The Nodding Donkey saw the Jack in the Box and the China Cat
peering at him.
"I wish I might say good-by to them," thought the four-legged toy, "but
I suppose it isn't allowed. I shall be lonesome without them."
The China Cat wished she might wave her paw, or even the tip of her
tail, at her friend, the Nodding Donkey, and the Jack in the Box did
seem to nod a farewell, but perhaps that was because he was on a spring,
and could move so easily. As for the China Cat, she had to keep straight
and stiff.
With the Nodding Donkey safely wrapped in paper under his arm, Joe left
the store of Mr. Mugg with his mother. Joe limped along on his crutches,
and he had to go slowly. But he was smiling happily, and for the first
day in a long time he forgot about his lameness. And when his mother
saw her son smiling, she, too, smiled. But she was worried about another
operation that Joe must go through. The doctor had said that one of his
legs had grown so crooked that the only way to fix it was to break it,
and let it grow together again, straight.
But now, with his Nodding Donkey, Joe thought nothing about operations,
or his crutches, or about being lame. All his mind was on the Nodding
Donkey, and he even tore a little hole in the paper so he could look
through and make sure his toy was all right.
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