Finally the clock struck five and Neddie finished his practice with a bang. It wasn’t music at all, but he did not care.
“Hurray!” he cried. “Practice is over. Now I can have some fun!”
Out of doors he rushed and more than ever he wished he were a player-piano, so that all he’d have to do would be to jump up and down with his feet when he wanted music. That is a good way to make nice sounds, too, on the player-piano, and I can play one or two pieces myself, that way. But, oh, how I wish I could play by hand!
However, Neddie’s friends were glad to see him come out again. They played football and nearly broke the window in Mrs. Wibblewobble’s duck pen, so that she had to run out and call to them:
“Now, boys, you must go right away from here. Play football somewhere else.”
So Neddie, the little bear boy, and his friends had to move along and look for a vacant lot where they could kick around their football without breaking any windows.
That night, when Mr. Stubtail, the bear papa, came home, he asked Neddie:
“Did everything go all right in school to-day?”
“Yes, sir,” answered Neddie politely.
“And when you came home did you practice your music lesson?”