the room then, he and the Lamb could talk and move by themselves.

"I'm so glad you are here," went on the woolly pet "Tell me all that
has happened at the store since I was taken away. Is the Candy
Rabbit there yet? And the Monkey on a Stick and the Calico Clown?
Are they all there?"

"Yes. But the Clown had a sad accident just before I came away,"
said the Captain.

"Dear me, how dreadful! Was he hurt?" eagerly asked the Lamb on
Wheels, rolling over a little closer to the table on which stood the
Tin Soldiers and their Captain. None of the Soldiers spoke while
their Captain was talking, as that was not considered polite.

"No, the Clown wasn't exactly hurt," said the Captain, "but his
trousers were scorched."

"Oh, his lovely red and yellow trousers!" bleated the Lamb. "How
sad! Tell me about it, please!"

"Well, you see, the Clown was doing a few tricks to amuse us, and----"

"Hush, sir! Quiet if you please, sir!" exclaimed the Sergeant,
saluting his Captain. "Some one is coming, sir! I hear them, sir!"

And just then the door opened and Mirabell and Arnold came running
back into the room, the boy carrying a little wooden cannon and his
sister with a Wooden Doll in her hand--the doll that was to be a Red
Cross Nurse.