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And just then Patrick, the big, strong gardener, came running in from the garage, where he slept. He, too, had heard the noise in the house. And Patrick and Dick’s father soon captured the two burglars, and tied them with ropes. Then a policeman came and took the two bad men away and they were locked up for a long, long time. I don’t believe they are out of prison yet.

But after the two burglars had been taken away by the police, Dick’s father and mother looked at the White Rocking Horse where it lay on its side in the lower hall, after having fallen downstairs.

“How do you suppose it got here?” asked Mother.

“Well, either the burglars tried to carry it off, and they slipped and fell with it, or else they stumbled over it in the dark, and it toppled downstairs with them,” replied Daddy. “But it made a great racket and woke us up. If it hadn’t been for the White Rocking Horse we would have been robbed of our jewelry and silver.”

“What a brave Horse!” said Mother. “Wouldn’t it be strange if he really kicked the burglar downstairs?” she asked her husband.

And when the burglars had been taken away, and the Horse stood up on his rockers again, Dorothy and Dick were awakened by hearing so many sounds in the house.

“What’s the matter?” asked Dick, coming to the head of the stairs, and rubbing his sleepy eyes. “What’s my Rocking Horse down there for?” he wanted to know.

“He fell down with the burglars,” said Daddy.

“And, oh, look! Here is my Sawdust Doll out here in the hall!” cried Dorothy. “I had her in my room when I went to sleep. How did she get out here?”

“Maybe the burglars took her and were carrying her away with them when they slipped and fell downstairs with the Horse,” said Daddy.

But we know that is not just how it happened, don’t we? We know that the Sawdust Doll came out to talk to the White Rocking Horse, and she could not get back when the burglars came, for she dared not move as long as they were looking at her.

For many days Dick and Dorothy had fun playing with the White Rocking Horse and the Sawdust Doll. And though, at times, the Horse and Doll wished they could see their friends in the toy store, still the two toys were very happy.

“I think something is going to happen to-morrow,” said the old Jumping Jack one night, when, in the playroom, he was talking to the Horse and Doll. It was spring now, and the grass was green.

“What do you mean–something going to happen?” asked the White Rocking Horse, as he looked at Jack. The old jumping chap had been allowed to stay in the playroom since he had been brought from the attic on Christmas Eve.

“Dick and Dorothy are going to have a Grass Party, and you are both going to it!”

“A Grass Party!” cried the Sawdust

“What is that?” asked the White Rocking Horse.

“Well, you know what a party is,” said Jack. “And a Grass Party is one out on the grass. The boy and girl from next door are coming, and there will be good things to eat, games to play and all things like that. Isn’t that jolly?”

“I should say so!” cried the Rocking Horse.

“I love parties!” said the Sawdust Doll.

And the next day, when the sun was shining brightly, Dick and Dorothy had their Grass Party. Not only the little girl from next door came, but other children also. Dorothy brought out her Sawdust Doll, for whom a new apple-green dress had been made.

Dick brought his Rocking Horse to a smooth place under the trees, and he and the other boys took turns riding on the brave steed.

“Let’s see where his leg was broken,” asked one boy.

“Oh, you can hardly see it,” Dick answered. “The toy hospital doctor fixed it so it’s as good as new. But this is the leg my Horse broke when Carlo tumbled him down the steps.”