The Story of a Stuffed Elephant | Page 9

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