Produced by Al Haines THE HOUSE OF TOYS By HENRY RUSSELL MILLER _Author of_ THE MAN HIGHER UP, HIS RISE TO POWER THE AMBITION OF MARK TRUITT WITH FRONTISPIECE BY FRANK SNAPP [Transcriber's note: Frontispiece missing from book] INDIANAPOLIS THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY PUBLISHERS COPYRIGHT 1914 THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY CONTENTS CHAPTER. I THE PLANS II THE WITCH III ON THE SANDS IV TO THE RESCUE V GOOD FAIRIES VI SPELLS VII SANCTUARY VIII CERTAIN PLOTS IX A NEW HOUSE X AT THE DOOR XI THE WITCH LAUGHS XII WHICH HOUSE? XIII THE HAPPY ENDING THE HOUSE OF TOYS CHAPTER I THE PLANS This is not a fairy tale, although you will find some old friends here. There is, for example, a witch, a horrid old creature who tricks the best and wisest of us: Circumstance is one of her many names, and a horde of grisly goblins follow in her train. For crabbed beldame an aunt, who meant well but was rich and used to having her own way, will do fairly well. Good fairies there are, quite a number; you must decide for yourself which one is the best. But the tale has chiefly to do with a youth to whom the witch had made one gift, well knowing that one would not be enough. Together with a girl--a sunflower who did not thrive in the shade, as Jim Blaisdell has said--he undertook to build, among other things, a house of love wherein she should dwell and reign. But when it was built he met another girl, who was--say, an iris. There are white irises, and very beautiful flowers they are. From her-- But that is the story. He was, then, tall, as well favored as is good for a young man, with straight-gazing though at times rather dreamy gray-green eyes, kinky brown hair and a frank friendly manner that was very engaging. Since his tenth year he had been alone in the world, with a guardian trust company for sole relative. But he tried to make up for that by having many friends. He did not have to try very hard. Men liked him, which was much to his credit. Those near his own age often made him a confidant in such matters as their ambitions and loves. His elders saw to it that he was asked not only to the things their wives and sisters gave but to week-ends in the family bosom as well.