She handed Sidney the tube.  He took it and his Clown over to a table.  Pushing up the red trouser Sidney saw where the Clown’s leg was broken.  The wood was cracked and splintered, but the two pieces were there.

“I’ll just glue them together,” said the boy.  And this he did.  Then, as he knew that glue must set, or get hard, he put his Calico Clown away on a shelf in a closet, where the toy chap saw something that made him wonder.

At first, in the darkness, the Clown could not make out what or who it was on the shelf in the closet with him.  Then, as his eyes became accustomed to the gloom, he noticed that it was a Cat.

“Oh, are you a toy, too?” asked the Calico Clown politely, for he wanted company and some one to talk to.

“No, I am not exactly a toy,” answered the Cat.

“You look like one,” the Clown said.  “There was one just like you in our store, only that cat’s head wobbled.”

“Well, my head doesn’t wobble—­it comes off,” said the Cat.

“Your head comes off!” cried the Clown in great surprise.  “I should think that would hurt!”

“No, it’s made to do that,” the Cat explained.  “You see I’m a match safe, and I also have a place inside me where burned matches may be put.  To put them in me you have to lift off my head.  It doesn’t hurt at all—­I’m used to it.”

“Oh, that’s different,” said the Calico Clown.  “Well, I am very glad to meet you.  Do you know the Candy Rabbit?”

The Cat said she did, and very well, too.

“He sleeps here on the closet shelf with me every night,” she added.  “You’ll see him, pretty soon!”

“I shall be very glad to,” remarked the Clown.  “Excuse me for not sitting up as I talk,” he said, for Sidney had laid him down flat on his back.  “The truth of the matter,” went on the Clown, “is that my leg was broken a while ago, and the boy just glued it together.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” mewed the Match-Safe Cat.

“I’m not—­I’m glad,” said the Clown.  “If it wasn’t glued I’d be a slimpsy lopsy sort of chap.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean I was sorry your leg was glued, I meant that I was sorry it was broken,” went on the Cat.  “Now let’s tell each other our adventures.”

So they did, talking until late in the evening when, suddenly, the closet door was opened by Madeline.  Of course, then the Cat and the Calico Clown had to be very still and quiet.

“There, I guess you’ll be best in the closet for the rest of the night,” said Madeline to her Candy Rabbit Easter toy.  “You’ll be all dry in the morning, I hope,” and she thrust the Rabbit back on the shelf and shut the door.

“Oh, my dear Calico Clown friend!” cried the Candy Rabbit, as soon as it was safe for the toys to speak, “how glad I am to see you again.”

“And I am glad to see you,” said the Clown.  “I rather like it here with the Cat.”

“But why are you lying flat on your back?” asked the Candy Rabbit.  “You used to be such a lively, jolly fellow.  Come, get up and give us one of your old-time jigs or dances.”