Laura Lee Hope

“ 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.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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! ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”