"Congratulations, ole man, you've won!"
And somehow Marmaduke liked to be called "ole man," and felt quite as proud over that as over winning the game.
Now the Toyman had to get down on his hands and knees and try to pull the peg out of the ground with his teeth. And oh, what a time he made of it, growling like a dog over a bone, all for the fun of the thing, until Marmaduke shouted in glee and Echo answered back from her cave again.
So for a long time they played Mumbledy Peg on the hill, while the shadows grew longer and longer on the grass at their feet. Then they stopped to rest and sat quiet "for a spell."
Opposite them, in the West, were other hills, higher ones too, rising way up in the sky. And far above them curled great white clouds, standing still as still could be.
For a long while they watched those clouds, the man and the boy, then Marmaduke said,--
"I wonder if you see what I see."
"What do you see, Sonny?" the Toyman replied.
"A great big city--look, there it is!" And the little boy pointed straight at the clouds.
"Why, to be sure!" exclaimed the Toyman, "there it is, an' it looks mighty pretty. But just what do you make out?"