Archibald Marshall

“ I chose Wooden herself, and I was going to appoint her when I fell ill. You are sure that it is not true that the Woods hate me?”
Peggy assured her again that it was not true, and she seemed much relieved. “I will not say anything about Selim and Rose,” she said, in a stately kind of way that was more effective than if she had said how wicked she thought they were. “When I get back my throne, and put on my crown again, I shall know what to do. My people have always been good, and I will not have them taught to tell untruths and to deceive.” She smiled gently at Peggy. ”

“ Teddy very cleverly stopped the car at once, or he might have run over her. Then he jumped down and lifted up Wooden’s aunt, who was not hurt at all, but screeched with laughter again. Teddy seized her round the waist and waltzed up and down the grass with her, kicking up his legs and being very silly. Peggy was surprised to see him going on like that, but Wooden’s aunt seemed to enjoy it thoroughly, and when he had finished she sat plump down on the grass, with her legs sticking out in front of her, and simply roared with laughter, and said, “Lawks! you are a one!” ”

“ They went up two steps under the porch, and Wooden knocked with the knocker, to show that it was a real knocker. The doll housemaid opened the door, and they went in. For the first time in her life, naturally, Peggy was inside a real dolls’ house, with the front shut and even the door shut. Hitherto she had only been able to see what it was like by peeping in through the windows; for of course you know that a dolls’ house can never be quite the same with its front open. It takes away from the make-believe. ”

“ King Selim’s face grew softer as Wooden spoke. Her voice was evidently music in his ears. Perhaps he would have given way at once, but before he could say anything, Rose, who was still standing by the side of the throne, spoke. “It isn’t safe to leave any wax dolls free to go about,” she said. “They will only stir up trouble. Compositions are quite as good as Waxes, and anything that Waxes could do, such as acting as ladies-in-waiting to royalty, Compositions can do.” ”

“ The sun was shining brightly on this gay scene, and the water was as calm as possible, so that there was no chance of anybody being seasick.
“Why, they are all going over to the Island!” said Peggy. “Are we going there, too?”
“Oh, yes,” said Wooden. “The Island is Toyland; I forgot that you didn’t know that. That is where all the dolls live. Those who are finished with your world live there always, and the others go there every night. At least it is night with you, but of course it is day with us. And when it is day with you it is night with us.”
“Like Australia,” suggested Peggy. ”

“ If King Selim could marry Queen Rosebud, now! How does that strike you as a way of getting over the difficulty?”
“It doesn’t strike me at all,” said Peggy. “Selim has done a very wicked and horrible thing. Queen Rosebud was ill, and she might have died, and if she had it would have been all his fault. He has told heaps of stories about her. She never told him that he was to be King after her at all. That’s one story. And he told the people she was dead. That’s another. And he has sent a lot of dolls to prison for nothing at all. He has done very wrong, and he ought to be punished.” ”

“ A great shout was raised, which struck terror into the hearts of the wooden soldiers down below. Before the first gun could be unlimbered and pointed at them, the great mass of red coats turned and broke. Colonel Jim, and all that was left of his little troop, took up the shout, and redoubled their efforts. They had it all their own way now. The enemy was flying, and not one wooden soldier tried to knock them down any more, but only to escape their blows, and get back in safety to the fort.
The big guns got to work. One of them was quite near to where Peggy and the Woodens were standing. ”

“ And the four tall wooden dolls who were helping him were Mr. Noah of the Royal Ark, and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet. It was rather clever of Teddy to have chosen them out of the crowd, as if he hadn’t known them before. But Teddy was clever, in spite of his flightiness, and faithful, too, as Peggy was very glad to see. She had recognized him at once, but the crowd had not. One Teddy bear is very much like another, unless he happens to be your own, and there were several of them in the crowd itself, as I have already said. ”

“ Peggy thought that Teddy would have seen that if they were once all shut up in prison it would be much [Pg 106] more difficult to get them out again than to prevent their going there. But he said no more. With an encouraging wave of the paw he took himself off, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Noah, and was lost to view. Peggy felt a little sad, but only for a moment, because she couldn’t help treating the whole business as a sort of game; and everybody knows that whatever dreadful things happen in dolls’ games, everything always comes right in the end. ”

“ Others had furniture a good deal too large for the rooms, but the dolls seemed all to be of one size, and Wooden told Peggy that, however large or small a doll might be in the nursery, when it got home to Toyland it became as large as life.
All the inhabitants of these small houses came thronging down to the banks of the river to see the procession of animals, and to cheer the royal ark as it passed along. Peggy noticed that the wooden dolls cheered more heartily than the wax dolls and china dolls and composition dolls. ”

“ Then she looked at Peggy searchingly and said, “Isn’t it true that my people hate me because I am Wax, and want to have a Wooden King and Queen in my place? Rose told me that Selim was going to marry Wooden, who brought you here. I was very sorry to hear that, because I have always liked Wooden, and I didn’t think she would want to take my place.”
“Oh, she doesn’t,” said Peggy, speaking as indignantly as the Queen had done. “Nobody will be more pleased to hear that you are really alive. And she doesn’t want to marry Selim. She hates him. ”

“ All the dolls looked at one another in admiration, and Wooden said, “Now, that’s one of the cleverest things I ever heard said, dear. How these things come into your head I can’t think.”
Peggy didn’t think that what she had said was so clever as all that, though she had had something further in her mind when she had said it. But she was pleased at being praised; most of us are; and she wanted to be as helpful as she could.
“Did you and Teddy make any plan for getting us out of prison?” she asked, turning to Colonel Jim. ”

“ Rose was quite an exception, and as for Selim, he wasn’t a proper doll at all, and had spent his active life in being so harried about a chess board, with hectoring Queens, and heavy Castles, and sliding Bishops, and hopping Knights, and perky little Pawns always giving him check, and he not able to move more than one square at a time, that perhaps it was no wonder that he would do anything to get into a position in which he could really act like a King. ”

“ Now, although Peggy loved Lady Grace from the first, it must not be supposed that she loved Wooden any the less. It was just as it is with children. When a new baby comes, the mother adores it, but she loves her other children just as much as she did before. ”

“ As Woods, all this extremely intelligent and entertaining company is naturally pleased at having a Wooden King to reign over Toyland. But under our late lamented Queen Rosebud, as far as my memory carries me back, there was no oppression. And personally I boast intimate friends amongst dolls of all varieties, from Wax to Rag.”
“What I think,” said Mrs. Mollie, a severe-looking doll with a long upper lip, “is that we were a good deal better off under Queen Rosebud than we are likely to be under King Selim. I don’t hold with these foreigners.” ”

“ The wooden soldiers all presented arms, and made a way through for them, and they drove off the quay and into the streets of Dolltown.
Peggy had been rather surprised that the dolls had not shown more grief at the sudden death of the Queen, though all of them had certainly spoken very nicely about it when the news had first come to them, and were evidently sorry that she had died. But she now began to understand that dolls do not take things in quite the same way as human beings. ”

“ Dollfort was a very fine toy fort, something like the one Peggy had seen driving into Dolltown, but much bigger. There were battlements all round it, with gates in them, and on the top of the fort was a large citadel. Outside the walls was a little town of dolls’ houses, where the families of the wooden soldiers lived. None but wooden soldiers occupied this fort, and of course that was why Selim had taken refuge there. He would tell them a great many lies and get them on his side. ”

“ If it could have been used for a final defence of Dollfort there would have been room in it for lots of soldiers, and everything would have been there to enable the defenders to support a long siege. But it had all been cleared out. The courtyard inside the gates was encumbered with furniture, and even the guns had dust-sheets over them. The great hall and the lower rooms had all been thoroughly cleaned, but the char-dolls had not reached the upper rooms yet, and it was to one of these that Selim, who was now eager to tell everything, led them. ”

“ All little girls know what it is to wish that they could sometimes live in their own dolls’ houses, especially in the big ones, where there are staircases that they could go up and down if only they were of the right size, and all sorts of nice furniture, and dinner-sets and tea-sets, [Pg 71] and other things which they would like to use themselves and not always be making believe with. Well, in Dolltown, and in fact in the whole of Toyland, there was no making believe. Everything was as real as real, even the smallest things for the smallest dolls. ”

“ So that matter was settled in the most satisfactory fashion, and Peggy was pleased to see Mr. Emma cheer up and look proud of himself, as if he had done something particularly clever.
She and Wooden said good-bye to the others, who [Pg 164] did not seem so disappointed at still being kept in prison as might have been expected. There are many advantages in being a doll, and one of them is that they have such a lot of time before them that they are a good deal more patient than we are when things are not going well for them. ”

“ Peggy knew that it must be the Queen, directly she saw her. Indeed, it was surprising that neither Mr. nor Mrs. Emma had guessed who the prisoner on the top story really was.
For she looked very royal. She was most delicately [Pg 145] made of wax, and looked a little faded, which would have been accounted for by her great age. But she was beautiful, too, with young features; for, of course, dolls do not grow old like human beings, and when they are in Toyland even breakages do not count. ”

“ This made Peggy see how trustworthy dolls really were. If they are ever naughty, it is only because their mistresses like to make them pretend to be, just for fun. And they are never really naughty, and soon get over whatever little trouble there may be with them, and are good and obedient again. Peggy wondered [Pg 149] now whether all this might not be owing to the wise and temperate rule of Queen Rosebud. Perhaps if Selim were to go on ruling it might all be altered, and dolls might become as bad as some human beings. ”

“ I shall inform his Majesty about it at once, and request him to see that Rose is properly punished. What I shall suggest is that she shall take Queen Rosebud’s place in prison. I fancy that would be rather neat, eh? I shall press the point on his Majesty.”
“But Selim is just as bad as she is,” exclaimed Peggy. “He ought to be sent to prison, too. Why do you call him ‘His Majesty’? He isn’t a King at all.”
“Hush, hush, my dear young lady!” ”

“ Wooden persisted. “Peggy has seen her.”
“Yes, I did,” said Peggy. “She is in the top story of the House of Cards. Selim and Rose had her locked up there, and they said that if she told anybody who she was they would put her in a dark dungeon. They are both very wicked.”
“Well, that’s beyond everything!” said Mrs. Winifred. “And I should like to know who Rose is, to go locking up the Queen.”
“If Waxes like to give themselves airs, that’s one thing,” said Mrs. Ida. “But for a Composition——! That’s what nobody can stand.”
“There are Compositions and Compositions,” said Mrs. Mollie. ”

“ The Lancers who had gathered at the edge of the wood immediately charged down the hill, shouting and singing in the most gallant fashion, the Colonel at their head; and the others who were coming up behind quickened their pace and followed them. They spread out as they got into the open, so as to charge the whole front of the wooden infantry. Colonel Jim held his own little troop back, partly out of politeness to the Colonel of Lancers, partly because their horses were blown. ”

“ Well, the Queen had got into the carriage where Selim was, and then Rose had gone upstairs and fetched down Lady Grace, and Wooden’s mother and aunt. Wooden’s aunt had seemed very pleased with herself, according to Mr. Emma. She had imitated a grand lady mincing down the steps, and said to him, “Out of the way, Bobby, we’re going to the palace. Haw! Haw!” ”

“ The two sides had already made friends again, and Leads and Woods were eating and drinking at the same tables, and talking in an eager way about the glorious fight they had had. That is the best of a toy army. When one side wins, the other side bears no malice, and of course the regiments that have fought each other today may very well be fighting on the same side tomorrow.
The ambulance corps had already finished its work inside the fort, and was on its way out to the soldiers still lying on the downs. ”

“ The first lot arrived in toy motor-cars, and then followed carriages and cabs and carts in quick succession, until quite enough men were there to overcome any resistance the fort might make.
Peggy, and the little group of civilian dolls watched the first regiment form up and march away towards their task at Dollfort. It was a regiment of wooden soldiers, and the Lord Chancellor said he thought that was a mistake, as they would not like fighting against their own sort. But Teddy, who came up to say a word to them now and then, laughed at this. “They are all loyal,” he said. ”

“ Wooden rose from her seat as the officials prepared to carry out the King’s orders. “If they are to go to prison,” she said, “I shall go, too, and so will mother. Then we can all keep each other company. I expect they will take us to the House of Cards, dear,” she said in a lower voice to Peggy. “It is very nice there, and there is a lovely view.”
Now it might have been thought that King Selim would have hesitated before letting Wooden go off to prison, considering he had just told her that he intended to marry her in half an hour. ”