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

with his men toward the Sergeant and his men. "Surrender! Hoist the
white flag!"

"All right, it is hoisted!" answered the Sergeant, and he tied his
handkerchief on the end of his gun, where the stickery thing, called
a bayonet, was fastened. "We surrender!" said the Sergeant.

"All right! Stop firing!" called the Captain to his men. "We have
captured the enemy and the battle is over."

"I'm so glad it was only a make-believe one, and no one was hurt,"
sighed the Rag Doll.

"It was very jolly, all right," said the Candy Rabbit. "This is the
first make-believe fight I ever saw. Are you going to have another,
Captain?"

"Not to-night," was the reply. "My men are tired, but we are glad if
you toys enjoyed our efforts."

"We certainly did," declared the Monkey on a Stick. "I wish I had
joined the army instead of going through life on a stick, climbing
to the top and climbing down again," he added, with a sigh.

"Oh, well, we cannot all be soldiers," said the Jack in the Box.

"No, indeed," agreed the Candy Rabbit. "If I had a gun I should not
know what to do with it. It is only brave men, like our Bold Captain
and his men, who know how to use swords and guns," he concluded.

"Thank you," said the Captain, waving his shiny sword. "We are glad
you liked our drill and make-believe fight. Form in line, ready to
go back to your box, my men," he went on.

Led by the Sergeant, under whom some of them had fought in the
pretended battle, the Tin Soldiers formed in line, ready to march
back to the box in which they were kept on the toy counter.

"I wonder what will happen to-day," remarked the Calico Clown, as he
looked out through a distant window. "It will soon be morning," he
went on. "I can see the sun beginning to redden the sky in the east.
I wonder if any of us will be sold and taken away."

"It might happen," said the Bold Tin Soldier. "If I have to go I
hope my men may come with me."

"Oh, of course they'll go with you," said the Rag Doll. "Who ever
heard of a Soldier Captain without some men under him? You will all
go together, for you belong in the same box."