And so the make-believe party of the toys went on in the night. It was
make-believe only to such persons as you and me and the watchman.
To the toys the party was real enough, for they could talk among
themselves, and move and jump about. But if any one had looked at them,
even a little baby, the toys would have been as still and quiet as a
hairpin. That’s the funny part of it.
The Sawdust Doll was just having a little dance with the Calico Clown,
and the Monkey on a Stick was asking the White Rocking Horse to give
him a ride around the floor when, all of a sudden, the Lamb on Wheels
came rolling back from where she had gone to look out of a window.
“The sun is coming up! The sun is coming up!” cried the Lamb. “Back to
your places, every one of you. It will soon be daylight and the people
will begin coming in.”
And, surely enough, a little while after that, when all the toys
were back in their places, the store opened, the clerks took their
stand behind counters and in front of shelves, and once more the busy
shopping day began.
“I wonder if anything will happen to me to-day,” thought the Sawdust
Doll as she sat on her shelf, with other dolls and toys around her. “I
wonder if I shall ever have any adventures. I wonder----”
And just then she was surprised to see, coming toward the doll counter,
the same lady who, the day before, had been in with the little girl
Dorothy and the boy Dick.
“Where is that pretty doll I looked at yesterday?” asked the lady of
the girl clerk. “I mean the one with the brown eyes?”
“This is it, Madam,” was the answer. “I put it aside for you,” and the
girl lifted down the Sawdust Doll. To look at her you never would have
thought that, a few hours before, she had been dancing around with the
Calico Clown.
“Yes, that is the doll I want for my little girl,” said the lady. “It
is one of the most beautiful I have seen in the store. Her brown eyes
are so very pretty. I’ll take her.”
And then began some adventures for the Sawdust Doll. She was dusted
off with a soft brush, and it tickled her face so that she wanted to
sneeze, but she knew she would not dare do that with all the people
around. Then the clerk wrapped some soft paper around her, and more
paper on the outside of that and tied it with a string.
“Gracious! I hope I don’t smother!” thought the Sawdust Doll.
She wished she might have a chance to say good-bye to the White Rocking
Horse, and to the Candy Rabbit, the Monkey on a Stick, the Bold Tin
Soldier, the Lamb on Wheels, and the Calico Clown.
But of course this could not be done while all the people were looking
on. But the Tin Soldier, the Calico Clown, and others were thinking to
themselves rather sad thoughts.
“There goes our Sawdust Doll!” thought the Clown. “I suppose I’ll never
see her again.”
“And I’ll never have another chance to drive a bad rat away from her
with my tin sword,” thought the Tin Soldier.
“She’ll never ride on my back again,” mused the White Rocking Horse.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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