lephant!" called Archie.

A little later the children were running over the snow to the big barn
on Mr. Dunn's country estate. The gardener had shoveled a path through
the snow from the house to the barn; so the children would not get their
feet wet. Each child carried some toy, and Archie had all he could do to
clasp the big elephant in his arms. For Archie was a small boy and the
Elephant was one of the largest toys.

Once, on the way from the house to the barn, Archie, carrying the
Elephant, stumbled and nearly fell.

"Oh!" cried the little boy, as he slipped along the snowy path. "Oh!"

The Elephant wanted to cry "Oh!" also, but he dared not. He felt shivery
and frightened, though, as he saw the banks of snow on either side of
him.

"I don't want to be pitched into another drift, head first," he thought
to himself.

But Archie did not fall, and the Elephant did not get a second bath in
the snow, for which he was very glad.

Into the warm barn trooped the children with their Christmas toys, some
old and some new. Jake, the man who looked after the horses, giving them
oats from a big bin, and hay from the loft, opened the doors for the
children, and laughed to see how happy they were.

"We're going to play here and have a lot of fun, Jake!" called Archie.
"See my big Elephant! I just got him for Christmas!"

"He is a fine fellow," Jake agreed. "Shall I put him in a stall as I do
the horses?"

"No, we are going to keep him here to play with," said Archie. "And I
think I'll get a little hay to make believe feed him."

"Well, be careful," warned Jake. "Don't fall off the haymow."

The haymow was a big place in the barn where the dried grass (which is
what hay is, you know) was stored away. While the other children were
having fun with their toys, Archie climbed to the mow to get some hay
for his Elephant.

Now dried hay is slippery, as you know if you have ever tried to climb
up a pile of it in a barn. And no sooner was Archie at the top of the
mow than down he slid, on the hill of hay.

"Oh, I'm falling!" he cried, and his sister and the other children came
running to see what would happen.

Archie slid down the haymow toward the floor of the barn. And it seemed
as if he would get a hard bump. But, as it happened, a lot of the hay
slid along with the little boy, and it was under him when he struck the
barn floor. So he fell on the hay, which was like a cushion, and Archie
wasn't hurt in the least. In