THE TIN SOLDIER


CHAPTER I

THE TOY SHOP

The lights shining through the rain on the smooth street made of it a
golden river.

The shabby old gentleman navigated unsteadily until he came to a
corner. A lamp-post offered safe harbor. He steered for it and took
his bearings. On each side of the glimmering stream loomed dark
houses. A shadowy blot on the triangle he knew to be a church. Beyond
the church was the intersecting avenue. Down the avenue were the small
exclusive shops which were gradually encroaching on the residence
section.

The shabby old gentleman took out his watch. It was a fine old watch,
not at all in accord with the rest of him. It was almost six. The
darkness of the November afternoon had come at five. The shabby old
gentleman swung away from the lamppost and around the corner, then
bolted triumphantly into the Toy Shop.

"Here I am," he said, with an attempt at buoyancy, and sat down.

"Oh," said the girl behind the counter, "you are wet."