Avon Fantasy Reader No. 14 — page 53: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Guard in the Dark What ts it about toy soldiers, about miniature figurines, which made them a feature of human civilization from time imme- morial? The tombs of Egypt’s pharaohs were filled with finger- sized replicas of their soldiers, slaves, and advisers. The two- inch tall household gods which perched on the utensils and tables of Greece me Rome linger on in the marching ranks of brightly painted lead soldiers which march and charge across the floors of playrooms and nurseries the world over. These miniatures somehow embody the attributes of life; they are endowed by their owners instinctively (for who has to teach a child to recognize dolls and toy soldiers as beings?) with the qualities of life. Allison V. Harding has woven this into a remarkable and memorable story of toy soldiers who fought a war as grim and deadly in its own miniature way as any flesh-and-blood armies engaged in. ROUDLY little Ronald Frost showed the new tutor his row on row of shiny lead soldiérs . . . soldiers in the painted khaki of the army, in the navy dark blue, and in the blue with red trimming of the marines. Some were standing, some were marching, some lying on their stomachs, guns pointed forward. “Look at my machine gunners,” said the twelve-year-old boy to Jeffry Wil- burts as he pointed to another part of the shelf whereon lay squad after squad of tiny toy figures, each with a machine gun—sub-machine guns and light and heavy ones, Jeffry nodded interestedly and took some of the pieces off the shelf to look at them more closely. “Be very careful!” the little boy cautioned as Wilburts minutely examined a soldier holding the miniature replica of an automatic rifle. “Sure [ will. Tell me, Ronald, why do you have so many? You must have several hundred soldiers here.” “Need ‘em,” said the youngster, his mouth setting in a tight line. “Do you like to recreate battles, [ mean fight out some of the campaigns of the war?” It had occurred to Wilburts that perhaps his pupil’s mania tor toy soldiers had such a significance. “Nope.” “Well, what then?” 51 comiclsooks.com