"No, it won't come out," was the answer, and it would not. The ink on the tail of the Monkey on a Stick was there to stay, so it seemed.
"There! Just see what happened by your fooling!" said the Doll to the Monkey a little later, when they were left alone for a few minutes. "My face will always be dark, and your tail will be inky."
"I don't so much mind about my tail," answered the Monkey. "I think it will be rather stylish to have it dark and inky on the end. But I am sorry about your face. I never thought about the ink staying on or I never would have daubed you the way I did."
"Well, don't feel too bad about it," advised the Doll, with a smile. "I just happened to remember that it is stylish to be tanned. All the other dolls and toys will think I have spent a vacation at the seashore, as the janitor says. Really, after I get used to it, I shall be glad you put the ink on me."
But the Monkey still felt sorry.
That night the janitor's little girl played with the Monkey on a Stick, making him do all sorts of funny tricks. He would climb up when she pulled the string, and sometimes he would just stand up on the top of his stick, almost as straight as the Bold Tin Soldier.
Then, again, he would turn over backward and slide down head first to the bottom of the pole. Another time he would tumble forward and slide down the other way, turning somersaults on the trip.
"Oh, I just love this Monkey!" said the little girl.
In the morning the janitor took back to school in his pocket the Monkey and the Doll.
"Be sure and bring them to me again, if nobody wants them!" called the little girl, who had almost got the Doll's face clean.