“Dear me! I never could walk back to the house through the snow,” said the Sawdust Doll to herself. “If it were summer time I might try it after dark, when every one had gone to bed. But I never could do it now in the snow. I’d simply catch cold and have the sawdust fever. No, I shall have to stay here until some one comes for me. I hope that nice girl Dorothy misses me soon, and comes and gets me.” And, surely enough, Dorothy did miss her doll shortly after that. The cake, ice cream, and other good things had been eaten, and after some games had been played by the boys and girls, Dorothy said: “Now let’s get my new doll again, girls! She must be lonesome waiting for us to get through with our cake and ice cream.” “Yes, we’ll get your doll,” said another girl. Dorothy ran to the table where she had put her Sawdust Doll. “Why! Why!” cried the little girl. “She isn’t here! She’s gone!” “What is gone, Dorothy?” asked Mother. “Your piece of cake? You shouldn’t have left it on the table, my dear.” “No, Mother, I didn’t leave any cake on the table,” Dorothy said. “It was my new Sawdust Doll. I left her here, and now she is gone!” “Oh, that is too bad!” said Dorothy’s mother. “But are you sure you left your doll on this table?” she asked the little girl. “Oh, yes,” answered Dorothy. “I saw the Sawdust Doll lying there,” said Helen, one of the party guests. “So did I,” chimed in Dick. And then Dorothy looked sharply at her brother. “Did you take my doll?” she asked him suddenly. “Did you take my new doll that mother just gave me for my birthday?” “Course I didn’t!” cried Dick. “Why should I take your doll? I don’t play with dolls!” “Dorothy thought perhaps you had taken it in fun,” gently said Mother. “If you didn’t, perhaps Martha laid it in another place. We must look for the Sawdust Doll.” “We can make a game of it--like hide the thimble!” cried Dick. “I don’t want my Sawdust Doll made into a game!” exclaimed Dorothy, who was feeling sad. “It is only in fun, and make believe,” said Mother. “That will be a good way to find your pet, my dear. Come, children, look for Dorothy’s doll.” The Sawdust Doll was not the only one Dorothy had, but as it was her newest toy she wanted that just then more than any of the others. So she helped her boy and girl friends look in the different rooms for the missing doll. The maid said she had not taken the Sawdust Doll away, and no one could imagine where she was. And the tears came into Dorothy’s eyes as minute after minute passed and the new toy was not found. And now we must see what is happening to the Sawdust Doll. For some time, after going to the door of the kennel to look out, she lay quietly in the straw. It kept her warm, for there was no fire in Carlo’s house, as there was in the house where Dorothy and Dick lived.