When the Toy Soldier went from the toy shop to live in Gregory’s house the little boy thought that he had never seen such a fine soldier in his life. He made him captain of all the soldier ninepins and guard of the toy train, and he took him to bed with him at night. Then, one day, James, who lived next door and was Gregory’s neighbor, came over to play with Gregory.
“What a nice Toy Soldier!” James said.
“Yes, he’s mine,” Gregory said.
“May I play with him?” James asked.
“No, I said he was my Toy Soldier,” Gregory answered.
“Then I’ll take him,” James said.
“I won’t let you,” Gregory said.
Then the two little boys began pulling the Toy Soldier to see which could get him away from the other, and the Toy Soldier did not like it at all. He was fond of a good battle, but not of a quarrel. He decided that he would not stay in a house where there was a quarrelsome boy, and so he tumbled out of a window that was close by and fell, down, down, to the street below.
The Toy Soldier had not lain long on the sidewalk when Harold passed by and picked him up.
“I wanted a toy soldier and here is the finest one I ever saw,” Harold said; and he slipped the soldier inside his coat and started on, for he was going to school. The Toy Soldier lay close to Harold’s watch that was tick, tick, ticking the time away, but Harold loitered, and at last he stopped to play a game of marbles with another little boy whom he met. “I don’t care if I am late for school,” he said.