Edith King Hall

“ Then she threw herself down on the counter and cried as if her heart were breaking. She threw herself down so violently that she broke her nose and knocked her eyes awry. But she was too miserable to care. She lay still and cried on.
At last a friend of hers came along—a friend who was a Doll of common sense and practical ways.
"What is all this about?" she asked. "Why are you crying?"
"Because half an hour may last for so long," wept the little Marionette.
"You are talking nonsense," she replied contemptuously. "Everybody knows that half an hour can only last thirty minutes." ”

“ I shall ask Auntie to give you to me, and you shall be my very own dolly!"
"Come with me, darling," she continued, hugging the little Marionette tightly, "and I will sing you to sleep in Auntie's big rocking-chair. I will make up a nice song all by myself and all about you. You will see then how much I love you, and you won't cry any more. When you wake up you will feel happier again."
And going into the room at the back of the shop, she drew a rocking-chair near the cheerful blaze of the bright fire and sat down, still clasping the little Marionette in her arms. ”

“ But the little Marionette was not to be found.
"This is too bad of her!" said the little girl. "Our last time! And after she has promised not to be late!"
Tears rose to her eyes.
"I am very much disappointed," said she as she walked up and down the shop looking for her friend.
"I shall never find her.... Why, there she is!" she exclaimed suddenly.
And she hurried up to the little Marionette, who, half-concealed by a big Drum, lay on the ground beside a Puzzle.
"You are not very kind," remarked the little girl reproachfully. "I asked you to be early, and you never came at all." ”