AUGUST 10: Allie Baa’s Letter
“Allie Baa,” said daddy, “is a rag doll. Her real name is Alice Gustava Ariel Star Jewel Bright Carol Carmen Cucumber-Green.
“Mrs. Cucumber-Green is her mother’s make-believe name, or I should say it was her mother’s make-believe name.
“Her mother is a grown-up lady now, but still she has kept Allie Baa, and when little girls go to call on her she brings out Allie Baa and Allie at once makes friends.
“Now, this summer Allie’s mother went to the seashore. She left Allie in charge of the city apartment. She told Allie to keep watch over the apartment and to see that all was safe. Allie was the name she was always called by for short, as you know.
“Now, when Allie’s great-aunt’s birthday came she wanted to send her a present as she had always done. So she sent some pillows for the porch where her great-aunt loved to sit.
“On the day of the birthday in the excitement Allie’s great-aunt did not see the little card which said:
“‘To Dear Great-Aunt Mary, with love and many happy returns from Allie Baa.’
“But the next day when Allie’s great-aunt was looking over her presents she found the little card and knew that it belonged with the present of the pillows which she had opened and which she had thought some one else had given to her.
“Well, she sat right down and she wrote Allie Baa this letter and sent it to be given to Allie Baa, care of Allie’s mother, who was at the seashore, as I have told you.
“This was the letter Allie received, and because she thought it was such a nice letter she wanted to let Jack and Evelyn and their friends hear it, too.
“‘My dear Allie Baa,’ the letter commenced.
“‘I find this morning on reading over my birthday cards that the pillows are from you, so will you please accept my thanks for your sensible, most useful, pretty gift. When I received my presents yesterday it was a distinct loss not to find a gift from you, and I thought perhaps you were too hot to shop or had some other good reason. But I am glad I thought wrongly and you did remember me as of old.
“‘I shall think of you as I lie, sit, or “back up” against these pillows.
“‘I suppose you are in the city this summer, as I have not heard of any “ocean dips” on your part.
“‘Perhaps salt water might not agree with you. It is well to be cautious, which means careful, and run no risks! You might feel a responsibility with guarding the apartment but you have a calm, brave, quiet nature which will keep you from a nervous breakdown, I feel sure.
“‘With love and thanks,
“‘Affectionately,
“‘GREAT-AUNT MARY.’
“Wasn’t that a nice letter. Well, Allie’s mother, on a trip up to town took the letter to Allie, for she couldn’t very well go to the door and get it from the postman if her mother had sent it on by mail. But oh, she was so pleased to have a letter from Great-Aunt Mary.
“And she smiled in her rag doll way, and the paint on her face cracked just a little with joy, for she loved Aunt Mary, who had often let her sit near her and draw up close as an affectionate, loving doll likes to do.
“And she told her mother to tell Great-Aunt Mary that she was so happy with her letter, and that she hoped Great-Aunt Mary would have many, many happy returns of her birthday, for she was the best Great-Aunt Mary that ever lived!”