest idea," said Mollie; "but it's had a way of turning up where we least expected it in the past, so maybe we'll find it in the same way now." Mollie was right, for hardly were the words out of her mouth when directly in front of her she saw what was unmistakably the house of the Unwiseman, only fastened to the chimney was a huge sign, which had not been there the last time she and Whistlebinkie had visited the Unwiseman. "What is that he's got on his chimmilly?" said Whistlebinkie, who did not know how to spell, and who always pronounced words as he thought they were spelled. "It's a sign--sure as you live," said Mollie. "What does it say?" Whistlebinkie asked. "The Unwiseman's Orphan Asylum," said Mollie, reading the sign. "Notice to Santa Claus: Dear Sir:--Too Hundred Orphans is Incarcerated Here. Please leave Toys Accordingly." "Ho!" said Whistlebinkie. "How queer." "You don't suppose he has really gone into the Orphan Asylum business?" said Mollie. "I dono," said Whistlebinkie. "Let's wait till we see him before we decide." So they ran on until they got to the Unwiseman's front door, upon which they knocked as hard as they knew how. "Who's there?" came a reply in a mournful voice, from within. "It's us," said Mollie. "Who is Uss?" said the voice. "I know several Usses. Are you George W. Uss, the trolley-car conductor, or William Peters Uss, the poet? If you are the poet, I don't want to see you. I don't care for any poetry to-day. If you are the conductor, I've paid my fare." "It's Mollie and Whistlebinkie," said Mollie. "Oh--well, that's different. Come in and see your poor ruined old friend, who's got to go back to apples, whether he likes them or not," said the voice. Mollie opened the door and walked in, Whistlebinkie following close behind her--and what a sight it was that met their gaze! There in the middle of the floor sat the Unwiseman, the perfect picture of despair. Scattered about the room were hundreds of broken toys, and swinging from the mantel-piece were two hundred stockings. "Hello!" said the Unwiseman. "Merry Christmas. I'm ruined; but what of that? You aren't." "But how are you ruined?" asked Mollie. "My business has failed--it didn't work," groaned the Unwiseman. "It was the toy business I was going into, and as I had no money to buy the toys with I borrowed a hundred pairs of stockings and hung 'em up. Then I put out that notice for Santa Claus, telling him that this was an Orphan Asylum." "Yes," said Mollie, "I know. But it wasn't the truth, was it?" "Of course it was," said the Unwiseman. "I'm an orphan. Very few men of my age are not, and this is my asylum." "Yes; but you said there were two hundred in here," said Mollie. "I saw your sign." [Illustration: The Unwiseman's "orphans."] "Well there are," said the Unwiseman. "The piano hasn't any father or mother, neither have the chairs, or the hundred and ninety-eight other orphans in this house. It was all true." "Well, anyhow," said Whistlebinkie, "you've got heaps of things. Every stocking seems to have been filled." "True," said the Unwiseman. "But almost entirely with old, cast-off toys. I think it's pretty mean that boys and girls who are not orphans should get all the new toys and that those who are orphans get the broken ones." Which strikes me as a very wise remark for an unwise man to make. "Anyhow," continued the Unwiseman, "I'm ruined. I can't sell these toys, and so I've got to go back to apples." And here he fell to weeping so violently that Mollie and Whistlebinkie stole softly out and went home; but on the way Mollie whispered to Whistlebinkie: "I'm rather sorry for him; but, after all, it was his own fault. He really did try to deceive Santa Claus." "Yes," said Whistlebinkie. "That's so. But he was right about the meanness of giving only old toys to orphans." "Yes, he was," said Mollie. "Yesindeedy!" whistled Whistlebinkie through his hat, gleefully, for he was very happy, as indeed I should be, if I were an old toy, to hear my little master or mistress say it was mean to give me away. "By the way," said Mollie. "He seems to have got over his anger with us. I was afraid he wouldn't ever speak to us again after his call." "So was I," said Whistlebinkie. "And I asked him if he wasn't mad at us any more, and he said, yes he was, but he'd forgiven us for our Christmas present." [Illustration: VII. The Unwiseman's New Year's Resolutions. In which the Unwiseman gives up some very distinguished words. During] the days immediately following Christmas Mollie was so absorbed in the beautiful things the season of peace on earth and good will to men had brought to her that she not only forgot the Unwiseman and his woe over the failure of his business plans, but even her poor little friend Whistlebinkie was allowed to lie undisturbed and unthought of. Several times when she had come near his side Whistlebinkie had tried to whistle something in her ear, but unsuccessfully. Either the something he wanted to whistle wouldn't come, or else if it did Mollie failed to hear it, and Whistlebinkie was very unhappy in consequence. "That's always the way," he sobbed to Flaxilocks who shared his exile with him and who sat on the toy shelf gazing jealously out of her great, deep blue eyes at the magnificent new wax doll that Mollie had received from her grandmother; "don't make any difference how fine a toy may be, he may be made of the best of rubber, and have a whistle that isn't equalled by any locomotive whistle in the world for sweetness, the time comes when his master or mistress grows tired of him and lavishes all her affection on another toy because the other toy happens to be new. What on earth she can see in that real dog to admire I cannot discern. He can't bark half so well as I can whistle, and I am in mortal terror of him all the time, he eyes me so hungrily--but now he is her favorite. Everywhere Mollie goes Gyp goes, and I'm real mad." "Oh, never mind," said Flaxilocks; "she'll get tired of him in a week or two and then she'll take us up again, just as if we were new. I've been around other Christmases and I know how things work. It'll be all right in a little while--that is, it will be for you. I don't know how it is going to turn out with me. That new doll, while I can see many defects in her, which you can't, I can't deny is a beauty, and her earrings are much handsomer than mine. It may be that I must become second to her; but you, you needn't play second fiddle to any one, for there isn't another rubber doll with a whistle in his hat in the house to rival you." "Well, I wish I could be sure of that," said Whistlebinkie, mournfully, "I can see very well how Mollie can love you as well as she loves me--but that real dog, bah! He can't even whistle, and he's awfully destructive. Only last night he chewed up the calico cat, and actually, Mollie laughed. Do you suppose she would laugh if he chewed me up?" "He couldn't chew you up," said Flaxilocks. "You are rubber." Whistlebinkie was about to reply to this when his fears were set at rest and Flaxilocks was comforted, for Mollie with her new dog and wax doll came up to where they were sitting and introduced her new pets to the old ones. "I want you four to know each other," she said. "We'll have lots of fun together this year," and then before they knew it Flaxilocks and the new doll were fast friends, and as for Whistlebinkie and Gyp, they became almost inseparable. Gyp barked and Whistlebinkie whistled, while the dolls sat holding each other's hands, looking if anything quite as happy as Mollie herself. "What do you all say to making a call on the Unwiseman?" Mollie said, after a few minutes. "We ought to go wish him a Happy New Year." [Illustration: So they all started off together.] "Simply elegant," whistled Whistlebinkie, and Gyp and the dolls said he was right, and so they all started off together. "Where does he live?" asked the new doll. "All around," said Flaxilocks. "He has a house that moves about. One day it is in one place and another in another." "But how do you find it?" queried the new doll. "You don't have to," whistled Whistlebinkie. "You just walk on until you run against it,"--and just as he spoke, as if to prove his words, bang! he ran right into the gate. "Here it is now," he added. "He evidently doesn't want to see anybody," said Mollie, noticing a basket hanging from the front door-knob. "He's put out a basket for cards. Dear me! I wish he'd see us." "Maybe he will," said Whistlebinkie. "I'll ring the bell. Hello!" he added sharply, as he looked into the basket; "that's queer. It's chock-up full of cards now--somebody must have called." "It has a placard over it," said Flaxilocks. "So it has," said Mollie, a broad smile brightening her face; "and it says, 'Take one' on it. What _does_ he mean?" "That looks like your card on top," said Flaxilocks. "Why it _is_ my card," cried Mollie, "and here is Whistlebinkie's card too. We haven't been here." "Of course you haven't," said a voice from behind the door. "But you are here now. I knew you were coming and I was afraid you'd forget to bring your cards with you, so I took some of your old ones that you had left here before and put 'em out there where you could get them. Ring the bell, and I'll let you in." Whistlebinkie rang the bell as instructed, and the door was immediately opened, and there stood the Unwiseman waiting to welcome them. "Why, dear me! What a delicious surprise," he said. "Walk right in. I had no idea you were coming." "We came to wish you a Happy New Year," said Mollie. "That's very kind of you," said the Unwiseman, "very kind, indeed. I was thinking of you this morning when I was making my good resolutions for the New Year. I was wondering whether I ought to give you up with other good things, and I finally decided not to. One must have some comfort." "Then you have made some good resolutions, have you?" said Mollie. "Millions of 'em," said the Unwiseman; "and I'm going to make millions more. One of 'em is that I won't catch cold during the coming year. That's one of the best resolutions a man of my age can make. Colds are very bad things, and it costs so much to be rid of them. Why, I had one last winter and I had to burn three cords of wood to get rid of it." "Do you cure a cold with wood?" asked Flaxilocks. "Why not?" returned the Unwiseman. "A roaring hot fire is the best cure for cold I know. What do you do when you have a cold, sit on the ice-box?" "No, I take medicine," said Mollie. "Pills and things." "I don't like pills," said the Unwiseman. "They don't burn well. I bought some quinine pills to cure my cold three winters ago, and they just sizzled a minute when I lit them and went out." This pleased Gyp so much that he sprang upon the piano and wagged his tail on C sharp until Mollie made him stop. "Another resolution I made," continued the Unwiseman, "was to open that piano. That's why it's open now. I've always kept it locked before, but now it is going to be open all the time. That'll give the music a chance to get out; and it's a good thing for pianos to get a little fresh air once in a while. It's the stale airs in that piano--airs like Way Down Upon the Suwanee River, and Annie McGinty, and tunes like that that have made me dislike it." "Queerest man I ever saw!" whispered the new doll to Flaxilocks. "But I didn't stop there," said the Unwiseman. "I made up my mind that I wouldn't grow any older this year. I'm going to stay seven hundred, just as I am now, always. Seven hundred is old enough for anybody, and I'm not going to be greedy about my years when I have enough. Let somebody else have the years, say I." "Very wise and very generous," said Mollie; "but I don't see just how you are going to manage it." "Me neither," whistled Whistlebinkie. "I do'see how you're going to do that." "Simple enough," said the Unwiseman. "I've stopped the clock." Gyp turned his head to one side as the Unwiseman spoke and looked at him earnestly for a few seconds, and then, as if overcome with mirth at the idea, he rushed out of the door and chased his tail around the house three times. "What an extraordinary animal that is," said the Unwiseman. "He must be very young." "He is," said Mollie. "He is nothing but a puppy." "Well, it seems to me he wastes a good deal of strength," said the Unwiseman. "Why, if I should run around the house that way three times I'd be so tired I'd have to hire a man to help me rest." "Are you really seven hundred years old?" queried the new doll, who, I think, would have followed Gyp's example and run around the house herself if she had thought it was dignified and was not afraid of spoiling her new three-button shoes. "I don't know for sure," said the Unwiseman, "but I fancy I must be. I know I'm over sixty because I was born seventy-three years ago. Seven hundred is over sixty, and so for the sake of round figures I have selected that age. It's rather a wonderful age, don't you think so?" "It certainly is," said the new doll. "But then you are a wonderful man," said Mollie. [Illustration: The Unwiseman drops words out of his vocabulary.] "True," said the Unwiseman, reflectively. "I am wonderful. Sometimes I spend the whole night full of wonder that I should be so wonderful. I know so much. Why, I can read French. I can't understand it, but I can read it quite as well as I can English. I can't read English very well, of course; but then I only went to school one day and that happened to be a holiday; so I didn't learn how to do anything but take a day off. But we are getting away from my resolutions. I want to tell you some more of them. I have thought it all over, and I am determined that all through the year I shall eat only three meals a day with five nibbles between times. I'm going to give up water-melons, which I never eat, and when I converse with anybody I have solemnly promised myself never to make use of such words as assafoedita, peristyle, or cosmopolis. That last resolution is a great sacrifice for me because I am very fond of long words. They sound so learned; but I shall be firm. Assafoedita, peristyle, and cosmopolis until next year dawns shall be dead to me. I may take them on again next year; but if I do, I shall drop Mulligatawney, Portuguese, and pollywog from my vocabulary. I may even go so far as to drop vocabulary, although it is a word for which I have a strong affection. I am so attached to vocabulary as a word that I find myself murmuring it to myself in the dead of night." "What does it mean?" asked the new doll. "Vocabulary?" cried the Unwiseman. "Vocabulary? Don't you know what a vocabulary is?" "I know," said Whistlebinkie. "It's an animal with an hump on its back." "Nonsense," said the Unwiseman. "A vocabulary is nothing of the sort. It's a--a sort of little bureau talkers have to keep their words in. It's a sort of word-cabinet. I haven't really got one, but that's because I don't need one. I have so few words I can carry them in my head, and if I can't, I jot them down on a piece of paper. It's a splendid idea, that. It's helped me lots of times in conversation. I'm as fond of the word microcosm as I am of vocabulary, too, but I never can remember it, so I keep it on a piece of paper in my vest-pocket. Whenever I want to use it, I know just where to find it." "And what does microcosm mean?" asked Mollie. "I don't know," said the Unwiseman; "but few people do; and if I use it, not one person in a thousand would dare take me up, so I just sprinkle it around to suit myself." As the Unwiseman spoke, the postman came to the door with a letter. "Ah!" said the Unwiseman, opening it and reading it. "I am sorry to say that I must leave you now. I have an engagement with my hatter this afternoon, and if I don't go now he will be much disappointed." "Is that letter from him?" asked Mollie. "Oh no," said the Unwiseman, putting on his coat. "It is from myself. I thought about the engagement last night, and fearing that I might forget it I wrote a short note to myself reminding me of it. This is the note. Good-bye." "Good-bye," said Mollie, and then, as the Unwiseman went off to meet his hatter, she and the others deemed it best to go home. "But why did he say he expected you to call and then seemed surprised to see you?" asked the new doll. "Oh--that's his way," said Mollie. "You'll get used to it in time." But the new doll never did, for she was a proud wax-doll, and never learned to love the Unwiseman as I do for his sweet simplicity and never-ending good nature. [Illustration: VIII. The Unwiseman Turns Poet. In which the Unwiseman goes into literature. The] ground was white with snow when Mollie awakened from a night of pleasant dreams. The sun shone brightly, and as the little girl looked out of her bed-room window it seemed to her as if the world looked like a great wedding-cake, and she was very much inclined to go out of doors and cut a slice out of it and gobble it up, just as if it were a wedding-cake and not a world. Whistlebinkie agreed with her that that was the thing to do, but there were music-lessons and a little reading to be done before Mollie could hope to venture out, and as for Whistlebinkie, he was afraid to go out alone for fear of getting his whistle clogged up with snow. Consequently it was not until after luncheon that the two inseparable companions, accompanied by Mollie's new dog, Gyp, managed to get out of doors. "Isn't it fine!" cried Mollie, as the snow crunched musically under her feet. "Tsplendid!" whistled Whistlebinkie. Gyp took a roll in the snow and gleefully barked to show that he too thought it wasn't half bad. "I wonder what the Unwiseman is doing this morning," said Mollie, after they had romped about for some little while. "I dare say he is throwing snow-balls at himself," said Whistlebinkie. "That's about as absurd a thing as any one can do, and he can always be counted upon to be doing things that haven't much sense to 'em." "I've half a mind to go and see what he's doing," said Mollie. "Let's," ejaculated Whistlebinkie, and Gyp indicated that he was ready for the call by rushing pell-mell over the snow-encrusted lawn in the direction of the spot where the Unwiseman's house had last stood. "Gyp hasn't learned that the Unwiseman moves his house about every day," said Mollie. "Dogs haven't much sense," observed Whistlebinkie, with a superior air. "It takes them a long time to learn things, and they can't whistle." "That they haven't," came a voice from behind Whistlebinkie. "That little beast has destroyed eight lines of my poem with his horrid paws." Mollie turned about quickly and there was the house of the Unwiseman, and sitting on the door-step was no less a person than the old gentleman himself, gazing ruefully at some rough, irregular lines which he had traced in the snow with a stick, and which were punctuated here and there by what were unmistakably the paw-marks of Gyp. "Why--hullo!" said Mollie; "moved your house over here, have you?" "Yes," replied the Unwiseman. "There is so much snow on the ground that I was afraid it would prevent your coming to see me if I let the house stay where it was, and I wanted to see you very much." "It was very thoughtful of you," said Mollie. "Yes; but I can't help that, you know," said the Unwiseman. "I've got to be thoughtful in my new business. Thoughts and snow and a stick are things I can't get along without, seeing that I haven't a slate or pen, ink and paper, in the house." "You've got a new business, then, have you?" said Mollie. "Yes," the Unwiseman answered. "I had to have. When the Christmas toy business failed I cast about to find some other that would pay for my eclaires. My friend the hatter wanted me to go in with him, but when I found out what he wanted me to do I gave it up." "What did he want you to do?" asked Mollie. "Why, there is a restaurant next door to his place where two or three hundred men went to get their lunch every day," said the Unwiseman. "He wanted me to go in there and carelessly knock their hats off the pegs and step on them and spoil them, so that they'd have to call in at his shop and buy new ones. My salary was to be fifteen a week." "Fifteen dollars?" whistled Whistlebinkie in amazement, for to him fifteen dollars was a princely sum. "No," returned the Unwiseman. "Fifteen eclaires, and I was to do my own fighting with the ones whose hats were spoiled. That wouldn't pay, because before the end of the week I'd be in the hospital, and I am told that people in hospitals are not allowed to eat eclaires." "And so you declined to go into that business?" asked Mollie. "Exactly," returned the Unwiseman. "I felt very badly on my way back home, too. I had hoped that the hatter wanted to employ me as a demonstrator." "A what?" cried Whistlebinkie. [Illustration: "A demonstrator."] "A demonstrator," repeated the Unwiseman. "A demonstrator is one who demonstrates--a sort of a show-man. In the hat business he would be a man who should put on new styles of hats so as to show people how people looked in them. I suggested that to the hatter, but he said no, it wouldn't do. It would make customers hopeless. They couldn't hope to look as well in his hats as I would, and so they wouldn't buy them; and as he wasn't in the hat trade for pleasure, he didn't feel that he could afford a demonstrator like me." "And what did you do then?" asked Mollie. "I was so upset that I got on board of a horse-car to ride home, forgetting that the horse-cars all ran the other way and that I hadn't five cents in my pocket. That came out all right though. I didn't have to walk any further," said the Unwiseman. "The conductor was so mad when he found out that I couldn't pay my fare that he turned the car around and took me back to the hatter's again, where I'd got on. It was a great joke, but he never saw it." And the Unwiseman roared with laughter as he thought of the joke on the conductor, and between you and me, I don't blame him. "Well, I got home finally, and was just about to throw myself down with my head out of the window to weep when I had an idea," continued the Unwiseman. "With your head out of the window?" echoed Mollie. "What on earth was that for?" [Illustration: "I always weep out of the window."] "So that my tears wouldn't fall on the carpet, of course," returned the Unwiseman. "What else? I always weep out of the window. There isn't any use of my dampening the house up and getting rheumatism just because it happens to be easier to weep indoors. When you're as old as I am, you have to be careful how you expose yourself to dampness. Rheumatism might be fun for you, because you can stay home from school, and be petted while you have it, but for me it's a very serious matter. I had it so bad once I couldn't lean my elbow on the dinner-table, and it spoiled all the pleasure of dining." "Well--go on and tell us what your idea was," said Mollie, with difficulty repressing a smile. "Are you going to patent your scheme of weeping through a window?" "No, indeed," said the Unwiseman. "I'm willing to let the world have the benefit of my discoveries, and, besides, patenting things costs money, and you have to send in a model of your invention. I can't afford to build a house and employ a man to cry through a window just to supply the government with a model. My idea was this. As my tears fell to the ground my ears and nose got very cold--almost froze, in fact. There was the scheme in a nutshell. Tears rhyme with ears, nose with froze. Why not write rhymes for the comic papers?" "Oho!" said Mollie; "I see. You are going to be a poet." "That's the idea," said the Unwiseman. "There's heaps of money in it. I know a man who gets a dollar a yard for writing poetry. If I can write ten yards of it a week I shall make eight dollars anyhow, and maybe ten. All shop-keepers calculate to have remnants of their stock left over, and I've allowed two yards out of every ten for remnants. The chief trouble I have is in finding writing materials. I haven't any pen and ink; I don't own any slates; the only paper I have in the house is the wall paper and a newspaper, and I can't use them, because the wall paper is covered with flowers and the newspaper is where I get my ideas--besides, it's all the library I've got. I didn't know what to do until this morning when I got up and found the ground all covered with snow. Then it came to me all of a sudden, why not get a stick and write your poems on the snow, and then maybe, if you have luck, you call sell them before the thaw. I dressed hurriedly and hastened downstairs, moved the house up near yours, so that I'd be near you and be sure to see you, feeling confident that you could get your papa to come out and see the poems and maybe buy them for his paper. Before long I had written thirty yards of poetry, and just as I had finished what I thought was a fair day's work, up comes that horrid Gyp and prances the whole thing into nothing." "Dear me!" said Whistlebinkie. "That was too bad." "Wasn't it!" sighed the Unwiseman. "It was such a beautifully long poem--and what's more, it isn't easy work. It's almost as hard as shoveling snow, only, of course, you get better pay for it." "You can rewrite it, can't you?" asked Mollie, gazing sadly at the havoc Gyp had wrought in the Unwiseman's work. "I am afraid not," said the Unwiseman. "My disappointment has driven it quite out of my head. I can only remember the title." "What did you call it?" asked Mollie. [Illustration: "A Poem, by Me."] "It was a simple little title," replied the Unwiseman. "It was called 'A Poem, by Me.'" "And what was it about?" asked Mollie. "About six hundred verses," said the Unwiseman; "and not one of 'em has escaped that dog. Those that he hasn't spoiled with his paws he has wagged his tail on, and he chose the best one of the lot to lie on his back and wiggle on. It's very discouraging." "I'm very sorry," said Mollie; "and if you want me to I'll punish Gyp." "What good would that do me?" queried the Unwiseman. "If chaining him up would restore even half the poem, I'd say go ahead and chain him up; but it won't. The poem's gone, and there's nothing left for me to do but go in the house and stick my head out of the window and cry." "Perhaps you can write another poem," said Mollie. "That's true--I hadn't thought of that," said the Unwiseman. "But I don't think I'd better to-day. I've lost more money by the destruction of that first poem than I can afford. If I should have another ruined to-day, I'd be bankrupt." "Well, I'll tell you what I'll do," said Mollie. "I'll ask papa to let me give you a lead-pencil and a pad to write your next poem on. How will that do?" "I should be very grateful," said the Unwiseman; "and if with these he could give me a few dozen ideas and a rhyming dictionary it would be a great help." "I'll ask him," said Mollie. "I'll ask him right away, and I haven't any doubt that he'll say yes, because he always gives me things I want if they aren't harmful." "Very well," said the Unwiseman. "And you may tell him for me, Miss Whistlebinkie, that I'll show him how grateful I am to him and to you for your kind assistance by letting him have the first thousand yards of poetry I write for his paper at fifty cents a yard, which is just half what I shall make other people pay for them." And so Mollie and Whistlebinkie bade the Unwiseman good-by for the time being, and went home. As Mollie had predicted, her father was very glad to give her the pencil and the pad and a rhyming dictionary; but as he had no ideas to spare at the moment he had to deny the little maid that part of the request. [Illustration: The Unwiseman becomes a poet.] What the Unwiseman did with the pad and the pencil and the dictionary I shall tell you in the next chapter. [Illustration: IX. The Poems of the Unwiseman. In which Mollie listens to some remarkable verses. Few] days after he had received the pencil and pad and rhyming dictionary from Mollie, the Unwiseman wrote to his little benefactress and asked her to visit him as soon as she could. [Illustration: "I've written eight pounds of poetry!"] "I've written eight pounds of poetry," he said in his letter, "and I'd like to know what you think of some of it. I've given up the idea of selling it by the yard because it uses up so much paper, and I'm going to put it out at a dollar a pound. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to have you tell your papa about this and ask him if he hasn't any heavier paper than the lot he sent me. If he could let me have a million sheets of paper twice as heavy as the other I could write a pound of sonnits in half the time, and could accordingly afford to give them to him a little cheaper for use in his newspaper. I'd have been up to see you last night, but somehow or other my house got moved out to Illinois, which was too far away. It is back again in New York this morning, however, so that you won't find any trouble in getting him to see the poetry, and, by the way, while I think of it, I wish you'd ask your papa if Illinois rhymes with boy or boys. I want to write a poem about Illinois, but I don't know whether to begin it with "_'O, the boys, Of Illinois, They utterly upset my equipoise';_ "_'O, thou boy, Of Illinois! My peace of mind thou dust destroy?'_ "You see, my dear, it is important to know at the start whether you are writing about one boy or several boys; and that rhyming dictionary you sent me doesn't say anything about such a contiguity. You might ask him, too, what is the meaning of contiguity. It's a word I admire, and I want to work it in somewhere where it will not only look well, but make a certain amount of sense. "Yoors tooly, "ME." It was hardly to be expected, after an invitation of this sort, that Mollie should delay visiting the Unwiseman for an instant, so summoning Whistlebinkie and Gyp, she and her two little friends started out, and ere long they caught sight of the Unwiseman's house, standing on one corner of the village square, and in front of it was a peculiar looking booth, something like a banana-stand in its general outlines. This was covered from top to bottom with placards, which filled Mollie with uncontrollable mirth, when she saw what was printed on them. Here is what some of them said: GO TO ME'S FOR POTERY. This was the most prominent of the placards, and was nailed to the top of the booth. On the right side of this was: LISENSED TO SELL SONNITS ON THE PREMISSES. Off to the left, printed in red crayon, the curious old man had tacked this: EPIKS WROTE WHILE YOU WEIGHT. Besides these signs, on the counter of this little stand were arranged a dozen or more piles of manuscript, and behind each of these piles were short sticks holding up small cards marked "five cents an ounce," "ten cents a pound," and back of all a larger card, which read: SPESHUL DISSCOUNTS TO ALL COSTUMERS ORDERING BY THE TUN. "This looks like business," said Whistlebinkie. "Yes," said Mollie, with a laugh. "Like the peanut business." Gyp said nothing for a moment, but after sniffing it all over began to growl at a placard at the base of the stand on which was drawn by the Unwiseman's unmistakable hand the picture of two small dogs playing together with a line to this effect: DOGGERELL A SPESHIALITY. As Mollie and Whistlebinkie were reading these signs the door of the Unwiseman's house was opened and the proprietor appeared. He smiled pleasantly when he saw who his visitors were, although if Mollie had been close enough to him to hear it she might have noticed that he gave a little sigh. "I didn't recognize you at first," he said; "I thought you might be customers, and I delayed coming out so that you wouldn't think I was too anxious to sell my wares. Of course, I am very anxious to sell 'em, but it don't do to let the public know that. Let 'em understand that you are willing to sell and they'll very likely buy; but if you come tumbling out of your house pell-mell every time anybody stops to see what you've got they'll think maybe you aren't well off, and they'll either beat you down or not buy at all." "Aren't you afraid of being robbed though?" Mollie asked. [Illustration: "The newspapers would be full of it."] "Oh, I wouldn't mind being robbed," replied the Unwiseman. "It would be a good thing for me if somebody would steal a pound or two of my poems. That would advertise my business. I can't afford to advertise my business, but if I should be robbed it would be news, and, of course, the newspapers would be full of it. Your father doesn't know of any kind-hearted burglar who's temporarily out of work who'd be willing to rob a poor man without charge does he?" "No," said Mollie, "I don't think papa knows any burglars at all. We have literary men, and editors, and men like that visiting the house all the time, but so far we haven't had any burglars." "Well, I suppose I'll have to trust to luck for 'em," sighed the Unwiseman; "though it would be a great thing if an extra should come out with great big black headlines, and newsboys yelling 'em out all over the country, 'The Unwiseman's Potery Stand Visited by Burglars! Eight Pounds of Triolets Missing! The Police on the Track of the Plunderers!'" "It would be a splendid advertisement," said Mollie. "But I'm afraid you'll be a long time getting it. Have you any poems to show me?" "Yes," said the Unwiseman, running his eye over his stock. "Yes, indeed, I have. Here's one I like very much. Shall I read it to you?" "Yes, if you will," said Mollie. "What is it about?" "It's about three dozen to the pound, the way I weigh it," replied the Unwiseman. "It's called 'My Wish, and Why I Wish It.'" "That's an awfully long name, isn't it?" said Mollie. [Illustration: The unwiseman reads his poem, "My wish and why I wished it."] "Yes, but it makes the poem a little heavier," replied the old man. "I've made up a little for its length, too, by making the poem short. It's only a quartrain. Here's how it goes: "_I wish the sun would shine at night, Instead of in the day, dear, For that would make the evenings bright, And day time would be shadier!_" "Why, that isn't bad!" cried Mollie. "No," returned the Unwiseman. "I didn't try to make it bad, though I could have if I'd wanted to. But there's a great thing about the thought in that poem, and if you'll only look into it you'll see how wonderful it is. It can be used over and over again without anybody's ever noticing that it's been used before. Here's another poem with just the same idea running through it: "_I wish the oceans all were dry, And arid deserts were not land, dear, If we could walk on oceans--My! And sail on deserts, 'twould be handier._" "How is that the same idea?" asked Mollie, a little puzzled to catch the Unwiseman's point. "Why, the whole notion is that you wish things were as they aren't, that's all; and when you consider how many things there are in the world that are as they are and aren't as they aren't, you get some notion as to how many poems you can make out of that one idea. For instance, children hate to go to bed at night, preferring to fall asleep on the library rug. So you might have this: "_I wish that cribs were always rugs, 'Twould fill me chock up with delight, For then, like birds and tumble-bugs, I'd like to go to bed at night._" "Tumble-bugs don't like to go to bed at night," said Mollie. "They like to buzz around and hit their heads against the wall." "I know that; but I have two excuses for using tumble-bugs in that rhyme. In the first place, I haven't written that rhyme yet, and so it can't be criticized. It's only what the dictionary people would call extemporious. I made it up on the spur of the moment, and from that standpoint it's rather clever. The other excuse is that even if I had written it as I spoke it, poets are allowed to say things they don't exactly mean, as long as in general they bring out their idea clearly enough to give the reader something to puzzle over." "Well, I suppose you know what you mean," said Mollie, more mystified than ever. "Have you got any more poems?" [Illustration: "Could not restore Namby to where he was at."] "Yes. Here's a new bit of Mother Goose I've dashed off: "_Namby Pamby sat on the fence, Namby Pamby tumbled from thence. Half the queen's donkeys, her dog, and her cat, Could not restore Namby to where he was at._" "Why!" cried Mollie. "You can't write that. It's nothing but Humpty Dumpty all over again." "You're all wrong there," retorted the Unwiseman. "And I can prove it. You say that I can't write that. Well, I _have_ written it, which proves that I _can_. As for its being Humpty Dumpty all over again, that's plain nonsense. Namby Pamby is not Humpty Dumpty. Namby Pamby begins with an N and a P, while Humpty Dumpty begins with H and D. Then, again, Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. My hero sat on a fence. Humpty Dumpty fell. Namby Pamby tumbled--and so it goes all through the poem. Mine is entirely different. Besides, it's a hysterical episode, and I've got just as much right to make poems about hystery as Mother Goose had." "Maybe you're right," said Mollie. "But if I were you, I wouldn't write things that are too much like what other people have written." "I don't see why," said the Unwiseman, impatiently. "If Peter Smith writes a poem that everybody likes and buys, I want to write something as much like what Peter Smith has made a fortune out of as Peter Smith has. That's the point. But we won't quarrel about it. Girls don't know much about business, and men do. I'm a man and you're only a girl." "Well, I think Mollie's right," put in Whistlebinkie. "You have to," retorted the Unwiseman. "If you didn't, she'd pack you up in a box and send you out to the sheathen." "The what?" asked Mollie. [Illustration: "The Sheathen."] "The sheathen. Little girl savages. I call 'em sheathen to extinguish them from heathen, who are, as I understand it, little boy savages," explained the Unwiseman. "But what do you think of this for a poem. It's called Night, and you mustn't laugh at it because it is serious: "_Oh night, dear night, in street and park, Where'er thou beest thou'rt always dark. Thou dustent change, O sweet brunette, No figgleness is thine, you bet. And what I love the best, on land or sea, Is absence of the vice of figglety._" "What's figglety?" asked Mollie. "Figglety?" echoed the Unwiseman. "Don't you know that? Figglety is figgleness, or the art of being figgle." "But I don't know what being figgle is," said Mollie. "Hoh!" sneered the Unwiseman, angry at Mollie's failure to understand and to admire his serious poem. "Where have you been brought up? Figgle is changing. If you pretend to like pie to-day better than anything, and change around to pudding to-morrow, you are figgle. Some people spell it fickle, but somehow or other I like figgle better. It's a word of my own, figgle is, while fickle is a word everybody uses--but I won't argue with you any more," he added with an impatient gesture. "You've found fault with almost everything I've done, and I'm not going to read any more to you. It's discouraging enough to have people pass you by and not buy your poems, without reading 'em to a little girl that finds fault with 'em, backed up in her opinion by a pug dog and a rubber doll like Whistlebinkie. Some time, when you are better natured, I'll read more to you, but now I won't." Saying which, the Unwiseman turned away and walked into his house, banging the door behind him in a way which plainly showed that he was offended. Mollie and Whistlebinkie and Gyp went silently home, very unhappy about the Unwiseman's temper, but, though they did not know it, they were very fortunate to get away before the Unwiseman discovered that the mischievous Gyp had chewed up three pounds of sonnets while their author was reading his poem "Night," so that on the whole, I think, they were to be congratulated that things turned out as they did. [Illustration: X. The Unwiseman's Luncheon. In which the Unwiseman makes some sensible remarks on eating. "Whistlebinkie,"] said Mollie, one morning in the early spring, "it's been an awful long time since we saw the Unwiseman." "Thasso," whistled Whistlebinkie. "I wonder what's become of him." "I can't even guess," said Mollie. "I asked papa the other morning if he had seen any of his poetry in print and he said he hadn't so far as he knew, although he had read several books of poetry lately that sounded as if he'd written them. I say we go out and try to find him." "Thasoots me," said Whistlebinkie. "What's that?" said Mollie. "You still talk through the top of your hat so much that I really can't make out what you say half the time." "I forgot," said Whistlebinkie, meekly. "What I meant to say was that that suits me. I'd like very much to see him again and hear some of his poetry." "I don't much think he's stayed in that business," observed Mollie. "He's had time enough to be in sixteen different kinds of businesses since we saw him, and I'm pretty certain that he's tried eight of them any how." "I guess may be so," said Whistlebinkie. "He's a great tryer, that old Unwiseman." Mollie donned her new spring hat and Whistlebinkie treated his face and hands to a dash of cold water, after which they started out. "It's the same old question now," said Mollie, as she stood on the street corner, wondering which way to turn. "Where would we better go to find him?" "Well, it seems to me," said Whistlebinkie, after a moment's thought, "it seems to me that we'd better look for him in just the same place he was in the last time we saw him." "I don't see why," returned Mollie. "We never did that before." "That's why," explained Whistlebinkie. "He's such an unaccountable old man that he's sure to turn up where you least expected him. Now, as I look at it, the place where we least expect to find him is where he was before. Therefore I say let's go there." "You're pretty wise after all, Whistlebinkie," said Mollie, with an approving nod. "We'll go there." And it turned out that Whistlebinkie was right. The house of the Unwiseman was found standing in precisely the same place in which they had last seen it, but pasted upon the front door was a small placard which read, "Gawn to Lunch. Will be Back in Eight Weeks." [Illustration: "He must be fearfully hungry to go to a lunch it will take that long to eat."] "Dear me!" cried Whistlebinkie, as Mollie read the placard to him. "He must have been fearfully hungry to go to a lunch it will take that long to eat." Mollie laughed. "I guess maybe I know him well enough to know what that means," she said. "It means that he's inside the house and doesn't want to be bothered by anybody. Let's go round to the back door and see if that is open." This was no sooner said than done, but the back door, like the first, was closed. Like the front door, too, it bore a placard, but this one read, "As I said before, I've gone to lunch. If you want to know when I'll be back, don't bother about ringing the bell to ask me, for I shall not answer. Go round to the front door and find out for yourself. Yours tooly, the Unwiseman. P. S. I've given up the potery business, so if you're a editor, I don't want to see you any how; but if your name's Mollie, knock on the kitchen window and I'll let you in." "I thought so," said Mollie. "He's inside." Then the little girl tiptoed softly up to the kitchen window and peeped in, and there the old gentleman sat nibbling on a chocolate eclaire and looking as happy as could be. Mollie tapped gently on the window, and the Unwiseman, hurriedly concealing his half-eaten eclaire in the folds of his newspaper, looked anxiously toward the window to see who it might be that had disturbed him. When he saw who it was his face wreathed with smiles, and rushing to the window he threw it wide open. "Come right in," he cried. "I'm awfully glad to see you." "I can't climb in this way," said Mollie. "Can't you open the door?" "Can't possibly," said the Unwiseman. "Both doors are locked. I've lost the keys. You can't open doors without keys, you know. That's why I lost them. I'm safe from burglars now." "But why don't you get new keys?" said Mollie. "What's the use? I know where I lost the others, and when my eight weeks' absence is up I can find them again. New keys would only cost money, and I'm not so rich that I can spend money just for the fun of it," said the Unwiseman. "Then, I suppose, I can't come in at all," said Mollie. "Oh, yes, you can," said the Unwiseman. "Have you an Alpine stock?" "What's that?" said Mollie. "Ho!" jeered the Unwiseman. "What's an Alpine stock! Ha, ha! Not to know that; I thought little girls knew everything." "Well, they do generally," said Mollie, resolved to stand up for her kind. "But I'm not like all little girls. There are some things I don't know." "I guess there are," said the Unwiseman, with a superior air. "You don't know what rancour means, or fixity, or garrulousness." "No, I don't," Mollie admitted. "What do they mean?" "I'm not in the school-teacher business, and so I shan't tell you," said the Unwiseman, with a wave of his hand. "Besides, I really don't know myself--though I'm not a little girl. But I'll tell you one thing. An Alpine stock is a thing to climb Alps with, and a thing you can climb an Alp with ought to help you climbing into a kitchen window, because kitchen windows aren't so high as Alps, and they don't have snow on 'em in spring like Alps do." "Oh," said Mollie. "That's it--is it? Well, I haven't got one, and I don't know where to get one, so I can't get in that way." "Then there's only two things we can do," observed the Unwiseman. "Either I must send for a carpenter and have him build a new door or else I'll have to lend you a step-ladder. I guess, on the whole, the step-ladder is cheaper. It's certainly not so noisy as a carpenter. However, I'll let you choose. Which shall it be?" "The step-ladder, I guess," said Mollie. "Have you got one?" "No," returned the Unwiseman; "but I have a high-chair which is just as good. I always keep a high-chair in case some one should bring a baby here to dinner. I'd never ask any one to do that, but unexpected things are always happening, and I like to be prepared. Here it is." Saying which the Unwiseman produced a high-chair and lowered it to the ground. Upon this Mollie and Whistlebinkie climbed up to the window-ledge, and were shortly comfortably seated inside this strange old man's residence. "I see you've given up the poetry business," said Mollie, after a pause. "Yes," said the Unwiseman. "I couldn't make it pay. Not that I couldn't sell all I could write, but that I couldn't write all that I could sell. You see, people don't like to be disappointed, and I had to disappoint people all the time. I couldn't turn out all they wanted. Two magazine editors sent in orders for their winter poetry. Ten tons apiece they ordered, and I couldn't deliver more than two tons apiece to 'em. That made them mad, and they took their trade elsewhere--and so it went. I disappointed everybody, and finally I found myself writing poetry for my own amusement, and as it wasn't as amusing as some other things, I gave it up." "But what ever induced you to put out that sign, saying that you wouldn't be back for eight weeks?" asked Mollie. "I didn't say that," said the Unwiseman. "I said I _would_ be back _in_ eight weeks. I shall be. What I wanted was to be able to eat my lunch undisturbed. I've been eating it for five weeks now, and at the end of three weeks I shall be through." "It musterbin a big lunch," said Whistlebinkie. "I don't know any such word as musterbin," said the Unwiseman, severely; "but as for the big lunch, it was big. One whole eclaire." "I could eat an eclaire in five seconds," said Mollie. "No doubt of it," retorted the Unwiseman. "So could I; but I know too much for that. I believe in getting all the enjoyment out of a thing that I can; and what's the sense of gobbling all the pleasure out of an eclaire in five seconds when you can spread it over eight weeks? That's a queer thing about you wise people that I can't understand. When you have something pleasant on hand you go scurrying through it as though you were afraid somebody was going to take it away from you. You don't make things last as you should ought to." "Excuse me," interrupted Whistlebinkie, who had been criticized so often about the way he spoke, that he was resolved to get even. "Is 'should ought to' a nice way to speak?" [Illustration: "If you want to speak some other language, you can go outside and speak it."] "It's nice enough for me," retorted the Unwiseman. "And as this is my house I have a right to choose the language I speak here. If you want to speak some other language, you can go outside and speak it." Poor Whistlebinkie squeaked out an apology and subsided. [Illustration: "Pleasure ought to be spread."] "Take bananas, for instance," said the Unwiseman, not deigning to notice Whistlebinkie's apology. "I dare say if your mother gives you a banana, you go off into a corner and gobble it right up. Now I find that a nibble tastes just as good as a bite, and by nibbling you can get so many more tastes out of that banana, as nibbles are smaller than bites, and instead of a banana lasting a week, or two weeks or eight weeks, it's all gone in ten seconds. You might do the same thing at the circus and be as sensible as you are when you gobble your banana. If the clown cracked his jokes and the trapezuarius trapozed, and the elephants danced, and the bare-back riders rode their horses all at once, you'd have just as much circus as you get the way you do it now, only it wouldn't be so pleasant. Pleasure, after all, is like butter, and it ought to be spread. You wouldn't think of eating a whole pat of butter at one gulp, so why should you be greedy about your pleasure?" "Thassounds very sensible," put in Whistlebinkie. "It is sensible," said the Unwiseman, with a kindly smile; "and that is why, having but one eclaire, I make it last me eight weeks. There isn't any use of living like a prince for five minutes and then starving to death for seven weeks, six days, twenty-three hours, and fifty-five minutes." Here the Unwiseman opened the drawer of his table and took out the eclaire to show it to Mollie. "It doesn't look very good," said Mollie. "That's true," said the Unwiseman; "but that helps. It's awfully hard work the first day to keep from nibbling it up too fast, but the second day it's easier, and so it goes all along until you get to the fourth week, and then you don't mind only taking a nibble. If it stayed good all the while, I don't believe I could make it last as long as I want to. So you see everything works for good under my system of luncheoning. In the first place the pleasure of a thing lasts a long time; in the second, you learn to resist temptation; in the third place, you avoid greediness; and last of all, after a while you don't mind not being greedy." [Illustration: "The old gentleman put the eclaire away."] With this the old gentleman put the eclaire away, locked the drawer, and began to tell Mollie and Whistlebinkie all about the new business he was going into. [Illustration: XI. The Unwiseman's New Business. In which the Old Gentleman and Mollie and Whistlebinkie start on their travels. "I] have at last found something to do," he said, as he locked the eclaire up in the drawer, "which will provide me in my old age with all the eclaires I need, with possibly one or two left over for my friends." "Thassnice," whistled Whistlebinkie. "Yes," said the Unwiseman. "It's very nice, particularly if you are one of my friends, and come in for your share of the left-over eclaires--as, of course, you and Mollie will do. It all grew out of my potery business, too. You see, I didn't find that people who wanted potery ever bought it from a street-corner stand, but from regular potery peddlers, who go around to the newspaper offices and magazines with it, done up in a small hand-bag. So I gave up the stand and made a small snatchel----" "A small what?" demanded Mollie. "A small snatchel," repeated the Unwiseman. "A snatchel is a bag with a handle to it." "Oh--I know. You mean a satchel," said Mollie. "Maybe I do," observed the Unwiseman. "But I thought the word was snatchel, because it was a thing you could snatch up hurriedly and run to catch a train with. Anyhow, I made one and put some four or five pounds of potery in it, and started out to sell it. The first place I went to they said they liked my potery very much, but they couldn't use it because it didn't advertise anything. They wanted sonnets about the best kind of soap that ever was; or what they called a hook-and-eye lyric; or perhaps a few quatrains about baking-powders, or tooth-wash, or some kind of silver-polish. People don't read poems about mysteries and little red school-houses, and patriotism any more, they said; but if a real poet should write about a new kind of a clothes-wringer or a patent pickle he'd make a fortune, because he'd get his work published on fences and in railroad cars, which everybody sees, instead of in magazines that nobody reads." "I've seen lots of those kinds of poems," said Mollie. "They're mighty good reading, too," said Whistlebinkie. "And is that what you are going to do?" [Illustration: "They'd pay for it when they published it."] "Not I!" retorted the Unwiseman, scornfully. "No, indeed, I'm not. Shakespeare never did such a thing, and I don't believe Milton did either, and certainly I shall not try it. The next place I went to they said they liked my potery well enough to print it, but I'd have to pay for having it done, which was very hard, because I hadn't any money. The next place they took a sonnet and said they'd pay for it when they published it, and when I asked when that would be, they said in about thirty-seven years." "Mercy!" cried Mollie. "That's what I said," said the Unwiseman, ruefully. "So again I went on until I found an editor who was a lovely man. He read all my things through, and when he'd finished he said he judged from the quality of my potery I must be a splendid writer of prose." Whistlebinkie laughed softly. "Yes," said the Unwiseman, "that's what he said. 'Mr. Unwiseman,' said he, 'after reading your poetry, it seems to me your _forte_ is prose.' And I told him perhaps he was right, though I didn't know what he meant. At any rate, he was very good to me, and asked me where I lived, and all that. When I told him that I lived everywhere; how I just moved my house around to suit myself, and lived one day here and another day in Illinois, and another in Kamschatka, he grew interested at once." "I should think he might," put in Mollie. "I didn't know you could move as far as Kamschatka." "Certainly I can," said the Unwiseman; "and in a way that is what I am going to do. I have been engaged to travel in various parts of the world just by moving my house around at will, and what I see and do under such circumstances I am to write up for that editor's paper." "Why it's perfectly splendid!" cried Mollie, clapping her hands together with glee at the very idea. "I wish I could go with you." "Me too!" whistled Whistlebinkie. "Woof--woof!" barked Gyp, which the Unwiseman took to mean that Gyp wished also to be included. "All right," said the Unwiseman. "I've no objection." "I don't know what they'd say at home," said Mollie, as she thought of possible objections to the trip. "Why they won't say anything," said the Unwiseman. "I'll only travel afternoons. We'll be back every day by six o'clock, and I don't suppose we'll start much before three. This house is a rapid traveller once she gets started. Just wait a minute and I'll show you. Sit tight in your chairs now. One--two--three--LET HER GO!" [Illustration: "The house, whizzed rapidly through the air."] The old gentleman touched a button in the wall. The house shook violently for a second, apparently whizzed rapidly through the air, if the whistling of the wind outside meant anything, and then suddenly, with a thump and a bump, came to a standstill. "Here we are," said the Unwiseman, opening the door. "Come outside." The little party emerged, and Mollie was amazed to find herself standing on the top of a wonderful hill gazing out over the waters of a beautiful body of water of the most heavenly blue. At her feet a little yellowish city nestled into the hillside, and across a strip of silvery water was a huge and frowning fortress. "This, Miss Whistlebinkie, is the city of Havana," said the Unwiseman to the astonished little maid. "You have come all the way from home to Cuba in five seconds--a distance of 1200 miles. So you see we can do all our travelling in the afternoons, and without your being away from your home any more than you naturally are during your play-time hours." Mollie made no answer for a moment. She was too astonished to speak. Whistlebinkie was the first to recover, and he was not long in expressing his sentiments. "Imagoin'," he whistled. Gyp barked a similar resolution, whereupon Mollie said she'd see. "But let us hurry back home again," she added, somewhat anxiously. She did not quite like being so far away from home without her mother knowing it. "Certainly," said the Unwiseman, touching the button again. The violent shaking and whizzing sounds were repeated, and again, with a thump and a bump, the house came to a standstill. The Unwiseman opened the front door, and there they were, safe and sound, in the back yard of Mollie's home. That night the little girl told the story of the day's adventure to her father, and he said that, under the circumstances, he had not the slightest objection to her making the grand tour of the world. "Only," he said, "you must remember, dear, to be home to supper. Even if you find yourself at the coronation of a king, remember that it is your duty to be punctual at your meals. London, Paris, Pekin, or Kalamazoo are always ready to be seen, night or day, no matter what the time, but breakfast, dinner, and supper do not go on forever, and are served only at stated hours." And so Mollie and Gyp and Whistlebinkie joined in the adventures of the Unwiseman Abroad, and, in point of fact, they started off that very afternoon, though what they saw I do not know, for I have not encountered them since. I only know that their journey was safely accomplished, and that they all got home that night without harm, for Mollie's papa told me so. He also told me, in confidence, that I might hope soon to hear some remarkable tales on the subject of their adventures; and if I do, I shall not fail to let you in turn hear what happened to "MOLLIE AND THE UNWISEMAN ABROAD." [Illustration] 
41268	----	Transcriber's Note. In the section SAND WHEEL--PLATE 21, third paragraph, the word "on" was added as the most likely word to correct a typographical omission and "drawn" changed to "draw". Otherwise only a very few minor typographical errors have been corrected. [Illustration: TESTING THE KITE-STRING SAILBOAT] MANUAL TRAINING TOYS _for_ THE BOY'S WORKSHOP _By_ HARRIS W. MOORE SUPERVISOR OF MANUAL TRAINING WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS [Illustration] THE MANUAL ARTS PRESS PEORIA, ILLINOIS DEDICATED TO THE BOY WHO LIKES TO TINKER 'ROUND Copyright, 1912 HARRIS W. MOORE CONTENTS. Frontispiece Testing the Kite-string Sailboat Introduction-- PAGE. Bench, Marking Tools 7 Saws 8 Planes, Bits, Nails 9 Screws, Glue 10 Sandpaper, Dowels, Drills, Sharpening 11 Holding Work 12 Directions for Planing 13 Dart 16 Spool Dart 18 Dart for Whip-Bow 19 Buzzer 20 Flying Top (Plate 3) 22 Flying Top (Plate 4) 24 Top 26 Tom-Tom Drum 28 Pop-gun 30 Whistle 32 Arrow 33 Bow 34 Sword 36 Magic Box 38 Pencil-Box 41 Telephone 42 Happy Jack Windmill 44 Gloucester "Happy Jack" Windmill 46 Paddling Indian Windmill 48 Kite 50 Tailless Kite 53 Box Kite 54 Kite-String Sailboat 56 The Hygroscope or Weather Cottage 59 Electrophorus 62 Waterwheel 64 Water Motor 67 Sand Wheel 70 Running Wheel 73 Rattle 76 Cart 78 Cannon 81 Automobile 84 Bow Pistol 86 Elastic Gun 88 Rattle-Bang Gun 92 Boat 95 Pile-Driver 98 Windmill 100 Kite-String Reel 103 String Machine 106 Windmill Force-Pump 108 INTRODUCTION. The wise man learns from the experience of others. That is the reason for this introduction--to tell the boy who wants to make the toys described in this book some of the "tricks of the trade." It is supposed, however, that he has had some instruction in the use of tools. This book is written after long experience in teaching boys, and because of that experience, the author desires to urge upon his younger readers two bits of advice: First, study the drawing carefully,--every line has a meaning; second, printed directions become clearer by actually taking the tool in hand and beginning to do the work described. BENCH. If he buys the vise-screw, an ambitious boy can make a bench that will answer his needs, provided, also, that he can fasten it to floor or wall. It should be rigid. A beginner will find a hard wood board, 10"×2"×1/4", fastened to the forward end of the bench, a more convenient stop than the ordinary bench-dog. If he has a nicely finished bench, he should learn to work without injuring the bench. A _cutting board_ should always be at hand to chisel and pound upon and to save the bench-top from all ill use. The _bench-hook_ should have one side for sawing and one for planing, the former having a block shorter than the width of the board so that the teeth of the saw, when they come thru the work, will strike the bench-hook rather than the bench-top. MARKING TOOLS. To measure accurately, hold the _ruler_ on its edge so that the divisions on the scale come close to the thing measured. Let the pencil or knife point make a dash on the thing measured which would exactly continue the division line on the ruler. If it can be avoided, never use the end of the ruler; learn to measure from some figure on the ruler. The spur of the _gage_ should be filed like a knife point. It seldom stands at zero of the scale, hence, when setting the gage for accurate work, measure from the block to the spur with a ruler. The gage is a rather difficult tool for a boy to use but it will pay to master it. It may be used wherever square edges are to be made, but chamfers and bevels should be marked with a pencil. In laying out work, the beam (the thick part) of the _trysquare_ should always be kept on either the working-face or the working-edge. (See page 13, Directions for Planing.) Let the blade rest flat on any surface. Hold the trysquare snugly to the work with the fingers and thumb acting much like a bird's claw. For accurate work (e. g. joints), lines should be drawn (scored) with the sharp point of a small _knife_ blade, held nearly straight up from the edge of the trysquare blade. Circles are located by two lines crossing at the center. SAWS. The teeth of a _rip-saw_ are like so many little chisels set in a row; they pare the wood away. The teeth of a _crosscut-saw_ are like knife points, they score two lines, and the wood breaks off between them. Large sawing should be done on a saw-horse so that the worker is over his work. If it is necessary to hold work in the vise to rip it, hold it slanting, so that the handle of the saw leads the line, as it naturally does when the work is on a saw-horse. The _back-saw_, tho a crosscut-saw, may be used in any direction of the grain. Any saw should be in motion when it touches the wood it is to cut. To guide it to the right place, a workman lets his thumb touch the saw just above the teeth, the hand resting firmly on the wood. A little notch, cut in the edge right to the line where the saw is to cut, will help a beginner to start accurately. Saws are rapid tools, and it pays to go slowly enough with them to do accurate work. Plan the work so as to make as few cuts as possible. _Turning-saws_ are best used so that the cutting is done on the pull stroke, keeping the two hands near together. When one handle is turned, the other must be turned equally. PLANES. Generally being in a hurry to get work done, boys are apt to take big shavings with a plane. This results in rough work. Fine shavings are better. If the plane is allowed to rest level on the work, it will find the high places without continual adjusting. The first two inches of a stroke are the hardest to plane; to plane these, press harder on the forward end of the plane. Start the plane level. Usually it is best to keep the plane straight, or nearly so, in the direction of the push. The _block-plane_ is properly used to plane the end of wood. (See page 12 on Holding Work.) On other small surfaces, however, it is often more convenient than a large plane. BITS. _Auger-bits_ are numbered by the number of sixteenths in the diameter of the hole they bore, e. g. No. 4 bores a 4/16" hole. _Gimlet-bits_ are numbered by thirty-seconds. Whenever boring with an auger-bit, stop as soon as the spur pricks thru the other side, turn the work over, start the spur in the little hole it made, and finish boring. It will always split the wood, if the bit is allowed to go way thru. It is difficult to bore a hole straight thru a piece of wood, because to tell whether the bit is held straight when starting the hole, one must look at it from two directions. If someone else can stand a quarter circle away from the worker and watch the bit, that is the best help; otherwise, the worker himself must hold the brace steady while he walks around a quarter circle and judges whether the bit is straight. Care should be taken to hold the work level in the vise. NAILS. The words, "nail," "brad," and "nailing" are used somewhat interchangeably in this book; "nailing" may mean driving a brad. Brads have smaller, thicker heads, nails have larger, flat heads. To drive a nail straight, start it straight. The hole cannot be straightened by bending the nail so that it looks straight after it is partly driven. Many gentle blows with the _hammer_ will often drive a nail where heavy blows would fail. The fingers pinching the nail often prevent its bending. If possible, keep nails away from the corners of boards. Several nails joining two boards hold them stronger if the nails are driven at different angles. Nails are usually "set," that is, the heads are driven with a _nail-set_ below the surface. They must always be set below surfaces which are to be planed. It is often wise not to drive the first nail or two way in until the work is examined. In withdrawing nails, a block under the hammer will often aid greatly, and also protect the surface of the work. SCREWS. Screws usually need holes properly bored to receive them; a large hole first, the size of the screw above the threads, a small hole next, the size at the roots of the threads (in hard wood somewhat larger), and a place for the head made with a _countersink_. Usually the screw should slip easily thru the first piece of wood and be tight in the second. The _screwdriver_ should always be held in the line that the screw is going, and it ought fairly to fit the slot in the head. In hard wood, one must be careful not to twist screws off, especially brass screws, which are easily broken. GLUE. A beginner often wonders why things stick to his fingers instead of to their proper places; it is because he has a little glue on his fingers and usually a lot on the article; therefore, don't use too much glue. It is best, especially in holes and their pegs, to put glue on both surfaces of contact. Good glue will hold two surfaces, making good contact, stronger than the wood. Wipe off excess glue as soon as possible, using hot water for hot glue. Much labor is thus saved. Allow glue plenty of time to become dry. The moisture has to work its way thru the wood itself, and this takes hours; six to ten hours is not too long. SANDPAPER. Sandpaper varies in coarseness from No. 00 to No. 3, every sheet being stamped. It should not be used on a given piece until all work with edge tools is finished. The particles of sand left in the surface would quickly dull an edge tool. When using sandpaper on flat surfaces, wrap it closely about a rectangular block of wood. Try to keep all corners as sharp as they are left by the edge tools so that there will be a crispness of appearance which always marks good workmanship. Often the same care in holding work while sandpapering it must be taken as was taken when shaping it. Always sandpaper with, or lengthwise the grain. DOWELS. Sticks that are planed nearly to size can be made round and smooth by driving them thru a hole in a block of hard wood or iron; such sticks are called dowels. Two holes may be used if the second is only a little smaller than the first. Drive gently with a _mallet_ rather than with a hammer. In many of the models in this book such dowels are used. Dowels (made by a different process, however,) can often be bought at hardware stores. DRILLS. For ease in making small holes, a _hand-drill_ is essential. For some holes a headless nail will answer. To make better drills, break a needle, a knitting-needle, umbrella rib, or other piece of hard wire to suitable length; on a grindstone, flatten it near the point on two sides; then, putting it in the chuck of the hand-drill, try to hold it on the grindstone at the proper angle to form the two cutting edges; or it may be held against the edge of the bench and sharpened with an oilstone resting on top of the bench. Very convenient long drills can be thus made of knitting-needles. SHARPENING. To work with dull tools is altogether unsatisfactory. A boy should learn to sharpen his own edge tools. To grind a good bevel on a tool like a chisel, it must rest upon something steady. The reflection of light on the newly ground surface will indicate whether the surface is flat or not. This process of grinding makes what is called a feather-edge, or wire-edge, and the tool must be whetted on an oilstone to remove this wire-edge. The flat side _must be kept flat_ on the stone; the bevel may be lifted just a trifle. When whetting the bevel, try to avoid a rocking motion, for this would round the edge. After the wire-edge is completely removed, a still keener edge can be obtained by stropping the tool on a piece of leather, much as a razor is stropped. A piece of leather glued to a wooden mount and sprinkled occasionally with the finest emery powder will help much in keeping the edge tools keen. HOLDING WORK. The way work is held in the vise often makes the difference between success and failure. Small surfaces are easily planed true if held almost flush with the jaws of the vise so that the top of the bench serves to guide the plane; for example, the wheel-center, page 20, or the crank, Plate 33, are easily planed in this manner. Sometimes articles, like spools, can be held endwise with safety when they might be crushed if squeezed sidewise. A good way to hold the paddles of the sand wheel, Plate 21, Fig. 4, to saw the lines A B is to put the paddles about half-way down the end of the vise so that the back-saw can be held near the end of the vise jaws. The _bench-hook_ is the best device for holding a great deal of small work for sawing and for planing sides, corners, and ends. When planing ends, to avoid splitting the far corner, another piece of equal thickness may be put behind the first. The better way, however, is never to plane over the far corner, but turn the work and plane always towards the center; in other words, plane half way from each edge. Where a corner can be whittled off to form a buttress, there is practically no danger of splitting that corner. For planing thin boards, see page 19. DIRECTIONS FOR PLANING. 1. Plane one broad surface. Test it _crosswise_, _lengthwise_, and _cornerwise_. This surface is called the _working-face_, and should be marked with a pencil line near the edge to be planed next. On a short board the cornerwise test can be made with a straight-edge; on a long board winding-sticks are needed. These are straight sticks with parallel edges. Near the ends of the board, stand them on edge across the board. With the eye some distance away, sight from one stick to the other, if one end of the farther stick seems elevated, that corner of the board must be planed more. 2. Plane one edge. Test it _crosswise_ with the trysquare on the working-face, and _lengthwise_ with a straight-edge. This is called the _working-edge_. Mark it with two pencil lines, drawn near the line on the working-face. These two surfaces are of great importance. From them all measurements are made and all tests applied. The trysquare and the gage should always be kept on one of these two surfaces. 3. Square the ends. With the trysquare, test them from both the working-face and the working-edge. 4. Gage the width from the working-edge. Plane to the line. With the trysquare on the working-face, test this edge. 5. Gage the thickness from the working-face. Plane to the line. Sometimes, of course, the above order needs to be changed. It is well to think out the best order of work. PROBLEMS PLATES AND WORKING DIRECTIONS DART--PLATE 1. A dart like the first one shown on Plate 1 will stick into a soft wooden target. Two or more boys, each with three darts, might have a contest in making the highest score. Number three rings of a target 5, 10, and 15, and the bull's eye 25. The dart consists of two parts, a round stick and a paper rudder. To make the round stick, 7" long 1/4" diameter, it will be well to start with a stick about 9" long so as to be able to hold it easily while planing it round. First plane the stick _square_, 1/4", and straight. To plane such a small stick straight, it should be laid on the top of the bench. While planing it, test it frequently by looking at it endwise. When it is the right size, grasp one end with the left hand, lay it on the bench with the forefinger touching the bench, and, with a small plane, plane away the corners so as to make a true octagonal (eight sided) stick. Next make it sixteen sided, taking very fine shavings, then sandpaper it well. Saw off the extra length, leaving the best part of the stick 7" long. Bind one end with fine (screen) wire. To bind it well, make a square corner 1" from one end of the wire and lay this 1" lengthwise the stick. Hold it firmly with the left thumb while winding the long part of the wire smoothly around the stick and wire. Twist the two ends together, and cut off what is not needed. Gently pound down smooth the end of the wire that is left. In this end of the stick, drill a hole for a 1" brad. File the head entirely off, and drive the brad in backwards, leaving 3/16" out; then file the point real sharp. Carefully split the other end of the stick 1". To do this, stand it upright in the vise, place a knife on the end, and tap the knife with a hammer. Into this split, insert the paper rudder bent as shown in Plate 1. The rudder should be cut the shape and size shown in the working drawing and then bent into shape. [Illustration: DART SPOOL DART DART FOR WHIP-BOW PLATE 1] SPOOL DART--PLATE 1. An easier dart to throw can be made of a spool as shown on Plate 1. Three feathers which curve the same way will give the dart a whirling motion when it is thrown. Make a stick about 7" long to fit tightly into the hole of a spool about 1" in diameter at its end. (See Dowels, page 11, also Glue, page 10.) A stick like this can be forced into a hole quite far by screwing it around, but if it is driven much with a hammer the spool will split easily. After the stick is glued into the spool, hold the spool upright on the jaws of the vise, and squeeze the stick extending below; then with the back-saw make four slanting cuts to sharpen the spool. File a 2-1/4" nail square off, 1" long; drive it backwards into a suitable hole drilled for it in the center of the spool; and sharpen it well with a file. One-half inch from the other end of the spool saw the stick off, and drill three holes in the spool end, into which glue three feathers about 4" long. DART FOR WHIP-BOW--PLATE 1. This dart is best made of a shingle. Lacking that, plane a 1/2" board thin[1] at one end to 1/8". Draw the center line lengthwise and lay out the shape of the dart with the broad part at the thin end. Saw crosswise from each edge of the shingle to the place where the curve begins, then lengthwise to that point. Holding the thin end in the vise, pare the curves with a knife, spokeshave, or draw-knife. Make the point at each end with a plane. To plane to slanting lines such as these, it is very important to place the work in the vise at such a slant that the line is parallel with the top of the bench and quite close to the jaws of the vise. Find the point where the dart balances by testing it on the finger, and make the little notch for the string, using a back-saw first, then a knife. A whip-bow consists of a string 20" long tied to the end of a stick 20" long. A knot is tied at the free end of the string. To throw the dart, catch the string in the notch, hold the wide end of the dart in the left hand and the stick in the right, throw the right hand forward, and let the dart fly from the string. [Footnote 1: To hold a board while planing it very thin, fasten it to another flat board with four wooden pegs. For several of the models in this book, a flat board about 9" × 4" × 7/8" with a cleat nailed to one end and extending 1/8" above its upper surface will be found most convenient for holding thin boards while planing. If the cleat is a little wider than the height of the block on the bench-hook, the bench-hook serves well to hold it.] BUZZER--PLATE 2. The buzzer consists of a wheel and two handles, connected with string. To make the wheel draw a 3" circle on a piece of wood 3/16" thick. Draw a line thru the center the way the grain goes and another at right angles to it, thus dividing the circle into quarters, Fig. 1. Notice, now, that to avoid splitting the circle, the four quarters must each be cut in a different direction. Lay the model flat on the bench-hook and saw off the corners of the square. Now, holding it in the vise with one quarter up, with the spokeshave, pare the corners in the direction of the arrow in this quarter until the circle is reached. Be careful not to pare away any part of the line. It will be observed that paring can be done safely on the end grain beyond the arrow-head in this quarter, but this is not at all possible on the side grain where the arrow begins. The spokeshave should be held rather lightly so as to allow it to follow the curve. Observing carefully the direction of the arrows, proceed with the other quarters in this same manner. The last few chips should be very fine ones. Drill two small holes for the string 1/4" each side of the center. Sandpaper the model nicely. (See Sandpaper, page 11.) [Illustration: Fig. 1] The two handles can be planed best if held in the bench-hook and the plane turned with its side on the top of the bench. After the corners are planed in this way, the ends can be planed without danger of splitting. Drill the holes for the string. The edges and ends of the handles will look better not sandpapered. String the model by passing one end of a 3 ft. string thru a hole in one handle, then in the wheel, then in the other handle, then back thru the other holes, tying it to the other end of the string. To make it go, take one handle in each hand, swing the wheel over and over, and gently pull the handles apart for an instant. A little practice may be necessary to make it go well. To make it buzz louder, bore two 5/16" holes on opposite parts of the wheel 1/2" from the rim. (See Bits, page 9.) To avoid splitting, bore _backwards_ till the bit marks a deep circle in the wood. [Illustration: BUZZER PLATE 2] FLYING TOP--PLATE 3. Like anything that flies, this top should be made as light as possible. Bass, cotton-wood, or soft pine are good woods to use. After the wood for the top is planed to size, a 3/16" hole should be bored straight thru the center. (See Bits, page 9.) Make the drawing on the top and whittle to line. Considerable care must be taken in whittling not to whittle away the two corners which should be saved; this is especially true if the grain is not straight. See page 16 for suggestions about making the handle. Glue the handle in the top. To make it fly, hold it between the two hands, and push the right one quickly. (See Plate 3.) [Illustration: FLYING TOP PLATE 3] FLYING TOP--PLATE 4. This form of flying top requires accurate work to make a good joint. (See Directions for Planing, page 13.) After planing the two vanes to size, the joint must be laid out with knife and gage lines and cut out with back-saw and chisel. Two important facts should be learned: The _length_ of one notch equals the _width_ of the other piece; the lines marking the depth of the notches must be gaged from the working-face of each piece. After the joint is laid out, hold the work in the bench-hook while sawing the depth of the notch, and be sure to saw _in the notch_, not outside the line. With a chisel held flat side down, pare between the saw cuts from each side of the wood towards the middle. When the joint is fitted, lay out the curves on each arm of the wheel, remembering that it is always the front corner of the right-hand arm, as the wheel turns around, that is to be whittled away. When all these curves are drawn, take the joint apart, and whittle to the lines. Glue the joint next, and bore a 3/16" hole straight thru its center. Make the axle of hard wood. (See page 16 and Dowels, page 11.) Perhaps a skewer can be used. After the handle is planed to size, draw pencil lines 1/4" from each edge for the chamfers. The curve of the chamfer may be drawn freehand. It should end 1-1/16" from one end of the handle. A good chamfer is flat crosswise. If the grain of the wood is straight, the chamfers can be whittled easily; if it is crooked watch that it does not split over the line. After the chamfers are made, pare another one 1/8" wide around the end of the handle. After the two blocks are planed, bore a 1/4" hole 3/8" from one end. Glue and nail them 1" on the handle. [Illustration: FLYING TOP PLATE 4] TOP--PLATE 5. A variety of sizes, shapes and colors of tops, spinning on a plate, is a lively sight. The one suggested is perhaps as large as it should be made for such sport. Smaller ones are easily made of spools without making a disk, or wheel, for them. The more slender the spindle is, the faster one can spin the top. First make a stick about 6" long to fit the hole in the spool. Plane 1" of it tapering as small as 1/8", then glue the spool on 1-1/4" below this small end. Now hold the spool in the vise endwise, and make, with the back-saw, a saw cut half thru the spool on the same slant as the slanting part of the spool; then saw straight down to the end of this slanting cut. Turn the spool nearly over and repeat this operation; then saw it completely off, and whittle the spool to a good point. Draw a 2" circle on a piece of wood 1/4" thick. Draw other circles just as desired for coloring. Observe the directions on page 20 for making a wheel. When the wheel is round, bore a 5/16" hole in its center, sandpaper it, and glue it in place on the spool and spindle. It can be colored with crayons or water colors. [Illustration: TOP PLATE 5] TOM-TOM DRUM--PLATE 6. As in a violin, the sounding qualities of this drum depend upon the quality of the wood used and the thickness of the sounding-board. Spruce is a good wood to use, though the drumstick may well be harder. A good way to make two pieces the same length and thickness is to plane _one_ piece, which is wider than the two pieces combined, to the right length and thickness, and then saw it in two lengthwise; so, to make the top and between pieces it will be best to start with one piece about 6" × 7/8" × 5/16". If no wood 1/8" thick for the sounding-boards is at hand, plane a thicker piece nicely on all surfaces 3" × 2" × 5/16". Then gage a line 1/8" from each broad surface all around the piece and saw between these lines. To plane these two pieces, lay them on the board described in the foot-note on page 19. Glue and nail the parts together with very small brads, or pins cut off 1/2". Allow the glue to dry six to ten hours before twisting the drumstick in the strings. Cut a small notch near the ends of the top pieces in which to wind two or three strands of string. Twist the drumstick in the opposite way from which it should strike the sounding-board. To play it, hold it in the left hand, and let the fingers of the right hand slide over the end of the drumstick, thus making the drumstick strike the sounding-board. [Illustration: TOM-TOM DRUM PLATE 6] POP-GUN--PLATE 7. The part of this model difficult to make is a nice, smooth hole. The surest way is to start with a thick piece of wood for the barrel, 6" × 1-1/4" × 1-1/4". Draw a 7/8" circle on one end; then bore the 7/16" hole as straight as possible, starting at the center of the circle. Stop boring as soon as the spur of the bit pricks thru the other end, and draw another 7/8" circle, setting the needle-point of the compass in the tiny hole made by the spur; then finish boring. Next plane the piece round the size of the circles. The ramrod should be made as directed on page 16. The hole should now be sandpapered by wrapping a long, narrow piece of sandpaper snugly about the ramrod, and tying it securely at each end with string. Make the handle, being careful to bore the hole straight 1" deep, and glue the ramrod into it. Cut off 3/8" of that part of a cork which fits tightly in the barrel. Drive a slender nail or brad thru a piece of hard leather (or zinc or copper) and trim it round 1/4" diameter. Drill a small hole exactly in the center of the end of the ramrod, then drive the nail thru the center of the cork and into the ramrod. To make the hole in the barrel still better, let a few drippings from a candle fall into it and quickly insert the ramrod and push it back and forth rapidly. A sudden push of the ramrod will blow the other cork out with a loud pop. To keep this cork, tie one end of a string around it and the other end around the barrel. [Illustration: POP GUN WHISTLE PLATE 7] WHISTLE--PLATE 7. The size of the chamber, of the notch, of the inlet for air, the force with which air is blown in,--these are some of the conditions which affect the tone of a whistle. Plane a piece of close-grained wood 6" × 3/4" × 3/4". This length is suggested so that two trials at boring can be made. Bore a 1/2" hole 2-1/4" deep. To help in boring this straight, clamp a straight-edge (the ruler may do) in the vise together with the square stick. Have one edge of the straight-edge on the center of one side of the stick. After boring a straight hole, draw pencil lines 3/16" from the long edges on all four sides. A good way to draw such lines is to rest the middle finger-nail on a side of the stick as a guide and hold the pencil closely over this nail while sliding it along. The hand must be held rather rigid. Practice will enable one to draw lines quite accurately this way. Place the stick in the vise so that one edge is straight up, and plane the corner off to the line. Plane all four corners so as to make a good octagonal stick. Make a dowel (see page 11) about 1-1/2" long to fit nicely in the hole. Do not crowd it so hard as to split the whistle. It might well be fitted first in a 1/2" hole bored in a waste piece of wood. Plane off a side of this dowel till a flat place is made 3/8" wide. Push the dowel into the whistle and saw the straight end of the notch about 3/16" deep. Pare the rest of the notch with knife or chisel, testing the whistle by blowing it occasionally as the paring proceeds. When it sounds best, glue the dowel in place and allow it to dry before sawing it off and cutting the slanting part. When this is done saw the whistle to a length of 2-1/2". If a rolling sound is desired, put in a pea before gluing the dowel in place. ARROW--PLATE 8. The old saying, "Straight as an arrow," suggests an arrow's most important quality: it must be straight. Saw a strip 20" × 1/2" from the edge of a straight-grained spruce board and plane it according to directions on page 16. To make the notch for the bowstring, first file a notch in the smaller end, then saw it 1/4" deep, and smooth it with the folded edge of a piece of sandpaper. Bind the larger end tightly with rather small, soft wire. (See page 16.) Pigeon feathers are easiest to use because the quills are soft and straight. Turkey and goose feathers are good, and hen feathers will do if they are nearly straight. The quill should be split with the point of a small, sharp knife, the feather being held on a cutting board. About 3" of quill are needed. With scissors, trim the feather about 5/16" wide; then glue and pin it in place 1-1/4" from the smaller end of the arrow. Indians use three feathers, but two will do for a boy. When the feathers are in place, the ends of the quills must be bound very smoothly and tightly with thread. Notice the position of the feathers in Plate 8: the _bottom_ feather on the arrow having three feathers is called the cock-feather and should be of a different color from the other two. It is always placed on the bowstring _away_ from the bow. BOW--PLATE 8. Almost any tough stick that will bend to a good curve will answer for a bow, but white ash such as is used in hoe- and rake-handles is probably best and easiest to get. A brittle wood like hemlock can be used, if used with great care; indeed, some Eskimos, who can get only dry, brittle driftwood, still make a splendid bow by wrapping it completely with sinew. The bow should be shorter than the archer. Plane each end tapering, first on the bottom, then on the two edges. Leave 6" in the middle straight for a handle. Notice the shape, Plate 8, of the three steps in the planing of the bow. Be especially careful to get the second step right, then the third will come easily. File notches near each end somewhat the shape of the loop on the bowstring. Before the bow can be finished, it must be strung and pulled a little to test it,--to see if both ends bend the same good curve,--not the curve of a circle, but that of the broad side of an ellipse. The ends should curve more than the middle. When it bends true, smooth it well with a coarse file, or glass, and sandpaper. Do not be tempted to pull the bow too far and so break it; one that bends easily is less apt to break than one that is too strong. When the bow is strung, the center of it and of the bowstring should be marked with thread or color. A piece of strong fish-line makes a good bowstring. A good one can be made of linen thread on the string machine shown on Plate 34. Tie knots as shown in Fig. 2. The timber-hitch should be kept in place on the bow, and the bowline-knot slipped back on the bow when it is unstrung. The best way to string a bow is to place the end having the timber-hitch on the ground against one's left foot, then to pull the middle of the bow with the left hand, and to push the upper part with the right hand, allowing this hand to slide upward so as to shove the bowline-knot into the upper notch. When finished the bow can be improved by rubbing it well with grease. [Illustration: Fig. 2 Timber-hitch knot and Bowline-knot] [Illustration: ARROW BOW PLATE 8] SWORD--PLATE 9. Plane the blade to size, then draw a center line on each side, and lay out the curves for the point and handle. Shape these ends with the draw-knife, spokeshave, or block-plane. Now measure 5" for the handle, and draw a line along the center of each edge to mark the cutting edges of the sword. A workman would do this with his pencil resting over his finger-nail as mentioned on page 32. Use the spokeshave to pare off the four corners (to sharpen the sword), and finish them with a plane. Try to take broad, flat chips so as to make the blade a good diamond shape. Where the blade and handle meet a good square shoulder must be made. A boy can do this best, perhaps, with a wide, flat file, though a workman would use a back-saw and chisel. Saw out the guard 5" × 3" × 1/2"; then draw the diamond 1-1/2" long and 1/2" wide. It is not easy for a boy to cut this out, so be careful and guard against splitting the board. First drill small holes at each end of the diamond, then bore other holes as large as will go within the diamond, Plate 9. With a thin chisel pare straight thru the board onto a cutting board. When the diamond will fit the blade, draw the shape of the guard freehand and pare the edges as explained for the buzzer on page 20. Sandpaper both parts of the sword, and fasten the guard with glue and two 2" brads, driven from each edge of the guard in holes drilled for the purpose. [Illustration: SWORD PLATE 9] MAGIC BOX--PLATE 10. This is truly a magic box to those who do not understand how it works. Who would ever think that these little bits of people would hop up and down inside their house just because their window was rubbed with a piece of leather? Try it and see how excited they get. If the worker can cut glass, make the box first, otherwise he must get a piece of glass 5-1/2" × 3" and build the box to fit it. It requires careful work to make a good box, so be sure that all ends and edges are square and that corresponding parts are the same size before nailing it together. Plane all such small boards in the bench-hook. Make the ends first 1" wide and as _long_ as the glass is _wide_. Make the sides the same width and as long as the glass, _plus_ the thickness of the two ends. Glue and nail these to the ends, keeping the bottom edges flush. Set all nails with a nail-set. One edge and one end only of the bottom should now be planed square, the other edge and end being left to plane after the bottom is nailed in place. Cut a piece of tin 1/16" smaller than the glass, or glue some tinfoil on the inside of the bottom. If tinfoil is to be used, smooth it on a piece of paper carefully with the fingers; then spread some glue thinly over the bottom, and lay the tinfoil on it. The squared edge and end of the bottom are to be nailed first, having them fit nicely; then the other edge and end. Never drive a nail too near the corner of the bottom lest it strike the nails driven thru the sides of the box. Now plane the end and then the side of the bottom to fit. If tin is used instead of tinfoil put it inside the box after the bottom has been nailed in place. Make the two supports fit inside the box lengthwise and just wide enough to hold the top of the glass flush with the top edges of the box. To hold the supports, drive nails thru the ends of the box into them. [Illustration: MAGIC BOX PENCIL BOX PLATE 10] Everything about electrical apparatus should be clean and dry, so, as this is really an electric box, have the glass and tin clean before using it. Put some bits of charcoal, paper, straw, or sawdust into the box, have it warm and dry, rub the glass with a piece of leather (glove, shoe), and then see how the little people jump! The explanation is as follows: Rubbing glass with leather, fur, woolen, or silk _generates_ electricity; this electricity _attracts_ non-electrified bodies, thus lifting the little people to the glass; as soon as they become _charged_ with the electricity on the glass, they are _repelled_ and thrown down to the tin; the tin _conducts_ their charge of electricity away, and they are ready to begin their circus over again. PENCIL-BOX--PLATE 10. To make this box, saw out one long piece for the sides and ends, 22" × 1-7/8" × 1/4", or two shorter pieces, 12" × 1-7/8" × 1/4". The reason for having them so long is because it is difficult to make the groove nicely to the end of the board; and they are wide enough to try twice to make the groove. [Illustration: Fig. 3] File a nail (about 3/32" in diameter) sharp like a chisel, and drive it tightly into a small hole, drilled in a block of wood which has one corner rabbeted, that is, sawed away as shown in Fig. 3. The outside of the nail, measured from the shoulder of the rabbet, must be exactly 1/4" away, so that the lower edge of the groove will be 1/4" from the top of the box. Practice with this tool till a good groove can be made in waste lumber, then make the groove along one edge of the board. When well done, plane the board 1-3/8" wide, and saw it to the proper lengths for sides and ends. In the front end there is no groove, so plane it away from one piece just sawed. Sandpaper the flat sides before gluing and nailing them together. Prepare the bottom as directed for the magic box, page 38, then sandpaper, glue and nail it in place. Set all nails. Plane the bottom to fit. Prepare the cover somewhat too long but exactly the width between the grooves. As in making the whistle, page 32, so here draw pencil lines for the bevel 3/8" wide on the cover. Practice planing a bevel on waste wood first. The bevel at the further end of the cover can be planed by holding the cover upright in the vise. When it slides smoothly in the grooves, saw it the right length. For the notch, make a deep cut with a gouge, and cut the chip straight across with knife point or small chisel. Hold it in the bench-hook while doing this. TELEPHONE--PLATE 11. In these days when even boys are using wireless telegraphy, this may seem a humble telephone, but it is a surprisingly good one, and it is very easily made and operated. The drum should be hard and tight, the string should be a small, hard cord (tho the common pink cord thoroly waxed with paraffin will do), and the cord should be supported by nothing but the drums when the telephone is being used. After preparing the eight sides, observe in Plate 11, the method of nailing four boards of equal width together to form a square,--each one is nailed to another one. The ends of the boxes should be well rounded with sandpaper before the drum is stretched over them. The best material for the drum is rawhide,--the dried skin of an animal. The skin of a small animal like the cat, rabbit, or woodchuck is best. Country boys will not have much difficulty in securing such rawhide, but city boys may. To remove the hair, or fur, from a skin, slack a lump of lime as large as a hen's egg in a basin of water and soak the skin in it until the hair can be pulled off readily (usually a few minutes); then thoroly wash the skin, stretch it over one end of a box, and tack it every 3/8" with 2 oz. tacks. When thoroly dry it will be "tight as a drum" and ready to use. A good drum can also be made of an old (dressed) kid glove or shoe. Soak a piece 4" sq. in water a few minutes then stretch it while still wet, tightly over the box. When dry, coat it on both sides with melted paraffin. Fasten the cord to the drum simply by a knot on the inside. If common pink cord is used, drive the paraffin in with a hot flat-iron. To use the telephone, a boy at each end of the line holds his box so that the string will not touch anything, then one talks into his box while the other listens in his. The telephone may be stretched from one house to another if the houses are within several hundred feet of each other and have a free space between. If two telephones were provided, a person could talk and listen at the same time. [Illustration: TELEPHONE PLATE 11] HAPPY JACK WINDMILL--PLATE 12. On a windy day "Happy Jack" will be a whole circus out on the clothes-line post. If he can be painted in bright colors so much the better, otherwise he should be decorated with colored pencils. The body is drawn on a board, 9" × 2" × 1/2", by measuring all the figures from the hat down, and at these points drawing lines square across the board; also, draw a center-line from head to heel. The toes and hat rim split easily, so be careful of these parts. If no scroll-saw is at hand, saw every 3/8" with the back-saw straight across from the edge of the board to the outline of the body; then pare these little pieces away with a knife or chisel. The curves at the neck are best made with a No. 6 bit before sawing. The curves may be finished with half-round file or sandpaper. Take great care in boring the hole up the legs and across the shoulders; if a hole is started crooked, glue in a dowel of the same wood (see Dowels, page 11), let it dry, and then try again. Use a straight-edge as a guide, as for the whistle, page 32. A No. 3 bit is used thru the shoulders, and a No. 4 bit up the legs. To make the arms, use a 1/2" hard wood dowel 6" long. Bore 1/4" holes for the vanes 1/2" each side the center of the dowel and file the wrists, before sawing it in two. Round the ends some with sandpaper. Flatten the 4" wire which goes thru the shoulders enough to keep it from turning in the arms. Drill holes in the arms to hold the wire firmly. To plane the vanes thin at the broad end, use the board mentioned at the bottom of page 19. When gluing and nailing the vanes in the arms, remember that one lies flat and the other nearly edgewise; also remember to make them balance. Bore a 3/16" hole in the center of the base and glue the dowel into it. Before trying to fasten "Happy Jack" to a post, drill holes in the base for nails or screws. [Illustration: HAPPY JACK WINDMILL PLATE 12] GLOUCESTER "HAPPY JACK" WINDMILL--PLATE 13. This "Happy Jack" is the kind which is common along the coast of New England. He is often painted with blue and white uniform and black shoes, while the paddles are left unpainted. The drawing is made on squares so that it may be enlarged easily to any size. Keep the same _number_ of squares but make them any size desired; 3/4" is a good size. The hat, being made separate from the body, should not be drawn on the same board. To make the hat without a lathe, make two wheels of soft wood, round one edge of the larger, and glue and nail the smaller one on it. Saw the head slanting to make a flat place for the hat, as shown in side view of hat, Plate 13. The space between the legs should be cut out with a turning or key-hole saw, tho it can be worked out as the diamond in the sword guard, Plate 9. The "Happy Jack" should be mounted on a large wire rod. [Illustration: GLOUCESTER HAPPY JACK WINDMILL PLATE 13] PADDLING INDIAN WINDMILL--PLATE 14. Make this windmill any dimension desired, using the same number of squares in drawing to keep the proportions. The stern of the canoe should be planed thin enough so that the completed windmill will nearly or quite balance on the upright wire rod. The arms should be made like those on the "Happy Jack," and as long as from the center of the shoulder to the topmost feather. If the canoe is not too wide, the Indian can be nailed in place by two nails as shown in Plate 14, otherwise drive smaller ones slanting thru the back into the canoe; drill holes in either case. After the hole is bored thru the shoulders, use a trysquare to tell where to start the hole up thru the canoe so that it shall come in front of the former. [Illustration: PADDLING INDIAN WINDMILL PLATE 14] KITE--PLATE 15. Kite flying is such fascinating sport that the three typical kites here given will make one want to build others, larger and of different shapes.[2] Kites have been made large enough to carry a man high in the air. The adjustments of a kite are so subtle that much patience is sometimes needed to make it fly. That is why the rather elaborate bridle is suggested for the paper covered kite with tail. It will require a little longer stay in the workshop, but it will save time outdoors. [Footnote 2: Many suggestions are found in "The Construction and Flying of Kites" by Charles M. Miller, price 20 cents, Manual Arts Press, Peoria, Ill.] To make the spine and crosspiece, saw a 1/4" strip from the edge of a 7/8" straight-grained spruce board 3 ft. long; then saw this strip again lengthwise, and plane the two pieces 3 ft. × 3/8" × 1/4". Mark the center of the crosspiece and a point 8" from the top of the spine, and plane each end tapering thinner to 3/16". In each end saw a slot 3/16" deep, Plate 15. Glue and bind securely the middle of the crosspiece to the 8" point on the spine. Notice that the last few strands go _around_ the others. Test the sticks to see that they are square with each other. This can be done by measuring from one end of the spine to each end of the crosspiece. Put a cord that will not stretch around the ends of the sticks, in the slots, and tie it tightly. Bind this cord into each slot in such a manner that it will not slip, and at the same time wind the sticks so that they will not split beyond the slot. While doing this, one must measure again from each end of the spine to the ends of the crosspiece so that the two halves of the kite will be equal. Cover the kite with strong, light paper. Glue the paper to the sticks, and fold it over the string 1/2". Try to have the string lay in the crease of the fold. Strengthen the corners with another piece of paper, 2" wide. [Illustration: KITE TAILLESS KITE BOX KITE PLATE 15] To make an adjustable bridle, wind a cord twice around the spine near its top and tie it tightly on the front side, keeping the knot in the middle. Little holes will, of course, have to be made in the paper. Cut the cord about 2" long and tie bowline-knot, Fig. 2, p. 34. Measure on the crosspiece 10" from the center, and down the spine 12" from the crosspiece, and tie three more such knots. Double two cords, about 40" long, and tie them in one big knot, called the flying-knot, to make a loop about 1" long to which to fasten the anchor line. Mark a point on the spine 10" below the crosspiece. Hold the flying-knot here, and fasten two cords to the loops on the crosspiece with two or three half-hitches, Plate 15. Now bring the flying-knot 2" above the crosspiece and out from the kite far enough to make these two cords taut. Fasten another cord to the loop at the upper part of the spine. Adjust the remaining cord as taut as the others. A flat kite like this always needs a tail, and the most bothersome tail ever made is that familiar kind made of paper and string. To make a convenient, serviceable, and easily-made tail use strips, 3" wide, of bunting, cheese-cloth, or any soft, light cloth. In a high wind a longer tail is needed than in a light wind. If the kite seems too unsteady, pull it down, and try to adjust the bridle or the tail, before an accident occurs. If the kite dives, let go the string just before the kite reaches the ground so that it will not strike the ground with force enough to smash the kite. When letting out string rapidly, always protect the hand with a cloth or glove lest the string cut thru the skin. If in doubt about the strength of the anchor-line, two boys can very quickly test it 100 ft. or so at a time as it is being let out; one does not want the string to break when the kite is high in the air. TAILLESS KITE--PLATE 15. If one has to fly a kite amid many obstructions of trees, wires, and houses, one will appreciate the advantage of a tailless kite. Such a kite has to be more accurately made, however, and should be covered with cloth. When making the bow, file notches near the slot at each end in the same manner as for the bow, Plate 8, in which the twisting string will be fastened later. Lash the middle of the bow to a point 7" from the top of the spine. In the slots, put the cord which goes around the kite, measuring carefully to keep the two sides the same size. Sew a piece of colored cambric over the kite. Tie the middle of a strong cord 6-1/2 feet long to the filed notch at one end of the bow with three half-hitches, as shown in Plate 15. Pass one part of this cord around the other notch, and fasten it in the same manner; then tie the two ends together with a square knot. Make the dowel for twisting the two cords on the back of the bow so as to bend the bow as desired. Into one end of the dowel drive a small brad and file it sharp. How much to bend the bow can be determined only by trying the kite. As the bow bends, the cloth becomes looser, and it is this looseness of the cloth which so holds the wind that the kite will fly without a tail. After twisting the cords enough, slip them towards the end of the dowel away from the spur, and rest the spur in the back of the spine. Tie a string around both the top and the bottom ends of the spine for the bridle. The flying-knot should come as far as the end of the bow; or, some tie the lower end of the bridle about 14" from the lower end of the spine, and make the flying-knot about 9" in front and 2" above the bow. BOX KITE--PLATE 15. In a gale too strong for other kites, a box kite will fly safely. The bridle is very easy to adjust, and the kite, tho somewhat more elaborate than the others, is not difficult to make. Thin sticks like these can be sawed from the edge of a straight-grained board. An easy way to make the notches in the ends of the braces is to clamp them all in the vise at once, flat surfaces together, and then saw them out with a back-saw. This method presupposes that the uprights are all planed the same thickness. If they are unequal in thickness, saw the notches as wide as the thinnest upright and pare the others each to fit its proper upright. In any construction like this, which has a number of parts fitting together, it is well to number the adjacent parts so that they may be put together again, each in its place. Little nicks are cut with a knife on the four edges of the braces where the lashing is to be wound. When all the sticks are fitted together, glue the braces to the uprights 4-3/8" from the ends; two frames are thus made just alike. The lashing is done with large thread. Start it with two turns around the brace, then once around the upright, then once around the brace, then again around the upright, and so continue. The last few turns should be around the brace. See that the thread goes from the brace to the upright in the way most favorable for holding. When all the lashing is done, measure the center of each brace. Put one frame thru the other, and drive a pin thru the two centers. Now the frames must be brought to a 14-1/2" square by means of strong thread. Near the top of one upright tie a 6 ft. thread, leaving a short end. Simply wind the long end twice around each upright, and tie the end with a bow-knot until all sides of the square can be measured and adjusted. When all sides are equal, make the bow-knot into a square knot. Wind some thread around each upright, except the first, in such a manner as to hold the long thread securely. Now adjust the other end of the kite in the same way. Measure 8-3/4" from the ends of each upright and put other threads around the square. These can be fastened at each upright after the first by three half-hitches. The kite may be covered either with cloth or paper. If cloth is used, the edges should be hemmed. If paper, lay it on the floor, put glue on each upright, then press the paper to one upright. Wrap the paper around the kite and wind string around it several times to hold it while adjusting and pressing each corner. Glue the ends of the paper next, pulling them as tight as possible. Two flat-irons will hold the ends while drying. After the paper is on, its edges should be strengthened with a narrow ribbon of cloth glued to it. Tie the bridle strings just above and below the upper cell and have the flying-knot 5" in front of the end of the brace. KITE-STRING SAILBOAT--PLATE 16. To send messages up to his kite, many a boy has made a hole in a piece of paper and watched that go sailing up his anchor line. This sailboat will do that, and other things too, and come spinning down again to take another message. A parachute, made of a paper napkin, having a 12" thread running to each corner and a nail for ballast tied where the four threads are knotted together, can be sent up by this messenger, released, and allowed to float down from a great height. Paper gliders sent up this way will do many "stunts" before they reach ground. Fold a flimsy paper napkin in such a way as to hold a bunch of confetti with a pin thru only three or four thicknesses of the napkin. This can be tied to the keel and the pin withdrawn by the release and fall of a nail, and, behold, a shower of confetti! Be sure the falling nail will do no injury where it strikes. A light, frail model like this will require considerable time and patience to make and adjust so that it will work. Make the hull and posts from a stick about 13" long. Bore the 3/16" holes for the mast and keel, the former a little to the left (port, a sailor would say) of the center and 2-1/2" from the bow, the latter in the center 2" from the stern. Make the wheels of the ends of spools by sawing them off just where the straight portion begins, and glueing them together on a hard dowel. Very accurately find their centers and drill holes for 1" brads which form their axles. Drive these into the post so that the wheels run very freely. Do not nail the posts to the hull till the wire parts have been put in place. Make three staples of pins and drive them in the bottom of the hull so that a fine wire will just slide thru them easily. Three are used so that the wire will always be held straight. Next make the two eyes which hold the kite-string under the wheels. Coiled around once and a half, the coils must be separated enough to allow the string to slip between. The safety of the model, swinging violently high in the air, depends upon these eyes. They can be driven thru small, tight holes and bent on the under side to make them secure. They must be just high enough to allow the string to run free. The forward one is elongated because the kite-string slants upward so much. Bend the 4" wire trigger three times around a brad driven in a piece of wood for convenience. To handle wire readily for such work as this, two pliers will be found useful. Saw a notch in the bow just wide enough for this coil. Now glue and nail the posts in position. [Illustration: KITE-STRING SAILBOAT PLATE 16] Make the mast, all the spars, in fact, smaller at the outer end. Rig it completely before gluing the mast in place. Be sure that the booms will swing _over_ the forward wheel, so as not to interfere with its easy running. The sails should be of light cloth. The booms and the gaffs (see Plate 30 for names of parts) must swing freely on the mast, so as to fold together when the trigger is released. For the main-sheets, use thread tied with a long loop to slip over the fine wire part of the trigger. A cork 1-1/4" in diameter, slit to the center, can be put on the kite-string far enough from the kite to be safe from any entangling. On the keel, fasten ballast enough (about 1 oz.) to make the sailboat ride upright. THE HYGROSCOPE OR WEATHER COTTAGE--PLATE 17. This model serves to indicate the humidity (dampness) of the air. It consists of the house, turntable, and figures, the turntable being suspended on a violin string. The violin string absorbs moisture from the air and untwists, thus causing the man to come out; when the air become dry the string twists tighter, thus causing the woman to come out. The model should be placed out doors but not exposed to rain or sun. The arches of the doorways may be made with a big bit (1-3/8") or a scroll saw. If a bit is used, bore a hole for the spur first, lest it split the board. While boring hold the board vertically in the vise. The portion cut off between the doorways can be sawed with the tip of the back-saw if the board is laid flat on the bench-hook. The slanting lines at the top, also, can be sawed while held down on the bench-hook. After the front, back and sides are made, nail the back to the sides, but screw the front. When this is done, put the house in the vise in an upright position and plane the tops of the sides slanting. Notice that one roof is wider than the other. Nail the narrower one first, with the grain running from front to back. Do not drive nails into the front but nail it securely at the back and side. Letting the plane rest on the other side of the house, plane the upper edge of this roof slanting, so that the other roof will fit. Nail this in place; set all nails; and plane the upper edge of this roof slanting, letting the plane rest on the first roof. Two brads may now be driven near the center of the ridge-pole to hold the roofs together. After making the floor, place the house in position on it (1/4" from back, 1/2" from ends) and draw a line around the house. Remove the house; drive three brads straight down thru the floor; pull them out and start them from the under side in the same holes; then put the house in place again and drive the brads home. Put in more brads to hold the house securely. To make the chimney, saw a notch 3/16" deep in the end of a 3/4" square stick. If it fits on the roof, bore a 5/16" hole thru its center, and saw the chimney off 3/4" long. Glue it 3/8" from the front end of the roof. When dry, bore the hole thru the roof. The chimney top with the dowel attached to it below is made to revolve so that the Hygroscope may be adjusted. To make the chimney top, bore a 1/4" hole into the end of a 1/2" dowel; then saw it off 1/2" and glue in the upper dowel. Make the turntable somewhat round at each end. In the center of it, glue and nail the lower dowel. Next, paint the house if desired. The violin string is glued and wedged into holes in the upper and lower dowels so that the turntable will swing 3/16" above the floor. The man and woman may be made of cardboard, wood, clay, chalk or plaster of Paris; or they can be bought at a toy store. Painted in bright colors and shellacked, or varnished, they look well. They can be made to balance on the turntable by adding a piece of lead. Of course, neither they nor the turntable should touch any part of the house as they swing around. [Illustration: HYGROSCOPE OR WEATHER COTTAGE PLATE 17] ELECTROPHORUS--PLATE 18. The electrophorus consists of two parts, a pan filled with a resinous mixture, and a cover which has been completely covered with tinfoil. Under favorable conditions, a spark of electricity 1/2" long can be obtained from this electrophorus. The favorable conditions are these: The air should be dry; both parts of the electrophorus should be warm, dry, and clean; and the tinfoil and rosin should be perfectly flat, so as to come in close contact with each other. Make the pan and its sides as shown in Plate 18. Glue and nail the sides in place and round their upper edges well with sandpaper. To make the resinous mixture, melt a half teacup of rosin with two teaspoons of turpentine and about the same of paraffin in a rather deep dish, and pour the mixture into the pan. As all these materials are inflammable, perhaps the safest place to melt them is in the oven. After the pan is cold, test the surface of the rosin to see that it is flat every way. If it is not flat, sandpaper the high parts slowly with coarse sandpaper. When making the cover, observe the directions on page 20, then round the edge to a good half-circle. Test the cover also to see that it is flat, especially on its under side, for to get good sparks, the tinfoil and rosin must come just as close together as possible. Cut two circles of tinfoil 4-1/2" in diameter. Smooth them carefully on a piece of paper, spread glue thinly on the cover, lay the tinfoil on the glue, and smooth it with the fingers. Press the edges as smooth as possible because electricity escapes easily from sharp corners. Cover the larger open spaces with bits of tinfoil. Hard rubber (ebonite), being a non-conductor of electricity, makes the best handle. A piece of an old rubber comb or a fountain pen can be used for this purpose. To get a spark of electricity, rub the rosin with soft leather, fur, or woolen; place the cover on it; touch the top of the cover with the finger (to remove the negative electricity); lift the cover by the top of the handle; bring the edge of the cover near a finger, or other conductor, and a spark will fly off with a snap. It is a miniature flash of lightning. Some books on electricity describe many other experiments which can be tried. [Illustration: ELECTROPHORUS PLATE 18] WATERWHEEL--PLATE 19. This waterwheel is designed to be placed in a flowing stream. A longer trough might well lead the water into this one so as to get greater speed. Make the trough first, being careful to make a good fit where the sides nail to the bottom. Nail the top 5" from the end where the wheel is placed. The upper corners of the axle blocks are to be cut off 1". The center of the 5/16" hole for the axle is 7/8" from the lower edge. When nailing the axle blocks in place, put a dowel or lead pencil thru the holes to help in nailing the blocks exactly opposite each other. After sawing a board for the wheel 4-1/4" square, draw the diagonals and diameters (cornerwise and crosswise, that means) to divide it into eight parts. Draw a 4" circle for the wheel and a 3-1/4" circle to mark the depth of the notches for the paddles. Shape the wheel. (See page 20 for directions.) Test it with the trysquare to keep the edge square with the flat surface. Bore a 1/4" hole in the center with the greatest care, or the wheel will wobble sidewise. The notches are cut with the back-saw alone. One-eighth of an inch to one side of the eight lines across the circle, saw straight down to the inner circle. Be careful to hold the saw square with the wheel. After this saw cut is made, measure the width of the notch by holding the edge of a paddle so as just to cover the saw cut, and, with a knife point make a dot at the other side of the paddle. Holding the trysquare against one side of the wheel and the inner edge of its blade over the dot, score a knife line across the edge of the wheel. Then saw straight down again _inside_ this knife line. Saw cornerwise a few times and the wood will be removed sufficiently. The notches may better be too small than too large, for the paddles can be planed thinner to fit. Clean the wheel with the plane before nailing the paddles. All these paddles except one can be nailed with the wheel held in a corner of the vise. To nail that one, put a thin board upright in the vise and rest the wheel on its top. All nails should be started in the paddles, not in the wheel. [Illustration: WATERWHEEL PLATE 19] Make the axle of hard wood. Push it thru the axle blocks and wheel, and lock it to the wheel with a brad, Plate 19. The axle is made long so that a pulley (spool) can be put on and a belt (string) run from this to other pulleys. A leather washer outside each axle block keeps the wheel in the center. If the work has been carefully done, the paddles will not strike; if they do strike, they must be pared off. WATER MOTOR--PLATE 20. This motor is a waterwheel designed for an ordinary hose faucet. Under a stream of water no bigger than a large needle, it will fairly buzz. If the wheel does not run exactly true on the axle, the motor will need legs screwed on the outside of the box. Make the wheel of soft wood just as true as possible. (See page 20.) For the axle a small brass rod or a large knitting needle may be used. In the center of the wheel, drill a hole smaller than the axle so as to make a tight fit. Be very careful to bore this hole straight. Force the axle thru the wheel, and if the wheel wobbles only slightly drive wooden wedges beside the axle to force it square with the wheel. If it wobbles too much, plug the hole and try boring again. Resting the axle on the jaws of the vise, revolve the wheel rapidly to see where it is out of true, and patiently pare it down. The flat side of the wheel which wobbles only a little can be planed off. The strip of screen wire netting should now be tacked on the wheel. It is long enough to go twice around the wheel, and should be tacked on with a dozen small tacks. For suggestions about the pulley see page 56. Prepare a block of soft wood for the coupling. From its bottom, gage a line marking the height of the dovetails in which the blocks C and D fit 3/8" on each side. Saw these dovetails 3/16" deep, and pare them slanting with a chisel. In the center of the top, bore a 1" hole, 3/4" deep; continue the hole thru the block with a 1/2" bit. Bore holes 3/8" from the top, 1/2" from the ends for the two 1-1/2" screws which are shown in the small drawing, Plate 20. Gage and saw out the left-hand half of the block (as shown in the plate) as deep as the 1" hole. The purpose of this is to permit a squeezing fit on the threads of the faucet. When first trying it on the faucet, squeeze it hard with a hand-screw to jamb the threads into the wood; after that, the screws can be put in and the coupling attached at pleasure. A 1/4" hole is bored in the 1/2" dowel, which serves as a nozzle, until the spur just shows. Without allowing the bit to bore any farther, turn it around enough so that the spur will wear the wood and thus make a tapering hole as shown in the sectional drawings. Prepare the sides, ends, and top of the box, the three blocks, the key wedge, and the two stops. The wedge should be 1/16" wider at one end than the other and should fit the dovetail. Block C should fit the other. In the top piece, bore a 3/4" hole in the middle 1-1/4" from the end. This hole is larger than the nozzle to allow for adjustments. All these parts must now be thoroly soaked with paraffin. Melt the paraffin, apply it with a brush to all surfaces, and drive it in with heat. During the process, the nozzle can be made fast in the coupling, using plenty of paraffin to make it water tight. See that the tiny outlet occupies the best position for directing the water onto the wheel. After the nozzle is cold again, the outlet should be carefully worked out again with the warm point of a big hat-pin or wire, filed to a good point. Put the parts together as follows: Nail one side (the right in the plate) to the ends; screw the other side to ends; nail top to ends and first side only; nail block B to A; then A to the top. Unscrew the side and bore holes in the center of the sides for the axle. Make them fit nicely, then soak them with paraffin. Put the wheel, the side, the pulley, and the stops in place. Put the coupling in such position that the nozzle comes over the rim of the wheel and nail block C. After putting two or three soft leather washers in the coupling screw it to the faucet, lock it to the motor, and the motor is ready. Better bearings for the axle can be made of two pieces of solder screwed to the inside of the sides. If these are made, the holes in the sides should be large enough not to touch the axle. The wheel and pulley can be locked to a brass axle by boring a hole thru the axle with a drill made of a needle. (See Drills, page 11.) [Illustration: WATER MOTOR PLATE 20] SAND WHEEL--PLATE 21. Fine sand will make a wheel like this spin around lively. Most of the parts are easily made, the wheel offering the most difficulties. As shown in the drawing it consists of two boxes, uprights connecting the two, and a wheel with paddles swung on an axle between the uprights. [Illustration: Fig. 4] To make the curves on the uprights, lay them edge to edge in the vise and start the spur of a large bit in the crack, 1-1/2" from each end. If a big spool cannot be obtained for the wheel, plane out an octagonal block 1-3/8" long, 1" in diameter. The slanting part of the spool must be whittled away. Divide one end into eight equal parts and draw lines lengthwise on the spool at each division. On these lines, measure very carefully 11/16" from one end. Then, holding the spool level in the vise bore 3/16" holes half thru the spool at each of these dots. The easiest way to lay out the paddles is in one long piece as shown in Fig. 4. If lines A and B are sawed carefully (see page 12) they will fit the spool well enough to glue. The stems of the paddles go into the holes bored in the spool. They are easily made round by paring the corners a little, and then screwing them around in a 3/16" hole in a piece of hard wood. The ends of the paddles where the sand strikes are bevelled on the under side. The holes in the uprights, thru which 1-1/4" brads are pushed into the center of the spool, must be exactly opposite each other, 3-1/4" from the bottom. Little leather washers should be put between the spool and the uprights. [Illustration: SAND WHEEL PLATE 21] Now make the boxes. To nail the boxes to the upright follow the suggestions on page 59 for nailing the floor of the weather cottage. Keep the brads near the center of the uprights lest they split the curves. A 5/16" hole for the sand is bored in the upper box in such a position that the sand will strike near the middle of the ends of the paddles. The peg is tapered to fit this hole. RUNNING WHEEL--PLATE 22. It is fine fun for several boys to race down the street with running wheels. Each boy can have a different kind of wheel by following the suggestions on Plate 22. [Illustration: Fig. 5] The wheel may be made any convenient size. Saw a board off square and plane it flat. To be sure that it is flat, it must be tested with a straight-edge from corner to corner, crosswise, and lengthwise. Draw the circle with a string pinned to the center, if a large compass is not at hand. Saw it with a turning saw and finish it as suggested on page 20. Bore and countersink a hole in the center for a 1-1/2" flat-head screw. Make the handle and drill a small hole in it where the wheel is to be screwed on. Round off the upper end and edges of the handle so that it feels good to the hand grasping it. The screws used in the connecting rod should slip easily thru the holes at each end. Altho one arm will do, two look better. To draw the boy, draw as many 3/4" squares on the board as there are in Fig. 5, then sketch the outline one square at a time. To cut it out, a scroll-saw or turning-saw is almost surely needed, tho a patient boy can do it with auger-bits, back-saw, knife, and file--the bits to be used first at all the inside angles. On the handle, must be put a block on which to screw the boy. To fasten the two arms loosely at the shoulders, the screw should be loose in the shoulder and first arm, and tight in the second arm. The same is true of the hands and flagpole. In the top of the flagpole, bore a hole to fit a small flag. Paint of bright colors makes the model look much more pleasing. An easy way to make the sliding part of the lower right-hand running wheel, Plate 22, is to cut out with bit and chisel a narrow slot thru the handle, wide enough for two screws, with washers on them, which screw into the block holding the flag. [Illustration: RUNNING WHEEL PLATE 22] RATTLE--PLATE 23. This is a noisy toy and will make a safe substitute for fire-crackers on the Fourth of July. Some of the dimensions may be changed to suit such a spool as can be obtained. It should be a rather deep spool, that is, one that held a lot of thread. The noise is made by the spring snapping off the slats in the spool as the head of the rattle is swung round and round. Draw lines across one end of the spool to divide it into eight equal parts. Place the spool endwise in the vise and, with the back-saw, cut eight notches a little more than 1/16" wide straight towards the opposite side of the spool. By sawing twice at each notch, the wood which remains can easily be removed with the saw held slanting. There are several ways of making the eight little slats which fit into these notches; the easiest, perhaps, is to split them from a block (1-5/8" × 1-1/2" × 5/16") of a straight-grained wood, and plane them on the jig described at the foot of page 19. Glue them in the notches. Plane the back and the spring this same way. Square both ends of the back but do not plane it quite to width until it is glued and nailed in place. In the two sides, bore a 5/16" hole for the dowel, 3/4" from the end and a little over 3/4" from the back edge. (Holes are always located by their centers.) This dowel must fit tightly in the handle and spool, and loosely in the two sides. Plane the spring thinner at the narrow end. It should be narrow enough and its corners cut off enough so as not to touch the spool when it snaps. The handle might well be octagonal rather than round. The parts may now be put together as follows: Glue and nail the sides first to the thick end, second to the thin end. The distance between the ends inside is 3-5/16". Keep these four parts flush on the back edges so that the back will fit. Glue and nail the back. Glue the dowel in the handle. Put glue inside the spool and on the middle portion of the dowel, then, with the spool between the two sides, push the dowel thru all three holes. Glue and nail the spring in place. It should be as far towards the spool as it will go without snapping the next slat when it snaps off one slat. [Illustration: RATTLE PLATE 23] CART--PLATE 24. The important features of a cart are the wheels and axle and the tongue; if these are strong and the tongue securely fastened, almost any box will do for the body. Two tongues, nailed or screwed to the sides of the body, probably make the strongest handle, but they are not so good looking as the one shown in Plate 24. If this one is screwed to the box with six 1" screws, two in the tongue and two in each block, it will be strong enough. Some of the nicer boxes to be secured of a grocer will do for a body, tho it is better to make one one's self. Four wheels of 1/2" hard wood should be made (see page 20) and then each two of the four glued and nailed together very securely with the grain crosswise. For this purpose, 1-1/4" clout, or clinch nails are best. Do not drive them too near the center nor the rim. To clinch nails, they should be driven onto a piece of iron. After this is done, a 7/8" hole (or larger if you can get a larger stick for the axle) is bored straight thru the center. To cut the cylindrical ends of the axle, first draw a 7/8" circle at the center of each end, then lay out and saw out two rectangular pieces, one on each side of the circles so as to leave a 7/8" square pin, 2-1/4" long. Proceed to make these pins; first, eight sided; then, sixteen sided; then, round; using knife or chisel and a coarse flat file. Make the hole in the washers before cutting off each corner 9/16". These washers are to be fastened to the axle when held rather snugly against the wheel with two 1" screws put crosswise the grain. Before putting the wheels on the last time, rub the axles and holes well with hard soap to make them run easier. Draw a line across the bottom of the body 5" from the back end, and bore four screw holes thru the bottom; countersink them well on the inside of the body, and put 1" screws thru into the flat side of the axle. The axle is planned so that the wheels run within 1/8" of the body. [Illustration: CART PLATE 24] With a curved lower edge, the tongue is 2-1/2" wide at one end and 1-1/2" at the other. To get the correct slant at the wide end, block up the cart level, have some one (or the vise) hold the tongue in the position wanted when finished, then with a strip of wood about 2" wide placed upright against the front of the body, draw a line on the tongue. From the lowest corner of the tongue, draw another line parallel to the first, and saw off. After making the two blocks and fastening them securely to the tongue, saw the lower ends flush with the curve of the tongue. Place the tongue in position, draw a line around it on the body, then bore holes where screws will go best into the tongue and blocks. Six 1" screws well countersunk will hold the tongue securely. Since the tongue is fastened to the _front_, the sides and bottom must be well nailed to _it_; or, the corners may be strengthened with a piece of tin inside and outside each corner, tacked or riveted together. Each piece of tin should be about 3" square. A piece of old bicycle frame forced tightly into the hole of a wheel, makes it very durable. Such a hole would doubtless have to be bored with an expansive bit. A bicycle frame is easily filed in two at some distance from the reinforced joints. Such a piece should be longer than the thickness of the wheel to allow filing it flush after it is driven in. To force it in, use a strong vise, or, after protecting it with hard wood, drive it slowly with a heavy hammer. Small carts can be made with wheels made of spools like those of the cannon. (See Plate 25.) CANNON--PLATE 25. This cannon will shoot small marbles very well. The force of it depends, of course, on the strength of the rubber bands. Because the ramrod and handle are rather heavy, a strong dowel is put thru the handle and ramrod. The rubber washer absorbs some of the shock. For the barrel draw a 1-1/4" circle on one end of a stick 6-1/2" × 1-1/2" × 1-1/2". From the center of this circle, bore a 9/16" hole straight thru the stick endwise, stopping as soon as the spur comes thru. Set the needle of the compass in this spur hole and draw a 1" circle and, if possible, a 1-1/4" circle; then finish boring. Plane the stick round to the 1-1/4" circle. To hold the stick while doing this, put a rod thru the hole, open the vise 6-1/2" and let the barrel rest endwise in the vise. Two and one-half inches from the breech end of the barrel, draw a line around it to limit the taper of the muzzle end. Plane the muzzle to the 1" circle. Two inches from the breech, bore a 3/8" hole straight thru the barrel; and into this hole glue the axle. After the glue is dry, bore out the barrel again, and sandpaper the hole well. Make the ramrod fit loosely in the barrel. (See directions for Dart, page 16.) Make the handle in the same manner as the barrel was made, except that, after drawing the 1-1/4" circle at the end where the spur just appears, the hole is _not_ bored further. Glue the ramrod in place, and fasten it with the 3/8" dowel. The curved notch into which the rubber bands are tied, can be worked out patiently with a round file, first cutting a V-shaped notch with a knife. Pare the corners and sandpaper all parts well. The rubber washer can be made of an old rubber heel. To bore a hole in it, squeeze it between two boards and bore thru both together. At least one of the uprights must be screwed to the base. The first one may be nailed. Glue and nail this one 1/4" from the edge of the base. Hold the other in place and draw a line around it. Bore holes for the screws, put the screws in the holes, and press the upright on them to mark where to bore in the upright. After boring in the uprights, put the cannon and upright in place, and tighten the screws. The wheels can be made of the ends of large spools, well countersunk for a short, large screw. [Illustration: CANNON PLATE 25] [Illustration: AUTOMOBILE PLATE 26] AUTOMOBILE--PLATE 26. Tho the motor (an elastic band) which makes this automobile go is a short-winded affair, still, if the wheels are easy running, it will go alone for a short distance on a wooden floor. A stronger elastic can be used if the automobile carries a load. If the parts are painted with bright colors before they are entirely put together, the automobile will look very well. First, make the body, then 4-1/4" from the front end and 3/4" from the right side, bore a 1/4" hole in the body for the steering post. This should fit tightly so as to hold the wheels in any position desired. Leather washers are nailed to the post close to the body. The steering post must be put in place before any other parts are fastened to the body. The ends of the rails which are later fastened to the bottom of the body, slant 1/2". The center of the holes for the axles is 3/4" beyond this slanting line and 1/4" above the lower edge of the rails. When boring these 1/4" holes, the rails should be clamped together so that the holes will be exactly opposite each other. The forward holes are made long to allow the axles to swing back and forth. To make this hole, two 1/4" holes are bored side by side and the top and bottom smoothed with a 1/4" chisel. When nailing the body to the rails, put the rear axle thru the holes to aid in keeping them opposite each other. The forward axle is made in one piece and kept so until after the steering "rope" is in place. The axle must be held carefully in place while the brad holes are bored 1/8" from the outer edge of the rails and straight thru the center of the axle. A tight fitting brad is driven into this hole. The steering rope must not stretch; large, hard thread is suitable. Wind a piece about 18" long tightly around the axle about 1/4" from one rail and tie it. Pass one end thru the small screw-eyes shown in the lower drawing, and wind it around the axle near the other rail leaving no slack in the screw-eyes; then wind six to eight turns smoothly around the steering post, and fasten the end to the beginning with several half-hitches. (See Plate 15.) A separate thread should be tied around the axle and steering rope at the second place. Should there be any slack, it can be taken up by laying a V-shaped thread over the steering rope near the axle and passing the two ends over the upper side of the axle, and tying them across the steering rope on the other side of the axle. This tends to pull the steering rope together on top of the axle. The wheels can be sawed from short lengths of curtain poles, obtained at a furniture store. The 1/4" holes for the axle, must be bored exactly at the center. The wheels must turn freely on the front axle, but be glued to the rear axle, which must itself turn freely in the rails. After the wheels are in place, the front axle can be sawed in two with a back-saw, using very short strokes, and sawing two cuts nearly thru before either is sawed completely. Nail the wind-shield to the engine, then glue both to the body. Nail the seat-back to the seat so that the top of the seat will be 3/4" above the body, then nail the two sides to the end and to the seat-back and seat. Glue the whole to the body. Nails can be driven up thru the body into the engine, the seat back, and the end, if care is used in locating them. One end of the elastic band (motor) is tied with a bit of string to a brad driven in the forward end of the body of the automobile. On the other end of the elastic band is tied a piece of string about 8" long. This is put just under the body and above the steering rope and wound two or three times tightly around the rear axle and tied. The string and elastic band should be simply straight, the elastic neither stretched nor loose. To wind up the motor, move the automobile backwards on the floor and hold the rear wheels until ready to let the automobile go. BOW PISTOL--PLATE 27. For target shooting in the house, this is a fine toy. With nicely made arrows and a good bow, it will shoot very well. Make a good bow of rattan, or other tough wood. An old spoke of a carriage wheel could doubtless be obtained of a blacksmith or wheelwright, and such a hickory spoke would make a good bow. Make the bow much like that shown on Plate 8, except that it should be round at the center to fit the 3/8" hole in the pistol. The bowstring should be a hard cord so that it will slip easily from the notches in the barrel when the trigger is pulled. [Illustration: Fig. 6] Before shaping the pistol, make the groove in the center of one edge of the board. This should be made with a 3/8" round plane. It can be made, however, with the tool shown in Fig. 6, a gouge, and a round file. This tool is much like the one described on page 41 tho a larger nail is used. Make the groove 7/32" deep; gage a line 3/16" from each side of the board; then use the gouge inside these lines and as deep as the groove. When the gouging is well done, smooth the groove with a round file or coarse sandpaper wrapped around a pencil. Draw and shape the pistol. Make the lower edge of the barrel half round. Sandpaper it well. Make the trigger of hard wood and screw it on the pistol. The shape of the notch next to the trigger is very important but the shape of the other one is not so. Both notches, however, must be so smooth and well rounded as not to injure the bowstring. They should be not deeper than one-half the depth of the groove. Arrows are quickly made by sawing long strips of straight-grained wood, 3/16" square, planing the corners, and sandpapering; then cutting them 5" long, splitting the ends (see page 16), inserting a paper 1" × 1/2" and tying the end with thread. [Illustration: BOW PISTOL PLATE 27] ELASTIC GUN--PLATE 28. If cash carrier elastic cord about 5/16" in diameter and 18" long is used on this gun, it will shoot buckshot, peas, small arrows, etc., with considerable force; in fact, if the cord is fastened far enough forward, it will require all a boy's strength to pull the rider back to the hook. The gun may be made of pine, whitewood or clear spruce. [Illustration: Fig. 7] To lay out the gun (see Fig. 7) first draw A B, then A C, then measure B D and draw C D; next measure the width of the barrel and draw E F; add 3/8" below this for the gun-stock, and finally draw the curves freehand. To saw it out, first rip it along E F, then cross cut it at H F, then rip it as far the curve along C D, and then along the lower side of the gun-stock to meet C D, finally along A B. Of course, none of this sawing should quite touch the lines. Plane to these lines wherever possible, then use the spokeshave. The curve and corner at F should be pared with a chisel. The lower edge of the gun-stock and barrel is made half-round, but the upper edge, especially where the spring is screwed, is only slightly round. The curve at the butt of the gun-stock should be cut out with the turning-saw, and rounded with a half-round file. The groove can be made as in the bow pistol. (See page 86.) All parts of the gun should be well sandpapered, especially where the elastic will rub on the barrel. Make the trigger of tough wood. [Illustration: ELASTIC GUN PLATE 28] Bore a 1/4" hole for the trigger post about 3/4" from the back end of the groove, making it slant forward about 3/4". Make this hole smooth as possible. Where the hole comes thru the gun-stock, start the mortise in which the trigger belongs. This should be 3/8" deep and an easy fit for the trigger. Put the trigger in place, and drill a small hole straight thru the gun-stock and trigger. Consider carefully where to bore this hole so that it will not come too near the edge of the trigger. Insert a good-fitting brad and see if the trigger post will move up and down about 1/4". Do not make the mortise so long that the trigger post will slip by the trigger. Now make the spring of hard wood. Pare the curve from each end with a chisel, holding the spring endwise in the bench-hook. The holes for the screw and the hook must be large enough so that the spring will not be split, and yet the hook must be screwed in strongly to hold the elastic. The hook must be filed off enough, and slanting, so that the screw-eye in the rider will slide under it and be caught. The rider is the hardest part to make because it is small and must be of hard wood; also, the block must be nicely fitted into the long piece. Make the lower edge of the long piece round so as to slide well in the groove. Bore a 5/16" hole thru the block _endwise_ the grain, countersink the ends, and smooth them so that they cannot injure the elastic. Next lay out, saw, and chisel a notch 5/16" deep in the long piece in which the block will fit snugly. Glue it and nail it from the under side, or put in a 1/2" screw. Holes will have to be bored carefully for either brads or screw. Bore a hole, and put the screw-eye in such a position that it will slide under the hook with a snap. Be careful not to twist the eye off in this hard wood. The back end of the eye might well be filed somewhat slanting so as to slip under the hook better. Put the elastic thru the rider, snap the rider on the hook, and pull the ends of the elastic as far as seems best,--don't have it too strong! Where the ends of the elastic are pulled, bore two 1/4" holes thru the barrel one above the other. Bind the elastic securely between these holes; to make it doubly secure, wind a string between the elastic and the barrel to pull the first strings closer together. Now saw off the ends of a spool about 1/2" and screw them to the barrel in such a place that they will hold the elastic, without stretching, against the sides of the barrel. These spools should turn easily. They cannot be placed exactly opposite because the screws will interfere. Snap the rider to the hook, pull the trigger, and notice that the rider goes up with the trigger post. To hold it down, put a slender 3/4" screw on each side of the groove in such a place that the screw heads will come over the outside of the screw-eye; or, 1" brads may be bent over the screw-eye. When everything is in working order, drive a 1" brad on each side of the spring to keep the hook always in place. RATTLE-BANG GUN--PLATE 29. For boys who want to play soldier, here is a gun which will make a big noise but will not hurt anybody. First, make the rattle of maple. The slot in it can be made with the rip-saw. The solid end must be nicely squared to fit the forward end of the pocket cut out of the gun-stock. Here it must be held firmly in place by glue and two screws. One screw is put slanting from the top of the gun-stock; the other is put straight from the bottom. That the rattle may sound the loudest, it must not touch anywhere else than this solid end. When putting the knocker and trigger in place, see that they also do not touch the rattle. The gun-stock is made like that of the elastic gun (Plate 28) except that it has to be 2-3/8" wide in that portion which holds the rattle. The pocket is 3-1/2" from the forward end and 1-1/2" deep where the solid part of the rattle fits. To put the slanting screw in nicely, a place must be cut out with a small chisel for its head, 3/8" deep and 1/2" away from the pocket. Clamp the rattle in position, bore a hole for the screw, then glue and screw the rattle in place. Before the glue is dry, see that the rattle is straight, then put the lower screw into it. Make the knocker of maple. The reason for the triangular notch in its bottom edge will be evident when the trigger is turned around. The stiffer the spring is, the harder, of course, it will strike the rattle, and also, the harder the trigger will turn; 1/8" will be thick enough for the thinnest place. The trigger should also be of maple. Join it with a cross-lap joint. (See page 24.) Then, holding each end successively upright in the vise, draw the slanting lines and saw for 3/8" lengthwise in such a way as to leave 1/16" flat on each of the two adjacent surfaces. After sawing endwise, saw the little corner pieces off crosswise. The trigger has to withstand considerable pulling, so it should fit nicely, yet easily, a 1" screw in its center. Before screwing either the knocker or the trigger in place, lay both on the gun-stock so that they will engage properly; then mark the place for the screws, drill holes, and screw them on. If the knocker touches the rattle, take it off and plane a slanting chip or two where it is screwed to the gun-stock. A thin leather washer 5/8" in diameter will prevent the trigger touching. A little soap will make the trigger turn easier. [Illustration: RATTLE-BANG GUN PLATE 29] The barrel may well be made of a broomstick. To make it fit on the top of the gun-stock, saw it down the middle and cut off the lower half. Before fastening it in place, be sure that it will not touch the sounding part of the rattle. [Illustration: Fig. 8] A still louder and more difficult rattle to make is shown in Fig. 8. Most boys would find it impossible to bore a 1" hole endwise in maple. The knocker and trigger would both have to be set out from the gun-stock. BOAT--PLATE 30. This boat is designed rather heavy to insure good service. It has ballast and beam enough to right itself even tho the sails do get wet. If a better looking boat is desired, draw the deck more slender; hollow the hull with bit and gouge; pare the gunwales with the spokeshave to give it some sheer; and nail on a thin deck. Soft pine is the best wood for the hull and spruce for the spars. To lay out the hull, draw a center-line lengthwise on top, bottom, and ends of the block of wood. Make all the measurements given on the deck; (top of the hull, Plate 30) first lengthwise, then crosswise. Square with the deck, the curve should be worked out with rip-saw and spokeshave. The stem should next be undercut with the saws (rip and crosscut) so as to make place for the rudder. On the bottom leave a flat place 7-1/4" × 1/2" for the keel to fit; then round the hull as suggested by the sectional drawings at AB and CD. Make the keel and nail it securely in place. From the under side of the boat and slanting the same as the keel and undercut, bore a 5/8" hole for the stem of the rudder. Make the rudder and tiller of 1/4" wood. The little mortise in the tiller can be cut with a small chisel after a 3/16" hole is bored at its center. For the wheel, make a dowel about 2" long and into one end of it bore a hole about 1" deep for a 1-1/4" screw. Saw a piece from this end 5/8" long and screw it to the deck about 1-1/2" in front of the hole bored for the rudder. The wheel should turn rather hard so as to stay in any position desired. To make the spars, (mast, boom, etc.,) follow the directions on page 16. Use large screw-eyes in the gaff and boom (or see Plate 16, "method of swinging booms to mast") and a very small one at the top of the mast. To nail the bowsprit securely, place it 1" back of the prow, drive a 1" brad thru it near the prow, and one on each side of it 3/4" back. Bend these latter over the bowsprit before they are driven in their full length. An upward slant is given to the bowsprit by planing its larger end slanting to fit the deck. The rudder is hung on two staples made of pins. Two headless pins are driven into the rudder and bent down at right angles to slip into these staples. In order that the stem of the rudder may turn enough, the rudder must be hung close to the hull. Each "rope" of the rigging should have its own screw-eye (or staple) and cleat on the deck. The cleat (a device for fastening a "rope" in any position, by winding it back and forth) is simply two slender brads driven slanting. The mainsail should be 9" on the mast and 11" at its outer edge. It should be hemmed and properly fastened to the spars. On the mast, fine wire rings or loops of thread may be used. The jib should extend 9" up the stay (the "rope" from the end of the bowsprit to the top of the mast) and be either sewed to it or made to slide on it with small rings of wire. Ballast can be cut (with tin-shears or saw) from lead pipe and nailed to the keel. To drive brads thru lead, pinch them between the thumb and finger, and drive them gently. For convenience in holding the boat when it is out of the water, make a dry dock as shown in the drawing. [Illustration: BOAT PLATE 30] PILE-DRIVER--PLATE 31. In wet, soft soil, wherever any building operations are to be undertaken, long, straight logs called piles have first to be driven to support the foundation. In wet soil they never rot; those driven for the building of Venice centuries ago are still solid. If holes are bored in the weight of this toy pile-driver, it is made more effective. This is not a difficult model if each part is well made. It is important, however, to nail it in the following order: Runs to uprights, uprights to sides, sides to base, top to uprights, braces to uprights, then to base. The ends of the braces are mitered, that is, sawed, like the corner of a picture-frame, on the diagonal of a square. The axle of the little spool is made by two 1" brads, and it rests in notches as near the end of the top blocks as is convenient to file them. It is held in place by little brads, or pins crossed over it, or by a staple made of a pin. A crank for the big spool (called the drum) is made of a 3" piece of stiff wire. It should be flattened enough not to turn in the drum. Fasten the string to the drum thru a little hole drilled thru its rim. If the string comes off the upper spool, put a large screw-eye into the top piece and pass the string thru it. [Illustration: PILE DRIVER PLATE 31] WINDMILL--PLATE 32. On a hilltop, exposed to every wind that blows, one of these windmills made by a boy has been spinning around for four years. The windmill in this form serves also as a weathervane. Pine is the best wood for this model. To withstand the weather, the model should be painted. After planing the post to size, lay out the chamfers (see page 32) with a pencil on all four sides. The curve should be cut with a knife; the upper part may be planed if the square part is not squeezed in the vise. Plane the two pieces for the vanes as accurately as possible so as to be able to make a good joint. Lay out and cut this joint as directed on page 24. After it is well fitted, draw the curves where the edges are to be whittled away. There are sixteen of them. Open the compass 3/4" and place the needle point always on the _front right-hand_ edge as the wheel turns around. The curve begins 1/8" from the joint and ends 1/8" from the back edge (one also goes towards the lower edge). From this point draw a straight line to the end of the vane. Draw such lines as explained on page 32. Take the joint apart and whittle the edges away to these curves. On the beam, make chamfers 1-3/4" long. At the rear end, on the top and bottom, draw a center-line and two lines on each side of the center-line 1/8" apart. Between the first two, nearest the center-line, make the V-shaped groove in which the rudder fits. The sides of the beam are to be pared away to the other two lines, leaving this end 1/2" wide. The curves at the rear end of the rudder can be sawed best with a scroll saw. Lacking that, proceed as follows: First, bore a 1/4" hole near the short straight line in the middle. Resting the rudder on a cutting board, pare to this line with a chisel. Next, saw straight from the end of the rudder to this straight line; then saw the corners, and pare to the curves. The width of the notch at the front end of the rudder is equal to the space left between the roots of the V-shaped notches in the beam. Measure this space, lay out the notch, saw, and chisel it; then pare the corners so as to fit the V-shaped notches in the beam. Beware of crowding the rudder, for it will split easily. When fitted, glue and nail it in place, slanting a 1" brad thru the curve into the beam. [Illustration: WINDMILL PLATE 32] Put the wheel on the beam with two washers and a large screw (2" No. 12 round head is a good one). For this screw bore a 1/4" hole thru the center of the wheel, and a smaller hole in the beam. Now balance the windmill on the top of the post, and put the beam and post together with washers and screw in the same manner. KITE-STRING REEL--PLATE 33. A boy who flies kites will appreciate this reel for hauling in his kite quickly and keeping the string in order. The axle is made long for the purpose of putting on a brake when letting out a kite. The brake is simply a strong cord, fastened to a screw in the lower part of the further upright, (as viewed in Plate 33) wound several times around the axle, and the other end held in the hand. A 1" hole is bored in the base so that the reel can be anchored to the ground with a stake. With a loop of string fastened to the upright below the crank, the crank can be kept from turning, if one does not wish to let out all of the kite-string. Make the base first, then the uprights. In the uprights, it is more convenient to bore the 9/16" holes before the sides are planed slanting. After the wheel pieces are joined in the manner explained on page 24, lay out the slanting lines on each arm while the joint is still together; then take it apart and plane to the slanting lines. Hold each piece securely slantwise in the vise, because one pair especially is apt to split from the notch outward. When this planing is finished, glue the joint and bore a 1/2" hole straight thru the center. If convenient, make the cross pieces in one long piece, 20", planing off one corner flat (see sectional drawing, Plate 33) within 1/8" of the two adjacent corners. Being careful to drive no brad into the 1/2" hole, glue and nail these four cross pieces to one wheel. Then glue them to the other wheel and wind some string around tightly enough to hold this wheel while adjusting and nailing it. It will require care to get the cross pieces square with the first wheel, and the second wheel parallel with the first. After the string is wound around to hold the second wheel, measure the distance from wheel to wheel at the ends of all the arms. The nailing can be done while one arm of the wheels is held in the vise. The axle and handle should be glued and nailed to the crank. Now put the reel together, not forgetting the washers inside the uprights, and lock the wheels to the axle by drilling a hole for a 2" nail thru cross piece, wheel, and axle. [Illustration: KITE STRING REEL PLATE 33] [Illustration: STRING MACHINE PLATE 34] STRING MACHINE--PLATE 34. On a machine like this, one can twist bowstrings, topstrings, fish-lines, silk cord for fancy work, and any similar cord. Tho designed to be held on the floor or table with flat-irons, clamps, of course, will hold it better. Make the tail piece first. In the cross pieces of the tail piece are two screws 7/8" from the ends; be careful to bore the holes large enough so the screws will not split them. The edges of the lower cross piece must be sandpapered enough not to cut the elastic bands. In order that the belt shall run on the center of the wheels in the head piece, it is important to have the three axles parallel. To make them so, the two uprights must be clamped together while boring the 3/8" holes for the axles. Lest the spur of the bit split the uprights, drill small holes at each center first. Do not nail the longer upright to the base until the belt runs well in both directions. On a lathe, the wheels and axles could easily be made of one piece; lacking a lathe, a big spool or curtain pole must be used. Plug the hole of the spool with a dowel, then very accurately find its center and bore a 3/8" hole thru it. Saw it into three 5/8" pieces for the wheels. Glue these to the axles so that 1" extends thru the taller upright. A belt runs better on a wheel that is "crowned," that is, slightly larger in the middle; so the edges of these wheels must be pared 1/32", making a gentle curve. Put the washers each side of the wheels, then put the wheels in place in the taller upright, and nail this to the triangular block. Pull a 5/8" leather belt tightly around the three wheels and sew the ends so that they butt together. Clamp the shorter upright in position and turn the upper axle to see if the belt runs well in both directions. It will run true when all three axles are parallel, so keep knocking the shorter upright from side to side or up and down until the belt does run true; then bore holes for three screws to hold it to the triangular block. Make the crank and lock it to the upper axle with a 1/2" screw. To twist a string, set the two parts of the machine somewhat farther apart than the finished length desired, put on as many threads, from hooks on the tail piece to corresponding hooks on the head piece, as will make the finished string the desired size. Observe how these separate threads were twisted, and start the machine in the _opposite_ way. Twist until the three strands kink readily when the head piece is brought nearer the tail piece. The tighter these are twisted, the harder the string will be. (Soap rubbed on the inside of the belt may make the belt carry more power). When these three strands are twisted enough, remove the two lower ones from their _hooks on the head piece_ to the upper hook. Twist in the _opposite_ direction until the string kinks again, and it is made. If the three strands are waxed, a stronger string will be made. WINDMILL FORCE-PUMP--PLATE 35. If this pump is properly connected with an air chamber, as explained later, it will send a small stream of water some ten feet. In a gale, the windmill is strong enough, in fact, to force the valves from the glass tubes. Like any model of considerable mechanism, this will require patience to get it in working order. The post is made short for stability. If it can be held in place firmly, a trestlework tower like a real windmill might be built of stock 1/2" × 1/2" for the corner posts and 1/2" × 1/8" for the braces. The post is slanting on two sides to fit the journals at the top. It is fastened to the base with two 2" screws. Make the wheel center 2-1/8" square, and thru its center bore a 1/4" hole. If it does not revolve true, make another block and try again. Make the block octagonal by cutting off each corner 5/8". On each of the eight faces saw notches 1/8" wide and 5/16" deep into which the vanes will fit. (See page 64 on cutting notches.) Make and glue the vanes in place and lay the wheel flat to dry. Procure three pieces of water-gage glass 2" long, 7/16" to 1/2" inside diameter. Glass tubes can be broken apart by filing a slight notch, grasping the tube firmly each side of the notch, and pulling and bending the tube away from the notch. If the file starts a little break, this will be comparatively easy, if it does not, file some more. Into two tubes little valves must be cemented. These can be made of a firm piece of leather. Sole leather that is not too hard is best. With knife or chisel, pare two pieces on the cutting board to fit in the tubes. The cement will make them water tight later. Push the sharp point of a penknife into the smooth side of the leather disk and make a circular cut, as one would remove a speck from an apple, but do not cut the flap completely out, because it must be left hinged to the disk. Turn this flap up straight out of the way so as to be able to work a 1/4" hole thru the disk. This can be punched, drilled, or cut out with a 1/8" chisel, and finished with a penknife. Of course, the edges of the flap should cover this hole completely. The valve in the lowest tube should be cemented about 1/2" from the lower end with the flap up, that in the horizontal tube about 3/4" from the outer end with the flap out. [Illustration: WINDMILL FORCE-PUMP PLATE 35] To make sealing-wax sticky enough to cement these valves in the tubes, melt one teaspoon of wax with one-half teaspoon of turpentine in a large spoon, and allow it to cool. Break it in pieces small enough to go in the tubes. Put the valve in the tube a little to one side of its final position; put in some of the wax mixture; heat the tube in an alcohol flame, rolling the tube till the wax begins to melt; remove from the flame; and when the wax is all melted, push the valve to its final position with a pencil. While it is cooling, see that the wax does not flow into the valve. All three tubes must have a piece of rubber tubing on the outside to serve as packing in the wooden block. With an expansive bit, holes can be bored in the block so that the rubber tubing will fit tightly. Lacking that, bore a smaller hole and enlarge it with a round file. The center of the vertical hole is somewhat to the left (as viewed in Plate 35) of the center of the block to allow the horizontal tube more support. This will require the notch in the upright also to be to the left of the center. After the holes are bored, the pores of the wood must be filled with paraffin. In a little dish, melt some paraffin and put it into the holes with a rag tied to a stick. When the holes are well covered, drive the wax into the wood with an alcohol or candle flame held in the hole till the wood is fairly hot. The outside of the block might well be treated in like manner. It will be best to cement these tubes in their places. Melt a tablespoon of sealing wax with about as much turpentine. With this, not too hot, build up a good fillet over the rubber tubing 1/4", perhaps, on the glass tubes. Make a good fitting piston for the upper tube; it must not slide hard (oil it) and yet it must be air tight. To make the piston file two grooves 1/2" apart around and near the end of the piston rod. Wind a hummock of yarn between these grooves till it almost fills the tube, then wrap a piece of soft cloth (knitted underwear) smoothly over the hummock, tying it in each groove with thread. Lock the crank to the axle with a 1/2" screw. Adjust the axle and keep it in position with two leather washers locked to the axle just outside the journals. Clamp the block to the base, adjust it in line with the crank, and fasten it with two 1-1/2" screws up thru the base. The last connection to make is between the crank and connecting-rod. To make this, raise the piston to its highest position, and turn the crank to its lowest; choose what seems the best point for the screw, marking the point on crank and connecting-rod; now lower the piston and raise the crank; if the two points do not come together, the screw should be placed half way between them. This screw should be tight in the crank. The wheel can now be glued to the axle or locked with a brad slanting from the front of the wheel center. Before they will work, the valves must be made limber with water, and to start the pump, water may have to be put on each side of the valves. Water may be pumped to any height by fastening a pipe to the horizontal tube. To obtain a steady stream, like a fire-engine, connect the horizontal tube with an air-tight bottle. The pipe which goes into this bottle should reach just below the stopper. The outlet pipe should nearly reach the bottom of the bottle, and it should have a nozzle smaller than any other opening in the whole apparatus. The bottle should be partly full of water. Quarter-inch glass tubing can be melted and shaped in an alcohol flame, and, if some rubber tubing is used as a connection, the nozzle can be played anywhere. BOOKS _for_ BOYS Especially Helpful for the Use of Boys in their Home Shops BEGINNING WOODWORK, At Home and in School. _By Clinton S. VanDeusen._ A full and clear description in detail of the fundamental processes of elementary benchwork in wood. This description is given thru directions for making a few simple, useful articles, suitable either for school or home problems. The book contains more than one hundred original sketches and ten working drawings. Price, $1.00. MANUAL TRAINING TOYS, for the Boys' Workshop. _By Harris W. Moore._ This book contains a collection of working drawings illustrating forty-two projects, overflowing with "boy" interest. It is a popular boys' book that is truly educational. The projects are all new in the manual training shop. The text gives instructions for making each project and treats of tools and tool processes. Price, $1.00. _The_ CONSTRUCTION _and_ FLYING _of_ KITES. _By Charles M. Miller._ A book of unusual interest to the boy. It contains seven full-page plates of drawings of kites and fifteen figures--over forty kites shown. Details of construction are given and a kite tournament is described. Full of interesting suggestions. Price, 20 cents. ESSENTIALS _of_ WOODWORKING. _By Ira S. Griffith._ A textbook written especially for the use of grammar and high school students. A clear and comprehensive treatment of woodworking tools, materials, and processes, to supplement, but not to take the place of the instruction given by the teacher. The book does not contain a course of models; it may be used with any course. It is illustrated with photographs and numerous pen drawings. Price, $1.00. THE MANUAL ARTS PRESS PEORIA, ILLINOIS BOOKS _for_ BOYS The "Problems Series" of Working Drawings, Good for Either Home or School Use PROJECTS _for_ BEGINNING WOODWORK _and_ MECHANICAL DRAWING. _By Ira S. Griffith._ A work book for the use of students in grammar grade classes. It consists of working drawings and working directions. The projects are such as have proven of exceptional service where woodworking and mechanical drawing are taught in a thoro, systematic manner in the seventh and eighth grades. The aim has been to provide successful rather than unique problems. The fifty projects in the book have been selected and organized with the constant aim of securing the highest educational results. The book is especially suited for use in connection with "Essentials of Woodworking" by the same author. Price, 75 cents. PROBLEMS _in_ WOODWORKING. _By M. W. Murray._ A convenient collection of good problems consisting of forty plates bound in heavy paper covers with brass fasteners. Each plate is a working drawing, or problem in benchwork that has been successfully worked out by boys in one of the grades from seven to nine inclusive. Price, 75 cents. Board covers, 95 cents. ADVANCED PROJECTS _in_ WOODWORK. _By Ira S. Griffith._ This book is similar to "Projects for Beginning Woodwork and Mechanical Drawing," but is suited to high school needs. It consists of fifty plates of problems and accompanying notes. It is essentially a collection of problems in furniture making selected or designed with reference to school use. On the plate with each working drawing is a good perspective sketch of the completed object. In draftsmanship and refinement of design these problems are of superior quality. It is in every respect an excellent collection. Price, $1.00. THE MANUAL ARTS PRESS PEORIA, ILLINOIS BOOKS _for_ BOYS The "Problems Series" of Working Drawings Good for Either Home or School Use PROBLEMS _in_ FURNITURE MAKING. _By Fred D. Crawshaw._ This book, revised and enlarged, consists of 43 full-page plates of working drawings suitable for use in grammar and high schools and 36 pages of text, including chapters on design, construction and finishes, and notes on the problems. Each project is shown in its completed form by a perspective sketch. Loose leaf, bound in board covers with brass fasteners. Price, $1.00. PROBLEMS _in_ WOOD-TURNING. _By Fred D. Crawshaw._ In the first place this is a book of problems--25 plates covering spindle, faceplate, and chuck turning. In the second place it is a textbook on the science and art of wood-turning illustrated by fifty pen sketches. It gives the mathematical basis for the cuts used in turning. In the third place it is a helpful discussion of the principles of design as applied to objects turned in wood. It is a clear, practical and suggestive book on wood-turning. Price, 80 cents. Board covers, $1.00. PROBLEMS _in_ MECHANICAL DRAWING. _By Charles A. Bennett._ With drawings made by Fred D. Crawshaw. This book consists of 80 plates and a few explanatory notes, and is bound in heavy paper covers with brass fasteners. Its purpose is to furnish teachers of classes beginning mechanical drawing with a large number of simple, practical problems. These have been selected with reference to the formation of good habits in technique, the interest of the pupils, and the subjects generally included in a grammar and first-year high school course. Each problem given is unsolved and therefore in proper form to hand to the pupil for solution. Price, $1.00. Board covers, $1.20. THE MANUAL ARTS PRESS PEORIA, ILLINOIS BOOKS _for_ BOYS Some Choice Books for Home or School Libraries HANDWORK _in_ WOOD. _By William Noyes._ A handbook for teachers and a textbook for normal school and college students. A comprehensive and scholarly treatise, covering logging, sawmilling, seasoning and measuring, hand tools, wood fastenings, equipment and care of the shop, the common joints, types of wood structures, principles of joinery, and wood finishing. 304 illustrations--excellent pen drawings and many photographs. Price, $2.00. WOOD _and_ FOREST. _By William Noyes._ A companion volume to "Handwork in Wood," by the same author. Especially adapted as a reference book for teachers of woodworking. Not too difficult for use as a textbook for normal school and college students. Treats of wood, distribution of American forests, life of the forest, enemies of the forest, destruction, conservation and uses of the forest, with a key to the common woods by Filibert Roth. Describes 67 principal species of wood with maps of the habitat, leaf drawings, life size photographs and microphotographs of sections. Contains a general bibliography of books and articles on wood and forest. Profusely illustrated with photographs from the United States forest service and with pen and ink drawings by Anna Gausmann Noyes and photographs by the author. 309 pages. Price, $3.00. BOOKS _on the_ MANUAL ARTS. A catalog listing and describing 260 books on the manual arts, including all the standard and the best of the recent publications. It is an up-to-date bibliography and a valuable reference book for teachers, librarians and all interested in manual, industrial, and vocational education. Mailed free on request. THE MANUAL ARTS PRESS PEORIA, ILLINOIS 
41669	----	[Transcriber's Note The "LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS" was added. Many of the figures were NOT in sequential order within the original publication and are transcribed as printed. Emphasis notation for italic is _Text_ and bold is =Text=. Whole and fractional parts of numbers is displayed as 2-1/4.] HOME-MADE TOYS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS BOOKS BY A. NEELY HALL _8vo. Cloth. Illustrated with hundreds of full-page and working drawings by the author and Norman P. Hall_ =THE BOY CRAFTSMAN= { Price _net_ $ 1.60 { Postpaid 1.82 =HANDICRAFT FOR HANDY BOYS= { Price _net_ $ 2.00 { Postpaid 2.25 =THE HANDY BOY= { Price _net_ $ 1.60 { Postpaid 1.82 LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON [Illustration: FIGS. 287 AND 288. AN AUTO DELIVERY-WAGON BUILT OF CIGAR-BOXES. (See page 192.)] HOME-MADE TOYS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS Wooden and Cardboard Toys, Mechanical and Electrical Toys _By_ A. Neely Hall _Author of_ "_The Boy Craftsman_", "_Handicraft for Handy Boys_", "_The Handy Boy_" _Etc._ With over three hundred illustrations and working-drawings by the author and Norman P. Hall BOSTON LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD COMPANY PUBLISHED, AUGUST, 1915 _All rights reserved_ HOME-MADE TOYS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS Norwood Press J. S. Cushing Co.--Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. _Constructive ideas expel destructive ideas from the juvenile mind._ INTRODUCTORY NOTES Through the author's handicraft volumes, and magazine and newspaper articles, thousands of boys and girls who never realized they could make their own toys, have succeeded in constructing models which would do credit to Santa Claus' master toy-makers. The success of this new home industry has suggested the need of a volume devoted entirely to toy-making, and in HOME-MADE TOYS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS the author has brought together a large number of the toy ideas from his former handicraft volumes, and from his articles published in the _Ladies' Home Journal_, _Woman's Home Companion_, _Good Housekeeping_, the _Boys' Magazine_, and other publications, and he believes that as collected and arranged the material will be found a veritable gold-mine of toy-making information. Go to any toy store and price the toys similar to those described within these covers, then estimate if you can how much the other toys you do not find would cost if manufactured, and you will discover that one hundred dollars would not cover their value. One splendid thing about these home-made toys is that the greater part of them require little more than the pick-up material found at home. Few boys and girls are given a one hundred dollar assortment of toys at a time, yet any one can own a collection of this value who is willing to spend the time necessary to follow the instructions given in this book. Probably, though, some of the toys will be wanted now, and the others one, two or three seasons hence, because, you see, the book is an all-the-year-round handy book with suggestions for every season. Some of the toys will be of especial interest to boys, yet girls who like what boys like will enjoy making them also. Home-made toys are generally longer lived than store toys because the boy or girl who expends a certain amount of effort producing gives them better care. Home-made toys have a greater value than boughten ones because there is as much fun making them as playing with them. Doing something interesting, getting satisfying results out of the work, putting an idea into tangible form, and having a toy to show of which it can be said, "I made this all myself,"--these are the factors in toy-making so fascinating to boys and girls. It is no less a child's nature to want to do that which is most pleasing to him, than an adult's, so why not encourage this wholesome activity of toy-making to which the child takes as readily as a duck takes to water? It trains the mind to think clearly, the hands to work cleverly, replaces destructive thoughts with constructive ideas, and, in making the boy or girl dependent upon himself or herself for toys, is invaluable in developing resourcefulness. Recognizing how easily the child's interest is attracted and held by anything of a building nature, toy manufacturers have placed scores of so-called "construction sets" upon the market, but, though excellent as these outfits are, the toys they form are merely assembled, not really made by the boy or girl, and much of the value of making is lost. Exactly as good models as those assembled with "construction sets" can be made of pick-up materials, as chapters in this book show. In fact, some of the models in the manufacturers' instruction pamphlets--merry-go-rounds, Ferris wheels and swings--are almost identical with home-made models devised long ago by the author for his readers. Furthermore, there are many, very many toys in HOME-MADE TOYS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS which are beyond the limited possibilities of "construction sets." A. N. H. OAK PARK, ILLINOIS, May 31, 1915. [Illustration] CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE HOME-MADE WINDMILLS 1 The Paper Pinwheel--The Pinion-wheel Windmill--To mount the Pinion-wheel--The Four-blade Windmill--To mount the Windmill--The Eight-blade Windmill--The Hub--The Eight Blades--The Shaft--The Tail--To pivot the Windmill--To operate a Toy Jumping-jack. CHAPTER II HOME-MADE KITES 9 How to make a Malay--The Sticks--Framing the Sticks--Covering the Framework--Attaching the Bridle--Flying-line--The Box-kite--The Kite Sticks--The Side Frames--Covering for the End Cells--Assembling the Kite--Attaching the Bridle--A Good Hand Kite-reel--A Body Kite-reel. CHAPTER III A HOME-MADE MODEL AEROPLANE 21 Accuracy in Model Construction--The Most Successful Type of Model--The Fuselage--The Thrust Bearings--The Bow Hooks--The Main Plane--The Elevator--The Fin--The Propellers--How to prepare the Propellers--The Propeller Blank--The Propeller-shafts--The Motors--The Home-made Motor-winder--How the Egg-beater winds the Motors--Care in winding the Motors--Position to take for launching a Model. CHAPTER IV A HOME-MADE TOY MOTOR-BOAT 33 How operated--The Hull Bottom--The Sides--The Deck--The Propeller--The Propeller-shaft--The Bearing Plate--The Thrust Bearing--The Rubber-band Motor--To wind the Motor--How to elaborate upon the Design and Construction. CHAPTER V HOME-MADE TOY WATER-MOTORS 38 A Varnish-can Water-motor--The Case--The Water-motor Wheel--The Eight Paddles--The Wheel Shaft--An Outlet--A Pulley-belt--Pulley-wheels--Connecting up the Water-motor--Another Water-motor--The Water-motor Wheel--The Wheel Supports--To mount the Wheel--The Pulley Wheel--The Water-motor Case. CHAPTER VI A HOME-MADE TOY RAILWAY 47 The Trolley-line--Supports for Trolley-line--Power for Operating--Railway--Tracks--The Cars--A Gondola Car--A Street Car--Other Cars--Operation of the Railway--A Station. CHAPTER VII HOME-MADE TOY ELEVATORS 59 A Toy Elevator that appears Magical in its Operation--Adapting Elevator to Toy Office Building--Floors--Partitions--The Elevator Car--The Elevator Guides--The Cables--The Counter-balance--The Smoke-stack--The Overhead Pulleys--How the Car operates--Ballast--To make the Car Rise--A Simple Control--Two Levers--An Outdoor Elevator--The Guide Supports--The Car--The Guides--The Counter-balance--The Lifting Cable--The Lowering Cable. CHAPTER VIII HOME-MADE MECHANICAL TOYS 71 The Simple Construction of Small Mechanical Toys--A Buzz-saw Whirligig--Operating the Whirligig--The Clog-dancer--A Toy Jumping-jack--A Cricket-rattle--The Turtle Toy--To make the Turtle Crawl. CHAPTER IX HOME-MADE TOPS 79 Top Spinning on the South Sea Islands--Clock Wheel Tops--A Rug-tack Top--A Spool Top--A Spinning Top Race-track--A Shoe-polish Can Top--A Spiral Top--A Merry-go-round Top--How the Top Spins--Horses and Riders--A Flag. X/ /X CHAPTER X HOME-MADE CLOCKWORK TOYS 88 The Necessary Materials--How to prepare the Clockwork--The Merry-go-round--The Standard--The Tent--The Tent-poles--The Horses--The Sleighs--The Shafts--The Girl Riders--The Boy Riders--The Platform--How to operate the Merry-go-round--Other Animals--A Miniature Ferris Wheel--The Standard--The Clockwork Motor--The Station Platform--The Wheel--Rims--Hubs--Spokes--Assembling the Wheel--The Cars--Axles--How to mount the Wheel--The Platform Steps--The "Flying Airships"--The Standard--The Mast--The Cars--Increasing the Speed of the Clockwork--An Electric Motor--An Automobile--The Frame--The Belt--Testing the Machine--The Cardboard Sides--The Wheels--The Mud-guards--The Lamps--The Steering-wheel--The Horn--The Brake--The Chauffeur--Painting the Machine--An Automobile Delivery Wagon--The Cardboard Sides--The Wheels--Other Portions--Painting the Wagon--A Clockwork Railway. CHAPTER XI HOME-MADE ELECTRICAL TOYS 117 An Electro-magnet Derrick--The Electro-magnet--A Home-made Switch--The Derrick--The Windlass--The Hoisting Cables--How the Derrick Works--A Toy Shocking Machine--The Induction-coil--The Primary-coil--The Secondary-coil--The Handles--An Interrupter--How the Interrupter Works--A Toy Electric Motor Truck--The Wheels--The Upper Shaft--The Belts--The Battery--The Bi-chromate Battery Fluid--Amalgamating a Zinc Pencil--The Seat and Canopy-top--The Seat-arms--The Steering-wheel--The Levers. CHAPTER XII A HOME-MADE TOY SHOOTING GALLERY 140 The Framework--The Circular Target--The Animal Targets--The Card-shooting Pistol--How to number the Targets--How to shoot at the Targets. CHAPTER XIII A HOME-MADE DOLL-HOUSE 145 The Building Material--The Floor Plans--The Partitions--The Elevator-shaft--The Side Walls--The Rear Wall--The Front Wall--The Windows--The Roof--The Chimney--An Elevator--The Car--The Guide-wires--The Pulleys--The Chain Cable--The Counter-balance--The Gable-ends--Spring-catches--The Stairway--Stringers--Treads and Risers--Newel-posts--Hand-rails--Balusters--The Front Steps--The Window Openings--The Window Glass--The Front and Rear Doors--The Outside Trimmings--The Interior Woodwork--Setting the Nail-heads--Painting. CHAPTER XIV FURNISHING THE HOME-MADE DOLL-HOUSE 156 The Walls and Ceiling--Hardwood Floors--Carpets--Rugs--Window-shades--Lace Curtains--Portières--Pictures--A Cosey-corner--Buying Furnishings--Making Furniture. CHAPTER XV A HOME-MADE TOY STABLE 160 Dimensions of Stable--The First Story--The Roof--The Gable-end--The Stall Partitions--The Feed-troughs--Windows--Ladder to Hay-loft--Feed-hoist--The Drop-front--A Stable Door--Painting--If you prefer a Garage. CHAPTER XVI A HOME-MADE DOLL APARTMENT BUILDING 165 A New Idea in Doll-houses--How the Three Units are arranged to form a Three-story Building or Six-room Apartment--Building Material--The Room Dimensions--The First Story Unit--The Second Story Unit--The Third Story Unit--The Door and Window Openings--The Bay Windows--The Joints between the Units--The Roof Construction--The Chimney--The Windows--The Front Door--The Inside Doorways--The Interior Trim--A Fireplace--Lighting Fixtures--Decorating--Painting the Outside Walls. CHAPTER XVII HOME-MADE DOLL FURNITURE 174 Metal Furniture--Miniature Mission Furniture--Material--Drawing the Patterns and Enlarging by Squares--The Chairs--The Settee--Tables--A Dining-room Table--A Side-board--A Mirror--The Grandfather's Clock--Kitchen Furniture--The Beds--The Dresser--A Wash-stand--Finishing. OTHER CIGAR-BOX FURNITURE 187 A Folding-bed--A Dresser--A Wardrobe. CHAPTER XVIII HOME-MADE CIGAR-BOX TOYS 191 Material--Cutting--An Express-wagon--A Cart--An Auto Delivery-wagon--A Jack-in-the-box--A Round-seated Chair--A Round Center-table--A Dining-table--A Square-seated Chair--A Doll's Cradle--Finishing the Cigar-box Wood. CHAPTER XIX HOME-MADE SPOOL AND CARDBOARD TOYS 196 Material--A Baby Carriage--A Two-wheel Cart--A Toy Merry-go-round--A Teeter-board--A Doll Swing--A Sofa--A Chair--A Square Center-table--A Round Center-table. CHAPTER XX A HOME-MADE TOY MAIL-BOX 205 Playing Postman--Material for Mail-box--The Sides, Ends, and Bottom of Box--The Top--The Letter-drop--The Collection-drop--Reinforcing the Corners--Covering the Box--A Collection Schedule Card--How to hang up the Mail-box--A Mail-bag--The Way to play Post-office. CHAPTER XXI A HOME-MADE REFLECTOSCOPE 210 The Working Principle of the Reflectoscope--Material for making One--The Lens Opening--Ventilator Holes--The Interior Arrangement--A Hood for the Ventilators--If Oil Lamps are Used--If Electric Light is Used--How to mount the Lens--Puttying Cracks--Painting the Inside of the Box--The Back Boards--The Picture Holder--How the Lens reverses Pictures--Adjustments. INDEX 215 LIST OF HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS (In addition to 346 text illustrations) Figs. 287 and 288. An Auto Delivery-wagon built of Cigar Boxes (Page 192) _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE Fig. 48. Launching the Toy Motor-boat 34 Fig. 108. The Buzz-saw whizzes when you twist the Cord } Fig. 109. The Eccentric Clog-dancer is a Circus in Himself } 72 Fig. 110. Pull the String and Jack jumps comically } Fig. 114. Whirling the Cricket-rattle makes it Chirp } Fig. 115. The Crawling Turtle's Shell is a Jelly-mould } 76 Fig. 135. A Merry-go-round } Fig. 136. A Clockwork Motor } Fig. 137. A Ferris Wheel } 90 Fig. 138. A Flying Airship } Fig. 160. The Car Completed } Fig. 161. The Framework } 104 Fig. 220. The Home-made Doll-house } Fig. 221. Interior View of Doll-house } 146 Fig. 243. The Most Stylish Apartments in Doll Town } Fig. 244. How the Three Stories are arranged side by } 166 side to form a Six-room Apartment } Fig. 284. An Express-wagon } Fig. 285. A Cart. } 192 Fig. 289. A Jack-in-the-box } Fig. 290. The Skeleton of the Jack-in-the-box } Fig. 291. A Round-seated Chair } Fig. 292. A Round Center-table } 194-195 Fig. 293. A Dining-table } Fig. 294. A Square-seated Chair } Fig. 295. A Doll's Cradle } Fig. 325. The Home-made Mail-box strapped to the Face of a Door } Fig. 326. The Home-made Mail-box strapped to a Chair-back } 206 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE FIG. 1. The Paper Pinwheel is the Simplest Pinwheel to Make. 1 FIG. 2. Diagram for Paper Pinwheel. 2 FIG. 3. How the Paper Pinwheel is Folded. 2 FIG. 4. A Pinion-wheel Windmill. 3 FIG. 5. Diagram for Pinion-wheel Windmill. 3 FIG. 6. A Four-blade Windmill. 4 FIG. 7. Hub. 4 FIG. 8. How to Slot End of Shaft for Tail 4 FIG. 9. An Eight-blade Windmill. 5 FIG. 10. Spool Hub. 6 FIG. 11. Blades. 6 FIG. 12. Shaft. 6 FIG. 13. Tail. 6 FIG. 14. How the Windmill may be Rigged up to Operate a Toy Jumping-jack. 7 FIG. 15. How the Jumping-jack is Supported. 8 FIG. 16. Spool Hub. 8 FIG. 17. A Malay Tailless Kite. 9 FIG. 18. Completed Malay Kite with Belly-band Attached. 10 FIG. 19. Framework of Malay Kite. 11 FIG. 20. Detail of Vertical Stick. 12 FIG. 21. Detail of Bow-Stick. 12 FIG. 22. Detail of End of Bow-Stick. 12 FIG. 23. Raising the Box-Kite. 13 FIG. 24. The Box-Kite. 14 FIG. 25. Make Two Side Frames like this. 14 FIG. 26. Cross-section of the Box-Kite. 15 FIG. 27. Detail of Diagonal Braces. 16 FIG. 28. A Good Hand Kite-reel. 17 FIGS. 29 and 30. Details of Hand Kite-reel. 18 FIG. 31. A Body Kite-reel. 19 FIG. 32. Detail of Axle Support. 19 FIG. 33. Detail of Crank. 19 FIG. 34. Launching a Model Aeroplane. 22 FIG. 35. Plan. 23 FIG. 36. Side Elevation (without Rubber Motor). 23 FIG. 37. Detail of Fuselage and Motor of the Wells Model. 24 FIG. 38. Detail of Thrust Bearing, Propeller-shaft, and Connections. 24 FIG. 39. Detail of Bow Hook and how Rubber Motor is Connected to it. 24 FIG. 40. Detail of the Main Plane Framework of the Wells Model. 26 FIG. 41. Detail of the Elevator Framework. 26 FIG. 42. Detail of Fin. 26 FIG. 43. The Wells Model Propeller. 27 FIG. 44. How to Prepare a 9-inch Propeller. 27 FIG. 45. A Home-made Motor Winder. 30 FIG. 46. The Kind of Egg-beater to Use. 30 FIG. 47. How the Motors are Connected to Winder for Winding. 30 FIG. 48. LAUNCHING THE TOY MOTOR-BOAT. 34 FIG. 49. The Completed Motor-boat. 33 FIG. 50. Stern, with Motor in Place. 33 FIG. 51. Diagram of Hull. 34 FIGS. 52 and 53. How the Hull, Sides, Stern and Deck Pieces are Assembled 34 FIG. 54. Longitudinal Section of Assembled Motor-boat. 36 FIGS. 55-59. Details of Propeller. 36 FIG. 60. Rubber-band Motor 36 FIG. 61. A Varnish-can Water-motor in Operation. 38 FIG. 62. The Completed Varnish-can Water-motor. 39 FIGS. 63 and 64. Sections through Water-motor Case. 40 FIG. 65. The Completed Water-motor Wheel. 41 FIGS. 66 and 67. Details of Water-motor Wheel. 41 FIGS. 68-69. How to Make a Water-tight Connection between Faucet and Water-motor. 42 FIG. 70. A Small Water-motor that can be Operated in a Wash-basin. 43 FIG. 71. The Water-motor Wheel. 43 FIGS. 72 and 73. Details of Water-motor Wheel. 44 FIG. 74. Support for Water-motor Wheel. 45 FIG. 75. Upright. 47 FIG. 76. The Toy Railway in Operation. 48 FIG. 77. Support for Trolley-line. 48 FIG. 78. The Tracks. 50 FIG. 79. A Top View of Car Truck. 50 FIG. 80. Spool Wheels. 51 FIG. 81. The Completed Car Truck. 51 FIG. 82. 51 FIG. 83. A Gondola Car. 52 FIG. 84. Side View. 53 FIG. 85. End View. 53 FIGS. 86-94. Details of Toy Street Car. 55 FIG. 95. The Railway Depot. 57 FIG. 96. A Toy Office Building with Elevator. 60 FIG. 97. Section through Elevator Shaft. 62 FIG. 98. Floors. 63 FIG. 99. Partitions. 63 FIG. 100. Front View of Elevator Shaft. 64 FIGS. 101. and 102. Elevator Car Details. 64 FIG. 103. Detail of Brake and Controlling Levers. 65 FIG. 104. An Outdoor Elevator. 66 FIG. 105. Supports for Elevator Guides and Cables. 67 FIG. 106. Elevator Car. 69 FIG. 107. Counter-balance. 69 FIG. 108. The Buzz-saw whizzes when you Twist the Cord. 72 FIG. 109. The eccentric Clog-dancer is a Circus in himself. 72 FIG. 110. Pull the String and Jack jumps comically. 72 FIG. 111. Detail of Buzz-saw Whirligig shown in Fig. 108. 72 FIG. 112. Details of Body of the Clog-dancer shown in Fig. 109. 73 FIG. 113. Details of Body of the Jumping-jack shown in Fig. 110. 74 FIG. 114. Whirling the Cricket-rattle makes it chirp. 76 FIG. 115. The crawling Turtle's Shell is a Jelly Mould. 76 FIG. 116. Details of the Noisy Cricket-rattle shown Fig. 114. 76 FIG. 117. How Head, Feet, and Tail are Attached to a Jelly Mould to Make the Turtle shown in Fig. 115. 77 FIG. 118. The Spool Wheels and the Rubber-bands which Propel them. 77 FIGS. 119 and 120. Clock Wheel Tops. 80 FIG. 121. Upholstering Tack Top. 80 FIG. 122. How to Hold Upholstering Tack for Spinning. 80 FIGS. 123 and 124. Details of Spool Top. 80 FIG. 125. A Shoe-polish Can Top. 81 FIGS. 126-128. Details of Shoe-polish Can Top. 82 FIG. 129. A Spinning Top Race-track. 83 FIG. 130. A Spiral Top. 84 FIG. 131. Diagram of Spiral for Spiral Top. 84 FIG. 132. A Merry-go-round Top. 85 FIG. 133. Detail of Merry-go-round Top. 86 FIG. 134. How Horses are Mounted upon Top Platform. 86 FIG. 135. A Merry-go-round. 90 FIG. 136. A CLOCKWORK MOTOR. 90 FIG. 137. A Ferris Wheel. 90 FIG. 138. The "Flying Airships." 90 FIG. 139. How the Clockwork Motor is Fastened to the Cigar-box Cover. (This Box has been cut down to the Proper Length for the Ferris Wheel.) 89 FIG. 140. Plan of Top of Standard for Merry-go-round. 91 FIG. 141. Pattern for Tent of Merry-go-round. 91 FIG. 142. The Tent ready to be Fastened upon a Tent-pole. 91 FIG. 143. Full-size Pattern for the Horses of the Merry-go-round. 92 FIG. 144. Pattern for the Merry-go-round Sleighs. 93 FIG. 145. A Completed Sleigh showing Attachment to Shaft. 94 FIG. 146. Full-size Pattern for the Girl Riders. 95 FIG. 147. Full-size Pattern for the Boy Riders. 95 FIG. 148. How the Second Leg of the Boy is Attached. 95 FIG. 149. Standard for the Ferris Wheel. 97 FIG. 150. Make Two Supports like this for the Ferris Wheel Standard. 98 FIGS. 151 and 152. How a Spool is Fastened to the Top of the Support for a Hub. 98 FIG. 153. How to Lay out the Cardboard Rims of the Ferris Wheel. 99 FIG. 154. The Spokes Fitted into the Spool Hub. 99 FIG. 155. The Rim Slipped into the End of the Spokes. 99 FIG. 156. A Spool Hub for the Wheel. 99 FIG. 157. How the Spokes, Rims, and Axles are Fastened Together. 99 FIG. 158. Pattern for the Ferris Wheel Cars. 100 FIG. 159. A Completed Car for the Ferris Wheel. 101 FIG. 160. The Car completed. 104 FIG. 161. The Framework. 104 FIG. 162. Top View of Wooden Frame. 105 FIGS. 163-170. Patterns for the Automobile Touring-car. 108 FIG. 171. Chauffeur. 109 FIG. 172. Cardboard Side of Automobile. 109 FIG. 173. The Hood. 110 FIG. 174. The Steering-wheel. 111 FIG. 175. An Automobile Delivery Wagon. 113 FIG. 176. An Electro-Magnet Derrick. 118 FIGS. 177-179. The Electro-Magnet. 119 FIG. 180. How the Electro-Magnet is Connected up. 120 FIG. 181. A Home-made Switch. 121 FIG. 182. Details of Switch. 121 FIG. 183. Detail of Mast. 122 FIG. 184. Detail of Pulley. 122 FIG. 185. Detail of Boom. 122 FIG. 186. Detail of Derrick Windlass. 123 FIG. 187. Detail of the Toy Shocking Machine. 125 FIGS. 188-191. Details of Induction-Coil. 126 FIGS. 192 and 193. Details of Shocking-coil Handles. 129 FIG. 194. Interrupter for Shocking-coil. 129 FIGS. 195-198. Details of Interrupter. 131 FIG. 199. A Toy Electric Motor Truck. 132 FIG. 200. Top view of Electric Motor Truck. 133 FIGS. 201-203. Details of Axle and Belt Shaft. 134 FIG. 204. Two Home-made Battery Cells Connected in Series. 135 FIG. 205. A Single Cell. 136 FIGS. 206 and 207. Details of Zinc and Carbon. 136 FIG. 208. Plan of Motor Truck Bottom. 137 FIG. 209. Section through Bottom. 137 FIG. 210. Details of Seat and Canopy-top. 138 FIG. 211. Pattern of Canopy-top. 139 FIG. 212. The Completed Toy Shooting Gallery. 140 FIG. 213. The Box Framework. 141 FIGS. 214-215. Details of Targets. 142 FIG. 216. The Card-shooting Pistol. 143 FIGS. 217-219. Detail of Card-shooting Pistol. 144 FIG. 220. The Home-made Doll-house. 146 FIG. 221. Interior View of Doll-house. 146 FIGS. 222-226. Plans of Doll-house and Patterns for Partitions. 147 FIG. 227. The Chimney. 148 FIG. 228. Front View of Elevator-shaft and Stairs. 149 FIGS. 229-232. Details of the Elevator. 149 FIG. 233. The Front Gable-End. 152 FIGS. 234-237. Details of Stairs. 153 FIG. 238. Exterior of Stable. 160 FIG. 239. Interior of Stable. 161 FIG. 240. Front Gable-End. 162 FIG. 241. Stall Partitions. 162 FIG. 242. Ladder to Hay-loft. 163 FIG. 243. The most stylish Apartments in Doll Town. 166 FIG. 244. How the three Stories are arranged Side by Side to form a Six-room Apartment. 166 FIG. 245. Plan of the Six-Room Doll Apartment. 166 FIG. 246. The First Story Unit and Diagram of Partitions. 167 FIG. 247. The Second Story Unit and Diagram of Partitions. 167 FIG. 248. The Third Story Unit and Diagram of Partitions. 167 FIG. 249. In Cutting the Opening for the Bay Windows, leave a Narrow Strip over the Opening, as above, for a "Beam." 168 FIGS. 250 and 251. How the Removable Roof is Constructed. 169 FIG. 252. How the Chimney and Chimney Cap are Made. 169 FIG. 253. The Living-Room Mantel. 171 FIG. 254. Details of Mantel. 171 FIGS. 255-258. Two Lighting Fixtures and how to Make Them. 172 FIGS. 259-266. Patterns for Furniture. 177 FIG. 267. Chairs. 178 FIG. 268. Chairs. 178 FIG. 269. A Settee. 179 FIG. 270. A Table. 179 FIG. 271. Another Design. 180 FIG. 272. A Side-board. 181 FIG. 273. A Mirror. 182 FIG. 274. A Grandfather's Clock. 183 FIG. 275. A Bed. 184 FIG. 276. Another Design. 184 FIG. 277. A Dresser. 185 FIG. 278. A Wash-stand. 186 FIG. 279. A Doll's Folding-bed. 187 FIG. 280. Folding-bed (open). 188 FIG. 281. Foot. 188 FIG. 282. Dresser Completed. 189 FIG. 283. A Doll's Dresser. 189 FIG. 286. Cross-section of the Express-wagon. 192 FIG. 284. AN EXPRESS-WAGON. 192 FIG. 285. A CART. 192 FIG. 286. Cross-section of the Express-wagon. 192 FIGS. 287 and 288. An Auto Delivery-wagon built of Cigar-boxes. Frontispiece FIG. 289. A Jack-in-the-box. 194 FIG. 290. The Skeleton of the Jack-in-the-Box. 194 FIG. 291. A round-seated Chair. 194 FIG. 292. A round Center-table. 194 FIG. 293. A Dining-table. 194 FIG. 294. A square-seated Chair. 194 FIG. 295. A Doll's Cradle. 194 FIG. 296. Pedestal of Center-table. 194 FIG. 297. Leg of Dining-table. 194 FIG. 298. Pattern for Cradle Rockers. 195 FIG. 299. Doll Carriage. 196 FIGS. 300-302. Details of Doll Carriage. 197 FIG. 303. Baby Carriage Hood. 198 FIG. 304. Diagram of Hood. 198 FIG. 305. Carriage Handles. 198 FIG. 306. The Two-wheel Cart. 199 FIG. 307-309. Details of Cart. 199 FIG. 310. Merry-go-round. 200 FIG. 311. Teeter. 200 FIG. 312. Cardboard Strip for Merry-go-round and Teeter. 200 FIG. 313. Boy and Girl Riders for Merry-go-round and Teeter. 200 FIG. 314. Doll Swing. 201 FIG. 315. Detail of Swing. 201 FIGS. 316 and 317. Details of Swing Seat. 202 FIG. 318. Sofa. 202 FIGS. 319-321. Details of Sofa. 203 FIG. 322. Chair. 203 FIG. 323. Square Center-table. 203 FIG. 324. Round Center-table. 203 FIG. 325. The home-made Mail-box strapped to the Face of a Door. 206 FIG. 326. The home-made Mail-box strapped to a Chair BackK. 206 FIG. 327. Diagram for Making Sides, Ends, and Bottom of Mail-box. 206 FIG. 328. Diagram for Making Top. 206 FIG. 329. Diagram for Making End Pieces of Letter-Drop. 206 FIG. 330. Diagram for Making Front Piece of Letter-Drop. 206 FIG. 331. The Sides, Ends, and Bottom folded ready to be put Together. 207 FIG. 332. Top, showing how Portion is Bent up for Back of Letter-Drop. 207 FIG. 333. Ends of Letter-Drop. 207 FIG. 334. Front of Letter-Drop. 207 FIG. 335. Top, with Letter-Drop Completed. 207 FIG. 336. Diagram for Making Collection-drop. 208 FIG. 337. How the Collection-drop is Folded. 208 FIG. 338. The Collection-drop Hinged in Place. 208 FIG. 339. The Complete Reflectoscope. 210 FIG. 340. Detail of Ventilator Top. 210 FIG. 341. Plan of Reflectoscope. 211 FIG. 342. Cross-section of Reflectoscope 211 FIGS. 343 and 344. Details of Lens Mounting 213 FIG. 345. View of Back of Reflectoscope 213 FIG. 346. Detail of Post Card Holder. 213 HOME-MADE TOYS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS HOME-MADE TOYS [Illustration] FOR GIRLS AND BOYS [Illustration] CHAPTER I HOME-MADE WINDMILLS No mechanical toy is more interesting to make, nor more interesting to watch in operation, than a miniature windmill. It is a very simple toy to construct, and the material for making one can usually be found at hand, which are two reasons why nearly every boy and girl at one time or another builds one. =The Paper Pinwheel= shown in Fig. 1 is one of the best whirlers ever devised. A slight forward thrust of the stick handle upon which it is mounted starts it in motion, and when you run with the stick extended in front of you it whirls at a merry speed. [Illustration: FIG. 1.--The Paper Pinwheel is the Simplest Pinwheel to Make.] A piece of paper 8 or 10 inches square is needed for the pinwheel. Fold this piece of paper diagonally from corner to corner, both ways. Then open the paper, and with a pair of scissors cut along the diagonal creases, from the corners to within 1/2 inch of the center (Fig. 2). Next, fold corners _A_, _B_, _C_, and _D_ over to the center, as shown in Fig. 3, run a pin through the corners and through the center of the sheet of paper, drive the point of this pin into the end of the stick handle, and the pinwheel will be completed. [Illustration: FIG. 2.--Diagram for Paper Pinwheel.] [Illustration: FIG. 3.--How the Paper Pinwheel is Folded.] =The Pinion-wheel Windmill= in Fig. 4 may be made of cardboard or tin. A circular piece 10 or 12 inches in diameter is required. After marking out the outer edge with a compass, describe an inner circle about 1 inch inside of it; then draw two lines through the center at right angles to each other, and another pair at an angle of 45 degrees to these. These lines are shown by the heavy radial lines in Fig. 5. One-half inch from each of these lines draw a parallel line, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5. The next thing to do is to cut out the disk, and cut along the heavy lines just as far as the lines are shown in the diagram (Fig. 5), and then to bend up the blades thus separated, to an angle of about 45 degrees, bending on the second set of radial lines (dotted lines in Fig. 5). [Illustration: FIG. 4.--A Pinion-wheel Windmill.] You had better make a cardboard pinion-wheel first, then a tin one afterwards, as cardboard is so much easier to cut. A pair of heavy shears will be necessary for cutting a tin wheel, and a cold chisel for separating the edges of the blades. [Illustration: FIG. 5.--Diagram for Pinion-wheel Windmill.] =To Mount the Pinion-wheel= drive a long nail through the center, through the hole in a spool, and into the end of a stick. Then nail the stick to a post or a fence top. =The Four-blade Windmill= shown in Fig. 6 has a hub 4 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick (Fig. 7). This should be cut out of hard wood. Draw two lines across one face, through the center, and at right angles to each other. Then carry these lines across the edge of the block, not at right angles to the sides, but at an angle of 45 degrees. Saw along these lines to a depth of 1-1/4 inches. The ends of the windmill blades are to fit in these slots. Cut the blades of equal size, 9 inches long, 5 inches wide on the wide edge, and 1-1/2 inches wide on the narrow edge, and fasten them in the slots with nails. [Illustration: FIG. 6.--A Four-blade Windmill.] [Illustration: FIG. 7.--Hub.] [Illustration: FIG. 8.--How to Slot End of Shaft for Tail.] With the blades in position, pivot the hub to the end of the windmill shaft, a stick 20 inches long (Fig. 6). The end opposite to that to which the hub is pivoted is whittled round, and slotted with a saw to receive a tail (Fig. 8). The tail may be of the same size as the blades, though it is shown shorter in the illustration. =Mount the Windmill= upon a post, pivoting its shaft at the balancing center with a nail or screw. Bore a hole large enough so the shaft will turn freely upon the pivot, and the windmill will thus keep headed into the wind. =The Eight-blade Windmill= in Fig. 9 has a spool hub (Fig. 10), and blades made of cigar-box wood, shingles, tin, or cardboard (Fig. 11). You will see by Figs. 10 and 11 that the blades are nailed to the side of short spoke sticks, and the sticks are driven into holes bored in the spool hub. The hub turns on the rounded end of the shaft stick (Fig. 12), and the square end of this shaft is slotted to receive the fan-shaped tail (Figs. 12 and 13). [Illustration: FIG. 9.--An Eight-blade Windmill.] =For the Hub= use a large ribbon-spool. You can get one at any drygoods store. Locate eight holes around the center of the spool at equal distances from one another, and bore these with a gimlet or bit, or cut them with the small blade of your jack-knife. =Cut the Eight Blades= 6 inches long, 5 inches wide on their wide edge, and 1-1/2 inches wide on their narrow edge. Prepare the hub sticks about 1/2 inch by 3/4 inch by 4-1/2 inches in size, and whittle one end pointed to fit in the hub (Fig. 11). Fasten the blades to the spokes with nails long enough to drive through the spokes and clinch on the under side. Glue the spokes in the hub holes, turning them so the blades will stand at about the angle shown. [Illustration: FIG. 10.--Spool Hub.] [Illustration: FIG. 11.--Blades.] [Illustration: FIG. 12.--Shaft.] [Illustration: FIG. 13.--Tail.] =The Shaft= should be made of a hard wood stick about 3/4 inch by 1-1/2 inches by 30 inches in size. Cut the round end small enough so the hub will turn freely on it, and punch a small hole through it so a brad may be driven through to hold the hub in place. Cut the slot in the square end with a saw. =Cut the Tail= of the shape shown in Fig. 13. =Pivot the Windmill= upon the top of a post support, in the same manner as directed for the other windmills. Figure 14 shows how the toy windmill may be rigged up [Illustration: FIG. 14.--How the Windmill may be Rigged up to Operate a Toy Jumping-jack.] =To Operate a Toy Jumping-jack=, by supporting the jumping-jack on a bracket, and connecting its string to the hub of the windmill. You can make your jumping-jack like the one in Fig. 110, the details of which are shown in Fig. 113. Cut the upright of the bracket (_A_, Figs. 14 and 15) 14 inches long, and the crosspiece (_B_) 7 inches long. Nail _A_ to _B_, and nail the jumping-jack at its center to the end of _B_ (Fig. 15). Fasten the triangular block (_C_) to the lower end of _A_, and then nail both _A_ and _C_ to the edge of the shaft at a point that will bring the string of the jumping-jack a trifle beyond the windmill blades. Fasten a small stick with a brad driven in one end, in notches cut in the hub's flanges (Fig. 16), and connect the brad and Jack's string with a piece of wire or strong string. Then as the windmill revolves it will operate the toy in the manner indicated in Figs. 14 and 15. [Illustration: FIG. 15.--How the Jumping-jack is Supported.] [Illustration: FIG. 16.--Spool Hub.] CHAPTER II HOME-MADE KITES The Malay tailless kite is probably the most practical kind ever invented. It will fly in a wind that the tail variety could not withstand, and it will fly in a breeze too light to carry up most other forms of kites. It is also a strong pulling kite, and can be used for sending aloft lanterns and flags. For the purpose of lifting, the pulling strength can be doubled by flying two Malays in tandem. [Illustration: FIG. 17.--A Malay Tailless Kite.] =How to Make a Malay.= Figure 17 shows a Malay kite in flight, Fig. 18 a detail of the completed kite, Fig. 19 the completed framework, and Figs. 20, 21, and 22 the details for preparing the frame sticks. =The Sticks.= This kite has a vertical stick and a bow-stick, each of which should be 40 inches long, about 3/4 inch wide, and 3/8 inch thick, for a kite of medium size. In the cutting of the sticks lies half the secret of making a kite that will fly successfully. Drive a small nail or large tack into each end of the two sticks, to fasten the framing-string to (Figs. 20 and 21), and notch the side edges of the bow-stick near each end for the attachment of the bow-string (Figs. 21 and 22). The amount to bend the bow-stick is important. For a kite with a bow 40 inches long the distance between the string and stick should be 6 inches (Fig. 21). Use a strong twine for the bow-string, and tie it securely to the notched ends. [Illustration: FIG. 18.--Completed Malay Kite with Belly-band Attached.] =Framing the Sticks.= Fasten the bow-stick at its exact center to the vertical stick, placing it 4 inches down from the top of the vertical stick, as indicated in Fig. 19. Drive a couple of brads through the two sticks to hold them together, and then reinforce the connection by wrapping the joint with strong linen thread, crossing the thread in the manner shown. When the two sticks have been joined, connect their ends with the framing-string. Stretch this string from stick to stick, and tie securely to the end nails. Instead of the end nails, the sticks may be notched to receive the framing-string, but the nails are more satisfactory because the string can be tied fast to them and will not slip. =Covering the Framework.= The strong light-weight brown wrapping-paper now so generally used makes an excellent covering for the framework. A few sheets can be purchased at a near-by store for the purpose. You will likely have to paste together two or more sheets to make one large enough. The paper should be placed on the outer face of the bow-stick, and should be allowed a little fullness instead of being stretched tight as on hexagonal tail kites. Lap the edges of the paper over the framing-string in the ordinary way of covering a kite. [Illustration: FIG. 19.--Framework of Malay Kite.] =Attach the Bridle= at the intersection of the bow-stick and vertical stick, and at the lower end of the vertical stick (Fig. 18), and make it of the right length so when held over to one side it will reach to the end of the bow, as indicated in Fig. 18. Tie the flying line securely at the point _A_ (Fig. 18); then the kite will be ready for its maiden flight. =Flying-Line.= The kind of cord which a mason uses for his plumb-lines is splendid for flying the Malay kite. If you cannot get some balls of this, be certain that what you do get can be relied upon, because it is provoking to lose a kite which you have taken a great deal of pains in making, through the breaking of the flying line. [Illustration: FIG. 20.--Detail of Vertical Stick.] [Illustration: FIG. 21.--Detail of Bow-Stick.] [Illustration: FIG. 22.--Detail of End of Bow-Stick.] =The Box-Kite.= Of the more pretentious kites, none is as popular as the rectangular box-kite. Box-kites may be purchased ready-made in a number of sizes, but they are not cheap, and it will pay any boy to take the time necessary to make one. While their construction requires considerable more work than the single-plane type of kite, it is not difficult. Figures 23 and 24 show a kite of scientifically developed proportions. Pine, spruce, and whitewood are the best materials for =The Kite Sticks=, though any strong, light-weight wood of straight grain may be used if easier to obtain. If you live near a lumber yard or planing-mill, possibly you can get strips of just the size you require from the waste heap, for the mere asking, or for a few cents get them ripped out of a board. If not, you will find it easy enough to cut them yourself with a sharp rip-saw. [Illustration: FIG. 23.--Raising the Box-Kite.] =The Side Frames.= Cut the four horizontal sticks 3/8 inch thick and 3/8 inch wide, by 36 inches long (_A_, Fig. 25), and the four upright connecting sticks (_B_, Fig. 25) 1/4 inch thick, 1/2 inch wide, and 10 inches long. Tack the upright sticks to the horizontal ones 6 inches from the ends of the latter, as shown in Fig. 25, using slender brads for the purpose, and clinching the projecting ends. In fastening these sticks, be careful to set sticks _B_ at right angles to sticks _A_. [Illustration: FIG. 24.--The Box-Kite.] After fastening together the side-frame sticks as shown in Fig. 25, lay them aside until you have prepared the cross-section of the kite. [Illustration: FIG. 25.--Make Two Side Frames like this.] =The Covering for the End Cells.= A light-weight muslin or tough paper should be used for this material. Cheese-cloth will do if you give it a coat of thin varnish to fill up the pores and make it air-tight, after it has been put on. The light-weight brown wrapping-paper now so commonly used is good covering material. The cell bands for the kite illustrated should be 10 inches wide and 5 feet 9 inches long. If of cloth, they should be hemmed along each edge to prevent raveling and to make a firm edge. If of paper, the edges should be folded over a light framing-cord and pasted. Sew together the ends of the cloth bands, or paste the ends of the paper bands, lapping them so the measurement around the inside will be exactly 5 feet 8 inches, the proper measurement around the sticks of the finished kite. [Illustration: FIG. 26.--Cross-section of the Box-Kite.] =Assembling the Kite.= Slip the bands over the side frames, spread the frames to their fullest extent, and hold them in this position by means of sticks sprung in temporarily between upright sticks _B_. Then measure the proper length for the diagonal braces _C_ (Fig. 26). These sticks should be notched at their ends to fit over the sticks _A_, as shown in Fig. 27, and they should be a trifle long so they will be slightly bow-shaped when put in place. In this way the frames will keep the cloth or paper bands stretched tight. The notched ends of the diagonals should be _lashed_ with thread to keep them from splitting. Lashings of thread around the frame sticks _A_, as shown in Figs. 25 and 27, will keep the ends of the braces from slipping away from the uprights _B_, which is the proper position for them. Bind the braces together at their centers with thread, as shown in Figs. 24 and 26. Coat the lashings with glue after winding them, and the thread will hold its position better. The cloth or paper bands should be fastened to each horizontal frame stick with two tacks placed near the edges of the bands. [Illustration: FIG. 27.--Detail of Diagonal Braces.] There are several methods of =Attaching the Bridle=, but that shown in Fig. 24 is generally considered the most satisfactory. Of course, the kite is flown other side up, with the bridle underneath. The three-point attachment has cords fastened at the two outer corners of one cell, and a third cord to the center of the outer edge of the other cell; and the four-point attachment has cords attached at the four outer corners of the kite. The ends of the bridle should be brought together and tied at a distance of about 3 feet from the kite. It is a good plan to connect the ends to a fancy-work ring. [Illustration: Fig. 28.--A Good Hand Kite-reel.] =A Good Hand Kite-reel= that can be held in one hand and operated by the other is shown in Fig. 28. Get a 1/2-lb. size baking-powder can for the winding-spool, locate the center of the cover and bottom end, and with a can-opener cut a hole 1 inch in diameter through each (Fig. 29). Then cut two wooden disks 5 inches in diameter for the spool flanges. These may be cut out of thin wood. If you do not wish to take the trouble to cut them round, just saw off the four corners diagonally, making the pieces octagonal. Bore a 1-inch hole through the center of each piece. Tack the can cover to the exact center of one disk, as shown in Fig. 30, and the can to the exact center of the other. Then fit the cover on the can, and glue a strip of cloth or heavy paper around the joint to keep the cover from working off, and the spool will be completed. [Illustration: FIGS. 29 and 30.--Details of Hand Kite-reel.] The axle upon which the spool turns is a piece of broom-handle 10 inches or so in length (Fig. 30). Bore two holes through it in the positions shown, for pins to keep the spool in its proper place. Wooden pegs can be cut for pins. For a winding handle, pivot a spool on the right-hand disk by means of a nail or screw. The inner flange of the spool handle may be cut off as shown in Fig. 28. Both hands are frequently needed to haul in string quickly enough to bring a kite around into the wind, or to handle it when it pulls very strong, and then there is nothing to do but drop the hand reel upon the ground, unless you have an assistant to give it to. This is where the advantage of [Illustration: FIG. 31.--A Body Kite-reel.] [Illustration: FIG. 32.--Detail of Axle Support.] [Illustration: FIG. 33.--Detail of Crank.] =A Body Kite-reel= comes in. With it strapped about the waist, it will go wherever you go, and always be within easy reach. Figure 31 shows one simple to make. The spool of this is made similar to that of the hand reel shown in Fig. 28. If, however, you wish a larger winding-spool, you can use a larger can than the baking-powder can--a tomato can or syrup can--and increase the diameter of the wooden flanges accordingly. Instead of the spool turning upon the broom-handle axle, the axle turns with the spool, so the spool must be fastened to the axle. The axle supports _A_ (Figs. 31 and 32) should be about 7 inches long, 4 inches wide at the wide end, and 2 inches wide at the narrow end. Cut the holes to receive the axle ends a trifle large so the axle will turn easily. Cut the connecting crosspieces _B_ of the right length so there will be about 1/4 inch between the ends of the spool and supports _A_. Cut the crank stick _C_ as shown in Fig. 33, bore a hole for the axle end to fit in, bore another hole in the edge for a set-screw to hold the stick in place on the axle end, and pivot a spool in place for a handle. If the hole in the spool is too large for the head of the nail used for pivoting, slip a small iron or leather washer over the nail. An old belt or shawl-strap should be used for strapping the kite-reel to your body. Fasten this to the ends of the axle supports _A_ by nailing the strips _D_ to them as shown in Fig. 32. CHAPTER III A HOME-MADE MODEL AEROPLANE Model aeronautics has become nearly as popular as kite flying, and girls as well as boys have taken to building these unique air toys. The model aeroplane requires more work than ordinary kite construction. It also requires more patience and greater accuracy, because each part of the little aircraft must be made just so, assembled just so, and "tuned-up" just so, to produce a model which will give a good account of itself. Of course your first model will probably not be perfect. But if you do your work correctly and carefully it will fly, and the experience you have acquired will make it possible to turn out a more nearly perfect second model. Many types of model aeroplanes have been devised, but those of the simplest form of construction have made the best showing. The majority of record-breaking models have been of one type--a triangular framework, equipped with two planes, and a pair of propellers operated by a pair of rubber-strand motors. A most successful model of this type is shown in Fig. 34, and described and illustrated on the following pages. This model has a distance record of 1620 feet made at the Aero Club of Illinois' aviation field at Cicero, Chicago, where it flew 16 feet beyond the fence of the 160 acre field. The model weighs but 5-1/2 ounces, has 9-inch propellers of 27 inch pitch, and is in every essential a speed machine. [Illustration: FIG. 34.--Launching a Model Aeroplane.] The first part of the model to make is the triangular =Fuselage=, or _motor base_. This consists of two side sticks, _splines_, or _spars_ (_A_, Fig. 35) of straight-grained white pine cut to the dimensions marked upon the drawing, with their bow ends beveled off for a distance of 1-1/4 inches, glued together, and bound with thread. The stern ends have a spread of 8 inches, and are braced at that distance by the _separator B_ (Fig. 35). This separator is fastened flatwise between sticks _A_, and its edges are reduced as shown in the small section drawing of Fig. 37 so they will offer less resistance to the air. This piece is fastened between sticks _A_ with brads. Separators _C_, _D_, and _E_ are of the sizes marked in Fig. 35, and of the proper length to fit between side sticks A at the places indicated on the drawing. They are cut oval-shaped, as shown in the small section drawing in Fig. 37. [Illustration: FIG. 35.--Plan. FIG. 36.--Side Elevation (without Rubber Motor). FIGS. 35 and 36.--Working-drawings of Model Aeroplane Designed and Built by Harry Wells. This Model has a record of 1620 feet made at the Aero Club of Illinois' Aviation Field at Cicero, Chicago.] Before fastening the separators in position, =The Thrust Bearings= for the propellers, and the _end plates_ for connecting the wire _stays_, must be prepared. Figure 38 shows a dimensioned detail of the thrust bearings, and Fig. 37 shows how they are bound to the ends of sticks _A_ with thread. These are cut out of brass, bent into the shape shown, and have a hole pierced through the folded tip for the propeller-shaft to run through, another through one end for the brad to pass through that pins stick _A_ to _B_, and another through the other end to fasten the end of the wire stays to. The small detail in Fig. 37 shows the end plates for the wire stays. These are made no longer than is necessary for the connecting holes for the wire-stay ends. Pierce a hole through the center of each plate for the brad to pass through which fastens sticks _A_ to the ends of the separators. The plates are bound to sticks _A_ with thread. [Illustration: FIG. 37.--Detail of Fuselage and Motor of the Wells Model.] [Illustration: FIG. 38.--Detail of Thrust Bearing, Propeller-shaft, and Connections.] [Illustration: FIG. 39.--Detail of Bow Hook and how Rubber Motor is Connected to it.] =The Bow Hooks= support the bow ends of the rubber motor, and are made upon the ends of a piece of heavy piano-wire bent V-shaped to fit over the ends of sticks _A_ (Fig. 39). Bind the wire to the sticks with thread, coating the thread with glue to make it hold fast (Fig. 37). =The Main Plane= has a framework built as shown in Fig. 40, with the front or _entering-edge_, and the rear or _following_-_edge_, made of sticks of white pine or other light-weight wood, and the _ribs_ and _tips_ on the ends made of No. 16 gauge aluminum wire. The ends of the frame sticks are cut away on their outer edge, to receive the ends of the wire forming the tips, and the ends of these wires, and the laps of the wire ribs, are bound in position with thread, and the thread then coated with glue to hold it in position. =The Elevator=, or front plane, has a framework made as shown in Fig. 41. Its entering-edge is a stick, and its following-edge, ribs, and end tips, are made of No. 16 gauge aluminum wire. You will notice by Fig. 41 that the center ribs cross the following-edge of the frame and are bent up in the form of a flat loop. This loop rests against the under side of the fuselage, and gives the elevator its proper angle for stability (Fig. 36). The tips are bent up to add stability. The frames of the main plane and elevator are covered with china-silk, which may either be sewed or glued in place, and this is given a thin coat of shellac to make it air-tight and taut. The covering must be put on smoothly to reduce to a minimum what is known as _skin resistance_--the resistance that the plane makes to the air while passing through it. The main plane and elevator are held to the fuselage by means of rubber-bands slipped beneath them and over the fuselage, and unlike the planes of the majority of models, are fastened to the under side of the fuselage. Figure 36 shows the approximate position of the elevator. That of the main plane will vary under different air conditions, sometimes being placed over the separator _C_, and at other times closer to separator _B_ than is shown in Fig. 35. Therefore, you must adjust your plane and elevator--this operation is known as _tuning_--to suit the condition of the atmosphere, until you find the positions where they will give the machine the greatest stability. A great factor in the successful flight of a model aeroplane lies in properly tuning the planes, both laterally and longitudinally, and of course the planes must balance at their centers, in order to make the machine balance properly. [Illustration: FIG. 40.--Detail of the Main Plane Framework of the Wells Model.] [Illustration: FIG. 41.--Detail of the Elevator Framework.] [Illustration: FIG. 42.--Detail of Fin.] =The Fin= directly over the center of the elevator (Figs. 34 and 36) is provided for stability, and may be used as a rudder by turning it slightly to one side or the other. It is made of No. 34 gauge sheet aluminum, cut to the form shown in Fig. 42. Its vertical edge is bent around a piece of heavy wire, as shown in the plan detail of Fig. 42, and the lower end of the wire is fastened upright between the bow ends of sticks _A_. [Illustration: FIG. 43.--The Wells Model Propeller.] =The Propellers= are the most difficult part of the model aeroplane to make. They must be very accurately cut, and must be of identical size and _pitch_. The pitch of a propeller is, theoretically, the distance forward that it advances in one complete revolution. Figure 43 shows one of the propellers of Harry Wells' machine, which is 9 inches in length and has a 27-inch pitch. Figure 44 shows =How to Prepare the Propellers=. The pair must be opposites, that is, one must be of right-hand pitch and the other of left-hand pitch, or, in other words, the upper end of the right-hand pitch propeller turns to the right, and that of the left-hand pitch propeller turns to the left, when viewing them from the rear. [Illustration: FIG. 44.--How to Prepare a 9-inch Propeller.] Step _A_ consists in properly planing up a straight-grained block of white pine 1-1/2 inches thick, 2 inches wide, and 9 inches long, with its sides and ends straight and true, for =The Propeller Blank=. Draw a line around the four faces of this block at the exact center of the length. Then on faces _C_ and _D_, lay off a distance of 1/2 inch on the center-line, measuring from the edge of face =B=, for the thickness of the propeller-hub, and draw diagonal lines from the upper and lower left-hand corners of faces _C_ and _D_ to the end of the hub center-line (Step _B_). Then cut away the portions outside of these lines, as shown in Step _C_. Lay out the hub upon faces _A_ and _B_ of the block, with a 1/2-inch diameter, and bore a small hole through the center to receive the propeller-shaft (Step _C_). Draw diagonals from the corners to the center-line of the hub (Step _D_); then cut away the wood outside of these lines (Step _E_). The next step (_F_) consists in laying out the form of the propeller blade upon all four sides and ends of the block, and Step _G_ is the final one of cutting out the propeller, scooping out its blades concave on one side, and carving them convex on the opposite side. A very sharp knife must be used for cutting; and the work must be done slowly and carefully, because the least slip is likely to ruin the propeller. The _entering-edge_ of each blade is the almost straight edge, and should be cut very thin. The ends of the blades should also be cut thin, while the hub should be cut away as much as can safely be done without weakening the propeller. When you have completed cutting the propellers, place them at their centers across the edge of a knife-blade, and if they do not balance perfectly, locate the trouble and correct it. Finish the work with fine emery-paper, and then shellac it. Some boys glue silk over the ends of their propeller blades, for a distance of 1/2 inch or so, to reinforce them and make them less likely to split. =The Propeller-shafts= are made of heavy piano-wire, bent into a hook at one end (Fig. 38) to receive the rubber strands of the motor, and cut of the right length to extend through the hole in the bearing, through a glass bead, through the propeller, and then to bend over the side of the hub (Figs. 37 and 38). By bending over the end of the shaft against the hub, it is held securely in place. =The Motors= consist of twelve strands of 1/8-inch flat rubber, each, and as these are 1 yard in length, exactly 24 yards of rubber are required. The rubber is not connected direct to the hooks on the bow and propeller-shafts, as the wire would quickly cut through the strands. Instead, small rings are bent out of wire, with pieces of small rubber-tubing slipped over the wire, and the ends of the rubber strands are looped through these rings and bound in place with thread (Fig. 39). The wire rings are then slipped on and off the hooks quickly. As light and heat cause rubber to deteriorate, you must remove the motors from the machine after use, pack away in a covered box, and keep in a cool place, in order to get the longest life possible out of the rubber. It has been found that rubber motors can be wound much farther by lubricating them with glycerine. It is only necessary to put a few drops of the glycerine upon a clean cloth, and rub it over the outside strands; then wind the motors, and it will work over the surface of the inner strands until all parts are covered. [Illustration: FIG. 45.--A Home-made Motor Winder.] [Illustration: FIG. 46.--The Kind of Egg-beater to Use.] [Illustration: FIG. 47.--How the Motors are Connected to Winder for Winding.] Of course the rubber motors must be twisted an equal number of turns, in order to make the propellers work the same, and this is usually done with an ingenious winder made from an egg-beater, which winds both motors simultaneously. =The Home-made Motor-winder= shown in Fig. 45 is made from a Dover egg-beater (Fig. 46). To convert the egg-beater into a winder, it is necessary to cut off the loop ends and the center pivot wires on which the loops turn. Then bend the cut-off ends of the loops into hooks, and punch them to fit over the pivot wire ends, as before (Fig. 45). The ends of the pivot wires must be riveted to keep the hooks in position. Figure 47 shows =How the Egg-beater Winds the Motors=. While an assistant supports the model by the propeller end, you remove the motor rings from the hooks on the bow of the fuselage, and slip them on to the hooks of the egg-beater. Then you turn the crank of the winder, counting the turns as you do so, and when you have wound the motors as far as you wish, slip off the motor rings, and slip them back on to the bow hooks of the model aeroplane. Motors of models like that shown in this chapter are wound one-thousand turns or more for each flight. =Wind the Motors Slowly=, especially after the first row of knots begin, as it puts the rubber to the least amount of strain by doing this. Quick winding not only strains the rubber but makes the knots form in bunches, and uneven winding, of course, produces an uneven unwinding. The propellers must be held after the motors have been wound, to keep them in check. Figure 34 shows =The Position to Take for Launching a Model= from the hand. The machine should not be thrown forward, as the movement would cause too great a disturbance of the air, resulting in the machine losing its stability, and probably upsetting. The best method is to give the model a slight push that will start it off at a speed a trifle under that produced by its propellers. CHAPTER IV A HOME-MADE TOY MOTOR-BOAT The toy motor-boat shown in Figs. 48 and 49 is propelled by a tin propeller run by a rubber-band motor. A handful of rubber-bands will cost only a few cents, and the rest of the working material can be picked up at home. [Illustration: FIG. 49.--The Completed Motor-boat.] [Illustration: FIG. 50.--Stern, with Motor in Place.] =Prepare the Bottom of the Hull= out of a piece of wood 1 inch thick, making it of the shape and dimensions shown in Fig. 51. Be careful to curve the side edges the same. Use a saw for cutting out the piece, then smooth up the edges with a plane and sandpaper. The stern should be sawed off on a bevel as shown in Fig. 52. [Illustration: FIG. 51.--Diagram of Hull.] =The Sides= of the hull (_B_, Figs. 52 and 53) are thin strips 2-1/2 inches wide. Nail one to one edge of the bottom block, then saw off the bow end on a line with the bow of the bottom block, and the stern end on the same slant as the bevel cut on the stern of the bottom block. With one piece in position, nail on the second side and trim off its ends. If you have any difficulty in making a neat joint between the bow ends of sides _B_, take a piece of tin from a can, bend it around the bow, and tack it in place as shown in Fig. 48. The stern piece (_C_, Figs. 53 and 54) should be cut next, to fit the slanted ends of the sides. [Illustration: FIGS. 52 and 53.--How the Hull, Sides, Stern and Deck Pieces are Assembled.] =The Deck= (_D_) extends from the bow almost to the center of the boat. Its top surface should taper in its length and curve from side to side. The piece may be whittled or planed to this shape. Fasten it with brads to the top edges of the sides of the boat. [Illustration: FIG. 48.--LAUNCHING THE TOY MOTOR-BOAT.] =To Complete the Boat=, go over the work carefully, trim off all projecting edges, drive nail heads beneath the surfaces, putty nail holes and cracks, and give the wood two coats of paint of whatever color you want to have the motor-boat. =The Propeller= (_E_, Fig. 54) is cut from the side of a tin can. Cut a piece 3 inches long and 3/4 inch wide, round its ends, and with the point of a nail pierce a hole through it each side of the center of the length of the piece (Fig. 55). To finish the propeller, it is only necessary to take hold of the two ends and twist the piece into the shape shown in Fig. 56. =The Propeller-shaft= requires a short piece of wire with one end bent into a hook (_F_, Fig. 56). Stick the straight end of this shaft through one hole in the propeller, and the hooked end through the other hole, then twist the hooked end over on to the main part of the shaft, as shown in Fig. 57. Make a tight twist so the propeller will be held perfectly rigid on the shaft. =The Bearing Plate= _G_ (Figs. 54 and 58) supports the propeller. Cut it out of a piece of tin 1-1/2 inches wide by 3 inches long, bend it in half crosswise to give it stiffness, and then bend it lengthwise to the angle shown so it will fit over the slanted stern of the boat. Punch two holes through the upper end for nailing the plate to the stern, and a hole at the lower end for the propeller-shaft to run through. =For a Thrust Bearing=, slip a couple of beads over the propeller-shaft, between the propeller and bearing plate _G_. Probably you can find glass beads in your mother's button bag. [Illustration: FIG. 54.--Longitudinal Section of Assembled Motor-boat.] [Illustration: FIGS. 55-59.--Details of Propeller.] [Illustration: FIG. 60.--Rubber-band Motor.] After slipping the beads on to the shaft, and sticking the shaft through the hole in bearing plate _G_, bend the end of the shaft into a hook; then screw a small screw-hook into the bottom of the hull, at the bow end (_I_, Fig. 54), and you will be ready for =The Rubber-band Motor.= Rubber-bands about 1-1/2 inches in length are best for the purpose. Loop these together end to end (Fig. 60) to form a strand that will reach from hook _I_ to the hook on the propeller-shaft; then form three more strands of this same length, and slip the end loops of all four strands over the hooks. =To Wind the Motor=, give the propeller about one hundred turns with your finger; then, keep hold of the propeller until you launch the boat. There are many ways of elaborating upon the design and construction of this toy motor-boat, but, having given the necessary instructions for building a simple model, I am going to leave further development for you to work out. Here is an opportunity for you to use your ingenuity. Devise an adjustable rudder, add a keel, finish off the cockpit with a coaming, install a headlight made from a pocket flashlight--in fact, see just how complete a motor-boat model you can build. CHAPTER V HOME-MADE TOY WATER-MOTORS You can own a water-motor like the one shown in Fig. 61, because its construction requires nothing but easily obtained materials. [Illustration: FIG. 61.--A Varnish-can Water-motor in Operation.] =The Case= of this water-motor is made of an empty varnish can--preferably one of gallon capacity. Nothing better could be desired. The tin can makes a light-weight compact case; the spout in the top is in just the right place and of the right size to receive the water power from a faucet; and as the water connections can be made tight there is no possibility of water splashing on to the floor--a big argument in your favor when seeking permission to use the motor in the bath-tub, wash-basin, or kitchen sink. You can get an empty varnish can from any painter, or at a paint store. The first step in converting the can into the motor case consists in removing the bottom. You will find this soldered in place, in all probability, and it can be removed quickly by holding the can over the flame of a gas burner until the solder melts, when a few taps upon the edges will cause the piece of tin to drop off. [Illustration: FIG. 62.--The Completed Varnish-can Water-motor.] =The Water-motor Wheel= is shown in the cross-sections of the water-motor (Figs. 63 and 64), and Figs. 65 to 67 show its details. The diameter of the wheel should be about 1/2 inch less than the inside width of the can. In the model from which the drawings were made, this measurement is 5-1/2 inches. Cut the two side pieces of the wheel out of a piece of cigar-box wood, and bore a 1/4-inch hole through the center of each for the wheel axle. Fasten a spool to the center of one side piece for a pulley-wheel (Fig. 66). [Illustration: FIGS. 63 and 64.--Sections through Water-motor Case.] =Prepare Eight Paddles= 1-3/4 inches wide and 2-1/2 inches long, out of cigar-box wood. Locate the positions for the ends of the paddles, upon the side pieces, by drawing a horizontal line, a vertical line, and two diagonal lines at angles of 45 degrees, through their centers. This will simplify the matter of spacing the paddles equidistant from one another (Fig. 67). Use brads for fastening the side pieces to the paddle ends. Those removed from the cigar boxes will do. =The Wheel Shaft= should be a trifle shorter than the inside width of the can, and enough smaller than the 1/4-inch hole in the wheel side pieces so the wheel will turn freely. Locate the centers for the axle upon the two sides of the can, in the proper position so there will be the same margin above and at the ends of the wheel. Drive a nail through each side of the can into the axle end. [Illustration: FIG. 65.--The Completed Water-motor Wheel.] [Illustration: FIGS. 66 and 67.--Details of Water-motor Wheel.] =An Outlet= for the water after it has passed over the wheel paddles must be provided, and the best way is to fasten a strip to two opposite sides of the can so as to raise the bottom about an inch, as shown in Figs. 62, 63, and 64. =For a Pulley-belt= use a piece of heavy cord. Cut a slot through the front of the can for the belt to run through, and make this slot large enough so the cord will not rub against the sides (Fig. 63). =Pulley-wheels= for attaining different speeds can be made of spools of various sizes. A bicycle wheel with the tire removed, mounted in a frame, is excellent for a large wheel. =Connecting up the Water-motor.= If you operate the water-motor in the kitchen sink, you can either build a platform as shown in Fig. 61, to bring the spout of the varnish-can case up to the level of the faucet, or you can set the water-motor in the sink and lead a piece of rubber tubing from the spout to the faucet, as shown in Fig. 68. If you use the latter arrangement, slip the lower end of the rubber tubing over a short piece of glass, brass, or tin tubing, and stick the short tubing through a hole in a cork large enough to fit the spout of the varnish-can case (Fig. 69). If you raise the water-motor high enough so the faucet will set down into the spout, you can cut a large enough hole for the faucet, through a cork, and then fit the cork in the spout as shown in Fig. 64. [Illustration: FIGS. 68-69.--How to Make a Water-tight Connection between Faucet and Water-motor.] =Another Water-motor.= The little water-motor in Fig. 70 will furnish sufficient power to operate simple mechanical toys. =The Water-motor Wheel.= Procure two baking-powder can covers for the ends of the water-motor wheel (_A_, Fig. 72), a cigar-box out of which to make the wheel paddles, and a stick 1/4 inch square and 5 inches long for the wheel axle (_B_, Fig. 72). [Illustration: FIG. 70.--A Small Water-motor that can be Operated in a Wash-basin.] [Illustration: FIG. 71.--The Water-motor Wheel.] Cut eight paddles from the cigar-box wood 1 inch wide and 5 inches long. Take a pair of these strips and fasten them to one can cover, in line with each other, and close against the sides of the cover (_C_, Fig. 73). Fasten with tacks or brads driven through the cover into the ends of the strips. Take another pair of strips and fasten them to the same cover, in a similar manner, at right angles to pair _C_ (_D_, Fig. 72). Then tack the pairs of strips _E_ and _F_ to the cover halfway between pairs _C_ and _D_. With the paddles in position, locate the exact center of the end of the can cover, and drive a nail through at this point into the end of axle _B_. Slip the free ends of the paddles into the other can cover, and carefully drive tacks or brads through the cover into them. Drive a nail through the center of the cover into the end of axle _B_. [Illustration: FIGS. 72 and 73.--Details of Water-motor Wheel.] =The Wheel Supports.= Figure 74 shows the supports for the wheel. Cut the end pieces _G_ 4 inches wide and 6 inches high, and the cross strips _H_ 1-3/4 inches wide and 5-1/2 inches long. Nail pieces _G_ to _H_, as shown, allowing the lower ends of _G_ to extend 1/2 inch below strips _H_, and leaving a space of 1/2 inch between strips _H_. The axle holes in pieces _G_ (Fig. 74) should be located in the center of the width of these pieces, and halfway between their tops and strips _H_. Bore the holes with a gimlet, or make them by driving a large nail through the pieces, and then withdrawing it. =To Mount the Wheel= upon the supports, withdraw the nails driven into the ends of axle _B_, slip the wheel between uprights _G_, and drive the nails through the holes in _G_ back into the holes in the axle ends (Fig. 71). [Illustration: FIG. 74.--Support for Water-motor Wheel.] =The Pulley Wheel.= One can cover should be converted into a pulley by winding several turns of string around it, near each edge, leaving a groove between the string. Coat the string with glue to make it stick fast to the cover. =The Water-motor Case.= Figure 70 shows how the water-motor case is constructed by fastening boards _N_, _I_, _J_, _K_, _L_, and _M_ to the wheel supports _G_. There must be a slot through _I_ and another through _J_, for the string belt to pass through, and a hole through _K_ for the intake of water from a faucet. These can be cut out of the edges of the boards, as shown, before they are nailed in place. Leave an opening between boards _N_ and _M_, and the bottom of ends _G_, for an outlet for waste water. CHAPTER VI A HOME-MADE TOY RAILWAY It is often thought that a toy railway is beyond a boy's ingenuity to construct, whereas, in reality, it is one of the simplest toys he can make. This applies to the tracks, stations, and cars of every description, all of which can be made with a few strips of wood, some spools, nails, cardboard, and a bottle of glue, for materials. If you have passed the age of caring for such toys as this, you will, no doubt, enjoy the making of one for your younger brother, or for one of your boy relatives. Figure 76 shows a railway set up and in running order. As shown in the illustration, [Illustration: FIG. 75.--Upright.] [Illustration: FIG. 76.--The Toy Railway in Operation.] [Illustration: FIG. 77.--Support for Trolley-line.] =The Trolley-line=, or overhead cable, runs around the wheels of two supports, one at either end of the track. Prepare four pieces of wood the shape and size of that shown in Fig. 75 for the uprights of these supports, and make two wheels three inches in diameter. The wheels may be marked out with a home-made compass--a pencil tied to the end of a piece of string, if you haven't a compass. When the wheels have been cut out, place them in your bench-vise, one at a time, and with a file make a groove around the edge as shown at _C_, Fig. 77. Bore a three-eighths-inch hole through each upright at _F_, Fig. 75, and another through the center of each wheel. Now fasten two of the uprights six inches apart upon a block of wood, as shown at _A_ and _B_, Fig. 77. Whittle a shaft to fit loosely in the holes of the uprights, and, after slipping it into them, fasten one of the wheels upon one end and a small spool upon the other (see _C_ and _D_ in Fig. 77). A weight of some sort should be fastened to the base, as shown at _E_. The uprights for the other support should be similarly mounted upon another block of wood. Fasten the remaining wheel to an axle run through the holes in the uprights, and, as it is unnecessary to have a spool upon the other end of the axle, cut it off short and drive a nail through it to prevent it from slipping through the holes. Having thus prepared the supports, place them as far apart as you wish to extend the railway, and run a cord around the two wheels and tie it. Then set the supports a little farther apart, if necessary, to tighten the cord. Run another cord from spool _D_ to =A Water-motor=, steam engine, or whatever power you can get with which to operate the railway. A bicycle inverted with the tire removed from its rear wheel has been used satisfactorily, as has also a sewing-machine with the belt slipped off and the cord from the spool put in its place. A good substitute for the tin tracks ordinarily sold in shops for toy railways will be found in those shown in Fig. 78. These [Illustration: FIG. 78.--The Tracks.] =Tracks= consist of quarter-inch strips mounted upon pieces of cardboard. Make a small gimlet-hole in one end of each stick, and drive a short finishing nail in the opposite end (see Fig. 78). Cut the cardboard strips the length of the sticks, and tack them to the sticks as shown in the illustration. If inch and one-half spools are used for the car wheels, the inside gauge of the tracks should be an inch and three-quarters. By lapping the cardboard strips over the ends of the sticks, and the sticks over the ends of the cardboard strips, and placing the nail dowels in the ends of the sticks as in the drawing, a strong track is formed when the pieces are fitted together. This may be extended to any desired length by adding more sections to it. [Illustration: FIG. 79.--A Top View of Car Truck.] =The Cars= for this railway will have their trucks constructed alike, and it is a simple matter to transform a car from one style into another. Figure 79 shows a top view of a truck. For the bed of this cut a three-eighths-inch board twelve inches long by two and one-quarter inches wide, and, after rounding the ends as shown in the drawing, cut a mortise at _A_ and _B_ two and three-eighths inches from either end. [Illustration: FIG. 80.--Spool Wheels.] [Illustration: FIG. 81.--The Completed Car Truck.] [Illustration: FIG. 82.] Procure two one and one-half inch spools for wheels, and drive a wooden peg through the hole in each, cutting off the ends so they project a little beyond the hole, as shown in Fig. 80. Then bore four holes in the edges of the truck-bed with a gimlet at _C_, _D_, _E_, and _F_ (see drawing), and, after setting the spools in mortises _A_ and _B_, pivot them in place with small finishing nails driven into the wooden pegs. These nails should fit loosely in the gimlet holes. In order to drive them into the exact centers of the spools, it is best to locate these points upon the ends of the pegs before placing the spools in the frame. A quarter-inch hole should be bored in the top of the truck-bed at _G_ and _H_ (Fig. 79) in which to fasten the two uprights _I_ and _J_ (see Fig. 81). Make the uprights four inches long and whittle a peg upon the lower ends to fit holes _G_ and _H_ (see Fig. 82). Bore a hole with a gimlet in the top of each and run a piece of heavy wire from one to the other, bending it as shown in Fig. 81. Fasten _K_ between _I_ and _J_, as shown. Place a small brass ring upon the wire before you fasten it in place. A small hook should be screwed into one end of the truck and a screw-eye into the other end, for couplings, should you wish to hitch two or more cars together. [Illustration: FIG. 83.--A Gondola Car.] =A Gondola Car=, such as shown in Fig. 83, should have its truck made similar to Fig. 79, with the exception that it should be two inches shorter, in order that cigar-box strips can be used for the side pieces. Cut the strips an inch and one-half high and fasten them to the bed of the car with brads. This car may be used as a trailer. The car shown in Fig. 81 is a rather crude affair, but with a little more work may be transformed into a better looking car-- [Illustration: FIG. 84.--Side View.] [Illustration: FIG. 85.--End View.] =A Street Car= such as is shown in Figs. 84 and 85 being an example of what can be made. The sides, ends, and roof of this car are made of cardboard, the patterns for the cutting of which are shown on page 55. Figure 86 shows a cross-section taken through the center of the car. The two side pieces _A_ should be prepared first, as shown in Fig. 87. With a ruler and lead-pencil draw in the windows about as shown in the drawing, using double lines to indicate the sash. Then, with a sharp knife, cut out the center of each just inside of the inner line. These windows may be left open or may be covered on the inside with tissue-paper. If tissue-paper is used, oil it to make it more transparent. When the two sides have been prepared, bend each along the dotted lines (see Fig. 87) and tack one to each side of your car truck as shown in Fig. 86. When properly bent, the distance between the upper part of the sides should be two and three-quarters inches. Cut the two inner ends of the car the shape of Fig. 88, using a compass with a radius of two and one-half inches with which to describe the curve at the top. Draw in the panels and sash lines as you did those upon the side pieces, being careful to get them on the same level, and cut out the door and window openings. Fasten these end pieces between the sides with glue, and also tack them to the uprights of the car (_I_ and _J_, Fig. 81), which will come just inside of them. The roof is made in two sections (_B_ and _C_, Fig. 86). For _B_ cut a piece of cardboard twelve and one-quarter by three and three-quarter inches (Fig. 89), draw the curved end with a compass, using the radius shown on the drawing, and slit the corners as indicated by the dotted lines. When this piece has thus been prepared, remove the wire from the top of the truck (see Fig. 81). Bend the cardboard over the sides and ends of the car, and lap corners _D_ and _E_ over _F_ and _G_, and _H_ and _I_ over _J_ and _K_, tacking them with thread to hold them in place. To fasten this part of the roof to the top of the car, cut a number of small strips of linen, and glue them to the under side of the roof and to the inside face of the sides and ends of the car (see Fig. 86). The upper portion of the roof _C_ should be made out of a piece of cardboard bent into the shape of Fig. 90, and cut at the ends so the upper portion of _C_ projects a little beyond its sides. Draw the ventilation lights upon the sides of _C_ as shown on the drawings, and then fasten the piece upon the top of _B_ with strips of linen in the same manner as you fastened _B_ in place. _C_ should now have the same curve to its top as _B_. Cut and glue a piece of cardboard in each end of _C_ to complete the roof. The shape of this piece is shown in Fig. 91. The outer ends of the car should be made as shown in [Illustration: FIGS. 86-94.--Details of Toy Street Car.] Fig. 92, and tacked around the ends of the wooden truck platform, and also fastened to the under side of the roof with strips of linen. The window openings may be cut in each end, but it will make a stronger car if they are simply drawn upon it. Cut four cardboard steps similar to Fig. 93 and tack them to the sides of the front and rear platforms. When the car has been put together, replace the wire in the tops of uprights _I_ and _J_ (Fig. 81), running the ends through the roof (see Fig. 84). Paint the sides and ends of the car yellow with brown trimmings, and paint the roof a light gray. Water colors can be used for the purpose. Letter the name of your car-line upon the sides and the number of the car upon each end and side. The route should be lettered upon strips of cardboard with pins run through them as shown in Fig. 94, these strips to stick in the roof of the car (see Figs. 84 and 85). Having seen how the car is made, you will find it a simple matter to make designs for =Other Cars=, using the same scheme for the trucks, and altering the patterns for the sides, ends, and roof, to suit the design. Nothing has, as yet, been said about the =Operation of the Railway=, and though Fig. 76 probably shows sufficiently clear how it is run, a few words may be helpful. The car or cars are placed between the wooden tracks, and the trolley (or cord attached to the ring on top of the car) is tied to the trolley-line as in the illustration. Upon starting your engine, water-motor, or whatever motive-power you have, the car will run from one end of the track to the other. When it has reached the support of the trolley-line, it will stop long enough for the cord trolley to pass around the wooden wheel, and then run in the opposite direction until the other support is reached. It will thus be seen that the trolley hangs to the upper part of the cable, or trolley-line, in running one way, and to the lower part on the return run. In changing the direction of the run, the ring to which the trolley is attached slides to the other end of the car. [Illustration: FIG. 95.--The Railway Depot.] =A Station= such as is illustrated in Fig. 95 is made out of cardboard and mounted upon a seven-eighths-inch board large enough to form a railway platform. After cutting out the side and end pieces, with door and window openings placed as shown in the illustration, fasten them together with strips of linen glued in the corners. Make the roof low and extend it over the platform upon each side and over the gable-ends, as shown in the illustration. Paint the sides of the depot the regulation depot red, and the roof a shingle or slate color. Paint the door and window-sash black, letter the name of the station upon the gable-ends, and with a ruler and lead-pencil rule off the boards upon the sides, and the slate or shingles upon the roof. As this is a typical railway station, two may be made of the same pattern, one for either end of your car line. CHAPTER VII HOME-MADE TOY ELEVATORS The elevator shown in Fig. 96 is a unique mechanical toy well worth one's making. Release the little car at the top floor, and it will descend to the ground floor, and then return to the starting point, without you having to touch it a second time. A magical elevator? Perhaps so. A little mechanical device performs the trick. The same plan may be followed for installing the doll-house elevator in Chapter XIII, but the more stories there are the more fun there is in operating the elevator. This is why I have adapted the scheme to =A Toy Office Building.= Six stories are shown in Fig. 96, but you can make a modern sky-scraper with as many stories as you like. A packing-case 3 feet 6 inches long, stood on end, was used for the model. Another box or two can be added to the top for additional stories. Besides the box, or boxes, get enough box boards for floors and partitions. =Make the Floors= in two pieces (_A_ and _B_, Fig. 98), so the opening for the elevator shaft can be cut out of the end of one piece in the manner shown. This opening should be about 5 inches square. Mark out and cut the boards for all of the floors at one time, and be careful to get the shaft opening the same in each floor. Cut the notch _C_ in board _A_ about 1 inch square. Fasten the floor boards in place with nails driven through the sides of the box. =The Partitions=, a pattern for which is shown in Fig. 99, can be made quicker by omitting the doorway, but this is easy to cut by sawing along the sides and then splitting out the piece between the saw cuts. [Illustration: FIG. 96.--A Toy Office Building with Elevator.] =The Elevator Car= should be built up of cigar-box wood, as shown in Figs. 101 and 102. The front portion (_D_) should be about 3 inches wide, 2-1/2 inches deep, and 4 inches high, and the rear portion (_E_) should be of the same width, 2 inches deep, and 2-1/2 inches high. Fasten these upon the base piece _F_ as shown. =The Elevator Guides.= Bore the holes _G_ through the top and bottom of the car, close to the sides, for guide wires _H_ to run through (Figs. 101 and 102). These holes may be bored with a screw-eye if you haven't a gimlet or drill. Bell-wire, or almost any wire that you have on hand, will do for the guides. Fasten two screw-eyes into the under side of the top of the shaft, the same distance apart as holes _G_, and in the proper position so they will come exactly over them (_I_, Fig. 100). Use the car for determining these measurements. Then bore two holes through the bottom of the shaft directly below the screw-eyes (_J_, Fig. 100). Attach the wire to one screw-eye, run it down through holes _G_ in the car, through one of the holes _J_, then across to and up through the other hole _J_, up through the other set of holes _G_ in the car, and attach to the second screw-eye _I_. =The Cables.= The elevator is lifted by means of cord _L_ (Figs. 97 and 101). Fasten this cord to a tack driven into the top of the car, then run it up and over spool _M_ (Figs. 97 and 101), over spool _N_ (Fig. 97), and tie to weight _K_. =The Counter-balance.= A bottle, filled with sand to make it weigh more than twice as much as the car, should be used for this. Screw a small screw-eye into the cork to tie the cord to. The counter-balance runs up and down in =The Smoke-stack=, which is fastened to the back of the building (Fig. 97). Make the stack of cardboard mailing-tubes, joining them end to end with bands of paper pasted around them. Fasten the stack to the back of the building with wire straps, and brace the top as shown in Fig. 96, but leave it unattached until you have adjusted =The Overhead Pulleys=, or _sheaves_. These are spools. You will see by looking at Fig. 100 that spool _M_ turns on the axle _O_, and the ends of this axle are cut to fit snugly in screw-eyes _I_. [Illustration: FIG. 97.--Section through Elevator Shaft.] Fasten pulley spool _N_ in the smoke-stack by means of a wooden axle pushed through holes pierced in the side of the stack, as is shown in the small drawing above, Fig. 97. Bore a hole through the back of the building for the cable cord _L_ to run through (_P_, Figs. 97 and 100), and cut another through the smoke-stack. =How the Car Operates.= When the weight and cord have been adjusted and the smoke-stack erected, the elevator will run from the ground floor up to the roof of its own accord, because the counter-balance is much heavier than the car. To make it descend it is necessary to add weight to the car, to make it enough heavier than the counter-balance so it will drop of its own accord. This is done with =Ballast= consisting of a bottle of sand or salt of twice the combined weight of counter-balance _K_ and the car. After filling the bottle, cork it up, and screw a screw-eye into the cork. Then screw the eye of a 2-inch hook-and-eye into the roof of the building, directly over the center of box _E_ of the elevator (_R_, Figs. 97 and 101), and attach one end of a rubber-band to the hook and tack the other end to the top of the elevator-shaft (Fig. 101). [Illustration: FIG. 98.--Floors.] [Illustration: FIG. 99.--Partitions.] With the hook and rubber-band properly adjusted, this is what happens when the car ascends to the top of the shaft. The bottom of the rear portion of the car strikes bottle _Q_, lifts it enough to release the end of the hook (_R_), and the rubber-band springs the hook out of the way (Fig. 97). The bottle remains upon the rear portion of the car, and its weight carries the car to the bottom of the shaft. =To Make the Car Rise= to the top of the shaft again, remove bottle _Q_. Replace the bottle upon the end of hook _R_, and it will be in position for the next trip downwards. [Illustration: FIG. 100.--Front View of Elevator Shaft.] [Illustration: FIGS. 101 and 102.--Elevator Car Details.] Cut the holes _Y_ and _Z_ (Fig. 100) through the outside wall of the shaft for hand holes through which to reach bottle _Q_ and hook _R_. [Illustration: FIG. 103.--Detail of Brake and Controlling Levers.] Figures 97, 100, and 103 show =A Simple Control= for stopping the car at the different floor levels. Stick _S_ may be a piece of broom-handle, curtain-pole, or flagstaff. Bore a hole through the bottom of the shaft, directly below holes _C_ in the floors (_T_, Fig. 100), and slip the stick through hole _T_ and into slots _C_. Then locate on one side of stick _S_ points just below the under face of each floor, and upon the opposite side locate points just above where the back edge of the elevator will come when the car is raised to each floor level (Fig. 97). Remove the stick, and drill or bore a small hole at each point marked; then replace it, nail a small block (_U_, Fig. 100) across the top end to hold it in place, and drive a nail, with its head filed off, into each of the holes. When stick _S_ is turned to the position shown in Fig. 97, while the car is going down, the first nail below the car will project beneath it and bring it to a stop; and if the stick is turned in the opposite direction while the elevator is going up, the first nail above the car will project over the back edge of portion _E_ and bring the car to a stop. =Two Levers= operate the brakes (_W_, Figs. 97 and 100). Cut these of the shape shown in Fig. 103, and screw one to each side wall. Then tack a piece of cord to stick _S_, wrap the ends of the cord once around, slip them through screw-eyes _V_ screwed into the side walls, and tie to tacks driven into levers _W_. [Illustration: FIG. 104.--An Outdoor Elevator.] One series of brakes can now be set by pulling forward one lever, and the other series by pulling forward the other lever. By driving a nail into stick _S_ at _X_ (Fig. 100), and a nail into the bottom of the shaft, each side of stick _S_, the levers will turn the stick just far enough in either direction to bring the brakes into operation. If there is a kitchen porch to your house, construct =The Outdoor Elevator= shown in Fig. 104 to run from the ground up to that porch. If you live in an upper story of an apartment building, your elevator can be made to run to a greater height, which, of course, will make more fun. It will save considerable work to use the porch, because for one thing you will not have to build an upper platform to stand upon to reach the elevator car when it runs to the top, and for another thing the supports for the guides and cable can be fastened directly to one of the porch posts. [Illustration: FIG. 105.--Supports for Elevator Guides and Cables.] Figure 105 shows a large detail of =The Guide Supports.= Cross strips _A_, _B_, and _C_ should be 18 or 20 inches long, about 2 inches wide, and 1 inch thick. At a distance of about 1 inch from one end of strips _A_ and _B_ screw a screw-eye into one edge, and 8 inches from those eyes screw a second screw-eye (_D_, Fig. 105). Screw-eyes with 1/2 inch eyes are large enough. A dozen will cost about 5 cents at the hardward store. The elevator guides are fastened to these. Besides the screw-eyes there must be two clothes-line pulleys for the cable to run over. These cost 5 cents apiece. Screw one pulley into the edge of strip _B_, halfway between the two screw-eyes _D_ (_E_, Fig. 105), the other into an edge of strip _C_ at the same distance from the end that you have placed the pulley in strip _B_ (_F_, Fig. 105). Nail strip _A_ to the porch post as close to the ground as you can get it, strip _B_ to the same face of the same post, about 18 inches above the porch railing, and strip _C_ to the opposite face of the post at the same height as strip _B_. Nail these strips securely in place. If you cannot find a starch-box or other small box out of which to make =The Car=, go to a grocery store. You will be sure to find just what you want there. It is not likely that the grocer will charge you anything for a small box like this. If you have placed screw-eyes _D_ 8 inches apart, as directed, the width of the box should be a trifle less than this measurement, but if the box you pick up is wider the screw-eyes can be spaced as much farther apart as is necessary to accommodate it. Figure 106 shows how the box is converted into the car. Screw two screw-eyes into each side of the box, one above the other, as shown at _G_, for the elevator guides to run through, screw another into the exact center of the top (_H_) to tie the hoisting cable to, and screw another into the exact center of the bottom to tie the lowering cable to. Nail a narrow strip across the open front of the car, at the bottom, to keep things from falling out. [Illustration: FIG. 106.--Elevator Car.] Get heavy wrapping-twine or stovepipe wire for =The Guides.= Attach these guides to screw-eyes _D_ in strip _B_, first, drop them through screw-eyes _G_ in the sides of the car, and then fasten to screw-eyes _D_ in strip _A_. =The Counter-balance= is a large can filled with earth, sand, or small stones. Its weight must be equal to about three times that of the empty car. Fasten the lifting cable through holes punched in opposite sides of the can (Fig. 107). [Illustration: FIG. 107.--Counter-balance.] Use a strong wrapping-twine for =The Lifting Cable.= After tying this to the counter-balance, run it over pulley _F_, then over pulley _E_, and tie to screw-eye _H_ in the top of the car. The cable must be of the right length so when the counter-balance has dropped to the ground the car will come just above the porch railing, as shown in Fig. 104. Tie =The Lowering Cable= to the screw-eye screwed into the under side of the car. As long as the weight of the car and its load remains less than half of that of the counter-balance, the counter-balance will drop and by so doing lift the car. The cable attached to the bottom must be pulled to lower the car. Those of you boys who own a tree-hut, or intend to build one,[1] should erect an elevator similar to the one just described, for hoisting supplies to the hut. [Footnote 1: Plans for building Tree-huts, and a Dumb-Waiter for supplies, are given in Chapter XXV of "The Handy Boy."] CHAPTER VIII HOME-MADE MECHANICAL TOYS Those of you boys who have examined the little mechanical toys sold upon the street corners just before Christmas probably have been surprised to find how simply they are made, and perhaps it has never occurred to you that you might make toys equally as good for presents for your younger brothers, sisters, or cousins. Most of the smaller mechanical toys are not only easy to make, but they require materials which cost little and can usually be picked up at home. Sometimes it takes considerable thinking and planning to discover just the things which can be adapted to the various parts of toys; but that is where part of the fun of toy making comes in. =A Buzz-saw Whirligig= is an interesting toy (Fig. 108). Lay out a disk about 5 inches in diameter upon a piece of cardboard, locate the position for the spool-end on the center of each face, and make four rings outside of this. Divide the circumference of the disk into sixteen equal parts, and lay off the teeth as shown. (Fig. 111.) The spool-ends used for centers should have two holes drilled through them for the twisting cord to slip through, and should be fastened to the disk with glue or brads. A cotton string is best for =Operating the Whirligig.= After slipping it through the holes in the spool-ends, tie the ends together. To work the toy, slip the first finger of each hand through the loop of each end, and whirl the disk in one direction until the string is twisted from both ends as far as the center. Then pull firmly on the ends of the string, and the disk will whirl in the opposite direction until the string is untwisted and twisted up again in the opposite direction. As the strings twist, slacken your hold upon the ends, and when it has wound up tight pull again to make it whirl in the opposite direction. The disk should whirl very steadily when working right, and the knack of making the string twist so the disk will do so is attained with a little practice. [Illustration: FIG. 111.--Detail of Buzz-saw Whirligig shown in Fig. 108.] =The Clog-dancer= (Fig. 109) is an easily made loose-jointed doll. His dancing-stage is a shingle or piece of stiff cardboard held on the edge of a chair beneath your knee. He is held by means of the string attached to his head, so that his feet rest lightly upon the stage, and he is made to jig by tapping the outer end of the stage with the free hand. With a little practice the figure can be made to go through the steps of the most eccentric clog-dancer. [Illustration: FIG. 108.--THE BUZZ-SAW WHIZZES WHEN YOU TWIST THE CORD.] [Illustration: FIG. 109.--THE ECCENTRIC CLOG-DANCER IS A CIRCUS IN HIMSELF.] [Illustration: FIG. 110.--PULL THE STRING AND JACK JUMPS COMICALLY.] [Illustration: FIG. 112.--Details of Body of the Clog-dancer shown in Fig. 109.] The more grotesque the dancer's appearance is, the more amusing his dancing will be, so the cruder you make him the better. Figure 112 shows the working details for his construction. The center part of a thread-spool forms the _head_, and a spool-end and the rounded end of a broom-handle form the _hat_. These three pieces are nailed together. The _body_ is a piece of a broom-handle, and a spool-end nailed to it forms the _shoulders_. Drive a nail into the end of the body, tie a string to this, and run the string up through the hole in the head, and out through a hole in the hat; tie the string to a fancy-work ring. The _arms_ and _legs_ are made of sticks whittled to the lengths marked in Fig. 112, and about 1/4 inch in diameter, and are jointed by driving tacks into their ends and connecting these with heavy linen thread. Figure 112 shows how the feet and hands are cut, and how tacks are driven into them for the thread connections. Paint the clog-dancer's body, arms, and legs white, his head, hands, and feet black, and mark his eyes, nose, and mouth upon his face in white. [Illustration: FIG. 113.--Details of Body of the Jumping-jack shown in Fig. 110.] =A Toy Jumping-jack= is always amusing, and Fig. 110 shows a simply constructed home-made model. You will see by Fig. 113 how the figure is made. The peaked _hat_ is half a spool tapered down from the end to the center; and the _head_ is the center from a darning-cotton spool, shaped down at one end for a _neck_, and with eyes, nose, and mouth cut in on one side. Figure 113 shows the diagrams for the front and back of the _body_, the _arms_, and the _legs_. These are cut out of cigar-box wood. Cut the neck stick A long enough to run through the head and hat, with a square block on the end to fit between the body pieces. The blocks _B_ should be of the same thickness as block _A_. Bore the pivotal holes through the arms and legs in the positions shown, using a small gimlet or red-hot nail with which to do the boring, and tie a piece of heavy linen thread through each as shown. The arms and legs are pivoted on brads driven through the front of the body into the back. When the body has been fastened together, bring the ends of the threads together, and tie to a small ring; also knot the threads close to the body to keep them together. In painting Jack, you might provide him with a red coat, blue trousers and a blue hat, white stockings, and black shoes. =A Cricket-rattle= is about the liveliest form of rattle ever devised (Fig. 114). After constructing one for your sister or brother, you probably will decide to make one for yourself. For this rattle, first prepare a _notched spool_ (_A_, Fig. 116). The notches in this need not be cut as perfectly as shown, but the notches in one end of the spool must be exactly opposite those in the other end. Whittle the _handle B_ to the shape and size shown, cut the strips _C_ out of cigar-box wood, and prepare the block _D_ as shown. The groove in the edge of _D_ is cut of just the right width to receive the end of the wooden strip _E_. The length of _E_ is best determined after nailing the ends of strips _C_ to _D_, and slipping the handle through the holes in strips _C_ and spool _A_. It should extend from the groove in _D_ into the notches in _A_. Make it as wide as the spool is high. Paint the rattle red or blue. [Illustration: FIG. 116.--Details of the Noisy Cricket-rattle shown Fig. 114.] =The Turtle Toy= which crawls along the floor when you alternately pull and slacken a thread that runs through its shell, has always been one of the most popular of mechanical toys, and you will be surprised to find how easily our home-made model shown in Fig. 115 is put together. The _shell_ is a small tin mold such as is used for molding jellies. One about 4 inches long costs 10 cents. A mold having the form of a bunch of grapes is a pretty good form for the turtle shell, as you will see by the illustrations. [Illustration: FIG. 114.--WHIRLING THE CRICKET-RATTLE MAKES IT CHIRP.] [Illustration: FIG. 115.--THE CRAWLING TURTLE'S SHELL IS A JELLY MOULD.] The _head_, the _tail_, and the four _feet_ are cut out of tin from a can, and bent into the forms shown in Fig. 117. Then slits are cut through the narrow rim of the mold by piercing the tin with the point of a nail at the proper places for attaching them, as shown in the small detail drawing, and the tab ends are pushed through the slits, bent over, and clinched with a pair of pincers. [Illustration: FIG. 117.--How Head, Feet, and Tail are Attached to a Jelly Mould to Make the Turtle shown in Fig. 115.] [Illustration: FIG. 118.--The Spool Wheels and the Rubber-bands which Propel them.] A thread spool 1-1/4 inches long forms the _wheels_ on which the turtle runs, and two rubber-bands 1-1/2 inches long propel it. Cut a piece of a lead pencil a trifle longer then the spool, split it into halves, remove the lead, and insert the rubber bands in the groove; then slip the piece of pencil into the hole in the spool (Fig. 118). The rubber-band ends must project an equal distance beyond the spool-ends. Before fastening the spool to the tin mold shell, tie the end of a piece of heavy linen thread to its center, and then wind about twenty turns about it. Pierce a hole through each side of the mold a trifle in front of the center, and after slipping pieces of string through the ends of the rubber-bands (Fig. 118), tie them through the holes pierced through the sides of the mold. Pierce a hole through the shell, directly over the center of the spool, slip the free end of the thread wound on the spool through this hole, and tie it to a fancy-work ring (Fig. 117). =To Make the Turtle Crawl=, place it upon the floor, pull on the ring, and as the thread unwinds from the spool the rubber-bands will twist; then slacken the thread, and the turtle will crawl along the floor. As the rubber-bands untwist, the thread will wind up on the spool again. Continue pulling and slackening the thread alternately, and the turtle will continue to crawl. CHAPTER IX HOME-MADE TOPS There are many styles of tops, probably more than you ever dreamed of, and it will surprise you to hear that the owners of some of the most curious forms are bearded men who take as much delight as any girl or boy in spinning them. A few years ago on Murray Island, which is way down among the South Sea Islands, top spinning took such a strong hold upon the attention of the natives that they neglected their work, and families often were without food, boys and girls having to go to school hungry. Matters became so serious, in fact, as a result of this fad for top spinning, that, finally, the head chieftain was compelled to restrict it to certain days. There are many experts among these South Sea Islanders. The men sing songs while their tops spin, cheer them on, and take the greatest precautions to shelter them from wind. An eye witness of a contest reported that the winning top spun 27 minutes, which you must admit is a pretty long time. Whip-tops and peg-tops of several varieties can be purchased at the corner candy store, but the kinds I am going to show you how to make cannot be bought anywhere. =Clock Wheel Tops.= A splendid spinner can be made of the little balance-wheel of a broken clock (Fig. 119). This little wheel is so accurately made that it will spin very steadily from a minute and one-half to two minutes. As the ends of this wheel's axle are pointed, the top will stand in one spot as long as it spins. [Illustration: FIGS. 119 and 120.--Clock Wheel Tops.] [Illustration: FIG. 121.--Upholstering Tack Top.] [Illustration: FIG. 122.--How to Hold Upholstering Tack for Spinning.] [Illustration: FIGS. 123 and 124.--Details of Spool Top.] The toothed wheel shown in Fig. 120, or any of the other forms of wheels from a clockwork will make good spinners, yet, unless you file their pivot ends to points, they will not spin in one spot but will glide and hop over the table in spirals. The friction thus produced decreases the length of time that they will spin, but makes them none the less interesting as tops. Great fun may be had spinning these wheel tops around the balance-wheel top, while the latter is spinning. Figure 129 shows how to hold a clock wheel between the thumb and first finger, for spinning. Start it with a snapping movement of the fingers. =A Rug-tack Top.= A rug tack or large upholstering tack is another good spinner. While the clockwork wheels are spun by twirling them by means of the upper end of the pivots, the tack top is spun by holding the spinning point between the thumb and first finger, as shown in Fig. 122, then giving it a quick twirl and dropping it upon a table. The tack top is an eccentric spinner. First it hops about in a very lively fashion; then, when you think it is about ready to topple over, it regains its balance and for some seconds spins quite as steadily as the clockwork balance-wheel top. The tack top can be spun upon its head as well as upon its point. [Illustration: FIG. 125.--A Shoe-polish Can Top.] =A Spool Top.= The top in Fig. 123 is made from a half of a spool and a short piece of lead-pencil. Saw a spool into halves, and then taper one half from its beveled end to the center. Sharpen the piece of pencil to a point, and push it through the spool until its point projects just a trifle. Spin the spool top in the same way as the clock wheel tops. =A Spinning Top Race-track.= By drawing a track upon a piece of cardboard, as shown in Fig. 129, with an opening on the inside, great fun may be had by starting any one of the small tops just described, with the exception of the balance-wheel top, in the center of the space inside of the track, and tilting the cardboard so as to cause the top to spin through the opening on to the track, and around the track. There is a trick in keeping the top from running off the track that can be acquired only with practice. =A Shoe-polish Can Top= (Fig. 125). This is a sure-enough good looking top, and it spins as well as it looks. It is made of a pencil, a cone-shaped piece cut from a spool, similar to the top shown in Fig. 123, and an empty shoe-polish can. [Illustration: FIGS. 126-128.--Details of Shoe-polish Can Top.] The dotted line in Fig. 126 indicates how the end of the pencil sticks through a hole in the shoe-polish can, then through the cone-shaped piece of spool. The hole through the can must be located in the exact center, so the top will balance properly. To find the center, place the box bottom down upon a piece of paper, and with a pencil draw a line around it. Cut the paper along the center, and you will have a piece the shape and size of the can bottom. Fold the piece in half, then in half again the other way (Fig. 127), open it up, and the intersection of the two folds, indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 128, will be the exact center. With the center located, place the piece of paper first upon the bottom, then upon the top of the can, and punch a hole through the center of it and the can, with the point of a large nail. Increase the size of the hole enough to admit the pencil. [Illustration: FIG. 129.--A Spinning Top Race-track.] Spin this top in the manner shown in Fig. 125. Hold the upper part of the pencil between your hands, with the palms together, and slide your hands back and forth, first slowly, then rapidly. Release it so as to cause it to drop squarely upon its point upon a level wooden surface. The steadiness of this top's spinning will depend entirely upon the accuracy with which you cut the center hole for the pencil. =A Spiral Top.= The top in Fig. 130 presents a curious appearance while spinning, the spiral design upon it seeming to change its form as the top revolves. [Illustration: FIG. 130.--A Spiral Top.] The only difference between the construction of this top and the shoe-polish can top is in the substitution of the spiral disk for the polish can. A pencil and cone-shaped piece of spool are required as in the case of the other top. [Illustration: FIG. 131.--Diagram of Spiral for Spiral Top.] The spiral design for the disk, shown in Fig. 131, is large enough so you can make a tracing of it on a piece of transparent paper, and then trace it off upon a piece of cardboard. Fill in alternate rings with black ink or water-color, in the way shown, then cut out the disk, pierce a hole through its exact center to fit over the pencil end, and glue the under side to the top of the cone-shaped piece of spool. Spin this top in the same way as the shoe-polish can top is spun (Fig. 125). =A Merry-go-round Top= (Fig. 132) is a new idea easily carried out. You will require a cardboard disk 12 inches in diameter, three spools, a pencil, and some light-weight cardboard. [Illustration: FIG. 132.--A Merry-go-round Top.] Figure 133 shows the details for this top. If you haven't a compass, use a large-sized dinner plate with which to draw the circumference of the disk (_A_). Then cut a conical-shaped piece of spool (_B_), stick the lead-pencil through it for a spinning point (_C_), punch a hole through the disk to fit over the pencil, and tack the disk to _B_. Cut off a third of the length of a ribbon spool for _E_, and fasten another spool (_D_) to the top of the pencil. Spool _D_ should be glued fast to the pencil, and the spool-end _E_ should turn loosely upon it. Coat the lower part of the pencil with glue so it will stick fast in _B_. [Illustration: FIG. 133.--Detail of Merry-go-round Top.] =How the Top Spins.= When you have made this much of the top, spin it to see how it works. Wrap the spinning cord--a strong light-weight wrapping-twine--about spool _D_, in the same manner that you wind the cord on any top; then, holding spool end _E_ with the left hand (Fig. 132), pull steadily upon the cord with the right hand until all is unwound, and gently drop the top upon its spinning point. To get the best results, the cardboard used for the disk platform must be very straight. If it warps, flatten it by pressing it under a pile of books. [Illustration: FIG. 134.--How Horses are Mounted upon Top Platform.] =Horses and Riders= for the merry-go-round may be prepared like those of the clockwork merry-go-round in Chapter X (Figs. 143, 146, and 147). Figure 134 shows how two burnt matches or toothpicks are lashed to the legs of the horses for supports, and Fig. 133 shows how holes are pierced through the disk platform to stick them in. =A Flag= mounted upon spool _D_ will make the merry-go-round top complete. CHAPTER X HOME-MADE CLOCKWORK TOYS The toys shown opposite page 90 are a few of the many mechanical toys which can be operated by clockwork, and they are easy to make, too, requiring no more mechanical ability than is possessed by the average boy old enough to handle the simplest of tools. Generally it is easy to find an old clock somewhere about the house, and a clock which has been discarded simply because it has become worthless as a timekeeper is perfectly good for operating these toys, provided the _mainspring_ is in working order. It is not necessary to have a set of works for each toy, for they are so quickly fastened in place that but a minute is required to transfer the works from one toy to another. Before commencing work upon the toys, get together =The Other Necessary Materials.= These will consist of cigar boxes, cardboard, cotton or silk spools, glue, brads, and a few pieces from the woodpile, with one or two additional articles which are mentioned later on. Brads 5/8 inch and 1 inch in length should be purchased for fastening the framework of the toys together, and the cigar boxes should be about 8 inches by 4 inches by 2 inches in size. Remove the paper from the boxes as described on page 175. =To Prepare the Clockwork= for use, remove it from its case, detach the hands and face, and pry off the small wheel pivoted directly under the hands; this wheel is shown at _A_ in Fig. 139. Remove also the _balance-wheel B_ (Fig. 139) and the _lever C_ pivoted next to it, to increase the speed of the remaining wheels. [Illustration: FIG. 139.--How the Clockwork Motor is Fastened to the Cigar-box Cover. (This Box has been cut down to the Proper Length for the Ferris Wheel.)] Fasten the clockwork motor for =The Merry-go-round= shown in Fig. 135 to the cover of a cigar box, as illustrated in Figs. 136 and 139, boring holes through the cover with a gimlet for the _pivot_ ends on the back of the works to set into. Remove the lower flange from a spool (_D_, Fig. 139) and fasten the spool on to the central pivot of the clockwork in the position formerly occupied by wheel _A_. The hole in the spool will be too large for the pivot and must be filled up with sealing-wax. To do this, hold a piece of sealing-wax above the spool and melt it with a lighted match, allowing it to drip into the hole until the latter is about half full, then press the wax down with the end of a match until it is compact, smooth it off on the bottom of the spool, and make a dent in it with a pencil to indicate the exact center of the hole. Heat the end of the pivot with a lighted match, and press it into the dent in the wax, being careful in doing so to get the spool straight upon the pivot. Cut a hole through the bottom of the cigar box belonging to the cover to which you have attached the works, for spool _D_ to project through (Fig. 139). =To Make the Standard= for the merry-go-round, cut four strips of wood 8 inches long, and fasten one to each corner of the cigar box, turning the bottom side of the box up; then cut a piece of 1/2-inch board 10 inches square, locate its center _F_ by drawing diagonal lines from corner to corner as shown in Fig. 140, bore a 1-inch hole through it at this point for spool _D_ (Fig. 136), and then nail the box to the center of the board as shown in Fig. 140. [Illustration: FIG. 135. A MERRY-GO-ROUND.] [Illustration: FIG. 136. A CLOCKWORK MOTOR.] [Illustration: FIG. 137. A FERRIS WHEEL.] [Illustration: FIG. 138. THE "FLYING AIRSHIPS."] [Illustration: FIG. 140.--Plan of Top of Standard for Merry-go-round.] [Illustration: FIG. 141.--Pattern for Tent of Merry-go-round.] [Illustration: FIG. 142.--The Tent ready to be Fastened upon a Tent-pole.] =The Tent= should be laid out upon heavy white paper as shown in Fig. 141. After describing a circle with a radius of 9 inches, describe another circle within it with a radius of 7-1/2 inches, this inner circle (shown by dotted lines in the diagram) being drawn for a guide in fastening the tent upon its tent-poles. Cut out the tent along the outer circle, and from it cut a triangular piece about the size of that included between lines _KL_ and _ML_ in the diagram. Cover the under edge of _KL_ and the upper edge of _ML_ with glue, lap _KL_ over to about _NL_, and rub down the edges with a cloth to make as neat a joint between the pieces as possible (Fig. 142). Bore a hole through each corner of the standard top (_G_, _H_, _I_, and _J_, Fig. 140), then cut four sticks 7 inches long, sandpaper them until smooth, and glue them into these holes for =The Tent-poles.= When the tent has dried, tack it to the ends of the poles, being careful to make it set evenly upon them; cut a scalloped border out of red or blue paper and paste it to the edge all around as shown in Fig. 135, and stick a small flag in the peak. [Illustration: FIG. 143.--Full-size Pattern for the Horses of the Merry-go-round.] =The Horses.= A full-size pattern for these is shown in Fig. 143. Take a piece of _tracing-paper_ or any thin transparent paper, and place it over the pattern and make an exact copy; then rub a soft lead-pencil over the other side of the paper, turn the paper over with the blackened side down, and transfer the drawing six times upon a piece of light-weight cardboard. Paint the horses with water-colors, using the pattern as a guide for shading and marking them, then cut them out with a sharp knife or a pair of scissors. Figure 144 shows the pattern for =The Sleighs.= Draw this out upon a piece of cardboard, cut it out and fold along the dotted lines, then turn in the flaps and glue them to the dashboard and to the back. Cut two seats by the pattern given, bend down the flaps and glue them to the sides of the sleigh, and make the back for the front seat like that on the back seat (Fig. 145). Then make another sleigh similar to the one just completed, for two are required for the merry-go-round. Paint the sleighs green or yellow with trimmings of a lighter shade. [Illustration: FIG. 144.--Pattern for the Merry-go-round Sleighs.] Figure 136 shows =The Shafts= upon which the horses and sleighs are mounted. Cut them 5-1/2 inches long, whittle them round, and rub them down with sandpaper. The shafts are fastened in a spool hub which has five holes bored in it (_E_, Fig. 136); bore the holes with a gimlet or small drill, marking them off first with a pencil to be sure of getting them spaced at equal distances. Point the ends of the shafts and glue them into the holes in the hub, then connect this spool to spool _D_ with a piece of a lead-pencil 2 inches long (Fig. 136). [Illustration: FIG. 145.--A Completed Sleigh showing Attachment to Shaft.] To fasten the horses to the shafts, punch a hole through three of them at _X_ (Fig. 143) and slip each one over a shaft, then tack the other three horses to the ends of these shafts at the point _X_. To fasten the sleighs to the remaining shafts, glue one end of a piece of paper to the back of the front seat and the other end around the shaft (Fig. 145). =The Girl Riders= for the sleighs are shown full size in Fig. 146, and =The Boy Riders= for the horses are shown full size in Fig. 147. Make tracings from the patterns as you made that of the horse and prepare four girls and six boys. Paint their clothes in bright colors. Cut a second leg for each boy rider, so he can be made to sit astride of his horse, and glue the leg to his hip as shown in Fig. 148. Cut a slit in each seat of the sleigh and stick the flaps on the girl riders in them. [Illustration: FIG. 146.--Full-size Pattern for the Girl Riders.] [Illustration: FIG. 147.--Full-size Pattern for the Boy Riders.] [Illustration: FIG. 148.--How the Second Leg of the Boy is Attached.] =For the Platform= shown directly under the horses and sleighs in Fig. 135, cut a piece of cardboard 11 inches in diameter; if you choose to make the Ferris wheel before the merry-go-round, you may use the center pieces removed in cutting out the rims, as noted in Fig. 153. Punch a hole through the center of this disk large enough for the peg connecting spools _D_ and _E_ to slip through. This platform rests upon the top of spool _D_ and revolves with it. =To Operate the Merry-go-round.= The key by which the mainspring is wound up is shown screwed in place on the under side of the cigar-box cover in Fig. 139. While winding the mainspring, it will be necessary to have some means of checking it so it will not unwind at the same time, and the best scheme for a check is to bore a small gimlet hole through the cover of the cigar box and stick a match through this and run it between the spokes of one of the clock wheels so as to prevent it from turning. Then when you have wound up the spring and are ready to start the merry-go-round, all you have to do is to pull out the match. The model of this toy which the author has before him runs for five minutes with one winding, and any boy can make one which will run as well if he follows the directions given and uses a reasonable amount of carefulness in the work. =Other Animals= than horses may be used if you wish to follow the arrangement of some of the latest merry-go-rounds, and pictures of these may be found among the colored cut-outs sold in the stationery stores, or if you can draw well, you may copy them from books and magazines. Great fun may be had by changing the positions of the boy riders, making them ride backward part of the time and sometimes two and three boys on a horse. Doubtless you have heard of the famous Ferris wheel, and a good many of you have ridden in the smaller wheels patterned after it, at the amusement parks, so you will be interested in making =A Miniature Ferris Wheel= like the one shown in Fig. 137. =The Standard= for supporting the wheel (Fig. 149) consists of two triangular supports, one with a spool hub fastened to its top for the axle of the wheel to run through and the other with the cigar box inclosing the clockwork fastened to it. Figures 150, 151, and 152 show the construction of these supports. Cut strips _P_ and _Q_ 12 inches long and _R_ 10 inches long, and trim off the upper ends of _P_ and _Q_ so when they are nailed together the lower ends will be 8 inches apart; nail strip _R_ to the lower ends of _P_ and _Q_ (Fig. 150). To fasten the spool hub to its support, smear one side of a piece of tape with glue and wind it several times around the spool (Fig. 151), then set the spool on top of the support and press the ends of the tape against the sides of strips _P_ and _Q_ (Fig. 152). [Illustration: FIG. 149.--Standard for the Ferris Wheel.] =The Clockwork Motor= for the Ferris wheel is fastened to the cover of a cigar box just as that for the merry-go-round was fastened (Fig. 139), but the length of the box is cut down as much as the clockwork will allow to make the box as square and compact as possible. It is very necessary to have the axle bearings exactly on a line in order to have the wheel run smoothly, so, in fastening the cigar box to its support, be sure that the center of the hole in spool _D_ (Fig. 139) is on a level with the spool hub on the opposite support. Nail the supports to a 10-inch by 12-inch board, 8 inches apart, and fasten a cigar box between them for =The Station Platform= (Fig. 149). [Illustration: FIG. 150.--Make Two Supports like this for the Ferris Wheel Standard.] [Illustration: FIGS. 151 and 152.--How a Spool is Fastened to the Top of the Support for a Hub.] =To Make the Wheel=, first lay out the rims upon a piece of heavy cardboard, using the radii shown in Fig. 153 for describing the circles, then lay the sheet of cardboard upon a board and =Cut out the Rims= with a sharp knife, being careful not to run off of the pencil line. The =Hubs= of the wheel are spools with six holes bored in them for the spokes to fit in (Fig. 156). Cut six =Spokes= 5-3/4 inches long by 1/8 inch thick for each hub, and cut a slot in one end of each for the cardboard rims to fit in (Figs. 154 and 157). Use a saw rather than a knife in making the slots, for it will make a kerf of just the right width to receive the cardboard and will not be so apt to split the ends of the slender spokes. Whittle the hub ends of the spokes to fit the holes in the spool hubs (Figs. 154 and 157). In [Illustration: FIG. 153.--How to Lay out the Cardboard Rims of the Ferris Wheel.] [Illustration: FIG. 154.--The Spokes Fitted into the Spool Hub.] [Illustration: FIG. 155.--The Rim Slipped into the End of the Spokes.] =Putting together the Spokes, Hubs, and Rims= of the wheel, first stick three spokes in a hub and slip a rim into the slots in their ends, then stick the remaining spokes into the hub, one at a time, and spread the rim enough so it can be slipped into their slots (Fig. 155). [Illustration: FIG. 156.--A Spool Hub for the Wheel.] [Illustration: FIG. 157.--How the Spokes, Rims, and Axles are Fastened Together.] When the hubs, rims, and spokes have been assembled, lay them aside and get some heavy wrapping-paper or thin cardboard out of which =To Make the Cars.= The pattern for the cars is shown in Fig. 158, and on it you will find all the dimensions necessary for laying it out to the proper size. It will be understood that the unfigured portions of the drawing are the same as those with dimensions marked upon them. The dotted lines at the door and window openings indicate where the cutting is to be done, while all other dotted lines indicate where the cardboard is to be _scored_ and folded. [Illustration: FIG. 158.--Pattern for the Ferris Wheel Cars.] Use a ruler in making the drawing of the car to get the lines straight, and when you have finished it go over it carefully and compare it with the illustration to be sure it is correct, after which make a careful tracing of it, turn it over and transfer the drawing five times upon cardboard. These and your original drawing will give you the required number of cars. Cut out the openings with a sharp knife and then do the rest of the cutting with a pair of scissors; punch a 1/4-inch hole in each end of each car with a lead-pencil (Fig. 158), being careful to get the holes exactly opposite. In folding and gluing the cars, slip the flaps inside and bend the roofs so they will follow the curve of the ends (Fig. 159). [Illustration: FIG. 159.--A Completed Car for the Ferris Wheel.] When the cars have been completed, cut six sticks 5 inches long, whittle them down until they are about 3/16 inch in diameter, and sandpaper them until they are perfectly round and smooth. These sticks connect the rims of the wheel and form =The Axles= from which the cars are hung (Fig. 159). Great care must be used in fastening them between the rims, for they are easily split, and the best way to do is to start a hole first in the ends of each axle with an awl or by driving a brad part way in and then withdrawing it; then drive a brad through each spoke of one rim into an axle (Fig. 157); slip the other ends of the axles through the holes in the ends of the cars (Fig. 159), and nail the spokes of the other rim to them. =To Mount the Wheel= upon its standard, whittle an axle 8-1/2 inches long to fit the hubs, then hold the wheel between the two uprights, with the hubs on a line with the spool bearings and run the axle through the holes (Fig. 137). =Build Steps= at each end of the platform out of heavy writing-paper or light cardboard. Fold the paper or cardboard back and forth, making pleats about 1/4 inch wide for the steps, and after gluing it in place cut out the _balustrades_ and glue them to the edges of the steps. Make the top step low enough so there will be about 1/4-inch clearance between it and the bottom of the cars (Fig. 137). After you have made a final inspection to see that everything has been put together properly, your toy will be ready for operation, and I am sure that when you set the clockwork machinery in motion, and the little wheel begins to revolve slowly with each little car balancing upon its axle, you will agree that you have constructed a very interesting toy. =The "Flying Airships"= is a riding device consisting of a number of cars suspended by steel cables from large arms pivoted to the top of a tower. When the machinery is started, the arms begin to revolve slowly, and the motion produced causes the cars to swing out away from the center. As the speed of the arms increases, the cars swing out farther and farther, until when the highest speed has been reached the cables by which the cars are suspended have taken an oblique position and raised the cars some distance above the ground; then the speed of the engine is gradually diminished, and the cars finally regain their former position. This piece of apparatus is also known as an _aerostat_. You will find the miniature flying airships (Fig. 138) easy to construct after making a merry-go-round or Ferris wheel, as many of its details are identical with those of the other toys. =The Standard= for the toy is made similar to the one for the merry-go-round (Fig. 135), except that the top board is omitted and a circular piece of cardboard of the size of the disks removed in cutting out the rims of the Ferris wheel is substituted in its place. Cut a hole through the exact center of the piece large enough so it will fit over spool _D_ (Fig. 136). =Cut a Mast= about 14 inches long and of the diameter of the hole in the spool and stick it into spool _D_; then 3 inches below the top of the mast fasten a spool with four horizontal arms 6 inches long glued into holes bored in it. Fasten a crosspiece 4-1/2 inches long to the end of each arm with brads, and from these suspend =Cars= made similar to those of the Ferris wheel, with cords. Set a small flag in a hole bored in the top of the mast and then run cords from the top of the mast out to the ends of the arm pieces. With this toy the cars cannot be swung out obliquely as on the large flying airships except by =Increasing the Speed of the Clockwork.= This can be accomplished by removing one or two of the wheels of the clockwork, but it is not advisable to take out more than one wheel in addition to those removed for the merry-go-round (Fig. 139) because the mainspring would require rewinding too often to make the toy enjoyable. =An Electric Motor= can be belted to these toys as a substitute for the clockwork, if you own one and prefer to try it out. The clockwork toys just described were invented by the author for his book "Handicraft for Handy Boys," and were the first designs, he believes, devised for home-made mechanical toys of this nature. No doubt you have noticed that manufacturers of the so-called "construction sets"--steel and wood strips supplied with bolts and screws for assembling--have used these very same forms of models to show what can be made with their outfits. But your Ferris wheel, merry-go-round, and aerostat, built as described in this chapter, with materials picked up at home, will be the equal of any that can be built, and you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you haven't required an expensive "construction set" for making them. All sorts of toy vehicles can be operated by clockwork. Figure 160 shows =An Automobile=, and Fig. 161 shows how the clockwork motor is mounted upon the chassis and belted to the driving wheel. The same scheme that was used for the cars of the toy railway described in Chapter VI will be followed in making [Illustration: FIG. 160. THE CAR COMPLETED.] [Illustration: FIG. 161. THE FRAMEWORK.] [Illustration: FIG. 162.--Top View of Wooden Frame.] =The Frame= of the automobile, as that is about the simplest way, and makes a light, easy-running vehicle. The bed will be cut of a different pattern, however, as will be seen in Fig. 162. Lay out the piece to the dimensions shown upon this drawing, and then cut it out, making a mortise in each end for the wheels to fit in. The spool wheels should be mounted in the same manner as those of the railway cars, for which see Fig. 80, Chapter VI, and the directions upon page 51. One end of spool _A_ should be pivoted with a longer finishing nail than those used for the other pivots, so that when driven in place about half an inch will project beyond the frame. A small silk spool should be fastened upon this for a belt-wheel (see _B_, Fig. 162). The hole in one of these spools is about three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, so, in order to make it fit tightly upon the nail, it is necessary to fill in around the nail with sealing-wax. To do this, turn the wooden frame upon its edge and place the spool over the nail, being careful to get the nail in the exact center of the hole. Then hold a stick of sealing-wax over the spool, and with a lighted match melt the end and allow it to drip into the hole. When the hole has been partially filled, allow the wax to harden a little, and then press it down around the nail with the end of a match, being careful not to throw the spool out of center by doing so. The hole should then be filled to the top. We are now ready to prepare the clockwork for mounting upon the wooden frame. The works shown in Fig. 161 are from an alarm clock, but if you have a striking clock, or one with works a little different from those shown in the illustration, it does not make a bit of difference in the scheme for attaching the works. The three parts shown in the foreground of Fig. 161 must first be removed from the works. These will be recognized readily in any clock, as they are pivoted close together, and regulate the speed of the other wheels. When they have been removed, the mainspring will unwind rapidly. The frame of the works shown in the illustration is held together with nuts, so that in removing the wheels it was necessary to unscrew two of them, spring the frame open enough to let the wheels drop out, and then replace the nuts again in their former positions. If the frame of your clockwork is riveted together, the wheels will have to be broken out. A small silk spool, such as _B_ (Fig. 162), should be fastened upon the small pivot which originally operated the clock's hands, for a belt-wheel. Lay the works upon a table with the face-side down, and, after centering the hole of the spool upon the pivot, fasten it in place with sealing-wax in the same manner as you attached spool _B_ (Fig. 161). The works should now be attached to the wooden frame. Place them with the striker uppermost, near the edge of the frame, so that the small belt-wheels are in line with one another. Then bore a number of gimlet holes in the wooden frame and run copper wire through them, passing it around the posts of the clock-frame and twisting its ends until the works are firmly fastened in place. A rubber band about an eighth of an inch wide and long enough to reach from one belt-wheel to the other should be procured for =The Belt.= This should stretch just enough to cling upon the spools, as more than that would cause too much friction. Before going any further with the construction of the automobile =Test the Machine=, to be sure that it is in perfect running order. Wind up the mainspring, pressing a finger against one of the wheels to hold it in check until you are ready to start the machine. When properly made, the clockwork automobile should run a distance of from twenty to twenty-five feet upon a wooden floor, while about three-quarters of that distance should be covered upon a floor with a fairly smooth carpet. =The Cardboard Sides= and other details of the automobile should now be made. The patterns for these have been so shown in Figs 163 to 170 that they can easily be laid out to the proper shape and size by means of the process of enlarging by squares described on page 175, Chapter XVII. White cardboard should be used upon which to draw these pieces, and the thinner it is the easier you will find it to work with. [Illustration: FIGS. 163-170.--Patterns for the Automobile Touring-car.] [Illustration: FIG. 171.--Chauffeur.] [Illustration: FIG. 172.--Cardboard Side of Automobile.] First prepare the two sides, cutting them out by the pattern of Fig. 163. Then glue the bottom edge of each side to the edge of the wooden frame, cutting holes in the left side for the belt-wheels and projecting posts to run through (see Fig. 160 and _A_, _B_, _C_, _D_, and _E_, Fig. 172). The top to the front of the car should now be cut as shown in Fig. 173, the distance between the sides being measured to get the piece of proper dimensions. Bend the edges as in Fig. 173, and glue them to the inner surfaces of the side pieces as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 172. In the same way cut and glue a piece of cardboard between the side pieces at _G_ and _H_ (Fig. 172) for the seat-backs. The bent edges of these pieces are shown by dotted lines in the illustration. Draw four =Wheels= as shown in Fig. 164, using a compass with which to describe the circles, and cut them out with a sharp knife. You can cut out between the spokes, if you wish, or leave them solid. Glue the wheels to the cardboard, placing their centers about as located at _I_ and _J_, Fig. 172. Four =Mud-Guards= should be cut like Fig. 165, with flaps made along one edge. Then bend these guards around the tops of the wheels, and, after applying glue to the flaps, press them against the cardboard side, holding your fingers upon the flaps until the glue has dried (see Fig. 160). The guards should be placed a little above the tops of the wheels. Cut four =Lamps= like Fig. 166 and glue end _K_ of two upon the front of the automobile at _L_ (Fig. 172) and one of the other two upon each side at _M_. These lamps are shown in position in the illustration of the completed automobile (Fig. 160). Draw and cut [Illustration: FIG. 173.--The Hood.] =The Steering-wheel= similar to Fig. 167, and, after pivoting it to the end of a strip of cardboard with a pin as shown in Fig. 174, bend the lower end and glue it to the under side of the cardboard top _F_ at _N_ (see Fig. 172, also Fig. 160). Make a =Horn= like Fig. 168 and glue it to the steering-wheel as shown in Fig. 174. A strip of cardboard about the size of that used for the upright of the steering-wheel should be cut for =The Brake=, and glued to the inside surface of the right side of the car at _O_ (Fig. 172). =The Chauffeur= should now be made. Cut his head and body the shape and size of Fig. 169, drawing the face upon each side with goggles over the eyes. Cut the arms in two pieces the shape of _P_ and _Q_ (Fig. 170), and then pivot _P_ to _Q_ at _R_ and the end of _Q_ to the shoulder of the body at _S_, using thread for fastening the pieces together. Paint the hat, coat, sleeves, and gloves a leather color, and the face flesh color. The body should then be fastened to the hammer of the clockworks with sealing-wax, as shown in Fig. 171, while the left hand should be glued to the edge of the steering-wheel and the right to the end of the brake (see Fig. 160). By thus attaching the body to the end of the hammer, and winding up the small spring, the chauffeur will shake violently when the auto runs across the floor, showing the vibrations of the machine in a greatly exaggerated and amusing manner. [Illustration: FIG. 174.--The Steering-wheel.] It is now only necessary to =Paint the Machine= to complete it. The photograph (Fig. 160) shows where different colors are needed. The lamps, top, ends, and sides of the front portion of the car should be painted the color of brass, and the rest of the sides, with the exception of a strip along the bottom and the edge of the arms, should be painted vermilion. Paint the inside of the car and the edges of the seat-arms tan color, to represent leather upholstering. With black paint, or ink, stripe off the door and trimmings upon the sides and top of the machine, as shown in Figs. 160, 172, and 173. Blacken the brake and steering-wheel and the spokes and rims of the wheels. Along the bottom of each side glue a strip of cardboard for the running-boards. When you have tired of your touring-car, you can easily convert it into =An Automobile Delivery Wagon=, such as illustrated in Fig. 175. To make this you will require the same frame as that used for the touring-car, with the clockworks and belt-wheels attached in the same manner. If you have made the touring-car, remove the cardboard sides from its wooden frame, separating the cardboard from the wood carefully so you can put the machine together again when you wish. If you haven't made this automobile, you will find the details for the construction of the frame in Figs. 161 and 162, and the manner of performing the work described on pages 104 to 107. [Illustration: FIG. 175.--An Automobile Delivery Wagon.] =The Cardboard Sides= are much easier to prepare than those for the touring-car, as they are straight and require but little cutting. The outline for these is shown in Fig. 175, surrounding the drawing of the completed wagon. Lay out one side upon a piece of cardboard, using the dimensions given upon the drawing, and then place it upon a board and cut it out with your knife. Using this as a pattern, place it upon another piece of cardboard and run a pencil around its edges, thus marking out the second side. In cutting out the latter piece, run your knife a little inside of the line in order to allow for the increase in size caused by marking it out with the first cardboard side. Having prepared the two sides, draw panels upon them in some such form as shown in the illustration, separating them with three lines. Draw a small window, with its top slightly arched, near the front edge of each side, and cut an opening for it (see illustration). Glue the sides to the edges of the truck in the same manner as those of the touring-car were done, piercing holes for the posts of the clockwork to fit in, and openings for the belt-wheels to project through, in the left side. Cut a piece of cardboard for the back of the wagon, fit it between the sides, and fasten it in place by gluing a number of linen strips to it and the sides upon the inner or unexposed surfaces. Then cut a piece of cardboard for the roof, making it about two inches longer than the sides, to give it the proper projection over the front of the wagon. Fasten this piece in position in the same manner as you fastened the back of the wagon. Make the floor and footboard for the wagon out of a piece of cardboard bent as shown in Fig. 175, and fasten it across the top edges of the projecting portions of the sides with linen strips. Cut a strip for a seat, and fit it between the sides an inch and one-half above the floor. =The Wheels= of an automobile wagon contain fourteen spokes, but as you have the pattern for the touring-car wheels of twelve spokes, you can just as well use it in making the wagon wheels. They should be mounted upon the sides of the wagon, a trifle above the bottoms of the spool wheels, as shown in the illustration, so they will not touch the carpet when the machine is operated. =All Other Portions= of the wagon should be made of the same patterns given for the touring-car, viz. the chauffeur (Figs. 169 and 170), the steering-wheel (Figs. 167 and 174), the brake (Fig. 160), and the lamps (Fig. 166). As the legs of the chauffeur will show, it will be necessary to cut a pair out of cardboard (the drawing shows the shape clearly enough to work by) and fasten them to his body. Fasten the chauffeur upon the seat and glue his left hand to the steering-wheel, placing the latter in front of him, as shown in the drawing. Stick the lower end of the cardboard upright of the steering-wheel upon a pin run through the wagon floor from the under side. Glue the upper end of the brake to the chauffeur's hand and the lower end to the side of the wagon. =Paint the Wagon= with water colors, making the sides, end, and roof olive green, the steering-wheel, brake, and spokes of wheels black, and the lamps yellow or the color of brass. In painting the sides show the battery compartments upon them below what would properly be the bottom of the wagon (see illustration). Leave the cardboard white below this box, as it represents no portion of the machine, but is necessarily brought down so far to conceal the wooden frame. It will give the machine a more finished appearance if, after painting, you go over it with black paint and a fine brush and stripe the panels upon the sides, following the lines which you drew upon them with a pencil. Letter the word "Delivery" upon the center panel of each side, and the firm name in the small panel between the lamp and window. By attaching a set of clockworks in the same manner as described for the automobiles, you can make =A Clockwork Railway=, constructing the cars similar to the street car shown in Fig. 84, Chapter VI, and using the schemes in the same chapter for the tracks and depots. Each car should be provided with a clockwork motor, because a single clockwork is not strong enough to pull more than one car. Let me know how you succeed in building a clockwork railway. CHAPTER XI HOME-MADE ELECTRICAL TOYS An entire volume might be filled with plans for electrical toys and yet not exhaust the innumerable forms that are within the ability of a boy to construct. There is room in this chapter for only a few, and I have selected simple ideas, those that can be carried out by a boy having no knowledge of working with electricity, with materials that can be obtained at an expenditure of little or nothing. Thus every boy will be able to make these electrical toys. =The Electro-Magnet Derrick= shown in Fig. 176 will hoist nails and other small pieces of hardware from the floor to a table top, and as the _boom_, or arm, can be swung from side to side, and raised and lowered, loads can be moved from place to place in the same way as with large derricks. The toy derrick may be used for loading and unloading toy wagons, carts, and trains of cars, provided, of course, you use iron or steel of some sort for your loads. It is easy enough to get nails, brads, tacks, and odd pieces of hardware for the purpose. The model from which Fig. 176 was made has lifted a bunch of two hundred and eighty-four brads 3/8 inch long. By using smaller brads, or tacks, a much larger number could be lifted. The first part of the toy to construct is =The Electro-Magnet.= The difference between an electro-magnet and the toy variety of horse-shoe magnet with which every boy is familiar, is that the electro-magnet retains its magnetism only so long as an electric current is passing around it, while the steel magnet retains its influence permanently, after being magnetized, unless it happens to be demagnetized by subjection to heat, or in some other way. [Illustration: FIG. 176.--An Electro-Magnet Derrick.] Figures 177 to 179 show the details for making a simple home-made electro-magnet. An electro-magnet consists of a center _core_ of soft iron, wrapped with a coil of insulated wire. When an electric current passes over a wire, a _magnetic field_ is formed around the wire; and when several turns of insulated wire are wrapped about a soft iron core, the magnetic fields of all the turns of the coil, or _helix_, combine, forming a very strong magnetic field which strongly magnetizes the iron core. As I have said before, this magnet loses its magnetic influence the instant the current ceases to pass through the surrounding coil of wire. [Illustration: FIGS. 177-179.--The Electro-Magnet.] You will need a machine-bolt or carriage-bolt 2-1/2 or 3 inches long, and 1/4 inch in diameter, for the core of the magnet, some insulated electric-bell wire for the coil, and a piece of heavy cardboard. Cut three washers of a trifle larger diameter than the bolt-head, out of the piece of cardboard (Fig. 178), and slip these over the bolt as shown in Fig. 179--one at the bolt-head end, the other two at the nut end; then screw the nut on to the end of the bolt. [Illustration: FIG. 180.--How the Electro-Magnet is Connected up.] Before starting to wind the insulated wire upon the bolt, pierce two holes through the inner cardboard washer of the two at the nut end. Then stick the end of the wire through one of these holes, and pull a length of 4 or 5 inches of the wire out between the two washers. Starting at this end of the bolt, then, wind the wire around the bolt, keeping the turns even and each turn pressed close against the preceding turn. When the washer at the head end of the bolt has been reached, wind back to the starting point; then wind back to the washer at the head a second time, and again back to the starting point; and so on until six or eight layers of wire have been wound in place. An even number of layers will bring the free end of the wire back to the double-washer end. Slip this end through the second hole in the inner washer, and bring it out between the two washers, as you did the first end. Then screw the bolt-nut tight against the washers, to hold the wire ends in place (Fig. 177). The outer cardboard washer will prevent the nut from chafing the insulation on the wire ends. Now connect the ends of the coil to the binding-posts of a battery cell, and you will be surprised to find what a strong magnet the head of the bolt core has become. One end of the magnet coil should be connected to a dry-cell, and the other to a switch; and another wire should connect the switch with the dry-cell (Fig. 180). =A Home-made Switch= that is easily made is shown in Fig. 181. Cut strips _A_, _B_, and _C_ (Fig. 182) from a tomato can. Tack the turned up ends of _A_ to a wooden knob (_D_). This forms the switch lever. Strips _B_ and _C_, folded in half, and punched near the ends, form the binding-post plates. [Illustration: FIG. 181.--A Home-made Switch.] [Illustration: FIG. 182.--Details of Switch.] Figures 181 and 182 show how to mount the lever and binding-post plates upon the switch base. Pivot lever _A_ with a small screw passed through a hole punched near its end, and through the hole near the folded end of plate _C_. Fasten plate _B_ with a rug-tack (_F_) so the lever will come in contact with it. Screw-eyes _E_ form the binding-posts. [Illustration: FIG. 183.--Detail of Mast.] [Illustration: FIG. 184.--Detail of Pulley.] [Illustration: FIG. 185.--Detail of Boom.] Instead of using a separate base, the switch can be mounted as shown in Fig. 176, upon the base of =The Derrick=. Cut the base about 8 inches wide and 10 inches long (_A_, Fig. 176). The _mast_ (_B_) is a piece of broom-handle or curtain-pole 16 inches long, and fits loosely in a hole bored in the base. Figure 183 shows a detail of the mast. The _pulley_ upon its upper end (_C_) is made of two spool-ends nailed together (Fig. 184), and it turns upon the axle _D_, which slips through holes in the _plates E_ nailed to the end of the mast. The _lever F_ sticks in a hole in the mast, close to the platform. This is used to swing the _boom_ from side to side. Screw-eye _G_ is placed several inches above _F_ to serve the purpose of a pulley to guide the hoisting cables. Figure 185 shows a detail of the _boom_. Cut the side sticks _H_ 18 inches long, and fasten between them the _separators I_, which should be just long enough to allow clearance for the _spool pulley J_. The pulley is mounted on the axle _K_. Screw the lower ends of the boom to the mast, at a point 2-1/2 inches above the base. =The Windlass= for raising the derrick boom, and for hoisting the loads, is shown in detail in Fig. 186. Bore a hole through upright _L_ for the axle _M_ to stick through, and cut axle _M_ enough smaller than the spool drums _N_ so they will turn easily. Fasten a crank and handle to one end of each spool, and drive a brad through each end of the axle to prevent the drums from sliding off. Cut four notches in the inner flange of each spool, as shown, and pivot the catches _O_ to the post _L_, in the positions indicated, so they may be thrown into the notches to lock the windlass (Fig. 176). [Illustration: FIG. 186.--Detail of Derrick Windlass.] =The Hoisting Cables= should be made of strong cord. Fasten one end of the cable for raising the boom to a nail (P, Fig. 176), and run this cord up and over the mast pulley, then down through screw-eye _G_ and over to one drum; tie it securely to the drum so it will not slip around. The other cable should be fastened between the nut and washer of the magnet, as shown in Fig. 180, run up and over the boom pulley _J_, then through screw-eye _G_, and tied to the second drum. Figure 176 shows how the dry-cell may be strapped to the base board in front of the mast, and how the wires that connect the electro-magnet, switch, and cell should be twisted around the hoisting cable, part way, and the remainder of their length allowed to hang. Be sure to cut the wires long enough to reach from a table-top down to the floor. Use flexible wire if you can get it. By mounting the base upon spool wheels, your derrick can be moved along a table-top. Spool-ends may be used for the wheels, and can either be screwed to the edge of the base, or be fastened upon axles as the wheels of the _Electric Motor Truck_ are fastened (Figs. 203 and 208). =How the Derrick Works.= It is probably unnecessary to explain that a load is picked up by throwing over the switch lever to the contact point and closing the circuit, and that it is dropped by throwing off the switch lever and opening the circuit--which causes the electro-magnet to lose its magnetism. =A Toy Shocking Machine.=.The little shocking machine shown in Fig. 187 is a harmless toy with which you can have an endless amount of fun when entertaining friends. The shock it produces is not severe, but strong enough to make your friend's arm and wrist muscles twitch, and perhaps cause him to dance. Large shocking coils contract the muscles to such an extent that it is impossible to let go of the metal grips until the current has been shut off, but in our small shocking machine the handles can be dropped the instant the person holding them wishes to do so. [Illustration: FIG. 187.--Detail of the Toy Shocking Machine.] The shocking machine consists of an _induction-coil_, an _interrupter_, and a pair of _handles_, all of which are easy for a boy to make, and a _wet_ or _dry battery_ of one or two cells to furnish the current. [Illustration: FIGS, 188-191.--Details of Induction-Coil.] =The Induction-Coil= is the first part to make. This is shown in detail in Figs. 188 to 191. The coil has windings of two sizes of wire upon an iron core. For the core buy a 5/16-inch carriage-bolt 2-1/2 inches long, and for the wire coils get some No. 20- or 24-gauge electric-bell insulated copper wire, and some No. 30-gauge insulated magnet-wire. To keep the wire from slipping off the ends of the bolt core, cut two cardboard ends about 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Slip one of these on to the bolt next to the head, and the other one next to the nut, as shown in Fig. 188. Three layers of the coarse wire should be wound on first, for =The Primary-Coil.= Pierce a hole through one cardboard end, stick the wire through it, and allow about 5 inches to project upon the outside; then commence winding the wire upon the core, placing each turn close to the preceding turn. When the opposite end of the bolt has been reached, wind back to the starting point, then work back to the other end again. There will be in the neighborhood of 175 turns in the three layers. Cut off the wire so there will be a 5-inch projection, and stick the projecting end through a hole in the cardboard end. This completes the primary-coil (Fig. 189). Before winding the small wire on top of the primary-coil, to form =The Secondary-coil=, wrap the primary-coil with a layer of bicycle tape, or glue several layers of paper around the coil. Then wind on the small wire as you did the coarser wire, being very careful to get it on evenly and smoothly. Wind eleven layers on the coil, and run the end of the eleventh layer out through the cardboard end (Fig. 190). There should be about 100 turns of this wire to the layer, or 1100 turns in all. A crank arrangement can be rigged up to make the winding easier, but with patience, and by doing the work slowly, the wire can be wound almost as well by hand. It is difficult to keep track of each preceding turn, while winding, because of the fineness of the wire, and on this account it is a good scheme to coat each layer with bluing after it has been wound on, so that each turn of the following layer will show plainly against the stained layer beneath it. Figure 190 shows the complete induction-coil. Cut a base block 5 inches wide and 7 inches long, bevel the top edges to give it a trim appearance, and mount the induction-coil to one side of the center (Fig. 187), strapping it in place by means of two tin straps similar to that shown in Fig. 191, cut from a tin can. The projecting ends of the primary-coil connect with the battery, while the two ends of the secondary-coil connect with the handles. Make three binding-post plates out of folded pieces of tin, similar to plates _B_ and _C_, in Fig. 182. Tack two of these to the end of the base and connect the secondary-coil wires to them (Fig. 187), and tack the third near one end of the induction-coil and connect one primary-coil wire to it (Fig. 187). =For the Handles= take two pieces of broom-handle 3-1/2 inches long, and cover each with a piece of tin (Fig. 192). The pattern for the tin covering (Fig. 193) shows how tabs are prepared on the ends and holes punched through them for connecting with the induction-coil. The connecting wires should be 5 or 6 feet long. Flexible wire is better than bell-wire for these, because it is more easily handled in passing the handles around. Tack the tin covering to the pieces of broom-handle. [Illustration: FIGS. 192 and 193.--Details of Shocking-coil Handles.] The purpose of the induction-coil is to raise the voltage of the battery. The flow of current must be an interrupted one, in order to shock, and therefore =An Interrupter= must be inserted between the battery and one of the wires leading to the primary-coil of the induction-coil. There are several ways to construct an interrupter, but the scheme which I have invented for the model of this shocking-machine (Fig. 187) serves the purpose nicely, and is a neat appearing little piece of apparatus. This interrupter is easily constructed as you will see by the working details shown in Figs. 194 to 198. [Illustration: FIG. 194.--Interrupter for Shocking-coil.] Cut the base block _A_ 1-1/2 inches wide and 2-1/2 inches long. Make the shaft _B_ 2-3/4 inches long and of a diameter equal to the hole in a thread spool; and prepare the crank _C_ to fit on the end, and drive a brad into it for a handle. Fasten the crank to the shaft with glue, or by driving a small brad through the two. The shaft supports _D_ should be prepared as shown in Fig. 196, 1-1/4 inches wide across the bottom, 5/8 inch wide at the top, and 1-3/4 inches high. Bore a hole through each, a little below the top, and large enough so the shaft will turn easily, and fasten these supports with brads to the sides of base _A_. Drive eight brads into a thread spool, spacing them equidistant from one another, and mount this spool upon the shaft (_E_, Fig. 194), first slipping the shaft through one support, then through the spool, and then through the other support. Drive the spool brads a trifle into the shaft to hold the spool in position. The projecting arm _F_ (Fig. 194) is a strip of tin cut from a can, and must be long enough so each nail-head will strike its end when spool _E_ is revolved. Drive a nail into base _A_, at _G_, and, after bending strip _F_ as shown in Fig. 198, fasten it with brads upon the top of an upright made similar to _H_ (Fig. 197), and nail this upright to the end of base _A_. The upper end of strip _F_ must be bent so it will bear down upon the head of nail _G_. The wire from the primary-coil which is as yet not connected should be attached to nail _G_, and one battery wire should be connected to a binding-post plate _I_ fastened to the lower end of strip _F_. Figure 198 shows how the binding-post plate is made out of a doubled piece of tin, with a hole punched through it for a small binding-screw. This completes the interrupter. Mount it beside the induction-coil upon the base block, and connect it with the battery and the induction-coil, as shown in Fig. 187. Connect the battery cells in series. Two cells will be enough. [Illustration: FIGS. 195-198.--Details of Interrupter.] =How the Interrupter Works.= When you turn the crank of the interrupter, each nail in spool _E_ raises the end of strip _F_, in passing it, thus breaking the electrical contact between it and the head of nail _G_. If the strip has been bent properly, it will spring back into contact with the head of nail _G_, and each time the contact is made, the person holding the handles will receive a shock. The strength of the current can be regulated somewhat by the speed with which the interrupter crank is turned. The shocks are stronger and more distinct when the crank is turned slowly. Home-made electrical toys of a light construction are easily operated by a toy motor, when the motor and battery cell are not carried by the toy; but when both are transported, as in the case of a wagon, the construction must be very carefully worked out, or the motor will not be powerful enough to drive the wheels. =The Toy Electric Motor Truck= shown in Fig. 199 is of light construction, the axle bearings produce very little friction, and the battery is light and of a powerful type. [Illustration: FIG. 199.--A Toy Electric Motor Truck.] Get an oblong shaped cigar-box for the _bed_ and _sides_ of the truck, several large thread spools for _wheels_ and _pulleys_, two small silk-thread spools, four lead-pencils, or sticks whittled perfectly round and 1/4 inch in diameter, for _axles_, _belt-shaft_, and _steering-wheel post_, and six screw-eyes 5/16 inch in diameter for the _bearings_. First, place the cigar-box in a wash-boiler or wash-tub of hot water, and allow it to remain there until the paper labels have soaked off or loosened sufficiently so they can be scraped off with a knife. [Illustration: FIG. 200.--Top view of Electric Motor Truck.] Then, after the box has thoroughly dried, cut the two strips _A_ (Fig. 208), and fasten them to the bottom, one at each side. Screw the screw-eye axle bearings into these strips. Place them at equal distances from the ends of the strips. =The Wheels= are made from the flange ends of the large spools. Figure 202 shows the front pencil axle. Slip the center portion of one of the large spools on to this for a pulley, then stick the pencil ends through the screw-eyes in strips _A_, and glue the spool-end wheels on to them. The rear axle is like the front one, with the spool pulley omitted (Fig. 203). =The Upper Shaft= shown in Fig. 201 supports a spool pulley like the one on the front axle, and its screw-eye bearings should be screwed into the top edge of the sides of the box (Fig. 200), directly over the front axle. Slip a silk-spool on to each end of this shaft to keep its ends from slipping out of the screw-eyes. [Illustration: FIGS. 201-203.--Details of Axle and Belt Shaft.] =The Belts.= As you will see by Figs. 200 to 202, the upper large pulley is belted to the motor pulley, and another belt extends from the upper shaft down to the pulley on the front axle. Rubber-bands make the best belts. Cut a hole through the bottom of the cigar-box for the belt extending from the upper shaft to the front axle to pass through. Screw the toy motor to the cigar-box with its pulley directly in line with the upper shaft pulley. Wrap the spool pulleys with bicycle-tape, to keep the rubber-band belts from slipping. =The Battery.= A dry battery is too heavy for the motor truck to carry; so we must make a special two-cell battery like that shown in Fig. 204. Two glass tumblers to hold the solution, a pair of battery zincs, a pair of carbons, and a bi-chromate of potash solution, are needed. Old battery zinc pencils with several inches of the eaten end cut off (Fig. 206) will do for the zincs, and the carbons from worn-out dry-battery cells cut to a corresponding length will do for the carbons. Fasten together the zincs and carbons with rubber-bands, as shown in Fig. 207, after wrapping a piece of bicycle-tape around the upper end of the carbon and inserting a small wad of it between the lower ends of the carbons and zincs, to keep them from touching one another. [Illustration: FIG. 204.--Two Home-made Battery Cells Connected in Series.] Figure 205 shows a completed cell, and Fig. 204 how the two cells are connected in _series_, that is, with the carbon of one connected to the zinc of the other. Twisting the connecting wires into coils, as shown, is a good method of taking up the slack. [Illustration: FIG. 205.--A Single Cell.] [Illustration: FIGS. 206 and 207.--Details of Zinc and Carbon.] =The Bi-chromate Battery Fluid= is made up of bi-chromate of potash, sulphuric acid, and water, in the following proportions: 4 ounces of bi-chromate of potash 4 ounces of sulphuric acid 1 quart of water In making up this solution, first add the acid to the water,--_never add the water to the acid_--and then, when the solution is nearly cool, add the bi-chromate of potash. Pour the acid into the water slowly, because the combination of the two creates a great deal of heat, and if the heat forms too quickly your glass bottle is likely to split. Label the bottle in which you put this solution POISON. As the bi-chromate solution attacks the zinc element of a cell even when the current is not being drawn upon, the zinc should be removed when the cell is not in use. =Amalgamating a Zinc Pencil.= To reduce the eating away of a zinc pencil used in a bi-chromate solution, the zinc should be amalgamated by rubbing a thin coat of mercury over its surface. Dip the zinc into the solution, first, then with a rag dipped in the solution rub the mercury on to it. Cut an opening through the cigar-box large enough for the two tumblers to set in. Then cut a strip of tin about 1 inch wide and 8 inches long, and bend it into a U-shaped hanger, to support the tumbler bottoms. Slip the hanger ends under strips _A_, bend them against the sides of the box, and fasten with tacks (Figs. 208 and 209). [Illustration: FIG. 208.--Plan of Motor Truck Bottom.] [Illustration: FIG. 209.--Section through Bottom.] Figure 200 shows how the battery cells are connected. A small switch can be fastened to the side of the truck to shut off and turn on the current, but, instead, you can simply withdraw one pair of elements from its tumbler to shut off the current. When through playing with the truck, however, it is important to remove both pairs of elements and wash them off, because the bi-chromate solution attacks the zinc elements even when the current is not in use. As the bi-chromate solution stains very badly, it is advisable to operate the motor truck only where there is no danger of ruining anything in case some of the solution spills, as in the basement or workshop. If you wish to use a dry-cell instead of the pair of bi-chromate cells, you can place the cell upon the floor and make the wires connecting it to the motor long enough so the truck can run back and forth across a room. [Illustration: FIG. 210--Details of Seat and Canopy-top.] =The Seat and Canopy-top= details are shown in Fig. 210. Make these in about the proportion to the cigar-box shown in Fig. 199. Fasten the seat to the edge of the seat-back _B_ with glue and brads, and then fasten the side pieces _A_ to the ends of the seat. The dashboard _E_ is nailed to the bottom piece _D_, and _D_ is nailed to the lower ends of side pieces _A_. Figure 211 shows the pattern for the canopy-top. Make it of light-weight cardboard, or heavy writing-paper. Slash the ends as shown; then turn down the corners, and lap and glue them to form the turned-down canopy ends. Fasten the ends to the canopy uprights with tacks. [Illustration: FIG. 211.--Pattern of Canopy-top.] =The Seat-arms= are pieces of bent wire, with their ends stuck into holes in the canopy uprights and front edge of the seat. =The Steering-wheel= is a section of a spool 1/8 inch thick, and is glued upon the end of a pencil or a stick. Run the lower end of the pencil through a hole in the bottom of _D_ (Fig. 210). For =The Levers=, fasten two small sticks to the end of the bottom piece _D_ with small staples. CHAPTER XII A HOME-MADE TOY SHOOTING GALLERY [Illustration: FIG. 212.--The Completed Toy Shooting Gallery.] This interesting toy, with its funny animal targets, and a harmless pistol with which to shoot at them, will provide an endless amount of fun for a winter's evening or stormy afternoon. Figure 212 shows the completed toy, and Fig. 213 the box that forms =The Framework.= The targets can be arranged to suit the form of box that you find, and the number may be increased or decreased to suit the space. [Illustration: FIG. 213.--The Box Framework.] The right position for the box is upon its side so its open top forms the front of the target box (Fig. 213). The horizontal piece _A_ (Fig. 213) is fastened between the ends of the box, to support targets. It is held in place by nails driven through the box ends into its ends. If your box is much larger than the one shown in the illustration, you can provide two crosspiece supports for targets, instead of one. =The Circular Target= should be drawn upon a piece of cardboard with a compass, or, by marking around a cup or small saucer to make the outer circle, marking around a can cover for the second circle, and a coin for the center circle. Blacken the outside and center rings with ink, or by rubbing with a soft pencil. [Illustration: FIGS. 214-215.--Details of Targets.] Figure 214 shows how the target should be hinged in place to the horizontal strip _A_. Tack or glue the lower edge of the piece of cardboard to a block of wood _B_. Then cut a hinge-strip out of a piece of dress lining, and either tack or glue one-half of it to block _B_ and the other half to the target support _A_. =The Animal Targets= are made with pictures cut from magazines and newspapers. The pictures should be colored with crayons or water-colors, to make them as nearly like their right colors as possible. After cutting out the pictures, paste them upon cardboard, mount the pieces of cardboard upon blocks of wood, as shown at _B_ and _C_ (Figs. 214 and 215), and hinge the blocks to the target supports with cloth strips. _B_ shows the method of hinging the targets to strip _A_, and to the lower side of the box, and _C_ shows the method of hinging the targets to the ends of the box. The former targets fall backwards when struck; the latter targets swing sideways when struck. [Illustration: FIG. 216.--The Card-shooting Pistol.] Figure 216 shows =The Card-shooting Pistol=, and Figs. 217, 218, and 219 show the details for making it. Cut block _A_ about 8 inches long, and block _B_ about 3 inches long. Nail _A_ to _B_ as shown. Then take two rubber-bands, loop them together end to end, as shown in Fig. 218, and fasten one end of the looped bands to the end of block _A_ by means of a nail driven into the block and bent over as shown in Fig. 217. Cut a piece of cardboard about I inch square, notch the center of two opposite edges (Fig. 219), and fit the loop of the free end of the rubber-bands over the piece of cardboard and into the notches, as shown in Figs. 217 and 218. This completes the pistol. The toy pistol shoots small squares of cardboard, placed in it as shown in Figs. 216 and 218, with one corner slipped beneath the rubber-band loop. =Number the Targets= as shown in Fig. 212, marking the circular target "25," four of the animal targets "10," and the remaining four "5." Each number represents the score of that particular target. [Illustration: FIGS. 217-219.--Detail of Card-shooting Pistol.] =When Shooting=, stand 3 or 4 feet away from the target box. Aim at the circular target, because that one counts the most. If you miss it, there is the chance, of course, of hitting one of the other targets below or to one side of it and making a smaller score. CHAPTER XIII A HOME-MADE DOLL-HOUSE There is nothing more interesting to build than a doll-house, and the construction is within the ability of the average girl. If brother is willing to lend a hand with the carpenter work so much the better. Sister can attend to the finishing and furnishing, which are important parts of the work that she can do more handily than a boy can. But there is no reason why either a girl or boy cannot undertake a doll-house like that shown in Figs. 220 and 221, and carry the work to a successful completion, by carefully following the instructions and diagrams in this chapter. =The Building Material.= The doll-house in the photographs was built of packing cases. You can buy these at a drygoods store at 15 or 20 cents apiece. =The Floor Plans= are shown in Figs. 222, 223, and 224. Your boxes may make it necessary to alter the dimensions given, but that will be simple to do. Patterns for =The Partitions= are shown in Figs. 225 and 226. In cutting the second-floor partitions (Fig. 226), miter one edge of _E_ and _F_ to allow for the bedroom door opening, shown upon the plan, and miter the edges of _G_ to fit between them above the door. The mitering is shown in the drawings (Fig. 226). Besides cutting a stair opening in the second floor, make an opening three by five inches in the second and third floors for =The Elevator-shaft.= Care must be taken to have these openings exactly over one another. Make the opening in the second floor six by eight inches in the place indicated upon the plan. This will allow for the elevator shaft and stairway. No stairway has been built to the third story, as the elevator serves the purpose, and one would take up too much of the ball-room space. =The Side Walls= should measure nineteen inches wide by twenty-four inches high, and the other two walls thirty inches wide by twenty-four inches high. That portion of =The Rear Wall= enclosing the kitchen and bathroom is hinged to open (see Fig. 222), and =The Front Wall= is made in two sections, each hinged to a strip of wood an inch and one-half wide nailed to the two edges of the house, as shown in Fig. 220. =The Windows= are four by five inches, so four-by-five camera plates can be used for the glass. =The Roof= had best be made in two sections, each measuring twenty-eight inches long by twenty-four inches wide. Fasten the boards together with battens on the under side and, after mitering the upper edge of each, nail them to the house so that the ridge is fifteen inches above the third floor. Then nail a board nineteen inches long by ten inches wide in the peak of the roof (_D_ in Fig. 228), and a narrow strip three inches from each side wall (_K_ and _L_ in Fig. 224). These cut off the triangular shape of the ball-room and give it a better appearance. [Illustration: FIG. 220. THE HOME-MADE DOLL-HOUSE.] [Illustration: FIG. 221. INTERIOR VIEW OF DOLL-HOUSE.] [Illustration: FIGS. 222-226.--Plans of Doll-house and Patterns for Partitions.] =The Chimney= is a solid block of wood with narrow strips nailed to all sides near the top (Fig. 227). Make it eight or ten inches long, and cut off the bottom to fit the slant of the roof. Paint the block red, and mark off the mortar joints in white. =An Elevator= is something which is found in but few doll-houses. It was built in this house, thinking it might please the young mistress, and it proved such a success that the scheme has been worked out carefully in Figs. 228, 229, 230, 231, and 232, that you may include it in the house you build. [Illustration: FIG. 227.--The Chimney.] The cutting of the elevator-shaft has already been described. For material, procure two small pulleys such as is shown in Fig. 230, four feet of brass chain, six feet of No. 12 wire, half a dozen double-pointed tacks or very small screw-eyes, a short piece of lead pipe, and a cigar-box. Make [Illustration: FIG. 228.--Front View of Elevator-shaft and Stairs.] [Illustration: FIGS. 229-232.--Details of the Elevator.] =The Car= out of the cigar-box, cutting it down to two and one-quarter inches wide, three and three-quarters inches deep, and seven inches high (see Fig. 231). Place two of the double-pointed tacks or screw-eyes in each side of the car for the guide-wires to run through and another in the center of the top from which to attach the brass chain. =The Guide-wires= are made of very heavy wire that will not bend easily. Cut two of a length to reach from the first floor to the ball-room ceiling, and after running them through the tacks in the sides of the car, stick their ends into small holes bored at _E_, _F_, _G_, and _H_ (Fig. 228). The upper holes should be bored through the ball-room ceiling, while the lower ones need be bored but part way through the first floor. Care must be taken to have these holes in the correct position, so the elevator will run up and down upon the wires without striking the sides of the shaft. The easiest way of fastening the wires in place is to run the upper ends through the holes, until the lower ends can be set into their sockets, and then drive two double-pointed tacks over the top of each wire, as shown at _E_ and _F_ in Fig. 228. Now run the elevator up to the top of the shaft, and mark upon the ceiling where the screw-eye in the top of the car strikes. At this point bore a hole through the ceiling and two inches back of it bore another hole, through which to run the weight-chain. When this has been done, cut a short block of wood to fit the peak of the roof and =Screw the Pulleys= into it two inches apart (Fig. 229). Fit the block in the peak of the roof, centering the front pulley over the top of the car as nearly as possible, and drive a couple of nails through the roof boards into it to hold it in place temporarily. Then =Attach the Chain= to the tack in the top of the car, slip a piece of lead pipe about an inch long over the chain, allowing it to set on the top of the car to make the latter heavier (Fig. 231), and run the chain up through the first hole in the ceiling, over the pulleys, and down through the second hole. To the end of the chain attach a piece of lead pipe for =The Counter-balance= (_C_, Fig. 232). This should be just heavy enough to make a perfect balance between it and the car, which can be obtained by whittling off the end of the pipe until the weight of the two is the same. Make the chain of sufficient length so the weight will rest upon the first floor when the car is at the third floor. You can now tell whether or not the pulleys are in the right positions. When they have been adjusted properly, nail the block firmly in place. =The Gable-Ends.= The front gable-end consists of four pieces (_A_, _B_, _C_, and _D_, in Fig. 233), the dimensions for the cutting of which are given in the illustration. After preparing these, nail _A_, _B_, and _C_ in their proper positions in the gable of the roof, and trim the edges of _D_, if they need it, to fit between. To prevent the movable section from pushing in too far, it will be necessary to nail a narrow strip of wood to the roof and third floor, just inside of it. The rear gable is made in one piece, and is fastened in place permanently. [Illustration: FIG. 233.--The Front Gable-End.] The movable gable and all hinged portions should have =Spring-Catches= with which to shut up and lock the house (see the illustrations). =The Stairway= is shown in Fig. 228, and the details for its construction will be found in Figs. 234, 235, 236, 237. This stairway is made in two parts, with a platform between. Cut a block of wood the shape and size shown in Fig. 234 for the platform, with notches at _A_ and _B_ for the tops of the lower stringers to fit in. Then =Prepare Two Stringers= of thirteen steps similar to Fig. 235, and two stringers of five steps similar to Fig. 236, laying off the steps by means of a cardboard pattern, or _pitch-board_, of the size shown in Fig. 237. After cutting out these pieces, fasten the tops of the lower stringers in the notches A and B in the platform, and nail the platform in its proper position in the corner of the hall. When this has been done, nail the bottoms of the upper stringers (_E_ in Fig. 236) to the sides of the platform at _C_ and _D_ (Fig. 234), and set the tops in notches cut in the edge of the second floor. =The Treads and Risers= of the steps--the horizontal and vertical boards--should be cut out of cigar-box wood. [Illustration: FIGS. 234-237.--Details of Stairs.] Cut =The Newel-posts= out of short square blocks, and =The Hand-rails= out of strips of cigar-box wood. Make a groove in the under side of the hand-rails to receive the ends of =The Balusters=, or spindles. Toothpicks are of just the right size for balusters. The delicate portions of the stairways should be glued in place. Make slits in the stair treads to stick the bottoms of the balusters in. =The Front Steps= are clearly shown in Fig. 220. Make the solid balustrades out of pieces of box board, and the step treads and risers out of cigar-box wood. Prepare the rear steps in the same way. =Cut the Window Openings= in the places indicated upon the plans (Figs. 222 to 224) and the photographs. First bore holes in the four corners of each window space; then saw from hole to hole with a compass-saw. Old camera plates are excellent material for =The Window Glass.= Fasten the glass in the openings with small brads in the same way that glass is fastened in picture-frames, and putty it in the same way that window glass is puttied, to hold it firm. =The Front and Rear Doors= can be painted upon the front of the house. Openings are not necessary. =The Outside Trimmings.= Strips of cigar-box wood should be cut up for the outside door and window casings, and be tacked around the openings as shown in Fig. 220. Nail a molding or a plain strip of wood to the front edge of the third floor, as shown in Fig. 220. =Castors= will make it easier to move the doll-house about. Cut four blocks of wood, fasten a castor to each, and nail one block inside each corner of the foundation frame. =The Interior Woodwork.= Cigar-boxes make excellent hardwood floors. Fit the pieces close together and fasten with small brads. Make the door and window casings, picture-moldings, and baseboards out of strips of cigar-box wood. After completing the carpenter work of the house, =Set the Nail-heads=,--that is, drive them below the surface of the wood,--putty these holes and all cracks and other defective places, and sandpaper rough surfaces. =Paint the House= a cream color, with white trimmings and a green roof. Stripe the foundation walls to indicate courses of stone work. Paint the front door a mahogany color, with panels indicated upon it, and make the rear door white. The painting of the chimney has already been described. The inside walls should be finished as suggested in Chapter XIV. The woodwork may be oiled, or painted with white enamel or any other color desired. =A Colonial Doll-house= with a number of features not included in this house is described and illustrated in Chapter V of "The Boy Craftsman." CHAPTER XIV FURNISHING THE HOME-MADE DOLL-HOUSE With the carpenter work of a doll-house completed, the finishing of the inside,--wall papering and painting,--and selecting of furnishings for the various rooms, remain to be done. This requires as much care as the building of the house, and while any boy can do the work, the help of a sister will perhaps simplify matters and give to the rooms a daintier appearance. =The Walls and Ceiling= of the kitchen and bathroom should be painted with white lead or white enamel. For the other rooms select paper having a small design, such as is to be found on most ceiling papers. If you have ever watched the paper-hanger at work, you have noticed he puts on the ceiling first, allowing the paper to run down the walls a little way all around instead of trimming it off. Then he hangs the wall paper, and if there is no border to cover the joints of the ceiling and wall papers he carries the wall paper up to the ceiling. Use flour paste to stick on the paper, and a cloth or photograph-print roller to smooth out the wrinkles. The dining-room should have a wainscot of dark paper below the chair-rail, and a paper with little or no figure upon it above. =All Hardwood Floors=, the stairs, door and window casings, baseboards, and picture moldings should be varnished thoroughly or given several coats of boiled linseed-oil. All floors, with the exception of the kitchen, bathroom, and hardwood floors, should be fitted with =Carpets.= If you do not happen to have suitable scraps on hand, they can be procured at almost any furnishing store where they make up carpets. Select pieces with as small patterns as possible. The floors of the bathroom and kitchen should be covered with oilcloth. =Rugs= for the hardwood floors may be made out of scraps of carpet. =Window-shades= may be made for each window out of linen, and tacked to the top casing so that the bottom of the curtain reaches just above the center of the opening. Each window should also have =Lace Curtains= made out of scraps of lace. They should either be tacked above the windows or hung upon poles made out of No. 12 wire, cut in lengths to fit the windows. Screw small brass hooks into the top window-casings for the poles to hang upon. =Handsome Portières= for the doorways can be made with beads and with the small hollow straws sold for use in kindergartens. For the =Bead Portières=, cut threads as long as the height of the door and string the beads upon them, alternating the colors in such a way as to produce patterns. Then tie the strings together to a piece of wire the width of the doorway, and fasten the wire in the opening. The =Straw Portières= are made similarly. From magazine illustrations you can select =Suitable Pictures= for each room, but if you are handy with brush and pencil you may prefer to make the pictures yourself. These may be mounted upon cardboard and have their edges bound with passe-partout paper to give the effect of frames, or frames may be cut out of cardboard and pasted to them. Hang the pictures to the picture molding with thread. =A Cosey-corner= may be fitted up in the ball-room by fastening a strip of a cigar-box in one corner an inch and one-half above the floor for the seat, and hanging draperies on each side of it. Pillows may be made for it out of scraps of silk stuffed with cotton. A doll-house properly proportioned in every detail, including the selection of its furniture, is pleasing to look at, and is to be desired much more than some of the specimens to be found in the stores. These very often have parlor chairs larger than the mantel, beds that either fill two-thirds of the bedroom space or are so small they are hidden from view by the chairs, and other furniture accordingly, all having been selected without any thought as to size or fitness. Care must be taken, in buying the furniture, to have the pieces suitable to the rooms. It will no doubt require more time than to purchase the first sets you come across, but when you have completed the selections, the result will be a much better appearing doll-house. By carefully searching the toy-shops you are almost certain of finding what you want for the various rooms, as about everything imaginable in furniture has been manufactured. Porcelain bath-tubs, wash-basins with real faucets and running water, gilt furniture, chandeliers, and such articles are tempting to buy. But it is rather expensive to fit up a house in this way, for, though each piece may not amount to very much, they count up very quickly. The suggestions for the making of cigar-box furniture in Chapter XVII, and spool and cardboard furniture in Chapter XIX, will give you plenty of material for furniture and save you the expense of buying this part of the furnishings for your house. CHAPTER XV A HOME-MADE TOY STABLE [Illustration: FIG. 238.--Exterior of Stable.] The stable illustrated in Figs. 238 and 239 is designed in keeping with the doll-house in Chapter XIII. It is shown in the background of the photograph of this doll-house (Fig. 220). If you prefer a garage instead of this stable, you may omit the stalls, and make one or two large windows in the rear wall in place of the small high windows shown. The building's construction is very simple. The dimensions are: width, twenty-four inches; depth, twelve inches; and height, twenty-two inches. The barn contains five stalls on the ground floor and a hay-loft above. [Illustration: FIG. 239.--Interior of Stable.] To build the stable according to the drawings, a box ten by twelve by twenty-four inches should be procured for =The First Story.= If you have a box of different proportions it will be a simple matter to make such alterations in the details as it will require. =The Roof= is made in two sections, each fifteen by eighteen inches, and is fastened to the top of the box so that the peak is twenty-two inches above the bottom. =The Gable-End= is made in four pieces, as shown in Fig. 240, _A_, _B_, and _C_, to be nailed in place, and _D_ to be movable as in the case of the doll-house. Make a three-by-five-inch window in the center of _D_, and fasten the glass in place with strips cut as described in Chapter XIII. Strips should be nailed to the roof just inside of the movable section to prevent the latter from setting in too far, and a spring catch fastened to _C_ and _D_ as shown, to hold the movable section in place. [Illustration: FIG. 240.--Front Gable-End.] Figure 241 gives the patterns and measurements for =The Stall Partitions=, four of which should be cut out and fastened to the floor of the stable four inches apart, or so they will divide the inside width into five equal stalls. [Illustration: FIG. 241.--Stall Partitions.] =The Feed-troughs= are made out of two strips of cigar-boxes fitted between the stalls, as shown in Figs. 239 and 241, and are fastened in place by means of brads and glue. Above the stalls cut =Small Windows= an inch and one-half square in the rear wall. These are the ventilating windows for the stalls, and may be left open. Figure 242 shows the construction of =A Ladder= to the hay-loft. This is made out of two sticks twelve inches long, with strips of cigar-boxes two inches long glued to them half an inch apart, as shown in the drawing. Cut away a section of the hay-loft floor two inches square and stick the end of the ladder up through the opening, fastening the uprights to the edge of the floor (see Fig. 242). [Illustration: FIG. 242.--Ladder to Hay-loft.] A stick about three inches long, with a very small pulley attached near the end, should be fastened in the peak of the roof for a =Feed-hoist= (see Fig. 238). The first story has =A Drop-Front=, as shown in Figs. 238 and 239. This is made from the box-cover. Fasten the boards together with battens placed upon the inside, and hinge it to the bottom of the stable. Nail two cleats to the under side of the floor (see Fig. 238) to lift it off the ground just enough to allow the front to drop without springing its hinges. When the front is down it forms an incline upon which to run the horses into the stable. For this reason it is not advisable to cut an opening in it, but merely =Represent a Stable Door= on the outside (see Fig. 238). This is done with paint and a fine brush. First paint a green panel in the center of the front, and then mark off a couple of panels within this space with black paint, and stripe them diagonally to represent beaded-boards. With strips of wood half an inch wide make =A Simple Trim= around the door, the sides of the stable, and around the gable, as shown in the illustration. When the carpenter work has been finished, =Paint the Inside= of the stable white, and the outside the same colors as used for the doll-house (see description in Chapter XIII). =If you Prefer a Garage=, use your ingenuity to fit up the interior of the building as you think it ought to be. CHAPTER XVI A HOME-MADE DOLL APARTMENT BUILDING The doll apartment building in this chapter is a new idea in doll-houses. By the illustrations you will see that the apartment building is three stories high, and consists of three units--each one story high--and a roof. During playtime the units are arranged side by side upon the floor so as to form a six-room apartment (Fig. 244); and afterward they are piled up one upon another as shown in Fig. 243, and the roof placed on top, in a compact form that takes up but little floor space. =Building Material.= The apartment building is built out of grocery boxes. The boxes used for the units must be of equal size, and the thing to do is to select those in which a standard brand of goods come packed. If one grocery store doesn't have what you want, go to another. If the sides and ends of the boxes are in one piece, it will greatly simplify the matter of cutting the door and window openings. =The Room Dimensions.= The boxes used in the model illustrated were 28 inches long, 13 inches wide, and 8 inches deep. These provided space for a vestibule 3 inches by 8 inches, a reception-hall 8-1/2 inches by 8 inches, a living-room 12 inches by 18-1/2 inches, a dining-room 12 inches by 15 inches, a kitchen 12 inches by 8 inches, a pantry 7 inches by 3 inches, two bedrooms--one 12 inches square and the other 12 inches by 8 inches, and a bathroom 7-1/2 inches by 6 inches (Fig. 245). You may have to vary the sizes of your rooms a trifle, if you get boxes of different proportions, but it is probable that you can keep to the same plan arrangement. [Illustration: FIG. 245.--Plan of the Six-Room Doll Apartment.] =The First Story Unit= is shown in Fig. 246, and diagrams of its two partitions _A_ and _B_, are placed to the right of it; Fig. 247 shows =The Second Story Unit=, with diagrams of its three partitions _C_, _D_, and _E_, placed to the left and right of it, and Fig. 248 shows =The Third Story Unit=, with diagrams of its two partitions _F_ and _G_ placed to the left of it. [Illustration: FIG. 244.--HOW THE THREE STORIES ARE ARRANGED SIDE BY SIDE TO FORM A SIX-ROOM APARTMENT.] [Illustration: FIG. 243.--THE MOST STYLISH APARTMENTS IN DOLL TOWN.] [Illustration: FIG. 246.--The First Story Unit and Diagram of Partitions.] [Illustration: FIG. 247.--The Second Story Unit and Diagram of Partitions.] [Illustration: FIG. 248.--The Third Story Unit and Diagram of Partitions.] =Mark the Door and Window Openings= carefully upon the sides of the box, making them as nearly as possible in the same proportion to the wall space as is shown in the illustrations. Then, in cutting the openings, bore a number of small holes a trifle inside of the lines, to make an opening large enough to insert a small keyhole-saw or bracket-saw, and the cutting will be easy to do. =The Bay Windows= on the second and third stories are built of cigar-box wood. Instead of cutting away the entire width of the box at the points of attaching these bays, it is a better plan to leave a narrow strip over the opening, as shown in Fig. 249. This will hold the walls together, and will form a "beam" across the ceiling. The side edges of the pieces that form the front of the bay must be slanted off so as to fit at the proper angles, and the window openings must be cut carefully, because the margin of wood around them is narrow and will split easily. Fasten together the members of the bays, also the inside partitions, with glue and brads. [Illustration: FIG. 249.--In Cutting the Opening for the Bay Windows, leave a Narrow Strip over the Opening, as above, for a "Beam."] =The Joints between the Units=, when piled one upon another, are concealed by a band of wood 1/2 inch wide nailed around the front and two ends of the bottom of the second and third story units (Figs. 247 and 248). These bands should project about 1/4 inch below the bottoms of these boxes, so as to set down over the boxes beneath. They must not extend around the back of the boxes, and cannot be fastened to the first story box, because they would interfere with placing the boxes close together as in Fig. 244. The first story unit must be raised to the same floor level as the other stories, however, and a thin board of the same thickness as the projection of the strips on the second and third story units must be nailed to its bottom to bring it to the same level (Fig. 246). [Illustration: FIGS. 250 and 251.--How the Removable Roof is Constructed.] [Illustration: FIG. 252.--How the Chimney and Chimney Cap are Made.] =The Roof Construction= is shown in Fig. 250. Boards _H_ (Figs. 250 and 251) should be cut of the right size to form a projection of 1-1/2 inches over the front and ends of the building, and the piece _I_ should be cut to the proper shape and size to form an equal projection over the bay windows. Strips _J_ and _K_ are 1 inch wide, and should be fastened to boards _H_ so they will come exactly over the front and end walls when the roof is set in place. Block _L_ should be cut of such a shape and size that when nailed to strip _K_ its front edges will come directly over the walls of the bay windows. A narrow strip nailed to the under side of the roof boards, close against the walls, will conceal the joint between the roof and top story and make a good finish molding. =The Chimney= is made of two blocks (_M_ and _N_, Fig. 252). Notch the lower block to fit over strip _J_, and cut the cap block large enough to project 1/8 inch all around. =The Windows.= Old photograph plates can be cut down to the proper sizes for the window openings, but it will not cost much to have the paint-shop man cut them out of new material, if you haven't any. The glass should be just a trifle smaller than the openings. Fasten it in place with narrow strips of cigar-box wood. Window sashes can be indicated by striping the glass with black paint. =Make the Front Door= out of a piece of cigar-box wood, and set a piece of glass in an opening cut about the size shown in Fig. 243. This door may be hinged to open, but it is better to fasten it in the opening, because small pieces are easily broken off their hinges. Fasten a small block below the front door for a step (Fig. 243). =The Inside Doorways=, in the ends of the first story unit and in the back of the second and third story units, may be fitted with pieces of board that can be set in when the units are piled up in the form of the building, but it is not necessary to make this provision. =The Interior Trim.= The door and window casings, picture moldings, baseboards, and other trimming should be made out of strips of cigar-box wood. Tack the strips in place with short brads. [Illustration: FIG. 253.--The Living-Room Mantel.] [Illustration: FIG. 254.--Details of Mantel.] =A Fireplace= must be provided for the living-room, and one easily constructed out of four pieces of wood is shown in Figs. 253 and 254. Cut blocks _O_ and _P_ of the same thickness, and make the shelf piece _Q_ of the proper size to project an equal distance over the front and ends. Fasten the pieces together, then glue red paper to the wood, and when this has dried mark off brick courses with a pencil. The joints may be accentuated by striping with white or black paint. =Lighting Fixtures=, simple to make, are shown in two splendid forms in Figures 255 and 257. Small brass screw-hooks such as are shown in Figure 256 can be purchased at any hardware store, and a couple of dozen of these, a lead pencil, and a number of large beads, will furnish you with enough material for making fixtures for every room in the apartment. You will see by Fig. 256 that the lighting fixture shown in Fig. 255 consists of a screw-hook with its hooked end stuck through one of the little brass plates removed from another screw-hook, and then pushed into the hole in the end of a short piece of lead-pencil. Cut the pencil end about 1/2 inch long, push out the piece of lead, and if necessary enlarge the hole to accommodate the hook end. If the piece of pencil comes apart where glued, re-glue it. Glue the little brass cap to the top. Paint the pencil end white, to represent glass, and indicate metal division strips, or _leading_, with black paint or ink. [Illustration: FIGS. 255-258.--Two Lighting Fixtures and how to Make Them.] The lighting fixture shown in Fig. 257 is made in the same way as the other one, except that a bead instead of the pencil end is used for a globe (Fig. 258). The fixture in Fig. 255 is better suited to the living-room and dining-room, and for fastening each side of the front door; the fixture in Fig. 257 is better for the other rooms. =Decorating.= Suggestions for decorating a doll-house are given in Chapter XIV, but here are some additional ideas to suit the conditions of the apartment. It is the modern practice to tint walls of apartments, and the best plan is to cover the walls of each room with plain paper, using a paper of a different color for each room. The dining-room should have a plate-rail on which to stand plates (pictures of plates cut from advertisements and pasted upon cardboard), and the walls below the plate-rail should be paneled with strips of cigar-box wood for division strips (Fig. 244). =The Outside Walls= of the apartment building are supposedly brick; therefore paint them a good red, brown, or yellow brick color, and paint the roof cornice, and the horizontal bands between stories, white, as a contrast. CHAPTER XVII HOME-MADE DOLL FURNITURE The metal furniture which you can buy is very pretty when it is new, but this new appearance does not last long after it has come into a youngster's possession, for the pieces are very slender and delicate, and thus easily broken. Wooden furniture is the most durable kind, and plain and simple pieces will generally outlast the fancy ones. The designs illustrated in this chapter make very substantial pieces, as there are no spindle legs or fancy arms to break off. They follow the lines of the mission furniture, that simple style used in the early American mission schools, and which is to-day being extensively made in handsome pieces for the furnishings of modern homes. You will find the =Miniature Mission Furniture=, illustrated and described in this chapter, simple to make and something which is easy to sell, for there is nothing like it at present upon the market. Cigar-boxes furnish the nicest material for making this furniture, and the various parts can be cut to the right shape and size with =A Scroll-saw.= Procure small brads and glue with which to fasten the pieces together. =To Prepare the Cigar-boxes= for use, place them in a tub of boiling water and let them remain there until the paper labels readily pull off. Do not use a knife in removing the paper, as it is likely to roughen the wood. The paper will come off by allowing it to soak long enough. When the boxes are clean, set them in the sun to dry, after binding the covers to the backs to prevent them from warping. Pull the boxes apart when they are thoroughly dry, and throw out such pieces as have printing upon them, for these would spoil the appearance of the furniture if used. In order to simplify the matter of cutting the parts that make the furniture, the curved pieces have been drawn out carefully on page 177, so that they can be laid off upon the strips of cigar-boxes without any trouble, by the process of =Enlarging by Squares.= These drawings are shown one-quarter of their full size (half their width and half their height). To enlarge them procure a piece of cardboard nine by thirteen inches, or a little larger than twice the size of the drawing each way, and divide it into squares just twice the size of those on page 177. That will make sixteen squares in the width of the cardboard and twenty-four in the length, each half an inch square. In order to get the squares spaced equally, it is best to lay off the points first with a ruler along the top, bottom, and two sides of the sheet of cardboard, and then connect the points with the ruler and a sharp lead-pencil. Then number the squares as in the illustration, using the figures along the sides and letters across the top and bottom of the sheet. With the sheet of cardboard thus prepared it is a simple matter to =Reproduce the Drawings= of Figs. 259 to 266 by locating the points of the curves and corners of the pieces, as shown in the illustrations, in corresponding positions in the squares on your cardboard sheet. The curves may be drawn in by eye, after locating them with reference to their surrounding squares, but the surest way of enlarging them accurately is by laying off the points where the curve strikes each horizontal and vertical line in the illustration, upon the enlarged drawing. These points can then be connected with a curved line. Make all of the lines heavy so they can be distinguished from your guide lines, and after carefully going over the drawing, comparing it with that on page 177 to see that no mistake has been made in locating the points in enlarging, cut the various pieces apart. These will give you =The Patterns= with which to mark out the pieces on the wood. We will first note the construction of =The Chairs= shown in Figs. 267 and 268. These are four and one-half inches high, two inches wide, and an inch and one-half deep. Cut the back for the chair in Fig. 267 four and three-eighths inches high and an inch and three-quarters wide, the sides by the pattern in Fig. 259 and the seat an inch and one-quarter by an inch and three-quarters. With the pieces cut out, fasten them together with brads and glue, placing the seat between the arms and back so that it is an inch and one-half above the base. [Illustration: FIGS. 259-266.--Patterns for Furniture.] [Illustration: FIG. 267. Chairs FIG. 268.] Cut the back for the other chair (Fig. 268) four and one-half inches high by two inches wide, the seat an inch and a quarter by an inch and three-quarters, and the sides an inch and three-eighths wide by two and one-half high. To get the curve in the bottom edge of the side pieces, use the pattern in Fig. 259. =The Settee= (Fig. 269) should have its sides cut by the pattern of Fig. 260. Make the back piece three and three-quarters inches wide and three and one-quarter inches high, and the seat three and three-quarters inches by an inch and one-half. Fasten the seat against the back an inch and one-half above the base. [Illustration: FIG. 269.--A Settee.] =Tables= for the living-room, dining-room, bedroom, ball-room, and nursery of a doll-house may be patterned after the designs of Figs. 270 and 271. These should be two and one-half inches high to be of proper proportion for the chairs. [Illustration: FIG. 270.--A Table.] The pieces necessary to make Fig. 270 are a top two inches square, two sides an inch and one-half wide by two and one-half inches high, and a shelf an inch and one-quarter square. Fasten the pieces together as in the illustration, placing the shelf between the side pieces an inch from the bottom. The other design (Fig. 271) will do nicely for =A Dining-room Table=, or table for the center of the living-room. The top of this should be five inches long and three inches wide. Cut the side pieces by the pattern in Fig. 261 and, after fastening them to the under side of the table-top four inches apart, brace them with a strip three and three-quarters inches long by half an inch wide, as shown in Fig. 271. [Illustration: FIG. 271.--Another Design.] =A Side-board= similar to Fig. 272 should be made for the dining-room. The pattern for the side pieces is shown in Fig. 262. After sawing these out, cut a piece seven inches long by three inches wide for the back and fasten the side pieces to the edges of it. The location of the shelves can be obtained best by referring to Fig. 272 and the pattern in Fig. 262. Cut the bottom shelf (_A_ in Fig. 272) three inches long by an inch and one-quarter wide and fasten it to the side pieces half an inch above the base (line 24 on pattern, Fig. 262). Make shelf _B_ three by one inches and place it at line 22. _C_ should be three and three-quarters inches long by an inch and one-half wide, with a small notch cut near each end with your knife, to make it fit over the side pieces (see illustration). Cut shelf _D_ three inches long by half an inch wide, fastening it in place at line No. 17, _E_ three inches long by seven-sixteenths of an inch wide, fastening it at line No. 15, and _F_ three inches long by three-eighths of an inch wide, fastening it at line No. 13. The top shelf (_G_) is three and three-quarters inches long and half an inch wide and is fastened to the tops of the side pieces as shown in the drawing. The lower portion of the side-board is inclosed with two doors two inches high by an inch and one-half wide. Small pieces of cloth may be used for hinges, but it is better to use pins, running them through the shelf above and below (_A_ and _C_, Fig. 272) into the doors. Stick the pins near the edge of the doors and see that they are straight, so the doors will open easily. A small mirror attached to the back between shelves _C_ and _D_ will complete this piece of furniture. [Illustration: FIG. 272.--A Side-board.] =A Mirror= in a frame should be made for the living-room of the doll-house. A neat and suitable design for one of these will be seen in Fig. 273. For its construction cut two sides by means of the pattern in Fig. 263, a piece five inches long by three inches wide for the back, and a strip three inches long by three-eighths of an inch wide for a shelf. Fasten the sides to the edges of the back piece, and the shelf between the sides about three-quarters of an inch above the base. Now procure a mirror such as you can buy in a toy-shop for five or ten cents (or a piece of a broken mirror cut down to the right size will do very nicely), and attach it to the center of the back. [Illustration: FIG. 273.--A Mirror.] =The Grandfather's Clock= (Fig. 274) makes an effective piece of furniture for the hall or living-room, and is easily made. Figure 264 shows the pattern for the front of this clock. The back is made the same, with the omission of the square opening cut in the front frame for the clock-face. Cut a block of wood two by two by three-quarters inches to fit between the frames at the top. After nailing the pieces together, procure a face from a toy watch, and fasten it in the opening made for it in the front frame. A button suspended by means of a piece of thread from a tack placed in the bottom of the block forms the pendulum. It will be unnecessary to give any suggestions for [Illustration: FIG. 274. A Grandfather's Clock.] =Kitchen Furniture=, such as chairs and tables, for these can also be made out of cigar-box wood similar to the designs illustrated in this chapter, with perhaps a few modifications which will make them simpler. Now for the making of some pieces of bedroom furniture. You will find in Figs. 275 and 276 two designs that are easily carried out, one or both of which may be used for =The Beds= of a doll-house. To make Fig. 275, cut the head and foot by means of the pattern in Fig. 265, and cut the two sides by means of the pattern in Fig. 266. After preparing these pieces and fastening them together as shown in the illustration (Fig. 275), cut a few strips a quarter of an inch wide for slats and fasten them between the sides of the bed. It is advisable to fasten these in place to prevent them from being lost. The side pieces for the other bed (Fig. 276) are cut out with the same pattern (Fig. 266). [Illustration: FIG. 275.--A Bed.] [Illustration: FIG. 276.--Another Design.] Make the head and foot pieces three by four and one-half inches, cutting a piece two by an inch and one-quarter out of the top of each as shown in the drawing (Fig. 276), and using the pattern of the other bed for cutting the curve in the bottom edge. Nail the pieces together in their proper places, after which cut some slats and fasten them in the bottom. =The Dresser= (Fig. 277) is made somewhat similar to the side-board. Cut the sides by the same pattern (Fig. 262) and fasten them to the edges of the back piece, which should be six and one-half inches high by three inches wide. Cut shelf _A_ three by one and one-quarter inches, _B_ and _C_ three by one and one-eighth, _D_ three by one and three-sixteenths, and _E_ and _F_ one-half by one and one-quarter inches. Fasten shelf _A_ between the sides at line No. 24 (see Fig. 262), _B_ at line No. 23, _C_ at line No. 22, _D_ at line No. 21, and notch the ends of _E_ and _F_ to fit over the side pieces at line No. 20. [Illustration: FIG. 277.--A Dresser.] Drawers to fit the lower shelves of the dresser may be made out of small strips of cigar-boxes or pieces of cardboard, glued together. A small mirror fastened in the position shown in the drawing will complete the work upon this piece of furniture. =A Wash-stand= can be made for the bathroom and each of the bedrooms similar to Fig. 278. The sides for this should be five inches high by an inch and one-quarter wide, and the shelves one by three inches. Fasten the lower shelf three-quarters of an inch above the base, and the top shelf at a height of two and one-half inches. When the stand has been put together, fit a round stick, about an eighth of an inch in diameter, in holes made in the sides with a gimlet (see illustration). This forms the towel-rack. Hang a small drapery over the lower portion of the stand. [Illustration: FIG. 278.--A Wash-stand.] =Finishing.= When the pieces of furniture have been completed, they should be rubbed down with emery-paper to remove the rough edges, and also any rough places that may have been caused by soaking the boxes in water. Then give the wood several coats of linseed-oil. This makes a beautiful finish for this kind of wood, which may be improved by adding a coat of wax. The little hearts may be painted upon the pieces as shown in the illustration, with a small brush and red paint, or may be cut out of red paper and glued to the wood. If desired, the bedroom furniture may be painted with white enamel. OTHER CIGAR-BOX FURNITURE In Figs. 279 and 282 will be found some pieces of furniture that are simpler to make than those just described, and although they may not be so pretty, they present a very good appearance when neatly made. The author constructed many pieces of this furniture when a boy, and found them suitable as presents, and something that was always easy to sell. The cost of making a set amounts to but a few cents, cigar-boxes being the principal material. They are also very quickly made, as the boxes require but little cutting. [Illustration: FIG. 279.--A Doll's Folding-bed.] For the construction of =A Folding-bed=, such as is shown in Figs. 279 and 280, select two cigar-boxes, one of which will fit inside the other. The smaller box should be a little shorter than the inside opening of the larger box. [Illustration: FIG. 280.--Folding-bed (open).] [Illustration: FIG. 281.--Foot.] After removing the paper from each, place the smaller box inside the larger one, as shown in Fig. 279, so that the bottom of the inner box is flush with the edge of the outer box. Then drive a brad through both boxes on each side, about three-quarters of an inch from the end as shown at _A_ (Fig. 279). These brads should run through the outer box into the bottom of the inner box, and should be driven in carefully so as not to split the wood. The inner box should now fold down as shown in Fig. 280, moving upon the brad pivots. Purchase a five or ten cent mirror and fasten it to the front of the bed, after which cut two wooden feet similar to Fig. 281 and glue the pegs on the ends of these in gimlet holes made above the mirror. Finish the wood the same as described for the other cigar-box furniture. [Illustration: FIG. 282.--Dresser Completed.] [Illustration: FIG. 283.--A Doll's Dresser.] =The Dresser= shown in Fig. 282 is made out of a box the same size as the larger one used for the folding-bed. Saw the sides of the box in half, crosswise, and remove the upper half and the end piece. Then nail the end across the tops of the remaining halves of the sides. When this has been done, divide up the lower portion of the box into compartments as shown in the drawing (Fig. 283). This should have a small drapery hung over it. The upper portion of the dresser should have a mirror attached to it, and some lace draped over the top and sides will add greatly to its appearance. All you will have to do in making =A Wardrobe= will be to fasten some small hooks inside of a cigar-box, attach the cover with a strip of linen--the same way it was attached before you soaked it off--and hang a mirror on the front. These pieces of furniture were designed for separate sets, and would not do for doll-houses the size of those in the preceding chapters, unless the boxes were cut down to smaller proportions. CHAPTER XVIII HOME-MADE CIGAR-BOX TOYS Cigar-boxes are splendid material for a variety of home-made toys. In this chapter are shown some easily constructed wagons, a Jack-in-the-box, a cradle, and several tables and chairs of a different pattern from the doll furniture for which working drawings were given in the preceding chapter. Get an assortment of shapes and sizes of boxes at a cigar store, and prepare them for use as directed on page 175. Use 3/8 inch and 1/2 inch brads, and glue, for fastening the pieces together. A scroll-saw, bracket-saw, coping-saw, or a very sharp jack-knife should be used where =Cutting= is necessary. Do not attempt to split the wood, as the grain is seldom straight, but lay it down upon a board and _score_ it with a knife in the way in which you would score a piece of cardboard; then break it along the scored line, or continue cutting until the piece is cut in two. If you use a saw, cut a little away from the outlines of the work and then trim up with a knife and sandpaper. The wagons, Jack-in-the-box, and doll furniture shown in this chapter were designed with the idea of saving as much cutting as possible, and you will see by the illustrations that in many cases the boxes are not altered. =The Express-wagon= shown in Fig. 284 is made out of a long flat box. Cut down the sides at the front and construct a seat on top of the sides as shown in Fig. 286. Cut the front wheels about 2-1/4 inches in diameter and the rear wheels about 2-3/4 inches in diameter. If you haven't a compass with which to describe the circles, you can mark out the wheels with cups or glass tumblers. Cut the wooden axles as shown in Fig. 286, making the front axle--for the smaller wheels--deeper than the rear one, then fasten them to the wagon and nail the wheels to their ends. Drive a tack into the front of the wagon-box and tie a cord to it, or, if you have a small toy horse to hitch to the wagon, fasten a pair of shafts to the under side of the box as is shown upon the two-wheel cart. [Illustration: FIG. 286.--Cross-section of the Express-wagon.] =The Cart= in Fig. 285 is made out of a square flat box with its wheels fastened to the center of the under side. Make the wheels about 2-3/4 inches in diameter. [Illustration: FIG. 284. AN EXPRESS-WAGON.] [Illustration: FIG. 285. A CART.] =The Auto Delivery-wagon= (Figs. 287 and 288. See _Frontispiece_) requires two boxes 8-1/2 inches long, 5 inches wide, and 2-1/2 inches deep. You will see by the illustrations that one box is inverted upon the other. Before fastening them together, remove the two ends of the upper box and the rear end of the lower box (leaving the front end for the _dashboard_), and cut 2 inches off the sides at the front and an additional piece 1 inch by 1-3/4 inches from the sides of the upper box for windows. Fasten the boxes together by nailing strips to the ends of side pieces. Nail a narrow strip across the top of the rear end of the wagon and hinge a drop _end-gate_ to the wagon-bed with cloth strips. Support the end-gate with a cloth strap. Tack a curtain of black cloth to the top cross strip and sew two cloth straps to the curtain, so that it may be fastened up in a roll, as shown in the photograph. Make the wheels and axles like those of the express wagon, but cut the front and rear wheels, also the two axles, of equal size. Cut out a small steering-wheel and fasten it on a short wooden rod inside of the dashboard. Make a seat and seat back, nail the back to the seat, and then fasten the seat between the sides of the wagon just below the windows. =A Jack-in-the-box= (Fig. 289) is a simpler toy to make than you might imagine. The box should measure about 5-3/4 inches by 5-3/4 inches by 5 inches. Hinge the cover to the top with two pieces of heavy cloth; glue one piece to the inside of the cover and box, and the other to the outside. Drive a small tack into the front edge of the cover, and below it fasten a small hook on to the box; the hook may be bent from a short piece of wire. A spiral spring from an old bed-spring will do for Jack's body, but if you cannot get one of these it is a simple matter to make a spring. Take a piece of No. 12 gauge wire about 10 feet in length and wind it around a rolling-pin or anything that is cylindrical and about 2-1/2 inches in diameter. Fasten this spring with doubled-pointed tacks upon a piece of wood cut to fit the inside of the box (Fig. 290), then procure a small doll's head, baste a circular piece of cardboard to the top of the spring and to this sew the head. Make a cloth fool's cap to glue on Jack's head, covering his hair entirely, and also a loose jacket to fit over his spiral body; for these use any bright-colored cotton cloth that will fall into folds easily. Tack the base of the spring to the bottom of the box. [Illustration: FIG. 297. Leg of Dining-table.] [Illustration: FIG. 296. Pedestal of Center-table.] Make the seat for =The Round-seated Chair= shown in Fig. 291 2 inches in diameter, the back 5 inches high, 2 inches wide at the top, and 1-1/4 inches wide at the seat; cut the front leg 2-1/8 inches high by 1-1/4 inches wide. =The Round Center-table= (Fig. 292) should have a base built up of four strips as shown in Fig. 296. Cut the circular top 5 inches in diameter. A saucer may be used with which to mark this out. Select a long flat box for =The Dining-table= shown in Fig. 293, and after making four built-up legs as shown in Fig. 297 fasten them into the four corners of the box table top with brads and glue. [Illustration: FIG. 295. A DOLL'S CRADLE.] [Illustration: FIG. 291. A ROUND-SEATED CHAIR.] [Illustration: FIG. 289. A JACK-IN-THE-BOX.] [Illustration: FIG. 292. A ROUND CENTER-TABLE.] [Illustration: FIG. 293.--A DINING-TABLE.] [Illustration: FIG. 290.--THE SKELETON OF THE JACK-IN-THE-BOX.] [Illustration: FIG. 294.--A SQUARE-SEATED CHAIR.] In making the little =Square-seated Chair= (Fig. 294), cut the seat about 2 inches wide by 2-1/4 inches deep, the front legs 2-1/8 inches high by 3/8 inch wide, and the back legs 4-1/2 inches high by 3/8 inch wide. Brace the legs and back with crosspieces, and you will have a very firm and artistic dining-room chair. Select a box about 9 inches by 5 inches by 2-1/4 inches in size for making =The Doll's Cradle= shown in Fig. 295. Cut the two rockers by the pattern in Fig. 298 and fasten them to the bottom of the box 1 inch from the ends. Use the rim of a breakfast plate in drawing the arc of the rockers; then draw the rounded ends, being careful to get them alike. Saw out the rockers very particularly so as not to split off the ends. Fasten the pieces to the cradle box with brads driven through the box bottom into their top edge. [Illustration: FIG. 298.--Pattern for Cradle Rockers.] After the cigar-box toys have been made, rub down the wood with fine sandpaper. Then drive all nail-heads below the surface, fill up the holes with putty stained to match the wood as nearly as possible, and finish with two coats of boiled linseed-oil. Apply the oil with a rag, then wipe off all surplus oil with a dry cloth. CHAPTER XIX HOME-MADE SPOOL AND CARDBOARD TOYS All that is required for making the little toys shown in this chapter are spools, cardboard, paper, a straight-grained stick out of which to cut pegs, some tacks, pins, and glue. [Illustration: FIG. 299.--Doll Carriage.] Did you ever see a better model of =A Baby Carriage= than that shown in Fig. 299, with its rounded ends, arched bottom, and adjustable hood? It is easy to make. Figure 300 shows the details for constructing the carriage body. Cut four wooden pegs to fit loosely in the holes of four spools of equal size, and make them of the right length so when slipped into the holes their ends will project about 1/4 inch beyond the spool ends. Then cut the bottom strip _B_ 5 inches long by the width of the spools, bend it slightly as shown, to give a curve to the carriage bottom, and tack the ends of the strip to two of the spools (_A_). [Illustration: FIGS. 300-302.--Details of Doll Carriage.] The sides _C_ are of cardboard and should be 1-1/2 inches wide at the widest point, by the length of the carriage body. Punch holes through these side pieces in the right places for the ends of the pegs in spools _A_ to stick through. Before fastening the side pieces to spools _A_, you must attach the wheels (Figs. 301 and 302). Cut the cardboard uprights _D_ 3-1/2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide; then after cutting holes through each near the ends, for the spool pegs to slip through, cut down the width between the holes to about 1/4 inch (Fig. 302). Slip the lower ends of uprights _D_ over the pegs in spool wheels _E_, then the upper ends over the pegs in spools _A_. Glue the upper ends to the ends of spools _A_, then slip the carriage sides _C_ over the pegs of spools _A_, and glue them in place. [Illustration: FIG. 303.--Baby Carriage Hood.] [Illustration: FIG. 304.--Diagram of Hood.] [Illustration: FIG. 305.--Carriage Handles.] The carriage hood (Fig. 303) is made of a piece of stiff paper about 4-1/2 inches square (Fig. 304), slashed in three places along two opposite edges for a distance of about 1-1/2 inches, and then folded over as indicated by dotted lines. Bring together the ends of the slashed edges of the piece of paper, as shown in Fig. 303, coat them with glue, and press together until the glue has dried. Punch a hole through each side of the top, as shown, for the projecting ends of the spool peg to slip through. The carriage handle is made of two cardboard strips (_F_, Fig. 305), and a match (_G_). Stick the match through holes made near the ends of strips F, and glue the lower ends of the strips to the inside face of the sides (Fig. 299). This completes the carriage. [Illustration: FIG. 306.--The Two-wheel Cart. FIG. 307-309.--Details of Cart.] =The Two-wheel Cart= (Fig. 306) is made of a small box cover, and one of the spools on which crochet-cotton comes. Prepare a bent piece of cardboard like that shown in Fig. 308, with ends _A_ turned down at the proper points so there will be only room enough between them for the spool to turn freely. Punch a hole through each turned down end for a stick axle to run through. [Illustration: FIG. 310.--Merry-go-round.] [Illustration: FIG. 311.--Teeter.] [Illustration: FIG. 312.--Cardboard Strip for Merry-go-round and Teeter.] [Illustration: FIG. 313.--Boy and Girl Riders for Merry-go-round and Teeter.] Then cut two slots through the box cover the same distance apart as ends _A_ (Fig. 307), centering the pair both crosswise and lengthwise of the cover, and stick ends _A_ through the slots and glue portion _B_ to the cover. Cut the wheel axle enough smaller than the spool hole so the spool will turn easily, then push it through the hole in the spool and the holes in ends _A_. Glue the end of a cardboard strip to the under side of the cover for a shaft. =The Toy Merry-go-round= in Fig. 310 consists of a strip of heavy cardboard turned up at its ends (Fig. 312), tacked at its center to the end of a stick cut small enough to turn easily in the hole in a spool. The spool slipped over the stick is grasped by the right hand, and the left hand starts the merry-go-round and keeps it in motion by twirling the stick to which the cardboard strip is fastened. The boy and girl riders, shown in Fig. 313 are of the right size so you can trace them off upon a piece of tracing-paper and then transfer to cardboard. After cutting them out of the cardboard, color both sides with crayons or water-colors, and glue them to the turned-up ends of the cardboard strip. [Illustration: FIG. 314.--Doll Swing.] [Illustration: FIG. 315.--Detail of Swing.] =The Teeter-Board= (Fig. 311) is made of the same kind of a strip as that used for the merry-go-round (Fig. 312). Tack this strip at its center to the side of a spool, and mount the spool in a cardboard frame in the same way that the spool wheels of the cart are mounted (Figs. 308 and 309); but make the peg axle to fit tight in the spool hole. Prepare a boy and girl rider similar to those made for the merry-go-round (Fig. 313). The teeter is operated by turning the end of the spool axle first one way then the other. [Illustration: FIGS. 316 and 317.--Details of Swing Seat.] =The Doll Swing= shown in Fig. 314 has a cardboard base, with two spools fastened to it 4 inches apart to support the framework. Tack the base to the ends of the spools. The framework uprights are tightly rolled tubes of paper 10 or 12 inches long, and the top crosspiece is another paper tube 4 inches long. Stick the lower ends of the uprights into the spool holes; then fasten the crosspiece to their tops by running pins through it and into the upright ends (Fig. 315), and then lashing the connections with thread as shown in Fig. 314. [Illustration: FIG. 318.--Sofa.] The swing seat is made of a spool with a cardboard back fastened to it (Figs. 316 and 317). Suspend the spool with thread from the top of the swing crosspiece. [Illustration: FIGS. 319-321.--Details of Sofa.] =A Sofa= with arm rolls, like that shown in Fig. 318, is a good example of what can be made in spool-and-cardboard doll furniture. Prepare the seat and back out of a single piece of cardboard, curving the top and ends of the back as shown, and making the width of the seat the same as the length of the spool arms. Fasten the spools by means of a strip of paper bent over them as shown in Fig. 320, and glued to the seat. Use small silk-thread spools (Fig. 321) for feet, and glue them to the seat at the four corners. [Illustration: FIG. 322.--Chair.] [Illustration: FIG. 323.--Square Center-table.] [Illustration: FIG. 324.--Round Center-table.] =The Chair= (Fig. 322) has a seat and back made out of a single piece of cardboard, with one-third of its length bent out for the seat. Glue the seat to a spool base. =The Square Center-table= (Fig. 323) has a crochet-cotton spool pedestal, and its top is a square piece of cardboard. Glue the spool to the exact center of the top. =The Round Center-table= (Fig. 324) is made similarly. Use the rim of a cup for marking out the circular top. With a little ingenuity you will be able to devise a great many other pieces of doll furniture, and other toys as well. CHAPTER XX A HOME-MADE TOY MAIL-BOX Who wants to play at being Uncle Sam, and have a postal system right in the house, or out on the front porch where it will be convenient for the children next door to enjoy it, too? Every small boy and girl loves to play postman, collect mail from the toy mail-box, cancel the stamps, sort out the letters into the proper routes, and then deliver them to those whom they are addressed to. The mail-box shown in Figs. 325 and 326 is easily made, and with =The Working Material= on hand can be completed in an evening. Two sheets of cardboard, a piece of muslin, some silver paper or paint, a piece of tape about 2 yards long, and a needle and thread, are required. The cardboard should be stiff enough to hold its shape, and yet be of light enough weight to cut and fold easily. Sheets 22 inches by 28 inches can be bought at any printing-shop, and at some stationery stores, and will not cost more than 10 cents a sheet at the most. If you have some large cardboard boxes, however, you can use them instead by so laying out the different parts that the corners of the boxes will come in the right places for the corners of the mail-box. [Illustration: FIG. 327.--Diagram for Making Sides, Ends, and Bottom of Mail-box.] [Illustration: FIG. 328.--Diagram for Making Top.] [Illustration: FIG. 329.--Diagram for Making End Pieces of Letter-Drop.] [Illustration: FIG. 330.--Diagram for Making Front Piece of Letter-Drop.] Figure 327 shows the diagrams for =Making the Sides, Ends, and Bottom= of the mail-box, with the dimensions of every portion marked upon them. Use a ruler with which to guide your pencil in drawing the straight lines, and a compass or the rim of a 9-inch plate for describing the arcs for the round tops of the end pieces. You will see that the front, one end, and the bottom are made in one piece, and that the back, other end, and a second bottom (to make that portion doubly strong) are cut from another piece. [Illustration: FIG. 325.--THE HOME-MADE MAIL-BOX STRAPPED TO THE FACE OF A DOOR.] [Illustration: FIG. 326.--THE HOME-MADE MAIL-BOX STRAPPED TO A CHAIR BACK.] [Illustration: FIG. 331.--The Sides, Ends, and Bottom folded ready to be put Together.] The dotted lines upon the diagram indicate where the cardboard should be folded. Figure 331 shows the sides, ends, and bottom folded ready to be put together. Turn the flaps inside, and glue them to the end pieces, and glue the two bottom pieces together; also sew the cardboard with a double thread to make the joining doubly secure. [Illustration: FIG. 332.--Top, showing how Portion is Bent up for Back of Letter-Drop.] [Illustration: FIG. 333.--Ends of Letter-Drop.] [Illustration: FIG. 334.--Front of Letter-Drop.] [Illustration: FIG. 335.--Top, with Letter-Drop Completed.] =The Top of the Box=--the diagram for the cutting of which is shown in Fig. 328--has a piece 3 by 7 inches cut out on all but one long side, and bent up to form the top of =The Letter-Drop= (Fig. 332). The diagram for the ends of the letter-drop is shown in Fig. 329, and for the front in Fig. 330; Fig. 333 shows how cloth flaps are glued to the end piece; and Fig. 335 shows how the end pieces are fastened to the top of the box by means of these flaps. Glue a strip of cloth to each side of the lower edge of the letter-drop front piece for hinges (Fig. 334), and glue one to the inside and the other to the outside of the top of the box (Fig. 335). Attach rubber-bands to the front and ends of the drop to make it spring shut. Glue and sew the top of the box to the flaps provided on the front and back for the purpose. [Illustration: FIG. 336.--Diagram for Making Collection-drop.] [Illustration: FIG. 337.--How the Collection-drop is Folded.] [Illustration: FIG. 338.--The Collection-drop Hinged in Place.] Figure 336 shows the diagram for =The Collection-drop=, and Fig. 337 how it looks folded. Hinge the drop to the box with a cloth strip (Fig. 338). =Reinforcement.= When the work has been finished thus far, cut a number of strips of muslin 1 inch wide and reinforce the corners with them. Then take the 2-yard length of tape, which you procured, and sew it to the back of the box to hang it up by. =Covering the Box.= Silver paper makes the nicest finish for the mail-box, and can be bought of a stationer; but you may paint the cardboard with aluminum radiator paint instead if you prefer. If you use silver paper, stick it on with flour paste. After the paper or paint has dried, paste =A Collection Schedule Card= upon the front of the box. You will need, also, to =Letter= the words, "Pull Down," "Letters," etc., where they are shown in the illustrations. =Hang up the Mail-box= by means of its tape strap, within easy reach, upon the face of a door (Fig. 325), or to the back of a chair (Fig. 326). =For a Mail-bag= use a school-book bag, or make one just like a real postman's out of brown denim or cambric. Letter "U. S. Mail" upon the bag with black paint, or cut the letters from black or white muslin and glue them in place. Provide a long strap to reach over the postman's shoulder. =The Way to Play Post-Office= is for several children to attend to the writing of letters and wrapping of parcels, another to play mail clerk, who puts the post-marks on the mail and sorts it out into "routes" and another to play postman. Canceled stamps from old letters may be re-used on the play letters, and a rubber-stamp dater such as they sell at the stationer's for 10 cents may be used for printing the post-marks. CHAPTER XXI A HOME-MADE REFLECTOSCOPE [Illustration: FIG. 339.--The Complete Reflectoscope.] [Illustration: FIG. 340.--Detail of Ventilator Top.] This reflecting lantern, shown completed in Fig. 339, is more magical in its operation than a magic-lantern is, because, instead of projecting through transparent slides, it reflects opaque pictures. That makes it possible to use magazine and newspaper pictures, post cards, and photograph prints. You may reflect a greatly enlarged picture of the movements of your watch, and by placing your face against the opening in the reflectoscope, you may show a view of your mouth opening and closing, giant size. The ease with which slides are obtained makes this a desirable lantern to own. [Illustration: FIG. 341.--Plan of Reflectoscope.] =The Material.= You must get a box about 10 by 10 by 20 inches in size for the case of the reflectoscope, two oil-lamps, or two 16 or 32 candle-power electric lamps with the parts necessary for connecting them to the electric lighting circuit, three 1-lb. baking-powder cans and two tomato cans, two pieces of tin about 6 by 10 inches in size, and a lens from a camera, field glass, opera glass, magic-lantern or bicycle-lamp. The bottom of the box will be the front of the reflectoscope. [Illustration: FIG. 342.--Cross-section of Reflectoscope.] =Cut the Lens Opening= through this, at the center of its length, and a trifle above the center of its width. Make the hole a trifle larger than the lens. =Cut Ventilator Holes= 3 inches in diameter through the uppermost side of the box, near to the ends and bottom. Figures 341 and 342 show =The Interior Arrangement= of the reflectoscope. Place the lamps in the corners of the box, next to the front, and tack in back of them the pieces of tin for reflectors (_A_, Figs. 341 and 342). Bend the reflectors to the curve shown. =If Oil Lamps are Used=, their tops will project through the ventilation holes, as shown in Fig. 342. These openings must be inclosed with =A Hood which will Conceal the Light=, yet allow the heat to escape. The most satisfactory arrangement is that shown in Figs. 339 and 342. A baking-powder can with its bottom removed (_B_) is slipped over the lamp chimney and fitted into the ventilation hole; then a tomato-can (_C_) is inverted over the top of the can and fastened in the slotted ends of three wooden peg stilts (_D_, Fig. 340), and the pegs are fitted into holes made in the top of the box (Figs. 339 and 342). Fasten the can in the slots of the stilts with tacks (Fig. 340). =If Electric Light is Used=, the hooded ventilators may be omitted. Any boy who understands the wiring of electric-lamp sockets, plugs, and drop-cord will know how to wire up the reflectoscope. Mount the Lens in a can or mailing-tube jacket (Fig. 343). If you use a can, remove the bottom. If the lens is smaller in diameter, make a band of cardboard strips to fit around the edge, as shown in Fig. 344, and glue these strips to the inside of the can or mailing-tube. The lens jacket should fit loosely enough in the reflectoscope box opening so it will slide back and forth for focusing. Make a tin collar to fit around the jacket, and tack it to the front of the box, to prevent light from escaping (Fig. 339). Before putting on the back of the reflectoscope box, =Putty up all Cracks= between the boards in the top and front, to make the box light-tight; then =Paint the Inside of the Box= and the cover boards with lamp-black thinned with turpentine, so there will be no reflections other than those produced by the lamp reflectors and the picture. [Illustration: FIGS. 343 and 344.--Details of Lens Mounting.] [Illustration: FIG. 345.--View of Back of Reflectoscope.] [Illustration: FIG. 346.--Detail of Post Card Holder.] =Nail the Back Boards in Place=, leaving an opening about 7 inches square directly opposite the lens. Cut a piece of board to fit this opening (_E_, Fig. 345) for =The Picture Holder=, and hinge it in place. A frame for post cards to slide in should be fastened to the picture holder, as shown in Fig. 346. First nail strips _F_ to board _E_, then tack strips _G_ to them so their edges project over strips _F_. A little wooden button (_H_, Fig. 345) will fasten the holder board shut while each picture is being projected. =The Lens Reverses Pictures= in projecting them, and in order to have them projected right-side up on the screen it is necessary to slip them into the holder frame upside down. =Adjustments.= After you have built your reflectoscope, you may find it does not throw sharply-defined images upon your projection screen. In that case you must readjust the focus of the lens, the curve of the lamp reflectors, and the distance between the lens and the projection screen, until the best possible results are obtained. Inasmuch as the positions will vary with different lenses, it is impossible for me to give any hard and fast measurements. You will have to determine the distances yourself. The stronger the light, the brighter the projected image will be; therefore, use the strongest light you can get, and place the lantern not more than five feet away from the screen. Unless you use an anastigmat lens such as the better grade of cameras are fitted with, you will discover that the corners of pictures are indistinct when you have brought the centers to a sharp focus. This indistinctness can be corrected to a great extent by blocking out the holder to curve the post cards and other pictures so that the ends are closer to the lens than the center is. INDEX A Airships," clockwork "flying, 102. Animal targets for toy shooting gallery, 142. Apartment building, doll, 165. Automobile, clockwork, 104. Automobile delivery wagon, clockwork, 112; cigar-box, 192. B Baby carriage, doll, 196. Ballast, toy elevator, 63. Balusters, doll-house stairway, 154. Battery, a bi-chromate of potash, 135. Bead portieres, doll-house, 157. Beds, doll-house, 183, 187. Bi-chromate battery fluid, 136. Boat, toy motor-, 33. Box-kite, 12. Bridle, Malay kite, 12; box-kite, 16. Buzz-saw whirligig, 71. C Cables, toy elevator, 61, 69; electro-magnet derrick, 123. Cardboard toys, 196. Carpets, doll-house, 157. Carriage, doll baby, 196. Cars, toy railway, 50; gondola, 52; street, 52; other forms of, 56; elevator, 60, 68, 150; Ferris wheel, 99. Cart, cigar-box, 192; cardboard, 199. Chairs, cigar-box, 176, 194, 195; cardboard, 203. Chauffeur for clockwork automobile, 111. Cigar-boxes, to prepare, for use, 175. Cigar-box toys, 191. Clock, a grandfather's, 182. Clock wheel top, 81. Clockwork automobile, 104. Clockwork automobile delivery wagon, 112. Clockwork Ferris wheel, 96. Clockwork "flying airships," 102. Clockwork merry-go-round, 89. Clockwork motors, 89, 97; increasing speed of, 103. Clockwork railway, 116. Clockwork toys, 88. Clog-dancer, toy, 72. Control, toy elevator, 65. Cosey-corner, doll-house, 158. Counter-balance, 61, 69. Cradle, doll's, 195. Cricket-rattle, 75. Curtains, doll-house, 157. D Decorating, doll-house, 156; doll apartment, 173. Delivery-wagon, clockwork automobile, 112; cigar-box, 192. Derrick, electro-magnet, 117. Doll apartment building, 165. Doll-house, 145; furnishing the, 156. Dresser, doll, 185, 189. E Egg-beater motor-winder, 31. Electrical toys, 117. Electric motor truck, toy, 132. Electro-magnet, 118. Electro-magnet derrick, 117. Elevator, model aeroplane, 25. Elevators, toy, 59. Elevator, toy office building, 59; an outdoor, 67; doll-house, 148. Enlarging by squares, 175. Express-wagon, cigar-box, 192. F Feed-hoist, toy stable, 163. Feed-troughs, toy stable, 162. Ferris wheel, clockwork, 96. Fin, model aeroplane, 26. Fireplace, doll apartment, 171. Fixtures, doll apartment lighting, 171. Floors, toy office building, 59; hardwood, for doll-house, 157. "Flying airships," clockwork, 102. Flying-line for kites, 12. Folding-bed, doll, 187. Furniture, cigar-box, 174, 194; cardboard, 203. Fuselage, model aeroplane, 22. G Gable-ends, doll-house, 151; toy stable, 161. Garage, toy (_see_ Stable). Gondola car, 52. Grandfather's clock, 182. Guides, toy elevator, 61, 69, 150. H Hand-rail, doll-house stairway, 153. Horses for merry-go-round, cardboard, 86, 92. House, doll-, 145; furnishing the doll-, 156; doll apartment, 165; furniture for doll-, 174, 194, 203. I Induction-coil, 126. Interrupter, shocking-machine, 129. J Jack-in-the-box, cigar-box, 193. Jumping-jack, 74. Jumping-jack operated by windmill, 7. K Kite, a Malay, 9; a box-, 12. Kite-reel, a hand, 17; a body, 19. L Launching a model aeroplane, 31. Lighting fixtures, doll apartment, 171. M Magnet, electro-, 118. Mail-bag, toy, 209. Mail-box, toy, 205. Malay kite, 9. Mantel, doll apartment, 171. Mechanical toys, 71. Merry-go-round, top, 85; clockwork, 89; cardboard, 201. Mirror, doll-house, 181. Mission furniture, doll, 174. Model aeroplane, 21; propellers for, 27; motors for, 29; motor-winder for, 31; launching a, 31. Motor-boat, toy, 33. Motors, clockwork, 89, 97; increasing speed of, 103. Motors, model aeroplane, 29; winder for, 31. Motors, water-(_see_ Water-motor). Motor, toy motor-boat, 37. Motor truck, toy electric, 132. Motor-winder, egg-beater, 31. N Newel-post, doll-house stairway, 153. O Office building elevator, toy, 59. P Partitions, toy office building, 60; doll-house, 145; stable stall, 162. Pictures, doll-house, 158. Pinion-wheel windmill, 2. Pinwheel, a paper, 1. Pistol, toy, card-shooting, 143. Planes, model aeroplane, 24. Portieres, doll-house, 157. Post-office with mail-box, to play, 209. Primary coil, induction-coil, 127. Propeller-shaft, model aeroplane, 29; toy motor-boat, 35. Propellers, model aeroplane, 27. Propeller, toy motor-boat, 35. Pulley-wheel, 42, 45, 62, 151. R Race-track, spinning-top, 82. Railway, toy, 47; trolley-line for, 47; power for, 49; tracks for, 50; cars for, 50; gondola car for, 52; street car for, 52; other cars for, 56; operation of, 56; station for, 57; clockwork, 116. Rattle, cricket, 75. Reel, a hand kite-, 17; a body kite-, 19. Reflectoscope, 210. Riders for merry-go-round, 86, 94. Risers, doll-house stairway, 153. Rugs, doll-house, 157. Rug-tack top, 82. S Secondary-coil, induction-coil, 127. Settee, doll, 178. Shocking machine, 124. Shoe-polish can top, 83. Shooting gallery, toy, 140. Side-board, doll, 180. Sleighs for merry-go-round, cardboard, 93. Sofa, doll, 203. Spinning-top race-track, 82. Spiral top, 85. Spool and cardboard toys, 196. Spool top, 82. Stable, toy, 160. Stairway for doll-house, 152, 154. Station for toy railway, 57. Straw portieres, doll-house, 158. Street car, toy, 52. Swing, doll, 202. Switch, electro-magnet derrick, 121. T Tables, cigar-box, 179, 180, 194; cardboard, 204. Tack top, 82. Targets, toy shooting gallery, 142. Teeter-board, 201. Thrust bearings, 23, 35. Top, clockwork, 81; rug-tack, 82; spool, 82; spinning, race-track, 82; shoe-polish can, 83; spiral, 85; merry-go-round, 85. Tops, 79. Track, spinning-top race, 82. Tracks, toy railway, 50. Treads, doll-house stairway, 153. Trolley-line, toy railway, 47. Troughs, toy stable feed-, 162. Truck, toy electric motor, 132. Turtle toy, 76. V Varnish-can water-motor, 38. W Wagon, cigar-box express-, 192. Wardrobe, doll, 190. Wash-stand, doll, 186. Water-motor, a varnish-can, 38; another form of, 42. Wheel, clockwork Ferris, 96. Wheel, water-motor, 39, 43. Whirligig, a buzz-saw, 71. Winder, model aeroplane motor-, 31. Windlass, electro-magnet derrick, 123. Windmill, a paper, 1; a pinion-wheel, 2; a four-blade, 4; an eight-blade, 5; jumping-Jack operated by a, 7. Window-shades, doll-house, 157. 
42278	----	generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 42278-h.htm or 42278-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42278/42278-h/42278-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42278/42278-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/toymakingathomeh00adamiala TOY-MAKING AT HOME How to Make a Hundred Toys from Odds and Ends by MORLEY ADAMS New York Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers Printed in Great Britain. PREFACE This work has been compiled with the assistance of Mr. Walter Higgins, the well-known instructor in woodwork. The volume fulfils a long-felt want in that it supplies fascinating amusement for evenings at home. The making of toys is an engrossing pastime, and the home-made toy is invariably more novel than the shop-bought article and of superior quality, besides which there is always a satisfaction in "I made it myself." The purpose of the book is to give simple and easily understood instructions and plain diagrams and sketches for making toys from the odds and ends that are usually discarded as useless. Matches, Match Boxes, Cotton Reels, Cocoa Tins, Cigar Boxes, and even Egg Shells comprise the materials from which are evolved Shops, Working Models, Dolls' Furniture, Boats, Steam Engines, Windmills, and scores of other toys dear to the hearts of boys and girls. Perhaps the chief charm of the occupation is that literally dozens of toys can be made at a cost of less than a penny. Every toy described in this book is practicable, and can be easily made by anyone possessing the smallest amount of handicraft skill. At the same time the instructions are such as will prove of the utmost value to instructors of handicraft classes. MORLEY ADAMS. TOY-MAKING AT HOME TOYS FROM ODDS AND ENDS In every household there are countless things which are thrown away immediately they have served one purpose. Cotton-reels may be taken as an instance. It does not occur to the majority of people that these little wooden articles, strongly made and well finished, may be put to some use, even when the cotton has been wound from them. Yet from them quite useful furniture can be made and playthings innumerable. And so it is with many other things--match boxes, broken clothes pegs, cocoa tins, mustard tins, egg shells, cigar boxes, nut shells, corks, incandescent-mantle cases, old broom handles: there is no end to the list. In the following pages we have set out to explain, largely to boys and girls, just how these odds and ends may be used for the construction of toys, games, and interesting models. The list is not by any means complete: such examples as are given are merely suggestive examples. The boy or girl who has patiently and thoughtfully made some of them will be in a position to devise and construct many more on similar lines. Most boys and girls are familiar with those little _paper windmills_, which turn round gaily in the gentlest breeze--the ones which the rag-and-bone man gives in exchange for an old bottle. They make a capital toy for baby brothers and sisters, and they are very easy to make. All you need is a six-inch square of stiff paper--coloured for preference--and two pieces of cardboard, each an inch square. First, you draw out your square as in Fig. 1, and then cut down the diagonals nearly to the centre square. Now take hold of a corner, and fold it over to the centre. Secure it there with a small dab of glue. Serve each of the other corners in turn in similar fashion. Now glue on your two cardboard squares--one at the centre of the back and the other in the front, covering the folded corners (Fig. 2). All you need now is a stout pin to push through the centre of the cards into the end of a stick. [Illustration: FIG. 1.] [Illustration: FIG. 2.] Now if you nail two strips of wood in the form of a cross, and pin on four or five differently coloured wheels, you will have a jolly little toy for which baby will thank you (Fig. 3). [Illustration: FIG. 3.] _N.B._--We shall frequently mention the word "glue" in the course of this little volume: therefore we had better explain just what we mean. Unless we state definitely otherwise, we refer to the prepared glue sold in tubes under various names--"Seccotine," "Le Page's Liquid Glue" and so on. These adhesives are admirable for all light work. They act best when put on thinly, and allowed partially to dry before the parts are pressed together. A very interesting little toy, which you can make in a few minutes, is the _Colour Wheel._--Take a piece of white cardboard, and from it cut a circle about 3 inches across. Now from the middle of this cut another circle about 3/4 in. across. This can be done quite easily by putting a sharp-pointed knife blade into the compass in place of a pencil. Divide the circle into seven equal parts, and paint or crayon the sections with the colours of the rainbow--red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. When this is dry, make a large loop of string and put it through the round hole of the card; and hold the ends of the loop one in each hand. Now if you turn the string at one end as if you were turning a skipping rope, and then suddenly pull it tight, your card will revolve very rapidly, and you will find that instead of a coloured card you have what appears to be a light grey one. This is really a little piece of science, for it shows that the white light about us is really made up of the different colours of the rainbow (Fig. 4). [Illustration: FIG. 4.] _A simple Counting Top._--Take a piece of cardboard, and on it draw two hexagons having 1-inch sides. To draw a hexagon, first draw a circle with its radius equal to the length of the side of the hexagon. Then without altering the compass measure off the radius six times round the circumference, and join the neighbouring points. Now cut out each of these and from each one cut out one triangular section (Fig. 5). Scratch lightly along the other lines with the back of the knife-point. Now bend these so as to form two five-sided pyramids. Close up the open space by binding the edges together with a strip of gummed paper (Fig. 6). When you have done this, place the two pyramids base to base, and secure them by means of small strips of gummed paper fixed along the edges. Bind all the edges in similar fashion for the sake of uniformity. All that is necessary now is to make a hole at the apex of each pyramid, and push an ordinary safety match through (Fig. 7). Now if you twirl the match in your fingers, and release it suddenly, the top will spin for quite a long time. To use it as a "counting top" or "dice top" paint the numbers 1 to 5 on the five triangular surfaces of the upper pyramid. Then when the top ceases spinning, the uppermost number is the one which counts. [Illustration: FIG. 5.] [Illustration: FIG. 6.] [Illustration: FIG. 7.] _Tents for Toy Soldiers._--Boys who play with lead soldiers often find that, in making up a game, they require some tents for the camp. These are quite easily made either from paper or from calico. Their size will depend, of course, upon the size of the soldiers; and it will be quite easy to construct them to measure two or three times the measurements given here. Here is a picture of one (Fig. 8). [Illustration: FIG. 8.] First cut out a cardboard circle for the base of the tents, say 2 in. radius. Now for the sloping canvas sides--the conical part, that is--draw out another circle, this time with a radius of 4 in. Only a part of this will be used; and to know just how much, roll the base circle round the circumference of the larger circle until it has completed one of its own revolutions (see Fig. 9). In cutting this out, one or two tongues should be left jutting out from the circumference: these fold over the edge of the base circle and secure the sloping sides in position. All we need now is a thin stick, about 4 in. long, to act as a centre pole. This should be glued to the centre of the base, and should have the sloping sides glued around it. A little paper flag at the top will complete the little structure. [Illustration: FIG. 9.] Most boys, and not a few girls, love to play at "soldiers" and there is no reason why each boy should not make himself a complete suit of armour, so that the game may be more real. _The Helmet._--With care this is not at all difficult to make: what difficulty there is lies in the adjustment and the size. First it is necessary to find out the distance round the head. This can be done with a piece of string; or, better still, with a linen inch-tape. Suppose the distance round is 21 in.: then the helmet can be made in seven sections, each 3 in. wide at the base. When these are brought together, they converge at the top to form a typical Norman headpiece (Fig. 10). [Illustration: FIG. 10.] Using stiff paper, cut the seven sections as in Fig. 11. These should be glued together, so that the connecting flanges are inside. (_N.B._--In doing this, it is very necessary to let the glue get nearly dry before pressing the pieces together: if it is quite fresh, the strain will pull the pieces apart.) Then at the apex of the sections glue on a circular piece of cardboard, about 1-1/2 in. across. For the ring at the base, cut a strip, just about 22 in. long, and having ornamented it in any fashion you please, glue the two ends together so as to form a circlet which will just go round the sections. Fix this to the seven sections with dabs of glue. [Illustration: FIG. 11.] All that is necessary now is a coating of aluminium paint to give just that real dull metallic appearance. If this paint is not available, you can cover with silver paper, but this is not nearly as effective. _The Breastplate._--While there is really less to do, and fewer sections to adjust, this presents quite as much difficulty as the helmet. It is best made in two sections. The exact shape can only be decided by trial: roughly, it is that shown in Fig. 12. The best method of procedure is to cut out two of these in newspaper, and fix them together with doll-pins, and then try them on in much the same way as a tailor fits a waist-coat--altering pins and cutting out shapes until the requisite fit is obtained. When this is done the two final sections can be cut out in cardboard (not omitting flanges), glued together and painted. If you are good at painting, you can ornament the two sides with a heraldic device in crimson or gold. [Illustration: FIG. 12.] To fix it, when wearing, strings are used. Small holes are bored at the four ends (and eyelets fixed in, if you can do so) and knotted strings passed through. Tie the bottom pair across the back with a knot (not a "grannie"). Now take one of the ends of this, and tie it with a string from one of the shoulder pieces. If the other shoulder piece be tied in similar fashion to the other back string, then the breastplate will be held correctly in position. The strings and all the back gear will be covered by the cloak and mantle, similar to that which knights in olden days wore over their armour. Before you put the breastplate on you can tie a towel or apron to come just to the knees: this will take the place of the "surcoat" (and serve to hide your knickers). For "greaves" or leg-armour you can cut out and paint cardboard shapes, like those shown in Fig. 13. These, when fixed with string, look quite well. [Illustration: FIG. 13.] While we are talking of soldiers, we may as well give details of _A War Game._--Most boys are familiar with the game known as "Tiddley-winks," in which the object is to make small bone counters hop into a cup by pressing their edges with a large bone counter. These materials can be used for a very interesting war game, consisting of the siege of a fort. The fort is simply a front elevation, similar to that shown in Fig. 14. This is drawn out in pencil on a piece of stout cardboard (or fretwood) and coloured in with paints or crayons. The windows are then cut out; and the whole thing made to stand upright by the addition of two or three triangular supports (Fig. 15). These are hinged on to the back by means of strong tape or canvas, so that the whole thing can pack up flat. [Illustration: FIG. 14.] Each player in turn places his small counters (generally six) anywhere in front of the fortress. He is now the attacking party, and his object is to shoot his counters through the different windows. If he succeeds in sending a counter through a window, then he "kills" that number of the enemy. The winner may be either the person who secures the greatest number of "kills" in a certain number of attempts--twenty-four, for instance--or the person who first succeeds in scoring say 50 "kills." Any shot missing the fort entirely--_i.e._ going right over or missing at the sides--is a wasted shot, and counts one off the player's score. [Illustration: FIG. 15.] We propose to describe how to construct a simple _Toy Cannon_--one quite easily made at a negligible cost and yet quite effective. The only extra cost will be that of a piece of strong elastic: the remainder being made of such things as cigar-or chocolate-box wood. Fig. 16 shows the finished article; and a careful study of this illustration will make clear much of the method of manufacture. [Illustration: FIG. 16.] We commence with the stand. This is quite simple, being composed of five pieces of cigar-box wood, a rectangular base, two sides cut as shown, and two small end-pieces to give the sides stability. The measurements you can decide for yourself: we suggest a base 5 in. long and 2 in. wide, and side about 2-1/2 or 3 in. high, as being suitable to the thickness of cigar-box wood. The cannon itself is not very difficult, if made square instead of cylindrical. The barrel is composed of four pieces of thin wood glued together as shown in Fig. 17. The pieces are about 6 in. long, and are cut and fitted to such a width as will leave a square hole in which the rod can move easily. On the under side of this barrel are fixed two pieces of wood--one about 1-1/2 in. long and 3/4 in. wide at the end near the mouth: to this the elastic will be fixed. The other, a piece about 1-1/4 in. long and square in section, is fixed about midway along the barrel, and will act as an axle on which the cannon can swing. [Illustration: FIG. 17.] The rod by which the shot is ejected should be square in section, and about 5 in. long. At the rear end of it should be fixed two side-pieces to act as stops to prevent the elastic forcing the rod too far into the barrel. A nail driven through these two pieces will prevent the elastic slipping out each time the cannon is fired (Fig. 18). [Illustration: FIG. 18.] All that remains now is the fixing of the elastic. It should be slipped through the slot at the end of the rod, and the two ends fixed as shown in the first illustration. If desired, this cannon can be used in connection with the skittles as described on page 30, and in fact the pegs can be quite easily carved into the similitude of soldiers and used for the game. It can also find a place in the "cokernut shy" described on page 31. Have you ever tried _Making Pictures with Matches?_--This is a very interesting occupation, and one which will fully test your ingenuity and your patience. Instead of using lines drawn with a crayon to suggest a certain object, you replace these lines with match sticks, bent and straight, and so obtain nearly the same effect. You can start with the plain outline of some simple object such as a sailing boat or a truck or a house, and you can then proceed to more difficult shapes, learning how to suggest masses of shadow by placing match sticks closely together. In actual practice, you get a large sheet of brown paper, and move the matches about until the right position is obtained: then you fix the matches to the paper one by one by means of a dab of glue. In time you will astonish everybody (yourself included) by the ease with which you can build up really intricate pictures. Specimens accurately done and tastefully mounted make very acceptable little presents (Fig. 19). [Illustration: FIG. 19.] Deft fingers and a big fund of patience render it quite possible to construct _Models from Match Sticks_, with the aid of just one or two accessories such as paper and glue. Placed side by side, and glued to each other, and to a cardboard or paper foundation, matches (particularly the larger sort) give quite an impression of solidity--which you will notice if you refer to the picture of the cupboard given in Fig. 20. In this a cardboard foundation is made according to Fig. 21, and the matches cut to the correct lengths and glued into position. In making the foundation, draw out carefully as shown, cut through the plain lines, and scratch along the dotted lines. Then bend into shape, and secure by means of strips of gummed tape or paper. [Illustration: FIG. 20.] [Illustration: FIG. 21.] To suggest the panel in the door, glue matches round the outside edges as shown, and leave the cardboard showing in the centre. If you want the door to open outwards, you will have to bevel the edges of the two matches where the cupboard bends, because, by the nature of the model, the hinge (that is, the cardboard itself) is on the inside. In similar fashion you can make countless little objects--all varieties of dolls' furniture and fittings, money boxes, trinket cases, &c. If the matches are stained with bright colours, and tastefully arranged, and the whole varnished, some splendid effects can be obtained. Talking thus of matches leads us to the description of another model in connection with the same articles. This is a _Novel Match Striker._--Any article which is useful makes a desirable present, especially if it has about it a certain amount of novelty. For instance, a match holder makes a nice little gift, and is generally appreciated. If, however, it is of a type which the recipient has never seen, it will be doubly welcome. One rather novel match holder and striker can be made in the following way. Obtain a funny picture--for preference, one that has a large figure in the foreground. Fig. 22 shows the type of picture we mean. Glue this on to a piece of stout cardboard. Suppose the picture shows a man's head. Then let his beard act as the striker. To secure this, cut out a piece of fine sandpaper, exactly the shape of the man's beard (or whatever it may be), and glue it into position on the picture. Then at the side glue on a little holder for the matches. This can be made of cardboard specially, or an ordinary match-box cover can have the bottom stopped, and be glued on. As far as possible this should be a part of the picture. [Illustration: FIG. 22.] All sorts of pictures can be done in this fashion: dogs, with strikers on the tail; pigs, with strikers on the back; elephants; grotesque men, &c. If you like you can glue the picture on to fretwood, and cut out the figure or a part of it, and arrange it, so that it will stand upright on a wooden base. This will tax your own ingenuity. There is in every house one thing out of which the enterprising boy or girl can make any number of models and toys: that is the empty match box. Its shape and formation lend themselves to the construction of all sorts of things--houses, trams, dolls' furniture, &c. &c.--the only other requisites being a sharp knife, a ruler, one or two pieces of cardboard (or better still, thin pine veneer), a number of large matches (or better still, match stales).[1] [1] These match "stales," which are very useful in toy-making, can be purchased from Byrant & May, Fairfield Works, Bow, London, E., at 1s. per bundle of 1500. The pine veneer costs 1s. 6d. per dozen pieces, each 3 ft. 6 in. long. You can start with the simplest form of _Railway Truck_, consisting merely of the inner part, or tray of a match box, with two match-stick axles glued across the bottom, and four cardboard wheels secured in position by means of "doll pins" (Fig. 23); and then you can proceed to the most elaborate vehicles, bridges, buildings, furniture, machines, &c. [Illustration: FIG. 23.] To give an idea of the method, we show how to put together a small overhead _Tram Car._--In the first place you want two pieces of veneer or cardboard, measuring 11-1/4 by 4-3/4 in. and 11-1/4 by 5 in.--to act respectively as the lower and upper decks. The actual method of construction can best be understood by a careful study of Fig. 24. The lower deck rests on four cardboard wheels. These are fixed by means of doll pins to two wooden axles (match stales) glued right across the under side of the lower deck. On this the structure is built up with match boxes. Three covers are placed lengthways along each side and glued into position. Then above these come five match trays, which, when standing up, take up just the same space. These are glued into position, facing outwards, and projecting about 1/4 in. beyond the under covers. [Illustration: FIG. 24.] Across the top of the two sides so formed is glued the second sheet of veneer or cardboard, 11-1/4 by 5 in., to form the upper deck. Five covers placed end to end exactly make up a side for this, and one at each end completes the superstructure. Two covers, placed end to end, make a suitable back and front for the lower deck, while two pieces of veneer, 3-3/4 by 4-1/2 in., effectively close up the inside of the car. The trolley pole is provided by a wooden skewer, glued to the lower deck, and passing through a hole in the centre of the upper. That completes the tram for all practical purposes. If you desire to make your model more elaborate, you can construct a cardboard or wooden stairway at each end, connecting the upper and lower decks; and you can replace the sheets of veneer at each end of the inside by properly constructed doorways; and so on. Another excellent toy, constructed with match boxes--and one very much appreciated by little brothers and sisters--is the _Model Stores._--Once again this will be best understood by reference to the illustration (Fig. 25). The stores consist of a counter and a back fitment--the two mounted on a base board. For the counter, five complete match boxes should be glued side by side and then mounted on six empty covers. The trays of the five complete boxes should then be given handles to make them into drawers. For these handles nothing can beat a boot button. The small metal loop is pushed through a hole in the end of the tray, and then secured in position by means of a tiny wooden wedge pushed through the loop on the inside. [Illustration: FIG. 25.] The back fitment consists of a block of twenty covers, five in a row, and four rows deep. These are glued into position. The two lower rows are deprived of their trays to make storage partitions, and the two upper are fitted with handles as above. Surmounting this block is an upper fitment consisting of five trays glued together so as to stand upright at the back of the block, leaving a free shelf in front (as in most grocers' shops). Finally there is a row of three trays placed endways on the top of the five just mentioned. For "playing at shops" a little model like this is invaluable. _A Red-Cross Cart._--For this a large empty match tray is required. Across the under side a short length of match stale is glued, to act as an axle for the two wheels. These can be cut from either veneer or cardboard. A good plan is to cut out a circle in fairly stiff cardboard, and glue a covering of veneer on each side; this adds to the appearance of the wheel and makes it stiffer. If veneer alone is used, two circles must be cut out for each wheel, and glued together with the grain at right angles. The wheels should be fixed in position with doll pins. For the tilt a piece of veneer bent over and glued to the inner sides of the match box will do quite well. The red cross may be painted on, but will look considerably better if cut from some light red paper and stuck on. All that remains is to supply the shafts. For this two pieces of stale of the requisite length should be glued to the under side of the body of the cart. Fig. 26 shows the completed model. [Illustration: FIG. 26.] Another military model, slightly more difficult to adjust, is _A Maxim Gun._--For this two wheels, each about 2-1/2 in. across, must be constructed in the manner described above. The body of the machine is easier to make than describe. Fig. 27 shows the under side. A small match box is taken and along one long edge of the top a piece of stale is glued, projecting 1/4 in. at each end. This stale is the axle. Two full-length stales are then glued so that they meet at the end furthest from the axle. To render these projecting pieces more stable, a triangular piece of veneer is glued across them at the place of meeting. [Illustration: FIG. 27.] The two wheels are then fixed in position by means of doll pins. For the front of the machine a screen is required, and a piece of veneer or card is cut as shown in Fig. 28, and glued to the front edge of the match box. Through the hole in this screen will project the actual gun itself. For this a piece of wooden skewer or slender dowel will do. This can be attached to the top of the box by means of glue, and can be wedged up into a horizontal position if found to slant too much. [Illustration: FIG. 28.] A coat of dull grey paint will add greatly to the realistic appearance of this interesting little toy. Many other things can be made, too, for use when playing with toy soldiers. One such model is _A Step Bridge_, as shown in Fig. 29. This is a very pretty little model, and one quite delightful to make. For it we require four 1-3/4 in. or 2-1/4 in. match boxes, a piece of cardboard or veneer, and some match stales. [Illustration: FIG. 29.] The cardboard should be cut to the width of the match box that is, either 1-3/4 in. or 2-1/4 in., and to a length of 4-1/2 in. At each end of this should be glued the side of a match box. In this way the actual bridge itself is formed. The step is provided at each end by a match box, lying down, and glued to the standing box. The remaining task is the cutting and fitting of the match stales to provide the railings--and this is the part requiring great care. Reference to the sketch will give a much better idea of the design than any amount of explanation. The stales will be cut to the following lengths: two at 4-1/2 in., eight at 2-1/2 in., and four at 2 in. You can finish off your model by pointing some of the stales; but this is not at all necessary if you have used a sharp knife and made clean cuts. If in fitting up the stales you find the glue is not sufficient, you can strengthen the important joints by use of doll pins. One other splendid use to which match boxes and stales can be put is the provision of the lighter sorts of furniture for the dolls' house. We give two examples typical of the extent to which these simple materials may be applied. _A Doll's Umbrella Stand_ is a very happy little idea--very simple but extremely effective. At the two ends of a small match-box tray, long stales are glued, projecting underneath to act as short legs to keep the tray from the ground. Near the top of these upright stales, four others are fixed to act as a strengthening frame. These last should be secured in place with doll pins in addition to the ordinary dab of tube glue. Then across the frame so made should be fixed one or two short lengths of stale in order to divide the stand into two or three compartments. Fig. 30 shows the completed stand. [Illustration: FIG. 30.] _A Doll's Fender_ is another article of similar type. For this we require a cardboard or veneer base and a number of stales. The base is cut out so as to measure at the most 5 in. in length; 5 in. by 1-1/4 in. is a very suitable size. Now on three sides this will have a rail, constructed with stales alone. A pillar is required about 1/8 in. from each corner: this pillar should be about 3/4 in. high. Stretching from pillar to pillar and glued to the base will be three pieces--one a long one, approximately 4-1/2 in. long, and the other two short ones, about 3/4 in. in length. Above these, and not far below the tops of the pillars, will be fixed a parallel series of long and short rails, fixed into position with doll pins and glue. Very short pieces glued into an upright position between the two long parallel rails add to the stability of the structure and improve the appearance (Fig. 31). If you can stain the different pieces with black and brown to represent iron and copper, then a very effective representation of a fender will be obtained. [Illustration: FIG. 31.] With a little ingenuity a set of fireirons--poker, tongs, and shovel--can be devised and constructed from match stales. In similar fashion countless other objects can be copied in miniature with most pleasing results. We have not space here to detail the construction of any more; but we would suggest that some of the following might be attempted: bedstead, table, chair, deck chair (folding), camp bed (folding). The construction of one or two of these will doubtless suggest many more, and reveal to the reader the boundless possibilities of this peculiarly fascinating pastime. There is another broken household article on which the young toy-maker may not cast eyes of scorn, and that is the broken clothes peg. In skilful hands, this is capable of reconstruction to very useful ends. In the first place, if you can use a pocket-knife with some degree of skill, you will be able to chip out of a few broken pegs quite a respectable set of _Chess Men._--The pegs must be sawn across cleanly just through the centre of the knob end: they will then stand upright. A few clean cuts with a pocket-knife will quite easily suggest a king or a castle or a bishop. The knight will, of course, provide most in the way of difficulty--as he is generally shown with a horse's head. A few painstaking attempts, however, should result in the obtaining of a credible likeness. Fig. 32 shows the construction of a "pawn." [Illustration: FIG. 32.] _Skittle Men._--Another piece of work for the pocket-knife expert is the provision of a set of funny skittle men for use in the game of catapult skittles (see below). These can be cut out to any quaint shape, and may be caricatures of well-known people, or of trades, &c. Much amusement can be got out of the cutting and painting of these grotesque little figures. Hats can be provided for them by glueing on little rings of cardboard (Fig. 33). [Illustration: FIG. 33.] _A Catapult Game._--Probably every boy knows what a catapult is--and what fun there is in the using of it. Happy young fingers pull back the powerful elastic, and bright eyes watch the stone go whizzing away. There is a fluttering of white wings: something falls; and there, lying in the road, is a motionless lump of flesh and feathers--all that remains of what was a beautiful little bird, pouring out its heart in joyful song. Boys who think for a minute will not want to use the catapult in that cruel fashion: they will prefer a game in which no harm is done, in which no innocent creature is harmed, but which provides just as much fun. "Catapult skittles" is such a game. It consists simply of a board with a catapult at one end, and a set of skittles at the other. The broken peg skittles dealt with above will do admirably for this (Fig. 34). The catapult itself can also be made with two pegs. These should be cut off cleanly at the forks. Two holes, about 3 in. apart, should then be bored in the base board (for this, a piece of plank about 3 ft. or 4 ft. long will do quite well), and the pegs screwed on (see Fig. 39 on page 34). [Illustration: FIG. 34.] For ammunition all you need is an unlimited number of little pieces of cardboard, folded in two. These carry well, are quite heavy enough to upset the skittles, and, above all, are not likely to hurt, even if they do strike a player. If you wish to vary the game slightly, you can rig up a "cokernut shy" in place of the skittles. This you will find very popular at Christmas time, particularly if you play for the nuts. For this you want some wire hoops on which to stand the nuts. To make these, take a piece of stiff wire about 5 in. long and bend one end in the shape of a small circle, about 1/2 in. across. Now bend this loop so that it is at right angles to the wire; then when the wire is upright the circle will be horizontal (Fig. 35). Sharpen the other end with a file. Make three or four like this, and then some more an inch shorter, and a third lot two inches shorter. These must then be driven into the other end of the catapult board so that they are not too close together; otherwise the game is too easy. [Illustration: FIG. 35.] Now all you need is a cardboard shelter. This can be oblong at the ends and triangular at the sides; but the shape is quite immaterial so long as the "shy" is properly shut in. Fig. 36 shows a suitable arrangement. [Illustration: FIG. 36.] Another tip-top game, for the making of which you can use broken clothes pegs, is the "_ring-board_" or "_indoor quoits_." This consists simply of a board with a number of pegs projecting from it. The object of the game is to throw a number of rings in such a fashion that they will lodge on the pegs, scoring points according to the numbers marked at each peg. The board may be hung on the wall, or else placed flat on the floor. In the former case, the pegs must have a slightly upward slant, so that the rings will not tumble off easily; in the latter the rings must be upright. To make either game, obtain a piece of wood about 18 in. square. You will probably need to join up boards for this. If you get three pieces of 6-in. board, each 18 in. long, and secure these side by side by means of a couple of battens, nailed right across the back, the result will be a square of the right size (Fig. 37). [Illustration: FIG. 37.] Now mark out the board as in Fig. 38. At the points where the dotted lines cross you will fix the projecting pegs. [Illustration: FIG. 38.] For these last take some broken pegs, and saw them off cleanly, just above the fork. If the board is to be a ground board, cut them quite level; if an upright board, then slightly slanting (Fig. 39). These must be secured in place by long thin screws driven in from the back--the correct holes having been bored in the base board. Now give each peg a number--assigning the higher numbers to the more difficult pegs--and paint the number on the back board close to the peg. [Illustration: FIG. 39.] For rings various things can be used. Old brass curtain rings are suitable in some respects, especially for the ground game, but they are very noisy. Thick india-rubber rings are frequently used, and can be purchased quite cheaply at any "games" shop. Rings made of stout cord, or thin rope, are frequently played with, especially on board ship, where the ground game is very popular. Should there be any difficulty in obtaining or making any of these, then it is a very simple matter to cut rings from a sheet of thick cardboard. The great objection to the upright game is the nuisance of the falling rings. This may be avoided partly by constructing a cardboard "catcher" to fit underneath. This is simply a cardboard triangle, or rather two right-angled triangles joined together by tape so as to bend easily and be strong: these are nailed to the two under edges of the board (Fig. 40). [Illustration: FIG. 40.] Another splendid shooting toy is the _Dart Box_. For this you need a wooden box of some sort. Size and shape do not matter very much, but a box with ends roughly square would do best: one 15 in. long, 6 in. wide, and 6 in. deep would be admirable for the purpose. On the inside of one end paint a target, and number each division, assigning higher numbers to the spots more difficult to hit (Fig. 41). Now in the centre of the opposite end bore a circular hole with a diameter of about 3/8 in.; and across this, on the outside of the box, fasten a strong piece of ribbon elastic--nailing down each end with a piece of wood (Fig. 42). For the dart, take a butcher's wooden skewer, and into the pointed end introduce a piece of a stout needle. [Illustration: FIG. 41.] [Illustration: FIG. 42.] When shooting with this toy, hold the box firmly, open the lid, fit the dart in the hole from the inside, and draw back the elastic. When you have taken careful aim, close down the lid and let go. This is a capital toy, and provides endless amusement. Also it is a very desirable one as far as shooting is concerned, for the closing down of the lid ensures perfect safety. While talking of making things from clothes pegs, we may as well give particulars of one or two things which will appeal rather more to our girl readers. _A Key Rack_ such as that shown in Fig. 43 is just such an article as a girl would take a delight in making, because of its simplicity and its prettiness. [Illustration: FIG. 43.] The only materials required are two pegs, some hooks, and a length of ribbon. Take the two pegs--which should be nicely turned ones--and wedge the prongs one within the other so that the pegs remain fixed at right angles. In doing this, push the pegs in tightly, but take care not to split the pegs in so doing. Using a bradawl, make a hole through the junction of the prongs, and screw in a hook: the common sort as used on dressers, &c., will do quite well. Now bore holes midway between the junction and the knobs, and screw in two more hooks. If now a coat of enamel be given to the pegs--say green in colour--and if ribbons (pale blue) be tastily arranged as shown in the sketch, then a very pretty and useful little article will result. Yet another splendid little article from pegs is a _Picture Postcard Stand_, for which the only necessities will be two pegs and a piece of wood for a base (Fig. 44). [Illustration: FIG. 44.] This base should be about 4-1/2 in. long and about 2-1/2 in. wide. It can be cut from wood of any thickness, but a piece about 3/8 in. thick is the most suitable. Find the centre of each end edge of the base, and draw a line right across the wood. If now you measure in one inch from each end you will get the two spots to which to affix the pegs. These last must first of all have one prong removed, or rather enough of a prong to leave a quarter-inch stump projecting. This stump should be rounded with a sharp knife, and then the whole peg should be finished off with glass-paper. These pegs must then be fixed knob downwards on to the base. Fig. 39 on page 34 shows a suitable method for this. If you are at all skilful with your tools you will be able to cut a nice moulding round the edge of the base, and so improve the artistic effect of your model. Two thin coats of varnish, or of good enamel, will complete this attractive little article. One little wooden toy, quite interesting in itself, and very useful when playing with "soldiers," is _The Windlass._--Some odd pieces of lath or cigar-box wood, a cotton reel, a length of string, some stout wire, and some glue and pins, provide all the necessaries. The cotton reel should be the largest obtainable. Fig. 45 shows the completed work. First of all, make a square base for the windlass. If the reel is 3 in. long, cut off four lengths of lath (or four inch-strips of cigar-wood box) each 4 in. long, and glue these into a hollow square, two under and two over. Now cut off two more lengths, 3 in. long, for the upright supports--making the top ends pointed to hold the slanting covers. [Illustration: FIG. 45.] Before these side-pieces are glued and pinned into position, it will be necessary to insert the reel. Get a piece of skewer, or lead pencil, 4 in. long, and glue it into the hole in the reel. At one end of the axle so formed will be placed the handle. This can be made in several ways, either with wood or wire, or a mixture of the two (Figs. 46, 47, 48 show some varieties, which may also be useful in making other toys). Holes just large enough to allow the axle to turn freely must then be cut in the side supports. The two slanting covers should be about 4 in. long, so as to allow a trifle to project at each end, and should be from 3/4 in. to 1 in. wide. The two edges which meet to form the apex of the cover should be bevelled off so as to form a clean join. In making this model it would perhaps be as well to use carpenter's glue in place of the prepared stuff. [Illustration: FIG. 46.] [Illustration: FIG. 47.] [Illustration: FIG. 48.] From the material supplied by one or two empty cigar boxes, many interesting things can be made, especially articles for use with dolls--cradles, carts, furniture, &c. If these articles are of no use to you, they come in very handy for presents to little sisters and friends, especially when well made and carefully finished. _A Doll's Cradle_ is perhaps one of the simplest to commence with. To a box from which the lid has been removed, it is only necessary to add two rockers. These can be cut out from the lid by means of a fret saw, and then smoothed down with glass-paper. Fig. 49 shows the best shape for the rockers, which should be glued on about an inch from each end of the box (Fig. 50). Great care should be taken that the two rockers are as nearly alike as possible, otherwise the cradle will not swing to and fro freely. [Illustration: FIG. 49.] [Illustration: FIG. 50.] _A Doll's Cart_ is also comparatively easy to make, the only really trying part being the cutting of the four wheels. For the body of the cart use a cigar box which has been deprived of its lid, and planed down level round the edges. To the under side of this body, and about one inch from each end, glue two pieces of wood to which to fix the wheels. Strengthen these joins by means of short pins driven through. Fix the wheels to these pieces by means of pins (Fig. 51). In order to support these two wheel-holders, stretch another piece across the space between them, at right angles to each, gluing it firmly to the two centres. [Illustration: FIG. 51.] The wheels should be cut with a fret saw, if you possess one. If you do not possess one, then draw out the circle on the wood, and cut the square containing the circle. Then saw off the corners to form an eight-sided figure, and go on cutting off corners until you get down to the circle, which you can finish off with glass-paper (Fig. 52). [Illustration: FIG. 52.] A little hook or ring should be attached at the bottom of one end, in order that a string may be tied on, and the vehicle drawn along. _A Jack-in-the-Box._--One of the most old-fashioned of toys, this never loses its interest. The box required for it is practically cubical: therefore 6 four-inch squares of cigar-box wood must be cut out. Two of these will need to be cut down to 3-3/4 in. in width, so that the four-inch bottom and lid will fit: so from two squares cut a strip 1/4 in. wide. Glue and pin together the two 3-3/4 pieces and two of the four-inch pieces to form a hollow square. To this will be fixed one of the other four-inch pieces to form a bottom; and at the other end the remaining four-inch piece will be hinged (or wired on like the lid of a chocolate box). Before the bottom is finally put on, it will be necessary to attach the mechanism. For this you will require a strong piece of spring about 6 in. long when released, and a doll's head. One end of the spring must be fixed to the centre of the base. You can do this by means of tiny wire staples (bent pins with the heads nipped off) hammered over the wire into the base, and then bent back on the opposite side of the wood (Fig. 53). At the other end of the spring a piece of cardboard must be fixed, and to it the doll's head must be firmly glued. When the mechanism is complete, nail on the bottom, and fix the lid. [Illustration: FIG. 53.] Into the centre of the front edge of the lid drive a small nail, or stout pin, and on the box just below fix a revolving catch hook. This you can quite easily cut from an old piece of fairly thick tin (Fig. 54). In this way an effective means is provided of releasing the lid and enabling the "Jack" to shoot out suddenly. [Illustration: FIG. 54.] _The Jig-saw Puzzle_ was at one time a very popular toy, and there are signs that its popularity is being revived. If it does not interest you particularly, it will provide a little brother or sister with endless amusement. In reality the puzzle consists merely of a picture (generally an interesting coloured one) glued very firmly to a piece of fretwood or cigar-box wood. This is then by means of a fret saw cut into a great many pieces, shaped as quaintly and awkwardly as possible (see Fig. 55). These pieces are then jumbled up into disorder, and passed on to the little one in order that the shapes may be fitted into place and the original picture reconstructed. [Illustration: FIG. 55.] Somewhat after the style of the "jig-saw" puzzle just described is the _Geometrical Puzzle_ shown in Fig. 56. Each of these consists of a capital letter divided up by one or two straight lines into right-angled triangles and other geometrical shapes. While very simple to look at when completed, these little puzzles are by no means easy to solve when the odd pieces are given in a jumbled state. The capital letters should be drawn on a piece of cigar-box wood, and then carefully cut out with a fret saw, or, better still, with a tenon saw if you have one. If you cannot manage wood, then the puzzle can be done in stout cardboard and cut out with a sharp thin knife. [Illustration: FIG. 56.] Of other cheaply made puzzles _The Reels and String Puzzle_ is highly entertaining. The only materials required for it are the lid of a cigar box, two cotton reels, two beads, and a length of smooth string or thin silk cord. The making is simplicity itself. All you need do is cut the lid in halves and bore three holes in a line in one of the halves. Of course you can ornament your wood as much as you like, but that will in no way increase or decrease the effectiveness of the puzzle. When you have cut it out and finished it off nicely with glass-paper, thread the beads and reels as shown in Fig. 57. Take special care that you do not make any mistake in the arrangement, or your solution will result in a hopeless tangle. [Illustration: FIG. 57.] The object of the puzzle is to get the two cotton reels, which, as you see, are now on quite separate loops, on to one loop. To solve it proceed as follows: Take hold of the centre loop, and pull it down to its full extent. Now pass the right-hand reel through the loop. Taking care not to twist the cord, pass this loop through the hole on the right-hand side, over the bead, and then draw it back again. Now if you follow the same procedure with the left-hand reel you will find that the centre loop is released and can be pulled through the centre hole. Then will the two reels slide down side by side. One thoroughly entertaining and, to a certain extent, bewildering puzzle is _The Three-hole Puzzle._--Really the puzzle consists of a piece of thin wood with three holes cut in it. These three holes are respectively circular, square, and triangular (Fig. 58). The problem is to cut one block of wood which will pass through each hole and at the same time fit the hole exactly. [Illustration: FIG. 58.] Can it be done? At first it looks to be quite impossible; but there is a very neat solution to the difficulty. First cut out your holes. To do this get a cigar-box lid and draw out the three figures, taking care that the length of the side of the square and the length of the side of the triangle and the length of the diameter of the circle are equal. Now, using your fret saw, cut out these holes very neatly and precisely. For the block you need a small cylinder of wood: an odd piece of broken broom handle will do admirably. This must be cut and finished with glass-paper so that it will fit the circular hole exactly. Now saw a piece just as long as the cylinder is wide. This looked at in one way gives an exact square which will fit the second hole. Thus two holes are catered for. Finally, for the third hole the cylinder must be tapered on two sides. To do this draw a diameter at one end and then gradually pare away a flat surface till the triangular section is obtained. Fig. 59 shows how the block, when turned in different ways, fits the three holes. [Illustration: FIG. 59.] Another toy which can be made quite easily from cigar-box wood is _A Model Signal._--First cut two strips of wood, half an inch wide and as long as you can get them, which will be 8 or 9 in. These will stand upright on a base board, and form the sides of the standard. Now between these two you must glue shorter pieces of half-inch strip, so as to make the standard solid at the top and bottom, and leave a hollow slot, 1 in. long, in which the signal arm will fit and work up and down (Fig. 60). [Illustration: FIG. 60.] Now cut out and paint a signal arm, about 2-1/2 in. long. Fix this by means of a pin passing through the two sides of the standard, and through the arm about 3/4 in. from the square end. If it does not move easily in the slot, take off the top surface with glass-paper. Before fixing the signal arm in position, bore a small hole 1/4 in. from the square end, and knot in a piece of twine or thin wire to act as a connection between the movable arm and the controlling lever (Fig. 61). [Illustration: FIG. 61.] At the base of the standard fix the controlling lever. This consists of a small strip, with a pin passing through one end into the standard. Adjust the length of the twine or wire, so that when the signal arm is down, the lever is horizontal; and when the lever is pressed down, the arm rises. You can make a little contrivance for fixing the lever by erecting a small post close to the standard, and gluing on two stops, under which to rest the free end of the lever in its two positions (Fig. 62). [Illustration: FIG. 62.] If you prefer it, you can have the controlling lever at a distance from the signal post. You will then need a longer wire, and a little pulley wheel at the base of the standard. You must exercise your own ingenuity for this. Another interesting little scientific toy, which has the additional advantage of being useful, is the _Weather House_, or the _Man and Woman Barometer_. This consists of a little house with two doorways, at which appear two figures, one in fine weather, and the other in dull (Fig. 63). [Illustration: FIG. 63.] With patience and care this is not very difficult to make. For the house itself you can use an old cigar box, or, if you prefer it, you can make the entire house in cardboard. This is, of course, easier, but not very durable. If you are going to use the cigar box, you will need first to cut the lid and bottom into something like the shape of a house end. You will then have to nail the lid down, and add two slanting pieces for the sides of the roof: and that will complete the house. However, before you nail down the lid and put on the roof, you will need to understand the mechanism. First you will bore a round hole in the top of the roof, just behind the front gable. This hole is for a round peg to which the revolving base is attached. The actual mechanism of the toy consists of a piece of catgut (an old violin string, or a tennis-racket string). This passes through the centre of a small flat piece of wood on which the two figures are balanced. Just in front of the string a piece of wire (a bent hairpin will do admirably) is fixed, so as to form a loop through which the catgut can pass (see Fig. 64). The other end of the catgut is fixed to the peg which fits in the hole in the roof. [Illustration: FIG. 64.] For the man and woman you can use two of the grotesque figures cut from clothes pegs. Screws passed through the revolving base will secure the figures firmly and at the same time add a little weight, and so improve the balance. When there is moisture in the air the catgut will twist. You must fit together the different parts and then, by turning the peg to right or left, adjust the position of the figures so that the lady appears in fine weather and the gentleman in wet. A toy of unfailing attraction for boys--and girls as well--is _The Marble Board._--This may be quite a simple affair--such as a boy can carry in his pocket for use in the playground--just a piece of wood, such as a cigar-box lid, with a number of holes cut along one edge, and a handle added (Fig. 65); or it may be a much more elaborate form intended for use as a table game. [Illustration: FIG. 65.] In this latter case there is a front board, similar to that in the simple form; but behind each hole there is a little compartment for the collection of the marbles (Fig. 66). To make this you need two pieces of wood, about 2 in. wide, and as long as the table is broad: any sort of wood will do. These are for the front and back of the contrivance. The front must next be marked out for the marble holes, allowing about 1 in. for the hole and 1 in. for the space between. Of course, the wider the spaces between the more difficult it becomes to score. These holes must then be cut out by means of a fret saw, or, if you do not possess one, by means of saw and chisel. The back and front must then be secured in position by means of end-pieces nailed or screwed on. These should be about 3 in. long. [Illustration: FIG. 66.] The next piece of work is the adjustment of the partitions. For these cigar-box wood is best. You can either cut these partitions to the exact distance between the front and the back, and glue them into position; or else you can make them a little larger, and fit them into grooves cut into the front and back: but that is a nice little piece of carpentry for you. When you have done this, all that is necessary is to give the whole thing a coat of paint, and place numbers over the various holes--taking care that you do not put all the high numbers together. Boards similar to this are used in the Colonies for a game known as "Bobs." Larger balls are used, and propelled by means of a cue as in billiards. If you can obtain the balls, this is a delightful game, and one well worth making. _A Wooden Wind Wheel_ for the garden is a splendid little model to make--interesting in itself, but doubly desirable because so much can be done with it. Of course, it can be made quite small and very simple, and still provide unending amusement to smaller brothers and sisters; but for our own purpose it is just as well to make a larger and stronger specimen, one which can be employed as a power station for the working of smaller toys. The main parts are: (1) a circular hub, about 2-1/2 to 3 in. in diameter, and 1 to 1-1/4 in. in thickness (for the smaller varieties a cotton reel will do admirably); (2) six or eight sails, each about 6 or 7 in. long and 3 in. wide at the extreme end, tapering down to a little more than the width of the hub at the other; (3) a hardwood axle; and (4) a driving wheel. For this last a cotton reel will do splendidly, especially one of those with wide flanges and a slender centre. The general arrangement is shown in Fig. 67. [Illustration: FIG. 67.] The cutting of the hub is not a very difficult matter if you have a fret saw. It should be cut across the grain if you can get a suitable piece of wood. The sails also are quite easy to make. For these you cannot beat cigar-box wood. The cutting of the grooves in the hub for the insertion of the sails is the most trying piece of work. These grooves should be just large enough to allow the sails to fit tightly, and should be cut at an angle of 45° across the hub. The sails should then be glued in with carpenter's glue. For the axle secure a piece of round wood, such as an odd length of half-inch dowel-rod. This should be cut to a length of about 4-1/2 to 5 in. On this should be fixed the wheel itself, and, at a sufficient distance to prevent the sails catching the string, the bearing wheel. A French nail in each end of the axle will then secure it in position between the side supports and secure an easy running. If you have a play shed in the garden, this apparatus can be erected at the top of a high post projecting through or at the side of the roof. The driving strings can then pass through a hole in the roof or the wall, and the power can be transmitted by a double pulley wheel and another driving string. If you have no play shed, it is not at all difficult to rig it up outside a window. You can try that, and prove your own inventive abilities. _How to use the Wind Power Machine._--One thing which this mechanism will drive in good fashion is an overhead tramway system--a very pretty little toy when in working order. For this all that is required is a number of cotton reels, a length of stout cord, and one or two of the model trams described on page 21. If you care to, you can make proper "standards" for the cotton reels. Fig. 68 shows such an arrangement. The flat base is for heavy weights when the system is rigged up on a table or other place where nails cannot be used. These reels must turn freely to allow the easy passage of the cable. In one place there must be a double reel (Fig. 69) for the transmission of the power. The lower reel will act as the ordinary cable wheel, while the other, glued firmly to it, will carry the driving belt from the wind machine described above. [Illustration: FIG. 68.] [Illustration: FIG. 69.] The model trams must be fixed to the cable. This is done by means of two wires, fixed to the pole of the tram and twined round the cable. When this is connected up and the cable drawn tightly round the standard reels, the vehicles circulate rapidly on what is really a complete model tramway system. Another interesting contrivance to which the wind power can be harnessed is _A Roundabout._--This attractive little toy can be made quite readily from one or two reels, and four ordinary wooden skewers. The first thing required is a base board, for which any tolerably smooth and heavy piece of wood will suffice. Now in the centre of this fix an upright piece of thick wire (a knitting needle will do); and glue on a cotton reel at the base of this. In order to secure the absolutely smooth running of the roundabout it will be necessary to improvise some sort of "bearings." For this there is nothing better than two hard glass beads. If one of these beads be sunk into the top of the reel just mentioned, and the other fixed in the bottom of another loose reel, the upper one will revolve freely on the lower (Fig. 70). This loose reel will be the driving wheel of the contrivance and will hold the power band from the wind wheel. Fixed to this running wheel, and immediately above, will be another reel for the actual merry-go-round. Into the sides of this uppermost reel bore four holes, and insert the pointed ends of the four skewers, arranging them so that all four are at right angles. The running will be facilitated if another glass bead is sunk in the top of this reel. [Illustration: FIG. 70.] All that remains now to complete the roundabout is to fix four figures--horses, boats, or similar--at one end of each skewer. These figures can be drawn on cardboard and cut out; or they can be sawn from fretwood. Another interesting variation of this toy is the _Fairy Light Wheel._--For this, instead of fixing figures at the ends of the skewers, obtain four egg shells, and suspend them by means of wires from the ends of the arms (Fig. 71). Now if little night-lights or odd ends of candle be placed in the egg shells and lighted, a very pretty effect is obtained when the whole is made to revolve. [Illustration: FIG. 71.] A toy which is always welcome to boys and girls is _A Pair of Scales._--Moreover this is a toy which can be made quite accurately with the aid of a few quite ordinary materials. To a pair of scales--or a balance, as it is sometimes called--there are generally these parts: (1) a balancing arm, generally called the beam; (2) an upright standard on which the beam is supported; (3) two scale pins, and chains (or strings) to suspend them; (4) a base board to which the upright standard is fixed. Fig. 72 shows the sort of thing we mean. [Illustration: FIG. 72.] Now of these things not one presents any real difficulty. For the base board any piece of wood about a foot long, 5 in. wide, and 3/4 in. thick will do quite well. For the upright standard you require a piece of wood about 9 in. long and 1 in. square--one end of which must be fixed to the base board. The method of doing this will depend very largely on your degree of proficiency in the art of carpentry. If you know how to make a mortise and tenon joint, that will be the most suitable. If you cannot attain to that, then perhaps you can make a hole just as large as the standard, and sink the standard in the base. If you are not at all an expert, then you must just nail or screw your standard to the centre of the base. Before you do this, however, there is something to be done to the other end. You must cut a slot 1/2 in. wide and 1-1/2 in. deep (Fig. 73_a_); then you must cut away small triangular pieces from the centres of the tongues left (Fig. 73_b_); and finally you must nail to the sides of the V so formed two little strips of tin (Fig. 73_c_). [Illustration: FIG. 73.] The next thing to be constructed is the "beam." For this you will need a piece of fretwood (or other thin wood) about 9 or 10 in. long and about 1 in. wide. To support this on the metal V pieces you will need a thin piece of steel--such as a piece of an old pocket-knife blade. This will be driven through the centre of the beam, and will project equally on either side (Fig. 74). Remember, it must fit tightly; so when you cut the slot for it, do not make it too wide. [Illustration: FIG. 74.] For the scale pans two canister lids will do quite well. Bore three holes in each of the rims--measuring off the distances with a compass, so that the holes are equally far apart, and suspend the pans by means of three strings passing into holes in the ends of the beam. If, when you have completed the work, the beam does not hang perfectly horizontal, then you must add weight or subtract weight from one side or the other. You can do this by paring off tiny pieces from the end of the beam, or you can stick on dabs of sealing wax till the correct balance is obtained. If you cannot get any proper _weights_, then it is not a very difficult matter to make some. To do this, all that you need is to get some cardboard and a supply of sand, and to borrow a complete set of weights. First of all make a number of little cardboard cubes, having sides varying from 3/4 in. to 3 in. Draw each one out on cardboard (Fig. 75); cut it out; and bind up with gummed tape--leaving one side ungummed. On one pan of the balance put this thing, and on the other pan put a proper weight (say 1/2 oz). Now pour in sand into the little cube until it exactly balances the correct weight. When it does, wet the binding, and stick down the remaining side. Finally print the correct weight on one face of the cube. [Illustration: FIG. 75.] In similar fashion you can proceed to make all the different weights that you are likely to require, from 1/2 oz. upwards. While not very substantial, these little weights will last quite a long time, if they are handled with care. Engines of all sorts are always fascinating to boys and girls, and later on we shall describe some excellent ones. At this point we wish to describe what is possibly one of the simplest forms of engine known, and certainly one of the earliest. It is the engine driven by a flanged wheel, which itself is made to turn by the weight of something falling on the flanges. The commonest form of this wheel is the water wheel, where the weight of the water falling on the wheel causes the revolution. As water is generally a "messy" thing to operate with, especially on such a contrivance as this, we have substituted something else. For the working of very light toys, sand provides an alternative motive power. If a flanged wheel be made after the fashion of a water wheel, and a steady stream of sand allowed to descend on to the flanges, then the wheel will rotate as long as the supply of sand lasts, and the power may be transmitted by pulley wheels for the working of some simple mechanism. Fig. 76 shows _A Sand-power Engine._--The large driving wheel consists of two circles of thick cardboard, each about 6 in. across, firmly glued together. These two circles are bevelled, and fixed facing inwards, so that a groove is left in which the power band can run. [Illustration: FIG. 76.] Through the centre of the driving wheel thus fashioned a piece of dowelling or old lead pencil is fixed, projecting 1/4 in. on one side, and about 1-1/2 in. on the other. Nails are driven in the two ends of this axle, and the wheel is suspended between supports, glued and screwed firmly to a base board. The flanged sand wheel is next constructed. For this, four oblong pieces of cardboard, 1-1/4 in. wide and about 2 in. long, are cut out. A line is scratched along each of these about 1/2 in. from the end, and the cardboard bent so as to form a scoop to hold the sand for an instant. These four flanges are then glued to the axle, and the side of the driving wheel. If the sand wheel so made is not sufficiently firm, then another small cardboard circle can be glued to the flanges, on the side remote from the driving wheel: this will strengthen the wheel and in no way interfere with the running. All that is necessary now is to erect some sort of sand supply: for this a large canister will do. A tiny hole must be punched in the bottom of the tin, and a revolving trap made with another piece of tin. This is simple enough: all you need to do is cut a piece of tin about 3/4 in. long and 1/2 in. wide, and punch a hole in one end. This pierced tin should then be placed so that the unbroken end of the slip covers the supply hole. A forked rivet should then be passed through the hole in the slip and through the bottom of the canister and fixed in place (Fig. 77); the trap can then be made to revolve, and the sand supply started or stopped at will. The canister should be placed above the wheel so that a thin stream falls on the flanges and turns the wheel. [Illustration: FIG. 77.] If a string be now passed round the outside edge of the driving wheel, the mechanism can be harnessed to any toy and the motive power supplied. For instance, the contrivance can be erected on a flat hull similar to that shown in Fig. 83, page 70; and the power band, passing through a hole in the centre of the hull, can be connected with the propeller by means of a rod (in place of the elastic). The resultant machine, though not highly efficient, is yet quite attractive. Another material from which some delightful toys can be contrived is "tin," or, as it is more correctly called, "tinned iron." This is the stuff cocoa tins and mustard tins and many other articles are made of. Perhaps the simplest toy we can commence with is _A Rotating Snake._--For this secure a clean flat piece of thin tin--the piece which the little patent cutter removes from the top of a round cigarette tin will do admirably--and, using a soft lead pencil, draw on it a spiral snake, such as is shown in Fig. 78. Now cut along the lines with a stout pair of scissors, or else with a sharp-pointed knife. Pull out the resultant spiral till it is stretched as in Fig. 79, and mount it by means of the tail on an upright piece of pointed stout wire. The serpent will rotate on this for a considerable time. [Illustration: FIG. 78.] [Illustration: FIG. 79.] If you are good at bent-wire work, you will be able to make a wire stand by which to fix it on a lamp chimney or gas globe: it will then revolve continuously, and with considerable speed. _A Tin-can Steam Roller._--This is a nice piece of metal work, and, when finished well, provides a proper little toy. To construct it you need several tins--a round tin, such as a cocoa tin, about 2 in. across and 4 in. long; an oblong tin, about 3-1/2 in. by 3 in. by 2 in., such as the larger-sized mustard tins; a round cigarette tin, about 2-1/2 in. across and 3-1/4 in. deep; two equal-sized tin lids from canisters, each about 4 in. across; and a cotton reel. These, the main items, when put together, yield a model similar to that shown in Fig. 80. [Illustration: FIG. 80.] The fixing is quite a simple affair. With a pair of metal shears (or strong scissors) you cut away a portion of the top of the cocoa tin, so as to leave three tongues. Then on the side of the oblong mustard tin you mark three lines to correspond with the three tongues, and cut them through so as to form three slots into which the tongues may fit. Now, if the tongues be bent outwards or inwards, then the two tins will hold firmly together, and give the boiler and cab of the machine (Fig. 81). Before bending these, however, it is necessary to bore a hole in the under side of the boiler for the fixing of the front roller. This is attached to the boiler by means of a narrow strip of tin bent twice at right angles, and kept in place by means of a forked brass rivet or a strong brass paper fastener so that it will revolve freely. This narrow strip of tin just fits over the cigarette tin--a piece of knitting needle being used as axle, passing through holes bored in the centre of the bottom and lid of the tin, and through the ends of the slip. For the larger rear wheels the lids of two canisters can be used, or, if something is required giving a more definite impression of solidity, two flat boot-polish tins can be substituted. Another piece of knitting needle passes through the centre of these, and through holes in the sides of the cab, and so acts as axle. This is kept in place by means of dabs of sealing wax. For the stack you can use a long thin cotton reel, or, better still, you can fix on another small tin by the method shown in Fig. 81. [Illustration: FIG. 81.] The turning of the front wheel can be regulated by means of two strings passing from the two right-angle strips through a hole into the cab. If you can fix the strings to a piece of wood as shown in Fig. 82, you will be able to steer properly. A hole in the bottom of the cab, and a piece of wood stretched tightly across the top, should enable you to set up the steering apparatus. [Illustration: FIG. 82.] _A Working Motor Boat._--To construct a motor boat that will travel a considerable distance is not really a difficult matter. All that is necessary is a piece of board for a hull, a wood or metal propeller, and a yard or two of strong elastic: these, carefully adjusted, will do all that is necessary. For the hull, a piece of 5/8 in. or 3/4 in. board, about 18 in. long will do. This can be cut to the boat shape by means of a pocket knife or a spokeshave, and finished off with glass-paper. It should be sharp-pointed at the bows, about 3 in. to 4 in. at the centre, tapering down to a width of 2 in. at the stern. In the centre of the hull nail a block of wood, and to it glue two funnels (Fig. 83). For these, the odd lengths cut off from bamboo curtain poles will do admirably; or, if these be not obtainable, a couple of incandescent-mantle cases will suffice. [Illustration: FIG. 83.] The adjustment of the motive power is the difficult task. First, you will need to purchase a couple of yards of suitable elastic: this is sold at most large toy shops, and costs usually a penny a yard. To fix this into place beneath the hull you will need to construct two metal supports. If you can get an old tin box made from metal sufficiently stout, that will do; if not, then you had better buy a piece of sheet brass, No. 20 gauge: 6 in. by 4 in. will be ample. Draw out these supports as shown in Figs. 84 and 85, and bend them into shape as in Figs. 86 and 87--one for the bow and one for the stern. Screw on the bow one about 1-1/2 in. or 2 in. from the point, and the stern one in the middle of the end. [Illustration: FIG. 84.] [Illustration: FIG. 85.] [Illustration: FIG. 86.] [Illustration: FIG. 87.] Now into the bow support fix a loop of stout wire to hold the rubber strands, making it sufficiently large to rest against the sides and so prevent turning. At the stern support adjust the propeller bearings. On the care with which these are adjusted depends largely the success of the model. Take a piece of wire (1/16-inch brass is best) and bend it as in Fig. 88, introducing a hard smooth glass bead. This "bead" runs more freely against the metal, and so facilitates the working. Now stretch the elastic between the two loops, arranging it so that there are six or eight strands. To work the model, turn the propeller round and round till the strands of elastic are very tightly twisted, place on the surface of the water, and then release the propeller. Fig. 83 shows the completed model. [Illustration: FIG. 88.] All boys love a toy that "goes"; and so a short account showing how to make _A Steamboat_ that will actually travel on the water will be very welcome. Our boat, which in reality is not a "steam" boat, inasmuch as no steam is generated, is very simple in its construction and possesses neither wheels nor pistons nor cranks, nor any of the things that one associates with a steamer. The whole motive power is supplied by one or two candle ends, and a bent piece of strong metal tubing. This last can scarcely be called either "odds" or "ends"; and you will probably have to purchase it at a shop selling model-engine fittings, but a few pence will cover the cost. You must get an eight-inch piece of solid drawn copper or brass tubing, with an inside diameter of 1/8 in. (_N.B._--Do not let the man sell you soldered tubing, for it will certainly crack when you bend it.) The next operation is the most difficult: it is bending the tube to the shape shown in Fig. 89. This must be done very gently, otherwise you will crack or dent it. The loop shown should have a diameter of about 5/8 to 3/4 of an inch. [Illustration: FIG. 89.] The actual boat itself can be of any shape. If you happen to have an old wooden hull suitable to the purpose, use that; if not, then a flat hull similar to that described on page 70 will do quite well. Fix the bent tubing at the stern of the boat, so that the two open ends project over the edge and dip beneath the surface of the water (Fig. 90). Two pieces of wire bent as in Fig. 90_a_ will hold the tubing in place. [Illustration: FIG. 90.] All that you need do now is place the candles under the loop of the tube and heat it. (If you have a tiny spirit lamp, that will act more effectively, of course.) The heat from the candles makes the air in the tube very hot. This hot air is expelled from one arm of the tube; and a current of water rushes up one arm of the tube and down the other with considerable force. It is this current that causes the boat to move. _Another Working Steamboat._--This time our boat will merit its name--for we shall have a boiler, and generate a supply of steam. If you look at Fig. 91 you will get a good idea of the construction of this model, and realise how simple it really is. The boiler is provided by a medium-sized flat oblong tin, with the lid soldered down so that it is steam tight. For the purpose of putting water into the boiler when necessary, a hole is bored in the lid, and a cork fitted tightly. [Illustration: FIG. 91.] In one end of the boiler, and towards the top, you must make a pin hole. When the water boils well, the steam is expelled through this tiny hole with considerable force; and to this is due the motion of the craft. The remainder of the fitting up is soon done. A flat hull similar to that described on page 70 is prepared, and four flat-headed nails driven in, so that the four corners of the boiler can each stand on a nail head. The rudder is cut from an old piece of tin, and pressed into a knife-cut made in the centre of the stern of the hull. The boiler is placed into position with the steam hole facing the stern, and lighted candle ends are then placed underneath the boiler--as many as possible; for the more the candles the greater the heat, and consequently the greater the force of steam. It will help matters along considerably if the boiler is first of all filled with hot water, instead of cold; but be careful not to scald yourself in doing this. When steam is up, the boat should travel along at quite a comfortable pace. Apart from the materials dealt with there are numerous little fragments. A pane of glass is broken, for instance, and in most cases all the pieces are thrown away. Now this is quite unnecessary, for from them can be made some _Japanese Wind Bells._--Probably most boys and girls have heard or seen the jolly little "wind bells" which the Japanese people make, and which many English folk now hang in their houses. As they are made simply of slips of glass and pieces of wool or string, there is not much difficulty in their construction; and they are worth all the trouble you take, for their merry little tinkle is a pleasing sound. The slips of glass--they are generally little rectangles, varying from 1 in. to 2 in. in width, and 2 in. to 4 in. in length--are suspended so that when a gentle breeze disturbs them the corners strike gently. To secure a proper suspension, you can either take a board, 6 in. square, and hang the strings from it, or you can make a conical wire frame, about 6 in. across, and hang the pieces of wool (or string) from the two rings (Fig. 92). The pieces of glass, which can be of any shape and size, should be fixed by means of sealing wax. It is usual to give the glass slips a few dabs of colour, so as to give a brighter effect at night. If you can introduce one or two pieces of coloured glass, the same effect will result. [Illustration: FIG. 92.] Other _broken_ things, too, can be turned to account. One such toy, made up of things otherwise quite useless, is _A Musical Box._--This entertaining musical toy, capable of producing the most beautiful sound effects, can quite easily be made with a few broken wine glasses. So long as the bowl part of the glass is intact, it does not matter to what extent the stem or foot part has been damaged, provided there is enough of the stem remaining to insert in a wooden block. The sound effects are produced by rubbing the ball of the finger gently round the rim of the glass. For this the finger-tip must be absolutely clean, particularly of any grease, and must be thoroughly wet. Probably for the first time or two of rubbing nothing will occur. If that is so, continue wetting the finger, and rub it on an india-rubber sponge or a piece of soft india-rubber. You will know at once when the finger-tip is in the right condition, for it will commence to "drag" on the rim. Eventually a most beautiful pealing note will be emitted, which note will alter slightly in tone if water be poured into the glass. If in this way you can secure eight glasses tuned exactly to an octave, then you have the wherewithal to produce tunes. When you have obtained the glasses, then it is quite easy to fit them into a box quite close together, leaving just enough room for the fingers to move round. Blocks of wood must be nailed to the bottom of the box, and holes bored in these blocks just exactly large enough to admit the stem (see Fig. 93). [Illustration: FIG. 93.] _A Fleet of Nutshell Boats_ floating on a bowl of water makes a very pretty little picture--nor are these little crafts at all difficult to make. For the hull a nice evenly-shaped walnut shell is required: this should be cleaned out, trimmed with a sharp knife, and scrubbed with a stiff brush. For the mast a match stick will suffice. To keep this in position glue two match sticks right across the widest part of the hull--one on each side of the mast--and then put a daub of glue at the bottom of the hull and others where the cross-bars touch the mast. The sail consists merely of a piece of paper with two holes through which the mast passes. A glance at Fig. 94 will reveal the method of fitting up, and show what a trim little craft can result from such a simple origin. [Illustration: FIG. 94.] One other toy which has always been deservedly popular is _The Jumping Frog._--If you are skilful with your pocket knife you can cut out a representation of the animal from a lump of wood, and paint it to make it more realistic. If, however, you have not the requisite skill, you can still construct the toy by using a walnut shell in place of the carved model. In either case the actual mechanism for "jumping" is the same. You want a good-sized shell, or rather half-shell, some very strong thin twine, and a match. First you must bore two holes in the sides of the shell, not too near the edge, then tie a loop of twine round the holes and the edge (Fig. 95). Now if you put a piece of match stick between the strings, and twist the string by turning the match round, you will complete the jumping mechanism (Fig. 96). Keep your finger on the match to prevent it flying back, and carefully turn the shell upside down on the table, holding it all the time. Now if you press one finger on the side of the shell so that it slips suddenly from under, then your frog will perform an astounding leap in the air. But, in your eagerness to get a big jump, do not twist the string too tightly, otherwise the holes will break out. [Illustration: FIG. 95.] [Illustration: FIG. 96.] If, as mentioned above, you are skilful enough to cut out the frog, you will need to hollow out the body so that there will be room for the turning of the match. You can also do very much the same with a fowl's "wishbone" if you tie a loop of string round the two prongs and use the match as shown above. The shell of an ordinary hen's egg does not seem to give much scope for construction. Yet much can be done with it. One of the best things you can make is _An Egg-shell Yacht._--Next time mother is making cakes, or anything which needs eggs, tell her you want the shell intact, and ask her to let you blow out the contents. To do this, bore a small hole at each end, and blow. Of course, if you have ever collected birds' eggs, and are an adept at egg-blowing, you will only need one hole. Stop up the holes with sealing wax or plasticene. This complete shell is to form the hull of the yacht; it will be necessary to add a keel, mainmast, bowsprit, &c., to finish the craft. For the mainmast get a very thin piece of wood--a very thin piece of bamboo or a piece of split cane will do--and pass it carefully through two holes which have previously been bored in the opposite sides of the shell. Let it project an inch or two below (Fig. 97_a_). Fix in position by means of sealing wax. In similar fashion arrange a bowsprit. [Illustration: FIG. 97.] As the hull is very light, it will be necessary to have a good steadying keel. A piece of sheet lead about 2 in. long and 1 in. wide will do admirably. Secure it to the shell and the projecting piece of mainmast by means of sealing wax (Fig. 97_b_). Now if this floats properly you can proceed with the rigging, which may be as simple or as elaborate as you please. Fasten the spars to the mainmast by means of very thin wire. (Sealing wax will do, but is not at all reliable for this.) For the sails use tough tissue paper, gluing the main and top sails in position, and fixing the jib and foresails by means of threads. The addition of a cardboard rudder--fixed by wax--will complete a trim little craft which will sail in approved regatta fashion, if it has been properly adjusted (Fig. 98). [Illustration: FIG. 98.] Nor must broken egg shells be despised. These can be decorated with paints, and some very amusing little articles provided. Legs and arms can be added, fixed into place with dabs of sealing wax; clothes can be devised; and grotesque little toys improvised--toys suitable for the decoration of the Christmas tree or sale at bazaars, &c. Quite a number of amusing little toys can be made from those cylindrical cardboard cases in which incandescent mantles are usually sold. For the most part the only things needed for the construction are a sharp knife (one with a very thin blade preferred), a tube of glue, one or two odd pieces of cardboard, and some paints. _A Money Box_, for instance, is always useful, and, by the aid of the paint box, can be made very attractive. Take off the two end covers, and glue one end of the case to a circle of thick cardboard, about 1/4 in. larger in radius than the case. Now for the other end construct a conical top. To do this, draw out a circle with a radius of about 1-1/4 in. and cut out a sector (see Fig. 9, p. 8). The two ends can then be brought together and fixed with a piece of glued tape, and the whole thing can be glued to the other end of the case. Before this is done, however, the money slot should be cut in the side. Much can be done to make the article attractive by a judicious use of the paints. The money slot, for instance, can be regarded as the mouth, and a grotesque face drawn round it. If you care to cover the conical top with felt or flannel, you can make the model very funny indeed. In the spring you can damp the felt or flannel, and spread on grass seeds: these will grow and give your grotesque figure a fine crop of bright green hair (Fig. 99). Of course, if you are going to damp the upper parts of the model, you must obtain and use some sort of waterproof glue. [Illustration: FIG. 99.] _A Pin-hole Camera_ is another extremely simple yet extraordinarily interesting contrivance (Fig. 100). [Illustration: FIG. 100.] For this you require two mantle cases, one just large enough to slide easily into the other. Take the smaller one, and cover one end with tissue paper. This must be done neatly and strongly, otherwise, as the case slides up and down in the outer one, the tissue will tear. You should draw out on the tissue a circle just as large as the end of the case, and then all round, draw and cut little pointed tags to lap over the edges and stick down (Fig. 101). [Illustration: FIG. 101.] One end of the outer case should be covered with thick brown paper in just the same way, and a tiny pin hole pricked exactly in the centre of the brown-paper end. Now if a lighted candle be placed near to the pin hole, and if the inner case be moved to and fro till the right spot is found, an exact picture of the candle flame will be seen on the tissue paper. _A Doll's Easy Chair._--Apart from accurate and careful cutting there is not very much difficulty in this. Take a mantle case and remove the covers. Now draw a line from end to end and use this as a base line, measuring the distances to right and left to the different points: this will ensure accuracy. Fig. 102 shows one design suitable for the purpose; but you will possibly like to make up your own. The fitting of the seat is done as follows: On a piece of cardboard mark out a circle having the same radius as the case, and another circle with a radius 1/8 in. larger. Cut this out as shown in Fig. 103. Now cut a slot a little more than half-way across the case from the front, at a level suitable for the seat, and into this slide the seat. If the slot has not been cut far enough across, go on cutting till the seat fits correctly in the case. Then glue it in position. [Illustration: FIG. 102.] [Illustration: FIG. 103.] All that is now required is a coat of paint, and any ornamentation you may care to add. In conclusion we would point out once more what we stated at the beginning--namely, that the examples given are intended merely to suggest ways and means of making countless other articles. Printed by The Edinburgh Art Printing Co. Ltd. Edinburgh * * * * * * Transcriber's note: Illustrations have been moved to logical locations between paragraphs. The following suspected error was changed in the text: on page 69, changed "somethng" to "something" 
43635	----	------------------------------------------------------------- [Transcriber's Note: LEAD-PAINT WARNING! DO NOT USE THE GROUND-LEAD PAINT INGREDIENTS mentioned in the "Coloring the Toys" chapter. See Transcriber's Notes at end of document for more details.] ------------------------------------------------------------- EDUCATIONAL TOYS Consisting Chiefly of Coping-Saw Problems for Children in the School and the Home by LOUIS C. PETERSEN, B. Sc. Director of Manual Arts, State Normal University, Carbondale, Illinois [Illustration] PUBLISHED BY THE MANUAL ARTS PRESS PEORIA, ILLINOIS COPYRIGHT LOUIS C. PETERSEN 1920 CONTENTS _Page_ INTRODUCTION 5 TOOLS AND SUPPLIES 7 BOW DRILL 8 TRANSFERRING DESIGNS 9 WOODS 9 LAYING OUT WORK 10 SAWING 10 FASTENING BASES 11 FASTENINGS 11 COLORING TOYS 12 WORKING DRAWINGS AND DIRECTIONS 15 The Buzzer 16 The Shark Puzzle 16 Duck 18 Goose 18 Wild Duck 20 Hen 20 Deer 22 Cow 22 Weasel 26 Tiger 26 Rocking Rhino 28 Minstrels 30 Squirrel 32 Pig 32 Kangaroo 32 Camel 36 Giraffe 38 Swan Rocker 40 Balancing Peacock 42 Toy Dog 44 Teddy Bear 46 Parrot 48 Doll's Hobby Horse 50 Stern Wheeler 50 The Weather-cock 50 Arm-chair and Rocking-chair 54 Doll's Cradle 54 Doll's Bed 56 Doll's Table 56 Kites 58 Wood Choppers 60 The Bucking Goats 60 Pecking Hens 60 Acrobat 64 Climbing Sailor 64 The Jumping Jack 68 Balancing Barrister 68 The Dancing Rastus 70 The Spanking Esquimaux 72 Wabbler 74 Falling Teeter-Totter 76 Tumbling Tommie 78 The Busy Pup 80 The Dinkey Bird 82 Pelican Sewing Stand 84 Whirligig 86 The Cart 86 The Wagon 88 Flying Goose 90 The Dodo Bird 92 Rocking-horse and Rider 94 Animated Elephant 97 The Bucking Mule 100 Fox-and-Goose Game 104 Nine Men's Mill 106 Disc Puzzle 108 Ball Puzzle 108 APPENDIX Knots and Braids 111 INTRODUCTION The purpose in sending out this collection of toys is to promote among children a love for educational occupation. This book is intended to be of real service to parents and teachers who are intrusted with the arduous responsibility of child-training. It is with this object in view that the directions, drawings and photographs have been prepared. The experience of almost twenty years as a teacher has convinced the author that only when the child approaches subject-matter with interest and enthusiasm can the best results be obtained. Giving a child an opportunity to make things, arouses his interest; therefore, learning by doing is a most effective method in gaining educational ends. Toy-making incorporates this method, with several vital elements added. It takes into account the child's view-point, his proclivities and his emotions. It is a form of activity that appeals strongly to his fancy, has a direct relation to his environments, and is within the range of his mental grasp and constructive ability. His wonderful imagination endows the creatures of his handiwork with life, individuality and cunning. The toy problem is in harmony with the child's resourcefulness, his powers and his interests. The problems contained in this book have been selected from those worked out in the Normal Model School. They have been tested under ordinary class-room conditions. To survive the weeding-out process, a toy has had to meet the following requirements: 1. It must be within the child's power. 2. It must excite and sustain interest. 3. It must possess educational value. 4. It must be adaptable to light-wood construction. 5. It must conform in size and complexity to the limited space and equipment of class-room conditions. In his early years, the child begins tinkering with what materials and tools he can find, making something. The wise parent and teacher will turn that healthful, happy, creative instinct into good, useful channels. He will encourage and guide the child, in these early attempts, by surrounding him with congenial conditions, by furnishing him suggestions, pictures, drawings and such other aids as will direct him to occupational problems of educational value, and by providing him with a place to work, the tools, wood, nails, wire and other necessary equipment. One advantage in connection with the kind of educational hand work presented in this book is that it can be carried on with a very small and inexpensive equipment. Moreover, it is light, clean and agreeable in every respect. The tools are safe for a child to handle. The material is substantial and durable. The articles made are firm, strong and of lasting quality. They become an excellent means for providing an abundance of entertainment, and constitute most acceptable gifts, promoting as much genuine happiness for the industrious donor as for the fortunate receiver. Toy-making may readily be adapted to class-room conditions and a period be devoted to it each day. Members of the class may be appointed to distribute the tools and material at the beginning of the period, and collect them at the end. While at work, each pupil should stay at his desk and keep it neat and orderly. When not in use, the equipment should be locked up in a box having suitable compartments for the tools and materials. The teacher who is to conduct the class should be thoroly familiar with the work and should have made each model before taking it up as a class problem. The work as a whole should be conducted in a systematic and quiet manner; concise planning, prompt action, and accuracy in details should be insisted upon. The cheerful spirit, the formation of correct habits, and the proper regard for everything and everybody should be cultivated along with skill in constructing and good taste in coloring the toys. If for any valid reason this work can not be carried on in the school, the teacher should encourage the pupils to do it as home work. The child can buy his own scroll saw and colors, and furnish his own wood. The work can be done outside of school, but still be under the supervision and guidance of the teacher. The training that comes thru reading and interpreting directions and drawings, and carrying out the instruction in every detail, is of value to every child, no matter what his future career may be. The child should, therefore, have a book of his own, giving directions and drawings. Furthermore, the teacher should give the proper amount of credit for the home work. L. C. PETERSEN. TOOLS AND SUPPLIES The equipment listed below is suggestive for ordinary class-room conditions. The number of pupils should not exceed twenty-four. _Tools for each pupil_: 12" rule. Coping-saw. Saw-bracket, Fig. 1. A working drawing of the saw-bracket is shown in Fig. 2. A water-color brush. [Illustration: Fig. 1] _Tools for every four pupils_: Scissors. Compass. Water-color pan. 4-1/2" round-nose pliers, Fig. 4. 5" side-cutting pliers. 5 oz. claw hammer. 8" half-round mill file. Bow-drill, see Fig. 3. [Illustration: Fig. 2] _General class equipment and supplies_: A box for locking up equipment and work. 2 breast drills. Iron block to serve as anvil. 6 quires of No. 1/2 sand-paper. Le Page's glue in two one-pint cans. 1 gross coping-saw blades. 1 lb. each of 1/2", 3/4" and 1" brads. 2 lbs. each of 3/4" No. 19, 1" No. 18, 1-1/4" No. 17, 1-1/2" No. 16, and 1-3/4" No. 15 flat-headed nails. 1 lb. each of 1/2", 5/8" and 3/4" brass escutcheon pins. 30 ft. of No. 12 copper-coated steel wire. A few nails of various sizes for making drills. Turpentine. Alcohol. Borax. Brushes of various sizes. Paint--red, yellow, green, blue, black and white of the paints to be used. Several good enamel paints, ready for use, are on the market. "Calcimo" is cheaper, but not so convenient, as it must be prepared. [Illustration: Fig. 3] [Illustration: Fig. 4] BOW DRILL The bow drill is useful for drilling small holes in wood, and may easily be made by a child. First, procure an ordinary thread spool. Push a round stick six inches long thru the hole with a tight fit. Shape the top of the stick to a point (Fig. 3). Drive a nail into the other end of the stick. Cut the head off the nail, hammer it flat at the end, and sharpen it with a file. In this way a drill of any size needed for the work can be made. The bow is made from a slender, flexible stick, about twenty inches long. A notch is cut at each end where the ends of a strong string are securely tied. Slip the bow string once around the spool and spin it. The top end of the spindle is guided in a shallow hole in a piece of wood as shown at H in Fig. 3. This block of wood is held in the left hand while the right moves the bow back and forth, spinning the spindle and drilling the hole. TRANSFERRING DESIGNS The shapes of people, animals and birds on the plates that follow are drawn full size. They are intended to be made of wood, and may be transferred by any one of the following methods: (_a_) Place a piece of transparent paper, known as tracing paper, over the drawing in the book, and with a soft, sharp lead pencil, trace all the lines on the drawing. Cut out the traced shape with a pair of scissors. Place it on the wood, and with pencil trace along the edge of the paper pattern. (_b_) Make a tracing and paste it on the wood. (_c_) Place a piece of carbon paper on the wood, carbon side down. On this, place the tracing in position and fasten it down with two thumb tacks. With a hard pencil, or a stylus, go over all the lines of tracing. Pressure should be applied as the lines are being traced so that they may show plainly on the wood. (_d_) Rub the back of the tracing with graphite (the lead of the pencil). Place it on the wood, and with a hard pencil, or a stylus, trace the lines. (_e_) When a permanent pattern is desired for class use, place the tracing on a piece of cardboard, and transfer the outline by method _c_ or _d_, indicated above. With a sharp, pointed knife or shears cut the cardboard accurately to line. Place this template on the wood, and with a sharp pencil, held vertically, draw lines around the edge of the template. This method serves well for class work. WOODS Save the thin-wood boxes found at home. Ask the store-keeper to save boxes instead of burning them. A rich supply of wood for toy-making may be secured in this way. For class work, it will be necessary to buy wood prepared and surfaced to dimensions. The thicknesses most convenient for school work are 3/16", 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 7/8". While three-ply wood is best for the thin stock, the single-ply answers the purpose when due care is given to the direction of the wood fibers--the grain. Such woods as maple, elm, birch, cherry and bay wood are very durable, but rather hard to work. Bass wood, poplar and sugar pine are easy to work, are preferable in school, and give satisfactory results. LAYING OUT WORK It is important to have the patterns placed correctly on the wood so that the desired result may be reached. One of the things sought is the greatest possible strength in the parts sawed out. The grain of the wood should, therefore, run lengthwise of the wood where the parts are narrow. Another thing desired is the economical use of material. The patterns should, therefore, be so arranged on the wood that the outlines will match closely together and thus use up as nearly as possible all surface space on the board. Generally, it is advisable to place the larger patterns first, beginning near a corner of the board, and then fit in the smaller patterns on the intermediate spaces. Where the drawings are not full size, the dimensions are shown in inches or fractions of an inch. Guided by the figures, the outlines of the object may be laid out directly on the wood by ruler, pencil and compasses. In laying out the different shapes on the wood, attention should be given to the direction of the grain of the wood, to have it run lengthwise the object, not crosswise. SAWING After the different shapes have been properly laid out on the wood, the next thing to do is to saw them out with a coping-saw. The wood is placed flat on a saw-bracket, pattern side up. This saw-bracket is fastened to the edge of a desk or a table top and should be adjusted in height so the top of it is about 6" below the child's chin. The child may stand or sit, when at work, whichever is most comfortable, but a standing position gives more freedom of movement. The wood is held and guided on the saw-bracket with the left hand, while the right hand operates the coping-saw with an up-and-down motion in the V-shaped opening in the bracket. The coping-saw is the principal tool needed for this work, and may be purchased with extra blades for about 25 cents. The frame is made of spring steel and holds the blade in tension. By pressing the frame against the edge of a table, it may readily be sprung enough to allow the blade to be put into the slots in the ends of the frame. There is a pair of end slots and a pair of side slots in the frame. The blade may be inserted into these slots with either the teeth edge or the smooth edge of the blade towards the frame. _The points of the teeth should always point towards the handle of the frame._ The frame is held with the handle down. The saw does the cutting as it is pulled downward. In working the saw, the blade must be kept perpendicular to the face of the wood. The blade should never be forced against the wood, as that will cause the wood to tear, and leave a ragged edge. Saw right to the line. Keep the saw going up and down to insure freedom and plenty of room for the blade, especially in turning corners. When removing it from the work, do not attempt to twist the blade or let the frame hang on it, as the blades are brittle and break easily. When an opening is to be sawed out, bore a hole in the middle of the part to be cut out, remove the blade from the upper part of the frame, while holding it in place in the lower part with the thumb of the right hand. Slip the blade thru the hole from below, and replace it in the slot while pressing the upper part of the frame against the edge of the desk. When the opening has been cut, the saw may be removed by reversing the operation. In all cases, saw the edge of the wood to a finish as far as possible. Rough or fuzzy edges should be removed by filing and sand-papering. FASTENING TO BASES Where toys have bases, they should be made of two or more thicknesses, one overlapping the other. The lower piece should be thicker than the upper, extending a distance equal to the thickness of the upper part. When both the toy and the base parts are ready to fasten together, hold the toy in a vise, with its feet up, and drive nails thru the upper part of the base into the feet. Then fasten the top to the lower part with escutcheon pins. Space the pins accurately. FASTENINGS Several methods are employed in fastening parts together in toy-making. Where parts are joined together permanently, a thin coat of liquid glue should be rubbed on the joining surfaces with a small paddle, and then fastened with several brads. Where possible, these brads should reach thru the parts just enough to be clenched on the other side (A, Fig. 5). [Illustration: Fig. 5] A movable joint is secured by one flat-headed nail which acts as a pivot, on which one or more of the parts turn. The nail must reach thru the wood far enough to allow the end to be bent back like a staple and be driven into the wood. A loose joint is required in some toys so that the parts may swing without friction. A flat-headed nail is used as a pivot, and holes, a little bigger than the nail, are bored thru all but one of the parts to be joined together. The part that will be nearest to the point of the nail has no hole bored in it, for it should fit tight. The nail must reach thru the joint far enough so that it may be bent back, staple-like, and when the point is driven back into the wood, the joint should swing freely. The nail may be bent with round-nose pliers (B, Fig. 5). COLORING THE TOYS The possibilities that may be achieved in beautifying these wooden toys are almost limitless. They may be treated as design problems, thereby serving as a means of training the taste and imagination as well as developing an appreciation of space relations and color harmonies. The work is fascinating to children and presents an excellent opportunity for acquiring knowledge and skill in mixing and applying colors. Several methods are given here. The choice of method should be guided by the child's ability and experience in doing work of this kind. The employment of striking and brilliant colors will enhance the charm and increase the artistic effect. The methods of coloring are arranged in the order of their difficulty in manipulation: _Method No. 1._ Water colors may be used to color the wood, but only a little water should be used so as to prevent the tendency to spread. When the toy is dry, a coat of shellac may be applied over the water color. This protects the wood and gives the toy a crisp and bright appearance. _Method No. 2._ Of the calcimine paints, the one known as "Calcimo" may be used successfully by children. It is procured in powder form and costs from 15 to 50 cents a pound according to color. It is mixed with water that contains a binder to prevent the colors from rubbing off in handling the toys. The binder may be either glue or mucilage mixed with the water. The proportion is about a tablespoonful of glue to a quart of water. In preparing the colors, put a teaspoonful of powder in a water-color pan and add water, while stirring and rubbing out the lumps, till the mixture comes to a consistency of thick cream. It may then be applied with a No. 6 water-color brush. [TR Note: ------------------------------------------------- LEAD WARNING! DO NOT USE THE WHITE LEAD OR GROUND LEAD INGREDIENTS MENTIONED IN METHODS 3 AND 4. -------------------------------------------------End of TR Note] _Method No. 3._ When handled correctly, oil paint and enamel paint give excellent results, producing a smooth, brilliant gloss. First, give the toy a coat of white lead or flat white tone. Apply it with a flat sash brush about an inch wide. Allow the toy to dry four or five days and then sand-paper it smoothly with No. 1/2 sand-paper. Finally, give it a coat of enamel paint of the colors desired. If colored enamel is not at hand, use white enamel and add colors ground in oil. The enamel paint is put on a surface with a large camel-hair brush. Use No. 10 artist's flat brush for features. Natural details and life-like effects should be avoided. The features should be conventionalized. Eyes, ears, nose and mouth may be dotted in with a tooth-pick. _Method No. 4._ For a second coat, instead of using enamel for coloring, white lead ground in oil may be used, mixed with colors ground in oil. This produces a mat or dull finish that is quite pleasing. However, if a gloss finish is desired, a coat of varnish may be applied over the dull color. Dry colors may be mixed with shellac varnish until it is heavy enough to cover the wood. If this mixture becomes too thick to spread smoothly, it may be thinned with alcohol. The brush that has been used in varnish may be cleaned by washing in borax water. When the joints are movable, it is advisable to paint each part separately before putting them together. Where glue has been used to form joints, it should be thoroly dry before the toy is painted. [Illustration] [Illustration] WORKING DRAWINGS AND DIRECTIONS In beginning the construction of these toys, read the directions carefully so as to understand the process of construction. Study how you can best arrive at the desired results. By thinking ahead, as you proceed, many mistakes may be prevented. Be careful in making your drawings. Keep your pencil sharp. Be precise in making measurements. Handle the tools with care. Finish one job before starting another. Have a place for your tools. Keep your glue and wood-finishes well covered to prevent drying. Keep your brushes in kerosene to prevent them from getting stiff. Be clean in handling colors. Let one color get dry before joining on another. Let the colors join on sharp and definite lines. Pick up only a small amount of color with the brush. Lay the color on in a thin coat. Clean your brushes before putting them away. Give your work that clean, crisp, snappy appearance which is the mark of superior craftsmanship. [Illustration] THE BUZZER This toy is made from 1/4" stock. Two 1/8" holes are located on a straight line passing thru the center, one on each side of the center and 1/4" from it. The circle is drawn with compass, and then sawed to the line. The circumference is stepped off into lengths equal to the radius, and every second point connected by line with the center. This divides the surface into three equal spaces called sectors. Color each sector with one of the primary colors--red, blue and yellow. A strong cord is slipped thru the two holes, and the ends tied together in a square knot, leaving a loop on each side of the wheel. To operate the buzzer, insert a finger of each hand in the loops and swing the disk around in a circular motion till the strands of the cord are twisted together. Then pull hard on the cord so that the disk will be set into a spinning motion as the cord is being unwound. At this instant slacken the cord so that the disk may continue turning, and rewind the string. Then pull on the cord again, and the disk will spin in the opposite direction. By whirling the disks rapidly in this way, the colors will blend and show a new color produced by the three primary colors. The other side of the wheel may have half of it colored yellow and half colored blue. This will blend into green when spun. By pasting paper sectors of different colors on the wheel, an infinite number of tests in color-blending may be made. THE SHARK PUZZLE The shark is sawed out as shown in the drawing and three holes bored. To make one of the rings, draw two concentric circles--one 1/2" radius and the other 3/4" radius. First, saw out the inner circle and then the outer. Take a piece of cord a foot long, double it and slip the loop thru the middle hole in the shark. Next, put the two ends of the cord thru the loop. Slip a ring on each end of the cord, and tie with a slip knot into the end hole in the shark. Puzzle: Transfer a ring from one end to the other. [Illustration: BUZZER SHARK PUZZLE] DUCK The parts for this fowl are sawed out of 1/4" stock. The edges should be sawed square and to line, and may be made smooth and slightly rounded by filing and sand-papering. The two feet should be made alike and held together when the hole for the nail is drilled thru them. The bottom of the feet will then be on the same level, and the duck will stand upright. Put a fine 1" nail thru one foot, drive it thru the body, at the proper place, and press it thru the other foot. With round-nose pliers, bend the end of the nail around so the end will point toward the wood (Fig. 5). Place the head of the nail against a block of iron, and with the hammer drive the point of the nail into the foot. The joint should be firm and movable so the duck will stand at different postures. Color the body brown, with black outlines and streaks on the wings, the bill yellow, the head green, and the feet red. [Illustration: Fig. 6. Platform Bases.] GOOSE This project may be made of 3/8" stock and fastened to a platform base (Fig. 6). The platform is made of two rectangular pieces one on top of the other. The upper is 1-1/2" by 2-1/4"; the lower, 2-1/4" by 3". The grain in the two pieces should cross to prevent warping. To fasten the goose to the platform, outline on the upper piece of the platform the position for the foot. Hold the goose with foot up. Drive 1-1/2" brads thru the upper piece of the platform into the foot. On the upper side of this upper piece of the platform, locate points at each corner, 1/4" from the outer edges, and drive 5/8" escutcheon pins thru it into the lower piece of the platform. Smooth all parts, and color the body white with black trimmings. Make the bill yellow, the feet red and the platform green. [Illustration: DUCK GOOSE] WILD DUCK The body may be cut from 3/8" stock, or from heavier material if so desired. It may be whittled to natural shape with a pocket knife before fastening it onto the platform. The bill, eye and feet are colored yellow, throat, breast and tail red, head and wings dark green, and platform blue. HEN The construction of this problem is similar to that of the goose. Her feet and comb are colored red, body white with black trimming, beak and platform yellow. [Illustration] [Illustration: WILD DUCK HEN] DEER The stock is 3/8" thick, the grain running vertical. It should be mounted on a wheel base 3/8" by 2" by 5-1/2" (Fig. 7). The deer is colored reddish brown, but nearly white under the body and on the lower parts of the legs. Color the base black and the wheels red. [Illustration: Fig. 7. Wheel Base.] [Illustration: DEER] COW The stock is 3/8" thick. The grain of the wood should run vertical. The cow should be mounted on a wheel base 3/8" by 2" by 5-1/2". Wheels are 3/8" thick, 1-1/2" diameter. This is a Jersey cow, and should be colored accordingly. The base may be colored green, and the wheels red. [Illustration] [Illustration: COW] WEASEL This little creature is wary and swift as lightning in its movements. The stock should be 1/4" thick, the grain running lengthwise of the body. It may be mounted on rocker base 1/4" by 1-1/2" by 5" (Fig. 8. See text on "Minstrels," page 30). It is reddish brown with under part of body light. [Illustration: Fig. 8. Rocker Bases.] [Illustration: WEASEL] TIGER This may be treated in the same way as the weasel except the coloring. Examine a tiger in the zoo, or look up some colored pictures of tigers so you will know just how to draw his stripes and just what color to make them. [Illustration] [Illustration: TIGER] ROCKING RHINO The rhinoceros should be cut out and colored and mounted on a platform which has rockers fastened to its edges (Fig. 8). Hold the animal in the vise, head down, and nail thru the platform into the feet. [Illustration] [Illustration: ROCKING RHINO] MINSTRELS The stock for the two minstrels, the platform and the rockers is 1/4" thick, with the grain of the wood running lengthwise in each object. The bottom of the feet of the figures should fit squarely onto the platform. The rockers are laid off with the compass. The center of the arc is on a separate piece of wood of the same thickness as the rocker. When the rockers are accurately finished and nailed to the platform, a center line is drawn along the under side of the platform, and points located to match the position of the feet of the figures. Use 3/4" brads and drive them thru the platform. Hold the figures, heads down, in the vise, or in clamps, and, in turn, drive the brads thru the feet and into the legs so that the figures will stand in an upright position. They are then colored in such brilliant attire as is becoming two gay minstrels. [Illustration] [Illustration: MINSTRELS] SQUIRREL The squirrel is generally regarded as being wary and wild. Still, by wise and kind treatment, its timidity can be overcome, and it may become quite tame. All parts of the squirrel may be made from 1/4" stock. Saw out the body, two fore, two hind legs and a nut. Hold each pair of legs together in boring holes thru them. Smooth the parts and assemble them by firm movable joints. Color throat and breast light gray, and the remainder brown. [Illustration: SQUIRREL] PIG This problem is worked out similar to the squirrel. It may be colored red, black or white, with large spots. [Illustration] [Illustration: PIG] KANGAROO This animal has its home in Australia, where the birds are songless and the trees give no shade. It has a very powerful tail which serves with the two long hind legs as its support and for making enormous bounds. The fore legs, much like arms, are used with surprising dexterity by this strange animal. The nose, throat and breast are very light, the rest of the body is reddish brown. [Illustration: KANGAROO] CAMEL It is with significance that this beast is called the ship of the desert. Like a ship crossing a wide ocean of water, the camel travels across a great expanse of sand carrying heavy loads of freight. It has a wonderful endurance and can go for a week without drinking, subsisting on the coarse grass of that waste region, and the water stored up in its humps. Its dreamy eyes, sullen nature, angular figure and neutral grey-brown color--all seem to resemble the rocky desert itself. [Illustration] [Illustration: CAMEL] GIRAFFE This creature (Fig. 9) is, unquestionably, the tallest of all the beasts of the forests of Africa. It does not stoop to obtain its living from the ground, but browses on the tops of trees. It is also called the camelopard, suggesting a resemblance in shape to the camel and in color to the leopard. It is cream-colored with a shower of dark-brown spots on its back and sides. [Illustration: Fig. 9.] [Illustration: GIRAFFE] SWAN ROCKER All the parts may be made from 1/4" stock. The two sides are made like the pattern. The seat is 2-1/4" wide, the back 2-1/2". Both are 3" long, and serve to unite the two sides. When the parts are finished and ready for assembling, mark on the sides the exact location of seat and back; also the position of each nail on all parts. Hold the two sides together and make small holes thru them where the nails are to be driven. Nail, in turn, the seat and back to the first side, and then to the second side. Color white and decorate appropriately. [Illustration] [Illustration: SWAN ROCKER] BALANCING PEACOCK Saw out the shape of the fowl as outlined in the drawing. There is good chance for display of fine color in dark-green and blue. The breast should be colored brown. Make a small stick about 2" long for a perch. Drive a small nail into each end of the stick, and tie the ends of a fine cord to each nail. Press a brad thru the middle of the stick up into the foot of the peacock. It may then be hung up by the long loop of the string and swung freely. [Illustration] [Illustration: PEACOCK] TOY DOG This dog may be made of 3/16" or 1/4" stock. When put together, the two pieces for the body are separated by the head, tail and two circular pieces. The legs are fastened to the outside of the body by two long nails that reach thru the five thicknesses. The ends of the nails are bent back. Smooth the parts and color white, with large black spots on head, back, tail and legs. [Illustration] [Illustration: TOY DOG] TEDDY BEAR This animal has two pieces for the body. The head and two circular pieces hold these two pieces apart. The head and legs move on tight joints so that the bear will stay in the desired position. [Illustration] [Illustration: TEDDY BEAR] PARROT This may be made of 1/4" stock. The base has two holes bored thru it for the uprights with fit tight into the holes (Fig. 10). The perch is 2" long and has a brad in each end to swing on. These brads fit loose thru the uprights near the top ends. The parrot is sawed out, and a 3/4" brad driven up thru the foot which also fits into the hole in the middle of the perch. The parrot may be colored white with black trimmings, yellow beak and eyes, red crest, tail and foot. The wings are green. The stand should have a green base, red uprights, and yellow perch. The bird should balance well and swing freely. [Illustration: Fig. 10.] [Illustration: PARROT] DOLL'S HOBBY HORSE The two body pieces of the horse with rocker are sawed from 1/4" wood. The seat and back are made alike, as are also the shelf and foot-rest. The ends of these four pieces should be at right angles to the sides, and the edges should be slightly rounded. Mark carefully on both side pieces where the cross-pieces are to be fastened. Hold the two together and make fine holes thru the two thicknesses where the nails are to go thru. By driving the brads thru these holes, fasten all the cross pieces to one side, and watch that the brads go straight. Then fasten the other side in a similar way. Color the horses white, rockers red, and seat blue. [Illustration: DOLL'S HOBBY HORSE] STERN WHEELER This boat is sawed out according to the drawing, and notches cut on the arms at the stern as a place for the rubber band which serves both as axle and motive power. The paddles are sawed out to fit together to form a stern wheel with four paddles. The elastic is made in a double loop of four thicknesses, one of which is placed in each of the four angles of the paddle. By twisting the elastic band, power is stored up sufficient for the boat to attain a fair rate of speed. A spool serves as smoke-stack. Paint the boat white and smoke-stack red. [Illustration] THE WEATHER-COCK This fowl may be made of 3/8" stock; a shingle will do. Let the grain run vertically. The perch may be made of similar stock, triple thickness, with the middle piece short to allow room for the foot of the rooster. The pieces are securely fastened together with nails, and a hole bored in the other end of the perch for a metal pivot, on which it should swing to tell the way the wind blows. Give it two coats of paint, using brilliant colors. [Illustration: STERN WHEELER WEATHER COCK] ARM-CHAIR AND ROCKING-CHAIR These two doll's chairs are similar in construction. Make them from 1/4" wood. Saw out two sides, a back and a seat for each chair. Have edges finished accurately. The seats are alike for the two chairs. The backs, also, are alike, except that the one for the rocker is 1/4" longer than the other. Assemble as shown in dotted lines, and fasten with 1" brads. The chairs may be colored white or mahogany. With due care and skill, this furniture may be made very attractive and valuable. [Illustration: ROCKING CHAIR ARM CHAIR] DOLL'S CRADLE Every little girl loves to own a cradle for her doll. Here is one that is strong and pretty, and can easily be made from thin wood about 1/4" thick. Saw out the two ends after tracing the outline from the full-sized drawing. The two sides and bottom have their dimensions given. When properly shaped and smooth, the bottom is fastened with 1" brads between the ends. One-inch brads are driven thru the sides into the edges of the ends. Be careful when driving the brads that the sides do not split and that the brads go straight. Paint the cradle white on the outside and violet or pink inside. [Illustration] [Illustration: DOLL'S CRADLE] DOLL'S BED This is a problem that will appeal to the little girl. It is also needed to complete the set of doll's house furniture. It is made of 1/4" wood and fastened with 1" brads. The grain should be run from top to bottom in the ends of the bed and lengthwise in sides and bottom. The parts should be cut out of paper full size and placed on the wood as patterns. In cutting out the ends, fold the paper on the vertical center line so as to cut the two halves at the same time. When all parts are sawed out, fasten the bottom to the two ends, and then put the sides in place. The bed is colored like the rest of the furniture. DOLL'S TABLE This table, being part of the furniture set, may be made from 1/4" stock. The four pieces comprising the legs are made from two paper patterns that are laid out to measure, folded on the vertical center line, cut out symmetrically, then traced on the wood, sawed out, smoothed and fastened together with 3/4" brads. The top is drawn directly on the wood with compass and fastened with 3/4" brads, centrally on the legs. It is colored white, brown, mahogany or some other shade to harmonize with the general color scheme of the Doll's House and its furnishings. [Illustration] [Illustration: DOLL'S BED DOLL'S TABLE] KITES Kite-flying is known the world over. Every boy wants to make and fly a kite. It is a sport that is almost limitless in its possibilities. Kites may be made any size, of almost any shape and with all sorts of decorations. The two models here presented are types of practical fliers and are easily made. One needs a tail to steady it in its flight, the other is tailless, but has the cross rod sprung by means of a string into the shape of a bow. The wind is caught against the convex surface and renders it steady. In the making of kites, it is essential that a few things be observed: If the size be changed, the same proportions should be maintained. Make the wooden stays as light as possible consistent with strength. Be sure to preserve balance both in distance and weight of the various parts. Make the cross-lap joint secure by driving a light nail thru the several thicknesses and bending down the end; then tie them together with strong twine. Cut a notch in the outer ends of the stays and in stringing the twine taut prevent it from slipping by tying a knot around the stick and thru the notch. The paper should be very light and strong. It is doubled over the string and pasted together. The guy-strings are fastened to the ends of the wooden stays and the anchor line securely tied to them with several knots directly opposite where the stays cross. A few adjustments in point of balance and of the weight of the tail may be necessary in starting to fly the kite, but after they are made, it should rise to a great height and maintain a steady flight. [Illustration] [Illustration: KITES] WOOD CHOPPERS The stock required is 1/4" thick. Two bodies, two arms with axes, and two bars are needed for this toy. The upper bar has a place 5/8" from its center which is widened to resemble a tree stump an inch high. The pairs of parts are held together while holes are being bored thru them. The shoulders of the men and arms should have small holes to make a fixed joint while the men's legs and the bars should have holes closely fitting 1" nails. Both bars are located on the side of the men on which the arms are fastened. Color the coats, hats and sleeves blue, boots and axes black, arms, fingers, faces pink, and trousers red, bars green, and stump brown. [Illustration: WOOD CHOPPERS] THE BUCKING GOATS From 1/4" stock, saw out two bodies, as shown in the full-size drawing, and two bars shown in the dimensioned drawing. Place the two bodies together and bore holes in the hind legs, as shown, for 1" nails. Do likewise with the two bars. Color the goats white, with large brown spots on their backs, necks and legs. Color the horns and hoofs black, and the bars gray or brown. Fasten with movable joints, one bar on each side of the goats, having them cross as indicated in the assembled drawing. [Illustration] [Illustration: BUCKING GOATS] PECKING HENS Saw out two bodies and four legs for the two hens. Hold two legs together and bore five fine holes thru them as shown in the drawing. Then place one of these with each of the unbored legs and bore these, using the first pair as template for boring the second. Also bore holes in the two bodies together, saw out the two bars and bore the holes thru the two together. Saw out the upright and the tilting pans; bore holes, and fasten together with a loose joint. Enlarge the two lower holes in legs of the hens to the size of a 1" nail. Fasten two legs to each hen with three 3/4" brads, and clench. Finish the parts in appropriate contrasting colors. Place the two bars between the legs of the hens and insert thru the holes 1" nails, bending their ends back to form a loose joint. Take the upright and the pans, and fasten the lower end of the upright to the middle of the upper bar so that each pan will tilt when the hens peck. [Illustration: PECKING HEN] ACROBAT The body, arms and legs are made of 3/16" wood. After the acrobat is sawed out and holes are bored, paint the parts in gay colors. Assemble with loose joints. The two upright sticks are fastened to the cross piece by two 1" brads at each end, after the two holes are bored in the upper ends for the cord. It is colored green or black. Insert a strong double cord thru the frame and the hands of the acrobat. There is a twist in the cord when the legs are down, but it is straight when the arms point down. [Illustration: ACROBAT] CLIMBING SAILOR This nimble tar climbs a rope according to a style that is all his own. Pull on the string, and the friction on the two nails between his legs being greater than that between his hands, his hands glide upward. Let go, and the elastic band between his legs and arms pulls his legs up, and he thus gets a fresh grip. Saw out of 3/16" stock one body, two arms and two legs. The arms are fastened to the body with three 3/4" brads and clenched. The legs have a loose hip joint on a 1" nail with the end bent back. The rubber band is held between arms and legs by two nails. The string is held between two thicknesses of felt or cardboard that are fastened between the hands with two brads to produce the required friction. Bore holes to avoid splitting. The string passes down between the two legs around two nails that pass thru both legs but do not pull them together. Color the cap white and suit blue. [Illustration] [Illustration: CLIMBING SAILOR] THE JUMPING JACK The wood should be 3/16" thick. Two of each pattern is required, except the head, which may be made of slightly thicker stock. Bore the holes as shown to form loose joints. Color the cap and body blue, thighs and upper arms yellow, calves and fore arms pink, and shoes brown. Insert small nails into edge of arms and thighs at the points where the strings are to be attached. Take two pieces of string, two feet long; tie the ends of one to nails in the arms, the ends of the other to the nails in the thighs. Insert 1" nails thru one of the body pieces; drive 3/4" brads thru it and the neck; place arms and legs in position; adjust the strings to proper lengths, and tie a knot on them. Place the other body piece in position. Bend back the ends of the nails, making loose joints, and drive the brads thru the neck into the second body piece, and clench. Fasten the legs together with loose joints, and all should work freely. [Illustration: JUMPING JACK] BALANCING BARRISTER The body may be sawed from 3/8" stock as outlined in the drawing. Find its center of gravity by balancing it on a knife edge, crosswise, and then lengthwise. Draw lines along the knife edge where it balances. Where these intersect is the center of gravity. Bore a hole at this point of intersection perpendicular to the body, and so as to fit tight on a 1/4" dowel rod. Make two discs 1" diameter, 1/4" thick, with a hole to fit tight on the dowel on each side of the man. Color his shirt red, hat and trousers blue, arms and stockings white, and dowel, shoes and parallel bars black. The frame on which the man should balance (Fig. 11), with his head just a little the lighter, is made of seven pieces. The base, 1/2" x 2" x 12"; the four uprights, 1/4" x 1" x 5-3/4", and the two bars, 3/8" x 3/4" x 15", are firmly fastened together so that the two bars will be parallel and horizontal. When the man is properly balanced, which may be accomplished by whittling off a little stock where needed, he should roll from end to end of the bars by giving the dowel a twist between two fingers. [Illustration: Fig. 11.] [Illustration: BALANCING BARRISTER] THE DANCING RASTUS All parts of the body are of 3/16" stock. When sawed out, the parts are colored separately and assembled. All joints should swing without friction. Therefore, bore all holes larger than the nail, thru all thicknesses, except the one nearest to the point of the nail. At elbows and knees have the heads of the nails on the inside. At the shoulders place a small wheel between the arms and body, and use a 1-1/2" nail for pivot, with plenty of play. The platform (Fig. 12) is of thin, springy wood, 1-1/2" wide and 9" long. The upright post is of 1/2" stock about 6" long and securely nailed to the platform and braced with a small block. Holes are bored into Rastus' back and the post so as to fit tight on No. 16 spring brass wire, 5" long. Put a weight on the rear end of the platform, let the front end project out over the edge of a table and set it vibrating. This should cause Rastus to swing legs and arms in a merry fashion. [Illustration: Fig. 12.] [Illustration] [Illustration: DANCING RASTUS] THE SPANKING ESQUIMAUX The stock for all parts is 1/4" thick except for the oar and broom which should be 1/8" thick. Saw out the two figures, wheels and bars. Hold the two wheels together and bore two holes for the pivot nails. Do similarly to the bars. Assemble wheels and bars temporarily to mark places on the wheels where the feet of the figures will be fastened. Saw out the oar and broom. Color all the parts separately in bright contrasting values to bring out the outlines of the arms and other parts of the figures. Fasten the wheels to the feet, the bars to the wheels in loose joint, and the oar and broom to the man and woman in positions indicated by the dotted lines. When properly put together, the figures should swing when the bars are moved back and forth, and the oar and broom go flying and strike with a rattling bang. [Illustration] [Illustration: SPANKING ESQUIMAUX] WABBLER This toy is made so that the wabbler can go or glide down the ladder on his elbows. The ladder is made from soft wood 3/8" to 1/2" thick, 2-1/2" wide, and 20" long. The openings are cut as shown, and nails located and driven in exactly as indicated in the drawing. The ladder is then securely fastened to the base which is made of 3/4" wood, 3-1/2" square. The wabbler is sawed out of 1/4" wood. A full-sized drawing is shown. This is all one piece without openings. Features and parts of the body are to be worked out by using paints of different colors. [Illustration] [Illustration: WABBLER] FALLING TEETER-TOTTER The stock for the upright piece and end supports is 3/8" thick; that for the two boys and teeter-totter is 1/4" thick. The upright is made 2" wide and 28" long. On the center line lay off points 1-3/8" apart. With these as centers, draw semi-circles of 1" radius alternately on both sides of center line. From each center draw lines tangent to the circles, as shown in the drawing. Saw to these lines and curves, and finish the edges so that they are smooth. Saw out two boys and the teeter-totter board (B, Fig. 13), cutting out the center opening accurately. Slip this board onto the upright, and watch it fall from top to bottom in a see-saw motion. If it fails to travel smoothly, see where the rub is and remove the obstacle. Fasten the two pairs of cross pieces to each end of the upright so that it will stand vertically on either end. Give it a thin coat of paint. Color the boys and fasten them with a nail thru the body of each boy, fitting loosely, and driven into the ends of the board. When the see-saw is turned up-end down, the boys will swing on the nails and keep heads up. [Illustration: Fig. 13.] [Illustration] [Illustration: FALLING TEETER TOTTER] TUMBLING TOMMIE This problem is rather unique in its principle of operation and offers at once material for study and investigation. Like that of a circus performer, the combinations must be exactly right or the little fellow may fall on his head. In making the man, first bore the holes thru the block and take care to make them parallel. The openings into the holes from the ends must be in the same plane and made to slide over the rounds of the ladder without friction. The tumbler may be shaped and colored to look like a man. A base may be attached to each end, but on opposite sides of the ladder, so that Tommie may tumble in both directions. [Illustration] [Illustration: TUMBLING TOMMIE] THE BUSY PUP All parts of this article are made of 1/4" wood except the ears which should be 1/8" thick. Saw out one body, a pair each of fore legs, hind legs, ears and tail, and the push-rod and guide. The guide is made of four pieces and fastened together with glue and brads, as shown in the drawing. The two pairs of legs are fastened to the body by loose joints. Holes are bored thru one end of the push-rod and the forefeet; also thru the projecting end of the guide and hind feet. Fasten that end of the guide between the hind feet with loose joint (Fig. 14). Insert the push-rod thru the hole in the guide, which should slide easily, and fasten between the fore feet. By holding the guide in the left hand and working the push-rod back and forth, the dog should work freely and without a hitch in all the varied positions that it is possible for it to assume. With fine brad fasten the tail. Bore holes thru head and ears, and pivot them on a loose joint so that they will swing when the pup is busy scratching. The pup may be colored white with black spots on neck, body and legs. The push-rod and guide may be finished in a dark color or black. The stunts that this pup can perform are greater in number than one would suspect. Furthermore, they increase also in variety as the child acquires skill in manipulation. [Illustration: Fig. 14.] [Illustration] [Illustration: BUSY PUP] THE DINKEY BIRD When properly made up, this bird can bob its head and tail up and down. A swinging pendulum supplies the motive power. The parts are shown in the drawing full size, except the clamp that holds the Dinkey in upright position (Fig. 15). The head, tail and body pieces, one with and one without the leg, are sawed from 1/4", the back (E) from 5/16", the wedge from 3/8", and the clamp from 1/2" stock. Finish all edges. Drill 1/16" holes at A and B. Put the two body pieces together so they coincide, and drive fine 1" nails thru both of them at C and D. Then separate them enough to let the back (E) into place between them. Fasten the three pieces together with five 1" brads, and clench. Fasten clamp (F) securely to the foot at H. Color the different parts in gay tints, and let dry. Take 4 ft. of strong twine and with small nails fasten one end to the head and the other to the tail. Pull out the nails at C and D enough to let the head and the tail slip into their places between the body pieces. Then reinsert the nails. The head and tail should swing freely, and the back (E) act as a stop in their up-and-down motion. Put the clamp onto the edge of a table top and fix with the wedge. Pull down on the loop of the string, grasp it about 6" from the top, and there tie a simple knot. Fasten a stone or a piece of metal to the loop. Set it swinging and watch the bobbing performance according to Dinkey fashion. [Illustration: Fig. 15.] [Illustration: DINKEY BIRD] PELICAN SEWING STAND Whether or not this article may be within the toy class, one thing is certain: It is useful as well as ornamental. The pelican is made of three thicknesses. The middle piece is 3/8" and the two outside ones 1/4" thick. The middle piece has parts cut away to give room for the pin-cushion, and in the head, an opening is left to give place for scissors, which, in turn, serve as the bird's beak. The cushion is stuffed with cotton or some other suitable material, and covered with a double thickness of thin cloth, and fastened in place securely by nails piercing from one side to the other. The platform is six-sided in shape (Fig. 16), of double 3/8" thickness, with grain at right angles in the two pieces, and has four pins extending 1-1/4" above the surface for holding spools. The pelican is fastened to the platform by placing the upper thickness against the foot, and driving 1-1/2" brads thru and up into the foot. Bore holes and drive the pins for the spools thru the upper thickness. Lastly, the bottom board of the platform, which extends 3/8" beyond the upper, is fastened by driving 3/4" brads thru the bottom piece into the upper. The pelican may be colored with white enamel and black trimmings, while the platform may be light green or blue. Besides the places for scissors and spools, other attachments may be arranged to suit the convenience of the happy possessor. [Illustration: Fig. 16.] [Illustration] [Illustration: PELICAN SEWING STAND] WHIRLIGIG This little device might also be called a child's aeroplane, for it soars up into the air over houses and trees, and makes everybody around crane his neck in wonder. The parts consist of the flyer, a spool and the handle. First, get an ordinary thread spool, bore two holes in one end and drive in two six-penny nails. Cut off the heads 3/8" from the end of the spool and file the ends round and smooth. Take a piece of strong wood (yellow pine will do) about 7" long and 3/4" square. Whittle down one end for a distance 3/8" longer than the length of the spool and so it will make a running fit. For a flyer, get a piece of soft wood 3/8" x 1-1/4" x 8". Bore three holes at the center to fit onto the two pins on the spool and the top end of the handle. Whittle both faces down to a slant like a windmill so the blades will be less than 1/8" thick. Put the parts together. Wind about a yard of string around the spool in the proper direction, and then set the flyer spinning by pulling the string quickly off the spool. If all parts are properly balanced and adjusted, the flyer should go "way up high." [Illustration: WHIRLIGIG] THE CART This practical project is of heavier stock than most toys. However, dimensions and sizes of stock may be modified to suit the convenience and wishes of the maker. The box may be of 3/8" stock, the axle and tongue of 3/4", and the wheels of 1/2" or 3/4". [Illustration] Heavy round-headed screws with washers under the heads, fitting thru holes bored in the wheels and screwed securely into the ends of the axle, form the bearings. Take care to bore the holes thru the wheels and into the ends of the axle the proper size, and central and true. The box is fastened by driving 1-1/4" nails thru the bottom into the axle. The tongue is shaped to fit on the axle, and is securely fastened by nails to the axle and wagon bottom. A handle of a loop of brass wire may be inserted thru the tongue near the small end, and the ends bent. The box is painted green and wheels and tongue red. [Illustration: CART] THE WAGON The stock required for the box of the wagon is 1/4" thick, for the wheels 3/8", for the tongue 1/2", and for the axles 3/4". The axles are 5-1/2" long; the rear one is 1" wide; the front one is 7/8" wide, as shown in the drawing. The holes for the screws in the ends of the axles are bored 3/8" from the lower side. The screws are heavy, 1-1/2" round-headed, with metal washers under the heads. The holes in the wheels are bored true, and so that they will just slip over the screws. The tongue is connected with the front axle by a piece of tin, cut from a tin can after the pattern shown on the drawing. The cross piece between the wagon box and the front axle, called the bolster, is 1-1/8" wide, 5" long and 3/4" thick. It tapers from 5" in length at the top to 2-1/2" at the bottom, where it rests on and turns on the tin that is nailed to the top side of the axle. Always bore holes of the proper sizes before inserting screws. The front axle is connected to the bolster by a 2" round-headed screw on which it turns. In making the wagon box, the sides are nailed to the bottom, the ends fastened in position, and the back nailed onto the edge of the seat. The box is painted green outside and red inside. The two wings of the tin plate are bent down to fit tight onto the sides of the tongue, and nails are driven thru the tin into the tongue. The whole running gear is painted red. The box is nailed to the bolster and to the rear axle. The seat is nailed into position, the wheels fitted on, and the front axle screwed onto the bolster. This wagon is strong and should last a long time and afford much wholesome pleasure. [Illustration] [Illustration: WAGON] FLYING GOOSE The body, platform and wheels (Fig. 17) are of 1/4" stock. The wings are a little thinner. Saw out one body and two wings and bore holes for cords, as shown in the drawing. Saw out the platform and four wheels, and finish them carefully. The front wheels turn on 1" flat-headed nails that are driven into the edge of the platform 3/4" from the end. The rear wheels are driven onto a wire axle which turns in two wire staples that are driven into the bottom of the platform, 3/4" from the end and 1/4" from each edge. In driving these staples, take thought to avoid splitting the platform. Also, when boring holes thru the center of the four wheels, take care to secure proper direction and sizes of holes for a running fit in the front wheels and a press fit onto the axle in the rear wheels. Hold the body with foot up, and nail the platform onto it. With round-nose pliers make the connecting rods from No. 12 wire with the eyes neatly shaped and at right angles to each other. Attach the rods to the wings by staples so the joints will work freely without too much play. Attach the other ends of the rods to the outer faces of the rear wheels by means of short flat-headed nails. The nails pass thru the eyes of the rods and are driven into the wheels 1/4" from the outer rims. The nails in the two wheels must be in line with each other, as they act as cranks to actuate the wings. After the rear axle is assembled and fastened in place, the wings are fastened to the body. [Illustration: Fig. 17.] [Illustration: FLYING GOOSE] The parts of the wings that touch the body must have been rounded off, as shown in section on the drawing. The edges are removed from the holes so as not to wear the cord. A heavy strong twine may be used for hinging the wings to the body. Each of the two hinges is formed by slipping the end of the cord up thru the wing, then thru the body, then down thru the second wing, and back thru the body; then tie the ends in a square knot under the first wing. Adjust all parts accurately so they are not too loose and yet work without friction. This goose may be painted white with gray stripes on the wings, red beak, foot and wheels, and green platform. Attach a string or slender stick to the end of the platform to roll it on the floor. Watch the flying goose and see if she can rise by flapping her wings. THE DODO BIRD Until recently this bird has been considered extinct, but is here revived to show what it may have appeared like. In this case it has chosen to perambulate on four wheels and maintain a bobbing motion of the head and body by means of a connecting rod between the breast and a crank on the front axle. [Illustration] The body swings on a pivot between two uprights which we will call the wings. These wings are held apart by a piece between the feet, which is slightly thicker than the body to give the body freedom of motion. The two base pieces are fastened onto the outside of the feet by three 1-1/2" brads driven in from each side. The front end of the base is held together by a piece 3/4" square and 3/8" thick, which is also the thickness of the base pieces and wheels. The body and wings are of 1/4" stock. Make saw cuts 1/8" deep across the bottom of the base pieces to form bearings for the two wire axles, one 1/2" from the rear, and the other 1-1/4" from the front end of the base. The axles should turn freely in these cuts, and nails bent over them will secure them in their places. The parts are colored in gay contrasting colors before assembling. The body is pivoted between the wings and the piece between the feet is fastened. Then the base is assembled and fastened to the outside of the feet of the dodo. Before inserting the axles into the wheels, the ends should be hammered a little flat to prevent them from turning in the wheels. It should be a tight fit. Next, put the axles into the cuts, and fasten. Slip a fine nail thru the hole in the upper end of the connecting rod, and drive it thru the breast of the bird, and bend the end. Then put the lower, or forked, end of the connecting rod over the crank on the front axle and secure it by a brad. When rolling along on the floor, the dodo should bob its head in a most polite manner in recognition of being well put together. [Illustration: DODO BIRD] ROCKING-HORSE AND RIDER The body of the horse is shown full size and may be sawed from 3/8" wood. All the other parts should be made of 1/4" wood and have the grain run lengthwise. [Illustration] Two fore and two hind legs are required. The upper end of each leg is tapered off on the side that fits against the body so that the feet will be far enough apart to be fastened on the inside of the rockers (see end view B). Each pair of legs should be fastened to the body with a nail thru the three thicknesses at the place marked. Saw out two rockers and finish to true and smooth curves. With fine brad fasten the feet on the inside of the rocker at the places marked, but take care that the wood does not split. Saw out three rails 2" long and 3/8" wide to be fastened onto the top of the rockers with two fine brads, one at each end of the rocker and one in the middle, as indicated on the drawing by the letter R. The upper ends of the legs may now be secured to the body by two or three brads. Give the whole a general touching up to assure strength and smoothness. Give it a priming coat of paint. Let dry four days. Paint saddle, bridle, cross rails and rocker red, and the body and legs white. Outline eyes, nose, hoofs and other features in black, and the rocking horse is complete. The body of the rider is 3/8", arms and legs 3/16" stock. [Illustration: ROCKING HORSE AND RIDER] [Illustration: RIDER FOR ROCKING HORSE] ANIMATED ELEPHANT The body is composed of three thicknesses. The two on the outside are 1/4" thick, the one in between is 3/8" thick, and reaches only to the dotted line (Fig. 18), to allow room for the head which is 3/8" thick and moves between the two outside pieces with 1-1/4" nail as pivot. This is a loose joint. [Illustration: Fig. 18.] Saw out the platform and wheels to dimensions. The connecting rod should be of wood 1/8" thick and 1/4" wide. A hole is bored near the end that is pivoted to the throat of the elephant; in the other end is a fork to fit over the axle crank with a fine hole bored at right angle thru the connecting rod for a brad to prevent the crank from slipping out. The two axles are made from No. 12 steel wire. One is straight, the other has a crank in the middle. Flat places are hammered near each end of the axles so that they may be pressed into holes in the wheels and not turn. Each axle is held to the platform by two staples which may be made from long brads by cutting off the heads. Color the elephant gray, the blanket red and yellow, the platform and connecting rod red, and the wheels yellow. Fasten the platform to the elephant by driving nails thru it into the feet. Press the wheels onto the axles and fasten the axles under the platform so they move freely. Fit head and rod in places so all connections are strong and move without friction. Attach a string to the front end of the platform, and when pulled on the floor, the elephant will swing his trunk up and down in a vicious manner. [Illustration] [Illustration: ANIMATED ELEPHANT] THE BUCKING MULE Saw out of 3/8" stock the bodies of the mule and rider (Fig. 19). All legs and arms are of 3/16" stock. Two circles to be placed between the man's arms and shoulders are of 1/4" wood. The connecting rod, marked Z, Z (Fig. 20), shown full size and of 3/8" stock, is to connect the fore legs of the mule and the crank on the axle. Fasten the legs to the mule and arms and legs to the rider with loose joints. Then take rod Z, Z, and make the fork-like cut in the wide end and drill a small hole thru it at right angles to that cut. This is for the nail that holds the crank in place. Fasten the rod securely between the fore legs of the mule at the position indicated. The tail is then fastened with two 1/2" brads. Paint the mule and rider in contrasting colors. [Illustration] [Illustration: Fig. 19.] [Illustration: BUCKING MULE] Next, make the frame and wheels as follows: Saw out two 5" wheels and bore the center holes to fit tight on the wire axle and to run true. The frame, the handle, the sides and end are shaped from 1/2" stock. The two upright pieces are made of 3/8" stock and securely fastened on the inner faces of the sides. Then the sides are nailed to the end piece and the handle. Cuts are sawed into the lower edge of the sides, 2" from the end to form a bearing for the axle. Paint wheels red and frame green. The axle is best made by holding the wire in a vise. First, make bends 3/8" on each side of the middle point. Then make the second pair of bends 1-1/4" from the middle. Near each end of the axle, flattened places are hammered so that, when driven into the wheels, they will not turn. Drive the wheels onto the axle. Put the axle in place, drive nails into the sides, and bend them over the axle to hold it in place. Take the mule, put the projection from the body between the two uprights on the frame, insert a 1-1/2" nail thru the three holes, and bend the end back. Join the connecting rod to the crank. Stride the rider on the mule and insert a nail thru his thighs and the back of the mule. With a neat cord connect the hands to the mouth of the mule, for a bridle. Take hold of the handle and watch the mule gallop when you push him along. [Illustration: Fig. 20.] [Illustration: RIDER FOR BUCKING MULE] FOX-AND-GOOSE GAME This game is played by two people on a board with 33 holes, as shown in the drawing. The board may be made either square or octagonal. The octagon is made from a square by placing one point of the compass at a corner and the other point at the center of the board. With each corner in turn as a center, draw arcs intersecting the edges of the board. Connect these points of intersection across the corners of the board; saw off the four triangles. Smooth the edges and chamfer. Lay out and bore the holes. Make 26 pegs to fit loose. Leave 24 white for the geese and color 2 red for the foxes. In playing the game, all the pegs are put in their places. The foxes at Nos. 9 and 11; the geese at 7, 8, 12, 13, and consecutively up to 33. The foxes and geese can move on the lines only, in any direction from one hole to the next. A fox can also jump over a goose and take it, provided the hole just beyond it is vacant. In fact, the fox can jump and take several geese in various directions if conditions permit. The geese can not jump, but they can move so as to hem in the foxes and make it impossible for them to move. This means that the foxes have lost the game. In starting the game, the player having the foxes gets the first move. His aim is to jump and capture all the geese and win the game. Each player takes turn in moving. When crowding a goose in on a fox, the player always has another goose behind it so that the fox can not jump it. This game is one of the kind that requires foresight and study. It is highly interesting and entertaining, and by experience, players may become quite expert at the game. _Solitaire_--This same board may also be used for the solitaire game. However, that requires 32 pegs. They are put in all the holes except No. 17. The object is to jump and take all the pegs but one, and it must land in hole 17. Unaided, this is difficult to do, and it would take a long time for a person to discover a solution. For this reason, the reader is presented with the following "Key": 5 jumps to 17 and takes 10, 12 to 10 and takes 11, etc.; 3 to 11, 1-3, 18-6, 3-11, 30-18, 27-25, 13-27, 24-26, 27-25, 22-24, 31-23, 33-31, 16-28, 31-23, 4-16, 7-9, 21-7, 10-8, 7-9, 24-22, 22-8, 8-10, 10-12, 12-26, 26-24, 17-15, 29-17, 18-16, 15-17. [Illustration: FOX-AND-GEESE GAME] NINE MEN'S MILL This is a game that is played by two persons and is as fascinating as it is old. The upper part of the board is 3/8" thick and has 24 holes bored thru it, as shown in the drawing. The lower board is 7-1/2" square and 1/4" thick, and extends 1/4" beyond the top board on all sides. The grain in the two boards should run at right angles when fastened together. The 18 pegs are 3/8" in diameter and 1" long. Each player has a set of 9 pegs, the sets being differently colored. In starting a game, each player takes his turn in putting a peg into a hole till all the pegs are put down. Then they take turns in moving the pegs. A peg may be moved from one hole to the next and only along rows parallel with the edges of the board, not along the rows that run from corners of the board to its center. That is, along rows 1, 2, 3 or 2, 5, 8, but not along rows 1, 4, 7. The object of a player in putting down pegs and in moving is to get a Mill; that is, get 3 pegs in a row parallel with the edges of the board. For example: Pegs in holes 4, 5, 6 or 2, 5, 8 makes a Mill, but not 3, 6, 9. When a player gets a Mill, he can take one of his opponent's pegs that is not in a Mill. Another aim of a player is to place his pegs so that he prevents his opponent from getting a Mill. When the pegs of one of the players have all been taken except 3, then he is allowed to jump anywhere on the board. When the pegs are all gone but two, then the game is lost. When a player can get 5 pegs into holes situated as 7, 8, 9 and 4, 6, then he has a double Mill by moving from 8 to 5 and from 5 to 8, etc., and pick one of his opponent's pegs for each move. [Illustration] [Illustration: NINE MEN'S MILL] DISK PUZZLE This problem consists of a base, three spindles and seven disks of different diameters. The spindles are fitted tight into holes in the base and rounded at the top so the disks will slide over freely. The seven disks are laid out on the wood with compass, and to prevent splitting the holes are all bored before the sawing is done. The parts may receive a finish of stain and two or three coats of shellac. Polish with No. 1/2 sand-paper between each coat. _Puzzle_--Place all disks on one spindle, decreasing in sizes upward. The object is to transfer the disks to one of the other spindles and to be in the same order. In doing this, never have more than one disk at a time removed from the spindles, and never place a larger disk on top of a smaller one. [Illustration: DISK PUZZLE] BALL PUZZLE At first it is not evident why this is called a ball puzzle, but, when let into the secret, most people see at once a good reason for naming it so. The wooden ball or marble is hidden from sight inside of the wood and may be shifted in position from the middle to the upper piece of the puzzle and vice versa (Fig. 21). [Illustration: Fig. 21.] The problem is to slide the middle piece off of the pin that projects up from the lower piece and swing it around its pivot. This pivot is a 1-1/2" round-headed screw, fitting loosely in the upper two and fixed in the lower piece. A 1/2" hole is bored thru the middle and 1/2" deep in the upper piece to hold the 7/16" ball. This hole is bored so it touches the hole for the screw. In the middle piece, the screw can slide into it. In order to make the ball leave its position in the middle piece, the puzzle must be held upside down. The drawings show the puzzle both closed and open, and supply directions for constructing this interesting problem. Finish with stain and two coats of shellac. This puzzle may be a source of much genuine amusement when a circle of friends come together and all want a hand at opening it, each having his advice to give how to solve this mysterious problem. [Illustration: BALL PUZZLE] [Illustration] APPENDIX KNOTS AND BRAIDS Most of us are called upon, in the course of our daily duties, whether afloat or ashore, in camp or at home, to hitch up pack animals, do up packages, equipments and outfits, and make fastenings on sails, tents, scaffolding and play apparatus. This involves the tying of a great number of knots and in many cases life and limb depend upon the correct tying of those knots. The seamen, textile workers and civil engineers are pastmasters of the art. Our scouts, sailors and soldiers are taught knot-tying as an essential factor in their training. Would it not seem a part of wisdom, for the sake of safety and economy in time and good nature, for everybody to master these knot problems? It would, at least, be a very practical part of the training for children in the schools. They should be taught knot-tying and its application in an intelligent and thoro manner, and have frequent practice-drill therein, till it becomes second nature to them. When a knot is tied, it must be pulled together tight, so as to stay. Otherwise, especially if the cord is stiff, the loops will slide apart or flop out of position, and the knot will come loose. A knot derives its strength and reliability from the friction between its different parts. When tension is applied on a knot, the two parts which lie alongside of each other should move in the reverse directions and produce a maximum amount of friction, as the ropes tend to slip. One may readily learn to tie the different knots by carefully following the accompanying drawings. Procure a slender, flexible rope, bend it into the shape shown in the drawing, and go over and under, as indicated, so that the parts will be in the correct relative positions. Begin by making the simple knots, and, later, tackle the more complex ones. Also learn their names. NAMES OF KNOTS AND BRAIDS 1. Overhand knot--to prevent unraveling of rope, starting of a square knot; also a stop knot. 2. Figure-eight knot--used for a stop knot. 3. Boat knot--used on sails and rigging. 4. Slip knot--used to fasten rope end to a post. 5. Flemish loop--stays tight, will jam. 6. Stevedore knot--will not jam. 7. Sheet bend or weaver's knot--for joining two ends. 8. Square or reef knot--for joining two cords--very useful, is non-slipping. 9. Granny knot--most people confuse it with the square knot. It will slip. 10. Thief knot--will slip. 11. Carrick bend--used on top of gin pole or mast to hold it erect; the four ends are fastened to the ground. 12. Carrick bend--used to join two ropes. 13. Bowline--a very useful non-slipping loop. 14. Clove hitch--an effective means for fastening rope to a post or ring. 15. Timber hitch--used for pulling logs. 16. Handcuff hitch--used to convey prisoners. 17. Sheepshank--to decrease the length of a rope. 18. Bowknot--is tied like the square knot, but with ends doubled back in tying the latter half--used on neckties and ribbons. 19. Spanish bowline--used as boatswain's chair. 20. Wall knot--used by electricians as a stop on drop-cord. 21. Wall knot crowned--a neat rope-end finish, to prevent unraveling. 22. Three-strand flat braid. 23. Four-strand flat braid, begun. 24. Four-strand flat braid, continued--the right strand goes over, the left one goes under, and then is passed to the right, in front of the middle strand. 25. Six-strand flat braid, begun. 26. Six-strand flat braid, continued--note that each strand goes from one side clear to the other, before turning around and goes over and under, alternately, in crossing the other strands. 27. Chain knot--is begun like a slip knot. 28. Chain knotting, continued--each loop is pulled taut. 29. Double chain knotting--is started like the single chain knot, but the second loop is formed from the free end, and slipped thru from the same side as the first. Both ends are used, alternately, and the loops are pulled taut. It makes a beautiful cord, triangular in shape. 30. Genoese braid, begun--two cords are used, one end of each is used as a core, tho a thicker core may be used, and with the other two ends, in turn, loops are drawn around the core. 31. Genoese braid, continued--makes a handsome flat braid. 32. Watch fob--may be made of three or more strings or ribbons. Four strings are used in this case. Take two shoe strings and double them. Tie thread around them, about two inches from the loops. Hold the loops in the left hand, with the ends up. Name them A, B, C, D, as is shown in the drawing. First, bend A to the right; bend D over A, and away from you; bend C over D, and to the left; bend B over C, and toward you, and slip the end under the loop of A. Second, take string A and double it back to the left; bend B over A, and away from you; bend C over B, and to the right; bend D over C, and toward you, and slip the end under loop at A. The third step is like the first, and the fourth like the second. When finished, slip the loops thru your watch-ring, open the two loops and slip the watch fob thru them. The charm is neatly fastened to the finishing ends. 33. Banister bar--is made by tying the overhand knot over a core of any desired thickness. 34. Banister bar, continued--the process of tying this knot is as follows: Hold the left strand horizontally behind the core; reach under it at the right of the core and take the right strand, bring it forward and to the left across the front of the core, and then back at the left of the core, thru the loop formed by the left strand. Continue by repeating this process. 35. Solomon's knot--this is started like the banister bar, but, instead of tying all the knots alike, the tying is done, in turn, first with the right-hand strand, then with the left. Each strand will thus remain on the same side of the core as at the start. The strand in front of the core is used continually for tying the knot by the left and right hand, alternately, as the strand moves from side to side. It is a series of left and right overhand knots over a core. 36. Four-strand round braid--is very pretty, and well repays any difficulty in mastering it. It is not as easy to illustrate, by drawing, the process of making a round braid as a flat one; however, by carefully following the movement of each strand in the illustration, while manipulating the four strings, one will soon gain success and also much satisfaction. First, hold the four strands in the left hand, as in the beginning of the flat braid, but, instead of taking the right strand, reach in, just in the left of the right strand, and, from behind, take the left strand, bring it forward and across in front from right to left. Second, exchange the places of the words, right and left, and repeat the above-described process. Referring to the drawing, reach in at B, and from behind at the right, below x4, take C; bring it forward and across B, at x7. Next, hold the braid in the left hand and, with the right, reach in at D and take A from behind, and bring it forward and across C, at E, as is shown by dotted lines. Braiding with three strands, or as many more as desired, may be done with ropes, strings of beads, rich-colored cords and ribbons, or basketry materials, for making many useful and beautiful articles, such as chains, belts, hangings, bags, portieres and wicker work for baskets, lamp shades and chairs. [Illustration] TOY PATTERNS _By_ MICHAEL C. DANK A collection of full-size toy patterns. Toys which make a strong appeal to the child. Each pattern sheet presents a particular class of toys including Jointed Animals, Animal Rocker Toys, Wheeled Platform Toys, Lever Toys, String Toys, Freak Toys, Novelties, etc. While intended to be worked out in wood many are equally well adapted for cardboard. Toy-making at home from these patterns is a fine hobby for the boy from six to twelve years of age, and in the school is a fascinating manual training activity. These patterns are based upon the author's long experience in the teaching of toy-making in public and private schools and summer camps. They are well presented on sheets size 10-1/2 x 14 inches and are enclosed in a portfolio with an attractive design in color. _Price, 80 cents._ MANUAL TRAINING TOYS _for the_ BOYS WORKSHOP _By_ HARRIS W. MOORE.--A popular boys' book illustrating 42 projects overflowing with "boy" interest. The drawings are full-page and show each project complete and in detail. A descriptive text accompanies giving full information as to materials needed and how to proceed with the simple tools required. _Price, $1.50._ COPING SAW WORK _By_ BEN W. JOHNSON.--Presents drawings and suggestions for a course of work in thin wood that is full of fun for the children, and affording ample means for training in form study, construction, invention and careful work. A helpful guide for the teacher of the fourth grade. _Price, 30 cents._ KITECRAFT _and_ KITE TOURNAMENTS _By_ CHARLES M. MILLER.--An authoritative and comprehensive treatment of kitecraft. The book deals with the construction and flying of all kinds of kites, and the making and using of kite accessories. Also aeroplanes, gliders, propellers, motors, etc. Four chapters are devoted to presenting a detailed description of kite flying tournaments. Abundantly illustrated and attractively bound. _Price, $1.75._ BIRD HOUSES BOYS CAN BUILD _By_ ALBERT F. SIEPERT.--A book of rare interest to boys. It is written in the boy spirit and combines the charm of nature with the allurements of continuation work in wood. It illustrates hundreds of bird houses and shows working drawings of various designs, also feeders, shelters, sparrow traps, and other bird accessories. The common house nesting birds are pictured and described with information regarding houses, foods, etc., suitable for each. A pleasing and practical book for wide-awake boys. _Price, 65 cents._ _Send for Descriptive Catalog._ THE MANUAL ARTS PRESS PEORIA, ILLINOIS Transcriber's Notes REMINDER: LEAD-PAINT WARNING! DO NOT USE THE GROUND-LEAD PAINT INGREDIENTS mentioned in the "Coloring the Toys" chapter. This book was published before the harmful effects of lead paint to children were known. Also, when working with enamel paint that contains a high quantity of solvents, make sure the area is as well-ventilated as possible. If still in doubt, wear a respirator mask to prevent the toxic effects of solvent inhalation. Paper masks do not block solvent fumes. Some of the diagrams have been moved from their original positions to the sections describing their constructions. Pages 6, 13: Retained original spelling of "thoroly." Page 15: Changed "craftmanship" to "craftsmanship." Page 31: Changed "Minsrels" to "Minstrels." 
43692	----	Little Mother Stories. EDWARD BUTTONEYE AND HIS ADVENTURES Pictured by HILDA AUSTIN Written by CYRIL F. AUSTIN. Ernest Nister London No. 1874 E. P. Dutton & Co. New York EDWARD BUTTONEYE AND HIS ADVENTURES. _TO_ _A. B._ And, though he never could explain, I don't mind telling you That in that box he had been lain By those who made him, limb and brain, And stitched his eyes on, too. It's odd, you'll think, they joined his toes And gave him such a head and nose. But there on the broad countryside Was he, a homeless lad. Another might have sat and cried, But Edward, no. "Whate'er betide, If work is to be had, I'll take," thought he, "what Fortune brings And live in hopes of better things." A farmhouse stood not far away, So first there Edward tried, And was engaged to herd by day And night the farmer's sheep, which stray, Whene'er they can, and hide. And so a paper Edward bought And sat and watched and read and thought. He read through each advertisement To see if he could find A place he thought would suit his bent, In which he could be quite content And cultivate his mind. --He read so hard and thought so deep He quite forgot about the sheep. But when at last he looked around, His flock could not be seen. He shouted, called, and searched the ground, The sheep were nowhere to be found (They knew that he was green); And when in fear he ventured back, I scarce need say he got the sack. He went away with many sighs And sight a little dim, But suddenly, to his surprise, A woolly head with shining eyes Peered through the hedge at him. "If you will let me come with you," It said, "I always will be true." Our Edward with delight agreed; "It looks," he thought, "quite tame; A counsellor and friend I need, Besides, it may serve as a steed." And so he asked its name. "I'm Horace, so they all allege," It said, and scrambled through the hedge. So side by side, o'er hill and dale, The gallant heroes strode, And Horace frisked his stumpy tail And joked with every frog and snail And chaffed each slug and toad. But silent Edward longed for fame And by great deeds to make a name. He also wished he had a hat --The day was very warm-- But soon he ceased to think of that, For lo! beside the road there sat Two maids of sweetest charm. 'Twas saucy Sue and modest Moll, Who sported a red parasol. Then Edward's heart beat high with pride, He drew himself erect And said to Horace, "Quick, now! stride As if you wore Newfoundland hide And follow with respect." But, 'spite of all their dashing air, The maids preserved their glassy stare. A flush o'erspread poor Edward's cheek, He walked on very fast, And Horace followed, very meek. But all at once they heard a shriek From the fair dames they'd passed: --Enraged to see their sunshade red, A wild bull charged with lowered head. "Ah, here's my chance," brave Edward cried, And, counting not the cost, He rushed back to the maidens' side; To stop the bull he vainly tried And was most painfully tossed. "Alas!" he thought, "no luck to-day; --But _they_, at least, have got away." Sad Horace hastened to the spot And rendered him first aid, Then set off at his quickest trot For help. Poor Edward groaned a lot: "Why was I ever made?" --I'm not surprised he had the hump, He came down such an awful bump. And as he sat, there passed him by Two visions of delight; Each viewed with fond, maternal eye And hugged--it made poor Edward sigh-- A golliwoggy fright. He tried to cry to them out loud, But nothing came--he felt too proud. They walked straight past and soon were gone, Poor Edward could have cried. He knew that he belonged to one, That he would one day be her son, But he was dumb from pride. He felt that of the two he'd choose The one with soft red hair and shoes. But Horace soon returned and said He nowhere help could find; So Edward mounted him instead And held on by his charger's head. (Now wasn't Horace kind?) They travelled thus o'er hill and plain Till Edward was quite well again. To get a place where he could thrive Our Edward found was hard, But soon he was engaged to drive A railway train, and did contrive That Horace should be guard. One day he saw what made him quail --A sleepy tortoise on the rail! He found he hadn't time to stop, Though manfully he tried, So biff! and crash! and up and flop! They went. The tortoise did not hop But went on, sleepy-eyed. Poor Edward knew what was in store, --Of course he got the sack once more. The next employment Edward found Was towing someone's barge. Their cargo weighed full many a pound, And as beside the stream they wound Their burden felt so large That Horace, every hour or so, Said, "Are you sure coal doesn't grow?" But onward still brave Edward strode And onward trudged his steed; Though leaden grew their lumpy load No signs of giving in they showed Till, all at once, a reed Upset the barge, the cargo sank And left them workless on the bank. Soon after that they came across Some races in full swing. Said Edward, "Horses cannot toss And you can serve me as a hoss, --'Twill be the very thing." So Horace summoned all his strength And came in first by half a length. But Horace felt so very done And very short of breath (You see, he was not built to run So fast), he gasped that even one More race would be his death. So Edward mournfully supposed A jockey's life to him was closed. To give good Horace perfect rest They lay awhile at ease. They found a hammock suited best, Exchanging quip and merry jest With frogs and bumble-bees, And Edward helped stray leaves and twigs Along the stream with gentle digs. When Horace was quite well again They set out on their way. One day they heard a distant strain And, tramping o'er the dusty plain With music loud and gay, A brawny-chested regiment Marched past, on death or glory bent. The sight so fired brave Edward's soul, He set off in the rear. Said he, "The cavalry's our goal, --A charger is your proper rôle;" But Horace shook with fear. "If we," he thought, "the foe should seek, I shall be mutton in a week!" But when they reached the barrack-yard And wanted to enlist, The sergeant called out to the guard Their measurements, punched Edward hard And gave his neck a twist. "You've got no chest at all," said he. "No good!" thought Edward tearfully. "It's not my fault I've got no chest, They should have made it broad," He grumbled; but with noble zest He searched the country east and west To find some noble lord Who might excuse his tender age And take him on to be his page. And when at last he did succeed, While Horace stayed indoors, He took two poodles on a lead Out walking every day. Their breed Was such that on all fours They utterly disdained to go, Like Lion, Unicorn and Co. They led poor Edward such a dance, He scarce could hold them in; They tugged as if their only chance In life was to get home to France And join their kith and kin. At last they got away by force, And Edward got the sack--of course. He wandered on with Horace till They reached a sheltered spot, And watched with quite an envious thrill Two boys who handled with great skill A trim, fast-sailing yacht. "O for an opportunity," Sighed Edward, "to put out to sea!" The chance they wanted soon occurred --The boys went in to tea. By thoughts of danger undeterred They boarded, tacked and, in a word, Were happy as could be. They did not see the rising cloud That threatened every spar and shroud. With all their sails set to the breeze, They were quite unprepared To meet the squall. Great tow'ring seas Tossed them about like shipwrecked peas; They would most ill have fared Had not a tortoise saved the twain --He who derailed the railway train. He took them on his brawny back And swam with them ashore. "This slight return I owe for lack Of thought," said he, "when o'er the track I crawled;--I'd do much more, But this, at least, will prove to you How much that sad event I rue." They thanked him for his kindly deed And then resumed their march, But when the time was come to feed They found they'd nought to meet the need Except a piece of starch. Said Edward, "This will never do; Your wool, old chap, would be like glue." They had no work, they had no food, But hungrier they grew. At last said Horace, "What's the good Of starving slowly? In the wood There's game enough for two. I feel quite faint, so get a gun And see what you can shoot, my son." This was for Edward the last straw, And so he took a gun; For Horace he would brave the law, Whate'er betide. So when he saw A hare start up and run, He took fair aim with steady wrist And fired--but luckily he missed. A policeman heard the loud report And hurried to the scene. He hailed the poachers off to court, And there their shrift was very short --The judge's wit was keen: He sentenced them to prison-shop And hoped that long in there they'd stop. Now prison-shop, of course, is where All dolls, when made, must go Until some maiden, kind and fair, Buys them and saves them from despair. And this is why, you know, They have such eager, anxious eyes, As each to catch your notice tries. So Edward was marched off to jail And guarded night and day Amid a throng of beauties frail, While Horace, looking somewhat pale, Scanned all who passed that way, For both of them hoped she would see And rescue them from misery. At last there came a day of joy, She stopped before the shop, And with her was a handsome boy; They viewed with interest each toy From yacht to humming-top. (They were, I may remark off-hand, Penelope and Hildebrand.) Cold beads of perspiration stood On Edward's frantic brow; He feared lest his own mother should Not notice him (as if she could Have missed her own son, now!). But, scarcely glancing at the rest, Pen saw at once he was the best. "O what a pleasant person, look!" She cried to Hildebrand, "I must have him by hook or crook!" --In point of fact 'twas by a hook Held in the shopman's hand, Which hoisted Edward by the seat, A part adapted for the feat. Now Pen had put her pennies by To save poor dolls from fate By buying them, and you should try To do the same. The Buttoneye Was marked, "Price two and eight." 'Twas dear, but Pen was quite content To think her savings so well spent. The ransom very soon was paid And Edward, once more free, Borne off in triumph. Though arrayed In shabby coat and trousers frayed And baggy at the knee, He was more precious to Pen's heart Than if they'd been quite new and smart. And faithful Horace, too, was bought --Pen saw by Edward's eye No freedom for himself he sought If his pet lamb's fate should be fraught With doubt--he'd rather die. But Horace had to run like mad, So fast a pace his mistress had. "I'd go through twice as much for this," Thought Edward with a sigh As he received his hundredth kiss, And Horace, wrapped in wool and bliss, Just winked the other eye. And how they relished, to be sure, The other dolls' discomfiture! "I know the hard times you've been through," Said Pen, and kissed them both, "But nothing now need worry you For here your life begins anew--" ("Hurray!" fat Horace quoth), "--And when we seek the country air I'm sure we'll find adventures there." And Pen proved quite a prophetess For, shortly after that, They met a lovely--well, what?--guess! What dream of perfect loveliness D'you think I'm hinting at? Well, if your Dad is pleased with you, Perhaps he'll buy you that book[A] too. [A] The Little Blue Rabbit. Printed in Bavaria * * * * * THE LITTLE MOTHER STORIES. Uniform in price and similar in style: 1. Baby Finger Play. 2. The Three Baby Bears. 3. The Stories the Baby Bears Told. 4. The Baby Bears' Picnic. 5. The Little Toy Bearkins. 6. Toy Bearkins' Christmas Tree. 7. Little Blue Rabbit and his Adventures. 8. Edward Buttoneye and his Adventures. 9. Little Redskins. 10. The Animals' Trip to Sea. 
44440	----	[=Transcriber's Note:= This book was written in a time in which we didn't know what we know now. For example, we now know foxglove to be very poisonous and would not suggest children use the blossoms for fairy caps. Please use caution if attempting any of these crafts. And don't play with foxglove. As to this text version, italic text is surrounded by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal signs=.] Mother Nature's Toy-Shop By LINA BEARD AND ADELIA B. BEARD With Many Illustrations by the Authors Charles Scribner's Sons New York Chicago Boston COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS SPECIAL NOTICE All the material in this book, both text and cuts, is original with the authors and invented by them; and warning is hereby given that the unauthorized printing of any portion of the text and the reproduction of any of the illustrations or diagrams are expressly forbidden. PRESENTATION MOTHER NATURE is every bit as fond of the little folks in her human family as of the grown-ups, and while she prepares untold joys for lovers of the outdoors among men and women and larger boys and girls, she never forgets the little ones. For their benefit she keeps an open toy-shop full of marvellous playthings, all free to any child who wants them, and instead of the children paying her for what they take she pays them for coming to her by giving them rosier cheeks, brighter eyes, and stronger bodies. She puts more glee into their laughter and greater happiness into their trustful little hearts. As in the large department stores in big cities, the goods in Mother Nature's shop are changed for each season of the year; so the little shoppers have constant variety and hail every new season with fresh delight. This book is written to call attention to the beautiful and wonderful things to be found in Mother Nature's toy-shop and to tell what to do with them, for one must know how to use the amusing material that is furnished. After really getting into this most enchanting of all toy-shops with eyes open to see its wonders, we found that the difficulty to be met was not how to write about them, but how to stop writing. The display was so varied and so inviting, it seemed that we must tell the children about everything we saw, but if we had gone on seeing more and telling more there is no saying what size this book would have been. LINA BEARD, ADELIA BELLE BEARD. CONTENTS PART I--WILD FLOWERS CHAPTER PAGE I. DAISIES 1 II. JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT 5 III. RED AND WHITE CLOVERS 8 IV. CLOVER DESIGNS 12 V. OTHER WILD-FLOWER DESIGNS 19 VI. PUSSY-WILLOWS 24 VII. ARRANGEMENT OF FLOWERS 33 PART II--GRASSES VIII. FAIRY-TREES MADE OF GRASSES 40 IX. A HOUSE MADE OF GRASS 45 X. GRASS DRESS AND GRASS HEAD-DRESS 56 PART III--GREEN LEAVES XI. OAK-LEAVES 61 XII. GRAPE-LEAF DRINKING-CUP 68 XIII. GREEN-LEAF DESIGNS 71 PART IV--CULTIVATED FLOWERS XIV. PHLOX 76 XV. CULTIVATED FOXGLOVE 81 XVI. MISS HOLLYHOCK'S GARDEN-PARTY 88 XVII. DAFFODILS 92 PART V--SEED-VESSELS XVIII. SEED-VESSEL PLAYTHINGS 96 XIX. BUCKEYE HORSE AND BUCKEYE RIDER 103 XX. BURDOCK-BURRS 108 XXI. THINGS TO MAKE OF ENGLISH-WALNUT SHELLS 117 PART VI--VEGETABLES XXII. THINGS YOU CAN MAKE OF LIMA BEANS 123 XXIII. SWEET-POTATO ALLIGATOR AND WHAT TO MAKE OF A RADISH 130 XXIV. GREEN-PEA TOYS AND A GREEN-PEA DESIGN 136 XXV. CORN-HUSKS AND CORN-COBS 148 PART VII--FRUIT XXVI. THE FUNNY ORANGE-HEAD 163 XXVII. APPLES AND APPLE FUN 171 Mother Nature's Toy-Shop _PART I_ WILD FLOWERS CHAPTER I DAISIES What You Can Do with Them WILD flowers, like children, are up early. _They_ don't want to lie abed after their long winter's sleep; they want to be awake and see what is going on in the world. While you think it is still winter there is a stirring going on under the blankets of brown earth, and sometimes before the snow is off the ground you may find the little things working up through the stiff soil and opening their eyes to the gentle spring sunshine. It is remarkable the way the soft, tender sprouts force their way through hard ground that we would have to take a knife or trowel to dig into. But they do it. Not all at once with a great, blustering rush, but gently, steadily, and quietly they push and keep on pushing until their heads are above ground; then they begin to grow in good earnest, and pretty soon they laugh right out into blossom. The pleasure these earliest wild flowers give us is in going out to look for them and in gathering handfuls to carry home and put into little glass bowls to be "Oh'd" over and wondered at, to be admired and loved because they are lovely, and because they bring some of the sweet outdoors of spring into the furnace-heated house. They are too delicate and fragile, these anemones, hepaticas, and bloodroots, to be handled and played with, but later come the stronger, sturdier flowers and with many of these you can do all sorts of entertaining things. You don't have to look very far for them either. They are in the fields, by the roadsides, and even along the edges of the streets of a village or small town. You won't find them in the city. To begin with, there are the daisies. How white the fields are with them! If they are fine, large daisies on tall, strong stems they will reach up to your waist--that is, if you are a little girl. If you are bigger they will come well above your knees. There are a number of things that you can do with them. First, you can make a really beautiful Daisy Crown for a May queen, or to wear yourself just for the fun of it. [Illustration: Fig.1 - Begin the wreath in this way.] [Illustration: Fig.2 - Turn the stem of B under the stem of A.] Gather a whole lot of daisies with rather long stems. They will stay fresh longer if you put them into a pail of cool water and let them drink a little before using them; and if they have wilted while you carried them, the water will bring them up again as fresh as--why, as fresh as a daisy to be sure. This is the way to make the crown. It is a new way and a good way. [Illustration: Fig.3 - Bring B around and in front of it's own upright.] Take one daisy in your left hand and hold it, not upright but in what is called a horizontal position like the one marked A in Fig. 1, then with your right hand hold another daisy upright and place its stem in front of and across the stem of the first, as you see it in Fig. 1. [Illustration: Fig.4 - Let the stem of B rest on the stem of A.] This second daisy we will call B. Now turn the stem of B under the stem of A and up at the back as it is in Fig. 2. Bring this same stem, B, around and in front of its own upright part like Fig. 3. Turn it all the way around the upright part and let the stem of B rest on top of the stem of A. Fig. 4 shows this, but in the drawing the stems are separated a little so that you may see each one plainly. It is something like weaving, you see. And it is weaving of a sort. [Illustration: Fig.5 - Weave another daisy, C, on the first two stems.] Across the stems of the daisies A and B, two stems this time, place the stem of another daisy that we will call C, and weave it on the first two stems exactly as you wove B onto A (Fig. 5). The stem of the fourth daisy will have to cross three stems, A, B, and C. The fifth daisy-stem will cross four stems, but after that the end of the daisy-stem A will probably have been passed and you will be weaving on the others. It depends upon the length of the stems how many are woven over; sometimes there may be five. It is not well to have more than that number. You can cut a stem off when it seems to be going too far around the crown. [Illustration: Fig.6 - A new way to make a Daisy Wreath.] Place the daisies close enough together to have their petals touch, or even crowd a trifle, because when the crown is curved and the ends brought together the flowers will separate and leave wider spaces. When you have woven enough daisies to make your crown the proper size to fit your head, cut the last stems off about two inches from the last flower and, with a strong blade of grass or piece of string, tie them to the stem of the daisy A, just back of the flower. Fig. 6 shows what the daisy crown looks like when finished. CHAPTER II JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT ONE of the earliest wild flowers to show its head above ground is Jack-in-the-pulpit. It is an odd plant and what we call the flower is not the blossom at all, but a protecting leaf called a spathe which surrounds the tiny flowers growing on the club-shaped spike (or spadix) standing upright inside. That is a good thing to know and remember, but what concerns us now is that there is a pulpit with its curved sounding-board--or perhaps it is a striped awning--overhead, and that in the pulpit is Jack. He is a cheerful little preacher and his pulpit is somewhat gayer than we usually see, but no one ever told Jack that to be good he must be solemn and that to preach he must have a pulpit rich and sombre. The good God who made him gave him his pretty, striped pulpit with its striped awning to shelter it, and Jack goes on preaching his cheerful sermons from this as long as he lives. Hear what some one has said of him: "Jack-in-the-Pulpit preaches to-day, Under the green trees, just over the way; Squirrel and Song-Sparrow high on their perch, Hear the sweet lily-bells ringing to church. "Come, hear what his reverence rises to say, In his low, painted pulpit, this calm Sabbath day. Fair is the canopy over him seen Pencilled by Nature's hand, black, brown, and green." Some people who love the woods and the wild flowers can understand Jack's wild-wood language. They will tell you that over and over again he is saying: "Come into the clean, shady woods and learn to love all the wonderful living, growing things to be found here. Come into the green woods and hear what we can tell you of beauty and love and kindness; of courage and perseverance and strength, for plants must have courage and perseverance as well as strength in order to live." All the time these plants are working in the ground and above it to make their flowers perfect and their seeds fruitful. Sometimes it is difficult work, too, if the soil does not give them enough food, or a dry summer chokes them with thirst. Sometimes they must struggle hard to gain a footing between the rocks where they were told to grow, or to keep from being crowded out by stronger, coarser plants that are called weeds. But they keep on trying to do their part and to do it well; they work and love, and their children, the blossoms, laugh, laugh, laugh with the happiness of it all. [Illustration: Fig.7 - Cut a hole at the back of the Pulpit.] Now if Jack seems to you to stand too still in his pulpit while he preaches all this, why you can make him move around. He can turn first to one side then to the other, and he can lean forward over the front with extended arms as some preachers do when they are very much in earnest. For this you will first have to cut a hole at the back of the pulpit near the bottom, as is shown in Fig. 7, then, slipping your knife inside, cut Jack loose from the flower and drop him out from the top by turning the pulpit upside down. [Illustration: Fig.8 - The Spike.] Cut off the lower, thin part of the spike to which the arrow points in Fig. 8 and, after puncturing a deep hole in the end, push in a very slender twig or grass-stem. Fig. 9 shows how this is done. For arms that will make Jack seem more like a little man, push a short piece of grass-stem through the spike near the top where you see it in Fig. 9. Make a hole all the way through the spike with a pin so that the arms will slip in easily. [Illustration: Fig.9 - This is Jack.] When you are ready for Jack to preach put him in his pulpit, sliding the grass-stem through the hole at the back. While you hold the stem of the pulpit in one hand take the grass-stem in the other and, by moving it up and down, twisting it one way, then the other, and tipping it up, you can make him rise up tall and straight, then sink down; you can make him turn to the right and to the left and lean forward. That is being active enough in such a small pulpit, isn't it? CHAPTER III RED AND WHITE CLOVERS BY the roadside, through the meadows, on the farm, at the cottage door, and in your own yard those dear, familiar little friends, the clover-blossoms, come to greet you. Even in city parks you may find them, and always they are ready and glad to help you have a good time. Gather a lot of these flowers and sit in the shade under a tree with your lap filled with them while I tell you how to make a Clover Wreath Select some long-stemmed blossoms and leaves, bunch them and bind their stems together their full length with strong grass or string. Wind the grass around and around the stems, tucking the ends securely in under the last wind. You may need several long blades of grass for binding one bunch. In the same way make a second bunch and fit the flowers up close against the first bunch of blossoms, with their stems lying along the side of the first stems. Do not lap the flowers of one bunch over the flowers of another. Fasten the second bunch in place by binding the stems to those of the first bunch; then make a third bunch and bind it on next to the second bunch. Continue making these clover bunches and binding their stems to the stems of those already a part of the wreath until the strip is long enough to fit around your head. Try it on and, if it is the proper length, join the two ends by binding the last stems to the stems of the first bunches. Fig. 10 shows the clover wreath complete. [Illustration: Fig.10 - Wreath of freshly picked Clover.] You should also have a Clover Bracelet to wear with the wreath. Make this as you did the wreath but with much smaller bunches. Keep binding the bunches together until the strip for the bracelet fits your arm (Fig. 11), then join the two ends, and slip the pretty thing on your wrist. Of course, you will want Clover Earrings to match, and those two plump, full, fresh blossoms lying at the top of the others on your lap are exactly what you need. [Illustration: Fig.11 - Clover bracelet.] [Illustration: Fig.12 - Clover earring.] [Illustration: Fig.13 - Clover Blossom ring.] [Illustration: Fig.14 - Clover Blossom pendant on Clover necklace.] Take one of these clovers and fit it in tight between your cheek and the lobe of your ear (Fig. 12). Be careful not to break the long stem, for you must bring it up snugly just back of your ear along the line where the ear joins your head, and when this is done, bend the end of the stem down gently over the top of your ear. The stem will hold your earring in place. Make the other earring in the same way. The two clover-blossoms used for the earrings should be as much alike as possible both in size and shape. They should be matched carefully, as pearls and diamonds are matched in a pair of real earrings. Now for a "solitaire" Clover Ring Choose the finest clover for the jewel, and hold it against the back of your left forefinger while you wrap the stem once around the finger, loop it over the blossom and draw the loop tight. Fasten the end by tucking it under and over, and again under the stem ring on your finger. This clover ring is really very effective, and can be made of any colored clover. Fig. 13 gives an idea of how it looks. A Necklace of Clover will complete your beautiful set of flower jewelry. Make the necklace as you made the bracelet and fasten three pendant blossoms at the centre, allowing the middle clover to hang down a little below those on either side (Fig. 14). Now you are ready, with the addition of a long, straight twig, at the top of which you have fastened a bouquet of clover, to play that you are queen of all the clover fairies, and that your clover-tipped twig is your magic wand. Other Things of Clover The running, vinelike clovers are fine to use for climbing-roses on outdoor doll-houses. They can also be trained over the doll garden-frames and arches. CHAPTER IV CLOVER DESIGNS HAVE you ever admired the pretty patterns on wallpaper of flowers and green leaves? Have you ever embroidered dainty designs in colors on white linen, and do you love it all? If you do, you will like to make some designs yourself in a new way, and with real flowers and real leaves. You don't have to know how to draw or to paint in this designing, for the flowers are there ready for you to use, more exquisitely drawn and colored than the greatest artist could do them. Your part is to group and arrange them on a sheet of paper so that they will form beautiful designs; designs that will not only delight you, but that may be copied in embroidery or in other ways. Merely to place the flowers on the paper in some sort of a pattern is interesting, but the design won't last because the flowers won't stay in place. Your sleeve may wipe them all off, or a puff of air blow them away, so a method has been invented especially for you that will keep them where you want them to stay, and that method is simply to _paste_ them there. You can make designs of almost any kind of flowers, the common pink-and-white clover that grows underfoot nearly everywhere makes a particularly pretty one. This is the long-stemmed, viny kind, and its name is alsike clover. Fig. 15 shows what the alsike clover looks like, and you will see that its leaves are rather pointed at the tip, and shaped more like the leaves of the large red clover than like the almost round ones of the little white clover. [Illustration: Fig.15 - The Alsike Clover. Deep rose color. The way it grows.] [Illustration: Fig.16 - Upright design of Alsike Clover.] The graceful, upright design (Fig. 16) was made of the alsike clover, the blossom of which was a deep-rose color, and the original design when finished looked like a piece of embroidery done in silks. It was so lovely I wish that it could be given in its natural colors here. [Illustration: Fig.17 - Parts of upright Clover design.] Look at Fig. 16 carefully and see that while the sprays of clover at the right and left appear to be exactly alike, though turned in opposite directions, they are not really so, and the little differences help to make the design interesting. They keep it from being what we call monotonous. Now look at D, E, and F, Fig. 17. These are tracings of the sprays of clover before they were grouped together to form the design Fig. 16. The spray on the left, marked D, is just as it grew and as it was used in the finished design; but F, on the right, had to have the little budded spray added at the place on the stem shown by the arrows to make it resemble and balance the other. This bud with its leaves was clipped from another clover-vine. [Illustration: Fig.18 - Running design of Clover.] The spray in the centre of the design was like E, Fig. 17, and it was necessary to give it the extra leaves shown at its right because, without them, it was not symmetrical, which means evenly balanced, and it would not have looked well in the design. [Illustration: Fig.19 - Parts of running design.] When all of the material was collected and ready to be put together, the central spray, E, was laid in the middle of a sheet of unruled, white paper with the lower end of the stem near the bottom edge, then the sprays D and F were placed on the right and left of the centre one and tried first in one position, then in another, until it was decided that they looked best arranged as in Fig. 16. After that the extra leaves for the middle spray, and the bud and its leaves for the right-hand spray, were put in place. [Illustration: Fig.20 - Large Red Clover design.] It all seemed charmingly satisfactory, so the design was taken apart that it might be fastened permanently in place. The middle spray had to be adjusted first, and a drop of good library paste was put on the under-side of the clover-blossom, a drop on the under part of each leaf, and on the under part of the stem at the lower end. Then the spray was laid in the middle of the paper just where it was at first, and pressed down to make it stick. Paste was put on the under part of each of the three leaves to be added and on the under part of their stem at the end, and they were pasted down to look as if growing on the main stem, opposite the other leaves. [Illustration: Fig.21 - Design of leaves and buds of Red Clover.] [Illustration: Fig.22 - Parts of leaf and bud design.] Next the left-hand spray was pasted in place in the same way, then the right-hand spray, to which was given its bud that curves in to almost touch the bud on the other spray. Paste was also put half-way down on the under part of the long stems of each of the side sprays. This completed the clover design and it was exceedingly pretty, but after it had been sufficiently admired it was placed between papers under several heavy books to press, that it might be more durable. It was after it had been pressed that it looked like a piece of silk embroidery. Pasted designs can be made without pressing; but while they are more beautiful they will not last as long as the others. You can enjoy your fresh designs for a while and then press them. Do not make the mistake of covering the entire under part of a flower or leaf with paste as if it were made of paper; a drop is all that is needed, more will spoil it. Flowers do not always grow exactly as you want them for your designs, but a too straight stem can be coaxed to curve by drawing it between your fingers, and leaves and sprays can be cut away or added as has been shown. All this changing about only makes it more fun to work out the design. Fig. 18 is a running design of clovers which can be used for a border. The little arrows on Fig. 19 show where the different parts are joined. The large red clover was used for the design Fig. 20 and the leaves and buds of the red clover for Fig. 21. Fig. 22 shows how the parts of Fig. 21 are put together. These drawings are all original from designs actually made of fresh clover-blossoms and their foliage. CHAPTER V OTHER WILD-FLOWER DESIGNS Daisy Fleabane Design ISN'T the design Fig. 23 what grown-ups call Japanesque? Doesn't it look as if it had been copied from a printed pattern on a piece of Japanese cotton cloth? [Illustration: Fig.23 - Daisy Fleabane design.] Well, it was not. It is from a design made especially for you of real wild flowers, freshly gathered. The name of the flower is the daisy fleabane which grows in almost all open grassy fields where daisies and buttercups and clovers are found. The illustration Fig. 24 shows how the daisy fleabane looks when first gathered. Sometimes the blossom is entirely white, sometimes it is tinged with purple, and it has a bright-yellow centre. Its petals are as fine as a fringe, like those of the asters that blossom in the fall. In making the design the full-blown flowers were pressed down flat, which makes them round like a sunflower, while the buds and partly open flowers were left as they naturally grew. The composition, or arrangement, of this design is like that used for the upright clover design (Fig. 16), that is, it has two tall side sprays and a shorter middle spray; but see how very different the two designs are in appearance. The clover is all graceful curves, the daisy fleabane is stiff and formal with straight lines and angles. If you use the white flower, make the design on a sheet of tinted paper, else the flower will not show. All white flowers should have tinted paper for a background. Wild Mustard Design The small, yellow blossoms of the wild mustard and its compound leaves make very dainty designs. Fig. 25 is one of them. [Illustration: Fig.25 - Wild Mustard design.] [Illustration: Fig.26 - Wild Mustard.] [Illustration: Fig.24 - The Daisy Fleabane grows like this.] From the drawing of the wild mustard (Fig. 26) you will see that the flowers do not grow close to the leaves as they are placed in this design, but on tall stems which lift them far above the scattered leaf-sprays. The design Fig. 25 was made by cutting off a number of flower-clusters and leaves, and grouping first one flower-cluster and one leaf-spray together, with the ends of their stems touching, then another flower-cluster and another leaf-spray. The arrows in Fig. 27 show where the stems are brought together, and the design Fig. 25 shows how the joining of the first two is covered with one of the small leaves of the second leaf-spray, and how the joining of the second two is hidden under a leaf of the third leaf-spray, and so on. [Illustration: Fig.27 - Parts of Wild Mustard design.] There are four flower-clusters and five leaf-sprays in the design. You can have as many as you wish but must end them with a leaf-spray. [Illustration: Fig.28 - Buttercup design.] Buttercups--a Design Buttercups are so beautifully golden, so glossy and bright, you would think they could be made into many nice things, a gold necklace for instance. And so they could if they only would not wilt almost as soon as they are gathered. To be sure, they will revive and freshen up when put in water if they are not too much wilted, but we cannot make them into jewelry while their stems are in water. Still there is something buttercups can be used for, and that is designs. Fig. 28 is a drawing from the simplest kind of a buttercup design but a pretty one. It shows five wide-open blossoms placed in a row at equal distances apart with a little spray of leaves and bud at the lower end of each stem. These sprays do not grow as they are in the design but are added after the flowers are placed in a row. As in all other designs, each flower, bud, and stem is touched with paste on the under-side to hold it in place on the paper. A design like Fig. 28 should be pressed after it is arranged, and it will last a long while and keep its bright color. A number of other and very beautiful designs can be made of the common wild buttercup. CHAPTER VI PUSSY-WILLOWS WE all welcome and love the dear little pussy-willows (Fig. 29) whose fur is so soft and silvery. How pretty they look sitting along the slender, bare branches of the small American willow-tree which is their home. The pussies like to come early to assure us that spring is here. They are very tame little kitties, and will allow you to carry them away to your school or to your home. [Illustration: Fig.29 - Pussy-Willows.] Sometimes pussy-willows turn into little rabbits, squirrels, bumblebees, and mice, but they need your help, they cannot make the magic change alone. It will be lots of fun helping them if you do it this way. [Illustration: Fig.30 - The Rabbit and the Rabbit's ears, enlarged.] [Illustration: Fig.31 - The Pussy-Willow Bunnies.] [Illustration: Fig.32 - Pussy-Willow Squirrel, enlarged.] [Illustration: Fig.33 - Paper tail, enlarged, for squirrel.] Pussy-Willow Rabbits Take a small branch of the very largest pussies you can find, have ready some scraps of smooth, fresh writing-paper, a piece of cardboard, pair of scissors, and some good paste. It only requires long ears to change the pussy-willows into bunnies. Cut the ears from your writing-paper like the pattern Fig. 30. Put paste on the strip between the letters G and H, then take a pussy from the branch and stick the paste-covered strip just above the small end of the pussy, which will be the bunny's head. The arrow I, Fig. 30, points to the place for the ears. When the paste has dried bend the ears up like the ears of the rabbits in Fig. 31. Make three or four rabbits to keep each other company and paste them in a row on your piece of cardboard. [Illustration: Fig.34 - The Pussy-Willow Bumble-Bee.] A Pussy-Willow Squirrel This little gray squirrel (Fig. 32), sitting up in such a lifelike pose, must be made of a slightly bent, rather long, slender pussy. Pull forward some of the fur near the small end so that it will look like the front legs of the squirrel when he holds a nut in his hand-like front paws, and push up two tufts on the head for ears. The pussy from which Fig. 32 was made already had these tufts for legs and ears, and it looked so much like a squirrel one simply had to add the tail and let it be a squirrel. [Illustration: Fig.35 - Parts of bumble-bee.] [Illustration: Fig.36 - Draw the legs of the bee like this.] Cut the paper tail like the pattern Fig. 33, fringe it along the edge and bend forward the little lap at the bottom which is separated from the tail by the dotted line. Curve the tail backward, put paste on top of the lap, and stick the lap to the under part of the large end of the pussy; then paste the finished squirrel to a piece of pasteboard cut round or square as you like best. Pussy-Willow Bumblebee Mr. Bumblebee (Fig. 34) needs one whole pussy for his body, one-half of a pussy for his big, round throat, and a small piece of the pussy for his head (Fig. 35). On the piece of cardboard which is to hold the bee, draw his legs like Fig. 36, then paste the three parts--body, throat, and head--on top of the legs. Fig. 37 shows how it would look underneath if you could see through the paper, so you will know exactly where to paste first the throat, then the head, and lastly the body. The edges of these parts where they join must be pushed close together. [Illustration: Fig.37 - Paste the three parts of the bee on top of the legs.] [Illustration: Fig.38 - Mr. Bumble-Bee, enlarged, ready for his wings.] A bumblebee has slightly curved spikes extending from his head which are called antennæ. Fig. 38 shows you where to draw them. You will also see on the same diagram how to widen the six legs, making them thicker and more lifelike. Cut paper wings the shape of Fig. 39, making them the proper size to fit your bee. Remember that a bumblebee has small, short wings compared to the size of its body. Bend the lap at the bottom of the wing along the dotted line, and paste the lap of each wing onto the sides of Mr. Bumblebee's chest. The wings turn back over the laps and hide them. (See Fig. 40). The finished bee is shown in Fig. 34. [Illustration: Fig.39 - Pattern of bumble-bee wing.] [Illustration: Fig.40 - Showing lap of wing bent back.] If you cut a leaf out of green paper and put your bumble-bee on that instead of on the cardboard, he will look, with his extended wings, as if just ready to fly, and will make a fine addition to your collection of things made of outdoor material. [Illustration: Fig.41 - Pussy-Willow Mouse, enlarged.] Pussy-Willow Mouse Then there is the pussy-willow mouse (Fig. 41). He is a nice little gray mouse with a long tail. Choose a large pussy-willow for this mouse, ruffle the fur up on top of the head and it will look like ears. The head is at the small end of the pussy. Paste one end of a piece of cotton string under the large end of the mouse, and that will be his tail. The string should be white. [Illustration: Fig.42 - Jumping Pussy-Willow Game-Board.] Finish by pasting the mouse to a round or square piece of pasteboard. Jumping Pussy-Willows--a Game This is a good game and it will make you laugh to see the pussies leap up in the air, sail along a short distance, and land on a numbered square of the game-board. The board (Fig. 42) should be ten or twelve inches square. Cut it from a flat, even box lid or any other pasteboard you happen to have. Draw straight lines from top to bottom about one inch apart, then more straight lines from side to side one inch apart. This will divide the board into squares like a checker-board. Each of these squares must be numbered and you can draw or paste them in. Fig. 42 shows how the game-board should look. To play the game, lay the board down on a flat surface, a stone will do if you are out-of-doors, or even the ground; and a table, if in the house. In front of the board draw a short line for the starting-post. The line should be ten or more inches from the board according to the distance you can make the pussies jump. Any number of players may join in the game and each player should have his own jumping pussy. [Illustration: Fig.43 - Place your finger on the Pussy-Willow and make it jump.] Fig. 43 shows how to place the pussy under the tip of your right forefinger, with the large, blunt end standing a little out beyond the finger-tip. When ready to shoot, press down suddenly on the pussy and, as your finger slides off the small end, away jumps pussy and lands on a square of the game-board. Each player plays in turn, always, of course, placing the pussy on the starting-line when shooting. The player whose pussy lands on the highest number wins the game. Jumping pussy-willow can also be played by dividing the players into two even sides; then the side which has the highest score, after the numbers won by them have been added up, is the winner. Pussy-Willow Bouquet A nice, big bunch of pussy-willows makes an attractive bouquet, and a very welcome one early in the spring. "The pussies are out!" we hear some one say, and then the boys and girls vie with one another in their effort to be the first to find and bring home branches of the little catkins as proof that spring has come and they were the first to see her. CHAPTER VII ARRANGEMENT OF FLOWERS THE arrangement of flowers is interesting and means a great deal. It means that this chapter will tell you what wild flowers look prettiest on the dinner-table and in bowls and vases in other parts of the house; what flowers and vines will keep fresh longest, and the kind that do not need water but are beautiful when dry. It means that you can learn not to force a tightly packed handful of all sorts of flowers into a small vase and expect them to look well. Flowers don't like crowding and are quite particular about their associates. If you come in hot and tired after your walk, put the flowers you have gathered into a pail of fresh water and let them stay there until you have rested and are ready to sort them out and make each kind look its very best. All flowers do not appear well in stiff, straight vases; all do not look well in bowls. That is the first thing to learn, and the next is that while some flowers seem to smile upon and nestle lovingly up to some others, there are kinds that they seem to draw away from and frown upon. Only a few examples can be given here. If you love the flowers you will find out more for yourself. The Wild Morning-Glory In your walks through the fields and along the country roadsides have you ever noticed the wild morning-glory? Of course, you have seen it and, perhaps, gathered some blossoms, only to find them in a short time wilted in your hand or turned into little, long bags, puckered at the top as if drawn up with a string. [Illustration: Fig.44 - This is the way the Wild Morning Glory looks.] When I say noticed, I mean have you thought about the flowers while you looked at them? Have you noticed their shape and beautiful color, and have you seen the great difference between the green leaf of the wild morning-glory and that of the cultivated one? The wild morning-glory leaf (Fig. 44) is more beautiful in shape, the vine is more graceful, and the blossom just as lovely as the cultivated morning-glory, and all this beauty need not be left behind when you gather the wild flowers which are to make the rooms of your home charming. While I write this, July 7, there stands on a table in our living-room a tall glass vase, wide at the top and holding plenty of water. It is filled with a mass of wild morning-glory-vines, and there are four new, entirely open, pink and white blossoms while others are just twisting open. [Illustration: Fig.45 - The Wild Morning Glory blossomed after it was gathered.] Four days ago, when out for a walk in the country, I gathered the vine by the roadside where it grew in the company of daisies, buttercups, and wild mustard. Lifting themselves up into the light, where the warmth of the morning sun could open the buds and where the leaves could breathe in the fresh air, some of these trailing vines had wound themselves in masses around tall, strong weed-stalks. I gathered the vines, weed-stalks and all, breaking them off close to the ground; and now these stalks hold most of the vines upright in the vase, while other sprays droop gracefully over the edge and hang down almost to the table-top. Only one or two flowers were in bloom when I found the vines, but there were quantities of green buds which I hoped would open later, and that is just what they are doing. It is like having wild flowers growing in one's window. And as for decoration, nothing can be more beautiful (Fig. 45). Trailing vines always make pretty decorations, and many wild ones keep fresh a long while when given plenty of water. Some have flowers, some have not, but in any case they are worth gathering when you have large vases to fill. The Wild Balsam-Apple or as some people call it, the wild cucumber, is very decorative. That means it has beautiful curves and twists, and its small, white flowers, prickly, egg-shaped fruit, and long tendrils twisted spirally, like a steel watch-spring let loose, make us love to look at it. The leaves are pretty, too, being shaped almost like a five-pointed star. Sometimes this vine is cultivated and you will find it trained up on strings to shade the porch, or over the kitchen-door of a farmhouse. Wherever you find it, it is beautiful. A large jar filled with sprays of the wild balsam makes a good centrepiece for the table, or a tall vase holding some upright and some drooping sprays looks very pretty when placed near a window where the light will fall on it. Do not mix other flowers with it, its own blossoms are sufficient. Wild Clematis The wild clematis is another beautiful vine, and you will find it clambering over fences and bushes along the country road. Its masses of white flowers fill the air with a sweet, spicy perfume that delights you. You can gather the clematis when it is in blossom, and keep it fresh in water for some time if you put it in root ends down. This vine does not wilt as you carry it. Later in the season, when the white flowers have turned into balls of silvery fringe, the vine is lovely in a different way. Then you can gather great armfuls and take it home to hang over mirrors or picture-frames, letting it become quite dry. It is best to strip the leaves off the sprays at first because they are not beautiful when dry. In a day or two after hanging up your clematis the balls of fringe will become a mass of soft down which will cling to the vine for many weeks. Later, when it becomes dusty, take it down. Bittersweet Then there is bittersweet, another wild vine that we gather in the fall. It covers fences and bushes as the clematis does, but instead of turning into fringe balls its small, creamy white flowers become bunches of berries. The berries are yellow at first; when ripe they split open and curl back to show the brilliant red seeds inside that look like coral beads. Gather the bittersweet while the berries are yellow, strip off the green leaves, and hang the vine up dry or put it in a large vase without water. Then the berries will open and last all winter. Snapdragon and Wild Carrot Both of these are pretty flowers and worth gathering. The snapdragon (perhaps you call it butter-and-eggs) does not mind at all where it grows. Field, roadside, or even the village streets may be its home, but wherever it lives, it makes the spot shine joyously with its stalks of yellow blossoms. Snapdragons combine well with the wild carrot, whose other name is Queen Anne's lace, and together they make a delicate and beautiful bouquet. If you have a large glass fish-globe fill it with fresh water, and put in the snapdragon and wild carrot in a loose bouquet. Nothing could be prettier for the August lunch-table than this. Wild Roses look best in a low glass bowl, for they have no stems to speak of. Short-stemmed flowers do not belong in tall vases. The roses wilt quickly out of water and should have plenty of it. Do not put any other kind of flowers in the bowl; the roses won't like it; neither will you when you see how much better they look by themselves. Daisies and Buttercups so friendly in the fields, look pretty when arranged in a deep jar together, but I would not mix daisies with any other flowers, unless it is the lacy wild carrot. Buttercups look well with the carrot, too, and buttercups look pretty mixed with grasses. You see they all know each other very well, growing in the fields together. The Wild Flag, or Iris whose home is along the banks of ponds and small streams, should be put into a tall clear glass vase or pitcher, where its stems will show through, that it may look its best. There is the yellow iris, the white and the purple, and they are very beautiful when combined but not crowded. Always put some of the long-spiked leaves in with the flowers. Clover Bouquets Clover bouquets make delightful centrepieces for the table. Arranged loosely with its own green foliage, the rose-colored clover is especially beautiful in a clear, green glass bowl of water. The sprays should be brought over the edges of the bowl, and allowed to droop down, resting partly on the table. Yellow clover and its foliage mingled with white clover makes a charming combination as a bouquet for almost any occasion. The name of the yellow clover is hop-clover. It is not as common as the other kinds. Green Bouquets When there are no flowers to be had you can have bouquets and centrepieces of green leaves, ferns, and vines, and you will be surprised to find what pretty ones can be arranged and how much they will be admired. Ferns will wither soon unless taken up with the roots and the soil surrounding them; but if they have the roots and soil they will last a long while, provided you put them in a bowl or jar and keep them _always wet_. That does not mean to water them as you would any other growing plant, but to keep them _standing_ in water _all the time_. Maidenhair-fern kept in this way makes a delicate and beautiful centrepiece for the table. Sometimes you will find varieties of foliage that are full of color. In early summer the young leaves of the scrub-oak are very brilliant in reds and yellows, and I have made bouquets of nothing but leaves from the rose-bushes. These are often tinged with red and purple. Sprays of the barberry-bush with its rows of dangling red berries are pretty in a green bowl. Be careful of the thorns when you gather this. Cut the stems; do not try to break them. _PART II_ GRASSES CHAPTER VIII FAIRY-TREES MADE OF GRASSES SOME of our grasses appear like very large trees to the little grass fairies who, we like to pretend, hide in their midst; while other grasses, with their jointed, bamboo-like stems, seem to these tiny people to be tall forests of real bamboo. Why not play that you are a little fairy and live among the grasses? But to see the grasses as the fairies see them you must lie down and bring your eyes very near the ground; so stretch yourself out flat, face down, with your head lower than the grass tops; then look steadily ahead through the tall grass stems. What do you see? The five fairy-trees standing by themselves in Fig. 46 are four short-stemmed tops of the Scribner's panic-grass. Fig. 47 shows exactly how the grass looks before you pick it, and Fig. 48 gives a simple design that you can make by placing the tips of the four grass tops together, allowing the stems of two heads to lie in a straight horizontal line (that means a line running from left to right), and the stems of the other two heads to lie in a straight line vertically (that means up and down). While you are playing with the grasses you can begin to learn something about them. The beard-grass, which some people call the little blue-stem (Fig. 49), has near relatives named forked beard-grass and bushy beard-grass. These are stiff and angular, with bamboo-like stems, just the thing for trees in a little Japanese garden which some time you will want to make. You may run across them anywhere, for they are common in all parts of our country. [Illustration: Fig.46 - Trees of Scribner's Panic-Grass.] [Illustration: Fig.47 - Scribner's Panic-Grass as it grows, Panicum Scribnerianum.] Make friends with these and with other grasses. As you find them learn their names just as you would learn the names of new playmates. Take the grasses home, show them to your father and to your mother; if they do not know their names, carry them to school and ask your teacher about them. In case she cannot tell you, go to the public library with your grasses and persuade the librarian at the desk to help you find their pictures and names in some of her books. All grasses have names, so [Illustration: Fig.49 - You will run across these anywhere.] keep asking and hunting until you know what to call them. When you know their names you will be glad to see your friends, the pretty green grasses, whenever you find them. In Chapter XVIII, which tells how to make a burdock-burr house, you will find more about grasses. [Illustration: Fig.48 - Scribner's Panic-Grass. Design made of four grass heads.] CHAPTER IX A HOUSE MADE OF GRASS REAL people live in grass houses way off in the Philippine Islands. That is, their houses are made of bamboo, which is a kind of giant grass. It must be a pretty airy, comfortable house in summer, and it is always summer in the Philippines, but we never see that kind of houses here. One reason is because in most of our country a grass house would be very cold in winter, and another reason for not building them is because the bamboo grows only in the extreme south, and even down there people want more substantial homes. A prettier playhouse, though, could not be devised, and if you could see a Filipino house you would want it immediately, but since you cannot have a real one you can have the fun of making a little doll Filipino house, and of making it exactly as the little brown Filipino men make theirs. Suppose you gather some grass and twigs now, and build the little house for your doll. Some of the queer little people whose home is in the Philippine Islands perch their houses like birds' nests up in the trees, but often they are built on stilts to lift them high from the ground. Our little house (Fig. 50) shall be on stilts. We will make the floor first. If you do not understand how to measure by inches, ask an older person to help you. The Floor Find two straight, round sticks, not quite as large round as a lead-pencil. The sticks must be cut six and a half inches long, then two sticks of the same kind five inches long; after that there must be six more sticks five inches long. Split these last six sticks in half lengthwise. The Philippine people do not use nails, or screws, or glue, and not even wooden pegs, in building their houses; they bind and tie the parts together with rattan, and as we are going to build just as they do we, too, will tie the parts of our house together, but will use raffia in place of the rattan. [Illustration: Fig.50 - The little Grass House you can make.] Hold one of the six-and-a-half-inch sticks (letter J, Fig. 51) upright in your hand while you cross it a short distance below the top with a five-inch-round stick (letter K, Fig. 51). The distance from the top of the upright stick to the crossing and the distance from the short end of the other stick to the crossing must be the same. [Illustration: Fig.51 - Begin binding them together.] [Illustration: Fig.52 - Carry the raffia over and between the two ends of the sticks.] Begin binding them together as shown in Fig. 51. Then carry the raffia (string will do if you cannot get raffia) over and between the two ends of the sticks (Fig. 52), and wind it opposite ways several times around the sticks, bringing the raffia between as well as over them. This will lash them firmly together. Now turn this beginning of your floor around so that the short stick will be upright and the long one extend from side to side. Do not let the binding loosen; hold it tight and cross the long stick with one of the split five-inch sticks (Fig. 53). Be sure that the flat side of the split stick is next to the long stick, and that you leave a slight opening between it and the first crosspiece. Pull the raffia tight and bind it over this second crosspiece (Fig. 54), then back, crossing it as in Fig. 55. [Illustration: Fig.53 - Turn the sticks, bringing J in horizontal position.] [Illustration: Fig.54 - Bind raffia over second stick.] [Illustration: Fig.55 - Then bring raffia across front of second stick.] Bind on the next split crosspiece in the same way, and go on adding crosspieces until they reach almost to the end of the long stick, then let the last crosspiece be the second unsplit five-inch stick. When all the short crosspieces are properly bound onto the long stick, bind the other six-and-a-half-inch long stick under the opposite ends of the crosspieces in the same way, and just as carefully (Fig. 56). This makes the floor and we must lash it to the stilts, which are four upright sticks, each seven and one half inches long. Fit the stilts in the outside corners made by the crossing of the end and side sticks of the floor, and, holding the floor about four and a half inches above the lower ends of the stilts, bind floor and stilts together (Fig. 57). Of course you can put the stilts on only one at a time. The Walls Make the framework for the walls by binding and tying onto the stilts near the top two sticks, each six and a half inches long, one stick on each side. Across these sticks, from stilt to stilt, at each end, bind a five-inch-length stick (Fig. 58). [Illustration: Fig.56 - Make the floor this way.] The Roof To support the roof there must be two upright sticks, each seven inches long, and these sticks must be bound and tied to the middle of the end sticks of the floor and the end sticks of the wall. They are lettered L and L in Fig. 59 [Illustration: Fig.57 - Lash the floor to the stilts.] [Illustration: Fig.58 - Bind on four more poles making framework for walls.] Fig. 60 shows the framework of the house without the bindings, so that you may see exactly how the sticks are put together. There is a ridge-pole which forms the top ridge of the roof. This must be a stick about seven inches long, and it is to be tied to the uprights lettered L and L that you have just fastened on the two ends of the house. (See Fig. 59, L and L.) Four other sticks, M and M and N and N, long enough to reach from the ridge-pole, crossing above it, to the side crosspieces of the wall, you must tie to the ridge-pole and the side-wall sticks, placing them slanting, as you see them in Fig. 60, at each end. The Porch Like many other people, the Filipino wants a porch to his house. Perhaps he sits there to smoke his curious little pipe, which is not much larger than the one you make of an acorn. I have never seen him on his porch, but I have seen him smoke and afterward tuck his pipe away in his long, fuzzy hair, where it remained in safety even while he leaped and pranced about in the wild dance he loves so much. [Illustration: Fig.59 - End poles are added to hold up the roof.] [Illustration: Fig.60 - This is the way the house is put together.] But we must not forget the porch. If the Filipino has one to his house, we must have a porch to ours. We won't make it separately and add it to the part already built, but, as the Filipino does, we will use part of the house-floor for the floor of the porch, and let the roof cover that as well as the house. To do this we must separate the house part from the porch part by putting up two more uprights, one on each side, a little way back from the front of the house, and these uprights will form the boundary-line. Letters O and P in Fig. 60 are these last uprights, the sticks which form them being long enough to reach from the wall side-piece to the floor, and extend a little above and below where they cross the upper and lower sticks. [Illustration: Fig.61 - Fresh grass instead of palms over one side wall.] [Illustration: Fig.62 - Strips of wood to bind down the grass on wall.] Thatching Now we come to the real grass part of the house, for we have had to use small sticks for the framework instead of bamboo, and where the Filipino uses palm-leaves we will use grass. Gather some long, coarse, fresh blades of grass for thatching both the roof and walls, and begin with the walls. Bunch the grass evenly, the stem ends all together, bend the bunch at the centre, then spread it out at its centre, and hang it thickly over one side-wall beam, which is the upper stick (Fig. 61). Have the stem ends inside the house hang down as long as the tip ends on the outside, and let the outside ends hang down below the edge of the floor; then take a flat strip of wood and place it near the top of the grass-covered wall, bend the ends a little and slide them back of the uprights (Fig. 62). Smooth the grass down evenly and put in another flat stick, this time at the bottom (Fig. 62). If you want the inside of the house as perfect as the outside, slide in two other strips on the inside of each wall to hold the grass down. Fig. 62 shows the grass partially trimmed off to make it even at the bottom. [Illustration: Fig.63 - Pole rafter being thatched for roof.] [Illustration: Fig.64 - Shows exactly how the raffia is tied.] [Illustration: Fig.65 - Hang grass over ridge pole of roof.] To thatch the roof you will need two more sticks for rafters. Over one stick, near the end, tie a bunch of grass into a tassel, using a piece of raffia to bind it; hang more grass over the stick or rafter, and tie it into another tassel, and with the same piece of raffia tie a third tassel (Fig. 63). Fig. 64 shows exactly how the raffia is tied. Make the tassels rather thick and put them close together so that there will be no space between. When this rafter (the stick) is covered with thatch lay it across the side of the roof half-way between the ridge-pole (top stick on the roof) and the stick forming the side wall of the house, and tie the ends securely to the slanting sticks of the roof. Thatch another rafter and fasten it on the opposite side of the roof, then cover two shorter sticks with thatch and tie one across the front, the other across the back peak of the roof on a line with the thatched rafters on the sides. Fasten more thatch at the front and back peak of the roof, tying it to the ridge-pole, also to the two slanting sticks. Allow the grass to hang down far enough to cover the top of the thatch below it (Fig. 50). This thatch must entirely fill up the ends of the roof made by the peak. Now hang grass over the ridge-pole at the top of the roof as you would hang your doll's little sheets on your toy clothes-line (Fig. 65), and bring the ends down over the thatched rafters on each side of the roof. Hold this top thatch in place by laying sticks across the grass just below the ridge-pole on each side of the roof. Bind and tie these sticks at each end to the framework of the house (Fig. 50). If grass cannot be had for thatching, soak hay in water to make it soften and take the stiffness out, then use that. Raffia dyed green might do, or should all else fail, take fine broom-straws softened in hot water for the thatch, and use loosely twisted string for binding and tying. Of course the string should not be white, but you can dip it in coffee and dry it; the color will then be like the color of rattan. The Ladder The spry little Filipinos use ladders instead of stairs to reach their living-room, so we must make a rustic ladder for our house. Cut two slender sticks about six and one-half inches long for the sides; then cut seven or eight short sticks for the crosspieces or rungs. The rungs should be one and three-quarter inches long. Bind and tie the ends of the rungs to the side sticks (Fig. 66), placing them about three-quarters of an inch apart. The ends of the rungs must cross the side sticks and extend out about one-quarter of an inch. If properly tied, your little ladder will be firm and strong. [Illustration: Fig.66 - The ladder will be strong and firm.] Place the ladder one end resting on the ground, the other end on the front edge of the porch, then stand off and admire your work. It is certainly worth admiring, for the house will be a perfect miniature Filipino home, and you may imagine you can see tall cocoanut-palms and many other strange and beautiful trees and plants that grow in the hot Philippine Islands. You might copy some of these with grasses and small flowering wild plants. If you have a Noah's ark it will be a good idea to select some of the animals that live in the Philippines and put them in the little rattan and bamboo jungles which you have made of grasses. A piece of looking-glass or plain window-glass can represent water not far from the house, and here you should have a crocodile sunning himself on the bank. Let a wild boar be plunging out of the jungle, and deep in the bamboo grove you might hide the tremendously large snake called a boa. I don't think there will be a boa in your Noah's ark, but you can make one of bread dough, or of clay. With all these dangerous creatures prowling round, do you think it strange that the Filipino people put their houses on stilts? If this were a real house in the real Philippines you might see a number of natives, wearing little or no clothes, coming toward you bringing small snakes which they had caught to sell in the towns for rat-catchers. And near the house there would be most wonderful flowers, some of them orchids, the flowers that live on air; while all around would be strange and rare birds. At one side of the house, some distance away, there would, perhaps, be a wet rice-field where the queer water-buffalo, called a carabao, would be drawing a strange-looking plough, the driver, a little brown man, wearing an immense umbrella-like hat woven of palm-leaves. Listen! Do you hear that deep, booming sound? It comes from the peculiar tree which a native is striking with his big club in slow, heavy blows on one of its immense, wall-like roots. The sound goes rolling far over the land, telephoning to other natives that white people are coming. A Doll Filipino Woman To make the little house seem more real, dress a doll in genuine Philippine costume and stand her near the ladder with arms extended as if in welcome. The dress must be a white waist with flowing sleeves, a light-colored skirt, a large gay handkerchief, called a _pañuelo_, folded around the doll's neck, and an overskirt made of a square of dark cloth drawn tightly around her body from waist to knees. No stockings are needed, but you can give her heelless slippers with only a narrow strip over the toes to keep them on. CHAPTER X GRASS DRESS AND GRASS HEAD-DRESS LOOK at the little girl in the photograph who is wearing her new grass dress made of the wavy hair-grass and playing that she is a wood-nymph. She feels very proud and is greatly pleased with her pretty costume. [Illustration: Fig.67 - Bring the long end of string across front of second bunch and form loop A.] [Illustration: Fig.68 - First loop, A, on front of grass and string passed around back of grass forming second loop, B.] [Illustration: Fig.69 - String brought forward again and slipped through first loop, A.] Almost any kind of long, slender grasses can be used for a dress of this kind, but you must gather an armful or more. It takes a good deal of material, for the fringe must be close and thick. [Illustration: She is greatly pleased with her pretty grass costume.] Divide the grass into bunches, each bunch about as thick as your thumb, and have the heads of all the grasses together at one end of the bunch, and the stem ends together at the other end. [Illustration: Fig.70 - Use a strong string for tying the grass fringe.] Tie a strong string around the stem ends of one bunch. Hold this tied bunch under your left arm, stem ends to the front, and take up another bunch (Fig. 70). Bring the long end of the string across the front of the second bunch and form a loop (A, Fig. 67). Hold the loop while you pass the string around the back of the bunch (Fig. 68), then slide the end through the loop A, Fig. 69. Draw this loop-fastening very tight and it will hold. Now place the second bunch under your arm with the first bunch, and make a loop-fastening around the third bunch. Keep on adding bunches of grass in this way, always drawing the last bunch close to the one before it, and holding them all together under your arm as in the photograph (Fig. 70). In this picture the grass bunches are purposely left far apart that you may see exactly how to make the fringe. [Illustration: Fig.71 - Bristle-spiked Cyperus grass used for head-dress. See photograph.] The grass dress will be finished when you have made a strip of fringe long enough to reach around your waist, for the skirt--it needs no waist--is really only a fringe of grasses to be worn over a light summer dress. Grass Head-Dress The grass head-dress to be worn with the wood-nymph skirt is quite as wild-looking, but is simply a band of grasses, with bunches of the bristle-spiked cyperus grass (Fig. 71) hanging downward on each end. The band goes across over the top of the head, and the grass side ornaments fall over the ears. Wear the grass costume and carry a light branch of green leaves in each hand when you give your next outdoor fancy dance, or take part in outdoor tableaux where you could represent either a wood-nymph or the spirit of the grasses. _PART III_ GREEN LEAVES CHAPTER XI OAK-LEAVES TO dress up and pretend is something every little girl, and boy too, for that matter, likes to do, and there is no better place for having this kind of fun and no greater storehouse for dress-up material than the wide, sunny fields and green, shady forest on a summer's day. [Illustration: Fig.72 - The Robinson Crusoe Hat.] If you want to be a wood-nymph, a fairy, or a pioneer; if you would be a fashionable lady decked in jewels rare, or a rollicking cowboy, or Robinson Crusoe, it is all the same to Mother Nature's department store. Fields, Woods & Co. can furnish all you need. If the goods are not always ready to wear, they are at least ready to be made up into what you want. Why, you can even be a little savage and wear a skirt made of a fringe of long grasses, like the wood-nymph's dress, and bracelets of slender, golden-brown rootlets, if that pleases you; all the materials are ready to your hand. And you can make a Robinson Crusoe Hat of the large leaves of the scrub-oak--a pretty and becoming hat and one that will keep your head cool though you walk under the hottest of noonday suns. The photograph given here shows one little girl who likes immensely to wear her Crusoe hat, and Fig. 72 shows just how the hat looks when not on her head. It won't take more than five minutes to make the hat, but first you must gather the leaves. Ordinary oak-leaves are too small to use; it is on the scrub-oak that you will find them large enough. The scrub-oak grows low, like a bush, and the leaves will be quite within your reach. Like a good shopkeeper, this kind of oak shows his customers leaves of various sizes, but it is the very largest that you must take, and only the ones that are dark-green in color. The pretty new light-green or brownish leaves will soon wilt and curl on the edges, while a hat made of the older, tougher ones will last in good condition several days if left out in the dew at night or kept damp in the house. [Illustration: The Robinson Crusoe Hat is pretty and becoming.] The number of leaves needed depends upon the size of the leaves and the size of your head. It is well to have at least a dozen and a half; then you can select the best. The largest leaves are not always perfect, but unless very much torn or eaten away by insects they will answer. To gather all you need you will probably have to visit several of the little scrub-oaks. If you are at home when you make your hat, use broom-straws to pin the leaves together; if you are in the woods find some smooth, slender twigs, break them in short pieces, and they will take the place of the straws. Begin by pinning two leaves together as they are in Fig. 73. These leaves are lettered U and V. You see that U is lapped over V and then pinned to it in two places, first near the stem and then through the lower side lobe. The next leaf would be letter W, and W would be pinned to U just as U is pinned to V. Make the stems meet at the top and keep adding leaves, pinning one to another, until the hat is large enough to fit your head comfortably, then pin the last leaf to the first. [Illustration: Fig.73 - Pin the leaves together in this way.] Do not make the hat too flat; if you find it flattening out, lap the leaves over more at the bottom. When finished it should be shaped like Fig. 72. Oak-Leaf Mask Among other frolics in the woods you can have a masquerade--a real one, where you wear a mask, and that mask made of one of the largest leaves of the scrub-oak. Not even a pair of scissors will be needed to make this mask, and it is a funny one too (Fig. 74). See the turned-up eyelids and the wide nose tilted at the end. When you have found a leaf large enough (the one in the drawing was nine inches long and seven inches wide) use your thumb-nail to cut out the eyes and nose. The outlines at the top of Fig. 74 show how to shape them, and the dotted lines show where they are bent up. [Illustration: Fig.74 - The Oak Leaf Mask.] There is no mouth, none is needed, for the leaf, below the nose, drops down loosely over your mouth like the curtain on a mask one buys at a shop. The oak-leaf mask will stay on your face if you wet the under parts of each side and stick them to your cheeks. Another way to make the mask is to turn the leaf around, stem down, and then cut the eyes and nose in the wide part, leaving the narrower stem end for a long chin. This kind you can hold in front of your face by taking the stem in your hand. It requires so short a time to make a mask that when one wears out or is lost you can have another to replace it in a minute or two. [Illustration: Fig.75 - The little Oak Leaf Dog.] [Illustration: Fig.77 - This shows how the dog was made.] [Illustration: Fig.76 - The leaf the dog was made of.] The Little Oak-Leaf Dog He has the funny expression of a real dog when he is making up his mind what to do next, even if he is only an oak-leaf. It was an ordinary leaf four inches long which was, by tearing a little here and bending a little there, transformed into his absurd dogship (Fig. 75). Fig. 76 is the tracing of the leaf actually used for the dog. Fig. 77 shows the same leaf with its stem nipped off and the other end torn up, not very evenly, where the dotted lines are in Fig. 76. This makes the little dog's tail. The tear on either side reaches to the mid-rib of the leaf, but does not cross it, and the mid-rib being unbroken holds the tail out stiff and straight. The two hind legs are bent down just where the tear ends in making the tail. The dotted line in Fig. 77 shows this. The other two legs, formed by the side lobes of the leaf, are bent down as the dotted lines indicate. The tip of the lobe on the left side had to be torn off because that leg was longer than the opposite one. In making the neck the narrow part of the leaf was bent up and then down, the two dotted lines show where. Then the ears were bent up and the little oak-leaf dog was placed standing as you see him in Fig. 75, to have his picture drawn. CHAPTER XII GRAPE-LEAF DRINKING-CUP A WILD-GRAPE leaf will do quite as well as a cultivated one for a drinking-cup if it is large enough. You want a large leaf, because a small one will hold only a sip of water, and when one is really thirsty that is certainly not enough. Whether wild or cultivated, the grape-leaf should be washed in clean water to take off dust and any possible insects that may be on it. Where there is water to drink there is water for washing the leaf, so there can be no difficulty about that, and the large green leaf, freshened by the water, looks very cool and inviting. It is simply a matter of folding, first one way, then the other, that turns the grape-leaf into a cup. Fig. 78 is a tracing of the leaf from which the cup (Fig. 79) was made. It measured eight inches at its widest part, almost seven inches from tip to stem, and the cup held a good supply of water. Begin to fold by bringing the two lower lobes of the leaf together in the way shown in Fig. 80. This makes the middle bend that is indicated by the dotted line in Fig. 78. Then bring the two lobes around to the left, or to the right if that comes easier, hold them close together and lap them over the upper lobe on that side. That makes the two side bends which join at the middle bend (Fig. 78), and rounds the cup into shape. [Illustration: Fig.78 - The drinking cup was made of a leaf like this.] [Illustration: Fig.79 - A fine drinking cup made by folding a Grape leaf.] [Illustration: Fig.80 - Bring the two lower lobes of the leaf together.] The bottom of the cup is pointed, as you see, and, of course, will not stand; then, too, the cup falls apart when you loosen your hold, but neither of these things are of any consequence, for you can let your cup lie flat and fold it again very quickly when it is needed. As long as the folds are held tight in your fingers, the cup will keep its shape and hold water without leaking a particle. Use the upper, or green, side of the leaf for the inside of the cup; the under, or light, side is fuzzy and may harbor small insects even after it is washed. Be sure you look into the water before drinking it. This should be done no matter what you drink from or where you get the water. CHAPTER XIII GREEN-LEAF DESIGNS Beech-Leaves REMARKABLY pretty designs can be made entirely of green leaves; also with leaves and their seed-pods, their nuts and berries. You can press a design of leaves alone, but one having seed-pods, berries, or nuts cannot be pressed. It is fun to make it, even if it cannot be preserved by pressing, and you will like to do it. [Illustration: Fig.81 - Two twigs broken off a Beech Tree made this design.] Fig. 81 is the drawing of a charming design made of two twigs broken off a beech-tree. On one twig were two beechnuts in their pretty green, spiky outer shells; on the other was just one nut. Each twig had three leaves. Nothing was cut off and nothing was added for this design; the twigs were used exactly as they came from the tree. The stems were simply crossed, with the lower leaf of one twig falling over the stem of the other twig, and that finished it. The easiest thing in the world to do if you happen to think of it. Violet-Leaves There is one thing about the green leaves of the violet which makes it a joy to use them in a design, and that is, the stems are so pliable, so easily bent and curved, you can do almost anything with them. [Illustration: Fig.82 - Design made of Violet leaves.] See how the stems add to the beauty of the violet-leaf design Fig. 82. [Illustration: Fig.83 - The stem curves naturally.] [Illustration: Fig.84 - Under side of the small leaf in the design.] The curve of the stem of Fig. 83 is a natural one for it to take, and you can probably find a leaf with its stem curved very much like it, but it is another thing to come across one of the same size which has a stem curved in the opposite direction, and such a stem is necessary for a design like Fig. 82. Very well! Since the stem does not naturally curve the way we want it, we will make it do so. All we have to do is to draw it through our fingers several times and, by pressure, gently persuade it to turn as we wish. Fig. 84 is the under-side of the small leaf at the bottom of the design (Fig. 82), and shows how the stem loop above the leaf was made. [Illustration: Fig.85 - This is the way the curling Ground-Pine grows.] First a violet-leaf with stem curved like the one in Fig. 83 was laid down on a sheet of paper, then another leaf of the same size, with stem _made_ to curve in the opposite direction, was placed beside but not touching the first leaf, and with its stem crossing the other stem. The two stems meeting at the bottom formed a pear-shaped loop. The small leaf, after its stem had been formed into a loop and the end tucked in at the back, was fitted on top of the stems of the large leaves, as you see it in Fig. 82. [Illustration: Fig.86 - Beautiful, tiny, green Pine-Tree made of a curling branch of the Ground-Pine.] Violet-leaves are seldom flat; they are apt to curl at the edges; some are so curled as to form little cornucopias. Choose the flattest you can find for a design like Fig. 82, and paste them to the paper with a touch of paste on the under-part of the tip and of the two lobes at the bottom of each leaf. Paste the stems down also with a touch of paste here and there. The violet-leaf design can be pressed. Ground-Pine Deep in the shadowy woods, often where pine-trees are growing, you will find the ground-pine. Clinging close to the ground, curling in feathery, green clusters on its vine-like root, it runs for yards over the surface, while its root, lying along the top, sends down slender rootlets into the earth. Push away the dry leaves or pine-needles that usually cover the root, and you can pull up long strips and soon gather enough to make the prettiest kind of festive decorations. Festoons of the ground-pine are very pretty on walls, stair-banisters, porch-railings, over picture-frames, and hanging from chandeliers, and this ready-made evergreen rope is as suitable for outdoor as for indoor decoration, as beautiful in summer as in winter. When you want to "dress-up" in the woods use the ground-pine for trimmings. Loop it over your skirt and make a wreath for your hair. Last summer at camp we used the ground-pine in this way and the little girls, arrayed for a dance, never looked prettier. For table decorations at camp and for decorating the tent doorways the ground-pine is charming. Fig. 85 shows how the short, curled clusters grow on the long root, and Fig. 86 gives a wee pine-tree made of one cluster picked off the root and planted in an outdoor doll's garden. This is what our American writer and poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, said of the ground-pine: "As I spoke, beneath my feet The ground-pine curled its pretty wreath." _PART IV_ CULTIVATED FLOWERS CHAPTER XIV PHLOX Phlox Tower and Phlox Design IN a great bunch of garden-flowers given me by a friend I found some pink-and-white phlox (Fig. 87), and from it I made first a Phlox Tower As you know, the blossom is trumpet-shaped and flares at the open end into five petals. The tube part is long and narrows to a point, so it is easy to push one flower into another. That is what you do in building the phlox tower. You pull the blossom off its stem and out of the little green calyx which holds it, then you push the end of the tube part into the round red eye in the centre of another flower as far down as it will go. Then you push another blossom into that one and build up until your tower is as high as you want it, or as high as it will stand without toppling over. A bud stuck in the top flower makes a good finish (Fig. 88). Phlox Design The design Fig. 89 was made by first putting three blossoms together, sticking one inside the other as for the tower, to form the long side sprays, and afterward arranging three blossoms below the side sprays and one above with their stems meeting at the middle, as they are in Fig. 89. On each side of the upper flower was placed a sprig of buds; then the tube part of a blossom was cut off and the petal part fitted in the centre of the design to cover the ends of the other flowers where they met. [Illustration: Fig.87 - Blossoms of the Phlox.] [Illustration: Fig.88 - Build your Phlox Tower like this.] The tube parts of three more flowers were cut away, and the petal parts arranged in the position shown in Fig. 89. This formed a scattered design quite different from any of the others made of flowers. Touches of paste on the under part held all the flowers in place. The phlox design is a good one to preserve by pressing. The Tiger-Lily Leopard [Illustration: Fig.89 - This phlox design should be pressed.] From the brilliant-orange tiger-lily, with its dark-brown or black spots, we are going to make a--tiger? No, a leopard. Tiger-lilies may have spots, but tigers, you know, are striped. It is really wonderful how much this little animal, made of parts of a beautiful flower and broom-straws, looks like the stealthy, prowling, wild creature which lives in Africa and Asia. The yellow coat of the live leopard is covered with black spots, and so is that of our flower leopard. The fierce living animal has a long tail that it moves slowly back and forth in anger or when it threatens to attack another animal or a man. Our little leopard also has a long tail which, if it does not really move, looks as if it were just going to. But while the live animal is ferocious and will kill, we can only pretend that of the tiger-lily leopard. Though he looks dangerous, he cannot even nibble a green leaf. The illustration of the tiger-lily given here is a drawing of the one from which the lily leopard (Fig. 90) was made. You will notice that at the right of the flower (Fig. 91) there is the stem and pistil of a blossom that has fallen apart. [Illustration: Fig.90 - The stealthy, prowling Leopard.] [Illustration: Fig.91 - The leopard is made from a Tiger Lily like this.] When we make the leopard we cut off this lily-stem close to the stalk, leaving the pistil attached, to use for the back-bone and tail. Four broom-straws, about an inch and a half long and sharpened at one end, we use for legs. The pointed ends of two of the legs are pushed into the stem at the front, and the other two in part of the pistil at the back, as shown in Fig. 92. That makes the skeleton. [Illustration: Fig.92 - This is the skeleton of the leopard.] [Illustration: Fig.93 - The leopard's spotted coat.] Now we have to fit on the skeleton the leopard's spotted coat. After pulling the perfect flower apart we select the petal best suited for this purpose (Fig. 93), and then take the curl partially out of it by pressing it down on the table with our fingers. The tip of the petal will have to be cut off because it comes down too far over the tail. The blunt end of the petal will be the leopard's head, and it can be rounded up and moulded with your fingers until it looks like the head of the leopard in Fig. 90. Small ears of bits of broom-straw, pointed at one end, we must stick in the head where they belong and then, in order to make the coat stay in place, we will pin it to the skeleton at the neck, in the middle of the back, and again at the tail, with fine broom-straws. So we have the little leopard complete. CHAPTER XV CULTIVATED FOXGLOVE Fairy-Caps [=Transcriber's Note:= Foxglove is poisonous. Do not play with foxgloves.] DO you know the cultivated foxglove with its tall spikes of thimble-shaped flowers, prettily spotted inside? (Fig. 94.) And do you know that these flowers will fit on the ends of your fingers like tall caps on the heads of little fairies? Perhaps there are foxgloves growing in your garden now. If there are, pick five blossoms off the stalk, selecting a large one for your thumb and a small one for your little finger; the others should be of a size in between these two. Turn these blossoms upside down and they at once become fairy-caps. Fit the caps on all five fingers of your left hand. Then on your fingers, just below the caps, draw little faces with pen and ink. Now you have five living, moving fairies who will do all sorts of things and be very spry about it (Fig. 95). They will nod at you joyously, they will bend low in solemn salute, and they will put their little heads together to plan some piece of mischief. They can be fairy children at school, if you like, with the short, fat thumb fairy for the teacher; and you can make the fairy pupils stand close together, shoulder to shoulder, then at a word from the teacher, separate and stand alone again. It will be fun to name the fairies, such names as Pepper-grass, Mustard-seed, and Catnip, and with the teacher standing before his class, have him call the roll and have each fairy bob his head as he answers to his name. [Illustration: Fig.94 - "Do you know the cultivated Fox Glove?"] Perhaps you will want the teacher to require each pupil to sing a little song or recite a short verse. When a fairy does that, he moves forward in front of the others, and stays in that place until he has finished. Here is a pretty verse for a flower-capped fairy to recite: "I wonder what the Clover thinks, Intimate friend of the Bobolinks, Lover of Daisies, slim and white, Waltzer with Buttercups at night. * * * * * Oh, who knows what the Clover thinks? No one! Unless the Bobolinks." Sweet Pea--the Peacock [Illustration: Fig.95 - Five living Fairies.] You use a little pretended magic when you turn a sweet-pea blossom into a peacock, and that makes it seem more mysterious and more interesting. It doesn't take a second but while you are doing it you must repeat this transformation rhyme: "Sweet Pea, Sweet Pea, Your petals unlock. I turn two down, And you're a peacock." Pick out a fine, large sweet-pea blossom. It doesn't matter about the color. If you have a number to choose from, suit yourself. Hold the flower in your left hand by its stem and recite the first two lines: "Sweet Pea, Sweet Pea, Your petals unlock." [Illustration Fig.96: - "Sweet Pea, Sweet Pea, Your petals unlock."] [Illustration Fig.97: - "I turn two down and you're a Peacock."] Then as you reach around to the back of the flower with your right hand and put your thumb on one curled petal, X, and your first finger on the other curled petal, Y (Fig. 96), finish the rhyme: "I turn two down, And you're a peacock." and at the same time turn these petals down as they are in Fig. 97. You will see right away that the turned-down petals at the sides are the wings, the upright petal at the back is the tail, and the closed middle part is the body. The tipped-up point of the body part makes a very good head for the little sweet-pea peacock. [Illustration: Fig.98 - The blossoms of the cultivated Snapdragon are large.] Snapdragon--Lady's Head and Lion's Head The magic that turns a blossom of the large, cultivated snapdragon into a little lady's head, upon which rests a dainty, ruffled sunbonnet, or into a ferocious-looking lion's head, is the magic of pen and ink, not of rhyme. [Illustration: Fig.99 - The Snapdragon Lady's Head.] [Illustration: Fig.100 - The Snapdragon Lion's Head.] The blossoms of the cultivated snapdragon are very much larger than those of its wild cousin, called by some people butter-and-eggs, but the cultivated flowers grow on a stalk in the same way as the wild ones. You would hardly recognize the cultivated flowers as snapdragons because of their size and wonderful colors. A sure test is to pinch one; if it opens its mouth it is a real snapdragon; if it doesn't it is not; but you must know how to pinch it, else it may refuse to snap. The illustration (Fig. 98) shows a stalk of the cultivated flower, and looking at the blossoms in that position you can see neither the lady's head nor the lion's, yet they are there. LADY'S HEAD Pick a blossom off its stalk, leaving the little stem attached, and turn it around until you discover the sunbonnet and see that it looks like Fig. 99, then with pen and ink draw eyes, nose, and mouth on the part under the bonnet that is the face. This part is white, while the sunbonnet is sometimes a dainty pink and sometimes a gorgeous scarlet or orange, with deeper color on the edges. LION'S HEAD Turn another blossom upside down and the crown of the bonnet becomes the lower jaw and beard of the lion, while the other part is the lion's face. On the face you must make two fierce eyes like those in Fig. 100. When you take hold of the lion's jaws at the back and pinch them he will open his great, wide mouth as if to send out a tremendous roar, only to snap it shut again without a sound as you stop pinching. Fig. 100 shows how to hold the flower to open the lion's mouth. The pink snapdragon is best to use for the lady's head and the orange-colored one for the lion's. If you would rather call it a dragon's head, you can, you know, but it looks more like a lion. CHAPTER XVI MISS HOLLYHOCK'S GARDEN-PARTY [Illustration: Fig.101 - Miss Hollyhock gives a garden party.] WHEN Miss Hollyhock gives a garden-party the scene is a gay one. All the ladies, and you can have as many as you want, are in their freshest, crispest summer gowns. There are dainty pink ones, white, rose-colored, and deep red; there are light yellow and orange; there are gowns almost brown and others almost black, but whatever the color of the skirt the waist is always green. Green waists are the style where Miss Hollyhock lives, and she and all her friends follow the style very closely. [Illustration: Fig.102 - Cut the Pistil out of the flowers.] The hats these little ladies wear to the party are of the same silky material as their skirts and are usually of the same color, though sometimes a lady in white will appear in a pink or yellow hat, or a pink lady can be seen wearing a white hat, and the lady in rose knows how well she looks in a hat that is almost black. When there are two or more gowns of the same color the hollyhock ladies prefer to have different colored hats so that they will not all look alike. Fig. 101 shows how Miss Hollyhock and her friends are made from the flowers of that name. When you have gathered the flowers you must cut off the stem of each close to the green calyx which is Miss Hollyhock's waist, and then cut out the pistil which grows inside the blossom. This pistil is shaped something like a little club, and is covered with the yellow grains of pollen (ask some one what pollen is). It looks like Fig. 102. The pollen will make the flower wilt quickly. That is why it is best to take the pistil out. [Illustration: Fig.103 - This is the way to make Miss Hollyhock.] Now select a nice, round, hard, green bud for a head and leave its stem on for the neck. Turn the sharp point of your scissors around in the top of the hollyhock calyx to make a little round hole, then push the stem of the bud into the hole, screwing it round and round until the bud almost, but not quite, touches the calyx. If you push it all the way down your lady will have no neck; her head will grow directly out of her shoulders. [Illustration: Fig.104 - Miss Hollyhock's Tea Table.] [Illustration: Fig.105 - Teapot and cups for the Hollyhock tea table.] Wooden toothpicks are used for legs, arms, and support, but strong broom-straws will answer as well, or straight, slender twigs. Push three toothpicks, twigs, or broom-straws up into the centre of the flower, two in front and one at the back as you see them in Fig. 103. The dotted lines show where they go inside the blossom. Be sure to have all three the same length so that the little lady will stand firmly. The arrows on Fig. 103 show where to insert the arms. Cut sharp points on the broom-straws to make them slide in easily. Blunt ends will tear the flower. With pen and ink make the eyes, nose, and mouth on the head, and use a petal of another hollyhock for a hat. Pin the hat to the top of the lady's head with a pin or short broom-straw. A garden-party would not be complete without A Tea-Table Make the tea-table of the hollyhock's round cake of unripe seeds which most children call a cheese. This is covered with a green case which is easily taken off and then you have a round, white disk like a little table-top turned up at the edge. Select the largest one you can find and push the ends of three toothpicks or broom-straws into the under-side for the table legs (Fig. 104). Now the tea-table must have a Teapot and Cups Find a green bud for a teapot shaped like Z (Fig. 105). Push two short straws into the bud in the places shown by the arrows in Z (Fig. 105), one for the spout and one for the handle. Cut the tops off smaller buds to make them into teacups (A and B, Fig. 105). A drop of paste at the bottom of the teapot and the cups will keep them in place on the table. CHAPTER XVII DAFFODILS Dancing Flowers and Whirligigs DAFFODILS, yellow as sunshine, always come with the beautiful springtime. The blossoms of the single daffodils, with their tall, golden cups resting in the saucers of lighter-colored petals, are the daintiest, though both single and double are so like a song of cheerfulness it is a joy to have them near. They look as if they wanted to dance for sheer happiness and, wonder of wonders, you can actually make them dance. [Illustration: Fig.106 - The Daffodil Dancer.] [Illustration: Fig.107 - The Daffodil Animal.] Gather a few of the single daffies, leaving on them the very short stems which hold them to the main stalk. These little green stems will be the stiff ornaments at the top of the dancers' green caps when you turn the flowers upside down, which is right side up for the dancers. Daffodil Dancers To make a flower stand alone and give it feet to dance on, push three wooden toothpicks firmly up under the little yellow skirt into the centre of the blossom. It doesn't matter if a flower has three feet; like an insect, it may have more than two and it won't stand on two. Spread the bottom ends of the toothpicks out a trifle like a tripod to make the flower stand steady (Fig. 106). When you have made several dancers, stand them on a tin tray, and they will be a group of "daffy-down-dillies just come to town," arrayed in their best gowns and ready to take part in the dance. Tap the tray gently from underneath and the dancers will begin to move. Tap a little harder and they will begin to dance. Tip the tray slightly forward and they will dance toward you; tip it backward and they will dance away again. [Illustration: Fig.108 - Daffodil stalk for you to turn into a whirligig.] [Illustration: Fig.109 - The Whirligig.] A Daffodil Animal Queer little animals that come only from Daffy land can be made of the single daffodil-blossoms. Take one of the flowers and carefully cut away the outstanding petals, leaving the perfect, long cup. Hold the cup in your left hand with the short, green stem hanging down; the stem is the animal's head; then break off about half an inch from the blunt ends of four wooden toothpicks and use the longest parts for legs. Push the pointed ends of the tooth pick legs up into the under-side of the long, slender cup as it is held in your left hand. Keep the legs of an even length and the animal will stand firmly. This little fellow, with his green head and long green nose, is very comical (Fig. 107). He can dance on the tin tray too, and run about when you tip it. The daffodil toys will keep their color a long while even after the blossoms are dry. Do not take off the brown calyx which is lightly wrapped around the bottom of each flower. It represents the hair of the dancers and the ears of the animal. The Whirligig You can have some fun with the daffodil stalk, too, after taking off the flowers. Fig. 108 is a daffodil stalk; look at it closely, then look at Fig. 109. They are really the very same though they appear to be so different. One seems to have a blossom at the top, and you know that the other has not. If you want to do the trick and make a stalk blossom, select a stalk like Fig. 108, hold the stem closely between your open hands and roll it rapidly by first sliding your right hand forward while the left slides backward, then the left forward and the right hand back. This makes a whirligig of your stalk, and the flower will appear at the top as you see it in Fig. 109. Try making whirligigs of other kinds of stems; of grasses, twigs, and leaves. _PART V_ SEED-VESSELS CHAPTER XVIII SEED-VESSEL PLAYTHINGS WHEN the flowers have gone then come the seed-vessels, equally as good for playthings but very different. Of course, you know the rose-haws, the little red and yellow and green apples that you find on the rose-bushes in the fall. They are the seed-vessels of the rose, and every rose which is allowed to remain on the bush until it fades and falls apart leaves a seed-vessel to take its place. [Illustration: Fig.110 - Rose-haw apples for your doll's table.] [Illustration: Fig.112 - The bronze-green Rose-haw.] [Illustration: Fig.111: - This necklace is made of Rose-haws and Plantain Lily seed pods.] The Doll's Fruit Piece The rose-haws look very much like little apples. Rosy-cheeked Baldwins, yellow harvest-apples, and greenings, and they will make a fine fruit-piece for the centre of your doll's table. Pile them up on one of the toy dishes and put the smallest of green rose-leaves around the edge (Fig. 110). Rose-Haw Necklace But the rose-haws can be used for something besides toy apples; you can pretend they are jewels and string them for a real necklace. One necklace can be entirely of the haws and another like Fig. 111, which is made of bronze-green haws (Fig. 112), and the long, green seed-pods of the plantain (Fig. 113). The blossoms of the plantain are pale purple or lavender, and hang from the stalk as the seed-pods do. They are bell-shaped and about an inch long. The leaf is like a lily-leaf. [Illustration: Fig.113 - The long, green seed pods of the Plantain Lily.] [Illustration: Fig.114 - The seed pod earring.] As you see, the haws and seed-pods are strung alternately; first a haw, then a seed-pod, again a haw and so on. Thread your needle with strong thread and be sure the thread is long enough for the necklace. Measure it around your neck, letting it droop as much as you wish; then allow several inches at each end for tying. If you cannot find the large, brownish-green haws use yellow or red ones, but the green haws, when strung with the green seed-pods, are more beautiful. [Illustration: Fig.115 - This necklace is made of Barberries and Plantain Lily Stalk.] [Illustration: Fig.116 - A branch of the Barberry Bush.] Seed-Pod Earrings To match the necklace, make long, green earrings of the plantain seed-pods. Fig. 114 shows a seed-pod earring. You see it is strung on a thread and the ends of the thread are then tied to form a loop. The loop must be just large enough to fit comfortably over your ear, and when you wear the earring, the green jewel will hang down and dangle delightfully. The upper end of the seed-pod should almost touch your ear. [Illustration: Fig.117 - Make the earring in this way.] Necklace of Barberries and Plantain-Stalk Plantain is very useful in making jewelry because you can use the stalk as well as the seed-pods. Fig. 115 is a necklace made of the plantain-stalk cut in short pieces, all the same length, and the coral-red berries of the barberry-bush. The crooked branches of the barberry-bush grow very close together and are covered with thorns which stand out straight and sharp like pins. That is why it is so often used for hedges; nothing can get through it without being terribly scratched. From the branches the red berries hang down like coral drops. Fig. 116 shows the way they grow. To make this necklace, string first a piece of the plantain-stalk, pushing the needle through lengthwise, then string a barberry and again a piece of the green stalk; after that a barberry. Keep on in this way until the necklace is as long as you want it. [Illustration: Fig.118 - Maple seed vessel used as bird wings.] The berries are exceedingly pretty strung as you see them, hanging down in their natural way, and really, you cannot string them any other way. The upper part of the berry is the only part through which you can pass your needle because of the large, hard seed which fills the space below. Plantain-Stalk and Barberry Earrings How to make the earrings to complete this set of jewelry is shown in Fig. 117. First you string a piece of the plantain-stalk, then a barberry; then you put your needle back through the stalk and tie the thread at the top. After that you make the loop to put over your ear as you did in making the seed-pod earring. Birds of Maple-Tree Seed-Vessels You see it is not only the seed-vessels of flowers that can be turned into playthings. The trees also furnish abundant material for toys. [Illustration: Fig.119 - Maple seed vessel bird.] Gather the winged seed-vessels that fall from the maple-trees, Fig. 118 is a maple seed-vessel, and let us sit on the dry, sun-warmed grass and turn them into odd little birds like Fig. 119. These birds are very near the size of our ruby-throated humming-birds, a trifle larger perhaps, but they do not in the least resemble the beautiful, jewel-colored, long-beaked wild bird, either in looks or habits. However, they are nice, tame, quiet little birds and never object to being handled, played with, and placed on any bush or low tree where you may happen to want to put them. You cannot say that of the humming-bird, can you? You will need two seed-vessels for each bird. Divide one through the centre, separating the two wings, and use one of these wings for the body of the bird, as you see in the diagram Fig. 120. Clip off the two corners of the square end where the arrows point to shape it like a bird's head, then carefully bend up the seed-vessel pair of wings, and fit the body down in between them, resting it on the centre part that holds the wings together. One or two stitches with needle and thread, passed through wings and body, will keep them close and secure. [Illustration: Fig.120 - Bird's body.] When your bird is finished (Fig. 119), thread a needle with black thread, tie a good-sized knot in the end of the thread, and push the needle from underneath up through the back of the bird where it will come out between the wings. Draw the knot up close to the body and tie the other end of the thread to a low branch of a tree. When you stand off a little distance you cannot see the thread and your bird will seem to be hovering in mid-air. A gentle breeze will stir the bird and make it look as if flying. If there is no breeze, you can blow on it, or fan it until the little thing flutters about almost as if alive. Be careful to string the thread through the bird at a place that will make it evenly balanced. CHAPTER XIX BUCKEYE HORSE AND BUCKEYE RIDER All children love the clean, glossy, brown horse-chestnuts or buckeyes. There are so many buckeye-trees in Ohio that it is called the Buckeye State, and many villages of Long Island are full of them. They are used for shade-trees and often line the streets, where they send down showers of their nuts, pretty but not good to eat. Everywhere the children gather basketfuls and take them home to play with, and in other Beard books we have told of some things that can be made of buckeyes, but the buckeye horse and rider which you see here have just arrived. He is a very remarkable-looking horse with his funny round head and stiff legs and tail, though not more remarkable than the little man who rides him. Both are made simply of buckeyes and slender twigs. The head and body of the horse and of the man are buckeyes. The neck, ears, tail, and legs of the horse are smooth, straight twigs; the neck, arms, and legs of the man are also twigs. The Buckeye Horse When you make a horse let the light-colored part of the buckeye be his face. This part usually has a dark spot on it which looks like an eye. You will see it in Fig. 121. He will have only one eye unless you put in another with lead-pencil or pen and ink, but very frequently horses are blind in one eye, so it will not matter whether he has two eyes or one. Stick two short pieces of twigs in the head for ears and a longer twig for the neck. You will have to sharpen the ends of the twigs to a point so that they will go in easily. The neck twig will need sharpening at both ends. Before putting the head on the body of the horse, which should be as large a buckeye as you can find, push in four twigs for the legs. The front legs must slant forward, the hind legs slant backward. This will make him stand firmly. Then choose a slender twig for the tail, and split it several times at one end to show that it has hair on it, as in Fig. 121. Fasten the tail on and then push in the neck twig. This finishes the horse. [Illustration: Fig.121 - He is a remarkable looking Horse.] The Buckeye Man For the body of the man who sits astride the horse, choose a buckeye which is rather flat on one side. A round buckeye will roll off. Find a small buckeye for the man's head and give him a twig neck (Fig. 122). Do not make his twig arms stand out straight at his sides; push them in slantingly so that he will hold them out in front. Put his twig legs in far apart and slant them a little forward. Now place the man on the horse, and if he does not fit, change the position of his legs until he sits securely. Your buckeye man and buckeye horse will then look like Fig. 122. Pine-Cones. Pine-Cone Forest Of course you like to gather the rich-brown pine-cones that lie scattered on the ground under the pine-trees; we all do. Collect a number of those which have loosened and opened out their little leaf-like scales, then stand them up like trees in an open space on the ground. They look so much like toy trees we immediately want to play we are foresters, way off in the wild western lands, planting forest-trees for Uncle Sam. [Illustration: Fig.122 - The Buckeye Horse and Rider.] We can make our forest as large as we want it and plant trees every day if we like, or we can gather up our nice, clean, dry cones and take them into the house to use in some other way. They make nice playthings. A Fruit-and-Vegetable Market If you find small, short cones, not fully opened out, notice how much they look like little pineapples; you must save these for our fruit-and-vegetable market, where we sell fat, short acorns as hazelnuts, the long acorns as pecans, and the buckeyes, or horse-chestnuts, all shiny, dark, and smooth, as eggplants, and rose-haws as apples. There are other things in our store, too. String-beans, which are really locust-pods, and heads of white cauliflower made of bunches of the wild carrot or Queen Anne's Lace blossoms, tied together so that the pretty white flowers of the wide-spreading clusters lie evenly with edges touching. A number of these clusters are used for one head of cauliflower, and around each head are arranged green leaves with their tops cut off just as you see them around the real vegetable. Cone Card-Rack Save one of your fine, large-sized, wide-open cones and make a card-rack of it like the one shown in the photograph Fig. 123. [Illustration: Fig.123 - Card rack and pin box combined.] You must have a small, round or square wooden box for the base and glue the flat bottom of the cone on the lid. The box can be filled with small brass clips for holding sheets of paper together, or with pins, and it will then make a fine birthday or Christmas present for some one. The cone card-rack is very useful on a writing-desk. If you make a number of these cone-racks they will be something new for your next fair. Remember to stick some pretty cards in each rack. Christmas-Tree Ornaments Perhaps you would like to keep some of your cones for Christmas-tree ornaments; they make very pretty ones. Gild several until they shine like gold, then silver others, and they will look as if covered with white frost. If you have collected any of the prickly sweet-gum balls that look as if they were carved in little starry patterns, gild and silver these, too, and let them dangle from the tree on long gilt or silver cords. These natural, outdoor ornaments are not easily broken, and may be kept from year to year for your Christmas tree. CHAPTER XX BURDOCK-BURRS The Little House of Burrs NOW let us build a little woodsy house of burrs (Fig. 124) and put it in a little garden. Gather two heaping handfuls of large-sized burdock-burrs, small ones are not strong enough, and begin building. These burrs grow on a bush; they are about the size of a marble, are almost round, are prickly, and are pinkish at the top. Make the roof first (Fig. 125). Stick ten or twelve burrs together in a row with pink heads all pointing in the same direction. Place this row on a flat, smooth surface, a board, flat stone, table, or, perhaps, the hard earth, and attach another row of burrs along the side edge of the first row. Continue to add more burrs until you have six or seven rows fastened into one flat piece. Be sure that this piece does not bulge out or sink down in places, for the roof must be perfectly flat. Make the two side walls (Figs. 126 and 127) and the back wall of the house as you made the roof; the back wall must be the length of the roof and the height of the side walls (Fig. 128). The side walls must each fit on the ends of the roof and be high enough to look well. The front wall of the house must have a doorway and a window (Fig. 129). But first make it solid, exactly like the back wall and exactly the same size, then lay it down on the flat surface that you are using for a table, and open a hole for the doorway by taking out five or six burrs, counting from the bottom up, and two or three burrs, counting from side to side. That will make about ten or twelve burrs to be removed. Take out the burrs for the window and make the opening three or four burrs high and two burrs wide. (See Fig. 129). Use four burrs for each side of the hollow square chimney (Fig. 130), which is open at top and bottom. [Illustration: Fig.124 - The little woodsey house of Burdock-burrs with ornamental trees of grass.] To put the different parts of the house together lay the roof down flat and stick the edge of the back wall on top of the outer row of burrs which forms one of the long edges of the roof. Fasten one side wall on one short edge of the roof in the same way and press the edge of the back wall and the edge of the side wall together, making the corner firm and square. Next attach the second side wall, and lastly fit in the front wall. [Illustration: Fig.125 - Roof of house of Burs.] [Illustration: Fig.130 - Chimney of house of Burs.] [Illustration: Fig.126 - Side wall of house of Burs.] [Illustration: Fig.128 - Back wall of house of Burs.] [Illustration: Fig.127 - Side wall of house of Burs.] [Illustration: Fig.129 - Front wall of house of Burs.] Now lift the house carefully, place it right side up on the ground, and adjust the chimney to the roof. As you work keep the picture of the house in front of you so that you may see at a glance whether you are building it correctly or not. If you cannot find large burrs, let the sides and the roof of the house be two layers of burrs stuck firmly together. Make a path leading up to the door of very small shells, sand, or fresh earth. [Illustration: Fig.131 - Cat-tail for little pond made of Timothy-Grass.] [Illustration: Fig.132 - Cat-tail held upright by Burdock-burrs.] Pond, with Water-Lilies, in the Garden Would you like to have a little pond near the house, with white water-lilies floating on its surface and wee cattails growing here and there in and near the water's edge? You can easily make such a pond. Sink a shallow pan in the ground, a hole must be dug to fit it, you know, and fill the pan with water. Cover the edges with moss or earth and plant short-stemmed heads of timothy-grass (Fig. 131) and slender, stiff grass-blades in scattered groups near the water. It is timothy-grass that looks so much like cattails, and also the grass called foxtail. [Illustration: Fig.133 - The play Water-Lily made of a White Clover floating on water.] [Illustration: Fig.134 - Cut leaves for the water lilies from a Maple leaf as shown here.] Some of the cattails can be made to look as if they were growing in the pond if you make a flat-bottomed ball of burrs around the ends of the stems to hold them upright (Fig. 132), and put some small stones on top of the ball to weight it down in the water. For the little water-lilies select perfect white clover-blossoms (Fig. 133), and for the leaves, or lily-pads, use any rather small, smooth, round leaves. The marsh-marigold leaf will answer, or you can cut out water-lily leaves from oak or maple. Make them the shape of the pattern Fig. 134. The pattern here is laid on a maple-leaf ready to cut out a leaf for the water-lily. Make a number of lilies and float them and the leaves on top of the water. [Illustration: Fig.135 - Pea-pod Canoe.] [Illustration: Fig.136 - Cut open the pea-pod along dotted line.] A Pea-Pod Canoe You might add a pea-pod canoe (Fig. 135), with a tiny American flag standing proudly erect at the bow. When you make the canoe, open the pod where you see the dotted line in Fig. 136. To keep the pod open make little braces of broom-straws, and put them in crosswise with one end against each side of the canoe. There are four braces in the canoe (Fig. 135), but you may not need that many. The Trees In the picture given here the tree on the left of the little house of burrs is just two stalks of the common grass called meadow muhlenbergia, which are held up as if really growing, by several green burrs left from building the house. The burrs are squeezed up tight to the grass-stems and then pressed down tight to the ground. You can find the grass for these trees almost any place; it is very social and loves to make its home with other grasses. [Illustration: Fig.137 - Burdock-burr target.] The graceful, drooping tree on the right of the house is made of the grass called brome-grass. Keep your eyes open and you will find it some time while playing out-of-doors. As soon as you see it, run to the brome-grass and whisper its name. You will be glad to discover it and will remember its name afterward whenever you see the grass. Look at the picture again and notice the odd plants near the brome-grass tree. Their name is Bermuda-grass. See how they spread out their long, slender fingers. They look very much like a grass named the small crab-grass, and another the large crab-grass, and like another still called the wire-grass; but if you put all these side by side and examine them closely you will see how they differ. Burdock-Burr Game Besides making things of burdock-burrs, you can play a game with them. The game is something like archery, only, instead of shooting arrows at a target, you throw burrs at it. Get a good-sized piece of woollen cloth or some kind of material with a rough surface to which the burrs will cling. Tack this up on the fence or on a board; then, with a large piece of chalk that will make a wide mark, draw four circles, one inside the other like Fig. 137. It doesn't matter if your circles are not perfect. Do the best you can and finish your target. Number the spaces between the circles 1, 2, 3, 10. The outer space is 1, the next, 2, next to the centre 3, and the centre 10. The centre, being the bull's-eye, counts most. [Illustration: Fig.138 - Hold the burr this way when you throw it at the target.] Have ready a lot of burrs for each player; mark a boundary-line on the ground, beyond which no one must step in throwing the burrs, and, standing at the boundary-line, let each player in turn throw three burrs at the target. The burrs that stick to the target make the score if they are in the numbered spaces. Fig. 138 shows how to hold the burr. Suppose one burr sticks to the space numbered 2, and the two others are in number 1, the player would then have two ones and one two which, added together, make four; her score then would be four. Always pull the burrs of one player off the target before the next player takes her turn, and there will be no question as to who should claim them. After each player has had three turns, let every one add up her scores. The player who has the highest wins the game. If divided into sides, the players on the side having the highest score are the winners and they should be given a hearty cheer by the losing side. Even very little girls and boys should learn to be good losers and to help celebrate the victory of others. CHAPTER XXI THINGS TO MAKE OF ENGLISH-WALNUT SHELLS NUTS are the seed-vessels of the nut-trees; did you ever think of that? They do not grow only that we may have something delicious to eat. They ripen and fall on the ground, where some of them take root and grow up into trees themselves. If you plant a hickory-nut a little hickory-tree should come up, and it will if the conditions are all right. If you plant a walnut it will be a walnut-tree that will appear; so you see a nutshell is the seed-vessel of the nut-tree. English walnuts do not grow wild in this country, but are cultivated here and you all know what the English walnut is like. Our American walnut is very hard to crack; its shell is rough and deeply grooved, but the English-walnut shell is smooth and without sharp edges, though its surface is uneven. There is a shallow groove running round the shell, like a seam, and the shell cracks open along this seam evenly and easily. To Open an English Walnut The easiest way to open an English walnut so that the shell will be in two perfect halves is to push the tip of a penknife-blade into the groove at the large end of the nut, and then slowly and carefully turn the knife to pry the halves apart. When opened this way the shell is never broken (Fig. 139). After you have opened several nuts and taken out the kernels, use the knife to cut away the thin, papery divisions inside the shells. You will then be ready to make The Professor and one half-shell is to be his head. Draw a face on the shell like the face of the professor (Fig. 140). The narrow part of the shell is his chin, the wide part, the top of his head. He has an intellectual forehead, high and broad, with furrows of thought showing plainly on it. [Illustration: Fig.139 - This is the way to open the shell.] The Professor's Robe As a rule professors wear black robes when they wear any, but our nutshell professor wears white because it is more becoming to his dark complexion, and because it is more effective and draws attention to him. [Illustration: Fig.140 - The English Walnutshell Professor.] [Illustration: Fig.141 - The Professor's Robe.] To make the robe, fold an oblong piece of white paper into a square, which makes the square double. The edges should measure about four inches. If you have a large white envelope cut off one end to make it square and use that. Fold the square diagonally across from point to point, as is shown by the dotted line in Fig. 141. Now turn back first one side point, then the other side point, and make them meet over the first fold to form a fanlike pleat, wider at the bottom than at the top. The dotted lines on either side of the middle one in Fig. 141 show where the folds should come. The middle fold is bent out, or toward you; the side folds are bent in, or away from you. The side points now extending toward you are the wide, flowing sleeves of the professor's gown. Take the robe in your hand at the bottom point, holding it from the back, and on the top point hang the professor's nutshell head (Fig. 140). [Illustration: Fig.142 - The Nutshell Mouse.] [Illustration: Fig.143 - Ear for the mouse.] While the head balances quite securely on the point, you can make it wag from side to side, make it shake and tremble when the professor grows very earnest in his discourse, and make the chin thrust itself forward when he is emphatic. You do all this merely by shaking and tipping the paper robe. He is an amusing little lecturer, this English-walnut shell professor, and seems very much alive. English-Walnut Shell Mouse It is a far cry from a lecturer to a little mouse, yet one English-walnut shell will make both, half a shell for each. This is a nice, cosey-looking little mouse who crouches down comfortably and does not show his legs (Fig. 142). The point of the shell is the nose of the mouse; above it make two round, black eyes and then paste on two brown-paper ears. Cut the ears like Fig. 143, bend back the little stems at the bottom, put a touch of paste on each stem and stick the ears to the mouse's head in the position shown in Fig. 142. Cut a piece of string about three inches long for the tail and paste one end of it on the inside edge of the shell at the large end. [Illustration: Fig.144 - The Nutshell Thimble Box.] [Illustration: Fig.145 - Tie a ribbon around the nut.] If you make three of these mice and glue them to a piece of cardboard they will look very cunning. Or you can glue one mouse to a small card and use it for the top of a Christmas pen-wiper. English-Walnut Shell Thimble-Box A pretty way to give a small present at Christmas or on a birthday is to put it into an English-walnut shell box. A thimble fits in the box beautifully (see Fig. 144). Open the shell of an English walnut in the way described (Fig. 139). Cut away the inside partitions and, with jeweller's cotton, make a soft little bed in one-half of the shell. Press down the cotton in the middle to make a hollow, and in this hollow fit the new thimble. Put a layer of cotton over the top of the thimble and tuck in the edges. The way to close the box is to cover the edges of the other half-shell with glue and then fit it on the half that holds the thimble, just as it was before you opened it. Now you have a whole nut again, but the meat inside is very different from that which you took out. You can gild the nutshell after the glue has hardened or leave it as it is. Its own brown color is pretty enough. In either case you must have a piece of narrow ribbon to tie around the box and form a loop by which to hang it (Fig. 145). Pass the ribbon under the small end of the nutshell, then bring it up and tie it securely at the top of the large end. The ribbon should not be over the seam but should pass across the middle of each half-shell. It will then hold the two parts together and keep the glue from loosening. After the ribbon is tied at the top of the nut, make a long loop above it and tie again in a bow-knot. _PART VI_ VEGETABLES CHAPTER XXII THINGS YOU CAN MAKE OF LIMA BEANS [Illustration: Fig.146 - The Lima Bean Fish will swim.] [Illustration: Fig.147 - The pod for the fish must be open at the bottom.] VEGETABLES are good to eat, certainly, and you know what they are like when cooked and on the dinner-table; but many are also good to play with. You can make fine toys of them, toys that are entirely different from any you have ever seen. Here is the Swimming Fish Made of a Lima-Bean Pod A fish that really swims, not on top of the water but in it, is the little fish (Fig. 146). You won't find that in a shop or anywhere else, for I have only just discovered how to make it myself. A paper tail and two paper fins must be added, but that won't take five minutes when you know how to do it. The tail and fins make it wonderfully lifelike, for when the fish swims around in a big basin or dish-pan, the tail sways this way and that, the fins move back and forth exactly as they do on a living fish in a real lake or in the great ocean. [Illustration: Fig.148 - The fin of Bean-pod Fish.] [Illustration: Fig.149 - Tail of Bean-pod Fish.] Choose a good, firm bean-pod, one as flat and even as you can find, open it carefully along the straight edge and take out the beans. Save the beans, for you can make something of them too. Do not let the pod close again after the beans are out. It must be open about half an inch, or maybe a little more, at the middle. You can widen the opening by pushing your finger in. Be careful not to split it along the upper edge. It should be like Fig. 147, which shows the opening at the bottom. With the small blade of a pocket-knife make a slit on each side of the pod at the large end where it is marked C in Fig. 147. [Illustration: Fig.150 - The Lima Bean Man will stand.] These slits are to hold the fins. Directly on the curved edge of the small end of the pod, at the place marked D, cut another short slit. Don't let it reach the lower edge. This is to hold the tail. From writing-paper, not the very heavy kind, cut two fins like Fig. 148. Double the paper and cut out both at once so that they may be exactly alike. From the same kind of paper cut the tail like Fig. 149. All you have to do now is to push the sharp point of one paper fin into the slit on one side of the pod, the other fin into the slit on the other side of the pod, and the sharp point of the tail into the slit in the edge of the pod, and there is your fish. You see the fins and tail are not pasted on and they really seem a living part of the fish. Notice that the top of fins and tail are different from the bottom, and be sure to have the top edge up when you put them in the slits. [Illustration: Fig.151 - Parts of Lima Bean Man] The way to make the lima-bean fish swim is to place it, open edge down, in a large basin of water; then with a stick or spoon begin at the centre to stir the water gently and gradually round and round until it all moves faster and faster, and keeps on moving after you stop stirring. Then your little green fish will swim. Round and round the basin he will go, his tail waving and his fins moving so naturally you will shout with delight. If at first the fish insists upon turning over on his side and floating about like a dead fish, don't give him up. He is only playing 'possum. He _can_ swim and he _will_ if you are patient and keep setting him upright until he gains his balance and becomes used to the water. Remember to put the fish _in_ the water, not on top. Don't let the beans, that you have taken out of the pod when making the fish, get dry and hard. They can be turned into a Lima-Bean Man Three beans and several strong, straight broom-straws you will need for making this comical little fellow, who, upright and independent, stands squarely on his own feet. That is a good thing for any one to do, let alone a little bean man (Fig. 150). The beans should be of different sizes. A large one for the body, next in size for the feet and a smaller one for the head. Some beans have a little point that stands out on one edge and looks like a tiny nose, while below it there is a round hollow that looks like a little open mouth. That is the kind of bean to choose for the little man's head. The broom-straw for Mr. Bean's arms should be quite four inches long, if he is to be four inches tall. Cut one end of this broom-straw slanting to a point like E in Fig. 151, and push the point through the upper part of the body bean and out far enough on the other side to make the arms of equal length; then bend one arm up at the middle where the elbow should be, and the other arm down as you see them in the drawing of the man (Fig. 150). The broom-straws for the legs must be two and a half inches long and cut pointed at both ends, for one end of the leg is pushed into the lower part of the body bean and the other end into the half bean which is the foot. Split the foot bean in half to make two feet and push the leg straw into the rounded side. The flat side is the bottom of the foot. [Illustration: Fig.152 - The beans are not taken out of the pod for the Lima Bean Pig.] A short piece of broom-straw, hardly an inch long, is the neck. Cut this straw pointed at each end, push one end into the top of the body bean and the other end into the lower part of the head bean. Use one-half of the outer skin, that comes off the foot bean when you split it, for a hat. Being curved like a rose-petal, it fits the head very nicely, but a drop of paste on the little man's head will make it more secure. Your lima-bean man may be a farmer and own A Lima-Bean Pig --a funny pig with fat sides and a turned-up snout (Fig. 152). Look over all your bean-pods that still have beans in them, and select the one shaped most like Fig. 153. Do not take the beans out of the pod; they make the pig fat and solid. The stem end forms the snout and the head. [Illustration: Fig.153 - Choose a bean-pod shaped like this for your pig.] Cut four broom-straws about one and a half inches long for the legs. Sharpen each of these straws at one end and push the pointed end into the lower part of the body, two on each side, in the places shown by small rings on Fig. 153. From part of another bean-pod cut two ears like F, Fig. 154, and pin them on the pig's head with a short straw as they are shown in the picture of the pig. Run the straw through one ear near the bottom, through the head and then through the other ear on the other side of the head. [Illustration: Fig.154 - Make these of a bean-pod or of paper.] Pull a narrow strip from the edge of a bean-pod for the tail (G, Fig. 154). Curl it by drawing it lightly over the blade of the scissors. Punch a small hole with the point of the scissors in the upper edge of the pig's back at the place marked by the arrow on Fig. 153, and push one end of the tail into the hole. Make small round dots with a pencil, or pen and ink, for the eyes. The ears and tail may be made of paper if you find that easier to use. CHAPTER XXIII SWEET-POTATO ALLIGATOR AND WHAT TO MAKE OF A RADISH IF you have ever seen an alligator, a long-tailed sweet potato will make you think of one immediately. Fig. 155 is a baby alligator with a sweet-potato body and paper head and legs. It is just the size of the little alligators they sell for pets down in Florida. That is, the alligator from which the drawing was made is the size of the live ones; the drawing is, of course, smaller. [Illustration: Fig.155 - The Baby Alligator made of a Sweet Potato.] [Illustration: Fig.156 - Find a potato shaped like this for the alligator.] Find a potato shaped like Fig. 156. Cut a slit in the large end and two slits on each side where you see them in Fig. 156. When you make the side slits push your knife in with the blade slanting upward and backward for the front legs, and slanting downward and backward for the back legs. This will allow the paper legs to slide in without bending. [Illustration: Fig.157 - Make the alligator's head like this.] [Illustration: Fig.158 - Cut two front legs by this pattern.] [Illustration: Fig.159 - Make the two hind legs by this pattern.] Use brown paper, as near the color of the potato as you can get, for the alligator's head and legs. Make the head like Fig. 157, cutting along the heavy lines and bending along the dotted ones. Bend down the sides of the head and of the neck, then bend the head first up, then down, to lift it above the neck (Fig. 155.) The eyes of a baby alligator are large and prominent. Draw them on the head as you see them in Fig. 157. That is as near as we can come to the real eyes. [Illustration: Fig.160 - The Radish Imp is a decorative little fellow.] Cut out of the same paper used for the head two fore legs like Fig. 158, and two hind legs like Fig. 159. Slide the fore legs into the slits nearest the large end of the potato and the hind legs into the slits near the tail. Push the point of the paper neck into the slit at the large end of the potato. That finishes the baby alligator, which is wonderfully true to life. What to Make of a Radish A crisp, fresh, clean radish is very tempting, but don't eat it this time; turn it into something else by the magic your ten fingers can work. The Radish Imp Fig. 160 shows a round white radish which, with its long, slender root and leaves still on it, has been changed into a queer little radish imp by using strong broom-straws to stiffen his leaf arms, his leaf legs, and his leaf body. His eyes are bits of broom-straw, his mouth is a slit with a broom-straw tongue, and his absurd, stand-out ears are also pieces of stout broom-straw. The root growing out of the top of his head is like a Chinaman's queue standing on end with little, crinkly separate hairs at its base. [Illustration: Fig.161 - Cut two broom-straws for the arms and two for the legs.] When you make your radish imp cut two broom-straws about four inches long for his arms; point these at the ends. Cut two more strong broom-straws a little longer than the distance between the radish and the tips of the two longest leaves. Point these at both ends (Fig. 161). Now choose two leaves of even length, nearest the radish, for the arms. Don't take them off but push a broom-straw through each leaf, first in, then out, then push the other end of the straw into the thick part of the stems just under the radish. Look at Fig. 160 and see how this is done. [Illustration: Fig.162 - White Mouse.] [Illustration: Fig.163 - These belong to the mouse.] The leaves with the longest stems must be used for the legs. If there are more than two long-stemmed leaves, cut off all except those wanted for the legs. Bend the long, stout broom-straws at one end, as in Fig. 161, and push the other end up through the thick part of the stems and into the radish; then with a piece of string or strong blade of grass tie the stems of the leaves to the straws, as shown in Fig. 160. This forms a little belt at the waist-line. Leave a large leaf with short stem loose at the back for a cape and run the bent ends of the long straws in and out of the leaves intended for the feet. Cut a curved slit in the radish for a mouth and push in a small piece of broom-straw for a tongue, then put in bits of straw for eyes, nose, and uplifted ears. A White Mouse You can make a most amusing little white mouse of a white radish; not a round one like that used for the imp, but egg-shaped, like Fig. 162. The long root is the tail of the mouse and the other end of the radish is his head. Cut two paper ears like H, Fig. 163. Make two slits in the head and slip the pointed ends of the ears into the slits. For whiskers (all mice have whiskers) find two sprays of fine branching broom-straws (I, Fig. 163), cut them the proper length, and push a spray into the head on each side of the nose. Put bits of broom-straw in for eyes and then cut four thick straws like J, Fig. 163, and push the pointed ends slantingly in the lower part of the radish for the feet of the mouse. His legs are not seen because he is crouching. The drawing of the mouse shows where to put the feet. CHAPTER XXIV GREEN-PEA TOYS AND A GREEN-PEA DESIGN PRESS your thumb on the rounded edge of a fresh, fat green pea-pod, and, pop! it goes splitting open at the top. Then push your thumb into the opening, run it down the pod and the two halves separate, showing a row of fine, large peas that look like great green pearls in a soft, silk-lined case made expressly for them. [Illustration: Fig.164 - The Green Pea Greenies, cousins of the Brownies.] You have done this ever so many times when helping mother, haven't you? And you know that the next thing to do when the pod is open is to run that same little thumb down again and scoop out all those round green peas, letting them fall with a patter into the pan in your lap. Now as a reward for such helpfulness suppose you ask mother or the cook to give you a good big handful of peas which have not been shelled, and ask also for some wooden toothpicks such as are used in the kitchen for fastening meat together; or a number of nice, straight, strong broom-straws if there are no wooden toothpicks. Take all these out on the porch if the day is fine and sit down comfortably to make the remarkable things which I am going to tell you how to make. It is a good plan to have a box and its cover to hold the shelled peas and their pods, but it does not really matter except that the round peas are apt to roll away and get lost if you put them in your lap. [Illustration: Fig.165 - Parts of the Greeny Girl and how to put them together.] The Greeny Girl The little green-pea greenies, cousins of the brownies, shown in the illustration are funny, aren't they? But the drawing is not as funny as the real greenies, and you can make them in all sorts of absurd positions. Two little men and a widely smiling greeny girl are given here (Fig. 164). The large green peas that come late in the season are used to make these little people. In fact, it is only the large peas that can be used for any of the things described. Fig. 165 shows how the greeny girl is put together. Her arms, legs, and neck are made of broom-straws. Her body and head are green peas. Her dress is one end of a pea-pod and her feet are bits of a pea-pod cut the shape you see in Fig. 165. First cut short pieces of broom-straws for the legs and point them at both ends so that they will be easy to push into the peas and pods. Cut another piece the same length, pointed at the top end for the support. Push the legs and support into the large pea used for the body as you see them in Fig. 165. Now cut another piece of broom-straw pointed at both ends for the neck and push one end into the pea you have selected for the head. [Illustration: Fig.166 - Begin the tent in this way.] [Illustration: Fig.167 - The Greenies' Pea-pod tent.] Cut off the stem of a large pea-pod, leaving the little leaves at the top, which were the calyx of the pea-blossom, for a collar, and then cut the pea-pod dress the proper length to fit the little woman. When that is done put the dress on over the headless body and push the lower end of the broom-straw neck in at the top, down through the collar, and into the pea which forms the body. With a pin make a hole on each side just under the collar and push a broom-straw arm in each of the armholes you have made. Bend one straw in the middle, as in Fig. 165, to give the bent elbow. Last of all cut two three-cornered feet like the one in Fig. 165 from a pea-pod and push a foot on the end of each leg. Turn the toes in and the little figure will look very comical. To give her a face, dip a pen in black ink and make two round eyes in the head, a round nose, and a wide mouth turned up at the corners. The pen must be pushed through the skin of the pea to do this. When the greeny girl stands up, her dress hides the support at the back so that it cannot always be seen, and she looks as if she stood on her two feet just as you stand on yours. The Greeny Men The illustration (Fig. 164) shows how the greeny men are put together. The little dancing fellow must have two supports because one foot is lifted. The tiny ridiculous cap on the head of the other man is the little cap that holds the pea to the pod and sometimes clings to the pea after it is shelled. Pea-Pod Tents The greenies' little tents are made of pea-pods and it takes three pods for each tent. After you have taken out the peas split the pods up along the back edge, but leave the two halves fastened together at the stem. Stand up two pods by pushing the stem end of one pod between the two halves at the top of the other, as they are shown in Fig. 166. Then separate the halves of the third and longest pod and place it astride the first two (Fig. 167). This will make quite a strong tent, and, if you like, you can have a whole camp of them. The Green-Pea House The greenies need not always live in tents. Like other people, they can have houses as well. It is best to use the wooden toothpicks in making the house. They are stronger than broom-straws and all the same length. Begin by putting the front of the house together. Make the peak first. Choose a large pea, push the end of a toothpick into it, then not far from that push in the end of another toothpick slantingly so that the lower ends will be separated as you see them in Fig. 168. On each of these lower ends stick a pea like Fig. 169. That is the peak for the roof. Now make a long upright for each side by using a pea to join two sticks (Fig. 170), and push the upper end of each upright into the peas at the lower ends of the peak (Fig. 171). [Illustration: Fig.168 - Begin the peak in this way.] [Illustration: Fig.169 - Stick a pea on the lower ends of each toothpick to finish the peak.] Shorten two toothpicks by breaking half an inch off each of them, then join them as you did the uprights by pushing one end of each stick into a large pea (Fig. 172). This is the front joist or crosspiece of the upper floor of the house, and you must fit it in between the two uprights of the front by pushing the ends of the crosspiece into the peas at the middle of the uprights (Fig. 173). [Illustration: Fig.170 - The long upright.] [Illustration: Fig.171 - Add the uprights to the peak.] [Illustration: Fig.172 - This is the front joist.] [Illustration: Fig.173 - Fit the joist in between the two uprights.] [Illustration: Fig.174 - The back of the house.] The back of the house is made in the same way with a third upright added which runs down through the middle from the point of the peak to the bottom of the house. This third upright is made by shortening two toothpicks and joining them with a pea, then fitting them in between the pea at the top of the peak and the pea at the middle of the crosspiece. A whole toothpick with the upper end pushed into the lower part of the pea at the middle of the crosspiece finishes the long upright (Fig. 174). [Illustration: Fig.176 - The Greenies' little house.] When the front and back are made all there is to do to finish the frame of the house is to put in the crosspieces to hold them together. Fig. 175 shows all these crosspieces or joists. One crosspiece between the two peas at the top of the front and back peaks for the ridge-pole (K, Fig. 175), one on each side between the peas at the bottom of the peaks (L and M), one at each side between the peas at the ends of the front and back crosspieces (N, O), and one between the two peas at the middle of the front and back crosspieces (P). [Illustration: Fig.177 - The first bar of the fence.] [Illustration: Fig.175 - This is the frame of the house.] Now you have the frame of a two-storied house or a house with only an upper story, but it needs a roof and a floor. Split some of your pea-pods in half and lay one at a time across the ridge-pole at the top and the crosspiece at the bottom of the peak. Put half of a pod on one side of the peak, half a pod on the other side of the peak, then another half pod on the first side, and the next one on the second side, and so on until the space is covered and the house is roofed in. The stem ends of the pods must be up. The stems lock together and hold the roof in place. Make the loosely laid floor also of the split pea-pods, putting them across from front to back. [Illustration: Fig.178 - Push in two uprights.] Your little house (Fig. 176) now looks like those which strange people in far-away, hot countries build for themselves. They have no lower story or what we call a first floor, but are lifted on posts far above the sometimes very damp ground, and out of reach of any wild animals that may be prowling around. The Fence You can make a fence to put around the house in this way: Push a large pea on each end of a whole toothpick like Fig. 177, then break a toothpick exactly in half, stick one end of each half into the lower parts of the peas to form uprights, and push the lower end of each of these uprights into another pea as shown in Fig. 178. For the slanting crosspiece stick one end of another toothpick into the upper pea at the left-hand side, and the other end into the lower pea at the right-hand side (Fig. 179). Add a toothpick between the two lower peas, and one section of the fence is finished (Fig. 180). [Illustration: Fig.179 - Put in a slanting crosspiece.] [Illustration: Fig.180 - The finished section and the way to begin a new section of the fence.] Begin another section by sticking one end of a toothpick into a new pea and the other end into the upper pea at the left side of the section you have just finished (Fig. 180), then put in half a toothpick for the upright, a pea on the bottom of that, a whole toothpick for the slanting crosspiece, and another whole toothpick for the bottom. In this way you can keep on adding section after section and make your fence any length. To turn a corner all you have to do is to push the toothpicks which form the upper and lower crosspieces of a new section in at the back of the top and bottom peas of an end section of the fence. The Tropical Plant You will notice that in the illustration there is a plant growing at the side of the house which looks something like a cactus and adds to the tropical, or hot-country look of the little greeny people's home. [Illustration: Fig.181 - Draw curves like these for the design.] [Illustration: Fig.182 - The Green Pea design.] Seven half pea-pods are used to make this plant, four to stand up and three to lie down flat. Wrap and tie the stem ends of the four half pods together with a bit of string. Push a toothpick for a flower-stem through the middle of the bunch. Cut away the stem of a pea-pod, then cut off the calyx, or circle of little leaves, with the knob below attached. This is to be the blossom of the strange plant. Stick the flower on its toothpick stem, knob down, as you see it in the picture. To make the plant stand firmly lay the three extra half pods down flat with the stem ends one on top of the other and the outer ends at equal distances apart, and force the toothpick flower-stem through the pods where they cross. These three flat pods make a base which holds the rest of the plant upright, while they look as if they were a part of it. A Pretty Design of Green Peas This is not a toy, but you will like to make it just the same, and afterward, perhaps, you will want to try another design all by yourself. If you can draw at all, with a soft pencil make some curves on a piece of white paper like Fig. 181, only ever so much larger, then a straight line up from the centre. The distance between the two largest curves at their widest part should be about eight inches. If you cannot draw these curves, ask some older person to do it for you. [Illustration: Fig.183 - Do not open the pods wide.] Lay your paper with the pattern drawn on it flat on the table before you, shell some peas and carefully place them on the pencil lines of the curves. Begin with the largest peas at the centre of the design and finish with the smallest at the ends of the curves. Fig. 182 shows how this is done. Put the first pea on the curve at the place shown by the arrow in Fig. 181. You won't be able to keep the peas in place unless you stick them to the paper with paste. Hold the tube of paste in your left hand, squeeze out a very little, take it off the tube with one of the peas and push the pea, paste side down, onto the paper where it belongs. When the peas are all placed on the curves open two pea-pods as you did for the greenies' tent, slide one pod between the two halves of the other, and with a little paste on the stem ends and the tips, fasten them in the middle above the curves of peas as they are shown in Fig. 182. The two halves of each pod are not opened wide but are like Fig. 183. Above the pods, on the straight, upright line, place four more peas, beginning at the bottom with a large pea and ending with one much smaller. The success of this design will depend upon making one side just like the other and in keeping it equally balanced. That is, one side must not sag down below the other and the pods at the top must fit exactly on the line, half on one side, half on the other. The peas, you see, do not touch each other, but are separated by little spaces, and the spaces are all of the same length. CHAPTER XXV CORN-HUSKS AND CORN-COBS How to Make American History Seem Real--Our First Thanksgiving LET us play that we are really celebrating America's first Thanksgiving! You can see one of our long, rude puncheon tables spread out in the mild, sweet air of Indian summer, laden with delectable dishes of clam chowder, oysters, fish, turkey, duck, goose, venison pasties, turnips, dumplings of barley flour, corn bread, wheat cakes, pumpkin pies, grapes, plums, great flagons of cider, and "all manner of tasty eats." William Bradford, our good governor, with his old flintlock in hand, is just returning from a successful hunt for additional wild turkey. We shall need these, as ninety friendly Indians are to be our guests for three days and nights. Later they, too, will hunt and bring us wild deer. Elder Brewster, in his festive doublet and hose, has stopped a moment to speak to Master Bradford. Sitting at table, you can see Captain Miles Standish with arms outstretched in glad welcome as he calls more Indians to join the feast, while Massasoit, the mighty chief, stands at the table signalling with his arrow for the braves to approach. Already Quadquina and Hobomok are at the festive board, seated between Captain Miles Standish and John Alden. Squanto, who tells the boys how to trap game and teaches settlers how to plant corn, is resting on the ground with his feather-bedecked shield in one hand, and the calumet, or pipe of peace, in the other. [Illustration: The First American Thanksgiving Dinner in the year 1621.] Now winsome Priscilla Alden comes, bearing on a pewter platter one of her savory hot baked turkeys, and her friend, Mary Chilton, is watching the delicious stew which simmers in the big iron pot over the outdoor fire. [Illustration: Fig.184 - Begin to make the pioneer in this way.] Mistress Brewster, on her way to cut pumpkin pie, must needs stay her steps a moment to give ear to Governor Bradford's remarks, and Desire Minter is hurrying forward, ahead of the other young women, to serve the men at the feast. All this would be told you by one of the little corn-husk pioneers shown in the photograph if only they could speak. [Illustration: Fig.185 - Fold the husks across the centre.] At all events, they can stand alone. They can be made to sit down, too, and their arms can be bent in any position. You may lift and place them in various parts of the grounds at pleasure. You might even imagine them to be the real characters they represent, and so live over again that Thanksgiving of 1621. The making of these little people is most interesting. Use the rather soft between-layers of corn-husks; about two husks for each pioneer. If the husks seem brittle, soak them in water and make them pliable. Lay one husk partially over the top of the other (Fig. 184), bend them across the centre (Fig. 185), and let the smoothest side be the front of the doll. Fold each side of the front to the back until the front somewhat resembles Fig. 186; then wind slender, soft string around to form the neck and head of the doll. Wind another soft string around lower down for the belt-line (Fig. 187). [Illustration: Fig.186 - The head and neck are made.] [Illustration: Fig.187 - Wind the waist with string.] [Illustration: Fig.188 - Arms for the pioneer.] Make the arms of soft corn-husk (Fig. 188) by turning the lengthwise edges of the husk inward again and again, until the roll is of the desired size. Cut off the ends evenly and wind the arms with string at the centre and near each end. Run the small blade of a penknife through the shoulders of the doll from side to side. Turn the blade flat side uppermost and allow it to remain in this position while you slide in the arms and screw them through the opening, pushing them along on top of the flat side of the blade. When in place, withdraw the knife and your little woman will be ready for her costume. [Illustration: Fig.189 - The pioneer is ready for his costume.] To make the man, cut Fig. 187 up from the bottom to within a short distance of the belt, thus dividing the husk skirts into two equal parts. Wind each half with string at the top, middle, and near the end to form the legs (Fig. 189). Use black tissue-paper for the loose knee-trousers. Cut [Illustration: Fig.190 - First leg of the trousers.] [Illustration: Fig.191 - The trousers are pushed into shape and coat is ready for its belt.] two strips of the paper, fit one strip over a leg (Fig. 190), push the paper up on the inside until it resembles Fig. 191, then fasten in place with strong paste. Make the other trouser leg in the same way (Fig. 191). [Illustration: Fig.192 - Pattern of pioneer's collar.] [Illustration: Fig.193 - Make the hair of paper fringe.] [Illustration: Fig.194 - Crown of pioneer hat.] [Illustration: Fig.195 - Glue the hat crown on the man's head.] [Illustration: Fig.196 - How to slash the hat brim.] Cut the coat from a folded piece of dull-green tissue-paper, and just at the neck make a hole large enough for the man's head to slip through (Fig. 191). Paste the front edges of the sleeves over the back edges and lay the front edges of the coat over those of the back. Fit the coat in at the belt-line with your fingers. Cut a black belt of tissue-paper, fold it lengthwise, and belt in the fulness of the coat, then paste the belt ends together. Be careful to make the belt loose, for men's waists are large. Make the collar (Fig. 192) of white paper and fasten it around the man's neck with a drop of paste in front. From black, brown, or drab-yellow tissue-paper cut a strip of fine fringe and paste it on the man's head for hair (Fig. 193). Then make his hat. To do this, roll a small square of stiff black paper into a cornucopia to fit the man's head, paste the edges together, and trim off the corner which hangs down at the bottom (Fig. 194). Glue the hat-crown on the man's head, cut off the sharp top peak, and tilt the crown back a little (Fig. 195). Now cut a disk of the black paper for the hat-brim, slash it across the centre into four points (Fig. 196), but only just far enough to make the opening fit over the hat-crown. Slide the brim on the crown, allowing the slashed central points to lie up against it, and fasten them there with paste (Fig. 197). Glue the pioneer's feet into holes cut part-way through a small piece of the corrugated flat pasteboard used for packing purposes. In this way the little man becomes independent and able to stand alone (Fig. 197). [Illustration: Fig.197 - The pioneer is fully dressed and wearing his hat.] The corn-husk women also wear tissue-paper clothes. The waists are made in the same manner as the men's coats, only shorter and confined at the belt-line with paste. Straight dress skirts are slipped over the waists, and held in place at the belt by winding string around the pinched-up gathers. Long, severely plain white aprons, minus strings, are pasted to the waist-line, and white-bordered black caps and large white three-cornered neckerchiefs complete the costume. The cap is a straight piece of black tissue-paper with a narrow strip of white folded over the front edge. When ready, the white-bordered black strip is laid over the head, smoothly brought down on the sides, puckered together at the back and tied around the neck with a string. You have only to clip loose the outside layer of white close to the string at the neck-line to give the flare to the cap's white border. The crisp dress skirt forms sufficient support to enable the little women to stand alone. With the exception of Squanto, whose manly chest, back, and arms have no covering, the Indians wear suits of tan tissue-paper made on the same principle as the white men's costume, only the trouser-legs are narrow, long, and have the seam cut in fringe and run up on the outside. The bottom edge of the coat and the sleeve seams are also fringed. The coat is not wide and no belt is worn. Pieces of colored tissue-paper adjusted blanket fashion over the Indians, and fastened here and there with bits of paste to hold them in place, form the Indian blankets. The Indians' hair is merely a strip of black tissue-paper pasted over the top, back, and sides of the head with the ends loosely twisted and allowed to hang down in front on either side. [Illustration: Governor Bradford, Priscilla, Chief Massasoit and Elder Brewster. Made of corn-husks.] The war-bonnet is cut from a strip of white writing-paper, the tips of the feathers are inked, and one end of the strip is then pasted around Massasoit's head, as shown in the picture. It is best to make a number of corn-husk people at one time. Put the two husks together for each pioneer and Indian, then wind a string around the neck of each to form the head (Fig. 186). Again tie a string around each at the belt-line (Fig. 187). Continue making the people in this way, step by step, until all are finished at the same time. Have ready as many arms as you have people, and run the arms through each, one after another. When bending the arms or legs of the little people do it slowly and gently. If they are inclined to spring back, tie them in position overnight and they will stay bent. When dressing the dolls, cut out all the men's collars at one time. You can do this by cutting through as many layers of paper as there are men. Adopt the same plan with the other parts of clothing for the men, women, and Indians, and your work will be rapid. With ink draw features on all. The women must have ink hair, parted in the middle. Remember when making Miles Standish to cut his hair of red paper, for he had auburn hair. The "sad" colors worn by the pioneers were really the cheerful autumn hues, rich, dull reds, greens, browns, and yellows. These will give you quite a variety of colors for the costumes of both men and women. Make the puncheon table of a flat, narrow piece of wood. With a gimlet bore holes through the board, slanting them toward the centre, one hole near each corner. Any kind of round sticks will do for the legs. Cut them all of the same length and glue one in each hole. [Illustration: Pioneer puncheon table spread for America's First Thanksgiving Dinner.] The pewter dishes are made from one of the collapsible lead tubes used for oil-paints and various other things. Cut open the empty tube and smooth it out flat, then cut out round pieces for plates, mould the plates over the tops of wooden spools, and the flagons over a pen-handle or other round stick. Make the flagon-handles of slender strips of the tube bent into rings, and slip one end of the strip over the edge of the flagon. A piece of yellow paper pasted over the cover of a very small baking-powder can makes a pumpkin pie. The turkey is merely pinched-up paper with brown tissue-paper laid smoothly over the breast. Its wings and legs are of bits of lighter-colored paper rolled and bent into shape, then pasted on the turkey. [Illustration: Fig.198 - Corn-cob log for pioneer log cabin with notches cut and marked.] Fresh, green, uncooked corn-cobs from which the corn has been cut and scraped make delightful pioneer log-houses. Cooked cobs are too hard to cut. Choose slender cobs, long ones for the front and back of the house, shorter ones for the sides. Cut a notch, or saw it, if the cobs are dry and hard, on the tops of the ends of each of the two foundation logs (Fig. 198). Cut a notch on both top and bottom of each remaining log as indicated by the black lines in Fig. 198. Always make a larger notch in the small end of the cob than in the large end, so that the large end of another cob may fit in it; for, when building, it is necessary to place small ends and large ends together, and never two large ends or two small ends, or the house will be unevenly balanced. Lay the two foundation cobs down parallel to each other and a short distance apart; then bridge across the ends with shorter cobs, fitting the notches into each other. Continue building in this log-cabin fashion until the house is of sufficient height. On the front of the house draw two straight lines down across the cobs, one for each side of the doorway. Then take your house apart and cut the doorway out from the marked cobs. Rebuild the house, gluing layer upon layer. Make the doorway jambs of straight pieces of corn-stalk, and glue them on each side of the open doorway. [Illustration: Pioneer log cabin made of corn-cobs.] Before the roof can be added, corn-cobs, graduated in length and without notches, must be laid at each end of the house to support the roof and give it its gable ends. These graduated cobs are the "trap-logs." They rest upon long strips of corn-stalk, called "ribs," which are placed across from one end of the house to the other. Build the roof log-cabin fashion as you built the body of the house, laying a rib between the ends of each layer of graduated cobs, and as you build, fasten the parts together with glue. Cut enough clapboards of corn-stalk to cover both sides of the roof. Make them all of the same length and long enough to reach from the top of the roof to a trifle beyond its lower edge. The clapboards must be held down by means of "weight-poles" laid across, and to keep the weight-poles from rolling off use pegs called "knees." Make the knee-pegs of corn-stalk. Cut a hole near both ends of four of the clapboards and glue in pegs, slanting them upward. You will then have two pegged clapboards for the front of the roof and two for the back. Place them near the ends of the roof and glue all the clapboards in place. Cut four slender lengths of corn-stalk for weight-poles, and lay them across the roof, resting against the knee-pegs. Glue them to the roof only where they buck the knee-pegs. When finished, set the house aside until the glue is entirely dry. It may then be moved. Corn-tassels standing in empty spools make fine trees. It is fitting that the story of our country's first Thanksgiving should be retold this year by means of corn. You remember, of course, that friendly Indians showed the pioneers how to plant and cultivate corn, which, to them, was a new grain. Later, when a wonderful harvest had been gathered, our forefathers decided to set aside a day to thank God for His goodness. That was the first Thanksgiving. PART VII FRUIT CHAPTER XXVI THE FUNNY ORANGE HEAD YOU will hardly believe it is only an ordinary, everyday orange when you have made it into the head that I am going to tell you about. Select a small, firm, perfect orange and with a pencil mark features on it, first the eyes like Fig. 199. Carefully cut out the little spaces of skin between the lines, then mark the nose (Fig. 200); cut this and mark the mouth (Fig. 201); cut this and at each side of the head draw the ears like Fig. 202. You will see that the line of the ear does not continue all the way around; that means that you are simply to run your knife along the line, cutting through the skin so that the ears may be lifted up and peeled forward to stand out from the head; the front part remains attached (Fig. 203). Make the neck of a slender, strong, round stick sharpened to a point at one end. Push the point up into the under part of the orange, where the neck should be, by twisting the stick around as it goes in (Fig. 204). The orange is the head, but your hand and fingers are to be the body and arms to go with it. Look at Fig. 204. That will show you how to hold the stick firmly and at the same time leave your first finger and thumb free to use as arms. [Illustration: Fig.199 - Eyes marked on orange head.] [Illustration: Fig.200 - Eyes cut, nose marked.] [Illustration: Fig.202 - Ear marked, ready to cut and peel forward.] [Illustration: Fig.201 - Nose cut, mouth marked.] [Illustration: Fig.203 - Mouth cut, ears cut and peeled forward.] Pin a handkerchief, or other soft cloth, around Mr. Orange's neck, bring it around to cover your hand and then pretend he is talking while you move his arms and say as many funny things as you can think of. By moving the stick while you hold it in your hand, you can make the orange head turn in various ways (Figs. 205 and 206), and a little paper hat fitted on it will make it still funnier (Fig. 207). [Illustration: Fig.204 - Hold the orange this way.] The orange need not always be a man. You can play it is a little girl and make a cunning little wreath of flowers for her small head; or pretend it is a baby and have it wear a baby's cap made of paper. If you want to turn it into a young lady, pierce the ears and fit in earrings made of violets. You do this simply by threading the flower-stems through the holes you have pierced, and drawing the blossoms up close to them. Then, you can make believe the orange is an old man and put a pipe in his mouth. Make the pipe of an acorn with a twig for the stem. If you want the baby to cry, squeeze the orange a little and tears of orange-juice will roll from its eyes and stream down its face. Little holes must first be punctured in the eyes to let the tears run out. [Illustration: Fig.205 - "Now I'll tell you a funny story."] Things You Can Make of Orange-Skins A TOY JAPANESE STOOL The soft, golden orange-skin, lined with silvery white, is fine material for moulding and making into different kinds of things to play with. Bring your orange and we will begin by making a toy stool for your doll-house (Fig. 208). It will look very much like the real stools which the Japanese make for real people to sit on, though nothing is used for it but the orange-skin. [Illustration: Fig.206 - "Can't remember what I was going to say."] First cut the orange across from side to side, making two halves, and after you have taken out the pieces of juicy fruit and enjoyed eating them, examine the two pretty yellow orange-skin bowls that are left. See how soft and pliable they are. Now take one of the bowls and pinch the edges of two opposite sides toward each other; hold them steady while, with your other hand, you pinch the other two sides toward each other. Hold all four sides bent inward for a moment, then let go of them and the sides will stay bent while you wind string across, first one way then the other, between the curved stool legs you have just made by bending the sides of the bowl inward. [Illustration: Fig.207 - "What a joke."] [Illustration: Fig.208 - Japanese stool made of half an Orange peel.] Set the stool away to dry and stiffen into shape; then, when it has become hard, take off the string and you will have a little Japanese stool quite as strong as if made of wood. A CANDY-BOX A candy-box can be made in the same way of the other half of the orange-skin, but you must curve the sides in only a little for this; not nearly as much as for the stool. Stand the candy-box, with open part up, ready to be filled with candy. A BASKET An orange-skin basket is a substantial little affair when finished, and will hold almost anything you want to put in it. It looks like Fig. 209. For this you will again need half of an orange-skin. Bend in two opposite sides after first cutting a short slit in each side near the edge. Make the handle of strong paper, cutting it like Fig. 210, with a tongue at each end. Bend over the two side points of each tongue, and slide one tongue through the slit in one side of the basket, the other tongue through the slit in the other side, then open out the points again and they will make secure fastenings for the handle. You will see from the illustration that the tongues are put through the basket from the inside and show on the outside. Before setting away to dry, tie a string around the bent-in sides of the basket, and stuff the open part with crushed paper to keep it in shape. [Illustration: Fig.209 - Half of Orange skin used for a basket.] [Illustration: Fig.210 - Make the handle of paper.] ORANGE-SKIN BOWLS When you have another orange save the two halves of the skin, pack each full of crumpled, clean, blank paper, flatten the bottom of the bowls so that they will stand firmly, then set them away to dry. If you do all this carefully the bowls will harden in good shape and you can use them to eat and to drink from. [Illustration: Fig.211 - A little summer house made of half of an Orange skin.] Other Things Made of Orange-Skins Cunning little toy summer-houses may be made from an orange-skin in a moment's time (Fig. 211). Take half of an orange-skin and stick the sharp ends of four wooden toothpicks into the edge of its rim. Place the toothpicks upright, at equal distances apart, and they will form the pillars to support the golden, dome-shaped roof. Stand the little summer-house on the table, and you will think it charming. By slicing an orange you can have a number of little, yellow hoops for your dolls, made of the rind around each slice. When the hoops are carefully dried in perfect circles, you can roll them on top of a table or on the floor, and play the dolls are having great fun racing with their orange-skin hoops. CHAPTER XXVII APPLES AND APPLE FUN WHEN the apple-trees are in bloom, stand under one and look up through the wonderful tent of flowers at the little bits of blue sky peeping down at you between the blossoms. Isn't it delightful to see so many, many apple-blossoms all at once? How beautiful they are and how sweet they smell! Now, pick one little blossom and examine it carefully. Count the pretty pink-and-white petals. Five petals? Yes. Look again, see how they grow from the centre and notice their shape. Be very particular, so that you will remember exactly how the blossom looks; make sure you know, for I am going to tell you about the flower you can find inside the big, ripe apple after all the other apple-blossoms are gone. Apple-Blossom in Apple Cut the apple into thin slices from side to side through the core. Take one of the slices from near the middle of the apple and hold it up to the light, so that the light will shine through it, then look carefully and you will see in the centre a perfect pattern of the apple-blossom you gathered from the tree (Fig. 212). Apple-seeds form the centre of the flower. The petals, five in number, are of the flesh of the fruit. They are of the same shape and size as the real blossom. Isn't it wonderful? [Illustration: Fig.212 - Apple blossom inside of the fruit.] [Illustration: Fig.213 - Design begun on apple slice.] [Illustration: Fig.214 - Design pierced through apple slice.] Now, take the seeds from their hard, glossy cases, again hold the slice up to the light and lo, in the centre of the slice, you will find a five-pointed star which twinkles as the light shines through. You can add to this and make a pretty, shining pattern in this way: Take a wooden toothpick, and with its pointed end pierce little holes all along the edge of the flower pattern; then make a loop of little holes above one of the petals (Q, Fig. 213), and still another above that one (R, Fig. 213). Pierce the edges of all the petals and make the same kind of double loops above them also, then the design will be like Fig. 214. Hold it up to the light, turn it this way and that and your slice of apple will look as if spangled with glittering diamonds. Fig. 215 shows a wheel design which you can make of another slice. [Illustration: Fig.215 - Another design on apple slice.] Apple Candle in its Candlestick When I was a little girl I used to make apple candles that stood up in their own candlesticks. I always ate the fresh, juicy slices as I cut them off. Fig. 216 shows how the candles look when finished. The stem is the wick, and as it is usually dark at the end, it is a very good imitation of a candlewick that is partially burnt. The dotted lines on Fig. 217 show how to cut away the apple to leave the candle and its holder. [Illustration: Fig.216 - Apple candle ready for table.] [Illustration: Fig.217 - Cut away apple leaving candle in candle-stick.] First cut off a slice at the blossom end, so that the candle-stick will stand without tipping. The dotted line at the bottom of Fig. 217 indicates where this cut is to be made. Then run your knife around the apple without cutting all the way through to the core, where you see the middle dotted line on Fig. 217. After that, begin at the sides and gradually shave down the upper part little by little, being careful not to cut below the slit you have made around the apple. When the middle part standing up around the core is the size of a real candle it is time to stop cutting. Because of the core inside you cannot make your candle very slender, but you can cut off the sharp edges and make it round. A Roasted Apple Another thing I used to love to do with my apple when I was a little girl was to tie a long string to the stem and hang it before an open fire to roast. I think you will enjoy it too. Tie one end of the string securely to the stem of your apple, and don't break the stem off in doing it (Fig. 218); then tie the other end to something heavy on the mantel-shelf that will hold it securely. The apple should hang in front of a grate of glowing coals, or near the red-hot coals of a wood-fire. [Illustration: Fig.218 - Roast your apple this way.] As soon as cooking begins, twist the string and make the apple spin round and round so that it may be roasted evenly on all sides; it is fun to do that. When the juice begins to run and drop from the apple, set a saucer under to catch the hot, sweet syrup. It is good poured over the apple when that is thoroughly cooked. Add sugar to the juice while it is hot if it is not sweet enough. The Spice Apple In New England, many years ago, there was always to be found in every household at least one spice apple. It sounds good to eat, doesn't it? But they were not made for eating, they were used for sweet-smelling ornaments, and for keeping away moths and other troublesome insects. Perhaps you will like to make a spice apple to give away; it will be a pretty and very sweet gift and will last for years. Choose a small, perfectly sound apple and have ready a lot of cloves. Stick the cloves into the apple as you would stick pins into a cushion, only the cloves must be put in very close together, touching each other and making the apple look like a large, prickly, brown nut. That is all, unless you want to hang the apple up. In that case run a wooden toothpick through one raised side at the top, across the little hollow where the stem grows, and out through the raised side opposite, after first breaking off the stem. Cross this toothpick with another pushed through the apple and also bridging the hollow. This will make a low handle in the form of a cross. At the middle, where the toothpicks touch, tie a bright ribbon, leaving a loop by which to hang it. Other Things to Make of an Apple When an apple is cut across into round slices, you can make a doll's table of the largest slice by using four wooden toothpicks for legs, pushing them into the apple at equal distances apart. Half of a slice, with halves of toothpicks for legs, makes a very suitable seat for this remarkable table. If you cut a thick flat slice from a small apple you can make it into a top that will spin by pushing a toothpick through the centre, leaving a long end on one side and a shorter end on the other. The short end is the peg upon which the top spins. Take the long, upper end of the toothpick between your thumb and first finger, give it a hard, quick twist and drop the top on a table having a hard, smooth finish, where it will spin merrily. The little fruit-top will not spin on a carpet or any rough, uneven surface. THE BEARD BOOKS FOR GIRLS By LINA BEARD and ADELIA B. BEARD Handicraft and Recreation for Girls With over 700 illustrations by the Authors 8vo. $1.50 net An elaborate book for girls, by Lina and Adelia Beard whose former books on girls' sports have become classic, which contains a mass of practical instruction on handicrafts and recreations. So many and so various are the things it tells how to do and make that it will give occupation to any sort of girl in all seasons and all weathers. "The girl who gets this book will not lack for occupation and pleasure."--_Chicago Evening Post._ What a Girl Can Make and Do New Ideas for Work and Play With more than 300 illustrations by the Authors Square 8vo. $1.50 net This book is the result of the authors' earnest desire to encourage in their young friends the wish to do things for themselves. Its aim is to give suggestions that will help them to satisfy this wish. Within its covers are described a great variety of things useful, instructive, and entertaining, suited for both indoors and out. "It would be a dull girl who could not make herself busy and happy following its precepts."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ The American Girl's Handy Book How to Amuse Yourself and Others With nearly 500 illustrations $1.50 net The authors tell everything that girls want to know about sports, games, winter afternoon and evening amusements and work, in a clear, simple, entertaining way. Things Worth Doing and How to Do Them With some 600 drawings by the Authors that show exactly how they should be done $1.50 net This book comprises an infinite variety of amusing things that are worth doing; for instance: "A Wonderful Circus at Home," "How to Weave without a Loom," "How to Make Friends with the Stars," "A Living Christmas Tree," etc. Little Folks' Handy Book With many illustrations 80 cents net This book furnishes the means of gratifying the impulse toward self-expression that, properly directed, is a great factor in a child's development. It opens a large field of simple handicrafts for little folk by showing how toys can be made from such ordinary things as empty spools, clothes-pins, old envelopes, etc. CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS THE BEARD BOOKS FOR BOYS By DAN C. BEARD Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties Illustrated by the Author $1.25 net He gives easily workable directions, accompanied by very full illustration, for over fifty shelters, shacks, and shanties, ranging from the most primitive shelter to a fully equipped log cabin. Boys will find it an invaluable guide in constructing temporary or permanent shelters in their hikes or encampments. Boat-Building and Boating A Handy Book for Beginners Illustrated by the Author $1.00 net The directions for making boats are practical and illustrated by simple diagrams, and the work is full of new and suggestive ideas for all kinds of craft. The Boy Pioneers Sons of Daniel Boone Illustrated by the Author $1.50 net "A book that is truly fine and will probably have a wider influence on the lives of boys into whose hands it falls than almost any other book that comes their way."--_The Interior._ The Field and Forest Handy Book Or, New Ideas for Out of Doors Illustrated by the Author $1.50 net "Instructions as to ways to build boats and fire-engines, make aquariums, rafts and sleds, to camp in a back-yard, etc. No better book of the kind exists."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ The Jack of All Trades Or, New Ideas for American Boys Illustrated by the Author $1.50 net "Every boy who is handy with tools of any sort will enjoy this book."--_Youth's Companion._ "Full of new ideas for active boys who like to use tools and see interesting things growing under their hands."--New York Tribune. "A perfect treasure-house of things that delight the soul of a boy."--_The Interior._ The Outdoor Handy Book For Playground, Field and Forest Illustrated by the Author $1.50 net "It tells how to play all sorts of games with marbles, how to make and spin more kinds of tops than most boys ever heard of, how to make the latest things in plain and fancy kites, where to dig bait and how to fish, all about boats and sailing, and a host of other things which can be done out of doors. The volume is profusely illustrated and will be an unmixed delight to any boy."--_New York Tribune._ The American Boys Handy Book Or, What To Do and How To Do It Illustrated by the Author $1.50 net "It tells boys how to make all kinds of things--boats, traps, toys, puzzles, aquariums, fishing tackle; how to tie knots, splice ropes, make bird calls, sleds, blow guns, balloons; how to rear wild birds, to train dogs, and do a thousand and one things that boys take delight in. The book is illustrated in such a way that no mistake can be made; and the boy who gets a copy of this book will consider himself set up in business."--_The Indianapolis Journal._ CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS * * * * * Transcriber's Notes: Obvious punctuation errors repaired. Page 109, caption Fig.124, "Burdock-burs" changed to "Burdock-burrs" (house of Burdock-burrs) Page 111, caption Fig.132, "Burdock-burs" changed to "Burdock-burrs" (by Burdock-burrs) Page 114, caption Fig.137, same as above (Burdock-burr target.) Page 114, caption Fig.138, "bur" changed to "burr" (Hold the burr) Page 143, caption Fig.177, "ig" changed to "Fig" (Fig.177) Page 164, caption Fig.203, "pealed" changed to "peeled" (peeled forward) 
46108	----	THE PLAYWORK BOOK THE PLAYWORK BOOK BY ANN MACBETH WITH 114 DIAGRAMS [Illustration] NEW YORK ROBERT M. MCBRIDE & COMPANY 1918 _Printed in the United States of America_ Published October, 1918 CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 A WOOLEN BALL 25 ANOTHER WOOLEN BALL 27 A SPRIG OF FLOWERS 30 A SKIPPING ROPE 33 A SUCKER 37 GOLLIWOGS 38 THE MEAL SACK 40 AN EMERY CUSHION 42 RAT-TAIL KNITTING 44 A PEEP-SHOW PICTURE 46 CUP AND BALL 48 STORKS 50 A CORK DOLL 52 A RABBIT 52 A CORK HORSE 54 AN ENGINE AND TENDER 55 A CHEST OF DRAWERS 56 A CRADLE 57 A DOLL'S TABLE 58 A DOLL'S BED 58 A DOLL'S CHAIR 59 ANOTHER DOLL'S CHAIR 60 NECKLACES 61 A HAT BAND 64 A FAN 65 A PIN-WHEEL OR WHIRLIGIG 65 A TIN WHEEL OR BUZZER 67 A WOODEN MILL 68 A FEATHER WHEEL 70 AN AIR PROPELLER 72 A REVERSING PROPELLER 73 A WATERWHEEL AND SHUTE 74 A POP-GUN 76 A WHISTLE 78 A LONG WHISTLE 79 A SQUEAKER 80 A BUZZER 80 A CLAPPER 81 A TELEPHONE 82 A DRUM 83 A MEGAPHONE 84 RUSH FURNITURE 85 RUSH WHIP 86 RUSH RATTLE 87 PAPER BEADS 88 FISH BONE TEA-SET 89 A RUSH OR RAFFIA BAG 90 THE HARVEST PLAIT 91 DOLL'S FURNITURE 92 A WHEELBARROW 94 A FERN BASKET 95 A DOLL'S STOOL 96 A DOLL'S STOOL OF FEATHERS 97 A PORTER'S HAND BARROW 98 A CRANE 99 A TOP 101 A TEETOTUM 102 BOW AND ARROW 103 A DART 105 A CROSSBOW 106 A CATAPULT 108 A TARGET 109 A RAFT 110 A CANOE 111 A SHIP 114 A PROPELLER 118 A DOLL 119 A BROWNIE 122 KITES 124 A MONKEY ON A STICK 131 A DANCING LADY 134 A MODEL AEROPLANE 136 A FARMYARD 138 A DOLL'S HOUSE 140 THE PLAYWORK BOOK Far enough below the surface, in every one of us there lives, very often almost forgotten, the child, who, like Peter Pan, "never grows up." It is this everlasting child in us that keeps the keys which open for each his Kingdom of Heaven, and sad it is for those of us who have lost sight of the keeper of the keys. The sweetest and loveliest things in our lives are the simplest things. They do not abide in the excitable enjoyment of luxuries and entertainments to be bought with money; they lie in the living and eternal interest of the homeliest things of daily life, wherever people are simple, and sincere of heart, and full of loving, kindly thought and care for the concerns of others; where people do things themselves instead of paying for them to be done; where wealth is counted in love, in thoughtfulness, and in interest in other people, and not in many possessions. These things are the heritage of all children, and we are happy if we can carry our heritage with us through our life; for this indeed is to be of the Kingdom of Heaven. A child who is unspoiled by the false and ignorant estimates of others with regard to the rank and standing of those among whom he lives, is perhaps our truest socialist. He comes into the world possessing nothing, so far as he is aware, save his own identity; he knows no distinction of class; his ideas of rank are based solely on the beauty, charm, and kindness which are in due proportion the characters of those he lives with. He makes his own little kingdom if he is encouraged to work it out, or play it out, for himself; and happy is the child and happy is the parent of that child who learns to play independently, and to gather together his kingdom, without a continual cry for assistance from others. Here is one of the first great landmarks in education, and a child who is unspoiled by too many possessions in the way of toys will be one well provided, for his mind should at once move to create these possessions for himself. This power to create, this moving of the spirit to make something out of chaos, is in all healthy human beings, and it is the happiest faculty we have. It is, in fact, one of the most vital sides of religion in us, and perhaps the most important to us. It brings us into direct kinship with the Great Creator of all things. This moving of the Holy Spirit over the chaos of the world, in our businesses, in our workshops, in our shipyards, in our buildings, in all craftsman's work in our factories, is probably never realized by the churchmen among us, and only vaguely apprehended by the educational authorities. Yet does not this very power of creative thought amongst even the humblest of us constitute religion of the most living vitality? This Holy Spirit moving, and living, and creating anew in every trade and craft, and in every place where men are busy, should be better realized by us, and more respected; we should then be better men and women. The inventive minds among us are indeed our prophets, answering to the call of those whose labor is too long and heavy, and producing what will lessen the burden. Answering again the call for more light, more beauty, more music in the world, and producing our arts and our playgrounds, our games, our schools and colleges. Answering again the call for freedom from pain, and we have our hospitals, and our great doctors, and all who work for the betterment of the world. Here is the real and living church of God on earth. They say we are leaving the churches behind us. Say rather that the church is more with us, and all are its ministers who are working for the world's welfare. We rebuke far too often that habit of children of asking questions. We say, "Be quiet," and "You will see some other day"! Yet it is by questions that the child shows most his interest in life, and his inclinations and desires and tendencies. We instruct a child for years in the writings, doings, sayings, and contrivings of others who have gone before us. How rarely do we realize that in these little ones there may be as great, or greater, light within, only needing care and encouragement to develop and flame up, and show its creative strength? It is sad to think how often these little lights are snuffed out in their first flickerings by the thoughtless things we say, by the foolish way we tease them at the slightest sign of independent thought, by our ignorant habit of commending and praising those who give up their independence, and conform to the commonplace habits and customs we have adopted as convenient. Many very young children show astonishingly developed faculties in certain directions even before they can express themselves in speech. I know a little boy who, in his second year, showed such an interest in machinery that his elder relatives had to learn the parts of a locomotive engine in order not to betray their own ignorance; and over and over again we see the faculties of the creative mind so strong in young children that it is difficult to persuade ourselves that they have not some previous experience to draw upon. Especially is this the case in music and the arts, for here there is perhaps less dependence on tools and previous technical training required, than in other constructive work. But it is sad to see, and very common also, that these bright beginnings too often flicker out, not because the spirit is lacking, but because these children are only too often driven to hide their lights, because they feel conspicuous, are teased, and rebuked, and chidden for their non-conformity, and are made to feel themselves outcasts if they pursue the way their spirit tends to lead them; and they lose their light, these finer little spirits, and subside into the twilight of mediocre minds. It is indeed difficult, in these times of over-crowded schools and over-worked teachers, to foster and develop the personalities of these little ones, but we all look to a time when education may be a stronger force among us, more respected and more desired, when those who teach in our elementary schools may be the finest men and women we have, those of the greatest hearts, and the widest understanding (for into their hands we place the most precious thing we have); a time, when, realizing that the laborer is worthy of his hire, we must also be brought to realize that the hire must be worthy of the laborer. We become more and more socialistic in our community life in these days, and a child is now so little left to the charge of his mother that his life, almost from babyhood upwards, is just a passing on from one trained hand to another till he is able to support himself independently, and often long after that. His years of school grow longer and busier, and now even his playtime is to be more closely guarded and supervised. Yet it is to be hoped that here the guarding and supervising will be specially directed to preserving his independence and his choice of leisure occupation. Games are good for all, yet playtime should emphatically not be all games: this is where our public schools have failed us; they have given too much importance to games, and almost none to private enterprise in constructive play. In the little contrivances of children lie the germs of vast mechanical and artistic enterprises. The marvelous crafts passed on to us from ancient days in every land were never the result of training in schools, they partook more of the qualities of what I would call "constructive play," passed on from parent to child, each new thing a little different from any other, changing and varying in every age, yet all through a pleasure and a joy to their makers. Our trades and our crafts have all their beginnings in the immature constructions we make as children. We build houses, we furnish them, we make instruments of music (and un-music), we make ships, we fashion vessels of clay, and wood, and metal; we weave and we paint; we dimly foresaw the days when men should fly like birds, and we made kites. All this went on for countless generations, and then we laid captive the steam and the electric current, and lo! a change; all things are possible. Yet we have had a set back; we have forgotten awhile that the spirit in all of us is greater than the machine. We have allowed our machines to make our toys, and instead of being toy-makers our children have to some extent become toy breakers, not because they are really trying to destroy, but because they have the right and natural desire to see how a thing is made. It is not enough, however, to know this; it is very essential that a child should make for himself, and the probability is that if the thing is easily bought he will not take the trouble to make it. He will be inclined to take it for granted that just because it is a "commercial" article, a thing to be bought in a shop, he cannot make it. Toys imported from abroad have been so plentiful and so cheap of late years that the children of to-day rarely attempt to make them for themselves, and they are immensely the poorer, intellectually speaking, for the lack of this necessity to make them. It is for this reason that I have gathered together a small collection of the contrivances of past generations, and the present generation too, not in order that they serve as mere subjects for copy, but because in making such things children develop ideas for improving upon them, and for making new things. This little collection of works and enterprises is brought together as a suggestion for what Scottish folk so aptly call "ploys," which the children may undertake without much help or instruction. Later on it may be possible to collect a more mature series of suggestions for recreative work in evening schools and continuation classes. There are people everywhere whose work during the day is so taxing that they cannot continue to strain mind and hand at the usual subjects given in evening schools, and yet they can learn to employ their leisure time very profitably by work which does not demand either mental strain, nor highly developed skill, nor any elaborate outfit, nor noisy methods of construction. It must be truly "leisure" work, and be planned to give refreshment and stimulation and "play" to weary brain and body. Such gentle fireside crafts as the decoration of pottery, and coarse and effective needlework are delightful to practice of an evening, and need give no trouble to the tidy and anxious Marthas of the household. No evenings are more pleasant than those I have spent with friends all busy at quiet crafts round the hearth, chatting a little, or listening to a reader, or singing simple songs in parts, and with no accompaniment of instruments. Constructive design for either of these two crafts is a delightful thing for either men or women of any age. We are never too old to learn to design patterns so long as our hands are able to guide a pen. For what is writing but pattern. Each of us writes his or her name to an individual design, easily recognized so soon as our hand has learned to control our instrument. Patterns for these simple crafts should therefore emanate from the minds of the workers themselves, and should never be copied if it is possible to avoid it. This spirit of creativeness and invention should find a special period for its development in the day's time-table, and it would be immensely helpful and interesting if teachers would make collections of "outstanding" productions from the children, and if little loan collections of these might travel round from place to place. The children themselves are always intensely interested in seeing such things--and sometimes the older folk who have not forgotten to be children are even more so. I have always urged that craft-work from our various educational centers should go "on tour" in this way, and I keep a large quantity of needlework which shows individuality, from all sorts of schools, going round the country. This usually is shown to teachers only, which limits its sphere, for the children themselves show a most enthusiastic interest in it, and whenever I have shown such work to children in elementary schools, the chorus of excited little voices usually repeats, "Oh, I could do that," which is exactly what is needed for a good beginning. How charming it would be if municipalities would have in every museum a section of "modern craft work," independent of the collections of antiquities we store up. For we also have beautiful things being created amongst us, no less beautiful because they result from the demands of modern needs and usages. New habits of life produce new demands, and children quickly catch new ideas and adapt themselves to the use of hitherto unknown materials. This is especially the case in cities, and the suggested constructions for the playwork subjects in this book are almost all made out of the waste materials the children may readily find at hand, and they are put together as far as possible, without any particular need for skill, and with the fewest and simplest of tools. In the country there is always an immense wealth of superfluous material to play with, and the country child has a far greater treasury from which to supply the need of hand and mind than his neighbor of the city. Imagination can find an immensity of outlet and opportunity, even in the neighborhood of cities. I remember well my village of cave dwellings which I carefully hollowed out beneath the spreading roots of trees--very dirty trees--in a suburban wood in a Lancashire town. The caves were furnished with stones and twigs, and populated with earwigs or any creeping thing to be found and housed there. Later I owned an island in a Westmorland Lake, and had a beautiful house of woven branches of the growing rowan trees, with a garden planted with ferns and wild flowers among mossy bordered paths. And again, my sisters and brothers and I made fine wigwams of the branches of young oak and hazel trees found in those lakeland woods; they were tied together at the top with the fibrous stems of honeysuckle, spread tentwise at the base, and heaped outside with a covering of dead bracken and dry leafy twigs. In town too, for wet days there was always the house under the table, walled in with table cover and blankets: delightful dwellings all, and happy little "homes" to live in, for any place is a "home" to us when we look back to it with happy memory. And the garlands we made of daisies and red clover, thick as a man's arm and plaited strongly together, with which we decked the clothes-props on the drying green, and made them into Maypoles! We remember the joy these things gave, chiefly because we made them; we remember them far better than the games we played, or the entertainments we went to. At school again, my best personal experience, and one that I have found valuable above all the other education I got, was not the lessons I learned from books; I have forgotten almost all I got from them. It was the great days when we had plays in school, and I was allowed to devise, and practically direct the whole making of the stage properties. A great time that. We made armor, and weapons, and crowns, and garments, and wings, and scenery. We had no assistance from teachers for this, and I know it taught me more than any of my teachers did. During school days I did not learn to draw because I had a drawing lesson once a week, and painfully and carefully drew perspectives of chairs and schoolrooms and other dull things. I learned to draw because I loved to scribble in my lesson books princes and princesses, and fairies, and because I had few playthings, and was always making and decorating little gifts for other people. This practise of decorating the things we make is really far the best way to teach drawing to either children or others. We make our education in drawing a far too limited affair by directing it to a pictorial issue alone, and drawing is a far wider subject than concerns picture-making solely. If we go into our museums, we see from the ancient handicrafts left to us by primitive peoples, that in the beginning all art was purely applied to useful things. The clay jar modelled in the hands alone, with its lines and curves just emphasized with a few scratches or impressions made with a stick or a bone, what is this but just play? and yet it is art also and the art adds immensely to the value of that jar. So also to-day, if any child takes a piece of clay and makes a vessel by hand, the very same thing is produced. I have seen little pots made in schools which it is difficult to distinguish from some of those of ancient Egypt or Peru in our museums. They are not one whit less artistic, and yet the art is quite unconscious, the child was only "playing" with the clay. We would be much the richer, commercially speaking, if schools would only take up this different side of art teaching--making patterns, instead of pictures. I am not condemning the drawing of pictures, but I am urging that pattern-making--constructive design in actual material, not on paper--should come first. Pattern is the mathematics of art, and it can develop the mathematical faculties far more widely than mere mental calculations can. It must be learned by wise gradations, and the learner must never be allowed to get out of hand or run riot with over-elaboration. If we can teach the children in their drawing lessons to decorate the useful articles they need for the home, we shall give a great impetus to the commercial arts. For example, if a child has one lesson at decorating a piece of pottery with a brush dipped in glaze paint and decorates it with nothing but a line of dots or strokes, he can have this fired and fixed and use it, and he also at once looks at every china shop with a sharply discriminating eye. In a very short time he will be able to choose between good decoration and bad, he will understand economy in production, he will very soon demand from the trade a higher class of design, and he will be willing to pay for better design because he understands the working of it. The fashion for amateurs to practice photography did not do harm to the professional photographer, as was feared at first; it raised the standard of professional work, and brought more custom, and not less, to the professional worker. And this holds good in all work, the more widely and thoroughly it is "understanded of the people," the more desirable do the people find it. There is a great education before art teachers, and they must realize that they must come into touch with science and mathematics and general constructive work. They must watch the changing needs and fashions of the day, and realize that not only in classic times was the art of the people a beautiful and desirable thing. They must realize, too, that in this Twentieth Century our hands are extending their powers, and that by the use of machines we are reaching a far larger public than unaided hands could do. The artist has spent two or three generations bewailing the machine; he forgot that no machine can, of its own powers, be artistic or inartistic. He left the machine alone, and therefore the machine-work has fallen into discredit. The artist craftsman is too often too conscious of his art, and does not subordinate himself sufficiently to modern ways and conditions. It is not the fault of the machine that much of our manufactured output is inartistic, it is the fault of the artist that he has not managed to control the machine. First and foremost, however, we must have some change in the training of artists, and must direct their attention to utility, rather than pictorial work. It is difficult to count the outlets possible to the decorative craftsman, provided he understands modern machinery and commercial demands. This training in handicraft begins, very rightly and naturally in the kindergarten schools, but there, unfortunately, it stops short. Now what we want to do is to plan out for our growing children such crafts as will develop intelligence and skill of hand, without demanding too great physical strength or technical training, and without undue expenditure of money upon materials and outfit. For the younger children the easiest media to work in are clay and needlework. The clay-work should be directed to the most permanent and useful things that can be produced; pottery and tiles can be very easily made, and are very permanent if they are glazed and fired and decorated, and this can be done at very little expense. Needlework must be taught so that the worker develops intelligence and independence, and is no longer made to sew the multitudes of fine stitches which were once considered necessary, and which made the girls mere unthinking machines. There are endless new ways to be followed out in the sewing and embroidery and construction of garments and household textiles. Even the rather mechanical knitting is probably only in its infancy as yet, and we may see it do great things, and play a more beautiful part in our textile arts. To reform and renew the vitality of all these things we must realize that they have all their beginnings in the playwork of the little child, and that simply because the little child has no traditions to unlearn, and is therefore independent enough to think out new devices in his play, so must we all keep before us the fact that we have that light within us which is above, and independent of, traditions. If we can see any way in which any work can be improved or altered, or beautified by some change in its treatment, we must be bold to try it, for only by courage and bravery of thought does the work of the world keep itself fresh and ever renewed and changing towards better things. Never be afraid that because you have not tried to do a thing you will be unable to do it. If the thought of doing it has come to you, it is a sign that some power is there, at any rate, and the impulse to improve and change a thing for the better is just that creative impulse stirring within, which I have pleaded for. Whose is that impulse? Not our own entirely. Then surely if it is good, we do right at least to try to carry it out. It is the Mind that changes matter, but it is not your mind nor mine, though it is in our charge. And happy is he who has faith to listen and give it force and visible expression. There are in this little book things that many of the wiser folk shake their heads over--catapults for instance. Yet I have put them in; for surely if we older folk had not enjoyed our catapults we should probably have been sadder folk, as well as wiser. All children may some day or other handle instruments of offense and destruction, and it is part of their legitimate education to learn to do no harm with them, so I have put in the catapult. I enjoyed playing with mine, and I do not think I ever broke anything with it, I do not even remember hitting anything I aimed at, and probably this is the average experience. I have not attempted to enter into any lengthy suggestions as regards making boats, or other toys requiring much patience and skill and knowledge of tools. Boat-making is a most interesting thing for both boys and girls, and can be carried to great perfection by them, if they have perseverance. I see no reason why the making of model boats and mechanical toys should not be the special work of boys' manual classes, nor is there any reason why a great quantity of the craft-work and needlework in day and evening schools should not be commercialized, and disposed of by the educational authorities, both to the advantage of the teachers and the pupils. One field alone--that of providing souvenirs for sale to tourists--is a large one, and is at present open to the schools. Tourists do not come here with any desire to buy souvenirs made abroad; they would greatly prefer things with a local flavor, and preferably small and portable. I know from personal experience how immensely such a market encourages students to work at their classes in the evenings. We could keep the evening schools packed with students if they realized that their work, done in leisure hours, had some prospect of bringing in a return instead of involving outlay alone. This also is playwork; and though this small book deals only with such playwork in its infancy, yet it must be emphatically urged that it develops into great things, things that the nation needs, and which can only come to their full development because the nation's children have learned to play. My thanks are due to my grandfather, grandmother, and my father and mother, and to my nurses whose names I have forgotten, but from whom I learned to make many things. Also to Mrs. Grisedale, Mrs. Wear, Mrs. Fry, Mrs. Fellows, Miss Allright, Miss Worsdell, Miss Douglas, Miss Arthur, Mr. J. T. Ewen, H.M.I., Mr. Forrester Wilson, and to Norman Guild, for many suggestions, and for their very practical help. A WOOLLEN BALL MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A small strip of thick cardboard, a small piece of string, wool, scissors. [Illustration: FIGS. 1 AND 2.] This is the easiest of all the things one can make in wool. Take a narrow piece of stiff cardboard, or a flat stick about five inches long and about one inch wide, and make a slit at each end: between these two slits stretch a piece of thin string and then, about the middle of the strip of cardboard, wind the wool over and over till it is like a ball. Do not allow the wool to spread too far along the cardboard. When the ball of wool is two, or two and a half inches in diameter, loosen the string from the slits, and slip out the cardboard carefully from the ball; you will not have a bundle of wool with a string running through all the loops. Tie the string up tightly and knot it well, then take your scissors and cut the loops as in Figure 2. After all the loops are cut you will have to clip all the loose ends, till they are about even in length, and the bundle will now be a nice regular shape. This is a somewhat wasteful way of making a ball, and should only be used by very little children with waste wool or cotton yarn. It teaches them, however, a very useful thing--to wind wool evenly, and to cut and trim it. ANOTHER WOOLLEN BALL MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Two used postcards or pieces of thin cardboard, a strong darning needle, odd pieces of bright-colored wools, scissors. [Illustration: FIGS. 3 AND 4.] A very much better way to make a woollen ball, but more difficult, is shown in Figures 3 and 4. Here you must first have a piece of fairly stiff cardboard and on it lay a teacup or tumbler with the rim on the cardboard. Draw with a pencil, or scratch with the scissors round the rim so that you have a circle about three and a half or four inches across on it, and cut these circles out. Then take some smaller circular thing, a quarter, or something about that size, and place it carefully in the center of each of your larger circles, and cut out the smaller circle like a hole in the middle of the bigger one. Now take some wool--you can have it of many bright colors, and if you have any old woollen knitted things which you do not need you can unravel them. Slip one end of your wool through the hole of both pieces of cardboard when they are laid together, tie it in a knot, and with your fingers at first, and later with a darning needle, keep winding the wool through the hole and over and over the cardboard until it is all covered. Go on winding it through the hole, until the hole is so full that even your needle will not push through. Then you must take sharp scissors and carefully cut the wool at the outer edge of this round cushion you have wound, till the scissors cut into the cardboard, so that you can slip one point between the two cards and cut right round the circle. You must be careful not to let the wool be pulled out of the hole through which you have threaded it. Now take a piece of thin strong string, slip it round between the two cardboard circles, wind it two or three times, and tie it very tightly. Next, carefully tear away your two cardboard rounds and you will have a fine firm ball, which only needs cutting and trimming with the scissors into an even shape. You can make this ball look very pretty by arranging your wool as you wind it into different layers of varying color or make a quarter of your circle of one color and the next quarter of another, and so on. Small balls made like this make pretty pompoms for shoes and hats, and tassels on bags, or they can be fixed on drawstrings in underclothing, to prevent them coming out. A SPRIG OF FLOWERS MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A little thin cardboard, wools of various bright colors, milliner's wire, a small darning needle, scissors. [Illustration: FIGS. 5 TO 9.] This can be made very much as the second woollen ball is made. You take a circle of cardboard again, but rather a smaller one about two inches across (a small ink bottle or an egg-cup would give about the right size); and cut in it a round hole about as big as a dime. Wind bright-colored wool through the hole and over the cardboard very evenly, using a darning needle because it is such a small hole. Wind on wool until all the cardboard is covered evenly. Then take a piece of wire about six inches long, or a hairpin will do if straightened out. You can do this by holding the ends tightly in each hand and rubbing the pin backwards and forwards against the edge of a table. At one end of the wire bend it, so that it makes a little loop, the smaller the better. Now begin with green wool to wrap round the wire, covering in the loop first, and when you have covered in the whole loop wind the wool over the end of the bent piece again, and bind it tightly to the other portion, and go on down the wire for some distance. With another hairpin (not straightened out this time, but bent as much to a point as possible) or another piece of wire bent like a V, tie the green wool at the bend, and wind in and out from one side of the wire to the other, first letting the sides go wide from each other and then gradually tightening them together, till you have them closed again and they become a leaf shape. Bind this leaf into the first wire stem, and add more leaves if you wish. Now wind over the first two fingers of your left hand some yellow or dark-colored wool about a dozen times, and take the end of the wool and tie it through when you withdraw your fingers, as in making the first woollen ball. Hold these loops tight from this knotted part, and wind the end of the wool round till it is like Figure 6, a little tassel; take your darning needle and sew this tassel into the hole in the circle of cardboard so that it makes a center for your flower, and sew the cardboard flower to the loop at the end of the wire. You can make two or three small tassels for this center if you like, and bind them first around the loop so that they fill up the hole in the cardboard quite tightly. More tassels can be made and tied to wires and bound into the main wire stem like little buds. These sprigs look very pretty when worn in hats, and they will not spoil with the rain: you can also put a large spray in a vase when you cannot get real flowers. A SKIPPING ROPE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Some cheap thin string or cotton waste, some small twigs, a pencil or penholder, a strong hook fixed in a wall. [Illustration: FIGS. 10 TO 12.] Take three or four lengths of thin string--a very cheap quality will do--about three yards long, and tie them into a knot close to each end. Be sure that every separate piece is of the same length. Then take one knotted end and slip the knot round a hook in the wall, not too high up; a curtain hook will do very well, or any other knob or projecting thing which will allow a very small loop to slip off and on, and which will hold firmly. Into the other end, at the knot, slip a pencil or penholder, and hold the strand of strings or threads with the left thumb and forefinger loosely, just beyond the place the pencil is slipped into it, as in Figure 10. With the right hand first finger hit the pencil round and round away from you, _downwards_, keeping it whirling so that the long strand becomes twisted. Do not hold too tight with the left hand, but be sure to keep the strands taut from the hook where they are fastened. Keep on whirling until the strand is twisted so tightly that it begins to go into kinks. Then get somebody to catch the strand about the middle, and keeping it carefully taut all the time walk round until you bring the pencil end up to the hook, and slip the strand from the pencil on to the hook. Then take the pencil to where the strand is being held in the middle and slip it into the doubled end, and holding it as tightly as possible from the hook, as before, whirl the pencil in the opposite direction, towards you, _upwards_, as in Figure 11. This will make a beautiful cord. The pencil can be slipped out now, and the ends on the hook must be knotted together so that the cord will not unravel. This is called a "twofold cord," and it can be made in two colors if you divide the length before the first twisting into two equal lengths of differently colored threads. A "threefold cord," can be made in the same way, but it must be folded into three different lengths before the second twisting, and three different colors may be introduced. A threefold cord is much fuller and firmer than a twofold one. Cords can be made of wool or silk or any kind of thread, and must be made of few or many strands according to the thickness required, and according to the thickness of the strands used. Thin woollen cords are very nice to run into woolen garments as drawstrings, or into bags; thick ones made of knitting yarn are splendid for dressing-gowns, and the ends can be finished off with tassels. If you make a skipping rope in this way you will want a firm handle at each end, and you can make it by getting three or four small sticks or twigs, and laying them close to each end round your cord. Then bind these round, at both ends of your skipping rope, with firm twine. Next take the end of the rope which projects beyond the twigs, and double the strands back along the twigs for a short distance, and bind them down again and cut away any superfluous length, and knot your binding string firmly. This will make a very pretty little handle, especially if you can get pretty greenish twigs with the bark on them and tie with colored threads or twine. Figure 12. A SUCKER MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A small piece of thick leather, strong string, scissors or penknife. [Illustration: FIG. 13.] This is a very interesting toy to play with. It is very simple to make: all it needs is a round piece of fairly thick leather about four inches across. Cut this into a perfect circle with a knife, if the leather is too thick to cut with scissors, and in the very middle bore a small hole and put through this a piece of strong string, about a yard long, and tie a knot in this so that it will not slip through the hole. Now soak your leather in water till it is very soft and damp, and keep it in this condition whenever you use it. By dropping the round of damp leather quickly on to the surface of a smooth stone you will be able to lift and carry quite large stones. You must be sure to drop the sucker on to the smooth surfaces, because if there are any little crevices under the sucker the air in them will prevent suction. GOLLIWOGS MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Colored wools, a little string, cotton, or silk, and a tiny piece of tape; a large-eyed needle, scissors. [Illustration: FIGS. 14 TO 18.] These golliwogs are made of tassels of wool. First wind your tassel over your fingers much as you wound it for the first woollen ball on the cardboard. Then cut the loops, and tie very tightly with several turns of strong cotton or silk close to the end, and again about half an inch lower. This forms the head, and the ends at the top can be trimmed into a top knot. Below the head, divide off a small portion on each side for the arms, and tie each of these again about half way down, and cut off just below the tied portion, where the dotted line is in Figure 14. Tie also for the waist at the double dotted line, and then, if legs are required, divide the remaining part of the tassel into two, and tie at the feet. Take a needle with thread or wool of a different color from that you have used for the golliwog, and stitch in eyes and nose. Figure 15 makes a very good Zulu chief, if he is made in black wool. Figure 16 is a Red Cross nurse. She can be made in light blue or gray wool, and her cap and apron are made of a small piece of tape, each sewn with a red cross. Her cap must be folded and stitched up the back like Figure 17, and her neck, wrists, and belt must be wound with white thread. The little turban golliwog, Figure 18, has his headdress made of a short bundle of wool of another color pushed through the folded loop of wool which forms his head. His arms also can be a separate bundle of strands pushed through the body portion. THE MEAL SACK MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A tiny piece of calico, white cotton, cotton wool, scent powder or lavender flowers, several apple pips, needle and thread, and scissors. [Illustration: FIGS. 19 TO 21.] This makes a very pretty scent bag or pincushion. Take a small piece of calico or any cotton scrap, about three inches wide and six inches long, and fold it across the middle. Take a needle and cotton and tack it up the sides, and down again, if you cannot make small stitches, keeping both rows of stitches very close together. Now fray out the threads at the ends of your strip, and turn the bag inside out. You can fill it with lavender if you like, or stuff it with cotton wool and some powdered scent; or you can stuff it quite tight with bran instead, and make a pincushion of it. Tie the opening up tightly with strong thread, Figure 20. Now take one or two pips from an apple or an orange, to make a mouse: if it is an apple pip take a penknife and scratch out eyes and ears, as in Figure 21. If you use an orange pip you can ink in the eye and the ear. Now stitch your little mouse on to your meal sack, and it will be a very dainty little gift to put by for Christmas. You can also make pretty sets of scent bags out of bits of ribbon or silk patterns from the dressmaker's, or cut off any old scraps of thin materials you find. Make six little bags of different colors and stuff with cotton wool and scent, and tie round the neck of each the end of a piece of narrow baby ribbon; tie the first bag with a piece nine inches long, and each of the other bags should have a ribbon a little longer than the last. Then tie all the loose ends of the six ribbons together with a bow of ribbon, and you will have a charming cluster of sachets to hang in a wardrobe. AN EMERY CUSHION MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A tiny piece of red ribbon or silk, a tiny piece of calico or cotton material, strong red cotton thread, yellow or silk thread, green wool, a little emery powder, a tiny piece of hard soap or wax candle, scissors, and crewel needle. [Illustration: FIGS. 22 TO 24.] To make this you must get a little bright red material about three inches square and a little thin cotton material the same size. Lay both together and fold them diagonally across from corner to corner with the red material inside, and with fine thread and needle and very small stitches sew it from the two loose corners up to the point where it is folded, so that it forms a triangular bag. Now the bag should be folded over so that you can measure off on the diagonal fold the same length as the stitched seam, and cut away the extra material as in Figure 22. Now take some hard soap, or a piece of wax candle, and rub it hard all over the cotton material in order to prevent your emery stuffing getting out, trim off any extra thickness of material at the point, and turn the bag red side out and run it very finely round the opening with strong needle and thread. Draw the thread up a little, as in Figure 23, and now take your emery powder and fill up tight with that. If you cannot get emery get some fine dry sand, or you can even pound up some cinders out of the fire, and fill your little bag very tight with the powder you make, and draw up the thread and stitch it very close. Next you must take your green wool or silk, and make long loop stitches all round the top until all the opening and the gathered up portion is neatly covered with these stitches, like sepals on a flower. Stitch on a little cord or loop of ribbon, and with a yellow thread make even stitches all over your little bag, till it looks just like a strawberry--Figure 24. RAT-TAIL KNITTING MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A large cork, large reel, or a small piece of a narrow cardboard roller, strong pins, preferably those known as "laundry pins," a small crochet hook, colored wools. [Illustration: FIG. 25.] This is known as rat-tail knitting, or cork or bobbin work. It can be made either by boring a hole in a large flat cork and setting seven or eight pins in round this hole, or by setting the pins into a reel with a large hole, but I have found the best thing is to get a small tube of cardboard such as paper is rolled on (out of a toilet roll, for instance), and to stick the pins firmly into the cardboard, as in Figure 25. Five or six pins will do. Take colored wool and loop it once round each pin, then wrap it very loosely once round the whole circle of pins, and, with another large pin or a small crochet hook, lift each loop up and over the last wrap of the thread, and over the head of the pin. Do this right round the circle of pins, so that you have now a second series of loops made from the thread which was wrapped round above the first ones, while the first loops have begun to descend into the tube. Work round and round till the end of your knitted rat-tail appears out of the tube at the lower end. You can knot on lengths of wool of other colors and make very pretty reins with them. You can, if you like, work with two differently colored threads, all the time using one color for the loops you lift, over a wrap thread of another color, alternating as you work round and round your circle. This is really just the way a knitting-machine works, very much simplified. You can do the same on a larger scale with a wooden ring into which pegs of wood are inserted, and this will make quite a large woollen muffler. A PEEP-SHOW PICTURE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A small piece of glass from an old photograph-frame, some firm brown or colored paper, any tiny flowers, leaves, etc., a piece of stamp paper. [Illustration: FIG. 26.] Collect a tiny bunch of the smallest flowers you can find, daisies, buttercups, violets, even little weeds like chickweed, and small grasses, clover leaves, or sprays of moss; tie them very loosely in a little bunch. Now lay your piece of glass down on your paper (the paper may be any color, but the blue sugar-bag paper looks very pretty.) Take your little bunch of flowers and arrange it flat on the glass, with the faces of the flowers pressed against the glass, and the leaves and moss pressed flat on top of them. Put the prettiest side of them next the glass. When all the surface of the glass is fairly well covered fold the paper over the flowers so that it makes a neat parcel, and fasten down the corners of the parcel with stamp paper. Then turn your parcel over, and round three sides, about half an inch from the edge, cut a neat line, so that the paper will now lift like a flap and show your very pretty picture. Seaweeds can be used instead of flowers--and if so, they should be arranged on the glass in a dish of water and floated into place. CUP AND BALL MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A piece of thin cardboard about eight inches square, scraps of tissue paper, string, odd scraps of veiling, net, or thin silk or muslin, paste or mucilage, scissors. [Illustration: FIG. 27.] This is a very good toy to play with, and can be easily made. Get a piece of cardboard about six inches square and draw a line from corner to corner and cut it across. Then roll this triangle of cardboard into a long cone shape, about two and a half inches wide at the open end, and with a strip of thin gummed paper across the overlapping edge fix it down tight, so that it will not open out again. With the scissors trim the open end to an even round. Next take a large piece of tissue or any other thin soft paper, and roll it into a neat round ball, which must loosely fit the opening of the cone. Wind a thread of wool over it in one direction, and another so that it keeps its shape. Now, if you can get a piece of a black veil, or some very thin soft net or muslin, cover over the ball so that it looks quite neat and round and even, and stitch a thin string about eighteen inches long to it. You can now cover the cup also with the veiling if you wish to, and if so, leave about three inches over at the open end, which must be drawn together, and the draw thread then pushed down inside the cone and fastened off at the closed end. It can have a little cork put in to fill it up. Put the end of the string through a hole near the opening of the cone and your cup and ball is finished. STORKS MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Large flat corks, ordinary bottle corks, large and small. Hairpins, burnt matches, small feathers, penknife. [Illustration: FIG. 28.] First, for the body of the big stork get a good large cork, and with a penknife cut it into a longish egg shape; then another small cork must be cut almost round for the head. For the base the stork stands on one of the large corks out of pickle jars does best, but if you cannot get one take several pieces of thick cardboard and paste them together, or take the lid of a small cardboard box and make holes for the ends of the legs in it, and after pushing the ends of the hairpins through, run them into small pieces of cork, so that they will keep in place when standing. Now get a burnt match and sharpen it at either end, and push one end of it into the head, and the other into the body, and set the legs into place in the body also. Use hairpins that have no waves or angles in them, so that the bend of the pin makes the right bend for the leg. Make the beak of two matches, trimmed to a sharp point, and you can use a tiny black bead for the eyes, or draw them with ink. The feathers for the crest and wings and tail must be stuck into holes, after having a little mucilage put on the end of the quill. A RABBIT MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Large cork, tiny piece of brown paper, a fragment of cotton wool, needle, strong thread, penknife, scissors. [Illustration: FIGS. 29 AND 30.] This also is of cork, shaped out to rather a point at the head and cut flat underneath. Cut little nicks on each side to define the feet. The ears are of brown paper cut like Figure 30, with corners folded over and glued or put on with a stitch of strong linen thread, small dot of ink or a small bead makes the eye. A CORK DOLL MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Flat cork, two bottle corks, burnt matches, a tiny piece of thin cotton material, the same of white paper and of colored ribbon, a large; pin, a little black or brown wool, needle, mucilage. [Illustration: FIGS. 31 AND 32.] The body is a nice smooth cork and the pinafore is a piece of white paper tied on with the piece of ribbon The arms and legs are matches sharpened and well pressed in; it is best to have their points glued. The head is a small cork covered with a piece of white cotton material cut in a circle and tied tightly at the neck. Draw in the eyes, nose, and mouth with a soft black pencil, or paint them with rather dry water-color paint. Take dark wool and make large loose stitches for the hair, and then run through, from crown to neck, a large strong pin to fix the head to the body. The frill of material below the place the head is tied on makes a neat tucker when it is arranged nicely. For each foot lay a little piece of match on the base of cork, where the leg is stuck into it, and glue it down. A CORK HORSE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A flat cork, and one large and one small bottle cork, burnt matches, black wool, a little black tape, a tiny piece of colored paper, needle, scissors, penknife. [Illustration: FIG. 33.] Use a nice smooth cork for the body, and cut out a little saddle in colored paper, and glue it into place, bind it round with a piece of tape or ribbon for the girth, and you can make little stirrups out of wire or silver paper and hang them on from this. The head is a small cork out of a medicine bottle, with brown paper ears, cut just like the rabbit's but much smaller and with only one fold. The mane is of loops of black wool sewed on to tape, and bound firmly down to the match that makes the neck. The tail is also of black wool, and the stand or base can be either a cork or box lid; if it is the latter the legs must be glued into holes carefully cut to fit them. AN ENGINE AND TENDER MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- One large bottle cork and several small ones, one matchbox, large strong pins, preferably "laundry" pins. [Illustration: FIG. 34.] Use a large cork for the engine and a portion of a small cork for the funnel. The dome can be made of the remaining piece of the latter and must be rounded at one end. Pin both onto the boiler portion. The wheels are slices of cork set into place with pins. The tender is a matchbox with the sides cut down at one place to make the entrance, and another matchbox makes the windscreen. To make the wheels of the tender hold steady, cut long slices of cork the width of the matchbox, and run the pins into these after piercing the sides of the box, as seen in the top view of the engine. A CHEST OF DRAWERS MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A number of empty matchboxes, a number of shoe buttons, colored or brown paper, mucilage. [Illustration: FIG. 35.] This is a very neat chest of drawers, or writing-desk, made of matchboxes; it also makes very good furniture for a toy grocer's shop. Have all your matchboxes of one size and color, and fix them all together in their outer cases with mucilage. Next get a piece of pretty colored paper (pieces of flowered wall-paper look very nice, or blue paper of a sugar bag), and glue this round the ends and top of your chest of drawers. Now in the end of each box cut a small hole and push through it the shank of a shoe button, and peg this through with a tiny slip of wood or a roll of paper, so that it holds quite firm. Glue on to the bottom of your chest of drawers some buttons without shanks, or wooden button moulds, to form the feet. A CRADLE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- An empty matchbox, a cork, needle and thread, scissors, mucilage, penknife. [Illustration: FIG. 36.] Use an empty matchbox, and on the bottom glue two halves of a slice of cork for rockers. For the hood take the outer case of the matchbox and unfasten it where it is joined, and cut off a lengthwise strip about three-quarters of an inch wide, using one of the corners of this for the peak of the hood. Take a needle with strong thread, and with two large firm stitches fasten this strip to each side of the box, taking care to make the hood a nice even shape. Now you can take a little muslin and lace and sew it on for little curtains and frills, to trim the cradle with, and roll some scraps of material up to make a neat mattress and pillow. A DOLL'S TABLE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A small box lid of cardboard, large reel, mucilage. [Illustration: FIG. 37.] This table is made of a round box lid fixed with mucilage on to a spool. A square lid will do equally well. A DOLL'S BED MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Small cardboard box and lid, needle and thread, lace or ribbon, small piece of wadding and muslin, or a piece of thin material, scissors. [Illustration: FIG. 38.] First cover the bottom of the cardboard box with a layer of soft material or wadding, with thin cotton over it, and take large tacking stitches to fasten this down. Next fix on your canopy by setting the lid upright on to the end of the box, and glue or fix it into place with stationers' paper clips or large stitches. Trim the canopy round the top with a little frill of lace or muslin, and put the same, as a valance, round the bed portion. You can also add curtains at each side of the canopy, and, if you want a footboard, that also can be fixed across the bottom with big stitches or paper clips before the valance frill is sewed on. You can make quite large beds in this way, and if you have not a very pretty box you can trim it up with pieces of wall-paper pasted inside the canopy. A DOLL'S CHAIR MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Slice of cork or a chestnut, large strong pins, colored wool. [Illustration: FIG. 39.] The seat is a slice of cork or a chestnut, and the legs and back are made of pins, the large ones called "laundry" pins are the best. Wind pretty wool in and out between the pins to make the back look like a nice cushion. You can cover the cork seat with a piece of colored material if you wish. ANOTHER DOLL'S CHAIR MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Small piece of thin cardboard or post card, small piece of pretty material, a spool, needle and thread, scissors. [Illustration: FIG. 40.] This chair is harder to make than the last one. First cut a piece of cardboard or two pieces of old post cards to the shape marked A. It must be large enough to allow it to reach halfway round the top of a reel at its widest part, where the corners are. Now tack on to this a piece of velveteen or any other pretty material, so that the edges turn over to the wrong side of the cardboard. On the second piece of card take the material only down just a little below the two corners of the cardboard, and you need not turn it in on the straight edge between these corners. Tack both cards together with the material outside, and overseam or topsew them as shown in Figure 40 A. Next take your reel and bind tightly over each end of it a round piece of material, and then take a narrow strip of material or ribbon, and turn in the edges and wrap it round the reel as in 40 B, and tack the strip into place very tight. Now fix on the back as in 40 C with neat little stitches, and your chair is finished. NECKLACES MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Needles, strong thread of linen or silk, seeds, beads, acorn cups, daisies. [Illustration: FIGS. 41 TO 43.] These are some of the necklaces you can make of things you find in the country, or of seeds you come across. Figure 41 is made of rose hips threaded together. If you want to make the cross or pendant, you can use a few small beads so that your radiating hips will hold more steadily. These will hold better into place if you put a strong surrounding line of stitches into them. Figure 42 is of melon seeds or sunflower seeds, either will do. Figure 43, of the same, but threaded twice through each seed, with a tiny bead between and a pendant loop of seeds and beads below. Figure 44 is a snake made of acorn cups. Begin at the head (with is a large acorn with the shell cut to make eyes and mouth), and thread through the mouth, then thread on your biggest acorn cups, gradually choosing smaller and smaller ones till you get to the tail, where it should be finished with a tassel. [Illustration: FIG. 44.] Figure 45 is the prettiest daisy chain. The stems are nipped off and the daisies threaded through the center. This makes a very beautiful wreath. [Illustration: FIGS. 45 TO 47.] A HATBAND MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Small autumn leaves, broad tape or carpet binding, needle and thread. Pick up the prettiest leaves which are nearly the same in size. Use a thread of brown mending yarn and carefully sew the leaves down on to a piece of broad tape or carpet binding. After you have finished the sewing press the hatband for some days under a pile of newspapers or heavy books, so that the leaves will dry flat. A FAN MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Large leaves of Spanish chestnut, smaller leaves, thin cardboard, needle and brown silk or wool. This fan is made of the large leaves of the Spanish chestnut; you can pick these up already beautifully dry and flat in the woods in autumn. Get about twenty of the same size, and cut a semicircle of firm cardboard and sew them on to it, so that the fan holds very firm, then over your stitches sew on smaller leaves of varying colors. You will find this makes a most beautiful ornament for your mantelpiece. * * * * * Figures 48 to 55 are _windmills_, some very easy and some more difficult, but all very interesting toys. A PIN-WHEEL OR WHIRLIGIG MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A square of stiff writing paper, an old penholder, skewer, or a straight twig, a strong pin or a slim upholstery nail with a large head, scissors. [Illustration: FIGS. 48 TO 50.] This pinwheel is made of a piece of firm writing paper. Cut the paper into a perfect square, and fold it diagonally from corner to corner and smooth out again, then cut along your folds to within an inch of the center. Now cut a tiny round of strong paper or a piece of a postcard about half an inch across and take a strong short pin and put it through the middle. Then push your pin through each right-hand corner of your square of writing paper, and lastly through the center of the square, and take a piece of stick or a penholder and push the point of the pin in till it is halfway in. You will find your windmill will turn as you run, if you hold it out straight in front of you. If you can get two good sticks you can use a long one as the upper part of a weather vane. Rut a nail through, rather nearer your pinwheel than the middle of the stick. At the other end make a long slit and put in a paper tail, so that the pinwheel will keep its head to the wind. Fix your nail into the end of the other stick, and set the stick upright in the ground as in Figure 50. A TIN WHEEL OR BUZZER MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A circle of thin tin or a tin lid, a stick of soft wood, an upholsterer's nail, tin cutters. [Illustration: FIG. 51.] This windmill is made of tin; this is rather difficult to cut unless your hands are strong, but sometimes you can get very thin tin or brass from kindergarten stores, and it is quite easy to make it of this. Draw a circle about four inches across on the tin, round a jam pot or some such thing to give you a good even circle, and cut this out with the scissors. Now take a ruler and scratch lines across your circle, at right angles first, so that you have your circle divided into quarters; now divide these quarters again into three or four divisions, and draw a smaller circle on your tin about three quarters of an inch, or less, from the outer edge. Now make a clean cut with the scissors from the edge to the inner circle along each line. The tin will always bend in one way as you do this, and you must leave the little divisions bent very evenly. Make a hole in the center of your wheel and fix it strongly with a nail into a stick. You will find you can hardly hold your windmill if you stand with it facing a steady wind. This windmill is a grand one to go. A WOODEN MILL MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Two narrow strips of thin, soft wood, a stick for a holder, a screw, penknife, gimlet. [Illustration: FIGS. 52 AND 53.] This is a wooden mill and it requires some care and skill to make it. It can easily be made with a penknife out of two pieces of thin, soft wood. First you must cut a neat socket across each piece of wood in the center, halfway through its thickness. The socket must be exactly the same width as your piece of wood, so that when you set each piece socket to socket they fit exactly. Now with an awl or pricker make a neat hole in the center of the two pieces when they are fitted together. Next you must shave away with your penknife the right-hand edge of each of the "arms" or "sails" of your windmill, graduating the shaving evenly from the left-hand edge, where it is thick, to a fine blade at the right-hand edge. Now fit together the two halves and put a nail through the hole and fasten it into the end of a stick. If the nail is apt to split the stick you can put a reel on to the end of it and fix the nail into the stick through the hole of the reel. It is a very good thing to put your nail through a large glass bead between the windmill and the stick. A FEATHER WHEEL MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Four large quills, a piece of firm cardboard, a cork, a box for a gas mantle, a straight stick or old penholder, paper, mucilage, needle and strong thread. [Illustration: FIG. 54.] This windmill is made of goose quills, or any other large strong quill; these must be chosen with the wider webbing of the feather all on the same side, and must be the same size. Cut a circle of firm cardboard and lay each quill with its point in the middle of this circle and stitch them firmly down at right angles to each other. Glue the wrong side of the cardboard on to a reel or a piece of cork, and fix this on the end of a small stick or penholder. Now take a small cylindrical cardboard box--those used for gas mantles are excellent--and bore holes through opposite sides of this, about halfway down. Push the stick through and fix into a slit at the end of it a "tail" of paper or cardboard. Take another piece of cardboard and shape it into a cone, exactly as in Figure 27 for the cup and ball. Cut a hole in the bottom of your box and fit it on to the end of the cone, which must be cut down to allow the stick to pass clear of the end of the cone. MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A narrow strip of soft wood, a cork, four luggage labels or post cards, a penholder, strong glue, a penknife, an upholsterer's nail, a gimlet. [Illustration: FIG. 55.] This is made of two pieces of wood socketed as in Figure 53, and with slits made in each end into which a luggage label is inserted. Use glue to hold these firm, and also to stick on to the center of the cross of wood a slice of cork, pierce a hole through the cork and the cross of wood, and through it run a nail with a fairly large head. Now make a hole at each outer left-hand corner of each label and, loop through this with a needle and a firm thread. Tie the thread round the nail and run the nail into your stick. AN AIR PROPELLER MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A piece of soft wood three-quarters of an inch thick and about six or seven inches long, a gimlet, a soft wood skewer, penknife, sandpaper. [Illustration: FIG. 56.] This is a little air propeller which is rapidly whirled between both hands and released: if properly done it should return to the hands. The propeller is cut out of wood on the same principle as in Figure 52, but it may be of thicker wood with a greater amount of angle to the blades. The stick must be carefully fitted to the hole in the blades and must be thicker at the other end. Both blades and stick should be well smoothed with sandpaper. A REVERSING PROPELLER MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Two pieces of wood as above, also two larger round sticks, such as are used to roll paper upon, a cork, two long nails, a piece of thin tin or cardboard for the tail. [Illustration: FIG. 57.] This windmill is made of two propellers cut like Figure 56, but with the bevelling of the blades of one reversed so that it will turn in the opposite direction. A piece of wood or cork or a bead may be put between each propeller. The tail may be made of cardboard or tin. A WATERWHEEL AND SHUTE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Smooth straight twigs about half an inch thick, a thin wooden sweet-box or other light wooden box, two small pieces of white soft wood, about one-third of an inch thick and five inches long and one inch broad, a piece of thick wire, small tacks, pliers, a gimlet, small staples, strong thin string. [Illustration: FIG. 58.] This is a waterwheel with a watershute, and it turns a crank and has a little man attached. The waterwheel has flat blades with no bevelling, and a thick wire is inserted through its axis. This wire should be bent with pliers to form the cranks. Set up crosswise into the ground some strong twigs tied firmly into position with strong twine. If there is a handy little stream it should be diverted to run a channel into your watershute, which should be of two flat pieces of wood nailed together at right angles; this can also be supported on trestles. Set the shute so that the end is above the blade of the waterwheel and allows the water to fall on it with sufficient force to turn it round. The man may be cut with a fret-saw in three ply wood, and small staples should be run loosely through the holes at the ankles into a thicker piece of wood which acts as a base, so that with the movement of the crank he will appear to be turning the wheel. Fasten arms and legs to the body with a thick wire which works loosely in the holes, or with a thin nail which may be bent over at the point. A POP-GUN MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A large goose quill, a small twig, a slice of raw potato, a penknife. [Illustration: FIG. 59.] This is a most simple little toy and very easy to make. Get a large quill feather with as wide and strong a quill as you can, and cut it off where the quill is thickest. Then get a little stick or branch, preferably a little bent at the thicker end, and peel and smooth it, so that it will fit nicely into the quill with the thicker bent end projecting. This makes the ramrod, but it must be fitted into the quill so that it reaches only within half an inch of the pointed or smaller end. Now take a slice of raw potato about half an inch thick or a little more, and into it push the wider end of the quill so that it takes out a neat round piece of the potato. With the ramrod gently push this first "bullet" to the smaller end of the quill and take out another slice from the potato with the wide end. Now quickly and smartly push in your ramrod and you will find your first bullet shoots off splendidly, leaving your second one at the point of the quill ready for the next shot. Large popguns can be made with a piece of tin tubing, or even cardboard rollers and corks used as bullets. The ramrod must be padded with cotton wrapping in order to fit the tube closely. A WHISTLE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A short piece of smooth sycamore, willow, cherry, or holly branch, a pea, a penknife. [Illustration: FIG. 60.] This can be made of sycamore cherry, holly, or willow branches, where there is a fairly thick coating of sappy bark outside the firm woody fiber. Choose a piece about four inches long without knots and as smooth as possible. Now by tapping patiently and wetting the wood occasionally loosen the bark from the hard wood so that it will at last slip off like a tube; this requires care and gentle handling. Now take the hard wooden core and cut into it, from the middle to within half an inch of one end, a deep curving cavity, and from this to the other end cut off a shallow horizontal slice. This core can now be slipped into the tube of bark again and a neat semicircular hole cut in the latter above the cavity in the core, and you will find this an excellent whistle. Scottish children put a small pea into the cavity before replacing it into the tube of bark to make it "birl" when blown--this is a great improvement. A LONG WHISTLE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A piece of hollow bamboo about eight inches long, a cork, a penknife. [Illustration: FIG. 61.] This is another whistle made of a short length of bamboo cane, which is hollow, cut just below one of the "knots" or divisions where the hollow tube is blocked by a solid wall of the wood. If you cannot get this, block one open end of your hollow tube of wood with a cork, and for the other cut a piece of cork or wood to fit, with a slice off to leave an opening into the tube. Now cut semicircular holes in your tube at intervals. These will each produce a different note if the others are stopped with the fingers, and with care a regular sequence of the notes of a scale can be planned. This sequence will depend on the size of the tube--its length, and the distance between the holes. A SQUEAKER MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A large goose quill, a penknife. [Illustration: FIG. 62.] This squeaker is made from a piece of a quill. Make a neat cut close to the small end of the quill about three quarters of an inch long. When this is held well inside the mouth it will make a most alarming squeak when blown into. A BUZZER MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A large button or small round of leather or thin tin, a piece of strong thin string, strong scissors. [Illustration: FIG. 63.] This can be simply made by threading a large button on a string, so that when the ends are knotted together it makes a loop about twelve to fifteen inches long. Keeping the button in the middle of the doubled length of string insert the first and second fingers of each hand into the looped ends, and rapidly whirl the button round till the string gets a considerable twist on it. Now by alternately slacking and tightening the string the button will whizz round with a slight humming noise. If a piece of tin with notched edges (as in Figure 51 of a windmill) is used, it will hum very loud. A piece of heavy lead foil, or a piece of firm leather cut into a round and notched at the edge can be used. A CLAPPER MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A fowl's merrythought or wishbone, a small slip of thin wood, a piece of strong string, penknife. [Illustration: FIG. 64.] This is made of a fowl's wishbone or merrythought. Tie across from end to end of the bone a loop of string, and into this insert the end of a thin piece of wood about four inches long and three quarters of an inch wide. Slip this in till the string is about the middle, then turn it round several times till the string is twisted fairly tight without bending the ends of the bone too much. Now slip the wooden strip along till the string is about an inch from the end of it and let it go. The twisting of the string will bring the wood down against the angle of the bone with a smart clap. A TELEPHONE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Two gas mantle boxes, a piece of thin bladder or greaseproof paper, many yards of thin twine. [Illustration: FIG. 65.] This can be made of two of the boxes used for incandescent gas mantles; the box for the larger inverted mantles is best. Remove the lids from each end and cut off the rims carefully, so that you have two neat rings of cardboard. Slip one of these on to one end of each box and over each rim tightly tie a circle of greaseproof paper--such as is used for covering jam pots or parcelling butter. Better still, use a piece of bladder from the butcher's. Fasten this down very tight and firm, and through the middle of each paper or bladder insert and knot the end of a fine piece of string which can be ten or more yards in length. If this is held taut without touching anything between the two boxes, you can whisper from end to end and the voice will be heard quite distinctly. A DRUM MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A gas mantle box, strong greaseproof paper or a piece of bladder, thin colored string. [Illustration: FIG. 66.] A little drum can be made of these gas mantle boxes in the same way. Stretch the bladder or paper of oiled silk tightly across each end, and lace strong threads from edge to edge of each piece of bladder or paper or silk, so that each lies evenly, then bind the edges down with twine above the stitches; the rims of the lids can now be slipped on to make it look neat. For a drumstick, wind a ball of cotton wool or tissue paper on the end of a stick and cover with a round of silk or bladder also, and bind it tightly on to the stick. A MEGAPHONE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A piece of thin cardboard fifteen or eighteen inches square, gummed paper or thin tape, paste or mucilage, scissors. [Illustration: FIG. 67.] This is made of a piece of cardboard about fifteen inches square. Insert a pair of compasses at one corner, and from the one corner to that diagonally opposite describe a part of a circle and cut along the line marked. Now bend the cardboard over into a conical trumpet shape, and overlap the sides where they join, about an inch. Lay over this join a broad strip of cloth or paper pasted or glued firmly; you can put pins through the cardboard till this is set into place and dried. Now at the pointed end of the cone cut a mouthpiece wide enough to speak easily into; this will need a hole about three inches wide. When you speak into this megaphone your voice will carry a long distance--a quarter of a mile on a quiet evening--and it will give great fun to watch the effect on people who are walking at some distance in the country. For convenience in holding you can paste on to the outside a loop or handle of tape, but do not push this through the cardboard as it is important that there should be nothing projecting inside the trumpet of the megaphone. RUSH FURNITURE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Green rushes, green wool or thick cotton thread. [Illustration: FIGS. 68 AND 69.] This chair and table are made of the green rushes from the marshes, and are very pretty things to make. For the little chair, first take the bundle of rushes which forms the curved back, and curve it into place and tie it round here and there with a little wool to keep it firm while the seat is being made. This will be better described by the diagram than by words. Each rush composing the seat must be added successively from the back towards the front, and when arranged, and the ends turned back or forwards to form front and back legs, stays can be made of single rushes and all carefully bound in neatly with wool; wool holds much more firmly than cotton thread. The table, Figure 69, is made in the same way. RUSH WHIP MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Green rushes. [Illustration: FIG. 70.] [Illustration: FIG. 71.] The whip is the easiest thing you can make of rushes. It is bound at intervals with wrapping of the rushes themselves. RUSH RATTLE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Green rushes, small round pillbox. This is made on the same lines as the whip, but the bundle or sheaf of rushes is opened out and made to surround a small cardboard box with a pebble or a pea in it, and another rush laced round to keep it in place. The diagram will show how to complete it; very tight firm binding is needed: it is better to do it with wool rather than with rushes. PAPER BEADS MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Colored paper, wall-paper or magazine covers, a knitting needle, scissors, a ruler, mucilage. [Illustration: FIG. 72.] This shows how to make beads of various shapes out of paper; it can be of any color. To make the long pointed beads marked A, take a ruler and rule on your paper lines as in B, and if the paper is thin they should be strips about twelve inches long, and the wider end of the wedge can be one inch or one and a half inches. The strip must taper to a point at the other end. Now take the wide end of your strip and roll it very tightly and evenly round a steel knitting needle with the colored side out, and fix down the point neatly with mucilage as in the darkened portion in the diagram. Smaller beads of various shapes can be made, but all on the same method. Leave the beads on the knitting needle till the mucilage is quite dry, and give them a coat of clear varnish. Such beads look well also with blobs of paint or gilt on them. FISH BONE TEA SET MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Large and small vertebrae of codfish, a little gilt and water color paint. [Illustration: FIG. 73.] This little tea set is very dainty and is made of the separate vertebrae or backbones of large flat fish. When the bones are soft after boiling, they can be easily bent or cut into the required shapes, and the different sizes of bones used for cups or tea pot can be decorated with little patterns in gilt paint or water-colors. A RUSH OR RAFFIA BAG MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Green rushes or raffia, fine string, a small piece of cardboard, a tape needle. [Illustration: FIG. 74.] This is a little bag made of raffia or rushes, woven on to a warp of string. The string should first of all be wound very loosely on to cardboard, and if necessary slits or notches can be cut in it to hold the string firm. Now take your rush or raffia and darn up one side of the card and down the other and back again, leaving one long side of the card free. You can weave one thread up and one down, or one thread up and two down as you please. When the weaving is finished draw out the cardboard and decorate your bag with little tassels, and add plaited handles. THE HARVEST PLAIT MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Two long stems of straws, or stalks of oats, barley or wheat, with ears left on, a little thread. [Illustration: FIG. 75.] This is made by Scottish children to wear in their hats at harvest time. Take two long firm straws with the ears on them and tie them together firmly just below the ears. Now flatten out each straw and bend one across the other, and the first across that again, making each fit close and fold evenly at the bend. You will find this holds quite firmly, when tied at the end, and makes a very pretty ornament. The same plait can also be done with strips of paper an inch wide, and used as a decoration at Christmas. DOLLS' FURNITURE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Some branches of willow, freshly cut, some laundry pins, a penknife, a little broad tape or carpet binding, needle and thread. [Illustration: FIG. 76.] [Illustration: FIG. 77.] These little chairs and stools can be very neatly made of willow or privet branches, or any twigs where there is a small core of soft pith which will allow a strong pin to fit in exactly. All the lengths for the various legs and spars of each article must be measured and cut very accurately before beginning to put them together; use a very sharp penknife to do the cutting. The pins used should be fairly strong ones. In the diagrams a broad piece of tape or ribbon has been stretched tightly round the spars back and front, and its end stitched together underneath, but this is not necessary. Two or more spars can be set across to form the seat, only if too many pins are pushed through one spar there is a tendency for it to split. A WHEELBARROW MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A piece of cork or a button mould, an empty matchbox, matches, needle and strong thread, a tiny piece of wire. [Illustration: FIG. 78.] A little wheelbarrow can be nicely made out of a match or cardboard box. The legs and handles are of matches, and may be fixed on with mucilage and held steady with large strong stitches. The support for the wheel is made of a strip taken from the lid of the matchbox and narrowed at one end where it supports the wheel. The wheel may be made of a slice of cork or a button mould fixed on with a piece of wire bent into a knot at each end to prevent it being pulled through the support. A FERN BASKET MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Fresh-cut willow twigs, laundry pins, four large beads. [Illustration: FIG. 79.] This is made of fairly thick twigs cut carefully in the same way as Figure 84, and pinned firmly together. Beads or small buttons can be fixed on for feet. The basket should be entirely lined with pretty moss, and then the earth put in and ferns planted in it. It must be kept very moist, and can be hung from the roof if preferred. A DOLL'S STOOL MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- The fireproof base of a gas mantle, a tiny piece of cardboard, a little wadding and a tiny piece of silk or velvet, mucilage or needle and thread. [Illustration: FIG. 80.] This is made from the earthenware support for a gas mantle. Take a piece of cardboard and draw round the circle of the mantle support on it, and cut it out. Then with a padding of tissue paper or wadding and a piece of pretty material make a neat cushion, using the cut-out circle of cardboard as a foundation; stitch or glue this neatly on the under side and fix it on to the support. A DOLL'S STOOL OF FEATHERS MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Four or five quills from a chicken's wing, some very fine pins, a little thread, scissors. [Illustration: FIG. 81.] This is made of small quill feathers and is very pretty. Use feathers which are large enough to hold a pin inside their hollow tubes. Cut off a thick piece of quill for each of the four legs and entirely strip them of webbing. Cut and strip rather thinner ones for the spars to support these, and fix as in Fig. 76, using very slender pins. If the quills used for legs are strong enough, the feathers for the sea may be pinned on also, but if they are inclined to split, those for the seat must be lashed on, and therefore must be cut so that they project at the ends beyond the legs. Cut each of these like A in the diagram, so that the webbing is cut straight across at the end furthest from the point of the quill. Fix each of these four quills into place with the webbing overlapping the sloping end of the quill in front of it. A PORTER'S HANDBARROW MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A wooden sweet box, a fret saw and sharp penknife, a reel, small tacks, upholsterer's nails. [Illustration: FIG. 82.] This can be made of nice pieces of soft wood such as are used for grocers' sweet-boxes or fruit boxes. Cut the two long sides with a saw and bevel them off in a curve to form the handles--they should be six to eight inches long. The crosspiece at the end should be about three inches, and also the two crossbars. Fasten the sides to the end about the middle of the latter, so that a piece projects below the sides wide enough to support the wheels--these should be made of a reel cut in half and fastened on with a large-headed nail. Smooth all down with coarse sandpaper. A CRANE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A wooden sweet box, three large reels, one small one, tacks, upholstery nails, string, mucilage, a fret saw, a large coat hook. [Illustration: FIG. 83.] This should also be made of a box of soft wood from the grocer. The semicircular sides should be about four inches long, where they are fastened to the base; they may either be glued or nailed on to this. The base should be about seven inches long and three inches wide. Before fastening on the side-pieces bore a hole at the end of each to insert the thick wire which turns the large reel used to wind the cord, and also set in the tacks which support the crane at each side. The sides of the crane should be about three quarters of an inch wide at the lower end, and should taper to about half an inch at the other end; they should be about seven inches long. Near the lower end use another smaller reel or a block of wood as a stay to hold the sides of the crane; it should be of such a size as to hold the ends of the crane firmly between the nails in the sides of the base. At the other end set in a very small reel, with a long slim nail, so that it will easily turn on it. Now take a good strong dressmaker's hook, such as is used for coats or mantles, fasten it to a length of strong string, and wind one end round the large reel, setting the hook end over the end of the crane. A TOP MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A large reel, a skewer or penholder, a fret saw, a penknife. [Illustration: FIG. 84.] This is made of a large reel cut in half and the roller portion cut away into a point with a penknife. The pin is made of a wooden skewer or penholder with the point projecting slightly beyond the cut portion of the reel. These are very good tops and spin very steadily. A TEETOTUM MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A small block of soft wood, an old penholder, a sharp penknife, a gimlet. [Illustration: FIG. 85.] This is made from a square block of wood cut sharply to a point with a peg sunk well into a close-fitting hole. Each flat side of the top has on it a letter or a number, and the game is to spin it round, and according to which letter or number falls upward each player takes or makes so many counters to the pool. The letters generally used are-- P==pay one, N==nothing, T==take one, W==win all. Beans or counters are usually played for. BOW AND ARROW MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A branch of pliable smooth wood, strong twine, a penknife, two goose quills. [Illustration: FIGS. 86 AND 87.] Take a smooth even branch of willow, cane, or other pliable wood about three quarters of an inch thick and about two feet or two and a half feet long, and round the smaller end cut a shallow groove about one and a half inches wide, and about half an inch from the end. About one inch from the thicker end cut a notch sloping inwards towards the middle of the stick just deep enough to hold firm a piece of strong string. Next bind round about four inches at the middle of the stick with string, laying the end of the string along the stick, so that the binding will cover it all but three inches. Bind the four inches very closely, and tie the end of the binding to the spare end of the string and knot it and cut away the ends. Now bind over in the same way, round the groove at the end of the stick, and knot the free end of the string to the spare end under the binding, and stretch the free end of the string very taut, so that the stick bends a little. Make a loop in the end of the string which can be easily slipped in and out of the notch at the other end of the bow. When not in use keep the looped end loose from the notch. The arrows must be of very straight light sticks or thin bamboo, and must be scraped or sandpapered perfectly smooth. At the point cut a long slit, and into it slip a long and very slender nail, and bind it round across the notch with strong linen thread. You can file off the head of the nail. At the other end make a similar but longer notch, and into it slip a portion of a quill feather with one side of the webbing practically cut away. Arrange both pieces of the quills so that they project the same distance at each side from the wooden shaft. Bind round the arrow with linen thread both above and below the quills, and at the extreme end deepen the mouth of the notch so that it makes a groove into which you can fit the string of the bow. A DART MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A six-inch stick of soft wood, a long nail, pincers, a file, a piece of stiff writing paper, a penknife or fret saw. [Illustration: FIG. 88.] This dart is made of a piece of soft wood about six inches long, and into the sharpened end a slim long nail is driven; the head may be nipped or filed off so that the point will stick into the ground or into a target. Across the other end cut or saw two notches at right angles, for about one inch down, and fit into these a square of paper folded neatly into "diagonals and diameters"--this makes the "feathering" of the dart. Smooth the dart with sandpaper. A CROSSBOW MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A bow-stick of pliable wood, strong string, a smooth lath of thin wood, a fret saw, an awl, a penknife, a long nail. [Illustration: FIGS. 89 AND 90.] This bow is made somewhat more elaborately than in Figure 86, and shoots off pebbles or bullets. The bow itself must be tapered evenly towards either end, and in the middle it must be bevelled flat for about two and a half inches at one side, and a slight groove run right round the stick at either end of the bevelled portion. Next take a thin lath or flat thin piece of wood, a quarter of an inch thick and rather less than the length of the bow. Taper it from two and a half inches wide at one end to one and a half at the other, and lay the broad end across the flattened portion of the bow with about one inch projecting. Mark on the crosspiece the width of the bow-stick and cut into each side of the crosspiece a deep sharp nick, leaving about one inch between each opposite set of nicks. Now draw your bow to the full extent of its curve without running the risk of breaking it, and mark on the crosspiece where the bowstring crosses it when the bow is drawn, and here cut a narrow slot right through the crosspiece. Into this insert a trigger as in Figure 90. The trigger must be of wood and should curve at one or both ends, and should be pinned through into its slot with a long thin nail, in such a position that the curved end will broad end across the flattened portion of full, and will lie well into the slot when the string is released. Now bind the crosspiece on to the side of the bow by strings fitting tightly into the four nicks and running round the grooves round the bow-stick. This will leave the crosspiece free of any bindings which might interfere with the bullet or "quarrel" as it leaves the bow. A CATAPULT MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A forked branch, strong round elastic, a scrap of leather, fine string, penknife, scissors. [Illustration: FIG. 91.] Take a firm forked branch about three quarters of an inch thick, or a little less, and trim the two forks evenly, and run a groove about three quarters of an inch wide round each, near the end. Into these bind very tightly two pieces of very strong round elastic about five inches long. Next take a firm piece of leather about one inch wide and two inches long, trim it away at the corners, and make a hole at each end into which insert the free ends of the elastic, turning them back on themselves and binding firmly. It may be well to mention that there are very strict police regulations about shooting with bows and catapults, and those who use them must only do so away from houses or traffic. A TARGET MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A bandbox, thin paper, string, scissors, ink, and paintbrush. [Illustration: FIG. 92.] A very simple target may be made by using a round bandbox and stretching over its open mouth a piece of newspaper, which may be kept in place by slipping over it the rim taken off the lid. Mark roughly on this the "Bull's Eye" in ink, and hang up the box by means of loops of string through the side. The newspaper can be renewed as often as is necessary. A square box will do just as well. A RAFT MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A quantity of reeds or thin straight twigs, a piece of cork, strong string. [Illustration: FIG. 93.] This is made of dry reeds or any other light straight sticks--bamboo is good. It may be made of any size and may even be made large enough to carry one or more persons, if the size and strength of the branches and lashings is duly proportioned, but for a toy reeds will do nicely. Lay down first the crossbar beneath the raft and then space out the raft itself to fit it, leaving a little space between each reed. Take a strong thin string and fasten it with a tight loop over the end of the first reed, turn it down and round the lower cross-spar, and then up and around the upper one, and lay in the next reed, and so on. When the first row of lashings is done lay on the second pair of crossbars, and if there is any difficulty about lashing the string a large darning-needle may help you, but if the lashing is done in the right direction this is not needful. If a mast is wanted, a reel, or a cork with a hole in it, may be lashed down to the raft as in the diagram, and the mast can be set firmly into this. A CANOE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Some cheap cloth or shelving, some "basketry cane," soft string or fine tape, scissors, penknife, a large strong needle. [Illustration: FIG. 94.] The best material for this is thin shelving cloth and it must be made at least twelve inches long. Double your shelving cloth, and outline on it the pattern of the side of the canoe, which should be cut in brown paper; this must be quite straight at the upper sides, not curving as it appears in the drawing. Lay the paper pattern with the line of the bottom of the canoe at the fold of the oilcloth. Now take two long pieces of cane, such as is used for basket-work, and with a large needle, and very thick thread, lash each length of cane along the outsides of the boat from end to end, keeping the shiny side of the cloth outwards. A short thick tapestry needle is best, and the lashing must be steady and even, but if it is difficult to stitch through the cloth an awl or pricker can be used to make the holes before beginning to stitch. Now take another piece of cane and bend about one inch at one end and lash this bent portion to the side of the boat about one-third of the way along the "gunwale" where it is already lashed, and lash it over firmly to this on the inside of the boat. Bend the cane now across to the opposite side of the canoe and meantime tie tightly together the ends of the cane that is lashed from end to end of the boat, and set in this crosspiece so that it keeps the two sides of the boat apart at the right angle. Fix in the second crosspiece likewise, and then lash the open ends of the boat firmly together. The canoe should be rather wide and shallow, or it will be inclined to lie on its side unless ballast is added by weighting it at the bottom. If weight is needed the best thing for this sort of boat is one or two of the heavy lead buttons to be had at a tailor's for weighting garments; they can be lashed on with strong thread through the holes. Quite large canoes can be made in this way, and if a tight "decking" of thin waterproof material be stretched across at both ends from the crosspiece it makes a vessel almost identical with the Eskimo "kayak" which used to be used round the coasts not so very long ago. A SHIP MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A block of soft wood ten or twelve inches long, about three inches wide and two inches deep, nine post cards, three skewers or old wooden knitting-pins, a cork, a piece of heavy wire, dressmakers' eyelets, some small staples, fine string, a gimlet, a sharp penknife, small tacks, scissors, mucilage. [Illustration: FIG. 95.] This is the simplest sort of a ship to model in wood; all wooden boats require carefulness in their modelling and balance. This can be made from six to twelve inches long, and in soft wood. Let your block of wood be about four times its width, roughly speaking. Rule a line up to center of your block to mark the keel and cut away from this with a very sharp knife to the curving outlines of the deck which must be drawn on the top side of the block. It would be impossible, in the space allowed for diagrams, to give details for modelling the body of the boat, but any boy can shape it if he is careful and observes, from pictures or actual boats or models, how to do it. When the body of the vessel is shaped and smoothed down with a file and sandpaper, take a piece of heavy thick wire, and bend it at either end and sharpen the ends into points with a file and hammer it into the keel; or, if preferred, a deep groove may be cut with a gouge and a strip of lead inserted. The rudder suggested here can be made either of wood, or of a double piece of tin with a piece of thick wire hammered in at the fold and left with one end projecting, so that it fits through a hole in the stem and forms a tiller. The rudder must have a hole pierced at the lower corner, and into this fix a small staple which must work loosely in its hole, and after the rudder is fixed in position this staple must be hammered into the stern of the boat. Figure 95 A shows the stern end with rudder fixed into place. Next cut a bowsprit of wood and with two staples fix it firmly on to the deck. Take three pieces of cork or three half reels, and glue or nail them to the deck--this will make a good hold for the masts. Then along each side of the boat at intervals fasten on a strong dressmaker's "eye" (for a hook) with its two small loops bent so that they overlap; the nail can be set through this. These eyelets are meant to hold the "stays" which keep the masts steady. Now take nine postcards, and about half an inch from the edge in the middle of each long side cut neatly a hole big enough to slip your masts through, with a strong needle, a piece of strong thin string or stout linen thread, knotting it with a large knot at the end. Lay the post cards flat so that they just touch and set the mast through the holes--a long wooden knitting-pin makes a capital mast--and the knob can be left on to finish it at the top. About one inch or more above the top sails make a slight groove round the mast, and round this bind tightly the threads laced through the cards, tightened so that each card bends a little; carry down these threads or stays now to the eyelets and fasten them firmly. Take another stay to the bowsprit and lash it down and carry it on to meet the front of the keel, and fasten it in with a tiny tack or a pin. Gum on small paper flags to the masts. This makes quite a good little sailing ship and it is not difficult to make. A PROPELLER MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A slip of thin wood, a small strip of tin, strong round elastic, strong tin cutters, a penknife or fret saw, an awl. [Illustration: FIG. 96.] This is a little propeller which with certain alterations can be fixed to any boat. Take a piece of tin, as in Figure A, and pierce it with two holes and file them quite smooth, and slightly bend either end left and right from the holes. Now take a piece of thin wood cut as in the diagram, with a long wide slot, so that it forms a sort of fork, and with screws or tacks hammer this on to the stern of your vessel at the two holes, so that it projects with the whole fork clear of the vessel. Now thread strong elastic through the holes in the tin blades of the propeller with the ends knotted firmly, making a double loop, each end looping over the respective forks. Twist this tightly round on the same principle as in the making of the wishbone clapper, and when the twist is released it will propel your boat a considerable distance either backwards or forwards according to the direction the thread is twisted. A DOLL MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- An old knitted stocking or pair of cotton gloves, two shoe-buttons, strong thread, some brown or black mending yarn, tissue paper, wadding, scissors, darning-needle. [Illustration: FIG. 97.] This doll is made of old stockings or old knitted or woven gloves. If only black stockings can be got it can be a nigger doll, or it can have its face alone made of light-colored glove. The stuffing must be of tissue paper roughly shaped to the right size and wrapped round with some yarn to keep it shapely, or this may be again wrapped round with a layer of cotton wadding. Shape the arms and legs separately, and fasten over the knitted covering very neatly with big, but firm, stitches. Stitch a line right through at the wrists and flatten out the hands, and make lines of stitching to mark the fingers and the line of the toes: make a sort of "dart" where the leg bends at the ankle. For the head--put an extra wad of soft padding under the face portion so that it is very soft and bulgy, and stitch firmly into this two shoe-buttons for eyes. Take a large darning-needle and take your stitches right through the head to the back; use very strong doubled linen thread. The knitted covering used for the head may be all gathered into the back and simply flattened roughly into place with big stitches, as you will cover it with "hair" later on. Now take your needle through again and make the two tiny stitches for the nostrils, and pull these stitches back very tight also. Two more stitches form the mouth with a wee one below to make a hollow below the lips. Now firmly stitch the head into place, and with brown or black knitting or mending yarn carefully make large stitches radiating from the crown of the head to the forehead: do not pull these tight, and use double wool if you like. Make long loose loops of wool all round the back of the head and above them stitch as before into the crown. This makes a really very good doll if it is carefully made, and not too hurriedly done. A BROWNIE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- A pair of old kid or leather gloves, tissue paper, flat milliner's wire, strong thread of the color of the gloves, stamp-paper, ink or water color paint, scissors, strong needle. [Illustration: FIG. 98.] This is a very jolly little fellow, and he is made of old kid gloves. His head and body are stuffed with tissue paper. The head is just wrapped with a square piece cut from the wrist of the glove neatly gathered in at each side and tightly tied. The loose ends must then have each one corner trimmed off in a sloping line towards the neck; this forms his flappy pointed ears. Now get two tiny rounds of gummed stamp-paper and ink on each an eyeball, only partially covering the paper, and gum these on for the eyes, and with pen or paintbrush put in his mouth and nose. You can give him a very woeful expression if you make his mouth turn down. Cover his body with the back of the gloves, so that the three "points" or rows of stitching make a trimming for his jacket. The legs and arms are made of slips of the kid stitched carefully over the flat wire used by milliners. The ends of the strips are left free and cut to a pointed flap to form feet and hands. Stitch limbs and head very firmly into place and bend at elbows and knees. This Brownie can be made to sit down and take many different positions; he is a very lifelike little doll. You can also make him a wee nightcap out of a knitted glove and put a feather in it, and dress him with a little cloak. KITES MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Thin straight sticks of canes, strong paper or thin cotton material, strong thin string, strong paste, large-eyed needle. [Illustration: FIGS. 99 TO 101.] These are several of the commoner and easier kites to make. They are usually made of paper pasted over the frame, but it is in all cases better if children will take the trouble to make their kites of thin cotton material and tack or baste it into place with large neat stitches; this really takes very little more time than pasting. The frames in every case should be of the lightest and straightest sticks possible to find. You can sometimes get very good ones which are used in strengthening cardboard boxes, or if you do not mind spending a few cents the narrow slips of wood used in making picture-frames are the very thing and any picture-framer can supply them. Perhaps the most usual kite is that shown in Figure 99. The two cross-sticks are first firmly lashed in position and the ends notched and tightly fixed in place with tight "stays" of string. Now cut your paper or cloth at least two inches wider all round than the outline of your framework, cutting away the angles at the corners, so that you have a neat flap to turn over all round. Never use gum or mucilage for a kite, good strong paste is best, if it is to be made of paper. Now at the three points where your "balances" are to be attached to the kite, paste on a little square patch of cloth so that the string or "balance" as it is called does not tear the fabric or paper, and fasten the ends of your two strings through the two upper patches and knot it firmly round your wooden framework. The loose ends of your balances must now be run through the third patch and fastened to the vertical spar of the frame. The string of the kite is fastened round these balances by a slipknot. Next add the tail, which needs careful adjustment to the weight of the kite; it can be weighted with rolls of paper at intervals, or little bundles of fresh grass. Scottish boys often weight it at the end with a "divot" which is a little piece of actual turf, both grass and root, all together. Figures 100 and 104 are another form of kite most commonly used in Scotland. This needs only one straight spar of wood, and the curved "bow" at the top can be made of light cane, such as is used for basket-making; or what is very good, if enough can be got, is a length of flat steel such as is used in lady's corsets. Fasten the "bow" to the spar by lashing it into a notch or groove at the top and bend it evenly and fasten it firmly by stays of string as in Figure 104, both across and to the end of the spar. Now lay on to your paper or cotton material and cut it out as before in Figure 100, with a good turnover to paste or stitch down, and add the patches where the balances are attached. These kites look very gay if a tassel of colored paper or wool is added at each end of the bow. Figure 101 is a very good kite to make if a really large one is wanted. The two long cross-spars of wood must be notched to fit each other about one-third of their length from the top of the kite, and stays of string must be so arranged that they spread about twice as wide at the bottom as they do at the top. This kite must have four patches to insert its balances through and the slipknot of the kite-string is fixed around both. Another "balance" should be fixed from the lower corners of the kite from which the tail is hung. This is a very steady kite. Figure 102--a box kite. This is a comparatively modern form of kite and looks very complicated. It is really less so than it looks. Take two long narrow strips of thin cotton material about eight inches wide and four and a half feet long (this is for a kite about thirty inches long). Have four straight thin spars of wood about thirty inches long, and after joining the two ends of your strips of cloth together make at intervals a narrow "casing" into which insert the ends of your spars. You can either place the casings at equal distances on your material, or you can arrange it so that the open ends of your kite form oblongs. Now have four flat spars of thin wood measured to make diagonals at each "box" end of your kite, and bore a tiny hole in the middle of each to insert a pin when the kite is stretched. At the ends of these diagonals cut a rectangular notch to hold the spars apart, tie the kite-string considerably nearer one end of the kite than the other, or you can attach a balance and fix on the kite-string by a slipknot. This kite needs no tail, and can be folded and rolled away by slipping out the diagonal spars. Figure 103--a round box kite. [Illustration: FIGS. 102 AND 103.] This can be made of very strong brown paper pasted so as to form a wide tube, like a large paper bag with the bottom cut out. Only two spars are needed. Inside the paper tubes arrange near each edge a circle of cane, as is used in basket-work or for stretching out the crown of a cap. Set this into place and lace through the paper a strong string and lash the cane through to the spar. This should hold quite steady if it is well done, but it can, of course, have a third straight spar if necessary. Attach the string as in the other box kite. [Illustration: FIGS. 104 TO 107.] Figures 105, 106, 107--a plane kite. This is a most beautiful and graceful kite and combines the box kite and the older varieties. The box portion is made with casings run into the cotton material at equal intervals so as to form a three-sided box. Fix in your three spars, all equal in size, and along each side fix a plane, or wing, of thin cotton material; it can be of another color and looks very gay if this is done. Make a little bag or pocket at the outer corner of each wing, and into this insert the ends of the fourth spar, so that the latter may be slipped out and the kite folded up. The string should be attached near the "nose" of the kite. It needs no tail. A MONKEY ON A STICK MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Some thin three-ply wood, two long knitting-pins, two small reels, a piece of hat wire, some small staples, pliers, an awl, a fret saw, water color paints and brushes, mending wool. [Illustration: FIG. 108.] Draw your monkey carefully on the three-ply wood, the body and limbs all separate, and a thin stump on to which the tail must be fastened. With the awl pierce tiny holes through arms, body, and legs, where they are attached, and insert a piece of wire, and with the pliers turn a small close knot in it on each side to prevent it coming out. Small wire paper clips will do instead if they can be got. Now saw off the rims of your two reels--they must be the same size--and into one of your reels fasten two staples over the pin and into the reel, so that they hold the pin very tightly, catching the pin just at one end. With another staple through each hand fasten the arms of your monkey to this reel, and slip the other reel round the same knitting-pin and extend your monkey to its fullest length, and now fix the other knitting-pin to the second reel so that its point projects a little way through the first reel. Keeping the monkey stretched to its fullest length fasten his feet with staples to the second reel, and be sure that the limbs work quite loosely in these staples. Now with mending yarn make a tassel and fasten it to the end of your hat wire, and wrap the wire all the way up with it almost to the end. Then proceed to lash the wire to the stump of the tail and bend the tail in a nice curve; this will vibrate when your monkey is worked up and down. A DANCING LADY MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Strong heavy white cardboard or thin wood, sharp knife or fret saw, crinkled paper, water color paints, a tiny portion of a quill, a tiny roll of tin or lead foil, small fine pins or wire, a small piece of narrow ribbon, a little writing paper, mucilage, string, scissors, pliers. [Illustration: FIG. 109.] This dainty little figure can be made to dance along a double string and can be very pretty. Cut out the body and legs and arms all separately; they may be drawn on white paper, or cut out and pasted on to the cardboard. If you find it difficult to make a pretty face, a suitable one may be cut from some picture post card and pasted on. The arms and legs must be fastened on to the body with a little wire which should be run through a tiny bead and twisted so that it does not come out. Roll the lead foil into a little long weight and stitch one down to the lower portion of the body both at the back and front. The crinkled paper skirt must be gathered on a draw-thread with a needle and tied evenly and tightly round the waist and fastened neatly with a little ribbon sash. Through the stomach of the little figure insert a tiny length of the quill of a feather and glue it into place; let it project towards the back more than the front. Through this quill run your string doubled so that there is a long loop both back and front and be sure that the string works easily through the quill. A portion of a tiny reel will do instead of a quill if it is glued on to the back. The object of the quill or reel is to form a tube, so that the figure will slip along this when the string is slackened, but that it will hold firm whenever the string is tightened. The weights must be heavy enough to make the figure balance and run downwards as the string is sloped. A pair of butterfly wings can be cut out of writing paper and painted and fastened to the back. A little garland of everlasting flowers or moss or beads can be fastened to the hands if you wish to do so. A MODEL AEROPLANE MATERIALS REQUIRED:-- Soft white wood, laundry pins, thin cardboard, a tiny piece of mica, mucilage. [Illustration: FIG. 110.] This model was made by a boy of eleven and is most beautifully proportioned and put together. The body and wings and floats and little boats are all made of the white wood, well smoothed with sandpaper; the steering-gear is of cardboard. The propeller is made of mahogany and the tiny wind-screens of semicircles of mica. All is put together with "laundry" pins. The ailerons on the upper planes are held by strips of narrow tape. A FARMYARD Such toys as this can only be suggested very briefly, but children with any common sense and imagination can make most elaborate and delightful collections. [Illustration: FIG. 111.] The box used for the byre or stable is only one of many more elaborate buildings that can be made. The dwelling house of larger boxes, the barns, the haystacks, the pigsty, the chicken coop, troughs, and such things can all be made of larger or smaller boxes. Buildings can be thatched with straw, rushes, hay; or corrugated paper may be put on the roof. The palings here are made of matches set into posts of wooden pegs, much like those used by gardeners to label plants. Trees and flowering plants can be made by getting small bushy bare twigs and wrapping their branches with moss, or fastening on everlasting flowers of gay dyed colors. Old sponges may be dyed green and cut up and fixed in the branches. A reel sawed in two makes a good plant pot for these. The sheep illustrated here is made of a cork, with legs of matches. Its head is a tiny bean fixed to the cork with a pin, both neck and body are wrapped in cotton wool, and it is neatly fastened on with white mending yarn. The lamb is made of a large bean and a small one, with legs of pins; the beans must be soaked before setting in the pins. Noah's ark animals can be used to increase the live stock of the farm. Fields can be made of green crinkled paper, and a piece of glass or a tiny mirror can be used to make a pond. Carts, barrows, and farm implements can be made of all sorts of things, and clever children can really make wonderful farms. Windmills and other simple machines can be introduced also. A DOLL'S HOUSE These can be made of bandboxes or orange-boxes and can be either very simple or as elaborate as you please. If cardboard boxes are used, Figure 113 shows how it can most easily be arranged to give the pitch of the roof. One story may be piled on another so that the house can be enlarged at will. Doors and windows are easily cut in the cardboard boxes. The windows can also be glazed if you get a few rolls of cinematograph film and fit and paste it on, but children must be warned that this is very inflammable and it is dangerous to bring it near the fire or gas. The inside of the rooms may be papered, and on the walls little pictures may be pasted. The illustrated catalogues from furniture shops can often be cut up, and the diagrams of doors, etc., cut out and pasted on the doors of your house. Figure 112 shows a sitting-room and a little shop or kitchen. In the latter the counter and dresser are made of matchboxes. The shelves are of strips of cardboard with uprights of cane, wire, or knitting-needles. The fireplace in the sitting-room can be made of a lid of a cardboard box stitched to the wall, and in it another box (a matchbox, for instance) can be set to make the grate. A good table can be made as in Figure 114, which is made by using a lid of a small box, and to the inside of its corners glueing the legs, and then the larger top of thick cardboard can be fixed on with mucilage. The little shields for the corks of bottles, made of pleated lead foil, make very pretty pots and kitchen vessels in such little houses. Rugs can be woven of wool and string, and cushions, etc., to furnish the place. But there is no end to the things a child can make for a doll's house if imagination is encouraged to work the hands. [Illustration: FIGS. 112 TO 114.] Other "Community Toys" can be made--railway stations, signals, and signal-boxes are very popular; a market place with its little tented stalls is charming. The houses we see in pictures of foreign lands give great interest, and many are so easy to make that it is quite possible to illustrate the history of home building by means of a series of toy houses. The darker side of life has even invaded our nurseries, and they too have shown the games of the trench and the guns: and it will be good to plan in our playwork now for the rebuilding of the world in the ways of peace, for it is these children of ours who must lead the world back or forward, for better or for worse. All the world is in their hands, though the hands may not yet be strong for more than the making of toys. We older children do but play other games with more serious intent, yet all the same the difference between the game and the business is but a difference of degree. THE END TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE -Plain print and punctuation errors fixed. 
5804	----	THE STORY OF A LAMB ON WHEELS BY LAURA LEE HOPE AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF A SAWDUST DOLL," "THE STORY OF A BOLD TIN SOLDIER," "THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES," "THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES," "THE SIX BUNKERS SERIES," ETC. CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE LAMB'S WISH II THE JOLLY SAILOR III A HOME ON SHORE IV SLIDING DOWNHILL V IN GREAT DANGER VI DOWN THE COAL HOLE VII THE LAMB CARRIED AWAY VIII SAILING DOWN THE BROOK IX ON A LOAD OF WOOD X MIRABELL IS HAPPY CHAPTER I THE LAMB'S WISH Out of his box the Jack popped his head. The funny, black fringe of whiskers around his face jiggled up and down. His queer, big eyes looked around the store. "Hurray!" cried the Jack in the Box. "We are alone at last and now we can have some fun! Hurray!" "Are you sure?" asked a Bold Tin Soldier, who stood at the head of a company of his men in a large box. "Am I sure of what?" inquired the Jack, as he swung to and fro on the spring which made him pop out of the box. "Are you sure we are alone?" went on the Soldier. "It would be too bad if we should come to life when any one could see us." "There is no one in the department but us toys," said a Calico Clown, and he banged together some shiny cymbals on the ends of his arms. "The Jack is right--we are all by ourselves." "I am glad of it," said a woolly Lamb on Wheels, who stood on the floor, just under the edge of the toy counter. She was rather too large to be up among the smaller toys. "Yes, I am glad of it," went on the Lamb. "I have kept still all day, and now I have something to tell you all, my friends." "Something nice?" asked a Candy Rabbit, who stood next to a Monkey on a Stick. "I think it is nice," said the Lamb. "But, as you know, I could not move about or speak so long as any of the clerks or customers were here." "That's so," agreed the Bold Tin Soldier. For it was one of the rules of Toyland, as you know, that none of the folk who lived there could do anything while human eyes were watching them. The Dolls, Soldiers, Clowns, Rocking Horses, Lambs were not able to move, talk, or make believe come to life if a boy or a girl or any one at all looked at them. "But now we are alone we can have some fun," said the Jack in the Box. "Let's have a jumping race, to see who can go the farthest. Come on! I'm ready!" "Yes, you are always ready to jump out of your box as soon as the cover is taken off," remarked the Lamb on Wheels. "But the rest of us are not such high kickers as you are. I cannot jump at all. I can only run around on my wheels, just as the White Rocking Horse, who used to live here, could only go on his rockers." "Well, what shall we do then?" asked the Jack. "I'm ready to do anything." "Suppose we have the Calico Clown play us a little tune on his cymbals," suggested the Bold Tin Soldier. "My men and I like to hear his music. After that we will march around and then--" "Then we must listen to what the Lamb has to say," cried the Monkey on a Stick. "She said she had something to tell us." "Oh, excuse me," came from the Bold Tin Soldier Captain, with a wave of his shiny sward. "Perhaps you want to tell us your story now, Miss Lamb?" "No," she answered. "Later will do. It is not exactly a story--it is more of a wish. But first I should like to listen to the Calico Clown." "All right! Here we go!" cried the jolly Clown. He was a gaily dressed fellow, and his calico suit was of many colors. One leg was red and another yellow, and his shirt was spotted and speckled and striped. The Calico Clown stood up near the box where the Bold Tin Soldier was ready to lead his men in a march. And the Clown banged together his shiny cymbals. "Bang! Bung! Bang! Bung!" clanged the cymbals, making music that the Toy Folk liked to hear, though I cannot say you would have cared much for it. "Now it is your turn to march, Captain!" called the Candy Rabbit. "Show us what you and your men can do. That will amuse us." "All right!" agreed the Bold Tin Soldier. "Attention, men!" he cried, "Ready! Shoulder arms! Forward--March!" Out of their box, following their Captain, came the tin soldiers. Around and around the toy counter they marched, the Calico Clown making music for them on his cymbals. "Isn't this jolly!" cried the Monkey on a Stick. Once more around the toy counter marched the Bold Tin Soldier and his men. They were careful not to get too near the edge, for they did not want to fall off. "There, how did you like it?" asked the Captain, as his men stopped to rest. "It was fine!" answered the Candy Rabbit. "Now we will listen to the Lamb on Wheels." "Oh, I'm sure I haven't so very much to say," said the white, fuzzy toy. "But I was thinking, to-day, of the Sawdust Doll, and--" "Do you mean the Sawdust Doll who used to live here with us?" asked the Calico Clown. "Excuse me for interrupting you," he said politely, "but I just couldn't help it. I was thinking of the Sawdust Doll myself. And I was wondering if you meant the same one that used to be here." "Yes," answered the Lamb, "I did. It was of her I was thinking. She was on our toy counter about the same time the White Rocking Horse lived with us." "And she went away just before he did," said the Monkey on a Stick. "The Sawdust Doll comes back, once in a while, to see us. But the Rocking Horse does not." "It is harder for him than for her," said the Lamb. "The little girl, whose mother bought the Sawdust Doll, often brings her back to see us. And the Sawdust Doll once told me she had a lovely home with a little girl named Dorothy." "And I think I heard her say that the White Rocking Horse lived in the same house with her, and belonged to a boy named Dick," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "Yes, that is true," said the Lamb. "Well, what I was going to tell you about was a little girl who came in to look at me to-day. She was one of the nicest little girls I ever saw--fully as nice as the Dorothy who has the Sawdust Doll." "And did this little girl buy you--or did her mother?" asked the Calico Clown. "I should hate to see you leave us," he went on. "Of course we want you to get a nice home, but it will be lonesome if you, too, go away." "That's so," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "We have lost our Sawdust Doll and our White Rocking Horse, and now, if the Lamb on Wheels goes away from us--dear me!" "I have no idea of going away!" answered the Lamb. "All I was going to say was that a beautiful little girl came to the toy department to-day with her mother, and she admired me very much--the little girl did. She patted my back so softly, and she rubbed my head and she asked her mother to buy me." "And did she?" asked the Calico Clown. "No, I think not," replied the Lamb. "At least, if she did, I was not taken away. But I wish, oh, how I wish I could get into a nice home, such as the Sawdust Doll has." "I trust you will get your wish," said the Calico Clown. "And I think we all have the same wish--that we will have kind boys and girls to own us when we go from here. But now let us be jolly. I'll tell you a funny riddle." "Oh, yes, please do!" begged the Lamb. "I love riddles!" "Let me see, now," mused the Calico Clown, softly banging together his cymbals. "I think I'll ask you the riddle about the pig. What makes more noise than a pig under a gate?" "What kind of gate?" asked the Monkey on a Stick. "It doesn't make any difference what kind of gate," said the Clown. "I should think it would," the Monkey stated. "And while you are about it, why don't you tell us what kind of pig it is?" "That doesn't make any difference either," said the Clown. "The riddle is what makes more noise than a pig under a gate." "Excuse me, but I should think it would make a great deal of difference," went on the Monkey. "A big pig under a small gate would make more noise than a little pig under a big gate. If we only knew the size of the gate and what kind of pig it was, we might guess the riddle." "Hark! I hear a noise! Some one is coming!" cried the Bold Tin Soldier, and all the toys became as quiet as mice. CHAPTER II THE JOLLY SAILOR The noise which the toys had heard, and which had made them all stop talking, causing them to become as quiet as mice--this noise seemed to be coming nearer and nearer. It was a rolling, rumbling sort of noise. "Can that be the watchman?" whispered the Calico Clown to the Bold Tin Soldier. "I hardly think so," was the answer. "He tramps along differently, his feet making a noise like the beat of a drum. This is quite another sound. But we had better keep still until we see what it is." So all the toys kept quiet, and the noise came nearer and nearer and nearer, and then, all of a sudden, there rolled along the floor a toy Elephant on roller skates. "Hello! Hello there, my toy friends!" cried the Elephant through his trunk. "How are you all? And where is the White Rocking Horse? I'll have a race with him. I tried to the other night, but one of my roller skates jiggled off and then the watchman came and the race could not be run. Where is the Rocking Horse?" "Why, didn't you hear?" asked the Clown, as he sat up, for the toys knew it would be all right now to move about and talk as they had been doing. "Didn't I hear what?" asked the Elephant, sliding around on his roller skates. "I hear a lot of things," he went on, "but these skates make so much racket I can't hear very well when I have them on. They don't really belong to me," he said, looking at the Candy Rabbit. "I just borrowed them from the sporting section, as I did before, to race with the White Rocking Horse." "Well, you might have saved yourself the trouble," said the Monkey on a Stick. "The White Rocking Horse isn't here any more. He was sold." "Dear me!" exclaimed the Elephant. "That's too bad! Then I can't have a race." "Unless you want to race with the Lamb on Wheels," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "She has wheels on her feet almost like your roller skates. Will you race with her?" "Thank you, I don't believe I care to race," put in the Lamb. "I am not used to it. And I might break a leg, and then that nice little girl, who was petting me to-day, would not want to buy me. I had better not race." "Just as you like," came from the Elephant. "But I am sorry that my friend, the White Rocking Horse, has gone. I wonder if I shall ever see him again." And the Elephant did see the Rocking chap later on, as you may read in the book telling "The Story of the White Rocking Horse." It was in a Toy Hospital where they met, after each had had many adventures. "Well, if we are not going to have a race, what shall we do?" asked the Calico Clown. "Suppose you tell us another riddle," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "Let the Monkey on a Stick, the Jack in the Box and the Candy Rabbit have a jumping race!" proposed the Lamb. "They are all good jumpers." "Oh, yes!" cried all the other toys. "A jumping race would be fine!" "I'm ready!" said the Jack in the Box, waving to and fro on the end of his long, slender spring. "So am I," said the Monkey, as he climbed to the top of his stick. "Well, I suppose I shall have to do my best," said the Candy Rabbit. "Clear a place on the counter, and we'll try some jumps." The Bold Tin Soldier and his men soon cleared a place on the toy counter so that the Jack, the Monkey and the Rabbit would have plenty of room. The building blocks, the checkers and the dominoes were moved out of the way, and then the Calico Clown took his place, ready to count "One! Two! Three!" so the three toys would know when it was time to jump. "I'm allowed to come out of my box, am I not?" asked the Jack. "Oh, of course," said the Lamb on Wheels. "It would not be fair to have you jump and carry your box with you. You may come out." So the Jack jumped out of his box and took his place next to the Monkey, who also came down off his stick. I wish you could have seen how nimble they were, but, really, it is not allowed. The minute you looked at any of the toys they stopped moving at once. "Are you all ready?" asked the Calico Clown, banging his cymbals together. "If so--go!" Away jumped the Candy Rabbit! Away jumped the Monkey! Away leaped the Jack who lived in a Box. At the far end of the toy counter the Bold Tin Soldier and his men had placed some sofa cushions from the upholstery department. That was in case either of the three might stumble and fall. "Look at the Jack jump!" exclaimed the Calico Clown. "And see the Monkey sail through air," remarked the Lamb on Wheels. "But the Candy Rabbit is doing best of all," said the Bold Tin Soldier. And really the Rabbit was the best jumper of the three. In fact, he jumped so far that he sailed over the edge of the counter. And only that a sofa cushion fell, at the same time, to the floor, so that the Candy Rabbit landed on the soft, feathery thing, he might have hurt himself. "The Candy Rabbit wins! The Candy Rabbit wins the jumping race!" cried the Calico Clown, banging together his cymbals. "Yes, he is the best jumper," agreed the Monkey and the Jack, who had jumped only to the end of the toy counter. "Oh, I'm sure you two could do as well if you had only had more practice," said the Candy Rabbit, who was a nice, modest sort of chap. "Shall we try it again?" asked the Jack, who really thought he was a fine jumper. "There will not be time," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "I can see the sun coming up. Soon the store will begin to fill with clerks and shoppers, and we must lie as still and quiet as if we never had moved or talked. To-morrow night we shall have more fun." A little later the girls and young ladies who worked at the toy counters and shelves came in to get ready for customers. Soon the people began coming in to look at the toys. The Lamb on Wheels stood on the floor just under the counter. She was rather a large lamb, over a foot high--that is, she was large for a toy lamb, though of course real ones are larger than that when they grow up. "I wonder if I shall see that nice little girl to-day," thought the Lamb, as she heard the hum and buzz of the shoppers. "I hope I may. And I hope I get as nice a home as the Sawdust Doll has." She stood up straight and stiff, on her legs, did the Lamb. Her feet were fast to a wooden platform, and under that were wheels, so the Lamb could be rolled along from place to place. At night, when no one was looking at her, the Lamb could move along on the wheels by herself. But now she was very still and quiet, staring straight ahead as the dolls stared. "I wonder what will happen to me to-day," thought the Lamb on Wheels again. Through the toy department came striding a jolly-looking man who, when he walked, seemed to swing from side to side. "What ho!" cried the jolly man, as he stopped at the toy counter. "I want to buy something!" he added. "I'm a sailor, just back from a long sea voyage, and I have plenty of money! I want to buy a toy!" "What kind of toy?" asked the girl behind the counter. "We have many kinds here," and she smiled at the sailor. He was so jolly no one could help smiling at him. "We have Bold Tin Soldiers," went on the girl. "We have Calico Clowns, Candy Rabbits, a Monkey on a Stick, and a Lamb on Wheels, and lots of things." "Hum! those are all very nice toys," said the jolly sailor. "But I think I'd like to look at the Lamb on Wheels." "There she is, right in front of you, on the floor," said the girl. "Oh, ho! So this is the Lamb on Wheels!" cried the jolly sailor as he picked her up. "Well, this seems just the toy I want. I'll take her! I'll buy this Lamb on Wheels!" "Oh, dear me!" thought the Lamb, for she knew what was going on, even though she dared not move by herself, or speak, "if this sailor buys me he'll take me on an ocean trip and I'll be seasick! Oh, dear, this is going to be dreadful!" CHAPTER III A HOME ON SHORE The jolly sailor held in his hands the Lamb on Wheels. He looked her over carefully, and rubbed her warm, woolly sides. Though his hand was not as soft as was that of the little girl who had stroked the Lamb the day before, yet the sailor was gentle in his touch. "Well, I suppose there is no use thinking any longer of having a home like the one the Sawdust Doll got, with her little girl mistress to love her," said the Lamb on Wheels to herself. "I am to be taken away by this sailor--away out to sea. I never could stand sailing, anyhow. Oh, dear! why do I have to go?" "Does she squeak?" asked the sailor of the clerk, as he held the Lamb in his hands. "Oh, no. She isn't that kind of Lamb," answered the clerk, with a laugh. "She is just a Lamb on Wheels, and she has real wool on her back and sides and legs. She does not squeak or go baa-a-a-a, and if you want her to move you have to pull her along." "Well, I was going to get a Lamb that squeaked," went on the sailor, "but I suppose this one will do just as well." "We have a Calico Clown who bangs his cymbals together when you press on his stomach or chest," said the girl. "See this toy! Maybe you would like this!" She picked up the Calico Clown in his gaily colored suit, and, pressing on him in the middle, she made him bang his cymbals together. "That is a jolly toy," said the sailor. "Let me see it." He took up the Calico Clown, and did as the girl clerk had done. "Bing! Bang! Bung!" went the cymbals. "Oh, I hope he buys me," thought the Clown. "I should love to go to sea on a ship." But the sailor appeared to like the Lamb on Wheels best. He took her up again, and the Lamb, who had begun to hope that she might not have to go to sea, felt sad again. "I'll take this Lamb on Wheels," said the sailor. "How much is it?" and he pulled out his pocketbook, as he tucked the lamb under his arm. "Oh, I must wrap it up for you," said the girl. "You are not supposed to take things from the store unless they are wrapped. I'll get a large piece of paper for the Lamb." And while the clerk was gone the sailor walked about, looking at some bicycles and velocipedes at the far end of the toy department. Thus the Lamb and her friends were left by themselves for a moment or two, with no one to look at them. This was just the chance the Lamb wanted. She could talk now. "Oh, just think of where I am going to be taken!" she said to the Calico Clown. "Off to sea!" "Real jolly, I call it!" said the Clown. "I wish he had picked me for the trip." "And I wish he had taken me," put in the Bold Tin Soldier. "I have always longed for a sea trip." "Well, I wish either of you had gone in my place," said the Lamb on Wheels, a bit sadly. "Now I shall never see the Sawdust Doll or the White Rocking Horse again." "You must make the best of it," said the Monkey on a Stick. "I know what sailors are--I have heard of them. They like to have monkeys and parrots for pets--that is, real ones, not toys such as we are. But sailors are kind, I have heard." But the woolly Lamb only sighed. She felt certain that she would be seasick, and no one can have a good time thinking of that. "Well, if you go on an ocean trip we may never see you again," said the Monkey on a Stick. "Ocean travel is very dangerous." "Nonsense! It isn't anything of the sort!" cried the Calico Clown, and he tried to wink at the Monkey from behind a pile of building blocks. "The ocean is as safe as the shore. Why, look at the English and French dolls," he said, waving his cymbals in the direction of the imported toys in the next aisle. "They came over the ocean in a ship, and they did not even have a headache. And look at the Japanese dolls--they came much farther, over another ocean, too, and their hair was not even mussed." "That's so," said the Lamb, and she felt a little better at hearing this. "You want to keep still--don't scare her!" whispered the Clown to the Monkey. "It's bad enough as it is--having her taken away by the sailor. Don't make it worse!" "All right, I won't," said the Monkey. And he began to talk about the happier side of an ocean trip; how beautiful the sunset was, and how there was never any dust at sea. Then the sailor came back from having looked at the velocipedes, and the girl clerk brought a large sheet of paper. In this the Lamb was wrapped. She had a last look at her friends of the toy shelves and counters, and then she felt herself being lifted up by the sailor. Out of the store the sailor carried the Lamb on Wheels. She wished she had had time to say good-bye to her friends, but she had not, and she must make the best of it. "At any rate I am going to have adventures, even though they may be on a ship, and even though I may be seasick," thought the Lamb. "And perhaps I may not be so very ill." On and on walked the sailor, down this street up another until, after a while, he stopped in front of a house. "This must be the place," he said to himself. "I wonder if Mirabell is at home. I'll go in and see." Up the steps he went and rang the bell. There was a hole in the paper wrapped about the Lamb, and through this hole she could look out. She saw that she was on the piazza of a fine, large house. There was another house next door, and at the window stood a little girl with a doll in her arms. "Gracious goodness!" exclaimed the Lamb on Wheels to herself. "That looks just like the Sawdust Doll who used to live in our store! I wonder if it could be?" However she had no further chance to look, for the door opened just then, and the sailor went inside the house, carrying the Lamb with him. "Where's Mirabell?" asked the sailor of the maid who opened the door. "She is up in the playroom," was the answer. "She has been ill, but she is better now." "So I heard!" went on the jolly sailor. "I brought her something to look at. That will help her to get well." Up to the playroom he went, and no sooner had he opened the door than Mirabell, which was the name of the little girl, ran toward him. "Oh, Uncle Tim!" cried Mirabell, as soon as she saw the jolly sailor, "how glad I am to see you!" "And I'm glad to see you, Mirabell," he laughed. "Look, I have brought you something!" "Is it a monkey, Uncle Tim?" she asked. "No, Mirabell, it isn't a monkey. It is a woolly Lamb on Wheels. I saw it in a toy store and I brought it to you." "For me--to keep, Uncle Tim?" asked Mirabell, as the sailor took the wrapping paper off. "Yes, for you to keep," was the sailor's answer. "Did you think I would be buying a Lamb for myself, to take to sea with me? Ho! Ho! I should say not!" he chuckled. "Oh, how glad I am! And how I shall love this Lamb!" said the little girl. As for the Lamb on Wheels, she was glad and happy, too, when she heard, as she did, what the sailor said. "Oh, I'm to have a home on shore!" thought the Lamb. "I am not going to be taken on an ocean voyage at all, and be made seasick. I am to have a home on shore!" And that is just what the toy Lamb had. The jolly sailor, who was Mirabell's uncle, had bought the toy for the little girl. "Do you like the Lamb?" asked Uncle Tim. "Oh, do I? Well, I just guess I do!" cried Mirabell, and she hugged the Lamb in her arms, and rolled her across the floor on her wheels. "Do you know, Uncle Tim," went on Mirabell, "this is the very same Lamb I saw in the store, and wanted so much?" "No! Is she?" asked the sailor, in surprise. "The very same one!" declared Mirabell. "I was in the store once with Dorothy, the little girl who lives next door. She has a Sawdust Doll that came from the same store. And we were there the other day, before I was taken ill, and I saw a woolly lamb--this very same one, I'm sure--and I wanted it so much! But Mother said I must wait, and I'm glad I did, for now you gave it to me." "Yes, I'm giving you the Lamb for yourself--to keep forever," said the sailor. "I wouldn't dream of taking her on a sea voyage with me." So you see the Lamb need not have been uneasy after all. But of course she did not know that when the sailor bought her. Mirabell stroked the soft wool of her new toy Lamb. She wheeled it across the floor again, and the sailor watched her. Then, all of a sudden, the door of the playroom was opened with such a bang that it struck the Lamb and sent her spinning across the floor, upside down, into a corner. "Oh, Arnold!" cried Mirabell to her brother, who had come in so roughly. "Look what you did! You've broken my Lamb on Wheels!" CHAPTER IV SLIDING DOWNHILL Arnold, who was a boy about as old as Dick, the brother of Dorothy, stopped short after slamming open the playroom door. He looked at his sister, then at the Lamb lying upside down in a corner, and then he looked at the jolly sailor. "What did I do?" asked Arnold, who was taken by surprise by the way his sister called to him. "You broke my new toy, the Lamb on Wheels," answered the little girl. "Oh, I hope she isn't killed!" and running to the corner, she picked up her new toy. "Oh, I didn't mean to do that," said Arnold, who was sorry enough for the accident. "I didn't know you were in here," he went on. "I came to get my toy fire engine. I'm going to play with Dick and his express wagon. Where'd you get your Lamb on Wheels, Mirabell?" "Uncle Tim brought her to me," answered the little girl. Mirabell carefully looked at her plaything. And she was very glad to find out that no damage seemed to have been done. None of the four wheels was broken, the little wooden platform on which the Lamb stood was not splintered, and there was not so much as a bruise on the little black nose of the Lamb herself. "I guess she is so soft and woolly that she didn't get hurt much," Mirabell said, turning the Lamb over and over. "She's so fat and soft--like a rubber ball," she added. "I'm glad of that," said Arnold. "Next time I come into a room I'll look near the door to see that there isn't a Lamb behind it." "That's the boy!" exclaimed Uncle Tim. "And here is something I brought for you, Arnold. I didn't buy it in a toy store. It's a little wooden puzzle I whittled with my knife out of a bit of wood when I was on the ship." Arnold looked at what Uncle Tim gave him. It was a puzzle, made of some wooden rings on a stick, and the trick was to get the rings off the stick. Arnold tried and tried but could not do it until his uncle showed him how the trick was done. Then it was easy. "Oh, thank you!" cried the boy, when he had learned how to do the trick himself. "I'm going over and show Dick this puzzle. I don't believe he can do it. Want to come, Mirabell, and show Dorothy your Lamb on Wheels?" "No, thank you, not now," Arnold's sister answered. "I'm going to get a comb and brush and make my Lamb's wool all nice and fluffy. She got all mussed when you banged her into the corner." "I'm sorry," said Arnold again. "Do you want me to brush her off for you?" "I guess not!" laughed Mirabell. "Once you tried to get the tangles and snarls out of the hair of one of my dolls, and you 'most pulled her head off." "All right. Then I'll take this puzzle and show it to Dick and Dorothy," decided Arnold. "Who are Dick and Dorothy?" asked Uncle Tim. "The little boy and girl who live next door," Mirabell explained. "Dorothy has a Sawdust Doll, and Dick has a White Rocking Horse. They came from the same store where you got my Lamb on Wheels!" "Is that so?" cried the jolly sailor. "Well, you'll have to take your Lamb over next door and let her meet her toy friends again." "I'm going to," Dorothy said. "Oh, Uncle Tim, don't you believe Dolls, and Lambs, and things like that, really know one another when they meet?" "I shouldn't be a bit surprised if they did," answered the sailor. "You take your Lamb over and see if she remembers the Sawdust Doll and the White Rocking Horse." "I will!" promised Mirabell. And when the Lamb heard this, though just then she dared not move by herself or speak, she felt very happy. For, as I have told you, though she dared not move when human eyes were looking at her, there was nothing to stop her from hearing what was said. The Lamb had ears, and what good would they be if she could not hear through them, I'd like to know? "Oh, I am so glad I am going to see the Sawdust Doll and the Rocking Horse again," thought the Lamb. "I hope I get a chance to talk to them when no one is looking. I want to tell them about their friends that are still in the toy store." While Arnold hurried next door with his toy fire engine, that pumped real water, to play with Dick and to show his puzzle, Uncle Tim went downstairs to talk to Mirabell's mother. Then Mirabell got her best doll's comb and brush, which were just the right size, and not a bit too small or too large, and with this comb and brush she smoothed the kinks and snarls out of the Lamb's wool. For when Arnold had opened the door so suddenly, banging the Lamb into a corner, though he did not mean to do it, he had tangled the woolly coat of the toy. "But I'll soon smooth it out," thought Mirabell, as she used comb and brush. "And I won't hurt you, either, my nice Lamb!" And Mirabell was so careful that the Lamb never once cried Baa-a! as almost any other lamb would do if you pulled her wool. The little girl had made her Lamb nice and tidy, and she was going downstairs, Mirabell was, to see what Uncle Tim was doing, when Arnold came back from Dick's house with the toy fire engine and the wooden puzzle the sailor had made for him. "Oh, Mirabell, I know how we can have a lot of fun!" cried Arnold. "How?" asked the little girl. "With your new Lamb," went on her brother. "Come on, I'll show you. We must go down to the kitchen. It's a new trick. Dick told me about it. He did it with an old roller skate." "What trick is it?" asked Mirabell. "I hope it won't hurt my Lamb." "No, it'll be a lot of fun," said Arnold. "I told Dick and Dorothy about your Lamb, and they want to see her. I guess the Sawdust Doll and the Rocking Horse want to see her, too." "I'll go over to-morrow," promised Mirabell. "Now show me the funny trick, Arnold." The two children went down to the kitchen. There was no one in it just then, as the cook was out, and Mother was in the parlor talking to Uncle Tim, the sailor. "First we've got to get the long ironing board," said Arnold. "What are we going to do with that?" Mirabell asked. "Make a sliding downhill thing for your Lamb," answered her brother. "Why, how can you do that?" asked Mirabell. "There isn't any snow now, though there was some for Christmas. How can you make a sliding downhill thing without snow?" "Ill show you," Arnold said. "Wait till I get the ironing board." It was kept in the cellar-way, hanging on a nail, and Arnold went there to get it. But the board was so long and heavy that his sister had to help him lift it down off the nail. "We'll put one end up on a chair, and the other end down on the floor," said Arnold. "That will make a sliding downhill place." "Yes," replied Mirabell, as she saw her brother do this. "But it isn't slippery enough for anybody to slide down. You must have snow for a hill." "Not this kind," Arnold answered, with a laugh. "You see your Lamb has wheels on her, and she can roll right down the ironing board hill, just like Dick made an old roller skate roll down. Look, Mirabell!" Arnold took the Lamb from his sister's arms and set the toy on the high end of the slanting ironing-board hill. And when the Lamb looked down, and saw how steep it was, and how long, she said to herself: "Oh, I'm afraid something dreadful will happen to me! I never coasted downhill before, though I have heard some of the sleds and toboggans in the toy department speak of it. Oh, he's letting go of me!" she cried to herself, as she felt Arnold taking off his hands by which he had been holding her at the top of the ironing-board hill. "He's going to let me go!" And let go of the Lamb Arnold did. "Watch her coast, Mirabell!" he called to his sister. Slowly at first, the Lamb on Wheels began to roll down the long, smooth, sloping board. Then she began to go faster and faster. At the bottom she could see the shiny oilcloth on the kitchen floor. Beyond the end of the ironing board the kitchen floor stretched out a long way. "Oh, I feel so queer!" bleated the Lamb as, faster and faster, she slid down the ironing-board hill. "Oh, what a strange adventure!" CHAPTER V IN GREAT DANGER "Look, Mirabell!" cried Arnold, pointing to the Lamb as she went down the ironing board. "Didn't I tell you she could coast without any snow?" "Yes, you did, and she really is doing it!" laughed the little girl, clapping her hands. "Oh, isn't it nice? I never thought a Lamb could coast downhill!" "I never did, either," said the woolly Lamb to herself. "This is the first time I was ever made to do a thing like this, and I hope it will be the last! Oh, how fast I am going!" "It's the wheels on her that make her coast so nice," explained Arnold, when the Lamb was half way down the ironing-board hill. "If she didn't have them she wouldn't roll down at all. A Sawdust Doll can't do it, nor a Rocking Horse. It's got to be something with wheels." When the Lamb heard this, as, of course, she did hear, having ears, she thought to herself: "Well, maybe this will not be so bad, after all. I can do things, it seems, that the Sawdust Doll and Rocking Horse cannot do. Not that I am going to be proud, or stuck up," went on the Lamb to herself. "Oh, look at her go!" cried Dick. "Yes, but I hope she won't be hurt," said the little girl. "I wouldn't want my Lamb on Wheels that Uncle Tim just gave me to be hurt." "I should say not!" thought the Lamb to herself. "Sliding down ironing-board hills may be something not many other toys can do, but I don't want anything to happen." Faster and faster she went, and finally she reached the end of the board and came to the smooth oilcloth on the floor. Then the wheels carried her across that to the far side of the room, and the Lamb brought up with a little bump against the baseboard. "Oh, I hope she isn't hurt!" cried Mirabell, as she ran to pick up her toy. And the Lamb was all right--there was not even a kink out of place in her soft, woolly coat. So Mirabell and Arnold had fun letting the Lamb on Wheels coast down the ironing-board hill. Again and again they gave her a nice, long slide across the smooth oilcloth on the kitchen floor. "Now this is the last," said Mirabell, after a while. "I want to put her to sleep." Once more the Lamb was lifted to the high part of the ironing board and allowed to coast down on her wheels. But, alas! this time, just as she was rolling over the kitchen floor, one of the wheels hit against Arnold's foot. Instead of going in a straight line the Lamb swung off to one side. Straight toward the outside door she rolled, and just then Susan, the cook, came in from out-of-doors. Susan held the door open for a moment, and before either Mirabell or Arnold could stop the Lamb, out she rolled to the back steps. "Oh, my Lamb! My Lamb!" cried Mirabell. "She'll break her legs if she falls down the steps!" Down the back steps, bumpity-bump went the Lamb on Wheels. But she did not break any of her four legs, I am glad to say. Just how it happened I do not know, but when Mirabell and Arnold ran out to pick up the Lamb on Wheels the children found that the toy was not in the least hurt, except, maybe, the wool was ruffled up a little. "Dear me, what a lot of adventures I am having!" thought the Lamb, as Mirabell picked her up. "I wish I could tell the Calico Clown or the Bold Tin Soldier something about them. They are quite remarkable, I think!" "Is she hurt?" asked Arnold, as he saw his sister holding her new toy. "No, she seems to be all right," replied Mirabell. "But I'm not going to slide her down the ironing-board hill any more to-day. She must go to sleep." So the board was hung away, and soon the Lamb was put in a little stable Mirabell made for her out of a pasteboard box. The stable was set in a corner of the playroom, near a little Wooden Lion that had once lived in a Noah's Ark. He was the only one of the Ark animals left. Arnold or Mirabell had lost all the others. "Don't be afraid of me! I won't bite you," said the Wooden Lion to the Lamb on Wheels, when they were left alone in the playroom. The children had gone downstairs to supper with Uncle Tim, and the sailor was telling them many jolly stories of the sea. "Oh, I'm not afraid of you," said the Lamb on Wheels to the Wooden Lion. "I am much larger than you, even if you are like the jungle animals." "It isn't my fault that I am small," said the Wooden Lion, a little crossly, the Lamb thought. "I had to be made that way to fit in the Ark. You ought to see the Elephant. He isn't much larger than myself!" "Did he have on roller skates?" asked the Lamb. "Roller skates!" exclaimed the Wooden Lion. "Why! who ever heard of such a thing? A Noah's Ark Elephant on roller skates! The idea!" "Oh, you needn't get so excited," said the Lamb, as she wiggled her short tail the least bit. "In the toy store, where I came from, we had an Elephant who put on roller skates and raced with a White Rocking Horse." "I wish I could have seen that," said the little Wooden Lion. "It must have been funny." "It was," said the Lamb on Wheels. "The Elephant wanted to race with me, after the Horse was taken away. But I was sold, too, and brought here." "I am glad to see you," said the Noah's Ark Lion. "I have been quite lonesome. There used to be a number of us--there was a Tiger, a Camel, a Monkey, a Hippopotamus, and, oh! ever so many others, besides the Elephant. But we are all scattered. I am the only one left. Tell me, were you ever in a Noah's Ark?" "I never was," admitted the Lamb. "Is it nice?" "Well, yes, only it's a bit crowded," answered the Wooden Lion. "But it has to be that way, I suppose. I like it better in this playroom, as I can move about more. But still I was lonesome until you came. Let us be friends, and tell each other our adventures." So the Lamb told of the fun she had had in the toy store with the Bold Tin Soldier, the Calico Clown, and the others. She told of having been taken away by the jolly sailor, and how afraid she was that she would be seasick. "But it was all right when I found he was bringing me to a home on shore with Mirabell," said the Lamb. Then she told of her slide down the ironing board. "Now I will tell you some of the things that happened to me," said the Wooden Lion. So he related his adventures--how once he and the other animals had been jumbled together and piled into the Ark. "And then, all of a sudden, that boy Arnold took the Ark and dropped it in the bathtub full of water, with all us animals inside!" said the Lion. "Good gracious! why did he do that?" asked the Lamb, in surprise. "Oh, he said he was pretending there was another flood, and he wanted to see if any of us could swim," the Lion answered. "Could you?" the Lamb wanted to know. "Well, those of us who couldn't swim could float, so none of us was drowned," the Lion answered. "Only being soaked in the water, as I was, made some of the paint come off my tail. I really haven't been the same Lion since," he added, with a sorrowful sigh. "That is too bad," said the Lamb sympathetically. "Of course Arnold was smaller than he is now, and he was not so kind to his toys as he has since learned to be," resumed the Wooden Lion. "He really meant no harm. But, as I say, I am the only one of the Noah's Ark animals left, and really I am very glad to have you to talk to." The two new friends spent some time together telling each other their different adventures, and then, suddenly, the door of the playroom opened and Mirabell came in. "Hush! Not another word!" said the Wooden Lion in a whisper. "Well, I guess my Lamb has slept long enough," said Mirabell, picking up her new toy. "I'll have some fun with her before I go to bed." She petted her Lamb, and took off the blue ribbon from the woolly creature's neck. "I must smooth it out and tie a better bow," said Mirabell. "It got all mussed when you slid down the ironing board." So Mirabell played with her Lamb until it was time for the little girl to go to bed. Uncle Tim came up to see Mirabell and Arnold to say good-bye, for he was going on a sea voyage. "And bring me a parrot when you come back!" begged Arnold. "Would you like a monkey, Mirabell?" asked the jolly sailor. "No, thank you," she answered. "A monkey is nice, but he might pull the wool off my Lamb." "That's so--he might!" laughed the jolly sailor. "Well, good-bye, Mirabell, Arnold, and the Lamb on Wheels." Then Uncle Tim went away and the children went to bed, while the Lamb on Wheels was put in the pasteboard box stable, near the Wooden Lion. And in the night they played together and had a fine time. The Lamb on Wheels, in the days that followed, began to feel quite at home in Mirabell's house, and she liked her little girl mistress better and better, for Mirabell was very kind. "Some day, when it gets warmer, I'll take my Lamb over to Dorothy's house and let her see the Sawdust Doll," said Mirabell to her brother. "And I'll take my fire engine over and I'll ride on Dick's Rocking Horse," said Arnold. "But it is so cold now the water in my engine might freeze if I took it over to Dick's house." "Yes, it is cold," agreed Mirabell. "I guess I'll take my Lamb down to the sitting room, where there's a fire on the hearth." "I'll come too," said Arnold. "I'll bring my little fire engine." Soon the two children were having a good time with their toys in front of the fireplace in the sitting room. On the hearth blazed a snapping, crackling warm fire of logs. "Now you can get nice and warm," said Mirabell to her Lamb, as she set her down close to the fireplace. "You stay here and get warm, and I'll go and ask Susan for some cookies to eat." Arnold also went to the kitchen with his sister, and when the two children came back to the sitting room they saw a dreadful sight. A spark had popped out from the hearth and set fire to a piece of paper on the floor near the Lamb on Wheels. "Oh, she'll burn! My Lamb on Wheels will burn!" cried Mirabell, as she rushed forward. CHAPTER VI DOWN THE COAL HOLE Mirabell and Arnold had been told to be very careful whenever they played in the sitting room, if a fire were burning on the open hearth. But, for the moment, the little girl forgot about this. All she thought of was that her Lamb on Wheels might be burned by the blazing paper, which had been set on fire by a spark popping out from the blazing logs on the hearth. "Oh, my Lamb! My poor Lamb!" cried Mirabell. "Look out!" shouted Arnold. "Don't go too close!" "Why not?" asked his sister. "I have to get my Lamb on Wheels away from the fire!" "No, you mustn't!" Arnold said. "Your dress might catch on fire!" The piece of paper was burning on the wide brick hearth of the fireplace, and not on the carpet, and the Lamb was close to the piece of paper that was on fire. Altogether too close to the fire was the Lamb. She was in great danger. "But I've got to save her! I must save my pet Lamb!" cried Mirabell. She was going to rush forward, but her brother caught hold of her and held her back. "Wait!" cried Arnold. "I can put out the fire and save your Lamb." "How!" "With my fire engine! It has real water in it, and I'll pump some on the paper and save your Lamb from burning up. Watch me, Mirabell, but don't go near the blaze!" The piece of paper, close to the Lamb on Wheels, was now sending up a bright blaze. It would have been pretty if it had not been so dangerous. Arnold quickly wheeled his fire engine as close to the blazing paper as he felt it was safe to go. The engine had a little pump on it, as I have told you, and it spurted out real water, with which it was now filled. "Toot! Toot! I'm a fireman, and I'm going to put out a real fire!" cried Arnold. He pressed back the little catch that held the pump from working. There was a whirring sound as the wheels spun around, and then the little rubber hose on the pump of the engine filled with water. A moment later a small stream spurted out, and Arnold aimed it right for the piece of blazing paper. The water fell in a small shower on the fire, and then with a hiss and spluttering, and sending up a cloud of smoke, the paper stopped burning. "Toot! Toot! The fire is out!" cried the boy, making believe blow his engine whistle. "Now your Lamb is saved, Mirabell." "Oh, I'm so glad! Thank you, Arnold!" exclaimed his sister. She ran forward and picked up her Lamb on Wheels. And, I am glad to say, the wool was not even scorched, not the least, tiny bit. "Oh, she's all right! She's all right! My Lamb isn't hurt a bit, Arnold," cried Mirabell. "I told you I'd save her," said the boy. "But you mustn't ever run near a fire yourself, Mirabell. Wait for me to put it out with my engine. That's what fire engines and fire departments are for." "Dear me! that came near being a terrible adventure for me," thought the Lamb on Wheels, as Mirabell carried her back from the fireplace. "In another minute I would have been all ablaze from that paper, and wool does burn so fast!" When the Lamb had been saved, the mother of the two children came into the sitting room. "What is burning?" she cried. "Have you been playing with fire?" "No, Mother," answered Arnold, and he told what had happened. As the days passed Mirabell came to love her Lamb on Wheels more and more. Sometimes the little girl would tie a string to the wooden platform, on which her toy stood, and pull the Lamb around the house, as Arnold used to pull his little express wagon. "I like to ride that way," thought the Lamb. "It is much more fun than it would be to be crowded into a Noah's Ark like the Wooden Lion and thrown into the flooded bathtub." The Lamb was wishing Mirabell would take her next door, to see the Sawdust Doll, but, as it happened, Dorothy was ill, and it was not thought best for Mirabell to go in for a few days. However, Mirabell could look from her windows over to those in the house where Dick and Dorothy lived. And though Dorothy was too ill to be out of bed, Dick was not. Dick would stand at the window in his house, and Mirabell and Arnold would stand at the window in their front room, and look across. The children waved to one another, and Dick would hold up the head of his Rocking Horse for Mirabell and Arnold to see. Once Mirabell held up her Lamb on Wheels at the same time that Dick had his Rocking Horse close to the window, and the two toys saw each other for the first time since they had been separated. "Oh, there is my old friend, the White Rocking Horse!" thought the Lamb on Wheels. "How I wish I could talk to him." The Horse wished the same thing, and he even thought perhaps he might get a chance to run over some evening after dark and talk to the Lamb. But the doors of both houses were locked each night, and though the Horse and Lamb could roam about and seem to come to life when no one was watching them, they could not unlock doors. So they had to be content to look at each other through the windows. "I wish I could see the Sawdust Doll," thought the Lamb, when she had looked over at the Horse one day. "I'd like to speak to her." There came a few days of bright sunshine, when the weather was not so cold. One afternoon Arnold said to Mirabell: "I'm going to take my little express wagon out on the sidewalk in front of the house. Why don't you bring out your Lamb?" "I will, if Mother will let me," said Mirabell. And Mother did. Soon the two children were running up and down in front of the house, Mirabell pulling her Lamb along by a string, and Arnold pretending to be an expressman with his wagon. "Oh, there comes a man to put some coal in Dorothy's house!" called Arnold, as a big wagon, drawn by two strong horses, stopped in front of the place where the Sawdust Doll and the White Rocking Horse lived. "Let's go down and watch!" he said. "All right," agreed Mirabell. So she pulled her Lamb on Wheels down the sidewalk, and Arnold hauled his express wagon along. At Dorothy's house the coal bin was partly under the pavement, and to put in coal a round, iron cover was lifted up from a hole in the sidewalk, and the coal was dumped through this hole. As the children watched, and as Dorothy, who was now better, stood at the window with her brother Dick, also looking on, the coal man took the cover off the hole in the sidewalk, so he could dump the black lumps through the opening into the bin. "I wouldn't want to fall down there!" said Mirabell to her brother. "I should say not!" exclaimed Arnold. "You'd get all black!" The coal man, after opening the large, round hole in the sidewalk, climbed back on his wagon to shovel off his load. And just then Carlo, the dog belonging to Dorothy, ran barking out of the side entrance of the house where he lived. Carlo always became excited when coal was being put in the sidewalk hole. "Bow-wow! Wow!" barked Carlo. "Look out you don't fall down the hole!" cried Mirabell. Just then Carlo gave a jump around behind the little girl, and, somehow or other, he became entangled in the string that was tied on the Lamb. "Look out, Carlo! Look out!" cried Mirabell. "Be careful or you'll break my Lamb's string!" But Carlo was not careful. He did not mean to make trouble, but he did. He barked and growled and jumped around until his legs were all tangled up in the cord. "Oh, look!" suddenly cried Arnold. "Look at your Lamb!" And, as he spoke, Carlo gave a big jump to get the tangling string off his legs. The string broke, but, as it did so, the Lamb started to roll toward the open coal hole. And, at the same moment, the driver of the wagon began shoveling some of the black lumps down the opening. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Mirabell. And then the white, woolly Lamb on Wheels rolled across the sidewalk, and disappeared down into the dark coal hole! CHAPTER VII THE LAMB CARRIED AWAY Mirabell and Arnold were so surprised for a moment at what had happened that they could only stand, looking at the hole in the sidewalk down which the Lamb on Wheels had fallen. Carlo, the fuzzy little dog, seemed to know he had done something wrong in getting tangled in the string, breaking it off, and so sending the Lamb wheeling along until she slid into the coal hole. And the dog gave a howl and ran back toward the house, having finally managed to get his legs loose from the cord. "Bow-wow!" barked Carlo, as he ran. Perhaps he feared that he, too, might slip down that black, dark hole which led into the coal bin of Dorothy's house. Then as Mirabell and Arnold stood, looking with wide-opened eyes at the place where they had last seen the Lamb, the man on the wagon threw another shovelful of coal down the hole. "Wait a minute! Stop! Oh, please stop!" begged Mirabell. "Whut's dat? Whut's de mattah?" asked the coal-wagon driver. He was a colored man, and that was the very best shade for him, I think. No matter how much coal dust got on his face and hands it never showed. "Her little Lamb fell down the coal hole," explained Arnold. "Carlo got tangled in the string, it broke and she fell down the hole. Don't throw any more coal on her until we get her out." "Does you-all mean dat Carlo fell down de hole?" asked the colored coal-wagon driver. "No, Carlo is a dog," explained Mirabell. "He got tangled up in my Lamb's string, and she fell down the hole. I haven't named my Lamb yet. She's on wheels." "On wheels?" cried the man. "A Lamb on Wheels? Well, I 'clar to goodness dat's de fustest time I ebber done heah ob a t'ing laik dat!" "Oh, she isn't a real, live lamb," explained Mirabell. "She's a toy, woolly one from the store, and my Uncle Tim, who's a sailor, gave her to me." "Well now, honey, I suah is sorry to heah dat!" said the colored man. "Your toy Lamb down de coal hole! Dat is too bad!" "Can we get her out?" asked Arnold. "I'll crawl down the hole and get the Lamb if you won't throw any more coal." "Oh, I won't frow any mo' coal--not fo' a while--not when I knows whut de trouble is," said the kind-hearted driver. "But I doan believe, mah li'l man, dat you'd better go down de coal hole." At that moment the door of Dorothy's house opened, and her mother came out on the porch. "What is it, Mirabell?" she asked. "What has happened?" She saw the children from next door talking to the coal driver, and she wondered at it. "Oh, my Lamb is down the coal hole!" said Mirabell. "Oh, that's too bad!" exclaimed Dorothy's mother. "I saw you holding a toy Lamb up to the window, before Dorothy was taken ill. How did your toy get down the coal hole?" Mirabell and Arnold told by turns, and the driver said: "I suah is sorry, lady. But it w'an't mahfaulta-tall!" "I know it wasn't," said Dorothy's mother. "But do you think you could get the little girl's Lamb's back?" "Well, dat coal hole isn't so very big," was the answer, as the driver scratched his kinky head. "But I might squeeze mahse'f down in it." "Oh, I think a better way would be to go down in our cellar, crawl over the bin, and get the Lamb that way," Dorothy's mother said. "Yes-sum, I could do it dat way!" the colored man said. "I'se been down in yo' cellar befo'. I'll get de Lamb on Wheels." Dorothy's mother waited on the front porch, and Mirabell and Arnold waited on the sidewalk near the coal hole. A little while after the colored man had gone in the side entrance, through the cellar and into the coal bin, the two children heard him calling, as if from the ground beneath them. "I got de Lamb!" said the driver, in a voice that sounded far-off and rumbly. "Watch out, now! I'se gwine to frow it up de hole!" "All right!" said Arnold. "I'll catch her!" "No, don't throw my Lamb!" objected Mirabell. "She might fall on the sidewalk and break." "All right--den I'll HAND her up out ob de hole," called the colored man, who was now in the partly filled bin under the sidewalk. "Watch out fo' her!" Mirabell and Arnold could hear him walking around on the coal under the sidewalk. In another half minute a black hand was thrust up through the hole, and in the hand was a white, woolly Lamb on Wheels. Wait a minute! Did I say white? Well, I meant to have said a BLACK Lamb. For Mirabell's white, clean Lamb on Wheels was now covered with black coal dust. "Oh, that isn't my Lamb on Wheels at all!" cried Mirabell, and there were real tears in her eyes as her brother took the coal-dust covered toy from the colored man's hand. "That isn't my Lamb at all!" "Oh, yes, it must be, Mirabell," said Dorothy's mother. "No other Lamb has fallen down the coal hole." "But my Lamb was WHITE, and this one is BLACK," sobbed the little girl. "Well, bring her in here and we'll wash her nice and clean and white again," said Dorothy's mother. "Bring your Lamb in, Mirabell. Dorothy is better now, though she cannot be out yet, and she will be glad to see you. Come in and I'll wash your Lamb!" "And I certainly do need a bath!" thought the Lamb to herself, when she heard this talk. She could look down at her legs and see how black they were. "Oh, what a terrible adventure it is to fall into a coal hole! I wonder what will happen next!" And she soon found out. For when the colored man had come out of the cellar, and was again shoveling the coal down the hole, Mirabell and Arnold took the black Lamb on Wheels into Dorothy's house. Dorothy and her brother Dick were glad to see the children from next door. "Now to give Mirabell's Lamb a bath," said Dorothy's mother. "I wonder if I'll be put in the bathtub, as the Wooden Lion was," thought the Lamb. And she was, though she was not dipped all the way in, for fear of spoiling the wooden, wheeled platform on which she stood. With a nail brush and some soap and water, Dorothy's mother scrubbed the coal dust out of the Lamb's wool. "There, she is nice and clean again," said Dorothy's mother, as she held the Lamb on Wheels up for the four children to see. "But she is all wet!" cried Mirabell. "I'll set her down by the warm stove in the kitchen, and she will soon dry," said the mother of Dick and Dorothy. "And I'll put my Sawdust Doll down there with the Lamb so she won't be lonesome," said Dorothy. And then the four children played games in the sitting room, while waiting for the Lamb to dry. And as Mary, the cook, was not in the kitchen just then, the Lamb and the Sawdust Doll were left alone together for a time. "Oh, my dear, how glad I am to see you again!" exclaimed the Sawdust Doll when they were alone. "But, tell me! what happened? You are soaking wet!" "Yes, it's very terrible!" bleated the Lamb. "I fell down a coal hole and had a bath!" Then she told her different adventures, and the Sawdust Doll told hers, so the two toys had a nice time together. Soon the warm fire made the Lamb nice and dry and fluffy again. And she was as clean as when jolly Uncle Tim, the sailor, had bought her in the store. "How is the White Booking Horse?" asked the Lamb of the Doll, when they had finished telling each other their adventures. "Oh, he's just fine!" exclaimed the Sawdust Doll. "Did you hear about his broken leg, how he went to the Toy Hospital, and how he scared away some burglars by kicking one downstairs?" "No, I never heard all that news," said the Lamb. "Please tell me," and the Sawdust Doll did. Then the two toys had to stop talking together as Mirabell, Arnold, Dorothy and Dick came into the kitchen. "Oh, now my Lamb is all nice again!" cried Mirabell, when she saw her toy. "Oh, I am so glad." "So am I," said Dorothy. For many days Mirabell had jolly good times with her Lamb on Wheels. Sometimes the Lamb was taken to Dorothy's house, and then there was a chance for the woolly toy to talk to the Sawdust Doll and the White Rocking Horse. And one day the Lamb had another strange adventure. Mirabell had been out in the street near Dorothy's house drawing her Lamb up and down by means of a string. And Mirabell kept watch to see that Carlo did not run along and get tangled in the string. The little girl also made sure that no sidewalk coal holes were open. She did not want the Lamb to fall into another one. "Oh, Mirabell, come over here a minute!" called Dorothy to her friend. "Mother got me a new trunk for my Sawdust Doll's things." "Oh, I want to see it!" cried Mirabell, and she was in such a hurry that she let go of the string by which she had been by herself on the sidewalk for a little way, and finally rolled out toward the gutter. For once in her life Mirabell forgot all about her toy, pulling her Lamb. The Lamb rolled along. [Illustration: Lamb On Wheels Tells Sawdust Doll of Her Troubles] And while Mirabell was looking at the new trunk for the Sawdust Doll's clothes, a big dog came running along the street. He saw the white, woolly Lamb near the curbstone. "Oh, ho! Maybe that is good to eat!" thought the dog. And before the Lamb on Wheels could say a word, that dog just picked her up in his mouth and carried her away as a mother cat carries her little ones. Yes, the big dog carried away the Lamb on Wheels! CHAPTER VIII SAILING DOWN THE BROOK The Lamb on Wheels was so frightened when the dog took her up in his mouth that she did not know what to do. If she could, she would have rolled away as fast as a toy railroad train, such a train as Arnold and Dick played with. But the dog had the Lamb in his mouth before she knew what was happening. Besides, across the street was a man, and, as he happened to be looking at the Lamb, of course she dared not make believe come to life and trundle along as she sometimes did in the toy store. It was against the rules, you know, for any of the toys to do anything by themselves when any human eyes saw them. And so the Lamb had to let herself be carried away by the dog. Now you might think that when the man saw the dog run away with the Lamb on Wheels in his mouth the man would have stopped the dog. But the man was thinking of something else. He was looking for a certain house, and he had forgotten the number, and he was thinking so much about that, and other things, that he never gave the Lamb a second thought. He did see the dog take her away, but maybe he imagined it was only some game the children were playing with the toy and the dog, for Mirabell and Dorothy were there on the street, in plain sight. But as the two little girls were just then thinking of the new trunk for the Sawdust Doll, neither of them thought of the Lamb, and they did not see the dog take her. "Oh, what a nice trunk!" said Mirabell to Dorothy. "I'm glad you like it," said Dorothy. She had her Sawdust Doll in her arms, and, as it happened, the Doll saw the dog running away with the Lamb on Wheels in his mouth. "Oh! Oh! Oh, dear me! That is dreadful!" said the Sawdust Doll to herself. "Oh, the poor Lamb! What will happen to her?" Away ran the dog with the Lamb on Wheels in his mouth down the street, over a low fence, and soon he was in the vacant lots where the weeds grew high. And then, as there were no human eyes in the vacant lots to see her, the Lamb thought it time to do something. She began to wiggle her legs, though she could not get them loose from the platform with wheels on, and she cried out: "Baa! Baa! Baa!" "Hello there! what's the matter?" barked the dog, and it made his nose tickle to have the Lamb, whom he was carrying in his teeth, give that funny Baa! sound in his mouth. "Matter? Matter enough I should say!" exclaimed the Lamb on Wheels. "Why are you carrying me away like this, you very bad dog?" For, being a toy, she could talk animal language as well as her own, and the dog could understand and talk it, too. "Why am I carrying you away?" asked the dog. "Because I am hungry, of course." "But I am not good to eat," bleated the Lamb. "I am mostly made of wood, though my wheels are of iron. Of course I have real wool on outside, but inside I am only stuffed." "Dear me! is that so?" asked the dog, opening his mouth and putting the Lamb down amid a clump of weeds in the vacant lot. "Yes, it's just as true as I'm telling you," went on the Lamb. "I am only a toy, though when no human eyes look at me I can move around and talk, as can all of us toys. But I am not good to eat." "No, I think you're right about that," said the dog, after smelling of the Lamb. For that is how dogs tell whether or not a thing is good to eat--by smelling it. "You looked so natural," went on the dog, "that I thought you were a real little Lamb. That's why I carried you off when that little girl left you and ran away. I'm sorry if I hurt you." "No, you didn't hurt me, but you have carried me a long way from my home," the Lamb said. "I don't know how I am ever going to get back to Mirabell." "Can't you roll along to her on your wheels?" asked the dog. "I haven't time now to carry you back." "Not very well," the Lamb answered. "It is very rough going in this lot, full of weeds and stones. I can easily roll myself along on a smooth floor, in the toy shop or at Mirabell's home. But it is too hard here." "Ill leave you here now," barked the dog, "and when it gets dark I'll come and get you. I'll carry you back to the porch of the house, from in front of which I carried you off. Then you can roll in and get back to Mirabell, as you call her. Shall I do that?" "Well, I suppose that would be a good plan," the Lamb said. "I don't exactly like being carried in your teeth, but there is no help for it." "Then I'll do that," promised the dog. "I'll come back here and get you after dark. You'll be all right here in the tall weeds." "I suppose so," replied the Lamb. "Though I shall be lonesome." "Please forgive me for causing you all this trouble," went on the dog. "I never would have done it if I had known you were a toy. And now I'll run along and come back to-night. I hear a dog friend of mine calling me." Another dog, at the farther end of the lot, was barking, and the Lamb crouched deeper down in the weeds. "Dear me! this surely is an adventure," said the Lamb on Wheels to herself, as she was left alone. "Being taken away in a rag bag, as the Sawdust Doll was, couldn't be any worse than this. And though none of my legs is broken, as was one of the White Rocking Horse's, still I am almost as badly off, for I dare not move. I wonder what will happen to me next!" It was not long before something did happen. As the Lamb stood on her wheels and wooden platform among the weeds, all at once two boys came along. They were looking for some fun. "Oh, look!" cried a big boy. "There's a little white poodle dog over in the weeds!" and he pointed to the Lamb, whose white coat was easily seen amid the green leaves. "Oh, we can have some fun with it!" said the little boy. "Let's call it." So they whistled and called to the white object they thought was a dog, but the Lamb did not move. Of course she couldn't, while the boys were looking at her. "That's funny!" said the big boy. "What do you think is the matter with that dog? It doesn't come to us." "Let's go up and see," said the smaller lad. Together they tramped through the weeds until they were close to the toy. Then the big boy cried out: "Why, it isn't a dog at all! It's a Lamb on Wheels!" "So it is!" said the little boy. "But I know how we can have some fun with it, just the same!" "How?" asked the big boy. "We can play Noah's Ark over in the brook," explained the small boy. "There are some boards over there. I was making a raft of them the other day. We can make another raft now, and we can get on and sail down the brook. And we can take the Lamb on board with us and make believe we're in a Noah's Ark and that there's a flood and all like that! Won't that be fun?" "Yes, I guess it will," said the big boy. "Come on! I'll carry the Lamb." So, picking up the toy and tucking it under his arm, he led the way to the brook, which ran through the vacant lots. It was a nice brook, not too deep, and wide enough to sail boats on. "Now we'll make the raft," said the smaller boy, as they came to a place on the bank of the brook where there were some boards and planks. The big boy set the Lamb down near the water and then the two lads began to make a raft. A raft is like the big, wide, flat boat, without any house or cabin on it. It did not take long to make it. "All aboard!" cried the big boy, when the raft had been finished. "All aboard! Come on!" He picked up the Lamb again, and walked out on the raft. The smaller boy went with his chum. With long poles, cut from a near-by tree, the boys shoved the raft out into the middle of the brook. "Now we're a Noah's Ark!" laughed the small boy, "and we have one animal with us--a woolly Lamb on Wheels!" And down the brook Mirabell's toy went sailing with the two boys on the raft. "This is certainly surprising!" thought the Lamb. "I was bought by a sailor, and here I am making a voyage! I hope I shall not be seasick!" CHAPTER IX ON A LOAD OF WOOD Now while the Lamb on Wheels was being carried away by the dog, and after she had been dropped in the lot, where she was picked up by the boys and put on a Noah's Ark raft--while all this was happening to the toy, Mirabell, the little girl who owned the Lamb, was almost heart-broken. After she had admired the trunk Dorothy had had given to her for the Sawdust Doll, Mirabell ran back to get her pet toy. "Oh, where is my Lamb on Wheels?" cried Mirabell, looking up and down the street. "Where is she?" "Where did you leave her?" asked Dorothy, who had gone back with her friend. "I left the Lamb right here by the fence," answered Mirabell. "She had a string on. I was pulling her along the sidewalk, and when you called me I let go the string and ran. Oh, where is my nice Lamb?" "Maybe Dick took the Lamb," suggested Dorothy to Mirabell, when they had looked up and down the street, in front of and behind the fence, and even in the yard, and had not found the toy. "Dick sometimes takes my things and hides them just for fun," Dorothy said. "Or Arnold, maybe," added Mirabell. Just then Dick and Arnold came out of Mirabell's house, each with a slice of bread and jam, and there was some jam around their mouths, too, showing that they had each taken a bite from their slices of bread. "Oh, Arnold, did you take my Lamb!" cried Mirabell. "Or did you take it, Dick?" asked his sister. "Nope!" answered both boys, speaking at the same time. "But where is she?" asked the little girl over and over again. "Where is my Lamb on Wheels?" "Oh, I know!" suddenly cried Dick. "I thought you said you didn't!" exclaimed his sister. "You said you and Arnold didn't hide her away." "Neither did we," went on Dick. "But I think I know where she is, just the same." "Where?" asked Arnold, as he finished the last of his bread and jam, having given his sister a bite, while Dick gave Dorothy some. "Where is the Lamb on Wheels?" asked Arnold. "Down in our cellar!" went on Dick. "Don't you remember how she rolled down there once, when the man was putting in coal? Maybe she's there again." "Oh, let's look!" cried Mirabell. So the children ran to Dorothy's mother, who said she would have Patrick, the gardener, look down in the coal bin for the lost Lamb on Wheels. But of course the Lamb on Wheels was not in Dorothy's cellar, and Mirabell felt worse than ever. "I guess some one must have come along the street when you weren't looking, Mirabell," said Dorothy's mother, "and carried your Lamb away." "I--I guess so," sobbed Mirabell. "Oh, but I wish I had her back. Uncle Tim gave her to me, and now he is away far out on the ocean! Oh, dear!" and the little girl felt very bad indeed. She did not give up the search, and Dorothy, Dick and Arnold also helped. They looked in the two yards, across the street, and in other places, but the Lamb could not be found. [Illustration: The Boys Leave Lamb on Wheels on the Raft] The reason Mirabell could not find her toy, as you and I know very well, was because the Lamb on Wheels was riding down the brook on a raft with the two boys. At first the Lamb was much frightened when she looked over the edge of the flat boat of planks and boards, and saw water on all sides of her. "I really must be at sea, as that jolly sailor was," thought the Lamb. "I am on a voyage at last! Oh, I hope I shall not be seasick! Oh, how wet the ocean is!" she thought, as some water splashed up near her, when the little boy shoved the raft along with his pole. The Lamb, not knowing any better, thought the brook was the big ocean. But as the raft sailed on down and down and did not upset and as the Lamb grew less frightened and was not made ill, she began to feel better about it. "Perhaps I am more of a sailor than I thought," she said to herself. "I never knew I would be brave enough to go to sea. I wish the Bold Tin Soldier and the Calico Clown could see me now. I'm sure they never had an adventure like this!" So the Lamb on Wheels stood on her wooden platform in the middle of the raft and looked at the water of the brook. Now and then little waves splashed over the edge of the raft, but only a little water got on the toy, and that did not harm her. "Isn't this fun!" cried the little boy who had first thought of playing Noah's Ark with the raft. "It is packs of fun!" agreed the older boy. "Let's make believe we are going on a long voyage." So the raft went on and on down the brook, and the Lamb on Wheels was having a fine ride. "Though I wish some of the toys were here with me," she thought to herself. "I wonder if the Sawdust Doll would get seasick if she were on board here. I don't believe the Bold Tin Soldier would, and the Calico Clown would be trying to think of new jokes and riddles, so I don't believe he would be ill. But I wonder what is going to happen to me? What will be the end of this adventure?" The two boys poled their raft down to a broader part of the brook, where it flowed at the bottom of a garden. At the upper end of the garden was a large house, and not far away was another house. The Lamb on Wheels could see the houses from where she stood on the raft, and she wondered if any little boys or girls lived in them. "Having adventures is all right," thought the Lamb, "but one can have too many of them. I have been on a voyage long enough, I believe. I wish I could get back home to Mirabell." A few minutes after that the big boy cried: "Oh, come on, Jimmie! There's Tom and Harry! We can have a game of ball," and he pointed to some boys who were running around the lots, through which the brook was now flowing. "What shall we do with the Lamb?" asked the small boy. "Leave it here on the raft," answered the older boy. "Maybe we'll want to play Noah's Ark again, and we can find the raft here. Now we'll go and play ball!" They shoved the raft over toward the shore of the brook, and then the two boys jumped off. They left the Lamb behind them. "Dear me! how fast things do happen," said the Lamb, speaking out loud to herself, as there was no one near just then. "A little while ago Mirabell was pulling me along the sidewalk with a string. Then she left me and the dog ran off with me. Then he left me, and the boys carried me off on the raft. Now they have left me. I wonder who will take me next?" The raft was smooth in places, and the Lamb was just going to start to roll along a board toward shore when, all at once, she heard a noise, and a voice cried: "Whoa!" "My goodness!" thought the Lamb, coming to a stop almost as soon as she had started along on her wheels, "what's that? I wonder if some one is driving the White Rocking Horse along here!" She looked through the weeds growing on the edge of the brook and saw a real horse and wagon and a real man driving down to the water through the vacant lot. And as the man was real the Lamb dared not move while he was in sight. "Whoa!" called the real man, and it was to his real horse he was speaking, and not to the White Rocking Horse. "Whoa now, Dobbin!" went on the man, "and I'll let you have a drink here if the water is clean. I know you are thirsty, and there is a brook here somewhere." So that is why the man was driving his horse down through the lot--to give his horse a drink. The man climbed down off his wagon and walked toward the brook, right at the place where the raft had gone ashore with the Lamb on board. "I wonder if this can be the junkman who carried the Sawdust Doll away in his wagon," thought the Lamb. "If it is I am in for another adventure!" As the man came to look at the brook, to see if the water was clean enough for his horse to drink, the man saw the raft. "Oh, ho! There are some good boards and planks I can carry home to break up for kindling wood," said the man. "That's what I'll do. I'll have some good firewood from these boards! Or maybe I can sell some." Then he came nearer and saw the Lamb. "Well, I do declare!" the man cried. "There is a white woolly Lamb toy! I must take that, too, though I don't know what I can do with it. Maybe I can sell it. I am in luck to-day, getting a load of wood and a toy. Now come on, Dobbin!" he called to his horse. "The brook is nice and clean for you to drink from, and while you are drinking I will load the wood on my wagon and take the Lamb on Wheels. Come on, Dobbin!" The horse walked toward the water, for he was thirsty. And while he was drinking the man laid aside the Lamb, placing her on some soft grass. Then he piled the boards and planks on his wagon, and next he took up the Lamb again, putting her on top of the load of wood. "I'll give the Lamb a ride!" said the man. CHAPTER X MIRABELL IS HAPPY Away rattled the wagon with the load of wood. The man sat on the seat, driving the horse, and behind him, where he had placed her on a board so she would not roll off, was the Lamb on Wheels. "Are my adventures never going to end?" thought the Lamb. "Here I am riding on a wagon, while, a short time ago, I was on a raft, sailing over the ocean like Uncle Tim." The Lamb did not know the difference between the brook and the ocean, but we can hardly blame her, as she had not traveled very much. "I rather like this wagon ride, though," said the Lamb, as the man drove away from the brook and up through the lots. His horse was no longer thirsty. The man who had picked up the pieces of the boys' raft to take home to be chopped up for firewood, did all sorts of odd jobs in the neighborhood. He would cut grass, beat rugs, cart away rubbish, and do things like that for people who lived near the brook. And soon after loading his wagon with wood and taking away the Lamb on Wheels the man said to himself: "I'll go around to the Big House and ask if they have any trash that needs carting away. I can't take it now, because I have this load of wood on, but I could come to-morrow and get it. Yes, I'll drive to the Big House and see if they need me." The "Big House," as the man called it, was a place where a gardener, a cook, and a maid were kept by a rich family, and the gardener used to rake up the trash in the yard and keep it until the rubbish man called with his wagon to take it away. So along rattled the wagon with the Lamb on Wheels up on the pile of wood. She slid from side to side, as the road was now rough, and once she almost fell out. But the man looked around just in time and saw her. "Oh, ho! Mustn't have that happen!" he exclaimed. "I don't want to lose the Lamb I found. It's an almost new toy, and maybe I can sell it. I must not lose it!" Then he reached back and took the Lamb on Wheels from along the loose pieces of wood. "I'll set it up on the seat beside me," said the man, talking aloud to himself, as he often did. "I can hold it on as we go over the rough places." But soon the man drove out of the lots to a smooth road, and then the Lamb felt better. "Now we'll stop at the Big House," said the man, as he drove up along a back road and stopped at a gate in a high fence. "Whoa!" he called to his horse, and when the horse stopped the man got down off the seat, leaving the Lamb still there. The man who had the load of wood opened the gate in the fence, and just then another man came out. "Hello, Patrick!" called the wood man. "I was driving past and I just thought I'd stop and see if there was any trash you wanted carted off to the dump. Of course I can't take it now, as I have on a load of wood," he added. "But I can come back later." "Oh, so you have a load of wood, have you?" asked Patrick, who had a garden rake in his hand. "Where did you get it?" and he walked toward the wagon, letting the garden gate swing shut behind him. "Found it down in the lot near the brook. Some boys had made a raft, but I guess they got tired of playing with it, so I took the planks and boards. I found something else, too, Patrick!" "You did? What was that, Mike?" "A toy woolly Lamb on Wheels," answered the odd-job man. "It was on the raft. I brought it along with me. There it is, up on the seat," and he pointed to the toy. "A Lamb! A toy Lamb on Wheels!" exclaimed Patrick. "Well, if this isn't strange! I never would have believed it!" "What's the matter?" asked the odd-job man, as Patrick looked more closely at the Lamb on the wagon seat. "What's the matter?" "Why, this is Mirabell's Lamb! The one she has been looking for!" cried Patrick. "I hunted down in our cellar for this Lamb, but I didn't find her. And now you have her on a load of wood! How strange! Where did you say you found her?" "On the raft," answered the odd-job man. "But who is Mirabell?" "A little girl who lives next door," explained Patrick, the gardener. "She plays with our Dorothy, and Mirabell's Uncle Tim brought her a Lamb on Wheels. Mirabell had her Lamb out in the street, but she left it for a moment and then it disappeared. Now here it is!" "Are you sure it's the same one?" asked the odd-job man. "Quite sure," answered Patrick, and, oh, how the Lamb wished she dared speak out and say that she certainly was that very same toy! And how she wished they would take her to Mirabell! "We can soon tell if this is Mirabell's Lamb," went on Patrick. "I'll take it to her. If you want to you can unload that wood here. My master will buy it and I can chop it up. Then you can cart away some trash in your wagon." "I'll do that," said the odd-job man. "I guess the Lamb brought me good luck. I was thinking maybe I could sell this wood after I had chopped it up myself, but I'd rather sell it as it is. And I can then cart away the trash." "Well, you be unloading the wood," said Patrick, "and I'll go see if this is Mirabell's Lamb. But I am very sure it is." Leaning his rake up against the back fence, Patrick walked up the garden path, around the "Big House," as the odd-job man had called it, and then the gardener went toward the house where Mirabell lived. The little girl, who had hunted all over for her Lamb on Wheels and was feeling very sad because she had not found it, was in the kitchen getting a cookie from Susan, the cook, when Patrick knocked on the back door. "I'll go and see who it is!" cried the little girl. And when she opened the door, and saw Patrick from the "Big House" standing there with the Lamb on Wheels, Mirabell was so surprised that she dropped her cookie. It fell on the floor, and it almost rolled down the back steps, but Patrick caught it in time. [Illustration: "I Hardly Remember," Said Lamb on Wheels.] "Oh! Oh!" exclaimed Mirabell, clasping her hands. "Where did you find her? Where did you find my Lamb on Wheels, Patrick?" "Then she is yours?" asked the gardener. "Of course she's mine!" cried Mirabell, as she took her toy in her arms. "I've been looking everywhere for her! Oh, where did you find her?" "I didn't find her. Another man did," explained the gardener. "But as soon as I saw this Lamb on the seat of his wagon, I thought she was yours. And she is!" "Yes, she is!" cried Mirabell, who was very happy now. "This is my Lamb on Wheels, and I'm never going to lose her again. Oh, Patrick, I'm so glad!" she cried. "Will you thank the other man for me?" "You may come and thank him yourself if you like," said the good-natured gardener. "He's unloading wood at our back gate, and he's going to take away a load of trash for me. Come and thank him yourself." And Mirabell, holding the Lamb in her arms, did so. "I can't tell you how glad and happy I am," said Mirabell. "I am glad I happened to find your toy for you," replied the odd-job man. Then, the little girl, nodding and smiling at Patrick and Mike, ran laughing across the yard to tell her mother the good news. "I'm never going to lose my Lamb on Wheels again!" said Mirabell. "I wonder where she was, and how she got on the raft by the brook," said Arnold, when he and Dick and Dorothy had heard the story of the finding of the lost toy. "I don't know," answered Mirabell. "All I know is that I have her back again, and, oh! I'm so happy!" "I certainly am glad to get back to Mirabell again," said the Lamb on Wheels to herself. "And what a remarkable adventure I shall have to tell the Sawdust Doll and the White Rocking Horse when I see them again!" This happened very soon, for a few days later Mirabell carried the Lamb on Wheels over to Dorothy's house. Arnold went with his sister, taking with him his toy fire engine. "Now we'll have some fun!" cried Dick, as he got his White Rocking Horse. "We'll go horseback riding." "And I'll get my Sawdust Doll!" exclaimed Dorothy. The children had fun playing with their toys, and when they laid them down for a moment to go to the kitchen to get some crackers and milk, the Lamb found a chance to tell the Sawdust Doll and the White Rocking Horse about her adventures. "My, I think they are perfectly wonderful!" exclaimed the Doll, when she heard about the trip on the raft. "But what is that little squeaky noise, Lamb?" asked the White Rocking Horse suddenly. "I've noticed it every time you have moved." "Oh, my dear!" cried the Sawdust Doll, "are you sure these dreadful adventures have not hurt you?" "It's really not very much," answered the Lamb on Wheels. "You know an ocean trip such as mine is apt to be rather damp, and I have been left with a little rheumatism in my left hind wheel. But now that I am back with Mirabell it will soon be all right." "She ought to have her mother put a little oil on it," said the Sawdust Doll. "That would cure it at once." "And did the odd-job man's horse go faster than I can go?" asked the Rocking chap. "I hardly remember," the Lamb answered. "But I was almost seasick riding on that wagon." "Hush! The children are coming back!" neighed the White Rocking Horse, and the toys had to be very still and quiet. "I know what we can do!" cried Dick, after he had helped Arnold put out a make-believe fire with the toy engine. "We can play soldier!" "That will be fun!" said Arnold, who liked games of that sort. "I wish I had some toy soldiers," he went on. "I saw some in the same store where your Rocking Horse came from, Dick. I wish I had a set of tin soldiers, with a captain and a flag and everything!" "Maybe you'll get 'em!" exclaimed Dick. "Maybe," echoed Arnold, "Oh, I hope he does," thought the Lamb on Wheels. And if you children want to know whether or not Arnold got his wish you may find out by reading the next book in this series, called: "The Story of a Bold Tin Soldier." As for the Lamb on Wheels, she lived with Mirabell for many, many years, and had a fine time. She had some adventures, too, but none more strange than the one of riding down the brook on a raft. THE END 
42650	----	Transcriber's Notes: Italic text is marked _thus_; bold text is shown =thus=. Apparent typographical errors have been corrected and hyphenation standardised. Unusual punctuation and original spelling have been retained. Fig. numbers do not follow in strict numerical order. [Illustration: Front Cover.] THE BOY CRAFTSMAN HANDICRAFT BOOKS BY A. NEELY HALL _8vo. Cloth. Illustrated with hundreds of photographs and working drawings by the author and Norman P. Hall_ THE BOY CRAFTSMAN HANDICRAFT FOR HANDY BOYS (_Revised Edition_) THE HANDY BOY (_Revised Edition_) HOME-MADE TOYS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS HANDICRAFT FOR HANDY GIRLS CARPENTRY AND MECHANICS FOR BOYS HOME-MADE GAMES AND GAME EQUIPMENT (_Revised Edition_) OUTDOOR BOY CRAFTSMEN BIG BOOK OF BOYS' HOBBIES LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD COMPANY BOSTON NEW YORK [Illustration: A BOY'S WORKSHOP.] THE BOY CRAFTSMAN Practical and Profitable Ideas for a Boy's Leisure Hours BY A. Neely Hall With more than four hundred illustrations by the author and Norman P. Hall [Illustration: Page Decoration.] BOSTON LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD COMPANY. Published, August, 1905. _All rights reserved._ THE BOY CRAFTSMAN. Norwood Press J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. Work hard--Play hard. --THEODORE ROOSEVELT. NOTE TO THE READER The boy of to-day is ever on the lookout for new ideas which can be adopted for his work and recreation, schemes which are practical and which are thoroughly up-to-date. They must be helpful in suggesting ways of earning money, as well as entertaining, for what boy of the present day does not feel the need of such suggestions to aid him in raising the funds necessary to carry on his work? In none of the books published on boy's handicraft has the question entered into consideration as to how he is to obtain the means with which to buy such materials and apparatus as the work requires. A boy should not expect to draw upon his father's purse for everything his fancy desires. It is important that he learn to earn his spending money, for in doing so he becomes independent and more careful as to how he invests it. Having had the experience of working, the average boy learns to so appreciate the value of hard-earned money that it is pretty certain he will spend it only for something with which he can earn more or which will prove useful to him in his work and play. "The Boy Craftsman" has been undertaken with a view of helping boys with their problems of earning money, as well as furnishing recreative and entertaining work, and to this end the first portion has been devoted to suggestions for the carrying on of a number of small business enterprises, and the second and third parts to outdoor and indoor pastimes for all seasons of the year. In "Profitable Pastimes" a boy will find work that will make easy the matter of earning money with which to buy such materials as he needs to carry out the suggestions offered in the book, while the practical knowledge acquired and the handiness developed in pursuing the several lines of work is certain to be helpful to him in later years. The tools and apparatus used are such as a boy of average ability can procure with a little hustling, and can be purchased singly, or two or three at a time, as his money permits. The materials at hand can be used in thousands of different ways, and in preparing the chapters this has been taken into consideration, these odds and ends being utilized whenever it has been possible to do so. Carpenter work is something with which every boy must familiarize himself to a certain extent in order to do anything in the line of construction, so the fitting up of a workshop and the proper handling of tools have been described in the first two chapters, in view of making it a simple matter to perform the work embodied in the rest of the book. Technical terms and phrases have been eliminated from the text as far as possible, and where it has been deemed necessary to include them, to describe certain operations for which a boy should know the proper terms or expressions, they have generally been explained in the first chapter in which they occur. To simplify the matter of referring to the definitions of these, they have been arranged alphabetically in Chapter XXIX. Some of the material contained in this book was originally written by the author in the form of magazine articles for _The American Boy_ and _The Boys' World_, and thanks are due the publishers, The Sprague Publishing Company and The David C. Cook Publishing Company, for permission to reprint it. This material has been revised and enlarged upon, and is presented with new and additional illustrations. The author is always glad to hear from his young readers, and to be of assistance to them in answering any questions they wish to ask regarding their work. A. N. H. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, May 31, 1905. CONTENTS [Illustration: Boy 'Fixing' Clock with a Hammer.] PART I _PROFITABLE PASTIMES_ CHAPTER I PAGE A BOY'S WORKSHOP 3 Value of a Knowledge of Carpenter Work--Location of Shop--A Solid Work-bench--The Vise--Bench-stops--Carpenter's Horses--A Bench-hook--A Mitre-box--A Sand-paper Block--A Strop--A Plumb-- Purchasing Tools--Tool-cabinets--Racks for Tools--A Carpenter's Carrying-box--A Nail-box--Receptacles for Supplies--Workshop Clothes--Care of Oily Rags and Waste. CHAPTER II THE PROPER HANDLING OF TOOLS 20 Care of Tools--The Cross-cut Saw and Rip-saw--Sawing--The Back-saw, Compass-saw, and Gig-saw--Kerfs--The Jack-plane, Fore-plane, and Smoothing-plane--Planing--Testing Work--The Firmer-chisel--Paring--The Framing-chisel-Chamfering and Bevelling --The Gouge--The Draw-knife--Boring--An Automatic-drill-- Hatchet and Hammer--Driving Nails--Withdrawing Nails--Toe-nailing --Blind-nailing--Clinching--The Nail-set--Nails--Screw-driver for Bit-stock--Screws--The Countersink. SHARPENING TOOLS 37 Grinding Chisels, Gouges, Draw-knives, Knives and Hatchets--The Washita Oil-stone--Whetting--Stropping--Sharpening Saws. LAYING OUT WORK 42 Use of the Try-square--Gauging with Rule and Pencil--A Marking-gauge --A Mitred Try-square--The Bevel--To Divide a Board. CHAPTER III THE BOY ABOUT THE HOUSE 47 Opportunities for Work--Outfit for Jobbing--The Hinge-lock-- Clothes-line Reel--A Broom and Dust-pan Rack--The Fly-killer--An Ash-sifter--A Bread-board--A Plate-rack CHAPTER IV SUGGESTIONS FOR A BOY'S ROOM 57 Simple and Inexpensive Furnishings--What the Room should Contain--A Cosey-corner--Pennants--Small Posters--Picture-frames--A Writing-desk--Another Style of Desk--An Ink-stand and Pen-tray--A Couch--A Window-seat--A Curio-cabinet--Book-shelves--A Blacking-case--A Towel-rack. CHAPTER V HOW TO MAKE A DOLL-HOUSE 71 Store Doll-houses--Profit from making Doll-houses--The Materials Required--The Base--The Floors--Partitions and Walls--Stairways --Balustrades--Front and Rear Steps--The Gambrel Roof--The Gable-ends--The Doors and Windows--Outside Trimmings--Casters-- The Chimneys--A Mantel and Fire-place--Andirons--The Interior Woodwork--Painting the House. CHAPTER VI ANOTHER DOLL-HOUSE AND A STABLE 91 Packing-cases and Other Material--The Floor Plans--The Partitions and Walls--The Elevator-shaft--The Windows--The Roof--The Chimney--An Elevator--The Gable-ends--The Stairway--A Balustrade --Other Details. HOW TO MAKE THE STABLE 100 Dimensions of Stable--The First Story--The Roof--The Gable-ends-- The Stall Partitions and Feed-troughs--Windows--Ladder to Hay-loft --Feed-hoist--The Drop-front--A Stable Door--Painting. CHAPTER VII FURNISHING THE DOLL-HOUSE 105 The Walls and Ceiling--Hardwood Floors--Carpets and Rugs-- Window-shades and Curtains--Portieres--Pictures--A Cosey-corner-- Buying Furnishings. CHAPTER VIII DOLL-FURNITURE 109 Metal Furniture--Miniature Mission Furniture--Material--Drawing the Patterns--The Chairs--The Settee--Tables--A Side-board--A Mirror--The Grandfather's Clock--Kitchen Furniture--The Beds-- The Dresser--A Wash-stand--Finishing. OTHER CIGAR-BOX FURNITURE 122 A Folding-bed--The Dresser--A Wardrobe. CHAPTER IX A BOY'S PRINTING-SHOP 126 Location of Printing-shop--Equipment--Selection of Type-- Type-cases--A Rack for Type-cases--A Composing-stick--A Composing-rule--Justifying--A Home-made Galley--"Pieing"--Proofs --The Imposing-stone--The Chase--Furniture--Locking-up a Form-- Distribution--The Tympan--Overlaying--Underlaying--Gauge-pins-- Inking the Press--Care of Rollers--Neatness--Receptacles for Materials--Care of Waste Paper and Oily Rags. CHAPTER X AMATEUR JOURNALISM 142 A Collection of Amateur Papers--Amateur Press Associations--Some Methods of Printing Papers--Examples of Amateur Papers--The Character of a Paper--Naming--The Frequency of Publication--The Size of Page--A Stereotyped Heading--The Choice of Type--A Cover --Binding--Advertisements--The Advertisers' Dummy--Second-class Matter. CHAPTER XI A BOY'S DARK-ROOM 153 Profit in Photography--The Necessary Equipment--The Bedroom as a Dark-room--The Bath-room as a Dark-room--Another Scheme for a Dark-room--A Work-table--Running Water--A Water-tank--A Sink-- A Washing-box--A Drying-rack--Another Scheme for a Drying-rack--A Cabinet--A Ruby-light--A Home-made Lantern--A Plate-lifter-- Classifying and Preserving Negatives--Manila Envelopes--A Negative-case. CHAPTER XII A WINTER ENTERPRISE 169 An Opportunity for Making Money--A Snow Plough--A Scraper--A Snow Shovel. PART II _OUTDOOR PASTIMES_ CHAPTER XIII A BACK-YARD CLUB-HOUSE 175 How Some Boys Built a Club-house--A Mysterious Letter--Drawing the Plan of a Club-house--The Material--Fishing Studs--Staking out the Building--The Studs--Boarding up the Sides--The Roof--The Floor --A Window-sash--A Batten Door--Wooden Latch--Calking up Cracks. CHAPTER XIV HOW TO BUILD A LOG-CABIN 186 The Pioneer Cabin--The Cabin of To-day--Selection of a Site-- Design and Size--The Material--Staking out the Cabin--The Lock-joint--The Sills--Construction of Roof--Ridge Boards--A Log Chimney and Fire-place--Calking--A Mud Floor--The Windows--The Cabin Door--Wooden Hinges--Wooden Latch--The Latch-string--A Mantel-shelf--Provision Cupboard--Rustic Seats--Bunks--A Camp-table--A Few Pointers about Camping--Utensils--Other Necessities--Provisions. CHAPTER XV HOW TO BUILD A CANVAS CANOE 201 Canoeing as a Sport--Popularity of Canvas Canoes--Materials--The Bow and Stern Pieces--The Keelson--The Mould--Putting the Framework Together--The Gunwales--The Ribbands--The Deck Beams-- The Ridge Pieces--The Deck Braces--The Cockpit--The Canvas Covering--The Deck--Painting--The Cockpit Coaming--The Keel-- The Bilge-keels--Outside Gunwales--A Seat--How to mend Punctures --A Single Paddle. CHAPTER XVI HOME-MADE TRAPS 218 Trapping as a Pastime--The City Boy and his Country Cousin--The Figure-four Trap--A Box Trap--The Dead Fall--The Sieve Trap--The Coop Trap--A Rabbit Snare--A Twitch-up--The Professional Trapper --Wolves and Coyotes--Story of a Trapped Indian. CHAPTER XVII TOY GUNS, TARGETS, AND BOWS AND ARROWS 229 Ancient War Engines--New Idea for a Cross-bow--Shingle Arrows--A Toy Pistol--Cardboard Bullets--A Shot-gun--An Elastic Sling--A Boy's Barrel-hoop Target--A Simpler Target--How Points are Scored-- The Bow and Arrow--Length of Bow--The Bow-string--The Arrow-shafts --Preparing Arrow-heads--Feathering--A Quiver--Proper Position for Shooting with Bow--The Indian's Bow--How his Arrows were made and Feathered--The Preparation of his Arrow-heads. CHAPTER XVIII AN OUTDOOR GYMNASIUM 243 Location for Gymnasium--A Horizontal Bar--Tumbling Mat--Parallel Bars--The Punching-bag Platform--A Pair of Jump Standards--A Vaulting Pole--A Spring-board--Hurdles--A Running Track--Method of Starting for Short Sprints--Mark for Broad Jumping--An Athletic Club--Athletic Meets. CHAPTER XIX A BACK-YARD CIRCUS 255 The Ancient Roman Circus--The Circus of To-day--How Several Boys gave a Circus--Preparing the Yard for a Circus--Making the Ring-- Good Circus Seats--A Tent--Decorating the Tent--A Ticket Office-- A Turnstile--The Side Show--Cages for Side Show--Animated Animals --The Elephant--The Giraffe--The Two-legged Wild Horse--The Wild Man of Borneo--A Monkey's Make-up--The Ring Master--The Clown's Suit--The Attendants--Ideas for a Performance--A Slapper-- Looping the Hoop on a Giraffe--A Chariot--Parades--The Advertising Signs. CHAPTER XX SUGGESTIONS FOR FOURTH OF JULY 272 The First Fourth of July Celebration--Pyrotechnics Costly and Dangerous to Make--The Making of Harmless and Inexpensive Fireworks--A Fire-cracker Cannon--To fire the Cannon--A Fire-cracker Mortar--Mimic Battles with Paper Soldiers--Another Toy Cannon--To fire the Cannon--Firing Fireworks from Kites--Firing a Pack of Fire-crackers from a Kite--Shooting Nigger-chasers--Japanese Lanterns hung from Kite-strings--A Shooting-torch--A Final Set-piece. CHAPTER XXI HALLOWEEN 281 Ancient Superstitions and Origin of Halloween--A Magazine Bean-blower--A New Style of Tick-tack--A Clockwork Tick-tack-- The Goblin-man--The Disappearing Rope. CHAPTER XXII A BACK-YARD TOBOGGAN-SLIDE 291 One Advantage of a Small Slide--Location--Length--The Platform-- Framework--Railing around Platform--A Ladder--Making a Swift Slide--A Home-made Sled--The Runners--Reënforcing the Runners. PART III _INDOOR PASTIMES_ CHAPTER XXIII A MINIATURE THEATRE 303 An Interesting Entertainment--A Picture-frame Proscenium--The Stage Framework--The Gridiron--The Stage Floor--The Drop-curtain-- Lighting the Theatre--The Footlights--Floodlights--Colored Lights --Spotlights--Admission Tickets and Programmes. CHAPTER XXIV SCENERY, PROPERTIES, AND MECHANICAL EFFECTS 311 Materials for Scenery--An Ocean Scene--Additional Waves--Frames for Drops--A Mid-ocean Scene--A Seashore Scene--A Field Scene-- The Trees--A Blockhouse Scene--Pine Boughs for Trees and Shrubbery --Moss for Mounds and Hills--Rustic Bridges--A Pond or Lake--A Street Scene--An Interior--A War Drama--Paper Soldiers--Scheme for Marching Soldiers--Separate Standards--A Jointed Figure--Stage Properties--Tents--An Indian Teepee--Battleships--Trains and Wagons--Mechanical Effects--Thunder--Rain--Wind--Lightning-- The Roar of Cannon. CHAPTER XXV MAKING A TOY RAILWAY 331 The Trolley-line--Supports for Trolley-line--Power for Operating Railway--Tracks--The Cars--A Gondola Car--A Street Car--Other Cars--Operation of Railway--A Station. CHAPTER XXVI CLOCKWORK AUTOMOBILES 343 Procuring a Set of Clockworks--An Automobile Touring-car--The Frame--Preparation of Clockworks--The Belt--Testing the Machine-- The Cardboard Sides--Wheels--Mud-guards--Lamps--The Steering-wheel --A Horn--The Brake--The Chauffeur--Painting the Machine--An Automobile Delivery Wagon--The Cardboard Sides--The Wheels--Other Portions--Painting the Wagon--A Clockwork Railway. CHAPTER XXVII WORK TO DO WITH A KNIFE 356 How Boots were Marked in a Penitentiary--A Home-made Fountain Pen-- The Magic Pin-wheel--To Operate the Pin-wheel--A Wooden Chain and Rattle--The Chain--The Rattle--Finishing the Chain and Rattle. CHAPTER XXVIII CORK TOYS 363 Materials Required--Cork Animals--A Pig--A Horse--The Elephant --The Giraffe--A Porcupine--Other Animals--The Korka-bird--A Duck--Canoes--Small Sail-boats--Cork Furniture--A Chair--The Sofa--A Small Tabouret--A Toy Log-cabin. CHAPTER XXIX DEFINITIONS OF TERMS AND PHRASES 371 INDEX 385 LIST OF HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS (In addition to more than four hundred text illustrations.) PART I A Boy's Workshop _Frontispiece_ OPPOSITE PAGE Treatment of a Boy's Room 58 Fig. 64.--A Colonial Doll-house 78 Fig. 96.--Another Style of Doll-house} 90 Fig. 97.--Interior View of Doll-house} An Amateur's Outfit 128 A Group of Amateur Papers 142 Fig. 168.--A Handy Dark-room} 154 Fig. 172.--A Washing-box and Drying-rack} PART II In Camp for the Summer 175 A Boys' Log-cabin 188 Two Simple Cabins 198 Caught at Last 226 The Back-yard Circus 268 PART III A Miniature Theatre 303 Fig. 330.--A Field Scene } 316 Fig. 338.--A Blockhouse Scene} Fig. 339.--A Street Scene 320 Fig. 375.--The Car completed} 344 Fig. 376.--The Framework } [Illustration: Boys at the Bank.] [Illustration: Page Decoration.] PART I Profitable Pastimes CHAPTER I A BOY'S WORKSHOP [Illustration: Boy with Box-kite and Boy at Work-bench.] Carpenter work should be encouraged in a boy from the time he first becomes interested in it, for besides being something with which to keep him busy, the experience gained by its practice will be useful to him all his life, no matter what branch of industry he may follow later on. When a boy has learned the proper care and use of tools, and is able to turn out neatly executed work, he will find the occupation a profitable one, there being an unlimited number of things he can make in his shop. Doll-houses for girl relatives, toys for brothers and cousins, and articles for the household, such as are described in following chapters, are a few of the many things he can construct. Many of these are salable articles, besides being suitable for birthday and Christmas gifts, and should bring a neat sum of money to the young carpenter. A knowledge of carpenter work also develops in a boy a handiness for devising and putting together articles and apparatus for his own use. A boy should really have a shop where he can keep his tools and unfinished work with no danger of them being disturbed, and where he need not be afraid of littering the floor with shavings or of making too much noise. =The Workshop= may be fitted up by the boy himself, and a suitable place can probably be found in the basement, barn, or woodshed. Here a corner large enough to contain a work-bench, carpenter's horses, and tool-cabinets, besides plenty of room to work in, should be partitioned off, and a window that will admit a good supply of light made in one side of the room, if one has not already been provided. [Illustration: FIG. 1.--End View of Work-bench.] =A Solid Work-bench=, six feet long, thirty inches wide, and thirty-two inches high, should be constructed beneath the window. It is a good idea to build this on to the wall if possible, as it is easier to make a solid bench by doing so, and the firmer it is, the better. First cut a two-by-four four feet long, and spike it to the wall below the window, twenty-eight inches above the floor. Then saw two pieces of two-by-four, twenty-eight inches long, for the legs, and two pieces, thirty inches long, for crosspieces. Spike the crosspieces on to the legs and on to the piece nailed to the wall, as shown in Fig. 1. Cut three ten-inch planks, six feet long, and spike them to the crosspieces so that they project twelve inches over the ends, but are flush with the framework in front. Then cut a ten-inch board, six feet long, for an apron, and, after cutting the ends as shown in Fig. 4, nail it across the front of the bench. [Illustration: FIG. 2.--Iron Bench-screw.] [Illustration: FIG. 3.--Wooden Bench-screw.] For fifty cents a fifteen-inch iron or wooden bench-screw, similar to those in Figs. 2 and 3, can be purchased at a hardware store, and the rest of =The Vise= is simple to make. Figures 1, 4, and 5 show the details for this. Take a board thirty inches long by six inches wide for the jaw, and bore a hole a little larger than the screw, six inches from one end. Bore another hole the same size through the apron and table-leg, six inches below the bench-top (see _A_ in Figs. 4 and 5). The portion of the iron screw marked _B_ in Fig. 2 should be set into the hole bored in the bench-leg and screwed at _E_ (Fig. 1), while the portion _D_ is to be screwed to the jaw. If a wooden screw is used, the portion _C_ in the drawing (Fig. 3) is nailed to the inside of the bench-leg. [Illustration: FIG. 4. FIG. 5. Details of Bench-vise.] In order to guide the bottom of the jaw, an arrangement similar to _F_ in Fig. 5 should be made. Make a mortise two inches long by one inch wide near the bottom of the bench-leg and cut a strip of wood fifteen inches long to fit loosely in it. Then shut the vise and mark upon the inside of the jaw the place where the mortise comes in the leg. Nail one end of the fifteen-inch strip to the jaw at this point, being careful to get it in such a position that the other end will slide into the mortise. Bore several holes in the strip and cut a peg to fit in them. The jaw can now be kept parallel with the side of the bench by adjusting the peg, which is very necessary in order to have the vise grip a piece of work squarely. When you have a long board to work upon, it cannot be held steady by the vise alone. One end should be placed in the vise and the other rested upon a peg stuck in a hole bored in the side of the bench. For boards of different lengths, several holes should be bored, as shown in the illustration of the finished bench (see frontispiece), and a movable peg cut to fit in them. =A Bench-stop= of some sort fastened to the top of the bench will be found useful to push work against while planing it, when it is not convenient to use the vise. Figures 6, 7, and 8 show the forms of stops most commonly used by carpenters. Of these the metal stop shown in Fig. 6 is the most satisfactory, as it can be adjusted to different heights. It costs but little and is easily put in place. A mortise is made in the top of the bench to receive the lower portion of the stop, and the plate _A_ is set flush with the bench-top and held in place with screws driven into the holes in the corners. The centre of this plate (_B_) is detached from the rest and mounted upon a small post, which can be adjusted to the desired height by giving the screw at _C_ a few turns with the screw-driver. The teeth in the edge of _B_ help to hold the work in position. [Illustration: FIG. 6. FIG. 7. FIG. 8. Some Forms of Bench-stops.] One of the simplest forms of stops is shown in Fig. 7. It consists of two screws placed in the top of the bench, which can be raised or lowered with the screw-driver to the height you desire. The stop shown in Fig. 8 is made out of a block of wood with a "bird's mouth" cut in one side. It should be nailed to one end of the bench in such a position that the end of the work can be placed in the "bird's mouth." While most of your work will be done on the bench, and a good portion of sawing done with the wood in the vise, large pieces, especially long boards, are generally sawn while placed across horses. =Two Carpenter's Horses= will be required. A good scheme for these is shown in Fig. 9. The top is made out of a piece of two-by-four with bevelled mortises cut in two sides of each end as in Fig. 10. These mortises are made to receive the legs, and the angle of the bevel will of course determine the angle at which the legs will spread. Cut the legs out of four-inch boards, and bevel the lower ends to make them set solidly upon the floor. Nail the legs firmly in place and brace them with two boards cut and fitted in place, as in the illustration. When the pieces have been nailed together, plane off the tops of the legs to make them flush with the top of the horse, and trim the lower ends if they require it until the horse is solid. [Illustration: FIG. 9.] [Illustration: FIG. 10.] Boring, paring, and nailing on the bench will soon make the surface uneven, unless something is placed beneath the work during such operations. You should therefore make and use =A Bench-hook=, such as shown in Fig. 11. A good size is ten by twelve inches, but it may be made larger or smaller if desired. Nail a strip along one edge of the under face and another strip along the opposite edge of the upper face. The latter strip should have three kerfs cut in it as shown in the drawing, one at right angles and the other two at forty-five degrees. These may be laid off with a try-square, as shown in Figs. 38 and 39 (Chapter II), or with the bevel, as shown in Fig. 42. Be careful to keep the saw on the line and in a perfectly perpendicular position in making these kerfs. The upper strip on the bench-hook serves the purpose of a stop, and the kerfs make it possible to use the bench-hook for mitring with the back-saw. Further description of the uses of this handy article will be found in the following chapter. [Illustration: FIG. 11.--A Bench-hook.] [Illustration: FIG. 12.--A Mitre-box.] You will need =A Mitre-box= for cutting mitres in large work, and this may be made as shown in Fig. 12. Cut two pieces of seven-eighths inch maple, or other hard wood, twenty inches long by six inches wide, and one piece twenty inches long by four inches wide. Nail the six-inch pieces to the edges of the four-inch piece as shown in the drawing, after which you are ready to cut the mitres. These should be laid out similar to those on the bench-hook, by means of the mitred try-square or the bevel. With the blade of the try-square or bevel extending across the top edges of the side-pieces, mark off forty-five degree lines at _A_ and _B_, and a ninety degree line at _C_, after which square the lines down both inner and outer face of the side-pieces. When the lines have been accurately drawn, it is a simple matter to make the kerfs, if you have had any practice in sawing and can keep to a line. No matter how skilful a carpenter is with his tools, he generally depends upon his mitre-box in making mitres, for not only accuracy is obtained by its use, but time is also saved. In using one be careful not to let the saw cut into the sides of the kerfs, or the box will soon be rendered useless for making accurate mitres. [Illustration: FIG. 13.--Sand-paper Block.] Before putting the finish upon a piece of work, the wood should be thoroughly sand-papered. In many cases certain portions cannot be reached by the hand, and so =A Sand-paper Block= similar to Fig. 13 should be made. Cut a block of wood five inches long, two and one-half inches wide, and seven-eighths of an inch thick. Then place it in the vise, and bevel one end and round the other as shown in the drawing. An inch and one-half from each end cut "rabbets" one inch wide across the block, and make two blocks to fit them. When this has been done, cut a strip of sand-paper two and one-half inches wide and stretch it around the block, holding it in place by driving the small blocks into the rabbets. You will find this sand-paper block very handy, as some portion of it can be got into almost every corner you will ever have occasion to sand-paper. The paper may be quickly replaced with a fresh piece when worn out. =A Strop= for putting keen edges on tools may be made out of a block of wood, with a piece of shoe-leather, or section of an old razor-strop, glued to one side of it. =A Plumb=, similar to Fig. 14, is a handy article to have for outdoor work, such as erecting posts in perpendicular positions. You will have need of it in putting up such buildings as the back-yard club-house, the log-cabin, and the erection of apparatus for the outdoor gymnasium, the construction of which will be found in following chapters. It consists of a stick, the sides of which have been planed up true and parallel, with a notch in one end and a cord with a weight attached fastened to the other end. The notch should be cut in the exact centre of the end of the stick, and the nail placed in the other end directly in line with the centre of the notch. An iron nut, or some such weight, should be attached to the lower end of the cord. By placing this stick at the side of an object, you can determine whether or not it is plumb by the position of the string, which should hang in the centre of the notch when the object is plumb. The length of the stick may be made to suit the size of the work it is to be used upon. Four or five feet is a good length for ordinary outside work. [Illustration: FIG. 14.] =In purchasing Tools= for your workshop it is not advisable to buy them in chests, for they are almost always made of cheap material, and poor tools are of no use to the boy who intends to do good work. It is a much better plan to buy a few tools at a time, getting a good quality of steel, and to gradually increase your outfit as your money permits. Then if you really want a chest you can make it yourself. A hatchet, hammer, saw, plane, chisel, jack-knife, bit and bit-stock, screw-driver, and square are the principal tools you will require, and need be all you have to start out with. Others may be got as you have need of them, and may be selected from the following list, which includes probably all the tools a boy would ever have occasion to use. =LIST OF TOOLS FROM WHICH TO MAKE YOUR SELECTIONS= 1 14-inch Jack-plane. 1 18-inch Fore-plane. 1 9-inch Smoothing-plane. 1 22-inch Rip-saw. 1 20-inch Cross-cut saw. 1 12-inch Back-saw. 1 12-inch Compass-saw. 1 Gig-or Bracket-saw. 1 Ratchet Brace. 5 Auger-bits, 1/4-inch, 3/8-inch, 1/2-inch, 3/4-inch, and 1-inch. 1 Expansive-bit. Several Gimlet Bits. 1 Screw-driver Bit. 1 Countersink. 1 Brad-awl. 2 Hand Gimlets. 1 Automatic-drill. 4 Chisels, 1/4-inch, 1/2-inch, 3/4-inch, and 1-inch. 2 Gouges, 3/8-inch and 3/4-inch. 1 Draw-knife. 1 Jack-knife. 1 Hatchet. 1 Hammer. 1 Tack Hammer. 1 Mallet. 2 Nail-sets (large and small). 1 Hand Screw-driver. 1 Wood Rasp. 1 Metal File. 1 Pair Cutting Nippers. 1 Pair Pincers. 1 Grind-stone. 1 Oil-stone and oil-can. 1 Strop. 1 2-foot Folding Rule. 1 Large Steel Square. 1 7-inch Try-square. 1 Bevel. 1 Marking-gauge. 1 Compass. The proper care and handling of these tools is fully described and illustrated in the following chapter. These directions should be carefully read before you attempt to use the tools, especially the edge tools. =A Cabinet= will be found much better for an outfit of tools than a tool-chest, as it can be more easily got at than a chest, where it is necessary to lift several trays before you can reach a tool which has been put in the bottom. [Illustration: FIG. 15.--Tool-cabinet.] The cabinet shown in Fig. 15 is made out of a box about three feet long, two feet wide, and nine inches deep. Make a door from the box-cover, fastening the boards together by means of two battens placed at the top and bottom (see illustration). Nail a cleat on each side of the cabinet six inches from the bottom, and make a shelf to fit upon them. =Racks for Bits and Chisels= should be made similar to Fig. 16, and fastened side by side to the inside of the cabinet. Cut a strip of wood about the size of the battens, and make two slots in it, one for the end of the saw to fit in and the other for the blade of the try-square (see Fig. 15). This strip is fastened to the cabinet door a few inches above the bottom batten. [Illustration: FIG. 16.--Bit and Chisel Racks.] Hang up the other tools on brass hooks. After completing the cabinet, paint it inside and out, and fasten either a hook or lock to the door. When this cabinet becomes too small for your increase in tools, you can keep those you use the most in it, and make =Another Cabinet= for the special and less used tools. Either screw the cabinets to the wall or support them upon brackets. =Racks= may be made for any tools you wish to hang on the wall. A piece of grooved siding nailed above the bench will do nicely for the large square. When you do outside work you will want something in which to carry such tools as will be required to complete the job. [Illustration: FIG. 17.--A Carpenter's Carrying-box.] =A Carpenter's Carrying-box= should be made. Such a box is shown in Fig. 17. The box should be about twenty-seven inches long to accommodate the saws, and it would be well to make the width eight inches and the height sixteen inches. First prepare the end-pieces, making them six by sixteen inches and rounding the tops with the compass-saw, as shown in the illustration. Then cut a board twenty-five inches long by six inches wide for the bottom and nail the end-pieces to the ends of it. Make the side-pieces twenty-seven by eight inches, and nail them to the end-pieces and to the edges of the bottom board. The handle consists of a broom-stick fitted into holes bored near the tops of the end-pieces. This box should be used for tools only, and not have nails, screws, and bolts mixed up with them, for these supplies should be kept in a special =Nail-box=, with compartments for the different sizes of nails, screws, hooks, screw-eyes, hinges, etc. One of the best kinds of boxes for this purpose is a knife-box such as can be bought for ten or fifteen cents. This is divided in two and has a handle attached (see Fig. 18). The two compartments should be sub-divided into smaller boxes, either with pieces of cigar-boxes, or with pieces of tin bent at the ends and fastened to the sides of the box, as shown in the illustration. [Illustration: FIG. 18.--Nail-box.] =Supplies= of nails, brads, etc., should be kept in cans and cigar-boxes of different sizes, and it is a good idea to letter these receptacles that you may be able to put your hands upon what you want without having to hunt for it. =Shelves= will be handy to keep paint-cans and these boxes on. =Workshop Clothes=.--Old clothes should be worn in the shop, as carpenter work is rather hard upon them, especially the trousers. Better than these is a pair of overalls and perhaps a jumper. They are easy to work in and wear better than anything else. =A Few Hooks= should be placed on the wall for hats and coats, and for your working clothes, if you change them in the shop before and after work. To prevent your tools from being carried off, and your work from being disturbed, it is advisable to have a lock upon the door and keep your shop locked up when you are away. To avoid danger of fire, keep combustible articles, such as oily waste and rags, in covered tin cans, and do not allow shavings and rubbish to accumulate. CHAPTER II THE PROPER HANDLING OF TOOLS [Illustration: Boy at Grind-stone and Boy with Bit-stock.] Before using a tool be sure you understand the proper handling of it, for there is probably nothing more easily injured than an edge tool in a sharpened condition. An inexperienced person is very apt to dull or nick a tool by striking its edge against nails or by using it for purposes other than what it was made for. For this reason a carpenter is very apt to refuse a boy, or any amateur for that matter, the use of his tools, and he is right in doing so. Just imagine the amount of work it makes for him to put the tools in shape after they have been returned in all sorts of conditions. A little rubbing on the oil-stone, with an occasional grinding, is all his tools require when he is using them, but to remove nicks made by his young friends wastes too much of his valuable time. A good rule to observe, boys, is never to lend tools to any of your friends, for though they may be as careful in handling them as you are, the chances are they will not be. You had better be a little "grouchy" in this respect, than to have tools which are unfit to do good work with. The following directions, together with the illustrations, should make the handling of your tools perfectly clear, and you will find among these a number of hints as to the care of tools that should be carefully adhered to in order that you may keep them in good condition. =Saws.=--A boy can get along with two saws, a cross-cut saw for general use and a compass-saw for finer work, such as circular sawing, and cutting thin wood where a large saw would be too coarse and apt to split the work. But you will often have need of a rip-saw, back-saw, and bracket-saw. They were therefore included in the list of tools on page 14, and you can add them to your outfit as your money permits. =The Cross-cut Saw= is, of course, intended for cutting across the grain, while the rip-saw is for cutting with the grain, or ripping. The former saw can be used for rip-sawing, but the operation is much slower, and when you have much of it to do, as in ripping a six-foot board, for instance, you will find the work tedious. =The Rip-saw= is not fit for cross-cutting, as it leaves the cut fibres in a very rough condition. The difference in these two saws lies in the shape of their teeth. This can be seen by picking them up and examining their cutting edges. You will find the teeth are bent out of line, the first to the right side and the next to the left. This is known as the "set" of the teeth, and the quality of your work will depend largely upon the care with which the teeth have been sharpened and set. At first you may confuse these two saws, but if you will notice that the teeth of the cross-cut saw come to sharp points and are bevelled on the sides, while those of the rip-saw are not sharpened on the sides, and instead of being pointed on the ends are chisel-shaped (see Figs. 19 and 20), you will have little trouble in distinguishing them. [Illustration: FIG. 19.--Teeth of Cross-cut Saw.] [Illustration: FIG. 20.--Teeth of Rip Saw.] [Illustration: FIG. 21.--Position for Sawing. FIG. 22.] =Sawing.=--Small pieces may be sawn while held in the vise, but, as a rule, large work is placed across a couple of horses. It is generally the most convenient way. Grasp the saw in the right hand, and take the position shown in Fig. 21, with the left knee upon the work to hold it in place, and the left hand at the edge of the board. The thumb should be pressed against the saw-blade to guide it until the cut has been well started, as shown in Fig. 22. Without the aid of the thumb the saw is liable to slip off the mark and make an ugly cut in the wood. First use a few short strokes until the saw has started to cut. Then use a long, steady stroke, putting all of the pressure upon the down stroke. Be careful to keep the saw to the line and in a perpendicular position, so that the cut will be square on all sides. If it starts to run away from the line, a slight twist of the blade will return it. When a board has been sawn nearly in two, remove the weight of your knee from it, and hold the board with the left hand to prevent it from splitting off. [Illustration: FIG. 23.--Position for using the Back-saw.] Fig. 23 shows the correct position for using =The Back-saw=, which is intended for more delicate work than the larger saw, such as can be sawn on the bench-hook or in the mitre-box. It makes a finer cut, its teeth being smaller and more closely set. The blades of =The Compass-and Gig-saws= are small and narrow, the former being used for circular cutting, as the name would imply, while the latter is employed in cutting very thin wood and in making delicate curves. The blades of these saws, especially the latter, are easily broken, and must be handled with care. The teeth are arranged so as to cut with and against the grain. The slot made by removing the fibre of the wood in sawing is known as =A Kerf=. The term is used a good deal in carpenter work, so it is well to know its meaning. The carpenter of to-day is generally supplied with all manner of planes,--rabbeting-planes, beading-planes, circular-planes, ploughs, etc.,--besides the more commonly used jack-plane, fore-plane, and smoothing-plane. Each of these planes has a special form of work to do, but ordinarily a boy will have occasion to use but the last three named, and many get along with but a jack-and a smoothing-plane. =The Jack-plane= is the plane you will first need to remove the rough surface of undressed lumber, and also to reduce quickly the thickness of wood. The cutting edge of the blade is ground so as to gouge the wood, removing thick shavings, but leaving ridges and hollows which must afterward be removed by a fore-plane or smoothing-plane. There is one trouble in using the smoothing-plane for this operation, however, and that lies in the danger of it following the hollows formed by the jack-plane, making a smooth but uneven surface. =The Fore-plane=, on the other hand, has a long enough stock to prevent the blade from cutting the lower portions until the high portions have been removed. Although a fore-plane can be used alone for smoothing large work, it is more convenient to finish up with =The Smoothing-plane=. The Stanley iron plane, shown in Fig. 24, is a great improvement over the old-style wooden ones, and is the most popular plane used to-day. It is more easily handled, as its iron is quickly put in place and adjusted. The illustration gives the names of the various parts. The cap (_B_) is screwed to the plane-iron (_A_), and both are held in the stock (_F_) by means of the clamp on the end of the wedge (_C_). The thumb-screw (_D_) regulates the degrees of fineness of the plane-iron, while the lever (_E_), which moves from side to side, straightens the position of the iron. The base of the stock is known as the sole, or face. [Illustration: FIG. 24.--Stanley Iron Plane. _A._ Plane-iron. _B._ Plane-iron Cap. _C._ Wedge or Clamp. _D._ Adjusting Screw. _E._ Adjusting Lever. _F._ Stock.] The Bailey plane is somewhat similar to the Stanley, the upper portion being of iron with screw adjustment, but the base being of wood. Its cost is much less than that of the entire iron plane, and you will probably find it as satisfactory if you do not care to spend the additional amount for the Stanley plane. =For Planing=, take the position shown in Fig. 25, with the left foot a little in advance of the right, the right hand grasping the handle of the plane and the left holding the knob on the fore part of the stock. Use a long, steady sweep, and bear with equal pressure from the beginning of a stroke to the end, to avoid the hollows that are so easily made by taking shavings of different thicknesses. Do not drag the plane-iron over the work in returning it for another stroke, as it will dull its edge. You will often come across wood with a crooked grain, which runs diagonally through the piece, terminating at the surface. There is a right way and a wrong way in planing this, just as there are two ways of stroking a cat's back, one smoothing the surface, while the other roughens it. When you find a piece of wood with this kind of uncertain grain, you will probably have to change the direction of your planing a number of times before finishing the surface, in order to plane with the grain. [Illustration: FIG. 25.--Take this Position for Planing.] In planing end-wood, you will have trouble in preventing the corners of the piece from splitting off unless it is placed in the vise in front of another block of wood, the planing being done toward the block. Or one corner may be chamfered with the chisel, as shown in Fig. 29. =Testing Work.=--It is necessary to test work frequently while planing, in order to locate the high places and avoid taking off too much on the low places. This may be done by squinting one eye and holding the board on a level with the other eye, so that you can look down the length of it as in sighting a gun. The uneven places show up very plainly in this way. Work is also tested by means of the try-square. Place the handle of the square against the edge of the work with the blade of the square extending across the planed surface, and move it the length of the board. Any irregularities in the surface will show themselves as the blade passes over them. In planing up a block of wood, plane up one side and, after proving it to be true, use it for the "tried edge," testing the other sides with the handle of the square pressed against its surface. There are a number of forms of =Chisels=, but the only two classes you will probably ever be in need of are the firmer-and framing-chisels. The former are intended for hand use only, while the latter are used for heavier work, such as mortising, where it becomes necessary to use the mallet. =In Using a Firmer-chisel=, the work should be placed in the vise or be otherwise held in position, that both hands may be kept upon the tool, the right hand grasping the upper end of the handle and doing the pushing, while the left hand holds the lower part of the handle and acts as a guide in working it. =Paring= with the chisel consists in trimming a piece of wood to a given line. It is an operation very often resorted to in finishing the end of a piece of work instead of planing, and in trimming up a curved edge such as is shown in Fig. 26. Here the line _AB_ represents the line of the finished end of a piece of work. The board is first placed in a vise and the wood removed to about one-quarter inch of _AB_ with a compass-saw, following the curve of the line as nearly as possible. Then lay the piece upon the bench-hook (Fig. 11, Chap. I), and pare to the line with the chisel, as shown in Fig. 26. [Illustration: FIGS. 26 AND 27.--Paring.] The chisel is often used to pare down the surface of a piece of work to a given line, as shown in Fig. 27. =The Framing-chisel= should be held in the left hand, and the blows dealt upon the handle with the mallet in the right hand. In handling the framing-chisel the bevel of the blade should be toward the work, which is just the opposite from that shown in Figs. 26 and 27. Unless this is done the chisel will not cut down squarely but will cut in under, as it cannot be guided as easily as the firmer-chisel can, with both hands to hold it. =Chamfering and Bevelling= are somewhat similar operations. They consist in cutting the edges of a piece of wood, as shown in Figs. 28 and 29. [Illustration: FIG. 28.--Bevel.] [Illustration: FIG. 29.--Chamfering.] The corner of a block of wood is very often chamfered, when planing end-wood, to prevent the wood from splintering. It can only be done, of course, before the adjoining side has been planed up, that a square corner can be obtained again when the work is finished. =The Gouge= is a chisel with a curved section, its use being for cutting grooves and curvatures in a piece of work where the chisel cannot be employed. =A Draw-knife= is very handy for quickly reducing the size of material and in rounding sticks. The blade is drawn toward you instead of being pushed as in the case of a plane or chisel. =Boring.=--Probably the only trouble you will have with the bit and bit-stock will be in holding the brace in a perfectly vertical position so as to bore a straight hole. The centre of the hole should first be located upon the work. Then, after selecting the right size of bit and securing it in the clutches of the bit-stock, grasp the handle of the stock with the right hand and place the left hand on the top knob. Set the point of the bit against the work and bore steadily until the point appears upon the opposite side. The bit should then be withdrawn and the rest of the hole bored from the other side. This prevents the fibre around the hole from splintering off, as it is likely to do when a hole is bored all the way through from one side. To bore a hole in a piece of work held in the vise, clamp a waste piece of wood in the vise with it, and bore straight through the work into the waste piece. When boring hard wood or using large bits increased pressure is necessary to operate the brace and at the same time steady the bit. This can be obtained by allowing the chest to bear upon the top knob. Holes two inches or more in diameter do not require a bit that size, for smaller holes can be bored and these trimmed to the required opening with a chisel or with the keyhole-saw. Whatever style of bit-stock you buy, get one with a fair length of arm, as a good leverage cannot be obtained with a short one. =An Automatic-drill= is a handy tool to have in the shop, although not a necessity. You have probably seen carpenters use it in drilling holes in hard wood, before driving in finishing nails or screws. It beats the awl and gimlet for speed, and is a tool which can be used in places where neither of these could be operated. The handle of the tool contains a number of sizes of drills. This tool must be used with care, as the drills snap off very easily when the tool is handled roughly or twisted from side to side while boring a hole. =The Hatchet= is an indispensable tool, for it can be used for a good deal of your rough work, such as splitting and paring. It requires practice to handle one successfully, however. A misplaced blow will sometimes ruin your work, either by cutting into it or striking grain which runs off into the portion to be finished. With straight grained wood it is not so difficult to pare to a line with the hatchet. The wood should be removed to within less than an eighth of an inch of the line, as the work must be dressed up afterward with the plane. It is well to have =A Hammer= with a fairly heavy head for large work, and a lighter one with which to drive small nails. =Driving Nails.=--The nail should first be held in position with the thumb and first two fingers, and given a few light raps with the hammer to start it. Then remove the fingers, and drive the nail home with steady blows, being careful to hit the head squarely so it will not bend. Although a bent nail can be driven home with the proper stroke, it is generally easier and quicker to withdraw it and either hammer it out straight or use another. A pair of pincers are handy for =Withdrawing Nails=, especially nails whose heads are too small to be gripped with a claw hammer; but for removing large nails a stronger leverage is necessary. This can be obtained as shown in Fig. 30. The head of the nail is gripped in the claw of the hammer and a block of wood placed beneath the head. The handle of the hammer is then pulled toward you, as shown in the illustration. The block, besides increasing the leverage, prevents the hammer-head from injuring the surface of your work, and makes it possible to withdraw the nail in a fairly straight condition. [Illustration: FIG. 30.--Withdrawing Nails.] [Illustration: FIG. 31.--Toe-nailing.] =Toe-nailing= consists in driving nails diagonally into a piece of wood. It is used in fastening the ends of uprights, as shown in Fig. 31, where the nails cannot be driven in any other way, and also where there is danger of a board springing. You will often find it convenient to use this form of nailing when the nails are too long to be driven straight into the work. =Blind-nailing= is a form of toe-nailing used on tongue and grooved boards in which the heads of the nails are concealed below the surface, as shown in Fig. 32. [Illustration: FIG. 32.--Blind-nailing.] =Clinching.=--When nails come through a piece of wood their ends should be clinched. This is done by having some one hold a hard surface, such as the head or blade of a hatchet, against the under side of the work, or by laying the hatchet down and resting the work upon it, while you drive the nail. The point of the nail will bend over when it strikes the hard surface and sink into the wood. This is the best method to use in fastening boards together with battens, in rough work, as the clinched nails act as rivets, preventing any possibility of the boards pulling apart. Do not drive the head of a nail into a finished surface with the hammer, as you are likely to mar the wood in doing so. Leave this--the "setting" of the nails--until the piece of work has been put together. Then go over it and drive the heads below the surface with =The Nail-set=, holding the tool as shown in Fig. 33. The holes made by the heads should be filled up with putty before the finish is put upon the wood. Before driving nails into hard wood, holes should be made with the brad-awl or drill, to prevent them from splitting the wood, and to make it easier to drive them in without bending. The holes should be a trifle smaller than the nails. Always drill a hole before driving a nail into thin wood or near the edge of a piece. A nail can be driven more easily if its point is rubbed over a piece of soap. This is something you should remember to do when nailing hard wood. =Nails.=--Iron, galvanized-iron, wire, and copper nails are manufactured, but of these the wire nail is the most commonly used for all kinds of work, it being more easily handled, not so liable to snap off, and there being less danger of splitting your work with it than with the iron nails. [Illustration: FIG. 33.--Setting Nails.] You will notice the iron nails have two smooth sides and two rough ones. In using these it is necessary to drive them with the smooth sides parallel with the grain, otherwise they are sure to split the work. Nails are classified according to their shape and gauge. The only kinds you will probably ever have occasion to use are the Common, or nail for all ordinary work; the Finishing-nail, with the small head used on finish work; and the Brad, or small-sized finishing-nail. You can buy these by calling for the length you require, but it is more businesslike to use the standard terms by which all carpenters know them. The following table gives these terms, together with the length in inches:-- 2-Penny Nails (1 inch long). 3 " " (1-1/4 inches long). 4 " " (1-1/2 " " ). 5 " " (1-3/4 " " ). 6 " " (2 " " ). 7 " " (2-1/4 " " ). 8 " " (2-1/2 " " ). 9 " " (2-3/4 " " ). 10 " " (3 " " ). 12 " " (3-1/4 " " ). 16 " " (3-1/2 " " ). 20 " " (4 " " ). 30 " " (4-1/2 " " ). 40 " " (5 " " ). 50 " " (5-1/2 " " ). 60 " " (6 " " ). All nails longer than three and a half inches (20d to 60d inclusive) are known as spikes. It is desirable to have =A Screw-driver= which will set in the clutches of your bit-stock, besides the ordinary kind, for it is more quickly operated, and screws can be driven in hard wood easier on account of the greater amount of leverage you get with it. Holes should be drilled in hard wood before driving screws into it. =Screws= are made with round and flat heads. The round-headed screw is a finishing screw, and its head is left exposed on the surface of the wood; but the flat-headed screw should be countersunk, that is, sunk below the surface. To do this you must drill a hole before driving in the screw with =The Countersink=, which is a drill made to fit in the bit-stock, and bores a hole the shape and depth of the screw-head. SHARPENING TOOLS Be sure you understand the process of sharpening tools before you undertake to use the oil-and grind-stones. All tools are not sharpened alike, and you will need to know the different ways in order to get their cutting edges the right shape to serve their different purposes. =Grinding= is the most difficult part of the work, and most boys have trouble with it. One fault lies in using the grind-stone too frequently, grinding the edge of a tool when it requires only a little rubbing upon the oil-stone to put it in shape, and thus wearing down the tool unnecessarily. Again, by not keeping the stone sufficiently wet, the heat produced by the friction takes the temper out of the steel, making it soft and useless until retempered. If you have a stone with a crank arrangement, it will be necessary to have some one turn it while you control the tool. The stone should be turned toward the grinder and the tools held upward so the stone grinds against the edge instead of from it. Move the tools sideways across the stone so as to wear it down evenly and help prevent the formation of ridges in the stone, which are very easily produced. [Illustration: FIG. 34.--Grinding the Chisel.] Figure 34 shows the position to take in grinding =Chisels=. Hold the handle of the tool in the right hand and rest the palm of the left hand upon its blade. Then lower the edge upon the stone until the bevel strikes it flatly, and bear down upon the blade with your left hand. Continue the grinding until the bright line of the dull edge has disappeared and an invisible edge has been obtained. Stop when this point is reached or the edge will become feathery and break off, necessitating regrinding. Grind upon the bevelled edge only, and hold the tool in the same relative position, to prevent the bevel from becoming rounded. The angle of the bevel should be about twenty-five degrees. To keep this angle the same, it is desirable to have a rest, consisting of a board nailed to the frame of the stone, upon which to support the handle of the chisel. =Gouges and Draw-knives= are ground similarly, the former being rocked from side to side, in order to grind the curved bevel uniformly. =Plane-irons= are held with both hands, as shown in Fig. 35, and ground the same, except that the corners of the smoothing-and fore-plane irons are slightly rounded, while the edge of the jack-plane iron is a little higher at the corners than in the centre, to give it the qualities for removing thick shavings. It is more difficult to keep the line between the bevel and upper part of the iron straight than in grinding chisels, on account of the wider blade. [Illustration: FIG. 35.--Grinding the Plane-iron.] =Knives and Hatchets= are ground upon both sides of the blade. Of course, the edge of a tool is left in a very rough condition by the grind-stone, and must be rubbed up on an oil-stone before it is fit to cut with. There are many makes of whetstones, many good ones and many worthless ones. Above all things, don't buy a cheap one, for it will be impossible to obtain keen edges upon it. One of the best stones upon the market is =The Washita Oil-stone=, a Kansas stone of medium hardness, free from grit and lumps, and of good quality through and through. [Illustration: FIG. 36.--Whetting a Plane-iron. FIG. 37.] In rubbing up a plane-iron, grasp the end between the thumb and fingers of the right hand and place the palm of the left hand across the iron to bring the necessary pressure upon it (see Fig. 36). Instead of holding the blade on the stone at the angle of the bevel, tip it to an angle of about thirty-five degrees, or ten degrees more than that of the bevel. With it held in this position, rub it back and forth upon the stone with a rotary motion, making a second narrow bevel along the edge of the tool (see Fig. 37). Be careful to keep the blade in the same position, to prevent the bevels from becoming rounded. By exerting a steady upward pressure against the end of the tool with the right hand, and an equal downward pressure in the centre of the blade with the left hand, this is easily accomplished. The rough edge which appears on the back of the blade is removed by rubbing the flat side of the iron over the stone a few times. Care must be taken to keep the iron perfectly flat or a bevel will be formed. =A Strop=, consisting of a piece of leather fastened to a block of wood as described in the foregoing chapter, should be used after the oil-stone, to put a fine edge upon the tool. The tool is stropped in the same way as a razor is done. =Saws= require sharpening but once in a great while if proper care is taken of them. When they do become dull, or need to be set, it is advisable for you to pay an experienced person to do the work rather than attempt it yourself. LAYING OUT WORK A two-foot carpenter's folding rule should generally be used in laying off measurements and a sharp-pointed pencil or brad-awl to locate the points. To connect the points it is necessary to have a straight-edge--a steel framing-square (Fig. 42) for large boards and a small try-square (Fig. 38) for smaller pieces--and a pencil or knife. [Illustration: FIGS. 38-39.] A pencil may be used in connecting points upon rough work, but for greater accuracy a knife should be used, as it makes a thinner and cleaner-cut line. In making knife lines, the square must be held very firmly, to prevent it from slipping and allowing the knife to run out of its course. To draw lines across a board at right angles to one edge (which should be the straight or "tried edge" of the board) with the steel-square, place one arm of the square parallel with the tried edge and mark along the other arm. To perform the same operation with the try-square, place the handle against the tried edge, as shown in Fig. 38. Oftentimes it becomes necessary to draw a line parallel to the tried edge. This may be done roughly with the rule and pencil, as shown in Fig. 40. Grasp the rule in the left hand, with the first finger touching the tried edge of the board, and hold the pencil point against the end of the rule with the right hand. Keeping this position, with a steady hold on the rule and pencil, move your hands along the board. The result will be a line parallel to the tried edge. [Illustration: FIG. 40.--Gauging with Rule and Pencil.] At first you may have trouble in making a straight line, but with practice you will be able to hold the rule and pencil steadily. For particular work, where it is necessary to get a perfectly straight and parallel line, =A Marking-gauge= should be used. This is nothing more than the above principles combined in a tool. It consists of a graduated shaft, or rule, with a small needle or spur in one end, which slides through a mortise made in a block of wood known as the head. [Illustration: FIG. 41.--Using the Marking-gauge.] To operate the gauge, set the adjustable head at the required division on the shaft, and then grasp the head and shaft with the fingers of the right hand, as shown in Fig. 41. Place the outer face of the head against the tried edge of your work, and then, pressing the spur into the wood, move the gauge along the board, at the same time keeping the face of the head firmly against the edge of the board. The gauge is much more convenient than the other method of drawing parallel lines, for you can repeat the measurement as often as you wish, having once adjusted the head, without having to lay it off again. =A Try-square= with a mitred handle costs but little more than the ordinary make, and is much handier, inasmuch as it can be employed in making mitres, by placing the bevelled end against the side of the work instead of the straight side (see Figs. 38 and 39). [Illustration: FIG. 42.] =The Bevel= is in reality a try-square which can be adjusted to any desired angle. To set it at an angle of forty-five degrees, place it on the steel-square, as shown in Fig. 42, with the handle against the inner edge of one arm of the square and the blade resting on both arms. Move the blade until it strikes equal distances on the arms (this is shown at four inches in the drawing) and tighten the screw while it is in this position. Other angles may be drawn out upon a piece of wood and the bevel adjusted to them so these angles can be laid off upon other pieces. You will find the bevel handy for reproducing angles. However, if you are supplied with a mitred try-square you can easily dispense with it for ordinary work. There will be times when you wish =To Divide a Board= into a number of equal parts, which may be found to be fractions of an inch that cannot be easily laid off with the rule in the ordinary way. It can be accomplished with a pair of compasses, but until you become practised in their use, it will take some little time in setting them, dividing, resetting, and redividing, until the exact divisor is obtained. A much quicker method is that performed with the rule, as shown in Fig. 43. Suppose you wish to divide a board four and three-quarters inches long into five equal parts. Place your rule across the board, as shown in the illustration, one end at one edge and the "five-inch" division at the opposite edge. Mark off the five divisions and then square the lines across the board at these points with the try-square. This will give you the required five equal parts. [Illustration: FIG. 43.--Dividing a Board Equally.] In the same way longer boards may be divided up by using two-and three-inch divisions on the rule instead of one-inch, and smaller pieces by using half-and quarter-inch divisions. CHAPTER III THE BOY ABOUT THE HOUSE [Illustration: Boy with Carrying-box, Mother in Kitchen.] There are generally repairs of some kind to be made about the house--such as mending screens, renewing window-ropes, repairing wooden walks, patching fences, etc.--which a boy can do, besides many ingenious articles for the house which he can make in his workshop. Ideas for labor-saving devices which cannot be bought upon the market present themselves now and then, and if there is a boy in the neighborhood to carry them out, the housekeeper will be only too glad to pay him for doing the work. For general jobbing you will require a carpenter's carrying-box (Fig. 17, Chap. I) in which to carry your tools, and a nail-box (Fig. 18) for nails, screws, hinges, and such hardware as you will need upon the job. With these you will have a complete outfit. A few suggestions as to what you can do and what you can make are described and illustrated in this chapter, and should give you plenty of material to work upon when you open up your carpenter-shop. Besides these ideas, you will find most of the articles in the following chapter suitable for the house and pieces of furniture for which it will be easy to secure orders. =The Hinge-lock=, in Fig. 44, is one of the most serviceable window-locks that can be had, for it can be so placed as to allow the window to be opened a few inches for ventilation, and at the same time prevent further opening. The hinge is screwed to the upper sash-frame several inches above the centre sash-bar, according to the distance the window is to be opened (see illustration). It will be seen that when the hinge is opened, as in the drawing, neither sash can be opened past the hinge; but when the hinge is folded flat it will not interfere with the opening of either sash. [Illustration: FIG. 44.--The Hinge Window Lock.] This lock would probably be more extensively used if people knew how simple and satisfactory it is. As the hinges cost but a few cents a pair, and are put on very quickly, a boy should realize a fair sum of money in a short time supplying these locks. =A Clothes-line Reel=, such as shown in Fig. 45, is an article no housekeeper should be without. Its use does away with twisted, tangled, and knotted clothes-lines. As they require but little material, and the cost of that amounts to almost nothing, the manufacture of these time-saving devices, for the neighbors, should prove profitable. [Illustration: FIG. 45.--A Clothes-line Reel.] The reel consists of two strips of wood sixteen inches long by three inches wide for the sides, and two pieces of broom-handles sixteen inches long for the horizontal rods (see Fig. 45). Five inches from each end of the side-pieces, bore a hole the size of the broom-handle. With the pieces thus prepared it is a simple matter to fit them together, as in the illustration, placing the broom-handles in the holes bored for them, and fastening them so the side-pieces are nine inches apart and a handle five inches long projects on either side. It is probably needless to say that the ends of the broom-sticks are held in the hands when operating the reel. [Illustration: FIG. 46.--Broom and Dust-pan Rack.] =A Broom and Dust-pan Rack= is a handy article for the kitchen or broom-closet, and can be made as shown in Fig. 46. A rack to hold a large and small broom, dust-pan, and brush, should measure three feet long, three inches wide, and be made out of a seven-eighths-inch board. Bevel the edges and place four brass hooks in the front, as shown in the drawing, from which to hang the broom, dust-pan, etc. Brooms should always be dampened and put away, handle down, according to the advice of an old broom-maker, who claims that by so doing the straws are kept from becoming brittle and the broom lasts much longer. The brooms should therefore have screw-eyes placed in the handle, just above the tin binding, to hang upon the hooks, as shown in the illustration. The rack should be screwed to the wall. [Illustration: FIG. 47.--A Fly-killer.] Fly-papers and poisons are deadly enemies to the house-fly, but none are as effectual or as quick acting as =The Fly-killer=, shown in Fig. 47. This simple device consists of a piece of screen-wire, about four by five inches, stuck into a slot made in the end of a stick, and fastened in place with tacks driven through the end of the handle and clinched upon the under side. If possible, cut the wire with a selvage along the front edge, and trim the roughness from the other edges to prevent scratching. The fly-killer is hung up by a screw-eye placed in the end of the handle. [Illustration: FIG. 48.--An Ash-sifter.] With the fly-killer a person can strike at a fly with almost a certainty of killing it. As the screen-wire is not easily seen by the fly, and the mesh allows the air to pass through, there is nothing to alarm him. These little things are quickly made, and when you show your customer how effective they are, you will find no trouble in disposing of them. =An Ash-sifter= that is dust-proof and very satisfactory is shown in Fig. 48. It is made out of a packing-case about three feet long, eighteen inches wide, and twenty-four inches deep. Set the box upon two-by-four stilts in the shed or yard (braced as shown in the illustration), in such a position that the bottom of the box will be on a level with the top of the alley ash-box. Then cut an opening through the shed wall and end of the box, as shown at _AB_, for the removal of ashes. Two strips are nailed to the sides of the box (seven inches below the top) for tracks for the sifter to run upon, and below this, at _C_, a board slide is placed to dump the ashes, which shake through the sifter, out of the opening in the end of the box into the ash-box. Nail one half of the cover to the top of the box and hinge the other half to it. [Illustration: FIG. 49.--The Sifter.] Make the sifter eighteen inches square by six inches deep, using six-inch boards for the frame and one-third or one-half inch wire-mesh for the bottom (see Fig. 49) Fasten four trunk-casters, such as are shown in Fig. 50, to the bottom of the frame, and fit a broom-stick in one side for a handle. A slot must be cut in the end of the box for the handle to fit in. [Illustration: FIG. 50. Trunk-caster.] =A Bread-board= may be made out of a seven-eighths inch maple board about ten by eighteen inches, with the surface planed perfectly smooth and the edges bevelled or rounded. A hole should be bored near one edge, so it may be hung up in the pantry. The dining-room is not complete without =A Plate-rack= for the display of pretty pieces of china. Figures 51 and 52 show the details for the construction of a rack of three shelves, and in size three feet long and two feet ten inches high. Although the design is very simple in outline, it is such as will make a pleasing piece of furniture when neatly carried out. [Illustration: FIG. 51.--A Plate-rack.] Prepare the two side-pieces the shape and size shown in Fig. 52, and cut the shelves two feet ten inches long by the widths given in the drawing (Fig. 52). One groove should be made in shelf _A_ and two in shelves _B_ and _C_, for the edges of plates to stand in. These grooves are cut with a chisel, and should be made V-shaped as shown. Narrow strips of wood may be nailed along the shelves as substitutes for the grooves if you wish, but the work required to plane up the strips will amount to about as much, and they do not present as neat an appearance. [Illustration: FIG. 52.] Having cut out the shelves and side-pieces, you are ready to put the rack together. For this purpose you should use finishing-nails so their heads will not make very large holes in the surface of the wood. Fasten the bottom shelf (_C_) between the side-pieces seven inches above the bottom, the middle shelf (_B_) ten inches above that, and the top shelf (_A_) nine inches above the middle shelf. The inner edges of the shelves should be fastened flush with the edges of the sides. In the bottom shelf place a row of brass hooks for cups to hang upon. It is necessary to fasten three strips two inches wide between the sides in the back of the rack (as shown in the drawing) for the tops of the plates to rest against. Two holes should be bored in the top strip, by which to hang the rack on nails or hooks fastened in the wall. After completing the carpenter-work, finish the rack with a stain which will harmonize with the color scheme of the room in which it is to hang. CHAPTER IV SUGGESTIONS FOR A BOY'S ROOM [Illustration: Boy Reading, Boy Writing.] It is far better for a boy to spend his evenings in the house than out upon the street. He need not be without his friends there, for if he has an attractive room, with books to read, games to play, and puzzles to solve, the boys of the neighborhood will soon find it out and be only too glad to have a chance to visit him, knowing they will be sure of finding plenty of things to interest them. The simpler the furnishings of a boy's room are the better. Plain and substantial furniture which will stand perhaps a little rougher usage than that in other rooms of the house, and handy places for storing away his traps, are what are needed. The room should be his den where he can keep what he pleases, and arrange the fittings to suit his individual tastes. Shelves for his books and magazines, a cabinet for various collections, boxes for miscellaneous articles, and a desk at which he can study and keep his accounts, are a few of the things the room should contain. These pieces can easily be constructed in the workshop, by following the directions given in this chapter. On the opposite page is shown a scheme for a boy's room suggestive of his sports, games, and handicraft, and while everything is simple and inexpensive in the furnishings, it makes a room that will strike the fancy of the average boy. Nothing appears more attractive than =A Cosey-corner=, such as shown in the illustration, and it is a simple matter to fit one up. A home-made couch, box, or seat of some sort should be constructed to set in the corner, a shelf fastened to one wall a foot or more above it, and several shelves hung on the adjoining wall, as shown in the drawing. Purchase several yards of a dark shade of green denim, and enclose the corner with three strips (see illustration). The upper strip is stretched across the corner at the ceiling, and the other two attached to its ends and allowed to hang to the floor. It is a good idea to make also a dado of the same material within the corner from the baseboard to the under side of the shelves. =Pennants= representative of the various colleges can be made out of cheese-cloth, and a string of these hung across the corner at the ceiling will produce a pretty effect. The walls of the room may be brightened with =Small Posters=, which it is an easy matter to obtain nowadays, and small pictures mounted upon colored mats and fastened behind glass by means of passe-partout paper are always attractive. [Illustration: TREATMENT OF A BOY'S ROOM.] =Picture-frames= can be made out of narrow moulding, the corners of which have been mitred in the mitre-box to make them join neatly. A frame which has proven satisfactory for small posters and pictures not requiring glass is one made out of common laths. The ends of the laths are not mitred as is usually the case in making frames, but are fastened together with what is known as a "butt-joint"; that is, the ends of each piece are set against the ends of the adjoining pieces. The simplest way of fastening them together is by means of small strips of wood nailed across the corners on the back of the frame. Although this frame might be expected to have a clumsy appearance, it has not, and when thoroughly sand-papered and finished with a dull green stain is very pretty. [Illustration: FIG. 53.--A Writing-desk.] =The Writing-desk= shown in Fig. 53 is constructed out of a box, and makes a pretty piece of furniture when completed. Procure a box as free from defects as possible, and with fairly wide boards, so there will be but few cracks. The cover should be in not more than two pieces, as it forms the drop-front of the desk, and it would be difficult to fasten more together. The boards must be fastened with "dowels" and cleats on the edges, as shown in Fig. 54, as cleats upon the inside of the drop would be in the way. [Illustration: FIG. 54.] Dowelling consists in boring holes along the edge of each board and fitting pegs in them. Of course the holes must be bored in exactly the same relative positions in each piece so that the end and sides of the boards will be flush with each other when the pegs have been put in place. To get the holes correctly bored, place the boards together in the vise with two edges flush and uppermost, and square lines six inches apart across the edges, after which locate the centres of the holes on these lines. Be careful to bore the holes straight, and make them a little longer than the pegs. Cut the pegs out of hard wood and make them large enough to fit tightly in the holes. The pegs as well as the two edges of the boards should be smeared with glue before being put together. Then, after driving in the dowels, clamp the pieces together and lay them aside until the glue has thoroughly dried. In order to make a neat joint between the two boards, it is very necessary to have the two edges planed perfectly true and square. While the boards of the drop-front are drying, you can prepare the inside of the box. A boy's desk should be supplied with plenty of pigeon-holes and drawers. They are as necessary as pockets are in his clothes. Split-up cigar-boxes may be used for these divisions, and, by making the upper ones of the right size, cigar-boxes may be fitted in them for drawers. The paper should be removed from the boxes as described in Chapter VIII. Fasten small silk-spools to the front of the drawers for knobs. When the dowelled pieces have dried, nail a small moulding around the two end edges and one side edge, mitring the ends so as to fit together as shown at _A_ (Fig. 54). The drop-front should be hinged to the box with two hinges placed on the inside, as shown in Fig. 53, and brass chains attached to screw-eyes screwed into it and the inside of the box. For the top of the box, purchase a moulding a little larger than that used around the edges of the drop-front and mitre it at the corners, as shown in the illustration. Before putting any finish upon the desk, sand-paper the wood, set the nails with a nail-set, and fill all holes and cracks with putty. A couple of coats of white enamel applied to the outside will produce a very pretty effect, and the inside may be finished with linseed oil, which makes a beautiful finish for the cigar-boxes. The desk should be supported on two iron brackets (enamelled to match the desk), screwed to the wall and under side of the desk. In Fig. 55 will be found =Another Style of Desk=, which, though not as simple to make, may be preferred to the first design. [Illustration: FIG. 55.--Another Style of Desk.] Cut two boards fifteen inches long by twelve inches wide for the sides, and taper each from twelve inches at one end to eight inches at the other end. Cut a board twelve by thirty inches for the bottom and another eight by thirty for the top, and nail them to the end pieces, after which saw the boards for the back and drop-front. Dowel and glue the drop-front boards together, nail a moulding around three edges, and hinge the piece to the desk, as in the case of the other design. Partition off the inside of the desk as shown in the illustration, and nail a moulding around the top. Finish the wood in the manner described for the other desk. =An Ink-stand and Pen-tray=, suitable for your desk, can be made out of a cigar-box, as shown in Fig. 56. Slope the edges with your jack-knife and cut several notches in them for pens and pencils to fit in. The wood should then be sand-papered and oiled. [Illustration: FIG. 56.--Ink-stand and Pen-tray.] =A Couch= for the cosey-corner of your room can be made out of two boxes about three feet long, two feet wide, and eighteen inches deep. [Illustration: FIG. 57.--A Couch.] Remove one side of each box and nail the covers on, after which place the two boxes end to end and fasten them together with strips nailed across them at _A_, _B_, and _C_ (Fig. 57). An incline about eighteen inches long should be fastened to one end, as shown in the drawing. The inside of the boxes may be partitioned off and used for storing away magazines and pamphlets. [Illustration: FIG. 58.--A Window-seat.] For the covering of the couch procure several yards of cretonne, some cotton batting or an old quilt to pad the top, a box of upholstering-tacks, and several dozen brass-headed tacks. After spreading the padding over the couch, cut a piece of cretonne large enough to cover it and tack it to the edge of the boxes, using the upholstering-tacks for the purpose. Make a valance of the same material, gathering the cretonne so as to form a heading at the top, and tack it around the box. Then place the brass tacks along the top of the valance about two inches apart. If a couch is too large for your room you can make =A Window-seat=, such as is shown in Fig. 58. Cut the arms the shape shown in the illustration and fasten them to the ends of the box. Batten the boards forming the box-cover on the under side. Then tack cretonne on to the cover, arms, and outside of the box, placing padding underneath the cretonne to make it soft, and line the inside of the box with some dainty colored goods. When this has been done, hinge the cover to the box with large fancy brass hinges. The appearance of the seat will be greatly improved by placing brass tacks along the edges of the arms and seat, about two inches apart. The inside of the box will make a handy receptacle for clothes and linen. [Illustration: FIG. 59.--A Curio-cabinet.] For those interested in making collections of stamps, coins, stones, insects, etc., =A Curio-cabinet=, similar to Fig. 59, will make it possible to keep all specimens arranged in order, each set of curios occupying a shelf by itself. Such a cabinet should be made of bass or whitewood, as these can generally be obtained in greater widths, are cheaper, and less defective than other material. If you make your cabinet five feet high, two feet wide (inside measurement), and twelve inches deep, purchase twelve-inch boards, as these make it possible to have the sides in one piece and the back in two, a great advantage, as there will then be but one crack, and that up through the centre of the back. After cutting the side-pieces the correct length, finish their edges as in the drawing. Then cut nine boards two feet long for the shelves, which are to be placed six inches apart. Commencing at the top of each side-piece, lay off the thickness of a shelf, which will be about seven-eighths of an inch, and square the lines across the boards; then lay off the next shelf six inches below, and so on down to the bottom. Cut along these lines to a depth of three-eighths of an inch with a saw, and remove the wood between with a chisel. When all the grooves have been cut, slip the shelves into them one by one, and nail them to the side-pieces. After fastening the shelves, cut the two twelve-inch boards for the back and nail them in place. While it is customary to put sash-doors on cabinets, this will be too difficult a job for you to attempt. A very pretty and inexpensive door may be made as in the illustration. Make a frame out of two-inch strips to fit the opening, and stretch some green denim over it, tacking it to the inside of the frame. The ends of the strips forming the frame should be mitred and either nailed together or fastened with dowels and glue, as described in the construction of the desk (see Fig. 54). Hinge the frame to the cabinet. To finish the cabinet, rub it down with sand-paper, set the nails with a nail-set, and putty up all holes, after which stain the wood green, a shade darker than the denim panel in the front. Although the shelves may be simply stained, they will be much nicer for holding curios if covered with felt. It might be well to suggest that you number each curio, and make a catalogue of these, together with the names and any data you have concerning them. The catalogue may be hung on a hook upon the inside of the door, where it can always be found. A pretty set of =Book-shelves= to hang upon the wall can be made with three boards twenty-four inches long by eight inches wide, four dozen spools all of the same size, and two pieces of rope about four feet long and small enough to fit in the holes of the spools. By saving the empty spools from your mother's work-basket, and having your friends save their spools for you, it will not be very long until you have the required number. Spools upon which number thirty-six cotton thread comes are of the best length. Bore holes in the four corners of each board. Then, beginning with the board which is to form the bottom shelf, pass the ropes down through the holes on one side, across under the shelf, and up through the holes on the opposite side. String six spools on each rope and put the ropes through the holes in the next shelf; then string six more spools on each rope and run the ropes through the next or top shelf. Tie the ropes together about a foot above the top shelf, fringing the ends to form tassels. Figure 60 shows the shelves completed. [Illustration: FIG. 60.--Spool Book-shelves.] =A Blacking-case= made similar to Fig. 61 is a handy article for a boy to have in his room. As the friction from a rag rubbed over the shoe produces a finer polish than a brush when polishing paste is used, the box is provided with an arrangement by which a rag can be rubbed over the shoe without much effort (see illustration). [Illustration: FIG. 61.--A Blacking-case.] Procure a box about the size of a soap or cracker-box, and fasten a board in it for a foot-rest, as shown at _A_ in the drawing. On each side of this place a piece of a broom-handle a little shorter than the inside width of the box, and pivot them at the ends with wire nails driven through the sides of the box, as shown in the illustration. Gimlet holes should be made in the sides of the box so the nails will fit loosely in them. Procure a strip of canton-flannel twenty-four inches long by six inches wide, and, after sewing two brass rings to each end, pass the cloth under the rollers and over the foot-rest, as shown in the illustration. The lower part of the box will hold your boxes of blacking and the brushes. To have access to this, a board should be removed from the side of the box and hinged as at _B_ and _C_ in the illustration. Place a button-catch just above it to keep it shut. Fasten together the boards forming the box-cover with battens, and hinge them to the end of the box. The outside of the case will be improved greatly if covered with denim. After applying the paste to the shoe, the foot should be slipped under the cloth which passes over the foot-rest. Two fingers of each hand should then be placed in the rings and the cloth pulled back and forth over the rollers until the shoe is polished. [Illustration: FIG. 62.--A Towel-rack.] =A Towel-rack=, such as is shown in Fig. 62, is made in four pieces,--a board about eighteen inches long for the back, two arms six inches long, and a piece of broom-handle eighteen inches long. After cutting out the arms the shape shown in Fig. 63, bore a hole large enough for a broom-handle to fit in each. Bevel the edges of the eighteen-inch board, and then nail it to the arms, driving the nails through this piece into the arms. Fit the piece of broom-handle into the holes bored for them, and trim off the ends so that about one inch projects beyond the face of each arm. [Illustration: FIG. 63.] Sand-paper the wood, and either paint or varnish it. Attach screw-eyes to the top of the back board and hang the rack by these to hooks placed in the wall. CHAPTER V HOW TO MAKE A DOLL-HOUSE [Illustration: Boy Presenting Doll-house to his Sisters] The average store doll-house is made of thin wood, which is full of defects and likely to warp, besides being put together in such a flimsy manner as to soon fall apart. The majority of these are imported houses, designed and planned in foreign styles, the exteriors being covered with clumsy ornament and gaudily painted, while the interiors are very poorly planned and proportioned. Americanized doll-houses are seldom seen in the market, and the few there are will generally be found very expensive. There is probably nothing more interesting for a boy to make than a doll-house. It is like building your own house on a small scale, the details and proportions having to be just as carefully worked out to make a good-appearing house. Try the construction of a house for one of your girl relatives and see how much she will appreciate it. Then having completed one and learned the many little tricks there are in doing this work, you will find it quicker and easier to turn out others to sell. Neatly made houses are always salable, and it should be an easy matter for you to make arrangements with a toy dealer in your town, to place some of your work in his store to sell on commission. The doll-house designed and detailed in this chapter is easily constructed and =The Materials Required= do not amount to very much. Boards ten inches wide and one-half inch thick are preferable for the general construction, with a few four-inch boards one inch thick for the base and a few other details. Basswood probably will be found the easiest wood to work with, as it is soft, straight-grained, and free from knots. Packing-cases may be used to advantage when they are of the right size, but they are generally made of a cheap grade of pine, full of knots and other defects that make it difficult to do a good job. Cigar-boxes make the nicest material for the interior finish, and a number of all sizes should be procured for this purpose. Prepare the boxes for use as described in Chapter VIII. Fourpenny nails should be purchased for the rough carpenter work, and brads and glue for attaching finishing-strips and all light wood. Paints and other material are specified as required. As shown on the plans (Figs. 65, 66, and 67), the house described in this chapter is of three floors, containing nine rooms, and is in size, thirty inches wide, twenty inches deep, and three feet high. [Illustration: FIGS. 65-70.--Plans of Doll-house and Patterns for the Partitions.] =The Base=, or false basement, should be made first. It consists of two four-by-one inch boards thirty inches long and two twenty inches long, with the ends mitred and fastened together in the form of a frame. Upon this =Lay the First Floor=, allowing but one-half inch of the boards to bear on the frame on all sides. Then lay off the first-floor plan (Fig. 65) upon this floor with a pencil and square, locating the partitions by means of the dimensions given on the plan. =Make the Partitions= _A_, _B_, and _C_, the shape and size shown in Fig. 68, and nail them to the places marked out for them on the floor. =The Stairs= from first to second floors (Fig. 71) should now be constructed as described later under the head of "Stairways," as it would be difficult to set them in place after the walls are up. =Make the Front and Rear Walls= twenty-nine inches wide and twenty inches high, and nail them to the edges of the floor. The outside surface of the walls should now be in line with the base. Leave the cutting of the windows until the rest of the house has been put together. The walls may be prevented from spreading by means of temporary braces nailed across the tops. =Lay the Second Floor=, cutting a three by ten inch stair opening in the place indicated on the plan (Fig. 66), and fasten the boards to the front and rear walls. Draw upon this the second-floor plan, and =Cut Out Partitions= _D_, _E_, _F_, and _G_, as shown in Fig. 69. [Illustration: FIG. 71.--Details of Inside Stairs.] After nailing these partitions to the places marked out for them, and building in the stairs, =Lay the Third Floor= (Fig. 67), cutting a three by seven inch stair opening, and fastening the boards in place as you did those of the second floor. =Stairways.=--While each stairway should be built before the floor above is laid, in order that the work can more easily be done, they have been left for description here, that they might be spoken of in a general way. In Figs. 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75 will be found complete details for these. The first things to prepare are =The Stair Stringers=, or supports for the steps (treads and risers). Cut from a piece of cardboard what is known as =The Pitch-board=, the pattern by which to lay out the steps (Fig. 73). Then draw a line lengthwise upon a thin strip of wood (_AB_ in Fig. 72), and lay off the pitch-board on this as shown in Fig. 72--sixteen times for the first to second story stairs and fifteen times for the second to third story stairs. Draw the line _DE_ parallel to _AB_, and the lines _CD_ and _EF_ as shown. Then cut out the stringer along the lines _CDEF_, being careful in doing so not to split off the corners. Prepare two stringers for each flight of stairs. =The Treads and Risers= should be cut as shown in Fig. 74, and the =Newel-posts and Hand-rails= as shown in Fig. 75. Make a small groove in the bottom of the hand-rail as shown in the drawing. Toothpicks are of just the right size for [Illustration: FIGS. 72-75.--Details of Inside Stairs.] =The Balusters.=--As brads are likely to split the thin cigar-box wood, the staircases should be put together with glue. First fasten the stringers in place, cutting a slot in the edge of the floors for the tops to set in, as shown in Fig. 71. Then glue on the treads and risers, and cut the bottom of the newel-post to fit over the second step. The lower end of the toothpick balusters are set into slits cut with a knife in the treads, and the upper ends fit in the groove cut in the hand-rail. =The Balustrades= around the stair openings on the second and third floors are made in the same way (see Fig. 71). As finished floors are to be laid in the halls, as described later, it will be well at this point to fasten a strip from a cigar-box around the stair openings, upon which to fasten the newels and in which to stick the ends of the balusters. The drawings give every detail and measurement necessary for the making of these stairs, and everything will work out correctly if the directions are closely followed. [Illustration: FIG. 76.--The Front Steps.] [Illustration: FIG. 64. A COLONIAL DOLL-HOUSE.] =The Front Steps= are made as shown in Fig. 76. Cut out two balustrades the shape and size shown in the drawing. Then prepare two stringers of five steps, cutting them exactly the same as for the other stairs, and glue them to the inner faces of the balustrades. The treads and risers are the same as for the other stairs, except that they are four inches in length. Cut the top platform two and one-half inches wide. =The Rear Steps= may be built similar to the front, or may be made simpler by leaving off the risers and balustrade. =The Ends of the House= should measure twenty inches square. Fasten the boards together with battens at top and bottom, and hinge them to the rear wall (see plans and Fig. 64). Small hooks on the ends of the house will make it possible to fasten them shut. [Illustration: FIG. 77.--Make Gable-ends like This.] The roof is what is known as =The Gambrel or Octagonal Roof=, and consists of two eight and two nine inch boards thirty-four inches long. Before fastening these in place, it will be necessary to make =The Gable-ends=, which are cut out as shown in Fig. 77. Make the partition between the nursery and ball-room (_H_) in the same way, with a door cut in it, as shown in Fig. 70. Fasten the partition and gable-ends in place, after which nail the roof boards _B_ and _C_ (Fig. 70) to the top, allowing them to project over each gable. The lower boards _A_ and _D_ should be hinged to these, so they may be raised to get at the upper story. The edges of the boards must be bevelled in order to make perfect joints. When the work has proceeded thus far, cut =The Door and Window Openings= in the places indicated upon the plans and Fig. 64, first boring holes in the four corners of each window and door space; and then connecting them with a compass-saw. With the exception of the front and rear door, and the windows in the basement and gable-ends, make all openings three by five inches, and two inches above the floor. The casement window openings in the gable-ends are to be four by five inches and extend to the floor. Cut three-by-seven-inch openings for the doors, and make the basement window openings two by three inches. Figs. 78, 79, 80, 81, and 82 show the construction of [Illustration: FIGS. 78-82.--Details of Dormer Windows.] =The Dormer Windows.= These are made from cigar-boxes. For the three dormers, you will require six pieces the shape of _A_ for the sides, three of _B_ for the gable-ends, and six of _C_ for the roof (see Figs. 80, 81, and 82). With the different parts cut out, it is a simple matter to fasten them together on the roof, by means of glue and small brads. The glass is bound to the ends of the side-pieces at _D_ and _E_ with strips of linen, as shown in Figs. 78 and 79, and the gable-end sets on the top edge. The dormers should be placed directly over the lower windows and in line with the front wall (see Fig. 79). Old four-by-five camera plates may be used for =The Window Glass=, by cutting them down to the required dimensions--three by five inches for the first and second stories, and two by three inches for the dormer and basement windows. Four-by-five plates are the right size for the casement windows. As the basement is to represent stone, there will be no finish around the openings, and the glass will have to be held in place with cigar-box strips on the inside and putty on the outside, as shown in Figs. 83 and 84. The glass should be fastened in the first and second story windows by means of putty and strips of cigar-boxes (see Figs. 85, 86, and 87). We will make the inside and outside trim the same to simplify matters; so cut two sets of strips for each window, making them the shape and size shown in Figs. 85 and 87. Fasten the outside strips in place first, then slip the ends of the glass into the centre of the wall and nail on the inside strips. Fill in the spaces between the glass and strips with putty to hold the glass firmly in place. =The Casement Windows= (Fig. 88) are made similarly, with the addition of a quarter of an inch strip of a cigar-box glued up the centre of the glass, to give the appearance of double windows hinged to swing in. [Illustration: FIGS. 83-91.--Details of Windows.] Narrow strips of paper glued to the glass, as shown in Figs. 78, 83, 85, and 88, will produce the effect of =Divided Glass= and upper and lower sash. =The Door Trim= (Figs. 89, 90, and 91) is put in place the same as the window trim, but instead of placing the door in the centre of the wall, it should be set flush with the inside trim (see _K_, _L_, and _M_ in plan, Fig. 90), and is hinged by means of a linen strip glued to the edge of the door _M_ and strip _L_. The door-jambs are cased with strips _I_ and _J_. The rear door may be made simpler than this by using a plain strip for a cap. =Make the Door= out of a piece of cigar-box. The drawings give all the necessary measurements for door and window strips, and you will find it a simple matter to cut them out with a sharp knife. After putting the trim upon all of the windows and the doors, cut a number of strips of wood an eighth of an inch thick and half an inch wide for =Outside Trimmings=, and nail them to each corner of the house, around the edges of each gable-end, and around the top of the basement. Purchase some narrow moulding for the cornice and nail it to the edges of the roof boards, being careful to make neat mitres at the corners. The house can more easily be moved about if mounted upon =Casters.= To put these on, cut four pieces of two-by-four about three inches long, fasten a caster to each, and nail one block inside each corner of the foundation frame. [Illustration: FIG. 92.--Construction of Chimneys.] The exterior of the house is now complete with the exception of =The Chimneys.= These should be made up of four pieces, two of which should have bird's-mouth cuts made in the end, as shown in Fig. 92, to make the chimney fit over the top ridge of the roof. The side edges of the pieces should be mitred and fitted together. Nail a strip of wood, half an inch wide, around the tops of the chimneys for caps. You will find it easier to =Paint the Chimneys= before fastening them to the roof. Make the brickwork red and the caps white, and with a small brush and ruler stripe off the mortar joints. When the paint has thoroughly dried, nail the chimneys on to the ridge of the roof in line with the front windows (see illustration of completed house). You will want =A Mantel and Fire-place= in the living-room of the house, and it had better be built in at this point. Figure 93 shows about the simplest form of mantel you can make, and one that presents a very neat appearance. It is made out of cigar-box strips painted to represent brick, with stone hearth and mantel-shelf. It measures seven inches wide, four and five-eighths inches from the base to the top of the shelf, and has a fire-place opening four inches wide and two and one-half inches high. [Illustration: FIG. 93.--The Living-room Mantel.] [Illustration: FIG. 94.--Construction of Mantel.] Figure 94 shows the patterns for the cutting of the various pieces required to make up the mantel. _A_, the front piece, has an opening cut in it for the fire-place, as shown in the drawing. Cut two strips similar to _B_ for the ends of the mantel, one the size of _C_ for the back of the fire-place, two of _D_ for the sides of the fire-place, and one of _E_ for the mantel-shelf. These pieces, with the exception of _E_, should be painted red, and striped off, when dry, with white paint to represent brick. It will be much easier to do the painting before fastening the pieces in their proper places. First divide the length and breadth of the pieces into about the number of spaces shown in Fig. 93 with a lead pencil. Then with a small brush, and straight-edge for a guide, trace over the pencil lines with white lead. Be careful in striping the brick to get the courses the same upon each piece so they will correspond when the pieces are put together. =The Hearth= is made out of a strip seven inches long by two inches wide. Upon this the mantel should be put together with the pieces prepared. Figure 93 shows the location of each piece, and with the aid of glue and some small brads it will be a simple matter to complete the mantel. The edges of the strips had best be mitred to make neat joints. Paint the hearth and mantel-shelf white. The mantel should be fastened to the centre of partition _B_ in the living-room (see plan, Fig. 65). =Andirons= should, of course, accompany the fire-place. These may be made as shown in Fig. 95. They consist of two pieces of cigar-boxes cut the shape of _A_ and _B_ (_A_ an inch and one-half by an inch and one-quarter, and _B_ an inch and one-half long), with the end of _B_ glued in a slot cut in the lower part of _A_. The feet and the top of _A_ and the foot of _B_ are small brass-headed upholstering-tacks driven into the wood, which give the andirons a trim appearance. Paint the strips black. Set the andirons upon the hearth with the ends projecting into the fire-place, and pile several nicely shaped twigs upon them for logs. =The Interior Woodwork= remains to be put on. Cigar-boxes make excellent imitation hardwood floors, for the halls, the ball-room, and nursery. Select as large pieces as possible, and fit them on the floors with close joints. Nail them down with small brads. [Illustration: FIG. 95.--Andiron.] Make the door casings from the same material, cutting the strips the shape and size of those used for the outside doors (Fig. 89). It is not advisable to hang inside doors, as they are easily broken off, and seldom work satisfactorily. A chair-rail should be made in the dining-room of quarter-inch strips fastened to the walls three inches above the floor. Make baseboards in each room out of three-quarter inch strips, and picture mouldings out of strips an eighth of an inch wide. After completing the carpenter work of the house =Set all Nail-heads= with your nail-set, putty these holes and all others resulting from cracks and defects, and sand-paper the rough surfaces. If the woodwork is to be finished in its natural color, by varnishing or oiling its surface, color the putty to match the wood. =Paint the House= a cream color, with white trimmings and a green roof, using yellow-ochre and white lead (mixed) for the walls; white lead for the trimmings, balustrade of front steps, chimney-caps, and striping of brickwork; dark olive green for the roof, and treads and risers of the front steps; and lamp-black for striping the stonework of the basement. The painting of the chimneys and fire-place has been described. Paint the front door on both sides with white enamel or white lead, with the exception of a panel in the centre, which should be oiled as shown in Fig. 89. This will give the appearance of a white enamelled door with a mahogany panel set in it. [Illustration: FIG. 96. Another Style of Doll-House.] [Illustration: FIG. 97. Interior View of Doll-House.] CHAPTER VI ANOTHER DOLL-HOUSE AND A STABLE [Illustration: Boys Making Doll-house.] Photographs of another style of doll-house are shown in Figs. 96 and 97. This house was built by the author for a little relative some ten years ago, and is still in perfect condition, as the photographs show. =Packing-cases= were used for its construction, with cut-up cigar-boxes for window-casings, door-jambs, finished floors, etc., and small mouldings for the outside trimmings. The inside arrangement and the general construction of the house is so nearly like the design in the preceding chapter, that most of the details and the mode of construction may be followed in building it. If boxes are used, the dimensions will have to be figured out to suit, unless the boxes are pulled apart and the boards cut to the sizes shown in the illustrations of this chapter. =The Floor Plans=, which will be found in Figs. 98, 99, and 100, give the sizes of the rooms, and the patterns for the making of =The Partitions= are shown in Figs. 101 and 102. In cutting out the second-floor partitions (Fig. 102), mitre one edge of _E_ and _F_ to allow for the bedroom door opening, shown upon the plan, and mitre the edges of _G_ to fit between them above the door. The mitring is shown in the drawings (Fig. 102). Besides cutting a stair opening in the second floor, make an opening three by five inches in the second and third floors for =The Elevator-shaft=. Care must be taken to have these openings exactly over one another. Make the opening in the second floor six by eight inches in the place indicated upon the plan. This will allow for the elevator shaft and stairway. No stairway has been built to the third story, as the elevator serves the purpose, and one would take up too much of the ball-room space. =The Side Walls= should measure nineteen inches wide by twenty-four inches high, and the other two walls thirty inches wide by twenty-four inches high. That portion of =The Rear Wall= enclosing the kitchen and bath-room is hinged to open (see Fig. 98), and =The Front Wall= is made in two sections, each hinged to a strip of wood an inch and one-half wide nailed to the two edges of the house, as shown in Fig. 96. =The Windows= are four by five inches, so four-by-five camera plates can be used for the glass. [Illustration: FIGS. 98-102.--Plans of Doll-house and Patterns for Partitions.] =The Roof= had best be made in two sections, each measuring twenty-eight inches long by twenty-four inches wide. Fasten the boards together with battens on the under side and, after mitring the upper edge of each, nail them to the house so that the ridge is fifteen inches above the third floor. Then nail a board nineteen inches long by ten inches wide in the peak of the roof (_D_ in Fig. 104), and a narrow strip three inches from each side wall (_K_ and _L_ in Fig. 100). These cut off the triangular shape of the ball-room and give it a better appearance. =The Chimney= is made the same as those for the other house, with the exception of the cap, which is built up of strips of cigar-boxes to represent corbelled brick (see Fig. 103). These strips should be three-sixteenths of an inch wide, and fastened in place by means of small brads. [Illustration: FIG. 103.] =An Elevator= is something which is found in but few doll-houses. It was built in this house, thinking it might please the young mistress, and proved such a success that the scheme has been worked out carefully in Figs. 104, 105, 106, 107, and 108, that you may include it in the house you build. [Illustration: FIGS. 104-108.--Details of the Elevator.] The cutting of the elevator-shaft has already been described. For material, procure two small pulleys, such as are shown in Fig. 106, four feet of brass chain, six feet of No. 12 wire, half a dozen double-pointed tacks or very small screw-eyes, a short piece of lead pipe, and a cigar-box. Make =The Car= out of the cigar-box, cutting it down to two and one-quarter inches wide, three and three-quarters inches deep, and seven inches high (see Fig. 107). Place two of the double-pointed tacks or screw-eyes in each side of the car for the guide-wires to run through and another in the centre of the top from which to attach the brass chain. =The Guide-wires= are made of very heavy wire that will not easily bend. Cut two of a length to reach from the first floor to the ball-room ceiling, and after running them through the tacks in the sides of the car, stick their ends into small holes bored at _E_, _F_, _G_, and _H_ (Fig. 104). The upper holes should be bored through the ball-room ceiling, while the lower ones need be bored but part way through the first floor. Care must be taken to have these holes in the correct position, so the elevator will run up and down upon the wires without striking the sides of the shaft. The easiest way of fastening the wires in place is to run the upper ends through the holes, until the lower ends can be set into their sockets, and then drive two double-pointed tacks over the top of each wire, as shown at _E_ and _F_ in Fig. 104. Now run the elevator up to the top of the shaft, and mark upon the ceiling where the screw-eye in the top of the car strikes. At this point bore a hole through the ceiling and two inches back of it bore another hole, through which to run the weight-chain. When this has been done, cut a short block of wood to fit the peak of the roof and =Screw the Pulleys= to it two inches apart (Fig. 105). Fit the block in the peak of the roof, centring the front pulley over the top of the car as nearly as possible, and drive a couple of nails through the roof boards into it to hold it in place temporarily. Then =Attach the Chain= to the tack in the top of the car, slip a piece of lead pipe about an inch long over the chain, allowing it to set on the top of the car to make the latter heavier (Fig. 107), and run the chain up through the first hole in the ceiling, over the pulleys, and down through the second hole. To the end of the chain attach a piece of lead pipe for =The Elevator-weight= (see Fig. 108).--This should be just heavy enough to make a perfect balance between it and the car, which can be obtained by whittling off the end of the pipe until the weight of the two is the same. Make the chain of sufficient length so the weight will rest upon the first floor when the car is at the third floor. You can now tell whether or not the pulleys are in the right positions. When they have been adjusted properly, nail the block firmly in place. =The Gable-ends.=--The front gable-end consists of four pieces (_A_, _B_, _C_, and _D_, in Fig. 109), the dimensions for the cutting of which are given in the illustration. After preparing these, nail _A_, _B_, and _C_ in their proper positions in the gable of the roof, and trim the edges of _D_, if they need be, to fit between. To prevent the movable section from pushing in too far, it will be necessary to nail a narrow strip of wood to the roof and third floor just inside of it. The rear gable is made in one piece, and is fastened in place permanently. [Illustration: FIG. 109.--The Front Gable-end.] The movable gable and all hinged portions should have =Spring-catches= with which to shut up and lock the house (see the illustrations). =The Stairway= is shown in Fig. 104, and the details for its construction will be found in Figs. 110, 111, 112, 113. This stairway is made in two parts, with a platform between. Cut a block of wood the shape and size shown in Fig. 110 for the platform, with notches at _A_ and _B_ for the tops of the lower stringers to fit in. Then =Prepare Two Stringers= of thirteen risers similar to Fig. 111 and two stringers of five risers similar to Fig. 112, laying them off as described in the preceding chapter by means of a pitch-board similar to Fig. 113. After cutting out these pieces, fasten the tops of the lower stringers in the notches _A_ and _B_ in the platform, and nail the platform in its proper position in the corner of the hall. When this has been done, nail the bottoms of the upper stringers (_E_ in Fig. 112) to the sides of the platform at _C_ and _D_, and set the tops in notches cut in the edge of the second floor. [Illustration: FIGS. 110-113.--Details of Stairs.] =The Treads and Risers= are made the same as in Fig. 74 (Chap. V), except that the depth of the risers is increased to five-eighths of an inch. Cut another platform from a cigar-box to fit over the rough one. =Build a Balustrade= up the side of the stairs and around the elevator enclosures, using the scheme shown in Chapter V (Figs. 71 and 75). =All Other Details= not mentioned here will be the same as described in Chapter V, including the painting and finishing of the house. HOW TO MAKE THE STABLE [Illustration: FIG. 114.--Exterior of Stable.] The stable shown in Figs. 114 and 115, and in the background of Fig. 96, will go nicely with the house described in this or the preceding chapter. Its construction is very simple. The dimensions are twenty-four inches wide, twelve inches deep, and twenty-two inches high, and the barn contains five stalls on the ground floor and a hay-loft above. [Illustration: FIG. 115.--Interior of Stable.] To build the stable according to the drawings, a box ten by twelve by twenty-four inches should be procured for =The First Story=.--If you have a box of different proportions it will be a simple matter to make such alterations in the details as it will require. =The Roof= is made in two sections, each fifteen by eighteen inches, and is fastened to the top of the box so that the peak is twenty-two inches above the bottom. =The Gable-end= is made in four pieces, as shown in Fig. 116, _A_, _B_, and _C_, to be nailed in place, and _D_ to be movable as in the case of the doll-house. Make a three-by-five-inch window in the centre of _D_, and fasten the glass in place with strips cut as described in Chapter V. Strips should be nailed to the roof just inside of the movable section to prevent the latter from setting in too far, and a spring catch fastened to _C_ and _D_ as shown, to hold the movable section in place. [Illustration: FIG. 116.--Front Gable-end.] [Illustration: FIG. 117.--Stall Partitions.] Figure 117 gives the patterns and measurements for =The Stall Partitions=, four of which should be cut out and fastened to the floor of the stable four inches apart, or so they will divide the inside width into five equal stalls. =The Feed-troughs= are made out of two strips of cigar-boxes fitted between the stalls, as shown in Figs. 115 and 117, and are fastened in place by means of brads and glue. Above the stalls cut =Small Windows= an inch and one-half square in the rear wall. These are the ventilating windows for the stalls, and may be left open. [Illustration: FIG. 118.--Ladder to Hay-loft.] Figure 118 shows the construction of =A Ladder= to the hay-loft. This is made out of two sticks twelve inches long, with strips of cigar-boxes two inches long glued to them half an inch apart, as shown in the drawing. Cut away a section of the hay-loft floor two inches square and stick the end of the ladder up through the opening, fastening the uprights to the edge of the floor (see Fig. 118). A stick about three inches long, with a very small pulley attached near the end, should be fastened in the peak of the roof for a =Feed-hoist= (see Fig. 114). The first story has =A Drop-front=, as shown in Figs. 114 and 115. This is made from the box-cover. Fasten the boards together with battens placed upon the inside, and hinge it to the bottom of the stable. Nail two cleats to the under side of the floor (see Fig. 114) to lift it off the ground, just enough to allow the front to drop without springing its hinges. When the front is down it forms an incline upon which to run the horses into the stable. For this reason it is not advisable to cut an opening in it, but merely =Represent a Stable Door= on the outside (see Fig. 114). This is done with paint and a fine brush. First paint a green panel in the centre of the front, and then mark off a couple of panels within this space with black paint, and stripe them diagonally to represent beaded-boards. With strips of wood half an inch wide make =A Simple Trim= around the door, the sides of the stable, and around the gable, as shown in the illustration. When the carpenter work has been finished, =Paint the Inside= of the stable white, and the outside the same colors as used for the doll-houses (see description on page 90, Chap. V). CHAPTER VII FURNISHING THE DOLL-HOUSE [Illustration: Boy Presenting Doll-house to his Sisters.] With the carpenter work of a doll-house completed, the finishing of the inside,--wall papering and painting,--and the selection of furniture for the various rooms, remain to be done. This requires as much care as the building of the house, and while any boy can do the work, the help of a sister will perhaps simplify matters and give to the rooms a daintier appearance. =The Walls and Ceiling= of the kitchen and bath-room should be painted with white lead or white enamel. For the other rooms select paper having a small design, such as is to be found on most ceiling papers. If you have ever watched the paper-hanger at work, you have noticed he puts on the ceiling first, allowing the paper to run down the walls a little way all around instead of trimming it off. Then he hangs the wall paper, and if there is no border to cover the joints of the ceiling and wall papers he carries the wall paper up to the ceiling. Use flour paste to stick on the paper, and a cloth or photograph-print roller to smooth out the wrinkles. The dining-room should have a wainscot of dark paper below the chair-rail, and a paper with little or no figure upon it above. =All Hardwood Floors=, the stairs, door and window casings, baseboards, and picture mouldings should be varnished thoroughly or given several coats of boiled linseed-oil. All floors, with the exception of the kitchen, bath-room, and hardwood floors, should be fitted with =Carpets.=--If you do not happen to have suitable scraps on hand, they can be procured at almost any furnishing store where they make up carpets. Select pieces with as small patterns as possible. The floors of the bath-room and kitchen should be covered with oilcloth. =Rugs= for the hardwood floors may be made out of scraps of carpet. =Window-shades= may be made for each window out of linen, and tacked to the top casing so that the bottom of the curtain reaches just above the centre of the opening. Each window should also have =Lace Curtains= made out of scraps of lace. They should either be tacked above the windows or hung upon poles made out of No. 12 wire, cut in lengths to fit the windows. Screw small brass hooks into the top window-casings for the poles to hang upon. =Handsome Portieres= for the doorways can be made with beads and with the small hollow straws sold for use in kindergartens. For the =Bead Portieres=, cut threads as long as the height of the door and string the beads upon them, alternating the colors in such a way as to produce patterns. Then tie the strings together to a piece of wire the width of the doorway, and fasten the wire in the opening. The =Straw Portieres= are made similarly. From magazine illustrations you can select =Suitable Pictures= for each room, but if you are handy with brush and pencil you may prefer to make the pictures yourself. These may be mounted upon cardboard and have their edges bound with passe-partout paper to give the effect of frames, or frames may be cut out of cardboard and pasted to them. Hang the pictures to the picture moulding with thread. =A Cosey-corner= may be fitted up in the ball-room by fastening a strip of a cigar-box in one corner an inch and one-half above the floor for the seat, and hanging draperies on each side of it. Pillows may be made for it out of scraps of silk stuffed with cotton. A doll-house properly proportioned in every detail, including the selection of its furniture, is pleasing to look at, and is to be desired much more than some of the specimens to be found in the stores. These very often have parlor chairs larger than the mantel, beds that either fill two-thirds of the bedroom space or are so small they are hidden from view by the chairs, and other furniture accordingly, all having been selected without any thought as to size or fitness. Care must be taken, in buying the furniture, to have the pieces suitable to the rooms. It will no doubt require more time than to purchase the first sets you come across, but when you have completed the selections, the result will be a much better appearing doll-house. By carefully searching the toy-shops you are almost certain of finding what you want for the various rooms, as about everything imaginable in furniture has been manufactured. Porcelain bath-tubs, wash-basins with real faucets and running water, gilt furniture, chandeliers, and such articles are tempting to buy. But it is rather expensive to fit up a house in this way, for, though each piece may not amount to very much, they count up very quickly. The suggestions for the making of cigar-box furniture in the following chapter, and the cork furniture in Chapter XXVIII, should give you plenty of material for furniture and save you the expense of buying this part of the furnishings for your house. CHAPTER VIII DOLL-FURNITURE [Illustration] The metal furniture which you can buy is very pretty when it is new, but this new appearance does not last long after it has come into a youngster's possession, for the pieces are very slender and delicate, and thus easily broken. Wooden furniture is the most durable kind, and plain and simple pieces will generally outlast the fancy ones. The designs illustrated in this chapter make very substantial pieces, as there are no spindle legs or fancy arms to break off. They follow the lines of the mission furniture, that simple style used in the early American mission schools, and which is to-day being extensively made in handsome pieces for the furnishings of modern homes. You will find the =Miniature Mission Furniture=, illustrated and described in this chapter, simple to make and something which is easy to sell, for there is nothing like it at present upon the market. Cigar-boxes furnish the nicest material for making this furniture, and the various parts can be cut to the right shape and size with =A Gig-or Scroll-saw.= Procure small brads and glue with which to fasten the pieces together. =To prepare the Cigar-boxes= for use, place them in a tub of boiling water and let them remain there until the paper labels readily pull off. Do not use a knife in removing the paper, as it is liable to roughen the wood. The paper will come off by allowing it to soak long enough. When the boxes are clean, set them in the sun to dry, after binding the covers to the backs to prevent them from warping. Pull the boxes apart when they are thoroughly dry, and throw out such pieces as have printing upon them, for these would spoil the appearance of the furniture if used. [Illustration: FIGS. 119-126.--Patterns for Furniture.] In order to simplify the matter of cutting the parts that make the furniture, the curved pieces have been drawn out carefully on page 111, so they can be laid off upon the strips of cigar-boxes without any trouble, by the process of =Enlarging by Squares.=--These drawings are shown one-quarter of their full size (half their width and half their height). To enlarge them procure a piece of cardboard nine by thirteen inches, or a little larger than twice the size of the drawing each way, and divide it into squares just twice the size of those on page 111. That will make sixteen squares in the width of the cardboard and twenty-four in the length, each half an inch square. In order to get the squares spaced equally, it is best to lay off the points first with a ruler along the top, bottom, and two sides of the sheet of cardboard, and then connect the points with the ruler and a sharp lead-pencil. Then number the squares as in the illustration, using the figures along the sides and letters across the top and bottom of the sheet. With the sheet of cardboard thus prepared it is a simple matter to =Reproduce the Drawings= of Figs. 119 to 126 by locating the points of the curves and corners of the pieces, as shown in the illustrations, in corresponding positions in the squares on your cardboard sheet. The curves may be drawn in by eye, after locating them with reference to their surrounding squares, but the surest way of enlarging them accurately is by laying off the points where the curve strikes each horizontal and vertical line in the illustration, upon the enlarged drawing. These points can then be connected with a curved line. Make all of the lines heavy so they can be distinguished from your guide lines, and after carefully going over the drawing, comparing it with that on page 111 to see that no mistake has been made in locating the points in enlarging, cut the various pieces apart. These give you =The Patterns= with which to mark out the pieces on the wood. We will first note the construction of =The Chairs= shown in Figs. 127 and 128. These are four and one-half inches high, two inches wide, and an inch and one-half deep. Cut the back for the chair in Fig. 127 four and three-eighths inches high and an inch and three-quarters wide, the sides by the pattern in Fig. 119, and the seat an inch and one-quarter by an inch and three-quarters. With the pieces cut out, fasten them together with brads and glue, placing the seat between the arms and back so that it is an inch and one-half above the base. [Illustration: FIG. 127. FIG. 128. Chairs.] Cut the back for the other chair (Fig. 128) four and one-half inches high by two inches wide, the seat an inch and a quarter by an inch and three-quarters, and the sides an inch and three-eighths wide by two and one-half high. To get the curve in the bottom edge of the side-pieces, use the pattern in Fig. 119. [Illustration: FIG. 129.--A Settee.] =The Settee= (Fig. 129) should have its sides cut by the pattern of Fig. 120. Make the back-piece three and three-quarters inches wide and three and one-quarter inches high, and the seat three and three-quarters inches by an inch and one-half. Fasten the seat against the back an inch and one-half above the base. [Illustration: FIG. 130.--A Table.] =Tables= for the living-room, dining-room, bedroom, ball-room, and nursery of a doll-house may be patterned after the designs of Figs. 130 and 131. These should be two and one-half inches high to be of proper proportion for the chairs. The pieces necessary to make Fig. 130 are a top two inches square, two sides an inch and one-half wide by two and one-half inches high, and a shelf an inch and one-quarter square. Fasten the pieces together as in the illustration, placing the shelf between the side-pieces an inch from the bottom. [Illustration: FIG. 131.--Another Design.] The other design (Fig. 131) will do nicely for =A Dining-room Table=, or table for the centre of the living-room. The top of this should be five inches long and three inches wide. Cut the side-pieces by the pattern in Fig. 121 and, after fastening them to the under side of the table-top four inches apart, brace them with a strip three and three-quarters inches long by half an inch wide, as shown in Fig. 131. =A Side-board= similar to Fig. 132 should be made for the dining-room. The pattern for the side pieces is shown in Fig. 122. After sawing these out, cut a piece seven inches long by three inches wide for the back and fasten the side-pieces to the edges of it. The location of the shelves can be obtained best by referring to Fig. 132 and the pattern in Fig. 122. Cut the bottom shelf (_A_ in Fig. 132) three inches long by an inch and one-quarter wide and fasten it to the side-pieces half an inch above the base (line 24 on pattern, Fig. 122). Make shelf _B_ three by one inches and place it at line 22. _C_ should be three and three-quarters inches long by an inch and one-half wide, with a small notch cut near each end with your knife, to make it fit over the side-pieces (see illustration). Cut shelf _D_ three inches long by half an inch wide, fastening it in place at line No. 17, _E_ three inches long by seven-sixteenths of an inch wide, fastening it at line No. 15, and _F_ three inches long by three-eighths of an inch wide, fastening it at line No. 13. The top shelf (_G_) is three and three-quarters inches long and half an inch wide and is fastened to the tops of the side-pieces as shown in the drawing. [Illustration: FIG. 132.--A Side-board.] The lower portion of the side-board is enclosed with two doors two inches high by an inch and one-half wide. Small pieces of cloth may be used for hinges, but it is better to use pins, running them through the shelf above and below (_A_ and _C_, Fig. 132) into the doors. Stick the pins near the edge of the doors and see that they are straight, so the doors will open easily. A small mirror attached to the back between shelves _C_ and _D_ will complete this piece of furniture. [Illustration: FIG. 133.--A Mirror.] =A Mirror= in a frame should be made for the living-room of the doll-house. A neat and suitable design for one of these will be seen in Fig. 133. For its construction cut two sides by means of the pattern in Fig. 123, a piece five inches long by three inches wide for the back, and a strip three inches long by three-eighths of an inch wide for a shelf. Fasten the sides to the edges of the back-piece, and the shelf between the sides about three-quarters of an inch above the base. Now procure a mirror such as you can buy in a toy-shop for five or ten cents (or a piece of a broken mirror cut down to the right size will do very nicely), and attach it to the centre of the back. =The Grandfather's Clock= (Fig. 134) makes an effective piece of furniture for the hall or living-room, and is easily made. Figure 124 shows the pattern for the front of this clock. The back is made the same, with the omission of the square opening cut in the front frame for the clock-face. Cut a block of wood two by two by three-quarters inches to fit between the frames at the top. After nailing the pieces together, procure a face from a toy watch, and fasten it in the opening made for it in the front frame. A button suspended by means of a piece of thread from a tack placed in the bottom of the block forms the pendulum. [Illustration: FIG. 134. A Grandfather's Clock.] It will be unnecessary to give any suggestions for =Kitchen Furniture=, such as chairs and tables, for these can also be made out of cigar-box wood along the same schemes illustrated in this chapter, with perhaps a few modifications which will make them simpler. [Illustration: FIG. 135.--A Bed.] [Illustration: FIG. 136.--Another Design.] Now for the making of some pieces of bedroom furniture. You will find in Figs. 135 and 136 two designs that are easily carried out, one or both of which may be used for =The Beds= of a doll-house. To make Fig. 135, cut the head and foot by means of the pattern in Fig. 125, and cut the two sides by means of the pattern in Fig. 126. After preparing these pieces and fastening them together as shown in the illustration (Fig. 135), cut a few strips a quarter of an inch wide for slats and fasten them between the sides of the bed. It is advisable to fasten these in place to prevent them from being lost. The side-pieces for the other bed (Fig. 136) are cut out with the same pattern (Fig. 126). Make the head-and foot-pieces three by four and one-half inches, cutting a piece two by an inch and one-quarter out of the top of each as shown in the drawing (Fig. 136), and using the pattern of the other bed for cutting the curve in the bottom edge. Nail the pieces together in their proper places, after which cut some slats and fasten them in the bottom. [Illustration: FIG. 137.--A Dresser.] =The Dresser= (Fig. 137) is made somewhat similar to the side-board. Cut the sides by the same pattern (Fig. 122) and fasten them to the edges of the back-piece, which should be six and one-half inches high by three inches wide. Cut shelf _A_ three by one and one-quarter inches, _B_ and _C_ three by one and one-eighth, _D_ three by one and three-sixteenths, and _E_ and _F_ one-half by one and one-quarter inches. Fasten shelf _A_ between the sides at line No. 24 (see Fig. 122), _B_ at line No. 23, _C_ at line No. 22, _D_ at line No. 21, and notch the ends of _E_ and _F_ to fit over the side-pieces at line No. 20. Drawers to fit the lower shelves of the dresser may be made out of small strips of cigar-boxes or pieces of cardboard, glued together. A small mirror fastened in the position shown in the drawing will complete the work upon this piece of furniture. [Illustration: FIG. 138.--A Wash-stand.] =A Wash-stand= can be made for the bath-room and each of the bedrooms similar to Fig. 138. The sides for this should be five inches high by an inch and one-quarter wide, and the shelves one by three inches. Fasten the lower shelf three-quarters of an inch above the base, and the top shelf at a height of two and one-half inches. When the stand has been put together, fit a round stick, about an eighth of an inch in diameter, in holes made in the sides with a gimlet (see illustration). This forms the towel-rack. Hang a small drapery over the lower portion of the stand. =Finishing.=--When the pieces of furniture have been completed, they should be rubbed down with emery-paper to remove the rough edges, and also any rough places that may have been caused by soaking the boxes in water. Then give the wood several coats of linseed oil. This makes a beautiful finish for this kind of wood. If desired, the bedroom furniture may be painted with white enamel. The little hearts may be painted upon the pieces as shown in the illustration, with a small brush and red paint, or may be cut out of red paper and glued to the wood. OTHER CIGAR-BOX FURNITURE [Illustration: FIG. 139.--A Doll's Folding-bed.] In Figs. 139 and 142 will be found some pieces of furniture that are simpler to make than that just described, and although they may not be so pretty, they present a very good appearance when neatly made. The author constructed many pieces of this furniture when a boy, and found them suitable as presents, besides being something that was always easy to sell. The cost of making a set amounts to but a few cents, cigar-boxes being the principal material. They are also very quickly made, as the boxes require but little cutting. [Illustration: FIG. 141.--Foot.] [Illustration: FIG. 140.--Folding-bed (open).] For the construction of =A Folding-bed=, such as is shown in Figs. 139 and 140, select two cigar-boxes, one of which will fit inside the other. The smaller box should be a little shorter than the inside opening of the larger box. After removing the paper from each, place the smaller box inside the larger one, as shown in Fig. 139, so that the bottom of the inner box is flush with the edge of the outer box. Then drive a brad through both boxes on each side, about three-quarters of an inch from the end as shown at _A_ (Fig. 139). These brads should run through the outer box into the bottom of the inner box, and should be driven in carefully so as not to split the wood. The inner box should now fold down as shown in Fig. 140, moving upon the brad pivots. Purchase a five or ten cent mirror and fasten it to the front of the bed, after which cut two wooden feet similar to Fig. 141 and glue the pegs on the ends of these in gimlet holes made above the mirror. Finish the wood the same as described for the other cigar-box furniture. [Illustration: FIG. 142.--Dresser completed.] =The Dresser= shown in Fig. 142 is made out of a box the same size as the larger one used for the folding-bed. Saw the sides of the box in half, crosswise, and remove the upper half and the end-piece. Then nail the end across the tops of the remaining halves of the sides. When this has been done, divide up the lower portion of the box into compartments as shown in the drawing (Fig. 143). This should have a small drapery hung over it. The upper portion of the dresser should have a mirror attached to it, and some lace draped over the top and sides will add greatly to its appearance. [Illustration: FIG. 143.--A Doll's Dresser.] All you will have to do in making =A Wardrobe= will be to fasten some small hooks inside of a cigar-box, attach the cover with a strip of linen--the same way it was attached before you soaked it off--and hang a mirror on the front. These pieces of furniture were designed for separate sets, and would not do for doll-houses the size of those in the preceding chapters, unless the boxes were cut down to smaller proportions. CHAPTER IX A BOY'S PRINTING-SHOP [Illustration: Boys working at the Presses.] Since the manufacture of printing-presses in small sizes, printing has become so popular among boys that it is now hard to find a neighborhood in which there is not a press. Printing is one of the best methods of mastering spelling and punctuation, and is thus a great help to a boy in his studies, besides being a pleasant occupation at which he can earn money. If you cannot afford a large press, be satisfied with a small one for the time being at least. Get to work, learn to print neatly and accurately, and when your friends find your work is of good quality, they will gladly patronize you. Your profits should soon net you enough with which to buy a larger press and increase your equipment. After securing a press, it will be necessary to find a place in which to keep and use it, where there will be a good light to work by and where things are not likely to be disturbed. If you have a workshop, you may be able to make room in it for your outfit. [Illustration: FIG. 144.--A Boy's Printing-shop.] When the author became the proud owner of a machine, he found it convenient to keep it in his room with his type-cases and material beneath the press-stand. But in the course of several years the printing-shop required more space than the room afforded, and a new office had to be secured. This was found in the woodshed, where a corner was partitioned off, a double sashed window placed in the wall, and the interior fitted up with a case-rack, imposing-table, stock-stand, and all the necessities for an enlargement of business. Figure 144 shows the arrangement of our shop a few years later, when it again became necessary to increase our floor space by adding a "mezzanine" story above, extending to the roof of the shed. This half-story was reached by means of a ladder, as shown in the drawing. The principal equipment of a boy's shop should consist of a number of cases in which to keep the fonts of type; a rack in which these cases can be kept and at which the typesetting can be done; a work-bench, one end of which may be used for an imposing-table and the other for the press to stand upon; and two cabinets, one for stock and the other for ink, tools, and general supplies. The other materials required are: a composing-stick, composing-rule, pair of tweezers, galley, leads, rules, furniture, mitre-box, imposing-stone, quoins, shooting-stick, mallet, planer, hand-roller, and gauge-pins, besides a can of ink, an oil-can, a bottle of machine-oil for washing rollers, benzine for cleaning type, and a good supply of rags. [Illustration: AN AMATEUR'S OUTFIT.] Small presses are usually accompanied by a few fonts of type, which are sufficient for printing small business-cards, etc., but are of so few letters as to make an ordinary job of printing impossible. With an increase of capital, =Type= should be the first addition to your outfit. In making selections bear in mind the amount of money you have to spend, and buy only styles which will go together nicely and which can be used for the greatest variety of work. If possible, secure the advice of a printer in purchasing, as by his experience he can tell what you will most require better than you. You can probably obtain a specimen type-book from the type foundry in your city from which to make your selections. =Type-cases= divided into small compartments for the various letters and characters, which can be bought for seventy-five cents or a dollar, provide the only satisfactory means of keeping fonts. It is advisable to spend the money for these neatly made boxes rather than attempt to make them, for the work will amount to more than what you can buy them for. Figures 145 and 146 show the upper and lower news-cases with the systems of "laying" generally employed in printing establishments. It will be seen that by this method the principal letters are grouped in the central portions of the case where they are easily reached, while the less important letters are scattered around the sides. The central boxes of the lower case are also made larger than the others, "e" being allotted the largest box as it is used more than any other letter in the alphabet. [Illustration: SCHEME FOR LAYING CASES. FIG. 145.--Lower Case. FIG. 146.--Upper Case.] As the lettering of the spaces and quads in Fig. 145 may be confusing to the beginner, it is perhaps well to explain that these are based upon the "m" quads which present a square end, the "2m" and "3m" quads being two and three "m" quads in width, and an "n" quad one-half an "m." Likewise spaces are known by the fraction they represent of an "m" quad, viz. "3m," "4m," "5m," and "8m" (more commonly known as hair-space). [Illustration: FIG. 147.--The Yankee Job-case.] The upper and lower cases provide for about every character included in a complete font of type. For smaller fonts you will find the Yankee job-case very convenient, the letters being arranged the same in the lower portion, and the capitals being placed in the upper boxes (see Fig. 147). [Illustration: FIG. 148.--A Type-case Rack.] It will be unnecessary to have =A Rack for the Type-cases= until you have added several styles of type to your outfit. Then you will find a rack such as is shown in Fig. 148 one of the best methods of keeping the type away from the dust and at the same time in an accessible place. This rack should be four feet in height, the width of a type-case, and twenty-eight inches deep, which is large enough for twelve cases. It is best made out of four-inch boards. [Illustration: FIG. 149.] Cut the uprights _A_ and _E_ three feet six inches long, and _B_ and _F_ four feet long. The top-pieces _C_ and _G_ should be cut similar to Fig. 149. First lay out these pieces on four-inch boards, using the dimensions given on the drawing and being careful to get both pieces the same. Having properly marked the pieces, they remain to be cut out with the rip and cross-cut saws. Cut the bottom-pieces _D_ and _H_ twenty-eight inches long, and prepare twenty-two inch-strips of the same length for cleats. One of the most particular points to be looked after in making a rack of this kind is the attaching of the cleats, for unless they are perfectly horizontal and those on one side are on a level with those on the other side, the cases will not slide in satisfactorily and will be continually causing trouble. Plenty of space should also be left between the cleats to prevent the cases from sticking by the cleats swelling or warping. [Illustration: FIG. 150.] In order to get the cleats in the right position, the heights should be laid off on the uprights as shown in Fig. 150 and lines squared across them. You will then have the same heights on each upright. Having prepared the pieces above described, we are ready to put them together. Lay uprights _A_ and _B_ upon the ground, twenty inches apart, and with the lower ends on a line with one another. Then fasten board _D_ to them as shown in Fig. 151, the upper edge being even with the first divisions on the upright. Drive but one nail in each end of _D_ until the other end of the frame is fastened together. Strip _C_ should be placed as shown in Fig. 151, so that the upper edge of one end is even with the top of upright _A_, and the upper edge of the other end three inches above the top of upright _B_. This gives the proper pitch to the top of the rack. Then, after measuring the distance between uprights _A_ and _B_ to see that it is no more or less than twenty inches, nail _C_ firmly to them, after which drive several more nails into the ends of _D_. [Illustration: FIG. 151.] When this has been done, fasten the cleats in place, so that the top of each is even with the line squared across the uprights. This completes the frame. The opposite frame is made similarly. When both frames have been made, they should be fastened together by means of the crosspieces shown in Fig. 148. Measure the width of your cases, which varies somewhat with different makes, and set the frames about half an inch farther apart than this width. Then cut the boards _I_, _J_, _K_, and _L_ the correct length and nail them to the places shown upon the drawing. Strips _M_ and _N_ should be fitted between _C_ and _G_ to help support the top. The top of the rack is made to hold two cases at a time, the lower case on the front part and the upper case back of it. Cases should be kept out of the dust as much as possible, as dirt accumulates in the boxes very quickly, and is hard to clean out. It is therefore a good plan to tack cloth or heavy wrapping-paper to the back, sides, and below the top of the rack, and provide a curtain to hang over the front when the cases are not in use. When the boxes do become dirty, the dust should be removed by means of a pair of bellows. [Illustration: FIG. 152.--How to Hold the Composing-stick.] In composing, or setting type, =A Composing-stick= is necessary. This should be held in the left hand, as shown in Fig. 152, while the right hand picks up the type one by one and drops them into the stick, where the left thumb shoves them into place. It will be seen by looking at the illustration that the type are set upside down and read from left to right. This may seem awkward at first, but with practice you will soon become accustomed to reading the letters in this position. =A Composing-rule=, similar to Fig. 153, should be cut out of a piece of brass rule. In typesetting, the rule is first placed in the stick, and the type then placed against it. [Illustration: FIG. 153.--A Composing-rule.] When a line has been set and there still remains a space too small for another word, it is necessary to either place wider spaces between the words to fill out the line, or reduce the space sufficiently to make it possible to add the word. This operation, which is known as =Justifying=, should be performed after each line has been set. Then place a lead against the type, lift out the composing-rule from behind the first line, and place it in front of the lead preparatory to setting a new line. [Illustration: FIG. 154.--A Home-made Galley.] After composing a stick full of type, it should be emptied into =A Galley.= Figure 154 shows a galley made of half-inch stuff. Cut the pieces as shown, and fasten them together so the bottom-piece is tilted sufficient to keep the lines from "=Pieing="--or falling out of line--without tying them together. Emptying a stick may prove difficult at first, but if the lines have been properly justified and are gripped at the ends with the thumb and first finger of each hand, there is but little danger of making pie. The beginner will, however, doubtless pie his type a number of times, until by experience he learns the proper handling of it. =Proofs= are struck while the type is in the galley, by running an ink-roller over the matter, then placing a damp sheet of paper on the type and running a dry hand-roller over the paper. The print thus obtained is known as the "first proof." It should be fully corrected by means of proof-reader's marks, which can be found in the appendix of any dictionary, after which the corrections should be made in the type and a second proof struck off. When the matter has been fully corrected, it should be placed upon =The Imposing-stone=--a piece of marble or other flat stone set upon the work table. After properly leading the type, =The Chase=--an iron frame cast to hold the type for printing--should be placed over it. The space between the type and chase should then be filled out with =Furniture=.--Metal furniture consists of hollow metal blocks of various sizes, while wooden furniture comes in strips of different widths, which may be cut up into the lengths required. Use a mitre-box similar to the one described in Chapter I in cutting the wooden furniture. =Locking-up a Form.=--The type is locked-up by means of iron wedges known as "quoins." There are two forms of these, those driven together by means of a "shooting-stick" and mallet, as shown in Fig. 155, and those locked by means of an iron key, such as is shown in Fig. 156. The latter kind is probably the most commonly used to-day. Before locking the form, the type should be levelled with a planer, which is nothing more than a block of hardwood with a smooth, even surface. The planer should be set upon the type and given a few light raps on the top with the hammer, until the face of the type is even. Then lock the form securely, being careful to have as equal pressure as possible on all sides, to prevent the type from springing. The form is then ready for the press. [Illustration: FIG. 155.--Locking-up a Form.] [Illustration: FIG. 156.--Key and Quoins.] =Distribution= consists in replacing the types in their respective boxes after the form has been printed, and is no longer desired. The matter should first be thoroughly washed, then unlocked. The distributer lifts out several lines of the type, holding them in his left hand, with the nicks uppermost and the letters facing him. One or more words are picked from the top line with the right hand, and each letter is dropped into its box, after which several more words are picked up and similarly distributed. A few pointers in regard to presswork may be helpful to the beginner. =The Tympan=, or metal bed upon which the paper to be printed is placed, should be padded well with paper to make a firm impression, the number of sheets required depending upon the character of the form. These sheets are held in place by means of the iron clamps which slip over the ends of the tympan (see Fig. 160). The first print struck off probably will be imperfect, that is, some portions will be lighter than others, due to uneven impression. This is overcome by what is known as =Overlaying= the form. Make several impressions, including one on the top tympan-sheet. Then cut out the light portions of a print and paste them directly over the corresponding printing on the tympan-sheet (see Fig. 160). Thin tissue-paper will be found good for building up portions requiring but little increase in pressure. =Underlaying= consists in pasting strips of paper to the back of type or cuts which print unevenly, to make the low portions higher. When the form prints satisfactorily, you must prepare the marginal lines before running off the job. The margins can easily be marked off upon the tympan-sheet, as you have the impression upon it for a guide (see Fig. 160). When this has been done, =Gauge-pins= of some sort should be stuck into the tympan-sheet along the marginal lines as guides for placing the paper in the press for printing. Two forms of these pins, which can be bought for twenty-five or thirty cents a pair, are shown in Fig. 157. These pins must be so placed that there will be no danger of them mashing the type. [Illustration: FIG. 157.--Two Forms of Gauge-pins.] [Illustration: FIGS. 158-161.--Home-made Gauges.] There are several forms of home-made gauges which may be used, three of which are shown in Figs. 158, 159, and 161. The first (Fig. 158) consists of an ordinary pin bent into the shape shown. The second (Fig. 159) is made out of a strip of cardboard scored and bent as in the drawing. It must be pasted in place and held in position until dry, to prevent it from slipping (see Fig. 160). The third form of home-made gauge-pin consists of a quad (Fig. 161), or thin piece of furniture, pasted to the tympan-sheet. =In Inking the Press= be careful to spread the ink evenly over the disk, and apply just enough to make a clear, clean copy. Too much ink will clog the type and produce a smeared print. Ink should not be left upon the form after the latter has been removed from the press, but should be washed off immediately with benzine. The disk and rollers should also be washed after use, as the ink will not be good when hard and will become dirty. =The Life of a Roller= is greatly increased by using machine-oil rather than benzine for washing it. Benzine is too drying for the composition of a roller (which is glue and molasses) and takes the elasticity out of it, causing it to crack. Keep the rollers in a cool place in the summer and not in too cold a place in the winter, for extremes in temperature also affect the composition. =Neatness= is absolutely necessary in printing, and to secure this you must keep your hands clean so as not to finger-mark your prints. Care must be taken in throwing off printed sheets to see that they do not fall upon freshly printed ones if these are wet enough to mark them. =Materials= should be put away in their proper places after use. Do not throw type, leads, and furniture carelessly about, as they are likely to be lost or broken by doing so. Cigar-boxes make handy receptacles for pied type, until you have an opportunity to sort out and distribute it. These are useful also for keeping leads, furniture, and rules in, and a cabinet similar to that described in Chapter I (Fig. 15), or the curio-cabinet described in Chapter IV (Fig. 59), should be made to hold them. The young printer should see to it that =Proofs and Scraps of Paper= are thrown into a waste basket and not scattered about, as they accumulate rapidly, and not only make a shop look very untidy, but increase the danger of fire. =Oily Rags= should be kept in a covered tin can, for they are liable to ignite spontaneously when exposed to the air; and of course oils, gasoline, and benzine should be handled away from fire and corked up after use. CHAPTER X AMATEUR JOURNALISM [Illustration: Boy Journalists.] Amateur journalism is by no means a new pastime, but probably at no time in its long history has it been thought as much of as at present. It would be a difficult matter to even roughly estimate the number of papers which have been issued in the amateur world. Mr. Edwin Hadley Smith of New York City has the largest collection now in existence. This at present consists of 22,600 amateur papers, 500 amateur books, 800 photographs of amateur journalists, 800 professional clippings, and 2,500 miscellaneous printed relics dating as far back as 1845. The collection, which is the result of many years' work, is sorted and catalogued, and will soon be placed in one of our large libraries, where the public may inspect the work that has been turned out by amateurs for the past half century. [Illustration: A GROUP OF AMATEUR PAPERS.] It is said Benjamin Franklin published an amateur paper in 1723, when a lad of seventeen years; and in tracing the history of amateur journalism down to the present time, a person would be surprised to find what a large number of the most successful statesmen, writers, and scientific men this country has had were amateur journalists in their younger days. There are at present in the neighborhood of two hundred amateur papers published in the United States. A few of these papers, representative of amateurs from all parts of the country, have been grouped together and reproduced opposite page 142, and several others are shown in Figs. 162, 163, 164, 165, and 166. It is to be regretted that lack of space forbids a larger display of these papers, many of which are quite unique and reflect credit upon their publishers. [Illustration: FIG. 162.--A School Paper. 32 pages. Size 2-1/4" × 2-3/4".] During the centennial at Philadelphia in 1876, the National Amateur Press Association was formed for the purpose of spreading amateur journalism and bringing amateurs into closer relations with one another. The United Amateur Press Association was formed in 1897, and, while it is a younger organization than the National Amateur Press Association, has a large membership of amateurs. Every boy aspirant to the field of journalism should join one of these associations as soon as he has the proper credential--a copy of his own paper, or an original article of his published in an amateur paper. By becoming a member and getting acquainted with other amateurs through exchange of papers, a boy is greatly benefited. He has a chance to see what other amateurs are doing, finds out through the other papers what the members think of his work, and learns through these friendly criticisms wherein he can improve his publication. He also has a chance to enter his writings for the prizes awarded annually by the associations for the best poems, sketches, essays, histories, and editorials. A great number of the members of these two associations are interested in smaller organizations, among which are the Interstate Association--consisting of the members of the East--and the Western. Again, a large number of amateurs have formed state organizations, and in large cities, where there are enough members to do so, local clubs have been formed. The city clubs hold frequent meetings, at which it is customary for the members to take part in literary programmes. The state and other organizations generally hold semi-annual meetings, and the National Amateur Press Association and the United Amateur Press Association meet annually in some city chosen the preceding year, and at this convention elect their officers, make awards of prizes for the year, and have a general good time. The boy who is owner of a printing-press is almost certain to get the publishing fever and commence the publishing of a small paper. If his press is too small for such an undertaking, it will of course be necessary for him to do such job printing as he can get to do until he has earned sufficient money to buy a larger press and such materials as he will need in publishing a paper. But it is not always the boy who has had a taste of printing who becomes interested in amateur journalism. There are few boys nowadays who pass through their school life without devoting some of their time to this interesting and instructive work. A paper started by one boy is generally followed by several more, and in this way the number of amateur papers sent out in a town very rapidly increases. Nothing daunts the ambitious boy. If he has not a press, and there are no prospects of him earning one for some time, he will not allow this to interfere with his plans. It only means he must devise some other way of printing. Many boys have already proven that a press is not an absolute necessity, by issuing papers printed with rubber type, written by pen and on typewriters, and printed by the mimeograph and such duplicating machines. These are all more or less tiresome operations, but ways in which the boy determined to publish a paper may start. A few examples of papers printed by these methods are shown in Figs. 162, 163, and 164. It might be interesting to know a little something about how these papers were run. The one shown in Fig. 162 was lettered by hand, and while only one copy of an issue was made, and that passed about in the school at which the publishers attended, there was a good deal of work required to get it up. [Illustration: FIG. 163.--Another School Paper.] The paper shown in Fig. 163 is also a school paper, published at the Lake High School, Chicago. The copy for this was first written off on a wax sheet by means of a typewriter, and this sheet placed on the cylinder of a machine known as a "neostyle," the cylinder then being revolved and the papers printed from the wax sheet. [Illustration: FIG. 164.--Printed with Rubber Type.] The paper shown in Fig. 164 was the writer's first attempt in the publishing line, and was indeed a sorry specimen of typography. A box of rubber type, a four line holder, and ink-pad constituted the printing outfit. The paper was a twelve-paged two-column affair, requiring six impressions of four lines each to the column. The column ruling was done with a pen, and, after printing the copies, each had to be gone over and retouched with pen and ink. It was a long and tedious job, and so wearing upon the type that they were practically useless by the time the second issue had been printed. But by this time the publishers became owners of a press with which they were able to turn out more satisfactory work. The first thing for a boy to consider is =The Character= of his paper--whether it shall contain news of the athletic field, the school, or the neighborhood, entirely, or be devoted to amateur journalism entirely, or be made up of a little of each. The schoolroom presents so much of interest to those in and out of it, that papers managed and edited by several pupils, with the articles written by the different classes, are generally successful. Athletic news is always interesting to boys, and to have at least a portion of your paper given up to this subject might be a good plan. [Illustration: FIG. 165.] The paper shown in Fig. 165 is an example of a small paper, the size of the sheet being three by four and one-half inches. It was published a few years ago by six boys living in Lexington, Kentucky. The staff, the oldest of whom was but ten years of age, consisted of the editor-in-chief, who attended to the general management, editing, and printing of the paper, and five other boys, known as the associate editors, who gathered the news and did the hustling. This paper contained mostly neighborhood news, and had a large local circulation. The paper shown in Fig. 166 consists of twelve pages printed upon a press with a form capacity four by six inches, and is given up entirely to the publication of original stories and poems. [Illustration: FIG. 166.] Some boys who do not own presses have the printing done by professionals, but simply to edit a paper gives them but half the pleasure and experience derived from executing all the work themselves,--editing, printing, binding, mailing, etc. =In Naming= a paper be sure to select a suitable title for it, a name with a meaning, such as will denote the character of the publication, being desirable. =The Frequency of Publication= will depend largely upon the size of sheet, number of pages, the amount of time that can be devoted to the work, and the facilities for printing. Whether weekly, monthly, semi-monthly--twice a month, bi-monthly--once in two months, or quarterly, try to place each issue in the hands of subscribers as nearly on time as possible. =The Size of Page= will depend largely upon your press. However, a small sheet is most desirable for an amateur paper. The first page should be headed with the name of the paper set up in rather large type. You will find =A Stereotyped Heading= cheaper to buy than a font of large type, and easier to handle on account of its being in a solid block. Below the heading should appear the volume number, date, and number of issue, on one line, followed by the title of the article and body of type. =The Choice of Type= may be made by examining the sheets shown opposite page 142 and in Figs. 165 and 166, many of which are good specimens of typography. These should also help you to formulate your ideas as to the style of your paper. The second page should be headed with the page number and name of paper--or title of story--in small caps, this line to be separated from the body of type by means of a pica brass rule. Great care should be used in publishing a paper to have the proof thoroughly corrected before the form is printed, for typographical errors spoil the appearance of the paper and are always disgusting to the reader. Also see to it that the marginal lines correspond on each sheet, and try to get uniform impressions throughout the paper. =A Cover= is desirable for a small paper, as it adds to its appearance and size. If you have one, set it up in somewhat the same style as those shown opposite page 142. The cover sheets should be cut a little larger than the inside sheets, so they will cover the latter when they are bound together. With the printing of an issue completed, the sheets are ready for =Binding=.--They may be fastened together by means of wire staples, paste, or thread. Figure 167 shows a scheme of stitching much employed in printing-offices and which is simple for an amateur to do. The sheets are first folded inside one another, as in the drawing. Then, starting at _A_ with a needle and thread, run the needle through the sheets; carry the thread underneath the sheets from _A_ to _B_, from _B_ to _C_ above, from _C_ to _A_ beneath, and up through the sheets at _A_. Then tie the two ends of _D_ and _E_ in a hard knot, with the portion of the thread marked _F_ between them. [Illustration: FIG. 167.] The cover may be bound with the rest of the sheets, or pasted to them after the sheets have been stitched. Few amateurs bother with =Advertisements=, probably because it is hard to find merchants who have confidence in results from magazines with small circulations; but with cheap rates you should be able to secure enough ads. to more than defray the expenses of publishing a paper. Before soliciting these, cut a sheet of paper the size of a page and divide it into small spaces with a pencil and ruler, making what is known as =The Advertisers' Dummy=.--Show this to your prospective advertisers and let them pick out the space they wish, charging so much per inch, the rate varying according to the position the ad. will occupy. With at least four regular issues a year, and not less than fifty per cent of the circulation paid subscriptions, you will be able to enter your paper in the post-office of your city as =Second-class Matter=, which makes it possible for you to mail your papers to out-of-town subscribers at the rate of one cent per pound. To secure these privileges write to the third assistant postmaster-general of your city for an entry blank, together with full particulars concerning second-class matter. Return the application with a copy of your paper; and when it has been passed upon, the postmaster will issue you a certificate entitling you to these rates and authorizing you to print upon your paper "Entered at the post-office at (name of town) as second-class matter." CHAPTER XI A BOY'S DARK-ROOM [Illustration: A Boy Photographing his Dog.] There is no reason why an industrious boy cannot do a profitable business with a camera, when he has learned to operate it successfully, does careful and neat work, and charges a reasonable price for his pictures. The many monthly photographic competitions in the magazines should be a great help in showing where his faults lie, and when he has overcome these he should be able to make considerable money from the cash prizes offered. An amateur should master as much of the work as possible. One of the most interesting parts is missed if you pay a professional to develop your plates, and you never know where your faults have been made in taking the pictures, by not seeing the manner in which the image appears on the negative during the development. Even though you spoil one or two plates in your first attempts at developing, your results on the whole will probably be as good as those obtained by a professional, who is very often careless with amateurs' work. No discussion of photography has been included in this book, as a complete treatise would be too lengthy, and a condensed description impractical. There are a number of excellent publications which describe the subject in detail, making it so clear that a boy cannot help but understand the principles with a little study. Few of these books, however, dwell upon the equipment of the dark-room, and none give a fellow any ideas for the making of his apparatus, generally an important item to a boy. =The Necessary Equipment= for a dark-room is not large, about all you require besides your chemicals being a ruby lantern, printing frame, three trays,--one for developing, another for fixing, and a third for toning,--a two-inch camel's-hair brush for dusting plates, a drying-rack, glass graduate, funnel, set of scales, bottles for solutions, and a cabinet in which to keep your apparatus and supplies. =A Dark-room= is not a necessity, although it is a great convenience, especially if you are doing much work. With the shades pulled down, you will find that your bedroom serves the purpose very well in the evening, and many boys do their work in this way. [Illustration: FIG. 168. A HANDY DARK-ROOM.] [Illustration: FIG. 172. A WASHING BOX AND DRYING RACK.] Figure 168 illustrates how developing is carried on in a bedroom of an old-style house, where the wash-stands are set in recesses in the wall. Here a shelf made up of several boards fastened together with battens is set upon the marble slabs around the basin. In this shelf an opening four by six inches is made as shown in Fig. 170, the edges of the opening being rabbeted to receive a five-by-seven camera plate. This arrangement is very complete, for the developing is performed on the shelf, the fixing on the stand below, and the washing in the basin, while light from the lantern is projected through the glass in the shelf, making it light underneath. This scheme can be used for any wash-stand, by nailing the shelf to two pieces of board twelve inches long by the width of the shelf, these pieces being set firmly upon the wash-stand. Some boys use =The Bath-room= for their dark-room, darkening the window and shutting out any rays of light that may come through the key-hole and cracks about the door. This works splendidly, there being running water at hand and the tub in which to wash the negatives. The work-table is made out of several boards battened together, and should be set across the edges of the tub. Figure 169 shows =Another Scheme=--a dark-room fitted up in a closet, or by partitioning off a corner of the attic or cellar. In the latter case the inside of the partition should be covered with black paper or cloth to prevent light from entering cracks in the boards. The room should be provided with =A Work-table= about three feet high. This should be built against the wall and strongly braced, as shown in the sketch (Fig. 169). Fasten a shelf to the wall about nine inches below the table, and under this make a rack with three divisions in it for trays. The rack should be fastened to the braces, as shown in the drawing. =Running Water= is a great convenience in a dark-room, as it saves the bother of having to carry water in pails, or transferring your plates to a tub or wash-basin for the final bath after development. If it is impossible to locate your dark-room where it will be supplied with running water, the best scheme is =A Water-tank= with hose attachment. This is shown in Fig. 169. To carry it out, procure from your grocer a "half-barrel," such as is used for the shipment of salt mackerel, etc., and, after thoroughly cleaning it, bore a hole in the side about two inches from the bottom. Buy at a drug-store several feet of rubber tubing, a rubber stopper with a hole cut in the centre, two pinch-stops, a six-inch piece of glass tubing bent at right angles, and a small glass funnel. Slip one end of the bent piece of glass tubing into the rubber stopper, and stick the latter in the hole made in the barrel. Then slip a short piece of the rubber tubing over the glass tubing, and place one of the pinch-stops on it to be used in regulating the supply of water from the tank (see Fig. 171). Set the barrel on one end of the table, and run the rubber tubing through a hole cut for it in the work-table. [Illustration: FIG. 170. FIG. 171. FIG. 169.--A Well-equipped Dark-room.] It is advisable to filter the water used from the barrel, that you may be sure it is free from dirt, so an arrangement similar to that shown in Fig. 171 should be fastened below the work-table. It consists of a glass funnel set in a hole bored in a block of wood (see _A_ in Fig. 171), which is suspended from the bottom of the work-table by means of a stick (_B_), one end of which is nailed to block _A_ and the other end to the work-table. Keep a piece of filter-paper in the funnel. The rubber tubing should be cut just long enough to reach the funnel, and the bottom of this filter should come within an inch or two of the sink, which will be set in the shelf below. You will find an iron drip-pan about as cheap =A Sink= as can be had, considering that one twelve by seventeen inches will cost you just fifty cents--twenty-five cents for the pan and an equal amount to pay a tinsmith for soldering a three-eighths inch pipe in a hole cut in the bottom for a drain. Either fasten the sink on the shelf, boring a hole for the pipe to fit in, or set it in an opening cut in the shelf, as shown in the drawing, supporting it by the rim around its top. Slip a piece of rubber tubing over the lower end of the drain pipe and to this attach the second pinch-stop as a regulator for emptying the sink (see Fig. 169). As the water supply would be insufficient to wash the plates thoroughly after taking them from the hypo bath, it should be used for rinsing only, and =A Washing-box=, after the scheme of Fig. 172, made to hold the negatives while washing them. This box will stand on the shelf beside the sink until you are through developing. The rack is made up of strips of wood fastened together with wire brads. Figure 173 clearly shows its construction. Strips _A_, _B_, _C_, and _D_ should be placed three and three-quarters inches apart for four-by-five plates, and kerfs should be cut in their edges as shown. _A_ and _D_ are mounted upon short stilts, and _B_ and _C_ are nailed to the uprights supporting the handle. The plates rest upon strips nailed across the bottom pieces. [Illustration: FIG. 173.--A Washing-rack.] This tray was made to hold two dozen plates, but may be made smaller if you wish. The box should be just large enough for the tray to fit in. Fill all the cracks and joints with white-lead and give the box several coats of paint to make it perfectly water tight. Then make a hole in the side near the bottom to let the water out, and procure a cork to fit it (Fig. 174). [Illustration: FIG. 174.--The Washing-box.] Before developing, cork up the washing-box, fill it with water, and set it in one end of the sink where the plates can be set in it after being taken from the fixing bath. When you are through developing, place the box and plates in the wash-basin or the bath-tub; remove the cork from the box and allow the water to run in at the top and out through the hole near the bottom. When the negatives have been thoroughly washed, the tray can be removed from the washing-box and used as =A Drying-rack=. Another scheme for a drying-rack easily made is shown in Fig. 175. For the construction, two pieces of wood twelve inches long by four inches wide will be needed (_A_ and _B_ in Fig. 175), also two blocks (_C_ and _D_) four inches square. Mitre one edge of _A_ and _B_, and cut a right-angled bird's-mouth in _C_ and _D_ to receive _A_ and _B_. With the pieces prepared, fasten them together as in the illustration. Then procure some corrugated straw-board, such as is used for packing glass-ware, etc., cut two pieces four by twelve inches, and tack them to _A_ and _B_ in such a way that the corrugations on one strip coincide with those on the other. For a simple rack this cannot be surpassed. [Illustration: FIG. 175.--A Negative-rack.] For chemicals, supplies, and apparatus, make =A Cabinet= similar to the one described for tools in Chapter I, or the curio-cabinet in Chapter V. This makes it possible to keep everything in order and in places where they can easily be reached. Such a cabinet is shown on the wall in Fig. 169. The best scheme for a dark-room =Ruby-light= is shown in Fig. 169. This is practicable, however, only when you build the dark-room itself and can cut a window in the partition. It makes it possible to have your source of light outside of the room, and does away with the heat caused by having a lamp within, where you are working. First, cut a ten-by-twelve-inch window opening in the partition on a level with the top of the work-table. Then make a frame a little larger than this opening and either set a piece of ruby or orange glass in it, or paste a sheet of ruby or orange paper over it. Build a track above and below the opening for the frame to slide in, doing the work neatly, so there will be no possibility of light leaking through. The light, which may be a candle or lamp, should stand upon a shelf supported upon a bracket outside of the window. It is convenient to have the window slide, as it enables you to open it and have white light to work by when a ruby light is not necessary. This window furnishes light for developing, which will be done upon the table, but none for the shelf below, where the sink is located and where the fixing tray should be kept (that there will be no danger of getting hypo into the developer). In order to have light for this shelf, you had better follow the scheme shown in Fig. 170. Cut an opening four by six inches in the work-table directly in front of the window, and make a half-inch rabbet around its upper edge to receive a five-by-seven camera plate (see Fig. 170). [Illustration: FIG. 176.--A Home-made Dark-room Lantern.] If it is not possible to have outside light for the dark room, =A Home-made Lantern=, such as is illustrated in Fig. 176, will be found very satisfactory. It is made out of a wooden box about ten by ten by twelve inches. Cut two openings six inches square in two sides of the box and cover one with one sheet and the other with two sheets of orange or red paper, spreading paste over the entire surface of the paper to make it stretch tightly over the openings as it dries. The orange and red wrappers of some makes of printing papers and developing powders can be used for the covering of these openings. For a chimney, procure a long slender baking-powder can, remove the cover and bottom, and insert it in a hole cut for it in the top of the box. Then an arrangement must be made, as shown in Fig. 176, to prevent light from emitting from the top of the can. This consists of a tomato-can placed over the baking-powder can, bottom side up, with its edge fastened in kerfs cut in the ends of four wooden stilts (see illustration). Drive the stilts firmly into holes bored for them in the top of the box. The edge of the tomato-can should now be about an inch and one-half above the box, and its bottom an inch or more above the baking-powder can. [Illustration: FIG. 177.] Below the chimney attach a wooden stilt to the bottom of the lantern, and tack a can cover to the top of it, as shown in the drawing. This forms a cup holder for the candle, which not only catches the drippings, but also makes the lantern fire-proof should the candle burn down to the end before you notice it. Bore a number of holes in the bottom of the box, and nail two strips to the under side, as shown. The lamp is now completed with the exception of the door, which should be made in three pieces, with the edges cut and bevelled as shown in Figs. 176 and 177. Nail strips _A_ and _C_ to the back of the box, and slip _B_ between them. A screw-eye near the bottom of _B_ will serve as a lift in opening the lantern. As the edges of the strips are cut on a slant and bevelled, a joint which cannot possibly leak light is obtained when _B_ is slipped into place. All cracks in the box should be carefully filled with white lead. In offering this lamp to his boy readers, the writer knows they will find it most satisfactory and a solution to the problem of making a perfect dark-lantern. The air admitted through the holes in the bottom of the box carries the heat and smoke straight into the chimney, and out through the space between the tin cans, making it impossible for the flame to ignite the wood. If you use =A Plate-lifter= you will find an old tooth-brush handle tapered at the end by means of a file one of the best that can be had. It is well to have some scheme for =Classifying and Preserving Negatives=.--To keep them in their original boxes is not a good idea, as there is always danger of scratching them and no satisfactory way of keeping track of their description, date of exposure, etc. =Manila Envelopes=, with a printed form to be filled out, on the outside, are invaluable holders, as they not only make it possible to file away negatives in alphabetical order, but preserve them from dust, scratches, etc. [Illustration: FIG. 178.--A Negative-case.] The four-by-five size can be bought for about twenty-five cents a hundred from a dealer in photograph supplies; but you can get them much cheaper by going to a paper house and asking for their four-by-five coin-cut manila envelope, which sells in half-thousand lots at about one dollar per thousand. If the quantity is more than you will need, you can probably dispose of a portion of them to your boy friends. With a printing-press or rubber type, the following form should be printed upon the outside, with a rule or space to the right in which to place the descriptions:-- NO. DESCRIPTION DATE REMARKS =A Wooden Case= to hold the envelopes is desirable, and such a one may be made similar to Fig. 178. For four-by-five negatives the inside of the box should measure twelve inches long, five and one-quarter inches wide, and three inches deep. It will hold about six dozen negatives. Very light wood, about three-eighths of an inch thick, should be used for the construction of this case. Cut two pieces twelve and three-quarters by three and three-eighths inches for the sides, two pieces six by three and three-eighths for the ends, and one piece twelve by five and one-quarter for the bottom. In cutting the side-and end-pieces, mitre the edges of each so they will make neat corners. The mitre-box should be used for this purpose. Nail the pieces together with small finishing nails, after which fasten the bottom-piece between them, driving the nails through the side-pieces into it. The cover is made of a board twelve and three-quarters inches long by six inches wide, with a rim made of four inch-and-one-quarter strips nailed around its edge, as shown in the illustration. Two of the strips should be twelve and three-quarters inches long, and the other two six inches long. Their ends should be mitred and fitted together as the sides of the box were done, and the top should be nailed to their top edges. This cover fits over the plates, which project an inch above the sides. Hinge it to the back of the box, and attach a hook to the front. If you do not keep your plates in envelopes, the sides of the box should be lined with corrugated straw-board to separate them. This may be tacked or glued to the wood. By rubbing down the outside with emery-paper, oiling, shellacking, or varnishing the wood, a very pretty case will be obtained. You will find it a simple matter to pick out a negative by having them filed in the order of their exposure, and catalogued alphabetically in a note-book. CHAPTER XII A WINTER ENTERPRISE [Illustration: Boys with Snow Shovel and Broom.] Boys who keep their eyes open for opportunities to make money are not long in finding that the coming of snow means money in their pockets if they are willing to do a little hustling. A number of years ago a few boys undertook the job of keeping the walks of their neighborhood free from snow, and constructed =A Snow Plough= with which to do their work. The plough proved so satisfactory that others were made, and before long every boy in the neighborhood had enlisted in the company. By several boys joining forces in this way, and making contracts with property owners to keep their walks and steps free from snow, a good deal of ground can be covered in a short space of time, and a neat sum of money realized during the season. The work can be done before and after school, and be so divided that while several are ploughing the walks the others are cleaning the steps. A plough such as is illustrated in Fig. 179 is made in two sections, four feet long by two feet wide. After battening the boards together at _A_ and _B_, as shown in the drawing, fasten the sections in place, with two ends together and the other two ends two feet apart. Nail them firmly together at the angle and brace them at the open end with strips, as shown at _C_ and _D_ in the illustration. [Illustration: FIG. 179.--A Snow Plough.] The bottom edge of the plough should be covered with tin, to prevent it from wearing or becoming broken. Bore a hole an inch in diameter in each section at _E_, and fasten a broom-handle in them from which to attach the rope tugs. This being done the plough is ready for use. =A Scraper= is about the best appliance that can be had for cleaning snow from the steps, especially when the snow has turned to slush. For the making of one of these, prepare a seven-eighths inch board sixteen inches long by four inches wide. Bevel the lower edge and nail a two inch strip below the top, as at _A_ in Fig. 180. Bore a hole through both thicknesses of wood at _B_ and fit a broom-handle in it, bracing the handle with a piece of wire run from a small hole bored in the handle at _C_ to the ends of the scraper. [Illustration: FIG. 180.--A Scraper.] Figure 181 shows a scheme for =A Snow Shovel= that is easy to make, and one which will stand a good deal of wear. For this, secure two barrel staves, cut them in two, and plane up the curved edges until they are straight. Then taking three of these pieces, lay them side by side and nail a two-by-two inch strip across the top edges, as shown at _A_, to bind them together. The bevelled ends of the staves should be placed at the lower end of the shovel and bound in place by a strip of galvanized iron bent over the edges and tacked to the staves (see _B_ in drawing). Another iron strip should be nailed across the staves at _C_, to fasten them more securely together. Clinch the nails upon the under side of the shovel and drive their ends well into the wood. Procure a broom-stick for the handle and place it in a bevelled slot cut at _D_ (Fig. 182), fastening down the end with iron pipe-straps, as shown in Fig. 181. [Illustration: FIG. 182.] [Illustration: FIG. 181.--An Easily Made Snow Shovel.] With the addition of brooms to the plough, scrapers, and shovels, your outfit will be complete and ready for business. [Illustration: Two Boys with Fishing Pole.] Part II Outdoor Pastimes [Illustration: IN CAMP FOR THE SUMMER.] CHAPTER XIII A BACK-YARD CLUB-HOUSE [Illustration: Boys in Discussion, Boys Work on the Club-house.] For many years there stood in a city back-yard a shanty in which the boys of the neighborhood gathered after school and during vacation, to hold their club-meetings. Many a pleasant hour was spent within the walls of this little building, and it had to be enlarged year after year to hold the ever-increasing number of members. If, during the week of school preceding the summer vacation, the boys were seen making plans and talking seriously about something evidently in connection with the house, it might well be imagined that the annual alterations were about to begin. At the close of school the neighbors were made aware of it by the appearance of half a dozen boys upon the roof of the shanty, who, with hammers and hatchets in their hands, were easily recognized as the wrecking crew. Perhaps the roof was to be raised a foot or given a different pitch, a window changed here or a door placed there, a side extended or a partition built through the centre; but no matter whether the alterations bettered the building or not, they gave the owners a chance to use their ingenuity in working out their schemes, and practice in carpenter work. The boys' greatest difficulty was found in obtaining large enough material with which to build. The woodshed was the lumber-yard, and as this contained only a few old boards, several packing-cases, and kindling-wood, a great deal of splicing was required and many pounds of nails were necessary to fasten the many small pieces in place. After remodelling the club-house one year, the members in way of a joke placed a "For Rent" sign upon the door, and were greatly surprised to receive the following mysterious letter:-- MISTER AGENT: i sea u hev a house Fur rent what u want furit im a wider with 12 children six pigs 5 chickens a mule three dogs 7 cats and ten ducks i hop the house is big enuff it dont matter bout the children but i wont crowd the pigs. i soppose will paint outside an in and put awnins at the frunt winders i'd like terry cotty shades and a stun sidewalk iF u'll put a piassie on and reduce the rent till after wurlds Fair i'll take it what you want furit please let me know soon iF u dont find me hum im like to be at mis whatnots if u dont know the way to her house just ask mis jones next door but one to me she'll tell u Good by. MARY JANE JOHNSTONE. The letter was answered immediately and sent to the general delivery but was returned from the Dead Letter Office, and no trace of the large family could be found. [Illustration: The Back-yard Club-house.] Knowing that many boys who would like to build themselves a club-house have not the money in their treasury with which to buy new lumber, this chapter will describe the manner in which a rough-and-ready house may be built. It will not be attempted to show the correct methods of putting up a framework, such as would be built if the right-sized lumber were obtainable, but the simplest way in which boys can make use of the material at hand. =Draw the Plan= of the building upon a piece of paper, and before commencing work figure out exactly what material will be required. If you haven't enough lumber you will find it a great deal easier to alter the plans at first than when the work is half completed. It is best first to place in one pile all =The Material= you can find; then, after drawing the plans, sort out the boards according to their lengths. Use the short boards whenever possible, so that the long pieces may be kept for places requiring long boards. Several two-by-fours should be secured for the framework. If you do not happen to have these, you can easily get what you want at some alteration job or where some frame structure is being torn down. Short two-by-fours may be spliced, or, more correctly speaking, "fished." This is very often resorted to in building when studding of a sufficient length cannot be procured. Figure 183 shows the method of =Fishing Studs=.--Two fish-plates, _A_ and _B_, are nailed to the sides of the studs, covering the joints, while the face _OD_ remains on a level to receive the siding. By building the club-house in a corner of the yard, against the fence, house, or barn, it is necessary to build but two walls. Less material is required, and a much firmer structure obtained by doing this. [Illustration: FIG. 183.] =Stake out= the length and width of the house upon the ground, and sink a stone or a couple of bricks at the corner to support the corner post. Then cut two two-by-fours the length of the greatest inside height of the house. Set one upon the corner stone, bracing it temporarily with boards run from it to the fence, and spike the other to the fence on a line with the corner post (see _A_ and _B_ in Fig. 184). Cut the end-plate _C_ the correct length and spike it to _A_ and _B_, after which cut a two-by-four the length of the shortest inside height, and spike it to the fence rails at _D_. Nail the boards _E_, _F_, _G_, _H_, and _I_ to the places shown in Fig. 184. =The Studs= should be placed from two to three feet apart, according to the length of boards used for siding, and additional studding should be set in where it is necessary. Fasten the ends of the studs to the boards _E_, _F_, _G_, _H_, and _I_. Studding should be placed around the window and door openings, as shown in the illustration. [Illustration: FIG. 184.--Framework of Club-house.] After completing the framework, =Board up the Sides=, fitting the boards around openings and corners as neatly as possible. =The Roof= is a very important factor in a building of any kind, and care should be taken to make it of water-proof material, for a leaky roof will not only ruin the interior but make it damp and thus unhealthy. Tar-paper will be found a good roofing material, inexpensive, and easily put on. First cover the roof with boards placed about one inch apart. Then cut the tar-paper into lengths equal to the width of the roof. Commencing at the lower edge of the roof tack one strip in place. Lap a second strip two inches over the first, a third two inches over the second, and so on until the entire roof is covered. Figure 185 shows a tin cap and nail made especially for this kind of work. The cap is punched to fit over the nail, and prevents water from running into the hole made by the latter. It will be unnecessary to coat the paper with tar, as there is sufficient in its preparation to keep it water proof a long time--probably longer than the house itself will be allowed to stand. [Illustration: FIG. 185.] =The Floor= should not be laid directly upon the ground, but be supported upon four-inch sleepers set as shown in Fig. 186, with cinders rammed in between them. The bed of cinders should not be more than three inches thick, so there will be an inch of air space between them and the floor. This will help to keep the floor free from dampness. Four-inch boards stood on edge will do very well for the sleepers. [Illustration: FIG. 186.--Construction of Floor.] You can probably make a bargain with a carpenter for =A Window-sash.=--They very often have a number taken from old buildings, which they will gladly sell for a small sum. There are two ways in which you can easily fasten the sash in place, either with hinges so it will swing in, as shown in Figs. 187 and 188, or in tracks, to slide as described for the dark-room window in Chapter XI and illustrated in Fig. 169. If the window is made in the front of the building, as shown in the sketch of the finished club-house, the sash will necessarily have to be hinged, as there would not be room for it to slide sideways. We will therefore hinge it to swing in as shown in Figs. 187 and 188. The studding which was placed around the window opening when you erected the framework of the house forms a frame for the sash to set in. The window-sill is made out of a seven-eighths-inch board cut the width of the opening, and should be nailed to the bottom piece of the frame so it pitches slightly outwards and its edges project a little beyond the wall inside and out (see Fig. 188). The pitch of the sill can be obtained by blocking the inner edge with a very thin strip of wood, as shown in the section drawing. The sash should fit the frame with but enough space around it to allow it to open freely. Place the sash in the opening with its inside surface on a line with the inside face of the two-by-four frame, as shown in Fig. 188, and nail a seven-eighths-inch window-stop around the frame outside of the sash to keep the rain and wind from entering. [Illustration: FIG. 188.--Section through Window.] [Illustration: FIG. 187.--Inside of Window.] By hinging the sash to the top of the frame as shown in the illustration, it can be swung up out of the way when opened. A spring-catch should be screwed to the bottom rail of the sash with the latch-pocket counter sunk in the window-sill, and from the knob of the catch a cord should be attached and run through a screw-eye placed in the wall near the ceiling. The sash can now be opened by pulling the cord, and may be held open by looping the end of the cord over a nail. Wooden buttons should be screwed to the inside edge of the jambs for additional locks (see Fig. 187). A sill should be set in the bottom of the door frame, and a seven-eighths inch stop nailed to the top and to the jambs in the same way as you finished the window opening. [Illustration: FIG. 189.--A Batten Door.] =Make a Batten Door=, fastening the boards together on the inside with battens as shown in Fig. 189, with the nails driven through from the outside face and clinched upon the battens. Hinge the door to the inside face of the jamb with strap-hinges, and either buy an iron latch for it or make the old-fashioned =Wooden Latch= described and illustrated in the following chapter. With the carpenter work of the house completed, =Calk up the Cracks=, of which there will doubtless be a great number, unless matched boards have been used for the walls. This may be done by rolling pieces of newspapers into wads and wedging them into the cracks with a pointed stick. Several thicknesses of wrapping-paper tacked over the inside walls will help to prevent the wind from entering, and will also make a good foundation for wall-paper should it be placed upon the walls. Earth should be banked up around the outside of the house to keep away the water. Vines trained over the outside will help to hide the roughness of the boards. The club-house interior may be fitted up with furniture such as is described in Chapter IV, "Suggestions for a Boy's Room." CHAPTER XIV HOW TO BUILD A LOG-CABIN [Illustration: Boy Cleaning Dishes and Boy Cooking outside the Cabin.] The log-cabin marks what might be called the beginning of American architecture, for it was the first form of building built by white men upon American soil. The introduction of saw-mills was very slow, and lumber so scarce that cabins were the best shelter the colonists could build to withstand the cold winters and the merciless attacks of Indians. With the building of saw-mills, the cabin gradually gave way to the frame building, which could be more quickly built, and which was, of course, a more comfortable lodging. But this change first took place up and down the large rivers, where the mills were located, and did not extend into the interior until some time later, owing to the difficulty of hauling lumber to great distances from the mills. To-day the log-cabin is still to be found in the timber regions and among the mountains, but mostly for temporary residences, such as summer homes, camps, and play-houses. [Illustration: FIG. 190.--Plan for a Boy's Cabin.] You boys who spend the summer in the woods should not miss the opportunity of building yourselves a small cabin. Several boys can join forces, and in this way make the work easier and quicker to perform. =Select a Site= on high ground, as near to your source of timber as possible, and then decide upon =The Design and Size to build it=, which will be determined largely by the size and amount of timber you can procure. A plan for a cabin simple in construction is shown in Fig. 190, and while the details have been carefully worked out in this chapter for a cabin of this size, you will find it a simple matter to make such alterations as you wish. For the building of more pretentious cabins, the writer would refer his readers to "Log Cabins and Cottages" as the most practical book published upon this subject. In this volume its author, Mr. William S. Wicks, has not only written upon the construction and treatment of cabins, but also brought together a number of sketches showing a great variety of clever designs that have been built in different sections of the country. In carrying out the details of construction for the cabin described in this chapter, the writer has made use of a number of ideas from this book, through the courtesy of Mr. Wicks and his publishers. Of course the most of =The Material= for the cabin will be secured near at hand, but for a good roof, and the finishing of the door and window openings, a few boards should be taken along, together with several pounds of nails. [Illustration: A BOYS' LOG CABIN.] While it is customary to lay up the walls of a cabin and then cut the door and window openings, you will find it a very much simpler matter to leave the spaces for them when laying up the logs, as it greatly decreases the number of long logs required to build the cabin. As the inside dimensions of the cabin shown in the plan of Fig. 190 are ten by twelve feet, the full-length logs--that is, those above and below the window and door openings--should be thirteen feet long for the ends of the cabin and fifteen feet for the front and rear walls. =To start the Cabin=, stake out its length and breadth upon the ground, clear the space of all trees and brush, and make the ground as nearly level as possible. You will find it unnecessary to have a foundation for a cabin of this size, as it will not settle to amount to anything. [Illustration: FIG. 191.--The Lock-joint.] Probably the most simple way of joining the logs together is what is known as =The Lock-joint.=--As shown in Fig. 191, a notch is cut in the logs twelve inches from each end, so the surfaces of the logs will be brought together when the ends are fitted over one another, as shown in the drawing. Select two fifteen-foot logs for =The Sills=, and set them an inch or so into the ground, parallel to each other and ten feet apart. Then after cutting the notches in two thirteen-foot logs, fit them over the sills twelve inches from the ends. The opening for the fire-place must be left in one end of the cabin, so mark out upon the end log the width of this opening, which should be five feet, and cut out this section of it. Then cut two boards three feet long, the height of the fire-place opening, and nail them to the ends of the log just cut. These boards form the jambs of the opening. Locate a three-foot door opening in the centre of the front sill-log, and saw along these lines to within two inches of the ground, cutting out the piece between. The remaining two-inch piece will form the door-sill. Two pieces of board six feet six inches long, the height of the door opening, should now be cut for the door-jambs and nailed to the ends of the sill-log in the door opening. After testing the jambs with a plumb, such as is shown in Fig. 14, Chapter I, to see that they are perpendicular, continue laying the side and end logs alternately. Fit the logs between the jambs and nail the latter to their ends, being careful not to get them out of plumb in doing so. Above the fire-place the logs will, of course, be of full length, and at a height of four feet four inches the windows will start. Locate the window openings twenty-six inches wide upon the logs laid at this height, the one opposite the fire-place in the centre of the wall, and the others twelve inches from the corners. Cut the jambs twenty-six inches long, and, after setting them in place, continue laying up the logs, fitting the shorter lengths between the jambs as before. [Illustration: FIG. 192.--Interior of Cabin.] When the desired height of the walls has been reached, which need not be more than seven feet, you will be ready =To construct the Roof.=--There are several ways of doing this, but as simple as any is that shown in Fig. 192, and in the illustration of the finished cabin. In laying this form of roof the end logs are placed one above the other, but each tier of front and rear logs is set in a little farther than the preceding pair, until they finally meet at the peak of the roof. The roofs of cabins are generally thatched or covered with bark, shingles, or boards. The thatched roof is the most artistic, and will last from ten to fifteen years when properly made; but unless the straw is put on very thickly and closely woven, it is likely to leak. If you use shingles and expose each four and one-half inches to the weather, you will require about seven quarter-thousand bunches for a roof of this size. Boards will make the most simple and inexpensive covering. They should be put on as shown in the drawing of the completed cabin, and in Fig. 192. A layer of boards is first nailed across the roof-supports four inches apart, and other boards then lapped over these spaces and nailed in place. The roof boards should project a few inches over the side walls and gable-ends of the cabin. When all of the boards have been put in place, it will be necessary to finish off the ridge with =Ridge Boards=, to prevent water from leaking through the roof at that point. As shown in Fig. 192, these consist of two boards nailed along the ridge, and the edge of one nailed to the edge of the other. It is not advisable to build =A Log Chimney and Fire-place= with the intention of using it, for unless the work is very carefully done and kept in repair, there is always danger of setting fire to the cabin. But, nevertheless, it should be built, as it belongs to a cabin and adds greatly to its picturesque appearance. With large logs build up the chimney to a height of five feet, or two feet above the fire-place opening, in the same manner as you did the cabin walls, fitting the ends against the logs of the main structure. When this has been done sink a number of stones in front of the fire-place for a hearth, as shown in Figs. 190 and 192, and also line the bottom of the fire-place with them. Then mix up some clay and line the back, sides, and jambs of the fire-place with it from ten to twelve inches thick, packing the clay until it becomes solid. The upper part of the chimney should be made of smaller logs and sticks, and the inside of the flue lined with clay as the work proceeds. The exterior of the chimney will be seen in the illustration of the finished cabin. When the construction of the cabin has been completed, =Calk all the Spaces= between the logs with clay and moss, to keep out the weather, using a pointed stick for this operation; and grade the ground up to a point just below the line of the door-sill all around the cabin, so that no surface-water will run within. The finishing of the interior of the cabin now remains to be done. By omitting a wooden floor the cost of material will be reduced considerably, and there is really nothing objectionable to =A Mud Floor= if it has been properly prepared. The earth should be thoroughly dried out and packed down until hard and compact, and slightly banked up around the walls. The sills and heads of =The Window Openings= and the head of the door opening should be cased with boards the width of the jambs. If you can secure sash for the windows, hinge them to the inside edges of the jambs as shown in Fig. 190, and nail a seven-eighths-inch window-stop around the jambs outside of them, to prevent the wind and rain from getting in around the sash (see Fig. 193). If sash cannot be obtained, wooden shutters made to fit the opening will do very well, as they can be used at night and whenever you wish to close up the cabin, and when you are within the cabin in the summer you will want the windows open. [Illustration: FIG. 193.] After cutting boards of the proper length for =The Cabin Door=, fasten them together with battens placed at the top, bottom, and centre (see Fig. 194). Then hinge the door to the inside of the jamb with either iron strap-hinges or =Wooden Hinges= such as are shown in Fig. 194. To make a set of wooden hinges, first cut three blocks of wood four or five inches long and nail them to the cabin wall on a line with the three door battens (see _A_, _B_, and _C_ in Fig. 194). Then prepare three pieces of wood eighteen inches long and two inches wide, and bore a small hole through one end of each, as shown at _D_ in Fig. 195. When these have been made, nail them to the door above the battens so that when the door is put in place their ends will rest on blocks _A_, _B_, and _C_. Locate the holes in the eighteen-inch strips upon _A_, _B_, and _C_, and bore holes through the blocks at these points, after which set the door in place and fasten the arms of the hinges to the blocks, either with bolts, as shown in Fig. 194, or with hardwood pegs cut to fit the holes. [Illustration: FIG. 194.--The Cabin Door.] [Illustration: FIGS. 195-199.--Details of Cabin Door.] You will find the old-fashioned =Wooden Latch= and latch-string a very good and serviceable fastening for a cabin door, the details for the making of which are shown in Figs. 194, 196, 197, 198, and 199. It consists of three pieces of wood,--a strip two feet long and two inches wide for the latch, with the ends rounded and a hole bored through it at _E_ and another at _F_, as shown in Fig. 196; a guard cut similar to Fig. 197, with a slot in it about three and one-half inches long and one inch deep; and a catch similar to Fig. 198, with its upper edge rounded so the latch will easily slide into the slot. With the pieces thus prepared you will find it an easy matter to fasten them in the places shown in Fig. 194. The catch is set into the jamb of the door as shown in Fig. 198, the latch is screwed to the door at _E_, and the guard is fastened over the latch in the position shown in Fig. 194. =The Latch-string= is fastened to the latch at _F_, and run through a hole bored in the door above the top batten. To the outside end of the latch-string attach a weight of some kind to keep it from pulling through the hole (see Fig. 199). To lock the door from the inside, you will find a wooden button screwed to the door at _G_ (Fig. 194) very good, as it prevents the latch from being lifted, when turned against it as shown in the illustration. As in the case of the windows, a seven-eighths-inch stop should be nailed to the door head and jambs outside of the door, for the door to swing against, and to keep out the rain and wind (see Fig. 193). You will have need of but few pieces of furniture within the cabin, and those can be made very simple, out of material at hand. =A Mantel-shelf= out of a board five feet long should be fastened above the fire-place by means of three triangular brackets, and it is a good idea to make your =Provision Cupboard= to sit upon this, as shown in the drawing of the cabin interior (Fig. 192). Use a couple of the boxes in which you bring your camping outfit for this. Set them side by side, as in the illustration, place a shelf or two within them, and, after battening the cover boards together, attach them to the ends of the boxes with hinges cut out of leather. On each side of the fire-place a comfortable =Rustic Seat= should be built in as shown in Figs. 190 and 192. The drawings clearly show the construction of this. The two legs are driven well into the ground, and a crosspiece is nailed to their tops to support the sticks forming the seat. Make the top of the seat about eighteen inches above the ground. While a very comfortable bed may be made upon the ground out of pine boughs, it is well to have at least =Two Bunks= for guests, who are almost certain to pay you a visit to see what kind of a time you are having, and perhaps test your cooking. These bunks may be double-decked and placed in the corner where they will be pretty well out of the way (see Figs. 190 and 192). Two six-foot poles should be driven into the ground about thirty inches from the wall, and two cross poles notched and fitted on to them as shown in Fig. 192, one six inches above the ground and the other three feet above that. Cut a number of sound sticks about three feet long and drive one end of each between the logs of the wall and fasten the other end to the crosspiece opposite. These sticks should be placed about three inches apart. In putting up this framework make everything very strong and solid, to prevent any mishaps to the occupants. The bunks should now be covered with pine boughs, cut into small pieces and spread over the sticks evenly and to a depth of two inches. When these have been properly placed, spread a doubled quilt or blanket over them, and the bunks will be completed. [Illustration: TWO SIMPLE CABINS.] As we decided not to use our fire-place for fires, owing to the danger of setting fire to the cabin through some defects in the workmanship, or the cracking of the clay lining, build your camp fire-place outside of the cabin. You will find it more enjoyable to also eat in the open when the weather permits, so build =A Camp-table= between the trees for this purpose. It may be made out of two eight-inch boards fastened together on the under side with battens, and supported at one end on a cleat nailed across the trunk of a tree and at the other on two poles driven into the ground. The height of this table will be determined by the height of the boxes, stools, or whatever you use for seats. It is a simple matter to make a long rustic seat on each side of the table, and if this is done make them eighteen inches high and the table twelve inches higher. Those of you who have camped have probably had enough experience to know what utensils and provisions are required, but =A Few Pointers= may be profitable to the boy who has never been initiated into camp life. =Utensils= of the commonest kind should be taken along. An old frying-pan, a coffee-pot, two water pails, a tin pan and wash-basin, tin plates and drinking cups, some old spoons, knives, and forks, a can-opener, and a jack-knife are about all you will be in need of. Among =Other Necessities= are blankets, towels, dish-cloths, rags, soap, rope, and string, matches, a lantern, and an axe, a saw, and nails. =For Provisions=, take as much canned food as possible, as it requires but little preparation, is easily carried, and not likely to spoil. Bacon and eggs are, of course, to be included in your list, as they belong to a camper's bill o' fare, are very satisfying to a fellow's appetite when he has returned to camp hungry after a day's tramp through the woods, and a boy will have but little trouble in cooking them. Be sure you know how to prepare whatever food you take along to cook, before starting for camp, and don't experiment upon dishes you have never attempted, or you will probably make a mess of your materials, as is generally the case, the result of which will not be fit to eat. Should there be fishing near the site of your camp, learn the proper preparation of fish for your table. CHAPTER XV HOW TO BUILD A CANVAS CANOE [Illustration: Boys Canoeing.] Canoeing is a most delightful outdoor sport, and one of the healthiest in which a boy can indulge during his vacation days. Its popularity can plainly be seen by visiting any lake or stream, and noting what a large percentage of the small craft dotting its surface are canoes of various shapes and sizes, paddled by boys of all ages. For speed and the ease with which it can be carried about, the birch-bark canoe has no equal, but very few boys own them, as they are expensive, and their construction is more difficult than those of other material which will satisfy a boy fully as well. The canvas canoe is more widely used at the present time than any other form, which is no doubt due to the fact that it is very simple to make and keep in repair, and the cost of its material is small. In building a canvas canoe there are two important things to consider,--its weight and strength. These depend upon the material used. The framework must be made stiff enough to hold its shape, as the canvas adds but little to its strength, and at the same time the wood should be as light as possible. There are a great variety of =Materials= from which to choose for building the framework, among which basswood, ash, spruce, and pine may be classed. The canoe described and illustrated in this chapter may have its ribs, ribbands, and gunwales made out of lattice-strips and barrel-hoops, which will save the cost of having them cut to the right size at a mill. Pine or fir lattice-strips of good sound stuff are generally easy to obtain in all locations. SIZES OF STRIPS AND PIECES REQUIRED 1 piece of 2-inch by 8-inch plank 6 feet long for bow and stern pieces. 15 2-inch by 3/8-inch lattice strips 12 feet long for ribbands, gunwales, keel, and bilge-keels. 20 barrel-hoops for ribs and deck braces. 1 strip 8 feet long, 2 inches wide, and 1 inch thick for keelson. 2 strips 4 feet long, 2 inches wide, and 5/8-inch thick for deck ridge pieces. 2 strips 8 feet long, 4 inches wide, and 1/4-inch thick for cockpit frame and coaming. Several 6-inch and 8-inch boards from which to cut deck beams, patterns, etc. Copper nails and brass screws should be purchased for fastening the framework together, and copper tacks for putting on the canvas. Iron nails will rust and break off, and therefore should not be used in any part of the canoe's construction. Use nails only where their ends can be clinched, and screws in all cases where this cannot be done. For covering the framework, three and one-half yards of canvas forty inches wide will be required for the lower portion, and the same amount thirty inches wide will be required for the deck. Boiled linseed-oil should be purchased for filling the canvas and the best grade of mixed paint for painting it. A drab, or cream color and white trimmings, are both suitable for a canoe. If the latter is used, buy white paint, and, after pouring out enough to cover the finishing strips, mix the rest with enough yellow ochre to make a pretty shade of cream. Below will be found a bill of the material required to build a canoe such as this chapter describes, and although the prices of canvas and a few of the fittings are likely to fluctuate somewhat, the price of the canoe should not exceed this amount, and there are locations where it may be less. BILL OF MATERIAL 3-1/2 yards No. 10 Duck, 30 inches wide, 27 cents $0.95 3-1/2 yards No. 10 Duck, 40 inches wide, 36 cents 1.26 1-1/2 pounds 1-inch Copper Nails,30 cents .45 2 pounds 3/8-inch Copper Tacks, 35 cents .70 2 dozen 3/4-inch Brass Screws (Flat Heads), 7 cents .14 6 dozen 5/8-inch Brass Screws (Flat Heads), 6 cents .36 3 dozen 5/8-inch Brass Screws (Round Heads), 6 cents .18 1/2 gallon Boiled Linseed-oil .25 1/2 gallon Best Quality Mixed Paint .75 15 Lattice-strips, 12 feet long .90 1 Piece of 2-inch by 8-inch Plank 6 feet long .20 Miscellaneous Strips and Pieces (see page 202) .50 ---- Total cost $6.64 [Illustration: FIG. 200.--Bow and Stern Pieces.] [Illustration: FIG. 201.] Having procured the necessary material for the canoe, the first things to make are =The Bow and Stern Pieces= (see Fig. 200).--The proper way of laying these out on the eight-inch plank is shown in Fig. 201. First cut the plank in half, and then place these two pieces side by side upon the floor or work-bench as shown in the drawing one piece upon which to draw the pattern, and the other upon which to locate the centre for drawing the curves. Then square the line _AB_ across the planks, and locate the points _D_ and _E_ on either side of it, by means of the measurements given upon the drawing. The most satisfactory scheme for =Drawing the Curves= is with a piece of cord, to one end of which a pencil has been tied (see Fig. 201). With this as your compass, hold the end of the cord at _D_ for a centre, and with a radius of ten and one-quarter inches strike an arc cutting the line _AB_ as at _C_. _C_ is now the required centre for drawing the curves. Drive a small nail into the plank at _C_, and wind the end of the compass cord around it until the correct length of radius is obtained (see drawing). Describe the arc _DE_ with a radius equal to _CD_, or ten and one-quarter inches. Then with a ruler lay off along the line _AB_ the distances for the other arcs, as shown in the drawing. _FG_ will be two inches from _DE_, _HI_ an inch and one-half from _FG_, and _JK_ an inch and one-quarter from _HI_. Having located these points and described the arcs, draw the lines _CD_ and _CE_, extending them so as to cut off the arcs, as in the drawing. At the upper end of the pattern draw the line _LM_ one inch from and parallel to _FD_. With a radius of an inch and three-quarters and the centre _N_ describe an arc as shown in the drawing. At the lower end of the pattern draw the line _OP_ two inches from and parallel to _GK_, and the line _QR_ one inch from and parallel to _PK_. Having carefully drawn out this pattern, turn over the plank and draw the same thing upon it, locating the points exactly opposite one another, by squaring lines across the sides and edge. Prepare the other piece of plank similarly. To cut out the patterns, place them in the vise of your work-bench, one at a time, and rabbet the surfaces between _DE_ and _FG_, and _FG_ and _HI_, as shown in the section drawing, Fig. 202. This done reverse the piece and do the same to that side. When these surfaces have been trued up carefully, remove the piece from the vise and saw the pattern from it. In doing this, first saw along the lines _DJ_ and _EK_, and cut out the corners _FLMD_ and _PQRK_. Then follow roughly the curves of lines _DE_ and _JP_, after which place the work in the vise and trim them off nicely with a draw-knife, rounding the outer curve as shown in Fig. 202. The portion _OQRG_ should be cut down to a plain surface as shown in Fig. 200. [Illustration: FIG. 202.--Section through Bow and Stern Pieces.] With the bow and stern pieces completed, the most difficult part of your work has been accomplished. Now pick out the eight-foot strip procured for =The Keelson=.--Square off the ends so that it is exactly eight feet long, and then, commencing six inches from one end, lay off mortises for the ribs (see Fig. 203). These mortises should be cut half an inch deep and the width of the barrel-hoops, and their centres should be spaced twelve inches apart. [Illustration: FIG. 203.--The Keelson.] In order to give the correct shape to the canoe in putting the framework together, it will be necessary to make =A Mould= similar to Fig. 204. Fasten together two boards about two feet long with battens, as shown in the drawing, and with a piece of cord to which a pencil has been attached describe a semicircle upon it, using a radius of eleven and one-half inches. Saw out the mould carefully, and in the centre of the bottom cut a mortise two inches by one-half for the keelson to fit in. [Illustration: FIG. 204.--The Mould.] Everything should now be in readiness =To put the Framework together=.--In order to give the keelson the proper slope of one inch between its centre and ends, nail two blocks of wood one inch thick to the work-bench eight feet apart, and rest the ends of the keelson upon them. Then fasten the ends of the keelson in the mortises cut in the bottom of the bow and stern pieces. Set the mould which you have prepared over the exact centre of the keelson, and fasten it in place temporarily. When this has been done take two lattice-strips for =The Gunwales=, and after locating the exact centre of each, screw them at this point to the ends of the mould just below the top. Drive these screws but part way in, as the mould is to be removed later on. Commencing at the bow end of the canoe, draw the end of one gunwale to the bow piece, and, after marking it the correct length cut it off so it will fit nicely in the rabbet cut in the side of the bow piece. Then screw the other end to the stern piece, after which attach the gunwale on the opposite side in the same way (see Figs. 200, 205, and 206). Now take the barrel-hoops which are to be used for ribs, and fasten them in the mortises cut for them in the keelson, bending their ends until they come inside of the gunwales. Then fasten them to the gunwales and trim their ends so as to be even with the top of the canoe (see Figs. 205 and 206). [Illustration: FIG. 205.--Top View of Canoe, showing Gunwales, Ribs, and Ribbands in place.] [Illustration: FIG. 206.--Side View of Canoe, showing Framework completed.] [Illustration: FIG. 207.--Top View of Canoe, showing Framework completed.] After fastening the ribs in place, =The Ribbands= should be put on. Pick out eight of the soundest lattice-strips you have, and fasten these at their centre to the sides of the mould, placing four on each side of the keelson and spacing them at equal distances. As the mould is only temporary, do not fasten the ribbands to it securely, but drive in the nails part way. Then, beginning at the bow, draw the ends of the ribbands to the bow piece one at a time, and cut them off so they will fit neatly into the rabbet. Screw them in place, being careful to space them as equally as possible, after which attach the stern ends in the same way. Figure 205 shows the top view of the canoe at this stage of its construction. [Illustration: FIGS. 208-211.--Details of Deck Beam and Ridge.] =The Deck Beams= should now be made and put in place, one each side of the cockpit, or fourteen inches from the centre of the canoe (see Fig. 207). At this point measure the exact distance between the gunwales, and lay it off upon a four-inch board (see Fig. 208). The top of this piece should be curved as shown in the drawing, and a mortise two inches wide by five-eighths of an inch deep should be cut in the edge for the deck ridge pieces to fit in. As a means of preventing the gunwales from spreading, it is best to dovetail the ends of the deck beams into them (see Fig. 207). Cut a tongue half an inch long and half an inch thick on each end of the beams, as shown in Fig. 209, undercutting it slightly, as in the drawing, to make it wedge-shaped. Then, having prepared the ends, place the beams in the positions they will occupy in the framework, and mark upon the top of the gunwales the shape of the tongues. Mortise the gunwales at these points (Fig. 210), so the tongues can be slipped into them and fastened in place. By examining the corners of a drawer you will see clearly how the dovetail joint is made. =The Ridge Pieces= are strips running from the deck beams to the bow and stern pieces (see Figs. 206 and 207). For this canoe, they should be made out of a strip two inches wide by five-eighths of an inch thick. Cut them of correct length to reach from the mortises in the tops of the deck beams to the mortises cut in the tops of the bow and stern pieces. Mortises two inches wide and a quarter inch deep should be cut along the top of these ridges, as shown in Fig. 211, to receive the deck braces. Securely screw the ridges in place. Then cut twelve pieces of barrel-hoops for =The Deck Braces=, and fit them in the mortises made in the ridge pieces. Screw these in place and bend their ends until they can be fastened to the inside face of the gunwales. The curve of these braces should be the same as that of the deck beams, so it will be possible to put on the deck canvas neatly (see Figs. 206 and 207). The space between the deck beams is left for =The Cockpit=, the frame for which we are now ready to prepare. First remove the mould, being careful that the framework does not spread in doing so. Then cut two two-inch strips to fit between the deck beams, and fasten one on each side of the cockpit two inches from the gunwale (see Fig. 207). When this has been done take the strip eight feet long, four inches wide, and one-quarter inch thick, procured for the cockpit frame, and bend it around the opening, fastening it to the sides of the deck beams and the side strips. The top edge of the frame should now be shaved off with a draw-knife, so that it will be on a line with the deck braces at every point (see Fig. 206). This is necessary in order to make the curve of the deck around the cockpit the same as elsewhere. The framework of the canoe is now completed, and should be painted and left to dry before you go on with the rest of the work. It is no easy matter to stretch =The Canvas Covering= over the framework without having it wrinkle, but with the help of a boy friend it can be stretched fairly even, and with care and patience may be made to look neat. Turn the framework bottom side up and, after finding the centre of the forty-inch strip of canvas, lay it along the keelson from bow to stern. Smooth it over the surface with your hands, and start a few tacks along the keelson to hold it in place. As a means of keeping the canvas stretched over the bottom of the framework while working upon it, attach several weights to the edges; then, with your helper on the side opposite you, commence at the middle rib and stretch the canvas down that rib to the gunwales, starting a couple of tacks in the gunwales to hold it in place. Then work along each rib from the centre of the framework toward the bow, and then from the centre toward the stern, stretching the canvas as tightly as possible, and driving tacks along the gunwales not farther than one inch apart. You will find that the only way to get the canvas on smoothly is by removing the tacks wherever any wrinkles appear and, after restretching it, replacing the tacks. As the tacks will probably have to be removed a number of times during the operation, it is advisable to drive them in but a little way at first. It is most difficult to make a neat job at the bow and stern, and a few wrinkles will probably remain, no matter how much pains are taken in fitting the canvas, on account of the narrowing of the canoe at these points. Fill the outer mortise made in the bow and stern pieces with paint, and, after folding the edges of the canvas, tack it in these mortises. Place the tacks as close as their heads will permit, which, together with the paint, will make a joint that water cannot penetrate. Now examine the canoe carefully, and, if you have smoothed out the wrinkles as much as possible, drive home the tacks and trim the canvas close to the gunwales. =The Deck= is much easier to cover. Spread the piece of thirty-inch canvas over it from bow to stern, with the centre of the canvas running along the centre of the deck, and place a tack in it at the bow and another at the stern. Stretch the canvas in the same manner as when covering the bottom of the framework, and lap it over the gunwales, tacking it along the outer edge. Cut through the canvas at the cockpit, and trim it off so there will be just enough to lap around the cockpit frame. Trim the canvas along the gunwales so that it does not project more than an inch. After the deck has been covered, the canoe is ready for =Painting=.--A coat of linseed-oil should first be applied to the canvas, to fill the pores and make a good foundation for the paint. Then allow the canvas to dry thoroughly, after which give it a coat of paint,--cream, or whatever color you have selected. When this has dried, rub it down with pumice-stone or fine emery-paper, and apply a second coat. All that now remains to complete the canoe is the attachment of the cockpit coaming, the keel, bilge-keels, and the outside gunwales. Take the strip eight feet long, four inches wide, and one-quarter inch thick, which you procured for =The Cockpit Coaming=, bend it around the frame of the pit, and cut off the ends so they will join neatly. Then fasten it to the cockpit frame, allowing two inches to project above the deck, and shave off the top edge the same as you did the cockpit frame, so it will be two inches above the deck at every point. For a small canoe built for paddling only, it is unnecessary to have anything more than a strip fastened to the bottom for =The Keel=.--So cut a lattice-strip eight feet in length, and screw it along the bottom of the keelson (see Fig. 212). =The Bilge-keels= are lattice-strips fastened along the sides of the canoe as a protection to the canvas, and should be attached directly over the ribbands. One of these on the centre ribband of each side will be sufficient (see Fig. 212). [Illustration: FIG. 212.--The Canvas Canoe completed.] For a finish to the upper edge of the canoe, =Outside Gunwales= should be attached outside of the present ones. These will cover the joint between the canvas of the deck and the lower portion of the framework. All of these outside strips should be fastened in place with the round-headed screws, after which they should be painted. Figure 212 shows the canoe completed. =A Seat= is desirable for the bottom of the canoe, for comfort as well as to prevent your feet from wearing out the canvas. This seat should be movable, so it may be taken out to drain the water from the bottom of the canoe, and may be made as shown in Fig. 213. Batten together two six-inch boards upon their under face and notch the two side edges to fit over the ribs of the framework (see Fig. 207). [Illustration: FIG. 213.--Seat.] In order to keep your canoe in good condition, do not allow it to remain in the water for any length of time when not using it, as the canvas would soon rot by doing so. After a spin, pull it out of the water, and turn it upside down to dry; then put it away under cover to remain until again wanted for use. With the greatest of care a boy will puncture his canoe once in a while, so it is a good idea for him to know =How to mend Punctures=.--There are several ways of doing this, but the best is by either sewing a piece of canvas over the puncture and then painting it with white lead, or daubing the canvas around the hole with varnish, and then laying a canvas patch over it and varnishing it. The making of a well-shaped paddle is no easy matter for an amateur to accomplish, so it is advisable for a boy to procure =A Hand-made Single Paddle=, such as can be bought for a dollar and a half. This is generally made of selected spruce, with a copper-tipped end, and is nicely finished. The length of the paddle will depend upon the size of the boy who is going to use it, but should be between four feet six inches and five feet. It may be well to warn those who build canvas canoes about the ease with which they are overturned. As long as the boy remains seated he is perfectly safe, but the moment he attempts to change his position, he need not be surprised if he receives a ducking. Upsets are common in canoe-racing, and especially in a close finish, where one paddler after another overbalances himself in his efforts to beat out his companions. But these only add to the fun of such a race, and no harm is done if the canoeist prepares for them beforehand by putting on his bathing suit. CHAPTER XVI HOME-MADE TRAPS [Illustration: Boys Trapping.] Trapping and trap-making is, and probably always will be, a pastime which every boy enjoys. If he lives in the country or near the woods he is sure to grow fond of the wild creatures around him, and spend some time in following their tracks and watching their ways and habits. If he is a city boy he may not have these advantages, but is probably just as much interested in the study of birds and animals as his country cousin is, and when the opportunity presents itself will slip off to the nearest woods to spend the day with his little friends, and perhaps carry one or two back home to share city life with him. When boys wish to trap animals for pets, or for eating while camping, or when they have become so numerous in a locality as to be a nuisance, it can be considered clean sport; but as soon as they begin to trap and kill them just for the fun of it, without deriving any good whatever from the act, they are guilty of a great cruelty. The various forms and schemes for home-made traps that have been devised, and which are to be found in use by boys all over the country, are countless, but there are of course a number of these which are more effective than others, and some which have gained more favor among boys. Several years ago the author wrote an article upon traps, and has since been more than pleased to note the success boys have had in making and using them. With a few additions, the same schemes have been embodied in this chapter, and it is hoped that the several kinds of snares and traps will prove as satisfying to the majority of boy trappers. They are all simple to make, require but the material ordinarily at hand, and are effective for most of the smaller species of animals, and many varieties of birds. [Illustration: FIG. 214.--Stick for the Figure-four Trap.] [Illustration: FIG. 215.--The Figure-four.] [Illustration: FIG. 216.--The Figure-four Trap set.] One of the oldest forms of traps, and one of which every boy should understand the construction, is =The Figure-four Trap=.--It is about the simplest example, and its principle will be found in the schemes of a great many of the more complicated traps. For this the preparation of three sticks, such as are shown in Fig. 214, will be necessary. These sticks may be made of any length you wish, but their proportion should be about as shown in the drawings. The illustrations show clearly how the sticks should be notched, and how one end of the trigger should be tapered for the bait. Fig. 215 will explain the manner in which these sticks are placed together in the form of a figure-four. The rest of the trap consists of a soap-or cracker-box with the cover hinged to it. To set the trap, place the box upon the ground, cover down, and rest its upper edge upon the top of the figure-four, as shown in Fig. 216. When putting the figure-four together, it is necessary to hold the sticks until the box is set upon them, as the weight is required to hold them in position. For squirrels and rabbits, for which this trap is very good, bait the trigger with a carrot, piece of apple, or cabbage leaf. It is easy to see that the slightest nibble at the bait will disarrange the sticks, and cause the box to drop over the game. [Illustration: FIGS. 217-219.--A Box Trap.] In Fig. 217 is shown an invention of the writer's, a simplified form of the much-used =Box Trap=, having the principle of the figure-four involved in its trigger. This trap has proven exceptionally good for rabbits and squirrels. A small box about the size of a cracker-or soap-box should be procured for the making of this trap. Remove one end, and, after nailing it to the cover boards, hinge the latter to the end of the box, as shown in the illustrations (Figs. 217 and 218). With no hinges at hand, the writer has found several nails driven through the ends of the cover boards sufficient to hold the cover while opening and closing it. Bore two holes, one over the other, in the back of the box, and cut out the space between. This makes a rectangular slot (see _D_ in Fig. 218). When this has been done, take a stick about eighteen inches long, and, after tapering one end, nail it to the box cover, allowing the tapered end to project about nine inches. Then prepare a trigger twelve inches long, similar to Fig. 219. The trap is now ready to set, which is done by slipping the trigger into the slot at _D_ and, after baiting it at _C_, catching the notch _B_ on to the box at the top of the slot, at the same time fitting stick _E_ into the notch at _A_ (see cross section, Fig. 218). The weight of the cover will now hold the trigger in place until "bunny," or some one of his neighbors, attacks the inviting bait. Then the trigger will loosen its hold at _B_, and cause the cover to fall over the intruder. A few holes may be bored in the side of the box for ventilation, but these, as well as the slot in the back, should be protected with tin, to prevent your captive from gnawing the openings large enough to escape. =The Dead Fall= is a trap commonly used for skunks, minks, muskrats, and coons, and probably cannot be excelled as a means of killing off destructive and annoying animals. Figure 220 shows a form of this trap which has been successfully employed. First make a pen out of stakes driven well into the ground in the form of a wigwam. This is a guard for the bait, and should be open on one side only, as shown in the illustration. Place a short log in front of the opening, and at both ends of this drive a stake against the outer face of the log, as shown in the drawing. Then procure a log of the same diameter, and about six feet long, and slip it between these stakes and the wigwam, so it falls upon the first log. Cut a forked stick about twelve inches long for the bait-stick, notching one end and tapering the other, as shown in Fig. 221, and cut another stick twenty-four inches long and flatten it at both ends. [Illustration: FIG. 221.--The Bait-stick. FIG. 220.--The Dead Fall.] To set the dead fall, raise an end of the upper log and slip one end of the flattened stick under it, resting it upon the top of the stake outside of the log. Place the bait-stick, point downward, inside of the pen upon a chip of wood, and set the other end of the flattened stick in the notch (see illustration). The bait-stick should now be in such a position that the log above it will fall when the bait is tackled, and strike its victim on the head or neck with sufficient force to kill it. For baiting this trap, use some food of which the animal is particularly fond. [Illustration: FIG. 222.--The Coop Trap.] =The Sieve Trap.=--This is a most simple form of trap, consisting of a sieve and a short stick with which to prop up one side of it. Fasten a long cord to the stick, and, after scattering grain beneath the sieve, carry the end of the cord to a place of concealment to await the appearance of some birds. As soon as these are attracted by the grain, and begin feeding under the sieve, pull the cord and they will be your prisoners. =The Coop Trap=, shown in Fig. 222, can be used for trapping the larger variety of birds. This is well known as an effective trap for wild turkeys. It consists of a number of sticks piled up in the form of a pyramid and tied together as shown in Fig. 222. Dig away enough of the ground under one side of the coop to allow a bird to enter, and then scatter some grain inside and a little in the entrance to attract the birds. [Illustration: FIG. 225. FIG. 226. FIG. 224. FIG. 223. A Rabbit Snare and Twitch-up.] It may seem strange to the reader, but it is nevertheless a fact, that, after entering the coop, a bird will try to fly out of the top, and will remain there until starved to death, if not released, without attempting to escape by the way it entered. =A Rabbit Snare.=--This can be used to the best advantage after the first snowfall, for the footprints of a rabbit are then easy to follow. Bunny can be counted upon keeping in the same path to and from his burrow, and a snare set in the centre of his path is pretty certain to catch him before very long. The snare should be made of a piece of soft wire about two feet long. Make a noose in one end about four inches in diameter, and fasten the other end to a branch projecting over the path (see Fig. 223). This noose is commonly attached to what is known as =A Twitch-up=, or a sapling bent down and held as shown in Fig. 224. One of a number of schemes employed for holding the sapling in position is here shown. Select a spot a few feet from a sapling, and there make an enclosure about twelve inches in diameter. This should be made of twelve-inch sticks driven into the ground in a circle, leaving an opening of about six inches on one side. Drive a stake into the ground on both sides of the entrance, and cut a notch in the outer face of each about six inches above the ground (see Fig. 225). Find a twig somewhat similar to the one in Fig. 226, and, after slipping it into the notches and baiting the prong, fasten the noose and sapling to it. With the trap thus set, a slight pull on the bait dislodges the crosspiece, and the sapling springs up, jerking the animal into the air, and causing its death almost instantly. [Illustration: CAUGHT AT LAST.] Ranchers of the Western plains and mountains are continually experiencing severe losses from the attacks of wolves and coyotes upon their live-stock, and to rid themselves from the nightly raids of these animals requires unceasing warfare against them with traps. But the wolf and coyote are very crafty fellows, and extremely keen-scented, so that even professional trappers have trouble in capturing them, often resorting to every scheme they can devise without success. Steel traps are generally employed by the professional, as they are less cumbersome and quicker to set than the home-made affairs. The traps are handled with gloves, as the touch of the bare hands would be instantly detected by the wary animals, and, after being placed in a circle around the bait, are covered over with leaves and brush. In order not to leave human footprints behind him, the trapper often sets them while mounted upon horseback. Not long ago, a trapper was hired by a rancher in New Mexico to capture some Loboe wolves which had been making serious raids upon the cattle, and one of his experiences while working there was somewhat laughable, though probably not seen in that way by all the parties concerned. Using a dead calf for bait, the trapper dragged it to a selected spot, and there surrounded it by eight or ten traps, which he chained fast to stakes, and carefully hid from view. Setting out to visit the traps as usual, on the following morning, he mounted a knoll from which he could see the location of the bait, and there plainly made out that a number of his traps had been sprung and were occupied. But upon reaching the spot, his surprise and disgust can be imagined when he found a dog in one trap and a bad-tempered Indian held fast by the clutches of three others. After releasing the captives, the trapper gathered from the Indian's half-broken English that he had been riding by on the previous night, and his dog had wandered from the trail and sprung a trap. He had then dismounted to release the animal, but had not taken more than half a dozen steps before his foot became clutched in a trap, the force of which threw him forward, and, in trying to break his fall with his outstretched hands, each became securely clutched in traps. Fortunately no wolves made their appearance, and the couple were unharmed; but the Indian no doubt spent a sleepless and uncomfortable night in the position he was forced to occupy. CHAPTER XVII TOY GUNS, TARGETS, AND BOWS AND ARROWS [Illustration: Boys at Target Practise] [Illustration: FIGS. 227-230.--Examples of Ancient Guns.] Some of the old war engines used in Europe before the introduction of gunpowder were most ingeniously contrived, and were wonderfully effective, considering that their projective force was obtained by means of springs and levers. It is hard to find many good examples, as authorities have badly confused them, but the writer has been fortunate in securing drawings of what he believes to be pure types of the most commonly used guns. These are reproduced on page 230, believing that the average boy will be interested to see the kind of weapons that were employed in warfare centuries ago. With a little study, the working of these guns will be clearly understood without further explanation than what is given upon the drawings. The catapult (Fig. 227) and the trebuchet (Fig. 228) were used for storming fortifications, and each hurled large stones. The trebuchet was a much later invented machine than the catapult, and, being built on a much larger scale, was more powerful. It is claimed that trebuchets were often built large enough to hurl carcasses of horses into an enemy's fortifications. The ballista (Fig. 229) was in reality a large cross-bow, built to shoot long, heavy bolts or arrows. The illustration shows a form mounted upon wheels for field service. The cross-bow (Fig. 230) was a weapon used by the foot-soldiers of a number of European countries. It was in use in England for some time, but, on account of the terrible wounds inflicted by its short barbed arrows, was finally forbidden and superseded by the long-bow. [Illustration: FIGS. 231-233.--A Cross-bow.] Some ideas for the making of toy shot-guns and pistols, worked by springs and levers much the same as the ancient guns, will be appreciated by the boy who is denied the use of firearms. The schemes illustrated and described on the following pages will be found easy to carry out, and such as will furnish enjoyment for many a day in the woods or back-yard. Figure 231 shows a new idea for =A Cross-bow.=--The stock for this should be cut out of a tongued-and-grooved board, with the groove running along the top, and a mortise should be made at _A_ in which to set the trigger. This mortise should be about two inches long and as wide as the thickness of the board will permit, and is made by boring a couple of holes through the stock at this point, and cutting out the wood between with a chisel. Select a strong barrel-hoop for the bow, and fasten it at its centre in a hole cut for it at _B_, driving a nail into it at _C_. The trigger should be made similar to _D_ in Fig. 232. Cut block _E_ out of a piece of tongued board, leaving the tongue to fit the groove in the gunstock. Notch the bottom to fit over _D_ (see Fig. 233). Place a tack in each side of the block, and run cords from them to the end of the bow. These cords must be of such a length that the bow will bend almost to its limit when block _E_ is placed over the trigger. A heavy rubber band should be attached to the lower end of the trigger, and to a tack at _F_. This must be strong enough to cock the trigger. The cross-bow will shoot either pebbles or arrows, but the latter are the most satisfactory. [Illustration: FIG. 234.--Shingle Arrows for Cross-bow.] =Shingle Arrows= are very good, as they shoot straight, and are so quickly made as to be easily replaced by a fresh lot when lost or broken. Mark them out as shown in Fig. 234, with the head at the thick edge of the shingle and the tail at the thin edge, and cut them out with your jack-knife. The head and tail are made flat on one side, so as to lie flat in the groove of the gun. =A Toy Pistol= can also be made out of a tongued-and-grooved board. Some such shape as shown in Fig. 235 should first be drawn upon the board, with the groove extending along the top. Cut this out with your jack-knife, and make a mortise for the trigger. Cut the trigger similar to Fig. 236, fastening it in place with a brad driven through it at _A_. It will be noticed that the trigger is notched at both ends. These notches are for a rubber band, which should be stretched from the upper notch of the trigger, over the muzzle, and around to the lower notch, as shown in the drawing. The rubber band lies in the groove in the top of the pistol. [Illustration: FIGS. 235-237.--A Toy Pistol.] =The Bullets= for this pistol consist of pieces of cardboard cut into small squares. To load the pistol, slip one of the squares through the rubber band as shown in Fig. 237, so that it rests on top of the groove, as shown in Fig. 235. Upon pulling the trigger the bullet will shoot out of its position, and though naturally one might think the loop of the rubber band would catch the card, it is not the case. The card frees itself and travels in a straight line in the direction in which the pistol is aimed. It is advisable to keep this pistol out of range of your companions' faces. =A Shot-gun= can be made on the same scheme as the pistol, by cutting a stock the size of that used for the cross-bow (Fig. 231), and fastening several rubber bands together to extend around the added length. [Illustration: FIG. 238.] =An Elastic Sling= made with a wire framework, as shown in Fig. 238, is an improvement over the one made out of a tree crotch, as it is not easily broken. About No. 12 wire, which is the thickness of eight-penny nails, should be bought for this. With a pair of pincers, bend it into the shape shown in the drawing, with loops at _A_ and _B_. Wrap the handle with cord, and attach strong rubber bands to _A_ and _B_, with a piece of shoe leather or kid glove set in between, at _C_. [Illustration: FIG. 239.--A Barrel-hoop Target.] A most satisfactory scheme for =A Boy's Target= is shown in Fig. 239. It consists of a barrel-hoop, fastened by means of staples to a wooden platform, as shown in the illustration. Pack the inside of the hoop with earth which has been moistened sufficiently to make it hold together, and place a piece of paper over it, pasting it to the edges of the hoop. The paper will be stretched as tight as a drumhead when dry. Five rings should then be painted upon it, as shown in the illustration. Fasten screw-eyes in the top of the platform, and hang the target by these wherever you wish to use it. By preparing several sheets of paper, a fresh piece may be pasted over the hoop after one has been filled with holes. The earth will prevent the paper from splitting, and will be soft enough for the end of an arrow to stick into. Should the earth become too dry, it may be moistened each time a new paper is put in place. [Illustration: FIG. 240.--A Simpler Target.] =A Simpler Target=, and a scheme which will answer a boy's purpose, if he does not care to go to the trouble of making the hoop target, is shown in Fig. 240. A circular piece of cardboard, with five rings painted upon it, is tacked to the end of a broom-handle, and this is stuck into the ground. =Points are Scored= in target shooting as follows: Bull's-eye 9 points; second ring, 7 points; third ring, 5 points; fourth ring, 3 points; fifth, or outside ring, 1 point. =The Bow and Arrow= is always popular with boys who are forbidden the use of guns. Authorities claim that the best materials from which to make bows are mulberry, sassafras, Southern cedar, black locust, black walnut, apple, and slippery elm, in the order named; but if a boy selects what appears to be a good sound piece of wood, with straight grain, he has something which will suit the purpose. [Illustration: FIG. 241.--A Boy's Bow.] =The Length of the Bow= should be about the height of the person using it. Figure 241 shows a five-foot bow, with the other proportions such as are on makes to be found in the stores. Cut your piece of wood five feet long, and, after placing it in the bench-vise, shape it down with a draw-knife or plane until it is one inch wide by one-half inch thick at the handle and three-quarters of an inch wide by one-quarter inch thick at the ends. The bow can be made round on the inside or face toward the archer, and flat on the outside or face away from the archer, or the two faces may be made round. Cut a notch in the bow two inches from each end, as shown in the illustration, from which to attach =The Bow-string.=--A cord with as little elasticity as possible should be used for this. If you care to spend the money for it, a good cotton string can be purchased from a dealer in archery goods for twenty-five cents. With a home-made bow-string, a loop should be made in one end and bound with thread, as shown in Fig. 242. Slip the loop over the upper notch, bend the bow until the centre of the string is about five inches away from the handle, and attach the loose end to the lower notch by means of a slip-knot similar to that shown in Fig. 243. The bow should be sand-papered until smooth, and thoroughly oiled with linseed-oil. A piece of velvet about three inches wide should be glued about the centre for a handle. [Illustration: FIG. 242. Bow-string Ends. FIG. 243.] For a five-foot bow, cut =The Arrow-shafts= twenty-four inches long and one-quarter inch thick. Whittle them out of straight-grained strips of wood, round them nicely, and cut a notch in the ends large enough to fit over the bow-strings. It is not supposed that boys would care =To Prepare Arrow-heads= of stone or bone as the Indians did, for there are other schemes that are simpler to carry out. If the wood is reasonably hard, the heads can be cut on the ends of the shaft, as shown in Fig. 244. For target practice, a wire nail driven into the end of the shaft, as shown in Fig. 245, with the head of the nail filed off and pointed, has proven very good, and a thick piece of zinc or lead, cut the shape of _A_ (Fig. 246) and set into a slot cut in the end of the shaft, with cord bound around the shaft to hold the metal in place, makes another excellent head. The metal points should be used only for target practice, and then with proper care, to prevent injury to yourself or companions. [Illustration: FIGS. 244-246.--Schemes for Arrow-heads.] =Feathering= is the next operation. Turkey or goose feathers are generally used, but the former is considered the better of the two. Strip off the broader side of the vane of three feathers, and glue them to the shaft one and one-quarter inches from the notch, spacing them equidistant from one another. One feather should be placed at right angles to the notch. This is known as the cock-feather, and should always point away from the bow when the arrow is shot. =A Quiver= of some sort should be provided, large enough to carry a dozen or more arrows, and this should be three inches shorter than the arrows, so that their ends will project above the top. It may be made out of any thick cloth, as shown in Fig. 247. A circular piece of cardboard is placed in the bottom to which the cloth is sewed, and a piece of heavy wire, bent into a circle, fits in the top to keep the bag open. The quiver should hang on your right side, being suspended by means of a cloth strap long enough to pass over the left shoulder. [Illustration: FIG. 247.--A Quiver.] =To Shoot= with the bow, take the position shown in Fig. 248, with both feet flat upon the ground, and the heels in line with the target. Hold the handle of the bow in the left hand and place an arrow on the left side of the bow, slipping the bow-string into the notch and letting the head of the arrow rest upon your left hand. Catch the bow-string with the first three fingers of your right hand, so that the end of the arrow comes between the first and second fingers, and draw the string until the head of the arrow rests upon the left hand; then aim quickly and let go of the arrow. By always taking the same hold upon your bow and arrow, you will soon be able to know just where the arrow is going to strike. The boy who has had the hobby of collecting Indian arrow-heads has no doubt often wondered how they were made, and also how the bows and arrows were prepared. The ways in which all uncivilized people do things is interesting, and especially when it is remembered that they had but raw materials with which to work and only such tools as they could make out of stone. [Illustration: FIG. 248.--Correct Position for Shooting.] =The Indian's Bow= was made of different woods, and, though it varied in shape and size, was generally about forty inches in length, so as to be conveniently carried and handled on horseback. The bow-string consisted generally of a deer sinew or a strand of deer-skin rolled or twisted, and this was strung very tightly from a notch cut on one end of the bow to a notch on the opposite end. Now, while an Indian generally made the greater part of his weapons, there was always a warrior in the tribe who was skilled in the art of arrow-making, and, as the preparation required far more care than the bow, he was intrusted with this work. The arrow-shaft was made of various woods, reeds being often used, as they were straight and required but little cutting. Their lengths depended largely upon that of the bows. For the feathering of the shafts, wild turkey feathers were considered best and used when they could be had, and these were attached to the shaft with deer sinews. [Illustration: FIG. 249.--Some Specimens of Indian Arrow-heads.] A great variety of materials were used for arrow-heads, among which flint, obsidian, horn of deer, claws of eagles, and the spurs of wild turkey-cocks may be mentioned. Many of these are being picked up annually in the mountains and on the plains, which were once the battle-fields and hunting-grounds of the redmen, and in excavating for building purposes they are frequently found. A few specimens of stone heads showing a variety of the shapes and sizes used will be found in Fig. 249. The preparation of these heads was usually left to the old men who were unfit for any other work. In making the flint head, the Indian made a loop in a piece of buckskin which had been thoroughly wet in cold water, and then taking a piece of flint, heated it, and with the strip of buckskin chipped off what was not wanted until the head was of the correct shape and size. As hornstone is more brittle than quartz, the heads made from that material were broken and shaped by striking them against the latter. The stone heads were attached to the shaft by means of sinews, generally from deer. For hunting small birds, the Indians often made wooden arrow-heads, hardening the wood by fire after shaping it. CHAPTER XVIII AN OUTDOOR GYMNASIUM [Illustration: Boys Pole Vaulting and Shot Putting.] With a little work, and a small outlay of money chiefly for two-by-fours, and such boards as are specified in this chapter, a boy, or club of boys, can construct and set up all the necessary apparatus for an outdoor gymnasium. It is true a great many city back-yards are much too small to accommodate all of the apparatus; but there is generally a vacant lot in the neighborhood which you can obtain permission to use. Those of you boys who are fortunate enough to spend the summer months in the country have splendid opportunities for making a complete gym and should not miss the chance to fit one up. =A Horizontal Bar.=--A well-made horizontal bar requires a firm standard which will not sway when swung upon. This is best attained by fastening at least one upright to the side of the barn, the fence, or some other stationary object. It is also very important to secure a strong bar free from knots and cracks. Curtain-poles are frequently used by boys, but at great risk, as there may be a dangerous knot lurking beneath the highly polished surface that will break at a critical moment and cause them serious injuries. A four-foot hickory or ash bar can be bought from a dealer in sporting goods for about a dollar and a half, but it will cost much less to have a bar turned to the right shape and size at a planing mill. The diameter of the pole should be an inch and one-half, and the ends should be two inches square (see Fig. 250). For the uprights procure two two-by-sixes nine feet long. Mark off a square equal in size to the end of the bar, six inches from one end of each, and cut out the wood with an auger. With a chisel trim the holes square and large enough for the bar to slip through. [Illustration: FIGS. 250-251.--The Horizontal Bar.] Sink the lower ends of the uprights twelve inches into the ground, _A_ against the stationary object, whatever it may be, and _B_ directly in front, at a distance equal to the length of the bar. Spike _A_ to the abutting surface, and brace the base of _B_ with two two-by-fours to make it solid (see Fig. 251). The tops of the braces should be mitred against _B_, and the bottoms spiked to stakes driven into the ground, as shown at _C_. To make it possible to adjust the bar to different heights, holes may be cut in the uprights every foot or so, in which case be careful to locate the holes exactly opposite one another. It is well to have an old mattress beneath the horizontal bar as a guard against injury in case of a fall. This also makes a splendid =Tumbling Mat= for practising rolls, hand-springs, and wrestling. If a mattress cannot be obtained, a few potato sacks stuffed with shavings or excelsior will answer the purpose. The most satisfactory scheme for making a pair of =Parallel Bars= is shown in Fig. 252. To acquire the necessary firmness without putting in bracing that would interfere with the performer, the base of the apparatus should be set underground, as indicated by the dotted lines in the illustration. In height the parallel bars should be about four feet six inches, in length seven feet six inches, and in width twenty inches between the bars. This makes the uprights _A_, _B_, _C_, and _D_ six feet long, allowing eighteen inches to project into the ground. Prepare one end of each as shown in Fig. 253, notching it for the bar to fit in and cutting off the corner. [Illustration: FIG. 252.--The Parallel Bars.] When this has been done, cut four two-by-fours twenty-eight inches long. Then lay the uprights _A_ and _B_ on the ground twenty inches apart, and spike two of the two-by-fours to them at _G_ and _H_ (see Fig. 254). Uprights _C_ and _D_ should be similarly fastened together with the other two-by-fours at _I_ and _J_ (see Fig. 252). When these frames have been made, set them upon their bases six feet apart, and spike the two-by-fours _K_ and _L_ to the uprights in the places shown in Fig. 252, with braces set between them and the pieces _H_ and _J_, at _M_, _N_, _O_, _P_ (see Figs. 252 and 255). [Illustration: FIG. 256.--Section of Bar. FIG. 253.--Dress Ends of Uprights like this. FIG. 254. FIG. 255.--Corner Bracing. FIGS. 253-256.--Details of Parallel Bars.] The bars should be seven feet six inches in length, and cut out of Georgia pine two-by-fours. Figures 252 and 256 show how these should be dressed, the tops rounded to fit the hands and the ends curved. First roughly shape them with the draw-knife, then smooth up with the plane, and finally scrape and rub them down with sand-paper until perfectly smooth. When the bars have been prepared, slip them into the notches cut in the uprights, and spike them in place. With the constructive work done, it is only necessary to bury the base to complete the apparatus. Excavate a trench eighteen inches deep, and level off the bottom. Then lower the framework and, after determining that the bars are level, fill in the earth, packing it well against the uprights and braces. Boards _E_ and _F_ should be laid across the top of _G_ and _I_, and spiked in place. =The Punching-bag Platform=, illustrated by Fig. 257, should be made thirty inches square and suspended from the shed or a wall. Nail a thirty-inch piece of two-by-four to the wall, two feet above the height at which the platform is to be placed, as at _A_ in the drawing, and nail another on a level with the top of the platform, as shown at _B_. Fasten the platform boards together with battens, using nails long enough to clinch on top of the upper face, and nail the two boards _C_ and _D_ to the edges, mitring the edges as in the figure. Then lift the platform to the desired height, and fasten the ends of _C_ and _D_ to the ends of _A_. Also nail the bottom of the platform to the under side of _B_. A swivel such as shown in Fig. 258 can be bought for forty or fifty cents, and one of these should be screwed to the bottom of the platform, from which to suspend the punching-bag. [Illustration: FIG. 257.--A Punching-bag Platform.] =A Pair of Jump Standards= are made out of two two-by-fours about eight feet long. After planing them smooth on all sides, measure off two feet from one end of each, and mark off the remaining six feet in inches, as shown in Fig. 259. After squaring these divisions across the poles with your try-square, bore holes three-eighths of an inch in diameter through the poles at each division. Then, with a small brush and black paint, mark off each foot with a band extending around the pole, each half foot with a narrower band, and each inch with a short line, as shown in the drawings. Letter the foot divisions 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. [Illustration: FIG. 262. FIG. 260. FIG. 261. FIG. 259.--The Jump Standards completed. FIGS. 259-262.--Details of Jump Standards.] When both standards have been finished, bury them in the ground to a depth of thirteen inches, eight feet apart. Cut two wooden pegs similar to Fig. 261 to fit the holes, and procure a nine-foot pine or hickory pole one inch thick for a cross-bar (see Fig. 260). When the bar is placed upon the pegs, the distance from its top to the ground should correspond with the figure on the upright. If not the same, raise or lower the uprights until the error is corrected. With a pair of these standards there is no danger of injury by tripping over the bar, as the latter will fall off with the slightest knock. There is one disadvantage in using a stick, however, it being easily broken if jumped upon. Because of this, a rope with a weight attached to each end, as shown in Fig. 262 is often substituted. The ends of the rope are hung over the pegs in such a way that it will slip off the pegs when struck. The weights should be just heavy enough to prevent the rope from sagging in the centre. =A Vaulting Pole= should be made of a strong wood, free from knots and other defects. The regulation pole is made of selected spruce, its length varying from eight to fourteen feet. If you make your own pole, be careful to plane off all splinters and irregularities, making it round and smooth, and point one end so it will stick into the ground and prevent slipping. Although seldom used in an outdoor gymnasium, =A Spring-board= is excellent for practising the high and broad jumps, and is a piece of apparatus with which a great deal of fun may be had. Figure 263 shows a scheme for a spring-board that is easy to make. First cut three pieces of two-by-four two feet long, lay them on the ground parallel to each other eighteen inches apart, and construct a platform four feet long by two feet wide on top of them. [Illustration: FIG. 263.--A Spring-board.] [Illustration: FIG. 264.] Cut another two-by-four two feet long, taper it as shown in Fig. 264, making it two inches thick on one edge and an inch and a quarter on the other, and nail it to one end of the platform. Secure a log two feet long (a cedar fence post will do very nicely), and fasten it across the centre of the platform parallel to the two-by-fours. The upper portion of the spring-board should be made of elastic boards, preferably ash. Construct a second platform six inches longer than the first, leaving about one-half inch between the boards, and battening the pieces together at _A_ and _B_ (see Fig. 263). Nail the battens securely in place, using nails of sufficient length to allow clinching on the under face of the battens. The clinching will prevent the boards from springing apart. This platform should be fastened to the first, with the end which has not been battened secured to the two-by-four at _C_. The best method of fastening the ends of these boards is with bolts long enough to extend through the two platforms and project an inch or more below the bottom two-by-four (see illustration). Large washers should be placed under the heads of the bolts to prevent the latter from cutting through the boards. The upper platform should not be nailed to the log, but merely held to it by straps passed diagonally around the outside boards and log, as shown in the illustration. Set the spring-board upon the spot you wish to use it, and bank up the earth behind it until a gradual slope is made from the ground to the top. If any difficulty is experienced in keeping the spring-board in place, it may be overcome by driving stakes into the ground around the sides of the lower platform. After setting up your gymnasium apparatus, oil the bars of the horizontal bar and parallel bars with boiled linseed-oil, and paint all the rest of the wood to keep it in good condition. =Hurdles= should be lightly constructed, so as to be easily knocked over should a hurdler trip upon them. They are made similar to carpenter horses, directions for the making of which are given in Chapter I. Their height will depend upon the skill of the hurdler. If the field is large enough, =A Running Track= can be made around it, by levelling off the ground, removing all stones and irregularities in its path, and banking up the corners to enable the runner to turn the curves readily. [Illustration: FIG. 265.] =For Short Sprints= the most common method of starting is upon all fours, as illustrated in Fig. 265. Make a depression in the ground for the toe of the rear foot to press against in starting off. =For Broad Jumping=, a block of wood two feet long should be sunk into the ground, as a mark from which to leap. It is a good plan to organize =An Athletic Club= among the boys of the neighborhood with which to raise money necessary to buy the material for apparatus, and =Athletic Meets= may be held among the members and with other clubs. CHAPTER XIX A BACK-YARD CIRCUS [Illustration: The Boy's Circus.] Shortly after the founding of Rome, a large building was built within which to hold commemorations of Roman victories and anniversaries, with chariot races, bull-fights, gladiatorial contests, and athletic games; and from this building, which was called the "circus," this class of entertainment derived its name. To keep up with the times, the circus has had to profit by every scientific discovery, adding continuously to its line of attractions, until now it is necessary for a show to produce a new, sensational, and hair-raising feat each season in order to keep in the favor of the public and compete with others in the field. The tight-rope walkers, bare-back riders, and trapeze performers were not long ago the main attractions of a circus, but these do not seem nearly as remarkable now when compared with such daring feats as looping-the-loop or looping-the-gap on a bicycle, riding down an incline on a single wheel, or diving from the peak of the tent into a small tank not more than six feet square, to be seen at the present day. When a circus came to town, it seemed but natural for the boys of our neighborhood to club together and arrange a performance on a small scale, but as nearly like that of the professionals as possible. A back-yard was transformed into training quarters, and here we worked hard for several days before the show, imitating as best we could the stunts of the circus performers. Because one fellow could walk on his hands, and turn hand-springs, besides being the owner of a pair of tights, he naturally became the chief attraction; another had a pair of riding boots, so he was chosen ring master; a third made a bargain with his sister to cut him out a cheese-cloth costume, and was chosen to take the part of a clown,--and in this way each boy helped along the performance by contributing his best efforts. The most successful shows were those in which a week or more was spent in rehearsing the performance and getting things in shape. Tickets and programmes were neatly printed by one of the members who owned a press, and the former were distributed among the boys and their friends to sell. The first thing to do in preparing a yard for a circus, is to =Mark out a Ring= in the centre, with a diameter as large as the yard will permit. This circle may be drawn on the same principle as that shown in Fig. 201, Chapter XV, using a rope at either end of which a stake has been attached. After describing the circle, secure several six-inch boards sufficiently limber to enable you to bend them around the circle, and fasten them in place by means of stakes driven into the ground outside of the boards. The enclosed space should then be filled in with several inches of shavings, which you can procure from a carpenter if you have not enough in your own workshop. =Good Circus Seats= can be made out of boxes eighteen or twenty inches high, with planks laid across their tops. To give the back-yard a real circus appearance, we always thought it necessary not only to have a ring but also a tent over it and the grandstand, so we gathered together all the old awnings, tents, and carriage covers we could scrape up, and fastening these together with pins or heavy thread made =A Large Tent.=--A ten-foot pole was sunk into the ground in the centre of the ring, and ropes were run from the top of this to the fence, after which the tent was fastened to the ropes and propped with poles wherever any sagging occurred. Bright colored cheese-cloth was used =In decorating the Tent=, and for evening performances Japanese lanterns were hung about the yard. [Illustration: FIG. 267.--Halving. FIG. 266.--Ticket Office and Turnstile.] =A Ticket Office= should be built at the entrance to the yard. This can be made out of two boxes, one set on top of the other, as shown in Fig. 266. Cut an opening fifteen inches square in the front for a window, round the top, and make a guard of wooden strips to fit it. Cut a slot in the counter, fastening a box beneath it in which to drop tickets, and for a cash drawer fasten strips to the under side of the counter, as shown in Fig. 266, so that a cigar-box will slide upon them. To the top of the ticket office fasten a board cut the shape shown in the illustration, and print the word "Tickets" upon it. These letters may be illuminated for an evening performance by boring holes through them and placing candles behind (see Fig. 266). =A Turnstile= should be made in front of the ticket office, so that all are obliged to pay their admission fee and pass through the turnstile before entering the tent (see Fig. 266; also illustration opposite page 268). The stile is made with two sticks about forty inches long fastened together at their centres, as shown in Fig. 267. This joint, known as =Halving=, consists in cutting away one-half the thickness and the width of each piece so that the remaining portions fit together flush. After nailing the pieces together, bore a quarter-inch hole through the centre, and screw the crosspiece at this point to the top of a piece of two-by-four driven into the ground in front of the ticket office. The crosspiece should now revolve with the screw as an axis. The turnstile should, of course, have a lock, and an arrangement similar to that shown in Fig. 266 answers the purpose. Cut a slot in the front of the lower box on a level with the top of the stile for the arms to run through (see illustration), and then prepare four blocks, such as _A_, _B_, _C_, and _D_ in Fig. 268. Screw one end of _B_ and _C_ to the ends of _A_ and fasten block _D_ between the other ends of _B_ and _C_, after which nail block _A_ to the under side of the counter in the position shown in Fig. 266. Prepare a lever such as is shown in Fig. 269, cut a mortise in the top of the counter for it to fit in (see Fig. 266), and pivot it to the side of the upper box. Place a screw-eye in the end of the lever and another in _D_, and connect the two with a piece of cord. Figure 266 shows an arm of the turnstile held by the lock, which is released by pushing back the lever. A railing should be built in front of the turnstile to block the passage on that side. [Illustration: FIG. 268.--Lock.] [Illustration: FIG. 269.--Lever.] =The Side Show= should be placed in one corner of the yard. The cages can be made out of boxes with either slats or wire-mesh fastened over the front, and the top or side hinged in place for a door. The animal performers of the circus should occupy these cages before the show commences, and to make the menagerie as large as possible, a few cages may be filled with pets borrowed for the occasion. Several closed boxes should be placed alongside of the cages, and lettered "Lion," "Tiger," or the names of some such ferocious animals as these, and the public should be informed that for their safety the management thought it best not to place these specimens on exhibition. =Animated Animals= generally have a place in every circus, and help out the clowns in their end of the performance. The animals are not difficult for handy boys to make, so several should be manufactured for your show. If you can get your mother or sister to do the necessary sewing, it would be well to secure her help. =The Elephant= is one of the oldest forms of animated animals, and is at the same time one of the most popular. Four or five yards of gray cambric should be purchased for its covering. [Illustration: FIGS. 270-271.--The Elephant.] The cloth should be cut out like the pattern shown in Fig. 270, the correct measurements being secured from two boys who have taken the position shown in Fig. 271. Fold the cloth along the centre and then sew the dotted lines _AA_ and _BB_ together. Paper cornucopiæ form the tusks, and the ears are made of gray cambric cut the shape shown in Fig. 271, and lined with heavy wrapping-paper to make them stiff. Two boys are required for the elephant. These must bend forward, as shown in Fig. 271. The rear boy places one hand upon the front boy's back and wags the tail with the other, while the front boy runs one hand through the elephant's trunk and keeps it in motion. Fasten potato sacks on to your legs to make them as large as possible. =The Giraffe= is one of the rarest of animals, and very few are to be found in captivity. In fact, a large circus claims there is only one specimen in this country, outside of a herd in their possession. So if you make a giraffe, which is not difficult to do, you will have a feature in your show that none but the very largest combines can afford. The animal's head should be drawn the shape of Fig. 272 on a board, and then cut out with the aid of a saw and draw-knife. The jaw, ears, and horns should be cut out separately, the shape of Figs. 273, 274, and 275. Bore two holes in the head at _A_, slanting them toward one another, and fit in them the pegs cut for the horns. The jaw should be pivoted with a small nail at _B_ on one side of the head, and an ear should be likewise fastened at _C_ on each side of the head. When these portions of the giraffe's anatomy have been put in place, stretch a rubber band from a tack driven in the top of the jaw to another tack driven into the neck (see Fig. 272), and attach another rubber band similarly to each of the ears. These rubber bands will act as springs, causing the ears to wag and the jaw to open and close when the giraffe moves his head. [Illustration: FIGS. 272-276.--Details of Giraffe.] Paint the head, making the features as nearly like those of a giraffe as possible, and, when the paint is dry, mount the head on the end of a six-foot pole. [Illustration: FIG. 277.--The Giraffe's Tail.] The covering for the body is made out of a large piece of tan cloth with brown spots marked upon it, as shown in Fig. 276. It is not necessary to give a pattern for this, as the illustration clearly shows how it should fit over the two boys who form the body, and hang from the headpiece. The neck should be stuffed out with excelsior. A short and a long stick should be nailed together, as shown in Fig. 277, and cloth should be sewed to the end of the short stick for the animal's tail. Stuff the tail with excelsior and fasten unravelled rope to the end, as shown in the drawings. The long stick should be held by the boy who forms the rear of the animal, so that by means of it he can manipulate the tail (see Fig. 276). As shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 276, the boy in the front portion of the animal holds the end of the pole supporting the animal's head. [Illustration: FIG. 278.--The Wild Man and the Wild Horse.] [Illustration: FIG. 279.--Framework of Wild Horse.] [Illustration: FIGS. 280-282.] An animated animal very often brought into a circus ring is the two-legged =Wild Horse=, owned by the Wild Man of Borneo. This breed of horse is shown in Fig. 278. A framework is necessary for the body, and this is best made as shown in Fig. 279. Cut two four-foot strips for the side-pieces, fasten them two feet apart, with a barrel-hoop at either end and arch barrel-hoops over the back, as shown in the drawing. The head (Fig. 280) is made in the same manner as that of the giraffe, the jaws and the ears (Figs. 281 and 282) being cut out separately and pivoted in place similarly to those of the giraffe. Paint the face, marking the eyes and nostrils, and make a mane and tail of unravelled rope. Having finished the head, mount it upon a short stick and fasten this to a crosspiece set in the framework, as shown in Fig. 279, bracing it with an upright fastened to another crosspiece. In fastening the various pieces of the framework together, it is well not only to use long enough nails to clinch, but also to bind each joint with wire or cord to make it stiff. Purchase brown or black cambric for covering the framework. Tack it to the wooden strips, leaving an opening in the top for the rider to stand in, and allow it to hang to the ground as shown in the illustration, so as to conceal the feet of the rider. [Illustration: FIG. 283.--"Jocko."] =The Wild Man= should wear an old slouch hat and a hunting jacket, and should have a pair of false legs fastened to him, so that while his own are inside the framework, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 278, they appear to be astride. To make the false legs, cut off the legs of an old pair of long trousers, stuff them with excelsior, and fasten a pair of shoes to the ends. These legs should be fastened to the hips of the rider. The framework should be held to the rider by means of ropes tied to the side strips, as shown in Fig. 279. These should be long enough to cross the boy's shoulders in the same way as a pair of suspenders. [Illustration: FIG. 284.--Jocko's Hat.] =A Monkey's Make-up= is shown in Fig. 283. The boy who is most apt at making a monkey of himself should be selected to take the part of this animal. In the first place he requires a red suit, which may be made quickly by sewing red cloth over an old coat and a pair of trousers. Cover the legs with a pair of tan stockings, and slip the feet into a pair of large gloves. The face and hands should be colored, and for this purpose buy some brown grease paint. In rubbing the paint over the face, leave a circle of white around the eyes and mouth, and make a brown mark each side of the mouth to give it a broadened effect. A tight-fitting cap should be made of cloth as nearly the shade of the brown paint as possible, to hide the hair. Figure 284 shows the monkey's hat, consisting of a tomato-can covered with red cloth, which is fastened around the monkey's chin by means of an elastic cord. A piece of rope can be fastened beneath the coat for a tail. =The Ring Master= should wear a high silk hat, a stand-up collar, and a pair of boots, besides being supplied with a long whip. =The Clown's Suit= is best made out of red and yellow cheese-cloth, this material being about as cheap as can be bought for the purpose. The suit consists of a pair of baggy trousers or bloomers, with elastic around the waist and ankles, a loose coat with large buttons, a collar, a skullcap, and a hat. Make the buttons out of red cheese-cloth and stuff them with cotton. The coat may be made of red and the trousers of yellow cheese-cloth, or both may be made of yellow with red polka dots sewed on to them, as shown in the illustration of his costume (Fig. 285). The collar is made of white cloth, lined with paper to make it stiff, and should be pleated around the neck to form a ruffle. A skull cap should be made out of white cloth to hide the hair. Make a peaked hat of stiff paper, and cover it with red cheese-cloth. [Illustration: FIG. 285.--The Clown's Make-up.] [Illustration: THE BACK-YARD CIRCUS.] When making up for a performance, the clown should powder his face, neck, and hands with magnesia, and draw expression marks upon his face with burnt cork, as shown in Fig. 285. =The Attendants= for the elephant and giraffe should wear old bath robes or gowns, and have turbans made by twisting a piece of red cheese-cloth about the head. By visiting any circus and closely watching how things are managed, it ought to be a simple matter to get enough =Ideas for a Performance= that can be carried out with the animals and performers described in this chapter. The clown should, of course, have his usual supply of jokes, which he can get out of the comic papers, and should do his best to annoy the other performers. He should make himself =A Slapper=, consisting of two sticks with a block slipped between at one end. This will produce a great deal of laughter among the audience, for when the slapper is struck against a performer the ends of the sticks strike together, making a loud, cracking noise, and one would hardly believe that a stinging blow had not been dealt. The clown attempts the tricks of the other performers, but always fails or gets them very badly mixed. A startling feat to be announced upon the programme will be =Looping the Hoop on a Giraffe.=--This stunt is performed by the elephant, who is given a number of barrel-hoops, which he tosses by means of his trunk over the giraffe's outstretched neck. The elephant and giraffe should always be entered in a race, which will prove exciting, inasmuch as your specimens will be evenly matched. The monkey may do almost anything and be amusing. Swinging upon a turning-pole, teasing the animals, boxing with the clown, and climbing a rope, are all his specialties. Then he should have =A Chariot= within which to ride around the ring. This can be made out of a soap-box, as shown in Fig. 286. Cut down the sides, as in the illustration, attach two shafts to the bottom, and mount it upon a couple of small wagon wheels. When this has been done paint the wood a bright red, and cut stars of different sizes out of gilt paper and glue them all over the outside. [Illustration: FIG. 286.--Jocko's Chariot.] The ring master acts as manager of the performance, and should use his whip unsparingly upon the animals, to force them into obedience. If a boy can turn upon a turning-pole, an apparatus such as is described in Chapter XVIII may be set up outside of the ring. Before performances, the entire circus--animals, acrobats, and showmen--should parade about the neighborhood in circus attire. We always made the =Parades= a feature of our circuses, and found them not only great sport, but the best kind of advertising. The animal cages should be placed upon wagons decorated with flags. Head the procession with a couple of drummers, and have two boys march in the rear carrying signs advertising the show. =The Advertising Signs= may be painted with bluing upon large pieces of manila wrapping-paper, and should be tacked on wooden stretchers mounted on poles. [Illustration: Circus Parade.] CHAPTER XX SUGGESTIONS FOR FOURTH OF JULY [Illustration: Boy Startled by Fire-cracker and Lanterns on Kite-string.] As most boys probably know, the first Fourth of July celebration took place in 1775, following the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Independence Hall, Philadelphia. When the old bell rang forth the result of the meeting of the Continental Congress, citizens gathered in the streets and displayed their great joy by shouting, beating drums, and firing muskets. The news spread very rapidly, and great rejoicing reigned everywhere. It soon became a custom to celebrate annually this famous event, and it should be every boy's privilege to have a rollicking good time upon this day, making as much noise as he pleases. When the average boy has bought a few sky-rockets, Roman-candles, and cannon-crackers, for the Fourth, he generally finds, to his sorrow, that he has run out of pocket money. It is then that he is very apt to want to try his hand at making pyrotechnics. There are many publications which describe how amateurs may manufacture Roman-candles, sky-rockets, nigger-chasers, and such pieces, but it is hoped that no boy will venture to carry out any such experiments, for, with the greatest of care, unforeseen accidents will occur which may result disastrously to him. At the same time, there is no economy in it, for the apparatus and materials will generally cost him more than to buy the fireworks ready made. This is also true of colored lights, for which there are many simple formulæ, but none of which can be made up as cheaply as the powders can be bought already prepared. There are, however, many things a boy can make for the Fourth that are perfectly harmless, such as fire-cracker cannons and home-made set-pieces, besides different schemes for firing crackers and fireworks that he can carry out. The suggestions offered on the following pages will be found interesting, and they will probably suggest other ideas to the inventive boy. The store toy cannon and cap-pistol are exceedingly dangerous for boys to use, and were all cities to pass laws forbidding their sale, as in the case of a great many of the larger cities, thousands of young lives would be saved from the terrible accidents resulting annually from celebrating with these toys. In Fig. 287 is shown =A Fire-cracker Cannon= with which a boy can have a great deal of fun and at the same time with no danger of injury. Cut the two gun-stocks similar in shape to Fig. 288, and the two wheels four inches in diameter (Fig. 289), after which bore holes in the gun-stocks at _A_, and in the centres of the wheels, through which to run the axle. Procure a baking-powder can and make a couple of holes in the sides for the axle to run through (Fig. 290), and one in the bottom of the can the size of a fire-cracker fuse. Cut a conical piece of wood about two inches long and nail it to the outside of the can cover as shown in Fig. 291. [Illustration: FIGS. 287-291.--A Fire-cracker Cannon.] When the various pieces have been thus prepared, place them together as shown in Fig. 287, and slip a piece of heavy wire through the holes made in them, and bend over the ends of the wire to hold the wheels in place. =To fire the Cannon=, place a cracker in the can with the fuse projecting through the hole in the bottom, and fit the cover over the can. Then light the fuse. The exploding cracker will force off the cover, which is the projectile, and hurl it a considerable distance in the direction the cannon has been pointed. =A Toy Mortar= may be made similarly, with the exception of the carriage or mortar-bed. Figures 292 and 293 show the details for this, which is different from a regular mortar, one end being enclosed for an ammunition box. Make a cover for the ammunition box to prevent sparks from igniting the packages of crackers, using pieces of leather for hinges. As shown in the section drawing (Fig. 293), the mortar-bed is mounted upon a small board, being held in place by means of a short screw, which makes it possible to swing the mortar around in any position desired. [Illustration: FIGS. 292-293.--A Fire-cracker Mortar.] These cannons and mortars will furnish sport not only for the Fourth, but for any other day of the year, as they can be used by a crowd of boys in =Mimic Battles=, with paper soldiers. The boys should divide into armies, and construct their fortifications about twenty feet apart, planting the guns upon the works and placing the paper soldiers behind. All paper soldiers knocked over are out of the game, and the side first completely killing the enemy's garrison is, of course, the winner of the day. These battles are always very exciting, especially toward the end, when there are but a few warriors remaining. In order that the projectiles may fit all the cans, it is necessary to have them all of the same size. [Illustration: FIG. 294.--Another Toy Cannon.] =Another Toy Cannon= that is simple to make is shown in Fig. 294. For this, buy a short piece of glass tubing at a drug-store and have the druggist seal one end of it. Then secure a good-sized cork and cut a hole through the side large enough for the tube to run through (see _A_ in Fig. 294). Cut out a pair of wooden wheels about three inches in diameter, and fasten them to the ends of the cork with a pin or small nail. Make the cannon shafts four inches long, point one end of each and stick them into the cork at _B_ and _C_. The open end of the tube should be at _D_ and the sealed end at _E_. =To fire the Cannon=, slip a match into the open end of the tube with the head toward _E_, and hold a lighted match at the closed end. As soon as the heat ignites the phosphorus, the match will shoot out of the open end of the tube. =Firing Fireworks from Kites= presents a novel feature for a Fourth of July celebration, the aërial display making a very pretty spectacle, and the boy who sets off his fireworks in this manner will have something different from the rest of the neighborhood. [Illustration: FIG. 295.] Figure 295 shows the manner in which a Roman-candle can be attached to a kite-string. A piece of punk about an inch and one-half long should be bound to the fuse of the candle, and as the fuse is rather short it is necessary to cut through the paper bound around it, and set the punk into the end of the candle, as shown in the drawing. Attach a piece of twine two feet long to the other end of the candle, and then, after getting your kite up, attach the end of this string to the kite-string and light the punk, being very careful in doing so not to ignite the fuse of the Roman-candle. After attaching the candle and lighting the punk, let out the kite-string as rapidly as possible, so that by the time the punk has burned down to the fuse end, the Roman-candle will be well up in the air. As soon as the candle begins to explode, shake the kite-string so as to make the balls shoot into the sky in different directions. =A Pack of Fire-crackers= with a piece of punk attached to the fuses may also be suspended from a kite-string and fired in mid-air. [Illustration: FIG. 296. FIG. 297. Schemes for Attaching Lanterns to Kite-strings.] Other fireworks may be set off similarly, and colored lights produce a fine effect. =Nigger-chasers= shot into the air by means of a cross-bow, such as is described in Chapter XVII, present another novelty. =Japanese Lanterns= hung from kite-strings are also a pretty sight, and, while they give somewhat the same appearance as fire-balloons, they are lasting and can be saved for another year. After procuring a number of lanterns of different shapes and sizes, fasten candles securely in them so that there is no possibility of them igniting the paper. Figures 296 and 297 show two ways in which the lanterns may be attached one below the other. The first method (Fig. 296) consists of pins stuck through the bottoms of the lanterns and bent over into hooks, while in the second (Fig. 297) a small hole is made in the bottom of one lantern and the wire handle of another is slipped through this hole and looped over a burnt match. Before sending up the kite with these lanterns, make a number of small loops in the kite-string where you wish to hang the lanterns, and provide the handle of each series of lanterns with a pin-hook, as shown in Fig. 297. Then, when everything is in readiness, have one of your friends hook the lanterns to the loops while you attend to letting out the kite-string. Of course the smaller the lanterns are the greater number you can hitch in place, and if you use a team of kites you will find that they will carry a number of strings of lanterns. [Illustration: FIG. 298.--A Shooting-torch.] =A Shooting-torch=, such as is shown in Fig. 298, is a scheme that is simple to carry out. It consists of a stick about eighteen inches long, with fire-crackers bound around it with wire, and the fuses twisted together, as shown in the illustration. It is fired in the same way as a Roman-candle. After firing all of your fireworks, you should have =A Final Set-piece= with which to close the exhibition. A good scheme for such a piece is shown in Fig. 299. Mark out the letters upon a board, and, with a quarter-inch bit, bore holes about one half-inch apart along the outlines of each letter. Then cut enough sticks of punk two inches long to fit all of the holes, and put them to soak in kerosene. The oil makes the punk burn much brighter than it would in its dry state. When the punk is thoroughly soaked, stick the pieces in the holes. A candle will be found most convenient for lighting the punk. Nail the board to a tree or post, and place several cannon-crackers in holes bored near the bottom of the board. After allowing the punk to burn for a short time, light the cannon-crackers and blow up the set-piece as a grand finish. [Illustration: FIG. 299.--A Final Set-piece.] CHAPTER XXI HALLOWEEN [Illustration: Witch Riding Broomstick and Halloween Prankster] Halloween, or the eve of All Saints' Day, has been observed since the beginning of the Christian era. In very early times, ghosts, demons, and spirits were believed to rule the universe on this evening, and any one who ventured upon the streets after dark was doing so at the risk of his life. For companionship, as well as protection, it was customary for large numbers of friends to spend the evening together; and these gathered around the fire-place, and passed away the time drinking cider, cracking nuts, eating apples, and telling ghost stories. While the superstitious fears of Halloween have almost entirely disappeared, the evening is generally celebrated in the same manner as in the past. This is the only evening on which a boy can feel free to play pranks outdoors without danger of being "pinched," and it is his delight to scare passing pedestrians, ring door-bells, and carry off the neighbors' gates (after seeing that his own is unhinged and safely placed in the barn). Even if he is suspected, and the next day made to remove the rubbish barricading the doors, lug back the stone carriage step, and climb a tree for the front gate, the punishment is nothing compared with the sport the pranks have furnished him. There is, of course, such a thing as boys going too far with their Halloween fun and getting into malicious mischief, but the cautious boy is not likely to cause any serious trouble by his actions. [Illustration: FIG. 301. FIG 300.--A Section through the Bean-blower. A Magazine Bean-blower.] Every boy who has used a bean-blower knows that the beans swell when held in the mouth, often to such an extent that they will not go through the opening, and clog the tube. Figure 300 shows a scheme for a =Magazine Bean-blower=, which does away with this difficulty, inasmuch as with it the beans are not put in the mouth. The drawing shows a section taken through the centre of one the writer has before him, which works admirably. This bean-blower will cost you just two cents, the price of two of the regular nineteen-inch tin tubes sold in the stores. To these add a large ribbon-spool, which can be had for the asking at almost any dry goods store, some glue, and a sheet of writing paper. Place the spool in your bench-vise, and bore a quarter-inch hole in the centre of the side of it (see _A_, Fig. 300). This hole should be on a slant, and extend only into the hollow part of the spool, as shown in the drawing. When this has been done, take one of the tin tubes and cut off two sections of it, one four inches long and the other three and one-half inches long. This is easily done by filing through the tin on one side with a small file, and then bending the tube back and forth until it breaks. Place the end of the four-inch tube in the hole bored in the spool at _A_, gluing a strip of paper around it to make it fit tightly (see _B_ in Fig. 300). A piece of paper smeared with glue should be wrapped around the other end of this tube in the form of a funnel, as shown in Fig. 301. Press the paper around the end of the tube, as shown in the section drawing, Fig. 300, and use plenty of glue upon it to make it stiff. Glue a strip of paper around the short tube, and stick it in one end of the spool, as shown at _C_, Fig. 300. The little wooden mouthpiece that is furnished with bean-blowers nowadays should be slipped over the other end of the tube, as shown in the drawing. Now take the second bean-blower, and glue it in the other end of the spool, as shown at _D_. The bean-blower is now complete. To operate it, hold the spool in one hand, and, after dropping a number of beans or peas into the magazine, place the palm of the other hand over the top of the paper funnel, and blow until the tube is emptied. It is necessary to close the opening in the top of the magazine, or the beans will blow out of it instead of from the end of tube _D_. Dried peas always work better than beans in a bean-blower, as they are round and never clog the tube. [Illustration: FIG. 302.--A New Style of Tick-tack.] [Illustration: FIG. 304. FIG. 303. Details of Crank for Tick-tack.] The loud drumming noise of a tick-tack rattled upon a window is enough to give any one the cold shivers, and if the guests of a Halloween party are gathered about the fire-place, telling weird ghost stories, this unearthly noise is sufficient to give even the bravest heart a conviction that the house is haunted by supernatural beings. The writer and his friends used to make =A New Style of Tick-tack=, such as illustrated in Fig. 302, which claims several advantages over the ordinary kind. In the first place it has a crank arrangement which does away with the long string that is everlastingly becoming entangled, and only one boy is necessary to operate it where two are required with the old-style affair. Again, by having the tick-tack upon the end of a long pole, second-story windows can easily be reached with it. For the making of this tick-tack, procure two large spools, some heavy cord, and a long pole (perhaps you can borrow your mother's clothes-pole for the occasion). With a knife cut notches in the flanges of one spool, and fasten it to one end of the pole, driving a large nail through the hole in the centre of the spool into the pole (see Fig. 302). Place the other spool in your bench-vise and saw it in two pieces, as shown in Figs. 303 and 304, so that _A_ is one-half the size of _B_, or one-third of the length of the spool. Cut a strip of wood about six inches long, bore a hole near one end a little larger than a sixteen-penny nail, and nail the strip to the end of spool _A_ so that the hole comes exactly over the one in the spool (see Fig. 303). Attach spool _B_ to the other end of _C_ by means of a nail driven through the hole into the strip. The crank is now completed, and should be fastened to the lower end of the pole by means of a nail driven through the hole in _A_. It will be seen that this tick-tack is a simple piece of apparatus. The crank at the lower end of the pole is turned and revolves the notched spool at the upper end. To keep the cord from slipping on the pole, a little resin should be rubbed upon it, and it might be well also to rub a little upon the spools. [Illustration: FIG. 305. The Clockwork Tick-tack.] =A Clockwork Tick-tack=, such as is illustrated in Fig. 305, is another good idea, and one that can be carried out with a few minutes' work. Remove the works from an old alarm clock, and fasten them with wire or cord to the end of a pole, as shown. Attach a cord to the striker, and make it long enough to reach to the other end of the pole. Make a loop in the end of the cord, and drive a nail into the pole over which to loop the cord to keep the striker in check. This tick-tack is worked by placing the end of the pole close to the window-glass, with the striker toward the glass, and slipping the cord off its nail. The striker is controlled entirely by the cord. =The Goblin-man= (Fig. 306) is easily made out of such material as you can most generally find about the house. The framework for the body of this ghostly creature is shown in Fig. 307, and consists of a pole about four feet long with the centre of an eighteen-inch crosspiece nailed across it. In order to fasten these pieces firmly together, they should be halved as shown in Fig. 267, Chapter XIX. The arms consist of two sticks (_A_ and _B_ in Fig. 307) fastened together at right angles with small iron braces, and screwed in place near the ends of the crosspiece, as shown in the illustration. Holes should be bored through the arm pieces in order that they may work freely on the screws. Place a small screw-eye in each arm at _B_, and attach a short string to it. A short stick should be nailed to the four-foot pole about eighteen inches from the lower end, so that the boy who carries the framework can rest it upon his shoulder. [Illustration: FIG. 306.--The Goblin-man.] [Illustration: FIG. 307.--Framework of the Goblin-man.] The head of the goblin is a jack-o'-lantern made out of a piece of cardboard, bent as shown in Fig. 308, and held in this shape by means of broom-wire laced back and forth across the top. Cut a hole the shape of an ear in each side, and paste a piece of red tissue-paper over the opening. For the face, take a piece of white paper a little larger than the face is going to be, mark out eyes, nose, and mouth upon it, and cut the openings for them. Paste red tissue-paper over the openings for the eyes, and mark a large black pupil in the corner of each (Fig. 309). For the mouth, paste a piece of white tissue-paper over the opening, and mark out the teeth in black (Fig. 309). A piece of red tissue-paper should be pasted over the opening for the nose. After finishing the face, paste it on to the cardboard head. The goblin's countenance is lighted up from within, by means of a candle fastened in a baking-powder can. Cut down one side of the can with a pair of tin-shears or a can-opener, and tack it to the framework about six inches above the crosspiece, as shown in Fig. 307. This can must not be put in place, however, until the head is fastened to the framework, which is done by punching a hole in the cardboard large enough to admit the end of the pole. Get an old derby for a hat, and, after punching a few holes in the top for the heat and smoke of the candle to escape, sew it to the cardboard head. Cover the back of the head with black cloth in such a way that it may be opened to light the candle. To save the goblin-man the embarrassment of losing his head, drive a nail through the crown of the derby-hat into the end of the pole. For a neck, button a cuff around the pole between the crosspiece and head. [Illustration: FIG. 308. FIG. 309. FIGS. 308-309.--The Goblin's Head.] A white suit of clothes is, of course, the correct style for the goblin to wear. This can be found in an old nightshirt, lengthened with white cloth, if necessary, to make it reach the ground when it is placed upon him. The shoulders should be padded out to hide the framework. When the goblin-man is finished, strap the shoulder-stick of the frame to your shoulder, and fasten the end of the pole to your waist with a belt. Your hands are then free to manipulate the arms, by means of the cords attached to their ends. Before starting out upon the street, have some one light the candle in the head. As this weird-looking creature passes along the streets, with glaring eyes and other features equally brilliant, people will have to stop to reassure themselves that they are not face to face with some unearthly demon. A trick that will furnish amusement for at least a portion of the evening is =The Disappearing Rope=, which is not an entirely new idea, but one which is always popular. Procure a number of rubber bands and tie them together, end to end. Then attach one end of these to a front fence, and to the other end fasten several yards of string. After doing this, cross over the sidewalk with the string, pulling it tightly so the rubber bands will stretch, and hang a sign with the word "DANGER" printed upon it in large letters over the string where it crosses the sidewalk. It is only natural that the person who sees this sign will make a grab for it, thinking you are blocking the sidewalk to make him walk around it. This is your opportunity to act quickly and let go of the string, which will snap back to the fence upon the contraction of the rubber bands, and disappear from view, leaving your much-astonished friend to pass on, knowing that the joke is upon him. CHAPTER XXII A BACK-YARD TOBOGGAN-SLIDE [Illustration: Children on the Toboggan-slide.] It is the misfortune of a great many boys to be deprived of one of winter's greatest sports, by living in a flat country where there are no hills upon which to coast. These boys have little use for sleds aside from "hitching," unless they can make an artificial slide. In a number of large cities, toboggan-slides on a large scale are erected in the parks each year, and thrown open to the use of the public. Although this coasting cannot equal that to be had on natural hills, it affords a great pastime to thousands of boys and girls, and is a luxurious treat to many who have never seen hills larger than the artificial park variety. The construction of a toboggan-slide is not difficult for a boy or several boys, and though it must be limited in size, a small slide has an advantage in that there is not a long walk from the end of the run back to the starting-point. [Illustration: FIG. 310.--A Back-yard Toboggan-slide.] It is a good idea to locate the toboggan-slide in a back-yard or an enclosed lot, so that the outside fellows cannot monopolize it; and it is well to have some firm object to which the framework can be fastened, as it saves a great deal of bracing, and materially lessens the amount of lumber needed. The work should be done in the early part of the fall, before the cold weather sets in. Figure 310 shows a slide built in the corner of a yard against the fence. =The Length= will be determined by the size of the yard. If the yard is short, the slide should be proportioned accordingly, to allow the sled its full run before reaching the end of the lot. =A Platform= should be built in the corner, six feet square, and about seven feet above the ground. For this, cut four two-by-fours six feet nine inches long, fasten one in the angle formed by the two fences, and another five feet four inches to the right of it (_A_ and _B_ in Fig. 312). The third upright (_C_) should be nailed to the fence five feet eight inches from _A_, and the fourth (_D_) should be fastened at an equal distance from _B_. Then cut two pieces of two-by-four each six feet long, and nail them across the tops of _A_ and _C_, and _B_ and _D_, respectively, as shown at _E_ and _F_ in Fig. 312. The uprights should now be braced with horizontal and diagonal bracing, as shown in Fig. 312, to give the platform the necessary stiffness. [Illustration: FIGS. 311-313.--Framework of Toboggan-slide.] After deciding upon the length of the slide, lay off the distance upon the ground from the bottom of upright _B_, and drive a stake into the ground at the farther end. Then attach a cord to the stake and run it along the fence to a nail driven into the top of upright _B_. This cord, shown in Fig. 311, marks the pitch of the slide, and will give you a guide-line by which to work. When this has been done, cut three pieces of two-by-four about two feet long, and spike them to the fence just below the guide-line (see _G_, _H_, and _I_, Fig. 311), spacing them about six feet apart on centres. When these have been fastened in place, take a piece of two-by-four and mark off upon it the distance from the ground to the top of block _I_. Then square a line across the two-by-four at this point, at an angle corresponding to that at which block _I_ is nailed to the fence (see Fig. 313). Saw the two-by-four on this line, and then stand it upright in front of block _I_, thirty or thirty-two inches from the fence (according to whether eight-or ten-inch boards are used upon the slide), and spike a piece of two-by-four to the top of it and to the top of block _I_, as shown in Fig. 312. Cut and set up a similar upright and crosspiece at _G_ and at _H_, after which brace all as shown in the illustration (Fig. 312). If you are going to buy boards with which to cover the platform and slide, get twelve-foot lengths, eight or ten inches wide. By using these you will have no waste, and but little cutting to do. If, however, you have material of other dimensions on hand which you can use, the supports of the slide should be so spaced that the boards will reach from one to another. The boards should run lengthwise upon the slide, and be nailed to the framework, leaving as small cracks as possible between them. In order to prevent sleds from running off the slide, a guide should be nailed to the edge farthest from the fence, from the top to the bottom, and on the opposite side where it extends above the fence top (see Fig. 310). After nailing the platform boards in place, =Build a Railing= out of boards around three sides of it, to prevent any one from slipping off (see Fig. 310). =A Ladder=, made out of two two-by-fours, with two-inch strips nailed across them, should be set against the front of the platform and spiked in place, as shown in the illustration of the completed slide (Fig. 310). This will make it easier to reach the platform than by the way of the icy slide, and also prevents those coasting from colliding with those who are returning. Any ingenious boy will know how to make a swift slide by turning the hose upon it, and allowing the water to run over the surface until every portion is well covered. A toboggan-sled is out of proportion for a slide of this size, and will not be found as satisfactory as a sled with runners, as the steepness of the slide will not be sufficient to make it go. =A Home-made Sled=, such as that shown in Fig. 314, requires but little material, and if carefully made will prove stronger than the variety commonly sold in the shops. [Illustration: FIG. 314.--A Home-made Sled.] [Illustration: FIG. 315.--Pattern for Runners.] Figure 315 shows the pattern for the runners, which should be cut out of four-inch boards, seven-eighths of an inch thick. Round the top edges, and cut the front and rear ends as shown in the drawing. Make a slot in the place indicated for a handle, and bore a hole near the front end for the crosspiece to run through. The seat consists of a board cut twenty-two inches long and nine inches wide. This will not be nailed to the runners but to cleats, as shown in Fig. 316. Cut three cleats nine and one-quarter inches long, two inches wide, and seven-eighths of an inch thick, and fasten these between the runners, five-eighths of an inch from their tops, placing one near the end of the seat, one at the centre, and one at the front. Four two-inch iron braces should be procured, and two of these screwed to the under side of the front and rear cleats, and to the sides of the runners, as shown in Fig. 316. The seat can then be nailed in place, and a broom-handle fastened in the hole bored near the ends of the runners. =The Best Kind of Iron Runners= for a home-made sled are those that a boy can put on without the aid of a blacksmith, and such a pair of runners is shown in the drawing of this sled. They consist of what are known as half-oval iron strips, and can be had usually at a hardware store or blacksmith shop. A pair forty inches long and three-quarters of an inch wide, with five holes for countersunk screws drilled in each, can be bought for fifty cents. When they have been procured, screw them to the bottom of the runners, using one inch or one and one-quarter inch screws for the purpose. [Illustration: FIG. 316.--A Section through the Sled.] Although these runners are plenty heavy enough for light coasting, they would probably prove weak for coasting upon hills of any great size. To withstand the strain brought to bear upon the runners when hill coasting, boys generally find it necessary to make them out of two-inch stuff. This, however, makes the sled heavy and clumsy, and can be done away with by following a scheme which a friend of the writer's invented and found very satisfactory. It consisted of =Reënforcing the Runners= with steel bars driven into holes bored vertically in them. The holes were bored while the runners were held in a vise, and the steel bars were a little larger than the holes, so that they would fit them tightly. This scheme allows the use of seven-eighths inch stuff for the runners, and sixty-penny wire nails can be filed off to the proper length and substituted for steel bars if the latter cannot be obtained. When the sled has been completed, it should be given a good coat of paint. [Illustration: Boys Discuss the Project.] PART III Indoor Pastimes [Illustration: A MINIATURE THEATRE.] CHAPTER XXIII A MINIATURE THEATRE [Illustration: Children at the Theatre.] Probably nothing can be found which will make a more interesting entertainment for a winter evening, than a miniature theatre patterned as nearly as possible after a large playhouse. The construction of the stage, and preparation of miniature scenery, properties, and mechanical effects, furnish good work for disagreeable weather when it becomes necessary to remain indoors, and there is plenty of it, and of great enough variety, to occupy the attention of a number of boys. Very little material is necessary, outside of what generally can be found in the attic, cellar, and woodshed, so that the expense incurred by making the theatre amounts to almost nothing. A gilt picture-frame makes =An Excellent Proscenium= for the front of the stage, and, as it will not be marred in the least, you can probably borrow one for the occasion. [Illustration: FIG. 317.--The Stage Framework.] On the opposite page is shown a miniature theatre completed, and in Fig. 317 will be seen the proper construction of =The Stage Framework=, which is made of narrow boards and built upon two horses the width of the picture-frame. Make the horses as shown in Fig. 317, one two feet six inches high and the other two feet nine inches high, using two-by-fours for the tops and narrow boards for the legs and braces. After constructing the horses, cut four boards seven feet long and nail two to the ends of each (_A_ and _B_, Fig. 317), after which cut two pieces to reach across the tops and nail them in place as shown at _C_. Then set the horses five feet apart, with the lower one in front, and screw three boards to the tops as shown at _D_, _E_, and _F_, and three narrow strips to the top of the framework as shown at _G_, _H_, and _I_. Strips _G_, _H_, and _I_ form what is known as =The Gridiron=, or supports from which the scenery drops are suspended, and should have a row of tacks driven into each edge, as shown in Fig. 317, upon which to hang the drops. By fastening the framework together with screws, it may be taken apart after a performance and packed away for another time. =The Stage Floor= rests upon boards _D_, _E_, and _F_, and is made of laths laid close together, parallel to the front of the stage. The laths should not be nailed in place, as it is necessary to have the stage floor movable. When the work has proceeded thus far, set the picture-frame between the uprights of the front frame so that the opening comes on a level with the stage floor, and fasten it to _A_ and _B_ with nails driven through screw-eyes placed in the back of the picture-frame. =The Drop-curtain= should be made of white muslin, and measure in width several inches wider than the opening in the picture-frame. Hem the two side edges of the cloth, and sew brass rings on to them two inches apart. Then tack the top and bottom to strips of wood. A scene may be painted upon this curtain, but you will find the result probably more successful if you paste a picture of some sort upon the cloth, as suggested in the illustration of the completed theatre. [Illustration: FIG. 318.--View of Curtain from Stage.] In Fig. 318 we have a view from the stage of the arrangement by which the curtain is raised and lowered. Two heavy wires should be slipped through the rings on the curtain, and their ends fastened to four screw-eyes placed in the uprights at _J_, _K_, _L_, and _M_. These form the curtain guides. Bore two holes in uprights _A_ and _B_ above the picture-frame, and run a broom-stick through them for a roller, after which make a crank similar to that shown in Fig. 319 and fasten it to one end. Place two screw-eyes in the crosspiece at _N_ and _O_ (Fig. 318) and slip two cords through them, tying one end of each to the top of the curtain and the other end to the roller. By turning the crank the string will now wind around the roller and raise the curtain. It will be necessary to screw a button on to upright _A_ at _P_, as shown in Fig. 319, to lock the crank when the curtain is raised. We often had two and three drop-curtains upon our miniature theatres, which made it necessary to have additional rollers and guide-wires. [Illustration: FIG. 319.--Crank for Curtain Pole.] [Illustration: FIG. 320.--The Footlights.] The greatest precautions should be taken =In lighting the Theatre=, to have all wood surrounding lights covered with tin, and not to use candles or matches around inflammable substances. Figure 320 shows a satisfactory arrangement of =The Footlights.=--A piece of tin the length of the picture-frame and ten inches wide should be procured for these and bent into the shape shown in the illustration. Drive tacks through the bottom of the tin about two inches apart, and stick a short candle upon each. Then fasten the tin below the picture-frame as shown in the drawing of the completed theatre, and paint it black upon the outside. [Illustration: FIG. 321. FIG. 324. FIG. 322. FIG. 323. Details of Floodlights.] =Floodlights=, which are used to throw light from the wings on to the stage, may be made as shown in Figs. 321, 322, 323, and 324. The case for the light is made in the same manner as the dark-room lantern, described in Chapter XI, and illustrated by Figs. 176 and 177, except that the door is placed in the side instead of the back and no glass or paper is fastened over the front opening (see Figs. 322 and 323). Make the opening four by five inches, and fasten two grooves, formed by nailing two strips of wood together, as shown in Fig. 324, above and below it, in which to slide glass plates for the purpose of throwing =Colored Lights= upon a scene. The slides consist of old four-by-five camera plates with colored tissue-paper pasted upon them, and are operated in the same manner as magic-lantern slides. The light should be mounted upon a standard, such as is shown in Fig. 321, consisting of a seven-foot pole fastened at the lower end to a board and braced with triangular blocks, as shown in the illustration. It should be so attached to the pole that it can be adjusted to any desired height, and to attain this two pipe-straps should be fastened to the back of the box, as shown in Fig. 322. First nail two vertical strips in place as at _A_ and _B_ in the drawing, and to these screw the two iron pipe-straps. When the straps have been attached, slip the end of the pole through them, and place a screw-eye in the box, another in the pole near its upper end, and a nail in the side of the box. Then attach a cord to the screw-eye in the box, and, after running it through the screw-eye near the top of the pole, twist it several times around the nail in the side of the box, which will hold the box in that position. One of these lights should be made for each side of the stage. In addition to them, you may have occasion to use =Spotlights= to throw more light upon one portion of a scene than another. Bicycle lamps will be found handy for this purpose. If your house is wired for electricity, several miniature incandescent lamps can be procured for the footlights, while larger lamps can be used for all the other necessary lighting. As the work of making scenery, properties, and mechanical effects is not in the same line as the construction of the stage and its framework, it has been treated in the following chapter. Before setting up the theatre for a performance, it is well to spread a large cloth over the carpet, to catch anything that may drop from the stage. Then, with all the framework fastened together, hang draperies on each side and above and below the proscenium arch, as shown in chapter heading. This will conceal everything but the proscenium opening. =Admission Tickets= and programmes should, of course, be printed with a printing-press if you have one; otherwise with rubber stamps. CHAPTER XXIV SCENERY, PROPERTIES, AND MECHANICAL EFFECTS [Illustration: Working on Drops.] Scenery for a miniature theatre will be made in much the same manner as the small drops and wings a scenic artist prepares of each scene of a play, before he commences work upon the large canvasses. Any handy boy will find it an easy matter to prepare his scenery, as it does not require a knowledge of drawing so much as it does the knack of copying scenes from pictures, and the proper placing of the various wings and drops. Several simple suggestions for water, field, street, and interior scenes, with sketches of the drops and wings necessary to complete them, have been placed on the following pages of this chapter with a view to helping you with your first attempts at making scenery. By the time you have made some of these you will have had enough practice in the work to devise other designs and work up the details more elaborately. With a little shifting of drops and wings, or substituting one for another, the appearance of the scene can be sufficiently changed to make it as good as an entirely new setting. Several examples of this will be found among the illustrations. =For materials=, you will require some large pieces of paper, several sheets of cardboard, a box of colored chalks, a pair of shears, and a pot of paste--add to this a bunch of laths with which to make the frames, and some nails, screws, and tacks for fastenings. The back of wall-paper presents an excellent surface for chalks, and several rolls will cost you but a few cents, as you can purchase old-style patterns. Suit and shoe boxes will furnish the necessary cardboard. [Illustration: FIG. 325.--Drop for Ocean Scene.] [Illustration: FIG. 326.--Drop (_D_ in Ocean Scene).] The size and proportion of the scenery will depend entirely upon those of the proscenium, and as these are governed by the size of the picture frame you procure, no attempt will be made to give you the dimensions of wings and drops; but you will get a good idea as to their proper proportion from the illustrations shown of the scenes set up, as the line of the proscenium opening is dotted upon them. In the full-page illustration of the completed theatre preceding Chapter XXIII is shown =An Ocean Scene= in which the entire depth of the stage is used for the setting. Here you will notice the drops have been made to extend beyond the sides and top of the proscenium opening, a thing which is necessary in order that those of your audience sitting close to the front of the theatre, or to one side of the centre of the stage, will not be able to see through the openings between the drops and wings. Figure 325 shows how the four drops necessary for this scene should be made. First sketch drop _A_, shading the clouds and waves with colored chalks as shown in the drawing of the completed theatre. Then cut out the opening in its centre, carefully following the outlines of the clouds. Lay this sheet upon another and mark out drop _B_, with a smaller opening in its centre, and then, after coloring and cutting it out in the same manner as you did drop _A_, lay it upon a third sheet and mark out drop _C_, with a still smaller opening in its centre (see Fig. 325). Drop _D_ forms the background of the scene, and should be made as shown in Fig. 326, with a horizontal line separating the sky and water. With the exception of a few white caps in the foreground, no waves should be shown upon this drop. If wall-paper is used for the scenery, several widths will have to be pasted together for each drop. [Illustration: FIG. 327.--Waves for Ocean Scene.] =Additional waves= should be made out of strips of paper and fastened together as shown in Fig. 327, with the crests of the waves of each strip extending a little above those of the strip in front. Prepare three sets of the waves, and, after pasting one to the bottom of each drop, bend out the crests so as to leave a little space between each strip. These drops should now be tacked to frames made out of laths similar to Fig. 328, with the corners nailed and braced with diagonal strips. Place a couple of tacks in the top of these frames, and to these attach cords. The drops should now be hung by means of the cords to the tacks in the top strips of the stage framework. Space them about as shown in the illustration of the completed theatre, and so adjust the lengths of the cords that, from a point equal to where the centre of your audience will be located, the horizon lines of your drops will appear on a line with one another. Then having found the proper lengths of the cords, make loops in them so the drops can be quickly hung in place without further adjustment. [Illustration: FIG. 328.--Frames for Drops.] [Illustration: FIG. 329.--Rocks for a Seashore Scene.] In the foreground of the ocean scene a stone wall has been shown, which should be made upon a strip of cardboard, with the joints of the stones marked off with gray paint. This strip should be set against the bottom of the front drop. To change this setting into =A Mid-ocean Scene=, it is only necessary to substitute a strip of waves similar to Fig. 327 in place of the stone wall; and =A Seashore Scene= can be had by making a strip of rocks similar to Fig. 329 to set against the front drop, and covering the foreground with sand to form the beach. [Illustration: FIG. 331.--Drop (_G_ in Field and Blockhouse Scene).] [Illustration: FIG. 332.--Drop (_H_ in Field, Blockhouse, and Street Scene).] [Illustration: FIG. 330. A FIELD SCENE.] [Illustration: FIG. 338. A BLOCKHOUSE SCENE.] [Illustration: FIG. 333.--Wing. Fence and Foliage (_I_ in Field Scene).] [Illustration: FIG. 334.--Wing (_J_ in Field and Blockhouse Scene).] [Illustration: FIG. 335.--Wing (_K_ in Street and Blockhouse Scene).] [Illustration: FIG. 336.--Standard for Trees.] =A Field Scene= should be set up as shown in Fig. 330. Make the background drop _G_ similar to Fig. 331, tacking it to a frame as you did the drops of the ocean scene, and prepare the foreground drop _H_ similar to Fig. 332, tacking its upper edge to a single lath from which it can be hung in position. Draw the leaves upon drop _H_ about as shown in the illustration, and in cutting out the strip make a few openings between the leaves as shown in the drawing. Wings _I_ and _J_ are shown in Figs. 333 and 334. These should be drawn upon cardboard, and then cut out with a sharp knife, with openings made in places between the leaves and branches. Tack the bottom of =The Trees= to small blocks of wood for standards (see Fig. 336), and drive brads through the blocks so they will stick into the stage floor and prevent the trees from toppling over. In setting up this scene, as in the case of all others, you will have to shift the pieces until all entrances and exits are hidden by the wings. The places can then be marked upon the stage floor. This scene will occupy but the front part of the stage. If a greater depth is desired, it will be necessary to prepare additional wings, which can be made similar to Figs. 333 and 334, with possibly a few changes in the form of the branches and leaves. Figure 335 shows a tree that can be used for the centre of a scene. A little earth scattered over the stage floor will give the appearance of ground. [Illustration: FIG. 337.--Blockhouse (_L_ in Blockhouse Scene).] By using the same background drop, _G_, and the foreground drop, _H_ (Figs. 331 and 332), trees, _J_ and _K_ (Figs. 334 and 335), and making a blockhouse and stockade similar to _L_ (Fig. 337), you will have the proper setting for =A Blockhouse Scene=, such as is shown in Fig 338. The blockhouse should be fastened to a strip of wood in the same manner as you fastened the ends of the trees (see Fig. 336). For outdoor scenery, and especially forest scenes, the writer remembers using =Pine Boughs= for trees and shrubbery. These were cut into pieces of the right length for trees, with their ends pointed so they would stick into gimlet holes made in the laths of the stage floor; and loose pieces were thrown in between for shrubbery. Mounds and hills were made with moss. This saved the work of making so many drops, and, of course, looked a little more realistic than paper scenery, but was not as handy to set up, and caused longer delays between the scenes. [Illustration: FIG. 340.--Drop (_M_ in Street Scene).] =Rustic Bridges= can easily be constructed with a few twigs, as can also rustic seats and fences. A very realistic =Pond or Lake= can be represented by placing a piece of a mirror upon the stage floor, and banking sand or moss around its edge. [Illustration: FIG. 339. A STREET SCENE.] [Illustration: FIG. 341.--Wing (_O_ in Street Scene).] [Illustration: FIG. 342.--Wing (_N_ in Street Scene).] Figure 339 shows a simple setting for =A Street Scene=.--The background will be made similar to Fig. 340, and the wings _N_ and _O_ as shown in Figs. 341 and 342, while drop _H_ and wing _K_ are the same as used for the other scenes (see Figs. 332 and 335). Wing _O_, the house upon the right of the stage, will be made in one piece, with window openings cut in it and covered with tissue-paper ruled to represent the window-sash (see Fig. 341). Show the trim around the openings and also the siding upon the building. Then fasten the back of the wing to a standard such as used for the trees (see Fig. 336). Wing _N_, or building upon the left of the stage, will require a number of pieces of cardboard to show its perspective correctly. Make the front of the building as shown in Fig. 342. Then fasten a piece of cardboard to edge _A_ for the side, three pieces at _B_, _C_, and _D_ for the roof, and a strip across the front at _E_ for the porch roof. The pieces can be fastened together best with strips of linen glued to their inside surfaces. The porch roof will be supported upon four posts made out of strips of cardboard as shown in Fig. 339. This building will be the village post-office, grocery, and hardware store combined, and should have a number of signs to this effect painted upon the front. [Illustration: FIG. 343.--A Simple Interior Scene.] [Illustration: FIG. 344.--Pattern for Walls of Interior Scene.] To the several outdoor scenes already described, you should add a setting of =An Interior=, as you will probably have occasion to use one in any play you produce in your miniature theatre. Figure 343 shows a simple interior, the size of which will, of course, depend upon that of the stage. However, it should not be very deep. Figure 344 shows the pattern by which to cut the five pieces of cardboard, of which the walls are made. The edges of these pieces should be glued together with strips of linen. Cut the door openings at _F_, _G_, and _H_, two window openings at _I_ and _J_, and slots in the tops of _B_ and _D_ at _K_, _L_, _M_, _N_, _O_, and _P_, as shown in the drawing. Make the doors out of pieces of cardboard, hinging them to the openings with linen strips, and draw the window-sash and their divisions upon tissue-paper and paste them over the openings _I_ and _J_. Oil the paper if it is not very transparent, so the audience can see the villain when he passes by the windows. Make a wainscoting around the walls to the height of the window-sills, ruling the boards with a lead pencil, and draw a line across wall _C_ a little below the bottom of slots _M_ and _N_ in walls _B_ and _D_, as shown. If you have used white cardboard for the walls, and not injured its calendered surface when cutting the openings, it will have a good plaster appearance. Otherwise, cover the cardboard with white or tinted paper. Paint the wainscoting and the door and window trimmings brown. To set up the room, bend the walls into the shape shown in Fig. 343. Then cut three strips of cardboard several inches longer than the width of the room and slip them into the slots you have cut in the tops of the walls _B_ and _D_ (see _Q_, _R_, and _S_, Fig. 343). _T_ is a drop like _S_, but is suspended in front from the gridiron. These strips form the ceiling of the room, and generally have beams or mouldings painted across their bottom edges, but it will simplify matters to leave them plain, as shown in the illustration. The line which you have drawn across the rear wall corresponds with these strips. Cut a number of illustrations from a magazine for pictures, and either hang them upon the walls or paste them to the cardboard. Doll furnishings can be used to complete the scene. There are a great variety of subjects upon which a boy can base his plays, but what probably will make the most interesting programme and one of the simplest to prepare is =A War Drama=.--In this you can picture a number of battles after the descriptions you have read in your history, or dramatize one of your favorite war stories, bringing its young heroes before the footlights. This class of plays will give you an opportunity to use =Paper Soldiers= for actors. Probably you have a supply of these, but if not, you can get them at any toy store. They come upon printed sheets ready to be cut out, and as they cost only a penny a sheet it pays to buy rather than make them. Cavalry and infantry of about every nationality, Indians in various positions upon horseback and on foot, and a large assortment of American soldiers in marching order and fighting array are now to be found in these sheets. For =Marching Soldiers= across the stage, tack their feet to a lath as shown in Fig. 345, and then slide the lath across the stage, at the same time pushing out one of the laths forming the floor. The moving of the laths scarcely will be noticeable from the position of your audience. [Illustration: FIG. 345.--Scheme for Marching Soldiers.] =Separate Standards= for soldiers you wish to set about the stage should have small strips of cardboard glued to their backs and bent out in the same manner as easel-backs are made. At least four or five of the soldiers should be jointed so they can walk about the stage and appear perhaps a little more graceful in their actions than their stiff-jointed comrades who are fastened to laths. Figure 346 shows =A Jointed Figure= made out of a paper soldier. Suppose you have a soldier in some such position as shown in Fig. 347. First cut off the legs along the dotted lines shown in the illustration, each leg in two pieces (see _A_, _B_, _C_, and _D_, Figs. 347 and 348). Remove also the hand projecting beyond the body at _E_. A small piece of cardboard of the same thickness as that upon which the soldiers are printed should be glued to the back of _C_ and _D_ where those pieces were cut into in cutting off the legs (see _F_, _G_, and _H_, Fig. 348). When this has been done, pivot _A_ and _B_ to _C_ and _D_ at _F_ and _G_, and then pivot the ends of _C_ and _D_ at _H_ and _I_ to the hips of the soldier (see Fig. 346). Thread should be used for pivoting these pieces together, with knots tied on either end. New arms will have to be made, as those printed upon the body cannot be cut out. These are made in two pieces similar to _J_ and _K_ in Fig. 348. You will find it a simple thing to make them and paint the hands flesh color and the sleeves to match the rest of the clothes. Pivot _J_ to _K_ at _L_ and the end of _K_ to the shoulder at _M_. The arm printed upon the side of the figure should now be painted so as to blend with the color of the coat. The white cardboard glued to the joints should also be painted to correspond with the rest of the body. You will find this method of making a jointed soldier much easier than to attempt to draw, paint, and cut out one of your own design. Figures in other positions can, of course, be jointed in the same manner. [Illustration: FIGS. 346-348. Scheme for making a Jointed Figure.] The movements of a jointed figure are controlled with pieces of silk-thread attached to the hands, feet, and head, as shown in Fig. 346. These threads should be carried through the top of the stage framework and loops made in their ends should slip over the fingers of your hands, in which position they can be operated. It will take a little practice beforehand to enable you to work the threads successfully, so you will not be responsible for such laughable performances as making him dance while delivering a farewell address, or leave the scene through the top of the stage during an exciting portion of the play. In an interior scene, such as Fig. 343, the jointed figures will have to make their entrées and exits through the passages between the front walls and the proscenium, as the operating cords would interfere with them going through the other openings. The figures which pass through the doors will have to be tacked to the floor laths and shoved across the stage. All the small movable furnishings of a scene are known as =Stage Properties=.--These include such pieces as furniture, boats, carts, and trains. [Illustration: FIG. 350. FIG. 349. A Tent.] =Tents= will be necessary properties for an encampment scene. These should be cut out of white paper the pattern of Fig. 349, then folded along the dotted lines, and edge _B_ pasted over the flap _A_. The front flaps will be left open. Figure 350 shows the tent set up. =An Indian Teepee= will also be required for Indian warfare. Follow the pattern shown in Fig. 351, marking it off as though it were made up of a number of skins, and place a few figures of decoration upon it. Then cut three or four short sticks and, after crossing their ends as shown in Fig. 352, fasten the paper covering over them, bending flap _A_ along the dotted line, and pasting _B_ over it. [Illustration: FIG. 351. FIG. 352. A Teepee.] The field scene (Fig. 330) and the blockhouse scene (Fig. 338) will be used for the settings of your battle-fields. For your miniature sea-fights, the mid-ocean scene will be used. =Battleships= should be made out of cardboard as shown in Fig. 353, with the masts reënforced at the back with strips of wood, and the rigging made with heavy thread. It will be well to have a number of pictures from which to work in drawing and painting the various ships of your fleet. The hull of each ship should be curved as shown in the illustration, and mounted upon a cardboard rocker. Make a number of slashes along the curved edge of the hull, and bend out the little flaps alternately, first to one side and then to the other (see _A_ in drawing), after which glue them to the rocker. Attach a cord at _B_, with which to pull the ship across the stage, and another cord at _C_, with which to guide the stern. The hull will, of course, run between the strips of waves, so as to be half concealed by them. A person cannot imagine how realistic these little battleships appear when tossing about upon the toy waves, without having seen them in operation. [Illustration: FIG. 353.--A Battleship.] =Trains and Wagons= can be cut out of cardboard and moved across the stage by means of laths to which they have been attached in the same manner as the paper soldiers shown in Fig. 345. Toy wagons, carriages, and an automobile such as described in Chapter XXVI, may also be used in some scenes. Rain, wind, thunder, and such stage sounds, a moon or sun-rise, and lightning, as produced on the stage, are known as =Mechanical Effects=.--Most of these can easily be adapted to your theatre, though the apparatus need not be as elaborate as that used by professionals. =Thunder= can be produced by means of a large piece of heavy cardboard held by one corner, as shown in the chapter heading, and vibrated back and forth. The beating of =Rain= upon the outside of a house is imitated with a small quantity of dried peas or beans dropped upon the head of a drum or into a cardboard box. Every time the door is opened during such a storm, the audience should hear the whistling of the =Wind=, which is imitated by a few low drawn-out whistles. The stage must, of course, be dark for producing =Lightning=, in order to get the best effects. The flashes can be made by igniting a small amount of flash-light powder, placed in a tin can cover. =The Roar of Cannon= and firing of smaller guns can be imitated to good effect upon a drum. CHAPTER XXV MAKING A TOY RAILWAY [Illustration: Bicycle Powered Railway.] It is often thought that a toy railway is beyond a boy's ingenuity to construct, whereas, in reality, it is one of the simplest toys he can make. This applies to the tracks, stations, and cars of every description, all of which can be made with a few strips of wood, some spools, nails, cardboard, and a bottle of glue, for materials. If you have passed the age of caring for such toys as this, you will, no doubt, enjoy the making of one for your younger brother, or for one of your boy relatives. [Illustration: FIG. 354.] [Illustration: FIG. 355.--The Toy Railway in Operation.] [Illustration: FIG. 356.--Support for Trolley-line.] Figure 355 shows a railway set up and in running order. As shown in the illustration, =The Trolley-line=, or overhead cable, runs around the wheels of two supports, one at either end of the track. Prepare four pieces of wood the shape and size of that shown in Fig. 354 for the uprights of these supports, and make two wheels three inches in diameter. The wheels may be marked out with a piece of string and pencil as shown in Fig. 201, Chapter XV, if you haven't a compass. When the wheels have been cut out, place them in your bench-vise, one at a time, and with a rasp make a groove around the edge as shown at _C_, Fig. 356. Bore a three-eighths inch hole through each upright at _F_, Fig. 354, and another through the centre of each wheel. Now fasten two of the uprights six inches apart upon a block of wood, as shown at _A_ and _B_, Fig. 356. Whittle a shaft to fit loosely in the holes of the uprights, and, after slipping it into them, fasten one of the wheels upon one end and a small spool upon the other (see _C_ and _D_ in Fig. 356). A weight of some sort should be fastened to the base, as shown at _E_. The uprights for the other support should be similarly mounted upon another block of wood. Fasten the remaining wheel to an axle run through the holes in the uprights, and, as it is unnecessary to have a spool upon the other end of the axle, cut it off short and drive a nail through it to prevent it from slipping through the holes. Having thus prepared the supports, place them as far apart as you wish to extend the railway, and run a cord around the two wheels and tie it. Then set the supports a little farther apart, if necessary, to tighten the cord. Run another cord from spool _D_ to =A Water-motor=, steam engine, or whatever power you can get with which to operate the railway. A bicycle inverted with the tire removed from its rear wheel has been used satisfactorily, as has also a sewing-machine with the belt slipped off and the cord from the spool put in its place. [Illustration: FIG. 357.--The Tracks.] A good substitute for the tin tracks ordinarily sold in shops for toy railways will be found in those shown in Fig. 357. These =Tracks= consist of quarter-inch strips mounted upon pieces of cardboard. Make a small gimlet-hole in one end of each stick, and drive a short finishing nail in the opposite end (see Fig. 357). Cut the cardboard strips the length of the sticks, and tack them to the sticks as shown in the illustration. If inch and one-half spools are used for the car wheels, the inside gauge of the tracks should be an inch and three-quarters. By lapping the cardboard strips over the ends of the sticks, and the sticks over the ends of the cardboard strips, and placing the nail dowels in the ends of the sticks as in the drawing, a strong track is formed when the pieces are fitted together. This may be extended to any desired length by adding more sections to it. [Illustration: FIG. 358.--A Top View of Car Truck.] [Illustration: FIG. 359.--Spool Wheels.] [Illustration: FIG. 361. FIG. 360.] =The Cars= for this railway will have their trucks constructed alike, and it is a simple matter to transform a car from one style into another. Figure 358 shows a top view of a truck. For the bed of this cut a three-eighths-inch board twelve inches long by two and one-quarter inches wide, and, after rounding the ends as shown in the drawing, cut a mortise at _A_ and _B_ two and three-eighths inches from either end. Procure two one and one-half inch spools for wheels, and drive a wooden peg through the hole in each, cutting off the ends so they project a little beyond the hole, as shown in Fig. 359. Then bore four holes in the edges of the truck-bed with a gimlet at _C_, _D_, _E_, and _F_ (see drawing), and, after setting the spools in mortises _A_ and _B_, pivot them in place with small finishing nails driven into the wooden pegs. These nails should fit loosely in the gimlet holes. In order to drive them into the exact centres of the spools, it is best to locate these points upon the ends of the pegs before placing the spools in the frame. A quarter-inch hole should be bored in the top of the truck-bed at _G_ and _H_ (Fig. 358) in which to fasten the two uprights _I_ and _J_ (see Fig. 360). Make the uprights four inches long and whittle a peg upon the lower ends to fit holes _G_ and _H_ (see Fig. 361). Bore a hole with a gimlet in the top of each and run a piece of heavy wire from one to the other, bending it as shown in Fig. 360. Fasten _K_ between _I_ and _J_, as shown. Place a small brass ring upon the wire before you fasten it in place. A small hook should be screwed into one end of the truck and a screw-eye into the other end for couplings, should you wish to hitch two or more cars together. =A Gondola Car=, such as shown in Fig. 362, should have its truck made similar to Fig. 358, with the exception that it should be two inches shorter, in order that cigar-box strips can be used for the side-pieces. Cut the strips an inch and one-half high and fasten them to the bed of the car with brads. This car may be used as a trailer. [Illustration: FIG. 362.--A Gondola Car.] [Illustration: FIG. 363.--Side View.] [Illustration: FIG. 364.--End View.] [Illustration: FIGS. 365-373.--Details of Toy Street Car.] The car shown in Fig. 360 is a rather crude affair, but with a little more work may be transformed into a better-looking car-- =A Street Car= such as is shown in Figs. 363 and 364 being an example of what can be made. The sides, ends, and roof of this car are made of cardboard, the patterns for the cutting of which are shown on page 339. Figure 365 shows a cross section taken through the centre of the car. The two side-pieces _A_ should be first prepared as shown in Fig. 366. With a ruler and lead-pencil draw in the windows about as shown in the drawing, using double lines to indicate the sash. Then, with a sharp knife, cut out the centre of each just inside of the inner line. These windows may be left open or may be covered on the inside with tissue-paper. If tissue-paper is used oil it to make it more transparent. When the two sides have been prepared, bend each along the dotted lines (see Fig. 366) and tack one to each side of your car truck as shown in Fig. 365. When properly bent, the distance between the upper part of the sides should be two and three-quarters inches. Cut the two inner ends of the car the shape of Fig. 367, using a compass with a radius of two and one-half inches with which to describe the curve at the top. Draw in the panels and sash lines as you did those upon the side-pieces, being careful to get them on the same level, and cut out the door and window openings. Fasten these end-pieces between the sides with glue, and also tack them to the uprights of the car (_I_ and _J_, Fig. 360), which will come just inside of them. The roof is made in two sections (_B_ and _C_, Fig. 365). For _B_ cut a piece of cardboard twelve and one-quarter by three and three-quarter inches (Fig. 368), draw the curved end with a compass, using the radius shown on the drawing, and slit the corners as indicated by the dotted lines. When this piece has thus been prepared, remove the wire from the top of the truck (see Fig. 360). Bend the cardboard over the sides and ends of the car, and lap corners _D_ and _E_ over _F_ and _G_, and _H_ and _I_ over _J_ and _K_, tacking them with thread to hold them in place. To fasten this part of the roof to the top of the car, cut a number of small strips of linen, and glue them to the under side of the roof and to the inside face of the sides and ends of the car (see Fig. 365). The upper portion of the roof _C_ should be made out of a piece of cardboard bent into the shape of Fig. 369 and cut at the ends so the upper portion of _C_ projects a little beyond its sides. Draw the ventilation lights upon the sides of _C_ as shown on the drawings, and then fasten the piece upon the top of _B_ with strips of linen in the same manner as you fastened _B_ in place. _C_ should now have the same curve to its top as _B_. Cut and glue a piece of cardboard in each end of _C_ to complete the roof. The shape of this piece is shown in Fig. 370. The outer ends of the car should be made as shown in Fig. 371 and tacked around the ends of the wooden truck platform, and also fastened to the under side of the roof with strips of linen. The window openings may be cut in the ends, but it will make a stronger car if they are simply drawn upon it. Cut four cardboard steps similar to Fig. 372 and tack them to the sides of the front and rear platforms. When the car has been put together, replace the wire in the tops of uprights _I_ and _J_ (Fig. 360), running the ends through the roof (see Fig. 363). Paint the sides and ends of the car yellow with brown trimmings, and paint the roof a light gray. Water colors can be used for the purpose. Letter the name of your car-line upon the sides and the number of the car upon each end and side. The route should be lettered upon strips of cardboard with pins run through them as shown in Fig. 373, these strips to stick in the roof of the car (see Figs. 363 and 364). Having seen how the car is made, you will find it a simple matter to make designs for =Other Cars=, using the same scheme for the trucks, and altering the patterns for the sides, ends, and roof, to suit the design. Nothing has, as yet, been said about the =Operation of the Railway=, and though Fig. 355 probably shows sufficiently clearly how it is run, a few words may be helpful. The car or cars are placed between the wooden tracks, and the trolley (or cord attached to the ring on top of the car) is tied to the trolley-line as in the illustration. Upon starting your engine, water-motor, or whatever motive-power you have, the car will run from one end of the track to the other. When it has reached the support of the trolley-line, it will stop long enough for the cord trolley to pass around the wooden wheel, and then run in the opposite direction until the other support is reached. It will thus be seen that the trolley hangs to the upper part of the cable, or trolley-line, in running one way, and to the lower part on the return run. In changing the direction of the run, the ring to which the trolley is attached slides to the other end of the car. [Illustration: FIG. 374.--The Railway Depot.] =A Station= such as is illustrated in Fig. 374 is made out of cardboard and mounted upon a seven-eighths-inch board large enough to form a railway platform. After cutting out the side-and end-pieces, with door and window openings placed as shown in the illustration, fasten them together with strips of linen glued in the corners. Make the roof low and extend it over the platform upon each side and over the gable-ends, as shown in the illustration. Paint the sides of the depot the regulation depot red, and the roof a shingle or slate color. Paint the door and window-sash black, letter the name of the station upon the gable-ends, and with a ruler and lead-pencil rule off the boards upon the sides, and the slate or shingles upon the roof. As this is a typical railway station, two may be made of the same pattern, one for either end of your car line. CHAPTER XXVI CLOCKWORK AUTOMOBILES [Illustration: Children Play with Toy Automobiles.] It is generally easy for a boy to get hold of a set of old clockworks, for a discarded clock of some sort is almost certain to be found in the household storeroom. If the main-spring is intact, it is highly probable that a little tinkering and cleaning will be sufficient to put the mechanism in working order, at least so that it can be used for running small engines, automobiles, and other mechanical toys that most interest boys. Before taking a set of works apart, it is well to examine it carefully and note the positions of the various springs and wheels, so it will be possible to put them together again properly should you wish to do so. Without taking notice of this, you are likely to have a handful of wheels as a result, with which you can do nothing except perhaps convert them into tops. [Illustration: FIG. 377.--Top View of Wooden Frame.] [Illustration: FIG. 375. THE CAR COMPLETED.] [Illustration: FIG. 376. THE FRAMEWORK.] The adaption of a set of works to =An Automobile Touring-car= is shown in Figs. 375 and 376, the former showing the little machine completed and the latter its frame with the clockworks fastened in place. The same scheme as that used for the cars of the toy railway described in the preceding chapter will be followed in making =The Frame= of the automobile, as that is about the simplest way, and makes a light, easy-running vehicle. The bed will be cut of a different pattern, however, as will be seen in Fig. 377. Lay out the piece to the dimensions shown upon this drawing, and then cut it out, making a mortise in each end for the wheels to fit in. The spool wheels should be mounted in the same manner as those of the railway cars, for which see Fig. 359, Chapter XXV, and the directions upon page 335. One end of spool _A_ should be pivoted with a longer finishing nail than those used for the other pivots, so that when driven in place about half an inch will project beyond the frame. A small silk spool should be fastened upon this for a belt-wheel (see _B_, Fig. 377). The hole in one of these spools is about three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, so, in order to make it fit tightly upon the nail, it is necessary to fill in around the nail with sealing-wax. To do this, turn the wooden frame upon its edge and place the spool over the nail, being careful to get the nail in the exact centre of the hole. Then hold a stick of sealing-wax over the spool, and with a lighted match melt the end and allow it to drip into the hole. When the hole has been partially filled, allow the wax to harden a little, and then press it down around the nail with the end of a match, being careful not to throw the spool out of centre by doing so. The hole should then be filled to the top. We are now ready to prepare the clockworks for mounting upon the wooden frame. The works shown in Fig. 376 are from an alarm clock, but if you have a striking clock, or one with works a little different from those shown in the illustration, it does not make a bit of difference in the scheme for attaching the works. The three parts shown in the foreground of Fig. 376 must first be removed from the works. These will be recognized readily in any clock, as they are pivoted close together, and regulate the speed of the other wheels. When they have been removed, the main-spring will unwind rapidly. The frame of the works shown in the illustration is held together with nuts, so that in removing the wheels it was necessary to unscrew two of them, spring the frame open enough to let the wheels drop out, and then replace the nuts again in their former positions. If the frame of your clockworks is riveted together, the wheels will have to be broken out. A small silk spool, such as _B_ (Fig. 377), should be fastened upon the small pivot which originally operated the clock's hands, for a belt-wheel. Lay the works upon a table with the face-side down, and, after centring the hole of the spool upon the pivot, fasten it in place with sealing-wax in the same manner as you attached spool _B_. The works should now be attached to the wooden frame. Place them with the striker uppermost, near the edge of the frame, so that the small belt-wheels are in line with one another. Then bore a number of gimlet holes in the wooden frame and run copper wire through them, passing it around the posts of the clock-frame and twisting its ends until the works are firmly fastened in place. A rubber band about an eighth of an inch wide and long enough to reach from one belt-wheel to the other should be procured for =The Belt.=--This should stretch just enough to cling upon the spools, as more than that would cause too much friction. [Illustration: FIGS. 378-385.--Patterns for the Automobile Touring-car.] Before going any further with the construction of the automobile =Test the Machine=, to be sure that it is in perfect running order. Wind up the main-spring, pressing a finger against one of the wheels to hold it in check until you are ready to start the machine. When properly made, the clockwork automobile should run a distance of from twenty to twenty-five feet upon a wooden floor, while about three-quarters of that distance should be covered upon a floor with a fairly smooth carpet. =The Cardboard Sides= and other details of the automobile should now be made. The pattern for these have been so shown in Figs. 378-385 that they can easily be laid out to the proper shape and size by means of the process of enlarging by squares described on page 110, Chapter VIII. White cardboard should be used upon which to draw these pieces, and the thinner it is the easier you will find it to work with. [Illustration: FIG. 386.] [Illustration: FIG. 387.--Cardboard Side of Automobile.] First prepare the two sides, cutting them out by the pattern of Fig. 378. Then glue the bottom edge of each side to the edge of the wooden frame, cutting holes in the left side for the belt-wheels and projecting posts to run through (see Fig. 375 and _A_, _B_, _C_, _D_, and _E_, Fig. 387). The top to the front of the car should now be cut as shown in Fig. 388, the distance between the sides being measured to get the piece of proper dimensions. Bend the edges as in Fig. 388, and glue them to the inner surfaces of the side-pieces as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 387. In the same way cut and glue a piece of cardboard between the side-pieces at _G_ and _H_ (Fig. 387) for the seat-backs. The bent edges of these pieces are shown by dotted lines in the illustration. Draw four =Wheels= as shown in Fig. 379, using a compass with which to describe the circles, and cut them out with a sharp knife. You can cut out between the spokes, if you wish, or leave them solid. Glue the wheels to the cardboard, placing their centres about as located at _I_ and _J_, Fig. 387. Four =Mud-guards= should be cut like Fig. 380, with flaps made along one edge. Then bend these guards around the tops of the wheels, and, after applying glue to the flaps, press them against the cardboard side, holding your fingers upon the flaps until the glue has dried (see Fig. 375). The guards should be placed a little above the tops of the wheels. Cut four =Lamps= like Fig. 381, and glue end _K_ of two upon the front of the automobile at _L_ (Fig. 387) and one of the other two upon each side at _M_. These lamps are shown in position in the illustration of the completed automobile (Fig. 375). Draw and cut =The Steering-wheel= similarly to Fig. 382, and, after pivoting it to the end of a strip of cardboard with a pin, as shown in Fig. 389, bend the lower end and glue it to the under side of the cardboard top _F_ at _N_ (see Fig. 387, also Fig. 375). Make a =Horn= like Fig. 383, and glue it to the steering-wheel as shown in Fig. 389. A strip of cardboard about the size of that used for the upright of the steering-wheel should be cut for =The Brake=, and glued to the inside surface of the right side of the car at _O_ (Fig. 387). [Illustration: FIG. 388.] [Illustration: FIG. 389.--The Steering-wheel.] =The Chauffeur= should now be made. Cut his head and body the shape and size of Fig. 384, drawing the face upon each side with goggles over the eyes. Cut the arms in two pieces the shape of _P_ and _Q_ (Fig. 385), and then pivot _P_ to _Q_ at _R_ and the end of _Q_ to the shoulder of the body at _S_, using thread for fastening the pieces together. Paint the hat, coat, sleeves, and gloves a leather color, and the face flesh color. The body should then be fastened to the hammer of the clockworks with sealing-wax, as shown in Fig. 386, while the left hand should be glued to the edge of the steering-wheel and the right to the end of the brake (see Fig. 375). By thus attaching the body to the end of the hammer, and winding up the small spring, the chauffeur will shake violently when the auto runs across the floor, showing the vibrations of the machine in a greatly exaggerated and amusing manner. It is now only necessary to =Paint the Machine= to complete it. The photograph (Fig. 375) indicates the different colors used. The lamps, and top, ends, and sides of the front portion of the car should be painted the color of brass, and the rest of the sides, with the exception of a strip along the bottom and the edge of the arms, should be painted vermilion. Paint the inside of the car and the edges of the seat-arms tan color, to represent leather upholstering. With black paint, or ink, stripe off the door and trimmings upon the sides and top of the machine, as shown in Figs. 375, 387, and 388. Blacken the brake and steering-wheel and the spokes and rims of the wheels. Along the bottom of each side roughly indicate some machinery with black paint, about as it is drawn in Fig. 387. When you have tired of your touring-car, you can easily convert it into =An Automobile Delivery Wagon=, such as illustrated in Fig. 390. To make this you will require the same frame as that used for the touring-car, with the clockworks and belt-wheels attached in the same manner. If you have made the touring-car, remove the cardboard sides from its wooden frame, separating the cardboard from the wood carefully, so you can put the machine together again when you wish. If you haven't made this automobile, you will find the details for the construction of the frame in Figs. 376 and 377, and the manner of performing the work described on pages 343 to 346. [Illustration: FIG. 390.--An Automobile Delivery Wagon.] =The Cardboard Sides= are much easier to prepare than those for the touring-car, as they are straight and require but little cutting. The outline for these is shown in Fig. 390, surrounding the drawing of the completed wagon. Lay out one side upon a piece of cardboard, using the dimensions given upon the drawing, and then place it upon a board and cut it out with your knife. Using this as a pattern, place it upon another piece of cardboard and run a pencil around its edges, thus marking out the second side. In cutting out the latter piece, run your knife a little inside of the line in order to allow for the increase in size caused by marking it out with the first cardboard side. Having prepared the two sides, draw panels upon them in some such form as shown in the illustration, separating them with three lines. Draw a small window, with its top slightly arched, near the front edge of each side, and cut an opening for it (see illustration). Glue the sides to the edges of the truck in the same manner as those of the touring-car were done, piercing holes for the posts of the clockworks to fit in, and openings for the belt-wheels to project through, in the left side. Cut a piece of cardboard for the back of the wagon, fit it between the sides, and fasten it in place by gluing a number of linen strips to it and the sides upon the inner or unexposed surfaces. Then cut a piece of cardboard for the roof, making it about two inches longer than the sides, to give it the proper projection over the front of the wagon. Fasten this piece in position in the same manner as you fastened the back of the wagon. Make the floor and footboard for the wagon out of a piece of cardboard bent as shown in Fig. 390, and fasten it across the top edges of the projecting portions of the sides with linen strips. Cut a strip for a seat, and fit it between the sides an inch and one-half above the floor. =The Wheels= of an automobile wagon contain fourteen spokes, but as you have the pattern for the touring-car wheels of twelve spokes, you can just as well use it in making the wagon wheels. They should be mounted upon the sides of the wagon, a trifle above the bottoms of the spool wheels, as shown in the illustration, so they will not touch the carpet when the machine is operated. =All Other Portions= of the wagon should be made of the same patterns given for the touring-car, viz. the chauffeur (Figs. 384 and 385), the steering-wheel (Figs. 382 and 389), the brake (Fig. 375), and the lamps (Fig. 381). As the legs of the chauffeur will show, it will be necessary to cut a pair out of cardboard (the drawing shows the shape clearly enough to work by) and fasten them to his body. Fasten the chauffeur upon the seat and glue his left hand to the steering-wheel, placing the latter in front of him, as shown in the drawing. Stick the lower end of the cardboard upright of the steering-wheel upon a pin run through the wagon floor from the under side. Glue the upper end of the brake to the chauffeur's hand and the lower end to the side of the wagon. =Paint the Wagon= with water colors, making the sides, end, and roof olive green, the steering-wheel, brake, and spokes of wheels black, and the lamps yellow or the color of brass. In painting the sides show the battery compartments upon them below what would properly be the bottom of the wagon (see illustration). Leave the cardboard white below this box, as it represents no portion of the machine, but is necessarily brought down so far to conceal the wooden frame. It will give the machine a more finished appearance if, after painting, you go over it with black paint and a fine brush and stripe the panels upon the sides, following the lines which you drew upon them with a pencil. Letter the word "Delivery" upon the centre panel of each side, and the firm name in the small panel between the lamp and window. By attaching a set of clockworks in the same manner as described for the automobiles, you can make =A Clockwork Railway=, constructing the cars similarly to the street car shown in Fig. 363, Chapter XXV, and using the schemes in the same chapter for the tracks and depots. CHAPTER XXVII WORK TO DO WITH A KNIFE [Illustration: Boy Sharpening Knife.] A number of years ago a friend of the writer paid a visit to a large penitentiary where the prisoners were engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes. Among the workers he became particularly interested in a small German boy who was industriously marking the backs of boots with the lot numbers always to be found upon these goods. The boy didn't have an ink bottle near him, and yet, with what appeared to be a wooden stick, was marking the numbers in ink. A closer inspection disclosed the fact that the pointed stick held by the lad was nothing more or less than =A Home-made Fountain Pen.=--Upon seeing that the visitor was struck with the novelty of the affair, the superintendent presented him with one of the pens and told him of its origin. The pen was the invention of a forger who was placed in this department of the prison, and when its good qualities were seen it was very quickly adopted by all of the prisoners in place of the pointed stick and ink-bottle they had been using. The pen is shown in Fig. 391. It is made out of a piece of elderberry wood about five inches long, a small glass vial, and a piece of sponge. First push out the pith of the piece of elderberry wood (this you will find easily removed), and then point one end pen-shape, as shown in the illustration, and split it back from the point about an inch in the same manner as a writing pen is made. Whittle the other end of the stick so it will fit tightly in the neck of the glass vial. This bottle, or reservoir, should be filled with ink, and a small piece of the sponge you have procured should be pushed into the hollow of the pen above the point (see illustration), as a means of preventing the ink from flowing too freely upon the point. [Illustration: FIG. 391.--A Home-made Fountain Pen.] Although the pen was originally made with a coarse point for marking heavy figures, you will find that it can be made to write to a reasonable degree of fineness by whittling a fine point upon it. [Illustration: FIG. 392.--The Magic Pin-wheel.] =The Magic Pin-wheel= represented by Fig. 392 can be made with a few minutes' work, and is something entirely new in the line of magic toys. There are probably few persons who will understand this simple yet mysterious toy when they see it properly operated, until the secret is disclosed to them. As you will see by looking at the drawing, the pin-wheel consists of nothing more than a stick notched along one edge, and a thin piece of wood about an inch in length fastened through its centre to the end of the stick by means of a pin. In cutting the notches it is important to make them of the same length and depth. Locate the exact centre of the chip of wood before pivoting it to the end of the stick, and with your knife make a small hole for the pin to run through at this point. Be careful to drive the pin in straight. [Illustration: FIG. 393.--How to operate the Pin-wheel.] =To Operate= the pin-wheel, hold the stick in the left hand as illustrated in Fig. 393, and then, taking a coin in the right hand, rub it vigorously across the notches. The vibration produced by rubbing the stick causes the small pin-wheel to revolve about its pin axis. The funny part of the performance is the fact that you can have perfect control over the wheel, and change the direction of its course at will, if you but master one little trick performed with the first and second fingers of the right hand. In holding the coin between the thumb and first finger of the right hand, allow the end of the first finger to extend over the top of the stick and bring the second finger close to the side of it, as shown in the illustration (Fig. 393). To make the wheel revolve from left to right, allow the end of the first finger to rub along the top edge of the notches; then, to reverse the direction, relieve the pressure of this finger, and press the second finger against the other edge of the notches. At first you may not be able to make the wheel obey your commands, but with a little practice you will find it a simple matter to make it change its direction without any one noticing how you perform the magical trick. =A Brass Tack= driven into the stick a little below the notches, about the point where the thumb of your left hand will strike, will add to the mystic appearance of the pin-wheel. A person invariably notices this the first thing when he sees you operate the wheel (you can make it a point to press your left thumb against the tack), and thinks he has solved the trick. But when you let him have the toy, he will soon find out that all his pressing and pulling upon the tack will have no effect upon the wheel, and beg you to "put him on" to the trick. =A Wooden Chain and Rattle= has long been one of the most interesting pieces of work a boy can make with his jack-knife, and, inasmuch as the making of one requires careful cutting, the exercise is a good test of a boy's skill with this handy tool. [Illustration: FIG. 394. FIG. 395. FIG. 396. Details of a Wooden Chain and Rattle.] In making the first chain and rattle, you had better use a pine block, as hard wood is not so easy for a beginner to handle. Therefore, for a first attempt, select a piece of sound pine free from blemishes, and plane it down to the dimensions, seventeen inches long, two inches wide, and two inches thick. With a lead-pencil mark off ten divisions one inch apart, running the lines around the four sides of the block (see Fig. 394). Then draw two lines lengthwise on each side of the block, as shown at _AB_ and =CD=, making them one-half inch apart and three-quarters of an inch from each edge. With a chisel, cut out the four corners of the block down to the tenth line, as represented by the shading in Fig. 394. =The Chain= is to be cut out of the remaining core, one link out of every two divisions. Commencing at the top of the block, remove the shaded portions _T_ and _U_ (Fig. 395), as those would form only half links; then notch out the shaded corners marked _X_ in the drawing, and gradually cut the core into circular links. Having finished this operation, draw a circle inside of each link, and cut out the wood inside of it. Round the edges of the links as shown in the drawing of the finished chain (Fig. 396). Your success in making a good chain will depend largely upon a good, sharp knife and careful cutting. With a dull knife you are almost certain to split the links when separating one from another. =The Rattle= is to be made from the lower portion of the block. This part of the figure is more difficult to cut than the chain. First draw the two lines marked _HI_ and _JK_ in Fig. 394 one-half inch from the edges; then draw the cross lines _LM_, _NO_, _PQ_, and _RS_, as shown in the illustration. These lines should be similarly drawn upon the other three sides of the block. Remove the wood from the spaces shaded in the drawing, and you will then have left a centre solid block from which to cut the ball. Gently round the corners of this, and then gradually separate it from the surrounding framework. When this has been accomplished, the centre block will slip up and down. Now continue cutting the block until it is a perfect round ball, but be careful not to make it small enough to fall out of the frame, for that would spoil the entire piece of work. After completing the cutting, sand-paper the links and rattle until they are perfectly smooth. Then oil the wood or give it a coat of varnish. CHAPTER XXVIII CORK TOYS [Illustration: Materials Needed and Finished Articles.] It is surprising the number of small toys that can be made out of corks of different shapes and sizes with the aid of glue, pins, burnt matches, worsted, and cardboard. Even though a boy has passed the kindergarten age, he will find this work entertaining for days when the weather is disagreeable without; and though he may not care to play with them himself, his work will not have been wasted, for a younger brother will surely be glad to have some cork animals and birds to add to his menagerie, and a sister no less delighted with a small log-cabin and set of cork furniture. Flat and tapered corks can probably be found about the house on old jars and bottles, while the straight variety can be procured at any drug-store. In buying the latter ask for No. 9, inch and one-half, straight, common corks, half a gross of which will cost about twenty-five cents. [Illustration: FIG. 397.--The Pig.] =Cork Animals= are peculiar-looking beasts of abnormal proportions, but all sorts of magical feats are performed by toy makers, and such wonders as =A Pig= that can boast of a body as large as that of an elephant is commonly found among the so-called Noah's ark animals. To make a pig, first draw its head, as in the drawing of Fig. 397, upon a piece of cardboard, and then, after cutting it out, select a straight cork and make a slit in one end of it in which to stick the head. A little glue applied to the cardboard will hold the head in place. The pig's feet consist of four pieces of burnt matches pointed at the ends and stuck into the cork as shown in Fig. 397, while the tail is formed of a piece of copper wire curled at one end and stuck into the cork. When the pig has been made, paint its head and feet to match its body. [Illustration: FIG. 398.--The Horse.] =A Horse= requires a cork of the same shape as that used for the pig. Cut the head out of cardboard and glue it in a slit made in the end of the cork (see Fig. 398). Dip the ends of four burnt matches in glue and stick them in the cork for legs, and fasten a few pieces of worsted in a hole made in the end of the cork for the tail. A piece of thread should be fastened about the animal's neck for reins. After making the horse, take another straight cork for =The Elephant=, and cut the head, trunk, ears, and tusks out of a piece of cardboard as shown in the illustration (Fig. 399). Cut the tail out of another piece of cardboard, and glue it in a slit made in the end of the cork. The legs are, of course, larger around than those of the horse, and, as matches will be too slender, whittle four short wooden pegs for them. Point these pegs at one end, and, after dipping them in glue, stick them into the cork. [Illustration: FIG. 399.--The Elephant.] [Illustration: FIG. 400.--The Giraffe.] =The Giraffe= is just as simple to make as any of the animals, for he is put together in the same manner, except that a tapered cork is used for the body. The head and neck are made in one piece of cardboard (see illustration), and a piece of worsted forms the tail. When you have painted the head and neck a tan color to match the cork, and marked a number of brown spots upon the body, this tall and most graceful of animals will appear very life-like. [Illustration: FIG. 401.--The Korka-bird.] =A Porcupine= is simple to make out of a long, straight cork with toothpicks cut into small pieces for quills, and stuck into the cork as close as you can place them. The head and other portions of this animal can easily be made with the aid of a natural history, and it will be a simple matter to devise =Other Animals= upon the same schemes as those just described, by consulting the pictures in one of these books. It is not necessary to always copy a real animal. Use your ingenuity and see what queer-looking creatures you can make. Figure 401 gives a suggestion for one of these, which we will call =The Korka-bird.=--You will see by looking at the drawing that the two legs are made of matches, the lower ends of which are stuck into a piece of cork for a standard; and the neck consists of a burnt match stuck into the end of the cork with its upper end split to receive the cardboard head. A small chicken-feather stuck into the top of the head (the cardboard being split enough to receive it), two others in the back, and a fourth in the end of the cork compose all the plumage this wonderful bird can boast of, but this lack of feathers is more than made up by a beautiful head, neck, body, and legs, which are gilded. [Illustration: FIG. 402.--The Duck.] As a suggestion of what can be made in the way of water toys, =A Duck= is shown in Fig. 402. The body for this consists of a cork split in half, the head is cut out of a piece of cigar-box, and a small tin keel is fastened to the centre of the under side of the body. A few chicken feathers will form the tail. Glue, of course, cannot be used upon the duck, as it would soften in water, so the pieces composing it will have to be fastened together by means of pins. Other water toys, such as =Canoes=, consisting of a cork split in half, lengthwise, with the inside scooped out by means of your knife, are made with a few minutes' work, and these can be transformed into =Small Sail-boats= by sticking a toothpick in the bow for a mast and rigging a tiny sail upon it. =Cork Furniture= is not a new idea for toys, but, inasmuch as many have never heard of them, a few examples of what can be made in this line have been introduced in this chapter. For =A Chair=, such as shown in Fig. 403, find a flat cork, and stick four pins in one side for legs, and five pins fairly close together in the other side for the chair-back (see illustration). When the pins have been properly placed, take some worsted and wind it around each of the four legs, crossing from one to another as shown in the drawing, thus forming the chair-rounds. Also weave the worsted in and out around the pins forming the chair-back as in the drawing, so that all but the heads of the pins are covered when the operation is completed. [Illustration: FIG. 403.--Chair.] =The Sofa=, illustrated in Fig. 404, is made after the same manner. Split a straight cork lengthwise for the seat, placing it flat-side up, and stick pins around three edges of it upon which to wind the worsted. [Illustration: FIG. 404.--Sofa.] =A Small Tabouret= is shown in Fig. 405. Select a straight cork for the base of this, and, after seeing that a good sharp edge is upon your knife, slice the cork lengthwise, making it hexagonal in shape. Then stick six pins in the cork near the upper edge, placing one in each of the six edges (see illustration). When this has been done, weave worsted upon the pins in the same manner as the chair-back was formed. [Illustration: FIG. 405. Tabouret.] [Illustration: FIG. 406.--A Cork Log-cabin.] =A Toy Log-cabin=, or slab-hut, as it would properly be called, as the building is first put up and then covered with corks split in half for slabs, is illustrated in Fig. 406. A cardboard box should be procured out of which to make this little building, the proportion of which will determine the shape and size. Turn the box bottom side up, and on it construct a gable-roof. Cut two pieces of cardboard large enough to make a good projection over the ends of the building, and fasten them to the bottom of the box as shown in the drawing, gluing a number of linen strips to the pieces to hold them securely in place. Two pieces of cardboard should be cut to fit the gable-ends, and glued in place with linen strips. Cut windows in each side of the box and a door in each end. Having completed the little cardboard cabin, split enough straight corks in half lengthwise to cover the walls. Sharpen your knife well before commencing this work, so the corks will cut evenly and without breaking. Begin gluing these half corks along the bottom of the walls, fitting them end to end as shown in the drawing, and placing one row above another. Fit them neatly around the windows and door openings, and if they do not space out as evenly as shown in the illustration, cut some shorter pieces to fill in. The corks will quickly adhere to the cardboard if you press your finger against each for a second or two after placing it in position. The roof may be painted to represent boards or shingles, and a cork stuck in it as shown in the illustration will form the chimney. Cover the window openings with paper. Tissue-paper will admit more light than ordinary writing-paper, so probably will be the better material. Hinge a piece of cardboard to the jamb of each door opening, using small pieces of linen for hinges. Rule a few vertical lines upon the doors to represent the boards. All that now remains to be done to complete the cabin is the mounting, for which a seven-eighths-inch board should be procured. Use linen strips to fasten the cabin upon this board, placing them upon the inside surfaces of the walls, which can be reached by running your hand through the door openings. CHAPTER XXIX DEFINITIONS OF TERMS AND PHRASES [Illustration: Selection of Books.] The terms and phrases used in describing the work included in this book have been arranged alphabetically in this chapter, together with their definitions. This has been done for the purpose of furnishing a boy with a handy reference, with definitions in a clear and simple form, covering only such points as apply to his particular kind of work. =Abbreviations= =d= stands for "penny." E. G. 16d stands for sixteen-penny nails (see page 36). =I.e.= or =i.e.= stands for "that is." =E. G.= or =e.g.= stands for "for example." =Viz.= or =viz.= stands for "namely, to wit." ="= stands for "inch" or "inches." E. G. 2" means two inches. ='= stands for "foot" or "feet." E. G. 2' means two feet. =etc.= stands for "and so forth." =Abutting Surface.=--Next or adjoining. =Animated Animals.=--Animals (such as those used in the back-yard circus) which are constructed and then given life. In the case of the circus animals, the boys who enclose themselves in the bodies furnish the animals with life. =Bait-stick.=--A stick in a trap, upon which the bait is placed. It is also known as the trigger. =Baluster.= See Balustrade. =Balustrade.=--A series of small spindles or posts (Balusters), to the tops of which a bar (Hand Rail) is attached, placed along the sides of stairs and around stair openings. The hand rail is supported at either end by a post (Newel Post). E. G. See Figs. 71 and 75. Also applied to a solid wall built up the sides of a stairway and around the stair openings. =Batten Door.=--A door formed by joining the boards together with battens. =Battens.=--Strips of wood, or cleats, fastened across two or more boards to hold them together, as in making a cover or door. E. G. See Figs. 15, 189, and 194. =Bevel.=--Formed by cutting off the sharp edge of a board or any piece of work. E. G. See Fig. 28. A tool used for laying out bevels =Bird's Mouth.=--A notch, V-shaped, or the form of a bird's mouth, cut in a piece of work. E. G. See Fig. 8. =Blind-nailing.= See page 34. =Brace.=--A strip, board, or heavier piece fastened across two or more pieces to strengthen and steady them; a diagonal strip. =Bracket.=--A support, generally triangular in shape, screwed or nailed to a wall or object to hold up such things as shelves and cabinets. =Broom-wire.=--The fine wire which is bound around brooms to hold the straw to the end of the broom-stick. =Bull's-eye.=--The centre ring of a target. =Butt-joint.=--When the square end of one piece of wood butts or sets against another piece, the joint formed is known as a butt-joint. The pieces are not cut into as in the case of making other joints. =Casings.=--The finishing strips placed around door and window openings. E. G. See Figs. 85, 88, and 89. They are also known as Trim. =Chair Rail.=--A narrow board fastened around the walls of a room at a height equal to that of an ordinary chair-back. =Chamfer.=--Formed by cutting off the sharp edge of a board. It is much the same as a bevel (see Fig. 28), but the term is more often applied to cases where the bevel is stopped, instead of running the entire length of the edge, and its ends rounded up to meet the square edge of the board. This form of chamfer is used for ornamental purposes, and is known as a Stop Chamfer. Figure 29 shows a form of chamfer used in planing end-wood. =Cleats.=--Strips of wood fastened to others to strengthen them; or strips secured to an object for the purpose of supporting a shelf or drawers. E. G. See Figs. 15 and 148; also descriptions relating to same. =Clinching Nails.= See page 34. =Corbelled Brick.=--Several courses (layers) of brick so laid that each projects a little beyond, or comes a little within, the course below. E. G. See corbelled chimney for doll-house, Fig. 103, Chapter VI. =Corner Stone.=--A stone placed in the corner of a foundation. =Cornucopiæ.=--The plural for cornucopia; made by rolling paper or other material into the shape of cones or funnels. =Countersunk.= See Screws on page 36. =Cross-piece.=--A piece that crosses another; a piece fastened in a horizontal or oblique position, and extended from one piece to another. =Cross Section.= See Section. =Details.=--The parts of which a thing consists; a Detailed Drawing is usually a working drawing, showing all the parts of a piece of work, with dimensions marked upon them. =Diagonal.=--A strip, board, or heavier piece fastened in an oblique, or slanted, position--used in bracing (see Bracing of Toboggan Platform Framework, Fig. 310); also a line drawn obliquely to another line, several lines, or an object. =Diagonally.=--In a diagonal direction. =Diameter.=--The distance equal to a straight line passing through the centre of a circle or a circular object, terminated at both ends by the circumference, or the curved surface. =Door Frame.=--The wooden frame built in a door opening for the door to swing in. For definition of Jambs, Sill, and Head, see Window Frame. =Door-stops.=--Wooden strips nailed around the Jambs and Head of a door frame, for the door to swing against, and to make a tight joint between the door and frame. =Dovetail-joint.=--A tongue, undercut so as to make it wedge-shaped (somewhat the shape of a dove's tail), is prepared upon one piece, and a mortise, the shape and size of this tongue, is cut in the other piece for it to set into. E. G. See Figs. 209 and 210, and text on page 210, Chapter XV. =Dowelling.=--A process of securing together two edges or faces of a piece of work with pins of wood or metal. Holes are bored in the edges or faces of the pieces, and wooden pegs are cut to fit them. These pegs are coated with glue and then driven into place. The edges or faces of the pieces are also covered with glue, and if the pieces have been properly planed so as to fit together perfectly, a tight joint will be obtained when the glue has dried. The work should be clamped until the glue has dried. E. G. See Fig. 54. For nails used as dowels, see Fig. 357. =Dowels.=--The pegs or pins used in dowelling. =Dressed.=--After lumber has been planed at a mill, it is known as "dressed stuff." A board may be dressed to the proper dimensions, that is, prepared either by sawing, planing, paring, or scraping. =Driving Home a Nail.=--The act of applying the finishing strokes of a hammer upon the head of a nail in driving it into wood (see Driving Nails, page 32). =Drop.=--A piece of scenery hung from the Gridiron above the stage. E. G. See Figs. 331, 332, and 340. =Elevation.=--A straight Side or End view of an object. E. G. See Fig. 206. =Em.=--A square type. Used as a unit in measuring type. The letter "m" in type originally had a square end. =En.=--A type half an "em" in width. =End-plate.=--A timber, such as a two-by-four or two-by-six, placed across the tops of the studs in the end of a framework, for the roof rafters or the floor joists above to rest upon. E. G. See Fig. 184. When placed across the studs in the side of a framework it is known as a Side-plate. =End-wood.=--Wood which has been cut across the grain and shows the ends of the grain upon its surface. E. G. The end of a stick. =Equidistant.=--Equally distant. =Finishing Nail.=--A nail with a small head used on surfaces to be exposed, where it is desirable to make as small nail holes as possible. The finishing nail is very handy for all kinds of small work. =Fishing.=--An operation where two or more pieces are joined together, end to end, by means of strips (known as Fish-plates) nailed or screwed across the joints. It is also known as a Fish-joint, and is a common form of splice. E. G. See Fig. 183. =Flange.=--A projecting rim such as the edge of a spool. =Flush.=--A surface of a board is said to be flush with the surface of another when those boards are so placed together that the two surfaces are even, or extend along the same line or plane. =Font.=--An assortment of type of one size and style, including a certain number of each letter in the alphabet (large and small), punctuation marks, and such characters as are necessary in printing. Spaces and Quads are sold separately. =Foundation.=--The base upon which a building rests. Usually made of stone, brick, or posts, and placed below the surface of the ground. =Gable-end.=--That portion of a wall which extends into the angle formed by a gable or gambrel roof. E. G. See Figs. 64, 77, 96, and 109. =Gauge of Tracks.=--The distance between the tracks. =Grease Paint.=--A paint for the purpose of making-up the face in preparation for a circus or entertainment of some sort. Prepared of a composition easily removed, and free from injurious substances. =Gridiron.=--The framework above the stage from which the scenery drops are suspended. The framework consists of a series of parallel bars resembling a gridiron. =Groove.=--A channel or hollow cut in a piece of wood. In a tongued-and-grooved board it is the hollow in which the tongue fits. =Halving.= See Fig. 267; also description on page 259. This joint is also known as a Halved-joint. =Hand Rail.= See Balustrade. =Hem.=--The edge of a piece of cloth doubled over and sewed, to strengthen it and prevent the threads from ravelling. =Hexagonal.=--Six-sided. =Horizontal.=--Parallel to the horizon. =Hornstone.=--A variety of quartz having the appearance of flint, but more brittle. =Kerf.=--The opening, or narrow slot, made in sawing. =Latch-pocket.= See Spring-catch. =Lath.=--A strip approximately one and one-half inches wide, three-eighths of an inch thick, and four feet long. Nailed across the walls and ceiling of a room upon which to place plaster. =Locking-up.=--The process of tightening a form of type so as to hold it together (see description, page 136). =Longitudinal Section.= See Section. =Making-up.=--Painting the face as a disguise or to show expression marks. =Mitre.=--The end of a board is mitred when cut off at an angle of forty-five degrees. Although applied to other angles, the term mitre is understood to mean a forty-five degree cut, unless otherwise stated (see Bench-hook, Fig. 11, and Mitre-box, Fig. 12, Chapter I; also descriptions of their use). =Mitred Try-square.=--Used for laying off mitres (see Figs. 38 and 39, Chapter II). =Mortise.=--A slot or cavity made in a piece of wood to receive the end of another piece. E. G. See Figs. 208, 210, 211, Chapter XV. Bevelled Mortise.--A mortise with its bottom or sides bevelled. E. G. See Fig. 10, Chapter I. =Mould.=--Something which serves to give the proper form to an object. E. G. The mould for shaping a canvas canoe, Fig. 204, Chapter XV. =Newel Post.= See Balustrade. =Notch.=--A hollow cut in anything; a nick; an indentation. To Notch.--To cut in small hollows, as to notch a stick. E. G. See Fig. 191, Chapter XIV, and Fig. 392, Chapter XXVII. =Obsidian.=--A form of lava. =On Centres.=--In spacing studs or strips of any kind, they are spoken of as being placed a certain number of inches on centres. E. G. Twelve inches on centres means that the distance from the centre of one piece to the centre of another is twelve inches. =Out of Plumb.=--Not vertical; not perpendicular to the horizon. =Out of Square.=--Askew; oblique; not true. =Parallel.=--Lines or objects are parallel to one another when they have the same direction, and all corresponding points are equidistant from one another. =Perpendicular.=--Vertical; plumb; in an upright position. =Perspective.=--A perspective is a drawing showing an object in the form in which it appears to the eye. The lines converge, or approach nearer together, as they go away from the eye, until they finally meet at a point on the horizon, or a line drawn to represent the horizon. E. G. In looking down a railway track the telegraph poles and tracks appear to run together on the line of the horizon. =Pica.=--The standard of measurement in printing. A name given to a size of type which measures one-sixth of an inch high (measured from the nicked side to the side opposite); and seventy-two ems (see Em) measure one foot. =Pie.=--A mixed assortment of type. See page 135, Chapter IX. =Pieing Type or Making Pie.=--Spilling or mixing up type. =Pipe-straps.=--Iron straps used mostly by pipe-fitters to fasten gas-piping in place. E. G. See Figs. 321 and 322. =Pitch.=--The pitch of a board is the degree to which it has been tilted. =Plan.=--A drawing showing a view of an object, looking down upon it, either on top of it (e. g. see Figs. 205 and 207), or with the upper portion sliced off (e. g. see Fig. 190. This shows a plan of the log-cabin at a level of the door and windows, with the upper portion removed). =Plank.=--Lumber two inches or more in thickness is known as planks or planking. Anything of less thickness is known as boards. =Plumb.=--Perpendicular; vertical; true. An instrument for determining whether or not an object is plumb (see Fig. 14, Chapter I). =Proscenium.=--The front portion of a stage. The Proscenium Arch is the arch or frame extending around the front of the stage of a theatre. =Pumice Stone.=--A porous rock, of extreme lightness, used for polishing metals; for smoothing the surface of wood; and for smoothing the surface of a coat of paint before applying a second coat (see Painting of Canvas Canoe, page 214). =Pyrotechnics.=--The art of making fireworks; fireworks; the composition and use of fireworks. =Quad.=--An abbreviation for quadrat. A block of type-metal lower than the type, used for filling out lines, and for spacing between lines. A 2-em quad is two "ems" in width, and a 3-em quad three "ems" in width. =Quartz.=--Glassy crystals, having the form of a six-sided prism, terminated at each end by a pyramid. It is colorless, or transparent, when pure, and more or less opaque and in various colors when impure. =Quoins.=--The wedges used to tighten or lock-up a form of type. E. G. See Figs. 155 and 156. =Rabbet.=--A groove or hollow cut in a piece of work, generally for the purpose of joining it with some other material. E. G. The sides of the bow and stern pieces of the Canvas Canoe described in Chapter XV are rabbeted so the ribbands and the edge of the canvas will fit in them (see Figs. 200 and 202, Chapter XV). =Radius.=--The distance from the centre of a circle to any point upon its circumference. It equals one-half of the length of the diameter. =Rasp.=--A file with coarse teeth, used for working upon wood. =Recess.=--A niche in a wall; a space or opening formed by the wall setting in a little way. =Reënforce.=--To strengthen; to supply additional strength with strips or braces. =Ridge.=--An edge of a roof formed by the meeting of two sloping surfaces. The top edge of a peaked roof. E. G. See Fig. 192, Chapter XIV. =Ridge-boards.=--The boards fastened along the ridge of a roof to cover the joint. E. G. See Fig. 192, Chapter XIV. =Right Angle.=--An angle of ninety degrees. At Right Angles.--So as to form a right angle. =Rubbing Down.=--Bringing to a smooth surface by rubbing with sand-paper, emery-paper, or pumice stone. =Rustic.=--Made of limbs of trees in their natural form. =Sagging.=--The bending of a body by its own weight, or by a load placed upon it. =Sapling.=--A young tree. =Sash.=--The frame which holds the glass of a window. Also applied to the frame with the glass in place. =Scraping.=--A piece of glass or the blade removed from a plane is used for scraping a piece of work to give it a smoother surface than can be obtained by using a plane upon it. =Section.=--A part. =Section Drawing.=--A drawing made of an object, showing it as it would look if you were to cut it open or split it in two. The portions which would have to be cut through, in such an operation, are shaded in a drawing of this kind. E. G. See Fig. 218, Chapter XV; Fig. 300, Chapter XXI; and Fig. 316, Chapter XXII. A Cross Section is a section taken through the short way of an object. A Longitudinal Section is a section taken through the long way of an object. =Selvage.=--The selvage of cloth or wire-mesh is the edge which has been so woven as to prevent ravelling. =Semicircle.=--Half a circle. =Set of a Saw's Teeth.= See page 21, Chapter II. =Setting Nails.= See page 34, Chapter II. =Shape it Down.=--A term used to imply that the board or piece of work shall be gradually cut down until it approaches its finished form and size. =Shooting Stick.=--An iron or wooden tool with a head on one end, used to lock-up the Quoins in a form of type. E. G. See Fig. 155, Chapter IX. =Sills.=--The lowest horizontal timbers in a building of any kind on which the structure rests. See also Window Frame. =Sleepers.=--The timbers supporting the lower floor of a building, distinguished from joists by being filled in between with cinders or concrete. E. G. See Fig. 186, Chapter XIII. =Slip-knot.=--A noose which slips along the line or rope around which it is tied. E. G. See Fig. 243, Chapter XVII. =Slot.=--A mortise, or hole, with sides square or nearly so. Made by boring several holes, and then connecting and squaring them up with a chisel. =Space.=--A thin piece of type-metal, lower than the type, used between words, and for spacing out lines. A 3-em space is a third of an "em" in width, a 4-em a quarter of an "em" in width, a 5-em a fifth of an "em," and an 8-em (known as a hair space) is an eighth of an "em." =Spike.=--A twentypenny nail (four inches long) and all lengths greater. See list of sizes on page 36, Chapter II. To Spike a board in place is to fasten it with spikes. =Spliced.=--Two pieces are spliced when joined together, generally end to end, in such a way that they are held together and act as one piece. E. G. See Fig. 183, Chapter XIII, and Fishing. =Spring-catch.=--A small lock, such as shown in Figs. 96, 114, and 187. The latch is operated by a small knob, and is thrown into position by a small spring. The metal socket which is screwed in place for the latch to spring into is known as the Latch-pocket. =Sprint.=--A short race run at full speed. =Squaring Lines.=--By squaring lines across a board is meant the operation of drawing lines across a board with a try-square, the head of the try-square being placed against the tried-edge of the board so those lines will be at right angles to that tried-edge. E. G. See Fig. 38, Chapter II. =Staple.=--A U-shaped piece of metal, with two sharp points which are driven into wood in the same way as a nail. =Stock.=--Material; supplies. The brace which holds the bit for boring; the block which holds the blade of a plane (see Fig. 24, Chapter II); the portion of a gun which contains the barrel and trigger. =Stops.= See Door-stops and Window-stops. =Strap-hinge.=--A hinge with long arms, or flaps, which extend over a larger area than those of an ordinary hinge, and give it the power of withstanding greater strains. =Studs.=--The smaller pieces of timber used in the framework of a building, to which the siding is attached, or to which the laths are nailed. Known also as Studding. =Stuff.=--In carpenter work this term is applied to the different sizes of lumber. E. G. Seven-eighths-inch stuff means boards seven-eighths of an inch thick; two-inch-stuff is lumber two inches thick. =Stunt.=--Originally a slang word used to denote a trick or feat of some sort. It is now generally recognized as a legitimate word. =Swivel.=--A fastening with a pivot which allows the object attached to it to revolve without twisting the cord, wire, or chain, by which that object is suspended. E. G. See Fig. 258, Chapter XVIII; and page 249. =Taper.=--To make gradually smaller in diameter toward one end; to gradually diminish toward a point. =Temper.=--Steel and iron tools are given their necessary degree of hardness by a process of heating and cooling, known as Tempering. Too much friction obtained while grinding a tool will destroy this temper, making it necessary to re-temper it. =Toe-nailing.= See page 33. =Tongue.=--The projecting edge of a tongued-and-grooved board. A projecting pin cut on a piece of wood to fit a mortise of the same shape cut in another piece of wood. Used in making Dovetail-joints. E. G. See Figs. 208 and 209, Chapter XV. =Tongued-and-grooved Boards.=--Boards with a groove along one edge and a tongue along the opposite edge, so that the tongue of one board will fit in the groove of another, thus forming a fairly tight joint. These boards are known also as Matched Boards. =Trench.=--A ditch; a long channel. =Tried-edge of Work.= See Testing Work, page 28. =Trim.=--The wooden Casings placed around door and window openings (see Figs. 85, 88, and 89, Chapter V). To dress a piece of work; to cut; to make smooth. =Turnstile.=--A post upon the top of which four horizontal arms are pivoted to revolve, so as to allow but one person to pass at a time (see Fig. 266, Chapter XIX, and description of construction on page 259). =Two-by-four.=--A piece two inches thick by four inches wide used for supports and the construction of frameworks. Pieces of other dimensions are also known and spoken of by their sizes in inches. E. G. Two-by-sixes, two-by-eights, and two-by-tens. =Typographical.=--Relating or pertaining to typography. =Typography.=--The art of setting type. =Undercutting.=--As the term implies, the wood is undercut, or cut under, thus making it wedge-or V-shaped. E. G. See Fig. 209, Chapter XV; also text on page 211. =Upright.=--An upright is a piece of timber which is perpendicular when in place. =Valance.=--A drapery for a couch or bed. E. G. See Couch in illustration of a Boy's Room, Chapter V. =Vertical.=--Perpendicular to the horizon; upright; plumb; straight up and down. =Wainscot.=--A lining placed upon the inside walls of a building. It was originally made of oak timbers, known as wainscot, but the term is now applied to any kind of wood, burlap, tapestry, or other material applied in the same manner. As a rule, it extends but part way up a wall, starting at the floor line. =Warped.=--Twisted out of shape. =Washer.=--A ring placed beneath the head of a bolt to give it a broader bearing surface, and thus prevent it from cutting into the surface of the piece of work. It is also placed under a nut to prevent it from working loose. =Wedge-shaped.=--V-shaped. =Window Frame.=--The wooden frame built in the window opening for the sash to fit into. The Jambs are the sides of this frame, the Sill the bottom piece upon which the Jambs rest, and the Head the top piece of the frame. E. G. See Figs. 187 and 188, Chapter XIII, and Fig. 193, Chapter XIV. =Window-stops.=--Wooden strips nailed around the Jambs, Head, and Sill of a window frame to prevent rain and wind from entering between the sash and its frame. =Wing.=--A piece of scenery placed at the side of the stage. E. G. See Figs. 333, 334, 335, 341, and 342, Chapter XXIV. INDEX A Advertisements for amateur paper, 152; dummy for, 152. Advertisers' dummy, 152. Advertising signs for circus, 271. Amateur journalism, 142. Amateur papers, methods of printing, 145; specimens of, 143, 146, 147, 148, 149, and group opposite 142; character of, 148; naming of, 149; frequency of publication of, 149; size of page of, 150; heading for, 150; choice of type for, 150; cover for, 151; binding, 151; advertisements for, 152; second-class rates for, 152. Andirons for doll-house fire-place, 88. Animals, animated, 261; cork, _see_ Cork animals. Animated animals, 261. Archery, scoring of points in, 235; position for shooting in, 239. Arrow-heads, 237; Indian, 241. Arrow-shafts, 237; feathering of, 238; Indian, 240. Arrows, shingle, 232. Ash-sifter, an, 53. Athletic club, organizing an, 254. Athletic meets, 254. Attendants, circus, 269. Automatic-drill, use of an, 31. Automobiles, clockwork, 343; touring-car, 343; delivery-wagon, 352. B Back-saw, use of the, 24. Back-yard circus, a, _see_ Circus. Back-yard club-house, a, _see_ Club-house. Back-yard toboggan-slide, _see_ Toboggan-slide. Bailey plane, the, 26. Ballista, the ancient, 231. Balustrades, doll-house, 78, 100. Barrel-hoop target, 234. Bath-room as a dark-room, a, 155. Batten door, a, for club-house, 184. Battles, mimic, with paper soldiers, 276. Battleships, cardboard, 328. Beams, deck, for canvas canoe, 210. Bean-blower, a magazine, 282. Bedroom as a dark-room, a, 154. Beds, doll-house, 118; pine-bough, 198. Bench-hook, how to make a, 9; use of a, 24, 29. Bench-screw, iron and wooden, 5. Bench-stops, 7. Bench-vise, how to make the, 5. Bevel, how to use the, 45. Bevelling, 30. Bilge-keels for canvas canoe, 215. Binding of amateur papers, 151. "Bird's mouth" cut, 8. Bits, a rack for, 16; use of, 31. Bit-stock, use of, 31; selection of, 31. Blacking-case, a, 68. Blind-nailing, 34. Blockhouse scene, a, 319. Book-shelves, 67. Boring, 30. Bow and arrow, the, 236. Bow, length of, 236; the Indian's, 240. Bow piece for canvas canoe, 204. Bow-string, the, 237. Box trap, the, 221. Boy about the house, the, 47. Boy's dark-room, a, 153. Boy's printing-shop, a, 126. Boy's room, suggestions for a, 57; suitable furnishings for a, 57. Boy's workshop, a, 3. Braces, deck, for canvas canoe, 211. Bread-board, how to make a, 54. Broom and dust-pan rack, a handy, 50. Bullets, cardboard, 233. Bunks for log-cabin, 198. Butt-joint, a, 59. Button-locks for club-house, 184. C Cabinet, a tool-, 14; a special tool-, 16; a curio-, 65. Cabin, log-, _see_ Log-cabin. Cages for side show, 260. Calking cracks, 184. Camera, profitable work with a, 153. Camping, pointers for, 199; utensils for, 199; other necessary articles for, 199; provisions for, 200. Camp-table, a, 199. Cannon, danger of store, 273; a fire-cracker, 273; another toy, 276. Canoe, how to build a canvas, 201; materials for, 202; putting together framework of, 207; canvas covering for framework of, 212; painting of, 214. Canvas canoe, _see_ Canoe. Canvas covering for canoe, 212. Car for toy railway, a simple, 334; a gondola, 336; a street, 336; other cars, 340. Carpenter's carrying-box, a, 17. Carpenter's horses, 9. Carpenter work, advantages of understanding, 3. Carpets for doll-house, 106. Carrying-box, a carpenter's, 17. Case, a blacking-, 68; upper and lower type-, 129; scheme for laying type-, 129; the Yankee job-, 130; a negative-, 167. Casters for doll-house, 84. Catapult, the ancient, 229. Catch, spring-, for doll-house, 98; for stable, 102; for club-house, 183. Chain and rattle, a wooden, 359. Chairs, miniature mission, 113. Chamfering, 30. Chariot, a circus, 270. Chase, the type, 136. _Chemistry News_, the, 143, 146. Chimney, doll-house, 85, 94; log-cabin, 192. Chisels, racks for, 16; forms of, 28; how to use the firmer-, 28; framing-, 29; paring with, 29; grinding of, 38. Cigar-boxes, preparation of, 110. Cigar-box furniture, _see_ Furniture. Circus, a back-yard, 255; the ancient Roman, 255; the modern, 255; how several boys gave a, 256; preparing a back-yard for a, 256; ideas for performance of, 256; parades, 271. Classifying negatives, 165; manila envelopes for, 165. Clinching nails, 34. Clock, a miniature grandfather's, 117. Clockwork automobiles, 343. Clockwork railway, 355. Clockwork tick-tack, a, 286. Clothes, workshop, 18; hooks for workshop, 19. Clothes-line reel, a handy, 48. Clown, suit for, 268; stunts for, 269; slapper for the, 269. Club, organizing an athletic, 254. Club-house, a back-yard, 175; drawing plan of, 178; staking out, 179; material for, 178. Coaming for cockpit, 214. Cockpit, 212; coaming for, 214. Colored lights for miniature theatre, 309. Compass-saw, use of the, 21. Composing-rule, a, 134; how to use a, 135. Composing-stick, how to use the, 134. Composing type, 134. Coop trap, the, 224. Cork animals, 363; a pig, 364; a horse, 364; the elephant, 365; the giraffe, 365; a porcupine, 366; other animals, 366. Cork toys, 363; animals, 363; the korka-bird, 366; a duck, 367; boats, 367; furniture, 367; a toy log-cabin, 369. Corner, how to fit up a cosey-, 58. Cosey-corner, how to fit up a, 58; a doll-house, 107. Couch, a, 63; covering of, 64. Countersink, use of the, 37. Cracks, calking, 184. Cross-bar for jump standards, 250. Cross-bow, the ancient, 231; new idea for a, 231. Cross-cut saw, use of the, 21. Cupboard, provision, 197. Curio-cabinet, a, 65; finishing of, 67; catalogue for, 67. Curtain, drop-, 306. Curtains for doll-house, 106. Curves, drawing, 204. D Dark-lantern, a home-made, 163. Dark-room, a boy's, 153; a bedroom as a, 154; a bath-room as a, 155; another scheme for a, 156. Dead fall trap, the, 222. Deck beams for canvas canoe, 210. Deck braces for canvas canoe, 211. Definitions of terms and phrases, 371. Delivery-wagon, a clockwork automobile, 352; frame for, 352; cardboard sides for, 353; the wheels, 354; other portions of, 354; painting, 355. Desk, how to make a writing-, 59; another style of, 62; finishing of, 61. Disappearing rope, the, 290. Distribution of type, 137. Divide a board, to, 45. Doll furniture, 109. Doll-house, how to make a, 71; the store, 71; painting the, 90; another style of, 91; furnishing the, 105. Door, batten, for club-house, 184; log-cabin, 194. Doors, doll-house, 80, 84; trim for, 84; stable, 104. Dowelling, 60. Drawing, parallel lines, 43; enlarging by squares, 110; curves, 204. Draw-knife, use of a, 30; how to grind the, 39. Dresser, a doll's, 120; a cigar-box, 124. Drill, an automatic-, 31. Driving nails, 32. Drop-curtain, 306. Drops for miniature theatre, 316, 320. Drying-rack, a, 161; another scheme for a, 161. Duck, a cork, 367. Dummy, the advertisers', 152. Dust-pan and broom rack, a handy, 50. E Elastic sling, an, 234. Elephant, a circus, 261; tricks for the, 269; a cork, 365. Elevator, a doll-house, 94; shaft for, 92; car of, 96; guide-wires for, 96; pulleys, chain, and weight for, 97. Enlarging by squares, 110. Enterprise, a winter, 169. Equipment of workshop, 4; of printing-shop, 128; of dark-room, 154. F Feathering arrow-shafts, 238. Feed-hoist for stable, 104. Feed-troughs for stable, 103. Field scene, a, 316. Figure-four trap, the, 219. Filter for dark-room tank, 158. Fire-cracker cannon, a, 273. Fire-cracker mortar, a, 275. Fire-crackers, firing, from kites, 278. Fire-place, doll-house, 86; log-cabin, 190, 192. Fireworks, danger and cost of making, 272; harmless and inexpensive, 273. Firing Roman-candles from kites, 277; fire-crackers from kites, 278; nigger-chasers with cross-bow, 278. Firmer-chisels, use of, 28. Fishing studs, 178. Fish-plates, 178. Floodlights, 308. Floor, back-yard club-house, 181; mud, for log-cabin, 193. Floors, doll-house, 74, 76, 91; finishing of hardwood, 106. Fly-killer, a simple, 51; use of the, 52. Folding-bed, a cigar-box, 123. Footlights, 307. Fore-plane, use of the, 25. Form, locking up a, 136; overlaying the, 138; underlaying the, 138. Fountain pen, a home-made, 356. Fourth of July, suggestions for, 272; the first, 272. Frames for scenery drops, 314. Frames, picture-, for a boy's room, 59. Framing-chisels, use of, 29. Franklin, Benjamin, 142. Furniture, cork, 367; a chair, 368; the sofa, 368; a tabouret, 368. Furniture, mission, 109; chairs, 113; settee, 114; tables, 114; another design for tables, 115; side-board, 115; a mirror, 117; grandfather's clock, 117; kitchen furniture, 118; beds, 118; dresser, 120; wash-stand, 121; finishing of, 121. Furniture, suitable for a boy's room, 57; selection of doll-house, 107; doll-, 109; metal, 109; other cigar-box, 122; printer's metal and wooden, 136. G Gable-ends, the doll-house, 79, 97; the stable, 102. Gable roof for doll-house, 92; for stable, 101. Galley, a home-made, 135. Gambrel roof for doll-house, 79. Gauge-pins, 139. Gauging with rule and pencil, 43; with the marking-gauge, 43. Gig-saw, use of the, 24. Giraffe, a circus, 262; looping the hoop on a, 269; tricks for the, 270; a cork, 365. Goblin-man, the, 286. Gondola car, a, 336. Gouge, use of the, 30; how to grind the, 39. Grandfather's clock, a miniature, 117. _Gratz Park News_, the, 148. Grinding, the proper method of, 37. Grind-stone, use of the, 37. Gun, a shot-, 234. Guns, ancient, 229. Gunwales for canvas canoe, 208; outside, 215. Gymnasium, an outdoor, 243; location of, 243. H Halloween, 281; ancient superstitions of, 281; origin of, 281. Halving, 259. Hammer, selection of, 32. Handling of tools, the proper, 20. Hatchet, paring with a, 32; how to grind a, 40. Hinge-lock, the, 48. Hinges, strap-, 184; wooden, 194. Hook, how to make a bench-, 9. Hooks, hat and coat, 19. Hoop, looping the, on a giraffe, 269. Horizontal bar, a, 243. Horse, the circus wild, 265; the cork, 364. Horses, carpenter's, 9. House, the boy about the, 47; how to make a doll-, 71; another doll-, 91; a back-yard club-, _see_ Club-house. Hurdles, 253. I Ideas for a circus performance, 269. Imposing-stone, the, 136. Indian, story of a trapped, 227. Inking the press, 140. Ink-stand and pen-tray, an, 63. Interior scene, an, 322. J Jack-plane, use of the, 25. Japanese lanterns, for decorating circus tent, 257; hung from kite-string, 278. Jobbing, 47; outfit for, 47. Jocko, 267. Johnstone, Mary Jane, 176. Jointed figures, 325; operation of, 327. Journalism, amateur, 142. Jump standards, a pair of, 249. Justifying, 135. K Keel for canvas canoe, 215; bilge-, 215. Keelson for canvas canoe, 206. Kerf, definition of, 25. Kitchen furniture for doll-house, 118. Kites, firing fireworks from, 277. Knife, work to do with a, 356. Knives, how to grind, 40. Korka-bird, the, 366. L Ladder, stable hay-loft, 103; toboggan-slide, 296. _Lake High School Daily_, the, 146. Lantern, a home-made dark-, 163. Lanterns, Japanese, for circus tent, 257; hung from kite-string, 278. Latch, wooden, for club-house, 184; for log-cabin, 195. Laying out work, 42; tools for, 42. _Ledger, The_, 149. Letter, a mysterious, 176. Lightning, how to imitate, 330. Lock, workshop door, 19; a hinge-, 48; spring-catch for doll-house, 98; spring-catch for stable, 102; club-house, 183; button for club-house, 184; for turnstile, 259. Locking up a form, 136; quoins, shooting-stick, and key for, 136. Lock-joint, the, 189. Log-cabin, how to build a, 186; the pioneer, 186; the modern, 186; site for, 188; design and size of, 188; material for, 188; staking out, 189; furnishings for, 197; a toy, 369. Looping the hoop on a giraffe, 269. M Magazine bean-blower, a, 282. Magic pin-wheel, the, 357. Mantel and fire-place, a doll-house, 86. Mantel-shelf for log-cabin, 197. Mark for broad jumping, 254. Marking-gauge, a, 43; how to operate a, 44. Materials, receptacles for printing, 140; cabinet for dark-room, 161. Mechanical effects for miniature theatre, 329. Mid-ocean scene, a, 315. Mimic battles with paper soldiers, 276. Miniature theatre, a, _see_ Theatre. _Mirror, The_, 146, 147. Mirror for doll-house, 117. Mission furniture, doll, _see_ Furniture. Mitre-box, how to make a, 10. Monkey, make-up for, 267; tricks for, 270; chariot for, 270. Mortar, a fire-cracker, 275. Mould for canvas canoe, 207. Mysterious letter, a, 176. N Nail-box, how to make a, 18. Nailing, toe-, 33; blind-, 34. Nails, driving, 32; withdrawing, 33; clinching, 34; forms of, 35; sizes of, 36. Nail-set, the, 34. Negative-case, 167; finishing of, 168. Nigger-chasers, firing, with cross-bow, 278. O Ocean scene, an, 313. Office, ticket, 257. Oil-stone, selection of, 40; the Washita, 40. Oily rags and waste, care of, 19, 141. Outdoor gymnasium, an, 243. Overlaying a form, 138. P Packing-cases for doll-house, 72, 91. Paddle, a single, 217. Papering the doll-house, 105. Papers, amateur, _see_ Amateur papers. Parades, circus, 271. Parallel bars, 245. Parallel lines, to draw, 43. Paring, 29. Partitions, doll-house, 74, 91; stable stall, 102. Pen, a home-made fountain, 356. Penants, college, for cosey-corner, 58. Pen-tray, an ink-stand and, 63. Picture-frame, a proscenium, 303. Picture-frames for a boy's room, 59. Pictures, suitable, for a doll-house, 107. "Pieing," 135. Pig, a cork, 364. Pin-wheel, the magic, 357. Pistol, a toy, 233; cardboard bullets for, 233. Plan, drawing, for club-house, 178. Plane, use of the jack-, the fore-, and the smoothing-, 25; the Stanley, 25; the Bailey, 26; printer's, 137. Plane-iron, how to grind a, 39; how to whet a, 41. Planes, choice of, 25. Planing, position for, 26; wood with crooked grain, 27; end-wood, 27. Plate-lifter, a, 165. Plate-rack, a, 54; staining of, 56. Platform for punching-bag, 248. Platform for toboggan-slide, 293. Plough, a snow, 169. Plumb, how to make a, 12; how to use a, 13. Points, scoring of, in archery, 235. Pole, a vaulting, 251. Pond, for miniature theatre, 320. Porcupine, a cork, 366. Portieres for doll-house, 106. Posters for a boy's room, 58. Preserving negatives, 165; manila envelopes for, 165. Press Association, the National Amateur, 143; the United Amateur, 143; the Interstate Amateur, 144; the Western Amateur, 144; local amateur, 144; advantages of membership in a, 144. Presswork, pointers for, 138. Printing, 126; neatness in, 140. Printing-press, starting with a small, 126; inking the, 140. Printing-shop, a boy's, 126; location of, 126; the author's, 128; equipment of, 128. Proofs, striking, 136; correcting, 136; disposing of waste, 141. Proper handling of tools, the, 20. Properties for miniature theatre, 327. Proscenium, a picture-frame, 303. Provision cupboard, 197. Provisions for camping, 200. Punching-bag platform, 248. Punctures in a canvas canoe, to mend, 216. Purchasing tools, advice about, 13. Q Quiver, 239. Quoins, 136. R Rabbit snare, 225. Rack, steel-square, 16; a broom and dust-pan, 50; a plate-, 54; a towel-, 70; type-case, 131; a washing-, 159; a drying-, 161; another scheme for a drying-, 161. Racks, bit and chisel, 16; other tool, 16. Railing for toboggan-slide, 296. Railway, making a toy, 331; materials for, 331; trolley-line for, 331; power for operating, 333; tracks for, 334; cars for, 334; operation of, 340; station for, 341; a clockwork, 355. Rain, how to imitate, 330. Reel, a clothes-line, 48. Reënforcing runners of sled, 299. Ribbands for canvas canoe, 208. Ridge boards, 192. Ridge pieces for canvas canoe, 211. Ring for a back-yard circus, 256. Ring master, costume for, 268; duties of the, 270. Rip-saw, use of the, 21. Roar of cannon, how to imitate, 330. Rocks for seashore scene, 315. Rollers, the proper care of printing, 140. Roman candles, firing, from kites, 277. Roman circus, the, 255. Roof, the gambrel, 79; the gable, 92, 101; tar-paper for back-yard club-house, 181; log-cabin, 191; covering of cabin, 192. Room, suggestions for a boy's, 57; suitable furnishings for a boy's, 57. Rope, the disappearing, 290. Rope bar for jump standards, 251. Ruby lantern for dark-room, a home-made, 163. Ruby-light, a, 162. Rule, a composing, 134. Runners for sled, 298; reënforcing, 299. Running track, a, 253. Running water for dark-room, 156. Rustic bridges for miniature theatre, 320. Rustic seats, 198, 199. S Sail-boats, toy cork, 367. Sand-paper block, a, 12. Sash for workshop, 4; for back-yard club-house, 182; for log-cabin, 194. Saw, use of cross-cut, 21; use of rip-, 21; difference in teeth of cross-cut and rip-, 21; the back-, 24; the compass-and gig-, 24. Sawing, the proper manner of, 22. Saws, choice of, 21; sharpening of, 41. Scene, an ocean, 313; a mid-ocean, 315; a seashore, 316; a field, 316; a blockhouse, 319; a street, 320; an interior, 322. Scenery, material for, 312; frames for, 314; drops, 316, 320; wings, 317, 318, 319, 321; trees, 317, 318; rustic bridges, 320; pond or lake, 320. Scenery, properties, and mechanical effects, 311. Scoring of points in archery, 235. Scraper, a snow, 170. Screw, iron and wooden bench-, 5. Screw-driver, a desirable, 36. Screws, forms of, 36. Seashore scene, a, 316. Seat, a window-, 65; rustic, 198, 199; canvas canoe, 216. Seats for a back-yard circus, 257. Second-class matter, 152. Set-piece, a final, 280. Settee, a miniature mission, 114. Sharpening tools, 37. Shelves, workshop, 18; book-, 67. Shingle arrows, 232. Shingles for log-cabin, 192. Shooting in archery, position for, 239. Shooting-stick, a printer's, 137. Shooting-torch, a, 279. Shot-gun, a, 234. Shovel, a snow, 171. Side-board, a miniature mission, 115. Side show, the circus, 260. Sieve trap, the, 224. Sifter for ashes, 53. Signs, advertising, for circus, 271. Sink for dark-room, 158. Slapper, the clown's, 269. Sled, a home-made, 296; iron runners for, 298; reënforcing runners of, 299. Sling, an elastic, 234. Smith, collection of Mr. E. H., 142. Smoothing-plane, use of the, 25. Snare, a rabbit, 225. Snow plough, a, 169. Snow scraper, a, 170. Snow shovel, a, 171. Soldiers for miniature theatre, 324; standards for, 324, 325; jointed, 325. Specimens of amateur papers, 143, 146, 147, 148, 149, and group opposite 142. Spotlights, 309. Spring-board, a, 251. Spring-catch, _see_ Catch. Sprints, method of starting, 254. Stable, how to build a, 100; painting the, 104. Stage, construction of, _see_ Theatre. Stairways, doll-house, 76, 98. Stall partitions for stable, 102. Standards, a pair of jump, 249. Stanley plane, the, 25. Station for toy railway, 341. Steel-square, rack for, 16; laying out work with the, 42. Steps, front, 78; rear, 79. Stern piece for canvas canoe, 204. Stick, composing-, 134; the shooting-, 137. Stops, bench-, 7. Street car, a, 336. Street scene, a, 320. Strop, how to make a, 12; how to use a, 41. Stropping, 41. Studs, fishing, 178; placing of, for club-house, 179. Supplies, receptacles for workshop, 18; cabinet for dark-room, 161. Swivel for punching-bag, a, 249. T Table, a miniature mission, 114; another design of, 115; a camp-, 199. Tank, water, for dark-room, 156. Target, a barrel-hoop, 234; a simpler, 235. Tar-paper for club-house roof, 181. Teepee, a paper, 328. Tent for back-yard circus, 257; decorating, 257. Tents, paper, 328. Testing work, ways of, 28. Theatre, a miniature, 303; framework for, 303; the gridiron, 305; the stage floor, 305; drop-curtain, 306; setting up, 310; tickets for, 310; a war drama for, 324. Thunder, how to imitate, 330. Ticket office, 257. Tickets for circus, 256; for miniature theatre, 310. Tick-tack, a new style of, 284; a clockwork, 286. Toboggan-slide, a back-yard, 291; location of, 291; length of, 293; material for, 295. Toe-nailing, 33. Tool-cabinet, a, 14; for special tools, 16. Tools, purchasing of, 13; list from which to select, 14; proper handling of, 20; lending, 20; sharpening, 37. Torch, a shooting-, 279. Touring-car, a clockwork automobile, 343; frame for, 344; belt for, 346; testing the machine, 346; cardboard sides of, 348; wheels for, 349; mud-guards for, 349; lamps for, 349; steering-wheel for, 350; brake for, 350; chauffeur for, 350; painting, 351. Towel-rack, a, 70. Toy guns, targets, and bows and arrows, 229. Toy railway, making a, _see_ Railway. Toys, cork, 363. Track, a running, 253. Tracks for toy railway, 334. Trains, cardboard, 329. Trap, the figure-four, 219; the box, 221; the dead fall, 222; the sieve, 224; the coop, 224; a rabbit snare, 225; a twitch-up, 226. Traps, home-made, 218. Trebuchets, ancient, 229. Trees, 317, 318; standards for, 317; pine boughs for, 319. Tried-edge, the, 28. Trimmings, of doll-house, outside, 84; interior, 89; stable, 104. Trolley-line for toy railway, 331. Try-square, testing work with the, 28; laying out work with the, 42; a mitred-handle, 45. Tumbling-mat, a, 245. Turnstile, a, 259; lock for, 259. Twitch-up, a, 226. Tympan, the printing-press, 138. Tympan-sheets, 138. Type, selection of, 129; composition of, 134; pieing, 135; distribution of, 137; washing, 140. Type-cases, upper and lower, 129; scheme for laying, 129; the Yankee job, 130; rack for, 131. Typesetting, 134. U Underlaying a form, 138. Utensils for camping, 199. V Vaulting, pole for, 251. Vise, how to make a, 5. W Wagons, cardboard, 329. Walls, doll-house, 74, 79, 92; stable, 101, 104; club-house, 181. Wardrobe, cigar-box, 125. Washing-box, a, 158; rack of, 159; box of, 160; how to use the, 161. Wash-stand, a doll's, 121. Waste and oily rags, care of, 19, 141. Water, running, for dark-room, 156; filter for, 158. Water-tank for dark-room, 156. Waves for ocean scene, 314. Weapons, ancient, 229. Whetstone, selection of, 40; the Washita, 40. Whetting, the proper way of, 41. Wicks, book by Mr. W. S., 188. Wild horse, the circus, 265. Wild man of Borneo, the, 265, 266. Wind, how to imitate, 330. Window, for workshop, 4; for back-yard club-house, 182. Windows, doll-house, 80, 92; dormer, 80; glass for, 82; casement, 82; divided glass for, 84; stable, 103; log-cabin, 190, 194. Window-seat, a, 65. Wings for miniature theatre, 317, 318, 319, 321. Winter enterprise, a, 169; contracting work for, 169. Withdrawing nails, 33. Wooden chain and rattle, 359. Work, laying out, 42. Work to do with a knife, 356. Work-bench, a solid, 4. Workshop, a boy's, 3; location of, 4; clothes for, 18. Work-table for dark-room, 155. Writing-desk, how to make a, 59; another style of, 62; finishing of, 61. Y Yankee job-case, the, 130. 
44501	----	TOY CRAFT TOY CRAFT LEON H. BAXTER Director of Manual Training, Public Schools ST. JOHNSBURY, VT. Author of Boy Bird House Architecture, and Elementary Concrete Construction [Illustration] THE BRUCE PUBLISHING COMPANY MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN Copyright 1922 The Bruce Publishing Company Printed in the United States of America INTRODUCTORY NOTES The purpose of such a book as Mr. Baxter's "Toy Craft" is to furnish definite instructions for the making of toys for boys and girls by the children themselves. Miniature furniture, wooden dolls, carts and animals--of how much greater value is one such plaything actually put together by a child than any number of toys made in a factory or imported from some foreign country? Truly a step forward has been taken in putting before the people a book which will unconsciously instill in the minds of the children the value of the hand-made in preference to the machine-made article. Not only is Mr. Baxter peculiarly fitted to publish such a volume as "Toy Craft" in the light of his knowledge of manual training, but also because of his understanding of the spirit behind the production of toys, which bring such joy to the hearts of boys and girls. To the satisfaction of actually making some wooden cart, or bird, or animal may be added the happiness of doing the work for some other child. It is this vision of service for others which Mr. Baxter has already caught and demonstrated, and we feel sure that this little volume will do much to promote the improved individual construction of toys by children, at the same time instilling into the hearts of the boys the joy of making something for somebody else, of experiencing the truth, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." MABEL E. TURNER, Field Representative for Junior Service, New England Division, American Red Cross. * * * * * One of the hard problems in manual training, for boys up to twelve years of age, is to find worth-while things to make, within the capacity of boys of this age. Having been engaged in this kind of work for over twenty years I can appreciate the problems of the manual training instructor in the grades. After carefully examining the cuts and directions for the various projects as given in "Toy Craft," and having seen the boys at work, as well as the completed articles, in Mr. Baxter's department, I can readily see how the great interest that is inspired in the boys is derived. I heartily commend this book to all manual training teachers as a great help in the solution of their problems with boys. STANLEY J. STEWARD, M. E., Director, St. Johnsbury Vocational School. PREFACE Each year American parents spend millions of dollars for toys for the children. In a short time a large part of these toys are broken, and lie in the corner or the back yard. This is because of the destructive habits children have developed. These same habits have been formed because, since birth, toys have cost these children nothing. Children, like grown-ups, value things and form habits in proportion to the cost to them. They break up what costs them nothing, and cherish and keep repaired what they, themselves, have made or purchased with self-denial or self-earned money. The breaking of toys is bad, but the effect upon the character of the child is infinitely worse. Destructive tendencies are developed, while constructive ability is allowed to lie dormant and inactive. The remedy for this is to develop the constructive rather than the destructive in children by buying them working outfits and books of instruction with which they can make and repair things for themselves. In other words, buy tools, equipment and supplies rather than finished toys. Carlisle said, "Man without tools is nothing; man with tools is all." Education is to children what civilization is to the race. What to buy for each particular child depends upon the age and tendencies of the child and is a matter parents must determine for themselves. The important test is, "Is it something that the child can use to make things for himself, for others and for the home?" When purchasing tools it is an excellent plan to leave some part of the outfit for the children to make or to buy from money they themselves have earned. In other words, co-operate with the children instead of doing it all for them. The writer speaks not only from the teacher's point of view, but from the parent's as well. The problems offered in this book are not only within the capabilities of the average child, but are all tested and proven as being worth-while and appealing strongly to the child's ideals and imagination. LEON H. BAXTER. St. Johnsbury, Vt. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page History of Toy-Making 11-3 Equipment 13-4 Laying Out Work 14 Transferring a Design 14-5 Adapting the Problem to the Boy's Ability 15 Finish and Color 15-7 Staining 17-8 Method of Jointing Wood 18-20 Supports for Holding Coping Saw Work 20 Support to be Held in Vise 20-2 Supports for Table Use 22 The Bench Hook 22-4 Simple Tool Sharpening 24-6 Coping Saw Work 26-7 Dowel Sticks 27 Picture Puzzle Construction 27-8 Pelican 29 Duck 30 Goose 31 Rhinoceros 32 Elephant 33 Rabbit 34 Lamb 35 Goat 36 Rooster 37 Camel 38 Method of Enlarging Figures 39-40 Dippy Duck 40-1 Monitor 42-3 Merrimac 44-5 Child's Snow Shovel 46-7 The Periscope 47-8 Doll's Ironing Board (Size A) 49-51 Doll's Ironing Board (Size B) 51-3 Doll's Ironing Board (Size C) 53-5 Doll's Clothes Rack 55-7 Child's Wash Bench 57-9 Child's Step Ladder 59-63 Doll's Table with Drawer 62-4 Colonial Doll's Table 64-6 Colonial Doll's Chair 66-7 Ring-The-Hook Game 68-9 Five Post Ring Toss 68-72 Bean Bag Game 72-4 Dart Board Game 74-6 Darts 75-7 Wind Mill 77-80 Wind Mill (Type B) 80-2 Sand or Water Mill 82-4 Doll's Cradle 84-7 Colonial Doll Cradle 87-9 Doll's Bed 89-91 Two Types of Stilts 91-3 Child's Cart 93-5 Child's Dump Wagon 95-9 Child's Wheelbarrow (Type A) 99-103 Child's Wheelbarrow (Type B) 102-5 Clown Running Wheel 105-9 Cock Horse 109-10 Rocking Rooster 111-13 Kiddie Kar 113-15 Kiddie Koaster 116-19 Ski Skooter 119-22 Method of Bending Runners 121-2 Ski Skippers 122-5 Doll Sleigh 125-8 Child's Table 128-30 Child's Chair 130-1 [Illustration: Girls Making Toys for a Red Cross Christmas Sale.] [Illustration: A Christmas Sale of Toys for the Red Cross.] [Illustration: Boy Toy Makers and Some of their Products.] [Illustration: Making Toys in the School Shop.] TOY CRAFT HISTORY OF TOY-MAKING. To tell the history of toy-making from its earliest days it would be necessary to follow the story back through many centuries, for the archaeologists, in delving among the tombs of ancient Greece and Egypt, have made the surprising discovery that children played with dolls, and jointed dolls at that, more than five thousand years ago. Moreover, by the side of these dolls scientists have unearthed other playthings that children still crave: doll's furniture, animal toys and toys with wheels, illustrating the methods of transportation of those early days. These same scientists claim that the custom of playing with dolls and other toys is as old as the world itself and that playthings are, and always have been, just as necessary a constituent of human health and development as either food or medicine. They claim that the reason that boys and girls crave toys is that nature requires them, and to deprive children of such playthings would be to retard their mental growth and development. The Latin word =trochus= means a hoop for children. The hoops of Roman children were made of bronze and iron and were rolled by a sort of a crooked stick and sometimes had small bells attached. =Pupa=, the Latin word meaning "a little girl," applies to dolls which were made from rags, wood, wax, ivory and terra cotta. When the Greek girls of that time married they dedicated their dolls to Artemis; the Roman girls, to Venus; but, if they died before marriage, their dolls were buried with them. The Latin word =crepundia= meant children's playthings, such as rattles, dolls, toy hatchets and swords. The toys made during the middle ages for the children of noble families and rich merchants, show special care and fine workmanship. Many of them were of a religious nature in the form of the Cross of the Crusaders, or military in origin, like miniature knights on horseback. The toys of this period were generally carved by goldsmiths. The American Indians and the Esquimaux made dolls from bits of skin and fur of wild animals and gaily decorated them with shells, beads and feathers. They also carved small models of animals and human beings from wood and bone. The oldest European toy manufacturing center is Nuremberg, Germany. This town is especially noted for its metal playthings, like the lead soldiers, which were the delight of our childhood. Sonneburg, in Germany, is the greatest European center for the manufacture of wooden toys. Winchendon, Mass., is the greatest toy manufacturing center in the United States, nearly every enterprise in that town being toy-making. In spite of the early origin of toys the progress of manufacturing playthings has been so slow that, even as late as one hundred years ago, the types of toys were few in number, simple in construction and extremely expensive, especially in the United States. There was no systematic manufacture of such articles, and, as the cost of importation was very high, comparatively few persons could afford such means of amusement for their children. The children of those days accepted more primitive things, dolls that were often merely pieces of cloth folded and pinned in such a manner as to suggest the outline that was not there. A few other toys such as hoops, jumping-jacks, tenpins, marbles, battledore-and-shuttlecock and alphabet blocks, represented the limit of the toy-makers' stock. In America the toy-making industry is of quite recent origin. Before 1875 more than ninety per cent of the toys sold in this country were of foreign manufacture, and those that were made here were never exported to other countries. Today, however, about five per cent of the toys sold here are made abroad and the rest are manufactured here in our own country. Up to 1875 there was not a doll factory in the United States. Today, while we import some dainty toys from France, Germany and Switzerland, nearly all the newest, unique and mechanical productions are made in America. Simple toys are mostly made of wood and metal, and the same principles employed by mechanical engineers, in duplicating parts of machinery, are used in making duplicate parts of toys. When a design has been decided on, it is reduced to its most simple element. Jigs are then made so that each piece will be an exact duplicate of every similar piece, and the construction is pushed through on the American factory system. Some toys are very elaborate, costing several hundred dollars. These are readily purchased, however, by people of means. In the author's opinion the best kind of toys are those which suggest rather than fulfill, and those with which the child can really do something. Mechanical toys, which supply their own energy, should not be allowed to take the place of those into which the child must infuse part of his own life and energy. It follows naturally, then, that the toys made by the children themselves are the ideal ones. EQUIPMENT. The following drawings vary in difficulty from those within the ability of a nine or ten-year-old child to those which should not be attempted by a child under junior high school age. Of course there are younger boys, who possess especial ability in this line of work and who can successfully carry through projects which the ordinary child of a like age would fail to satisfactorily complete. Such boys are, however, the exception. For the younger workman the following outfit is ample: One coping saw frame. One dozen saw blades. A sloyd knife or a pocket knife with a small stone to keep it sharp. Some No. 1 sandpaper, a small can of glue and some one inch brads. The whole outfit will cost about a dollar. A small plane is very convenient, but it is not absolutely necessary for work for younger children. A board on which the sawing is done, to prevent marring the table, can be made from a piece of boxwood 7/8" × 6" × 12". A hole should be bored about three inches from one end and half way between the sides, and a V-shaped notch should be cut from the end of the board to the hole. The photograph on Page 20 shows the sawing board in use and illustrates two methods of constructing and holding the board. See also Plate 2 for method of making these boards. If a vise is available matters are very much simplified. With the above described outfit, toy animals, toy furniture, jumping-jacks and other simple toys of a like nature can be made. The material should be thin wood from the thickness of cigar box wood (which by the way is especially good to use for some of the toys), up to one-half inch in thickness. Composition board, such as Beaver Board and similar wall board, is very good for the smaller toys but lacks strength and cannot be handled roughly. Three-ply veneered wood may be obtained from firms which specialize in veneer. It is strong and serviceable but a little more expensive than the plain wood. Bass and pine are excellent woods to use in toy-making, as they work very easily and are light in weight. For the older boy, who will no doubt be handy about the house, the following tools are suggested: 1 Rip saw. 1 Turning saw. 1 Claw hammer. 1 Screw driver. 1 Half round file, No. 10. 1 Ruler. 1 Jack, or smooth, plane. 1 Brace, set of bits and countersink. A 1/2" and 1" chisels. 1 Try square. 1 Pair of 6" dividers. 1 Knife. This outfit should cost about $25. Other tools may be added by the boy himself as the necessity arises. If a bench is not available at first, a temporary one may be made from a stout dry goods box and a more satisfactory one purchased later with money earned by the boy by making things for others. Cheap tools are an expensive investment as they are never satisfactory. A few tools of good quality should be purchased to start with, and others should be added as necessity demands and funds permit. LAYING OUT WORK. For the young beginner it will be necessary to have patterns of animals and other toys to trace around, before cutting out the forms. In the author's opinion originality should be always encouraged in a boy when the original designs can be successfully worked out to completion by the boy. With beginners, however, considerable tact must be used in leading them on to work out original ideas through the medium of the sketching pencil. Only very few have the ability to carry out an idea which they may have, and if allowed to attempt it without a trial on paper the resulting product is most always a failure. As stated before, the first work should be tracings from well-designed patterns. These, then, can be successfully worked out, and the result is satisfying to the mind of the child and not a discouraging failure. TRANSFERRING A DESIGN TO WOOD. A design may be traced by placing a piece of transparent paper over the desired drawing and outlining it with a pencil. The resulting tracing is cut out, placed on a stiff piece of cardboard or fiber board, and redrawn on this. The board is then cut carefully with scissors or a sharp knife. This pattern may be used for a long time and other patterns may be made from it in a similar manner. Another simple method is to place a piece of carbon paper beneath the desired drawing, carbon side down, and to go over the lines of the drawing with a medium-hard pencil. This transfer may be made directly on the wood or on a piece of cardboard which is to be cut out and used as a pattern. For cut-up picture puzzles the picture is pasted directly on the wood and, after drying, is cut at random. See Plate 5. ADAPTING THE PROBLEM TO THE BOY'S ABILITY. As the child's efficiency increases and he leaves the simpler toy forms for others of increasing difficulty, he should be encouraged to read the working drawings of the article which he intends to make. Show him how to discover from the drawing the lengths, widths, thicknesses of the pieces to be made and, after carefully checking him up, let him work out his own salvation for a while. In other words, do not do it all for him. Let the result be at least 90 per cent the boy's own work. Be ready, however, to assist at the right moment and never turn a deaf ear to the persistent question, "Why"? By following this logical method of procedure in teaching, the writer has found that the young craftsman is ready a great deal earlier to work out original ideas and designs to a practical and successful conclusion. FINISH AND COLOR. After all cutting with edged tools has been completed, all pieces should be carefully sanded to insure the removal of all scars, pencil lines and other imperfections. Sandpaper should be used on a small block. Care should be taken that no paper hangs over the block, thus rounding the edges of the work being finished. In sanding over a first coat of shellac or paint a block is not used, but the sandpaper is folded two or three times and used under the finger tips. Care must be taken especially not to wear through the finish on the edges. Paint is difficult and unsatisfactory for younger children to use. Colors handled by beginners will run together and will be "dauby" in appearance and a detriment rather than a finish to a toy. Added to this is the likelihood of a generous application on the painter's hands and clothing. The writer has had excellent results in using the ordinary colored wax crayons on toys. Crayon is easy to apply, has a pleasing color tone, is clean and very satisfactory for the beginner. After all of a toy has been colored a fairly heavy line may be drawn free-hand, at the point of contact of the colors, with an ordinary drafting pen and India ink. Pains should be taken to see that the ink is dry in one place before applying in another. If the crayon has been put on with pressure and uniformly deposited over the surface the ink will "take" without spreading and the result is a clean-cut finished appearance. For more advanced workers the toys should be painted with either commercial or enamel paints, which are available on the market in all colors, or with colors mixed by the boy himself. If the boy mixes his own colors much of the mystery of the ready-mixed paints is done away with. By adding to white enamel a small amount of a selected color, ground in oil, various tones of the color may be obtained. In painting any object a first or priming coat is applied. Flat white is an excellent all-round primer. After the priming coat has dried thoroughly on a toy, it should be sanded lightly to remove any rough places with No. 0 sandpaper and dusted. Then the final coat should be applied. Gray is also very good for the first coat except where a white or very light colored paints are to be used for the finished coat. When painting small toys or parts of larger toys it is economy to have a string or wire stretched between two hooks six or seven feet from the floor, on which to hang the painted article. [Illustration: Careful painting is as essential to the success of a toy as good construction.] Drive an inch brad into some part of the toy that will not be seen, such as the lower edge of the animal toys, and attach a short length of string or wire to this and hang up as before described. This nail will be handy to hold the toy by while painting and when hung up is out of the way, is not touching anything to cause marks on the paint, and is high enough up to be where the temperature of the room will assist in the drying process. Remove this nail after the toy is dry. If possible toys should dry in a special room where it is quiet, with no dust stirring or drafts blowing, and where the temperature is fairly uniform, not falling below 60 degrees. Paint should be applied with the tip of the brush, holding the brush nearly vertical, using a uniform stroke and taking care to prevent "tears" or surplus paint running over an edge. The brush should be in proportion to the size of the article painted, and the strokes should be outward toward the edges rather than from the edges inward. Features and fine lines on the toys may be placed with No. 3 round sable brush or with India ink in an ordinary drafting pen. The latter method of outlining and drawing in features has proved most successful with the writer's classes, as the solidity of the pen allows a firm pressure on the surface of the work and insures a uniform line. Fine or coarse lines may be made by adjusting the pen to suit the desired need. Considerable skill is needed to satisfactorily place lines with a fine pointed brush held in the hands of an inexperienced boy, and the drafting-pen method simplifies the problem immensely. Adjoining colors, outlined by this method, improve the appearance of the toy fifty per cent. Dull colors may be "livened up" by applying a coat of white shellac or varnish. Toys having parts of various colors, such as carts, etc., should have the different parts painted before assembling. STAINING. Before attempting to stain a toy, the wood should be carefully examined to see that all scars, glue or scratches have been removed. This is very important as the stain will show up all imperfections in the wood very plainly. Enough stain should be poured in a shallow cup for the piece of work at hand and should then be applied with a brush with the grain of the wood in long narrow bands from one end of the work to the other. The stain should be wiped with a piece of waste or cloth soon after being applied, removing all surplus stain and thus bringing out the grain of the wood. Pains must be taken when staining the edges not to allow the stain to run over on the adjacent surface. If it does the stain should be quickly wiped off with a piece of waste before it causes the surface to be unevenly stained. There will probably be no necessity in toy construction to use filler on the wood so the method of applying this will be omitted. Next apply a coat of white shellac (reduced by one part of alcohol to three parts of shellac), brushing it on quickly with the grain of the wood. Do not have too much shellac on the brush. If laps or runs show, work them out with the brush. After the shellac has dried eight or ten hours it should be rubbed lightly with No. 0 sandpaper. Be careful not to sand through the shellac, particularly on the edges. A second coat may be applied if desired. For the last coat apply a coat of either hard or liquid wax, the latter being preferable. Shake the can or jar before applying liquid wax. Apply evenly with a soft cloth and allow it to dry for an hour. Rub down to the proper luster with a soft clean cloth. Two or more coats of wax may be applied if desired. METHOD OF JOINTING WOOD. If, on account of width, certain pieces of work cannot be obtained from material at hand, two pieces may have to be joined together. One edge of each piece to be joined should be carefully planed square and straight. Keep trying the two edges together until a satisfactory joint is obtained, one so satisfactory that when the edges are placed together no joint line is visible. When such a joint is obtained we are ready to take the next step--to locate holes for dowels. This method is shown in Plate 1, Fig. A. Here the two pieces are placed face to face and lines are squared across the two edges, planning enough space to insure a strong job. Two or three dowels are usually sufficient. Locate the centers of all these lines so that the spur of the bit will come equidistant from each edge, as shown. Bore the holes at least twice as deep as the wood is thick. Thus for half inch stock the holes should be at least an inch deep. For half inch and three-eighths inch wood the hole should be bored with a quarter inch bit, for wood three-quarter inch to one inch thick a half inch bit should be used. Take extreme care in boring the holes to see that the bit is at right angles to the edge of the wood, otherwise difficulties will arise when we come to put the work together. After all holes are bored, the round sticks called dowels should be cut, one-eighth inch shorter than the combined depths of the two holes. This allowance is made so that glue may work under the ends of the dowels and also that the dowels may not be too long and thus prevent the edges of the joint from coming together. Apply glue to the dowels and insert them in the holes and spread glue on both of the edges, as shown in Fig. B, Plate 1. [Illustration: _Plate 1._ _METHOD OF JOINTING WOOD_] Place the work in clamps, if available, protecting the edges of the wood from the iron of the clamps with small pieces or blocks of soft wood. Fig. C shows the clamps in position. If no clamps are at hand a makeshift clamp may be made, as shown in Fig. D. In using this clamping arrangement a strong piece of wood should be nailed to the floor, where such nailing will do no harm, driving the nails only about three-quarters of the way in. Place the wood to be clamped against this and nail two wedge shaped pieces about an inch and a half away, as shown. Prepare other pieces, also of wedge shape, of a proper size to drive into place, as indicated. By a careful study of Fig. D the important features of such a method of clamping will be understood. The cold glue that comes in cans ready for use will be found most convenient for the beginner to use. The clamps should remain on the work overnight, and when removed the two surfaces of the wood must be cleaned of all glue and planed. SUPPORTS FOR HOLDING COPING SAW WORK. In Plate 2 are shown two devices for holding work while using the coping saw. Fig. A is a type of support suitable for use in a vise and is of a height that will enable the workman to stand while sawing. Fig. B is lower, and the sawing is done while sitting in a chair. This type is designed for use where there is no vise and is held secure by a clamp, as is shown in the sketch. [Illustration: Boys using correctly the Supports for Coping Saw Work detailed in Plate 2.] SUPPORT TO BE HELD IN VISE. In making this support the following method should be followed: The back piece is first made 7/8" × 6-3/4" × 20". The top is made 7/8" × 6-3/4 × 12" and the brace 7/8" × 3" × 8-1/2". This brace tapers to a point at the lower end. Two small cleats are 7/8" × 1-1/4" × 6-3/4" and are attached to the upright piece 1-7/8" up from the bottom edge. This allows the support to set firmly in the vise. Measure in from one end of the top piece 5" and have this point come half way between the sides. At this point a hole is carefully bored with a 3/4" bit. On this same end measure in from each edge 2-1/4". From these points draw lines tangent to the edges of the circle, as shown. Cut out this V-shaped notch. [Illustration: _Plate 2._ _SUPPORTS FOR HOLDING COPING SAW WORK_] Bore all holes shown on the drawing with a bit that will allow using 1-1/4" or 1-1/2". No. 8 flat-head screws. Have all surfaces sanded smoothly and assemble with glue and screws. SUPPORT FOR TABLE USE. For the support shown in Fig. B, Plate 2, we make the upright 7/8" × 6-3/4" × 8-7/8". The top is cut 7/8" × 6-3/4" × 12" and the base 7/8" × 5" × 6-3/4" and the upright brace 7/8" × 3" × 8". The top has the same V-shaped notch cut in it as the other form of support. Bore all necessary holes, sandpaper and assemble. The clamp shown in the sketch answers the purpose very nicely and may be purchased for a small sum at any hardware store. THE BENCH HOOK. The bench hook is a very useful article to have about the work bench. It is made of hard wood, preferably maple. The drawing is shown in Plate 3. The main piece is made 7/8" × 6" × 12". Two cross cleats are made, one being 7/8" × 1-1/2" × 6" and the other 7/8" × 1-1/2" × 5". Holes are bored and countersunk at the places shown in the drawing. Great care must be taken in cutting these three pieces of wood to see that every edge is square and true. One of the cleats is attached on one side of the board even with the end, while the other is placed on the other side on the opposite end. These are held in place with glue and 1-1/4" No. 8 flat-head screws. By referring to the drawing and the sketch the idea may be readily seen. It will be noticed that the short cleat has its end even with the left-hand edge, thus leaving a space of an inch at the right. When used with this side up it is for the purpose of sawing off small pieces of wood with the back saw, and when used with the other side up, on which the long cleat is attached, it is for the purpose of planing the end of a piece of wood across the grain. [Illustration: _Plate 3._ _THE BENCH HOOK_] If a piece of wood is set up in a vise for end planing and the planing is done across the grain, the fibers on the further edge have no support but break away, as shown in Fig. C, Plate 3. In using the bench-hook the wood lies flat on the board and fits tight against the long cleat, and the plane is laid flat on its side and pushed back and forth. (Plate 3, Fig. A.) It can be readily seen that supported as it now is, the piece of wood being planed will not splinter or break on its further edge. Pains must be taken, however, to keep the plane flat on its side, not raising it on its edge at all, for by so doing the resulting planed edge will not be square. This bench-hook may be made quite easily by the beginner and besides being a good problem, is a very helpful addition to the tool outfit. It works very well when planing wood not over six or seven inches wide. Wood wider than this should be planed as follows: Place the piece of wood upright in the vise with the end grain uppermost, and plane about three-quarters of the way across the edge. Then turn the piece and plane the remaining part back in the opposite direction. By so doing the end of the wood will not be split. Figures A and B, Plate 3, show the operation of the bench-hook for both sawing and planing. SIMPLE TOOL SHARPENING. In order to do good, clean-cut, accurate work it is very necessary that all cutting tools be kept sharp. And it is important that every boy who undertakes toy making have an elementary knowledge of the subject, especially an understanding of how to properly sharpen the knife, the chisel and the plane blade. If the tool is very dull, with nicks in the cutting edge, it should be ground first on the grindstone. It is quite important that the blade be held at the proper angle, about 25 degrees on the stone. A suitable tool holder, such as is shown in the illustration on Page 26, is a very useful article to have in the tool equipment. The tool is held in place, bevel side down, by thumbscrews, and projects beyond the holder a little over half an inch. The grindstone should be thoroughly wet to prevent heating the tool and also to insure the washing away of the fine particles of steel from the surface of the stone. The round shape of the stone causes the bevel of the tool to be concave if held steadily in one position, as shown in Fig. A, Plate 4. Fig. B shows the incorrect result if the blade is not held evenly on the stone. It can be readily seen that the latter result will not make a very sharp cutting edge. Care should be taken when grinding not to round the corners of the tool. The theory of the cutting edge of the tool is the same as that of the wedge; the thinner the wedge the easier it is to drive it. However, the wedge, as well as the tool, must be thick enough to stand the strain of being driven into the wood, or the material which is to be split or cut. Too long and thin a bevel, while sharp at first, soon loses its edge through usage, while too blunt an edge makes the tool unsatisfactory to work with. [Illustration: _Plate 4._ _SIMPLE TOOL SHARPENING_] The grindstone leaves the tool edge rough, or with a wire edge, as it is called. This roughness is removed on the oil stone. One or two drops of thin stone oil should be placed on the stone and the tool placed bevel side flat on the surface of the stone. Work with a circular motion, bearing on the tool with uniform pressure. Turn the blade over, bevel side up, seeing that the blade lies perfectly flat on the stone. Work with a similar motion. Repeat these operations until the blade is as sharp as desired. Wipe the oil from the tool and test by drawing the blade lightly across the thumb. If the blade clings to the skin it will be found sharp enough. Fig. C, on Plate 4, shows the correct and incorrect methods of oil-stoning the tool blade. Always wipe the stone dry after using, as the oil will dry and gum up the grinding surface if not kept clean. Tool grinding is an important and rather difficult operation at first and skill comes only with continued practice. In sharpening a knife-blade on an oilstone care should be taken to keep the blade nearly flat on the stone in order to get a thin, sharp edge. The knife should be sharpened first on one side and then on the other, until the desired edge is obtained. Fig. D, Plate 4, shows the right and wrong methods of holding the knife blade on the stone. Figures E and F show the results of careless sharpening. Fig. G is sharpened correctly. [Illustration: Grinding Tool on Grindstone using Tool Holder.] COPING SAW WORK. The following plates of birds and animals (Plates 6 to 17) are especially interesting to the beginner and are excellent for the novice to prove and improve his skill with the coping saw. Wood from 1/4" to 1/2" in thickness is best for this type of toy, 3/8" being a good medium thickness to use. Pulp board, such as Beaver board, is also very good, as there is no grain and, therefore, little liability of splitting. Pulp board saws very easily and takes paint nicely. All of these toys are mounted on a wood base, made of 1/2" wood, of a size shown on the various drawings. The animal is attached to the base with glue and 1-1/4" brads. Wheels can be made from a round stick (called a dowel) an inch in diameter by carefully sawing off pieces 3/8" thick. Holes are bored at the middle point of these wheels large enough to allow them to turn easily on a 1" No. 6 round-head blue screw. Washers should be placed on the screws on both sides of the wheels. Plate 6 gives a general idea of the toy base. DOWEL STICKS. Dowel sticks are very useful to the toy maker and an assortment of various sizes should be kept on hand. They are very handy in many ways in toy making and furniture construction. They come in sizes from 1/4" to 1" in diameter or larger, in 30" lengths, and cost from two to three cents apiece. Dowel sticks are usually carried in stock by local hardware men or may be obtained from manufacturers of mill work. PICTURE PUZZLE CONSTRUCTION. The problem illustrated in Plate 5 is very interesting and especially good for the beginner. First, select a picture of the size desired from a calendar or discarded magazine. Colored pictures are the best. Prepare a piece of 1/4" soft wood, such as bass or pine, and glue the picture to the surface, rolling and pressing out air bubbles and smoothing away all wrinkles. Place a weight on the picture and allow it to dry overnight. Holding the coping saw so that the blade is straight up and down, or in other words, at right angles with the surface of the work, saw out irregular shaped pieces similar to those shown in the accompanying drawing. If these pieces are placed in a neat Christmas box, such as may be purchased at the five-and-ten-cent store, it will make a very pleasing Christmas gift. [Illustration: _Plate 5._ _PICTURE PUZZLE CONSTRUCTION_] [Illustration: _Plate 6._ _PELICAN_] [Illustration: _Plate 7._ _DUCK_] [Illustration: _Plate 8._ _GOOSE_] [Illustration: _Plate 9._ _RHINOCEROS_] [Illustration: _Plate 10._ _ELEPHANT_] [Illustration: _Plate 11._ _RABBIT_] [Illustration: _Plate 12._ _LAMB_] [Illustration: _Plate 13._ _GOAT_] [Illustration: _Plate 14._ _ROOSTER_] [Illustration: _Plate 15._ _CAMEL_] [Illustration: _Plate 16._ _METHOD OF ENLARGING FIGURES_] METHOD OF ENLARGING FIGURES. If a figure shown in a book or in any picture is to be enlarged the following method is very simple: Enclose the figure in a rectangle and divide it in quarter inch squares, like the drawing of the duck in Plate 16. If the drawing is to be enlarged twice the original size, draw a rectangle on a piece of paper or cardboard twice as large as the picture. Divide it into exactly the same number of squares, which will now be twice as large as before, or one-half inch on a side. Letter and number all parts to agree. Start now and sketch the enlarged figure, having the lines pass through the same places in the squares of the large rectangle as in the small. With a little patience it will be surprising how accurate a copy can be made. A picture may be reduced by the same method. DIPPY DUCK. This toy is larger than the regular cut-out figure and has added action by the placing of the inner piece off-center on the larger wheel, thus causing the duck to move up and down as the toy is pulled along on the floor. As shown in the drawing (Plate 17), the base is made of four separate pieces, because it is easier to construct it this way than to cut out the slot from a solid piece. The wood used is 7/8" pine, the two long pieces being 1-1/2" wide by 15" long and the two end pieces 1-1/4" wide by 2-1/2" long. These are glued and chamfered. A small chamfer is planed around the top edge, as shown. The small base piece on which the duck rests is made 7/8" × 1" × 7-1/2". A hole is bored 2" from one end with a 1/2" bit and the slot is sawed out. The opposite end is rounded. A hole is bored in the end where the slot is cut 3/8" from the end, of a size that will take a piece of 16-penny nail tightly. The nail is cut one inch long and serves as an axle for the large wheel. A similar hole is bored, 3/8" from the other end, with a larger drill so that the nail used at this point will be smaller than the hole, allowing the base piece to move easily upon it. The large wheel is made by cutting a piece from a curtain rod 2-1/4" in diameter or by turning down a piece to this diameter on the lathe. This wheel is cut 3/8" thick. The four main wheels are 1-3/4" in diameter and 3/8" thick. These wheels have a small hole bored exactly in their center, of a size large enough to allow a shingle, or a screw, nail to turn easily within. The wheels are attached two inches from the ends and the nails are driven in straight so as to insure the wheels turning evenly. A screw eye is placed at the front end, as shown, to which is attached a string to pull it by. [Illustration: _Plate 17._ _DIPPY DUCK_] All parts should be nicely sanded before assembling and then given two coats of paint. A suggested color scheme is given on the drawing. [Illustration: _Plate 18._ _MONITOR_ (_revolving turret_)] THE MONITOR. This design is what might be called an amphibious toy, which means one that is at home both on the land and water. The base, or hull, is made from a piece of 1/2" board, 5-1/4" wide and 14" long. At a point on the long edges, 4-1/2" from the ends, a center is taken with a compass, or pair of dividers, set at 5-1/4" radius, as shown in the drawing. Strike all of these curves and cut to the line with a coping saw and finish smooth. The main turret and the two smaller blocks are either turned on a lathe or cut from a cylindrical piece of wood. If care is used the pieces can also be cut with a turning saw from a piece of wood of the required thickness. The two smaller pieces are cut from a piece of 7/8" board and are 1-3/4" in diameter and are attached with 1" brads and glue, 1-3/4" from each end. For the main turret, which is to be movable, a hole is bored in the hull exactly in the middle. In boring, a bit a little larger than the size of a 1-1/2" No. 8 flat-head screw is used, in order that the screw shank will move easily. This hole is countersunk on the under side. A smaller hole is started on the under side of the turret to receive the screw and, when the pieces are assembled, the screw is not screwed up tight, but enough play is left so that the turret will revolve fairly easily. [Illustration: The Monitor and the Merrimac and Animal Toys.] The two "guns" may be cut from 5/8" dowels, 2-3/8" long, or may be turned on a lathe. Two holes are bored, on opposite sides of the turret, 3/8" deep, to receive the guns which are glued in. The two pieces to which the wheels are attached are made 1/2" × 3/4" × 4", and are secured in place 4" from bow and stern with shingle nails and glue. [Illustration: _Plate 19._ _MERRIMAC_] The four wheels are cut from 1" dowels, 7/8" thick. A hole is bored exactly in the middle of each wheel a little larger than the wire of a shingle nail, which is used to hold them in place on the base. A small piece of 1/4" dowel about 2-1/4" long, is inserted in a hole, bored with a 1/4" bit, 3/4" from the bow. This is the flagstaff, and just in front of this is placed a small screw eye to attach the string for pulling the toy. Give the entire toy two coats of black paint. THE MERRIMAC. The Confederate Ironclad is a little harder to make than the Monitor, but it is well within the ability of a sixth grade boy. The hull is made 1/2" × 5-1/4" × 14", and is sawed to a point at the bow and stern, sloping from the center point of both ends to points 3-1/4" from either end. The upper works are made from a block of wood 1-3/4" thick, 4-1/2" wide and 7-1/2" long. This is beveled so that the top is 3-1/4" × 6-1/4". The two smokestacks are made from pieces of 3/4" dowel, cut 3-1/4" long and inserted in holes bored 1/2" deep, 1" from the sides of the upper deck and 3-1/8" from the ends. These are held in place with glue. The flagstaff is cut from a piece of 1/4" dowel, 2-3/8" long, inserted in a hole, bored with a 1/4" bit, 3/4" from the bow. Just in front of this, 1/4" from the end, is placed a small screw-eye to which a string may be attached. The ten "guns" are made from 1/2" dowels, cut 1" long, and at an angle so that the lower side is 7/8" long. This is so that they will fit against the sloping sides of the turret. A hole is bored from end to end of each gun, in their centers, so that a 1-1/2" finish nail will fit in nicely. The guns are held in place with these nails and with glue at the points indicated on the drawing. The upper works and hull are held together with 1" brads and glue, in such a manner that the gun turret is equally distant from the ends and sides of the hull. The pieces which hold the wheels are made 1/2" × 3/4" × 4" and are nailed and glued in place, 3-1/2" from bow and stern. The wheels are 3/8" thick, cut from 1" dowels, and are held by shingle nails driven into the axle in such a way that they will turn freely. The holes for the nails, in the wheels, are bored exactly in their centers with a bit a little larger than the nail to be used. After sanding and assembling give the boat two coats of black or battle ship gray paint. [Illustration: _Plate 20._ _CHILD'S SNOW SHOVEL_] CHILD'S SNOW SHOVEL. This problem is simple and of interest to young people during early winter. (Plate 20.) The handle may be made square in section first and then gradually rounded with a plane and then filed and sanded; or a discarded handle from some other implement may be utilized. The handle should be 28" long, and a hole should be bored and a rivet inserted 11-5/8" from one end. This is to reinforce the handle where the saw cut comes. This cut is made directly along the center of the handle and stops 11" from the end. If this cut is not made exactly in the center, the spreading, when the grip is inserted, will be unequal, and the shovel will not be in balance. The two ends of the shovel are rounded, as indicated, and the lower end is cut at an angle to fit the surface of the shovel. The grip should be cut from a 1" dowel and then cut to fit the angle formed by the spreading sides of the shovel. This is held in place by 1-1/4" No. 8 round-head screws with washers, as indicated. The broad part of the shovel is cut from one piece, if possible, 1/2" × 8" × 10-1/2", and the front end cut an angle which is reinforced with a piece of zinc, 3-1/4" × 8", bent over and held by rivets and washers, as shown. The brace under the handle is cut 3/4" × 1-5/8" × 8" and then planed from an upper edge to within an inch of the opposite lower edge and secured in place with screws. The handle is attached to the blade with rivets and washers, as shown on the drawing. THE PERISCOPE. This is an interesting problem and demonstrates a scientific principle. For a periscope of the size shown in the drawing (Plate 21), two pieces of looking glass must be first cut 2-1/4" × 2-7/8". Pieces A are cut 3/8" × 2" × 4-1/4"; pieces B are 3/8" × 2-3/4" × 4-1/4"; pieces C, 3/8" × 1-7/8" × 2-3/4"; pieces D, 3/8" × 2" × 17-1/4"; pieces E, 3/8" × 2-3/4" × 18-7/8"; and pieces F, 3/8" × 2-3/4" × 18-7/8". Two grooves 1/8" deep, and of a width to receive the thickness of the glass used, should be cut at an angle of 45 degrees, where indicated on the drawing. This groove is cut in pieces A only. All pieces should be thoroughly sanded with No. 1 sandpaper and finished with No. 0. Assemble, as shown on the drawing, using glue and 1" brads. The final finish may be stain or paint. Whatever finish is used should be of a dark color as best suited for a periscope. [Illustration: _Plate 21._ _PERISCOPE_] [Illustration: The Periscope in Use.] DOLL'S IRONING BOARD. (Size A.) This problem has proven very popular in toy-making classes and has been one of the best sellers at toy sales. It folds up compactly and is strong and serviceable. Plates 22, 23 and 24 show the ironing board in three sizes for children of varying ages. Plate 22 is for children of about three years of age, and the material is prepared as follows: The top is first made of 1/2" lumber and is 6" wide and 20" long. Set the dividers with a 3" radius and strike an arc just touching the end and two sides of the board. Do the same on the other end, using a 2-1/2" radius. [Illustration: The Three Types of Ironing Boards.] Connect these arcs with straight lines and saw and plane carefully just to the lines all around. The turning saw may be used on the ends. [Illustration: _Plate 22._ _DOLL'S IRONING BOARD_ (_Size A_)] Slightly round the upper edge of the surface which is to be uppermost. The legs are next cut to size, the two longer ones being 1/2" × 1" × 19" and the two shorter ones 1/2" × 1" × 18-3/4". One end of each is rounded by striking an arc with a 1-1/2" radius, at the extreme end. The other ends of the legs are cut off at an angle, as shown in the drawing. Holes are bored in the rounded ends of the long legs, 1/2" from the ends with a No. 3 bit. Another hole of similar size is bored 8-1/4" from the one previously bored. These holes are all 1/2" from the edges. On the short legs the only holes necessary are bored 8-1/4" from the rounded end. The long legs are attached by screws to a cleat which itself is screwed to the underside of the top of the board, as shown. This cleat is 7/8" × 1-1/8" × 4-1/2" and is glued and held to the top by 1-1/4" flat-head screws, two of them being sufficient. These are countersunk. The separating piece at the other end of the long legs is 1/2" × 1" × 4-9/16" and is held in place by 1-1/4" brads and glue. It is attached 2" from the ends. Two separating pieces are next made for the short legs, 1/2" × 1" × 3-1/2", and these are attached in the same manner as the piece between the long legs. A cleat 7/8" × 1" × 3-7/16" is attached with glue and 1-1/2" flat-head screws, 2" from the small end of the board. This holds the short legs in position. All pieces should be thoroughly sanded with No. 1/2 sandpaper before being assembled. No further finish is necessary. DOLL'S IRONING BOARD. (Size B.) The method of constructing this board is identical with the method suggested for board A. The difference is in the size of the pieces. (Plate 23.) This type of ironing board is suitable for a child from four to six years of age. The top is 5/8" thick, 7-3/4" wide and 24-1/2" long. The curved ends are struck with the dividers in the same way as in the preceding problem. The legs are next cut to dimension, the longer ones being 9/16" × 1-1/8" × 24", and the shorter 9/16" × 1-1/8" × 22-1/2". One end of each leg is rounded by setting the dividers at 9/16" and cutting to the line and cutting the opposite ends at an angle, as shown in the drawing. Bore holes with a No. 3 bit in the rounded ends of the long legs, 5/8" from the ends and a similar hole is bored 9-1/2" from the hole previously bored. These holes are all 9/16" in from the edges. [Illustration: _Plate 23._ _DOLL'S IRONING BOARD_ (_Size B_)] On the short legs the only holes bored are made with the same bit, 9-3/8" from the rounded ends. The long legs are attached to a cleat by 1-1/2" No. 10 round-head blue screws, with washers under both the heads of the screws and between the screws and the cleat. The cleat is 7/8" × 1-1/8" × 5-7/8" and is glued and screwed to the under side of the top with 1-1/2" No. 8 flat-head screws. These are countersunk. The separating piece at the other end of the long legs is 3/8" × 1-1/8" × 5-15/16" and is held in place by 1-1/4" brads and glue, and is attached 3" from the end. Two separating pieces are next made for the short legs, 3/8" × 1-1/8" × 4-1/2", and these are attached in the same way as the piece between the longer legs. A cleat 7/8" × 1-1/4" × 4-7/16" is attached with glue and 1-3/4" flat-head screws, 4" from the small end of the board. This holds the short legs in position. Refer to the detail on the drawing of the size A ironing board (Plate 22) for the method of making the button which holds the board rigid. All pieces should be thoroughly sanded with No. 1/2 sandpaper before being assembled. No further finish is necessary. DOLL'S IRONING BOARD. (Size C.) The method of constructing this size board is similar to the other two types. (Plate 24.) This size board is suitable for children from six to eight years of age. The top is made 3/4" thick, 9" wide and 30" long. The dividers are set with a 4-1/2" radius and an arc is struck to touch the end and two sides of the board. A similar arc is struck at the opposite end with a 3-1/2" radius. These arcs are connected with a straight line, and the outline is cut with a saw and finally planed to the lines. The curved ends can be cut with a turning saw and finished with a chisel and file. The upper edges are slightly rounded with a file and sandpaper. The legs are next cut to size, two being 3/4" × 1-1/4" × 27-7/8", and the other two 3/4" × 1-1/4" × 29". One end of each is rounded by striking an arc with a 5/8" radius, at the extreme end. The other ends of the legs are cut at an angle, as shown in the drawing. Holes are bored in the rounded end of the short legs, 5/8" from the ends, of a size that will take a 1-3/4" No. 10 round-head blue screw. [Illustration: _Plate 24._ _DOLL'S IRONING BOARD_ (_Size C_)] Another hole of similar size is bored 11" from this. These holes are all 5/8" from the edges. On the other two legs the only two holes necessary are bored 12-1/2" from the rounded ends. The shorter legs are attached by screws to a cleat which itself is screwed to the underside of the board, 4-1/2" from the large end. This cleat is 1" × 1-1/4" × 6-3/4" and is held in place with glue and 1-3/4" flat-head screws, countersunk. Two of these screws are sufficient. The separating piece at the other end of the legs is 3/4" × 1-1/4" × 6-13/16", and is held in place by 1-1/2" brads and glue, and is attached 3-1/2" from the ends. Two separating pieces are next made for the long legs, 3/4" × 1-1/4" × 5-1/4", and these are attached in the same manner as the pieces between the other set of legs. A cleat 1-1/8" × 1-3/8" × 5-3/16" is attached with glue and 2" flat-head screws, 5-1/2" from the small end of the board. This holds the short legs in position. The wood button, shown on the drawing for the Size A ironing board (Plate 22), is attached to this cleat and prevents the board from collapsing. All pieces should be thoroughly sandpapered with No. 1/2 sandpaper before being assembled. No further finish is necessary. DOLL'S CLOTHES RACK. This folding clothes rack is an interesting toy and requires some skill in assembling. (Plate 25.) [Illustration: Playing House is real fun with such a dolls' clothes rack, ironing board, wash bench, table and stepladder.] The four legs are cut 3/8" × 3/4" × 13" and each end is rounded by first striking semicircles on the ends, using a 3/8" radius, and then finishing with a chisel carefully to the line. Holes are bored in these legs with a 1/4" bit in the following places: 3/8" from the top, 4-7/8" beyond this, 3-1/4" beyond this, and 1-3/4" beyond this. Extreme care must be taken not to split the wood. Bore through from one side until the spur of the bit just starts to come through, then remove the bit and bore back from the other side. [Illustration: _Plate 25._ _DOLL'S CLOTHES RACK_] Next cut the four top pieces to size, two being 3/8" × 3/4" × 6" and two 3/8" × 3/4" × 7". These are also rounded on both ends. Holes are bored 3/8" from each end of all of these and also half way between their ends, as shown in Plate 25. These pieces should be carefully sanded with No. 1 sandpaper. The cross pieces are cut from 1/4" dowels as follows: Four pieces, 8-3/4" long; six pieces, 8" long; and one piece, 7-1/4" long. The long dowel sticks are the ones that go at points a, b, c and d, Plate 25, on the outside legs. The 8" dowels go at points e, f, g, h, i, and j. The single short dowel goes at point k. Examine the drawing carefully and see that the four top pieces are placed on the correct dowels. Hold all dowels, which are not at movable points, with 3/4" brads. Be sure every piece is in its proper position before driving in the brads and then be positive that no brad is being driven at a point where the dowel must be free to move in the hole. It is always best to assemble the rack completely and by closing and opening it learn clearly just where the brads are to be placed. No further finish is necessary. CHILD'S WASH BENCH. This bench may be made in various sizes to fit different heights of children. The top consists of three slats and for the size bench shown in Plate 26, the slats are made 3/8" × 1-3/4" × 18". These slats have screw holes bored 2-3/8" from the ends and 3/8" from the edges, as shown. These are countersunk to receive 1" No. 6 flat-head screws. Two braces are made 3/4" × 1/4" × 8". These are to support the slats. One inch from one end of these braces, and 5/8" from the edges, a hole is bored with a 3/8" bit. The same distance from the other end a similar hole is bored and a piece is sawed out, as shown in the drawing, to receive and support the dowel rod. The legs of the bench are cut 3/8" × 1" × 12-3/4". One-half inch from one end a hole is bored with a 3/8" bit. One and one-half inches from the other end a similar hole is bored and 7" from the same end the third hole is bored, making three in each leg. Care must be taken in boring these holes not to split the work as the bit goes through. Bore through on one side until the spur of the bit just starts through on the opposite side. Remove the bit and place the spur point in the small hole made by the spur and bore back in the opposite direction. [Illustration: _Plate 26._ _CHILD'S WASH BENCH_] The two cross slats forming the braces are 3/8" × 3/4" × 13". A center lap joint is made by cutting through half way on both slats at such an angle as will cause the outer edge of the slats to be about five inches apart. The ends of the slats should be sawed at such an angle as will make them flush with the sides of the legs and small holes drilled and countersunk so that they may be attached with 3/4" No. 4 flat-head screws. Two 3/8" dowel rods should next be cut, one being 12-1/2" long and the other 14" long. These dowels should be held in place in the legs by 3/4" brads, care being taken not to nail where there is to be a moving joint. All pieces should be carefully sanded with No. 1/2 sandpaper. No other finish is necessary. CHILD'S STEP LADDER. This step ladder may be made in various sizes, the one shown here being suitable for children up to seven or eight years of age. (Plate 27.) The two front legs should be cut first, 5/8" × 2-1/4" × 21". It will be noticed that the two ends are cut off at an angle. This angle is obtained by measuring back on one side 1" and drawing to this point from the opposite corner. Make all of these angles equal and if possible cut them in a miter-box. The two rear legs, or braces, are cut 5/8" × 1-1/8" × 17-3/4", and the two ends are rounded. The semicircle is marked out by setting the dividers, or a compass, at a 9/16" radius and striking the curve tangent to the sides and ends of the legs. Two holes are bored with a No. 8 bit, 5/16" from one end of the rear legs and 1-1/4" from the other end, as indicated, care being taken not to split the wood. The top step is next made 5/8" × 5-1/4" × 9-3/4", and the top edges slightly rounded. Two holes are bored with a small drill, 1-1/2" from the ends of this step and 1" from the rear and front edges of both ends. These should be countersunk. Later, when assembled, this top is screwed to the braces with 1" No. 6 flat-head screws, as shown in the front view. (Plate 27.) Two braces are next made 5/8" × 2" × 5-1/4", and are cut off at either end at the same angle as were the ends of the front legs. These are attached to the inside of the legs, at the top, as shown in the side view, with four 1" No. 6 flat-head screws and glue. Care should be taken to get them just even with the front and top sides of the legs. Before the braces are attached a hole should be bored with a No. 8 bit 5/8" from the top edge and 1" from the left-hand edge to receive the dowel stick on which the rear leg swings. [Illustration: _Plate 27._ _CHILD'S STEP LADDER_] While boring this hole the end should be held with a clamp to prevent splitting. The two lower steps are next made. These are 5/8" thick and are cut 3" wide. The width is greater than is needed, and is provided that the steps may be planed even with the edges of the legs later. The steps are cut 8" in length. The next operation is cutting grooves for the steps to set into the legs, and this requires considerable care. The lower step is 5-3/4" from the lower end of the legs. This dimension is measured off on each leg, and a line is drawn parallel with the lower end of the leg. This may be done by either using a T bevel, set at the angle of the lower end of the legs, or the dimension, 5-3/4", may be measured up on both sides of the leg and a line drawn across. Next take the lower step and mark one end A and the other end B. Place the end A, of the lower step, evenly on this line and make a mark above the first line a little less than the thickness of the step. The groove is marked a little less than the thickness of the step so that, in case the saw cut is made a little wide, the step will not be likely to fit loosely. Square lines across both edges of the edge from the end of the lines previously drawn and measure down from the surface a distance of 1/4" on the edges. Draw a line through this point parallel to the edge of the leg. Next saw carefully on the lines, first drawn, down as far as this last line and cut the wood out with a half-inch chisel. If the step will not fit in the slot, plane a very slight amount from the surface of the step until it fits snugly into the groove. End B is fitted to the opposite leg in a similar way and the second step is placed in a like manner, 6-7/8" above the lower step. If the drawing is examined, as these directions for placing the steps are read, the explanation will be greatly simplified. The two narrow cross braces are next made, 3/8" × 5/8" × 15-1/2". These are crossed at their middle point in a middle-lap joint, a groove being cut half through each piece wide enough to insure a tight joint. These braces are attached to the rear legs, 2-1/2" from their lower ends, with 3/4" No. 6 flat-head screws, the holes being previously bored and countersunk. Cut the ends of the braces even with the ends of the legs. Holes are bored with a small bit in the grooves in the legs, 1/2" in from the sides, as shown. These holes are for the round-head screws which hold the steps in place. The steps are held in the grooves of the legs with glue and 1" No. 6 round-head blue screws. [Illustration: _Plate 28._ _DOLL'S TABLE WITH DRAWER_] The dowel sticks are now cut 8-3/4" long from a 1/2" dowel and, after all pieces of wood are carefully sanded with No. 1 sandpaper, the step ladder is assembled. A 3/4" brad should be driven into the edge of the rear legs so that it will penetrate and hold the dowel in place. A piece of small chain should be fastened to each front and rear leg, as shown, of a length sufficient to have the front legs of the ladder set flat on the ground. Also take care that the two chains are even with each other and parallel with the ground. No further finish is required. DOLL'S TABLE WITH DRAWER. While this table may be made in various sizes, the one shown in the accompanying drawing has proven very popular. The four legs are first made 7/8" × 1-1/4" × 12". Measure down 3" from one end and taper the legs equally from this point to a width of 7/8" at the opposite ends, as shown. The two side rails are made 1/2" × 2-7/8" × 6-1/2". The two front rails above and below the drawer are cut 1/2" × 1/2" × 12". On the side and rear rails, centers for dowels are located 5/8" from the top and lower edges and half way between the sides. An inch brad is driven in a short distance at these points, and the head is cut off about 1/4" above the surface of the wood. These ends are now placed so that their upper edges are even with the top of the legs. Press down lightly on the rails and a mark will be made on the surface of the legs. Remove the brads and bore the dowel hole with a 1/4" bit, 1-1/4" deep. The two drawer rails are treated in the same manner and the holes are bored. The top will no doubt have to be made of two pieces of wood jointed and glued together, and reinforced with dowels. The finished dimensions are 3/8" × 12" × 19". Short blocks of wood are screwed to the rear and two side rails even with their tops, and screws are later put through these from their under side to hold the top in place. A 3/4" No. 6 screw is placed in the center of the upper drawer rail to assist in holding the top in place. (See Plate 28 for details of the method of attaching the top.) Two strips of wood 1/2" wide, and thick and long enough to fit tightly between the front and rear rails, are made to serve as drawer slides. Similar strips of wood are glued to the inner part of the end rails to cause the drawer to run evenly. These strips are just thick enough to bring their surface even with the edge of the leg. All rails should be thoroughly sanded and then assembled with glue, screws, and brads as directed, the rails and legs being clamped for several hours to insure a tight fit. If the various parts of the table have been accurately made, the drawer should be now constructed to the dimensions called for in the drawing. If there has been any error in the making of the several pieces, of course the drawer must be made to fit the space in that individual table. The drawer front is 3/8" × 1-7/8" × 12". The sides are 1/4" × 1-7/8" × 11-1/2". These dimensions may all have to be trimmed down somewhat to secure an easy sliding fit. The drawer construction is clearly shown in the sketch. Bottom pieces of 1/4" wood are cut to fit, and after sanding, all pieces are glued and bradded together. Handles of the size shown in the drawing may be turned on the lathe or made by hand, and placed as indicated. As this type of table is patterned after the ordinary kitchen table it may be left unfinished. COLONIAL DOLL'S TABLE. This table, with the accompanying chairs shown in Plate 30, makes a very artistic and interesting problem in toy-making. The table and chairs work up very nicely if made of oak and stained a mission brown. They may also be made of soft wood and stained or painted. Directions for staining may be found in the front part of the book. The top (Plate 29) is made 3/8" × 11" × 16" and, if a piece of wood 11" wide is not obtainable, two narrow pieces will have to be joined. (See method of joining wood on page 18.) The four uprights are made 1" × 1" × 6-1/4", and the four cross pieces 5/8" × 1" × 8". The ends of the cross pieces are cut at a bevel, as shown, and notches are cut 1-1/8" from each end, 1/8" deep, to receive the ends of the upright. Care must be taken to get a snug fit. It is better to have the notches a trifle too small than too large. If cut a little small, the uprights are easily made to fit the grooves by planing a slight amount from their edges. Four bottom pieces are made 1/4" × 1-1/4" × 1-1/4", to be attached to the lower cross piece, as shown, allowing 1/8" projection all around. They are fastened with 1/2" brads and glue. When attaching, see that the grain of the little square pieces runs the same as the cross pieces. On account of the thinness of the wood, holes may have to be bored for the brads. If no small drill is at hand a brad may be used as a drill. [Illustration: _Plate 29._ _COLONIAL DOLL'S TABLE_] Holes are bored in the two upper cross pieces, 3/4" from their ends. These are countersunk to receive 3/4" No.6 flat-head screws, when assembling, and are to hold the top in place. Holes are likewise bored for the same size screws, 1-5/8" from each end of the four cross pieces, which brings the holes in the center of each notch. These holes are also countersunk. The long lower brace is made 5/16" × 2-1/2" × 12". When assembling, this piece is located as shown in the drawing and is held in place with glue and 1/2" brads. Sand all pieces carefully with No.1 sandpaper first and finish with No. 0. If stain is to be used, it may be found easier to stain the pieces before assembling. Assemble as previously described, using glue where necessary and turning all screws up tightly. Apply final finish as desired. COLONIAL DOLL'S CHAIR. This chair goes with the Colonial Table shown in the preceding drawing (Plate 29), and at least two chairs should be made to form the set. The sides are first cut from 3/8" material, 5" wide and 11-1/2" long. A freehand curve, following the general design of the one shown, should be traced on a piece of paper, cut to the above size. After the outline is satisfactory, the design should be traced on the wood preparatory to cutting out. The cutting should be done with a coping saw, cutting to the line for a finish. Place the two sides together to see if they match. Variations should be trimmed down so that the pieces are exact duplicates. The back is next made, 3/8" × 5-1/8" × 10-3/4". The seat is made 3/8" × 4-1/2" × 5-1/8", and the front board of the seat measures 3/8" × 3-1/2" × 5-1/8". The seat is rounded on the front edge, and the front board of seat is beveled at top and bottom to set snugly under the seat, at the slight angle shown. This angle is obtained by measuring in 1-3/8" from the front, as shown in the side view. Sandpaper all pieces thoroughly and assemble the sides and back first, with glue and 3/4" brads. Set these brads below the surface and fill the cavity with hard beeswax. Assemble the seat and front board next, and then nail these between the sides of the chair, as shown in the drawing. Finish as desired. See Pages 15 to 18 for method of staining and painting. [Illustration: _Plate 30._ _COLONIAL DOLL'S CHAIR_] RING-THE-HOOK GAME. This game is very simple in construction yet affords a great deal of pleasure to young people. (Plate 31.) The desired outline, the dimensions for which are given in the drawing, is sketched on a piece of folded paper, as is shown by the sketch, and the design is then cut out and traced on a piece of wood cut from stock 5/8" × 11" × 12". The cutting should be roughly done with a turning saw and finished carefully to the line with a chisel and file. A small chamfer gives a finished appearance if placed on the front edge. The board should be thoroughly sanded with No. 1 sandpaper first, and then finished with No. 0. The final finish may be several coats of shellac or two coats of a bright lively color of paint. If a shellac finish is used, the numbers should be lettered in with water-proof India ink, after the first coat of shellac is dry, and the second coat should be applied over this. If paint is the finish selected, the numbers may be put on with the ink after the final coat is dry. Hooks are located at the various points shown on the drawing, and pains should be taken to get them in perpendicular to the surface of the board. Place a screw-hook at the top to hang up by. The rings used are the ordinary preserve jar rings and ten should constitute a set. The board should be placed on the wall, about five feet from the floor and the contestants should stand about six feet from it. The idea is to toss the rings in such a manner that they will land over the hooks. The best results are obtained by holding the ring between the thumb and the first two fingers, at right angles to the floor. Throw in such a way that the ring will strike flat against the board. With a little practice considerable accuracy can be developed in placing the rings. A score of one hundred should constitute a game. FIVE POST RING TOSS. Although the game of ring toss is an old one, yet it never loses its attraction for many young people, and older ones as well. The type of ring toss shown in the accompanying plate is a little variety from the regular form, each post being painted and numbered with the points scored by ringing that particular post. (Plate 32.) The middle post, painted black, is a minus score, the ring falling on this causing a loss of five points. [Illustration: _Plate 31._ _RING THE HOOK GAME_] The rings, five in number, are painted at their joining points with colors similar to the posts. If a ring falls over a post of the same color as that painted on the ring the score is doubled. A black ring on the black post doubles the loss. The board should be set on the floor about eight feet from the contestants. The best results can be obtained by holding the rings by the thick, heavy part, parallel to the floor, and tossing quite high in order that they may fall flat from a point above the posts. [Illustration: The Ring Toss.] The posts are made with a tenon, which fits snugly in a mortise, and are removable so that they may be taken out when not in use. The rings may be made of various materials, such as rope and rattan. A very satisfactory ring is made by the writer's classes, by using chair spline. This is a rattan, light, cheap and easily bent, and may be bought of any firm dealing in upholstery and chair-seating materials. A piece about 17" long is bent in circular form, overlapping about an inch and held with two 1/2" brads, cleated on the underside, as shown. Wrap with white friction tape. The base of the ring toss is first cut 7/8" × 15" × 20". The center of each side and end is located and these points are connected, forming a diamond shape. Cut to this line and plane the edges smooth. Plane a 1/8" chamfer around the upper edge. Post A is made 1" × 1" × 11-3/4"; posts B and C are 1" × 1" × 8-1/4"; post D, 1" × 1" × 5-1/4"; and post E, 1" × 1" × 6-3/4". All of these posts are chamfered about 1/8" at the top. It will be noticed, by referring to the drawing of the side view, that each post is an inch square for a certain distance up and from that point they taper to 1/2" square at the top. These measurements are figured from the shoulder where they rest upon the board, there being a 1/2" tenon below. These tenons are cut so that they will be 1/2" square and 3/4" long. All holes or mortises are located 1-1/2" directly in from the corner or point at which they rest, except the center post, which is at the center point of the board. These mortises should be a fairly tight fit, yet allowing for the removal of the uprights when not in use. [Illustration: _Plate 32._ _FIVE POST RING-TOSS_] The color scheme is suggested on the drawing but may be changed to suit the individual taste. After painting or shellacking the board the first coat, the numbers should be lettered in, using waterproof India ink, and then the second coat applied. BEAN BAG GAME. This is another very popular and interesting game and gives the girls in the domestic science course a little opportunity to show their skill in making the bags. These should be cut so that they will finish about four inches square and one end left open so that they may be filled about three-fourths full of beans, peas or small pebbles. The end is then sewed up. Burlap, ticking or any odd pieces of cloth may be used for the bags. The board itself will, no doubt, have to be glued up from two or more boards in order to have the finished size 20" wide by 24" long. (Plate 33.) Half inch bass or whitewood is suitable. A piece of paper should be cut 20" × 24" and folded so that it is 12" × 20". Trace the outline on this paper, cut and unfold and lay on the board and trace around this. Cut to the line, using a turning saw and chisel and perhaps a wood file on the curves. [Illustration: Boys as well as Girls enjoy the Bean Bag Game.] The openings are located, as shown by the drawing. The centers are first obtained, and then the widths and lengths are measured from these center lines. Holes are next bored, as shown by the small sketch, with a 3/4" bit, and either a turning or a keyhole saw is used to cut out the pieces. If a turning saw is used, the blade must first be unfastened at one end, inserted in the hole and re tightened on the opposite side. Finish carefully to the line with chisel and file. [Illustration: _Plate 33._ _BEAN BAG GAME_] A small block 1/2" × 1-1/2" × 2-1/8" is attached to the back of the board with 3/4" No. 6 flat-head screws. This is to hold the hinge. The long brace is made 1/2" × 2-1/8" × 18-1/2" and is held to the small block by the hinge spoken of previously. A screw-eye is placed about 2" from the lower end of this brace and a wire or stout cord runs from this to similar screw-eyes, placed on the back of the main board about 2" from the bottom edge and 3" from the side edges. The cord or wire should be of sufficient length to cause the board to tip at about 60 degrees. After the board has been carefully sanded with No. 1 sandpaper first and then finished with No. 0, the whole board should receive a coat of white shellac. After allowing this to dry over night, it should be rubbed down lightly with fine sandpaper and the numbers 2, 3 and 5 lettered on with black waterproof India ink. Apply another coat of shellac, or two more if necessary. Paint may be used instead of shellac as a finish, in which case the numbers should be put on with paint of a contrasting color to show up well. The little sketch in the drawing shows the back braces made the same as those on the Dart Game Board. While this is a little more difficult than the simple screw-eye and wire arrangement, it is much more satisfactory. DART BOARD GAME. This game has proven very popular, not only with the young folks, but with the grown-ups as well. Any game where skill and accuracy may be developed has a strong appeal to both boys and girls as well. The board illustrated in Plate 34, should be made of soft wood--bass, pine or white wood is suitable--and cut to 15" wide by 21-1/2" long, from 7/8" material. The top edge is chamfered 1/4". The surface should be thoroughly planed and sanded and given a coat of white shellac. While this is drying, the rear supporting braces may be gotten out. The main support is 7/8" × 2-1/8" × 19". A hole is bored with a No. 10 bit, 1-9/16" from the end, and a piece is sawed out 5/8" wide from the opposite end to this hole. See the drawing for detail. A piece of 1/4" dowel is glued in the end to reinforce the piece, as shown. The smaller piece Y is cut 7/8" × 3/8" × 17" and is held to piece X by a quarter-inch dowel, as shown. A brass cup hook is screwed into the end which is connected with a brass screw-eye placed in the back of the board, 2-1/4" from the bottom edge. [Illustration: The Dart Board in Use.] The small block X is 7/8" × 1-1/2" × 2-1/8" and is attached, as indicated, with glue and two 1-1/4" No. 8 flat-head screws. The long brace X is attached to this by a 2" butt hinge and 1" flat-head screws. This folding arrangement has proven very satisfactory. The board packs nicely and stands rigidly when in position for playing. However, a simpler bracing may be used. The long brace X may be a solid piece 7/8" × 2-1/8" × 19", with a screw-eye on the underside from which a wire can run to a similar screw-eye on the back of the board. The wire can be adjusted so that the board will slope at the proper angle. After being sanded, the surface of the board should be given a coat of shellac and after drying should be rubbed down with No. 1/2 sandpaper. The circles should now be struck with a compass and waterproof ink, the diameters given, using a fairly heavy line. After the ink is dry give another coat of shellac. When this is dry the board is ready to have the colors applied to the circles. First paint circle A black and circle C red, painting just to the circle edge. Allow this to dry thoroughly, and then paint circle B yellow and circle D green. When these are dry, it may be necessary to strike all the circles again with ink. Where shown, letter in the numbers to score the game. It will be noticed that the small outside circles are minus numbers. Give the entire board and braces a finishing coat of shellac. Darts. The darts may be whittled out by hand, but the most satisfactory ones are turned out on the lathe to the dimensions shown. A 1-1/2" brad should be driven half its length into the rounded end, the head cut off with cutting pliers, and the end pointed with a fine file. [Illustration: _Plate 34._ _DART GAME BOARD_] At the opposite end two holes should be drilled of a size large enough to receive the ends of wing or tail feathers of some accommodating fowl. These should be dipped in glue and pressed into place. About six of these darts should be made and the wooden parts painted in bright colors. Birch or maple are good woods to use. The board should be placed on the floor, about ten feet from a given station point, and each contestant should be allowed to throw the six darts. The score should then be counted. Darts landing on a line should be credited to the lower number. One dart landing on and sticking to another, doubles the score of the first dart. Darts not sticking in the board are not allowed to be re-thrown. Darts knocked out by other darts lose their score. One thousand points should constitute a game. The points of the darts may be sharpened from time to time with a fine file. WIND MILL. This is an interesting toy to place on the top of the shed or garage where the wind will have a chance to revolve the brightly colored wheel at a good rate. It also serves as a weather vane. [Illustration: Three Kinds of Wind Mills and the Sand or Water Mill.] The main part of the mill (Plate 35) is made up of four pieces of half inch stock, two being 3-1/2" × 4-3/4" and two 2-1/2" × 4-3/4". The two larger sides taper to 2-1/2" wide at the top and the two smaller pieces to 1/2". The top piece forming the roof is made from a piece of wood 1-3/4" thick. If wood of this thickness is not available, several thinner pieces must be glued together. It is cut 3-1/2" × 3-1/2" and a line is drawn around the edge 3/8" from the lower sides. From this line the roof tapers to a point directly over the middle of the piece, as shown. [Illustration: _Plate 35._ _WIND MILL_] The long support, on which the mill rests, is made 1/2" × 1-1/4" × 10-1/4". Two holes are bored and countersunk for the screws which hold it to the mill base. A similar hole is bored from the opposite end for the screw which holds in place the round piece A. The circular piece marked A on the side view, is made 3/8" × 2-1/2". A hole is bored 1/2" deep with a quarter inch bit on the edge. The piece C is a quarter inch dowel, 7-3/4" long. A hole is bored with a quarter inch bit in the roof, at a slant, as is shown in the side view. This hole is 3/8" deep. The dowel piece C fits in these holes when assembled, being held with glue. The smaller base piece, which is attached to the bottom of the mill with glue and 1" brads, is made 1/2" × 4" × 5". The small piece, on which the vanes of the mill turn, is made from a piece of half inch dowel, cut 1-1/2" long. A hole is bored in the roof piece 1/2" deep to receive this. A smaller hole is drilled in the outer end of this dowel to receive a 1-1/2" No. 8 round-head screw on which the vanes revolve. A piece is now cut 3/4" × 7/8" × 7" to serve as the supporting piece on which the whole mill turns. On one end a notch is cut, as shown in the drawing, 3/8" deep and 1-1/2" long. Two screw holes are bored in this notch to allow the piece to be attached to the shed or roof. On the opposite end a hole is bored in the center, 3/4" deep and with a drill that will insure a 16-penny nail fitting very tightly. One of these nails should be driven in and the headed end cut off so as to allow a projection of 1" beyond the end of the wood. The end of this nail should be filed smooth and round. A hole is bored to receive this in the base pieces, as shown in the drawing, extending through both pieces and large enough for the nail to turn freely within. A washer should be placed over this to insure the mill turning easily. The two pieces for the vane of the mill are made 3/4" × 1" × 5-1/2". Each vane is chiseled at an angle, sloping in one direction at one end and in the opposite direction at the other, allowing at least 1/8" for the thickness. Considerable pains should be used in shaping these vanes to insure even balance. File and sand these smooth. A middle lap joint is made exactly in the center of each vane, cutting half through on each piece and making a smooth, flush fit. Hold the vanes together with glue and 1/2" brads at this point and carefully bore a hole at the center large enough to allow a 1-1/2" No. 8 round-head screw to turn easily. A small washer is placed under the head of the screw and one between the rear of the vanes and the end of the supporting dowel. Turn the screw up tight enough to allow the vanes to clear nicely. All pieces should be carefully sanded with No. 1 sandpaper first and finished with No. 0. Paint all pieces before assembling. A suggested color scheme is shown in the drawing. WIND MILL. (Type B.) This is another interesting action toy and makes a very pleasing addition to the top of a garage or barn. (Plate 36.) Children also enjoy toys of this sort at the beaches where they can build up little villages in the sand. The four long uprights are made 1/2" × 1/2" × 19". The top piece, which is eight sided, is first made 1/2" × 3-1/4" × 3-1/4". Then 3/4" is measured in from each corner and these points are connected and the lines cut carefully with a saw. A hole is bored in the center with a bit a little smaller than a 1-3/4" No. 8 screw. The piece to which the long uprights are attached is next made, 1/2" × 2-1/4" × 2-1/4". Measure in from each corner, on the upper surface, 5/8", and from each corner on the lower edge measure in 1/2". Draw these sloping lines from top to bottom points and saw these corner pieces out very carefully. A hole is bored in the center of this piece similar to the hole bored in the previous piece. Attach the long uprights to this piece with glue and 1-1/4" brads, trimming the top ends of the uprights with a chisel and file until they are flush with the surface of the top piece. Carefully spread the uprights until they are 9-1/2" apart from outside to outside, as shown. Mark off points on the inside edges 4" up from the bottom ends and 7-1/4" above the first marks. These points are to locate the places where the cross pieces go. Cut the eight cross braces 1/2" × 1/2" and sufficiently long to fit nicely at these points between the uprights. It will be noticed that they will have to be cut at a slight angle. Attach these braces with glue and 1-1/4" brads, seeing that they are all even and parallel with the floor when setting upright. The angle braces are made 1/2" × 1/2" × 11" and cross each other with a halved joint, as shown. The ends are cut at an angle to conform to the slope of the uprights and are attached to them by 1" brads and glue. Piece E is now made, 1-1/4" × 1-1/4" × 2", and is tapered to 3/4" square at the upper end. This is done by measuring in 1/4" from each upper corner and drawing to the lower corners and cutting to the line. A small hole is bored in the center of the upper end to start the screw which holds piece B in place. [Illustration: _Plate 36._ _WIND MILL_ (_type B_)] Piece B is made 3/4" × 3/4" × 5-1/2" and has a slot cut in it, 1/4" wide and 2-3/8" long, as shown. The inside end of the slot is cut at a slight angle to receive the slope of tailpiece C. A hole is bored 3-1/4" from the slot end of this piece, of a size to turn freely on a 1-1/2" No. 8 round-head screw. Tail C is made 1/4" × 4" × 6" and then 1/2" is measured up from the lower right end corner and 1/2" measured in from this point toward the left and a dot is placed. Draw lines from this dot to the lower-left-hand corner and to the upper-right-hand corner. Round all of these corners, using a 1/2" radius and carefully finish to the lines all around. The vanes A must be very carefully made to insure a close fit and proper balance. Two pieces are cut 7/8" × 1-1/4" × 7". The method of forming the vanes will be more easily understood by referring to the detail, where every measurement is plainly given. The two vanes are joined with a middle lap joint, which requires considerable skill in forming. Each piece is cut half way through at its middle point, seeing that the groove is no wider than the width of the piece that goes within it. The two vanes are joined with glue and four 3/4" brads. A hole is bored in the center, of a size that will turn easily on a 1-1/2" No. 8 round-head screw. Sand all pieces well with No. 1/2 sandpaper. Paint the various pieces as suggested in the color scheme and attach the tail C to piece B with glue and 1/2" brads. The vanes A are attached to piece B with a 1-1/2" round-head screw, with washers under the screw head and between the vanes and piece B. Piece B is attached to block E with a 1-1/2" round-head screw, with washers under the screw head and between B and E. Have all movable parts so that they will move freely. A finish nail may be placed in the lower part of each leg to secure the mill to the desired location. SAND OR WATER MILL. This is an interesting beach toy as either fine sand or water may be used to operate it. (Plate 37.) It is very simple to construct and is made as follows: The base is constructed of 1/2" pine, 7-1/2" wide and 7-1/2" long; and the four blocks which are glued and bradded to the corners, are 1/2" × 1" × 1". The two uprights are 3/4" × 7/8" × 8-1/4", and the two cross supports at the tops measure 3/4" × 7/8" × 2-1/2". [Illustration: _Plate 37._ _SAND OR WATER MILL_] Two holes are bored in the base for the screws that hold the uprights in place. These holes are 2-3/4" from the end and 2-1/8" from the sides. Holes are bored in the little top braces 1/2" from the two ends and one just in the middle, or 1-1/4" from the ends. These are for the screws that hold the braces to the uprights and to the top piece. All holes are bored with a drill suitable to take 1-1/4" No. 8 flat-head screws, and all are countersunk on the side where the screw enters. The top piece is made 1/2" × 5-1/4" × 5-1/2" with the two front corners slightly rounded, as shown. A hole is bored of a size to receive the funnel used, 1-1/2" from the front edge and 2-5/8" from the sides. A hole is drilled in each upright piece, 3-1/2" from the lower end, of a size that will insure a driving fit to the wire used, in this case being a piece of No. 12 copper-dipped, 4-3/4" long. A piece of 3/4" dowel is cut off 7/8" long and a similar hole is bored about two-thirds of the way through, as shown. Four holes are bored, as indicated on the drawing, for the quills, which are later glued in place. Feathers from the poultry yard will furnish these. Sand all pieces with No. 1 sandpaper and first assemble the top, the two uprights and the two cross supports. Paint these two coats of red paint. Attach the cross blocks to the base with glue and 3/4" brads and paint two coats of yellow. Paint the tunnel two coats of bright green. While these are drying construct the paddle wheel. The piece through which the wire axle runs is 3/4" × 3/4" × 2-1/4". The four blades are 1/4" × 2-1/4" × 2-3/4". After these are sanded and a hole is bored through the center piece, nail the blades to the center piece, in the position shown in the side view. Use 3/4" brads and glue for fastening the blades. Paint two coats of yellow. When the parts so far assembled are thoroughly dry, finish the assembly, using 1-1/4" No. 8 flat-head screws and glue. The toy is now ready to operate. DOLL'S CRADLE. A cradle built according to Plate 38 is suitable for a doll sixteen or seventeen inches in length. The two sides should be first made 1/2" × 6-1/2" × 20". These are later beveled slightly on their lower edge to conform to the slope of the head and foot board. [Illustration: _Plate 38._ _DOLL'S CRADLE_] Measure from one end along the top edge 7-1/4" and from the other end 11-1/4". From this last end the width of the side is cut down to 4-1/2", as far as the 11-1/4" measurement previously made. Connect the point which is 7-1/4" from the left end with the point which is 11-1/4" from the right end. This gives a slope of approximately 30 degrees, as is shown in the side view. Slightly round the corners, as indicated. The head board is next made 1/2" × 7" × 8-3/4". Measure in, on one of the long edges, an inch from either corner, and from these points draw straight lines to the upper corners. Cut carefully to this line. This makes the lower edge 6-3/4" long. The upper corners are rounded, as shown. The foot board is made in a similar manner, first cutting it 1/2" × 5" × 8". Place the head and foot board together to see if they exactly correspond. If not, plane or saw them while together so they are exactly alike, except in height. The four pieces so far completed may now be assembled, using glue and 1" brads. See that this frame sets flat when placed on a level surface. The base is next made 1/2" × 8-3/4" × 20". The two rockers are cut 3/4" × 2-3/4" × 13-1/2". It is a good plan to cut a piece of paper the above size, fold across the short way and sketch on the folded surface one-half the rocker shape. When this has been done in a satisfactory manner it may be unfolded, cut out and drawn on wood. The rocker ends have a slight shoulder of 1/8", as shown. In sloping the rockers, get them alike and make the curve such as will cause them to rock with a very slight pressure. [Illustration: Two Types of Doll Cradles.] Holes are bored with a small drill in the base, 2-1/2" from the ends and 1-1/2" from the sides. A hole is also bored half way between the two, as shown, and all are countersunk on the upper side. Attach the rockers with glue and 1" No. 6 flat-head screws. See that they project equally on the sides and are square with the edges. Now nail the rocker base to the upper frame previously made, using 1" brads and glue. Have the base project equally from the upper frame on each side and come flush with the ends. All pieces should have been carefully sanded, of course, before assembling. The next, and last step is the final finish. If paint is to be the finish, select the desired color and apply a priming and a finish coat. Follow directions in the front of the book for painting. COLONIAL DOLL CRADLE. The type of cradle, shown in Plate 39, is similar in many ways to the one on the last plate. It is, however, more artistic and somewhat more difficult to make. Follow directions on the last plate for making rockers, base and footboard. The headboard is cut 1/2" × 8-3/4" × 10-7/8". Place a center line, longways of the piece, as shown in the end view. At the top measure 1-1/4" each side of the center line and make a dot. At the base measure 3-3/8" each side of the center line and place a dot. Measure 1-3/4" from the top edge, on each side. Connect these points, as shown in the end view. Cut carefully to the lines. Test the head and footboard to see if they compare. Make the two sides of the cradle next 1/2" × 9-1/4" × 20". Seven inches from one end and 6-1/4" from the lower edge strike a circle 1-3/8" in radius. From the lower edge of this circle draw a line parallel to the base. This will make the narrow part of the sides 4-1/2" wide. From the point directly over the center of the circle, square a line to the top edge of the side. The outline of the side is now ready to be cut out. If an expansive bit is obtainable, bore the hole from the center of the circle with the bit set at 1-3/8" radius. If this bit is not obtainable, the hole must be cut out with a key-hole or a turning saw after first cutting to the circle, along the other lines previously drawn. The short top edge of the sides should now be beveled to conform to the slope of the head board. Next make the two top pieces which form the sloping part of the roof. These are 1/2" × 5-1/4" × 7-3/4". These must be planed at their top edge to quite a sharp bevel until they are even with the top of the head board. The top piece is the final piece cut, and this is 1/2" × 4-3/4" × 7-3/4". The pieces should now be carefully sanded with No. 1/2 sandpaper and the sides and ends assembled with glue and 1" brads. [Illustration: _Plate 39._ _COLONIAL DOLL CRADLE_] The roof pieces are next placed. Be sure that the top piece sits flat and overhangs equally on both sides. Holes are bored in the bottom piece for screws, 2-7/8" from the ends and 1-1/2" from the sides. A third hole is bored at each end half way between the other two, as shown, and all are countersunk. Attach the rockers with glue and 1" flat-head screws, being careful that they project equally on both sides and are at right angles with the edges of the base. The final finish is optional, but if the cradle is to be painted or enameled it should first receive a priming coat of flat white. See directions for painting in the first part of the book. DOLL'S BED. The bed illustrated in Plate 40, is suitable for the ordinary size doll, 16" to 18" in length. The four legs should first be cut, the two long ones being 7/8" × 7/8" × 12" and the two short ones 7/8" × 7/8" × 9-1/4". These should be planed up square and smooth and the top edges chamfered 1/16", as shown. The two side rails are next made 3/8" × 2-1/2" × 20-1/2". The four cross rails, two on the head board and two on the foot board, are made 1/2" × 7/8" × 8-3/4". Seven slats are next made 3/8" × 1-1/4" × 8". Two long supporting slats, on which the seven slats previously made rest, are now made 3/8" × 1" × 19-1/4". Three upright slats are now made for the head board, two being 3/8" × 1-3/4" × 8", and one 3/8" × 3" × 8". Three similar slats are made for the foot board, two 3/8" × 1-3/4" × 5-1/4" and one 3/8" × 3" × 5-1/4". Seven holes should be carefully bored where the cross rails and legs are joined. Use a small drill about 1/8" in diameter. These holes are 2-1/2" up from the bottom end of the legs and 1" down from the top ends. In assembling these parts, use glue, brads and 1-1/2" No. 8 round-head screws, as shown on the drawing. Next place the slats, as indicated, using glue and 1-1/4" brads. Take pains to space these properly and center them on the cross piece. All brad holes, wherever placed, should be set with a nail set and the hole filled with hard beeswax. In nailing in the brads, rest the bottom support on the corner of the bench, so as not to strain the cross piece or legs in pounding with the hammer. Next attach the long side rails, having their ends come flush with the outer side of the leg. Use glue and 1" brads. See that the rails are attached square with the long edges of legs. The two shorter supporting rails (3/8" × 1" × 19-1/4"), are next nailed to the lower cross pieces at the head and foot of the bed, and close up against the long side rails. A few brads, 1" long, should be driven through from the side rails into these to help secure them in place. [Illustration: _Plate 40._ _DOLL'S BED_] The seven cross slats are carefully spaced, glued, and nailed in place with 1/2" brads. While nailing, place a block of wood beneath the ends for a bearing. All pieces should have been sanded previous to assembling, and the bed may now be either stained or painted. If painted, a priming coat should be applied first. After this has dried it should be carefully sanded with No. 0 sandpaper and the finish coat applied. Considerable care should be taken in the painting to insure a good, clean-cut job. Refer back to the first of the book for necessary instructions for painting. There is an opportunity here for the older sister to help in preparing the bedding. TWO TYPES OF STILTS. (Type A Stilt.) Most every boy knows there is a certain fascination in walking on stilts, but they may prove a dangerous pastime if not strongly made. In this style of stilt (Type A, Plate 41) the uprights are held beneath the arm pits. The upright pieces should be made 7/8" × 1-3/8" × 5', or as long as the boy desires. Hard pine or ash make strong, durable stilts. The edges of the upright should be slightly rounded so that they will fit the hand nicely. [Illustration: Two Kinds of Stilts.] Holes are bored with a 1/4" bit, 17" from the lower end and 2-1/2" apart, as shown. The upper hole is countersunk to receive a 2-1/2" No. 12 flat-head screw. [Illustration: _Plate 41._ _STILTS_] The foot rests are made 1" × 3-1/2" × 5" and shaped, as indicated on the drawing. They are secured to the uprights with screws and 1/4" × 3" round-head stove bolts. Several holes at various heights could be bored to allow of adjusting the foot rest to suit the user of the stilt. The uprights can be painted red and the foot rests green, or the whole can be left plain, according to the desires of the maker. A touch of paint, however, not only adds to the appearance of any article, but also preserves it and lengthens its life. (Type B Stilt.) Type B stilt (Plate 41) is made shorter than Type A and is to be strapped to the leg just above the knee. The uprights are 1" × 1-3/8" × 36", or longer if desired. Round the edges of the uprights and bore holes at the same places and of the same size as in Type A. A strap is screwed on, as is shown in the drawing, to support the feet, and another strap, long enough to go around the leg beneath the knee, is attached at the upper end, 2" from the top. Sandpaper thoroughly and finish to suit. A pole about seven feet long should be carried to balance and steady oneself. [Illustration: Two Kinds of Carts and a Dump Wagon (in front).] CHILD'S CART. Carts always appeal to youngsters and the one given here (Plate 42) is of simple construction. Make the side pieces first 1/2" × 6" × 10". On one long edge measure in 2-1/2" and from this point draw a line to the upper corner. Cut carefully to this line. The front piece is made 1/2" × 6" × 6" and the end piece 1/2" × 6" × 6-3/4". This end piece is beveled to conform to the top and bottom edges of the cart, as shown in the side view. The bottom piece is made 1/2" × 6" × 6-1/2". [Illustration: _Plate 42._ _CHILD'S CART_] The piece to which the wheels are attached, is made 7/8" × 1" × 7-1/8". This piece has two holes bored and countersunk in it for screws, 1-1/4" from the ends and half way between the sides. Two small blocks are made 1/2" × 1" × 2-1/2" and tapered 3/4", as shown. These blocks have holes bored and countersunk for screws. Bore the holes in such a manner that they will not come directly opposite each other, otherwise the screws will be likely to hit each other. Holes are bored in the front piece of the cart and countersunk on the inner side. These pieces are 3" from either side, the first one being 2-1/4" from the upper edge and the second an inch below the first. The handle measures 7/8" × 1" × 30". A hole is bored 5/8" from the front end with a half-inch bit and the extreme end of the handle is slightly chamfered for a finish. The opposite end of the handle is cut at an angle of 30°, as shown. A piece of dowel, 1/2" in diameter and 3" long, is cut and inserted in the hole in the handle and secured by driving an inch brad in from the under side of the handle. The wheels are 7/8" × 5" and may be cut out with a turning saw and trimmed to the line with a chisel, or, if a lathe is available, they can quickly be cut to size. If they are to be sawed out, a circle should be struck with a divider or compass set at a 2-1/2" radius and then carefully cut to the line. The axle is attached to the bottom piece with glue and 1-1/4" No. 8 flat-head screws. Bore a hole in the end of the axle, exactly in the center, using a drill slightly smaller than the screw that is to hold the wheels in position. Bore a hole in each wheel, at the center point, a little larger than the screw that is to be used. Attach the wheels with 1-1/2" No. 10 round-head blue screws, using a small washer under the screw head and also between the wheel and the cart body. Tighten the screw just enough to allow a little play for the wheels to turn easily. Sand all pieces thoroughly before assembling, using No. 1 sandpaper first and finishing with No. 0. Assemble the body part of the cart with glue and 1" brads. A suggested color scheme is given in the drawing. CHILD'S DUMP WAGON. This toy at once appeals to the children as it only requires a simple turn of the crank to quickly dump the load of sand. Each part of this toy is completely detailed in Plate 44, while Plate 43 gives the assembly drawing. [Illustration: _Plate 43._ _CHILD'S DUMP WAGON_] The two sides are first made 1/2" × 5-1/2" × 12", and the two ends 1/2" × 6" × 7-1/2". The sides are beveled about 1/8" on the lower edge so that they will conform to the angle of the end piece. The ends taper from 7-1/2" long at the top to 5-5/8" at the bottom. This angle is obtained by measuring in 15/16" from either side and drawing to the opposite upper corner. Saw and finish to this line and slightly round the upper corners, as shown. Bore a hole with a 1/2" bit at the point indicated. The bottom piece is made 1/2" × 6-5/8" × 12". Sand these five pieces and assemble, using 1-1/4" brads and glue. Plane the side edges of the bottom board to the same angle as the slope of the sides. The two end uprights are now made 1/2" × 6-3/4" × 8". Measure up 2-1/4" on the short edges and place a dot. Connect these points with a sloping line and saw and finish to the outline shown. Bore holes with a 1/2" bit at the place indicated. Locate and bore a screw hole 1/2" up from the center of the lower edge to attach brace block. Make two small supporting blocks 7/8" × 1-3/4" × 1-3/4". Bore a 1/2" hole carefully in the center and drill four smaller holes to receive 1-1/4" No. 8 flat-head screws, 3/8" from each other, as shown. Countersink these four holes. Glue and screw these blocks to the end of the wagon box, 1-1/4" from the top edge, as shown. Make two brace blocks by first cutting out a square 7/8" × 1" × 1" and cutting this in two diagonally from corner to corner. Glue and screw these blocks to the end uprights, using 1" No. 6 flat-head screws. The underbody should next be made 1/2" × 8" × 18-1/2". Measure in 3-1/4" from each corner on the long edge, and with the dividers set at 2-1/4", strike a quarter circle and connect these arcs with straight lines, making the width in the middle 4-1/2". Saw this out with a coping saw and finish smoothly to the line. Locate and drill the twelve screw holes shown, with a drill the size of a No. 6 screw. Countersink all holes, except the four holes which hold the supports for the cart handle. These four are not countersunk as 1" No. 6 round-head screws are used at these points. Attach the end uprights to the underbody with glue and 1" No. 6 flat-head screws, eight in all. Next make the two axles 7/8" × 1" × 8-1/4" and bore and countersink the three holes, on the narrow edge, at the points indicated. Glue and screw these in place, 1-1/4" from the front and rear ends, using 1-1/4" No. 8 flat-head screws. These axles project 1/8" beyond the sides of the underbody, on all sides, so as to allow the wheels to turn without interference. The wheels may be made on a lathe or with a turning saw, 7/8" thick and all exactly 4" in diameter. Bore a hole in their center with a drill a little larger than the wire of a 2" No. 10 round-head screw. When assembling, use a washer on each side of the wheel. [Illustration: _Plate 44._ _DETAILS OF DUMP WAGON_] A hole should be started about 3/8" deep in the center of the ends of the axle to insure the screws going in properly. The cart handle is made 1/2" × 1" × 30", with one end rounded and the opposite end chamfered 1/8". On the latter end measure in 5/8" on the wide side and bore a hole carefully with a 1/2" bit. Cut a piece from a 1/2" dowel, 3-1/4" long, and insert it in this hole, keeping it in place with glue and one 7/8" brad. Bore a hole 1/2" from the rounded end with a 3/16" bit. The two pieces which hold the handle are now made 3/4" × 7/8" × 2-3/4". A 3/16" hole is bored in the 7/8" edge of these pieces, 1/2" from the end. These holes, and the hole in the handle, are to receive a round-head stove bolt, which is 3/16" × 2-1/4". Glue and screw these two pieces in place in the center of the front end of the underbody, leaving about 1/16" space between the handle and the edges of the blocks for freedom of movement. The dumping handle is made of pieces of dowel, the main piece being 1" in diameter by 4-1/2" long. The other pieces are cut from a half-inch dowel, 3" and 3-1/2" long, respectively. On the main dowel bore holes with a 1/2" bit, 3/4" from the ends, to receive the shorter dowels. Glue and insert the 3-1/4" dowel and bore a small hole to receive a 7/8" No. 6 round-head screw. Place this screw and then insert the dowel through the front upright into the front supporting block and flush with the inner surface of the front box end. Hold in place in the block with glue and a 1-1/4" No. 8 round-head screw. Glue and screw the 3" dowel in place for the grip. A piece of 1/2" dowel, 2" long, is similarly placed through the rear upright, thence into the rear supporting block and box end. This is also held with glue and a 1-1/4" No. 8 round-head screw through the block. Sand and apply two coats of paint before assembling the wheels and handle. CHILD'S WHEELBARROW. (Type A.) The Child's Wheelbarrow, shown in Plate 45, is very serviceable and quite easy to make, and, if the directions are followed carefully, the result will be a toy that will outlast a majority of the toys ordinarily found on the store shelves. First, make the handles 7/8" × 1-1/4" × 30". Chamfer the handles, as shown, for four inches from one end. The two sides are made 1/2" × 5-1/2" × 15" and 1-1/2" is measured in on one long edge and a line drawn from this point to the lower corner. Saw and plane to this line and round the upper corner with a chisel and file. The end is 3/8" × 5-1/2" × 7-1/4". The bottom is first cut 1/2" × 11" × 14". On one end measure in 1-7/8" from one side and a like distance from the other side. Connect these points with the opposite extreme corners and finish to these lines. The bottom is now tapered to 7-1/4" wide at the front end. Assemble the sides, the bottom and the end with glue and 1-1/2" finish nails, setting the front piece back 1/4" from the end of the sides, as shown in the drawing. Set all nails below the surface and fill the holes with beeswax. Place the assembled part on the handles in such a manner that the front end of the box part of the wheelbarrow is 5" from the front end of the handles, and the handles at the front end are 2" apart inside, and at the grip end 13" apart outside. While in this position, which is the permanent assembling position, mark the position of the six screw holes, which are bored with a drill of a size to receive a 1" No. 6 flat-head screw. Countersink these holes. The two legs are made 7/8" × 1" × 8-3/4" and beveled 1/4" at the lower end. On the upper end a notch is cut out 3/8" deep by 1-1/4" long. Two holes are bored, as indicated, to attach the leg to the handle. This is done with glue and 1" No. 6 round-head screws. [Illustration: Wheelbarrows.] A 1/2" dowel rod runs between the legs to brace them, and a hole is bored 3/8" deep in each leg, 2-1/2" from the lower end. The dowel is 9" long and is held in place with glue, and a 3/4" brad is driven in the leg to hold it firmly in place. [Illustration: _Plate 45._ _CHILD'S WHEELBARROW_ (_TYPE A_)] [Illustration: _Plate 46._ _CHILD'S WHEELBARROW_ (_TYPE B_)] A hole is bored very carefully 1-1/4" from the front end of the handles to receive the wheel axle. It will be noticed, by referring to the top view of the drawing, that on account of the taper of the handles this hole must be bored slightly on a slant and about half way through. The bit should be of a size to allow a piece of sixteen-penny nail to turn freely, as the axle should be made of a nail of this size, cut 3" long. The wheel is best made of hard wood, such as maple, 7/8" thick and 6" in diameter. Bore the hole in the center with the same drill just used. Next cut two pieces from a 1/2" dowel, 3/8" long, and bore a similar hole exactly through their center. These two pieces of dowel are glued to the wheel and serve to make it run in the center. When assembling, place a small washer between the dowels and handle, as shown. All pieces should have been carefully sanded before assembling, and the wheel should be painted red and allowed to dry before being put in place. The remainder of the wheelbarrow should be painted bright green. Apply two coats, rubbing down the first coat when dry with No. 0 sandpaper before applying the second. CHILD'S WHEELBARROW. (Type B.) This style wheelbarrow (Plates 46 and 47) is planned exceptionally strong and sturdy and will stand a large amount of hard usage. It is made larger and stronger than Type A, and is naturally a little more difficult to make, but well within the ability of an eighth grade boy. This type has removable sideboards. The plate of details gives exact information how to make each piece, so it will not be necessary to give the directions here. After all pieces are correctly made and all holes are bored at the places indicated, each part should be sanded very carefully and made ready for assembling. Care should be taken to get good tight joints on the front brace, the wheel supports and the tops of the legs. The metal braces can be made from strips of zinc 1" × 4", bent over the braces W, allowing a little freedom for removing the sideboards. Holes should be drilled in these braces, where shown, to receive 1/2" No. 6 round-head screws. First attach the bottom boards to the handles with 1" No. 6 flat-head screws, placing the ends of the handles even with the front of the bottom board and flush with the side edges. Next fasten the front and rear brace in place with 1-1/2" No. 8 flat-head screws, on the under side, and with 1-1/2" No. 8 round-head screws and washers from the outside of the handle to the brace ends. [Illustration: _Plate 47._ _DETAILS OF TYPE B WHEELBARROW_] Fasten one wheel brace in its proper place with 1" No. 6 flat-head screws from the upper side of the bottom board. Place the axle of the wheel in the hole and attach the other wheel in the same manner. Glue and screw the front uprights in place, as indicated, with 1" No. 6 round-head screws, and place the top cross piece on these and hold in place with glue and 1" round-head blue screws. Place the sides in position, with the front ends flush with the outer edges of the front braces. Place the metal braces over the supporting pieces and screw in place, using 1" No. 6 round-head blue screws. Braces X, which run from the wheel supports to the front piece of the wheelbarrow, are screwed in place, as shown, using 1-1/4" No. 8 round-head screws. It will be noticed that the hole for the dowel stick in the leg only extends in 3/8". Place one leg in position, 14-1/2" from the ends of the handles, using glue and 1" No. 6 round-head blue screws. Insert the dowel stick in this leg and also in the second leg and secure the second leg in place. The dowel should have glue placed on its ends, and, after the legs are in place, an inch brad should be driven into each leg, through the dowel, to hold it firmly in place. The color scheme given in the drawing is a pleasing one. The wheel is painted two coats of red before being placed in position. CLOWN RUNNING WHEEL. This has proven a very popular toy and is not hard to construct. The legs and body may be made of pulp or Beaver board, a material which is very good, as it saws easily and will not split. Wood, however, may be used, if preferred. The details of the body and legs are full size and these may be transferred to the wood by the tracing method described at the beginning of the book. These pieces, when done, may be painted, if desired, and allowed to dry while the rest of the parts are being made. Bore all necessary holes shown in the drawing. The wheels are best turned on a lathe to 4" in diameter and a hole bored in the center of each of a size that will allow a 1/4" dowel to fit tightly. If no lathe is available, the wheel can be cut out with a turning saw and finished with a chisel and file. The wheels are best made from 1/4" maple. Two pieces of 3/8" dowel are cut 1/4" long and attached 1/2" above the center of the wheel, as shown. This is done on both wheels, and the piece is attached with glue and 1/2" brads. It is a good plan to bore holes for these brads and thus prevent the possible splitting of the wood. The dowel that goes between the wheels is made 1/4" × 3/4" and is glued securely in the holes in the wheels later. Another piece of 1/4" dowel is cut 4" long, and is fitted to support the body of the clown on the handle. [Illustration: _Plate 48._ _DETAILS FOR CLOWN RUNNING WHEEL_] [Illustration: _Plate 49._ _DETAILS FOR CLOWN RUNNING WHEEL_] The handle is made 7/8" × 1-1/8" × 30", and the grip is rounded and shaped, as shown on Plate 48. In the opposite end of the handle a slot is cut 1/16" wide and 1-1/2" long. This is to receive the strip of zinc which runs between the wheels. This strip of zinc is made of 1/16" material, 1" wide and 4-1/2" long. Triangular pieces are cut from one end, 1/4" on a side, as shown on the detail sheet. This strip is held in the slot in the handle by first drilling through both the wood and the zinc, with a drill the size of a 3/4" brad, and afterwards gluing and bradding the zinc into position with 3/4" brads. A hole, 1/4" in diameter, is also drilled in the opposite end of the zinc, 5/8" from the end and 1/2" from the sides. This goes over the axle of the wheel. A hole is bored with a 1/4" bit, 2-3/8" from the end of the handle, as shown on Plate 48, and at an angle, as indicated. A similar hole is bored in the seat of the clown. The parts are now ready to sandpaper, paint, and after drying, assemble. [Illustration: Clown Running Wheel.] [Illustration: Cock Horse.] The color scheme is given on the drawing. After the paint has dried, the lines where the various colors join, should be accented with a pen, using India ink. The upper legs of the clown are attached to the body with 1-1/2" copper rivets and the lower legs are held to the upper by 1/2" rivets. When putting the rivets in place, hold the end which has the washer against some hard, metal body and strike with a hammer, taking care not to get the washer so tight that the legs will not move. A 3/4" No. 6 round-head screw holds the feet to the projecting dowel on the wheel. It is best to bore the hole for the screw in the piece of dowel a little smaller than the size of the screw so as to prevent splitting. Glue the supporting dowel in both the clown and the handle. COCK HORSE. The Cock Horse is a modern version of the old hobby horse, and affords the children, between the ages of four and six, unlimited pleasure. The head is made of a piece of 7/8" bass or pine, 5-1/2" wide and 9-1/2" long. The features may be enlarged from the size drawn in Plate 50, by the method given at the beginning of the book for enlarging; or, if one is apt at free-hand drawing, the outline may be copied offhand. Cut the features out right to the line with a coping saw and smooth the edges and surfaces with No. 1/2 sandpaper. The stick is made 7/8" × 1" × 32", and the front end is chamfered 1/8". Holes are bored for 1-1/2" No. 10 flat-head screws, the first 1-3/4" from the front end and the other two 1-1/2" apart. Two smaller pieces, which are made 5/8" × 7/8" × 7-1/2", are to hold the wheel in position. Holes are bored in these two pieces to take 1-1/4" No. 8 round-head screws, the first one being 7/8" from the end and the next two 3/4" apart. On this same end a piece is cut off at an angle, as shown. A hole is bored at the opposite end of these two pieces to receive a 2-1/2" × 1/4" round-head stove bolt, on which the wheel turns. The wheel is made 7/8" thick and 6" in diameter, either on a lathe or with a coping saw. A hole is bored in the center a little larger than the 1/4" × 2-1/2" stove bolt, so that the wheel will turn easily upon it. Glue and screw the two side pieces to the long stick, using 1-1/4" round-head blue screws. Give these two coats of natural varnish. Paint the wheel two coats of bright red. Paint the head one coat of flat white, and after drying give one or two coats of white enamel. After this has dried thoroughly, paint the comb and wattles bright red. Paint the beak and outer circle of the eyes yellow, and the feathers about the neck black. Where the colors join, outline with a drafting pen and India ink. A hole is bored, in the head where shown, to receive a piece of 3/4" dowel, 6" long. This serves as a handle. Glue this handle in place, taking care that it projects equally on both sides. [Illustration: _Plate 50._ _COCK HORSE_] ROCKING ROOSTER. This very interesting action toy is especially suitable for children as young as two years of age. It is simple in construction and perfectly safe. (Plate 51.) The seat board is made 7/8" × 5" × 21". Measure 6" in from one end on both long edges, and at these points narrow the front end to 3-1/2" wide by sawing out a piece on both sides 1-1/4" wide. Round the corners where the taper comes, also the other four corners of the top. Similarly, round the upper edge of the top. The two rockers are made 7/8" × 4-1/2" × 18". Measure down 1/4" on the two ends, and from these points carefully sketch a free-hand curve with its highest point directly in the center of the lower edge. Be sure this curve balances equally and that the two rockers are exactly alike. The rooster's head is made 7/8" × 6" × 10-1/4" and the outline is sketched upon it similar to the one shown on the drawing. Cut out the features with a coping saw, taking pains to have the saw at right angles to the surface of the wood at all times. A hole is bored in the head, for the handle, about 3-3/4" from the top and 1-1/2" from the rear edge. A 3/4" bit is used. [Illustration: The Rocking Rooster is safe as well as interesting.] Be sure and bore this hole perfectly straight. The handle is made 6" long and 3/4" in diameter, shaping it as shown in the front view. If this cannot be turned on a lathe, the handle may be made from a 6" piece of 3/4" dowel, rounding the ends slightly with a file. Holes are now bored for the 1-1/2" No. 8 flat-head screws which hold the rockers and head to the top. The locations of these holes are clearly shown in the drawing. Countersink the holes on the side from which the screws enter. The little separating block, which goes between the rockers, is made 7/8" × 1" × 2-1/2", and is held in place with glue. Sand all pieces thoroughly. [Illustration: _Plate 51._ _ROCKING ROOSTER_] Assemble all pieces carefully, seeing that the rooster's head is centered well and placed two inches from the front end. The rockers are attached 1-1/2" from the ends and so placed that they are just an inch apart. Paint the whole toy one coat of flat white and sand lightly with No. 0 sandpaper when dry. Paint in the comb and wattles of the rooster bright red and the feathers on the neck, green. After these colors have dried, apply another coat of white, where indicated, this time using white enamel. Use a small brush for the details. The beak and the circle about the eye are painted yellow and the other circle about the eye is painted black. If the paint does not seem to have the proper sparkle when the last coat is dry, apply another coat of each color. Outline the edge of the comb and wattles with a drafting pen and India ink. Outline also, the beak and eyes. This causes a sharp contrast where the two colors meet and sets off the features. The top and rockers are treated with two coats of white enamel on top of the priming coat. KIDDIE KAR. It is hardly necessary to speak of the popularity of this toy. Its construction is well within the ability of the average eighth grade boy. The seat board (Plate 52) is made of 7/8" stock and is first cut 7-1/2" wide and 21-1/2" long. Half the outline of the curve at the front should be traced on a folded piece of paper, the proper size, and cut out and traced on the wood. This outline should now be carefully sawed and chiseled to the correct shape. [Illustration: Kiddie Kars.] The top edge of the seat should be rounded. The rear support should have half its outline traced on a folded piece of paper and cut out and traced on a piece of wood 7/8" × 5" × 6-1/2". Finish to the line. The brace is cut 7/8" × 5" × 9-1/2". Mark out the outline of the curves, as shown, and saw and chisel to the line. The wheels and steering gear should be turned on a lathe to the dimensions shown on the drawing. A hole is bored in the seat board, 1-3/4" from the front end and half way between the sides, with a 15/16" bit. This is to allow the steering post, which is turned to 7/8" diameter, freedom to turn. Holes are drilled through the under part of the rear brace, as shown, to secure the same to the top. Holes are likewise bored half way between the sides of this brace, to engage with the curved supporting piece. The curved supporting piece has two holes bored 1-1/4" from the small end, 1" apart. This is for the screws that go into the top. Holes, bored with a small bit, should be started in the lower part of the rear brace, to receive the large screws which hold the rear wheels in place. It is quite necessary to make these holes, using a bit a trifle smaller than the screw to be used, as it is very difficult to force a screw of this size into wood of this hardness. These holes must be bored exactly straight, otherwise the wheels will turn unevenly. Washers should be used between the screw heads and the wheels and between the wheels and any part they are likely to come in contact with. A hole is bored in the steering rod, directly below the top board, for a screw to be placed to hold the upper and lower part of the steering rod firm. Glue is also used when assembling the two parts of the steering apparatus. The handle is also held in place with a screw and glue, as shown. A hole is bored in the handle, of a size suitable to receive the steering rod. Washers should be placed in the steering gear, above and below the seat board, to prevent wear. In preparing the slot to receive the front wheel, a hole should first be bored with an inch bit so that the top edge of the slot comes 3-5/8" from the bottom of the steering gear. This slot should be very carefully sawed out and smoothed up so that the wheel, which is 7/8" thick, will turn accurately. The holes in all the wheels must center accurately and be larger than the screw or bolt which goes through them. The front wheel turns on a 1/4" × 1-3/4" round-head stove bolt. The color scheme may be varied to suit individual tastes. The one suggested in the drawing has red wheels with the remaining parts of the kiddie kar finished natural with spar varnish. All parts should be thoroughly sanded before assembling. Two coats of paint should be applied to the wheels and two coats of varnish to the remainder. Sand in between coats with No. 0 sandpaper. [Illustration: _Plate 52._ _KIDDIE KAR_] KIDDIE KOASTER. This lively toy is somewhat different from the three-wheeled Kiddie Kar and is suited for children of eight or over. If desired, this toy may be made up with three wheels like a velocipede. If this type is made, a piece of dowel rod, of hard wood, is cut about six or eight inches long and an inch in diameter. This dowel should go through a hole in the rear brace, and the wheels should be attached to the ends with 2" No. 12 round-head screws and washers. The following directions are for the two-wheel Kiddie Koaster shown in Plate 53. The front supporting piece is first made of a piece of hard wood, 2" × 2-1/4" × 19". A distance of 7" is measured up from the lower end and 7/8" is measured beyond this. From this point the remainder of the brace is thinned to one inch in thickness. The top end is rounded and the bottom end chamfered, as shown. A hole is carefully bored with an inch bit, 5-3/4" from the lower end. An allowance of 1/2" is made for the thickness of each fork and the remaining inch is removed with a saw up to the hole previously bored. A hole is bored for the handle, 1-1/4" from the top, with a 7/8" bit. Another hole is bored on each side, 6-1/4" from the lower end with a 3/4" bit, 1/2" deep. [Illustration: The Kiddie Koaster.] These two holes are for the foot rests. Small holes are bored one inch from the lower end to receive a 1/4" × 2-1/2" round-head stove bolt. A 1/4" bit should be used to bore these. The rear support is made 2" × 2-1/4" × 16-3/4". From a point 6-1/2" from the lower end this is thinned down to one inch thick, the same way as the front support. At the upper end measure down on one edge 7/8" and draw to the opposite corner. [Illustration: _Plate 53._ _KIDDIE KOASTER_] Cut off at this angle so that it will come on a line with the cross piece. A hole is bored with a 1/4" bit, one inch from the lower end to take a 1/4" x 2-1/2" round-head stove bolt. Chamfer 3/8" from the lower end. Bore a hole 4-3/4" from the lower end with an inch bit and remove the wood to form the rear fork, in the same manner as was done for the front. The cross piece between the front and rear support, on which the seat rests, is first made 7/8" x 5" x 13-1/8". Measure in two inches from the upper corner and draw a line to the lower corner. Saw squarely on this line to get the proper slant. Measure from this upper left-hand corner 9-1/2" and draw a line from here to the lower right-hand corner. Saw to this line. On this last end sawed, measure in 3/4" and make a tenon, as indicated in the side view. This tenon should be 1/2" thick. The other dimensions for the tenon are given on the drawing. On the rear support a mortise is now cut of a size to receive the tenon tightly, and to make the top edge of the cross piece and upper end of the rear support on a line. This tenon should be cut with a 1/2" bit, boring so as to make the mortise about 13/16" deep. Remove the extra wood with a small chisel until the tenon fits snugly within the mortise. Later, when assembling, this joint is glued and 3/4" brads are driven in from the side to pin it in place, as indicated. The seat is made 3/4" × 5" × 7". It is shaped, as shown in the sketch, cutting the outline with a turning saw and finishing to the line with a chisel and file. Two holes are bored and countersunk to receive 1-1/4" No. 8 flat-head screws which hold the seat in place. The seat is stuffed with tow, excelsior or other suitable material and covered with brown burlap or with imitation leather, as desired. A piece of braid, to match the material used, is tacked around the lower edge with upholstery tacks to match. The handles and foot rests are best turned out on a lathe, although they may be whittled out with a jack-knife. The dimensions for these are clearly shown. The front wheel is 9-1/2" in diameter, made from wood 3/4" thick. The rear wheel is 8" in diameter, the wood being 3/4" stock. These wheels should be made of hard wood or wood glued up three-ply. These are best turned on a lathe, although they may be cut with a turning saw and chiseled to the line and finished with a file. A special hinge may be obtained from most any toy manufacturing firm, to place between the front support and the cross-piece. In the author's classes, hinges of this special type were obtained in various sizes, without any trouble. The size indicated in the drawing is five inches long and costs fourteen cents. If these special hinges are not used, the ordinary butt hinges may be substituted, two being used. A groove of the proper length and depth, to fit these hinges, can be drilled and chiseled out in the front brace. A saw cut can be made in the cross piece, across the end, in which to insert the hinge. When assembled, screws should be placed so as to accurately engage with the screw holes in the hinges. Before assembling, all pieces should be thoroughly sanded and painted two coats. A suggested color scheme is given on the drawing. SKI SKOOTER. The Ski Skooter, shown on Plate 54, is best made of ash. The runner is first made 5/8" × 3-3/8" × 39" and thinned down, for ten inches from the front end, to 3/8" thick. The runner is steamed, bent and grooved by the method shown in Plate 55. The upright piece is made 7/8" × 3-1/8" × 16-1/8" and one of the bracing pieces 7/8" × 1-3/8" × 12" and the other 7/8" × 1-3/8" × 13". These are cut at an angle of 45 degrees at each end, as shown. [Illustration: The Ski Skooter is great sport on a moderate hill.] The seat is made 7/8" × 6" × 12", and the top edges are slightly rounded. Two grips, which also have their lower edges rounded, are made 3/4" × 7/8" × 5". [Illustration: _Plate 54._ _SKI SKOOTER_] [Illustration: _Plate 55._ _METHOD OF BENDING RUNNERS_] Two strengthening pieces are made 7/8" × 7/8" × 3-1/8" and their ends are cut at 45 degrees, as shown. These are attached to the upright directly under the seat. Bore all holes, where shown in the drawing, and countersink them. Assemble with glue and screws of a size shown on the drawing. The color scheme is given on the drawing, but may be changed to suit individual tastes. Two coats of paint are applied, sanding carefully between coats. The seat can be upholstered if desired. METHOD OF BENDING RUNNERS. Place the ends in a washboiler, about half full of boiling water, and allow them to remain about five hours. Place the tip, or front end of the runners, under the back edge of the top step of a step ladder. Slowly bend the runner downward until it lays flat on the front edges of the other steps. Secure this in place either with clamps or by pieces of rope and wood. Plate 55 shows two methods of bending the runners. Regular skis may be bent in the same manner. Leave the runners in the clamps overnight. SKI SKIPPERS. The Ski Skipper affords a lively form of winter amusement, and great speed can be obtained on the surface of the snow, especially when the crust is covered with a small amount of light snow. [Illustration: The Ski Skipper will please boys as well as girls.] The runners are best made of white ash, from half-inch material, 2-3/4" wide and 42" long. (Plate 56.) The front end of the runners is tapered, starting about five inches from the end. The extreme tips are blunt, being 1/2" wide. [Illustration: _Plate 56._ _SKI SKIPPER_] Starting about twelve inches from the front end, the runners are thinned down with a plane, on the upper surface, to 3/8" thick. Both runners have a groove cut along their counters from the rear end to the point where they curve upward. This groove is 1/4" deep and 1/2" wide, and may be cut by various methods. It may be cut with a grooving plane; it may be scored with a sharp-pointed gauge and the inner part removed with a chisel; or, if a power saw is available, it may be easily cut with a dado saw. The upper edge of the runners may be chamfered about 1/8" for a finish. When the foregoing operations are completed, the runners should be bent, using the method shown in Plate 55. The slats forming the seat top are now made 1/2" × 2-1/2" × 12", and the single slat for the foot rest 1/2" × 1-1/2" × 12". The seat slats have holes bored and countersunk 3/4" from the edges and 1-1/4" from the ends, to receive 1" No. 8 flat-head screws. The foot slat has a similar hole bored 1-1/4" from the ends and centered between the edges. The seat supports are first cut 7/8" × 7-1/2" × 9-1/2" and then an inch is measured in on the top edge on each side and lines are drawn to the lower corners, as shown. Saw and plane to this line, making the taper as shown in the side view. The cross brace is made 7/8" × 3" × 9". The supports for the foot rests are first made 7/8" × 3" × 3-1/2". On the upper edge, which is 3-1/2" long, measure in 3/8" from each end and draw the sloping lines to the lower corners, making the taper, as indicated. Round these upper corners. Bore holes in the runners for attaching the uprights at places where they will engage with the uprights, at points shown on the drawing. There should be three screws in each large upright and two in the smaller front support. Assemble with glue and 1-1/2" No. 8 flat-head screws at all places except where the cross slats are held. At these points 1" No. 8 flat-head screws will be long enough. It will be noticed, in examining the top and front views, that the supporting uprights are not placed directly half way between the edges of the skis, but are offset so that they come nearer the outside edge of the runner. This is done so that the screw will not come in the groove. Two blocks of wood to hold the screw eyes, to which the rope is attached, are made from 1/2" material, 1-1/2" square. Two holes are bored in these blocks, as shown, and they are attached eight inches from the front end of the runner with 3/4" No. 6 round-head screws. A screw eye is placed in each block, of a size sufficient to receive a 3/8" rope. It is best to bore the hole for the screw eye first, in order to prevent splitting the block. A suggested color scheme is shown in the drawing. Two coats of paint should be applied. DOLL SLEIGH. While this drawing (Plate 57), to all intents and purposes details a doll sleigh, yet by increasing the dimensions slightly the sleigh will be suitable for a small child. First, make the runners of 1/2" spruce, or other suitable wood, cutting them 9" wide by 26" long. On the upper edge measure back 1-1/2" and from this point draw to the corner of the lower edge. Saw to this line and slightly round the corners, as shown. With the dividers set at a radius of 4-1/2", strike a circle very lightly on the opposite end of the runners, so that it will be just tangent to the edges and end of the board. Measure up from the lower edge of the runner 7-1/2" and draw a line parallel to it until it strikes the circle. Cut to this line and also saw to the curve of the circle, forming the outline of the runner. Finish to the line with a chisel and file. See that the two runners are exact duplicates. Bevel slightly on the top edge to allow the runners to flare. [Illustration: The Doll Sleigh may be made larger to carry a baby brother or sister.] Next make the sleigh bottom 1/2" × 10" × 16-1/2". Two braces, to go below the sleigh bottom, are made 1/2" × 3" × 8-1/2". These braces are cut at an angle at each end, as shown. The angle is obtained by measuring in 3/8" on one edge and drawing to the opposite lower corner from this point and sawing to the line. The sides of the sleigh are made 1/2" × 8" × 22". On the top edge measure in 7-3/4" and place a dot. Measure down from the right-hand lower corner of the sides 4-1/2" and from this point, draw to the right-hand upper corner. From the left-hand lower corner measure in 1-3/4" and place a dot. From the same corner measure up on the left-hand edge six inches and make another dot. Connect these two dots to form the slope of the front end. From the last dot placed, square a line in from the left-hand edge 1-3/4" long. From this point sketch a free-hand curve, as is shown in the side view of the sleigh (Plate 57) to the point first located on the upper edge. Cut to the outline, being sure both sides match. The front edge of the sleigh is made 1/2" × 6" × 11" and the rear end 1/2" × 9" × 11-1/2". On the lower edge of the rear end measure in 1-5/8" from each corner and draw to the upper opposite corners. Saw and plane to these lines. This will give the taper of the rear end. Place the board from which the front is to be cut on the backboard and trace the slope of the sides and carefully finish to the line. The two handles are made 7/8" × 1-1/4" × 23-1/2", and the top piece, or grip, 1" × 1-1/4" × 19". The uprights are mortised into the grips 5/8", as shown on the drawing. Holes are bored in the center of the curve of the runners with a medium-size drill, and at these points an inch dowel is cut long enough to fit snugly between the runners, after the sleigh is assembled. The ends of the dowel are cut at a slope to conform to the pitch of the runners. This dowel is held with glue and 1-1/2" No. 10 round-head screws. Holes are bored, where indicated in the side view (Plate 57), to hold the brace in place. Holes are also bored in the handles to attach to the body of sleigh at places most convenient. Holes are bored in the sleigh bottom to attach the same to the cross braces, using 1" No. 6 flat-head screws. Use 1-1/4" No. 8 round-head screws on the outside of the runners. The handles are attached with 3/16" × 1-1/2" round-head stove bolts. All other parts should be secured with glue and three-penny fine finish nails. If desired the bottom of the runners may be covered with 1/2" strap iron. Various finishes may be used after the parts are thoroughly sanded. If stain is to be the finish, apply it according to the directions in the front of the book and, after drying eight or ten hours, apply two coats of shellac. Sand between coats with No. 0 sandpaper. After the last coat of shellac is dry apply one coat of spar varnish. [Illustration: _Plate 57._ _DOLL'S SLEIGH_] If paint is to be used as the finishing material, decide on the color scheme and apply first a priming coat of flat white, after which one or two finish coats may be applied when dry, sanding lightly between each coat. CHILD'S TABLE. This is a very useful and practical problem and has been made up in large numbers by seventh and eighth grade boys. The chair shown in Plate 59 fits compactly under the table and takes up but little room. The top is joined by gluing several boards together and finishes 30" in diameter. Basswood, 7/8" thick, is very good material to use. The boards must be carefully jointed and held together with 1/2" dowels. Hot glue is the best to use, although the cold glue will answer. Leave the pieces in the clamps overnight. The top may be cut to shape with a turning saw and finished to the line with a sharp chisel and file. The four legs are 7/8" × 1-3/8" × 20-3/8". Two cleats, which are screwed to the underside of the table, are next made, these being 7/8" × 3" × 24". These cross each other in the middle with a middle lap joint, as indicated at A, on the drawing. A notch is cut on the ends of these braces at C, as shown, to receive the legs. The legs are held in place with glue and 1-3/4" No. 10 round-head blue screws. [Illustration: Children's Table and Chairs.] The braces are attached to the top of the table with a sufficient number of 1-1/4" No. 8 flat-head screws to insure a strong job. The legs are notched 3/8" deep, 7" up from the bottom, to receive the lower leg braces. See sketch B, Plate 58. These lower braces are 3/4" × 1-3/8" × 23", joined at their center with a middle lap joint, the same as the top braces, and are held in the notch in the legs with glue and 1-1/2" round-head screws. [Illustration: _Plate 58._ _CHILD'S TABLE_] All parts should be carefully sandpapered, first with No. 1 sandpaper and then finished with No. 0. The final finish is optional. It may be stained and varnished or it may be finished in enamel. If enamel is used there should first be a couple of coats of flat white applied, each coat being sanded when dry, with No. 0 sandpaper, and the final coat of enamel applied. Some appropriate design, in a grayed color, may be put on with stencil if desired. CHILD'S CHAIR. Plate 59 gives directions for making the chairs to match the table in Plate 58. The rear legs should first be cut out of 7/8" stock, 1-1/8" wide and 25" long. The two connecting rails are 1-1/8" × 9-5/8". The lower rail is notched into both front and rear legs, 6" from the lower ends, 3/8" deep. The upper rail, on which the seat rests, is notched in 3/8" deep, and 4" above the lower rail. The pieces so far completed may now be sanded and assembled, using glue and 1-1/2" No. 10 round-head screws. It is well to reinforce the joints by driving an eight-penny finish nail each side of the screws. These should be set below the surface, and the hole should be filled with hard beeswax before painting. While this is drying, the front and rear rails can be made. These rails, five in number, are all 7/8" × 1-1/8" × 8-1/4". The wide back rail is made of 1/2" material, 4-1/2" wide by 8-1/4" long. Holes should next be bored for the various screws, where indicated on the drawing. A cross cleat, which runs between the upper side rails and helps support the seat, is made 7/8" × 3" × 8-1/4". This is attached, as shown in the sketch of the joinery of the legs and rails, and is screwed to the under side of the seat with 1-1/4" No. 8 flat-head screws. The seat is made 7/8" × 10" × 11-1/2" and is notched at the corners to receive the rear legs. The top is rounded slightly on its rear edges. Next assemble the two sides with glue and screws of proper size, as shown. All surfaces should be carefully sanded and the finish should be treated as described for the table. [Illustration: _Plate 59._ _CHILD'S CHAIR_ (_To match table on preceding plate_)] INDEX Adapting the Problem to the Boy's Ability, 15 Bean Bag Game, 72-4 Bench Hook, 22-4 Camel, 38 Child's Cart, 93-5; Chair, 130-1; Dump Wagon, 95-9; Snow Shovel, 46-7; Step Ladder, 59-63; Table, 128-30; Wash Bench, 57-9; Wheelbarrow (Type A), 99-103, (Type B), 102-5 Clown Running Wheel, 105-9 Cock Horse, 109-10 Colonial Doll's Chair, 66-7; Cradle, 87-9; Table, 64-6 Coping Saw Work, 26-7 Darts, 75-7 Dart Board Game, 74-6 Dippy Duck, 40-1 Doll's Bed, 89-91; Clothes Rack, 55-7; Cradle, 84-7; Ironing Board (Size A), 49-51, (Size B), 51-3, (Size C), 53-5; Sleigh, 125-8; Table with Drawer, 62-4 Dowel Sticks, 27 Duck, 30 Elephant, 33 Equipment, 13-4 Finish and Color, 15-7 Five Post Ring Toss, 68-72 Goat, 36 Goose, 31 History of Toy-Making, 11-3 Kiddie Kar, 113-15; Koaster, 116-19 Lamb, 35 Laying Out Work, 14 Merrimac, 44-5 Method of Bending Runners, 121-2; of Enlarging Figures, 39-40; of Jointing Wood, 18-20 Monitor, 42-3 Pelican, 29 Periscope, 47-8 Picture Puzzle Construction, 27-8 Rabbit, 34 Rhinoceros, 32 Ring-The-Hook Game, 68-9 Rocking Rooster, 111-13 Rooster, 37 Sand or Water Mill, 82-4 Simple Tool Sharpening, 24-6 Ski Skippers, 122-5 Ski Skooter, 119-22 Staining, 17-8 Support to be Held in Vise, 20-2; for Holding Coping Saw Work, 20; for Table Use, 22 Transferring a Design, 14-5 Two Types of Stilts, 91-3 Wind Mill, 77-80; (Type B) 80-2 Transcriber's Note. The equals sign has been used to show 'bold' in this etext. A few minor typographical errors were amended. "heighth" changed to "height". "Sonnenburg" changed to "Sonnenberg" Title of Plate illustrations were taken from drawings with inconsistent punctuation and this was systematised. 
5845	----	MAKE BELIEVE STORIES THE STORY OF A CALICO CLOWN BY LAURA LEE HOPE Author of "The Story of a Sawdust Doll," "The Story of a Monkey on a Stick," "The Bobbsey Twins Series," "The Bunny Brown Series," "The Six Little Bunkers Series," Etc. CONTENTS I. THE GIANT'S SWING II. A BROKEN LEG III. THE CLOWN'S DANCE IV. UP IN A TREE V. TAKEN DOWN TOWN VI. IN THE OFFICE VII. IN THE WASH-BASKET VIII. DOWN IN A DEEP HOLE IX. BACK HOME X. THE TOY PARTY CHAPTER I THE GIANT'S SWING "To-night we shall have a most wonderful time," said the Elephant from the Noah's Ark to a Double Humped Camel who lived in the stall next to him. "What kind of a time?" asked the Camel. He stood on the toy counter of a big department store, looking across the top of a drum toward a Jack in the Box who was swaying to and fro on his long spring. "What do you call a wonderful time, Mr. Elephant?" "Oh, having fun," replied the big toy animal, slowly swinging his trunk to and fro. "And to-night the Calico Clown is going to give a special exhibition." "Oh, is he?" suddenly asked a funny little Wooden Donkey with a head that wagged up and down. "Is he going to climb a string again and burn his red and yellow trousers as he once did?" "Indeed I am not!" exclaimed the Calico Clown himself. The Clown was leaning against his friend Mr. Jumping Jack, who was a cousin of Jack in the Box. "I'm not going to give any special exhibition like that," went on the Clown. "I'm just going to do a few funny tricks, such as standing on my head and banging my cymbals together. And, I am not sure, but I may ask a riddle." "Will it be that one about what makes more noise than a pig under a gate?" inquired a Celluloid Doll. "Well, yes, it will be that riddle," replied the Clown, trying to look very stern. "That's the only riddle he knows," whispered the Elephant. "What I should like to know," said the Camel, "is why a pig should want to get under a gate, anyhow. Why didn't he stay in his pen?" "Oh, there's no use trying to make you understand," sighed the Clown. "I'll just have to dance around, do a few jigs, bang my cymbals together, and do things like that to amuse you." "Well, we'll have a good time to-night, anyhow," said the Celluloid Doll. "We really haven't had much fun since the Candy Rabbit and the Monkey on a Stick went away. I wish--" "Hush!" suddenly called the Calico Clown. "Here come the clerks. The store will soon be filled with customers." The toys became very still and quiet. This talk among them had taken place in the early morning hours, after a night of jolly good times. But when daylight came, and when clerks and customers filled the store, the toys were no longer allowed to do as they pleased. They could not move about or talk as they could on other occasions. The Calico Clown was a jolly chap, and he seemed to stand out among all the other toys on the counter. He wore calico trousers of which one leg was red and the other yellow. He had a calico shirt that was spotted, speckled and striped in gay colors, and on each of his hands was a round piece of brass. These pieces of brass were called "cymbals," and the Calico Clown could bang them together as the drummer bangs his cymbals in the band. I say the Calico Clown could bang his cymbals together, and by that I mean he could do it when no boys or girls or grown folk were looking at him. This was the rule for all the toys. They could move about and talk only when no human eyes were looking. As soon as you glanced at them they became as still and as quiet as potatoes. But any one who picked up the Calico Clown could make him bang his cymbals together by pressing on his chest. There was a little spring, and also a sort of squeaker, such as you have heard in toy bears or sheep. Besides being able to clap his cymbals together, the Calico Clown could also move his arms and legs when you pulled certain strings, like those on some Jumping Jacks. The Calico Clown was a lively fellow, as well as being very gaily dressed. But now all the toys were still and quiet. They sat or stood or were lying down on the counter, waiting for what would happen next. And what generally did happen was that some customers came to the store and bought them. Already a number of the toys had been sold and taken away. There was the Sawdust Doll. She was the first to go. Then the White Rocking Horse had been bought for a boy named Dick, a brother of Dorothy, who now owned the Sawdust Doll. The Lamb on Wheels had been purchased by a jolly sailor, and when the Lamb saw him she feared she would be taken on an ocean trip and made seasick. But the sailor gave the Lamb to a little girl named Mirabell. And, in the course of time, her brother Arnold was given a Bold Tin Soldier and some soldier men. The Candy Rabbit--about whom I have told you in a book, as I have told you of these other toys--the Candy Rabbit was given as an Easter present to a little girl named Madeline, and her brother Herbert had, later, been given the Monkey on a Stick. The Calico Clown was looking over at the Celluloid Doll, thinking how pretty she was, and he was also thinking of the Sawdust Doll, whom he had liked very much, when, all of a sudden, it seemed as if a whirlwind had blown into the toy department. A boy with a very loud voice and feet that tramped and stamped on the floor rushed up to the counter. "I want a toy! I want something to play with!" cried this boy. "I want a Jumping Jack and I want a Noah's Ark! You said you'd get me something if I let the dentist pull that tooth, and now you've got to! I want a lot of toys!" he cried to the lady who was with him. "Yes, Archibald. But please be quiet!" begged his mother. "I will get you a toy. Which one do you want?" "I want this Elephant!" cried the boy who, I am afraid, was rather rude. He caught the Elephant up by his trunk, and twisted the poor animal around. "Goodness me, sakes alive! I'm getting dizzy," thought the Elephant. "I hope this boy is not to be my master!" And this, it would seem, was not going to happen. Suddenly the boy dropped the Elephant. "I don't want this toy! He can't do anything!" the boy shouted. "I want something that jiggles and joggles and does things! Oh, I want this one!" and, as true as I'm telling you, that boy caught up the Calico Clown. "Well, I guess this is the last of me!" thought the Calico Clown. "I will not last very long in the hands of this rude chap." The boy had grabbed up the Calico Clown and had thrown the Elephant down so hard that the Celluloid Doll was knocked over. "Be careful, little boy, if you please," gently said the girl clerk. "Oh, I've got to have this Clown!" went on the rude boy. "I don't care for other toys. Does this fellow do anything?" he asked of the clerk, while his mother looked on, hardly knowing what to say. Archibald had just been to the dentist's to have a tooth pulled, so perhaps we should forgive him for being a little rough. "The Clown plays his cymbals when you touch him here," and the clerk pointed to the spring hidden in the chest of the gay fellow, under his speckled, striped and spotted calico jacket. "Oh, I'll touch him all right! I'll punch him!" cried the boy, and he jabbed the Calico Clown so hard in the chest that the cymbals rattled together like marbles in a boy's pocket. "He's dandy! I want him!" cried the boy. "What else does he do?" he asked. "He moves his arms and legs when you pull these strings," was the answer, and the clerk showed the boy how to do it. "Oh, he's a jolly toy!" cried Archibald. "I'll have some fun with him when I show him to the other fellows. Hi! Look at him jig!" and he pulled the strings so fast that it seemed as if the poor Clown would turn somersaults. "I can see what will happen to me," thought the Clown. "I shall come to pieces in about a week, and be thrown in the ash can. Why can't he be nice and quiet?" But Archibald was not that kind of boy. He seemed to want to make a noise or do something all the while. Most of his toys at home were broken, and that is why his mother had to promise to get him another before he would let her take him to the dentist's to have an aching tooth pulled. "I want this Clown!" cried Archibald, making the cymbals bang together again and again. "Very well, you may have it," his mother replied. "I'll wrap it up for you," said the clerk, and the poor Clown was quickly smothered in a wrapping of paper around which a string was tied. "Here is your toy, Archibald," said his mother, when the plaything came back ready to be taken out of the store. The mother had taken it from the clerk, and now she handed it to her little boy. And so he carried the Calico Clown away, without giving the poor, jolly fellow a chance to say good-bye to the Elephant, the Camel or the Celluloid Doll. "Now our good time for to-night is spoiled," sadly thought the Elephant. "Our jolly comrade is gone!" All the way home in the automobile Archibald kept punching the red and yellow Clown in the chest and banging the cymbals together until the boy's mother said: "Oh, Archibald, please be quiet! My head aches!" "All right, I'll make my Clown jiggle!" said the boy, who really loved his mother, though sometimes he was rude. Then he pulled the strings until the poor Clown thought his arms and legs would come off, so fast were they jerked about. When Archibald reached home with his new toy he ran out into the street to find some of his playmates. He saw a boy named Pete and another named Sam. "Look what I've got!" cried Archibald. "A Jumping Jack!" exclaimed Sam. "It's a Calico Clown, and he can do everything," said Archibald. "He's like one in a circus, and he can do funny tricks. He can jiggle his arms and legs and play the cymbals. I'll show you!" He worked the Clown so fast that the red and yellow chap grew dizzy again. "That's fine!" said Sam. "I wish I had a Clown like that." "Can he do the giant's swing?" asked Pete. "What's the giant's swing?" Archibald wanted to know. "It's something the men do in a circus," was the answer. "Here, I have some string in my pocket. We'll make a trapeze in your back yard and we'll have the Calico Clown do the giant's swing." "Oh, that'll be fun!" cried Archibald. "Yes, it may be fun for you," thought the Calico Clown, "but what about me? What is the giant's swing, anyhow? Oh, I wish I were back on the toy counter!" CHAPTER II A BROKEN LEG Sam and Pete hurried with Archibald to his back yard. Archibald carried the red and yellow Calico Clown in his hands. Now and then the boy would punch the gay fellow in the chest, making the cymbals clang together with a bang. Again Archibald would pull the strings, causing the Calico Clown to jiggle his arms and legs. "You're a nice toy, all right," said Archibald. "I like my Clown!" "But wait until I make him do the giant's swing!" exclaimed Pete. "That will be worth seeing!" When the boys reached a tree in Archibald's yard, Pete found a piece of broken broom handle for the bar of the trapeze. From his pocket he took some strong pieces of string. With these the broomstick was tied to the limb of a tree, so that it hung down and swung to and fro like a swing. "Now well put the Clown on," Pete called to Archibald, when the trapeze was finished. "How are you going to make him stay on?" asked Sam. "Oh, I can tie him on with another piece of string," Pete answered. "That's easy!" yelled Archibald. It did not take Pete long to tie the Calico Clown on the swinging trapeze. It was quite high from the ground, and as the little toy man looked down and saw how far below him the green grass was, his knees seemed to shake and his cymbals to tremble. "Oh, if I should fall now I would be broken to pieces!" said the Calico Clown to himself, for of course he dared not speak aloud now, and he dared not move by himself. "This is much higher than when I climbed the string in the toy store and caught fire at the gas jet. This is much higher than I ever was up before," sighed the Clown. "Is he ready to do the giant's swing now?" asked Sam. "In a minute," answered Pete. Once the Clown was tied on, Pete began to swing the trapeze to and fro. Farther and farther swung the Calico Clown, and, as he moved to and fro, his cymbals clanged together. His arms and legs also jiggled and jumped, as they had done when Archibald pulled the strings. Pete stood behind the trapeze and gave it little pushes with his hands every now and then. This made it swing farther and farther. "Oh, it almost turned all the way over!" suddenly cried Archibald. "That's what I want it to do," said Pete. "When the trapeze goes all the way over and around and around, that's the giant's swing I was telling you about. Watch!" Archibald and Sam watched, and in another moment the trapeze swung up and over so hard that it turned around and around in a regular circle. "Hurray! There she goes!" cried Pete. "Oh, look!" exclaimed Sam. "Say, that's great!" yelled Archibald. "I didn't know my Calico Clown could do that!" As for the Calico Clown himself, he did not know it either, and he felt very bad that he was made to do the giant's swing. "Oh, how dizzy it makes me feel!" he said to himself. "I know I'm going to fall!" He could feel the strings that tied him to the broomstick bar beginning to loosen. The Calico Clown shut his eyes, thinking that if he did not see the green grass whirling around beneath him he would not feel so dizzy. Around and around he went in the giant's swing. And then, all of a sudden, something broke. It was the string holding the Calico Clown to the broomstick. And when the string broke off flew the Clown! He flew off just when the trapeze was at the highest point, and away through the air sailed the red and yellow toy, as if he had been shot from a cannon. "Oh, look at that!" cried Archibald, "Now you've gone and done it, Pete!" "He busted loose!" shouted Sam. "If he falls and breaks, you've got to get me another," cried Archibald. "I'm going to fall, all right," thought the poor Clown to himself, "and I shouldn't be a bit surprised if I broke into bits!" One can not go sailing through the air forever, even if one is a Calico Clown. And, after being flung off the trapeze and shooting along high above the green grass, the Calico Clown felt himself falling down. Once more he shut his eyes, as he could do this without the boys seeing him. His arms and legs jiggled and joggled about, and his cymbals clanged with a tinkling sound. "Oh, dear!" sighed the Calico Clown. There came a soft, dull thud on the grass. That was the Calico Clown falling down. He felt a sudden, sharp pain go through him, and then he seemed to faint away. For a time the Calico Clown knew nothing of what happened. Archibald, Sam and Pete ran over to where the toy had fallen. Archibald was the first to pick it up. The cymbals were still fast to the Clown's hands, and so were the jiggling strings attached to his arms and legs. But something was wrong. "Oh, one of his legs is broken!" cried Archibald. "My Calico Clown is spoiled! Pete, you've broken one of his legs!" And that was what had happened. In his fall from the trapeze the poor red and yellow toy had cracked one of his wooden legs. It was the one on which he wore the red half of his trousers. "I--I didn't mean to do that," said Pete. "Well, you did it; and now you have to get me another toy!" exclaimed Archibald. "If you don't I'll tell my mother on you." "Oh, Arch!" exclaimed Sam. "Oh, all right. I'll get you another," said Pete quickly. "You can come over to my house now, and I'll give you anything I have in place of your Calico Clown. I didn't think his leg would break so easily." The three boys, with Archibald carrying the poor, broken-legged Clown, hurried out of the yard. As they were going to Pete's house they met a boy named Sidney, who was a brother of Herbert and Madeline. Madeline owned the Candy Rabbit, and Herbert had a Monkey on a Stick--both of them toys that had once lived in the same store with the Calico Clown. "What have you?" asked Sidney of Archibald. "A Calico Clown," was the answer. "He was new a little while ago, but Pete put him on a trapeze and made him do the giant's swing and now he's done for--he's got a broken leg." "What are you going to do with him?" asked Sidney. "He's going to make me give him one of my toys in place of the Clown," answered Pete. "Of course it was my fault he broke--I guess I didn't tie him on tight enough. And I'm willing to give Archie another toy for him, but--" Sidney suddenly thrust his hand into his pocket and pulled out a gaily painted top that hummed and made music when you spun it. "I'll trade you that for your Calico Clown," said Sidney to Archibald. "But the Clown has a broken leg," explained Pete. "I don't care. Maybe I can mend it," Sidney answered. "Once I fixed a Jumping Jack that had lost his head." "Well, if you did that, you can fix a Clown that has only a broken leg," said Sam. "Go on and trade with him, Archie." "All right, I will," decided Archibald. He held out the broken Clown and in trade took the musical top. "Now I don't have to give you any of my toys, do I, Archie?" asked Pete. "Nope," Archibald answered. "I'd rather have this top than a broken Calico Clown." While he was being traded for the top the Calico Clown came out of his faint. His broken leg did not hurt so much now. He felt more like himself. "Oh, ho!" he thought. "I am to have a new master, it seems. Well, I hope it will not be one who makes me do the giant's swing. Once is enough for that!" Archibald went off with Sam and Pete to try the musical top. Sidney carried the Calico Clown toward the house where Madeline and Herbert lived. "I'll fix you as good as new," said Sidney, looking at the dangling, broken leg. And, as Sidney walked along, all of a sudden he heard his sister calling. "Oh, quick, somebody! Somebody come quick! He's fallen into the water!" CHAPTER III THE CLOWN'S DANCE Sidney stuffed the Calico Clown into his pocket and ran as fast as he could toward his sister. He saw her standing near a little fountain in the side yard of their home. "What's the matter, Madeline?" asked Sidney, making sure the Calico Clown was not falling out of his pocket as he ran along. "Oh, he's in the water!" said the little girl. "Who is?" her brother wanted to know. "Who's in?" "My Candy Rabbit. I set him on the edge of the fountain so he could watch the birds having a bath, and he fell right in." Sidney looked toward the fountain. He saw nothing of the Candy Rabbit. "You can't see him 'cause he's over the edge, down inside," went on Madeline. "I can't reach and get him, or I'd fish him out myself. And if he stays there very long he'll melt, as he almost did once when he fell into the bathtub. Oh, please get him out for me." "I will!" promised Sidney. "Oh, is it possible I am to see my dear old friend, the Candy Rabbit, again?" thought the Calico Clown, who, though stuffed into Sidney's pocket, had heard all that was said. The toys could hear and understand talk at all times, except when they were asleep. The broken leg of the gay red and yellow chap did not hurt him very much just now. "I shall certainly be glad to see the Candy Rabbit again," the Clown thought. "And Sidney had better hurry and get him out of the water, or he surely will melt, and that would be dreadful." The fountain in the yard of the house where Herbert, Madeline and Sidney lived was rather a high one. The little girl could just reach up to the rim of the basin to set her Rabbit there, but, once he had toppled over and was down inside, she could neither see nor reach him. "You'll have to stand on something or you can't get him," Madeline said to Sidney. "Shall I get you a box?" "No, I'll stand on my tiptoes," he answered. And he did, thus making himself tall enough to reach over into the water and fish out the Candy Rabbit. Out that sweet fellow came, dripping wet, but not much harmed. "Oh, he didn't melt, did he?" asked Madeline. "I'm so glad!" "He hasn't melted yet," answered Sidney, as he handed the Easter toy to his sister. "But you'd better put him in the sun to dry, or he may crumble away." "I will," Madeline promised. As Sidney turned to walk away, the Calico Clown fell out of his pocket. "What's that? Where'd you get him?" cried Madeline. At the same time the Candy Rabbit saw the gay red and yellow chap from the toy store. "Oh, there's my dear old Clown friend!" thought the Rabbit, all wet as he was. "How in the wide world did he get here?" But of course he could not ask, any more than the Calico Clown could answer. And when the Clown, lying on the grass where he had fallen from Sidney's pocket, saw the Candy Rabbit, the Clown said to himself: "Yes, there he is! The same one I knew before. Oh, if we could only get together by ourselves and talk! How much we could say!" Sidney picked the Calico Clown up off the grass. "Where did you get him?" asked Madeline again. "He's awfully cute. I saw one like that in the store where Aunt Emma got my Candy Rabbit." "Maybe this is the same one," Sidney answered. "I traded off my musical top to Archibald for the Clown. His leg is broken." "Whose--Archibald's?" asked Madeline, in surprise. "No, the Clown's," answered Sidney, with a laugh. "I'm going to fix it. Course a Calico Clown is worth more than a musical top, for the Clown is new and my top was old. But a Clown with a broken leg isn't worth so much." "Is it worth anything?" asked Madeline. "I mean can you fix him?" "Oh, yes," her brother answered. "He can still bang his cymbals, and he can jiggle both his arms and the leg that isn't broken." Sidney punched the Clown in the chest, and the red and yellow fellow clapped his hands together and made the cymbals tinkle. Then Sidney pulled the strings and the two arms of the Clown went up and down, and one leg kicked out as nicely as you please. But the other leg did not move. "That's the leg that's broken," Sidney explained. "He got broken when Pete made him do the giant's swing." "He looks as though he was trying to dance on one leg!" laughed Madeline. "He's awfully cute, but he's funny!" "I'll soon fix him, and he'll be as good as ever," declared her brother. "You'd better go and put your Rabbit in the sun to dry." So Madeline did this, and very glad the sweet chap was to feel the warm sun on his back, for he had been made quite drippy and sticky by having fallen into the fountain. Sidney, as I have told you, was a boy who could mend things. Once he had fixed Herbert's toy boat that was broken, and, another time, he had glued a head back on Madeline's Celluloid Doll. "And I think I can glue my Clown's broken leg," thought Sidney, as he went toward the kitchen. There, he remembered, the cook always kept a tube of sticky glue. "What are you going to mend now?" asked the cook. "A broken leg," Sidney answered. "Oh, you can't mend a broken leg with glue!" cried the cook. "You had much better call in the doctor. Whose leg is it?" "I'm going to be the toy doctor," the little boy went on. "It's the wooden leg of a Calico Clown I'm going to mend." "Oh, that's different," said the cook. "Well, here's the glue." She handed Sidney the tube. He took it and his Clown over to a table. Pushing up the red trouser Sidney saw where the Clown's leg was broken. The wood was cracked and splintered, but the two pieces were there. "I'll just glue them together," said the boy. And this he did. Then, as he knew that glue must set, or get hard, he put his Calico Clown away on a shelf in a closet, where the toy chap saw something that made him wonder. At first, in the darkness, the Clown could not make out what or who it was on the shelf in the closet with him. Then, as his eyes became accustomed to the gloom, he noticed that it was a Cat. "Oh, are you a toy, too?" asked the Calico Clown politely, for he wanted company and some one to talk to. "No, I am not exactly a toy," answered the Cat. "You look like one," the Clown said. "There was one just like you in our store, only that cat's head wobbled." "Well, my head doesn't wobble--it comes off," said the Cat. "Your head comes off!" cried the Clown in great surprise. "I should think that would hurt!" "No, it's made to do that," the Cat explained. "You see I'm a match safe, and I also have a place inside me where burned matches may be put. To put them in me you have to lift off my head. It doesn't hurt at all--I'm used to it." "Oh, that's different," said the Calico Clown. "Well, I am very glad to meet you. Do you know the Candy Rabbit?" The Cat said she did, and very well, too. "He sleeps here on the closet shelf with me every night," she added. "You'll see him, pretty soon!" "I shall be very glad to," remarked the Clown. "Excuse me for not sitting up as I talk," he said, for Sidney had laid him down flat on his back. "The truth of the matter," went on the Clown, "is that my leg was broken a while ago, and the boy just glued it together." "Oh, I'm so sorry!" mewed the Match-Safe Cat. "I'm not--I'm glad," said the Clown. "If it wasn't glued I'd be a slimpsy lopsy sort of chap." "Oh, I didn't mean I was sorry your leg was GLUED, I meant that I was sorry it was BROKEN," went on the Cat. "Now let's tell each other our adventures." So they did, talking until late in the evening when, suddenly, the closet door was opened by Madeline. Of course, then the Cat and the Calico Clown had to be very still and quiet. "There, I guess you'll be best in the closet for the rest of the night," said Madeline to her Candy Rabbit Easter toy. "You'll be all dry in the morning, I hope," and she thrust the Rabbit back on the shelf and shut the door. "Oh, my dear Calico Clown friend!" cried the Candy Rabbit, as soon as it was safe for the toys to speak, "how glad I am to see you again." "And I am glad to see you," said the Clown. "I rather like it here with the Cat." "But why are you lying flat on your back?" asked the Candy Rabbit. "You used to be such a lively, jolly fellow. Come, get up and give us one of your old-time jigs or dances." "I'm very sorry, but I can't," answered the Clown. Then he told about his glued, broken leg, and how he would have to lie very stiff and straight and keep quiet. "But maybe, toward morning, I'll be well again, and then I can dance for you," he promised. "I hope so," mewed the Cat. "I have never seen a Calico Clown do a dance." "You should see him--he is quite wonderful," whispered the Candy Rabbit behind his paw. "Well, if I can't dance for you, I can ask a riddle," said the Clown, after a bit. "What makes more noise than a pig under--" "Oh, PLEASE don't start that over again," begged the Candy Rabbit. "You used to ask it in the store, and none of us could think of the answer. Don't tell riddles! Let's just talk!" So the toys talked together and told one another their different adventures. The night passed. Madeline, Herbert and Sidney slept, and Sidney dreamed of the fun he would have with his Calico Clown when the broken leg was firmly glued together again. And as the night passed the glue dried and set, and the Clown, feeling his leg growing better, grew happier. "I say!" he called out just before morning to the Rabbit and the Cat. "Are you asleep?" "I was, but I am awake now," the sugar Bunny answered. "And I am awake too," added the Cat. "Then I will dance for you," went on the Clown. "My leg is better." He stood up and he cut such funny antics by clapping his cymbals together, standing first on one leg and then on the other, jiggling his hands and feet, that the Cat went into mews of laughter and the Rabbit chuckled until his pink nose seemed to wrinkle all up like an accordion. CHAPTER IV UP IN A TREE Faster and faster danced the Calico Clown. No one needed to pull his strings now, for he could dance by himself, no eyes of children or grown folk being in the closet to watch him. Up and down, first to this side and then to the other, now on his left foot and now on his right, tapping his cymbals softly together, and wagging his head, the Calico Clown amused the Match-Safe Cat and the sugar Bunny in the closet. "Oh, don't dance any more! Please stop!" begged the Candy Rabbit, holding one paw to his side. "Don't you like it?" asked the Calico Clown, rather surprised. "Oh, yes!" was the answer. "But your dance is so funny that it makes me laugh so hard that my ears ache! Do please stop!" "Yes, please do," begged the Cat. "If you don't, I'm afraid I'll laugh so hard my head may come off and roll to the floor." "Oh, I wouldn't want THAT to happen!" exclaimed the Clown, as he brought his queer, jerky dance to an end. "If you'd rather, I could tell a riddle." "Not the one about what makes more noise than a pig under a gate!" exclaimed the Candy Rabbit. "Don't ask that one!" "Well, it's the only one I know," said the Clown. "I'll try to think of another. But, anyhow, I'll stop my dancing. However, I'm glad for one reason that I did it. It shows that my broken leg is almost as good as the other. A bit stiff, perhaps, but almost as good." "Yes, you danced as well as I ever saw you jig back in the toy store," said the Rabbit. "You have made the night pass very pleasantly for us." "You have indeed," added the Cat. "We appreciate your dancing and your fun very much." "Thank you, both," replied the Calico Clown. "It is a pleasure to do things for fellows such as you." Then they rested quietly. A little later Sidney opened the door of the closet to see if his Calico Clown was all right. There lay the yellow and red chap on his back, with one leg stuck straight up in the air, as if he had just kicked a football and then had fallen down. "Why! Why!" exclaimed Sidney in surprise. "I didn't leave my Clown like THAT!" "What has happened to him?" asked Madeline, who came to see if her Candy Rabbit was dry. "He has one leg stuck up in the air," went on her brother. "I left him lying flat on his back, so the broken leg I mended would get good and hard and stiff again. Now look at him!" "It IS funny," agreed Madeline. "Didn't you move him?" "I didn't touch him, and I don't believe anybody has come to this closet since I put him here, except you. Wouldn't it be funny, Madeline, if the Clown got up by himself to see if he could walk on his glued leg?" "Yes, it would be very funny," agreed the little girl. "But maybe my Rabbit helped him, or this Match-Safe Cat. Maybe they moved the Clown!" "How could they?" Sidney wanted to know. "They couldn't, unless they came to life," went on Madeline in a whisper. "And sometimes," she went on, looking around to make sure no one else heard her, "sometimes I think that our toys CAN do things by themselves when we can't see them." "Oh, ho! Course they can't do anything!" laughed Sidney. But if he could have seen the Calico Clown dancing on the closet shelf, and if he could have heard the Cat and the Candy Rabbit laughing until one's head nearly came off and the other had pains in his ears, then Sidney would have thought differently, wouldn't he? "Well, anyhow, I'm going to take my Calico Clown out and see how he jumps around this morning," said Sidney, after a while. Sidney found that the Calico Clown was almost as good an acrobat, or jumper, as ever. When punched in the chest, the Clown would bang his cymbals together. And when the strings were pulled, out shot the arms and legs like those of a Jumping Jack, only in different fashion. The red and yellow trousers of the Clown had not been soiled by his giant's swing accident, and Sidney had been careful not to get any spots of glue on his toy when he mended him. "The only thing wrong is that the broken leg is a little stiffer than the other," Sidney said, as he made his Clown do all sorts of funny tricks. "I suppose that leg is a little shorter, or maybe the glue made it stiff. But he is just what I want, and I'd rather have him than the musical top I traded for him. Maybe Herbert and I can get up a little circus, as Herbert once had a show with his Monkey on a Stick. A clown belongs in a circus, and so do monkeys. Maybe we'll have one." The Calico Clown, who heard Sidney say this, thought it would be very jolly to be in a circus. Sidney certainly liked the Calico Clown. He made him do many funny tricks for the boys and girls--Dick, Dorothy, Mirabell, Arnold, and for Madeline and Herbert, who were Sidney's brother and sister. "With my Monkey on a Stick and your Calico Clown we surely can have a fine circus some day," said Herbert, as he and Sidney were playing out on the porch one warm, summer day. The Monkey and Clown had been glad to see each other when they met again after having been separated at the store. Each one had different adventures to tell. All of a sudden, as Herbert and Sidney, with their Monkey and Clown toys, were making each other laugh by the funny antics of the two playthings, a voice called: "Boys, do you want some bread and jam?" "Oh, I should say we did!" cried Herbert. "We're coming," answered Sidney, for it was the jolly, good-natured cook who had called to them from her kitchen where she had just made some fresh raspberry jam. Leaving the Monkey and the Clown on the porch, the boys ran around to the side door for their jam and bread. "Now we have a chance to talk," said the Monkey to the Clown. "Yes, but it will not be for very long," was the answer. "Those boys will soon be back here. They'll not eat forever. I was just wondering--" "What?" asked the Monkey, for the Calico Clown suddenly stopped speaking and looked down the street. "What were you wondering?" "Well, just NOW I am wondering if that is your brother," went on the Clown, pointing toward the gate with one hand on which was fastened a clanging cymbal. "Look, here comes a chap who looks just like you, except that he has no stick, and his cap is blue, while yours is red. And hark! I hear music!" "Oh, it's a hand organ, and that's a real, live monkey you see!" exclaimed the Monkey on a Stick. "It is true he looks like me, but we are no relation. He is a live monkey and I am a toy." "Here he comes now!" cried the Calico Clown, and, as he spoke, the hand-organ man, making music, came along, and the live monkey ran into the yard and up on the steps. And then a dreadful thing happened! For the live monkey quickly caught up the Calico Clown, and, holding the red and yellow chap in his hands, the long-tailed creature climbed up into a tree. Yes, indeed, as true as I'm telling you, the live monkey carried the Calico Clown up into a tree! CHAPTER V TAKEN DOWN TOWN The Calico Clown was so surprised at the quick action of the monkey in catching him by one leg and carrying him up into the tree, that, for a moment or two, the toy said nothing. But as the hand-organ monkey climbed higher and higher the Clown finally cried: "Here! Hold on if you please! What are you going to do?" "Oh, just have some fun!" answered the monkey in a laughing voice. You see, he could understand and speak toy talk, just as the Calico Clown knew how to talk and understand animal language. [Illustration with caption: Calico Clown Amuses the Monkey.] "Well, it may be fun for you," went on the Clown, "but I don't like it! This is no fun for me! Ouch! Look out for my leg!" the Clown suddenly cried, as the monkey banged him against a branch of the tree. "What about your leg?" asked the monkey, sitting down on a branch and winding his tail around it so he wouldn't fall off. "I don't see anything the matter." "I mean look out and don't hurt my broken leg," went on the Clown. "Sidney, the little boy who owns me, glued it, but if you bang it too hard it may break all over again and then I'll be in a mighty bad fix." "Oh, excuse me. I'll be careful," said the monkey. "Well, I wish you'd take me down out of this tree," begged the Calico Clown. "I don't see why you brought me up here, anyhow." "Oh, I just grabbed hold of you and brought you up here for fun," said the monkey. "I felt like playing. And I had to do it quickly, or my master would have stopped me. Every time I grab up anything he doesn't want me to take, I have to climb a tree. He can't chase me up there, though he'd like to lots of times, I guess." "I thought hand-organ monkeys had collars around their necks, and a long rope fast to that which their masters held," said the Clown. "Well, I had that, too, but I took the rope off a little while ago, so I could run loose," explained the live monkey. "I want to have some fun. Can you do anything to amuse me?" and he looked at the cymbals on the Calico Clown's hands and at the strings which were fast to his legs and arms. "I can ask you a riddle about what makes more noise than a pig under a gate," said the Clown. "Shall I?" "Please don't do that," begged the monkey. "I never was any good at guessing riddles. Can't you do anything else?" "Yes, a few things," the Clown said. Then he banged his cymbals together and began to jiggle his arms and legs in such a funny way that the monkey who was holding him laughed and laughed and laughed. "Oh, you are too funny for anything!" cried the monkey. "I'm glad I picked you up. Oh, excuse me while I laugh a little harder!" The monkey set the Clown down astraddle the limb of a tree near the trunk, and quite a distance up from the ground. Then the monkey laughed so hard that, if he had not been holding on by his tail, he surely would have fallen. For the Clown kept on doing his funny antics and tricks, and the monkey kept on laughing until he had to hold his sides with feet and hands, they ached so. "Oh, I'm so glad I met you!" said the monkey, when he had a chance between his fits of laughter. "I hope my master comes through this street every day with his hand organ. I'll be looking for you." "And I'll be looking for you--to keep out of your way, if I can," thought the Clown, though he did not say it out loud. The monkey finally grew a little quiet, and he was just going to ask the Clown to do some more jiggling when, all at once, the music of the hand organ stopped, and the Italian man cried: "Ah, Jacko! I see you! Up-a in de tree. Bad monk! Come down right away to your Tony! Come, Jacko!" "Oh, goodness me! I've got to go. My fun is over! Now I've got to go to work gathering pennies in my cap!" said the monkey. "Good-bye!" he called to the Calico Clown, and down out of the tree the monkey began to climb, swinging from limb to limb by his tail, as he used to do in the cocoanut groves of the forest where he had once lived. "Here! Come back and get me! Don't leave me up in a tree like this!" begged the Calico Clown, who had sat down astride the limb after he had done his last funny trick. "Come and get me!" "Sorry, but I haven't time! My master is calling me! I must go!" answered the monkey, hurrying more than ever. Down the tree he swung. "Oh take me down! Don't leave me like this!" begged the Clown. But it was of no use. There he was, left all alone, high up in a tree, sitting on a branch. Of course neither Tony, the music man, nor Sidney nor Herbert had heard this talk between the toy and the animal, for they spoke in a language that only a few can understand. The organ grinder was anxious for his monkey to come back, and he watched him scrambling down the tree. The two boys, who had gone to get bread and jam, came back to the front yard. They saw the organ grinder and his monkey, and, for the moment, they forgot all about their Clown and the Monkey on a Stick. They did not look toward the porch, or they would have noticed that the Clown was gone, though the toy Monkey was still there. The live monkey was dancing toward the boys, holding out his cap for pennies. And the Calico Clown was up in the tree, not knowing how in the world he was ever going to get down. "Oh, look at the monkey!" cried Herbert, as he saw the music man's long-tailed animal. "He's nice," said Sidney. "He's like your Monkey on a Stick, only bigger, Herb. I'm going in and ask mother for a penny." "So'm I!" said Herbert. Still thinking that their own toys were safe on the porch, the little boys ran back into the house, where each one got a penny for the hand-organ monkey. And the monkey took off his blue cap to gather the pennies for his master. "Good boys!" said the Italian with a smile, and he played another tune for them. And then it was time for him to travel on. "Come along, Jacko!" he called to his monkey, and then he fastened the rope back on his monkey's collar and made him jump up on the organ. Then the two of them went down the street. "Oh, there he goes!" thought the poor Calico Clown, still up in the tree. "Oh, he's going to leave me here! Oh, what shall I do?" Well might he ask that. What could he do? How was he going to get down? Herbert and Sidney, standing at the gate, saw the music man turn around the corner of the street. "Now we'll go back and play with my Monkey and your Clown," said Herbert. "We'll practice for the circus we're going to have." "That'll be fun!" laughed Sidney. But when the two boys went back to the porch--well, you know, as well as I, what happened. They saw the Monkey on a Stick, but no Clown! "Why--why, where is he?" asked Sidney, looking around. "Did you take him, Herb? Did you take my Calico Clown?" "No, of course not," answered Herbert. "They were both here when we went to get our bread and jam. Oh, Sid! I know what happened!" he suddenly exclaimed. "What?" asked his brother. "The hand-organ monkey took your Clown away with him!" went on Herbert. At first Sidney thought that this might be so, but, after thinking over the matter for a moment, he shook his head and answered: "No, the live monkey didn't take my Clown. Don't you remember? He came up here with his cap in his hand to get our pennies. Then, when he went away, he was sitting on top of the organ and he had his cap off and so did the music man, and they didn't either of them have my Clown." "Yes, I guess that's right," Herbert said. "But he's gone." "We've got to find my Clown," said Sidney. "I want him back, and we can't have a circus without him. We've GOT to find him." "Yes, we have," agreed Herbert. "Maybe Carlo, the dog, came and carried him away." "Maybe," said Sidney. They blamed lots of things on poor Carlo, and sometimes he did do tricks. But this was not one of those times. So the two boys began searching for the Calico Clown. As for that jolly chap himself he was still up in the tree. And he was not so very jolly just then, either. He did not once think of asking his pig riddle. "I wonder if I can wiggle down?" he asked himself. "There is no one to see me now, and I can move about. I'm going to try to get down." He wiggled and he woggled, whatever that is, and managed to get one leg over the limb, so both were on the same side. The Clown was just going to try to swing to the next lowest branch, as he had seen the live monkey do, when, all of a sudden, he slipped and fell. "Oh, dear! Another accident! This is going to be a bad one--worse than the giant's swing!" he cried. Down, down, down, he fell. What was going to happen? Now, just about this time, it chanced that a man was passing under the tree. This man had on a large, loose coat with large pockets on the sides, and he was so used to carrying things in his pockets that each nearly always stood wide open, like a hungry mouth, waiting for some one to fill it. And, as luck would have it, the man came under the tree just as the Calico Clown slipped and fell. And so, instead of falling to the ground, the Clown fell into one of the wide open side pockets of the man's coat. And the man never knew about it--at least for a time. "Oh, my goodness me, what a narrow escape!" exclaimed the Clown as he landed safely in the soft pocket. "This is better than falling on the hard ground. But I wonder what will happen to me now." And well might he ask that, for the man, not knowing the Clown was in his pocket, hurried on down town to his office. CHAPTER VI IN THE OFFICE The Man, into whose pocket the Calico Clown had fallen from the tree, hurried along the street, not knowing a thing of what had happened. He was anxious to get to his office to look after his business, for he was a very busy Man. He kept other folks busy, too--clerks and office boy and a girl to write letters on the typewriter. Now, as it happened, the Man was a little late that morning, and when he reached his office he was in such haste that he did not take time to do anything before he sat down in his big chair to look over his mail. "Please write some letters for me on the typewriter," he said to Miss Jones, who worked the machine. Miss Jones sat down and became very busy. The Man told her what to write and she banged away on the machine. Every once in a while she would look at the Man when he paused to think of something else to say. And once, as she did this, a queer look came over the face of Miss Jones. Then she smiled and next she burst right out into a loud laugh. And the funny part of it was that just then the Man was telling her to put in a letter something like this: "I am very, very sorry to tell you that I can not do as you want me to." And, just as he said the word "sorry," Miss Jones laughed her very hardest. "Eh! What's the matter? What is so very funny about my saying I am sorry?" asked the Man. The girl typewriter and the office boy called him "the Boss" behind his back, and they liked him very much, for he was kind and good to them. "Oh, dear! I MUST laugh!" said Miss Jones. Miss Jones pointed to something sticking out of his side coat pocket. The Man put his hand there and pulled out--the Calico Clown! You should have seen the strange look come over the Man's face. Then he laughed as hard as Miss Jones, and the office boy in the next room, hearing them, laughed also. "Well, how in the world did that Calico Clown come to be in my pocket?" exclaimed the man. He took the toy out, turned it over and looked at it from all sides. As he did so he happened to punch the Clown in the chest, and of course the Clown banged his cymbals together, as he had been taught to do in the workshop of Santa Claus, where he had been made. And as the cymbals tinkled and clanged the typewriter girl laughed harder than ever. Then the man happened to pull one of the strings, and the Clown kicked up his legs. The office boy was looking into the room just then, and, seeing this antic of the jolly red and yellow chap, the office boy laughed out loud. "Dear me! I'm glad every one in this office is so good-natured," thought the Clown to himself. "And I certainly am glad to get out of that Man's pocket. I was nearly smothered there, but of course it was better than being in the tree. I'll do some more tricks for them if the Man pulls more strings." And the Man did. He pulled the strings fastened to the Clown's arms, and they jiggled and joggled in a merry fashion, so the girl and the office boy laughed harder than ever. "Well, how in the world did that Clown toy come to be in my pocket? That's what I want to know," said the Man, very much puzzled. "Maybe one of the children put it in," suggested the girl. She knew the Man had children at home. "No, I hardly think it was any of MY children," said the Man. "Arnold has no toy like this. He has a Bold Tin Soldier, as he calls him, and some soldier men. And my little girl, Mirabell, has a Lamb on Wheels. But neither of them has a Calico Clown." "Perhaps some of their playmates called at your house, to have fun with Arnold or Mirabell," said the typewriter girl, "and they may have dropped the Clown into your pocket as your coat hung on the rack." "Yes, that could have happened," said the Man. "But I remember I put my hand in my pocket as I left the house, to make sure I had some letters I was to mail. The Clown was not in my pocket then. He must have got in after I left my house. And how could that happen, I should like to know! I didn't go in any place. How could it have happened?" Of course neither the office boy nor the typewriter girl could tell. They had not seen the Calico Clown fall from the tree into the pocket of the Man as he passed underneath. And even the Man himself had not seen this. "It's very queer," said the father of Mirabell and Arnold. "The only way it could have happened that I can think of is that some children I passed on the street may have tossed the Clown into my pocket. I have very large ones in this coat, and sometimes they stand wide open." The Calico Clown stayed in the office all that day. It was the first time he had ever been to business, and he rather liked it as a change. Very few toys ever have the chance he had. He sat up on the Man's desk and watched the girl click at the typewriter, and he watched the office boy come in and out. The office boy looked at the Clown, too. "I'm going to have some fun with him when the Boss goes out to lunch," said the office boy to himself. Now the Clown felt rather strange in the office. His part in life was to make joy and laughter, and he could not do it sitting up straight and stiff on a desk. He looked around, and he saw, not far from him, a jolly little man, like a dwarf. "I wish I could speak to him," thought the Clown. "He looks as if he belonged to the toy family." And you can imagine how surprised the Clown was when, all of a sudden, the Man lifted the head right off the queer-looking little dwarf and dipped his pen down inside him! "Why, he's an ink well!" thought the Clown. "That's what he is! An ink well! And his head comes off the same as the Porcelain Cat's head lifts off for matches to be put inside her. How very odd! I'd like to talk to that chap." When the Man went out to lunch, into the office hurried the office boy with a grin on his face. "What do you want?" asked the typewriter girl. "I want to make that Clown jiggle," was the answer. "I'm going to have some fun with him." "No, you mustn't!" exclaimed the girl. "The Boss won't like it if you touch him. If you break him--" "Aw, I won't break him!" cried the boy. "Let me have him!" He made a grab for the Calico Clown, and the girl tried to stop the boy. As a result the Clown was knocked off the desk to the floor. "Oh, dear! I hope my glued leg is not broken!" thought the Clown. CHAPTER VII IN THE WASH-BASKET "There, now look what you did!" cried the girl. "I didn't do it! You did!" said the boy. "If you hadn't jiggled it out of my hand when I was taking it down it wouldn't have fallen." I don't know how long they might have gone on disputing in this fashion if the office boy from next door had not poked his head in and called: "What's the matter?" Then he saw the Calico Clown lying on the floor and he added: "Has Santa Claus been here?" and he laughed. "It came out of the pocket of the Boss," explained the first office boy. "He put it on his desk. I was going to look at it and pull the strings, 'cause the Boss is out to lunch, but she jiggled my hand and made me drop it. Now it's busted." "Maybe it isn't," said the second office boy. "I'll see." He picked the Calico Clown up off the floor, punched him in the chest, and the gay red and yellow chap banged his cymbals together. "He's all right so far," said the second office boy. "Now we'll pull the strings." "And there's where trouble may come in," thought the Calico Clown himself, for he heard and saw and felt all that went on. "I'm almost sure my glued leg is broken," said the Clown to himself. But when the strings were pulled, one after another, and the arms and legs and head of the funny fellow twisted and turned and jerked, the two office boys and the typewriter girl laughed. And the Clown himself was glad, for he felt that he was not broken. "If the Boss comes in and finds you playing with that Clown you'll catch it," said the girl to the first office boy, after a while. "I guess I'd better put him back on the desk. I'm going out to get my dinner pretty soon," the boy said. And a little later, while the girl was in an outer office looking over some papers and while the Man was still at his lunch and while the office boy was out getting something to eat, the Calico Clown was left alone with the Ink-Well Dwarf. "How do you do?" politely asked the Clown. [Illustration: Calico Clown Has a Chat With Ink-Well Dwarf.] "Very well, thank you," answered the Dwarf. "And how are you? Where did you come from? Are you going to work here?" "I never work!" exclaimed the Clown. "I am only to make jolly fun and laughter." "Then this is no place for you," went on the Dwarf. "This is an office, and we must all work, though I must admit that those boys seem to get as much fun out of it as any one. They're always skylarking, cutting up, and playing jokes. But I work myself. I hold ink for the Boss." "I see you do," answered the Clown. "I suppose I don't really belong here, made only for fun, as I am. And I did not want to come here. It was quite accidental. I was brought." "How!" asked the Ink-Well Dwarf. "In the pocket of the Man they call the Boss," was the reply. And then the Clown told of how he had fallen out of the tree. All the remainder of the day the Calico Clown sat on the desk of the Man, wondering what would happen to him. At last he found out. At the close of the afternoon, when no more business was to be done, the Man arose and closed his desk. He put papers in his different pockets to take home with him, and then he saw the Calico Clown. "Oh, I mustn't forget you!" he said, speaking out loud as he sometimes did when alone. And he was alone in the office now, for the boy and the typewriter girl had gone. "I'll take you home and ask Arnold or Mirabell to whom you belong," went on the man. "You are some child's toy, I'm sure of that, and one of my children may know where you live." The Calico Clown knew this to be so, and he knew that either Arnold or Mirabell would at once be able to say that the Clown belonged to Sidney, for they had seen Sidney playing with this toy. "Back into my pocket you go!" said the Man, and he took the Clown down off the top of the desk. "There are a lot of handkerchiefs in that pocket," the man went on. "They'll make a good, soft bed for you to lie on." And, surely enough, there was a soft bed of handkerchiefs for the Calico Clown. They were handkerchiefs the man had been carrying in his pocket for some time, and he had forgotten to put them in the wash, as his wife, over and over again, had told him to do. A little later, with the Calico Clown nestled down in among a pile of handkerchiefs in his pocket, the Man started for home from his office. "Well, I am certainly doing some traveling this day," thought the Clown, as he reposed in the Man's pocket. "First I am carried up a tree, and then I fall down. Next I am taken to an office, just as if I were in business like the Ink-Well Dwarf, and now I am being taken to the home of Mirabell and Arnold. I wonder what will happen next." He did not have to wait long to find out. Down the street walked the Man, and soon he was within sight of his home, where Mirabell and Arnold lived. The two children were out in front, waiting for their father. As soon as they saw him coming they stopped swinging on the gate and cried: "Here comes Daddy!" He waved his hand to them. Down the street they raced to meet him, and taking hold of his hands, one on either side, they led him toward the house. Just then out of the side gate came Mandy, the jolly fat colored washer-woman. She had a basket full of clothes on a small express wagon. "Oh, that reminds me!" exclaimed Mirabell's father. "I'll put these handkerchiefs from my pocket in your basket of wash, Mandy! You can take them home with you, wash them clean and iron them and bring them back to me." "'Deed an' dat's just what I can do!" exclaimed Mandy, smiling broadly. "Put 'em right down yeah in mah basket!" She turned back the sheet she had spread over the soiled clothes and made a little place down in one corner for the Man to put his handkerchiefs. There was quite a bundle of them, all wadded together. "There, you can tell Mother I didn't forget my handkerchiefs this time," said Daddy to his two children. "You saw me put them in the wash, didn't you?" "Yes, Daddy, we did!" exclaimed Mirabell. "And, oh, you ought to see what happened to my Lamb on Wheels to-day!" "What happened?" asked Daddy, as he straightened up after having stooped down to thrust the handkerchiefs into the basket. "Why, Arnold's Bold Tin Soldier got caught in the curly wool on my Lamb's back," explained Mirabell, "and they both fell into the flour barrel!" "That WAS funny!" laughed Daddy. And he was thinking so much about this and laughing so with Arnold and Mirabell that he never stopped to think of the Calico Clown in among the handkerchiefs he had put in the wash-basket. But that is what he had done. He had thrust the Clown, with the handkerchiefs, down in Mandy's basket of soiled clothes. "Oh, my! Oh, dear me! Oh, what is going to happen now?" thought the Calico Clown as he felt himself covered up and taken away. "Oh, if I could only tell Mirabell or Arnold I am here. Oh, this is dreadful." But he could do nothing! Away he was taken in the wash-basket. CHAPTER VIII DOWN IN A DEEP HOLE Daddy hurried into the house with Mirabell and Arnold. The children were eager to show their father into what a funny pickle the Bold Tin Soldier and the Lamb on Wheels had got. Of course, it wasn't exactly a "pickle." I only call it that for fun. It was really the flour barrel into which the two toys had fallen. "How did it happen?" asked Daddy, as the children brought out their playthings, the Soldier still entangled in the Lamb's wool, and both of them white with flour. "It happened when we were in the kitchen watching the cook make a cake," explained Mirabell. "I was playing with my Lamb on the floor and I lifted her up to let her see how nice the cake looked." "But what about your Soldier, Arnold?" asked Daddy. "Oh, I had set my Soldier Captain on the back of Mirabell's Lamb to give him a ride," explained the little boy. "I said he could," remarked Mirabell. "And when she lifted her Lamb up she lifted my Soldier up, too," added Arnold. "And then!" burst out Mirabell, laughing, "my foot slipped and I let go of my Lamb on Wheels, and she fell into the flour barrel, and so did Arnold's Bold Tin Soldier." "And they were a sight, all white and covered with flour!" exclaimed the little boy. But now we must see what happened to the Calico Clown. At first he was very uncomfortable, stuck down in among the soiled clothes. He feared he would smother; but really he did not need much air, and he soon found he was getting all he needed. The clothes were so soft that they did not crush him, and--he was not near any of Mirabell's or Arnold's play clothes--he soon found that they were not badly soiled. So, after getting over his first distaste, he began rather to like the ride in the little express wagon. "It isn't as smooth as an automobile," thought the Calico Clown, "but it is jolly for a change. The only thing that's worrying me is what is going to happen next; and to know whether or not I shall ever see Sidney again." And at this time, which was early in the evening, Sidney was still looking everywhere for his Calico Clown. The little boy told his mother and sister how he and Herbert had left the Clown and the Monkey on a Stick on the porch while they went to get bread and jam. "And when we came back my Monkey was there," said Herbert, "but Sid's Clown was gone." "It is very strange where your toy has got to," said Mother. She helped Sidney and Herbert look, but the Clown seemed gone forever, and Sidney felt sorry. "Now we can never have that circus," he said to his brother. "Oh, maybe he'll be found some day," was the answer. But Sidney sadly shook his head. Trundling the little express wagon with her basket of clothes along the streets, Mandy finally reached her home where she did the washing and ironing. Her children were waiting for her to come to supper. Liza Ann, the oldest girl, had set the table, and Jim, the next oldest boy, was out on the steps watching for his mother, just as Arnold and Mirabell watched for their daddy. "Is de table all set, honey?" asked Mandy of Liza Ann. "I hopes it is, 'cause I wants to put dese yeah clothes in to soak after I eats." "De table is all sot," explained Liza Ann. "An' de meat an' taters is all ready to hotten up." "Dass good," sighed Mandy, for she was rather tired. "I'll jest leave these yeah clothes till after supper," she went on, putting the basket down in a corner of the room. "Dear me! I wonder how much longer I shall have to stay here," thought the Calico Clown, tucked away under the sheet and in the pile of handkerchiefs. "Aren't they ever going to let me out? This is worse than being in jail!" But at last Mandy's supper was finished, and, with Liza Ann and Jim to help her sort the clothes, she filled a tub with water and began. The big sheet was taken off the top of the basket, and then Liza Ann reached in and took up the bundle of handkerchiefs. "You wants to be keerful o' dem, honey," said her mother. "Dem's de bestest an' most special hankowitches o' Mirabell's pa, an' he's very 'tickler how dey is washed. Better let me have dem, honey." Mandy reached over to take the handkerchiefs from Liza Ann, and at that moment the little colored girl saw something red and yellow among them. "Oh, what a funny handkowitch!" she called, and the next moment they all saw the Calico Clown. Mandy took him out of the bundle. "Oh, Mammy! I want him!" cried Jim. "Nope! He's mine! I saw him, fustest!" exclaimed Liza Ann, and she reached for the Calico Clown. "Wait a minute, now, chilluns. Wait a minute!" said Mandy, and she held the toy close to her breast. "Dish yeah don't belongs to us." "But it come in de basket of wash, Mammy!" said Jim. "Why can't we keep it?" "'Cause tain't belongin' to us," answered his mother. "I can jest guess how it come in. Mirabell or Arnold, dey done drop it in dere Daddy's pocket, an' he didn't know nothin' about its bein' in. He took it out wif his hankowitches, and put it in mah basket of wash. An' I brung it home. My! My! It suah is funny how it happened!" She held the Calico Clown up and looked at him. "Oh, ain't he jest grand!" cried Jim, his eyes shining with delight. "He suah is a gay fellow all right," said Mandy. Liza Ann reached up and pulled one of the Clown's strings. Quickly his legs jiggled and he cut some funny capers. "Oh, my! Dat suah is scrumptious!" laughed the little colored girl. "Oh, Mammy, jest let us play with him a little while!" begged Jim. "Den I'll take him back to where he belongs." "All right," agreed Mandy. "But be mighty keerful of him! If dat Calico Clown should get busted Mirabell or Arnold is gwine to feel mighty bad!" You see she didn't know the Clown belonged to Sidney, and not to either Mirabell or Arnold. "Come on, we'll have some fun wif him!" said Liza Ann to her brother. And then, while their mother put the clothes to soak, the children played with the Calico Clown. They were good and gentle children, and the gay toy did not in the least mind clanging his cymbals for them or doing his funny dance. He jiggled and joggled his arms and legs, and went through such funny antics that Jim and Liza Ann laughed again and again. "Po' li'l honey lambs!" said Mandy with a sigh, as she bent over the wash tub. "I wish dey had some toys of dere own. But den I'se got good clean and soft watah to wash wif, an' dat's a blessin'! Lots of folks hasn't got only hard watah, what won't make no suds." After the clothes had been put to soak in a tub Mandy dried her hands and sat and looked at Liza Ann and Jim playing with the Calico Clown. "Come now, you'd better get ready to take him back," she said to Jim, after a while. "Does you mean to take him back where you got de basket of wash, Mammy?" asked the colored boy. "Yes," his mother answered. "You know de big green house. You's been dere befo', honey. You go dere now, Jim--tisn't late yet--an' you take back dis Clown. Tell Mirabell or Arnold dat it got in de wash wif dere daddy's pocket hankowitches." "All right," said Jim, with a sigh. "I will. But I suah does wish we could keep him!" "So do I," sighed Liza Ann in a low voice. "Well, maybe some day I can make money enough to git you somethin' to play wif," said their mother. As she had said, it was not late, though the sun had set. It was a warm, summer night, and the moon was shining brightly. Jim knew the way to the house where Mirabell and Arnold lived, for he had often gone there both with his mother and alone, either to get or bring back the clothes. With the Calico Clown wrapped in a piece of paper, Jim set off on his trip. He hurried along, thinking how nice it would be if he had a toy like that. He was wondering how long it would be before his mother could earn enough money to buy one when, just as he turned into the yard of the house where Arnold and Mirabell lived, Jim stumbled and fell. The Calico Clown shot out of his hands, and the poor toy, as he flew along, thought to himself: "Oh, what is happening now!" The next moment he fell into a deep hole, and only that he grasped the long grass at the edge of it, Jim would have fallen in himself. "Fo' de lan' sakes!" exclaimed the little colored boy as he picked himself up. "What have done gone an' happened now?" You see, he felt about it just as the Calico Clown did. CHAPTER IX BACK HOME The door of the house in which Arnold and Mirabell lived opened, and their daddy looked out toward the front yard. He had heard the grunt made by Jim when the little colored boy fell down and dropped the Calico Clown into a hole. "Is anybody there?" asked Mirabell's father. "I'se heah!" exclaimed Jim, as he slowly arose. "I was bringin' back de Calico Clown, an' I 'mos' fell into a big hole." "There, Father! I told you that hole ought to be covered up!" exclaimed Mirabell's mother, who had also come to the door. "Oh, no'm! I didn't fall in!" answered Jim, who heard what was said. "But I almos' did, an' I guess de Clown he fell in complete an' altogether." "The Clown? What do you mean?" asked Daddy. "De Clown what got in Mammy's basket of wash," explained the little colored boy. By this time he had picked himself up, and in the light that streamed out from the open door of the house he saw the hole into which he had so nearly fallen. It was a hole dug by a man who had come to fix the sewer pipes that day, and when night came he had not finished. He left a deep, wide, gaping hole just beside the front walk. Arnold, Mirabell and the others in the house knew of the hole, and kept away from it. In the daylight, when Mandy had taken away the wash, she had seen it and had not fallen in. But poor Jim, coming after dark, had stumbled in the thick grass and had nearly plumped himself in. As for the Clown--well, there he was down in the dirt at the bottom of the hole! "I wonder what is the matter with me!" thought the gay red and yellow fellow as he came to a stop in some soft dirt. "I seem to be very unlucky!" "What does Jim mean about a Clown falling in the hole?" asked Arnold curiously. "And a Clown being in the basket with the wash?" added Mirabell. "I think I can tell you," their father answered, suddenly remembering what he had put in his pocket to bring home from the office. "But first I will put some boards over the hole the plumber left so no one else will fall in, or nearly fall in." "You'll get the Clown up, won't you, Daddy?" asked Mirabell. "Maybe it's like the one Sidney had." "Did Sidney have a Calico Clown with one leg red and the other leg yellow?" asked Daddy. "Yes, and it did all sorts of funny tricks when you pulled the strings; and he clapped his cymbals when you punched him in the chest," said Arnold. "Well, then this must be Sidney's Clown. But how it came in my pocket is more than I can guess," said Daddy. "Yes, I'll get the Clown up out of the hole, and then I'll put some boards over it." A lantern was brought out and flashed down into the hole. There, on the bottom, lay the Calico Clown. "I'll bring him up!" offered Jim, and quickly he climbed down, caught hold of the gay toy, and climbed out again. "Thank you, Jim," said Daddy. "Yes, that's Sidney's Clown," declared Arnold, when he had looked at the red and yellow chap. "But how did he get in the basket of clothes?" "That's quite a long story," said Daddy. "Come into the house and I'll tell you. Did your mother send you back with the Clown, Jim?" he asked of the little colored boy. "Yes'm--I mean yes, sah!" Jim answered. "He was in de basket all done wrapped up in hankowitches." "Those were the handkerchiefs I took from my pocket and put in Mandy's basket when I met her at the gate," said Mirabell's daddy. "And so you found him, Jim!" "Yes'm--I mean yes, sah! Me an' Liza Ann found him. He's a jolly good Clown; but Mammy, she wouldn't let us keep him 'cause as how she said he belonged to Mirabell or Arnold." "No, he doesn't live here," said Arnold. "Oh, Sid will be so glad to get him back!" "I suppose you and your sister felt bad about losing the Clown," said Daddy to Jim. "Didn't you?" "I suahly did!" exclaimed the little colored boy. "So did Liza Ann." Daddy and Mother talked softly together a moment, and then Mother hurried away to come back with something that made Jim's eyes sparkle and open wide. For she had a little toy engine, which could be wound up with a key and sent whizzing along. And there was a fine Jumping Jack, which jiggled almost as nicely as did the Calico Clown. "Here are two toys that Arnold and Mirabell are through with," said Mother, with a smile at Jim. "They are not broken, and they will each go. Perhaps you will like them almost as much as you did the Calico Clown." "Oh, golly!" cried Jim. "We'll like 'em better! 'Cause dere's two of 'em--one fo' each of us! Oh, we's eber so much obligedness." Clasping the two toys in his little brown hands, away Jim raced in the darkness to tell his sister the good news. The Jumping Jack was for her and the toy engine for him. And I may as well tell you now that the two children were made perfectly happy with their toys--just as happy as they would have been with the Calico Clown. "Well, thank goodness, I think my adventures are over for the night," thought the Clown, as he was taken into Mirabell's house and the dirt brushed off his red and yellow trousers. "This has been such a day! Oh, SUCH a day!" And indeed it had been from the time he fell out of the tree into the Man's coat pocket until Jim stumbled with him and he fell into the hole. "Sidney will be glad to get his Clown back," went on Arnold, when the toy had been set on the table where Daddy took his place to tell the evening story. "I wish we could take it to him now," said Mirabell. "Mayn't we?" asked her brother. "It is getting late," said their mother. "You may take the toy over the first thing in the morning." "But all the while Sidney will be wondering where his Clown is," objected the little girl. "I know what we can do!" exclaimed Arnold. "We can telephone and tell him it's here." "Yes, we can do that," said Daddy. So, a little later, Sidney was told, over the telephone, that his lost Calico Clown had been found. The story was briefly told of how it had got into the wash-basket after having been found in Daddy's pocket and taken to the office. "Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Sidney. "I'll be over the first thing in the morning to get him." "But what I'm wondering about is how the Clown got in my pocket," said Daddy, with a puzzled look on his face. "If you children didn't put it there, who did?" and he looked at Mirabell and Arnold. And I might say that this was always a mystery, as much so as the Clown's riddle about what made more noise than a pig under a gate. Daddy told Mirabell and Arnold their usual good-night story. Then the children went to bed and Mother put the Calico Clown on the mantelpiece where he would be safe for the night. "Whoever sees Sidney first in the morning," said Mother, as she, too, got ready to go to bed, "may be the one to give him his toy." Then the lights were put out and the house was still and quiet. Ordinarily, when this time came, the Calico Clown, like the other toys, would have been at his liveliest. But now he was so tired, with all his adventures of the day, that he just gave a long sigh and said: "I am not going to stir! I am just going to lie down here and sleep until morning! Enough has happened for one day." So he stretched out, with a pen wiper for a cushion, and went to sleep. Bright and early the next morning Sidney ran over to the house of his cousins. "Is my Calico Clown here?" he cried. "Yes," answered Arnold, who was also up. "I'll get him for you." "Oh, thank you!" said Sidney, when he had his toy once more. And a little later the Calico Clown was back home. But his adventures were not over. CHAPTER X THE TOY PARTY "Oh, Sidney! aren't you glad you have your Calico Clown back?" cried his sister Madeline when she saw her brother coming toward the house with his toy which he had got at Arnold's home. "I just guess I am!" said the little boy. "I thought I'd never see him again." "And I'm glad, too," cried Herbert, as he made his Monkey go up and down the Stick. "Now we can get ready for our circus." "Are you going to have a show?" asked Madeline. "Yes," answered Sidney. "We have a Clown and a Monkey, and they're always the funniest things in a circus. Don't you remember when we had the show with my Monkey in it?" "Yes. And that was lots of fun," said Madeline. "But I know something better than a show." "What?" Sidney asked. "A party," went on Madeline. "Let's have a Toy Party. That will be better than a show, even a circus show." Sidney wanted to know how it would be better, and Madeline said: "'Cause you can have things to eat at a Toy Party, and you can't always have things at a circus, lessen you buy 'em; and maybe not then, 'cepting peanuts and lemonade. Let's have a Toy Party and we can get mother to give us real things to eat." "Oh, that will be fun!" cried Sidney. "I should say so!" agreed Herbert. "And we'll ask Dorothy to bring her Sawdust Doll," said Madeline, "Arnold can bring his Bold Tin Soldier, and Mirabell her Lamb on Wheels. And I'll bring my Candy Rabbit." "You did have a party for him," said Herbert. "Well, this one can be for Sid's Calico Clown," explained Madeline. "And you can bring your Monkey on a Stick, Herb." The idea of a Toy Party seemed to please the two boys, and Madeline was glad she had thought of it. She lost no time in getting ready for it. "I'll go and put a new ribbon on the neck of my Candy Rabbit," she said to her brothers. "You get your Monkey and Clown all nice and clean, and then I'll ask Mother if Cook can make a special cake." "My Monkey is clean enough," said Herbert. "Dirt doesn't show on him, anyhow. He's colored brown." "And my Clown's pretty good, even if he did fall in a dirt hole," went on Sidney. "A Clown has to be a little dirty, for he falls all over the circus ring, you know." "There isn't going to be any circus ring at our Toy Party," laughed Madeline. "Now I'll go and see about the cake." "And we'll go and tell Dick, Arnold and the girls," said Sidney. "Here, Madeline, please keep my Calico Clown for me until I come back." Away he ran with his brother, who carried the Monkey on a Stick. The Calico Clown rather hoped the long-tailed chap would be left to keep him company, but it was not to be just yet. "But perhaps I can talk to the Candy Rabbit while Madeline is getting ready for the party," thought the Clown. "He and I are old friends." But even this was not to be. Madeline probably did not think that the Clown would have liked to be with some of the other toys for a while. She just kept hold of the gay red and yellow fellow after her brother had handed him to her, and took him with her to the kitchen, where she knew her mother was. "Oh, Mother! may Cook bake us a cake for the Toy Party?" cried Madeline, and, not thinking what she was doing, she laid the Calico Clown down in a large basket of oranges which the fruit man had just set on the kitchen table. "A cake for a Toy Party?" repeated Mother. "Yes, I think so. Tell me more about it." So Madeline told about the Toy Party that was going to be held, and how the Sawdust Doll, the White Rocking Horse, and all the other jolly creatures were to come. "Course they won't EAT the cake--only make believe," explained Madeline. "We'll eat the cake--we children." "Yes, I supposed you would," said Mother, with a laugh as she looked at Cook. "And, please, may I help?" asked Madeline. "Yes," promised Cook, and then, not thinking what she was doing and not seeing the Calico Clown, who had slipped away down in among the oranges, she took the basket of fruit from the table. "I'll just set the oranges in the ice box," she said. "They need to be well chilled for the orangeade, and it's a hot day." And that is how it was that the Clown, a little later, found himself beginning to feel freezing cold. He had not minded being laid for a time in with the golden, yellow fruit. It smelled so nice that he shut his eyes and breathed deep of the perfume. He even took a little sleep. And then, the next thing he knew, he felt a breath of cold air after a door was slammed shut. "Dear me! what can have happened now?" said the Calico Clown, suddenly awakening. "Am I back again at the North Pole workshop of Santa Claus? It feels like it, but it doesn't look like it. For his shop was nice and light, though it was sometimes cold. Here it is dark." "Well, I simply am freezing!" went on the Clown. "I've got to keep warm, somehow!" So what did he do but stand up and begin to dance around among the oranges. Up and down, first to this side and then to the other danced the jolly fellow, jerking his arms and swinging his legs. He clapped his hands together to warm them, and his cymbals clanged in the cold, frosty air of the ice box. After a while the Clown began to feel warmer. But as soon as he stopped jumping around he felt cold again. "I've got to keep moving, that's all there is to it!" he said to himself, and he had to dance again. Really he must have looked funny, doing a jig on a basket of oranges, but it was not so funny for the poor Clown himself. He was beginning to get tired, and he was wondering how long he would have to keep up his exercise, when the ice-box door suddenly opened and Cook lifted out a bowl of cream. "Oh, for the love of trading stamps!" she cried, as she saw the Clown in among the oranges. "How did you ever get there? You must be almost frozen!" And the poor fellow would have been, if he had not danced. "I certainly didn't see you there when I put the fruit in the ice box," went on the cook. "Madeline must have put you among the oranges." And, of course, this was just what had happened. Naturally you may say that the reason the cook saw the Clown the second time, after she opened the ice-box door, was because some of the oranges rolled to one side, allowing the Clown to be seen. But that isn't how it happened at all. The Clown simply climbed out from among the fruit to dance and keep himself warm, and that's how he happened to be seen. "Oh, dear me! To think I should do a thing like that!" cried Madeline, when the cook handed her the Calico Clown. "Sidney might have thought his toy was lost again if you hadn't found him. Now we'll bake the cake, and I'll put the Clown by the stove to get warm." After a while everything was ready for the party. The cake was baked and covered with icing. There were also some crullers and some cookies. Herbert, Sidney and Mirabell put on their party clothes, and with the Monkey on a Stick nicely brushed, the Candy Rabbit with a new ribbon on his neck, and with the last specks of dirt shaken off the red and yellow trousers of the Clown, they all waited for the others to come. "Here's Dorothy with her Sawdust Doll!" cried Madeline, running to the window. [Illustration with caption: "Oh, I Have So Many Things to Tell You!"] "Yes, and Arnold is helping Dick carry over the White Rocking Horse," added Sidney. "Oh, what fun we'll have!" "I hope Arnold brought his Bold Tin Soldier Captain and all the others," said Herbert. Arnold brought them, and his sister Mirabell came with her Lamb on Wheels. Then such fun as there was at the Toy Party! I really don't know whether the children or the toys enjoyed it most. But I do know that the children ate the cakes and cookies, which was something the toys could not do. While Dick, Dorothy and the other boys and girls were in the room, the toys could not speak to one another. But when, in playing some game the lads and lassies went out into the yard, the toys had their chance. "Oh, I have so many things to tell you!" said the Calico Clown. "I have had so many adventures!" Then he related how the monkey had taken him up into the tree and how finally he had got back home. "Quite remarkable," said the Lamb on Wheels. "You certainly have-- Ouch! Oh, dear!" said the Lamb, suddenly switching one of her legs. "What's the matter?" asked the Bold Tin Soldier. "If anybody is teasing you I'll make him stop!" and he drew his sword and looked very fierce--as all tin soldiers look. "It was nothing," said the Lamb on Wheels. "Just a pang of rheumatism. The remains of the cold I caught in one of my wheels the time I made the voyage down the brook on the raft the boys built." Then the Sawdust Doll told of a little adventure she had had recently, when she was left in the wrong doll carriage by mistake and was taken home to the wrong house. "Nothing as remarkable as jumping downstairs and scaring the burglars has happened to me," said the White Rocking Horse. "But Dick was riding me in the kitchen the other day and he ran me over an egg." "Did it hurt you?" asked the Monkey. "No; but it spoiled the egg," said the Horse, laughing. "Well, I must say it is very nice of the children to get up a party for us like this," said the Calico Clown. "And I, for one--" "Hush! Here they come! We must be very still and quiet!" whispered the Candy Rabbit. And back into the room trooped the merry children, and they played more games and ate more cake until none was left, and then the party was over. "Well, I certainly have come to a happy home," thought the Calico Clown, when he was put to bed that night on a closet shelf. "This is just as jolly as being in the store!" And he snuggled up close to the Candy Rabbit and the Monkey on a Stick. Then they all went to sleep. THE END 
6307	----	[Illustration: "Forward--March!" Said the Bold Tin Soldier.] THE STORY OF A BOLD TIN SOLDIER BY LAURA LEE HOPE ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY L. SMITH CONTENTS I A MAKE-BELIEVE FIGHT II SAVING THE CLOWN III BOUGHT BY A BOY IV A BEAN BATTLE V THE CAPTAIN AND THE LAMB VI SAVING THE SAWDUST DOLL VII A SAD ACCIDENT VIII A BUNCH OF SWEETNESS IX BACK TO THE STORE X THE SOLDIER AND THE RABBIT THE STORY OF A BOLD TIN SOLDIER CHAPTER I A MAKE-BELIEVE FIGHT "Attention!" That was the word of command heard in the toy section of a large department store one night, after all the customers and clerks had gone home. "Attention!" "Dear me, what is going on?" asked a Calico Clown, as he looked around the corner of a pile of gaily colored building blocks. "Has the Sawdust Doll come back to see us?" inquired a Candy Rabbit. "That would be good news, if it were true," said a Jumping Jack. "But it isn't true," announced a Monkey on a Stick, as he climbed up to the top of his perch and looked over the top of a Noah's Ark. "I don't see the Sawdust Doll anywhere, nor the White Rocking Horse, nor the Lamb on Wheels. It isn't any of our former friends who have come back to visit us." "Who is it, then?" asked the Calico Clown, reaching up to get hold of a long string, for he thought perhaps he could turn somersaults like the Monkey on a Stick or the Jumping Jack. "Attention, Soldiers!" suddenly called again the first voice that had spoken. "Ready, now! Attention!" "Oh, it's the Bold Tin Soldier!" said the Jack in the Box, who was the Jumping Jack's cousin. "What's the matter down there in your barracks, my Bold Tin Soldier?" went on the Box-Jack, as he was sometimes called for short. "I want my men to get ready to march," answered the Bold Tin Soldier. "We are going to have a fancy drill to amuse you, my friends. Would you like to see me march my men around the counter?" "Very much, indeed," answered the Candy Rabbit. "It is night now, and there are no human eyes to see what we do. So we toys may come to life and move about and make believe we are real as much as we please. We haven't had very much fun since the jolly sailor came and carried away the Lamb on Wheels." "Has any one heard anything from her since she left us?" asked the Calico Clown. "Oh, yes, the Lamb has a lovely home with a little girl named Mirabell," answered the Jack in the Box. "And Mirabell has a brother named Arnold, and those two children live next door to Dorothy, who has our dear friend the Sawdust Doll." "Really?" asked the Jumping Jack. "Really and truly," added the Box-Jack. "And Dorothy's brother, whose name is Dick, owns the White Rocking Horse who used to be here with us." "Why, that is quite remarkable," said the Monkey on a Stick. "I hope we all get homes with such nice children when we are sold and taken away." "You may well say that," came from the Bold Tin Soldier. "Some children are not as kind to their toys as they might be. But now, if you want to see me and my men march around in fancy drill, please take your places and keep out of the way." "Yes, indeed, we must keep out of the way," said the Candy Rabbit. "I don't want to get pricked with a soldier's bayonet or tickled with the Captain's sword." "And be sure to keep well back from the edge of the counter," went on the Bold Tin Soldier. "I don't want any of you falling off when the guns are fired." "Oh dear me! has any one a bit of cotton?" asked a Rag Doll, who sat next to a picture book. "Cotton? Why do you want cotton?" asked the Calico Clown. "Didn't you hear what the Bold Tin Soldier said?" asked the Rag Doll. "He spoke about guns going to be shot off, and I can't bear loud noises. If I can find some cotton I am going to stuff it into my ears so I won't be made deaf." The Box-Jack and the Jumping Jack stood side by side as cousins ought; the Candy Rabbit found a place near the Noah's Ark; the Monkey on a Stick found a place as near the parade grounds as the Bold Captain would let him come; and the Calico Clown moved over close to the Rag Doll. "If the guns should, by accident, shoot too loudly," said the Clown. "I will hold my hands over your ears, Miss Rag Doll." "That is very kind of you," she answered with a smile. "But please do not bang your cymbals, as they make almost as much noise as the soldiers' guns." "I'll be careful," promised the Calico Clown, who wore a gay suit of many colors, one leg being red and the other yellow, while his shirt was spotted, speckled and striped. On the end of each arm was a round disk of brass. These were called "cymbals," and when any one pressed on the Clown's chest he moved his arms and banged his cymbals together with a clanging sound. "Attention!" called the Bold Tin Soldier again, and at this word of command the other Tin Soldiers in the box with their Captain stood up and began to move into line, each one carrying his gun over his shoulder. As I have told you in my other books, the toys could pretend to come to life and move about after dark, when no one was in the store to see them. The toys could also move about by themselves in the day time, if no human eyes watched them. But as there was nearly always some one--either clerk or customer--in the store during the day, the toys seldom had a chance to do as they pleased during daylight hours. So most of their fun took place after dark, as was happening now. "Attention!" once more called the Captain. "Get ready, my brave men! Forward--March!" And then while some of the Soldiers who had fifes, drums, trumpets and horns played a lively tune, the others, led by their Captain, marched along. They went down the toy counter and paraded past the place where the Candy Rabbit sat watching them. Straight and stiff marched the Tin Soldiers, the music of the tin band becoming more and more lively. "Left, wheel!" called the Captain, and the Tin Soldiers turned to the left. "Right, wheel!" shouted the Captain, and the Tin Soldiers turned to the right. Then they marched around in a circle, and they marched in a square, and they marched in a triangle, and in all sorts of fancy figures. They swung around the Rag Doll, and the Captain waved his shiny sword so fast that the Calico Clown cried: "Oh, it is so dazzling bright that it hurts my eyes!" And then the Bold Tin Soldier Captain led his men up a hill made of a pile of building blocks. "Oh, I hope they do not fall off!" said the Rag Doll. "No, they won't fall," answered the Candy Rabbit. "I guess the Captain knows what he is doing." Straight up the building-block hill the Bold Tin Soldier led his men, and when they reached the top he cried: "Jump!" "Oh mercy me!" screamed the Rag Doll, "they'll all be killed!" And those Tin Soldiers, who, like other soldiers, must always obey their officers, jumped right off the top of the building-block hill. But they were not killed, nor was one of them hurt, I am glad to say. For at the bottom of the pile of blocks was a rubber football, and the Soldiers landed on this, bounced up and down, and then gently landed on the counter. The Captain knew the football was there, or he would not have told his men to jump. "My, that was a fine drill!" said the Rag Doll. "How exciting!" "Hush! They are going to do something else," said the Monkey on a Stick. And it did seem so, for part of the Soldiers, shouldering their guns, marched to one end of the toy counter, and the others, with their Captain at their head, remained near the pile of blocks. "Are you ready?" asked the Captain of a Sergeant who had charge of the second half of the tin soldiers. "All ready, sir!" was the answer. "Load! Aim! Fire!" suddenly cried the Captain. "Oh, they are going to shoot! Oh, it's going to be war! There is going to be a battle!" cried the Rag Doll. "Nonsense! It is only going to be a make-believe battle!" said the Calico Clown. "Our Captain told me about it. It is to be a sham battle to amuse us. See, they are aiming their guns at one another!" And as he spoke the Rag Doll looked and saw the two companies of Tin Soldiers ready to take part in a battle. "Oh, hold me! Hold me!" whispered the Rag Doll to the Calico Clown. "I know I am going to faint!" CHAPTER II SAVING THE CLOWN "Ready! Take aim! Fire!" cried the Bold Tin Soldier Captain. "Bang! Bang!" cracked the tin guns, some in the hands of one "army" and some shot off by the other "army." The Soldiers had divided themselves into two "armies," to give a make-believe fight to amuse the other toys. "Crack! Crack! Bang! Bang!" rattled the tin guns. But the guns were so small and there was such a little bit of the make-believe powder in each one that the noise they made would not have broken an egg, to say nothing of hurting the ears of a Rag Doll. "Are you going to faint?" asked the Calico Clown of the Doll. He stood with his arms stretched out, ready to catch her in case she did. "No! No, I don't believe I shall faint!" she answered. "Ha! Ha! Ha!" she suddenly laughed. "What is so funny?" asked the Calico Clown. "I didn't tell a joke or ask a riddle, did I?" For that is what he sometimes did to make the toys in the department store laugh. "No, you didn't do anything," answered the Rag Doll. "It is just that you look so funny, standing there ready to catch me with those brass things on your hands. Ha! Ha!" "Those are my cymbals," said the Clown. "I can't let go of them. They are fastened on. Sometimes I get tired of them, but I cannot get rid of them." "I know it, and it was too bad of me to laugh at you," answered the Rag Doll. "I did not mean to make fun of you, and it was very kind on your part, to be ready to catch me if I fainted. But you did look so funny!" The Bold Tin Soldiers were doing their best to make some entertainment for the other toys. "Ready! Aim! Fire!" cried the Captain to his men, again and again. "Ready! Aim! Fire!" shouted the Sergeant to his men, for he had been given command of half the toy Soldiers for this sham fight. The guns popped, the Soldiers rushed back and forth on the toy counter. Some pretended to be hit and fell down as natural as anything. But at last the Bold Tin Soldier Captain and his men seemed to be winning. Most of the Captain's Soldiers were up on their feet, while quite a number of the Sergeant's men had fallen over. "Surrender! Surrender! Give up!" shouted the Captain, as he rushed with his men toward the Sergeant and his men. "Surrender! Hoist the white flag!" "All right, it is hoisted!" answered the Sergeant, and he tied his handkerchief on the end of his gun, where the stickery thing, called a bayonet, was fastened. "We surrender!" said the Sergeant. "All right! Stop firing!" called the Captain to his men. "We have captured the enemy and the battle is over." "I'm so glad it was only a make-believe one, and no one was hurt," sighed the Rag Doll. "It was very jolly, all right," said the Candy Rabbit. "This is the first make-believe fight I ever saw. Are you going to have another, Captain?" "Not to-night," was the reply. "My men are tired, but we are glad if you toys enjoyed our efforts." "We certainly did," declared the Monkey on a Stick. "I wish I had joined the army instead of going through life on a stick, climbing to the top and climbing down again," he added, with a sigh. "Oh, well, we cannot all be soldiers," said the Jack in the Box. "No, indeed," agreed the Candy Rabbit. "If I had a gun I should not know what to do with it. It is only brave men, like our Bold Captain and his men, who know how to use swords and guns," he concluded. "Thank you," said the Captain, waving his shiny sword. "We are glad you liked our drill and make-believe fight. Form in line, ready to go back to your box, my men," he went on. Led by the Sergeant, under whom some of them had fought in the pretended battle, the Tin Soldiers formed in line, ready to march back to the box in which they were kept on the toy counter. "I wonder what will happen to-day," remarked the Calico Clown, as he looked out through a distant window. "It will soon be morning," he went on. "I can see the sun beginning to redden the sky in the east. I wonder if any of us will be sold and taken away." "It might happen," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "If I have to go I hope my men may come with me." "Oh, of course they'll go with you," said the Rag Doll. "Who ever heard of a Soldier Captain without some men under him? You will all go together, for you belong in the same box." "I'm sure I hope so," went on the Captain. "I suppose I shall be bought and given to some boy. Girls, as a rule, don't care very much for soldiers. They would rather have a Sawdust Doll or a Lamb on Wheels. And if I am given to some boy, I hope he will be like the boys we have heard about--Dick, the brother of Dorothy, and Arnold, the brother of Mirabell." "Yes, they are nice boys, from what I have heard," said the Calico Clown. "Well, it will soon be bright daylight, and then we shall see what happens," he added. "Yes, we'll see," said the Captain. Then, turning to his men, he commanded: "Ready--March." Off to their box marched the Tin Soldiers led by the Sergeant, who was next in command to the Captain. There ought to have been a First and Second Lieutenant, but the man who made the tin toys had forgotten them. So the Sergeant led the Tin Soldiers back to their box after the make-believe battle. And, like good and proper soldiers, they stood themselves in straight rows. No standing around in a crowd, or lying down in hammocks, or stretching out under trees for these Tin Soldiers! No, indeed! They stood up as straight and stiff as their own guns! "Did you like our drill and sham battle?" asked the Bold Tin Soldier Captain of the Rag Doll, strolling over to speak to her before going back to join his men. "Very much, indeed," she answered. "At first I thought I might faint when the guns shot off, but they were fired so gently that I did not, and the Calico Clown did not have to catch me in his arms." "I don't let my Soldiers use too much powder in their guns," answered the Captain. "It is a sort of tooth powder we use in these make-believe fights, and then no one is hurt." "It will be lonesome if you go away from us," said the Rag Doll, with a sigh, as she looked at the Bold Tin Soldier. "Thank you for being so kind as to say that," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "But I have no notion of going away until I have to." However, he little knew what was going to happen nor that he was to be taken away much sooner than he expected. "I had better be getting over to the box with my Soldiers, I think," said the Captain, as he thrust his shiny sword back into the scabbard at his side. "Our fun for to-night is over." "No, not quite yet," said the Calico Clown. "The sun has not yet risen, and it will be ten minutes before the watchman comes in to turn out the lights and get the store ready for the day's trade." "But what can be done in ten minutes?" asked the Rag Doll. "I can do a funny trick for you," said the Clown. "I have not yet done my share towards the night's fun, so I will do my trick now." "Are you going to tell a joke or ask a riddle?" inquired the Candy Rabbit. "If you are, I wish you'd tell that one about what makes more noise than a pig under a gate." "No, I am going to do a funny trick. Do you see that string there!" he asked the other toys, pointing upward. "Do you mean the one hanging near the gas jet?" asked the Box Jack. "Yes," answered the Clown. "Well, I am going to climb that string and hang by my toes." He quickly walked over to a long string that hung down from the ceiling. At Christmas time it had held some wreaths of holly, but now nothing was fast to it. "Up I go!" cried the Clown. It was hard work for him to climb the string with the cymbals fast on the ends of his arms, but he managed to get up nearly as high as the flaming gas jet which lighted the store at night, so the watchman could see his way around. "That's high enough--don't go up any farther!" cried the Bold Tin Soldier. "Yes, I am high enough now," said the Clown. "Watch me hang by my toes!" He began turning over as he clung to the string, and, as he did so, he began to sway to and fro, like the pendulum of a clock. "Look out! Look out for the blazing gas light! You'll be burned!" suddenly called the Rag Doll. And as she spoke, the Clown on the dangling string came too near the gas flame. His baggy trousers, one leg red and the other yellow, began to smoke. "Oh, the Calico Clown is burning! He will catch fire!" cried the Candy Rabbit. "Will no one save him?" "Yes, I'll save the Calico Clown!" cried the Bold Tin Soldier, and he drew his shining sword. "I will save him!" CHAPTER III BOUGHT BY A BOY The toys were very much excited when they saw the Calico Clown beginning to burn, because he had swung too near the gas jet. "Oh, I can't bear to look at him!" cried the Rag Doll, covering her eyes with her hands. "He'll be all right! The Bold Tin Soldier is going to save him," said the Monkey on a Stick. "But how can he?" asked the Jumping Jack. "How can the Captain get up there and save our Clown? The string will not hold two!" And, indeed, the Bold Tin Soldier himself was beginning to wonder how he could save his toy friend. He could not scramble up the string, as the Clown had done, and, if he did, the Bold Captain might catch fire himself. Of course a tin soldier will not burn as quickly as a Clown with a suit of cloth, but the gas flame was very hot and dangerous. "Come down! Come down!" cried the Rag Doll. "Come down, Mr. Calico Clown!" And that, you would have thought, would have been the easiest way for the comical chap to save himself--just to slide down the string to the counter. But something had happened. "I can't get down!" the Clown exclaimed. "The string is twisted around my leg and caught on one of my cymbals! I can't get loose to come down!" And that is what had happened. "But still I will save him!" cried the Bold Tin Soldier. He looked around the toy counter and saw a sofa cushion that belonged to a large doll's parlor set. "Quick!" shouted the Captain. "Put that cushion right under the Clown who is dangling by the string. Then when he falls he will not hurt himself. Over with the cushion!" "But he can't fall!" said the Jack in the Box. "He's all tangled up in the string. He can't get loose!" "I'll get him loose!" declared the Captain. "Some of you shove that soft cushion over under our Clown!" The two Jacks, the Candy Rabbit and the Monkey on a Stick pulled and hauled until the cushion was just where the Clown would land if he let go of the string and fell. But he was still tangled in the string, and every time he swung, like the pendulum of the clock, he came close to the burning gas jet. And each time he did this his red and yellow trousers were scorched. "Oh, will no one save me?" cried the Clown. "Yes, I will!" shouted the Bold Tin Soldier. "I am going to cut the string with my sword. Then you will fall down, but you will not be hurt because you will fall on the sofa cushion. I'll cut the string with my shiny tin sword, and then you won't be burned." Near the string which dangled from the ceiling was a Japanese Juggler with a long ladder, which he could climb, balancing a ball on the end of his nose. Just now the Juggler was resting at the foot of the ladder that stood upright. The Juggler did not speak English very well, and that is why he did not understand all that was going on. He had not said a word since the Clown had climbed the string and had swung too near the blazing gas jet. "Will you allow me to use your ladder, Mr. Japanese Juggler?" called the Bold Tin Soldier to the chap with the ball on the end of his nose. "Without waiting for an answer, which he hardly expected, the Captain sprang up the ladder, holding his sword ready. In an instant he stood near the swaying, swinging Clown who waved to and fro on the string. "Swish! Swash!" That was the shiny tin sword sweeping through the air. The string was sliced in two pieces. The Clown was cut loose, and down he fell on the soft sofa cushion, not being hurt at all. He was saved from burning. "Hurray! Hurray for our brave Captain!" cried all the toys, clapping their hands, and the China Cat clapped his paws, which were just the same as hands. "Are you all right?" asked the Bold Tin Soldier after he had climbed down the ladder and hurried over to where the Clown was getting up off the sofa cushion. "Yes, thank you! I am all right," was the answer. "I should not have tried to swing by that string so near the burning gas. But I did not think. Now, oh dear! Look at my trousers!" Well might the clown say that, for his fine yellow and red trousers were scorched and burned. It was lucky the Clown himself was not burned, but it was too bad his suit was spoiled. "Oh dear me! no one will ever buy me now," said the Clown sadly, looking at his legs. "I am damaged! I'll be thrown into the waste-paper basket!" "Perhaps I could make you a new suit," said the Rag Doll. "I can sew a little, and if I had some cloth I might at least put a patch over the burned places if I shouldn't have time for a whole suit." "Thank you," answered the Clown. "But I would never look the same. And thank you, Captain, for cutting me down before I was burned," he went on to the Bold Tin Soldier. "It was very brave of you." "Oh, it was nothing," the Captain modestly said. "We soldiers are here to do just such things as that." "Hush!" suddenly called the Monkey on a Stick. "Here come the clerks. The store is going to open!" And so all the toys had to be quiet and go back to their places. They could not make believe be alive until night should come again. One by one the girl clerks took their places behind the toy counters near the shelves on which the different playthings were stored. One girl picked up the Calico Clown. "Well, I do declare!" exclaimed this girl. "Look at my fancy Clown, will you, Mabel?" "What's the matter with him, Sallie?" asked the clerk whose name was Mabel. "Why, his red and yellow pants are scorched," answered Sallie. "I wonder what happened to him. Some customer who was smoking must have dropped a match or some hot cigar ashes on him. I must tell the manager about this. I can't sell a damaged toy like that." "No, you can't," agreed Mabel, after she had looked at the poor Calico Clown. "Oh, but I know what we can do!" the girl clerk suddenly exclaimed. "What?" asked Sallie. And "what?" wondered the Clown. "We can make him a new pair of trousers," was the answer. "Up in my locker I have some pieces of silk I had left over when I dressed my little sister's doll for Christmas. I'll get my needle and thread and the pieces of silk, and this noon, at lunch hour, we'll make a new suit for the Clown. Then he won't be damaged, and you can sell him." "Oh, that will be fine!" cried the other girl, and the Clown, hearing this, felt much better. By this time customers were coming into the store to buy toys and other things, and the toy counters and shelves were busy places. The Bold Tin Soldier had gone back to his box with his men, and there he and they stood, straight and stiff as ramrods, waiting for what might happen to them. All the toys wished to talk about the brave rescue of the Calico Clown by the Captain, but of course they had to keep still. "But we can talk about it to-night," thought the Candy Rabbit to himself. "We'll have a grand time when the store is once more closed. But I hope the Clown does no more of his tricks. The next time his jacket might burn, as well as his trousers." The girl who had promised to make a new pair of gay silk trousers for the Clown was kept very busy that morning waiting on customers. She had just sold a little Celluloid Doll to a small girl when a boy and a man came walking past the counter behind which she stood. "There's what I want, right over there!" said the boy, pointing. "What is it?" asked the man, who seemed to be his father. "That set of soldiers," went on the boy. "I want that Bold Tin Soldier Captain, who carries a sword, and I would like a set of his tin men. Then Dick and I can play war and battle and have lots of fun." "I'm afraid that set of toy soldiers will cost too much," replied the man. "You know I said you could have a toy, but not one that is too expensive." "Well, let's ask how much the tin soldiers cost," suggested the boy. "That set costs two dollars," answered the girl behind the counter. "And I said you could have only a dollar, Arnold," said the man. "I have a dollar of my own pocket money that I have been saving," said the boy. "If I put that with your dollar I'll have two! Then couldn't I get the Captain and his men?" "Yes, I suppose you could," answered the man slowly. "Then I'm going to buy them!" exclaimed the boy. "Hurray! I'm going to have a Bold Tin Soldier and his men." "Well, now I suppose my adventures will begin," thought the Captain, for he heard all that was said. "Like the Sawdust Doll, the White Rocking Horse, and the Lamb on Wheels, I am to be sold and taken away. Yes, now my adventures will begin!" The girl clerk went to get a piece of wrapping paper in which to do up the box of soldiers. The boy and his father stepped aside for a moment to look at some other toys. As they were out of sight of the counter for a few seconds, and as no one was watching, the Calico Clown had a chance to whisper to the Captain. "So you are going away from us?" asked the Clown. "Yes," answered the Captain. "But I am sorry I shall not see the new trousers the girl is going to make for you. I would like to see them." "Perhaps you may come back and visit us," suggested the Candy Rabbit. "Perhaps," agreed the Captain, and then he had to stop talking for the boy and his father came back. CHAPTER IV A BEAN BATTLE "Well, Arnold, do you think you will like your Bold Tin Soldier and his men?" asked the boy's father. "Oh, yes, Daddy! I'm sure I shall!" was the answer. "I'll take them over to Dick's house, and we'll have a make-believe battle on the floor in the playroom." "That is strange," thought the tin Captain, as the girl clerk was wrapping him and his men up in a large paper. "Very strange! Where have I heard those names before--Dick and Arnold? I wonder--I wonder----" But just then the girl turned the box upside down to tie a knot in the string she was putting around it, and the Captain and his men had all they could do to keep in their places. "Stand fast, every one of you!" said the Captain in a low voice to his tin men. "We are perhaps going on a long trip." The boy paid over his dollar of pocket money, his father added another dollar, and then the box of toy Tin Soldiers was taken away. Just what happened on their trip from the store of course the Captain and his men did not know. They could feel themselves being jiggled about, and at one time they were put on the seat of an automobile, though they did not know it. And finally they were set down with a jingle and a jangle, the guns of the men rattling against the tin legs of the soldiers, and the sword of the Captain tinkling in its scabbard. "Now I'll have some fun with my Soldiers!" cried the boy, whose name was Arnold. The paper was taken off, the box was opened, and once more the Bold Tin Soldier and his men saw the light of day. They looked about them curiously. The Captain and his men saw that they were in a pleasant, sunny room. The box, which might have been called their "barracks," was on a table, and, bending over it, was the boy, Arnold. "Forward--March!" called Arnold, and one by one he took the Tin Soldiers out of the box and set them in rows on the table, with the Captain at the head of his men. That is the proper place for a Captain, you know. Of course if Arnold had not been there, and if no other human eyes had been looking at the Tin Soldiers, they could have marched out of the box by themselves. But, as it was, Arnold had to lift them out. He did not know, of course, that his toys, and all other toys, have the power of pretending they are alive at certain times. As Arnold was standing his Soldiers in rows on the table, the door of the room opened and a little girl came in. "Oh, Arnold! what did you get?" she asked. "Oh, aren't they nice!" "These are my new Soldiers, Mirabell," said the boy. "Daddy took me to the store and I bought them with some of my pocket money. But Daddy gave me a dollar, too. Want to see my Soldiers fight?" asked Arnold, as he stood the Corporal and the Sergeant where they could help the Captain take charge of the men. "Oh, no, Arnold! I don't want to see any soldiers fight! They might shoot me!" cried the little girl, pretending to shiver. "Nope! They won't shoot anybody!" said Arnold. "They have only make-believe guns, and I'll only make-believe shoot 'em. I yell 'Bang! Bang!' and that's all the shooting there is. Now watch, Mirabell." The boy divided the tin toys into two companies, just as the tin Captain himself had done with his men when he gave the fancy drill on the counter before the Calico Clown swung from the string and nearly caught fire. One of the companies was commanded by the Captain, while the Sergeant, who had red stripes on his sleeves, was in charge of the other. "Now for the battle!" cried the boy. "Ready! Aim! Fire! Bang! Bang!" And he yelled so loudly that his sister Mirabell put her hands over her ears, just as, in the store, the Rag Doll had covered her ears. "Mercy, don't shout so loud, Arnold!" cried Mirabell. "Oh, not so loud!" "I have to. This is a big fight!" the boy answered. "Bang! Bang! Bang!" Then he knocked some of the soldiers over, pretending they had fallen in battle, and he moved some forward across the table and some he moved back. "One side is winning and the other side is losing," said the boy. "The losing side is running away. Bang! Bang! Bang!" "This is too much for me!" said Mirabell. "There is too much bang-banging. I'm going to play with my Lamb on Wheels." The Bold Tin Soldier Captain heard Mirabell say that, even above the noise made by Arnold. [Illustration: "I Just Arrived," Answered the Bold Tin Soldier.] "Ha! Now I know where I heard those names before!" thought the Captain. "The Sawdust Doll told us about these children when she came back to the store to visit that day. They live next door to Dick and Dorothy. Oh, I am in good company!" Back and forth across the table the boy moved his two companies of Tin Soldiers. Sometimes he would make believe one side was winning the battle, and again he would let the other side seem to win. The Captain and his men had little to say about it, for they could not move by themselves nor talk when Arnold was looking at them. And when he and his men were being moved back by the boy, and losing the pretend battle to the Sergeant and his men, the Captain sighed and said: "Oh, if we could only do as we pleased! Then I'd show this boy how a real Tin Soldier can fight!" But of course the Captain could not do that. He had to be content to let Arnold move him about. And the boy had fun with his company of Tin Soldiers. He fought several battles with them, but at last, like all boys, he wanted to do something else. He was just wondering what he could do when the door opened, and Mirabell came in dragging behind her a rather large, woolly Lamb on Wheels. "Come on out on the porch and play with me!" begged Mirabell of her brother. "It is nice out there, and you can bring your Soldiers with you." "Yes, so I can," said Arnold. "I'll do it. Wait until I get the little wooden cannon that shoots paper bullets. I'll put that in the war." "And I'll get my little Wooden Doll and pretend she is a Red Cross Nurse," said Mirabell. Together the children ran from the room, leaving the Tin Soldiers on the table and the Lamb on Wheels on the floor. "Well, of all things!" bleated the Lamb, when she saw the Bold Tin Soldier. "Just fancy seeing you again! When did you get here?" "I just arrived," answered the Captain, for, there being no one in the room then, he and the Lamb could talk and move by themselves. "I'm so glad you are here," went on the woolly pet "Tell me all that has happened at the store since I was taken away. Is the Candy Rabbit there yet? And the Monkey on a Stick and the Calico Clown? Are they all there?" "Yes. But the Clown had a sad accident just before I came away," said the Captain. "Dear me, how dreadful! Was he hurt?" eagerly asked the Lamb on Wheels, rolling over a little closer to the table on which stood the Tin Soldiers and their Captain. None of the Soldiers spoke while their Captain was talking, as that was not considered polite. "No, the Clown wasn't exactly hurt," said the Captain, "but his trousers were scorched." "Oh, his lovely red and yellow trousers!" bleated the Lamb. "How sad! Tell me about it, please!" "Well, you see, the Clown was doing a few tricks to amuse us, and----" "Hush, sir! Quiet if you please, sir!" exclaimed the Sergeant, saluting his Captain. "Some one is coming, sir! I hear them, sir!" And just then the door opened and Mirabell and Arnold came running back into the room, the boy carrying a little wooden cannon and his sister with a Wooden Doll in her hand--the doll that was to be a Red Cross Nurse. "Oh, Arnold! Look!" cried Mirabell. "What's the matter?" asked her brother, as he began gathering up the Tin Soldiers. "Why, look at my Lamb on Wheels!" went on Mirabell. "I left her over by the door, and now she has rolled over near the table." "I guess the wind must have blown her," said Arnold. "But the door wasn't open, nor the windows," went on Mirabell. "So how could the wind blow her? Oh, Arnold, once before my Lamb moved when I left her alone! Wouldn't it be wonderful if she could really be alive and move by herself?" "Yes, it would," admitted Arnold. "But your Lamb can't move by herself any more than my Tin Soldiers can." However, he little knew what went on after dark, when he and Mirabell were asleep in bed, did he? "Now we'll go out on the porch and have some fun," said Arnold, putting his Soldiers back in their box. It was a warm, sunny day, and soon the two children were having a good time out on the porch of their house. Arnold set his Soldiers in two rows, with the Captain at the head of one row and the Sergeant at the head of the other. Then the boy put some paper bullets in his toy, wooden cannon, and Mirabell wheeled her Lamb to a safe place. Arnold was just going to shoot his cannon and pretend to have the tin guns of the Soldiers go bang-bang when, all at once, a shower of hard, dried beans fell on the porch. Some struck the Soldiers, some hit the Red Cross Doll, and some pattered on Mirabell and Arnold. "Oh, some one is shooting bean bullets at us!" cried the little girl. "This is a bean battle! Are your Tin Soldiers shooting bean bullets, Arnold?" CHAPTER V THE CAPTAIN AND THE LAMB For a few seconds Arnold did not know what to answer. One of the hard, dried beans had struck him on the nose, and, while it did not hurt very much, it made his eyes water and he could not see what was happening. But the beans kept on falling about the porch, and one struck a Tin Soldier and knocked him over. This Soldier was a very small chap. He was, in fact, the drummer boy. "But who is shooting the beans at us?" cried Mirabell, as she lay down on the porch behind her Lamb on Wheels. "I don't know who is pegging beans at us," said Arnold, looking around and out toward the street. "It isn't my Soldiers, for their tin guns can only make believe shoot." Just then some shouts were heard and more beans came rattling across the porch, some, once more, hitting the Lamb, Arnold, and the Tin Soldiers. "Oh, look, Arnold!" suddenly called his sister. "I see who is doing it!" "Who?" he asked. "A lot of rough boys! Look! They, have bean-blowers!" As she spoke more shouts sounded and more beans came flying swiftly over the porch. "Shoot the Tin Soldiers! Shoot the Tin Soldiers!" cried the rough boys. There were three of them, and, as Mirabell had said, they had long tin bean, or putty, blowers. They were blowing the beans at the boy and his sister on the porch. Rattle and bang went the hard dried beans, but the Bold Tin Soldier Captain and his men stood bravely up under the shower of bean bullets. The Red Cross Nurse Doll was brave, too, and did not run away, while the Lamb on Wheels stood on her wooden platform and never so much as blinked an eye as bean after bean struck her. "Shoot the Tin Soldiers! Shoot the woolly Lamb!" cried the bad boys, as they, blew more beans. "Here! You stop shooting beans at us!" cried Arnold. "Do you hear me? You stop it!" "Ho! Ho! We won't stop for you! You can't make us!" shouted the boys, and they were going to blow more beans, but just then Patrick, the gardener next door, came along with some seeds he had been down to the store to buy. "Patrick!" called Mirabell. Patrick saw the bad boys blowing beans at Mirabell and Arnold, and, with a shout, the gardener chased the unpleasant lads away. "Be off out of here and let my children alone!" cried Patrick, for he considered Dorothy and Dick and Arnold and Mirabell as his special "children," and was always watching to see that no harm came to them. And once Patrick had saved the Lamb on Wheels, as you may read in the book written specially about that toy. "Did they hurt you, Mirabell or Arnold?" asked the gardener, as he came back from chasing the boys. "No, thank you, not much," Arnold answered. "One bean struck me on the nose, but it didn't hurt--hardly any." "And one bean knocked over one of your Soldiers, Arnold," said Mirabell. "He's the drummer boy--I guess he isn't hurt any," returned the boy, and he set the Tin Drummer on his feet again. "Well, well! You have a fine regiment of soldiers, there!" said Patrick. "A fine regiment. What are you going to do with 'em, Arnold?" "We're going to have a make-believe battle, now that the boys with the beans have gone away," Arnold replied. "And my Wooden Doll is going to be a Bed Cross Nurse," added Mirabell. "And if any of the Soldiers get hurt I'll give them a ride on the back of my Lamb." "Oh, sure and you'll have dandy times!" laughed Patrick. Then Arnold and Mirabell had fun playing on the porch with the Tin Soldiers, the wooden cannon, the Doll and the Lamb on Wheels. Back and forth Arnold marched his two companies of Soldiers, firing the make-believe guns in regular bang-bang style. Sometimes he would pretend a Soldier was wounded, though, of course, none of them really was, and Mirabell would make the Red Cross Nurse Doll look after the injured. And when the battle was nearly over Arnold made believe that a dozen or more of his Tin Soldiers were hurt. "Oh, my Doll nurse can't look after so many hurt soldiers!" objected the little girl. "There's too many!" "Put 'em on the back of your Lamb and make believe it's an ambulance," said Arnold, and Mirabell did this. So the two children continued to play together with Arnold's new soldier toys. And then, just as the last bang-bang gun was fired, Susan, the jolly, good-natured cook, called: "Come, children! I have a little pie I baked especially for you two. It is just out of the oven! Come and get some while it is hot!" And you may well believe that Mirabell and Arnold did not wait--they ran at once, leaving their toys on the porch. "Well, now we have a chance to rest," said the Bold Tin Soldier Captain to his men. "Whew! that battle was surely as lively as the one we had in the store the other night." "I should say so!" agreed the Sergeant. "The bayonet on my gun is bent." "Well, that shows you have been to war," said the Captain. "And now we must thank the Red Cross Doll and the Lamb on Wheels for what they did for us during the make-believe fight." "Oh, I didn't do much," cried the Wooden Doll, with a laugh. "None of you was really hurt, you know." "That is true," agreed the Captain. "But if we had really been wounded you would have helped us, I am sure." "Yes," admitted the Doll, "I surely would." "And I was only too glad to have you ride on my back," said the Lamb on Wheels. "It is so good to meet you again, Captain," she went on. "Quite like old times. We have a few minutes now, while the children are away, getting their pie. Do tell me what happened to the Calico Clown." "His trousers were burned," said the Captain. "And because Arnold bought me and my men I had to leave the store before I could see the new trousers the girl was going to make. But I'll tell you all about it," and the Bold Tin Soldier did. "Did he ever tell the answer to that riddle of what it is that makes more noise than a pig under a gate?" asked the Lamb. "No, he never did," said the Captain. "I meant to ask him, but I came away in a hurry, you see." "Yes, we toys don't generally have much say as to what we shall or shall not do," bleated the Lamb. "I have been puzzling over that riddle myself." "The next time I see the Calico Clown I will ask him the answer," declared the Captain. "There is no need of making such a secret about it. But, speaking of the store, it was lonesome there after you and the Sawdust Doll and the White Rocking Horse came away." "Really? Did you miss me?" asked the Lamb. "Indeed we did," declared the Captain. "And, in a way, I am glad I was bought and brought away. One reason is that now I may have some adventures, and another reason is that I have seen you again." "It is very nice of you to say that," said the Lamb. "Is there any chance of seeing the Sawdust Doll or the White Rocking Horse again?" asked the Captain. "Yes, indeed! Every chance in the world," was the Lamb's answer. "Why, they only live next door. The Sawdust Doll belongs to a little girl named Dorothy, and the White Rocking Horse to a boy named Dick." Then the Wooden Doll, who was a Red Cross Nurse, the Lamb on Wheels and the Bold Tin Soldier and his Tin Men talked together for some little time longer, while Arnold and Mirabell were in the kitchen eating the pie Susan had so kindly baked for them. All of a sudden, as the Lamb was telling the Soldier some of her adventures, and how she had floated downstream on a raft, something fluttered down out of a tree near the porch, and the Lamb cried: "Ouch!" "What is the matter?" asked the Bold Tin Soldier. "Did a bee sting you?" "No, that was a bird!" bleated the Lamb on Wheels. "And did you see what he did?" "No! what?" asked the Soldier. "Why, that bird flew right down out of a tree and grabbed a beak full of wool off my back," went on the Lamb. "Gracious, how he pulled!" And while the Captain was getting ready to say something, down flew the bird again, and he plucked another beak full of loose, soft wool, pulling it from the Lamb's back. "Ouch! Oh, how you pull! Please stop!" bleated the Lamb. The Bold Tin Soldier drew his sword. "Look here, Mr. Bird!" cried the Captain. "I do not want to hurt you, but I can not allow you to pull wool from the back of my friend, Miss Lamb. You must stop it, or I will drive you away with my shiny, tin sword, as I drove away the bad rat that wanted to nibble the ears of the Candy Rabbit! Stop it, Mr. Bird!" "Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!" chirped the Bird. "Please let me pull some more wool from your back, Miss Lamb," and he fluttered in the air with his beak wide open, while the Bold Tin Soldier, with drawn sword, took a step forward. What was going to happen? CHAPTER VI 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!" CHAPTER VII A SAD ACCIDENT If the big dog had not been so gruff and impolite, and if he had known how truly brave the Bold Tin Soldier was, the barking chap never would have tried to do what he said he was going to do--carry away the Sawdust Doll. "Yes, I am going to take the Sawdust Doll home to my kennel, so my little puppies will have something to gnaw and to play with," went on the big dog. "Oh, just fancy!" exclaimed the poor Doll. "Oh, I don't want to be gnawed and played with by any puppies! They may bite holes in me, and all my sawdust will run out I Oh dear!" "Don't be afraid," replied the Bold Tin Soldier. "This dog shall not take you away." "Bow wow! You just watch me!" barked the bad dog. He ran at the Sawdust Doll with wide-open mouth, but before he could pick her up to carry her away the Bold Tin Soldier thrust his sword at the dog and pricked him on the paw. "Ouch! Oh, dear! I must have run a thorn into my foot!" howled the dog. "No, it was not a thorn. It was my sword that pricked you," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "I only stuck you a little bit this first time, but if you keep on teasing my friend, Miss Sawdust Doll, I shall have to do something worse. You had better run away!" "Yes, I think I had," howled the dog. "I didn't know your sword was so sharp. Ouch, my paw hurts!" "Well, I am sorry I had to hurt you," said the Captain. "But if you had behaved yourself it would not have happened." "I'll put a grass poultice on it," said the Sawdust Doll. "I know something about nursing, for once in a while Dorothy pretends I am in a hospital. I'll bind some grass on your foot, Mr. Dog, if you will promise to let me alone." "Yes, I'll do that," was the barking answer. "And I am sorry I was so unkind to you. Please forgive me!" The Sawdust Doll said she would. Then the Bold Tin Soldier, with the same sword that had pricked the dog, cut some grass, and it was bound on the dog's paw. The sword prick was not a very deep one, and would soon heal. Then, limping on three legs, the dog ran away, and the toys were left to themselves once more. By this time Patrick had let the children do all the hose sprinkling he thought was good for them, so back came running Dick and Dorothy, Arnold and Mirabell, to play with their toys again. "What shall we play now?" asked Dick of Arnold. "Shall we have another battle with the Tin Soldiers?" "Let's go to the garage and play we're going on an automobile trip," said Arnold. "We have had enough battles today." So the Captain and his men were put back in their box and the cover was closed down. "Oh, dear!" thought the Lamb on Wheels. "Now if anything happens, such as a big dog coming again, the Captain can not save us. He can not get out of the box." But the Lamb need not have worried, for she was taken into the house by Mirabell, and so was the Sawdust Doll and the Rocking Horse. The little girls went down the street to play with a friend named Madeline, leaving their own toys in Dorothy's house, while Dick and Arnold went out to the garage, and from there over to Arnold's house. But though no big dog came into the home of Dick and Dorothy to carry away the Sawdust Doll, something else happened, almost as bad, at least for the Bold Tin Soldier. He and his men had been put in their box, and the box was put on a table in the playroom, together with the Lamb on Wheels, the Sawdust Doll and the White Rocking Horse. When Arnold and Mirabell went home they would take the Soldiers and the Lamb with them. But before this came about something happened. A lady came to call on Dorothy's mother, bringing with her a little boy named Tad. Now Tad was not a bad little boy, but he was always looking for something to play with and he was not careful. When Tad reached the home of Dick and Dorothy and found neither of the children was in, and when he saw his mother and Dorothy's mother talking together, Tad wandered about by himself to find something with which he could have fun. And the first thing he saw was the box of Tin Soldiers. "Oh, now I can have some fun!" cried Tad. He opened the box and took out the Bold Tin Captain. Then he took out the other Soldiers, the Sergeant, the Corporal and all the men. ''Ha! Now I can have a battle!'' cried Tad, and he threw all the Soldiers in a heap on the floor. "Oh, my, this little fellow is a dreadful chap!" thought the Captain. "If he isn't careful he will break some of us." "I'm glad we don't belong to him!" thought the Sergeant. Still the Soldiers could do nothing, nor could they say anything, as Tad was there looking at them with his big, blue eyes. And Tad did more than look. He handled the Tin Soldiers very roughly. The carpet was so soft that when they were thrown out of their box they were not hurt, but as Tad grew rougher and rougher as he handled the Captain and his men, the Bold Tin Soldier began to be very much worried. "Stand up there!" cried Tad, and he jabbed the Soldiers, one after the other, down very hard on the carpet. Now the carpet, being soft and thick, was not a very good place for the Soldiers to stand on. They fell over very easily, and, seeing this, Tad cried: "Stand up there!" And when the Soldiers kept falling over--since they dared not spread their legs and act as if they were alive when any human eyes were watching them--Tad cried impatiently: "Oh, you're no good! I'm not going to play with you! I'm going to have some other fun!" With a sweep of his hand he sent the Soldiers in a heap together. Some fell one way and some another, and the Captain bounced out to the middle of the floor where Tad let him lay. "I guess I'll ride on the Rocking Horse!" cried this not-very-good little boy. "Oh, dear me! now I am in for a time," thought the White Horse. "This little lad is as rough as the one who used to dig his heels into my sides when he jumped on my back in the store. Oh, there he comes!" And, surely enough, Tad ran across the room and climbed up on the back of the White Rocking Horse. If the Horse could have had his way he would have turned and galloped out of the room. But he could not do this, and so he just had to stand there and take what came. "Gid-dap, there! Gid-dap!" cried Tad, banging his heels against the sides of the White Rocking Horse. Now, as I have told you, when the Horse was made to rock back and forth he traveled along, just as sometimes a rocking chair moves across the room. And the faster Tad made the horse sway to and fro, the more the wooden toy moved along. "Oh, I'm really having a ride!" cried Tad. "This is fun! Gid-dap, White Rocking Horse!" Over the room on the soft carpet rocked the Horse, straight toward the Bold Tin Soldier who was lying in the middle of the room. And in a few moments, unless Tad stopped rocking the Horse, he would run over his friend, the Captain. "Gid-dap! Gid-dap!" shouted Tad. The Horse saw what was going to happen, and so did the Captain. "Oh, if I can only get out of the way!" thought the Bold Tin Soldier. "Oh, if only I do not have to rock on my bold friend!" thought the White Horse. "Gid-dap! Gid-dap!" cried Tad again, and he made the Horse go faster and faster. Nearer and nearer the rockers went to the Bold Tin Soldier. He wanted to shout aloud, but that was against the rules. And the Horse wanted to stop and turn about, and that, also, was against the rules, as long as Tad was there. As for the boy himself, I don't really believe he would have done it if he had seen what was going to happen. But he was so excited at being on the back of the Horse that he did not look down at the floor where the Bold Tin Soldier lay. And a moment later the Horse rocked, with a crunching sound, right over his friend! CHAPTER VIII A BUNCH OF SWEETNESS The Bold Tin Soldier wanted to shout aloud and yell when he felt the rockers of the White Rocking Horse going over him. But he was a truly brave chap, and he knew it would never do to let that careless boy Tad know a Tin Soldier could pretend to be alive. "I must not say a word!" thought the Soldier to himself. And you can just imagine how the White Rocking Horse felt when he was made to run over his dear friend from the toy store! "Oh, dear me," said the White Rocking Horse to himself, when he heard the crunching sound, "something dreadful has happened! But it was not my fault! It was that boy's!" For you know, as well as I do, that if the White Rocking Horse had had his way he would have turned out, and not have gone over his friend, the Captain. But Tad did not stop rocking, even when he heard the crunching sound. He swayed backward and forward in the saddle and cried: "Gid-dap! Go faster!" And he made the White Rocking Horse keep on. I don't know what else would have happened. Maybe that careless boy would have rocked over the rest of the Tin Soldiers for all I know, only he happened to see the Lamb on Wheels. "I'll pull her around. That will be fun," said Tad, springing off the back of the horse. As the boy leaped from the back of the White Rocking Horse he turned that wooden chap half around so the animal could look at the Bold Tin Soldier lying on the carpet. "Oh, my poor friend!" thought the White Rocking Horse, not daring to speak out loud, of course. "I hope you are not killed." And I am glad to say that the Tin Soldier Captain was not. He was not even hurt, for the rocker of the horse had gone over his sword, instead of over one of the legs or arms of the toy chap. The Soldier's sword had been run over and broken off, scabbard and all. And the scabbard, or case in which the sword was kept, and the sword itself were lying on the floor, not far from the Captain. "Dear me, what a sad accident!" thought the White Rocking Horse. And the Bold Tin Soldier was thinking to himself: "Well, it is lucky I am not hurt, but it is dreadful to have my sword broken off. My men may think I am no longer their captain, and they may not obey me. Oh, dear, I am no good any more!" "I wonder if the rough boy will break me?" thought the Lamb on Wheels, as Tad dragged her around the room. But Tad seemed more gentle with the Lamb, or else perhaps he was tired of playing with the toys. For all he did was to drag the woolly plaything around the room a few times, and then he let go the string. "I'm hungry!" said Tad out loud. "I'm going to get my mother to ask Dorothy's mother to give me something to eat!" Out of the room ran the boy, and all the toys breathed easier when they saw him go. "My poor, dear friend!" exclaimed the Rocking Horse, as he slowly made his way over to where the Tin Soldier lay on the carpet. "I hope you will forgive me!" "It was not your fault at all!" said the Soldier. "It could not be helped. It is the fortune of war, as we men of the army say. My sword is broken, that is true, but it is much better to bear that than to put up with a broken arm or leg. Perhaps I can be mended." He picked up the sword which had been broken off from his tin side where it had been soldered, or fastened. He tried to make it stick on, but it was of no use. "Never mind, Captain," said the Corporal from the floor where he lay in a heap with the other soldiers, "we think just as much of you as before. You are still our commander, sword or no sword!" "I am glad to have you say that," returned the Bold Tin Soldier. "Dear me, what a day it has been!" He was still holding the broken sword in his hand when the door opened again and some one came rushing in. The Soldier had to drop back on the carpet, letting his broken sword fall where it would, and neither the Horse nor the other toys could speak again for a time. And then a voice said: "Oh, look at my nice Soldiers on the floor!" "And the Captain's sword is broken!" said another voice. "Oh, who do you suppose did it?" It was Dick and Arnold who had come into the room. "What is the matter?" asked Dick's mother, coming up to the playroom just then. "Has anything happened?" [Illustration: "It Was Not Your Fault," Said the Soldier.] Then the boys showed the sword broken from the side of the brave Captain. "Tad must have done that!" said Dick's mother. "He was up here while his mother and I were talking downstairs. Oh, I am so sorry! But I will have your Soldier mended, Arnold." "Do you think you can?" he asked. "Oh, yes," was the answer. "Patrick, our gardener, is very good at soldering things. Once he soldered a hole in my dishpan. I will get him to fasten on the sword which is broken from your Tin Captain." Patrick was called in. The gardener, who did many things around the big house besides watering the lawn and looking after the flowers, took the Bold Tin Soldier and the broken sword up in his hands. "Can he be mended?" asked Dick's mother. "Oh, yes, I think so," answered Patrick. "And may we watch you mend him?" asked Arnold. "May we, Patrick?" echoed Dick. "Yes," answered the good-natured gardener. "Come along!" Back to the garage he went where he had been mending something that was broken on the automobile, taking the Tin Soldier with him and followed by the two boys. Patrick heated a soldering iron in a little furnace in which burned glowing charcoal. Then Patrick took some shining metal that looked like silver, but which was really soft lead. Solder melts easily, and when some is placed on two pieces of broken tin and heated, it holds together the two pieces of tin just as glue holds together pieces of cardboard or paper. In a little while the Bold Tin Soldier was mended, and there he stood, straight and stiff, with his sword at his side as before. And where the sword had been soldered on a tiny spot of bright lead showed. "I can paint that spot over for you tomorrow, when I have some red paint," said Patrick to Arnold. "Oh, I know what I can do!" cried Arnold, looking at the shiny spot of lead. "I can pretend that is a medal my Captain got in the battle when his sword was broken." "Yes, you can do that," agreed Dick. So the toy was mended again, and was almost as good as before, and very glad the Captain was. "For no matter what your men may say," he thought to himself, "a Captain without a sword is like an elephant without a trunk--he doesn't look himself." Thanking Patrick very much for what he had done in mending the toy, Arnold went home, taking his set of Soldiers with him. A little later his sister, Mirabell, followed, bringing with her the Lamb on Wheels. And when the two toys were left alone, the children having gone to supper, they talked together--did the Soldier and the Lamb. "You are certainly having plenty of adventures," said the Lamb, in her bleating voice. "Yes. And for a time, when I saw the White Rocking Horse bearing down on me, I thought all my adventures were over," replied the Bold Tin Soldier. "I hope that careless boy never comes around where we are again," said the Lamb, and the Soldier hoped the same thing. And now I must tell you another adventure that happened to the Bold Tin Soldier. It was about a week after the White Rocking Horse had run over him, and he was getting used to the shiny "medal," as Arnold called it, that one day when the boy was having a make-believe battle with his Tin Soldiers Mirabell called from the kitchen: "Oh, Arnold, come on down! Susan has baked some lovely cookies!" "I'm coming!" cried Arnold, and, as he happened to have the Bold Tin Soldier in his hand just then, he took the Captain along when he ran down to the kitchen. "Where are the cookies?" asked Arnold, who was feeling hungry. "Right here on the table," replied Susan. "Put your Soldier down, Arnold, and sit up and eat." Now, as it happened, there was an open barrel of sugar in the kitchen. The cook had taken some sugar out to use in making the cookies, and had forgotten to put the cover back on. And Arnold, being in a hurry, put his Captain down on a little shelf just over this barrel. How it happened no one seemed to know, but perhaps in eating his cookie Arnold struck the Captain with his elbow. Anyhow, down into the sugar barrel fell the Bold Tin Soldier. "Oh my! Now I am a bunch of sweetness!" thought the Captain, as he felt the grains of sugar rolling all over him. "Oh this is certainly a strange adventure! What a sweet time I shall have!" CHAPTER IX BACK TO THE STORE The moment he had fallen into the barrel of sugar the Bold Tin Soldier scrambled to his feet and wiggled around until he got his head sticking up above the pile of sweet, white grains. "If I don't do that, I may drown," he thought. "It would be strange to drown in a barrel of sugar! I don't want to do that!" So he wiggled around until he could stand upright, buried to his neck in the sugar, but with his head out so he could look around with his painted tin eyes and breathe through his tin nose. Otherwise he would have smothered. The barrel was not full of sugar. In fact, it was only about a foot deep on the bottom, but that was enough to more than cover the Bold Tin Soldier from sight if it should get over his head. And, being low down in the barrel as he was, the sides of it hid him from the sight of Arnold and the cook. "These are good cookies, Susan," said Arnold, as he ate the last crumbs of the dainty the cook had given him. "I'm glad you like them," she said. "Would you care for another?" "Thank you, yes," the boy answered. And just as Susan was giving him one, and also passing another to Mirabell, Dick, the boy from next door, cried: "Come on out into the yard, Arnold. I have a new little kitten!" "Oh, I want to see it!" shouted Mirabell. "So do I," added Arnold. "And please, Susan, may I have a cookie for Dick?" "Yes," answered the good-natured cook. So out to the yard rushed the children, Arnold forgetting all about his Tin Captain. And as Susan was very busy, she gave no thought to the Bold Tin Soldier. In fact, if she had thought of him at all, she would have imagined that Arnold had taken his toy with him. So while the children were out playing with Dick's new kitten, and while the cook worked in the kitchen, the Captain stayed in the barrel of sugar. "Well, this is certainly an adventure," thought the Captain, "and, though it is a sweet one, I can not say I altogether like it. I wonder how I can get out of here? I must get back to my men, or they will think I have deserted them. That would never do for a soldier!" He looked up toward the open top of the barrel. It seemed far above his head, but he thought if he could cut little steps in the wooden sides of the barrel with his shiny tin sword he might be able to climb out. "But of course I'll have to wait until night, when everything is still and quiet," thought the Captain to himself. "It would never do for me to be seen cutting my way up out of a barrel of sugar. That would give away the great secret of Toy-land--that we can move of ourselves. Yes, I must wait until after dark." So, buried up to his neck in sugar as he was, the Bold Tin Soldier stood in the sweetness like a sentinel on guard. He was doing his duty in the barrel, as he had done it when he cut down the Calico Clown and saved that chap from burning at the gas jet. "I should like to see the Clown now," thought the Captain. "It is lonesome here. But if the Calico Clown saw me he would make up some joke or riddle about me, very likely." Then all of a sudden there was a loud, banging noise and it became very dark. "Hello! what's that?" said the Bold Tin Soldier to himself. "It's as dark as night in here now, but I never knew evening to come as suddenly as that." Truly it was as dark as night in the sugar barrel now, but it was not because night had come. It was because the cook had put the cover on the barrel, for she had finished her baking for the day. But the Captain thought it was night, and since he was sure no one could see him now he drew his sword from the scabbard, or case, and started to get ready to cut little steps in the sides of the barrel to make a place where he might climb to the top. While this was going on Arnold and Mirabell were out looking at Dick's pet kitten. Truly it was a little fluffy one, and so soft that the children loved to pet it. But after a while Arnold thought of his Bold Tin Soldier. "Oh, I left the Captain on the shelf in the kitchen," said the little boy. "I must go get him and put him with the others." Back to the kitchen he ran. "What is it now?" asked Susan, who was getting ready to go out, for it was her afternoon off. "Do you want more cookies, Arnold?" "No, thank you. I want my Tin Captain," he answered. "I left him here." "Oh, you mean your Soldier," said the cook. "I haven't seen him. I don't believe you left him here." "Oh, yes I did!" declared Arnold. But the Bold Tin Soldier was not in sight, of course, being down in the barrel of sugar, as we know. And though Arnold and the cook looked for him they could not find him. "Oh dear!" sighed Arnold, when he could not find the commander of his tin army, "where is he?" "You must have taken him out into the yard and forgotten about it," said the cook. "No I didn't," said the little boy. "Then it is among your other playthings," the cook went on. "You had better look." So Arnold looked, and his mother and Mirabell and Dick helped him, but the Bold Tin Soldier could not be found. He was not with the others in their box, and, look as he did, Arnold could not find his toy anywhere. "I'll never get another like him," sighed the little boy. "He was so nice, with his shiny medal-button!" "And he was such a good Captain!" added Dick. And all this while the Bold Tin Soldier was in the dark barrel of sugar and was getting ready to climb up and out if he could! No one was in the kitchen now. The cook had gone away and it was not yet time for supper. So, all unseen as he was in the barrel, the Tin Soldier could do as he pleased. With his tin sword he began cutting little niches, or steps, in the wooden sides of the barrel. But as the wood was quite hard, and as the tin sword was not very sharp, it was not very easy work for the Captain. As the afternoon passed, the other Soldiers in their box on a shelf in the playroom closet began to wonder what had become of their Captain. "Some of us ought to go in search of him," said the Sergeant. "Yes, but we can't go until after dark, when no one will see us moving about," answered the Corporal. "That's the worst of being a toy--we can not do as we please." "I hope the Captain has not deserted us," said a private soldier. "Deserted! I should say not!" cried the Sergeant. "Our Captain would never desert!" Evening came. The cook came back and began to get supper. And by this time the Captain, in the sugar barrel, had cut several little niches in the sides of the barrel. He was working away so hard that he never heard the cook come into the kitchen and start to get supper. Then, all of a sudden, the cook, as she went to the pantry to get some flour, stopped near the barrel of sugar. She heard a queer little sound coming from it. "I declare!" exclaimed the cook, "a mouse is trying to gnaw into the sugar barrel! The idea!" The sound the cook heard was the Captain's tin sword as he cut steps in the side of the barrel, so he might climb up. But this noise sounded exactly like the gnawing of a mouse. "Get away from there!" cried the cook, and she quickly lifted the cover off the sugar barrel, letting in a flood of light, for it was now night and the electric lights were glowing. "Get out!" cried the cook, thinking to scare away the mouse, as she thought it was. Now of course as soon as the sugar barrel was opened, and the moment the cook looked in, the Captain had to stop work. Back into its scabbard went his sword, and he settled down among the grains of sugar again. He was now being looked at by human eyes, and it was against the toy rule for him to move. "Well I do declare!" cried the cook, as she glanced at the Bold Tin Soldier lying in the sugar. "Here is Arnold's Captain he has been looking for. He is in the kitchen, after all, but how did he get in this barrel? And where is the mouse that was gnawing?" Of course there was no mouse--it was the Captain's sword making the noise. But the cook did not know that. She leaned down and picked the Captain up in her fingers. So he got out of the sugar barrel after all, you see, without having to cut a ladder in the wood. "Arnold! Arnold!" called Susan up the back stairs. "I have found your Tin Captain!" "Where was he?" asked the little boy, who was playing with the other soldiers, and wishing he had their commander. "He was in the barrel of sugar," was the answer. "You must have dropped him in when you were eating cookies this afternoon." "Maybe I did!" said the boy. "Oh, I am so glad to get you back!" he went on, as he carried the Captain upstairs. "Thank you, Susan!" Then the Bold Tin Soldier was placed at the head of his men on the table, and they were together once more. "What happened to you? Why were you away from us so long?" whispered the Sergeant to the Captain, when Arnold went out of the room a moment. "I was in a barrel of sugar," was the answer. "I'll tell you about it later." And that night, when all was still and quiet in the house, the Captain told his story. "That was a wonderful adventure!" said the Corporal. "Yes," agreed the Captain, "it was. I wish the toys back at the store could hear it. I rather think it would surprise the Calico Clown." Arnold was playing with his tin toys one day when his mother called to him. "Arnold, get on your overcoat. I am going to take you and Mirabell down to the toy store. I want to get a little Easter present for your cousin Madeline." "Oh, what fun!" cried Arnold, and before he thought what he was doing he thrust the Tin Captain into his coat pocket and took him with him when he went with his mother and sister to the store; that's what Arnold did. "Dear me! what is going to happen now?" thought the Bold Tin Soldier, as he found himself in Arnold's pocket on his way back to the store. CHAPTER X THE SOLDIER AND THE RABBIT Arnold and Mirabell rode up in the store elevator with their mother to the floor where the toys were displayed. "What did you say you wanted to get for Madeline?" asked Mirabell, as she walked along looking at the pretty things on the counters and shelves. "A little Easter present," was the answer. "Perhaps I can find some pretty little bunny, or a novelty of some sort, that Madeline would like. You children may help me pick it out." "I'm going to see if there are any more Tin Soldiers like mine," said Arnold. The children and their mother came near the toy counter. On it were many playthings that boys and girls like. The Calico Clown was there, the Monkey on a Stick, a Jumping Jack, and others. "Oh, I wish I had that Jumping Jack!" exclaimed Arnold. "But you have plenty of toys," said his mother. "Yes, I know," he answered. "But I wish--I er--wish--I er--a-ker-choo!" suddenly sneezed Arnold, and as he felt his nose tickling he took his handkerchief from his pocket with a jerk. And with the handkerchief out came the Bold Tin Soldier which the boy had stuffed into his pocket when he hurried downstairs as his mother called him to go shopping with her and Mirabell. Out popped the Bold Tin Soldier, and he bounced right over on to the toy counter, just the very same place where he had lived before he came to Arnold's house. "Oh. look!" cried Mirabell. "How funny! I didn't know you had brought your Tin Soldier Captain with you, Arnold." "I didn't know it myself! I guess I must have stuffed him into my pocket and forgotten about him," the little boy said. "But I am not going to leave him here. I like him too much." As it happened, the Bold Tin Soldier, when he was pulled out with the handkerchief, landed on the toy counter right side up, standing on his feet. And, as it also happened, he landed near the Candy Rabbit. "I didn't know, my dear, that you were going to bring any of your toys with you," said Arnold's mother, with a smile. "I didn't know it either!" he answered, with a laugh. He reached out his hand to pick up his Soldier and put him back in his pocket when, down at the other end of the toy counter, one of the clerks suddenly began spinning a humming top, which showed different colors and played a little tune as it whirled around. "Oh, I want to see that!" cried Arnold. "So do I!" echoed Mirabell. "Perhaps that would be an Easter toy for Madeline," thought Mother. So all three of them moved down toward the end of the toy counter, Arnold, for the moment, forgetting about his Tin Captain, who was thus left standing among his old friends with no one to watch him or them. "Oh, how glad we are to see you here again!" exclaimed the Calico Clown. "We have only a moment before the folks come back, but tell us all about your adventures." [Illustration: Bold Tin Soldier Compliments Calico Clown.] "Oh, it would take too long," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "I have had some remarkable ones, but falling into a sugar barrel was the queerest. But what a fine pair of trousers you have, Clown," he said. The funny chap looked pleased at this. "Yes, these are the new ones the girl made for me after I scorched mine climbing the string too near the gas--the time you saved me, you know," replied the Clown. "My! you look gay enough for a circus," said the Soldier. "I'd like to join one," the Clown went on. "But I don't suppose there is any chance. I've been on this toy counter so long I'm beginning to believe I shall always live here. But you--you have been out to see the world! You have had adventures!" "Yes, I suppose you may say I have," admitted the Bold Tin Soldier. "But though my men and I have a fine home with Arnold, still I get lonesome for you toys once in a while. I have met the Sawdust Doll, the White Rocking Horse, and the Lamb on Wheels. Now I am glad to meet you all once more. And how is my friend the Candy Rabbit?" the Captain asked, as he saw the long-eared chap standing near him. "I am quite well, thank you," the Rabbit answered. "It will soon be Easter, and then perhaps my adventures will begin." "It certainly is good to see you again," said the Monkey on a Stick to the Captain. "I have been wishing I could get away from here for a time, to have some adventures, but, so far, I haven't had a chance." "Your time will come," said the Captain. "You are such a lively chap that I should think you would have many things happen to you." "Yes, I'm not slow, whatever else you may say about me," chattered the Monkey, and, with that, he turned a somersault on his stick, but of course none of the people in the store saw him, for that was not allowed, you know. "Hush! The people are coming back!" suddenly called the Candy Rabbit, and, surely enough, Mirabell, Arnold and their mother came back after having seen the buzzing top. "I think that would not be just the right kind of an Easter present I want for Madeline," said Mirabell's mother. "I'll look here, among the toys." "Why don't you get her a Candy Rabbit?" asked Mirabell. "I believe I will," said Mother. She picked the Candy Rabbit up and looked at him. He was a fine fellow, colored just like a real rabbit, and with pink eyes and a pink nose. "Oh, now my adventures will soon begin," thought the Candy Rabbit. "I think this will do very nicely for Madeline," said the mother of the two children. "I will come at Easter for it," she went on to the clerk. "Come, children." And when Arnold had picked up his Bold Tin Soldier and put him back in his pocket, the children and their mother left the store. The Captain wished he might have had another chance to speak to his toy friends, but it was not to be just then. "I wonder if I shall see the Candy Rabbit again," he thought as he made himself comfortable in Arnold's warm pocket. In a little while the children were back home again after the shopping trip. "I am going to play with my Lamb on Wheels," said Mirabell. "I am going to take her over to Dorothy's house to see the Sawdust Doll." "And I'll take my Soldiers over and have some fun with Dick and his White Rocking Horse," said Arnold. And when the four toys in Dick's house had a chance to talk among themselves, as the children were out of the room for a while, the Captain said: "Oh, I have such news for you!" "What is it?" asked the Sawdust Doll. "I think the Candy Rabbit is going to be sent to a little girl named Madeline for an Easter present," said the Captain. "Why, that girl--Madeline--lives right across the street!" exclaimed the White Rocking Horse. "She is Mirabell's cousin, and she knows Dorothy." "Oh, then maybe we shall see the Candy Rabbit again," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "I am glad of that!" And as for what happened next--well, if you wish to know you may find out by reading the next book of this series, which will be called "The Story of a Candy Rabbit." In it you will again meet the Bold Tin Soldier and all his friends. THE END 
6324	----	[Illustration: White Rocking Horse Races With the Elephant on Skates. Frontispiece] MAKE BELIEVE STORIES THE STORY OF A WHITE ROCKING HORSE BY LAURA LEE HOPE Author of "The Story of a Sawdust Doll," "The Story of a Bold Tin Soldier," "The Bobbsey Twins Series," "The Bunny Brown Series," "The Six Little Bunkers Series," Etc. ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY L. SMITH BOOKS BY LAURA LEE HOPE MAKE BELIEVE STORIES STORY OF A SAWDUST DOLL STORY OF A WHITE ROCKING HORSE STORY OF A LAMB ON WHEELS STORY OF A BOLD TIN SOLDIER STORY OF A CANDY RABBIT STORY OF A MONKEY ON A STICK STORY OF A CALICO CLOWN 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 BUNNY BROWN SERIES THE SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES CONTENTS CHAPTER I READY FOR A RACE II THE RUDE BOY III A NICE MAN IV THE SURPRISE V A NIGHT RIDE VI THE BROKEN LEG VII IN THE TOY HOSPITAL VIII HOME AGAIN IX TWO BAD MEN X THE GRASS PARTY CHAPTER I READY FOR A RACE One by one the lights went out. One by one the shoppers left the toy department of the store. One by one the clerks rode down in the elevators. At last all was still and quiet and dark--that is, all dark except for a small light, so the night-watchman could see his way around. "Now we can have some fun!" cried a voice, and it seemed to come from a Calico Clown, lying down in a box next to a Bold Tin Soldier. "Now we can really be ourselves, and talk and move about." "We can, if we are sure there is no one to watch us," bleated a Lamb on Wheels, who stood on the floor near a White Rocking Horse. "You know, as well as I do, Calico Clown, that we cannot do as we please if there are any eyes watching us," said the Lamb. "No one can see us," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "I am glad the clerks and shoppers are gone. It will be some time before the watchman comes up here, and my men and I will be glad to move about. All ready there!" he called to his soldiers, for he was captain over a brave company of tin warriors. "Attention! Stand up straight and get ready to march! You have been in your box all day, and now it is time to come out!" It was true; the Bold Tin Soldier and his men had been in a box on the toy counter all day. For, as you have been told, the playthings cannot make believe come to life nor move about when any human eyes are watching them. They must wait until they are alone, which is generally after dark. That is why you have never seen your doll or your rocking horse moving about by itself. But now, in the toy store, from which every one had gone, some strange things happened. The Calico Clown stood up near the Candy Rabbit and looked about. Then the Calico Clown banged together the shiny brass cymbals he held in his hands. "Clang! Bang!" went the cymbals. "Ha! that sounds like war," cried the Bold Tin Soldier. "Come, my men! Forward--march!" And then and there the tin soldiers, with their captain holding his shiny tin sword in his hand, marched out of their box and around the toy counter of the big department store. Yes, I wish you could have seen them; but it isn't allowed, you know. Just the very minute the eyes of a boy or a girl, or, for that matter, a father or mother or aunt, uncle or cousin--just the very moment any one looks, the toys are as still as clothespins. "Aren't they fine?" cried a Monkey on a Stick, as he scrambled up to the very top of his staff, so he might look over the pile of building blocks that stood near some picture books. "I wish I were a soldier!" "Oh, no!" exclaimed a Boy Doll. "You are funnier as a Monkey," remarked the Calico Clown. "But I am not as funny as you are," laughed the Monkey. "Tell us a joke, that's a good fellow! Tell us something funny, Calico Clown, so we may laugh. We have had no fun all day." "All right," agreed the Calico Clown, with a smile, as he softly banged his cymbals together. "I'll see if I can think of a joke." The Bold Tin Soldier and his men stopped marching to listen to what the Calico Clown might say. The Candy Rabbit raised his big ears up straighter, so that he would miss nothing. The Lamb on Wheels gave herself a shake, seemingly so the kinks would come out of her woolly coat, and the Monkey on a Stick swung by his tail. "Yes, I'll tell you a joke," said the Calico Clown. "It is a sort of riddle. Listen, and see if any of you can answer it." "The Sawdust Doll was very clever at answering riddles," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "I wish she were here now." "But she isn't," said the Candy Rabbit. "I liked that Sawdust Doll very much, but she has gone away." "Yes, some lady bought her for a little girl's birthday," came from the Monkey on a Stick. "You are right, Tin Soldier, that doll was very clever at answering the riddles the Clown used to ask." "Well, if you don't all stop talking now, how am I going to tell this joke?" asked the Calico Clown crossly. "Now, who is a--" "I wonder if the Sawdust Doll will come back and see us once again, as she did before?" asked the Lamb on Wheels, not paying much attention to what the Calico Clown said. "Don't you remember, Tin Soldier, how she once came back to us, after she had been sold and taken away?" "Clang! Bang!" went the cymbals of the Calico Clown. "What's the matter?" asked the Monkey on a Stick. "Matter? Matter enough, I should say!" replied the Clown. "Here I am asked to tell a funny joke, and none of you will listen. You keep on talking about the Sawdust Doll. I liked her as much as any one. But she is gone--she was sold away from us. To-morrow some of us may be sold, and never see the others again. Let's be gay and jolly while we can!" "That's what I say!" exclaimed the Candy Rabbit. "Really, we are not very polite to go on talking when the Calico Clown wants to amuse us with one of his famous jokes. We should listen to him." "You are right!" cried the Bold Tin Soldier. "Come now," he went on, as he waved his sword over his head, "I do not want to be cross with you, my toy friends, but I command silence! Silence while the Calico Clown tells his joke!" The toys on the counters and shelves settled down and turned their eyes toward the Clown in his funny calico suit of many colors. "I'm sure you will all laugh at this joke!" cried the Calico Clown. "It is so funny I have to laugh myself whenever I tell it. Thank you for getting them quiet so they can listen to me, Bold Tin Soldier. I am glad you are a friend--" "Say, you'd better tell that joke, if you're going to!" broke in the captain. "I don't know how long they'll stay quiet. And I want to march around some more before morning comes and we have to stay in our box all day. You know it is the Christmas season, and any one of us may be bought any day and taken far off. So let us be jolly together while we may. All quiet now, for the Calico Clown's joke!" "Thank you," returned the funny fellow again. "Now, why is it that when--" And just then there was a rumbling, rolling sound on the floor of the toy department. "Dear me!" exclaimed the Candy Rabbit, "can that be the watchman coming so soon?" They all listened, and heard the noise more plainly. It rumbled and rolled nearer and nearer. "Dear me!" said the Calico Clown, "I'm never going to get a chance to tell my joke. What is it, Candy Rabbit? Can you see?" The sweet chap was just going to say he could see nothing, when there came a whinny from a big White Rocking Horse standing on the floor near a lawn swing. "Oh, you're here at last, are you?" neighed the White Rocking Horse. "Yes, I'm here," answered a voice, and with it came again the rumbling, rolling sound. "I'm sorry if I am late, but I had to go over in the sporting goods section to get a pair to fit me." "A pair of what to fit who? Who is it?" asked the Monkey on a Stick, for he had taken a seat behind a pile of building blocks, and could not see very well. "What's going on here, anyhow?" he asked, as he began to climb up to the top of his stick. Then all the toys looked at the White Rocking Horse, and they saw, trundling toward him, an Elephant on roller skates. "Oh, how funny he looks!" laughed the Calico Clown. "Oh, dear me! This is better than any joke I could tell! Oh, how funny!" And the Calico Clown doubled up in such a kink of laughter that his cymbals tinkled again and again. "What is so funny?" asked the Elephant on roller skates. "You are," replied the Clown. "Of course we are glad to see you," he added. "And please excuse me for laughing at you. But, really, I cannot help it! You do look so funny! I--I never saw an elephant on roller skates before." "And I never before was on roller skates," answered the toy Elephant. "I don't believe I'll ever put them on again, either," he said. "But when the White Rocking Horse asked me to race with him, that was the only way I could think of to make it fair, as he is so much faster than I. He said I might put anything I liked on my feet." "What's this? What's this?" cried the Bold Tin Soldier. "Is there to be a race between an Elephant on roller skates and the White Rocking Horse?" "Yes," answered the Horse himself, "we are going to have a little race, just for fun, you know. I thought it would be amusing." "Where are you going to run the race?" asked the Candy Rabbit. "Down to the elevators and back again," answered the White Rocking Horse. "You see, my friends, it came about in this way," he explained. "The Elephant was always telling how fast he could run. He said the real elephants in the jungle, after whom he is patterned, were swifter than horses. I said I did not think so. I told him I could beat him in a race, so we agreed to try it some night. I said he could put on roller skates if he wished, since I had rockers, like those of a chair, fastened on my hoofs." The White Rocking Horse was a proud fellow, with his long tail and mane of real hair. Proudly he held up his head. Proudly he rocked to and fro. On his back was a red saddle of real leather. "Get ready for the race!" called the Calico Clown, clanging his cymbals. "This will be real, jolly fun! Ready for the race!" The Horse and Elephant stood on a line, which was a crack in the floor, and they were just going to rush toward the elevators when, all of a sudden, the Candy Rabbit cried: "Hush!" CHAPTER II THE RUDE BOY Suddenly all the toys, who had been crowding to the edges of the shelves and counters to watch the race between the Horse and the Elephant, became very quiet. The Candy Rabbit seemed to shrink down behind the Monkey on a Stick. The Bold Tin Soldier slipped his sword back into its scabbard, and his men lowered their guns. The Calico Clown, who had been about to bang his cymbals together, dropped them to his sides. The Lamb on Wheels, who had just been going to ask a Rag Doll if she did not want to get up on her back, so she might see better, rolled herself under the counter, and the White Rocking Horse and the Elephant on his roller skates looked around in surprise. "What's the matter?" neighed the Horse. "Why did you call out for us to hush, Candy Rabbit?" "I thought I heard a noise," was the answer. "Maybe the night watchman is coming. If he is, he must never see us at our play. Something dreadful would happen, if he did." "Hush! Not so loud!" whispered the Calico Clown. "What you say is very true, Candy Rabbit. We dare not move about or talk if we are looked at by human eyes. But I do not think the watchman is coming." "How can we be sure the watchman is not looking at us?" whispered the Monkey on a Stick. "I'd like to see this race." "So would I," said the Calico Clown. "And there is only one way we can be certain the watchman is not here." "Tell us how!" suggested the Bold Tin Soldier. "This is the way," answered the Calico Clown. "I will recite that funny riddle I started to give you earlier in the evening. If the watchman is here he will laugh at it, and then well know he is watching us." "That will be a fine way!" said the Lamb on Wheels. "Go ahead, Calico Clown. Tell us the riddle, and we must all listen to see if the watchman laughs." "All right I Here I go!" agreed the Calico Clown. He banged his cymbals together and then, in a loud voice, asked: "Why is a basket of soap bubbles like a piece of chocolate cake?" They all listened after the Calico Clown had asked this riddle. But there was no laugh. It was as quiet in the toy department as if none of the playthings had made believe come to life. "I guess the watchman isn't there," said the Calico Clown, "or else he would have laughed at my riddle." "Maybe he is waiting for the answer," said the White Rocking Horse. "I think that must be it, for I don't see anything very funny in the riddle itself. Maybe the watchman is waiting for you to give the answer, and then he'll laugh." "Oh, I'm sure that is it," said the Elephant. "Go ahead, Calico Clown! Tell us the answer! Why is a basket of soap bubbles like a piece of chocolate cake? If we hear that, maybe we'll laugh, as well as the watchman. What's the answer?" "That's the funny part of it!" said the Calico Clown. "There is no answer." "No answer!" cried the White Rocking Horse. "That's a funny riddle!" "I knew you'd think it was funny," returned the Calico Clown. "That is why I tried so hard to tell it earlier in the evening, to make you all jolly. No, there really is no answer. I don't believe a basket full of soap bubbles is a bit like a piece of chocolate cake. But I just thought I'd ask to see if any of you knew." He waited a moment, but none of the toys answered. "And the watchman doesn't seem to know, either," said the Monkey on a Stick. "I guess he can't be here, or he would have laughed, Mr. Calico Clown." "I'm sure he would," said the joking chap. "It must be all right. No one is looking at us. On with the race!" "Yes," rumbled the Elephant, away deep down in his trunk, "if we are going to have this race let's get it over with. I must go back to my place among the camels and lions and tigers before morning." The Elephant, who had borrowed a pair of roller skates to race with the White Rocking Horse, lived in a large Noah's Ark with the other animals from the jungle and the desert. "Get ready now!" cried the Bold Tin Soldier. "On your marks, Horse and Elephant! I will have one of my men fire his gun as a signal to start the race!" "Good!" neighed the White Rocking Horse. Slowly he began to sway back and forth, while the Elephant slid along on his roller skates until both animals stood, once more, on the crack in the floor. When the Candy Rabbit had cried "Hush!" they had both slid back toward the toy counter. Later on the make-believe folk found that the noise was caused by a Jack in the Box springing up quickly to watch the race. "Bang!" went a toy pop gun. And then the race began! And such a race as it was! Across the floor, toward the elevators, went the Elephant, gliding along on the roller skates. Back and forth swayed the Rocking Horse, and each time he moved he went a little faster. His tail and mane streamed out in the air and his red saddle of real leather glistened in the light of the one dim electric lamp. "The Elephant is winning! The Elephant is winning!" cried the Monkey on a Stick. He rather favored the Elephant, for, like the big chap, the Monkey also had come from a jungle. "The Horse is going faster!" cried the Bold Tin Soldier. "I'm sure the Horse will win the race!" The Tin Captain rather favored the Horse, since all soldiers like horses. "It is too soon, yet, to tell who will win," remarked the Calico Clown. "They have to go to the elevators and come back to the starting mark--the crack in the floor--before the race is finished. Oh, but this is sport!" The White Rocking Horse and the Elephant, who wore roller skates, were close together, making their way as fast as they could toward the elevators. This was the half-way mark of the race. The two animals must turn around and come back to the toy counter before it would be known which was the faster. Just now they seemed to be even. On and on they raced, faster and faster. If you had been there you would have enjoyed it, I am sure. But of course that was not allowed. If you had so much as peeped, even with one eye, the toys would instantly have become as motionless as the pictures in your spelling book. Back and forth rocked the White Horse. Rumble and roll went the Elephant on his skates. They were close to the elevators in about three minutes after they had started from the crack mark. "Now they are going to turn around," whispered the Celluloid Doll, as she leaned over the edge of the counter. "Oh, look!" suddenly called the Monkey on a Stick. "Now the White Rocking Horse will win the race!" As he spoke there came a loud clattering sound down near the elevators--the halfway mark of the race. All the toys strained their necks to look, and they saw that one of the roller skates had come off the Elephant. He had turned too quickly, and had lost a skate. "Never mind! Go on! Go on!" cried the Elephant, who was quite a sporting chap in his own way. "Go on with the race! I can beat you on three skates, Mr. Horse!" "Ho! Ho! We'll see about that!" whinnied the rocking chap, as he made the turn and started back. The two toys were going along as fast as they could, the rumble of the rockers on the White Horse mingling with the roll of the skates on the Elephant, when, all of a sudden, a brighter light shone in the toy department, the tread of footsteps was heard, and the Calico Clown had just time to shout: "The watchman! To your places, every one!" And instantly the toys were as motionless and quiet as mice. The Elephant, even on three skates, had been going so fast that he rolled behind a big pillar all covered with red and green tissue paper, with which the toy section was decorated. And the White Rocking Horse stayed just where he was when the Clown called out. Up among the toy counters and shelves came a big man carrying a lantern. He was the store watchman, and he went about in the different departments each night to see that all was well. "What's this?" exclaimed the watchman, as he noticed the White Rocking Horse near the elevators. "This toy is out of place! He belongs over near the counter. Some clerk or customer must have left him here when the store closed last night. I'll take him back," and, picking up the White Rocking Horse, the watchman carried the toy back to where it belonged. And the Horse did not dare give even the smallest kick. He dared not show that he had been alive and in a race. The watchman walked back toward the elevator, and saw the skate that had come off the Elephant's foot. He did not see the Elephant who was hidden behind the pillar. "Well, I do declare!" exclaimed the watchman. "The clerks here are getting very careless! This roller skate belongs over in the sporting section. I'll take it there." He picked it up and walked away. When he was gone, and the light of his lantern no longer gleamed, the Calico Clown slowly raised his head. "Now you can go on with the race," he said. "No, the race is spoiled for to-night," answered the Horse. "It will soon be daylight, and the clerks and shoppers will be coming in." "Yes, and I would have to go to the other part of the store to get back my roller skate," said the Elephant. "I find I cannot get along on three. We'll have the race to-morrow night, Mr. Horse." "That will suit me very well," said the proud, brave steed. "And now we had all better get quiet," said the Monkey on a Stick. "I can see the sun peeping up in the east. Daylight is coming, and we dare no longer move about and talk. We have had some fun, but now we must get ready to be looked at by the shoppers. Quiet, everybody!" And, as he spoke, the light suddenly grew stronger in the toy department, the clerks presently began coming in, and soon, when the sun was a little higher in the sky, the shoppers began arriving. The White Rocking Horse, proud and stiff, stood near the counter. How his red saddle, of real leather, glistened in the light! How fluffy were his mane and tail! Suddenly there came marching down the aisle of the store a boy whose feet made a great deal of noise, and who had a loud voice. "Here's the Rocking Horse I want!" he cried. "I'm going to have this one!" And in an instant he had leaped on the back of the White Horse, banging his heels on the painted sides and yanking on the leather reins. "Gid-dap! Gid-dap!" cried the rude boy, and he began kicking the White Rocking Horse in the ribs. CHAPTER III A NICE MAN "Dear me!" thought the White Rocking Horse to himself, as he felt the boy banging hard, leather heels into his side. "This is quite dreadful! I hope I am not sold to this boy! He would be a very unpleasant master to have, I am sure!" Just because the White Rocking Horse and the other toys could not talk and move about when human eyes were watching them, did not stop them from thinking things to themselves, or from having feelings. And you may be very sure the White Rocking Horse felt that his feelings were very much hurt when the boy banged his heels so hard into the sides of the steed. "I certainly hope I am not going to belong to this boy," thought the White Rocking Horse, and he looked toward the toy counter. He saw the Calico Clown glancing sadly at him, and he noticed the Monkey on a Stick making funny faces at the boy. "I wish I could make that boy come over here and look at me," thought the Monkey. "Then he would let my friend, the White Rocking Horse, alone." But the rude boy seemed to like being in the red leather saddle on the back of the Rocking Horse. "Grid-dap! Go 'long there!" cried the boy, and again he clapped his heels against the wooden sides of the Horse, chipping off bits of paint. With his hands the boy yanked on the reins until he nearly pulled them off the head of the White Rocking Horse. A young lady clerk, who worked In the toy department, came along just then. "Please do not be so rough on the Horse, little boy," she said in a gentle voice. "I'm going to have this Horse!" shouted the rude boy, as he rocked to and fro. "I'm going to make my mother buy him for me for Christmas. Go 'long! Gid-dap!" "Oh, I never could stand belonging to this boy!" thought the poor White Rocking Horse. "I should want to run away!" While the unpleasant boy was still in the saddle, swaying to and fro and banging his heels, a lady came walking down the aisle of the toy department. "Here's the Horse I want!" the boy cried to her. "He's a dandy! He has real hair in his tail and mane, and the saddle is real leather! Buy me this Horse!" "No, Reginald, I cannot buy you this Horse," said the lady. "It costs too much, and you have a rocking horse at home now." "Yes, but that one has no ears, his leg is broken, and he has no saddle or bridle," cried the boy. "I want this horse!" "Your horse was as good as this one when it was new," said the boy's mother. "If you had taken care of it, it would be a good horse yet." "Well, I couldn't help it 'cause his ears pulled off! I wanted him to stop rocking and he wouldn't!" grumbled the rude boy. "I had to pull his ears!" "Gracious! Think of pulling off the ears of a rocking horse because he wouldn't stay quiet!" said the Bold Tin Soldier to himself. "I hope our White Horse doesn't get this boy for a master." "I want this Horse! I want this one!" cried the boy, again banging his heels on the side of the toy. "No, Reginald, you cannot have it," said his mother, "Then I want this Calico Clown!" the boy exclaimed, jumping off the horse so quickly that the toy animal would have been knocked over, only the young lady clerk caught it and held it upright. The boy caught the Clown up in his hands, and began punching the toy in the chest to make the cymbals bang together. "Dear me, what a dreadful chap this boy is!" thought the Calico Clown. "So rough!" As for the White Rocking Horse, he began to feel better as soon as the boy was out of the saddle. True, his wooden sides were somewhat dented, but the young lady clerk said to her friend at the doll counter: "I'll get a little oil and rub the spots out. They won't show, and the Horse will be as good as ever. It's a shame such boys are allowed in the toy department." "Buy me this Calico Clown!" cried the boy, who was punching the gaily dressed toy, and making the cymbals clang. "I want this, if I can't have the Rocking Horse!" "No, you can't have anything until Christmas," said his mother. "Put it back, Reginald!" The boy frowned and tossed the Calico Clown back on the counter so hard one of the cymbals struck the Candy Rabbit and chipped a little piece of sugar off one ear. And all the toys were glad when the boy's mother finally took him away. "I must get you a pair of shoes, Reginald," she said. "I hope she gets him a pair that pinches his toes!" thought the Bold Tin Soldier. "Such boys should be taught not to break toys, and they never, never should be allowed to pull the ears off a rocking horse." And if the White Rocking Horse could have spoken, he would have said the same thing, I am sure. Other boys came in to try the White Rocking Horse, and they were all good boys. They took their place in the red saddle very quietly, and did not bang with their heels. Nor did they yank and seesaw on the reins that were fastened on the head of the Rocking Horse. "I would rather belong to two, or even three, of these good, kind boys, than to that one rude chap," said the White Rocking Horse to himself, as he swayed backward and forward on the floor in the toy department. He and the Lamb on Wheels were too large to be set on the counter with the Calico Clown, the Monkey on a Stick, the Candy Rabbit and the Bold Tin Soldier and other smaller toys. Slowly the day passed, and night was again coming on. Lights began to glow, for the days were short and evening came quickly--even before the store was closed. "I wonder if the Rocking Horse and the Elephant will finish their race tonight?" thought the Bold Tin Soldier, as he felt himself being taken out of his box to be looked at by a lady who was doing her Christmas shopping. It was almost closing time in the store when the White Rocking Horse, who felt much better since his sides had been rubbed with oil, heard a gentleman's voice speaking near him. "This is about what I want for Dick's Christmas," said the man to the young lady clerk. "Is this a good Rocking Horse?" "The best in the store; yes, sir," was the answer. "The tail and mane are real hair, and the saddle and bridle are real leather. The rockers, too, are nice and smooth, so the Horse will go fast." "Well, I don't want it to go too fast," said the man, smiling down at the White Rocking Horse as he patted its neck, "My son Dick is too small to ride even a rocking horse very fast. I think, though, that I will have Santa Claus bring him this one. And, as it is so near Christmas, and as you are so very busy, if you will have this wrapped up for me, I will take it home in my auto. I will help Santa Claus that much." "I'm sure he'll be glad to have you help him," replied the young lady, with a smile. "And I hope Dick will like this Horse. I am glad our Horse is going to a boy who will be kind to him." "Oh, Dick takes good care of his toys," said the man. "Well, thank goodness for that!" thought the White Rocking Horse. "Now like the Sawdust Doll, my adventures are going to start." And, if you will turn to the next chapter, you may read what happened. CHAPTER IV THE SURPRISE Through all this talk between the young lady of the store and the father who was buying something for his son's Christmas, to help busy Santa Claus, the White Rocking Horse never said a word. But he was doing as much thinking as a wooden horse ever did; I am sure of that. "I'll get some big sheets of paper and wrap the horse up for you," said the young lady clerk to the man. "Are you sure you can get him in your auto?" "Oh, yes," the man answered. "I have plenty of room. There will be no one in the car but the horse and myself. We shall have a nice ride together. It will seem rather funny to be giving a horse a ride in an automobile. I have often seen a horse pull a broken or stalled automobile along the street, but I never saw a horse in an auto before," he said. "And I never did, either," replied the young lady, with a laugh, as she went to get the wrapping paper. "But then you know," she added, "this is not a regular horse." "No, he is a rocking chap," said the man. Then he turned to another part of the toy department. And as the young lady clerk was gone to get the paper and as the man was around the corner, over near the table where the checkers and dominoes were arranged in piles, the toys about which I have been telling you were left to themselves for a moment. And, of course, as there was no one to see them, they could move about and talk, if they wished. And they certainly did. "Where do you suppose you are going?" asked the Calico Clown of the White Rocking Horse. "I haven't the least idea," was the answer. "But I know one thing: I am very sorry to leave you, my friends. We have had some jolly times together. Only think--last night the Elephant and I were having a friendly race!" "Yes, and I wish I could have seen the finish of it," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "I am sure you would have won. A Rocking Horse is always faster than an Elephant." "I am not so sure about that," said the Monkey on a Stick. "I believe the Elephant would have beaten." "Well, we can't have the race now, that's sure," neighed the Horse. "I shall soon be leaving you." "Maybe I could race with the Elephant," suggested the woolly Lamb. "I have wheels on, and if the Elephant wears his roller skates that will make us both even. We could have the race to-night, perhaps." "Well, I hope you have jolly times when I am gone," said the White Rocking Horse. "Try to amuse yourselves." "We will," answered the Calico Clown. "But perhaps you will come back to see us, as the Sawdust Doll once did." "I'm afraid not," neighed the Horse. "You see, the Sawdust Doll came back because the little girl, whose mother bought the toy, carried the Doll in her arms. But I am too big to be carried in a boy's arms." "Yes, that is so," agreed the Bold Tin Soldier. "Horses have to travel along by themselves, or else ride in autos. But perhaps, my dear friend, you may get a chance to gallop back here to see us some night." "I should like to," the White Rocking Horse said; "but I don't see how it can be done. Some one would be sure to be looking." "Hush! Quiet, everybody!" whispered the Calico Clown. "The man is coming back!" And back he came, having finished looking at the checkers and dominoes. The young lady clerk also returned, with some large sheets of wrapping paper and a ball of string. The toys could talk among themselves no longer, but of course they could still think, and each one who was to be left behind thought how lonesome it would be with the White Rocking Horse gone. As for that wonderful chap, he was soon covered from the sight of his friends in the wrappings of paper. One sheet was put over his head, so he could see nothing more. Then his body and legs were wrapped in other papers, and the red saddle and bridle of real leather were covered up, as were the mane and tail of real hair. "There, I think he will ride very nicely in my auto now," said the man, as he paid the clerk for the White Rocking Horse. Then the man carried the Horse down in the elevator. At first it made the White Rocking Horse a little dizzy to be carried down in the elevator. He had not ridden in one for a long time--not since he was first brought to the big store from the Land of the North Pole, where he had been made in the work-shop of Santa Claus. Then the White Rocking Horse had been carried up to the toy department in a big freight elevator, with many others like himself. But that freight elevator went more slowly than the passenger one in which the man now carried down his boy's Christmas present, thus helping St. Nicholas, who was to be very busy that year. As the man went outside the store with his bundle the White Rocking Horse felt a cold chill run over him. He was so used to the warm store that he had forgotten the cold weather outside. It was snowing, too, and one or two white flakes sifted in through cracks of the wrapping paper, and fell on the Horse. "Well, this is certainly a strange adventure," thought the White Horse; "being carried along this way, out into a storm. I wonder what will happen next?" And the next he knew he was put in the back of an automobile and away he rode, faster than he ever could have traveled by himself--faster even than he had gone while racing with the Elephant on roller skates. The ride in the automobile through the snow made the White Rocking Horse rather sleepy, so he really did not know much about what happened on his trip through the storm. All he remembered was that he went quite fast and at last the car stopped. Then he felt himself being lifted out of the automobile, and he heard voices. "Is Dick out of the way?" the man asked. "Yes, he and Dorothy are up in the playroom," was the answer in a lady's voice. "You can carry the Horse right up to the attic. He can stay there until Santa Claus is ready to put him under the Christmas tree." "All right," said the man. "As long as Dick and Dorothy are out of the way I'll bring the Horse in. I don't want them to see it until Christmas." "Dorothy! Dorothy!" thought the Horse to himself. "Where have I heard that name before? I guess some little girl who was called that must have come to the toy department at one time or another. Well, now to see what happens next!" He felt himself being carried along. Dimly he saw lights, and he felt that he was in a warm place--as warm as the store had been. Then, suddenly, the wrapping papers were taken off him. "Oh, what a beautiful Rocking Horse!" exclaimed the lady. "I am sure Dick will be pleased. It's the same one I saw in the store. I am glad you got that one!" Now the White Rocking Horse was still rather dazed and still rather sleepy from his ride in the cold. Or else perhaps he would have been prepared for the surprise in store for him. Dimly he seemed to remember having heard that lady's voice before, and dimly he recalled having seen her before. Then, when his wrapping papers had been taken off, he was set down on the floor near a warm chimney in rather a bare and cheerless attic, and left to himself in the darkness. But the White Rocking Horse could see in the dark. And when he knew that no human eyes were watching him he spoke, in the make-believe language of toy land. "Is any one here--any toy to whom I can talk, and with whom I can have a little fun?" asked the White Horse out loud. There was no answer for a moment, and then a voice said: "You can talk to me, if you like, but it has been many years since I have had any fun. I am old and broken and covered with dust." "Who are you?" asked the White Horse. "I am an old Jumping Jack," was the answer. "Here I am, over by the chimney." "Oh, now I see you!" said the Horse. "But what is the matter? Are you so very old?" "Oh, yes, I am almost five Christmases old," was the answer. "My two legs are broken, and one of my arms, and the spring by which I used to jump is all worn out. So, as I am no longer of any use in this world, I am in the Attic Home. That is the last resting place of broken toys, you know." "I have heard of it," said the Rocking Horse rather sadly. "I hope I am not kept here." "Indeed you will not be," said the old Jumping Jack. "You are new, and are going to enjoy your first Christmas! Ah, how well I remember that! But there is no use worrying. I had some good times, I once made a little boy happy, and now I am content to stay here in the dust and darkness. I shall be glad to know that you are going to have a jolly time." "Thank you," said the White Rocking Horse. Then he and the old Jumping Jack talked together for some hours in the attic. All the next day they were together, and the White Rocking Horse told how he had once lived in a big department store, and how he had been given a ride in an automobile. And the Jumping Jack told his story, how he used to leap about and cut funny capers. The next night, after dark, a light was seen gleaming in the attic. The White Rocking Horse and the Jumping Jack had just begun to talk together, and the Horse was showing his friend how fast he could rock, when they had to stop, because the man came up. The lady was with him. "Dick and Dorothy are asleep now," said the lady. "We can take the Rocking Horse down, and leave him for Santa Claus to put under the big Christmas tree." "Yes, we can do that," the man said. "And here is an old Jumping Jack. It is broken, but the paint on it is still gay. I'll dust it off and take it down for the Christmas tree. It will make it look more jolly." And to his own great surprise the Jack was taken down with the White Rocking Horse. As for the Rocking Horse, so many things happened at once that he hardly knew where one began and the other left off. He saw some gleaming lights and red, blue, green and golden-yellow balls that seemed brighter than the sun. He saw a big, green tree. He saw many toys scattered under it. And one, in particular, made him open his eyes in wonder. For there, sitting on the carpet near him, was the Sawdust Doll! The very-same Sawdust Doll who had lived in the toy store with him! CHAPTER V A NIGHT RIDE The White Rocking Horse wanted to gallop across the room and back, because he felt so happy at seeing the Sawdust Doll again. As for the Sawdust Doll, she wanted to stand up and clap her hands, as the Calico Clown used to clap his cymbals together. But neither of the toys dared do anything, because, in the same room with them, were the father and mother of Dick and Dorothy. And the toys, as I told you, never moved or spoke when any one was near them. "The old Jumping Jack looks well on the Christmas tree," said the lady, as she smoothed out the dress of the Sawdust Doll. "Yes, I'm glad we brought him down out of the attic, poor fellow," replied the man, as he rocked the Horse slowly to and fro, to make sure he was in a good place. "I wonder if these toys ever know or care what joy they give to the children?" he asked. "Oh, I think they do," said Dorothy's mother. "Do you know," she went on with a little laugh, "sometimes I think the toys are really alive, and can talk among themselves, and do things." "What nonsense!" laughed the man. "Do you think this Rocking Horse can come to life?" and he patted our toy friend. "Well, maybe not exactly come to life," answered his wife. "But I am sure they must have good times when we aren't looking. See that Sawdust Doll! Why, I really think she is looking at the Rocking Horse as if she knew him! And you know they did come from the same store." "Well, I think everything is ready now for Santa Claus," said the man. "We will leave the rest of the tree to him. It will soon be Christmas morning. Let us go out and leave the toys to themselves. Perhaps they will really have a good time, as you think." "I am sure they will," the lady said, laughing softly. Then the door was shut and of course you can guess what happened when no human eyes were there to watch the White Rocking Horse and Sawdust Doll. The Doll was the first to speak. "Oh, how glad I am to see you!" she said, as she stood up on her sawdust-stuffed legs and looked at the Horse high above her head. "You can't imagine how glad I am!" "And I am glad to see you," neighed the Horse. "I never dreamed I should be brought to the house where you were. Tell me, are you to be a Christmas present, too?" "No, I was bought for Dorothy's birthday," was the answer. "Don't you remember? I left the store some weeks ago. But Dorothy wanted me put under the Christmas tree with the other presents Santa Claus is to bring to her and Dick. But you are a Christmas present, I know." "Yes, I am," said the White Rocking Horse. "Real jolly, I call it! I never saw a Christmas tree before." "You haven't really seen this one yet," went on the Sawdust Doll. "Has he, Jumping Jack?" she asked. "Indeed I should say not," was the reply. "It has not been lighted as yet. I well remember the first Christmas tree I was put on. I was a gay, jumping chap then. My spring wasn't broken. But I am not going to talk about that. This is no time for sadness. Only, when the tree is lighted to-morrow night, Rocking Horse, you will see something very pretty. Will he not, Sawdust Doll?" "He certainly will! And now, please tell me about my friends in the store," she begged. "How are the Bold Tin Soldier and the Calico Clown?" "Each sent you his love," said the White Horse. "And the Candy Rabbit, the Lamb on Wheels and the Monkey on a Stick--each and every one wanted to be remembered to you." "That was very kind of them, I'm sure," said the Sawdust Doll. "But tell me--have you had any fun since I left?" "Oh, a little," was the answer. "Only last night the Elephant, who borrowed some roller skates, started to race with me," said the Rocking Horse. "We got as far as the elevators, but one of his skates came off. We started back and then the watchman came in and spoiled the fun." "What a shame!" cried the Sawdust Doll. "I wish I had been there to see. But I am so glad you have come to live here." "Is it a nice place?" asked the Horse. "Oh, the very nicest!" exclaimed the Sawdust Doll. "Dorothy is such a kind mistress to me. And you will find her brother Dick a kind master, too. I suppose you are going to belong to him." "Well, I haven't really heard much about it," said the Horse. "A number of boys came into the store and tried to ride me. One gave me some hard kicks in my side--so hard that I was afraid all my paint would come off. But a girl in the store oiled me, and I am all right again. I think I remember Dick." "Yes, he was in the store once, when Dorothy's mother brought her little girl in to look at dolls, and I was the one the mother picked out because I had such brown eyes." "_Nice_ brown eyes, I think she said," cried the Rocking Horse. "Well, of course it would not do for me to say that," said the Sawdust Doll, smiling. "At any rate, here we two are, together, and in a happy home, and I am glad of it." "So am I," the Rocking Horse said. [Illustration: White Rocking Horse is Glad to See Sawdust Doll Again.] "And I am, too," came from the Jumping Jack. "If it had not been for you, my rocking friend," he went on, "I might be still dust-covered and in the attic." So the toys under the Christmas tree talked among themselves and even moved about a little, but not too much, for they could not tell at what moment some one might come in. And in the night Christmas came. The toys under the tree knew it just as well as if they had been real persons. They knew Santa Claus a great deal better than most real persons, too, having been made in the North Pole shop of St. Nicholas. "Well, you will soon have Dick riding on your back," said the Sawdust Doll to the Rocking Horse as, together, they waited beneath the green tree. "I can see the morning light coming over the hills. And I heard Dorothy and Dick saying yesterday that they were going to get up, even before the sun, to see what Santa Claus had brought them." "He certainly brought them a fine lot of presents," remarked the Jumping Jack, in a sort of rusty, squeaking voice. "I hope--" "Hush! Here they come, now!" whispered the Sawdust Doll. The door opened. In rushed two happy, laughing, shouting children. "Merry Christmas!" cried Dorothy. "Merry Christmas!" echoed Dick. "Oh, here is the set of dishes I wanted!" Dorothy exclaimed. "And here is my White Rocking Horse!" shouted Dick. "Oh, it's just the very one I hoped I'd get! Oh, what a dandy!" With a leap he was up on the red saddle and grasping the red reins in his hands. "Gid-dap!" cried the boy, and he beat a tattoo on the sides of the horse with his feet. But as Dick had on soft slippers, he did not hurt the White Rocking Horse in the least, nor did he chip off any paint. "Here I go! Here I go!" shouted Dick. "Oh, what a fine horse!" "He's lovely, Dick," said his sister. "Merry Christmas, children!" said Mother, as she came in to see the Christmas tree. "Merry Christmas!" they answered. "See what you have, Mother!" And there were presents for her and for Daddy also, under the tree. And Daddy came downstairs, rubbing his eyes and saying: "Merry Christmas!" The White Rocking Horse felt very happy and so did the Sawdust Doll, and even the Jumping Jack was as jolly as the rest. "You may have a ride on my horse if you want to, Dorothy," said Dick, as he slowly brought his steed to a stop. "Thank you," answered his sister. "And when I have a play party with my new Christmas dishes you may come and have some cake." And so Christmas came and brought happiness with it to Dick and Dorothy and also to the White Rocking Horse and the Sawdust Doll. For the toys were in a fine house and had a kind master and mistress. And that means more than you think to toys. I cannot begin to tell you all that happened this Christmas Day. Boy and girl playmates of Dorothy and Dick came over to see what Santa Claus had brought their friends, and the visitors showed their own presents. Among the callers were Mirabell and Arnold, the boy and girl who lived next door. "Oh, what nice things you have!" said Mirabell. "I got nice presents, too. I wanted a Lamb on Wheels, such as I once saw in the store, but I have so many things I don't exactly need that now. Maybe I'll get one later on." "And I wanted a Bold Tin Soldier," said Arnold, her brother. "But I have a pop gun and a drum, and I'll wait until my birthday for the soldier." The children had jolly Christmas fun, and at night the tree was lighted. "Oh, what a beautiful sight!" said the White Rocking Horse to the Sawdust Doll, when they were alone in the room for a moment and could talk without being overheard. "I told you that you'd see something wonderful," said the old Jumping Jack. "You were right," said the Rocking Horse. "It is beautiful!" The fun of Christmas night was as jolly as that during the day, but at last Mother said: "Come now, children, it is time to go to sleep. You may play with your White Rocking Horse to-morrow, Dick. And you may have a play party for your Sawdust Doll, Dorothy." And, very happy indeed, brother and sister went to bed. It became very still and quiet and dark in the house. It was like the hour in the department store when there is no one to see the toys. "Now I can move about," said the White Rocking Horse, who had been taken up to Dick's room. "I wish I could see the Sawdust Doll and have a talk with her." "She is in Dorothy's room," said an old Driver, who had once sat on a tin express wagon. "Dorothy always takes her doll to bed with her." "Then I think I'll go in and see my friend," said the Horse. "I can gallop softly down the hall and into Dorothy's room. As long as no one sees me I am allowed to move about." "Yes, go ahead," said the Driver. "I'd go with you if I still had my wagon. Go and see the Sawdust Doll." So rocking softly over the thick carpet, and making no noise, the White Horse made his way out of Dick's room, down the hall, and straight to where Dorothy was sleeping with the Sawdust Doll on the pillow beside her. CHAPTER VI THE BROKEN LEG The White Rocking Horse stopped in the hall outside of Dorothy's room. The door was open, and in the dim glow of a night-light the Horse could see the Sawdust Doll on the bed. "Hi there! Hist! Come on out here and have a talk!" called the Rocking Horse. "What's that? Who is calling me?" asked the Sawdust Doll, for she had fallen asleep, being rather tired from having had so much Christmas fun that day. "I am calling you," answered the White Rocking Horse. "Come on out into the hall. I don't want to come in, for fear some one might come along. And it would never do to let it be known that we toys can move and talk when no one sees us." "Indeed, no; never!" exclaimed the Sawdust Doll. "Wait a minute and I'll come out to you. As you say, it would not do to be caught. I'll slip down and come out." The White Rocking Horse waited in the hall. Soon he heard a little thud on the carpet. That was the Sawdust Doll sliding down out of Dorothy's bed to the floor. A moment later she stood beside the Rocking Horse in the hall. "I hope you won't take cold," said the Horse softly. "It is breezy in this hall." "Oh, no, I have a nice little warm shawl Dorothy made for me," answered the Sawdust Doll. "Thank you for thinking of me, though." "Well, you see I want to be able to take a good report of you back to your friends in the toy store," neighed the Horse. "Do you think you will ever get back there again?" the Doll asked, as she snuggled up in a corner, wrapping the shawl around her. "I don't know," the Horse replied. "Of course I could rock back to the store if no one saw me, but it is a long way, and if I went through the streets I'd almost certainly be seen." "I think so, too," said the Doll. "I'm afraid we shall just have to stay here together the rest of our lives." "Well, I like it in this house since you are here," said the Horse. "And who knows, perhaps some of the other toys may join us here on some future Christmas or birthday." "Wouldn't that be fine!" exclaimed the Doll, clapping her hands. "I'd dearly love to see the Bold Tin Soldier again, and the Calico Clown, the Lamb on Wheels, the Candy Rabbit and the Monkey on a Stick." "I'd like to finish the race with the Elephant on his roller skates," said the Horse, laughing softly. "But I don't suppose I ever shall. He did look so funny when one skate came off!" "I wish I had been there to see," said the Sawdust Doll. "Now tell me all that happened in the store after I left." So the Horse told of the different happenings, how sometimes rough boys ran in and jumped on his back, and how one unpleasant chap punched the Calico Clown so hard that the cymbals were nearly broken, and how the Candy Rabbit had a bit of sugar chipped from one ear. "Dear me! How exciting!" cried the Sawdust Doll. "And now tell me about yourself," urged the White Rocking Horse. "Have you had any adventures??" "Oh, I should say I had! Yes, indeed!" was the answer. "Did I tell you about the time Dick ran over me with the rocking chair, pretending it was a Horse like you? My sawdust ran out of a hole in my side, and I fainted!" "No! Really? Did you?" "Indeed I did. It was the strangest feeling!" "But I should think, if all your sawdust ran out--and, really, how terrible that must have been--you wouldn't be here any more," said the Horse. "Oh, it didn't _all_ run out!" the Doll answered. "Dorothy's father hurried to the carpenter shop and got more sawdust, and Dorothy's mother sewed it, up in me so I was all right again." "I'm glad of that," remarked the White Rocking Horse. "So am I," said the Doll. "But do you know, since then, I have not been quite the same." "In what way?" asked the White Rocking Horse. "Well, I seem to have a little indigestion," went on the Sawdust Doll. "I think the carpenter shop sawdust they stuffed into me was not the same kind that was put in me when I was made in the North Pole shop of Santa Claus." "Very likely not," agreed the Horse. "All sawdust is not alike. But still you are looking rather well." "I am glad you think so," remarked the Doll. "But now let us talk of something pleasant. Tell me, again, about the race you had with the Elephant on his roller skates." So the White Horse did, but as you know as much of that funny race as I do, there is no need of putting it in here again. So the two friends talked together in the hall until, all of a sudden, the Doll exclaimed: "Oh, it is getting daylight! We must go back to our places--you to Dick's room and I to Dorothy's. Quick!" The White Rocking Horse galloped back down the hall, and the Doll made her way into the room of the little girl whose birthday present she was. Now whether the carpenter shop sawdust was not the right kind to enable the Doll to move quickly enough, and whether the oil the clerk had rubbed on the side of the Horse made him a bit slow and slippery, I cannot say. Anyhow, daylight suddenly broke just as the Doll reached the side of Dorothy's bed, and before she had time to climb up into it by taking hold of the blankets. As for the Horse, he was only half way inside Dick's room when the sun came up and awakened both children. And of course, their eyes being open, Dorothy looking at her Doll and Dick at his Horse, neither toy dared move. "Oh! Oh!" cried Dick, when he saw that his White Rocking Horse was on the other side of the room from where he had left it when he went to sleep the night before. "Oh! Oh! Some one had my Horse!" "What makes you think so?" asked his father, coming in to see what Dick was shouting about. "Because he's moved," the little boy answered. "My Rocking Horse has moved!" "I guess the wind blew him," said Daddy. "The wind from your open window blew on the horse, made him rock to and fro, and he moved in that way." But Dick shook his head. "Either my Horse moved by himself in the night when I was asleep," he said, "or else somebody was riding him." And when Dorothy awakened and saw her Doll lying on the carpet just under the edge of the bed, the little girl cried out, as Dick had done: "Oh! Oh! Oh!" "What's the matter?" asked Mother, hurrying in. "Somebody took my Doll out of bed, or else she got out herself in the night!" said Dorothy. "She probably fell out," said Mother, with a laugh. "The Doll couldn't get out herself, and no one has been in your room." But we know what happened, don't we? One day, about a week after Christmas, there came a warm, sunny day. "May I take my Rocking Horse out on the porch and ride him?" asked Dick of his mother. "Yes," she answered. "And I'll take my Sawdust Doll out there, and maybe Mirabell and Arnold will come over and we can have a play party," said Dorothy. The children went out on the porch, and they could look over next door and see their two little friends. "See how fast I can ride my horse!" called Dick to Arnold. The boy got up on the back of the White Horse and rocked to and fro. And the Horse traveled across the porch, as a rocking chair sometimes travels across the room. "Oh, he's a fine Horse!" cried Arnold, as he came over to play, bringing his toy train of cars with him. And Mirabell brought her wax doll. "Let me ride him, Dick, will you?" After Dick and Arnold had taken turns riding on the White Horse, they left him on the edge of the porch to play with the toy train. Suddenly Carlo, the fuzzy dog that had once carried the Sawdust Doll out to his kennel, hiding her in the straw, ran around the corner of the house, barking loudly. "Bow-wow! Bow-wow!" barked Carlo, and he ran straight for the White Rocking Horse. How it happened no one seemed to know, but Carlo upset the Horse, which tumbled down the porch steps with many a bang and bump. "Dear me!" thought the Horse, "This is not a pleasant adventure at all! What is going to happen?" "Bang! Bump! Crack!" sounded he rolled over and over down the steps. "Oh, what a pain in my leg!" said White Rocking Horse to himself. Dick ran over to his toy, and when he saw his White Horse lying on the sidewalk at the foot of the steps, the little boy cried: "Oh, his leg is broken! Oh, the leg of my White Rocking Horse is broken! I can never ride him again!" CHAPTER VII IN THE TOY HOSPITAL Dick made such a fuss out on the porch, crying, when he saw his toy lying at the foot of the steps, that the boy's mother hurried out to see what the trouble was. "Dear me! Did you fall off?" asked Mother, as she saw the Horse lying on its side and Dick standing at the bottom of the porch steps near his toy. "Are you hurt, Sonny?" "Oh, no, Mother. But my Horse is! My Christmas Horse is hurt." "You can't hurt a wooden rocking horse," said Mother, as she went over to see what had happened. "Oh, yes you can!" sobbed Dick, for he was so little a boy that he was not ashamed to cry. "My Horse's leg is broken! I can never ride him again! Oh, dear!" Mother looked at the Horse lying on its side at the foot of the steps. If there had been no one there to look on, the Horse might have tried to get up, even with all his pain. But, as it was against the rules to move or say anything as long as human eyes were watching, the poor White Rocking Horse just had to lie there. "Dear me, one of the legs really is broken," said Mother, as she set the Horse upright. And, being a wooden horse with rockers under him, such as some chairs have, the Horse could stand upright, even though one of his legs was cracked clear through. "Yes, his leg is broken, and now I can never have a ride on him any more!" sobbed Dick. "Oh, dear!" "Oh, it isn't as bad as all that," said Mother, with a kind smile as she patted her little boy's head. "I think we can have the broken leg mended. But how did it happen? Did you ride your Horse off the porch, Dick?" "No, Mother," he answered. "I was playing with Arnold's train, and Carlo ran around the corner, barking, and he ran between my Horse's legs, I guess, and upset him. Oh, isn't it too bad?" "Yes; but it might be worse," replied Mother. "If _your_ leg had been broken, or Dorothy's or Mirabell's or Arnold's, it could not so easily be mended." "Can you mend the broken leg of my White Rocking Horse?" asked Dick eagerly. "I cannot mend it, myself," Mother answered. "But I will have Daddy take your Horse to the hospital." "I was in the hospital once," put in Arnold, "and I had some bread and jelly." "Will they give my Horse bread and jelly in the hospital?" asked Dick of Mother. "Hardly that," she replied with a smile. "It is not the same kind of hospital. The one where I will have Daddy take your White Rocking Horse is a toy hospital, where all sorts of broken playthings are mended. There your Horse will be made as good as new." "Oh, I shall be so glad if he is," said Dick. And the White Horse himself, though he dared say nothing just then, thought how glad he would be to have his broken leg mended. Some of the splinters were sticking him, and though of course I do not mean to say that a wooden horse has the same pain with a broken leg as a boy or girl or a chicken or a rooster would have, still it is no fun. Patrick, the gardener, came out and carried the broken-legged Rocking Horse into the front hall. "We'll let him stand there until Daddy comes home with the auto and can take him to the hospital," said Mother. And then it was that the White Rocking Horse had a chance to speak to the Sawdust Doll. Dorothy laid her Doll on a chair in the hall to help Dick, Mirabell and Arnold bring the toy train inside, as it was getting too cold to play out on the porch. "I'm sorry," murmured the Doll. [Illustration: "What Happened to You?" Asked White Rocking Horse.] "Oh, ho!" exclaimed Dick's Daddy, when he came home and heard the story. "A Rocking Horse with a broken leg! Of course I'll take him to the toy hospital." And, not waiting for his supper, lest the hospital be closed, Daddy wrapped the White Rocking Horse in a sheet, put him once more in the back of the automobile and started off. A little later the White Rocking Horse found himself in the toy hospital. It was not such a place as you have seen if you have ever been in the buildings where sick people are made well. There were no beds and no doctors and no queer smells. Yes, wait a minute, there were queer smells of glue and paste, but the White Rocking Horse rather liked them. Instead of a doctor there was a jolly-looking man, with a long apron, and a square, paper cap. "Can you mend the broken leg of this Rocking Horse?" asked Dick's father. The hospital toy doctor looked at the White Rocking Horse. "I shall have to put a new piece in his leg," he said. "It is badly splintered half way down." "Will it be as strong as before, so my little boy can ride?" asked Daddy. "It will be even stronger," answered the hospital toy doctor. "I will have him ready for you in a few days; perhaps tomorrow." "And will the broken leg show?" asked Daddy. "Hardly any," was the reply. "I will paint it over so you will never know it." "Then the Horse will be almost as good as ever," said Daddy. "Just as good," said the toy doctor, and the Horse felt much better when he heard this. His leg did not pain him so much. The hospital toy doctor set the White Rocking Horse over in one corner near a work bench. Dick's Daddy, after a look around the hospital started back home in his automobile. "We'll soon have you fixed, my fine fellow!" said the toy doctor, as he again took up his work of putting a new pair of eyes in a wax doll. "We'll make as good a Horse of you as before." "I certainly am glad of that," thought the Horse to himself. It soon became too dark for the toy doctor to see to work any longer, even though he lighted the gas. So he took off his long apron, laid aside his square, paper cap, locked up the place and went home. And then the White Rocking Horse took a long breath. "Now that I am alone I'll move about, as well as I can on three legs, and talk to some of the broken toys here," said the White Rocking Horse aloud. "Are you badly hurt?" he asked a Jack in the Box, who was on the work-bench near by. "My spring is gone," was the answer. "I was brought here to have a new one put in." "Well, I hope you will soon be mended," said the White Horse. "I wonder if any of my friends are here in this hospital? I say, toys!" he cried, "let's all talk together and--" All at once a big white paper spread out on the bench began to move, and out from under it came a toy, at the sight of which the Horse exclaimed: "Well, I do declare! Who would have thought to find you here? What happened to you? Dear me, what a surprise!" CHAPTER VIII HOME AGAIN Many of the toys, which had been mended since having been brought to the hospital, stood up and looked at the White Rocking Horse as he called to them, and they wondered what had surprised him so. "My goodness, that Horse is making a great deal of noise," said a large Wooden Soldier, one of whose legs was in splints. It had been broken in three places when the little boy, who owned the Soldier, had struck him with a drumstick. "I should say that Horse was making a great deal of noise," agreed a Tin Poodle Dog, whose tail needed straightening. "What's it all about, Mr. Horse?" he barked. "Excuse me, my toy friends, I did not mean to disturb you," said the White Rocking Horse kindly. "But I was so surprised to see an old friend of mine here that I just couldn't help calling out." "Who is your friend?" asked a Double Humped Camel from a Noah's Ark. "There he is," said the Horse, and he waved his tail toward the animal which had come out from under the big piece of white paper on the work bench of the toy hospital doctor. All the other toys looked, and saw an Elephant. But the White Rocking Horse did more than look. He cried out: "To think of seeing you here, my Elephant friend! Why, the last time we were together was in the toy store!" "Yes, and I was trying to race with you on roller skates," said the Elephant, with a laugh. "Wasn't it funny when my skate came off?" The other toys stared in interest. "Very funny," agreed the Horse. "We must tell our friends here about it. But I am sorry to see what has happened to you, Mr. Elephant!" went on the Horse. "Did you get broken this way when you fell off the roller skates, or anything like that? You certainly do look queer--not at all like yourself!" "And I don't feel like myself," said the Elephant. Well might he say that, for his trunk was broken off short, and you know, as well as I do, that an elephant without a trunk doesn't look at all like himself. He might just as well, or even better, have no tail, as far as looks go. "What happened to you?" asked the Horse. "Oh, I have had many adventures," replied the Elephant. "After you were taken away by the man in the automobile, I was sold to a lady and a little boy and taken to their home." "Was it a nice place?" the Horse wanted to know. "The place was all right," the Elephant answered. "But that little boy! Dear me! I don't just know what to say about him, he certainly did not treat me very nicely. Why, do you know," he went on, speaking in rather a funny voice on account of his trunk being broken off, "he never gave me a single peanut all the while I was with him!" "No! Really? Was he as unkind as that?" asked the broken Jack in the Box. "But that wasn't the worst," continued the Elephant. "After the boy had dropped some bread and jam on me, he thought he'd wash me off in the bath room. He took me up to carry me there, but he dropped me on the hard, tile floor and--well, you see what happened to me. My trunk was broken off--broken off short!" "What a sad accident!" exclaimed the Horse. "You may well say so," returned the Elephant. "The little boy was sorry for me, I'll say that of him. He called his mother and she tried to fix me. She glued my trunk on, but she got it crooked and when I saw myself in the glass I was ashamed! I was glad none of the other toy animals could see me." "What happened next?" asked the Horse, as the Elephant stopped to catch his breath. It rather made him out of breath to talk without his trunk. "Well, after the boy's mother glued my trunk on he played with me for a while, but he dropped me again, and my trunk broke off again in the same place. After that the boy's father said I had better come to the hospital. So here I am." "But where is your trunk?" asked the Horse. "Back under that piece of paper where I was sleeping," the big animal answered. "It is to be fastened on me properly tomorrow. The toy hospital doctor first washed the jam off me. I was made clean again, and I was glad of that. Then, to keep the dust off me, he put me under that paper. But when I heard you speaking, White Rocking Horse, I just had to come out, trunk or no trunk." "I'm glad you did," said the White Rocking Horse. "Really, when I look at you again, I get rather used to seeing you without your trunk, though at first I hardly knew you. Do you suffer much now?" "Not as much as I did," was the answer. "But I shall be all right after to-morrow, when my trunk is to be put back on. Then I suppose I'll go back to that boy's house." "I hope he treats you better," said the White Horse. "I think he will," replied the Elephant. "When his father took me away he said the boy could not have me back after I was mended until he knew how to handle his toys. So I have hopes of being better off with my mended trunk than before." "Let us all hope so," sighed the Tin Poodle Dog. "It's queer how cruel some children are to us. They think, because we are toys, we have no feelings." "Yes, that is so," said the White Horse. "But Dick, the boy who owns me, is very kind. It was an accident that my leg was broken. Carlo, a poodle dog something like you, my tin friend, only real, ran too close to me and knocked me down the steps," said the Horse to the Tin Poodle Dog. "Oh, so you are injured, too, are you?" asked the Elephant. "I have been talking so much about myself, Mr. Horse, that I never thought to ask what your trouble was. Will you kindly pardon me?" "Certainly," neighed the Horse, politely. "And now, as we are here by ourselves, and no one can see us, suppose we have a little fun-that is, as much fun as we can, broken and twisted as we are." "Hurray! That's it! Let's have some fun!" cried the Tin Poodle Dog, with a funny little bark. So the Elephant with the broken trunk told about his queer race on roller skates, the Horse spoke of the Christmas tree, and the other animals related their adventures. They had a good time together until morning came. Then, when it was time for the toy hospital doctor to come to his shop, the Elephant got back under the paper that was to keep him clean until he was mended, the Horse slowly hobbled back to his place, the Tin Poodle Dog leaned up against the broken Jack in the Box, and all the toys became as quiet as though they had never spoken or moved about. "Hum, lots of work for me to-day!" said the toy hospital doctor, as he put on his apron and his square, paper cap. "I must mend the broken leg of that Rocking Horse as soon as I fix the Elephant's trunk." Then the toy doctor took the Elephant from under the paper and, after blowing off a little dust, began work. He made a new piece of trunk out of wood and cloth, and painted it until it looked just like part of the Elephant. Then the two pieces were fastened together with wooden pins, and also some glue. "There! Now you are stronger than you were before," said the toy hospital doctor, putting the Elephant on a shelf. "And now for the broken leg of the Rocking Horse. Dear me, that is quite a bad break," said the toy doctor. "I think I shall have to make him a whole new wooden leg." The White Rocking Horse felt glad when he heard this. For he was rather a proud chap, and when he had seen part of the Elephant's old trunk put back on that animal, the Horse thought of how he would look with part of his old broken leg glued fast. "I had much rather have a whole new leg," he said to himself. And that is exactly what he had. Out of a piece of wood the toy doctor made a new leg for the Rocking Horse. He took off the old, splintered one, that had been broken in the fall off the porch. Then the new leg was put in place. "There! When it's painted no one will ever know one of his legs was broken," said the toy doctor. The new leg was smoothed with sandpaper, and then painted just the color of the other legs. "I'm glad he painted my new leg," thought the Horse. "I would look very funny with three white legs and one brown or red one. Yes, this toy doctor is a very smart man. I feel quite myself now." The toy hospital doctor was busy in his shop all day, mending things that children break in their play, and toward evening Dick's father came in. "Is my boy's White Rocking Horse mended?" the man asked. "Yes, all ready for you," answered the toy doctor. "I finished him sooner than I expected to. The paint is hardly dry, but it will be by morning. I made him a new leg." "That's good!" exclaimed the man. "My little boy wants to ride his Rocking Horse. He misses him very much." Back home went the White Rocking Horse. And when Dick saw him he clapped his hands and cried: "Oh, how glad I am! May I take a ride?" "If you are careful of the newly-painted leg," his father answered. "I'll lift you up into the saddle." And when Dick sat in the red leather seat and pulled on the red reins and shouted to his Horse he was a very happy boy, and the White Rocking Horse felt glad also. "Gid-dap!" called Dick. "Gid-dap, my Rocking Horse!" And the Horse galloped across the room. All of a sudden Dorothy came running into the playroom where Dick sat on his Horse. "Oh, Dick! Dick!" cried the little girl. "Come on down to the kitchen, quick! Carlo has something under a chair! Maybe it's a big mouse! Come and see!" CHAPTER IX TWO BAD MEN Dick jumped off his Rocking Horse. "What did you say Carlo had?" he asked his sister. "I don't know," Dorothy answered. "But I was down in the kitchen, and Mary had just given me some bread and sugar, and I saw Carlo under a chair. He had something in his mouth and he was shaking it. And it was brown and fuzzy and maybe it's a mouse. You'd better come, 'cause Mary's standin' up on a chair and hollerin' awful loud. It's fun." "Oh, I'll come!" cried Dick. "But where's Mother?" "Oh, she's in the parlor with some ladies," answered the little girl. "I didn't tell her." "That's right," said Dick, hurrying over to a closet in the playroom. "What are you going to do?" asked Dorothy. "You'd better hurry if you want to help Carlo catch that mouse." "I am hurrying," Dick said. "But I want to get my soldier cap and my pop gun." "What for?" the little girl wanted to know. "'Cause I'm going to make believe I'm a captain, and the mouse is an enemy, and I'm going to capture the enemy. Like in war." Down to the kitchen the children hurried. They could hear their dog Carlo barking and growling, and they could hear Mary, the cook, laughing. "She isn't very scared, I guess," said Dick. "Well, she _was_, and she was up on a chair," declared Dorothy. "Come on, Dick!" Together they hurried into the kitchen. Mary was no longer standing on a chair. Instead she was sitting down in one, laughing as hard as she could laugh. Carlo was out in the middle of the floor, tossing up into the air something brown and fuzzy. "Where's the mouse?" cried Dick. "I want to see if I can shoot it with my pop gun." "Mouse? There isn't any mouse, Dick!" laughed Mary. "Dorothy said there was," he declared. "Yes, and I thought there was, too," went on the cook. "But it was only a piece of fur that Carlo had. It's one of the tails off Martha's fur neck-piece. She dropped it, and Carlo found it. I guess he thought it was a mouse, and I did, too, at first." "Bow wow! Gurr-r-r-r-r!" growled the poodle dog, as he shook and tossed the fuzzy thing. And as it fell near Dick the boy looked and saw that, indeed, it was only a piece of fur, as Mary had said. "I thought it was a mouse," said Dorothy. "And I guess Carlo did, too." "If it had been I could have made it run back to its hole when I banged my pop gun at it!" declared Dick. "Now I guess I'll play I'm a soldier captain on a horse. I'm going to ride my Rocking Horse," he went on, as he hurried back to the playroom. "I'll take my Sawdust Doll," said Dorothy, "and we'll have some fun." All day long the children played, and after supper, when it was time for them to go to bed, Dick pulled his Rocking Horse out into the hall. "Are you going to leave him there all night?" asked his mother. "Yes," he answered. "I want to put my railroad track down in the playroom in the morning, and there isn't room if I have the Rocking Horse in there too. I'll make believe the hall is his stable." "Then I'll not leave my Sawdust Doll out there, for she cannot sleep in a stable," said Dorothy. Dick's mother intended to move the White Rocking Horse out of the way, for it took up too much room in the hall, but she forgot about it when callers came that evening, and, when the family went to bed, the Horse was still out near the head of the stairs that led down to the first floor. The house became quiet, only a dim light gleaming in the upper hall, and the White Rocking Horse drew a long breath. "Now I can be myself," he thought. "I can come to life. I wish I could see the Sawdust Doll and talk to her," he said half aloud. "Well, here I am," and the Sawdust Doll came out of Dorothy's room. "The little girl is asleep," went on the Sawdust Doll, "so I came out to talk to you. I want to hear all that happened in the toy hospital. I haven't had a chance to ask you since you got back." "And I haven't had a chance to talk to you," went on the White Rocking Horse. "It is nice and quiet, now, and we can talk as long as we like; or at least until morning comes." "It must be a funny place--that hospital," said the Sawdust Doll. "It is," answered the Rocking Horse. "But I would much rather be here with you." "Thank you," replied the Sawdust Doll. Now, while the toys were thus talking together in the middle of the night, two bad men were prowling around the house where Dick and Dorothy and their father and mother lived. The two bad men were called burglars, and they wanted to get in, and take the silver knives, forks, and other things that were in the dining room, and perhaps some rings from the dresser in the room of Dorothy's mother. And as the White Rocking Horse and the Sawdust Doll were talking together at the head of the stairs the two bad men made their way into the house by unlocking the front door with a false key one of them carried. "Hush! Don't make a noise!" said the big burglar. "No, we must be very quiet," said the little burglar. But, quiet as they were, and whisper as softly as they did, the White Rocking Horse heard them. "Some one is coming," said the Horse to the Sawdust Doll. "We must stop talking now. We dare not talk or move if human eyes look at us, and some one is coming." "Then I had better hurry back to Dorothy's room," said the Doll. "Too late! They are coming up the stairs," whispered the Horse. "Stay where you are and I'll stay here too!" So the Sawdust Doll flopped down on the carpet and the Rocking Horse remained very still and quiet right at the edge of the top step. Up the stairs came the big burglar walking slowly and softly. "Look out!" whispered the little burglar, who remained at the foot of the stairs. "I see something white! Look out!" "It is only a Rocking Horse," whispered back the big burglar. "A White Rocking Horse! And a Sawdust Doll is here, too. I guess the children must have forgotten and left them in the hall. And that Sawdust Doll is just what I want. I know somebody I can give her to. I'll take her!" The Sawdust Doll would have screamed and run away if she had dared, but she could not while the burglar was looking at her. The bad man reached out to pick up the Sawdust Doll, but his foot slipped, and, to save himself from falling, he made a grab for one of the legs of the White Rocking Horse. Now whether the Horse kicked out; or not, I cannot say. It may be that he did, and, again, it may be that he did not. Anyhow, all of a sudden the White Horse toppled right over on top of the bad burglar, and down the stairs they went, bumpity-bump! all in a heap, right toward the little burglar standing at the foot. Down the stairs rolled the big burglar and the White Rocking Horse. "Bang! Bing! Bung!" was the noise they made. CHAPTER X THE GRASS PARTY Standing at the foot of the stairs was the little burglar. He was waiting while the big, bad man went upstairs to see if he could get any jewelry. And when the big burglar touched the White Rocking Horse, and it toppled over on him, and when both of them fell down the stairs together, making a loud noise, they fell right on top of the little burglar. "Oh! Oh, dear! Oh, dear me!" cried the little burglar when he was struck by the big bad man and the White Rocking Horse. "Oh, what is all this? What are you doing, Jake?" he cried. "Me? I'm not doing anything!" exclaimed the big burglar, as he went bumpity-bump along the lower hall, turning over and over in somersaults, just as the little burglar was doing. "Not doing anything? Why, you came tumbling downstairs right on top of me!" cried the little burglar. "Why did you do that?" "I--I couldn't help it," answered the big burglar. "That white thing you saw was a Rocking Horse, and there was a Sawdust Doll near it. I reached out to get the Doll, and the Horse stuck out his hind legs and kicked me down the stairs. That's what he did!" "Nonsense!" exclaimed the little burglar. "A White Rocking Horse didn't kick you! A wooden horse can't kick!" "Well, this one did," declared the burglar. "Oh, my back!" The father and mother of Dick and Dorothy heard the noise out in the hall. So did Martha, the maid, and Mary, the cook. Dick's father sat up in bed. "I heard a noise," said his wife. "So did I," said Daddy. "I think everybody in the house must have heard it. Somebody, or something, fell downstairs." "You had better look and see," said his wife. "Maybe it was burglars." So Dick's father went out into the hall to look, and there, surely enough, were the two bad burglars. They had been all tangled up in the legs and rockers of the White Horse, and they were just getting untangled. And they were so sore and lame from having been bumped around that they did not know what to do. They were so dazed and surprised that they stood still. And just then Patrick, the big, strong gardener, came running in from the garage, where he slept. He, too, had heard the noise in the house. And Patrick and Dick's father soon captured the two burglars, and tied them with ropes. Then a policeman came and took the two bad men away and they were locked up for a long, long time. I don't believe they are out of prison yet. But after the two burglars had been taken away by the police, Dick's father and mother looked at the White Rocking Horse where it lay on its side in the lower hall, after having fallen downstairs. "How do you suppose it got here?" asked Mother. "Well, either the burglars tried to carry it off, and they slipped and fell with it, or else they stumbled over it in the dark, and it toppled downstairs with them," replied Daddy. "But it made a great racket and woke us up. If it hadn't been for the White Rocking Horse we would have been robbed of our jewelry and silver." "What a brave Horse!" said Mother. "Wouldn't it be strange if he really kicked the burglar downstairs?" she asked her husband. And when the burglars had been taken away, and the Horse stood up on his rockers again, Dorothy and Dick were awakened by hearing so many sounds in the house. "What's the matter?" asked Dick, coming to the head of the stairs, and rubbing his sleepy eyes. "What's my Rocking Horse down there for?" he wanted to know. "He fell down with the burglars," said Daddy. [Illustration: White Rocking Horse Gives Sawdust Doll a Ride.] "And, oh, look! Here is my Sawdust Doll out here in the hall!" cried Dorothy. "I had her in my room when I went to sleep. How did she get out here?" "Maybe the burglars took her and were carrying her away with them when they slipped and fell downstairs with the Horse," said Daddy. But we know that is not just how it happened, don't we? We know that the Sawdust Doll came out to talk to the White Rocking Horse, and she could not get back when the burglars came, for she dared not move as long as they were looking at her. For many days Dick and Dorothy had fun playing with the White Rocking Horse and the Sawdust Doll. And though, at times, the Horse and Doll wished they could see their friends in the toy store, still the two toys were very happy. "I think something is going to happen to-morrow," said the old Jumping Jack one night, when, in the playroom, he was talking to the Horse and Doll. It was spring now, and the grass was green. "What do you mean--something going to happen?" asked the White Rocking Horse, as he looked at Jack. The old jumping chap had been allowed to stay in the playroom since he had been brought from the attic on Christmas Eve. "Dick and Dorothy are going to have a Grass Party, and you are both going to it!" "A Grass Party!" cried the Sawdust "What is that?" asked the White Rocking Horse. "Well, you know what a party is," said Jack. "And a Grass Party is one out on the grass. The boy and girl from next door are coming, and there will be good things to eat, games to play and all things like that. Isn't that jolly?" "I should say so!" cried the Rocking Horse. "I love parties!" said the Sawdust Doll. And the next day, when the sun was shining brightly, Dick and Dorothy had their Grass Party. Not only the little girl from next door came, but other children also. Dorothy brought out her Sawdust Doll, for whom a new apple-green dress had been made. Dick brought his Rocking Horse to a smooth place under the trees, and he and the other boys took turns riding on the brave steed. "Let's see where his leg was broken," asked one boy. "Oh, you can hardly see it," Dick answered. "The toy hospital doctor fixed it so it's as good as new. But this is the leg my Horse broke when Carlo tumbled him down the steps." "And tell us about how the two bad burglars rolled downstairs with your horse on top of them," begged Arnold, the boy from next door. "Well, I guess only one burglar rolled down," said Dick. "But he made noise enough for two." Then he told the story, as best he could. While Dick and the boys rode the White Rocking Horse Dorothy and the other little girls played with their dolls. And the Sawdust Doll with the brown eyes was the most beautiful of all. "You children do get such nice presents on your birthdays and for Christmas," said one little boy guest to Dorothy and Dick. "I'm going to have a nice present for my birthday," said Mirabell, who lived next door to Dick and Dorothy. "Oh, tell us!" begged the other children. "I--I can't, for I don't know," said Mirabell. "But my mother is going to take me down to the toy store next week, and I'm going to have a nice birthday present." And if you wish to know what the present was you may find out by reading the next book in this series. It is called "The Story of a Lamb on Wheels," and it is the same Lamb whom the Sawdust Doll and the White Rocking Horse knew in the toy store. After having fun at the Grass Party for some time, the children went into the house to get cake and ice cream. The Sawdust Doll and the White Rocking Horse, as well as some other dolls, were left out on the lawn by themselves. "Oh, now we can talk," said the White Rocking Horse. "Do you think this Grass Party is any fun?" "I had rather it were night and we could be by ourselves upstairs with the Jumping Jack," said the Sawdust Doll. "Then we could move about and have some fun." "Well, it will soon be dark," said the Rocking Horse. And when night came, and Dick and Dorothy were in bed, the Sawdust Doll had a fine ride on the back of the White Rocking Horse. THE END 
45775	----	generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 45775-h.htm or 45775-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/45775/45775-h/45775-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/45775/45775-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/toy-makinginscho00polkuoft Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). A carat character is used to denote superscription. A single character following the carat is superscripted (example: C^5). TOY-MAKING IN SCHOOL AND HOME [Illustration: PLATE I A SCENE IN TOYLAND _Fr._] TOY-MAKING IN SCHOOL AND HOME by R. K. & M. I. R. POLKINGHORNE The County Secondary School Streatham London George G. Harrap & Company 2 & 3 Portsmouth Street Kingsway W.C. 1916 The Riverside Press Limited, Edinburgh Great Britain Prefatory Note The authors wish to express their thanks to Mr J. E. Mansion for many valuable criticisms and suggestions, and to Miss Bassett, whose encouragement and support alone made the work possible. Contents PAGE INTRODUCTION. _By_ Miss R. BASSETT, B.A., _Headmistress of the County Secondary School, Streatham_ 9 PART I TOYS FOR LITTLE ONES: PAPER AND CARDBOARD CHAPTER I. TOY-MAKING AND ITS EDUCATIONAL POSSIBILITIES 21 II. GENERAL PRINCIPLES; MATERIALS 26 III. PAPER WORK FOR INFANTS 31 IV. MORE PAPER TOYS 43 V. MATCH-BOX TOYS 53 VI. MORE COMPLICATED MATCH-BOX AND CORK TOYS 64 VII. CORK ANIMALS HARNESSED TO SLEDGES, ETC. 72 VIII. MORE CORK TOYS 80 IX. CARDBOARD AND PAPER SHIPS 86 X. CARDBOARD AND PAPER TOYS 91 XI. SIMPLE WOODWORK 98 XII. MATERIALS 102 XIII. SOME DIFFICULTIES IN TOY-MAKING 105 XIV. MERRY-GO-ROUND, SWINGING BOATS, AND GREAT WHEEL 109 XV. FLYING AIRSHIPS, GONDOLAS, AND BIRDS 113 XVI. FIRE-ENGINE, MOTOR-LORRY, AND STEAM-ROLLER 119 XVII. GIPSY CARAVAN AND BATHING MACHINE 123 XVIII. A TRAIN AND RAILWAY STATION 125 XIX. RED CROSS MOTOR AND TAXI-CAB 131 XX. SWINGING AND JOINTED ANIMALS 136 PART II TOYS OF CARDBOARD AND WOOD: MECHANICAL TOYS CHAPTER PAGE I. ADDITIONAL TOOLS 145 II. CAPSTAN, DREADNOUGHT, LINER 148 III. MOTOR-CAR, SWINGING CRADLE, DECK-CHAIR 152 IV. A TRAM-CAR 155 V. A CRANE 159 VI. WINDMILL, WATER-WHEEL, WELL 161 VII. DRAWBRIDGE AND SIEGE TOWER 168 VIII. WAR ENGINES PAST AND PRESENT 171 IX. A FIRE-ESCAPE 181 X. CASTLE, TOURNAMENT, AND FAIR 184 XI. AN OLD CHARIOT AND SOME QUAINT DOLLS' FURNITURE 190 XII. RAILWAY SIGNAL AND SIGNAL-BOX 195 XIII. LIGHTHOUSE, TRANSPORTER BRIDGE 199 XIV. YACHTS AND BOATS: THE USE OF THE CHISEL 203 XV. THE FRET-SAW 209 XVI. LITTLE GYMNAST, DANCING CLOWN, ROCKING ANIMALS 212 XVII. MOVING FIGURES 218 XVIII. SOME OLD-FASHIONED TOYS 221 XIX. LITTLE SWORDSMEN 225 XX. SOME MORE FRET-SAW TOYS 229 XXI. TOYS WORKED BY SAND 235 XXII. TOYS WORKED BY WHEELS, ETC. 243 XXIII. KITES, GLIDERS, AND AEROPLANES 249 XXIV. MORE OLD-FASHIONED TOYS 260 XXV. LIFT, PONT ROULANT, TOWER BRIDGE 267 XXVI. SOLDERING. SCREW STEAMER. TOYS WORKED BY WIND AND BY CONVECTION CURRENTS 278 XXVII. BUILDINGS AT HOME AND ABROAD 286 XXVIII. A THEATRE 295 Introduction By R. Bassett, B.A. HEADMISTRESS, COUNTY SECONDARY SCHOOL, STREATHAM I. EXTERNAL EVIDENCE Women are often limited in their amusements and in their hobbies for lack of power or of knowledge to use the requisite implements. We may wield the needle, the brush, kitchen utensils, even the spade and the trowel, but what knowledge have we of the chisel, the plane, the saw, or even the friendly gimlet and the screw-driver? The scissors answer many purposes until the points are broken, but how helpless we are with a screw or a saw, how futile are our attempts to adjust a loose door-handle, or to set the knives of a mowing machine! It is humiliating to call for help in such simple jobs, and tantalising not to be able to enjoy the carpenter's bench as our men-folk do in their hours of leisure. A really active hobby, one entailing exercise of many muscles, otherwise resting, does help to keep a well-balanced mind and a healthy body. It saves one from fretfulness, from too great introspection; it keeps one cheerful and changes one's attitude of mind when change is needed. It is possible that the management of big things falls into men's hands because from babyhood they have dealt with larger things than women, and through handling manageable things from an early age have developed the constructive faculty more thoroughly. The little girl deals with 'wee' things: stitches are small, dolls are small; there is a fatal tendency sometimes to 'niggle,' to 'finick'--not that men-folk are immune from this--to love uniformity and tidiness for their own sakes, to seek regularity rather than utility. The little girl, however, must, unless she is too thoroughly supervised, exercise some ingenuity in planning a doll's dress out of a cutting from the rag-bag; but her amusements and hobbies tend to pin her down to small things, and she does not rise far enough from her immediate surroundings. The dress of her little doll will follow the prevailing fashion. Originality in dress is eccentricity. The girl takes pains to carry out her work (neatness is often the sole aim put before her), the boy finds methods. The girl hovers round the well-known place, the boy makes a bee-line to fresh fields. See how this affects reading: the girl still hankers after _What Katy Did, What Katy Did Next_, while the boy of her age is reading Jules Verne or Ballantyne or Henty, or if there is open access to shelves in the Free Library near him, you see him finding books on Airships, Submarines, Carpentry, or Engineering. We started our voluntary classes with these ideas in mind, and at first allowed girls to choose an indoor occupation in the two winter terms instead of outdoor games. Many girls preferred games, but others chose Art or First Aid or Cookery or Handwork or Needlework. They had to work at least a term at the chosen occupation. We felt that the girls gained great benefit from the hobbies, not only in the additional happiness of working at what they enjoyed, but in an increase of freshness of mind for other work. This year we have gone still farther and have given each girl one period of voluntary work in addition to a whole afternoon for games or gardening; moreover, the four lowest forms have each one period of class work in toy-making; yet even now the children say that the time is too short. It is really amusing to see a change of classes in the woodwork-room; the first class dare not and cannot stay a minute after the bell has rung, for the second class is in and already at work. I have tried to find out what is the great attraction to the child in the handwork lessons; the children's appreciation of the subject will be found in Section II. Probably the strongest attractions are: firstly, they see the building up of a piece of work and the result pleases them (at all events, until they do something better); secondly, they are actively employed, learning by doing, not learning by listening; and, lastly, they love the cheerful noise of the hammer and the saw and friendly conversation. It is hard to estimate the value of handwork in education, for one cannot separate the influence of one subject in the curriculum, but one is tempted to say that it has a beneficial effect upon the child's attitude toward work in general; she looks into the why and wherefore of an object in order to see how it is made; unconsciously she adopts the same attitude toward things abstract. She learns to appreciate accuracy and to detect error, but how far she applies this to subjects other than handwork it is hard to say. It is possible, also, that handwork helps to develop the sense of justice. Certainly the girl who has had a course in handwork does take a more intelligent interest in things around her, and does find out a way of 'setting about' a piece of work by herself. She has something pleasant and profitable to think about; she becomes more businesslike; in the lesson itself she resents interruption (this was the case when the photographer came for illustrations for this book); more strangely still, she plays no tricks with glue-pot or tools, although she has innumerable opportunities for mischief. The joy over the finished article is greater than the spirit of mischief. She realises how short the time is when there is work to be done, and looks out for devices for saving time, putting tools in handy places, saving pieces of wood of useful sizes to avoid sawing, and so on. There is a spirit of earnest endeavour abroad in the handwork class which prevents a girl from throwing aside in a pet something she has done badly; she does not give up in disgust; she finds out the cause of the failure and tries again and again until she gets better results. It is no unusual thing to find a girl return to a job that, five or six weeks before, she had thought finished, and do it again, because her progress with other articles has made her dissatisfied with her previous standard. This comes, not from suggestion from outside, but from the development of the child's own judgement. These are the things which show what is the real value of this training. II. INTERNAL EVIDENCE In order to find from internal evidence the educational value of toy-making, the following questions were put to the two lowest classes (ages ten to eleven). The girls were told to write frankly what they really thought, not what they thought might satisfy the mistress. To the question, "If you like handwork, say why; if not, say why you do not," out of forty-five papers one answer only was against handwork--"Because I do not like sawing." The answers in favour were of this type: "Because we can make what we like." "Because I like sawing and hammering." "Because it is nice to see the things when they are finished." "Because you can make interesting things." "Because it is interesting making things out of wood like boys." "Because I make useful things." The favourite tools were the hammer and saw. There was considerable difference of opinion on the question, "Has it done you any good?" A fair number think it has made them careful or patient or more useful; others seem to think that the exercise in sawing has some good effect on the arms; one says her "fingers are better for music." Others see in handwork a pleasant occupation for future grown-up days; another thinks it has made her "not so flabby and fat." If they admit that it has cured them of any faults (and they are not very ready to do this), the chief are laziness, clumsiness, and carelessness. To the last question, "Will it be of any use to you when you are grown up?" the majority look forward to the joy of mending their little girls' toys. (Not one mentions a little boy; is he expected to mend his own?) Others will make things instead of buying them ready-made. Some look forward to mending broken chairs or door-handles. One says: "It will teach me to earn my fortune," and finally one writes philosophically: "Ordepents." (No! handwork does not cure bad spelling.) The girls of the next highest forms (ages eleven to twelve) were given the _questionnaire_ as suggestions and were asked to write an essay on handwork. From them we get the 'home' point of view, the views of the mother, father, sceptical brothers, and of the younger children, who appear to clamour for the toys. [Illustration: PLATE II A TOY-MAKING CLASS AT STREATHAM] "Handwork is my favourite lesson next to Botany. It is a delightful pastime for myself and a great amusement for my little brother when it is finished. 'Have you finished the swing yet?' is the usual question which greets me every Thursday evening. When I am able to do handwork extra nicely I shall do a very nice piece of work and keep it as long as I can, and when I get old it will remind me of youth." "My brother tries to make some of the things I bring home. My sister likes the swing and uses it for her dolls." "It is a source of enjoyment to most children, but until I entered this school I had never heard of girls being taught it. I enjoy this so much that I hope to buy some tools and wood and do some work at home. My three brothers tease me terribly and call me the 'left-handed carpenter,' because I always work with my left hand. I am not satisfied with the handwork I have done at present, but hope greatly to improve. I enjoy making useful things because they make very useful presents at all times. I should like to teach handwork to others, as I think it so interesting. I have discovered that handwork needs patience and neatness in every way." "I have learnt that everything must be done properly, because I made a motor-car and gave it to my little sister, but she happened to drop it and it came unstuck. My little brother thinks it's silly for girls to learn handwork, and everything I bring home he says, 'I should not have done it like that,' and goes on to explain how he would have done it, although he has never learnt himself. I don't like the part much where you have to prepare everything to put together. I like putting it together and then you can see something for your work." Some show the ethical value of the training; the need of patience seems to appeal most forcibly to children who are making their first attempts at handwork. "To make toys and other wooden things teaches us to be patient, for often just at a critical moment something will come unstuck and we have to begin all over again. The top of the roundabout which I am now making has come off three or four times, and consequently it has taken me about twice as long to make as it would if all had gone smoothly." "Sometimes you have to wait for a piece of wood to stick. The other Friday I was waiting for a piece to stick and after a while I went on, thinking it had got stuck; unluckily it had not and it came off. That very same piece of wood has come off every day except to-day. This shows any one that one needs time and patience. Also you have to wait a while because some one has run off with the glue-pot, or else I find my file or gimlet disappeared." "When I first began handwork I could not knock a nail in straight or else I would hit my fingers. But I can now knock a nail in straight and without knocking my fingers. I can saw much more quickly than when I first began." "It teaches us a great lesson of patience. For instance, it is very trying to have to sit or stand for quite a long while holding some little refractory piece of wood that will not stick however much one tries: but it is no good getting cross, for the work will not be finished if we do not stick the little piece of wood or paper." "Once mother told me I had not any idea for anything, but now she says I am much better, this being one result of handwork." "Handwork, I think, has cured me of one fault and that is inaccuracy, for if the wood is not the proper length, it will not fit on to the thing which is being made. I have never done this kind of work before, but I think it does help us when we are grown up; one way is that everything must be accurate; and it is also very nice to make things." "I find that handwork helps me greatly, as I am bad at my drawing and needlework." "I love using the saws and hammers. Mother is going to give me a set of fretwork tools so that I can put fancy tops to my frames, etc. If I had a little sister or brother I would make a motor or train, but as I am the only one, I make things for ornaments. Next I shall make a table with the two sides to let down, or one with a separate leaf to put in. Handwork teaches you to be exact and to hold things delicately. It is very awkward to hammer a nail into a thin leg of a table or chair, because they wobble over." "I think handwork is very interesting and it has taught me patience. I am not allowed to read more than half an hour after I have done my homework and practice because my eyes are weak, and as I am what some people call a bookworm I used to miss reading a great deal, but now I do handwork in my spare time. One day I hope to complete my doll's house, its garage and furniture, but I have not finished the house yet. I like making such things as chairs and tables best of all. Handwork lessons were unknown to me until I came to this school nearly two terms ago, and at first Mamma was always telling me that she would not let me do any more at home, until I thought of putting paper on the floor, which keeps the shavings and sawdust from untidying the floor. I always do this now, and when the paper is taken up I do not have so much trouble as that of picking the pieces off the mat and then sweeping the floor before I go to bed." "Handwork also helps to make one accurate and careful; perhaps your fingers 'were all thumbs,' as the saying goes, before you started handwork, but you find that after say a month your fingers would be able to touch a frail thing without breaking it." Their desire to make and remake varies between 'pleasure toys' and useful articles; one suspects sometimes a desire to appease the vexation of the 'house-proud' mother when there is much disorder caused at home with shavings and sawdust. "I can not only make toys, but useful things such as dish stands, brackets, photo frames, also easels to stand photographs on." "I like handwork. For voluntary work I do handwork, and it is also our first lesson on Friday afternoon. I like it because it helps us to make useful things. For voluntary work I am making a medicine chest. It will be handy, because we always have a great deal of medicine at home. Last term I made a knife-box, and it was useful, because Mama's was getting old. My favourite tools at handwork are the saw and hammer. Next term I want to make a writing-case and a Red Cross motor." "I enjoy going to handwork very much. The first thing to think about, on getting down to the handwork-room, is setting to work, and going about everything quietly. Everything in handwork, to be done nicely, must be neat, clean, and carefully made and put together. In handwork I have made an easel (which is a bit difficult to fix, unless one has a proper hinge at the back) and a picture-frame and a little doll's house, and I would like to make another one, as I think it is so interesting planning out each little corner for different things, and it helps one to think of how they would plan out a home if they had one of their own, as perhaps some of us will. I am now making a tram-car, which is really very difficult. I have not nearly finished yet, as there is such a great deal of work in it." "Girls' likings for tools differ, but a file is the nicest tool, in my eyes; it makes the rough places quite smooth and nice. In my experience of handwork I have made a boat with the captain's bridge and riggings, funnels, masts, and railings around the edge. I have also made a picture frame and doll's furniture for a friend's sister. At home I have made a basement for a doll gentleman's house for the servants to live in; I papered it and made it look neat and tidy." "It is rather nice to see all of the girls making things at the tables as busy as bees and it is nice to see their faces when they look at the thing which they have just finished." "The lesson I enjoy most during the week is the one termed handwork, really carpentering on a small scale. There are many things you can make, and if you take great pains with them they become really pretty little ornaments; in fact, I am thinking of having some shelves specially for my toys." "When thinking of what measurements to make your toy and planning it out in figures I think that it helps you greatly in arithmetic. The hardest tool to use, I find, is the saw; you have to have a steady hand to use it. When I first took handwork lessons I used to think it hard work, but now I think otherwise, and feel rather grand when I show my parents the things I have made. The most important use of handwork is that when you are older you can knock a nail in or mend anything that needs mending in the wooden line, instead of having to wait until father, brother, or husband comes home tired for them to do it. As well as this there might come a time when the making of toys would help to earn the daily bread." "I am making a tram-car now, and when I have finished it I want to make a whole set of furniture for a doll's house. The hardest part of it will be when I am putting legs on tables or chairs. They have to be quite straight or the table will not stand up." "Sometimes we have just settled a post or a rail in the right place with the help of some glue when somebody knocks the table and over goes our piece of wood. Then we have 'to grin and bear it.'" "Our teacher's name is Miss Polkinghorne, she being very skilful and does much better work than us for we are only miniatures yet awhile!" "When I grow up handwork will be useful to me, for if anything breaks I shall know how to mend it, and if I had children I could make things to amuse them. Often I do handwork at home. I like using the saw better than any other tool. I have made a good many things, but I think the best was a little toy motor-car. Handwork is my favourite lesson; when I grow up I shall never leave off doing handwork. My little sister helps me sometimes. I think she will like it. My mother has asked me to make a little thing to put match-boxes in." "I think that it helps to make you very careful. For when one is hammering and the hammer slips you get hurt and that makes one careful. The hardest thing to do in a writing-case is to saw the piece of wood for the ink division. It is hard to get the exact size, but it does not look nice if it does not fit exactly." "I like handwork because it is different from any other lesson in the week; there is not much writing to do, only to mark on the wood certain lengths." "I once spent a long time in doing a ship, but I could not get on. I spent a very long time in trying to take the paper off a tobacco box, but it was not going to come. I then went on with the making, but it kept falling to pieces. I took it home, and took necessary materials with it; paper for flags and nails. I was a long time in doing it, as I took everything apart and scratched all of the paper off; but it now looks very much better. Handwork is rather a funny kind of occupation for girls, but it teaches us how to do things." "Handwork is one of the most interesting lessons that there is. It helps one to have ideas, and also to be careful. The reason why I like it is because I think that most people should have a pastime and this is a very pleasant one, and I think most children will agree to this point." "I have to use many kinds of tools but the nicest is the hammer, because when I use it I know I am near the end of a piece of work. (It is not that I dislike handwork, but that I am going to start something fresh.) I have already made two picture-frames, two beds, a swing, a chair, a motor-car, an easel, and I am now making another swing. I think I shall try to make a baby's cot after I have finished my swing." "I prefer to saw wood and stick pieces of wood together to hammering nails in the wood, because the nails are sometimes difficult to get in, for they very often go in crookedly. When we get older and understand handwork more thoroughly we may be able to make things for the home, such as knife-boxes and paper-racks; the things we make now are mostly pleasure toys that we will amuse our younger brothers and sisters with. In most cases it needs a great deal of patience, for the things, however simple, have some difficult part." "I like making toys, so then if you make them nicely you can take them home for your little sisters and brothers to play with. Handwork gives you ideas about things. We can make very useful things such as letter-racks and pipe-racks. I like making furniture for dolls' houses--chairs, tables, and sofas. I like making swings. Some of us make animals." "I do not know very much about handwork, as I have scarcely handled a tool before I came here this term, but I think I shall always enjoy it very much." "I am making a doll's house now, for my little sister (aged five), and I think it is teaching me to make myself useful, because nobody at home cares for it much, so I will soon be able to mend chairs, make brackets, etc., etc." "Since we have not been able to have proper firewood at home lately, mother has had large wooden boxes to chop (a thing I delight in doing), and now and again mother has given me a few of them. I tried to make things out of them and soon found it too rough: so father has given me some nice polished wood, and he says that perhaps soon he will buy me a nice little fret-saw set of tools as his are so large and clumsy." "I think I like sawing best of all, but I think I like all the rest very well; I get quite excited when Thursday and Friday come round (for those are the days on which we have handwork)." "Mother thinks it is a splendid thing for girls, and I quite agree with her. And we both think that it will help me on with my geometry (which I'm not very brilliant in, but am trying my best)." These compositions were written in school and the extracts have not been corrected, they are just as the children wrote them; we add no commentary, but let them speak for themselves. TOY-MAKING IN SCHOOL AND HOME CHAPTER I TOY-MAKING AND ITS EDUCATIONAL POSSIBILITIES One's main object in teaching children how to make toys should be "to teach them how to make toys." Through their efforts to make a beautiful toy they may become more patient, more accurate, more observant, and more nimble with their fingers, but these virtues will come more naturally and readily if the teacher has but one object in view; singleness of purpose is the secret of success. Through classes in toy-making rightly conducted the children become more resourceful, more quick at finding the right thing for the right place, happier in some cases--that is to say, the so-called dull child, the child that has no gift for mathematics, no memory for languages, can often find in the handwork class the happiness of doing something well, of producing a praiseworthy and pleasure-giving piece of work. It is very necessary to find occupation for backward children, who sometimes drift rather aimlessly through the school, occupation that will develop initiative and involve effort, occupation that will bring disappointments (so often one careless bit of work spoils an almost finished toy), but will also bring the joy of successful achievement. The ordinary lessons--English, French, etc.--may be said also to bring their disappointments and joys, but not in the same tangible way as the handwork lesson. The table that will not stand steadily because all its legs have not been carefully cut the right length teaches to a certain type of mind a more forcible lesson than the incorrect sum or French exercise. Again, it is very necessary that one lesson period a week should be devoted to an occupation which is of the nature of a hobby; the ordinary history and geography lessons do not often suggest voluntary work for the children's leisure. Indeed, in many cases it is easier to train children to become future clerks and teachers than to train them how to use their leisure. Now handwork classes suggest leisure occupations. The children who begin to make their own toys in the lower forms for themselves, when older will want to make them for other little children, when older, too, they will begin to ask how to make useful articles--writing-cases, medicine-chests, knife-boxes, soap-boxes--articles very frequently suggested by their parents and much valued by them when made. One need scarcely fear for the future of the child, however dull and mechanical her daily work as a grown-up person may be, if she has abundant interests in life--if she can use and love to use in leisure moments hammer, saw, and file, or if she has some other healthy hobby. Still, for those who like the pleasant noise and pleasant mess caused by tools, it is hard to find a happier occupation than toy-making. A toy-maker becomes at once a collector of useful odds and ends, and a collector (that is, one who collects willingly the things he likes) is always a happy person; the toy-maker becomes, too, the contriver, one who can adapt materials to different purposes, and the giver--for the finished article must be disposed of. The mere acquisition of knowledge forms the least important part of school work. A large number of facts in connexion with history, geography, French, etc., have rightly to be learnt by heart and are useful to the child in after life, but they do not bring with them necessarily wisdom, nor does the learning of them play such an important part in the child's development as the activity of the child in the handwork class does. Some one has wisely said, "If education at school means nothing more to the children than a respectable routine and a few examinations successfully circumvented, then education is a failure; if _besides that_, it has enlivened the years and counted for something in the general joy of growing, then it has a real value--a value which entitles it to a place among happy memories, perhaps even the highest place of all." Many of us perhaps feel in looking back on our schooldays how many good things we lost for the sake of learning some now forgotten facts; how many good things we lost to be first in class; we confused means with ends, we toiled over our history and learnt it to get full marks in the coming test (we should have toiled over our toy for love of making it and to produce as perfect a one as possible); in after life we would gladly tread some of the by-paths of knowledge, have some hobby, but our rigorous system of training left us no opportunity in young days, and sapped the energy that alone would make it possible in after years. No scheme of work then for schooldays must be so rigorous that it leaves no leisure for 'feast days.' Some days, some hours must come back to memory, bringing not only their past happiness, but ideas for present occupation. The happiest days of youth are generally the busiest, days when one had something one really wanted to be busy about for its own sake, not for the sake of marks or for the sake of outstripping one's fellow-pupils, or for the sake of one's future. These busy, happy, idle days are the feast days of youth, days one thinks of as the poet thought when he wrote: And none will know the gleam there used to be About the feast days freshly kept by me, But men will call the golden hour of bliss 'About this time,' or 'shortly after this.' This book on toy-making is not written to advocate the so-called 'primrose path in education,' the 'turn-work-into-play theory,' though undoubtedly the first chapters at least of this book will be attacked by those who fear that education is yielding or is going to yield to a popular clamour for ease. For these people, too, Masefield has a message: Best trust the happy moments. What they gave Makes man less fearful of the certain grave, And gives his work compassion and new eyes; The days that make us happy make us wise. Moreover, every teacher of handwork knows how little ease the busy children in her classes get--in these classes they are never passive listeners or passive learners by heart. They see the need of accuracy, the labour necessary to produce it, they suffer for every mistake they make, they realise some of the joy and pain of creating, and, best of all perhaps, they realise the joy of work--active, muscular work as distinguished from their ordinary scholarly work. With regard to the question of work it has been ably said that "No one has yet preached in an adequate way the gospel of work--real hard work--as the most amusing of all occupations--not a noble duty." It is somewhat unfortunate that directly one begins to like one's work one is accused of playing. To return to toy-making (which is work or play, according to whether one dislikes or likes it)--whether toy-making be taken in the school or not, the teachers will find it a useful hobby. Through it they can amuse themselves and renew their youth; through it they will have an enduring bond of union with their children. Our knowledge of history and geography often fails to impress our children; they probably think we are a little foolish to burden our heads with so many facts that seem to have no bearing on to-day; but when we can use our hands and make a toy they see us with other eyes, we are really clever people worth cultivating. If toy-making be taken as a form of handwork in school, one enlists at once the interest of the parent--especially of the father--the mother sometimes, not often, objects to the mess. This interest of the parents is a great gain; the father delights in doing a bit of the work--sticking on the difficult funnel, sawing the hard piece of wood; child learns from parent, and parent from child, and in this way the father may again remember half-forgotten ambitions, half-neglected talents, and find in toy-making a profitable occupation, profitable mainly in the fact that any occupation which recalls to the grown-up person his youth, with its fresher outlook on life, must be wholesome. Finally, if the handwork classes make the children more 'at home' with themselves and with life, they will have done something; if they help them toward self-realisation they will help them toward the joy the writer speaks of who says, "Joy of life seems to me to arise from a sense of being where one belongs, as I feel right here; of being four-square with the life we have chosen. All the discontented people I know are trying sedulously to be something they are not, to do something they cannot do.... It is curious, is it not, with what skill we will adapt our sandy land to potatoes and grow our beans with clay, and with how little wisdom we farm the soil of our own natures?" CHAPTER II GENERAL PRINCIPLES; MATERIALS In toy-making in schools it is very necessary to design toys that can be made from materials which are easily obtained. The Board of Education in a report on handwork in the London elementary schools says: "The range of materials used is limited, as a rule, to paper, cardboard, clay, and 'prepared wood' or 'stripwood.' It is perhaps unfortunate that these are almost entirely 'school materials,' in other words materials which are not likely to be much used outside the school, either in the child's home or in after life." There is truth in this--to give the child too much 'prepared material' tends to make him less inventive, resourceful, and painstaking, and prevents him from continuing his work at home, where he has not got prepared material. Any series of toys made from the same material--say a series of toys made from match stales or from 'stripwood'--has very limited educational advantages. Toys made from a combination of waste materials are the best--match-boxes, cardboard and wooden boxes of all sizes, mantle-boxes, reels, corks, broom-handles, silver paper, etc., can all play a part in producing an effective, even a beautiful toy. Most of the toys described in this book are made from so-called 'waste materials.' With regard to infant school work, squares of white paper--cartridge paper or ordinary exercise paper--which the children can colour themselves are better than a too slavish use of the coloured gummed squares supplied to schools. Further directions with regard to materials will be given in connexion with the various toys. It is advisable to use as few tools as possible, both because the fewer tools the less expense and because the fewer tools the more thought and ingenuity required. To have a perfect instrument at hand for every need paralyses work, thought, and happiness. Most of the toys in this book are made--if for little ones, with scissors, if for older ones, with hammer, saw, and file. A graduated course is necessary. Generally speaking, the little ones from five to seven make their toys of paper, clay, plasticine, and raffia. Children from seven to ten can make simple wooden toys. Wooden toys are the best; many things can be done with wood, impossible with cardboard or paper, and they are so lasting. Cardboard modelling is always difficult, and as a rule should not be attempted by children younger than nine. Except that they provide practice in accurate measurement, toys made of paper and cardboard by children of nine or older are disappointing, they crush so quickly. Quite strong toys can, however, be made from a combination of wood, cardboard, and paper. If really strong paper toys are required (for example, the various articles of doll's furniture, the table and chair, etc., are more valuable if strongly made), an excellent medium can be made by pasting (using ordinary flour paste) two or three sheets of paper together and allowing them to dry thoroughly under pressure. Both or all three sheets must be pasted over before they are brought together to avoid subsequent curling. This will, however, prove too stiff a medium for children younger than five. =Skewers= will be found very useful in toy-making. Any ordinary metal skewer is useful for boring holes in cardboard and corks, while the short meat skewers, three inches long (cost twopence per dozen), are an excellent substitute for bradawls when the children are making the early light woodwork models; later on in woodwork a fine workman's bradawl is required, or a drill. Wooden skewers are useful for axles of all kinds. Another useful boring tool (for making holes in paper, corks, or cardboard) is the metal pin stopper supplied with tubes of seccotine. This bores a hole in cardboard or paper that is the right size for a match. When boring holes in cardboard the children will find a cotton reel useful to bore upon; their meat skewer or seccotine pin stopper can then pass through the cardboard into the hole in the reel. =Methods of joining Cardboard and Paper Edges.= (1) Leaving a flange. In Fig. 1 the shaded portions represent flanges--flange A is for joining side of house B to C, flanges D, E, F, G are for holding the roof; they must, of course, be bent at right angles to the sides B and H. (Note flange in socket of candlestick, Fig. 49, Chapter IV, and in pigeon-house, Chapter X.) [Illustration: FIG. 1] If Fig. 1 is made of cardboard, flange A must have the surface of the cardboard pared away, otherwise the joining will be clumsy. The dotted lines represent bends only in the case of paper, but half cuts in the case of cardboard. [Illustration: FIG. 2] With regard to the size of the flange, this will depend upon the strength of the adhesive used and the stiffness of the material. Generally speaking, the larger the flange the better, for a narrow flange tends to turn up and must be held down longer than a wide one. A good general rule to remember when joining two pieces of material is this--that it is always the thinner of the two that is to be pasted or glued. This must be borne in mind when using the second method of joining cardboard or paper edges. [Illustration: FIG. 3_a_] [Illustration: FIG. 3_b_] (2) Using paper hinges. The hinge should extend the whole length of the edges that come together, as in Fig. 2, where pieces of cardboard A and B are joined by the hinge _a b c d e f_. Before pasting the hinge must be folded along _b e_, care being taken that _b e_ is at right angles to _a c_ and _d f_. The sides, bottom, and roof of the Noah's Ark are joined together by paper hinges (Chapter X). (3) Wherever it is necessary to join curved edges, the flange must be cut as in Fig. 3_a_, flange _a b c d_. Fig. 3_b_ shows paper curved and flanges bent down ready for pasting. This is the method used for fastening on paper funnels, the bottom of the paper mug (Fig. 57, Chapter IV), etc. =The Making and Fixing of Wheels.= If it is desired to attach movable wheels to any of the toys described in the following chapters (in the early chapters for greater simplicity the wheels are gummed to sides of carts, or to matches, etc.), the following methods are suggested. (1) The wheels can be rigidly fixed to the axle--that is, a match end is pushed tight into the cardboard wheel and the axle is free to turn in loose bearings, as in Fig. 4, fixed under the cart or other vehicle or to the sides. These bearings can be cut from cardboard or cartridge paper. In Fig. 4 the paper is bent at a right angle along the dotted line, and the rectangular portion is gummed under the cart. If the rectangular portion is gummed to the side of the cart no bend is needed. The parts of the match sticks that pass through the holes must be rounded with sand-paper so that they will turn easily in the holes. [Illustration: FIG. 4] (2) The axle can be glued to the bottom of the cart and the wheels left free to revolve. The wheels are kept in their places by the following plan. Cut some small cardboard washers, seccotine one near each end of the axle as in Fig. 5_a_, taking care that they do not come under the cart. Slip on the wheels, taking care that the centre hole is punched large enough to allow the wheel to revolve freely. This will be the case if a steel meat skewer (size about 7 inches long) has been used to make the holes. Fix washers outside the wheels to keep them on, as in Fig. 5_b_. These washers keep the wheels from sagging. These wheels will revolve if the match stick has been rounded with sand-paper. [Illustration: FIG. 5_a_] [Illustration: FIG. 5_b_] With regard to the arrangement of the toys in this book, roughly they are described in order of difficulty, but for convenience sometimes this order has been departed from. For example, match-box toys have been grouped together, cork animals, etc. The teacher must select her own models from different parts of the book and use them in accordance with her children's ability and her own taste. Another important principle to follow is this. The teacher should give as few directions as possible, be as silent as it is possible for a teacher to be. The child has an excellent opportunity in these classes of learning from his own mistakes. This opportunity must not be taken from him; he must be given the chance of finding out his own mistakes. Moreover, every difficulty should not be anticipated for the child; nor should too many warnings be given. Let the children set to work as soon as possible and use their tools without too many instructions about them. Let them ask, let them have the pleasure of discovering; every child wants to learn, but not every child wants to be taught. All models should be made as large as is reasonably possible; this should be insisted on from the beginning. Lastly, great accuracy (though much to be desired) must not be expected from the child; careful work must be insisted on, but one must learn to recognise the careful work of a child (which is so different from that of the grown-up person) and not heedlessly blame him or her for not reaching perfection. Accuracy is so often the outcome of 'lack of vision.' The child so often has that 'vision,' that imaginative outlook on life that floods the mind with ideas, but lacks accurate power of expression, while the grown-up person has the accurate power of expression, but has lost the fresh imagination of youth and all its ideals. We must see to it that we do not dim our children's vision. CHAPTER III PAPER WORK FOR INFANTS =Materials.= White paper of any kind that is not too thick and bends easily, _e.g._ cartridge paper, plain white foolscap, pages from exercise books. Pieces of coloured paper are introduced into some of the toys. It is better, however, to encourage the children to colour the white paper with chalks. One must remember, however, children's delight in coloured paper and let them have it sometimes. A wall-paper sample book will provide coloured paper, and gummed coloured squares are supplied to most schools. These gummed squares are really too thin for effective toy-making, and there is the temptation to the child to lick them when making models from them. =Adhesives.= In many cases the toys can be fastened together by means of paper-fasteners. Where this is not possible the following adhesives are recommended. (1) Gloy--this is clean and fastens the paper fairly securely. (2) Higgins' Vegetable Glue. This has one great advantage over Gloy: it cannot be spilt. A little of it can be put on a piece of paper for each child; this is a great convenience in a large class. (3) Home-made paste of flour and water; this is very clean and wholesome. PAPER TOYS FROM THE SQUARE The following toys should be made as _large_ as possible, never from a square of less than 4 inches each side. The larger the toy the thicker the paper that can be used and the stronger it is. In the following diagrams, lines to be cut are drawn, lines to be folded are dotted, parts to be cut off are shaded. As soon as possible the child should be shown how to make a large brown paper envelope to keep his work in. Model 1. =The Rabbit Hutch.= Fold paper into 16 squares as in Fig. 6. Cut lines indicated. Draw bars in square A, or fold along T S (Fig. 7) and cut out the bars; the door is drawn and cut in square =B=. Colour the whole yellow or brown to represent wood. Gum L over M; N over M; O over N. The same on the other side. A small paper-fastener makes a good handle. Rabbits and carrots can be cut out of paper to furnish the hutch (Fig. 7). [Illustration: FIG. 6] From a similar square folded into sixteen squares a =Railway Carriage= can be made. In this case the door is cut in the middle of C D (Fig. 8). Windows and panels are drawn on the paper. A roll of paper is put on top for the light, or a small piece of cork can be used. The wheels are drawn by means of halfpennies, then folded in half; one half is pasted under the carriage, the other appears as in Fig. 8. Three or four carriages can be made and fastened by strips of paper. [Illustration: FIG. 7] Children delight in chalking the blinds of their carriages in various colours and labelling them 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Class. The top of the carriage should be darkened with pencil or chalk, or a piece of black paper pasted over it. [Illustration: FIG. 8] =A Luggage Van or Cattle Truck= (Fig. 9) can be made from a square of the same size by cutting off oblong E F (Fig. 6) and gumming L over N and M over L. The =Basket= (Fig. 10) is a simple model. One quarter of the square is cut off to form a handle. Cut remaining portion as in Fig. 11, double over corners _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, paste corner _d_ over D, _c_ over C, _b_ over B, _a_ over A. [Illustration: FIG. 9] [Illustration: FIG. 10] The basket should be coloured with yellow chalk to represent straw; the handle is fastened on with paper-fasteners. [Illustration: FIG. 11] Paper fruit, apples and oranges, can be cut out to go in the basket. =A Wardrobe.= Fold square into sixteen parts and cut as in Fig. 12. Gum A over C and B over A. Repeat with D E F. Gum a piece of silver paper on the door for a mirror; square H, with its corners cut off, forms ornament on top (Fig. 13). A match is gummed inside, on which clothes are hung. The children can either draw these and cut them out, or cut them out from old fashion plates. [Illustration: FIG. 12] [Illustration: FIG. 13] [Illustration: FIG. 14] =An Oak Chest.= Make exactly as for wardrobe, but stand on the long side. Draw panels and colour light brown (Fig. 14). By cutting off the lid and making a handle from it a basket can be made. The children themselves may be able to suggest some of these articles and should be encouraged to. =A Sedan Chair= can be made in the same way as the wardrobe (see Fig. 12). Loops of paper are gummed on at A and B (Fig. 15), through which the shafts pass; a window can be cut by folding the door C D G H in half along K L. A piece of coloured paper can be gummed inside the window for a blind; some sort of ornament can be gummed at the top along C D and E F. Panels, etc., can be drawn. [Illustration: FIG. 15] =A Market Basket= (Fig. 16). Fold square as for wardrobe (Fig. 12), cut off the quarter K L M H. Gum A to B and C to A--the same with D E F. To make lids, halve the quarter K L M H. Gum K to A (outside) and L forms one lid; gum H to D and M forms the other lid. Paper-fasteners may be put in each lid for handles. The handle of basket must be made from another strip of paper. The basket should be suitably coloured before being gummed together. [Illustration: FIG. 16] =A Cradle= (Fig. 17). Begin with a square (each side four times the diameter of a penny). Fold and gum together as for basket. Cut two round discs of stiff paper the size of a penny. Fold these in half. Gum one half of each disc on to bottom of cradle; the other half forms the rocker. These halves must be made less round by being cut as in Fig. 18, so that the cradle will rock. By means of the penny portions A and B can be cut to form top and bottom of cradle, a strip of paper C D E can be gummed across one end (round A) to form a hood (Fig. 17). [Illustration: FIG. 17] [Illustration: FIG. 18] [Illustration: FIG. 19] [Illustration: FIG. 20] =A Settee.= Fold a square as for wardrobe (Fig. 12), cut off one quarter, K L M H. Gum A to B, D to E for arms. Cut arms as in Fig. 20. For back legs of settee use portion K L M H; gum K to F and H to C (Fig. 19). To strengthen the settee gum a piece of paper over N O and M L. Coloured paper can be pasted on back, sides and seat as shown in drawing. The legs may either be cut out or simply drawn on the paper as in illustration (Fig. 20). The settee will prove a really strong piece of doll's furniture. The children should be allowed to furnish a doll's house with the various articles described in this book. When they have had some practice in making them each child can be allowed to make one piece of furniture for a school doll's house. [Illustration: FIG. 21] [Illustration: FIG. 22] =Table.= Top of table is a square of white cartridge paper. Make the legs from a double square, each square the same size as top of table. Fold and cut the double square as in Fig. 21. Bend flaps A B C D carefully along _a b_. Gum A to B, C to B, D to A to form legs. Gum square top on to A B C D. A square of coloured paper can be gummed on to top of table as in drawing (Fig. 22). Leg E can be gummed to F by means of a paper hinge, or a flange may be provided, as in Fig. 1. [Illustration: FIG. 23] [Illustration: FIG. 24] To make a =Chair= to go with the table. Take a double square the same size as that used for legs of table. Fold into eight as in Fig. 24. Cut in half along _a b_. Squares A, B, C form front legs, seat and back of chair respectively. Square F is gummed to B, so that E forms back legs. The chair must be strengthened by gumming H to C and G to E. Coloured squares can be gummed to seat and back; the rest of the chair can be chalked to represent wood (Fig. 23). A dining-room suite may be made in this way. =Side-board.= Begin with two equal squares. Cut and fasten one square together as for rabbit hutch (Fig. 6), but cut two doors. One quarter of the second square must be cut and gummed on to back to form a mirrored top (Fig. 25). A piece of silver paper may be gummed on to back for a mirror. From the rest of the second square plates and dishes can be cut and coloured to go on top and inside sideboard. [Illustration: FIG. 25] [Illustration: FIG. 26] [Illustration: FIG. 27] =An Arm-chair.= Begin with square folded into sixteen parts (Fig. 26), cut off one quarter D H N S, again cut off one quarter O P R. Cut remaining square as in diagram. Gum E to A and G to C. Cut these squares to form arms. Gum O to K and R to M to form back legs and sides. To strengthen chair cut off N from D H. Gum H to P and D to B. The corners of B are rounded. Coloured paper can be pasted over the arms and in the middle of back, seat and sides (Fig. 27). Legs can be chalked on P, L, K and M, or cut out as shown in the figure. If preferred the arms are not folded over but cut round. This arm-chair is a strong one and will hold a heavy doll. [Illustration: FIG. 28] [Illustration: FIG. 29] =A Bed.= Fold a double square as in Fig. 28. Cut portions indicated. Gum A B C D to E F G H, the same the other side. Bend up M and N to form head and foot of bed. These can be cut any shape, or simply be coloured to represent beams. Legs can be drawn on or cut out of sides F H K L and B O D P (Fig. 29). [Illustration: FIG. 30] [Illustration: FIG. 31] [Illustration: FIG. 32] =A Coal Scuttle.= Begin with a 4-inch square, fold into sixteen parts, cut off a quarter, cut off a quarter again; cut remaining portion as in Fig. 30. Gum A over B, C over B. For the stand take the smallest quarter (Fig. 32), fold and cut as in diagram. Gum A to bottom of coal scuttle, B and C form the supports; a handle can be cut and gummed on as in Fig. 31. The children can cut a shovel out of paper to slip in a little paper band at the back (Fig. 31). The coal scuttle should be coloured black, with yellow to represent brass. [Illustration: FIG. 33] [Illustration: FIG. 34] =A Drawing-room Cabinet.= Fold and cut square as in Fig. 33. Gum B over A, C over D. Bend E and K down and cut corners off to form shelves as in Fig. 34. G H can be cut round, or in any way to make suitable top for cabinet. Silver paper can be pasted on where desired for mirrors, doors cut or drawn, etc. From Fig. 33 the children will be able to make a number of simple and effective articles of doll's furniture--namely, doll's dresser, oak settee for hall, dressing-table, wash-stand, writing-case. These the children must be allowed to suggest and think out themselves. [Illustration: FIG. 35] =A Shop or Stall.= This will hold together without the use of gum. Fold and cut as in Fig. 35. Fold together so that square E N G M covers square G M K T; the same the other side. Bend back C S G Q along S Q to form side (Fig. 36); the same the other side. Fold B F D H along F H for roof, fold B V D W down as in Fig. 36; this portion should have name of shop written on it. Fold A B F C along R S, so that A C coincides with B F. Fold down R B X V so that top of C S G Q lies between R B X V and A R X Z; the same the other side; this folding keeps the shop together. Gum can be used if greater strength is desired. From paper the children can cut materials to furnish their stall. From a similar square a piano can be made as in Fig. 37. A piece of paper must be gummed to V B W D to close up the hollow; the sides S C G Q must not be bent back but cut as in Fig. 37 to represent the sides of a piano. [Illustration: FIG. 36] [Illustration: FIG. 37] [Illustration: FIG. 38] =Some Simple Tents.= A good imitation of an "A" tent can be made by little ones from a square. Several of these make an excellent encampment for toy soldiers. Fold and cut square as in Fig. 38. To fasten it together paste square 1 to square 2; this forms the back of the tent; edges P O, K L, etc., rest along the ground. Corners L and M must be bent back to form the entrance. Pieces of cotton are fastened along F M and F L for straps for lacing up the entrance (see Fig. 39). [Illustration: FIG. 39] [Illustration: FIG. 40] Fig. 40 shows a drawing of a real "A" tent spread out flat upon the ground. It is made of strips of canvas, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 sewn together. Children can imitate this in paper. [Illustration: FIG. 41] =A Triangular Tent.= This is very simple. Fold and cut as in Fig. 41. Paste A E B over E B D. Cut door at F. CHAPTER IV MORE PAPER TOYS [Illustration: FIG. 42] [Illustration: FIG. 43] =A Bridge= (Fig. 42). Begin with square (8 inches each side), fold in four and cut off one piece. Fold again in four, folds running in opposite directions to first folds, and cut off one piece. A square, A B C D, remains, divided into nine squares (Fig. 43). Fold A G and F C in halves, cut off shaded portions. Join L E, F N, M Gand H O, and cut off shaded portions. Cut along L R, N S, M P and O Q; bend as in Fig. 42. Matches can be gummed on the slopes of the bridge. If a piece of white cardboard or paper is placed underneath a river can be marked on it and paper boats made. [Illustration: FIG. 44] [Illustration: FIG. 45] The children can make a very pretty scene from this. Trees can be coloured and cut out of paper and gummed upright by means of a little flap of paper left at the end of the trunk of the tree. The house can be cut out of a piece of folded paper (Fig. 44) so that it will stand; animals can be cut in a similar way (Fig. 45). Boats are made of plasticine, with paper sails stuck in it. Children can add other animals and think of other additions to the scene. [Illustration: FIG. 46] [Illustration: FIG. 47] [Illustration: FIG. 48] =A Punt= (Fig. 46). Begin with a square, fold into sixteen parts, cut off a quarter. Fold in half oblongs A B and C D (Fig. 47). Cut off the shaded portions. Cut along the lines M E, C N, O B, P G. Fold along M K, F N, O L and P H. The child will accomplish this fold more easily if she puts her ruler along a line from K to M and folds the paper over it. A coloured band should be chalked round the punt. To fasten it together gum K E M to M E C N, C N F to M E C N and so on the other side. Three seats are fastened inside, made from the quarter cut off the original square. The length of the seat is equal to the distance E C; the height of the seat to half of the distance K E (Fig. 48). The punt should be made from a square of cartridge paper, eleven inches each side. It will be found to float well on water. [Illustration: FIG. 49] [Illustration: FIG. 50] =A Candlestick= (Fig. 49). Begin with two squares of coloured paper (sides 4 inches); one forms the bottom of the candlestick; half the other forms the socket. To make the socket fold and cut as in Fig. 50. The other half divided lengthways forms the handle. The handle and socket can be fastened on with paper-fasteners or gummed. It looks neater when gummed. A roll of yellow paper or white paper coloured forms the candle; into this roll some cotton-wool is put and into this a piece of red paper for the flame. Children delight in making candlesticks of different colours and decorating their form rooms with them. The candlestick can be strengthened by being gummed on to a piece of cardboard (a post-card will do). A round candlestick can be made in a similar way. To make the socket, fold the oblong (Fig. 50) into four parts, leaving a piece, E, over; gum E to A. =A Lantern.= Begin with an oblong 8 inches by 5-1/2 inches, A B C D (Fig. 51). Fold along E T K and G H to get flanges. Fold C A B D into half to obtain the line L M, and fold A L M B into four parts to obtain the line L´ M´. Fold A H C G into four parts along Q P, O N and S R. Draw the top of the lantern in A H L´ M´, as in Fig. 51, and cut off the shaded portion. Draw or cut windows in the sides of the lantern. Cut the flange _abc_ as in the diagram. Make the candle and the candlestick to fit into the lantern as in Fig. 49. (Note the length of the edge of the candlestick is the width of the lantern E T.) Bend the flanges _a_, _b_, _c_ at right angles to the sides and gum the candlestick to these. Flange _d_ can be gummed to the edge L´ E, and a door cut in one of the sides, or flange _d_ can be cut off and then side _l_ forms the door. Make holes in the tops of the lantern and tie together with thread, as in Fig. 52, or the flanges can be left round the triangular tops and they can be gummed together. Fig. 52 shows the finished model. [Illustration: FIG. 51] [Illustration: FIG. 52] =Colouring the Lantern.= The lantern can be made of black paper (lines must be drawn on the white side), or white paper chalked, or painted black or yellow, etc., according to taste. [Illustration: FIG. 53] =A Well and Bucket.= The well is made from an oblong about 2-1/2 inches by 10 inches. Fold down one side of the oblong, about 1/2 inch; make cuts along this fold as in Fig. 54. When the paper is bent round to form the well, these cut pieces form the edge of the well (Fig. 53). A B is a piece of cardboard or stiff paper bent, as shown in the diagram, and gummed to the sides of the well. Two holes must first be made in A and B. Then through these holes a piece of cane C is passed. D and E are pieces of cardboard of equal size; holes are made in each end and the strips are glued to each end of the piece of cane. Into the other holes are glued two smaller pieces of cane or two matches, F and G, for handles. The well should be coloured red before being fastened together. [Illustration: FIG. 54] [Illustration: FIG. 55] [Illustration: FIG. 56] The bucket (Fig. 55) is made from a small oblong. Fold and cut off the shaded parts as in Fig. 56. When the bucket is fastened together stand on a piece of paper and draw round it to get the measurement for a circular disc for the bottom. Cut this out and gum it to the bent edges 1, 2, 3, 4. A handle can be made of string or paper. [Illustration: FIG. 57] =A Mug= (Fig. 57). This is made like the bucket. The handle is made of a strip of paper fastened to the mug by paper-clips. A band of coloured paper is gummed round the mug; the handle can be made of the same coloured paper as the band. [Illustration: FIG. 58] =Motor-car.= Begin with a square (8-inch side). Halve it. Fold each half into thirty-two parts. Cut one half as in diagram 58. Gum A to B and D to C, E to F and H to H. This forms the body of the car. The doors must be cut in squares K, M, L, N. From the second half (folded into thirty-two) pieces can be cut to cover exactly the front of the car, and to form seats O and R and backs and sides, S T. See Fig. 59. The wheels are drawn on stiff paper or cardboard by means of halfpennies, cut out and gummed on to the sides. The children of six who made this car enjoyed adding, according to their own ideas, steps, steering-wheel, and other details. The car looks more attractive if coloured and if the seats are covered with red paper. [Illustration: FIG. 59] [Illustration: FIG. 60] From a similar square (8-inch side), divided into two (each half divided into thirty-two parts), a =Book-case= can be made (see Fig. 60). One half gummed together as for the motor forms the case; the other half forms the shelves and the ornament on top. A door can easily be added, or two doors, one on each side. [Illustration: FIG. 61] =A Wigwam.= Begin with half a square (Fig. 61). Fold into thirty-two parts. Draw a curved line from A through B and C to D, and from A through E and F to G. Cut along these lines. Join K with H by a curved line and H with L. Cut along this line. Gum L N to K M. Fold back the corners G and D for the door. Strips of paper can be cut out and gummed inside the wigwam for poles. Designs can be drawn on wigwam as in Fig. 62. Marks from K to K show where it is laced up. The wigwam should be coloured brown, the circles on it red and white or yellow. This model will be found useful when illustrating scenes from _Hiawatha_. Other simple models to go with this are--a bow, arrows, quiver, canoe. The bow can be made from a piece of cane, the arrows cut out of paper. [Illustration: FIG. 62] [Illustration: FIG. 63] [Illustration: FIG. 64] =A Quiver.= Fold square into sixteen parts (Fig. 63). Join A to C, C to D, D to B by curved line; cut along it. Join E with G and bend along it; G with F and bend along it. Gum B H G to A K G. Fasten a piece of string as in the drawing (Fig. 64). [Illustration: FIG. 65] [Illustration: FIG. 66] For =Canoe= begin with an oblong 6-1/2 inches long (Fig. 65); width, twice the diameter of a penny. Fold in half along G H. Make half circles A B C and F E D, at each end, by means of penny. Cut around A B C and D E F. Fold in half along B E. Join A by means of curved line with B E, and F with B E. Cut along A H K F. Gum the canoe together at A B C and F E D. Cut out three seats to go in the middle; make drawings on the canoe. Paddles must be cut to go with canoe (Fig. 66). [Illustration: FIG. 67] An =Indian Cradle= can be made in the same way as the quiver, but with the point G cut off as in Fig. 67, and markings put on the front to look as though the cradle were laced up. String is attached for hanging the cradle to the mother's back or to a tree. Canoe, quiver and cradle look effective cut out of brown paper and chalked with yellow or red chalks. [Illustration: FIG. 68] [Illustration: FIG. 69] =A Clock Tower= (Fig. 69). Begin with an oblong 10 inches by 6 inches. Fold in eight parts, and cut off three. Fold the remaining portion A B C D in half along E F; fold A F in half along G H. Fold along as in Fig. 68. Draw clock faces in squares 1, 2, 3 and 4, a pattern of some kind in triangles 5 and 6, and mark bricks on the sides 7, 8, 9, 10; side 7 is gummed over 11, which, therefore, is not seen (Fig. 69). [Illustration: FIG. 70] [Illustration: FIG. 71] [Illustration: FIG. 72] =To fasten Tower together.= Fold the sides 8 and 10 at right angles to 9; bend J forward and gum to it both K and L (Fig. 70), and cut off the part of J that projects beyond K and L. Now gum the side 7 to 11, bend O toward J; gum N to O and M to O and cut off the portion of O that projects beyond M and N. A piece of paper, painted to represent slates, can be gummed over the roof, so that it projects slightly, as in Fig. 71. [Illustration: FIG. 73] A simpler way of fastening the tower together is to gum O to J, M L and N K standing upright as in Fig. 72. =A Windmill= can be made in the same way. The sails are made as described in the match-box windmill (Fig. 97). =A Lighthouse= (Fig. 73). Take an oblong piece of paper, about 8-1/2 inches by 6 inches. Fold down each shorter edge for 1/2 inch and cut the flanges as described in the case of the bucket (Fig. 56). Bend the flanges inward, curve the paper round and gum together to form the body of the lighthouse. Cut two squares of paper, one smaller than the other, gum the smaller one A to the flanges at the top of the cylinder; colour B blue and gum it to the flanges at the bottom. Make a small lantern, as in Fig. 51, to fit the top of the lighthouse. In this case it is better to gum the triangular tops of the lantern together. The door, windows and staircase should be drawn and the lighthouse coloured grey before fastening the cylinder together. CHAPTER V MATCH-BOX TOYS Many simple and effective toys can be made from match-boxes. The great advantage of these toys is that the children can readily supply the materials themselves. In every case the toys explained here have been made by young children, whose ages vary from four to seven. The materials used are match-boxes, matches, paper of different kinds, white, brown, coloured, and cardboard, while in some toys corks and silver paper have been introduced. For sticking paper on to the boxes, gloy or vegetable glue is suitable, but when matches have to be fastened into or on to the boxes it is best to use liquid glue or seccotine. Some of the toys can be made more effective by colouring them with crayons. [Illustration: FIG. 74] [Illustration: FIG. 75] =A Canoe.= To make the canoe (Fig. 74) the inside portion of the match-box is gummed to a piece of stiff paper or cardboard pointed at each end. Strips of paper gummed to the sides of the box form the seats. The paddle (Fig. 75) is made of a match, to the ends of which paper discs are gummed. To get these circles the children can use farthings and draw round them. The paddle and the seats can be coloured with brown crayons. [Illustration: FIG. 76] =A Kayak.= For the kayak (Fig. 76) a piece of paper is measured to fit over the box; it is doubled in half and a small hole cut in it, then gummed to the sides of the box. =A Motor-car= (Fig. 77). The car consists of a match-box without the cover. The seats are of white paper. The following them measure and cut a piece of paper, A B C D, that will just cover the box from side to side, making bends _a c_ and _b d_ where the edges of the box come. Fold paper into four as in Fig. 78. Cut along _e f_, and cut off the shaded portions and fold as in Fig. 79. Gum the parts G and M to the side of the box. [Illustration: FIG. 77] [Illustration: FIG. 78] [Illustration: FIG. 79] Wheels for all match-box toys are made from stiff paper or cardboard, the circle being drawn from a farthing, or, where larger wheels are necessary, from a halfpenny. The spokes are drawn on the wheels. These can either be gummed to the sides of the match-box, or, if holes are made in the wheels, they can be fastened to each end of a match, which is then glued to the bottom of the box. [Illustration: FIG. 80] [Illustration: FIG. 81] =A House or Barn.= From the covers that are left, after making the canoe and the motor-car, a house or barn can be made (Fig. 80). One cover is cut open and the top bent back as in Fig. 81. A portion of the second cover is cut off (Fig. 82). [Illustration: FIG. 82] Side A is then gummed to B, and C D is fastened to E F by means of a piece of folded paper covering the whole of the roof. This paper is double the size of C D H G (Fig. 82), is coloured grey or blue to represent slates, and folded along the middle. [Illustration: FIG. 83] =A Sentry-box.= This is an easy toy to make. The children will notice that one end of a match-box is double--that is, one piece of wood overlaps the other. If they unfasten these and bend them out they form the roof of the sentry box (Fig. 83). A piece of paper can be pasted behind to fill up the hollow. The toy looks more effective if covered entirely with brown paper. A soldier can be cut out of paper, coloured and gummed to the bottom of the box. [Illustration: FIG. 84] =A Castle.= A castle can be made from the cover. A piece of paper is cut to fit round it, doors and windows are marked on it with pencil or crayon, and one edge is cut to represent battlements (Fig. 84). The flagstaff is a match glued inside. A larger castle can be made by fastening two or more covers together. =A Jack-in-the-box.= These toys are so simple that the diagrams almost explain themselves. In the case of the Jack-in-the-box the children like to decorate the half-opened match-box with coloured paper. The little figure is made of bits of wool, a piece of cotton is tied round the neck and put through a hole in the top, a match is tied to the cotton to prevent it slipping back; another piece of cotton tied to the waist of the doll pulls it down (Fig. 85). [Illustration: FIG. 85] [Illustration: FIG. 86] =A Belfry.= In the belfry the back of the box at A has been cut out, the bell is made of paper or cardboard, covered with silver paper (Fig. 86). A match stick is passed through a hole in the bell, and gummed to each side of the box. Another match is gummed to the bell, and a piece of cotton attached for ringing. [Illustration: FIG. 87] =A Van= (Fig. 87). The van is made from the inside of a match-box; the cover is of brown paper gummed inside the sides of the box. The seat is also of brown paper, while one end is bent back for the flap of the waggon. The shafts are made of matches. [Illustration: FIG. 88] =A Milk-cart= (Fig. 88). The can is a cork covered with silver paper, which is used to cover chocolates, etc. The paper can be screwed into a little knob at the top. In Fig. 88 the wheels are the same size. Two are fastened to a match for the axle, which is then glued underneath the box; the third wheel is glued between two matches, which are fastened underneath the box. In Fig. 89 the side wheels are larger and a cardboard set of shafts is made for the small front wheel. [Illustration: FIG. 89] [Illustration: FIG. 90] Fig. 90 shows the shape of these shafts. The shaded portion is bent at right angles to the shaft and glued under the box. The small wheel can be gummed between these shafts, or, if the shafts are fastened on with a space between them, and holes made in each end, a piece of match stick, on which the small wheel is mounted, can be passed through the holes. A match is glued across the back of the box (Fig. 88) to form the bar by means of which the cart is pushed along. [Illustration: FIG. 91] =A Field Gun.= Fig. 91 shows how the match-box is cut. The gun is made from a roll of brown paper. A piece 4 or 5 inches square is large enough. Yellow bands can be chalked round the cannon. The wheels are made of circular discs, the size of a penny. Shots can be made from silver paper, or from plasticine. [Illustration: FIG. 92] =A Field Gun and Limber.= The gun in Fig. 92 is mounted somewhat differently. A is one-third of a match-box cover, with one narrow side cut away, covered with dark grey paper; two holes are made in it opposite each other; the gun has a match or piece of cane passed through it, and the ends of the match or cane pass through the holes in A. B is a piece of cardboard or stiff paper shaped as in diagram: the shaded portion is gummed underneath A. [Illustration: FIG. 93] =The Limber= (Fig. 93). This is made from a match-box (C), covered with dark grey paper and fitted with a cardboard cover E, similarly coloured. Match sticks, coloured black, form the shots. The handle consists of two match sticks, or two strips of cardboard, glued together. The wheels must be the same size as those for the gun. [Illustration: FIG. 94] =A Porter's Truck.= This is made from a box of which three sides have been cut away (Fig. 94). It can be covered with brown paper, and matches can be glued across it. The handles are of matches, the legs of stiff paper fastened to the bottom. The children can make little paper parcels and boxes to put on the truck. [Illustration: FIG. 95] =A Sweep's Barrow.= The figure (95) shows how the match-box is used. A bundle of matches tied together represents part of the sweep's outfit. The broom is made from a roll of paper, the ends of which have been cut into a fringe. The broom and matches can be darkened with crayons or ink. [Illustration: FIG. 96] [Illustration: FIG. 97] =A Windmill= (Fig. 96). Prepare the inside of a match-box as described in the case of the sentry-box, and place it inside its cover, securing it with a little gum. Paste a piece of paper in front to hide the hollow. The sails of the windmill are made of brown paper, cut as in Fig. 97, and gummed to strips of cardboard which form the framework of the sails. The whole can then be fastened to the box by a paper-clip. [Illustration: FIG. 98] =To make the Sails turn.= Bore two holes through the windmill; round a match stick by rubbing it with sand-paper; glue the sails to one end of it, pass it through the holes and glue a circle of cardboard to the other end to prevent it slipping back. Fig. 98 shows a more complicated but very effective way of making the sails. The paper is cut along the dark lines and bent back along the dotted lines. [Illustration: FIG. 99] =A Tram-car= (Fig. 99). For this toy two insides of match-boxes are needed. The children could cut and gum to one box a piece of cardboard A B. Then into this box are gummed six matches of the same length. While these are drying the wheels can be made and the top prepared. The top is a box turned over with a piece of paper gummed round the edge. The paper should be coloured yellow. The projecting paper forms the rail round the top of the car. When the matches are quite firm the inverted box is placed over them. [Illustration: FIG. 100] =A Church= (Fig. 100). This is made from a combination of the barn or house and the castle. A strip of paper can be gummed along both sides to keep the two parts together. =A Match-box Train= (Fig. 101). The engine is a match-box turned upside down, to which is gummed a cork covered with red or green paper. The broad end of the cork has been sand-papered to make it more equal to the other end. The funnel is a piece of cardboard blackened and inserted into a slit in the cork. Half a match-box glued to the cork forms the cab. The coal tender is a match-box on wheels; a piece of brown paper can be pasted round one end to form the back and the sides. The simplest way of making a carriage is to fold a piece of paper into three, mark on it the door and the windows and gum it to the inside of the box. For this piece of paper the children can get the measurements from the match-box. [Illustration: FIG. 101] In order to make a long carriage like a real train a child suggested gumming two match-boxes together, end to end. When a long train was complete the children at once wanted to make a station (Fig. 102). [Illustration: FIG. 102] For this purpose two or three match-box covers can be fastened together by covering them with white paper (marked to represent the boards of a platform) and gumming them to a piece of cardboard, A B C D. The paper must be left long enough at each end to be gummed to the cardboard and form the slopes of the platform. The waiting-room or shelter is a match-box gummed to platform as in diagram, with a triangular piece of paper pasted behind to form a roof. A seat can be pasted inside. The name of the station, signals, and a signal-box (a half-opened match-box standing on end) can be added. [Illustration: FIG. 103] [Illustration: FIG. 104] [Illustration: FIG. 105] [Illustration: FIG. 106] =A Railway Bridge.= Gum two sets of four match-box covers together as A and B in Fig. 103. Next, take a half-opened match-box (C in Fig. 104), gum cover securely to box, turn it upside down and to it gum cover D, and to this, half a cover E. Fasten this to A by strips of paper gummed on each side (see shaded part in Fig. 105). B has a similar arrangement fastened to it. These portions form the two sides of the bridge, but the steps so obtained are too high and extra paper steps must be made. For each of these take a piece of stiff paper L M N O (Fig. 106). L M equals width of match-box; M O equals three times thickness of box. Fold in three along T U and R S; fold L U and T S in halves and bend paper to form steps. L Q is gummed to A and R O to E. Repeat for each intermediate step. [Illustration: FIG. 107] Next cut a piece of cardboard the width of the match-box and long enough to leave a suitable distance between the two ends of the bridge to allow the match-box train to pass through, or two trains to pass each other. Gum this to the top of A and B (Fig. 107). [Illustration: FIG. 108] Next cut a piece of paper F G H J to fit across both parts of the bridge and to project to form railings or a wall, cut out the archway, colour to represent stones or bricks, and gum to bridge; cut and colour a similar piece for the other side (Fig. 108). CHAPTER VI MORE COMPLICATED MATCH-BOX AND CORK TOYS [Illustration: FIG. 109] [Illustration: FIG. 110] [Illustration: FIG. 111] =A Paddle-wheel Steamer= (Fig. 109). The cover of a match-box, A B C D, is covered on top and bottom with two pieces of stiff paper or cardboard pointed at both ends (Fig. 110). A long strip of paper is cut, E F G, etc., and fastened round the cover and projecting cardboard. The box is gummed on to A B C D. The funnel is made of a roll of red paper (Fig. 111). The mast is a roll or strip of paper gummed to inside of box. The wheels are strips of paper held together by a paper-fastener, the paper being bent sideways. The paper-fastener clips the wheel to the side of the box. A piece of cotton-wool can be put into the funnel for smoke. [Illustration: FIG. 112] =A Castle and Drawbridge= (Fig. 112). A and B are match-boxes, with the shorter sides cut off, gummed to a square piece of cardboard (4-inch side). Along the bottom of these a piece of blue paper is gummed to represent the water in the moat. C D F E is a piece of paper with archway cut out, gummed to sides of boxes A and B, and behind this are gummed match-box covers G and H. The drawbridge is a piece of stiff paper hinged to C D, and has match sticks gummed across it. Holes are made in the bridge and wall through which pieces of thread are passed; the ends behind the drawbridge are fastened to a match. [Illustration: FIG. 113] K is a box turned upside down and gummed to G, H. L and M are covers forming a passage from drawbridge. The castle can be enlarged by adding more boxes. =A Lighthouse= (Fig. 113). This toy is made from two corks gummed together and fastened to the cover of a match-box which is gummed to a square of cardboard covered with blue paper. Round the box, paper, cut and coloured to represent rocks, is pasted and paper steps are fastened to one edge. Into the top cork four pieces of matches are inserted and between them is placed a small roll of red paper. A small piece of paper with four holes in it is placed on top of the matches. The corks can be coloured grey, and windows and doors painted on them. The top cork must be filed to fit the lower one, and its upper end filed to make it narrower. [Illustration: FIG. 114] =An Airship= (Fig. 114). The airship is made from three corks glued together, the thickest cork being in the middle. Matches are inserted at each end. Four matches are inserted into the corks and their other ends glued into a match-box. A piece of black thread is fastened to the matches as shown in the diagram. Matches and corks can be coloured dark grey. [Illustration: FIG. 115] =A Bristol Biplane= (Fig. 115). A B, C D are two strips of paper, in length about four times the length of a match-box, in width nearly three-quarters the length of a match-box. These are fastened together by match sticks, as shown in the diagram. [Illustration: FIG. 116] E F is cut from a piece of paper as long as A B and about the width of a match-box. This paper is doubled along E F and marked and cut out as in diagram (Fig. 116); then unfolded and pasted on the bottom of a match-box (G), to which four small cardboard wheels are pasted. A B C D is then gummed along the back of the box G at right angles to E F. [Illustration: FIG. 117] [Illustration: FIG. 118] =A Bird-cage= (Fig. 117). This is made of two small squares of cartridge paper fastened together by matches, as shown. When making the holes the two pieces of paper should be placed together. A piece of cotton is fastened to the matches so that the cage may be hung up. A bird for the cage is made from a small cork, as in Fig. 118. The legs are two halves of a match; the tail must touch the ground in order that the bird may stand. [Illustration: FIG. 119] =A Travelling Menagerie= (Fig. 119). Cages are made from match-boxes. The box is mounted on wheels, match sticks are glued inside the box, and a piece of paper with holes in it is fitted to the tops of the matches. [Illustration: FIG. 120] Animals are cut out of paper and coloured. If these animals are cut from a folded piece of paper (=Fig. 120=) they will stand. [Illustration: FIG. 121] The various cages can be harnessed to horses. A caravan to accompany the menagerie is shown in =Fig. 121=. A piece of paper folded in three is gummed to the inside of a match-box. On the sides windows are marked, and a round paper chimney is gummed to the top. [Illustration: FIG. 122] =A Fire-escape= (Fig. 122). The ladder is made from two narrow strips of cardboard; holes are made in these and match sticks inserted. The ends of the matches should be slightly filed or sand-papered. B is a match-box, one end, C, of which is bent forward. To this end strips of cardboard, C D, E F are gummed, and across them other strips, F D and G H. Wheels can be gummed on as in the figure. L and M are cardboard strips gummed to box and ladder to help to keep it in position. Thread could be attached as shown in diagram, and an additional ladder made to stand between L and M. [Illustration: FIG. 123] =A Mangle.= A is a match-box turned upside down to which are gummed two corks which have been filed to make them perfect cylinders (B and C in Fig. 123). The two corks are gummed together and a strip of paper E is bent round them, gummed to their flat ends, and also to the sides of the match-box as at F. K and H are pieces of cardboard shaped as in diagram and marked to imitate the iron legs of a mangle. These pieces are gummed to the inner sides of the match-box to form the legs. G is a circle of cardboard (on which spokes should be marked) fastened as shown in diagram; to this a cardboard or match handle, L, is attached. [Illustration: FIG. 124] =A Submarine= (Fig. 124). A, B, C are corks filed to the shapes shown in Fig. 124, and glued together. E F is a piece of cardboard, narrow and pointed at each end, gummed to the corks. Before fastening it on holes should be made in it round the edge. Through these small pins are put and pushed into the corks to form a railing, and round them a piece of black cotton is tied. G is a small cork, or a part of a large cork made small by filing, gummed to E F; a match, H, is inserted to represent the periscope. Pins are inserted round G with black cotton tied round them. The corks, cardboard and matches should be coloured grey. Older children can make this submarine so that it will float. The corks A, B, C must be fastened together by pieces of wire passing through them. The deck is made by filing the corks flat along the top, E F, and pins are inserted around it. Cork G is fastened to B by a pin. A narrow strip of lead is cut and pointed at each end, these ends are bent at right angles and are inserted into slits in A and B. This submarine will float well, and makes a very effective little toy. It could be painted with grey enamel. [Illustration: FIG. 125] [Illustration: FIG. 126] [Illustration: FIG. 127] =A Barrel Organ.= Figs. 125, 126, 127 show how a barrel organ can be made from a cork and match-box cover. A is a match-box cover, a cork; B, is made a perfect cylinder by means of sand-paper, and gummed to side of cover. It is kept in its place by a piece of paper, C D E, which is gummed to cover and also to the cork. Wheels F and G are gummed to the sides or made to revolve on axles as described in Chapter II. The handle K is made of a match stick and bent piece of cardboard. Support H and handles are made of cardboard. Note that the piece of paper C D E reaches nearly to the ground. This prevents the toy from overbalancing. Paper, etc., must be suitably coloured. The match-box cover might have brown paper pasted round it. CHAPTER VII CORK ANIMALS HARNESSED TO SLEDGES, ETC. For these toys plenty of corks are necessary, and files or sand-paper; also some pointed instrument, a long nail or bradawl, for making holes in the corks. Four of them are shown in Plate III. [Illustration: FIG. 128] =Horse and Cart.= Gum wheels (size of penny) and matches for shafts on the match-box as in Fig. 128. File or sand-paper a cork quite smooth and round the edges. Cut a horse's head out of cardboard and colour it, make a slit with a knife in the widest part of the cork, insert the horse's head, insert the tail and four matches for legs. Gum a piece of paper on the horse's back, turn up and gum the ends of a paper strip to form loops for shafts to go through. These shafts can be gummed into the loops or fastened by thread or paper to a collar round the horse's neck. (This latter way is difficult for little children.) The collar is cut out of paper. A piece of thread can be put through a hole in the horse's mouth for reins. Paper seats may be added to the cart. [Illustration: FIG. 129] =A Coster's Donkey Barrow= can be made in the same way, by substituting a donkey's head and cutting the box as in Fig. 129. The van described in Chapter V might be harnessed to a horse. [Illustration: FIG. 130] =Russian Sledge.= To make the sledge cut two runners out of brown paper (as A in Fig. 130), and gum on each side of a match-box. Make two brown-paper seats, C, D, and gum on. Cut part of the cover of a match-box as in =Fig. 131= to form the back of the sledge, B. Gum a brown-paper hood round this. A narrow strip of brown paper, E, is bent and fastened on as in diagram. A match or piece of cane, F, is gummed in front of the box, and to this the horses are harnessed. The horses are made as already described. A piece of silk or thread is looped round their necks and gummed under the straps of the outside horses, then tied to match stick, F. [Illustration: FIG. 131] This toy and some of those following will be found very useful to illustrate geography lessons. =A Reindeer Sledge= (Fig. 132). Make the reindeer as the other animals. For the sledge the bottom of a match-box, A, and a piece of brown paper are needed. The brown paper should be in length one and a half times the length of the match-box and broad enough to wrap round a match-box and cover every side except one narrow side. Fold the paper in two along C B. Draw the runners on the doubled paper and cut out as in Fig. 133. Cut the straps E O and G P along the top K F and L H; double them along M and N. Gum M K F and N L H to the bottom of the match-box, A. Do the same on the other side; pieces M K F, etc., may be cut shorter for convenience in gumming. A piece of brown paper forms the back, D (Fig. 132). Finally, a piece of paper just the size of the match-box can be pasted over A to make the sledge look tidy. [Illustration: FIG. 132] [Illustration: FIG. 133] [Illustration: FIG. 134] =The Howdah= on the elephant's back, the next model, is a simple one, though difficult for some little fingers. A is a little paper case, in which four halves of matches are glued, a square piece of paper with a little fringe cut round is gummed on the top (Fig. 134). =South African Trek waggon= (Fig. 135). This is made from two match-box covers, A and B, fastened together by a strip of paper; two match-boxes, C and D, are gummed to the top; part of one box, D, is cut away as in the figure. A strip of brown paper must be gummed along A and B, and a piece along the bottom of boxes C and D; the outsides of C and D may be left their ordinary blue colour. A piece of bluish-grey paper, E, is folded in three and gummed inside the sides of boxes C and D, as in figure; three or four divisions should be pencilled on each paper side. The wheels are cut out of cardboard--the large wheels should be somewhat larger than a penny, the small wheels a little smaller--these are gummed to the sides. F is a strip of brown paper, through which a piece of thread passes to fasten the waggon to a stick, G, gummed across the oxen's backs; this can be fastened to a stick, H, and so on. Five pairs of oxen should be yoked to the waggon in this way. [Illustration: FIG. 135] [Illustration: FIG. 136] =An Irish Jaunting-car= (Fig. 136). This toy is made from one match-box. First two cardboard wheels are cut out. These are gummed on each side of the match-box cover as in Fig. 137. The box is then cut in half (Fig. 138) and each half gummed to the cover, _e.g._ E F G H (Fig. 138) is gummed to A B C D (=Fig. 137=). [Illustration: FIG. 137] [Illustration: FIG. 138] [Illustration: FIG. 139] [Illustration: FIG. 140] Two pieces of brown paper are bent as in Fig. 139, and gummed on, L M N O to H G J K, to form foot-rests. A piece of paper bent as in Fig. 140 and gummed on to the front closes up the hollow cover and forms the back of the driver's seat. A similar piece without the top, P, is gummed to the other end. Before putting on the seat the top may be covered with coloured paper, to represent the upholstered part of the car. Shafts of cardboard or cane are cut out and gummed underneath the seat to the cover and a cork horse is harnessed to them. [Illustration: FIG. 141] =A Mexican Cart with Ox Team.= A match-box is cut as shown in Fig. 141. Two pieces of narrow cardboard are cut the length of the box; holes are made in these and four matches are inserted in each. These matches are then glued inside the sides of the box. [Illustration: CORK ANIMALS] [Illustration: PLATE III NOAH'S ARK] While these matches are drying the wheels can be made. The wheels are very large (the diameter nearly equal to the length of the box); they must be shaded to represent solid wood. Two strips of cardboard, A and B, are gummed on as in the figure. A strip of brown paper gummed underneath the box forms the shaft, which can be gummed or tied to a match lying across the oxen, just behind their horns. This match is tied to the horns; this is the correct way of harnessing oxen. [Illustration: FIG. 142] =A Donkey with Panniers.= The panniers can be made of brown paper, in the same way as the mug described in Chapter IV; they are gummed to a strip of paper, which can be fastened to the donkey's back (Fig. 142). [Illustration: FIG. 143] [Illustration: FIG. 144] =A Persian Method of Travelling.= The bottoms of the panniers, X and Y (Fig. 143), are made from a small square of paper folded and cut as in Fig. 144. A is gummed on B and D on C; H on G and E on F. The hood is made of a piece of brown paper gummed inside the paper boxes X and Y. The panniers can be gummed to a strip of paper, the middle of which is gummed to the donkey's back. [Illustration: FIG. 145] =An Eskimo Sledge= (Fig. 145). The sledge is made of a match-box turned upside down; one end, A, is bent back as in diagram; the other end, B, is cut in half, bent outward and shaped as in diagram. A match, C, is glued to the ends, and to this is tied the thread that harnesses the dogs. A team consists of twelve dogs. [Illustration: FIG. 146] =A Seal= can be made from a cork as in Fig. 146, and placed on the sledge. [Illustration: FIG. 147] =A Belgian Milk-cart= (Fig. 147). Two pieces of cardboard, A, are gummed inside a match-box; cover the box with paper, colour it green and mark as in the figure. Small corks should be filed to resemble milk cans. The carts generally contain six, three large and three small cans; they are yellow in colour. Two pieces of cane, or two match sticks, D and C, are glued under the cart for shafts; the ends are slipped through pieces of looped paper gummed to the backs of the dogs. A piece of string tied to the ends of the shafts and round the dogs fastens them to the cart. The dogs are grey, and one is often smaller than the other. [Illustration: FIG. 148] =Russian Dog Sledge= (Fig. 149). This is made from a piece of paper folded along C D (Fig. 148); draw the sledge and cut out as in the diagram; bend along K L M. When opened out the sledge appears as in Fig. 149. Runners A B and E F are fastened together by strips of paper. [Illustration: FIG. 149] A seat may be gummed over G and H. A piece of thread attached as in the figure harnesses the sledge to five dogs, made of corks. CHAPTER VIII MORE CORK TOYS [Illustration: FIG. 150] [Illustration: FIG. 151] [Illustration: FIG. 152] [Illustration: FIG. 153] [Illustration: FIG. 154] =Cork Boats.= Besides the submarine described in Chapter VI, many other boats can be made from corks, all of which will float well. The corks are joined together by pieces of wire passing through the middle. For the keel cut a narrow strip of lead (not more than 1/4 inch wide); point both ends, bend them up at right angles as in Fig. 150; make slits in the corks and push in the pointed ends of the lead. The keel is made more secure by driving pins or thin nails through the lead and the corks. The keel also helps to hold the corks firmly together and prevents them from slipping round on the connecting wire. =A Steamer= (Fig. 151). Select three corks, as uniform in size as possible. Cut and file part of their round surface quite flat as in Fig. 152. Shape the bow and stern. The funnels are made of two small corks, fastened by pins. The masts consist of pieces of cane or thin sticks. =A Sailing-boat.= A very pretty little sailing-boat can be made, as in Fig. 153. The sails are of glazed lining. The edges of this do not fray, so the sails do not require hemming, and as they must be as light as possible, this is a great advantage. The gaff, A, is tied with thread to the mast, also the boom, B; both are pieces of cane, to which the mainsail, D, is sewn. The end of the boom is tied by cotton to a piece of wire at the stern, shaped as in Fig. 154. Care must be taken that the lead keel is exactly in the middle, and that the sails and masts are not too heavy, otherwise the boat will blow over on its side. =A Paddle-boat.= Two pieces of cork pinned on each side of the steamer and cut as in Fig. 155, or even left round, make very realistic-looking paddle wheels. Other models, such as a dreadnought, a fishing smack, etc., are easily made. [Illustration: FIG. 155] =A Flying Proa of the Ladrones= (Fig. 156). These boats are used chiefly in East Indian waters. They are remarkable for their speed. Bow and stern are equally sharp pointed. One side of the proa is flat, and in a straight line from bow to stern (Fig. 157), but the other is rounded as in other vessels. The outrigger prevents the boat from turning over. [Illustration: FIG. 156] [Illustration: FIG. 157] In the model the outrigger is made of a cork fastened to the side of the boat by match sticks or pieces of cane. [Illustration: FIG. 158] [Illustration: FIG. 159] =An Eskimo Canoe= is very easily made by pointing the ends very sharply and hollowing out a hole in the centre (Fig. 158). Fig. 159 shows an =Egyptian Dahabieh=. For this boat it is better to use four corks, as two sails are carried. [Illustration: FIG. 160] In the =Double Canoe= (Fig. 160) the two boats are joined by a thin piece of wood, A. A slanting hole is drilled in A for the mast. Mast and yards are best made of cane. These little boats look wonderfully effective on the water. [Illustration: FIG. 161] [Illustration: FIG. 162] [Illustration: FIG. 163] [Illustration: FIG. 164] =Cork Wrestlers= (Fig. 165). This is a very amusing toy and is very easily made. Cut and file two corks to the shape shown in =Fig. 161=. Drill a hole through the shoulders (_a a_) and hips (_b b_), and flatten these for the limbs to work against. The arms and legs are made of cardboard. Cut out the legs as in =Fig. 162= and make holes in them. Pass a piece of stout wire through the hips and the holes in the legs and double the ends over, so that the legs will not slip off, but let them be loose enough to move freely. In shaping the legs make them bend slightly at the knee, as this makes the figures more life-like in their movements. The arms must be cut out in pairs as in =Fig. 163=. Make holes near the shoulders and one at _c_. Then fasten the arms to the body in the same way as the legs. The heads are made of cork, the eyes, mouth, etc., being marked in ink. Cut a slit across the neck and one across the top of the body. Fasten the head to the body by inserting, with the help of a pen-knife, a strip of calico into both these slits, so that the head is fairly close to the body (Fig. 164). The heads will move about as the figures wrestle. Paint the legs and arms. [Illustration: FIG. 165] Pass a piece of thread through the holes c. Hold one end of the thread steady and move the other about and you will cause the little figures to wrestle in a most life-like manner. If it is necessary to make the figures heavier, little pieces of lead may be glued to the feet. [Illustration: FIG. 166] [Illustration: FIG. 167] Similar little wrestlers (Fig. 167) can be made from two wooden clothes-pegs (Fig. 166). Cut the pegs in two along the dotted line. The upper part forms the head and body of a wrestler, and the lower parts are used for the legs. Drill holes through the bodies (at A in Fig. 166) and through the legs at the thin ends; fasten these to the body with wire. For the arms two pieces of thin, flat wood are necessary, about 3 inches in length. Bore holes at each end and in the middle, shape them roughly with a pen-knife to represent the joined hands of the wrestlers. Fix these pieces to the bodies and work them as described in the case of the cork wrestlers. =Swiss Musical Figures.= These amusing little toys were first invented by the Swiss. They are not musical in the sense that they produce any sound, but they dance about to music when placed on a piano lid, or on any flat surface which vibrates. The figures should be small and light and are easily cut out from a cork. [Illustration: FIG. 168] [Illustration: FIG. 169] Shape a cork as in Fig. 168 and hollow out the centre (A). Cut out arms and legs of thin cardboard. Fasten the legs to a piece of wire passing through the hollow in the cork (B C in Fig. 168), so that they hang loosely. Fasten the arms to the shoulders with wire. Make four tiny holes in the bottom rim, E, with a pin; get some stiff bristles (from an old clothes brush), glue them into the holes and when firm cut them level, so that the figure stands upright, with the feet a little above the ground. A head is then made of cork, and a little dress and bonnet of paper added. This little figure, resting on the bristles, is affected by the slightest vibration. Other figures, such as a soldier, a clown, or animals, such as a dancing bear or a monkey, can be made on the same principle. CHAPTER IX CARDBOARD AND PAPER SHIPS (PLATE IV) An interesting series of ships can be made of cardboard and paper. These ships can be used to illustrate the history lesson or to illustrate a lesson on the evolution of the ship. =Materials.= Cardboard of medium thickness (thin cardboard will bend and thick is difficult to cut), white paper--cartridge paper or ordinary exercise paper--and coloured paper or chalks, scissors and pen-knife, ruler. [Illustration: FIG. 170] [Illustration: CARDBOARD AND PAPER SHIPS SCHOONER (Part II, Chapter XIV)] [Illustration: PLATE IV CARDBOARD AND PAPER SHIPS] =The Viking Ship= (Fig. 170). Give the children oblong pieces of cardboard, A B C D, about 8-1/2 inches by 2-1/2 inches. A line, E F, drawn across the middle of the cardboard gives the top of the ship. The ship is then drawn on the cardboard, and the shaded part of the cardboard is cut away. Dragons' or serpents' heads are drawn on paper, cut out and gummed on to the stern and prow (as G and H); a tongue cut from red paper can be added to each dragon. (The 'dragon ships' were, as a rule, the largest, the 'serpent ships' being smaller and better adapted to sailing.) The mast is cut out of cardboard and gummed behind the ship; the sail is cut out of paper and gummed to the mast. The shields are cut out of cardboard and pasted along the sides. The ship may be painted white, blue, red, or any combination of colours; the warriors' shields were also of different colours. The sails were generally in coloured stripes, blue and white or red and white. Masts brown. For teachers who want to be historically accurate the following notes on the viking ship may be useful. The viking ship (from ninth century on-wards) was clincher-built, caulked with hair, and iron fastened. One ship we know to have been 78 feet long by 15-1/2 feet of extreme breadth; the ships varied in length from 50 to 150 feet. They had from twelve to thirty-five seats for rowers. Generally both ends of the vessel were alike, so that it could be steered from either end by the paddle, which was used everywhere until the invention of the rudder. Standards and pennants were used, and possibly the two-armed iron anchor (for the Romans used it), so the children can cut out pennants and anchors for their ships. Children delight in naming their ships and should be given some of the 'real' old names to choose from. These old names generally referred to the figure-head, which was of wood or metal, in the shape of the head of a dragon, deer, bird or other animal--_e.g._ _Dragon_, _Serpent_, _Raven_, _Deer of the Surf_, _Sea-king's Deer_, _Horse of the Sea_, _Sea-bird_, etc. To support the boat two pieces of cardboard are cut and folded, as N P O Q (Fig. 171). The cardboard must be half cut with a pen-knife along the line R S, so that it can be bent easily. [Illustration: FIG. 171] The portion N R P S is gummed to the back of the ship, R S O Q bent at right angles to N P R S forms the support, with corner S T Q cut off, so that the ship tilts a little backward. =A Phoenician Warship=, 480 B.C. (Fig. 172). This is made, as the viking ship, from oblong A B C D; pieces of paper, E and F, with railings drawn on them, are gummed on each end; a stern ornament, G, is cut out of paper and gummed at one end. (When a vessel was captured in olden days this was kept as a trophy.) [Illustration: FIG. 172] Small circles are drawn along the side of the ship to represent the holes for the oars, or holes may be made in the cardboard and matches or strips of cardboard passed through for oars. A device of the sun (common to Carthaginian vessels) should be drawn on the sail and prow. The ship can be coloured in stripes yellow and red, with one blue band near the top; stern ornament red and yellow; sail yellow with red sun. The ships represented in Fig. 173 and in Plate IV are made in the same way. In all these a piece of cardboard forms the foundation. Masts, high funnels, anything likely to bend, should also be cut from cardboard, but sails, stern or prow ornaments, railings, flags, etc., are best cut out of paper. By means of a needle and cotton, rigging can be added to the ships. [Illustration: FIG. 173] =A Tudor Ship= (Fig. 173). Tudor ships are difficult, because of their elaborate and lofty forecastle and poops. A simplified one is shown in the figure. This can be easily managed by the children if an oblong A B C D is given them, divided into six parts lengthways, or if the oblong E B F D is given them. In the latter case the poop and forecastle are cut out of paper and gummed on separately. The ship is coloured red, yellow and blue, the sails white. The ship may be decorated with many flags. The =Cunarder= has red funnels, with a black band at the top and two black lines underneath. The =Super-Dreadnought= should be coloured dark grey. Children will delight to make, in a similar way, a Roman galley, Columbus' _Santa Maria_, in which he discovered America, the _Black Prince_, in which Sir Philip Sidney's body was carried to England, Britain's first =Ironclad=, etc. Instead of cardboard supports pieces of wood (about 1/4 inch thick, 1 inch wide, the length equal to that of the ship) can be half sawn through along the middle line and the ship inserted in this slit; or pieces of wood (cubes) may be glued to the back. In the first case the surface of the wood should be painted blue to represent water. CHAPTER X CARDBOARD AND PAPER TOYS INVOLVING USE OF RULER, SET-SQUARE, SCISSORS, AND KNIFE =Materials.= The cardboard used should not be too thick; medium thickness is best (threepence a sheet). Almost any paper that is not too thin can be used for making hinges. All kinds of cardboard boxes will be found of great use in making shops, engines, etc. =Tools.= _Scissors_ with round points are safer for children to use, though perhaps not quite so suitable for the work. _Knives._ For little children the carton knife, consisting of a small blade projecting not more than a quarter of an inch from the handle, is the best, as the smallness of the blade does much to prevent the children cutting their fingers. For older children the "London" or "Leipsic" pattern is suitable, or they can use their pen-knives. These can be sharpened quite well on an ordinary knifeboard. _Rulers._ The "non-slip" safety ruler is the best. It grips the paper well, and the depression between the raised edges enables the children to hold it steady when cutting. =Adhesives.= Higgins' vegetable glue or seccotine. [Illustration: FIG. 174] =A Pigeon-house= (Fig. 178). On a piece of cartridge paper draw an oblong 8 inches by 2 inches, and divide it into four squares (Fig. 174). On the top of each construct an equilateral triangle. Make a flange about 1/4 inch on the sides of the triangles, as shown in Fig. 174, and on the sides of the squares. Cut and fold back the doorways. Fold and gum together. Flanges 1, 2, 3, 4 should be folded in. Draw and cut out a square, side 2-1/2 inches (Fig. 175); gum the house on to this. [Illustration: FIG. 175] For the post draw an oblong 8 inches by 2-1/2 inches (Fig. 177). Fold into five lengths (1/2 inch wide). Draw J K and L M 1/2 inch from the ends of oblong E F G H. Cut along the lines, cut off the shaded portions, and fold along the dotted lines. Gum the two outer portions over each other to make a four-sided post. [Illustration: FIG. 176] [Illustration: FIG. 177] [Illustration: FIG. 178] For the base cut a square, the side 3 inches (Fig. 176), and to this gum the flanges at L M. Gum the house to the flanges at J K. To make the top stronger, a second square (the side 2-1/2 inches) can be cut; the flanges at L M are gummed to this, and then the house is fastened on. Other easily made farmhouse models are a hen-coop, a barn, a pigsty, the farmhouse itself, etc. =The Noah's Ark= (Plate III). As this is a fairly large toy, it is best made from separate pieces of cardboard hinged together by strips of paper. If it is cut from one or two pieces, the size of the cardboard is somewhat unmanageable. The following Noah's Ark is of a suitable size for holding cork animals. Two pieces of cardboard are cut, 8-1/2 inches by 4 inches (Fig. 179). Cut two other pieces, 3-1/2 inches by 6 inches. Mark and cut these out as A and C. In one side, A, a door is cut. A paper-fastener is put in to form the handle. On the other sides windows may be drawn and coloured. When fastening the pieces together the children must be very careful that the bend of the hinge is straight. [Illustration: FIG. 179] Fig. 179 shows the pieces of the Noah's Ark hinged together. The children will find it easier if they paste the hinges on A and C first and let them dry thoroughly; then they can fasten A to B and C to B and D, and lastly D to A, but B must be firmly hinged to A before C is attached, and so on with the other parts. However, there is plenty of work to be done while the children are waiting for the paste to dry. (In their eagerness to finish toys the children often want to paste or glue too many things together at once.) For the bottom of the ark a piece of cardboard, 13-1/2 inches by 5 inches, is cut and pointed at each end. For the roof the children can get the measurements themselves. The long side of the ark is 8-1/2 inches, so that if the roof projects 1/2 inch on each side of this the length will be 9-1/2 inches. They must measure E F (Fig. 179); this will be about 2-1/2 inches. Now, the roof must cover E F and F G and project about a 1/2 inch beyond E and G, so that the width of the roof must be 6 inches. Therefore, they must cut a piece of cardboard 9-1/2 inches by 6 inches. Down the middle of this a half cut is made, along which the cardboard is folded. A stronger method is to cut the roof in half and hinge the two pieces together by a piece of paper cut and coloured to represent tiles; thus the roof will open and shut easily without breaking. The roof can be coloured or covered with blue paper. When the body of the ark is complete, it must be placed on to the bottom, so that it stands in the middle. Two hinges on each long side will be sufficient to keep the ark steady, but hinges can also be made for the shorter sides. The hinges are more easily put on the outside, but would look neater if fastened inside the ark. One half of the roof is fastened by paper hinges to three sides of the ark; the other half opens and shuts. A strip of cardboard, the width of the door, is cut to form a gangway for the animals to enter the ark. Across this matches should be glued. [Illustration: FIG. 180] [Illustration: FIG. 181] Very effective animals can be made from corks, as explained in Chapter VII. Easily made animals are the elephant, camel, giraffe, horse and donkey. The children will suggest other possible animals, _e.g._ a hedgehog, or porcupine, a small cork with pins stuck in it, etc. Noah and his wife and children can be made from corks. A cork is filed round the narrowest end to form the head (Fig. 180). Eyes, mouth, etc., can be marked in ink. Round Noah is pasted a piece of coloured paper to form a cloak, open in front; this, with the help of match sticks for legs, enables him to stand. Half matches form the arms. A piece of round paper gummed to the head forms a hat. Noah's wife (Fig. 181) has a piece of coloured paper round her body to form a skirt, on which she stands. =A Dog Kennel= (Fig. 182). This toy is made of either cardboard or stiff paper, on lines similar to those of the Noah's Ark. The bottom and the sides can be made from one piece, 7-1/2 inches by 4 inches (Fig. 183). Half cuts are made along H A and B C. In fixing the front of the kennel it will be noticed that the bottom and the sides project beyond it. The back portion can be fixed to coincide with the edges of the bottom and sides. The roof can be measured and fixed as described in the Noah's Ark. Planks can be indicated by drawing lines across the sides and the roof. The kennel may be fastened to two strips of wood, Y and X. [Illustration: FIG. 182] [Illustration: FIG. 183] =A Shop.= This can be made like the Noah's Ark, except that the bottom will, of course, be a rectangle, and one long side must be left open. The children can turn cardboard boxes of different kinds into shops quite easily. Perhaps one of the easiest shops to make is the butcher's. The inside can be covered with white paper, upon which the children have drawn tiles in blue or green pencil. A little paying-desk (Fig. 184) can be made of brown paper and gummed to one of the walls. Tables can be made of cardboard, or of wood if the children have begun woodwork. Joints of meat drawn on cardboard, and coloured with red pencil, look very realistic when cut out. To hang these the children can hammer nails half way into a piece of stripwood and glue it to the wall. The joints can be attached to the nails by pieces of string. [Illustration: FIG. 184] Other toys that can be made in a similar way from stiff paper or cardboard are castles, houses, a sentry-box. =A Wheelbarrow= (Fig. 188). This toy is made of cardboard of medium thickness. Fig. 185 shows how the bottom and the sides are cut out from one piece. Half cuts are made along the dotted lines. Small holes are made at D and C for the axle of the wheel. Figs. 186 and 187 show the two ends of the barrow. Before placing them in position a little seccotine should be put round their edges; with the help of this and the slits they will be quite firm. The wheel is about 7/8 inches in radius. It is mounted on an axle made of a rounded match stick or piece of cane. Two small pieces of cork can be filed to the shape of E and F in Fig. 189, and holes made through them. They are then slipped on to the axle on each side of the wheel (Fig. 189) to prevent the latter from wobbling. The legs are made of strips of cardboard about 1/4 inch wide and 2-1/2 inches long (Fig. 190). A very slight half cut is made along the dotted line, so that part of the leg, K, may be bent straight when H is gummed to the side of the wheelbarrow. Fig. 191 shows another method of making the legs. A half cut is made along the dotted line, H is bent back at right angles to K and is gummed to the side of the barrow. The slant of the dotted line is the same as the slant of the sides of A in Fig. 186. [Illustration: FIG. 185] [Illustration: FIG. 186] [Illustration: FIG. 187] [Illustration: FIG. 188] [Illustration: FIG. 189] [Illustration: FIG. 190] [Illustration: FIG. 191] This toy could also be made of three-ply wood with a fret-saw. The sides and bottom would then have to be cut in three separate pieces. CHAPTER XI SIMPLE WOODWORK Children as young as seven can begin woodwork, but the little strength they possess for sawing makes it necessary to give them prepared wood, called stripwood. There is no need, however, to begin woodwork in too great a hurry, so many are the toys which the children can make with match-boxes, corks, paper and files, and the more familiar the child gets with his ruler and with simple measurements, the better able he is to saw to advantage. Woodwork may well be postponed to the age of eight or nine, then the child can begin to measure accurately and be introduced by degrees to the mysteries of set-squares, try-squares and T-squares. [Illustration: FIG. 192] The following tools are necessary when beginning easy woodwork with children from seven to ten years of age; other tools, described in Part II, can be added as the children advance in age and in ambition: 1. Bench-hooks, against which children can press their strips of wood and hold them firmly. A simple one is shown in Fig. 192. C is a piece of hard wood about 8 inches square, A is a strip of hard wood against which the child can hold her wood, B is a strip of wood that presses against the table. 2. Try-squares. 3. A brass-back saw with a blade about 6 inches long. 4. A light hammer. 5. Files--these are very cheap. Some must be round; the others should be 8-inch files, 1/2 cut (one safe edge). 6. Bradawls (or meat skewers). 7. A pair of pincers. Other materials required will be liquid glue, sand-paper, nails--useful ones are 3/4 and 1/2 veneer pins. With regard to wood, children as young as seven should be given prepared lengths (schools are commonly supplied with the so-called satin walnut, machine-planed, see next chapter), from which they can saw portions for making simple objects, such as picture frames, ladders, gates, objects which consist of different lengths of wood nailed across each other. A word of advice is necessary with regard to sand-paper; this varies in coarseness from No. 00 to No. 3, every sheet being stamped. It should never be used until all work with edged tools is finished, as the particles of sand left on the surface dull an edged tool. When using sand-paper on a flat surface it should be wrapped round a rectangular block of wood. All corners should be left as sharp as they are left by the edged tools and rarely sand-papered. Lastly, always sand-paper with the grain. The bradawl varies in size or diameter of the steel shaft from 1/16 inch to 1/8 inch or 3/16 inch. The legitimate purpose of the bradawl is to bore holes in wood so as to ensure the passage of a nail or screw in the right direction, and to facilitate its entrance into the wood. Three words of advice might be remembered by teachers beginning woodwork: (1) Don't begin it too soon; don't begin woodwork with children of seven and eight because others do; wait until they are really ready, until they have the necessary strength. There is plenty for them to do in measuring and cutting out paper toys and toys of thin cardboard; they will enjoy the woodwork the more when it comes. (2) Simple doll's furniture, chairs and tables, are not easy for the child to make. (3) Leave behind as soon as possible prepared stripwood and its everlasting gates, railings, bridges, or picture frames. _Suggestions for Teachers who are beginning Woodwork with their Forms._ Let the children measure out and cut a square of wood to support the merry-go-round, make the stand for the swinging boats and great wheel (Chapter XIV). Make the Noah's Ark and dog kennel described in Chapter X. A very simple toy for beginners is a =Flat-bottomed Boat=. A flat, oblong piece of wood is marked out as in Fig. 193, the bow and stern are cut as indicated; the three dots down the central line indicate the position of the masts. These can be made of wooden meat skewers or of pieces of strip wood (1/4" � 1/4") rounded toward the top. [Illustration: FIG. 193] Nails are driven through the bottom of the boat so that they project about half an inch above the surface; on to these points the masts are hammered, having first had a little glue applied to the base; nails are hammered carefully round the sides for railings, with cotton intertwined. Funnels of red paper, little squares of wood for cabins, paper or cardboard lifebuoys and anchors, a captain's bridge, etc., may be added (see Fig. 194). [Illustration: FIG. 194] Children delight in tying thread from mast to mast (a ridge must be filed round the tops of the masts to keep the cotton from slipping down) and in decorating this thread with flags. Instead of nails, stripwood (1/4" � 1/4") may be glued or nailed along the sides, and a piece of wood nailed over the bow (Fig. 195). These boats will float on water if they are not too heavily laden with cabins, etc. Fig. 196 shows a fishing-boat complete. [Illustration: FIG. 195] A reel will be found very useful as an anvil when driving the nails through the bottom of the boat to hold the masts. The child should hold his piece of wood--through which he is driving a nail--in such a position that when the point comes through the wood, the nail makes its passage down the hole in the middle of the reel. As soon as the point has been driven through to a certain distance, the child can lift up his wood and examine--and if need be correct--the direction of the nail before fixing on the mast. [Illustration: FIG. 196] Hammering must be done with the hammer held with the hand well back from the head, and each blow struck so that the flat face of the hammer falls exactly upon the head of the nail. Gentle but firm blows are necessary; heavy blows are likely to bend the nails. All bent nails should be at once drawn out. CHAPTER XII MATERIALS =Nails.= The nails used in the making of the toys described in the following chapters are made of very fine wire, with fine points. The wire commonly used for such nails is 17 gauge, but a finer gauge (21) is better for light woodwork, for it does not split the wood so easily. The nails vary in length from 1/4 inch to 2 inches, increasing by eighths of an inch. The most useful sizes are veneer pins 1/2 inch in length and 3/4 inch in length. Panel pins have small heads. =Liquid Glue.= Though this is dearer than ordinary glue (it can be obtained in small bottles, price 4-1/2d), it is always ready for use, and is not affected by exposure to the air, except that it thickens and hardens from evaporation. If spread thinly over the wood it holds the various pieces firmly together. When fastening different pieces of wood together it is well, whenever possible, both to glue and nail them. =Wood.= (1) _Satin walnut_ is one of the easiest woods to work, and is adapted for a wide range of work, but it is liable to warp and twist badly unless properly seasoned. For handwork in school, and for toy-making generally, satin walnut machine-planed can be had in the following useful sizes. They are supplied in lengths of 2 feet and are done up in bundles of 100. (_a_) 2' � 1/4" � 1/4" about 2s. 9d. per bundle. (_b_) 2' � 1/4" � 1/2" " 3s. " " (_c_) 2' � 1/2" � 1/2" " 3s. 3d. " " (_d_) 2' � 1/4" � 1" " 4s. " " 2' � 1/4" � 4" " 9s. " " In the toys described in the following chapters satin walnut lengths (_a_), (_b_), (_c_), and (_d_) are referred to simply as stripwood. (2) _Round dowel rods_ in beech or birch 3/16 inch to 7/8 inch diameter and 36 inches long are useful for axles and for the perches for the swinging animals, etc. These dowel rods cost 3s. to 10s. per 100. Dowels are made by planing up a strip square in section, then planing off the corners, and finally the resulting eight corners. They are now nearly round, and can be made quite so by hammering them through a hole in a piece of hard wood or metal. (3) _Sawn laths such as builders use_ are perhaps the cheapest material that it is possible to get. These can be got from builders' and timber-merchants' yards at a cost of about 9d. to 1s. per bundle of 100. Each lath is 3' 6" � 1" � 3/16". (4) "_Three-ply_" is composed of three thin layers of wood glued together under pressure. The grain of the centre layer is laid at right angles to that of the other two, so as to give additional strength and to avoid warping. "Three-ply" will not split easily and should be used for the jointed animals and swinging animals described in Chapter XX. Ply-wood is usually sold in thicknesses varying from 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch. Price of three-ply boards in large squares for cutting up: 1/8 in. thick, 47" � 38", 3/4d. per sq. foot. 3/16 " 53" � 34", 1d. " " 1/4 " 72" � 48", 1-3/4d. " " =Match Stales.= These are sometimes useful in toy-making, though ordinary matches that have been used generally serve as well. Match stales may be obtained from Messrs Bryant & May's, Fairfield Works, Bow, E., at 1s. per bundle (about 1500 to the bundle). These are supplied without brimstone, 4-5/8 inches long, and thicker than the matches in common use. Most of the wood so far described is prepared wood (with the exception of builders' laths), and is ready for use at once; it has merely to be sawn to the right length or the right size. But it is well to get the children away as soon as possible from dependence upon this "prepared material" and to encourage them to use "waste material." If there is a kitchen or tuck shop in connexion with the school this will supply the children with useful wooden and cardboard boxes of various sizes. The wooden boxes in which Fry's, Cadbury's, etc., chocolates are packed are most useful in toy-making. The wood is easy to saw and fairly free from knots. If no school kitchen or tuck shop exists a grocer, for a few pence, will supply a delightful collection of wooden boxes, sweet-boxes, soap-boxes, boxes that have contained bovril, etc. The greater part of every wooden toy in this book has been made from materials such as these. To avoid expense one should begin at once to collect useful boxes; this adds to the enjoyment of toy-making. A tobacconist will often give away his cigar-boxes, the wood of which is a pretty brown colour and very useful. Unfortunately, it is sometimes so thin that it is very liable to split. It is difficult, too, to get the paper off some boxes, and the children who resort to washing, scrubbing, and sometimes boiling (!) the wood do not improve it. However, all waste wood has to be prepared in some way; generally the file and sand-paper will make it ready for use. Other materials that are invaluable to the toy-maker and should be carefully preserved are old broom handles, reels, and the round rods of various sizes that one often comes across. Lead plays an important part in many toys; sheet lead can be bought in pennyworths; lead buttons can also be bought. Chains are also useful (for example, in Part II, in the drawbridge, the siege tower, etc.), so toy watch chains or any odd pieces should be preserved, as these chains look more effective than those made of wire. Very good chain can be bought from an ironmonger's--price, 3d. a yard. CHAPTER XIII SOME DIFFICULTIES IN TOY-MAKING I. =Gluing.= Generally when pieces of wood are fastened together, both glue and nails should be used; the glue prevents the wood from revolving on the nails, and the nails hold when sometimes a sudden jar will cause pieces of wood that are glued to separate. However, if glueing be well done, it will serve well without nailing, and it is often convenient to use glue only when making small toys or when adding a piece of wood to a delicate toy that will not stand the shock of the hammer. To apply glue so that the pieces of wood that it fastens shall hold together permanently, the following points should be borne in mind: (1) The layer of glue should be so thin that the seam will scarcely be seen. (2) The glue must be perfectly free from sawdust, shavings, etc., and so must the wood. (3) Glue must be evenly and thinly applied to _both_ the surfaces that are to be joined. (4) The surfaces to be joined must be perfectly smooth. (5) Time must be given for the glue to dry. Children often want to touch too soon. II. =Nailing.= Generally in nailing holes should first be made for the nail with a fine bradawl or drill. The holes for the nails should be made just large enough to allow them to stand upright in them without being held. The points or heads of nails that project should always be filed away. III. =Sand-papering.= A holder for sand-paper should be used, as by simply holding the sheet in the fingers it is impossible to retain the perfect flatness of the surface. A holder can be bought for twopence. Sand-paper should always be applied with a very light pressure, lest it wear away the surface unequally. IV. =Filing.= Filing should be resorted to as little as possible. _Avoid filing the sawn edges._ Children often saw carelessly, relying on the file to remedy defects. The file, however, is useful when cutting discs, to make the circle perfect. Round files are very useful in finishing off round holes and in enlarging them when required. The sharp edges of triangular files can be used for making notches, such as those in the deck-chair (Part II, Chapter III). V. =The Making of Wheels.= The child toy-maker often finds wheels somewhat of a problem. There are, however, several ways of making or getting them. [Illustration: FIG. 197] (1) Small reels make good wheels for trams, motor-cars or trains. They require no sawing. Fig. 197 shows how they are fastened on. A is a block of wood glued and nailed on to the axle, B C, which is made of stripwood, 1/4 � 1/4 inch, or 1/2 � 1/4 inch; the ends, F B and G C, are rounded so that the reels can revolve easily on them. The bottom of the car is glued to the block. The reels can be placed quite under the bottom of the car, as in diagram, or they can project. For a train the wheels should be placed underneath. (2) Large reels may be sawn into several thicknesses. These make excellent wheels, but are very difficult to saw even with a mitre block. It is hard to hold them steady and there is some danger of the children sawing their fingers. (3) Broom handles, round rods, etc., are easily sawn up and make excellent wheels. Holes have to be drilled through them and enlarged with round file for the axle, or a hole the right size can be made at once with the brace and bit. (For use of which see Part II.) (4) Wheels can be made with the brace and centre-bit. The way for the centre-bit must be prepared by using a small-sized pin-bit. The wood must be laid perfectly flat, the brace and bit held perfectly perpendicular, only a little pressure applied upon the knob and the crank turned slowly. The boring must be done half way through from each side of the wood, and this will liberate a disc of wood 1 inch in diameter, or 1-1/4 inch, according to the size of the centre-bit. (5) There is a little instrument sold called a circle-cutter (price, 2s.), designed for cutting small circular pieces of wood from satin walnut board. It is so constructed that it will cut circles of any size up to 5 inches in diameter. This, however, is difficult for children to use. (6) For large wheels or table-tops a circle can be drawn in a square, the corners sawn off, the obtuse corners sawn off again and then filed perfectly round. This is rather a laborious method, but quite successful. Holes can be made in the centre with a bradawl and enlarged with a round file. (7) _Cardboard Wheels._ Wheels can be cut out of cardboard with scissors and pen-knife (the latter is necessary only if the spokes are to be cut out). If several cardboard wheels of the same size are gummed together, a wheel strong enough for any toy in this book can be made. The edges can be filed to make them perfectly even. Cardboard washers prevent the wheels from wobbling. (8) The fret-saw (see Part II) is very useful for making wheels. (9) The wooden tops of gloy bottles make very good wheels indeed (especially for motor-cars). They are ready for use at once, as they have a hole in the centre. Also the tin tops of Le Page's liquid glue make excellent small wheels; a hole can easily be made in the centre by means of a hammer and a long nail or the pin stopper of a tube of seccotine. (10) Wheels can be bought. A sheet of four wheels costs a penny. This is the least satisfactory course. Of the various ways of making wheels described above, the methods best suited to little ones are (1), (3), (6), (7), and (9). The axles should be narrow strips of wood, with the ends rounded. Round rods do not make good axles, because they cannot be fastened securely to the bottom of the vehicle, the nailing being a difficult matter for the children. In fastening the axles to vans, carts, etc., there is no need for block A (Fig. 197); the latter is only introduced when the wheels have to be under the vehicle; in other cases the axle can be glued and nailed directly to the bottom. =Colouring the Finished Toy.= A well-made toy is beautiful without paint, which is often used merely to hide bad work and give a false appearance of finish. Children generally like the wooden toys, which they have made, uncoloured, until the grown-up person suggests paint. However, some toys should be coloured; for example, the swinging animals described in Chapter XX. If the wood has been well sand-papered water-colour paints can be used. Older children can use oil paints or penny tins of enamel. But let the children realise the beauty of plain wood; the drawbridge in Part II is far more effective in white wood, with the stones marked out in pencil or crayon, than if painted. CHAPTER XIV MERRY-GO-ROUND, SWINGING BOATS, AND GREAT WHEEL A toy children delight to make is the =Merry-go-round= (Plate V). It has been made successfully by children from six to twelve. A square piece of stout cardboard (10-inch side) forms the bottom; this can be covered with brown paper or coloured paper. A reel is glued in the middle. Into this reel a stick (about 11 inches long) is fastened securely. Another piece of cardboard is cut round (diameter, 10 inches), and has a reel glued in the middle; this reel fits on the top of the stick and must turn freely. If the stick is square the top must be rounded to fit the reel. A handle for turning the top can be made from a reel, a piece of cork filed round or a piece of wood. Cork horses, six or eight in number, are made as described in Chapter VII. Paper bands of various colours are gummed round the middle of each horse. These horses are fastened to the top disc by pieces of cane, which may be gummed into the top disc, or simply passed through the holes and bent over. [Illustration: FIG. 198] [Illustration: FIG. 199] Paper boys and girls can be cut out to ride on the horses. They will sit on quite steadily if cut out as in Fig. 199. A piece of paper is folded in two along A B, and a little sailor boy drawn; the figure is cut out, the two halves remaining joined along C D. Both sides should be suitably coloured. The figure will be found to have four hands; one raised one on one side, and one lower one on the other, should be cut away. The heads are then gummed together. When placed on horseback the sailor may have his arms folded round the cane. Little girls in sun-bonnets can be cut out in the same way. [Illustration: FIG. 200] Fig. 198 shows a very simple merry-go-round made by a large class, and more suited to the work of a large form than the first one described. Two square pieces of cardboard (3-1/2-inch sides) form the top and bottom. Small reels are glued on as in the first merry-go-round. Four pieces of stout cane are pushed into holes in the top piece of cardboard, and the bottom of each piece of cane is split so that it holds a horse cut out of paper. The children themselves will think of various ways of altering and improving this toy. Fig. 200 shows how match-boxes may be hung round for cars; match-boxes and horses may also be hung alternately. The children delight in decorating the top of their merry-go-round and the stick with coloured paper. [Illustration: FIG. 201] Older children (nine to twelve) like to make the bottom and top of wood; in this case the top may be octagonal in shape. The central pillar, instead of being supported by a reel, can then be fastened as in Fig. 201, by four triangular supports (of which only two are shown). =Swinging Boats= (Plate VI). This is another simple and effective toy that little ones can make and play with. The wooden stand can only be made by children of eight and older; a simpler stand can have a cardboard bottom, the supports being reels, the posts stripwood (1/4" � 1/4"), sand-papered to fit reels, and the cross-beam a strip of cardboard with holes in it. The boats are match-boxes. Four strips of thick paper, all equal in length (a little longer than the match-box), are cut out and gummed inside the box, as A B, C D, etc., in Fig. 202. A match stick, H, passes through these strips of paper where they cross and projects on each side. Pieces of thread are tied to each end of the projecting ends. These threads fasten the car to the cross-beam. [Illustration: PLATE V A MERRY-GO-ROUND] [Illustration: FIG. 202] Paper seats should be put in the box; it can be covered with coloured paper, and the strips A B, E F, etc., either chalked or covered with coloured paper. The children delight in making and decorating these swinging boats, and then swinging little dolls. =A Great Wheel= (Plate VI). Two circular pieces of cardboard are glued to a large reel; four match sticks are fastened into holes opposite each other, and to these match-boxes are attached, as explained in the previous toy. A round rod or wooden skewer passes through the reel and through two holes drilled in the wooden supports of the stand. A slight touch will set the wheel spinning. Before putting the wheel together, the sides may be painted. [Illustration: FIG. 203] Fig. 203 shows another possible shape for the top of the supports. This hollow can be quite easily filed out with a round file. Older children might like to make a pulley, as shown in Fig. 204, by means of which the wheel can be turned. The pulley wheels, A and B, are each made of three cardboard circles gummed together, the inner one, in both cases, being of smaller diameter. A is glued to axle F G. [Illustration: FIG. 204] A smaller axle, J H, is fixed into a hole in the support lower down. A hole is made in the wheel, B, into which a match is glued for a handle. B must turn freely on the axle, J H, and is prevented from slipping off by a nail driven through the axle. A small elastic band connects the two wheels. CHAPTER XV FLYING AIRSHIPS, GONDOLAS, AND BIRDS (PLATE VI) These toys are made in a somewhat similar manner to the merry-go-round. Get a large reel (diameter about 1-1/2 inches). Next saw a piece of stripwood, A B, 1/4" � 1/4" � 12-1/4". Glue and nail to the ends of this cross-pieces of the same stripwood, 4-1/2 inches long. Make holes for nails with a fine drill, otherwise the stripwood may split. Glue and nail A B across the top of the reel as in Fig. 205. [Illustration: FIG. 205] Cut two pieces of stripwood, 1/4" � 1/4" � 6". Glue and nail cross-pieces 4-1/4 inches long to one end of each of these. Glue and nail them to the reel as in figure. Next glue and nail another large reel to the centre of a board about 4 inches by 5-3/4 inches. Get a dowel rod that will fit the reels (diameter about 1/4 inch), or file the ends of a square stick to fit; this central pillar should be about 13 inches high. Glue this pillar into the reel on the board and fit the other reel with the cross-pieces on the top of the pillar. [Illustration: FIG. 206] The cars must next be made; they will hang by two strings from the ends of the cross-pieces (Fig. 206). Grooves may be filed round the ends of the cross-pieces for tying the cotton, or holes can be drilled in the ends before the cross-pieces are fastened on. The cars are made of paper, cardboard or wood. Fig. 207 shows the pattern of a car. It should be 4-1/2 inches long and 2 inches wide. The dotted lines show where the paper is to be bent, or in the case of cardboard half cut and bent. The width of the bottom of the car is 2 inches, the roof 2-3/4 inches; this allows for bending, and makes a curved roof. The doors can be made to meet if desired; in this case each door will be 1 inch wide. Five, four or three windows may be cut in the sides, and windows in the doors. Paper seats may be fitted inside. To hang the car a rod is cut, about 5 inches long, E F in Fig. 206, and grooves are filed at each end. This is glued to the top of the car, with the ends projecting. Pieces of cotton attach the beam E F to the cross-piece. (Length of cotton, about 7 inches.) [Illustration: FIG. 207] A reel may be glued on the top of the arms for turning the airships; cotton may be wound round this, and when pulled causes the cars to revolve. Into the hole of the top reel may be inserted a stick bearing a flag. Paint the cars according to taste. When the top reel is set spinning the cars fly round and outward in a delightful manner, gradually returning to a vertical position as the speed lessens. =Gondolas.= For the cars gondolas may be substituted, as in Fig. 208. These gondolas form simple and effective paper toys, even if not attached to revolving arms. Draw on stout paper or cardboard and cut out the two sides, A A, as in Fig. 208. The total length of the boat should be 9 inches. Next draw a line on a piece of paper, _a´ b´_ in Fig. 209, the same length as _a b_ in Fig. 208. Divide the line into three parts at _c´_ and _d´_. _a´ c´_ represents the length _a c_ in Fig. 208; _c´ d´_ (not shown to scale), the length of the cabin _c d_. If the full length of the gondola is 9 inches, the length _a b_ will be about 8-1/2 inches, and the length _a c_ should be 3 inches; this makes the length of the cabin, _c d_, about 1-3/4 inches. Draw two lines at _c´_ and _d´_ at right angles to _a´ b´_. Make _e f_ and _g h_ (Fig. 209) equal to the widest part of the gondola. (If the length of 9 inches has been decided on, the width of the gondola should be 1-1/4 inches.) Complete triangles _a´ f e_ and _g b´ h_ as in Fig. 209; draw flanges as in diagram and cut out. Two other triangles exactly the same size with flanges will be required. [Illustration: FIG. 208] [Illustration: FIG. 209] Now fasten together the bows, B, and the sterns, C, of the sides, A A (Fig. 208), with seccotine, taking care that no gum comes below the line _a b_. Gum the triangle _a´ f e_ (Fig. 209) to the sides, A A, as in Fig. 208. Point _a_ must come at the very end of the sides A, and the surface of _a f e_ forms the deck. Gum triangle _g h b´_ to the sides, A, in the same way (Fig. 208). Now gum the other two triangles to the bottom of the gondola. Their apexes will probably come at about K and M in Fig. 208. The positions of these points can be determined by finding out at what spot the triangle brings the sides A A closely together; try to keep them as far from ends _a_ and _b_ as possible. [Illustration: SWINGING BOATS AND GREAT WHEEL (Chapter XIV)] [Illustration: PLATE VI FLYING GONDOLAS, ETC.] The space left between the two bottom triangles has a piece of paper gummed over it. [Illustration: FIG. 210] Fig. 210 shows the shape of the cabin and the measurements required for a cabin for a gondola of 9 inches. Four gondolas should be made. They should be painted black and red, or black and yellow, according to taste. The gondolas are hung from cross-pieces, like the airships, but the arms should be 12-1/2 inches, and the cross-pieces 9 inches; the strings must be of different lengths, since the bow is higher than the stern. Seats may be put in the cabins if desired. [Illustration: FIG. 211] =Flying Birds.= Cut four arms as for the gondolas (stripwood 1/4" � 1/4" will do), drill small holes at one end, glue and nail them to a reel. Cut four short arms 3-1/2 inches and glue them on between the long arms as in Fig. 211. The birds are made of cardboard and corks. The birds from the long arms should hang low down, and the birds from the short arms higher up. Cane may be used for hanging the birds to the arms. The outer circle may be hung with sea-gulls (Fig. 212), and the inner circle with swallows (Fig. 213), or all the birds may be swallows. When the reel is turned quickly the birds in flight are very effective. [Illustration: FIG. 212] Fig. 212 shows how the sea-gull is made out of a cork and four pieces of cardboard (one for the head, two for the wings, one for the tail). Paint the cork white, paint eyes and a beak, mark a few feathers on the wings. Figs. 213, 214, 215 show how the swallow is made. [Illustration: FIG. 213] [Illustration: FIGS. 214, 215] CHAPTER XVI FIRE-ENGINE, MOTOR-LORRY, AND STEAM-ROLLER (PLATE VII) [Illustration: FIG. 216] =A Fire-engine= (Fig. 216). For this toy two cardboard boxes are required, one about 6" � 2" � 2", A in Fig. 216, and the other, B, 3" � 2" � 2". The cardboard case that contains Le Page's glue is a suitable size for B. Make holes through both sides of A, about 1 inch from one end, for the axle of the large wheels, and holes through B at K and J for the pieces of cane that support the ladders. Gum B to A and cover both with red paper. D is part of a round mantle-box, and the funnel, E, a roll of paper. Both are coloured yellow, F is a piece of stripwood, 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch, cut the right length and glued to B and to two supports, H. A similar piece is fastened on the other side. These are for the firemen to stand on. They may be left their natural colour or coloured grey. The seat, C, is a piece of stripwood, 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch, with a paper back, and L M are match sticks glued to the sides. G, the foot-rest, is made of cardboard and fastened to box, B, by two wedge-shaped pieces of wood. The ladders are made of strips of cardboard, with half matches as rungs. N is a piece of cardboard gummed underneath A and projecting from it 1/2 inch for the fireman's stand. This stand, seat, foot-rest, ladders, etc., should be coloured red. The small wheel is about 2 inches in diameter. The diameter of the large wheel can be measured when the smaller wheels are in position. [Illustration: FIG. 217] =A Motor-lorry= (Fig. 217). The foundation is a piece of stout cardboard or wood. A is an open box gummed to this, and covered with paper, suitably coloured. B is part of a box cut as in figure and gummed to A. Inside B a wooden seat, D, is fixed. C is a smaller box, gummed upside down. The size of the lorry will depend upon the boxes procurable. It can also be made of wood, in which case the windows, D and E, and the curved portion of B can be cut out with a fret-saw (see Part II). Both this toy and the fire-engine look very effective made of wood. [Illustration: PLATE VII FIRE-ENGINE, MOTOR-LORRY AND STEAM-ROLLER] =A Steam-roller= (Fig. 218). Fig. 219 shows the foundation of the steam-roller, A B, C D, etc., are pieces of stripwood, 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch. The front roller is made of a small mantle-box about 2-5/8 inches in length. The cover is glued on, holes are made at each end and a round, wooden axle passed through. The ends of the axle should be filed flat as in Fig. 220, so that A and C (Fig. 219) can be glued to them. The roller may be painted black. Cut a piece of cardboard, 6-1/2 inches by 4-1/4 inches. Bend this round so that it fits between A B and C D (Fig. 219); place the roller in position, mark with pencil the portions of cardboard that cover the roller and cut these off (see the shaded parts in Fig. 221). [Illustration: FIG. 218] Fig. 222 shows the construction from cardboard of the part of the cab marked G in Fig. 218. Half cuts are made along the dotted lines; the axle of the side wheels passes through the openings X and Y. Fig. 223 shows the part of the cab marked H in Fig. 218. Next cut a strip of wood, 4-1/4" � 1/4" � 1/4", for an axle for the side wheels, and round the ends; the wheels are 3 inches in diameter. Fasten these to the axle. Now glue the ends of the axle for the front roller to A and C. While this is drying colour the cardboard parts of the engine dark green. Bend J (Fig. 221) and glue this part to the inner sides of A B and C D. Cover the part marked K (Fig. 218) with paper; the part underneath K may remain uncovered. Glue the axle of the side wheels in position behind J, with just sufficient space for G to slip in between the engine and the axle. When the axle is secure glue G and H in position; G is glued to the inner sides of D C and B A, H is glued to the inner sides of blocks E and F. The supports, O and N (Fig. 218), are 4-1/2" � 1/4" � 1/4". [Illustration: FIG. 219] [Illustration: FIG. 220] [Illustration: FIG. 221] [Illustration: FIG. 222] [Illustration: FIG. 223] M and L are 4-1/4" � 1/4" � 1/4". These supports are 1/4 inch shorter, as they stand on the axle of the side wheels. The roof is of cardboard coloured green. Q is a cardboard wheel glued to L, and joined to the dome by a strip of cardboard, T, bent as in Fig. 223. _a_ is inserted into a slit in the cork, and _b_ is gummed to the wheel. The steps, R, are made of stiff paper. The funnel and the dome are made of corks. CHAPTER XVII GIPSY CARAVAN AND BATHING MACHINE The foundation of the =Caravan= is a piece of wood or cardboard, 6-3/4 inches by 4 inches. The sides are made of stiff paper or cardboard. For each of the long sides draw a rectangle, 6 inches by 4-1/2 inches, and to each side add 1/2-inch flanges. Make the two ends as follows: [Illustration: FIG. 224] Draw E F (Fig. 225) 4 inches, mark off E K and F L 1/2 inch each; erect perpendiculars K O and L P; with E as centre and radius, 4-1/2 inches (_i.e._ height of side A in Fig. 224) cut K O at G, find point H in the same way, join G E and H F. Find M, the centre of E F; with M as centre and radius M G describe an arc from G to H. Mark flanges along the top, G H, to which the roof can be gummed, and a flange at the bottom. In front and at the sides draw and colour the windows, which may be made to open. At the back cut out a door (Fig. 226). Colour the sides a light brown. Fasten up the caravan by the flanges; the base projects 3/4 inch at the front. [Illustration: FIG. 225] [Illustration: FIG. 226] [Illustration: FIG. 227] The roof is made of brown paper and should be cut to project about 1/4 inch over the sides and end of the caravan. It is then gummed to the flanges. The chimney is a roll of brown paper. The wheels should be at least 2 inches in diameter. Steps can be made of cardboard and paper, as in Fig. 227. [Illustration: FIG. 228] [Illustration: FIG. 229] =A Bathing Machine= (Fig. 228). This is similar to the Noah's Ark. The measurements are as follows: Base, 4 inches by 3 inches; sides, 4 inches by 4-1/2 inches. Measurements for the ends are given in Fig. 229. The roof should be cut to project about 1/4 inch over the sides and end of the machine. Cut a door in one end. Paint the machine in red and white stripes, mark the windows on each side and a number in front. The wheels should be about 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Steps may be added. CHAPTER XVIII A TRAIN AND RAILWAY STATION (PLATE VIII) =A Train.= (1) _The Engine_ (Fig. 230). The body of the engine, A, is a long mantle-box or a piece of old curtain pole, about 4-1/2 inches long. The wooden bottom, B C, is 6-1/2 inches by 2-1/4 inches. A is glued to B C and kept in position by wooden blocks, E and F. The funnel and the dome are made from corks or pieces of round wood; their ends must be slightly concave, so that they may fit securely to A. A ring of cardboard is gummed to the top of the funnel, which may have a hole in it to take a piece of cotton-wool for smoke. The rim of the funnel and the dome are coloured yellow. The boiler can be covered with dark green or dark red paper. The buffers are pieces of round rod, to which cardboard discs are gummed. [Illustration: FIG. 230] The cab is made of cardboard, as shown in Fig. 231, and is coloured to match the engine. G K L M is gummed to the back of A (Fig. 230), and its sides are fastened to the footplate by the flanges. Fig. 232 shows the roof of the cab; the length, N O, is equal to the arc, G H K. [Illustration: FIG. 231] [Illustration: FIG. 232] The wheels should be about 1-1/2 inches in diameter and are fastened underneath B C, as described in Chapter XIII. Strips of cardboard, coloured black (D in Fig. 230), are glued to the wooden blocks behind the wheels. [Illustration: FIG. 233] (2) _The Tender_ (Fig. 233) can be made in various ways. The bottom is best made of wood, 4 inches by 2-1/4 inches. The sides may be made of wood, 4 inches by 1-1/2 inches; the back must be cut to fit exactly between the sides. When the back and the sides are glued in position two wedge-shaped blocks may be glued into the corners for strength. The buffers and the wheels as in the engine. The sides of the tender may also be cut out of one piece of cardboard and fastened to the bottom by flanges. It should be coloured to match the engine. Pieces of cork dipped in ink make realistic coal. [Illustration: FIG. 234] [Illustration: FIG. 235] [Illustration: FIG. 236] (3) _A Cattle Truck_ (Fig. 234). The foundation is a piece of wood, 4 inches by 2-1/4 inches. The sides may be cut from one piece of cardboard (Fig. 235) and coloured to represent bars, as in Fig. 234. It may also be made of wood as follows: Cut eight thin strips of wood, 4-1/2 inches by 1/4 inch, A B C D, etc., and eight pieces 1-3/4 inches by 1/4, J K L M in Fig. 234. The pieces are glued together to form the sides, as in Fig. 236. The length of the cross-bar, X, can be obtained by measuring the distance between Y and Z. Glue the sides to the bottom and to each other. Wedges may be glued in the corners for strength. [Illustration: FIG. 237] (4) _A Carriage_ (Fig. 237). The bottom is of wood, 4-1/2 inches by 2-1/4 inches. The carriage is made of cardboard, on the same principle as the cattle truck, according to the measurements given in Fig. 237. The upper part of the door may be cut out and the lower part be made to open. The windows may be cut out or coloured with light blue pencil. The interior should be coloured or covered with paper to represent upholstering, etc. Before fastening the cardboard to the bottom, glue to the corners of the bottom small blocks of wood, 1 inch high, as supports for the cardboard seats, which should be gummed across them and be suitably coloured. Cut the cardboard for the top and leave flanges for fastening it to the ends of the carriage. The top and the ends are coloured black or dark brown. A little piece of round wood or cork, coloured black, is gummed to the top for a lamp. The step is made of stiff brown paper. Small screw eyes are screwed in the ends of the various parts of the train, which can be linked together by wire loops. =A Railway Station.= This station is a suitable size for the train already described. [Illustration: TRAIN AND STATION, SIGNAL-BOX AND SIGNAL (Part II, Chapter XII)] [Illustration: PLATE VIII RED CROSS MOTOR AND TAXI-CABS (Chapter XIX and Part II, Chapter III)] A (Fig. 238) is a piece of wood or cardboard, about 2 feet by 8 inches, standing on supports made of two match-boxes gummed together. B and C are pieces of cardboard fastened by flanges to A. D is a piece of cardboard gummed to supports E and F to cover the hollow in front; this and the platform may be suitably coloured. The railings are of cardboard and are fastened to a piece similar to D. Advertisements may be cut from papers and fastened to the posts behind the railings; also the name of the station in the same way (see Plate VIII). [Illustration: FIG. 238] The =Ticket-Office and Waiting-Room= is shown in Fig. 239. This may be made from a cardboard box of suitable size, or from cardboard (according to the measurements given). The bar before the ticket-office is made of match sticks. Tram tickets form good advertisements for the walls. Additions to station: (1) Porter's truck. See Chapter V. (2) Milk-cans. Corks covered with silver paper. See Chapter V. (3) Flower-pots. A cork filed the right shape and painted is used. The shrubs are cut out of cardboard, coloured and fastened into a slit in the cork (Fig. 240). (4) Lamp-posts (Fig. 241). A piece of round rod is placed in a reel or a cork to make it stand. The lamp is cut out of stiff paper, coloured as in the diagram, and is inserted in a slit at the top of the rod. A small piece of cane is passed through a hole near the top for the cross bar. (5) Benches and seats of various kinds may be made from cardboard. (6) Figures of men, women, etc., may be cut from illustrated papers and a strip of cardboard gummed behind them to make them stand upright. (7) Small boxes of various kinds may be placed on the platform for luggage. In country districts, where the station buildings are of a simple design, the children may be encouraged to make sketches of these, and to bring to the models described above such modifications as are to be found in their own locality. In Part II (Chapter XII) models of working signals and a signal-box are described. [Illustration: FIG. 239] [Illustration: FIG. 240] [Illustration: FIG. 241] CHAPTER XIX RED CROSS MOTOR AND TAXI-CAB (PLATE VIII) =Red Cross Motor.= Begin with a piece of wood 6-1/2" � 4" � 1/8". Glue and nail to this two pieces of stripwood, 1/2" � 1/4" � 4-1/4", A B and C D in Fig. 242. [Illustration: FIG. 242] [Illustration: FIG. 243] Next cut out a piece of wood 4 inches by 2 inches (a piece of cigar-box will do for this, or a piece of stout cardboard)--E in Figs. 242 and 243. Saw out the corners F and G, so that the piece of wood E will fit between the strips C D and A B. Saw slits at H and K to hold the cardboard hood. Glue E in position as in Fig. 242. A seat must be placed in front of E; it should measure about 2-1/4 inches by 5/8 inch, and may be glued to a piece of stripwood, 1/2" � 1/4" � 1-1/2", which is glued to E as in Fig. 243. [Illustration: FIG. 244] The bonnet is made of two pieces of stripwood, M and N, 1/2" � 1/2" � 2-1/2"; these are glued together and glued on as in Fig. 242. A piece of wood, P, well smoothed and with edges rounded, is glued over M and N. R is a piece of wood 4 inches by 1 inch, with the corners cut off or rounded. The hood is made of a piece of thin cardboard, 5 inches by 9-1/4 inches, cut as in Fig. 244. [Illustration: FIG. 245] This hood may be painted grey or khaki-colour, and a cross painted in red on the sides, or cut out of red paper and gummed on. [Illustration: FIG. 246] The hood is glued inside the strips of wood A B and C D in Fig. 242, and fits into the slits H and K in E. For axles and wheels see Chapter XIII. Figs. 245 and 246 show another kind of van, made of cane and brown linen. =A Taxi-cab.= Begin with a piece of wood, 6 inches by 3 inches. Cut out two pieces of cardboard (medium thickness), 2-1/2 inches by 2-1/2 inches. Draw doors on them and cut out as in Fig. 247. These pieces are painted the colour desired for the taxicab. [Illustration: FIG. 247] Cut out a piece of wood, 2-1/2 inches by 3 inches, for the back, A B. Cut two blocks of stripwood, 1/2" � 1/2" � 1" (C in Fig. 248), to be glued on to the bottom to support the seat and back, A B. When glueing these blocks in position see that they are about 1/8 inch from the end, and not quite close to the edges. If additional strength is required these blocks may be nailed as well as glued; the back, A B, is nailed and glued to these blocks. Now cut two pieces of stripwood, 1/4" � 1/4" � 2-1/2". Glue these posts 2-1/2 inches from the back, A B (D E in Fig. 248). Now glue on the sides. Side F is glued to post D E, to block C and to back A B; the other side is glued in the same way. A cardboard seat may be glued across the blocks and painted the colour desired for the interior. [Illustration: FIG. 248] [Illustration: FIG. 249] Now to make the front of the cab. Cut a piece of cardboard of medium thickness, 2-1/2 inches by 3 inches, G in Fig. 250. Draw and cut out the windows (the shaded portion of Fig. 250). To the bottom of G glue a piece of stripwood, H, 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch, leaving a strip of cardboard 1/8 inch wide on each side. H is for the driver's seat. Now glue the front, G, to the posts E D (Fig. 248), and the block H to the bottom. [Illustration: FIG. 250] Two cardboard seats, cut as in Fig. 251, should next be fastened by paper hinges to the inside of G. To make the top of the cab cut a piece of cardboard, 4-1/2 inches by 3 inches (Fig. 252). Make a half cut along A B and bend. Glue portion K to the back of the car A B, and L to the tops of the posts E D and to the sides F. If necessary a paper hinge can be used to fasten the top L to the front G. A cardboard seat about 1 inch wide is glued to the block H for the driver. The sides of this seat (M in Fig. 248) are made of pieces of wood, 1-1/2" � 1" � 1/8", one corner being rounded as in the figure, and they are glued to each side of the block H. Two pieces of cane should be glued on each side and to the roof. [Illustration: FIG. 251] [Illustration: FIG. 252] [Illustration: FIG. 253] [Illustration: FIG. 254] To make the bonnet, first cut the piece of wood P, 3 inches by 1-1/8 inches (Fig. 253). Two round cardboard discs, R and S, with centres painted red are glued at each corner. Next two pieces of wood the shape of Q in Figs. 249 and 253 are cut out. One piece, R, is glued to P, and P is glued to the bottom 1-1/2 inches from the front (see Fig. 248). The other piece, Q, is glued in front. A piece of cardboard, 1-1/2 inches by 3-1/2 inches, is cut as in Fig. 254; half cuts are made along the dotted lines. It is painted as in the diagram. This piece of cardboard is bent along the dotted lines and glued round Q and R to form the bonnet. Two pieces of wood, 1/4" � 1/4" � 3/4" (S and T in Fig. 253) are glued in front on each side of the bonnet; these have round pieces of cardboard gummed to them to represent lanterns. A number should be glued behind and in front of the car and a steering wheel added. The wheels may be made of wood or cardboard; diameter about 2 inches (see Chapter XIII). CHAPTER XX SWINGING AND JOINTED ANIMALS (PLATE IX) The peacock, monkey, and other animals with long tails can be cut from cardboard, and by means of lead buttons attached to their tails be made to swing realistically on a perch. It is difficult in some animals to get the balance correct and the position natural. If the drawings in this book are carefully enlarged and the lead buttons placed on the spot (A) indicated, they will be found to produce satisfactory animals. They look most effective and move more readily when made from three-ply wood with the fret-saw (see Part II), but this work is beyond the ten-year-old child. Children of ten and younger can, however, make them quite well of cardboard (the thicker the cardboard, providing the children can cut it with scissors, the better). A set made of wood by the teacher will form a delightful plaything for very little ones, and even material for nature lessons. The =Mouse= (Fig. 259) should be drawn on cardboard, cut out, and both sides coloured. If grey cardboard is used, eyes, whiskers, etc., can be drawn in sepia. Two lead buttons (about the size of halfpennies) are glued one on each side of the tail (at A); pieces of paper should then be glued over the buttons and painted to match the tail. Children will find it easier to draw these animals if a piece of cardboard is given them on which the animal to be drawn will just fit. The colouring should be as simple as possible to be effective. The stand is similar to that for the swinging boats, but with a rounded bar, on which the part of the animal marked B will rest. The =Cat= (Fig. 256), enlarged, made more fierce-looking and with stripes painted on it makes a very terrifying tiger, ready to spring. The =Monkey= (Fig. 265) may have another monkey swinging from his tail, and so on. Animals with movable limbs can also be cut from three-ply wood (see Part II) or cardboard. If cut from cardboard the various joints are fastened by small paper-fasteners. [Illustration: FIG. 255] [Illustration: FIG. 256] [Illustration: FIG. 257] [Illustration: FIG. 258] [Illustration: FIG. 259] [Illustration: FIG. 260] [Illustration: FIG. 261] [Illustration: FIG. 262] [Illustration: FIG. 263] [Illustration: FIG. 264] [Illustration: FIG. 265] [Illustration: PLATE IX SWINGING AND JOINTED ANIMALS] [Illustration: FIG. 266] [Illustration: FIG. 267] [Illustration: FIG. 268] [Illustration: FIG. 269] [Illustration: FIG. 270] [Illustration: FIG. 271] [Illustration: FIG. 272] [Illustration: FIG. 273] [Illustration: FIG. 274] [Illustration: FIG. 275] [Illustration: FIG. 276] [Illustration: FIG. 277] [Illustration: FIG. 278] To make the =Elephant= cut out two pieces the shape of A for the body (Fig. 279), and make four holes in each piece as in the diagram. Next, cut out four legs, and fasten two to each portion of the body by little paper-fasteners, then cut out the tail and fasten it between the two pieces that form the body; cut out two ears and the head; one fastener will hold the ears, the sides and the head together; the head is inside the two bodies, the ears outside. [Illustration: FIG. 279] The =Giraffe= (Fig. 255) can be made in a similar way. The =Butterfly= and the =Dragon-fly= (Figs. 274 and 275) have their wings and feelers cut out of cartridge paper and gummed on to cardboard bodies, so that when the animals swing their wings wave in a realistic manner. Fig. 277 shows how cardboard =Crabs= and =Lobsters= can be mounted amid under-sea surroundings. PART II CHAPTER I ADDITIONAL TOOLS Besides the tools mentioned in Part I, viz., bench-hook, hammer, saw, file, bradawl, pincers, the following additional tools will be found of service, though some of these are luxuries, and generally it is best to use as few as possible: 1. A larger saw, for sawing rougher and larger wood than stripwood, _e.g._ a _Tenon Saw_, length 8 to 16 inches; 10 to 16 points to an inch, price about one and ninepence. 2. _An Archimedean Drill._ This is useful for making small holes when there is danger of the wood splitting, however when once this drill is used, the worker never again feels inclined to use a bradawl or any other kind of boring tool. A quite useful and efficient drill can be bought for sixpence. Care must be taken that the drill bits or drill points do not break, for being quite slender and made of tempered steel they are rather fragile. A set of twelve drill points in assorted sizes in a metal case may be bought for sixpence. (For hints on the use of drill, see under fret-saw.) 3. The _Cramp_ or clamp is a contrivance used for holding boards together. An adjustable G cramp is a handy article for small work. There are several models of G cramps; that shown in the plate costs twopence. 4. A _Rasp_ or rough file for removing from boxes either paper or the names that are sometimes stamped on them. 5. _Brace and Bit._ The smallest-sized brace, which has a sweep of 5 inches, is the most convenient for children. Bits are of many patterns. The most common form is the _Centre-bit_ which will cut holes from 3/8 inch to 1-1/2 inches in diameter. The _Pin-bit_ or shell-bit of the smallest bore is used to make small-sized holes for screws, etc., but more especially when making preparation for using the centre-bit. A _Centre-bit_ 1-3/4 inches in diameter costs ninepence; a brace and bit (3/4 inch diameter) together costs one and threepence; this latter bit is useful for boring holes in wheels for axles, etc. However the brace and bit is somewhat of a luxury and can be done without, for holes made with the Archimedean drill can always be enlarged to the required size, by means of round files and patience. 6. The _Mitre-block_ is a piece of beech-wood carefully squared and rebated so as to present throughout its length a rectangular step-like recess in which the wood to be mitred is placed in order to be cut at the necessary angle. In the raised part are three saw kerfs, two at an angle of 45° with the sides of the mitre-block and one half-way between these at right angles to the sides. The inclination of the saw-cuts at an angle of 45° is to the right and left respectively, so that when these angles are brought together in the mitred joint they may form a perfect right angle (90°). The mitre-block is a luxury, but it is useful in squaring off the ends of the wood, making picture frames, making the crane (Chapter V), etc., price sixpence. A _Compass_, _Protractor_, _Ruler_, _Try-square_ and well-sharpened _Pencil_ will be found useful in making nearly every toy. A _Plane_ is not necessary for any of the toys described in the following chapters, but is mentioned here in case anyone should require one for reducing the thickness of wood or straightening a surface. The most economical one is a Jack-plane fitted with a smoothing-plane iron. The Jack-plane thus equipped may be used for reducing thicknesses of material (this is the real function of the Jack-plane) as well as for planing up surfaces true and smooth (the purpose of the smoothing-plane). The Jack-plane iron has its cutting edge slightly rounded in order to gouge out the wood and thus reduce thickness quickly, the smoothing-plane iron is ground to a straight edge. If both these irons are bought, the plane becomes both a Jack-and a smoothing-plane. The Stanley Bailey adjustable iron plane is a good one. No. 5 size, 14 inches long, is recommended. [Illustration: PLATE X USEFUL TOOLS 1. Fret-saw 2. 'Non-slip' safety ruler 3. Card knife (London pattern) 4. Craft knife 5. G cramp 6. Round-nose pliers 7. Brass back metal saw 8. Mitre block 9. Tenon saw 10. Archimedean drill 11. Try square 12. File 13. Bradawl 14. Brace and bit 15. Carton knife] However, as we have said before, it can be done without. The first four tools are the really necessary ones. _The Preservation of Tools._ Keep tools in a dry atmosphere in a wooden box. Have them instantly dried after grinding and whenever they have been in contact with wet. Iron or steel parts should be frequently rubbed over with a piece of oily rag (if grease is used it must be free from salt). A speck of rust must be removed at once with fine emery-paper and oil. A generous coating of oil or vaseline should be given when tools are laid aside for some time. _The Sharpening of Tools._ Chisels, planes and knives are sharpened on oilstones. The Lily-white and the Rosy-red Washita oilstones are perhaps the best natural stones on the market. With regard to the oil used, machine, engine, neat's foot and sweet oils are all suitable. Clean the stone after use. Knives are sharpened at an angle on both sides, and will therefore have one side rubbed on the stone a few times and will then be turned over to rub the other side. Pen-knives can be sharpened on the ordinary kitchen knifeboard. CHAPTER II CAPSTAN, DREADNOUGHT, LINER [Illustration: FIG. 280] Saw a square piece of wood, side 4-1/3 inches, A B C D (Fig. 280). Cut two others, sides 2-1/2 inches. Saw the corners of these and make them octagons.[1] Drill a hole through the centre of E (Fig. 281). Into this hole glue a wooden meat skewer or round rod that will pass through the hole of a large reel. Glue and nail E to A B C D. Round the sides of F (Fig. 280) drill eight holes about 1/4 inch deep. Make levers of wood to fit these holes as in Fig. 280. Match sticks could be used. Now glue F to the top of the reel, G, taking care that the centre of F is over the centre of the reel. Place the reel over the axle, round which it can be turned. The capstan can be used for dragging along a toy boat by means of a string tied to the boat and wound round the reel. [1] To make an octagon from a square A B C D. Draw A D and B C (Fig. 282). With centre C and radius C O mark points E and K, with centre D and same radius mark M and G, and so on. Join E F, G H, J K, etc. [Illustration: FIG. 282] [Illustration: FIG. 281] A =Dreadnought=. The bottom of the boat is made from a piece of wood 9-3/4 inches by 2-1/2 inches. Shape the bow as in Fig. 283. To this glue another piece of wood, A B C, shaped to fit over the first, and about 6 inches in length. The two pieces can also be nailed together. [Illustration: FIG. 283] Cut a piece of wood, D, 2-3/4 inches by 1-1/2 inches, and glue and nail it to A B C. When these pieces are secure drill a hole through them at E for the mast. To carry the guns at the stern, shape two pieces of wood, G and F, in the form of circles or octagons, and glue and nail them in their place. The mast has holes drilled through it to hold pieces of cane. Nail 1/4 inch nails round one end of D and tie black thread round them. The guns are made of small rolls of brown paper, narrower at one end and painted black or grey. They are glued in position. The guns H and K, are fastened to a small piece of wood, L, to raise them above the level of the deck. The funnels are made of pieces of round wood or rolls of paper. The whole boat is painted grey, and rigged with black thread. A =Liner= (Fig. 284). The foundation of the boat is a piece of wood 10-1/2 inches by 1-1/2 inches, and about 1/4 inch in thickness, or thicker if possible. Shape the bow as in the figure. Round the stern. [Illustration: FIG. 284] Cut two pieces of cardboard 7-1/2 inches by 1-1/2 inches. These are for the decks (Fig. 286), and their stern ends must be shaped to correspond to the stern of the boat. Place them together on the foundation and make holes right through along their edges about 1/2 inch apart. [Illustration: FIG. 285] Cut two pieces of stripwood 1/2" � 1/4" � 6-1/2". Place them one over the other and drill a hole (1/4 inch in diameter) at P, about 1-3/4 inches from one end; this hole is to receive the mast, B. Along each piece of stripwood mark little doors and windows or port-holes. Glue each piece of stripwood along the middle of each cardboard deck, as in Fig. 285, having made holes in the cardboard corresponding to the holes P drilled in the stripwood. Now glue the stripwood of one piece to the middle of the cardboard of the other piece, taking care that the holes in each piece of cardboard are over each other (Fig. 286). While these pieces are drying, drill a hole about 2 inches from the bow for the mast A; drill holes along the edge of the bow (C D E), 1/3 an inch apart. Cut pieces of cane 7/8 inch to fit through the holes in the cardboard, and pieces about 3/8 inch in length for railings round the bow. Now glue the stripwood, G, to the boat so that ends H and K correspond with the edge of the stern. While this is drying prepare the masts. The mainmast is about 4 inches in length; this length allows it to stand 3 inches above the upper cardboard deck; the foremast is about 5 inches. Round the foremast glue a circular piece of cardboard, M, resting on a nail passing through the mast. Hammer a nail through at L for a spar, and put a piece of cane through a hole at N. [Illustration: FIG. 286] Glue the masts into position. Put in a nail at O in the stern, and a piece of cane, D, at the bow. Hammer in three nails in side D C and three on the other side for rigging. Insert the strips of cane through the holes in the cardboard; put a little glue into the holes in the wooden deck, and tap the cane in very gently; put the smaller pieces of cane into the holes round the bow. Tie cotton round the pieces of cane as in Fig. 284; tie cotton to masts, etc. The funnels are made of rolls of paper. If the liner is a Cunarder, the funnels should be red with black bands round the top and two black lines lower down. The wooden sides of the boat are painted dark brown. CHAPTER III MOTOR-CAR (PLATE VIII), SWINGING CRADLE, DECK-CHAIR A piece of flat wood 2-1/2 inches by 5-1/2 inches forms the bottom of the car. Two pieces of wood, 5-1/2 inches by 1 inch, are marked out and sawn as in Fig. 287. If it is found too difficult to saw out the corner pieces E F G and H K L, piece A E C M can be cut right off, by sawing along a line E M; G M H N can be cut off by sawing along lines G M and H N, the same with L N B D. [Illustration: FIG. 287] The corners E, F, G, H, K, L should be rounded with a file, as shown in the plate. The two side-pieces are then glued at each side of the bottom. Front and back pieces are then cut, and fitted between the bottom and sides; also a top to fit over A E, and seats to fit over G H and L B. These seats are then provided with backs and arms as shown in the plate. Axles and wheels should be made and put on as described in Part I, Chapter XIII. The wheels should be 1/2 an inch thick and have the edges rounded to represent the tyre. Lastly the steering pillar, with cardboard wheel attached, is fixed into bottom. A drawback to this toy is that it is made of so many separate pieces of wood, but children delight in it and can make it most successfully. Children from nine to twelve have turned out most effective motor-cars. =A Swinging Cradle= (Fig. 288). The _cradle_ is a wooden box, 5 inches by 2-3/4 inches, and 2 inches deep. Before nailing this together, holes must be drilled in the two short sides, large enough to take a wooden axle about 1/4 inch in diameter. A and B are two pieces of stripwood 1/4" � 1/2" � 5"; their tops are rounded and holes similar to those in the cradle are drilled in them about 1-1/2 inches from the top. A is fastened to E, which is 4 inches in length, by means of triangular pieces of wood, C and D, which are glued and nailed to A and E. [Illustration: FIG. 288] F and K are wider pieces of wood, 5 inches by 1 inch. E is glued and nailed to F; a wider space must be left on one side of E so that the supports, H and G, can be fastened securely to F. G and H are 5-1/2" � 1/2" � 1/4". For the axles on which the cradle swings two pieces of stripwood, 1/4" � 1/4" � 1-1/4" must be cut and rounded, passed through holes in A and B, and glued securely to the holes in the sides of the cradle. =A Deck-chair= (Fig. 289). Two pieces of stripwood, 1/4" � 1/4" � 6", A B, C D, are taken. These are nailed and glued to E and F, each 2-1/4 inches. E and F should not be placed too near the ends of A B and C D, as the wood may split when the nails are driven in. E and F may be rounded. For the smaller frame of the chair, cut two pieces of stripwood, 5 inches in length. To get the measurements for the bars, M and L, place G H and J K inside A B C D as in Fig. 289, and measure distances G J and H K. This must be done very accurately. Before nailing G H and J K together, notches must be cut in them as in Fig. 290. The wood is partly sawn through at N and O, and the notch is then filed out, the safe edge of the file being turned towards N and O. To make the support, two pieces of wood are cut 2 inches in length, Q R and U V in Fig. 291, which shows how the length of the piece of wood S, which fastens Q R and U V together, is obtained. Frame G K is now nailed to frame A D (Fig. 289). Fix the point for the nail at T about 2 inches from H and B. When hammering the nail in at T, the bars A B and G H should rest upon the edge of the bench or table. [Illustration: FIG. 289] [Illustration: FIG. 290] [Illustration: FIG. 291] From A and C measure distances of 2-1/2 inches to R and V respectively. To these points nail the arms of the support, Q R and U V. A piece of coloured print or casement cloth is fastened to E and L. Other toys which can be made in a similar manner are a camp-stool, a clothes-horse, a screen. CHAPTER IV A TRAM-CAR This toy is made of wood, cardboard and paper (cartridge). A piece of wood, E F G H (Fig. 292), 8-1/2 inches by 2-1/4 inches is required for the bottom of the car, and two pieces, A B C D, 5 inches by 1-1/2 inches, for the sides. The supports (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) are pieces of stripwood 1/4" � 1/4" � 3-1/2". [Illustration: FIG. 292] Glue three of these to one of the sides as in Fig. 293, allowing A B C D to project beyond them for a space equal to the thickness of the wooden bottom of the car, E F G H. This forms one side of the car; make the other in the same way. Fig. 294 shows how the sides and seats are fastened to the bottom of the car. The seat is a piece of stripwood 1/4" � 1/2" � 5". The top of the car is made of thick cardboard cut as in Fig. 295 to the given measurements. Before the top is fastened on strips of cartridge paper are gummed round its sides. These strips are about an inch wide, and are doubled in half; one half is gummed to the cardboard as in Fig. 296. The other half bends downward and the names of places to which the car runs are printed on it. Similar pieces are gummed to the top and bent upward to form the railings round the top (Fig. 297.) [Illustration: FIG. 293] These pieces are painted yellow and edged with dark brown. Fig. 298 shows the entrance to the interior of car. J and K are pieces of cardboard, coloured yellow, and glued into position; L is a similarly coloured piece of cardboard or paper glued to supports 1 and 4. The other entrance is finished off in the same way. Cut two pieces of cardboard, 4-1/2 inches by 1-1/2 inches, as in Fig. 299. Make half-cuts along the dotted lines. These pieces are bent round and glued to the ends of the bottom of the car (M, N, O in Fig. 292). These are also coloured yellow and their edges are dark brown. [Illustration: FIG. 294] The wheels are put on as the wheels of the engine (Part I, Chapter XIII). Cut two pieces of cartridge paper (P in Fig. 292), colour as described before, and gum under each end of car. Part Q is a piece of cardboard one inch wide, coloured like M N O, and gummed along the side, so that it covers at least half the wheels. The top can now be glued on. Thin strips of wood or pieces of cane (S and T in Fig. 292 and 296) are gummed in position. The steps into the car are made of cartridge paper coloured black. Fig. 300 shows the simplest way of making the stairs leading to the top of the car. [Illustration: FIG. 295] [Illustration: FIG. 296] [Illustration: FIG. 297] W Y is a piece of cardboard, 1 inch wide, to which pieces of stiff paper are gummed as in diagram. X is a flap of paper which fastens the steps to the top of the car. [Illustration: FIG. 298] [Illustration: FIG. 299] [Illustration: FIG. 300] [Illustration: FIG. 301] [Illustration: FIG. 302] [Illustration: FIG. 303] _Seats for the Top._ Pieces of cartridge paper are cut out, 1-3/4 inches by 3/4 inch, and coloured yellow. These are folded and cut as in Figs. 301 and 302. Part _a_ is gummed to the side of the car, flap _b_ is gummed to the floor. The second seat is gummed back to back to the first seat (Fig. 303). The top of the car will hold about six of these double seats. Single seats can be gummed in the corners. Steering-wheels are made as in Fig. 292. The top is of cardboard, cut or marked as in the figure and coloured black. This is gummed to a round rod, about 1-3/4 inches in length, which is fastened to the end of the car (N in Fig. 292). A similar steering-wheel is fastened to the other end. CHAPTER V A CRANE =A Crane.= _Foundation_, _Arm_, _Pulley_. Cut a piece of wood about 5-1/2 inches by 4-1/2 inches (H in Fig. 304). Cut a second piece a square, A, side 2-1/2 inches. Cut off the corners. This forms a stand on which the crane, etc., is fastened. Cut a piece of stripwood, 1/4" x 1/2" x 8". This is the arm of the crane, C, and is usually inclined at an angle of 45° to 60°. To support this arm cut B with sides about 3/4 inch, angles 45° or 60° and 30°. [Illustration: FIG. 304] [Illustration: FIG. 305] Cut two pieces of stripwood 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch, each 2 inches in length; shape like E and F in Fig. 305. These can now be glued and nailed to the arm C, projecting an inch beyond. A wheel for the pulley is cut from a round rod about 3/4 inch in diameter. If a groove is to be made round the circumference, the wheel should be about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. The groove is made with a file. A simple way to make the groove is to cut two cardboard discs a little larger in diameter than the wheel and glue them to each side of the wheel, in which case the latter need not be quite so thick. A hole is drilled through the wheel and enlarged by a round file to 1/4 inch in diameter. A piece of wood is now rounded for an axle, so that the wheel turns on it easily. This must fit tightly between E and F. Pass it through the wheel and glue it in position (G in Fig. 305). _Winding Gear._ Cut two pieces of stripwood, 1/4" x 1/2" x 2", J and K in Fig. 304. Round their tops, drill and enlarge holes in them. A hole must now be made through the centre of A, to enable this part to rotate on the foundation H, so that the crane may swing round in any direction. One of the simplest ways of doing this is to use a rivet, but if such is not procurable a screw may be used; the hole in A is made large enough for A to turn easily on the pivot which can be screwed into H. Before this is done, pieces J and K are fastened to A about one inch apart. To do this, drive nails right through A in correct positions, glue the ends of J and K and hammer them on to the nails. The head of the nail should rest on a piece of metal when the wood is being hammered down on its point. The support B should now be glued and nailed to A. When B is firmly fixed the arm C is fastened to it. The hole in the centre of A must be left clear. A is now riveted or screwed to H. A wooden axle, P, is made to pass through holes in J and K, and to the ends of this axle wheels are glued. (The figure shows one only.) The wheels can be made from reels, or several discs of cardboard gummed together. Before glueing on the wheels, wooden handles, L, are fastened to them. A wooden handle O is fastened to A. This is used for turning the crane. A piece of stout thread is tied to and wound round P and passed over the pulley. To the end of this a hook is fastened, made from wire or a bent pin. Bags can be made and filled with sawdust, etc. [Illustration: PLATE XI A CRANE] CHAPTER VI WINDMILL, WATER-WHEEL, AND WELL =Windmill= (Plate XII). Cut a square of wood, side 5 inches. This is the stand A in Fig. 306. To the centre of this glue a large reel, B. Next cut two 4-inch squares of wood and drill through their centres holes of about 1/4 inch in diameter. Glue one to the top of the reel so that the holes coincide. Next cut and glue into position the supports, C. For these stripwood 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch can be used. Cut two pieces of wood, 4 inches by 6 inches. These form two sides of the windmill; glue and nail them to the other 4-inch square, which forms the bottom of the windmill. [Illustration: FIG. 306] [Illustration: FIG. 307] [Illustration: FIG. 308] [Illustration: FIG. 309] Next cut two pieces of wood as in Fig. 307, for the other sides of the windmill. Drill a small hole in each at D about 1-1/2 inches from the top. On one of these sides mark and paint a door and windows as in Fig. 308, and over the door make a small roof, like the roof over the porch of the signal-box (Chapter XII). The windows and door may be cut out with a fret-saw and the door hinged on by means of a strip of strong linen. Glue and nail these sides in position. Make and fix the roof. _The Sails._ For these, two strips of wood, 1/4 inch square and 12 inches long, are necessary. In the centre of each of these, cut a slot half-way through the wood so that one may fit tightly into the other (F in Fig. 309). The sails are made of cardboard, and are rectangular in shape, measuring 5 inches by 2 inches. They are coloured light brown, with dark markings on them, as shown in the plate. Shape each end of the arms of the sails as in Fig. 309. This is easily done by filing, if the wood is fairly soft. Saw half-way through the wood at E, and file, or cut off the wood with a pen-knife. To this flat surface the sails are glued, so that they may be inclined to the wind. Now glue the two arms together, and when they are firm make a hole through the middle, F, where the arms cross. Take a short steel knitting needle, about 6-3/4 inches; fix one end into this hole with glue; then glue a small piece of cardboard or wood over it, and a cork washer behind, to keep the sails from touching the walls of the windmill; pass the needle through the holes in the sides of the windmill and glue a little knob of wood to the other end to prevent the needle slipping back. If a needle cannot be obtained, an old bicycle spoke, or even a wooden meat skewer, will do, but in the latter case the holes in the walls must be made larger, and the sails fixed to the end of the skewer by a small nail. Now glue a piece of round rod into the reel (H in Fig. 306) so that it projects about an inch. Place the mill on this stand, so that the rod passes through the hole in the bottom of the mill. The mill can be turned round in any direction so that the sails may catch the wind. Make a small ladder to reach the door. A very pretty but somewhat more difficult windmill is shown in Fig. 310. It is made of cardboard. The foundation, platform and railings can be made as described in the case of the lighthouse (Chapter XIII). The truncated hexagonal pyramid forming the body of the windmill is made as follows. With centre O (Fig. 311), and a radius of about 10 inches, describe an arc, A B. From any point on this arc mark off six spaces, each 2 inches. [Illustration: FIG. 310] [Illustration: FIG. 311] [Illustration: FIG. 312] Join the several points to each other and to O. With radius about 3 inches make arc C D. Join points where C D cuts radii, by dotted lines. Draw the flanges; make half cuts along the dotted lines, cut out along the dark lines, and fold into shape. Fasten together with seccotine; turn in the flanges at the bottom, and fasten them to the platform. The _Top of the Windmill_ can be cut from one piece of cardboard. Draw square, A B C D (Fig. 312), large enough to project beyond top of hexagonal pyramid (side of square should be about 3 inches). On the middle of D C draw M K = 4 inches, and draw a similar line on A B. Join A J, J B, K D and K C, by curved lines. Produce A B and D C both ways. Make B F, C E, D H, A G, equal in length to arc B J. Draw the flange E F P O. Make holes in the middle of A J B and D K C through which the knitting-needle (on which the sail is fastened) may pass. Draw flanges on B J, J A, etc. Make half cuts along the dotted lines, and cut along the dark lines. Before fastening the top together, put a very small paper-clip through the middle of square, A B C D, and fasten it to a square of cardboard of the same size, so that it turns freely on it. This second square will be gummed to the top of the hexagonal pyramid, so that the top of the windmill may be turned in any direction. Bend up A J B and D K C at right angles to square, A B C D. Bend up B C E F and A D H G and gum them to the flanges of A J B and D K C; gum flange F O to A D H G. The sails are made as already described. =A Water-wheel= (Plate XII). _The Wheel._ Cut two discs of cardboard, 4 inches in diameter. Make holes in the centre, glue them to a small reel (about an inch high), and pass a round rod through for an axle. This wheel is an overshot water-wheel--that is, one that receives the water _shot over_ the top, and must be fitted with 'buckets.' These receive the water at the top of the wheel and retain it until they reach the lowest point (see Fig. 313). The 'buckets' may be made of stiff paper or thin cardboard. Cut pieces 1 inch in width, and in length the distance of the two wheels apart plus 1/2 an inch. Mark these out as in Fig. 314, where _a b_ is the distance between the wheels, and _c_, _d_, _e_, _f_ are flanges for fastening the bucket to the wheels. Fold as in Fig. 315. Make at least twelve of these buckets; divide the wheel into twelve parts, and fasten the buckets between the wheels. [Illustration: WINDMILL AND WATERMILL] [Illustration: PLATE XII DRAWBRIDGE (Chapter VII)] To make the toy technically correct, the buckets should rest against a solid wheel contained within the two outer ones, as in Fig. 313, so that no water can run down toward the centre of the wheel. This can be easily managed, if desired, in the following manner: Before fastening the wheels to the reel, cut a long strip of paper, with flanges, as in Fig. 316, in which _a b_ is the distance between the two outer wheels. Describe a smaller circle on one of the wheels, about 3 inches in diameter; glue the reel in position, then bend down the flanges of this strip of paper (Fig. 316), and gum these round the smaller circle of the wheel. Now gum the other wheel to the reel and to the flanges of the paper. [Illustration: FIG. 313] [Illustration: FIG. 314] [Illustration: FIG. 315] [Illustration: FIG. 316] [Illustration: FIG. 317] [Illustration: FIG. 318] The wheel should be painted brown, with spokes marked in darker colour. The plate shows the wheel and the mill-house. A hole is made in the side of the house, into which the axle of the wheel is inserted; the other end is held by the upright standard shown in the plate. The shoot may be made of cardboard; it should slope a little and should come just over the top of the wheel, which revolves freely beneath it. A chimney may be made of a cork, one end being cut on the slant, so that it stands upright on the roof, which is made of cardboard. The whole should be suitably coloured. _An Undershot Wheel._ This wheel is very simple to make. It has a number of float-boards arranged round it and is turned by a stream of water moving against the float-boards at its lowest point (Fig. 317). Fig. 318 shows how the float-boards, which are made of cardboard, are fastened between the wheels. With this undershot wheel, the shoot represented in the plate is not required. [Illustration: FIG. 319] =A Well= (Fig. 319). The round part of the well is made from a mantle-box or other round box. A is a fairly deep box turned upside down, with a circle cut out into which the mantle-box fits closely. This gives a fair depth. Cover the well with paper coloured to represent bricks; colour the box, A, green. The cardboard roof is glued to posts, D, and to triangular pieces of wood, B and C, glued to each side of D. Holes are drilled through the posts to take the roller, E, which is a round rod about 1/2 an inch in diameter. Drill small holes in it at each end. Push a pin from the end F through the side post into the roller. Bind a piece of wire to form a handle, G, and push one end of this into the roller. Bend a piece of wire or pin to form a hook, tie this to a piece of string, wind it round the roller and fasten the other end of the string to roller with seccotine. If a small chain is used this can be fastened by one of its links to the roller with a staple, and should be so fastened before the roller is put in position. CHAPTER VII DRAWBRIDGE AND SIEGE TOWER =A Drawbridge= (Plate XII). Two pieces of wood for the front, H and I (Fig. 320), must first be sawn 11 inches by 2-1/2 inches. The white wood of chocolate boxes, etc., is the best. Next two strips of wood, 7" � 1/4" � 1/4" are cut (satin walnut stripwood will do)--D E and F G in Fig. 321. The bridge is made of a piece of white wood, 2-5/8 inches by 5-1/4 inches. The posts, D E and F G, are nailed to the bridge so that the bridge turns on the nails. (Note that the bridge is nailed about 3-1/4 inches from bottom of post.) Next two lengths of stripwood, R S, are sawn 10" � 1/2" � 1/4", these are nailed to pieces H and I (nails are about 8-1/2 inches from bottom), so that the portions R T project about 5-1/2 inches. The strips R S turn freely on their nails. [Illustration: FIG. 320] [Illustration: FIG. 321] Before nailing them in position, their ends should be rounded as in the figure. The posts G F and D E (which hold the bridge) are then glued to H and I. A piece of wood, V, about 8 inches by 2-1/3 inches, is glued to the lower parts of H and I, and joins them together. Next the piece of wood Q is cut; its width will be the distance of post F G from D E (about 2-1/2 inches)--this distance should be carefully measured so that the piece fits well; its length will be about 5 inches. The arch is cut with a fret-saw. Piece Q is kept in position by having the ends of the arch glued to posts F G and D E, and by a length of stripwood (1/2 inch by 1/4 inch) glued along the top as shown in the plate. Lengths of stripwood (1/2 inch by 1/4 inch) may also be glued down the sides. Holes must be drilled in the ends, R, for wire loops, care being taken that these holes are over the bridge; wire loops must be placed on the bridge exactly underneath, and these loops are joined by chains, which can be made of wire or else bought from an ironmonger. Fig. 320 shows the inside of the drawbridge; A, B, C and D are the lead weights for raising and lowering the beams. These weights can be cut from a piece of sheet lead or may be lead buttons. They are attached to the beams by chains and wire hooks. E F is a ledge for the defenders of the bridge to stand on. Sides have been added and a platform, L. The battlements, G, H, K, etc., are made of pieces of stripwood 1/2" � 1/2" � 1/4", glued round the top. The ladder is made of matches as described in Chapter IX. =A Movable Siege Tower= (Plate XIII). Two pieces of wood (A and B in Fig. 322) are sawn to the shape and measurements of Fig. 323. To the broader ends of these, pieces of stripwood 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch are glued and nailed (C in Fig. 323), and other pieces, D, 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch (about three on each side), are fastened at equal distances apart. D_{3} and the corresponding piece on the other side must not extend to edge of B, but a space must be left of 1/2 inch for the posts of the drawbridge. Next the wood is cut for the foundation and the platforms, J, H, etc. A stands about 6 inches from B, so this must be the width of all the platforms, except the foundation, F, which is wider and projects about 3/4 inch on each side of A and B, and the platform K, which rests on A and B. The other dimensions of the platforms will be the same as those of the pieces of stripwood on which they rest. The platform K must be about 1/4 inch narrower than tops of A and B, to leave room for posts L and M. A and B are now glued and nailed to the base by means of the pieces of stripwood, C, at their ends, and the platforms are glued in position. Two pieces of stripwood 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch, S and T in Fig. 324, are now cut equal in length to distance of K from H, for the supports of bridge. Place these in position between K and H, and measure distance between them; this gives width of drawbridge; its length is 6-1/4 inches. This can now be sawn. Fix in position as explained for previous toy. [Illustration: FIG. 322] [Illustration: FIG. 323] [Illustration: FIG. 324] Next cut two pieces of stripwood 1/2" � 1/4" � 10-1/2", L and M. At the ends of these drill holes, 1/4 inch in diameter, through which passes the chain of the drawbridge. Fix these in position by triangular wedges glued to sides and to platform J. On top, K, add struts to support M and L, as shown in the plate. The chains of the drawbridge are looped over nails driven into A and B, just above platform J. The base may be mounted on small wheels and strengthened with projecting beams by which the tower may be pushed into position. (These are not shown in plate.) Ladders to reach the top can also be made (see Chapter IX), and a battering ram may be swung from platform H, as shown in the plate. A tower of this kind was used by the Crusaders in the siege of Jerusalem (1099). [Illustration: PLATE XIII MEDI�VAL SIEGE TOWER TRAPGET] CHAPTER VIII WAR ENGINES PAST AND PRESENT =A War Engine= (Plate XIII). This piece of artillery was used at the time of the crusade of Richard I. It is a simple and interesting model to make. The sides (A B C D in Fig. 325) are built up of pieces of stripwood 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch, length about 3 inches, or the sides may be pieces of cigar-box. If made of stripwood, grooves can be filed in the two bottom pieces to make holes, E, when these pieces are glued together. A round rod passes through these holes to form a windlass. Two posts, F and G, 1/4" � 1/2" � 3-1/4", are glued to the sides about 1-1/2 inches from end, A C, as in figure; these must either have holes drilled through them for a rod of wood (or thick wire) or have circular grooves filed in the tops into which a rod can be glued. [Illustration: FIG. 325] The sides _a b c d_ and A B C D should be about 2-1/2 inches apart, and are kept together by pieces of stripwood glued across the bottom. Make struts as in the figure to support posts F and G. The beam H K may be made from a piece of stripwood, 1/2 � 1/2 � 5", filed to a round shape. Two pieces of wire, L L, are bent to form a fork and two hooks, M and N are bound firmly to one end with thread. The other end, K, has a small screw-eye screwed into it through which passes a wooden bolt to keep the rings of lead, O, from slipping off. These rings of lead are easily made from strips cut from a piece of sheet lead and bent round the beam. (A pair of old scissors should be kept for cutting lead, or a knife and hammer may be used.) Now the beam H K must be fastened to rod P Q. This may be done in different ways. The simplest but least effective way is to bind the beam firmly in the middle to the rod with thread or elastic. A second way is to drill a hole through the beam, through which the thread or elastic that binds it to the rod can pass. The best way perhaps is to make the hole in the beam large enough for rod P Q to pass through, and then bind it to the rod with elastic or thread or, if a large model is being made, catgut. (A jeweller is generally ready to give away a small quantity of this.) A barrel, R, can be filed or cut from a small piece of wood or cork, or it may be a small reel. To work the machine pull the beam down by means of a piece of thread looped on to the hook M and wound around the windlass. When the beam head is down, place the barrel on the fork and keep it in position by rope, S. When the beam head is released, it flies up and the barrel is shot forward. This trapget or war engine was used for casting Greek fire, with which the barrel was filled. It may interest the maker of this toy to know its composition. In the words of an old writer: "You make Greek fire thus: Take quick-sulphur, dregs of wine, Persian gum, 'baked salt,' pitch, petroleum, and common oil. Boil these together. Then whatever is placed therein and lighted, whether wood or iron, cannot be extinguished except with vinegar or salt." [Illustration: FIG. 326] Generally this engine had a kind of wooden hood in front to protect those working the machine (Fig. 326). This hood is easily made of stripwood or an old cigar-box. Notice that the stripwood that forms the sides, A B C D, must be longer (extended in diagram to S T), so that strips of wood, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, can be nailed and glued as in diagram. The =Mangonel=, Fig. 327 (an instrument for casting great stones to beat down walls and to slay the enemy), makes an interesting toy. [Illustration: FIG. 327] [Illustration: FIG. 328] [Illustration: FIG. 329] [Illustration: FIG. 330] First cut two pieces of wood, 10-1/4 inches by 1-3/4 inches (the sides of a wooden chocolate box will do when sawn the right size and filed), and shape them as in Fig. 328. Saw slits in both pieces at G, 1/4 inch wide and 1/2 inch deep. If two saw-cuts are made for each slit the wood between can be cut away with a pen-knife. These slits must be about 2-3/4 inches from end, _b d_. With a round file make semicircles at _c_ and _e_ to hold the rollers on which the engine is moved into position. With a bradawl and round file make holes, F, in both pieces about 3-1/2 inches from end, A (diameter of hole about 3/8 inch, or larger if a larger windlass is required). Put these two pieces aside, and next saw a length of stripwood, 1/2" � 1/2" � 5"; saw a slit about 1/4 inch from one end and hammer it on the metal top of a bottle of Le Page's liquid glue as in Fig. 329. The corner _a_ should be cut or filed off. A small screw-eye is screwed into the wood just below the metal top. Saw a piece of stripwood, 1/2" � 1/4" � 3-1/2", tie this firmly with elastic to the other end of the first piece of stripwood as in Fig. 330. This elastic constitutes the propulsive force. The ancients used catgut, which formed a thick coil, stretched from H to K, the lever passing through the middle of the coil. The pulling down of the lever gave additional twist to the coil, which reacted strongly on release. Now fasten the sides _a b c d_ and A B C D together by nailing and glueing them to two pieces of stripwood, 1/2" � 1/2" � 2-1/4". Then glue H K securely into the slots G so that the beam with the stone-holder M is upright. Push a round stick through the holes F, for a windlass; this can have holes drilled in the portions that project, to hold sticks for turning the rod. A piece of thread is tied to the screw-eye Q, and wound round the windlass F; when this thread is tightened the beam is pulled down, then when let go it flies up, causing anything placed in the tin, M, to be shot some distance. The safest 'stones' to put in this pan are pieces of cork or small pieces of wood. The following additions can be made to the model: (1) RR are pieces of stripwood, 1/2" � 1/4" � 4", glued to the sides and carrying a strip, T. This strip T in the olden days was covered with leather and was so placed that the beam carrying the stone-holder would abut against it. Notice the struts W for supporting the posts R. (2) N O is a rod (about 1/4 inch in diameter) passing through two small screw-eyes fixed in a piece of stripwood, S, 1/2" � 1/4" � 3-1/4". A piece of strong wire, P, passes through hole in rod N O; it is bent so that it cannot work out, and the other end is bent to just catch the holder, M, when it is pulled down. A releasing handle is fastened to the rod, N O at O. The beam S is glued into slots in A B C D and _a b c d_, so that when the beam is pulled down the catch P clutches M. (3) Small screw-eyes may be screwed in at A, _a_, B, _b_, for holding ropes to fasten the machine to pegs in the ground. Rollers may also be made to fit under C and E. This toy is an attractive one, because it really works successfully. It must be strongly put together, for the beam when pulled down flies up with considerable force. Stone-throwers like this were used at the siege of Acre. Very often these engines had special names given to them. For example Philip of France had a very good engine of war called 'The Bad Neighbour,' and inside Acre the Turks had one called 'The Bad Kinsman.' =Cannons of the Fourteenth Century.= These are very easily made. Figs. 331 and 332 show two that can be copied. In Fig. 331 a piece of wood is cut to the shape of A B; a groove is then filed in it, into which the cannon C is glued. The cannon may be made of a roll of brown paper (two pieces may be pasted together for greater strength) with four bands of cartridge paper painted yellow and gummed round it, or it may be a piece of wood filed to shape and circled with bands of lead. [Illustration: FIG. 331] [Illustration: FIG. 332] [Illustration: FIG. 333] The cannon in Fig. 332 consists of two cardboard wheels on an axle of stripwood, 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch, and the cannon is glued to a groove in the axle. It may be made of wood with a lead rim, or of two rolls of brown paper as in Fig. 333, where the flanges of the smaller roll A are gummed to flanges of B. =Cannon of the Fifteenth Century.= This may be made of a short mantle-box (with lids on), cardboard wheels and pieces of stripwood, 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch. Fig. 334 shows the finished cannon. The stripwood cart which the cannon rests on must be made to fit the mantle-box; the shafts _a_ may be straight or curved. Round holes may be cut at _b_. This same cannon may be fitted with axles, and swing between two posts. The wheels should be painted black, and the mantle-box covered with black paper, with bands of yellow paper at 1, 2 and 3. [Illustration: FIG. 334] [Illustration: FIG. 335] Toward the end of the fifteenth century artillery was much improved. Fig. 335 shows a gun that is interesting to make. The carriage consists of two pieces of stripwood, 1/2" � 1/4" � 8" (_a b_ and _c d_ in Fig. 335). A cannon, E, is made out of a roll of brown paper, length 3-1/2 inches, diameter about 3/4 inch, and glued between _a b_ and _c d_, or it may simply rest on cross-pieces of wood joining _a b_ and _c d_. G is a piece of wood, 1/4" � 3/4" � 3-1/2", turning on a pin or piece of wire, H, which passes through _a b_ and _c d_. _a b_ and _c d_ are glued to a piece of stripwood F (1/4 inch by 1/4 inch) which has its projecting ends rounded to receive two cardboard wheels. The great fault of these earlier cannons was that though they were often of immense bore and weight, throwing balls of from one to five hundredweights, they were for the most part without carriages, and therefore very difficult to move about and very slow in their operations. The Scots were the first to anticipate the modern gun-carriage by what they called 'carts of war,' which carried two guns. Many of the guns of the English required fifty horses to drag them! ='Mons Meg'= (a fifteenth-century cannon still to be seen at Edinburgh Castle) is an easy model to make. [Illustration: FIG. 336] Parts A and B (Fig. 336) are drawn on cardboard, cut out and coloured (brown and black). They are joined together by strips of cardboard at _a b_ and _c d_. To the cardboard at _a b_ the cannon is gummed. The wheels are of cardboard, the axle of stripwood (1/4 inch by 1/4 inch). Mons Meg fired a granite ball weighing 300 lb. =A Tudor Cannon= (Fig. 337). The sides A A may be cut out of cardboard or, better still, of three-ply wood with the fret-saw. The wheels are solid discs and may also be cut out with the fret-saw, holes being drilled in the centre for the axle. The cannon itself can be shaped out of wood with pen-knife and file, or a cardboard roll (such as is used for transmitting music or pictures) can be used, the thicker parts are then made by gumming additional pieces of cardboard round it, or glueing strips of lead. [Illustration: FIG. 337] It is difficult to discover when gunpowder was first used. Probably its use was learnt from the Saracens in the fourteenth century. Roger Bacon (? 1214-1294) suggested that it might be used in warfare. In a Florentine document of 1326 mention is made of the use of gunpowder in Europe. The first use of the cannon recorded in English history is in 1327, when Edward III was at war with Scotland. In making the guns described in this chapter it is necessary to distinguish between breech-loading cannons and muzzle-loading. The breech-loader is loaded from the breech or rear end of the barrel and not at the muzzle. Figs. 334, 335 and 337 are examples of this kind and therefore must have a hole at each end. Figs. 331 and 332 are examples of muzzle-loading cannons and therefore have holes only at one end. During the sixteenth century breech-loading was gradually abandoned for muzzle-loading owing to the large escape of gas and air at the breech. It was not until 1860 that it was reverted to with great improvements. [Illustration: FIG. 338] =A Ship Cannon.= A piece of wood (about 1/4 inch thick, the side of a wooden chocolate-box or any other light box will do) is first sawn out 5-1/2 inches by 2 inches (A in Fig. 338). Another piece of wood, B, 4-1/2 inches by 2 inches, is cut and glued on the first piece. Three pieces of stripwood 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch, C, D, E, are cut to lengths 3-1/2 inches, 2-3/4 inches, 2 inches respectively. These are glued on one side as in the figure, and similar strips are cut and glued to the other side. Two pieces of stripwood, F, 1/2" � 1/2" � 1-1/2", have holes drilled half way through them, to receive the pivots of the gun, but must not be glued on to E until the gun is in position. The cannon is made of a roll of brown paper 6 inches long; one end should be narrower than the other (the widest end say 1 inch in diameter, the narrowest end 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch). [Illustration: FIG. 339] The roll must be securely fastened together by seccotine, two layers of brown paper make a strong cannon; black paper is then pasted over it and bands of brown paper as in Fig. 339. A hole is pierced through the cannon about half-way along it, and a round stick, K M, passed through; this pivot should be just long enough to fit into blocks F when these are fixed and glued in position. Before this is done, the wheels should be made and fastened on. This is an easy matter. Two lengths of stripwood (1/4 inch by 1/2 inch) are cut 2-1/4 inches long. The little wheels (3/4 inch in diameter) are cut from any round rod available, or if no rod can be obtained they may be cut out of cardboard. Holes are drilled in the wheels and nails with large heads passed through and driven into the stripwood. The axles are either glued or nailed to the bottom of A. Finally the pivot, K M, is fitted into its blocks, and these are glued into position. A wedge can be made to slip in under the cannon to raise and lower it. The wedge should be just wide enough to slip in between the two layers of stripwood. [Illustration: FIG. 340] [Illustration: FIG. 341] =A Modern Breech-loading Field Gun= (Fig. 341). This is a simple toy to make. A piece of stripwood, A, 1/4" � 1/4" � 2", must first be cut, and the ends, B and C, rounded for about 1/2 inch (Fig. 340). Next two pieces of stripwood, D and E, 1/4" � 1/4" � 1-1/4", are cut. These must have their tops rounded as in Fig. 341, and have holes drilled through them to receive a rounded match, G. F is a piece of wood 1/2" � 1/4" � 5/8". Pieces F, D and E are glued or nailed to A. Before the pivot G is put in position the cannon must be made. This is a roll of black paper, 3-3/4 inches long, 1/2 inch in diameter at widest end, and 1/4 inch at the narrowest. Holes are made through it to receive the pivot. The ends of the match sticks that project beyond D and E can be cut off. Next the wheels are cut. These may be cardboard discs of diameter 1-3/8 inches. A piece of wood, H, is next cut, 1/2" � 1/2" � 4-1/2", and worked to the shape shown in Fig. 341. The end L must be sawn at an angle, so that when H is glued on, D is perpendicular. The end L is glued to the piece of wood, F. K is a piece of cardboard with a hole through it for pulling the cannon along; it is glued to end M. The wheels, etc., should be painted black or grey. The cannon itself may be made of white paper and painted grey or yellow, or else made of yellow or light brown paper. A =Cart= must next be made to carry ammunition for the cannon. The shells for the cannon described would be about 2-1/4 inches long, so the cart must be 2-1/2 inches long, and 1-3/4 inches wide (Fig. 342). It can be made of wood or cardboard. Notice the end to which the lid is attached. [Illustration: FIG. 342] [Illustration: FIG. 343] [Illustration: FIG. 344] The wheels must be the same size as those used for the cannon and can be made and attached in the same way to an axle, but this axle must project some distance beyond the wheel, as in Fig. 343, and have a groove filed round it, so that short chains may be fastened on each side; ropes are attached to these chains to allow the cart to be pulled along by hand. Fig. 344 shows the shaft. It is 1-1/2 times the length of the cart. It can be made of strips of cardboard or wood. Matches painted black make good shells. CHAPTER IX A FIRE-ESCAPE (PLATE XIV) To make this toy, plenty of used matches are required, and some strips of light wood (that obtained from a soap-box or chocolate-box will do) and liquid glue. Two lengths of wood, Q R and S T, are cut 12-1/2" � 1/2" � 1/4", and one long edge of each is rounded. These pieces are sand-papered if they are rough or uneven. Twenty-three pencil dots half an inch apart are marked down the middle of the widest side of one piece. The two pieces are then clamped together (the piece with the 23 marks on top), and holes drilled through them both together with an Archimedean drill. Next seventeen matches are taken, and cut exactly to the length 1-3/4 inches; the ends are tapered so that they will fit in the holes drilled. Beginning from one end of one long strip, hammer these matches in the first seventeen holes, place the second long strip of wood on top of these matches, so that the first seventeen holes are exactly over the seventeen matches and hammer it on. (Be careful to hammer in between the holes, a file makes a good hammer.) Hammer first one strip, and then the other until the matches are driven firmly in the holes, as far as they will go; file away all projecting ends of matches. Through the eighteenth hole of Q R and S T, a long piece of wood, A B, must pass to project 1-1/3 inches on each side of the ladder (Fig. 345). Two pieces of wood, 3-1/2" � 1/2" � 1/4" (C D and E F), are cut, and have six holes drilled in them; these six holes must be marked off from the six remaining holes in the main ladder, so that they will come exactly opposite them; these pieces are secured to the main ladder by matches, and by the cross-piece, A B. The whole ladder is then glued to a strip of wood, G H, 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch of a length equal to the total width of the ladder. This can be put aside for a time. Next the shaft in Fig. 346 is made. K P is the same length as G H in Fig. 345 and about 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch; K M, L N, O J, P U are each 4-1/4 inches long, they are the same distances apart as C G, Q R, S T and E H in Fig. 345. They are held together by strips, V, W, X, Y, Z. These strips may be matches; in this case they must be inserted first, and then the whole of K M P U is glued to K P. [Illustration: FIG. 345] [Illustration: FIG. 346] [Illustration: FIG. 347] This shaft is fastened to the main ladder in Fig. 345 midway between A B and G H, so that when the shaft is horizontal the main ladder makes an angle of 72° with it. Fig. 347 shows the shaft M K, P U, attached to the main ladder; it is supported in its place by four struts, two on each side (_a_ and _b_ in Fig. 347). Care must be taken to saw off the ends M, N, J, U (Fig. 346) so that they rest exactly against C D, R Q, S T, E F (Fig. 345), at about an angle of 72°. The ends of the struts must also be carefully bevelled to fit; the main ladder can then be glued to the shaft and the struts to the main ladder and shaft. Small wheels of cardboard or wood are nailed (as for ship's cannon) at each end of G H. An axle for the larger wheels must be made to be glued on K P (Fig. 347). Care must be taken in deciding on the size of the large wheels, the diameter must be such a length that the shaft, K M P U, is parallel to the ground. [Illustration: PLATE XIV FIRE-ESCAPE] Next the back portion shown on the plate is made similarly to the shaft shown in Fig. 346. It is glued to G H so as to be at right angles to the main ladder. Pieces of wire bent and pushed into holes in C D and E F form railings. Pieces of stout thread are attached to strengthen the whole, as shown in the plate. An extra ladder (necessarily narrower) can be made to rest on the bar, X, and lean inside a piece of bent wire as shown. The wheels can be made of cardboard or sawn from any of the materials suggested in Part I, Chapter XIII. _Note._--In making the fire-escape it will be a help to cut out two cardboard angles of 72°, these help to keep the shaft K M P U in the right position while the glue is drying. CHAPTER X CASTLE, TOURNAMENT, AND FAIR =A Castle= (Plate XV). Fig. 348 is an example of a mediæval castle and is somewhat similar to the Castle of Chaluz, which was besieged by Richard I. It is made of cardboard of medium thickness. First make the four towers, A, B, C, D Fig. 349. Cut a piece of cardboard 10 inches by 8-1/4 inches. [Illustration: FIG. 348] [Illustration: FIG. 349] Divide this as in Fig. 350, and make half cuts along the dotted lines. Cut out the windows. Fold and gum together. Make the other towers in the same way. To make overhanging battlements, cut pieces of stripwood 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch the correct length, and glue them round the tops of the towers (Fig. 351). Then cut out pieces of cardboard as in Fig. 352, and gum these to the wood. It is best to cut a strip of cardboard long enough for two sides only, and to make a half cut at the bend; then to cut another strip for the other two sides. Small pieces can be cut off a length of stripwood, 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch, and glued underneath, as _a_, _b_, _c_, in Fig. 351. [Illustration: FIG. 350] [Illustration: FIG. 351] [Illustration: FIG. 352] [Illustration: FIG. 353] [Illustration: FIG. 354] Next make the sides, M, N, O, P; these are about 3 inches in width, but a 1/2 inch must be allowed on each side for flanges for fastening them to the towers; in height they just reach the battlements of the towers. Make battlements as described, cut out the windows and fasten these sides to the four towers. Colour this part suitably. To make a flat roof for Q (Fig. 349), cut eight lengths of stripwood 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch just long enough to come about 1/2 inch below the battlements of the sides, M, N, O, P, and glue these into the eight corners of Q. Cut a piece of cardboard to fit over Q, cut doors in this for access to the roof, and glue it to the tops of the pieces of stripwood. To make towers E and F. Cut a piece of cardboard, 7 inches by 10 inches. Mark it out as in Fig. 353, and make half cuts along the dotted lines; the narrow strips at each end are flanges for fastening the tower E, to A and C. Make battlements round the top, colour, mark the windows and door, and gum to A and C; make F in the same way. G and H are similar towers 2-1/2 inches square and 7 inches high. The four towers, E, F, G, H, can be covered with roofs in the way already described. G and H are fastened to E and F respectively, by pieces of cardboard 5 inches long and about 4-1/2 inches high. G is fastened to H by L, which is about 7-1/2 inches long and 4-1/2 inches high. A door can be made in L, leading into the courtyard, Q. Cut a piece of cardboard, R in Fig. 348, about 2-1/3 inches high, and gum it to the side of E to form a wall; between the latter and tower a fit a flight of steps. These are marked out as in Fig. 354. Make half cuts along the lines marked----; turn the cardboard over and make half cuts on the other side along the dotted lines; bend in alternate directions. Flanges may be added to each step. A =Tournament= (Plate XV). Fig. 355 shows a royal tent at a tournament. The platform inside may be made of 12 match-boxes (A, B, C, D, E, F show the six foremost ones) or of any suitable cardboard box. Pieces of cardboard, G H K L and M N O P, are gummed on each side. _a b c d_ is a piece of cardboard gummed to a match-box and placed in front of the opening between H L and M O. Paper steps may be made to lead from the ground to the top of the match-box, and thence to the top of the platform. The roof, S, is a piece of paper, bent along T V, to fit the triangular tops of the cardboard sides, Q and R, to which it is fastened by paper hinges. A piece of cardboard is gummed at the back. Flags, etc., may be added. X and Z show stands at the back for the more ordinary spectators. They are simply strips of cardboard, suitably painted and gummed for support to match-boxes or strips of wood. The railings shown in the plate are made of cardboard or stripwood, and placed in suitable positions to represent the lists. If the railings are made of cardboard they should be fitted into a groove in a piece of wood to enable them to stand. [Illustration: CASTLE AND TOURNAMENT] [Illustration: PLATE XV MEDI�VAL FAIR] Across the enclosed space, and parallel to the royal tent, a partition is placed to separate the combatant knights. It may be made of cardboard or wood (see Fig. 356). [Illustration: FIG. 355] [Illustration: FIG. 356] Two circular tents made of cardboard and paper stand at each side; in these the knights put on their armour. In Fig. 357 A is a cardboard disc to which the paper covering C is gummed by a flange; B is a post which is glued into a hole in the middle of the cardboard disc and rests on the ground inside the tent. The horses are made of corks and matches as described in previous chapters. A piece of coloured paper (A in Fig. 358) is gummed over the horse's back. The saddle, B, is a piece of coloured paper, gummed to A. The bridle is cut out of paper. Knights may be cut out of paper as in Fig. 359. Two pieces of paper should be cut out, of the same shape except that one arm bears a lance, the other a shield; gum the head and upper part of the body together; the knight can be fastened to the horse by gumming his legs to the trappings, A. Heralds, a king and queen to sit in the royal box (for which a bench must be made), spectators, etc., may be drawn and cut out, or suitable figures can sometimes be cut from old history books or advertisements. The background may consist of trees or of a castle. In a similar way, with cork horses, etc., a procession of the Canterbury pilgrims can be made. [Illustration: FIG. 357] [Illustration: FIG. 358] [Illustration: FIG. 359] =A Fair in the Days of Henry VIII= (Plate XV). The plate shows the background of the fair. It is a piece of cardboard, with houses drawn upon it and coloured; behind it are fastened two cardboard supports which enable it to stand upright. This piece of cardboard should be as long as possible, to give plenty of room for many booths to be placed in front of it. Fig. 360 shows a booth at which cloth and woollen materials are sold. The covering of the booth is made of paper. The tables may be of different shapes in different stalls. In the cloth merchant's stall, rolls of coloured paper are piled up to represent bales of cloth. To the pole is tied a sheep cut out of cardboard. An apothecary's booth with its red and white pole can be made. Shelves of cardboard, supported on little pieces of wood glued to the posts of the tent, may be fastened round three sides of the booth; cardboard bottles are cut out, painted and fastened to the shelves by paper hinges, or bottles can be made of plasticine. [Illustration: FIG. 360] Other booths may be added, one for 'ribbons of all the colours of the rainbow,' others for books, leather, ironmongery, pewter and silver articles for the table, etc. CHAPTER XI AN OLD CHARIOT AND SOME QUAINT DOLLS' FURNITURE Fig. 361 shows a quaint swinging chariot of the eleventh century; it can be made of stout cartridge paper, cardboard and stripwood (1/4 inch by 1/4 inch). [Illustration: FIG. 361] First draw on cartridge paper two arcs of a circle (about 3-inch radius), _a b c_ and _d e f_ in Fig. 362; join them by straight lines _a d_ and _c f_. This is for the floor of the chariot. To make the sides, draw arc G H K (Fig. 363) with same radius, but portions G L and M K project about 1 inch beyond the arc _a b c_ in Fig. 362. Join G and K by the curved line, G N K. Draw the flange O P. Colour the side yellow and brown, cut out. Bend the flange O L M P and gum it to _a b c_ in Fig. 362. Draw and cut out the other side in a similar manner and gum it on; the chariot will then appear as in Fig. 361. Two seats of paper can be gummed inside. [Illustration: FIG. 362] Two pieces of stripwood (1/4 inch by 1/4 inch), A and B in Fig. 361, are then cut; their height must be determined by the size of the car. Two small screw-eyes are screwed in at C and D (Fig. 361), from which the car is slung by pieces of thread or wire. The posts, A and B, are glued and nailed to the middle of the axles, which must be flat, the ends only being rounded for the wheels. Pieces of stripwood (1/4 inch by 1/4 inch) or strips of cardboard, C, connect the axles on each side. [Illustration: FIG. 363] The wheels are cardboard discs, with a pattern drawn on them as in the figure, and painted yellow and brown. Fig. 364 shows a pretty chair for a doll's house. It is a copy of a carved oak chair of the fourteenth century. It is made of wood or cardboard. If made of cardboard, a small square box may be used for the seat, A, to which the sides and back are gummed. The sides and back should be cut in one, with half-cuts down _A B_ and _C D_, where the cardboard is bent and gummed to the box. The chair should be painted a very light brown with dark brown markings. It looks well if made out of the wood of a cigar-box. [Illustration: FIG. 364] [Illustration: FIG. 365] Fig. 365 gives a pattern of a fourteenth-century bed that goes with the chair, A can be an oblong box, covered with paper suitably coloured (light brown with panels of dark brown). B and C are pieces of cardboard (painted as indicated) gummed to each end of the box; four pieces of stripwood, D (1/4 inch by 1/4 inch), are glued on to the cardboard. This bed is easily made of wood. A may be a cigar-box, or the bed can be made of separate pieces of wood carefully glued and nailed together. [Illustration: FIG. 366] [Illustration: FIG. 367] [Illustration: FIG. 368] [Illustration: FIG. 369] =A Fire-place= (Fig. 366). This toy is made of wood and cardboard. Its size will depend upon the doll's house for which it is made. The mantelpiece, D, is a piece of wood glued and nailed to two wooden supports, E and F. To the back of these a piece of cardboard, A, is glued. This is coloured to look like tiles, and space C is painted black. The grate is made of cardboard (Fig. 367). The shaded portions are cut out and half cuts are made along the dotted lines. It is coloured black, bent as in Fig. 366 and gummed to the cardboard back. The fender is of wood, and is glued to E and F and to a cardboard bottom, B, which is coloured to represent tiles. The grate may also be made of pieces of wire bent to shape and passed through holes in two pieces of wood (Fig. 368), which are then gummed to A. Fire-dogs can be made from matches glued together as in Fig. 369. A poker and shovel can be cut from cardboard. The most convenient sizes of stripwood from which to make this toy are lengths of 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch for supports E and F, lengths of 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch for the fender, and 1 inch by 1/4 inch for the mantelpiece. CHAPTER XII RAILWAY SIGNAL AND SIGNAL-BOX [Illustration: FIG. 370] [Illustration: FIG. 371] =A Railway Signal.= Fig. 370 shows a simple method of making this toy. A is a piece of stripwood about 11" � 1/2" � 1/4", fastened to a wooden stand. Holes are bored in A at F about 1/2 inch from the top and at G about 2-1/2 inches from the ground. The arm, C, is a piece of cardboard 3 inches by 1/2 inch with a red band painted across it. The lever, D, is a smaller piece of cardboard. C and D are fastened to A by pieces of wire or by rivets so that they move freely up and down. B is a narrow strip of stiff cardboard fastened by small paper-clips to C and D. When the lever, D, is pulled down, the arm, C, is pushed up. A small nail is put in at E to keep the arm from rising too high. Fig. 371 shows a railway signal which can be worked by a lever placed at any distance away. In this model the arm, F, is a piece of wood about 4" � 1/2" � 1/4". Into one end is fixed a screw-eye, A. About 1/2 inch from this end bore a hole. Nail the arm through this hole to the post about 3/4 inches from the top, so that it moves freely on the nail. B is a piece of wood, 2" � 1/2" � 1/4". Make three holes in it. Nail it through the middle hole to the post, 3 inches from the ground, so that it turns freely on the nail. Take a piece of fairly strong wire, fasten one end to A and the other to B. A weight (a lead button) is needed to keep the arm of the signal up. Attach this weight, C, by a piece of thread to B, as in the figure. Tie a piece of thread to D, pass it through a small screw-eye, E, fixed on the stand. When this string is pulled the arm is lowered. This toy may be worked entirely with thread. Tie a piece of thread from A to C, taking care to keep the lever B in the position shown in the figure; then tie another piece from a small nail at F to D. A small nail should be put in at G to prevent the arm from rising too high. The stand and the shaded part of the signal post should be painted black, the rest of the post is white, the arm is white with a red band. =A Signal-box= (Plate VIII). For the foundation of the signal-box, take a piece of wood 9 inches by 4 inches, A B C D (Fig. 372). Cut two pieces of wood, 4-1/2 inches by 4 inches. Glue and nail these to A B C D (E and F in Fig. 372). Next cut four pieces of wood, G H J K, 1/4" � 1/4" � 6-1/2". Glue these to E and F. Measure and cut two pieces of wood, M and L, to fit in between K and J, and G and H. Glue these in position. Next measure and cut out a piece of cardboard, N (Fig. 374), that will fit in between the posts, G H J K, and rest on the sides, E and F, and the ends, L and M. This forms the floor of the signal-box. Measure and cut two pieces of cardboard that will fit across the space between the posts G and K. Mark and cut out windows in these as shown in the plate, and glue them on each side to the posts. Next cut out two pieces of cardboard, 9 inches by 4 inches (Fig. 375). Measure along the sides the distances C J and K B; find the middle, O, of top, join O K and O J, and cut off the shaded portions. Make half cuts along the dotted lines and bend back the flanges to which the roof is fastened. In one piece make a door, the bottom of which must be on a level with the floor. A window may be cut out in the door, or simply drawn in with pencil and painted; on the other side, mark and cut out a window similar to the window in the sides. Glue these pieces in position. Make the roof of cardboard as described in the case of the Noah's Ark, and glue it to the flanges. [Illustration: FIG. 372] [Illustration: FIG. 373] [Illustration: FIG. 374] [Illustration: FIG. 375] [Illustration: FIG. 376] _The Porch._ For the platform of the porch cut a piece of wood 1-3/4 inches by 1-1/4 inches. Cut two sides, 2-3/4 inches by 1-1/4 inches. Glue and nail these to the platform. Cut two supports as shown in the plate, and glue these to the ends just underneath the door, so that when the porch rests on them, and the door is open, the floor of the porch is level with the floor of the signal-box. Next cut the two outer posts, glue them into position as shown in the plate, and glue the platform of the porch on the four posts. The roof of the porch is cut from cardboard, with flanges to be glued to the end of the signal-box. The slope of the roof should be parallel to that of the roof of the signal-box. Make a ladder as described in Chapter IX. Bevel the ends of the ladder as in Fig. 376 so that it can be glued into position. Glue two small posts on each side and glue two strips of cardboard to these and to the sides of the porch for railings. Windows may be painted in the wooden sides, the rest is coloured to represent bricks; the window sashes are dark green or brown, and the roof grey. [Illustration: FIG. 377] From this signal-box the signal shown in Fig. 371 can be worked in a very simple manner. Fig. 377 shows the arrangement. Through a hole, A, in the floor fits a wooden lever, B C. Pass the thread belonging to the signal through a small hole in the side of the box, then through a small screw-eye at O, and tie it to the end of the rod. When the lever, B, is pushed over the signal arm is lowered. A small nail is put through the lever just above A, to act as a fulcrum. The side F (Fig. 377) may have large windows which open to enable the child to insert his hand and push the lever. If the signal-post is set up some distance away from the signal-box, it may be found necessary to add another weight. CHAPTER XIII LIGHTHOUSE, TRANSPORTER BRIDGE =A Lighthouse= (Plate XVI). This lighthouse is similar to one called the Gull Island Light in Newfoundland. It is a hexagonal column and is therefore somewhat easier to make than a circular structure. [Illustration: FIG. 378] [Illustration: FIG. 379] The main column is 9 inches high, and each of the six faces is 2 inches. Cut out a piece of cardboard, of medium thickness, 9 inches by 12-1/4 inches (Fig. 378). Divide it into six parts 2 inches in width, leaving a flange 1/4 inch wide at the end for fastening the column together. Make half cuts along the dotted lines. Cut out a door and windows, and two holes, G and H, 1/4 inch square. Fold and gum together. The hexagonal column above the first platform is 2-1/2 inches high, sides 2 inches; that above the second platform is 2 inches high, sides 1-1/2 inches. Before folding and gumming the top column, or lantern, together, windows must be cut out. It is easier to cut the windows out completely and gum the bars behind the openings. A door is cut just above the first platform as shown in the plate. The top of the lantern is a hexagonal pyramid 1-1/2 inches high, edges 2 inches. To make this, the length of one of the sloping edges (as _a' d'_ in Fig. 380) must be found. [Illustration: FIG. 380] [Illustration: FIG. 381] Draw a line _a b_ (Fig. 381) 2 inches long. This is one edge of the hexagonal base. On it make an equilateral triangle _a c b_. This is the same as triangle _a' c' b'_ in Fig. 380. At _c_ (Fig. 381) draw _c d_ at right angles to _a c_; make _c d_ equal to the height of the pyramid--namely, 1-1/2 inches; join _a d_; this is the length of one of the sloping edges (_a' d'_ in Fig. 380). With radius _a d_ describe a circle (Fig. 379). Mark along its circumference the distance _a b_, six times; join _a_ to _b_, _b_ to _c_, etc., and join each point to the centre. Cut off the shaded portions, leaving a flange for fastening, and make half-cuts along the dotted lines. Bend and gum together. The first platform shown in the plate is a circle of cardboard or wood, radius 3 inches. Holes are made round the edge. To this the upper column is fastened by paper hinges, unless the columns have been provided with flanges at top and bottom. Glue match sticks or pieces of cane, about 1 inch in length, into the holes in the platform for railings, round which black thread may be tied. Now fasten the whole to the main column so that the sides coincide. In the same way the lantern is fastened to the upper platform and the latter to the upper column, after similar railings have been made round the upper platform. Lastly the pyramidal top is fixed on the lantern, by either paper hinges or flanges. Now cut a piece of stripwood, 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch, of the right length, so that it passes through the holes G and H in the lower column and projects about 1/8 inch over the doorway; into this projecting end screw a small screw-eye, pass a piece of string through it and bring the ends inside the door. This is the pulley by means of which goods are hauled up from the boat into the lighthouse. A ladder can be made of matches (as described in Chapter IX); two wire hooks are inserted at the ends, and it is hung to the doorway. The lighthouse can be coloured grey and fastened to a piece of cardboard painted blue. [Illustration: PLATE XVI A LIGHTHOUSE] =A Transporter Bridge.= The supports for this bridge, A and B (Fig. 382), are two small wooden Bovril boxes (those containing one dozen one-ounce tins); their bottoms have been knocked out and they are mounted on wooden supports or on two smaller boxes of about the same width. [Illustration: FIG. 382] Take two lengths of stripwood, C, D, 2' � 1/2" � 1/4"; on to each of these glue and nail a similar length of stripwood, 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch (Fig. 383). Next the overhead trolley should be made (Fig. 384). The axles G and H are about 3-1/2" � 1/4" � 1/4". The wheels are made of wood and can be cut from an old broom handle. Before these are put on, the two pieces E and F, which are 3-1/2" � 1/4" � 1/4", are glued to G and H. C and D are placed so that the trolley runs easily along their ledges, the distance between them is measured and two pieces of stripwood (J in Fig. 383) are cut, by means of which C and D are fastened together. This frame can rest on A and B. There is no need to fasten it permanently. To each end of H and G, very small screw-eyes are screwed, K in Fig. 383, to which the strings or chains which support the car are attached--also two screw-eyes are screwed in at H and G. Fig. 385 shows part of the car and gives the necessary measurements. Side R is made of stripwood, 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch. The gates at each end are made of strips of cardboard. Four screw-eyes are placed in the corner posts for hanging the car to trolley (see Fig. 382). Pieces of thread are tied to the screw-eyes at H and G, and pass through screw-eyes in the supports (T and U in Fig. 382). Two windlasses can be made to stand on M and L, similar to the winding gear described in making the crane (Chapter V), by means of which the car can be drawn backward and forward. The bridge may stand across a piece of cardboard painted to represent a river. [Illustration: FIG. 383] [Illustration: FIG. 384] [Illustration: FIG. 385] CHAPTER XIV YACHTS AND BOATS; THE USE OF THE CHISEL For the toys described hitherto, the chisel has hardly been required, but to carve boats from a solid block of wood it becomes somewhat of a necessity, the pen-knife being but a poor substitute. The use of the chisel has been postponed owing to the dangers which attend its use. However, when children have become accustomed to handle tools properly and to respect them, they are no more likely to cut their hands with a chisel than with a knife when sharpening pencils or peeling potatoes. The following tools will be found useful in making exact models of boats, hollowing them out, etc.: (1) A 1/2-inch or 3/4-inch chisel. This is a good one to start with. (2) A smaller chisel about 1/4 inch wide. (3) A gouge. A 3/8 inch and a 5/8 inch gouge answer most purposes. This is an indispensable tool when hollowing out a boat. (4) A spoke-shave. This is used to smooth a curved surface after it has been roughly cut with a chisel or knife. It is not really necessary, as its work may be done with sand-paper or a file. However it is not expensive, and it leaves the wood with a 'clean' surface much superior to that obtained with sand-paper. (5) A vice. The best wood for making the following boats is _yellow deal_ or _American white-wood_. This, though not expensive, must be bought. One does not often find a piece of waste wood suitable for boat-making. A very simple boat can be made in the following way. Procure a block of wood about 7" � 1-1/2" � 2". On the top surface of the block draw a plan of the boat as in Fig. 387; on the bottom surface draw the plan shown in Fig. 388. Take care not to make the keel too narrow, especially in first attempts at boat-making. The keel of this boat may be quite 1/4 inch thick. See that it is really in the middle. [Illustration: FIG. 386] [Illustration: FIG. 387] [Illustration: FIG. 388] [Illustration: FIG. 389] [Illustration: FIG. 390] Mark on both sides of the boat the lines shown in elevation, Fig. 386. Mark lines showing the stern elevation as in Fig. 389, at the other end the stern, as in Fig. 390. Now saw away as much surplus wood as possible. It is well to begin by sawing along lines a b and _c d_ in Fig. 387, to roughly shape out bow. If a very curved bow is desired, saw off the corner _e f g_ (Fig. 386). To make the keel, saw along lines _a h_ and _c k_, about 1/4 inch deep (Fig. 388), at the stern end saw down to M and N. Now carefully round and model the sides and keel with gouge, chisel, spoke-shave and file, or simply with chisel and file. Before finishing off with sand-paper or spoke-shave, the boat should be tried in the water, it will probably lean to one side; cut off a little wood from this side and try again. (Be careful to dry your tools if they get wet.) When the boat is properly balanced, nail a strip of lead along the keel. A hole may be bored on the deck for a mast. _To make the Rudder._ Saw a piece of wood out about 1 inch by 2-1/4 inches (wood should be about 1/4 inch thick). Draw a rudder on it as in Fig. 391, cut out this shape with saw and file. Round the top as at C for the handle. Make holes with a fine bradawl and insert two pieces of bent wire at _a_ and _b_. To put them in it is best to hold them with a pair of pincers. Ordinary pins with their heads cut off do just as well as wire. Make two wire loops and fix them in the stern of the boat (P and Q in Fig. 386), that the rudder may hook on to these, care must be taken that the eyes are exactly opposite the hooks. To make the tiller, drill a hole in a piece of wood, as in Fig. 392, and file it large enough to fit tightly round the top of the rudder, then work the tiller to shape. [Illustration: FIG. 391] [Illustration: FIG. 392] This boat can be hollowed out with the gouge. First draw line R R R R round the boat (Fig. 387) to give the thickness of side. Before starting on the actual boat, it is as well for the amateur to practise cutting a few hollows. With satin walnut, pine, American white-wood, gouging is not a difficult matter. When the boat is being gouged out it should if possible be placed in a vice. (Always put a piece of thin wood between the jaws of the vice and the article you wish to hold to prevent marks.) Another way of hollowing the boat is to begin boring centre-bit holes as close together as possible, being careful not to bore too deep, then gouge out as much wood as you safely can, finish with file and sand-paper. When the boat is hollowed out, seats can be made for it. These should be cut the exact length of middle of boat, bevelled at the ends, and fitted into the boat by forcing them into position. [Illustration: FIG. 393] [Illustration: FIG. 394] [Illustration: FIG. 395] Figs. 393, 394, 395 show elevation and plans of a common type of boat. Saw off triangular pieces of wood to form the bow, cut out the stern with the tenon saw and chisel. Model the sides and keel with gouge, chisel and file as before. To put a rudder on this boat, notice that a hole must be bored through the deck for the rudder to pass through. There is no need in a boat like this, or indeed in any boat (when practice has been attained), to saw out the keel, the gouge and chisel are sufficient, but the sawing sometimes helps the beginner. [Illustration: FIG. 396] [Illustration: FIG. 397] =A Schooner= (Plate IV). On a suitable piece of wood (a square prism, length 3-1/2 times width) draw a line _a a_ (Fig. 396) on the surface through the middle from end to end. Then draw a line across the middle _b b_, and divide the surface in three by lines _c c_ and _d d_. Pencil out the deck as in Fig. 396. Now here is a piece of advice that it is well to follow in all boat-making. To mark off the deck make a cardboard template the shape and size of one half, taken from the middle line, _a a_. Lay the template on one half of the piece of wood and pencil round the edge. Then turn the template over on the other side and pencil round the edge again. In this way the shape of the deck is more accurate and both sides are symmetrical, which is very important if the boat is to float upright in the water. Now on the sides draw the elevation as in Fig. 397. Cardboard templates will also be found useful in getting the cross-sections correct. Now saw and file away the stern, D, and the bow, E, and chisel away the sides and keel as described before. Fig. 398 shows the appearance of the stern. Having chiselled and filed the outside of the hull to correct shape and exactly equal on both sides, gouge out the inside as described before. Next make the deck from deal about 1/8 inch thick, cutting it the exact size of the outline in Fig. 396. Before fastening the deck, bore a hole at A for the rudder (a corresponding hole being bored in the hull), and holes at B and C for masts (with corresponding holes, not more than 1/4 inch deep, in the hull). If need be (in large models) the under part of the deck where holes come can be strengthened by pieces of wood nailed across. With a hard pencil draw lines along the deck to give the appearance of boards. A hole for a hatch-way may be cut out with a fret-saw. The hatch-way itself for a large boat can be made of pieces of wood nailed together. Now fix the deck on to the top of the hull with small nails. Another way of fixing the deck is to make it just large enough to fit inside the hull, leaving an edge or bulwark all round, 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch in depth. The longer mast goes into hole B. The total length of the schooner is about 1-1/4 times the height of the mast above the deck. The shorter mast goes into hole C and is very little longer than half the boat. The masts must fit firmly into the holes in the deck and hull. To ballast the boat, nail a piece of lead along the keel. If too large a piece is used at first, it can easily be reduced. The rudder F is cut out and fixed as already described. H in Fig. 396 shows where the end of the bowsprit comes. [Illustration: FIG. 398] [Illustration: Fig. 399 A. Stay foresail. B. Gaff foresail. C. Mainsail.] Fig. 399 shows a drawing of the masts and sails for a schooner. The gaffs, _a b_ and _c d_, and the corresponding booms, are fastened to the masts by wire loops. Lawn or Indian muslin make good sails. It is well to wash the material before using it. CHAPTER XV THE FRET-SAW The =Fret-saw= is a delightful tool, and very useful to the toy-maker. It can be used for making wheels and the various jointed and mechanical toys described in the following chapters. In dealing with the fret-saw we have to consider (1) the saw-blades and (2) the frame in which they are held. The saw-blades are about five inches in length and are made of delicate steel wire with correspondingly fine teeth. They are very cheap, being commonly sold at about three halfpence to threepence a dozen, and even less when purchased by the gross. They are supplied in ten different grades, numbered from 00 to 8, proceeding from fine to coarse. For the toys described in this book, Nos. 1, 2 and 3 will be found most suitable. To preserve the saw-blades from rust, keep them in a wood or metal case. Upon the proper tension of the saw-blade depends its action. To keep it taut, a number of frames have been designed, the most practical being one made of steel and varying in size from 12 inches to 18 inches measuring from the saw-blade to the back of the frame. The handle is of wood. The 12-inch size is the most suitable for children. Cheap frames can be obtained for sixpence halfpenny (smaller ones even for fourpence). In the cheaper kinds the necessary tension is obtained by drawing the arms slightly towards each other when clamping the blade. The spring of the steel will then keep the blade sufficiently taut. In the better-class frames (price from two shillings upward) the tension is secured by the action of a lever. Notice that the saws must be inserted with the teeth pointing downward. _Holding and managing the Saw-frame._ The hand saw-frame requires all the steadiness possible; the bend of the frame should rest along the forearm, and against the shoulder if the frame be a long one, or under the shoulder if a short one. This prevents the frame from swinging round. The saw-blade will describe the arc of a circle as it passes through the wood, and this dip is reduced to the minimum by making _short strokes_ instead of long ones. This is important to remember. The amateur is sure to break a few saw-blades at first, they are so fragile, indeed even in the hands of an expert they have a precarious hold on life and can only be expected to last a certain time. Fortunately they are cheap. The saw-blade must not be pressed on into the wood too quickly; the wood is held to the table with the fingers, and every part of the line to be cut is moved in due succession against the cutting edge of the blade. Excessive energy will often cause the blade to stick fast in the wood; in this case the blade must be eased by gently working it up and down so that it does not cut but frees itself. This method can be adopted when turning a sharp corner; work the saw up and down (without cutting) until the blade points in the right direction. Very often the locking of the blade in the wood is due to gummy or heavy wood, or to a twist in the saw-blade; this latter cause can be prevented by the exercise of care in fixing the saw in the frame. Children should have the cheaper frames to practise with; however they soon learn to manage them and in due course find out that a saw-blade is really not so delicate as it looks. In cutting out animals, etc., leave a piece of surplus wood round the frailer parts as long as possible so that one has something to hold without fear of breakage. When an interior space has to be cut out (_e.g._ when cutting away interior portions of wheels to make the spokes) a hole must be made by means of the Archimedean drill to admit the saw; the upper end of the saw is released from its clamp, passed through the hole, and again fixed in position. The hole in all cases should be bored as near as possible to a corner or point, as these are convenient starting-places. A medium-sized drill point rather than fine points should be used wherever space permits. Fine points are apt to break. The drill stock must be held quite vertical and revolved both when the point is entering the wood and when it is being withdrawn. No pressure is required on the drill beyond its own weight. In making the various jointed animals, etc., in the following chapters bifurcated nickel rivets are used, small-gauge. The following are useful sizes:-- Sizes No. 14 6/16, 8/16, 10/16. (These are useful for jointed animals.) Sizes No. 11 12/16, 14/16, 16/16. (These are used for the crane, etc.) These rivets can be bought in boxes of assorted sizes. [Illustration: FIG. 400] [Illustration: FIG. 401] Figs. 400 and 401 show how a jointed animal is riveted together. When hammering the rivet open, its head should be placed on a piece of metal (the clamp will do). Fig. 401 shows the method of opening the rivet. A represents the table, B the clamp, C the head of the rabbit and its ears, D, the rivet. CHAPTER XVI LITTLE GYMNAST; DANCING CLOWN; ROCKING ANIMALS =Little Gymnast.= First the little gymnast must be drawn and cut out. He can be made of cardboard of medium thickness and paper-fasteners (Size 00) or better of three-ply wood and bifurcated nickel rivets (Size No. 14-8/16). First draw the body, A, Fig. 402, 2-1/2 inches long. (The measurements given are important, for unless the limbs are in proportion the figure will not work properly.) Make two holes with the drill, if wood is being used, as in Fig. 402. [Illustration: FIG. 402] The arms, B, are 2-1/4 inches long, the hands must be large enough to contain holes to carry a wooden knitting needle (1/8 inch in diameter). The upper part of leg, C, is 1-1/2 inches in length; the lower part, D, 1-1/2 inches. Make holes in these parts as in the figure. Take care that the holes are large enough to hold the rivet or paper-fasteners loosely, so that the limbs swing about easily. Now fasten all these parts together. (For directions how to hammer the rivets see the previous chapter.) Paint the figure in water colours if it is made of cardboard, if it is made of wood it may be left unpainted, or painted in oil colours. [Illustration: FIG. 403] [Illustration: FIG. 404] [Illustration: FIG. 405] [Illustration: FIG. 406] [Illustration: FIG. 407] Push a wooden knitting needle (about 1/8 inch in diameter) through the holes in the hands, see that it fits tightly, add a little glue if there is any danger of the needle slipping round inside the holes. Two pieces of stripwood, E, are next sawn about 11" � 1/4" � 1/2". These posts must have holes drilled in them near the top for the knitting needle to pass through, and revolve freely. The posts are nailed and glued to a base, the size of which will depend upon the length of the bar which the gymnast turns upon. Two or three gymnasts look well swinging together, or a gymnast, a monkey and a clown. In this case 12" � 6" � 1/4" makes a good stand. The posts are supported by triangular supports. On turning the knitting needle the little figure will revolve in a life-like manner, and perform many of the professional exercises of the horizontal bar. The actions are made more realistic if the man's head is weighted with a piece of lead, so as to make his head more nearly the same weight as his body. =The Dancing Clown.= Draw on cardboard or three-ply wood and cut out the head and body of the clown as in Fig. 403. Colour it, and cut out another piece exactly the same to represent the back of the clown. Draw and cut out two arms as in Fig. 404, two legs as in Fig. 405. Cut out two small discs of lead, and glue them behind the balls in his hands; glue little pieces of lead behind his boots. His arms and legs are fastened together by thread, as in Fig. 406. The back part of the body hides the strings. This clown can be hung inside a box, and the strings passed through a hole (directly underneath the clown) in another box upon which he can then be made to dance, as in Fig. 407. The figure works best if properly balanced; see that the arms and legs are equal in size and weight. =Rocking Horses and Elephants.= The simplest way of making a rocking horse is shown in Fig. 408. Two rockers, A B C, are cut out of cardboard (medium thickness). Next two horses, D, are drawn on cartridge paper, the distance between the fore and hind feet corresponding to the distance A C in the rockers. The horses are coloured and cut out, and their heads and tails gummed together. The four legs are then fastened with paper-fasteners (or with gum) to the ends of the two rockers. A wooden rocking horse is made in the following way. The two rockers, A B and C D, are cut out of three-ply wood with a fret-saw. The arc of a circle of 4 inches to 4-1/2 inches radius is a good size; width of rocker, H K (Fig. 409), 3/4 inch. Three pieces of stripwood 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch are sawn, length 3-1/4 inches, E, F and G. Pencil-marks must be made on the two rockers to show where these strips are to go, one in the middle, the other two at the ends. Before fastening them on, a slit is sawn in the middle of each end-piece, as at E and G. [Illustration: FIG. 408] [Illustration: FIG. 409] [Illustration: FIG. 410] Strips E, F and G are glued and nailed to one rocker, then this rocker can be laid on its side, and the second rocker glued to the upstanding strips. There is no need to nail the second rocker; indeed, if the ends of the strips are very evenly cut, there is no need for nailing at all. The horse (Fig. 410) can be cut out of cardboard and have one front leg and one back leg fitted into the slits. Cardboard of medium thickness will just fit a saw-cut and no gluing is needed. If the horse is cut out of fret-wood or three-ply wood (1/8 inch thick) the saw-cuts must be enlarged with a file and the feet glued in. Instead of horses, donkeys, tigers, lions, etc., can be fixed on rockers as just described. The rockers in Fig. 409 can also be built up of cardboard. =A Rocking Elephant.= On a piece of cardboard draw a circle 1-1/4 inches in radius; on this draw an elephant as in Fig. 411. Colour the ball red and the elephant grey (both sides must be coloured) and cut out. Cut out a piece of cartridge paper (Fig. 412), length equal to half the circumference of the circle in Fig. 411, width, 1-1/2 inches. Fold in half along D E, cut out D B C E, as in diagram, the shaded portions being cut away. Gum B D C E to disc H as in Fig. 411, so that D F E G forms a rocker; make a similar rocker for the other side. Two pieces of lead (A in Fig. 411) are cut out and glued on each side of the disc at the bottom, as in the figure. The lead must have paper suitably coloured pasted over it. The elephant will swing up and down at the slightest touch. Instead of an elephant a clown can be drawn on the ball. Fig. 413 shows an elephant rolling on his back. This toy can be made in the same way as the first elephant. A circle (1-1/4 inches radius) is drawn first, and the elephant drawn in the circle. These elephants can be cut with the fret-saw from satin walnut (1/4 inch thick). In this case the lead on each side must almost reach the diameter, as shown in Fig. 413. Another disc of wood (1-1/4 inch radius) must be fret-sawed out of the satin walnut, sawn in two, and the halves glued one on each side of the lead, to make a base wide enough for the toy to rock upon without upsetting. No lead will then show, and it will look like a wooden toy. If these toys are cut out of thin wood, 1/8 inch thick, they still require at least twice as much lead as the cardboard toy. The elephant may also be drawn balancing a ball instead of a clown. Children will delight in making these toys from cardboard, paper and lead for a toy circus. Fig. 414 shows a swan drawn in a circle; the shaded part represents the paper rocker on one side. This model requires no lead. A duck can be made in the same way. Fig. 415 shows a design for elephants on a see-saw. The elephants must be the same size as far as possible. [Illustration: FIG. 411] [Illustration: FIG. 412] [Illustration: FIG. 413] [Illustration: FIG. 414] [Illustration: FIG. 415] CHAPTER XVII MOVING FIGURES Fig. 416, "The Washing Day," shows a pattern that will please little English toy-makers. It can be cut from wood with the fret-saw, or with scissors from cardboard of medium thickness. [Illustration: FIG. 416] [Illustration: FIG. 417] _To make the Design._ First cut two lengths of three-ply wood or cardboard, 1/2 inch by 8 inches, A B and C D. Next draw on wood or cardboard, and cut out, the two little washer-women (they are about 4-1/2 inches high). They look more effective if painted. These are fastened to the strips of cardboard by means of paper-fasteners (Size 000; one gross sixpence); the holes for the fasteners are about 1-1/4 inches from the ends. The holes in the little washer-women are exactly one above the other, so that when the paper-fasteners are in and A B is exactly above C D, the figures are upright. A washing tub, E, is cut out of cartridge paper (top of tub, 3 inches, bottom 1-3/4 inches); this can be painted brown or green and have a white rim round the top to represent soap-suds. This tub is gummed to C D, exactly between the two little washers. If the part of A B that comes behind the tub is cut away as in diagram the figures will work better. When the strips of cardboard are moved backward and forward the figures put their clothes in the tub and take them out again. The toy works best if a little space is left between A B and C D, as in Fig. 417. If it is cut out of fret-wood the figures are fastened by rivets, as explained in Chapter XV. Fig. 417 shows two ducks eating out of the same bucket; strips of cardboard, A B and C D, are the same size as those in Fig. 416. The bucket is cut out of cardboard and gummed to C D. The sailors in Fig. 418 are made in the same way, holes are made in their hands, through which yarn is passed (the thicker the yarn the more like rope it is) or oars can be cut out of cardboard and fitted in the holes in their hands, when they will appear to row. Fig. 419 shows a man driving a donkey. It is made of cardboard, except the whip, A, which is thread tied into a hole in the cardboard at C. The whip will work better if a little piece of lead or something heavy is tied at the end of the thread. The reins, B, are of thread or yarn, and pass through holes in the donkey's mouth and in the man's hand. Two fishermen can be made in the same way, the whip easily becomes a fishing-rod and a lead fish can be attached to the end of the line. In the case of the donkey-driver and the fishermen the strips of cardboard should be longer than shown in the figure, to leave room for holding. The strip for the donkey-driver should be about 9 inches, the fishermen require at least 12 inches if their lines are not to get entangled. [Illustration: FIG. 418] [Illustration: FIG. 419] Children will readily think of other designs for this simple but interesting toy. CHAPTER XVIII SOME OLD-FASHIONED TOYS--A MONKEY-UP-A-STICK, A JACK-IN-THE-BOX A Monkey-up-a-stick is a very easy toy to make. First cut out a cardboard or wooden monkey as in Fig. 420. See that the legs and arms turn freely on paper-fasteners, A and B. Paint the monkey grey or brown. With a pin make holes, C and D, in the feet and hands. Next saw two lengths of stripwood, one 1´ � 1/4" � 1/4", the other almost twice as long. Drill a hole near one end of each of these sticks. Pass a pin or piece of wire through the holes in the monkey's feet and the hole in the shorter stick; bend down the pin on each side to keep the feet from slipping off. (The point of the pin should be cut off with pliers.) In the same way fasten the monkey's hands to the longer stick. See that the limbs (note that they come one on each side of the stick) revolve freely on the pins or wire. The two sticks may be kept together by pieces of elastic; this however rather prevents the one stick from moving freely up and down the other. It is better first to file the sticks (or one of the sticks) round or to use dowel rods. These round rods can then be kept together by cardboard or wooden discs. The disc must have a hole in the middle large enough for the rod to move freely up and down in it. The thicker the piece of wood or cardboard the better. The hole must be made in the wood with a brace and bit (a bradawl will make the hole in cardboard, and it can be filed to the right size with a round file). The longer rod, A, Fig. 421, goes through the hole; the bottom of the shorter rod, B, is glued and nailed to the disc. By moving the disc C up and down the monkey performs its usual antics at the top of the stick. The monkey, or a clown if preferred, looks very effective cut out of three-ply wood and riveted together. For a small model wooden meat skewers may be used as sticks. Other suggestions for C in Fig. 421 are: a reel (though rod B when glued to a reel tends to break off); half a cork. [Illustration: FIG. 420] [Illustration: FIG. 421] [Illustration: FIG. 422] [Illustration: FIG. 423] More interesting than the "monkey-up-a-stick" is the monkey that climbs a rope, though this little animal has sometimes an irritating manner of swinging about on the rope, and going no higher. If he is carefully made according to the following directions he ought to climb. The monkey is cut out of cardboard in the same way as the first monkey, except that his two arms are gummed firmly on in the position shown in Fig. 422, his legs only being free to move. Pins or pieces of wire are passed through the holes at A, B, C, D. In the case of pins, the point is cut off with cutting pliers and the rest doubled back to prevent its coming out on one side, the head of the pin prevents it coming out on the other. Tie a piece of thin elastic round the pins, A and B, so that it is only just on the stretch when the legs are drawn up parallel with the arms, as in the figure. A piece of wire is passed through at E and is bent over out-wards, drawing the hands fairly tightly together. A piece of thread is passed through the eye so formed, down and under the pin, C, then over the pin, D By alternately slackening and tightening the line the monkey will climb up the thread in a very life-like manner. Care must be taken to nip the wire well together at the hands to get enough friction to hold the thread firmly while the elastic pulls the legs up, on the other hand the thread must be just loose enough to pass through E. =A Jack-in-the-box.= The simplest way of making a Jack-in-the-box is the following. Get some ordinary wire (quite thin wire will do) about 4 feet long or longer if a bigger jump is required. Wind this tightly round a broom handle, keeping the rings of wire close together. Slip it off. Take a cork, cut it so that it is about 1-1/4 inches high. File it round in the shape of a head as in Fig. 423. Mark the eyes and nose in ink, the mouth with red paint; or two beads can be glued in for the eyes. To make the hair, cut several short pieces of black wool, tie them in the middle at B, and glue or pin them to the middle of the head; tie back the side ends with yellow or red wool as in the figure. Fasten one end of the wire spring in the centre of bottom of cork, as at A. A piece of muslin is then gummed round the cork to hide the spring, so that it is loose and folds easily. Next make a box, 2-3/4 inches high, or take the cardboard box that contains a bottle of Le Page's liquid glue, and cut off about one-third. Cut off the cover and glue it on to one side (C in the figure). Make loop of wire at D, and insert a paper-fastener at E to catch the wire loop. Fasten the end of the spring to the bottom of the box, by passing it through the hole in one bottom flap, bending it over and gluing over it the other flaps that form the bottom. Coloured paper or scraps may be gummed to the sides and top of the box. This is a suitable toy to be hung on a small Christmas tree. A larger and stronger Jack-in-the-box can be made from a wooden box about 5-1/2 inches square. For this a piece of No. 12 gauge wire about 10 feet long is required; it is wound around a rolling-pin. This spring is then nailed by means of staples to a piece of wood made to fit the inside of the box. Fasten a round piece of cardboard to the top of the spring, and either sew on to it a small doll's head, or make a doll's head of part of a stocking stuffed with wool and having eyes, mouth, etc., sewn on. A cap (a fool's cap looks best) is made to fit the head, and a loose jacket is sewn on to hide the spiral body. CHAPTER XIX LITTLE SWORDSMEN Fig. 424 shows the principle on which this toy is made; the shaded portion represents the inside of a box. A good size for a box to make this toy is 9" � 4-1/2" � 2-1/4". Slits should be cut in the long side of the box at _a b_, _c d_, _e f_, _g h_. These slits may be made with a pen-knife, and a fret-saw file will make them wide enough for a piece of cardboard to slip up and down in. Slits are then made in the short side exactly under the long slits, as _p n_ in Fig. 425. Widen these slits also with a file. Next cut out the cardboard figures. Draw head, body and one leg to be cut out in one piece; about 3 inches of cardboard should be left below the foot (M and N in Fig. 424), the total length of figure being about 8 inches. Cut out another figure like this. Make holes just below the foot as at D in Fig. 424. Next draw and cut out legs, F and H. Notice that they do not project so far inside the box, their length being about 3-1/2 inches. Fasten these to the figures by paper-fasteners. Next cut out a long strip of cardboard, A B, 1/2 inch by 14 inches. Pass this through the slits (_p n_ in Fig. 425) in the short sides of the box. See that it slides easily up and down in these slits. The portions marked M and N turn on pivots _h k_ and _m l_. These pivots pass through holes, D and E, in the figures and through holes made at each side of the box exactly opposite the short slits. Steel knitting needles make good pivots, or pieces of cane. When the top is quite complete these pivots may be glued into the holes in the box for greater security. Fasten pieces of lead at the bottom of M and N so that the figures swing easily on the pivots. When it is found that the pivots are in the right place, pass the strip of cardboard A B through the slits, and fasten the legs, F and H, to it by paper-fasteners, as at X and Y. See that the needles are in the right holes and fasten up the box. [Illustration: FIG. 424] [Illustration: FIG. 425] (It is a convenience in making this toy to let the cover form one side, the cover being left off until all the inside arrangements are complete; the pivots can then be put into their holes in the cover, and the cover put on.) Now if the projecting ends of A B are pushed backward and forward the figures fight in a very realistic manner. Notice that A B has two movements: one backward and forward, the other up and down. The lead weights in M and N keep A B up. Generally speaking, the longer the slits are the better the figure works. This, however, does not apply to slits _c d_ and _g h_. The slits need not be so close together as in the figure if it is desired that the swordsmen should fight at a greater distance. The arms are cut out of cardboard and fastened by paper-fasteners on each side of the figure; the swords may be cut out with the arms, or made separately and gummed on after-wards, pieces of cane making effective swords. A more difficult but more satisfactory way of putting on the arms is this: pass a very short piece of cane through the hole in the body, where the arms are to be fastened; see that it turns very easily in the hole; next seccotine the pieces of cane that project at each side into holes in the arms; see that one arm is up, the other down. To make the arms balance well, it may be necessary to fasten a small piece of lead to one hand. This toy is most amusing if carefully made. The following hints may be useful: (1) Draw and paint the little swordsmen as carefully as possible. (2) See that the slits are perfectly straight and wide enough for the cardboard to pass through. (3) See that the arms, legs and feet turn easily on their pivots, whether these pivots be paper-fasteners, cane or knitting needles. (4) See that sufficient lead is attached. (5) Cover the box neatly with paper, but _not_ the slits. A piece of green paper looks well for the top. This toy may also be cut out of wood with a fret-saw. Many other amusing toys can be made on the same principle. [Illustration: FIG. 426] [Illustration: FIG. 427] [Illustration: FIG. 428] CHAPTER XX SOME MORE FRET-SAW TOYS Besides the numerous models already described that can be made with the fret-saw, endless further toys might be made, among others the following. 1. =A Zoo or Wild-Beast Show.= The animals for this may be jointed models like the elephant and giraffe (Part I, Chapter XX); in this case they will stand quite well; or they may be cut in one piece and glued to an oblong strip of wood for a stand, as the lion and other beasts in Figs. 426 to 430. Three-ply wood or satin walnut 1/8 inch thick is suitable for these animals, which however may also be cut out of cardboard and glued into slits cut in a wooden stand. [Illustration: FIG. 429] 2. =Forest, Jungle or Desert Scenes, etc.= (Figs. 431 to 437). These trees, which have very characteristic shapes, can easily be cut out with the fret-saw. Where the branches are slender and there is danger of their breaking, use three-ply wood. They should be painted green, with the markings indicated in the drawings put in with sepia or dark green. 3. =A Farmyard=, with trees, ducks, cows, etc. Figs. 438 to 443 are patterns of farmyard animals. There is considerable educational value in the drawing and cutting out of the simple outlines necessary in fret-wood trees or animals. It will help children to think in lines, as it were, and to draw boldly. [Illustration: FIG. 430] Teachers will find sets of fret-wood animals and trees of use in the Nature Study and Geography lessons. 4. =Soldiers, Sailors, Boy Scouts, etc.= Figs. 444 to 447 may be cut out and glued on stands in the same way. The small files used for fret-wood are useful to finish and 'clean up' these toys. [Illustration: FIG. 431 The Walnut] [Illustration: FIG. 432 The Palm (Cocoa-nut)] [Illustration: FIG. 433 The Palm Oil Tree] [Illustration: FIG. 435 The Spruce Fir] [Illustration: FIG. 434 The Elm] [Illustration: FIG. 436 The Lombardy Poplar] [Illustration: FIG. 437 The Scots Pine] [Illustration: FIG. 438] [Illustration: FIG. 439] [Illustration: FIG. 440] [Illustration: FIG. 441] [Illustration: FIG. 442] [Illustration: FIG. 443] [Illustration: FIG. 444] [Illustration: FIG. 445] [Illustration: FIG. 446] [Illustration: FIG. 447] CHAPTER XXI TOYS WORKED BY SAND For these toys a wooden box is required, A B C D (Fig. 448), about a foot or more square and 5 inches deep. L is a wheel made like the overshot water-wheel in Chapter VI. Another way of making the buckets is shown in Figs. 449, 450, and 451. These are glued close together between two circles of cardboard as shown in Fig. 451. This method is somewhat easier if small wheels are required. The wheel should have ten or more buckets; the greater the number of buckets, the faster the wheel works. [Illustration: FIG. 448] Fig. 452 shows the construction of the reservoir, J, through which the sand runs. The size of it will depend upon the toy made. [Illustration: FIG. 449] [Illustration: FIG. 450] [Illustration: FIG. 451] [Illustration: FIG. 452] F is the flange for fastening it together, and E, D, C, B are flanges for fastening it to roof A B E F (Fig. 448). A round hole is filed out at A, after the reservoir is fastened together, through which the sand runs. The wooden side of box, A B E F, is taken off and a piece of cardboard is nailed to the box instead. This can have a hole cut in it, K in Fig. 448, and the reservoir glued under it. G H is a bar of stripwood nailed across the front of the box, through which a hole, N, is bored. The axle of the wheel passes through this and through a corresponding hole in the back of the box. As the sand runs out of the reservoir, it falls into the boxes and so turns the wheel; hence the sails of a windmill, the hands of a clock, etc., fastened to axle, L M, can be made to turn. Notice carefully that the hole at the bottom of the reservoir should be over the centre of the boxes of the sand-wheel and a little to one side of the wheel, as in Fig. 448. Part of the back of the box, P Q R O, should be cut out to allow a tray to go in to receive the sand. [Illustration: FIG. 453] =To make a Bicyclist= (Fig. 453). Cut two circles of cardboard, radius 1-1/4 inches. Mark on them the spokes of a bicycle. Make two sand-wheels the same size as the bicycle wheels; their width should be about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch. Take a piece of stripwood 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch and the length of the box. Make holes in it, 3 inches, 4-1/2 inches and 6 inches from one end. Nail the bar across the box 3 inches from ground; make holes in the back of the box exactly opposite the holes in the bar. Make wooden axles to pass right through these holes so that they turn freely in them. The sand-wheels should be glued to two of these axles. Now cut out a piece of cardboard to fit over the front of the box; bore holes in it corresponding to those in the bar, G H. Paint on it a suitable background, as in Fig. 453. Nail small pieces of stripwood, 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch, to the corners of the box (as at A and B in Fig. 453), to which the cardboard can be fastened by drawing-pins or glue. Pass the axles of the sand-wheels through the first and third holes from the end of bar G H, and let them project about 1 inch beyond the cardboard. To these ends the bicycle wheels must be glued. In making this toy it is better not to fasten pieces together too quickly, until all the various parts are ready. The figure of the cyclist should be cut out to the measurements given for the little gymnast in Chapter XVI. The body and head could be cut out of thin three-ply wood, and the arms and legs of cardboard. The best method of joining limbs to the body so that there is the least possible friction is as follows. Cut off a small piece of a pin, including the head, pass it through the holes, and apply to the cut end a tiny drop of sealing wax. Make holes in the cyclist's feet at G (Fig. 454). Cut a small cardboard wheel, F, about 1/2 inch in diameter: make a hole in its centre and one near the circumference. [Illustration: FIG. 454] Glue a piece of match stick into the hole near the circumference, the other end of this match stick must turn freely in the hole in cyclist's left foot. Pass the axle already made through this wheel, to which it must be glued, and through the cyclist's right foot and through middle hole in the bar. Make two small pulley wheels (_e.g._ slices of reels with cardboard flanges), one twice the size of the other. Fig. 455 shows how the toy is put together and how it works. A and B are the sand-wheels; axles, F G and F M, are glued into them and into the two bicycle wheels. K H is the axle passing through centre of pedal wheel. N O are pulley wheels glued to axles, F G and H K, respectively, and connected by an elastic band, E. When sand-wheel, A, turns round, wheel, N, turns and turns pedal wheel, F, in Fig. 456, and as O is twice as big as wheel N, the pedal will revolve twice as slowly as the bicycle wheels. [Illustration: FIG. 455] Pulleys of equal size, C and D, might be added with advantage to connect the two sand-wheels, and a handle at F to start the wheels. Fig. 456 shows how the leg is fastened to the pedal wheel. To keep the cyclist's body steady cut a piece of stripwood 1" � 1/4" � 1/4". Glue one end to middle of cyclist's body and the other to the cardboard background. B (Fig. 454) is a thin piece of wood, passing over the projecting end of axle of wheel, E, its other end being glued to the bottom of the cyclist's body. A similar strip, A, is cut. This is fastened between his hands by a little piece of pin, and passes over the axle of wheel, D. C is a thin strip of wood or cardboard which passes over the axle of E and can be glued to the cyclist's right leg and pass behind wheel, F. [Illustration: FIG. 456] Make a platform as in Fig. 453 to support the cyclist. Make two reservoirs as already described. Cut a piece of cardboard to fit over the top of box and make holes in it, L and M in Fig. 453. Glue the reservoirs under these. Make a cardboard tray to fit under the wheels for the sand to fall in. Another wheel might be added to work the sails of the windmill in the distance. Very fine sand must be used for working these toys, the best is silver sand and it should be kept as dry as possible. Fig. 457 shows another modification of this toy. B is a box turned upside down and placed in front of that containing the sand-wheel. A is the cardboard background, suitably coloured. The sailor's legs are cut in one piece and glued into a slit in the box. The body is fastened to them at F by a small paper-clip so that it moves very freely. The arm is fastened on at G. A small match stick passes through the hole in the hand and is glued in the hole in circumference of wheel E. The axle, M N, to which this wheel is glued passes through the cardboard or wooden standard, D, through a hole in the background, A, and through the centre of the sand-wheel. D is fixed to the box. The arm of the crane, C, made of cardboard or three-ply, is glued to D. A hole is made at G and a corresponding hole in A opposite G. Pass a small stick of wood or cane, K, through these holes and glue it in. The crane should be about 1 inch from the background. K keeps the arm of the crane steady. Tie a piece of cotton to the axle of wheel E, pass it over K or over a small pulley wheel revolving on K G; tie to it a thin wire hook to which a paper box or barrel can be fastened. [Illustration: FIG. 457] In the same way a sailor can be made to work a windlass and drag a paper boat up a sloping beach, a man can draw water from a well or turn a barrel organ, or a paper mouse gummed to a cardboard base can be drawn along until it disappears into its hole. [Illustration: FIG. 458] CHAPTER XXII TOYS WORKED BY WHEELS, ETC. Fig. 458 shows how a clown can be mounted on a cart so that when the cart is drawn along he dances and waves his arms. In toys of this kind, the wheels should be quite half-an-inch in thickness. They are glued on to round axles which turn freely in small screw-eyes or in holes in wooden blocks fastened under the car or cart. If any part of the axle projects beyond the wheel it gets in the way of the wires. The clown is made of cardboard or three-ply, according to design given in Chapter XVI. It is then fastened securely to rod B, and the latter glued into a hole in the middle of the cart. Fairly strong wire is fastened to the wheel by a nail with a broad head so that when the wire is looped round the nail it turns freely on the nail but does not come off. The wire is bent at right angles twice to bring it close to the figure, as shown at A. It must fit accurately into the holes in the figure. Notice that one leg passes on each side of the post. The clown works best when cut out of wood. In this case the body E and post B may be cut out in one piece, one leg and one arm are then attached to the front of the body, and one leg and one arm behind. Fig. 459 shows a soldier on the march. He is made of three pieces of wood. Head, body, arms and stand A are cut out in one piece, the legs are cut out separately and riveted loosely to the body; only two pieces of wire are needed, one on each side, to work the legs. The gun may be a piece of wire or wood fixed on after-ward. The wheels are 1/2 inch in thickness. Other similar toys worked by wheels can be made by cutting a hole in the bottom of the cart. One axle of the cart must run exactly under this hole, it must be made of wire and bent as B C in Fig. 460. [Illustration: FIG. 459] D and E are pieces of tin nailed to the cart, through holes in which axle B C freely turns; or wooden blocks may be nailed on for the axle to turn in, if tin cannot be obtained. The ends of the axle are securely fastened into solid wooden wheels. As the wheels revolve they will push up and down a piece of wire or wooden rod, F, which is fastened to the bent part of the axle. Now F can be used to work a number of simple toys, if its free end is fastened to the part which it is desired to move. For example by this means an animal's mouth may be made to open and shut as it is wheeled along, or its head to wag; a blacksmith may be made to strike his anvil, the drummer to beat his drum. The ingenious child will be able to adapt this simple piece of mechanism to many a toy. [Illustration: FIG. 460] [Illustration: FIG. 461] =A Lively Dog.= Cut out with a fret-saw two pieces of wood as F in Fig. 461, which represents the body and legs of a dog in one piece. Now cut out the head H (notice length of neck behind body) and the tail K from wood 1/4 inch thick. Now glue the two bodies to a piece of stripwood A (1/2 inch by 1/2 inch) placed along the tops of bodies inside (Fig. 462), and bevelled so that the legs of the dog will be further apart than the upper portion. The legs are joined by pieces of stripwood, M, 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch, about 1-1/2 inches long. Notice that the ends of these strips are bevelled. Now make hole, E, in the head-piece; notice that there is the same length of wood above E as below it. Make corresponding holes E in sides F. Pass a piece of wire through the hole in the dog's head and see how it hangs; the head portion will be the heavier and sink. Now take the head off, saw out a piece of wood at B, insert a piece of lead and try again. It is an easy matter if too much lead has been added to cut off a little. When the head is correctly balanced, as in Fig. 461, bend over the wire so that it cannot come off. The tail, K, is attached in the same way. [Illustration: FIG. 462] [Illustration: FIG. 463] [Illustration: FIG. 464] Small wheels, N, cut from some convenient round rod are then nailed to M. The dog should be suitably coloured. When drawn along he wags his tail and bends his head. The legs look rather better if cut out separately and glued to the sides. =The Tumbling Clown or Monkey.= Cut out cardboard or wooden animals similar to those in Part I, Chapter XX, but use no lead. Now, instead of swinging them on a perch, make a hole at B where they stand; take a piece of copper wire, about 1/8 inch thick and 6 inches long. Bend it slightly as in Fig. 463. Pass the wire through the hole in the animal, so that the animal fits tightly on it exactly in the middle of wire. The animals are best cut out of thick cardboard. Fig. 464 shows a suitable animal, and the following from Chapter XX--Figs. 256, 257, 259, 263 and 264--can be adapted. As no lead can be used for the purpose to which we are now going to put them, animals that balance without lead, as in Fig. 464, are the most suitable. Therefore in designing them, one must take care that the hole B is exactly at the centre of gravity, and the bend of body, D (that is widest part of body), just below B. [Illustration: FIG. 465] =To make the Monkey tumble.= Cut a piece of wood 12 inches by 2-1/2 inches, and fix parallel bars to this as in Fig. 465. File or cut notches in the ends at A, to keep the monkey from tumbling off in his zeal. Now put the wire with the monkey in the middle across one end of the rails. Push the monkey head over heels and he will go on solemnly turning over and over, however long the rails are, until he lands in safety in the notches at the other end. It is the bend in the wire and carefully balanced body of the monkey that makes him behave so delightfully. The longer the stand is the better, for then two or three clowns, monkeys and cockatoos can follow each other rapidly. [Illustration: FIG. 466] The bars must be high enough to allow the monkey to turn without touching the ground--4-1/2 inches high will just do if length of monkey from B to C (Fig. 464) is 4-1/2 inches. Fig. 466 shows two clowns swinging together; a variety of funny figures can be made to follow each other along the bars. CHAPTER XXIII KITES, GLIDERS, AND AEROPLANES =Kites.= Perhaps one of the easiest kites to make is one which the children of Annam and Tonking delight to play with. To make it, three light bamboo canes are required--about 2 feet in length--those used for flower-sticks will do quite well. Tie them strongly together as in Fig. 467. [Illustration: FIG. 467] [Illustration: FIG. 468] The backbone E F should be quite rigid, but the cross-pieces A B and C D are better if they are slightly curved. A sheet of light paper must now be pasted from A B to C D underneath E F in such a way that it is quite tight under E F, but rather loose between A C and B D. Fig. 468 shows how the paper should be cut. G H is the exact distance between E and F; J K and L M are wider than distances between A C and B D in Fig. 467, so that when the flaps on the paper are pasted over the cross-bits the paper is loose between A and C and between B and D (Fig. 467). The secret of the balance is to have the flutter at the edges quite equal. Fig. 467 shows how the string is fastened. [Illustration: FIG. 469] [Illustration: FIG. 470(a)] [Illustration: FIG. 470(b)] [Illustration: FIG. 471] [Illustration: FIG. 472] [Illustration: FIG. 473] =A Box Kite.= This is a very common form of kite and quite easy to make. Take four laths from 27 to 30 inches in length and four pieces about 13 inches in length. The smaller pieces are fastened together with nails and glue, as in Fig. 470 (_a_) and (_b_). To the ends of these the long pieces are nailed and glued, as in Fig. 470 (_b_). Mark off the long pieces into thirds and over the two end thirds sew strips of light material. Tie on the string as shown in Fig. 469. This kite is said to be an American invention. A similar kite may be made triangular in form. Fig. 471 shows another form of the box kite. Here the material covers a little less than 1/4 of the strip A B. Cross-bars E F and C D are tied across the middle and to the four sides, and wings are sewn on to them. Figs. 472 and 473 are modifications of the triangular form of kite. In both these kites the long strips of wood are from 2-1/2 to 3 feet in length. Notice that in Fig. 472, A B is the same length as D E, F G = D H; E H = about 1/4 of E D. [Illustration: FIG. 474] In Fig. 473 A B = C D. C E = about 1/4 of C D. F G equal about 1/3 of A B. F C = C E. A H and J K are light frames of stripwood covered with calico. The diagrams show how these kites are put together. =A Chinese Kite.= The kites used in China are very light and flimsy compared to our kites, as they are made of tissue paper and bamboo. In making one it is better to use somewhat stronger paper. The paper is cut out as in Fig. 474, the two upper sides being slightly shorter than the two lower. Leave two rectangular pieces A, A, at each end of the shorter sides. A piece of split bamboo, slightly flattened, is glued firmly to the paper from B to C. A second piece of bamboo tapering at the ends is used as a cross-piece D. This is bent as in the figure so that where it crosses the backbone, B C, it is only a few inches from the apex, B. It is tied to B C at D. Its tapering ends are pasted down to the paper by means of the two flaps, A, A. Bamboo B C should not be more than 1/3 inch in width, piece D, 1/4 inch. To prevent the paper getting torn in a good breeze, tie fine cotton round the border of the kite--_i.e._ from B to A, to C, to A, and to B again. Paste a thin margin of paper over the cotton, enclosing it, and to the kite. This must be done so that the face of the kite is perfectly flat; it must not bag in any way. =To fly the Kite.= Much depends on the way in which the 'belly-band' is tied on. Its upper string is tied to D, and the lower to the backbone, B C, almost anywhere below a line from A to A. If the two strings are very near together, the kite behaves in a more lively manner, darting about in all directions. The kite must be coaxed into the air by a series of jerks and pulls when the apex of the kite is facing upwards. It is inclined to turn round at first and some patience is required to learn when to pull and when to jerk. If one pulls at the wrong time it will dart down and then unless sufficient string is quickly let out, it will fall to the ground. [Illustration: FIG. 475] When once the kite is up, it does not keep stationary like an English kite, but is always darting about; a skilful flyer can make a kite dart down and almost touch the roof of a house at a great distance off, and then dart up again almost overhead. It is not an easy kite to manage, but when once the art of flying it is mastered it is never forgotten. =Gliders.= The earliest type of toy flying-machine consisted of a two-bladed tin propeller spun on a frame by unwinding string, as with a top, and suddenly let go. It is easily made, as shown in Fig. 475, where A is a tin propeller nailed by nails C and C to a large reel B. In making this toy the nails must be driven into the reel first, their heads are then cut off and they are tightly fitted into holes in propeller A. D is the axle on which the reel spins and the handle for holding it; E is a washer. This flying-machine is worked by smartly pulling a length of string wound around the reel. [Illustration: FIG. 476] Modern aeroplanes are far more difficult to make than this; they need patience, skill and experiment, and besides a knowledge of how to twist and bend wood by steaming it; plenty of cane and whalebone wire, tissue paper or fine Japanese silk, and catapult elastic, which is generally the motive power used in working model aeroplanes. (Messrs Gamage, Holborn, W.C., stock skeins of specially prepared elastic.) In this chapter only the simple and well-known types will be very briefly described, the boy who is interested must get special books on this subject from his library. In the first place the beginner must know what the three types of machines used in designing models generally are--viz. (1) the glider or motorless model, a glider being a winged structure, which when released from a height does not fall directly to the ground, but descends gracefully at a gentle slope; (2) the monoplane, which is constructed more or less on the lines of a bird; and (3) the biplane or double-winged aeroplane. Gliders may be either of the monoplane or biplane type. Experiments with gliders will enable boys to find out some of the principles on which aeroplanes are built, and will prepare them to undertake the construction of more difficult forms. In making one's first glider one cannot do better than copy a bird. On a piece of paper draw a circle, fold it in half, draw a bird on one half, as in Fig. 476, cut it out, when the paper is opened it will appear as in the figure. If this bird is thrown head first toward the ground, it will probably fall. If two little bits of cardboard are gummed on each side of his head, he will make a better flight and land on the ground after making a gentle curve. A still better bird may be cut from cardboard, a half cut is then made along _a b_ to bend it, and the head is weighted with sealing-wax. How well this bird flies depends on the weight, and to some extent on the shape of the bird. Birds of various shapes and with different amounts of sealing-wax should be tried, until one is made that glides to the ground in a long, graceful curve. In making bird gliders the following points should be remembered: (1) Draw the bird in a circle as already explained, this ensures that the wings will be exactly balanced. [Illustration: FIG. 477] (2) If the head in Fig. 476 is not long enough for a graceful flight, a longer head cut from cardboard can be pasted on. (3) If the bird dives quickly down head first, you know that the head is too heavy, or the neck too long. (4) If the bird rises and then falls the head is too light and probably not long enough. (5) The wings can be made larger if necessary by the addition of tissue-paper wings gummed on as A in Fig. 477. [Illustration: FIG. 478] [Illustration: FIG. 479] =Another Glider.= Cut out a piece of paper 8 inches by 4 inches, A B C D in Fig. 478. Mark B E and D F each 1 inch; make cuts along the dark lines at E and F to the depth of 1 inch. Draw the broken lines along the paper, dividing it into four equal strips. Bend sides A E and C F downward along dotted lines. Bend E B and F D upward along middle dotted lines, and press side C F toward side A E, part way along this line, but leaving the part near the ends A C flat; to this end plane K will be gummed (Fig. 479). K is 6 inches by 1 inch. Cut tail, G, and gum on as in diagrams. It can be weighted at H by gumming several strips of cardboard across or by affixing sealing-wax. Although this is not a very graceful-looking glider it works most successfully, and will describe quite a graceful curve toward the ground. The child will find it interesting to make a number of these gliders and then go one day to a window or high place and let them glide to the ground and thus find out the bird that has the longest flight. Or a number of children can have glider races and see who can make a glider that alights on the ground farthest from them. Other forms of gliders can be made, but they are all on the same principle, a somewhat long body, wings and weight adjusted to keep them from falling. Fig. 480 shows a glider made from a dowel rod, with slits in it at each end through which two cardboard planes are passed and fastened. The cardboard must be of light weight and yet stiff enough not to flap. The size of the planes must be found by experiment, for their size will depend naturally upon the weight of the material used. The bigger plane should be in length about twice the smaller one. It is best to fasten the large plane on first and then adjust the smaller one to give a long, graceful flight. If a split pole can be found it is an easy matter to fasten the planes in. Canes (bamboo) split readily and can be used as centre pole. This glider can fairly easily be made into an aeroplane and worked with a propeller. It may be mentioned here that model aeroplanes are generally worked with the propeller in front and not in the rear. =To make Propellers.= These can be made of tin or wood. A tin propeller can be cut from any old tin with a pair of shears or strong scissors kept for the purpose. Cut two blades to the shape shown in Fig. 481. Next cut an oblong block of wood (Fig. 482); notice that width _a b_ in Fig. 482 must equal _a b_ in Fig. 481, therefore width of _a b_ must be a little less than _a b_ in Fig. 481. Slit each end diagonally as in Fig. 482 for about 1/2 inch to hold the blades. Drill a hole through centre of block for the wire axle _d c_. Insert the blades in the slots, bend the ends over slightly and nail them in the wood to keep them firm. Fix the wire shaft firmly in the block as in Fig. 482. The propeller is now ready to be attached to the glider. Before this is done, however, we shall consider the making of a wooden propeller. This is rather more difficult to make. Cut a piece of wood to the shape shown in Fig. 483 with a sharp pen-knife. The propeller must then be given the correct twist by means of the steaming kettle. Take hold of the extreme ends of the propeller and hold it over the jet of steam so that steam plays upon the blades at each side of the thick central portion. [Illustration: FIG. 480] [Illustration: FIG. 481] [Illustration: FIG. 482] [Illustration: FIG. 483] [Illustration: FIG. 484] [Illustration: FIG. 485] [Illustration: FIG. 486] When the wood is supple, twist it as in Fig. 484. This sounds easier to do than it really is, the difficulty being to get the twist on one side exactly equal to the twist on the other. For this reason the tin propellers are more satisfactory to make. However suppose the correct twist has been given, the next thing to do is to sand-paper the wooden propeller carefully and file a groove around the middle at A; now wrap a piece of wire, A C, tightly around the propeller in this central groove, and put on the head, B. The propeller is now ready to be fastened to the glider shown in Fig. 480. =To fasten Propeller to Glider.= Cut a piece of tin to the pattern shown in Fig. 485, bend along the dotted line; make a hole at F for axle, B C, to go through. Bend portion E round the front end of the glider, keep it in its place by bending it with thread coated with glue; portion F with the hole is bent down at right angles as shown in Fig. 486. Now pass axle, A C, through hole F, bend end C into a hook. Put screw-eye D in the rod about one-third of length of rod from the other end (see Fig. 486). Fasten strands of elastic from hook C to D. It is best really to have a hook at D so that the elastic can be slipped over. The strands should be just loose enough to remain taut when unwound. When the propeller is in position the planes will probably have to be readjusted. The tin propeller can be attached in a similar way. These propellers will do for almost any simple design of aeroplanes. When the motor is wound up for flight, the number of turns to give to the propeller will depend upon the strength and number of the elastic strands used. About a hundred turns is a usual number. Throw the motor forward in a slightly downward direction; because it is a glider it will tend to follow a gentle curve to the ground at first, but the whirling propeller will tend to carry it forward and upward. The first attempts may be failures, but these models are well worth many trials. =The Hawk Aeroplane= (Fig. 487) is a common flying toy worked as the above by elastic. Cut two blocks of wood, A, A´; make holes in them as shown. Into the square holes fix and glue two square rods C. Through A´ bore a hole for the piece of cane, B B´, to pass through. F is a wire spindle with a hook at one end for elastic; it passes through the hole in block A´, through two beads, and through a piece of cork, F, into which it must be fixed. K is a piece of cane bent as in diagram, passing through a hole in cork, H. The bend is more _permanent_ if the cane is held to the spout of a boiling kettle; the ends of K should be slightly warped in opposite directions. Into block A another wire hook is fixed and bands of elastic are passed over this hook and the opposite one, as in the diagram; the more bands the better. The cane B B´ is bent round at each end and fastened to the wooden rods, C C, by thread. The cane, K K, is fastened by thread as in the diagram; the thread can pass through a hole in the cork. Spaces T, T, T, T are covered with thin tissue paper gummed to thread and cane by means of overlapping edges. The model is wound up and set going like the previous one. Care must be taken to have it properly balanced, and it must be made as light as possible; the blocks A, A´ may very well be cut from cork. Light bamboo cane can be used for posts, C C. At its best, however, the Hawk Aeroplane is not so good a flyer as the first model described. [Illustration: FIG. 487] An ambitious and clever boy who has once grasped the principles on which flying-machines are made can think out many models for himself and copy some of the more elaborate ones. The biplane makes a very effective toy, but is omitted here because it is somewhat difficult to construct. CHAPTER XXIV MORE OLD-FASHIONED TOYS =Jacob's Ladder.= This is a very old and ingenious puzzle and an amusing toy. It is very simply made. A number of blocks of wood must be made, 4" � 2-1/2" � 3/8". Any number may be used, but not less than seven; twelve is a very good number. [Illustration: FIG. 488] [Illustration: FIG. 489] Round the edges of the blocks and make them smooth with sand-paper, as in Fig. 488. Cut strips of tape about 1/4 inch wide and long enough to go over the rounded ends of the blocks, _a_, _b_, _b_, etc., in Fig. 488. There are three tapes to each block. Nail and glue tape _a_ to the centre of upper end of block A; it is then brought over and downward under the middle of the lower end of block B and fastened. Tapes _b b_ are now fastened to the opposite end of A about 1/4 inch from the end on either side, and are then brought round the opposite end of B, as shown in the diagram. The centre tape _c_ is fastened to B and then brought down underneath to centre of the opposite end of C. The tapes must be arranged like this throughout the whole set of blocks. [Illustration: FIG. 490] Fig. 489 shows how the blocks are held when they are all complete. Top block A must be turned so as to bring the second block to the same level. The top of this block then falls, and it appears to pass rapidly down first on one side and then on the other, until it reaches the bottom. This is only what _seems_ to happen. What really happens is that the second block becomes reversed and falls back again, in its former position. This makes it come level with the third block, which at once falls over on the fourth, and so on to the end of the ladder. A very illusive effect is thus produced. The blocks might be coloured with some bright enamel paint, contrasting colours on opposite sides. =The Trellis Toy= (Fig. 490). The strips of wood for this toy should be as thin as possible. They are fastened together at points 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., by small pieces of wire, or by rivets bent down to prevent their slipping off, but not too tightly, so that the toy works easily. Heads can be cut out of cardboard painted and glued to the wood. Strips A and B should be wider at one end and have holes made in them for handles. =A Running Mouse.= This toy is made of fret-wood, two ordinary reels and elastic. Choose two reels of about 1-1/2 inches in length, diameter about 1 inch. Cut out a piece of wood, A, to measurements given (Fig. 491). With a fret-saw cut out the head (Fig. 492); slit B is a little wider than the thickness of the wood, so that the head wags about very easily when wired to the body (Fig. 494). Cut out four legs as in Fig. 493. The reels work behind these so that the shape of the leg partly hides them. Nail the back legs to the body as shown in Fig. 494. Make a round axle to fit one of the reels so that it turns easily on it; cut it the exact length of the distance between the two back legs, pass it through the reel and glue its ends, C, to the legs so that the reel comes slightly below the legs and can run along easily. Now make holes, D, in the front legs, and nail them to the body so that holes D are on a level with the axle C. Make a hole through the body A, midway between the front legs, through which the string, E, will pass. Make holes in the other reel and insert wire staples at each end as in Fig. 495. Fasten to and wind round the reel about a yard of string. Pass rubber bands through each staple (F in Fig. 495) and through the holes D in the front legs and knot on the outside. Pass the string through the hole in A (Fig. 496). =To fasten Head on.= Make two holes in the head exactly over each other, G and H in Fig. 492. Slip the head on to the body and make a hole through the body, between holes G and H, as shown in Fig. 497. Bend a piece of wire as in Fig. 498, distance between bent ends being equal to distance between holes G and H; slip the wire through the hole in the body, pass the ends of the wire through holes G and H, then bend the ends over to the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 498; the mouse's head will then swing from side to side. Make a hole in end at L (Fig. 494) and insert a tail of thick string. A piece of wood, M, shaped as in Fig. 494, may be glued along part of the body, A, a little to one side so as not to interfere with string, E. The whole may be suitably coloured. [Illustration: FIG. 491] [Illustration: FIG. 492] [Illustration: FIG. 493] [Illustration: FIG. 494] [Illustration: FIG. 495] [Illustration: FIG. 496] [Illustration: FIG. 497] [Illustration: FIG. 498] [Illustration: FIG. 499] [Illustration: FIG. 500] The toy works in this way. If it is placed on the floor and the string held, the weight of the toy will make the twine unwind, thus causing the elastic which supports the reel to twist. When the string is slackened, the elastic will untwist again, making the reel revolve and the toy run along the ground. Figs. 499 and 500 show a black beetle that can be made in the same way; the antennæ may be made of wire. Other suitable animals are a lizard and a crocodile. [Illustration: FIG. 501] [Illustration: FIG. 502] [Illustration: FIG. 503] =A Hygroscope.= The cottage is made of thin wood about 1/8 inch to 3/8 inch in thickness, according to measurements given in Fig. 501. The sides are about 3-1/2 inches. The platform or floor on which it stands, 6-1/2 inches by 4 inches. The sides of the roof are 4 inches by 4 inches, so that it projects slightly. The doors in front are 1-1/4 inches wide and 3 inches high, and are cut out with the fret-saw; about half-an-inch of the partition between the doors is cut away to allow the disc on which the figures stand to swing round. Cut with fret-saw a circular disc of wood 1/8 inch thick, diameter 3 inches. Drill a hole through the centre and fit into it quite tightly a piece of wire bent into a loop as shown in Fig. 502. Drill a hole in the floor of the cottage, about an inch from the middle of the partition. The wire axle should fit into this so that it turns easily, but not too loosely, otherwise the disc on which the figures stand will wobble. Just over this hole there must be another hole in the roof. This can be made by filing, with round fret-saw file, a little hollow (Fig. 503) in each of the top sides of the roof, so that when they come together a hole is formed. The back, sides, floor and roof may now be nailed and glued together. Next cut out from three-ply wood with the fret-saw two little figures as in Fig. 501; they should be about 2 inches to 2-1/4 inches, and should be suitably coloured. These are glued to the wooden disc. The disc is hung from the roof by a piece of catgut; a knot is made at the end to prevent it slipping through, the other end being tied to the wire loop; the wire passes through the hole in the floor. The catgut must be long enough to allow the disc to turn round completely on its axis. Four pieces of wood or four small reels are glued to the corners of the floor to prevent the wire axle from touching the ground. The front must not be put on until the model is found to work correctly. To do this, hang the disc so that it is parallel to the ground, and so that both figures are looking out of their respective doors; then tie the knot at the top and wait for a change of weather. Supposing on a damp day the cricketer comes forward and the boy in mackintosh and sou'wester retires indoors, this is because the catgut is twisting the wrong way, therefore the end that is fastened to the roof must be fastened to the wire loop, and vice versa. Now the front can be glued on. It can be suitably painted, showing door-posts, windows, bricks, etc. =Why the Hygroscope works.= Catgut has the peculiar property of absorbing moisture from the air and twisting up and becoming shorter; when the air is dry it untwists to its original length; the damper the air the greater is the amount of the twist. Hence in the model, as the catgut twists and untwists according to the state of the atmosphere, the little figures swing in and out of the cottage doors. CHAPTER XXV LIFT, PONT ROULANT, TOWER BRIDGE [Illustration: FIG. 504] =A Lift.= There are a variety of ways of making a lift. One of the simplest is shown in this chapter. The first essential is a wooden box, oblong if possible, so that there can be many floors. The measurements given in this chapter are for quite a small model made from a shallow oblong box, 9-1/2 inches by 14-3/4 inches, and about 2-1/2 inches in depth. Sand-paper the inside and cover it with some pretty paper. Mark off distances A C and B D (Fig. 504) equal to 2-1/2 inches; rule lines A B and C D along the bottom of the box; glue pieces of stripwood 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch (A B and C D in Fig. 504) along the bottom of the box for the lift to run up and down between. The lift is made next. Cut two pieces of wood 2-1/2 inches by 2-1/4 inches; nail to the corners of one piece four pieces of stripwood, 1/4" � 1/4" � 3". Fasten the other piece of wood to these four posts by means of screw-eyes. Now leave the lift for a while. Cut two pieces of cardboard, A B E F and C D H G, to divide the box into three long divisions, as in Fig. 504. See that they project 1/4 inch beyond the box. Divide these strips into three parts and draw and cut out doors as in the diagram; the line for the floors must, of course, be well above the top of the lift, while the height of the doors must correspond to that of the lift. Now glue these strips of cardboard to the pieces of stripwood A B and C D as in diagram; see that the doors open into the rooms on each side, and not into the lift. See that the lift runs easily up and down between the cardboard strips; sand-paper it if it does not. Make four holes in the top of the box, _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_ in Fig. 505. Tie thread or black yarn to the screw-eyes, cross it and pass it through the holes as in the figure, then pass the four cables through screw-eye K. When the lift is on the ground, pull the strings taut and tie a knot below the screw-eye. The lift can be raised by means of winding gear attached to the side as described in Chapter V, on the crane; the weight of the lift will pull it down again, or if this is not enough it can be weighted with lead. Fig. 505 shows another way of working the model. Screw-eyes can be fastened to the bottom of the lift and thread tied to them as before; these threads must pass through four holes in the bottom of the box, through a hole in the support L M and through screw-eye Q; the bottom strings are then knotted to the top strings at R, and the lift can be lowered and raised by moving knot R up and down. The supports N P and L M are made of pieces of stripwood 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch. [Illustration: FIG. 505] [Illustration: FIG. 506] Cut a door out of cardboard as shown in Fig. 506 and glue it over the front of the lift. (In Fig. 506 the dotted lines are half cuts, the black lines are cut.) Nail strips of wood 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch, E F and H G, in front of the lift and glue the pieces of cardboard to them. They keep the lift from falling forward. If the lift is moved up and down, as shown in Fig. 505, it is best for it to fit fairly tightly so that it stays into whatever position it is pulled. Cardboard floors, 1, 2, 3, 4 (Fig. 504), are added, and kept in position by pieces of stripwood. The rooms on each side can be furnished according to taste and according to their size. The lift itself may be finished off with advertisements, directions to travellers, etc., according as it is intended for use in a railway station, a hotel, a store, etc. This toy, although so simply made, is very effective. =Pont Roulant at Saint-Malo.= This is a pretty model to make. First glue four pieces of stripwood, 3/8" � 1/8" � 4-1/2", together (A A A A in Fig. 507). Nail and glue to the corners of this framework four round rods, 10-1/4 inches long and 1/4 inch in diameter. Dowel rods such as these are somewhat difficult to nail on; however, should the wood of the little frame split, or the hole in the dowel rod be made too large for the nail, and so make the structure unsteady, the discs of cork (C in Fig. 507), which have a hole filed in the middle of them and are glued to the rods and the framework, help to consolidate the whole. Similar discs of cork are placed round the middle of rods, B, and at the tops of the rods. These serve to hold the black yarn which rigs the structure. The pieces of cork at the top have the additional advantage of making a steadier base for the platform to rest on. If the poles are not all cut exactly the same length, the discs of cork can be raised above the shorter poles and the platform on top made perfectly horizontal. These cork discs also give a larger surface to glue the platform to. Instead of dowel rods, iron wire 1/8 inch in diameter can be used. These wire rods must have cork discs on them like the wooden rods, but they must be glued into holes in the lower framework and in the platform. Having fixed the rods in position, thread is tied underneath a bottom piece of cork (C^5 in diagram), passed over the top of rod B^3 and kept there by the cork disc at the top, round the bottom of post B^4 and under the bottom cork, over the next post and so on, so that the threads cross each other as in the diagram. Thread is also tied round the middle of the rods just above corks C^1, C^2, C^3, and C^4. Thread is also tied from C^2 to C^3, and C^1 to C^4. Pieces of stripwood, 3/8" � 1/8" � 4-1/2", are glued across the frame A A A A. Next the platform has to be made; this is a piece of wood 8-1/2 inches square and 1/8 inch in thickness. Before gluing it on to the four posts it is best to make and fasten to it the cabin, railings, etc. [Illustration: FIG. 507] [Illustration: FIG. 508] The cabin, E, in the middle is 3 inches square and 2 inches high; it is cut out of cardboard. Flanges must be left for gluing it to platform, and for gluing the roof to it. Doors and windows are drawn round it or cut out. The cabin is then glued in the middle of platform D. The roof is a piece of cardboard 3-1/4 inches by 8-1/2 inches. Fig. 508 shows how it is cut out, half cuts are made along the dotted lines, and G, K, H, M are bent up to form the ornaments G, K, H, M in Fig. 507. The roof is glued to the top of cabin, E, and to the tops of posts, N, which are pieces of stripwood 1/4" � 1/4" � 2". Triangular pieces of cardboard are glued in the corners, as P in Fig. 507. [Illustration: FIG. 509] The railings are 1 inch high; they can either be made of strips of cardboard 1 inch by 8-1/2 inches supported at the corners and in the middle by pieces of stripwood 1/4" � 1/4" � 1", with criss-cross lines drawn on them, or be made as in Fig. 509, where A B and C D are strips of cardboard 1/4 inch wide, F is stripwood 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch, and 1, 2, 3, etc., are parts of match sticks glued to the cardboard strips. Seats can be placed round the railings, and round the cabin where there are no doors. A piece of stripwood, R, 1/2" � 1/2" � 1-1/2", is cut and filed as in Fig. 507 and glued to the middle of the roof. The platform is then glued to the tops of the posts with their surrounding corks. The frame, A A A A, is mounted on wheels 1-1/8 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch in width. The axles are pieces of stripwood 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch, to which the frame A A is glued. The rails on which it runs (_a b_ in Fig. 507) are made in a similar manner to those described in Chapter XIII, for the transporter bridge. It is pulled along by thread tied to screw-eyes X and Y, and wound up by winding gear similar to that described in Chapter XIII. [Illustration: FIG. 510] Fig. 510 shows how high tide can be represented by means of boxes and cardboard; D, E, F are boxes which form a quay into which the car runs. A, B, C are pieces of cardboard resting on pieces of stripwood glued to boxes D, E, F, and similar boxes on the other side, or the cardboard can rest on boxes. If boxes cannot be found big enough for D, E and F, several boxes can be built up. Slots _a b_ and _c d_ must be left wide enough for the supports to pass freely, and the threads must be omitted at front and back. The rails must lie exactly under slots _a b_ and _c d_. The pieces of cardboard A, B and C should be coloured blue. The thread from the car underneath the "water" can pass into box F and up through a hole in the top, where the winding gear can be placed, but, of course, it can be worked from below. Sheets of cardboard A and C can be surrounded by boxes or fastened in a large box, or have cardboard walls built around it. =Tower Bridge.= A very simple and effective model of Tower Bridge can be made, which will prove a delightful plaything. The measurements given in this chapter need not be followed, but the bridge can be made larger or smaller according to taste. The whole structure can be of wood or of wood and cardboard. Two small boxes are required, made of wood 1/4 inch thick, about 4 inches in length, breadth and height. (If such small boxes cannot be found they must be made.) Take off one side of box, A B C D in Fig. 511, which shows the mechanism of the toy. Into the edges D F and C E screw two small screw-eyes, G and H, about 1/4 inch from the top. [Illustration: FIG. 511] Now cut a piece of wood 8-1/4 inches long for the bridge. The width of bridge _a b_ must be equal to width of interior of box. For the present model it will be 3-1/2 inches. The wood used for the bridge should be about 1/8 inch thick. Now rule a line 5-3/4 inches from end _a b_. On this line screw in two small screw-eyes, K and L, of the same size as screw-eyes G and H. The axle, M N, may be either iron wire (in which case the bridge may work rather loosely) or, what is better, a wooden rod that just fits the screw-eyes. Whichever axle is chosen cork discs should be placed at each end to prevent it slipping out. Before the bridge is fastened on, screw-eyes O and P are screwed in it near the end _c d_. Screw-eye P must be far enough from the edge _b d_ to clear screw-eye R when the bridge is upright. The same with screw-eye O. A piece of strong thread is tied to screw-eye P, passed through screw-eye R, and through a hole in the drawbridge above screw-eye R, but clear of axle, M N. A similar piece of thread is tied to screw-eye O, passed through Q, and through a hole in the bridge. Now cover up top, A B C D, with a piece of cardboard, but do not bring this quite up to B C, in order not to interfere with the working of the bridge. Make holes in the cardboard for the strings to pass through. Then cover up the front portion, D C F E, below the bridge with cardboard. The tower (Fig. 512) must next be made. This is formed of one piece of cardboard: height, _a b_, 9 inches; width, _c d_, 3-1/4 inches. In the sides facing the bridge large openings, E, are cut about 2-1/2 inches high. Small openings, F and G, about 1-1/2 inches high and 3/4 inch broad, are cut for the overhead foot bridges. These are made of long pieces of cardboard 2 inches broad, bent in three divisions to form the path and sides. The latter are marked to represent railings. They should be long enough to pass well inside the tower through openings F and G, and through the corresponding openings in the opposite tower. They can be glued into position by pieces of stripwood or left movable. A door, A, should be made in the top of the tower and a platform put in to make a compartment for working the bridge. The pieces of thread are brought up through holes in this platform and fastened to rod B, which passes through holes in sides of tower, and is kept from slipping out by cork discs. When this rod is turned the bridge will rise or fall. If a large model is being made a proper little windlass with a handle can be constructed inside the upper room of the tower. The threads pass up on each side of the tower so as not to interfere with the "traffic" passing under the arch of the bridge. The tower is fastened up with flanges and glued to the wooden box with the help of small blocks of wood. A square pyramid is placed on the top of the tower, and the whole is suitably coloured. A picture of the real Tower Bridge is a great help when finishing off the model. A similar bridge and tower are made for the other side. [Illustration: FIG. 512] To keep the wooden boxes the right distance apart (that is, so that bridge X just touches bridge Y) nail or glue them to a long strip of wood painted blue. There is, however, no need to fasten them permanently. The ingenious toy-maker will find a hundred ways of improving this toy. There are many additions that can be made if a picture of the Tower Bridge is consulted; cardboard paths can lead to bridge X, round the outside of the tower; railings can be added to bridges X and Y (but see that they are not in the way when the bridge goes up!), and so on. The method of raising and lowering the bridges is capable of a number of modifications. It should be the pleasant business of the maker to improve this model, and not be content with too slavishly following the directions given. Bridges are among the most interesting things in the world, and there are countless happy hours in front of the little toy-maker who sets to work to collect pictures and written accounts of bridges, and who tries to imitate these. CHAPTER XXVI SOLDERING. SCREW STEAMER. TOYS WORKED BY WIND AND BY CONVECTION CURRENTS =Soldering.= A knowledge of soldering makes many more toys possible, besides being a useful acquirement in itself. The following are the materials needed: 1. A soldering iron (Fig. 513). This can be bought for sixpence at any ironmonger's. It is best to get one not too long in the stem, as otherwise it is difficult to hold it steady. 2. A strip of soft solder, price about three-halfpence. 3. Soldering fluid or flux. This can be made at home from a pennyworth of spirits of salt (from an oil shop). Put a little of the spirits into a separate bottle and drop a few scraps of zinc into it. When it has stopped "fizzing" it is ready for use. 4. A pennyworth of resin. 5. A piece of sheet tin. Soldering is not nearly so difficult as people think. There is one thing really essential for its success, and that is unlimited patience in cleaning the metal surfaces to be joined together. Solder will not adhere to dirty metal. The surfaces must be thoroughly scraped and cleaned with an old knife, then filed, rubbed with emery-cloth and protected by a coating of flux. The flux required for use should be kept in a shallow dish (_e.g._ a meat-paste jar), to prevent it being upset; it can be put on with a small brush. The copper bit of the soldering iron must be covered with a thin film of solder before any soldering is done; this is to ensure that it is perfectly free from dirt or dust. This process is called "tinning the bit." It is quite simple. Heat the iron to a dull red heat, not quite red hot, as the solder would otherwise be destroyed. Then quickly file the four faces of the point to remove any dirt or oxide that may have got on it and which would prevent the solder from sticking to the bit. Next dip the bit for a second or two in the soldering fluid and melt off a drop of solder on to the piece of sheet tin on which is put a little piece of resin. Turn the point of the bit round and round in the melted solder until it is completely coated. It is very important that the soldering iron should at no time be overheated, as this tinning would be burnt off; nor can it be repeated too often that the surfaces to be joined must be thoroughly cleaned; failure to do this is in most cases the cause of unsuccessful soldering. [Illustration: FIG. 513] [Illustration: FIG. 514] To solder handle A to B (Fig. 514). Thoroughly clean that part of B to which A is to be fastened, and handle A, rubbing the edges of A with emery-cloth. Place A on B and rub a little flux with a brush along the join. Dip the bit into the flux and drop a spot or two of solder on the edges by applying the heated iron to the end of the strip of solder. Apply the bit to the solder and trail the solder with the point of the hot iron round the join so that it is filled up. A little practice will soon enable this to be done successfully, and the skill thus acquired makes the following toy possible. =A Steamer with a Screw Propeller.= Fig. 515 shows the size and shape of the steamer. It should be about 4 inches wide amidships, 3-1/2 inches deep, and hollowed out as thin as possible, according to directions given in Chapter XIV. Fig. 516 shows the measurements for the stern. The bows should be sharp. This boat must be fairly large to take the tube which runs through it. Fasten a strip of lead 1/8 inch thick to the bottom of the keel. Paint the boat a suitable colour. When it is dry place it in the water and mark on the stern-post, A B (Fig. 516), the height to which the water comes, for the propeller must come just below this. Midway between this point and the end of the keel bore a hole, C, in the stern-post, through the boat in the direction of the top of the bow. This hole should be 3/8 inch wide and can be made with a red-hot wire. A brass tube must now be bought from a gasfitter's, 3/8 inch [Illustration: FIG. 515] [Illustration: FIG. 516] [Illustration: FIG. 517] [Illustration: FIG. 518] [Illustration: FIG. 519] [Illustration: FIG. 520] [Illustration: FIG. 521] [Illustration: FIG. 522] [Illustration: FIG. 523] outside measurement, and long enough to reach from C to about 3-1/2 inches beyond the end of the bow. Now cut a piece of tin 3/4 inch wide and 2 inches long. Bend the middle of it round the tube and the ends outward (Fig. 517). Punch holes in each end. Solder this strip round the tube about 4-1/2 inches from one end. At this end file four teeth, about 1/8 inch deep, as in Fig. 518. Now push the end that is not filed through the hole in the stern from the inside of the boat, so that it is flush with the wood, and fasten the other end to the stem of the boat by driving small nails through the holes in the strip of tin into the boat. To prevent water entering the boat put some putty round the tube where it passes through the wood. Before fastening the tube in the boat, round out the end of the bow slightly so that the tube will rest securely on it without projecting too much above the gunwale. Make the deck and fix it as described in Chapter XIV. Bore a hole, D, in Fig. 516, near the stern right through the deck so that it comes out under the counter about 1 inch from the stern-post. It should be large enough for a piece of stout wire to pass through. This is for the rudder. =To make the Rudder.= Cut a piece of brass wire about 1/16 inch thick, 6-1/4 inches long. Cut the rudder out of tin and shape as in Fig. 519. Solder it on to the wire so that the end of the rudder is flush with the end of the wire. Pass the wire through the hole, D, and bend as in Fig. 519. Cut a strip of tin about 1/3 inch in width, punch holes in it, point the ends, bend them over and fasten them into the deck so that the strip is under the bend, E, of the tiller. Press the tiller over and into one of these holes; thus the rudder can be held firm in its required position for steering. In the middle of the deck cut a hole about 3/4 inch in diameter for the funnel, which is a tube of tin about 4 inches long. =The Propeller.= Cut a circle of tin 2 inches in diameter and inscribe a hexagon; cut as in Fig. 520, the shaded portions being cut away. Punch a hole in the centre and into this fix, by soldering, a piece of brass wire (1/16 inch thick), 2 inches long, to form an axle. Warp the fans of the propeller out of the plane of the circle about 1/4 inch. Make two pieces of wood shaped as in Fig. 521. Bore a hole through each and by filing with a small round fret-saw file enlarge it to 1/16 inch. Put a glass bead, F (Fig. 522), on wire of propeller, and put the wire through one of the pieces of wood, bend the end into a small hook. Take another piece of wire, pass it through the second piece of wood and bend it as in Fig. 523. Now take a piece of strong elastic, 1/4 inch wide and about 3-1/2 feet long; tie the ends together. This must be passed through the tube in the boat. To do this, tie a piece of string to the elastic, and drop the string through the tube from the stern end, and by means of the string pull the elastic through, first hooking one end of it to the hook on the propeller wire, Fig. 522. Then push the piece of wood, G, into the tube, so that the screw clears the rudder. Now hook wire, H (Fig. 523), into the elastic, and push wood, K, into tube. The wood must be cut away so that the handle, M, can catch in the teeth of the tube. To make the boat work, hold the propeller steady with one hand and wind up the elastic by the handle, M; put the handle in one of the teeth to keep the elastic twisted; set the rudder, put the boat into the water, let go the propeller and the boat will go on until the elastic is unwound. Instead of one band of elastic, several thinner bands may be used, and more motive power can thus be obtained. =Toys worked by the Wind.= Cut out of fret-wood (1/8 inch thick), or three-ply wood, a man reading a paper with one foot raised and resting on a box. The man should be about 5-3/4 inches and his raised foot 1 inch from the ground, as in Fig. 524. The shoeblack is cut out in three pieces. First the kneeling portion, A (Fig. 525), is cut 2 inches high and a hole made at _b_; then the head with part of the arm to the elbow attached, as H in Fig. 526, about 1-3/4 inches high, and with holes at _d_ and _e_; then the hand (with long shoe-brush) and arm to elbow, as K in Fig. 527; make a hole at _f_. Length of K 2-1/4 inches. Now join K to H by wire or a rivet through holes _f_ and _e_, so that it swings loosely, then join H to A by a wire through holes _d_ and _b_. Colour these two figures suitably. The base on which the figures rest is a piece of wood about 12 inches by 3 inches. The next thing to be made is the mechanism that works the figures. First cut a piece of stripwood 1/4" � 1/4" � 7", A in Fig. 524. The fan or propeller, B, is made by cutting a small circular piece of wood or cork about 1 inch in diameter and securely fixing round it five wind flaps as shown. These flaps are best made of tin. [Illustration: FIG. 524] [Illustration: FIG. 525] [Illustration: FIG. 526] [Illustration: FIG. 527] [Illustration: FIG. 528] Now get a piece of stout copper wire (about 1/16 inch thick), D in Fig. 524, and bend it as in diagram. The best way to effect this bend is first to make a sort of elongated =U=, as in Fig. 528; this can be done with pincers. Then put part A in a vice and bend B C and D E out at right angles. Cut it the right length so that the bend will come on a level with the shoeblack's brush and one end will come above post, A. The wire, D, should be pointed or well smoothed with a file at the lower end, so that it will turn easily on a piece of glass glued to the base. Wire D is supported by two wire hoops or screw-eyes placed in post A. The holes through which it passes must not be too large or it will wobble and not turn smoothly. Now all the parts are ready for putting together. Glue the shoeblack on first, then opposite to him the man. See that the brush passes over the shoe. If for any reason this does not happen, a larger brush can be cut from wood or cardboard and pasted over the shoeblack's hand. Now fasten post A behind the man so that the bend of the wire, D, will be in the right position; pass wire, D, through the wire loops or hooks (these are best made of copper wire); glue the top of it into the hole in the propeller. Glue a piece of glass, E, under the other end. Connect by a thin piece of wire the shoeblack's brush with bend in D. The figure will now work well in the wind. The shoeblack is the toy one most often sees worked in this way. A man sawing wood is another favourite model, and can be made in exactly the same way. Two knights fighting can also be made; this involves, however, two propellers. =Toys worked by Convection Currents.= These are less interesting toys because they do not admit of much variety. The toy is worked over a gas burner, where it acts as a ceiling protector. As the power available from convection currents is very slight, every care must be taken that the figure will work smoothly. As the toy is exposed to heat, the soldering must be well done. Fig. 529 shows how the toy is made. The little sailor is cut out of sheet metal (tinned plate); his limbs are fixed by means of rivets or eyelets (the latter are obtainable at a boot repairer's). Take care that they move freely. They will do so if the holes are very smooth. The wire used is steel wire about 1/16 inch; this is fairly easy to bend. Wire A B is bent as already described in the shoeblack. It passes through loops in the wire at A and D. It is kept from slipping through at A by a ring of wire soldered on the top. [Illustration: FIG. 529] The propeller at B is simply a tin disc with radial cuts, each sector being twisted at an angle by a pair of pliers. The propeller is held by a turn in the wire and by a touch of solder. Notice that the feet of the figure are turned round the wire on which it stands. They can be soldered for greater security. The hand is also curled round the crank pin, but it must be free to turn on it. The wire framework, E, is soldered to a circle of tin, C, which fits on the top of the lamp. As the figure has to be small it should be as long as possible. A pair of scissors should be kept for cutting tin, or tinman's snips can be used; cutting pliers and centre punches will also be needed. Holes, however, can be punched in tin with strong round nails and a hammer. Round files are needed for making holes smooth. Empty tin canisters form a supply of tin plate. Adjustable cycle spanners are useful for bending wire at right angles; a hide mallet is a great convenience. Before making a toy like one of those described it is well to practise bending wire with vice, hammer and mallet. In the last toy, if tinned plate and tinned steel wire are used, the soldering is a fairly easy matter, because the tinning has already been done. CHAPTER XXVII BUILDINGS AT HOME AND ABROAD =A Farmhouse.= Young children, having cut out of cardboard or fret-wood the animals and trees described in Chapter XX, having constructed a bridge, a well, a dove-cot, and other small models scattered through this volume, take considerable pleasure in arranging their toys into pretty groups and attractive combinations. At this stage the lack is often felt of some object of central interest, of something to 'pull the composition together,' as an art critic would put it: the farm scene requires a farm, the domestic scene a villa, the Eastern animals and trees an Indian temple, or some such building, to complete the picture. With regard to home scenes, children may be advised at this stage to make for themselves any house or building that suits their fancy. The basis of the toy will always be the four walls plus a roof described in the Noah's Ark (Part I, Chapter X); more complicated cardboard work has already been studied in the castle (Part II, Chapter X), so children who are ambitious to achieve something more picturesque than the Noah's Ark may be advised to go out into the suburbs or the country, and sketch any simple building, or set of buildings, which they would like to reproduce. Such work, once attempted, becomes extremely fascinating, and leads to very picturesque and delightful results. To do really good work, however, children must accustom themselves to _plan_ very carefully what they propose to do, and to convert their sketches into a set of drawings to scale, which, in the case of a building, should include at least a ground plan and a couple of elevations. Figs. 530 and 531 show how to lay down the plan and elevations of a simple building of the 'Noah's Ark' type, to which have been added a front and a back door, with porches, bay and storm windows, chimney-stacks, and an outhouse at the back. Fig. 532 is the front elevation to half scale. [Illustration: FIG. 530] [Illustration: FIG. 531] [Illustration: FIG. 532] [Illustration: FIG. 533] The addition of another entirely detached outhouse with wide door at one end, for a cowshed, to face the back of the main building and form the third side of a square, will give the nucleus of quite an attractive farm. When once the plans have been drawn, a scale is plotted below to suit any size to which it is intended to build; all the dimensions shown in plan and elevation are then taken as required with dividers, read off on the scale, taken anew on a foot-rule, and transferred to the wood or cardboard. The scale given on the figure is for quite a large house, the ground plan of the main building measuring 15 inches by 10 inches, and that of the outhouse 10 inches by 5 inches. These two buildings had best be constructed on separate bases, and need not be permanently joined; the roof of the outhouse can be carried rather further into that of the main building than is indicated by the line C H E, and the main roof alone cut carefully to the line C H E. If the main roof is made detachable, building A B C D will form a receptacle for the outhouses and the whole farm stock. The broken line surrounding A B C D and C E F G indicates the dimensions. A house of this size is best built with a base and walls of wood obtained from some grocers' boxes.[2] If the scale be marked so that points 0, 10, 20 read 0, 7-1/2, 15, giving a reduction to three quarters, the main building will measure 11-1/4 inches by 7-1/2 inches, and may be built entirely of cardboard. If the scale be marked so that points 0, 10, 20 read 0, 5, 10, A B and A D measuring respectively 7-1/2 inches and 5 inches, we shall have a small model that can be built of very light materials, such as stout cartridge paper on a cardboard base. [2] An excellent and very strong material for model-building is manufactured by Messrs James Spicer and Sons Limited, under the name of Rough Cast Building Board. It has a most realistic white 'rough-cast' surface. It is obtainable in the size 18-1/2 inches � 24 inches from Messrs Richardson and Co., Stationers, 176 Charing Cross Road. The bay window will, of course, be made separately, and gummed into position by means of flanges. The porches may be detachable, like the outhouse; the front-door porch is built of eight pillars of stripwood, nailed and glued to a wood or cardboard base and to cross-beams above; between the pillars may be fixed a couple of seats, one on each side of the door. The back-door porch is supported by four pillars. The roofs are of cardboard. The ground-floor windows, indicated at W, may be either painted or cut out; in the latter case they may be made to open or may be fitted with celluloid window-panes; these you can beg from any amateur photographer of your acquaintance; he is sure to have plenty of 'waster' films. The doors should, of course, be made to open. The storm windows are easily made; the sides, K L M, are cut with angle L K M = half the angle K O P, the latter being in the present instance 72°. The shape of the window roofs can be arrived at by experimenting with a paper template, but more accurately by plotting them out to scale. Thus: draw Q' R' V' = Q R V, R' T' = R T, Q' S' and V' S" = Q S; join S' T' and S" T'; then Q' V' S" T' S' (Fig. 533) is the exact shape (leaving the flanges out of account) to which the storm-window roofs should be cut. The roofs over the front porch and the bay window, the chimney stacks, etc., are thought out and plotted in the same manner, the solving of these little problems being excellent practice, which may be turned to good account in after life. The village church, the village inn, if it is old and picturesque, should form good subjects for study and reproduction on the lines indicated above. For young people who have exhausted the possibilities of their immediate surroundings we give a few models from lands more remote. =The Taj Mahal, Agra.= This is one of the most famous buildings in India, and was erected by the Emperor Shah Jehan over the body of his favourite wife. A very pretty model which closely resembles it can be made as follows:-- In Fig. 534 the dome, A, is a plain india-rubber ball, circumference about 11 inches. Four india-rubber balls, circumference about 6 inches, are needed as B B, and four, circumference about 4-1/2 inches, for the four columns (C in Fig. 534) which surround the temple. Cut a piece of fairly thick cardboard, 7 inches square, for the roof of the temple. Cut off the corners as in Fig. 535. In the centre describe a circle with radius 1-3/8 inches, and round it four smaller circles of radius 7/8 inch. Cut a strip of thin cardboard 9 inches by 2 inches. Cut as in Fig. 536, leaving flanges of 1/2 inch. Roll round and fasten together with seccotine and two small paper-clips, size 00. This forms the part of the temple marked D in Fig. 534. It is glued to the roof by the flanges, etc., and ball, A, is glued into it. [Illustration: FIG. 534] [Illustration: FIG. 535] [Illustration: FIG. 540] [Illustration: FIG. 541] [Illustration: FIG. 542] [Illustration: FIG. 543] [Illustration: FIG. 544] Before fastening it together, mark on it in ink the pattern indicated in Fig. 536. [Illustration: FIG. 536] [Illustration: FIG. 537] [Illustration: FIG. 538] [Illustration: FIG. 539] Cut four strips of thin cardboard 5-1/2 inches by 1-1/4 inches; mark off 1/4 inch for flanges; cut each as in Fig. 537; bend them round and fasten together; glue the smaller balls, B, B, into them and glue them on the roof just over the smaller circles. Cut four strips of cardboard 5 inches by 1 inch; cut and mark as in Fig. 537, and glue this round the smallest balls, C. Measure distances _ha_, _ab_, _bc_, _cd_, etc. (Fig. 535), on a piece of cardboard, and mark out as in Fig. 538. Make half cuts along the dotted lines and leave flanges as shown. Distance _ak_ = _ah_ and _lb_ = _bc_ = _cm_ = _nd_. Make and cut out the windows and arch. Cut another piece of cardboard similar to this. These two bent round and joined together form the sides of the temple. Now cut a piece of cardboard as in Fig. 539, leaving flanges all round. Bend it round and gum it together. This is gummed underneath the roof, before fastening on the outer walls, and serves a double purpose; it helps to support the roof on which the domes rest, and prevents the temple from looking too hollow when the windows are cut out. =To make Tower=, C E (Fig. 534). It consists of three rolls of thin cardboard, E F G, each about 2 inches high, circumference 4-1/2 inches. Circular pieces of cardboard, big enough to project about 1/4 inch beyond the columns, form the platforms, H, J, K. Underneath each platform triangular pieces of cardboard are glued, as in Fig. 540. Four of these columns stand round the central building. It is a great improvement if rings of cardboard, 1/4 inch wide, are made and glued round all the smaller domes, as shown in Fig. 541. Round the sides of the building strips of paper, L, M, N, O (Fig. 534), are gummed, rising about 1/2 inch from the roof, with patterns drawn on them as in Fig. 543. Little cardboard turrets (Fig. 542) are cut out and gummed in each corner, P and Q (Fig. 534). Little cones of paper, made by rolling together a circle cut as in Fig. 544, may be glued to the tops of the domes. The whole should be mounted on a platform made of a piece of stout cardboard, X Y, about a foot square or a little larger, supported on match-boxes placed two together. A row of these across the middle will prevent the platform from sagging. Trees can be cut out as in Chapter XX, Figs. 431 and 436, to stand round the temple. =A Pagoda=, or memorial tower, in the province of Quei Chow in China (Fig. 545). This is made of nine hexagonal prisms. The bottom one is 2 inches high, the sides being also two inches; the dimensions of the next are 1/8 inch less, the next another 1/8 inch less, and so on. The last prism has side 3/4 inch, height 3/4 inch. An ornament for the top can be filed from a cork or piece of round wood. The platforms project about 1/4 inch beyond the prisms; the supports may be cardboard or pieces of thin wood. The prisms are fastened together as described in the case of the lighthouse (Chapter XIII). The whole should be painted to represent stones, and doors marked on as in Fig. 545. [Illustration: FIG. 545] [Illustration: FIG. 546] Fig. 546 shows a =Mosque= in an oasis in the Sahara Desert. Here the dome, A, an india-rubber ball, is let into a circular hole in the roof. The towers or minarets are prisms of cardboard on top of each other, surmounted by a piece of dowel rod, one end being rounded to a point. Trees can be cut out as in the figure to form a background. Fig. 547 shows a =Japanese Pagoda=. This is built up in a similar manner to the Chinese pagoda. Parts A B C D are square prisms about 1 inch high; E F G are truncated square prisms. They are made like the reservoir described in the models worked by sand (Chapter XXI), but the upper parts have been cut off; they are glued to the squares of cardboard which rest upon the tops of A, B, C and D. A piece of cardboard is glued over the top of E so that B can rest upon it, and so on with the others; pieces of paper cut out as at H J are gummed round the edges. There are many interesting models that can be made in this way. Almost any good illustrated geography book will provide plenty of material from which pretty and interesting foreign scenes can be built up. [Illustration: FIG. 547] CHAPTER XXVIII A THEATRE This is a toy that will provide hours of happy play. There are many effective ways of making a toy theatre, and the planning and designing of one is a pleasant piece of work. This chapter gives a few suggestions to future theatre builders, who must adopt those that appeal most to them. A large stage is the most necessary part, so that there is plenty of room to set up the scenes and room for the actors. A small stage limits the choice of plays considerably. A pretty and useful theatre can be made thus. Get a wooden box 8-3/4 inches wide, about 1 foot long and 2-1/4 inches deep. (The theatre described in this chapter was made from a wooden box containing Fry's Nut Milk Chocolate--this box is exactly the right size.) This box forms the basis of the platform; stand it bottom upward, nail to the back of it a piece of wood, G H C D, which is 1 foot square (see Fig. 548). The platform, A B L M, is a piece of stiff cardboard or wood, A B is length of box, L M is 2 feet. This makes a fine large platform for arranging scenes. Pieces of stripwood 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch are glued across the platform, A L B M, each strip a little over a 1/4 inch from the other (the 1/4 inch side is glued to platform). About eleven strips can be thus glued across; their ends should project about 1/4 inch beyond the platform. The grooves thus formed are for running the actors up and down in. A piece of wood, _a b c d_, is now cut 2 feet by 3-1/4 inches. Holes are drilled along the top of it about 1/4 inch in diameter, and red paper gummed at the back of them for the footlights. Panels or a pretty design of some kind should be painted on it, or it may have coloured paper pasted on it. This piece of wood is glued to K J E F so that its ends project equally on each side. [Illustration: FIG. 548] Now cut two pieces of stripwood 1/2" � 1/4" � 16-1/4" (_e b_ and _f d_ in Fig. 548). Bevel the top ends to hold up cardboard roof _e f_ G H (the measurements for which can be easily found). The roof is secured by a flap glued behind A G H B, the roof is also glued to the tops of the strips _eb_ and _fd_. These posts are glued to sides of _abcd_. Before they are glued on, however, they must have holes drilled near their upper ends for pole, N O, to pass through. The curtain must be made of fairly thin stuff glued to pole, N O. It can be pulled up and down by means of pulley wheels attached on each side. (For making pulley see Part I, Chapter XIV.) Pieces of lead can be sewn in the corners to make the curtain run down more easily. Saw cuts are made across the strips of wood that cover the platform along lines B M and A L. Into these slits the side scenes fit. These side scenes are cut out of cardboard and have drawings and painting on them according to the story that is being acted. They must have slits cut in them (corresponding to the grooves in the platform), the number of slits depending on the number of actors. For example in Fig. 548 side scene H _f_ B M has an open door through which Red Riding Hood can be pushed. She is cut out of either cardboard or wood, and glued to the end of a piece of stripwood, 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch, by means of which she is pushed from the side along the groove in the stage and so off through the corresponding slit in scene G _e_ L A. (In Fig. 548 the Wolf is looking through this slot.) The window in scene H _f_ B M can be made to open and show the Grandmother inside. The cardboard scene, G H A B, is kept in its place by pieces of wire (_h_, _h_, _h_, _h_) fastened at the back and bent over. Almost any story can be acted in this theatre. All the actors are fastened to lengths of stripwood by means of which they are passed in and out. Sometimes two, three or more may be fastened to one length. The number of openings in the side scenes will, of course, depend on the story being acted. Trees, etc., can also be cut out as described in Chapter XX (Part II), and stood about. [Illustration: FIGS. 549 AND 550] [Illustration: FIG. 551] A sea scene looks very effective. Waves can be cut out of cardboard and placed in every groove, as in Fig. 549, and a ship drawn across. A shipwreck forms an exciting scene. Indeed, there is no end to the scenes--soldiers marching past, stories and scenes from history and literature, etc., etc. The ingenious owner of the theatre will think of many, and add many improvements. It must not be forgotten that the stage is large enough to hold small objects--trees, etc.--to make the scenes look more realistic. Also holes or slits can be made in the roof if it is necessary to pull anything up or hang anything. Fig. 549 shows how a fringe of paper, A, can be fastened to the roof and bent over to hide the pole on which the curtain is wound. Fig. 550 shows how the scenes are worked; as the Witch is pushed on from one side, the weeping Cinderella is pushed off; when she has quite gone and only the Witch remains, a radiant Cinderella comes on, followed by a coach, etc. Lastly, Fig. 551 shows a proscenium, which may be built up of either cardboard or wood, and fixed to the front of the theatre. The sides should project sufficiently to hide the working of the strips by means of which the actors are moved on the stage. * * * * * Here, for the present, we take leave of the reader, having given him or her some insight into a subject both pleasant and profitable. The preceding pages are no more than an introduction to the art of making toys, and of making the most of simple tools and simple materials, and their real purpose is to encourage our young people not only to copy but also to create, or at any rate to copy not only from our book but from the world around them. Dolls' houses and furniture, railways, boats and other vehicles offer endless possibilities of original and attractive design, and mechanical toys, whether driven by wind, water, elastic or the works of an old clock, offer an equally wide field for invention. At a later age girls will no doubt be ambitious to devise useful articles for the home, while boys may become interested in engineering and electrical models, optical toys, etc.; the deftness of hand, acquaintance with elementary principles, and self-confidence acquired through the simple work which we have described, should stand them in good stead. Self-reliance and ingenuity are valuable assets with which to start upon the more serious tasks of life, and if our hints on toy-making contribute in any way to the development of these qualities this book will not have been written in vain. * * * * * Transcriber's note: Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. Simple typographical and spelling errors were corrected. P. 99 added "or" between "bridges," & "picture". Seemed to make more sense than "and" which could also have been used.