Laura Lee Hope

“ I'm glad you have come here to live with us. You'll like it here. Jennie is such a nice little girl."
"We're all nice!" cried the same voice that had asked about the fire.
"Who is that?" asked the China Cat, for, as before, she saw no one.
"Oh, it's probably Jack," answered the Wooden Doll. "He's always playing jokes."
"Jack who?" asked the China Cat.
"Jack Box," answered the Wooden Doll. "He's one of those funny, pop-up Jacks in a Box, and he's always trying to fool some one. I suppose, because you are the newest toy to come here, that he is playing a trick on you." ”

“ The China Cat could feel the heat, and she noticed that the red color on the cheeks of a Painted Doll was all running down, making her look very streaked.
"Oh, what a bump!" thought the China Cat, as she felt herself tossed into the packing box. She landed in between the Talking Doll and a Jumping Jack.
"Out on the sidewalk with that box!" cried the fireman, and he and some others began dragging out the one in which was the China Cat. ”

“ Can't help it! Have to jump when my spring uncoils!" said the Jack, with a broad grin on his face. "Let's have some fun!" he went on. "It's our chance to make believe come to life, now that Jennie has gone to bed. Sweet child. I like her, don't you?" he asked Snowball.
"Yes. But how you rattle on," said the China Cat. "You don't give one a chance to think."
"Yes, Jack is always like that," said the Wooden Doll.
"Well, let's have some fun," went on Jack. "What do you say to a game of tag?" ”

“ So many things began happening at once in the basement of the toy shop, after the train of cars ran over the box of matches, that the China Cat, the Jumping Jack and even the Policeman, who was supposed to keep order, never knew half that took place. All the toys knew was that they began to choke with the smoke from the burning straw, and some of them, who were too close to the box of blazing matches, felt the heat very much. ”

“ But we came to visit you and cheer you up."
"And we are very glad," said a Cloth Doll. "I was getting tired of lying here on my back."
"Let us play some games," proposed the China Cat. "We can ask riddles, have a game of tag, or, those of you who are unpacked, can join in a race."
"I say let's have a race!" cried the Engineer of a toy train of cars on the floor. "I haven't had a race with my engine and cars since Mr. Mugg lifted us out of our box. Come on! I'll get up steam and have a race." ”

“ Horatio Mugg is the man who keeps this toy store," explained the China Cat. "He and his daughters, Angelina and Geraldine, keep us toys in order, dust us off and sell us whenever any one comes in to buy playthings."
"Then it seems I am not to stay here al [6] ways," went on the Trumpeter. "Well, I like a jolly life, going about from place to place. I had fun at the North Pole, and now I hope I shall have some fun here. That's why I blew my trumpet—to start you toys into life."
"We always come to life after dark, and make believe we are alive when no one sees us," explained the China Cat. ”

“ The China Cat stretched her neck and looked at the Cloth Dog. Surely enough, in the gleam from the street light she saw that he had no tail.
"Oh, how dreadful!" mewed the Cat. [71] "How did it happen? It must pain you?"
"Not so much as at first," said the Dog. "I'm used to it now. One of the colored children pulled my tail off. I think it was the one they call Arabella. She's always grabbing things away from the others."
"Yes, she grabbed me," said the China Cat. "But I'm glad she didn't pull off my tail. ”

“ Who is black? Please tell me what to do so I can help you," begged the Captain.
"Why, don't you see!" exclaimed the China Cat. "That black doll is coming to play tag with us! She belongs on the other side of the store, among the Hallowe'en novelties! If she rubs up against me she'll get me all black, and I can't stand it to be dirty!"
All the other toys glanced toward the toy at which the China Cat pointed with one paw. Walking along the edge of the [16] shelf was a fuzzy-haired black Doll, her face as shiny as the stove pipe. She was called a Topsy Doll. ”

“ Mugg had opened that day to take out the toys. The burning straw and wood made more smoke than ever, so that the China Cat choked, and the Talking Doll was coughing so hard she could not speak.
"Hurry with that water!" ordered the Policeman. "Squirt a lot of water from the hose on the blaze, Mr. Fireman!"
But the sad part of it was that there was no water in the toy engine. They are not made that way, though sometimes boys, who get engines for presents, put water in them to play with. ”

“ I brought her over so she could play with your Nodding Donkey."
"I guess maybe they know one another," said Joe. "They came from the same store, you know."
"Oh, so they did!" exclaimed Jennie.
"I have a toy wagon," said Joe. "I'll hitch my Nodding Donkey up to it, and we'll give your China Cat a ride."
"Oh, that will be fun!" cried Jennie. "Only don't upset her, for if she falls out she may break off her tail."
"I'll be careful," promised Joe, and then he and Jennie had a lot more fun with the Nodding Donkey and the China Cat. ”

“ Tippy, the table, always wanted to travel and see the world, but he did not know how to start. Until, all of a sudden, a diamond ring was hidden in his leg and a balloon carried him off through the air. ”

“ At last, after having been much han [68] dled and passed from one to another, the China Cat was set on a shelf in the kitchen of the basement tenement where the colored family lived. Many other colored folk lived in the same house, and in adjoining houses.
"At last I have time to breathe, but I am so dirty I do not know what to do," said the China Cat to herself. "I do not believe that any of the other toys that came from the workshop of Santa Claus ever had such an unpleasant adventure as I am having." ”

“ I's got only two legs, but I can walk when nobody looks at me. An' dat Noah's Ark Elephant, he's got fo' legs, an' he can walk. What is dat has fo' legs an' can't walk I axes yo', Mr. Soldier Captain?"
"A table has four legs and yet it can't walk," laughed the wooden officer. "That's a riddle, Topsy. Now see if you can tell one."
So the Topsy Doll and the other toys began to think of riddles, asking them of one another. But, somehow or other, the China Cat was very still and quiet. She did not enter into this fun as she had into the game of tag. ”

“ What is it?" asked Aunt Clara, as the little girl called to her.
"Please may I go over and see Joe?" begged Jennie. "He has set his Nodding Donkey in his front window, and that means he wants me to come over. He always does that when he wants me. I'll take my new China Cat over to see him."
"Very well, dear," agreed Aunt Clara, and a little later Jennie was crossing the yard, carrying Snowball under her arm. The China Cat was very glad that she was going to be taken to see the Nodding Donkey, with whom she used to live in Mr. Mugg's store. ”

“ How many of you are there?"
"Ten," answered Jeff, and he looked [79] over the mantel shelf to see if the officer noticed the China Cat.
But the policeman had something else to do just then. He and others had been sent to the tenement district, near the rising river, to rouse and save the poor people from the flood.
"Ten, eh?" cried the policeman. "That's quite a family. Well, don't stop to put on more than a few clothes. There isn't any time to save things. The river will be pouring in here soon." ”

“ But I might tell you that the little Cloth Dog was still on the mantel when the flood went down and Jeff and the family moved back into their basement. The Cloth Dog was not drowned, and he lived for many years after that, even without his tail, though I cannot say he was very happy.
"Well, you take care of the China Cat. I am going to get my breakfast," said the policeman who had brought the white pussy into the station house.
"I'll take care of her, and send her back to Mr. Mugg as soon as I have a chance," the sergeant promised. ”

“ Her tail, too, that was always so spotless, was now daubed with molasses and smoke grime from the fire. The China Cat was white now only in spots.
"The Nodding Donkey would hardly speak to me if he saw me now," she thought. "I'm glad he isn't here." [66]
"Now don't yo' touch my cat!" warned Jeff, as he got up from the table, where he had been playing with the toy.
"Whut yo' gwine do?" asked Arabella, who had got over her crying spell.
"I's gwine make a stable fo' my cat," answered the colored lad.
"Cat's don't live in stables! ”

“ He turned away, and the China Cat would have shed tears if China Cats ever cry. But Miss Geraldine stepped forward.
"Please let me look at that toy," she said.
The sergeant handed her the China Cat. [95] Geraldine looked closely at her. Then she gave a joyful cry.
"Why, of course she is our Cat, Father!" said Geraldine. "She is just grimy and dirty. That's the reason you think she is black and white. If I could only wash her you'd see that she is our own China Cat."
"Do you think so?" asked Mr. Mugg, hopefully. ”

“ Up climbed the Jumping Jack until he stood on the very highest shelf of the store—the shelf where all the extra drums were kept out of the way.
"It makes me dizzy to look at him," said the Talking Doll, and she covered her eyes with her hand.
"Yes, suppose he should fall," said the China Cat. "But he must show off, I suppose. I'd rather have less exciting fun—such as a game of tag."
"Hush!" begged the Trumpeter. "He [10] is ready to jump, I think. Hello there, Jack!" he called to the toy on the top shelf. "Are you ready?" ”

“ You are such a fine toy, and almost new."
"Yes, I am quite new. In fact, I have never been sold as yet," said the Cat. "I wouldn't be out of the store now, except for the fire. I was going to be taken by a very nice little girl named Jennie Moore. But now, alas, it is too late for that!"
"Tell me about the fire," begged the [73] Cloth Dog. "It will make me forget that I have no tail."
So there on the shelf in the tenement kitchen, the China Cat told the Cloth Dog the story of the fire in the toy shop, and how she had come to be taken away by Jeff. ”

“ Mewed the China Cat.
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"Oh, we must hurry out of here!" mewed the China Cat.
"I should say so!" exclaimed the Policeman. "Come on! Move lively! No loitering!" he cried, as he had done that [39] time when he tickled the Nodding Donkey in the ribs with the club. "Everybody get out of the way of the fire!" went on the toy Policeman, swinging his club. "Where are the engines and the firemen?" he called.
"Here we are! I'm coming," cried an excited voice, and there clattered along the basement floor of the toy shop a little fire engine, on which was perched a toy Fireman. ”

“ Mugg's toy shop, with the fire, the smoke, the water, the fire engines, the firemen and the police, to say nothing of the crowd that had gathered, that no one paid any attention to Jeff. Away he sneaked, with the China Cat under his blouse.
"I's smart, I is!" said Jeff to himself, grinning. "I could 'a' tooken a lot ob toys; but I liked dis Cat bestest ob all. She's so white!" ”

“ Dey lives in under de back porch," said Arabella. "In a box."
"Cats do so live in stables, 'cause I done seen 'em!" declared Jeff. "An' dey catches rats an' mice. I's gwine make a stable fo' my cat whut I done got at de fire an' de p'liceman didn't see me!" and he laughed as he thought of how he had fooled the officer.
Jeff hunted around in the woodpile until he found what he wanted. This was a large cigar box, and with a knife Jeff soon cut a hole in one side, large enough to slip the China Cat through.
"Dere's her stable!" he declared with satisfaction. ”