FullReads

“How can we be sure the watchman is not looking at us?” whispered the Monkey on a Stick.” I’d like to see this race.”

“So would I,” said the Calico Clown. “And there is only one way we can be certain the watchman is not here.”

“Tell us how!” suggested the Bold Tin Soldier.

“This is the way,” answered the Calico Clown. “I will recite that funny riddle I started to give you earlier in the evening. If the watchman is here he will laugh at it, and then well know he is watching us.”

“That will be a fine way!” said the Lamb on Wheels. “Go ahead, Calico Clown. Tell us the riddle, and we must all listen to see if the watchman laughs.”

“All right I Here I go!” agreed the Calico Clown. He banged his cymbals together and then, in a loud voice, asked: “Why is a basket of soap bubbles like a piece of chocolate cake?”

They all listened after the Calico Clown had asked this riddle. But there was no laugh. It was as quiet in the toy department as if none of the playthings had made believe come to life.

“I guess the watchman isn’t there,” said the Calico Clown, “or else he would have laughed at my riddle.”

“Maybe he is waiting for the answer,” said the White Rocking Horse. “I think that must be it, for I don’t see anything very funny in the riddle itself. Maybe the watchman is waiting for you to give the answer, and then he’ll laugh.”

“Oh, I’m sure that is it,” said the Elephant. “Go ahead, Calico Clown! Tell us the answer! Why is a basket of soap bubbles like a piece of chocolate cake? If we hear that, maybe we’ll laugh, as well as the watchman. What’s the answer?”

“That’s the funny part of it!” said the Calico Clown. “There is no answer.”

“No answer!” cried the White Rocking Horse. “That’s a funny riddle!”

“I knew you’d think it was funny,” returned the Calico Clown. “That is why I tried so hard to tell it earlier in the evening, to make you all jolly. No, there really is no answer. I don’t believe a basket full of soap bubbles is a bit like a piece of chocolate cake. But I just thought I’d ask to see if any of you knew.”

He waited a moment, but none of the toys answered.

“And the watchman doesn’t seem to know, either,” said the Monkey on a Stick. “I guess he can’t be here, or he would have laughed, Mr. Calico Clown.”

“I’m sure he would,” said the joking chap. “It must be all right. No one is looking at us. On with the race!”

“Yes,” rumbled the Elephant, away deep down in his trunk, “if we are going to have this race let’s get it over with. I must go back to my place among the camels and lions and tigers before morning.”

The Elephant, who had borrowed a pair of roller skates to race with the White Rocking Horse, lived in a large Noah’s Ark with the other animals from the jungle and the desert.

“Get ready now!” cried the Bold Tin Soldier. “On your marks, Horse and Elephant! I will have one of my men fire his gun as a signal to start the race!”

“Good!” neighed the White Rocking Horse.

Slowly he began to sway back and forth, while the Elephant slid along on his roller skates until both animals stood, once more, on the crack in the floor. When the Candy Rabbit had cried “Hush!” they had both slid back toward the toy counter. Later on the make-believe folk found that the noise was caused by a Jack in the Box springing up quickly to watch the race.

“Bang!” went a toy pop gun. And then the race began!

And such a race as it was! Across the floor, toward the elevators, went the Elephant, gliding along on the roller skates. Back and forth swayed the Rocking Horse, and each time he moved he went a little faster. His tail and mane streamed out in the air and his red saddle of real leather glistened in the light of the one dim electric lamp.