"'She is right,' said the Jack-in-a-box, 'and now let us get on. The
prisoner is delivered unreservedly into the hands of our trusty and
well-beloved Rosa--doll of the first class--for punishment according
to the strict law of tit for tat.'
"'I shall request the assistance of the pewter tea-things,' said Rosa,
with her usual smile. 'And now, my love,' she added, turning to me,
'we will come and sit down.'
"Where the go-cart vanished to I cannot remember, nor how I got out of
it; I only know that I suddenly found myself free, and walking away
with my hand in Rosa's. I remember vacantly feeling the rough edge of
the stitches on her flat kid fingers, and wondering what would come
next.
"'How very oddly you hold your feet, my dear,' she said; 'you stick
out your toes in such an eccentric fashion, and you lean on your legs
as if they were table legs, instead of supporting yourself by my hand.
Turn your heels well out, and bring your toes together. You may even
let them fold over each other a little; it is considered to have a
pretty effect among dolls.'
"Under one of the big trees Miss Rosa made me sit down, propping me
against the trunk as if I should otherwise have fallen; and in a
moment more a square box of pewter tea-things came tumbling up to our
feet, where the lid burst open, and all the tea-things fell out in
perfect order; the cups on the saucers, the lid on the teapot and so
on.
"'Take a little tea my love?' said Miss Rosa pressing a pewter teacup
to my lips.
"I made believe to drink, but was only conscious of inhaling a draught
of air with a slight flavor of tin. In taking my second cup I was
nearly choked with the teaspoon, which got into my throat.
"'What are you doing?' roared the Jack-in-a-box at this moment; 'you
are not punishing her.'
"'I am treating her as she treated me,' answered Rosa, looking as
severe as her smile would allow. 'I believe that tit for tat is the
rule, and that at present it is my turn.'
"'It will be mine soon,' growled the Jack-in-a-box, and I thought of
the bonfire with a shudder. However, there was no knowing what might
happen before his turn did come, and meanwhile I was in friendly
hands. It was not the first time my dolly and I had set together under
a tree, and, truth to say, I do not think she had any injuries to
avenge.
"'When your wig comes off,' murmured Rosa, as she stole a pink kid arm
tenderly round my neck, 'I'll make you a cap with blue and white
rosettes, and pretend that you have had a fever.'
"I thanked her gratefully, and was glad to reflect that I was not yet
in need of an attention which I distinctly remember having shown to
her in the days of her dollhood. Presently she jumped up.
"'I think you shall go to bed now, dear,' she said, and, taking my
hand once more, she led me to the big doll's bedstead, which, with its
pretty bedclothes and white dimity furniture, looked tempting enough
to a sleeper of suitable size. It could not have supported one quarter
of my weight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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