"I hardly think so," was the answer. "He tramps along differently, his
feet making a noise like the beat of a drum. This is quite another
sound. But we had better keep still until we see what it is."

So all the toys kept quiet, and the noise came nearer and nearer and
nearer, and then, all of a sudden, there rolled along the floor a toy
Elephant on roller skates.

"Hello! Hello there, my toy friends!" cried the Elephant through his
trunk. "How are you all? And where is the White Rocking Horse? I'll have
a race with him. I tried to the other night, but one of my roller skates
jiggled off and then the watchman came and the race could not be run.
Where is the Rocking Horse?"

"Why, didn't you hear?" asked the Clown, as he sat up, for the toys knew
it would be all right now to move about and talk as they had been doing.

"Didn't I hear what?" asked the Elephant, sliding around on his roller
skates. "I hear a lot of things," he went on, "but these skates make so
much racket I can't hear very well when I have them on. They don't
really belong to me," he said, looking at the Candy Rabbit. "I just
borrowed them from the sporting section, as I did before, to race with
the White Rocking Horse."

"Well, you might have saved yourself the trouble," said the Monkey on a
Stick. "The White Rocking Horse isn't here any more. He was sold."

"Dear me!" exclaimed the Elephant. "That's too bad! Then I can't have a
race."