s brim full and running over with oats.
"You surely let down enough grain," said Jake.
"How are you going to get my Doll?" Elsie asked.
"And my Elephant?" added Archie.
"Oh, I'll shovel them out," said Jake. "Don't be afraid. I'll get the
Doll and the Elephant."
"Well, you'd better hurry, 'cause they may smother," Elsie said.
"I'll hurry," promised Jake.
With a shovel he carefully took some of the oats from the bin, so that
first Elsie's Doll could be seen, and then the Elephant came into view.
"There you are!" said kind Jake, as he handed the toys back to the
children.
"My, wasn't that a terrible time?" said the Doll to the Elephant that
night, when they were left by themselves in a closet.
"I should say so!" agreed the Elephant. "I never want anything like that
to happen again! I hope I have no more adventures!"
But he was to have more.
For a time, however, nothing very exciting happened. Archie played with
his Elephant and Elsie with her Doll, and their boy and girl friends
brought over their toys to have fun with. Often they amused themselves
in the big, warm barn, though never again did Archie go near the grain
bin.
Sometimes Nip, the big dog, would go to the barn to play with the
children, and once, though not meaning to, the Elephant gave the dog a
scare. It was this way.
Archie had set his elephant down on the barn floor, near a big box. Nip,
the dog, coming suddenly around the corner of the box, did not know the
Elephant was there until a draft of wind swayed the Elephant's trunk,
making it wiggle to and fro.
"Oh, my! A snake! A snake!" cried Nip, who was afraid of the crawling
creatures. "It's a big snake!"
"Nonsense! I'm not a snake," said the Elephant, who could speak, since
Elsie and Archie were in another part of the barn.
"What was it that looked like a snake?" howled Nip.
"It was my trunk. The wind blew it," was the answer.
"Hum!" said Nip, who, now that he took a second look, saw that there was
really no snake, and nothing to frighten him. "Hum! I believe you did
that on purpose, just to scare me!"
"No, really I didn't!" said the Elephant.
"Yes, you did, too!" barked Nip. "And, just for that, I'm going to play
a trick on you!"
"Please don't!" begged the Elephant.
"Yes, I will!" growled Nip, who was a little angry, and not as kind as
he might have been. "I'm going to carry you away off!" he barked.
Then, before the Elephant could do anything to save
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