"bldtn10" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hope Laura Lee)

the other toys.

"Crack! Crack! Bang! Bang!" rattled the tin guns.

But the guns were so small and there was such a little bit of the
make-believe powder in each one that the noise they made would not
have broken an egg, to say nothing of hurting the ears of a Rag
Doll.

"Are you going to faint?" asked the Calico Clown of the Doll. He
stood with his arms stretched out, ready to catch her in case she
did.

"No! No, I don't believe I shall faint!" she answered. "Ha! Ha! Ha!"
she suddenly laughed.

"What is so funny?" asked the Calico Clown. "I didn't tell a joke or
ask a riddle, did I?" For that is what he sometimes did to make the
toys in the department store laugh.

"No, you didn't do anything," answered the Rag Doll. "It is just
that you look so funny, standing there ready to catch me with those
brass things on your hands. Ha! Ha!"

"Those are my cymbals," said the Clown. "I can't let go of them.
They are fastened on. Sometimes I get tired of them, but I cannot
get rid of them."

"I know it, and it was too bad of me to laugh at you," answered the
Rag Doll. "I did not mean to make fun of you, and it was very kind
on your part, to be ready to catch me if I fainted. But you did look
so funny!"

The Bold Tin Soldiers were doing their best to make some
entertainment for the other toys.

"Ready! Aim! Fire!" cried the Captain to his men, again and again.

"Ready! Aim! Fire!" shouted the Sergeant to his men, for he had been
given command of half the toy Soldiers for this sham fight.

The guns popped, the Soldiers rushed back and forth on the toy
counter. Some pretended to be hit and fell down as natural as
anything.

But at last the Bold Tin Soldier Captain and his men seemed to be
winning. Most of the Captain's Soldiers were up on their feet, while
quite a number of the Sergeant's men had fallen over.

"Surrender! Surrender! Give up!" shouted the Captain, as he rushed