"May I take my Rocking Horse out on the porch and ride him?" asked
Dick of his mother.
"Yes," she answered.
"And I'll take my Sawdust Doll out there, and maybe Mirabell and
Arnold will come over and we can have a play party," said Dorothy.
The children went out on the porch, and they could look over next door and see their two little friends.
"See how fast I can ride my horse!" called Dick to Arnold.
The boy got up on the back of the White Horse and rocked to and fro. And the Horse traveled across the porch, as a rocking chair sometimes travels across the room.
"Oh, he's a fine Horse!" cried Arnold, as he came over to play, bringing his toy train of cars with him. And Mirabell brought her wax doll. "Let me ride him, Dick, will you?"
After Dick and Arnold had taken turns riding on the White Horse, they left him on the edge of the porch to play with the toy train. Suddenly Carlo, the fuzzy dog that had once carried the Sawdust Doll out to his kennel, hiding her in the straw, ran around the corner of the house, barking loudly.
"Bow-wow! Bow-wow!" barked Carlo, and he ran straight for the White
Rocking Horse.
How it happened no one seemed to know, but Carlo upset the Horse, which tumbled down the porch steps with many a bang and bump.