"But all the while Sidney will be wondering where his Clown is," objected the little girl.
"I know what we can do!" exclaimed Arnold. "We can telephone and tell him it's here."
"Yes, we can do that," said Daddy.
So, a little later, Sidney was told, over the telephone, that his lost Calico Clown had been found. The story was briefly told of how it had got into the wash-basket after having been found in Daddy's pocket and taken to the office.
"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Sidney. "I'll be over the first thing in the morning to get him."
"But what I'm wondering about is how the Clown got in my pocket," said Daddy, with a puzzled look on his face. "If you children didn't put it there, who did?" and he looked at Mirabell and Arnold.
And I might say that this was always a mystery, as much so as the
Clown's riddle about what made more noise than a pig under a gate.
Daddy told Mirabell and Arnold their usual good-night story. Then the children went to bed and Mother put the Calico Clown on the mantelpiece where he would be safe for the night.
"Whoever sees Sidney first in the morning," said Mother, as she, too, got ready to go to bed, "may be the one to give him his toy."
Then the lights were put out and the house was still and quiet. Ordinarily, when this time came, the Calico Clown, like the other toys, would have been at his liveliest. But now he was so tired, with all his adventures of the day, that he just gave a long sigh and said: