Dot and Tot of MerrylandBaum, L. Frank (Lyman Frank)
Science
Dot and Tot of Merryland
Baum, L. Frank (Lyman Frank)
Fantasy fiction
"Let's take some!" cried Tot.
"No, indeed," said Dot, "if we took them they wouldn't be lost any
more."
"Won't they ever be found?" asked the boy.
"I think not," replied the Queen. "No one has ever been here but you,
and probably no stranger will ever come to this Valley again."
"It's all right for us to come," declared Tot.
"Why?" enquired the girl.
'"Cause we're lost, too!"
"So we are, Tot," said Dot, rather sadly; "but lost people are
usually found again, for I don't see any others here."
They walked a little farther on and saw a mass of broken toys lying
scattered about. There were dollies, too, for suddenly Tot made a
pounce and grabbed up a sorry looking doll with one arm broken, one
eye out and a scratched and battered face.
"I've found her!" he cried, joyfully; "I've found Jane! An' I'm going
to keep her, too."
"Is it really your doll?" asked the Queen, with some curiosity.
"Course it is," replied Tot; "I lost her."
"Then I do not see why you should not keep her with you; for, being
found, she doesn't belong here any more."
"Course not," said the boy, hugging the broken doll in his arms.
"There are a good many gloves and handkerchiefs lost," remarked Dot,
looking at the heaps lying around.
"Yes," replied the Queen; "and over at the further side of the Valley
are many piles of pocket-books, each pile as big as a haystack.
People are so careless with pocketbooks."
"Have they money in them?" asked the girl.
"Some have a great deal of money inside them, and some only a few
pennies. Others are stuffed with cards and samples and papers," said
the Queen. "I would take you to look at them, but we should have to
climb over a hill of lost needles, and I fear our overshoes would not
protect us from their sharp points."
"It's always hard to get at money," said Tot, with a sigh.
Among other things lying near her Dot now noticed a hurdy-gurdy, such
as she had seen musicians carrying around the streets. There was no
monkey with it, and it looked quite old and battered.
"I wonder how long it has been here, she remarked, thoughtfully.
"Play it, and see," suggested the Queen.
So Dot set the hurdy-gurdy up straight and turned the crank, when it
began playing in a jerky and wheezy manner a tune called "Silver
Threads Among the Gold."
"My! But that's an old tune," said Dot.
"It's rather pretty," declared the Queen, who had never heard the air
before. "Play another."
This time the tune was "Little Annie Rooney," and then followed
"Captain Jinks" and "Two Little Girls in Blue."
"I guess this hurdy-gurdy was lost before I was born," sighed Dot.
"It's certainly very old."
CHAPTER 19
The Lost Crowns
"Well, shall we return to the boat?" asked the Queen, when they had
looked at the lost things a while longer.
"Yes," they answered willingly, for the Valley was a rather sad
sight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account