RAGGEDY ANN'S NEW SISTERS
Marcella was having a tea party up in the nursery when Daddy called toher, so she left the dollies sitting around the tiny table and ran downstairs carrying Raggedy Ann with her.
Mama, Daddy and a strange man were talking in the living room and Daddyintroduced Marcella to the stranger.
The stranger was a large man with kindly eyes and a cheery smile, aspleasant as Raggedy Ann's.
He took Marcella upon his knee and ran his fingers through her curls ashe talked to Daddy and Mamma, so, of course, Raggedy Ann liked him fromthe beginning. "I have two little girls," he told Marcella. "Their namesare Virginia and Doris, and one time when we were at the sea-shore theywere playing in the sand and they covered up Freddy, Doris' boy-doll inthe sand. They were playing that Freddy was in bathing and that hewanted to be covered with the clean white sand, just as the otherbathers did. And when they had covered Freddy they took their littlepails and shovels and went farther down the beach to play and forgot allabout Freddy.
"Now when it came time for us to go home, Virginia and Doris rememberedFreddy and ran down to get him, but the tide had come in and Freddy was'way out under the water and they could not find him. Virginia andDoris were very sad and they talked of Freddy all the way home."
"It was too bad they forgot Freddy," said Marcella.
"Yes, indeed it was!" the new friend replied as he took Raggedy Ann upand made her dance on Marcella's knee. "But it turned out all rightafter all, for do you know what happened to Freddy?"
"No, what did happen to him?" Marcella asked.
"Well, first of all, when Freddy was covered with the sand, he enjoyedit immensely. And he did not mind it so much when the tide came up overhim, for he felt Virginia and Doris would return and get him.
"But presently Freddy felt the sand above him move as if someone wasdigging him out. Soon his head was uncovered and he could look right upthrough the pretty green water, and what do you think was happening? TheTide Fairies were uncovering Freddy!
"When he was completely uncovered, the Tide Fairies swam with Freddy'way out to the Undertow Fairies. The Undertow Fairies took Freddy andswam with him 'way out to the Roller Fairies. The Roller Fairies carriedFreddy up to the surface and tossed him up to the Spray Fairies whocarried him to the Wind Fairies."
"And the Wind Fairies?" Marcella asked breathlessly.
"The Wind Fairies carried Freddy right to our garden and there Virginiaand Doris found him, none the worse for his wonderful adventure!"
"Freddy must have enjoyed it and your little girls must have been veryglad to get Freddy back again!" said Marcella. "Raggedy Ann went up inthe air on the tail of a kite one day and fell and was lost, so now I amvery careful with her!"
"Would you let me take Raggedy Ann for a few days?" asked the newfriend.
Marcella was silent. She liked the stranger friend, but she did not wishto lose Raggedy Ann.
"I will promise to take very good care of her and return her to you in aweek. Will you let her go with me, Marcella?"
Marcella finally agreed and when the stranger friend left, he placedRaggedy Ann in his grip.
"It is lonely without Raggedy Ann!" said the dollies each night.
"We miss her happy painted smile and her cheery ways!" they said.
And so the week dragged by....
But, my! What a chatter there was in the nursery the first night afterRaggedy Ann returned. All the dolls were so anxious to hug Raggedy Annthey could scarcely wait until Marcella had left them alone.
When they had squeezed Raggedy Ann almost out of shape and she hadsmoothed out her yarn hair, patted her apron out and felt hershoe-button eyes to see if they were still there, she said, "Well, whathave you been doing? Tell me all the news!"
"Oh we have just had the usual tea parties and games!" said the tinsoldier. "Tell us about yourself, Raggedy dear, we have missed you somuch!"
"Yes! Tell us where you have been and what you have done, Raggedy!" allthe dolls cried.
But Raggedy Ann just then noticed that one of the penny dolls had a handmissing.
"How did this happen?" she asked as she picked up the doll.
"I fell off the table and lit upon the tin soldier last night when wewere playing. But don't mind a little thing like that, Raggedy Ann,"replied the penny doll. "Tell us of yourself! Have you had a nice time?"
"I shall not tell a thing until your hand is mended!" Raggedy Ann said.
So the Indian ran and brought a bottle of glue. "Where's the hand?"Raggedy asked.
"In my pocket," the penny doll answered.
When Raggedy Ann had glued the penny doll's hand in place and wrappeda rag around it to hold it until the glue dried, she said, "When I tellyou of this wonderful adventure, I know you will all feel very happy.It has made me almost burst my stitches with joy."
The dolls all sat upon the floor around Raggedy Ann, the tin soldierwith his arm over her shoulder.
"Well, first when I left," said Raggedy Ann, "I was placed in theStranger Friend's grip. It was rather stuffy in there, but I did notmind it; in fact I believe I must have fallen asleep, for when Iawakened I saw the Stranger Friend's hand reaching into the grip. Thenhe lifted me from the grip and danced me upon his knee. 'What do youthink of her?' he asked to three other men sitting nearby.
"I was so interested in looking out of the window I did not pay anyattention to what they said, for we were on a train and the scenery wasjust flying by! Then I was put back in the grip.
"When next I was taken from the grip I was in a large, clean, light roomand there were many, many girls all dressed in white aprons.
"The stranger friend showed me to another man and to the girls who tookoff my clothes, cut my seams and took out my cotton. And what do youthink! They found my lovely candy heart had not melted at all as Ithought. Then they laid me on a table and marked all around my outsideedges with a pencil on clean white cloth, and then the girls re-stuffedme and dressed me.
"I stayed in the clean big light room for two or three days and nightsand watched my Sisters grow from pieces of cloth into rag dolls justlike myself!"
"Your SISTERS!" the dolls all exclaimed in astonishment, "What do youmean, Raggedy?"
"I mean," said Raggedy Ann, "that the Stranger Friend had borrowed mefrom Marcella so that he could have patterns made from me. And before Ileft the big clean white room there where hundreds of rag dolls so likeme you would not have been able to tell us apart."
"We could have told _you_ by your happy smile!" cried the French dolly.
"But all of my sister dolls have smiles just like mine!" replied RaggedyAnn.
"And shoe-button eyes?" the dolls all asked.
"Yes, shoe-button eyes!" Raggedy Ann replied.
"I would tell you from the others by your dress, Raggedy Ann," said theFrench doll, "Your dress is fifty years old! I could tell you by that!"
"But my new sister rag dolls have dresses just like mine, for theStranger Friend had cloth made especially for them exactly like mine."
"I know how we could tell you from the other rag dolls, even if you alllook exactly alike!" said the Indian doll, who had been thinking for along time.
"How?" asked Raggedy Ann with a laugh.
"By feeling your candy heart! If the doll has a candy heart then it isyou, Raggedy Ann!"
Raggedy Ann laughed, "I am so glad you all love me as you do, but I amsure you would not be able to tell me from my new sisters, except that Iam more worn, for each new rag doll has a candy heart, and on it iswritten, '_I love you_' just as is written on my own candy heart."
"And there are hundreds and hundreds of the new rag dolls?" asked thelittle penny dolls.
"Hundreds and hundreds of them, all named Raggedy Ann," replied Raggedy.
"Then," said the penny dolls, "we are indeed happy and proud for you!For wherever one of the new Raggedy Ann dolls goes there will go with itthe love and happiness that _you_ give to others."
[Transcriber's Notes:
"Today" and "downstairs" occur in the introduction, while "to-day" and"down-stairs" are in the stories.
Chicken coop is spelled once with and once without the hyphen.]
Raggedy Ann Stories Page 13