The Story of a Nodding Donkey | Page 9

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