CHAPTER IV

A QUEER RIDE

"Look out for the ink on the Doll's face," said the janitor to his little girl, as he handed her the toy. "And see, the Monkey also has ink on the end of his tail. I brought them home to you, to see if you could clean them."

"Oh, then I can't keep them!" exclaimed the little girl in a sad voice. "And they are so cute, too, even if they are covered with ink! How did it happen?"

"A water pipe burst in the school, and there was so much running around that an ink bottle in the teacher's desk got upset, I suppose, and then the ink splashed on the Monkey and the Doll," said the janitor.

"But how did they get in the teacher's desk?" the little girl wanted to know.

"I guess she must have taken them away from the children who had them out, playing with them during lesson time," answered the janitor. And he was right about that, as we know, but he was wrong about the bottle of ink.

"But perhaps you can clean them," said the janitor to his little girl. "That's why I brought the toys home to you."

"Yes, I can wash the Doll's face with soap and water," answered the little girl. "But I don't believe I can get the ink off the Monkey's tail. He's made of plush, and ink stains that very badly."

Then she got a basin of soap and water and began to wash the Doll's face. In a little while the ink spots began to fade away, for the Doll's head was of porcelain, though she was stuffed with cotton.

"It's going to leave the Doll a little darker color, though," said the little girl to her father. "I can't get her as nice and white as she was at first."

"Well, never mind, you can pretend she went to the seashore and got tanned," said the janitor, laughing. "Did you get the ink out of the Monkey's tail?" he asked.

"No, it won't come out," was the answer, and it would not. The ink on the tail of the Monkey on a Stick was there to stay, so it seemed.

"There! Just see what happened by your fooling!" said the Doll to the Monkey a little later, when they were left alone for a few minutes. "My face will always be dark, and your tail will be inky."

"I don't so much mind about my tail," answered the Monkey. "I think it will be rather stylish to have it dark and inky on the end. But I am sorry about your face. I never thought about the ink staying on or I never would have daubed you the way I did."

"Well, don't feel too bad about it," advised the Doll, with a smile. "I just happened to remember that it is stylish to be tanned. All the other dolls and toys will think I have spent a vacation at the seashore, as the janitor says. Really, after I get used to it, I shall be glad you put the ink on me."

But the Monkey still felt sorry.

That night the janitor's little girl played with the Monkey on a Stick, making him do all sorts of funny tricks. He would climb up when she pulled the string, and sometimes he would just stand up on the top of his stick, almost as straight as the Bold Tin Soldier.

Then, again, he would turn over backward and slide down head first to the bottom of the pole. Another time he would tumble forward and slide down the other way, turning somersaults on the trip.

"Oh, I just love this Monkey!" said the little girl.

In the morning the janitor took back to school in his pocket the Monkey and the Doll.

"Be sure and bring them to me again, if nobody wants them!" called the little girl, who had almost got the Doll's face clean.

"I will," her father promised.

The school was all right again the next day. The broken pipes had been mended, and the boys and girls could come back to their lessons. The teacher in the room where Herbert, Dick and their friends studied was much surprised when the janitor gave her the Doll and the Monkey, and told about finding them in her desk with an upset bottle of ink. He related how he had taken them home over-night for safe keeping.

"And so your little girl cleaned them," said the teacher. "That was very good of her, and I am going to make her happy. You may take back to her this doll, with the make-believe tanned face."

"Are you really going to give my little girl the doll?" asked the janitor.

"Yes," replied the teacher. "The little girl from whom I took the doll is not coming back to this school any more, and her mother sent word I might give the doll away. So I'll give her to your little girl."

"That is very kind of you," said the janitor. "My little girl will be happy."

The Monkey was put back in the desk until after school. Then Herbert was called up.

"Here is your Monkey on a Stick, Herbert," said the teacher. "You must not bring him to school again."

"No'm, I won't!" promised the little boy.

"I am sorry he got that blot of ink on the end of his tail," went on the teacher.

"Oh, I don't mind," said Herbert, with a smile. "He can climb his stick just the same."

And the Monkey really could. The ink on his tail didn't bother him a bit. Up and down the stick he went, when Herbert pulled the string, and even the teacher had to laugh, the Monkey was so funny.

"I'm so glad I have my Monkey back!" thought Herbert as he ran along the street.

All the other boys and girls were ahead of him, as he had been kept in a little while after school to get his toy back. All at once, as Herbert was passing a candy store, he saw, coming out of it, Dick, the boy who owned the White Rocking Horse.

"Oh, hello, Herbert!" called Dick, giving his friend a piece of candy. "So you have your Monkey back!"

"Yes," Herbert answered. "I stayed in to get him."

"I know how we can have some fun with him," went on Dick.

"How?" Herbert wanted to know.

"We can give him a ride on the back of our dog Carlo," went on Dick. "We can take the Monkey off the stick, and tie him on Carlo's back. Then Carlo will run and the Monkey will have a fine ride."

The two boys hurried down the street toward Dick's house.

"This world is full of surprises," thought the Monkey. "I wonder what my toy friends in the store would think if they knew I was going to have a ride on a dog's back. What a wonderful adventure it may be!"

The Monkey was not afraid. He was a courageous chap, almost as brave as the Bold Tin Soldier. One has to be brave to climb up and down a stick day after day, and turn somersaults from the top; I think.

"How can we make my Monkey stay on your Carlo's back?" asked Herbert, as they reached Dick's house.

"We can tie him on, same as my sister once tied her Sawdust Doll to the back of the Lamb on Wheels," Dick answered.

"And maybe, some day, we can have a little show," said Herbert.

"What kind of show?" Dick asked, as he ate the last piece of candy he had bought on his way from school, having shared some with Herbert.

"Oh, a show with my Monkey in it, and your Rocking Horse, and Arnold's Tin Soldiers, and Mirabell's Lamb and Madeline's Candy Rabbit," Herbert replied.

"Here, Carlo! Carlo!" called Dick. "Come and give Herbert's Monkey a ride on your back."

Carlo came running up, wagging his tail. He liked to play with the boys, and he did not make a bit of fuss when Dick and Herbert tied the Monkey on his back. Of course the Monkey was taken off his stick for this strange ride. He was tied on with bits of string, as the boys had plenty of this in their pockets.

"Hold still a minute, Carlo!" called Dick, for the dog was wiggling and twisting around. "Hold still and we'll soon be ready."

"How are you going to make him run, after we get the Monkey fastened on his back?" asked Herbert.

"Oh, that's easy," Dick answered. "We'll just run down the meadow toward the brook and he'll follow us all right. He'll give the Monkey a fine ride, won't you, Carlo?"

"Bow wow!" barked the dog, which, I suppose, was his way of saying: "Yes!"

"Well, I surely hope nothing serious will happen," thought the Monkey, as he found himself being tied on the dog's fuzzy back. "I have had many adventures, but never one like this. I hope nothing terrible happens!"

In another minute the boys tied the last knot. There sat the Monkey, off his stick, on Carlo's back.

"Come on, now!" cried Dick, and he and Herbert started to run.

With a bark Carlo took after them, the Monkey bobbing backward and forward on the dog's back.

"As long as they can't very well see me, I'll grab hold of the dog's hair in my hands," said the Monkey. "In that way I can hold on better. Some of the strings may break."

He clutched his hands tightly in the dog's hair. Carlo ran faster and faster after the boys.

"Don't go so quick!" begged the Monkey.

"Bow wow! I have to!" barked Carlo.

"Oh, I know something dreadful will happen!" exclaimed the Monkey. "I just know it!"