Josephine Scribner Gates

“ When the little ones caught [6] sight of them, remembering that they had not heard the wonderful news, they shouted:
“Let’s tell our mammas!” and quickly disappeared.
Janie Bell’s home was the nearest. She fairly flew up the steps and tumbled into the door as she said:
“O mamma, it’s going to begin to-morrow! Won’t it be lovely! A doll came in a gold carriage and she threw this bill, and a boy doll drove the white kittens all covered with ribbons and bells, and it was too pretty.... Do you think my dolls could come alive?” ”

“ The Queen led them up a path towards a building bearing the sign “The Dolls’ Hospital.” Janie was too much astonished at the sight that met her eyes to follow. All she could see was an orchard of low trees, whose branches hung full of doll clothes, swaying in the cool [43] morning air. There were tiny under-garments, and dresses of all colors. She reached out to examine a particularly pretty one, and to see just how it was made, when a voice startled her.
“Don’t touch that. It isn’t ripe yet.”
“Ripe!” said Janie. “Is it growing?” ”

“ And now came Dinah with a plate of cakes about the size of a penny. [27] Each doll clamored for one. How good they looked! Janie ran to the kitchen; she must bake those cakes.
“O Dinah, please let me. I will be very careful.”
“Well, Miss Janie, you may; but I am cross to-day. My hair is so crooked, and look at my leg! How could you put it on backwards? I have so much work to do, and it is so hard to walk.” ”

“ Giving each a loving good-by kiss, and begging them not to be unhappy, the Queen jumped into the gay little coach and was whirled away. The children were driven to their [101] separate homes, each hugging her doll and loath to give it up to its former existence. Janie tried to brighten up, as she bade them all good-by, and said: “It will happen again. The Queen said it would, and it will; so we ought to be extra good. ”

“ When Janie stopped to think of those happy times being no more, she was ready to cry her eyes out, but she put away the thought, [80] determined to enjoy them while they lasted. One morning at breakfast papa said:
“Mamma, I think we must wind up these remarkable doings with something pretty fine. How would it do to hire several carriages and take the whole caboodle of these chicks, with their wound-up dolls, for a lovely day at the seashore? The various mothers, or rather grandmothers, of the dolls can go to see that they don’t get drowned. ”

“ Only little girls with live dolls can know of the happiness that followed. It was no uncommon thing to see dolls playing “ring-around-a-rosy” and “hide-and-seek,” or jumping ropes and rolling hoops. Janie never tired of watching them, and she and her precious doll had many romps.
[55]
The dolls playing “ring-around-a-rosy”
[56]
Early one morning there was left at the door a miniature invitation, which announced that a picnic was to be held at the Doll Farm the next day. Janie [57] ran into the doll house to ask if they would go, and found Dinah busy cooking for it. ”

“ Janie received one from Dinah, and longed to swallow a dozen.
Then Dinah boiled a number of eggs, for which Janie tied up packages of salt and pepper, as these are necessary for every picnic. She then helped [59] to place the food on the pantry shelf, ready to pack in a hamper the next morning.
How tempting it looked! When they had squeezed lemons for lemonade and frozen the ice cream, they sat down to rest.
Dinah said it was to be a delightful picnic, given by the Queen to all the dolls and their mammas. Every little girl in the village was invited, and she did hope she had enough to eat! ”

“ The closet was filled with beautiful little dresses. A shoe box held various [71] colored shoes and slippers, also bed slippers and a dear little pair of rubbers. On the dresser was everything any young lady could desire. It was charmingly arranged with a lace cover over blue, and a dainty pin cushion, silver comb, brush and manicure set.
In one corner stood a book case, filled with books of the tiniest sort. A long window led out into a balcony; here was stretched a doll’s hammock, where one could swing and pick flowers without moving, for the roses twined in and out. ”

“ After putting everything away, Dinah got a dish, broke an egg into it (such a tiny egg, about as large as a bird’s) , and with a dear little egg-beater whisked it as light as a feather. Then she poured in some milk and added flour, with a little salt and baking-powder. Janie wondered what she was going to make and glanced at the range. “O joy! pancakes!” she cried, [23] as she spied the smoking hot griddle, the size of a small saucer.
Dinah put on the broiler and laid the steak carefully on it, cut a potato into dice and put it into a pan with a little cream ”

“ They could hardly believe their eyes, [19] and hurried into their clothes; for they too were eager to see these wonderful doings in the doll house. As Janie ran across the lawn, she noticed smoke coming from the chimney. She flew up the steps, unlocked the front door and, as she stepped into the hall, beheld the astonishing sight of black Dinah at the toy telephone. She was just saying, “One steak, please,” and then she called up the grocery store and ordered a bill of goods that [20] would empty almost any housekeeper’s pocket-book. ”

“ She rushed to the window and saw, drawing up in front, two omnibuses, one filled with the various mothers, the other with the little girls and their dollies. But what was this procession which followed?
“Oh, mamma! it’s all the dolls from the doll-house, and each has on a tiny [85] gossamer. How funny they look!” And so they did, each carrying an umbrella and paddling through the water. Mamma, Janie and Dollie followed them, and all jumped in the omnibuses, closed the doors with a bang, and away they went. ”

“ The ’buses stopped, then all tumbled out and made a mad rush for the water. Oh, the beauty of it all! How sweet the air was! Who can breathe that delightful, salty odor and not love it? They played in the sand and [88] gathered shells until eleven o’clock, when the air was warmer, and mamma said they might put on their bathing suits.
“But what will the dollies do?”
Janie’s doll waved her mysterious package, and every other doll waved one also, crying:
“Wait and you will see.” ”

“ Janie jumped up and almost dropped the syrup cup. She had been so busy over those darling cakes, that she had almost forgotten about her doll sitting opposite her at table.
“O you precious thing! I never can get used to hearing you talk. How many times I have played tea-party here with you, and had to do all the talking myself!” and she ran round [30] and gave her another hug. “Let’s go and tell papa and mamma about the breakfast,” she added ”

“ One had a hopeless crack in its head, because its mamma got cross and threw it up to the ceiling. Some of them were naked, and most of them were very dirty. Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke of [53] the poor little dead one; and she said she could always tell what kind of heart a little girl had by the way she treated her doll. Those who made the sweetest and tenderest mammas were those who had taken the most loving care of their dollies when they were little girls. ”

“ Mamma always lets me.”
Dinah said she might, and she dutifully gave Dollie half. She was sorely tempted to get a spoon and taste that in the freezer, as Dinah had left the room, but she knew that would not be honest, so she covered it up and ran into the yard to see the doll children at play.
She was just in time to see, coming slowly down the street, a white, covered wagon, marked in red letters, “Dolls’ Ambulance.” It was drawn [36] by six white kittens, who moved along so carefully that Janie decided they must have some very sick patients aboard. ”

“ There goes my new one now, riding the wheel which papa had made for her.”
The girls clapped their hands with delight at the unusual spectacle. To think of a doll on a wheel! What would happen next?
Just then mamma’s voice summoned them to the kitchen, where they found a great basket of little candy boxes in the forms of hearts, diamonds, half-moons, [65] drums and cunning barrels. They packed the candy neatly and tied each box with a pretty ribbon. ”