That was the beginning of good times in Peter Poodle’s work shop.
The Second Chapter.
Of how Peter Poodle taught Tommy & Helen the Toy Language. And of strange happenings in the Brick House at the Sign of the Black Lion.
ELEN lived in a fine big house around the corner on the next street, but each day she came to play in the curly shavings with Tommy, and together they watched Mr. Poodle make his toys.
Certainly those were fine toys Mr. Poodle made. Helen’s mamma said there never was such a fine toy maker anywhere as Mr. Poodle. She said that he loved to sit at his bench and make the toy people, and that he put every bit of his heart into his work; and of course, when he loved his work so much, why some of his heart and some of his love had to pop right out and jump into the toys. Helen’s mamma said that was why Peter {12} Poodle’s toys were the best in all the world, and moreover, they were not painted with cheap colors that would come off the minute you put them in your mouth, or stuck together with bad smelling glue that would never hold more than a day or two.