Chapter 113
The Brave Tin SoldierTHERE were once five-and-twenty tin soldiers, who were all
brothers, for they had been made out of the same old tin spoon.
They shouldered arms and looked straight before them, and wore a
splendid uniform, red and blue. The first thing in the world they
ever heard were the words, "Tin soldiers!" uttered by a little boy,
who clapped his hands with delight when the lid of the box, in
which they lay, was taken off. They were given him for a birthday
present, and he stood at the table to set them up. The soldiers
were all exactly alike, excepting one, who had only one leg; he had
been left to the last, and then there was not enough of the melted
tin to finish him, so they made him to stand firmly on one leg, and
this caused him to be very remarkable
