SAVING THE CLOWN


"Ready! Take aim! Fire!" cried the Bold Tin Soldier Captain.

"Bang! Bang!" cracked the tin guns, some in the hands of one "army"
and some shot off by the other "army." The Soldiers had divided
themselves into two "armies," to give a make-believe fight to amuse
the other toys.

"Crack! Crack! Bang! Bang!" rattled the tin guns.

But the guns were so small and there was such a little bit of the
make-believe powder in each one that the noise they made would not
have broken an egg, to say nothing of hurting the ears of a Rag
Doll.

"Are you going to faint?" asked the Calico Clown of the Doll. He
stood with his arms stretched out, ready to catch her in case she
did.

"No! No, I don't believe I shall faint!" she answered. "Ha! Ha! Ha!"
she suddenly laughed.

"What is so funny?" asked the Calico Clown. "I didn't tell a joke or
ask a riddle, did I?" For that is what he sometimes did to make the
toys in the department store laugh.

"No, you didn't do anything," answered the Rag Doll. "It is just