I guess the Nodding Donkey was too close to the edge of the
shelf. But now his leg is broken, and I guess he'll have to go on
crutches, the same as I do; won't he, Mother?"
The Nodding Donkey did not hear any of this. The pain in his leg was so
great that he had fainted, though Joe and his mother did not know this.
But the Donkey really had fainted.
"No, Joe," said Mrs. Richmond, after a while, "your Donkey will not have
to go on crutches, and I hope the day will soon come when you can lay
them aside."
"What do you mean, Mother?" Joe asked eagerly. "Do you think I will
ever get better?"
"We hope so," she answered softly. "In a few days you are going to a
nice place, called a hospital, where you will go to sleep in a little
white bed. Then the doctors will come and, when you wake up again, your
legs may be nice and straight so, after a while, you can walk on them
again without leaning on crutches."
"Oh, won't I be glad when that happens!" cried Joe, with shining eyes.
"But what about my Nodding Donkey, Mother? Can I take him to the
hospital and have him fixed, too, so he will not need crutches?"
"Well, we shall see about that," Mrs. Richmond said. "I'll tie his leg
up now with a rag, and when your father comes home he may know how to
fix it.
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