The Elephant wanted to cry "Oh!" also, but he dared not. He felt shivery and frightened, though, as he saw the banks of snow on either side of him.
"I don't want to be pitched into another drift, head first," he thought to himself.
But Archie did not fall, and the Elephant did not get a second bath in the snow, for which he was very glad.
Into the warm barn trooped the children with their Christmas toys, some old and some new. Jake, the man who looked after the horses, giving them oats from a big bin, and hay from the loft, opened the doors for the children, and laughed to see how happy they were.
"We're going to play here and have a lot of fun, Jake!" called Archie. "See my big Elephant! I just got him for Christmas!"
"He is a fine fellow," Jake agreed. "Shall I put him in a stall as I do the horses?"
"No, we are going to keep him here to play with," said Archie. "And I think I'll get a little hay to make believe feed him."
"Well, be careful," warned Jake. "Don't fall off the haymow."
The haymow was a big place in the barn where the dried grass (which is what hay is, you know) was stored away. While the other children were having fun with their toys, Archie climbed to the mow to get some hay for his Elephant.
Now dried hay is slippery, as you know if you have ever tried to climb up a pile of it in a barn. And no sooner was Archie at the top of the mow than down he slid, on the hill of hay.