snuffbox, but a jack-in-the-box.

"Tin Soldier," said the Goblin, "keep thine eyes to thyself. Gaze not at
what does not concern thee!"

But the Tin Soldier pretended not to hear.

"Only wait, then, till to-morrow," remarked the Goblin.

Next morning, when the children got up, the Tin Soldier was placed on
the window sill, and, whether it was the Goblin or the wind that did it,
all at once the window flew open and the Tin Soldier fell head foremost
from the third story to the street below. It was a tremendous fall! Over
and over he turned in the air, till at last he rested, his cap and
bayonet sticking fast between the paving stones, while his one leg stood
upright in the air.

[Illustration: Away he sailed ... down the gutter...]

The maidservant and the little boy came down at once to look for him,
but, though they nearly trod upon him, they could not manage to find
him. If the Soldier had but once called "Here am I!" they might easily
enough have heard him, but he did not think it becoming to cry out for
help, being in uniform.

It now began to rain; faster and faster fell the drops, until there was
a heavy shower; and when it was over, two street boys came by.

"Look you," said one, "there lies a tin soldier. He must come out and
sail in a boat."

So they made a boat out of an old newspaper and put the Tin Soldier in
the middle of it, and away he sailed down the gutter, while the boys ran
along by his side, clapping their hands.

Goodness! how the waves rocked that paper boat, and how fast the stream
ran! The Tin Soldier became quite giddy, the boat veered round so
quickly; still he moved not a muscle, but looked straight before him and
held his bayonet tightly.

All at once the boat passed into a drain, and it became as dark as his
own old home in the box. "Where am I going now?" thought he. "Yes, to be
sure, it is all that Goblin's doing. Ah! if the little lady were but
sailing with me in the boat, I would not care if it were twice as
dark."

Just then a great water rat, that lived under the drain, darted suddenly
out.

"Have you a passport?" asked the rat. "Where is your passport?"

But the Tin Soldier kept silence and only held his bayonet with a firmer
grasp.

The boat sailed on, but the rat followed. Whew! how he gnashed his teeth
and cried to the sticks and straws: "Stop him! stop him! He hasn't paid
toll! He hasn't shown his passport!"

But the stream grew stronger and stronger. Alread