s, of course, and--oh! I beg your
pardon," she exclaimed, for her frock had touched the farmer and knocked
him over flat on his back. "And here's a Noah's Ark, full of
higgledy-piggledy animals--why, what are you doing here?" she cried,
for just at that moment she suddenly discovered the Caravan, all huddled
together at the door of the ark, and apparently discussing something of
vast importance.

"We're buying a camel," said the Admiral, excitedly; "they've got just
the one we want for the Caravan."

"His name is Humphrey," shouted the Highlander, uproariously, "and he's
got three humps!"

"Nonsense!" cried Dorothy, bursting into a fit of uncontrollable
laughter. "There never was such a thing."

"They have 'em in arks," said the Admiral, very earnestly. "You can find
_anything_ in arks if you only go deep enough. I've seen 'em with
patriarchs in 'em, 'way down at the bottom."

"Did _they_ have any humps?" inquired the Highlander with an air of
great interest.

Dorothy went off again into a burst of laughter at this. "He's really
the most ignorant little creature I ever saw," she said.

"I thought they was something to ride on," said the Highlander, sulkily;
"otherwise, I say, let 'em keep out of arks!" The rest of the Caravan
evidently sided with him in this opinion, and after staring at Dorothy
for a moment with great disfavor they all called out "Old Proudie!" and
solemnly walked off in a row as before.

"I believe I shall have a fit if I meet them again," said Dorothy to
herself, laughing till her eyes were full of tears. "They're certainly
the foolishest things I ever saw," and with this she walked away through
the shop, and was just beginning to look at the toys again, when she
came suddenly upon an old dame sitting contentedly in the shop in a
great arm-chair. She was eating porridge out of a bowl in her lap, and
her head was so close to the edge of the shelf that Dorothy almost
walked into her cap.

"Drat the toys!" cried the old dame, starting so violently that her
spectacles fell off her nose into the porridge. "Drat the new-fangled
things!"--and here she aimed a blow at Dorothy with her spoon. "They're
enough to scare folks out of their senses. Give _me_ the old-fashioned
kind--deaf and dumb and blind and stiff"--but by this time Dorothy,
almost frightened out of her wits, had run away and was hiding behind a
doll's sofa.

"_She's_ a nice person to have charge of a shop," she exclaimed
indignantl