"Oh, dear! Tell me when it is all over!" begged the Talking Doll,
putting both her hands over her eyes.
Down, down, down, came the Jumping Jack, past shelf after shelf of toys,
until he landed with a bounce on a rubber ball on the very lowest shelf,
where the Cat and the Doll stood.
Up in the air bounced the Jack again, for the ball was like the springs
of a bed. Then he came down upon the ball a second time and bounced up
once more, and this time he came down on the shelf.
"Ouch! Mew! Mew!" cried the China Cat.
"What's the matter? Did the Jumping Jack fall and break his leg like the
Nodding Donkey?" asked the Talking Doll. "Oh, I dare not look! Tell me
about it!"
"Of course he didn't break his leg!" said the Cat. "But he stepped on my
tail; that's what he did! Right on my tail! I hope it isn't broken," she
went on, as she looked carefully at the tip.
"Oh, I beg your pardon! I am so sorry!" exclaimed the Jumping Jack. "I
didn't mean to do that. The ball rolled, and I slipped."
"Well, there is no great harm done, I am glad to say," said the China
Cat, again carefully looking at the tip of her tail. "But if you had
landed a little harder you would have broken it, and then I should be a
damaged toy, and Mr. Mugg would have had to sell me for half price."
"But didn't I do a good jump?" asked the Jack of the Trumpeter.
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