FullReads

While the unpleasant boy was still in the saddle, swaying to and fro and banging his heels, a lady came walking down the aisle of the toy department.

“Here’s the Horse I want!” the boy cried to her. “He’s a dandy! He has real hair in his tail and mane, and the saddle is real leather! Buy me this Horse!”

“No, Reginald, I cannot buy you this Horse,” said the lady. “It costs too much, and you have a rocking horse at home now.”

“Yes, but that one has no ears, his leg is broken, and he has no saddle or bridle,” cried the boy. “I want this horse!”

“Your horse was as good as this one when it was new,” said the boy’s mother. “If you had taken care of it, it would be a good horse yet.”

“Well, I couldn’t help it ’cause his ears pulled off! I wanted him to stop rocking and he wouldn’t!” grumbled the rude boy. “I had to pull his ears!”

“Gracious! Think of pulling off the ears of a rocking horse because he wouldn’t stay quiet!” said the Bold Tin Soldier to himself. “I hope our White Horse doesn’t get this boy for a master.”

“I want this Horse! I want this one!” cried the boy, again banging his heels on the side of the toy.

“No, Reginald, you cannot have it,” said his mother,

“Then I want this Calico Clown!” the boy exclaimed, jumping off the horse so quickly that the toy animal would have been knocked over, only the young lady clerk caught it and held it upright.

The boy caught the Clown up in his hands, and began punching the toy in the chest to make the cymbals bang together.

“Dear me, what a dreadful chap this boy is!” thought the Calico Clown. “So rough!”

As for the White Rocking Horse, he began to feel better as soon as the boy was out of the saddle. True, his wooden sides were somewhat dented, but the young lady clerk said to her friend at the doll counter:

“I’ll get a little oil and rub the spots out. They won’t show, and the Horse will be as good as ever. It’s a shame such boys are allowed in the toy department.”

“Buy me this Calico Clown!” cried the boy, who was punching the gaily dressed toy, and making the cymbals clang. “I want this, if I can’t have the Rocking Horse!”

“No, you can’t have anything until Christmas,” said his mother. “Put it back, Reginald!”

The boy frowned and tossed the Calico Clown back on the counter so hard one of the cymbals struck the Candy Rabbit and chipped a little piece of sugar off one ear.

And all the toys were glad when the boy’s mother finally took him away.

“I must get you a pair of shoes, Reginald,” she said.

“I hope she gets him a pair that pinches his toes!” thought the Bold Tin Soldier. “Such boys should be taught not to break toys, and they never, never should be allowed to pull the ears off a rocking horse.”

And if the White Rocking Horse could have spoken, he would have said the same thing, I am sure.

Other boys came in to try the White Rocking Horse, and they were all good boys. They took their place in the red saddle very quietly, and did not bang with their heels. Nor did they yank and seesaw on the reins that were fastened on the head of the Rocking Horse.

“I would rather belong to two, or even three, of these good, kind boys, than to that one rude chap,” said the White Rocking Horse to himself, as he swayed backward and forward on the floor in the toy department. He and the Lamb on Wheels were too large to be set on the counter with the Calico Clown, the Monkey on a Stick, the Candy Rabbit and the Bold Tin Soldier and other smaller toys.

Slowly the day passed, and night was again coming on. Lights began to glow, for the days were short and evening came quickly–even before the store was closed.