"It's wrong to fight," remarked the Queen, reprovingly.
"Then what do you have soldiers for?" questioned Dot.
"Why, to march and drill and look pretty, of course," answered the Queen. "I thought everyone loved to see soldiers march."
"I suppose they do," said the girl.
"No one should wish to hurt such brightly dressed creatures," continued her Majesty, "nor should a soldier wish to harm anyone else."
"Yet the wooden Captain at the gate threatened to stick his sword into us," declared the child.
"That's different," replied the Queen. "The wooden soldiers are guardians of the Valley, and it is their duty to threaten and scare folks. But had the Captain really hurt you with his sword, I should have had the quarrelsome fellow chopped into kindling wood. He's quite dry and would burn nicely."
They sat for some time watching the pewter soldiers drill, and finally the entire army marched away again. When they had gone, the little village seemed as silent and deserted as it had been before.