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CHAPTER II
THE RUDE BOY
Suddenly all the toys, who had been crowding to the edges of the
shelves and counters to watch the race between the Horse and the
Elephant, became very quiet. The Candy Rabbit seemed to shrink down
behind the Monkey on a Stick. The Bold Tin Soldier slipped his sword
back into its scabbard, and his men lowered their guns. The Calico
Clown, who had been about to bang his cymbals together, dropped them
to his sides. The Lamb on Wheels, who had just been going to ask a Rag
Doll if she did not want to get up on her back, so she might see
better, rolled herself under the counter, and the White Rocking Horse
and the Elephant on his roller skates looked around in surprise.
"What's the matter?" neighed the Horse. "Why did you call out
for us
to hush, Candy Rabbit?"
"I thought I heard a noise," was the answer. "Maybe the night
watchman
is coming. If he is, he must never see us at our play. Something
dreadful would happen, if he did."
"Hush! Not so loud!" whispered the Calico Clown. "What you say
is very
true, Candy Rabbit. We dare not move about or talk if we are looked at
by human eyes. But I do not think the watchman is coming."
"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."