mother. "If you had taken care of it, it would be a good horse yet."

"Well, I couldn't help it 'cause his ears pulled off! I wanted him to
stop rocking and he wouldn't!" grumbled the rude boy. "I had to pull
his ears!"

"Gracious! Think of pulling off the ears of a rocking horse because he
wouldn't stay quiet!" said the Bold Tin Soldier to himself. "I hope
our White Horse doesn't get this boy for a master."

"I want this Horse! I want this one!" cried the boy, again banging his
heels on the side of the toy.

"No, Reginald, you cannot have it," said his mother,

"Then I want this Calico Clown!" the boy exclaimed, jumping off the
horse so quickly that the toy animal would have been knocked over,
only the young lady clerk caught it and held it upright.

The boy caught the Clown up in his hands, and began punching the toy
in the chest to make the cymbals bang together.

"Dear me, what a dreadful chap this boy is!" thought the Calico Clown.
"So rough!"

As for the White Rocking Horse, he began to feel better as soon as the
boy was out of the saddle. True, his wooden sides were somewhat
dented, but the young lady clerk said to her friend at the doll
counter: