Laura Lee Hope

“ A RICH MAN
“Get ready down there! I’m coming!” called the Rubber Clown to the Woolly Dog. “Is your back strong enough to hold me if I jump?”
“Indeed it is,” answered the Dog. “And I’ll give you a fine ride around the show window.”
If you have read some of the other books in these Make Believe Stories you know that the toys told about could pretend to come to life, move about and play among themselves, as well as talk. But of course all this must be done when no human eyes see them. ”

“ One after another the different toys said they had not.
“Well, it’s very strange,” went on the Woolly Dog. “I didn’t have it in the store, but since my accident I feel like laughing all the while.”
“That’s a jolly good way to feel, I should think,” observed a Tin Soldier. “Too many of us are gloomy and sad. I am not, even if I have to go to war, but to feel like laughing all the while—right jolly I call that!” ”

“ Clark wrapped the Woolly Dog in paper and tied it about with cord.
“Hum! This isn’t very pleasant,” thought the Woolly Dog to himself. “But I suppose it can’t last forever. When I get to Donald’s house—wherever that may be—I am sure my adventures will begin. But I wish I could have said good-bye to the poor toys.”
The poor toys themselves wished they might bid farewell to their expensive friend, the Woolly Dog, but it could not be. They dared not move or speak while human eyes were watching. ”

“ Clark would open the store for the day’s business, and then the toys could neither speak nor move, for human eyes would see them.
Up to his shelf leaped the Rubber Clown, the Calico-Dressed Dolls laid themselves out straight in their boxes. The Penny China Doll took her place near the Tops and the Woolly Dog walked to the middle of the show window where he had been put so passersby would best notice him.
The store became lighter. The street lamps were put out one by one, and the sun began to shine. ”

“ Jane! Where are you? Where’s my Woolly Dog?” cried Donald.
Jane, under the conch, did not answer.
“She isn’t in here, I guess,” said Mother Cressey.
“She came in here,” said Uncle Teddy. “I heard the door slam.”
“She must have gone out again,” went on Donald’s mother. “She’s a little rascal, that’s what Jane is, sometimes. And when she wants to, she can be as good as gold—or pie.”
“Pie is better than gold,” chuckled Uncle Teddy. “I wish you could give me a piece, Mabel,” he said. “No pie I get, [Pg 42] even in the best restaurants, is like yours.” ”

“ Blakeley always saw to it that on Donald’s birthday and at Christmas the boy had something nice.
“Yes, that Woolly Dog will just do for Donald,” went on Mr. Blakeley. “He can’t hurt himself with it, and he can have lots of fun. I’m glad I remembered it was his birthday—came near forgetting it. And it’s lucky I happened to walk through this street. I didn’t know they kept toys here. I’ll go in and get that Dog.”
Then Mr. Blakeley opened the door of Mrs. Clark’s poor little store and went inside. ”

“ Cressey suggested that it would be nice to make it a “toy party”—that is, each boy and girl who came should bring his or her favorite toy. And when this was told to Donald and Jane they clapped their hands in delight.
The invitations were sent out. Dorothy was to come with her Sawdust Doll and Dick with his White Rocking Horse. Sidney would bring his Calico Clown, Herbert his Monkey on a Stick, Madeline her Candy Rabbit, Arnold his Tin Soldier and Mirabell her Lamb on Wheels. There were to be other toys—the China Cat, the Stuffed Elephant and many more. ”

“ Cressey coming into the room, followed by Donald.
“Now I’ll sew up your Woolly Dog,” said the little boy’s mother.
That was the reason the Chinese Man could no longer talk, nor could the Woolly Dog. There were human beings present.
But the Dog was glad he had made a new friend in the house, and he thought that after dark, when everyone was asleep, he could come and visit the Chinese Man and hear more stories. Perhaps there were other toys with whom he might play when the house was quiet.
“Now to mend your birthday Dog,” said Donald’s mother. ”

“ Donald saw what had happened to his plaything.
“Oh, my poor Woolly Dog!” he cried. “He’s no good any more!”
“Oh, yes, I can fix him,” said Mrs. Cressey. [Pg 115] “I have a piece of white lamb’s wool up in the sewing room. I’ll cut off the burned part and sew on a new piece. Then your Dog will be as good as ever.”
“May we come up and watch you fix him?” asked Mirabell, who owned a lamb on wheels which had the same kind of wool that was on the Dog.
“Yes, come up to the sewing room,” answered Mrs. Cressey.
With her scissors she cut away the burned wool. The Dog was brave. ”

“ A clock is one of the most tiresome beings in the world to talk to, and it is so busy [Pg 106] that it never has time to play—it goes “tick-tock” all the while.
“I can see I am not going to have a very good time here,” said the Woolly Dog. “There was more fun back in the store with the poor toys.”
But still he had a few adventures. Once he fell off the mantel into the scuttle of coal when a door slammed too hard, and Mrs. Ward had to put him in one of her tubs of suds to wash him. Mrs. Ward did washing to make a living, and Frank worked in a store. ”

“ Mrs. Cressey first carefully poked back inside the Woolly Dog the cotton stuffing [Pg 60] that Jane had pulled out when searching for the Dog’s “bark.” Then Donald’s mother, taking very fine stitches so they would not show, mended the gash in the Dog’s stomach.
While she was doing this she tickled the Woolly Dog quite a bit. He wanted to squirm and wiggle and even bark, but he dared do none of these things, for both Donald and his mother were looking at him.
“There you are, Donald,” said Mrs. Cressey, at last. “You can hardly tell where he was cut. Your birthday Dog is as good as ever.” ”

“ Cressey. “Jane must learn that certain things belong to Donald and others to her. She will grow up to be a selfish little girl if I let her have her way too much. Jane, Jane, come back with Donald’s Dog, please!”
But Jane did not come back. She ran into one room, out through a side door, and down another hall, all the while [Pg 39] clutching the Woolly Dog close in her arms. After her ran her mother, Donald, and even Uncle Teddy, who was laughing and chuckling in glee.
“Even if Jane is a little bad, I haven’t had so much fun in a long while,” thought Mr. Blakeley to himself. ”

“ Cressey lifts off my head there’s a place for her to drop her sewing needles. I’m full of needles. Listen!”
The Chinese man jiggled himself up and down and a queer rattling came from within him.
“Don’t they tickle you—those needles?” asked the Woolly Dog.
“Not a bit, thank you.”
“Don’t they prick you with their sharp points?”
“No, I don’t mind them in the least. That’s what it is to be made of hard china like a plate or a cup and saucer.”
“I suppose so—yes,” agreed the Woolly Dog. “But tell me—is this a good place to live? ”

“ I hope I’m sold, for Mrs. Clark’s sake. Poor woman, she needs the money I’ll bring.
“Though I shall feel sad at leaving my friends, the poor toys, still, I was shut up in the agent’s sample valise so long that, [Pg 27] really, I have had no adventures worth speaking about. Now I feel I am to see life.” So thought the Woolly Dog.
“This is—er—rather an expensive toy,” said Mrs. Clark slowly, as she smoothed the Dog’s wool. “Though it is considered one of the best. The price—er—the price—is—three dollars!”
She almost whispered those last two words, so fearful was she of shocking Mr. Blakeley. ”

“ The Celluloid Doll looked like a real circus bareback rider.
But, after a while, the children became tired of playing circus.
“What else can we do?” asked Jane.
Donald thought for a moment and he was about to say they might make mud pies when a playmate from down the street came running up crying:
“Oh, Don! Oh, Jane! There’s a hand-organ man and a monkey around the corner! Come and see him!”
Away ran Donald and Jane, leaving their toys on the porch.
[Pg 83]
“Oh, such children!” sighed Susan, as she came out and saw the playthings. “I must pick them up or some street boys might take them.” ”

“ Since then I’ve had only one leg.”
“You are worse off than I am,” barked the Woolly Dog. “I have all four legs even if I was cut open and have a ticklish feeling inside.”
The Rocking Horse began tilting to and fro.
“If you toys are going to ride on my back, you’d better begin,” he neighed. “It will soon be morning.”
“That’s right,” said the Jack-in-the-Box. “Daylight will soon be here and [Pg 71] we’ll have to grow stiff and silent. Hurray for a ride on the Rocking Horse!”
The Rocking Horse was so large that all the toys could get on his back at once. ”

“ So Jane peeped out from under the edge of the couch and then, making sure no one was in sight, she rolled out as she [Pg 44] had rolled under, with the Woolly Dog in her arms.
“My goodness!” thought the toy, “if she rolls much more I’ll get as dizzy as if I had chased my tail.”
But Jane did not intend to do much rolling. She had another plan in her queer little head. So, once out from under the couch, she looked around for something she wanted. ”

“ She put her tiny stock of toys and goods in order, got her breakfast and then sat down to wait for two things. One was the postman who, she hoped, would bring her a letter from her sailor son. The other was for customers, especially a customer who would buy the Woolly Dog.
It was almost noon when a man passed through the street on which Mrs. Clark’s store stood. This man wore very good clothes, and he carried a cane with a gold head. He looked to be a very rich man, and he was.
“But I don’t see why a rich man is walking through our poor street,” said Lizzie to Sammie. ”

“ These are the stories that children read and re-read with wonder and delight. In these volumes they are told in simple, charming language by Georgene Faulkner, known by thousands of youngsters and grown-ups as “The Story Lady.” ”

“ And the Woolly Dog was put in a book. This book is the story of his adventures, and I hope you like it.
THE END
THE STORY LADY SERIES
By GEORGENE FAULKNER
Illustrated. Every Volume Complete in Itself
What child does not love to hear again and again these charming and thrilling tales that have been handed down through the ages from generation to generation—the best liked and the most famous of the world’s myths, legends and fairy lore about animals, birds, witches, fairies, giants, dwarfs and beloved heroes and heroines from many different countries. ”

“ As for the bees they were much excited. They always grew excited when the farmer took the top off their hive, as he had just done, to get some of the honey for himself. Here and there crawled the buzzing, humming bees. They had a Queen, and the Queen called:
[Pg 88]
“What is this that has fallen among us? If it is anyone but the kind farmer after our honey, just sting him, my children! We will not sting the farmer, for he is kind to us and puts us in a warm place in winter. ”

“ Clark does hardly any business,” said the Jumping Jack. “I was one of the lot of a dozen she bought from the agent, and there are eight of us left. She’ll never get rich selling toys, I’m afraid.”
“I’m afraid not,” agreed the Woolly Dog. ”

“ Blakeley, as he passed over some crisp bills. “And I’m sure I’m quite pleased to get this toy for Donald. Good-morning!”
And out he walked.
[Pg 29]
“But, my stars! you should have seen the money in his pocketbook when he opened it to pay me the three dollars,” said Mrs. Clark afterward. “Honestly, I never knew men carried so much! But I’m thankful to get the three, as I needed just them to make up my rent. Now I won’t worry for another month, and by that time Jimmie may come home with the gold he is always talking about.” ”

“ With that he toppled off the shelf, turning two somersaults as he went down, for he was quite an acrobat, was this Clown.
“Oh, isn’t that perfectly wonderful?” [Pg 16] gasped one Calico-Dressed Doll to another.
“Gorgeous!” was the reply. “It’s as good as going to a circus. I didn’t know the Rubber Clown could turn somersaults.” ”