“Never again will she tell me how sweet I am,” sighed the Candy Rabbit. “She used to like to watch me go up and down on my stick,” whispered the Monkey to himself; “that is, when I didn’t go too fast.” “She used to feel my soft wool,” was what the Lamb on Wheels thought to herself. But the lady who had bought the Sawdust Doll knew nothing of this. She took the package the clerk gave her, and, with it in her arms, got into her automobile. “We’ll go home now,” said the lady to the man who sat at the steering-wheel. “I have the doll for Dorothy, so we’ll go home.” And, a moment later, the Sawdust Doll was rolling smoothly over the streets on her way to have new adventures. But she could not help feeling sad when she thought of the toys she had left behind in the store. CHAPTER V THE BIRTHDAY PARTY The Sawdust Doll could not see, of course, all the things that happened on her automobile ride, for she was wrapped in paper from the store. But she could feel the big machine gliding along on its rubber-tired wheels, and she knew she was having a ride. “It may be nicer than a ride on the back of the White Rocking Horse,” thought the Sawdust Doll, “but it isn’t so much fun, cooped up here as I am. I wish we’d get where we’re going.” And, soon enough, she had her wish. Through the different streets rolled the automobile, and soon it came to a stop near a pretty house in front of which was a lawn. The lawn was green in summer, but now, as it was near Christmas, there was white snow on the grass. “You may put the auto up now,” said the lady to the driver. “I shall not be going out again to-day. I must get ready for Dorothy’s birthday party.” And then the Sawdust Doll was carried into the house. The lady hurried up the stairs, holding the package under her fur coat. “Is that you, Mother?” called Dorothy from the playroom. “Yes,” was the answer. “Stay there! I’ll be with you in a moment. Is Dick there?” “Yes, I’m here!” Dick answered. “I’m making believe a chair is a rocking horse. Did you bring me a rocking horse, Mother?” he asked, and he came to the door of the playroom. “It isn’t Christmas yet,” Mother answered, with a laugh. “Here, Martha,” she quickly said to the maid. “Take this doll. It’s for Dorothy’s birthday to-morrow. Hide it away on top of a closet shelf where Dorothy’ll not see it.” The doll was laid away on a shelf in a dark closet. That is, it was dark for a time, but, after a while, the Sawdust Doll began to see things faintly, just as she used to look at things on the shelves and counters of the toy store. “Hello! Who’s there?” suddenly asked a voice of the Sawdust Doll, and she knew, right away, that it was a toy, like herself, speaking. But all she could dimly see was a small, square box in one corner of the top clothes’-press shelf. “Hello!” said a voice again. “Hello!” answered the Sawdust Doll politely. “But I can’t see any one,” she added.