The Story of a Stuffed Elephant | Page 5

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?"