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.
“And no wonder! My spring is broken, and I can’t put my head out to see you, either,” the voice went on. “But I can look at you through a crack.”
“A crack in what?” asked the Sawdust Doll.
“A crack in my box,” was the reply.
“Well, go on,” said the Sawdust Doll, after a moment of silence.
“I’m Jack-in-the-Box,” the voice continued. “I used to live in a toy store, and I was bought last Christmas for the boy who lives in this house. But after he had played with me awhile, watching me jump out of my box every time the lid was lifted, my spring broke. I couldn’t jump any more then, and the boy grew tired of me. So I was put away on this shelf. Goodness, how lonesome I’ve been! I’m glad you came to keep me company. How long are you going to stay?”
“I don’t know,” answered the Sawdust Doll.
“I hope your spring isn’t broken, and that you are not put here because you aren’t of any more use as a toy,” said Jack-in-the-Box.
“No, I haven’t any springs,” answered the Doll. “I’m full of sawdust.”
“That’s better than having a spring inside you,” said Jack. “You can’t break sawdust.”
“No, but you can spill it,” the Doll went on. “And that’s what I’m always afraid of, that some day there’ll be an accident and all my sawdust will run out.”
“Oh, let us hope not!” exclaimed Jack. “But, really, I’m glad you have come. I was dreadfully lonesome here! Tell me about yourself. Tell me about your adventures.”
“I haven’t had many yet,” the Sawdust Doll replied. “We used to have fun playing party in the store after all the real folks were gone. But I’d like to hear about you. Having your spring broken must be a very wonderful adventure indeed.”
“Yes, it’s wonderful, all right,” sighed Jack. “But it isn’t much fun. If my spring were not broken I could look out now from the top of my box and see you and talk to you much better. As it is, I have to whisper through the crack.”
“It isn’t much fun talking through a crack,” agreed the Sawdust Doll. “But tell me about your spring.”
So Jack told how one day the boy pushed him into the box too hard, and slammed the cover down so quickly that there was a snip and a snap, and poor Jack’s spring broke. Never after that could he jump out of his box with a squeak whenever the lid was lifted.
“And now I want to hear about you,” said Jack. So the Sawdust Doll told about her friends in the store, and how the Bold Tin Soldier had driven the rat back to his hole.
For some little time the Jack-in-the-Box and the Sawdust Doll remained on the closet shelf, talking together in the make-believe language of toys—a language no real persons ever hear, any more than they can see the toys at play.
Then, the next day, the closet door suddenly opened, and a flood of light came in.
“Ha! I think they’ve come for you,” whispered Jack.
“Maybe it’s for you,” the Doll answered.
“Oh, no, my days are over,” was the Jack’s reply. “Nobody wants to play with a broken toy. I’ll stay here a long time, I suppose. But your adventures are just beginning.”
And that is just what happened. The Sawdust Doll was lifted down off the shelf, and a beautiful dress was put on her. It was made of silk, and was the color of a rose.
“You are as nice a doll as any little girl could wish,” said Martha, the maid, as she tied a blue sash on the Sawdust Doll.
There was a looking-glass in the room where the maid was dressing the toy for the birthday party, and the Sawdust Doll had a look at herself in the mirror.
“My, how nice I look,” thought the doll. “This is much nicer than wearing nothing but a bit of cheese cloth, as I did in the store. I won’t catch cold now.”
The rose silk dress was fastened on the doll, and then Mother came to get the toy.
“It is almost time for Dorothy’s party,” said Mother. “I hope she will like her doll. I’ll take it down.”
Down the stairs the Sawdust Doll was carried, and a moment later, she found herself in a room that was filled with little girls and boys. The girls all wore pretty dresses and the boys had their hair combed, so the Sawdust Doll began to think it was a party. And when she heard the guests say to Dorothy that they wished her “many happy returns,” the Sawdust Doll knew it was a birthday party.
“Here you are, little daughter!” said Mother to Dorothy. “Here is a present for you,” and the Sawdust Doll was handed to the little girl.
Dorothy’s eyes shone in delight, and she danced up and down as she hugged the toy close in her arms.
“Oh, she’s the very doll I wanted!” cried Dorothy. “It’s the same one I saw in the store! Look, Dick!” she called to her brother, showing him her new pet. “Don’t you remember? This doll was in the store where you rode the White Rocking Horse!”
“Yes, and I wish I had the Rocking Horse now!” exclaimed Dick. “But dolls are all right for girls, and I’m glad you have a new one, Dorothy,” he added, feeling he had not been very polite. “She is pretty.”
“Yes, my doll is lovely!” said Dorothy.
“Indeed she is!” cried all the other girls. And though each one of them had a doll, none was any prettier or more beautifully dressed than the Sawdust Doll.
Carlo Runs Away With the Sawdust Doll
Page 63
Then the party fun began. The boys and girls played games and danced to music. Some of the girls even danced with the Sawdust Doll, and I think it was very good of Dorothy to let them play with her beautiful new doll. But they were very careful.
“I like birthday parties,” thought the Sawdust Doll. “I wish the Bold Tin Soldier and the Calico Clown were here to enjoy this one.”
After the children had played games they had good things to eat, for that is one of the best things at a party. And while the children ate cake and ice cream the Sawdust Doll was laid aside. She found herself lying on a table near a big pin-cushion that was tied with a yellow ribbon.
“I hope none of the pins or needles come out and stick me,” thought the Doll, as she looked at them. “If I get a hole in me all my sawdust will run out, and that would be dreadful.”
Dorothy’s new toy, lying on a table near the pin-cushion in a side room, could hear the joyous shouts and laughter of the children at the birthday party. She could hear the rattle of spoons and of the ice-cream dishes.
All of a sudden, when it was very still and quiet in the room where the Sawdust Doll was lying, there came a growling noise.
“Gracious me!” thought the Sawdust Doll, “I wonder if that is Buster the Bear whom Jack was telling me about. I wonder!”
She started to rise and look around, but she was afraid to do this for fear some prying boy or girl might be looking. And the toys never dare move if any one looks at them.
Then, after the growl, there came a bark—a loud bark.
“That can’t be a bear!” thought the Sawdust Doll. “Bears don’t bark—they growl. But I remember there was a Fuzzy Dog in Toy Town. He used to growl and wag his tail when he was wound up. I wonder if the Fuzzy Dog could be here? I wish I dared look.”
And then something dreadful happened. At least it was dreadful to the Sawdust Doll. For a shaggy dog, one she knew was real and not a toy, rushed up to her, growling and barking. And the next moment the Sawdust Doll was caught up in the dog’s mouth, dragged from the table and carried away!