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