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.  I never heard of a donkey on crutches.”

“I didn’t either!” laughed Joe.  He felt a little happier now, because he hoped he might be made well and strong again, and because he hoped his father could fix the broken leg of the Nodding Donkey.

Mrs. Richmond got a piece of cloth, and, straightening out the Donkey’s leg as best she could, she tied it up.  Then she put the toy far back on the shelf, laying it down on its side so it would not fall off again, or topple over.

Frisky scampered out of the window, back to his home in the hollow tree at the end of the yard.  Frisky never knew what damage he had done.  He was too eager to eat the nut Joe had given him.

“Now lie quietly here, Joe,” his mother said.  “I will soon have your bed ready for you, and then you can go to sleep.”

“I don’t want to go until Daddy comes home, so he can fix my Donkey,” said the boy, and his mother allowed him to remain up until Mr. Richmond came from the office.

“Oh, ho!  So the Donkey has a broken leg, has he?” asked Mr. Richmond in his usual jolly voice, when he came in where Joe was lying on the couch.  “Well, I think I can have him fixed.”

“How?” asked the little lame boy.

“I’ll take him back to the same toy store where you bought him,” answered his father.  “Mr. Mugg knows how to mend all sorts of toys.”

By this time the Donkey had gotten over the fainting fit, as his leg did not hurt him so much after Mrs. Richmond had tied the rag around it.  And now the Donkey heard what was said.

“Take me back to the toy store, will they?” thought the Donkey to himself.  “Well, I shall be glad to have my leg mended, and also to see the China Cat and some of my other friends.  But I want to come back to Joe.  I like him, and I like it here.  Besides, I am near the Calico Clown and the Bold Tin Soldier.  Yes, I shall want to come back when my leg is mended.”