“He came to crow over me, ma’am,” exclaimed Susan Ida between her sobs.
“I don’t care,” cried Dick; “she said she’d take my head off.”
“Get out both of you,” and Dorothy made a rush for the bad toys, but they nearly fell over each other in their efforts to get out of the kitchen.
“I’ll go up-stairs and give them a good whipping and put them to bed,” said Dorothy; but when she reached the stairs she stopped in amazement. There was Toto her toy monkey sliding down the banister, while her toy puppy barked with all his might. A toy broom was whacking the stairs at a grinning Jack-in-the-box, who was trying to stand on his head.
“Toto,” cried Dorothy, and she was just going to catch him, when her toy cat flew past chasing the toy mouse.
“Goodness! he must not catch my mouse,” cried Dorothy, and she caught up the toy broom and hurried after the toy cat. The toy puppy and the monkey followed, and the Jack came out of his box and joined in the chase. Across the hall they flew, and as the door happened to be opened, down the steps and into the yard. It was the strangest race you ever saw, and as they ran through the street people came to the windows and shouted at them. A great many soldiers left their barracks in the toy shops and hurried after the procession.
On and on they ran through the street, into another, across vacant lots, over stones and hedges, through the green fields, up the hills, down the lanes, and never stopped until they came to Toy-land.
The minute they got there the mouse was still, the cat curled himself like a ball and went to sleep, the puppy stretched out and began to snore, the Jack-in-the-box remained perfectly quiet, and the monkey sat upright and scratched his head.
Dorothy sank into a toy chair exclaiming, “Such an exciting race I never had in my life.”
“You must be tired,” said a voice at her elbow, and Dorothy turned and there stood Little Bo-Peep.