THE WONDERFUL TOY-SHOP.

Hutt News, Volume 3, Issue 10, 31 July 1930, Page 4

THE WONDERFUL TOY-SHOP.

, There was once a stra-nge and. wonderful;shop, kept by air old man with a long white ..beard. It was a large shop, filled with shelves upon of toys, dolls,

picture-books, games, and all sorts of things for children. In fact it was so much for children that no grown-ups were allowed inside the door. But any child might come in and wander round, and look, and touch, and finally choose whatever he or she wanted most.

Just one thing was'allowed, so it was important to choose carefully. And then it woulcl be wrapped up in a brown paper parcel by the old lnaii and handed over the counter with a smile, and the child just smiled too and said, "Thank you," and marched away with it. ' Nobody needed money to buy-things in^his shop. But the strangest part of all was that, after they were safely car-' ried home, these toys sometimes disappeared again. If a cart was broken, or a picture-book was, torn, or: a doll left lying on the floor one evening, next morning their owners would search for them in vain. And the_very next time they went back to the 3hop, there would be the cart quite whole again, and there would be the picture-book quite clean and untorn, and there would be the doll quite new and neat. But the same children might never ask to have them back again. They must choose something else.

j This toy-shop opened only one day in every month; every fourth i Saturday the shutters of the shop | would be down, and the door

open, and the old man standing smiling behind his counter. i One Saturday a little brother and sister named Martin and Marigold had been to the shop. Martin had chosen a green engine that ran round and round in big circles when it was wound up; Marigold, after hesitating a long time between a brown furry dog = with yellow eyes and a baby-doll with long clothes and a little white cap, had chosen the babydoll. They were both so much de-

lighted with their new possessions they could think of nothing else, and they played with them all day. But when it was near bed-time a quarrel arose. For Martin wanted Marigold to help him play with his engine, and Marigold wanted Martin to come and be doctor to her baby. Neither would do what the other wanted, and, just'as Nurse came into the room, Martin gave a tug to Marigold's hair and

made her cry out. ■— Then Nurse said Martin was a

very naughty boy and should be

put to bed to-night. This made Martin dreadfully angry, because he was a year and a half older than Marigold and always went to bed last. But even in the middle of his rage he remembered to put his green engine away in the cupboard, because he knew what happened to toys that were left lying about. When Marigold was ready for bed too, she put her baby-doll in a little cot in the corner of the night* nursery, and tucked it in tenderly. Then she tried to say good-night to Martin, but he was too angry still, and hid his head under the bed-clothes. Before very long Marigold was sound asleep, but Martin lay awake a long time because he was in such a bad mood.

It's all that hateful doll's fault!" he kept saying to himself

furiously. "There won't be any proper games with that stupid doll about!" All of a sudden he had a very naughty idea; He got out of bed and toptoed very gently across to the doll's cot. And he pulled the baby-doll out of bed and laid it down all anyhow in the middle

of the floor. Then he slipped back

to his own bed again. "There! that doll will be gone

away when Marigold awakes!" he thought revenjgefully.

Next morning Martin woke up and remembered what he had done. As he had slept away all his ill-htimoTir he felt very much [•ashamed of himself, .He turned j his head and looked towards Mari- ; gold;; but she was still asleep. Then he sat up and looked on the floor. No! -no doll was lying there. - It-had disappeared, just as he expected. He. lay down again and did not feel at all happy. "When Marigold woke, Martin- ! heard her jump out of bed and patter across the room to look for her doll. He waited for a cry of -dismay, hutznone tkme^ He lddked up once more;; arid there was the baby-.doil, quite safe and* sound, being lifted out of its cot. Martin felt very much relieved but very much puzzled. .Who could have put the doll back in bed. again? .;• . . .. Then Nurse came in to get them ; up. The moment he was dressed Martin darted into the day-nur-sery'tb'look at'his iengine. He pulled open the cupboard door, but- —there was no engine! He looked all round and behind the other things, but the engine was not anywhere to be found. He called Nurse and Marigold, but they knew nothing of it. Suddenly Martin.began to hang his head, for he guessed what had happened. The fairies, or whoever it was who carried the left-about toys back to the shop once more, had known all about everything. They must have put the baby-doll back in the bed and taken the green engine instead.

He felt very unhappy all day, and when Marigold played all the games he liked best because she was so sorry about the engine he felt unhappier still. When bedtime came again he could not bear it any longer, and he began to cry and told Marigold all about it. Marigold put her arms round his neck and said:—''Please don't be sorry, Martin! please don't be sorry! except about the engine."

Martin said in a gruff sort of voice that it didn't matter about the engine at all. Then he began to feel happier again, and next day he played doctor to Marigold's doll just as long as she liked.

Well, the days and weeks went by, and it came to Toy-shop Saturday once more. Martin and Mari gold went out with their mother, and were left at the toy-shop as as usual while she did the household shopping.

The first thing they saw was the green engine sitting on the very shelf it had been taken from the month before, but neither of them said anything about it.

When Martin's and Marigold's mother came back to the toy-shop door, there were her two children waiting for her, each holding a large parcel.

"You have been quick over choosing to-day!'' she said. 'What have you got in those lovely bigparcels?"

"It's a secret, Marigold doesn't know!"

"It's a.secret, Martin doesn't know!"

Their mother said: "A secret! what fun!" and did not ask any more questions; and the old man who kept the shop smiled to himself. -

When they got home and up to the nursery, Marigold thrust her parcel at Martin and.said: "It's for you!"

Martin said in surprise: "Why, so is mine for you!"

Marigold's parcel was hard and bumpy, and out of it came the green engine! •

And Martin's parcel was soft and roundy, and out of it came the brown furry dog with yelloweyes !

And this story ends with a Tremendous Hug. ~