xt day the garden gate was fastened
close, and not even the smallest chicken could get inside.

[D] From "More Winter Stories," by Maud Lindsay; used by
permission of the publishers, Milton Bradley Company, Springfield,
Mass.

THE TRAVELS OF THE LITTLE TOY SOLDIER

BY CAROLYN SHERWIN BAILEY

He was the largest and the best dressed and the bravest looking of all
the toy soldiers in the toy shop. Some of the toy soldiers were made of
paper, and these tore easily if they even tried to drill. Some of the
toy soldiers were made of tin, and these bent if they had an encounter.

But this toy soldier, who stood head and shoulders above the others,
was made of wood. He had once been part of a great pine tree that stood
in the forest, and his heart was as brave and true as the heart of the
tree.

His trousers were painted green, with yellow stripes; and his jacket
was painted red, with gold buttons. He wore a painted blue cap upon the
side of his head, with a band that went under his chin, and he carried
a wooden gun in one arm. He could stand alone, for his wooden legs were
glued to a block of wood, and his eyes were black and shining, and his
mouth was painted in a smile.

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 So