“And he was such a good Captain!” added Dick.
And all this while the Bold Tin Soldier was in the dark barrel of sugar and was getting ready to climb up and out if he could!
No one was in the kitchen now. The cook had gone away and it was not yet time for supper. So, all unseen as he was in the barrel, the Tin Soldier could do as he pleased.
With his tin sword he began cutting little niches, or steps, in the wooden sides of the barrel. But as the wood was quite hard, and as the tin sword was not very sharp, it was not very easy work for the Captain.
As the afternoon passed, the other Soldiers in their box on a shelf in the playroom closet began to wonder what had become of their Captain.
“Some of us ought to go in search of him,” said the Sergeant.
“Yes, but we can’t go until after dark, when no one will see us moving about,” answered the Corporal. “That’s the worst of being a toy–we can not do as we please.”
“I hope the Captain has not deserted us,” said a private soldier.
“Deserted! I should say not!” cried the Sergeant. “Our Captain would never desert!”
Evening came. The cook came back and began to get supper. And by this time the Captain, in the sugar barrel, had cut several little niches in the sides of the barrel. He was working away so hard that he never heard the cook come into the kitchen and start to get supper.