four men came into the room. They had
hammers, nails and boards in their hands.

"Hurry now!" cried one of the men. "We must box up a lot of these toys
and send them to the different stores. It will be Christmas before we
know it."

Suddenly one of the men caught hold of the Nodding Donkey, and also of a
large doll that had been on the same shelf.

"I'll pack these in a box," said the man. "I just need them to fill one
corner. Then I'll ship them off."

The Nodding Donkey wished his friend the Jumping Jack might go in the
same box with him, but it was not to be. The Donkey gave one last look
at his companion of the snowdrift, and a moment later he was being
wrapped in tissue paper again, and was packed down in a corner of a
large box. The doll was treated the same way.

Then the board cover was put on the box, and nailed shut with a loud
hammering noise.

"Dear me, in the dark again!" said the Nodding Donkey. "I don't seem to
be having a good time at all."

"Never mind! It will not last long," said the Doll, who was made of
cloth, so it did not matter how much she was squeezed. "We will soon be
in the light again."

The toys in the box could hear loud talking going on in the warehouse
where they had been left by Santa Claus. They could also hear men moving
about and the bang and rattle of boxes, like theirs, as the cases were
nailed up and taken away.

Finally the Nodding Donkey, the doll, and other toys who were packed
together, felt their box being tilted up on one end. By this time the
Nodding Donkey was getting used to being stood on his head, or turned
over on his back, and he did not mind it.

"Hurry up! Load this box on a truck and take it to the Mugg store!"
cried a voice.

"The Mugg store! I wonder where that is!" thought the Nodding Donkey.

And then he felt the box in which he lay being lifted up and carried
along. There were bumps, thumps, turnings and twistings, and then the
Nodding Donkey felt himself gliding along.

But he soon noticed that this ride was not as smooth as had been the one
from North Pole Land to the Earth. Instead of riding in a sleigh drawn
by reindeer, the Nodding Donkey was riding on an automobile truck, and
as it went out in the street it bumped and rattled along.

There was so much noise and confusion, and it was so warm and cosy in
the box where he was packed, that, before he knew it, the Nodding Donkey
had fallen asleep. And, as he slept, the Nodding Donkey dreamed