“That’s so—­he might!” laughed the jolly sailor.  “Well, good-bye, Mirabell, Arnold, and the Lamb on Wheels.”

Then Uncle Tim went away and the children went to bed, while the Lamb on Wheels was put in the pasteboard box stable, near the Wooden Lion.  And in the night they played together and had a fine time.

The Lamb on Wheels, in the days that followed, began to feel quite at home in Mirabell’s house, and she liked her little girl mistress better and better, for Mirabell was very kind.

“Some day, when it gets warmer, I’ll take my Lamb over to Dorothy’s house and let her see the Sawdust Doll,” said Mirabell to her brother.

“And I’ll take my fire engine over and I’ll ride on Dick’s Rocking Horse,” said Arnold.  “But it is so cold now the water in my engine might freeze if I took it over to Dick’s house.”

“Yes, it is cold,” agreed Mirabell.  “I guess I’ll take my Lamb down to the sitting room, where there’s a fire on the hearth.”

“I’ll come too,” said Arnold.  “I’ll bring my little fire engine.”

Soon the two children were having a good time with their toys in front of the fireplace in the sitting room.  On the hearth blazed a snapping, crackling warm fire of logs.

“Now you can get nice and warm,” said Mirabell to her Lamb, as she set her down close to the fireplace.  “You stay here and get warm, and I’ll go and ask Susan for some cookies to eat.”

Arnold also went to the kitchen with his sister, and when the two children came back to the sitting room they saw a dreadful sight.  A spark had popped out from the hearth and set fire to a piece of paper on the floor near the Lamb on Wheels.

“Oh, she’ll burn!  My Lamb on Wheels will burn!” cried Mirabell, as she rushed forward.

CHAPTER VI

DOWN THE COAL HOLE

Mirabell and Arnold had been told to be very careful whenever they played in the sitting room, if a fire were burning on the open hearth.  But, for the moment, the little girl forgot about this.  All she thought of was that her Lamb on Wheels might be burned by the blazing paper, which had been set on fire by a spark popping out from the blazing logs on the hearth.

“Oh, my Lamb!  My poor Lamb!” cried Mirabell.

“Look out!” shouted Arnold.  “Don’t go too close!”

“Why not?” asked his sister.  “I have to get my Lamb on Wheels away from the fire!”

“No, you mustn’t!” Arnold said.  “Your dress might catch on fire!”

The piece of paper was burning on the wide brick hearth of the fireplace, and not on the carpet, and the Lamb was close to the piece of paper that was on fire.  Altogether too close to the fire was the Lamb.  She was in great danger.

“But I’ve got to save her!  I must save my pet Lamb!” cried Mirabell.  She was going to rush forward, but her brother caught hold of her and held her back.