Part 12 (1/2)

”Oh, how glad I am!” cried Joe. ”And then I can see my Nodding Donkey, can't I? Is he all right, Daddy?”

”As right and as fine as ever,” answered Mr. Richmond.

Joe could hardly sit still during the ride home. He got out of the automobile and went through the snow up to the front door. His father opened it, and Joe saw his mother standing at the end of the hall.

For a moment Mrs. Richmond could hardly believe what she saw.

”Joe! Joe, my little boy!” she cried. ”Oh, you have come home again! Are you all right? Are your legs better? Can you walk?”

”Can I walk, Mother!” cried Joe, in a happy voice. ”Of course I can! I can walk without my crutches, and I can run! I can run! See!”

And with that Joe ran down the hall and into his mother's arms.

Oh, what a joyful happy time there was! Joe's legs were straight and strong again, and he did not need his crutches any more.

”And now where is my Nodding Donkey?” he asked. ”I want to see him!”

”I'll get him for you,” offered his mother, and when the toy was set on the table near Joe, it nodded its head to welcome him home.

”Oh, my dear Donkey! how I missed you while I was in the hospital,” said Joe.

”And I missed you, too,” thought the Donkey.

Two or three days after this, when Joe had gotten used to being at home again, there came a knock at the door. Outside happy voices were talking and laughing.

When Joe opened the door there stood Dorothy with her Sawdust Doll, d.i.c.k with his White Rocking Horse, Arnold with his Bold Tin Soldier, Mirabell with her Lamb, Madeline, who had a Candy Rabbit, Herbert, who carried a Monkey on a Stick, and Sidney with the Calico Clown.

”Surprise on Joe! Surprise on Joe!” cried the children. ”We have come to make a Toy Party for you and your Nodding Donkey!”

”Oh, how glad I am!” Joe laughed. ”Look at my legs!” he went on. ”They are straight now, and I don't have to go on crutches. And my Nodding Donkey, who had a broken leg, is well, too! He doesn't have to go on crutches, either!”

”Hurray!” cried d.i.c.k, and all the other boys and girls said: ”Hurray!

Hurray! Hurray!”

Then the Toy Party began, and the children and the toys had so much fun that it would take three books just to tell about half of it. Joe and his Nodding Donkey were the guests of honor, and all the others tried to make them feel happy. And Joe was happy! One look at his smiling face told that.

As for the Nodding Donkey, you could tell by the way he moved his head that never, in all his life, had he had such a good time.

When Mrs. Richmond called the children to the dining room to eat, the toys were left by themselves in a playroom.

”Ladies and Gentlemen,” said the Calico Clown in his jolly voice, ”we have all met together, after a long time of being apart. We have all had good times together, and now I hope you will all agree with me when I say that we are glad to welcome the Nodding Donkey among us.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Nodding Donkey is Welcomed by the Calico Clown.

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