“Why, that isn’t all.”
“Well, it’s enough, I hope,” replied Tickle-My-Toes.
“No,” said Mrs. Meadows, “it’s not enough, if there’s any more. Why, so far it’s the best of all the stories. It’s new to me. I had an idea that I had heard all the stories, but this one is a pole over my persimmon, as we used to say in the country next door.”
“I don’t like to tell stories,” protested Tickle-My-Toes, puckering3 his face in a comical way. “It’s too confining.”
“Nonsense!” exclaimed Mr. Rabbit. “It’s time you were settling down. What will you look like a year or two from now, if you keep on cutting up your capers4?”
Tickle-My-Toes caught hold of the corner of Chickamy Crany Crow’s apron5, and, thus fortified6, resumed his story:—
“Well, the baker and his wife promised Sparkle Spry they would have him a big wooden horse made, and they were as good as their word. They sent right off that very day for a carpenter and joiner, and when he came, Sparkle Spry showed the man what he wanted. He said the horse must be as much like a real horse as could be made out of wood, and three times as big.
“The man asked the baker’s wife what the brat7 wanted with such a machine as that, and this made the good woman mad.
“‘He’s no brat, I can tell you that!’ she exclaimed, ‘and if he wants a play horse as big as a whale and the same shape, he shall have it. Now if you want to make his play horse, get to work and make it. If not, I’ll get somebody else to make it.’
“But the man declared he meant no harm, and said he was glad to get the work. So he got the lumber8, and in a few days, being a very clever workman, he had finished the wooden horse. He made it just as Sparkle Spry wanted him to. He put big hinges at the joints9 of the legs, cut a window in each side of the body, made the ears and the nostrils10 hollow, and fixed11 pieces of glass for the eyes.
“The carpenter seemed to enjoy his work, too, for every time he went off a little distance to see how his work looked, he laughed as hard as he could. When he was nearly done he asked Sparkle Spry if he wanted the roof shingled12.
“‘Why, no,’ replied the boy. ‘There’s no roof there. Besides, horses don’t have shingles13 on them.’
“He’ll look pretty rough,” remarked the man.
“‘Yes,’ said Sparkle Spry, ‘but after you get through with him he is to be polished off.’
“‘That’s so,’ the carpenter assented14, ‘but this horse has a good many things about him that other horses haven’t got.’
“So, when the carpenter was through with the horse, a leather finisher was sent for, and he covered the horse with hides of cows tanned with the hair on, and fixed a cow’s tail where the horse’s tail should have been.
“The baker grumbled15 a little at this extra expense, and said he was afraid Sparkle Spry had strained his head the night he baked so much bread. But the baker’s wife said she would like to have a whole house full of crazy children, if Sparkle Spry was crazy.
“When the wooden horse was finished, Sparkle Spry waited until the baker and his wife had gone to bed, and then he tapped on the oven and whistled. Presently the King of the Clinkers peeped out to see what the matter was. He came from behind the oven cautiously, until he found that Sparkle Spry was alone, and then he came forth16 boldly.
“‘The horse is ready,’ said Sparkle Spry.
“‘Ready!’ exclaimed the King of the Clinkers. ‘Well, I think it is high time. My workmen could have built it in a night; and here I have been waiting and waiting for I don’t know how long.’
“‘I hope you’ll like it,’ Sparkle Spry suggested.
“‘Like it!’ cried the King of the Clinkers. ‘Why, of course I’ll like it. I haven’t enjoyed a ride in so long that I’m not likely to quarrel with the horse that carries me.’
“‘But this is a wooden horse,’ remarked Sparkle Spry.
“‘I should hope so; yes, indeed!’ grunted17 the King of the Clinkers. ‘I have been riding wooden horses as long as I can remember. They may be a little clumsy, but they suit me.’
“‘But this horse has no rockers,’ persisted Sparkle Spry. ‘It is as solid as a house.’
“‘Much you know about wooden horses,’ said the King of the Clinkers. ‘Wait; I’ll call my torchbearers.’
“He tapped on the oven with his tiny poker18, and immediately a company of little men filed out from behind it. As they passed the furnace door they lit their torches at a live coal, and marched out to the wooden horse, followed by the King of the Clinkers and Sparkle Spry.
“The latter had reason to be very much astonished at what he saw then and afterwards. The torchbearers led the way to the left foreleg of the wooden horse, opened a door, and filed up a spiral stairway, the King of the Clinkers following after. Sparkle Spry climbed up by means of a stepladder that the carpenter had used. When he crawled through the window in the side of the wooden horse, he saw that a great transformation20 had taken place, and the sight of it almost took his breath away.
“A furnace with a small bake oven had been fitted up, and there was also a supply of flour, coal, and wood. The flue from the furnace ran in the inside of the horse’s neck, finding a vent21 for the smoke at the ears. On all sides were to be seen the tools and furniture of a bakery, and there were places where the little men might stow themselves away when they were not on duty, and there was a special apartment for the King of the Clinkers.
“In a little while the whole interior of the horse swarmed22 with the followers23 of the King of the Clinkers, who stood counting them as they came in.
“‘All here,’ he said, waving his little poker. ‘Now get to bed and rest yourselves.’
“They complied so
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