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The Doll, having come down a little later, was not so deeply covered by the grains. She tried to stand up, to keep her head as far above the oats as she could, but it was hard work. Around and around she slipped, from side to side.

More and more oats poured down, for Archie still held open the door, and at last the poor Doll was covered from sight, as was the Elephant.

And it was now that Archie and Elsie came racing down the stairs. Archie called:

“Jake! Jake! Come here! Where are you? Oh, my Elephant is in the oat bin, and so is Elsie’s Doll, and we’ve got to get ’em out!”

“What’s that? Elsie in the oat bin?” cried Jake, who had just come back to the barn.

“No, not Elsie, but her Doll!” shouted Archie. “And so is my Stuffed Elephant.”

“Well, that isn’t so bad as if one of you children were in the bin,” replied Jake. “I’ll help you, though. Show me which bin.”

Archie told what he had done, and when Jake opened the bin on the lower floor it was brim full and running over with oats.

“You surely let down enough grain,” said Jake.

“How are you going to get my Doll?” Elsie asked.

“And my Elephant?” added Archie.

“Oh, I’ll shovel them out,” said Jake. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll get the Doll and the Elephant.”

“Well, you’d better hurry, ’cause they may smother,” Elsie said.

“I’ll hurry,” promised Jake.

With a shovel he carefully took some of the oats from the bin, so that first Elsie’s Doll could be seen, and then the Elephant came into view.

“There you are!” said kind Jake, as he handed the toys back to the children.

“My, wasn’t that a terrible time?” said the Doll to the Elephant that night, when they were left by themselves in a closet.

“I should say so!” agreed the Elephant. “I never want anything like that to happen again! I hope I have no more adventures!”

But he was to have more.

For a time, however, nothing very exciting happened. Archie played with his Elephant and Elsie with her Doll, and their boy and girl friends brought over their toys to have fun with. Often they amused themselves in the big, warm barn, though never again did Archie go near the grain bin.

Sometimes Nip, the big dog, would go to the barn to play with the children, and once, though not meaning to, the Elephant gave the dog a scare. It was this way.

Archie had set his elephant down on the barn floor, near a big box. Nip, the dog, coming suddenly around the corner of the box, did not know the Elephant was there until a draft of wind swayed the Elephant’s trunk, making it wiggle to and fro.

“Oh, my! A snake! A snake!” cried Nip, who was afraid of the crawling creatures. “It’s a big snake!”

“Nonsense! I’m not a snake,” said the Elephant, who could speak, since Elsie and Archie were in another part of the barn.

“What was it that looked like a snake?” howled Nip.

“It was my trunk. The wind blew it,” was the answer.

“Hum!” said Nip, who, now that he took a second look, saw that there was really no snake, and nothing to frighten him. “Hum! I believe you did that on purpose, just to scare me!”

“No, really I didn’t!” said the Elephant.

“Yes, you did, too!” barked Nip. “And, just for that, I’m going to play a trick on you!”

“Please don’t!” begged the Elephant.

“Yes, I will!” growled Nip, who was a little angry, and not as kind as he might have been. “I’m going to carry you away off!” he barked.

Then, before the Elephant could do anything to save himself, Nip, the big dog, caught the soft Stuffed Elephant up by his back and carried him into a dark and distant part of the barn.

CHAPTER VIII

AN ELEPHANT JUDGE

“Let me go! Oh, please put me down! Where are you taking me?” called the Stuffed Elephant to Nip, the big dog.