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“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.”

“I’m sure I hope so,” went on the Captain. “I suppose I shall be bought and given to some boy. Girls, as a rule, don’t care very much for soldiers. They would rather have a Sawdust Doll or a Lamb on Wheels. And if I am given to some boy, I hope he will be like the boys we have heard about–Dick, the brother of Dorothy, and Arnold, the brother of Mirabell.”

“Yes, they are nice boys, from what I have heard,” said the Calico Clown. “Well, it will soon be bright daylight, and then we shall see what happens,” he added.

“Yes, we’ll see,” said the Captain. Then, turning to his men, he commanded:

“Ready–March.”

Off to their box marched the Tin Soldiers led by the Sergeant, who was next in command to the Captain. There ought to have been a First and Second Lieutenant, but the man who made the tin toys had forgotten them.

So the Sergeant led the Tin Soldiers back to their box after the make-believe battle. And, like good and proper soldiers, they stood themselves in straight rows. No standing around in a crowd, or lying down in hammocks, or stretching out under trees for these Tin Soldiers!

No, indeed! They stood up as straight and stiff as their own guns!

“Did you like our drill and sham battle?” asked the Bold Tin Soldier Captain of the Rag Doll, strolling over to speak to her before going back to join his men.

“Very much, indeed,” she answered. “At first I thought I might faint when the guns shot off, but they were fired so gently that I did not, and the Calico Clown did not have to catch me in his arms.”

“I don’t let my Soldiers use too much powder in their guns,” answered the Captain. “It is a sort of tooth powder we use in these make-believe fights, and then no one is hurt.”

“It will be lonesome if you go away from us,” said the Rag Doll, with a sigh, as she looked at the Bold Tin Soldier.

“Thank you for being so kind as to say that,” said the Bold Tin Soldier. “But I have no notion of going away until I have to.”

However, he little knew what was going to happen nor that he was to be taken away much sooner than he expected.

“I had better be getting over to the box with my Soldiers, I think,” said the Captain, as he thrust his shiny sword back into the scabbard at his side. “Our fun for to-night is over.”

“No, not quite yet,” said the Calico Clown. “The sun has not yet risen, and it will be ten minutes before the watchman comes in to turn out the lights and get the store ready for the day’s trade.”