But next day he did not come. Then a few tears fell from Claribelle's haughty eyes. Nor did he come on the next, and then she shed more. Nor on the following day; nor the day after that, nor the day after _that_,--nor ever again! And each day poor Claribelle wept more and more, till it was sad to see her. At last she heard the Wagoner had left the toy-shop altogether, and she knew she should never see him again. And she cried, and cried, and cried, till she cried away every bit of pride in her nature! Indeed, from being the proudest Toy in the shop she became the meekest and gentlest--kind and thoughtful to all. So the other Toys would often remark one to the other with surprise and pleasure: "Lo! how poor Claribelle hath been chastened by sorrow!" "Poor, _poor_ Claribelle! I _am_ sorry for her!" said the little girl. "She had, indeed, a severe lesson," answered the little Marionette. "And did the Wagoner ever come back?" "Never, never. He loved, but drove away." "How sad!" sighed the little girl. "Sad, indeed," said the Marionette. "Well, as I always say, let all young ladies take warning by the story of Proud Claribelle, and then it will not have been told in vain." There was a pause. Then the little girl said: "Next time you tell me a story I should like it to be happy all through. Happy, you know, from beginning to end." The little Marionette thought a few moments, then shook her head. "I can't remember such a story," she said. "I think there must be very few." "I am sorry for that," answered the little girl, disappointed. "I wanted very much to hear one." "We must take things as they are," said the little lady cheerfully. "If I don't know many stories that are happy all the way through, I know plenty that are so at the beginning, or the middle, or the end; or even more than that." "Which do you like best?" said the little girl. "Oh, stories with a happy ending! You can forget that the beginning or middle has been sad, and you can go away smiling." "Then tell me to-morrow a story that ends happily." "If you will," said the little Marionette. CHAPTER VIII On the morrow, when the two met as usual, the Marionette said to the little girl: "Good evening. I have thought of a story that will please you." "Then I suppose it ends most happily, doesn't it?" asked Molly. "Quite right," she replied. "I am going to tell you one that ends as happily as you could wish it to. You will, I am sure, be quite satisfied with the conclusion of: 'The Grocer and the Farthing Doll.'" THE GROCER AND THE FARTHING DOLL Never was there a love affair more perplexing than the love affair of the Grocer and the Farthing Doll. It puzzled the whole toy-shop; it even puzzled the two lovers themselves. The affair was rather difficult to understand, but I will try to explain it to you as simply as I can.