er and
the doctor came into the room. There was also a nurse, and she began to
put on Joe the clothes he wore in the street.

"What is going to happen?" asked the boy.

"I am going to take you home, and give your mother a joyful surprise,"
said his father.

"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, Dick
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 Dick, 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